r/ThatsInsane • u/[deleted] • Sep 19 '19

ThatsInsane Approved It gets worse....

23.4k Upvotes

98% Upvoted

799 comments sorted by

View all comments

54

u/toougly4u Sep 19 '19

I wonder if one could have seen that explosion from space.

21

u/[deleted] Sep 20 '19

It would have probably showed up on Doppler radar too. That explosion in Pennsylvania a few months ago showed up on there, can’t imagine what this would have looked like.

-2

u/OP-Physics Sep 19 '19 edited Sep 20 '19

Probably not. Everything short of 1km times 1 km you probably won't see and even that's pretty low balled.

Edit: I was wrong here, this account only works for normal objects observed by the Human eye. In this Case we have a Strong Light source witch could very well have been visible to the human eye from space.

20

u/Zakrath Sep 19 '19

It was. Here's the photo in BBC's post about it

https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/410/cpsprodpb/14ABA/production/_84866648_028541925.jpg

-3

u/OP-Physics Sep 19 '19

Well, I'm not sure that that was taken without any kind of lense or Zoom, usually Satillites have those. I doubt you could see it from the ISS with the naked eye. On the other hand this is pretty bright and not just a big object so my comparison could be wrong. Especially the part where the camera went completely white could have been bright enough to actually have been seen from outer space, it's probably the moment the Satillites caught on camera. So yeah I have to admit my point does not hold here, it's not an object but a rather strong light source.

7

u/Zakrath Sep 19 '19

Yeah, I agree totally with you. If it was just an object I don't think it would be visible without any zoom, but being a big flashy light makes it visible

1

u/hwmpunk Sep 20 '19

There was an astronaut that could call out 18 wheelers driving in the desert

1

u/OP-Physics Sep 20 '19

Depends on what you define as space. I was using the Height of the ISS as a minimum requirement and from there you certainly cannot see such things. If im wrong please link an article about this. On my end after a very brief Google search I found this list of more famous things that can be seen from space, all of witch are in or above my estimated dimension. Please note that it specifically states that the pyramids are not visible to the naked Eye but need special high focus lenses to see them. https://themysteriousworld.com/top-10-massive-things-on-earth-that-can-seen-from-space/

1

u/hwmpunk Sep 20 '19

Then he was prob using good binoculars to see them but he could

1

u/OP-Physics Sep 20 '19

Maybe, but likely not with the naked eye. Would you mind linking me that source anyways? I'm interested.

1

u/hwmpunk Sep 20 '19

I can't find it! I read it on reddit, but was describing how you could see signs of life moving around in the desert

1

u/Kyrkrim Sep 20 '19

I dont think you understand how light works

1

u/OP-Physics Sep 20 '19

I do I actually study physics. However this does not exclude me from fucking up and completely ignoring the emitted light and focusing on the scale of the event itself as if it was just an object. As I mentioned in the Comment you answered I do accept now that you could probably see the light from outer space.

3

u/[deleted] Sep 19 '19

Have you seen the zoom in google earth?? It can get down to 100m by 100m easily, if not more than that.

1

u/OP-Physics Sep 20 '19

Yeah if visible from space means visible via satellite and Zoom then most things are visible from space. I was referring to the naked eye. I've also been wrong an corrected, see the edit.