Serious question about light (particle/wave)

Originally posted by CLPrime

Originally posted by Blarneystoner

a single magnitude 6 star (still visible to unaided eye)

That would be the difference. You're talking about a visible star, while the 200-photon-per-hour calculation is in reference to a star in a distant galaxy. The nearest galaxy to us is the Canis Major Dwarf Galaxy, which contains red giants having a typical magnitude of about 13. Even these are in no way visible to the naked eye.

OK... I get it now. I was thinkiing we were talking about distant stars in our galaxy and not stars in distant galaxies. I wouldn't think that this applies to the OPs question though, as you said the stars in a galaxy that distant wouldn't be visible to the naked eye. The OP did say " What if the star is millions of light years away?" but I figured that was because he didn't know that a star at that distance wouldn't reside in the Milky Way.

Thanks for clarifying...

Light and perhaps other radiation or electrical forms have the properties of the photon
which is the ability to provide a quantum of energy. This quantum of energy is most
effective in the atom that is built up and modeled with a quantum characteristic.
Most amazing is the origin of light in the atom that somehow radiates in every direction
with loss less efficiency throughout space.