Expert: Ed - 8/12/2010

Question
Theoretically, if I was standing at the surface of the Sun,
how would the Earth look from there? Would it be visible to
the naked eye?

Answer
Michal, that is an interesting question.  If you weren't burnt up, and if you could see past the glare of the sun, this book tells me that the magnitude of the Earth would be -4.
http://www.amazon.com/Allens-Astrophysical-Quantities-Arthur-Cox/dp/038795189X

That is comparable to the magnitude of Venus, as seen from the Earth.  Although the Earth is roughly three times more distant from the Sun than the Earth is from Venus, the Earth is larger than Venus, so it reflects more of the Sun's light.  These factors approximately balance each other out.  So, looking at the Earth from one astronomical unit away would be similar to looking at Venus from Earth.

Keep Looking Up!
-Ed