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Is there anything that could explode or exist that would appear brighter than the sun in our sky? There was that meteor in Russia in 2013 where it appears brighter than the sun. However, is there a possibility that something much further away from the sun could appear brighter than it for a short period of time? For example, could a star we can already see in our sky go supernova and appear brighter than the sun? I have been thinking about this for a while but don't have the skills to carry out any calculations.

If so, what is the furthest possible thing that we could see brighter than the sun. Another galaxy?

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There is a useful rule of thumb for estimating supernova-related numbers: However big you think supernovae are, they're bigger than that.

Disproving the rule, a quick search suggests that our most probable next nearby supernova would be about as bright as the full Moon.

However,

It turned out to be fortunate that [gamma ray bursts] were so far away. “If there was a gamma-ray burst in our galaxy with a jet pointed at us, the best thing you could hope for is a quick extinction,” said Zhu. “You would hope that the radiation smashes through the ozone and immediately fries everything to death. Because the worst scenario is if it’s farther away, it could cause some of the nitrogen and oxygen in the atmosphere to turn into nitrous dioxide. The atmosphere would turn brown. It would be a slow death.”

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  • $\begingroup$ Actually, it would be nitrogen dioxide: there is no such thing as nitrous dioxide. $\endgroup$
    – Ed V
    Commented Apr 13, 2022 at 18:00
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    $\begingroup$ Has a chemist snuck into the physics site ? :-) $\endgroup$
    – Not_Einstein
    Commented Apr 13, 2022 at 18:05
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    $\begingroup$ Also chemist here: confirming $\text{NO}_{2}$ is a brown, toxic gas called nitrogen dioxide. $\endgroup$
    – Gert
    Commented Apr 13, 2022 at 18:12
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    $\begingroup$ Dear chemist friends, please contact the fact-checkers at Quanta Magazine, link in answer. Brown air is bad, have a wonderful day free of local gamma-ray bursts, best wishes, etc. $\endgroup$
    – rob ♦
    Commented Apr 13, 2022 at 18:47
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An atomic bomb or a hydrogen bomb blast will be many, many times brighter than the sun if you are standing close enough to it when it goes off. Note that the sun's rays are insufficient to burn you to a cinder in an instant, but the radiation from one of those bombs can readily do this to you.

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  • $\begingroup$ You know about that military test where they exploded an atomic bomb way above 4 military people and a very reluctant photographer. They were told not to look up. $\endgroup$
    – Ed V
    Commented Apr 13, 2022 at 21:03
  • $\begingroup$ In case you have not seen it on NPR: npr.org/sections/krulwich/2012/07/16/156851175/…. One guy looked up: he was wearing sunglasses. $\endgroup$
    – Ed V
    Commented Apr 13, 2022 at 21:19
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    $\begingroup$ I upvoted your answer because it was good and better than what I would have answered, which was “Sure, helicopters dangling sharks with frickin’ laser beams attached to their heads!” Apologies to Dr. Evil! $\endgroup$
    – Ed V
    Commented Apr 14, 2022 at 12:44
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    $\begingroup$ If you’re going to allow sources that are closer than the sun, there are lots of options. For example, an inexpensive laser pointer can be configured to make a bright spot on a sunlit wall. If the spot is brighter than the sunlight, a person who was looking directly into the beam would see the laser source as brighter than the sun. (nota bene: don’t look straight at the sun, and don’t test whether your laser is brighter than the sun by shining it in your eye.) $\endgroup$
    – rob ♦
    Commented Apr 14, 2022 at 17:08

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