Are wells America’s new telescope?
The daylight sky appears dark enough from a deep well to view stars is an old myth. First off, who would want to go in a cold deep well to see if stars are visible? I wouldn't! It started with Aristotle who believed stars were visible from pits and wells. Later, even today, writers have used this myth in literature. The myth started, because a chimney or a well is long and narrow like a telescope. So the myth was created relating the well to a telescope, thinking that the naked eye would be able to visibly see stars with the aid of the well or chimney. Do they really help like telescopes?
On the left is a picture of a man standing below a chimney looking up to see if he can see the stars in the daylight, so you can get a better idea of how it is related to a telescope. This photo was found at http://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu//full/1983QJRAS..24..246H/0000254.000.html. Hynek, a man who has studied stars and ufo paranorma, wrote “…stars (not planets) cannot be seen from the bottom of deep wells, while the sun is above the horizon, 1st-magnitude star falls below the threshold of sensitivity of the eye against a daylight sky… the sky was just too bright!” To sum that up, Hynek believed that the sun was just too bright for stars to be seen during the day. A star shines, because the gas inside is so hot that nuclear fusion occurs. Nuclear fusion is the process where two atoms clash together to form a new atom, and uses an abundance of energy that we see as light. Maybe the energy is not bright enough for the star to shine, so the people in the well can see it. This information was found at http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/askastro/answers/970304.html
http://www.snopes.com/science/well.asp
http://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1983QJRAS..24..246H/0000249.000.html
After testing the myth in 1946, it was concluded that the dimmest star would have to be 5 times brighter than the brightest star excluding the sun, called Sirius, to see it in open daylight. In a well or chimney it is possible to see Sirius in daylight, but the star would have to be right above the person’s view. So I guess America has rejected the idea of wells being our new telescope. Sorry for those who were excited that you wouldn't have to by the telescope, but looks like you will. You can see further with a telescope!
http://www.snopes.com/science/well.asp
Example of a star during the day. ******MOVIE NOT MADE BY ME!!!****** copyright to whoever made it. Skip to 1:04- star is actually a planet but a star would be even harder to see.
