Some of the most distant stars seen with the naked eye:

If it is a particularly clear night you may be wondering why you can see a number of stars that you would not typically see with the naked eye. If you have ever driven out to the country are gone can't think it is likely that you've seen thousands more stars than you would see with a light pollution in the city. There are some surprisingly distant stars that you can see with the naked eye.

There are a few current candidates for the star that most people can see with the naked eye:

Rho Cassiopeia is considered to be a variable star that is only present on the clearest of nights. It's located around 8200 light years away and this means that the light that you actually see on that clear night is roughly 6000 years old. If you're looking for this star on a star chart the easiest thing to do is find Polaris and then looked towards the top of the W. If you can see an extremely faint light, this is one of the most distant stars that you can see with your naked eye.

Eta Carina: This is a set of multiple stars that you can see a great distance away. This is a star with an even greater light year distance. Current estimates have this star at just over 16,000 light years away. The light that you can see from this cluster has a magnitude that is far brighter than Rho Cassiopeia but many experts don't count it because it's a large cluster of stars that more visible rather than a single star. The cluster is labelled across many star maps and it can be quite a simple one to find on a clear night.

If you are looking for distant stars you should wait for a clear night and work at picking up a pair of binoculars for reference. Using a pair of binoculars and then focusing your eyes can be a great way that you can see more distant stars with your naked eye for reference.