With current technology. At what distance would it be possible to detect our own solar system. Would the large gas giants mask the presence of the inner planets. Or would we be able to perform analysis that gave us the mass and orbits of all the major planets( exclude Pluto) ?
Current technology could detect Jupiter, but not our smaller planets. It's not even a matter of "masking" - Saturn alone could not be found with current methods. I mean at Saturn's distance from its star - a Saturn-mass planet much closer to its star can be detected - in fact, has been. As for how far away, the farthest known planet circling a "normal star" is 59 parsecs (192 light years) away. Planets around neutron stars were found much farther, but they are much easier to detect. This web site keeps a running summary of known extrasolar planets: http://www.obspm.fr/encycl/catalog.html
