Does anyone know where there are pictures taken from a telescope of the american flag on the moon?

Answer 1

Due to atmospheric interference, it would not be possible to see any mad made object left on the moon from a telescope on the surface of Earth.
However, there is a very powerful, Earth orbiting, telescope which is free from atmospheric distortions…the Hubble space telescope. However, even this telescope, as powerful as it is, could not possibly see the flag left on the moon.

Using a little math and common sense, it would not nearly be possible to see the flag on the moon with the Hubble space telescope.

First, let’s get some basic facts straight.
The Diameter of the Hubble telescope is 2.4 meters and the distance from the Earth to the moon (on average) is about 3.84 E8 meters.

Pretty much the only thing limiting what Hubble can and cannot resolve is diffraction through a circular aperture (i.e. how light waves interact with each other when they get to Hubble's mirror.
The minimum angle which a circular aperture can resolve is given by the formula,
Theta_min = 1.22 Lambda / D
where Theta min is the minimum angle, Lambda is the wavelength of light we are using, and D is the diameter of the opening.

If we assume we are using light at 500 nm (roughly the middle of the visible spectrum) and we know that Hubble's diameter is 2.4 meters, we can find the minimum angle to be,
Theta_min = 2.54 E-7 radians.
This is quite a small angle by Earthly standards, but will it compare to the angle to the flag on the moon?...we'll see.

Here is where I have to make an assumption, but it is a very reasonable assumption and one that will assure us that out answer is correct. Watching the moon landing videos, one can see that the astronauts placed a moderately sized flag on a pole on the moon. Although I don’t know the exact dimensions of the flag, I can assure you, it was definitely no bigger than 10 ft. But for the sake of argument and to make the numbers easier, let’s assume it was 10 feet (~3 meters).
If the distance between the flag and Hubble is the same (about) as the distance from the Earth to the moon, then we can calculate the angle between the top of the flag and the bottom of the flag pole as seen by Hubble orbiting Earth. The angle comes out to be about, 7.81 E-9 radians, about 30 times SMALLER than the absolute minimum angle Hubble can resolve...and this is if we assume that the flag is 10 ft, which it obviously is smaller than that in reality.

Plus, Hubble was specifically designed to look at VERY distant object. Although the moon is far away, it might as well be right next to us compared to the stars/galaxies/.. Hubble is supposed to be looking at. Therefore, I don’t know exactly how it will respond looking at such a close and bright object.

One this is sure through, you could not see the flag, even with one of the best telescopes ever built operating perfectly under ideal conditions using visible light.

Answer 2

No Earth based telescope will be capable of taking photographs of any of the flags planted by the Apollo astronauts. There is too much atmospheric distortion for any size telescope on Earth to resolve something as tiny as a flag.

So that leaves us with space based telescopes, the most well know being the Hubble Space Telescope. Some time back I recall checking out a discussion on an astronomy bulletin board about whether the Hubble could shoot such an image. There were a great many arguments against it being possible. One mentioned the short distances and the lack of focusing control on the Hubble telescope. Another spoke of the rapid relative movement between the Hubble's orbit and the moon's orbit so that precise aiming and photographing would not be possible. And a third argument was that the Hubble is so heavily scheduled with research observations that something so silly as a photo of the moon landings wouldn't be given a time slot. And by the way, these all spoke of photographing the sites. The flags wouldn't be visible from an overhead shot in the first place. (It would be like photographing a billboard from directly overhead.)

So to sum it all up, there do not exist any photos of the flags on the surface of the moon that were not shot from the surface of the moon. And it is extremely unlikely that any shots of the flags will ever be attempted.

Answer 3

Hmmm, I think I saw one on MTV.
Or thair's no flag at all, the moon mision was a hoax.
Just look at the video of the moon buggie kicking up moon-dust,
should'nt the dust stay flooting and travel higher for a longer period of time. See how the dust quickly falls back down in almost zero gravity and the fact that it's soo fine.
Hmmm, doesn't anyone wonder why?
Oooops, the movie "Mercury Mision" filmed in the 70's talks about this posibility.

Answer 4

We do not yet have a telescope powerful enough to be able to view the American flag(s) planted on the moon.

Sorry.

Answer 5

no, the US flag would be WAY too small to be seen by the naked eye or throiugh a telescope on Earth either.