I read that the "NEAT" telescope can sense something the size of a basketball 20,000 miles away. Is this

Question

possible?

Answer 1

You have to understand that 20,000 miles is less than the distance from the earth to the moon, and in most cases, most telescopes cannot see anything that CLOSE. However, in this case, the NEAT telescope was designed precisely FOR that purpose. The thing is, even taking nightly surveys of the sky, as Billy Bob Thornton said in Armageddon, "It's a pretty damn big sky". In the event that the telescopes DO find something, they have to take several images of the same part of the sky over a certain period of time, because that's the only way they can see an object move. However, given that the surverors DO find something, and the telescope is on the right part of the sky at JUST the right time, yes, it is possible to see a basketball-sized object at 20 thousand miles. Our telescopes are all very powerful, but in this case, it's a matter of focus: instead of focusing at something very far away, we are looking at something very close.

Answer 2

Yes, that is possible. The Near Earth Asteroid Tracking (NEAT) program uses a GEODSS telescope, which according to the source below, can do what you say.

Answer 3

Military satellites in stable orbit at 23,000 miles and take a photo to show a grape fruit on the lawn on a clear day.