Is it possible to see the lunar landing sites with a telescope from earth?

Answer 1

you cannot even see it on satellite pictures

Answer 2

Technically, yes! The lunar landers CAN be seen from earth...but only technically. I know it because I've seen them.
You cannot, however see the landing site.

The resolving limit of a telescope depends on the wavelength of light (w) and the size of the aperture, or open end of the scope (d). the minimum angle you can separate stuff is about 1.22d/w. The angle is in radians and for anyone who doesn't know there are just under 6.3 radians in a circle. It corresponds to needing a telescope some hundreds of metres in size to see it using visible light.
This means it is currently impossible to look through a normal telescope and see the stuff up there.

Radio telescopes, however, offer another possibility. Though the resolving power is smaller (w is much much bigger) you can make bigger radio telescopes. This in its own is not enough. Jodrell bank is no better than the eye at 21cm wavelength, w. However, though a technique called interferometry, 3 or more telescopes can be linked up to make effectively a much bigger one. The Cambrige array (which includes Jodrell bank) has an effective size of 300 miles in diameter. This is good enough to see, not only the lunar landers, but would show the pattern on the flag if it were metal.
Sadly, it's not metal so you can't see the flags. You can't see the landing site either. The moons surface is a poor radio source. But the landers show up nicely.

So technically, yes, you can see the landers.....technically

Scientists have nearly perfected a visible wavelength interferometer. It'd be nice if they used it to look at the moons surface but I suspect they won't. (too many other, "better" things to do)

Answer 3

Sure, you can see the locations. But no telescope in the world is big enough to show the flag, or footprints or LM decent stage. There are laser reflectors left at the landing sites that can be seen if a powerful enough laser is aimed at them and a big enough telescope looks for the reflection. But you need a very powerful laser, a big telescope and a professional class detector. You couldn't just shine a laser pointer at the moon and see a bright dot in your back yard telescope.

Answer 4

Well, either you need a telescope about as big as a football field, or you need to take that telescope and put it much closer to the Moon. Arizona State University had the chance to do that when they joined the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Project.

Answer 5

If Nasa provided you with the position in latitudes and longitudes, considering its not a mountainious area and the winds on the moon are not strong, its a high probability on the negative that you will be able to see the landing site based on the fact that the moon is tilted at a 45 degrees angle facing its surface off side to the earth.

Looking behind in history, apollo 13, the space flight which went wrong was no way viewable from earth using nasa's powerful telescopes even though it never landed on the moon but just orbited the moon and came back to earth.

Its a game of chance, its not bad to be watching out, you might get lucky and change the course of history, dont forget to come here and tell us about it.

Answer 6

When the Mars rover was photographed showing a very much smaller vehicle than the moon vehicle, you can even see its tracks, possible its because it's only 199,750,000 miles further out than the Moon!!!, and don't tell me it was taken from a Mars satelite I already know that, but the moon also had many satelites . Whilst were on the subject how did they strap the moon rover which was as big as a Jeep onto the lander no pictures that I have seen show them removing it.As for laser reflectors they dropped many things onto the surface and so did the Russians

Answer 7

Seeing as how it's a quarter of a million miles away, no telescope has the resolving power to make out that kind of detail.

Answer 8

It may be possible from one of the huge telescopes. I know that an array of retro prisms were left there that will reflect laser light back to its source were left there on one or two of the missions. If you're just looking to prove that we went there, you could probably just ask NASA for documentation.

Answer 9

Y ou might be able to see the lunar landing with a good amateur telescope but an observatory telescope you'll definately see it.

Answer 10

the most detail you can see using a telescope from earth is 1.5 miles. that's by using even the mos powerful scopes, so i don't think you could pick out the detail.

Answer 11

If its a really powerful telescope, then yes, you could.