How powerful of a telescope would I need to see it ? Is it possible?
2007-06-23 05:38:21 · 13 answers · asked by wishingstar5555 3 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
Dont you think they could have put somthing that would have a reflection or solar powerd light that would show us on earth . maybe a beacon . Hmmm sounds a little fishy !
2007-06-23 05:53:01 · update #1
That's like trying to see an ant on a basketball 100ft away.
2007-06-23 05:43:08 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
I recall reading a tidbit in Sky and Telescope magazine in which one of the editors calculated that you would need a telescope with an aperture of several thousand inches to resolve a feature so small on the moon. Such a large telescope would be impractical. Nothing we have now can attain this resolution. And they did leave a reflector on the Moon so that astronomers can measure the distance to the moon to within several inches (another clinching piece of evidence that should dispel any conspiracy argument about the moon landings).
Anyway, using a generous flag size of 1 meter and given an average distance of about 384 million meters to the Moon, resolving the flag is like resolving a golf ball from a distance of 6000 miles.
2007-06-24 03:23:33 · answer #2 · answered by clitt1234 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The flag is less than a metre long, and it's 400,000kn away. How exactly do you imagine you'll be able to see it?
Telescopes have practical and UNAVOIDABLE limitations on their resolution. You would need a scope larger than any currently in existence (and perhaps even larger than it is possible to make) to resolve something that small that far away. Yes, your telescope can show you things light years away, but those are HUGE, and emitting their own light.
The only thing fishy is your expectation, implied in the question, that you somehow SHOULD be able to see such a tiny object at such a vast distance.
2007-06-23 17:53:10 · answer #3 · answered by Jason T 7 · 3⤊ 0⤋
You're the one who's fishy.
The flag on the moon is 125cm (4 feet) long. You would require a telescope around 200 meters in diameter to see it. The largest telescope now is the Keck Telescope in Hawaii at 10 meters in diameter. Even the Hubble Space telescope is only 2.4 meters in diameter. Resolving the lunar rover, which is 3.1 meters in length, would require a telescope 75 meters in diameter. So your backyard 6 inch and 8 inch telescopes are not even going to come close!
More research in advance = less "fishy" question.
2007-06-23 13:00:51 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
They DID put a reflector on the moon. Using a powerful enough laser you could hit the reflector and the laser pulse would come back. This method is used routinely to measure the exact distance to the moon at any given time. By using these reflector set up by Apollo 11, 14 and 15 we know that the moon is moving away from the earth by 3.8 cm per year amongst other things.
2007-06-23 13:02:56 · answer #5 · answered by DrAnders_pHd 6 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Well really, because the moon is so large, and the flag is really tiny, I am not sure there is a telescope powerful enough to see it. And to make things more interesting, the flag was blown over when the crew separated from the decent stage and fired their engine.... So now you have to find a tiny flag laying on its side on a huge moon... Not likely...
2007-06-23 13:27:23 · answer #6 · answered by Lexington 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The best telescope we could use to point at it, Hubble, can only resolve things the size of a football field. It's a digital camera, so each pixel on the Moon is the size of a football field. That's why you can't see it. It's too small. And we're not wasting Hubble's time on that anyway.
2007-06-23 12:45:24 · answer #7 · answered by eri 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I totally disagree with Jeff or who ever answered first. With average binoculars you can see an ant on a basketball. The moon is just so far away and the flag is so little compared to it. It's like trying to find a spec of dust on a basketball 100 feet away.
2007-06-23 12:49:20 · answer #8 · answered by M&M 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋
considering the most powerful telescopes that have attempted to image the lunar landing sites can only image "splotches" a few pixels in size, its really unlikely that you'll find one powerful enough to be able to accomplish this yourself...
2007-06-23 12:43:24 · answer #9 · answered by EVOX 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
When the spacecraft lifted off for the return trip the rocket exhaust blew it away.
2007-06-23 12:53:44 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋