Why can't the Hubble telescope take clear pictures of the planet Pluto?

Answer 1

Pluto is very small, possibly half the size of our Moon, and 3.7 Billion Miles from the Sun. It only has the light from the Sun to illuminate its surface. Since it is a planet, it has no light of its own. The light that we (or the Hubble Telescope sees) see is reflected from the uneven surface of the planet, and is therefore scattered light and not as bright as it might be were the surface smoother (as in having oceans and seas). So, all views of Pluto have to be made using light which has traveled 3.7 Billion Miles, reflected off of a rocky, irregular surface, and returned 3.7 Billion more Miles. If you add to that situation the fact that Pluto is traveling through space at a high rate of speed, you present a camera with one real challenge to get any picture at all. Normally a long exposure is required, and that is hard to accomplish with a fast mover.

Answer 2

Because Pluto is a tiny, tiny object. No Earth based telescope can see Pluto as anything other than a point of light. It was only identified as a planet because of its motion across the sky. Hubble, contrary to popular belief, is not an exceptionally large telescope. It does have the advantage of being above the atmosphere, but even so Pluto is still very very small and only a few pixels wide.

The galaxies and nebulae imaged by the Hubble telescope, though much further away than Pluto, are huge, and in fact cover a wider area of the sky than Pluto does. Many of them cover a wider area of sky than the Moon does, but are just too faint to be visible without optical equipment.

Answer 3

Basically because Pluto is really small and far enough away.

Optical theory tells us that Hubble can resolve detail no smaller than 0.048 arc seconds. Trigonometry tells us that 0.048 arc seconds is the angle subtended by a 300 foot object on the Moon, a 930 mile object on Pluto and a 930 light year object in a galaxy 4 billion light years away. Since the whole dwarf planet Pluto is not much bigger than 930 miles, the pictures aren't very clear. Since galaxies are much bigger than 930 light years, pictures of those galaxies are reasonably clear.

Answer 4

For the same reason you can clearly see the Moon with just your eyes but you cannot clearly see an ant on the ground 20 feet away. Because the ant is small and far away but the Moon is REALLY big and farther away and the smallest detail you can make out on the Moon is WAY bigger than the whole ant. Pluto is small and far away and galaxies are REALLY big and farther away and the smallest detail Hubble can see in a galaxy is way bigger than the whole dwarf planet of Pluto.

Answer 5

Pluto is too small, too far away and too dim. It's only half as big as the Moon and 20,000 times further away. The Hubble can only see planets from reflected sunlight and at the distance of Pluto that light is 1/2500th as bright as it is here.

A common misconception is that because the Hubble can see distant galaxies it ought to be able to see everything in the solar system. You have to keep in mind that galaxies, although trillions of km away, are many billions of times more luminous than the Sun and billions of times bigger than any planet too.

Answer 6

Because it's very small and very far away and doesn't reflect much light from that distance. Sure, it's much closer than distant galaxies, but it's much MUCH smaller and dimmer.

Answer 7

Well the speed that both travel at makes it hard. Then there is that whole is Pluto a planet or not thing!

Answer 8

Because THEY don't want you to see the monsters that live there! lol!