Why can't we get a picture of the lunar rover sitting on the surface of the moon with earth-based telescopes?

Answer 1

Telescopes have a property called resolving power.

This is a telescope's ability to separate two nearby objects. For example, a telescope with an aperture of about 1.9 meters is needed to separate a 100-meter object at lunar distance, and a telescope with an aperture of about 100 meters is needed to separate a rover, which may be two meters.

By signing up, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Answer 2

Josiah Adams

The lunar rover's size and contrast against the lunar surface make it difficult to distinguish even with the most powerful telescopes; furthermore, the angular resolution limitations caused by atmospheric distortion and the rover's distance from Earth make the lunar rover too small to be resolved by Earth-based telescopes.

By signing up, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Answer from HIX Tutor

When evaluating a one-sided limit, you need to be careful when a quantity is approaching zero since its sign is different depending on which way it is approaching zero from. Let us look at some examples.