Welcome to brain Stuff from how Stuff Works dot com where smart Happens. Hi Am Marshall Brain with today's question, is it possible to use a telescope to see the stuff that people left behind on the Moon during the moon landings. In order to answer this question, we need to understand something about the resolving power of a telescope. The best telescope available today is the Hubble Space telescope. It has a resolving power of about zero point one
arc seconds. The Hubble telescope would have something like fifteen centimeter resolving power if it were pointed at something on the Earth, like the Statue of Liberty. Fifteen centimeters is about half a foot. The Moon is about a thousand times further away from the Hubble Space telescope than the Earth is. That means that if you pointed the Hubble at the Moon, it would have about a underd and fifty meter resolution. At that resolution, a football stadium occupies
just one or two pixels in the image. That means that there would be no way to discern the lunar excursion module or any of the other equipment left on the Moon. It's just too small to pick up. Even with the world's best telescope. Be sure to check out our new video podcast, Stuff from the Future. Join how Stuff Work staff as we explore the most promising and perplexing possibilities of tomorrow the house stuff Works. I Find app has arrived down at it Today on iTunes