How can someone take a picture of a solar system 50 million light years away, but not a coin sized rock on the surface of the moon.

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I recently saw a photo somebody posted of a galaxy 50 million light years away. I have always wondered, why doesn’t he point it at the moon or even a planet 10 light years away and see the surface up close? We might see water or certain organisms. I have yet to see a picture like that in my lifetime. Thanks in advance for the answer.

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Anonymous 0 Comments

The galaxy might be a trillion times further away than the coin, but it’s a trillion trillion times bigger.^1

As an example, as seen from the Earth, the Andromeda galaxy is something like six times the diameter of the moon. If it were bright enough to be naked-eye visible, it would be astounding.

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^1 I just looked it up. The actual numbers are 7 × 10^14 times further and up to 2 × 10^23 bigger.

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