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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The answer lies in the resolution of the images taken by the telescope which are blounded by the laws of physics. The resolution is the smallest picture element aka pixel. More the number of pixels better the clarity of an image.
But in case of telescopes, larger mirror results in better magnification of an object. But the magnification is also affected by the wavelength of light.
Shorter wavelength like UV light produces fine detailed image than longer wavelength visible light.
Let’s take an example of Hubble telescope which has a mirror diameter of 2.4 metres. It produces a single pixel resolution in UV light of 43 metres spread across moon’s surface. So, anything smaller than 43m will be hidden under a single dot which cannot be magnified further.
To study anything on a surface of moon we need 2 pixels or more.
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