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

Simple: more light is being emitted from the solar system’s star than the rock or any other planet even one light year away. Stars are unfathomably gigantic and have been burning uninterrupted long before mankind ever existed, meaning their light has already had plenty of time to get here in detectable amounts.

Likewise, planets–even if we had powerful enough telescopes–would likely have an atmosphere of some kind, which means there’d be no possible way of looking directly at the surface via conventional means.

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