Why can’t we invent a telescope that zooms infinitely at perfect resolution to look at distant planets?
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You’re asking a huge question. The laws of physics, telescope aperture, accuracy of optical surfaces, diffraction, many aspects to the answer. Try reading this:
[https://www.cloudynights.com/documents/Understanding%20Resolution.pdf](https://www.cloudynights.com/documents/Understanding%20Resolution.pdf)
The finest, largest telescopes on Earth can’t resolve the Apollo lunar landing sites on the Moon. You use the word “infinitely”… an infinitely large telescope might let you do what you want, but that’s not realistic. They’re presently working on the ELT, the Extremely Large Telescope, which has an aperture of 39.3 meters, or 128 ft 11 inches. Telescopes can also be joined together to make what’s known as an interferometer, basically creating a telescope with an aperture of the distance between the two scopes. Timing between the two scopes must be very precisely monitored as the data from the scopes is married. The largest synthetic aperture interferometer on Earth is the Event Horizon Telescope, which marries radio telescopes around the world, basically creating a “telescope” with an aperture the same as the Earth’s diameter. The Event Horizon Telescope is what was used to image the supermassive black holes in M87 galaxy and at Sag A* in the center of our own galaxy. It took years and tons of computing power to compile the images. There’s talk of creating interferometers out in space, with huge separations between receivers. Still wouldn’t be “infinite”.
Dawes Limit ultimately governs resolution. It’s mentioned in the article linked above.
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