48 FAQs about Telescopes etc. (The Astronomy Cafe)

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 Back to the Astronomy Cafe - 365 of the most popular questions since 1996. Over 1 million page requests!

 

  1. [Updated]What will be our ultimate limit in seeing distant objects clearly?
  2. Why don't you see stars in the sky in pictures taken from the Moon or outer space?
  3. Is there an Earth-based telescope that can see the things left behind by the Apollo astronauts on the Moon?
  4. If you look at a photo taken from space, the sky is always pitch black. Where did all of the stars go?
  5. How big a telescope would you need to see the Apollo Landing Platform?
  6. Is there a Bed and Breakfast in Santa Fe that has telescopes for the public to use?
  7. What should I expect to see from a rooftop in Manhattan?
  8. What advantage would a telescope on the Moon or Mars have over one on the Earth?
  9. How much of the sky do you actually see each night?
  10. Could we ever see a planet 1 billion light years away?
  11. Do smaller telescopes get displaced by bigger ones after they are built?
  12. What will NASA eventually replace the Hubble Space Telescope with in the next century?
  13. How do astronomers decide where to put an observatory?
  14. Why does a lens make an object look bigger?
  15. Why do some photographs show stars with crosses?
  16. If I were to look at a 10th magnitude star with a big enough telescope, would I be blinded?
  17. Would a telescope let me see more stars in the city and make the view closer to what I see at night in the country?
  18. Is everything you see in a small telescope a part of our Milky Way galaxy?
  19. What is the smallest distance you can see on the Moon with a telescope?
  20. Could the Hubble Space Telescope see a human face from orbit?
  21. What does the angular resolution of the Hubble Space Telescope correspond to in feet or miles?
  22. Does night blindness affect what you will see while star gazing or looking through a telescope?
  23. What are the properties of the human eye as an optical telescope?
  24. How good would the eye have to be to see detail in the Milky Way?
  25. Can you see a quasar in a 10-inch telescope?
  26. Can you warp a spherical mirror into a paraboloid?
  27. Are narrow-band 'light pollution' filters very effective?

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