WEBVTT - Can I see the stuff astronauts left on the moon?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff from how Stuff Works dot com

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<v Speaker 1>where smart Happens. Hi Am Marshall Brain with today's question,

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<v Speaker 1>is it possible to use a telescope to see the

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<v Speaker 1>stuff that people left behind on the Moon during the

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<v Speaker 1>moon landings. In order to answer this question, we need

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<v Speaker 1>to understand something about the resolving power of a telescope.

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<v Speaker 1>The best telescope available today is the Hubble Space telescope.

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<v Speaker 1>It has a resolving power of about zero point one

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<v Speaker 1>arc seconds. The Hubble telescope would have something like fifteen

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<v Speaker 1>centimeter resolving power if it were pointed at something on

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<v Speaker 1>the Earth, like the Statue of Liberty. Fifteen centimeters is

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<v Speaker 1>about half a foot. The Moon is about a thousand

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<v Speaker 1>times further away from the Hubble Space telescope than the

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<v Speaker 1>Earth is. That means that if you pointed the Hubble

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<v Speaker 1>at the Moon, it would have about a underd and

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<v Speaker 1>fifty meter resolution. At that resolution, a football stadium occupies

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<v Speaker 1>just one or two pixels in the image. That means

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<v Speaker 1>that there would be no way to discern the lunar

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<v Speaker 1>excursion module or any of the other equipment left on

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<v Speaker 1>the Moon. It's just too small to pick up. Even

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<v Speaker 1>with the world's best telescope. Be sure to check out

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