LimerickJim

LimerickJim t1_jefo49z wrote

This article actually doesn't provide enough technical information to answer this. I would need to know the operational frequency and the specifics of the telescope lens set up to answer.

The term you want to think about for what this telescope can see is resolution. How small an object can the telescope see through it. This is given in terms of solid angle. The closer an object is (over the minimum resolution distance) the smaller the telescope can resolve. An object in orbit can be size x, an object on the moon has to be larger than x, near mars larger still.

An added complication is brightness and interference. The atmosphere scatters a lot of light coming in so if an object isn't reflecting (or emitting) sufficient light the light that it does reflect will be scattered before it reaches the telescope.

This is further complicated by the sensing frequency. The magnification provided by a telescope is directly related to the wavelength of light that it is built to observe. The simplest designs look in the visible spectrum and your eye is the sensor but there are things you can only see at IR or UV wavelengths. There are stars a 30 m IR scope will see that a 30 m visual spectrum telescope can't.

There are other complications like weather, solar conditions, the lunar calendar etc., that also effect but we tend to focus on "ideal conditions".

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LimerickJim t1_jefkx3t wrote

This article is about an agreement with the indigenous population to remove several existing telescope sites (these telescopes aren't really needed any more) to place this one. Astronomers at the University of Hawaii had been dicks about the cultural importance of the site until the beginning of these talks during Covid.

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