(a) The planet Pluto and its Moon Charon are separatedby 19,600 km. Neglecting atmospheric effects, should the5.08-m-diameter Mount Palomar telescope be able to resolvethese bodies when they are 4.50×109km from Earth?Assume an average wavelength of 550 nm.(b) In actuality, it is just barely possible to discern that Plutoand Charon are separate bodies using an Earth-basedtelescope. What are the reasons for this?

(a) The planet Pluto and its Moon Charon are separatedby 19,600 km. Neglecting atmospheric effects, should the5.08-m-diameter Mount Palomar telescope be able to resolvethese bodies when they are 4.50×109km from Earth?Assume an average wavelength of 550 nm.(b) In actuality, it is just barely possible to discern that Plutoand Charon are separate bodies using an Earth-basedtelescope. What are the reasons for this?

University Physics Volume 3

17th Edition

ISBN:9781938168185

Author:William Moebs, Jeff Sanny

Publisher:William Moebs, Jeff Sanny

Chapter4: Diffraction

Section: Chapter Questions

Problem 86AP: How far apart must two objects be on the moon to be distinguishable by eye if only the diffraction...

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Similar questions

How far apart must two objects be on the moon to be distinguishable by eye if only the diffraction effects of the eye’s pupil limit the resolution? Assume 550 nm for the wavelength of light, the pupil diameter 5.0 mm, and 400,000 km for the distance to the moon.
Assuming the angular resolution found for the Hubble Telescope in Example 4.6, what is the smallest detail that could be observed on the moon?
A telescope can be used to enlarge the diameter of a laser beam and limit diffraction spreading. The laser beam is sent through the telescope in opposite the normal direction and can then be projected onto a satellite or the moon. (a) If this is done with the Mount Wilson telescope, producing a 2.54-m-diameter beam of 633-nm light, what is the minimum angular spread of the beam? (b) Neglecting atmospheric effects, what is the size of the spot this beam would make on the moon, assuming a lunar distance of 3.84108 m?
A camera uses a lens with aperture 2.0 cm. What is the angular resolution of a photograph taken at 700 nm wavelength? Can it resolve the millimeter markings of a ruler placed 35 m away?
How far apart must two objects be on the moon to be resolvable by the 8.1-m-diameter Gemini North telescope at Mauna Kea, Hawaii, if only the diffraction effects of the telescope aperture limit the resolution? Assume 550 nm for the wavelength of light and 400,000 km for the distance to the moon.
A spy satellite is reputed to be able to resolve objects 10. cm apart while operating 197 km above the surface of Earth. What is the diameter of the aperture of the telescope if the resolution is only limited by the diffraction effects? Use 550 nm for light.
An inventor notices that a soap bubble is dark at its thinnest and realizes that destructive interference is taking place for all wavelengths. How could she use this knowledge to make a nonreflective coating for lenses that is effective at all wavelengths? That is, what limits would there be on the index of refraction and thickness of the coating? How might this be impractical?
For a three-slit interference pattern, find the ratio of the peak intensities of a secondary maximum to a principal maximum.
If a hologram is recorded using monochromatic light at one wavelength but its image is viewed at another wavelength, say 10% shorter, what will you see? What if it is viewed using light of exactly half the original wavelength?
The 305-m-diameter Arecibo radio telescope pictured in Figure 4.20 detects radio waves with a 4.00-cm average wavelength. (a) What is the angle between two just-resolvable point sources for this telescope? (b) How close together could these point sources be at the 2 million light-year distance of the Andromeda Galaxy? Figure 4.20 A 305-m-diameter paraboloid at Arecibo in Puerto Rico is lined with reflective material, making it into a radio telescope. It is the largest curved focusing dish in the world. Although D for Arecibo is much larger than for the Hubble Telescope, it detects radiation of a much longer wavelength and its diffraction limit is significantly poorer than Hubble’s. The Arecibo telescope is still very useful, because important information is carried by radio waves that is not carried by visible light. (credit: Jeff Hitchcock)
Suppose you have a lens system that is to be used primarily for 700-nm red light. What is the second thinnest coating of fluorite (magnesium fluoride) that would be nonreflective for this wavelength?
Check Your Understanding For the experiment described in Example 4.7, what are the two other angles where interference maxima may be observed? What limits the number of maxima?