The primary mirror of the Hubble Space Telescope is 2.4 m in diameter. Suppose i

Question

The primary mirror of the Hubble Space Telescope is 2.4 m in diameter. Suppose it is most sensitive to light of wave eng 820 nm. What is the diffraction limited angular resolution of the Hubble Space Telescope? If the HST were used to look at the surface of the Moon, what is the minimum distance between two distinguishable points? (The Moon orbits at a mean distance of 384000 km from the center of the Earth which has a radius of 6380 km, the HST orbits at an altitude of 569 km.) If the HST were used to look at the surface of Jupiter, what is the minimum distance between two distinguishable points? (The orbital radius of the Earth is 150 times 10^6 km, and the orbital radius of Jupiter is 779 times 10^6 km.) If the HST were used to try and find planets around star that was only 20 light years away (very close in astronomical terms), what is the minimum distance between two distinguishable points? (c = 3.00 times 10^8ms^-1) Answer: (a) 4.17 times 10^-7 rad (b) 157 m (c) 262 km (d) 78.8 times 10^6 km (around half the orbital radius of the earth)

Explanation / Answer

Part (a)

angular resolution, theta = 1.22 (lambda/diameter)

=1.22 x 820 x 10-9/2.4 radians

Minimum distance between two distinguishable points = theta x d

=4.16833333x 10-7 x 20 x 365 x 24 x 3600 x 3 x 108m

= 4.16833333x 10-7 x 1.892x1017 m

= 7.886 x 1010 m Answer

It is similar to other parts, except you have to know the concept of light year. 1 light year =distance tavelled by light in a year

(63)

Related Questions

Navigate

• Browse (All)
• Browse T
• Subjects

---

---

Integrity-first tutoring: explanations and feedback only — we do not complete graded work. Learn more.