A spy satellite circles the Earth at an altitude of 390 km and carries out surve

Question

A spy satellite circles the Earth at an altitude of 390 km and carries out surveillance with a special high-resolution telescopic camera hav- ing a lens diameter of 22 cm. If the angular resolution of this camera is limited by diffraction, estimate the separa- tion of two small objects on Earth’s surface that are just resolved in yellow-green light (of wavelength 552 nm). A spy satellite circles the Earth at an altitude of 390 km and carries out surveillance with a special high-resolution telescopic camera hav- ing a lens diameter of 22 cm. If the angular resolution of this camera is limited by diffraction, estimate the separa- tion of two small objects on Earth’s surface that are just resolved in yellow-green light (of wavelength 552 nm).

Explanation / Answer

Use Rayleighs criterion    1.22 = Dsin         where D is the diameter of the lens 1.22 = D y / L y = 1.22 L / D
       = 1.22 * 552 x10-9 * 390 x 103 / 0.22 =         = ____meter

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