How big of a telescope would you need to resolve the LCROSS impact?
Fuzzy Bear asked:
What will the scale of the impact be? I really haven’t looked into it. I know that resolving small objects on the moon is basically a no-go, but I have no idea about the cloud the impact is going to make. Would you need a super telescope, or would the backyard variety do? If I’m going to be up at 3:30 am I want to make sure I’ll be able to see something. Otherwise I’ll catch it on video later.
If it helps you figure it out, the dust plumes are supposed to be around 6 miles high.
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What will the scale of the impact be? I really haven’t looked into it. I know that resolving small objects on the moon is basically a no-go, but I have no idea about the cloud the impact is going to make. Would you need a super telescope, or would the backyard variety do? If I’m going to be up at 3:30 am I want to make sure I’ll be able to see something. Otherwise I’ll catch it on video later.
If it helps you figure it out, the dust plumes are supposed to be around 6 miles high.
October 10th, 2009 at 7:50 pm
If you are in the U.S. and west of the Mississippi, you might be able to see it with a telescope of at least 10″ of aperture. NASA TV will be doing a live feed and most certainly have video clips after the event.
As for size of the debris cloud after the impact, its going to be be small, maybe 20 - 30 miles on a side (don’t forget, the moon is about 250,000 miles away). The crater it’ll impact is something like 50 miles in diameter, but since its near the moon’s south pole, its profile is going to be foreshortened. Nyx
October 11th, 2009 at 4:11 am
They say 10″ aperture is needed to see anything I will have my 10″ ready-also a friend will man my 6″ as a personal experiment.
Wally wallyrush