Virtual Lab 3

Shayne Rebello

Student Number: 10135757

Experiment

Question 1

Given the height of the ISS astronauts and my calculated r value, astronauts would not be able to pick
out the Rogers Centre from the space station. In order to determine any detail, the object would need
to be at least 817 m in size. As a result, astronauts at this height would likely be able pick out and
discern details about cities, large towns, and large bodies of water.

Although the r value of the Great Wall (0.045) of China seen from the ISS is below my calculated value
of r (489) it is unlikely that astronauts would be able to pick this object out from their position. The
calculated r value is misleading due to the extreme length of the wall and its relatively narrow shape.
The r value makes it seem that the wall should easily be visible but since the wall was only built about 15
m wide it would be difficult to pick this object out from the ISS.

Question 2

Given my calculated value of r , a feature would need to have a surface area of 617943886150 m is size.
Considering the fact that Lake Ontario has an area of 359481600000 m it is unlikely that one would be
able to see such a feature with the naked eye.
Question 3

Given the minimum size object of 786094 m and a 10 m ladder, the moon would need to be magnified
78 609 times.

Question 4

The smallest object that could be seen on Mars from Earth is 111656442m given my calculated value of
r. This implies that a telescope with a magnification of 111656442 x would be needed in order to see a
bush with a 1 m diameter. This magnitude of magnification seems unlikely to be accomplished due to
physical limitation of telescopes and the earths atmosphere. If we assume that the maximum
magnification is 60 x the aperture in inches, we would require a telescope with an aperture of 47 km.
Given the physical limitations of the material this seems to be incredibly difficult to achieve. One must
also consider the effect of the atmosphere and whether a telescope could be designed to deal with its
blurring effect. Alternatively, if we want to create a space telescope one must consider the engineering
and logistical challenges of launching and maintaining such a large piece of equipment.