Suppose you have watched those old videos of Neil Armstrong walking on the moon. In one of the videos, you see him putting up a flag there on the moon.
Now, if you are a beginner in stargazing or astronomy, you might have wondered whether we can see the flag on the moon with a telescope.
How many flags are there on the moon?
So far 6 Apollo missions landed on the moon. With each mission, they planted one flag on the moon. So overall there are 6 flags on the moon at the moment. During the Apollo 6 mission, the flag was knocked over by the exhaust of the module when it was re-launched.
Can you see the Flag on the Moon?
The straight answer to whether you can see the flag on the moon with a telescope is a big NO.
Why can’t you see the flag on the moon with a telescope?
The flag on the moon is just 4 feet long. Now, if you are a reader of TheAlienTech.com, you already know that the telescope aperture is the most important thing. A bigger aperture gives sharp and more detailed images.
In terms of space, the distances are so vast that to look at the smaller objects you will need a really powerful telescope. To see this 4 feet flag on the moon you will need approximately a 200-meter aperture telescope. Building such a massive telescope is not even possible yet with current technology.
Can the Hubble telescope see the flag on the moon?
The Hubble telescope, one of the most popular telescopes from the last two decades has an aperture of only 2.4 meters.
The biggest telescope we have right now in space is the James Webb Space Telescope. The Webb telescope has an aperture of 6.5 meters. The biggest visible light telescope on the earth we have is the Gran Canarias Observatory. It has a primary mirror of 10.5 meters.
Can we see other objects sent on the moon?
There are objects on the moon that are much bigger than the flag such as the lunar rover. The lunar rover is around 3.2 meters long and if you want to see that you will need a telescope that has an aperture of 75 meters.
So overall if you want to see the flag on the moon it is just impossible because of current technology. In the current scenario, looking at a flag on the moon is like looking for a needle on the ground from a commercial plane flying at an altitude of 35,000 feet.
If you want to learn more about stargazing and astronomy then check out other articles on our site.
