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What Can a 100m Optical Telescope in Space See?

-- David Sakho | May 9, 2021

Question:

Hello,

I’ve been interested in astronomy, space science and space travel since 1976, when the Viking probe landed on Mars and sent back those stunning photos of the Martian surface.

We have had the Hubble Space Telescope since 1990, and it only has a 2.4 metre mirror, but it has sent back many images that have revolutionised our view of the universe. The largest Earth based optical telescope, the Gran Telescopio Canarias, has a 10.4 metre mirror, but of course, the atmosphere places limitations on the clarity of images by even the largest Earth-based scopes.

My question is this: What might we be likely to see if we could construct a telescope with a 100 metre mirror above the Earth’s atmosphere, orbiting, say, 1/3 of the way between Earth and Moon?

-- David Sakho

Answer:

As is the case for larger telescopes operating on the Earth’s surface, a large telescope in space allows astronomers to detect ever fainter objects in the universe. For example, larger optical telescopes allow astronomers to see objects, such as galaxies, which existed at earlier and earlier times in the evolution of the universe. As you point out, optical telescopes on the Earth’s surface suffer from image blur due to the influence of the Earth’s atmosphere. Telescope in space do not suffer from this blurring, so can more easily measure faint objects.

-- Jeff Mangum

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