[Physics] How big would the telescope have to be if I wanted to see the Mars rover from the backyard

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I imagine that with a big enough telescope, I would be able to zoom in and see the Mars rover in enough detail to make out the details (like the wheels, cameras, etc.). How large would the telescope have to be? (or how can I calculate this value?)

Best Answer

Telescope resolution is all about apparent angles. From the sounds of it, the lowest resolution you'd settle for would be something capable of resolving about $1 \operatorname{cm}$ objects, right? Well, the distance between the Earth and Mars varies, depending on the time of year, from around $0.5\operatorname{AU}$ to $2.5\operatorname{AU}$ ($7.5\times 10^{10} \operatorname{m}$ to $3.7\times 10^{11} \operatorname{m}$). At those distances, a $1$ centimeter object subtends an angle of $$\theta = \frac{s}{d},$$ which is $1.5\times 10^{-13}\operatorname{rad}$ to $2.7\times 10^{-14}\operatorname{rad}$.

The resolution of a circular telescope is given by the formula $$\theta = \frac{1.22\lambda}{D}.$$ So, assuming you're using visible light, with $\lambda \approx 500\operatorname{nm}$, to resolve those $1$ centimeter objects it would require telescopes with a diameter of $D=4.6\times 10^6\operatorname{m}$ to $7.4\times 10^7\operatorname{m}$. For reference, the diameter of Earth is about $1.3\times 10^7\operatorname{m}$.

Note that the sheer size is only one of the challenges. In order to achieve this theoretical resolution you would need the surface of the mirror to have the correct shape everywhere to within about a wavelength of light. In other words, this Earth-sized mirror could not have any imperfections larger than about $500\operatorname{nm}$. To see some of the information related to getting ordinary lenses and mirrors correct to this level see the Wikipedia article on optically flat.