What is the farthest object which we can get a direct Detailed visual image of using visible light which appears more than just a dot and falls into one of the following categories:
- Planet
- Satellite
- Star
- Asteroids
I think Pluto is the farthest we've imaged visually using New Horizons.
Can the Hubble telescope take detailed images of, say, a star ?
Best Answer
To address your last point, there are several stars of which we have been able to resolve images i.e. see the star as more than just a featureless point. There is a list of these stars on Wikipedia (I love that they put the Sun at the top of the list - true but pedantic :-).
The farthest away of the stars in the list is Epsilon Aurigae at about 2000 light years, so this probably answers the main point in your question.
However there is some ambiguity in your phrase direct visual image. We can detect supernovae in distant galaxies, though they cannot be resolved and appear as a featureless point. I'm guessing you mean to exclude objects like this, in which case Epsilon Aurigae holds the crown.