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My first reaction to this wondering how long before the face of the moon is deformed to an extent visible from earth. Did anyone else feel that way too?

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
polishdude20 5y ago
Probably not for a long time. We can't even see human made structure on the earth from orbit let alone the moon. Except lights at night.
- fennecfoxen 5y ago
  We totally can. But the moon is a lot further away.
  - jessriedel 5y ago
    What structures?
    - fennecfoxen 5y ago
      https://www.nasa.gov/vision/space/workinginspace/great_wall.html https://www.nasa.gov/vision/space/workinginspace/great_wall....
      - jessriedel 5y ago
        That's about seeing things in photographs taken from space, not things seen with the naked eye. Like, we've all seen satellite reconnaissance photos, so we know those can see lots of important stuff.
    - markwkw 5y ago
      Astronauts can reportedly see highways, airports, dams with a naked eye from orbit.
      - jessriedel 5y ago
        Do you have a link to those reports? Highways strike me as improbable. Visibility requires thickness in 2 directions, so if they could see highways I'd expect them to see tons of stuff, like wharehouses.
- rhn_mk1 5y ago
  You can't see single buildings from low Earth orbit with the naked eye, but human influence can cover huge areas. There are artficially constructed lakes. For example: > On completion, the reservoir flooded a total area of 632 km2 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Gorges_Dam#Floods,_agriculture,_industry https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Gorges_Dam#Floods,_agric...
  - polishdude20 5y ago
    Oh yeah that's true. Probably hard to do that on the moon though :)
pkaye 5y ago
Even with the largest optical telescope being planned, the man made object on the moon would have to be pretty big to see. It would probably have to be a few hundred feet in size.
JoeAltmaier 5y ago
Covered in The Tick
BurningFrog 5y ago
As civilization spreads to space, it will be visible. Let's hope we don't treat the Moon like San Francisco, where you (sometimes) can only construct buildings that don't cast a shadow.

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

polishdude20 5y ago

Probably not for a long time. We can't even see human made structure on the earth from orbit let alone the moon. Except lights at night.

fennecfoxen 5y ago
We totally can. But the moon is a lot further away.
- jessriedel 5y ago
  What structures?
  - fennecfoxen 5y ago
    https://www.nasa.gov/vision/space/workinginspace/great_wall.html https://www.nasa.gov/vision/space/workinginspace/great_wall....
    - jessriedel 5y ago
      That's about seeing things in photographs taken from space, not things seen with the naked eye. Like, we've all seen satellite reconnaissance photos, so we know those can see lots of important stuff.
  - markwkw 5y ago
    Astronauts can reportedly see highways, airports, dams with a naked eye from orbit.
    - jessriedel 5y ago
      Do you have a link to those reports? Highways strike me as improbable. Visibility requires thickness in 2 directions, so if they could see highways I'd expect them to see tons of stuff, like wharehouses.
rhn_mk1 5y ago
You can't see single buildings from low Earth orbit with the naked eye, but human influence can cover huge areas. There are artficially constructed lakes. For example: > On completion, the reservoir flooded a total area of 632 km2 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Gorges_Dam#Floods,_agriculture,_industry https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Gorges_Dam#Floods,_agric...
- polishdude20 5y ago
  Oh yeah that's true. Probably hard to do that on the moon though :)

pkaye 5y ago

Even with the largest optical telescope being planned, the man made object on the moon would have to be pretty big to see. It would probably have to be a few hundred feet in size.

JoeAltmaier 5y ago

Covered in The Tick

BurningFrog 5y ago

As civilization spreads to space, it will be visible. Let's hope we don't treat the Moon like San Francisco, where you (sometimes) can only construct buildings that don't cast a shadow.