# Can we see the American flag on the moon from the earth ? (pic ? ) **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 12, 2002, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-see-the-american-flag-on-the-moon-from-the-earth-pic/131946 "2002-10-12T11:17:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![trader\_of\_shots](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/aeb1de/32.png) [@trader\_of\_shots](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/trader_of_shots)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2002, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-see-the-american-flag-on-the-moon-from-the-earth-pic/131946/1 "2002-10-12T11:17:03Z")
Is it possible to see the American flag that was planted on the moon from earth ?? Does anyone have any photos ? Is there any reason why we can not ??? ---
**Author:** ![trader\_of\_shots](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/aeb1de/32.png) [@trader\_of\_shots](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/trader_of_shots)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2002, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-see-the-american-flag-on-the-moon-from-the-earth-pic/131946/2 "2002-10-12T11:25:01Z")
I think the answer is …probably … but they choose not too. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2002, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-see-the-american-flag-on-the-moon-from-the-earth-pic/131946/3 "2002-10-12T12:18:36Z")
Er - no way. The moon is roughly a quarter of a million miles away. The flag is maybe a couple of feet across. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2002, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-see-the-american-flag-on-the-moon-from-the-earth-pic/131946/4 "2002-10-12T12:35:37Z")
Think of the view you have from an airplane of the ground. The roofs of houses are tiny specks; a flag spread out on the roof of a house couldn’t be seen. That’s at a distance of 35,000 feet. The moon is about 1,320,000,000 feet away. That’s almost 38 _thousand_ times as far away as your airplane is from the ground. So, no. - Rick ---
**Author:** ![trader\_of\_shots](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/aeb1de/32.png) [@trader\_of\_shots](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/trader_of_shots)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2002, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-see-the-american-flag-on-the-moon-from-the-earth-pic/131946/5 "2002-10-12T12:51:17Z")
I am looking at some huble information It can make out fine details on a “quarter” 10 miles away The hubble to the moon at there cloest path are 238,500 miles no idea how big a quarter is … an inch ? 2.5 cm ? ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2002, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-see-the-american-flag-on-the-moon-from-the-earth-pic/131946/6 "2002-10-12T13:11:15Z")
From the [The Official NASA Hubble Telescope FAQ’s](http://hubble.gsfc.nasa.gov/faq.html): > [@](#): > > \*\*Can Hubble see man-made objects on the moon? > \*\* > There are a couple of problems with HST viewing things on the moon: > > 1. Size: An object on the moon 4 meters across, viewed from HST, would be about 0.002 arcsec in size. The highest resolution instrument currently on HST is the FOC, at 0.014 arcsec. That would work out to being able to resolve something about 300 ft arcorss on the moon. So anything we left on the moon cannot be resolved in any HST image. It would just appear as a dot – except see next point. > > 2. Motion of the moon: The HST pointing system is designed to hold it quite motionless relative to the distant stars – but the Moon isn’t. In 1 second of time, the moon moves over 0.5 arcsec. The shortest exposure time any of the HST instruments offers is 0.1 sec – so an object we left on the Moon would appear more blurry. ---
**Author:** ![Papermache\_Prince](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f05b48/32.png) [@Papermache\_Prince](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Papermache_Prince)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2002, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-see-the-american-flag-on-the-moon-from-the-earth-pic/131946/7 "2002-10-12T13:23:05Z")
As to “choosing not to” use the Hubble to view the moon - Astronomers submit far more proposals than can be done. Why spend limited, expensive research time for a meaningless task? Would those who doubt the validity of the Apollo missions change their minds if Hubble showed photos, or would they just claim this is another hoax? Cecil’s column on the [moon hoax](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mmoonhoax.html). ---
**Author:** ![RM\_Mentock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@RM\_Mentock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RM_Mentock)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2002, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-see-the-american-flag-on-the-moon-from-the-earth-pic/131946/8 "2002-10-12T13:23:14Z")
Which Hubble information are you looking at? Is it online? Just being able to _see_ a quarter at 10 miles would be a resolution of .00001 arcseconds (let’s see, 1 inch divided by 238500 miles times 180/Pi…that checks), whereas [this site](http://oposite.stsci.edu/pubinfo/HSToverview.html) says the Hubble can go down to .0072 arcseconds resolution. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2002, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-see-the-american-flag-on-the-moon-from-the-earth-pic/131946/9 "2002-10-12T16:03:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by RM Mentock \* > \*\*…whereas [this site](http://oposite.stsci.edu/pubinfo/HSToverview.html) says the Hubble can go down to .0072 arcseconds resolution. \*\* That’s the pixel resolution (pixel size) of one of the detectors. But the resolution of the image is only as good as the resolution of the telescope, i.e. 0.1 arcsec. By the way, if I did my calculation correctly, at a distance of 10 miles 0.1 arcsec translates to 8mm (1/3 inch). So the Hubble should be able to resolve a quarter 10 miles away as a disc.