# Great Wall from the Moon.
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-wall-from-the-moon/771
**Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports
**Created:** [February 21, 2000, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-wall-from-the-moon/771 "2000-02-21T14:38:00Z")
**Posts on this page:** 7
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@frolix8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/frolix8)
#### Post date: [February 21, 2000, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-wall-from-the-moon/771/1 "2000-02-21T14:38:00Z")
A&E ran a “top 10” about architectural marvels over the weekend, number 2 was the Great Wall. They claimed that it was the only man-made object visible from the moon. When will they ever learn.
[http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2\_092.html](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_092.html)
Some stories just won’t die. I can’t believe A&E doesn’t use a research staff to check out their “facts” before they air them, misinforming another generation.
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### Author:  [@Boris\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boris_B)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2000, 8:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-wall-from-the-moon/771/2 "2000-03-04T08:50:00Z")
Hey, the Great Wall _is_ visible from the moon. Last time I was there, I pointed my trusty 50x telescope at east Asia, and presto, there was the wall.
You’re right though, seeing it with the naked eye would be pretty unrealistic. In the link, the last writer makes the claim that you might be able to see a city from the moon, arguing that a city is a man-made object big enough to form sufficient visual arc. I disagree. A city is a loose, irregular group of relatively teensy objects, which cast shadows on each other, are different colors, etc. Could you see the city? Sure, it would look like a patch of grey, brown, and green, sort of like farmland, or countryside, or a forest in autumn. You just wouldn’t be able to _identify_ it. Which pixel on your screen is the light gray one? No not that one, the one three to the left and one down…
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### Author:  [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2000, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-wall-from-the-moon/771/3 "2000-03-04T13:49:00Z")
Yeah, but at night, if the city had all the lights on…
Isn’t that how come we see only see the stars at night? 'Cause that’s when they turn on the lights to party? … the brighter the star, the bigger the party.
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### Author:  [@Wage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wage)
#### Post date: [March 5, 2000, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-wall-from-the-moon/771/4 "2000-03-05T01:52:00Z")
Never trust A&E, ever. They told the public, in their “Top 100 peopl e of the Century” that George Washington lived in the White House. In 1776. Pwah.
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### Author:  [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)
#### Post date: [March 5, 2000, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-wall-from-the-moon/771/5 "2000-03-05T12:41:00Z")
It is visible from space, though, right? From a Space Shuttle? Or from Mir? Isn’t it? If they painted it bright yellow it might be easier to make out.
* * *
[The Legend Of PigeonMan](http://www.hotkey.net.au/~guanolad/pigeonman/)
- **Shadow of the Pigeon** -
Weirdo of the Night
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### Author:  [@peachfuzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peachfuzz)
#### Post date: [March 6, 2000, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-wall-from-the-moon/771/6 "2000-03-06T00:32:00Z")
paint it yellow, set some lighted torches all up and down it, yeah, that might work.
i did see a picture in a national geographic once, but it said at the bottom “as seen through suchandsuch telescope”
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there is no such thing as a weird human being. it’s just that some people require more understanding than others.
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### Author:  [@Alphagene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alphagene)
#### Post date: [March 6, 2000, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-wall-from-the-moon/771/7 "2000-03-06T04:13:00Z")
> [@](#):
>
> It is visible from space, though, right?
If you read the link given above Guano, you see that a lot of man made phenomena are visible from space. Especially if the orbit is low enough.
Here’s a [corroborating](http://www.heimbaugh.com/science/great.wall.from.space/) site.
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**Gypsy** : Tom, I don’t get you.
**Tom Servo** : Nobody does. I’m the wind, baby.