# what man made artifact can be seen from the Moon? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 2, 2018, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-man-made-artifact-can-be-seen-from-the-moon/823909 "2018-11-02T21:16:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2018, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-man-made-artifact-can-be-seen-from-the-moon/823909/21 "2018-11-03T00:13:08Z")
> [@Heracles](#): > > And, inversely, all the large réservoirs such as [Lake Kariba](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Kariba). Not with the naked eye. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2018, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-man-made-artifact-can-be-seen-from-the-moon/823909/22 "2018-11-03T00:16:59Z")
What can be seen on the moon? Cellulite 😉 ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2018, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-man-made-artifact-can-be-seen-from-the-moon/823909/23 "2018-11-03T00:37:36Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > You can barely make out the continents from the Moon. This. As seen from the moon, the Earth is about the size of a US quarter held at arm’s length. The 150 mile wide Aral Sea plain would be like a speck of dust on that quarter. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2018, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-man-made-artifact-can-be-seen-from-the-moon/823909/24 "2018-11-03T01:18:42Z")
Several hasselblad cameras? ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2018, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-man-made-artifact-can-be-seen-from-the-moon/823909/25 "2018-11-03T02:24:50Z")
What wall can be seen from space? [spoiler] [The India/ Pakistan border fence](https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=india+pakistan+border+from+space&tbm=isch&source=iu&ictx=1&fir=zf76oR4twoXq9M%253A%252CeR-f7wY0sQRQwM%252C_&usg=AI4_-kTvz-1O31JfTPSgGPRv3urguZBvkQ&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiv8OaMlLfeAhUkJcAKHUZZCMcQ9QEwBHoECAUQDA&biw=973&bih=529#imgrc=zf76oR4twoXq9M:). It’s so brightly lit up it can be seen from orbit at night. (Probably not from the Moon, though) [/spoiler] ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2018, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-man-made-artifact-can-be-seen-from-the-moon/823909/26 "2018-11-03T02:33:41Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > Our lighting array is pretty visible. I was thinking about from the Space Station. But yeah, from the surface of the Moon, using just regular human vision, Earth is like the size of a dime held out at arms length. You ain’t seeing nothin’. ---
**Author:** ![Chingon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chingon/32/17645_2.png) [@Chingon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chingon)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2018, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-man-made-artifact-can-be-seen-from-the-moon/823909/27 "2018-11-03T03:16:09Z")
Space boots ---
**Author:** ![K2500](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f6c823/32.png) [@K2500](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K2500)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2018, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-man-made-artifact-can-be-seen-from-the-moon/823909/28 "2018-11-03T03:55:44Z")
Probably boot prints as well, and if I recall, a white flag or two. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2018, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-man-made-artifact-can-be-seen-from-the-moon/823909/29 "2018-11-03T05:36:48Z")
The agricultural belts on a few continents. The diminished polar ice cap. > [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > Earth is like the size of a dime held out at arms length. You ain’t seeing nothin’. As **markn+** said, it’s more like a quarter. About 0.03 radians, or 2 degrees, or about four times the diameter of the Moon. I can see “continent size” features on the Moon just fine; with 4x the size, you could see significant detail within continents. ---
**Author:** ![Heracles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heracles/32/487_2.png) [@Heracles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heracles)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2018, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-man-made-artifact-can-be-seen-from-the-moon/823909/30 "2018-11-03T11:33:39Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > I was thinking about from the Space Station. But yeah, from the surface of the Moon, using just regular human vision, Earth is like the size of a dime held out at arms length. You ain’t seeing nothin’. Ah, when you wrote “lighting array”, I thought “the structured cloud of artificial light around high-density metropolitan areas”. Something like [this](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1328467/Spectacular-night-time-photos-Earth-taken-space-station.html). If you’re standing on the Moon and looking at the dark side of Earth, maybe you see some yellowish light ? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-man-made-artifact-can-be-seen-from-the-moon/823909.md?page=1)