Is There Really A Telescope That You Can Look Through To See Across The Ocean Into...

[Tanya]

...Europe? I heard this on the news recently and was wondering if it were for real and if anyone actually looked though it.

[suitti]

The surface of the Earth is curved. But there are telescopes and cameras in space, and the entire surface of the Earth is visible from one or another at some time or other.

If you could say more about the news article, the answers might be better. For example, they might have said that such and such telescope has imaged some object, and the resolution is like reading the date on a dime from 5000 miles away. These calculations usually ignore the curve of the Earth. It's an analogy. Analogies always break down. If they don't then they aren't analogies - they're the thing you're talking about.

My ten inch telescope can allow me to see galaxies that are about 100,000,000 light years from the Earth, and there's a quasar over 3,000,000,000 light years away that can be spotted. But the best detail is seen on objects much closer.

Oh, i see. This is an art exhibit, not a functional camera.

But optics that good have been built.

[DisturbedHEAD X-Way]

Its not a telescp[e its a telectroscope and its realllllyyyyy biggggg

[Rob B]

Yes, the Hubble.

Seriously, to use a telescope, you need a direct line of sight. You need to be hundreds of miles above the surface to see Europe from the east coast of the US.

[Jenna]

no, the earth is round so theres definitely no way of looking across the ocean unless by using mirrors placed at spaced intervals across the ocean or by wire or fiberoptics
you would just see ocean

[Fact Hunt]

Originally Posted by Tanya

...Europe? I heard this on the news recently and was wondering if it were for real and if anyone actually looked though it.

I've seen it, and have seen through from the London end of it.

It has been constructed to look like some kind of Victorian gadget.
But in reality, it has a camera, and a screen at each end, which are connected via the internet.
There's no optical connection whatsoever.

[Registered users can see links. ]

[harry]

Jazon is correct. The curvature of the Earth prevents you from seeing anything that far away.

[004]

No, light can't travel over the horizon to someone on the other side. The Earth's gravity isn't strong enough to bend light like that.

[jaxon]

Not with a regular direct line telescope. There is too much of curvature to the earth. Take a globe and get eye level with the east coast of the US looking toward Europe. Can you see Europe? No, Why? The earth is round.

The fiber optic scope that I think you are referring to compensates for the curvature, so in a sense, yes, kinda

[Kelly]

The Earth is curved, so you could never see Europe from across the ocean - unless the telescope was long, curved, and went all the way to Europe.