95) The objective and the eyepiece of a refracting astronomical telescope have focal lengths of
320 cm and 4.0 cm, respectively. The telescope is used to view Neptune and the final image is
set at infinity. The diameter of Neptune is 4.96 × 107 m, and its distance from Earth at the time
of observation is 4.4 × 1012 m. What is the angle (in milliradians) subtended by the final
telescopic image of Neptune?
A) 0.90 mrad
B) 1.1 mrad
C) 1.3 mrad
D) 1.5 mrad
E) 1.7 mrad
96) Treat the pupil of your eye as a circular aperture of diameter 3.5 mm. Light of wavelength
500 nm is used to view two point sources that are 283 m distant from you. How far apart must
these two point sources be if they are to be just barely resolved by your eye, assuming that the
resolution is limited by diffraction?
97) Even with perfect optics, what is the resolution limit (in radians) of the Hubble Space
Telescope when it is focusing light of wavelength 400 nm? The mirror diameter is 2.4 m.
98) The world’s largest refracting telescope is operated at the Yerkes Observatory in Wisconsin.
It has an objective lens of diameter of 1.02 m. Suppose such an instrument were mounted on a
satellite at an elevation of 300 km above the ground and used to map surface details. If the
telescope is forming images with light of wavelength 550 nm, what is the minimum separation of
two objects on the ground whose separation could be clearly resolved by this lens?
99) What is the minimum distance between two points on the Moon that could be just resolved
by the Keck telescope in Hawaii using a wavelength of 600 nm and having perfect optics? The
diameter of this telescope mirror system is 10 m, and the distance to the Moon is 380,000 km.
100) A camera with a 20-cm diameter lens is recording images using a filter that allows only
light of wavelength 600 nm to pass through.
(a) What is the limit on the angular resolution (in microradians) in this case?
(b) What is the diameter of the minimum-sized features that could be resolved on Mars with this
camera? The distance to Mars at the time is 9.0 × 107 km.