Telescope Resolution: Sharper Eyes

Name: ________________________________ Section: __________ Date: __________

Station: __________ Group members: ________________________________________________

Goal: Use the demo to make a claim supported by (1) at least one number/readout and (2) at least one sanity check.

Station card: Telescope Resolution (6–8 minutes) Artifact: a “can this telescope resolve it?” card.

Choose:

• one telescope preset,
• one wavelength (UV/Visible/Near-IR/Mid-IR/Radio),
• one binary separation that is “marginal.”

Record:

• the resolution (arcsec),
• the resolved/marginal/unresolved status,
• one sentence explaining why (link to $\lambda$ and $D$, optionally atmosphere).

Word bank + sanity checks Word bank:

• Resolution (diffraction limit): the smallest angular separation a telescope can distinguish.
• Aperture $D$: bigger $D$ → better (smaller) diffraction limit.
• Wavelength $\lambda$: longer $\lambda$ → worse (larger) diffraction limit.
• Seeing (atmosphere): turbulence can blur images beyond the diffraction limit; AO can partially correct.

Key relationship (diffraction-limited scaling):

$$\theta \propto \frac{\lambda}{D}$$

Sanity checks:

• Increasing $D$ should decrease the resolution number (better detail).
• Increasing $\lambda$ should increase the resolution number (worse detail).
• With “Include Atmosphere” on, the limit may stop improving unless AO is enabled.