A spy satellite orbiting 600 km above Earth is supposedly capable of counting individual people in a crowd in visual- wavelength images. Assume that the middle of the visual wavelength band is at 550 nm . Assume an average person has a size of 0.8 m as seen from above. Estimate the minimum telescope diameter that the satellite must carry.

College Physics
11th Edition
ISBN:9781305952300
Author:Raymond A. Serway, Chris Vuille
Publisher:Raymond A. Serway, Chris Vuille
Chapter1: Units, Trigonometry. And Vectors
Section: Chapter Questions
Problem 1CQ: Estimate the order of magnitude of the length, in meters, of each of the following; (a) a mouse, (b)...
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A spy satellite orbiting 600 km above Earth is supposedly capable of counting individual people in a crowd in visual- wavelength images. Assume that the middle of the visual wavelength band is at 550 nm . Assume an average person has a size of 0.8 m as seen from above. Estimate the minimum telescope diameter that the satellite must carry.

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in the question: A spy satellite orbiting 600 km above Earth is supposedly capable of counting individual people in a crowd in visual- wavelength images. Assume that the middle of the visual wavelength band is at 550 nm . Assume an average person has a size of 0.8 m as seen from above. Estimate the minimum telescope diameter that the satellite must carry.

The previous expert used  1,22 instead of 2.06 to convert to angular distance. I thinkn he has to use the small-angular formula.

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