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The Size of Things, William Maxwell

The Size of Things

The Size of Things, William Maxwell

The Size of Things

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I've been into the size of things lately. Some, like the Andromeda Galaxy or many nebulae, are actually quite large. Others..well, its easy to forget, as we struggle to pull out any detail, how small they are in our sky.

The top image is of a small section of a building 8 miles away with an SCT with a combined focal length of about 3200mm. You can maybe see the whole building with the naked eye, but absolutely no detail at all. I've pointed it out to people and they have problems even finding it even though it stands out from its surroundings.

Below that is Mars taken with the same exact setup. OK, Mars isn't at its closest, but its not at its farthest either.

Its rather astonishing we can get any detail at all on these smaller targets. Its easy to be disappointed when we don't get more, but in perspective its rather surprising we can get any at all.

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The Size of Things, William Maxwell

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