<blockquote>
  <p>What can a lunar-based telescope do?</p>
</blockquote>

<p>First, you would have no atmospheric distortions to interfere with the viewing.<br>
Second, there would be no atmospheric absorption of ultraviolet or infrared light.<br>
Third, there would be no cloud cover, so viewing can be almost continuous (the sun may interfere).  </p>

<blockquote>
  <p>However, the star should be bright and its distance should not be large.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>I don't know what you reason for saying that, but it is unimportant since the Hubble telescope looks at all the stars.</p>

<p>Disadvantages:<br>
The telescope will need to be self cleaning. There is a lot of dust kicked up when as meteoroid strikes.<br>
An extended manned mission to the moon to set up a large array.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-09-08T10:46:09.290Z
*"There is a lot of dust kicked up when as meteoroid strikes."* I doubt that! Exhaust from rocket engines during landing could be a problem, but if the telescope is uncovered after that, nothing will ever move on the Moon's surface.
LocalFluff
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-09-08T14:17:38.653Z
@LocalFluff Static levitation of lunar dust: http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2005/30mar_moonfountains/ I don't how know big a problem dust'll be, but with it floating meters to kilometers up in sunlight, it'll have to be addressed.
Wayfaring Stranger
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-09-09T01:03:50.273Z
@LocalFluff Here is a meteorite making a 40 m crater. That is a lot of debris kicked up. If it was near the telescope, there could be several cm of dirt on it. http://www.theguardian.com/science/video/2014/feb/24/meteorite-hits-moon-lunar-impact-video
LDC3
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-09-09T11:14:44.703Z
If a meteorite hits a position very close to the telescope and the telescope is working(uncovered), the telescope may be affected.
questionhang
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-09-09T11:56:10.333Z
ps:anybody knows where does the moon's north pole point at? A general position is OK. I asked this question before, but nobody knew.  http://astronomy.stackexchange.com/questions/5900/the-ra-and-dec-of-lunar-poles/5901?noredirect=1#comment5978_5901
questionhang
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-09-07T20:32:21.060Z
2014-09-07T20:32:21.060Z
LDC3
<p>What can a lunar-based telescope do? If the band is ultraviolet and it can do high time sampling exposure, maybe it can be used to get distance for a star with stable pulses. However, the star should be bright and its distance should not be large.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-09-07T13:29:49.537Z
Moon's surface might be a good spot for **large** synthetic aperture arrays: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aperture_synthesis They'd be smaller than what could be achieved in space, but have a naturally stable geometry.
Wayfaring Stranger
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-09-07T13:35:59.483Z
The Chinese Chang'e 3 lander has an ultraviolet telescope and a camera in operation on the Moon right now. Seems to do both cosmological and Solar/Earth science.
LocalFluff
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-09-07T14:47:26.727Z
@Wayfaring the moon-earth distance changes all the time. The effect of an unstable baseline could be removed?
questionhang
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-09-07T14:53:12.613Z
@questionhang I was thinking all scopes on the moon. They'd have the wavelength window advantage of space, with a nice stable footing. Making and earth-moon based synthetic array would present quite a challange.
Wayfaring Stranger
<the-moon><telescope>
What can a lunar-based telescope do?
questionhang
# What can a lunar-based telescope do?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2014-09-07)

What can a lunar-based telescope do? If the band is ultraviolet and it can do high time sampling exposure, maybe it can be used to get distance for a star with stable pulses. However, the star should be bright and its distance should not be large.

**Tags:** the-moon, telescope

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Moon's surface might be a good spot for **large** synthetic aperture arrays: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aperture_synthesis They'd be smaller than what could be achieved in space, but have a naturally stable geometry.  
> **username_2**: The Chinese Chang'e 3 lander has an ultraviolet telescope and a camera in operation on the Moon right now. Seems to do both cosmological and Solar/Earth science.  
> **username_0**: @username_1 the moon-earth distance changes all the time. The effect of an unstable baseline could be removed?  
> **username_1**: @username_0 I was thinking all scopes on the moon. They'd have the wavelength window advantage of space, with a nice stable footing. Making and earth-moon based synthetic array would present quite a challange.  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2014-09-07. Score: 6

> What can a lunar-based telescope do?

First, you would have no atmospheric distortions to interfere with the viewing.  
Second, there would be no atmospheric absorption of ultraviolet or infrared light.  
Third, there would be no cloud cover, so viewing can be almost continuous (the sun may interfere).

> However, the star should be bright and its distance should not be large.

I don't know what you reason for saying that, but it is unimportant since the Hubble telescope looks at all the stars.

Disadvantages:  
The telescope will need to be self cleaning. There is a lot of dust kicked up when as meteoroid strikes.  
An extended manned mission to the moon to set up a large array.

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: *"There is a lot of dust kicked up when as meteoroid strikes."* I doubt that! Exhaust from rocket engines during landing could be a problem, but if the telescope is uncovered after that, nothing will ever move on the Moon's surface.  
> **username_1**: @username_2 Static levitation of lunar dust: http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2005/30mar_moonfountains/ I don't how know big a problem dust'll be, but with it floating meters to kilometers up in sunlight, it'll have to be addressed.  
> **username_3**: @username_2 Here is a meteorite making a 40 m crater. That is a lot of debris kicked up. If it was near the telescope, there could be several cm of dirt on it. http://www.theguardian.com/science/video/2014/feb/24/meteorite-hits-moon-lunar-impact-video  
> **username_0**: If a meteorite hits a position very close to the telescope and the telescope is working(uncovered), the telescope may be affected.  
> **username_0**: ps:anybody knows where does the moon's north pole point at? A general position is OK. I asked this question before, but nobody knew.  http://astronomy.stackexchange.com/questions/5900/the-ra-and-dec-of-lunar-poles/5901?noredirect=1#comment5978_5901  

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