News for hackers. Stuff that matters.

A comment on Why is the Gaza Strip blurry on Google Maps?. Parent comment

Re:Why is the Gaza Strip blurry on Google Maps? by throwaway894345 on Monday May 17, 2021 @04:33PM (#27188094)
What limits the field of view of these LEO satellites? Why can we not have high resolution images of wider swaths? Is it something like the number of "receptors" on an imaging cell, or would wider angle lenses significantly distort the imagery?
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Why is the Gaza Strip blurry on Google Maps? by Rebelgecko on Monday May 17, 2021 @04:41PM (#27188186)
The curvature of the earth is gonna be a limiting factor for satellites in LEO. IIRC at 500 miles up you can only see (roughly) 1500 miles away. And realistically your range will be less than that because something that far away will be at a very oblique angle, which means more atmosphere in the way and more distortion
[ Parent | on HN ]