What is the minimum size of a mirror that can allow you to see your whole image?

J

jamie s

New member
It can be small, yes, but not infinitely small since reflection of light needs to take place. Keep in mind the farther you get from the mirror, the more precisely it needs to be angled to see your reflection and you would need some magnification to see the mirror from a greater distance. The curvature of the earth would work against this, so you would have to have the mirror in space along a linear path....precisely angled...taking into account the orbit of the earth around the sun.....sounds complicated :P. I am sure NASA deals with things similar to this to maintain contact with probes
 
Well I have this hypothesis that the mirror can be as small as it can be... as long as you're far enough... you'll still be able to see your whole image. Any thoughts?
 
It can be small, yes, but not infinitely small since reflection of light needs to take place. Keep in mind the farther you get from the mirror, the more precisely it needs to be angled to see your reflection and you would need some magnification to see the mirror from a greater distance. The curvature of the earth would work against this, so you would have to have the mirror in space along a linear path....precisely angled...taking into account the orbit of the earth around the sun.....sounds complicated :P. I am sure NASA deals with things similar to this to maintain contact with probes
 
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