© 2025 Connecticut Public

FCC Public Inspection Files:
WEDH · WEDN · WEDW · WEDY
WEDW-FM · WNPR · WPKT · WRLI-FM
Public Files Contact · ATSC 3.0 FAQ
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

What Could We See with a Planet-Sized Telescope?

Season 13 Episode 6 | 16m 00s

The James Webb Telescope just took a photo of a newly discovered exoplanet. Exciting stuff but the raw image just looks like a small, faint dot—not a fully detailed world. The question is, just how big would a telescope need to be to actually see an alien world in detail? Let’s explore diffraction, resolution, wild telescope tech, and one mind-blowing idea that could change everything.

Aired: 05/26/25
Extras
Learn about Elie Wiesel, Holocaust survivor and Nobel Peace Prize-winning author of Night.
Elie Wiesel vowed to always speak up whenever people were enduring suffering and humiliation.
In "Night," Elie Wiesel recounts a memory of witnessing three victims being hung.
Before meeting his wife Marion, Elie Wiesel "shunned love" and didn't see himself having children.
Elie Wiesel reunited with his sister in France.
An editor’s journey through vision loss and the power of reinvention.
Can Eliza have it all? Season 6 premieres on Sunday, January 11, 2026 at 8/7c.
Bombshell explores how the US manipulated the narrative about the toll of the WWII atomic bombings.
Appraisal: 1982 Ms. Pac-Man Collection
Appraisal: Candy Containers, ca. 1910
Latest Episodes
All
  • All
  • Be Smart Season 13
  • Be Smart Season 12
  • Be Smart Season 11
  • Be Smart Season 10
  • Be Smart Season 9
  • Be Smart Season 8
  • Be Smart Season 7
  • Be Smart Season 6
  • Be Smart Season 5
  • Be Smart Season 4
  • Be Smart Season 3
  • Be Smart Season 2
  • Be Smart Season 1
Think traits like eye color or tongue-rolling are simple genetics? Think again.
Why is the Martian sky red by day… but blue at sunset?
Is autism really on the rise—or are we just recognizing it more?
Seedless fruits are delicious, convenient… and completely unnatural.
What does randomness really mean? And why your digital life depend on it?
Why do we have different blood types? And why do we have blood at all?
How did dinosaurs become birds—and what good is half a wing?
Dire wolves are back—sort of.
The key enzyme behind photosynthesis isn’t actually all that great at its job.
The oldest rocks on Earth are more than just ancient—they’re time machines!