Final answer:
When a photograph is blown up to a larger size, no additional detail is revealed; magnification alone does not enhance detail. Magnification and angular resolution work together in telescopes, but limits such as lens quality and atmospheric conditions can impact the observable details. Enlarging an image too much can lead to pixelation.
Step-by-step explanation:
The correct answer to the question of what happens if you take a photograph and blow it up to a larger size is No, because magnification does not affect detail. When you enlarge a photo, you are increasing its size, not its detail. This concept is closely related to magnification and angular resolution in astronomy. Magnification makes an object appear larger but doesn't by itself increase the amount of detail. Angular resolution, on the other hand, refers to the smallest angle over which details can be distinguished. An image with high angular resolution will have finer details visible. When an image is enlarged too much, it may lose clarity and exhibit pixelation, which indicates that you are beyond the resolving power of the image. This is similar to what happens in telescopes as well, where increasing the magnification doesn't necessarily mean more details if the resolution isn't high enough to support that level of detail.
Astronomical observations benefit from telescopes with greater angular magnification and higher resolution, as these instruments can make distant objects appear closer and clearer. However, the limits to observable details are often determined by the quality of the lenses, atmospheric disturbances, and the numerical aperture of the instrument, among other factors. In the context of cameras, optical zoom maintains resolution while digital zoom may result in pixelation if the resolution is not high enough.