If the infamous “canals” on Mars that early astronomers thought they saw were an optical illusion caused by the human eye looking through a telescope, then why do people no longer report seeing them when looking at Mars through a telescope today? Or do they?
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Has the design and construction of telescopes simply changed so that the optical effect is no longer possible? Edit: Because it apparently needs...
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The original was posted on /r/space by /u/Romboteryx on 2024-06-26 13:07:28+00:00.

Original Title: If the infamous “canals” on Mars that early astronomers thought they saw were an optical illusion caused by the human eye looking through a telescope, then why do people no longer report seeing them when looking at Mars through a telescope today? Or do they?

Has the design and construction of telescopes simply changed so that the optical effect is no longer possible?

Edit: Because it apparently needs to be clarified, I am obviously referring to the ridiculous globe-spanning canal-networks that people like Percival Lowell claimed to have seen, not the actual geological riverbeds we know today from spaceprobes.