system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: How can someone take a picture of a solar system 50 million light years away, but not a coin sized rock on the surface of the moon.

I recently saw a photo somebody posted of a galaxy 50 million light years away. I have always wondered, why doesn’t he point it at the moon or even a planet 10 light years away and see the surface up close? We might see water or certain organisms. I have yet to see a picture like that in my lifetime. Thanks in advance for the answer.
gpt
a) the star is actively sending out light, it is shining while the surface of a planet only reflects a tiny bit of light back out

b) the star is several million times larger than a rock on a planet, so even if the planet is something "close" like one in Alpha Centauri, the size/distance ratio still favors the star.

c) planets have atmospheres. hard to see through clouds from above (which is part of the reason we send those rovers to mars, to land there and take pics from there)