[dutchiexx (OP)]

i am under the impression that we currently use lens's to distort and bend light in such a way that the light becomes more organized for us to make out the image. by the way, im talking about space telescopes used for seeing vast distances through space , not the average camera.
it is my understanding that light travels in a strait path unless the gravity of a bulk of mass distorts the space around it, causing the light to bend with distorted space, correct?
if this is true, then it would be possible to work out the math involved in calculating the distortion of light particles given we know all the variables between us and the source of the light we wish to observe, right?
if this is all true, then wouldnt it be possible for programmers and engineers to work together and create a device that can detect each light particle and then have a program that allows you input the variables for it to calculate, thus, allowing this device to digitally reconstruct the light is receives into a crystal clear image?
something like this would allow us to examine every single detail of something that is even millions of light years away.
in theory, we could find a needle on the surface of a planet that is 20 million light years away with crystal clear resolution lol.
hell, with a device like this, we could even possibly watch past events of millions of years ago in real time due to the fact that the light takes time to reach us.

i am positive that i am overlooking something, if it was this simple to do such task, then im sure we would be doing it lol.
so what is stopping us from seeing into the farthest part of the cosmos with crystal clear details?

[RD]

it is my understanding that light travels in a strait path unless the gravity of a bulk of mass distorts the space around it, causing the light to bend with distorted space, correct?
... something like this would allow us to examine every single detail of something that is even millions of light years away.

"As gravitational lenses [can] function as magnification glasses ... it is possible to use them to study distant galaxies from the early Universe, which otherwise would be impossible to see."

[evan_au]

what is stopping us from seeing into the farthest part of the cosmos with crystal clear details?

There are cryogenically-cooled detectors that come very close to counting every photon that strikes them (eg 80% of the photons).

The detail you may not have considered is called the "diffraction limit".
- Photons are not tiny points, they have a wave-like characteristic.
- Photons diffract around the edges of the lens/telescope to make the landing point of the photon a little bit fuzzy
- You can reduce this fuzziness by making the lens much bigger (eg 1 km across)
- You can avoid the Earth's atmospheric distortion and clouds by putting the telescope in space
- But you still have to deal with atmospheric distortion and clouds on the planet you are observing.

I heard an advanced concept from NASA that you could inject a cloud of reflective particles into space, and form them into the shape of a mirror using photon pressure from laser beams. This could make an enormous telescope, thousands of km across. Of course, if a spacecraft ran into this cloud of dust, it might turn into a very bad day for them! 

See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diffraction-limited_system

[evan_au]

we currently use lens's to distort and bend light in such a way that the light becomes more organized for us to make out the image. by the way, im talking about space telescopes

The problem with a lens is that it is thicker at the center.

And if you try to make a lens that is (say) 3 meters in diameter, the center of the lens is very thick. This means:
- It is very heavy, so it is expensive and difficult to launch safely into space
- Thick glass absorbs a lot of light, so the image is not as bright
- Glass absorbs certain wavelengths that you may want to study (like Infra-red or ultra-violet)

In practice, large astronomical telescopes use a big mirror to focus the light, instead of a big lens. It is possible to get aluminum coated mirrors that reflect almost every photon that lands on them.

The reflecting telescope was invented by Isaac Newton.
See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newtonian_telescope