Telescopes and Detectors
Telescopes and the Discovery of the Universe
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The Anglo Australia Telescope, Coonabarabran NSW. (c) AAO

Ground-Based Telescope Limitations

Although ground-based telescopes have revealed much over their nearly 400-year history, there are limits to how much we can see with them. Cloud cover, water vapour, gas molecules and dust in the atmosphere block and filer out some incoming radiation. Turbulence in the atmosphere distorts incoming radiation. Weather, daylight and light pollution interfere with telescope observations.

Ground based telescopes are affected by:

  1. material in the atmosphere that blocks some radiation
  2. material in the atmosphere that filters some radiation
  3. turbulence that distorts radiation
  4. weather which hampers observations
  5. daylight and light pollution which swamps the light from distant objects
  6. all of the above
Choose the best answer and then click the Check button.