Why telescopes are built on mountains?

Most important, putting an observatory on a mountaintop means there’s less air to see through, so the “seeing” is better. On a mountaintop, there’s also less air above you to absorb light from the stars.

At high altitudes, There is less atmosphere to absorb infrared energy, which reveals details about some of the coldest objects in the universe, such as clouds of gas and dust and the disks of dust that give birth to planets. Mountaintops also have unobstructed views of the horizon in all directions.

The reason large telescopes are built on tall mountains or put in space is To get away from the distortion of starlight due to the atmosphere.

Because of atmospheric absorption, X-ray telescopes must be carried to high altitudes by rockets or balloons or placed in orbit outside the atmosphere. Balloon-borne telescopes can detect the more penetrating (harder) X-rays, whereas those carried aloft by rockets or in satellites are used to detect softer radiation.

NASA has shared a stunning image of Mount Everest. The huge mountain ranges appear like shallow ravines in the image taken by astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS).

The largest optical telescopes in the world are the W. M. Keck telescopes On top of the dormant volcano Mauna Kea in Hawaii. At an elevation of 13,800 feet, the Keck telescopes are above much of the cloud cover. The two Keck telescopes each have a diameter of 33 feet!

The ideal locations for modern observatories are Sites that have dark skies, a large percentage of clear nights per year, dry air, and are at high elevations. At high elevations, the Earth’s atmosphere is thinner, thereby minimizing the effects of atmospheric turbulence and resulting in better astronomical “seeing”.

Strongest Telescopes In The World

The earth’s atmosphere absorbs the majority of ultraviolet, X-, and gamma rays, which are all shorter wavelengths than visible light. High energy X- and gamma rays would damage organisms and cells of creatures if they were to reach the earth’s surface directly. Fortunately, the atmosphere protects life on earth.

Although my own radiation detectors only measure gamma dose, there’s no doubt that The dose rate increased markedly at altitude compared to at sea level.

Too bad it is just a thought. Many ask if it is possible to observe through clouds with a telescope. The answer is A clear no.

To explain why they more in-depth, A telescope cannot see through clouds Because it works by reflecting light just like our eyes do. So, if our eyes cannot see through it, a telescope will also be unable to do so. But why? Because clouds contain water droplets, which light cannot easily pass through.

Space telescopes have the advantage of being Above the blurring effects of the Earth’s atmosphere. In addition, there are many wavelengths from the electromagnetic spectrum that do not reach Earth because they are absorbed or reflected by the Earth’s atmosphere.

The zenith (UK: /ˈzɛnɪθ/, US: /ˈziːnɪθ/) is an imaginary point directly “above” a particular location, on the celestial sphere. “Above” means in the vertical direction (plumb line) opposite to the gravity direction at that location (nadir). The zenith is the “highest” point on the celestial sphere.