Thanks!
2007-03-04 17:02:43 · 4 answers · asked by bookworm87 4 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
The main issues are transparency and "seeing". The atmosphere isn't completely transparent, so the less of it you're looking through the better. Atmospheric pollution and water vapour don't help either!
The atmosphere isn't stable - it moves around a lot. Light is refracted by the air, and because the air's moving this causes the image to jump around or shimmer. It's like looking through a heat haze. "Seeing" is a measure of how steady the image in a telescope is.
Light pollution is another problem - the more crud there is in the air, the worse the effects.
2007-03-04 22:18:48 · answer #1 · answered by Iridflare 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Look at the effect of refraction and light pollution. The air bends light and contains particles that divert and absorb light. Optical telescopes have been improved by computer programs that compensate for these distortions. The best is to not have the atmosphere in the way.
2007-03-04 17:08:02 · answer #2 · answered by smartprimate 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The amount of air directly overhead is about equal to 33 feet of clear water. Toward the horizon, it is deeper. As you can imagine, a bit of motion will cause twinkling, wiggling, blurs and jumps of the images of stars, planets, moon and sun. Also, some of the UV and some of the IR is filtered by the air and water vapor.
2016-03-16 04:33:38 · answer #3 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
there is debris in the earths atmosphere. some colors are absorbed by it. it is constantly moving, so you cannot make a morror or lense that is active, maybe someday. We feble creatures have so much to learn
2007-03-04 17:13:38 · answer #4 · answered by jekin 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋