Tag Archives: observatories

Ground-based telescopes have a fundamental problem that no amount of engineering can fix. They’re trying to observe the universe through Earth’s atmosphere, a constantly moving blanket of air that distorts and blurs incoming light. It’s a little like trying to take a photograph of the bottom of a stream where the water is gently flowing! Space telescopes like Hubble easily …

This article was originally published at The Conversation. The publication contributed the article to Space.com’s Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. Outdoor lighting for buildings, roads and advertising can help people see in the dark of night, but many astronomers are growing increasingly concerned that these lights could be blinding us to the rest of the universe. An estimate from 2023 …