Why are some radio telescopes built in radio quiet zones?

Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

Radio telescope Lovell Telescope, a fully steerable radio telescope at Jodrell Bank, Macclesfield, Cheshire, England.

Radio telescopes are built in radio quiet zones to protect them from man-made radio frequency interference.1

Because cosmic radio sources are extremely weak, they can be easily masked by terrestrial emissions, such as those from communication devices or other electronic equipment. To ensure the sensitivity required to measure these faint signals, astronomers must take great care to isolate the instruments from human-generated noise. By placing telescopes in designated radio quiet zones, researchers can minimize this interference, allowing for more accurate observations of extraterrestrial phenomena.1