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Why do dry locations improve submillimetre radio telescope observations?
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Radio telescope
Lovell Telescope, a fully steerable radio telescope at Jodrell Bank, Macclesfield, Cheshire, England.
Dry locations are essential for submillimetre radio telescope observations because they minimize the interference caused by Earth's atmosphere.
At submillimetre and millimetre wavelengths, incoming signals are highly susceptible to absorption and distortion by water vapour and oxygen present in the air. By situating telescopes at very high, dry elevationsāsuch as the summit of Mauna Kea or the Atacama Desertāastronomers can significantly reduce these atmospheric effects.123
For radio telescope arrays, operating in these environments is particularly critical to minimize phase distortions of signals as they propagate through the atmosphere, which otherwise makes high-precision observations extremely difficult.3