Why is South Africa a good place for locating telescopes?

Why is South Africa a good place for locating telescopes?

But the town’s far-flung location in an unpopulated, high-altitude, low rainfall dark area makes it one of the best places on earth to observe the universe. Astronomers from around the world are studying the stars through the Southern African Large Telescope, SALT, the southern hemisphere’s giant optical telescope.

What are the advantages of large telescopes?

Larger telescopes gather more light. For professional astronomers, more light being gathered means that suitable image exposures of various objectives can be created more quickly. Being able to get images more quickly means that it can be tasked to more projects in a given period of time.

What did the South African Large telescope discover?

The Southern African Large Telescope (SALT) at the South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO) in Sutherland has discovered a binary star system in The Hourglass Nebula, one of the most famous nebulae captured by the Hubble Space Telescope.

What does the South African Large telescope do?

The SALT telescope collects light from astronomical objects and accurately focuses it onto the telescope focal plane. From there the light proceeds into an optical instrument while the telescope tracks the relative movement of the object across the sky to maximise exposure time.

Why does the Hubble telescope have an advantage over telescopes in South Africa?

The Hubble telescope provides four key advantages over most other optical astronomical facilities: unprecedented angular resolution over a large field, spectral coverage from the near infrared to the far ultraviolet, an extremely dark sky, and highly stable images that enable precision photometry.

What problems do earth based telescopes encounter?

A telescope on the ground has to look through the Earth’s atmosphere to see into space. This is a problem because the atmosphere can blur our images. The air also blocks out light from parts of the electromagnetic spectrum. Parts like x-rays, gamma rays, infra-red and long radio waves.

What are the disadvantages of large telescopes?

Large telescopes can be unwieldy and heavy to transport. Purchase a large scope only after you compare what it weighs to what you can lift and carry easily (whether it be from your house to your yard or from your vehicle to your observing site).

What are the advantages and disadvantages of a reflecting telescope?

The Advantages and Disadvantages of Reflecting Telescopes

• Mirror Advantage. Reflecting telescopes use mirrors instead of lenses to collect light.
• Size Advantage. Because mirrors are easier to construct than lenses, they can be made larger and more durable.
• Cost Advantage.
• Maintenance Disadvantage.
• Surface Disadvantage.

What are the disadvantages of the Hubble Space Telescope?

Disadvantages Of Hubble Space Telescope

• Operating in space. Not surprisingly, operating a telescope that is in outer space can be a hassle.
• Time consuming. Regardless of the work that needs to be done with the Hubble Space Telescope, you can count on a long wait.
• Expensive.
• Repairs are difficult.
• Out of date.

What problems did the Hubble telescope encounter?

Hubble’s main mirror being polished before installation. The edges were polished very slightly too flat, leaving the telescope unable to focus perfectly. We have come to take the excellent performance of the Hubble Space Telescope for granted.

What are the disadvantages of ground based telescope?

Despite the convenience of ground telescopes, they do feature a few drawbacks that space telescopes don’t have.

• Lower Cost. Ground-based telescopes cost about 10 to 20 times less than a comparable space telescope.
• Maintenance Issues.
• Site Requirements.
• Image Quality.
• Deficient Data.

What is a major disadvantage of a space telescope?

Disadvantages. Space telescopes are much more expensive to build than ground-based telescopes. Due to their location, space telescopes are also extremely difficult to maintain. The Hubble Space Telescope was serviced by the Space Shuttle, but most space telescopes cannot be serviced at all.