What is the emphasis on the location of the "New Knowledge of Popular Science" Observatory?

The observatory is an important base for human observation of space. From the ancient observatory to the modern observatory with excellent facilities, it is not only a professional astronomical observation place, but also an important window for the public to understand the vast universe.

The observatory that people usually refer to generally refers to the astronomical observation base and astronomical research and analysis center that use ground-based astronomical telescopes to observe various celestial bodies. Astronomical observatories are usually divided into optical observatories, radio observatories and space observatories.

The optical observatory is mainly equipped with astronomical telescopes and other optical astronomical instruments. Astronomers observe, measure and study optical bands through the optical window of the earth's atmosphere, so as to explore and understand celestial bodies and the universe. Radio Observatory is an observatory mainly engaged in radio astronomy, and its equipment is mainly radio telescopes. There are essential differences between the space observatory and the above two traditional ground observatories. It is the general name of aircraft carrying astronomical telescopes or other astronomical observation instruments and equipped with various advanced optical observation systems.

What is the emphasis on the location of the Observatory?

First of all, we need to consider meteorological factors. The particularity of astronomical observation determines that the installation position of the observatory telescope should fully consider the influence of atmospheric conditions. For the optical observation of optical observatory, cloud cover will affect the observable time, atmospheric absorption will weaken the starlight, and the refractive index change caused by the fluctuation of atmospheric temperature and density will affect the quality of the star image.

Secondly, the location of the observation station should be far away from densely populated cities, factories and mines, because city lights will brighten nightglow, dust emitted by factories and mines will increase atmospheric absorption, and radio waves emitted by radio transmitters will affect radio observation. Therefore, many observatories will be built on the mountains, because there are few clouds, low temperature and thin and fresh air, which can avoid the influence of smoke and dust on the observation effect to the greatest extent and meet the observation needs.

The observatory can be built not only on the mountain, but also on the seabed. The observatory built on the seabed mainly observes neutrinos carrying cosmic information. Because neutrinos are extremely penetrating, they are difficult to be captured. Therefore, scientists thought of using seawater to block other particles in the universe, so as to concentrate on observing and capturing neutrinos.

In addition, when choosing the location of the observatory, the living conditions of the staff should be considered to ensure convenient transportation and adequate water and electricity supply.

This paper was scientifically proofread by Wang, a first-level teacher of the high school affiliated to the Second Branch of China Renmin University.