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Does the Earth’s Atmosphere Affect Radio Astronomical Measurements?

-- Greg | June 23, 2025

Question:

How does the weather impact radio astronomy? On the east coast (North Carolina) good clear skies are a commodity for visual astronomy. I have explored the possibility of getting into radio astronomy for those cloudy nights. Thanks for your consideration!

-- Greg

Answer:

To varying degrees radio astronomical measurements are affected by the Earth’s atmosphere, including changes in water vapor content. These effects tend to be more extreme at shorter (less than about 1 cm) wavelengths. A similar question to this blog has been addressed in our response to “Do Radio Sources “Twinkle”?“.

-- Jeff Mangum

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