• By Nancy Grace Roman Looking through the atmosphere is like looking through a piece of old stained glass. • The glass has defects that distort the image. • The atmosphere also has defects that distort the image, but the defects in the atmosphere move, thus blurring the image as well. • The glass is colored, so only some colors get through. • Until the mid-20th century, that did not appear to be a major problem. • Stars primarily radiated like black bodies, and their temperatures were such that their radiation came through the atmosphere and our eyes adapted to seeing it.

Article Summaries:

  • By Nancy Grace Roman Looking through the atmosphere is like looking through a piece of old stained glass. The glass has defects that distort the image. The atmosphere also has defects that distort the image, but the defects in the atmosphere move, thus blurring the image as well. The glass is colored, so only some colors get through. Until the mid-20th century, that did not appear to be a major problem. Stars primarily radiated like black bodies, and their temperatures were such that their radiation came through the atmosphere and our eyes adapted to seeing it. The development of radio astrono

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