The atmosphere above a telescope is an important factor in how much of the sky an astronomer can see. For this reason, observatory locations are chosen carefully. Elevated, deserted and remote areas are generally preferred.
Now, a team of scientists led by the University of Bern and the National Center of Competence in Research (NCCR) PlanetS has investigated how climate change could affect astronomical observation.
“Although telescopes typically have lifetimes of several decades, site selection processes only take into account atmospheric conditions over a short period of time. Typically over the past five years, too short to capture trends in the long term, let alone future changes caused by global warming,” explained lead study author Caroline Haslebacher.
The research shows that observatories in Hawaii, the Canary Islands, Mexico, Chile, South Africa and Australia will likely experience increases in temperature and atmospheric humidity by 2050. These changes could make observing the cosmos more difficult.
“Nowadays, astronomical observatories are designed to operate in the current conditions of the site and have only a few possibilities of adaptation. Therefore, the possible consequences of the telescopes’ climatic conditions include an increased risk of condensation due to an increase in the dew point or a malfunction of the cooling systems, which can lead to more turbulence of the air in the dome of the telescope,” Haslebacher said.
This problem was not something that was overlooked, scientists say, but the technology available did not allow for climate change to be taken into account when many observatories were built.
“This is the first time that such a study is possible. Thanks to the higher resolution of the global climate models developed through the Horizon 2020 PRIMAVERA project, we were able to examine conditions in several places around the world with high fidelity, which we couldn’t do with conventional models. These models are valuable tools for the work we do at the Wyss Academy,” said study co-author Marie-Estelle Demory.
“This allows us now to say with certainty that anthropogenic climate change must be taken into account in site selection for next-generation telescopes and in the construction and maintenance of astronomical facilities,” said Haslebacher.
The study is published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics.
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By Erin Moody, Earth.com writer