A Telescope in the Sky

Have you ever looked at something through the hot air above a burning fire or stove? If you have, or if you have looked across the countryside on a hot summer day, you will have seen that everything appears to be shimmering like the ripples on a pool of water.

When we look through a telescope this movement of the air is greatly magnified, and makes the view of a star or planet very unsteady. The twinkling of a star is caused by the same thing. It makes clear, sharp views of the moon, planets and stars impossible.

This is the reason why some astronomers and scientists are hoping that a fairly large telescope may be sent into space above the thick lower layers of the atmosphere. Already, telescopes have been sent up to a great height in balloons, and even in this way the photographs which have been taken with them have shown that the upper air is much clearer than the dense layers near the ground.

When a telescope can be sent into space, above the air, it will have a better chance of taking clear photographs of the sun, moon, planets and stars. Many scientists think that this would be a much better plan than taking all the trouble needed to send a man into space.