How do land based telescopes differ from telescopes in space????

[dbzzx]

I was wondering what the difference is between land and space based telescopes. What makes them different from eachother??

[Sisyphus]

The principles behind them are the same, but there are advantages to each. Land-based telescopes are bigger, cheaper, and easier to maintain, for obvious reasons. Space-based telescopes, however, have the huge advantage of not having to look through the Earth's atmosphere, meaning they can get much clearer pictures and much less interference.

[dbzzx]

Thats the only difference? Cant they see more into the galaxy like the hubble can see more into the galaxy then land based ones right?

[Cap'n Refsmmat]

Indeed. However, there are fancier, newer land-based telescopes with arrays of smaller mirrors that can be adjusted to compensate for the atmosphere's effect. This means that a land-based telescope could be just as good as any space-based one, although the technology is still developing.

[dbzzx]

What can it see that a land telescope cant see though? I heard something about how stars are born and how they die..

[swansont]

Another advantage of being in space is that the atmosphere tends to filter out large bands of the EM spectrum, so you can observe fequencies/wavelengths with a space-based telescope that you can't see on the ground.

[dbzzx]

Thanks for all the information, i understand it better now:-)