The observatory is useless because of light pollution

People and scientists cannot use China's oldest observatory at night because of light pollution.

The Jinshan Observatory is located on the mountain of Jinjin Mountain on the outskirts of Nanjing City, Jiangsu Province, China, which is the largest observatory in the country.

On March 26, scientists from Tu Son Son Observatory announced that, for a long time, they could not observe stars with the radio telescope at night due to the influence of urban light from the face. land. In addition, air pollution can also be a cause of light from stars that cannot reach the radio telescope at night, Xinhua reported.

Tu Son Son Observatory on Tu Kim Son Mountain,
Jiangsu district, China. (Photo: Xinhua News Agency)

"The pollution of the environment makes it impossible for scientists to use the Tu Kim Son observatory to observe stars from the 80s. The observer cannot see the Milky Way or the Stars, let alone to study the universe, " said Zhang Yang, a staff member working at the station.

Zhang added that space observatories in other urban areas - such as the Shanghai observatory or the national observatory, face similar conditions.

Officials have been looking for new places to relocate Tu Kim Son Observatory since 1999. However, experts fear they will still be unable to observe the universe even when the observatory is moved. A new location.

"In 2006, we began to observe from a location in Hu Di City, Jiangsu Province. But after only 5 years, pollution has negatively affected our observation , " Wang said. Sichao, a researcher of Zi Shan Observatory, said.

Wang said Hu Di city's rapid urbanization caused the sky to glow at night - an unfavorable factor for observing the universe.

"Perhaps we will have to leave our location at Hu Di in less than 20 years. An ideal location must be where we can observe the sky for 50 years , " Wang said.