The Atacama's main advantage for optical telescopes is the stillness of the air, which stops stars twinkling.

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The sites of the planned optical telescopes are near big settlements, making it easy to equip them with electricity and other goodies.

ECONOMIST: Beneath the Southern Cross I stand

The largest optical telescopes on earth can distinguish between things that are separated by about one second of arc (a 1, 296, 000th of the celestial equator).

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Because of the large amount of dust and gas in such galaxies, it is difficult to peer deep into their central regions with optical telescopes.

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This pending move back to planetary science from earth sub-orbit comes on the heels of improvements in pointing systems and instrument technologies that will allow ground-based controllers to fine-tune balloon payloads to include one-meter class optical and infrared telescopes.

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The Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA), currently being built in the Atacama Desert, northern Chile, will enable scientists to observe sub-millimeter radiation waves, giving them a far more detailed picture of the universe than has previously been possible with either optical or infrared telescopes.

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