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Hunter (1989) considers:
1. transparency
2. favourable weather
3. height above
sea lelvel
4. seeing
5. amount of sky visible from the site
6. cost
of using the site
7. cost of transport to the site
8. set-up time
MacRobert (1991) presents his "list of six things that
matter." They are:
1. lights nearby
2. light pollution in the sky itself
3.
how much sky is visible
4. convenience
5. privacy/safety
6. the
location's overall aesthetics.
From Sidgewick (reference incomplete):
1. remoteness from road and rail traffic
2. remoteness from
any urban area, especially in the direction of the prevailing wind, and in
inhabited buildings in the immediate vicinity,
3. absence of all artificial
lights not controllable from the site
4. clear view of the whole stellar
hemisphere
5. protection from the wind
6. surroundings planted with low
vegetation, or at least grassed
Site selection and dew:
To help eliminate dew, you can choose a site less prone to
dewing. As it gets later in the evening, the air cools, gets heavier and sinks
into low-lying areas. The moisture-laden air thus settles into valleys and low
depressions, and dew is likely to form; to avoid this, select a site situated on
the side of a gentle hill.
MacRobert's (1995) suggestions:
Geography is critical. Smooth, laminar airflow is the ideal
sought by observatory siting committees worldwide. The best sites on Earth are
mountaintops facing into prevailing winds that have crossed thousands of miles
of flat, cool ocean. You don't want to be downwind of a mountain; the airstream
breaks up into turbulent swirls after crossing the peak. Nor do you want to be
downwind of varied terrain that absorbs solar heat differently from one spot to
the next. Flat, uniform plains or gently rolling hills extending far upwind can
be almost as good as an ocean for providing laminar airflow. You may learn to
predict which wind direction brings you the smoothest air. | 
