The new site testing survey in the Canary Islands' Observatories

The future establishment of large telescopes at the Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos (ORM) has raised the necessity of designing a site-testing campaign, aimed specifically at selecting their emplacements, as well as characterizing correctly the local seeing behaviour and the fluctuations of the turbulent field in the area covered by the observatory.This paper describes the site evaluation programme to be carried out at the ORM during the next four years. The data obtained in this program will improve earlier tests in the critical areas of sub-are sec seeing, the size of the isoplanatic patch, the efecto Caldera and suitability for infrared astronomy, among others.Paper presented at the 11th European Regional Astronomical Meetings of the IAU on New Windows to the Universe, held 3–8 July, 1989, Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain.     

Signals of collective behaviour in atmospheric showers

We discuss collective effects like percolation, quark gluon plasma, or string fusion and their effect on the longitudinal development of high energy showers in Air. It is shown that Iron–Air showers could develop more slowly than expected and produce the observed change in the slope of X_max at the highest energies.     

Night-time location of the auroral oval and mid-latitude thermospheric temperature

The thermospheric response to the energy input into the polar regions can be studied by monitoring the thermospheric temperature at mid-latitudes using optical techniques. During the course of thermospheric temperature measurements at Albany, New York it was noticed that an increase in the auroral oval radius is followed by an increase in the thennospheric temperature.In order to obtain a possible relationship between the mid-latitude thennospheric temperature and the location of the auroral oval (that is in turn related to the energy input into the polar region), a cross-correlation analysis of temperature measurements and the oval radius was done for time lags from 0 to 75 min, at 15 min intervals. The results show that the correlation coefficient ranged between 0.38 and 0.79 for different time lags, with the best coefficient at a time lag of about 45 min, and that for every 1° change in the radius of the oval, the temperature varies by about 137°.     

The NAIRC Solar Instruments for the Observatories and Institutes Outside China Continent

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Solar scintillation and the monitoring of solar seeing

A non-telescopic method of determining the quality of atmospheric seeing is discussed for large angular diameter objects, such as the Sun. In this method the concept of thermodynamic fluctuations is used to relate the observed intensity fluctuations to the r.m.s. angular diameter of the atmospheric seeing cells and telescopic angle of arrival fluctuations. Comparison between the measured r.m.s. cell size and telescopic angle of arrival fluctuations are presented for various degrees of seeing. Cross-correlation coefficients of 0.95 have been measured during such comparisons.Operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc. (AURA), under cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation. Partial support for NSO is provided by USAF under a Memorandum of Understanding with the NSF.     

L' and M' standard stars for the Mauna Kea Observatories Near-Infrared system

We present L ' and M ' photometry, obtained at the United Kingdom Infrared Telescope (UKIRT) using the Mauna Kea Observatories Near-Infrared (MKO-NIR) filter set, for 46 and 31 standard stars, respectively. The L ' standards include 25 from the in-house 'UKIRT Bright Standards' with magnitudes deriving from Elias et al. and observations at the Infrared Telescope Facility in the early 1980s, and 21 fainter stars. The M ' magnitudes derive from the results of Sinton and Tittemore. We estimate the average external error to be 0.015 mag for the bright L ' standards and 0.025 mag for the fainter L ' standards, and 0.026 mag for the M ' standards. The new results provide a network of homogeneously observed standards, and establish reference stars for the MKO system, in these bands. They also extend the available standards to magnitudes which should be faint enough to be accessible for observations with modern detectors on large and very large telescopes.     

Solar seeing and the spatial properties of the five-minute oscillations

A numerical simulation of observations of the spatial properties of the five-minute oscillations is carried out, assuming the oscillations are internal gravity waves excited by granular convection according to the theory of Thomas et al. (1971). The simulation includes the effects of seeing and finite aperture. The details of the simulation are chosen to model the observational method of Frazier (1968a, b). The results show that the peak in the observed power spectrum of the oscillations can occur at a wavelength considerably longer than the true wavelength of the oscillations. In particular, the peak in Frazier's observed power spectra at wavelength 5000 km is consistent with the considerably shorter true wavelength 1500 km predicted by the gravity wave theory.     

Improving the seeing with wide-field adaptive optics in the near-infrared

In this paper, we present simulation results of a ground-layer correction adaptive optics system (GLAO), based on four laser guide stars and a single deformable mirror. The goal is to achieve a seeing improvement over an 8-arcmin field of view, in the near-infrared (from 1.06 to 2.2 μm). We show results on the scaling of this system (number of subapertures, frame rates), and the required number of tip-tilt stars. We investigate the use for GLAO of both sodium and Rayleigh guide stars. We also show that if the lasers can be repositioned, the performance of the adaptive optics can be tailored to the astronomical observations.     

Modelling of seeing effects in extragalactic astronomy and cosmology

Convolution methods for modelling of astronomical seeing effects have been investigated. The advantages and disadvantages of several techniques are discussed, and particular attention is given to the fast Fourier transform (FFT) method. This method is then applied to two classes of problems, the structure of cores of elliptical galaxies, appearance of distant galaxies and the consequences of seeing effects in some cosmological tests. Estimates are presented for dimming of the central surface brightness and changes in the apparent core radius for elliptical galaxies, as well as seeing-induced changes in ellipticity. Modelling of galaxies with stellar nuclei has also been performed. Some consequences of these effects in investigations of dynamics of elliptical galaxies are addressed briefly. The influence of seeing in observational cosmology is discussed in the context of Hubble diagram (m-z) tests. It is shown that inadequate compensation for seeing effects can seriously distort the conclusions in such tests. Some suggestions for future work in this direction are offered.     

On the relation between scintillation and seeing observations of extended objects

In a recent article Seykora (1993) compares measurements of scintillation in the solar irradiance with solar seeing measurements. In this article I interpret the close linear relation which he found in terms of the common theory of atmospheric optics in the presence of turbulence.     

我国天文台及潜在台址所在地区Fried参数γ0的计算与统计分析

用1986-1995年的10年探空气象资料，在塔塔尔斯基模式下，计算了我国天语言台及候选台址所在的10个地区的Fried参数r0。给出了地面、900米、1500米、3000米、5000米各度上的r0年平均值。在3000米高度上冬季丽江视宁度最好，夏季酒泉最好，均达到相应季节定日4301米高度上视宁度水平。     

Simultaneous seeing measurement through the Subaru Telescope in the visible and near-infrared bands for the wavelength dependence evaluation

Stellar images have been obtained under natural seeing at visible and near-infrared wavelengths simultaneously through the Subaru Telescope at Mauna Kea. The image quality is evaluated by the full-width at the half-maximum (FWHM) of the stellar images. The observed ratio of FWHM in the V-band to the K-band is 1.54 ± 0.17 on average. The ratio shows tendency to decrease toward bad seeing as expected from the outer scale influence, though the number of the samples is still limited. The ratio is important for simulations to evaluate the performance of a ground-layer adaptive optics system at near-infrared wavelengths based on optical seeing statistics. The observed optical seeing is also compared with outside seeing to estimate the dome seeing of the Subaru Telescope.     

Cantori, Islands and Asymptotic Curves in the Stickiness Region

The resonant structure near a noble cantorus is found. Islands of stability are located near the gaps of the cantorus. The crossing of the gaps of the cantorus by the asymptotic curves of unstable periodic orbits is shown numerically (non-schematically). We discuss how these structures influence stickiness. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

An Explanation of the Differences Between the Sunspot Area Scales of the Royal Greenwich and Mt. Wilson Observatories,and the SOON Program

Several studies have shown that the sunspot areas recorded by the Royal Greenwich Observatory (RGO) between 1874?–?1976 are about 40?–?50 % larger than those measured by the NOAA/USAF Solar Observing Optical Network (SOON) since 1966. We show here that while the two measurement sets provide consistent total areas for large spots, the impossibility of recording small spots as anything except dots in the SOON drawings leads to an underestimate of small spot areas. These are more accurately recorded by the RGO and other programs that use photographic or CCD images. The large number of such small spots is often overlooked. A similar explanation holds for the RGO umbral areas, which amount to 40 % more than those measured from Mt. Wilson data between 1923 and 1982. The neglected small spots have a much lower photometric contrast. Our explanation suggests, therefore, that the adjustment to spot irradiance blocking at the 1976 transition from RGO to SOON areas is smaller than the almost 50 % correction advocated by some recent, purely statistical, studies.     

Connecting atmospheric science and atmospheric models for aerocapture at Titan and the outer planets

Many atmospheric measurement systems, such as the sounding instruments on Voyager, gather atmospheric information in the form of temperature versus pressure level. In these terms, there is considerable consistency among the mean atmospheric profiles of the outer planets Jupiter through Neptune, including Titan. On a given planet or on Titan, the range of variability of temperature versus pressure level due to seasonal, latitudinal, and diurnal variations is also not large. However, many engineering needs for atmospheric models relate not to temperature versus pressure level but atmospheric density versus geometric altitude. This need is especially true for design and analysis of aerocapture systems. Drag force available for aerocapture is directly proportional to atmospheric density. Available aerocapture “corridor width” (allowable range of atmospheric entry angle) also depends on height rate of change of atmospheric density, as characterized by density scale height. Characteristics of hydrostatics and the gas law equation mean that relatively small systematic differences in temperature versus pressure profiles can integrate at high altitudes to very large differences in density versus altitude profiles. Thus, a given periapsis density required to accomplish successful aerocapture can occur at substantially different altitudes (∼150-300 km) on the various outer planets, and significantly different density scale heights (∼20-50 km) can occur at these periapsis altitudes. This paper will illustrate these effects and discuss implications for improvements in atmospheric measurements to yield significant impact on design of aerocapture systems for future missions to Titan and the outer planets. Relatively small-scale atmospheric perturbations, such as gravity waves, tides, and other atmospheric variations can also have significant effect on design details for aerocapture guidance and control systems. This paper will discuss benefits that would result from improved understanding of Titan and outer planetary atmospheric perturbation characteristics. Details of recent engineering-level atmospheric models for Titan and Neptune will be presented, and effects of present and future levels of atmospheric uncertainty and variability characteristics will be examined.     

Solar Type II Radio Bursts Recorded by the Compound Astronomical Low-Frequency Low-Cost Instrument for Spectroscopy in Transportable Observatories in Brazil

It is well established that solar Type-II radio bursts are signatures of magnetohydrodynamical (MHD) shock waves propagating outward through the solar corona. Nevertheless, there are long-standing controversies about how these shocks are formed; solar flares and the coronal mass ejections (CMEs) are considered to be the most likely drivers. We present the results of the analysis of four solar Type-II bursts recorded between 20 January 2010 and 17 November 2011 by the Compound Astronomical Low-frequency Low-cost Instrument for Spectroscopy in Transportable Observatories (CALLISTO-BR) (in Brazil), which operates in the frequency range of 45?–?870 MHz. For all four solar Type-II radio bursts, which consisted of one event without band splitting and three split-band variants, the outcomes are consistent with those reported in the literature. All four Type-II radio bursts were accompanied by both solar flares and CMEs, which are associated with the impulsive phase of the flares and, very likely, with the acceleration phase of the CMEs.