Using a New Sky Brightness Monitor to Observe the Annular Solar Eclipse on 15 January 2010

For the future development of Chinese Giant Solar Telescope (CGST) in Western China, a new sky brightness monitor (SBM) has been produced for the site survey for CGST. To critically examine the performance and sensitivity of SBM, we used it in the observation of the annular solar eclipse in Dali City, Yunnan, on 15 January 2010. The observation met good weather conditions with an almost clear sky during the eclipse. The SBM measurement translates into the solar illuminance changes at a level of 2.4×10^?4 I?s^?1 during the eclipse. The time of the minimal sky brightness in the field of view (FOV) is found consistent with the time of maximum eclipse. Two local sky regions in the FOV are chosen to make a time series of the calibrated skylight profiles. The evolution of the sky brightness thus calibrated also shows good consistency with the eclipse, particularly between the second and the third contacts. The minimal sky brightness in each local sky region took place within half a minute from the corresponding predicted contact time. Such small time delays were mainly caused by occasional cirri. The minimal sky brightness measured during the eclipse is a few millionths of I _?? with standard deviation of 0.11 millionths of I _??. The observation supports that the single-scattering process (optically thin conditions) is the main contributor to the atmospheric scattering. We have demonstrated that many important aerosol optical parameters can be deduced from our data. We conclude that the new SBM is a sensitive sky photometer that can be used for our CGST and coronagraph site surveys.     

Sky Brightness Measurements at Haleakala, 1955–2002

Measurements of the brightness of the clear daytime sky at Haleakala, Maui are presented for the interval 1955 through 2002. The observations are made near the direction of the Sun, where forward scattering off aerosols dominates the sky brightness. The Haleakala summit at 3054 m is normally above the inversion layer. The Haleakala sky is dark; the observed brightness per airmass has a median of 10 millionths of the solar disk and a mode of 5 millionths, with Rayleigh scattering contributing 1 millionth. There is no demonstrable long-term trend in the data.     

日晕测量与日晕光度计外缘杂散光抑制试验

为配合大型太阳设备西部选址工作,研制了一架现代日晕光度计(Sky Brightness Monitor,SBM).前期实验对日晕光度计性能进行了测试,同时积累了云南部分址点的日晕数据.资料分析结果显示,轿子雪山正午前后的日晕水平最低可至日面中心强度百万分之几的量级(蓝波段).这表明该日晕光度计内部杂散光水平已达到了国际同类产品的标准.日晕光度计的内部杂散光源主要来自两部分:镜筒前端中性滤光片(ND4)固定套圈的边缘衍射(视场靠内区域)和镜筒内置光阑的边缘衍射(视场靠外区域).针对后者进行的变换光阑孔径大小试验结果证实,适当缩小光阑孔径可有效减小数据中视场靠外区域的衍射光干扰.     

现代日晕光度计多波段测光系统初步测试结果分析

现代日晕光度计是用于精确测定监测址点的多种大气参量的精密仪器,它已列为我国西部太阳设备选址工作中的重要设备。利用同一架日晕光度计首先对昭通大山包进行了多波段数据采集。在仔细分析初步测光结果的基础上,进一步完善日晕光度计的光学系统。使用改进后的设备对昆明凤凰山址点进行了多次数据采集,都获得了理想数据。这表明日晕光度计的多波段测光系统已能够用于西部太阳选址工作中。     

Light pollution and night sky brightness at the site of Kottamia Observatory

Photoelectric measurements of the night sky brightness and the light pollution of Kottamia Observatory have been carried out and the deduced results are expressed in mag/sec². The maximum brightness of the sky in the direction of Cairo city at zenith distance 45° and azimuth 70° when the sun is almost 60° below the horizon are 22.68; 21.54 and 19.82 mag/sec² for blue, yellow and red colours respectively. The corresponding values of night sky background are 22.94; 21.85 and 20.14 mag/sec² respectively.The isophotes of the sky brightness at Kottamia Observatory have been drawn for blue, yellow and red colours. The variations of the night sky brightness and the (B-V) colour index with altitude of the observed point have been studied.The light pollution and the night sky brightness at the site of Kottamia Observatory is compared with that deduced by different investigators at other sites. It has been shown that the sky brightness at zenith distance 45° at Kottamia Observatory site is similar to Kitt Peak and Palomar Observatory sites. Kottamia Observatory site is slightly brighter than Junipero Serra while it is darker than Mount Hamilton and San Jose sites. The comparative results have been carried out at blue and yellow colours. No comparison is obtained at red as there is no data published for the red colour.     

丽江高美古的夜天光亮度

１９９６年１月～１９９８年３月,我们用光电方法测定了丽江高美古在Ｂ、Ｖ两个波段的夜天光亮度。为便于比较,在１９９６年１月还测定了云南天文台凤凰山台址的夜天光亮度。本文给出了观测结果,同时也列出了世界上一些天文台站的数据以供参考。     

Measurement of Aureole and Suppression of Internal Stray Light of Aureole Photometer

A modern aureole photometer (AP) was developed for the site survey inWest China, in preparation for the installation of future large solar equipments. The performance of this new AP was tested in preliminary observations, and a lot of sky brightness data were accumulated at a few sites in Yunnan Province. The result of data analysis shows that the aureole near the noon time on Jiaozi Snow Mountain is as low as a few millionths of the intensity at the solar disk center, indicating the low internal stray light level of our instrument. The internal stray light of the AP comes mainly from two parts: the edge diffraction of the ferrule for fixing the ND4 filter in the front end of the telescope tube, causing the stray light distributed in the inner region of the field of view, and the edge diffractions of the diaphragms placed inside the telescope tube, causing the stray light distributed in the outer region of the field of view. In order to suppress the stray light of the latter part, the experiment to change the aperture size of an additional diaphragm was performed. The result shows that the stray light in the outer region of the field of view can be effectively suppressed by reducing properly the aperture size of the diaphragm.     

上海天文台佘山工作站夜天亮度的变化

使用1994—2007年在1．56m反射望远镜CCD照相机拍摄的资料，测定了上海天文台余山工作站夜天亮度的变化。由于上海城市的发展，佘山工作站的夜天亮度在V波段从每平方角秒约19mag变到15．8mag，也就是说，夜天亮度自1994年以来变亮了约20倍。国际上优良台站的夜天亮度在V波段等于或暗于21．5mag。上述夜天亮度是优良台站的200多倍。现在在佘山工作站使用1．56m反射望远镜对暗于V=14mag的星做精确测光已经很困难了。     

Variation of Spectral Radiance of the Zenith Sky During the Annular Eclipse on May 21, 2012

The absolute brightness of the zenith sky was measured using a simple calibrated spectrometer during the annular solar eclipse event on May 21, 2012 in Fujioka City, Japan (36.2924°N, 139.0823°E). The sensitivity of the spectrometer was calibrated as a function of wavelength between 400 and 700 nm with an integral sphere. The brightness of the sky decreased to 6 % of its usual condition at the maximum magnitude of the annular eclipse of 0.95 for all wavelengths. The curve describing the variation of sky brightness accords well with the total luminosity of the solar disk estimated by a simple model that accounts for the limb darkening effect. This study provides zenith sky radiance as a function of wavelength and solar elevation angle, which is useful for the investigation of new optical instruments for atmospheric studies.     

The Footprint Database and Web Services of the Herschel Space Observatory

Data from the Herschel Space Observatory is freely available to the public but no uniformly processed catalogue of the observations has been published so far. To date, the Herschel Science Archive does not contain the exact sky coverage (footprint) of individual observations and supports search for measurements based on bounding circles only. Drawing on previous experience in implementing footprint databases, we built the Herschel Footprint Database and Web Services for the Herschel Space Observatory to provide efficient search capabilities for typical astronomical queries. The database was designed with the following main goals in mind: (a) provide a unified data model for meta-data of all instruments and observational modes, (b) quickly find observations covering a selected object and its neighbourhood, (c) quickly find every observation in a larger area of the sky, (d) allow for finding solar system objects crossing observation fields. As a first step, we developed a unified data model of observations of all three Herschel instruments for all pointing and instrument modes. Then, using telescope pointing information and observational meta-data, we compiled a database of footprints. As opposed to methods using pixellation of the sphere, we represent sky coverage in an exact geometric form allowing for precise area calculations. For easier handling of Herschel observation footprints with rather complex shapes, two algorithms were implemented to reduce the outline. Furthermore, a new visualisation tool to plot footprints with various spherical projections was developed. Indexing of the footprints using Hierarchical Triangular Mesh makes it possible to quickly find observations based on sky coverage, time and meta-data. The database is accessible via a web site http://herschel.vo.elte.hu and also as a set of REST web service functions, which makes it readily usable from programming environments such as Python or IDL. The web service allows downloading footprint data in various formats including Virtual Observatory standards.     

Using Laser Beacons for Daytime Adaptive Optics

This article examines the use of Laser Beacons for daytime astronomical observations. There are two potential applications: the diffraction limited observation of (1) the structure in the solar corona at all wavelengths, and (2) non-solar astronomical objects in the thermal infrared part of the spectrum. We examine the brightness of the Laser Beacon required as well as the limitations imposed by the daytime sky brightness and sky/telescope thermal emission on the observable magnitude limits. For both applications the use of Laser Beacon adaptive optics in daytime results in important research opportunities.     

带食而出的天光变化

作为“夏商周断代工程．天再旦”研究的一部分,讨论带食而出的天光变化．用照相机测光的方法测定正常日出前后的天光变化规律,建立带食而出的天光视亮度变化计算方法,并给出计算“天再旦”现象的范围和强度的方法．为此于1997年3月9日在新疆组织了群众性的日食观测．实测证实带食而出的确可以引起“天再旦”现象,同时与理论计算有很好的符合.     

Extinction and Sky Brightness at Two Solar Observatories

The Advanced Technology Solar Telescope site survey Sky Brightness Monitor simultaneously images the solar disk and the sky to about 8 solar radii in four wavelengths at 450, 530, 890 and 940 nm. One day of data from Mees Solar Observatory on Haleakala and from the National Solar Observatory at Sacramento Peak (Sunspot, New Mexico) are analyzed. Both sites show strong Rayleigh extinction, but while Haleakala shows a larger aerosol component, Sunspot shows a large variation in the aerosol component. Overall the Haleakala extinction varies as ^–2 whereas the Sunspot extinction changes from about ^–3.5 to about ^–2, suggesting an increasing aerosol component during the day. Water vapor absorption measurements from both sites are similar, though Sunspot shows larger time variations than Haleakala. The instrument-corrected sky brightness from both sites show comparable values, and again the Sunspot data show more variations. The sky brightness values show a radial dependence of sky brightness of r ^–0.1 at Haleakala, but a dependence of r ^–1.0 at Sunspot. The wavelength variation of the sky brightness at Haleakala is relatively constant at ^–1.5 but varies at Sunspot from ^–1.5 to ^–0.1 again suggesting an increasing aerosol contribution during the day at Sunspot. Finally, dust measurements near the ground are compared with the extinction wavelength exponent for data taken at Haleakala on 24 Feb. 2003. The measurements suggest more large dust particles are present near the ground than averaged over the whole air column.     

日晕光度计的研制和初步观测结果

本文从日冕观测和研究的意义出发，叙述了用外遮档及小孔减光测量日晕光度的方法以及在云南和新疆若干选点的初步观测结果。     

Clustering of Emerging Magnetic Flux

We report observations of the large-scale spatial dependence of the Sun's luminosity variations over the period 1993–1995. The measurements were made using a new scanning disk solar photometer at Big Bear Solar Observatory, specially designed to measure large-scale brightness variations at the 10^–4 level. Since the level of solar activity was very low for the entire observation period, the data show little solar cycle variation. However, the residual brightness signal I/I (after subtracting the mean, first, and second harmonics) does show a strong dependence on heliocentric angle, peaking near the limb. This is as one would expect if the residual brightness signal (including the excess brightness coming from the active latitudes) were primarily facular in origin. Additional data over the next few years, covering the period from solar minimum to maximum, should unambiguously reveal the large-scale spatial structure of the solar cycle luminosity variations.     

H-Alpha survey of the solar corona at Pic-du-Midi

A daily survey of cool material evolution in the inner parts of the solar corona is now performed at the Pic-du-Midi observatory with an H imaging coronagraph. The total field of the coronagraph allows the detection of emission regions all around the solar limb, up to 0.6 solar radius above the limb. This survey is devoted to the study of coronal events and mass motions in a large range of spatial and time scales. The observing modes are associated with a set of numerical treatment processes to produce images which are calibrated in intensity relative to the solar brightness. Position angles and height above the solar limb of the coronal features are determined. Methods of calibration, sky brightness subtraction, and detection of events are discussed.     

Night Sky Brightness and Atmospheric Extinction at Kottamia Observatory Site

Photoelectric measurements have been carried out at Kottamia Observatory site to study night sky brightness and the atmospheric extinction at different wavelengths. The results show that the mean extinction coefficients are k = 0.41, k = 0.28< and k = 0.17 mag/air mass during autumn season. These values are almost the same as that obtained by Mikhail (1979) at the same site during the same season. Results of night sky brightness at different altitudes above the horizon have been obtained. Complete scan each five degrees step in azimuth have been done at altitudes 50°, 60° and 70° to complete the previous measurements given by Nawar et al. (1995). Far from the diffuse galactic light, slight variations in night sky brightness with azimuth have been detected. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Sky twilight brightness and colour during high solar activity

With a sensitive photoelectric photometer, observations of the sky twilight brightness have been carried out at different positions in the sky during high solar activity period. The measurements have been obtained using blue and red wide band glass filters centered at 4410 and 7900 Å, respectively. The variation of the (B-R) colour index of the sky twilight with Sun's depression have been investigated at different altitudes in the sky above the horizon and various bearing angles from the solar vertical.     

Photoelectric study of the sky brightness along Sun’s meridian during the March 29, 2006 solar eclipse

Photoelectric observations of the sky brightness along Sun’s meridian have been carried out at Salloum during the March 29, 2006 total solar eclipse. The measurements have been taken at different zenith distances along the Sun’s meridian using yellow and red wide band glass filters centered at 5500 Å and 7900 Å, respectively. The present results of the sky brightness during the total solar eclipse have been compared with that of twilight, and night sky obtained by the same instrument at Abu-Simbel and Kottamia observatory sites respectively. The variation of V–R color index with zenith distance have been also studied. The visibility of planets and stars during the March 29, 2006 total solar eclipse is given.     

A possible E-W asymmetry of the coronal emission line intensities and K-corona brightness

The analysis of the daily measurements of the coronal green and red line intensities as well as the K-corona brightness, which have been collected by the Pic-du-Midi Observatory, for the time period 1944–1974, has revealed some very interesting features. North-South (N-S) asymmetries for all these coronal intensities are confirmed again for this time period. The main point of this analysis is a strong evidence of longitudinal distribution of the coronal intensities as derived from the data record. In our effort to confirm this asymmetry, we have examined the yearly and monthly distribution of the asymmetry coefficient in each solar quadrant showing that the northeast (NE) quadrant appears the most active of all. We have also examined the intensity ratios measured at the East and West solar limbs which is continuously greater than the unit.A seasonal variation of this ratio has also been reported with a maximum during the winter period and a minimum during the summer period.