Optical sky brightness at Cerro Tololo Inter-American observatory from 1992 to 2006 Academic Article uri icon

abstract

  • We present optical (UBVRI) sky brightness measurements from 1992 through 2006. The data are based on CCD imagery obtained with the CTIO 0.9, 1.3, and 1.5 m telescopes. The B- and V-band data are in reasonable agreement with measurements previously made at Mauna Kea, although on the basis of a small number of images per year, there are discrepancies for the years 1992 through 1994. Our CCD-based data are not significantly different than values obtained at Cerro Paranal. We find that the yearly averages of V-band sky brightness are best correlated with the 10.7 cm solar flux taken 5 days prior to the sky brightness measurements. This implies an average speed of 350 km s -1 for the solar wind. While we can measure an enhancement of the night-sky levels over La Serena 10 above the horizon, at elevation angles above 45, we find no evidence that the night-sky brightness at Cerro Tololo is affected by artificial light of nearby towns and cities. 2007. The Astronomical Society of the Pacific. All rights reserved.

published proceedings

  • PUBLICATIONS OF THE ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY OF THE PACIFIC

author list (cited authors)

  • Krisciunas, K., Semler, D. R., Richards, J., Schwarz, H. E., Suntzeff, N. B., Vera, S., & Sanhueza, P.

citation count

  • 23

complete list of authors

  • Krisciunas, Kevin||Semler, Dylan R||Richards, Joseph||Schwarz, Hugo E||Suntzeff, Nicholas B||Vera, Sergio||Sanhueza, Pedro

publication date

  • June 2007