The Determination of Isophotes of Extended Sources in the Night Sky: Scattering in the Earth's Atmosphere

Wolstencroft, R. D.; Breda, I. G. van

doi:10.1086/148997

Cited by 15 publications

(10 citation statements)

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“…We divide the year into six two-month periods, starting with December/January (cf. Wolstencroft & van Breda 1967). Point N is at the top of atmosphere and not in the same plane as the other points.…”

Section: The Transmission Curvementioning

confidence: 96%

“…2), single-scattering calculations provide a sufficient approximation. In this case, the computations can be performed in 3D with a relatively compact code (see Wolstencroft & van Breda 1967;Staude 1975;Bernstein et al 2002).…”

Section: Atmospheric Scatteringmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A much weaker, but always present, component is scattered starlight. The distribution of integrated starlight (Mattila 1980;Toller 1981;Toller et al 1987;Leinert et al 1998;Melchior et al 2007) and how it is scattered in the Earth's atmosphere has been studied (Wolstencroft & van Breda 1967;Staude 1975;Bernstein et al 2002). A significant component at optical wavelengths is the so-called zodiacal light, solar radiation scattered by interplanetary dust grains mainly distributed in the ecliptic plane (Levasseur-Regourd & Dumont 1980;Mattila et al 1996;Leinert et al 1998).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A significant component at optical wavelengths is the so-called zodiacal light, solar radiation scattered by interplanetary dust grains mainly distributed in the ecliptic plane (Levasseur-Regourd & Dumont 1980;Mattila et al 1996;Leinert et al 1998). For a realistic description of the zodiacal light intensity distribution for ground-based observations, scattering calculations are also required (Wolstencroft & van Breda 1967;Staude 1975;Bernstein et al 2002). Finally, the wavelength-dependent extinction of radiation from astronomical objects by Rayleigh scattering off of air molecules, Mie scattering off of aerosols, and absorption by tropospheric and Notes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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An atmospheric radiation model for Cerro Paranal

Noll

Kausch

Barden

et al. 2012

A&A

283

313

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Aims. The Earth's atmosphere affects ground-based astronomical observations. Scattering, absorption, and radiation processes deteriorate the signal-to-noise ratio of the data received. For scheduling astronomical observations it is, therefore, important to accurately estimate the wavelength-dependent effect of the Earth's atmosphere on the observed flux. Methods. In order to increase the accuracy of the exposure time calculator of the European Southern Observatory's (ESO) Very Large Telescope (VLT) at Cerro Paranal, an atmospheric model was developed as part of the Austrian ESO In-Kind contribution. It includes all relevant components, such as scattered moonlight, scattered starlight, zodiacal light, atmospheric thermal radiation and absorption, and non-thermal airglow emission. This paper focuses on atmospheric scattering processes that mostly affect the blue (<0.55 μm) wavelength regime, and airglow emission lines and continuum that dominate the red (>0.55 μm) wavelength regime. While the former is mainly investigated by means of radiative transfer models, the intensity and variability of the latter is studied with a sample of 1186 VLT FORS 1 spectra. Results. For a set of parameters such as the object altitude angle, Moon-object angular distance, ecliptic latitude, bimonthly period, and solar radio flux, our model predicts atmospheric radiation and transmission at a requested resolution. A comparison of our model with the FORS 1 spectra and photometric data for the night-sky brightness from the literature, suggest a model accuracy of about 20%. This is a significant improvement with respect to existing predictive atmospheric models for astronomical exposure time calculators.

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Section: The Transmission Curvementioning

confidence: 96%

Section: Atmospheric Scatteringmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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An atmospheric radiation model for Cerro Paranal

Noll

Kausch

Barden

et al. 2012

A&A

283

313

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“…The single scattering can be done fully in 3D (Wolstencroft & van Breda 1967;Staude 1975;Bernstein et al 2002). We wish to obtain the integrated scattered light towards the azimuth A 0 and zenith distance z 0 .…”

Section: Single Scatteringmentioning

confidence: 99%

An advanced scattered moonlight model for Cerro Paranal

Jones

Noll

Kausch

et al. 2013

A&A

182

177

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The largest natural source of light at night is the Moon, and it is the major contributor to the astronomical sky background. Being able to accurately predict the sky background, including scattered moonlight is important for scheduling astronomical observations. We have developed an improved scattered moonlight model, in which the components are computed with a better physical understanding as opposed to the simple empirical fit in the frequently used photometric model of Krisciunas & Schaefer (1991, PASP, 103, 1033). Our spectroscopic model can better trace the spectral trends of scattered moonlight for any position of the Moon and target observation. This is the first scattered moonlight model that we know of which is this physical and versatile. We have incorporated an observed solar spectrum, accurate lunar albedo fit, and elaborate scattering and absorption calculations that include scattering off of molecules and aerosols. It was designed for Cerro Paranal, but can be modified for any location with known atmospheric properties. Throughout the optical range, the uncertainty is less than 20%. This advanced scattered moonlight model can predict the amount of scattered moonlight for any given geometry of the Moon and target, and lunar phase for the entire optical spectrum.

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Polarization of Galactic Background Light in the Visible Spectral Region

Leinert¹

1990

The Galactic and Extragalactic Background Radiation

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The Determination of Isophotes of Extended Sources in the Night Sky: Scattering in the Earth's Atmosphere

Cited by 15 publications

References 0 publications

An atmospheric radiation model for Cerro Paranal

An atmospheric radiation model for Cerro Paranal

An advanced scattered moonlight model for Cerro Paranal

Polarization of Galactic Background Light in the Visible Spectral Region

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