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arXiv · 1607.07637

Night-sky brightness and extinction at Mt. Shatdzhatmaz

V. Kornilov·M. Kornilov·O. Voziakova·N. Shatsky·B. Safonov·I. Gorbunov·S. Potanin·D. Cheryasov·V. Senik
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Abstract

The photometric sky quality of Mt. Shatdzhatmaz, the site of Sternberg Astronomical Institute Caucasian Observatory 2.5 m telescope, is characterized here by the statistics of the night-time sky brightness and extinction. The data were obtained as a by-product of atmospheric optical turbulence measurements with the MASS (Multi-Aperture Scintillation Sensor) device conducted in 2007--2013. The factors biasing night-sky brightness measurements are considered and a technique to reduce their impact on the statistics is proposed. The single-band photometric estimations provided by MASS are easy to transform to the standard photometric bands. The median moonless night-sky brightness is 22.1, 21.1, 20.3, and 19.0 mag per square arcsec for the $B$, $V$, $R$, and $I$ spectral bands, respectively. The median extinction coefficients for the same photometric bands are 0.28, 0.17, 0.13, and 0.09 mag. The best atmospheric transparency is observed in winter.

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V. Kornilov, M. Kornilov, O. Voziakova, N. Shatsky, B. Safonov, I. Gorbunov, S. Potanin, D. Cheryasov, V. Senik. 2016-07-26. Night-sky brightness and extinction at Mt. Shatdzhatmaz. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras%2Fstw1839

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