Open AccessThe seeing at the William Herschel Telescope
Author(s) -
Wilson R. W.,
O’Mahony N.,
Packham C.,
Azzaro M.
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
monthly notices of the royal astronomical society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.058
H-Index - 383
eISSN - 1365-2966
pISSN - 0035-8711
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-8711.1999.02840.x
Subject(s) - physics , telescope , william herschel telescope , optical telescope , astronomy , astrophysics , dome (geology) , paleontology , spectrograph , biology , spectral line
We present results from a study of the seeing quality at the 4.2‐m William Herschel telescope at La Palma. The median intrinsic seeing at the site is found to be excellent, and is comparable to that at the Paranal and Mauna Kea observatories. Contributions to the seeing from turbulence within the telescope dome are insignificant. Furthermore, the optical quality and tracking stability of the telescope are good, so that long‐exposure image widths close to the limit imposed by the site seeing can be expected.