Open AccessFirst results from optical turbulence measurements at Cerro Las Campanas in 2010
Author(s) -
Berdja A.,
Prieto G.,
ThomasOsip J. E.
Publication year - 2011
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 - 10.1111/j.1365-2966.2011.19069.x
Subject(s) - scintillometer , physics , adaptive optics , scintillation , turbulence , telescope , remote sensing , strehl ratio , altitude (triangle) , aperture (computer memory) , atmosphere (unit) , meteorology , atmospheric turbulence , astronomy , optics , geography , geometry , mathematics , detector , acoustics
We report preliminary results from optical turbulence measurements carried out in 2010 at Cerro Las Campanas, the future site for the Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT). The instruments involved are MooSci, a lunar scintillometer for the near‐ground optical turbulence profile, Differential Image Motion Monitor (DIMM) for the whole atmosphere total seeing, and MASS Multiple Aperture Scintillation Sensor (MASS) for high‐altitude optical turbulence estimation. The main purpose of these measurements is to anticipate the optical turbulence strength above the future GMT enclosure, and to provide a means to model the future adaptive optics performance. We also discuss the significance of such a combination of instruments and some hypothetical limitations.