Giant Magellan Telescope Site Testing and Characterization at Las Campanas Observatory

Details Giant Magellan Telescope Site Testing and Characterization at Las Campanas Observatory Giant Magellan Telescope Site Testing and Characterization at Las Campanas Observatory

Sep 2009

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2009otam.conf..379t&link_type=abstract

Optical Turbulence: Astronomy Meets Meteorology, Proceedings of the Astronomy Meets Meteorology, Proceedings of the Optical Turb

Mathematics

Logic

Site Characterization, Turbulence Profile, Seeing, Precipitable Water Vapor, Meteorological Characteristics, Ground Layer Seeing, Scintillation, Slope Detection And Ranging, Lunar Scintillation

Scientific paper

Las Campanas Observatory has been designated as the location for the Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT). We report results obtained since the commencement, in 2005, of a systematic site testing campaign at LCO. Measurements of the turbulence profile of the free-atmosphere above LCO have been collected with a MASS/DIMM. We examine the contribution to the seeing arising from turbulence in the ground layer (defined here as below an altitude of 500 m) through the difference between the turbulence integrals in the full atmosphere (as measured by DIMM) and in the free atmosphere (as measured by MASS).
In preparation to characterize the Giant Magellan Telescope site and guide the development of its adaptive optics system, two campaigns to systematically compare the turbulence profiles obtained independently with three different instruments were conducted at Las Campanas Observatory in September, 2007 and January 2008. Slope detection and ranging (SLODAR) was used on the 2.5-m duPont telescope. SLODAR measures the Cn2 profile as a function of altitude through observations of double stars. The separation of the observed double star sets the maximum altitude and height resolution. Ground layer (altitudes < 1 km) and free atmosphere turbulence profiles are compared with those obtained with a lunar scintillometer (LuSci) and a multi-aperture scintillation sensor (MASS), respectively. In addition, the total atmospheric seeing was measured by both SLODAR and a differential image motion monitor (DIMM).

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