Giant Magellan Telescope Site Testing Summary

Details Giant Magellan Telescope Site Testing Summary Giant Magellan Telescope Site Testing Summary

2011-01-12

arxiv.org/abs/1101.2340v1

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics

Contribution in conference "Comprehensive characterization of astronomical sites", held October 4-10, 2010, in Kislovodsk, Rus

Scientific paper

Cerro Las Campanas located at Las Campanas Observatory (LCO) in Chile has been selected as the site for the Giant Magellan Telescope. We report results obtained since the commencement, in 2005, of a systematic site testing survey of potential GMT sites at LCO. Meteorological (cloud cover, temperature, pressure, wind, and humidity) and DIMM seeing data have been obtained at three potential sites, and are compared with identical data taken at the site of the twin Magellan 6.5m telescopes. In addition, measurements of the turbulence profile of the free-atmosphere above LCO have been collected with a MASS/DIMM. Furthermore, we consider photometric quality, light pollution, and precipitable water vapor (PWV). LCO, and Co. Las Campanas in particular, have dark skies, little or no risk of future light pollution, excellent seeing, moderate winds, PWV adequate for mid-IR astronomy during a reasonable fraction of the nights, and a high fraction of clear nights overall. Finally, Co. Las Campanas meets or exceeds all the defined science requirements.

Affiliated with

Also associated with

No associations

Rating

Giant Magellan Telescope Site Testing Summary does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with Giant Magellan Telescope Site Testing Summary, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Giant Magellan Telescope Site Testing Summary will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-265011