Abstract

PINZON, Giovanni; GONZALEZ, Danilo  and  RAMIREZ, Aura. Comparative analysis of six interesting sites for astronomical instrumentation in Colombia. Rev. acad. colomb. cienc. exact. fis. nat. [online]. 2016, vol.40, n.154, pp.53-68. ISSN 0370-3908.  https://doi.org/10.18257/raccefyn.290.

In this work we present the results obtained from an observational campaign aimed to conduct measurements in-situ of the quality of the sky at six sites with astronomical interest in Santander, Boyacá, Tolima, Huila, Cesár and La Guajira. Short and sporadic expeditions were done to those places with the main goal to conduct measurements of temperature, humidity during the night, the level of turbulence in the vicinity of the telescope, the Seeing, the sky brightness and the atmospheric extinction. The adopted methodology for the Seeing measurements was validated with satellite data simultaneous to our visits, obtained from the data archive of the geostationary satellite GOES 13. All sites present Seeing highly variable along the night with values between 1'' and 4''. The bad weather and specially, the high humidity registered during the campaign limited the quality of photometric data and subsequently, the comparative analysis of the visited sites is based on the Seeing measurements. An statistical Kolmogorov-Smirnov test confirm that the lowest values are observed in high altitude sites over the Eastern Andes in particular at La Bricha in Macaravita-Santander where we get the lowest variability with rms = 0,59''. This fact together with the low humidity, less than 85% even during the dawn and the low level of the sky brightness suggest that La Bricha is a suitable place for location of astronomical instrumentation in the visible range. However, it is highly recommended to conduct a long-term monitoring of the place with the aim to characterize the site properly.

Keywords : Atmospheric turbulence; site testing in Colombia; GOES 13.

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