Bad Seeing vs Good Seeing




Telescope MDM 2.4m
Date 11/19 & 11/20, 1995
Instrument Charlotte
Filter V_KittPeak
Exposure
Time
600
s
Other Images not processed

Problem:

These two images are of roughly the same region in the sky. The top one was taken during bad seeing conditions, the bottom one during good seeing conditions. Note how the number of stars varies between the two images. Note also how the stars appear round and big in the top image, and small and well-defined in the bottom one.

Fix:

Observe only in conditions allowable for the project the observations are for. If the seeing at other telescopes at the same observing site is substantially better, the problem might be occuring inside or in the immediate vicinity of the dome. If the seeing is generally bad for everyone, there is not much one can do.

A radial plot across a star in bad seeing.

A radial plot across a star in good seeing.

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