SHIMM: a seeing and turbulence monitor for astronomy

Saavidra Perera; Richard W. Wilson; James Osborn; Tim Butterley

doi:10.1117/12.2231680

27 July 2016 SHIMM: a seeing and turbulence monitor for astronomy

Saavidra Perera, Richard W. Wilson, James Osborn, Tim Butterley

Proceedings Volume 9909, Adaptive Optics Systems V; 99093J (2016) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2231680
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2016, Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Abstract

Optical turbulence characterisation is crucial to understanding astronomical site and observational limitations. The Differential Image Motion Monitor (DIMM) is a widely used, low cost and portable instrument for measuring the total integrated seeing. We have designed and tested a variation on the DIMM design that utilises a low order Shack-Hartmann (SH) lenslet array instead of the standard two hole aperture mask. This instrument, which is comprised of readily available components, is known as SHIMM. This alternative design utilises more of the telescope aperture, in comparison to the DIMM, and therefore increases the signal to noise ratio, as well as providing a more accurate method of noise estimation. In future the instrument will be developed to provide estimation of the coherence timescale, limited turbulence altitude information, and to correct for scintillation effects on the seeing measurements. We describe the instrument and present measurements from two identical SHIMM seeing monitors, as well as a comparison with simultaneous optical turbulence profiles recorded with Stereo-SCIDAR on the 2.5m Isaac Newton Telescope, La Palma.

Citation Download Citation

Saavidra Perera, Richard W. Wilson, James Osborn, and Tim Butterley "SHIMM: a seeing and turbulence monitor for astronomy", Proc. SPIE 9909, Adaptive Optics Systems V, 99093J (27 July 2016); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2231680

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