Bibcode
Muñoz-Tuñon, C.; Varela, A. M.; Mahoney, T.
Bibliographical reference
New Astronomy Reviews, Volume 42, Issue 6-8, p. 409-416.
Advertised on:
11
1998
Journal
Citations
16
Refereed citations
13
Description
Seeing statistics from several year-long site-testing campaigns carried
out at different locations at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory
(ORM) are reviewed (this contribution contains results previously
published by Munoz-Tunon et al. (1997) [Estudio de Sitio para el Gran
Telescopio: Informe final; A&AS, 125, 183]). In particular, tests at
the TNG, WHT, GTC1 and GTC2 sites are discussed. Routine measurements
were taken with cross-calibrated differential image motion monitors. The
values obtained for the two sites proposed for the Gran Telescopio de
Canarias show excellent and similar results, with mean and median seeing
values of 0.72 arcsec and 0.65 arcsec, consistent with those obtained in
earlier campaigns at the ORM. Under typical seeing conditions, image
quality does not depend on the particular location and shows a high
degree of homogeneity over the whole Observatory. Differences may be
more evident, up to 0.2 arcsec, for seeing poorer than 1.5 arcsec, which
happens in less than 5/% of cases. Seeing better than 1/'' occurs in
about 80/% of cases with an average of 25% meeting half-arcsecond
conditions. This percentage can rise consistently to more than 50/% in
the best months at all the locations tested. A dependence of seeing with
the season of the year is definitively established with the best values
during the summer period, which is found to be correlated with the
height and thickness of the inversion layer. From the analysis of
surface-layer meteorological data taken simultaneously at two of the
sites a possible relationship is found between the wind properties
(direction and speed) and seeing behaviour. Other meteorological
parameters do not seem to play any significant role as far as image
quality is concerned.