StefanoGaivotaDo any of you know why Browne Island, Australia is glowing so brightly?
Is that Browne island?
Dr. John Barentine FRASI've added some information toward the end of the page on my website about my work with night-sky brightness measurement and monitoring specifically regarding how dust and smoke suspended in the lower atmosphere affects the readings we get.
https://www.johncbarentine.com/night-sky-photometers.html
#LightPollution #DarkSkies #Aerosols #AtmosphericOptics #SkyBrightness
Long-term data on night sky brightness in the near-IR are pretty sparse in the literature. "This report includes preliminary results on the sky brightness at zenith in the J and H' bands, as well as their variations with solar elevation" at Lenghu, China
Preliminary results of sky brightness measurements in near-infrared at Lenghu, China
Low sky brightness is crucial for ground-based astronomical observations, because it limits the observational capability to detect fainter sources. Lenghu, located on the Tibetan Plateau in China, has been identified as an high-quality astronomical site in China, including dark sky in optical band. In this work, we will report the preliminary results of near-infrared sky brightness measurements at Lenghu. Utilizing a wide-field small telescope equipped with an InGaAs camera, we have been conducting long-term monitoring of near-infrared sky brightness in the J and H' bands, respectively, since January 2024. For each image, photometry and astrometry were performed, then sky background was calibrated by standard stars from the 2MASS catalog. This report includes preliminary results on the sky brightness at zenith in the J and H' bands, as well as their variations with solar elevation at Lenghu. Our initial results indicate that the near-infrared sky brightness at Lenghu is comparable to that of other world-class sites, and long-term monitoring will be continued.