The Local Seeing Environment at Big Bear Solar Observatory
The Local Seeing Environment at Big Bear Solar Observatory
复制标题
大熊太阳观测站当地的观测环境
DOI：
10.1086/520773
复制
发表时间：
2007
影响因子：
3.5
通讯作者：
C. Denker
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
A. Verdoni;C. Denker
国家太阳天文台先进技术太阳望远镜（ATST）的现场勘察始于2002年，旨在寻找4 m口径太阳望远镜的最佳位置。在为期 4 年的调查结束时，三个地点（加利福尼亚州的大熊太阳观测站 [BBSO]、夏威夷毛伊岛哈雷阿卡拉的 Mees 太阳观测站 [MSO] 和西班牙拉帕尔马岛的 Roque de los Muchachos 观测站）被确定为高分辨率太阳观测的绝佳地点。 MSO 最终被选为未来的 ATST 站点。我们提供了 ATST 现场调查数据的子集，重点关注 BBSO 的当地视宁环境。我们特别感兴趣的是山地湖泊观测站的视宁特性、它与当地环境和气候的关系，以及它对 BBSO 目前正在建造的 1.6 m 新太阳望远镜 (NST) 的影响。我们发现良好的视宁度条件与盛行风向和风速密切相关。天文台大楼位于300 m长的堤道尽头，周围环绕着大熊湖凉爽的海水，有效抑制了地面视宁度。从日出到日落的良好视宁条件是 BBSO 的独特之处，这使其非常适合天气观测以及太阳活动和太空天气的持续高分辨率研究。
The site survey for the Advanced Technology Solar Telescope (ATST) of the National Solar Observatory was initiated in 2002 to find the best location for a 4 m aperture solar telescope. At the end of a 4 year survey, three sites (Big Bear Solar Observatory [BBSO] in California, Mees Solar Observatory [MSO] on Haleakala, Maui, Hawaii, and Observatorio Roque de los Muchachos, on La Palma, Spain) were identified as excellent sites for high‐resolution solar observations. MSO was ultimately chosen as the future ATST site. We present a subset of the ATST site survey data, focusing on the local seeing environment at BBSO. In particular, we are interested in the seeing characteristics at a mountain lake‐site observatory, its relation to the local environment and climate, and its implications for the 1.6 m New Solar Telescope (NST) currently being built at BBSO. We find a close correlation of very good seeing conditions with the prevailing wind direction and speed. The observatory building, located at the end of a 300 m causeway, is surrounded by the cool waters of Big Bear Lake, which effectively suppress the ground‐layer seeing. Very good seeing conditions from sunrise to sunset are a unique feature of BBSO, which makes it ideally suited for synoptic observations and sustained high‐resolution studies of solar activity and space weather.