| Name: | Tsewang Stanzin |
| Affiliation: | IAO-IIA Bangalore |
| Conference ID : | ASI2023_106 |
| Title : | Development of an Automated DIMM Seeing Monitor |
| Authors : | Tsewang Stanzin, Prof. Padmakar Parihar, Dorje Angchuk , Urgain Stanzin, Skalzang Angdu, Sonam Jorphail , Tashi Thsering Mahay, Tsewang Dorjai, Tsewang Gyaltson, Padma Dorjay , Phunchok Dorjay, Tsewang Phunchoka, Tashi Pamber.
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| Mode of Presentation: | Poster |
| Abstract Category : | Instrumentation and Techniques |
| Abstract : | After the availability of the clear sky, seeing is the most important parameter to characterize any new astronomical sites. There are different ways to measure atmospheric seeing, however, the Differential Image Motion Monitor (DIMM) is considered one of the best devices to explore the integrated effect of the turbulent atmosphere. Considering the need to identify a few good candidate sites for the National Large Optical Telescope (NLOT) project as well as to support other groups working to set up smaller observatories in different parts of the country, we decided to develop an automated DIMM system. The overall development is aimed to achieve a portable seeing monitor which can be efficiently and reliably used in remote places to conduct DIMM observation without any human intervention. In this pilot project, we have used 12 inch Meade telescope, 52fps Lucid Vision CMOS camera, a custom-made wedge prism, and a DIMM mask. The entire development is modular in architecture and with very little effort, one can use any smaller telescope and an imaging camera. The automated DIMM software running in a dedicated embedded computer handles the selection of suitable bright stars, pointing and guide of the telescope, grabbing images at a fast rate as well as computing seeing values. In most cases Meade or Celestron telescopes are used to build a DIMM system, however, these telescopes have got poor pointing accuracy and hence are found to be trouble for auto-pointing. To overcome this problem we have built a telescope pointing assistance that uses a low-cost camera and an inexpensive doublet lens. We intend to make our DIMM code open-sourced (https://github.com/tsewangstanzin/AutomatedDIMM) so that anyone interested in making DIMM can get benefited. We present the overall details as well as seeing measurements carried out over a few nights at IAO Hanle. |
