Aboushelib Mohamed F, Morcos A B, Nawar S, Shalabiea O M, Awad Z
National Research Institute of Astronomy and Geophysics, Helwan, Cairo, Egypt.
Astronomy, Space Science and Meteorology Department, Faculty of Science, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt.
Sci Rep. 2023 Oct 5;13(1):16754. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-43844-x.
Photoelectric observations of night sky brightness (NSB) at different zenith distances and azimuths, covering all the sky, at the Egyptian Kottamia Astronomical observatory (KAO) site of coordinates ϕ = 29° 55.9' N and λ = 31° 49.5' E, were done using a fully automated photoelectric photometer (FAPP). The Bessel wide range system (UBVRI) is used for the first time to observe NSB for three consecutive nights (1-3 August, 2022) under good seeing conditions after the moon sets. The deduced results were taken in photons and converted into mag/arcsec. The average zenith sky brightness for U, B, V, R and I filters are found to be 20.49, 20.38, 19.41, 18.60 and 17.94 mag/arcsec respectively. The average color indices (U-B), (B-V), (V-R) and (R-I), at the zenith are detected to be 0.11, 0.98, 0.81 and 0.66, respectively. We plotted the isophotes of the sky brightness at KAO in U, B, V, R and I colors (filters) and determined both the average atmospheric extinction and sky transparency through these UBVRI filters. The atmospheric and other meteorological conditions were taken into our consideration during the observational nights. The results of the current study illustrate the main impact of the new cities built around KAO on the sky glow over it, and which astronomical observations are affected.
在埃及科塔米亚天文台(KAO)坐标为北纬29°55.9'、东经31°49.5'的观测点,使用全自动光电光度计(FAPP)对不同天顶距和方位角的夜空亮度(NSB)进行了光电观测,观测范围覆盖整个天空。首次使用贝塞尔宽波段系统(UBVRI)在2022年8月1日至3日连续三个晚上,在月亮落下后良好的观测条件下对夜空亮度进行观测。推导结果以光子为单位,并转换为星等/角秒。发现U、B、V、R和I滤光片的平均天顶天空亮度分别为20.49、20.38、19.41、18.60和17.94星等/角秒。在天顶处检测到的平均颜色指数(U - B)、(B - V)、(V - R)和(R - I)分别为0.11、0.98、0.81和0.66。我们绘制了KAO处U、B、V、R和I颜色(滤光片)的天空亮度等光强图,并通过这些UBVRI滤光片确定了平均大气消光和天空透明度。在观测的夜晚考虑了大气和其他气象条件。本研究结果说明了KAO周围新建城市对其上空天空辉光的主要影响,以及哪些天文观测受到了影响。