The aim of this research is to present the optical turbulence and meteorological parameters at the surface layer, wind speed in the level of tropopause as well as precipitable water vapor above the Maidanak observatory in Uzbekistan. The paper presents an analysis of the atmospheric conditions focusing on factors affecting optical astronomical observations. The surface layer turbulence and its impact on astronomical seeing were evaluated. The seeing in the surface layer has a moderate correlation with wind speed and weaker one with temperature gradients. The wind speed at the 200mB level demonstrates weak seasonal variations with the median value of 28.4 m/s, however, does not almost change in long-term period. Maidanak observatory has relatively low amount of PWV with yearly average of 6.2 mm. There are significant seasonal variations in precipitable water vapor, with the highest levels occurring during the summer months.
The article presents statistics of the astronomical seeing at the Maidanak Observatory in Uzbekistan. Astronomical seeing measurements were performed using a differential image motion monitor. In the period 2018 to 2021, a total number of 204 night observations were carried out. The median zenith seeing for the entire period of observations was found to be 0.69″ (arcseconds). The results were compared with those obtained in the previous measurement period of 1996 to 2003. The comparison shows very small differences between the two measurement sets in the monthly and yearly median values. The best seeing was observed in October, but it was November according to the previous measurements. The best year in terms of seeing was 2019 with its median value 0.65″ and the worst seeing observed in 2021 (0.71″).
S. Agayeva, V. Aivazyan, S. Alishov, M. Almualla, C. Andrade, Sarah Antier, J. M. Bai, A. Baransky, S. Basa, P. Bendjoya, Z. Benkhaldoun, S. Beradze, D. Berezin, U. Bhardwaj, M. Blazek, O. Burkhonov, E. Burns, S. Caudill, N. Christensen, F. Colas, A. Coleiro, W. Corradi, M. Coughlin, T. Culino, D. Darson, D. Datashvili, G. de Wasseige, T. Dietrich, F. Dolon, D. Dornic, J. Dubouil, J.-G. Ducoin, P.-A. Duverne, A. Esamdin, A. Fouad, F. Guo, V. Godunova, P. Gokuldass, N. Guessoum, E. Gurbanov, R. Hainich, E. Hasanov, P. Hello, T. Hussenot-Desenonges, R. Inasaridze, A. Iskandar, E.E.O. Ishida, N. Ismailov, T. Jegou du Laz, D.A. Kann, G. Kapanadze, S. Karpov, R.W. Kiendrebeogo, A. Klotz, N. Kochiashvili, A. Kaeouach, J.-P. Kneib, W. Kou, K. Kruiswijk, S. Lombardo, M. Lamoureux, N. Leroy, A. Le Van Su, J. Mao, M. Masek, T. Midavaine, A. Moeller, D. Morris, R. Natsvlishvili, F. Navarete, S. Nissanke, K. Noonan, K. Noysena, N.B. Orange, J. Peloton, M. Pilloix, T. Pradier, M. Prouza, G. Raaijmakers, Y. Rajabov, J.-P. Rivet, Y. Romanyuk, L. Rousselot, F. Ruenger, V. Rupchandani, T. Sadibekova, N. Sasaki, A. Simon, K. Smith, O. Sokoliuk, X. Song, A. Takey, Y. Tillayev, I. Tosta e Melo, D. Turpin, A. de Ugarte Postigo, M. Vardosanidze, X.F. Wang, D. Vernet, Z. Vidadi, J. Zhu, Y. Zhu
GRANDMA is a world-wide collaboration with the primary scientific goal of studying gravitational-wave sources, discovering their electromagnetic counterparts and characterizing their emission. GRANDMA involves astronomers, astrophysicists, gravitational-wave physicists, and theorists. GRANDMA is now a truly global network of telescopes, with (so far) 30 telescopes in both hemispheres. It incorporates a citizen science programme (Kilonova-Catcher) which constitutes an opportunity to spread the interest in time-domain astronomy. The telescope network is an heterogeneous set of already-existing observing facilities that operate coordinated as a single observatory. Within the network there are wide-field imagers that can observe large areas of the sky to search for optical counterparts, narrow-field instruments that do targeted searches within a predefined list of host-galaxy candidates, and larger telescopes that are devoted to characterization and follow-up of the identified counterparts. Here we present an overview of GRANDMA after the third observing run of the LIGO/VIRGO gravitational-wave observatories in 2019 − 2020 and its ongoing preparation for the forthcoming fourth observational campaign (O4). Additionally, we review the potential of GRANDMA for the discovery and follow-up of other types of astronomical transients.
The statistics of high altitude wind speed data at the tropopause (200mB) above Mt. Maidanak in Uzbekistan are presented. These data were obtained in 1991 at three meteorological stations Kokand, Tashkent and Termez, located around Mt. Maidanak. The data processing show that the high altitude wind speed above Mt. Maidanak is slowly changed with predominant direction from the west. The average value of wind speed at 200 mB for the entire period of observations is 27.0 m/c. The comparison of results with data, obtained at Paranal observatory in Chile shows, that this parameter of atmosphere at Mt. Maidanak is comparably small than above Paranal.
The night-time seeing measurements obtained with the ESO Differential Image Motion Monitor at Mt. Maidanak from August 1996, up to June 1999 are presented. This instrument was also used for seeing estimation at La Silla and Paranal Observatories in Chile in 1988 - 1996. The median value of seeing--(beta) FWHM (the full width at half maximum of a long-exposure stellar image at zenith at (lambda) equals 500 nm) for the entire period of observations is 0.69 arcsec. For the La Silla and Paranal Observatories, this parameter is 0.87 and 0.66 arcsec, respectively.
Access to the requested content is limited to institutions that have purchased or subscribe to SPIE eBooks.
You are receiving this notice because your organization may not have SPIE eBooks access.*
*Shibboleth/Open Athens users─please
sign in
to access your institution's subscriptions.
To obtain this item, you may purchase the complete book in print or electronic format on
SPIE.org.
INSTITUTIONAL Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.
PERSONAL Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.