EFFECT OF NIGHT SKY BACKGROUNDS ON OPTICAL MEASUREMENTS
Abstract
A review is given of the sources and magnitudes of the night sky backgrounds, from 0.3 to 5 microns particularly as they might interfere with the observation of the spectrum of a small missile re-entering the atmosphere. Distributions of stellar magnitude and color, zodiacal and galactic scattered light, air glow, twilight, moonlight, and man-made lighting are discussed. Application is made of the background magnitude data to estimate the limitation of the threshold of large telescope-spectrometers using 1P21, PbS, and other detectors. Objective and slit-type spectrographs are considered, including the requirements for, and effect of, tracking precision.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 06, 1959
- Accession Number
- AD0631427
Entities
People
- Robert M. Chapman
- Robert O'b. Carpenter
Organizations
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology