Atmospheric extinction coefficients and night sky brightness at ITB-Undana remote telescope site

Abstract

Abstract A remote telescope system has been established at Universitas Nusa Cendana, Kupang. Bosscha Observatory, Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB), and the Physics Study Program at Universitas Nusa Cendana (Undana) collaborated to develop the system. The ITB-Undana Telescope system has a QSI 616 CCD camera and BV RI Bessel filter attached to a 20-cm (f/10) Schmidt-Cassegrain reflector. Several research and public outreach activities have been conducted using the ITB-Undana remote telescope throughout 2023. When establishing a new astronomical observation site, it is imperative to conduct sky characterization and quality assessment. This process involves measuring night sky brightness and atmospheric extinction coefficients. In May 2023, we observed photometric standard stars using the absolute photometry technique with BV RI Bessel filters. We also utilized the Sky Quality Meter (SQM) to measure night sky brightness over three nights from May 24th to May 26th, 2023, to compare the sky brightness values obtained through the absolute photometry method. Our initial measurement shows a first-order extinction coefficient value ranging from k b ′ = 0.269 to 0.520, k v ′ = 0.216 to 0.297, k r ′ = 0.019 to 0.206, and k i ′ = 0.127 to 0.163, for B, V, R, and I filter, respectively. Application of extinction coefficient value in the sky field gives a mean sky brightness value in V bandpass, V sky = 19.431 ± 0.022, with color index (B − V )sky = 0.492 ± 0.039. These night sky brightness values are suitable for measurements using the SQM.