Astroclimatology of La Silla

Seeing Conditions at La Silla

Seeing is defined as the image size (FWHM) in arcsec on a long exposure limited by the atmosphere (ie. telescope without optical aberrations nor dome/mirror seeing) as observed at zenith and at 0.5 micron. The seeing varies with the airmass to the power of 3/5th and with the wavelength to the power of -1/5th. The seeing is in principle, as long as the above criteria are fulfilled, independent of telescope diameter and the measurements by the differential image motion method (DIMM) fit well to all medium size telescope. For the recent family of diameter 8m and more however, the image quality appears better than predicted, in particular at long wavelength (see the section on outer scale effects).

Seeing Monthly Averages graph (with historical milestones) and data since 1988. Cumulative distribution of the seeing.

Atmospheric Parameters Relevant for Adaptive Optics.

Outer Scale of the Turbulence (GSM).

The Vertical Profile of the Turbulence (SCIDAR).