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The AllSky Camera at Thüringer Landessternwarte
It’s quite impressive when the dome opens above the 2-meter Alfred Jensch Telescope. Only when the aperture is completely open and the telescope is aligned with a celestial object, can astronomers begin their observations. However, the weather needs to cooperate. When it is cloudy, when it rains or snows, the telescope has to be closed. Clouds obscure the view, and rain would damage the telescope.
In the past, observers would walk around the dome every 15 minutes or so at night to check for approaching clouds and rain. Today, the allsky camera handles this task. It takes a picture of the entire sky above the observatory every minute. Observers at the telescope use it to keep an eye on the weather.
The images are compiled into a short video and saved. The nightly video provides a much quicker overview of the entire night, and you can see plenty of satellites (including the ISS) and airplanes and sometimes even comets and shooting stars,.
Seeing-Monitor and Sky Background Meter
The seeing monitor and sky background meters are other useful tools for observers at the observatory. The seeing monitor is always pointed at Polaris. It measures the twinkling of the stars, which is caused by temperature differences in the air. Anyone who has observed stars at night is familiar with the phenomenon: stars twinkle. The twinkling does not come from the star itself, but is caused by air turbulence. The seeing monitor can measure how intense the twinkling is.
The two sky background sensors measure the brightness of the night sky. Technically, they are solar cells that generate electricity based on the amount of incoming light, which is then measured. First, they tell the night assistants when they can begin their observations. Since the sensors are read every second, the data also includes information about weather conditions (haze, thunderstorms) and light pollution, but also captures brighter celestial phenomena such as fireballs or iridium flares (intense sun reflections from satellites).