Optical Sky Brightness at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory from 1992 to 2006

TL;DR

This study provides a comprehensive analysis of optical sky brightness at Cerro Tololo from 1992 to 2006, showing correlations with solar activity and minimal impact from nearby artificial light at higher elevations.

Contribution

It offers the first long-term CCD-based measurements of sky brightness at Cerro Tololo and compares these with other observatories, revealing solar influence and minimal light pollution effects.

Findings

V-band brightness correlates with solar flux 5 days prior

No significant artificial light pollution detected above 45 degrees elevation

Sky brightness variations are consistent with solar wind speed estimates

Abstract

We present optical UBVRI sky brightness measures from 1992 through 2006. The data are based on CCD imagery obtained with the CTIO 0.9-m, 1.3-m, and 1.5-m telescopes. The B- and V-band data are in reasonable agreement with measurements previously made at Mauna Kea, though on the basis of a small number of images per year there are discrepancies for the years 1992 through 1994. Our CCD-based data are not significantly different than values obtained at Cerro Paranal. We find that the yearly averages of V-band sky brightness are best correlated with the 10.7-cm solar flux taken 5 days prior to the sky brightness measures. This implies an average speed of 350 km/sec for the solar wind. While we can measure an enhancement of the night sky levels over La Serena 10 degrees above the horizon, at elevation angles above 45 degrees we find no evidence that the night sky brightness at Cerro Tololo is affected by artificial light of nearby towns and cities.