Science at Parramatta High
— The Effect of the Atmosphere —

or

"Seeing"

the Moon through a webcam.

This is why the Hubble Space Telescope is such a success.

The above image of the moon demonstrates the "twinkling" effect which bedevils astronomers, particularly those who wish to photograph celestial objects. (In this case, the lunar craters Catharina, Cyrillus and Theophilus.)

The quality or the stability of the night sky is called "seeing".

The above photo demonstrates poor "seeing" - the shimmering which is mostly due to the effect of the turbulent atmosphere.

Look at some stellar examples of "seeing".

Return to near occultations or lunar eclipse or
Go on to Jupiter or the moon.
Information about the camera used for some of these photos.
(Telescope was a 120mm f8.3 refractor.)

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