Testing turbulence model at metric scales with mid-infrared VISIR images at the VLT

We probe turbulence structure from centimetric to metric scales by simultaneous imagery at mid-infrared and visible wavelengths at the VLT telescope and show that it departs significantly from the commonly used Kolmogorov model. The data can be fitted by the von Karman model with an outer scale of t...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inarXiv.org
Main Authors Tokovinin, A, Sarazin, M, Smette, A
Format Paper Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Ithaca Cornell University Library, arXiv.org 03.04.2007
Subjects
Adaptive optics
Apertures
Image quality
Infrared imagery
Model testing
Physics - Astrophysics of Galaxies
Physics - Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
Physics - Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
Physics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Physics - Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics
Physics - Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
Solid phases
Turbulence models
Wavelengths
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:We probe turbulence structure from centimetric to metric scales by simultaneous imagery at mid-infrared and visible wavelengths at the VLT telescope and show that it departs significantly from the commonly used Kolmogorov model. The data can be fitted by the von Karman model with an outer scale of the order of 30 m and we see clear signs of the phase structure function saturation across the 8-m VLT aperture. The image quality improves in the infrared faster than the standard lambda^{-1/5} scaling and may be diffraction-limited at 30-m apertures even without adaptive optics at wavelengths longer than 8 micron.
ISSN:2331-8422
DOI:10.48550/arxiv.0704.0470