The AllSky camera.
To monitor the sky above the observatory, a 180-degrees field-of-view, “All-Sky” camera is used, covering the entire celestial sphere. A color camera is used to preserve the color of the stars. Images are shared online during the night. This instrument has been introduced in 2023.
In addition, a weather station continuously monitors the local weather parameters: cloud coverage, wind speed, temperature and dew point, atmospheric pressure, relative humidity and rain.
To complete this important device, a sensor can measure the brightness of the night sky, acting as a Sky Quality Meter (SQM), giving the magnitude of the sky per squared arc-second.
While this instrument is very useful to inspect the sky transparency and cloud coverage, it is also a true scientific and public outreach instrument: it can capture bright meteors, haloes around the stars, planetary parades and more. of course, it also takes care to protect the scientific equipment, reporting unfavorable weather conditions and closing the observatory, if needed.
Weather conditions are available here.
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