Allsky cameras
Allsky cameras
Allsky cameras, which mostly consist of cameras with a fisheye lens, cover the entire sky with their observations. The aim of our cameras is to observe the entire night sky. In the course of this, various systems and applications have emerged.
AllSky
The university's own camera "AllSky" is used to detect clouds during the night. These measurements can be used to operate the observatory's telescopes in a weather-controlled manner. The camera is only active from sunset to sunrise. The current image can be found here on the right, in the dashboard or under the following link: (image only changes after sunset).
FRIPON
The FRIPON camera of the "Fireball Recovery and InterPlanetary Observation Network" works in the same way, but has the task of recording so-called fireballs and meteors throughout the night. A meteor is the luminous phenomenon of an incoming meteoroid, of which fireballs are particularly bright. In the case of bright fireballs, there is a chance that parts of the underlying object may have remained on the Earth's surface, making it possible to detect a meteorite. If several cameras in this network have been able to detect a fireball, it is possible to determine its path more precisely. The camera also records during the day.
AllSky7
The AllSky7 camera of the "AllSky7 Fireball Network Europe" works with a different system. Here, 7 (or in the latest version 8) highly sensitive video cameras are used in parallel for the automatic detection of fireballs and meteors. Detailed specifications can be found here. In current tests it is also being investigated to what extent the cameras are suitable for determining the brightness of the sky (current comparison image with SQM). The current live images of the cameras can be found here:
Example image, for actual image visit allsky7.net.
SkyQualityMeter (SQM)
The SkyQualityMeter (SQM) measures the brightness of the sky during the night in a 20° field of view at the zenith. This camera is operated in the project "De Donkerte van het Waddengebied" together with the University of Groningen and various authorities in the Netherlands. The page "Was het donker?"(Was it dark?) shows the measurements of all cameras in the Netherlands and Germany. As of today, the Oldenburg SQM is the only camera in Germany. On the right is the time course of the sky magnitude of the current or last night. The higher the value, the darker it was. Clouds influence the brightness and thus ensure a lower magnitude (higher brightness).
Course of the Sky Magnitude of the current night; https://www.washetdonker.nl/