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Abstract |
We present a newly developed, low-cost photometer for long-term monitoring of the night sky brightness and
light pollution on Earth. The so-called Lightmeter is an as far as possible stand-alone operational, fully
weatherproof, and maintenance-free device. It provides a high data sampling rate of up to 1 Hz as well as a
superb sensitivity covering the whole brightness range down to the darkest night time conditions. The excellent
performance of the Lightmeter allows a continuously monitoring of the night sky brightness and opens a wide
range of applications at an observatory site like determining overall sky conditions in real time, cloud detection
and estimation of their velocity, measuring relative changes in extinction as well as the detection of long term
trends in brightness caused by an increase of artificial illumination. We will present first results of measurements
taken at Cerro Armazones, one of the best obser |
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