A Simple, Portable Apparatus to Measure Night Sky Brightness at Various Zenith Angles

Volume 38 number 2 (2010)

Jennifer Birriel

James Kevin Adkins

Abstract

We describe a simple apparatus for making measurements of night sky brightness as a function of zenith and azimuth using "off-the-shelf" equipment: a Unihedron Sky Quality Meter with Lens, a protractor with plumb-line, a tripod, and a hand-held compass. Compared to a photoelectric or CCD photometric system, this apparatus is simple to set up and use and does not require complex data reduction procedures. Thus, this apparatus makes measurements of night sky brightness as a function of zenith and azimuthal angles quite amenable to students.