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Wise Observatory, Site Description
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The site is located in the
Negev desert, about 5 km west of the town of
Mitzpe Ramon,
200 km south of Tel-Aviv and 86 km south of Beersheva,
(longitude 34°45'48'' E, latitude 30°35'45'' N, altitude 875 m,
time zone is -2 hours relative to Universal Time).
Mitzpe Ramon is a small town of 6000 inhabitants.
The town management cooperates with the observatory
in controlling and shielding street lights and outside illumination to
minimize the additional light background, but with continued development of the region, the light pollution has increased.
The number of clear nights (zero cloudiness) is about 170 a year. The
number of useful nights is about 240. The best season, when practically
no clouds are observed, is June to August, while the highest chance
for clouds are in the period January to April. Winds are usually
moderate mainly from North-East and North. Storm wind velocities
(greater than 40 km/h) occur, but rarely. The wind speed tends to
decrease during the night. Temperature gradients are small and fairly
moderate. The average relative humidity is quite high with a tendency
to decline during the night from April to August.
For current weather conditions and forecast, see the
Wise-Observatory Weather HomePage
The average seeing is
about 2-3 seconds of arc. A few good nights have seeing of 1" or
less while some show seeing larger than 5".
Typical extinction coefficients,
in mag/airmass, are:
| kV =0.24
| kU-B=0.22
| kB-V=0.14
| kV-R=0.05
| kR-I=0.07
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These are median values for the last decade.
For more see:
Observing Conditions at the Wise Observatory, by Dr. Noah Brosch
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WISE OBSERVATORY PHOTOGRAPHS
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CLICK on the image to view full size:
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SUNSET - 09/Aug/2002
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WiseObs in rain drops
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SNOW - 31/Jan/2008
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