Finally, an affordable meter for measuring sky brightness
for astronomers!



The "Sky Quality Meter" measures the brightness of the night sky in
magnitudes per square arcsecond.



Unprecedented sensitivity in a handheld meter!



Designed by Dr. Doug Welch and Anthony Tekatch

Uses:



* Find out how good the night or site REALLY is.

* Compare the sky brightness at different sites quantitatively.

* Document the evolution of light pollution in your area.

* Set planetarium dome illumination to mimic the skies people are likely to
experience elsewhere in the city.

* Monitor sky brightness through the night, night-to-night, and year-to-year.

* Determine which nights show the greatest promise for finding the ''faintest
fuzzies''!

* Calibrate the effect of sky brightness on qualitative measures such as the
Bortle Scale.

* Investigate how sky brightness correlates with the solar cycle and
month-to-month sunspot activity.

* Help provide local ground truth for future sky brightness prediction with the
Clear Sky Clock.

* CCD users can make a correlation between the SQM reading and when the
background reaches some ADC level.



Features:



* Audible signal while measurement is in progress.

* Sky brightness displayed in visual magnitudes per square arcsecond.

* Infrared blocking filter restricts measurement to visual bandpass.

* Temperature in both Celsius and Fahrenheit as well as model number and serial
number can be displayed with different button press sequence.

* Precision readings at even the darkest sites.

* Power-saving features designed in for maximum battery life.

* Reverse battery protection.



Specifications:



* Operates from 9V battery (included).

* Size 3.8 x 2.4 x 1 in.

* Maximum light sampling time: 8 0 seconds.

* Specifications are subject to change without notice.