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

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Jennifer Birriel
James Kevin Adkins
Department of Mathematics, Computer Science, and Physics, Morehead State
University, Morehead, KY 43051

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.