Spectrophotometry of Faint Light Sources with a Tilting-Filter Photometer

Abstract

The design considerations that are necessary to optimize the performance of a tilting-filter photometer are presented. Such a photometer is described, and some typical measurements of aurora and airglow illustrate the application of this technique to low light level spectrophotometry. The digital approach used with photomultipliers at these low light levels is also discussed. Comparison of the tilting-filter photometer with other spectral scanning instruments reveals a superiority for many applications. A final section discusses possible space applications.