Photometric Error Analysis. VIII. the Temporal Power Spectrum of Scintillation

Previous theoretical work on the scintillation spectra of stars is extended to include rectangular as well as annular apertures. The theory is then generalized to encompass planetary scintillation and the effects of diffraction, atmospheric dispersion, and seeing. The results are quite accurate for apertures larger than 3 in. (7.6 cm) or 4 in. (10.2 cm). Observations of planetary scintillation show that the telescopic scintillation is produced throughout the atmosphere rather than primarily in a thin layer; the turbulent scale height is usually near 8 km and can be found with an accuracy of about 1 km. The twinkling seen with the naked eye arises within 1 km of the ground and is more closely related to telescopic seeing than to telescopic scintillation. However, this boundary layer can contribute to low frequency telescopic scintillation and therefore to photometric errors.