Astroclimatology of Paranal

Sky Backgrounds at Paranal

Band	J	H	Ks	L	M-NB
Magnitude	16.5	14.4	13.0	3.9	1.2

Typical IR Backgrounds at Paranal (mag/arcsec-2), from J. Cuby et al., The Messenger 101, p.3, September 2000. Note that K, L and M values include telescope background.

Band	U	B	V	R	I
Magnitude	22.28	22.64	21.61	20.87	19.71

Average background at Paranal (mag/arcsec-2), from >4000 FORS1 exposured during Apr.-Sep. 2001, by F. Patat, UBVRI Night Sky Brightness at ESO-Paranal during sunspot maximum.

see also the (U, B, V, R, I, Z) sky brightness as a function of days from full moon