Abstract

It is usually accepted that whenever dealing with astronomical observation through the atmosphere, the optical turbulence temporal evolution can be sufficiently described with the so-called frozen turbulence hypothesis. In this model, turbulence is supposed to be equivalent to a series of solid phase screens that slide horizontally in front of the observation field of view. Experimental evidence shows, however, that an additional physical process must be taken into account when describing the temporal behaviour of the optical turbulence. In fact, while translating above the observer, turbulence undergoes a proper temporal evolution and affects differently the astronomical and, more specifically, the astrometric observations. The proper temporal evolution of the turbulence-induced optical turbulence observable quantities is here called the optical turbulence boiling. We are proposing through this paper a theoretical approach to the modelling of the optical turbulence temporal evolution when the turbulent layer horizontal translation and the optical turbulence boiling are both involved. The model we propose, as a working hypothesis though, has a direct relevance to differential astrometry because of its explicit dependence upon the optical turbulence temporal evolution. It can also be generalized to other techniques of high angular resolution astronomical observation through the atmospheric turbulence.