Turbulorn: Astronomical Seeing
Cosmology & the Sky arc, page 154 of 193. Back to The Pixelated Physics Universe
Who they are
Turbulorn has one line, and says it often: “Bad seeing? go redder.”
Turbulorn is a character of the Cosmology & the Sky arc: drawn in pixels, ruled by one piece of real physics, and never allowed to break it.
The physics
Fried parameter r₀ ∝ λ6/5: seeing improves at longer wavelengths.
$$ \begin{gathered} r_0 \propto \lambda^{6/5} \end{gathered} $$
| Symbol | Meaning | SI unit |
|---|---|---|
| $r_0$ | Fried parameter (atmospheric coherence length) | m |
| $\lambda$ | observing wavelength | m |
Sources
Crossovers
Turbulorn meets Thermal Mirage (Heat Refraction / Optical Distortion). Thermal Mirage bends light through air whose refractive index changes with temperature. Turbulorn's seeing is the same physics in a turbulent atmosphere, which blurs stars and limits telescopes.
Turbulorn meets Twinkelle (Why Stars Twinkle). Turbulorn's turbulence makes Twinkelle's point-like stars scintillate. Planets twinkle less because their larger angular size averages the fluctuations.
Wear the lore
Concept keywords: Astronomical Seeing, Turbulorn, Cosmology & the Sky, physics lore, Pixelated Physics