A solar tower, in the context of

astronomy Astronomy () is a natural science that studies celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and evolution. Objects of interest include planets, moons, stars, nebulae, g ...

, is a structure used to support equipment for studying the

Sun The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is a nearly perfect ball of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core. The Sun radiates this energy mainly as light, ultraviolet, and infrared radi ...

, and is typically part of solar telescope designs. Generically, the term solar tower has many more uses especially for a type of power production using Earth's Sun. Solar tower observatories are also called vacuum tower telescopes. Solar towers are used to raise the observation equipment above

atmospheric turbulence An atmosphere () is a layer of gas or layers of gases that envelop a planet, and is held in place by the gravity of the planetary body. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A ...

caused by solar heating of the ground and the radiation of the heat into the atmosphere. Traditional observatories do not have to be placed high above ground level, as they do most of their observation at night, when ground radiation is at a minimum. The horizontal Snow solar observatory was built on Mount Wilson in 1904. It was soon found that heat radiation was disrupting observations. Almost as soon as the Snow Observatory opened, plans were started for a tower that opened in 1908 followed by a tower in 1912. The tower is currently used to study

helioseismology Helioseismology, a term coined by Douglas Gough, is the study of the structure and dynamics of the Sun through its oscillations. These are principally caused by sound waves that are continuously driven and damped by convection near the Sun's sur ...

, while the tower is active in UCLA's Solar Cycle Program. The term has also been used to refer to other structures used for experimental purposes, such as the Solar Tower Atmospheric Cherenkov Effect Experiment ( STACEE), which is being used to study Cherenkov radiation, and the Weizmann Institute

solar power tower A solar power tower, also known as 'central tower' power plant or ' heliostat' power plant, is a type of solar furnace using a tower to receive focused sunlight. It uses an array of flat, movable mirrors (called heliostats) to focus the sun's r ...

Examples

List of solar telescopes This is a list of solar telescopes built in various countries around the world. A solar telescope is a specialized telescope that is used to observe the Sun. This list contains ground-based professional observatory telescopes at optical wavelengt ...

Solar Observatory Tower Meudon Solar Observatory Tower Meudon is a 36.47 metre tall tower built of reinforced concrete on the area of Paris Observatory, Meudon Observatory in Meudon, France, which has in its interior a spectrography, spectrograph for examination of the sun. Sola ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

External links

Mount Wilson60 ft Solar TowerSTACEE home page
Astronomical observatories Telescope types {{observatory-stub