Sunspot is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

in the

Sacramento Mountains The Sacramento Mountains are a mountain range in the south-central part of the U.S. state of New Mexico, lying just east of Alamogordo in Otero County (small portions of the range lie in Lincoln County and Chaves County). From north to south, ...

in the

Lincoln National Forest Lincoln National Forest is a unit of the U.S. Forest Service located in southern New Mexico. Established by Presidential Proclamation in 1902 as the Lincoln Forest Reserve, the forest begins near the Texas border and contains lands in parts of ...

in Otero County,

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ke ...

, United States, about south of Cloudcroft. Its elevation is . The

Sunspot Solar Observatory The Sunspot Solar Observatory (SSO) is an astronomy, astronomical observatory designed for the study of the Sun. The observatory is operated by New Mexico State University (NMSU) and the U.S. National Solar Observatory (NSO). It is split between o ...

and

Apache Point Observatory The Apache Point Observatory (APO; obs. code: 705) is an astronomical observatory located in the Sacramento Mountains in Sunspot, New Mexico, United States, approximately south of Cloudcroft. The observatory is operated by New Mexico State Un ...

are located in Sunspot in the Sacramento Mountains. The site of Sunspot is leased by the

National Science Foundation The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National ...

(NSF) from the

US Forest Service The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands. The Forest Service manages of land. Major divisions of the agency inc ...

(USFS), and is operated and maintained by the

Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy The Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA) is a consortium of universities and other institutions that operates astronomical observatories and telescopes. Founded October 10, 1957, with the encouragement of the National S ...

. The

telescope A telescope is a device used to observe distant objects by their emission, absorption, or reflection of electromagnetic radiation. Originally meaning only an optical instrument using lenses, curved mirrors, or a combination of both to observ ...

and site are both open to the public, and the visitors center offers guided tours of the site on Saturdays and Sundays. On other days there is a self-guided 1/2 mile trail around the telescope and White Sands overlook.

History

It was named after the presence of the

National Solar Observatory The National Solar Observatory (NSO) is a United States public research institute to advance the knowledge of the physics of the Sun. NSO studies the Sun both as an astronomical object and as the dominant external influence on Earth. NSO is headq ...

on Sacramento Peak, in a vote that was allegedly rigged by the observatory's director John Evans. The road leading to Sunspot from Cloudcroft is New Mexico State Road 6563, named for the brightest wavelength of

hydrogen Hydrogen is the chemical element with the symbol H and atomic number 1. Hydrogen is the lightest element. At standard conditions hydrogen is a gas of diatomic molecules having the formula . It is colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic ...

emission,

H-alpha H-alpha (Hα) is a specific deep-red visible spectral line A spectral line is a dark or bright line in an otherwise uniform and continuous spectrum, resulting from emission or absorption of light in a narrow frequency range, compared wit ...

. This scenic byway features signposts marking the relative locations of the planets from the sun in proportion to their distance to Sunspot.

Temporary closure and conspiracies

On September 6, 2018, AURA voluntarily evacuated the site of Sunspot for security reasons. This prompted the formation of multiple conspiracies ranging from Aliens to military intelligence operations to impending solar storms to FBI raids. These all originated from false information provided by the local sheriff. A local TV station provided a call-in from a supposed employee with a disguised voice, although this was later found to be faked by the reporter. On September 17 AURA re-opened Sunspot, following an investigation into criminal activity involving

personnel. Later, court documents reported that the closure was due to threats from the Apache Point Observatory janitor who was subsequently the center of a federal investigation. During the course of the investigation, AURA had decided to evacuate the site and terminated the contract that had been held by the janitor. Apache Point Observatory had not been closed despite the ongoing presence of the suspect at that location during the investigation. The suspect was known by a few others who had been previously removed from Sunspot, or fired. Once the threat was no longer present, Sunspot was reopened by AURA.

Education

It is zoned to Cloudcroft Municipal Schools.

References

External links

{{authority control Unincorporated communities in Otero County, New Mexico Unincorporated communities in New Mexico

History

Temporary closure and conspiracies

Education

See also

References

External links