The National Solar Observatory (NSO) is a United States public

research institute A research institute, research centre, research center or research organization, is an establishment founded for doing research. Research institutes may specialize in basic research or may be oriented to applied research. Although the term often i ...

to advance the knowledge of the physics of the Sun. NSO studies the Sun both as an

astronomical object An astronomical object, celestial object, stellar object or heavenly body is a naturally occurring physical entity, association, or structure that exists in the observable universe. In astronomy, the terms ''object'' and ''body'' are often us ...

and as the dominant external influence on Earth. NSO is headquartered in

Boulder In geology, a boulder (or rarely bowlder) is a rock fragment with size greater than in diameter. Smaller pieces are called cobbles and pebbles. While a boulder may be small enough to move or roll manually, others are extremely massive. In c ...

and operates facilities at two locations - at the 4-meter Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope in the Haleakala Observatory on the island of

Maui The island of Maui (; Hawaiian: ) is the second-largest of the islands of the state of Hawaii at 727.2 square miles (1,883 km2) and is the 17th largest island in the United States. Maui is the largest of Maui County's four islands, which ...

, and at

Sacramento Peak Cathey Peak is a peak in the Sacramento Mountains (New Mexico), Sacramento Mountains, in the south-central part of the U.S. State of New Mexico. It lies in Otero County, New Mexico, Otero County, southeast of the community of Alamogordo, New Mexi ...

near

Sunspot Sunspots are phenomena on the Sun's photosphere that appear as temporary spots that are darker than the surrounding areas. They are regions of reduced surface temperature caused by concentrations of magnetic flux that inhibit convection. Sun ...

in New Mexico. NSO provides its observations to the scientific community. It operates facilities, develops advanced instrumentation both in-house and through partnerships, conducts solar research, and carries out educational and public outreach.

Visiting the observatories

The National Solar Observatory HQ is located on the campus of the University of Colorado, Boulder. It also has some staff on

, and

Telescopes operated by the observatory

Haleakala Observatory

* Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope

Sacramento Peak

* See Sunspot Solar Observatory for the telescopes located there

Global

* Global Oscillation Network Group

Directors

A list of all NSO directors since the founding of the observatory is given below.

History

The Sacramento Peak observatories were proposed by Donald Menzel of the Harvard College Observatory in 1947, when the U.S. Air Force commissioned a site survey for a suitable facility that would study the higher regions of the Earth's atmosphere. The site, near White Sands Proving Ground, was chosen in 1948. The first equipment to be operated by the Harvard Observatory was installed in 1949, a prominence camera, and a flare patrol camera, installed in the Grain Bin Dome. These instruments were followed by the Evans Solar Facility, or Big Dome, which housed a coronograph and spectrograph. In 1963 the Hilltop Dome was built to house additional instruments. The Sacramento Peak facilities are located in Sunspot, New Mexico. The site's name was chosen by the late

James C. Sadler James Calvin Sadler (February 9, 1920 – September 2, 2005) was an American meteorologist, and a professor in tropical meteorology at the University of Hawaii, where he taught for 22 years. He is considered one of the pioneers of tropical meteorol ...

, (1920–2005), an internationally noted meteorologist and professor at The University of Hawaii, formerly with the United States Air Force on assignment during the early inception of the observatory. For the Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017, NSO enlisted the cooperation of various groups in the Citizen CATE (Continental-America Telescopic Eclipse) experiment to set up more than 60 identical telescopes along the eclipse path, to produce 90 continuous minutes of images, 10 seconds apart, of the Sun's inner corona. This was to provide a clearer understanding of solar plumes and other transient phenomena.

References

External links

Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope

NSO Integrated Synoptic Program
* {{Authority control Astronomy in the United States Astronomy institutes and departments Astronomical observatories in Arizona Astronomical observatories in New Mexico Buildings and structures in Otero County, New Mexico Buildings and structures in Pima County, Arizona Federally Funded Research and Development Centers Laboratories in the United States National Science Foundation Science and technology in Colorado Science and technology in Hawaii Science and technology in the United States Research institutes in Colorado Solar observatories Tourist attractions in Otero County, New Mexico University of Colorado Boulder 1952 establishments in the United States