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 headquartered in Boulder and operates facilities at two locations, at Sacramento Peak near Sunspot in New Mexico, and at Kitt Peak in Arizona until the end of fiscal year 2017. The institute is constructing the 4-meter Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope in the Haleakala Observatory on the island of Maui.
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.
Maps, Directions, and Place Reviews
Visiting the observatories
The National Solar Observatory at Sacramento Peak welcomes visitors during the daytime. There is a separate, nighttime observatory, Apache Point Observatory, located nearby. The observatory lies in New Mexico at the southern end of NM Scenic Byway 6563, about 18 miles (by car) south of Cloudcroft (on NM 82), and 40 miles southeast (by car) from Alamogordo (on NM 70 and 54), in the village of Sunspot inside of the Lincoln National Forest. Sunspot is an unincorporated community in the Sacramento Mountains in Otero County.
The National Solar Observatory in Arizona is located in Tucson and at Kitt Peak, which is 56 miles southwest of Tucson via State Route 86 on the Tohono O'Odham Reservation. Allow 90 minutes of drive time from Tucson.
Solar Sacramento Video
Telescopes operated by the observatory
Sacramento Peak
- The Richard B. Dunn Solar Telescope
- The Evans Solar Facility
- Hilltop Dome Facility
- See Apache Point Observatory for the telescopes located there
Kitt Peak
- McMath-Pierce Solar Telescope
- Kitt Peak Solis Telescope
Global
- Global Oscillation Network Group
History
The Sacramento Peak facilities are located in Sunspot, New Mexico. The site's name was chosen by the late James C. Sadler, (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.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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