Vacuum Telescope Facility at Kitt Peak National Solar Observatory
Kitt Peak National Observatory
Vacuum Telescope Facility
Images courtesy of the National Solar Observatory, a Division of the National Optical Astronomy Observatories, which is operated by AURA, Inc. under a cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation
| Observatory Contributions |
- Synoptic observations have been made of the Sun over the last twenty years and will be continuing in the future.
- Research time is allocated competitvely.
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| How Will It Do This? |
- Images of the Sun are made dailly at the Vacuum Telescope facility in the 854.2 nm (1 nm = 1 billionth of a meter) Ca II line (lower chromosphere), 868.8 nm Fe I line (photosphere), and the 1083.0 nm He II line (chromosphere) using a spectroheliograph and a CCD camera.
- A measurement of the polarization of the first two of these lines allows a determination of the Sun's magnetic field structure.
- Solar images are partially available over the internet.
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| Observatory Description |
- Synoptic observations are jointly supported by the National Solar Obervatory (NSO), the National Aeronautics and Space Administation (NASA), and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
- The NSO is a part of the National Optical Astronomy Observatory which is operated by the Associationof Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA) under a cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation (NSF).
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