Solar Telescopes Around the World

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San Fernando Observatory
</b><br>
A solar research facility associated with the California State University, Northridge (CSUN).
@San Fernando Observatory

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Dunn Solar Telescope
</b><br>
The Richard B. Dunn Solar Telecope specializes in solar high resolution imaging and spectroscopy. These observations allow solar astronomers worldwide to obtain a better understanding of the sun.
@Dunn Solar Telescope

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McMath-Pierce Telescope
</b><br>
The great new solar telescope at the Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona is a source of pride to this nation. The largest instrument for solar research in the world, it presents American astronomers with a unique tool for investigating the nearest of stars, our Sun. This project is of exceptional interest to all of our citizens...
@McMath-Pierce Telescope

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GONG
</b><br>
The Global Oscillation Network Group (GONG) studies the internal structure and dynamics of the Sun by means of helioseismology - the measurement of acoustic waves that penetrate throughout the solar interior - using a six-station, world-circling network that provides nearly continuous observations of the Sun's 'five-minute oscillations'.
@Global Oscillation Network Group

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Evans Solar Facility
</b><br>
The John W. Evans Solar Facility consists of two main telescopes: a
16

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Hilltop Dome Facility
</b><br>
The Hilltop Dome Facility houses an octagonal spar. Like the spar
in the Evan's Facility, the Hilltop spar has its own guider system
to keep its several telescopes centered on the sun. It also acts as
an eight sided optical bench on which to mount instruments. Some of
these are patrol cameras, while others are test instruments. The
spar allows several instruments to be operated simultaneously. The
patrol cameras can then operate automatically.
@Hilltop Dome Facility

<b class='center'>
SOLIS
</b><br>
(SOLIS) is a new synoptic facility for solar observations over a
long time frame that is funded by the National Science Foundation
(NSF) and designed and built by the National Solar Observatory
(NSO). SOLIS will provide unique observations of the Sun on a
continuing basis for several decades using state-of-the-art
techniques. These long-term studies of the astronomical object most
important to humanity will provide fundamental data to understand
the solar activity cycle, sudden energy releases in the solar
atmosphere, and solar irradiance changes and their relationship to
global change.
@Synoptic Optical Long-term Investigations of the Sun

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Nobeyama Radioheliograph
</b><br>
(NoRH) is a radio telescope dedicated to observe the Sun.

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The Swedish 1-m Solar Telescope
</b><br>
The SST is operated by the Institute for Solar Physics of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences but located within the Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos of the Instituto de Astrofíca de Canarias on the island of La Palma, Spain. The SST replaces a previous 50 cm telescope that has been a world leading solar research instrument for over ten years.
@The Swedish 1-m Solar Telescope

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KIS
</b><br>
The Vacuum-Tower-Telescope [VTT] is the main observing facility for the
Kiepenheuer Institute. It's focal length is 46 m. The coelostat's mirror
diameter is 80 cm [see title image]. With the primary mirror's aperture of
70 cm small scale structures down to a size of 150 km [0.2 arcsecs] may be
observed at the solar surface.

The VTT Building has a height of 38 m including the dome.
@KIS

<b class='center'>
Mt. Wilson
</b><br>
Just five years after George Ellery Hale founded the Mount Wilson
Solar Observatory with a grant from the Carnegie Institution of
Washington, designs for a long-focal-length tower telescope were
completed. In 1908, Hale discovered magnetic fields in sunspots
(using the 60-foot solar tower built in 1907) by applying the
principle of Zeeman splitting, where a spectral line will usually
be split up into several components in the presence of a magnetic
field. This was a discovery of great import. In order to study the
Zeeman splitting of sunspots more precisely, Hale needed a
telescope with a larger image scale and a spectrograph with a
greater linear dispersion than the 60-foot could provide. Because
of this, funds were provided by the Carnegie Institution of
Washington, and in 1909, the construction of the 150-foot solar
tower was begun.
@The 150-Foot Solar Tower at Mt. Wilson Observatory

<b class='center'>
BBSO
</b><br>
The Big Bear Solar Observatory (BBSO) exploits the excellent
climatic conditions of Big Bear Lake to study the Sun, source of
life on Earth. The observatory is located in the middle of Big Bear
Lake to reduce the image distortion which usually occurs when the
Sun heats the ground and produces convection in the air just above
the ground. Turbulent motions in the air near the observatory are
also reduced by the smooth flow of the wind across the lake instead
of the turbulent flow that occurs over mountain peaks and forests.
These conditions, combined with the usually cloudless skies over
Big Bear Lake and the clarity of the air at 2,000 meters (6,750
feet) elevation, make the observatory a premier site for solar
observations. The observatory was built by the California Institute
of Technology in 1969. Management of the observatory, and an array
of solar radio telescopes at Owens Valley Radio Observatory (OVRO)
in Owens Valley, California, was transferred to the New Jersey
Institute of Technology on July 1, 1997. Funding for the operation
of the observatory is from the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration (NASA), the National Science Foundation (NSF), the
United States Air Force, the United States Navy and other agencies.
@Big Bear Solar Observatory

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Catania
</b><br>
Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica
Catania Astrophysical Observatory
Department of Physics and Astronomy,
Catania University
Via S.Sofia, 78 - I-95125 Catania - Italy
@National Institute for Astrophysics

<b class='center'>
HAO
</b><br>
At HAO's Mauna Loa Solar Observatory (MLSO), the PSPT observes
every day of the year for about 6-8 hours, weather permitting. The
PSPT produces seeing-limited full disk digital (2048x2048) images
in CaIIK (393.5+/-0.12 nm), and blue (409.4+/-0.11 nm) and red
(607.1+/-0.22 nm) continuum, at an unprecedented ~0.1% photometric
precision per pixel. The observing sequence is time-averaged and
interlaced to produce photometric images which are averages of 30
exposures taken over approximately 5-6 minutes. Each image is
processed (see below) and made available in FITS format with
extensive header information.
@High Altitude Observatory

<b class='center'>
Wilcox
</b><br>
The Wilcox Solar Observatory began daily observations of the Sun's
global magnetic field in May 1975, with the goal of understanding
changes in the Sun and how those changes affect the Earth; this is
now called space weather. Now low-resolution maps are also made of
the Sun's magnetic field each day, as are observations of solar
surface motions. The observatory is located in the foothills just
west of the Stanford University campus.

Current staff research topics include space weather,
helioseismology, and the solar cycle; The staff are closely
associated with the Solar Oscillations Investigation that uses the
Michelson Doppler Imager (MDI) instrument on the SOHO spacecraft to
observe the inside of the Sun.
@Wilcox Solar Observatory

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Kodaikanal
</b><br>
The Kodaikanal Observatory of the Indian Institute of Astrophysics
is located in the beautiful Palani range of hills in Southern
India. It was established in 1899 as a Solar Physics Observatory
and all the activities of the Madras Observatory were shifted to
Kodaikanal.
@Kodaikanal Solar Observatory

<b class='center'>

</b><br>
The Mets%9bavi Radio Observatory is a separate research institute of
the Helsinki University of Technology since May 1988. It operates a
14 m diameter radio telescope at Mets%9bavi, Kylm%9ba, Finland, about 35
km west from the university campus. The institute also has premises
in the Electrical Engineering Faculty building, Otakaari 5, Espoo.
@