National Solar Observatory
| Established | 1952 |
|---|---|
| Research type | basic |
|
Field of research
|
solar physics |
| Director | Valentin M. Pillet |
| Staff | around 150 |
| Address | 3665 Discovery Drive, 3rd Floor, Boulder, CO, 80303, USA |
| Location | Boulder, Colorado, USA 40°00′42″N 105°14′44″W / 40.0117201°N 105.2454644°W |
| Affiliations | University of Colorado Boulder |
|
Operating agency
|
AURA, NSF |
| Website | www |
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.
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.
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Wikipedia