List of solar telescopes
This is a list of solar telescopes built in various countries around the world. A solar telescope is a specialized telescope that is used to observe the Sun.
This list contains ground-based professional observatory telescopes at optical wavelengths in chronological order. Solar telescopes often have multiple focal lengths, and use a various combination of mirrors such as coelostats, lenses, and tubes for instruments including spectrographs, cameras, or coronagraphs. There are many types of instruments that have been designed to observe Earth's Sun, for example, in the 20th century solar towers were common.
Large solar telescopes after 1900
Name/Observatory | Image | Aperture d. | Year(s) | Location | Country(s) | Note |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
COronal Solar Magnetism Observatory (COSMO)[1] | - | 150 cm | proposed | Hawaii, USA | ||
Chinese Large Solar Telescope | - | 180 cm | constructing | Western part of China | ||
National Large Solar Telescope | - | 200 cm | proposed[2] | Merak Village, Ladakh, India | ||
Chinese Giant Solar Telescope | - | 500–800 cm | planned | Western part of China | ||
European Solar Telescope (EST)[3] | - | 400+ cm | planned | Canary Islands | 15 European countries[4] | |
Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope | 424 cm[5] | under construction [6] | Maui, Hawaii, USA | Built, First light planned for 2019 | ||
GREGOR, Teide Obs. | 150 cm | 2012– | Tenerife, Spain | [7] | ||
Goode Solar Telescope (GST), Big Bear Solar Observatory | 160 cm | 2008– | California, United States | Located in a lake. Largest aperture optical solar telescope in the world now. | ||
New Vacuum Solar Telescope (NVST) | - | 100 cm | 2010– | Yunnan Astronomical Observatory, China | 100 cm vacuum solar telescope[8] | |
ONSET (Optical and Near-Infrared Solar Eruption Tracer) | - | 3x27,5 cm | 2010– | School of Astronomy & Space Science, Nanjing University, China | The ONSET consists of four tubes: (1) a near-infrared vacuum tube, with an aperture of 27.5 cm, (2) a chromospheric vacuum tube, with an aperture of 27.5 cm, (3) a WL vacuum tube, with an aperture of 20 cm and (4) a guiding tube.[9] | |
Bulgarian 15-cm Solar Coronagraph,[10] NAO - Rozhen | - | 100 cm | 2005– | Rozhen, Bulgaria | ||
Swedish 1-m Solar Telescope[11](SST), ORM | 100 cm | 2002– | La Palma, Spain | |||
Prairie View Solar Observatory (PVSO) | 35 cm | 1999– | Texas, USA | |||
Dutch Open Telescope (DOT), ORM | 45 cm | 1997– | La Palma, Spain | |||
THÉMIS Solar Telescope, Teide Obs. | 90 cm | 1996– | Tenerife, Spain | |||
Vacuum Tower Telescope (VTT),[12] Teide Obs. | 70 cm | 1989– | Tenerife, Spain | |||
Swedish Vacuum Solar Telescope, ORM | - | 47.5 cm | 1985–2000 | La Palma, Spain | Replaced by the SST | |
Hida Domeless Solar Telescope[13] (ja) | - | 60 cm | 1979– | Takayama, Gifu, Japan | ||
Udaipur Solar Observatory MAST Full Disk H-alpha Telescope H-alpha Spar Telescope Coudé Telescope | 50 cm 15 cm 25 cm 15 cm | 1976– | Udaipur, India | |||
Richard B. Dunn Solar Telescope (DST), Sacramento Peak | 76 cm | 1969– | Sunspot Solar Observatory, Sunspot, New Mexico, USA | |||
Solar Observatory Tower Meudon | 60 cm | 1968– | Meudon, France | |||
McMath-Pierce Solar Telescope, KPO | 161 cm | 1961– | Arizona, USA | Previously the largest aperture optical and infrared solar telescope | ||
ARIES Observatory | - | 15 cm | 1961– | Nainital, India | ||
Locarno Gregory Coude Telescope (GCT)[14] | 45 cm[5] | 1959–2002 | Tenerife, Spain (1984–2002) Locarno, Switzerland (1959–1984) | Replaced by GREGOR | ||
Solar Tunnel Telescope, Kodaikanal Solar Observatory | 61 cm (24 in) | 1958–[15] | Kodaikanal, India | |||
Evans Solar Facility (ESF)[16], Sacramento Peak | 40 cm | 1953–2014 | Sunspot Solar Observatory, Sunspot, New Mexico, USA | Also a coronagraph | ||
Göttinger Sonnenturm (Solar Tower Telescope, Zeiss 1942) | 2x15 cm 11 cm | 1942–2004 | Göttingen, Germany | 65 cm-Coelostat by Zeiss, feeding light into several small light paths in tower | ||
McMath-Hulbert Observatory | - | 61 cm (24") | 1941–1979 | Michigan, USA | ||
50-foot tower, McMath-Hulbert Observatory | - | 40 cm | 1936–1979 | Michigan, USA | ||
10.5 inch, McMath-Hulbert Observatory | - | 26.7 cm (10.5") | 1930–1941 | Michigan, USA | Replaced by the 24 inch | |
Solar Tower Telescope by Zeiss[17] | - | 45 cm | 1930–end | Tokyo, Japan | ||
Arcetri solar tower | 37 cm | 1925-2006 | Arcetri, Italy | |||
Einsteinturm | 60 cm | 1924– | Potsdam, Germany | |||
150-foot tower,[5] Mount Wilson Observatory | 35 cm (24") | 1912– | California, USA | |||
Snow Solar Telescope,[18] Mount Wilson Observatory | - | 61 cm (24") | 1904– | California, USA | first solar tower telescope | |
Lerebour/Grubb-Parsons, Kodaikanal Solar Observatory | 20 cm | 1901– | Kodaikanal, India | |||
Telescopes for the sun have existed for hundreds of years, this list is not complete and only goes back to 1900.
Other types of solar telescopes
There are much smaller commercial and/or amateur telescopes such as Coronado Filters from founder and designer David Lunt, bought by Meade Instruments in 2004 and sells SolarMax solar telescopes up to 8 cm[19][20]
Most solar observatories observe optically at visible, UV, and near infrared wavelengths, but other things can be observed.
- CERN Axion Solar Telescope(CAST), looks for solar axions in the early 2000s
- Multi-spectral solar telescope array (MSSTA), a rocket launched payload of UV telescopes in the 1990s
- Leoncito Astronomical Complex, has a submillimeter wavelength solar telescope.
- Owens Valley Solar Array, for solar radio observation
References
- ↑ http://www.cosmo.ucar.edu/
- ↑
- ↑ http://www.iac.es/project/EST/
- ↑ http://www.astro-east.org/
- 1 2 3 http://www.bbso.njit.edu/newtelescope/large.html
- ↑
- ↑ GREGOR Website at KIS, Freiburg
- ↑ http://www.iau.org/static/scientific_meetings/iau_ga_2012/speeches/su_ding_qiang.pdf
- ↑ https://arxiv.org/pdf/1211.1751.pdf
- ↑
- ↑ solarphysics.kva.se The Swedish 1 m Solar Telescope Archived 2008-06-16 at the Wayback Machine.
- ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-12-26. Retrieved 2009-02-28.
- ↑ http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/general/facilities/dst/index_en.html
- ↑ http://www.astro.physik.uni-goettingen.de/research/solphys/GCT_text.html
- ↑ http://www.saao.ac.za/~isg/gp.html
- ↑ https://nsosp.nso.edu/esf
- ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2006-03-10. Retrieved 2014-08-30.
- ↑ http://amazing-space.stsci.edu/resources/explorations/groundup//lesson/scopes/snow/index.php
- ↑ Sky & Telescope: David Lunt (1942-2005)
- ↑ David Lunt biography, Solar Filter designer Archived 2011-07-23 at the Wayback Machine.