List of solar telescopes
List of solar telescopes sorted by default by year of completion, with newer telescopes higher up.
Large solar telescopes after 1900
Ground-based professional observatory telescopes at optical wavelengths in a chronological list.
Solar telescopes often have multiple focal lengths, and use various combination of mirrors (such as coelostats), lenses, and tubes for instruments including spectrographs, cameras, or coronographs. 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.
Name/Observatory | Image | Aperture d. | Year(s) | Location | Country(s) | Note |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
COronal Solar Magnetism Observatory (COSMO)[1] | - | 150 150 cm | proposed | Hawaii, USA | United States | |
Chinese Large Solar Telescope | - | 180 180 cm | constructing | Western part of China | China | |
National Large Solar Telescope | - | 200200 cm | proposed[2] | Merak Village, Ladakh, India | India | |
Chinese Giant Solar Telescope | - | 500 500–800 cm | planned | Western part of China | China | Could be the world's largest solar telescope when completed.[3] |
European Solar Telescope (EST)[4] | - | 400 400+ cm | planned | Canary Islands | 15 European countries[5] | |
Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope | - | 424 424 cm[6] | under construction [7] | Maui, Hawaii, USA | United States | |
GREGOR solar telescope, Teide Obs. | 150150 cm | 2012– | Tenerife, Spain | Germany | [8] | |
BBO NST, BBS Obs. | 160160 cm | 2008– | California, United States | United States | Largest aperture solar telescope in the world now. | |
New Vacuum Solar Telescope (NVST) | - | 100 100 cm | 2010– | Yunnan Astronomical Observatory, China | China | 100 cm vacuum solar telescope[9] |
ONSET (Optical and Near-Infrared Solar Eruption Tracer) | - | 27.5 3x27,5 cm | 2010– | Yunnan Astronomical Observatory, China | 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.[10] |
Bulgarian 15-cm Solar Coronagraph,[11] NAO - Rozhen | - | 100100 cm | 2005– | Rozhen, Bulgaria | Template:BG | |
Swedish 1-m Solar Telescope[12](SST), ORM | 100100 cm | 2002– | La Palma, Spain | Sweden | ||
Prairie View Solar Observatory (PVSO) | 04535 cm | 1999– | Texas, USA | United States | ||
Dutch Open Telescope (DOT), ORM | 04545 cm | 1997– | La Palma, Spain | Netherlands | ||
THÉMIS Solar Telescope, Teide Obs. | 09090 cm | 1996– | Tenerife, Spain | Italy and France | ||
Vacuum Tower Telescope (VTT),[13] Teide Obs. | 07070 cm | 1989– | Tenerife, Spain | Germany | ||
Swedish Vacuum Solar Telescope, ORM | - | 047.547.5 cm | 1985–2000 | La Palma, Spain | Sweden | Replaced by the SST |
Hida Domeless Solar Telescope[14] (ja) | - | 060 60 cm | 1979– | Takayama, Gifu, Japan | Japan | |
Udaipur Solar Observatory MAST Full Disk H-alpha Telescope H-alpha Spar Telescope Coudé Telescope | 025 50 cm 15 cm 25 cm 15 cm | 1976– | Udaipur, India | India | ||
Big Bear Solar Observatory | 06565 cm | 1969–2006 | California, USA | United States | ||
Richard B. Dunn Solar Telescope (ex-VTT), Sacramento Peak | 076 76 cm | 1969– | Sunspot, New Mexico, USA | United States | ||
Solar Observatory Tower Meudon | 06060 cm | 1968– | Meudon, France | France | ||
McMath-Pierce Solar Telescope, KPO | 161 161 cm | 1961– | Arizona, USA | United States | Largest aperture solar telescope | |
ARIES Observatory | - | 01515 cm | 1961– | Nainital, India | India | |
Locarno Gregory Coude Telescope (GCT)[15] | 045 45 cm[6] | 1959–2002 | Tenerife, Spain (1984–2002) Locarno, Switzerland (1959–1984) | Germany | Replaced by GREGOR | |
Solar Tunnel Telescope, Kodaikanal Solar Observatory | 061 61 cm (24 in) | 1958–[16] | Kodaikanal, India | India | ||
Göttinger Sonnenturm (Solar Tower Telescope, Zeiss 1942) | 2x01515 cm 01111 cm | 1942– | Göttingen, Germany | Germany | 65 cm-Coelostat by Zeiss, multiple light paths in tower: 15 cm (f/24) spectroheliograph and main spectrograph, 15 cm (f/10) and 11 cm (f/15) white light projection facilities, several smaller spectrographs. Owned and operated by Göttingen amateur astronomical society. | |
McMath-Hulbert Observatory | - | 06161 cm (24") | 1941–1979 | Michigan, USA | United States | |
50-foot tower, McMath-Hulbert Observatory | - | 040 40 cm | 1936–1979 | Michigan, USA | United States | |
10.5 inch, McMath-Hulbert Observatory | - | 026.7 26.7 cm (10.5") | 1930–1941 | Michigan, USA | United States | Replaced by the 24 inch |
Solar Tower Telescope by Zeiss[17] | - | 045 45 cm | 1930–end | Tokyo, Japan | Japan | Einsteinturm twin |
Einsteinturm | 06060 cm | 1924– | Potsdam, Germany | Germany | ||
150-foot tower,[6] Mount Wilson Observatory | 035 35 cm (24") | 1912– | California, USA | United States | ||
Snow Solar Telescope,[18] Mount Wilson Observatory | - | 061 61 cm (24") | 1904– | California, USA | United States | first solar tower telescope |
Lerebour/Grubb-Parsons, Kodaikanal Solar Observatory | 020 20 cm | 1901– | Kodaikanal, India | India (1947- ) United Kingdom (1901–1950) | ||
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 SoloarMax 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.spacedaily.com/reports/China_Exclusive_Scientists_looking_for_site_for_giant_solar_telescope_999.html/
- ↑ 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
- ↑ http://arxiv.org/pdf/1211.1751.pdf
- ↑
- ↑ solarphysics.kva.se The Swedish 1 m Solar Telescope
- ↑ http://www.otri.iac.es/opticon/view_telescopes.php?telescope=27
- ↑ 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
- ↑ http://solarwww.mtk.nao.ac.jp/en/tower.html
- ↑ 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
Further reading
See also
- Solar tower
- List of largest optical reflecting telescopes
- List of largest optical refracting telescopes
- Solar Observing Optical Network