Editing National Solar Observatory

{{Short description|Observatory}}
{{Infobox laboratory
| name             = National Solar Observatory
| native_name      =
| image            =
| caption          =
| latin_name       =
| motto            =
| established      = {{start date|1952}}
| type             = basic
| budget           =
| research_field   = [[Solar Physics]]
| directors        = [[Valentín Martínez Pillet]]
| head_label       =
| head             =
| faculty          =
| staff            = around 150
| students         =
| alumni           =
| address          = {{mf-adr| street = 3665 Discovery Drive, 3rd Floor | city = Boulder | region = CO | pocode = 80303 | nation = US}}
| city             = Boulder
| state            = Colorado
| country          = US
| coordinates      = {{coord|40.0117201|-105.2454644}}
| zipcode          =
| campus           =
| free_label       = Sponsoring agency
| free             = [[National Science Foundation]]
| operating_agency = [[Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy]]
| nobel_laureates  =
| affiliations     = [[University of Colorado Boulder]]
| website          = {{URL|http://www.nso.edu}}
| logo             =
| footnotes        =
}}

The '''National Solar Observatory''' ('''NSO''') is a [[United States]] [[federally funded research and development center]] to advance the knowledge of the [[solar physics|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, Colorado|Boulder]] and operates facilities at a number of locations – at the 4-meter [[Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope]] in the [[Haleakala Observatory]] on the island of [[Maui]], at [[Sacramento Peak]] near [[Sunspot, New Mexico|Sunspot]] in [[New Mexico]], and  six sites around the world for the [[Global Oscillations Network Group]] one of which is shared with the [[SOLIS|Synoptic Optical Long-term Investigations of the Sun]].

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.

== Visiting the observatories ==
The National Solar Observatory HQ is located on the campus of the University of Colorado, Boulder. It also has some staff on [[Maui]], and [[Sacramento Peak]].

== Telescopes operated by the observatory ==
=== Big Bear Solar Observatory ===
* [[Synoptic Optical Long-term Investigations of the Sun]]

=== Haleakala Observatory ===
* [[Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope]]

=== Sacramento Peak ===
* See [[Sunspot Solar Observatory]] for the telescopes located there

=== Global ===
* [[Global Oscillation Network Group]]

== Directors ==

A list of all NSO directors since the founding of the observatory is given below.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! NSO Director !! Dates in office
|-
|Robert Howard
|1983–1986
|-
|John Leibacher
|1986–1992
|-
|Jacques Beckers
|1993–1998
|-
| Steve Keil || 1999–2013
|-
| Valentín Martínez Pillet || 2013–2024
|-
| Christoph Keller || 2024–present<ref>{{cite web |title=AURA Appoints Christoph Keller as next National Solar Observatory Director |url=https://nso.edu/blog/aura-appoints-christoph-keller-as-next-national-solar-observatory-director/ |website=NSO - National Solar Observatory |access-date=23 February 2025 |date=4 January 2024}}</ref>
|}

==History==
The Sacramento Peak observatories were proposed by [[Donald Menzel]] of the [[Harvard College Observatory]] in 1947, when the [[U.S. Air Force]] commissioned a site survey for a suitable facility that would study the higher regions of the Earth's atmosphere. The site, near [[White Sands Proving Ground]], was chosen in 1948. The first equipment to be operated by the Harvard Observatory was installed in 1949, a {{convert|6|in|cm|adj=on}} prominence camera, and a flare patrol camera, installed in the Grain Bin Dome.<ref name="leverington1">{{cite book |last1=Leverington |first1=David |title=Encyclopedia of the History of Astronomy and Astrophysics |date=2013 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |isbn=978-0-521-89994-9 |page=287}}</ref>

These instruments were followed by the Evans Solar Facility, or Big Dome, which housed a {{convert|16|in|cm|adj=on}} coronograph and spectrograph. In 1963 the Hilltop Dome was built to house additional instruments.<ref name="leverington1"/>

The Sacramento Peak facilities are located in [[Sunspot, New Mexico]]. The site's name was chosen by the late [[James C. Sadler]], (1920–2005), an internationally noted [[meteorologist]] and professor at The [[University of Hawaii]], formerly with the [[United States Air Force]] on assignment during the early inception of the observatory.<ref>{{cite news |title=The Sacramento Peak Observatory |work=Solar Physics |issue=182 |pages=1–19 |year=1998 |first=J. B.|last=Zirker}}</ref>

For the [[Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017]], NSO enlisted the cooperation of various groups in the Citizen CATE (Continental-America Telescopic Eclipse) experiment to set up more than 60 identical telescopes along the eclipse path, to produce 90 continuous minutes of images, 10 seconds apart, of the Sun's inner [[solar corona|corona]]. This was to provide a clearer understanding of solar plumes and other transient phenomena.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-solar-eclipse-usa-projects/citizen-scientists-will-take-to-the-field-for-u-s-eclipse-idUSKCN1AX100|title=Citizen scientists will take to the field for U.S. eclipse|last=Klotz|first=Irene|work=U.S.|access-date=2018-07-06|language=en-US}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[List of astronomical observatories]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite news |first=Robert Roy |last=Britt |title=Scientists spot 'tsunami' on the sun |work=NBCNews.com |date=December 8, 2006 |url=http://www.nbcnews.com/id/16113623 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402171028/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/16113623/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=April 2, 2015 }}
* {{cite news |title=Donald Menzel and the creation of the Sacramento Peak Observatory |last=Liebowitz |first=R. P. |work=Journal for the History of Astronomy |issn=0021-8286 |volume=33 |number=111 |pages=193–211 |year=2002 |url=http://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/2002JHA....33..193L |accessdate=March 3, 2015|bibcode = 2002JHA....33..193L }}

== External links ==
* [http://dkist.nso.edu Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope]
* [http://nisp.nso.edu NSO Integrated Synoptic Program]
* {{commons category-inline}}

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[[Category:Astronomical observatories in Arizona]]
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[[Category:Buildings and structures in Pima County, Arizona]]
[[Category:Federally Funded Research and Development Centers]]
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[[Category:Science and technology in Hawaii]]
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[[Category:Solar observatories]]
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[[Category:1952 establishments in the United States]]