Solar telescope
DOI: 10.1063/1.3048268
A high‐resolution solar telescope will soon be constructed to study high‐energy proton showers associated with sunspot activity. Air Force Cambridge Research Laboratories will build the telescope at its Sacramento Peak Observatory in Sunspot, New Mexico, at a cost of $3.2 million. It will feature a rotatable 98‐meter interior tube containing the optical system and instrumentation under vacuum. The resulting elimination of air turbulence and dust will improve resolution. Researchers will attempt to predict periods of absence of proton showers, which are a potential hazard to men in space. Solar activities arc also known to have a profound effect on the earth’s weather and on communications and detection systems.
