NOAO Abstracts for SPIE Meeting in March

SOLIS - A modern facility for synoptic solar observations

Authors:

C. U. Keller and NSO staff

Abstract:

SOLIS (Synoptic Optical Long-term Investigations of the Sun) is a suite of instruments that will modernize and greatly improve synoptic solar observations carried out by the National Solar Observatory. It will provide fundamental data necessary to understand the solar activity cycle, sudden energy releases in the solar atmosphere, and solar spectral irradiance changes. State-of-the-art instrumentation and data collection techniques will be employed to enhance both the quality and quantity of data. A high degree of automation and remote control will provide faster user access to data and flexible interaction with the data-collection process. The instruments include a vector spectromagnetograph that will measure the magnetic field strength and direction over the full solar disk in 15 minutes, a full disk patrol delivering digital images in various spectral lines at a high cadence, and a Sun-as-a-star precision spectrometer to measure changes in many spectral lines.

[NOAO at the SPIE Meeting in March]

National Optical Astronomy Observatories, 950 North Cherry Avenue, P.O. Box 26732, Tucson, Arizona 85726 Phone: (520) 318-8000

Posted: 05Mar1998