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RISE/PSPT (1Sep93)
(from NSO, NOAO Newsletter No. 35, 1 September 1993)

The NSF has given a green light to the community-based Precision Solar
Photometric Telescope (PSPT) program. We now have an honest start to
the project with a first-year budget of about $130 K and an expectation
for funding at the level of about $150 K/year for six years. Although
this is about one-third of the original budget request, NSO will begin
developing the PSPT instruments immediately.  If additional funds are
available next year, we may still realize our goal of a two station
network for solar-cycle surface brightness variation studies within two
years.

The PSPT instruments are being designed to obtain the highest
precision, differential, full-disk surface brightness observations that
are possible from a ground-based telescope operating in the blue to
near IR part of the visible spectrum. The instruments will utilize a
fast readout, 2K x 2K pixel CCD camera and atmospheric seeing monitors
with a fast shutter system to achieve high spatial resolution with (a
goal of) 0.1%/pixel photometric precision. Observations in Ca K and
continuum wavelengths will be obtained with a cadence limited by our
(as yet undetermined) data handling and storage capabilities, although
we anticipate obtaining complete photometric datasets with at least a
two-hour cadence. The PSPT Scientific Advisory Committee consists of P.
Foukal (chair), G. Chapman, J. Kuhn (project scientist), B. LaBonte, A.
Skumanich, and O.R. White.

Jeff Kuhn

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