Mauna Loa Solar Observatory (MLSO) is a solar observatory located on the slopes of

Mauna Loa Mauna Loa (, ; ) is one of five volcanoes that form the Island of Hawaii in the U.S. state of Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean. Mauna Loa is Earth's largest active volcano by both mass and volume. It was historically considered to be the largest ...

on the island of

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

. It is operated by the

High Altitude Observatory The High Altitude Observatory (HAO) is a laboratory of the US National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). HAO operates the Mauna Loa Solar Observatory on Hawaii (island), Hawaii and a research institute in Boulder, Colorado. Its staff condu ...

(HAO), a laboratory within the

National Center for Atmospheric Research The US National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR ) is a US federally funded research and development center (FFRDC) managed by the nonprofit University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) and funded by the National Science Foundat ...

(NCAR). The MLSO sits on property managed by the Mauna Loa Observatory (MLO), which is part of the U.S. Department of Commerce

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA ) is an American scientific and regulatory agency charged with Weather forecasting, forecasting weather, monitoring oceanic and atmospheric conditions, Hydrography, charting the seas, ...

(NOAA). MLSO was built in 1965. The MLSO is tasked with monitoring the solar

atmosphere An atmosphere () is a layer of gases that envelop an astronomical object, held in place by the gravity of the object. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A stellar atmosph ...

and recording data on plasmic and energetic emissions from the

chromosphere A chromosphere ("sphere of color", from the Ancient Greek words χρῶμα (''khrôma'') 'color' and σφαῖρα (''sphaîra'') 'sphere') is the second layer of a Stellar atmosphere, star's atmosphere, located above the photosphere and below t ...

and corona. Studies of

coronal mass ejection A coronal mass ejection (CME) is a significant ejection of plasma mass from the Sun's corona into the heliosphere. CMEs are often associated with solar flares and other forms of solar activity, but a broadly accepted theoretical understandin ...

s (CMEs) are also conducted at MLSO. A number of non-solar

astronomical observatories An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial, marine, or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geophysics, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed. Th ...

are located at the site. The MLSO instruments record images of the solar disk and limb every 3 minutes for 3–10 hours daily starting at 17:00 UT, weather permitting.

Instruments

Current instruments

* The Coronal Multi-channel Polarimeter (CoMP) monitors the magnetic field in the corona by recording the strength and polarization of light received from corona. * The K-cor

coronagraph A coronagraph is a telescopic attachment designed to block out the direct light from a star or other bright object so that nearby objects – which otherwise would be hidden in the object's bright glare – can be resolved. Most coronagr ...

is the 5 generation instrument to produces polarization maps of the corona observed in white light.

Former instruments

* The Precision Solar Photometric Telescope (PSPT) produces highly accurate images of the

photosphere The photosphere is a star's outer shell from which light is radiated. It extends into a star's surface until the plasma becomes opaque, equivalent to an optical depth of approximately , or equivalently, a depth from which 50% of light will esc ...

at five different wavelengths. * The Mark-IV K-Coronameter (Mk4) produces polarization maps of the corona observed in white light. * The Advanced Coronal Observing System (ACOS) is a set of instruments for monitoring the chromosphere on a shared mount. * The Coronado Solarmax 60 (CS60) is a small refractor built by

Meade Instruments Meade Instruments Corporation (also shortened to Meade) was an American multinational corporation, multinational company (law), company headquartered in Watsonville, California, that manufactured, imported and distributed telescopes, binoculars, ...

which provides

H-alpha Hydrogen-alpha, typically shortened to H-alpha or Hα, is a deep-red visible spectral line of the hydrogen atom with a wavelength of 656.28 nm in air and 656.46 nm in vacuum. It is the first spectral line in the Balmer series and is em ...

disk and limb images. * Chromospheric Helium-I Imaging Photometer (CHIP) observes at a wavelength which is an

emission line A spectral line is a weaker or stronger region in an otherwise uniform and continuous spectrum. It may result from emission or absorption of light in a narrow frequency range, compared with the nearby frequencies. Spectral lines are often used ...

for non-ionized

helium Helium (from ) is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol He and atomic number 2. It is a colorless, odorless, non-toxic, inert gas, inert, monatomic gas and the first in the noble gas group in the periodic table. Its boiling point is ...

(He I) in order to monitor the chromosphere. * The Polarimeter for Inner Coronal Studies (PICS) produced H-alpha disk and limb digital images from 1994 to 1997. It was replaced by the CS60. * The Digital Prominence Monitor (DPM) produced H-alpha disk and limb digital images from 1994 to 1997. It was replaced by the PICS. * The Prominence Monitor (PMON) produced H-alpha disk and limb images on film from 1980 to 1994. It was replaced by the DPM. * The Mark-III K-Coronameter (Mk3) operated from 1980 to 1998, and was replaced by the MK4. * The Mark-II K-Coronameter (MK2), named the Coronal Activity Monitor, operated from 1968 to 1980. It was developed specifically for study of minute-to-minute transient coronal phenomena. * The Mark-I K-Coronameter (MK1) was brought over from Haleakala in 1965 (where the observing program had been carried out in collaboration with the University of Hawaii), and operated on Mauna Loa until 1968.

References

External links

High Altitude Observatory

National Center for Atmospheric Research
{{Portal bar, Hawaii, Astronomy, Stars, Spaceflight, Outer space, Solar System, Education, Science Mauna Loa Astronomical observatories in Hawaii Buildings and structures in Hawaii County, Hawaii Solar observatories

Instruments

Current instruments

Former instruments

See also

References

External links