Solar Observatory Tower Meudon is a 36.47 metre tall
tower
A tower is a tall Nonbuilding structure, structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from guyed mast, masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting ...
built of reinforced concrete on the area of
Meudon Observatory in
Meudon,
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
, which has in its interior a
spectrograph
An optical spectrometer (spectrophotometer, spectrograph or spectroscope) is an instrument used to measure properties of light over a specific portion of the electromagnetic spectrum, typically used in spectroscopic analysis to identify mate ...
for examination of the
sun. Solar Observatory Tower Meudon was built in 1964-65, and is a
solar tower, a type of
solar telescope
A solar telescope is a special purpose telescope used to observe the Sun. Solar telescopes usually detect light with wavelengths in, or not far outside, the visible spectrum. Obsolete names for Sun telescopes include heliograph and photoheliograph ...
. It has a shaft diameter of 6.6 metres. In a height of 30.57 metres it has an observatory floor with 18.4 metre diameter. The shaft of the tower consists of two concrete tubes which are separated by a 10 centimetre wide air spelt, in order to avoid
wind induced vibrations.
The telescope has a 60 cm aperture.
Sources
* Turmbauwerke, Bauverlag GmbH, Wiesbaden (Deutschland), 1966
See also
*
Paris Observatory
The Paris Observatory (french: Observatoire de Paris ), a research institution of the Paris Sciences et Lettres University, is the foremost astronomical observatory of France, and one of the largest astronomical centers in the world. Its histor ...
*
List of towers
Several extant building fulfill the engineering definition of a tower: "a tall human structure, always taller than it is wide, for public or regular operational access by humans, but not for living in or office work, and are ''self-supporting' ...
*
List of solar telescopes
This is a list of solar telescopes built in various countries around the world. A solar telescope is a specialized telescope that is used to observe the Sun.
This list contains ground-based professional observatory telescopes at optical wavelengt ...
*
Meudon Great Refractor
Meudon Great Refractor (also known as the ''Grande Lunette'') is a double telescope with lenses (83 cm + 62 cm), in Meudon, France. It is a twin refracting telescope built in 1891, with one visual and one photographic, on a single squar ...
(nearby telescope facility dating to 1891)
External links
Skyscraperpage.com{{Portal bar, France, Astronomy, Stars, Spaceflight, Outer space, Solar System, Education, Science
Astronomical observatories in France
Solar telescopes
Paris Observatory