Big Bear Solar Observatory
An observatory built on an artificial island in the middle of Big Bear Lake
in the San Bernadino Mountains of southwest California. The island location
reduces the image distortion that usually occurs when the Sun
heats the ground and produces convection in the air above. Turbulent motions
in the air near the observatory are also reduced by the smooth flow of wind
across the lake. These conditions, combined with the usually cloudless skies
over Big Bear Lake and the clarity of the air at its 2,000-meter elevation,
make the observatory a premier site for solar observations. The top floor
of the observatory contains a single fork mount supporting four main instruments:
a 65-cm vacuum reflector, and three smaller refractors for earthshine studies.
The telescopes are equipped with special filters and cameras that isolate
small portions of the visible, near infrared, and near ultraviolet portions
of the Sun's spectrum. BBSO was built by the California Institute of Technology
in 1969. Management of the observatory, and of an array of solar radio telescopes
at Owens Valley Radio Observatory was transferred to the New Jersey Institute
of Technology in 1997.
Related category
• OBSERVATORIES
AND TELESCOPES
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