Solar telescope

In this H-Alpha image from the Big Bear Solar Observatory of New Jersey Institute of Tech- nology, details of the surface of the sun, such as turbulences, currents and spots, can be seen. (Photo: Big Bear Solar Observatory)
Watchful Eye on the Sun
Researchers at the »Big Bear Solar Observatory« (bbso) in California are looking to obtain new insights on the activities of our most important heavenly body.
The sun means light, warmth and life. It dictates our rhythm each day and night, during summer and winter. For as long as mankind can remember, scholars have been following the path of the fireball in the firmament. Using more and more sophisticated instruments, researchers all over the world are trying to unravel the sun’s remaining secrets, both with satellites and using telescopes here on earth. Big Bear Solar Observatory (BBSO) not only owns the newest solar observation device, with a 1.7 meter Zerodur® mirror substrate from SCHOTT, this is also the world’s largest. The observatory is located on a man-made tongue of land in California that stretches into a lake 2,000 meters high in the San Bernardino Mountains, east of Los Angeles.


The ideal location for the high-tech observatory: Big Bear Lake in the San Bernardino Mountains. (Photo: Big Bear Solar Observatory/M. Vincent)

The primary mirror for the new solar telescope was polished at the University of Arizona’s Steward Observatory. The meniscus has a diameter of 1.7 meters and is 100 millimeters thick. (Photo: Steward Observatory)

Additional informations
The source of all life
The source of all life
SCHOTT website
More about Zerodur® glass ceramic
More about Zerodur® glass ceramic
Your contact
thorsten.doehring@SCHOTT.com
thorsten.doehring@SCHOTT.com
Your contact
david.fritz@us.schott.com
david.fritz@us.schott.com