East Point Solar Observatory

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East Point Solar Observatory

East Point Solar Observatory has been built by Cambridge Research & Instrumentation, Inc. (CRI) as a research and public education facility, supported by the Atmospheric Sciences Division of the National Science Foundation, Washington, DC. The Observatory is located on a site kindly provided by the Marine Science Center of Northeastern University.
The Observatory contains a Zeiss coude refractor of 15 cm aperture and 225 cm focal length, built in Jena, Germany. This coude telescope design provides a fixed eyepiece position whatever the telescope pointing may be, and enables relatively large auxiliary instruments such as photometers and spectrometers to be mounted on the telescope. The telescope is housed in a motorized Observa-Dome of 3-meter diameter, provided by MlT's Lincoln Laboratory.

The telescope is used on a daily basis for patrol observations of magnetic structures, such as sunspots, in the sun's atmosphere. During these observations, the sun's image is projected on a large screen. Visitors are encouraged to drop by to view the sun in the morning around 8 - 9am, when these observations are usually made. The telescope will also be integrated into the regular school group visits to the Marine Sciences Laboratory.

Research projects at EPSO are planned to begin this fall. They will include measurements of heat flow variations at the sun's surface, and of intense electric fields in huge solar eruptions called flares. Some of these observations will be carried out in support of CRI solar observing programs from NASA spacecraft, and also with the much larger solar telescopes of the National Solar Observatory stations at Kitt Peak, Arizona, and Sacramento Peak, New Mexico.

EPSO will also be open by prior arrangement for evening viewing of the Moon and planets, on Friday evenings. The facility is available to K-12 groups as part of MSC Tours on weekdays by prior arrangement.
Contact: Peter Foukal: pfoukal@world.std.com