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Images from NCAR's Mauna Loa Solar Observatory
To better understand the Sun and
its influence on our planet, NCAR's High
Altitude Observatory operates the Mauna
Loa Solar Observatory, perched 11,300 feet (3,440 meters)
above sea level on the island of Hawaii.
Specialized telescopes at MLSO filter and analyze
solar energy emissions at several different wavelengths,
probing the secrets of the Sun every day, weather conditions
permitting. Data from
each MLSO instrument is processed and analyzed by NCAR scientists
in Boulder and made available to other solar researchers. Many of the clues to solar storms and other phenomena are emerging from solar imagery.
The Sun emits photons, or particles of light, in a broad
spectrum from very long wavelengths, such as radio waves,
to the medium wavelengths of visible light, to very short
wavelengths, such as x-rays. Different elements present as
gases on the Sun, such as helium and hydrogen, have different
wavelength signatures.
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