SPO Vacuum Tower Telescope

The above-ground portion of the Vacuum Tower Telescope stands above the surrounding forest at the National Solar Observatory facility on Sacramento Peak, New Mexico. The telescope uses a light path through a tube evacuated of air to produce highly resolved solar images. The tower shown here covers this vertical tube and its instrumentation, all of which move as a unit suspended from a mercury float bearing, to track the Sun. This picture was taken in 1980: the telescope was redesignated as the Richard B. Dunn Solar Telescope in 1998 to honor its creator.