Chabot Space & Science Center (CSSC) has acquired the Swedish
Vacuum Solar Telescope, formerly located on the island
of La Palma in the Canary Islands. Shown above are the
observatory building (right) and the telescope turret
(left) on La Palma, before relocation to CSSC.
Sunlight collected by the turret assembly is
"piped" down into the observatory building
through a vacuum tunnel (right).
At the "eyepiece" end the sunlight is
divided among multiple cameras and other
instruments. At CSSC, both camera-captured
images and real images projected directly onto a
tabletop will provide visitors with an intimate view
of our Sun.
