The National Solar Observatory (NSO) is a research institute with facilities atop Kitty Peak, AZ, and Sacramento Peak, NM (NSO/SP). Its main purpose is to study the Sun as an astronomical object, as well as its effects on our planet. For this mission, the NSO counts on innovative facilities, development of advanced instrumentation, it carries out solar research and educational and public outreach.
Its origins go back to the end of World War II. The war led to new discoveries and technologies; one of them was the discovery that solar activity might cause radio blackouts and affected radar instruments. Many scientists noticed there was a link, but the news did not become public until 1945.
During the war, one of the most important observatories was placed near the town of Climax, Colorado, and it would later become the High Altitude Observatory (HAO). However, its location was remote and the conditions for solar observation were not ideal. That is why the facility at Sacramento Peak was built, as a complimentary telescope in a more convenient location--it had a clear field of vision to the White Sands Missile Proving Grounds.
There was no road at the site, back then. The first telescopes on site were outdoors, and were covered by tarps at night. The first "permanent" telescope was a pre-fabricated building implanted in 1950, and it took 2 years before the telescopes were set up in the building. Through the rest of the 50's telescopes were set up and upgraded, and by the middle of the decade is was evident that Sacramento Peak's observatory would become an exceptional observing site.
