Solar Flare Telescope

[Solar Flare Telescope]
The Solar Flare Telescope was built with a Grant-in-Aid from the Ministry of Education (1988-1992). This is the most modern solar telescope in the Mitaka campus.
Solar flares are violent explosions taking place in the solar corona. Strong magnetic fields of solar active regions, reaching far out into the corona, are sometimes distorted by the motion of gas on the solar surface. If the distortion exceeds some limit, the magnetic field becomes unstable and releases the stored energy abruptly; this is the solar flare. In order to observe such distortion and subsequent relaxation of magnetic fields, the Solar Flare Telescope is equipped with four telescopes (15cm and 20cm aperture, two of each). These telescopes observe magnetic fields, velocity fields, sunspot structures, and flares in H-alpha light.
Observations are all performed automatically under computer control. The image data are stored in video laser disks. This is the most advanced and automated observing system in the world. In cooperation with the Yohkoh satellite, the Solar Flare Telescope constantly watches the development of magnetic distortion which might possibly lead to flare explosions.