The Big Bear Solar Observatory
(BBSO) is located on a small island near the north shore of Big Bear Lake
in the San Bernardino Mountains in southern California, 120 km East-Northeast
of Los Angeles. Flying west into Los Angeles, one can frequently see the
bright white observatory glistening in the forest-surrounded lake. The
observatory is located in the lake to reduce image distortion which occurs when
the Sun heats the ground, producing convection currents. The reduction of
local convection currents along with the usually cloudless skies of southern
California and the clarity of the air at the 2,000 meter elevation of Big
Bear Lake, make BBSO one of the best sites in the world for solar observations.
The GONG site is alongside the causeway near the high water level of the lake.
BBSO, and a dedicated array of solar radio telescopes at Owens Valley Radio
Observatory in Owens Valley California, are managed by the Center for
Solar Research at the
New Jersey Institute of Technology
located in Newark, New Jersey. Management of BBSO and the Solar Array at
Owens Valley was transferred from the California Institute of Technology
to the New Jersey Institute of Technology on July 1, 1997.
BBSO specializes in high resolution, high frame rate observations of the Sun
in both the visible and near-infrared light. BBSO is well-known for its
observations and research of solar magnetic fields, flares, solar oscillations,
and as one of the GONG network sites.
Some GONG Site Preparation History:
The initial site preparation work was completed in November, 1994,
thanks to a lot of hard work by Bill Marquette
and Jim Kennedy. Arden Petri and Dan Bass joined Bill in pouring the
foundation in mid-July, and the deployment
team arrived in late July to start the assembly. The instrument became operational
in August, 1995.
Here is another view
towards the shore.