CU wins bid for National Solar Observatory HQ

BOULDER — The University of Colorado Boulder has been selected to host the headquarters for the National Solar Observatory, the nation’s leading scientific research program in ground-based solar astronomy.

The consolidation of the observatory into a single site located on CU-Boulder’s east campus is expected to result in jobs for up to 70 scientists, engineers and staff.

The National Solar Observatory has offices and ground-based observing facilities at Kitt Peak, Arizona and Sacramento Peak, New Mexico, which will cease operations when the new Advanced Technology Solar Telescope is completed.

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The new CU-Boulder headquarters will be the primary science, instrument development and data analysis site for the new solar telescope.

The new facility will bolster the state’s high-tech and aerospace industry. Colorado is third behind California and Washington, D.C., in aerospace industry presence.

The National Solar Observatory provides scientists access to the world’s largest collection of optical and infrared solar telescopes and auxiliary instruments to observe the sun in detail.

NSO scientists conduct theoretical and observational research focused on understanding the underlying causes of solar variability and its impact on the Earth and the Earth’s space environment.

In April, CU-Boulder was selected as one of two finalists along with the University of Alabama in Huntsville. CU-Boulder partnered with the New Jersey Institute of Technology and the University of Hawaii on the winning bid and will implement a collaborative graduate education program that will enhance the role of NSO in research and education on a national level.

The national observatory is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy on behalf of the National Science Foundation.

Congressmen Ed Perlmutter and Jared Polis and U.S. Sens. Mark Udall and Michael Bennett supported the effort.