VLADIVOSTOK, Aug. 6 (Xinhua) -- A groundbreaking ceremony was held Saturday for construction of the largest solar telescope in Eurasia by the Institute of Solar-Terrestrial Physics (ISTP) of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) in the Republic of Buryatia.
The telescope, the most complex and expensive instrument of the National Heliogeophysical Complex, will be located at the Sayan Solar Observatory of ISTP, near the village of Monda in Buryatia.
The instrument is estimated to cost about 36 billion rubles (about 375 million U.S. dollars), and is expected to be completed and operational by 2030.
The main objective of the telescope is to study the nature of magnetic fields and the cycle of solar activity, which affect various aspects of life on Earth.
The telescope will enable scientists to explore the fine structure of the photosphere, the visible surface of the Sun, which is inaccessible for smaller telescopes and orbital observatories.
The telescope will also allow spectral analysis and obtain unique data on magnetic fields and movements of matter, as well as help study the causes of solar flares, coronal mass ejections and other phenomena on the sun. The telescope will contribute to solving fundamental and applied scientific problems in solar physics.
The optical mechanism of the telescope consists of 13 mirrors, with the main mirror having a diameter of 3 meters.
The main mirror will be made of astrositall, a special glass-ceramic material. The height of the entire structure will be 42 meters, and the total weight of the telescope will be 120 tons. ■
