MSFC Vector Magnetograph

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The Marshall Space Flight Center Vector Magnetograph Facility was assembled in 1973 to support the Skylab mission. The instrument was designed by Dr. Guenther Brueckner of the Naval Research Laboratory and housed in an enclosure at the top of a 40-foot tower. Improvements to the vector magnetograph in 1976 by Solar Physics Branch member Ed West, produced a world-class instrument that has illustrated the usefulness of reliable vector magnetic field measurements for understanding solar magnetism and its role in processes such as solar flares.

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The facility added a co-aligned H-alpha telescope in 1989. Images from this telescope provide a view of chromospheric structures, flare activity, and additional information on the orientation of the magnetic field in active regions. This recent picture of the magnetograph shows the gold plated H-alpha telescope mounted on the side of the magnetograph telescope.   James Smith, the key operator, is shown attending to the instrument.

The magnetograph works by measuring the polarization of light at various wavelength positions within a solar spectral line.  Circular polarization in the opposite sense on either side of a magnetically sensitive spectral line gives a measure of the longitudinal magnetic field (the strength of the field directed toward and away from the instrument). Linear polarization provides information on the strength and direction of the magnetic field transverse to the line of sight.

A more complete description of vector magnetographs and their operation can be found here.

SOLAR RESEARCHERS, recent vector magnetograms and archived data are available through links on our Magnetograph Data Page.