Main objectives:

• measurements of solar magnetic fields
• spectral observations of solar active features and dynamic processes in the solar atmosphere

The observatory is located in the mountains at 2000m altitude. This is due to the specific character of the observatory's main objectives which require very good seeing for polarization observations and solar corona observations.

Instruments:

Three unique solar instruments are at the Sayan Observatory:

• Horizontal solar telescope with magnetograph,
• Solar telescope of operative forecasts
• Non-eclipse coronagraph.

Main characteristics:

• Mirror D=800mm, focal length 20m
• Spectrograph, focal length 7m
• Diffraction grating - 200x300mm, 600/mm
• Equipment: vector- and panoramic magnetographs

Multi-purpose automated solar telescope equipped with a set of magnetographs and spectrophotometers

Horizontal solar telescope is kept celostat installation - a system from two flat mirror by the diameter 800 mm, ensuring unceasing spying for the Sun. Celostat directs a sunshine on the main spherical mirror by the diameter 800 mm and focal length 20m, which builds a scene of the Sun on photo detector to the equipment. On its sizes and quality, optics of telescope is the largest in Russia, but AST bases in number of large solar telescopes in the world itself. Telescope is equipped with solar magnetograph for the magnetic field measurement and velocities of moving plasma in solar atmosphere and their change with a time. More than 200 papers, denoted problems of solar magnetism and speaker of plasma in solar atmosphere, which have contributed a significant contribution to the development of our knowledge on the nature of solar activity, run for this telescope. Were they For the first time received in details a picture of coming of magnetic field to the surface of active area from lower layers Sun on the surface, new regularities in the structure and speaker of magnetic field on different stages of evolutions of active area.

Main characteristics:

• Type - two celostat D=300mm, two refractors

D=200 mm with the focal length 5m.

• Spectrograph with the focal length 5m.
• Equipment - magnetograph.

Problem-oriented telescope (STOP) for measuring large-scale solar magnetic fields

STOP is a special purpose telescope designed for observations of solar magnetic fields.

There are two kinds of the main observational programmes:

1) measurements of solar mean magnetic fields (SMMF);

2) measurements of large-scale (background) magnetic fields with 120" angular resolution and with 100" scanning rate in both coordinates, X and Y.

PC-based automated system has been in operation at STOP since 1992, undergoing step-by-step improvements.

Main characteristics:

• Telescope of Nikolsky system with 1-lens objective (D=530mm, focal length 12m).
• Spectrograph with focal length 8m and grating 300x300mm

Large solar coronagraph

Large coronagraph of Sayan observatory, is one of the largest in the world. Its lens has a diameter 535 mm and equivalent focal length 12m. Coronagraph is intended for studying of corona, outside of eclipses, and chromosphere with very low diffused light, and equipped by spectrograph and narrow-band filters. Last years the cycle of works, concerning dynamics of chromospheric spicules - fine structure surges of plasma in solar chromosphere and corona, was executed with this instrument. A number of new regularities in dynamic characteristics of spicules and their fluctuations give more knowledge for the solution of mysterious problem of existence and mechanism of heating in solar corona - external solar atmosphere heated up to the temperature of 1 million degrees, when visible surface of the Sun has a temperature near 6 thousands degrees.