Free Astronomy Magazine November-December 2018

24 OBSERVATORIES L eft, inside the Richard B. Dunn Solar Telescope, in Sunspot, NM. Below, the en- trance to the National Solar Observatory is blocked by yel- low crime scene tape and two security guards, who said even they had been kept in the dark. [Dylan Taylor- Lehman/Alma- gordo Daily News] bases, the place where the first atomic explosion test was carried out, and the area where, according to some, an alien spaceship fell. There is enough to develop a long and compelling story, in which to unleash fantasies and speculations on the real motivation that led the FBI to evacuate the observatory. Those who think that this plot is pure invention should not stop reading this article, because what has been written so far has really happened last September. The location of the real version of what looks like a spy story is the Sunspot Solar Observatory on Sacra- mento Peak, New Mexico. Built in the early 50s, this research center has been the spearhead of solar physics for decades, thanks to the Vacuum Tower Telescope (70 cm in diameter), also known as the Richard B. Dunn Solar Telescope (DST), named after its designer. After a long and glori- ous activity, repeated funding cuts