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| Paper: |
Determining the Instrumental Rotation Rate of MWO's 60′ Tower Image Plane and Its Impact on Results from Ring-Diagram Analysis |
| Volume: |
478, Fifty Years of Seismology of the Sun and Stars |
| Page: |
205 |
| Authors: |
Pinkerton I., S. F.; Rhodes Jr., E. J.; Bogart, R. S.; Orr, M.; Martin, G.; Spinella, A. |
| Abstract: |
Time series of full-disk Dopplergrams were acquired at the 60-Foot Solar tower of the Mount Wilson Observatory every year between 1987 and 2009. The 60-Foot Tower was designed by George Ellery Hale to provide an image plane that did not rotate throughout each observing day. However, preliminary analyses of a portion of this archive, carried out in 2007, suggested that the focal plane of the Tower might actually be rotating slowly. If confirmed, such an instrumental rotation would suggest that the alignment of the optics has changed slightly over the years since 1907. This possible rotation of the image plane was uncovered through the computation of subsurface flow maps using the ring-diagram method of local helioseismology. Some of the initial MWO flow maps appeared to show evidence for a so-called “washing machine” effect similar to the pattern that was seen in the initial GONG flow maps. We have been working to confirm the early estimates of the focal plane rotation. The purpose of this paper is to report on the status of this endeavor as well as explore the ramifications of a rotating image plane on our anticipated meridional and zonal flow results. |
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