Heliostats

While the stars and planets usually get all the glory when it comes to the wonderful world of telescopes, the sun still has more than enough to offer to keep you busy. After all, we wouldn’t be alive without it, so it definitely deserves at least a little attention! To help you further enjoy the sun and all its glory you can look into what heliostats have to offer.

Generally, a heliostat is a device or module that tracks and monitors the movement of the sun. This is usually accomplished with the use of a mirror. The mirror setup is designed to be able to be oriented throughout the course of a day to redirect sunlight. The sun’s rays are redirected along a fixed axis. This redirection of sunlight is sent toward a stationary target or receiver. Some automatically detect the sun’s movement while others are programmed by computer.

These fun devices are most frequently incorporated in solar telescopes. However, interestingly enough, they are also employed for the purpose of solar power generation. In addition, these sun tracking devices have also been known to be used in surveying. When used for surveying it’s usually in the form of a heliotrope in order to constantly reflect sunlight in a single stationary direction. This grants a precise observation of a set point from a distance.

As an additional unique fact you might be interested to know that heliostat actually comes from the word helios which is the Greek word for sun. And “stat” is derived from the word stationary.

Related Information

Newtonian Telescope
The Newtonian telescope was first built back in 1668.

Ritchey-Chretien Astrophotography
Ritchey-Chretien astrophotography is incorporated in the Hubble Space Telescope.