Astronomers at the California Institute of Technology and the University of Tel Aviv are cooperating in a unique investigation of the evolution of sunspots aimed at developing a way to predict solar flares, which can be hazardous to astronauts. Time lapse movies of the sun’s constantly moving and fiery surface can be taken continuously for as long as 20 hours through two identical six-inch telescopes located on opposite sides of the earth–one in Israel and the other in Southern California. Harold Zirin, professor of astronomy at Caltech and a member of the Hale Observatories staff, selected Israel as the site for a second telescope when he started the program to film the sun in 1967.
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