Sunspot, New Mexico

Sunspot, New Mexico
Sunspot Visitor's Center and Museum
Sunspot Visitor's Center and Museum
Sunspot, New Mexico is located in New Mexico
Sunspot, New Mexico
Sunspot, New Mexico
Coordinates: 32°47′28″N 105°49′05″W / 32.791°N 105.818°W / 32.791; -105.818
CountryUnited States
StateNew Mexico
CountyOtero
Elevation
9,186 ft (2,800 m)
Time zoneUTC-7 (Mountain (MST))
 • Summer (DST)UTC-6 (MDT)
Zip code
88349
Area code575
GNIS feature ID936625[1]

Sunspot is an unincorporated community in the Sacramento Mountains in the Lincoln National Forest in Otero County, New Mexico, United States,[1][2] about 18 miles (29 km) south of Cloudcroft. Its elevation is 9,186 feet (2,800 m). The Sunspot Solar Observatory and Apache Point Observatory are located in Sunspot in the Sacramento Mountains.[3] The site of Sunspot is leased by the National Science Foundation (NSF) from the US Forest Service (USFS), and is operated and maintained by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy. The telescope and site are both open to the public, and the visitors center offers guided tours of the site on Saturdays and Sundays. On other days there is a self-guided 1/2 mile trail around the telescope and White Sands overlook.

  1. ^ a b U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Sunspot
  2. ^ Otero County, New Mexico map
  3. ^ "The National Solar Observatory at Sacramento Peak". New Mexico Tourism Department. Archived from the original on 13 September 2017.