Brukkaros Solar Observatory

The Brukkaros Solar Observatory was a solar observatory installed on Brukkaros Mountain in the ǁKaras Region of Namibia. It was financed and operated by a cooperation of the American National Geographic Society and the Smithsonian Institution, and it was operational between 1926 and 1931.

In 1926 the National Geographic Society, in cooperation with the Smithsonian Institution, financed an expedition to South-West Africa (now Namibia) to measure the intensity of solar radiation. The project was managed by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, which from 1906 to 1944 was directed by Dr Charles Greeley Abbot. During these years the observatory was dedicated mainly to the study of possible variations in the solar constant and the effects of such variations on the weather. For this purpose solar observatories had been established in Chile and Arizona. To check and confirm the small variations in the solar constant found at these two sites, Abbot received a grant from the National Geographic Society in March 1925 to select a site for a third solar observatory, equip it, and carry out observations for a few years. After preliminary investigations a decision was reached to site the observatory somewhere in present Namibia.

Abbot arrived in South Africa (which administered South West Africa under a League of Nations mandate at that time) in March 1926. After consulting several local experts and considering sites near the town of Aus and at the Spitzkoppe he decided that the best site would be on Brukkaros Mountain, about 100 km north of Keetmanshoop. He visited the mountain in the company of Mr A. Dryden, inspector of works at Keetmanshoop, who played a major role in the planning and building of the observatory. They provisionally selected a site inside the ring mountain on the south-western side, just below the rim.

...
Wikipedia