Photos: Balloon launches telescope

Astronomers are willing to go to great lengths to get a good look at the sun. The National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and a team of research partners this month successfully sent a solar telescope 120,000 feet above the Earth--on a balloon. The flight was launched from the Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility in Fort Sumner, New Mexico and lasted about 10 hours.

The successful test clears the way for long-duration polar balloon flights beginning in 2009 that will capture new details of the Sun's surface. This project also demonstrates the cost-effectiveness of balloon telescopes. They are much cheaper than sending a telescope into orbit on a rocket.

A solar telescope (left) sits in a gondola ready to be attached to balloon for launch. Many land-based telescopes are located in Hawaii to take advantage of it's cleaner atmosphere. Also, the Stereo project has two satellites orbiting the Earth to take 3D photos of the sun.