The city is situated on the Sacramento Mountains in the Lincoln National Forest, 18 miles south of Cloudcroft. Its elevation is 9,186 feet. It is home to the Sunspot Solar Observatory and Apache Point Observatory. The National Science Foundation leases the observatory site from the Forest Service. The association runs the observatory and its visitors center. The center offers guided tours on Saturdays.
The Sunspot Number Sequence is a composite of observed and calculated sunspot numbers. It is the most accurate reconstruction of sunspot numbers. Other reconstructions have problems, particularly those before the Maunder minimum. To achieve a reliable reconstruction, it is necessary to know when the Maunder minimum and the Dalton minimum occurred.