Beginning in 1929 and continuing annually until 1941, Research Corporation made grants to the Astrophysical Laboratory at the Smithsonian Institution. The lab was headed by Charles Greeley Abbot who was Secretary of the Smithsonian from 1928 until 1944. He was also a member of the Research Corporation Board of Directors from 1928 until 1947.
Abbot believed that the sun’s radiation was variable and that this variability could influence weather. However, modern measurements of greater accuracy indicate that such variability does not occur, apart from tiny variations due to sunspots and bright spots.
Abbot mapped the infrared solar spectrum and studied variation in solar radiation, its relation to the sunspot cycle and its effect on weather variation. He also studied the nature of atmospheric transmission and absorption. Abbot perfected various standardized instruments now widely used for measuring the sun’s heat, and he invented devices utilizing solar energy.
Today, the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory is a research institute of the Smithsonian Institution, joined with the Harvard College Observatory to form the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.