Big Bear Solar Observatory The NST

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Big Bear Solar Observatory The NST

• Philip R. Goode
• Big Bear Solar Observatory
• New Jersey Institute of Technology

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Background

• BBSO 65-cm telescope 1 of 2 hi-res in US
• - Different mission than DST
• - Long tradition of observing campaigns
• -Essential for studies of space weather
• Transferred from Caltech to NJIT 5 years ago
• - Expanded NJIT group to 4 tenure-track faculty
• - 10 PhD students (including 3 women)
• - 2 graduated last year
• - 175 publications (bluebooks)

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BBSOs Place Under the Sun

• Upgraded instrumentation (2nd generation)
• - New polarimeters (IR VIS)
• - Real-time speckle reconstruction
• - AO
• By 2006 Ready to solve many space weather
  problems
• - SDO, STEREO and Solar-B in space
• - 0.5 m telescope in space
• - 1.5 m telescope in Europe (GREGOR)
• - No ATST until 2010

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The 1.6 m Telescope the NST (New Solar
Telescope)

• 2006 - first light
• Replaces the 65 cm telescope
• Open, off-axis feeds new instrument-ation
• Gives BBSO a future students to use ATST

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Schematic of the NST

• Same fork pedestal
• Cost sim. to GREGOR
• Stray light reduction
• No central obscuration
• Heat stop out of optical path
• Retractable dome

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A BBSO/UHawaii Collaboration in NSF-MRI

• NJIT to invest 1.3M MRI request is 1.8M
• - highly leveraged
• AFOSR DURIP (hopefully) for figuring blank and
  mirror cell.
• BBSO/UH collaborate on mechanical, thermal and
  computer control
• UH interest in combined NST SOLAR-C
  observations and a larger coronagraph downstream
• UA Mirror Lab involvement for primary
• - 20/20 project and NST primary
• Members of design team coming into place
• Liaison with NSO/ATST team
• Work with GREGOR team on thermal issues
• What if BBSO is chosen as ATST site ?

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NST Science

• High-res, high-cadence studies of solar flares
• Structure/evolution of magnetic fields in flaring
  active regions
• Dynamics of kG flux tubes
• Magneto-convection in sunspots
• Heating of the upper atmosphere
• - intra-network fields

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The ATST

• NST keeps US solar on a par with Europe
• Gives our field a future for a generation
• NST remains important for campaigns and education

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New Jersey Institute of Technology

• Public Research University
• 8,200 students in 76 programs (Bachelor/PhD)
• College of Science and Liberal Arts
• Physics Department
• Center for Solar Research
• Big Bear Solar Observatory
• Owens Valley Solar Array
• NJITs remote research facilities