Eclipse Observations: Pathfinder for DKIST Coronal Science

University Of Hawaii, Honolulu

Investigators

Abstract

During the 2019 and 2020 total solar eclipses, the lunar shadow will traverse over a thousand miles of ground, thus enabling multiple land-based observing sites to probe and study dynamic events in the solar corona on timescales of a few minutes. Previous solar eclipse expeditions conducted by this team have produced a database of unique observations that have increased our understanding of the solar wind and space weather in general. These observations can only be obtained during total solar eclipses, which pass over land very rarely and last only a few minutes. The principal investigator will deliver public lectures emphasizing science that can only be done during total solar eclipses and how they can be used to enhance our ability to understand and predict space weather. Students will be involved in these international expeditions, and analysis of the resulting data will form the basis of at least one PhD thesis. At both eclipses, identical instrumentation for imaging and spectroscopy will be deployed at three primary sites separated by hundreds of miles. The observations will expand upon the team's previous eclipse observaions by covering the suite of ionization states of Fe, from XI to XV, and by imaging in Ar, Ni and S. This suite of instruments will enable a more in-depth exploration of the processes responsible for the dynamics of the corona and solar wind and will complement the science return from NSF's soon-to-be-completed Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.