Latest News
July book release: "Physical Foundations of Spectroscopy" by Philip Judge
"Physical foundations of spectroscopy," by Philip Judge, highlights how spectroscopy is firmly anchored in physical foundations, countering modern trends leading to over-specialization. Published by Oxford University Press as a text in their master series in particle physics, astrophysics and cosmology.
NASA selects NSF NCAR Heliophysics Mission for Continued Development
NASA has selected the Chromospheric Magnetism Explorer (CMEx) for an extended period of concept development. The $150 million mission would fill a critical solar observational gap, generating information on conditions that lead to solar eruptions, advancing our knowledge of the solar magnetic field, and improving space weather modeling capabilities. It would also be the first Explorer-sized spacecraft mission ever led by NSF NCAR.
New AI Based Methods for 3D Reconstruction of the Solar Photosphere
In a collaborative effort researchers at the University of Hawaii Institute for Astronomy (IfA), the NSF funded National Solar Observatory and NSF NCAR’s High Altitude Observatory developed a new artificial intelligence based method to reconstruct the magnetic field in the solar atmosphere.
Latest Research Highlights
Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere (PUNCH)
Sarah Gibson, et. al. present the two science objectives behind the Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere (PUNCH) mission: (1) understand how coronal structures become the ambient solar wind, and (2) understand the dynamic evolution of transient structures, such as coronal mass ejections, in the young solar wind. PUNCH is a NASA Small Explorer launched in March of 2025 and began science operations in June of 2025.
Efficiency of Electromagnetic Energy Transfer from Solar Wind to Ionosphere through Magnetospheric Ultra-Low Frequency Waves
Dong Lin, Michael Hartinger, William Lotko, Wenbin Wang, Xueling Shi, Bharat Kunduri, Viacheslav Merkin, Kareem Sorathia, Kevin Pham, and Michael Wiltberger perform idealized numerical experiments to investigate the electromagnetic energy flow in response to undulating solar wind. The theoretical study provides new understanding of the significance of the electromagnetic energy flow and its dependence on different parameters.
Behaviors of Interhemispheric Coupling in Different Boreal Winter Subseasons During Major SSWs
Zishun Qiao, Nicholas Pedatella, Alan Liu, Han-Li Liu, Joseph Mclnerney investigate the behaviors of the typical interhemispheric coupling (IHC) in different boreal winter subseasons during major sudden stratospheric warming (SSW).