Upcoming Events
Colloquium: Formation and Structure of a Simulated Sunspot - Feb 4, 2026
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
A Multi-layer Magnetohydrodynamic Shallow-water Model of The Solar Tachocline: Equilibrium Shape and Thickness
M. Dikpati and P. A. Gilman build a multi-layer MHD shallow-water model to study the thickness and shape of a the solar tachocline allowing them to include characteristics of both the overshoot and the radiative parts of the tachocline.
MHD-tachocline-model solutions of magnetic vectors
S. Chatterjee and M. Dikpati develop PINNBARDS, a novel Physics-Informed Neural Network (PINN)-Based AR Distribution Simulator, that uses observational toroids and MHD-SWT equations to derive initial state-vector. This framework provides the first plausible method for reconstructing state-vectors for hidden tachocline magnetic structures from surface patterns; this could potentially lead to accurate prediction of flare-producing AR-emergence weeks ahead.
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.