NCAR's High Altitude Observatory (HAO) will be installing a new white light coronagraph at the Mauna Loa Solar Observatory (MLSO) in Hawaii in August of this year (2013). A coronagraph is an instrument designed to mimic a total solar eclipse, which occurs when the moon completely occults the solar disk.
On June 8, 2009 the Sunrise balloon-borne telescope was successfully launched from the Esrange Space Center in Kiruna, Sweden aboard the HAO-developed gondola.
HAO recently asked its community for input in the form of a two-minute survey. As a National Center serving the solar and space physics community, we need to understand if we are having the desired impact on our community. Input from the community helps us to set our strategic priorities as we move forward.
Phil is a Senior Scientist in the High Altitude Observatory (HAO) at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). His research interests include plasma physics, spectroscopy and spectro-polarimetry.
The High Altitude Observatory recently partnered with the National Solar Observatory to hold a 3-day workshop to discuss and gather community input on science requirements, capabilities and instrumentation for a next-generation synoptic network of solar observing instruments.
