Harnessing the Unique Science, Education and Outreach Opportunities of the 8 April 2024 Great American Total Solar Eclipse

日全食是令人敬畏的天文事件，对目击者有着深远的影响。该项目为2024年4月8日日全食期间日冕发射的可见光（维斯）和近红外（NIR）部分的成像和光谱观测提供资金。这些观测将探测太阳日冕最关键的空间范围，它跨越太阳表面，达到几个太阳半径（Rs）。将选择美国全食路径上的观测点进行20分钟的连续观测。来自夏威夷大学的研究生和本科生将参与TSE观测，并与观测地点的当地社区进行接触。该项目是对NSF Dear Colleague Letter 23-014：Great American Solar Excessies 2023 and 2024的回应。TSE期间的遥感宽带、窄带和光谱成像是目前唯一用于探索由于日冕等离子体和磁场之间的复杂耦合而产生复杂日冕结构的潜在物理过程的工具。这些过程还产生了超过6000 K表面温度的陡峭温度梯度，这是太阳风形式的日冕膨胀的原因。从散射、碰撞和光激发产生的日冕发射、维斯和NIR波长范围内的离散波长处的离子的宽带可见和选择发射的观测中推断等离子体性质，包括日冕等离子体的元素和离子组成、物种温度、密度、流出速度和非热运动。预计与太阳活动的最大值相吻合，在2024年TSE上从分布在数千公里范围内的多个观测站点运行的仪器将进一步提供主要由爆发性喷发触发的动力事件的热力学特征，如喷流，波，湍流和日冕物质抛射（CME）。2024年日全食期间多个观测点的可访问性、持续时间和可用性不仅将提供宝贵的科学数据，还将为教育和公众宣传提供出色的机会。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Total solar eclipses are awe-inspiring astronomical events with profound impact on those who witness them. This project funds imaging and spectroscopic observations in the visible (VIS) and near infrared (NIR) part of the coronal emission during the 8 April 2024 total solar eclipse (TSEs). The observations will probe the most critical spatial extent of the solar corona spanning the solar surface out to several solar radii (Rs). Observing sites across the US path of totality will be selected to acquire 20 minutes of continuous observations. Graduate and undergraduate students from the University of Hawaii will participate in TSE observations and engage with local communities at the observing sites for outreach. This project is in response to NSF Dear Colleague Letter 23-014: Great American Solar Eclipses 2023 and 2024.Remote sensing broadband, narrowband and spectroscopic imaging during TSEs are currently the only tools for exploring the underlying physical processes responsible for producing complex coronal structures due to the intricate coupling between coronal plasmas and magnetic fields. These processes also produce the steep temperature gradient beyond the 6000 K surface temperature which is responsible for coronal expansion in the form of the solar wind. Inferences of plasma properties from observations of coronal emission resulting from scattering, collisions and photo-excitation, the broadband visible and select emission from ions at discrete wavelengths in the VIS and NIR wavelength range include the elemental and ionic composition of coronal plasmas, species temperatures, densities, outflow velocities and non-thermal motions. Predicted to coincide with a maximum in solar activity, operation of the instrumentation at the 2024 TSE from multiple observing sites spread across a few thousand km will further provide the thermodynamic characteristics of dynamic events, such as jets, waves, turbulence and coronal mass ejections (CMEs), triggered primarily by erupting prominences. The accessibility, duration and availability of multiple observing sites during the 2024 total solar eclipse will not only provide invaluable scientific data but will also offer an outstanding opportunity for education and public outreach.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.