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，对目击者具有深远的影响。该项目资助了2024年4月8日日全食期间日冕发射的可见光(VIS)和近红外(NIR)部分的成像和光谱观测。观测将探测到日冕最关键的空间范围，它横跨太阳表面，延伸到几个太阳半径(Rs)。将选择美国全食路径上的观测地点，以获得20分钟的连续观测。夏威夷大学的研究生和本科生将参加东京证交所的观测，并与观测点的当地社区进行接触，以进行外展。该项目是对美国国家科学基金会亲爱的同事信函23-014：2023年和2024年美国大日食的响应。由于日冕等离子体和磁场之间的复杂耦合，TSE期间的遥感宽带、窄带和光谱成像是目前唯一用于探索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，这是以太阳风的形式产生日冕膨胀的原因。从对散射、碰撞和光激发引起的日冕发射的观测中推断出等离子体的性质，在可见光和近红外波长范围内离散波长的离子的宽带可见和选择性发射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重合，在2024年东京日冕交易所，从分布在数千公里的多个观测点运行该仪器，将进一步提供主要由日冕喷发引发的喷流、波浪、湍流和日冕物质抛射等动力事件的热力学特征。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，还将为教育和公众出行提供绝佳的机会。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势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.