High Resolution Studies of Solar Activity Using the 1.6-meter Telescope in Big Bear

这个为期五年的项目的主要目的是支持新泽西理工学院（NJIT）的大熊太阳天文台（BBSO）的科学议程和运作。BBSO运行着1.6米的古德太阳望远镜（GST），这是目前美国最高分辨率的太阳望远镜。该望远镜可以对太阳的光球层、色球层和日冕的底部进行光谱和偏振测量。在不久的将来，BBSO将成为太阳天气光学长期调查（SOLIS）仪器的新家，该仪器目前由国家太阳天文台操作。搬迁后，BBSO将成为一个综合的太阳观测站点，它不仅可以提供太阳的高分辨率观测，还可以提供我们恒星的天气数据。GST将继续主导美国地面高分辨率太阳观测，直到4米长的DKIST在2020年获得第一次光线。即使DKIST开始运作，GST仍将在与DKIST的联合竞选观测中发挥关键作用，以最大限度地提高两者的科学回报。天文台独特的观测条件，使商品及服务税有机会专注于竞选研究，而科技科技署则有补充服务个人用户的任务。类似的离轴设计使GST成为各种DKIST仪器和技术的理想试验台或开拓者。此外，大多数DKIST关键科学案例可以提前用GST观测进行测试和验证，以选择DKIST最关键和影响最大的案例。BBSO在培养制造仪器和开发现代数据分析工具的下一代科学家方面发挥着至关重要的作用。在此项目中，将支持两名博士生使用BBSO设备进行前沿研究。高分辨率数据加上建模和分析工具将有助于对空间天气起源的全面研究。收集到的数据已经并将继续用于许多博士论文。BBSO太阳数据对科学界完全开放，GST观测时间的很大一部分对科学界开放。该项目的研究和EPO议程支持AGS部门在发现、学习、多样性和跨学科研究方面的战略目标。GST在推进高分辨率太阳研究方面发挥着，并将继续发挥主导作用，直到这个十年结束甚至更远。在这个为期五年的项目中，BBSO团队将获得、分析和解释有史以来最高分辨率的太阳数据，同时开发和应用分析工具，以解决一些与太阳研究有关的关键科学问题，特别是与太阳活动起源有关的问题。这包括：(i)耀斑和喷发活动的研究；（ii）研究太阳大气的非耀斑活动；(3)用CYRA研究光球和低色球结构。CYRA是同类中第一个全低温光谱仪，用于探测红外1.0至5.0微米之间的丰富光谱区。该项目团队将使用CYRA的高分辨率观测来调查各种磁性结构上方的太阳大气。BBSO的研究人员将利用CYRA的高塞曼灵敏度来研究真实的磁场分布，他们将对耀斑的太阳大气进行热红外观测。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。

The main purpose of this five-year project is to support the science agenda and operations of the Big Bear Solar Observatory (BBSO) of the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT). The BBSO operates the 1.6-meter Goode Solar Telescope (GST), which is currently the highest-resolution operating solar telescope in the U.S. This telescope enables spectroscopic and polarimetric measurements of the Sun's photosphere, chromosphere, and the base of the corona. In the near future, the BBSO will become the new home for the Synoptic Optical Long-term Investigation of the Sun (SOLIS) instrument, which is currently being operated by the National Solar Observatory. After its relocation, the BBSO will become a comprehensive solar observing site, and it will be offering not only solar high-resolution observations, but also synoptic data of our star.The GST will continue to dominate the high-resolution U.S. ground-based solar observations until the 4-meter DKIST acquires its first light in 2020. Even when the DKIST becomes operational, the GST will still play a crucial role in joint campaign observations with the DKIST to maximize scientific return of both. The unique observing conditions at the BBSO provide the GST with an opportunity to be dedicated to campaign studies, whereas the DKIST will have the complementing mission of serving individual users. Comparable off-axis designs have made the GST an ideal test-bed, or path-breaker for various DKIST instrumentation and technologies. Furthermore, most of the DKIST critical science cases can be tested and verified with the GST observations in advance to select the most critical and high impact cases for DKIST first light. The BBSO plays a crucial role in training the next generation of scientists who build instruments and develop modern data analysis tools. During this project, two PhD students will be supported to conduct cutting-edge research using the BBSO facilities. The high-resolution data coupled with modeling and analytical tools will aid comprehensive studies of the origins of space weather. The collected data have been, and they will continue to be, used in many PhD thesis works. The BBSO solar data are fully open to the scientific community, and a substantial portion of the GST observing time is open to the community. The research and EPO agenda of this project supports the Strategic Goals of the AGS Division in discovery, learning, diversity, and interdisciplinary research.The GST plays, and it will continue to play, a leading role in advancing high-resolution studies of the Sun until the end of this decade and beyond. During this five-year project, the BBSO team will obtain, analyze and interpret the highest resolution solar data ever taken, while developing and applying analytical tools in order to tackle a number of critical science questions related to solar research, in particular those pertaining to the origin of the solar activity. This includes: (i) studies of flares and eruptive activity; (ii) studies of non-flaring activity of the solar atmosphere; and, (iii) studies of photospheric and low-chromospheric structures with the CYRA. The CYRA is the first-of-its-kind fully cryogenic spectrograph, which is used to probe the rich spectral regime between 1.0 and 5.0 micron in the infrared. The project team will use the CYRA's high-resolution observations in order to investigate the solar atmosphere above various magnetic structures. The BBSO researchers will investigate the true magnetic fields distribution by the virtue of CYRA's high Zeeman sensitivity, and they will conduct thermal infrared observations of the flaring solar atmosphere.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.