1. Big Bear Solar Observatory – The NST
Philip R. Goode
Big Bear Solar Observatory
New Jersey Institute of Technology

2. Background BBSO 65-cm telescope 1 of 2 hi-res in US
- Different mission than DST
- Long tradition of observing campaigns
-Essential for studies of space weather
Transferred from Caltech to NJIT 5 years ago
- Expanded NJIT group to 4 tenure-track faculty
- 10 PhD students (including 3 women)
- 2 graduated last year
publications (bluebooks)
Big Bear Solar Observatory
18 September 2018

3. BBSO’s Place Under the Sun
Upgraded instrumentation (2nd generation)
- New polarimeters (IR + VIS)
- Real-time speckle reconstruction
- AO
By 2006: Ready to solve many space weather problems
- SDO, STEREO and Solar-B in space
- 0.5 m telescope in space
- 1.5 m telescope in Europe (GREGOR)
- No ATST until 2010
Big Bear Solar Observatory
18 September 2018

4. The 1.6 m Telescope – the NST (New Solar Telescope)
first light
Replaces the 65 cm telescope
Open, off-axis & feeds new instrument-ation
Gives BBSO a future & students to use ATST
Big Bear Solar Observatory
18 September 2018

5. Schematic of the NST Same fork & pedestal Cost sim. to GREGOR
Stray light reduction
No central obscuration
Heat stop out of optical path
Retractable dome
Big Bear Solar Observatory
18 September 2018

6. A BBSO/UHawaii Collaboration in NSF-MRI
NJIT to invest $1.3M & MRI request is $1.8M
- highly leveraged
AFOSR –DURIP (hopefully) for figuring blank and mirror cell.
BBSO/UH collaborate on mechanical, thermal and computer control
UH interest in combined NST & SOLAR-C observations and a larger coronagraph downstream
UA Mirror Lab involvement for primary
- 20/20 project and NST primary
Members of design team coming into place
Liaison with NSO/ATST team
Work with GREGOR team on thermal issues
What if BBSO is chosen as ATST site ?
Big Bear Solar Observatory
18 September 2018

7. NST Science High-res, high-cadence studies of solar flares
Structure/evolution of magnetic fields in flaring active regions
Dynamics of kG flux tubes
Magneto-convection in sunspots
Heating of the upper atmosphere
- intra-network fields
Big Bear Solar Observatory
18 September 2018

8. The ATST NST keeps US solar on a par with Europe
Gives our field a future for a generation
NST remains important for campaigns and education
Big Bear Solar Observatory
18 September 2018

9. New Jersey Institute of Technology
Public Research University
8,200 students in 76 programs (Bachelor/PhD)
College of Science and Liberal Arts
Physics Department
Center for Solar Research
Big Bear Solar Observatory
Owens Valley Solar Array
NJIT’s remote research facilities
Big Bear Solar Observatory
18 September 2018