This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).
The proposing team will develop a new instrument called the Mees Spectropolarimeter for the Photosphere and Chromosphere (MSPC). The MSPC will be integrated at the Mees Solar Observatory (MSO) on Mount Haleakala on the island of Maui. The instrument will measure solar infrared spectral lines and make possible long-term observational studies of the magnetic and thermodynamic environment of the Sun's photosphere, chromosphere, and corona.
The MSPC will exploit new technology that will allow, for the first time, imaging spectropolarimetry of an entire solar active region with a dynamic cadence for observations, as well as full-disk vector magnetic field studies in the infrared spectrum. When combined with observations made by other instruments owned by MSO and by the National Center for Atmospheric Research, data obtained from the MSPC will enable the study of the full vertical extent of the solar atmosphere.
The MSPC will utilize new polarization-maintaining (PM) fiber-optic technology, as well as new techniques in the fabrication of large-format PM coherent fiber-optic arrays, for astronomical spectropolarimetry applications. The advanced instrument design of MSPC, and in particular, the utilization of new PM fiber-optics, will enhance the throughput and stability of the instrument, reduce polarization crosstalk, simplify calibration and correction processes to enhance the accuracy of vector magnetic field observations, and ultimately reduce the complexity and overall cost of the MSPC system.
The MSPC project will not only extend and enhance the MSO's long-term solar magnetic field observational program on Mount Haleakala, it will also leverage efforts already funded by the University of Hawaii and its collaborators to improve the infrastructure and technical capabilities of the MSO. In addition, the MSPC project will provide a modern instrument to support the ongoing research and training of future instrumentalists and solar physicists at the University of Hawaii. This new instrument will dramatically extend the synoptic observing capability of the US ground-based solar physics community and complement the science capabilities of the anticipated Advanced Technology Solar Telescope (ATST). The technologies and experience acquired from the MSPC project will benefit instrument development efforts at other solar observatories, and have a significant impact on night-time spectropolarimetry techniques used in other fields (such as remote sensing of the Earth from space and military surveillance).
