What's wrong with the Sun and how can we fix it?

by Prof. Jeff Kuhn (Institute for Astronomy)

Thursday Sep 22, 2011, 3:30 AM → 4:30 AM Pacific/Honolulu

112 (Watanabe Hall)

Despite 10,000 years of civilized solar observations, we're still in the dark as to why the Sun's natural rhythm isn't what we thought it should be. This lecture will review our understanding of solar magnetism and why many of us are excited about the most complex (and expensive) optical telescope ever built. I'll give a preview of this instrument, called the Advanced Technology Solar Telescope, which is due to begin operation on Haleakala in 2018.