BBSO Dedication Takes Place October 3

The New Jersey Institute of Technology (NIJT) is the proud owner and beneficiary of the Big Bear Solar Telescope (BBSO), the largest aperture solar observatory in the world. With a mirror spanning 1.6 meters in diameter, the telescope will be a trendsetter in the field of studying the Sun, and it's believed that it is the first of a new generation of instruments set at scanning the star and bringing forth a new age of knowledge of the surrounding world. The BBSO will undergo its dedication ceremony on October 3, the Institute announces.

Larger, ground-based observatories, such as the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Advanced Technology Solar Telescope (ATST), currently under construction, will benefit directly from the groundbreaking work conducted by the BBSO over the next decade. The dedication ceremony will begin at 10:30 am local time, at the Observatory, in Big Bear, California. Behind the five-year project to build the amazing instrument is NJIT solar astronomer and Distinguished Professor Philip R. Goode. He is also the director of both BBSO, and the Center for Solar-Terrestrial Research.

During the ceremony, the expert will conduct tours of the new facility, and will also attempt to sketch the important role that the BBSO will play in solar studies over the next ten years. University of Hawaii Institute for Astronomy Associate Director Jeffrey R. Kuhn, PhD, who helped Goode design key optical features on the observatory, will also be speaking at the gathering. ATST project scientists will present their progress and plans as well, and NIJT President Robert A. Altenkirch will hold a speech.

The essential goal of the new telescope is to detect the fundamental scale of the Sun's dynamic magnetic fields, a find that could have considerable implications in space technology, the experts believe. From these fields, they add, solar flares and coronal mass ejections are born, and these phenomena can destroy satellites, melt power grids, and threaten the lives of astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS). BBSO data will be combined with satellite information, providing physicists with the best available tools for drawing their conclusions.