By EurekAlert
Saturday, October 31, 2009
On August 1, 2008 a total solar eclipse was visible within a
narrow corridor that traversed from North America to China. The
path of the Moon's umbral shadow started from Canada and extended
across northern Greenland, the Arctic, central Russia, Mongolia,
and China. A partial eclipse was seen within the much broader path
of the Moon's penumbral shadow, which included northeastern part of
North America, most parts of Europe and Asia.
At a solar physics meeting, held in Kunming, China in the fall
of 2006, Professor Yi Wang, the deputy director of the National
Astronomical Observatories of China (NAOC), the Chinese Academy of
Sciences (CAS), and Professor Peiwen Ji, the deputy director of the
Mathematical and Physical Section of the National Natural Science
Foundation of China (NSFC), pointed out the importance of the 2008
total eclipse in China and provided many suggestions for the
organization of the total eclipse program. Consequently several
special grants from NAOC and NSFC were awarded for the August 1,
2008 total eclipse program in China.
The 2008 solar eclipse in China attracted many solar scientists
in China, as well as those abroad, who in turn proposed an
international workshop before the total eclipse. The first proposal
of such an international solar workshop in China to be held at the
then coming 2008 total solar eclipse came via email from Prof. J.
Stenflo in 2007. After extensive discussions among both domestic
and overseas scientists, the international workshop of the 2008
solar total eclipse was named "Solar Magnetism, Corona and Space
Weather -- Chinese Space Solar Telescope Science". The workshop
aimed to promote the scientific communications of scientists as
well as the space solar project of the Space Solar Telescope of
China (SSTC).
The Sun, a unique resolvable star, can be observed in great
details. It exerts tremendous influence on our living planet - the
Earth in the way of sunshine, the solar storms, solar winds and so
on. The recent years have witnessed a series of achievements in the
area of solar physics in China, which cover a relatively wide
content of solar physics, such as the measurements and studies of
solar magnetic activities, the solar flares/coronal mass ejections,
the solar cycle and the relationship with space weather.
The Scientific Organization Committee (SOC) members of the
workshop were G. X. Ai (China), C. Fang (China), B. Lites (USA), Z.
X. Liu (China), H. Wang (USA), T. Sakurai (Japan), K. Shibata
(Japan), S. Solanki (Germany), J. Stenflo (Switzerland), H. Q.
Zhang (Chair, China), M. Zhang (China). Profs. S. Solanki, B.
Lites, C. Fang, M. Zhang, and Professor Y. Yan of NAOC offered
practical suggestions for the programs of the workshop. Most
important of all, Professor Mei Zhang was responsible for the
organization work of the programs. The members of Local
Organization Committee were H. Q. Zhang (Chair, NAOC), M. Zhang
(NAOC), Zhanao Sun (Jiuquan), Binhai Wei (Jiuquan), Y. Wang (NAOC),
and X. Bao (NAOC).
The solar workshop held from July 28 to Aug. 1, 2008, at
Jiuquan, Gansu Provence of China mainly covered the following
topics.
- An overview of ancient observation to contemporary space
missions;
- Space and ground based results of magnetic field
measurements;
- Theory of magnetic fields;
- Chromospheric and coronal measurements;
- Understanding coronal magnetic field, coronal heating and solar
wind acceleration;
- Observations of eruptive events on the Sun;
- Theory of eruptive events and their influence on the Earth
(space weather).
Interesting talks ran through the workshop, the ancient
observation of solar eclipses in China by Professor Yanben Han for
instance. Talks presented by T. Sakurai, Haimin Wang, Kiyoshi
Ichimoto, Yong-Jae Moon, Frank Grupp, Mei Zhang, Robert Cameron,
Hiroaki Isobe, Mats Carlsson, Kazunari Shibata, Hirohisa Hara,
Joerg Buechner, Yihua Yan, Jun Lin, Zuyin Pu, ranged widely from
solar physics to space weather. They delivered the basic
information on the development of the space solar projects abroad
as well as in China. Topics included the Solar Orbiter Mission by
Sami Solanki, scientific objectives of the Chinese Space Solar
Telescope by Cheng Fang, the instrumentation of Space Solar
Telescope by Y. Deng and H. Zhang, soft X-ray and EUV telescopes
aboard Space Solar Telescope by Bo Chen, a review of Hinode results
by Yoshinori Suematsu, a new perspective on quiet sun magnetism by
Bruce Lites and many others.
At the 2008 total eclipse meeting, a series of public lectures
were given for the public outreach in the Conference and Exhibition
Center of Jiuquan City: Solar System and its Planets by Professor
David C. Jewitt from University of Hawaii; Solar Activities and the
Relationship with Human by Professor Sami K. Solanki of Max-Plank
institute (both above lectures were translated by Professor Pengfei
Chen from Nanjing University); A New View of the Universe by
Professor Wenping Chen from Taipei; Solar Eruptive Phenomena by
Professor Haimin Wang from NJIT; Sun - Our Star and Total Eclipse
by Professor Haishen Ji from Purple Mountain Observatory; The Tools
and Methods for Understanding the Universe by Professor Xiaojun
Jiang of NAOC. These are believed the highest-level public lectures
on the astronomical science in Jiuquan City up to now. The
audience, especially the school students, were attracted by these
high level lectures.
Here we offer our thanks again for the full support from the CAS
and the NSFC. We are also grateful to the staff of the NAOC and the
local government of Jiuquan City for their generous support.
We would also like to give readers some summary comments on the
proceedings. These papers range widely in solar physics in China
and also abroad in recent years, including some basic achievements
on the quiet and active Sun, the total eclipse observations, the
development of solar observations and the solar space projects in
recent years.
SOURCE