Joint Physics Dept.–Inst. for Space Weather Sci. Colloquium

February 1, Thursday (** SPECIAL DAY**)

History of the Solar Physics Division

Prof. Dale Gary

Dept. of Physics, NJIT

(Solar Physics)

Room: ECE 202

**SPECIAL TIME: 1pm - 2pm with teatime at 12:45pm

*Webex Meeting ID for those who cannot attend in-person:

2621 447 3191

(APPROVAL by Prof Ahn REQUIRED for APPH/MTSE PhD Students to attend online)

*Password: check email or request from kenahn@njit.edu

The first 30 years of the history of the Solar Physics Division (SPD) of the American Astronomical Society (AAS) was presented in an article by Jack Thomas written for the AAS Centennial Year (DeVorkin, D., ed., The American Astronomical Society's First Century, AIP: AAS, 1999, pp238-251). This talk discusses that first 30 years and continues the history by discussing the ensuing 25 years up to the present. The SPD has continued to grow in membership, has added an early career prize (the Karen Harvey Prize), and has begun a tradition of holding the Triennial Earth-Sun Summit (TESS) meetings with the American Geophysical Union's Space Physics and Aeronomy section. The SPD celebrated its 50th year during the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown in August 2020, sandwiched between the two great North American eclipses of 2017 and 2024, which is coming later this year. As the demographics of the Division skew older, the SPD has recently made strides to become more relevant for students and early career scientists, promising a bright future.