1.6 Meter Solar Telescope in Big Bear - The New Solar Telescope (NST)

The New Jersey Institute of Technology, in collaboration with the University of Hawaii, will upgrade its Big Bear Solar Observatory by replacing its principal 65 cm aperture telescope with a modern off-axis 1.6 m clear aperture instrument. This new telescope will offer significant incremental improvement in ground-based infrared and high angular-resolution capabilities, and it also enhances the national effort to understand solar photospheric magneto-convection and chromospheric dynamics. These are the intrinsic drivers and origins of what is broadly called 'space weather': a critical problem that impacts human technologies and life on Earth, and which is the focus of the multi-agency National Space Weather Program. As important as these scientific benefits are, the educational opportunities and advantages expected to accrue from this development are perhaps more profound. The New Jersey Institute of Technology will maintain its unique cutting-edge position in training the next generation of engineers, physicists and astronomers in the rapidly developing technologies associated with precision optics and instrument design. The current 65 cm telescope will be donated to Prairie View A&M University, to replace their existing 35 cm solar telescope. Through this acquisition of a research-class solar telescope, under-represented students who form the focus of Prairie View's educational efforts will gain valuable exposure and training in solar-terrestrial research problems.