Helio and You: Heliophysics as an American Endeavor
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Scientific achievement has been a part of the American identity for as long as that identity has existed. Heliophysics is an important cornerstone of the history of astronomy, and many of the pioneers in this field have been American. Let's take a look at a few of these history-makers.
As we celebrate 250 years of American history, it would be easy to be overwhelmed by the scale of scientific discovery in those years. When the Declaration of Independence was signed, there were still only six known planets in the solar system. William Herschel didn’t discover Uranus until March 13, 1781, almost five years after our first Independence Day. The Carrington Event of 1859, a vital catalyst in the history of heliophysics, happened when there were still only 33 U.S. states.
American astronomers have achieved much since the nation’s founding, and this includes helping catalyze the field of heliophysics as we know it today. From the discovery of the Van Allen radiation belts in 1958 to the ongoing voyage of NASA’s Parker Solar Probe today, even just the last seven decades of heliophysics history is full of achievements made by American astronomers.
One significant figure in the record of American heliophysics achievement is George Ellery Hale. Hale was born June 29, 1868, in Chicago, where his father built his fortune by helping to rebuild the city after the Great Fire of 1871. After his graduation from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1890, Hale convinced his father to build him an observatory on their property in Kenwood, Chicago. Kenwood Observatory is where Hale established the Astrophysical Journal and pioneered the spectroheliograph, an instrument still used today that captures imagery of the Sun at a single wavelength of light.
Hale was involved in the founding of several notable observatories, including Palomar Observatory in Southern California, and was instrumental in the founding of the National Research Council and the International Union for Cooperation in Solar Research (the latter of which evolved into the International Astronomical Union). He was also active in the budding field of heliophysics. His founding of the Hale Solar Laboratory and various solar telescopes at Mount Wilson Observatory helped usher in a new era for the discipline.