The purpose of the Solar Physics Division (SPD) is the advancement of the study of the Sun and the coordination of such research with other branches of science. The SPD holds annual scientific meetings, awards several different prizes, and supports students in various ways.

NEW

A Message from the SPD Chair

Dear Solar Physics Division Members:

As you know, the coronavirus pandemic has led to the cancellation of the face-to-face SPD meeting originally scheduled for 10-14 August 2020. This is particularly unfortunate because the SPD is celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2020. We nevertheless are planning a virtual meeting of some kind, to be held during this same time window, to hold the required yearly SPD Business Meeting as well as the SPD Prize talks (George Ellery Hale Prize winner Kazunari Shibata and Karen Harvey Prize winner Hui Tian). The SPD Committee solicits your input on whether you would participate in a more extended meeting, and offers several options of increasing complexity listed below. Please go to form at https://aas.org/form/spd-meeting-options to express your interest as soon as possible. The form will be available through 27 May 2020. Note: When you click on this link, you may be asked to log in with your AAS username and password. After doing that, come back to this email and click the link again to reach the form.

• Option 1: Business meeting plus prize talks only.
• Option 2: Business meeting, prize talks, 90-minute session of historical talks celebrating SPD's 50th year.
• Option 3: Option 2 plus a half-day iPoster session targeted for students and early-career researchers, possibly with career-focused "mixer" to be defined.
• Option 4: Option 2 plus a 2-3 day virtual meeting with virtual iPosters and talks. This option may incur a registration fee.

There is also a place on the form to offer other suggestions, and an "I volunteer to help" button, for those tech-savvy individuals who would like to help us invent the appropriate virtual meeting experience.

Be well and stay safe!

Dale E. Gary

SPD Chair, on behalf of the SPD Committee

Winners of the SPD Popular Media Awards, 2020

• Journalist: Sarah Scoles: Scientists tackle a burning question: When will our quiet sun turn violent? Science Magazine, Published 2019-05-30.

• Scientist: Ellis Avallone: A Lunar Time Machine: Secrets to our Sun’s Active Past Astrobites, Published 2019-07-08

AAS Solar Physics Division Announces 2020 Hale and Harvey Prizes

The Solar Physics Division (SPD) of the American Astronomical Society (AAS) is proud to announce the 2020 winners of its two most prestigious scientific prizes. Dr. Kazunari Shibata of Kyoto University, Japan, is awarded the George Ellery Hale Prize for his outstanding work on the properties and behavior of magnetized solar and astrophysical plasmas. Dr. Hui Tian of Peking University, China, is awarded the Karen Harvey Prize for his ultraviolet and extreme-ultraviolet observations of the Sun and what they reveal about the dynamics of the solar atmosphere.

We plan to offer the opportunity for our Hale and Harvey Prize winners, Kazunari Shibata and Hui Tian, to give webinar-style talks.  Details to be announced.

2020 SPD Meeting Canceled

The SPD Committee and AAS announce the cancellation of the 2020 SPD meeting due to the continuing coronavirus pandemic.  The SPD Committee is looking into possible options for a virtual meeting in 2020.  More information...

LOGO Contest Results

The SPD Committee has selected the entry by Ignacio Ugarte-Urra (NRL) as the winner of the 50th-anniversary SPD Logo contest.  An example of the new logo now graces all of the SPD web pages.  We congratulate Ignacio and thank all of the others who submitted entries.