AAS Solar Physics Division Press Officer

Michael S. Kirk

[email protected]

+1 301-614-7045

Press Releases


Wednesday, Feb 28th, 2024

Naval Research Laboratory’s Dr. Judith Lean Awarded the Prestigious 2024 George Ellery Hale Prize by the American Astronomical Society Solar Physics Division

The American Astronomical Society’s Solar Physics Division (AAS SPD) is proud to announce Dr. Judith Lean as the recipient of the esteemed 2024 George Ellery Hale Prize. Following a 30 year-career at the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) she now works part-time at the Laboratory for Atmosphere and Space Physics (LASP). This honorary award is presented annually to a scientist who has made outstanding contributions to the field of solar astronomy over an extended period.

Full press release: WORD

University of Arizona’s Prof. Kristopher Klein Awarded the Prestigious 2024 Karen Harvey Prize

The American Astronomical Society’s Solar Physics Division (AAS SPD) is proud to announce Prof. Kristopher Klein of the University of Arizona as the esteemed recipient of the 2024 Karen Harvey Prize. Established in May 2002, this prestigious award honors the memory of the late Karen Harvey by recognizing significant contributions in solar physics research made early in a professional career.

Full press release: WORD


 Tuesday, May 24th, 2022 

Winners of the SPD Popular Media Awards, 2022

The AAS Solar Physics Division (SPD) is proud to announce the winners of the 2022 Popular Media Awards are Colin Stuart, Mara Johnson-Groh, and Joy Ng.

  • Colin Stuart is awarded for his article “Solar Trouble: How Well Do We Know the Sun?, published in the April 2021 edition of Sky & Telescope Magazine, where he describes the ongoing uncertainties in quantifying solar elemental abundances and the ramifications for understanding the Universe.
  • Mara Johnson-Groh and Joy Ng are jointly recognized for their article and accompanying video entitled “NASA Enters the Solar Atmosphere for the First Time, Bringing New Discoveries,” published on 2021-12-14 on nasa.gov and YouTube, respectively, where they explain the revolutionary discoveries made by Parker Solar Probe as it passed through the coronal Alfvén surface for the first time.

Full press release: WORD


Tuesday, February 2, 2021

AAS Solar Physics Division Announces 2022 Hale and Harvey Prizes

The Solar Physics Division (SPD) of the American Astronomical Society (AAS) is proud to announce the 2022 winners of its two most prestigious scientific prizes.

AAS Solar Physics Division 2022 George Ellery Hale Prize

Dr. Sami Solanki of the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research (MPS) in Göttingen, Germany, is awarded the George Ellery Hale Prize for his foundational studies of solar magnetism, its impact on the Sun–Earth system, and magnetic fields of other stars.

AAS Solar Physics Division 2022 Karen Harvey Prize

Dr. Adam Kowalski, who is joint faculty at University Colorado Boulder’s Department of Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences, the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics and National Science Foundation’s National Solar Observatory in Boulder, CO, is awarded the Karen Harvey Prize for his innovative research into stellar flares towards resolving long-standing problems relating to flares on both the Sun and other stars.

Full Press Release: WORD


Tuesday, January 12, 2021

AAS Solar Physics Division Announces 2021 Hale and Harvey Prizes

The Solar Physics Division (SPD) of the American Astronomical Society (AAS) is proud to announce the 2021 winners of its two most prestigious scientific prizes.

AAS Solar Physics Division 2021 George Ellery Hale Prize

Dr. Russell Howard of the United States Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) in Washington, DC, is awarded the George Ellery Hale Prize for his seminal contributions to the discovery, measurement, and understanding of Coronal Mass Ejections and their role in Space Weather and for his outstanding leadership in innovative space instrumentation that forms the foundation of much current Heliophysics research.

AAS Solar Physics Division 2021 Karen Harvey Prize

Dr. Lucia Kleint of the University of Geneva, Switzerland, is awarded the Karen Harvey Prize for her substantial contributions to solar polarimetry and radiative transfer modeling, and exceptional leadership in next-generation solar instrumentation.

Full Press Release: WORD


Tuesday February 25, 2020

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.

AAS Solar Physics Division 2020 George Ellery Hale Prize

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.

AAS Solar Physics Division 2020 Karen Harvey Prize

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.

Thursday May 24, 2018

The Expanded Owens Valley Solar Array Reveals New Insights into Solar Flares’ Explosive Energy

Celebrating it’s first year of observations, the Expanded Owens Valley Solar Array is giving solar physicists new insights to the inner working of solar flares.

Tuesday February 18, 2018

2018 George Ellery Hale Prize

The 2018 George Ellery Hale Prize for outstanding contributions to the field of solar astronomy is awarded to Sarbani Basu for her many seminal contributions to our understanding of the internal structure and dynamics of the Sun and stars.

2018 Karen Harvey Prize

The 2018 Karen Harvey Prize for a significant contribution to the study of the Sun early in a person’s professional career is awarded to Nicholeen Viall for  her fundamental contributions to understanding coronal heating and the slow solar wind, and for her valuable service to the science community and the general public.