MIT Haystack Observatory

We take our whole snowy winter science scene very seriously. ❄️

In Antarctica right now, Haystack scientist Chet Ruszczyk and engineer Parker Steen are preparing three SGIP (that's a seismo-geodetic ice penetrator) devices for dropping and embedding into the Ross Ice Shelf, where they will monitor and send back data on ice melting and movement.

The SGIP devices will be dropped by helicopters and embedded into the ice: additional details at https://www.haystack.mit.edu/news/team-sent-to-antarctica-to-measure-ice-shelf-stability/ More to follow!

Congratulations to Larisa Goncharenko on her AGU 2024 Union Fellow award, for incredible accomplishments in atmospheric research and contributions to the geospace science community!

https://www.haystack.mit.edu/news/lpg-agufellow/

Our geospace lead scientist and assistant director (spoiler alert: *and* recently elected AGU Fellow, more on this after the special honors award ceremony tonight!) Larisa Goncharenko, speaking at on "Separation of Disturbances from Natural and Anthropogenic Sources in the Ionosphere Above Ukraine" in Washington, DC:

Hello from the American Geophysical Union (AGU) Annual Meeting 2024! We're having a great time with our ~27,000 close friends here at in Washington, DC! So many AGU talks and posters that we offer our own program—please come say hello if you're here.

https://www.haystack.mit.edu/agu24_haystack_program/ (our schedule)

(Now with updated captions 😁 )

Hello undergraduates and faculty: applications for our summer science internships are open! This National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded program, Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU), provides excellent, paid hands-on research opportunities. See full project list, application details, & more on REU here:

www.haystack.mit.edu/reu

Come work w/us at MIT—black holes, polar snow, & much more!

We had a great time hosting the National Science Foundation (NSF) workshop, which included talented students and staff from institutions across the country! Spectrum management is now more important than ever—the future of much scientific research depends on it.

Thank you for a productive visit—looking forward to getting this new technology out in the field with you!

Couple of research and technology highlights here this week:

• Shipping out not one but TWO Antarctic projects (ice monitoring, polar aurora), PLUS a scientist for good measure (heads-up, !)

• Software radio construction and field testing w/students and SpectrumX, which is a National Science Foundation (NSF) spectrum management center—absolutely essential work today

More soon! We'll explain more about our work and why it's so important.

This month at Haystack: NASA’s Living With a Star (LWS) program Focus Science Topic (FST) Team Meeting, with a focus on how space weather is affected by irregularities in Earth's ionosphere. NASA-selected scientists from 10 institutions, including Haystack, work collaboratively on LWS teams.

And here they are here at Haystack with our own star shining directly into their eyes! ☀️ 👀

Why did we get pink and green aurora? It's all in the atmosphere: what particles at what altitude:

Science is beautiful: check out the at Haystack! We'll have more to share about the science behind this incredible atmospheric phenomenon this week, and why it's been happening so often recently

(Credits and thanks: Bethany Dominick, felixgaertner.com, Heidi Johnson)

We had a great group of summer research students as interns this year—congratulations and best of luck to our REU 2024 ( -funded) undergraduates!

(Applications open in November for the following summer—please let any interested undergraduates know to visit us at https://www.haystack.mit.edu/reu to apply! It's a wonderful paid internship that provides hands-on research training, with no experience necessary!)

CONGRATULATIONS to Haystack's Larisa Goncharenko, elected as an American Geophysical Union (AGU) Fellow in the Class of 2024! This award is bestowed to a select number who have made "exceptional contributions": well deserved. 🎉 Larisa is a space weather superstar! 🌟

See more at:

https://www.haystack.mit.edu/news/lpg-agufellow/

https://www.agu.org/user-profile?cstkey=793b9ada-6044-4208-9218-f73ffe6f67a5

Haystack scientists continue contributions to upgrades at the legendary ALMA Observatory in Chile with their teams, including a brand-new hydrogen maser!

https://www.haystack.mit.edu/news/alma-maser-2024001/

Make sure to check out the documentary video at this link, courtesy of ALMA's Nico Lira! ✨

Haystack Development Paves the Way for New Ultra-High-Resolution Studies of the Universe - MIT Haystack Observatory Radio science & technology research center

This beautiful work of art depicting our radome logo was created by a former National Science Foundation (NSF) REU student as a thank-you to her mentors! Lovely crafting, Katy, and thank YOU! 😍

Haystack's lead geospace scientist, Larisa Goncharenko, is the Project Scientist on one of the three teams selected by NASA to develop plans for the DYNAMIC mission! This mission will study how changes in Earth’s lower atmosphere influence the upper atmosphere, in which space weather like auroras and satellite disruptions occurs.

Congratulations to Larisa and the entire team, which includes scientists from the University of Colorado–Boulder and JPL! Learn more about this selection on our website:

Haystack part of DYNAMIC team to advance in NASA space weather competition - MIT Haystack Observatory Radio science & technology research center

Our Haystack REU alumna Patricia Dzwill ('23) has just won the CEDAR geospace conference student poster award! This follows her successful AGU presentation and co-authoring of an atmospheric science research paper in JGR-Space (see https://doi.org/10.1029/2024ja032750). National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded!

Congratulations on this well-deserved award, Patty!

Larisa Goncharenko, one of Haystack's eclipse science experts, explains to WGBH GBH News what happens to the Earth's atmosphere during this event:

What do scientists learn from total solar eclipses? An MIT researcher explains The total solar eclipse wasn’t just an astronomical sight to see, but a research opportunity for scientists around the globe. Larisa Goncharenko, from MIT's...