The Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian

The Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian

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Sam Badman

Center for Astrophysics

Astrophysicist

Sam Badman

samuel.badman@cfa.harvard.edu

About

Sam researches the global structure of the Sun's extended atmosphere combining numerical models, remote observations of solar structure and in situ measurements of the solar wind. He has a particular emphasis on using new measurements from the inner heliosphere from spacecraft such as Parker Solar Probe, and is a team member of the Solar Wind Electrons Alphas and Protons instrument, which was partially built at SAO. He is also a strong believer in the use of open source software to enable reproducible research, easy collaboration and allowing others to build on your own work without doing it again from scratch (see his github here: https://github.com/STBadman). Sam received his Ph.D. in physics at the University of California Berkeley in August 2022 before moving to the CfA. In his spare time he likes to play keyboard, hike, kayak, travel, try new food, watch movies!

MPhys, University of Oxford; Ph.D. University of California, Berkeley

Telescopes and Instruments

Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO)

The Sun is both life-giving and dangerous. Variations in the Sun’s light and wind have profound effects on Earth, while solar storms can wreak havoc on power and communications systems. NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) is a spacecraft dedicated to studying these potentially dangerous variations, and the magnetic fields that drive them. Engineers at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian contributed to the design and construction of the four Atmospheric Imaging Array (AIA) telescopes. AIA is one of the three major experiments carried by SDO.

Visit the SDO Website

Parker Solar Probe

What is driving the solar wind? Some particles in the Sun’s atmosphere gain enough speed to escape the Sun’s gravitational pull and bombard the worlds of the Solar System, but the processes behind the phenomenon are still mysterious. To solve that mystery, NASA’s Parker Solar Probe spacecraft was built to fly through the Sun’s atmosphere, performing the first up-close solar measurements in history. Scientists and engineers at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian built the Solar Probe Cup (SPC) instrument for the spacecraft. SPC is part of the Solar Wind Electrons Alphas and Protons (SWEAP) instrument suite used to sample particles directly from the Sun’s atmosphere for analysis.

Visit the Parker Solar Probe SWEAP Website

Wind Spacecraft

NASA’s Wind Spacecraft has observed the Sun ever since its launch in 1994, making it one of the most successful and longest-running space observatories. Orbiting at a special location between Earth and the Sun, Wind measures the properties of the electrically-charged particles known as the solar wind. Scientists from the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian currently operate one of Wind’s instruments, which collects ions from the solar wind. Data from the spacecraft have been used in over 4,500 journal articles, doctoral dissertations, and other scientific publications. Wind was built to last: it has enough fuel to keep operating for another 50 years.

Visit the Wind Spacecraft Website

Solar and Heliospheric Observer (SOHO)

The Sun is the only star we can study in detail, providing us with the opportunity to observe stellar internal structure, magnetic fields, and atmosphere. Solar and Heliospheric Observer (SOHO), a space observatory jointly operated by NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA), has been one of the best sources for that knowledge. Originally designed to operate for two years, SOHO has provided daily data on the Sun for more than twenty years, making it one of the longest running space observatories. During that time, SOHO has monitored the Sun’s atmosphere, surface, and seismology, using a wide range of scientific instruments. Scientists and engineers at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian developed the instrument SOHO uses to measure the ultraviolet spectrum of the Sun.

Visit the SOHO/UVCS Website