Dawson-Los Manos Canyon Reserve Annual Report

The telescope in the reserve is one of three operated synchronously (the other two are at Borrego and La Posta). They are used primarily to measure the solar wind which is a tenuous hot hydrogen gas blowing outwards from the sun. The system is also used to study the structure of radio sources such as the pulsar in the Crab Nebula and has occasionally been used to study the pulsation characteristics of other pulsars. The most important work, the study of the solar wind, depends on all three antennas working together. Hence it is accurate to say that our experimental work depends completely on the operation of the telescope in the Dawson Los Monos Reserve. The major objective of our work is to discover the origin of streams in the solar wind. These streams are the agents by which solar disturbances are carried to the earth where they cause enhanced aurora and radio communication blackouts. It is still not known just what features on the visible surface (e.g. sunspots) cause these streams. We think our observations can find this relationship between the solar surface and the solar wind because they simultaneously cover many positions around the sun. The problem with space observations is that all spacecraft are launched into orbit near the solar equator and there is seldom more than one up at a time. At present it seems, strangely enough, that these active streams actually originate in solar regions which are colder than normal and are called "coronal holes", Data is received 18 hours a day. The site is visited about once a month for maintenance. Pripciple investigators are G. Booker, V. H. Rumsey, W. A. Coles, and B. J. Rickett.