We are proud to announce that Richard B. Dunn is the recipient of the 1997 George Ellery Hale Prize, an award which recognizes his "outstanding contributions to the field of solar astronomy over an extended period of time."
Dick has been on the scientific staff of what is now the National Solar Observatory/Sac Peak site almost from its beginning 50 years ago. His talents, ingenuity and drive in developing new instrumental capabilities and telescopes have been by far the major factors in the development of that observatory into one of the leading solar observatories in the world. From the beginning his work has been directed towards the improvement of the angular resolution of solar observations, starting with the construction of forefront chromospheric and coronagraphic telescopes and reaching its high point with the successful implementation of the Vacuum Tower Telescope (VTT) at Sac Peak. Dick's images of the solar chromosphere and prominences taken many years ago are still the best available, exceeding in quality even the best images obtained with more modern ground- and space-based telescopes. Much of our scientific knowledge of these layers of the Sun derives from these observations, obtained by not only an outstanding instrumentalist but also a veritable artist who gets the best out of the facilities he has built. His Vacuum Telescope was such a success that an entire generation of solar telescopes in Germany, Sweden, France, Japan and elsewhere has followed the vacuum concept to improve solar image quality. And yet, among these the Sac Peak VTT is still giving the best solar images to date. Dick's research using the VTT includes the study of the chromospheric spicular structure and, together with Jack Zirker, the identification of the so-called solar filigree structure of the solar photosphere. The latter is now under intense study at many solar observatories as it is recognized as the site of the very small but strong solar magnetic field bundles which dominate the energy and mass transfer in the outer solar layers, probably including the heating of the solar corona.
Dick Dunn continues to contribute in many ways to the improvement of the National Solar Observatory, giving his instrumental talents selflessly to the implementation of such NSO facilities as the GONG and ISOON facilities and to the development of active and adaptive optics for solar astronomy.
Dick will give his Hale Lecture at the upcoming meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Washington, DC on the morning of 10 January. We encourage readers to attend!
Sidney Wolff, Jacques Beckers