The NWU Centre for Space Research cordially invites you to attend a public lecture by Prof. Eamon Scullion.
Presentation title: The Sun in Focus: From Early Telescopes to High-Resolution Physics.
Abstract:
From its earliest presence in southern African cosmology, where the Sun was revered in San and Nguni traditions as a life-giving and regulating force, to its formal study within the Royal Astronomical Society era of systematic observation, our understanding of the Sun has evolved through a remarkable fusion of culture, geography, and technology. This plenary traces the evolution of solar observation from early sunspot sketches to modern diffraction-limited imaging with the Swedish 1-m Solar Telescope and more recently with the Daniel K Inouye 4-m Solar Telescope. These advances have transformed the Sun from a distant luminous disk into a dynamic, multi-layered plasma system, where fine-scale magnetic structuring and energy transport processes are now resolved across multiple spectral domains. The talk highlights how increasing spatial, temporal, and spectral resolution, combined with global collaborations involving institutions such as the South African Astronomical Observatory, has deepened our understanding of the coupled photosphere–chromosphere–corona system and its role in space weather. By bridging heritage, international collaboration, and cutting-edge technology, we move closer to unlocking the fundamental plasma physics governing our nearest star.
About the speaker:
Prof Eamon Scullion
Northumbria University
Professor Eamon Scullion is a Professor of Mathematics at Northumbria University whose research spans solar physics, space science, and space technology development. He holds a PhD in Applied Mathematics from the University of Sheffield and Armagh Observatory, an MSc in Physics and Astronomy from the University of Glasgow, and a BSc in Physics and Applied Mathematics from Queen's University Belfast. His research has focused primarily on solar physics, where he is best known for the discovery of magnetic tornadoes in the lower solar atmosphere, published in the journal Nature in 2012. He has held research and academic positions at the University of Oslo, Trinity College Dublin, and Northumbria University, and is a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society, the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications, and the Higher Education Academy.
Alongside his scientific research, Scullion has led major space technology initiatives, including the UK Space Agency-funded ALIGN mission, which developed novel laser communications technology for CubeSats and secured £6 million in funding as Principal Investigator. This work contributed to the establishment of Northumbria’s first Space Laboratory in 2022 and helped pave the way for the £50 million North- East Space Skills and Technology (NESST) Centre in partnership with Lockheed Martin UK and the UK Space Agency. He has supervised multiple doctoral students and postdoctoral researchers, served as Departmental Director for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion at Northumbria University, led the department’s successful Athena Swan Bronze Award application, and has published 50 peer-reviewed papers with an H-index of 27.