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Annals of the Smithsonian Institution 1 999 



X-ray Center, respectively. And, SAO continues to provide 

 guest observer facilities for investigators using the Roentgen 

 X-ray satellite (ROSAT), a joint venture of Germany, the 

 United Kingdom, and the United States. 



Research Highlights 



The Chandra X-ray Observatory, one of NASA's "Great Ob- 

 servatories" and a landmark U.S. mission, was successfully 

 deployed from the Space Shuttle in July 1999. SAO played a 

 lead role in designing Chandra, and operates it from the 

 Chandra Operations Control Center in Cambridge. Chandra 

 has been orbiting Earth and is sending back a steady stream 

 of spectacular X-ray images. SAO is also the site of the 

 Chandra Observatory Science Center, which coordinates re- 

 search of the space observatory, and receives and archives its 

 data for the world's astronomical community. 



The Submillimeter Wave Astronomy Satellite, designed 

 by SAO for NASA, was launched from a Pegasus-XL vehicle 

 on December 5, 1998, and began its routine operations. 

 SWAS is the first spaceborne observatory to operate at sub- 

 millimeter wavelengths and has been giving astronomers 

 new clues to some old cosmic mysteries, including how 

 stars — and their accompanying planets — are born. For exam- 

 ple, SWAS discovered that large amounts of water seem to 

 pervade the interstellar medium, with particularly copious 

 amounts in the huge molecular clouds thought to be the in- 

 cubators of newborn stars. By contrast, SWAS has so far 

 failed to detect molecular oxygen in those same interstellar 

 clouds. 



SAO continued its leadership in solar studies in 1999. For 

 nearly four decades, solar scientists have been puzzled by the 

 fact that the high-speed portion of the solar wind travels 

 twice as fast as predicted by theory, with some particles 

 reaching velocities of 2 million miles per hour as they stream 

 out of the Sun and wash over the entire solar system. Now, 

 observations made with instruments built by SAO and flown 

 aboard NASA's Spartan 201 spacecraft and the international 

 Solar and Heliospheric Observarory have revealed a surpris- 

 ing explanation for this mystery: Magnetic waves propel the 

 particles through the corona like surfboarders riding the 

 crests of a cosmic sea. The Sun's outermost atmosphere, or 

 corona, is an extremely tenuous, electrically charged gas that 

 is seen from Earth only during a total eclipse of the Sun by 

 the Moon, when it appears as a shimmering white veil sur- 

 rounding the black lunar disk. Using ultraviolet 

 coronagraph spectrometers on Spartan and SOHO to create 

 artificial eclipses, SAO scientists detected rapidly vibrating 

 magnetic fields within the corona that form magnetic waves 

 that, in turn, seem to accelerate the solar wind. The electri- 

 cal charges of the solar-wind particles, or ions, force them to 

 spiral around the invisible magnetic lines. When the lines 

 vibtate, as they do in a magnetic wave, the spiraling ions are 

 accelerated out and away from the Sun. Indeed, SAO scien- 

 tists believe there are magnetic waves in the corona with 

 many different "wiggling periods," or frequencies. Thus, 

 these waves can accelerate various solar-wind particles at dif- 

 ferent rates. For example, SAO researchers found, 



surprisingly, that the heavier oxygen ions actually move 

 faster than the lighter hydrogen ions. 



The popular image of nascent planetary systems as thin, 

 spinning pancakes of cosmic dust and debris may be changed 

 by a new computer model that shows such disks are trans- 

 formed into distinct rings once Pluto-like bodies form. By 

 analyzing Hubble Space Telescope images of a suspected 

 young planetary system recently discovered around the star 

 HR 47 96 A, SAO scientists and their colleagues produced a 

 computer model that suggests that rings around new plane- 

 tary systems are common features. Indeed, the well-known 

 Kuiper Belt of asteroids in our own solar system may be the 

 residual remains of such a ring. 



Smithsonian Center for 

 Latino Initiatives 



Refugio I. Rochin, Director 



The Smithsonian Centet for Latino Initiatives, established in 

 1998, has as its mission to advance knowledge and under- 

 standing of Latino contributions to U.S. history, culture, and 

 society. In January 1999, the Board of Regents approved the 

 establishment of the Smithsonian National Board for Latino 

 Initiatives. In September 1999, the Regents approved the 

 first members of the boatd, including representation from 

 the academic, corporate, mass media, public, and nonprofit 

 sectors. The board will provide advice, support, and expert- 

 ise on Latino history, culture, art, and science and help 

 develop the financial base for Latino initiatives at the Insti- 

 tution. National interest in Smithsonian programs on 

 Latinos is strong, and opportunities for expanding activities 

 on Latinos are improving. Staff at the center increased from 

 four to nine to bolster the center's capacity for outreach, fund 

 raising, training, Web site development, and research. 



During its inaugural year, the center promoted dialogues 

 with Latino-related museums, cultural centers, and academic 

 programs throughout the United States and Puerto Rico. 

 Partners in programming included the Smithsonian's affilia- 

 tions programs in San Antonio, San Jose, and Miami, as well 

 as the Inter-University Program for Latino Reseatch (IUPLR), 

 a national consortium of Latino studies centets. The center's 

 summer workshop and research fellowships brought 20 schol- 

 ars to the Smithsonian to work on projects and to learn from 

 Smithsonian curators, researchers, and project managers. The 

 cenrer joined with the Argentine Embassy to honot Argentine 

 archaeologist Alberto Rex Gonzales for his eminent contribu- 

 tions in natural history. He received the Smithsonian Bicen- 

 tennial Medal from Secretary I. Michael Heyman. The center's 

 director received the Partnership Award from the Hispanic 

 Caucus of the American Association for Higher Education. 



The center developed its Web site (www.si.edu/latino) 

 with national links to major programs for research, educa- 

 tion, and museum studies. The purpose of the Web site is 

 to make available and known the riches of Latino history 

 and culture and to advance communication, collaboration, 



