The Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian
The Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian
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James McClung

Center for Astrophysics
Astrophysicist (Postdoctoral Research Fellow)
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James McClung
james.mcclung@cfa.harvard.edu

About

James studies shock-drift acceleration via particle-in-cell simulations of heliospheric and astrophysical shocks. For his Ph.D., he researched the (in)stability of a particular class of Bernstein–Greene–Kruskal modes—manifesting as electron holes—using the same particle-in-cell code. Outside of research, James has a wide range of hobbies, including hiking, bird watching, wine tasting, and board games.

Ph.D., University of New Hampshire

Telescopes and Instruments

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
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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
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