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Steve Keil
Greetings from sunny New Mexico!
My name is Steve Keil and on April 1, 1999 I became the Director of the National
Solar Observatory. For the past 21 years, I have lived and worked as part of the Air
Force’s solar research team located at Sacramento Peak in Sunspot, New Mexico. My main
scientific interest is to understand the causes of solar activity and variability that
effect the Earth and its near-space environment. This has led me to study the interaction
of gas motions (such as waves and convection) with magnetic fields in the solar
atmosphere. This Interaction produces solar activity and variability that often degrades
communications (radio and television) and could harm spacecraft and astronauts.
In addition to conducting research at Sacramento Peak I am responsible for building a
space instrument called the Solar Mass Ejection Imager (SMEI) which will be able to watch
mass ejected from the sun as it propagates to the earth. SMEI will give us early warning
of impending magnetic storms in the Earth’s atmosphere and will help us manage the safety
of our satellites and protect our communications systems.
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