An observatory on Mauna Loa has become key to a national effort to protect spacewalking astronauts from harmful solar particles.

The new studies involve a coronograph or sun monitor called K-Cor, part of the High Altitude Observatory, operated by the National Center for Atmospheric Research, based in Boulder, Colo.

The sun sometimes erupts with bursts of ultrafast, energized particles that can hit exposed astronauts within an hour. In a report in the Jan. 30 issue of the journal Space Weather, Boulder scientists describe a system that can warn astronauts much sooner than current forecasting techniques.

“Currently, processed images from K-Cor are available on the internet in less than 15 minutes after they’re taken,” said Joan Burkepile, principal investigator for the K-Cor instrument, in a statement. “We’re installing a more powerful computer at the observatory in Hawaii to process the images seconds after they are acquired and provide the data on the internet within a minute or two of acquisition.”