On ion-cyclotron-resonance heating of the corona and solar wind

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

E. Marsch

2003-01-01

Full Text Available This paper concisely summarizes and critically reviews recent work by the authors on models of the heating of the solar corona by resonance of ions with high-frequency waves (up to the proton cyclotron frequency. The quasi-linear theory of pitch angle diffusion is presented in connection with relevant solar wind proton observations. Hybrid fluid-kinetic model equations, which include wave-particle interactions and collisions, are derived. Numerical solutions are discussed, representative of the inner corona and near-Sun solar wind. A semi-kinetic model for reduced velocity distributions is presented, yielding kinetic results for heavy ions in the solar corona. It is concluded that a self-consistent treatment of particle distributions and wave spectra is required, in order to adequately describe coronal physics and to obtain agreement with observations.

Threaded-Field-Line Model for the Transition Region and Solar Corona

Science.gov (United States)

Sokolov, I.; van der Holst, B.; Gombosi, T. I.

2014-12-01

In numerical simulations of the solar corona, both for the ambient state and especially for dynamical processes the most computational resources are spent for maintaining the numerical solution in the Low Solar Corona and in the transition region, where the temperature gradients are very sharp and the magnetic field has a complicated topology. The degraded computational efficiency is caused by the need in a highest resolution as well as the use of the fully three-dimensional implicit solver for electron heat conduction. On the other hand, the physical nature of the processes involved is rather simple (which still does not facilitate the numerical methods) as long as the heat fluxes as well as slow plasma motional velocities are aligned with the magnetic field. The Alfven wave turbulence, which is often believed to be the main driver of the solar wind and the main source of the coronal heating, is characterized by the Poynting flux of the waves, which is also aligned with the magnetic field. Therefore, the plasma state in any point of the three-dimensional grid in the Low Solar Corona can be found by solving a set of one-dimensional equations for the magnetic field line ("thread"), which passes through this point and connects it to the chromosphere and to the global Solar Corona. In the present paper we describe an innovative computational technology based upon the use of the magnetic-field-line-threads to forlmulate the boundary condition for the global solar corona model which traces the connection of each boundary point to the cromosphere along the threads.

R CORONAE BOREALIS STARS ARE VIABLE FACTORIES OF PRE-SOLAR GRAINS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Karakas, Amanda I.; Ruiter, Ashley J.; Hampel, Melanie

2015-01-01

We present a new theoretical estimate for the birthrate of R Coronae Borealis (RCB) stars that is in agreement with recent observational data. We find the current Galactic birthrate of RCB stars to be ≈25% of the Galactic rate of Type Ia supernovae, assuming that RCB stars are formed through the merger of carbon–oxygen and helium-rich white dwarfs. Our new RCB birthrate (1.8 × 10 −3 yr −1 ) is a factor of 10 lower than previous theoretical estimates. This results in roughly 180–540 RCB stars in the Galaxy, depending on the RCB lifetime. From the theoretical and observational estimates, we calculate the total dust production from RCB stars and compare this rate to dust production from novae and born-again asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars. We find that the amount of dust produced by RCB stars is comparable to the amounts produced by novae or born-again post-AGB stars, indicating that these merger objects are a viable source of carbonaceous pre-solar grains in the Galaxy. There are graphite grains with carbon and oxygen isotopic ratios consistent with the observed composition of RCB stars, adding weight to the suggestion that these rare objects are a source of stardust grains

Results of observations of the dust distribution in the F-corona of the sun

Science.gov (United States)

Shestakova, L. I.; Demchenko, B. I.

2016-03-01

The results of modeling of the distribution of dust in the circumsolar zone are presented. The dust distribution was retrieved from observations of the line-of-sight velocities in the F-corona to the distances of 7-11 solar radii during the total eclipses of the Sun in different years: on July 31, 1981; August 11, 1991; March 29, 2006; and August 1, 2008. Comparison of the results has shown that the dust composition varies from year to year and the dust is dynamically nonuniform. In addition to the dust related to the zodiacal cloud and concentrating to the ecliptic plane, the dust of retrograde motion and the ejections and accretion in the polar regions are observed. From the results of observations of eclipses on July 31, 1981, August 11, 1991, and August 1, 2008, the east-west asymmetry in a sign of the line-of-sight velocities was detected: they are negative to the east of the Sun and positive to the west. Such distribution of the velocities is indicative of the nearecliptic orbital dust motion, whose direction coincides with that of the motion of the planets. In the course of the eclipse of March 29, 2006, almost no dynamical connection with the zodiacal cloud was found. At the same time, the direction, where the observed velocities are largest in value and opposite in sign on opposite sides of the Sun, was determined, which provides evidence of the orbital motion deviating from the ecliptic plane. The results of observations in 2006 reveal a clear genetic connection of the observed orbital motion of dust with the parent comets of the Kreutz family found near the Sun close to the eclipse date. The velocities observed near the symmetry line in the plane of the sky grow by absolute value with increasing the elongation, which may take place, if the line of sight croßses an empty zone that is free of dust. The modeling of the data of observations near the symmetry plane allowed the parameters of the dust distribution near the sublimation zone to be obtained. In

HIGH SPATIAL RESOLUTION OBSERVATIONS OF LOOPS IN THE SOLAR CORONA

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Brooks, David H.; Ugarte-Urra, Ignacio [College of Science, George Mason University, 4400 University Drive, Fairfax, VA 22030 (United States); Warren, Harry P. [Space Science Division, Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC 20375 (United States); Winebarger, Amy R. [NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, ZP 13, Huntsville, AL 35812 (United States)

2013-08-01

Understanding how the solar corona is structured is of fundamental importance to determine how the Sun's upper atmosphere is heated to high temperatures. Recent spectroscopic studies have suggested that an instrument with a spatial resolution of 200 km or better is necessary to resolve coronal loops. The High Resolution Coronal Imager (Hi-C) achieved this performance on a rocket flight in 2012 July. We use Hi-C data to measure the Gaussian widths of 91 loops observed in the solar corona and find a distribution that peaks at about 270 km. We also use Atmospheric Imaging Assembly data for a subset of these loops and find temperature distributions that are generally very narrow. These observations provide further evidence that loops in the solar corona are often structured at a scale of several hundred kilometers, well above the spatial scale of many proposed physical mechanisms.

Diagnostics of the solar corona from comparison between Faraday rotation measurements and magnetohydrodynamic simulations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Le Chat, G.; Cohen, O.; Kasper, J. C.; Spangler, S. R.

2014-01-01

Polarized natural radio sources passing behind the Sun experience Faraday rotation as a consequence of the electron density and magnetic field strength in coronal plasma. Since Faraday rotation is proportional to the product of the density and the component of the magnetic field along the line of sight of the observer, a model is required to interpret the observations and infer coronal structures. Faraday rotation observations have been compared with relatively ad hoc models of the corona. Here for the first time we compare these observations with magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) models of the solar corona driven by measurements of the photospheric magnetic field. We use observations made with the NRAO Very Large Array of 34 polarized radio sources occulted by the solar corona between 5 and 14 solar radii. The measurements were made during 1997 May, and 2005 March and April. We compare the observed Faraday rotation values with values extracted from MHD steady-state simulations of the solar corona. We find that (1) using a synoptic map of the solar magnetic field just one Carrington rotation off produces poorer agreements, meaning that the outer corona changes in the course of one month, even in solar minimum; (2) global MHD models of the solar corona driven by photospheric magnetic field measurements are generally able to reproduce Faraday rotation observations; and (3) some sources show significant disagreement between the model and the observations, which appears to be a function of the proximity of the line of sight to the large-scale heliospheric current sheet.

Tomographic Validation of the AWSoM Model of the Inner Corona During Solar Minima

Science.gov (United States)

Manchester, W.; Vásquez, A. M.; Lloveras, D. G.; Mac Cormack, C.; Nuevo, F.; Lopez-Fuentes, M.; Frazin, R. A.; van der Holst, B.; Landi, E.; Gombosi, T. I.

2017-12-01

Continuous improvement of MHD three-dimensional (3D) models of the global solar corona, such as the Alfven Wave Solar Model (AWSoM) of the Space Weather Modeling Framework (SWMF), requires testing their ability to reproduce observational constraints at a global scale. To that end, solar rotational tomography based on EUV image time-series can be used to reconstruct the 3D distribution of the electron density and temperature in the inner solar corona (r used to validate steady-state 3D MHD simulations of the inner corona using the latest version of the AWSoM model. We perform the study for selected rotations representative of solar minimum conditions, when the global structure of the corona is more axisymmetric. We analyse in particular the ability of the MHD simulation to match the tomographic results across the boundary region between the equatorial streamer belt and the surrounding coronal holes. The region is of particular interest as the plasma flow from that zone is thought to be related to the origin of the slow component of the solar wind.

Magnetic tornadoes as energy channels into the solar corona.

Science.gov (United States)

Wedemeyer-Böhm, Sven; Scullion, Eamon; Steiner, Oskar; van der Voort, Luc Rouppe; de la Cruz Rodriguez, Jaime; Fedun, Viktor; Erdélyi, Robert

2012-06-27

Heating the outer layers of the magnetically quiet solar atmosphere to more than one million kelvin and accelerating the solar wind requires an energy flux of approximately 100 to 300 watts per square metre, but how this energy is transferred and dissipated there is a puzzle and several alternative solutions have been proposed. Braiding and twisting of magnetic field structures, which is caused by the convective flows at the solar surface, was suggested as an efficient mechanism for atmospheric heating. Convectively driven vortex flows that harbour magnetic fields are observed to be abundant in the photosphere (the visible surface of the Sun). Recently, corresponding swirling motions have been discovered in the chromosphere, the atmospheric layer sandwiched between the photosphere and the corona. Here we report the imprints of these chromospheric swirls in the transition region and low corona, and identify them as observational signatures of rapidly rotating magnetic structures. These ubiquitous structures, which resemble super-tornadoes under solar conditions, reach from the convection zone into the upper solar atmosphere and provide an alternative mechanism for channelling energy from the lower into the upper solar atmosphere.

New Views of the Solar Corona from STEREO and SDO

Science.gov (United States)

Vourlidas, A.

2012-01-01

In the last few years, we have been treated to an unusual visual feast of solar observations of the corona in EUV wavelengths. The observations from the two vantage points of STEREO/SECCHI are now capturing the entire solar atmosphere simultaneously in four wavelengths. The SDO/AIA images provide us with arcsecond resolution images of the full visible disk in ten wavelengths. All these data are captured with cadences of a few seconds to a few minutes. In this talk, I review some intriguing results from our first attempts to deal with these observations which touch upon the problems of coronal mass ejection initiation and solar wind generation. I will also discuss data processing techniques that may help us recover even more information from the images. The talk will contain a generous portion of beautiful EUV images and movies of the solar corona.

The heating of the solar corona. Pt. 2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McWhirter, R.W.P.; Thonemann, P.C.; Wilson, R.

1975-01-01

The density and temperature distribution of the solar corona is calculated assuming an energy balance between thermal conduction and radiated power loss with the primary heating of the corona by the dissipation of sound-waves propagated upwards from below the sun's surface. A sharp transition region is found and the calculated results are compared with observations. A detailed model atmosphere for the transition region and corona is derived using the Harvard Smithsonian Reference Atmosphere (for the chromosphere) as starting point. Hydrostatic equilibrium is assumed in the calculations but it is also shown that a pressure arises because of the sound-waves which is of comparable magnitude to hydrostatic pressure. The inclusion of this pressure introduces difficulties that are discussed. (orig.) [de

Results of Spectral Corona Observations in Solar Activity Cycles 17-24

Science.gov (United States)

Aliev, A. Kh.; Guseva, S. A.; Tlatov, A. G.

2017-12-01

The results of the work of the global observation network are considered, and a comparative analysis of the data of various coronal observatories is performed. The coronal activity index has been reconstructed for the period 1939-2016 based on the data of various observatories in Kislovodsk system. For this purpose, the corona daily intensity maps from the Sacramento Peak and Lomnický Štít observatories according to the Solar-Geophysical Data journal have been digitized; they supplement the data of other observatories. The homogeneity and continuity of the corona observations at the Kislovodsk station, including activity cycle 24, is confirmed. Unfortunately, the only observatory at present that continues observation of the spectral corona in Fe XIV 5303 Å and Fe XIV 6374 Å lines is the Kislovodsk astronomical station Mountain Astronomical Station (MAS) of the Central Astronomical Observatory, Russian Academy of Sciences (Pulkovo). The data on the combined corona in 5303 Å line are analyzed. It is shown that there is a high correlation of the intensity index of green corona with solar radiation measurements in the vacuum UV region. Data on the beginning of the new 25th activity cycle in the corona at high latitudes are presented.

Nanoflare heating model for collisionless solar corona

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Magnetic reconnection plays a significant role in heating the solar corona. When two oppositely directed magnetic fields come closer to form a current sheet, the current density of the plasma increases due to which magnetic reconnection and conversion of magnetic energy into thermal energy takes place. The present ...

SWAP OBSERVATIONS OF THE LONG-TERM, LARGE-SCALE EVOLUTION OF THE EXTREME-ULTRAVIOLET SOLAR CORONA

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Seaton, Daniel B.; De Groof, Anik; Berghmans, David; Nicula, Bogdan [Royal Observatory of Belgium-SIDC, Avenue Circulaire 3, B-1180 Brussels (Belgium); Shearer, Paul [Department of Mathematics, 2074 East Hall, University of Michigan, 530 Church Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1043 (United States)

2013-11-01

The Sun Watcher with Active Pixels and Image Processing (SWAP) EUV solar telescope on board the Project for On-Board Autonomy 2 spacecraft has been regularly observing the solar corona in a bandpass near 17.4 nm since 2010 February. With a field of view of 54 × 54 arcmin, SWAP provides the widest-field images of the EUV corona available from the perspective of the Earth. By carefully processing and combining multiple SWAP images, it is possible to produce low-noise composites that reveal the structure of the EUV corona to relatively large heights. A particularly important step in this processing was to remove instrumental stray light from the images by determining and deconvolving SWAP's point-spread function from the observations. In this paper, we use the resulting images to conduct the first-ever study of the evolution of the large-scale structure of the corona observed in the EUV over a three year period that includes the complete rise phase of solar cycle 24. Of particular note is the persistence over many solar rotations of bright, diffuse features composed of open magnetic fields that overlie polar crown filaments and extend to large heights above the solar surface. These features appear to be related to coronal fans, which have previously been observed in white-light coronagraph images and, at low heights, in the EUV. We also discuss the evolution of the corona at different heights above the solar surface and the evolution of the corona over the course of the solar cycle by hemisphere.

Solar-Panel Dust Accumulation and Cleanings

Science.gov (United States)

2005-01-01

Air-fall dust accumulates on the solar panels of NASA's Mars Exploration Rovers, reducing the amount of sunlight reaching the solar arrays. Pre-launch models predicted steady dust accumulation. However, the rovers have been blessed with occasional wind events that clear significant amounts of dust from the solar panels. This graph shows the effects of those panel-cleaning events on the amount of electricity generated by Spirit's solar panels. The horizontal scale is the number of Martian days (sols) after Spirit's Jan. 4, 2005, (Universal Time) landing on Mars. The vertical scale indicates output from the rover's solar panels as a fraction of the amount produced when the clean panels first opened. Note that the gradual declines are interrupted by occasional sharp increases, such as a dust-cleaning event on sol 420.

An MHD simulation model of time-dependent global solar corona with temporally varying solar-surface magnetic field maps

Science.gov (United States)

Hayashi, K.

2013-11-01

We present a model of a time-dependent three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamics simulation of the sub-Alfvenic solar corona and super-Alfvenic solar wind with temporally varying solar-surface boundary magnetic field data. To (i) accommodate observational data with a somewhat arbitrarily evolving solar photospheric magnetic field as the boundary value and (ii) keep the divergence-free condition, we developed a boundary model, here named Confined Differential Potential Field model, that calculates the horizontal components of the magnetic field, from changes in the vertical component, as a potential field confined in a thin shell. The projected normal characteristic method robustly simulates the solar corona and solar wind, in response to the temporal variation of the boundary Br. We conduct test MHD simulations for two periods, from Carrington Rotation number 2009 to 2010 and from Carrington Rotation 2074 to 2075 at solar maximum and minimum of Cycle 23, respectively. We obtained several coronal features that a fixed boundary condition cannot yield, such as twisted magnetic field lines at the lower corona and the transition from an open-field coronal hole to a closed-field streamer. We also obtained slight improvements of the interplanetary magnetic field, including the latitudinal component, at Earth.

A cone-like enhancement of polar solar corona plasma and its influence on heliospheric particles

Science.gov (United States)

Grzedzielski, Stan; Sokół, Justyna M.

2017-04-01

We will present results of the study of the properties of the solar wind plasma due to rotation of the polar solar corona. We focus in our study on the solar minimum conditions, when the polar coronal holes are well formed and the magnetic field in the solar polar corona exhibit almost regular "ray-like" structure. The solar rotation twists the magnetic field lines of the expanding fast polar solar wind and the resulting toroidal component of the field induces a force directed towards the rotation axis. This phenomenon is tantamount to a (weak) zeta pinch, known also in other astrophysical contexts (e.g. like in AGN jets). The pinch compresses the polar solar corona plasma and forms a cone-like enhancement of the solar wind density aligned with the rotation axis in the spherically symmetric case. The effect is likely very dynamic due to fast changing conditions in the solar corona, however in the study presented here, we assume a time independent description to get an order-of-magnitude estimate. The weak pinch is treated as a first-order perturbation to the zeroth-order radial flow. Following the assumptions based on the available knowledge about the plasma properties in the polar solar corona we estimated the most typical density enhancements. The cone like structure may extend as far from the Sun as tens of AU and thus will influence the heliospheric particles inside the heliosphere. An increase of the solar wind density in the polar region may be related with a decrease of the solar wind speed. Such changes of the solar wind plasma at high latitudes may modify the charge-exchange and electron impact ionization rates of heliospheric particles in interplanetary space. We will present their influence on the interstellar neutral gas and energetic neutral atoms observed by IBEX.

Characteristics of shocks in the solar corona, as inferred from radio, optical, and theoretical investigations

Science.gov (United States)

Maxwell, A.; Dryer, M.

1982-01-01

Solar radio bursts of spectral type II provide one of the chief diagnostics for the propagation of shocks through the solar corona. Radio data on the shocks are compared with computer models for propagation of fast-mode MHD shocks through the solar corona. Data on coronal shocks and high-velocity ejecta from solar flares are then discussed in terms of a general model consisting of three main velocity regimes.

Polarized Light from the Sun: Unification of the Corona and Analysis of the Second Solar Spectrum — Further Implications of a Liquid Metallic Hydrogen Solar Model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Robitaille P.-M.

2015-07-01

Full Text Available In order to account for the slight polarization of the continuum towards the limb, propo- nents of the Standard Solar Model (SSM must have recourse to electron or hydrogen- based scattering of light, as no other mechanism is possible in a gaseous Sun. Con- versely, acceptance that the solar body is comprised of condensed matter opens up new avenues in the analysis of this problem, even if the photospheric surface itself is viewed as incapable of emitting polarized light. Thus, the increased disk polarization, from the center to the limb, can be explained by invoking the scattering of light by the at- mosphere above the photosphere. The former is reminiscent of mechanisms which are known to account for the polarization of sunlight in the atmosphere of the Earth. Within the context of the Liquid Metallic Hydrogen Solar Model (LMHSM, molecules and small particles, not electrons or hydrogen atoms as required by the SSM, would primarily act as scattering agents in regions also partially comprised of condensed hy- drogen structures (CHS. In addition, the well-known polarization which characterizes the K-corona would become a sign of emission polarization from an anisotropic source, without the need for scattering. In the LMHSM, the K, F, and T- coronas can be viewed as emissive and reflective manifestations of a single corona l entity adopting a radially anisotropic structure, while slowly cooling with altitude above the photosphere. The presence of “dust particles”, advanced by proponents of the SSM, would no longer be required to explain the F and T-corona, as a single cooling structure would account for the properties of the K, F, and T coronas. At the same time, the polarized “Second Solar Spectrum”, characterized by the dominance of certain elemental or ionic spectral lines and an abundance of molecular lines, could be explained in the LMHSM, by first invoking interface polarization and coordination of these species with condensed matter

The Substructure of the Solar Corona Observed in the Hi-C Telescope

Science.gov (United States)

Winebarger, A.; Cirtain, J.; Golub, L.; DeLuca, E.; Savage, S.; Alexander, C.; Schuler, T.

2014-01-01

In the summer of 2012, the High-resolution Coronal Imager (Hi-C) flew aboard a NASA sounding rocket and collected the highest spatial resolution images ever obtained of the solar corona. One of the goals of the Hi-C flight was to characterize the substructure of the solar corona. We therefore calculate how the intensity scales from a low-resolution (AIA) pixels to high-resolution (Hi-C) pixels for both the dynamic events and "background" emission (meaning, the steady emission over the 5 minutes of data acquisition time). We find there is no evidence of substructure in the background corona; the intensity scales smoothly from low-resolution to high-resolution Hi-C pixels. In transient events, however, the intensity observed with Hi-C is, on average, 2.6 times larger than observed with AIA. This increase in intensity suggests that AIA is not resolving these events. This result suggests a finely structured dynamic corona embedded in a smoothly varying background.

Synoptic, Global Mhd Model For The Solar Corona

Science.gov (United States)

Cohen, Ofer; Sokolov, I. V.; Roussev, I. I.; Gombosi, T. I.

2007-05-01

The common techniques for mimic the solar corona heating and the solar wind acceleration in global MHD models are as follow. 1) Additional terms in the momentum and energy equations derived from the WKB approximation for the Alfv’en wave turbulence; 2) some empirical heat source in the energy equation; 3) a non-uniform distribution of the polytropic index, γ, used in the energy equation. In our model, we choose the latter approach. However, in order to get a more realistic distribution of γ, we use the empirical Wang-Sheeley-Arge (WSA) model to constrain the MHD solution. The WSA model provides the distribution of the asymptotic solar wind speed from the potential field approximation; therefore it also provides the distribution of the kinetic energy. Assuming that far from the Sun the total energy is dominated by the energy of the bulk motion and assuming the conservation of the Bernoulli integral, we can trace the total energy along a magnetic field line to the solar surface. On the surface the gravity is known and the kinetic energy is negligible. Therefore, we can get the surface distribution of γ as a function of the final speed originating from this point. By interpolation γ to spherically uniform value on the source surface, we use this spatial distribution of γ in the energy equation to obtain a self-consistent, steady state MHD solution for the solar corona. We present the model result for different Carrington Rotations.

Simultaneous Observation of High Temperature Plasma of Solar Corona By TESIS CORONAS-PHOTON and XRT Hinode.

Science.gov (United States)

Reva, A.; Kuzin, S.; Bogachev, S.; Shestov, S.

2012-05-01

The Mg XII spectroheliograph is a part of instrumentation complex TESIS (satellite CORONAS-PHOTON). This instrument builds monochromatic images of hot plasma of the solar corona (λ = 8.42 Å, T>5 MK). The Mg XII spectroheliograph observed hot plasma in the non-flaring active-region NOAA 11019 during nine days. We reconstructed DEM of this active region with the help of genetic algorithm (we used data of the Mg XII spectroheliograph, XRT and EIT). Emission measure of the hot component amounts 1 % of the emission measure of the cool component.

Destruction of Sun-Grazing Comet C-2011 N3 (SOHO) Within the Low Solar Corona

Science.gov (United States)

Schrijver, C. J.; Brown, J. C.; Battams, K.; Saint-Hilaire, P.; Liu, W.; Hudson, H.; Pesnell, W. D.

2012-01-01

Observations of comets in Sun-grazing orbits that survive solar insolation long enough to penetrate into the Suns inner corona provide information on the solar atmosphere and magnetic field as well as on the makeup of the comet. On 6 July 2011, the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) observed the demise of comet C2011 N3 (SOHO) within the low solar corona in five wavelength bands in the extreme ultraviolet (EUV). The comet penetrated to within 0.146 solarradius (100,000 kilometers) of the solar surface before its EUV signal disappeared.

Photometric intensity and polarization measurements of the solar corona.

Science.gov (United States)

Mcdougal, D. S.

1971-01-01

Use of a satellite photometric observatory (SPO) to measure the solar corona from Miahuatlan, Mexico during the Mar. 7, 1970, total eclipse of the sun. The SPO is equipped with a 24-in. Cassegrainian telescope, a four-channel photoelectric photometer, a Wollaston prism, and a rotating half-wave plate. Simultaneous measurements were made of the two orthogonal components of coronal light in the B and R bands of the UBVRI system. A 1-minute arc aperture was scanned from the lunar disk center out to five solar radii in a series of spirals of gradually increasing radius. For the first time, simultaneous multicolor intensity, degree, and angle of polarization profiles are computed from photoelectric measurements. Comparison of the variations of the measurements for each spiral scan yield a detailed picture of the intensity and polarization features in the K corona.

Solar corona electron density distribution

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Esposito, P.B.; Edenhofer, P.; Lueneburg, E.

1980-01-01

Three and one-half months of single-frequency (f= 0 2.2 x 10 9 Hz) time delay data (earth-to-spacecraft and return signal travel time) were acquired from the Helios 2 spacecraft around the time of its solar occupation (May 16, 1976). Following the determination of the spacecraft trajectory the excess time delay due to the integrated effect of free electrons along the signal's ray path could be separated and modeled. An average solar corona, equatorial, electron density profile, during solar minimum, was deduced from time delay measurements acquired within 5--60 solar radii (R/sub S/) of the sun. As a point of reference, at 10 R/sub S/ from the sun we find an average electron density of 4500 el cm -3 . However, there appears to be an asymmtry in the electron density as the ray path moved from the west (preoccultation) to east (post-occulation) solar limb. This may be related to the fact that during entry into occulation the heliographic latitude of the ray path (at closes approach to the sun) was about 6 0 , whereas during exit it became -7 0 . The Helios electron density model is compared with similar models deduced from a variety of different experimental techniques. Within 5--20 R/sub S/ of the sun the models separate according to solar minimum or maximum conditions; however, anomalies are evident

Periodicities in the X-ray Emission from the Solar Corona: SphinX and SOXS Observations

Science.gov (United States)

Steślicki, M.; Awasthi, A. K.; Gryciuk, M.; Jain, R.

The structure and evolution of the solar magnetic field is driven by a magnetohydrodynamic dynamo operating in the solar interior, which induces various solar activities that exhibit periodic variations on different timescales. Therefore, probing the periodic nature of emission originating from the solar corona may provide insights of the convection-zone-photosphere-corona coupling processes. We present the study of the mid-range periodicities, between rotation period (˜27 days) and the Schwabe cycle period (˜11 yr), in the solar soft X-ray emission, based on the data obtained by two instruments: SphinX and SOXS in various energy bands.

Signatures of Slow Solar Wind Streams from Active Regions in the Inner Corona

Science.gov (United States)

Slemzin, V.; Harra, L.; Urnov, A.; Kuzin, S.; Goryaev, F.; Berghmans, D.

2013-08-01

The identification of solar-wind sources is an important question in solar physics. The existing solar-wind models ( e.g., the Wang-Sheeley-Arge model) provide the approximate locations of the solar wind sources based on magnetic field extrapolations. It has been suggested recently that plasma outflows observed at the edges of active regions may be a source of the slow solar wind. To explore this we analyze an isolated active region (AR) adjacent to small coronal hole (CH) in July/August 2009. On 1 August, Hinode/EUV Imaging Spectrometer observations showed two compact outflow regions in the corona. Coronal rays were observed above the active-region coronal hole (ARCH) region on the eastern limb on 31 July by STEREO-A/EUVI and at the western limb on 7 August by CORONAS- Photon/TESIS telescopes. In both cases the coronal rays were co-aligned with open magnetic-field lines given by the potential field source surface model, which expanded into the streamer. The solar-wind parameters measured by STEREO-B, ACE, Wind, and STEREO-A confirmed the identification of the ARCH as a source region of the slow solar wind. The results of the study support the suggestion that coronal rays can represent signatures of outflows from ARs propagating in the inner corona along open field lines into the heliosphere.

The Mechanism for Energy Buildup in the Solar Corona

Science.gov (United States)

Antiochos, Spiro; Knizhnik, Kalman; DeVore, Richard

2017-10-01

Magnetic reconnection and helicity conservation are two of the most important basic processes determining the structure and dynamics of laboratory and space plasmas. The most energetic dynamics in the solar system are the giant CMEs/flares that produce the most dangerous space weather at Earth, yet may also have been essential for the origin of life. The origin of these explosions is that the lowest-lying magnetic flux in the Sun's corona undergoes the continual buildup of stress and free energy that can be released only through explosive ejection. We perform MHD simulations of a coronal volume driven by quasi-random boundary flows designed to model the processes by which the solar interior drives the corona. Our simulations are uniquely accurate in preserving magnetic helicity. We show that even though small-scale stress is injected randomly throughout the corona, the net result of magnetic reconnection is a coherent stressing of the lowest-lying field lines. This highly counter-intuitive result - magnetic stress builds up locally rather than spreading out to a minimum energy state - is the fundamental mechanism responsible for the Sun's magnetic explosions. It is likely to be a mechanism that is ubiquitous throughout laboratory and space plasmas. This work was supported by the NASA LWS and SR Programs.

The flow of interstellar dust through the solar system: the role of dust charging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sterken, V. J.; Altobelli, N.; Schwehm, G.; Kempf, S.; Srama, R.; Strub, P.; Gruen, E.

2011-01-01

Interstellar dust can enter the solar system through the relative motion of the Sun with respect to the Local Interstellar Cloud. The trajectories of the dust through the solar system are not only influenced by gravitation and solar radiation pressure forces, but also by the Lorentz forces due to the interaction of the interplanetary magnetic field with the charged dust particles. The interplanetary magnetic field changes on two major time scales: 25 days (solar rotation frequency) and 22 years (solar cycle). The short-term variability averages out for regions that are not too close (>∼2 AU) to the Sun. This interplanetary magnetic field variability causes a time-variability in the interstellar dust densities, that is correlated to the solar cycle.In this work we characterize the flow of interstellar dust through the solar system using simulations of the dust trajectories. We start from the simple case without Lorentz forces, and expand to the full simulation. We pay attention to the different ways of modeling the interplanetary magnetic field, and discuss the influence of the dust parameters on the resulting flow patterns. We also discuss the possibilities of using this modeling for prediction of dust fluxes for different space missions or planets, and we pay attention to where simplified models are justified, and where or when a full simulation, including all forces is necessary. One of the aims of this work is to understand measurements of spacecraft like Ulysses, Cassini and Stardust.

STEREO OBSERVATIONS OF FAST MAGNETOSONIC WAVES IN THE EXTENDED SOLAR CORONA ASSOCIATED WITH EIT/EUV WAVES

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kwon, Ryun-Young; Ofman, Leon; Kramar, Maxim; Olmedo, Oscar; Davila, Joseph M.; Thompson, Barbara J.; Cho, Kyung-Suk

2013-01-01

We report white-light observations of a fast magnetosonic wave associated with a coronal mass ejection observed by STEREO/SECCHI/COR1 inner coronagraphs on 2011 August 4. The wave front is observed in the form of density compression passing through various coronal regions such as quiet/active corona, coronal holes, and streamers. Together with measured electron densities determined with STEREO COR1 and Extreme UltraViolet Imager (EUVI) data, we use our kinematic measurements of the wave front to calculate coronal magnetic fields and find that the measured speeds are consistent with characteristic fast magnetosonic speeds in the corona. In addition, the wave front turns out to be the upper coronal counterpart of the EIT wave observed by STEREO EUVI traveling against the solar coronal disk; moreover, stationary fronts of the EIT wave are found to be located at the footpoints of deflected streamers and boundaries of coronal holes, after the wave front in the upper solar corona passes through open magnetic field lines in the streamers. Our findings suggest that the observed EIT wave should be in fact a fast magnetosonic shock/wave traveling in the inhomogeneous solar corona, as part of the fast magnetosonic wave propagating in the extended solar corona.

Are coronae of late type stars made of solar-like structures? The Fx-HR diagram and the pressure-temperature correlation

OpenAIRE

Peres, G.; Orlando, S.; Reale, F.

2004-01-01

We show that stellar coronae can be composed of X-ray emitting structures like those in the solar corona, using a large set of ROSAT/PSPC observations of late-type-stars, and a large set of solar X-ray data collected with Yohkoh/SXT. We have considered data on the solar corona at various phases of the cycle and various kinds of X-ray coronal structures, from flares to the background corona. The surface flux (F_x) vs. spectral hardness ratio (HR) diagram is a fundamental tool for our study. We...

Global Solar Magnetic Field Organization in the Outer Corona: Influence on the Solar Wind Speed and Mass Flux Over the Cycle

Science.gov (United States)

Réville, Victor; Brun, Allan Sacha

2017-11-01

The dynamics of the solar wind depends intrinsically on the structure of the global solar magnetic field, which undergoes fundamental changes over the 11-year solar cycle. For instance, the wind terminal velocity is thought to be anti-correlated with the expansion factor, a measure of how the magnetic field varies with height in the solar corona, usually computed at a fixed height (≈ 2.5 {R}⊙ , the source surface radius that approximates the distance at which all magnetic field lines become open). However, the magnetic field expansion affects the solar wind in a more detailed way, its influence on the solar wind properties remaining significant well beyond the source surface. We demonstrate this using 3D global magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations of the solar corona, constrained by surface magnetograms over half a solar cycle (1989-2001). A self-consistent expansion beyond the solar wind critical point (even up to 10 {R}⊙ ) makes our model comply with observed characteristics of the solar wind, namely, that the radial magnetic field intensity becomes latitude independent at some distance from the Sun, and that the mass flux is mostly independent of the terminal wind speed. We also show that near activity minimum, the expansion in the higher corona has more influence on the wind speed than the expansion below 2.5 {R}⊙ .

Global solar magetic field organization in the extended corona: influence on the solar wind speed and density over the cycle.

Science.gov (United States)

Réville, V.; Velli, M.; Brun, S.

2017-12-01

The dynamics of the solar wind depends intrinsically on the structure of the global solar magnetic field, which undergoes fundamental changes over the 11yr solar cycle. For instance, the wind terminal velocity is thought to be anti-correlated with the expansion factor, a measure of how the magnetic field varies with height in the solar corona, usually computed at a fixed height (≈ 2.5 Rȯ, the source surface radius which approximates the distance at which all magnetic field lines become open). However, the magnetic field expansion affects the solar wind in a more detailed way, its influence on the solar wind properties remaining significant well beyond the source surface: we demonstrate this using 3D global MHD simulations of the solar corona, constrained by surface magnetograms over half a solar cycle (1989-2001). For models to comply with the constraints provided by observed characteristics of the solar wind, namely, that the radial magnetic field intensity becomes latitude independent at some distance from the Sun (Ulysses observations beyond 1 AU), and that the terminal wind speed is anti-correlated with the mass flux, they must accurately describe expansion beyond the solar wind critical point (even up to 10Rȯ and higher in our model). We also show that near activity minimum, expansion in the higher corona beyond 2.5 Rȯ is actually the dominant process affecting the wind speed. We discuss the consequences of this result on the necessary acceleration profile of the solar wind, the location of the sonic point and of the energy deposition by Alfvén waves.

Propagation of energetic electrons in the solar corona observed with LOFAR

Science.gov (United States)

Breitling, F.

2017-06-01

This work reports about new high-resolution imaging and spectroscopic observations of solar type III radio bursts at low radio frequencies in the range from 30 to 80 MHz. Solar type III radio bursts are understood as result of the beam-plasma interaction of electron beams in the corona. The Sun provides a unique opportunity to study these plasma processes of an active star. Its activity appears in eruptive events like flares, coronal mass ejections and radio bursts which are all accompanied by enhanced radio emission. Therefore solar radio emission carries important information about plasma processes associated with the Sun's activity. Moreover, the Sun's atmosphere is a unique plasma laboratory with plasma processes under conditions not found in terrestrial laboratories. Because of the Sun's proximity to Earth, it can be studied in greater detail than any other star but new knowledge about the Sun can be transfer to them. This "solar stellar connection" is important for the understanding of processes on other stars. The novel radio interferometer LOFAR provides imaging and spectroscopic capabilities to study these processes at low frequencies. Here it was used for solar observations. LOFAR, the characteristics of its solar data and the processing and analysis of the latter with the Solar Imaging Pipeline and Solar Data Center are described. The Solar Imaging Pipeline is the central software that allows using LOFAR for solar observations. So its development was necessary for the analysis of solar LOFAR data and realized here. Moreover a new density model with heat conduction and Alfvén waves was developed that provides the distance of radio bursts to the Sun from dynamic radio spectra. Its application to the dynamic spectrum of a type III burst observed on March 16, 2016 by LOFAR shows a nonuniform radial propagation velocity of the radio emission. The analysis of an imaging observation of type III bursts on June 23, 2012 resolves a burst as bright, compact region

Mass ejections from the solar corona into interplanetary space

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hildner, E.

1977-01-01

Mass ejections from the corona are common occurrances, as observations with the High Altitude Observatory's white light coronagraph aboard Skylab showed. During 227 days of operation in 1973 and 1974 at least 77 mass ejections were observed and as many more probably occurred unobserved. It is suggested that the frequency of ejections varies with the solar cycle and that ejections may contribute 10 percent or more of the total solar mass efflux to the interplanetary medium at solar maximum. Since ejections are confined to relatively low latitudes, their fractional mass flux contribution is greater near the ecliptic than far from it. From the behavior of ejecta, we can estimate the magnitude of the force driving them through the corona. It is also suggested that loop-shaped ejection - the largest fraction of ejections - are driven, primarily, by magnetic forces. By comparison, gas pressure forces are negligible, and forces due to wave pressure are completely inadequate. That magnetic forces are important is consistent with observation that ejections seem to come, primarily, from regions where the magnetic field is more intense and more complex than elsewhere. Indeed, ejections are associated with phenomena (flares and eruptive prominences) which occur over lines separating regions of opposite polarities. (Auth.)

Observations of Fe XIV Line Intensity Variations in the Solar Corona During the 21 August 2017 Solar Eclipse

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, Payton; Ladd, Edwin

2018-01-01

We present time- and spatially-resolved observations of the inner solar corona in the 5303 Å line of Fe XIV, taken during the 21 August 2017 solar eclipse from a field observing site in Crossville, TN. These observations are used to characterize the intensity variations in this coronal emission line, and to compare with oscillation predictions from models for heating the corona by magnetic wave dissipation.The observations were taken with two Explore Scientific ED 102CF 102 mm aperture triplet apochromatic refractors. One system used a DayStar custom-built 5 Å FWHM filter centered on the Fe XIV coronal spectral line and an Atik Titan camera for image collection. The setup produced images with a pixel size of 2.15 arcseconds (~1.5 Mm at the distance to the Sun), and a field of view of 1420 x 1060 arcseconds, covering approximately 20% of the entire solar limb centered near the emerging sunspot complex AR 2672. We obtained images with an exposure time of 0.22 seconds and a frame rate of 2.36 Hz, for a total of 361 images during totality.An identical, co-aligned telescope/camera system observed the same portion of the solar corona, but with a 100 Å FWHM Baader Planetarium solar continuum filter centered on a wavelength of 5400 Å. Images with an exposure time of 0.01 seconds were obtained with a frame rate of 4.05 Hz. These simultaneous observations are used as a control to monitor brightness variations not related to coronal line oscillations.

Synchronized observations of bright points from the solar photosphere to the corona

Science.gov (United States)

Tavabi, Ehsan

2018-05-01

One of the most important features in the solar atmosphere is the magnetic network and its relationship to the transition region (TR) and coronal brightness. It is important to understand how energy is transported into the corona and how it travels along the magnetic field lines between the deep photosphere and chromosphere through the TR and corona. An excellent proxy for transportation is the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) raster scans and imaging observations in near-ultraviolet (NUV) and far-ultraviolet (FUV) emission channels, which have high time, spectral and spatial resolutions. In this study, we focus on the quiet Sun as observed with IRIS. The data with a high signal-to-noise ratio in the Si IV, C II and Mg II k lines and with strong emission intensities show a high correlation with TR bright network points. The results of the IRIS intensity maps and dopplergrams are compared with those of the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) and Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) instruments onboard the Solar Dynamical Observatory (SDO). The average network intensity profiles show a strong correlation with AIA coronal channels. Furthermore, we applied simultaneous observations of the magnetic network from HMI and found a strong relationship between the network bright points in all levels of the solar atmosphere. These features in the network elements exhibited regions of high Doppler velocity and strong magnetic signatures. Plenty of corona bright points emission, accompanied by the magnetic origins in the photosphere, suggest that magnetic field concentrations in the network rosettes could help to couple the inner and outer solar atmosphere.

The nonuniform magnetohydrodynamic nature of the solar corona. III. Cylindrical geometry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

De ville, A.; Priest, E.R.

1989-01-01

The method developed by Priest in 1988 for modeling steady MHD disturbances in the solar corona is extended to a cylindrical geometry, which is more realistic for three-dimensional structures, such as plumes and coronal holes, which are observed in the corona. Both axial symmetric and nonaxial magnetic fields are treated. The basic characteristics of the axisymmetric solutions are found to be similar to the previous Cartesian case. Quantitatively, the interactions are stronger in the central region and weaker at the outer boundary. Pressure gradients are also found to be smaller. Solutions dependent on all three spatial variables exhibit an asymmetry because of the angular dependence. They depend upon the azimuthal magnetic field imposed at the coronal base. The solutions found in this paper may be useful in interpreting the physics of MHD interactions observed in numerical experiments and also in the solar atmosphere

Energy distribution of nanoflares in the quiet solar corona

Science.gov (United States)

Ulyanov, Artyom

2012-07-01

We present a detailed statistical analysis of flare-like events in low layer of solar corona detected with TESIS instrument onboard CORONAS-PHOTON satellite in 171 {Å} during high-cadence (5 sec) time-series. The estimated thermal energies of these small events amount to 10^{23} - 10^{26} erg. According to modern classification flare-like events with such energies are usually referred to as nanoflares. The big number of registered events (above 2000) allowed us to obtain precise distributions of geometric and physical parameters of nanoflares, the most intriguing being energy distribution. Following Aschwanden et al. (2000) and other authors we approximated the calculated energy distribution with a single power law slope: N(E)dE ˜ N^{-α}dE. The power law index was derived to be α = 2.4 ± 0.2, which is very close to the value reported by Krucker & Benz (1998): α ≈ 2.3 - 2.4. The total energy input from registered events constitute about 10^4 erg \\cdot cm^{-2} \\cdot s^{-1}, which is well beyond net losses in quiet corona (3 \\cdot 10^5 erg \\cdot cm^{-2} \\cdot s^{-1}). However, the value of α > 2 indicates that nanoflares with lower energies dominate over nanoflares with bigger energies and could contribute considerably to quiet corona heating.

Spatiotemporal Organization of Energy Release Events in the Quiet Solar Corona

Science.gov (United States)

Uritsky, Vadim M.; Davila, Joseph M.

2014-01-01

Using data from the STEREO and SOHO spacecraft, we show that temporal organization of energy release events in the quiet solar corona is close to random, in contrast to the clustered behavior of flaring times in solar active regions. The locations of the quiet-Sun events follow the meso- and supergranulation pattern of the underling photosphere. Together with earlier reports of the scale-free event size statistics, our findings suggest that quiet solar regions responsible for bulk coronal heating operate in a driven self-organized critical state, possibly involving long-range Alfvenic interactions.

Annual Properties of Transverse Waves in the Corona over most of Solar Cycle 24

Science.gov (United States)

Weberg, M. J.; Morton, R. J.; McLaughlin, J. A.

2017-12-01

Waves are an omnipresent feature in heliophysical plasmas. In particular, transverse (or "Alfvénic") waves have been observed at a wide range of spatial and temporal scales within the corona and solar wind. These waves play a key role in transporting energy through the solar atmosphere and are also thought to contribute to the heating and acceleration of the solar wind. Previous studies of low-frequency (automated detection and measurement of low-frequency transverse waves with over 7 years of SDO / AIA data to provide a detailed picture of coronal transverse waves in polar plumes and, for the first time, begin to examine their long-term behaviour. We measure waves at three different heights in each of eight, four-hour periods spanning May 2010 - May 2017. We find that the bulk wave parameters within these 24 regions are largely consistent over most of a solar cycle. However, there is some evidence for smaller-scale variations both with height and over time periods of a few years. We also discuss total energy flux estimations based on the full wave power spectra, which yields a more nuanced picture than previous values based on summary statistics. Overall, this work expands our view of wave processes in the corona and is relevant to both theoretical and modelling considerations of energy transport within the solar atmosphere. Crucially, these initial results suggest that the energy flux provided by the low-frequency transverse waves varies little over the solar cycle, potentially indicating that the waves provide a consistent source of energy to the corona and beyond.

Intermittent heating of the solar corona by MHD turbulence

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

É. Buchlin

2007-10-01

Full Text Available As the dissipation mechanisms considered for the heating of the solar corona would be sufficiently efficient only in the presence of small scales, turbulence is thought to be a key player in the coronal heating processes: it allows indeed to transfer energy from the large scales to these small scales. While Direct numerical simulations which have been performed to investigate the properties of magnetohydrodynamic turbulence in the corona have provided interesting results, they are limited to small Reynolds numbers. We present here a model of coronal loop turbulence involving shell-models and Alfvén waves propagation, allowing the much faster computation of spectra and turbulence statistics at higher Reynolds numbers. We also present first results of the forward-modelling of spectroscopic observables in the UV.

Absolute photometry of the corona of July 10, 1972 total solar eclipse

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Khetsuriani, Ts.S.; Tetruashvili, Eh.I.

1985-01-01

The observations were carried out by the Abastumani astrophysical observatory expedition at July 10.1972 total solar eclipse from a site of the Chukotka Peninsula. The photometry of the corona images is performed by the equidensity method having expressed the intensities in absolute units. The F and K components of the corona are separated on the basis of photometric and polarisation data. The variations of the electron concentration with the distance from the centre of the Sun and tempeatures at various distances are calculated.

Signature of open magnetic field lines in the extended solar corona and of solar wind acceleration

Science.gov (United States)

Antonucci, E.; Giordano, S.; Benna, C.; Kohl, J. L.; Noci, G.; Michels, J.; Fineschi, S.

1997-01-01

The observations carried out with the ultraviolet coronagraph spectrometer onboard the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) are discussed. The purpose of the observations was to determine the line of sight and radial velocity fields in coronal regions with different magnetic topology. The results showed that the regions where the high speed solar wind flows along open field lines are characterized by O VI 1032 and HI Lyman alpha 1216 lines. The global coronal maps of the line of sight velocity were reconstructed. The corona height, where the solar wind reaches 100 km/s, was determined.

EIT: Solar corona synoptic observations from SOHO with an Extreme-ultraviolet Imaging Telescope

Science.gov (United States)

Delaboudiniere, J. P.; Gabriel, A. H.; Artzner, G. E.; Michels, D. J.; Dere, K. P.; Howard, R. A.; Catura, R.; Stern, R.; Lemen, J.; Neupert, W.

1988-01-01

The Extreme-ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (EIT) of SOHO (solar and heliospheric observatory) will provide full disk images in emission lines formed at temperatures that map solar structures ranging from the chromospheric network to the hot magnetically confined plasma in the corona. Images in four narrow bandpasses will be obtained using normal incidence multilayered optics deposited on quadrants of a Ritchey-Chretien telescope. The EIT is capable of providing a uniform one arc second resolution over its entire 50 by 50 arc min field of view. Data from the EIT will be extremely valuable for identifying and interpreting the spatial and temperature fine structures of the solar atmosphere. Temporal analysis will provide information on the stability of these structures and identify dynamical processes. EIT images, issued daily, will provide the global corona context for aid in unifying the investigations and in forming the observing plans for SOHO coronal instruments.

The Liquid Metallic Hydrogen Model of the Sun and the Solar Atmosphere V. On the Nature of the Corona

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Robitaille P.-M.

2013-07-01

Full Text Available The E-corona is the site of numerous emission lines associated with high ionization states (i.e. FeXIV-FeXXV. Modern gaseous models of the Sun require that these states are produced by atomic irradiation, requiring the sequential removal of electrons to infinity, without an associated electron acceptor. This can lead to computed temperatures in the corona which are unrealistic (i.e. ∼30–100 MK contrasted to solar core values of ∼16 MK. In order to understand the emission lines of the E-corona, it is vital to recognize that they are superimposed upon the K-corona, which produces a continuous spectrum, devoid of Fraunhofer lines, arising from this same region of the Sun. It has been advanced that the K-corona harbors self-luminous condensed matter (Robitaille P.M. The Liquid Metallic Hydrogen Model of the Sun and the Solar Atmosphere II. Continuous Emission and Condensed Matter Within the Corona. Progr. Phys., 2013, v. 3, L8–L10; Robitaille P.M. The Liquid Metallic Hydrogen Model of the Sun and the Solar Atmosphere III. Importance of Continuous Emission Spectra from Flares, Coronal Mass Ejections, Prominences, and Other Coronal Structures. Progr. Phys., 2013, v. 3, L11–L14. Condensed matter can possess elevated electron affinities which may strip nearby atoms of their electrons. Such a scenario accounts for the high ionization states observed in the corona: condensed matter acts to harness electrons, ensuring the electrical neutrality of the Sun, despite the flow of electrons and ions in the solar winds. Elevated ionization states reflect the presence of materials with high electron affinities in the corona, which is likely to be a form of metallic hydrogen, and does not translate into elevated temperatures in this region of the solar atmosphere. As a result, the many mechanisms advanced to account for coronal heating in the gaseous models of the Sun

A Comparison between Physics-based and Polytropic MHD Models for Stellar Coronae and Stellar Winds of Solar Analogs

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cohen, O. [Lowell Center for Space Science and Technology, University of Massachusetts, Lowell, MA 01854 (United States)

2017-02-01

The development of the Zeeman–Doppler Imaging (ZDI) technique has provided synoptic observations of surface magnetic fields of low-mass stars. This led the stellar astrophysics community to adopt modeling techniques that have been used in solar physics using solar magnetograms. However, many of these techniques have been neglected by the solar community due to their failure to reproduce solar observations. Nevertheless, some of these techniques are still used to simulate the coronae and winds of solar analogs. Here we present a comparative study between two MHD models for the solar corona and solar wind. The first type of model is a polytropic wind model, and the second is the physics-based AWSOM model. We show that while the AWSOM model consistently reproduces many solar observations, the polytropic model fails to reproduce many of them, and in the cases where it does, its solutions are unphysical. Our recommendation is that polytropic models, which are used to estimate mass-loss rates and other parameters of solar analogs, must first be calibrated with solar observations. Alternatively, these models can be calibrated with models that capture more detailed physics of the solar corona (such as the AWSOM model) and that can reproduce solar observations in a consistent manner. Without such a calibration, the results of the polytropic models cannot be validated, but they can be wrongly used by others.

New View of Gas and Dust in the Solar Nebula

Science.gov (United States)

Taylor, G. J.

2010-08-01

The recognizable components in meteorites differ in their relative abundances of the three oxygen isotopes (16O, 17O, and 18O). In particular, the amount of 16O varies from being like that of the Earth to substantially enriched compared to the other two isotopes. The current explanation for this interesting range in isotopic composition is that dust and gas in the solar nebula (the cloud of gas and dust surrounding the primitive Sun) began with the same 16O-rich composition, but the solids evolved towards the terrestrial value. A new analysis of the problem by Alexander Krot (University of Hawaii) and colleagues at the University of Hawaii, the University of Chicago, Clemson University, and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory leads to the bold assertion that primordial dust and gas differed in isotopic composition. The gas was rich in 16O as previously thought (possibly slightly richer in 16O than the measurements of the solar wind returned by the Genesis Mission), but that the dust had a composition close to the 16O-depleted terrestrial average. In this new view, the dust had a different history than did the gas before being incorporated into the Solar System. Solids with compositions near the terrestrial line may have formed in regions of the solar nebula where dust had concentrated compared to the mean solar dust/gas ratio (1 : ~100). The idea has great implications for understanding the oxygen-isotope composition of the inner Solar System and the origin of materials in the molecular cloud from which the Solar System formed.

Solar wind radiation damage in lunar dust grains and the characteristics of the ancient solar wind

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Borg, J.; Chaumont, J.

1980-01-01

Current understanding of the exposure history of lunar dust grains to the ancient solar wind is reviewed, the work being based mostly on a Monte Carlo statistical code, describing the 'gardening' effects of the meteorite bombardment in the lunar regolith, and on analytical models, yielding the lifetimes of the grains against various types of destruction processes. Families of lunar dust grains are identified, and evidence is presented showing that lunar dust grains were not partially shielded from solar wind ions. Results of solar wind simulation experiments are used to interpret the thickness distribution of the amorphous coatings of solar wind radiation-damaged material observed on 1-micron lunar dust grains. It is argued that such distributions reflect the speed distribution of the ancient solar wind as averaged over periods of approximately 5000 years in duration, and that the ancient solar wind is less energetic than the present day solar wind

Empirical models of the Solar Wind : Extrapolations from the Helios & Ulysses observations back to the corona

Science.gov (United States)

Maksimovic, M.; Zaslavsky, A.

2017-12-01

We will present extrapolation of the HELIOS & Ulysses proton density, temperature & bulk velocities back to the corona. Using simple mass flux conservations we show a very good agreement between these extrapolations and the current state knowledge of these parameters in the corona, based on SOHO mesurements. These simple extrapolations could potentially be very useful for the science planning of both the Parker Solar Probe and Solar Orbiter missions. Finally will also present some modelling considerations, based on simple energy balance equations which arise from these empirical observationnal models.

Skylab and solar exploration. [chromosphere-corona structure, energy production and heat transport processes

Science.gov (United States)

Von Puttkamer, J.

1973-01-01

Review of some of the findings concerning solar structure, energy production, and heat transport obtained with the aid of the manned Skylab space station observatory launched on May 14, 1973. Among the topics discussed are the observation of thermonuclear fusion processes which cannot be simulated on earth, the observation of short-wave solar radiation not visible to observers on earth, and the investigation of energy-transport processes occurring in the photosphere, chromosphere, and corona. An apparent paradox is noted in that the cooler chromosphere is heating the hotter corona, seemingly in defiance of the second law of thermodynamics, thus suggesting that a nonthermal mechanism underlies the energy transport. Understanding of this nonthermal mechanism is regarded as an indispensable prerequisite for future development of plasma systems for terrestrial applications.

Set of instruments for solar EUV and soft X-ray monitoring onboard satellite Coronas-Photon

Science.gov (United States)

Kotov, Yury; Kochemasov, Alexey; Kuzin, Sergey; Kuznetsov, Vladimir; Sylwester, Janusz; Yurov, Vitaly

Coronas-Photon mission is the third satellite of the Russian Coronas program on solar activity observation. The main goal of the "Coronas-Photon" is the study of solar hard electromagnetic radiation in the wide energy range from UV up to high energy gamma-radiation (2000MeV). Scientific payload for solar radiation observation consists of three types of instruments: Monitors (Natalya-2M, Konus-RF, RT-2, Penguin-M, BRM, PHOKA, Sphin-X, SOKOL spectral and timing measurements of full solar disk radiation have timing in flare/burst mode up to one msec. Instruments Natalya-2M, Konus-RF, RT-2 will cover the wide energy range of hard X-rays and soft gamma-rays (15keV to 2000MeV) and will together constitute the largest area detectors ever used for solar observations. Detectors of gamma-ray monitors are based on structured inorganic scintillators. For X-ray and EUV monitors the scintillation phoswich detectors, gas proportional counter, CdZnTe assembly and filter-covered Si-diodes are used. Telescope-spectrometer TESIS for imaging solar spectroscopy in X-rays has angular resolution up to 1arcsec in three spectral lines. Satellite platform and scientific payload is under construction to be launched in autumn 2008. Satellite orbit is circular with initial height 550km and inclination 82.5degrees. Accuracy of the spacecraft orientation to the Sun is better 3arcmin. In the report the capability of PHOKA, SphinX, SOKOL and TESIS as well as the observation program are described and discussed.

New Techniques Used in Modeling the 2017 Total Solar Eclipse: Energizing and Heating the Large-Scale Corona

Science.gov (United States)

Downs, Cooper; Mikic, Zoran; Linker, Jon A.; Caplan, Ronald M.; Lionello, Roberto; Torok, Tibor; Titov, Viacheslav; Riley, Pete; Mackay, Duncan; Upton, Lisa

2017-08-01

Over the past two decades, our group has used a magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) model of the corona to predict the appearance of total solar eclipses. In this presentation we detail recent innovations and new techniques applied to our prediction model for the August 21, 2017 total solar eclipse. First, we have developed a method for capturing the large-scale energized fields typical of the corona, namely the sheared/twisted fields built up through long-term processes of differential rotation and flux-emergence/cancellation. Using inferences of the location and chirality of filament channels (deduced from a magnetofrictional model driven by the evolving photospheric field produced by the Advective Flux Transport model), we tailor a customized boundary electric field profile that will emerge shear along the desired portions of polarity inversion lines (PILs) and cancel flux to create long twisted flux systems low in the corona. This method has the potential to improve the morphological shape of streamers in the low solar corona. Second, we apply, for the first time in our eclipse prediction simulations, a new wave-turbulence-dissipation (WTD) based model for coronal heating. This model has substantially fewer free parameters than previous empirical heating models, but is inherently sensitive to the 3D geometry and connectivity of the coronal field---a key property for modeling/predicting the thermal-magnetic structure of the solar corona. Overall, we will examine the effect of these considerations on white-light and EUV observables from the simulations, and present them in the context of our final 2017 eclipse prediction model.Research supported by NASA's Heliophysics Supporting Research and Living With a Star Programs.

Solar Array Panels With Dust-Removal Capability

Science.gov (United States)

Dawson, Stephen; Mardesich, Nick; Spence, Brian; White, Steve

2004-01-01

It has been proposed to incorporate piezoelectric vibrational actuators into the structural supports of solar photovoltaic panels, for the purpose of occasionally inducing vibrations in the panels in order to loosen accumulated dust. Provided that the panels were tilted, the loosened dust would slide off under its own weight. Originally aimed at preventing obscuration of photovoltaic cells by dust accumulating in the Martian environment, the proposal may also offer an option for the design of solar photovoltaic panels for unattended operation at remote locations on Earth. The figure depicts a typical lightweight solar photovoltaic panel comprising a backside grid of structural spars that support a thin face sheet that, in turn, supports an array of photovoltaic cells on the front side. The backside structure includes node points where several spars intersect. According to the proposal, piezoelectric buzzers would be attached to the node points. The process of designing the panel would be an iterative one that would include computational simulation of the vibrations by use of finite- element analysis to guide the selection of the vibrational frequency of the actuators and the cross sections of the spars to maximize the agitation of dust.

Anomalous energy transport in hot plasmas: solar corona and Tokamak

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Beaufume, P.

1992-04-01

Anomalous energy transport is studied in two hot plasmas and appears to be associated with a heating of the solar corona and with a plasma deconfining process in tokamaks. The magnetic structure is shown to play a fundamental role in this phenomenon through small scale instabilities which are modelized by means of a nonlinear dynamical system: the Beasts' Model. Four behavior classes are found for this system, which are automatically classified in the parameter space thanks to a neural network. We use a compilation of experimental results relative to the solar corona to discuss current-based heating processes. We find that a simple Joule effect cannot provide the required heating rates, and therefore propose a dimensional model involving a resistive reconnective instability which leads to an efficient and discontinuous heating mechanism. Results are in good agreement with the observations. We give an analytical expression for a diffusion coefficient in tokamaks when magnetic turbulence is perturbing the topology, which we validate thanks to the standard mapping. A realistic version of the Beasts' Model allows to test a candidate to anomalous transport: the thermal filamentation instability

Field-Lines-Threaded Model for: (1) the Low Solar Corona; (2) Electrons in the Transition Region; and (3) Solar Energetic Particle Acceleration and Transport

Science.gov (United States)

Sokolov, I.; van der Holst, B.; Jin, M.; Gombosi, T. I.; Taktakishvili, A.; Khazanov, G. V.

2013-12-01

In numerical simulations of the solar corona, both for the ambient state and especially for dynamical processes the most computational resources are spent for maintaining the numerical solution in the Low Solar Corona and in the transition region, where the temperature gradients are very sharp and the magnetic field has a complicated topology. The degraded computational efficiency is caused by the need in a highest resolution as well as the use of the fully three-dimensional implicit solver for electron heat conduction. On the other hand, the physical nature of the processes involved is rather simple (which still does not facilitate the numerical methods) as long as the heat fluxes as well as slow plasma motional velocities are aligned with the magnetic field. The Alfven wave turbulence, which is often believed to be the main driver of the solar wind and the main source of the coronal heating, is characterized by the Poynting flux of the waves, which is also aligned with the magnetic field. Therefore, the plasma state in any point of the three-dimensional grid in the Low Solar Corona can be found by solving a set of one-dimensional equations for the magnetic field line ('thread'), which passes through this point and connects it to the chromosphere and to the global Solar Corona. In the present paper we describe an innovative computational technology based upon the use of the magnetic-field-line-threads to find the local solution. We present the development of the AWSoM code of the University of Michigan with the field-lines-threaded Low Solar Corona. In the transition region, where the essentially kinetic description of the electron energy fluxes is required, we solve the Fokker-Plank equation on the system of threads, to achieve the physically consistent description of chromosphere evaporation. The third application for the field-lines-treaded model is the Solar Energetic Particle (SEP) acceleration and transport. Being the natural extension of the Field

Discovery of Finely Structured Dynamic Solar Corona Observed in the Hi-C Telescope

Science.gov (United States)

Winebarger, A.; Cirtain, J.; Golub, L.; DeLuca, E.; Savage, S.; Alexander, C.; Schuler, T.

2014-01-01

In the summer of 2012, the High-resolution Coronal Imager (Hi-C) flew aboard a NASA sounding rocket and collected the highest spatial resolution images ever obtained of the solar corona. One of the goals of the Hi-C flight was to characterize the substructure of the solar corona. We therefore examine how the intensity scales from AIA resolution to Hi-C resolution. For each low-resolution pixel, we calculate the standard deviation in the contributing high-resolution pixel intensities and compare that to the expected standard deviation calculated from the noise. If these numbers are approximately equal, the corona can be assumed to be smoothly varying, i.e. have no evidence of substructure in the Hi-C image to within Hi-C's ability to measure it given its throughput and readout noise. A standard deviation much larger than the noise value indicates the presence of substructure. We calculate these values for each low-resolution pixel for each frame of the Hi-C data. On average, 70 percent of the pixels in each Hi-C image show no evidence of substructure. The locations where substructure is prevalent is in the moss regions and in regions of sheared magnetic field. We also find that the level of substructure varies significantly over the roughly 160 s of the Hi-C data analyzed here. This result indicates that the finely structured corona is concentrated in regions of heating and is highly time dependent.

DISCOVERY OF FINELY STRUCTURED DYNAMIC SOLAR CORONA OBSERVED IN THE Hi-C TELESCOPE

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Winebarger, Amy R.; Cirtain, Jonathan; Savage, Sabrina; Alexander, Caroline [NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, ZP 13, Huntsville, AL 35812 (United States); Golub, Leon; DeLuca, Edward [Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States); Schuler, Timothy, E-mail: amy.r.winebarger@nasa.gov [State University of New York College at Buffalo, 1300 Elmwood Avenue, Buffalo, NY 14222 (United States)

2014-05-20

In the Summer of 2012, the High-resolution Coronal Imager (Hi-C) flew on board a NASA sounding rocket and collected the highest spatial resolution images ever obtained of the solar corona. One of the goals of the Hi-C flight was to characterize the substructure of the solar corona. We therefore examine how the intensity scales from AIA resolution to Hi-C resolution. For each low-resolution pixel, we calculate the standard deviation in the contributing high-resolution pixel intensities and compare that to the expected standard deviation calculated from the noise. If these numbers are approximately equal, the corona can be assumed to be smoothly varying, i.e., have no evidence of substructure in the Hi-C image to within Hi-C's ability to measure it given its throughput and readout noise. A standard deviation much larger than the noise value indicates the presence of substructure. We calculate these values for each low-resolution pixel for each frame of the Hi-C data. On average, 70% of the pixels in each Hi-C image show no evidence of substructure. The locations where substructure is prevalent is in the moss regions and in regions of sheared magnetic field. We also find that the level of substructure varies significantly over the roughly 160 s of the Hi-C data analyzed here. This result indicates that the finely structured corona is concentrated in regions of heating and is highly time dependent.

DISCOVERY OF FINELY STRUCTURED DYNAMIC SOLAR CORONA OBSERVED IN THE Hi-C TELESCOPE

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Winebarger, Amy R.; Cirtain, Jonathan; Savage, Sabrina; Alexander, Caroline; Golub, Leon; DeLuca, Edward; Schuler, Timothy

2014-01-01

In the Summer of 2012, the High-resolution Coronal Imager (Hi-C) flew on board a NASA sounding rocket and collected the highest spatial resolution images ever obtained of the solar corona. One of the goals of the Hi-C flight was to characterize the substructure of the solar corona. We therefore examine how the intensity scales from AIA resolution to Hi-C resolution. For each low-resolution pixel, we calculate the standard deviation in the contributing high-resolution pixel intensities and compare that to the expected standard deviation calculated from the noise. If these numbers are approximately equal, the corona can be assumed to be smoothly varying, i.e., have no evidence of substructure in the Hi-C image to within Hi-C's ability to measure it given its throughput and readout noise. A standard deviation much larger than the noise value indicates the presence of substructure. We calculate these values for each low-resolution pixel for each frame of the Hi-C data. On average, 70% of the pixels in each Hi-C image show no evidence of substructure. The locations where substructure is prevalent is in the moss regions and in regions of sheared magnetic field. We also find that the level of substructure varies significantly over the roughly 160 s of the Hi-C data analyzed here. This result indicates that the finely structured corona is concentrated in regions of heating and is highly time dependent

Resonators for magnetohydrodynamic waves in the solar corona: radioemission modulation effect

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zajtsev, V.V.; Stepanov, A.V.

1982-01-01

Data on type 2 solar radio bursts are analyzed in the framework of a model of radio emission production by shock waves. Type 2 solar radio bursts data are shown to suggest the existence of Alfven velocity minimum at a height of the one solar radius in the corona. The domain of a low Alfven velocity is a resonator for the fast magnetosonic waves. The eigenmodes of the resonator are determined. The main mode period is about a few minutes. Fast modes in the resonator can be amplified by energetic ion beams at the Cherenkov resonance. The modulation of meter solar radio emission with a period of about a few minutes can be explained by radiowave propagation through the MHD-resonator

Electrodynamic Dust Shield for Solar Panels on Mars

Science.gov (United States)

Calle, C. I.; Buhler, C. R.; Mantovani, J. G.; Clements S.; Chen, A.; Mazumder, M. K.; Biris, A. S.; Nowicki, A. W.

2004-01-01

The Materials Adherence Experiment on the Mars Pathfinder mission measured an obscuration of the solar arrays due to dust deposition at a rate of about 0.2 8% per day. It was estimated that settling dust may cause degradation in performance of a solar panel of between 22% and 89% over the course of two years [1, 2]. These results were obtained without the presence of a global dust storm. Several types of adherence forces keep dust particles attached to surfaces. The most widely discussed adherence force is the electrostatic force. Laboratory experiments [3] as well as indirect evidence from the Wheel Abrasion Experiment on Pathfinder [4] indicate that it is very likely that the particles suspended in the Martian atmosphere are electrostatically charged.

Neutral Hydrogen and Its Emission Lines in the Solar Corona

Science.gov (United States)

Vial, Jean-Claude; Chane-Yook, Martine

2016-12-01

Since the Lyman-α rocket observations of Gabriel ( Solar Phys. 21, 392, 1971), it has been realized that the hydrogen (H) lines could be observed in the corona and that they offer an interesting diagnostic for the temperature, density, and radial velocity of the coronal plasma. Moreover, various space missions have been proposed to measure the coronal magnetic and velocity fields through polarimetry in H lines. A necessary condition for such measurements is to benefit from a sufficient signal-to-noise ratio. The aim of this article is to evaluate the emission in three representative lines of H for three different coronal structures. The computations have been performed with a full non-local thermodynamic-equilibrium (non-LTE) code and its simplified version without radiative transfer. Since all collisional and radiative quantities (including incident ionizing and exciting radiation) are taken into account, the ionization is treated exactly. Profiles are presented at two heights (1.05 and 1.9 solar radii, from Sun center) in the corona, and the integrated intensities are computed at heights up to five solar radii. We compare our results with previous computations and observations ( e.g. Lα from Ultraviolet Coronal Spectrometer) and find a rough (model-dependent) agreement. Since the Hα line is a possible candidate for ground-based polarimetry, we show that in order to detect its emission in various coronal structures, it is necessary to use a very narrow (less than 2 Å wide) bandpass filter.

Strong non-radial propagation of energetic electrons in solar corona

Science.gov (United States)

Klassen, A.; Dresing, N.; Gómez-Herrero, R.; Heber, B.; Veronig, A.

2018-06-01

Analyzing the sequence of solar energetic electron events measured at both STEREO-A (STA) and STEREO-B (STB) spacecraft during 17-21 July 2014, when their orbital separation was 34°, we found evidence of a strong non-radial electron propagation in the solar corona below the solar wind source surface. The impulsive electron events were associated with recurrent flare and jet (hereafter flare/jet) activity at the border of an isolated coronal hole situated close to the solar equator. We have focused our study on the solar energetic particle (SEP) event on 17 July 2014, during which both spacecraft detected a similar impulsive and anisotropic energetic electron event suggesting optimal connection of both spacecraft to the parent particle source, despite the large angular separation between the parent flare and the nominal magnetic footpoints on the source surface of STA and STB of 68° and 90°, respectively. Combining the remote-sensing extreme ultraviolet (EUV) observations, in-situ plasma, magnetic field, and energetic particle data we investigated and discuss here the origin and the propagation trajectory of energetic electrons in the solar corona. We find that the energetic electrons in the energy range of 55-195 keV together with the associated EUV jet were injected from the flare site toward the spacecraft's magnetic footpoints and propagate along a strongly non-radial and inclined magnetic field below the source surface. From stereoscopic (EUV) observations we estimated the inclination angle of the jet trajectory and the respective magnetic field of 63° ± 11° relative to the radial direction. We show how the flare accelerated electrons reach very distant longitudes in the heliosphere, when the spacecraft are nominally not connected to the particle source. This example illustrates how ballistic backmapping can occasionally fail to characterize the magnetic connectivity during SEP events. This finding also provides an additional mechanism (one among others

Catastrophic cooling and cessation of heating in the solar corona

Science.gov (United States)

Peter, H.; Bingert, S.; Kamio, S.

2012-01-01

Context. Condensations in the more than 106 K hot corona of the Sun are commonly observed in the extreme ultraviolet (EUV). While their contribution to the total solar EUV radiation is still a matter of debate, these condensations certainly provide a valuable tool for studying the dynamic response of the corona to the heating processes. Aims: We investigate different distributions of energy input in time and space to investigate which process is most relevant for understanding these coronal condensations. Methods: For a comparison to observations we synthesize EUV emission from a time-dependent, one-dimensional model for coronal loops, where we employ two heating scenarios: simply shutting down the heating and a model where the heating is very concentrated at the loop footpoints, while keeping the total heat input constant. Results: The heating off/on model does not lead to significant EUV count rates that one observes with SDO/AIA. In contrast, the concentration of the heating near the footpoints leads to thermal non-equilibrium near the loop top resulting in the well-known catastrophic cooling. This process gives a good match to observations of coronal condensations. Conclusions: This shows that the corona needs a steady supply of energy to support the coronal plasma, even during coronal condensations. Otherwise the corona would drain very fast, too fast to even form a condensation. Movies are available in electronic form at http://www.aanda.org

SUPRATHERMAL ELECTRONS IN THE SOLAR CORONA: CAN NONLOCAL TRANSPORT EXPLAIN HELIOSPHERIC CHARGE STATES?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cranmer, Steven R.

2014-01-01

There have been several ideas proposed to explain how the Sun's corona is heated and how the solar wind is accelerated. Some models assume that open magnetic field lines are heated by Alfvén waves driven by photospheric motions and dissipated after undergoing a turbulent cascade. Other models posit that much of the solar wind's mass and energy is injected via magnetic reconnection from closed coronal loops. The latter idea is motivated by observations of reconnecting jets and also by similarities of ion composition between closed loops and the slow wind. Wave/turbulence models have also succeeded in reproducing observed trends in ion composition signatures versus wind speed. However, the absolute values of the charge-state ratios predicted by those models tended to be too low in comparison with observations. This Letter refines these predictions by taking better account of weak Coulomb collisions for coronal electrons, whose thermodynamic properties determine the ion charge states in the low corona. A perturbative description of nonlocal electron transport is applied to an existing set of wave/turbulence models. The resulting electron velocity distributions in the low corona exhibit mild suprathermal tails characterized by ''kappa'' exponents between 10 and 25. These suprathermal electrons are found to be sufficiently energetic to enhance the charge states of oxygen ions, while maintaining the same relative trend with wind speed that was found when the distribution was assumed to be Maxwellian. The updated wave/turbulence models are in excellent agreement with solar wind ion composition measurements

Electrons in the solar corona. Pt. 3. Coronal streamers analysis from balloon-borne coronagraph

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dollfus, A; Mouradian, Z [Observatoire de Paris, Section de Meudon, 92 (France)

1981-03-01

During a balloon flight in France on September 13, 1971, at altitude 32 000 m, the solar corona was cinematographed from 2 to 5 Rsub(sun) during 5 hr, with an externally occulted coronagraph. Motions in coronal features, when they occur, exhibit deformations of structures with velocities not exceeding a few 10 km s/sup -1/; several streamers were often involved simultaneously; these variations are compatible with magnetic changes or sudden reorganizations of lines of forces. Intensity and polarization measurements give the electron density with height in the quiet corona above the equator. Electron density gradient for one of the streamers gives a temperature of 1.6 x 10/sup 6/ K and comparisons with the on-board Apollo 16 coronal observation of 31 July, 1971 are compatible with the extension of this temperature up to 25 Rsub(sun). Three-dimensional structures and localizations of the streamers are deduced from combined photometry, polarimetry and ground-based K coronametry. Three of the four coronal streamers analysed have their axis bent with height towards the direction of the solar rotation, as if the upper corona has a rotation slightly faster than the chromosphere.

Electron beams by shock waves in the solar corona

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mann, G.; Klassen, A.

2005-07-01

Beams of energetic electrons can be generated by shock waves in the solar corona. At the Sun shock waves are produced either by flares and/or by coronal mass ejections (CMEs). They can be observed as type II bursts in the solar radio radiation. Shock accelerated electron beams appear as rapidly drifting emission stripes (so-called ''herringbones'') in dynamic radio spectra of type II bursts. A large sample of type II bursts showing ''herringbones'' was statistically analysed with respect to their properties in dynamic radio spectra. The electron beams associated with the ''herringbones'' are considered to be generated by shock drift acceleration. Then, the accelerated electrons establish a shifted loss-cone distribution in the upstream region of the associated shock wave. Such a distribution causes plasma instabilities leading to the emission of radio waves observed as ''herringbones''. Consequences of a shifted loss-cone distribution of the shock accelerated electrons are discussed in comparison with the observations of ''herringbones'' within solar type II radio bursts. (orig.)

Growth and sedimentation of dust grains in the primitive solar nebular

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Battaglia, A.

1987-01-01

Formation of the planets in the solar system is envisioned to occur via a gravitational instability in a thin layer of dust located at the midplane of the primitive solar nebula. The break-up of the dust layer gives rise to seed plants (planetesimals) that, through successive collisions, eventually form the present-day planets. This thesis addresses the problem of the formation of the dust layer, beginning with a configuration in which the dust particles are uniformly mixed with the nebula's turbulent gas. To describe the properties of turbulence in the primitive solar nebula, models by Canuto et al. (1987) and by Cabot et al. (1987) are used. The available results concerning calculation of the velocity of particles embedded in a turbulent fluid were found to be unsatisfactory; therefore, a new formalism was developed to express the latter quantity in terms of the properties of the turbulence in the fluid. Following the space-time evolution of the grains, formalism was developed that simulates the simultaneous processes of collisions and sedimentation of the dust grains in the primitive solar nebula. It is concluded that, for the model of the primitive solar nebula considered, the formation of a dust layer at midplane is very unlikely

Structure of the solar transition region and inner corona

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mariska, J.T.

1977-01-01

Emission gradient curves for extreme ultraviolet (EUV) resonance lines of lithium-like ions were constructed from spectroheliograms of quiet limb regions and a north polar coronal hole observed with the Harvard experiment on Skylab. The observations are interpreted with simple coronal models. Comparison of the theoretical and observed emission gradients for quiet regions indicates that for these areas the temperature rises throughout the inner corona (1.03 less than or equal to r less than or equal to 1.20 R/sub mass/). In the coronal hole the temperature rises in a manner consistent with a constant conductive flux to an isothermal corona at a temperature of 1.1 x 10 6 K at 1.08/sub mass/. The geometry of the coronal hole boundary is also determined. The boundary geometry and density distribution are combined with typical solar wind parameters at the north to determine an outflow velocity of 15 km s -1 at 1.08 R/sub mass/. The energy balance implications of the models are examined. It was found that in the transition region both conduction and radiation are important in determining the energy balance in network regions in both quiet areas and coronal holes. Additional energy sources are required in the network in coronal holes. In the corona it is found that, to within the errors of the determination, the energy losses, and hence the requirements for mechanical heating, are the same in quiet regions and coronal holes

Heating of the quiet solar corona from measurements of the FET/TESIS instrument on-board the KORONAS-FOTON satellite

Science.gov (United States)

Rybák, J.; Gömöry, P.; Benz, A.; Bogachev, P.; Brajša, R.

2010-12-01

The paper presents the first results of the observations of time evolution of the quiet solar corona brightenings obtained due to very rapid photography of the corona with full-disk EUV telescopes of the FET/TESIS instrument onboard the KORONA FOTON satellite. The measurements were performed simultaneously in the emission of the Fe IX / X 17.1 and Fe VIII 13.1 spectral lines with 10 second temporal cadence and spatial scale of 1.7 arc seconds within one hour. This test observation, carried out on 15 July 2009, was analyzed in order to determine whether this type of observation can be used to identify individual microevents in the solar corona heating that are above the tresholds of spatial and temporal resolutions of the observations of non-active regions in the solar atmosphere. For this purpose, a simple method was used involving cross-correlation of the plasma emission time evolution at different temperatures, each time from observations of identical elements. The results obtained are confronted with the expected observable manifestations of the corona heating via nanoflares. TESIS is a set of instruments for the Sun photography developed in the Lebedev Physics Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences that was launched into orbit in January 2009.

OBSERVATIONS OF FIVE-MINUTE SOLAR OSCILLATIONS IN THE CORONA USING THE EXTREME ULTRAVIOLET SPECTROPHOTOMETER (ESP) ON BOARD THE SOLAR DYNAMICS OBSERVATORY EXTREME ULTRAVIOLET VARIABILITY EXPERIMENT (SDO/EVE)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Didkovsky, L.; Judge, D.; Wieman, S.; Kosovichev, A. G.; Woods, T.

2011-01-01

We report on the detection of oscillations in the corona in the frequency range corresponding to five-minute acoustic modes of the Sun. The oscillations have been observed using soft X-ray measurements from the Extreme Ultraviolet Spectrophotometer (ESP) of the Extreme Ultraviolet Variability Experiment on board the Solar Dynamics Observatory. The ESP zeroth-order channel observes the Sun as a star without spatial resolution in the wavelength range of 0.1-7.0 nm (the energy range is 0.18-12.4 keV). The amplitude spectrum of the oscillations calculated from six-day time series shows a significant increase in the frequency range of 2-4 mHz. We interpret this increase as a response of the corona to solar acoustic (p) modes and attempt to identify p-mode frequencies among the strongest peaks. Due to strong variability of the amplitudes and frequencies of the five-minute oscillations in the corona, we study how the spectrum from two adjacent six-day time series combined together affects the number of peaks associated with the p-mode frequencies and their amplitudes. This study shows that five-minute oscillations of the Sun can be observed in the corona in variations of the soft X-ray emission. Further investigations of these oscillations may improve our understanding of the interaction of the oscillation modes with the solar atmosphere, and the interior-corona coupling, in general.

The TESIS experiment on the CORONAS-PHOTON spacecraft

Science.gov (United States)

Kuzin, S. V.; Zhitnik, I. A.; Shestov, S. V.; Bogachev, S. A.; Bugaenko, O. I.; Ignat'ev, A. P.; Pertsov, A. A.; Ulyanov, A. S.; Reva, A. A.; Slemzin, V. A.; Sukhodrev, N. K.; Ivanov, Yu. S.; Goncharov, L. A.; Mitrofanov, A. V.; Popov, S. G.; Shergina, T. A.; Solov'ev, V. A.; Oparin, S. N.; Zykov, A. M.

2011-04-01

On February 26, 2009, the first data was obtained in the TESIS experiment on the research of the solar corona using imaging spectroscopy. The TESIS is a part of the scientific equipment of the CORONAS-PHO-TON spacecraft and is designed for imaging the solar corona in soft X-ray and extreme ultraviolet regions of the spectrum with high spatial, spectral, and temporal resolutions at altitudes from the transition region to three solar radii. The article describes the main characteristics of the instrumentation, management features, and operation modes.

Double Arc Instability in the Solar Corona

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ishiguro, N.; Kusano, K., E-mail: n-ishiguro@isee.nagoya-u.ac.jp [Institute for Space-Earth Environmental Research, Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya, Aichi 464-8601 Japan (Japan)

2017-07-10

The stability of the magnetic field in the solar corona is important for understanding the causes of solar eruptions. Although various scenarios have been suggested to date, the tether-cutting reconnection scenario proposed by Moore et al. is one of the widely accepted models to explain the onset process of solar eruptions. Although the tether-cutting reconnection scenario proposes that the sigmoidal field formed by internal reconnection is the magnetic field in the pre-eruptive state, the stability of the sigmoidal field has not yet been investigated quantitatively. In this paper, in order to elucidate the stability problem of the pre-eruptive state, we developed a simple numerical analysis in which the sigmoidal field is modeled by a double arc electric current loop and its stability is analyzed. As a result, we found that the double arc loop is more easily destabilized than the axisymmetric torus, and it becomes unstable even if the external field does not decay with altitude, which is in contrast to the axisymmetric torus instability. This suggests that tether-cutting reconnection may well work as the onset mechanism of solar eruptions, and if so, the critical condition for eruption under a certain geometry may be determined by a new type of instability rather than by the torus instability. Based on them, we propose a new type of instability called double arc instability (DAI). We discuss the critical conditions for DAI and derive a new parameter κ , defined as the product of the magnetic twist and the normalized flux of the tether-cutting reconnection.

Waves and Turbulence in the Solar Corona: A Surplus of Sources and Sinks

Science.gov (United States)

Cranmer, Steven R.

2018-06-01

The Sun's corona is a hot, dynamic, and highly stochastic plasma environment, and we still do not yet understand how it is heated. Both the loop-filled coronal base and the extended acceleration region of the solar wind appear to be filled with waves and turbulent eddies. Models that invoke the dissipation of these magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) fluctuations have had some success in explaining the heating. In this presentation I will review some new insights about the different ways these waves are thought to be created and destroyed. For example: (1) Intergranular bright points in the photosphere are believed to extend upwards as coronal flux tubes, and their transverse oscillations are driven by the underlying convection. New high-resolution MHD simulations predict the kinetic energy spectra of the resulting coronal waves and serve as predictions for upcoming DKIST observations. (2) Magnetic reconnection in the supergranular network of the low corona can also generate MHD waves, and new Monte Carlo models of the resulting power spectra will be presented. The total integrated power in these waves is typically small in comparison to that of photosphere-driven waves, but they dominate the total spectrum at periods longer than about 30 minutes. (3) Because each magnetic field line in the corona is tied to at least one specific chromospheric footpoint (each with its own base pressure), the corona also plays host to field-aligned "density striations." These fluctuations vary with the supergranular network on timescales of roughly a day, but they also act as a spatially varying background through which the higher-frequency waves propagate. These multiple sources of space/time variability must be taken into account to properly understand off-limb measurements from CoMP and EIS/Hinode, as well as in-situ measurements from Parker Solar Probe.

Tracking Filament Evolution in the Low Solar Corona Using Remote Sensing and In Situ Observations

Science.gov (United States)

Kocher, Manan; Landi, Enrico; Lepri, Susan. T.

2018-06-01

In the present work, we analyze a filament eruption associated with an interplanetary coronal mass ejection that arrived at L1 on 2011 August 5. In multiwavelength Solar Dynamic Observatory/Advanced Imaging Assembly (AIA) images, three plasma parcels within the filament were tracked at high cadence along the solar corona. A novel absorption diagnostic technique was applied to the filament material traveling along the three chosen trajectories to compute the column density and temperature evolution in time. Kinematics of the filamentary material were estimated using STEREO/Extreme Ultraviolet Imager and STEREO/COR1 observations. The Michigan Ionization Code used inputs of these density, temperature, and speed profiles for the computation of ionization profiles of the filament plasma. Based on these measurements, we conclude that the core plasma was in near ionization equilibrium, and the ionization states were still evolving at the altitudes where they were visible in absorption in AIA images. Additionally, we report that the filament plasma was heterogeneous, and the filamentary material was continuously heated as it expanded in the low solar corona.

Common observations of solar X-rays from SPHINX/CORONAS-PHOTON and XRS/MESSENGER

Science.gov (United States)

Kepa, Anna; Sylwester, Janusz; Sylwester, Barbara; Siarkowski, Marek; Mrozek, Tomasz; Gryciuk, Magdalena; Phillips, Kenneth

SphinX was a soft X-ray spectrophotometer constructed in the Space Research Centre of Polish Academy of Sciences. The instrument was launched on 30 January 2009 aboard CORONAS-PHOTON satellite as a part of TESIS instrument package. SphinX measured total solar X-ray flux in the energy range from 1 to 15 keV during the period of very low solar activity from 20 February to 29 November 2009. For these times the solar detector (X-ray Spectrometer - XRS) onboard MESSENGER also observed the solar X-rays from a different vantage point. XRS measured the radiation in similar energy range. We present results of the comparison of observations from both instruments and show the preliminary results of physical analysis of spectra for selected flares.

Magnetic Untwisting in Jets that Go into the Outer Solar Corona in Polar Coronal Holes

Science.gov (United States)

Moore, Ronald L.; Sterling, Alphonse C.; Falconer, David

2014-06-01

We present results from a study of 14 jets that were observed in SDO/AIA EUV movies to erupt in the Sun’s polar coronal holes. These jets were similar to the many other jets that erupt in coronal holes, but reached higher than the vast majority, high enough to be observed in the outer corona beyond 2 solar radii from Sun center by the SOHO/LASCO/C2 coronagraph. We illustrate the characteristic structure and motion of these high-reaching jets by showing observations of two representative jets. We find that (1) the speed of the jet front from the base of the corona out to 2-3 solar radii is typically several times the sound speed in jets in coronal holes, (2) each high-reaching jet displays unusually large rotation about its axis (spin) as it erupts, and (3) in the outer corona, many jets display lateral swaying and bending of the jet axis with an amplitude of a few degrees and a period of order 1 hour. From these observations we infer that these jets are magnetically driven, propose that the driver is a magnetic-untwisting wave that is basically a large-amplitude (non-linear) torsional Alfven wave that is put into the open magnetic field in the jet by interchange reconnection as the jet erupts, and estimate that the magnetic-untwisting wave loses most of its energy before reaching the outer corona. These observations of high-reaching coronal jets suggest that the torsional magnetic waves observed in Type-II spicules can similarly dissipate in the corona and thereby power much of the coronal heating in coronal holes and quiet regions. This work is funded by the NASA/SMD Heliophysics Division’s Living With a Star Targeted Research & Technology Program.

Rocket borne solar eclipse experiment to measure the temperature structure of the solar corona via lyman-α line profile observations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Argo, H.V.

1981-01-01

A rocket borne experiment to measure the temperature structure of the inner solar corona via the doppler broadening of the resonance hydrogen Lyman-α (lambda1216A) radiation scattered by ambient neutral hydrogen atoms was attempted during the 16 Feb 1980 solar eclipse. Two Nike-Black Brant V sounding rockets carrying instrumented payloads were launched into the path of the advancing eclipse umbra from the San Marco satellite launch platform 3 miles off the east coast of Kenya

The Nature of Variations in Anomalies of the Chemical Composition of the Solar Corona with the 11-Year Cycle

Science.gov (United States)

Pipin, V. V.; Tomozov, V. M.

2018-04-01

Evidence that the distribution of the abundances of admixtures with low first-ionization potentials (FIP 10 eV) in active regions and closed magnetic configurations in the lower corona. Observations with the ULYSSES spacecraft and at the Stanford Solar Observatory have revealed strong correlations between the manifestation of the FIP effect in the solar wind, the strength of the open magnetic flux (without regard to sign), and the ratio of the large-scale toroidal and poloidal magnetic fields at the solar surface. Analyses of observations of the Sun as a star show that the enhancement of the abundances of admixtures with low FIPs in the corona compared to their abundances in the photosphere (the FIP effect) is closely related to the solar-activity cycle and also with variations in the topology of the large-scale magnetic field. A possible mechanism for the relationship between the FIP effect and the spectral type of a star is discussed in the framework of solar-stellar analogies.

Configuration of and Motions in the Solar Corona at the 2017 Total Solar Eclipse

Science.gov (United States)

Pasachoff, Jay M.; Rusin, Vojtech; Vanur, Roman; Economou, Thanasis; Voulgaris, Aristeidis; Seiradakis, John H.; Seaton, Daniel; Dantowitz, Ronald; Lockwood, Christian A.; Nagle-McNaughton, Timothy; Perez, Cielo; Meadors, Erin N.; Marti, Connor J.; Yu, Ross; Rosseau, Brendan; Ide, Charles A.; Daly, Declan M.; Davis, Allen Bradford; Lu, Muzhou; Steele, Amy; Lee, Duane; Freeman, Marcus J.; Sliski, David; Rousseva, Ana; Greek Salem (Oregon) Team; Voulgaris, Aristeidis; Seiradakis, John Hugh; Koukioglou, Stavros; Kyriakou, Nikos; Vasileiadou, Anna; Greek Carbondale (Illinois) Team; Economou, Thanasis; Kanouras, Spyros; Irakleous, Christina; Golemis, Adrianos; Tsioumpanika, Nikoleta; Plexidas, Nikos; Tzimkas, Nikos; Kokkinidou, Ourania

2018-06-01

We report on high-contrast data reduction of white-light images from the August 21, 2017, total solar eclipse. We show the configuration of the solar corona at this declining phase of the solar-activity cycle, with the projection onto the plane of the sky of the three-dimensional coronal streamers plus extensive polar plumes. We discuss the relation of the white-light coronal loops visible in our observations with extreme-ultraviolet observations from NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) and NOAA’s GOES-16 Solar Ultraviolet Imager (SUVI). We show differences and motions over a 65-minute interval between observations from our main site at Willamette University in Salem, Oregon, and a subsidiary site in Carbondale, Illinois. We discuss, in particular, a giant demarcation about 1 solar radius outward in the southwest that crosses the radial streamers.Our observations of the eclipse were sponsored in large part by the Committee for Research and Exploration of the National Geographic Society and by the Solar Terrestrial Program of the National Geographic Society. Additional support was received from the NASA Massachusetts Space Grant Consortium, the Sigma Xi honorary scientific society, the University of Pennsylvania (for DS), the Slovak Academy of Sciences VEGA project 2/0003/16, and the Freeman Foote Expeditionary and Brandi funds at Williams College. We thank Stephen Thorsett, Rick Watkins, and Honey Wilson of Willamette University for their hospitality. See http://totalsolareclipse.org or http://sites.williams.edu/eclipse/2017-usa/.

Ubiquitous and Continuous Propagating Disturbances in the Solar Corona

Science.gov (United States)

Morgan, Huw; Hutton, Joseph

2018-02-01

A new processing method applied to Atmospheric Imaging Assembly/Solar Dynamic Observatory observations reveals continuous propagating faint motions throughout the corona. The amplitudes are small, typically 2% of the background intensity. An hour’s data are processed from four AIA channels for a region near disk center, and the motions are characterized using an optical flow method. The motions trace the underlying large-scale magnetic field. The motion vector field describes large-scale coherent regions that tend to converge at narrow corridors. Large-scale vortices can also be seen. The hotter channels have larger-scale regions of coherent motion compared to the cooler channels, interpreted as the typical length of magnetic loops at different heights. Regions of low mean and high time variance in velocity are where the dominant motion component is along the line of sight as a result of a largely vertical magnetic field. The mean apparent magnitude of the optical velocities are a few tens of km s‑1, with different distributions in different channels. Over time, the velocities vary smoothly between a few km s‑1 to 100 km s‑1 or higher, varying on timescales of minutes. A clear bias of a few km s‑1 toward positive x-velocities is due to solar rotation and may be used as calibration in future work. All regions of the low corona thus experience a continuous stream of propagating disturbances at the limit of both spatial resolution and signal level. The method provides a powerful new diagnostic tool for tracing the magnetic field, and to probe motions at sub-pixel scales, with important implications for models of heating and of the magnetic field.

Dust Accumulation and Solar Panel Array Performance on the Mars Exploration Rover (MER) Project

Science.gov (United States)

Turgay, Eren H.

2004-01-01

One of the most fundamental design considerations for any space vehicle is its power supply system. Many options exist, including batteries, fuel cells, nuclear reactors, radioisotopic thermal generators (RTGs), and solar panel arrays. Solar arrays have many advantages over other types of power generation. They are lightweight and relatively inexpensive, allowing more mass and funding to be allocated for other important devices, such as scientific instruments. For Mars applications, solar power is an excellent option, especially for long missions. One might think that dust storms would be a problem; however, while dust blocks some solar energy, it also scatters it, making it diffuse rather than beamed. Solar cells are still able to capture this diffuse energy and convert it into substantial electrical power. For these reasons, solar power was chosen to be used on the 1997 Mars Pathfinder mission. The success of this mission set a precedent, as NASA engineers have selected solar power as the energy system of choice for all future Mars missions, including the Mars Exploration Rover (MER) Project. Solar sells have their drawbacks, however. They are difficult to manufacture and are relatively fragile. In addition, solar cells are highly sensitive to different parts of the solar spectrum, and finding the correct balance is crucial to the success of space missions. Another drawback is that the power generated is not a constant with respect to time, but rather changes with the relative angle to the sun. On Mars, dust accumulation also becomes a factor. Over time, dust settles out of the atmosphere and onto solar panels. This dust blocks and shifts the frequency of the incoming light, degrading solar cell performance. My goal is to analyze solar panel telemetry data from the two MERs (Spirit and Opportunity) in an effort to accurately model the effect of dust accumulation on solar panels. This is no easy process due to the large number of factors involved. Changing solar

Mid-Term Quasi-Periodicities and Solar Cycle Variation of the White-Light Corona from 18.5 Years (1996.0 - 2014.5) of LASCO Observations

Science.gov (United States)

Barlyaeva, T.; Lamy, P.; Llebaria, A.

2015-07-01

We report on the analysis of the temporal evolution of the solar corona based on 18.5 years (1996.0 - 2014.5) of white-light observations with the SOHO/LASCO-C2 coronagraph. This evolution is quantified by generating spatially integrated values of the K-corona radiance, first globally, then in latitudinal sectors. The analysis considers time series of monthly values and 13-month running means of the radiance as well as several indices and proxies of solar activity. We study correlation, wavelet time-frequency spectra, and cross-coherence and phase spectra between these quantities. Our results give a detailed insight on how the corona responds to solar activity over timescales ranging from mid-term quasi-periodicities (also known as quasi-biennial oscillations or QBOs) to the long-term 11 year solar cycle. The amplitude of the variation between successive solar maxima and minima (modulation factor) very much depends upon the strength of the cycle and upon the heliographic latitude. An asymmetry is observed during the ascending phase of Solar Cycle 24, prominently in the royal and polar sectors, with north leading. Most prominent QBOs are a quasi-annual period during the maximum phase of Solar Cycle 23 and a shorter period, seven to eight months, in the ascending and maximum phases of Solar Cycle 24. They share the same properties as the solar QBOs: variable periodicity, intermittency, asymmetric development in the northern and southern solar hemispheres, and largest amplitudes during the maximum phase of solar cycles. The strongest correlation of the temporal variations of the coronal radiance - and consequently the coronal electron density - is found with the total magnetic flux. Considering that the morphology of the solar corona is also directly controlled by the topology of the magnetic field, this correlation reinforces the view that they are intimately connected, including their variability at all timescales.

Comet C/2011 W3 (Lovejoy) between 2 and 10 Solar Radii: Physical Parameters of the Comet and the Corona

Science.gov (United States)

Raymond, J. C.; Downs, Cooper; Knight, Matthew M.; Battams, Karl; Giordano, Silvio; Rosati, Richard

2018-05-01

Comet C/2011 W3 (Lovejoy) is the first sungrazing comet in many years to survive perihelion passage. We report ultraviolet observations with the Ultraviolet Coronagraph Spectrometer (UVCS) spectrometer aboard the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory satellite at five heights as the comet approached the Sun. The brightest line, Lyα, shows dramatic variations in intensity, velocity centroid, and width during the observation at each height. We derive the outgassing rates and the abundances of N, O, and Si relative to H, and we estimate the effective diameter of the nucleus to be several hundred meters. We consider the effects of the large outgassing rate on the interaction between the cometary gas and the solar corona and find good qualitative agreement with the picture of a bow shock resulting from mass loading by cometary neutrals. We obtain estimates of the solar wind density, temperature, and speed, and compare them with predictions of a global magnetohydrodynamic simulation, finding qualitative agreement within our uncertainties. We also determine the sublimation rate of silicate dust in the comet’s tail by comparing the visible brightness from the Large Angle Spectroscopic Coronagraphs with the Si III intensity from UVCS. The sublimation rates lie between the predicted rates for olivines and pyroxenes, suggesting that the grains are composed of a mixture of those minerals.

Long term changes in EUV and X-ray emissions from the solar corona and chromosphere as measured by the response of the Earth’s ionosphere during total solar eclipses from 1932 to 1999

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

C. J. Davis

Full Text Available Measurements of the ionospheric E region during total solar eclipses in the period 1932–1999 have been used to investigate the fraction of Extreme Ultra Violet and soft X-ray radiation, 8, that is emitted from the limb corona and chromosphere. The relative apparent sizes of the Moon and the Sun are different for each eclipse, and techniques are presented which correct the measurements and, therefore, allow direct comparisons between different eclipses. The results show that the fraction of ionising radiation emitted by the limb corona has a clear solar cycle variation and that the underlying trend shows this fraction has been increasing since 1932. Data from the SOHO spacecraft are used to study the effects of short-term variability and it is shown that the observed long-term rise in 8 has a negligible probability of being a chance occurrence.

Key words. Ionosphere (solar radiation and cosmic ray effects – Solar physics, astrophysics, and astronomy (corona and transition region

Thermodynamics of the Solar Corona and Evolution of the Solar Magnetic Field as Inferred from the Total Solar Eclipse Observations of 11 July 2010

Science.gov (United States)

Habbal, Shadia Rifai; Druckmueller, Miloslav; Morgan, Huw; Ding, Adalbert; Johnson, Judd; Druckmuellerova, Hana; Daw, Adrian; Arndt, Martina B.; Dietzel, Martin; Saken, Jon

2011-01-01

We report on multi-wavelength observations of the corona taken simultaneously in broadband white light, and in seven spectral lines, H-alpha 656.3 nm, Fe IX 435.9 nm, Fe X 637.4 nm, Fe XI 789.2 nm, Fe XIII 1074.7 nm, Fe XIV 530.3 nm and Ni XV 670.2 nm. The observations were made during the total solar eclipse of 11 July 2010 from the atoll of Tatakoto in French Polynesia. Simultaneous imaging with narrow bandpass filters in each of these spectral lines and in their corresponding underlying continua maximized the observing time during less than ideal observing conditions and yielded outstanding quality data. The application of two complementary image processing techniques revealed the finest details of coronal structures at 1" resolution in white light, and 6.5" in each of the spectral lines. This comprehensive wavelength coverage confirmed earlier eclipse findings that the solar corona has a clear two-temperature structure: The open field lines, expanding outwards from the solar surface, are characterized by electron temperatures near 1 X 10(exp 6) K, while the hottest plasma around 2X 10(exp 6) K resides in loop-like structures forming the bulges of streamers. The first images of the corona in the forbidden lines of Fe IX and Ni XV, showed that there was very little coronal plasma at temperatures below 5 X 10(exp 5) K and above 2.5X 10(exp 6) K. The data also enabled temperature differentiations as low as 0:2 X 10(exp 6) K in different density structures. These observations showed how the passage of CMEs through the corona, prior to totality, produced large scale ripples and very sharp streaks, which could be identified with distinct temperatures for the first time. The ripples were most prominent in emission from spectral lines associated with temperatures around 10(exp 6) K. The most prominent streak was associated with a conical-shaped void in the emission from the coolest line of Fe IX and from the hottest line of Ni XV. A prominence, which erupted prior to

Bright point study. [of solar corona

Science.gov (United States)

Tang, F.; Harvey, K.; Bruner, M.; Kent, B.; Antonucci, E.

1982-01-01

Transition region and coronal observations of bright points by instruments aboard the Solar Maximum Mission and high resolution photospheric magnetograph observations on September 11, 1980 are presented. A total of 31 bipolar ephemeral regions were found in the photosphere from birth in 9.3 hours of combined magnetograph observations from three observatories. Two of the three ephemeral regions present in the field of view of the Ultraviolet Spectrometer-Polarimeter were observed in the C IV 1548 line. The unobserved ephemeral region was determined to be the shortest-lived (2.5 hr) and lowest in magnetic flux density (13G) of the three regions. The Flat Crystal Spectrometer observed only low level signals in the O VIII 18.969 A line, which were not statistically significant to be positively identified with any of the 16 ephemeral regions detected in the photosphere. In addition, the data indicate that at any given time there lacked a one-to-one correspondence between observable bright points and photospheric ephemeral regions, while more ephemeral regions were observed than their counterparts in the transition region and the corona.

Clementine Observes the Moon, Solar Corona, and Venus

Science.gov (United States)

1997-01-01

In 1994, during its flight, the Clementine spacecraft returned images of the Moon. In addition to the geologic mapping cameras, the Clementine spacecraft also carried two Star Tracker cameras for navigation. These lightweight (0.3 kg) cameras kept the spacecraft on track by constantly observing the positions of stars, reminiscent of the age-old seafaring tradition of sextant/star navigation. These navigation cameras were also to take some spectacular wide angle images of the Moon.In this picture the Moon is seen illuminated solely by light reflected from the Earth--Earthshine! The bright glow on the lunar horizon is caused by light from the solar corona; the sun is just behind the lunar limb. Caught in this image is the planet Venus at the top of the frame.

Time delay occultation data of the Helios spacecraft for probing the electron density distribution in the solar corona

Science.gov (United States)

Edenhofer, P.; Lueneburg, E.; Esposito, P. B.; Martin, W. L.; Zygielbaum, A. I.; Hansen, R. T.; Hansen, S. F.

1978-01-01

S-band time delay measurements were collected from the spacecraft Helios A and B during three solar occultations in 1975/76 within heliocentric distances of about 3 and 215 earth radius in terms of range, Doppler frequency shift, and electron content. Characteristic features of measurement and data processing are described. Typical data sets are discussed to probe the electron density distribution near the sun (west and east limb as well) including the outer and extended corona. Steady-state and dynamical aspects of the solar corona are presented and compared with earth-bound-K-coronagraph measurements. Using a weighted least squares estimation, parameters of an average coronal electron density profile are derived in a preliminary analysis to yield electron densities at r = 3, 65, 215 earth radius. Transient phenomena are discussed and a velocity of propagation v is nearly equal to 900 km/s is determined for plasma ejecta from a solar flare observed during an extraordinary set of Helios B electron content measurements.

Energetics of small electron acceleration episodes in the solar corona from radio noise storm observations

Science.gov (United States)

James, Tomin; Subramanian, Prasad

2018-05-01

Observations of radio noise storms can act as sensitive probes of nonthermal electrons produced in small acceleration events in the solar corona. We use data from noise storm episodes observed jointly by the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT) and the Nancay Radioheliograph (NRH) to study characteristics of the nonthermal electrons involved in the emission. We find that the electrons carry 1021 to 1024 erg/s, and that the energy contained in the electrons producing a representative noise storm burst ranges from 1020 to 1023 ergs. These results are a direct probe of the energetics involved in ubiquitous, small-scale electron acceleration episodes in the corona, and could be relevant to a nanoflare-like scenario for coronal heating.

The energy and pressure balance in the corona

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McWhirter, R.W.P.; Wilson, R.

1976-01-01

This paper reviews theoretical models for the solar corona based on energy and pressure calculations. Processes included in these calculations are: (a) heating of the outer corona by mechanical waves; (b) convective out-flow of gas giving rise to the solar wind; (c) thermal conductions; (d) radiated power loss. Possible observations to help answer some of the outstanding questions about the energy balance are suggested. (author)

Global Fluxon Modeling of the Solar Corona and Inner Heliosphere

Science.gov (United States)

Lamb, D. A.; DeForest, C. E.

2017-12-01

The fluxon approach to MHD modeling enables simulations of low-beta plasmas in the absence of undesirable numerical effects such as diffusion and magnetic reconnection. The magnetic field can be modeled as a collection of discrete field lines ("fluxons") containing a set amount of magnetic flux in a prescribed field topology. Due to the fluxon model's pseudo-Lagrangian grid, simulations can be completed in a fraction of the time of traditional grid-based simulations, enabling near-real-time simulations of the global magnetic field structure and its influence on solar wind properties. Using SDO/HMI synoptic magnetograms as lower magnetic boundary conditions, and a separate one-dimensional fluid flow model attached to each fluxon, we compare the resulting fluxon relaxations with other commonly-used global models (such as PFSS), and with white-light images of the corona (including the August 2017 total solar eclipse). Finally, we show the computed magnetic field expansion ratio, and the modeled solar wind speed near the coronal-heliospheric transition. Development of the fluxon MHD model FLUX (the Field Line Universal relaXer), has been funded by NASA's Living with a Star program and by Southwest Research Institute.

The Funnel Geometry of Open Flux Tubes in the Low Solar Corona Constrained by O VI and Ne VIII Outflow

Science.gov (United States)

Byhring, Hanne S.; Esser, Ruth; Lie-Svendsen, Oystein

2008-01-01

Model calculations show that observed outflow velocities of order 7-10 km/s of C IV and O VI ions, and 15-20 km/s of Ne VIII ions, are not only consistent with models of the solar wind from coronas holes, but also place unique constraints on the degree of flow tube expansion as well as the location of the expansion in the transition region/lower corona.

Comparative study of the loss cone-driven instabilities in the low solar corona

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sharma, R.R.; Vlahos, L.

1984-01-01

A comparative study of the loss cone--driven instabilities in the low solar corona is undertaken. The instailities considered are the electron maser, the whistler, and the electrostatic upper hybrid. We show that the first-harmonic extraordinary mode of the electron cyclotron maser instability is the fastest growing mode for strongly magnetized plasma (ω/sub e//Ω/sub e/ 1.0, no direct electromagnetic radiation is expected since other instabilities, which do not escape directly, saturate the electron cyclotron maser (the whistler or the electrostatic upper hybrid waves). We also show that the second-harmonic electron cyclotron maser emission never grows to an appreciable level. Thus, we suggest that the electron cyclotron maser instability can be the explanation for intense radio bursts only when the first harmonic escapes from the low corona. We propose a possible explanation for the escape of the first harmonic from a flaring loop

Validation of the Earth atmosphere models using the EUV solar occultation data from the CORONAS and PROBA 2 instruments

Science.gov (United States)

Slemzin, Vladimir; Kuzin, Sergey; Berghmans, David; Pertsov, Andrey; Dominique, Marie; Ulyanov, Artyom; Gaikovich, Konstantin

Absorption in the atmosphere below 500 km results in attenuation of the solar EUV flux, variation of its spectra and distortion of solar images acquired by solar EUV instruments operating on LEO satellites even on solar synchronous orbits. Occultation measurements are important for planning of solar observations from these satellites, and can be used for monitoring the upper atmosphere as well as for studying its response to the solar activity. We present the results of the occultation measurements of the solar EUV radiation obtained by the CORONAS-F/SPIRIT telescope at high solar activity (2002), by the CORONAS-Photon/TESIS telescope at low activity (2009), and by the SWAP telescope and LYRA radiometer onboard the PROBA 2 satellite at moderate activity (2010). The measured attenuation profiles and the retrieved linear extinction coefficients at the heights 200-500 km are compared with simulations by the NRLMSIS-00 and DTM2013 atmospheric models. It was shown that the results of simulations by the DTM2013 model are well agreed with the data of measurements at all stages of solar activity and in presence of the geomagnetic storm, whereas the results of the NRLMSISE-00 model significantly diverge from the measurements, in particular, at high and low activity. The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Programme for Research, Technological Development and Demonstration under Grant Agreement “eHeroes” (project No.284461, www.eheroes.eu).

STELLAR CORONAE, SOLAR FLARES: A DETAILED COMPARISON OF {sigma} GEM, HR 1099, AND THE SUN IN HIGH-RESOLUTION X-RAYS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Huenemoerder, David P. [Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, 70 Vassar St., Cambridge, MA 02139 (United States); Phillips, Kenneth J. H. [Visiting Scientist, Space Research Center, Polish Academy of Sciences, 51-622, Kopernika 11, Wroclaw (Poland); Sylwester, Janusz; Sylwester, Barbara, E-mail: dph@space.mit.edu, E-mail: kennethjhphillips@yahoo.com, E-mail: js@cbk.pan.wroc.pl, E-mail: bs@cbk.pan.wroc.pl [Space Research Center, Polish Academy of Sciences, 51-622, Kopernika 11, Wroclaw (Poland)

2013-05-10

The Chandra High Energy Transmission Grating Spectrometer (HETG) spectra of the coronally active binary stars {sigma} Gem and HR 1099 are among the highest fluence observations for such systems taken at high spectral resolution in X-rays with this instrument. This allows us to compare their properties in detail to solar flare spectra obtained with the Russian CORONAS-F spacecraft's RESIK instrument at similar resolution in an overlapping bandpass. Here we emphasize the detailed comparisons of the 3.3-6.1 A region (including emission from highly ionized S, Si, Ar, and K) from solar flare spectra to the corresponding {sigma} Gem and HR 1099 spectra. We also model the larger wavelength range of the HETG, from 1.7 to 25 A - having emission lines from Fe, Ca, Ar, Si, Al, Mg, Ne, O, and N-to determine coronal temperatures and abundances. {sigma} Gem is a single-lined coronally active long-period binary which has a very hot corona. HR 1099 is a similar, but shorter period, double-lined system. With very deep HETG exposures we can even study emission from some of the weaker species, such as K, Na, and Al, which are important since they have the lowest first ionization potentials, a parameter well known to be correlated with elemental fractionation in the solar corona. The solar flare temperatures reach Almost-Equal-To 20 MK, comparable to the {sigma} Gem and HR 1099 coronae. During the Chandra exposures, {sigma} Gem was slowly decaying from a flare and its spectrum is well characterized by a collisional ionization equilibrium plasma with a broad temperature distribution ranging from 2 to 60 MK, peaking near 25 MK, but with substantial emission from 50 MK plasma. We have detected K XVIII and Na XI emission which allow us to set limits on their abundances. HR 1099 was also quite variable in X-rays, also in a flare state, but had no detectable K XVIII. These measurements provide new comparisons of solar and stellar coronal abundances, especially at the lowest first

Sparse Bayesian Inference and the Temperature Structure of the Solar Corona

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Warren, Harry P. [Space Science Division, Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC 20375 (United States); Byers, Jeff M. [Materials Science and Technology Division, Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC 20375 (United States); Crump, Nicholas A. [Naval Center for Space Technology, Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC 20375 (United States)

2017-02-20

Measuring the temperature structure of the solar atmosphere is critical to understanding how it is heated to high temperatures. Unfortunately, the temperature of the upper atmosphere cannot be observed directly, but must be inferred from spectrally resolved observations of individual emission lines that span a wide range of temperatures. Such observations are “inverted” to determine the distribution of plasma temperatures along the line of sight. This inversion is ill posed and, in the absence of regularization, tends to produce wildly oscillatory solutions. We introduce the application of sparse Bayesian inference to the problem of inferring the temperature structure of the solar corona. Within a Bayesian framework a preference for solutions that utilize a minimum number of basis functions can be encoded into the prior and many ad hoc assumptions can be avoided. We demonstrate the efficacy of the Bayesian approach by considering a test library of 40 assumed temperature distributions.

Effect of the Dust on the Performance of Solar Water Collectors in Iraq

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Omer Khalil Ahmed

2016-02-01

Full Text Available There is little research about it in present literatures in Iraq. So the effect of dust accumulation on the performance of conventional of solar collectors is analyzed. The experimental study was carried out mainly on a flat solar collector, which comprised the major part of this work. According to the experimental results obtained, there is a limited decrease in the instantaneous efficiency which was 1.6 % for the dirty collector. At load condition, the outlet temperature reaches a maximum value of 43.85oC at 12 noon without dust on the front glass and 33.7 oC in the presence of the dust. The instantaneous efficiency reaches its maximum value of 49.74 % at 12 noon without dust and 48.94% with dust after that the efficiency was decreased. The variation of useful transferred energy closely follows the variation of solar intensity and reaches its maximum value of 690 W/m2 at 12 noon in the presence of the dust for this particular day. It is also observed that, at the second half of the day, there is a large decrease in the instantaneous efficiency resulting from a large reduction in the useful energy transferred. Therefore, for Iraqi places, daily cleaning of the glass covers is strictly recommended as part of the maintenance works but the equipment should be cleaned immediately after a dust storm to keep the collector efficient. Article History: Received August 16, 2015; Received in revised form Nov 17, 2015; Accepted Dec 19, 2015; Available onlineHow to Cite This Article: Ahmed, O.K (2016. Effect of the Dust on the Performance of Solar Water Collectors in Iraq. Int. Journal of Renewable Energy Development, 5(1, 65-72.http://dx.doi.org/10.14710/ijred.5.1.65-72 

Magnetic Untwisting in Solar Jets that Go into the Outer Corona in Polar Coronal Holes

Science.gov (United States)

Moore, Ronald L.; Sterling, Alphonse C.; Falconer, David A.

2014-01-01

We present results from 14 exceptionally high-reaching large solar jets observed in the polar coronal holes. EUV movies from SDO/AIA show that each jet is similar to many other similar-size and smaller jets that erupt in coronal holes, but each is exceptional in that it goes higher than most other jets, so high that it is observed in the outer corona beyond 2.2 R(sub Sun) in images from the SOHO/LASCO/C2 coronagraph. For these high-reaching jets, we find: (1) the front of the jet transits the corona below 2.2 R(sub Sun) at a speed typically several times the sound speed; (2) each jet displays an exceptionally large amount of spin as it erupts; (3) in the outer corona, most jets display oscillatory swaying having an amplitude of a few degrees and a period of order 1 hour. We conclude that these jets are magnetically driven, propose that the driver is a magnetic-untwisting wave that is grossly a large-amplitude (i.e., nonlinear) torsional Alfven wave that is put into the reconnected open magnetic field in the jet by interchange reconnection as the jet erupts, and estimate from the measured spinning and swaying that the magnetic-untwisting wave loses most of its energy in the inner corona below 2.2 R(sub Sun). From these results for these big jets, we reason that the torsional magnetic waves observed in Type-II spicules should dissipate in the corona in the same way and could thereby power much of the coronal heating in coronal holes.

Properties of minimum-flux coronae in dwarfs and giants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mullan, D.J.

1976-01-01

Using a method due to Hearn, we examine the properties of minimum-flux coronae in dwarfs and giants. If the fraction phi of the total stellar luminosity which is used to heat the corona is equal to the solar value phi/sub s/, then red dwarfs must have coronae that are cooler than the solar corona: in UV Ceti, for example, the coronal temperature is a factor 3 less than in the Sun. This is consistent with an independent estimate of coronal temperature in a flare star. If phi=phi/sub s/, main-sequence stars hotter than the Sun have coronae which are hotter than the solar corona. Soft X-rays from Sirius suggest that the coronal temperature in Sirius is indeed hotter than the Sun by a factor of about 40 percent. Giants show an even more marked decrease in coronal temperature at later spectral type than do the dwarfs. We suggest that the reason for the presence of O V emission in β Gem and O VI emission in α Aur, and the absence of O V emission in α Boo and α Tau, is that the coronae in the latter two stars are cooler (rather than hotter, as McClintock et al. have suggested) than in the former two. Our results explain why it is more likely that mass loss has been detected in α Aur and α Boo, but not in α Tau or β Gem. Using a simple flare model, we show that flares in both a dwarf star (UV Ceti) and a giant (α Aur) were initiated not in the corona, but in the transition region

A Heuristic Approach to Remove the Background Intensity on White-light Solar Images. I. STEREO /HI-1 Heliospheric Images

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Stenborg, Guillermo; Howard, Russell A. [Space Science Division, U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC 20375 (United States)

2017-04-10

White-light coronal and heliospheric imagers observe scattering of photospheric light from both dust particles (the F-Corona) and free electrons in the corona (the K-corona). The separation of the two coronae is thus vitally important to reveal the faint K-coronal structures (e.g., streamers, co-rotating interaction regions, coronal mass ejections, etc.). However, the separation of the two coronae is very difficult, so we are content in defining a background corona that contains the F- and as little K- as possible. For both the LASCO-C2 and LASCO-C3 coronagraphs aboard the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory ( SOHO ) and the white-light imagers of the SECCHI suite aboard the Solar Terrestrial Relationships Observatory ( STEREO ), a time-dependent model of the background corona is generated from about a month of similar images. The creation of such models is possible because the missions carrying these instruments are orbiting the Sun at about 1 au. However, the orbit profiles for the upcoming Solar Orbiter and Solar Probe Plus missions are very different. These missions will have elliptic orbits with a rapidly changing radial distance, hence invalidating the techniques in use for the SOHO /LASCO and STEREO /SECCHI instruments. We have been investigating techniques to generate background models out of just single images that could be used for the Solar Orbiter Heliospheric Imager and the Wide-field Imager for the Solar Probe Plus packages on board the respective spacecraft. In this paper, we introduce a state-of-the-art, heuristic technique to create the background intensity models of STEREO /HI-1 data based solely on individual images, report on new results derived from its application, and discuss its relevance to instrumental and operational issues.

SYNTHETIC HYDROGEN SPECTRA OF OSCILLATING PROMINENCE SLABS IMMERSED IN THE SOLAR CORONA

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zapiór, M.; Heinzel, P.; Oliver, R.; Ballester, J. L.

2016-01-01

We study the behavior of H α and H β spectral lines and their spectral indicators in an oscillating solar prominence slab surrounded by the solar corona, using an MHD model combined with a 1D radiative transfer code taken in the line of sight perpendicular to the slab. We calculate the time variation of the Doppler shift, half-width, and maximum intensity of the H α and H β spectral lines for different modes of oscillation. We find a non-sinusoidal time dependence of some spectral parameters with time. Because H α and H β spectral indicators have different behavior for different modes, caused by differing optical depths of formation and different plasma parameter variations in time and along the slab, they may be used for prominence seismology, especially to derive the internal velocity field in prominences.

SYNTHETIC HYDROGEN SPECTRA OF OSCILLATING PROMINENCE SLABS IMMERSED IN THE SOLAR CORONA

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zapiór, M.; Heinzel, P. [Astronomical Institute, The Czech Academy of Sciences, 25165 Ondřejov, The Czech Republic (Czech Republic); Oliver, R.; Ballester, J. L. [Universitat de les Illes Balears. Cra. de Valldemossa, km 7.5. Palma (Illes Balears), E-07122 (Spain)

2016-08-20

We study the behavior of H α and H β spectral lines and their spectral indicators in an oscillating solar prominence slab surrounded by the solar corona, using an MHD model combined with a 1D radiative transfer code taken in the line of sight perpendicular to the slab. We calculate the time variation of the Doppler shift, half-width, and maximum intensity of the H α and H β spectral lines for different modes of oscillation. We find a non-sinusoidal time dependence of some spectral parameters with time. Because H α and H β spectral indicators have different behavior for different modes, caused by differing optical depths of formation and different plasma parameter variations in time and along the slab, they may be used for prominence seismology, especially to derive the internal velocity field in prominences.

Solar Indices - Solar Corona

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Collection includes a variety of indices related to solar activity contributed by a number of national and private solar observatories located worldwide. This...

EVOLUTION OF THE GLOBAL TEMPERATURE STRUCTURE OF THE SOLAR CORONA DURING THE MINIMUM BETWEEN SOLAR CYCLES 23 AND 24

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nuevo, Federico A.; Vásquez, Alberto M.; Huang Zhenguang; Frazin, Richard; Manchester, Ward B. IV; Jin Meng

2013-01-01

The combination of differential emission measure tomography with extrapolation of the photospheric magnetic field allows determination of the electron density and electron temperature along individual magnetic field lines. This is especially useful in quiet-Sun (QS) plasmas where individual loops cannot otherwise be identified. In Paper I, this approach was applied to study QS plasmas during Carrington rotation (CR) 2077 at the minimum between solar cycles (SCs) 23 and 24. In that work, two types of QS coronal loops were identified: ''up'' loops in which the temperature increases with height, and ''down'' loops in which the temperature decreases with height. While the first ones were expected, the latter ones were a surprise and, furthermore, were found to be ubiquitous in the low-latitude corona. In the present work, we extend the analysis to 11 CRs around the last solar minimum. We found that the ''down'' population, always located at low latitudes, was maximum at the time when the sunspot number was minimum, and the number of down loops systematically increased during the declining phase of SC-23 and diminished during the rising phase of SC-24. ''Down'' loops are found to have systematically larger values of β than do ''up'' loops. These discoveries are interpreted in terms of excitation of Alfvén waves in the photosphere, and mode conversion and damping in the low corona

A Space Weather mission concept: Observatories of the Solar Corona and Active Regions (OSCAR)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Strugarek, Antoine; Janitzek, Nils; Lee, Arrow

2015-01-01

advancements in the field of solar physics, improvements of the current CME prediction models, and provide data for reliable space weather forecasting. These objectives are achieved by utilising two spacecraft with identical instrumentation, located at a heliocentric orbital distance of 1 AU from the Sun......Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) and Corotating Interaction Regions (CIRs) are major sources of magnetic storms on Earth and are therefore considered to be the most dangerous space weather events. The Observatories of Solar Corona and Active Regions (OSCAR) mission is designed to identify the 3D...... structure of coronal loops and to study the trigger mechanisms of CMEs in solar Active Regions (ARs) as well as their evolution and propagation processes in the inner heliosphere. It also aims to provide monitoring and forecasting of geo-effective CMEs and CIRs. OSCAR would contribute to significant...

X-ray spectrometer spectrograph telescope system. [for solar corona study

Science.gov (United States)

Bruner, E. C., Jr.; Acton, L. W.; Brown, W. A.; Salat, S. W.; Franks, A.; Schmidtke, G.; Schweizer, W.; Speer, R. J.

1979-01-01

A new sounding rocket payload that has been developed for X-ray spectroscopic studies of the solar corona is described. The instrument incorporates a grazing incidence Rowland mounted grating spectrograph and an extreme off-axis paraboloic sector feed system to isolate regions of the sun of order 1 x 10 arc seconds in size. The focal surface of the spectrograph is shared by photographic and photoelectric detection systems, with the latter serving as a part of the rocket pointing system control loop. Fabrication and alignment of the optical system is based on high precision machining and mechanical metrology techniques. The spectrograph has a resolution of 16 milliangstroms and modifications planned for future flights will improve the resolution to 5 milliangstroms, permitting line widths to be measured.

The Time-Dependent Chemistry of Cometary Debris in the Solar Corona

Science.gov (United States)

Pesnell, W. D.; Bryans, P.

2015-01-01

Recent improvements in solar observations have greatly progressed the study of sungrazing comets. They can now be imaged along the entirety of their perihelion passage through the solar atmosphere, revealing details of their composition and structure not measurable through previous observations in the less volatile region of the orbit further from the solar surface. Such comets are also unique probes of the solar atmosphere. The debris deposited by sungrazers is rapidly ionized and subsequently influenced by the ambient magnetic field. Measuring the spectral signature of the deposited material highlights the topology of the magnetic field and can reveal plasma parameters such as the electron temperature and density. Recovering these variables from the observable data requires a model of the interaction of the cometary species with the atmosphere through which they pass. The present paper offers such a model by considering the time-dependent chemistry of sublimated cometary species as they interact with the solar radiation field and coronal plasma. We expand on a previous simplified model by considering the fully time-dependent solutions of the emitting species' densities. To compare with observations, we consider a spherically symmetric expansion of the sublimated material into the corona and convert the time-dependent ion densities to radial profiles. Using emissivities from the CHIANTI database and plasma parameters derived from a magnetohydrodynamic simulation leads to a spatially dependent emission spectrum that can be directly compared with observations. We find our simulated spectra to be consistent with observation.

The Liquid Metallic Hydrogen Model of the Sun and the Solar Atmosphere VII. Further Insights into the Chromosphere and Corona

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Robitaille P.-M.

2013-07-01

Full Text Available In the liquid metallic hydrogen model of the Sun, the chromosphere is responsible for the capture of atomic hydrogen in the solar atmosphere and its eventual re-entry onto the photospheric surface (P.M. Robitaille. The Liquid Metallic Hydrogen Model of the Sun and the Solar Atmosphere IV. On the Nature of the Chromosphere. Prog. Phys., 2013, v. 3, L15–L21. As for the corona, it represents a diffuse region containing both gaseous plasma and condensed matter with elevated electron affinity (P.M. Robitaille. The Liquid Metallic Hydrogen Model of the Sun and the Solar Atmosphere V. On the Nature of the Corona. Prog. Phys., 2013, v. 3, L22–L25. Metallic hydrogen in the corona is thought to enable the continual harvest of electrons from the outer reaches of the Sun, thereby preserving the neutrality of the solar body. The rigid rotation of the corona is offered as the thirty-third line of evidence that the Sun is comprised of condensed matter. Within the context of the gaseous models of the Sun, a 100 km thick transition zone has been hypothesized to exist wherein temperatures increase dramatically from 104–106 K. Such extreme transitional temperatures are not reasonable given the trivial physical scale of the proposed transition zone, a region adopted to account for the ultra-violet emission lines of ions such as C IV, O IV, and Si IV. In this work, it will be argued that the transition zone does not exist. Rather, the intermediate ionization states observed in the solar atmosphere should be viewed as the result of the simultaneous transfer of protons and electrons onto condensed hydrogen structures, CHS. Line emissions from ions such as C IV, O IV, and Si IV are likely to be the result of condensation reactions, manifesting the involvement of species such as CH4, SiH4, H3O+ in the synthesis of CHS in the chromosphere. In addition, given the presence of a true solar surface at the level of the photosphere in the liquid metallic hydrogen model

Joint Soviet--French investigations of the solar corona. 2. Photometry of solar corona of June 30, 1973

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vsekhsvyatskii, S.; Dzyubenko, N.; Ivanchuk, V.; Popov, O.; Rubo, G.; Koutchmy, S.; Koutchmy, O.; Stellmacher, G.

1981-01-01

The results are presented on a study of eclipse negative obtained on June 30, 1973, in Africa in the program of the Soviet--French experiment ''Dynamics of the White Corona'' by expeditions of Kiev University (Atar, Mauritania) and the Paris Astropysical Institute (Moussoro, Chad). The distributions of the total brightness of the corona out to rapprox. =4.5 R/sub sun/ and of its K and F components for the E and N directions are found with high accuracy on the basis of a new method of photometry and colorimetry using the images of stars down to 8.5/sup m/ as photometric standards. Neither reddening nor flattening of the dusty F component were detected at r -6 E/sub sun/

SIXTEEN YEARS OF ULYSSES INTERSTELLAR DUST MEASUREMENTS IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM. II. FLUCTUATIONS IN THE DUST FLOW FROM THE DATA

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Strub, Peter; Krüger, Harald; Sterken, Veerle J.

2015-01-01

The Ulysses spacecraft provided the first opportunity to identify and study interstellar dust (ISD) in situ in the solar system between 1992 and 2007. Here we present the first comprehensive analysis of the ISD component in the entire Ulysses dust data set. We analyzed several parameters of the ISD flow in a time-resolved fashion: flux, flow direction, mass index, and flow width. The general picture is in agreement with a time-dependent focusing/defocusing of the charged dust particles due to long-term variations of the solar magnetic field throughout a solar magnetic cycle of 22 years. In addition, we confirm a shift in dust direction of 50° ± 7° in 2005, along with a steep, size-dependent increase in flux by a factor of 4 within 8 months. To date, this is difficult to interpret and has to be examined in more detail by new dynamical simulations. This work is part of a series of three papers. This paper concentrates on the time-dependent flux and direction of the ISD. In a companion paper we analyze the overall mass distribution of the ISD measured by Ulysses, and a third paper discusses the results of modeling the flow of the ISD as seen by Ulysses

SIXTEEN YEARS OF ULYSSES INTERSTELLAR DUST MEASUREMENTS IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM. II. FLUCTUATIONS IN THE DUST FLOW FROM THE DATA

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Strub, Peter; Krüger, Harald [Max-Planck-Institut für Sonnensystemforschung, Justus-von-Liebig-Weg 3, D-37077 Göttingen (Germany); Sterken, Veerle J., E-mail: krueger@mps.mpg.de [International Space Science Institute, Hallerstrasse 6, 3012 Bern (Switzerland)

2015-10-20

The Ulysses spacecraft provided the first opportunity to identify and study interstellar dust (ISD) in situ in the solar system between 1992 and 2007. Here we present the first comprehensive analysis of the ISD component in the entire Ulysses dust data set. We analyzed several parameters of the ISD flow in a time-resolved fashion: flux, flow direction, mass index, and flow width. The general picture is in agreement with a time-dependent focusing/defocusing of the charged dust particles due to long-term variations of the solar magnetic field throughout a solar magnetic cycle of 22 years. In addition, we confirm a shift in dust direction of 50° ± 7° in 2005, along with a steep, size-dependent increase in flux by a factor of 4 within 8 months. To date, this is difficult to interpret and has to be examined in more detail by new dynamical simulations. This work is part of a series of three papers. This paper concentrates on the time-dependent flux and direction of the ISD. In a companion paper we analyze the overall mass distribution of the ISD measured by Ulysses, and a third paper discusses the results of modeling the flow of the ISD as seen by Ulysses.

Meteorites and cosmic dust: Interstellar heritage and nebular processes in the early solar system

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Engrand C.

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Small solar system bodies like asteroids and comets have escaped planetary accretion. They are the oldest and best preserved witnesses of the formation of the solar system. Samples of these celestial bodies fall on Earth as meteorites and interplanetary dust. The STARDUST mission also recently returned to Earth cometary dust from comet 81P/Wild 2, a Jupiter Family Comet (JFC. These samples provide unique insights on the physico-chemical conditions and early processes of the solar system. They also contain some minute amount of materials inherited from the local interstellar medium that have survived the accretion processes in the solar system.

Effects of dust accumulation and module cleaning on performance ratio of solar rooftop system and solar power plants

Science.gov (United States)

Sakarapunthip, Nattakarn; Chenvidhya, Dhirayut; Chuangchote, Surawut; Kirtikara, Krissanapong; Chenvidhya, Tanokkorn; Onreabroy, Wandee

2017-08-01

Thailand is an agricultural country, with rice, sugar, and cassava as the major export products. Production of rice, sugar cane, and cassava entails agricultural activities that give rise to significant airborne dusts. In this work, five photovoltaic (PV) units (one solar rooftop and four power plants) are selected for the study. From the study of dust accumulation on glass surface located near rice farms, it was found that opaque areas due to the deposition of dust are 11-14% after 1-2-week exposure. As a consequence, PV system performance is affected. Performance ratio was calculated to determine these effects. Overall results reveal that during the dry and hot seasons, dust deposition significantly affects the performance ratio. The performance ratio reduces by 1.6-3% for 1-month dust accumulation and reduces by 6-8% for 2-month dust accumulation. After cleaning the dust accumulated, the performance ratio greatly increases, resulting in the increase in the energy output by 10%. This increase provides economic and cost benefits of PV cleaning. The performance ratio is not significantly changed during the rainy season, which PV modules are relatively clean as the dust is washed away by rain. It was also found that most of the solar power plants in Thailand still rely on manual cleaning of PV modules with washing water followed by wiping. However, only one power plant, employs a machine for cleaning, resulting in lower cleaning costs.

EVOLUTION OF THE GLOBAL TEMPERATURE STRUCTURE OF THE SOLAR CORONA DURING THE MINIMUM BETWEEN SOLAR CYCLES 23 AND 24

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nuevo, Federico A.; Vasquez, Alberto M. [Instituto de Astronomia y Fisica del Espacio (CONICET-UBA) and FCEN (UBA), CC 67-Suc 28, Ciudad de Buenos Aires (Argentina); Huang Zhenguang; Frazin, Richard; Manchester, Ward B. IV; Jin Meng [Department of Atmospheric, Oceanic and Space Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109 (United States)

2013-08-10

The combination of differential emission measure tomography with extrapolation of the photospheric magnetic field allows determination of the electron density and electron temperature along individual magnetic field lines. This is especially useful in quiet-Sun (QS) plasmas where individual loops cannot otherwise be identified. In Paper I, this approach was applied to study QS plasmas during Carrington rotation (CR) 2077 at the minimum between solar cycles (SCs) 23 and 24. In that work, two types of QS coronal loops were identified: ''up'' loops in which the temperature increases with height, and ''down'' loops in which the temperature decreases with height. While the first ones were expected, the latter ones were a surprise and, furthermore, were found to be ubiquitous in the low-latitude corona. In the present work, we extend the analysis to 11 CRs around the last solar minimum. We found that the ''down'' population, always located at low latitudes, was maximum at the time when the sunspot number was minimum, and the number of down loops systematically increased during the declining phase of SC-23 and diminished during the rising phase of SC-24. ''Down'' loops are found to have systematically larger values of {beta} than do ''up'' loops. These discoveries are interpreted in terms of excitation of Alfven waves in the photosphere, and mode conversion and damping in the low corona.

Interstellar and Solar Nebula Materials in Cometary Dust

Science.gov (United States)

Messenger, Scott; Nakamura-Messenger, Keiko; Keller, Lindsay; Nguyen, Ann; Clemett, Simon

2017-01-01

Laboratory studies of cometary dust collected in the stratosphere and returned from comet 81P/Wild 2 by the Stardust spacecraft have revealed ancient interstellar grains and molecular cloud organic matter that record a range of astrophysical processes and the first steps of planetary formation. Presolar materials are rarer meteorites owing to high temperature processing in the solar nebula and hydrothermal alteration on their asteroidal parent bodies. The greater preservation of presolar materials in comets is attributed to their low accretion temperatures and limited planetary processing. Yet, comets also contain a large complement of high temperature materials from the inner Solar System. Owing to the limited and biased sampling of comets to date, the proportions of interstellar and Solar System materials within them remains highly uncertain. Interstellar materials are identified by coordinated isotopic, mineralogical, and chemical measurements at the scale of individual grains. Chondritic porous interplanetary dust particles (CP IDPs) that likely derive from comets are made up of 0.1 - 10 micron-sized silicates, Fe-Ni-sulfides, oxides, and other phases bound by organic material. As much as 1% of the silicates are interstellar grains that have exotic isotopic compositions imparted by nucleosynthetic processes in their parent stars. Crystalline silicates in CP IDPs dominantly have normal isotopic compositions and probably formed in the Solar System. 81P samples include isotopically normal refractory minerals that resemble Ca-Al rich inclusions and chondrules common in meteorites. The origins of sub-micron amorphous silicates in IDPs are not certain, but at least a few % of them are interstellar grains. The remainder have isotopic compositions consistent with Solar System origins and elemental compositions that are inconsistent with interstellar grain properties, thus favoring formation in the solar nebula [4]. The organic component in comets and primitive

High-cadence observations of CME initiation and plasma dynamics in the corona with TESIS on board CORONAS-Photon

Science.gov (United States)

Bogachev, Sergey; Kuzin, Sergey; Zhitnik, I. A.; Bugaenko, O. I.; Goncharov, A. L.; Ignatyev, A. P.; Krutov, V. V.; Lomkova, V. M.; Mitrofanov, A. V.; Nasonkina, T. P.; Oparin, S. N.; Petzov, A. A.; Shestov, S. V.; Slemzin, V. A.; Soloviev, V. A.; Suhodrev, N. K.; Shergina, T. A.

The TESIS is an ensemble of space instruments designed in Lebedev Institute of Russian Academy of Sciences for spectroscopic and imaging investigation of the Sun in EUV and soft X-ray spectral range with high spatial, temporal and spectral resolution. From 2009 January, when TESIS was launched onboard the Coronas-Photon satellite, it provided about 200 000 new images and spectra of the Sun, obtained during one of the deepest solar minimum in last century. Because of the wide field of view (4 solar radii) and high sensitivity, TESIS provided high-quality data on the origin and dynamics of eruptive prominences and CMEs in the low and intermediate solar corona. TESIS is also the first EUV instrument which provided high-cadence observations of coronal bright points and solar spicules with temporal resolution of a few seconds. We present first results of TESIS observations and discuss them from a scientific point of view.

FORMATION AND RECONNECTION OF THREE-DIMENSIONAL CURRENT SHEETS IN THE SOLAR CORONA

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Edmondson, J. K.; Antiochos, S. K.; DeVore, C. R.; Zurbuchen, T. H.

2010-01-01

Current-sheet formation and magnetic reconnection are believed to be the basic physical processes responsible for much of the activity observed in astrophysical plasmas, such as the Sun's corona. We investigate these processes for a magnetic configuration consisting of a uniform background field and an embedded line dipole, a topology that is expected to be ubiquitous in the corona. This magnetic system is driven by a uniform horizontal flow applied at the line-tied photosphere. Although both the initial field and the driver are translationally symmetric, the resulting evolution is calculated using a fully three-dimensional (3D) magnetohydrodynamic simulation with adaptive mesh refinement that resolves the current sheet and reconnection dynamics in detail. The advantage of our approach is that it allows us to directly apply the vast body of knowledge gained from the many studies of two-dimensional (2D) reconnection to the fully 3D case. We find that a current sheet forms in close analogy to the classic Syrovatskii 2D mechanism, but the resulting evolution is different than expected. The current sheet is globally stable, showing no evidence for a disruption or a secondary instability even for aspect ratios as high as 80:1. The global evolution generally follows the standard Sweet-Parker 2D reconnection model except for an accelerated reconnection rate at a very thin current sheet, due to the tearing instability and the formation of magnetic islands. An interesting conclusion is that despite the formation of fully 3D structures at small scales, the system remains close to 2D at global scales. We discuss the implications of our results for observations of the solar corona.

Laboratory Experiments to Simulate and Investigate the Physics Underlying the Dynamics of Merging Solar Corona Structures

Science.gov (United States)

2016-06-05

efficiently by using current density rather than electric field as the fundamental wave quantity. 3. Moser & Bellan (2012) showed that the effective gravity...there is effectively a magnetic bubble. This is relevant to interplanetary magnetic clouds spawned by the eruptions of solar corona structures. 10...release. Haw, Magnus , & Bellan, Paul. 2015. 1D fast coded aperture camera. Review of Scientific Instruments, 86(4). 043506. Moser, Auna L., & Bellan

WHAT IS THE SHELL AROUND R CORONAE BOREALIS?

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Montiel, Edward J.; Clayton, Geoffrey C.; Marcello, Dominic C. [Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803 (United States); Lockman, Felix J., E-mail: emonti2@lsu.edu, E-mail: gclayton@fenway.phys.lsu.edu, E-mail: dmarce1@tigers.lsu.edu, E-mail: jlockman@nrao.edu [National Radio Astronomy Observatory, Green Bank, WV 24944 (United States)

2015-07-15

The hydrogen-deficient, carbon-rich R Coronae Borealis (RCB) stars are known for being prolific producers of dust which causes their large iconic declines in brightness. Several RCB stars, including R Coronae Borealis (R CrB), itself, have large extended dust shells seen in the far-infrared. The origin of these shells is uncertain but they may give us clues to the evolution of the RCB stars. The shells could form in three possible ways. (1) They are fossil Planetary Nebula (PN) shells, which would exist if RCB stars are the result of a final, helium-shell flash, (2) they are material left over from a white-dwarf (WD) merger event which formed the RCB stars, or (3) they are material lost from the star during the RCB phase. Arecibo 21 cm observations establish an upper limit on the column density of H I in the R CrB shell implying a maximum shell mass of ≲0.3 M{sub ☉}. A low-mass fossil PN shell is still a possible source of the shell although it may not contain enough dust. The mass of gas lost during a WD merger event will not condense enough dust to produce the observed shell, assuming a reasonable gas-to-dust ratio. The third scenario where the shell around R CrB has been produced during the star’s RCB phase seems most likely to produce the observed mass of dust and the observed size of the shell. But this means that R CrB has been in its RCB phase for ∼10{sup 4} years.

Current Sheets in the Corona and the Complexity of Slow Wind

Science.gov (United States)

Antiochos, Spiro

2010-01-01

The origin of the slow solar wind has long been one of the most important problems in solar/heliospheric physics. Two observational constraints make this problem especially challenging. First, the slow wind has the composition of the closed-field corona, unlike the fast wind that originates on open field lines. Second, the slow wind has substantial angular extent, of order 30 degrees, which is much larger than the widths observed for streamer stalks or the widths expected theoretically for a dynamic heliospheric current sheet. We propose that the slow wind originates from an intricate network of narrow (possibly singular) open-field corridors that emanate from the polar coronal hole regions. Using topological arguments, we show that these corridors must be ubiquitous in the solar corona. The total solar eclipse in August 2008, near the lowest point of cycle 23 affords an ideal opportunity to test this theory by using the ultra-high resolution Predictive Science's (PSI) eclipse model for the corona and wind. Analysis of the PSI eclipse model demonstrates that the extent and scales of the open-field corridors can account for both the angular width of the slow wind and its closed-field composition. We discuss the implications of our slow wind theory for the structure of the corona and heliosphere at solar minimum and describe further observational and theoretical tests.

TIME-DEPENDENT TURBULENT HEATING OF OPEN FLUX TUBES IN THE CHROMOSPHERE, CORONA, AND SOLAR WIND

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Woolsey, L. N.; Cranmer, S. R., E-mail: lwoolsey@cfa.harvard.edu [Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden St., Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States)

2015-10-01

We investigate several key questions of plasma heating in open-field regions of the corona that connect to the solar wind. We present results for a model of Alfvén-wave-driven turbulence for three typical open magnetic field structures: a polar coronal hole, an open flux tube neighboring an equatorial streamer, and an open flux tube near a strong-field active region. We compare time-steady, one-dimensional turbulent heating models against fully time-dependent three-dimensional reduced-magnetohydrodynamic modeling of BRAID. We find that the time-steady results agree well with time-averaged results from BRAID. The time dependence allows us to investigate the variability of the magnetic fluctuations and of the heating in the corona. The high-frequency tail of the power spectrum of fluctuations forms a power law whose exponent varies with height, and we discuss the possible physical explanation for this behavior. The variability in the heating rate is bursty and nanoflare-like in nature, and we analyze the amount of energy lost via dissipative heating in transient events throughout the simulation. The average energy in these events is 10{sup 21.91} erg, within the “picoflare” range, and many events reach classical “nanoflare” energies. We also estimated the multithermal distribution of temperatures that would result from the heating-rate variability, and found good agreement with observed widths of coronal differential emission measure distributions. The results of the modeling presented in this paper provide compelling evidence that turbulent heating in the solar atmosphere by Alfvén waves accelerates the solar wind in open flux tubes.

Hydrocarbons on Saturns Satellites: Relationship to Interstellar Dust and the Solar Nebula

Science.gov (United States)

Cruikshank, D. P.

2012-01-01

To understand the origin and evolution of our Solar System, and the basic components that led to life on Earth, we study interstellar and planetary spectroscopic signatures. The possible relationship of organic material detected in carbonaceous meteorites, interplanetary dust particles (IDPs), comets and the interstellar medium have been the source of speculation over the years as the composition and processes that governed the early solar nebula have been explored to understand the extent to which primitive material survived or became processed. The Cassini VIMS has provided new data relevant to this problem. Three of Saturn's satellites, Phoebe, Iapetus, and Hyperion, are found to have aromatic and aliphatic hydrocarbons on their surfaces. The aromatic hydrocarbon signature (C-H stretching mode at 3.28 micrometers) is proportionally significantly stronger (relative to the aliphatic bands) than that seen in other Solar System bodies (e.g., comets) and materials (Stardust samples, IDPs, meteorites) and the distinctive sub-features of the 3.4 micrometer aliphatic band (CH2 and CH3 groups) are reminiscent of those widely detected throughout the diffuse ISM. Phoebe may be a captured object that originated in the region beyond the present orbit of Neptune, where the solar nebula contained a large fraction of original interstellar ice and dust that was less processed than material closer to the Sun. Debris from Phoebe now resident on Iapetus and Hyperion, as well as o Phoebe itself, thus presents a unique blend of hydrocarbons, amenable to comparisons with interstellar hydrocarbons and other Solar System materials. The dust ring surrounding Saturn, in which Phoebe is embedded, probably originated from a collision with Phoebe. Dust ring particles are the likely source of the organic-bearing materials, and perhaps the recently identified small particles of Fe detected on Saturn's satellites. Lab measurements of the absolute band strengths of representative aliphatic and

High Performance Computing Application: Solar Dynamo Model Project II, Corona and Heliosphere Component Initialization, Integration and Validation

Science.gov (United States)

2015-06-24

distribution at this level replaced a constant temperature assumption, and density was calculated locally through a balance of radiation loss, thermal...G. References Altschuler, M. D., and G. Newkirk, Jr. (1969), Magnetic fields and the structure of the solar corona. I: Methods of calculating ...Weather, 11, 17-33, doi:10.1029/2012SW000853. Nakamizo, A., T. Tanaka, Y. Kubo , S. Kamei, H. Shimazu, and H. Shinagawa (2009), Development of the

Ground-based observation of emission lines from the corona of a red-dwarf star.

Science.gov (United States)

Schmitt, J H; Wichmann, R

2001-08-02

All 'solar-like' stars are surrounded by coronae, which contain magnetically confined plasma at temperatures above 106 K. (Until now, only the Sun's corona could be observed in the optical-as a shimmering envelope during a total solar eclipse.) As the underlying stellar 'surfaces'-the photospheres-are much cooler, some non-radiative process must be responsible for heating the coronae. The heating mechanism is generally thought to be magnetic in origin, but is not yet understood even for the case of the Sun. Ultraviolet emission lines first led to the discovery of the enormous temperature of the Sun's corona, but thermal emission from the coronae of other stars has hitherto been detectable only from space, at X-ray wavelengths. Here we report the detection of emission from highly ionized iron (Fe XIII at 3,388.1 A) in the corona of the red-dwarf star CN Leonis, using a ground-based telescope. The X-ray flux inferred from our data is consistent with previously measured X-ray fluxes, and the non-thermal line width of 18.4 km s-1 indicates great similarities between solar and stellar coronal heating mechanisms. The accessibility and spectral resolution (45,000) of the ground-based instrument are much better than those of X-ray satellites, so a new window to the study of stellar coronae has been opened.

Synthetic spectral analysis of a kinetic model for slow-magnetosonic waves in solar corona

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ruan, Wenzhi; He, Jiansen; Tu, Chuanyi; Wang, Linghua [School of Earth and Space Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China, E-mail: jshept@gmail.com (China); Zhang, Lei [State Key Laboratory of Space Weather, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190 (China); Vocks, Christian [Leibniz-Institut für Astrophysik Potsdam, 14482, Potsdam (Germany); Marsch, Eckart [Institute for Experimental and Applied Physics, Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, 24118 Kiel (Germany); Peter, Hardi [Max Plank Institut für Sonnensystemforschung, Justus-von-Liebig-Weg 3, 37077 Göttingen (Germany)

2016-03-25

We propose a kinetic model of slow-magnetosonic waves to explain various observational features associated with the propagating intensity disturbances (PIDs) occurring in the solar corona. The characteristics of slow mode waves, e.g, inphase oscillations of density, velocity, and thermal speed, are reproduced in this kinetic model. Moreover, the red-blue (R-B) asymmetry of the velocity distribution as self-consistently generated in the model is found to be contributed from the beam component, as a result of the competition between Landau resonance and Coulomb collisions. Furthermore, we synthesize the spectral lines and make the spectral analysis, based on the kinetic simulation data of the flux tube plasmas and the hypothesis of the surrounding background plasmas. It is found that the fluctuations of parameters of the synthetic spectral lines are basically consistent with the observations: (1) the line intensity, Doppler shift, and line width are fluctuating in phase; (2) the R-B asymmetry usually oscillate out of phase with the former three parameters; (3) the blueward asymmetry is more evident than the redward asymmetry in the R-B fluctuations. The oscillations of line parameters become weakened for the case with denser surrounding background plasmas. Similar to the observations, there is no doubled-frequency oscillation of the line width for the case with flux-tube plasmas flowing bulkly upward among the static background plasmas. Therefore, we suggest that the “wave + beam flow” kinetic model may be a viable interpretation for the PIDs observed in the solar corona.

Kuiper Belt Dust Grains as a Source of Interplanetary Dust Particles

Science.gov (United States)

Liou, Jer-Chyi; Zook, Herbert A.; Dermott, Stanley F.

1996-01-01

The recent discovery of the so-called Kuiper belt objects has prompted the idea that these objects produce dust grains that may contribute significantly to the interplanetary dust population. In this paper, the orbital evolution of dust grains, of diameters 1 to 9 microns, that originate in the region of the Kuiper belt is studied by means of direct numerical integration. Gravitational forces of the Sun and planets, solar radiation pressure, as well as Poynting-Robertson drag and solar wind drag are included. The interactions between charged dust grains and solar magnetic field are not considered in the model. Because of the effects of drag forces, small dust grains will spiral toward the Sun once they are released from their large parent bodies. This motion leads dust grains to pass by planets as well as encounter numerous mean motion resonances associated with planets. Our results show that about 80% of the Kuiper belt grains are ejected from the Solar System by the giant planets, while the remaining 20% of the grains evolve all the way to the Sun. Surprisingly, the latter dust grains have small orbital eccentricities and inclinations when they cross the orbit of the Earth. This makes them behave more like asteroidal than cometary-type dust particles. This also enhances their chances of being captured by the Earth and makes them a possible source of the collected interplanetary dust particles; in particular, they represent a possible source that brings primitive/organic materials from the outer Solar System to the Earth. When collisions with interstellar dust grains are considered, however, Kuiper belt dust grains around 9 microns appear likely to be collisionally shattered before they can evolve toward the inner part of the Solar System. The collision destruction can be applied to Kuiper belt grains up to about 50 microns. Therefore, Kuiper belt dust grains within this range may not be a significant part of the interplanetary dust complex in the inner Solar

Multi-Spacecraft 3D differential emission measure tomography of the solar corona: STEREO results.

Science.gov (United States)

Vásquez, A. M.; Frazin, R. A.

We have recently developed a novel technique (called DEMT) for the em- pirical determination of the three-dimensional (3D) distribution of the so- lar corona differential emission measure through multi-spacecraft solar ro- tational tomography of extreme-ultaviolet (EUV) image time series (like those provided by EIT/SOHO and EUVI/STEREO). The technique allows, for the first time, to develop global 3D empirical maps of the coronal elec- tron temperature and density, in the height range 1.0 to 1.25 RS . DEMT constitutes a simple and powerful 3D analysis tool that obviates the need for structure specific modeling.

Foehn-induced effects on local dust pollution, frontal clouds and solar radiation in the Dead Sea valley

Science.gov (United States)

Kishcha, Pavel; Starobinets, Boris; Savir, Amit; Alpert, Pinhas; Kaplan, Michael

2018-06-01

Despite the long history of investigation of foehn phenomena, there are few studies of the influence of foehn winds on air pollution and none in the Dead Sea valley. For the first time the foehn phenomenon and its effects on local dust pollution, frontal cloudiness and surface solar radiation were analyzed in the Dead Sea valley, as it occurred on 22 March 2013. This was carried out using both numerical simulations and observations. The foehn winds intensified local dust emissions, while the foehn-induced temperature inversion trapped dust particles beneath this inversion. These two factors caused extreme surface dust concentration in the western Dead Sea valley. The dust pollution was transported by west winds eastward, to the central Dead Sea valley, where the speed of these winds sharply decreased. The transported dust was captured by the ascending airflow contributing to the maximum aerosol optical depth (AOD) over the central Dead Sea valley. On the day under study, the maximum surface dust concentration did not coincide with the maximum AOD: this being one of the specific effects of the foehn phenomenon on dust pollution in the Dead Sea valley. Radar data showed a passage of frontal cloudiness through the area of the Dead Sea valley leading to a sharp drop in noon solar radiation. The descending airflow over the downwind side of the Judean Mountains led to the formation of a cloud-free band followed by only the partial recovery of solar radiation because of the extreme dust pollution caused by foehn winds.

Modeling the Interaction of Mineral Dust with Solar Radiation: Spherical versus Non-spherical Particles

Science.gov (United States)

Hoshyaripour, A.; Vogel, B.; Vogel, H.

2017-12-01

Mineral dust, emitted from arid and semi-arid regions, is the most dominant atmospheric aerosol by mass. Beside detrimental effect on air quality, airborne dust also influences the atmospheric radiation by absorbing and scattering solar and terrestrial radiation. As a result, while the long-term radiative impacts of dust are important for climate, the short-term effects are significant for the photovoltaic energy production. Therefore, it is a vital requirement to accurately forecast the effects of dust on energy budget of the atmosphere and surface. To this end, a major issue is the fact that dust particles are non-spherical. Thus, the optical properties of such particles cannot be calculated precisely using the conventional methods like Mie theory that are often used in climate and numerical weather forecast models. In this study, T-Matrix method is employed, which is able to treat the non-sphericity of particles. Dust particles are assumed to be prolate spheroids with aspect ratio of 1.5 distributed in three lognormal modes. The wavelength-dependent refractive indices of dust are used in T-Matrix algorithm to calculate the extinction coefficient, single scattering albedo, asymmetry parameter and backscattering ratio at different wavelengths. These parameters are then implemented in ICON-ART model (ICOsahedral Nonhydrostatic model with Aerosols and Reactive Trace gases) to conduct a global simulation with 80 km horizontal resolution and 90 vertical levels. April 2014 is selected as the simulation period during which North African dust plumes reached central Europe and Germany. Results show that treatment of non-sphericity reduces the dust AOD in the range of 10 to 30%/. The impacts on diffuse and direct radiation at global, regional and local scales show strong dependency on the size distribution of the airborne dust. The implications for modeling and remote sensing the dust impacts on solar energy are also discussed.

LAD Dissertation Prize: Laboratory Identification of Magnetohydrodynamic Eruption Criteria in the Solar Corona

Science.gov (United States)

Myers, Clayton E.; Yamada, Masaaki; Ji, Hantao

2018-06-01

Ideal magnetohydrodynamic instabilities such as the kink and torus instabilities are believed to play an important role in driving storage-and-release eruptions in the solar corona. These instabilities act on long-lived, arched magnetic flux ropes that are line-tied to the solar surface. In spite of numerous observational and computational studies, the conditions under which these instabilities produce an eruption remain a subject of intense debate. In this paper, we use a line-tied, arched flux rope experiment to systematically study storage-and-release eruption mechanisms in the laboratory [1]. Thin in situ magnetic probes facilitate the study of both the equilibrium and the stability of these laboratory flux ropes. In particular, they permit the direct measurement of magnetic (J×B) forces, both in equilibrium [2] and during dynamic events [3, 4]. Regarding stability and eruptions, two major results are reported: First, a new stability regime is identified where torus-unstable flux ropes fail to erupt. In this ‘failed torus’ regime, the flux rope is torus-unstable but kink-stable. Under these conditions, a dynamic toroidal field tension force surges in magnitude and prevents the flux rope from erupting [3, 4]. This dynamic tension force, which is missing from existing eruption models, is generated by magnetic self-organization events within the line-tied flux rope. Second, a clear torus instability threshold is observed in the kink-unstable regime. This latter result, which is consistent with existing theoretical [5] and numerical [6] results, verifies the key role of the torus instability in driving flux rope eruptions in the solar corona.[1] C. E. Myers, Ph.D. Thesis, Princeton University (2015)[2] C. E. Myers et al., Phys. Plasmas 23, 112102 (2016)[3] C. E. Myers et al., Nature 528, 526 (2015)[4] C. E. Myers et al., Plasma Phys. Control. Fusion 59, 014048 (2017)[5] O. Olmedo & J. Zhang, Astrophys. J. 718, 433 (2010)[6] T. Török & B. Kliem, Astrophys. J

Are All Flare Ribbons Simply Connected to the Corona?

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Judge, Philip G. [High Altitude Observatory, National Center for Atmospheric Research, P.O. Box 3000, Boulder, CO 80307-3000 (United States); Paraschiv, Alin; Lacatus, Daniela; Donea, Alina [Monash Center for Astrophysics, School of Mathematical Science, Monash University, Victoria 3800 (Australia); Lindsey, Charlie, E-mail: judge@ucar.edu, E-mail: alina.donea@monash.edu, E-mail: alin.paraschiv@monash.edu, E-mail: daniela.lacatus@monash.edu, E-mail: indsey@cora.nwra.com [Northwest Research Associates, 3380 Mitchell Lane, Boulder, CO 80301 (United States)

2017-04-01

We consider the observational basis for the belief that flare ribbons in the chromosphere result from energy transport from the overlying corona. We study ribbons of small flares using magnetic and intensity data from the Hinode , Solar Dynamics Observatory , and IRIS missions. While most ribbons appear connected to the corona and overlie regions of significant vertical magnetic field, we examine one ribbon with no clear evidence for such connections. Evolving horizontal magnetic fields seen with Hinode suggest that reconnection with preexisting fields below the corona can explain the data. The identification of just one, albeit small, ribbon, with no apparent connection to the corona, leads us to conclude that at least two mechanisms are responsible for the heating that leads to flare ribbon emission.

Detection of nanoflare-heated plasma in the solar corona by the FOXSI-2 sounding rocket

Science.gov (United States)

Ishikawa, Shin-nosuke; Glesener, Lindsay; Krucker, Säm; Christe, Steven; Buitrago-Casas, Juan Camilo; Narukage, Noriyuki; Vievering, Juliana

2017-11-01

The processes that heat the solar and stellar coronae to several million kelvins, compared with the much cooler photosphere (5,800 K for the Sun), are still not well known1. One proposed mechanism is heating via a large number of small, unresolved, impulsive heating events called nanoflares2. Each event would heat and cool quickly, and the average effect would be a broad range of temperatures including a small amount of extremely hot plasma. However, detecting these faint, hot traces in the presence of brighter, cooler emission is observationally challenging. Here we present hard X-ray data from the second flight of the Focusing Optics X-ray Solar Imager (FOXSI-2), which detected emission above 7 keV from an active region of the Sun with no obvious individual X-ray flare emission. Through differential emission measure computations, we ascribe this emission to plasma heated above 10 MK, providing evidence for the existence of solar nanoflares. The quantitative evaluation of the hot plasma strongly constrains the coronal heating models.

Solar Stereoscopy and Tomography

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Markus J. Aschwanden

2011-10-01

Full Text Available We review stereoscopic and tomographic methods used in the solar corona, including ground-based and space-based measurements, using solar rotation or multiple spacecraft vantage points, in particular from the STEREO mission during 2007--2010. Stereoscopic and tomographic observations in the solar corona include large-scale structures, streamers, active regions, coronal loops, loop oscillations, acoustic waves in loops, erupting filaments and prominences, bright points, jets, plumes, flares, CME source regions, and CME-triggered global coronal waves. Applications in the solar interior (helioseismic tomography and reconstruction and tracking of CMEs from the outer corona and into the heliosphere (interplanetary CMEs are not included.

Catalysis by Dust Grains in the Solar Nebula

Science.gov (United States)

Kress, Monika E.; Tielens, Alexander G. G. M.

1996-01-01

In order to determine whether grain-catalyzed reactions played an important role in the chemistry of the solar nebula, we have applied our time-dependent model of methane formation via Fischer-Tropsch catalysis to pressures from 10(exp -5) to 1 bar and temperatures from 450 to 650 K. Under these physical conditions, the reaction 3H2 + CO yields CH4 + H2O is readily catalyzed by an iron or nickel surface, whereas the same reaction is kinetically inhibited in the gas phase. Our model results indicate that under certain nebular conditions, conversion of CO to methane could be extremely efficient in the presence of iron-nickel dust grains over timescales very short compared to the lifetime of the solar nebula.

A Monte Carlo model for the exposure history of lunar dust grains in the ancient solar wind

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Borg, J.; Comstock, G.M.; Langevin, Y.; Maurette, M.; Jouffrey, B.; Jouret, C.

1976-01-01

The theoretical motion of the individual dust grains in the lunar regolith is analyzed by using a Monte Carlo statistical code where the variables are the mass and speed distribution of meteorites at the lunar surface and the geometrical shape of impact craters. From these computations the detailed irradiation history of the grains in the ancient solar wind is traced back, over a period of 4 billion years, as a function of the grain-size. Then by combining this irradiation scheme with the results of solar wind simulation experiments, the time and depth dependent accumulation of solar wind effects in the theoretical grains (solar wind maturation) is inferred. Finally, the validity of these predictions is tentatively checked by discussing a variety of physical and chemical solar wind effects which are registered in the surface layers of lunar dust grains. Therefore these studies give a tentative scenario for the 'maturation' of the lunar regolith with respect to solar wind effects, but they also reveal useful guidelines to deduce meaningful information from such effects. In particular, they suggest a 'lunar skin' sampling technique for extracting dust grains in lunar core tubes which could help in deciphering the past activity of the ancient solar wind over a time scale of several billion years. (Auth.)

Atomic Layer Deposition Re Ective Coatings For Future Astronomical Space Telescopes And The Solar Corona Viewed Through The Minxss (Miniature X-Ray Solar Spectrometer) Cubesats

Science.gov (United States)

Moore, Christopher Samuel

2017-11-01

Advances in technology and instrumentation open new windows for observing astrophysical objects. The first half of my dissertation involves the development of atomic layer deposition (ALD) coatings to create high reflectivity UV mirrors for future satellite astronomical telescopes. Aluminum (Al) has intrinsic reflectance greater than 80% from 90 – 2,000 nm, but develops a native aluminum oxide (Al2O3) layer upon exposure to air that readily absorbs light below 250 nm. Thus, Al based UV mirrors must be protected by a transmissive overcoat. Traditionally, metal-fluoride overcoats such as MgF2 and LiF are used to mitigate oxidation but with caveats. We utilize a new metal fluoride (AlF3) to protect Al mirrors deposited by ALD. ALD allows for precise thickness control, conformal and near stoichiometric thin films. We prove that depositing ultra-thin ( 3 nm) ALD ALF3 to protect Al mirrors after removing the native oxide layer via atomic layer etching (ALE) enhances the reflectance near 90 nm from 5% to 30%.X-ray detector technology with high readout rates are necessary for the relatively bright Sun, particularly during large flares. The hot plasma in the solar corona generates X-rays, which yield information on the physical conditions of the plasma. The second half of my dissertation includes detector testing, characterization and solar science with the Miniature X-ray Solar Spectrometer (MinXSS) CubeSats. The MinXSS CubeSats employ Silicon Drift Diode (SDD) detectors called X123, which generate full sun spectrally resolved ( 0.15 FWHM at 5.9 keV) measurements of the sparsely measured, 0.5 – 12 keV range. The absolute radiometric calibration of the MinXSS instrument suite was performed at the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) Synchrotron Ultraviolet Radiation Facility (SURF) and spectral resolution determined from radioactive sources. I used MinXSS along with data from the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES), Reuven Ramaty

Recent perspectives in solar physics - Elemental composition, coronal structure and magnetic fields, solar activity

Science.gov (United States)

Newkirk, G., Jr.

1975-01-01

Elemental abundances in the solar corona are studied. Abundances in the corona, solar wind and solar cosmic rays are compared to those in the photosphere. The variation in silicon and iron abundance in the solar wind as compared to helium is studied. The coronal small and large scale structure is investigated, emphasizing magnetic field activity and examining cosmic ray generation mechanisms. The corona is observed in the X-ray and EUV regions. The nature of coronal transients is discussed with emphasis on solar-wind modulation of galactic cosmic rays. A schematic plan view of the interplanetary magnetic field during sunspot minimum is given showing the presence of magnetic bubbles and their concentration in the region around 4-5 AU by a fast solar wind stream.

Constraints on Nonlinear and Stochastic Growth Theories for Type 3 Solar Radio Bursts from the Corona to 1 AU

Science.gov (United States)

Cairns, Iver H.; Robinson, P. A.

1998-01-01

Existing, competing theories for coronal and interplanetary type III solar radio bursts appeal to one or more of modulational instability, electrostatic (ES) decay processes, or stochastic growth physics to preserve the electron beam, limit the levels of Langmuir-like waves driven by the beam, and produce wave spectra capable of coupling nonlinearly to generate the observed radio emission. Theoretical constraints exist on the wavenumbers and relative sizes of the wave bandwidth and nonlinear growth rate for which Langmuir waves are subject to modulational instability and the parametric and random phase versions of ES decay. A constraint also exists on whether stochastic growth theory (SGT) is appropriate. These constraints are evaluated here using the beam, plasma, and wave properties (1) observed in specific interplanetary type III sources, (2) predicted nominally for the corona, and (3) predicted at heliocentric distances greater than a few solar radii by power-law models based on interplanetary observations. It is found that the Langmuir waves driven directly by the beam have wavenumbers that are almost always too large for modulational instability but are appropriate to ES decay. Even for waves scattered to lower wavenumbers (by ES decay, for instance), the wave bandwidths are predicted to be too large and the nonlinear growth rates too small for modulational instability to occur for the specific interplanetary events studied or the great majority of Langmuir wave packets in type III sources at arbitrary heliocentric distances. Possible exceptions are for very rare, unusually intense, narrowband wave packets, predominantly close to the Sun, and for the front portion of very fast beams traveling through unusually dilute, cold solar wind plasmas. Similar arguments demonstrate that the ES decay should proceed almost always as a random phase process rather than a parametric process, with similar exceptions. These results imply that it is extremely rare for

Electron cyclotron maser instability in the solar corona: The role of superthermal tails

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vlahos, L.; Sharma, R.R.

1985-01-01

The effect of a superthermal component of electrons on the loss-cone--driven electron cyclotron maser instability is analyzed. We found that for a supertheral tail with temperature approx.10 keV (i) the first harmonic (X- and O-mode) is suppressed for n/sub t//n/sub r/roughly-equal1 (n/sub t/ and n/sub r/ are the densities of superthermal tail and loss-cone electrons) and (ii) the second harmonic (X- and O-modes) is suppressed for n/sub t//n/sub r/ -1 . We present a qualitative discussion on the formation of superthermal taisl and suggest that superthermal tails play an important role on the observed or available power, at microwave frequencies, from the electron cyclotron maser instability in the solar corona

Electron cyclotron maser instability in the solar corona - The role of superthermal tails

Science.gov (United States)

Vlahos, L.; Sharma, R. R.

1985-01-01

The effect of a superthermal component of electrons on the loss-cone-driven electron cyclotron maser instability is analyzed. It is found that for a superthermal tail with temperature about 10 KeV, the first harmonic (X- and O-mode) is suppressed for n(t)/n(r) of about 1 (n/t/ and n/r/ are the densities of superthermal tail and loss-cone electrons) and the second harmonic (X- and O-modes) is suppressed for n(t)/n(r) less than about 0.1. A qualitative discussion on the formation of superthermal tails is presented and it is suggested that superthermal tails play an important role on the observed or available power, at microwave frequencies, from the electron cyclotron maser instability in the solar corona.

The Evolution of the Surface of Symmetry of the Interplanetary Dust from 24° to 5° Elongation

Science.gov (United States)

Stenborg, Guillermo; Howard, Russell A.

2017-10-01

The white-light STEREO/SECCHI images include light scattered by dust in orbit about the Sun (the F-corona). We analyzed the evolution of the symmetry axis of the F-corona between 2007 and 2012 in the elongation range covered by the STEREO-A/HI-1 instrument (4°-24° elongation) to characterize the plane of symmetry of the zodiacal dust cloud. The symmetry axes both above and below the ecliptic plane were derived separately without assuming any particular functional form. No noticeable time dependence was observed. However, we did find an evolution with elongation of both the inclination I and the ascending node {{{Ω }}}A of the inferred plane of symmetry. Both parameters appeared fairly constant in the outer half of the elongation range studied (I=˜ 3\\buildrel{\\circ}\\over{.} 7,{{{Ω }}}A=˜ 83^\\circ ; values close to those of Venus’s orbit). Then, they start to evolve, becoming I=˜ 6^\\circ (I.e., a trend toward the solar equatorial plane) and {{{Ω }}}A=˜ 57^\\circ at about 5° elongation. This variation indicates that the zodiacal dust cloud exhibits a warped plane of symmetry, with an estimated center of symmetry at about 0.5 {R}⊙ from the Sun’s center on the side of the heliosphere containing Jupiter. We found a marginal difference between the inclination of the axes below and above the ecliptic. This is suggestive of an increased dust density distribution at certain fixed longitudes, which could be explained by the dust deposition of Kreutz Sun-grazing comets. We conjecture that the circumsolar dust is mainly affected by gravitational forces, other forces becoming dominant only where the more rapid changes occur.

Faraday rotation fluctuations of MESSENGER radio signals through the equatorial lower corona near solar minimum

Science.gov (United States)

Wexler, D. B.; Jensen, E. A.; Hollweg, J. V.; Heiles, C.; Efimov, A. I.; Vierinen, J.; Coster, A. J.

2017-02-01

Faraday rotation (FR) of transcoronal radio transmissions from spacecraft near superior conjunction enables study of the temporal variations in coronal plasma density, velocity, and magnetic field. The MESSENGER spacecraft 8.4 GHz radio, transmitting through the corona with closest line-of-sight approach 1.63-1.89 solar radii and near-equatorial heliolatitudes, was recorded soon after the deep solar minimum of solar cycle 23. During egress from superior conjunction, FR gradually decreased, and an overlay of wave-like FR fluctuations (FRFs) with periods of hundreds to thousands of seconds was found. The FRF power spectrum was characterized by a power law relation, with the baseline spectral index being -2.64. A transient power increase showed relative flattening of the spectrum and bands of enhanced spectral power at 3.3 mHz and 6.1 mHz. Our results confirm the presence of coronal FRF similar to those described previously at greater solar offset. Interpreted as Alfvén waves crossing the line of sight radially near the proximate point, low-frequency FRF convey an energy flux density higher than that of the background solar wind kinetic energy, but only a fraction of that required to accelerate the solar wind. Even so, this fraction is quite variable and potentially escalates to energetically significant values with relatively modest changes in estimated magnetic field strength and electron concentration. Given the uncertainties in these key parameters, as well as in solar wind properties close to the Sun at low heliolatitudes, we cannot yet confidently assign the quantitative role for Alfvén wave energy from this region in driving the slow solar wind.

Efficiency of coherent vortices to trap dust particles in the solar nebula

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chavanis Pierre-Henri

2013-04-01

Full Text Available We develop the idea proposed by Barge & Sommeria (1995 that large-scale vortices present in the solar nebula can concentrate dust particles and facilitate the formation of planetesimals and planets. We introduce an exact vortex solution of the incompressible 2D Euler equation (Kida vortex and study the motion of dust particles in that vortex. In particular, we derive an analytical expression of the capture time as a function of the friction coefficient and determine the parameters leading to an optimal capture.

Sun and solar flares

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

McKenna-Lawlor, S. (Saint Patrick' s Coll., Maynooth (Ireland))

1982-07-01

The subject is discussed under the headings: the sun's core (thermonuclear reactions, energy transfer from core through radiation zone, convection zone, photosphere, chromosphere and corona); the photosphere (convection, granulation, sunspots, magnetic fields, solar cycle, rotation of the sun); solar variability and paleoclimatic records (correlation of low solar activity with increased /sup 14/C production in atmosphere); the chromosphere and corona (turbulence, temperature, coronal streamers, energy transfer); solar flares (cosmic rays, aurorae, spectra, velocity of flares, prominences, mechanisms of flares); the solar wind.

Electron acceleration in the Solar corona - 3D PiC code simulations of guide field reconnection

Science.gov (United States)

Alejandro Munoz Sepulveda, Patricio

2017-04-01

The efficient electron acceleration in the solar corona detected by means of hard X-ray emission is still not well understood. Magnetic reconnection through current sheets is one of the proposed production mechanisms of non-thermal electrons in solar flares. Previous works in this direction were based mostly on test particle calculations or 2D fully-kinetic PiC simulations. We have now studied the consequences of self-generated current-aligned instabilities on the electron acceleration mechanisms by 3D magnetic reconnection. For this sake, we carried out 3D Particle-in-Cell (PiC) code numerical simulations of force free reconnecting current sheets, appropriate for the description of the solar coronal plasmas. We find an efficient electron energization, evidenced by the formation of a non-thermal power-law tail with a hard spectral index smaller than -2 in the electron energy distribution function. We discuss and compare the influence of the parallel electric field versus the curvature and gradient drifts in the guiding-center approximation on the overall acceleration, and their dependence on different plasma parameters.

Polar and equatorial coronal hole winds at solar minima: From the heliosphere to the inner corona

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhao, L.; Landi, E., E-mail: lzh@umich.edu [Department of Atmospheric, Oceanic, and Space Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48105 (United States)

2014-02-01

Fast solar wind can be accelerated from at least two different sources: polar coronal holes and equatorial coronal holes. Little is known about the relationship between the wind coming from these two different latitudes and whether these two subcategories of fast wind evolve in the same way during the solar cycle. Nineteen years of Ulysses observations, from 1990 to 2009, combined with ACE observations from 1998 to the present provide us with in situ measurements of solar wind properties that span two entire solar cycles. These missions provide an ideal data set to study the properties and evolution of the fast solar wind originating from equatorial and polar holes. In this work, we focus on these two types of fast solar wind during the minima between solar cycles 22 and 23 and 23 and 24. We use data from SWICS, SWOOPS, and VHM/FGM on board Ulysses and SWICS, SWEPAM, and MAG on board ACE to analyze the proton kinetic, thermal, and dynamic characteristics, heavy ion composition, and magnetic field properties of these two fast winds. The comparison shows that: (1) their kinetic, thermal, compositional, and magnetic properties are significantly different at any time during the two minima and (2) they respond differently to the changes in solar activity from cycle 23 to 24. These results indicate that equatorial and polar fast solar wind are two separate subcategories of fast wind. We discuss the implications of these results and relate them to remote-sensing measurements of the properties of polar and equatorial coronal holes carried out in the inner corona during these two solar minima.

Polar and equatorial coronal hole winds at solar minima: From the heliosphere to the inner corona

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhao, L.; Landi, E.

2014-01-01

Fast solar wind can be accelerated from at least two different sources: polar coronal holes and equatorial coronal holes. Little is known about the relationship between the wind coming from these two different latitudes and whether these two subcategories of fast wind evolve in the same way during the solar cycle. Nineteen years of Ulysses observations, from 1990 to 2009, combined with ACE observations from 1998 to the present provide us with in situ measurements of solar wind properties that span two entire solar cycles. These missions provide an ideal data set to study the properties and evolution of the fast solar wind originating from equatorial and polar holes. In this work, we focus on these two types of fast solar wind during the minima between solar cycles 22 and 23 and 23 and 24. We use data from SWICS, SWOOPS, and VHM/FGM on board Ulysses and SWICS, SWEPAM, and MAG on board ACE to analyze the proton kinetic, thermal, and dynamic characteristics, heavy ion composition, and magnetic field properties of these two fast winds. The comparison shows that: (1) their kinetic, thermal, compositional, and magnetic properties are significantly different at any time during the two minima and (2) they respond differently to the changes in solar activity from cycle 23 to 24. These results indicate that equatorial and polar fast solar wind are two separate subcategories of fast wind. We discuss the implications of these results and relate them to remote-sensing measurements of the properties of polar and equatorial coronal holes carried out in the inner corona during these two solar minima.

RADIO DIAGNOSTICS OF ELECTRON ACCELERATION SITES DURING THE ERUPTION OF A FLUX ROPE IN THE SOLAR CORONA

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Carley, Eoin P.; Gallagher, Peter T. [Astrophysics Research Group, School of Physics, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 2 (Ireland); Vilmer, Nicole, E-mail: eoin.carley@obspm.fr [LESIA, Observatoire de Paris, PSL Research University, CNRS, Sorbonne Universités, UPMC Univ. Paris 06, Univ. Paris Diderot, Sorbonne Paris Cité, 5 place Jules Janssen, F-92195 Meudon (France)

2016-12-10

Electron acceleration in the solar corona is often associated with flares and the eruption of twisted magnetic structures known as flux ropes. However, the locations and mechanisms of such particle acceleration during the flare and eruption are still subject to much investigation. Observing the exact sites of particle acceleration can help confirm how the flare and eruption are initiated and how they evolve. Here we use the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly to analyze a flare and erupting flux rope on 2014 April 18, while observations from the Nançay Radio Astronomy Facility allow us to diagnose the sites of electron acceleration during the eruption. Our analysis shows evidence of a pre-formed flux rope that slowly rises and becomes destabilized at the time of a C-class flare, plasma jet, and the escape of ≳75 keV electrons from the rope center into the corona. As the eruption proceeds, continued acceleration of electrons with energies of ∼5 keV occurs above the flux rope for a period over 5 minutes. At the flare peak, one site of electron acceleration is located close to the flare site, while another is driven by the erupting flux rope into the corona at speeds of up to 400 km s{sup −1}. Energetic electrons then fill the erupting volume, eventually allowing the flux rope legs to be clearly imaged from radio sources at 150–445 MHz. Following the analysis of Joshi et al. (2015), we conclude that the sites of energetic electrons are consistent with flux rope eruption via a tether cutting or flux cancellation scenario inside a magnetic fan-spine structure. In total, our radio observations allow us to better understand the evolution of a flux rope eruption and its associated electron acceleration sites, from eruption initiation to propagation into the corona.

Dust impact on surface solar irradiance assessed with model simulations, satellite observations and ground-based measurements

Science.gov (United States)

Kosmopoulos, Panagiotis G.; Kazadzis, Stelios; Taylor, Michael; Athanasopoulou, Eleni; Speyer, Orestis; Raptis, Panagiotis I.; Marinou, Eleni; Proestakis, Emmanouil; Solomos, Stavros; Gerasopoulos, Evangelos; Amiridis, Vassilis; Bais, Alkiviadis; Kontoes, Charalabos

2017-07-01

This study assesses the impact of dust on surface solar radiation focussing on an extreme dust event. For this purpose, we exploited the synergy of AERONET measurements and passive and active satellite remote sensing (MODIS and CALIPSO) observations, in conjunction with radiative transfer model (RTM) and chemical transport model (CTM) simulations and the 1-day forecasts from the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS). The area of interest is the eastern Mediterranean where anomalously high aerosol loads were recorded between 30 January and 3 February 2015. The intensity of the event was extremely high, with aerosol optical depth (AOD) reaching 3.5, and optical/microphysical properties suggesting aged dust. RTM and CTM simulations were able to quantify the extent of dust impact on surface irradiances and reveal substantial reduction in solar energy exploitation capacity of PV and CSP installations under this high aerosol load. We found that such an extreme dust event can result in Global Horizontal Irradiance (GHI) attenuation by as much as 40-50 % and a much stronger Direct Normal Irradiance (DNI) decrease (80-90 %), while spectrally this attenuation is distributed to 37 % in the UV region, 33 % in the visible and around 30 % in the infrared. CAMS forecasts provided a reliable available energy assessment (accuracy within 10 % of that obtained from MODIS). Spatially, the dust plume resulted in a zonally averaged reduction of GHI and DNI of the order of 150 W m-2 in southern Greece, and a mean increase of 20 W m-2 in the northern Greece as a result of lower AOD values combined with local atmospheric processes. This analysis of a real-world scenario contributes to the understanding and quantification of the impact range of high aerosol loads on solar energy and the potential for forecasting power generation failures at sunshine-privileged locations where solar power plants exist, are under construction or are being planned.

Dust impact on surface solar irradiance assessed with model simulations, satellite observations and ground-based measurements

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

P. G. Kosmopoulos

2017-07-01

Full Text Available This study assesses the impact of dust on surface solar radiation focussing on an extreme dust event. For this purpose, we exploited the synergy of AERONET measurements and passive and active satellite remote sensing (MODIS and CALIPSO observations, in conjunction with radiative transfer model (RTM and chemical transport model (CTM simulations and the 1-day forecasts from the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS. The area of interest is the eastern Mediterranean where anomalously high aerosol loads were recorded between 30 January and 3 February 2015. The intensity of the event was extremely high, with aerosol optical depth (AOD reaching 3.5, and optical/microphysical properties suggesting aged dust. RTM and CTM simulations were able to quantify the extent of dust impact on surface irradiances and reveal substantial reduction in solar energy exploitation capacity of PV and CSP installations under this high aerosol load. We found that such an extreme dust event can result in Global Horizontal Irradiance (GHI attenuation by as much as 40–50 % and a much stronger Direct Normal Irradiance (DNI decrease (80–90 %, while spectrally this attenuation is distributed to 37 % in the UV region, 33 % in the visible and around 30 % in the infrared. CAMS forecasts provided a reliable available energy assessment (accuracy within 10 % of that obtained from MODIS. Spatially, the dust plume resulted in a zonally averaged reduction of GHI and DNI of the order of 150 W m−2 in southern Greece, and a mean increase of 20 W m−2 in the northern Greece as a result of lower AOD values combined with local atmospheric processes. This analysis of a real-world scenario contributes to the understanding and quantification of the impact range of high aerosol loads on solar energy and the potential for forecasting power generation failures at sunshine-privileged locations where solar power plants exist, are under construction or are

Frontier of solar observation. Solar activity observed by 'HINODE' mission

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Watanabe, Tetsuya

2008-01-01

After launched in September 2006, solar observation satellite 'HINODE' has been a solar observatory on orbit with the scientific instruments well operated and its continuous observation was conducted steadily on almost all solar atmospheres from photosphere to corona. 'HINODE' was equipped with the solar optical telescope, extreme-ultraviolet imaging spectrometer and x-ray telescope and aimed at clarifying the mystery of solar physics related with coronal heating and magnetic reconnection. Present state of 'HINODE' was described from observations made in initial observation results, which have made several discoveries, such as Alfven waves in the corona, unexpected dynamics in the chromosphere and photosphere, continuous outflowing plasma as a possible source of solar wind, and fine structures of magnetic field in sunspots and solar surface. (T. Tanaka)

The sun and solar flares

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McKenna-Lawlor, S.

1982-01-01

The subject is discussed under the headings: the sun's core (thermonuclear reactions, energy transfer from core through radiation zone, convection zone, photosphere, chromosphere and corona); the photosphere (convection, granulation, sunspots, magnetic fields, solar cycle, rotation of the sun); solar variability and paleoclimatic records (correlation of low solar activity with increased 14 C production in atmosphere); the chromosphere and corona (turbulence, temperature, coronal streamers, energy transfer); solar flares (cosmic rays, aurorae, spectra, velocity of flares, prominences, mechanisms of flares); the solar wind. (U.K.)

CHARGED DUST GRAIN DYNAMICS SUBJECT TO SOLAR WIND, POYNTING–ROBERTSON DRAG, AND THE INTERPLANETARY MAGNETIC FIELD

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lhotka, Christoph; Bourdin, Philippe; Narita, Yasuhito, E-mail: christoph.lhotka@oeaw.ac.at, E-mail: philippe.bourdin@oeaw.ac.at, E-mail: yasuhito.narita@oeaw.ac.at [Space Research Institute, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Schmiedlstrasse 6, A-8042 Graz (Austria)

2016-09-01

We investigate the combined effect of solar wind, Poynting–Robertson drag, and the frozen-in interplanetary magnetic field on the motion of charged dust grains in our solar system. For this reason, we derive a secular theory of motion by the means of an averaging method and validate it with numerical simulations of the unaveraged equations of motions. The theory predicts that the secular motion of charged particles is mainly affected by the z -component of the solar magnetic axis, or the normal component of the interplanetary magnetic field. The normal component of the interplanetary magnetic field leads to an increase or decrease of semimajor axis depending on its functional form and sign of charge of the dust grain. It is generally accepted that the combined effects of solar wind and photon absorption and re-emmision (Poynting–Robertson drag) lead to a decrease in semimajor axis on secular timescales. On the contrary, we demonstrate that the interplanetary magnetic field may counteract these drag forces under certain circumstances. We derive a simple relation between the parameters of the magnetic field, the physical properties of the dust grain, as well as the shape and orientation of the orbital ellipse of the particle, which is a necessary conditions for the stabilization in semimajor axis.

CAN A NANOFLARE MODEL OF EXTREME-ULTRAVIOLET IRRADIANCES DESCRIBE THE HEATING OF THE SOLAR CORONA?

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tajfirouze, E.; Safari, H. [Department of Physics, University of Zanjan, P.O. Box 45195-313, Zanjan (Iran, Islamic Republic of)

2012-01-10

Nanoflares, the basic units of impulsive energy release, may produce much of the solar background emission. Extrapolation of the energy frequency distribution of observed microflares, which follows a power law to lower energies, can give an estimation of the importance of nanoflares for heating the solar corona. If the power-law index is greater than 2, then the nanoflare contribution is dominant. We model a time series of extreme-ultraviolet emission radiance as random flares with a power-law exponent of the flare event distribution. The model is based on three key parameters: the flare rate, the flare duration, and the power-law exponent of the flare intensity frequency distribution. We use this model to simulate emission line radiance detected in 171 A, observed by Solar Terrestrial Relation Observatory/Extreme-Ultraviolet Imager and Solar Dynamics Observatory/Atmospheric Imaging Assembly. The observed light curves are matched with simulated light curves using an Artificial Neural Network, and the parameter values are determined across the active region, quiet Sun, and coronal hole. The damping rate of nanoflares is compared with the radiative losses cooling time. The effect of background emission, data cadence, and network sensitivity on the key parameters of the model is studied. Most of the observed light curves have a power-law exponent, {alpha}, greater than the critical value 2. At these sites, nanoflare heating could be significant.

Dust in the wind: Soiling of solar devices : Is there a Holy Grail solution? (Conference Presentation)

Science.gov (United States)

Kazmerski, Lawrence; Costa, Suellen C.; Machado, Marcelo; Diniz, Antonia Sonia A. C.

2016-09-01

Soiling, the sedimentation of particulate matter (on the size scale of 1/10 the diameter of a human hair) on the exposed surfaces of solar collectors, is a growing area of concern for solar-system performance, reliability, maintenance, and cost. In the case of photovoltaics (PV), the condition of this first-surface of interaction of the incident photons is critical for ensuring that the maximum-possible light reaches the conversion devices. This paper begins with a more than seven-decade historical look at the research invested into this problem, highlighting the motivation and milestones; the researchers and the progress. The current growing terrestrial markets for solar have brought a new focus on soiling and dust issues. That is because many of these new markets in the solar-rich geographic regions of our world are ironically also in the most dust-rich and soiling-prone ones as well. This paper continues to provide an overview of the status of current research efforts toward understanding the basic soiling mechanisms, the relationships to the PV technology approaches, the geographical differences (highlighting Brasil, India, and the MENA region) in the severity of the problem, the dust physics and chemistry—all relating to the current and future mitigation approaches. Included are some fundamental microscale through nanoscale examinations at how individual dust particles adhere to module glass surfaces—as well as how the particles might stick to each other under certain environmental conditions. These observations are used to show how fundamental science may lead to the macroscale engineering solutions of these soiling problems. This presentation is designed to both overview the soiling area and highlight some of the current and future research directions, speculate on short-term approaches preventing solar showstoppers, and speculate on some "holy-grail" schemes that might lead to the final solutions.

Gas and dust from solar metallicity AGB stars

Science.gov (United States)

Ventura, P.; Karakas, A.; Dell'Agli, F.; García-Hernández, D. A.; Guzman-Ramirez, L.

2018-04-01

We study the asymptotic giant branch (AGB) evolution of stars with masses between 1 M⊙and8.5 M⊙. We focus on stars with a solar chemical composition, which allows us to interpret evolved stars in the Galaxy. We present a detailed comparison with models of the same chemistry, calculated with a different evolution code and based on a different set of physical assumptions. We find that stars of mass ≥3.5 M⊙ experience hot bottom burning at the base of the envelope. They have AGB lifetimes shorter than ˜3 × 105 yr and eject into their surroundings gas contaminated by proton-capture nucleosynthesis, at an extent sensitive to the treatment of convection. Low-mass stars with 1.5 M⊙ ≤ M ≤ 3 M⊙ become carbon stars. During the final phases, the C/O ratio grows to ˜3. We find a remarkable agreement between the two codes for the low-mass models and conclude that predictions for the physical and chemical properties of these stars, and the AGB lifetime, are not that sensitive to the modelling of the AGB phase. The dust produced is also dependent on the mass: low-mass stars produce mainly solid carbon and silicon carbide dust, whereas higher mass stars produce silicates and alumina dust. Possible future observations potentially able to add more robustness to the present results are also discussed.

Resonators for magnetohydrodynamic waves in the solar corona: The effect of modulation of radio emission

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zaitsev, V.V.; Stepanov, A.V.

1982-01-01

It is shown that the existence of a minimum of the Alfven speed in the corona at a height of approx.1R/sub sun/ follows from the characteristics of type II radio bursts. The region of a reduced Alfven speed is a resonator for a fast magnetosonic (FMS) waves. The eigenmodes of the resonator are determined. The period of the fundamental mode has the order of several minutes. In the resonator FMS waves can be excited at the Cherenkov resonance by streams of energetic ions. Modulations of metal solar radio emission with a period of several minutes is explained by the effect of the propagation of radio waves through an oscillating magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) resonator

Power-Law Statistics of Driven Reconnection in the Magnetically Closed Corona

Science.gov (United States)

Klimchuk, J. A.; DeVore, C. R.; Knizhnik, K. J.; Uritskiy, V. M.

2018-01-01

Numerous observations have revealed that power-law distributions are ubiquitous in energetic solar processes. Hard X-rays, soft X-rays, extreme ultraviolet radiation, and radio waves all display power-law frequency distributions. Since magnetic reconnection is the driving mechanism for many energetic solar phenomena, it is likely that reconnection events themselves display such power-law distributions. In this work, we perform numerical simulations of the solar corona driven by simple convective motions at the photospheric level. Using temperature changes, current distributions, and Poynting fluxes as proxies for heating, we demonstrate that energetic events occurring in our simulation display power-law frequency distributions, with slopes in good agreement with observations. We suggest that the braiding-associated reconnection in the corona can be understood in terms of a self-organized criticality model driven by convective rotational motions similar to those observed at the photosphere.

Power-law Statistics of Driven Reconnection in the Magnetically Closed Corona

Science.gov (United States)

Knizhnik, K. J.; Uritsky, V. M.; Klimchuk, J. A.; DeVore, C. R.

2018-01-01

Numerous observations have revealed that power-law distributions are ubiquitous in energetic solar processes. Hard X-rays, soft X-rays, extreme ultraviolet radiation, and radio waves all display power-law frequency distributions. Since magnetic reconnection is the driving mechanism for many energetic solar phenomena, it is likely that reconnection events themselves display such power-law distributions. In this work, we perform numerical simulations of the solar corona driven by simple convective motions at the photospheric level. Using temperature changes, current distributions, and Poynting fluxes as proxies for heating, we demonstrate that energetic events occurring in our simulation display power-law frequency distributions, with slopes in good agreement with observations. We suggest that the braiding-associated reconnection in the corona can be understood in terms of a self-organized criticality model driven by convective rotational motions similar to those observed at the photosphere.

The Lunar Dust Environment

Science.gov (United States)

Szalay, Jamey Robert

Planetary bodies throughout the solar system are continually bombarded by dust particles, largely originating from cometary activities and asteroidal collisions. Surfaces of bodies with thick atmospheres, such as Venus, Earth, Mars and Titan are mostly protected from incoming dust impacts as these particles ablate in their atmospheres as 'shooting stars'. However, the majority of bodies in the solar system have no appreciable atmosphere and their surfaces are directly exposed to the flux of high speed dust grains. Impacts onto solid surfaces in space generate charged and neutral gas clouds, as well as solid secondary ejecta dust particles. Gravitationally bound ejecta clouds forming dust exospheres were recognized by in situ dust instruments around the icy moons of Jupiter and Saturn, and had not yet been observed near bodies with refractory regolith surfaces before NASA's Lunar Dust and Environment Explorer (LADEE) mission. In this thesis, we first present the measurements taken by the Lunar Dust Explorer (LDEX), aboard LADEE, which discovered a permanently present, asymmetric dust cloud surrounding the Moon. The global characteristics of the lunar dust cloud are discussed as a function of a variety of variables such as altitude, solar longitude, local time, and lunar phase. These results are compared with models for lunar dust cloud generation. Second, we present an analysis of the groupings of impacts measured by LDEX, which represent detections of dense ejecta plumes above the lunar surface. These measurements are put in the context of understanding the response of the lunar surface to meteoroid bombardment and how to use other airless bodies in the solar system as detectors for their local meteoroid environment. Third, we present the first in-situ dust measurements taken over the lunar sunrise terminator. Having found no excess of small grains in this region, we discuss its implications for the putative population of electrostatically lofted dust.

Development of low cost silicon solar cells by reusing the silicon saw dust collected during wafering process

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zaidi, Z.I.; Raza, B.; Ahmed, M.; Sheikh, H.; Qazi, I.A.

2002-01-01

Silicon material due to its abundance in nature and maximum conversion efficiency has been successfully being used for the fabrication of electronic and photovoltaic devices such as ICs, diodes, transistors and solar cells. The 80% of the semiconductor industry is ruled by silicon material. Single crystal silicon solar cells are in use for both space and terrestrial application, due to the well developed technology and better efficiency than polycrystalline and amorphous silicon solar cells. The current research work is an attempt to reduce the cost of single crystal silicon solar cells by reusing the silicon saw dust obtained during the watering process. During the watering process about 45% Si material is wasted in the form of Si powder dust. Various waste powder silicon samples were analyzed using inductively Coupled Plasma (ICP) technique, for metallic impurities critical for solar grade silicon material. The results were evaluated from impurity and cost point of view. (author)

White Light Solar Corona: An Atlas of 1988 K-Coronameter Synoptic Charts, December 1987-January 1989. Technical note

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sime, D.G.; Garcia, C.; Yasukawa, E.; Lundin, E.

1990-03-01

The synoptic observing project of the High Altitude Observatory's Coronal Dynamics Program began on 30 July 1980. The data obtained for it are gathered by the Mark-III K-coronameter located at the Mauna Loa Solar Observatory, Hawaii, and are published yearly in volumes of The White Light Solar Corona: An Atlas of K-Coronameter Synoptic Charts (Table 1). The data, in the form of synoptic charts, are extended at both the beginning and the end of each year to provide some overlap with the preceding and succeeding volumes. This is also necessary to provide a complete set of the data organized into Carrington rotations covering a specific time period, since the rotations do not coincide with the yearly calendar. Further observations are made at the limb, and west limb passage occurs 14 days after east limb passage. Thus, an entire rotation's data requires more than 28 days to collect. Together with the synoptic maps and polar synoptic maps, two additional sections designed to aid the user are included in the volume. As in previous Atlases, the Activity Report Summary for the year is given and the Mauna Loa Solar Observatory Calendar for 1988 (Table III) is also included. This is a list of days on which no coronal observations were achieved. These synoptic data should be regarded as a preliminary presentation in which corrections have not fully been made for the day-to-day variations and scattering of polarized light by the earth's atmosphere. Data from the east and west limbs are presented separately in the synoptic charts, as transient and evolutionary changes in the white light corona can substantially modify the distribution of coronal material over the 14 days between sequential limb passages

Soviet Union-France cooperative study of the solar corona. 1. The structure singularities and photometry of the corona on July 10, 1972

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vsekhsvyatskij, S.K.; Dzyubenko, N.I.; Nesmyanovich, A.T.; Popov, O.S.; Kuchmij, S.; Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, 75 - Paris

1975-01-01

The results of the study of the eclipse negatives obtained by the expedition of the astronomy division of the Kiev University on 10 July 1972 in accordance with the program of the Soviet-France experiment ''Thynamics of white corona'' are given. New formations - ''voids'' and sharp boundary are obtained side by side with the usual coronal structure details: -polar ray systems, large coronal beams; arch systems. A great number of extended thin streamers in the south-west square and a helical beam over bright condensation are registered. Photometry of one of the negatives exibited a considerable heterogeneity of the corona. Mean values of the K-corona brightness are in agreement with the brightness of a maximum corona according to Van de Hulst model within the range of p < 2R. The coronal gifts are registered near the N-pole and in the south-west region are registered

On realistic size equivalence and shape of spheroidal Saharan mineral dust particles applied in solar and thermal radiative transfer calculations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. Otto

2011-05-01

Full Text Available Realistic size equivalence and shape of Saharan mineral dust particles are derived from in-situ particle, lidar and sun photometer measurements during SAMUM-1 in Morocco (19 May 2006, dealing with measured size- and altitude-resolved axis ratio distributions of assumed spheroidal model particles. The data were applied in optical property, radiative effect, forcing and heating effect simulations to quantify the realistic impact of particle non-sphericity. It turned out that volume-to-surface equivalent spheroids with prolate shape are most realistic: particle non-sphericity only slightly affects single scattering albedo and asymmetry parameter but may enhance extinction coefficient by up to 10 %. At the bottom of the atmosphere (BOA the Saharan mineral dust always leads to a loss of solar radiation, while the sign of the forcing at the top of the atmosphere (TOA depends on surface albedo: solar cooling/warming over a mean ocean/land surface. In the thermal spectral range the dust inhibits the emission of radiation to space and warms the BOA. The most realistic case of particle non-sphericity causes changes of total (solar plus thermal forcing by 55/5 % at the TOA over ocean/land and 15 % at the BOA over both land and ocean and enhances total radiative heating within the dust plume by up to 20 %. Large dust particles significantly contribute to all the radiative effects reported. They strongly enhance the absorbing properties and forward scattering in the solar and increase predominantly, e.g., the total TOA forcing of the dust over land.

Coronal heating driven by a magnetic gradient pumping mechanism in solar plasmas

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tan, Baolin, E-mail: bltan@nao.cas.cn [Key Laboratory of Solar Activity, National Astronomical Observatories of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100012 (China)

2014-11-10

The heating of the solar corona is a longstanding mystery in astrophysics. Considering that the solar magnetic field is spatially inhomogeneous with a considerable magnetic gradient from the solar surface to the corona, this work proposes a magnetic gradient pumping (MGP) mechanism to try to explain the formation of hot plasma upflows, such as hot type II spicules and hot plasma ejections. In the MGP mechanism, the magnetic gradient may drive the energetic particles to move upward from the underlying solar atmosphere and form hot upflows. These upflow energetic particles are deposited in the corona, causing it to become very hot. Rough estimations indicate that the solar corona can be heated to above 1 million degrees, and the upflow velocity is about 40 km s{sup –1} in the chromosphere and about 130 km s{sup –1} in the corona. The solar magnetic flux tubes act as pumpers to extract energetic particles from the underlying thermal photosphere, convey them, and deposit them in the corona. The deposit of these energetic particles causes the corona to become hot, and the escape of such particles from the photosphere leaves it a bit cold. This mechanism can present a natural explanation to the mystery of solar coronal heating.

SIMULTANEOUS OBSERVATION OF SOLAR OSCILLATIONS ASSOCIATED WITH CORONAL LOOPS FROM THE PHOTOSPHERE TO THE CORONA

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Su, J. T.; Liu, S.; Zhang, Y. Z.; Zhao, H.; Xu, H. Q.; Xie, W. B. [Key Laboratory of Solar Activity, National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing 100012 (China); Liu, Y. [National Astronomical Observatories/Yunnan Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming 650011 (China)

2013-01-01

The solar oscillations along one coronal loop in AR 11504 are observed simultaneously in white light emission and Doppler velocity by SDO/HMI, and in UV and EUV emissions by SDO/AIA. The technique of the time-distance diagram is used to detect the propagating oscillations of the emission intensities along the loop. We find that although all the oscillation signals were intercorrelated, the low chromospheric oscillation correlated more closely to the oscillations of the transition region and corona than to those of the photosphere. Situated above the sunspot, the oscillation periods were {approx}3 minutes in the UV/EUV emissions; however, moving away from the sunspot and into the quiet Sun, the periods became longer, e.g., up to {approx}5 minutes or more. In addition, along another loop we observe both the high-speed outflows and oscillations, which roughly had a one-to-one corresponding relationship. This indicates that the solar periodic oscillations may modulate the magnetic reconnections between the loops of the high and low altitudes that drive the high-speed outflows along the loop.

Intensity of emission lines of the quiescent solar corona: comparison between calculated and observed values

Science.gov (United States)

Krissinel, Boris

2018-03-01

The paper reports the results of calculations of the center-to-limb intensity of optically thin line emission in EUV and FUV wavelength ranges. The calculations employ a multicomponent model for the quiescent solar corona. The model includes a collection of loops of various sizes, spicules, and free (inter-loop) matter. Theoretical intensity values are found from probabilities of encountering parts of loops in the line of sight with respect to the probability of absence of other coronal components. The model uses 12 loops with sizes from 3200 to 210000 km with different values of rarefaction index and pressure at the loop base and apex. The temperature at loop apices is 1 400 000 K. The calculations utilize the CHIANTI database. The comparison between theoretical and observed emission intensity values for coronal and transition region lines obtained by the SUMER, CDS, and EIS telescopes shows quite satisfactory agreement between them, particularly for the solar disk center. For the data acquired above the limb, the enhanced discrepancies after the analysis refer to errors in EIS measurements.

Comments on the 'minimum flux corona' concept

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Antiochos, S.K.; Underwood, J.H.

1978-01-01

Hearn's (1975) models of the energy balance and mass loss of stellar coronae, based on a 'minimum flux corona' concept, are critically examined. First, it is shown that the neglect of the relevant length scales for coronal temperature variation leads to an inconsistent computation of the total energy flux F. The stability arguments upon which the minimum flux concept is based are shown to be fallacious. Errors in the computation of the stellar wind contribution to the energy budget are identified. Finally we criticize Hearn's (1977) suggestion that the model, with a value of the thermal conductivity modified by the magnetic field, can explain the difference between solar coronal holes and quiet coronal regions. (orig.) 891 WL [de

Pluto's interaction with its space environment: Solar wind, energetic particles, and dust.

Science.gov (United States)

Bagenal, F; Horányi, M; McComas, D J; McNutt, R L; Elliott, H A; Hill, M E; Brown, L E; Delamere, P A; Kollmann, P; Krimigis, S M; Kusterer, M; Lisse, C M; Mitchell, D G; Piquette, M; Poppe, A R; Strobel, D F; Szalay, J R; Valek, P; Vandegriff, J; Weidner, S; Zirnstein, E J; Stern, S A; Ennico, K; Olkin, C B; Weaver, H A; Young, L A

2016-03-18

The New Horizons spacecraft carried three instruments that measured the space environment near Pluto as it flew by on 14 July 2015. The Solar Wind Around Pluto (SWAP) instrument revealed an interaction region confined sunward of Pluto to within about 6 Pluto radii. The region's surprisingly small size is consistent with a reduced atmospheric escape rate, as well as a particularly high solar wind flux. Observations from the Pluto Energetic Particle Spectrometer Science Investigation (PEPSSI) instrument suggest that ions are accelerated and/or deflected around Pluto. In the wake of the interaction region, PEPSSI observed suprathermal particle fluxes equal to about 1/10 of the flux in the interplanetary medium and increasing with distance downstream. The Venetia Burney Student Dust Counter, which measures grains with radii larger than 1.4 micrometers, detected one candidate impact in ±5 days around New Horizons' closest approach, indicating an upper limit of <4.6 kilometers(-3) for the dust density in the Pluto system. Copyright © 2016, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Green corona, geomagnetic activity and radar meteor rates

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Prikryl, P.

1979-01-01

The short-term dependence of radar meteor rates on geomagnetic activity and/or central meridian passage (CMP) of bright or faint green corona regions is studied. A superimposed-epoch analysis was applied to radar meteor observations from the Ottawa patrol radar (Springhill, Ont.) and Ksub(p)-indices of geomagnetic activity for the period 1963 to 1967. During the minimum of solar activity (1963 to 1965) the CMP of bright coronal regions was followed by the maximum in the daily rates of persistent meteor echoes (>=4s), and the minimum in the daily sums of Ksub(p)-indices whereas the minimum or the maximum, respectively, occurs after the CMP of faint coronal regions. The time delay between the CMP of coronal structures and the corresponding maxima or minima is found to be 3 to 4 days. However, for the period immediately after the minimum of solar activity (1966 to 1967) the above correlation with the green corona is void both for the geomagnetic activity and radar meteor rates. An inverse correlation was found between the radar meteor rates and the geomagnetic activity irrespective of the solar activity. The observed effect can be ascribed to the solar-wind-induced ''geomagnetic'' heating of the upper atmosphere and to the subsequent change in the density gradient in the meteor zone. (author)

The "FIP Effect" and the Origins of Solar Energetic Particles and of the Solar Wind

OpenAIRE

Reames, Donald V.

2018-01-01

We find that the element abundances in solar energetic particles (SEPs) and in the slow solar wind (SSW), relative to those in the photosphere, show different patterns as a function of the first ionization potential (FIP) of the elements. Generally, the SEP and SSW abundances reflect abundance samples of the solar corona, where low-FIP elements, ionized in the chromosphere, are more efficiently conveyed upward to the corona than high-FIP elements that are initially neutral atoms. Abundances o...

The CORONAS-Photon/TESIS experiment on EUV imaging spectroscopy of the Sun

Science.gov (United States)

Kuzin, S.; Zhitnik, I.; Bogachev, S.; Bugaenko, O.; Ignat'ev, A.; Mitrofanov, A.; Perzov, A.; Shestov, S.; Slemzin, V.; Suhodrev, N.

The new experiment TESIS is developent for russian CORONAS-Photon mission launch is planned on the end of 2007 The experiment is aimed on the study of activity of the Sun in the phases of minimum rise and maximum of 24 th cycle of Solar activity by the method of XUV imaging spectroscopy The method is based on the registration full-Sun monochromatic images with high spatial and temporal resolution The scientific tasks of the experiment are i Investigation dynamic processes in corona flares CME etc with high spatial up to 1 and temporal up to 1 second resolution ii determination of the main plasma parameters like plasma electron and ion density and temperature differential emission measure etc iii study of the processes of appearance and development large scale long-life magnetic structures in the solar corona study of the fluency of this structures on the global activity of the corona iv study of the mechanisms of energy accumulation and release in the solar flares and mechanisms of transformation of this energy into the heating of the plasma and kinematics energy To get the information for this studies the TESIS will register full-Sun images in narrow spectral intervals and the monochromatic lines of HeII SiXI FeXXI-FeXXIII MgXII ions The instrument includes 5 independent channels 2 telescopes for 304 and 132 A wide-field 2 5 degrees coronograph 280-330A and 8 42 A spectroheliographs The detailed description of the TESIS experiment and the instrument is presented

Processing method of images obtained during the TESIS/CORONAS-PHOTON experiment

Science.gov (United States)

Kuzin, S. V.; Shestov, S. V.; Bogachev, S. A.; Pertsov, A. A.; Ulyanov, A. S.; Reva, A. A.

2011-04-01

In January 2009, the CORONAS-PHOTON spacecraft was successfully launched. It includes a set of telescopes and spectroheliometers—TESIS—designed to image the solar corona in soft X-ray and EUV spectral ranges. Due to features of the reading system, to obtain physical information from these images, it is necessary to preprocess them, i.e., to remove the background, correct the white field, level, and clean. The paper discusses the algorithms and software developed and used for the preprocessing of images.

Mitigation of soiling losses in solar collectors: Removal of surface-adhered dust particles using an electrodynamic screen

Science.gov (United States)

Sayyah, Arash

Particulate contamination of the optical surfaces of solar collectors, often called "soiling", can have a significant deteriorating impact on energy yield due to the absorption and scattering of incident light. Soiling has more destructive effect on concentrated solar systems than on flat-plate photovoltaic panels, as the former are incapable of converting scattered sunlight. The first part of this thesis deals with the soiling losses of flat-plate photovoltaic (PV), concentrated solar power (CSP), and concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) systems in operation in several regions of the world. Influential parameters in dust accumulation losses, as well as different cleaning mechanisms in pursuit of restoring the efficiency of soiled systems, have been thoroughly investigated. In lieu of the most commonly-practiced manual cleaning method of using high-pressure water jets, the concept of automatic dust removal using the electrostatic forces of electrodynamic screen (EDS) technology is in a developmental stage and on its way toward commercialization. This thesis provides comprehensive analytical solutions for the electric potential and electric field distribution in EDS devices having different configurations. Numerical simulations developed using finite element analysis (FEA) software have corroborated the analytical solutions which can easily be embedded into software programs for particle trajectory simulations while also providing flexibility and generality in the study on the effect of different parameters of the EDS on the electric field and ensuing dust-removal performance. Evaluation and comparison of different repelling and attracting forces exerted on dust particles is of utmost importance to a detailed analysis of EDS performance in dust removal. Hence, the balance of electrostatic and adhesion forces, including van der Waals and capillary forces, have received significant attention in this dissertation. Furthermore, different numerical analyses have been

MHD Wave Propagation at the Interface Between Solar Chromosphere and Corona

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Y.; Song, P.; Vasyliunas, V. M.

2017-12-01

We study the electromagnetic and momentum constraints at the solar transition region which is a sharp layer interfacing between the solar chromosphere and corona. When mass transfer between the two domains is neglected, the transition region can be treated as a contact discontinuity across which the magnetic flux is conserved and the total forces are balanced. We consider an Alfvénic perturbation that propagates along the magnetic field incident onto the interface from one side. In order to satisfy the boundary conditions at the transition region, only part of the incident energy flux is transmitted through and the rest is reflected. Taking into account the highly anisotropic propagation of waves in magnetized plasmas, we generalize the law of reflection and specify Snell's law for each of the three wave MHD modes: incompressible Alfvén mode and compressible fast and slow modes. Unlike conventional optical systems, the interface between two magnetized plasmas is not rigid but can be deformed by the waves, allowing momentum and energy to be transferred by compression. With compressible modes included, the Fresnel conditions need substantial modification. We derive Fresnel conditions, reflectivities and transmittances, and mode conversion for incident waves propagating along the background magnetic field. The results are well organized when the incident perturbation is decomposed into components in and normal to the incident plane (containing the background magnetic field and the normal direction of the interface). For a perturbation normal to the incident plane, both transmitted and reflected perturbations are incompressible Alfvén mode waves. For a perturbation in the incident plane, they can be compressible slow and fast mode waves which may produce ripples on the transition region.

Stellar winds and coronae of low-mass Population II/III stars

Science.gov (United States)

Suzuki, Takeru K.

2018-06-01

We investigated stellar winds from zero-/low-metallicity low-mass stars by magnetohydrodynamical simulations for stellar winds driven by Alfvén waves from stars with mass M = (0.6-0.8) M⊙ and metallicity Z = (0-1) Z⊙, where M⊙ and Z⊙ are the solar mass and metallicity, respectively. Alfvénic waves, which are excited by the surface convection, travel upward from the photosphere and heat up the corona by their dissipation. For lower Z, denser gas can be heated up to the coronal temperature because of the inefficient radiation cooling. The coronal density of Population II/III stars with Z ≤ 0.01 Z⊙ is one to two orders of magnitude larger than that of a solar-metallicity star with the same mass, and as a result, the mass loss rate, \\dot{M}, is 4.5-20 times larger. This indicates that metal accretion on low-mass Pop. III stars is negligible. The soft X-ray flux of the Pop. II/III stars is also expected to be ˜1-30 times larger than that of a solar-metallicity counterpart owing to the larger coronal density, even though the radiation cooling efficiency is smaller. A larger fraction of the input Alfvénic wave energy is transmitted to the corona in low-Z stars because they avoid severe reflection owing to the smaller density difference between the photosphere and the corona. Therefore, a larger fraction is converted to the thermal energy of the corona and the kinetic energy of the stellar wind. From this energetics argument, we finally derived a scaling of \\dot{M} as \\dot{M}∝ L R_{\\star }^{11/9} M_{\\star }^{-10/9} T_eff^{11/2}[\\max (Z/Z_{⊙},0.01)]^{-1/5}, where L, R⋆, and Teff are the stellar luminosity, radius, and effective temperature, respectively.

Stellar winds and coronae of low-mass Population II/III stars

Science.gov (United States)

Suzuki, Takeru K.

2018-04-01

We investigated stellar winds from zero-/low-metallicity low-mass stars by magnetohydrodynamical simulations for stellar winds driven by Alfvén waves from stars with mass M = (0.6-0.8) M⊙ and metallicity Z = (0-1) Z⊙, where M⊙ and Z⊙ are the solar mass and metallicity, respectively. Alfvénic waves, which are excited by the surface convection, travel upward from the photosphere and heat up the corona by their dissipation. For lower Z, denser gas can be heated up to the coronal temperature because of the inefficient radiation cooling. The coronal density of Population II/III stars with Z ≤ 0.01 Z⊙ is one to two orders of magnitude larger than that of a solar-metallicity star with the same mass, and as a result, the mass loss rate, \\dot{M}, is 4.5-20 times larger. This indicates that metal accretion on low-mass Pop. III stars is negligible. The soft X-ray flux of the Pop. II/III stars is also expected to be ˜1-30 times larger than that of a solar-metallicity counterpart owing to the larger coronal density, even though the radiation cooling efficiency is smaller. A larger fraction of the input Alfvénic wave energy is transmitted to the corona in low-Z stars because they avoid severe reflection owing to the smaller density difference between the photosphere and the corona. Therefore, a larger fraction is converted to the thermal energy of the corona and the kinetic energy of the stellar wind. From this energetics argument, we finally derived a scaling of \\dot{M} as \\dot{M}∝ L R_{\\star }^{11/9} M_{\\star }^{-10/9} T_eff^{11/2}[\\max (Z/Z_{⊙},0.01)]^{-1/5}, where L, R⋆, and Teff are the stellar luminosity, radius, and effective temperature, respectively.

Characteristics of a corona discharge with a hot corona electrode

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kulumbaev, E. B.; Lelevkin, V. M.; Niyazaliev, I. A.; Tokarev, A. V.

2011-01-01

The effect of the temperature of the corona electrode on the electrical characteristics of a corona discharge was studied experimentally. A modified Townsend formula for the current-voltage characteristic of a one-dimensional corona is proposed. Gasdynamic and thermal characteristics of a positive corona discharge in a coaxial electrode system are calculated. The calculated results are compared with the experimental data.

Chasing the Great American 2017 Total Solar Eclipse: Coronal Results from NASA's WB-57F High-Altitude Research Aircraft

Science.gov (United States)

Caspi, A.; Tsang, C.; DeForest, C. E.; Seaton, D. B.; Bryans, P.; Burkepile, J.; Casey, T. A.; Collier, J.; Darrow, D.; DeLuca, E.; Durda, D. D.; Gallagher, P.; Golub, L.; Judge, P. G.; Laurent, G. T.; Lewis, J.; Mallini, C.; Parent, T.; Propp, T.; Steffl, A.; Tomczyk, S.; Warner, J.; West, M. J.; Wiseman, J.; Zhukov, A.

2017-12-01

Total solar eclipses present rare opportunities to study the complex solar corona, down to altitudes of just a few percent of a solar radius above the surface, using ground-based and airborne observatories that would otherwise be dominated by the intense solar disk and high sky brightness. Studying the corona is critical to gaining a better understanding of physical processes that occur on other stars and astrophysical objects, as well as understanding the dominant driver of space weather that affects human assets at Earth and elsewhere. For example, it is still poorly understood how the corona is heated to temperatures of 1-2 MK globally and up to 5-10 MK above active regions, while the underlying chromosphere is 100 times cooler; numerous theories abound, but are difficult to constrain due to the limited sensitivities and cadences of prior measurements. The origins and stability of coronal fans, and the extent of their reach to the middle and outer corona, are also not well known, limited in large part by sensitivities and fields of view of existing observations. Airborne observations during the eclipse provide unique advantages; by flying in the stratosphere at altitudes of 50 kft or higher, they avoid all weather, the seeing quality is enormously improved, and additional wavelengths such as near- IR also become available due to significantly reduced water absorption. For an eclipse, an airborne observatory can also follow the shadow, increasing the total observing time by 50% or more. We present results of solar coronal measurements from airborne observations of the 2017 Great American Total Solar Eclipse using two of NASA's WB-57 high-altitude research aircraft, each equipped with two 8.7" telescopes feeding high-sensitivity visible (green-line) and medium-wave IR (3-5 μm) cameras operating at high cadence (30 Hz) with 3 arcsec/pixel platescale and ±3 R_sun fields of view. The aircraft flew along the eclipse path, separated by 110 km, to observe a summed 7

Radial distributions of magnetic field strength in the solar corona as derived from data on fast halo CMEs

Science.gov (United States)

Fainshtein, Victor; Egorov, Yaroslav

2018-03-01

In recent years, information about the distance between the body of rapid coronal mass ejection (CME) and the associated shock wave has been used to measure the magnetic field in the solar corona. In all cases, this technique allows us to find coronal magnetic field radial profiles B(R) applied to the directions almost perpendicular to the line of sight. We have determined radial distributions of magnetic field strength along the directions close to the Sun-Earth axis. For this purpose, using the "ice-cream cone" model and SOHO/LASCO data, we found 3D characteristics for fast halo coronal mass ejections (HCMEs) and for HCME-related shocks. With these data, we managed to obtain the B(R) distributions as far as ≈43 solar radii from the Sun's center, which is approximately twice as far as those in other studies based on LASCO data. We have concluded that to improve the accuracy of this method for finding the coronal magnetic field we should develop a technique for detecting CME sites moving in the slow and fast solar wind. We propose a technique for selecting CMEs whose central (paraxial) part actually moves in the slow wind.

Electric Current Filamentation Induced by 3D Plasma Flows in the Solar Corona

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nickeler, Dieter H.; Karlický, Marian; Kraus, Michaela [Astronomický ústav, Akademie věd České Republiky, v.v.i., Fričova 298, 251 65 Ondřejov (Czech Republic); Wiegelmann, Thomas, E-mail: dieter.nickeler@asu.cas.cz [Max-Planck Institut für Sonnensystemforschung, Justus-von-Liebig-Weg 3, D-37077 Göttingen (Germany)

2017-03-10

Many magnetic structures in the solar atmosphere evolve rather slowly, so they can be assumed as (quasi-)static or (quasi-)stationary and represented via magnetohydrostatic (MHS) or stationary magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) equilibria, respectively. While exact 3D solutions would be desired, they are extremely difficult to find in stationary MHD. We construct solutions with magnetic and flow vector fields that have three components depending on all three coordinates. We show that the noncanonical transformation method produces quasi-3D solutions of stationary MHD by mapping 2D or 2.5D MHS equilibria to corresponding stationary MHD states, that is, states that display the same field-line structure as the original MHS equilibria. These stationary MHD states exist on magnetic flux surfaces of the original 2D MHS states. Although the flux surfaces and therefore also the equilibria have a 2D character, these stationary MHD states depend on all three coordinates and display highly complex currents. The existence of geometrically complex 3D currents within symmetric field-line structures provides the basis for efficient dissipation of the magnetic energy in the solar corona by ohmic heating. We also discuss the possibility of maintaining an important subset of nonlinear MHS states, namely force-free fields, by stationary flows. We find that force-free fields with nonlinear flows only arise under severe restrictions of the field-line geometry and of the magnetic flux density distribution.

Solar origins of solar wind properties during the cycle 23 solar minimum and rising phase of cycle 24

Science.gov (United States)

Luhmann, Janet G.; Petrie, Gordon; Riley, Pete

2012-01-01

The solar wind was originally envisioned using a simple dipolar corona/polar coronal hole sources picture, but modern observations and models, together with the recent unusual solar cycle minimum, have demonstrated the limitations of this picture. The solar surface fields in both polar and low-to-mid-latitude active region zones routinely produce coronal magnetic fields and related solar wind sources much more complex than a dipole. This makes low-to-mid latitude coronal holes and their associated streamer boundaries major contributors to what is observed in the ecliptic and affects the Earth. In this paper we use magnetogram-based coronal field models to describe the conditions that prevailed in the corona from the decline of cycle 23 into the rising phase of cycle 24. The results emphasize the need for adopting new views of what is ‘typical’ solar wind, even when the Sun is relatively inactive. PMID:25685422

STRUCTURE AND DYNAMICS OF THE 2010 JULY 11 ECLIPSE WHITE-LIGHT CORONA

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pasachoff, J. M.; Rusin, V.; Saniga, M.

2011-01-01

The white-light corona (WLC) during the total solar eclipse on 2010 July 11 was observed by several teams in the Moon's shadow stretching across the Pacific Ocean and a number of isolated islands. We present a comparison of the WLC as observed by eclipse teams located on the Tatakoto Atoll in French Polynesia and on Easter Island, 83 minutes later, combined with near-simultaneous space observations. The eclipse was observed at the beginning of the solar cycle, not long after solar minimum. Nevertheless, the solar corona shows a plethora of different features (coronal holes, helmet streamers, polar rays, very faint loops and radial-oriented thin streamers, a coronal mass ejection, and a puzzling 'curtain-like' object above the north pole). Comparing the observations from the two sites enables us to detect some dynamic phenomena. The eclipse observations are further compared with a hairy-ball model of the magnetic field and near-simultaneous images from the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly on NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, the Extreme Ultraviolet Imager on NASA's Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory, the Sun Watcher, using Active Pixel System Detector and Image Processing on ESA's PRoject for Onboard Autonomy, and the Naval Research Laboratory's Large Angle and Spectrometric Coronagraph on ESA's Solar and Heliospheric Observatory. The Ludendorff flattening coefficient is 0.156, matching the expected ellipticity of coronal isophotes at 2 Rs un , for this rising phase of the solar-activity cycle.

Pre-eruptive Magnetic Reconnection within a Multi-flux-rope System in the Solar Corona

Science.gov (United States)

Awasthi, Arun Kumar; Liu, Rui; Wang, Haimin; Wang, Yuming; Shen, Chenglong

2018-04-01

The solar corona is frequently disrupted by coronal mass ejections (CMEs), whose core structure is believed to be a flux rope made of helical magnetic field. This has become a “standard” picture; though, it remains elusive how the flux rope forms and evolves toward eruption. While one-third of the ejecta passing through spacecraft demonstrate a flux-rope structure, the rest have complex magnetic fields. Are they originating from a coherent flux rope, too? Here we investigate the source region of a complex ejecta, focusing on a flare precursor with definitive signatures of magnetic reconnection, i.e., nonthermal electrons, flaring plasma, and bidirectional outflowing blobs. Aided by nonlinear force-free field modeling, we conclude that the reconnection occurs within a system of multiple braided flux ropes with different degrees of coherency. The observation signifies the importance of internal structure and dynamics in understanding CMEs and in predicting their impacts on Earth.

ON THE ROLE OF REPETITIVE MAGNETIC RECONNECTIONS IN EVOLUTION OF MAGNETIC FLUX ROPES IN SOLAR CORONA

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kumar, Sanjay; Bhattacharyya, R.; Joshi, Bhuwan [Udaipur Solar Observatory, Physical Research Laboratory, Dewali, Bari Road, Udaipur-313001 (India); Smolarkiewicz, P. K. [European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, Reading RG2 9AX (United Kingdom)

2016-10-20

Parker's magnetostatic theorem, extended to astrophysical magnetofluids with large magnetic Reynolds number, supports ceaseless regeneration of current sheets and, hence, spontaneous magnetic reconnections recurring in time. Consequently, a scenario is possible where the repeated reconnections provide an autonomous mechanism governing emergence of coherent structures in astrophysical magnetofluids. In this work, such a scenario is explored by performing numerical computations commensurate with the magnetostatic theorem. In particular, the computations explore the evolution of a flux rope governed by repeated reconnections in a magnetic geometry resembling bipolar loops of solar corona. The revealed morphology of the evolution process—including onset and ascent of the rope, reconnection locations, and the associated topology of the magnetic field lines—agrees with observations, and thus substantiates physical realizability of the advocated mechanism.

ELECTRON ACCELERATION BY CASCADING RECONNECTION IN THE SOLAR CORONA. II. RESISTIVE ELECTRIC FIELD EFFECTS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhou, X.; Gan, W.; Liu, S. [Key Laboratory of Dark Matter and Space Astronomy, Purple Mountain Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008 (China); Büchner, J.; Bárta, M., E-mail: zhou@mps.mpg.de, E-mail: liusm@pmo.ac.cn, E-mail: buechner@mps.mpg.de [Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Justus-von-Liebig-Weg 3, D-37077 Göttingen (Germany)

2016-08-20

We investigate electron acceleration by electric fields induced by cascading reconnections in current sheets trailing coronal mass ejections via a test particle approach in the framework of the guiding-center approximation. Although the resistive electric field is much weaker than the inductive electric field, the electron acceleration is still dominated by the former. Anomalous resistivity η is switched on only in regions where the current carrier’s drift velocity is large enough. As a consequence, electron acceleration is very sensitive to the spatial distribution of the resistive electric fields, and electrons accelerated in different segments of the current sheet have different characteristics. Due to the geometry of the 2.5-dimensional electromagnetic fields and strong resistive electric field accelerations, accelerated high-energy electrons can be trapped in the corona, precipitating into the chromosphere or escaping into interplanetary space. The trapped and precipitating electrons can reach a few MeV within 1 s and have a very hard energy distribution. Spatial structure of the acceleration sites may also introduce breaks in the electron energy distribution. Most of the interplanetary electrons reach hundreds of keV with a softer distribution. To compare with observations of solar flares and electrons in solar energetic particle events, we derive hard X-ray spectra produced by the trapped and precipitating electrons, fluxes of the precipitating and interplanetary electrons, and electron spatial distributions.

Little Eyes on Large Solar Motions

Science.gov (United States)

Kohler, Susanna

2017-10-01

Images taken during the solar eclipse in 2012. The central color composite of the eclipsed solar surface was captured by SDO, the white-light view of the solar corona around it was taken by the authors, and the background, wide-field black-and-white view is from LASCO. The white arrows mark the atypical structure. [Alzate et al. 2017]It seems like science is increasingly being done with advanced detectors on enormous ground- and space-based telescopes. One might wonder: is there anything left to learn from observations made with digital cameras mounted on 10-cm telescopes?The answer is yes plenty! Illustrating this point, a new study using such equipment recently reports on the structure and dynamics of the Suns corona during two solar eclipses.A Full View of the CoronaThe solar corona is the upper part of the Suns atmosphere, extending millions of kilometers into space. This plasma is dynamic, with changing structures that arise in response to activity on the Suns surface such as enormous ejections of energy known as coronal mass ejections (CMEs). Studying the corona is therefore important for understanding what drives its structure and how energy is released from the Sun.Though there exist a number of space-based telescopes that observe the Suns corona, they often have limited fields of view. The Solar Dynamics Observatory AIA, for instance, has spectacular resolution but only images out to 1/3 of a solar radius above the Suns limb. The space-based coronagraph LASCO C2, on the other hand, provides a broad view of the outer regions of the corona, but it only images down to 2.2 solar radii above the Suns limb. Piecing together observations from these telescopes therefore leaves a gap that prevents a full picture of the large-scale corona and how it connects to activity at the solar surface.Same as the previous figure, but for the eclipse in 2013. [Alzate et al. 2017]To provide this broad, continuous picture, a team of scientists used digital cameras mounted on 10

Comparative study of the loss cone-driven instabilities in the low solar corona

Science.gov (United States)

Sharma, R. R.; Vlahos, L.

1984-01-01

A comparative study of the loss cone-driven instabilities in the low solar corona is undertaken. The instabilities considered are the electron cyclotron maser, the whistler, and the electrostatic upper hybrid. It is shown that the first-harmonic extraordinary mode of the electron cyclotron maser instability is the fastest growing mode for strong magnetized plasma (the ratio of plasma frequency to cyclotron frequency being less than 0.35). For values of the ratio between 0.35 and 1.0, the first-harmonic ordinary mode of the electron cyclotron maser instability dominates the emission. For ratio values greater than 1.0, no direct electromagnetic radiation is expected since other instabilities, which do not escape directly, saturate the electron cyclotron maser (the whistler or the electrostatic upper hybrid waves). It is also shown that the second-harmonic electron cyclotron maser emission never grows to an appreciable level. Thus, it is suggested that the electron cyclotron maser instability can be the explanation for the escape of the first harmonic from a flaring loop.

Foehn-induced effects on dust pollution, frontal clouds and solar radiation in the Dead Sea valley

Science.gov (United States)

Kishcha, Pavel; Starobinets, Boris; Alpert, Pinhas; Kaplan, Michael

2017-04-01

The significant drying up of the Dead Sea over the past 40 years has led to an increase in an exposed area contributing to local dust pollution. Measurements show that, sometimes, in the Dead Sea valley, dust pollution can reach extreme concentrations up to several thousands of micrograms per cubic meters. Our analysis of a meteorological situation shows that a foehn phenomenon can be a causal factor for the aforementioned extreme local dust concentration. This foehn phenomenon creates strong warm and dry winds, which are accompanied by air turbulence and temperature inversion. In our study, foehn-induced effects on dust pollution, frontal clouds and solar radiation were analyzed over the Judean Mountains ( 1000 m) and over the Dead Sea valley (-420 m), using high-resolution numerical simulations and in-situ observations at meteorological stations located across the mountain ridge. An extreme dust episode occurring on March 22, 2013, was analyzed, which was characterized by measured surface dust concentrations of up to 7000 µg m-3 in the Dead Sea valley. We simulated this foehn phenomenon with the 3-km resolution COSMO-ART model. Our analysis has shown that the foehn phenomenon could be observed even over the relatively low Judean Mountains. This analysis was based on various meteorological, pyranometer, radar, and aerosol measurements together with high-resolution model data. In the Dead Sea valley, the maximum aerosol optical depth (AOD) did not coincide with the maximum surface dust concentration. This lack of coincidence indicates difficulties in using satellite-based AOD for initializing dust concentration within numerical forecast systems over this region with complex terrain. In the western Dead Sea valley, strong foehn winds of over 20 m/s were accompanied by maximal air turbulence leading to maximal local dust emissions. Thus, the model showed that, by creating significant turbulence, the foehn phenomenon intensified the saltation (bombardment) mechanism

A new search for R Coronae Borealis stars in the SMC

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nikzat Fatemeh

2017-01-01

Full Text Available R Coronae Borealis (RCB stars are rare, and their evolutionary origin is not well understood. Since they are obscured due to formation of carbon dust around the star during their mass loss events, RCB stars can be classified as self-eclipsing variable stars. The purpose of this work is to present a new search for RCB stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC, by analysing VI data from the OGLE project.

Effect of dust on performances of single-crisal photovoltaic solar module

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Benatiallah, A.; Kaddi, L.; Mostefaou, R.; Dakyo, B.

2006-01-01

The solar energy is most promising of renewable energy, it is decentralized, own to the environment and inexhaustible. The Sahara area is favorable for the development of this energy in order to provide electrical needs of the population. The production of energy by the photovoltaic system is very fluctuates and depend of meteorological conditions. Wind is a very important and often neglected parameter in the behavior of the solar module. The electric performances of a solar module to the silicon are very appreciable to the blows, in the present work we have studies the behavior of solar module. An evaluation permits to affirm that a solar module under the effect of sand will collect a lower flux to the normal conditions. The exploitation of the solar energy to satisfy the energy demand in sahara areas is limited by the effect of sand on the performances of photovoltaic generator. In this work, we investigate a experimental study of photovoltaic module performances by influence of dust. Our results show that the sand provoked a fall of the electric parameters of the module, the power deliver by module decreases of 17% according to sand density, as well as the efficiency that falls of 1.9% and the current Icc following a fast variation of 27%. It permitted to show sand density produce a reduction in performances of the solar module, and therefore one regular cleaning of the face is necessry and permits to increase the power and efficiency (specilly in desert area).(Author)

Two-zone model of coronal hole structure in the high corona

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, Z.; Kundu, M.R.; Yoshimura, H.

1988-01-01

The two-zone coronal hole structure model presently proposed for the high corona at 1.5-1.7 solar radii emerges from a comparison of computation results for the potential magnetic fields of the corona and meter-decameter radio observations. The two zones of a coronal hole are defined by the configuration of magnetic field lines around a coronal hole: (1) the central hole of an open diverging magnetic field line system; and (2) the boundary zone between the central zone of the open field line system and the closed field line system or systems surrounding the open field line system. 19 references

Radial distributions of magnetic field strength in the solar corona as derived from data on fast halo CMEs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fainshtein V.G.

2018-03-01

Full Text Available In recent years, information about the distance between the body of rapid coronal mass ejection (CME and the associated shock wave has been used to measure the magnetic field in the solar corona. In all cases, this technique allows us to find coronal magnetic field radial profiles B(R applied to the directions almost perpendicular to the line of sight. We have determined radial distributions of magnetic field strength along the directions close to the Sun–Earth axis. For this purpose, using the “ice-cream cone” model and SOHO/LASCO data, we found 3D characteristics for fast halo coronal mass ejections (HCMEs and for HCME-related shocks. With these data we managed to obtain the B(R distributions as far as ≈43 solar radii from the Sun's center, which is approximately twice as far as those in other studies based on LASCO data. We have concluded that to improve the accuracy of this method for finding the coronal magnetic field we should develop a technique for detecting CME parts moving in the slow and fast solar wind. We propose a technique for selecting CMEs whose central (paraxial part actually moves in the slow wind.

The Solar Wind from Pseudostreamers and their Environs: Opportunities for Observations with Parker Solar Probe and Solar Orbiter

Science.gov (United States)

Panasenco, O.; Velli, M.; Panasenco, A.; Lionello, R.

2017-12-01

The solar dynamo and photospheric convection lead to three main types of structures extending from the solar surface into the corona - active regions, solar filaments (prominences when observed at the limb) and coronal holes. These structures exist over a wide range of scales, and are interlinked with each other in evolution and dynamics. Active regions can form clusters of magnetic activity and the strongest overlie sunspots. In the decay of active regions, the boundaries separating opposite magnetic polarities (neutral lines) develop specific structures called filament channels above which filaments form. In the presence of flux imbalance decaying active regions can also give birth to lower latitude coronal holes. The accumulation of magnetic flux at coronal hole boundaries also creates conditions for filament formation: polar crown filaments are permanently present at the boundaries of the polar coronal holes. Mid-latitude and equatorial coronal holes - the result of active region evolution - can create pseudostreamers if other coronal holes of the same polarity are present. While helmet streamers form between open fields of opposite polarities, the pseudostreamer, characterized by a smaller coronal imprint, typically shows a more prominent straight ray or stalk extending from the corona. The pseudostreamer base at photospheric heights is multipolar; often one observes tripolar magnetic configurations with two neutral lines - where filaments can form - separating the coronal holes. Here we discuss the specific role of filament channels on pseudostreamer topology and on solar wind properties. 1D numerical analysis of pseudostreamers shows that the properties of the solar wind from around PSs depend on the presence/absence of filament channels, number of channels and chirality at thepseudostreamer base low in the corona. We review and model possible coronal magnetic configurations and solar wind plasma properties at different distances from the solar surface that

Numerical investigation of dust pollution on a solar photovoltaic (PV) system mounted on an isolated building

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lu, Hao; Lu, Lin; Wang, Yuanhao

2016-01-01

Highlights: • Effects of dust pollution on PV panels mounted on building roofs were investigated by CFD. • The dust deposition rates first increased and then decreased with the increase of dust size. • The gravity has different influences on dust deposition rates of large and small dusts. • The influence of released dust number on dust deposition rate is less than 8%. • A simple model was developed to estimate the PV efficiency reduction ratio by dust pollution. - Abstract: Dust deposition on a solar photovoltaic (PV) system mounted on the windward roof of an isolated building was investigated by CFD simulation. The SST k-ω turbulence model with UDF inlet profiles and the discrete particle model (DPM) were adopted to simulate the wind flow fields and the dust deposition behavior, respectively. The CFD wind flow velocity profiles around the building were in good agreement with experimental results reported in the literature. The effects of various dust particle sizes, differing quantities of released dust particles, and the force of gravity on the rates of dust deposition upon the PV panels were investigated in detail. It was found that the dust deposition rate first rose and then declined with the increase of dust particle size. The maximum deposition rate was about 0.28% for 10 μm dust, and the minimum deposition rate was about 0.13% for 50 μm dust. Gravity also had a significant effect on the rate of dust deposition for large-particle dust (d_p > 5 μm), and the rate could reach 75% for 50 μm dust. However, the effect of gravity on dust deposition was less than 5% for small-particle dust (d_p < 5 μm). The effect of releasing differing quantities of dust particles on the dust deposition rate was less than 8%. Moreover, the mechanisms by which dust was deposited on the PV roof were analyzed and discussed. Finally, a simple empirical model was developed to estimate the PV efficiency reduction ratios in relation to exposure time, as based on this

Spirit Feels Dust Gust

Science.gov (United States)

2007-01-01

On sol 1149 (March 28, 2007) of its mission, NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit caught a wind gust with its navigation camera. A series of navigation camera images were strung together to create this movie. The front of the gust is observable because it was strong enough to lift up dust. From assessing the trajectory of this gust, the atmospheric science team concludes that it is possible that it passed over the rover. There was, however, no noticeable increase in power associated with this gust. In the past, dust devils and gusts have wiped the solar panels of dust, making it easier for the solar panels to absorb sunlight.

Mass and energy flows between the Solar chromosphere, transition region, and corona

Science.gov (United States)

Hansteen, V. H.

2017-12-01

A number of increasingly sophisticated numerical simulations spanning the convection zone to corona have shed considerable insight into the role of the magnetic field in the structure and energetics of the Sun's outer atmosphere. This development is strengthened by the wealth of observational data now coming on-line from both ground based and space borne observatories. We discuss what numerical models can tell us about the mass and energy flows in the region of the upper chromosphere and lower corona, using a variety of tools, including the direct comparison with data and the use of passive tracer particles (so-called 'corks') inserted into the simulated flows.

A Spectroscopic Study of the Energy Deposition in the Low Corona: Connecting Global Modeling to Observations

Science.gov (United States)

Szente, J.; Landi, E.; Toth, G.; Manchester, W.; van der Holst, B.; Gombosi, T. I.

2017-12-01

We are looking for signatures of coronal heating process using a physically consistent 3D MHD model of the global corona. Our approach is based on the Alfvén Wave Solar atmosphere Model (AWSoM), with a domain ranging from the upper chromosphere (50,000K) to the outer corona, and the solar wind is self-consistently heated and accelerated by the dissipation of low-frequency Alfvén waves. Taking into account separate electron and anisotropic proton heating, we model the coronal plasma at the same time and location as observed by Hinode/EIS, and calculate the synthetic spectra that we compare with the observations. With the obtained synthetic spectra, we are able to directly calculate line intensities, line width, thermal and nonthermal motions, line centroids, Doppler shift distributions and compare our predictions to real measurements. Our results directly test the extent to which Alfvénic heating is present in the low corona.

Probing the Quiet Solar Atmosphere from the Photosphere to the Corona

Science.gov (United States)

Kontogiannis, Ioannis; Gontikakis, Costis; Tsiropoula, Georgia; Tziotziou, Kostas

2018-04-01

We investigate the morphology and temporal variability of a quiet-Sun network region in different solar layers. The emission in several extreme ultraviolet (EUV) spectral lines through both raster and slot time-series, recorded by the EUV Imaging Spectrometer (EIS) on board the Hinode spacecraft is studied along with Hα observations and high-resolution spectropolarimetric observations of the photospheric magnetic field. The photospheric magnetic field is extrapolated up to the corona, showing a multitude of large- and small-scale structures. We show for the first time that the smallest magnetic structures at both the network and internetwork contribute significantly to the emission in EUV lines, with temperatures ranging from 8× 104 K to 6× 105 K. Two components of transition region emission are present, one associated with small-scale loops that do not reach coronal temperatures, and another component that acts as an interface between coronal and chromospheric plasma. Both components are associated with persistent chromospheric structures. The temporal variability of the EUV intensity at the network region is also associated with chromospheric motions, pointing to a connection between transition region and chromospheric features. Intensity enhancements in the EUV transition region lines are preferentially produced by Hα upflows. Examination of two individual chromospheric jets shows that their evolution is associated with intensity variations in transition region and coronal temperatures.

A framework for investigating the interactions between climate, dust, solar power generation and water desalination processes in Desert Climate

Science.gov (United States)

Siam, M. S.; Alqatari, S.; Ibrahim, H. D.; AlAloula, R. A.; Alrished, M.; AlSaati, A.; Eltahir, E. A. B.

2016-12-01

Increasing water demand in Saudi Arabia due to rapid population growth has forced the rapid expansion of seawater desalination plants in order to meet both current and future freshwater needs. Saudi Arabia has a huge potential for solar energy, hence, solar-powered desalination plants provide an opportunity to sustainably address the freshwater demand in the kingdom without relying on fossil fuels energy. However, the desert climate of Saudi Arabia and limited access to the open ocean imposes several challenges to the expansion and sustainability of solar-powered desalination plants. For example, the frequent and intense dust storms that occur in the region can degrade solar panels and significantly reduce their efficiency. Moreover, the high salinity Arabian Gulf is both the source of feedwater and sink of hypersaline discharge (brine) for many plants in the east of the Kingdom, and the brine may alter the salinity, temperature and movement of the water thereby reducing the quality of the feedwater to the desalination plants. Here, we propose a framework to investigate the different interactions between climate, dust, solar power generation and seawater desalination in order to identify optimal parameters such as locations of solar panels and seawater intake for sustainable implementation of solar-powered desalination plants. This framework integrates several numerical models including regional climate, hydrodynamics, Photovoltaics (PV) and Photovoltaic-Reverse Osmosis (PV-RO) models that are used to investigate these interactions for a solar-powered desalination plant at AlKhafji on the Northeastern coast of Saudi Arabia.

Solar Probe Plus: A NASA Mission to Touch the Sun

Science.gov (United States)

Fox, N. J.; Velli, M. M. C.; Kasper, J. C.; McComas, D. J.; Howard, R.; Bale, S. D.; Decker, R. B.

2014-12-01

Solar Probe Plus (SPP), currently in Phase C, will be the first mission to fly into the low solar corona, revealing how the corona is heated and the solar wind and energetic particles are accelerated, solving fundamental mysteries that have been top priority science goals since such a mission was first proposed in 1958. The scale and concept of such a mission has been revised at intervals since that time, yet the core has always been a close encounter with the Sun. The primary science goal of the Solar Probe Plus mission is to determine the structure and dynamics of the Sun's coronal magnetic field, understand how the solar corona and wind are heated and accelerated, and determine what mechanisms accelerate and transport energetic particles. The SPP mission will achieve this by identifying and quantifying the basic plasma physical processes at the heart of the Heliosphere. SPP uses an innovative mission design, significant technology development and a risk-reducing engineering development to meet the SPP science objectives: 1) Trace the flow of energy that heats and accelerates the solar corona and solar wind; 2) Determine the structure and dynamics of the plasma and magnetic fields at the sources of the solar wind; and 3) Explore mechanisms that accelerate and transport energetic particles. In this presentation, we present Solar Probe Plus and examine how the mission will address the science questions that have remained unanswered for over 5 decades.

White light coronal structures and flattening during six total solar eclipses

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

B.A. Marzouk

2016-12-01

Flattening index is the first quantitative parameter introduced for analyses of the global structure of the solar corona. It varies with respect to the phase of the solar activity and sunspot number. In this paper we study the solar corona during the 1990, 1999, 2006, 2008, 2009 and 2012 total solar eclipses. We obtain flattening coefficients for all the six eclipses by using a new computer program. Our results are in a good agreement with published results.

Plasma physical aspects of the solar cycle

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Raadu, M.A.

1982-08-01

Mass motions below the photosphere drive the solar cycle which is association with variations in the magnetic field structure and accompanying phenomena. In addition to semi-empirical models, dynamo theories have been used to explain the solar cycle. The emergence of magnetic field generated by these mechanisms and its expansions into the corona involves many plasma physical processes. Magnetic buoyancy aids the expulsion of magnetic flux. The corona may respond dynamically or by continually adjusting to a quasi-static force-free or pressure-balanced equilibrium. The formation and disruption of current sheets is significant for the overall structure of the coronal magnetic field and the physics of quiescent prominences. The corona has a fine structure consisting of magnetic loops. The structure and stability of these are important as they are one of the underlying elements which make up the corona. (Author)

ON THE ANISOTROPY IN EXPANSION OF MAGNETIC FLUX TUBES IN THE SOLAR CORONA

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Malanushenko, A. [Department of Physics, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT (United States); Schrijver, C. J. [Lockheed Martin Advanced Technology Center, Palo Alto, CA (United States)

2013-10-01

Most one-dimensional hydrodynamic models of plasma confined to magnetic flux tubes assume circular tube cross sections. We use potential field models to show that flux tubes in circumstances relevant to the solar corona do not, in general, maintain the same cross-sectional shape through their length and therefore the assumption of a circular cross section is rarely true. We support our hypothesis with mathematical reasoning and numerical experiments. We demonstrate that lifting this assumption in favor of realistic, non-circular loops makes the apparent expansion of magnetic flux tubes consistent with that of observed coronal loops. We propose that in a bundle of ribbon-like loops, those that are viewed along the wide direction would stand out against those that are viewed across the wide direction due to the difference in their column depths. That result would impose a bias toward selecting loops that appear not to be expanding, seen projected in the plane of sky. An implication of this selection bias is that the preferentially selected non-circular loops would appear to have increased pressure scale heights even if they are resolved by current instruments.

Ion Microprobe Measurements of Comet Dust and Implications for Models of Oxygen Isotope Heterogeneity in the Solar System

Science.gov (United States)

Snead, C. J.; McKeegan, K. D.; Keller, L. P.; Messenger, S.

2017-01-01

The oxygen isotopic compositions of anhydrous minerals in carbonaceous chondrites reflect mixing between a O-16-rich and O-17, O18-rich reservoir. The UV photodissociation of CO (i.e. selfshielding) has been proposed as a mass-independent mechanism for producing these isotopically distinct reservoirs. Self-shielding models predict the composition for the CO gas reservoir to be O-16-rich, and that the accreting primordial dust was in isotopic equilibrium with the gaseous reservoir [1, 2]. Self-shielding also predicts that cometary water, presumed to represent the O-17, O-18-rich reservoir, should be enriched in O-17 and O-18, with compositions of 200 -1000per mille, and that the interaction with this O-17, O-18-rich H2O reservoir altered the compositions of the primordial dust toward planetary values. The bulk composition of the solar nebula, which may be an approximation to the 16O-rich gaseous reservoir, has been constrained by the Genesis results [3]. However, material representing the O-17, O-18-rich end-member is rare [4], and dust representing the original accreting primordial dust has been challenging to conclusively identify in current collections. Anhydrous dust from comets, which accreted in the distal cold regions of the nebula at temperatures below approximately 30K, may provide the best opportunity to measure the oxygen isotope composition of primordial dust. Chondritic porous interplanetary dust particles (CP-IDPs) have been suggested as having cometary origins [5]; however, until direct comparisons with dust from a known comet parent body were made, link between CP-IDPs and comets remained circumstantial. Oxygen isotope analyses of particles from comet 81P/Wild 2 collected by NASA's Stardust mission have revealed surprising similarities to minerals in carbonaceous chondrites which have been interpreted as evidence for large scale radial migration of dust components from the inner solar nebula to the accretion regions of Jupiter- family comets [6

Feasibility of retrieving dust properties and total column water vapor from solar spectra measured using a lander camera on Mars

Science.gov (United States)

Manago, Naohiro; Noguchi, Katsuyuki; Hashimoto, George L.; Senshu, Hiroki; Otobe, Naohito; Suzuki, Makoto; Kuze, Hiroaki

2017-12-01

Dust and water vapor are important constituents in the Martian atmosphere, exerting significant influence on the heat balance of the atmosphere and surface. We have developed a method to retrieve optical and physical properties of Martian dust from spectral intensities of direct and scattered solar radiation to be measured using a multi-wavelength environmental camera onboard a Mars lander. Martian dust is assumed to be composed of silicate-like substrate and hematite-like inclusion, having spheroidal shape with a monomodal gamma size distribution. Error analysis based on simulated data reveals that appropriate combinations of three bands centered at 450, 550, and 675 nm wavelengths and 4 scattering angles of 3°, 10°, 50°, and 120° lead to good retrieval of four dust parameters, namely, aerosol optical depth, effective radius and variance of size distribution, and volume mixing ratio of hematite. Retrieval error increases when some of the observational parameters such as color ratio or aureole are omitted from the retrieval. Also, the capability of retrieving total column water vapor is examined through observations of direct and scattered solar radiation intensities at 925, 935, and 972 nm. The simulation and error analysis presented here will be useful for designing an environmental camera that can elucidate the dust and water vapor properties in a future Mars lander mission.

The "FIP Effect" and the Origins of Solar Energetic Particles and of the Solar Wind

Science.gov (United States)

Reames, Donald V.

2018-03-01

We find that the element abundances in solar energetic particles (SEPs) and in the slow solar wind (SSW), relative to those in the photosphere, show different patterns as a function of the first ionization potential (FIP) of the elements. Generally, the SEP and SSW abundances reflect abundance samples of the solar corona, where low-FIP elements, ionized in the chromosphere, are more efficiently conveyed upward to the corona than high-FIP elements that are initially neutral atoms. Abundances of the elements, especially C, P, and S, show a crossover from low to high FIP at {≈} 10 eV in the SEPs but {≈} 14 eV for the solar wind. Naively, this seems to suggest cooler plasma from sunspots beneath active regions. More likely, if the ponderomotive force of Alfvén waves preferentially conveys low-FIP ions into the corona, the source plasma that eventually will be shock-accelerated as SEPs originates in magnetic structures where Alfvén waves resonate with the loop length on closed magnetic field lines. This concentrates FIP fractionation near the top of the chromosphere. Meanwhile, the source of the SSW may lie near the base of diverging open-field lines surrounding, but outside of, active regions, where such resonance does not exist, allowing fractionation throughout the chromosphere. We also find that energetic particles accelerated from the solar wind itself by shock waves at corotating interaction regions, generally beyond 1 AU, confirm the FIP pattern of the solar wind.

The EUV-observatory TESIS on board Coronas-Photon: scientific goals and initial plan of observations

Science.gov (United States)

Bogachev, Sergey

The TESIS a EUV-observatory for solar research from space will be launched in 2008 September on board the satellite Coronas-Photon from cosmodrome Plesetsk. TESIS is a project of Lebedev Physical Institute of Russian Academy of Science with contribution from Space Research Center of Polish Academy of Science (the spectrometer SphinX). The experiment will focus on quasi-monochromatic imaging of the Sun and XUV spectroscopy of solar plasma. The scientific payload of TESIS contains five instruments: (1) Bragg crystal spectroheliometer for Sun monochromatic imaging in the line MgXII 8.42 A, (2) the normal-incidence Herschelian EUV telescopes with a resolution of 1.7 arc sec operated in lines FeXXII 133 A, FeIX 171 A and HeII 304 A, (3) the EUV imaging spectrometer, (4) the wide-field Ritchey-Chretien coronograph and (5) the X-ray spectrometer SphinX. The TESIS will focus on coordinated study of solar activity from the transition region to the outer corona up to 4 solar radii in wide temperature range from 5*104 to 2*107 K. We describe the scientific goals of the TESIS and its initial plan of observations.

Electrostatic Precipitation of Dust in the Martian Atmosphere: Implications for the Utilization of Resources During Future Manned Exploration Missions

Science.gov (United States)

Calle, Carlos I.; Clements, Judson S.; Thompson, Samuel M.; Cox, Nathan D.; Hogue, Michael D.; Johansen, Michael R.; Williams, Blakeley S.

2011-01-01

Future human missions to Mars will require the utilization of local resources for oxygen, fuel. and water. The In Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) project is an active research endeavor at NASA to develop technologies that can enable cost effective ways to live off the land. The extraction of oxygen from the Martian atmosphere. composed primarily of carbon dioxide, is one of the most important goals of the Mars ISRU project. The main obstacle is the relatively large amount of dust present in the Martian atmosphere. This dust must be efficiently removed from atmospheric gas intakes for ISRU processing chambers. A common technique to achieve this removal on earth is by electrostatic precipitation, where large electrostatic fields are established in a localized region to precipitate and collect previously charged dust particles. This technique is difficult to adapt to the Martian environment, with an atmospheric pressure of about one-hundredth of the terrestrial atmosphere. At these low pressures. the corona discharges required to implant an electrostatic charge to the particles to be collected is extremely difficult to sustain and the corona easily becomes biopolar. which is unsuitable for particle charging. In this paper, we report on our successful efforts to establish a stable corona under Martian simulated conditions. We also present results on dust collecting efficiencies with an electrostatic precipitator prototype that could be effectively used on a future mission to the red planet

Properties of interstellar dust in reflection nebulae

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sellgren, K.

1988-01-01

Observations of interstellar dust in reflection nebulae are the closest analog in the interstellar medium to studies of cometary dust in our solar system. The presence of a bright star near the reflection nebula dust provides the opportunity to study both the reflection and emission characteristics of interstellar dust. At 0.1 to 1 micrometer, the reflection nebula emission is due to starlight scattered by dust. The albedo and scattering phase function of the dust is determined from observations of the scattered light. At 50 to 200 micrometers, thermal emission from the dust in equilibrium with the stellar radiation field is observed. The derived dust temperature determines the relative values of the absorption coefficient of the dust at wavelengths where the stellar energy is absorbed and at far infrared wavelengths where the absorbed energy is reradiated. These emission mechanisms directly relate to those seen in the near and mid infrared spectra of comets. In a reflection nebula the dust is observed at much larger distances from the star than in our solar system, so that the equilibrium dust temperature is 50 K rather than 300 K. Thus, in reflection nebulae, thermal emission from dust is emitted at 50 to 200 micrometer

Dust Measurements Onboard the Deep Space Gateway

Science.gov (United States)

Horanyi, M.; Kempf, S.; Malaspina, D.; Poppe, A.; Srama, R.; Sternovsky, Z.; Szalay, J.

2018-02-01

A dust instrument onboard the Deep Space Gateway will revolutionize our understanding of the dust environment at 1 AU, help our understanding of the evolution of the solar system, and improve dust hazard models for the safety of crewed and robotic missions.

Fragmentation of electric currents in the solar corona by plasma flows

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Nickeler, Dieter Horst; Karlický, Marian; Wiegelmann, T.; Kraus, Michaela

2013-01-01

Roč. 556, August (2013), A61/1-A61/12 ISSN 0004-6361 R&D Projects: GA ČR GAP209/12/0103; GA ČR GA13-24782S Institutional support: RVO:67985815 Keywords : magnetohydrodynamics * Sun flares * Sun corona Subject RIV: BN - Astronomy, Celestial Mechanics, Astrophysics Impact factor: 4.479, year: 2013

Cometary Dust

Science.gov (United States)

Levasseur-Regourd, Anny-Chantal; Agarwal, Jessica; Cottin, Hervé; Engrand, Cécile; Flynn, George; Fulle, Marco; Gombosi, Tamas; Langevin, Yves; Lasue, Jérémie; Mannel, Thurid; Merouane, Sihane; Poch, Olivier; Thomas, Nicolas; Westphal, Andrew

2018-04-01

This review presents our understanding of cometary dust at the end of 2017. For decades, insight about the dust ejected by nuclei of comets had stemmed from remote observations from Earth or Earth's orbit, and from flybys, including the samples of dust returned to Earth for laboratory studies by the Stardust return capsule. The long-duration Rosetta mission has recently provided a huge and unique amount of data, obtained using numerous instruments, including innovative dust instruments, over a wide range of distances from the Sun and from the nucleus. The diverse approaches available to study dust in comets, together with the related theoretical and experimental studies, provide evidence of the composition and physical properties of dust particles, e.g., the presence of a large fraction of carbon in macromolecules, and of aggregates on a wide range of scales. The results have opened vivid discussions on the variety of dust-release processes and on the diversity of dust properties in comets, as well as on the formation of cometary dust, and on its presence in the near-Earth interplanetary medium. These discussions stress the significance of future explorations as a way to decipher the formation and evolution of our Solar System.

Corona SDK hotshot

CERN Document Server

Flanagan, Nevin

2013-01-01

Using a project based approach you will learn the coolest aspects of Corona SDK development. Each project contains step bystep explanations, diagrams, screenshots, and downloadable materials.This book is for users who already have completed at least one simple app using Corona and are familiar with mobile development using another platform and have done Lua programming in another context. Knowledge of the basic functions of Corona routines, as well as an understanding of the Lua programming language's syntax and common libraries, is assumed throughout.

Hamiltonian Formulation and Perturbations for Dust Motion Around Cometary Nuclei

Science.gov (United States)

Jiang, Yu; Schmidt, Juergen; Baoyin, Hexi; Li, Hengnian; Li, Junfeng

2017-12-01

In this paper we analyze the dynamical behavior of large dust grains in the vicinity of a cometary nucleus. To this end we consider the gravitational field of the irregularly shaped body, as well as its electric and magnetic fields. Without considering the effect of gas friction and solar radiation, we find that there exist grains which are static relative to the cometary nucleus; the positions of these grains are the stable equilibria. There also exist grains in the stable periodic orbits close to the cometary nucleus. The grains in the stable equilibria or the stable periodic orbits won't escape or impact on the surface of the cometary nucleus. The results are applicable for large charge dusts with small area-mass ratio which are near the cometary nucleus and far from the Solar. It is found that the resonant periodic orbit can be stable, and there exist stable non-resonant periodic orbits, stable resonant periodic orbits and unstable resonant periodic orbits in the potential field of cometary nuclei. The comet gravity force, solar gravity force, electric force, magnetic force, solar radiation pressure, as well as the gas drag force are all considered to analyze the order of magnitude of these forces acting on the grains with different parameters. Let the distance of the dust grain relative to the mass centre of the cometary nucleus, the charge and the mass of the dust grain vary, respectively, fix other parameters, we calculated the strengths of different forces. The motion of the dust grain depends on the area-mass ratio, the charge, and the distance relative to the comet's mass center. For a large dust grain (> 1 mm) close to the cometary nucleus which has a small value of area-mass ratio, the comet gravity is the largest force acting on the dust grain. For a small dust grain (< 1 mm) close to the cometary nucleus with large value of area-mass ratio, both the solar radiation pressure and the comet gravity are two major forces. If the a small dust grain which is

Corona helps curb losses

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Laasonen, M.; Lahtinen, M.; Lustre, L.

1996-11-01

The greatest power losses in electricity transmission arise through a phenomenon called load losses. Corona losses caused by the surface discharge of electricity also constitute a considerable cost item. IVS, the nationwide network company, is investigating corona- induced losses, and has also commissioned similar research from IVO International, the Technical Research Centre of Finland (VTT) and from Tampere University of Technology. The research work strives to gain more in-depth knowledge on the phenomenon of frosting and its impact on corona losses. The correct prediction of frost helps reduce corona losses, while also cutting costs considerably. (orig.)

MUSE, the Multi-Slit Solar Explorer

Science.gov (United States)

Lemen, J. R.; Tarbell, T. D.; De Pontieu, B.; Wuelser, J. P.

2017-12-01

The Multi-Slit Solar Explorer (MUSE) has been selected for a Phase A study for the NASA Heliophysics Small Explorer program. The science objective of MUSE is to make high spatial and temporal resolution imaging and spectral observations of the solar corona and transition region in order to probe the mechanisms responsible for energy release in the corona and understand the dynamics of the solar atmosphere. The physical processes are responsible for heating the corona, accelerating the solar wind, and the rapid release of energy in CMEs and flares. The observations will be tightly coupled to state-of-the-art numerical modeling to provide significantly improved estimates for understanding and anticipating space weather. MUSE contains two instruments: an EUV spectrograph and an EUV context imager. Both have similar spatial resolutions and leverage extensive heritage from previous high-resolution instruments such as IRIS and the HiC rocket payload. The MUSE spectrograph employs a novel multi-slit design that enables a 100x improvement in spectral scanning rates, which will reveal crucial information about the dynamics (e.g., temperature, velocities) of the physical processes that are not observable with current instruments. The MUSE investigation builds on the success of IRIS by combining numerical modeling with a uniquely capable observatory: MUSE will obtain EUV spectra and images with the highest resolution in space (1/3 arcsec) and time (1-4 s) ever achieved for the transition region and corona, along 35 slits and a large context FOV simultaneously. The MUSE consortium includes LMSAL, SAO, Stanford, ARC, HAO, GSFC, MSFC, MSU, and ITA Oslo.

Disease specific protein corona

Science.gov (United States)

Rahman, M.; Mahmoudi, M.

2015-03-01

It is now well accepted that upon their entrance into the biological environments, the surface of nanomaterials would be covered by various biomacromolecules (e.g., proteins and lipids). The absorption of these biomolecules, so called `protein corona', onto the surface of (nano)biomaterials confers them a new `biological identity'. Although the formation of protein coronas on the surface of nanoparticles has been widely investigated, there are few reports on the effect of various diseases on the biological identity of nanoparticles. As the type of diseases may tremendously changes the composition of the protein source (e.g., human plasma/serum), one can expect that amount and composition of associated proteins in the corona composition may be varied, in disease type manner. Here, we show that corona coated silica and polystyrene nanoparticles (after interaction with in the plasma of the healthy individuals) could induce unfolding of fibrinogen, which promotes release of the inflammatory cytokines. However, no considerable releases of inflammatory cytokines were observed for corona coated graphene sheets. In contrast, the obtained corona coated silica and polystyrene nanoparticles from the hypofibrinogenemia patients could not induce inflammatory cytokine release where graphene sheets do. Therefore, one can expect that disease-specific protein coronas can provide a novel approach for applying nanomedicine to personalized medicine, improving diagnosis and treatment of different diseases tailored to the specific conditions and circumstances.

Alteration of Organic Compounds in Small Bodies and Cosmic Dusts by Cosmic Rays and Solar Radiation

Science.gov (United States)

Kobayashi, Kensei; Kaneko, Takeo; Mita, Hajime; Obayashi, Yumiko; Takahashi, Jun-ichi; Sarker, Palash K.; Kawamoto, Yukinori; Okabe, Takuto; Eto, Midori; Kanda, Kazuhiro

2012-07-01

A wide variety of complex organic compounds have been detected in extraterrestrial bodies like carbonaceous chondrites and comets, and their roles in the generation of terrestrial life are discussed. It was suggested that organics in small bodies were originally formed in ice mantles of interstellar dusts in dense cloud. Irradiation of frozen mixture of possible interstellar molecules including CO (or CH _{3}OH), NH _{3} and H _{2}O with high-energy particles gave complex amino acid precursors with high molecular weights [1]. Such complex organic molecules were taken in planetesimals or comets in the early solar system. In prior to the generation of the terrestrial life, extraterrestrial organics were delivered to the primitive Earth by such small bodies as meteorites, comets and space dusts. These organics would have been altered by cosmic rays and solar radiation (UV, X-rays) before the delivery to the Earth. We examined possible alteration of amino acids, their precursors and nucleic acid bases in interplanetary space by irradiation with high energy photons and heavy ions. A mixture of CO, NH _{3} and H _{2}O was irradiated with high-energy protons from a van de Graaff accelerator (TIT, Japan). The resulting products (hereafter referred to as CAW) are complex precursors of amino acids. CAW, amino acids (dl-Isovaline, glycine), hydantoins (amino acid precursors) and nucleic acid bases were irradiated with continuous emission (soft X-rays to IR; hereafter referred to as soft X-rays irradiation) from BL-6 of NewSUBARU synchrotron radiation facility (Univ. Hyogo). They were also irradiated with heavy ions (eg., 290 MeV/u C ^{6+}) from HIMAC accelerator (NIRS, Japan). After soft X-rays irradiation, water insoluble materials were formed. After irradiation with soft X-rays or heavy ions, amino acid precursors (CAW and hydantoins) gave higher ratio of amino acids were recovered after hydrolysis than free amino acids. Nucleic acid bases showed higher stability than free

Solar Radio

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Scientists monitor the structure of the solar corona, the outer most regions of the Sun's atmosphere, using radio waves (100?s of MHz to 10?s of GHz). Variations in...

NEOCE: a new external occulting coronagraph experiment for ultimate observations of the chromosphere, corona and interface

Science.gov (United States)

Damé, Luc; Fineschi, Silvano; Kuzin, Sergey; Von Fay-Siebenburgen, Erdélyi Robert

Several ground facilities and space missions are currently dedicated to the study of the Sun at high resolution and of the solar corona in particular. However, and despite significant progress with the advent of space missions and UV, EUV and XUV direct observations of the hot chromosphere and million-degrees coronal plasma, much is yet to be achieved in the understanding of these high temperatures, fine dynamic dissipative structures and of the coronal heating in general. Recent missions have shown the definite role of a wide range of waves and of the magnetic field deep in the inner corona, at the chromosphere-corona interface, where dramatic and physically fundamental changes occur. The dynamics of the chromosphere and corona is controlled and governed by the emerging magnetic field. Accordingly, the direct measurement of the chromospheric and coronal magnetic fields is of prime importance. The solar corona consists of many localised loop-like structures or threads with the plasmas brightening and fading independently. The plasma evolution in each thread is believed to be related to the formation of filaments, each one being dynamic, in a non-equilibrium state. The mechanism sustaining this dynamics, oscillations or waves (Alfvén or other magneto-plasma waves), requires both very high-cadence, multi-spectral observations, and high resolution and coronal magnetometry. This is foreseen in the future Space Mission NEOCE (New External Occulting Coronagraph Experiment), the ultimate new generation high-resolution coronagraphic heliospheric mission, to be proposed for ESA M4. NEOCE, an evolution of the HiRISE mission, is ideally placed at the L5 Lagrangian point (for a better follow-up of CMEs), and provides FUV imaging and spectro-imaging, EUV and XUV imaging and spectroscopy, and ultimate coronagraphy by a remote external occulter (two satellites in formation flying 375 m apart minimizing scattered light) allowing to characterize temperature, densities and

Evolving Waves and Turbulence in the Outer Corona and Inner Heliosphere: The Accelerating Expanding Box

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tenerani, Anna; Velli, Marco [EPSS, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA (United States)

2017-07-01

Alfvénic fluctuations in the solar wind display many properties reflecting an ongoing nonlinear cascade, e.g., a well-defined spectrum in frequency, together with some characteristics more commonly associated with the linear propagation of waves from the Sun, such as the variation of fluctuation amplitude with distance, dominated by solar wind expansion effects. Therefore, both nonlinearities and expansion must be included simultaneously in any successful model of solar wind turbulence evolution. Because of the disparate spatial scales involved, direct numerical simulations of turbulence in the solar wind represent an arduous task, especially if one wants to go beyond the incompressible approximation. Indeed, most simulations neglect solar wind expansion effects entirely. Here we develop a numerical model to simulate turbulent fluctuations from the outer corona to 1 au and beyond, including the sub-Alfvénic corona. The accelerating expanding box (AEB) extends the validity of previous expanding box models by taking into account both the acceleration of the solar wind and the inhomogeneity of background density and magnetic field. Our method incorporates a background accelerating wind within a magnetic field that naturally follows the Parker spiral evolution using a two-scale analysis in which the macroscopic spatial effect coupling fluctuations with background gradients becomes a time-dependent coupling term in a homogeneous box. In this paper we describe the AEB model in detail and discuss its main properties, illustrating its validity by studying Alfvén wave propagation across the Alfvén critical point.

"SOLAR MAGNETIZED ""TORNADOES:"" RELATION TO FILAMENTS"

OpenAIRE

Su, Yang; Wang, Tongjiang; Veronig, Astrid; Temmer, Manuela; Gan, Weiqun

2012-01-01

Solar magnetized "tornadoes", a phenomenon discovered in the solar atmosphere, appear as tornado-like structures in the corona but root in the photosphere. Like other solar phenomena, solar tornadoes are a feature of magnetized plasma and therefore differ distinctly from terrestrial tornadoes. Here we report the first analysis of solar "tornadoes" {Two papers which focused on different aspect of solar tornadoes were published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters (Li et al. 2012) and Nature (W...

Measurement and analysis of time-domain characteristics of corona-generated radio interference from a single positive corona source

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Xuebao; Li, Dayong; Chen, Bo; Cui, Xiang; Lu, Tiebing; Li, Yinfei

2018-04-01

The corona-generated electromagnetic interference commonly known as radio interference (RI) has become a limiting factor for the design of high voltage direct current transmission lines. In this paper, a time-domain measurement system is developed to measure the time-domain characteristics of corona-generated RI from a single corona source under a positive corona source. In the experiments, the corona current pulses are synchronously measured through coupling capacitors. The one-to-one relationship between the corona current pulse and measured RI voltage pulse is observed. The statistical characteristics of pulse parameters are analyzed, and the correlations between the corona current pulse and RI voltage pulse in the time-domain and frequency-domain are analyzed. Depending on the measured corona current pulses, the time-domain waveform of corona-generated RI is calculated on the basis of the propagation model of corona current on the conductor, the dipolar model for electric field calculation, and the antenna model for inducing voltage calculation. The well matched results between measured and simulated waveforms of RI voltage can show the validity of the measurement and calculation method presented in this paper, which also further show the close correlation between corona current and corona-generated RI.

The 1995 total solar eclipse: an overview.

Science.gov (United States)

Singh, J.

A number of experiments were conducted during the total solar eclipse of October 24, 1995. First time efforts were made to photograph the solar corona using IAF jet aircrafts and transport planes ad hot air balloons.

Dust Removal from Solar Cells

Science.gov (United States)

Ashpis, David E. (Inventor)

2015-01-01

A solar panel cleaning device includes a solar panel having a plurality of photovoltaic cells arranged in rows and embedded in the solar panel with space between the rows. A transparent dielectric overlay is affixed to the solar panel. A plurality of electrode pairs each of which includes an upper and a lower electrode are arranged on opposite sides of the transparent dielectric and are affixed thereto. The electrodes may be transparent electrodes which may be arranged without concern for blocking sunlight to the solar panel. The solar panel may be a dielectric and its dielectric properties may be continuously and spatially variable. Alternatively the dielectric used may have dielectric segments which produce different electrical field and which affects the wind "generated."

EXPLAINING INVERTED-TEMPERATURE LOOPS IN THE QUIET SOLAR CORONA WITH MAGNETOHYDRODYNAMIC WAVE-MODE CONVERSION

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schiff, Avery J.; Cranmer, Steven R. [Department of Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences, Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309 (United States)

2016-11-01

Coronal loops trace out bipolar, arch-like magnetic fields above the Sun’s surface. Recent measurements that combine rotational tomography, extreme-ultraviolet imaging, and potential-field extrapolation have shown the existence of large loops with inverted-temperature profiles, i.e., loops for which the apex temperature is a local minimum, not a maximum. These “down loops” appear to exist primarily in equatorial quiet regions near solar minimum. We simulate both these and the more prevalent large-scale “up loops” by modeling coronal heating as a time-steady superposition of (1) dissipation of incompressible Alfvén wave turbulence and (2) dissipation of compressive waves formed by mode conversion from the initial population of Alfvén waves. We found that when a large percentage (>99%) of the Alfvén waves undergo this conversion, heating is greatly concentrated at the footpoints and stable “down loops” are created. In some cases we found loops with three maxima that are also gravitationally stable. Models that agree with the tomographic temperature data exhibit higher gas pressures for “down loops” than for “up loops,” which is consistent with observations. These models also show a narrow range of Alfvén wave amplitudes: 3 to 6 km s{sup -1} at the coronal base. This is low in comparison to typical observed amplitudes of 20–30 km s{sup -1} in bright X-ray loops. However, the large-scale loops we model are believed to compose a weaker diffuse background that fills much of the volume of the corona. By constraining the physics of loops that underlie quiescent streamers, we hope to better understand the formation of the slow solar wind.

Solar Probe Plus: A NASA Mission to Touch the SunMission Status Update

Science.gov (United States)

Fox, N. J.

2016-12-01

Solar Probe Plus (SPP), currently in Phase D, will be the first mission to fly into the low solar corona, revealing how the corona is heated and the solar wind and energetic particles are accelerated, solving fundamental mysteries that have been top priority science goals since such a mission was first proposed in 1958. The scale and concept of such a mission has been revised at intervals since that time, yet the core has always been a close encounter with the Sun. The primary science goal of the Solar Probe Plus mission is to determine the structure and dynamics of the Sun's coronal magnetic field, understand how the solar corona and wind are heated and accelerated, and determine what mechanisms accelerate and transport energetic particles. SPP uses an innovative mission design, significant technology development and a risk-reducing engineering development to meet the SPP science objectives. In this presentation, we provide an update on the progress of the Solar Probe Plus mission as we prepare for the July 2018 launch.

Parker Solar Probe: A NASA Mission to Touch the Sun: Mission Status Update

Science.gov (United States)

Fox, N. J.

2017-12-01

The newly renamed, Parker Solar Probe (PSP) mission will be the first mission to fly into the low solar corona, revealing how the corona is heated and the solar wind and energetic particles are accelerated, solving fundamental mysteries that have been top priority science goals since such a mission was first proposed in 1958. The scale and concept of such a mission has been revised at intervals since that time, yet the core has always been a close encounter with the Sun. The primary science goal of the Parker Solar Probe mission is to determine the structure and dynamics of the Sun's coronal magnetic field, understand how the solar corona and wind are heated and accelerated, and determine what mechanisms accelerate and transport energetic particles. PSP uses an innovative mission design, significant technology development and a risk-reducing engineering development to meet the science objectives. In this presentation, we provide an update on the progress of the Parker Solar Probe mission as we prepare for the July 2018 launch.

A precise measurement of the magnetic field in the corona of the black hole binary V404 Cygni.

Science.gov (United States)

Dallilar, Yigit; Eikenberry, Stephen S; Garner, Alan; Stelter, Richard D; Gottlieb, Amy; Gandhi, Poshak; Casella, Piergiorgio; Dhillon, Vik S; Marsh, Tom R; Littlefair, Stuart P; Hardy, Liam; Fender, Rob; Mooley, Kunal; Walton, Dominic J; Fuerst, Felix; Bachetti, Matteo; Castro-Tirado, A J; Charcos, Miguel; Edwards, Michelle L; Lasso-Cabrera, Nestor M; Marin-Franch, Antonio; Raines, S Nicholas; Ackley, Kendall; Bennett, John G; Cenarro, A Javier; Chinn, Brian; Donoso, H Veronica; Frommeyer, Raymond; Hanna, Kevin; Herlevich, Michael D; Julian, Jeff; Miller, Paola; Mullin, Scott; Murphey, Charles H; Packham, Chris; Varosi, Frank; Vega, Claudia; Warner, Craig; Ramaprakash, A N; Burse, Mahesh; Punnadi, Sujit; Chordia, Pravin; Gerarts, Andreas; de Paz Martín, Héctor; Calero, María Martín; Scarpa, Riccardo; Acosta, Sergio Fernandez; Hernández Sánchez, William Miguel; Siegel, Benjamin; Pérez, Francisco Francisco; Viera Martín, Himar D; Rodríguez Losada, José A; Nuñez, Agustín; Tejero, Álvaro; Martín González, Carlos E; Rodríguez, César Cabrera; Molgó, Jordi; Rodriguez, J Esteban; Cáceres, J Israel Fernández; Rodríguez García, Luis A; Lopez, Manuel Huertas; Dominguez, Raul; Gaggstatter, Tim; Lavers, Antonio Cabrera; Geier, Stefan; Pessev, Peter; Sarajedini, Ata

2017-12-08

Observations of binary stars containing an accreting black hole or neutron star often show x-ray emission extending to high energies (>10 kilo--electron volts), which is ascribed to an accretion disk corona of energetic particles akin to those seen in the solar corona. Despite their ubiquity, the physical conditions in accretion disk coronae remain poorly constrained. Using simultaneous infrared, optical, x-ray, and radio observations of the Galactic black hole system V404 Cygni, showing a rapid synchrotron cooling event in its 2015 outburst, we present a precise 461 ± 12 gauss magnetic field measurement in the corona. This measurement is substantially lower than previous estimates for such systems, providing constraints on physical models of accretion physics in black hole and neutron star binary systems. Copyright © 2017 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.

Mode Conversion of Langmuir to Electromagnetic Waves with Parallel Inhomogeneity in the Solar Wind and the Corona

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Eun-Hwa; Cairns, Iver H.; Robinson, Peter A.

2008-01-01

Linear mode conversion of Langmuir waves to radiation near the plasma frequency at density gradients is potentially relevant to multiple solar radio emissions, ionospheric radar experiments, laboratory plasma devices, and pulsars. Here we study mode conversion in warm magnetized plasmas using a numerical electron fluid simulation code with the density gradient parallel to the ambient magnetic field B0 for a range of incident Langmuir wavevectors. Our results include: (1) Both o- and x-mode waves are produced for (Omega) ∝ (ωL) 1/3 (ω c /ω) ∼ 1.5. Here ω c is the (angular) electron cyclotron frequency, ω the angular wave frequency, and L the length scale of the (linear) density gradient. (2) In the unmagnetized limit, equal amounts of o- and x-mode radiation are produced. (3) The mode conversion window narrows as (Omega) increases. (4) As (Omega) increases the total electromagnetic field changes from linear to circular polarization, with the o- and x- mode signals remaining circularly polarized. (5) The conversion efficiency to the x mode decreases monotonically as (Omega) increases while the o-mode conversion efficiency oscillates due to an interference phenomenon between incoming and reflected Langmuir/z modes. (6) The total conversion efficiency for wave energy from the Langmuir/z mode to radiation is typically less than 10%, but the corresponding power efficiencies differ by the ratio of the group speeds for each mode and are of order 50-70%. (7) The interference effect and the disappearance of the x mode at (Omega) ∼> 1 can be accounted for semiquantitatively using a WKB-like analysis. (8) Constraints on density turbulence are developed for the x mode to be generated and be able to propagate from the source. (9) Standard parameters for the corona and the solar wind near 1 AU suggest that linear mode conversion should produce both o- and x- mode radiation for solar and interplanetary radio bursts. It is therefore possible that linear mode conversion

From Emergence to Eruption: The Physics and Diagnostics of Solar Active Regions

Science.gov (United States)

Cheung, Mark

2017-08-01

The solar photosphere is continuously seeded by the emergence of magnetic fields from the solar interior. In turn, photospheric evolution shapes the magnetic terrain in the overlying corona. Magnetic fields in the corona store the energy needed to power coronal mass ejections (CMEs) and solar flares. In this talk, we recount a physics-based narrative of solar eruptive events from cradle to grave, from emergence to eruption, from evaporation to condensation. We review the physical processes which are understood to transport magnetic flux from the interior to the surface, inject free energy and twist into the corona, disentangle the coronal field to permit explosive energy release, and subsequently convert the released energy into observable signatures. Along the way, we review observational diagnostics used to constrain theories of active region evolution and eruption. Finally, we discuss the opportunities and challenges enabled by the large existing repository of solar observations. We argue that the synthesis of physics and diagnostics embodied in (1) data-driven modeling and (2) machine learning efforts will be an accelerating agent for scientific discovery.

SphinX: The Solar Photometer in X-Rays

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Gburek, S.; Sylwester, J.; Kowalinski, M.; Bakala, J.; Kordylewski, Z.; Podgorski, P.; Plocieniak, S.; Siarkowski, M.; Sylwester, B.; Trzebinski, W.; Kuzin, S.; Pertsov, A.A.; Kotov, Yu. D.; Fárník, František; Reale, F.; Phillips, K. J. H.

2013-01-01

Roč. 283, č. 2 (2013), s. 631-649 ISSN 0038-0938 Institutional support: RVO:67985815 Keywords : solar corona * solar instrumentation * X-rays Subject RIV: BN - Astronomy, Celestial Mechanics, Astrophysics Impact factor: 3.805, year: 2013

Optical design of visible emission line coronagraph on Indian space solar mission Aditya-L1

Science.gov (United States)

Raj Kumar, N.; Raghavendra Prasad, B.; Singh, Jagdev; Venkata, Suresh

2018-03-01

The ground based observations of the coronal emission lines using a coronagraph are affected by the short duration of clear sky and varying sky transparency. These conditions do not permit to study small amplitude variations in the coronal emission reliably necessary to investigate the process or processes involved in heating the coronal plasma and dynamics of solar corona. The proposed Visible Emission Line Coronagraph (VELC) over comes these limitations and will provide continuous observation 24 h a day needed for detailed studies of solar corona and drivers for space weather predictions. VELC payload onboard India's Aditya-L1 space mission is an internally occulted solar coronagraph for studying the temperature, velocity, density and heating of solar corona. To achieve the proposed science goals, an instrument which is capable of carrying out simultaneous imaging, spectroscopy and spectro-polarimetric observations of the solar corona close to the solar limb is required. VELC is designed with salient features of (a) Imaging solar corona at 500 nm with an angular resolution of 5 arcsec over a FOV of 1.05Ro to 3Ro (Ro:Solar radius) (b) Simultaneous multi-slit spectroscopy at 530.3 nm [Fe XIV],789.2 nm [Fe XI] and 1074.7 nm [Fe XIII] with spectral dispersion of 28mÅ, 31mÅ and 202mÅ per pixel respectively, over a FOV of 1.05Ro to 1.5Ro. (c) Multi-slit dual beam spectro-polarimetry at 1074.7 nm. All the components of instrument have been optimized in view of the scientific objectives and requirements of space payloads. In this paper we present the details of optical configuration and the expected performance of the payload.

Optical design of visible emission line coronagraph on Indian space solar mission Aditya-L1

Science.gov (United States)

Raj Kumar, N.; Raghavendra Prasad, B.; Singh, Jagdev; Venkata, Suresh

2018-04-01

The ground based observations of the coronal emission lines using a coronagraph are affected by the short duration of clear sky and varying sky transparency. These conditions do not permit to study small amplitude variations in the coronal emission reliably necessary to investigate the process or processes involved in heating the coronal plasma and dynamics of solar corona. The proposed Visible Emission Line Coronagraph (VELC) over comes these limitations and will provide continuous observation 24 h a day needed for detailed studies of solar corona and drivers for space weather predictions. VELC payload onboard India's Aditya-L1 space mission is an internally occulted solar coronagraph for studying the temperature, velocity, density and heating of solar corona. To achieve the proposed science goals, an instrument which is capable of carrying out simultaneous imaging, spectroscopy and spectro-polarimetric observations of the solar corona close to the solar limb is required. VELC is designed with salient features of (a) Imaging solar corona at 500 nm with an angular resolution of 5 arcsec over a FOV of 1.05Ro to 3Ro (Ro:Solar radius) (b) Simultaneous multi-slit spectroscopy at 530.3 nm [Fe XIV],789.2 nm [Fe XI] and 1074.7 nm [Fe XIII] with spectral dispersion of 28mÅ, 31mÅ and 202mÅ per pixel respectively, over a FOV of 1.05Ro to 1.5Ro. (c) Multi-slit dual beam spectro-polarimetry at 1074.7 nm. All the components of instrument have been optimized in view of the scientific objectives and requirements of space payloads. In this paper we present the details of optical configuration and the expected performance of the payload.

Hi-C Observations of an Active Region Corona, and Investigation of the Underlying Magnetic Structure

Science.gov (United States)

Tiwari, S. K.; Alexander, C. E.; Winebarger, A.; Moore, R. L.

2014-01-01

The solar corona is much hotter (>=10(exp 6) K) than its surface (approx 6000 K), puzzling astrophysicists for several decades. Active region (AR) corona is again hotter than the quiet Sun (QS) corona by a factor of 4-10. The most widely accepted mechanism that could heat the active region corona is the energy release by current dissipation via reconnection of braided magnetic field structure, first proposed by E. N. Parker three decades ago. The first observational evidence for this mechanism has only recently been presented by Cirtain et al. by using High-resolution Coronal Imager (Hi-C) observations of an AR corona at a spatial resolution of 0.2 arcsec, which is required to resolve the coronal loops, and was not available before the rocket flight of Hi-C in July 2012. The Hi-C project is led by NASA/MSFC. In the case of the QS, work done by convection/granulation on the inter-granular feet of the coronal field lines translates into the heat observed in the corona. In the case of the AR, as here, there could be flux emergence, cancellation/submergence, or shear flows generating large stress and tension in coronal field loops which is released as heat in the corona. We are currently investigating the changes taking place in photospheric feet of the magnetic field involved with brightenings in the Hi-C AR corona. For this purpose, we are also using SDO/AIA data of +/- 2 hours around the 5 minutes Hi-C flight. In the present talk, I will first summarize some of the results of the Hi-C observations and then present some results from our recent analysis on what photospheric processes feed the magnetic energy that dissipates into heat in coronal loops.

Precipitation and Release of Solar Energetic Particles from the Solar Coronal Magnetic Field

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhang, Ming; Zhao, Lulu, E-mail: mzhang@fit.edu [Department of Physics and Space Sciences, Florida Institute of Technology, 150 W. University Blvd., Melbourne, FL 32901 (United States)

2017-09-10

Most solar energetic particles (SEPs) are produced in the corona. They propagate through complex coronal magnetic fields subject to scattering and diffusion across the averaged field lines by turbulence. We examine the behaviors of particle transport using a stochastic 3D focused transport simulation in a potential field source surface model of coronal magnetic field. The model is applied to an SEP event on 2010 February 7. We study three scenarios of particle injection at (i) the compact solar flare site, (ii) the coronal mass ejection (CME) shock, and (iii) the EUV wave near the surface. The majority of particles injected on open field lines are able to escape the corona. We found that none of our models can explain the observations of wide longitudinal SEP spread without perpendicular diffusion. If the perpendicular diffusion is about 10% of what is derived from the random walk of field lines at the rate of supergranular diffusion, particles injected at the compact solar flare site can spread to a wide range of longitude and latitude, very similar to the behavior of particles injected at a large CME shock. Stronger pitch-angle scattering results in a little more lateral spread by holding the particles in the corona for longer periods of time. Some injected particles eventually end up precipitating onto the solar surface. Even with a very small perpendicular diffusion, the pattern of the particle precipitation can be quite complicated depending on the detailed small-scale coronal magnetic field structures, which could be seen with future sensitive gamma-ray telescopes.

Precipitation and Release of Solar Energetic Particles from the Solar Coronal Magnetic Field

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang, Ming; Zhao, Lulu

2017-01-01

Most solar energetic particles (SEPs) are produced in the corona. They propagate through complex coronal magnetic fields subject to scattering and diffusion across the averaged field lines by turbulence. We examine the behaviors of particle transport using a stochastic 3D focused transport simulation in a potential field source surface model of coronal magnetic field. The model is applied to an SEP event on 2010 February 7. We study three scenarios of particle injection at (i) the compact solar flare site, (ii) the coronal mass ejection (CME) shock, and (iii) the EUV wave near the surface. The majority of particles injected on open field lines are able to escape the corona. We found that none of our models can explain the observations of wide longitudinal SEP spread without perpendicular diffusion. If the perpendicular diffusion is about 10% of what is derived from the random walk of field lines at the rate of supergranular diffusion, particles injected at the compact solar flare site can spread to a wide range of longitude and latitude, very similar to the behavior of particles injected at a large CME shock. Stronger pitch-angle scattering results in a little more lateral spread by holding the particles in the corona for longer periods of time. Some injected particles eventually end up precipitating onto the solar surface. Even with a very small perpendicular diffusion, the pattern of the particle precipitation can be quite complicated depending on the detailed small-scale coronal magnetic field structures, which could be seen with future sensitive gamma-ray telescopes.

Precipitation and Release of Solar Energetic Particles from the Solar Coronal Magnetic Field

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Ming; Zhao, Lulu

2017-09-01

Most solar energetic particles (SEPs) are produced in the corona. They propagate through complex coronal magnetic fields subject to scattering and diffusion across the averaged field lines by turbulence. We examine the behaviors of particle transport using a stochastic 3D focused transport simulation in a potential field source surface model of coronal magnetic field. The model is applied to an SEP event on 2010 February 7. We study three scenarios of particle injection at (I) the compact solar flare site, (II) the coronal mass ejection (CME) shock, and (III) the EUV wave near the surface. The majority of particles injected on open field lines are able to escape the corona. We found that none of our models can explain the observations of wide longitudinal SEP spread without perpendicular diffusion. If the perpendicular diffusion is about 10% of what is derived from the random walk of field lines at the rate of supergranular diffusion, particles injected at the compact solar flare site can spread to a wide range of longitude and latitude, very similar to the behavior of particles injected at a large CME shock. Stronger pitch-angle scattering results in a little more lateral spread by holding the particles in the corona for longer periods of time. Some injected particles eventually end up precipitating onto the solar surface. Even with a very small perpendicular diffusion, the pattern of the particle precipitation can be quite complicated depending on the detailed small-scale coronal magnetic field structures, which could be seen with future sensitive gamma-ray telescopes.

Warm gas towards young stellar objects in Corona Australis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lindberg, Johan; Jørgensen, Jes Kristian; D. Green, Joel

2014-01-01

The effects of external irradiation on the chemistry and physics in the protostellar envelope around low-mass young stellar objects are poorly understood. The Corona Australis star-forming region contains the R CrA dark cloud, comprising several low-mass protostellar cores irradiated by an interm......The effects of external irradiation on the chemistry and physics in the protostellar envelope around low-mass young stellar objects are poorly understood. The Corona Australis star-forming region contains the R CrA dark cloud, comprising several low-mass protostellar cores irradiated...... by an intermediate-mass young star. We study the effects on the warm gas and dust in a group of low-mass young stellar objects from the irradiation by the young luminous Herbig Be star R CrA. Herschel/PACS far-infrared datacubes of two low-mass star-forming regions in the R CrA dark cloud are presented...... Be star R CrA. Our results show that a nearby luminous star does not increase the molecular excitation temperatures in the warm gas around a young stellar object (YSO). However, the emission from photodissociation products of H2O, such as OH and O, is enhanced in the warm gas associated...

Solar Probe Plus: A mission to touch the sun

Science.gov (United States)

Kinnison, J.; Lockwood, M. K.; Fox, N.; Conde, R.; Driesman, A.

Solar Probe Plus (SPP), currently in Phase B, will be the first mission to fly into the low solar corona, revealing how the corona is heated and the solar wind is accelerated, solving two fundamental mysteries that have been top priority science goals since such a mission was first proposed in 1958. The scale and concept of such a mission has been revised at intervals since that time, yet the core has always been a close encounter with the Sun. SPP uses an innovative mission design, significant technology development and a risk-reducing engineering development to meet the SPP science objectives: 1) determine the structure and dynamics of the magnetic fields at the sources of the fast and slow solar wind, 2) trace the flow of energy that heats the corona and accelerates the solar wind. and 3) determine what mechanisms accelerate and transport energetic particles. In this paper, we present the Solar Probe Plus mission along with a brief comparison with some previous concepts for such a mission, and discuss the trade studies that led to the SPP implementation. We present a summary of the challenges associated with operation in the solar encounter environment and discuss the technology development and engineering trade studies to compose a mission that will not only survive this environment, but will provide the data needed to answer the science questions that have remained unanswered to date.

Second-stage acceleration in solar flares

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mullan, D.J.

1976-01-01

A model proposed by Chevalier and Scott to account for cosmic ray acceleration in an expanding supernova remnant is applied to the case of a shock wave injected into the solar corona by a flare. Certain features of solar cosmic rays can be explained by this model. (orig.) [de

Imprint of the Sun on the Solar Wind

Science.gov (United States)

Woo, R.; Habbal, S. R.

1998-01-01

Observations of the inner corona in polarized brightness by the Mauna Loa MkIII K-coronameter and soft X-ray by Yohkoh of the inner corona are combined with Ulysses radio occultation measurements of the solar wind to demonstrate that the signature of active regions and bright points is present in the heliocentric distance range of 10-30 Ro.

Solar radio bursts as a tool for space weather forecasting

Science.gov (United States)

Klein, Karl-Ludwig; Matamoros, Carolina Salas; Zucca, Pietro

2018-01-01

The solar corona and its activity induce disturbances that may affect the space environment of the Earth. Noticeable disturbances come from coronal mass ejections (CMEs), which are large-scale ejections of plasma and magnetic fields from the solar corona, and solar energetic particles (SEPs). These particles are accelerated during the explosive variation of the coronal magnetic field or at the shock wave driven by a fast CME. In this contribution, it is illustrated how full Sun microwave observations can lead to (1) an estimate of CME speeds and of the arrival time of the CME at the Earth, (2) the prediction of SEP events attaining the Earth. xml:lang="fr"

Solar atmosphere wave dynamics generated by solar global oscillating eigenmodes

Science.gov (United States)

Griffiths, M. K.; Fedun, V.; Erdélyi, R.; Zheng, R.

2018-01-01

The solar atmosphere exhibits a diverse range of wave phenomena, where one of the earliest discovered was the five-minute global acoustic oscillation, also referred to as the p-mode. The analysis of wave propagation in the solar atmosphere may be used as a diagnostic tool to estimate accurately the physical characteristics of the Sun's atmospheric layers. In this paper, we investigate the dynamics and upward propagation of waves which are generated by the solar global eigenmodes. We report on a series of hydrodynamic simulations of a realistically stratified model of the solar atmosphere representing its lower region from the photosphere to low corona. With the objective of modelling atmospheric perturbations, propagating from the photosphere into the chromosphere, transition region and low corona, generated by the photospheric global oscillations the simulations use photospheric drivers mimicking the solar p-modes. The drivers are spatially structured harmonics across the computational box parallel to the solar surface. The drivers perturb the atmosphere at 0.5 Mm above the bottom boundary of the model and are placed coincident with the location of the temperature minimum. A combination of the VALIIIC and McWhirter solar atmospheres are used as the background equilibrium model. We report how synthetic photospheric oscillations may manifest in a magnetic field free model of the quiet Sun. To carry out the simulations, we employed the magnetohydrodynamics code, SMAUG (Sheffield MHD Accelerated Using GPUs). Our results show that the amount of energy propagating into the solar atmosphere is consistent with a model of solar global oscillations described by Taroyan and Erdélyi (2008) using the Klein-Gordon equation. The computed results indicate a power law which is compared to observations reported by Ireland et al. (2015) using data from the Solar Dynamics Observatory/Atmospheric Imaging Assembly.

The solar probe mission

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Feldman, W.C.; Anderson, J.; Bohlin, J.D.; Burlaga, L.F.; Farquhar, R.; Gloeckler, G.; Goldstein, B.E.; Harvey, J.W.; Holzer, T.E.; Jones, W.V.; Kellogg, P.J.; Krimigis, S.M.; Kundu, M.R.; Lazarus, A.J.; Mellott, M.M.; Parker, E.N.; Rosner, R.; Rottman, G.J.; Slavin, J.A.; Suess, S.T.; Tsurutani, B.T.; Woo, R.T.; Zwickl, R.D.

1990-01-01

The Solar Probe will deliver a 133.5 kg science payload into a 4 R s perihelion solar polar orbit (with the first perihelion passage in 2004) to explore in situ one of the last frontiers in the solar system---the solar corona. This mission is both affordable and technologically feasible. Using a payload of 12 (predominantly particles and fields) scientific experiments, it will be possible to answer many long-standing, fundamental problems concerning the structure and dynamics of the outer solar atmosphere, including the acceleration, storage, and transport of energetic particles near the Sun and in the inner ( s ) heliosphere

Validation of Spherically Symmetric Inversion by Use of a Tomographically Reconstructed Three-Dimensional Electron Density of the Solar Corona

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Tongjiang; Davila, Joseph M.

2014-01-01

Determining the coronal electron density by the inversion of white-light polarized brightness (pB) measurements by coronagraphs is a classic problem in solar physics. An inversion technique based on the spherically symmetric geometry (spherically symmetric inversion, SSI) was developed in the 1950s and has been widely applied to interpret various observations. However, to date there is no study of the uncertainty estimation of this method. We here present the detailed assessment of this method using a three-dimensional (3D) electron density in the corona from 1.5 to 4 solar radius as a model, which is reconstructed by a tomography method from STEREO/COR1 observations during the solar minimum in February 2008 (Carrington Rotation, CR 2066).We first show in theory and observation that the spherically symmetric polynomial approximation (SSPA) method and the Van de Hulst inversion technique are equivalent. Then we assess the SSPA method using synthesized pB images from the 3D density model, and find that the SSPA density values are close to the model inputs for the streamer core near the plane of the sky (POS) with differences generally smaller than about a factor of two; the former has the lower peak but extends more in both longitudinal and latitudinal directions than the latter. We estimate that the SSPA method may resolve the coronal density structure near the POS with angular resolution in longitude of about 50 deg. Our results confirm the suggestion that the SSI method is applicable to the solar minimum streamer (belt), as stated in some previous studies. In addition, we demonstrate that the SSPA method can be used to reconstruct the 3D coronal density, roughly in agreement with the reconstruction by tomography for a period of low solar activity (CR 2066). We suggest that the SSI method is complementary to the 3D tomographic technique in some cases, given that the development of the latter is still an ongoing research effort.

Cyclotron Line in Solar Microwave Radiation by Radio Telescope RATAN-600 Observations of the Solar Active Region NOAA 12182

Science.gov (United States)

Peterova, N. G.; Topchilo, N. A.

2017-12-01

This paper presents the results of observation of a rare phenomenon—a narrowband increase in the brightness of cyclotron radiation of one of the structural details of a radio source located in the solar corona above the solar active region NOAA 12182 in October 2014 at a frequency of 4.2 ± 0.1 GHz. The brightness of radiation in the maximum of the phenomenon has reached 10 MK; its duration was equal to 3 s. The exact location of the source of the narrowband cyclotron radiation is indicated: it is a corona above a fragmented (4-nuclear) sunspot, on which a small UV flare loop was closed.

Four Interstellar Dust Candidates from the Stardust Interstellar Dust Collector

Science.gov (United States)

Westphal, A. J.; Allen, C.; Bajt, S.; Bechtel, H. A.; Borg, J.; Brenker, F.; Bridges, J.; Brownlee, D. E.; Burchell, M.; Burghammer, M.;

Meteoroid Measurements in the Deep Space Cruising and the Jupiter Trojan Rendezvous Phases of the Solar Power Sail Mission by the Arrayed Large-Area Dust Detectors in INterplanetary Space (ALADDIN)-II

Science.gov (United States)

Yano, H.; Hirai, T.; Arai, K.; Fujii, M.

2017-12-01

The PVDF thin films have been long, space-proven instruments for hypervelocity impact detection in the diverse regions of the Solar System from orbits of Venus by IKAROS and of Pluto by New Horizons. In particular, light weight but large area membranes of a solar sail spacecraft is an ideal location for such detectors to be deployed for detecting statistically enough nubers of so large micrometeoroids that are sensitive to mean motion resonances and other gravitational effects of flux enhancements and voids with planets. The IKAROS spacecraft first detected in situ dust flux enhancement and gap region within the Earth's circumsolar dust ring as well as those of Venus by 0.54 m^2 detection area of ALADDIN sensors on the slar sail membrane. Advancing this heritage, the Solar Power Sail membrane will carry 0.4+ m^2 ALADDIN-II PVDF sensors with improved impact signal prosessng units to detect both hyperveloity dust impacts in the interplanetary space cruising phase and slow dust impacts bound to the Jupiter Trojan region in its rendezvours phase.

Implications of the Deep Minimum for Slow Solar Wind Origin

Science.gov (United States)

Antiochos, S. K.; Mikic, Z.; Lionello, R.; Titov, V. S.; Linker, J. A.

2009-12-01

The origin of the slow solar wind has long been one of the most important problems in solar/heliospheric physics. Two observational constraints make this problem especially challenging. First, the slow wind has the composition of the closed-field corona, unlike the fast wind that originates on open field lines. Second, the slow wind has substantial angular extent, of order 30 degrees, which is much larger than the widths observed for streamer stalks or the widths expected theoretically for a dynamic heliospheric current sheet. We propose that the slow wind originates from an intricate network of narrow (possibly singular) open-field corridors that emanate from the polar coronal hole regions. Using topological arguments, we show that these corridors must be ubiquitous in the solar corona. The total solar eclipse in August 2008, near the lowest point of the Deep Minimum, affords an ideal opportunity to test this theory by using the ultra-high resolution Predictive Science's (PSI) eclipse model for the corona and wind. Analysis of the PSI eclipse model demonstrates that the extent and scales of the open-field corridors can account for both the angular width of the slow wind and its closed-field composition. We discuss the implications of our slow wind theory for the structure of the corona and heliosphere at the Deep Minimum and describe further observational and theoretical tests. This work has been supported by the NASA HTP, SR&T, and LWS programs.

Validation of Earth atmosphere models using solar EUV observations from the CORONAS and PROBA2 satellites in occultation mode

Science.gov (United States)

Slemzin, Vladimir; Ulyanov, Artyom; Gaikovich, Konstantin; Kuzin, Sergey; Pertsov, Andrey; Berghmans, David; Dominique, Marie

2016-02-01

Aims: Knowledge of properties of the Earth's upper atmosphere is important for predicting the lifetime of low-orbit spacecraft as well as for planning operation of space instruments whose data may be distorted by atmospheric effects. The accuracy of the models commonly used for simulating the structure of the atmosphere is limited by the scarcity of the observations they are based on, so improvement of these models requires validation under different atmospheric conditions. Measurements of the absorption of the solar extreme ultraviolet (EUV) radiation in the upper atmosphere below 500 km by instruments operating on low-Earth orbits (LEO) satellites provide efficient means for such validation as well as for continuous monitoring of the upper atmosphere and for studying its response to the solar and geomagnetic activity. Method: This paper presents results of measurements of the solar EUV radiation in the 17 nm wavelength band made with the SPIRIT and TESIS telescopes on board the CORONAS satellites and the SWAP telescope on board the PROBA2 satellite in the occulted parts of the satellite orbits. The transmittance profiles of the atmosphere at altitudes between 150 and 500 km were derived from different phases of solar activity during solar cycles 23 and 24 in the quiet state of the magnetosphere and during the development of a geomagnetic storm. We developed a mathematical procedure based on the Tikhonov regularization method for solution of ill-posed problems in order to retrieve extinction coefficients from the transmittance profiles. The transmittance profiles derived from the data and the retrieved extinction coefficients are compared with simulations carried out with the NRLMSISE-00 atmosphere model maintained by Naval Research Laboratory (USA) and the DTM-2013 model developed at CNES in the framework of the FP7 project ATMOP. Results: Under quiet and slightly disturbed magnetospheric conditions during high and low solar activity the extinction coefficients

Solar polar rotation and its effect on heliospheric neutral fluxes

Science.gov (United States)

Sokol, J. M.; Grzedzielski, S.; Bzowski, M.

2016-12-01

The magnetic field in the solar polar corona exhibit a regular "ray-like" structure associated with large polar coronal holes during solar minimum. The solar rotation twists the magnetic field lines of the expanding fast solar wind over the poles. The twist induces a toroidal component of the polar magnetic field which results in magnetic forces directed towards the rotation axis. That is tantamount to a (weak) zeta pinch, known also in other astrophysical contexts (e.g. AGN plasmas). The pinch compresses the polar solar corona plasma and a cone-like enhancement in the solar wind density forms along the rotation axis. Though the effect is likely very dynamic, a time independent description is used here to get an order-of-magnitude estimate. The weak pinch is treated as a 1st order perturbation to the zero-order radial flow. The obtained density enhancement may affect the near and far heliosphere, modifying the charge-exchange and electron impact ionization rates of neutral atoms in interplanetary space. The charge exchange is the most effective ionization process for hydrogen and oxygen atoms, and electron impact ionization is a significant loss reaction for the helium atoms at close distances to the Sun. The change in the polar density due to the solar polar corona rotation could be of importance in the inner heliosphere for low energy atoms. We will present the influence of this effect on interstellar neutral gas distribution and H ENA fluxes observed by IBEX.

Extended neutral atmosphere effect on solar wind interaction with nonmagnetic bodies of the solar system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Breus, T.K.; Krymskij, A.M.; Mitnitskij, V.Ya.

1987-01-01

Numeric modelling of the Venus flow-around by the solar wind with regard to stream loading by heavy ions, produced under photoionization of the Venus neutral oxygen corona, is conducted. It is shown, that this effect can account for a whole number of peculiarities related to the solar wind interaction with the planet which have not been clearly explained yet, namely, shock wave position, solar wind stream and magnetic field characteristics behind the front

Heliotropic dust rings for Earth climate engineering

Science.gov (United States)

Bewick, R.; Lücking, C.; Colombo, C.; Sanchez, J. P.; McInnes, C. R.

2013-04-01

This paper examines the concept of a Sun-pointing elliptical Earth ring comprised of dust grains to offset global warming. A new family of non-Keplerian periodic orbits, under the effects of solar radiation pressure and the Earth's J2 oblateness perturbation, is used to increase the lifetime of the passive cloud of particles and, thus, increase the efficiency of this geoengineering strategy. An analytical model is used to predict the orbit evolution of the dust ring due to solar-radiation pressure and the J2 effect. The attenuation of the solar radiation can then be calculated from the ring model. In comparison to circular orbits, eccentric orbits yield a more stable environment for small grain sizes and therefore achieve higher efficiencies when the orbit decay of the material is considered. Moreover, the novel orbital dynamics experienced by high area-to-mass ratio objects, influenced by solar radiation pressure and the J2 effect, ensure the ring will maintain a permanent heliotropic shape, with dust spending the largest portion of time on the Sun facing side of the orbit. It is envisaged that small dust grains can be released from a circular generator orbit with an initial impulse to enter an eccentric orbit with Sun-facing apogee. Finally, a lowest estimate of 1 × 1012 kg of material is computed as the total mass required to offset the effects of global warming.

Dust devil track survey at Elysium Planitia, Mars: Implications for the InSight landing sites

Science.gov (United States)

Reiss, Dennis; Lorenz, Ralph D.

2016-03-01

The InSight (Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport) robotic lander is scheduled to land in Elysium Planitia on Mars in September 2016. InSight will perform the first comprehensive surface-based geophysical investigation including seismic measurements. Knowledge about encounter rates of dust devils with the InSight lander are important for two main reasons: (1) dust devils will affect the scientific measurements, i.e., wind-induced seismic noise, and (2) the power-supply of the InSight lander and instruments is provided by solar arrays and previous landers and rovers on Mars were affected by a steady decline in electrical power output due to atmospheric dust deposition on the solar panels. Long term science operations were only made possible by dust clearing events of the solar arrays caused by wind gusts and dust devils. In this study we analyzed dust devil tracks (DDTs) at the final InSight landing site region in Elysium Planitia. Formation of DDTs is caused by the removal of a layer of dust by passing dust devils, hence in principle the same process as clearing of dust from solar panels. We mapped the number, size (width and length), and orientation of DDTs in repeat observations using High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) images covering the exact same surface area acquired within a relatively short time span (solar panel clearing recurrence interval estimate of ∼11 Mars years using the mean annual DDT formation rate, and the mean DDT width and length from all measured DDTs. Due to several uncertainties this solar panel clearing recurrence interval for the InSight landing should be seen as an upper limit estimate.

Properties of the Circumsolar Dust Distribution Determined from STEREO/SECCHI and Implications for PSP and SolO

Science.gov (United States)

Howard, R.; Stenborg, G.

2017-12-01

We have performed an analysis of the HI-1A instrument in the STEREO/SECCHI suite to determine the inclination and longitude of the ascending node of the plane of symmetry of the F-corona. The F-corona arises from sunlight scattered by the dust in orbit about the Sun. We find that the inclination and ascending node are not constant in the field of view of the HI-1A (4° to 24° elongation), but are functions of the elongation angle i.e. the distance to the Sun and are slightly different from the parameters determined from the Helios mission. These parameters are reflecting the gravitational influences of Jupiter, Venus and the Sun as well as Lorentz and Poynting-Robinson forces on the dust orbits. The center of symmetry is not the center of the Sun, but is offset by 0.5 Rsun from the center in the direction of the average position of Jupiter during the epoch studied: from 2007-2012. We also observe a slight difference in the inclination when it is north or south of the ecliptic. We suggest this may be due to remnant dust in the orbit of the Kreutz sun-grazing comets which occur at an average rate of one every 2-3 days. Finally, as the dust particles evaporate we expect to see the F-coronal brightness correspondingly decrease. The detectability of the decrease will depend on the amount of dust evaporating, but a 10% change in the density is easily detectable. If a dust free zone surrounding the Sun exists, it will affect the F-coronal intensities observed by PSP and SolO by an observable amount.

Statistical characteristic in time-domain of direct current corona-generated audible noise from conductor in corona cage

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Li, Xuebao, E-mail: lxb08357x@ncepu.edu.cn; Cui, Xiang, E-mail: x.cui@ncepu.edu.cn; Ma, Wenzuo; Bian, Xingming; Wang, Donglai [State Key Laboratory of Alternate Electrical Power System with Renewable Energy Sources, North China Electric Power University, Beijing 102206 (China); Lu, Tiebing, E-mail: tiebinglu@ncepu.edu.cn [Beijing Key Laboratory of High Voltage and EMC, North China Electric Power University, Beijing 102206 (China); Hiziroglu, Huseyin [Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Kettering University, Flint, Michigan 48504 (United States)

2016-03-15

The corona-generated audible noise (AN) has become one of decisive factors in the design of high voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission lines. The AN from transmission lines can be attributed to sound pressure pulses which are generated by the multiple corona sources formed on the conductor, i.e., transmission lines. In this paper, a detailed time-domain characteristics of the sound pressure pulses, which are generated by the DC corona discharges formed over the surfaces of a stranded conductors, are investigated systematically in a laboratory settings using a corona cage structure. The amplitude of sound pressure pulse and its time intervals are extracted by observing a direct correlation between corona current pulses and corona-generated sound pressure pulses. Based on the statistical characteristics, a stochastic model is presented for simulating the sound pressure pulses due to DC corona discharges occurring on conductors. The proposed stochastic model is validated by comparing the calculated and measured A-weighted sound pressure level (SPL). The proposed model is then used to analyze the influence of the pulse amplitudes and pulse rate on the SPL. Furthermore, a mathematical relationship is found between the SPL and conductor diameter, electric field, and radial distance.

Statistical characteristic in time-domain of direct current corona-generated audible noise from conductor in corona cage

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Xuebao; Cui, Xiang; Lu, Tiebing; Ma, Wenzuo; Bian, Xingming; Wang, Donglai; Hiziroglu, Huseyin

2016-03-01

The corona-generated audible noise (AN) has become one of decisive factors in the design of high voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission lines. The AN from transmission lines can be attributed to sound pressure pulses which are generated by the multiple corona sources formed on the conductor, i.e., transmission lines. In this paper, a detailed time-domain characteristics of the sound pressure pulses, which are generated by the DC corona discharges formed over the surfaces of a stranded conductors, are investigated systematically in a laboratory settings using a corona cage structure. The amplitude of sound pressure pulse and its time intervals are extracted by observing a direct correlation between corona current pulses and corona-generated sound pressure pulses. Based on the statistical characteristics, a stochastic model is presented for simulating the sound pressure pulses due to DC corona discharges occurring on conductors. The proposed stochastic model is validated by comparing the calculated and measured A-weighted sound pressure level (SPL). The proposed model is then used to analyze the influence of the pulse amplitudes and pulse rate on the SPL. Furthermore, a mathematical relationship is found between the SPL and conductor diameter, electric field, and radial distance.

Dust Dynamics Near Planetary Surfaces

Science.gov (United States)

Colwell, Joshua; Hughes, Anna; Grund, Chris

Observations of a lunar "horizon glow" by several Surveyor spacecraft in the 1960s opened the study of the dynamics of charged dust particles near planetary surfaces. The surfaces of the Moon and other airless planetary bodies in the solar system (asteroids, and other moons) are directly exposed to the solar wind and ionizing solar ultraviolet radiation, resulting in a time-dependent electric surface potential. Because these same objects are also exposed to bombardment by micrometeoroids, the surfaces are usually characterized by a power-law size distribution of dust that extends to sub-micron-sized particles. Individual particles can acquire a charge different from their surroundings leading to electrostatic levitation. Once levitated, particles may simply return to the surface on nearly ballistic trajectories, escape entirely from the moon or asteroid if the initial velocity is large, or in some cases be stably levitated for extended periods of time. All three outcomes have observable consequences. Furthermore, the behavior of charged dust near the surface has practical implications for planned future manned and unmanned activities on the lunar surface. Charged dust particles also act as sensitive probes of the near-surface plasma environment. Recent numerical modeling of dust levitation and transport show that charged micron-sized dust is likely to accumulate in topographic lows such as craters, providing a mechanism for the creation of dust "ponds" observed on the asteroid 433 Eros. Such deposition can occur when particles are supported by the photoelectron sheath above the dayside and drift over shadowed regions of craters where the surface potential is much smaller. Earlier studies of the lunar horizon glow are consistent with those particles being on simple ballistic trajectories following electrostatic launching from the surface. Smaller particles may be accelerated from the lunar surface to high altitudes consistent with observations of high altitude

Flares on A-Type Stars: Evidence for Heating of Solar Corona by Nanoflares?

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Švanda, Michal; Karlický, Marian

2016-01-01

Roč. 831, č. 1 (2016), 9/1-9/7 ISSN 0004-637X R&D Projects: GA ČR GAP209/12/0103 Grant - others:GA ČR(CZ) GA15-02112S Institutional support: RVO:67985815 Keywords : stars * activity * coronae Subject RIV: BN - Astronomy, Celestial Mechanics, Astrophysics Impact factor: 5.533, year: 2016

Mode Conversion of Langmuir to Electromagnetic Waves with Parallel Inhomogeneity in the Solar Wind and the Corona

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Eun-Hwa; Cairns, Iver H.; Robinson, Peter A.

2008-06-09

Linear mode conversion of Langmuir waves to radiation near the plasma frequency at density gradients is potentially relevant to multiple solar radio emissions, ionospheric radar experiments, laboratory plasma devices, and pulsars. Here we study mode conversion in warm magnetized plasmas using a numerical electron fluid simulation code with the density gradient parallel to the ambient magnetic field B0 for a range of incident Langmuir wavevectors. Our results include: (1) Both o- and x-mode waves are produced for Ω ∝ (ωL)1/3(ωc/ω) somewhat less than 1, contrary to previous ideas. Only o mode is produced for Ω and somewhat greater than 1.5. Here ωc is the (angular) electron cyclotron frequency, ω the angular wave frequency, and L the length scale of the (linear) density gradient. (2) In the unmagnetized limit, equal amounts of o- and x-mode radiation are produced. (3) The mode conversion window narrows as Ω increases. (4) As Ω increases the total electromagnetic field changes from linear to circular polarization, with the o- and x- mode signals remaining circularly polarized. (5) The conversion efficiency to the x mode decreases monotonically as Ω increases while the o-mode conversion efficiency oscillates due to an interference phenomenon between incoming and reflected Langmuir/z modes. (6) The total conversion efficiency for wave energy from the Langmuir/z mode to radiation is typically less than 10%, but the corresponding power efficiencies differ by the ratio of the group speeds for each mode and are of order 50 – 70%. (7) The interference effect and the disappearance of the x mode at Ω somewhat greater than 1 can be accounted for semiquantitatively using a WKB-like analysis. (8) Constraints on density turbulence are developed for the x mode to be generated and be able to propagate from the source. (9) Standard parameters for the corona and the solar wind near 1 AU suggest that linear mode conversion should produce both o- and x- mode radiation for

Orbital Evolution of Dust Particles in the Sublimation Zone near the Sun

Science.gov (United States)

Shestakova, L. I.; Demchenko, B. I.

2018-03-01

We have performed the calculations of the orbital evolution of dust particles from volcanic glass ( p-obsidian), basalt, astrosilicate, olivine, and pyroxene in the sublimation zone near the Sun. The sublimation (evaporation) rate is determined by the temperature of dust particles depending on their radius, material, and distance to the Sun. All practically important parameters that characterize the interaction of spherical dust particles with the radiation are calculated using the Mie theory. The influence of radiation and solar wind pressure, as well as the Poynting-Robertson drag force effects on the dust dynamics, are also taken into account. According to the observations (Shestakova and Demchenko, 2016), the boundary of the dust-free zone is 7.0-7.6 solar radii for standard particles of the zodiacal cloud and 9.1-9.2 solar radii for cometary particles. The closest agreement is obtained for basalt particles and certain kinds of olivine, pyroxene, and volcanic glass.

The 3-D solar radioastronomy and the structure of the corona and the solar wind. [solar probes of solar activity

Science.gov (United States)

Steinberg, J. L.; Caroubalos, C.

1976-01-01

The mechanism causing solar radio bursts (1 and 111) is examined. It is proposed that a nonthermal energy source is responsible for the bursts; nonthermal energy is converted into electromagnetic energy. The advantages are examined for an out-of-the-ecliptic solar probe mission, which is proposed as a means of stereoscopically viewing solar radio bursts, solar magnetic fields, coronal structure, and the solar wind.

Augmented Visual Experience of Simulated Solar Phenomena

Science.gov (United States)

Tucker, A. O., IV; Berardino, R. A.; Hahne, D.; Schreurs, B.; Fox, N. J.; Raouafi, N.

2017-12-01

The Parker Solar Probe (PSP) mission will explore the Sun's corona, studying solar wind, flares and coronal mass ejections. The effects of these phenomena can impact the technology that we use in ways that are not readily apparent, including affecting satellite communications and power grids. Determining the structure and dynamics of corona magnetic fields, tracing the flow of energy that heats the corona, and exploring dusty plasma near the Sun to understand its influence on solar wind and energetic particle formation requires a suite of sensors on board the PSP spacecraft that are engineered to observe specific phenomena. Using models of these sensors and simulated observational data, we can visualize what the PSP spacecraft will "see" during its multiple passes around the Sun. Augmented reality (AR) technologies enable convenient user access to massive data sets. We are developing an application that allows users to experience environmental data from the point of view of the PSP spacecraft in AR using the Microsoft HoloLens. Observational data, including imagery, magnetism, temperature, and density are visualized in 4D within the user's immediate environment. Our application provides an educational tool for comprehending the complex relationships of observational data, which aids in our understanding of the Sun.

Magnetic Reconnection and Particle Acceleration in the Solar Corona

Science.gov (United States)

Neukirch, Thomas

Reconnection plays a major role for the magnetic activity of the solar atmosphere, for example solar flares. An interesting open problem is how magnetic reconnection acts to redistribute the stored magnetic energy released during an eruption into other energy forms, e.g. gener-ating bulk flows, plasma heating and non-thermal energetic particles. In particular, finding a theoretical explanation for the observed acceleration of a large number of charged particles to high energies during solar flares is presently one of the most challenging problems in solar physics. One difficulty is the vast difference between the microscopic (kinetic) and the macro-scopic (MHD) scales involved. Whereas the phenomena observed to occur on large scales are reasonably well explained by the so-called standard model, this does not seem to be the case for the small-scale (kinetic) aspects of flares. Over the past years, observations, in particular by RHESSI, have provided evidence that a naive interpretation of the data in terms of the standard solar flare/thick target model is problematic. As a consequence, the role played by magnetic reconnection in the particle acceleration process during solar flares may have to be reconsidered.

NEW ULTRAVIOLET EXTINCTION CURVES FOR INTERSTELLAR DUST IN M31

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Clayton, Geoffrey C. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803 (United States); Gordon, Karl D.; Bohlin, R. C. [Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218 (United States); Bianchi, Luciana C. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, The Johns Hopkins University, 3400 N. Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21218 (United States); Massa, Derck L.; Wolff, Michael J. [Space Science Institute, 4750 Walnut Street, Suite 205, Boulder, CO 80301 (United States); Fitzpatrick, Edward L., E-mail: gclayton@fenway.phys.lsu.edu, E-mail: bohlin@stsci.edu, E-mail: kgordon@stsci.edu, E-mail: bianchi@jhu.edu, E-mail: mjwolff@spacescience.org, E-mail: edward.fitzpatrick@villanova.edu [Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Villanova University, 800 Lancaster Avenue, Villanova, PA 19085 (United States)

2015-12-10

New low-resolution UV spectra of a sample of reddened OB stars in M31 were obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope/STIS to study the wavelength dependence of interstellar extinction and the nature of the underlying dust grain populations. Extinction curves were constructed for four reddened sightlines in M31 paired with closely matching stellar atmosphere models. The new curves have a much higher signal-to-noise ratio than previous studies. Direct measurements of N(H i) were made using the Lyα absorption lines enabling gas-to-dust ratios to be calculated. The sightlines have a range in galactocentric distance of 5–14 kpc and represent dust from regions of different metallicities and gas-to-dust ratios. The metallicities sampled range from solar to 1.5 solar. The measured curves show similarity to those seen in the Milky Way and the Large Magellanic Cloud. The Maximum Entropy Method was used to investigate the dust composition and size distribution for the sightlines observed in this program, finding that the extinction curves can be produced with the available carbon and silicon abundances if the metallicity is super-solar.

The research on a novel type of the solar-blind UV head-mounted displays

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Shun-long

2011-08-01

Ultraviolet technology of detecting is playing a more and more important role in the field of civil application, especially in the corona discharge detection, in modern society. Now the UV imaging detector is one of the most important equipments in power equipment flaws detection. And the modern head-mounted displays (HMDs) have shown the applications in the fields of military, industry production, medical treatment, entertainment, 3D visualization, education and training. We applied the system of head-mounted displays to the UV image detection, and a novel type of head-mounted displays is presented: the solar-blind UV head-mounted displays. And the structure is given. By the solar-blind UV head-mounted displays, a real-time, isometric and visible image of the corona discharge is correctly displayed upon the background scene where it exists. The user will see the visible image of the corona discharge on the real scene rather than on a small screen. Then the user can easily find out the power equipment flaws and repair them. Compared with the traditional UV imaging detector, the introducing of the HMDs simplifies the structure of the whole system. The original visible spectrum optical system is replaced by the eye in the solar-blind UV head-mounted displays. And the optical image fusion technology would be used rather than the digital image fusion system which is necessary in traditional UV imaging detector. That means the visible spectrum optical system and digital image fusion system are not necessary. This makes the whole system cheaper than the traditional UV imaging detector. Another advantage of the solar-blind UV head-mounted displays is that the two hands of user will be free. So while observing the corona discharge the user can do some things about it. Therefore the solar-blind UV head-mounted displays can make the corona discharge expose itself to the user in a better way, and it will play an important role in corona detection in the future.

Spicular downflows in late-type giant coronae

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wallenhorst, S.G.

1980-01-01

Models of the coronae of late-type stars are considered, under the assumption that the dominant coronal energy loss is not conduction, as is usually assumed, but rather the losses due to hot spicular material falling back onto the chromosphere. This assumption is used to estimated the increase in stellar mass-loss rate which should occur when stars evolve across the so-called Supersonic Transition Locus (STL). For a constant downward number flux, this increase is estimate to be about one order of magnitude. Energy-balance models are then considered for spicule-dominated coronae, under the additional assumption that the energy input flux to the corona is constant over a star's post-main sequence evolution; this assumption is found to be consistent with observed red giant mass-loss rates. A sequence of models is constructed which enables the various coronal parameters to be estimated for different masses and radii. The models yield results similar to those of the minimum flux coronal theory of A.G. Hearn; these similarities, along with the validity of the minimum flux technique, are discussed. It is shown that several criticisms of the minimum flux method, due to Antiochos and Underwood (1978) and Van Tend (1979), are valid for minimum flux models in which spicular downflow is neglected, but are satisfied by the models considered below. Solutions which precisely satisfy the constant-flux assumption are not found to exist for solar mass stars. Under the assumption that the minimum flux theory is correct, and using a downflow number flux derived from the energy-balance model, the jump in mass-loss rate at the STL is reevaluated. In this more rigorous case, the jump is found to be only about a factor of three. It is concluded that large increases in mass-loss rate are not to be expected as stars evolve across this transition locus

A Detection of the Same Hot Plasma in the Corona: During a CME and Later at Ulysses

Science.gov (United States)

Suess, S. T.; Poletto, G.

2004-01-01

We show direct evidence for the same very hot plasma being detected remotely from SOHO in the corona and subsequently, at Ulysses in the solar wind. This is, to our knowledge, the first time that such an unambiguous identification has been made in the case of hot plasma. This detection complements studies correlating other plasma and field properties observed to the properties measured at the source in the corona. This observation takes advantage of a SOHO-Sun-Ulysses quadrature, during which the Sun-Ulysses included angle is $90^\\circ$ and it is possible to observe with Ulysses instruments the same plasma that has previously been remotely observed with SOHO instruments in the corona on the limb of the Sun. The identification builds on an existing base of separate SOHO and interplanetary detections of hot plasma. SOHO/UVCS has found evidence for very hot coronal plasma in current sheets in the aftermath of CMEs in the [Fe XVIII] $\\lambda$ \\AA\\ line, implying a temperature on the order of $6\\times 10(exp 6)$ K. This temperature is unusually high even for active regions, but is compatible with the high temperature predicted in current sheets. In the solar wind, ACE data from early 1998 to middle 2000 revealed high frozen-in Fe charge state in many cases to be present in interplanetary plasma.

A comparison of solar wind streams and coronal structure near solar minimum

Science.gov (United States)

Nolte, J. T.; Davis, J. M.; Gerassimenko, M.; Lazarus, A. J.; Sullivan, J. D.

1977-01-01

Solar wind data from the MIT detectors on the IMP 7 and 8 satellites and the SOLRAD 11B satellite for the solar-minimum period September-December, 1976, were compared with X-ray images of the solar corona taken by rocket-borne telescopes on September 16 and November 17, 1976. There was no compelling evidence that a coronal hole was the source of any high speed stream. Thus it is possible that either coronal holes were not the sources of all recurrent high-speed solar wind streams during the declining phase of the solar cycle, as might be inferred from the Skylab period, or there was a change in the appearance of some magnetic field regions near the time of solar minimum.

FADING CORONAL STRUCTURE AND THE ONSET OF TURBULENCE IN THE YOUNG SOLAR WIND

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

DeForest, C. E. [Southwest Research Institute, 1050 Walnut Street, Boulder, CO (United States); Matthaeus, W. H. [Bartol Research Institute, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716 (United States); Viall, N. M. [NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, Mail Code 671, Greenbelt, MD 20771 (United States); Cranmer, S. R. [University of Colorado, Duane E226, Boulder, CO 80305 (United States)

2016-09-10

Above the top of the solar corona, the young, slow solar wind transitions from low- β , magnetically structured flow dominated by radial structures to high- β , less structured flow dominated by hydrodynamics. This transition, long inferred via theory, is readily apparent in the sky region close to 10° from the Sun in processed, background-subtracted solar wind images. We present image sequences collected by the inner Heliospheric Imager instrument on board the Solar-Terrestrial Relations Observatory ( STEREO /HI1) in 2008 December, covering apparent distances from approximately 4° to 24° from the center of the Sun and spanning this transition in the large-scale morphology of the wind. We describe the observation and novel techniques to extract evolving image structure from the images, and we use those data and techniques to present and quantify the clear textural shift in the apparent structure of the corona and solar wind in this altitude range. We demonstrate that the change in apparent texture is due both to anomalous fading of the radial striae that characterize the corona and to anomalous relative brightening of locally dense puffs of solar wind that we term “flocculae.” We show that these phenomena are inconsistent with smooth radial flow, but consistent with the onset of hydrodynamic or magnetohydrodynamic instabilities leading to a turbulent cascade in the young solar wind.

Fading Coronal Structure and the Onset of Turbulence in the Young Solar Wind

Science.gov (United States)

DeForest, C. E.; Matthaeus, W. H.; Viall, N. M.; Cranmer, S. R.

2016-01-01

Above the top of the solar corona, the young, slow solar wind transitions from low-beta, magnetically structured flow dominated by radial structures to high-beta, less structured flow dominated by hydrodynamics. This transition, long inferred via theory, is readily apparent in the sky region close to 10deg from the Sun in processed, background-subtracted solar wind images. We present image sequences collected by the inner Heliospheric Imager instrument on board the Solar-Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO/HI1) in 2008 December, covering apparent distances from approximately 4deg to 24deg from the center of the Sun and spanning this transition in the large-scale morphology of the wind. We describe the observation and novel techniques to extract evolving image structure from the images, and we use those data and techniques to present and quantify the clear textural shift in the apparent structure of the corona and solar wind in this altitude range. We demonstrate that the change in apparent texture is due both to anomalous fading of the radial striae that characterize the corona and to anomalous relative brightening of locally dense puffs of solar wind that we term "flocculae." We show that these phenomena are inconsistent with smooth radial flow, but consistent with the onset of hydrodynamic or magnetohydrodynamic instabilities leading to a turbulent cascade in the young solar wind.

MUSE: the Multi-Slit Solar Explorer

Science.gov (United States)

Tarbell, Theodore D.; De Pontieu, Bart

2017-08-01

The Multi-Slit Solar Explorer is a proposed Small Explorer mission for studying the dynamics of the corona and transition region using both conventional and novel spectral imaging techniques. The physical processes that heat the multi-million degree solar corona, accelerate the solar wind and drive solar activity (CMEs and flares) remain poorly known. A breakthrough in these areas can only come from radically innovative instrumentation and state-of-the-art numerical modeling and will lead to better understanding of space weather origins. MUSE’s multi-slit coronal spectroscopy will use a 100x improvement in spectral raster cadence to fill a crucial gap in our knowledge of Sun-Earth connections; it will reveal temperatures, velocities and non-thermal processes over a wide temperature range to diagnose physical processes that remain invisible to current or planned instruments. MUSE will contain two instruments: an EUV spectrograph (SG) and EUV context imager (CI). Both have similar spatial resolution and leverage extensive heritage from previous high-resolution instruments such as IRIS and the HiC rocket payload. The MUSE investigation will build on the success of IRIS by combining numerical modeling with a uniquely capable observatory: MUSE will obtain EUV spectra and images with the highest resolution in space (1/3 arcsec) and time (1-4 s) ever achieved for the transition region and corona, along 35 slits and a large context FOV simultaneously. The MUSE consortium includes LMSAL, SAO, Stanford, ARC, HAO, GSFC, MSFC, MSU, ITA Oslo and other institutions.

THE CONTRIBUTION OF CORONAL JETS TO THE SOLAR WIND

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lionello, R.; Török, T.; Titov, V. S.; Mikić, Z.; Linker, J. A. [Predictive Science Inc., 9990 Mesa Rim Road, Suite 170, San Diego, CA 92121 (United States); Leake, J. E.; Linton, M. G., E-mail: lionel@predsci.com [US Naval Research Laboratory 4555 Overlook Avenue, SW Washington, DC 20375 (United States)

2016-11-01

Transient collimated plasma eruptions in the solar corona, commonly known as coronal (or X-ray) jets, are among the most interesting manifestations of solar activity. It has been suggested that these events contribute to the mass and energy content of the corona and solar wind, but the extent of these contributions remains uncertain. We have recently modeled the formation and evolution of coronal jets using a three-dimensional (3D) magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) code with thermodynamics in a large spherical domain that includes the solar wind. Our model is coupled to 3D MHD flux-emergence simulations, i.e., we use boundary conditions provided by such simulations to drive a time-dependent coronal evolution. The model includes parametric coronal heating, radiative losses, and thermal conduction, which enables us to simulate the dynamics and plasma properties of coronal jets in a more realistic manner than done so far. Here, we employ these simulations to calculate the amount of mass and energy transported by coronal jets into the outer corona and inner heliosphere. Based on observed jet-occurrence rates, we then estimate the total contribution of coronal jets to the mass and energy content of the solar wind to (0.4–3.0)% and (0.3–1.0)%, respectively. Our results are largely consistent with the few previous rough estimates obtained from observations, supporting the conjecture that coronal jets provide only a small amount of mass and energy to the solar wind. We emphasize, however, that more advanced observations and simulations (including parametric studies) are needed to substantiate this conjecture.

Coronal Streamers Revealed during Solar Eclipses: Seeing is not Believing, and Pictures Can Lie

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Richard Woo

2011-08-01

Full Text Available For those fortunate enough to have personally witnessed and photographed the visible corona surrounding the Sun during a solar eclipse, pictures are usually a let down for not living up to the visual view. After 150 years of investigating the corona, we understand it more fully and now know this difference to be real. The difference stems from our inability to either see or image the true distribution of simultaneous brightness because of its large dynamic range (eg, Rodriguez, Woods, 2008 Digital Image Processing, Upper Saddle River: Pearson Prentice Hall. Brightness in the corona is unprecedented, as it falls by three orders of magnitude over a distance of only one solar radius from the Sun.

Large-scale volcanism associated with coronae on Venus

Science.gov (United States)

Roberts, K. Magee; Head, James W.

1993-01-01

The formation and evolution of coronae on Venus are thought to be the result of mantle upwellings against the crust and lithosphere and subsequent gravitational relaxation. A variety of other features on Venus have been linked to processes associated with mantle upwelling, including shield volcanoes on large regional rises such as Beta, Atla and Western Eistla Regiones and extensive flow fields such as Mylitta and Kaiwan Fluctus near the Lada Terra/Lavinia Planitia boundary. Of these features, coronae appear to possess the smallest amounts of associated volcanism, although volcanism associated with coronae has only been qualitatively examined. An initial survey of coronae based on recent Magellan data indicated that only 9 percent of all coronae are associated with substantial amounts of volcanism, including interior calderas or edifices greater than 50 km in diameter and extensive, exterior radial flow fields. Sixty-eight percent of all coronae were found to have lesser amounts of volcanism, including interior flooding and associated volcanic domes and small shields; the remaining coronae were considered deficient in associated volcanism. It is possible that coronae are related to mantle plumes or diapirs that are lower in volume or in partial melt than those associated with the large shields or flow fields. Regional tectonics or variations in local crustal and thermal structure may also be significant in determining the amount of volcanism produced from an upwelling. It is also possible that flow fields associated with some coronae are sheet-like in nature and may not be readily identified. If coronae are associated with volcanic flow fields, then they may be a significant contributor to plains formation on Venus, as they number over 300 and are widely distributed across the planet. As a continuation of our analysis of large-scale volcanism on Venus, we have reexamined the known population of coronae and assessed quantitatively the scale of volcanism associated

Electric Current Filamentation Induced by 3D Plasma Flows in the Solar Corona

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Nickeler, Dieter Horst; Wiegelmann, T.; Karlický, Marian; Kraus, Michaela

2017-01-01

Roč. 837, č. 2 (2017), 104/1-104/11 ISSN 0004-637X R&D Projects: GA ČR(CZ) GA16-05011S; GA ČR(CZ) GA16-13277S Institutional support: RVO:67985815 Keywords : magnetohydrodynamics * Sun * corona Subject RIV: BN - Astronomy, Celestial Mechanics, Astrophysics OBOR OECD: Astronomy (including astrophysics,space science) Impact factor: 5.533, year: 2016

Dust formation in a galaxy with primitive abundances.

Science.gov (United States)

Sloan, G C; Matsuura, M; Zijlstra, A A; Lagadec, E; Groenewegen, M A T; Wood, P R; Szyszka, C; Bernard-Salas, J; van Loon, J Th

2009-01-16

Interstellar dust plays a crucial role in the evolution of galaxies. It governs the chemistry and physics of the interstellar medium. In the local universe, dust forms primarily in the ejecta from stars, but its composition and origin in galaxies at very early times remain controversial. We report observational evidence of dust forming around a carbon star in a nearby galaxy with a low abundance of heavy elements, 25 times lower than the solar abundance. The production of dust by a carbon star in a galaxy with such primitive abundances raises the possibility that carbon stars contributed carbonaceous dust in the early universe.

Cosmic gamma-ray burst from intergalactic relativistic dust grains

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dasgupta, A.K.

1979-01-01

Charged dust grains of radii a approximately 3 x 10 -6 approximately 3 x 10 -5 cm may acquire relativistic energy (>10 18 eV) in the intergalactic medium. In order to attain relativistic energy, dust grains have to move in and out ('scattering') of the magnetic field of the medium. A relativistic grain of radius a -5 cm with Lorentz factor γ approximately 10 3 approaching the Earth will break up either due to electrostatic charge or due to sputtering about 150 approximately 100 km, and may scatter solar photons via a fluorescence process. Dust grains may also melt into droplets in the solar vicinity and may contribute towards observed gamma-ray bursts. (Auth.)

Red Dawn: Characterizing Iron Oxide Minerals in Atmospheric Dust

Science.gov (United States)

Yauk, K.; Ottenfeld, C. F.; Reynolds, R. L.; Goldstein, H.; Cattle, S.; Berquo, T. S.; Moskowitz, B. M.

2012-12-01

Atmospheric dust is comprised of many components including small amounts of iron oxide minerals. Although the iron oxides make up a small weight percent of the bulk dust, they are important because of their roles in ocean fertilization, controls on climate, and as a potential health hazard to humans. Here we report on the iron oxide mineralogy in dust from a large dust storm, dubbed Red Dawn, which engulfed eastern Australia along a 3000 km front on 23 September 2009. Red Dawn originated from the lower Lake Eyre Basin of South Australia, western New South Wales (NSW) and southwestern Queensland and was the worst dust storm to have hit the city of Sydney in more than 60 years. Dust samples were collected from various locations across eastern Australia (Lake Cowal, Orange, Hornsby, Sydney) following the Red Dawn event. Our dust collection provides a good opportunity to study the physical and mineralogical properties of iron oxides from Red Dawn using a combination of reflectance spectroscopy, Mössbauer spectroscopy (MB), and magnetic measurements. Magnetization measurements from 20-400 K reveal that magnetite/maghemite, hematite and goethite are present in all samples with magnetite occurring in trace amounts (effects (d< 100 nm). Finally, we compared reflectance with a magnetic parameter (hard isothermal remanent magnetization, HIRM) for ferric oxide abundance to assess the degree to which ferric oxide in these samples might absorb solar radiation. In samples for which both parameters were obtained, HIRM and average reflectance over the visible wavelengths are correlated as a group (r2=0.24). These results indicate that the ferric oxide minerals in Red Dawn dust absorb solar radiation. Much of this ferric oxide occurs likely as grain coatings of nanohematite and nanogoethite, thereby providing high surface area to enhance absorption of solar radiation.

Morphology of Pseudostreamers and Solar Wind Properties

Science.gov (United States)

Panasenco, Olga; Velli, Marco

2016-05-01

The solar dynamo and photospheric convection lead to three main types of structures extending from the solar surface into the corona - active regions, solar filaments (prominences when observed at the limb) and coronal holes. These structures exist over a wide range of scales, and are interlinked with each other in evolution and dynamics. Active regions can form clusters of magnetic activity and the strongest overlie sunspots. In the decay of active regions, the boundaries separating opposite magnetic polarities (neutral lines) develop the specific structures called filament channels above which filaments form. In the presence of flux imbalance decaying active regions can also give birth to lower latitude coronal holes. The accumulation of magnetic flux at coronal hole boundaries also creates the conditions for filament formation: polar crown filaments are permanently present at the boundaries of the polar coronal holes. Middle-latitude and equatorial coronal holes - the result of active region evolution - can create pseudostreamers (PSs) if other coronal holes of the same polarity are present. While helmet streamers form between open fields of opposite polarities, the pseudostreamer, characterized by a smaller coronal imprint, typically shows a more prominent straight ray or stalk extending from the corona. The pseudostreamer base at photospheric heights is multipolar; often one observes tripolar magnetic configurations with two neutral lines - where filaments can form - separating the coronal holes. Here we discuss the specific role of filament channels on pseudostreamer topology and on solar wind properties. 1D numerical analysis of PSs shows that the properties of the solar wind from around PSs depend on the presence/absence of filament channels, number of channels and chirality at the PS base low in the corona.

Whither Cometary Dust?

Science.gov (United States)

Lisse, Carey M.

2010-10-01

In this paper I will discuss recent findings that have important implications for our understanding of the formation and evolution of primitive solar system dust, including: - Nesvorny et al. (2010), following up on their dynamical analyses of the zodiacal dust bands as sourced by the breakup of the Karin (5Mya) and Veritas (8Mya) asteroid families, argue that over 90% of the interplanetary dust cloud at 1 AU comes from JFC comets with near-circularized, low inclination orbits. This implies that the noted IPD collections of anhydrous and hydrous dust particles are likely to be from Oort cloud and JFC comets, respectively, not from asteroids and comets as thought in the past. Hydrous dust particles from comets like 85P/Wild2 and 9P/Tempel 1 would be consistent with results from the STARDUST and Deep Impact experiments. - Estimates of the dust particle size distributions (PSDs) in the comae of 85P/Wild2 (Green et al. 2004, 2007) and 73P/SW-3 (Sitko et al. 2010, Vaubaillon & Reach 2010) and in the trails of comets (Reach et al. 2007) have broken power law structure, with a plateau enhancement of particles of 1 mm - 1 cm in size. This size is also the size of most chondritic inclusions, and the predicted size range of the "aggregational barrier", where collisions between dust particles become destructive. - Studies of the albedo and polarization properties of cometary dust (Kolokolova et al. 2007) suggest there are 2 major groupings, one with low scattering capability and one with high. While these families could possibly have been explained by systematics in the PSDs of the emitted dust, independent work by Lisse et al. (2008) on the mineralogy of a number of highly dusty comets has shown evidence for one family of comets with highly crystalline dust and another with highly amorphous dust.

Detecting Exoplanets with the New Worlds Observer: The Problem of Exozodiacal Dust

Science.gov (United States)

Roberge, A.; Noecker, M. C.; Glassman, T. M.; Oakley, P.; Turnbull, M. C.

2009-01-01

Dust coming from asteroids and comets will strongly affect direct imaging and characterization of terrestrial planets in the Habitable Zones of nearby stars. Such dust in the Solar System is called the zodiacal dust (or 'zodi' for short). Higher levels of similar dust are seen around many nearby stars, confined in disks called debris disks. Future high-contrast images of an Earth-like exoplanet will very likely be background-limited by light scattered of both the local Solar System zodi and the circumstellar dust in the extrasolar system (the exozodiacal dust). Clumps in the exozodiacal dust, which are expected in planet-hosting systems, may also be a source of confusion. Here we discuss the problems associated with imaging an Earth-like planet in the presence of unknown levels of exozodiacal dust. Basic formulae for the exoplanet imaging exposure time as function of star, exoplanet, zodi, exozodi, and telescope parameters will be presented. To examine the behavior of these formulae, we apply them to the New Worlds Observer (NWO) mission. NWO is a proposed 4-meter UV/optical/near-IR telescope, with a free flying starshade to suppress the light from a nearby star and achieve the high contrast needed for detection and characterization of a terrestrial planet in the star's Habitable Zone. We find that NWO can accomplish its science goals even if exozodiacal dust levels are typically much higher than the Solar System zodi level. Finally, we highlight a few additional problems relating to exozodiacal dust that have yet to be solved.

Latitude dependence of the solar wind speed: Influence of the coronal magnetic field geometry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pneuman, G.W.

1976-01-01

The dependence of solar wind speed on latitude as influenced by the magnetic field configuration of the inner corona is studied. It is found that in general, a dipolelike field geometry characteristic of a minimum-type corona tends to produce a solar wind speed distribution which increases with heliographic latitude, in accordance with observations. At very high coronal base densities and temperatures, however, this effect is minimal or even inverted. Physically, the field affects the wind speed through its area divergence, a larger divergence resulting in correspondingly lower speeds. During solar minimum, eclipse photographs suggest that the field divergence increases from pole to equator, a characteristic not apparent during solar maximum. Hence we expect the latitudinal increase in speed to be most pronounced at the minimum phase of solar activity

The Solar Probe Plus Mission: Humanity's First Visit to Our Star

Science.gov (United States)

Fox, N. J.; Velli, M. C.; Bale, S. D.; Decker, R.; Driesman, A.; Howard, R. A.; Kasper, J. C.; Kinnison, J.; Kusterer, M.; Lario, D.;

Magnetic Nulls and Super-radial Expansion in the Solar Corona

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gibson, Sarah E.; Dalmasse, Kevin; Tomczyk, Steven; Toma, Giuliana de; Burkepile, Joan; Galloy, Michael [National Center for Atmospheric Research, 3080 Center Green Drive, Boulder, CO 80301 (United States); Rachmeler, Laurel A. [NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL 35811 (United States); Rosa, Marc L. De, E-mail: sgibson@ucar.edu [Lockheed Martin Solar and Astrophysics Laboratory, 3251 Hanover Street B/252, Palo Alto, CA 94304 (United States)

2017-05-10

Magnetic fields in the Sun’s outer atmosphere—the corona—control both solar-wind acceleration and the dynamics of solar eruptions. We present the first clear observational evidence of coronal magnetic nulls in off-limb linearly polarized observations of pseudostreamers, taken by the Coronal Multichannel Polarimeter (CoMP) telescope. These nulls represent regions where magnetic reconnection is likely to act as a catalyst for solar activity. CoMP linear-polarization observations also provide an independent, coronal proxy for magnetic expansion into the solar wind, a quantity often used to parameterize and predict the solar wind speed at Earth. We introduce a new method for explicitly calculating expansion factors from CoMP coronal linear-polarization observations, which does not require photospheric extrapolations. We conclude that linearly polarized light is a powerful new diagnostic of critical coronal magnetic topologies and the expanding magnetic flux tubes that channel the solar wind.

History and Flight Devleopment of the Electrodynamic Dust Shield

Science.gov (United States)

Johansen, Michael R.; Mackey, Paul J.; Hogue, Michael D.; Cox, Rachel E.; Phillips, James R., III; Calle, Carlos I.

2015-01-01

The surfaces of the moon, Mars, and that of some asteroids are covered with a layer of dust that may hinder robotic and human exploration missions. During the Apollo missions, for example, lunar dust caused a number of issues including vision obscuration, false instrument readings, contamination, and elevated temperatures. In fact, some equipment neared failure after only 75 hours on the lunar surface due to effects of lunar dust. NASA's Kennedy Space Center has developed an active technology to remove dust from surfaces during exploration missions. The Electrodynamic Dust Shield (EDS), which consists of a series of embedded electrodes in a high dielectric strength substrate, uses a low power, low frequency signal that produces an electric field wave that travels across the surface. This non-uniform electric field generates dielectrophoretic and electrostatic forces capable of moving dust out of these surfaces. Implementations of the EDS have been developed for solar radiators, optical systems, camera lenses, visors, windows, thermal radiators, and fabrics The EDS implementation for transparent applications (solar panels, optical systems, windows, etc.) uses transparent indium tin oxide electrodes on glass or transparent lm. Extensive testing was performed in a roughly simulated lunar environment (one-sixth gravity at 1 mPa atmospheric pressure) with lunar simulant dust. EDS panels over solar radiators showed dust removal that restored solar panel output reaching values very close to their initial output. EDS implementations for thermal radiator protection (metallic spacecraft surfaces with white thermal paint and reflective films) were also extensively tested at similar high vacuum conditions. Reflectance spectra for these types of implementations showed dust removal efficiencies in the 96% to 99% range. These tests indicate that the EDS technology is now at a Technology Readiness Level of 4 to 5. As part of EDS development, a flight version is being prepared for

Measurements of Photoelectric Yield and Physical Properties of Individual Lunar Dust Grains

Science.gov (United States)

Abbas, M. M.; Tankosic, D.; Craven, P. D.; Spann, J. F.; LeClair, A.; West, F. A.; Taylor, L.; Hoover, R.

2005-01-01

Micron size dust grains levitated and transported on the lunar surface constitute a major problem for the robotic and human habitat missions for the Moon. It is well known since the Apollo missions that the lunar surface is covered with a thick layer of micron/sub-micron size dust grains. Transient dust clouds over the lunar horizon were observed by experiments during the Apollo 17 mission. Theoretical models suggest that the dust grains on the lunar surface are charged by the solar UV radiation as well as the solar wind. Even without any physical activity, the dust grains are levitated by electrostatic fields and transported away from the surface in the near vacuum environment of the Moon. The current dust charging and the levitation models, however, do not fully explain the observed phenomena. Since the abundance of dust on the Moon's surface with its observed adhesive characteristics is believed to have a severe impact on the human habitat and the lifetime and operations of a variety of equipment, it is necessary to investigate the phenomena and the charging properties of the lunar dust in order to develop appropriate mitigating strategies. We will present results of some recent laboratory experiments on individual micro/sub-micron size dust grains levitated in electrodynamic balance in simulated space environments. The experiments involve photoelectric emission measurements of individual micron size lunar dust grains illuminated with UV radiation in the 120-160 nm wavelength range. The photoelectric yields are required to determine the charging properties of lunar dust illuminated by solar UV radiation. We will present some recent results of laboratory measurement of the photoelectric yields and the physical properties of individual micron size dust grains from the Apollo and Luna-24 sample returns as well as the JSC-1 lunar simulants.

Astronomical and Meteoritic Evidence for the Nature of Interstellar Dust and Its Processing in Protoplanetary Disks

Science.gov (United States)

Alexander, C. M. O'd.; Boss, A. P.; Keller, L. P.; Nuth, J. A.; Weinberger, A.

Here we compare the astronomical and meteoritic evidence for the nature and origin of interstellar dust, and how it is processed in protoplanetary disks. The relative abundances of circumstellar grains in meteorites and interplanetary dust particles (IDPs) are broadly consistent with most astronomical estimates of galactic dust production, although graphite/amorphous C is highly underabundant. The major carbonaceous component in meteorites and IDPs is an insoluble organic material (IOM) that probably formed in the interstellar medium, but a solar origin cannot be ruled out. GEMS (glass with embedded metal and sulfide) that are isotopically solar within error are the best candidates for interstellar silicates, but it is also possible that they are solar system condensates. No dust from young stellar objects has been identified in IDPs, but it is difficult to differentiate them from solar system material or indeed some circumstellar condensates. The crystalline silicates in IDPs are mostly solar condensates, with lesser amounts of annealed GEMS. The IOM abundances in IDPs are roughly consistent with the degree of processing indicated by their crystallinity if the processed material was ISM dust. The IOM contents of meteorites are much lower, suggesting that there was a gradient in dust processing in the solar system. The microstructure of much of the pyroxene in IDPs suggests that it formed at temperatures >1258 K and cooled relatively rapidly (~1000 K/h). This cooling rate favors shock heating rather than radial transport of material annealed in the hot inner disk as the mechanism for producing crystalline dust in comets and IDPs. Shock heating is also a likely mechanism for producing chondrules in meteorites, but the dust was probably heated at a different time and/or location to chondrules.

Solar Probe Plus

Science.gov (United States)

Szabo, Adam

2011-01-01

The NASA Solar Probe Plus mission is planned to be launched in 2018 to study the upper solar corona with both.in-situ and remote sensing instrumentation. The mission will utilize 6 Venus gravity assist maneuver to gradually lower its perihelion to 9.5 Rs below the expected Alfven pOint to study the sub-alfvenic solar wind that is still at least partially co-rotates with the Sun. The detailed science objectives of this mission will be discussed. SPP will have a strong synergy with The ESA/NASA Solar orbiter mission to be launched a year ahead. Both missions will focus on the inner heliosphere and will have complimentary instrumentations. Strategies to exploit this synergy will be also presented.

Investigations of Wind/WAVES Dust Impacts

Science.gov (United States)

St Cyr, O. C.; Wilson, L. B., III; Rockcliffe, K.; Mills, A.; Nieves-Chinchilla, T.; Adrian, M. L.; Malaspina, D.

2017-12-01

The Wind spacecraft launched in November 1994 with a primary goal to observe and understand the interaction between the solar wind and Earth's magnetosphere. The waveform capture detector, TDS, of the radio and plasma wave investigation, WAVES [Bougeret et al., 1995], onboard Wind incidentally detected micron-sized dust as electric field pulses from the recollection of the impact plasma clouds (an unintended objective). TDS has detected over 100,000 dust impacts spanning almost two solar cycles; a dataset of these impacts has been created and was described in Malaspina & Wilson [2016]. The spacecraft continues to collect data about plasma, energetic particles, and interplanetary dust impacts. Here we report on two investigations recently conducted on the Wind/WAVES TDS database of dust impacts. One possible source of dust particles is the annually-recurring meteor showers. Using the nine major showers defined by the American Meteor Society, we compared dust count rates before, during, and after the peak of the showers using averaging windows of varying duration. However, we found no statistically significant change in the dust count rates due to major meteor showers. This appears to be an expected result since smaller grains, like the micron particles that Wind is sensitive to, are affected by electromagnetic interactions and Poynting-Robertson drag, and so are scattered away from their initial orbits. Larger grains tend to be more gravitationally dominated and stay on the initial trajectory of the parent body so that only the largest dust grains (those that create streaks as they burn up in the atmosphere) are left in the orbit of the parent body. Ragot and Kahler [2003] predicted that coronal mass ejections (CMEs) near the Sun could effectively scatter dust grains of comparable size to those observed by Wind. Thus, we examined the dust count rates immediately before, during, and after the passage of the 350 interplanetary CMEs observed by Wind over its 20+ year

An analysis of the dust deposition on solar photovoltaic modules.

Science.gov (United States)

Styszko, Katarzyna; Jaszczur, Marek; Teneta, Janusz; Hassan, Qusay; Burzyńska, Paulina; Marcinek, Ewelina; Łopian, Natalia; Samek, Lucyna

2018-03-29

Solid particles impair the performance of the photovoltaic (PV) modules. This results in power losses which lower the efficiency of the system as well as the increases of temperature which additionally decreases the performance and lifetime. The deposited dust chemical composition, concentration and formation of a dust layer on the PV surface differ significantly in reference to time and location. In this study, an evaluation of dust deposition on the PV front cover glass during the non-heating season in one of the most polluted European cities, Kraków, was performed. The time-dependent particle deposition and its correlation to the air pollution with particulate matter were analysed. Dust deposited on several identical PV modules during variable exposure periods (from 1 day up to 1 week) and the samples of total suspended particles (TSP) on quartz fibre filters using a low volume sampler were collected during the non-heating season in the period of 5 weeks. The concentration of TSP in the study period ranged between 12.5 and 60.05 μg m -3 while the concentration of PM10 observed in the Voivodeship Inspectorate of Environmental Protection traffic station, located 1.2 km from the TSP sampler, ranged from 14 to 47 μg m -3 . It was revealed that dust deposition density on a PV surface ranged from 7.5 to 42.1 mg m -2 for exposure periods of 1 day while the measured weekly dust deposition densities ranged from 25.8 to 277.0 mg m -2 . The precipitation volume and its intensity as well as humidity significantly influence the deposited dust. The rate of dust accumulation reaches approximately 40 mg m -2 day -1 in the no-precipitation period and it was at least two times higher than fluxes calculated on the basis of PM10 and TSP concentrations which suggest that additional forces such as electrostatic forces significantly influence dust deposition.

Ulysses dust measurements near Jupiter.

Science.gov (United States)

Grün, E; Zook, H A; Baguhl, M; Fechtig, H; Hanner, M S; Kissel, J; Lindblad, B A; Linkert, D; Linkert, G; Mann, I B

1992-09-11

Submicrometer- to micrometer-sized particles were recorded by the Ulysses dust detector within 40 days of the Jupiter flyby. Nine impacts were recorded within 50 Jupiter radii with most of them recorded after closest approach. Three of these impacts are consistent with particles on prograde orbits around Jupiter and the rest are believed to have resulted from gravitationally focused interplanetary dust. From the ratio of the impact rate before the Jupiter flyby to the impact rate after the Jupiter flyby it is concluded that interplanetary dust particles at the distance of Jupiter move on mostly retrograde orbits. On 10 March 1992, Ulysses passed through an intense dust stream. The dust detector recorded 126 impacts within 26 hours. The stream particles were moving on highly inclined and apparently hyperbolic orbits with perihelion distances of >5 astronomical units. Interplanetary dust is lost rather quickly from the solar system through collisions and other mechanisms and must be almost continuously replenished to maintain observed abundances. Dust flux measurements, therefore, give evidence of the recent rates of production from sources such as comets, asteroids, and moons, as well as the possible presence of interstellar grains.

Ions mobilities in corona discharge

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bakhtaev, Sh. A.; Bochkareva, G. V.; Sydykova, G. K.

2000-01-01

Ion mobility in unipolar corona at small inter-electron distances (up to 0.01 m) when as coroning element serves micro-wire is consider. Experimental data of ion mobility in corona discharge external zone in atmospheric air are obtained and its comparative analysis with known data is worked out. (author)

Spacesuit Integrated Carbon Nanotube Dust Mitigation System for Lunar Exploration

Science.gov (United States)

Manyapu, Kavya Kamal

Lunar dust proved to be troublesome during the Apollo missions. The lunar dust comprises of fine particles, with electric charges imparted by solar winds and ultraviolet radiation. As such, it adheres readily, and easily penetrates through smallest crevices into mechanisms. During Apollo missions, the powdery dust substantially degraded the performance of spacesuits by abrading suit fabric and clogging seals. Dust also degraded other critical equipment such as rovers, thermal control and optical surfaces, solar arrays, and was thus shown to be a major issue for surface operations. Even inside the lunar module, Apollo astronauts were exposed to this dust when they removed their dust coated spacesuits. This historical evidence from the Apollo missions has compelled NASA to identify dust mitigation as a critical path. This important environmental challenge must be overcome prior to sending humans back to the lunar surface and potentially to other surfaces such as Mars and asteroids with dusty environments. Several concepts were successfully investigated by the international research community for preventing deposition of lunar dust on rigid surfaces (ex: solar cells, thermal radiators). However, applying these technologies for flexible surfaces and specifically to spacesuits has remained an open challenge, due to the complexity of the suit design, geometry, and dynamics. The research presented in this dissertation brings original contribution through the development and demonstration of the SPacesuit Integrated Carbon nanotube Dust Ejection/Removal (SPIcDER) system to protect spacesuits and other flexible surfaces from lunar dust. SPIcDER leverages the Electrodynamic Dust Shield (EDS) concept developed at NASA for use on solar cells. For the SPIcDER research, the EDS concept is customized for application on spacesuits and flexible surfaces utilizing novel materials and specialized design techniques. Furthermore, the performance of the active SPIcDER system is enhanced

Endogenous Magnetic Reconnection in Solar Coronal Loops

Science.gov (United States)

Asgari-Targhi, M.; Coppi, B.; Basu, B.; Fletcher, A.; Golub, L.

2017-12-01

We propose that a magneto-thermal reconnection process occurring in coronal loops be the source of the heating of the Solar Corona [1]. In the adopted model, magnetic reconnection is associated with electron temperature gradients, anisotropic electron temperature fluctuations and plasma current density gradients [2]. The input parameters for our theoretical model are derived from the most recent observations of the Solar Corona. In addition, the relevant (endogenous) collective modes can produce high energy particle populations. An endogenous reconnection process is defined as being driven by factors internal to the region where reconnection takes place. *Sponsored in part by the U.S. D.O.E. and the Kavli Foundation* [1] Beafume, P., Coppi, B. and Golub, L., (1992) Ap. J. 393, 396. [2] Coppi, B. and Basu, B. (2017) MIT-LNS Report HEP 17/01.

Space Environmental Testing of the Electrodynamic Dust Shield Technology

Science.gov (United States)

Calle, Carlos I.; Mackey, P. J.; Hogue, M. D.; Johansen, M .R.; Yim, H.; Delaune, P. B.; Clements, J. S.

2013-01-01

NASA's exploration missions to Mars and the moon may be jeopardized by dust that will adhere to surfaces of (a) Optical systems, viewports and solar panels, (b) Thermal radiators, (c) Instrumentation, and (d) Spacesuits. We have developed an active dust mitigation technology, the Electrodynamic Dust Shield, a multilayer coating that can remove dust and also prevents its accumulation Extensive testing in simulated laboratory environments and on a reduced gravity flight shows that high dust removal performance can be achieved Long duration exposure to the space environment as part of the MISSE-X payload will validate the technology for lunar missions.

Physics of the Solar Active Regions from Radio Observations

Science.gov (United States)

Gelfreikh, G. B.

1999-12-01

Localized increase of the magnetic field observed by routine methods on the photosphere result in the growth of a number of active processes in the solar atmosphere and the heliosphere. These localized regions of increased magnetic field are called active regions (AR). The main processes of transfer, accumulation and release of energy in an AR is, however, out of scope of photospheric observations being essentially a 3D-process and happening either under photosphere or up in the corona. So, to investigate these plasma structures and processes we are bound to use either extrapolation of optical observational methods or observations in EUV, X-rays and radio. In this review, we stress and illustrate the input to the problem gained from radio astronomical methods and discuss possible future development of their applicatications. Historically speaking each new step in developing radio technique of observations resulted in detecting some new physics of ARs. The most significant progress in the last few years in radio diagnostics of the plasma structures of magnetospheres of the solar ARs is connected with the developing of the 2D full disk analysis on regular basis made at Nobeyama and detailed multichannel spectral-polarization (but one-dimensional and one per day) solar observations at the RATAN-600. In this report the bulk of attention is paid to the new approach to the study of solar activity gained with the Nobeyama radioheliograph and analyzing the ways for future progress. The most important new features of the multicomponent radio sources of the ARs studied using Nobeyama radioheliograph are as follow: 1. The analysis of magnetic field structures in solar corona above sunspot with 2000 G. Their temporal evolution and fluctuations with the periods around 3 and 5 minutes, due to MHD-waves in sunspot magnetic tubes and surrounding plasma. These investigations are certainly based on an analysis of thermal cyclotron emission of lower corona and CCTR above sunspot

Temporal and spatial evolution of EHD particle flow onset in air in a needle-to-plate negative DC corona discharge

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mizeraczyk, J; Berendt, A; Podlinski, J

2016-01-01

In this paper we present images showing the temporal and spatial evolution of the electrohydrodynamic (EHD) flow of dust particles (cigarette smoke) suspended in still air in a needle-to-plate negative DC corona discharge arrangement just after the corona onset, i.e. in the first stage of development of the EHD particle flow. The experimental apparatus for our study of the EHD flow onset consisted of a needle-to-plate electrode arrangement, high voltage power supply and time-resolved EHD imaging system based on 2D time-resolved particle image velocimetry equipment. The time-resolved flow images clearly show the formation of a ball-like flow structure at the needle tip just after the corona discharge onset, and its evolution into a mushroom-like object moving to the collecting electrode. After a certain time, when the mushroom-like object is still present in the interelectrode gap a second mushroom-like object forms near the needle electrode and starts to move towards the collecting electrode. Before the first mushroom-like object reaches the collecting electrode several similar mushroom-like objects can be formed and presented simultaneously in the interelectrode gap. They look like a series of mushroom-like minijets shot from the needle electrode vicinity towards the collecting electrode. The simultaneous presence of mushroom-like minijets in the interelectrode gap in the corona discharge in particle-seeded air resembles the negative-ion-charged ‘clouds’ (induced by the Trichel pulses) traversing simultaneously the interelectrode gap of the corona discharge in air, predicted a long time ago by Loeb, and Lama and Gallo and recently by Dordizadeh et al . Analysing the time behaviours of the mushroom-like minijets and current waveform in the corona discharge in particle-seeded air, we found that the Trichel pulse trains, formed just after the corona onset initiates the mushroom-like minijets. The first stage of development of the EHD particle flow, the area of

Transient flows of the solar wind associated with small-scale solar activity in solar minimum

Science.gov (United States)

Slemzin, Vladimir; Veselovsky, Igor; Kuzin, Sergey; Gburek, Szymon; Ulyanov, Artyom; Kirichenko, Alexey; Shugay, Yulia; Goryaev, Farid

The data obtained by the modern high sensitive EUV-XUV telescopes and photometers such as CORONAS-Photon/TESIS and SPHINX, STEREO/EUVI, PROBA2/SWAP, SDO/AIA provide good possibilities for studying small-scale solar activity (SSA), which is supposed to play an important role in heating of the corona and producing transient flows of the solar wind. During the recent unusually weak solar minimum, a large number of SSA events, such as week solar flares, small CMEs and CME-like flows were observed and recorded in the databases of flares (STEREO, SWAP, SPHINX) and CMEs (LASCO, CACTUS). On the other hand, the solar wind data obtained in this period by ACE, Wind, STEREO contain signatures of transient ICME-like structures which have shorter duration (<10h), weaker magnetic field strength (<10 nT) and lower proton temperature than usual ICMEs. To verify the assumption that ICME-like transients may be associated with the SSA events we investigated the number of weak flares of C-class and lower detected by SPHINX in 2009 and STEREO/EUVI in 2010. The flares were classified on temperature and emission measure using the diagnostic means of SPHINX and Hinode/EIS and were confronted with the parameters of the solar wind (velocity, density, ion composition and temperature, magnetic field, pitch angle distribution of the suprathermal electrons). The outflows of plasma associated with the flares were identified by their coronal signatures - CMEs (only in few cases) and dimmings. It was found that the mean parameters of the solar wind projected to the source surface for the times of the studied flares were typical for the ICME-like transients. The results support the suggestion that weak flares can be indicators of sources of transient plasma flows contributing to the slow solar wind at solar minimum, although these flows may be too weak to be considered as separate CMEs and ICMEs. The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Programme

Chaotic characteristics of corona discharges in atmospheric air

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tan Xiangyu; Zhang Qiaogen; Wang Xiuhuan; Sun Fu; Zha Wei; Jia Zhijie

2008-01-01

A point-plane electrode system in atmospheric air is established to investigate the mechanism of the corona discharge. By using this system, the current pulses of the corona discharges under the 50 Hz ac voltage are measured using partial discharge (PD) measurement instrument and constitute the point-plane voltage-current (V-I) characteristic equation together with the voltage. Then, this paper constructs the nonlinear circuit model and differential equations of the system in an attempt to give the underlying dynamic mechanism based on the nonlinear V-I characteristics of the point-plane corona discharges. The results show that the chaotic phenomenon is found in the corona circuit by the experimental study and nonlinear dynamic analysis. The basic dynamic characteristics, including the Lyapunov exponent, the existence of the strange attractors, and the equilibrium points, are also found and analyzed in the development process of the corona circuit. Moreover, the time series of the corona current pulses obtained in the experiment is used to demonstrate the chaotic characteristics of the corona current based on the nonlinear dynamic circuit theory and the experimental basis. It is pointed out that the corona phenomenon is not a purely stochastic phenomenon but a short term deterministic chaotic activity

Characteristics of pulse corona discharge over water surface

Science.gov (United States)

Fujii, Tomio; Arao, Yasushi; Rea, Massimo

2008-12-01

Production of ozone and OH radical is required to advance the plasma chemical reactions in the NOx removal processes for combustion gas treatment. The corona discharge to the water surface is expected to induce the good conditions for the proceeding of the NO oxidation and the NO2 dissolution removal into water. In order to get the fundamental data of the corona discharge over the water surface, the positive and negative V-I characteristics and the ozone production were measured with the multi needle and the saw-edge type of the discharge electrodes. The pulse corona characteristics were also measured with some different waveforms of the applied pulse voltage. The experiments were carried out under the atmospheric pressure and room temperature. Both the DC and the pulse corona to the water surface showed a stable and almost the same V-I characteristics as to plate electrodes though the surface of water was waved by corona wind. The positive streamer corona showed more ozone production than the negative one both in the DC and in the pulse corona.

Characteristics of pulse corona discharge over water surface

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fujii, Tomio; Arao, Yasushi; Rea, Massimo

2008-01-01

Production of ozone and OH radical is required to advance the plasma chemical reactions in the NOx removal processes for combustion gas treatment. The corona discharge to the water surface is expected to induce the good conditions for the proceeding of the NO oxidation and the NO 2 dissolution removal into water. In order to get the fundamental data of the corona discharge over the water surface, the positive and negative V-I characteristics and the ozone production were measured with the multi needle and the saw-edge type of the discharge electrodes. The pulse corona characteristics were also measured with some different waveforms of the applied pulse voltage. The experiments were carried out under the atmospheric pressure and room temperature. Both the DC and the pulse corona to the water surface showed a stable and almost the same V-I characteristics as to plate electrodes though the surface of water was waved by corona wind. The positive streamer corona showed more ozone production than the negative one both in the DC and in the pulse corona.

Our prodigal sun. [solar energy technology

Science.gov (United States)

1974-01-01

Characteristics of the sun are reported indicating it as a source of energy. Data from several space missions are discussed, and the solar activity cycle is presented. The corona, flares, prominences, spots, and wind of the sun are also discussed.

CORONAL JETS SIMULATED WITH THE GLOBAL ALFVÉN WAVE SOLAR MODEL

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Szente, J.; Toth, G.; Manchester IV, W. B.; Holst, B. van der; Landi, E.; Gombosi, T. I. [Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering Department, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109 (United States); DeVore, C. R.; Antiochos, S. K., E-mail: judithsz@umich.edu [Heliophysics Science Division, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771 (United States)

2017-01-10

This paper describes a numerical modeling study of coronal jets to understand their effects on the global corona and their contribution to the solar wind. We implement jets into a well-established three-dimensional, two-temperature magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) solar corona model employing Alfvén-wave dissipation to produce a realistic solar-wind background. The jets are produced by positioning a compact magnetic dipole under the solar surface and rotating the boundary plasma around the dipole's magnetic axis. The moving plasma drags the magnetic field lines along with it, ultimately leading to a reconnection-driven jet similar to that described by Pariat et al. We compare line-of-sight synthetic images to multiple jet observations at EUV and X-ray bands, and find very close matches in terms of physical structure, dynamics, and emission. Key contributors to this agreement are the greatly enhanced plasma density and temperature in our jets compared to previous models. These enhancements arise from the comprehensive thermodynamic model that we use and, also, our inclusion of a dense chromosphere at the base of our jet-generating regions. We further find that the large-scale corona is affected significantly by the outwardly propagating torsional Alfvén waves generated by our polar jet, across 40° in latitude and out to 24 R {sub ⊙}. We estimate that polar jets contribute only a few percent to the steady-state solar-wind energy outflow.

Charge States of Krypton and Xenon in the Solar Wind

Science.gov (United States)

Bochsler, Peter; Fludra, Andrzej; Giunta, Alessandra

2017-09-01

We calculate charge state distributions of Kr and Xe in a model for two different types of solar wind using the effective ionization and recombination rates provided from the OPEN_ADAS data base. The charge states of heavy elements in the solar wind are essential for estimating the efficiency of Coulomb drag in the inner corona. We find that xenon ions experience particularly low Coulomb drag from protons in the inner corona, comparable to the notoriously weak drag of protons on helium ions. It has been found long ago that helium in the solar wind can be strongly depleted near interplanetary current sheets, whereas coronal mass ejecta are sometimes strongly enriched in helium. We argue that if the extraordinary variability of the helium abundance in the solar wind is due to inefficient Coulomb drag, the xenon abundance must vary strongly. In fact, a secular decrease of the solar wind xenon abundance relative to the other heavier noble gases (Ne, Ar, Kr) has been postulated based on a comparison of noble gases in recently irradiated and ancient samples of ilmenite in the lunar regolith. We conclude that decreasing solar activity and decreasing frequency of coronal mass ejections over the solar lifetime might be responsible for a secularly decreasing abundance of xenon in the solar wind.

Acceleration and propagation of energetic particles in the solar corona: from RHESSI data analysing to the preparation of the STIX tool operations on Solar Orbiter

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Musset, S.

2016-01-01

The Sun is an active star and one manifestation of its activity is the production of solar flares. It is currently admitted that solar flares are caused by the release of magnetic energy during the process of magnetic reconnection in the solar upper atmosphere, the solar corona. During these flares, a large fraction of the magnetic energy is transferred to the acceleration of particles (electrons and ions). However, the details of particle acceleration during flares are still not completely understood. Several scenarios and models have been developed to explain particle acceleration. In some of them, electric fields, produced at the location of current sheets, which can be fragmented or collapsing, and which are preferentially located on quasi-separatrix layers (QSLs), are accelerating particles. To investigate a possible link between energetic particles and direct electric fields produced at current sheet locations, we looked for a correlation between X-ray emission from energetic electrons and electric currents which can be measured at the photospheric level. We used the Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectrometric Imager (RHESSI) data to produce spectra and images of the X-ray emissions during GOES X-class flares, and spectro polarimetric data from the Helio seismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) onboard the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) to calculate the vertical current densities from the reconstructed 3D vector magnetic field. A correlation between the coronal X-ray emissions (tracing the energetic electrons near the acceleration site) and the strong current ribbons at the photospheric level (tracing the coronal current sheet) was found in the five studied X-class flares. Moreover, thanks to the 12-minute time cadence of SDO/HMI, we could study for the first time the time evolution of electric currents : in several flares, a change in the current intensity, occurring during the flare peak, was found to be spatially correlated with X-ray emission sites. These

Radiative origins of the solar corona

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Koch, P.

1978-01-01

Within observational accuracy, the radiation pressure aT 4 /3 at the effective solar temperature is equal to the coronal gas pressure nkT. This suggests a radiative gas discontinuity between optically thick and optically thin regions. Ideal transitions of this nature are studied and the applicability of this model to the Sun is explored. Further empirical corroboration is obtained if the gas pressure anomalies of Gulyaev are resolved by postulating a corrective gradient of radiation pressure possibly caused by Lyman-α opacity. (Auth.)

Fine-Scale Fluctuations in the Corona Observed with Hi-C

Science.gov (United States)

Winebarger, Amy; Schuler, Timothy

2013-01-01

The High Resolution Coronal Imager(HiC) flew aboard a NASA sounding rocket on 2012 July11 and captured roughly 345 s of high spatial and temporal resolution images of the solar corona in a narrowband 193 Angstrom channel. We have analyzed the fluctuations in intensity of Active Region11520.We selected events based on a lifetime greater than 11s (twoHiC frames)and intensities greater than a threshold determined from the average background intensity in a pixel and the photon and electronic noise. We find fluctuations occurring down to the smallest timescale(11s).Typical intensity fluctuations are 20% background intensity, while some events peaka t100%the background intensity.Generally the fluctuations are clustered in solar structures, particularly the moss.We interpret the fluctuations in the moss as indicative of heating events. We use the observed events to model the active region core.

Shock–Cloud Interaction in the Solar Corona

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Takahashi, Takuya, E-mail: takahashi@kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp [Department of Astronomy, Kyoto University, Sakyo, Kyoto, 606-8502 (Japan)

2017-02-20

Flare-associated coronal shock waves sometimes interact with solar prominences, leading to large-amplitude prominence oscillations (LAPOs). Such prominence activation gives us a unique opportunity to track the time evolution of shock–cloud interaction in cosmic plasmas. Although the dynamics of interstellar shock–cloud interaction has been extensively studied, coronal shock–solar prominence interaction is rarely studied in the context of shock–cloud interaction. Associated with the X5.4 class solar flare that occurred on 2012 March 7, a globally propagated coronal shock wave interacted with a polar prominence, leading to LAPO. In this paper, we studied bulk acceleration and excitation of the internal flow of the shocked prominence using three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations. We studied eight MHD simulation runs, each with different mass density structure of the prominence, and one hydrodynamic simulation run, and we compared the result. In order to compare the observed motion of activated prominence with the corresponding simulation, we also studied prominence activation by injection of a triangular-shaped coronal shock. We found that the prominence is first accelerated mainly by magnetic tension force as well as direct transmission of the shock, and later decelerated mainly by magnetic tension force. The internal flow, on the other hand, is excited during the shock front sweeps through the prominence and damps almost exponentially. We construct a phenomenological model of bulk momentum transfer from the shock to the prominence, which agreed quantitatively with all the simulation results. Based on the phenomenological prominence activation model, we diagnosed physical parameters of the coronal shock wave. The estimated energy of the coronal shock is several percent of the total energy released during the X5.4 flare.

Solar Wind Deflection by Mass Loading in the Martian Magnetosheath Based on MAVEN Observations

Science.gov (United States)

Dubinin, E.; Fraenz, M.; Pätzold, M.; Halekas, J. S.; Mcfadden, J.; Connerney, J. E. P.; Jakosky, B. M.; Vaisberg, O.; Zelenyi, L.

2018-03-01

Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN observations at Mars show clear signatures of the shocked solar wind interaction with the extended oxygen atmosphere and hot corona displayed in a lateral deflection of the magnetosheath flow in the direction opposite to the direction of the solar wind motional electric field. The value of the velocity deflection reaches ˜50 km/s. The occurrence of such deflection is caused by the "Lorentz-type" force due to a differential streaming of the solar wind protons and oxygen ions originating from the extended oxygen corona. The value of the total deceleration of the magnetosheath flow due to mass loading is estimated as ˜40 km/s.

The nanoparticle biomolecule corona: lessons learned - challenge accepted?

Science.gov (United States)

Docter, D; Westmeier, D; Markiewicz, M; Stolte, S; Knauer, S K; Stauber, R H

2015-10-07

Besides the wide use of engineered nanomaterials (NMs) in technical products, their applications are not only increasing in biotechnology and biomedicine, but also in the environmental field. While the physico-chemical properties and behaviour of NMs can be characterized accurately under idealized conditions, this is no longer the case in complex physiological or natural environments. Herein, proteins and other biomolecules rapidly bind to NMs, forming a protein/biomolecule corona that critically affects the NMs' (patho)biological and technical identities. As the corona impacts the in vitro and/or in vivo NM applications in humans and ecosystems, a mechanistic understanding of its relevance and of the biophysical forces regulating corona formation is mandatory. Based on recent insights, we here critically review and present an updated concept of corona formation and evolution. We comment on how corona signatures may be linked to effects at the nano-bio interface in physiological and environmental systems. In order to comprehensively analyse corona profiles and to mechanistically understand the coronas' biological/ecological impact, we present a tiered multidisciplinary approach. To stimulate progress in this field, we introduce the potential impact of the corona for NM-microbiome-(human)host interactions and the novel concept of 'nanologicals', i.e., the nanomaterial-specific targeting of molecular machines. We conclude by discussing the relevant challenges that still need to be resolved in this field.

Modelling of Lunar Dust and Electrical Field for Future Lunar Surface Measurements

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Yunlong

Modelling of the lunar dust and electrical field is important to future human and robotic activities on the surface of the moon. Apollo astronauts had witnessed the maintaining of micron- and millimeter sized moon dust up to meters level while walked on the surface of the moon. The characterizations of the moon dust would enhance not only the scientific understanding of the history of the moon but also the future technology development for the surface operations on the moon. It has been proposed that the maintaining and/or settlement of the small-sized dry dust are related to the size and weight of the dust particles, the level of the surface electrical fields on the moon, and the impaction and interaction between lunar regolith and the solar particles. The moon dust distributions and settlements obviously affected the safety of long term operations of future lunar facilities. For the modelling of the lunar dust and the electrical field, we analyzed the imaging of the legs of the moon lander, the cover and the footwear of the space suits, and the envelope of the lunar mobiles, and estimated the size and charges associated with the small moon dust particles, the gravity and charging effects to them along with the lunar surface environment. We also did numerical simulation of the surface electrical fields due to the impaction of the solar winds in several conditions. The results showed that the maintaining of meters height of the micron size of moon dust is well related to the electrical field and the solar angle variations, as expected. These results could be verified and validated through future on site and/or remote sensing measurements and observations of the moon dust and the surface electrical field.

Comparison of nonflare solar soft x ray flux with 10.7-cm radio flux

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Donnelly, R.F.

1982-01-01

The similarities and differences of the nonflare solar 1- to 8-A X ray flux and the daily 10.7-cm Ottawa solar radio flux are examined. The radio flux is shown to be much less sensitive than the soft X ray flux on the average to the coronal emission of active regions located near or beyond the solar chromospheric limb relative to regions near the center of the solar disk. This is caused by the solar soft X ray emission's being optically thin while much of the 10.7-cm active region emission is from optical depths of tauapprox.1. The radio flux includes a large quiet sun flux which is emitted mostly from the tenuous chromosphere-corona transition region (Tapprox.10 4 --10 6 0 K) and partly from the cooler portions of the quiet corona Tapprox.1.5 x 10 6 0 K. Conversely, the solar soft X ray flux has a very small quiet sun component

A new perspective on solar active regions

Science.gov (United States)

Strong, K. T.; Bruner, M. E.

1996-01-01

A flood of new observations of the solar corona have been made with high spatial resolution, good temporal coverage and resolution, and large linear dynamic range by the Soft X-ray Telescope (SXT) on Yohkoh. These data are changing our fundamental understanding of how solar magnetic fields emerge, interact, and dissipate. This paper reviews some of the results from Yohkoh in the context of earlier results from the Solar Maximum Mission (SMM) and in comjunction with ground-based optical and radio observations.

Solar maximum mission: Ground support programs at the Harvard Radio Astronomy Station

Science.gov (United States)

Maxwell, A.

1983-01-01

Observations of the spectral characteristics of solar radio bursts were made with new dynamic spectrum analyzers of high sensitivity and high reliability, over the frequency range 25-580 MHz. The observations also covered the maximum period of the current solar cycle and the period of international cooperative programs designated as the Solar Maximum Year. Radio data on shock waves generated by solar flares were combined with optical data on coronal transients, taken with equipment on the SMM and other satellites, and then incorporated into computer models for the outward passage of fast-mode MHD shocks through the solar corona. The MHD models are non-linear, time-dependent and for the most recent models, quasi-three-dimensional. They examine the global response of the corona for different types of input pulses (thermal, magnetic, etc.) and for different magnetic topologies (for example, open and closed fields). Data on coronal shocks and high-velocity material ejected from solar flares have been interpreted in terms of a model consisting of three main velocity regimes.

Laboratory investigation of antenna signals from dust impacts on spacecraft

Science.gov (United States)

Sternovsky, Zoltan; Collette, Andrew; Malaspina, David M.; Thayer, Frederick

2016-04-01

Electric field and plasma wave instruments act as dust detectors picking up voltage pulses induced by impacts of particulates on the spacecraft body. These signals enable the characterization of cosmic dust environments even with missions without dedicated dust instruments. For example, the Voyager 1 and 2 spacecraft performed the first detection of dust particles near Uranus, Neptune, and in the outer solar system [Gurnett et al., 1987, 1991, 1997]. The two STEREO spacecraft observed distinct signals at high rate that were interpreted as nano-sized particles originating from near the Sun and accelerated to high velocities by the solar wind [MeyerVernet et al, 2009a, Zaslavsky et al., 2012]. The MAVEN spacecraft is using the antennas onboard to characterize the dust environment of Mars [Andersson et al., 2014] and Solar Probe Plus will do the same in the inner heliosphere. The challenge, however, is the correct interpretation of the impact signals and calculating the mass of the dust particles. The uncertainties result from the incomplete understanding of the signal pickup mechanisms, and the variation of the signal amplitude with impact location, the ambient plasma environment, and impact speed. A comprehensive laboratory study of impact generated antenna signals has been performed recently using the IMPACT dust accelerator facility operated at the University of Colorado. Dust particles of micron and submicron sizes with velocities of tens of km/s are generated using a 3 MV electrostatic analyzer. A scaled down model spacecraft is exposed to the dust impacts and one or more antennas, connected to sensitive electronics, are used to detect the impact signals. The measurements showed that there are three clearly distinct signal pickup mechanisms due to spacecraft charging, antenna charging and antenna pickup sensing space charge from the expanding plasma cloud. All mechanisms vary with the spacecraft and antenna bias voltages and, furthermore, the latter two

The COronal Solar Magnetism Observatory (COSMO) Large Aperture Coronagraph

Science.gov (United States)

Tomczyk, Steve; Gallagher, Dennis; Wu, Zhen; Zhang, Haiying; Nelson, Pete; Burkepile, Joan; Kolinksi, Don; Sutherland, Lee

2013-04-01

The COSMO is a facility dedicated to observing coronal and chromospheric magnetic fields. It will be located on a mountaintop in the Hawaiian Islands and will replace the current Mauna Loa Solar Observatory (MLSO). COSMO will provide unique observations of the global coronal magnetic fields and its environment to enhance the value of data collected by other observatories on the ground (e.g. SOLIS, BBO NST, Gregor, ATST, EST, Chinese Giant Solar Telescope, NLST, FASR) and in space (e.g. SDO, Hinode, SOHO, GOES, STEREO, Solar-C, Solar Probe+, Solar Orbiter). COSMO will employ a fleet of instruments to cover many aspects of measuring magnetic fields in the solar atmosphere. The dynamics and energy flow in the corona are dominated by magnetic fields. To understand the formation of CMEs, their relation to other forms of solar activity, and their progression out into the solar wind requires measurements of coronal magnetic fields. The large aperture coronagraph, the Chromospheric and Prominence Magnetometer and the K-Coronagraph form the COSMO instrument suite to measure magnetic fields and the polarization brightness of the low corona used to infer electron density. The large aperture coronagraph will employ a 1.5 meter fuse silica singlet lens, birefringent filters, and a spectropolarimeter to cover fields of view of up to 1 degree. It will observe the corona over a wide range of emission lines from 530.3 nm through 1083.0 nm allowing for magnetic field measurements over a wide range of coronal temperatures (e.g. FeXIV at 530.3 nm, Fe X at 637.4 nm, Fe XIII at 1074.7 and 1079.8 nm. These lines are faint and require the very large aperture. NCAR and NSF have provided funding to bring the large aperture coronagraph to a preliminary design review state by the end of 2013. As with all data from Mauna Loa, the data products from COSMO will be available to the community via the Mauna Loa website: http://mlso.hao.ucar.edu

IMAGING COMET ISON C/2012 S1 IN THE INNER CORONA AT PERIHELION

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Druckmüller, Miloslav [Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Brno University of Technology, 616 69 Brno (Czech Republic); Habbal, Shadia Rifai [Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii, Honolulu 96822, Hawaii (United States); Aniol, Peter [ASTELCO Systems GmbH, D-82152 Martinsried (Germany); Ding, Adalbert [Institute of Optics and Atomic Physics, Technische Universitaet Berlin, and Institute of Technical Physics, Berlin (Germany); Morgan, Huw [Institute of Mathematics, Physics and Computer Science, Aberystwyth University, Ceredigion, Cymru SY23 3BZ (United Kingdom)

2014-04-01

Much anticipation and speculation were building around comet ISON, or C/2012 S1, discovered on 2012 September 21 by the International Scientific Optical Network telescope in Russia, and bound for the Sun on 2013 November 28, with a closest heliocentric approach distance of 2.7 R {sub ☉}. Here we present the first white light image of the comet's trail through the inner corona. The image was taken with a wide field Lyot-type coronagraph from the Mees Observatory on Haleakala at 19:12 UT, past its perihelion passage at 18:45 UT. The perfect match between the comet's trail captured in the inner corona and the trail that had persisted across the field of view of 2-6 R {sub ☉} of the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory Large Angle and Spectrometric Coronagraph Experiment/C2 coronagraph at 19:12 UT demonstrates that the comet survived its perihelion passage.

Solar Magnetism eXplorer (Solme X)

Science.gov (United States)

Peter, Hardi; Abbo, L.; Andretta, V.; Auchere, F.; Bemporad, A.; Berrilli, F.; Bommier, V.; Cassini, R.; Curdt, W.; Davila, J.;

Frontiers in In-Situ Cosmic Dust Detection and Analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sternovsky, Zoltan; Auer, Siegfried; Drake, Keith; Gruen, Eberhard; Horanyi, Mihaly; Le, Huy; Xie Jianfeng; Srama, Ralf

2011-01-01

In-situ cosmic dust instruments and measurements played a critical role in the emergence of the field of dusty plasmas. The major breakthroughs included the discovery of β-meteoroids, interstellar dust particles within the solar system, Jovian stream particles, and the detection and analysis of Enceladus's plumes. The science goals of cosmic dust research require the measurements of the charge, the spatial, size and velocity distributions, and the chemical and isotopic compositions of individual dust particles. In-situ dust instrument technology has improved significantly in the last decade. Modern dust instruments with high sensitivity can detect submicron-sized particles even at low impact velocities. Innovative ion optics methods deliver high mass resolution, m/dm>100, for chemical and isotopic analysis. The accurate trajectory measurement of cosmic dust is made possible even for submicron-sized grains using the Dust Trajectory Sensor (DTS). This article is a brief review of the current capabilities of modern dust instruments, future challenges and opportunities in cosmic dust research.

DASCH ON KU Cyg: A ∼ 5 YEAR DUST ACCRETION EVENT IN ∼ 1900

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tang Sumin; Grindlay, Jonathan; Los, Edward; Servillat, Mathieu

2011-01-01

KU Cyg is an eclipsing binary consisting of an F-type star accreting through a large accretion disk from a K5III red giant. Here we present the discovery of a 5 year dip around 1900 found from its 100 year DASCH light curve. It showed a ∼0.5 mag slow fading from 1899 to 1903 and brightened back around 1904 on a relatively shorter timescale. The light curve shape of the 1899-1904 fading-brightening event differs from the dust production and dispersion process observed in R Coronae Borealis stars, which usually has a faster fading and slower recovery, and for KU Cyg is probably related to the accretion disk surrounding the F star. The slow fading in KU Cyg is probably caused by increases in dust extinction in the disk, and the subsequent quick brightening may be due to the evaporation of dust transported inward through the disk. The extinction excess which caused the fading may arise from increased mass transfer rate in the system or from dust clump ejections from the K giant.

Dust particles investigation for future Russian lunar missions.

Science.gov (United States)

Dolnikov, Gennady; Horanyi, Mihaly; Esposito, Francesca; Zakharov, Alexander; Popel, Sergey; Afonin, Valeri; Borisov, Nikolay; Seran, Elena; Godefroy, Michel; Shashkova, Inna; Kuznetsov, Ilya; Lyash, Andrey; Vorobyova, Elena; Petrov, Oleg; Lisin, Evgeny

One of the complicating factors of the future robotic and human lunar landing missions is the influence of the dust. Meteorites bombardment has accompanied by shock-explosive phenomena, disintegration and mix of the lunar soil in depth and on area simultaneously. As a consequence, the lunar soil has undergone melting, physical and chemical transformations. Recently we have the some reemergence for interest of Moon investigation. The prospects in current century declare USA, China, India, and European Union. In Russia also prepare two missions: Luna-Glob and Luna-Resource. Not last part of investigation of Moon surface is reviewing the dust condition near the ground of landers. Studying the properties of lunar dust is important both for scientific purposes to investigation the lunar exosphere component and for the technical safety of lunar robotic and manned missions. The absence of an atmosphere on the Moon's surface is leading to greater compaction and sintering. Properties of regolith and dust particles (density, temperature, composition, etc.) as well as near-surface lunar exosphere depend on solar activity, lunar local time and position of the Moon relative to the Earth's magneto tail. Upper layers of regolith are an insulator, which is charging as a result of solar UV radiation and the constant bombardment of charged particles, creates a charge distribution on the surface of the moon: positive on the illuminated side and negative on the night side. Charge distribution depends on the local lunar time, latitude and the electrical properties of the regolith (the presence of water in the regolith can influence the local distribution of charge). On light side of Moon near surface layer there exists possibility formation dusty plasma system. Altitude of levitation is depending from size of dust particle and Moon latitude. The distribution dust particle by size and altitude has estimated with taking into account photoelectrons, electrons and ions of solar wind, solar

Measurements of Lunar Dust Charging Properties by Electron Impact

Science.gov (United States)

Abbas, Mian M.; Tankosic, Dragana; Craven, Paul D.; Schneider, Todd A.; Vaughn, Jason A.; LeClair, Andre; Spann, James F.; Norwood, Joseph K.

2009-01-01

Dust grains in the lunar environment are believed to be electrostatically charged predominantly by photoelectric emissions resulting from solar UV radiation on the dayside, and on the nightside by interaction with electrons in the solar wind plasma. In the high vacuum environment on the lunar surface with virtually no atmosphere, the positive and negative charge states of micron/submicron dust grains lead to some unusual physical and dynamical dust phenomena. Knowledge of the electrostatic charging properties of dust grains in the lunar environment is required for addressing their hazardous effect on the humans and mechanical systems. It is well recognized that the charging properties of individual small micron size dust grains are substantially different from the measurements on bulk materials. In this paper we present the results of measurements on charging of individual Apollo 11 and Apollo 17 dust grains by exposing them to mono-energetic electron beams in the 10-100 eV energy range. The charging/discharging rates of positively and negatively charged particles of approx. 0.1 to 5 micron radii are discussed in terms of the sticking efficiencies and secondary electron yields. The secondary electron emission process is found to be a complex and effective charging/discharging mechanism for incident electron energies as low as 10-25 eV, with a strong dependence on particle size. Implications of the laboratory measurements on the nature of dust grain charging in the lunar environment are discussed.

TRAJECTORIES AND DISTRIBUTION OF INTERSTELLAR DUST GRAINS IN THE HELIOSPHERE

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Slavin, Jonathan D.; Frisch, Priscilla C.; Müller, Hans-Reinhard; Heerikhuisen, Jacob; Pogorelov, Nikolai V.; Reach, William T.; Zank, Gary

2012-01-01

The solar wind carves a bubble in the surrounding interstellar medium (ISM) known as the heliosphere. Charged interstellar dust grains (ISDG) encountering the heliosphere may be diverted around the heliopause or penetrate it depending on their charge-to-mass ratio. We present new calculations of trajectories of ISDG in the heliosphere, and the dust density distributions that result. We include up-to-date grain charging calculations using a realistic UV radiation field and full three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic fluid + kinetic models for the heliosphere. Models with two different (constant) polarities for the solar wind magnetic field (SWMF) are used, with the grain trajectory calculations done separately for each polarity. Small grains a gr ∼ gr ∼> 1.0 μm, pass into the inner solar system and are concentrated near the Sun by its gravity. Trajectories of intermediate size grains depend strongly on the SWMF polarity. When the field has magnetic north pointing to ecliptic north, the field de-focuses the grains resulting in low densities in the inner heliosphere, while for the opposite polarity the dust is focused near the Sun. The ISDG density outside the heliosphere inferred from applying the model results to in situ dust measurements is inconsistent with local ISM depletion data for both SWMF polarities but is bracketed by them. This result points to the need to include the time variation in the SWMF polarity during grain propagation. Our results provide valuable insights for interpretation of the in situ dust observations from Ulysses.

Modeling of Trichel pulses in negative corona

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Napartovich, A.P.; Akishev, Yu. S.; Deryugin, A.A.; Kochetov, I.V.; Pan'kin, M.V.; Trushkin, N.I.

1998-01-01

Results are reported of detailed numerical studies of Trichel pulse formation for dry air in short-gap coronas. Continuity equations for electrons, positive and negative ions, and the Poisson equation averaged over the current cross section were solved numerically with appropriate boundary conditions. The results of numerical simulation make it possible to analyze in detail the trailing edge of the Trichel pulse and the inter-pulse pause determining the period between pulses. In particular, the variations of the total number of negative ions in the corona spacing occurring under typical conditions of a pulsating corona, proved to be quite insignificant. A comparison with experiments demonstrated a reasonable agreement both for the shape of the pulse and for the average characteristics of the negative corona. (J.U.)

Pulsed Corona Discharge Generated By Marx Generator

Science.gov (United States)

Sretenovic, G. B.; Obradovic, B. M.; Kovacevic, V. V.; Kuraica, M. M.; Puric J.

2010-07-01

The pulsed plasma has a significant role in new environmental protection technologies. As a part of a pulsed corona system for pollution control applications, Marx type repetitive pulse generator was constructed and tested in arrangement with wire-plate corona reactor. We performed electrical measurements, and obtained voltage and current signals, and also power and energy delivered per pulse. Ozone formation by streamer plasma in air was chosen to monitor chemical activity of the pulsed corona discharge.

Spectrophotometry of Dust in Comet Hale-Bopp

Science.gov (United States)

Witteborn, Fred C. (Technical Monitor)

1997-01-01

Comets, such as Hale-Bopp (C/1995 O1), are frozen reservoirs of primitive solar nebula dust grains and ices. Analysis of the composition of cometary dust grains from infrared spectroscopic techniques permits an estimation of the types of organic and inorganic materials that constituted the early primitive solar nebula. In addition, the cometary bombardment of the Earth (approximately 3.5 Gy ago) supplied the water for the oceans and brought organic materials to Earth which may have been biogenic. Spectroscopic observations of comet Hale-Bopp suggest the possible presence of organic hydrocarbon species, silicate and olivine dust grains, and water ice. Spectroscopy near 3 microns obtained in Nov 1996 r=2.393 AU, delta=3.034 AU) shows a feature which we attribute to PAH emission. The spatial morphology of the 3.28 microns PAH feature is also presented. Optical and infrared spectrophotometric observations of comets convey valuable information about the spatial distribution and properties of dust and gas within the inner coma. In the optical and NIR shortward of 2 microns, the observed light is primarily scattered sunlight from the dust grains. At longer wavelengths, particularly in the 10 gm window, thermal emission from these grains dominates the radiation allowing an accurate estimate of grain sizes and chemical composition. Here we present an initial analysis of spectra taken with the NASA HIFOGS at 7-14 microns as part of a multiwavelength temporal study of the "comet of the century".

mxCSM: A 100-slit, 6-Wavelength Wide-Field Coronal Spectropolarimeter for the Study of the Dynamics and the Magnetic Fields of the Solar Corona

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lin, Haosheng, E-mail: lin@ifa.hawaii.edu [Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii, Pukalani, HI (United States)

2016-03-30

Tremendous progress has been made in the field of observational coronal magnetometry in the first decade of the Twenty-First century. With the successful construction of the Coronal Multichannel Magnetometer (CoMP) instrument, observations of the linear polarization of the coronal emission lines (CELs), which carry information about the azimuthal direction of the coronal magnetic fields, are now routinely available. However, reliable and regular measurements of the circular polarization signals of the CELs remain illusive. The CEL circular polarization signals allow us to infer the magnetic field strength in the corona, and is critically important for our understanding of the solar corona. Current telescopes and instrument can only measure the coronal magnetic field strength over a small field of view. Furthermore, the observations require very long integration time that preclude the study of dynamic events even when only a small field of view is required. This paper describes a new instrument concept that employs large-scale multiplexing technology to enhance the efficiency of current coronal spectropolarimeter by more than two orders of magnitude. This will allow for the instrument to increase the integration time at each spatial location by the same factor, while also achieving a large field of view coverage. We will present the conceptual design of a 100-slit coronal spectropolarimeter that can observe six CELs simultaneously. Instruments based on this concept will allow us to study the evolution of the coronal magnetic field even with coronagraphs with modest aperture.

New Observations of Soft X-ray (0.5-5 keV) Solar Spectra

Science.gov (United States)

Caspi, A.; Woods, T. N.; Mason, J. P.; Jones, A. R.; Warren, H. P.

2013-12-01

The solar corona is the brightest source of X-rays in the solar system, and the X-ray emission is highly variable on many time scales. However, the actual solar soft X-ray (SXR) (0.5-5 keV) spectrum is not well known, particularly during solar quiet periods, as, with few exceptions, this energy range has not been systematically studied in many years. Previous observations include high-resolution but very narrow-band spectra from crystal spectrometers (e.g., Yohkoh/BCS), or integrated broadband irradiances from photometers (e.g., GOES/XRS, TIMED/XPS, etc.) that lack detailed spectral information. In recent years, broadband measurements with moderate energy resolution (~0.5-0.7 keV FWHM) were made by SphinX on CORONAS-Photon and SAX on MESSENGER, although they did not extend to energies below ~1 keV. We present observations of solar SXR emission obtained using new instrumentation flown on recent SDO/EVE calibration rocket underflights. The photon-counting spectrometer, a commercial Amptek X123 with a silicon drift detector and an 8 μm Be window, measures the solar disk-integrated SXR emission from ~0.5 to >10 keV with ~0.15 keV FWHM resolution and 1 s cadence. A novel imager, a pinhole X-ray camera using a cooled frame-transfer CCD (15 μm pixel pitch), Ti/Al/C filter, and 5000 line/mm Au transmission grating, images the full Sun in multiple spectral orders from ~0.1 to ~5 nm with ~10 arcsec/pixel and ~0.01 nm/pixel spatial and spectral detector scales, respectively, and 10 s cadence. These instruments are prototypes for future CubeSat missions currently being developed. We present new results of solar observations on 04 October 2013 (NASA sounding rocket 36.290). We compare with previous results from 23 June 2012 (NASA sounding rocket 36.286), during which solar activity was low and no signal was observed above ~4 keV. We compare our spectral and imaging measurements with spectra and broadband irradiances from other instruments, including SDO/EVE, GOES/XRS, TIMED

Corona Associations and Their Implications for Venus

Science.gov (United States)

Chapman, M.G.; Zimbelman, J.R.

1998-01-01

Geologic mapping principles were applied to determine genetic relations between coronae and surrounding geomorphologic features within two study areas in order to better understand venusian coronae. The study areas contain coronae in a cluster versus a contrasting chain and are (1) directly west of Phoebe Regio (quadrangle V-40; centered at latitude 15??S, longitude 250??) and (2) west of Asteria and Beta Regiones (between latitude 23??N, longitude 239?? and latitude 43??N, longitude 275??). Results of this research indicate two groups of coronae on Venus: (1) those that are older and nearly coeval with regional plains, and occur globally; and (2) those that are younger and occur between Beta, Atla, and Themis Regiones or along extensional rifts elsewhere, sometimes showing systematic age progressions. Mapping relations and Earth analogs suggest that older plains coronae may be related to a near-global resurfacing event perhaps initiated by a mantle superplume or plumes. Younger coronae of this study that show age progression may be related to (1) a tectonic junction of connecting rifts resulting from local mantle upwelling and spread of a quasi-stationary hotspot plume, and (2) localized spread of post-plains volcanism. We postulate that on Venus most of the young, post-resurfacing coronal plumes may be concentrated within an area defined by the bounds of Beta, Atla, and Themis Regiones. ?? 1998 Academic Press.

Analysis of "Midnight" Tracks in the Stardust Interstellar Dust Collector: Possible Discovery of a Contemporary Interstellar Dust Grain

Science.gov (United States)

Westphal, A. J.; Allen, C.; Bajit, S.; Bastien, R.; Bechtel, H.; Bleuet, P.; Borg, J.; Brenker, F.; Bridges, J.; Brownlee, D. E.;

How MIDAS improved our understanding of micrometre-sized cometary dust

Science.gov (United States)

Mannel, T.; Bentley, M. S.; Boakes, P.; Jeszenszky, H.; Levasseur-Regourd, A. C.; Schmied, R.; Torkar, K.

2017-09-01

The MIDAS atomic force microscope on the Rosetta orbiter was an instrument developed to investigate, for the first time, the morphology of nearly unaltered cometary dust. It acquired the 3D topography of about 1 - 50 µm sized dust particles with resolutions down to a few nanometres. These images showed the agglomerate character of the dust and confirmed that the smallest subunit sizes were less than 100 nm. MIDAS acquired the first direct proof of a fractal dust particle, opening a new approach to investigate the history of our early Solar System and of comets.

Laboratory Measurements of Optical and Physical Properties of Individual Lunar Dust Grains

Science.gov (United States)

Abbas, M. M.; Tankosic, D.; Craven, P. D.; Hoover, R. B.

2006-01-01

The lunar surface is covered with a thick layer of sub-micron/micron size dust grains formed by meteoritic impact over billions of years. The fine dust grains are levitated and transported on the lunar surface, and transient dust clouds over the lunar horizon were observed by experiments during the Apollo 17 mission. Theoretical models suggest that the dust grains on the lunar surface are charged by the solar UV radiation as well as the solar wind. Even without any physical activity, the dust grains are levitated by electrostatic fields and transported away from the surface in the near vacuum environment of the Moon. The current dust charging and levitation models, however, do not fully explain the observed phenomena. Since the abundance of dust on the Moon's surface with its observed adhesive characteristics has the potential of severe impact on human habitat and operations and lifetime of a variety of equipment, it is necessary to investigate the charging properties and the lunar dust phenomena in order to develop appropriate mitigating strategies. Photoelectric emission induced by the solar UV radiation with photon energies higher than the work function of the grain materials is recognized to be the dominant process for charging of the lunar dust, and requires measurements of the photoelectric yields to determine the charging and equilibrium potentials of individual dust grains. In this paper, we present the first laboratory measurements of the photoelectric yields of individual sub-micron/micron size dust grains selected from sample returns of Apollo 17, and Luna 24 missions, as well as similar size dust grains from the JSC-1 simulants. The experimental results were obtained on a laboratory facility based on an electrodynamic balance that permits a variety of experiments to be conducted on individual sub-micron/micron size dust grains in simulated space environments. The photoelectric emission measurements indicate grain size dependence with the yield

Evolution of CME Mass in the Corona

Science.gov (United States)

Howard, Russell A.; Vourlidas, Angelos

2018-04-01

The idea that coronal mass ejections (CMEs) pile up mass in their transport through the corona and heliosphere is widely accepted. However, it has not been shown that this is the case. We perform an initial study of the volume electron density of the fronts of 13 three-part CMEs with well-defined frontal boundaries observed with the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory/ Large Angle and Spectrometric COronagraph (SOHO/LASCO) white-light coronagraphs. We find that, in all cases, the volume electron density decreases as the CMEs travel through the LASCO-C2 and -C3 fields of view, from 2.6 - 30 R_{⊙}. The density decrease follows closely a power law with an exponent of -3, which is consistent with a simple radial expansion. This indicates that in this height regime there is no observed pile-up.

Understanding Solar Cycle Variability

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cameron, R. H.; Schüssler, M., E-mail: cameron@mps.mpg.de [Max-Planck-Institut für Sonnensystemforschung, Justus-von-Liebig-Weg 3, D-37077 Göttingen (Germany)

2017-07-10

The level of solar magnetic activity, as exemplified by the number of sunspots and by energetic events in the corona, varies on a wide range of timescales. Most prominent is the 11-year solar cycle, which is significantly modulated on longer timescales. Drawing from dynamo theory, together with the empirical results of past solar activity and similar phenomena for solar-like stars, we show that the variability of the solar cycle can be essentially understood in terms of a weakly nonlinear limit cycle affected by random noise. In contrast to ad hoc “toy models” for the solar cycle, this leads to a generic normal-form model, whose parameters are all constrained by observations. The model reproduces the characteristics of the variable solar activity on timescales between decades and millennia, including the occurrence and statistics of extended periods of very low activity (grand minima). Comparison with results obtained with a Babcock–Leighton-type dynamo model confirm the validity of the normal-mode approach.

DYNAMICS OF A PROMINENCE-HORN STRUCTURE DURING ITS EVAPORATION IN THE SOLAR CORONA

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wang, Bing; Chen, Yao; Fu, Jie; Li, Bo [Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Optical Astronomy and Solar-Terrestrial Environment, and Institute of Space Sciences, Shandong University, Weihai 264209 (China); Li, Xing [Department of Physics, Aberystwyth University, Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, SY23 3BZ (United Kingdom); Liu, Wei, E-mail: yaochen@sdu.edu.cn [Stanford-Lockheed Institute for Space Research, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305 (United States)

2016-08-20

The physical connections among and formation mechanisms of various components of the prominence-horn cavity system remain elusive. Here we present observations of such a system, focusing on a section of the prominence that rises and separates gradually from the main body. This forms a configuration sufficiently simple to yield clues regarding the above issues. It is characterized by embedding horns, oscillations, and a gradual disappearance of the separated material. The prominence-horn structure exhibits a large-amplitude longitudinal oscillation with a period of ∼150 minutes and an amplitude of ∼30 Mm along the trajectory defined by the concave horn structure. The horns also experience a simultaneous transverse oscillation with a much smaller amplitude (∼3 Mm) and a shorter period (∼10–15 minutes), likely representative of a global mode of the large-scale magnetic structure. The gradual disappearance of the structure indicates that the horn, an observational manifestation of the field-aligned transition region separating the cool and dense prominence from the hot and tenuous corona, is formed due to the heating and diluting process of the central prominence mass; most previous studies suggested that it is the opposite process, i.e., the cooling and condensation of coronal plasmas, that formed the horn. This study also demonstrates how the prominence transports magnetic flux to the upper corona, a process essential for the gradual build-up of pre-eruption magnetic energy.

Restoration and Reexamination of Apollo Lunar Dust Detector Data from Original Telemetry Files

Science.gov (United States)

McBride, M. J.; Williams, David R.; Hills, H. Kent

2012-01-01

We are recovering the original telemetry (Figure I) from the Apollo Dust, Thermal, Radiation Environment Monitor (DTREM) experiment, more commonly known as the Dust Detector, and producing full time resolution (54 second) data sets for release through the Planetary Data System (PDS). The primary objective of the experiment was to evaluate the effect of dust deposition, temperature, and radiation damage on solar cells on the lunar surface. The monitor was a small box consisting of three solar cells and thermistors mounted on the ALSEP (Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package) central station. The Dust Detector was carried on Apollo's 11, 12, 14 and 15. The Apollo 11 DTREM was powered by solar cells and only operated for a few months as planned. The Apollo 12, 14, and 15 detectors operated for 5 to 7 years, returning data every 54 seconds, consisting of voltage outputs from the three solar cells and temperatures measured by the three thermistors. The telemetry was received at ground stations and held on the Apollo Housekeeping (known as "Word 33") tapes. made available to the National Space Science Data Center (NSSDC) by Yosio Nakamura (University of Texas Institute for Geophysics). We have converted selected parts of the telemetry into uncalibrated and calibrated output voltages and temperatures.

The Yohkoh mission for high-energy solar physics

Science.gov (United States)

Acton, L.; Tsuneta, S.; Ogawara, Y.; Bentley, R.; Bruner, M.; Canfield, R.; Culhane, L.; Doschek, G.; Hiei, E.; Hirayama, T.

1992-01-01

Data on solar flare mechanisms and the sun's corona will be generated by Japan's Yohkoh satellite's X-ray imaging sensors and X-ray and gamma-ray spectrometers. It is noted that the X-ray corona above active regions expands, in some cases almost continually, in contradiction of the widely accepted model of magnetohydrostatic equilibrium in such regions. Flaring X-ray bright points have been discovered to often involve ejecta into an adjacent, much larger and fainter magnetic loop, which brightens along its length at speeds up to 1000 km/sec.

Dust Removal Technology Demonstration for a Lunar Habitat

Science.gov (United States)

Calle, C. I.; Chen, A.; Immer, C. D.; Csonka, M.; Hogue, M. D.; Snyder, S. J.; Rogriquez, M.; Margiotta, D. V.

2010-01-01

We have developed an Electrodynamic Dust Shield (EDS), an active dust mitigation technology with applications to solar panels, thermal radiators, optical systems, visors, seals and connectors. This active technology is capable of removing dust and granular material with diameters as large as several hundred microns. In this paper, we report on the development of three types of EDS systems for NASA's Habitat Demonstration Unit (HDU). A transparent EDS 20 cm in diameter with indium tin oxide electrodes on a 0.1 mm-thick polyethylene terephtalate (PET) film was constructed for viewport dust protection. Two opaque EDS systems with copper electrodes on 0.1 mm-thick Kapton were also built to demonstrate dust removal on the doors of the HDU. A lotus coating that minimizes dust adhesion was added to one of the last two EDS systems to demonstrate the effectiveness of the combined systems.

Pulsed corona demonstrator for semi-industrial scale air purification

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Beckers, F.J.C.M.; Hoeben, W.F.L.M.; Huiskamp, T.; Pemen, A.J.M.; Heesch, van E.J.M.

2013-01-01

Although pulsed corona technology for air purification is widely investigated by the lab experiments, large-scale application has yet to be proven. Industrial systems require large flow handling and thus, high corona power. An autonomous semi-industrial scale pilot wire-cylinder type corona reactor

Revealing the structure and dust content of debris disks on solar systems scales with GPI

Science.gov (United States)

Duchene, Gaspard; Fitzgerald, Michael P.; Kalas, Paul; Graham, James R.; Arriaga, Pauline; Bruzzone, Sebastian; Chen, Christine; Dawson, Rebekah Ilene; Dong, Ruobing; Draper, Zachary; Esposito, Thomas; Follette, Katherine; Hung, Li-Wei; Lawler, Samantha; Metchev, Stanimir; Millar-Blanchaer, Max; Murray-Clay, Ruth; Perrin, Marshall D.; Rameau, Julien; Wang, Jason; Wolff, Schuyler; Macintosh, Bruce; GPIES Team

2016-01-01

High contrast scattered light images offer the best prospect to assess the detailed geometry and structure of dusty debris disks. In turn, such images can yield profound insight on the architecture of the underlying planetary system as dust grains respond to the gravitational pull of planetary bodies. A new generation of extreme adaptive optics systems now enables an unprecedented exploration of circumstellar disks on solar system scales. Here we review the new science derived from over a dozen debris disks imaged with the Gemini Planet Imager (GPI) as part of the GPI Exoplanet Survey (GPIES). In addition to its exquisite imaging capability, GPI's polarimetric mode provides invaluable insight on the dust content of each disk, in most cases for the very first time. These early results typically reveal narrow belts of material with evacuated regions roughly 50-100 AU in radius, subtle asymmetries in structure and high degree of linear polarization. We will provide an overview of the disk observations made during the GPIES campaign to date and will discuss in more detail some of the most remarkable systems.This work is supported by grants NSF AST-0909188, -1411868, -1413718; NASA NNX-15AD95G, -14AJ80G, -11AD21G; and the NExSS research network.

SIMULATIONS OF THE KELVIN–HELMHOLTZ INSTABILITY DRIVEN BY CORONAL MASS EJECTIONS IN THE TURBULENT CORONA

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gómez, Daniel O.; DeLuca, Edward E. [Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden St, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States); Mininni, Pablo D. [Departamento de Física, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires and Instituto de Física de Buenos Aires, Ciudad Universitaria, 1428 Buenos Aires (Argentina)

2016-02-20

Recent high-resolution Atmospheric Imaging Assembly/Solar Dynamics Observatory images show evidence of the development of the Kelvin–Helmholtz (KH) instability, as coronal mass ejections (CMEs) expand in the ambient corona. A large-scale magnetic field mostly tangential to the interface is inferred, both on the CME and on the background sides. However, the magnetic field component along the shear flow is not strong enough to quench the instability. There is also observational evidence that the ambient corona is in a turbulent regime, and therefore the criteria for the development of the instability are a priori expected to differ from the laminar case. To study the evolution of the KH instability with a turbulent background, we perform three-dimensional simulations of the incompressible magnetohydrodynamic equations. The instability is driven by a velocity profile tangential to the CME–corona interface, which we simulate through a hyperbolic tangent profile. The turbulent background is generated by the application of a stationary stirring force. We compute the instability growth rate for different values of the turbulence intensity, and find that the role of turbulence is to attenuate the growth. The fact that KH instability is observed sets an upper limit on the correlation length of the coronal background turbulence.

The Interstellar Gas Dust Streams and Seeds of Life

Science.gov (United States)

Oleg, Khavroshkin; Vladislav, Tsyplakov

Gas dust Streams from Double Stars & Lunar Seismicity. The time series of seismic events were generated as follows: on the ordinate axis the peak amplitudes of events in standard units, on abscissa axis - seismogram durations of the same moonquakes and subsequent time intervals between them were used. Spectrum of the series disclosed time picks on hidden cosmological periodicities of lunar seismicity. A part of results (picks) presents orbital periods of double stars nearest to the Solar system. The explanation of that results is existing gas-dust streams from binary stars systems and interacting of it with lunar surface. Information content of the Nakamura`s Catalog of moonquakes is very rich: from solar-earth tides to clustering among the meteoroid streams [1, 2]. The histograms from meteoroid impacts seismic data revealed the seismic wave responses of the Moon to solar oscillations and the action on the lunar surface by dust-gas plasma of meteoroid streams [3]. The time series of seismic events were generated as follows: on an axis of ordinates - the peak amplitudes of events in standard units, on an abscissa - seismogram durations of the same moonquakes and subsequent time intervals between them were put aside [4]. Spectrum of the series of meteoroid streams seismicity disclosed time picks on orbital periods some planets and their satellites and solar oscillations [4, 5]. The research of peculiarities of histogram envelopes [3] and comparative common analysis solar bursts data and mass meteoroid distribution are confirmed [3, 4] and revealed Forbush`s effect for gas-dust plasma [6]. Hidden astrophysical periodicities of lunar seismicity were obtained early from an analysis of time series [7] which were similarity to series [4]. The path of results of [7] is presented in the Table where picks presents orbital periods of double stars nearest to the Solar system. Hypothesis for explanation of the Table results is existing gas-dust streams from binary stars near

Structure and sources of solar wind in the growing phase of 24th solar cycle

Science.gov (United States)

Slemzin, Vladimir; Goryaev, Farid; Shugay, Julia; Rodkin, Denis; Veselovsky, Igor

2015-04-01

We present analysis of the solar wind (SW) structure and its association with coronal sources during the minimum and rising phase of 24th solar cycle (2009-2011). The coronal sources prominent in this period - coronal holes, small areas of open magnetic fields near active regions and transient sources associated with small-scale solar activity have been investigated using EUV solar images and soft X-ray fluxes obtained by the CORONAS-Photon/TESIS/Sphinx, PROBA2/SWAP, Hinode/EIS and AIA/SDO instruments as well as the magnetograms obtained by HMI/SDO. It was found that at solar minimum (2009) velocity and magnetic field strength of high speed wind (HSW) and transient SW from small-scale flares did not differ significantly from those of the background slow speed wind (SSW). The major difference between parameters of different SW components was seen in the ion composition represented by the C6/C5, O7/O6, Fe/O ratios and the mean charge of Fe ions. With growing solar activity, the speed of HSW increased due to transformation of its sources - small-size low-latitude coronal holes into equatorial extensions of large polar holes. At that period, the ion composition of transient SW changed from low-temperature to high-temperature values, which was caused by variation of the source conditions and change of the recombination/ionization rates during passage of the plasma flow through the low corona. However, we conclude that criteria of separation of the SW components based on the ion ratios established earlier by Zhao&Fisk (2009) for higher solar activity are not applicable to the extremely weak beginning of 24th cycle. The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Commission's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under the grant agreement eHeroes (project n° 284461, www.eheroes.eu).

MAXIMIZING MAGNETIC ENERGY STORAGE IN THE SOLAR CORONA

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wolfson, Richard; Drake, Christina; Kennedy, Max

2012-01-01

The energy that drives solar eruptive events such as coronal mass ejections (CMEs) almost certainly originates in coronal magnetic fields. Such energy may build up gradually on timescales of days or longer before its sudden release in an eruptive event, and the presence of free magnetic energy capable of rapid release requires nonpotential magnetic fields and associated electric currents. For magnetic energy to power a CME, that energy must be sufficient to open the magnetic field to interplanetary space, to lift the ejecta against solar gravity, and to accelerate the material to speeds of typically several hundred km s –1 . Although CMEs are large-scale structures, many originate from relatively compact active regions on the solar surface—suggesting that magnetic energy storage may be enhanced when it takes place in smaller magnetic structures. This paper builds on our earlier work exploring energy storage in large-scale dipolar and related bipolar magnetic fields. Here we consider two additional cases: quadrupolar fields and concentrated magnetic bipoles intended to simulate active regions. Our models yield stored energies whose excess over that of the corresponding open field state can be greater than 100% of the associated potential field energy; this contrasts with maximum excess energies of only about 20% for dipolar and symmetric bipolar configurations. As in our previous work, energy storage is enhanced when we surround a nonpotential field with a strong overlying potential field that acts to 'hold down' the nonpotential flux as its magnetic energy increases.

Transition region, coronal heating and the fast solar wind

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Xing

2003-07-01

It is assumed that magnetic flux tubes are strongly concentrated at the boundaries of supergranule convection cells. A power law spectrum of high frequency Alfvén waves with a spectral index -1 originating from the sun is assumed to supply all the energy needed to energize the plasma flowing in such magnetic flux tubes. At the high frequency end, the waves are eroded by ions due to ion cyclotron resonance. The magnetic flux concentration is essential since it allows a sufficiently strong energy flux to be carried by high frequency ion cyclotron waves and these waves can be readily released at the coronal base by cyclotron resonance. The main results are: 1. The waves are capable of creating a steep transition region, a hot corona and a fast solar wind if both the wave frequency is high enough and the magnetic flux concentration is sufficiently strong in the boundaries of the supergranule convection zone. 2. By primarily heating alpha particles only, it is possible to produce a steep transition region, a hot corona and a fast solar wind. Coulomb coupling plays a key role in transferring the thermal energy of alpha particles to protons and electrons at the corona base. The electron thermal conduction then does the remaining job to create a sharp transition region. 3. Plasma species (even ions) may already partially lose thermal equilibrium in the transition region, and minor ions may already be faster than protons at the very base of the corona. 4. The model predicts high temperature alpha particles (Talpha ~ 2 x 107 K) and low proton temperatures (Tp solar radii, suggesting that hydrogen Lyman lines observed by UVCS above coronal holes may be primarily broadened by Alfvén waves in this range.

ICARUS Mission, Next Step of Coronal Exploration after Solar Orbiter and Solar Probe Plus

Science.gov (United States)

Krasnoselskikh, V.; Tsurutani, B.; Velli, M.; Maksimovic, M.; Balikhin, M. A.; Dudok de Wit, T.; Kretzschmar, M.

2017-12-01

The primary scientific goal of ICARUS, a mother-daughter satellite mission, will be to determine how the magnetic field and plasma dynamics in the outer solar atmosphere give rise to the corona, the solar wind and the heliosphere. Reaching this goal will be a Rosetta-stone step, with results broadly applicable in the fields of space plasma and astrophysics. Within ESA's Cosmic Vision roadmap, these goals address Theme 2: How does the solar system work ?" Investigating basic processes occurring from the Sun to the edge of the Solar System". ICARUS will not only advance our understanding of the plasma environment around the Sun, but also of the numerous magnetically active stars with hot plasma coronae. ICARUS I will perform the firstever direct in situ measurements of electromagnetic fields, particle acceleration, wave activity, energy distribution and flows directly in the regions where the solar wind emerges from the coronal plasma. ICARUS I will have a perihelion at 1 Solar radius from its surface, it will cross the region where the major energy deposition occurs. The polar orbit of ICARUS I will enable crossing the regions where both the fast and slow wind are generated. It will probe local characteristics of the plasma and provide unique information about the processes involved in the creation of the solar wind. ICARUS II will observe this region using remote-sensing instruments, providing simultaneous information about regions crossed by ICARUS I and the solar atmosphere below as observed by solar telescopes. It will provide bridges for understanding the magnetic links between heliosphere and solar atmosphere. Such information is crucial to understanding of the physics and electrodynamics of the solar atmosphere. ICARUS II will also play an important relay role, enabling the radio-link with ICARUS I. It will receive, collect and store information transmitted from ICARUS I during its closest approach to the Sun. It will perform preliminary data processing and

TRAJECTORIES AND DISTRIBUTION OF INTERSTELLAR DUST GRAINS IN THE HELIOSPHERE

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Slavin, Jonathan D. [Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, MS 83, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States); Frisch, Priscilla C. [Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Chicago, 5460 S. Ellis Avenue, Chicago, IL 60637 (United States); Mueller, Hans-Reinhard [Department of Physics and Astronomy, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH 03755 (United States); Heerikhuisen, Jacob; Pogorelov, Nikolai V. [Department of Physics and Center for Space Physics and Aeronomic Research, University of Alabama, Huntsville, AL 35899 (United States); Reach, William T. [Universities Space Research Association, MS 211-3, Moffett Field, CA 94035 (United States); Zank, Gary [Department of Physics and Center for Space Plasma and Aeronomic Research, University of Alabama, Huntsville, AL 35805 (United States)

2012-11-20

The solar wind carves a bubble in the surrounding interstellar medium (ISM) known as the heliosphere. Charged interstellar dust grains (ISDG) encountering the heliosphere may be diverted around the heliopause or penetrate it depending on their charge-to-mass ratio. We present new calculations of trajectories of ISDG in the heliosphere, and the dust density distributions that result. We include up-to-date grain charging calculations using a realistic UV radiation field and full three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic fluid + kinetic models for the heliosphere. Models with two different (constant) polarities for the solar wind magnetic field (SWMF) are used, with the grain trajectory calculations done separately for each polarity. Small grains a {sub gr} {approx}< 0.01 {mu}m are completely excluded from the inner heliosphere. Large grains, a {sub gr} {approx}> 1.0 {mu}m, pass into the inner solar system and are concentrated near the Sun by its gravity. Trajectories of intermediate size grains depend strongly on the SWMF polarity. When the field has magnetic north pointing to ecliptic north, the field de-focuses the grains resulting in low densities in the inner heliosphere, while for the opposite polarity the dust is focused near the Sun. The ISDG density outside the heliosphere inferred from applying the model results to in situ dust measurements is inconsistent with local ISM depletion data for both SWMF polarities but is bracketed by them. This result points to the need to include the time variation in the SWMF polarity during grain propagation. Our results provide valuable insights for interpretation of the in situ dust observations from Ulysses.

Solar program of the Research Institute/UPM

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nimmo, B.; Dabbagh, A.; Said, S.

1980-07-01

Projects are described and results presented for three of the solar related activities presently underway: Solar Radiation Monitoring, Effects of Dust Accumulation on Collector Performance, and Salt Gradient Solar Pond Analytical and Experimental Studies. Measurements of total horizontal and direct radiation have been made continuously since May, 1979 and the data are presented in a user oriented format on an hourly basis. These results have been extended by calculation to allow presentation on an hourly basis of diffuse radiation and total radiation on a surface tilted to the local latitude angle. The system is presently being expanded to allow measurement of several additional radiation parameters of interest as well as six meteorological parameters. Some results are presented to show the effects of atmospheric dust on radiation attenuation, as well as the clearness index, anti K/sub T/. Results are also presented for a related study, the impact of surface dust accumulation on the performance of photovoltaic and thermal collectors. Continuous monitoring of the peak watt output of a small photovoltaic panel during a period which included severe dust storms showed a decrease in performance of sixty percent (60%) relative to the clean panel output. Settling of dust on the surface of a solar pond does not, on the other hand, appear to be a problem. The salt gradient solar pond work is proceeding on two fronts: analytical and experimental. Preliminary results are presented for a varying property transient one dimensional computer model currently being used in design studies. Preliminary experimental results are also presented for temperature profiles measured in our small prototype pond.

The Challenge of Incorporating Charged Dust in the Physics of Flowing Plasma Interactions

Science.gov (United States)

Jia, Y.; Russell, C. T.; Ma, Y.; Lai, H.; Jian, L.; Toth, G.

2013-12-01

The presence of two oppositely charged species with very different mass ratios leads to interesting physical processes and difficult numerical simulations. The reconnection problem is a classic example of this principle with a proton-electron mass ratio of 1836, but it is not the only example. Increasingly we are discovering situations in which heavy, electrically charged dust particles are major players in a plasma interaction. The mass of a 1mm dust particle is about 2000 proton masses and of a 10 mm dust particle about 2 million proton masses. One example comes from planetary magnetospheres. Charged dust pervades Enceladus' southern plume. The saturnian magnetospheric plasma flows through this dusty plume interacting with the charged dust and ionized plume gas. Multiple wakes are seen downstream. The flow is diverted in one direction. The field aligned-current systems are elsewhere. How can these two wake features be understood? Next we have an example from the solar wind. When asteroids collide in a disruptive collision, the solar wind strips the nano-scale charged dust from the debris forming a dusty plasma cloud that may be over 106km in extent and containing over 100 million kg of dust accelerated to the solar wind speed. How does this occur, especially as rapidly as it appears to happen? In this paper we illustrate a start on understanding these phenomena using multifluid MHD simulations but these simulations are only part of the answer to this complex problem that needs attention from a broader range of the community.

Solar-system Education for the 2017 Total Solar Eclipse

Science.gov (United States)

Pasachoff, Jay M.

2017-10-01

I describe an extensive outreach program about the Sun, the silhouette of the Moon, and the circumstances both celestial and terrestrial of the August 21, 2017, total solar eclipse. Publications included a summary of the last decade of solar-eclipse research for Nature Astronomy, a Resource Letter on Observing Solar Eclipses for the American Journal of Physics, and book reviews for Nature and for Phi Beta Kappa's Key Reporter. Symposia arranged include sessions at AAS, APS, AGU, and AAAS. Lectures include all ages from pre-school through elementary school to high school to senior-citizen residences. The work, including the scientific research about the solar corona that is not part of this abstract, was supported by grants from the Solar Terrestrial Program of the Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences Division of NSF and from the Committee for Research and Exploration of the National Geographic Society. Additional student support was received from NSF, NASA's Massachusetts Space Grant Consortium, the Honorary Research Society Sigma Xi, the Clare Booth Luce Foundation, and funds at Williams College.

Characteristics of coronal shock waves and solar type 2 radio bursts

Science.gov (United States)

Mann, G.; Classen, H.-T.

1995-01-01

In the solar corona shock waves generated by flares and/or coronal mass ejections can be observed by radio astronomical methods in terms of solar type 2 radio bursts. In dynamic radio spectra they appear as emission stripes slowly drifting from high to low frequencies. A sample of 25 solar type 2 radio bursts observed in the range of 40 - 170 MHz with a time resolution of 0.1 s by the new radiospectrograph of the Astrophvsikalisches Institut Potsdam in Tremsdorf is statistically investigated concerning their spectral features, i.e, drift rate, instantaneous bandwidth, and fundamental harmonic ratio. In-situ plasma wave measurements at interplanetary shocks provide the assumption that type 2 radio radiation is emitted in the vicinity of the transition region of shock waves. Thus, the instantaneous bandwidth of a solar type 2 radio burst would reflect the density jump across the associated shock wave. Comparing the inspection of the Rankine-Hugoniot relations of shock waves under coronal circumstances with those obtained from the observational study, solar type 2 radio bursts should be regarded to be generated by weak supercritical, quasi-parallel, fast magnetosonic shock waves in the corona.

Admittance Survey of Type 1 Coronae on Venus: Implications for Elastic Thickness

Science.gov (United States)

Hoogenboom, T.; Smrekar, S. E.; Anderson, F. S.; Houseman, G.

2003-01-01

Coronae are volcano-tectonic features on Venus which range from 60km to 2600km and are defined by their nearly circular patterns of fractures. Type 1 (regular) coronae are classified as having >50% complete fracture annuli. Previous work has examined the factors controlling the morphology, size, and fracture pattern of coronae, using lithospheric properties, loading signature and geologic characteristics. However, these studies have been limited to Type 2 (topographic) coronae (e.g. coronaes with <50% fracture annuli), and the factors controlling the formation of Type 1 coronae remain poorly understood. In this study, we apply the methodology of to survey the admittance signature for Type 1 coronae to determine the controlling parameters which govern Type 1 coronae formation.

Solar activity and its evolution across the corona: recent advances

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rodriguez Luciano

2013-04-01

Full Text Available Solar magnetism is responsible for the several active phenomena that occur in the solar atmosphere. The consequences of these phenomena on the solar-terrestrial environment and on Space Weather are nowadays clearly recognized, even if not yet fully understood. In order to shed light on the mechanisms that are at the basis of the Space Weather, it is necessary to investigate the sequence of phenomena starting in the solar atmosphere and developing across the outer layers of the Sun and along the path from the Sun to the Earth. This goal can be reached by a combined multi-disciplinary, multi-instrument, multi-wavelength study of these phenomena, starting with the very first manifestation of solar active region formation and evolution, followed by explosive phenomena (i.e., flares, erupting prominences, coronal mass ejections, and ending with the interaction of plasma magnetized clouds expelled from the Sun with the interplanetary magnetic field and medium. This wide field of research constitutes one of the main aims of COST Action ES0803: Developing Space Weather products and services in Europe. In particular, one of the tasks of this COST Action was to investigate the Progress in Scientific Understanding of Space Weather. In this paper we review the state of the art of our comprehension of some phenomena that, in the scenario outlined above, might have a role on Space Weather, focusing on the researches, thematic reviews, and main results obtained during the COST Action ES0803.

Oxygen Isotopes in Chondritic Interplanetary Dust: Parent-Bodies and Nebular Oxygen Reservoirs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aleon, J; McKeegan, K D; Leshin, L

2006-01-01

Planetary objects have preserved various amounts of oxygen issued from isotopically different oxygen reservoirs reflecting their origin and physico-chemical history. An 16 O-rich component is preserved in refractory inclusions (CAIs) whereas meteorites matrices are enriched in an 16 O-poor component. The origin of these components is still unclear. The most recent models are based on isotope selective photodissociation of CO in a 16 O-rich nebula/presolr cloud resulting in a 16 O-poor gas in the outer part of the nebula. However because most meteorite components are thought to be formed in the inner 3AU of the solar nebula, the precise isotopic composition of outer solar system components is yet unknown. In that respect, the oxygen isotopic composition of cometary dust is a key to understand the origin of the solar system. The Stardust mission will bring back to the Earth dust samples from comet Wild2, a short period comet from the Jupiter family. A precise determination of the oxygen isotope composition of Wild2 dust grains is essential to decipher the oxygen reservoirs of the outer solar system. However, Stardust samples may be extremely fragmented upon impact in the collector. In addition, interplanetary dust particles (IDPs) collected in the stratosphere are likely to contain comet samples. Therefore, they started to investigate the oxygen isotopic composition of a suite of chondritic interplanetary dust particles that includes IDPs of potential cometary origin using a refined procedure to increase the lateral resolution for the analysis of Stardust grains or IDP subcomponents down to ∼ 3 (micro)m. High precision data for 4 IDPs were previously reported, here they have measured 6 additional IDPs

Pancam and microscopic imager observations of dust on the Spirit Rovers

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Vaughan....[], Alicia F.; Johnson, Jeffrey R.; Walter, Goetz

2010-01-01

This work describes dust deposits on the Spirit Rover over 2000 sols through examination of Pancam and Microscopic Imager observations of specific locations on the rover body, including portions of the solar array, Pancam and Mini-TES calibration targets, and the magnets. This data set reveals...... the three "cleaning events" experienced by Spirit to date, the spectral properties of dust, and the tendency of dust particles to form aggregates 100 um and larger...

Imaging a Magnetic-breakout Solar Eruption

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Yao; Du, Guohui; Zhao, Di; Wu, Zhao; Liu, Wei; Wang, Bing; Ruan, Guiping; Feng, Shiwei; Song, Hongqiang

2016-04-01

The fundamental mechanism initiating coronal mass ejections (CMEs) remains controversial. One of the leading theories is magnetic breakout, in which magnetic reconnection occurring high in the corona removes the confinement on an energized low-corona structure from the overlying magnetic field, thus allowing it to erupt. Here, we report critical observational evidence of this elusive breakout reconnection in a multi-polar magnetic configuration that leads to a CME and an X-class, long-duration flare. Its occurrence is supported by the presence of pairs of heated cusp-shaped loops around an X-type null point and signatures of reconnection inflows. Other peculiar features new to the breakout picture include sequential loop brightening, coronal hard X-rays at energies up to ˜100 keV, and extended high-corona X-rays above the later restored multi-polar structure. These observations, from a novel perspective with clarity never achieved before, present crucial clues to understanding the initiation mechanism of solar eruptions.

IMAGING A MAGNETIC-BREAKOUT SOLAR ERUPTION

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen, Yao; Du, Guohui; Zhao, Di; Wu, Zhao; Wang, Bing; Ruan, Guiping; Feng, Shiwei; Song, Hongqiang; Liu, Wei

2016-01-01

The fundamental mechanism initiating coronal mass ejections (CMEs) remains controversial. One of the leading theories is magnetic breakout, in which magnetic reconnection occurring high in the corona removes the confinement on an energized low-corona structure from the overlying magnetic field, thus allowing it to erupt. Here, we report critical observational evidence of this elusive breakout reconnection in a multi-polar magnetic configuration that leads to a CME and an X-class, long-duration flare. Its occurrence is supported by the presence of pairs of heated cusp-shaped loops around an X-type null point and signatures of reconnection inflows. Other peculiar features new to the breakout picture include sequential loop brightening, coronal hard X-rays at energies up to ∼100 keV, and extended high-corona X-rays above the later restored multi-polar structure. These observations, from a novel perspective with clarity never achieved before, present crucial clues to understanding the initiation mechanism of solar eruptions

New techniques for the characterisation of dynamical phenomena in solar coronal images

Science.gov (United States)

Robbrecht, E.

2007-02-01

During a total solar eclipse, a narrow strip of the Earth's surface is shielded completely by the Moon from the disk of the Sun. In this strip, the corona appears crown-like around the shade of the Moon. It was uncertain until the middle of the 20th century whether the corona was a solar phenomenon or if it was related to the Moon or whether it represented an artifact produced by the Earth's atmosphere. The answer to this question was provided by Grotrian (1939) and Edlèn (1942). Based on studies of iron emission lines, they suggested that the surface of the Sun is surrounded by a hot tenuous gas having a temperature of million degrees Kelvin and thus in a state of high ionization. This discovery was a result from spectroscopy, a field of research which started in 1666 with Sir Isaac Newton's observations of sunlight, dispersed by a prism. It is now clear that the hot solar corona is made of a low density plasma, highly structured by the magnetic field on length scales ranging from the Sun's diameter to the limit of angular resolution (e.g. Démoulin and Klein 2000). The need to resolve and study the corona down to such scales has determined a vigorous scientific and technological impulse toward the development of solar Ultraviolet (UV) and X-ray telescopes with high spatial and temporal resolution. With the advent of the satellite SOHO (Solar and Heliospheric Observatory, see chapter 1), the picture of a quiet corona was definitely sent to the past. EUV (Extreme UV) image sequences of the lower solar corona revealed a finely structured medium constantly agitated by a wide variety of transients (e.g. Harrison 1998). Active regions consisting of large magnetic loops with enhanced temperature and density are observed, as well as "quiet" areas, coronal holes and numerous structures of different scales such as plumes, jets, spicules, X-ray bright points, blinkers, all structured by magnetic fields. Launched in 1998, the Transition Region And Coronal Explorer (TRACE

Coupling Mars' Dust and Water Cycles: Effects on Dust Lifting Vigor, Spatial Extent and Seasonality

Science.gov (United States)

Kahre, M. A.; Hollingsworth, J. L.; Haberle, R. M.; Montmessin, F.

2012-01-01

The dust cycle is an important component of Mars' current climate system. Airborne dust affects the radiative balance of the atmosphere, thus greatly influencing the thermal and dynamical state of the atmosphere. Dust raising events on Mars occur at spatial scales ranging from meters to planet-wide. Although the occurrence and season of large regional and global dust storms are highly variable from one year to the next, there are many features of the dust cycle that occur year after year. Generally, a low-level dust haze is maintained during northern spring and summer, while elevated levels of atmospheric dust occur during northern autumn and winter. During years without global-scale dust storms, two peaks in total dust loading were observed by MGS/TES: one peak occurred before northern winter solstice at Ls 200-240, and one peak occurred after northern winter solstice at L(sub s) 305-340. These maxima in dust loading are thought to be associated with transient eddy activity in the northern hemisphere, which has been observed to maximize pre- and post-solstice. Interactive dust cycle studies with Mars General Circulation Models (MGCMs) have included the lifting, transport, and sedimentation of radiatively active dust. Although the predicted global dust loadings from these simulations capture some aspects of the observed dust cycle, there are marked differences between the simulated and observed dust cycles. Most notably, the maximum dust loading is robustly predicted by models to occur near northern winter solstice and is due to dust lifting associated with down slope flows on the flanks of the Hellas basin. Thus far, models have had difficulty simulating the observed pre- and post- solstice peaks in dust loading. Interactive dust cycle studies typically have not included the formation of water ice clouds or their radiative effects. Water ice clouds can influence the dust cycle by scavenging dust from atmosphere and by interacting with solar and infrared radiation

Dust in protoplanetary disks: observations*

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Waters L.B.F.M.

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Solid particles, usually referred to as dust, are a crucial component of interstellar matter and of planet forming disks surrounding young stars. Despite the relatively small mass fraction of ≈1% (in the solar neighborhood of our galaxy; this number may differ substantially in other galaxies that interstellar grains represent of the total mass budget of interstellar matter, dust grains play an important role in the physics and chemistry of interstellar matter. This is because of the opacity dust grains at short (optical, UV wavelengths, and the surface they provide for chemical reactions. In addition, dust grains play a pivotal role in the planet formation process: in the core accretion model of planet formation, the growth of dust grains from the microscopic size range to large, cm-sized or larger grains is the first step in planet formation. Not only the grain size distribution is affected by planet formation. Chemical and physical processes alter the structure and chemical composition of dust grains as they enter the protoplanetary disk and move closer to the forming star. Therefore, a lot can be learned about the way stars and planets are formed by observations of dust in protoplanetary disks. Ideally, one would like to measure the dust mass, the grain size distribution, grain structure (porosity, fluffiness, the chemical composition, and all of these as a function of position in the disk. Fortunately, several observational diagnostics are available to derive constrains on these quantities. In combination with rapidly increasing quality of the data (spatial and spectral resolution, a lot of progress has been made in our understanding of dust evolution in protoplanetary disks. An excellent review of dust evolution in protoplanetary disks can be found in Testi et al. (2014.

mxCSM: A 100-slit, 6-wavelength wide-field coronal spectropolarimeter for the study of the dynamics and the magnetic fields of the solar corona

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Haosheng eLin

2016-03-01

Full Text Available remendous progress has been made in the field of observational coronal magnetometry in the first decade of the 21st century. With the successful construction of the Coronal Multichannel Magnetometer (CoMP instrument, observations of the linear polarization of the coronal emission lines (CELs, which carry information about the azimuthal direction of the coronal magnetic fields, are now routinely available. However, reliable and regular measurements of the circular polarization signals of the CELs remain illusive. The CEL circular polarization signals allow us to infer the magnetic field strength in the corona, and is critically important {bf of} our understanding of the solar corona. Current telescopes and instrument can only measure the coronal magnetic field strength over a small field of view. Furthermore, the observations require very long integration time that preclude the study of dynamic events even when only a small field of view is required. This paper describes a new instrument concept that employees large-scale multiplexing technology to enhance the efficiency of current coronal spectropolarimeter by more than two orders of magnitude. This will allow for the instrument to increase of the integration time at each spatial location by the same factor, while also achieving a large field of view coverage. We will present the conceptual design of a 100-slit coronal spectropolarimeter that can observe six coronal emission lines simultaneously. Instruments based on this concept will allow us to study the evolution of the coronal magnetic field even with coronagraphs with modest aperture.

QUANTIFYING THE ANISOTROPY AND SOLAR CYCLE DEPENDENCE OF '1/f' SOLAR WIND FLUCTUATIONS OBSERVED BY ADVANCED COMPOSITION EXPLORER

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nicol, R. M.; Chapman, S. C.; Dendy, R. O.

2009-01-01

The power spectrum of the evolving solar wind shows evidence of a spectral break between an inertial range (IR) of turbulent fluctuations at higher frequencies and a '1/f' like region at lower frequencies. In the ecliptic plane at ∼1 AU, this break occurs approximately at timescales of a few hours and is observed in the power spectra of components of velocity and magnetic field. The '1/f' energy range is of more direct coronal origin than the IR, and carries signatures of the complex magnetic field structure of the solar corona, and of footpoint stirring in the solar photosphere. To quantify the scaling properties we use generic statistical methods such as generalized structure functions and probability density functions (PDFs), focusing on solar cycle dependence and on anisotropy with respect to the background magnetic field. We present structure function analysis of magnetic and velocity field fluctuations, using a novel technique to decompose the fluctuations into directions parallel and perpendicular to the mean local background magnetic field. Whilst the magnetic field is close to '1/f', we show that the velocity field is '1/f α ' with α ≠ 1. For the velocity, the value of α varies between parallel and perpendicular fluctuations and with the solar cycle. There is also variation in α with solar wind speed. We have examined the PDFs in the fast, quiet solar wind and intriguingly, whilst parallel and perpendicular are distinct, both the B field and velocity show the same PDF of their perpendicular fluctuations, which is close to gamma or inverse Gumbel. These results point to distinct physical processes in the corona and to their mapping out into the solar wind. The scaling exponents obtained constrain the models for these processes.

Double streamer phenomena in atmospheric pressure low frequency corona plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Dan Bee; Jung, H.; Gweon, B.; Choe, Wonho

2010-01-01

Time-resolved images of an atmospheric pressure corona discharge, generated at 50 kHz in a single pin electrode source, show unique positive and negative corona discharge features: a streamer for the positive period and a glow for the negative period. However, unlike in previous reports of dc pulse and low frequency corona discharges, multistreamers were observed at the initial time stage of the positive corona. A possible physical mechanism for the multistreamers is suggested.

Dust Interactions on Small Solar System Bodies and Technology Considerations for Exploration

Science.gov (United States)

Kobrick, Ryan,; Hoffman, Jeffrey; Pavone, Marco; Street, Kenneth; Rickman, Douglas

2014-01-01

Small-bodies such as asteroids and Mars' moons Phobos and Deimos have relatively unknown regolith environments. It is hypothesized that dust preserved in the regolith on the surfaces will have similar mechanical properties to lunar dust because of similar formation processes from micrometeorite bombardment, low relative gravity for slow settling times, and virtually no weathering because there is no atmosphere. This combination of processes infers that small-body dust particles will be highly angular and retain abrasive properties. The focus of this paper uses the mission architecture and engineering design for an asteroid hopper known as Hedgehog, a spherical spacecraft with several symmetric spikes used to aid with tumbling mobility in a low gravity environment. Dust abrasion considerations are highlighted throughout the paper relating to the lead authors' previous work, but act as an example of one of many important dust or regolith physical properties that need to be considered for future exploration. Measurable regolith properties are summarized in order to identify technologies that may be useful for exploration in terms of scientific return and spacecraft design. Previous instruments are summarized in this paper that could be used on the Hedgehog. Opportunities for hardware payloads are highlighted that include low mass solutions or dualpurpose instruments that can measure regolith or dust properties. Finally, dust mitigation suggestions are made for vehicles of this mobility profile.

Acoustic waves in M dwarfs: Maintaining a corona

Science.gov (United States)

Mullan, D. J.; Cheng, Q. Q.

1994-01-01

We use a time-dependent hydrodynamics code to follow the propagation of acoustic waves into the corona of an M dwarf star. An important qualitative difference between M dwarfs and stars such as the Sun is that the acoustic spectrum in M dwarfs is expected to peak at periods close to the acoustic cutoff P(sub A): this allows more effective penetration of waves into the corona. In our code, radiative losses in the photosphere, chromosphere, and corona are computed using Rosseland mean opacities, Mg II kappa and Ly alpha emission, and optically thin emissivities respectively. We find that acoustic heating can maintain a corona with a temperature of order 0.7-1 x 10(exp 6) K and a surface X-ray flux as large as 10(exp 5)ergs/sq cm/s. In a recent survey of X-rays from M dwarfs, some (20%-30%) of the stars lie at or below this limiting X-ray flux: we suggest that such stars may be candidates for acoustically maintained coronae.

Impact of Asian Dust on Climate and Air Quality

Science.gov (United States)

Chin, Mian; Tan, Qian; Diehl, Thomas; Yu, Hongbin

2010-01-01

Dust generated from Asian permanent desert and desertification areas can be efficiently transported around the globe, making significant radiative impact through their absorbing and scattering solar radiation and through their deposition on snow and ice to modify the surface albedo. Asian dust is also a major concern of surface air quality not only in the source and immediate downwind regions but also areas thousands of miles away across the Pacific. We present here a global model, GOCART, analysis of data from satellite remote sensing instrument (MODIS, MISR, CALIPSO, OMI) and other observations on Asian dust sources, transport, and deposition, and use the model to assess the Asian dust impact on global climate and air quality.

Understanding non-equilibrium collisional and expansion effects in the solar wind with Parker Solar Probe

Science.gov (United States)

Korreck, K. E.; Klein, K. G.; Maruca, B.; Alterman, B. L.

2017-12-01

The evolution of the solar wind from the corona to the Earth and throughout the heliosphere is a complex interplay between local micro kinetics and large scale expansion effects. These processes in the solar wind need to be separated in order to understand and distinguish the dominant mechanism for heating and acceleration of the solar wind. With the upcoming launch in 2018 of Parker Solar Probe and the launch of Solar Orbiter after, addressing the local and global phenomena will be enabled with in situ measurements. Parker Solar Probe will go closer to the Sun than any previous mission enabling the ability to examine the solar wind at an early expansion age. This work examines the predictions for what will be seen inside of the 0.25 AU (54 solar radii) where Parker Solar Probe will take measurements and lays the groundwork for disentangling the expansion and collisional effects. In addition, methods of thermal plasma data analysis to determine the stability of the plasma in the Parker Solar Probe measurements will be discussed.

The Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE): Initial Science Results

Science.gov (United States)

Elphic, R. C.; Hine, B.; Delory, G. T.; Salute, J. S.; Noble, S.; Colaprete, A.; Horanyi, M.; Mahaffy, P.

2014-01-01

On September 6, 2013, a near-perfect launch of the first Minotaur V rocket successfully carried NASA's Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) into a high-eccentricity geocentric orbit. LADEE arrived at the Moon on October 6, 2013, dur-ing the government shutdown. The spacecraft impact-ed the lunar surface on April 18, 2014, following a completely successful mission. LADEE's science objectives were twofold: (1) De-termine the composition and variability of the lunar atmosphere; (2) Characterize the lunar exospheric dust environment, and its variability. The LADEE science payload consisted of the Lunar Dust Experiment (LDEX), which sensed dust impacts in situ, for parti-cles between 100 nm and 5 micrometers; a neutral mass spectrometer (NMS), which sampled lunar exo-spheric gases in situ, over the 2-150 Dalton mass range; an ultraviolet/visible spectrometer (UVS) ac-quired spectra of atmospheric emissions and scattered light from tenuous dust, spanning a 250-800 nm wave-length range. UVS also performed dust extinction measurements via a separate solar viewer optic. The following are preliminary results for the lunar exosphere: (1) The helium exosphere of the Moon, first observed during Apollo, is clearly dominated by the delivery of solar wind He++. (2) Neon 20 is clearly seen as an important constituent of the exosphere. (3) Argon 40, also observed during Apollo and arising from interior outgassing, exhibits variations related to surface temperature-driven condensation and release, and is also enhanced over specific selenographic longi-tudes. (4) The sodium abundance varies with both lu-nar phase and with meteoroid influx, implicating both solar wind sputtering and impact vaporization process-es. (5) Potassium was also routinely monitored and exhibits some of the same properties as sodium. (6) Other candidate species were seen by both NMS and UVS, and await confirmation. Dust measurements have revealed a persistent "shroud" of small dust particles

The Soft X-ray Spectrophotometer SphinX for the CORONAS-Photon Mission

Science.gov (United States)

Sylwester, Janusz; Kowalinski, Miroslaw; Szymon, Gburek; Bakala, Jaroslaw; Kuzin, Sergey; Kotov, Yury; Farnik, Frantisek; Reale, Fabio

The purpose, construction details and calibration results of the new design, Polish-led solar X-ray spectrophotometer SphinX will be presented. The instrument constitutes a part of the Russian TESIS X-ray and EUV complex aboard the forthcoming CORONAS-Photon solar mission to be launched later in 2008. SphinX uses Si-PIN detectors for high time resolution (down to 0.01 s) measurements of solar spectra in the energy range between 0.5 keV and 15 keV. The spectral resolution allows separating 256 individual energy channels in this range with particular groups of lines clearly distinguishable. Unprecedented accuracy of the instrument calibration at the XACT (Palermo) and BESSY (Berlin) synchrotron will allow for establishing the solar soft X-ray photometric reference system. The cross-comparison between SphinX and the other instruments presently in orbit like XRT on Hinode, RHESSI and GOES X-ray monitor, will allow for a precise determination of the coronal emission measure and temperature during both very low and very high activity periods. Examples of the detectors' ground calibration results as well as the calculated synthetic spectra will be presented. The operation of the instrument while in orbit will be discussed allowing for suggestions from other groups to be still included in mission planning.

SOLAR WIND HEAVY IONS OVER SOLAR CYCLE 23: ACE/SWICS MEASUREMENTS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lepri, S. T.; Landi, E.; Zurbuchen, T. H.

2013-01-01

Solar wind plasma and compositional properties reflect the physical properties of the corona and its evolution over time. Studies comparing the previous solar minimum with the most recent, unusual solar minimum indicate that significant environmental changes are occurring globally on the Sun. For example, the magnetic field decreased 30% between the last two solar minima, and the ionic charge states of O have been reported to change toward lower values in the fast wind. In this work, we systematically and comprehensively analyze the compositional changes of the solar wind during cycle 23 from 2000 to 2010 while the Sun moved from solar maximum to solar minimum. We find a systematic change of C, O, Si, and Fe ionic charge states toward lower ionization distributions. We also discuss long-term changes in elemental abundances and show that there is a ∼50% decrease of heavy ion abundances (He, C, O, Si, and Fe) relative to H as the Sun went from solar maximum to solar minimum. During this time, the relative abundances in the slow wind remain organized by their first ionization potential. We discuss these results and their implications for models of the evolution of the solar atmosphere, and for the identification of the fast and slow wind themselves.

Mission Concepts for High-Resolution Solar Imaging with a Photon Sieve

Science.gov (United States)

Rabin, Douglas M.; Davila, Joseph; Daw, Adrian N.; Denis, Kevin L.; Novo-Gradac, Anne-Marie; Shah, Neerav; Widmyer, Thomas R.

2017-08-01

The best EUV coronal imagers are unable to probe the expected energy dissipation scales of the solar corona (rocket, a single spacecraft with a deployed boom, and two spacecraft flying in precise formation.

The Origin and Dynamics of Solar Magnetism

CERN Document Server

Thompson, M. J; Culhane, J. L; Nordlund, Å; Solanki, S. K; Zahn, J.-P

2009-01-01

The articles collected in this volume present all aspects of solar magnetism: from its origin in the solar dynamo to its evolution and dynamics that create the variability of solar phenomena, its well-known 11-year activity cycle that leads to the ever-changing pattern of sunspots and active regions on the Sun. Several contributions deal with the solar dynamo, the driver of many solar phenomena. Other contributions treat the transport and emergence of the magnetic flux through the outer layers of the Sun. The coupling of magnetic fields from the surface to the solar corona and beyond is also described, together with current studies on the predictability of solar activity. This book is aimed at researchers and graduate students working in solar physics and space science. It provides a full review of our current understanding of solar magnetism by the foremost experts in the field.

Solar wind acceleration in coronal holes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kopp, R.A.

1978-01-01

Past attempts to explain the large solar wind velocities in high speed streams by theoretical models of the expansion have invoked either extended nonthermal heating of the corona, heat flux inhibition, or direct addition of momentum to the expanding coronal plasma. Several workers have shown that inhibiting the heat flux at low coronal densities is probably not adequate to explain quantitatively the observed plasma velocities in high speed streams. It stressed that, in order to account for both these large plasma velocities and the low densities found in coronal holes (from which most high speed streams are believed to emanate), extended heating by itself will not suffice. One needs a nonthermal mechanism to provide the bulk acceleration of the high wind plasma close to the sun, and the most likely candidate at present is direct addition of the momentum carried by outward-propagating waves to the expanding corona. Some form of momentum addition appears to be absolutely necessary if one hopes to build quantitatively self-consistent models of coronal holes and high speed solar wind streams

Equitable Colorings Of Corona Multiproducts Of Graphs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Furmánczyk Hanna

2017-11-01

Full Text Available A graph is equitably k-colorable if its vertices can be partitioned into k independent sets in such a way that the numbers of vertices in any two sets differ by at most one. The smallest k for which such a coloring exists is known as the equitable chromatic number of G and denoted by =(G. It is known that the problem of computation of =(G is NP-hard in general and remains so for corona graphs. In this paper we consider the same model of coloring in the case of corona multiproducts of graphs. In particular, we obtain some results regarding the equitable chromatic number for the l-corona product G ◦l H, where G is an equitably 3- or 4-colorable graph and H is an r-partite graph, a cycle or a complete graph. Our proofs are mostly constructive in that they lead to polynomial algorithms for equitable coloring of such graph products provided that there is given an equitable coloring of G. Moreover, we confirm the Equitable Coloring Conjecture for corona products of such graphs. This paper extends the results from [H. Furmánczyk, K. Kaliraj, M. Kubale and V.J. Vivin, Equitable coloring of corona products of graphs, Adv. Appl. Discrete Math. 11 (2013 103–120].

Dynamics of the transition corona

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Masson, Sophie; McCauley, Patrick; Golub, Leon; Reeves, Katharine K.; DeLuca, Edward E.

2014-01-01

Magnetic reconnection between the open and closed magnetic fields in the corona is believed to play a crucial role in the corona/heliosphere coupling. At large scale, the exchange of open/closed connectivity is expected to occur in pseudo-streamer (PS) structures. However, there is neither clear observational evidence of how such coupling occurs in PSs, nor evidence for how the magnetic reconnection evolves. Using a newly developed technique, we enhance the off-limb magnetic fine structures observed with the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly and identify a PS-like feature located close to the northern coronal hole. We first identify that the magnetic topology associated with the observation is a PS, null-point (NP) related topology bounded by the open field. By comparing the magnetic field configuration with the EUV emission regions, we determined that most of the magnetic flux associated with plasma emission are small loops below the PS basic NP and open field bounding the PS topology. In order to interpret the evolution of the PS, we referred to a three-dimensional MHD interchange reconnection modeling the exchange of connectivity between small closed loops and the open field. The observed PS fine structures follow the dynamics of the magnetic field before and after reconnecting at the NP obtained by the interchange model. Moreover, the pattern of the EUV plasma emission is the same as the shape of the expected plasma emission location derived from the simulation. These morphological and dynamical similarities between the PS observations and the results from the simulation strongly suggest that the evolution of the PS, and in particular the opening/closing of the field, occurs via interchange/slipping reconnection at the basic NP of the PS. Besides identifying the mechanism at work in the large-scale coupling between the open and closed fields, our results highlight that interchange reconnection in PSs is a gradual physical process that differs from the impulsive

A Model fot the Sources of the Slow Solar Wind

Science.gov (United States)

Antiochos, S. K.; Mikic, Z.; Titov, V. S.; Lionello, R.; Linker, J. A.

2011-01-01

Models for the origin of the slow solar wind must account for two seemingly contradictory observations: the slow wind has the composition of the closed-field corona, implying that it originates from the continuous opening and closing of flux at the boundary between open and closed field. On the other hand, the slow wind also has large angular width, up to approx.60deg, suggesting that its source extends far from the open-closed boundary. We propose a model that can explain both observations. The key idea is that the source of the slow wind at the Sun is a network of narrow (possibly singular) open-field corridors that map to a web of separatrices and quasi-separatrix layers in the heliosphere. We compute analytically the topology of an open-field corridor and show that it produces a quasi-separatrix layer in the heliosphere that extends to angles far from the heliospheric current sheet. We then use an MHD code and MDI/SOHO observations of the photospheric magnetic field to calculate numerically, with high spatial resolution, the quasi-steady solar wind, and magnetic field for a time period preceding the 2008 August 1 total solar eclipse. Our numerical results imply that, at least for this time period, a web of separatrices (which we term an S-web) forms with sufficient density and extent in the heliosphere to account for the observed properties of the slow wind. We discuss the implications of our S-web model for the structure and dynamics of the corona and heliosphere and propose further tests of the model. Key words: solar wind - Sun: corona - Sun: magnetic topology

Near-UV Transmittance of Basalt Dust as an Analog of the Martian Regolith: Implications for Sensor Calibration and Astrobiology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. Martínez-Frías

2006-06-01

Full Text Available The Martian regolith is exposed to solar irradiation in the near-UV (200-390 nm.Basalt is one of the main components of the dust on Mars surface. The near-UV irradiationof basalt dust on Mars is simulated experimentally in order to determine the transmittance asa function of the mass and thickness of the dust. This data can serve to quantify theabsorption of dust deposited on sensors aiming to measure the UV intensity on Marssurface. The minimum thickness of the dust that corresponds to near-zero-transmittance inthe near-UV is measured. Hypothetical Martian microorganisms living on the dusty regolithat deeper layers would be preserved from the damaging solar UV irradiation.

High sensitivity of Indian summer monsoon to Middle East dust absorptive properties.

Science.gov (United States)

Jin, Qinjian; Yang, Zong-Liang; Wei, Jiangfeng

2016-07-28

The absorptive properties of dust aerosols largely determine the magnitude of their radiative impacts on the climate system. Currently, climate models use globally constant values of dust imaginary refractive index (IRI), a parameter describing the dust absorption efficiency of solar radiation, although it is highly variable. Here we show with model experiments that the dust-induced Indian summer monsoon (ISM) rainfall differences (with dust minus without dust) change from -9% to 23% of long-term climatology as the dust IRI is changed from zero to the highest values used in the current literature. A comparison of the model results with surface observations, satellite retrievals, and reanalysis data sets indicates that the dust IRI values used in most current climate models are too low, tending to significantly underestimate dust radiative impacts on the ISM system. This study highlights the necessity for developing a parameterization of dust IRI for climate studies.

A DATA-DRIVEN ANALYTIC MODEL FOR PROTON ACCELERATION BY LARGE-SCALE SOLAR CORONAL SHOCKS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kozarev, Kamen A. [Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (United States); Schwadron, Nathan A. [Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans, and Space, University of New Hampshire (United States)

2016-11-10

We have recently studied the development of an eruptive filament-driven, large-scale off-limb coronal bright front (OCBF) in the low solar corona, using remote observations from the Solar Dynamics Observatory ’s Advanced Imaging Assembly EUV telescopes. In that study, we obtained high-temporal resolution estimates of the OCBF parameters regulating the efficiency of charged particle acceleration within the theoretical framework of diffusive shock acceleration (DSA). These parameters include the time-dependent front size, speed, and strength, as well as the upstream coronal magnetic field orientations with respect to the front’s surface normal direction. Here we present an analytical particle acceleration model, specifically developed to incorporate the coronal shock/compressive front properties described above, derived from remote observations. We verify the model’s performance through a grid of idealized case runs using input parameters typical for large-scale coronal shocks, and demonstrate that the results approach the expected DSA steady-state behavior. We then apply the model to the event of 2011 May 11 using the OCBF time-dependent parameters derived by Kozarev et al. We find that the compressive front likely produced energetic particles as low as 1.3 solar radii in the corona. Comparing the modeled and observed fluences near Earth, we also find that the bulk of the acceleration during this event must have occurred above 1.5 solar radii. With this study we have taken a first step in using direct observations of shocks and compressions in the innermost corona to predict the onsets and intensities of solar energetic particle events.