INFLUENCE OF STELLAR FLARES ON THE CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF EXOPLANETS AND SPECTRA

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Venot, Olivia; Decin, Leen [Instituut voor Sterrenkunde, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200D, B-3001 Leuven (Belgium); Rocchetto, Marco [University College London, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT (United Kingdom); Carl, Shaun; Hashim, Aysha Roshni, E-mail: olivia.venot@kuleuven.be [Department of Quantum Chemistry and Physical Chemistry, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200F, B-3001 Leuven (Belgium)

2016-10-20

More than three thousand exoplanets have been detected so far, and more and more spectroscopic observations of exoplanets are performed. Future instruments ( James Webb Space Telescope ( JWST ), E-ELT, PLATO, Ariel, etc.,) are eagerly awaited, as they will be able to provide spectroscopic data with greater accuracy and sensitivity than what is currently available. This will allow more accurate conclusions to be drawn regarding the chemistry and dynamics of exoplanetary atmospheres, provided that the observational data are carefully processed. One important aspect to consider is temporal stellar atmospheric disturbances that can influence the planetary composition, and hence spectra, and potentially can lead to incorrect assumptions about the steady-state atmospheric composition of the planet. In this paper, we focus on perturbations coming from the host star in the form of flare events that significantly increase photon flux impingement on the exoplanets atmosphere. In some cases, particularly for M stars, this sudden increase may last for several hours. We aim to discover to what extent a stellar flare is able to modify the chemical composition of the planetary atmosphere and, therefore, influence the resulting spectra. We use a one-dimensional thermo-photochemical model to study the neutral atmospheric composition of two hypothetical planets located around the star AD Leo. We place the two planets at different distances from the star, which results in effective atmospheric temperatures of 412 and 1303 K. AD Leo is an active star that has already been observed during a flare. Therefore, we use the spectroscopic data from this flare event to simulate the evolution of the chemical composition of the atmospheres of the two hypothetical planets. We compute synthetic spectra to evaluate the implications for observations. The increase in the incoming photon flux affects the chemical abundances of some important species (such as H and NH{sub 3}), down to altitudes

Hydrogen Balmer Line Broadening in Solar and Stellar Flares

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kowalski, Adam F. [Department of Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder, 2000 Colorado Avenue, Boulder, CO 80305 (United States); Allred, Joel C. [NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, Code 671, Greenbelt, MD 20771 (United States); Uitenbroek, Han [National Solar Observatory, University of Colorado Boulder, 3665 Discovery Drive, Boulder, CO 80303 (United States); Tremblay, Pier-Emmanuel [Department of Physics, University of Warwick, Coventry CV47AL (United Kingdom); Brown, Stephen [School of Physics and Astronomy, Kelvin Building, University of Glasgow, G12 8QQ (United Kingdom); Carlsson, Mats [Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics, University of Oslo, P.O. Box 1029 Blindern, NO-0315 Oslo (Norway); Osten, Rachel A. [Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218 (United States); Wisniewski, John P. [Homer L. Dodge Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Oklahoma, 440 W. Brooks Street, Norman, OK 73019 (United States); Hawley, Suzanne L., E-mail: Adam.Kowalski@lasp.colorado.edu [University of Washington Department of Astronomy, 3910 15th Avenue NE, Seattle, WA 98195 (United States)

2017-03-10

The broadening of the hydrogen lines during flares is thought to result from increased charge (electron, proton) density in the flare chromosphere. However, disagreements between theory and modeling prescriptions have precluded an accurate diagnostic of the degree of ionization and compression resulting from flare heating in the chromosphere. To resolve this issue, we have incorporated the unified theory of electric pressure broadening of the hydrogen lines into the non-LTE radiative-transfer code RH. This broadening prescription produces a much more realistic spectrum of the quiescent, A0 star Vega compared to the analytic approximations used as a damping parameter in the Voigt profiles. We test recent radiative-hydrodynamic (RHD) simulations of the atmospheric response to high nonthermal electron beam fluxes with the new broadening prescription and find that the Balmer lines are overbroadened at the densest times in the simulations. Adding many simultaneously heated and cooling model loops as a “multithread” model improves the agreement with the observations. We revisit the three-component phenomenological flare model of the YZ CMi Megaflare using recent and new RHD models. The evolution of the broadening, line flux ratios, and continuum flux ratios are well-reproduced by a multithread model with high-flux nonthermal electron beam heating, an extended decay phase model, and a “hot spot” atmosphere heated by an ultrarelativistic electron beam with reasonable filling factors: ∼0.1%, 1%, and 0.1% of the visible stellar hemisphere, respectively. The new modeling motivates future work to understand the origin of the extended gradual phase emission.

Hydrogen Balmer Line Broadening in Solar and Stellar Flares

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kowalski, Adam F.; Allred, Joel C.; Uitenbroek, Han; Tremblay, Pier-Emmanuel; Brown, Stephen; Carlsson, Mats; Osten, Rachel A.; Wisniewski, John P.; Hawley, Suzanne L.

2017-01-01

The broadening of the hydrogen lines during flares is thought to result from increased charge (electron, proton) density in the flare chromosphere. However, disagreements between theory and modeling prescriptions have precluded an accurate diagnostic of the degree of ionization and compression resulting from flare heating in the chromosphere. To resolve this issue, we have incorporated the unified theory of electric pressure broadening of the hydrogen lines into the non-LTE radiative-transfer code RH. This broadening prescription produces a much more realistic spectrum of the quiescent, A0 star Vega compared to the analytic approximations used as a damping parameter in the Voigt profiles. We test recent radiative-hydrodynamic (RHD) simulations of the atmospheric response to high nonthermal electron beam fluxes with the new broadening prescription and find that the Balmer lines are overbroadened at the densest times in the simulations. Adding many simultaneously heated and cooling model loops as a “multithread” model improves the agreement with the observations. We revisit the three-component phenomenological flare model of the YZ CMi Megaflare using recent and new RHD models. The evolution of the broadening, line flux ratios, and continuum flux ratios are well-reproduced by a multithread model with high-flux nonthermal electron beam heating, an extended decay phase model, and a “hot spot” atmosphere heated by an ultrarelativistic electron beam with reasonable filling factors: ∼0.1%, 1%, and 0.1% of the visible stellar hemisphere, respectively. The new modeling motivates future work to understand the origin of the extended gradual phase emission.

VizieR Online Data Catalog: Bayesian method for detecting stellar flares (Pitkin+, 2014)

Science.gov (United States)

Pitkin, M.; Williams, D.; Fletcher, L.; Grant, S. D. T.

2015-05-01

We present a Bayesian-odds-ratio-based algorithm for detecting stellar flares in light-curve data. We assume flares are described by a model in which there is a rapid rise with a half-Gaussian profile, followed by an exponential decay. Our signal model also contains a polynomial background model required to fit underlying light-curve variations in the data, which could otherwise partially mimic a flare. We characterize the false alarm probability and efficiency of this method under the assumption that any unmodelled noise in the data is Gaussian, and compare it with a simpler thresholding method based on that used in Walkowicz et al. We find our method has a significant increase in detection efficiency for low signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) flares. For a conservative false alarm probability our method can detect 95 per cent of flares with S/N less than 20, as compared to S/N of 25 for the simpler method. We also test how well the assumption of Gaussian noise holds by applying the method to a selection of 'quiet' Kepler stars. As an example we have applied our method to a selection of stars in Kepler Quarter 1 data. The method finds 687 flaring stars with a total of 1873 flares after vetos have been applied. For these flares we have made preliminary characterizations of their durations and and S/N. (1 data file).

Flare stars in Pleiades. 6

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mirzoyan, L.V.; Chavushyan, O.S.; Oganyan, G.B.; Ambaryan, V.V.; Garibdzhanyan, A.T.; Melikyan, N.D.; Natsvlishvili, R.Sh.; AN Gruzinskoj SSR, Abastumani. Abastumanskaya Astrofizicheskaya Observatoriya)

1981-01-01

The results of photographic observations of stellar flares in the Pleiades region carried out at the Byurakan and Abastumani astrophysical observatories during 1976-1979 are given. On the basis of these observations 17 new flare stars have been found. Total number of all known flare stars in the Pleiades region on 1 June 1980 reached 524, and the number of all flares-1244. The observational data on distribution of flare stars according to the observed flares is satisfactorily represented by the average frequency function introduced by V.A.Ambartsumian. The total number of the flare stars in the Pleiades is of the order of 1100. Using three telescopes, synchronous photographic observations of stellar flares in Pleiades in U, B, V, system are carried out. The colour indices U-B and B-V of stellar flares in periods including the maximum of the flare slightly differ from that of photoelectrically defined for flares of UV Ceti type stars, which testifies the physical relationship of flare stars in Pleiades and in the vicinity of the Sun [ru

Prediction of flare activity of stellar aggregates. I. Theoretical part

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mnatsakanyan, M.A.; Mirzoyan, A.L.

1989-01-01

The problem is posed of predicting the number n k (t) of flare stars that have exhibited precisely k flares by the time t on the basis of data on these quantities known during the total time T of observations of the aggregate. The problem posed by Ambartsumyan of determining the distribution function f(ν) of the true frequency of stellar flares from known chronology of these data is equivalent to the limiting form of their formulation - prediction in the future over an infinitely long time. An exact analytic solution of the problem obtained without any assumption about the function f(ν) is given. It permits prediction of the steady flare activity of the aggregate into both the future and the (known) past. It follows from this solution that prediction into the future is in principle impossible to times that exceed the doubled time 2T of the available observations (this means that the problem of determining of the function f(ν) cannot be solved). Moreover, because of the unavoidable fluctuations in the observational data n k (T), such prediction is limited to even shorter times, and these are shorter the larger the value of k. Prediction into the past and into the future on the basis of the data n k (T) at the present time and its possible errors due to small fluctuations in these data are illustrated for the examples of the Pleiades and the Orion aggregate

Which of Kepler's Stars Flare?

Science.gov (United States)

Kohler, Susanna

2017-12-01

The habitability of distant exoplanets is dependent upon many factors one of which is the activity of their host stars. To learn about which stars are most likely to flare, a recent study examines tens of thousands of stellar flares observed by Kepler.Need for a Broader SampleArtists rendering of a flaring dwarf star. [NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center/S. Wiessinger]Most of our understanding of what causes a star to flare is based on observations of the only star near enough to examine in detail the Sun. But in learning from a sample size of one, a challenge arises: we must determine which conclusions are unique to the Sun (or Sun-like stars), and which apply to other stellar types as well.Based on observations and modeling, astronomers think that stellar flares result from the reconnection of magnetic field lines in a stars outer atmosphere, the corona. The magnetic activity is thought to be driven by a dynamo caused by motions in the stars convective zone.HR diagram of the Kepler stars, with flaring main-sequence (yellow), giant (red) and A-star (green) stars in the authors sample indicated. [Van Doorsselaere et al. 2017]To test whether these ideas are true generally, we need to understand what types of stars exhibit flares, and what stellar properties correlate with flaring activity. A team of scientists led by Tom Van Doorsselaere (KU Leuven, Belgium) has now used an enormous sample of flares observed by Kepler to explore these statistics.Intriguing TrendsVan Doorsselaere and collaborators used a new automated flare detection and characterization algorithm to search through the raw light curves from Quarter 15 of the Kepler mission, building a sample of 16,850 flares on 6,662 stars. They then used these to study the dependence of the flare occurrence rate, duration, energy, and amplitude on the stellar spectral type and rotation period.This large statistical study led the authors to several interesting conclusions, including:Flare star incidence rate as a a

Quasi-periodic Pulsations in the Most Powerful Solar Flare of Cycle 24

Science.gov (United States)

Kolotkov, Dmitrii Y.; Pugh, Chloe E.; Broomhall, Anne-Marie; Nakariakov, Valery M.

2018-05-01

Quasi-periodic pulsations (QPPs) are common in solar flares and are now regularly observed in stellar flares. We present the detection of two different types of QPP signals in the thermal emission light curves of the X9.3-class solar flare SOL2017-09-06T12:02, which is the most powerful flare of Cycle 24. The period of the shorter-period QPP drifts from about 12 to 25 s during the flare. The observed properties of this QPP are consistent with a sausage oscillation of a plasma loop in the flaring active region. The period of the longer-period QPP is about 4 to 5 minutes. Its properties are compatible with standing slow magnetoacoustic oscillations, which are often detected in coronal loops. For both QPP signals, other mechanisms such as repetitive reconnection cannot be ruled out, however. The studied solar flare has an energy in the realm of observed stellar flares, and the fact that there is evidence of a short-period QPP signal typical of solar flares along with a long-period QPP signal more typical of stellar flares suggests that the different ranges of QPP periods typically observed in solar and stellar flares is likely due to observational constraints, and that similar physical processes may be occurring in solar and stellar flares.

Flare stars in Pleiades. 5

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mirzoyan, L.V.; Chavushyan, O.S.; Erastova, L.K.; Oganyan, G.B.; Melikyan, N.D.; Natsvlishvili, R.Sh.; Tsvetkov, M.K.

1977-01-01

The results of photographic observations of stellar flares in the Pleiades region made in the Byurakan and Abastumany astrophysical observatories in 1973-1974 are presented. The observations and revisions of the pictures taken earlier helped to detect 20 new flare stars and 62 repeated flares of flare stars known before. Two-colour photographic and UV observation of 21 flares were carried out. The observation data point to considerable differences in the mean frequency of flares of various flare stars in the Pleiades

Extreme Radio Flares and Associated X-Ray Variability from Young Stellar Objects in the Orion Nebula Cluster

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Forbrich, Jan [Centre for Astrophysics Research, School of Physics, Astronomy and Mathematics, University of Hertfordshire, College Lane, Hatfield AL10 9AB (United Kingdom); Reid, Mark J.; Wolk, Scott J. [Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge MA 02138 (United States); Menten, Karl M. [Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie, Auf dem Hügel 69, D-53121 Bonn (Germany); Rivilla, Victor M. [Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri, Largo Enrico Fermi 5, I-50125, Firenze (Italy); Rau, Urvashi; Chandler, Claire J. [National Radio Astronomy Observatory, P.O. Box O, Socorro, NM 87801 (United States)

2017-08-01

Young stellar objects are known to exhibit strong radio variability on timescales of weeks to months, and a few reports have documented extreme radio flares with at least an order of magnitude change in flux density on timescales of hours to days. However, there have been few constraints on the occurrence rate of such radio flares or on the correlation with pre-main sequence X-ray flares, although such correlations are known for the Sun and nearby active stars. Here we report simultaneous deep VLA radio and Chandra X-ray observations of the Orion Nebula Cluster, targeting hundreds of sources to look for the occurrence rate of extreme radio variability and potential correlation with the most extreme X-ray variability. We identify 13 radio sources with extreme radio variability, with some showing an order of magnitude change in flux density in less than 30 minutes. All of these sources show X-ray emission and variability, but we find clear correlations with extreme radio flaring only on timescales <1 hr. Strong X-ray variability does not predict the extreme radio sources and vice versa. Radio flares thus provide us with a new perspective on high-energy processes in YSOs and the irradiation of their protoplanetary disks. Finally, our results highlight implications for interferometric imaging of sources violating the constant-sky assumption.

Do Long-cadence Data of the Kepler Spacecraft Capture Basic Properties of Flares?

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Huiqin; Liu, Jifeng; Qiao, Erlin; Zhang, Haotong; Gao, Qing; Cui, Kaiming; Han, Henggeng

2018-06-01

Flare research is becoming a burgeoning realm of interest in the study of stellar activity due to the launch of Kepler in 2009. Kepler provides data with two time resolutions, i.e., the long-cadence (LC) data with a time resolution of 30 minutes and the short-cadence (SC) data with a time resolution of 1 minute, both of which can be used to study stellar flares. In this paper, we search flares in light curves with both LC data and SC data, and compare them in aspects of the true-flare rate, the flare energy, the flare amplitude, and the flare duration. It is found that LC data systematically underestimated the energies of flares by 25%, and underestimated the amplitudes of flares by 60% compared with SC flares. The durations are systematically overestimated by 50% compared with SC flares. However, the above percentages are poorly constrained and there is a lot of scatter. About 60% of SC flares have not been detected by LC data. We investigate the limitation of LC data, and suggest that although LC data cannot reflect the detailed profiles of flares, they can also capture the basic properties of stellar flares.

Frequency distribution function of stellar flares in the Orion association

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Parsamian, E.S.

1981-01-01

The temporal distributions of flare stars in the Orion association and the numbers of stars with different flare frequencies are determined by means of Ambartsumian's (1978) method, which uses the chronology of discovery of 'first' flares and the chronology of confirmations, i.e., the temporal distributions of 'repeated' flares. It is shown that flare stars with high flare frequency (not greater than 1000 hours) in the Pleiades are basically stars of low luminosity with M(U) not less than 13m. Two independent methods of determining the number of flare stars in the aggregates confirm that there are about 1.5 times more flare stars in the Orion association than in the Pleiades

On the expected γ-ray emission from nearby flaring stars

Science.gov (United States)

Ohm, S.; Hoischen, C.

2018-02-01

Stellar flares have been extensively studied in soft X-rays (SXRs) by basically every X-ray mission. Hard X-ray (HXR) emission from stellar superflares, however, have only been detected from a handful of objects over the past years. One very extreme event was the superflare from the young M-dwarf DG CVn binary star system, which triggered Swift/BAT as if it was a γ-ray burst. In this work, we estimate the expected γ-ray emission from DG CVn and the most extreme stellar flares by extrapolating from solar flares based on measured solar energetic particles (SEPs), as well as thermal and non-thermal emission properties. We find that ions are plausibly accelerated in stellar superflares to 100 GeV energies, and possibly up to TeV energies in the associated coronal mass ejections. The corresponding π0-decay γ-ray emission could be detectable from stellar superflares with ground-based γ-ray telescopes. On the other hand, the detection of γ-ray emission implies particle densities high enough that ions suffer significant losses due to inelastic proton-proton scattering. The next-generation Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) should be able to probe superflares from M dwarfs in the solar neighbourhood and constrain the energy in interacting cosmic rays and/or their maximum energy. The detection of γ-ray emission from stellar flares would open a new window for the study of stellar physics, the underlying physical processes in flares and their impact on habitability of planetary systems.

Narrow-band radio flares from red dwarf stars

Science.gov (United States)

White, Stephen M.; Kundu, Mukul R.; Jackson, Peter D.

1986-01-01

VLA observations of narrow-band behavior in 20 cm flares from two red dwarf stars, L726 - 8A and AD Leo, are reported. The flare on L726 - 8A was observed at 1415 and 1515 MHz; the flux and the evolution differed significantly at the two frequencies. The flare on AD Leo lasted for 2 hr at 1415 MHz but did not appear at 1515 MHz. The AD Leo flare appears to rule out a source drifting through the stellar corona and is unlikely to be due to plasma emission. In the cyclotron maser model the narrow-band behavior reflects the range of magnetic fields present within the source. The apparent constancy of this field for 2 hr is difficult to understand if magnetic reconnection is the source of energy for the flare. The consistent polarization exhibited by red dwarf flares at 20 cm may be related to stellar activity cycles, and changes in this polarization will permit measuring the length of these cycles.

Flare colours and luminosities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cristaldi, S.; Rodono, M.

1975-01-01

Flare colours determined from simultaneous UBV observations made at Catania Observatory and from sequential UBV observations made at McDonald Observatory are presented. They fit fairly well with the theoretical colours computed according to the Gurzadian's (1970) non-thermal model. Only part of the observed flare colours are consistent with the solar type models by Gershberg (1967) and Kunkel (1970). From a B-band patrol of UV Cet-type stars carried out from 1967 to 1972, some quantitative estimates of flare frequencies and luminosities and their average contributions to the stellar radiation are given. The corresponding parameters for the Sun, which were estimated from 'white light' flare activity, are also given for comparison. The Sun and V 1216 Sgr can be regarded as low-activity flare stars of the type found by Kunkel (1973). (Auth.)

Distribution function of frequency of stellar flares in the Orion association

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Parsamyan, Eh.S.

1980-01-01

Using the chronology of discoveries of new flares and the chronology of confirmation i.e. the time distribution of second flares (Ambartsumian's method), the distribution function of frequency of flares on stars in the Orion association is obtained. A number of stars having different frequencies is also found. It is shown that flare stars with high flare frequency (ν -1 13sup(m). The quantities of flare stars in aggregates determined by two independent methods show that the number of flare stars in Orion association is about 1.5 times greater than in the Pleiades cluster [ru

Narrow-band radio flares from red dwarf stars

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

White, S.M.; Kundu, M.R.; Jackson, P.D.

1986-12-01

VLA observations of narrow-band behavior in 20 cm flares from two red dwarf stars, L726 - 8A and AD Leo, are reported. The flare on L726 - 8A was observed at 1415 and 1515 MHz; the flux and the evolution differed significantly at the two frequencies. The flare on AD Leo lasted for 2 hr at 1415 MHz but did not appear at 1515 MHz. The AD Leo flare appears to rule out a source drifting through the stellar corona and is unlikely to be due to plasma emission. In the cyclotron maser model the narrow-band behavior reflects the range of magnetic fields present within the source. The apparent constancy of this field for 2 hr is difficult to understand if magnetic reconnection is the source of energy for the flare. The consistent polarization exhibited by red dwarf flares at 20 cm may be related to stellar activity cycles, and changes in this polarization will permit measuring the length of these cycles. 22 references.

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

The Prospect for Detecting Stellar Coronal Mass Ejections

Science.gov (United States)

Osten, Rachel A.; Crosley, Michael Kevin

2018-06-01

The astrophysical study of mass loss, both steady-state and transient, on the cool half of the HR diagram has implications bothfor the star itself and the conditions created around the star that can be hospitable or inimical to supporting life. Recent results from exoplanet studies show that planets around M dwarfs are exceedingly common, which together with the commonality of M dwarfs in our galaxy make this the dominant mode of star and planet configurations. The closeness of the exoplanets to the parent M star motivate a comprehensive understanding of habitability for these systems. Radio observations provide the most clear signature of accelerated particles and shocks in stars arising as the result of MHD processes in the stellar outer atmosphere. Stellar coronal mass ejections have not been conclusively detected, despite the ubiquity with which their radiative counterparts in an eruptive event (stellar flares) have. I will review some of the different observational methods which have been used and possibly could be used in the future in the stellar case, emphasizing some of the difficulties inherent in such attempts. I will provide a framework for interpreting potential transient stellar mass loss in light of the properties of flares known to occur on magnetically active stars. This uses a physically motivated way to connect the properties of flares and coronal mass ejections and provides a testable hypothesis for observing or constraining transient stellar mass loss. I will describe recent results using radio observations to detect stellar coronal mass ejections, and what those results imply about transient stellar mass loss. I will provide some motivation for what could be learned in this topic from space-based low frequency radio experiments.

FLARE STARS—A FAVORABLE OBJECT FOR STUDYING MECHANISMS OF NONTHERMAL ASTROPHYSICAL PHENOMENA

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Oks, E. [Physics Department, 206 Allison Lab., Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849 (United States); Gershberg, R. E. [Crimean Astrophysical Observatory, Nauchny, Bakhchisaray region, Crimea, 298409 (Russian Federation)

2016-03-01

We present a spectroscopic method for diagnosing a low-frequency electrostatic plasma turbulence (LEPT) in plasmas of flare stars. This method had been previously developed by one of us and successfully applied to diagnosing the LEPT in solar flares. In distinction to our previous applications of the method, here we use the latest advances in the theory of the Stark broadening of hydrogen spectral lines. By analyzing observed emission Balmer lines, we show that it is very likely that the LEPT was developed in several flares of AD Leo, as well as in one flare of EV Lac. We found the LEPT (though of different field strengths) both in the explosive/impulsive phase and at the phase of the maximum, as well as at the gradual phase of the stellar flares. While for solar flares our method allows diagnosing the LEPT only in the most powerful flares, for the flare stars it seems that the method allows revealing the LEPT practically in every flare. It should be important to obtain new and better spectrograms of stellar flares, allowing their analysis by the method outlined in the present paper. This can be the most favorable way to the detailed understanding of the nature of nonthermal astrophysical phenomena.

Flare stars and Pascal distribution

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Muradian, R.

1994-07-01

Observed statistics of stellar flares are described by Pascal or Negative Binomial Distribution. The analogy with other classes of chaotic production mechanisms such as hadronic particle multiplicity distributions and photoelectron counts from thermal sources is noticed. (author). 12 refs

Numerical simulations of flares on M dwarf stars. I - Hydrodynamics and coronal X-ray emission

Science.gov (United States)

Cheng, Chung-Chieh; Pallavicini, Roberto

1991-01-01

Flare-loop models are utilized to simulate the time evolution and physical characteristics of stellar X-ray flares by varying the values of flare-energy input and loop parameters. The hydrodynamic evolution is studied in terms of changes in the parameters of the mass, energy, and momentum equations within an area bounded by the chromosphere and the corona. The zone supports a magnetically confined loop for which processes are described including the expansion of heated coronal gas, chromospheric evaporation, and plasma compression at loop footpoints. The intensities, time profiles, and average coronal temperatures of X-ray flares are derived from the simulations and compared to observational evidence. Because the amount of evaporated material does not vary linearly with flare-energy input, large loops are required to produce the energy measured from stellar flares.

CONNECTING FLARES AND TRANSIENT MASS-LOSS EVENTS IN MAGNETICALLY ACTIVE STARS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Osten, Rachel A. [Space Telescope Science Institute 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218 (United States); Wolk, Scott J., E-mail: osten@stsci.edu [Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge MA 02138 (United States)

2015-08-10

We explore the ramification of associating the energetics of extreme magnetic reconnection events with transient mass-loss in a stellar analogy with solar eruptive events. We establish energy partitions relative to the total bolometric radiated flare energy for different observed components of stellar flares and show that there is rough agreement for these values with solar flares. We apply an equipartition between the bolometric radiated flare energy and kinetic energy in an accompanying mass ejection, seen in solar eruptive events and expected from reconnection. This allows an integrated flare rate in a particular waveband to be used to estimate the amount of associated transient mass-loss. This approach is supported by a good correspondence between observational flare signatures on high flaring rate stars and the Sun, which suggests a common physical origin. If the frequent and extreme flares that young solar-like stars and low-mass stars experience are accompanied by transient mass-loss in the form of coronal mass ejections, then the cumulative effect of this mass-loss could be large. We find that for young solar-like stars and active M dwarfs, the total mass lost due to transient magnetic eruptions could have significant impacts on disk evolution, and thus planet formation, and also exoplanet habitability.

Stellar flare oscillations: evidence for oscillatory reconnection and evolution of MHD modes

Science.gov (United States)

Doyle, J. G.; Shetye, J.; Antonova, A. E.; Kolotkov, D. Y.; Srivastava, A. K.; Stangalini, M.; Gupta, G. R.; Avramova, A.; Mathioudakis, M.

2018-04-01

Here, we report on the detection of a range of quasi-periodic pulsations (20-120 s; QPPs) observed during flaring activity of several magnetically active dMe stars, namely AF Psc, CR Dra, GJ 3685A, Gl 65, SDSS J084425.9+513830, and SDSS J144738.47+035312.1 in the GALEX NUV filter. Based on a solar analogy, this work suggests that many of these flares may be triggered by external drivers creating a periodic reconnection in the flare current sheet or an impulsive energy release giving rise to an avalanche of periodic bursts that occur at time intervals that correspond to the detected periods, thus generating QPPs in their rising and peak phases. Some of these flares also show fast QPPs in their decay phase, indicating the presence of fast sausage mode oscillations either driven externally by periodic reconnection or intrinsically in the post-flare loop system during the flare energy release.

Study on the flare stars in the Taurus region

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khodzhaev, A.S.

1986-01-01

The results of the search of flare stars and their photometric, Hsub(α)-spectroscopic and statistical study in the Taurus are presented. By means of photographic observations carried out during 1980-1984, 92 new flare stars were discovered, 13 of which are known Orion Population variables, and 16 repeated flare-ups among 13 known flare stars. Spatial distribution of these stars was considered and the problem of their membership was discussed. Comparative analysis of the data of flare stars in the Taurus with that of other systems has been carried out. The Herzsprung-Russel and two-colour (U-B, B-V) diagrams for the Taurus flare stars are similar to the diagrams of stellar clusters and associations (Pleiades, Orion etc.). The estimated total number of flare stars in this region is larger than 500

Radio follow-up observations of stellar tidal disruption flares: Constraints on off-axis jets

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Körding E.

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Observations of active galactic nuclei (AGN and X-ray binaries have shown that relativistic jets are ubiquitous when compact objects accrete. One could therefore anticipate the launch of a jet after a star is disrupted and accreted by a massive black hole. This birth of a relativistic jet may have been observed recently in two stellar tidal disruption flares (TDFs, which were discovered in gamma-rays by Swift. Yet no transient radio emission has been detected from the tens of TDF candidates that were discovered at optical to soft X-ray frequencies. Because the sample that was followed-up at radio frequencies is small, the non-detections can be explained by Doppler boosting, which reduces the jet flux for off-axis observers. Plus, the existing followup observation are mostly within ∼ 10 months of the discovery, so the non-detections can also be due to a delay of the radio emission with respect to the time of disruption. To test the conjecture that all TDFs launch jets, we obtained 5 GHz follow-up observations with the Jansky VLA of six known TDFs. To avoid missing delayed jet emission, our observations probe 1–8 years since the estimated time of disruption. None of the sources are detected, with very deep upper limits at the 10 micro Jansky level. These observations rule out the hypothesis that these TDFs launched jets similar to radio-loud quasars. We also constrain the possibility that the flares hosted a jet identical to Sw 1644+57.

DRAFTS: A DEEP, RAPID ARCHIVAL FLARE TRANSIENT SEARCH IN THE GALACTIC BULGE

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Osten, Rachel A.; Sahu, Kailash; Kowalski, Adam; Hawley, Suzanne L.

2012-01-01

We utilize the Sagittarius Window Eclipsing Extrasolar Planet Search Hubble Space Telescope/Advanced Camera for Surveys data set for a Deep Rapid Archival Flare Transient Search to constrain the flare rate toward the older stellar population in the Galactic bulge. During seven days of monitoring 229,293 stars brighter than V = 29.5, we find evidence for flaring activity in 105 stars between V = 20 and V = 28. We divided the sample into non-variable stars and variable stars whose light curves contain large-scale variability. The flare rate on variable stars is ∼700 times that of non-variable stars, with a significant correlation between the amount of underlying stellar variability and peak flare amplitude. The flare energy loss rates are generally higher than those of nearby well-studied single dMe flare stars. The distribution of proper motions is consistent with the flaring stars being at the distance and age of the Galactic bulge. If they are single dwarfs, then they span a range of ≈1.0-0.25 M ☉ . A majority of the flaring stars exhibit periodic photometric modulations with P < 3 days. If these are tidally locked magnetically active binary systems, then their fraction in the bulge is enhanced by a factor of ∼20 compared to the local value. These stars may be useful for placing constraints on the angular momentum evolution of cool close binary stars. Our results expand the type of stars studied for flares in the optical band, and suggest that future sensitive optical time-domain studies will have to contend with a larger sample of flaring stars than the M dwarf flare stars usually considered.

MAGNETIC PROPERTIES OF SOLAR ACTIVE REGIONS THAT GOVERN LARGE SOLAR FLARES AND ERUPTIONS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Toriumi, Shin [National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, 2-21-1 Osawa, Mitaka, Tokyo 181-8588 (Japan); Schrijver, Carolus J. [Lockheed Martin Advanced Technology Center, 3251 Hanover Street, Palo Alto, CA 94304 (United States); Harra, Louise K. [UCL-Mullard Space Science Laboratory, Holmbury St Mary, Dorking, Surrey, RH5 6NT (United Kingdom); Hudson, Hugh [SUPA School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Glasgow (United Kingdom); Nagashima, Kaori, E-mail: shin.toriumi@nao.ac.jp [Max-Planck-Institut für Sonnensystemforschung, Justus-von-Liebig-Weg 3, D-37077 Göttingen (Germany)

2017-01-01

Solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs), especially the larger ones, emanate from active regions (ARs). With the aim of understanding the magnetic properties that govern such flares and eruptions, we systematically survey all flare events with Geostationary Orbiting Environmental Satellite levels of ≥M5.0 within 45° from disk center between 2010 May and 2016 April. These criteria lead to a total of 51 flares from 29 ARs, for which we analyze the observational data obtained by the Solar Dynamics Observatory . More than 80% of the 29 ARs are found to exhibit δ -sunspots, and at least three ARs violate Hale’s polarity rule. The flare durations are approximately proportional to the distance between the two flare ribbons, to the total magnetic flux inside the ribbons, and to the ribbon area. From our study, one of the parameters that clearly determine whether a given flare event is CME-eruptive or not is the ribbon area normalized by the sunspot area, which may indicate that the structural relationship between the flaring region and the entire AR controls CME productivity. AR characterization shows that even X-class events do not require δ -sunspots or strong-field, high-gradient polarity inversion lines. An investigation of historical observational data suggests the possibility that the largest solar ARs, with magnetic flux of 2 × 10{sup 23} Mx, might be able to produce “superflares” with energies of the order of 10{sup 34} erg. The proportionality between the flare durations and magnetic energies is consistent with stellar flare observations, suggesting a common physical background for solar and stellar flares.

Completeness and Bias Tests of Small Flares in gPhoton M Dwarfs

Science.gov (United States)

Fleming, Scott W.; Million, Chase; Brasseur, Clara; Osten, Rachel A.; Shiao, Bernie; Bianchi, Luciana

2018-01-01

gPhoton is a time-tagged database of more than one trillion calibrated ultraviolet photon events from the ten-year GALEX mission. With the open-source gPhoton software, users can construct images and light curves at user-defined temporal and spatial scales. We have been working on a project to detect stellar flares on M dwarfs observed in GALEX data, with particular focus on smaller flares that have durations between 30 seconds and 30 minutes, and energies between 10^27 and 10^29 ergs. This parameter space is still largely unconstrained in the UV/optical, even with Kepler/K2 data, due to their short durations. We present completeness and reliability tests we are conducting to be able to account for selection and detection bias in our sample, including stellar type, instrument artifacts, sampling bias, and signal-to-noise. The bias-corrected occurrence rate of such flares, which are exponentially more frequent than larger flares already characterized by Kepler and ground-based studies, can be included in future calculations of exoplanet habitability.

Statistical Studies of Solar White-light Flares and Comparisons with Superflares on Solar-type Stars

Science.gov (United States)

Namekata, Kosuke; Sakaue, Takahito; Watanabe, Kyoko; Asai, Ayumi; Maehara, Hiroyuki; Notsu, Yuta; Notsu, Shota; Honda, Satoshi; Ishii, Takako T.; Ikuta, Kai; Nogami, Daisaku; Shibata, Kazunari

2017-12-01

Recently, many superflares on solar-type stars have been discovered as white-light flares (WLFs). The statistical study found a correlation between their energies (E) and durations (τ): τ \\propto {E}0.39, similar to those of solar hard/soft X-ray flares, τ \\propto {E}0.2{--0.33}. This indicates a universal mechanism of energy release on solar and stellar flares, i.e., magnetic reconnection. We here carried out statistical research on 50 solar WLFs observed with Solar Dynamics Observatory/HMI and examined the correlation between the energies and durations. As a result, the E–τ relation on solar WLFs (τ \\propto {E}0.38) is quite similar to that on stellar superflares (τ \\propto {E}0.39). However, the durations of stellar superflares are one order of magnitude shorter than those expected from solar WLFs. We present the following two interpretations for the discrepancy: (1) in solar flares, the cooling timescale of WLFs may be longer than the reconnection one, and the decay time of solar WLFs can be elongated by the cooling effect; (2) the distribution can be understood by applying a scaling law (τ \\propto {E}1/3{B}-5/3) derived from the magnetic reconnection theory. In the latter case, the observed superflares are expected to have 2–4 times stronger magnetic field strength than solar flares.

Flares of Nearby, Mid-to-late M-dwarfs Characterized by the MEarth Project

Science.gov (United States)

Mondrik, Nicholas; Charbonneau, David; Irwin, Jonathan; Newton, Elisabeth R.

2017-01-01

Stellar flares are both a curse and a blessing: Transit and radial velocity searches for exoplanets are hindered by the variability caused by flares, while the characteristics of this variability offer valuable insight into the magnetic properties of the star. We present an analysis of flare events of nearby, mid-to-late M-dwarfs from the MEarth Project. MEarth consists of a northern and a southern array of 8 telescopes each that photometrically monitors most mid-to-late M-dwarfs within 30 parsecs. Although the initial motivation was to search for exoplanet transits, the cadence of approximately 20 minutes is well-suited to capturing long-lived flares. However, MEarth employs a single, wide, red bandpass, which poses challenges to the robust detection of flare events, which are typically bluer in color. Using MEarth data, our team has recently published trigonometric parallaxes and estimates of rotation periods for an unprecedented number of nearby low-mass stars. We also gathered supplementary optical and near infrared spectra of a subset of these stars. We describe here the properties of the flares detected by MEarth, and explore the relation of the presence of flares on individual stars with stellar parameters such as rotational period, mass, and H-alpha equivalent width. We also provide an estimate of flare rate for individual stars by injecting flares into our pipeline.The MEarth project acknowledges funding from the National Science Foundation and the David and Lucile Packard Foundation Fellowship for Science and Engineering. This work was made possible through the support of a grant from the John Templeton Foundation.

Constraining Stellar Coronal Mass Ejections through Multi-wavelength Analysis of the Active M Dwarf EQ Peg

Science.gov (United States)

Crosley, M. K.; Osten, R. A.

2018-03-01

Stellar coronal mass ejections remain experimentally unconstrained, unlike their stellar flare counterparts, which are observed ubiquitously across the electromagnetic spectrum. Low-frequency radio bursts in the form of a type II burst offer the best means of identifying and constraining the rate and properties of stellar CMEs. CME properties can be further improved through the use of proposed solar-stellar scaling relations and multi-wavelength observations of CMEs through the use of type II bursts and the associated flares expected to occur alongside them. We report on 20 hr of observation of the nearby, magnetically active, and well-characterized M dwarf star EQ Peg. The observations are simultaneously observed with the Jansky Very Large Array at their P-band (230–470 MHz) and at the Apache Point observatory in the SDSS u‧ filter (λ = 3557 Å). Dynamic spectra of the P-band data, constructed to search for signals in the frequency-time domains, did not reveal evidence of drifting radio bursts that could be ascribed to type II bursts. Given the sensitivity of our observations, we are able to place limits on the brightness temperature and source size of any bursts that may have occurred. Using solar scaling rations on four observed stellar flares, we predict CME parameters. Given the constraints on coronal density and photospheric field strength, our models suggest that the observed flares would have been insufficient to produce detectable type II bursts at our observed frequencies. We consider the implications of these results, and other recent findings, on stellar mass loss.

KEPLER FLARES. I. ACTIVE AND INACTIVE M DWARFS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hawley, Suzanne L.; Davenport, James R. A.; Kowalski, Adam F.; Wisniewski, John P.; Deitrick, Russell; Hilton, Eric J. [Department of Astronomy, University of Washington, Box 351580, Seattle, WA 98195 (United States); Hebb, Leslie, E-mail: slhawley@uw.edu [Department of Physics, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, 300 Pulteney Street, Geneva, NY 14456 (United States)

2014-12-20

We analyzed Kepler short-cadence M dwarf observations. Spectra from the Astrophysical Research Consortium 3.5 m telescope identify magnetically active (Hα in emission) stars. The active stars are of mid-M spectral type, have numerous flares, and have well-defined rotational modulation due to starspots. The inactive stars are of early M type, exhibit less starspot signature, and have fewer flares. A Kepler to U-band energy scaling allows comparison of the Kepler flare frequency distributions with previous ground-based data. M dwarfs span a large range of flare frequency and energy, blurring the distinction between active and inactive stars designated solely by the presence of Hα. We analyzed classical and complex (multiple peak) flares on GJ 1243, finding strong correlations between flare energy, amplitude, duration, and decay time, with only a weak dependence on rise time. Complex flares last longer and have higher energy at the same amplitude, and higher energy flares are more likely to be complex. A power law fits the energy distribution for flares with log E{sub K{sub p}}> 31 erg, but the predicted number of low-energy flares far exceeds the number observed, at energies where flares are still easily detectable, indicating that the power-law distribution may flatten at low energy. There is no correlation of flare occurrence or energy with starspot phase, the flare waiting time distribution is consistent with flares occurring randomly in time, and the energies of consecutive flares are uncorrelated. These observations support a scenario where many independent active regions on the stellar surface are contributing to the observed flare rate.

KEPLER FLARES. I. ACTIVE AND INACTIVE M DWARFS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hawley, Suzanne L.; Davenport, James R. A.; Kowalski, Adam F.; Wisniewski, John P.; Deitrick, Russell; Hilton, Eric J.; Hebb, Leslie

2014-01-01

We analyzed Kepler short-cadence M dwarf observations. Spectra from the Astrophysical Research Consortium 3.5 m telescope identify magnetically active (Hα in emission) stars. The active stars are of mid-M spectral type, have numerous flares, and have well-defined rotational modulation due to starspots. The inactive stars are of early M type, exhibit less starspot signature, and have fewer flares. A Kepler to U-band energy scaling allows comparison of the Kepler flare frequency distributions with previous ground-based data. M dwarfs span a large range of flare frequency and energy, blurring the distinction between active and inactive stars designated solely by the presence of Hα. We analyzed classical and complex (multiple peak) flares on GJ 1243, finding strong correlations between flare energy, amplitude, duration, and decay time, with only a weak dependence on rise time. Complex flares last longer and have higher energy at the same amplitude, and higher energy flares are more likely to be complex. A power law fits the energy distribution for flares with log E K p > 31 erg, but the predicted number of low-energy flares far exceeds the number observed, at energies where flares are still easily detectable, indicating that the power-law distribution may flatten at low energy. There is no correlation of flare occurrence or energy with starspot phase, the flare waiting time distribution is consistent with flares occurring randomly in time, and the energies of consecutive flares are uncorrelated. These observations support a scenario where many independent active regions on the stellar surface are contributing to the observed flare rate

Flaring red dwarf stars: news from Crimea

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gershberg, Roald E

1998-01-01

Important phenomena are briefly described which have recently been discovered in the Crimean studies of flaring red dwarf stars believed to be the most common type of variable stars in the Galaxy. These phenomena include (i) long-lived radiation from a blueshifted component in the ionized-helium λ 4686 A emission line in the active state of one such star, (ii) a long-lived absorption component in the stellar flare light curves with a lifetime exceeding that of the conventional flare emission, and (iii) solarcycle-like activity periodicity of the star EV Lac, whose mass is only 0.3 solar masses. In theoretical terms, a red dwarf star spot model is constructed which, in contrast to the commonly accepted model, agrees well with the solar spot picture. (physics of our days)

Flaring red dwarf stars: news from Crimea

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gershberg, Roald E [Crimean Astrophysical Observatory, Nauchnyi, Crimea (Ukraine)

1998-08-31

Important phenomena are briefly described which have recently been discovered in the Crimean studies of flaring red dwarf stars believed to be the most common type of variable stars in the Galaxy. These phenomena include (i) long-lived radiation from a blueshifted component in the ionized-helium {lambda} 4686 A emission line in the active state of one such star, (ii) a long-lived absorption component in the stellar flare light curves with a lifetime exceeding that of the conventional flare emission, and (iii) solarcycle-like activity periodicity of the star EV Lac, whose mass is only 0.3 solar masses. In theoretical terms, a red dwarf star spot model is constructed which, in contrast to the commonly accepted model, agrees well with the solar spot picture. (physics of our days)

A VERY BRIGHT, VERY HOT, AND VERY LONG FLARING EVENT FROM THE M DWARF BINARY SYSTEM DG CVn

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Osten, Rachel A. [Space Telescope Science Institute (United States); Kowalski, Adam [U. Md/GSFC (United States); Drake, Stephen A. [USRA/CRESST and NASA/GSFC (United States); Krimm, Hans [USRA/CRESST (United States); Page, Kim [X-ray and Observational Astronomy Group, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leicester, Leicester, LE1 7RH (United Kingdom); Gazeas, Kosmas [Department of Astrophysics, Astronomy and Mechanics, University of Athens, GR-15784 Zografos, Athens (Greece); Kennea, Jamie [Penn State (United States); Oates, Samantha [Instituto de Astrofsica de Andalucía (IAA-CSIC), Glorieta de la Astronomía s/n, E-18008, Granada (Spain); Page, Mathew [Mullard Space Science Laboratory, University College London, Holmbury St. Mary, Dorking RH5 6NT (United Kingdom); De Miguel, Enrique [Departamento de Fisica Aplicada, Facultad de Ciencias Experimentales, Universidad de Huelva, E-21071 Huelva (Spain); Novák, Rudolf [Research Centre for Toxic Compounds in the Environment, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Kamenice 3, 625 00 Brno (Czech Republic); Apeltauer, Tomas [Brno University of Technology, Faculty of Civil Engineering, Veveri 331/95, 602 00 Brno (Czech Republic); Gehrels, Neil, E-mail: osten@stsci.edu [NASA/GSFC (United States)

2016-12-01

On 2014 April 23, the Swift satellite responded to a hard X-ray transient detected by its Burst Alert Telescope, which turned out to be a stellar flare from a nearby, young M dwarf binary DG CVn. We utilize observations at X-ray, UV, optical, and radio wavelengths to infer the properties of two large flares. The X-ray spectrum of the primary outburst can be described over the 0.3–100 keV bandpass by either a single very high-temperature plasma or a nonthermal thick-target bremsstrahlung model, and we rule out the nonthermal model based on energetic grounds. The temperatures were the highest seen spectroscopically in a stellar flare, at T{sub X} of 290 MK. The first event was followed by a comparably energetic event almost a day later. We constrain the photospheric area involved in each of the two flares to be >10{sup 20} cm{sup 2}, and find evidence from flux ratios in the second event of contributions to the white light flare emission in addition to the usual hot, T  ∼ 10{sup 4} K blackbody emission seen in the impulsive phase of flares. The radiated energy in X-rays and white light reveal these events to be the two most energetic X-ray flares observed from an M dwarf, with X-ray radiated energies in the 0.3–10 keV bandpass of 4 × 10{sup 35} and 9 × 10{sup 35} erg, and optical flare energies at E{sub V} of 2.8 × 10{sup 34} and 5.2 × 10{sup 34} erg, respectively. The results presented here should be integrated into updated modeling of the astrophysical impact of large stellar flares on close-in exoplanetary atmospheres.

A Very Bright, Very Hot, and Very Long Flaring Event from the M Dwarf Binary System DG CVn

Science.gov (United States)

Osten, Rachel A.; Kowalski, Adam; Drake, Stephen; Krimm, Hans; Page, Kim; Gazeas, Kosmas; Page, Mathew; Miguel, Enrique De; Novak, Rudolf; Gehrels, Cornelis

2016-01-01

On 2014 April 23, the Swift satellite responded to a hard X-ray transient detected by its Burst Alert Telescope, which turned out to be a stellar flare from a nearby, young M dwarf binary DG CVn. We utilize observations at X-ray, UV, optical, and radio wavelengths to infer the properties of two large flares. The X-ray spectrum of the primary outburst can be described over the 0.3100 kiloelectron volts bandpass by either a single very high-temperature plasma or a nonthermal thick-target bremsstrahlung model, and we rule out the nonthermal model based on energetic grounds. The temperatures were the highest seen spectroscopically in a stellar flare, at T(sub x) of 290 megakelvin. The first event was followed by a comparably energetic event almost a day later. We constrain the photospheric area involved in each of the two flares to be greater than 10(exp 20) sq cm, and find evidence from flux ratios in the second event of contributions to the white light flare emission in addition to the usual hot, T approximately 10(exp 4) K blackbody emission seen in the impulsive phase of flares. The radiated energy in X-rays and white light reveal these events to be the two most energetic X-ray flares observed from an M dwarf, with X-ray radiated energies in the 0.3-10 kiloelectron volts bandpass of 4 x 10(exp 35) and 9 x 10(exp 35) erg, and optical flare energies at E(sub V) of 2.8 x 10(exp 34) and 5.2 x 10(exp 34) erg, respectively. The results presented here should be integrated into updated modeling of the astrophysical impact of large stellar flares on close-in exoplanetary atmospheres.

X-ray observations of solar flares with the Einstein Observatory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schmitt, J.H.M.M.; Fink, H.; Harnden, F.R. Jr.; Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, MA)

1987-01-01

The first Einstein Observatory Imaging Proportional Counter (IPC) observations of solar flares are presented. These flares were detected in scattered X-ray light when the X-ray telescope was pointed at the sunlit earth. The propagation and scattering of solar X-rays in the earth's atmosphere are discussed in order to be able to deduce the solar X-ray flux incident on top of the atmosphere from scattered X-ray intensity measurements. After this correction, the scattered X-ray data are interpreted as full-disk observations of the sun obtained with the same instrumentation used for observations of flares on other stars. Employing the same data analysis and interpretation techniques, extremely good agreement is found between the physical flare parameters deduced from IPC observations and known properties of compact loop flares. This agreement demonstrates that flare observations with the IPC can reveal physical parameters such as temperature and density quite accurately in the solar case and therefore suggests that the interpretations of stellar X-ray flare observations are on a physically sound basis. 26 references

Dwarf Star Erupts in Giant Flare

Science.gov (United States)

2005-01-01

This movie taken by NASA'S Galaxy Evolution Explorer shows one of the largest flares, or star eruptions, ever recorded at ultraviolet wavelengths. The star, called GJ 3685A, just happened to be in the Galaxy Evolution Explorer's field of view while the telescope was busy observing galaxies. As the movie demonstrates, the seemingly serene star suddenly exploded once, then even more intensely a second time, pouring out in total about one million times more energy than a typical flare from our Sun. The second blast of light constituted an increase in brightness by a factor of at least 10,000. Flares are huge explosions of energy stemming from a single location on a star's surface. They are caused by the brief destruction of a star's magnetic fields. Many types of stars experience them, though old, small, rapidly rotating 'red dwarfs' like GJ 3685A tend to flare more frequently and dramatically. These stars, called flare stars, can experience powerful eruptions as often as every few hours. Younger stars, in general, also erupt more often. One of the reasons astronomers study flare stars is to gain a better picture and history of flare events taking place on the Sun. A preliminary analysis of the GJ 3685A flare shows that the mechanisms underlying stellar eruptions may be more complex than previously believed. Evidence for the two most popular flare theories was found. Though this movie has been sped up (the actual flare lasted about 20 minutes), time-resolved data exist for each one-hundredth of a second. These observations were taken at 2 p.m. Pacific time, April 24, 2004. In the still image, the time sequence starts in the upper left panel, continues in the upper right, then moves to the lower left and ends in the lower right. The circular and linear features that appear below and to the right of GJ 3685A during the flare event are detector artifacts caused by the extreme brightness of the flare.

M DWARF FLARES FROM TIME-RESOLVED SLOAN DIGITAL SKY SURVEY SPECTRA

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hilton, Eric J.; Hawley, Suzanne L.; Kowalski, Adam F.; West, Andrew A.

2010-01-01

We have identified 63 flares on M dwarfs from the individual component spectra in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) using a novel measurement of emission-line strength called the Flare Line Index. Each of the ∼38,000 M dwarfs in the SDSS low-mass star spectroscopic sample of West et al. was observed several times (usually 3-5) in exposures that were typically 9-25 minutes in duration. Our criteria allowed us to identify flares that exhibit very strong Hα and Hβ emission-line strength and/or significant variability in those lines throughout the course of the exposures. The flares we identified have characteristics consistent with flares observed by classical spectroscopic monitoring. The flare duty cycle for the objects in our sample is found to increase from 0.02% for early M dwarfs to 3% for late M dwarfs. We find that the flare duty cycle is larger in the population near the Galactic plane and that the flare stars are more spatially restricted than the magnetically active but non-flaring stars. This suggests that flare frequency may be related to stellar age (younger stars are more likely to flare) and that the flare stars are younger than the mean active population.

Stellar activity for every TESS star in the Southern sky

Science.gov (United States)

Howard, Ward S.; Law, Nicholas; Fors, Octavi; Corbett, Henry T.; Ratzloff, Jeff; del Ser, Daniel

2018-01-01

Although TESS will search for Earths around more than 200,000 nearby stars, the life-impacting superflare occurrence of these stars remains poorly characterized. We monitor long-term stellar flare occurrence for every TESS star in the accessible sky at 2-minute cadence with the CTIO-based Evryscope, a combination of twenty-four telescopes, together giving instantaneous sky coverage of 8000 square degrees. In collaboration with Owens Valley Long Wavelength Array (LWA) all-sky monitoring, Evryscope also provides optical counterparts to radio flare, CME, and exoplanet-magnetosphere stellar activity searches. A Northern Evryscope will be installed at Mount Laguna Observatory, CA in collaboration with SDSU later this year, enabling stellar activity characterization for the full TESS target list and both continuous viewing zones, as well as providing 100% overlap with LWA radio activity. Targets of interest (e.g. Proxima Cen, TRAPPIST-1) are given special focus. We are currently sensitive to stellar activity down to 1% precision at g' ~ 10 and about 0.2 of a magnitude at g' ~ 15. With 2-minute cadence and a projected 5-year timeline, with 2+ years already recorded, we present preliminary results from an activity characterization of every Southern TESS target.

Terrestrial aurora: astrophysical laboratory for anomalous abundances in stellar systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

I. Roth

2014-02-01

Full Text Available The unique magnetic structure of the terrestrial aurora as a conduit of information between the ionosphere and magnetosphere can be utilized as a laboratory for physical processes at similar magnetic configurations and applied to various evolutionary phases of the solar (stellar system. The most spectacular heliospheric abundance enhancement involves the 3He isotope and selective heavy elements in impulsive solar flares. In situ observations of electromagnetic waves on active aurora are extrapolated to flaring corona in an analysis of solar acceleration processes of 3He, the only element that may resonate strongly with the waves, as well as heavy ions with specific charge-to-mass ratios, which may resonate weaker via their higher gyroharmonics. These results are applied to two observed anomalous astrophysical abundances: (1 enhanced abundance of 3He and possibly 13C in the late stellar evolutionary stages of planetary nebulae; and (2 enhanced abundance of the observed fossil element 26Mg in meteorites as a decay product of radioactive 26Al isotope due to interaction with the flare-energized 3He in the early solar system.

Coronal seismology waves and oscillations in stellar coronae

CERN Document Server

Stepanov, Alexander; Nakariakov, Valery M

2012-01-01

This concise and systematic account of the current state of this new branch of astrophysics presents the theoretical foundations of plasma astrophysics, magneto-hydrodynamics and coronal magnetic structures, taking into account the full range of available observation techniques -- from radio to gamma. The book discusses stellar loops during flare energy releases, MHD waves and oscillations, plasma instabilities and heating and charged particle acceleration. Current trends and developments in MHD seismology of solar and stellar coronal plasma systems are also covered, while recent p

Lower atmosphere of solar flares; Proceedings of the Solar Maximum Mission Symposium, Sunspot, NM, Aug. 20-24, 1985

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Neidig, D.F.

1986-01-01

The topics discussed by the present conference encompass the chromospheric flare phenomenon, white light flares, UV emission and the flare transition region, the flare corona and high energy emissions, stellar flares, and flare energy release and transport. Attention is given to radiative shocks and condensation in flares, impulsive brightening of H-alpha flare points, the structure and response of the chromosphere to radiation backwarming during solar flares, the interpretation of continuum emissions in white light flares, and the radiation properties of solar plasmas. Also discussed are EUV images of a solar flare and C III intensity, an active region survey in H-alpha and X-rays, dynamic thermal plasma conditions in large flares, the evolution of the flare mechanism in dwarf stars, the evidence concerning electron beams in solar flares, the energetics of the nonlinear tearing mode, macroscopic electric fields during two-ribbon flares, and the low temperature signatures of energetic particles

PLASMA SLOSHING IN PULSE-HEATED SOLAR AND STELLAR CORONAL LOOPS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Reale, F., E-mail: fabio.reale@unipa.it [Dipartimento di Fisica and Chimica, Università di Palermo, Piazza del Parlamento 1, I-90134 Palermo (Italy)

2016-08-01

There is evidence that coronal heating is highly intermittent, and flares are the high energy extreme. The properties of the heat pulses are difficult to constrain. Here, hydrodynamic loop modeling shows that several large amplitude oscillations (∼20% in density) are triggered in flare light curves if the duration of the heat pulse is shorter than the sound crossing time of the flaring loop. The reason for this is that the plasma does not have enough time to reach pressure equilibrium during heating, and traveling pressure fronts develop. The period is a few minutes for typical solar coronal loops, dictated by the sound crossing time in the decay phase. The long period and large amplitude make these oscillations different from typical magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) waves. This diagnostic can be applied both to observations of solar and stellar flares and to future observations of non-flaring loops at high resolution.

Stellar astrophysics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1988-01-01

Enhanced mass loss occurs at critical stages in the evolution of stars over a wide range of stellar mass. Observationally, these stages are difficult to identify because of their short duration and because the star is often obscured by dust which condenses in the ejecta. A study of a G-type star, of which only the outer envelope was directly visible, was undertaken by the South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO). The star itself was obscured by dust clouds and its light was only feebly seen by reflection from some of these clouds. Other studies of the galaxy undertaken by the SAAO include observations of the following: the extreme carbon star IRAS 15194-5115; RV Tauri and T Tauri stars; pre-main sequence stars; the properties of circumstellar dust; rotational modulation and flares on RS CVn and BY Dra stars; heavy-element stars; hydrogen-deficient stars; the open cluster NGC6192; stars in Omega Centauri, and lunar occulations of stars. Simultaneous x-ray, radio and optical data of the flare star YZ CMi were also obtained. 1 fig

ASASSN-16ae: A POWERFUL WHITE-LIGHT FLARE ON AN EARLY-L DWARF

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schmidt, Sarah J.; Shappee, Benjamin J.; Seibert, Mark; Gagné, Jonathan; Stanek, K. Z.; Holoien, Thomas W.-S.; Kochanek, C. S.; Prieto, José L.; Chomiuk, Laura; Strader, Jay; Dong, Subo

2016-01-01

We report the discovery and classification of SDSS J053341.43+001434.1 (SDSS0533), an early-L dwarf first discovered during a powerful Δ V 3.7 × 10"3"4 erg), placing it among the strongest detected M dwarf flares. The presence of this powerful flare on an old L0 dwarf may indicate that stellar-type magnetic activity persists down to the end of the main sequence and on older ML transition dwarfs.

Stellar magnetic activity – Star-Planet Interactions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Poppenhaeger, K.

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Stellar magnetic activity is an important factor in the formation and evolution of exoplanets. Magnetic phenomena like stellar flares, coronal mass ejections, and high-energy emission affect the exoplanetary atmosphere and its mass loss over time. One major question is whether the magnetic evolution of exoplanet host stars is the same as for stars without planets; tidal and magnetic interactions of a star and its close-in planets may play a role in this. Stellar magnetic activity also shapes our ability to detect exoplanets with different methods in the first place, and therefore we need to understand it properly to derive an accurate estimate of the existing exoplanet population. I will review recent theoretical and observational results, as well as outline some avenues for future progress.

Solar flares: invited review at the Royal Astronomical Society's meeting at Armagh, April 5, 1991

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Phillips, K.J.H.

1991-04-01

A solar flare may be defined to be the sudden release of stored magnetic energy in an active region and all the associated radiation, particle, mass-motion, wave and shock-wave phenomena directly resulting from it or triggered by it. In the last few years, solar flares have taken on an extra significance in respect of the fact that outbursts on cool dwarf stars seem to have the same characteristics and are widely assumed to be the same type of phenomenon. The physical mechanism that leads to solar flares, most likely the reconnection of magnetic fields, may well be the one that operates in stellar flares also. In this review, I shall deal with the chief observational facts about flares and associated phenomena, then deal with both interpretations and magnetic field reconnection theories. (Author)

MULTI-WAVELENGTH CHARACTERIZATION OF STELLAR FLARES ON LOW-MASS STARS USING SDSS AND 2MASS TIME-DOMAIN SURVEYS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Davenport, James R. A.; Becker, Andrew C.; Kowalski, Adam F.; Hawley, Suzanne L.; Schmidt, Sarah J.; Hilton, Eric J. [Department of Astronomy, University of Washington, Box 351580, Seattle, WA 98195 (United States); Sesar, Branimir [Division of Physics, Mathematics and Astronomy, Caltech, Pasadena, CA 91125 (United States); Cutri, Roc, E-mail: jrad@astro.washington.edu [Infrared Processing and Analysis Center, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125 (United States)

2012-03-20

We present the first rates of flares from M dwarf stars in both red optical and near-infrared (NIR) filters. We have studied {approx}50,000 M dwarfs from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Stripe 82 area and 1321 M dwarfs from the Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS) Calibration Scan Point Source Working Database that overlap SDSS imaging fields. We assign photometric spectral types from M0 to M6 using (r - i) and (i - z) colors for every star in our sample. Stripe 82 stars each have 50-100 epochs of data, while 2MASS Calibration stars have {approx}1900 epochs. From these data we estimate the observed rates and theoretical detection thresholds for flares in eight photometric bands as a function of spectral type. Optical flare rates are found to be in agreement with previous studies, while the frequency per hour of NIR flare detections is found to be more than two orders of magnitude lower. An excess of small-amplitude flux increases in all bands exhibits a power-law distribution, which we interpret as the result of flares below our detection thresholds. In order to investigate the recovery efficiency for flares in each filter, we extend a two-component flare model into the NIR. Quiescent M0-M6 spectral templates were used with the model to predict the photometric response of flares from u to K{sub s} . We determine that red optical filters are sensitive to flares with u-band amplitudes {approx}>2 mag, and NIR filters to flares with {Delta}u {approx}> 4.5 mag. Our model predicts that M0 stars have the best color contrast for J-band detections, but M4-M6 stars should yield the highest rate of NIR flares with amplitudes of {Delta}J {>=} 0.01 mag. Characterizing flare rates and photometric variations at longer wavelengths is important for predicting the signatures of M dwarf variability in next-generation surveys, and we discuss their impact on surveys such as the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope.

MULTI-WAVELENGTH CHARACTERIZATION OF STELLAR FLARES ON LOW-MASS STARS USING SDSS AND 2MASS TIME-DOMAIN SURVEYS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Davenport, James R. A.; Becker, Andrew C.; Kowalski, Adam F.; Hawley, Suzanne L.; Schmidt, Sarah J.; Hilton, Eric J.; Sesar, Branimir; Cutri, Roc

2012-01-01

We present the first rates of flares from M dwarf stars in both red optical and near-infrared (NIR) filters. We have studied ∼50,000 M dwarfs from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Stripe 82 area and 1321 M dwarfs from the Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS) Calibration Scan Point Source Working Database that overlap SDSS imaging fields. We assign photometric spectral types from M0 to M6 using (r – i) and (i – z) colors for every star in our sample. Stripe 82 stars each have 50-100 epochs of data, while 2MASS Calibration stars have ∼1900 epochs. From these data we estimate the observed rates and theoretical detection thresholds for flares in eight photometric bands as a function of spectral type. Optical flare rates are found to be in agreement with previous studies, while the frequency per hour of NIR flare detections is found to be more than two orders of magnitude lower. An excess of small-amplitude flux increases in all bands exhibits a power-law distribution, which we interpret as the result of flares below our detection thresholds. In order to investigate the recovery efficiency for flares in each filter, we extend a two-component flare model into the NIR. Quiescent M0-M6 spectral templates were used with the model to predict the photometric response of flares from u to K s . We determine that red optical filters are sensitive to flares with u-band amplitudes ∼>2 mag, and NIR filters to flares with Δu ∼> 4.5 mag. Our model predicts that M0 stars have the best color contrast for J-band detections, but M4-M6 stars should yield the highest rate of NIR flares with amplitudes of ΔJ ≥ 0.01 mag. Characterizing flare rates and photometric variations at longer wavelengths is important for predicting the signatures of M dwarf variability in next-generation surveys, and we discuss their impact on surveys such as the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope.

Models of spots and flares

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mullan, D.J.

1983-01-01

Laboratory experiments in recent years have shown that there are many more ways to drive a plasma out of equilibrium than to preserve equilibrium. In that sense, it is perhaps easier to understand why flares should occur in a stellar atmosphere than why a long-lived feature such as a dark spot should persist. The author summarizes work on the equilibrium structure of cool spots in the sun and stars. Since spots involve complex interactions between convective flows and magnetic fields, he needs to refer to observations for help in identifying the dominant processes which should enter into the modelling. His summary therefore begins by discussing certain relevant properties of spots in the solar atmosphere. The next sections deal with the magnetic fields in spots, the stability of spots, spot cooling and missing flux. The author concludes that spots should be viewed not simply as cool areas, but rather as engines which do the work of converting the energy of convective flows into flare-compatible form. (Auth.)

THE FLARE-ONA OF EK DRACONIS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ayres, Thomas R.

2015-01-01

EK Draconis (HD 129333: G1.5 V) is a well-known young (50 Myr) solar analog. In 2012, Hubble Space Telescope returned to EK Dra to follow up a far-ultraviolet (FUV) SNAPshot visit by Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS) two years earlier. The brief SNAP pointing had found surprisingly redshifted, impulsively variable subcoronal “hot-line” emission of Si iv 1400 Å (T ∼ 8 × 10 4 K). Serendipitously, the 2012 follow-on program witnessed one of the largest FUV flares ever recorded on a sunlike star, which again displayed strong redshifts (downflows) of 30–40 km s −1 , even after compensating for small systematics in the COS velocity scales, uncovered through a cross-calibration by Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS). The (now reduced, but still substantial) ∼10 km s −1 hot-line redshifts outside the flaring interval did not vary with rotational phase, so cannot be caused by “Doppler imaging” (bright surface patches near a receding limb). Density diagnostic O iv] 1400 Å multiplet line ratios of EK Dra suggest n e ∼ 10 11 cm −3 , an order of magnitude larger than in low-activity solar twin α Centauri A, but typical of densities inferred in large stellar soft X-ray events. The self-similar FUV hot-line profiles between the flare decay and the subsequent more quiet periods, and the unchanging but high densities, reinforce a long-standing idea that the coronae of hyperactive dwarfs are flaring all the time, in a scale-free way; a flare-ona if you will. In this picture, the subsonic hot-line downflows probably are a byproduct of the post-flare cooling process, something like “coronal rain” on the Sun. All in all, the new STIS/COS program documents a complex, energetic, dynamic outer atmosphere of the young sunlike star

Broadband spectral observation of a dMe star radio flare

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guedel, M.; Benz, A.O.; Fuerst, E.; Simett, G.M.; Davis, R.J.

1989-01-01

A flare on the dMe star AD Leonis was simultaneously observed with the radio telescopes in Effelsberg, Jodrell Bank, and Arecibo using spectrometers at 1665, 166 and 1415 MHz with bandwidths of 25, 100 and 40 MHz respectively. The time coincidence confirms the stellar origin of the radiation. The flare emission was resolved into a multitude of broadband pulsations. The e-folding rise and decay times were of the order of the time resolution of the Effelsberg data (125 ms), or less. The circular polarization was ∼ 100%. Similar bursts, but 4 orders of magnitude less powerful, have been observed from the sun at lower frequencies

ENHANCED OFF-CENTER STELLAR TIDAL DISRUPTIONS BY SUPERMASSIVE BLACK HOLES IN MERGING GALAXIES

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu, F. K.; Chen, Xian

2013-01-01

Off-center stellar tidal disruption flares have been suggested to be a powerful probe of recoiling supermassive black holes (SMBHs) out of galactic centers due to anisotropic gravitational wave radiations. However, off-center tidal flares can also be produced by SMBHs in merging galaxies. In this paper, we computed the tidal flare rates by dual SMBHs in two merging galaxies before the SMBHs become self-gravitationally bounded. We employ an analytical model to calculate the tidal loss-cone feeding rates for both SMBHs, taking into account two-body relaxation of stars, tidal perturbations by the companion galaxy, and chaotic stellar orbits in triaxial gravitational potential. We show that for typical SMBHs with masses 10 7 M ☉ , the loss-cone feeding rates are enhanced by mergers up to Γ ∼ 10 –2 yr –1 , about two orders of magnitude higher than those by single SMBHs in isolated galaxies and about four orders of magnitude higher than those by recoiling SMBHs. The enhancements are mainly due to tidal perturbations by the companion galaxy. We suggest that off-center tidal flares are overwhelmed by those from merging galaxies, making the identification of recoiling SMBHs challenging. Based on the calculated rates, we estimate the relative contributions of tidal flare events by single, binary, and dual SMBH systems during cosmic time. Our calculations show that the off-center tidal disruption flares by un-bound SMBHs in merging galaxies contribute a fraction comparable to that by single SMBHs in isolated galaxies. We conclude that off-center tidal disruptions are powerful tracers of the merging history of galaxies and SMBHs.

THE IMPLICATIONS OF M DWARF FLARES ON THE DETECTION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF EXOPLANETS AT INFRARED WAVELENGTHS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tofflemire, Benjamin M.; Wisniewski, John P.; Kowalski, Adam F.; Schmidt, Sarah J.; Kundurthy, Praveen; Hilton, Eric J.; Hawley, Suzanne L.; Holtzman, Jon A.

2012-01-01

We present the results of an observational campaign which obtained high-cadence, high-precision, simultaneous optical and IR photometric observations of three M dwarf flare stars for 47 hr. The campaign was designed to characterize the behavior of energetic flare events, which routinely occur on M dwarfs, at IR wavelengths to millimagnitude precision, and quantify to what extent such events might influence current and future efforts to detect and characterize extrasolar planets surrounding these stars. We detected and characterized four highly energetic optical flares having U-band total energies of ∼7.8 × 10 30 to ∼1.3 × 10 32 erg, and found no corresponding response in the J, H, or Ks bandpasses at the precision of our data. For active dM3e stars, we find that a ∼1.3 × 10 32 erg U-band flare (ΔU max ∼ 1.5 mag) will induce 31 erg U-band flare (ΔU max ∼ 1.6 mag) will induce <7.8 (J), <8.8 (H), and <5.1 (Ks) mmag of a response. A flare of this energy or greater should occur less than once per 10 hr. No evidence of stellar variability not associated with discrete flare events was observed at the level of ∼3.9 mmag over 1 hr timescales and at the level of ∼5.6 mmag over 7.5 hr timescales. We therefore demonstrate that most M dwarf stellar activity and flares will not influence IR detection and characterization studies of M dwarf exoplanets above the level of ∼5-11 mmag, depending on the filter and spectral type. We speculate that the most energetic megaflares on M dwarfs, which occur at rates of once per month, are likely to be easily detected in IR observations with sensitivity of tens of millimagnitudes. We also discuss how recent detections of line flux enhancements during M dwarf flares could influence IR transmission spectroscopic observations of M dwarf exoplanets.

A search for radio emission from flare stars in the Pleiades

Science.gov (United States)

Bastian, T. S.; Dulk, G. A.; Slee, O. B.

1988-01-01

The VLA has been used to search for radio emission from flare stars in the Pleiades. Two observational strategies were employed. First, about 1/2 sq deg of cluster, containing about 40 known flare stars, was mapped at 1.4 GHz at two epochs. More than 120 sources with flux densities greater than 0.3 mJy exist on the maps. Detailed analysis shows that all but two of these sources are probably extragalactic. The two sources identified as stellar are probably not Pleiades members as judged by their proper motions; rather, based on their colors and magnitudes, they seem to be foreground G stars. One is a known X-ray source. The second observational strategy, where five rapidly rotating flare stars were observed at three frequencies, yielded no detections. The 0.3 mJy flux-density limit of this survey is such that only the most intense outbursts of flare stars in the solar neighborhood could have been detected if those stars were at the distance of the Pleiades.

An unusual microwave flare with 56 second oscillations on the M dwarf L726-8 A

Science.gov (United States)

Gary, D. E.; Dulk, G. A.; Linsky, J. L.

1982-01-01

Using the VLA, an unusual flare event has been observed on L726-8 A (dM5.5e), the primary star in the M dwarf system containing the prototype flare star UV Cet. This flare had a peak flux of 8 mJy at 6 cm and a corresponding brightness temperature greater than 10 to the 10th K, was almost entirely right-hand circularly polarized, showed large flux variations on the 10 s time resolution of the VLA, and exhibited quasi-periodic oscillations with a period of about 56 + or - 5 s. While periodic flux variations have been detected during solar flares and RS CVn type stellar flares, this is apparently the first detection of periodicity in microwaves from M dwarf stars. It is proposed that the observed radiation was due to maser action, probably an electron maser, and that the energy release mechanism was modulated.

Energy spectrum of flares of the UV Cet stars and physical measunings of several statistical characteristics of these stars

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gershberg, R.E.

1985-01-01

Accounting the observed power character of the energy spectrum of flares of the UV Cet-type stars, several statistical characterisitics of there stars are considered. It is shown that a mean amplitude of flares is mainly determined with an amplitude of the faintest flare that can be registered at the star under consideration and therefore - contrary to tradition - the mean flare amplitude cannot be used as a measure of a flare activity of the star. Mean frequencuy of flares registered at a flare star dependes statisticaally certainly ona an absolute magneitude of the star - contary to wide spread belief, true mean frequencies are higher at brighter stars. On the basis of the Cataloque of flare stars in Pleiades by Haro, Chavira and Gonzalez a luminosity function of therese stars is constructed. Using this function and the revealed dependence of flare mean frequencies on stellar absolute magnitudes, a distribution of flare stars in Pleiades along flare mean frequencies is constructed. This shows that the cluster contains flare stars with mean frequencies of photographically registered flares from 10 -4 to 10 -2 hour -1 or within even narrower interval of frequencies and the total number of such stars in the cluster exceeds 1100

The Giant Flares of the Microquasar Cygnus X-3: X-Rays States and Jets

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sergei Trushkin

2017-11-01

Full Text Available We report on two giant radio flares of the X-ray binary microquasar Cyg X-3, consisting of a Wolf–Rayet star and probably a black hole. The first flare occurred on 13 September 2016, 2000 days after a previous giant flare in February 2011, as the RATAN-600 radio telescope daily monitoring showed. After 200 days on 1 April 2017, we detected a second giant flare. Both flares are characterized by the increase of the fluxes by almost 2000-times (from 5–10 to 17,000 mJy at 4–11 GHz during 2–7 days, indicating relativistic bulk motions from the central region of the accretion disk around a black hole. The flaring light curves and spectral evolution of the synchrotron radiation indicate the formation of two relativistic collimated jets from the binaries. Both flares occurred when the source went from hypersoft X-ray states to soft ones, i.e. hard fluxes (Swift/BAT 15–50 keV data dropped to zero, the soft X-ray fluxes (MAXI 2–10 keV data staying high, and then later, the binary came back to a hard state. Both similar giant flares indicated the unchanged mechanism of the jets’ formation in Cyg X-3, probably in conditions of strong stellar wind and powerful accretion onto a black hole.

Flaring fix: better technologies green flaring

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stastny, P.

2004-01-01

Recent advances in reducing solution gas flaring and venting are discussed, highlighting the 2002 report of the Clean Air Strategic Alliance (CASA) and its 39 recommendations targeting a 50 per cent reduction in flaring from a 1996 baseline. Much of the improvement to date (62 per cent at the end of 2002 on an annual basis) has come from collecting and sending gas down pipelines for processing, but improvements in technologies such as incineration, in combustion efficiency, and the use of micro-turbines, also helped to make a difference. Improvements in smokeless flares, through the addition of a special flare tip to flare stacks, has similarly contributed to higher combustion efficiency, and further improvements are expected from sonic flare technology currently under development. Expectations are also high for advances in incinerator technology, particularly enclosed burner systems, which almost completely burn flare gas while having no visible flame, smoke or odor

Discovery of decaHz flaring in SAX J1808.4-3658

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bult P.

2014-01-01

Full Text Available We report on the discovery of strong decaHz flaring in the early decay of two out of five outbursts of the accreting millisecond X-ray pulsar SAX J1808.4-3658. The decaHz flaring switches on and, after ~3 days, off again, on a time scale of 1-2 hours. When the flaring is present, the total 0.05-10 Hz variability has a fractional rms amplitude of 20 to 30 percent, well in excess of the 8 to 12 percent rms broad-band noise usually seen in power spectra of SAX J1808 in this frequency range. Coherent 401 Hz pulsations are seen throughout the observations in which the decaHz flaring is detected. We find that the absolute amplitude of the pulsations varies with the flux modulation of the decaHz flaring, indicating that the flaring is caused by an accretion rate modulation already present in the accretion flow prior to matter entering the accretion funnel. We suggest that the decaHz flaring is the result of the Spruit-Taam instability [1]. This instability arises when the inner accretion disk approaches co-rotation. The rotation of the stellar magnetosphere then acts as a propeller, suppressing accretion onto the neutron star. A matter reservoir forms in the inner accretion disk, which episodically empties onto the neutron star, causing flares at a decaHz timescale. A similar explanation was proposed earlier for 1 Hz flaring occurring late in three of five outbursts, mutually exclusive with the decaHz flaring. The 1 Hz flaring was observed at luminosities a factor 5 to 10 below where we see the decaHz flaring. That a different branch of the Spruit-Taam instability could also act at the much higher luminosity levels of the decaHz flaring had recently been predicted by D’Angelo & Spruit [2, 3]. We discuss these findings in the context of the parameters of the Spruit-Taam-d’Angelo model of the instability. If confirmed, after millisecond pulsations, 1 Hz and decaHz flaring would be another diagnostic of the presence of a magnetosphere in accreting low

THE IMPLICATIONS OF M DWARF FLARES ON THE DETECTION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF EXOPLANETS AT INFRARED WAVELENGTHS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tofflemire, Benjamin M.; Wisniewski, John P.; Kowalski, Adam F.; Schmidt, Sarah J.; Kundurthy, Praveen; Hilton, Eric J.; Hawley, Suzanne L. [Astronomy Department, University of Washington, Box 351580, Seattle, WA 98195 (United States); Holtzman, Jon A., E-mail: tofflb@u.washington.edu, E-mail: jwisnie@u.washington.edu [Department of Astronomy, New Mexico State University, Box 30001, Las Cruces, NM 880033 (United States)

2012-01-15

We present the results of an observational campaign which obtained high-cadence, high-precision, simultaneous optical and IR photometric observations of three M dwarf flare stars for 47 hr. The campaign was designed to characterize the behavior of energetic flare events, which routinely occur on M dwarfs, at IR wavelengths to millimagnitude precision, and quantify to what extent such events might influence current and future efforts to detect and characterize extrasolar planets surrounding these stars. We detected and characterized four highly energetic optical flares having U-band total energies of {approx}7.8 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 30} to {approx}1.3 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 32} erg, and found no corresponding response in the J, H, or Ks bandpasses at the precision of our data. For active dM3e stars, we find that a {approx}1.3 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 32} erg U-band flare ({Delta}U{sub max} {approx} 1.5 mag) will induce <8.3 (J), <8.5 (H), and <11.7 (Ks) mmag of a response. A flare of this energy or greater should occur less than once per 18 hr. For active dM4.5e stars, we find that a {approx}5.1 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 31} erg U-band flare ({Delta}U{sub max} {approx} 1.6 mag) will induce <7.8 (J), <8.8 (H), and <5.1 (Ks) mmag of a response. A flare of this energy or greater should occur less than once per 10 hr. No evidence of stellar variability not associated with discrete flare events was observed at the level of {approx}3.9 mmag over 1 hr timescales and at the level of {approx}5.6 mmag over 7.5 hr timescales. We therefore demonstrate that most M dwarf stellar activity and flares will not influence IR detection and characterization studies of M dwarf exoplanets above the level of {approx}5-11 mmag, depending on the filter and spectral type. We speculate that the most energetic megaflares on M dwarfs, which occur at rates of once per month, are likely to be easily detected in IR observations with sensitivity of tens of millimagnitudes. We also

Statistical properties of correlated solar flares and coronal mass ejections in cycles 23 and 24

Science.gov (United States)

Aarnio, Alicia

2018-01-01

Outstanding problems in understanding early stellar systems include mass loss, angular momentum evolution, and the effects of energetic events on the surrounding environs. The latter of these drives much research into our own system's space weather and the development of predictive algorithms for geomagnetic storms. So dually motivated, we have leveraged a big-data approach to combine two decades of GOES and LASCO data to identify a large sample of spatially and temporally correlated solar flares and CMEs. In this presentation, we revisit the analysis of Aarnio et al. (2011), adding 10 years of data and further exploring the relationships between correlated flare and CME properties. We compare the updated data set results to those previously obtained, and discuss the effects of selecting smaller time windows within solar cycles 23 and 24 on the empirically defined relationships between correlated flare and CME properties. Finally, we discuss a newly identified large sample of potentially interesting correlated flares and CMEs perhaps erroneously excluded from previous searches.

Parameterizations of Chromospheric Condensations in dG and dMe Model Flare Atmospheres

Science.gov (United States)

Kowalski, Adam F.; Allred, Joel C.

2018-01-01

The origin of the near-ultraviolet and optical continuum radiation in flares is critical for understanding particle acceleration and impulsive heating in stellar atmospheres. Radiative-hydrodynamic (RHD) simulations in 1D have shown that high energy deposition rates from electron beams produce two flaring layers at T ∼ 104 K that develop in the chromosphere: a cooling condensation (downflowing compression) and heated non-moving (stationary) flare layers just below the condensation. These atmospheres reproduce several observed phenomena in flare spectra, such as the red-wing asymmetry of the emission lines in solar flares and a small Balmer jump ratio in M dwarf flares. The high beam flux simulations are computationally expensive in 1D, and the (human) timescales for completing NLTE models with adaptive grids in 3D will likely be unwieldy for some time to come. We have developed a prescription for predicting the approximate evolved states, continuum optical depth, and emergent continuum flux spectra of RHD model flare atmospheres. These approximate prescriptions are based on an important atmospheric parameter: the column mass ({m}{ref}) at which hydrogen becomes nearly completely ionized at the depths that are approximately in steady state with the electron beam heating. Using this new modeling approach, we find that high energy flux density (>F11) electron beams are needed to reproduce the brightest observed continuum intensity in IRIS data of the 2014 March 29 X1 solar flare, and that variation in {m}{ref} from 0.001 to 0.02 g cm‑2 reproduces most of the observed range of the optical continuum flux ratios at the peak of M dwarf flares.

KIC 9451096: Magnetic Activity, Flares and Differential Rotation

Science.gov (United States)

Özdarcan, O.; Yoldaş, E.; Dal, H. A.

2018-04-01

We present a spectroscopic and photometric analysis of KIC 9451096. The combined spectroscopic and photometric modelling shows that the system is a detached eclipsing binary in a circular orbit and composed of F5V + K2V components. Subtracting the best-fitting light curve model from the whole long cadence data reveals additional low (mmag) amplitude light variations in time and occasional flares, suggesting a low, but still remarkable level of magnetic spot activity on the K2V component. Analyzing the rotational modulation of the light curve residuals enables us to estimate the differential rotation coefficient of the K2V component as k = 0.069 ± 0.008, which is 3 times weaker compared with the solar value of k = 0.19, assuming a solar type differential rotation. We find the stellar flare activity frequency for the K2V component as 0.000368411 h-1 indicating a low magnetic activity level.

ASASSN-16ae: A POWERFUL WHITE-LIGHT FLARE ON AN EARLY-L DWARF

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schmidt, Sarah J. [Leibniz-Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (AIP), An der Sternwarte 16, D-14482, Potsdam (Germany); Shappee, Benjamin J.; Seibert, Mark [Carnegie Observatories, 813 Santa Barbara Street, Pasadena, CA 91101 (United States); Gagné, Jonathan [Department of Terrestrial Magnetism, Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, DC 20015 (United States); Stanek, K. Z.; Holoien, Thomas W.-S.; Kochanek, C. S. [Department of Astronomy, Ohio State University, 140 West 18th Avenue, Columbus, OH 43210 (United States); Prieto, José L. [Núcleo de Astronomía de la Facultad de Ingenierá, Universidad Diego Portales, Av. Ejército 441, Santiago (Chile); Chomiuk, Laura; Strader, Jay [Department of Physics and Astronomy, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824 (United States); Dong, Subo, E-mail: sjschmidt@aip.de [Kavli Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Peking University, Yi He Yuan Road 5, Hai Dian District, Beijing 100871 (China)

2016-09-10

We report the discovery and classification of SDSS J053341.43+001434.1 (SDSS0533), an early-L dwarf first discovered during a powerful Δ V< −11 magnitude flare observed as part of the ASAS-SN survey. Optical and infrared spectroscopy indicate a spectral type of L0 with strong H α emission and a blue NIR spectral slope. Combining the photometric distance, proper motion, and radial velocity of SDSS0533 yields three-dimensional velocities of ( U , V , W ) = (14 ± 13, −35 ± 14, −94 ± 22) km s{sup −1}, indicating that it is most likely part of the thick disk population and probably old. The three detections of SDSS0533 obtained during the flare are consistent with a total V -band flare energy of at least 4.9 × 10{sup 33} erg (corresponding to a total thermal energy of at least E {sub tot} > 3.7 × 10{sup 34} erg), placing it among the strongest detected M dwarf flares. The presence of this powerful flare on an old L0 dwarf may indicate that stellar-type magnetic activity persists down to the end of the main sequence and on older ML transition dwarfs.

Solar flares

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zirin, H.

1974-01-01

A review of the knowledge about solar flares which has been obtained through observations from the earth and from space by various methods is presented. High-resolution cinematography is best carried out at H-alpha wavelengths to reveal the structure, time history, and location of flares. The classification flares in H alpha according to either physical or morphological criteria is discussed. The study of flare morphology, which shows where, when, and how flares occur, is important for evaluating theories of flares. Consideration is given to studies of flares by optical spectroscopy, radio emissions, and at X-ray and XUV wavelengths. Research has shown where and possibly why flares occur, but the physics of the instability involved, of the particle acceleration, and of the heating are still not understood. (IAA)

Flare energetics

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, S. T.; Dejager, C.; Dennis, B. R.; Hudson, H. S.; Simnett, G. M.; Strong, K. T.; Bentley, R. D.; Bornmann, P. L.; Bruner, M. E.; Cargill, P. J.

1986-01-01

In this investigation of flare energetics, researchers sought to establish a comprehensive and self-consistent picture of the sources and transport of energy within a flare. To achieve this goal, they chose five flares in 1980 that were well observed with instruments on the Solar Maximum Mission, and with other space-borne and ground-based instruments. The events were chosen to represent various types of flares. Details of the observations available for them and the corresponding physical parameters derived from these data are presented. The flares were studied from two perspectives, the impulsive and gradual phases, and then the results were compared to obtain the overall picture of the energics of these flares. The role that modeling can play in estimating the total energy of a flare when the observationally determined parameters are used as the input to a numerical model is discussed. Finally, a critique of the current understanding of flare energetics and the methods used to determine various energetics terms is outlined, and possible future directions of research in this area are suggested.

The evolution of flaring and non-flaring active regions

Science.gov (United States)

Kilcik, A.; Yurchyshyn, V.; Sahin, S.; Sarp, V.; Obridko, V.; Ozguc, A.; Rozelot, J. P.

2018-06-01

According to the modified Zurich classification, sunspot groups are classified into seven different classes (A, B, C, D, E, F and H) based on their morphology and evolution. In this classification, classes A and B, which are small groups, describe the beginning of sunspot evolution, while classes D, E and F describe the large and evolved groups. Class C describes the middle phase of sunspot evolution and the class H describes the end of sunspot evolution. Here, we compare the lifetime and temporal evolution of flaring and non-flaring active regions (ARs), and the flaring effect on ARs in these groups in detail for the last two solar cycles (1996 through 2016). Our main findings are as follows: (i) Flaring sunspot groups have longer lifetimes than non-flaring ones. (ii) Most of the class A, B and C flaring ARs rapidly evolve to higher classes, while this is not applicable for non-flaring ARs. More than 50 per cent of the flaring A, B and C groups changed morphologically, while the remaining D, E, F and H groups did not change remarkably after the flare activity. (iii) 75 per cent of all flaring sunspot groups are large and complex. (iv) There is a significant increase in the sunspot group area in classes A, B, C, D and H after flaring activity. In contrast, the sunspot group area of classes E and F decreased. The sunspot counts of classes D, E and F decreased as well, while classes A, B, C and H showed an increase.

A comparative study between clinical grading of anterior chamber flare and flare reading using the Kowa laser flare meter.

Science.gov (United States)

Konstantopoulou, Kallirroi; Del'Omo, Roberto; Morley, Anne M; Karagiannis, Dimitris; Bunce, Catey; Pavesio, Carlos

2015-10-01

To assess the accuracy of standard clinical grading of aqueous flare in uveitis according to the Standardization of Uveitis Nomenclature consensus, and compare the results with the readings of the laser flare meter, Kowa 500. Two examiners clinically graded the flare in 110 eyes. The flare was then measured using the Kowa laser flare meter. Twenty-nine eyes were graded as anterior chamber flare +2; for 18 of these, the clinicians were in agreement, the rest differed by the order of one grade. The range of the laser flare meter for these eyes was 5.2-899.1 photons/ms. The median value was 41.4. Seventy-four eyes were graded with flare +1. Agreement was established in 51 of these eyes. Disagreement for the rest was again by the order of 1, and the flare meter range was 1.1-169.9 photons/ms, median value 18.4. For the clinical measure of flare 0, the clinicians disagreed on three out of five eyes. The flare meter readings ranged from 2.5 to 14.1 photons/ms, median value 9.9. Only two eyes were graded with flare +3 and there was one step disagreement on both of them. We found little evidence of association between the flare readings and intraocular pressure or age. Our findings suggest that clinical evaluation of aqueous flare is subjective. Compared with the Kowa laser flare meter's numeric readings, the discrepancies observed indicate that clinical grading is an approximate science. The laser flare meter provides an accurate, reproducible, non-invasive assessment of aqueous flare that can prove valuable in research and clinical decisions.

The effect of a strong stellar flare on the atmospheric chemistry of an earth-like planet orbiting an M dwarf.

Science.gov (United States)

Segura, Antígona; Walkowicz, Lucianne M; Meadows, Victoria; Kasting, James; Hawley, Suzanne

2010-09-01

Main sequence M stars pose an interesting problem for astrobiology: their abundance in our galaxy makes them likely targets in the hunt for habitable planets, but their strong chromospheric activity produces high-energy radiation and charged particles that may be detrimental to life. We studied the impact of the 1985 April 12 flare from the M dwarf AD Leonis (AD Leo), simulating the effects from both UV radiation and protons on the atmospheric chemistry of a hypothetical, Earth-like planet located within its habitable zone. Based on observations of solar proton events and the Neupert effect, we estimated a proton flux associated with the flare of 5.9 × 10⁸ protons cm⁻² sr⁻¹ s⁻¹ for particles with energies >10 MeV. Then we calculated the abundance of nitrogen oxides produced by the flare by scaling the production of these compounds during a large solar proton event called the Carrington event. The simulations were performed with a 1-D photochemical model coupled to a 1-D radiative/convective model. Our results indicate that the UV radiation emitted during the flare does not produce a significant change in the ozone column depth of the planet. When the action of protons is included, the ozone depletion reaches a maximum of 94% two years after the flare for a planet with no magnetic field. At the peak of the flare, the calculated UV fluxes that reach the surface, in the wavelength ranges that are damaging for life, exceed those received on Earth during less than 100 s. Therefore, flares may not present a direct hazard for life on the surface of an orbiting habitable planet. Given that AD Leo is one of the most magnetically active M dwarfs known, this conclusion should apply to planets around other M dwarfs with lower levels of chromospheric activity.

Deep Flare Net (DeFN) Model for Solar Flare Prediction

Science.gov (United States)

Nishizuka, N.; Sugiura, K.; Kubo, Y.; Den, M.; Ishii, M.

2018-05-01

We developed a solar flare prediction model using a deep neural network (DNN) named Deep Flare Net (DeFN). This model can calculate the probability of flares occurring in the following 24 hr in each active region, which is used to determine the most likely maximum classes of flares via a binary classification (e.g., ≥M class versus statistically predict flares, the DeFN model was trained to optimize the skill score, i.e., the true skill statistic (TSS). As a result, we succeeded in predicting flares with TSS = 0.80 for ≥M-class flares and TSS = 0.63 for ≥C-class flares. Note that in usual DNN models, the prediction process is a black box. However, in the DeFN model, the features are manually selected, and it is possible to analyze which features are effective for prediction after evaluation.

Flare Energy Release: Internal Conflict, Contradiction with High Resolution Observations, Possible Solutions

Science.gov (United States)

Pustilnik, L.

2017-06-01

All accepted paradigm of solar and stellar flares energy release based on 2 whales: 1. Source of energy is free energy of non-potential force free magnetic field in atmosphere above active region; 2. Process of ultrafast dissipation of magnetic fields is Reconnection in Thin Turbulent Current Sheet (RTTCS). Progress in observational techniques in last years provided ultra-high spatial resolution and in physics of turbulent plasma showed that real situation is much more complicated and standard approach is in contradiction both with observations and with problem of RTTCS stability. We present critical analysis of classic models of pre-flare energy accumulation and its dissipation during flare energy release from pioneer works Giovanelli (1939, 1947) up to topological reconnection. We show that all accepted description of global force-free fields as source of future flare cannot be agreed with discovered in last years fine and ultra-fine current-magnetic structure included numerouse arcs-threads with diameters up to 100 km with constant sequence from photosphere to corona. This magnetic skeleton of thin current magnetic threads with strong interaction between them is main source of reserved magnetic energy insolar atmosphere. Its dynamics will be controlled by percolation of magnetic stresses through network of current-magnetic threads with transition to flare state caused by critical value of global current. We show that thin turbulent current sheet is absolutely unstable configuration both caused by splitting to numerous linear currents by dissipative modes like to tearing, and as sequence of suppress of plasma turbulence caused by anomalous heating of turbulent plasma. In result of these factors primary RTTCS will be disrupted in numerous turbulent and normal plasma domains like to resistors network. Current propagation through this network will have percolation character with all accompanied properties of percolated systems: self-organization with formation power

The Effects of Flare Definitions on the Statistics of Derived Flare Distrubtions

Science.gov (United States)

Ryan, Daniel; Dominique, Marie; Seaton, Daniel B.; Stegen, Koen; White, Arthur

2016-05-01

The statistical examination of solar flares is crucial to revealing their global characteristics and behaviour. However, statistical flare studies are often performed using standard but basic flare detection algorithms relying on arbitrary thresholds which may affect the derived flare distributions. We explore the effect of the arbitrary thresholds used in the GOES event list and LYRA Flare Finder algorithms. We find that there is a small but significant relationship between the power law exponent of the GOES flare peak flux frequency distribution and the algorithms’ flare start thresholds. We also find that the power law exponents of these distributions are not stable but appear to steepen with increasing peak flux. This implies that the observed flare size distribution may not be a power law at all. We show that depending on the true value of the exponent of the flare size distribution, this deviation from a power law may be due to flares missed by the flare detection algorithms. However, it is not possible determine the true exponent from GOES/XRS observations. Additionally we find that the PROBA2/LYRA flare size distributions are clearly non-power law. We show that this is consistent with an insufficient degradation correction which causes LYRA absolute irradiance values to be unreliable. This means that they should not be used for flare statistics or energetics unless degradation is adequately accounted for. However they can be used to study time variations over shorter timescales and for space weather monitoring.

Solar flares

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kaastra, J.S.

1985-01-01

In this thesis an electrodynamic model for solar flares is developed. The main theoretical achievements underlying the present study are treated briefly and the observable flare parameters are described within the framework of the flare model of this thesis. The flare model predicts large induced electric fields. Therefore, acceleration processes of charged particles by direct electric fields are treated. The spectrum of the accelerated particles in strong electric fields is calculated, 3 with the electric field and the magnetic field perpendicular and in the vicinity of an X-type magnetic neutral line. An electromagnetic field configuration arises in the case of a solar flare. A rising current filament in a quiescent background bipolar magnetic field causes naturally an X-type magnetic field configuration below the filament with a strong induced electric field perpendicular to the ambient magnetic field. This field configuration drives particles and magnetic energy towards the neutral line, where a current sheet is generated. The global evolution of the fields in the flare is determined by force balance of the Lorentz forces on the filament and the force balance on the current sheet. The X-ray, optical and radio observations of a large solar flare on May 16, 1981 are analyzed. It is found that these data fit the model very well. (Auth.)

KEPLER FLARES. II. THE TEMPORAL MORPHOLOGY OF WHITE-LIGHT FLARES ON GJ 1243

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Davenport, James R. A.; Hawley, Suzanne L.; Johnson, Emily C.; Peraza, Jesus; Jansen, Tiffany C.; Larsen, Daniel M. [Department of Astronomy, University of Washington, P.O. Box 351580, Seattle, WA 98195 (United States); Hebb, Leslie [Department of Physics, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, 300 Pulteney Street, Geneva, NY 14456 (United States); Wisniewski, John P.; Malatesta, Michael; Keil, Marcus; Silverberg, Steven M.; Scheffler, Matthew S.; Berdis, Jodi R. [HL Dodge Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Oklahoma, 440 W Brooks Street, Norman, OK 73019 (United States); Kowalski, Adam F. [NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Code 671, Greenbelt, MD 20771 (United States); Hilton, Eric J., E-mail: jrad@astro.washington.edu [Universe Sandbox, 911 E. Pike Street #333, Seattle, WA 98122 (United States)

2014-12-20

We present the largest sample of flares ever compiled for a single M dwarf, the active M4 star GJ 1243. Over 6100 individual flare events, with energies ranging from 10{sup 29} to 10{sup 33} erg, are found in 11 months of 1 minute cadence data from Kepler. This sample is unique for its completeness and dynamic range. We have developed automated tools for finding flares in short-cadence Kepler light curves, and performed extensive validation and classification of the sample by eye. From this pristine sample of flares we generate a median flare template. This template shows that two exponential cooling phases are present during the white-light flare decay, providing fundamental constraints for models of flare physics. The template is also used as a basis function to decompose complex multi-peaked flares, allowing us to study the energy distribution of these events. Only a small number of flare events are not well fit by our template. We find that complex, multi-peaked flares occur in over 80% of flares with a duration of 50 minutes or greater. The underlying distribution of flare durations for events 10 minutes and longer appears to follow a broken power law. Our results support the idea that sympathetic flaring may be responsible for some complex flare events.

KEPLER FLARES. II. THE TEMPORAL MORPHOLOGY OF WHITE-LIGHT FLARES ON GJ 1243

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Davenport, James R. A.; Hawley, Suzanne L.; Johnson, Emily C.; Peraza, Jesus; Jansen, Tiffany C.; Larsen, Daniel M.; Hebb, Leslie; Wisniewski, John P.; Malatesta, Michael; Keil, Marcus; Silverberg, Steven M.; Scheffler, Matthew S.; Berdis, Jodi R.; Kowalski, Adam F.; Hilton, Eric J.

2014-01-01

We present the largest sample of flares ever compiled for a single M dwarf, the active M4 star GJ 1243. Over 6100 individual flare events, with energies ranging from 10 29 to 10 33 erg, are found in 11 months of 1 minute cadence data from Kepler. This sample is unique for its completeness and dynamic range. We have developed automated tools for finding flares in short-cadence Kepler light curves, and performed extensive validation and classification of the sample by eye. From this pristine sample of flares we generate a median flare template. This template shows that two exponential cooling phases are present during the white-light flare decay, providing fundamental constraints for models of flare physics. The template is also used as a basis function to decompose complex multi-peaked flares, allowing us to study the energy distribution of these events. Only a small number of flare events are not well fit by our template. We find that complex, multi-peaked flares occur in over 80% of flares with a duration of 50 minutes or greater. The underlying distribution of flare durations for events 10 minutes and longer appears to follow a broken power law. Our results support the idea that sympathetic flaring may be responsible for some complex flare events

Young Stellar Variability of GM Cephei by Circumstellar Dust Clumps

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Po-Chieh; Chen, Wen-Ping; Hu, Chia-Ling; Burkhonov, Otabek; Ehgamberdiev, Shuhrat; Liu, Jinzhong; Naito, Hiroyuki; Pakstiene, Erika; Qvam, Jan Kare Trandem; Rätz, Stefanie; Semkov, Evgeni

2018-04-01

UX Orionis stars are a sub-type of Herbig Ae/be or T Tauri stars exhibiting sporadic extinction of stellar light due to circumstellar dust obscuration. GM Cep is such an UX Orionis star in the young (∼ 4 Myr) open cluster Trumpler 37 at ∼ 900 pc, showing a prominent infrared access, H-alpha emission, and flare activity. Our multi-color photometric monitoring from 2009 to 2016 showed (i) sporadic brightening on a time scale of days due to young stellar accretion, (ii) cyclic, but not strictly periodical, occultation events, each lasting for a couple months, with a probable recurrence time of about two years, (iii) normal dust reddening as the star became redder when dimmer, (iv) the unusual "blueing" phenomena near the brightness minima, during which the star appeared bluer when dimmer, and (v) a noticeable polarization, from 3 to 9 percent in g', r', and i' -bands. The occultation events may be caused by dust clumps, signifying the density inhomogeneity in a young stellar disk from grain coagulation to planetesimal formation. The level of polarization was anti-correlated with the brightness in the bright state, when the dust clump backscattered stellar light. We discussed two potential hypotheses: orbiting dust clumps versus dust clumps along a spiral arm structure.

Stellar Disk Truncations: HI Density and Dynamics

Science.gov (United States)

Trujillo, Ignacio; Bakos, Judit

2010-06-01

Using HI Nearby Galaxy Survey (THINGS) 21-cm observations of a sample of nearby (nearly face-on) galaxies we explore whether the stellar disk truncation phenomenon produces any signature either in the HI gas density and/or in the gas dynamics. Recent cosmological simulations suggest that the origin of the break on the surface brightness distribution is produced by the appearance of a warp at the truncation position. This warp should produce a flaring on the gas distribution increasing the velocity dispersion of the HI component beyond the break. We do not find, however, any evidence of this increase in the gas velocity dispersion profile.

Flare Observations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Benz Arnold O.

2008-02-01

Full Text Available Solar flares are observed at all wavelengths from decameter radio waves to gamma-rays at 100 MeV. This review focuses on recent observations in EUV, soft and hard X-rays, white light, and radio waves. Space missions such as RHESSI, Yohkoh, TRACE, and SOHO have enlarged widely the observational base. They have revealed a number of surprises: Coronal sources appear before the hard X-ray emission in chromospheric footpoints, major flare acceleration sites appear to be independent of coronal mass ejections (CMEs, electrons, and ions may be accelerated at different sites, there are at least 3 different magnetic topologies, and basic characteristics vary from small to large flares. Recent progress also includes improved insights into the flare energy partition, on the location(s of energy release, tests of energy release scenarios and particle acceleration. The interplay of observations with theory is important to deduce the geometry and to disentangle the various processes involved. There is increasing evidence supporting reconnection of magnetic field lines as the basic cause. While this process has become generally accepted as the trigger, it is still controversial how it converts a considerable fraction of the energy into non-thermal particles. Flare-like processes may be responsible for large-scale restructuring of the magnetic field in the corona as well as for its heating. Large flares influence interplanetary space and substantially affect the Earth’s lower ionosphere. While flare scenarios have slowly converged over the past decades, every new observation still reveals major unexpected results, demonstrating that solar flares, after 150 years since their discovery, remain a complex problem of astrophysics including major unsolved questions.

Flare Observations

Science.gov (United States)

Benz, Arnold O.

2017-12-01

Solar flares are observed at all wavelengths from decameter radio waves to gamma-rays beyond 1 GeV. This review focuses on recent observations in EUV, soft and hard X-rays, white light, and radio waves. Space missions such as RHESSI, Yohkoh, TRACE, SOHO, and more recently Hinode and SDO have enlarged widely the observational base. They have revealed a number of surprises: Coronal sources appear before the hard X-ray emission in chromospheric footpoints, major flare acceleration sites appear to be independent of coronal mass ejections, electrons, and ions may be accelerated at different sites, there are at least 3 different magnetic topologies, and basic characteristics vary from small to large flares. Recent progress also includes improved insights into the flare energy partition, on the location(s) of energy release, tests of energy release scenarios and particle acceleration. The interplay of observations with theory is important to deduce the geometry and to disentangle the various processes involved. There is increasing evidence supporting magnetic reconnection as the basic cause. While this process has become generally accepted as the trigger, it is still controversial how it converts a considerable fraction of the energy into non-thermal particles. Flare-like processes may be responsible for large-scale restructuring of the magnetic field in the corona as well as for its heating. Large flares influence interplanetary space and substantially affect the Earth's ionosphere. Flare scenarios have slowly converged over the past decades, but every new observation still reveals major unexpected results, demonstrating that solar flares, after 150 years since their discovery, remain a complex problem of astrophysics including major unsolved questions.

On the possible cyclic recurrence of flare activity of flare stars in the pleiades

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mirzoyan, L.V.; Oganyan, G.V.

1977-01-01

The flare activity of flare stars in Pleiades is investigated. It is shown that according to flare statistics only one half of the probable Pleiades members with low luminosities have flare activity throughout the observation period. Two assumptions are suggested to explain this contradiction with the concept on the evolutionary importance of the flare star phase which all the dwarf stars go through: cyclic nature of the flare activity and large dispersion in flare activity phase durations for equally luminous stars. Certain evidences to support cyclic flare activity assumption are adduced

Fibromyalgia Flares: A Qualitative Analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Vincent, Ann; Whipple, Mary O; Rhudy, Lori M

2016-03-01

Patients with fibromyalgia report periods of symptom exacerbation, colloquially referred to as "flares" and despite clinical observation of flares, no research has purposefully evaluated the presence and characteristics of flares in fibromyalgia. The purpose of this qualitative study was to describe fibromyalgia flares in a sample of patients with fibromyalgia. Using seven open-ended questions, patients were asked to describe how they perceived fibromyalgia flares and triggers and alleviating factors associated with flares. Patients were also asked to describe how a flare differs from their typical fibromyalgia symptoms and how they cope with fibromyalgia flares. Content analysis was used to analyze the text. A total of 44 participants completed the survey. Responses to the seven open-ended questions revealed three main content areas: causes of flares, flare symptoms, and dealing with a flare. Participants identified stress, overdoing it, poor sleep, and weather changes as primary causes of flares. Symptoms characteristic of flares included flu-like body aches/exhaustion, pain, fatigue, and variety of other symptoms. Participants reported using medical treatments, rest, activity and stress avoidance, and waiting it out to cope with flares. Our results demonstrate that periods of symptom exacerbation (i.e., flares) are commonly experienced by patients with fibromyalgia and symptoms of flares can be differentiated from every day or typical symptoms of fibromyalgia. Our study is the first of its kind to qualitatively explore characteristics, causes, and management strategies of fibromyalgia flares. Future studies are needed to quantitatively characterize fibromyalgia flares and evaluate mechanisms of flares. © 2015 American Academy of Pain Medicine. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Implications of NRL/ATM solar flare observations on flare theories

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cheng, C.C.; Spicer, D.S.

1975-01-01

During the Skylab mission, many solar flares were observed with the NRL XUV spectroheliogram in the wavelength region from 150 to 650 A. Because of its high spatial resolution (approximately 2ins.) the three-dimensional structures of the flare emission regions characterized by temperatures from 10 4 K to 20 x 10 6 K can be resolved. Thus the spatial relationship between the relatively cool plasma and the hot plasma components of a flare, and the associated magnetic field structure can be inferred. The implications for various flare models are discussed. (Auth.)

Statistical study of spatio-temporal distribution of precursor solar flares associated with major flares

Science.gov (United States)

Gyenge, N.; Ballai, I.; Baranyi, T.

2016-07-01

The aim of the present investigation is to study the spatio-temporal distribution of precursor flares during the 24 h interval preceding M- and X-class major flares and the evolution of follower flares. Information on associated (precursor and follower) flares is provided by Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI). Flare list, while the major flares are observed by the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) system satellites between 2002 and 2014. There are distinct evolutionary differences between the spatio-temporal distributions of associated flares in about one-day period depending on the type of the main flare. The spatial distribution was characterized by the normalized frequency distribution of the quantity δ (the distance between the major flare and its precursor flare normalized by the sunspot group diameter) in four 6 h time intervals before the major event. The precursors of X-class flares have a double-peaked spatial distribution for more than half a day prior to the major flare, but it changes to a lognormal-like distribution roughly 6 h prior to the event. The precursors of M-class flares show lognormal-like distribution in each 6 h subinterval. The most frequent sites of the precursors in the active region are within a distance of about 0.1 diameter of sunspot group from the site of the major flare in each case. Our investigation shows that the build-up of energy is more effective than the release of energy because of precursors.

Temporal and Periodic Variations of Sunspot Counts in Flaring and Non-Flaring Active Regions

Science.gov (United States)

Kilcik, A.; Yurchyshyn, V.; Donmez, B.; Obridko, V. N.; Ozguc, A.; Rozelot, J. P.

2018-04-01

We analyzed temporal and periodic variations of sunspot counts (SSCs) in flaring (C-, M-, or X-class flares), and non-flaring active regions (ARs) for nearly three solar cycles (1986 through 2016). Our main findings are as follows: i) temporal variations of monthly means of the daily total SSCs in flaring and non-flaring ARs behave differently during a solar cycle and the behavior varies from one cycle to another; during Solar Cycle 23 temporal SSC profiles of non-flaring ARs are wider than those of flaring ARs, while they are almost the same during Solar Cycle 22 and the current Cycle 24. The SSC profiles show a multi-peak structure and the second peak of flaring ARs dominates the current Cycle 24, while the difference between peaks is less pronounced during Solar Cycles 22 and 23. The first and second SSC peaks of non-flaring ARs have comparable magnitude in the current solar cycle, while the first peak is nearly absent in the case of the flaring ARs of the same cycle. ii) Periodic variations observed in the SSCs profiles of flaring and non-flaring ARs derived from the multi-taper method (MTM) spectrum and wavelet scalograms are quite different as well, and they vary from one solar cycle to another. The largest detected period in flaring ARs is 113± 1.6 days while we detected much longer periodicities (327± 13, 312 ± 11, and 256± 8 days) in the non-flaring AR profiles. No meaningful periodicities were detected in the MTM spectrum of flaring ARs exceeding 55± 0.7 days during Solar Cycles 22 and 24, while a 113± 1.3 days period was detected in flaring ARs of Solar Cycle 23. For the non-flaring ARs the largest detected period was only 31± 0.2 days for Cycle 22 and 72± 1.3 days for the current Cycle 24, while the largest measured period was 327± 13 days during Solar Cycle 23.

Solar Flares: Magnetohydrodynamic Processes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kazunari Shibata

2011-12-01

Full Text Available This paper outlines the current understanding of solar flares, mainly focused on magnetohydrodynamic (MHD processes responsible for producing a flare. Observations show that flares are one of the most explosive phenomena in the atmosphere of the Sun, releasing a huge amount of energy up to about 10^32 erg on the timescale of hours. Flares involve the heating of plasma, mass ejection, and particle acceleration that generates high-energy particles. The key physical processes for producing a flare are: the emergence of magnetic field from the solar interior to the solar atmosphere (flux emergence, local enhancement of electric current in the corona (formation of a current sheet, and rapid dissipation of electric current (magnetic reconnection that causes shock heating, mass ejection, and particle acceleration. The evolution toward the onset of a flare is rather quasi-static when free energy is accumulated in the form of coronal electric current (field-aligned current, more precisely, while the dissipation of coronal current proceeds rapidly, producing various dynamic events that affect lower atmospheres such as the chromosphere and photosphere. Flares manifest such rapid dissipation of coronal current, and their theoretical modeling has been developed in accordance with observations, in which numerical simulations proved to be a strong tool reproducing the time-dependent, nonlinear evolution of a flare. We review the models proposed to explain the physical mechanism of flares, giving an comprehensive explanation of the key processes mentioned above. We start with basic properties of flares, then go into the details of energy build-up, release and transport in flares where magnetic reconnection works as the central engine to produce a flare.

Elongation of Flare Ribbons

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Qiu, Jiong; Longcope, Dana W. [Department of Physics, Montana State University, Bozeman MT (United States); Cassak, Paul A. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, West Virginia University, Morgantown WV (United States); Priest, Eric R. [School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of St. Andrews, Fife KY16 9SS, Scotland (United Kingdom)

2017-03-20

We present an analysis of the apparent elongation motion of flare ribbons along the polarity inversion line (PIL), as well as the shear of flare loops in several two-ribbon flares. Flare ribbons and loops spread along the PIL at a speed ranging from a few to a hundred km s{sup −1}. The shear measured from conjugate footpoints is consistent with the measurement from flare loops, and both show the decrease of shear toward a potential field as a flare evolves and ribbons and loops spread along the PIL. Flares exhibiting fast bidirectional elongation appear to have a strong shear, which may indicate a large magnetic guide field relative to the reconnection field in the coronal current sheet. We discuss how the analysis of ribbon motion could help infer properties in the corona where reconnection takes place.

Magnetic transients in flares

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zirin, H.; Tanaka, K.

1981-01-01

We present data on magnetic transients (mgtr's) observed in flares on 1980 July 1 and 5 with Big Bear videomagnetograph (VMG). The 1980 July 1 event was a white light flare in which a strong bipolar mgtr was observed, and a definite change in the sunspots occurred at the time of the flare. In the 1980 July 5 flare, a mgtr was observed in only one polarity, and, although no sunspot changes occurred simultaneous with the flare, major spot changes occurred in a period of hours

Planetary Protection: X-ray Super-Flares Aid Formation of "Solar Systems"

Science.gov (United States)

2005-05-01

New results from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory imply that X-ray super-flares torched the young Solar System. Such flares likely affected the planet-forming disk around the early Sun, and may have enhanced the survival chances of Earth. By focusing on the Orion Nebula almost continuously for 13 days, a team of scientists used Chandra to obtain the deepest X-ray observation ever taken of this or any star cluster. The Orion Nebula is the nearest rich stellar nursery, located just 1,500 light years away. These data provide an unparalleled view of 1400 young stars, 30 of which are prototypes of the early Sun. The scientists discovered that these young suns erupt in enormous flares that dwarf - in energy, size, and frequency -- anything seen from the Sun today. Illustration of Large Flares Illustration of Large Flares "We don't have a time machine to see how the young Sun behaved, but the next best thing is to observe Sun-like stars in Orion," said Scott Wolk of Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Mass. "We are getting a unique look at stars between one and 10 million years old - a time when planets form." A key result is that the more violent stars produce flares that are a hundred times as energetic as the more docile ones. This difference may specifically affect the fate of planets that are relatively small and rocky, like the Earth. "Big X-ray flares could lead to planetary systems like ours where Earth is a safe distance from the Sun," said Eric Feigelson of Penn State University in University Park, and principal investigator for the international Chandra Orion Ultradeep Project. "Stars with smaller flares, on the other hand, might end up with Earth-like planets plummeting into the star." Animation of X-ray Flares from a Young Sun Animation of X-ray Flares from a "Young Sun" According to recent theoretical work, X-ray flares can create turbulence when they strike planet-forming disks, and this affects the position of rocky planets as they

Solar flares

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brown, J.C.; Smith, D.F.

1980-01-01

The current observational and theoretical status of solar flares as a typical astrophysical problem is reviewed with especial reference to the intense and complex energy release in large flares. Observations and their diagnostic applications are discussed in three broad areas: thermal radiation at temperatures T 5 K; thermal radiation at T > approximately 10 5 K; and non-thermal radiation and particles. Particular emphasis is given to the most recent observational discoveries such as flare γ-rays, interplanetary Langmuir waves, and the ubiquitous association of soft x-ray loops with flares, and also the progress in particle diagnostics of hard x-ray and radio bursts. The theoretical problems of primary energy release are considered in terms of both possible magnetic configuration and in plasma instabilities and the question of achieving the necessary flash power discussed. The credibility of models for the secondary redistribution through the atmosphere of the primary magnetic energy released in terms of conduction, convection, radiation and particle transport is examined. Progress made in the flare problem in the past decade is assessed and some possible reasons why no convincing solution has yet been found are considered. 296 references. (U.K.)

On the signatures of flare-induced global waves in the Sun: GOLF and VIRGO observations

Science.gov (United States)

Kumar, Brajesh; Mathur, Savita; García, Rafael A.; Jiménez, Antonio

2017-11-01

Recently, several efforts have been made to identify the seismic signatures of flares and magnetic activity in the Sun and Sun-like stars. In this work, we have analysed the disc-integrated velocity and intensity observations of the Sun obtained from the Global Oscillations at Low Frequencies (GOLF) and Variability of solar IRradiance and Gravity Oscillations/Sun photometers (VIRGO/SPM) instruments, respectively, on board the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory space mission covering several successive flare events, for the period from 2011 February 11 to 2011 February 17, of which 2011 February 11 remained a relatively quiet day and served as a `null test' for the investigation. Application of the spectral analysis to these disc-integrated Sun-as-a-star velocity and intensity signals indicates that there is enhanced power of the global modes of oscillations in the Sun during the flares, as compared to the quiet day. The GOLF instrument obtains velocity observations using the Na I D lines which are formed in the upper solar photosphere, while the intensity data used in our analysis are obtained by VIRGO/SPM instrument at 862 nm, which is formed within the solar photosphere. Despite the fact that the two instruments sample different layers of the solar atmosphere using two different parameters (velocity versus intensity), we have found that both these observations show the signatures of flare-induced global waves in the Sun. These results could suffice in identifying the asteroseismic signatures of stellar flares and magnetic activity in the Sun-like stars.

Recent big flare

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Moriyama, Fumio; Miyazawa, Masahide; Yamaguchi, Yoshisuke

1978-01-01

The features of three big solar flares observed at Tokyo Observatory are described in this paper. The active region, McMath 14943, caused a big flare on September 16, 1977. The flare appeared on both sides of a long dark line which runs along the boundary of the magnetic field. Two-ribbon structure was seen. The electron density of the flare observed at Norikura Corona Observatory was 3 x 10 12 /cc. Several arc lines which connect both bright regions of different magnetic polarity were seen in H-α monochrome image. The active region, McMath 15056, caused a big flare on December 10, 1977. At the beginning, several bright spots were observed in the region between two main solar spots. Then, the area and the brightness increased, and the bright spots became two ribbon-shaped bands. A solar flare was observed on April 8, 1978. At first, several bright spots were seen around the solar spot in the active region, McMath 15221. Then, these bright spots developed to a large bright region. On both sides of a dark line along the magnetic neutral line, bright regions were generated. These developed to a two-ribbon flare. The time required for growth was more than one hour. A bright arc which connects two ribbons was seen, and this arc may be a loop prominence system. (Kato, T.)

Time-resolved UVES observations of a stellar flare on the planet host HD 189733 during primary transit

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Klocová, Tereza; Czesla, S.; Khalafinejad, S.; Wolter, U.; Schmitt, J.H.M.M.

2017-01-01

Roč. 607, November (2017), A66/1-A66/12 E-ISSN 1432-0746 Institutional support: RVO:67985815 Keywords : stars * chromospheres * flare Subject RIV: BN - Astronomy, Celestial Mechanics, Astrophysics OBOR OECD: Astronomy (including astrophysics,space science) Impact factor: 5.014, year: 2016

Identifying flares in rheumatoid arthritis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bykerk, Vivian P; Bingham, Clifton O; Choy, Ernest H

2016-01-01

to flare, with escalation planned in 61%. CONCLUSIONS: Flares are common in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and are often preceded by treatment reductions. Patient/MD/DAS agreement of flare status is highest in patients worsening from R/LDA. OMERACT RA flare questions can discriminate between patients with...... Set. METHODS: Candidate flare questions and legacy measures were administered at consecutive visits to Canadian Early Arthritis Cohort (CATCH) patients between November 2011 and November 2014. The American College of Rheumatology (ACR) core set indicators were recorded. Concordance to identify flares...

Solar flare impulsivity and its relationship with white-light flares and with CMEs

Science.gov (United States)

Watanabe, K.; Masuda, S.

2017-12-01

There are many types of classification in solar flares. One of them is a classification by flare duration in soft X-rays; so-called impulsive flare and long duration event (LDE). Typically, the duration of an impulsive flare is shorter than 1 hour, and that of an LDE is longer than 1 hour. These two types of flare show different characteristics. In soft X-rays, impulsive flares usually have a compact loop structure. On the other hand, LDEs show a large-scale loop, sometimes a large arcade structure. In hard X-rays (HXRs), the difference appears clear, too. The former shows a strong and short-time (10 minutes) emissions and show a large coronal source. These facts suggest that HXR observation becomes one of a good indicator to classify solar flares, especially for the study on the particle acceleration and the related phenomena. However, HXR data do not always exist due to the satellite orbit and the small sensitivity of HXR instruments. So, in this study, based on the concept of the Neupert effect (Neupert, 1968), we use soft X-ray derivative data as the proxy of HXR. From this data, we define impulsivity (IP) for each flare. Then we investigate solar flares using this new index. First we apply IP index to white-light flare (WLF) research. We investigate how WL enhancement depends on IP, then it is found that WLF tend to have large IP values. So the flare impulsivity (IP) is one of the important factors if WL enhancement appears or not in a solar flare. Next we investigate how CME itself and/or its physical parameters depend on IP index. It has been believed that most of CMEs are associated with LDEs, but we found that there is only a weak correlation between the existence of CME and IP index. Finally, we also search for the relationship between WLF and CME as a function of IP and discuss the physical condition of WLF.

Colliding Stellar Winds Structure and X-ray Emission

Science.gov (United States)

Pittard, J. M.; Dawson, B.

2018-04-01

We investigate the structure and X-ray emission from the colliding stellar winds in massive star binaries. We find that the opening angle of the contact discontinuity (CD) is overestimated by several formulae in the literature at very small values of the wind momentum ratio, η. We find also that the shocks in the primary (dominant) and secondary winds flare by ≈20° compared to the CD, and that the entire secondary wind is shocked when η ≲ 0.02. Analytical expressions for the opening angles of the shocks, and the fraction of each wind that is shocked, are provided. We find that the X-ray luminosity Lx∝η, and that the spectrum softens slightly as η decreases.

Spectral features of tidal disruption candidates and alternative origins for such transient flares

Science.gov (United States)

Saxton, Curtis J.; Perets, Hagai B.; Baskin, Alexei

2018-03-01

UV and optically selected candidates for stellar tidal disruption events (TDEs) often exhibit broad spectral features (He II emission, H α emission, or absorption lines) on a blackbody-like continuum (104 K≲ T≲ 105 K). The lines presumably emit from TDE debris or circumnuclear clouds photoionized by the flare. Line velocities however are much lower than expected from a stellar disruption by supermassive black hole (SMBH), and are somewhat faster than expected for the broad line region (BLR) clouds of a persistently active galactic nucleus (AGN). The distinctive spectral states are not strongly related to observed luminosity and velocity, nor to SMBH mass estimates. We use exhaustive photoionization modelling to map the domain of fluxes and cloud properties that yield (e.g.) an He-overbright state where a large He II(4686 Å)/H α line ratio creates an illusion of helium enrichment. Although observed line ratios occur in a plausible minority of cases, AGN-like illumination cannot reproduce the observed equivalent widths. We therefore propose to explain these properties by a light-echo photoionization model: the initial flash of a hot blackbody (detonation) excites BLR clouds, which are then seen superimposed on continuum from a later, expanded, cooled stage of the luminous source. The implied cloud mass is substellar, which may be inconsistent with a TDE. Given these and other inconsistencies with TDE models (e.g. host-galaxies distribution) we suggest to also consider alternative origins for these nuclear flares, which we briefly discuss (e.g. nuclear supernovae and starved/subluminous AGNs).

THE TIDAL DISRUPTION OF GIANT STARS AND THEIR CONTRIBUTION TO THE FLARING SUPERMASSIVE BLACK HOLE POPULATION

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

MacLeod, Morgan; Guillochon, James; Ramirez-Ruiz, Enrico

2012-01-01

Sun-like stars are thought to be regularly disrupted by supermassive black holes (SMBHs) within galactic nuclei. Yet, as stars evolve off the main sequence their vulnerability to tidal disruption increases drastically as they develop a bifurcated structure consisting of a dense core and a tenuous envelope. Here we present the first hydrodynamic simulations of the tidal disruption of giant stars and show that the core has a substantial influence on the star's ability to survive the encounter. Stars with more massive cores retain large fractions of their envelope mass, even in deep encounters. Accretion flares resulting from the disruption of giant stars should last for tens to hundreds of years. Their characteristic signature in transient searches would not be the t –5/3 decay typically associated with tidal disruption events, but a correlated rise over many orders of magnitude in brightness on timescales of months to years. We calculate the relative disruption rates of stars of varying evolutionary stages in typical galactic centers, then use our results to produce Monte Carlo realizations of the expected flaring event populations. We find that the demographics of tidal disruption flares are strongly dependent on both stellar and black hole mass, especially near the limiting SMBH mass scale of ∼10 8 M ☉ . At this black hole mass, we predict a sharp transition in the SMBH flaring diet beyond which all observable disruptions arise from evolved stars, accompanied by a dramatic cutoff in the overall tidal disruption flaring rate. Black holes less massive than this limiting mass scale will show observable flares from both main-sequence and evolved stars, with giants contributing up to 10% of the event rate. The relative fractions of stars disrupted at different evolutionary states can constrain the properties and distributions of stars in galactic nuclei other than our own.

Solar Flares and Their Prediction

Science.gov (United States)

Adams, Mitzi L.

1999-01-01

Solar flares and coronal mass ejection's (CMES) can strongly affect the local environment at the Earth. A major challenge for solar physics is to understand the physical mechanisms responsible for the onset of solar flares. Flares, characterized by a sudden release of energy (approx. 10(exp 32) ergs for the largest events) within the solar atmosphere, result in the acceleration of electrons, protons, and heavier ions as well as the production of electromagnetic radiation from hard X-rays to km radio waves (wavelengths approx. = 10(exp -9) cm to 10(exp 6) cm). Observations suggest that solar flares and sunspots are strongly linked. For example, a study of data from 1956-1969, reveals that approx. 93 percent of major flares originate in active regions with spots. Furthermore, the global structure of the sunspot magnetic field can be correlated with flare activity. This talk will review what we know about flare causes and effects and will discuss techniques for quantifying parameters, which may lead to a prediction of solar flares.

How flares can be understood

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Severny, A.B.

1977-01-01

Specific features of the flare phenomenon which are important for understanding of flares are the following: (1) Fine structure of visible emission of flares, especially at the very beginning and in the pre-flare active region. This structure can be seen also in later stages of development as bright points, some of which exist from the flare beginning (Babin's observations at Crimea, 1972-1976). (2) Turbulent motion with velocities up to 250-300 km s -1 as can be estimated from broadening of emission lines. (3) Predominantly red asymmetry of emission lines in the explosive phase and during further development of flares. (4) 'Supersonic' velocities and supergravitational accelerations of separate moving masses of the flare plasma. (5) The appearance of flares in areas with high grad H, exceeding 0.1 G km -1 which is equivalent to regions of electric currents > approximately 10 11 A. (6) Strong variations of net magnetic flux through the active region, as it follows from Meudon, Crimean, and Sacramento Peak (Rust's) observations. (Auth.)

Solar neighbourhood flare stars - a review

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kunkel, W.E.

1975-01-01

The review concentrates on 'astronomical' aspects of flare activity, such as where, and under what circumstances flare activity is found in the solar vicinity. Non-classical activity is briefly described (without regard for completeness) and the influence of detection effects on flare observations is treated. Flare stars discovered during the last four years are described and flare activity of local dMe stars is compared. The BY Draconis syndrome is discussed followed by some remarks about rotation. Pleiades flare activity is compared to that of the solar neighbourhood and evidence for the evolution of flare activity in stars is examined. (Auth.)

Anomalous Temporal Behaviour of Broadband Ly Alpha Observations During Solar Flares from SDO/EVE

Science.gov (United States)

Milligan, Ryan O.; Chamberlin, Phillip C.

2016-01-01

Although it is the most prominent emission line in the solar spectrum, there has been a notable lack of studies devoted to variations in Lyman-alpha (Ly-alpha) emission during solar flares in recent years. However, the few examples that do exist have shown Ly-alpha emission to be a substantial radiator of the total energy budget of solar flares (of the order of 10 percent). It is also a known driver of fluctuations in the Earth's ionosphere. The EUV (Extreme Ultra-Violet) Variability Experiment (EVE) on board the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) now provides broadband, photometric Ly-alpha data at 10-second cadence with its Multiple EUV Grating Spectrograph-Photometer (MEGS-P) component, and has observed scores of solar flares in the 5 years since it was launched. However, the MEGS-P time profiles appear to display a rise time of tens of minutes around the time of the flare onset. This is in stark contrast to the rapid, impulsive increase observed in other intrinsically chromospheric features (H-alpha, Ly-beta, LyC, C III, etc.). Furthermore, the emission detected by MEGS-P peaks around the time of the peak of thermal soft X-ray emission and not during the impulsive phase when energy deposition in the chromosphere (often assumed to be in the form of non-thermal electrons) is greatest. The time derivative of Ly-alpha lightcurves also appears to resemble that of the time derivative of soft X-rays, reminiscent of the Neupert effect. Given that spectrally-resolved Ly-alpha observations during flares from SORCE / SOLSTICE (Solar Radiation and Climate Experiment / Solar Stellar Irradiance Comparison Experiment) peak during the impulsive phase as expected, this suggests that the atypical behaviour of MEGS-P data is a manifestation of the broadband nature of the observations. This could imply that other lines andor continuum emission that becomes enhanced during flares could be contributing to the passband. Users are hereby urged to exercise caution when interpreting

Response of Atmospheric Biomarkers to NOx-Induced Photochemistry Generated by Stellar Cosmic Rays for Earth-like Planets in the Habitable Zone of M Dwarf Stars

Science.gov (United States)

Grießmeier, Jean-Mathias; von Paris, Philip; Patzer, A. Beate C.; Lammer, Helmut; Stracke, Barbara; Gebauer, Stefanie; Schreier, Franz; Rauer, Heike

2012-01-01

Abstract Understanding whether M dwarf stars may host habitable planets with Earth-like atmospheres and biospheres is a major goal in exoplanet research. If such planets exist, the question remains as to whether they could be identified via spectral signatures of biomarkers. Such planets may be exposed to extreme intensities of cosmic rays that could perturb their atmospheric photochemistry. Here, we consider stellar activity of M dwarfs ranging from quiet up to strong flaring conditions and investigate one particular effect upon biomarkers, namely, the ability of secondary electrons caused by stellar cosmic rays to break up atmospheric molecular nitrogen (N2), which leads to production of nitrogen oxides (NOx) in the planetary atmosphere, hence affecting biomarkers such as ozone (O3). We apply a stationary model, that is, without a time dependence; hence we are calculating the limiting case where the atmospheric chemistry response time of the biomarkers is assumed to be slow and remains constant compared with rapid forcing by the impinging stellar flares. This point should be further explored in future work with time-dependent models. We estimate the NOx production using an air shower approach and evaluate the implications using a climate-chemical model of the planetary atmosphere. O3 formation proceeds via the reaction O+O2+M→O3+M. At high NOx abundances, the O atoms arise mainly from NO2 photolysis, whereas on Earth this occurs via the photolysis of molecular oxygen (O2). For the flaring case, O3 is mainly destroyed via direct titration, NO+O3→NO2+O2, and not via the familiar catalytic cycle photochemistry, which occurs on Earth. For scenarios with low O3, Rayleigh scattering by the main atmospheric gases (O2, N2, and CO2) became more important for shielding the planetary surface from UV radiation. A major result of this work is that the biomarker O3 survived all the stellar-activity scenarios considered except for the strong case, whereas the biomarker

Flares on a Bp Star

Science.gov (United States)

Mullan, D. J.

2009-09-01

Two large X-ray flares have been reported from the direction of a magnetic B2p star (σ Ori E). Sanz-Forcada et al. have suggested that the flares did not occur on the B2p star but on a companion of late spectral type. A star which is a candidate for a late-type flare star near σ Ori E has recently been identified by Bouy et al. However, based on the properties of the flares, and based on a recent model of rotating magnetospheres, we argue that, rather than attributing the two flares to a late-type dwarf, it is a viable hypothesis that the flares were magnetic phenomena associated with the rotating magnetosphere of the B2p star itself.

FLARES ON A Bp STAR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mullan, D. J.

2009-01-01

Two large X-ray flares have been reported from the direction of a magnetic B2p star (σ Ori E). Sanz-Forcada et al. have suggested that the flares did not occur on the B2p star but on a companion of late spectral type. A star which is a candidate for a late-type flare star near σ Ori E has recently been identified by Bouy et al. However, based on the properties of the flares, and based on a recent model of rotating magnetospheres, we argue that, rather than attributing the two flares to a late-type dwarf, it is a viable hypothesis that the flares were magnetic phenomena associated with the rotating magnetosphere of the B2p star itself.

Kepler Data on KIC 7341653: A Nearby M Dwarf with Monster Flares and a Phase-coherent Variability

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Makarov, Valeri V. [US Naval Observatory, 3450 Massachusetts Ave. NW, Washington DC 20392-5420 (United States); Goldin, Alexey, E-mail: valeri.makarov@navy.mil, E-mail: alexey.goldin@gmail.com [Teza Technology, 150 N Michigan Ave., Chicago IL 60601 (United States)

2017-08-20

KIC 7341653 is one of several late-type M dwarfs observed by the main mission of Kepler with peculiar infrared colors placing them in the domain of suspected young stellar objects (YSO). It is likely associated with a powerful X-ray emitter with X-ray flares. Kepler light curves reveal two distinct types of activity: frequent flares lasting from less than 30 minutes to a few hours, and a periodic variability with a period of 0.5463441(7) days. The largest detected flare increased the flux in the Kepler passband by a factor of 2.8 and released an estimated 4 × 10{sup 34} erg of energy in the Kepler band. Segmented periodogram analysis reveals that the amplitude of the periodic variation was subject to secular changes, dropping from peak values around 20 ppt to below 5 ppt toward the end of the mission, while the phase varied periodically with an amplitude of 0.15 rad and period 362(3) days. Two possible interpretations of the phase periodicity are discussed: a migrating long-lived photospheric spot, and a Doppler frequency shift generated by a solar-mass faint companion, such as a white dwarf.

Design alternatives, components key to optimum flares

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cunha-Leite, O.

1992-01-01

A properly designed flare works as an emissions control system with greater than 98% combustion efficiency. The appropriate use of steam, natural gas, and air-assisted flare tips can result in smokeless combustion. Ground flare, otherwise the elevated flare is commonly chosen because it handles larger flow releases more economically. Flaring has become more complicated than just lighting up waste gas. Companies are increasingly concerned about efficiency. In addition, U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have become more active, resulting in tighter regulations on both safety and emissions control. These regulations have resulted in higher levels of concern and involvement in safety and emissions matters, not to mention smoke, noise, glare, and odor. This first to two articles on flare design and components looks at elevated flares, flare tips, incinerator-type flares, flare pilots, and gas seals. Part 2 will examine knockout drums, liquid-seal drums, ignition systems, ground flares, vapor recovery systems, and flare noise

Search for relation between flares and photometric variability outside of flares in EV Lac

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rojzman, G.Sh.

1984-01-01

The observations of the flare star EV Lac in July-September 1981 have confirmed the existence of photometric variability outside the flares during the night. It was found that, as a rule, a slow increase of brightness in U and B bands during 1-2 hours preceded the flares. It is suggested that the variability outside the flares is the result of the variability of chpomospheric emission lines and continuum that are emitted by the chromospheric preflare formations

Proton solar flares

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shaposhnikova, E.F.

1979-01-01

The observations of proton solar flares have been carried out in 1950-1958 using the extrablackout coronograph of the Crimea astrophysical observatory. The experiments permit to determine two characteristic features of flares: the directed motion of plasma injection flux from the solar depths and the appearance of a shock wave moving from the place of the injection along the solar surface. The appearance of the shock wave is accompanied by some phenomena occuring both in the sunspot zone and out of it. The consistent flash of proton flares in the other groups of spots, the disappearance of fibres and the appearance of eruptive prominences is accomplished in the sunspot zone. Beyond the sunspot zone the flares occur above spots, the fibres disintegrate partially or completely and the eruptive prominences appear in the regions close to the pole

Response of atmospheric biomarkers to NO(x)-induced photochemistry generated by stellar cosmic rays for earth-like planets in the habitable zone of M dwarf stars.

Science.gov (United States)

Grenfell, John Lee; Grießmeier, Jean-Mathias; von Paris, Philip; Patzer, A Beate C; Lammer, Helmut; Stracke, Barbara; Gebauer, Stefanie; Schreier, Franz; Rauer, Heike

2012-12-01

Understanding whether M dwarf stars may host habitable planets with Earth-like atmospheres and biospheres is a major goal in exoplanet research. If such planets exist, the question remains as to whether they could be identified via spectral signatures of biomarkers. Such planets may be exposed to extreme intensities of cosmic rays that could perturb their atmospheric photochemistry. Here, we consider stellar activity of M dwarfs ranging from quiet up to strong flaring conditions and investigate one particular effect upon biomarkers, namely, the ability of secondary electrons caused by stellar cosmic rays to break up atmospheric molecular nitrogen (N(2)), which leads to production of nitrogen oxides (NO(x)) in the planetary atmosphere, hence affecting biomarkers such as ozone (O(3)). We apply a stationary model, that is, without a time dependence; hence we are calculating the limiting case where the atmospheric chemistry response time of the biomarkers is assumed to be slow and remains constant compared with rapid forcing by the impinging stellar flares. This point should be further explored in future work with time-dependent models. We estimate the NO(x) production using an air shower approach and evaluate the implications using a climate-chemical model of the planetary atmosphere. O(3) formation proceeds via the reaction O+O(2)+M→O(3)+M. At high NO(x) abundances, the O atoms arise mainly from NO(2) photolysis, whereas on Earth this occurs via the photolysis of molecular oxygen (O(2)). For the flaring case, O(3) is mainly destroyed via direct titration, NO+O(3)→NO(2)+O(2), and not via the familiar catalytic cycle photochemistry, which occurs on Earth. For scenarios with low O(3), Rayleigh scattering by the main atmospheric gases (O(2), N(2), and CO(2)) became more important for shielding the planetary surface from UV radiation. A major result of this work is that the biomarker O(3) survived all the stellar-activity scenarios considered except for the strong

Improved flare tip design

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gogolek, P. [Natural Resources Canada, Ottawa, ON (Canada). CANMET Energy Technology Centre

2004-07-01

This paper discusses the testing procedures and development of an improved flare tip design. Design objectives included performance equal to or better than utility flares at low wind speed; conversion efficiency; fuel slip; smoking; significant improvement at high wind speed; and no increase in trace emissions. A description of the testing facility of the flare tip was provided, with reference to the fact that the facility allowed for realistic near full scale gas flares in a single-pass flare test facility. Other details of the facility included: an adjustable ceiling; high capacity variable speed fan; sampling ports along working section in stack; windows along working section; and air cooled walls, floor, and ceiling. The fuels used in the flare tip included natural gas, propane, gasoline and inert gases. Details of wind speed, appurtenances and turbulence generating grids were presented, with reference to continuous gas emission measurements. A list of design constraints was provided. Flare performance included wind speed, turbulence and fuel composition. A chart of conversion inefficiencies with a correlation of wind speed and turbulence, fuel flow and pipe size was also presented. Several new tip designs were fabricated for testing, with screening tests for comparison to basic pipe and ranking designs. Significant improvements were found in one of the new designs, including results with 30 per cent propane in fuel. Emissions reduction from 10 to 35 per cent were noted. It was concluded that future work should focus on evaluating improved tip for stability at low wind speeds. Fuel slips are the primary source of emissions, and it was recommended that further research is necessary to improve existing flare tips. tabs, figs.

Transient magnetic field changes in flares

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Patterson, A.; Zirin, H.

1981-01-01

Magnetic changes have been detected with the videomagnetograph (VMG) at Big Bear during two large flares on 1979 November 5. Two kinds of changes were detected in both flares: a decrease in satellite field strength near the locus of the flare and the appearance of strong transient fields during the peak of the flare. We explain why we believe that the observed effects are real and not instrumental and discuss their significance for flare studies

Radio imaging of solar flares using the very large array - New insights into flare process

Science.gov (United States)

Kundu, M. R.; Schmahl, E. J.; Vlahos, L.; Velusamy, T.

1982-01-01

An interpretation of VLA observations of microwave bursts is presented in an attempt to distinguish between certain models of flares. The VLA observations provide information about the pre-flare magnetic field topology and the existence of mildly relativistic electrons accelerated during flares. Examples are shown of changes in magnetic field topology in the hour before flares. In one case, new bipolar loops appear to emerge, which is an essential component of the model developed by Heyvaerts et al. (1977). In another case, a quadrupole structure, suggestive of two juxtaposed bipolar loops, appears to trigger the flare. Because of the observed diversity of magnetic field topologies in microwave bursts, it is believed that the magnetic energy must be dissipated in more than one way. The VLA observations are clearly providing means for sorting out the diverse flare models.

Modelling blazar flaring using a time-dependent fluid jet emission model - an explanation for orphan flares and radio lags

Science.gov (United States)

Potter, William J.

2018-01-01

Blazar jets are renowned for their rapid violent variability and multiwavelength flares, however, the physical processes responsible for these flares are not well understood. In this paper, we develop a time-dependent inhomogeneous fluid jet emission model for blazars. We model optically thick radio flares for the first time and show that they are delayed with respect to the prompt optically thin emission by ∼months to decades, with a lag that increases with the jet power and observed wavelength. This lag is caused by a combination of the travel time of the flaring plasma to the optically thin radio emitting sections of the jet and the slow rise time of the radio flare. We predict two types of flares: symmetric flares - with the same rise and decay time, which occur for flares whose duration is shorter than both the radiative lifetime and the geometric path-length delay time-scale; extended flares - whose luminosity tracks the power of particle acceleration in the flare, which occur for flares with a duration longer than both the radiative lifetime and geometric delay. Our model naturally produces orphan X-ray and γ-ray flares. These are caused by flares that are only observable above the quiescent jet emission in a narrow band of frequencies. Our model is able to successfully fit to the observed multiwavelength flaring spectra and light curves of PKS1502+106 across all wavelengths, using a transient flaring front located within the broad-line region.

Photospheric Magnetic Field Properties of Flaring versus Flare-quiet Active Regions. II. Discriminant Analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Leka, K. D.; Barnes, G.

2003-10-01

We apply statistical tests based on discriminant analysis to the wide range of photospheric magnetic parameters described in a companion paper by Leka & Barnes, with the goal of identifying those properties that are important for the production of energetic events such as solar flares. The photospheric vector magnetic field data from the University of Hawai'i Imaging Vector Magnetograph are well sampled both temporally and spatially, and we include here data covering 24 flare-event and flare-quiet epochs taken from seven active regions. The mean value and rate of change of each magnetic parameter are treated as separate variables, thus evaluating both the parameter's state and its evolution, to determine which properties are associated with flaring. Considering single variables first, Hotelling's T2-tests show small statistical differences between flare-producing and flare-quiet epochs. Even pairs of variables considered simultaneously, which do show a statistical difference for a number of properties, have high error rates, implying a large degree of overlap of the samples. To better distinguish between flare-producing and flare-quiet populations, larger numbers of variables are simultaneously considered; lower error rates result, but no unique combination of variables is clearly the best discriminator. The sample size is too small to directly compare the predictive power of large numbers of variables simultaneously. Instead, we rank all possible four-variable permutations based on Hotelling's T2-test and look for the most frequently appearing variables in the best permutations, with the interpretation that they are most likely to be associated with flaring. These variables include an increasing kurtosis of the twist parameter and a larger standard deviation of the twist parameter, but a smaller standard deviation of the distribution of the horizontal shear angle and a horizontal field that has a smaller standard deviation but a larger kurtosis. To support the

What's an Asthma Flare-Up?

Science.gov (United States)

... Staying Safe Videos for Educators Search English Español Asthma Flare-Ups KidsHealth / For Parents / Asthma Flare-Ups ... español ¿Qué es una crisis asmática? What Are Asthma Flare-Ups? Keeping asthma under control helps kids ...

Feature Selection, Flaring Size and Time-to-Flare Prediction Using Support Vector Regression, and Automated Prediction of Flaring Behavior Based on Spatio-Temporal Measures Using Hidden Markov Models

Science.gov (United States)

Al-Ghraibah, Amani

Solar flares release stored magnetic energy in the form of radiation and can have significant detrimental effects on earth including damage to technological infrastructure. Recent work has considered methods to predict future flare activity on the basis of quantitative measures of the solar magnetic field. Accurate advanced warning of solar flare occurrence is an area of increasing concern and much research is ongoing in this area. Our previous work 111] utilized standard pattern recognition and classification techniques to determine (classify) whether a region is expected to flare within a predictive time window, using a Relevance Vector Machine (RVM) classification method. We extracted 38 features which describing the complexity of the photospheric magnetic field, the result classification metrics will provide the baseline against which we compare our new work. We find a true positive rate (TPR) of 0.8, true negative rate (TNR) of 0.7, and true skill score (TSS) of 0.49. This dissertation proposes three basic topics; the first topic is an extension to our previous work [111, where we consider a feature selection method to determine an appropriate feature subset with cross validation classification based on a histogram analysis of selected features. Classification using the top five features resulting from this analysis yield better classification accuracies across a large unbalanced dataset. In particular, the feature subsets provide better discrimination of the many regions that flare where we find a TPR of 0.85, a TNR of 0.65 sightly lower than our previous work, and a TSS of 0.5 which has an improvement comparing with our previous work. In the second topic, we study the prediction of solar flare size and time-to-flare using support vector regression (SVR). When we consider flaring regions only, we find an average error in estimating flare size of approximately half a GOES class. When we additionally consider non-flaring regions, we find an increased average

Influences of misprediction costs on solar flare prediction

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Xin; Wang, HuaNing; Dai, XingHua

2012-10-01

The mispredictive costs of flaring and non-flaring samples are different for different applications of solar flare prediction. Hence, solar flare prediction is considered a cost sensitive problem. A cost sensitive solar flare prediction model is built by modifying the basic decision tree algorithm. Inconsistency rate with the exhaustive search strategy is used to determine the optimal combination of magnetic field parameters in an active region. These selected parameters are applied as the inputs of the solar flare prediction model. The performance of the cost sensitive solar flare prediction model is evaluated for the different thresholds of solar flares. It is found that more flaring samples are correctly predicted and more non-flaring samples are wrongly predicted with the increase of the cost for wrongly predicting flaring samples as non-flaring samples, and the larger cost of wrongly predicting flaring samples as non-flaring samples is required for the higher threshold of solar flares. This can be considered as the guide line for choosing proper cost to meet the requirements in different applications.

Flaring research update

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Reynen, B.A.

1999-01-01

Several studies regarding waste gas flaring have been conducted in an effort to determine the potential health and environmental impacts associated with flaring. Energy source conservation and greenhouse gas emissions reduction are other reasons for studying the issue. A brief outline for each of the following research priorities was given: (1) operating practices, (2) flare performance, focusing on improved combustion efficiency, (3) speciation, addressing the potential effects of incomplete combustion, (4) alternative technologies such as membrane technology, cryogenics and power generation to reduce flare gas volume, (5) improved liquid separation, concentrating on the removal of entrained liquids to improve performance and reduce emissions and (6) fate and transport, including plume modeling, ambient air monitoring, tracking of known toxins, primarily to address concerns of environmental groups.The expectation is that this broad and comprehensive research effort will yield substantive and credible scientific data, lead to cooperation in the research community, reduce emissions, beneficially impact on regulations and standards and gain the support of environmental organizations

Upstream petroleum industry flaring guide : review draft

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1999-03-01

The Alberta requirements and expectations for upstream petroleum flaring are presented. Flaring is associated with a wide range of energy activities including oil and gas well drilling and well completion operations. The guide incorporates the recommendations made to the Alberta Energy and Utilities Board (EUB) in June 1998 by the multi-stakeholder Clean Air Strategic Alliance (CASA) on associated or solution gas flaring. Additional requirements which address flaring issues not covered in the CASA report are also included in this guide. The Guide requires a 15 per cent reduction in solution gas flare volume by the end of year 2000 from the 1996 baseline, and a 25 per cent reduction by the end of 2001. The Guide prescribes new flare performance requirements for all flares, within three years for existing solution gas flares, five years for flares at other existing permanent facilities. It sets personal consultation and public notification requirements for new and existing solution gas batteries, and new sulphur recovery requirements for facilities not covered by existing EUB regulations. The Guide also addresses the question of conflict resolution to deal with flaring concerns, the release of flaring and venting data, the proposed reduction of flare limits, progress towards minimizing requirements for electricity generators using otherwise flared gas, annual reporting to the EUB, and management framework review in 2001

Flare observation by the satellite 'Hinotori'

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tanaka, Toshio

1981-01-01

The satellite ''Hinotori'' makes 5 rounds a day and is doing flare observation. The total observation days amounted to 94 days. Among the observed flares, the quiet mode flares were picked up from the reproduced data. The plot of the time variation of flares was obtained for four energy bands, HXM-1 (17 to 40 keV), HXM2 - 7 (over 40 keV), FLM-L (1 to 5 keV) and FLM-H (5 to 12 keV). At present, the judge of flares is made by using hard X-ray of the HXM-1 plot. False signals were completely removed. A large percentage of big flares was collected by Hinotori, eleven X-class flares were recorded. The operation status of ''Hinotori'' has been in good condition. The spin frequency has increased with a constant rate. (Kato, T.)

Offshore production flares: a PETROBRAS review

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pagot, Paulo R.; Burmann, Clovis P.; Araujo, Paulo Bento de; Motomura, Tsukasa [PETROBRAS S.A., Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil)

2008-07-01

The purpose of the present work is to briefly present the offshore flare system technological evolution and the main design criteria for flare and its supporting structure. In order to perform the aimed task, this work was divided into two parts: the first part presents the technological evolution of the offshore production flares and the second one discusses the flare system designing criteria. The evolution of the technology associated to the offshore production flares is organized by the authors just dividing the history in four chronological phases. Each phase is defined by the predominant use of the, by the time, most up-to-date technological alternative and it will be described with the help of sketches, drawings, photographs, data and information about the platforms where such technologies were applied. The second part of the present work discusses the dimensional criteria, interesting aspects and flaws of the offshore flare systems in two different fields, which are: definition of the flare system capacity; and flow and thermal design of the flare system. (author)

Fast electrons in small solar flares

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lin, R.P.

1975-01-01

Because approximately 5-100 keV electrons are frequently accelerated and emitted by the Sun in small flares, it is possible to define a detailed characteristic physical picture of these events. The review summarizes both the direct spacecraft observations of non-relativistic solar electrons, and observations of the X-ray and radio emission generated by these particles at the Sun and in the interplanetary medium. These observations bear on the basic astrophysical process of particle acceleration in tenuous plasmas. It is found that in many small solar flares the approximately 5-100 keV electrons accelerated during flash phase constitute the bulk of the total flare energy. Thus the basic flare mechanism in these flares essentially converts the available flare energy into fast electrons. These electrons may produce the other flare electromagnetic emissions through their interactions with the solar atmosphere. In large proton flares these electrons may provide the energy to eject material from the Sun and to create a shock wave which could then accelerate nuclei and electrons to much higher energies. (Auth.)

Parameterization of solar flare dose

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lamarche, A.H.; Poston, J.W.

1996-01-01

A critical aspect of missions to the moon or Mars will be the safety and health of the crew. Radiation in space is a hazard for astronauts, especially high-energy radiation following certain types of solar flares. A solar flare event can be very dangerous if astronauts are not adequately shielded because flares can deliver a very high dose in a short period of time. The goal of this research was to parameterize solar flare dose as a function of time to see if it was possible to predict solar flare occurrence, thus providing a warning time. This would allow astronauts to take corrective action and avoid receiving a dose greater than the recommended limit set by the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements (NCRP)

The thermal phase of solar flares

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hirayama, Tadashi

1979-01-01

This paper is described on the observation of the flares, and then the numerical simulation on the structural change in the corona and the chromosphere during the flare is briefly discussed. Most of the flares occur on the active region where the density and the electron temperature are higher than those in the quiet region. The temperature and density increase after the flare started. The temperature of the pre-flare chromosphere is about 6000 K, and it rises during the flare. The temperature of the transition region is about 10 5 K, and the gas pressure increases more than one order of magnitude during the flare. Sometimes, the flaring in the photosphere is observed. Large amount of mass ejected at the time of the flare is observed. Most probable energy source of the flare is the magnetic energy contained in the form of electric current. Liberation of this energy into the corona is discussed in this paper. It is assumed that a column of unit area is standing vertically in the corona, the top being closed. A hydrostatic model of the corona-chromosphere is constructed, in which the heat source is assumed to be in the corona. As the results of calculation, it can be said that the temperature of the flaring corona does not depend upon the liberated energy, the density in the corona increases proportionally to the energy, and particles are supplied from the chromosphere with the upward velocity of about 100 km/s. The gas pressure of the transition region can become up to three orders of magnitude larger. All these are consistent with the observation. Extension of this calculation is also performed. (Kato, T.)

SLIPPING MAGNETIC RECONNECTIONS WITH MULTIPLE FLARE RIBBONS DURING AN X-CLASS SOLAR FLARE

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zheng, Ruisheng; Chen, Yao; Wang, Bing

2016-01-01

With the observations of the Solar Dynamics Observatory , we present the slipping magnetic reconnections with multiple flare ribbons (FRs) during an X1.2 eruptive flare on 2014 January 7. A center negative polarity was surrounded by several positive ones, and three FRs appeared. The three FRs showed apparent slipping motions, and hook structures formed at their ends. Due to the moving footpoints of the erupting structures, one tight semi-circular hook disappeared after the slippage along its inner and outer edges, and coronal dimmings formed within the hook. The east hook also faded as a result of the magnetic reconnection between the arcades of a remote filament and a hot loop that was impulsively heated by the under flare loops. Our results are accordant with the slipping magnetic reconnection regime in three-dimensional standard model for eruptive flares. We suggest that the complex structures of the flare are likely a consequence of the more complex flux distribution in the photosphere, and the eruption involves at least two magnetic reconnections.

Solar flares through electric current interaction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

De Jager, C.

1988-01-01

The fundamental hypothesis by Alfven and Carlqvist (1967) that solar flares are related to electrical currents in the solar chromosphere and low corona is investigated in the light of modern observations. The authors confirm the important role of currents in solar flares. There must be tens of such current loops (flux threads) in any flare, and this explains the hierarchy of bursts in flares. The authors summarize quantitative data on energies, numbers of particles involved and characteristic times. A special case is the high-energy flare: this one may originate in the same way as less energetic ones, but it occurs in regions with higher magnetic field strength. Because of the high particle energies involved their emission seats live only very briefly; hence the area of emission coincides virtually with the seat of the instability. These flares are therefore the best examples for studying the primary instability leading to the flare. Finally, the authors compare the merits of the original Alfven-Carlqvist idea (that flares originate by current interruption) with the one that they are due to interaction (reconnection) between two or more fluxthreads. The authors conclude that a final decision cannot yet by made, although the observed extremely short time constants of flare bursts seem to demand a reconnection-type instability rather than interruption of a circuit

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.

Flare Characteristics from X-ray Light Curves

Science.gov (United States)

Gryciuk, M.; Siarkowski, M.; Sylwester, J.; Gburek, S.; Podgorski, P.; Kepa, A.; Sylwester, B.; Mrozek, T.

2017-06-01

A new methodology is given to determine basic parameters of flares from their X-ray light curves. Algorithms are developed from the analysis of small X-ray flares occurring during the deep solar minimum of 2009, between Solar Cycles 23 and 24, observed by the Polish Solar Photometer in X-rays (SphinX) on the Complex Orbital Observations Near-Earth of Activity of the Sun-Photon (CORONAS- Photon) spacecraft. One is a semi-automatic flare detection procedure that gives start, peak, and end times for single ("elementary") flare events under the assumption that the light curve is a simple convolution of a Gaussian and exponential decay functions. More complex flares with multiple peaks can generally be described by a sum of such elementary flares. Flare time profiles in the two energy ranges of SphinX (1.16 - 1.51 keV, 1.51 - 15 keV) are used to derive temperature and emission measure as a function of time during each flare. The result is a comprehensive catalogue - the SphinX Flare Catalogue - which contains 1600 flares or flare-like events and is made available for general use. The methods described here can be applied to observations made by Geosynchronous Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES), the Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI) and other broad-band spectrometers.

Statistical investigation of flare stars. III. Flare stars in the general galactic star field

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mirzoyan, L.V.; Ambaryan, V.V.; Garibdzhanyan, A.T.; Mirzoyan, A.L.

1989-01-01

Some questions relating to the existence of a large number of flare stars in the general star field of the Galaxy are discussed. It is shown that only a small proportion of them can be found by photographic observations, and the fraction of field flare stars among such stars found in the regions of star clusters and associations does not exceed 10%. The ratio of the numbers of flare stars of the foreground and the background for a particular system depends on its distance, reaching zero at a distance of about 500 pc. The spatial density of flare stars in the Pleiades is at least two orders of magnitude greater than in the general galactic field. A lower limit for the number of flare stars in the Galaxy is estimated at 4.2 ·10 9 , and the number of nonflare red dwarfs at 2.1·10 10 . There are grounds for believing that they were all formed in star clusters and associations

Technical and economic analysis use of flare gas into alternative energy as a breakthrough in achieving zero routine flaring

Science.gov (United States)

Petri, Y.; Juliza, H.; Humala, N.

2018-03-01

The activity of exploring natural oil and gas will produce gas flare 0.584 MMSCFD. A gas flare is the combustion of gas remaining to avoid poisonous gas like H2S and CO which is very dangerous for human and environmental health. The combustion can bring about environmental pollution and losses because it still contains valuable energy. It needs the policy to encourage the use of flare gas with Zero Routine Flaring and green productivity to reduce waste and pollution. The objective of the research was to determine the use of gas flare so that it will have economic value and can achieve Zero Routine Flaring. It was started by analysing based on volume or rate and composition gas flare was used to determine technical feasibility, and the estimation of the gas reserves as the determination of the economy of a gas well. The results showed that the use of flare gas as fuel for power generation feasible to be implemented technically and economically with Internal Rate of Return (IRR) 19.32% and the Payback Period (PP) 5 year. Thus, it can increase gas flare value economically and can achieve a breakthrough in Zero Routine Flaring.

Flare Seismology from SDO Observations

Science.gov (United States)

Lindsey, Charles; Martinez Oliveros, Juan Carlos; Hudson, Hugh

2011-10-01

Some flares release intense seismic transients into the solar interior. These transients are the sole instance we know of in which the Sun's corona exerts a conspicuous influence on the solar interior through flares. The desire to understand this phenomenon has led to ambitious efforts to model the mechanisms by which energy stored in coronal magnetic fields drives acoustic waves that penetrate deep into the Sun's interior. These mechanisms potentially involve the hydrodynamic response of the chromosphere to thick-target heating by high-energy particles, radiative exchange in the chromosphere and photosphere, and Lorentz-force transients to account for acoustic energies estimated up to at 5X10^27 erg and momenta of order 6X10^19 dyne sec. An understanding of these components of flare mechanics promises more than a powerful diagnostic for local helioseismology. It could give us fundamental new insight into flare mechanics themselves. The key is appropriate observations to match the models. Helioseismic observations have identified the compact sources of transient seismic emission at the foot points of flares. The Solar Dynamics Observatory is now giving us high quality continuum-brightness and Doppler observations of acoustically active flares from HMI concurrent with high-resolution EUV observations from AIA. Supported by HXR observations from RHESSI and a broad variety of other observational resources, the SDO promises a leading role in flare research in solar cycle 24.

Feasibility of flare gas reformation to practical energy in Farashband gas refinery: no gas flaring.

Science.gov (United States)

Rahimpour, Mohammad Reaza; Jokar, Seyyed Mohammad

2012-03-30

A suggested method for controlling the level of hazardous materials in the atmosphere is prevention of combustion in flare. In this work, three methods are proposed to recover flare gas instead of conventional gas-burning in flare at the Farashband gas refinery. These methods aim to minimize environmental and economical disadvantages of burning flare gas. The proposed methods are: (1) gas to liquid (GTL) production, (2) electricity generation with a gas turbine and, (3) compression and injection into the refinery pipelines. To find the most suitable method, the refinery units that send gas to the flare as well as the required equipment for the three aforementioned methods are simulated. These simulations determine the amount of flare gas, the number of GTL barrels, the power generated by the gas turbine and the required compression horsepower. The results of simulation show that 563 barrels/day of valuable GTL products is produced by the first method. The second method provides 25 MW electricity and the third method provides a compressed natural gas with 129 bar pressure for injection to the refinery pipelines. In addition, the economics of flare gas recovery methods are studied and compared. The results show that for the 4.176MMSCFD of gas flared from the Farashband gas refinery, the electricity production gives the highest rate of return (ROR), the lowest payback period, the highest annual profit and mild capital investment. Therefore, the electricity production is the superior method economically. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Midtreatment flare-ups.

Science.gov (United States)

Harrington, G W; Natkin, E

1992-04-01

It should be apparent that the prompt and effective treatment of midtreatment flare-ups of all types is an essential and integral part of the overall endodontic treatment procedure. The expeditious management of these flare-ups will do much to enhance a positive attitude among patients toward endodontic treatment and to ensure the well-being and comfort of these patients.

Periodic Accretion-powered Flares from Colliding EMRIs as TDE Imposters

Science.gov (United States)

Metzger, Brian D.; Stone, Nicholas C.

2017-07-01

When a main-sequence star undergoes Roche lobe overflow onto a supermassive black hole (SMBH) in a circular extreme mass ratio inspiral (EMRI), a phase of steady mass transfer ensues. Over millions of years, the binary evolves to a period minimum before reversing course and migrating outward as a brown dwarf. Because the time interval between consecutive EMRIs is comparable to the mass-transfer timescale, the semimajor axes of two consecutive mass-transferring EMRIs will cross on a radial scale of less than a few au. We show that such EMRI crossing events are inevitably accompanied by a series of mildly relativistic, grazing physical collisions between the stars. Each collision strips a small quantity of mass, primarily from the more massive star, which generally increases their radial separation to set up the next collision after a delay of decades to centuries (or longer) set by further gravitational radiation. Depending on the mass of the SMBH, this interaction can result in {N}{{c}}˜ 1{--}{10}4 gas production events of mass ˜ {M}⊙ /{N}{{c}}, thus powering a quasi-periodic sequence of SMBH accretion-powered flares over a total duration of thousands of years or longer. Although the EMRI rate is 2-3 orders of magnitude lower than the rate of tidal disruption events (TDEs), the ability of a single interacting EMRI pair to produce a large number of luminous flares—and to make more judicious use of the available stellar fuel—could make their observed rate competitive with the TDE rate, enabling them to masquerade as “TDE imposters.” Gas produced by EMRI collisions is easier to circularize than the highly eccentric debris streams produced in TDEs. We predict flares with bolometric luminosities that decay both as power laws shallower than {t}-5/3 and as decaying exponentials in time. Viscous spreading of the gaseous disks produced by the accumulation of previous mass-stripping events will place a substantial mass of gas on radial scales ≳ 10{--}100 {au

Can we explain atypical solar flares?

Science.gov (United States)

Dalmasse, K.; Chandra, R.; Schmieder, B.; Aulanier, G.

2015-02-01

Context. We used multiwavelength high-resolution data from ARIES, THEMIS, and SDO instruments to analyze a non-standard, C3.3 class flare produced within the active region NOAA 11589 on 2012 October 16. Magnetic flux emergence and cancellation were continuously detected within the active region, the latter leading to the formation of two filaments. Aims: Our aim is to identify the origins of the flare taking the complex dynamics of its close surroundings into account. Methods: We analyzed the magnetic topology of the active region using a linear force-free field extrapolation to derive its 3D magnetic configuration and the location of quasi-separatrix layers (QSLs), which are preferred sites for flaring activity. Because the active region's magnetic field was nonlinear force-free, we completed a parametric study using different linear force-free field extrapolations to demonstrate the robustness of the derived QSLs. Results: The topological analysis shows that the active region presented a complex magnetic configuration comprising several QSLs. The considered data set suggests that an emerging flux episode played a key role in triggering the flare. The emerging flux probably activated the complex system of QSLs, leading to multiple coronal magnetic reconnections within the QSLs. This scenario accounts for the observed signatures: the two extended flare ribbons developed at locations matched by the photospheric footprints of the QSLs and were accompanied with flare loops that formed above the two filaments, which played no important role in the flare dynamics. Conclusions: This is a typical example of a complex flare that can a priori show standard flare signatures that are nevertheless impossible to interpret with any standard model of eruptive or confined flare. We find that a topological analysis, however, permitted us to unveil the development of such complex sets of flare signatures. Movies associated to Figs. 1, 3, and 9 are only available at the CDS via

Effect of flow parameters on flare stack generator noise

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dinn, T.S.

1998-01-01

The SoundPLAN Computer Noise Model was used to determine the general effect of flare noise in a community adjacent to a petrochemical plant. Tests were conducted to determine the effect of process flow conditions and the pulsating flame on the flare stack generator noise from both a refinery flare and process flare. Flaring under normal plant operations, the flaring of fuel gas and the flaring of hydrogen were the three conditions that were tested. It was shown that the steam flow rate was the determining factor in the flare stack generated noise. Variations in the water seal level in the flare line surge tank increased or decreased the gas flowrate, which resulted in a pulsating flame. The period and amplitude of the pulsating noise from the flare stacks was determined by measuring several parameters. Flare stack noise oscillations were found to be greater for the process flare than for the refinery flare stack. It was suggested that minimizing the amount of steam fed to the flare and improving the burner design would minimize noise. 2 tabs., 6 figs

Stellar X-Ray Polarimetry

Science.gov (United States)

Swank, J.

2011-01-01

Most of the stellar end-state black holes, pulsars, and white dwarfs that are X-ray sources should have polarized X-ray fluxes. The degree will depend on the relative contributions of the unresolved structures. Fluxes from accretion disks and accretion disk corona may be polarized by scattering. Beams and jets may have contributions of polarized emission in strong magnetic fields. The Gravity and Extreme Magnetism Small Explorer (GEMS) will study the effects on polarization of strong gravity of black holes and strong magnetism of neutron stars. Some part of the flux from compact stars accreting from companion stars has been reflected from the companion, its wind, or accretion streams. Polarization of this component is a potential tool for studying the structure of the gas in these binary systems. Polarization due to scattering can also be present in X-ray emission from white dwarf binaries and binary normal stars such as RS CVn stars and colliding wind sources like Eta Car. Normal late type stars may have polarized flux from coronal flares. But X-ray polarization sensitivity is not at the level needed for single early type stars.

Active Longitude and Solar Flare Occurrences

Science.gov (United States)

Gyenge, N.; Ludmány, A.; Baranyi, T.

2016-02-01

The aim of the present work is to specify the spatio-temporal characteristics of flare activity observed by the Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI) and the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) in connection with the behavior of the longitudinal domain of enhanced sunspot activity known as active longitude (AL). By using our method developed for this purpose, we identified the AL in every Carrington Rotation provided by the Debrecen Photoheliographic Data. The spatial probability of flare occurrence has been estimated depending on the longitudinal distance from AL in the northern and southern hemispheres separately. We have found that more than 60% of the RHESSI and GOES flares is located within +/- 36^\\circ from the AL. Hence, the most flare-productive active regions tend to be located in or close to the active longitudinal belt. This observed feature may allow for the prediction of the geo-effective position of the domain of enhanced flaring probability. Furthermore, we studied the temporal properties of flare occurrence near the AL and several significant fluctuations were found. More precisely, the results of the method are the following fluctuations: 0.8, 1.3, and 1.8 years. These temporal and spatial properties of the solar flare occurrence within the active longitudinal belts could provide us with an enhanced solar flare forecasting opportunity.

Statistical Distributions of Optical Flares from Gamma-Ray Bursts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yi, Shuang-Xi; Yu, Hai; Wang, F. Y.; Dai, Zi-Gao

2017-01-01

We statistically study gamma-ray burst (GRB) optical flares from the Swift /UVOT catalog. We compile 119 optical flares, including 77 flares with redshift measurements. Some tight correlations among the timescales of optical flares are found. For example, the rise time is correlated with the decay time, and the duration time is correlated with the peak time of optical flares. These two tight correlations indicate that longer rise times are associated with longer decay times of optical flares and also suggest that broader optical flares peak at later times, which are consistent with the corresponding correlations of X-ray flares. We also study the frequency distributions of optical flare parameters, including the duration time, rise time, decay time, peak time, and waiting time. Similar power-law distributions for optical and X-ray flares are found. Our statistic results imply that GRB optical flares and X-ray flares may share the similar physical origin, and both of them are possibly related to central engine activities.

Statistical Distributions of Optical Flares from Gamma-Ray Bursts

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yi, Shuang-Xi [College of Physics and Engineering, Qufu Normal University, Qufu 273165 (China); Yu, Hai; Wang, F. Y.; Dai, Zi-Gao, E-mail: fayinwang@nju.edu.cn [School of Astronomy and Space Science, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093 (China)

2017-07-20

We statistically study gamma-ray burst (GRB) optical flares from the Swift /UVOT catalog. We compile 119 optical flares, including 77 flares with redshift measurements. Some tight correlations among the timescales of optical flares are found. For example, the rise time is correlated with the decay time, and the duration time is correlated with the peak time of optical flares. These two tight correlations indicate that longer rise times are associated with longer decay times of optical flares and also suggest that broader optical flares peak at later times, which are consistent with the corresponding correlations of X-ray flares. We also study the frequency distributions of optical flare parameters, including the duration time, rise time, decay time, peak time, and waiting time. Similar power-law distributions for optical and X-ray flares are found. Our statistic results imply that GRB optical flares and X-ray flares may share the similar physical origin, and both of them are possibly related to central engine activities.

On the Mass and Luminosity Functions of Tidal Disruption Flares: Rate Suppression due to Black Hole Event Horizons

Science.gov (United States)

van Velzen, S.

2018-01-01

The tidal disruption of a star by a massive black hole is expected to yield a luminous flare of thermal emission. About two dozen of these stellar tidal disruption flares (TDFs) may have been detected in optical transient surveys. However, explaining the observed properties of these events within the tidal disruption paradigm is not yet possible. This theoretical ambiguity has led some authors to suggest that optical TDFs are due to a different process, such as a nuclear supernova or accretion disk instabilities. Here we present a test of a fundamental prediction of the tidal disruption event scenario: a suppression of the flare rate due to the direct capture of stars by the black hole. Using a recently compiled sample of candidate TDFs with black hole mass measurements, plus a careful treatment of selection effects in this flux-limited sample, we confirm that the dearth of observed TDFs from high-mass black holes is statistically significant. All the TDF impostor models we consider fail to explain the observed mass function; the only scenario that fits the data is a suppression of the rate due to direct captures. We find that this suppression can explain the low volumetric rate of the luminous TDF candidate ASASSN-15lh, thus supporting the hypothesis that this flare belongs to the TDF family. Our work is the first to present the optical TDF luminosity function. A steep power law is required to explain the observed rest-frame g-band luminosity, {dN}/{{dL}}g\\propto {L}g-2.5. The mean event rate of the flares in our sample is ≈ 1× {10}-4 galaxy‑1 yr‑1, consistent with the theoretically expected tidal disruption rate.

FLARE RIBBON ENERGETICS IN THE EARLY PHASE OF AN SDO FLARE

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fletcher, L.; Hannah, I. G.; Hudson, H. S. [School of Physics and Astronomy, SUPA, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, G12 8QQ (United Kingdom); Innes, D. E. [Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Max-Planck-Strasse 2, D-37191 Katlenburg-Lindau (Germany)

2013-07-10

The sites of chromospheric excitation during solar flares are marked by extended extreme ultraviolet ribbons and hard X-ray (HXR) footpoints. The standard interpretation is that these are the result of heating and bremsstrahlung emission from non-thermal electrons precipitating from the corona. We examine this picture using multi-wavelength observations of the early phase of an M-class flare SOL2010-08-07T18:24. We aim to determine the properties of the heated plasma in the flare ribbons, and to understand the partition of the power input into radiative and conductive losses. Using GOES, SDO/EVE, SDO/AIA, and RHESSI, we measure the temperature, emission measure (EM), and differential emission measure of the flare ribbons, and deduce approximate density values. The non-thermal EM, and the collisional thick target energy input to the ribbons are obtained from RHESSI using standard methods. We deduce the existence of a substantial amount of plasma at 10 MK in the flare ribbons, during the pre-impulsive and early-impulsive phase of the flare. The average column EM of this hot component is a few times 10{sup 28} cm{sup -5}, and we can calculate that its predicted conductive losses dominate its measured radiative losses. If the power input to the hot ribbon plasma is due to collisional energy deposition by an electron beam from the corona then a low-energy cutoff of {approx}5 keV is necessary to balance the conductive losses, implying a very large electron energy content. Independent of the standard collisional thick-target electron beam interpretation, the observed non-thermal X-rays can be provided if one electron in 10{sup 3}-10{sup 4} in the 10 MK (1 keV) ribbon plasma has an energy above 10 keV. We speculate that this could arise if a non-thermal tail is generated in the ribbon plasma which is being heated by other means, for example, by waves or turbulence.

The regulatory context of gas flaring in Alberta

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gilmour, B.S.; Cook, C.

1999-01-01

The legislative and regulatory regime regarding gas flaring in Alberta was reviewed. The issue of gas flaring has received much attention from petroleum industry regulators in Alberta. Residents living in the vicinity of flares have identified them as sources of odour, smoke, noise and air quality-related health concerns. Sulfur dioxide and carbon dioxide emissions from the flare stacks may contribute to acid rain and the greenhouse effect. The Strosher Report, released by the Alberta Research Council in 1996, has also identified about 250 different compounds in flare emissions, including volatile organic compounds (VOCs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and other products of incomplete combustion. The public opposition to solution gas flaring has caused regulators to consider new options designed to reduce the adverse economic and environmental impacts that may be associated with gas flaring. This paper discusses the roles of the Alberta Energy and Utilities Board (EUB) and Alberta Environmental Protection in administering legislation that impacts on gas flaring. In March 1999, the EUB released a guide containing the following five major points regarding gas flaring: (1) implementation of the Clean Air Strategic Alliance's (CASA's) recommendations to eventually eliminate flaring, by starting immediately to reduce flaring, and improve the efficiency of flares, (2) adoption of the CASA schedule of reduction targets for solution gas flaring, (3) conducting a review of the current approval process for small-scale electrical generation systems to encourage co-generation as a productive use of solution gas that is being flared, (4) creating better public notification requirements for new and existing facilities, and (5) discussing conflict resolution between operators and landowners. 26 refs

FLARES AND THEIR UNDERLYING MAGNETIC COMPLEXITY

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Engell, Alexander J.; Golub, Leon; Korreck, Kelly; Siarkowski, Marek; Gryciuk, Magda; Sylwester, Janusz; Sylwester, Barbara; Cirtain, Jonathan

2011-01-01

SphinX (Solar PHotometer IN X-rays), a full-disk-integrated spectrometer, observed 137 flare-like/transient events with active region (AR) 11024 being the only AR on disk. The Hinode X-Ray Telescope (XRT) and Solar Optical Telescope observe 67 of these events and identified their location from 12:00 UT on July 3 through 24:00 UT 2009 July 7. We find that the predominant mechanisms for flares observed by XRT are (1) flux cancellation and (2) the shearing of underlying magnetic elements. Point- and cusp-like flare morphologies seen by XRT all occur in a magnetic environment where one polarity is impeded by the opposite polarity and vice versa, forcing the flux cancellation process. The shearing is either caused by flux emergence at the center of the AR and separation of polarities along a neutral line or by individual magnetic elements having a rotational motion. Both mechanisms are observed to contribute to single- and multiple-loop flares. We observe that most loop flares occur along a large portion of a polarity inversion line. Point- and cusp-like flares become more infrequent as the AR becomes organized with separation of the positive and negative polarities. SphinX, which allows us to identify when these flares occur, provides us with a statistically significant temperature and emission scaling law for A and B class flares: EM = 6.1 x 10 33 T 1.9±0.1 .

Observations of vector magnetic fields in flaring active regions

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Jimin; Wang, Haimin; Zirin, Harold; Ai, Guoxiang

1994-01-01

We present vector magnetograph data of 6 active regions, all of which produced major flares. Of the 20 M-class (or above) flares, 7 satisfy the flare conditions prescribed by Hagyard (high shear and strong transverse fields). Strong photospheric shear, however, is not necessarily a condition for a flare. We find an increase in the shear for two flares, a 6-deg shear increase along the neutral line after a X-2 flare and a 13-deg increase after a M-1.9 flare. For other flares, we did not detect substantial shear changes.

Energy balance in solar and stellar chromospheres

Science.gov (United States)

Avrett, E. H.

1981-01-01

Net radiative cooling rates for quiet and active regions of the solar chromosphere and for two stellar chromospheres are calculated from corresponding atmospheric models. Models of chromospheric temperature and microvelocity distributions are derived from observed spectra of a dark point within a cell, the average sun and a very bright network element on the quiet sun, a solar plage and flare, and the stars Alpha Boo and Lambda And. Net radiative cooling rates due to the transitions of various atoms and ions are then calculated from the models as a function of depth. Large values of the net radiative cooling rate are found at the base of the chromosphere-corona transition region which are due primarily to Lyman alpha emission, and a temperature plateau is obtained in the transition region itself. In the chromospheric regions, the calculated cooling rate is equal to the mechanical energy input as a function of height and thus provides a direct constraint on theories of chromospheric heating.

Lyman continuum observations of solar flares

Science.gov (United States)

Machado, M. E.; Noyes, R. W.

1978-01-01

A study is made of Lyman continuum observations of solar flares, using data obtained by the EUV spectroheliometer on the Apollo Telescope Mount. It is found that there are two main types of flare regions: an overall 'mean' flare coincident with the H-alpha flare region, and transient Lyman continuum kernels which can be identified with the H-alpha and X-ray kernels observed by other authors. It is found that the ground level hydrogen population in flares is closer to LTE than in the quiet sun and active regions, and that the level of Lyman continuum formation is lowered in the atmosphere from a mass column density .000005 g/sq cm in the quiet sun to .0003 g/sq cm in the mean flare, and to .001 g/sq cm in kernels. From these results the amount of chromospheric material 'evaporated' into the high temperature region is derived, which is found to be approximately 10 to the 15th g, in agreement with observations of X-ray emission measures.

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.)

Stellar Physics 2: Stellar Evolution and Stability

CERN Document Server

Bisnovatyi-Kogan, Gennady S

2011-01-01

"Stellar Physics" is a an outstanding book in the growing body of literature on star formation and evolution. Not only does the author, a leading expert in the field, very thoroughly present the current state of knowledge on stellar physics, but he handles with equal care the many problems that this field of research still faces. A bibliography with well over 1000 entries makes this book an unparalleled reference source. "Stellar Evolution and Stability" is the second of two volumes and can be read, as can the first volume "Fundamental Concepts and Stellar Equilibrium," as a largely independent work. It traces in great detail the evolution of protostars towards the main sequence and beyond this to the last stage of stellar evolution, with the corresponding vast range from white dwarfs to supernovae explosions, gamma-ray bursts and black hole formation. The book concludes with special chapters on the dynamical, thermal and pulsing stability of stars. This second edition is carefully updated in the areas of pre...

Dependence of absolute magnitudes (energies) of flares on the cluster age containing flare stars

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Parsamyan, Eh.S.

1976-01-01

Dependences between Δmsub(u) and msub(u) are given for the Orion, NGC 7000, Pleiades and Praesepe aggregations. Maximum absolute values of flares have been calculated for stars with different luminosities. It has been shown that the values of flares can be limited by a straight line which gives the representation on the distribution of maximum values of amplitudes for the stars with different luminosities in an aggregation. Presented are k and m 0 parameters characterizing the lines fot the Orion, NGC 7000, Pleiades and Praesepe aggregation and their age T dependence. From the dependence between k (angular coefficient of straight lines) and lgT for the aggregation with known T the age of those aggregation involving a great amount of flaring stars can be found. The age of flaring stars in the neighbourhood of the Sun has been determined. The age of UV Ceti has been shown by an order to exceed that of the rest stars

DETERMINING HEATING RATES IN RECONNECTION FORMED FLARE LOOPS OF THE M8.0 FLARE ON 2005 MAY 13

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Liu Wenjuan; Qiu Jiong; Longcope, Dana W. [Department of Physics, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT 59717-3840 (United States); Caspi, Amir [Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80303 (United States)

2013-06-20

We analyze and model an M8.0 flare on 2005 May 13 observed by the Transition Region and Coronal Explorer and the Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI) to determine the energy release rate from magnetic reconnection that forms and heats numerous flare loops. The flare exhibits two ribbons in UV 1600 A emission. Analysis shows that the UV light curve at each flaring pixel rises impulsively within a few minutes, and decays slowly with a timescale longer than 10 minutes. Since the lower atmosphere (the transition region and chromosphere) responds to energy deposit nearly instantaneously, the rapid UV brightening is thought to reflect the energy release process in the newly formed flare loop rooted at the footpoint. In this paper, we utilize the spatially resolved (down to 1'') UV light curves and the thick-target hard X-ray emission to construct heating functions of a few thousand flare loops anchored at the UV footpoints, and compute plasma evolution in these loops using the enthalpy-based thermal evolution of loops model. The modeled coronal temperatures and densities of these flare loops are then used to calculate coronal radiation. The computed soft X-ray spectra and light curves compare favorably with those observed by RHESSI and by the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite X-ray Sensor. The time-dependent transition region differential emission measure for each loop during its decay phase is also computed with a simplified model and used to calculate the optically thin C IV line emission, which dominates the UV 1600 A bandpass during the flare. The computed C IV line emission decays at the same rate as observed. This study presents a method to constrain heating of reconnection-formed flare loops using all available observables independently, and provides insight into the physics of energy release and plasma heating during the flare. With this method, the lower limit of the total energy used to heat the flare loops in

Comparison of high-temperature flare models with observations and implications for the low-temperature flare

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Machado, M.E.; Emslie, A.G.

1979-01-01

We analyze EUV data from the Harvard College Observatory and Naval Research Laboratory instruments on board the Skylab Apollo Telescope Mount, together with SOLRAD 9 X-ray data, in order to empirically deduce the variation of emission measure with temperature in the atmosphere of a number of solar flares. From these data we construct a ''mean'' differential emission measure profile Q (T) for a flare, which we find to be characterized by a low-lying plateau at temperatures of a few hundred thousand K, representative of a thin transition zone at these temperatures.We then compare this empirical profile with that predicted by a number of theoretical models, each of which represents a solution of the energy equation for the flare under various simplifying assumptions. In this way we not only deduce estimates of various flare parameters, such as gas pressure, but also gain insight into the validity of the various modeling assumptions employed.We find that realistic flare models must include both conductive and radiative terms in the energy equation, and that hydrodynamic terms may be important at low temperatures. Considering only models which neglect this hydrodynamic term, we compute conductive fluxes at various levels in the high-temperature plasma and compare them to the observed radiated power throughout the atmosphere, with particular reference to the 1973 September 5 event, which is rich in observations throughout most of the electromagnetic spectrum. This comparison yields results which reinforce our belief in the dominance of the conduction and radiation terms in the flare energy balance.The implications of this result for flare models in general is discussed; in particular, it is shown that the inclusion of the conductive term into models which have hitherto neglected it can perhaps resolve some of the observational difficulties with such models

M DWARF FLARE CONTINUUM VARIATIONS ON ONE-SECOND TIMESCALES: CALIBRATING AND MODELING OF ULTRACAM FLARE COLOR INDICES

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kowalski, Adam F. [Department of Astronomy, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742 (United States); Mathioudakis, Mihalis [Astrophysics Research Centre, School of Mathematics and Physics, Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast, BT7 1NN (United Kingdom); Hawley, Suzanne L.; Hilton, Eric J. [Department of Astronomy, University of Washington, Box 351580, Seattle, WA 98195 (United States); Wisniewski, John P. [HL Dodge Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Oklahoma, 440 W Brooks Street, Norman, OK 73019 (United States); Dhillon, Vik S. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S3 7RH (United Kingdom); Marsh, Tom R. [Department of Physics, Gibbet Hill Road, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL (United Kingdom); Brown, Benjamin P., E-mail: adam.f.kowalski@nasa.gov [Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics and Department of Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309 (United States)

2016-04-01

We present a large data set of high-cadence dMe flare light curves obtained with custom continuum filters on the triple-beam, high-speed camera system ULTRACAM. The measurements provide constraints for models of the near-ultraviolet (NUV) and optical continuum spectral evolution on timescales of ≈1 s. We provide a robust interpretation of the flare emission in the ULTRACAM filters using simultaneously obtained low-resolution spectra during two moderate-sized flares in the dM4.5e star YZ CMi. By avoiding the spectral complexity within the broadband Johnson filters, the ULTRACAM filters are shown to characterize bona fide continuum emission in the NUV, blue, and red wavelength regimes. The NUV/blue flux ratio in flares is equivalent to a Balmer jump ratio, and the blue/red flux ratio provides an estimate for the color temperature of the optical continuum emission. We present a new “color–color” relationship for these continuum flux ratios at the peaks of the flares. Using the RADYN and RH codes, we interpret the ULTRACAM filter emission using the dominant emission processes from a radiative-hydrodynamic flare model with a high nonthermal electron beam flux, which explains a hot, T ≈ 10{sup 4} K, color temperature at blue-to-red optical wavelengths and a small Balmer jump ratio as observed in moderate-sized and large flares alike. We also discuss the high time resolution, high signal-to-noise continuum color variations observed in YZ CMi during a giant flare, which increased the NUV flux from this star by over a factor of 100.

M DWARF FLARE CONTINUUM VARIATIONS ON ONE-SECOND TIMESCALES: CALIBRATING AND MODELING OF ULTRACAM FLARE COLOR INDICES

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kowalski, Adam F.; Mathioudakis, Mihalis; Hawley, Suzanne L.; Hilton, Eric J.; Wisniewski, John P.; Dhillon, Vik S.; Marsh, Tom R.; Brown, Benjamin P.

2016-01-01

We present a large data set of high-cadence dMe flare light curves obtained with custom continuum filters on the triple-beam, high-speed camera system ULTRACAM. The measurements provide constraints for models of the near-ultraviolet (NUV) and optical continuum spectral evolution on timescales of ≈1 s. We provide a robust interpretation of the flare emission in the ULTRACAM filters using simultaneously obtained low-resolution spectra during two moderate-sized flares in the dM4.5e star YZ CMi. By avoiding the spectral complexity within the broadband Johnson filters, the ULTRACAM filters are shown to characterize bona fide continuum emission in the NUV, blue, and red wavelength regimes. The NUV/blue flux ratio in flares is equivalent to a Balmer jump ratio, and the blue/red flux ratio provides an estimate for the color temperature of the optical continuum emission. We present a new “color–color” relationship for these continuum flux ratios at the peaks of the flares. Using the RADYN and RH codes, we interpret the ULTRACAM filter emission using the dominant emission processes from a radiative-hydrodynamic flare model with a high nonthermal electron beam flux, which explains a hot, T ≈ 10 4 K, color temperature at blue-to-red optical wavelengths and a small Balmer jump ratio as observed in moderate-sized and large flares alike. We also discuss the high time resolution, high signal-to-noise continuum color variations observed in YZ CMi during a giant flare, which increased the NUV flux from this star by over a factor of 100

Chromosphere flare models

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Avrett, E.H.; Kurucz, R.L.; Machado, M.E.; NASA, Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL)

1985-01-01

Further calculated results based on the F1 and F2 chromospheric models of Machado et al. (1980) are presented in addition to results from a model with enhanced temperatures relative to the weak-flare model F1 in the upper photosphere and low chromosphere, and from a model with enhanced temperatures relative to the strong flare model F2 in the upper chromosphere. The coupled equations of statistical equilibrium and radiative transfer for H, H(-), He I-II, C I-IV, Si I-II, Mg I-II, Fe, Al, O I-II, Na, and Ca II are solved, and the overall absorption and emission of radiation by lines throughout the spectrum are determined by means of a reduced set of opacities taken from a compilation of over 10 million lines. Semiempirical models show that the white light flare continuum may arise by extreme chromospheric overheating, as well as by an enhancement of the minimum temperature region. 34 references

Reconstruction of a Large-scale Pre-flare Coronal Current Sheet Associated with a Homologous X-shaped Flare

Science.gov (United States)

Jiang, Chaowei; Yan, Xiaoli; Feng, Xueshang; Duan, Aiying; Hu, Qiang; Zuo, Pingbing; Wang, Yi

2017-11-01

As a fundamental magnetic structure in the solar corona, electric current sheets (CSs) can form either prior to or during a solar flare, and they are essential for magnetic energy dissipation in the solar corona because they enable magnetic reconnection. However, the static reconstruction of a CS is rare, possibly due to limitations that are inherent in the available coronal field extrapolation codes. Here we present the reconstruction of a large-scale pre-flare CS in solar active region 11967 using an MHD-relaxation model constrained by the SDO/HMI vector magnetogram. The CS is associated with a set of peculiar homologous flares that exhibit unique X-shaped ribbons and loops occurring in a quadrupolar magnetic configuration.This is evidenced by an ’X’ shape, formed from the field lines traced from the CS to the photosphere. This nearly reproduces the shape of the observed flare ribbons, suggesting that the flare is a product of the dissipation of the CS via reconnection. The CS forms in a hyperbolic flux tube, which is an intersection of two quasi-separatrix layers. The recurrence of the X-shaped flares might be attributed to the repetitive formation and dissipation of the CS, as driven by the photospheric footpoint motions. These results demonstrate the power of a data-constrained MHD model in reproducing a CS in the corona as well as providing insight into the magnetic mechanism of solar flares.

A magnetic bald-patch flare in solar active region 11117

Science.gov (United States)

Jiang, Chao-Wei; Feng, Xue-Shang; Wu, Shi-Tsan; Hu, Qiang

2017-09-01

With SDO observations and a data-constrained magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) model, we identify a confined multi-ribbon flare that occurred on 2010 October 25 in solar active region 11117 as a magnetic bald patch (BP) flare with strong evidence. From the photospheric magnetic field observed by SDO/HMI, we find there are indeed magnetic BPs on the polarity inversion lines (PILs) which match parts of the flare ribbons. From the 3D coronal magnetic field derived from an MHD relaxation model constrained by the vector magnetograms, we find strikingly good agreement of the BP separatrix surface (BPSS) footpoints with the flare ribbons, and the BPSS itself with the hot flaring loop system. Moreover, the triggering of the BP flare can be attributed to a small flux emergence under the lobe of the BPSS, and the relevant change of coronal magnetic field through the flare is reproduced well by the pre-flare and post-flare MHD solutions, which match the corresponding pre- and post-flare AIA observations, respectively. Our work contributes to the study of non-typical flares that constitute the majority of solar flares but which cannot be explained by the standard flare model.

Modelling emissions from natural gas flaring

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

G. Ezaina Umukoro

2017-04-01

Full Text Available The world today recognizes the significance of environmental sustainability to the development of nations. Hence, the role oil and gas industry plays in environmental degrading activities such as gas flaring is of global concern. This study presents material balance equations and predicts results for non-hydrocarbon emissions such as CO2, CO, NO, NO2, and SO2 etc. from flaring (combustion of 12 natural gas samples representing composition of natural gas of global origin. Gaseous emission estimates and pattern were modelled by coding material balance equations for six reaction types and combustion conditions with a computer program. On the average, anticipated gaseous emissions from flaring natural gas with an average annual global flaring rate 126 bcm per year (between 2000 and 2011 in million metric tonnes (mmt are 560 mmt, 48 mmt, 91 mmt, 93 mmt and 50 mmt for CO2, CO, NO, NO2 and SO2 respectively. This model predicted gaseous emissions based on the possible individual combustion types and conditions anticipated in gas flaring operation. It will assist in the effort by environmental agencies and all concerned to track and measure the extent of environmental pollution caused by gas flaring operations in the oil and gas industry.

Management of routine solution gas flaring in Alberta

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1998-01-01

Alberta's Clean Air Strategic Alliance (CASA) shares decision-making responsibilities with the Government of Alberta for strategic aspects of air quality. In 1997, the Alliance established the Flaring Project Team to develop recommendations that address potential and observed impacts associated with flaring, with particular focus on 'upstream solution gas' flaring. The upstream industry explores for, acquires, develops, produces and markets crude oil and natural gas. Essentially, solution gas at upstream sites is 'co-produced' during crude oil production. The project team was established to collect and summarize information on flaring and its impacts and to develop recommendations for short-term actions to minimize the practice of routine flaring of solution gas. Another goal of the team is to develop a research strategy to better understand flaring emissions and their effects on human, animal and environmental health. The team is working on developing long-term strategies for actions to address the gas flaring issue. 5 refs., 1 tab., 7 figs

INDUCED SCATTERING LIMITS ON FAST RADIO BURSTS FROM STELLAR CORONAE

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lyubarsky, Yuri [Physics Department, Ben-Gurion University, P.O.B. 653, Beer-Sheva 84105 (Israel); Ostrovska, Sofiya [Department of Mathematics, Atilim University, Incek 06836, Ankara (Turkey)

2016-02-10

The origin of fast radio bursts remains a puzzle. Suggestions have been made that they are produced within the Earth’s atmosphere, in stellar coronae, in other galaxies, or at cosmological distances. If they are extraterrestrial, the implied brightness temperature is very high, and therefore the induced scattering places constraints on possible models. In this paper, constraints are obtained on flares from coronae of nearby stars. It is shown that the radio pulses with the observed power could not be generated if the plasma density within and in the nearest vicinity of the source is as high as is necessary to provide the observed dispersion measure. However, one cannot exclude the possibility that the pulses are generated within a bubble with a very low density and pass through the dense plasma only in the outer corona.

Thermal Structure of Supra-Arcade Plasma in Two Solar Flares

Science.gov (United States)

Reeves, Katharine K.; Savage, Sabrina; McKenzie, David E.; Weber, Mark A.

2012-01-01

In this work, we use Hinode/XRT and SDO/AIA data to determine the thermal structure of supra-arcade plasma in two solar flares. The first flare is a Ml.2 flare that occurred on November 5, 2010 on the east limb. This flare was one of a series of flares from AR 11121, published in Reeves & Golub (2011). The second flare is an XI.7 flare that occurred on January 27, 2012 on the west limb. This flare exhibits visible supra-arcade downflows (SADs), where the November 2010 flare does not. For these two flares we combine XRT and AlA data to calculate DEMs of each pixel in the supra-arcade plasma, giving insight into the temperature and density structures in the fan of plasma above the post-flare arcade. We find in each case that the supra-arcade plasma is around 10 MK, and there is a marked decrease in the emission measure in the SADs. We also compare the DEMs calculated with the combined AIA/XRT dataset to those calculated using AIA alone.

Flare research with the NASA/MSFC vector magnetograph - Observed characteristics of sheared magnetic fields that produce flares

Science.gov (United States)

Moore, R. L.; Hagyard, M. J.; Davis, J. M.

1987-01-01

The present MSFC Vector Magnetograph has sufficient spatial resolution (2.7 arcsec pixels) and sensitivity to the transverse field (the noise level is about 100 gauss) to map the transverse field in active regions accurately enough to reveal key aspects of the sheared magnetic fields commonly found at flare sites. From the measured shear angle along the polarity inversion line in sites that flared and in other shear sites that didn't flare, evidence is found that a sufficient condition for a flare to occur in 1000 gauss fields in and near sunspots is that both: (1) the maximum shear angle exceed 85 degrees; and (2) the extent of strong shear (shear angle of greater than 80 degrees) exceed 10,000 km.

Identifying core domains to assess flare in rheumatoid arthritis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bartlett, Susan J; Hewlett, Sarah; Bingham, Clifton O

2012-01-01

For rheumatoid arthritis (RA), there is no consensus on how to define and assess flare. Variability in flare definitions impairs understanding of findings across studies and limits ability to pool results. The OMERACT RA Flare Group sought to identify domains to define RA flares from patient...

A study of flare stars in the taurus region

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khodzhaev, A.S.

1986-01-01

The results are given of a search for flare stars in the region of the dark clouds in Taurus together with the results of photometric, H /sub alpha/ -spectroscopic, and statistical investigations of them. Photographic observations during 1980-1984 revealed 92 new flare stars, 13 of which were found to be known Orion variables with 16 repeated flares of 13 previously known flare stars. Their apparent distribution is considered. The question of whether the flare stars belong to a dark cloud is discussed. A comparative analysis of the flare stars in the Taurus region and other aggregates is made. The Hertzsprung-Russell (V, B - V) and two-color (U - B, B - V) diagrams for the flare stars are similar to the corresponding diagrams constructed for star clusters and associations (Pleiades, Orion, etc.). The total number of flare stars in the region of the dark clouds in Taurus is estimated at ≥ 500

WHITE-LIGHT FLARES ON CLOSE BINARIES OBSERVED WITH KEPLER

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gao, Qing; Xin, Yu; Liu, Ji-Feng; Zhang, Xiao-Bin; Gao, Shuang

2016-01-01

Based on Kepler data, we present the results of a search for white light flares on 1049 close binaries. We identify 234 flare binaries, of which 6818 flares are detected. We compare the flare-binary fraction in different binary morphologies (“detachedness”). The result shows that the fractions in over-contact and ellipsoidal binaries are approximately 10%–20% lower than those in detached and semi-detached systems. We calculate the binary flare activity level (AL) of all the flare binaries, and discuss its variations along the orbital period ( P orb ) and rotation period ( P rot , calculated for only detached binaries). We find that the AL increases with decreasing P orb or P rot , up to the critical values at P orb ∼ 3 days or P rot ∼ 1.5 days, and thereafter the AL starts decreasing no matter how fast the stars rotate. We examine the flaring rate as a function of orbital phase in two eclipsing binaries on which a large number of flares are detected. It appears that there is no correlation between flaring rate and orbital phase in these two binaries. In contrast, when we examine the function with 203 flares on 20 non-eclipse ellipsoidal binaries, bimodal distribution of amplitude-weighted flare numbers shows up at orbital phases 0.25 and 0.75. Such variation could be larger than what is expected from the cross section modification.

Field Measurements of Black Carbon Yields from Gas Flaring.

Science.gov (United States)

Conrad, Bradley M; Johnson, Matthew R

2017-02-07

Black carbon (BC) emissions from gas flaring in the oil and gas industry are postulated to have critical impacts on climate and public health, but actual emission rates remain poorly characterized. This paper presents in situ field measurements of BC emission rates and flare gas volume-specific BC yields for a diverse range of flares. Measurements were performed during a series of field campaigns in Mexico and Ecuador using the sky-LOSA optical measurement technique, in concert with comprehensive Monte Carlo-based uncertainty analyses. Parallel on-site measurements of flare gas flow rate and composition were successfully performed at a subset of locations enabling direct measurements of fuel-specific BC yields from flares under field conditions. Quantified BC emission rates from individual flares spanned more than 4 orders of magnitude (up to 53.7 g/s). In addition, emissions during one notable ∼24-h flaring event (during which the plume transmissivity dropped to zero) would have been even larger than this maximum rate, which was measured as this event was ending. This highlights the likely importance of superemitters to global emission inventories. Flare gas volume-specific BC yields were shown to be strongly correlated with flare gas heating value. A newly derived correlation fitting current field data and previous lab data suggests that, in the context of recent studies investigating transport of flare-generated BC in the Arctic and globally, impacts of flaring in the energy industry may in fact be underestimated.

Generation Mechanisms of Quasi-parallel and Quasi-circular Flare Ribbons in a Confined Flare

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hernandez-Perez, Aaron; Thalmann, Julia K.; Veronig, Astrid M.; Dickson, Ewan C. [IGAM/Institute of Physics, University of Graz, A-8010 Graz (Austria); Su, Yang [Key Laboratory of Dark Matter and Space Astronomy, Purple Mountain Observatory Chinese Academy of Sciences, 2 West Beijing Road, 210008 Nanjing (China); Gömöry, Peter, E-mail: aaron.hernandez-perez@uni-graz.at [Astronomical Institute, Slovak Academy of Sciences, 05960 Tatranská Lomnica (Slovakia)

2017-10-01

We analyze a confined multiple-ribbon M2.1 flare (SOL2015-01-29T11:42) that originated from a fan-spine coronal magnetic field configuration, within active region NOAA 12268. The observed ribbons form in two steps. First, two primary ribbons form at the main flare site, followed by the formation of secondary ribbons at remote locations. We observe a number of plasma flows at extreme-ultraviolet temperatures during the early phase of the flare (as early as 15 minutes before the onset) propagating toward the formation site of the secondary ribbons. The secondary ribbon formation is co-temporal with the arrival of the pre-flare generated plasma flows. The primary ribbons are co-spatial with Ramaty High Energy Spectroscopic Imager ( RHESSI ) hard X-ray sources, whereas no enhanced X-ray emission is detected at the secondary ribbon sites. The (E)UV emission, associated with the secondary ribbons, peaks ∼1 minute after the last RHESSI hard X-ray enhancement. A nonlinear force-free model of the coronal magnetic field reveals that the secondary flare ribbons are not directly connected to the primary ribbons, but to regions nearby. Detailed analysis suggests that the secondary brightenings are produced due to dissipation of kinetic energy of the plasma flows (heating due to compression), and not due to non-thermal particles accelerated by magnetic reconnection, as is the case for the primary ribbons.

Progress report on recommendations of the Flaring Project Team

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Macken, C.

1999-01-01

Part of the mandate of the Clean Air Strategic Alliance (CASA) is to share decision-making responsibility for air quality management with the government of Alberta, through the ministries of Environmental Protection, Energy, and Health, and the Alberta Energy and Utilities Board (EUB). CASA's vision for air quality in Alberta is that 'the air will be odourless, tasteless, look clear, and have no measurable short- or long-term adverse effects on people, animals, or the environment'. In 1997, CASA approved the establishment of the Flaring Project Team in response to public concern about potential and observed impacts associated with flaring of solution gas. Members of that team established a framework for the management of solution gas flaring. Their long-term goal is to eliminate routine flaring of solution gas. The Project Team assessed existing information on solution gas flaring, including technologies, efficiencies, emissions and impacts. Alternative technologies were also reviewed along with biological and health effects of solution gas flaring. A list of data gaps and research needs was compiled in order to help with the development of the Team's recommendations. The Team's final report was delivered in June 1998. It was recommended that the following policy objective hierarchy be used to guide decisions related to routine solution gas flaring: (1) eliminate routine solution gas flaring, (2) reduce volumes of gas flared, and (3) improve the efficiency of flares. By way of progress the Project Team was able to report that in March, 1999, the EUB issued a draft interim directive to address upstream petroleum industry flaring. The draft Directive incorporates the recommendations from the CASA Flaring Project Team with respect to management of solution gas flaring. In December 1998, changes to the royalty structure to encourage the productive use of flare gas have been announced by the Alberta Department of Energy and Alberta Environmental protection, thus

A New Paradigm for Flare Particle Acceleration

Science.gov (United States)

Guidoni, Silvina E.; Karpen, Judith T.; DeVore, C. Richard

2017-08-01

The mechanism that accelerates particles to the energies required to produce the observed high-energy impulsive emission and its spectra in solar flares is not well understood. Here, we propose a first-principle-based model of particle acceleration that produces energy spectra that closely resemble those derived from hard X-ray observations. Our mechanism uses contracting magnetic islands formed during fast reconnection in solar flares to accelerate electrons, as first proposed by Drake et al. (2006) for kinetic-scale plasmoids. We apply these ideas to MHD-scale islands formed during fast reconnection in a simulated eruptive flare. A simple analytic model based on the particles’ adiabatic invariants is used to calculate the energy gain of particles orbiting field lines in our ultrahigh-resolution, 2.5D, MHD numerical simulation of a solar eruption (flare + coronal mass ejection). Then, we analytically model electrons visiting multiple contracting islands to account for the observed high-energy flare emission. Our acceleration mechanism inherently produces sporadic emission because island formation is intermittent. Moreover, a large number of particles could be accelerated in each macroscopic island, which may explain the inferred rates of energetic-electron production in flares. We conclude that island contraction in the flare current sheet is a promising candidate for electron acceleration in solar eruptions. This work was supported in part by the NASA LWS and H-SR programs..

Chandra Captures Flare From Brown Dwarf

Science.gov (United States)

2000-07-01

The first flare ever seen from a brown dwarf, or failed star, was detected by NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory. The bright X-ray flare has implications for understanding the explosive activity and origin of magnetic fields of extremely low mass stars. Chandra detected no X-rays at all from LP 944-20 for the first nine hours of a twelve hour observation, then the source flared dramatically before it faded away over the next two hours. "We were shocked," said Dr. Robert Rutledge of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, the lead author on the discovery paper to appear in the July 20 issue of Astrophysical Journal Letters. "We didn't expect to see flaring from such a lightweight object. This is really the 'mouse that roared.'" Chandra LP 944-20 X-ray Image Press Image and Caption The energy emitted in the brown dwarf flare was comparable to a small solar flare, and was a billion times greater than observed X-ray flares from Jupiter. The flaring energy is believed to come from a twisted magnetic field. "This is the strongest evidence yet that brown dwarfs and possibly young giant planets have magnetic fields, and that a large amount of energy can be released in a flare," said Dr. Eduardo Martin, also of Caltech and a member of the team. Professor Gibor Basri of the University of California, Berkeley, the principal investigator for this observation, speculated that the flare "could have its origin in the turbulent magnetized hot material beneath the surface of the brown dwarf. A sub-surface flare could heat the atmosphere, allowing currents to flow and give rise to the X-ray flare -- like a stroke of lightning." LP 944-20 is about 500 million years old and has a mass that is about 60 times that of Jupiter, or 6 percent that of the Sun. Its diameter is about one-tenth that of the Sun and it has a rotation period of less than five hours. Located in the constellation Fornax in the southern skies, LP 944-20 is one of the best studied brown dwarfs because it is

A flare for decommissioning : a push to close flare pits in B.C. earns Petro-Canada an industry award for environmental stewardship

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mahoney, J.

2009-01-15

Flaring is widely used to dispose of natural gas liberated during oil production and processing in remote areas where there is no pipeline on site to make use of the gas. Sources of flaring include well testing, solution gas from oil wells, underbalanced drilling, gas gathering systems and gas processing plants. Flaring is a source of pollution and a waste of energy. This article described Petro-Canada's efforts to eliminate flaring. In the late 1990s, the company began environmental assessments of its flare pits in British Columbia (BC). Since 2005, the producer has decommissioned 106 of its 108 pits in the province and ring-fenced the other 2. As the staff advanced the task of decommissioning, it often consolidated flaring hardware, installing a single, vertical flare stack to serve where 3 or 4 flare pits had previously served as many well sites. Before decommissioning began, Petro-Canada carried out its own environmental protocol and assessed its pits for the presence of contaminants and for their potential to leach into local waterways. Monitoring of groundwater through wells drilled on the company's BC flare pit sites will continue for some time, particularly on sites with bodies of water. BC's Oil and Gas Commission estimated that between 1996 and 2006, conservation of solution gas rose from 87 to 97 per cent among the province's producers. Petro-Canada was commended for being among the first to secure all flare pits under its control in BC. It was estimated that 49 per cent of all flare pits decommission in BC by 2007 were completed by Petro-Canada. 2 refs., 2 figs.

University of Alberta Flare Research Project : characterization of gases and liquids flared at battery sites in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kostiuk, L.W.; Thomas, G. P.

2004-01-01

Flaring is commonly used in the energy and petrochemical industries to dispose of unwanted combustible gases by burning them in an open flame. The Flare Research Project at the University of Alberta is an ongoing multiyear study into the emissions, combustion process and fluid mechanics related to flaring. This report presents the results of one phase of the study which characterizes the nature and relative quantities of gases and liquids being flared at seven battery sites in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin. A sampling system was specially developed to collect and analyze both the gas and liquid component of the flare stream. The analysis was performed by an independent chemical analysis company. Results indicate that no liquids were collected or observed at any of the sites, dispelling the assumption that liquids are commonly found in flare streams. Analysis of the gas phase showed a wide variation in the volume fraction of fuel and inert components. No correlation was made to link the appearance of smoke at a flare site to the composition of the flare gases. The preliminary tests provide the foundation for recommendations for future work regarding sampling programs and issues of combustion efficiency. 1 tab., 4 figs., 1 appendix

New Results from the Flare Genesis Experiment

Science.gov (United States)

Rust, D. M.; Bernasconi, P. N.; Eaton, H. A.; Keller, C.; Murphy, G. A.; Schmieder, B.

2000-05-01

From January 10 to 27, 2000, the Flare Genesis solar telescope observed the Sun while suspended from a balloon in the stratosphere above Antarctica. The goal of the mission was to acquire long time series of high-resolution images and vector magnetograms of the solar photosphere and chromosphere. Images were obtained in the magnetically sensitive Ca I line at 6122 Angstroms and at H-alpha (6563 Angstroms). The FGE data were obtained in the context of Max Millennium Observing Campaign #004, the objective of which was to study the ``Genesis of Solar Flares and Active Filaments/Sigmoids." Flare Genesis obtained about 26,000 usable images on the 8 targeted active regions. A preliminary examination reveals a good sequence on an emerging flux region and data on the M1 flare on January 22, as well as a number of sequences on active filaments. We will present the results of our first analysis efforts. Flare Genesis was supported by NASA grants NAG5-4955, NAG5-5139, and NAG5-8331 and by NSF grant OPP-9615073. The Air Force Office of Scientific Research and the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization supported early development of the Flare Genesis Experiment.

Exergy analysis of waste emissions from gas flaring

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Olawale Saheed ISMAIL

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Gas flaring produces a stream of waste gases at high temperature and pressure which contains carbon monoxide, Hydrogen Sulphide etc. The resultant effect of which is detrimental to our planet and, consequently, to the life of both the living and the non-living things. It’s well known that gas flaring contributes in no small measure to the global warming. Exergy analysis is applied in this work to analyze waste emissions from gas flaring so as to have a model through which impact of gas flaring can be measured. The study considers both the thermo-mechanical exergy and the chemical exergy of these gases. Relevant data on gas flaring activities in the Niger-Delta region of Nigeria between the periods of fifteen (15 years was obtained from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC. A computer program (Exergy Calculator was developed based on the equations generated in the Model. Exergy associated with gas flaring activities in Nigeria between the periods of 1998 through 2012 was calculated. The results show that 1 mscf (in thousand cubic feet of flared gases generate 0.000041 MWh of energy leading to a value of 440158.607 MWh of energy for the period under review.The analysis provides important conclusions and recommendations for improving oil platforms operationsin in order to safeguard the environment, health of the populace, and maximize recovered exergy from gas flaring.

An Interactive Multi-instrument Database of Solar Flares

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sadykov, Viacheslav M; Kosovichev, Alexander G; Oria, Vincent; Nita, Gelu M [Center for Computational Heliophysics, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, NJ 07102 (United States)

2017-07-01

Solar flares are complicated physical phenomena that are observable in a broad range of the electromagnetic spectrum, from radio waves to γ -rays. For a more comprehensive understanding of flares, it is necessary to perform a combined multi-wavelength analysis using observations from many satellites and ground-based observatories. For an efficient data search, integration of different flare lists, and representation of observational data, we have developed the Interactive Multi-Instrument Database of Solar Flares (IMIDSF, https://solarflare.njit.edu/). The web-accessible database is fully functional and allows the user to search for uniquely identified flare events based on their physical descriptors and the availability of observations by a particular set of instruments. Currently, the data from three primary flare lists ( Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites , RHESSI , and HEK) and a variety of other event catalogs ( Hinode , Fermi GBM, Konus- W IND, the OVSA flare catalogs, the CACTus CME catalog, the Filament eruption catalog) and observing logs ( IRIS and Nobeyama coverage) are integrated, and an additional set of physical descriptors (temperature and emission measure) is provided along with an observing summary, data links, and multi-wavelength light curves for each flare event since 2002 January. We envision that this new tool will allow researchers to significantly speed up the search of events of interest for statistical and case studies.

MOST OBSERVATIONS OF OUR NEAREST NEIGHBOR: FLARES ON PROXIMA CENTAURI

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Davenport, James R. A. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, Western Washington University, 516 High Street, Bellingham, WA 98225 (United States); Kipping, David M. [Department of Astronomy, Columbia University, 550 West 120th Street, New York, NY 10027 (United States); Sasselov, Dimitar [Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States); Matthews, Jaymie M. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of British Columbia, 6224 Agricultural Road, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z1 (Canada); Cameron, Chris [Department of Mathematics, Physics and Geology, Cape Breton University, 1250 Grand Lake Road, Sydney, NS B1P 6L2 (Canada)

2016-10-01

We present a study of white-light flares from the active M5.5 dwarf Proxima Centauri using the Canadian microsatellite Microvariability and Oscillations of STars . Using 37.6 days of monitoring data from 2014 to 2015, we have detected 66 individual flare events, the largest number of white-light flares observed to date on Proxima Cen. Flare energies in our sample range from 10{sup 29} to 10{sup 31.5} erg. The flare rate is lower than that of other classic flare stars of a similar spectral type, such as UV Ceti, which may indicate Proxima Cen had a higher flare rate in its youth. Proxima Cen does have an unusually high flare rate given its slow rotation period, however. Extending the observed power-law occurrence distribution down to 10{sup 28} erg, we show that flares with flux amplitudes of 0.5% occur 63 times per day, while superflares with energies of 10{sup 33} erg occur ∼8 times per year. Small flares may therefore pose a great difficulty in searches for transits from the recently announced 1.27 M {sub ⊕} Proxima b, while frequent large flares could have significant impact on the planetary atmosphere.

Observation of solar flare by Hinotori SXT/HXM

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ohki, Ken-ichiro; Takakura, Tatsuo; Tsuneta, Sukehisa; Nitta, Nariaki; Makishima, Kazuo.

1982-01-01

Solar flares were observed by SXT (hard X-ray two-dimensional observation system) and HXM (hard X-ray spectrometer) on Hinotori. The results of two-dimensional analysis of 20 flares are reported in this paper. Various images of hard X-ray were observed. Hard X-ray bursts with relatively long duration may be generated in corona. The hard X-ray flare generated on the solar disc gives information on the relative position to the H flare. The examples of this hard X-ray images are presented. The HXM can observe the hard X-ray spectra up to 350 keV. The flares with duration less than 5 min have the spectra coninciding with the thermal radiation from a single temperature before the peak, and power law type non-thermal radiation spectra after the peak. The hard X-ray flares with duration longer than 10 min have power law type spectra. (Kato, T.)

Interactive Multi-Instrument Database of Solar Flares

Science.gov (United States)

Ranjan, Shubha S.; Spaulding, Ryan; Deardorff, Donald G.

2018-01-01

The fundamental motivation of the project is that the scientific output of solar research can be greatly enhanced by better exploitation of the existing solar/heliosphere space-data products jointly with ground-based observations. Our primary focus is on developing a specific innovative methodology based on recent advances in "big data" intelligent databases applied to the growing amount of high-spatial and multi-wavelength resolution, high-cadence data from NASA's missions and supporting ground-based observatories. Our flare database is not simply a manually searchable time-based catalog of events or list of web links pointing to data. It is a preprocessed metadata repository enabling fast search and automatic identification of all recorded flares sharing a specifiable set of characteristics, features, and parameters. The result is a new and unique database of solar flares and data search and classification tools for the Heliophysics community, enabling multi-instrument/multi-wavelength investigations of flare physics and supporting further development of flare-prediction methodologies.

Anti-neutrino imprint in solar neutrino flare

Science.gov (United States)

Fargion, D.

2006-10-01

A future neutrino detector at megaton mass might enlarge the neutrino telescope thresholds revealing cosmic supernova background and largest solar flares (SFs) neutrinos. Indeed the solar energetic (Ep>100 MeV) flare particles (protons, α), while scattering among themselves on solar corona atmosphere must produce prompt charged pions, whose chain decays are source of a solar (electron muon) neutrino 'flare' (at tens or hundreds MeV energy). These brief (minutes) neutrino 'bursts' at largest flare peak may overcome by three to five orders of magnitude the steady atmospheric neutrino noise on the Earth, possibly leading to their detection above detection thresholds (in a full mixed three flavour state). Moreover the birth of anti-neutrinos at a few tens of MeV very clearly flares above a null thermal 'hep' anti-neutrino solar background and also above a tiny supernova relic and atmospheric noise. The largest prompt solar anti-neutrino 'burst' may be well detected in future Super Kamikande (gadolinium implemented) anti-neutrino \\bar\

Motion of matter in flare loops of the solar disc

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xu Ao-ao

1987-01-01

By using the optical observation data of a Class 3B double-ribbon flare obtained on July 14, 1980 at the Yunan Observatory, and the x-ray result from the SMM satellite for the same flare, the law of motion of matter in the flare loops of the solar disc is discussed. First, the solar disc positions from the Hα and x-ray images for the flare were compared, and the altitude of the flare loop was determined according to projection effects. Second, the line-of-sight velocity distribution in the region of flare activity due to the falling of matter in the flare loop was estimated theoretically. The result agreed with the observed data

Two-phase Heating in Flaring Loops

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Chunming; Qiu, Jiong; Longcope, Dana W.

2018-03-01

We analyze and model a C5.7 two-ribbon solar flare observed by the Solar Dynamics Observatory, Hinode, and GOES on 2011 December 26. The flare is made of many loops formed and heated successively over one and half hours, and their footpoints are brightened in the UV 1600 Å before enhanced soft X-ray and EUV missions are observed in flare loops. Assuming that anchored at each brightened UV pixel is a half flaring loop, we identify more than 6700 half flaring loops, and infer the heating rate of each loop from the UV light curve at the footpoint. In each half loop, the heating rate consists of two phases: intense impulsive heating followed by a low-rate heating that is persistent for more than 20 minutes. Using these heating rates, we simulate the evolution of their coronal temperatures and densities with the model of the “enthalpy-based thermal evolution of loops.” In the model, suppression of thermal conduction is also considered. This model successfully reproduces total soft X-ray and EUV light curves observed in 15 passbands by four instruments GOES, AIA, XRT, and EVE. In this flare, a total energy of 4.9 × 1030 erg is required to heat the corona, around 40% of this energy is in the slow-heating phase. About two-fifths of the total energy used to heat the corona is radiated by the coronal plasmas, and the other three fifth transported to the lower atmosphere by thermal conduction.

Swift X-ray monitoring of stellar coronal variability

Science.gov (United States)

Miller, Brendan; Hagen, Cedric; Gallo, Elena; Wright, Jason T.

2018-01-01

We used California Planet Search Ca II H and K core emission measurements to identify and characterize chromospheric activity cycles in a sample of main-sequence FGK stars. About a dozen of these with existing ROSAT archival data were targeted with Swift to obtain a current epoch X-ray flux. We find that coronal variability by a factor of several is common on decade-long timescales (we attempt to link to the chromospheric cycle phase) but can also occur on short timescales between Swift visits to a given target, presumably related to stellar rotation and coronal inhomogeneity or to small flares. Additionally, we present new Swift monitoring observations of two M dwarfs with known exoplanets: GJ 15A and GJ 674. GJ 15A b is around 5.3 Earth masses with an 11.4 day orbital period, while GJ 674 is around 11.1 Earth masses with a 4.7 day orbital period. GJ 15A was observed several times in late 2014 and then monitored at approximately weekly intervals for several months in early 2016, for a total exposure of 18 ks. GJ 674 was monitored at approximately weekly intervals for most of 2016, for a total exposure of 40 ks. We provide light curves and hardness ratios for both sources, and also compare to earlier archival X-ray data. Both sources show significant X-ray variability, including between consecutive observations. We quantify the energy distribution for coronal flaring, and compare to optical results for M dwarfs from Kepler. Finally, we discuss the implications of M dwarf coronal activity for exoplanets orbiting within the nominal habitable zone.

Long-term hemispheric variation of the flare index

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Feng Song; Deng Lin-Hua; Xu Shi-Chun

2013-01-01

The long-term hemispheric variation of the flare index is investigated. It is found that, (1) the phase difference of the flare index between the northern and southern hemispheres is about 6–7 months, which is near the time delay between flare activity and sunspot activity; (2) both the dominant and phase-leading hemisphere of the flare index is the northern hemisphere in the considered time interval, implying that the hemispheric asynchrony of solar activity has a close connection with the N-S asymmetry of solar activity. (research papers)

M Dwarf Flare Continuum Variations on One-second Timescales: Calibrating and Modeling of ULTRACAM Flare Color Indices

Science.gov (United States)

Kowalski, Adam F.; Mathioudakis, Mihalis; Hawley, Suzanne L.; Wisniewski, John P.; Dhillon, Vik S.; Marsh, Tom R.; Hilton, Eric J.; Brown, Benjamin P.

2016-04-01

We present a large data set of high-cadence dMe flare light curves obtained with custom continuum filters on the triple-beam, high-speed camera system ULTRACAM. The measurements provide constraints for models of the near-ultraviolet (NUV) and optical continuum spectral evolution on timescales of ≈1 s. We provide a robust interpretation of the flare emission in the ULTRACAM filters using simultaneously obtained low-resolution spectra during two moderate-sized flares in the dM4.5e star YZ CMi. By avoiding the spectral complexity within the broadband Johnson filters, the ULTRACAM filters are shown to characterize bona fide continuum emission in the NUV, blue, and red wavelength regimes. The NUV/blue flux ratio in flares is equivalent to a Balmer jump ratio, and the blue/red flux ratio provides an estimate for the color temperature of the optical continuum emission. We present a new “color-color” relationship for these continuum flux ratios at the peaks of the flares. Using the RADYN and RH codes, we interpret the ULTRACAM filter emission using the dominant emission processes from a radiative-hydrodynamic flare model with a high nonthermal electron beam flux, which explains a hot, T ≈ 104 K, color temperature at blue-to-red optical wavelengths and a small Balmer jump ratio as observed in moderate-sized and large flares alike. We also discuss the high time resolution, high signal-to-noise continuum color variations observed in YZ CMi during a giant flare, which increased the NUV flux from this star by over a factor of 100. Based on observations obtained with the Apache Point Observatory 3.5 m telescope, which is owned and operated by the Astrophysical Research Consortium, based on observations made with the William Herschel Telescope operated on the island of La Palma by the Isaac Newton Group in the Spanish Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos of the Instituto de Astrofsica de Canarias, and observations, and based on observations made with the ESO Telescopes

Solar Flare Aimed at Earth

Science.gov (United States)

2002-01-01

At the height of the solar cycle, the Sun is finally displaying some fireworks. This image from the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) shows a large solar flare from June 6, 2000 at 1424 Universal Time (10:24 AM Eastern Daylight Savings Time). Associated with the flare was a coronal mass ejection that sent a wave of fast moving charged particles straight towards Earth. (The image was acquired by the Extreme ultaviolet Imaging Telescope (EIT), one of 12 instruments aboard SOHO) Solar activity affects the Earth in several ways. The particles generated by flares can disrupt satellite communications and interfere with power transmission on the Earth's surface. Earth's climate is tied to the total energy emitted by the sun, cooling when the sun radiates less energy and warming when solar output increases. Solar radiation also produces ozone in the stratosphere, so total ozone levels tend to increase during the solar maximum. For more information about these solar flares and the SOHO mission, see NASA Science News or the SOHO home page. For more about the links between the sun and climate change, see Sunspots and the Solar Max. Image courtesy SOHO Extreme ultaviolet Imaging Telescope, ESA/NASA

Radio-flaring Ultracool Dwarf Population Synthesis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Route, Matthew, E-mail: mroute@purdue.edu [Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, the Pennsylvania State University, 525 Davey Laboratory, University Park, PA 16802 (United States)

2017-08-10

Over a dozen ultracool dwarfs (UCDs), low-mass objects of spectral types ≥M7, are known to be sources of radio flares. These typically several-minutes-long radio bursts can be up to 100% circularly polarized and have high brightness temperatures, consistent with coherent emission via the electron cyclotron maser operating in approximately kilogauss magnetic fields. Recently, the statistical properties of the bulk physical parameters that describe these UCDs have become described adequately enough to permit synthesis of the population of radio-flaring objects. For the first time, I construct a Monte Carlo simulator to model the population of these radio-flaring UCDs. This simulator is powered by Intel Secure Key (ISK), a new processor technology that uses a local entropy source to improve random number generation that has heretofore been used to improve cryptography. The results from this simulator indicate that only ∼5% of radio-flaring UCDs within the local interstellar neighborhood (<25 pc away) have been discovered. I discuss a number of scenarios that may explain this radio-flaring fraction and suggest that the observed behavior is likely a result of several factors. The performance of ISK as compared to other pseudorandom number generators is also evaluated, and its potential utility for other astrophysical codes is briefly described.

Well-observed dynamics of flaring and peripheral coronal magnetic loops during an M-class limb flare

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shen, Jinhua; Zhou, Tuanhui; Ji, Haisheng; Feng, Li; Wiegelmann, Thomas; Inhester, Bernd

2014-01-01

In this paper, we present a variety of well-observed dynamic behaviors for the flaring and peripheral magnetic loops of the M6.6 class extreme limb flare that occurred on 2011 February 24 (SOL2011-02-24T07:20) from EUV observations by the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly on the Solar Dynamics Observatory and X-ray observations by RHESSI. The flaring loop motion confirms the earlier contraction-expansion picture. We find that the U-shaped trajectory delineated by the X-ray corona source of the flare roughly follows the direction of a filament eruption associated with the flare. Different temperature structures of the coronal source during the contraction and expansion phases strongly suggest different kinds of magnetic reconnection processes. For some peripheral loops, we discover that their dynamics are closely correlated with the filament eruption. During the slow rising to abrupt, fast rising of the filament, overlying peripheral magnetic loops display different responses. Two magnetic loops on the elbow of the active region had a slow descending motion followed by an abrupt successive fast contraction, while magnetic loops on the top of the filament were pushed outward, slowly being inflated for a while and then erupting as a moving front. We show that the filament activation and eruption play a dominant role in determining the dynamics of the overlying peripheral coronal magnetic loops.

Instant CloudFlare starter

CERN Document Server

Dickey, Jeff

2013-01-01

Get to grips with a new technology, understand what it is and what it can do for you, and then get to work with the most important features and tasks. Written as a practical guide, CloudFlare Starter will show you all you need to know in order to effectively improve your online presence in a multitude of different ways. ""Instant CloudFlare Starter"" is a practical yet accessible guide for website owners looking to optimize their site for optimum security and maximum performance.

Flare-related color effects in UV Ceti stars

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Flesch, T.R.

1975-01-01

The UV Ceti flare stars YZ CMi, BD+16 0 2708, EV Lac, and AD Leo were monitored photoelectrically for flare activity with the 76 centimeter reflecting telescope of the University of Florida's Rosemary Hill Observatory. Observations were carried out from January, 1973 to April, 1975. The instrumentation allowed simultaneous readings to be taken at 3500, 4632, and 6496A with a time resolution of 2 seconds. A total of 15 major events were observed, with 14 of these being observed in all three colors. All events showed the classical fast rise and slower decline that is typical of this type of activity. One event showed peculiar behavior in the red bandpass that may indicate strong dependence of the flare light in some cases on line emission. The data were applied to the fast electron model of flare activity proposed by Gurzadyan. Several serious inconsistencies in the theory were found that would not have been evident in single-channel monitoring. No event could be fitted in all three colors using consistent values of the unknown parameters in the theory. The most serious deficiencies in the theory were the wavelength dependence of the optical depth of the electron cloud and the lack of treatment of line emission behavior. Differential color indices for flare light are calculated and are shown to be essentially constant throughout the entire event for the stronger flares. A color-color plot of the flare light at maximum reveals that 11 of the flares show a linear relation. This relation indicates that the smaller the u-b index, the larger is the b-r index. This is probably directly involved with line emission during flare events. Future research possibilities are discussed, with spectroscopic studies and simultaneous multicolor observations being stressed

University of Alberta Flare Research Project : characterization of gases and liquids flared at battery sites in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2004-01-01

The Flare Research Project at the University of Alberta is an ongoing multi year study into the emissions, combustion process and fluid mechanics related to flaring, which is commonly used in the energy and petrochemical industries to dispose of unwanted combustible gases by burning them in an open flame. This report presents the results of one phase of the study which characterizes the nature and relative quantities of gases and liquids being flared at seven battery sites in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin. A sampling system was specially developed to collect and analyze both the gas and liquid component of the flare stream. The analysis was performed by an independent chemical analysis company. Results indicate that no liquids were collected or observed at any of the sites, dispelling the assumption that liquids are commonly found in flare streams. Analysis of the gas phase showed a wide variation in the volume fraction of fuel and inert components. No correlation was made to link the appearance of smoke at a flare site to the composition of the flare gases. The preliminary tests provide the foundation for recommendations for future work regarding sampling programs and issues of combustion efficiency tab., 4 figs., 1 appendix

Prediction and comparison of noise levels from ground and elevated flare systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Obasi, E.

2009-01-01

Flaring is a process to dispose of hydrocarbons during clean-up, emergency shut downs or dispose a small volume waste streams of mixed gasses that cannot easily or safely be separated. This presentation discussed flaring as a noise issue. It focused on flaring noise characterization; flare noise modeling; flare sound power levels; and flare sound pressure level comparison at a distance of 1.5 km. The presentation included a photograph of flaring at a gas plant in Nigeria. The presentation listed some of the potential health effects associated with long term exposure to excessive noise, such as hearing loss; headaches; stress; fatigue; sleep disturbance; and high blood pressure. Companies flare gas to dispose waste gases in a safe and reliable manner through combustion and to depressurize gas lines during maintenance and emergencies. This presentation also discussed ground and elevated flares; components of flare noise characterization; and key factors affecting flare noise. A model to predict flaring noise was also presented. It demonstrated that at the same gas mass flow rate, the noise level from elevated flare stacks are significantly higher than ground flares. tabs., figs.

Prediction and comparison of noise levels from ground and elevated flare systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Obasi, E. [Stantec Consulting Ltd., Surrey, BC (Canada)

2009-07-01

Flaring is a process to dispose of hydrocarbons during clean-up, emergency shut downs or dispose a small volume waste streams of mixed gasses that cannot easily or safely be separated. This presentation discussed flaring as a noise issue. It focused on flaring noise characterization; flare noise modeling; flare sound power levels; and flare sound pressure level comparison at a distance of 1.5 km. The presentation included a photograph of flaring at a gas plant in Nigeria. The presentation listed some of the potential health effects associated with long term exposure to excessive noise, such as hearing loss; headaches; stress; fatigue; sleep disturbance; and high blood pressure. Companies flare gas to dispose waste gases in a safe and reliable manner through combustion and to depressurize gas lines during maintenance and emergencies. This presentation also discussed ground and elevated flares; components of flare noise characterization; and key factors affecting flare noise. A model to predict flaring noise was also presented. It demonstrated that at the same gas mass flow rate, the noise level from elevated flare stacks are significantly higher than ground flares. tabs., figs.

Endodontic cellulitis 'flare-up'. Case report.

Science.gov (United States)

Matusow, R J

1995-02-01

Endodontic cellulitis involves facial swelling which can vary from mild to severe and can occur as a primary case or a flare-up following initial treatment of asymptomatic teeth with periapical lesions. The microbial spectrum in primary cases involves a significant mixture of anaerobic and facultative aerobic microbes, chiefly streptococci. In a previous study, cultures from flare-up cases, utilizing the same anaerobic techniques as in primary cases, revealed an absence of obligate anaerobes and an 80 per cent incidence of facultative aerobic streptococci. These cases also revealed a significant time lapse from onset of symptoms to the cellulitis phase. No sex or age factors were noted in the primary or flare-up cases. The purpose of this case report is to restate a traditional theory, namely, the alteration of the oxidation/reduction potential (Eh), as a major factor for endodontic cellulitis flare-ups; to confirm the pathogenic potential of oral facultative streptococci; and that asymptomatic endodontic lesions tend to exist with mixed aerobic/anaerobic microbial flora.

ABRUPT LONGITUDINAL MAGNETIC FIELD CHANGES IN FLARING ACTIVE REGIONS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Petrie, G. J. D.; Sudol, J. J.

2010-01-01

We characterize the changes in the longitudinal photospheric magnetic field during 38 X-class and 39 M-class flares within 65 0 of disk center using 1 minute GONG magnetograms. In all 77 cases, we identify at least one site in the flaring active region where clear, permanent, stepwise field changes occurred. The median duration of the field changes was about 15 minutes and was approximately equal for X-class and for M-class flares. The absolute values of the field changes ranged from the detection limit of ∼10 G to as high as ∼450 G in two exceptional cases. The median value was 69 G. Field changes were significantly stronger for X-class than for M-class flares and for limb flares than for disk-center flares. Longitudinal field changes less than 100 G tended to decrease longitudinal field strengths, both close to disk center and close to the limb, while field changes greater than 100 G showed no such pattern. Likewise, longitudinal flux strengths tended to decrease during flares. Flux changes, particularly net flux changes near disk center, correlated better than local field changes with GOES peak X-ray flux. The strongest longitudinal field and flux changes occurred in flares observed close to the limb. We estimate the change of Lorentz force associated with each flare and find that this is large enough in some cases to power seismic waves. We find that longitudinal field decreases would likely outnumber increases at all parts of the solar disk within 65 0 of disk center, as in our observations, if photospheric field tilts increase during flares as predicted by Hudson et al.

Endodontic flare-ups: a prospective study.

Science.gov (United States)

Alves, Vanessa de Oliveira

2010-11-01

The objective of this prospective clinical study was to evaluate the incidence of flare-ups (pain and/or swelling requiring endodontic interappointment and emergency treatment) and identify the risk factors associated with their occurrence in patients who received endodontic treatment from June 2006 to June 2007 at the endodontics clinic of the São Paulo Dental Association (APCD), Jardim Paulista branch, São Paulo, Brazil. The incidence of flare-ups was 1.71% out of 408 teeth that had received endodontic therapy. Statistical analysis using the chi-squared test (P flare-up rate and the presence of a periradicular radiolucency. Copyright © 2010 Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

Stellarator-Spheromak

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Moroz, P.E.

1997-03-01

A novel concept for magnetic plasma confinement, Stellarator-Spheromak (SSP), is proposed. Numerical analysis with the classical-stellarator-type outboard stellarator windings demonstrates a number of potential advantages of SSP for controlled nuclear fusion. Among the main ones are: simple and compact magnet coil configuration, absence of material structures (e.g. magnet coils or conducting walls) in the center of the torus, high rotational transform, and a possibility of MHD equilibria with very high β (pressure/magnetic pressure) of the confined plasma

Flare Prediction Using Photospheric and Coronal Image Data

Science.gov (United States)

Jonas, E.; Shankar, V.; Bobra, M.; Recht, B.

2016-12-01

We attempt to forecast M-and X-class solar flares using a machine-learning algorithm and five years of image data from both the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) and Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) instruments aboard the Solar Dynamics Observatory. HMI is the first instrument to continuously map the full-disk photospheric vector magnetic field from space (Schou et al., 2012). The AIA instrument maps the transition region and corona using various ultraviolet wavelengths (Lemen et al., 2012). HMI and AIA data are taken nearly simultaneously, providing an opportunity to study the entire solar atmosphere at a rapid cadence. Most flare forecasting efforts described in the literature use some parameterization of solar data - typically of the photospheric magnetic field within active regions. These numbers are considered to capture the information in any given image relevant to predicting solar flares. In our approach, we use HMI and AIA images of solar active regions and a deep convolutional kernel network to predict solar flares. This is effectively a series of shallow-but-wide random convolutional neural networks stacked and then trained with a large-scale block-weighted least squares solver. This algorithm automatically determines which patterns in the image data are most correlated with flaring activity and then uses these patterns to predict solar flares. Using the recently-developed KeystoneML machine learning framework, we construct a pipeline to process millions of images in a few hours on commodity cloud computing infrastructure. This is the first time vector magnetic field images have been combined with coronal imagery to forecast solar flares. This is also the first time such a large dataset of solar images, some 8.5 terabytes of images that together capture over 3000 active regions, has been used to forecast solar flares. We evaluate our method using various flare prediction windows defined in the literature (e.g. Ahmed et al., 2013) and a novel per

Imaging Observations of Magnetic Reconnection in a Solar Eruptive Flare

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li, Y.; Ding, M. D.; Sun, X.; Qiu, J.; Priest, E. R.

2017-01-01

Solar flares are among the most energetic events in the solar atmosphere. It is widely accepted that flares are powered by magnetic reconnection in the corona. An eruptive flare is usually accompanied by a coronal mass ejection, both of which are probably driven by the eruption of a magnetic flux rope (MFR). Here we report an eruptive flare on 2016 March 23 observed by the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly on board the Solar Dynamics Observatory . The extreme-ultraviolet imaging observations exhibit the clear rise and eruption of an MFR. In particular, the observations reveal solid evidence of magnetic reconnection from both the corona and chromosphere during the flare. Moreover, weak reconnection is observed before the start of the flare. We find that the preflare weak reconnection is of tether-cutting type and helps the MFR to rise slowly. Induced by a further rise of the MFR, strong reconnection occurs in the rise phases of the flare, which is temporally related to the MFR eruption. We also find that the magnetic reconnection is more of 3D-type in the early phase, as manifested in a strong-to-weak shear transition in flare loops, and becomes more 2D-like in the later phase, as shown by the apparent rising motion of an arcade of flare loops.

Imaging Observations of Magnetic Reconnection in a Solar Eruptive Flare

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Li, Y.; Ding, M. D. [School of Astronomy and Space Science, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023 (China); Sun, X. [W. W. Hansen Experimental Physics Laboratory, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305 (United States); Qiu, J. [Department of Physics, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT 59717 (United States); Priest, E. R., E-mail: yingli@nju.edu.cn [School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of St Andrews, Fife KY16 9SS, Scotland (United Kingdom)

2017-02-01

Solar flares are among the most energetic events in the solar atmosphere. It is widely accepted that flares are powered by magnetic reconnection in the corona. An eruptive flare is usually accompanied by a coronal mass ejection, both of which are probably driven by the eruption of a magnetic flux rope (MFR). Here we report an eruptive flare on 2016 March 23 observed by the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly on board the Solar Dynamics Observatory . The extreme-ultraviolet imaging observations exhibit the clear rise and eruption of an MFR. In particular, the observations reveal solid evidence of magnetic reconnection from both the corona and chromosphere during the flare. Moreover, weak reconnection is observed before the start of the flare. We find that the preflare weak reconnection is of tether-cutting type and helps the MFR to rise slowly. Induced by a further rise of the MFR, strong reconnection occurs in the rise phases of the flare, which is temporally related to the MFR eruption. We also find that the magnetic reconnection is more of 3D-type in the early phase, as manifested in a strong-to-weak shear transition in flare loops, and becomes more 2D-like in the later phase, as shown by the apparent rising motion of an arcade of flare loops.

The Crab Nebula flaring activity

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Montani, G., E-mail: giovanni.montani@frascati.enea.it [ENEA – C.R, UTFUS-MAG, via Enrico Fermi 45, I-00044 Frascati (RM) (Italy); Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Roma “Sapienza”, p.le Aldo Moro 5, I-00185 Roma (Italy); Bernardini, M.G. [INAF – Osservatorio Astronomico di Brera, via Bianchi 46, I-23807 Merate (Italy)

2014-12-12

The discovery made by AGILE and Fermi of a short time scale flaring activity in the gamma-ray energy emission of the Crab Nebula is a puzzling and unexpected feature, challenging particle acceleration theory. In the present work we propose the shock-induced magnetic reconnection as a viable mechanism to explain the Crab flares. We postulate that the emitting region is located at ∼10{sup 15} cm from the central pulsar, well inside the termination shock, which is exactly the emitting region size as estimated by the overall duration of the phenomenon ∼1 day. We find that this location corresponds to the radial distance at which the shock-induced magnetic reconnection process is able to accelerate the electrons up to a Lorentz factor ∼10{sup 9}, as required by the spectral fit of the observed Crab flare spectrum. The main merit of the present analysis is to highlight the relation between the observational constraints to the flare emission and the radius at which the reconnection can trigger the required Lorentz factor. We also discuss different scenarios that can induce the reconnection. We conclude that the existence of a plasma instability affecting the wind itself as the Weibel instability is the privileged scenario in our framework.

X-ray Emission Characteristics of Flares Associated with CMEs ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

tics of solar flares and their relationship with the dynamics of CMEs have ... lation between X-ray peak intensity of the flares with linear speed as well ... shear angle (θ1, measured at the flare onset), the final shear angle (θ2, measured at the.

X-ray Emission from Solar Flares

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

2016-01-27

Jan 27, 2016 ... Solar flares; X-ray detectors; X-ray line emission and continuum; break energy; microflares. Abstract. Solar X-ray Spectrometer (SOXS), the first space-borne solar astronomy experiment of India was designed to improve our current understanding of X-ray emission from the Sun in general and solar flares in ...

HEATING OF FLARE LOOPS WITH OBSERVATIONALLY CONSTRAINED HEATING FUNCTIONS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Qiu Jiong; Liu Wenjuan; Longcope, Dana W. [Department of Physics, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT 59717-3840 (United States)

2012-06-20

We analyze high-cadence high-resolution observations of a C3.2 flare obtained by AIA/SDO on 2010 August 1. The flare is a long-duration event with soft X-ray and EUV radiation lasting for over 4 hr. Analysis suggests that magnetic reconnection and formation of new loops continue for more than 2 hr. Furthermore, the UV 1600 Angstrom-Sign observations show that each of the individual pixels at the feet of flare loops is brightened instantaneously with a timescale of a few minutes, and decays over a much longer timescale of more than 30 minutes. We use these spatially resolved UV light curves during the rise phase to construct empirical heating functions for individual flare loops, and model heating of coronal plasmas in these loops. The total coronal radiation of these flare loops are compared with soft X-ray and EUV radiation fluxes measured by GOES and AIA. This study presents a method to observationally infer heating functions in numerous flare loops that are formed and heated sequentially by reconnection throughout the flare, and provides a very useful constraint to coronal heating models.

40 CFR 63.987 - Flare requirements.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... specified in paragraphs (b)(3)(i) through (iv) of this section. (i) Method 22 of appendix A of part 60 shall...) cross sectional area of the flare tip. (iv) Flare flame or pilot monitors, as applicable, shall be..., ultra-violet beam sensor, or infrared sensor) capable of continuously detecting that at least one pilot...

Flare-up rate of single-visit endodontics.

Science.gov (United States)

Trope, M

1991-01-01

The purpose of the study was to compare the flare-up rate for single-visit endodontics among teeth without radiographic or clinical signs of apical periodontitis, those with radiographic or clinical signs of apical periodontitis not previously root-treated, and those with apical periodontitis where retreatment was performed. All teeth were instrumented to a predetermined minimum size with a 0.5 per cent solution of sodium hypochlorite being used as the irrigant. The root canal was obturated without regard to the presence or absence of symptoms or diagnosis of the apical condition. The patients were given written post-operative instructions and a prescription for 600 mg ibuprofen to be taken if mild to moderate pain developed. If severe pain and/or swelling developed, the patient was instructed to telephone immediately and was considered to have had a flare-up. Teeth without signs of apical periodontitis did not have any flare-ups. One flare-up occurred in 69 teeth with signs of apical periodontitis not previously root-treated. The majority of the flare-ups (3 of 22 teeth) occurred in teeth with signs of apical periodontitis requiring retreatment.

University of Alberta Flare Research Project : interim report November 1996-Jun 2000

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kostiuk, L.; Johnson, M.

2000-01-01

The Flare Research Project at the University of Alberta is an ongoing multi year study into the emissions, combustion process and fluid mechanics related to flaring, which is commonly used in the energy and petrochemical industries to dispose of unwanted combustible gases by burning them in an open flame. This report focused on the emissions and efficiency of flares under operating conditions typical of solution gas flares. While most solution gas produced in Alberta is conserved, it is estimated that 6 per cent of these gases are flared with significant changes in the volumes flared from site to site. The median volume of flared or vented gas was approximately 60,300 m 3 /year and 95 per cent of battery sites flare and vent less than 1,000,000 m 3 /year. The goal of this project is to experimentally study the scaled-down generic pipe flares under well-controlled conditions to better understand the performance of flares. Research was conducted in a closed-loop wind tunnel to determine the effects of wind on flaring. Other objectives of the research are to develop methods for measuring the overall combustion efficiency of flares with either gaseous flare streams or those containing liquid droplets. Models for the scaling of plumes that disperse the products of combustion from flares as a function of wind speed, exit velocity and flare stack diameter were also examined. And finally, this research project measured the emissions of selected toxic compounds in both their vapor and soot phases. 38 refs., 10 tabs., 56 figs

Variation of the solar wind velocity following solar flares

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Huang, Y.; Lee, Y.

1975-01-01

By use of the superposed epoch method, changes in the solar wind velocity following solar flares have been investigated by using the solar wind velocity data obtained by Pioneer 6 and 7 and Vela 3, 4, and 5 satellites. A significant increase of the solar wind velocity has been found on the second day following importance 3 solar flares and on the third day following importance 2 solar flares. No significant increase of the solar wind velocity has been found for limb flares. (auth)

XSST/TRC rocket observations of July 13, 1982 flare

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Foing, B.H.; Bonnet, R.M.; Dame, L.; Bruner, M.; Acton, L.W.

1986-01-01

The present analysis of UV filtergrams of the July 13, 1982 solar flare obtained by the XSST/TRC rocket experiments has used calibrated intensities of the flare components to directly estimate the Lyman-alpha line flux, C IV line flux, and excess 160-nm continuum temperature brighness over the underlying plage. The values obtained are small by comparison with other observed or calculated equivalent quantities from the Machado (1980) model of flare F1. The corresponding power required to heat up to the temperature minimum over the 1200 sq Mm area is found to be 3.6 x 10 to the 25th erg/sec for this small X-ray C6 flare, 7 min after the ground-based observed flare maximum. 13 references

Energy storage and deposition in a solar flare

Science.gov (United States)

Vorpahl, J. A.

1976-01-01

X-ray pictures of a solar flare taken with the S-056 X-ray telescope aboard Skylab are interpreted in terms of flare energy deposition and storage. The close similarity between calculated magnetic-field lines and the overall structure of the X-ray core is shown to suggest that the flare occurred in an entire arcade of loops. It is found that different X-ray features brightened sequentially as the flare evolved, indicating that some triggering disturbance moved from one side to the other in the flare core. A propagation velocity of 180 to 280 km/s is computed, and it is proposed that the geometry of the loop arcade strongly influenced the propagation of the triggering disturbance as well as the storage and site of the subsequent energy deposition. Some possible physical causes for the sequential X-ray brightening are examined, and a magnetosonic wave is suggested as the triggering disturbance. 'Correct' conditions for energy release are considered

Endodontic flare up: incidence and association of possible risk factors.

Science.gov (United States)

Gbadebo, S O; Sulaiman, A O; Anifowose, O O

2016-06-01

Endodontic emergency during root canal treatment (flare up) is a common occurrence in multivisit root canal treatment (RCT) and it may be associated with many factors. The occurrence however can affect the prognosis of the tooth and the patient -clinician relationship. To determine the incidence and risk factors associated with occurrence of flare up in a multi visit RCT. Patients planned for multi-visit (RCT) were recruited for the research. Standard protocol was followed in all cases. After the first visit, the patients were followed up for possible development of flare up. Patients' demographics, presence or absence of preoperative pain, status of the pulp and occurrence of flare up were among the data collected. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 20 with level of significance set at P flare up was 8.5%. Prior to treatment, 47% of the cases had pain, 61.3% had apical radioluscency and 83% had pulpal necrosis. Majority (7, 77.8%) of the flare up occurred after the first visit (p=0.000). Only pre- treatment pain had a statistical significant ielationship with occurrence of flare up (p=0.009). Incidence of flare up was 8.5% and the major risk factor was preoperative pain. First visit in a multi visit RCT is an important stage which if well handled, can reduce the incidence of flare up.

Comparison of emission properties of two homologous flares in AR 11283

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Xu, Yan; Jing, Ju; Wang, Shuo; Wang, Haimin, E-mail: yx2@njit.edu [Space Weather Research Lab, Center for Solar-Terrestrial Research, New Jersey Institute of Technology 323 Martin Luther King Boulevard, Newark, NJ 07102-1982 (United States)

2014-05-20

Large, complex, active regions may produce multiple flares within a certain period of one or two days. These flares could occur in the same location with similar morphologies, commonly referred to as 'homologous flares'. In 2011 September, active region NOAA 11283 produced a pair of homologous flares on the 6th and 7th, respectively. Both of them were white-light (WL) flares, as captured by the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) on board the Solar Dynamics Observatory in visible continuum at 6173 Å which is believed to originate from the deep solar atmosphere. We investigate the WL emission of these X-class flares with HMI's seeing-free imaging spectroscopy. The durations of impulsive peaks in the continuum are about 4 minutes. We compare the WL with hard X-ray (HXR) observations for the September 6 flare and find a good correlation between the continuum and HXR both spatially and temporally. In absence of RHESSI data during the second flare on September 7, the derivative of the GOES soft X-ray is used and also found to be well correlated temporally with the continuum. We measure the contrast enhancements, characteristic sizes, and HXR fluxes of the twin flares, which are similar for both flares, indicating analogous triggering and heating processes. However, the September 7 flare was associated with conspicuous sunquake signals whereas no seismic wave was detected during the flare on September 6. Therefore, this comparison suggests that the particle bombardment may not play a dominant role in producing the sunquake events studied in this paper.

Prevalence of inter-appointment endodontic flare-ups and host-related factors.

Science.gov (United States)

Azim, Adham A; Azim, Katharina A; Abbott, Paul V

2017-04-01

The aims of this study were to report the prevalence of inter-appointment flare-ups following adequate root canal disinfection and to investigate the host factors contributing to its occurrence. One thousand five hundred patient records were reviewed and the prevalence of flare-up was recorded. Patients' root canal space status (vital, non-vital or retreatment), medical condition and demographics (age, gender, tooth type and position) were recorded from their dental records. Statistical analyses were performed to determine the impact of the recorded factors on flare-up occurrence. Nine hundred fifty-one patient records met the inclusion criteria. The prevalence of flare-up was 2.3 %. There was a correlation between the canal space status and patient's age with flare-up development (P flare-up occurrence and tooth type, location, gender or medical condition (P > 0.5). The root canal space status was the primary factor affecting flare-up occurrence. Patients >50 years had the highest risk in developing flare-ups. This article provides evidence that patients suffering from inflamed pulp will not develop flare-up if adequate cleaning and shaping of the root canal space was performed. It also shows that patients above the age of 50 are a high-risk group that is prone to flare-up development.

Excitation of helium resonance lines in solar flares

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Porter, J.G.; Gebbie, K.B.; November, L.J.; Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics, Boulder, CO; National Solar Observatory, Sunspot, NM)

1985-01-01

Helium resonance line intensities are calculated for a set of six flare models corresponding to two rates of heating and three widely varying incident fluxes of soft X-rays. The differing ionization and excitation equilibria produced by these models, the processes which dominate the various cases, and the predicted helium line spectra are examined. The line intensities and their ratios are compared with values derived from Skylab NRL spectroheliograms for a class M flare, thus determining which of these models most nearly represents the density vs temperature structure and soft X-ray flux in the flaring solar transition region, and the temperature and dominant mechanaism of formation of the helium line spectrum during a flare. 26 references

Frequent Flaring in the TRAPPIST-1 System—Unsuited for Life?

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vida, K.; Kővári, Zs.; Pál, A.; Oláh, K.; Kriskovics, L., E-mail: vidakris@konkoly.hu [Konkoly Observatory, MTA CSFK, H-1121 Budapest, Konkoly Thege M. út 15-17 (Hungary)

2017-06-01

We analyze the K2 light curve of the TRAPPIST-1 system. The Fourier analysis of the data suggests P {sub rot} = 3.295 ± 0.003 days. The light curve shows several flares, of which we analyzed 42 events with integrated flare energies of 1.26 × 10{sup 30}–1.24 × 10{sup 33} erg. Approximately 12% of the flares were complex, multi-peaked eruptions. The flaring and the possible rotational modulation shows no obvious correlation. The flaring activity of TRAPPIST-1 probably continuously alters the atmospheres of the orbiting exoplanets, which makes these less favorable for hosting life.

Transport and containment of plasma, particles and energy within flares

Science.gov (United States)

Acton, L. W.; Brown, W. A.; Bruner, M. E. C.; Haisch, B. M.; Strong, K. T.

1983-01-01

Results from the analysis of flares observed by the Solar Maximum Mission (SMM) and a recent rocket experiment are discussed. Evidence for primary energy release in the corona through the interaction of magnetic structures, particle and plasma transport into more than a single magnetic structure at the time of a flare and a complex and changing magnetic topology during the course of a flare is found. The rocket data are examined for constraints on flare cooling, within the context of simple loop models. These results form a basis for comments on the limitations of simple loop models for flares.

PRODUCTIVITY OF SOLAR FLARES AND MAGNETIC HELICITY INJECTION IN ACTIVE REGIONS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Park, Sung-hong; Wang Haimin; Chae, Jongchul

2010-01-01

The main objective of this study is to better understand how magnetic helicity injection in an active region (AR) is related to the occurrence and intensity of solar flares. We therefore investigate the magnetic helicity injection rate and unsigned magnetic flux, as a reference. In total, 378 ARs are analyzed using SOHO/MDI magnetograms. The 24 hr averaged helicity injection rate and unsigned magnetic flux are compared with the flare index and the flare-productive probability in the next 24 hr following a measurement. In addition, we study the variation of helicity over a span of several days around the times of the 19 flares above M5.0 which occurred in selected strong flare-productive ARs. The major findings of this study are as follows: (1) for a sub-sample of 91 large ARs with unsigned magnetic fluxes in the range from (3-5) x 10 22 Mx, there is a difference in the magnetic helicity injection rate between flaring ARs and non-flaring ARs by a factor of 2; (2) the GOES C-flare-productive probability as a function of helicity injection displays a sharp boundary between flare-productive ARs and flare-quiet ones; (3) the history of helicity injection before all the 19 major flares displayed a common characteristic: a significant helicity accumulation of (3-45) x 10 42 Mx 2 during a phase of monotonically increasing helicity over 0.5-2 days. Our results support the notion that helicity injection is important in flares, but it is not effective to use it alone for the purpose of flare forecast. It is necessary to find a way to better characterize the time history of helicity injection as well as its spatial distribution inside ARs.

Health and exposure assessment of flare gas emissions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kindzierski, W.B.; Byrne-Lewis, C.; Probert, S.

2000-01-01

The incomplete combustion of flare gases produces pollutants such as volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) which are cause for concern for public health. Some of the concerns relate to potential long-term cumulative health effects from exposure to hazardous air pollutants including benzene, styrene, naphthalene, and benzopyrene. This study demonstrated that several factors should be taken into account when considering the importance of flaring and human exposure to flare gas emissions. Most flare stacks are located in rural areas, but most time-availability studies have been done on urban populations where the majority of people spend their time indoors. It was recommended that more time-activity studies are needed to emphasize the behaviour of rural populations which are most susceptible to exposure from pollutants from flaring. It was concluded that higher indoor air concentrations exist for many VOCs and PAHs compared to outdoors, but in these instances, indoor sources are the major contributors to indoor air concentrations. It was recommended that health assessments of hazardous air pollutants emitted from gas flaring has to take into account the indoor setting and other background exposures in order to provide useful information for decision makers. 49 refs., 8 tabs., 1 fig

Magnetohydrodynamic Simulations for Studying Solar Flare Trigger Mechanism

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Muhamad, J.; Kusano, K.; Inoue, S.; Shiota, D. [Institute for Space-Earth Environmental Research, Nagoya University, Furocho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya, Aichi, 464-8601 (Japan)

2017-06-20

In order to understand the flare trigger mechanism, we conduct three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic simulations using a coronal magnetic field model derived from data observed by the Hinode satellite. Several types of magnetic bipoles are imposed into the photospheric boundary of the Nonlinear Force-free Field model of Active Region (AR) NOAA 10930 on 2006 December 13, to investigate what kind of magnetic disturbance may trigger the flare. As a result, we confirm that certain small bipole fields, which emerge into the highly sheared global magnetic field of an AR, can effectively trigger a flare. These bipole fields can be classified into two groups based on their orientation relative to the polarity inversion line: the so-called opposite polarity, and reversed shear structures, as suggested by Kusano et al. We also investigate the structure of the footpoints of reconnected field lines. By comparing the distribution of reconstructed field lines and observed flare ribbons, the trigger structure of the flare can be inferred. Our simulation suggests that the data-constrained simulation, taking into account both the large-scale magnetic structure and small-scale magnetic disturbance (such as emerging fluxes), is a good way to discover a flare-producing AR, which can be applied to space weather prediction.

New flare stars in the Pleiade. 3

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Parsamyan, Eh.S.

1976-01-01

The flare stars in the Pleiads were investigated. The observations were carried out from the second part of 1972 to the beginning of 1973. Data on 9 new and 9 repeat flares are given. The new data are compared with those obtained previously

ON THE NON-KOLMOGOROV NATURE OF FLARE-PRODUCTIVE SOLAR ACTIVE REGIONS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mandage, Revati S. [Physics and Astronomy Department, Rice University, 6100 Main MS-61, Houston, TX 77005-1827 (United States); McAteer, R. T. James, E-mail: mcateer@nmsu.edu [Department of Astronomy, New Mexico State University, MSC 4500, Las Cruces, NM 88001 (United States)

2016-12-20

A magnetic power spectral analysis is performed on 53 solar active regions, observed from 2011 August to 2012 July. Magnetic field data obtained from the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager, inverted as Active Region Patches, are used to study the evolution of the magnetic power index as each region rotates across the solar disk. Active regions are classified based on the numbers and sizes of solar flares they produce in order to study the relationship between flare productivity and the magnetic power index. The choice of window size and inertial range plays a key role in determining the correct magnetic power index. The overall distribution of magnetic power indices has a range of 1.0–2.5. Flare-quiet regions peak at a value of 1.6. However, flare-productive regions peak at a value of 2.2. Overall, the histogram of the distribution of power indices of flare-productive active regions is well separated from flare-quiet active regions. Only 12% of flare-quiet regions exhibit an index greater than 2, whereas 90% of flare-productive regions exhibit an index greater than 2. Flare-quiet regions exhibit a high temporal variance (i.e., the index fluctuates between high and low values), whereas flare-productive regions maintain an index greater than 2 for several days. This shows the importance of including the temporal evolution of active regions in flare prediction studies, and highlights the potential of a 2–3 day prediction window for space weather applications.

Gamma-ray flares from the Crab Nebula.

Science.gov (United States)

Abdo, A A; Ackermann, M; Ajello, M; Allafort, A; Baldini, L; Ballet, J; Barbiellini, G; Bastieri, D; Bechtol, K; Bellazzini, R; Berenji, B; Blandford, R D; Bloom, E D; Bonamente, E; Borgland, A W; Bouvier, A; Brandt, T J; Bregeon, J; Brez, A; Brigida, M; Bruel, P; Buehler, R; Buson, S; Caliandro, G A; Cameron, R A; Cannon, A; Caraveo, P A; Casandjian, J M; Çelik, Ö; Charles, E; Chekhtman, A; Cheung, C C; Chiang, J; Ciprini, S; Claus, R; Cohen-Tanugi, J; Costamante, L; Cutini, S; D'Ammando, F; Dermer, C D; de Angelis, A; de Luca, A; de Palma, F; Digel, S W; do Couto e Silva, E; Drell, P S; Drlica-Wagner, A; Dubois, R; Dumora, D; Favuzzi, C; Fegan, S J; Ferrara, E C; Focke, W B; Fortin, P; Frailis, M; Fukazawa, Y; Funk, S; Fusco, P; Gargano, F; Gasparrini, D; Gehrels, N; Germani, S; Giglietto, N; Giordano, F; Giroletti, M; Glanzman, T; Godfrey, G; Grenier, I A; Grondin, M-H; Grove, J E; Guiriec, S; Hadasch, D; Hanabata, Y; Harding, A K; Hayashi, K; Hayashida, M; Hays, E; Horan, D; Itoh, R; Jóhannesson, G; Johnson, A S; Johnson, T J; Khangulyan, D; Kamae, T; Katagiri, H; Kataoka, J; Kerr, M; Knödlseder, J; Kuss, M; Lande, J; Latronico, L; Lee, S-H; Lemoine-Goumard, M; Longo, F; Loparco, F; Lubrano, P; Madejski, G M; Makeev, A; Marelli, M; Mazziotta, M N; McEnery, J E; Michelson, P F; Mitthumsiri, W; Mizuno, T; Moiseev, A A; Monte, C; Monzani, M E; Morselli, A; Moskalenko, I V; Murgia, S; Nakamori, T; Naumann-Godo, M; Nolan, P L; Norris, J P; Nuss, E; Ohsugi, T; Okumura, A; Omodei, N; Ormes, J F; Ozaki, M; Paneque, D; Parent, D; Pelassa, V; Pepe, M; Pesce-Rollins, M; Pierbattista, M; Piron, F; Porter, T A; Rainò, S; Rando, R; Ray, P S; Razzano, M; Reimer, A; Reimer, O; Reposeur, T; Ritz, S; Romani, R W; Sadrozinski, H F-W; Sanchez, D; Saz Parkinson, P M; Scargle, J D; Schalk, T L; Sgrò, C; Siskind, E J; Smith, P D; Spandre, G; Spinelli, P; Strickman, M S; Suson, D J; Takahashi, H; Takahashi, T; Tanaka, T; Thayer, J B; Thompson, D J; Tibaldo, L; Torres, D F; Tosti, G; Tramacere, A; Troja, E; Uchiyama, Y; Vandenbroucke, J; Vasileiou, V; Vianello, G; Vitale, V; Wang, P; Wood, K S; Yang, Z; Ziegler, M

2011-02-11

A young and energetic pulsar powers the well-known Crab Nebula. Here, we describe two separate gamma-ray (photon energy greater than 100 mega-electron volts) flares from this source detected by the Large Area Telescope on board the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. The first flare occurred in February 2009 and lasted approximately 16 days. The second flare was detected in September 2010 and lasted approximately 4 days. During these outbursts, the gamma-ray flux from the nebula increased by factors of four and six, respectively. The brevity of the flares implies that the gamma rays were emitted via synchrotron radiation from peta-electron-volt (10(15) electron volts) electrons in a region smaller than 1.4 × 10(-2) parsecs. These are the highest-energy particles that can be associated with a discrete astronomical source, and they pose challenges to particle acceleration theory.

Gamma-ray flares from the Crab nebula

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abdo, A.A.; Ackermann, M.; Ajello, M.; Allafort, A.; Baldini, L.; Ballet, J.; Casandjian, J.M.; Grenier, I.A.; Naumann-Godo, M.; Pierbattista, M.; Tibaldo, L.

2011-01-01

A young and energetic pulsar powers the well-known Crab Nebula. Here, we describe two separate gamma-ray (photon energy greater than 100 mega-electron volts) flares from this source detected by the Large Area Telescope on board the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. The first flare occurred in February 2009 and lasted approximately 16 days. The second flare was detected in September 2010 and lasted approximately 4 days. During these outbursts, the gamma-ray flux from the nebula increased by factors of four and six, respectively. The brevity of the flares implies that the gamma rays were emitted via synchrotron radiation from peta-electron-volt (10 15 electron volts) electrons in a region smaller than 1.4 * 10 -2 parsecs. These are the highest-energy particles that can be associated with a discrete astronomical source, and they pose challenges to particle acceleration theory. (authors)

STELLAR ATMOSPHERES, ATMOSPHERIC EXTENSION, AND FUNDAMENTAL PARAMETERS: WEIGHING STARS USING THE STELLAR MASS INDEX

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Neilson, Hilding R.; Lester, John B. [Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Toronto, 50 St. George Street, Toronto, ON, M5S 3H4 (Canada); Baron, Fabien; Norris, Ryan; Kloppenborg, Brian, E-mail: neilson@astro.utoronto.ca [Center for High Angular Resolution Astronomy, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Georgia State University, P.O. Box 5060, Atlanta, GA 30302-5060 (United States)

2016-10-20

One of the great challenges of understanding stars is measuring their masses. The best methods for measuring stellar masses include binary interaction, asteroseismology, and stellar evolution models, but these methods are not ideal for red giant and supergiant stars. In this work, we propose a novel method for inferring stellar masses of evolved red giant and supergiant stars using interferometric and spectrophotometric observations combined with spherical model stellar atmospheres to measure what we call the stellar mass index, defined as the ratio between the stellar radius and mass. The method is based on the correlation between different measurements of angular diameter, used as a proxy for atmospheric extension, and fundamental stellar parameters. For a given star, spectrophotometry measures the Rosseland angular diameter while interferometric observations generally probe a larger limb-darkened angular diameter. The ratio of these two angular diameters is proportional to the relative extension of the stellar atmosphere, which is strongly correlated to the star’s effective temperature, radius, and mass. We show that these correlations are strong and can lead to precise measurements of stellar masses.

The fundamentals of stellar astrophysics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Collins, G.W. II.

1989-01-01

A broad overview of theoretical stellar astrophysics is presented in a textbook intended for graduate students. Chapters are devoted to fundamental principles, assumptions, theorems, and polytropes; energy sources and sinks; the flow of energy through the star and the construction of stellar models; the theory of stellar evolution; relativistic stellar structure; the structure of distorted stars; stellar pulsation and oscillation. Also discussed are the flow of radiation through the stellar atmosphere, the solution of the radiative-transfer equation, the environment of the radiation field, the construction of a stellar model atmosphere, the formation and shape of spectral lines, LTE breakdown, illuminated and extended stellar atmospheres, and the transfer of polarized radiation. Diagrams, graphs, and sample problems are provided. 164 refs

An unorthodox X-Class Long-Duration Confined Flare

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Liu, Rui; Gou, Tingyu; Wang, Yuming; Liu, Kai [CAS Key Laboratory of Geospace Environment, Department of Geophysics and Planetary Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026 (China); Titov, Viacheslav S. [Predictive Science, Inc., 9990 Mesa Rim Road, Suite 170, San Diego, CA 92121 (United States); Wang, Haimin, E-mail: rliu@ustc.edu.cn [Space Weather Research Laboratory, Center for Solar-Terrestrial Research, NJIT, Newark, NJ 07102 (United States)

2014-07-20

We report the observation of an X-class long-duration flare which is clearly confined. It appears as a compact-loop flare in the traditional EUV passbands (171 and 195 Å), but in the passbands sensitive to flare plasmas (94 and 131 Å), it exhibits a cusp-shaped structure above an arcade of loops like other long-duration events. Inspecting images in a running difference approach, we find that the seemingly diffuse, quasi-static cusp-shaped structure consists of multiple nested loops that repeatedly rise upward and disappear approaching the cusp edge. Over the gradual phase, we detect numerous episodes of loop rising, each lasting minutes. A differential emission measure analysis reveals that the temperature is highest at the top of the arcade and becomes cooler at higher altitudes within the cusp-shaped structure, contrary to typical long-duration flares. With a nonlinear force-free model, our analysis shows that the event mainly involves two adjacent sheared arcades separated by a T-type hyperbolic flux tube (HFT). One of the arcades harbors a magnetic flux rope, which is identified with a filament that survives the flare owing to the strong confining field. We conclude that a new emergence of magnetic flux in the other arcade triggers the flare, while the preexisting HFT and flux rope dictate the structure and dynamics of the flare loops and ribbons during the long-lasting decay phase, and that a quasi-separatrix layer high above the HFT could account for the cusp-shaped structure.

NEW SOLAR EXTREME-ULTRAVIOLET IRRADIANCE OBSERVATIONS DURING FLARES

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Woods, Thomas N.; Hock, Rachel; Eparvier, Frank; Jones, Andrew R.; Chamberlin, Phillip C.; Klimchuk, James A.; Didkovsky, Leonid; Judge, Darrell; Mariska, John; Warren, Harry; Schrijver, Carolus J.; Webb, David F.; Bailey, Scott; Tobiska, W. Kent

2011-01-01

New solar extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) irradiance observations from the NASA Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) EUV Variability Experiment provide full coverage in the EUV range from 0.1 to 106 nm and continuously at a cadence of 10 s for spectra at 0.1 nm resolution and even faster, 0.25 s, for six EUV bands. These observations can be decomposed into four distinct characteristics during flares. First, the emissions that dominate during the flare's impulsive phase are the transition region emissions, such as the He II 30.4 nm. Second, the hot coronal emissions above 5 MK dominate during the gradual phase and are highly correlated with the GOES X-ray. A third flare characteristic in the EUV is coronal dimming, seen best in the cool corona, such as the Fe IX 17.1 nm. As the post-flare loops reconnect and cool, many of the EUV coronal emissions peak a few minutes after the GOES X-ray peak. One interesting variation of the post-eruptive loop reconnection is that warm coronal emissions (e.g., Fe XVI 33.5 nm) sometimes exhibit a second large peak separated from the primary flare event by many minutes to hours, with EUV emission originating not from the original flare site and its immediate vicinity, but rather from a volume of higher loops. We refer to this second peak as the EUV late phase. The characterization of many flares during the SDO mission is provided, including quantification of the spectral irradiance from the EUV late phase that cannot be inferred from GOES X-ray diagnostics.

An essay on sunspots and solar flares

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Akasofu, S.-I.

1984-01-01

The presently prevailing theories of sunspots and solar flares rely on the hypothetical presence of magnetic flux tubes beneath the photosphere and the two subsequent hypotheses, their emergence above the photosphere and explosive magnetic reconnection, converting magnetic energy carried by the flux tubes for solar flare energy. In this paper, attention is paid to the fact that there are large-scale magnetic fields which divide the photosphere into positive and negative (line-of-sight) polarity regions and that they are likely to be more fundamental than sunspot fields, as emphasized most recently by McIntosh. A new phenomenological model of the sunspot pair formation is then constructed by considering an amplification process of these large-scale fields near their boundaries by shear flows, including localized vortex motions. The amplification results from a dynamo process associated with such vortex flows and the associated convergence flow in the large-scale fields. This dynamo process generates also some of the familiar ''force-free'' fields or the ''sheared'' magnetic fields in which the magnetic field-aligned currents are essential. Upward field-aligned currents generated by the dynamo process are carried by downward streaming electrons which are expected to be accelerated by an electric potential structure; a similar structure is responsible for accelerating auroral electrons in the magnetosphere. Depending on the magnetic field configuration and the shear flows, the current-carrying electrons precipitate into different geometrical patterns, causing circular flares, umbral flares, two-ribbon flares, etc. Thus, it is suggested that ''low temperature flares'' are directly driven by the photospheric dynamo process. (author)

Developing a Construct to Evaluate Flares in Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Conceptual Report of the OMERACT RA Flare Definition Working Group

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Alten, Rieke; Choy, Ernest H; Christensen, Robin

2011-01-01

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients and healthcare professionals (HCP) recognize that episodic worsening disease activity, often described as a "flare," is a common feature of RA that can contribute to impaired function and disability. However, there is no standard definition to enable measurement...... of its intensity and impact. The conceptual framework of the Outcome Measures in Rheumatology Clinical Trials (OMERACT) RA Flare Definition Working Group includes an anchoring statement, developed at OMERACT 9 in 2008: "flare in RA" is defined as worsening of signs and symptoms of sufficient intensity....... The conceptual framework of flare takes into account validated approaches to measurement in RA: (1) various disease activity indices (e.g., Disease Activity Score, Clinical Disease Activity Index, Simplified Disease Activity Index); (2) use of patient-reported outcomes (PRO); and (3) characterization...

Incidence of Endodontic Flare-ups and Its Related Factors: A Retrospective Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Nair, Manuja; Rahul, J; Devadathan, A; Mathew, Josey

2017-01-01

The aim and objective of the study were to determine the incidence of flare-ups during endodontic treatment and to identify the risk factors associated with flare-ups. A total of 1725 patients who were treated during the time period of 2009-2014 by the same endodontist were reviewed. Incidence of flare-up, patients' age, gender, status of pulp, tooth position, number of roots, and treatment provided were taken from their dental records. Relationship between these factors and flare-ups was examined. Statistical analysis was done using Pearson Chi-square test and Fisher's exact test. A total of 2% incidence of endodontic flare-ups was seen out of 1725 cases. Patient's age, gender, and diagnosis had a significant effect on the development of flare-ups ( P flare-up incidence. Diagnosis plays an important role in predicting the incidence of flare-ups. Patients in the age group of 40-60 years had a higher risk of developing flare-ups. Women compared to men are more prone to flare-ups.

Numerical simulation of a sour gas flare

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chambers, A. [Alberta Research Council, Devon, AB (Canada)

2008-07-01

Due to the limited amount of information in the literature on sour gas flares and the cost of conducting wind tunnel and field experiments on sour flares, this presentation presented a modelling project that predicted the effect of operating conditions on flare performance and emissions. The objectives of the project were to adapt an existing numerical model suitable for flare simulation, incorporate sulfur chemistry, and run simulations for a range of conditions typical of sour flares in Alberta. The study involved the use of modelling expertise at the University of Utah, and employed large eddy simulation (LES) methods to model open flames. The existing model included the prediction of turbulent flow field; hydrocarbon reaction chemistry; soot formation; and radiation heat transfer. The presentation addressed the unique features of the model and discussed whether LES could predict the flow field. Other topics that were presented included the results from a University of Utah comparison; challenges of the LES model; an example of a run time issue; predicting the impact of operating conditions; and the results of simulations. Last, several next steps were identified and preliminary results were provided. Future work will focus on reducing computation time and increasing information reporting. figs.

Flare stars of the Orion Nebula - spectra of an outburst

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Carter, B.D.; O'Mara, B.J.; Ross, J.E.

1988-01-01

For the first time, detailed, time-resolved spectra of a flare event of an Orion cluster flare star are presented. These spectra, covering ∼ λλ3600-4600, were obtained by using the Anglo-Australian Telescope with a fibre coupler to simultaneously monitor 23 flare stars in the region of the Orion Nebula. The flare spectra reveal continuous emission which filled in the photospheric Ca I 4226 A absorption, and hydrogen Balmer, Ca II H and K, He I 4026 A and He I 4471 A line emission. Overall, the spectral behaviour indicates similarities to strong outbursts of the classical dMe flare stars. (author)

WHY IS A FLARE-RICH ACTIVE REGION CME-POOR?

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Liu, Lijuan; Wang, Yuming; Shen, Chenglong; Ye, Pinzhong; Liu, Rui; Chen, Jun; Zhang, Quanhao; Wang, S. [CAS Key Laboratory of Geospace Environment, Department of Geophysics and Planetary Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026 (China); Wang, Jingxiu, E-mail: ymwang@ustc.edu.cn, E-mail: ljliu@mail.ustc.edu.cn [National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100012 (China)

2016-08-01

Solar active regions (ARs) are the major sources of two of the most violent solar eruptions, namely flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs). The largest AR in the past 24 years, NOAA AR 12192, which crossed the visible disk from 2014 October 17 to 30, unusually produced more than one hundred flares, including 32 M-class and 6 X-class ones, but only one small CME. Flares and CMEs are believed to be two phenomena in the same eruptive process. Why is such a flare-rich AR so CME-poor? We compared this AR with other four ARs; two were productive in both and two were inert. The investigation of the photospheric parameters based on the SDO /HMI vector magnetogram reveals that the flare-rich AR 12192, as with the other two productive ARs, has larger magnetic flux, current, and free magnetic energy than the two inert ARs but, in contrast to the two productive ARs, it has no strong, concentrated current helicity along both sides of the flaring neutral line, indicating the absence of a mature magnetic structure consisting of highly sheared or twisted field lines. Furthermore, the decay index above the AR 12192 is relatively low, showing strong constraint. These results suggest that productive ARs are always large and have enough current and free energy to power flares, but whether or not a flare is accompanied by a CME is seemingly related to (1) the presence of a mature sheared or twisted core field serving as the seed of the CME, or (2) a weak enough constraint of the overlying arcades.

Relationship of intracanal medicaments to endodontic flare-ups.

Science.gov (United States)

Trope, M

1990-10-01

The purpose of the study was to compare the effect of three intracanal medicaments on the incidence of post-instrumentation flare-ups. All teeth were instrumented to a predetermined minimum size using a 0.5% solution of sodium hypochlorite as the irrigant. Formocresol, Ledermix, and calcium hydroxide were placed in strict sequence irrespective of the presence or absence of symptoms or radiographic signs of apical periodontitis. The patients were given written post-operative instructions and a prescription for 600 mg ibuprofen to be taken if mild to moderate pain developed. If severe pain and/or swelling developed the patient was instructed to call the office immediately and was considered to have had a flare-up. Twelve flare-ups occurred in teeth with radiographic signs of apical periodontitis; none in teeth without periapical radiolucencies. Six of the twelve flare-ups occurred in retreatment cases and the other six occurred in teeth without previous endodontic treatment. No significant difference was found in the flare-up rate among the three intracanal medicaments.

A Fifteen Year Record of Global Natural Gas Flaring Derived from Satellite Data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Elvidge, Ch. D.; Erwin, E. H.; Ziskin, D.; Baugh, K. E.; Tuttle, B. T.; Ghosh, T.; Tuttle, B. T.; Ghosh, T.; Pack, D. W.; Zhizhin, M.

2009-01-01

We have produced annual estimates of national and global gas flaring and gas flaring efficiency from 1994 through 2008 using low light imaging data acquired by the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP). Gas flaring is a widely used practice for the disposal of associated gas in oil production and processing facilities where there is insufficient infrastructure for utilization of the gas (primarily methane). Improved utilization of the gas is key to reducing global carbon emissions to the atmosphere. The DMSP estimates of flared gas volume are based on a calibration developed with a pooled set of reported national gas flaring volumes and data from individual flares. Flaring efficiency was calculated as the volume of flared gas per barrel of crude oil produced. Global gas flaring has remained largely stable over the past fifteen years, in the range of 140 to 170 billion cubic meters (BCM). Global flaring efficiency was in the seven to eight cubic meters per barrel from 1994 to 2005 and declined to 5.6 m 3 per barrel by 2008. The 2008 gas flaring estimate of 139 BCM represents 21% of the natural gas consumption of the USA with a potential retail market value of 68 billions USD. The 2008 flaring added more than 278 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO 2e ) into the atmosphere. The DMSP estimated gas flaring volumes indicate that global gas flaring has declined by 19% since 2005, led by gas flaring reductions in Russia and Nigeria, the two countries with the highest gas flaring levels. The flaring efficiency of both Russia and Nigeria improved from 2005 to 2008, suggesting that the reductions in gas flaring are likely the result of either improved utilization of the gas, reinjection, or direct venting of gas into the atmosphere, although the effect of uncertainties in the satellite data cannot be ruled out. It is anticipated that the capability to estimate gas flaring volumes based on satellite data will spur improved utilization of gas that

Microbial causes of endodontic flare-ups.

Science.gov (United States)

Siqueira, Jose F

2003-07-01

Inter-appointment flare-up is characterized by the development of pain, swelling or both, following endodontic intervention. The causative factors of flare-ups encompass mechanical, chemical and/or microbial injury to the pulp or periradicular tissues. Of these factors, microorganisms are arguably the major causative agents of flare-ups. Even though the host is usually unable to eliminate the root canal infection, mobilization and further concentration of defence components at the periradicular tissues impede spreading of infection, and a balance between microbial aggression and host defences is commonly achieved. There are some situations during endodontic therapy in which such a balance may be disrupted in favour of microbial aggression, and an acute periradicular inflammation can ensue. Situations include apical extrusion of infected debris, changes in the root canal microbiota and/or in environmental conditions caused by incomplete chemo-mechanical preparation, secondary intraradicular infections and perhaps the increase in the oxidation-reduction potential within the root canal favouring the overgrowth of the facultative bacteria. Based on these situations, preventive measures against infective flare-ups are proposed, including selection of instrumentation techniques that extrude lesser amounts of debris apically; completion of the chemo-mechanical procedures in a single visit; use of an antimicrobial intracanal medicament between appointments in the treatment of infected cases; not leaving teeth open for drainage and maintenance of the aseptic chain throughout endodontic treatment. Knowledge about the microbial causes of flare-ups and adoption of appropriate preventive measures can significantly reduce the incidence of this highly distressing and undesirable clinical phenomenon.

Laser flare photometry in clinical practice

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yury S Astakhov

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Laser flare photometry (LFP is the only quantitative and objective method for the evaluation of aqueous flare. There are numerous opportunities to use LFP in clinical practice, and they are discussed in the paper. It is especially helpful in management of uveitis patients, because it allows estimating the correct diagnosis, managing the patient during the treatment with noninvasive method and predicting relapses and complications.

Flare-ups in endodontics and their relationship to various medicaments.

Science.gov (United States)

Ehrmann, Ernest H; Messer, Harold H; Clark, Robert M

2007-12-01

The purpose of this research is to investigate the frequency of endodontic flare-ups using a visual analogue scale. Definitions of flare-ups vary widely as does their reported frequency. A flare-up was defined as an increase of 20 or more points on the visual analogue scale for a given tooth, within the periods of 4 h and 24 h after the initial treatment appointment. The data from a previous study were used to determine the incidence of flare-ups after using three modalities (Ledermix, calcium hydroxide and no medication) to manage patients presenting for relief of pain of endodontic origin. A statistical analysis showed that there were no significant differences in flare-up rates at both the 4-h and 24-h periods between the three modalities. Further research is required using the above definition of a flare-up and standardising treatment protocols.

The solar-flare infrared continuum: observational techniques and upper limits

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hudson, H.S.

1975-01-01

Exploratory observations at 20μ and 350 μ have determined detection thresholds for solar flares in these wavelengths. In the 20μ range solar atmospheric fluctuations (the 'temperature field') set the basic limits on flare detectability at approximately 5K; at 350μ the extinction in the Earth's atmosphere provides the basic limitation of approximately 30 K. These thresholds are low enough for the successful detection of several infrared-emitting components of large flares. Limited observing time and lack of solar activity have prevented observations of large flares up to the present, but the techniques promise to be extremely useful in the future. The upper limits obtained thus far, for subflares, indicate that the thickness of the Hα flare region does not exceed approximately 10 km. This result confirms the conclusion of Suemoto and Hiei (1959) regarding the small effective thickness of the Hα-emitting regions in solar flares. (Auth.)

Spots and White Light Flares in an L Dwarf

Science.gov (United States)

2013-01-01

Program GN-2012A-Q-37) GMOS spectrograph (Hook et al. 2004) when a series of flares occurred. A spectrum of the most powerful flare in its impulsive...10:14 Hα HeI HeI HeI OI Fig. 4. Gemini-North GMOS spectra of W1906+40 in quiescence (below) and in flare. Note the broad Hα, atomic emission lines

ANATOMY OF A SOLAR FLARE: MEASUREMENTS OF THE 2006 DECEMBER 14 X-CLASS FLARE WITH GONG, HINODE, AND RHESSI

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Matthews, S. A.; Zharkov, S.; Zharkova, V. V.

2011-01-01

Some of the most challenging observations to explain in the context of existing flare models are those related to the lower atmosphere and below the solar surface. Such observations, including changes in the photospheric magnetic field and seismic emission, indicate the poorly understood connections between energy release in the corona and its impact in the photosphere and the solar interior. Using data from Hinode, TRACE, RHESSI, and GONG we study the temporal and spatial evolution of the 2006 December 14 X-class flare in the chromosphere, photosphere, and the solar interior. We investigate the connections between the emission at various atmospheric depths, including acoustic signatures obtained by time-distance and holography methods from the GONG data. We report the horizontal displacements observed in the photosphere linked to the timing and locations of the acoustic signatures we believe to be associated with this flare, their vertical and horizontal displacement velocities, and their potential implications for current models of flare dynamics.

TEMPORAL EVOLUTION OF CHROMOSPHERIC OSCILLATIONS IN FLARING REGIONS: A PILOT STUDY

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Monsue, T.; Stassun, K. G. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37235 (United States); Hill, F., E-mail: teresa.monsue@vanderbilt.edu, E-mail: keivan.stassun@vanderbilt.edu, E-mail: hill@email.noao.edu [National Solar Observatory, Tucson, AZ 85719 (United States)

2016-10-01

We have analyzed H α intensity images obtained at a 1 minute cadence with the Global Oscillation Network Group (GONG) system to investigate the properties of oscillations in the 0–8 mHz frequency band at the location and time of strong M- and X-class flares. For each of three subregions within two flaring active regions, we extracted time series from multiple distinct positions, including the flare core and quieter surrounding areas. The time series were analyzed with a moving power-map analysis to examine power as a function of frequency and time. We find that, in the flare core of all three subregions, the low-frequency power (∼1–2 mHz) is substantially enhanced immediately prior to and after the flare, and that power at all frequencies up to 8 mHz is depleted at flare maximum. This depletion is both frequency- and time-dependent, which probably reflects the changing depths visible during the flare in the bandpass of the filter. These variations are not observed outside the flare cores. The depletion may indicate that acoustic energy is being converted into thermal energy at flare maximum, while the low-frequency enhancement may arise from an instability in the chromosphere and provide an early warning of the flare onset. Dark lanes of reduced wave power are also visible in the power maps, which may arise from the interaction of the acoustic waves and the magnetic field.

Solar flare loops observations and interpretations

CERN Document Server

Huang, Guangli; Ji, Haisheng; Ning, Zongjun

2018-01-01

This book provides results of analysis of typical solar events, statistical analysis, the diagnostics of energetic electrons and magnetic field, as well as the global behavior of solar flaring loops such as their contraction and expansion. It pays particular attention to analyzing solar flare loops with microwave, hard X-ray, optical and EUV emissions, as well as the theories of their radiation, and electron acceleration/transport. The results concerning influence of the pitch-angle anisotropy of non-thermal electrons on their microwave and hard X-ray emissions, new spectral behaviors in X-ray and microwave bands, and results related to the contraction of flaring loops, are widely discussed in the literature of solar physics. The book is useful for graduate students and researchers in solar and space physics.

MAGNETIC AND DYNAMICAL PHOTOSPHERIC DISTURBANCES OBSERVED DURING AN M3.2 SOLAR FLARE

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kuckein, C. [Leibniz-Institut für Astrophysik Potsdam (AIP), An der Sternwarte 16, D-14482, Potsdam (Germany); Collados, M.; Sainz, R. Manso, E-mail: ckuckein@aip.de [Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC), Vía Láctea s/n, E-38205, La Laguna, Tenerife (Spain)

2015-02-01

This Letter reports on a set of full-Stokes spectropolarimetric observations in the near-infrared He i 10830 Å spectral region covering the pre-flare, flare, and post-flare phases of an M3.2 class solar flare. The flare originated on 2013 May 17 and belonged to active region NOAA 11748. We detected strong He i 10830 Å emission in the flare. The red component of the He i triplet peaks at an intensity ratio to the continuum of about 1.86. During the flare, He i Stokes V is substantially larger and appears reversed compared to the usually larger Si i Stokes V profile. The photospheric Si i inversions of the four Stokes profiles reveal the following: (1) the magnetic field strength in the photosphere decreases or is even absent during the flare phase, as compared to the pre-flare phase. However, this decrease is not permanent. After the flare, the magnetic field recovers its pre-flare configuration in a short time (i.e., 30 minutes after the flare). (2) In the photosphere, the line of sight velocities show a regular granular up- and downflow pattern before the flare erupts. During the flare, upflows (blueshifts) dominate the area where the flare is produced. Evaporation rates of ∼10{sup −3} and ∼10{sup −4} g cm{sup −2} s{sup −1} have been derived in the deep and high photosphere, respectively, capable of increasing the chromospheric density by a factor of two in about 400 s.

Forecasting Flare Activity Using Deep Convolutional Neural Networks

Science.gov (United States)

Hernandez, T.

2017-12-01

Current operational flare forecasting relies on human morphological analysis of active regions and the persistence of solar flare activity through time (i.e. that the Sun will continue to do what it is doing right now: flaring or remaining calm). In this talk we present the results of applying deep Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) to the problem of solar flare forecasting. CNNs operate by training a set of tunable spatial filters that, in combination with neural layer interconnectivity, allow CNNs to automatically identify significant spatial structures predictive for classification and regression problems. We will start by discussing the applicability and success rate of the approach, the advantages it has over non-automated forecasts, and how mining our trained neural network provides a fresh look into the mechanisms behind magnetic energy storage and release.

Automated flare forecasting using a statistical learning technique

Science.gov (United States)

Yuan, Yuan; Shih, Frank Y.; Jing, Ju; Wang, Hai-Min

2010-08-01

We present a new method for automatically forecasting the occurrence of solar flares based on photospheric magnetic measurements. The method is a cascading combination of an ordinal logistic regression model and a support vector machine classifier. The predictive variables are three photospheric magnetic parameters, i.e., the total unsigned magnetic flux, length of the strong-gradient magnetic polarity inversion line, and total magnetic energy dissipation. The output is true or false for the occurrence of a certain level of flares within 24 hours. Experimental results, from a sample of 230 active regions between 1996 and 2005, show the accuracies of a 24-hour flare forecast to be 0.86, 0.72, 0.65 and 0.84 respectively for the four different levels. Comparison shows an improvement in the accuracy of X-class flare forecasting.

Statistical and observational research of solar flare for total spectra and geometrical features

Science.gov (United States)

Nishimoto, S.; Watanabe, K.; Imada, S.; Kawate, T.; Lee, K. S.

2017-12-01

Impulsive energy release phenomena such as solar flares, sometimes affect to the solar-terrestrial environment. Usually, we use soft X-ray flux (GOES class) as the index of flare scale. However, the magnitude of effect to the solar-terrestrial environment is not proportional to that scale. To identify the relationship between solar flare phenomena and influence to the solar-terrestrial environment, we need to understand the full spectrum of solar flares. There is the solar flare irradiance model named the Flare Irradiance Spectral Model (FISM) (Chamberlin et al., 2006, 2007, 2008). The FISM can estimate solar flare spectra with high wavelength resolution. However, this model can not express the time evolution of emitted plasma during the solar flare, and has low accuracy on short wavelength that strongly effects and/or controls the total flare spectra. For the purpose of obtaining the time evolution of total solar flare spectra, we are performing statistical analysis of the electromagnetic data of solar flares. In this study, we select solar flare events larger than M-class from the Hinode flare catalogue (Watanabe et al., 2012). First, we focus on the EUV emission observed by the SDO/EVE. We examined the intensities and time evolutions of five EUV lines of 55 flare events. As a result, we found positive correlation between the "soft X-ray flux" and the "EUV peak flux" for all EVU lines. Moreover, we found that hot lines peaked earlier than cool lines of the EUV light curves. We also examined the hard X-ray data obtained by RHESSI. When we analyzed 163 events, we found good correlation between the "hard X-ray intensity" and the "soft X-ray flux". Because it seems that the geometrical features of solar flares effect to those time evolutions, we also looked into flare ribbons observed by SDO/AIA. We examined 21 flare events, and found positive correlation between the "GOES duration" and the "ribbon length". We also found positive correlation between the "ribbon

SIZE DISTRIBUTIONS OF SOLAR FLARES AND SOLAR ENERGETIC PARTICLE EVENTS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cliver, E. W.; Ling, A. G.; Belov, A.; Yashiro, S.

2012-01-01

We suggest that the flatter size distribution of solar energetic proton (SEP) events relative to that of flare soft X-ray (SXR) events is primarily due to the fact that SEP flares are an energetic subset of all flares. Flares associated with gradual SEP events are characteristically accompanied by fast (≥1000 km s –1 ) coronal mass ejections (CMEs) that drive coronal/interplanetary shock waves. For the 1996-2005 interval, the slopes (α values) of power-law size distributions of the peak 1-8 Å fluxes of SXR flares associated with (a) >10 MeV SEP events (with peak fluxes ≥1 pr cm –2 s –1 sr –1 ) and (b) fast CMEs were ∼1.3-1.4 compared to ∼1.2 for the peak proton fluxes of >10 MeV SEP events and ∼2 for the peak 1-8 Å fluxes of all SXR flares. The difference of ∼0.15 between the slopes of the distributions of SEP events and SEP SXR flares is consistent with the observed variation of SEP event peak flux with SXR peak flux.

HIGH RESOLUTION He i 10830 Å NARROW-BAND IMAGING OF AN M-CLASS FLARE. I. ANALYSIS OF SUNSPOT DYNAMICS DURING FLARING

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wang, Ya; Su, Yingna; Hong, Zhenxiang; Ji, Haisheng [Key Laboratory of DMSA, Purple Mountain Observatory, CAS, Nanjing, 210008 (China); Zeng, Zhicheng; Goode, Philip R.; Cao, Wenda [Big Bear Solar Observatory, 40386 North Shore Lane, Big Bear City, CA 92314 (United States); Ji, Kaifan [Yunnan Astronomical Observatories, Kunming 650011 (China)

2016-12-20

In this paper, we report our first-step results of high resolution He i 10830 Å narrow-band imaging (bandpass: 0.5 Å) of an M1.8 class two-ribbon flare on 2012 July 5. The flare was observed with the 1.6 m aperture New Solar Telescope at Big Bear Solar Observatory. For this unique data set, sunspot dynamics during flaring were analyzed for the first time. By directly imaging the upper chromosphere, running penumbral waves are clearly seen as an outward extension of umbral flashes; both take the form of absorption in the 10830 Å narrow-band images. From a space–time image made of a slit cutting across a flare ribbon and the sunspot, we find that the dark lanes for umbral flashes and penumbral waves are obviously broadened after the flare. The most prominent feature is the sudden appearance of an oscillating absorption strip inside the ribbon when it sweeps into the sunspot’s penumbral and umbral regions. During each oscillation, outwardly propagating umbral flashes and subsequent penumbral waves rush out into the inwardly sweeping ribbon, followed by a return of the absorption strip with similar speed. We tentatively explain the phenomena as the result of a sudden increase in the density of ortho-helium atoms in the area of the sunspot being excited by the flare’s extreme ultraviolet illumination. This explanation is based on the observation that 10830 Å absorption around the sunspot area gets enhanced during the flare. Nevertheless, questions are still open and we need further well-devised observations to investigate the behavior of sunspot dynamics during flares.

Compact stellarators as reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lyon, J.F.; Valanju, P.; Zarnstorff, M.C.; Hirshman, S.; Spong, D.A.; Strickler, D.; Williamson, D.E.; Ware, A.

2001-01-01

Two types of compact stellarators are examined as reactors: two- and three-field-period (M=2 and 3) quasi-axisymmetric devices with volume-average =4-5% and M=2 and 3 quasi-poloidal devices with =10-15%. These low-aspect-ratio stellarator-tokamak hybrids differ from conventional stellarators in their use of the plasma-generated bootstrap current to supplement the poloidal field from external coils. Using the ARIES-AT model with B max =12T on the coils gives Compact Stellarator reactors with R=7.3-8.2m, a factor of 2-3 smaller R than other stellarator reactors for the same assumptions, and neutron wall loadings up to 3.7MWm -2 . (author)

Flares of Orion population variables in the association Taurus T3

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khodzhaev, A.S.; AN Armyanskoj SSR, Byurakan. Astrofizicheskaya Observatoriya)

1987-01-01

Thirteen new flare stars, proved to be irregular variables of Orion Population, were discovered from a study of the Taurus Dark Cloud region by the homogeneous photographic multipose method on the wide angle Schmidt telescopes of the Byurakan Astorphysical Observatory. Seventeen flares on these stars were detected for about 750 hours of the effective observing time. The analysis of the complicated light curves of these flares shows a great variety and multiplicity of this phenomenon and various dynamics of flare energy release processes. The existence of flare stars with some properties typical for both of the T Tauri and UV Ceti stars simulteneously indicates nonstable stars. The population of flare stars in the Taurus Dark Cloud region is apparently as young as in Orion and Monoceros

Some evidence on the evolution of the flare mechanism in dwarf stars

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Skumanich, A.

1986-10-01

White-light flare parameters are estimated for the sun as a star. It is found that these parameters fall in the same domain as those for the dMe flare stars. In particular, it is found that the time-averaged flare power loss and quiescent coronal soft X-ray power loss at solar maximum satisfies the recently proposed flare power-coronal X-ray relation for dMe stars (Doyle and Butler; Skumanich). In addition, one finds that dM stars, which are believed to be magnetically evolved dMe stars, also satisfy the same relation. On this basis, an evolutionary scenario is suggested for the flare mechanism in which the total flare rate remains, more or less, constant but the mean flare yield decreases linearly with coronal X-ray strength. It is also suggested that the flare mechanism is universal in all magnetically active dwarfs. 48 references.

Investigation of solar flares in X-ray and optical spectral region

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kurt, V.; Kurochka, L.N.; Zenchenko, V.M.

1989-01-01

Measurements of hard X h radiation of 180 solar flares carried out on board of the space probes Venera-13,-14, were compared with measurements of optical and thermal X t radiation. Values of total energy release during a flare in these regions are calculated, and correlation analysis is carried out. The bond correlations found have shown that total energy of fast electrons, caused X h -flare in the flare pulse phase, and thermal energy at the end of a pulse phase are practically connected with each othesr functionally. Quantitative connection between a flare ball in H α -line and the most probable energy values, being in different radiation regions calculated in the scope of generally accepted models, is established. The total energy of an optical (cold) part of the flare, radiation energy in X-ray region and the energy introduced to the flare volume by energy particles are shown to be compared between each other

Critical Height of the Torus Instability in Two-ribbon Solar Flares

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wang, Dong; Liu, Rui; Wang, Yuming; Liu, Kai; Chen, Jun; Liu, Jiajia; Zhou, Zhenjun [CAS Key Laboratory of Geospace Environment, Department of Geophysics and Planetary Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026 (China); Zhang, Min, E-mail: rliu@ustc.edu.cn [Department of Mathematics and Physics, Anhui Jianzhu University, Hefei 230601 (China)

2017-07-01

We studied the background field for 60 two-ribbon flares of M-and-above classes during 2011–2015. These flares are categorized into two groups, i.e., eruptive and confined flares, based on whether a flare is associated with a coronal mass ejection or not. The background field of source active regions is approximated by a potential field extrapolated from the B {sub z} component of vector magnetograms provided by the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager. We calculated the decay index n of the background field above the flaring polarity inversion line, and defined a critical height h {sub crit} corresponding to the theoretical threshold ( n {sub crit} = 1.5) of the torus instability. We found that h {sub crit} is approximately half of the distance between the centroids of opposite polarities in active regions and that the distribution of h {sub crit} is bimodal: it is significantly higher for confined flares than for eruptive ones. The decay index increases monotonously with increasing height for 86% (84%) of the eruptive (confined) flares but displays a saddle-like profile for the rest, 14% (16%), which are found exclusively in active regions of multipolar field configuration. Moreover, n at the saddle bottom is significantly smaller in confined flares than that in eruptive ones. These results highlight the critical role of background field in regulating the eruptive behavior of two-ribbon flares.

How is symptom flare defined in musculoskeletal conditions: A systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Costa, Nathalia; Ferreira, Manuela L; Cross, Marita; Makovey, Joanna; Hodges, Paul W

2018-01-31

To systematically review the definitions for "flare" in musculoskeletal conditions, the derivation processes, and validation of definitions for the 12 most burdensome musculoskeletal conditions. A literature search was conducted in MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, AMED, PsycInfo and Lilacs to identify studies that investigated derivation or validation of a flare definition, which we considered as a phrase or group of domains. Reports of derivation of flare definitions were identified for 9/12 musculoskeletal conditions. Validation of flare definitions was initiated for 4/12. For each condition, different derivation and validation methods have been used, with variable levels of consumer involvement, and in some cases different groups have worked on the process in parallel. Although some flare definitions began simply as "symptom worsening" or "change in treatment", most evolved into multidimensional definitions that include: pain, impact on function, joint symptoms, and emotional elements. Frequently initial attempts to create phrase to define the term flare evolved into consensus on the breadth of domains involved. Validation has compared flare definitions/domains against measures of disease activity, clinicians' diagnosis, response to drug therapy, or a combination. This review suggests that greater characterisation and definition of flares in musculoskeletal conditions are linked to the inclusion of multiple perspectives, multifaceted domains and compound comparators for their validation. Further work is required to optimise and test the derived definitions for most musculoskeletal conditions. As some elements are disease-specific, flare definitions cannot be extrapolated to other conditions. Research regarding flare in back pain (most burdensome disease) is limited. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Stellar magnetic activity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schrijver, C.J.

1986-01-01

The stellar emission in the chromospheric Ca II H+K lines is compared with the coronal soft X-ray emission, measuring the effects of non-radiative heating in the outer atmosphere at temperatures differing two orders of magnitude. The comparison of stellar flux densities in Ca II H+K and X-rays is extended to fluxes from the transition-region and the high-temperature chromosphere. The stellar magnetic field is probably generated in the differentially rotating convective envelope. The relation between rotation rate and the stellar level of activity measured in chromospheric, transition-region, and coronal radiative diagnostics is discovered. X-ray observations of the binary λ Andromedae are discussed. The departure of M-type dwarfs from the main relations, and the implications for the structure of the chromospheres of these stars are discussed. Variations of the average surface flux densities of the Sun during the 11-year activity cycle agree with flux-flux relations derived for other cool stars, suggesting that the interpretation of the stellar relations may be furthered by studying the solar analogue in more detail. (Auth.)

Gas Flaring: Carbon dioxide Contribution to Global Warming ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

PROF HORSFALL

emissions resulting from high consumption of fossil fuels. Flaring been a ... method of analysis showed that carbon dioxide from gas flaring constitute 1% of the total ... Although of these, methane is potentially the most .... in some gas plants.

Radiation dose from solar flares at ground level

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

O'Brien, K.

1979-01-01

Wdowczyk and Wolfendale (Nature, 268, 510, 1977) concluded that a very large solar flare producing exposure of 10 4 rad at ground level (lethal to almost any organism) has a possible frequency of once per 10 5 -10 8 yr. In the work reported similar results were obtained using a more elaborate model. Flares occuring from February 1956 to August 1972 were analyzed. The flare size distribution above the earth's atmosphere, and neutron flux, dose and dose equivalent at ground level at the latitude of Deep River, Canada, were calculated. The probable frequency of flares delivering various doses are given. Doses larger than 100 rad which have significant somatic effects on man and other animals may be delivered once in 10 6 years. The probability of 10 4 rad was found to be 10 -8 /yr. These calculations apply only to high geomagnetic latitudes. Field reversals during which the geomagnetic field is much weaker than current values total about 10% of the past 4 million years. This suggests that a very large flare delivering a large dose worldwide at ground level cannot be ruled out. (author)

Automated flare forecasting using a statistical learning technique

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yuan Yuan; Shih, Frank Y.; Jing Ju; Wang Haimin

2010-01-01

We present a new method for automatically forecasting the occurrence of solar flares based on photospheric magnetic measurements. The method is a cascading combination of an ordinal logistic regression model and a support vector machine classifier. The predictive variables are three photospheric magnetic parameters, i.e., the total unsigned magnetic flux, length of the strong-gradient magnetic polarity inversion line, and total magnetic energy dissipation. The output is true or false for the occurrence of a certain level of flares within 24 hours. Experimental results, from a sample of 230 active regions between 1996 and 2005, show the accuracies of a 24-hour flare forecast to be 0.86, 0.72, 0.65 and 0.84 respectively for the four different levels. Comparison shows an improvement in the accuracy of X-class flare forecasting. (research papers)

Gamma-ray Burst X-ray Flares Light Curve Fitting

Science.gov (United States)

Aubain, Jonisha

2018-01-01

Gamma Ray Bursts (GRBs) are the most luminous explosions in the Universe. These electromagnetic explosions produce jets demonstrated by a short burst of prompt gamma-ray emission followed by a broadband afterglow. There are sharp increases of flux in the X-ray light curves known as flares that occurs in about 50% of the afterglows. In this study, we characterized all of the X-ray afterglows that were detected by the Swift X-ray Telescope (XRT), whether with flares or without. We fit flares to the Norris function (Norris et al. 2005) and power laws with breaks where necessary (Racusin et al. 2009). After fitting the Norris function and power laws, we search for the residual pattern detected in prompt GRB pulses (Hakkila et al. 2014, 2015, 2017), that may indicate a common signature of shock physics. If we find the same signature in flares and prompt pulses, it provides insight into what causes them, as well as, how these flares are produced.

Endodontic inter-appointment flare-ups: An example of chaos?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Poorya Jalali

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Pain and/or swelling after instrumentation of a root canal constitute a significant complication during endodontic treatment. Despite a large number of articles discussing the causative factors behind endodontic flare-ups, the exact mechanism is still not understood. The Hypothesis: The seemingly irrational behavior of endodontic inter-appointment flare-ups may be due to sensitive dependence on initial conditions. A model based on Lorenz′ chaos theory is presented as a possible explanation for the sudden emergence and unpredictability of flare-ups. Evaluation of the Hypothesis: All studies agree on some common traits regarding inter-appointment flare-ups: Careful instrumentation can still cause flare-up; the host inflammatory response behaves as a complex nonlinear network; and also the poly-etiologic nature of this phenomenon all illustrate the sensitive dependence on initial conditions of the system. Integrating more variables (e.g., different species of bacteria into this already complex system will make it increasingly chaotic reflecting its unpredictable behavior.

Multifractality as a Measure of Complexity in Solar Flare Activity

Science.gov (United States)

Sen, Asok K.

2007-03-01

In this paper we use the notion of multifractality to describe the complexity in H α flare activity during the solar cycles 21, 22, and 23. Both northern and southern hemisphere flare indices are analyzed. Multifractal behavior of the flare activity is characterized by calculating the singularity spectrum of the daily flare index time series in terms of the Hölder exponent. The broadness of the singularity spectrum gives a measure of the degree of multifractality or complexity in the flare index data. The broader the spectrum, the richer and more complex is the structure with a higher degree of multifractality. Using this broadness measure, complexity in the flare index data is compared between the northern and southern hemispheres in each of the three cycles, and among the three cycles in each of the two hemispheres. Other parameters of the singularity spectrum can also provide information about the fractal properties of the flare index data. For instance, an asymmetry to the left or right in the singularity spectrum indicates a dominance of high or low fractal exponents, respectively, reflecting a relative abundance of large or small fluctuations in the total energy emitted by the flares. Our results reveal that in the even (22nd) cycle the singularity spectra are very similar for the northern and southern hemispheres, whereas in the odd cycles (21st and 23rd) they differ significantly. In particular, we find that in cycle 21, the northern hemisphere flare index data have higher complexity than its southern counterpart, with an opposite pattern prevailing in cycle 23. Furthermore, small-scale fluctuations in the flare index time series are predominant in the northern hemisphere in the 21st cycle and are predominant in the southern hemisphere in the 23rd cycle. Based on these findings one might suggest that, from cycle to cycle, there exists a smooth switching between the northern and southern hemispheres in the multifractality of the flaring process. This new

The Flare Irradiance Spectral Model (FISM) and its Contributions to Space Weather Research, the Flare Energy Budget, and Instrument Design

Science.gov (United States)

Chamberlin, Phillip

2008-01-01

The Flare Irradiance Spectral Model (FISM) is an empirical model of the solar irradiance spectrum from 0.1 to 190 nm at 1 nm spectral resolution and on a 1-minute time cadence. The goal of FISM is to provide accurate solar spectral irradiances over the vacuum ultraviolet (VUV: 0-200 nm) range as input for ionospheric and thermospheric models. The seminar will begin with a brief overview of the FISM model, and also how the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) EUV Variability Experiment (EVE) will contribute to improving FISM. Some current studies will then be presented that use FISM estimations of the solar VUV irradiance to quantify the contributions of the increased irradiance from flares to Earth's increased thermospheric and ionospheric densites. Initial results will also be presented from a study looking at the electron density increases in the Martian atmosphere during a solar flare. Results will also be shown quantifying the VUV contributions to the total flare energy budget for both the impulsive and gradual phases of solar flares. Lastly, an example of how FISM can be used to simplify the design of future solar VUV irradiance instruments will be discussed, using the future NOAA GOES-R Extreme Ultraviolet and X-Ray Sensors (EXIS) space weather instrument.

sunstardb: A Database for the Study of Stellar Magnetism and the Solar-stellar Connection

Science.gov (United States)

Egeland, Ricky

2018-05-01

The “solar-stellar connection” began as a relatively small field of research focused on understanding the processes that generate magnetic fields in stars and sometimes lead to a cyclic pattern of long-term variability in activity, as demonstrated by our Sun. This area of study has recently become more broadly pertinent to questions of exoplanet habitability and exo-space weather, as well as stellar evolution. In contrast to other areas of stellar research, individual stars in the solar-stellar connection often have a distinct identity and character in the literature, due primarily to the rarity of the decades-long time-series that are necessary for studying stellar activity cycles. Furthermore, the underlying stellar dynamo is not well understood theoretically, and is thought to be sensitive to several stellar properties, e.g., luminosity, differential rotation, and the depth of the convection zone, which in turn are often parameterized by other more readily available properties. Relevant observations are scattered throughout the literature and existing stellar databases, and consolidating information for new studies is a tedious and laborious exercise. To accelerate research in this area I developed sunstardb, a relational database of stellar properties and magnetic activity proxy time-series keyed by individual named stars. The organization of the data eliminates the need for the problematic catalog cross-matching operations inherent when building an analysis data set from heterogeneous sources. In this article I describe the principles behind sunstardb, the data structures and programming interfaces, as well as use cases from solar-stellar connection research.

Variability in the Reporting of Serum Urate and Flares in Gout Clinical Trials

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Stamp, Lisa K; Morillon, Melanie B; Taylor, William J

2018-01-01

OBJECTIVE: To describe the ways in which serum urate (SU) and gout flares are reported in clinical trials, and to propose minimum reporting requirements. METHODS: This analysis was done as part of a systematic review aiming to validate SU as a biomarker for gout. The ways in which SU and flares.......3%) of these reporting at more than just the final study visit. Two ways of reporting gout flares were identified: mean flare rate and percentage of participants with flares. There was variability in time periods over which flares rates were reported. CONCLUSION: There is inconsistent reporting of SU and flares in gout...... studies. Reporting the percentage of participants who achieve a target SU reflects international treatment guidelines. SU should also be reported as a continuous variable with a relevant central and dispersion estimate. Gout flares should be reported as both percentage of participants and mean flare rates...

[A clinical study of endodontic flare-ups].

Science.gov (United States)

Yeh, S J; Lin, Y T; Lu, S Y

1994-06-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate the clinical variables influencing endodontic flare-ups. Three hundred and thirteen teeth receiving endodontic treatment at the Endodontic Department, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital were studied from December 1992 to February 1993. Among them, 21 teeth with significant pain and 9 with apical swelling were noted after the first appointment of treatment. Three teeth with persistent pain and one with apical swelling were also found one week after completion of endodontic therapy. The results showed significant improvement of clinical symptoms and signs one week after completion of endodontic treatment in comparison with pretreatment and after the first appointment (p endodontic flare-ups after the first appointment of treatment (P endodontic flare-ups.

Modelling combustion reactions for gas flaring and its resulting emissions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

O. Saheed Ismail

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Flaring of associated petroleum gas is an age long environmental concern which remains unabated. Flaring of gas maybe a very efficient combustion process especially steam/air assisted flare and more economical than utilization in some oil fields. However, it has serious implications for the environment. This study considered different reaction types and operating conditions for gas flaring. Six combustion equations were generated using the mass balance concept with varying air and combustion efficiency. These equations were coded with a computer program using 12 natural gas samples of different chemical composition and origin to predict the pattern of emission species from gas flaring. The effect of key parameters on the emission output is also shown. CO2, CO, NO, NO2 and SO2 are the anticipated non-hydrocarbon emissions of environmental concern. Results show that the quantity and pattern of these chemical species depended on percentage excess/deficiency of stoichiometric air, natural gas type, reaction type, carbon mass content, impurities, combustion efficiency of the flare system etc. These emissions degrade the environment and human life, so knowing the emission types, pattern and flaring conditions that this study predicts is of paramount importance to governments, environmental agencies and the oil and gas industry.

Studies of solar flares: Homology and X-ray line broadening

Science.gov (United States)

Ranns, Neale David Raymond

This thesis starts with an introduction to the solar atmosphere and the physics that governs its behaviour. The formation processes of spectral lines are presented followed by an explanation of employed plasma diagnostic techniques and line broadening mechanisms. The current understanding on some principle concepts of flare physics are reviewed and the topics of flare homology and non-thermal line broadening are introduced. The many solar satellites and instrumentation that were utilised during this thesis are described. Analysis techniques for some instruments are also presented. A series of solar flares that conform to the literature definition for homologous flares are examined. The apparent homology is shown to be caused by emerging flux rather than continual stressing of a single, or group of, magnetic structure's. The implications for flare homology are discussed. The analysis of a solar flare with a rise and peak in the observed non-thermal X-ray line broadening (Vnt) is then performed. The location of the hot plasma within the flare area is determined and consequently the source of Vnt is located to be within and above the flare loops. The flare footpoints are therefore discarded as a possible source location. Viable source locations are discussed with a view to determining the dominant mechanism for the generation of line broadening. The timing relationships between the hard X-ray (HXR) flux and Vnt in many solar flares are then examined. I show that there is a causal relationship between these two parameters and that the HXR rise time is related to the time delay between the maxima of HXR flux and Vnt. The temporal evolution of Vnt is shown to be dependent upon the shape of the HXR burst. The implications of these results are discussed in terms of determining the line broadening mechanism and the limitations of the data. A summary of the results in this thesis is then presented together with suggestions for future research.

Solar flare irradiation records in Antarctic meteorites

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Goswami, J.N.

1981-01-01

Observations of solar flare heavy nuclei tracks in eight Antartic meteorite samples are reported. Two of these were interior specimens from an L-3 chondrite which contained track-rich grains (olivine) indicating their exposure to solar flare irradiation before compaction of the meteorite. Preliminary noble gas data also indicate the presence of solar-type gases. (U.K.)

Establishing a core domain set to measure rheumatoid arthritis flares

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bykerk, Vivian P; Lie, Elisabeth; Bartlett, Susan J

2014-01-01

OBJECTIVE: The OMERACT Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) Flare Group (FG) is developing a data-driven, patient-inclusive, consensus-based RA flare definition for use in clinical trials, longterm observational studies, and clinical practice. At OMERACT 11, we sought endorsement of a proposed core domain set...... to measure RA flare. METHODS: Patient and healthcare professional (HCP) qualitative studies, focus groups, and literature review, followed by patient and HCP Delphi exercises including combined Delphi consensus at Outcome Measures in Rheumatology 10 (OMERACT 10), identified potential domains to measure flare...... Filter 2.0 methodology. RESULTS: A pre-meeting combined Delphi exercise for defining flare identified 9 domains as important (>70% consensus from patients or HCP). Four new patient-reported domains beyond those included in the RA disease activity core set were proposed for inclusion (fatigue...

PREDICTION OF SOLAR FLARES USING UNIQUE SIGNATURES OF MAGNETIC FIELD IMAGES

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Raboonik, Abbas; Safari, Hossein; Alipour, Nasibe [Department of Physics, University of Zanjan, P.O. Box 45195-313, Zanjan (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Wheatland, Michael S., E-mail: raboonik@alumni.znu.ac.ir, E-mail: safari@znu.ac.ir [Sydney Institute for Astronomy, School of Physics, The University of Sydney, NSW 2006 (Australia)

2017-01-01

Prediction of solar flares is an important task in solar physics. The occurrence of solar flares is highly dependent on the structure and topology of solar magnetic fields. A new method for predicting large (M- and X-class) flares is presented, which uses machine learning methods applied to the Zernike moments (ZM) of magnetograms observed by the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager on board the Solar Dynamics Observatory for a period of six years from 2010 June 2 to 2016 August 1. Magnetic field images consisting of the radial component of the magnetic field are converted to finite sets of ZMs and fed to the support vector machine classifier. ZMs have the capability to elicit unique features from any 2D image, which may allow more accurate classification. The results indicate whether an arbitrary active region has the potential to produce at least one large flare. We show that the majority of large flares can be predicted within 48 hr before their occurrence, with only 10 false negatives out of 385 flaring active region magnetograms and 21 false positives out of 179 non-flaring active region magnetograms. Our method may provide a useful tool for the prediction of solar flares, which can be employed alongside other forecasting methods.

Interplanetary medium and geomagnetic activity after compact flare triplets 1966-1981

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ivanov, K.G.; Mikerina, N.V.; Pavlov, P.P.

1986-01-01

The interplanetary medium state and geomagnetic activity when the Earth is getting into this or that interplanetary disturbance zone after flare triplets, i.e. trains of three solar flares out of an active zone, are considered. There are the following conditionally differentiated zones in the interplanetary disturbance configuration: a forbidden (F), a perturbed (P) and a normal (N) zones of interplanetary disturbance. The interplanetary medium disturbances and geomagnetic activity after trains of three flares of class 2 and higher out of one of active zones depend on the following factors: the magnetic axis orientation of a bipolar group of active zone spots appeared after flares, time interval between the first and second flares in the train, flare intensity. The conditions of maximum disturbance occurrence pointed out. The interplanetary and geomagnetic disturbance intensity in the N zone is higher than that of the F and P zones (i.e. in the proximity of the great circle planes passing through the flares parallel with tha active zone magnetic axes), and it is higher after quasicompact rather than after compact triplets (i.e. it considerably grows when passing over the critical value of the time interval betwenn the first and second triplet flares, τ 12 =16 h)

Flare Prediction Using Photospheric and Coronal Image Data

Science.gov (United States)

Jonas, Eric; Bobra, Monica; Shankar, Vaishaal; Todd Hoeksema, J.; Recht, Benjamin

2018-03-01

The precise physical process that triggers solar flares is not currently understood. Here we attempt to capture the signature of this mechanism in solar-image data of various wavelengths and use these signatures to predict flaring activity. We do this by developing an algorithm that i) automatically generates features in 5.5 TB of image data taken by the Solar Dynamics Observatory of the solar photosphere, chromosphere, transition region, and corona during the time period between May 2010 and May 2014, ii) combines these features with other features based on flaring history and a physical understanding of putative flaring processes, and iii) classifies these features to predict whether a solar active region will flare within a time period of T hours, where T = 2 and 24. Such an approach may be useful since, at the present time, there are no physical models of flares available for real-time prediction. We find that when optimizing for the True Skill Score (TSS), photospheric vector-magnetic-field data combined with flaring history yields the best performance, and when optimizing for the area under the precision-recall curve, all of the data are helpful. Our model performance yields a TSS of 0.84 ±0.03 and 0.81 ±0.03 in the T = 2- and 24-hour cases, respectively, and a value of 0.13 ±0.07 and 0.43 ±0.08 for the area under the precision-recall curve in the T=2- and 24-hour cases, respectively. These relatively high scores are competitive with previous attempts at solar prediction, but our different methodology and extreme care in task design and experimental setup provide an independent confirmation of these results. Given the similar values of algorithm performance across various types of models reported in the literature, we conclude that we can expect a certain baseline predictive capacity using these data. We believe that this is the first attempt to predict solar flares using photospheric vector-magnetic field data as well as multiple wavelengths of image

Flare activity on UV CETI: visible and IUE observations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Phillips, K.J.H.; Bromage, G.E.; Dufton, P.L.; Keenan, F.P.; Kingston, A.E.

1988-06-01

Simultaneous far-ultraviolet (IUE) spectroscopy and optical photometry and spectrophotometry of a flare on UV Ceti are reported. The flare reached ΔU = 2sup(m) but showed only modest enhancements in the IUE spectra. The optical spectrophotometry indicated broadened Balmer line profiles during the flare, with Hβ and Hγ clearly showing red wings. The results are compared with other IUE and optical observations of UV Ceti, and their solar analogues. (author)

Search for correlation of neutrino events with solar flares in Kamiokande

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hirata, K.S.; Kajita, T.; Kifune, T.

1988-10-01

A search has been made for a correlation between large solar flares and neutrino events observed in Kamiokande for the period of July 1983 - July 1988. No significant neutrino signal was found at the time of a solar flare, giving a limit on the time integrated 'solar-flare' ν e flux 7 (2.5 x 10 9 )/cm 2 per flare at 90 % confidence level, for E ν = 100 (50) MeV. These limits are 2000 (60) times smaller than the value required for neutrinos with those energies to account for the excess of signal in the 37 Cl solar neutrino experiment at some of the corresponding solar flare times. (author)

Future flare compositions

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lingen, J.L.N. van; Meuken, D.; Hackspik, M.M.; Mäkeläinen, T.; Weiser, V.; Poulson, G.W.

2014-01-01

This poster describes the work done within the Category B joint research project under the European Defence Agency (EDA) on Future Flare Compositions [1]. Contributing members were Finland, Germany, United Kingdom and the Netherlands. The program was aimed to identify the technology gaps that apply

Some calculations using the two-dimensional turbulent combustion code flare

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Martin, D.

1986-09-01

A brief description of the code FLARE is given. Both the model used in FLARE and the numerical scheme used to implement the model are described. Results for the simulation of an experiment are presented and discussed. An alternative turbulence model to that used in FLARE is discussed but it is concluded that the original model is better. (author)

Dynamics of flare sprays

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tandberg-Hanssen, E.; Hansen, R.T.

1980-01-01

During solar cycle No. 20 new insight into the flare-spray phenomenon has been attained due to several innovations in solar optical-observing techniques (higher spatial resolution cinema-photography, tunable pass-band filters, multi-slit spectroscopy and extended angular field coronographs). From combined analysis of 13 well-observed sprays which occured between 1969-1974 we conclude that (i) the spray material originates from a preexisting active region filament which undergoes increased absorption some tens of minutes prior to the abrupt chromospheric brightening at the 'flare-start', and (ii) the spray material is confined within a steadily expanding, loop-shaped (presumably magnetically controlled) envelope with part of the material draining back down along one or both legs of the loop. (orig.)

Neoclassical transport in stellarators - a comparison of conventional stellarator/torsatrons with the advanced stellarator, Wendelstein 7X

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Beidler, C D [Max-Planck-Institut fuer Plasmaphysik, Garching (Germany)

1991-01-01

A general expression for the magnitude of a stellarator's magnetic field, in terms of a Fourier decomposition, is too complicated to lend itself easily to analytic transport calculations. The great majority of stellarator-type devices, however, may be accurately described if one retains only those harmonics with m=0 and m=1. In the long-mean-free-path regime an analytical approximation to the particle's bounce-averaged kinetic equation can then be found. Using a numerical solution of this equation, it is possible to calculate the particle and heat fluxes due to helical-ripple transport in stellarators throughout the entire long-mean-free-path regime. 3 figs.

Applying the Weighted Horizontal Magnetic Gradient Method to a Simulated Flaring Active Region

Science.gov (United States)

Korsós, M. B.; Chatterjee, P.; Erdélyi, R.

2018-04-01

Here, we test the weighted horizontal magnetic gradient (WG M ) as a flare precursor, introduced by Korsós et al., by applying it to a magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulation of solar-like flares. The preflare evolution of the WG M and the behavior of the distance parameter between the area-weighted barycenters of opposite-polarity sunspots at various heights is investigated in the simulated δ-type sunspot. Four flares emanated from this sunspot. We found the optimum heights above the photosphere where the flare precursors of the WG M method are identifiable prior to each flare. These optimum heights agree reasonably well with the heights of the occurrence of flares identified from the analysis of their thermal and ohmic heating signatures in the simulation. We also estimated the expected time of the flare onsets from the duration of the approaching–receding motion of the barycenters of opposite polarities before each single flare. The estimated onset time and the actual time of occurrence of each flare are in good agreement at the corresponding optimum heights. This numerical experiment further supports the use of flare precursors based on the WG M method.

Flares in Biopsy-Proven Giant Cell Arteritis in Northern Italy

Science.gov (United States)

Restuccia, Giovanna; Boiardi, Luigi; Cavazza, Alberto; Catanoso, Mariagrazia; Macchioni, Pierluigi; Muratore, Francesco; Cimino, Luca; Aldigeri, Raffaella; Crescentini, Filippo; Pipitone, Nicolò; Salvarani, Carlo

2016-01-01

Abstract This study evaluated the frequency, timing, and characteristics of flares in a large cohort of Italian patients with biopsy-proven giant cell arteritis (GCA) and to identify factors at diagnosis able to predict the occurrence of flares. We evaluated 157 patients with biopsy-proven transmural GCA diagnosed and followed at the Rheumatology Unit of Reggio Emilia Hospital (Italy) for whom sufficient information was available from the time of diagnosis until at least 4 years of follow-up. Fifty-seven patients (36.5%) experienced ≥1 flares. Fifty-one (46.4%) of the 110 total flares (88 relapses and 22 recurrences) were experienced during the first 2 years after diagnosis. The majority of relapses occurred with doses of prednisone ≤ 10 mg/day (82.9%), whereas only 3.4% of relapses occurred for doses ≥ 25 mg/day. Polymyalgia rheumatica (46.5%) and cranial symptoms (41.9%) were the most frequent manifestations at the time of the first relapse. Cumulative prednisone dose during the first year and total cumulative prednisone dose were significantly higher in flaring patients compared with those without flares (7.8 ± 2.4 vs 6.7 ± 2.4 g, P = 0.02; 15.5 ± 8.9 vs 10.0 ± 9.2 g, P = 0.0001, respectively). The total duration of prednisone treatment was longer in flaring patients (58 ± 44 vs 30 ± 30 months, P = 0.0001). Patients with disease flares had at diagnosis more frequently systemic manifestations (P = 0.02) and fever ≥ 38°C (P = 0.02), significantly lower hemoglobin levels (P = 0.05), more frequent presence at temporal artery biopsy (TAB) specimens of giant cells (P = 0.04) and intraluminal acute thrombosis (P = 0.007), and more moderate/severe arterial inflammation (P = 0.009) compared with those without flares. In the multivariate model fever ≥ 38 °C (hazard ratio 2.14; 95% confidence interval, 1.06–4.32, P = 0.03) and the severity of inflammatory infiltrate

["Flare-up" during endodontic treatment--etiology and management].

Science.gov (United States)

Zuckerman, O; Metzger, Z; Sela, G; Lin, S

2007-04-01

"Flare-ups" during or following endodontic treatment are not uncommon. A "Flare-up" refers to post-operative pain and/or swelling resulting from bacterial, mechanical or chemical irritation. Prompt diagnosis and treatment are essential for reducing patients' pain and discomfort. Prevention of bacterial, chemical or mechanical invasion to the periapical tissues is the best approach. Other treatment modalities which reduce the probability of periradicular tissue irritation should also be adopted. Etiology, prevention, diagnosis and treatment options of "flare-up" cases are discussed as well as indications for analgesics, in accordance with the severity of the pain.

Solar Flares and the High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (HESSI)

Science.gov (United States)

Holman, Gordon D.; Fisher, Richard R. (Technical Monitor)

2001-01-01

Solar flares are the biggest explosions in the solar system. They are important both for understanding explosive events in the Universe and for their impact on human technology and communications. The satellite-based HESSI is designed to study the explosive release of energy and the acceleration of electrons, protons, and other charged particles to high energies in solar flares. HESSI produces "color" movies of the Sun in high-energy X rays and gamma rays radiated by these energetic particles. HESSI's X-ray and gamma-ray images of flares are obtained using techniques similar to those used in radio interferometry. Ground-based radio observations of the Sun provide an important complement to the HESSI observations of solar flares. I will describe the HESSI Project and the high-energy aspects of solar flares, and how these relate to radio astronomy techniques and observations.

Flare activity on UV Ceti: visible and IUE observations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Phillips, K.J.H.; Bromage, G.E.; Dufton, P.L.; Keenan, F.P.; Kingston, A.E.

1988-01-01

Simultaneous far-ultraviolet (IUE) spectroscopy and optical photometry and spectrophotometry of a flare on UV Ceti are reported. The flare reached ΔU=2 mag but showed only modest enhancements in the IUE spectra. The optical spectrophotometry indicated broadened Balmer line profiles during the flare, with Hβ and Hγ clearly showing red wings (∼ 100 km s -1 ). The results are compared with other IUE and optical observations of UV Ceti, and their solar analogues. (author)

Validation of treatment escalation as a definition of atopic eczema flares.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kim S Thomas

Full Text Available Atopic eczema (AE is a chronic disease with flares and remissions. Long-term control of AE flares has been identified as a core outcome domain for AE trials. However, it is unclear how flares should be defined and measured.To validate two concepts of AE flares based on daily reports of topical medication use: (i escalation of treatment and (ii days of topical anti-inflammatory medication use (topical corticosteroids and/or calcineurin inhibitors.Data from two published AE studies (studies A (n=336 and B (n=60 were analysed separately. Validity and feasibility of flare definitions were assessed using daily global bother (scale 0 to 10 as the reference standard. Intra-class correlations were reported for continuous variables, and odds ratios and area under the receiver operator characteristic (ROC curve for binary outcome measures.Good agreement was found between both AE flare definitions and change in global bother: area under the ROC curve for treatment escalation of 0.70 and 0.73 in studies A and B respectively, and area under the ROC curve of 0.69 for topical anti-inflammatory medication use (Study A only. Significant positive relationships were found between validated severity scales (POEM, SASSAD, TIS and the duration of AE flares occurring in the previous week - POEM and SASSAD rose by half a point for each unit increase in number of days in flare. Smaller increases were observed on the TIS scale. Completeness of daily diaries was 95% for Study A and 60% for Study B over 16 weeks.Both definitions were good proxy indicators of AE flares. We found no evidence that 'escalation of treatment' was a better measure of AE flares than 'use of topical anti-inflammatory medications'. Capturing disease flares in AE trials through daily recording of medication use is feasible and appears to be a good indicator of long-term control.Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN71423189 (Study A.

Synchronous photoelectrical observations of flare stars in the visible and near infrared ranges

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bruevich, V.V.; Kilyachkov, N.N.; Shevchenko, V.S.; Burnashov, V.I.; Grinin, V.P.; Koryshev, V.V.; Shakhovskaya, N.I.

1980-01-01

The results of synchronous photoelectrical observations of the AD Leo and EV Lac flare stars made in 1975 in the Crimea in B-filter and in the near infrared region (i-band, lambdasub(ef) approximately 0.85 μm) and the observations of the UV Cet and EV Lac stars made in 1976 in the Astronomical Institute Uzbek SSR in three passbands: U, isub(TiO)(lambdasub(ef)=0.71 μ) and isub(C)(lambdasub(ef)=0.80μm) are given. Practically all strong flares in the visible spectral range were followed by the IR-flares. In about 70% of the cases the predicted infrared negative preflares were observed. The amplitudes (in erg/s) of the negative flares are comparable with the amplitude of the optical flares. The analysis of the observed data shows that: a) the amplitudes and the energies of the positive IR flares are in average the larger the stronger is the optical flare; b) the amplitudes of the negative IR preflares are on the contrary the smaller the stronger is the optical flare; c) there are infrared flares the main energy out of which takes place in the infrared range of wavelengths; d) The U-i color shows a positive correlation with the amplitude of the flare in U: the stronger is the flare the bluer is its radiation

Feasibility and Domain Validation of Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) Flare Core Domain Set

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bartlett, Susan J; Bykerk, Vivian P; Cooksey, Roxanne

2015-01-01

, and stiffness scores averaged ≥ 2 times higher (2 of 11 points) in flaring individuals. Correlations between flare domains and corresponding legacy instruments were obtained: r = 0.46 to 0.93. A combined definition (patient report of flare and 28-joint Disease Activity Score increase) was evaluated in 2 other...... provided input for stiffness, self-management, contextual factors, and measurement considerations. RESULTS: Flare data from 501 patients in an observational study indicated 39% were in flare, with mean (SD) severity of 6.0 (2.6) and 55% lasting > 14 days. Pain, physical function, fatigue, participation...

Periodic Recurrence Patterns In X-Ray Solar Flare Appearances

Science.gov (United States)

Gyenge, N.; Erdélyi, R.

2018-06-01

The temporal recurrence of micro-flare events is studied for a time interval before and after of major solar flares. Our sample is based on the X-ray flare observations by the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) and Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI). The analyzed data contain 1330/301 M-class and X-class GOES/RHESSI energetic solar flares and 4062/4119 GOES/RHESSI micro-flares covering the period elapse since 2002. The temporal analysis of recurrence, by Fast Fourier Transform, of the micro-flares, shows multiple significant periods. Based on the GOES and RHESSI data, the temporal analysis also demonstrates that multiple periods manifest simultaneously in both statistical samples without any significant shift over time. In the GOES sample, the detected significant periods are: 11.33, 5.61, 3.75, 2.80, and 2.24 minutes. The RHESSI data show similar significant periods at 8.54, 5.28, 3.66, 2.88, and 2.19 minutes. The periods are interpreted as signatures of standing oscillations, with the longest period (P 1) being the fundamental and others being higher harmonic modes. The period ratio of the fundamental and higher harmonics (P 1/P N ) is also analyzed. The standing modes may be signatures of global oscillations of the entire solar atmosphere encompassing magnetized plasma from the photosphere to the corona in active regions.

Relation between gamma-ray emission, radio bursts, and proton fluxes from solar flares

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fomichev, V.V.; Chertok, I.M.

1985-01-01

Data on solar gamma-ray flares, including 24 flares with gamma-ray lines, recorded up to June 1982, are analyzed. It is shown that from the point of view of radio emission the differences between flares with and without gamma-ray lines has a purely quantitative character: the former are accompanied by the most intense microwave bursts. Meter type II bursts are not a distinctive feature of flares with gamma-ray lines. Pulsed flares, regardless of the presence or absence of gamma-ray lines, are not accompanied by significant proton fluxes at the earth. On the whole, contrary to the popular opinion in the literature, flares with gamma-ray lines do not display a deficit of proton flux in interplanetary space in comparison with similar flares without gamma-ray lines. The results of quantitative diagnostics of proton flares based on radio bursts are not at variance with the presence of flares without detectable gamma-ray emission in lines but with a pronounced increase in the proton flux at the earth. 23 references

Detection of the Acceleration Site in a Solar Flare

Science.gov (United States)

Fleishman, Gregory D.; Kontar, E. P.; Nita, G. M.; Gary, D. E.

2011-05-01

We report the observation of an unusual cold, tenuous solar flare (ApJL, v. 731, p. L19, 2011), which reveals itself via numerous and prominent non-thermal manifestations, while lacking any noticeable thermal emission signature. RHESSI hard X-rays and 0.1-18 GHz radio data from OVSA and Phoenix-2 show copious electron acceleration (1035 electrons per second above 10 keV) typical for GOES M-class flares with electrons energies up to 100 keV, but GOES temperatures not exceeding 6.1 MK. The HXR footpoints and coronal radio sources belong, supposedly, to a single magnetic loop, which departs strongly from the corresponding potential loop (obtained from a photospheric extrapolation) in agreement with the apparent need of a non-potential magnetic field structure to produce a flare. The imaging, temporal, and spectral characteristics of the flare have led us to a firm conclusion that the bulk of the microwave continuum emission from this flare was produced directly in the acceleration region. We found that the electron acceleration efficiency is very high in the flare, so almost all available thermal electrons are eventually accelerated. However, given a relatively small flaring volume and rather low thermal density at the flaring loop, the total energy release turned out to be insufficient for a significant heating of the coronal plasma or for a prominent chromospheric response giving rise to chromospheric evaporation. Some sort of stochastic acceleration process is needed to account for an approximately energy-independent lifetime of about 3 s for the electrons in the acceleration region. This work was supported in part by NSF grants AGS-0961867, AST-0908344, and NASA grants NNX10AF27G and NNX11AB49G to New Jersey Institute of Technology. This work was supported by a UK STFC rolling grant, STFC/PPARC Advanced Fellowship, and the Leverhulme Trust, UK. Financial support by the European Commission through the SOLAIRE and HESPE Networks is gratefully acknowledged.

Measurements and modeling of total solar irradiance in X-class solar flares

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Moore, Christopher Samuel; Chamberlin, Phillip Clyde; Hock, Rachel

2014-01-01

The Total Irradiance Monitor (TIM) from NASA's SOlar Radiation and Climate Experiment can detect changes in the total solar irradiance (TSI) to a precision of 2 ppm, allowing observations of variations due to the largest X-class solar flares for the first time. Presented here is a robust algorithm for determining the radiative output in the TIM TSI measurements, in both the impulsive and gradual phases, for the four solar flares presented in Woods et al., as well as an additional flare measured on 2006 December 6. The radiative outputs for both phases of these five flares are then compared to the vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) irradiance output from the Flare Irradiance Spectral Model (FISM) in order to derive an empirical relationship between the FISM VUV model and the TIM TSI data output to estimate the TSI radiative output for eight other X-class flares. This model provides the basis for the bolometric energy estimates for the solar flares analyzed in the Emslie et al. study.

Optical flare observed in the flaring gamma-ray blazar Ton 599

Science.gov (United States)

Pursimo, Tapio; Sagues, Ana; Telting, John; Ojha, Roopesh

2017-11-01

We report optical photometry of the flat spectrum radio quasar Ton 599, obtained with the 2.56m Nordic Optical Telescope in La Palma, to look for any enhanced optical activity associated with a recent flare in the daily averaged gamma-ray flux (ATel#10931, ATel#10937).

A ``perfect'' Late Phase Flare Loop: X-ray And Radio Studies

Science.gov (United States)

Bain, Hazel; Fletcher, L.

2009-05-01

We present observations of a GOES X3.1 class flare which occurred on the 24th August 2002. The event was observed by a number of instruments including RHESSI, TRACE and NoRH. This flare is particularly interesting due to its position and orientation on the west limb of the Sun. The flare appears to be perpendicular to the line of sight making it possible to ascertain the geometrical parameters of the post flare arcade loops. We investigate the decay phase of the flare by comparing X-ray and radio observations of the post flare arcade loops with models of soft x-ray and thermal gyrosynchrotron emission to characterise the electron distribution present within the loop. HMB gratefully acknowledges the support of an SPD and STFC studentship. LF gratefully acknowledges the support of an STFC Rolling Grant, and financial support by the European Commission through the SOLAIRE Network (MTRN-CT_2006-035484)

Sources of uncertainty in characterizing health risks from flare emissions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hrudey, S.E.

2000-01-01

The assessment of health risks associated with gas flaring was the focus of this paper. Health risk assessments for environmental decision-making includes the evaluation of scientific data to identify hazards and to determine dose-response assessments, exposure assessments and risk characterization. Gas flaring has been the cause for public health concerns in recent years, most notably since 1996 after a published report by the Alberta Research Council. Some of the major sources of uncertainty associated with identifying hazardous contaminants in flare emissions were discussed. Methods to predict human exposures to emitted contaminants were examined along with risk characterization of predicted exposures to several identified contaminants. One of the problems is that elemental uncertainties exist regarding flare emissions which places limitations of the degree of reassurance that risk assessment can provide, but risk assessment can nevertheless offer some guidance to those responsible for flare emissions

Reconnection in Solar Flares: Outstanding Questions Hiroaki Isobe ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Although the idea of magnetic reconnection for explaining the energy release in solar flares had been proposed many decades ago (Parker 1957; Sweet. 1958) it was after Yohkoh (Ogawara et al. 1991) observations that the reality of mag- netic reconnection occurring during solar flares was established. Examples of evi-.

Thermodynamics of supra-arcade downflows in solar flares

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Xin; Liu, Rui; Deng, Na; Wang, Haimin

2017-10-01

Context. Supra-arcade downflows (SADs) have been frequently observed during the gradual phase of solar flares near the limb. In coronal emission lines sensitive to flaring plasmas, they appear as tadpole-like dark voids against the diffuse fan-shaped "haze" above, flowing toward the well-defined flare arcade. Aims: We aim to investigate the evolution of SADs' thermal properties, and to shed light on the formation mechanism and physical processes of SADs. Methods: We carefully studied several selected SADs from two flare events and calculated their differential emission measures (DEMs) as well as DEM-weighted temperatures using data obtained by the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) onboard the Solar Dynamic Observatory. Results: Our analysis shows that SADs are associated with a substantial decrease in DEM above 4 MK, which is 1-3 orders of magnitude smaller than the surrounding haze as well as the region before or after the passage of SADs, but comparable to the quiet corona. There is no evidence for the presence of the SAD-associated hot plasma (>20 MK) in the AIA data, and this decrease in DEM does not cause any significant change in the DEM distribution as well as the DEM-weighted temperature, which supports this idea that SADs are density depletion. This depression in DEM rapidly recovers in the wake of the SADs studied, generally within a few minutes, suggesting that they are discrete features. In addition, we found that SADs in one event are spatio-temporally associated with the successive formation of post-flare loops along the flare arcade. Movies associated to Figs. A.1 and A.2 are available at http://www.aanda.org

Latitudinal distribution of soft X-ray flares and dispairty in butterfly diagram

Science.gov (United States)

Pandey, K. K.; Yellaiah, G.; Hiremath, K. M.

2015-04-01

We present statistical analysis of about 63000 soft X-ray flare (class≥C) observed by geostationary operational environmental satellite (GOES) during the period 1976-2008. Class wise occurrence of soft X-ray (SXR) flare is in declining trend since cycle 21. The distribution pattern of cycle 21 shows the transit of hemispheric dominance of flare activity from northern to southern hemisphere and remains there during cycle 22 and 23. During the three cycles, 0-100, 21-300 latitude belts in southern hemisphere (SH) and 31-400 latitude belt in northern hemisphere (NH) are mightier. The 11-200 latitude belt of both hemisphere is mightiest. Correlation coefficient between consecutive latitude appears to be increasing from equator to poleward in northern hemisphere whereas pole to equatorward in southern hemisphere. Slope of the regression line fitted with asymmetry time series of daily flare counts is negative in all three cycles for different classes of flares. The yearly asymmetry curve fitted by a sinusoidal function varies from 5.6 to 11 years period and depends upon the intensity of flare. Variation, of curve fitted with wings of butterfly diagram, from first to second order polynomial suggests that latitudinal migration of flare activity varies from cycle to cycle, northern to southern hemisphere. The variation in slope of the butterfly wing of different flare class indicates the non uniform migration of flare activity.

Recurrent flares in active region NOAA 11283

Science.gov (United States)

Romano, P.; Zuccarello, F.; Guglielmino, S. L.; Berrilli, F.; Bruno, R.; Carbone, V.; Consolini, G.; de Lauretis, M.; Del Moro, D.; Elmhamdi, A.; Ermolli, I.; Fineschi, S.; Francia, P.; Kordi, A. S.; Landi Degl'Innocenti, E.; Laurenza, M.; Lepreti, F.; Marcucci, M. F.; Pallocchia, G.; Pietropaolo, E.; Romoli, M.; Vecchio, A.; Vellante, M.; Villante, U.

2015-10-01

Context. Flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) are solar phenomena that are not yet fully understood. Several investigations have been performed to single out their related physical parameters that can be used as indices of the magnetic complexity leading to their occurrence. Aims: In order to shed light on the occurrence of recurrent flares and subsequent associated CMEs, we studied the active region NOAA 11283 where recurrent M and X GOES-class flares and CMEs occurred. Methods: We use vector magnetograms taken by HMI/SDO to calculate the horizontal velocity fields of the photospheric magnetic structures, the shear and the dip angles of the magnetic field, the magnetic helicity flux distribution, and the Poynting fluxes across the photosphere due to the emergence and the shearing of the magnetic field. Results: Although we do not observe consistent emerging magnetic flux through the photosphere during the observation time interval, we detected a monotonic increase of the magnetic helicity accumulated in the corona. We found that both the shear and the dip angles have high values along the main polarity inversion line (PIL) before and after all the events. We also note that before the main flare of X2.1 GOES class, the shearing motions seem to inject a more significant energy than the energy injected by the emergence of the magnetic field. Conclusions: We conclude that the very long duration (about 4 days) of the horizontal displacement of the main photospheric magnetic structures along the PIL has a primary role in the energy release during the recurrent flares. This peculiar horizontal velocity field also contributes to the monotonic injection of magnetic helicity into the corona. This process, coupled with the high shear and dip angles along the main PIL, appears to be responsible for the consecutive events of loss of equilibrium leading to the recurrent flares and CMEs. A movie associated to Fig. 4 is available in electronic form at http://www.aanda.org

“Orphan” γ-Ray Flares and Stationary Sheaths of Blazar Jets

Science.gov (United States)

MacDonald, Nicholas R.; Jorstad, Svetlana G.; Marscher, Alan P.

2017-11-01

Blazars exhibit flares across the entire electromagnetic spectrum. Many γ-ray flares are highly correlated with flares detected at longer wavelengths; however, a small subset appears to occur in isolation, with little or no correlated variability at longer wavelengths. These “orphan” γ-ray flares challenge current models of blazar variability, most of which are unable to reproduce this type of behavior. MacDonald et al. have developed the Ring of Fire model to explain the origin of orphan γ-ray flares from within blazar jets. In this model, electrons contained within a blob of plasma moving relativistically along the spine of the jet inverse-Compton scatter synchrotron photons emanating off of a ring of shocked sheath plasma that enshrouds the jet spine. As the blob propagates through the ring, the scattering of the ring photons by the blob electrons creates an orphan γ-ray flare. This model was successfully applied to modeling a prominent orphan γ-ray flare observed in the blazar PKS 1510-089. To further support the plausibility of this model, MacDonald et al. presented a stacked radio map of PKS 1510-089 containing the polarimetric signature of a sheath of plasma surrounding the spine of the jet. In this paper, we extend our modeling and stacking techniques to a larger sample of blazars: 3C 273, 4C 71.01, 3C 279, 1055+018, CTA 102, and 3C 345, the majority of which have exhibited orphan γ-ray flares. We find that the model can successfully reproduce these flares, while our stacked maps reveal the existence of jet sheaths within these blazars.

The Solar Flare: A Strongly Turbulent Particle Accelerator

Science.gov (United States)

Vlahos, L.; Krucker, S.; Cargill, P.

The topics of explosive magnetic energy release on a large scale (a solar flare) and particle acceleration during such an event are rarely discussed together in the same article. Many discussions of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) mod- eling of solar flares and/or CMEs have appeared (see [143] and references therein) and usually address large-scale destabilization of the coronal mag- netic field. Particle acceleration in solar flares has also been discussed exten- sively [74, 164, 116, 166, 87, 168, 95, 122, 35] with the main emphasis being on the actual mechanisms for acceleration (e.g., shocks, turbulence, DC electric fields) rather than the global magnetic context in which the acceleration takes place.

Impulsiveness and energetics in solar flares with and without type II radio bursts - A comparison of hard X-ray characteristics for over 2500 solar flares

Science.gov (United States)

Pearson, Douglas H.; Nelson, Robert; Kojoian, Gabriel; Seal, James

1989-01-01

The hard X-ray characteristics of more than 2500 solar flares are used to study the relative size, impulsiveness, and energetics of flares with and without type II radio bursts. A quantitative definition of the hard X-ray impulsiveness is introduced, which may be applied to a large number of events unambiguously. It is found that the flares with type II bursts are generally not significantly larger, more impulsive, or more energetic than those without type II bursts. Also, no evidence is found to suggest a simple classification of the flares as either 'impulsive' or 'gradual'. Because type II bursts are present even in small flares with relatively unimpulsive energy releases, it is concluded that changes in the ambient conditions of the solar atmosphere causing an unusually low Alfven speed may be important in the generation of the shock wave that produces type II radio bursts.

Slipping magnetic reconnection during an X-class solar flare observed by SDO/AIA

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dudík, J.; Del Zanna, G.; Mason, H. E. [DAMTP, CMS, University of Cambridge, Wilberforce Road, Cambridge CB3 0WA (United Kingdom); Janvier, M. [Department of Mathematics, University of Dundee, Dundee DD1 4HN (United Kingdom); Aulanier, G.; Schmieder, B. [LESIA, Observatoire de Paris, UMR 8109 (CNRS), F-92195 Meudon Principal Cedex (France); Karlický, M., E-mail: J.Dudik@damtp.cam.ac.uk, E-mail: mjanvier@maths.dundee.ac.uk [Astronomical Institute of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Fričova 298, 251 65 Ondřejov (Czech Republic)

2014-04-01

We present SDO/AIA observations of an eruptive X-class flare of 2012 July 12, and compare its evolution with the predictions of a three-dimensional (3D) numerical simulation. We focus on the dynamics of flare loops that are seen to undergo slipping reconnection during the flare. In the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) 131 Å observations, lower parts of 10 MK flare loops exhibit an apparent motion with velocities of several tens of km s{sup –1} along the developing flare ribbons. In the early stages of the flare, flare ribbons consist of compact, localized bright transition-region emission from the footpoints of the flare loops. A differential emission measure analysis shows that the flare loops have temperatures up to the formation of Fe XXIV. A series of very long, S-shaped loops erupt, leading to a coronal mass ejection observed by STEREO. The observed dynamics are compared with the evolution of magnetic structures in the 'standard solar flare model in 3D.' This model matches the observations well, reproducing the apparently slipping flare loops, S-shaped erupting loops, and the evolution of flare ribbons. All of these processes are explained via 3D reconnection mechanisms resulting from the expansion of a torus-unstable flux rope. The AIA observations and the numerical model are complemented by radio observations showing a noise storm in the metric range. Dm-drifting pulsation structures occurring during the eruption indicate plasmoid ejection and enhancement of the reconnection rate. The bursty nature of radio emission shows that the slipping reconnection is still intermittent, although it is observed to persist for more than an hour.

On the Importance of the Flare's Late Phase for the Solar Extreme Ultraviolet Irradiance

Science.gov (United States)

Woods, Thomas N.; Eparvier, Frank; Jones, Andrew R.; Hock, Rachel; Chamberlin, Phillip C.; Klimchuk, James A.; Didkovsky, Leonid; Judge, Darrell; Mariska, John; Bailey, Scott;

Stellar structure and evolution

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kippernhahn, R.; Weigert, A.

1990-01-01

This book introduces the theory of the internal structure of stars and their evolution in time. It presents the basic physics of stellar interiors, methods for solving the underlying equations, and the most important results necessary for understanding the wide variety of stellar types and phenomena. The evolution of stars is discussed from their birth through normal evolution to possibly spectacular final stages. Chapters on stellar oscillations and rotation are included

Common SphinX and RHESSI observations of solar flares

Science.gov (United States)

Mrozek, T.; Gburek, S.; Siarkowski, M.; Sylwester, B.; Sylwester, J.; Gryciuk, M.

The Polish X-ray spectrofotometer SphinX has observed a great number of solar flares in the year 2009 - during the most quiet solar minimum almost over the last 100 years. Hundreds of flares have been recorded due to excellent sensitivity of SphinX's detectors. The Si-PIN diodes are about 100 times more sensitive to X-rays than GOES X-ray Monitors. SphinX detectors were absolutely calibrated on Earth with a use of the BESSY synchrotron. In space observations were made in the range 1.2-15~keV with 480~eV energy resolution. SphinX data overlap with the low-energy end of the Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI) data. RHESSI detectors are quite old (7 years in 2009), but still sensitive enough to provide us with observations of extremely weak solar flares such as those which occurred in 2009. We have selected a group of flares simultaneously observed by RHESSI and SphinX and performed a spectroscopic analysis of the data. Moreover, we compared the physical parameters of these flares plasma. Preliminary results of the comparison show very good agreement between both instruments.

Near-Field Cosmology with Resolved Stellar Populations Around Local Volume LMC Stellar-Mass Galaxies

Science.gov (United States)

Carlin, Jeffrey L.; Sand, David J.; Willman, Beth; Brodie, Jean P.; Crnojevic, Denija; Forbes, Duncan; Hargis, Jonathan R.; Peter, Annika; Pucha, Ragadeepika; Romanowsky, Aaron J.; Spekkens, Kristine; Strader, Jay

2018-06-01

We discuss our ongoing observational program to comprehensively map the entire virial volumes of roughly LMC stellar mass galaxies at distances of ~2-4 Mpc. The MADCASH (Magellanic Analog Dwarf Companions And Stellar Halos) survey will deliver the first census of the dwarf satellite populations and stellar halo properties within LMC-like environments in the Local Volume. Our results will inform our understanding of the recent DES discoveries of dwarf satellites tentatively affiliated with the LMC/SMC system. This program has already yielded the discovery of the faintest known dwarf galaxy satellite of an LMC stellar-mass host beyond the Local Group, based on deep Subaru+HyperSuprimeCam imaging reaching ~2 magnitudes below its TRGB, and at least two additional candidate satellites. We will summarize the survey results and status to date, highlighting some challenges encountered and lessons learned as we process the data for this program through a prototype LSST pipeline. Our program will examine whether LMC stellar mass dwarfs have extended stellar halos, allowing us to assess the relative contributions of in-situ stars vs. merger debris to their stellar populations and halo density profiles. We outline the constraints on galaxy formation models that will be provided by our observations of low-mass galaxy halos and their satellites.

A search for X-rays from UV Ceti flare stars

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Crannell, C.J.; Spangler, S.R.

1975-01-01

A search of the MIT/OSO-7 data has been made for evidence of X-ray emission from flares of UV Ceti flare stars. Observations from McDonald Observatory have been used to identify the times of optical flares. The only instance of coincident coverage occurred on 1974 January 21 UT at 03:43:26 GMT for a Δm = 0.86 flare of YZ CMi. No radio coverage of this particular event was obtained. Upper limits of 0.8, 1.0, and 0.7 photons/cm 2 s on the observed X-ray flux have been set for the energy ranges >= 15, >= 3, and 1-10 keV, respectively. (orig.) [de

Incidence and factors related to flare-ups in a graduate endodontic programme.

Science.gov (United States)

Iqbal, M; Kurtz, E; Kohli, M

2009-02-01

To investigate the incidence and factors related to endodontic flare-ups in nonsurgical root canal treatment (NSRCT) cases completed by graduate endodontic residents at University of Pennsylvania, USA. Residents at University of Pennsylvania enter all clinical patient records into an electronic database called PennEndo database. Analysis of records of 6580 patients treated from September 2000 to July 2005 revealed a total of 26 patients with flare-ups (0.39%). Patients were categorized to have undergone flare-up when they attended for an unscheduled visit and active treatment, and when they suffered from severe pain and or swelling after initiation or continuation of NSRCT. SAS software was used to develop a logistic regression model with flare-up as a dependent variable. Independent variables included in the model were: history of previous pain, one vs. two visit NSRCT, periapical diagnosis, tooth type, rotary versus hand instrumentation, and lateral versus vertical compaction of gutta-percha. The odds for developing a flare-up in teeth with a periapical radiolucency were 9.64 times greater than teeth without a periapical radiolucency (P = 0.0090). There was no statistically significant difference in flare-ups between one and two visits NSRCT. The odds of developing a flare-up increased 40 fold when NSRCT was completed in three or more visits. However, this result may have been confounded by addition of an unscheduled visit in patients suffering from flare-ups. Other independent variables did not have any statistically significant correlations. A low percentage of patients experienced flare-ups during NSRCT procedures. The presence of a periapical lesion was the single most important predictor of flare-ups during NSRCT.

Direct numerical simulation of hypersonic boundary-layer flow on a flared cone

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pruett, C.D. [James Madison Univ., Harrisonburg, VA (United States). Dept. of Math. and Comput. Sci.; Chang Chau-Lyan [High Technology Corporation, Hampton, VA 23666 (United States)

1998-03-01

The forced transition of the boundary layer on an axisymmetric flared cone in Mach 6 flow is simulated by the method of spatial direct numerical simulation (DNS). The full effects of the flared afterbody are incorporated into the governing equations and boundary conditions; these effects include nonzero streamwise surface curvature, adverse streamwise pressure gradient, and decreasing boundary-layer edge Mach number. Transition is precipitated by periodic forcing at the computational inflow boundary with perturbations derived from parabolized stability equation (PSE) methodology and based, in part, on frequency spectra available from physical experiments. Significant qualitative differences are shown to exist between the present results and those obtained previously for a cone without afterbody flare. In both cases, the primary instability is of second-mode type; however, frequencies are much higher for the flared cone because of the decrease in boundary-layer thickness in the flared region. Moreover, Goertler modes, which are linearly stable for the straight cone, are unstable in regions of concave body flare. Reynolds stresses, which peak near the critical layer for the straight cone, exhibit peaks close to the wall for the flared cone. The cumulative effect appears to be that transition onset is shifted upstream for the flared cone. However, the length of the transition zone may possibly be greater because of the seemingly more gradual nature of the transition process on the flared cone. (orig.) With 20 figs., 28 refs.

Very low luminosity stars with very large amplitude flares

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schaefer, B.E.

1990-01-01

CCD frames of CZ Cnc, KY Cep, the gamma-ray burster optical transient, and NSV 12006 are analyzed. Also studied are 549 archival photographic plates of the CZ Cnc field. These observations are compared with the data of Lovas (1976). Flare events on CZ Cnc are examined. Based on the data it is noted that CZ Cnc is a main-sequence star, has a magnitude of 16.1, a distance of 100 pc, occasional large-amplitude flares, and frequent flares with amplitudes greater than 4 mag. 36 refs

Wavelength Dependence of Solar Flare Irradiation and its Influence on the Thermosphere

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Yanshi; Richmond, Arthur D.; Deng, Yue; Qian, L.; Solomon, S.; Chamberlin, P.

2012-01-01

The wavelength dependence of solar flare enhancement is one of the important factors determining how the Thermosphere-Ionosphere (T-I) system response to flares. To investigate the wavelength dependence of solar flare, the Flare Irradiance Spectral Model (FISM) has been run for 34 X-class flares. The results show that the percentage increases of solar irradiance at flare peak comparing to pre-flare condition have a clear wavelength dependence. In the wavelength range between 0 - 195 nm, it can vary from 1% to 10000%. The solar irradiance enhancement is largest ( 1000%) in the XUV range (0 - 25 nm), and is about 100% in EUV range (25 - 120 nm). The influence of different wavebands on the T-I system during the October 28th, 2003 flare (X17.2-class) has also been examined using the latest version of National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) Thermosphere- Ionosphere-Electrodynamics General Circulation Model (TIE-GCM). While the globally integrated solar energy deposition is largest in the 0 - 14 nm waveband, the impact of solar irradiance enhancement on the thermosphere at 400 km is largest for 25 - 105 nm waveband. The effect of 122 - 195 nm is small in magnitude, but it decays slowly.

THE CONFINED X-CLASS FLARES OF SOLAR ACTIVE REGION 2192

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Thalmann, J. K.; Su, Y.; Temmer, M.; Veronig, A. M., E-mail: julia.thalmann@uni-graz.at [Institute of Physics/IGAM, University of Graz, Universitätsplatz 5/II, 8010 Graz (Austria)

2015-03-10

The unusually large active region (AR) NOAA 2192, observed in 2014 October, was outstanding in its productivity of major two-ribbon flares without coronal mass ejections. On a large scale, a predominantly north–south oriented magnetic system of arcade fields served as a strong top and lateral confinement for a series of large two-ribbon flares originating from the core of the AR. The large initial separation of the flare ribbons, together with an almost absent growth in ribbon separation, suggests a confined reconnection site high up in the corona. Based on a detailed analysis of the confined X1.6 flare on October 22, we show how exceptional the flaring of this AR was. We provide evidence for repeated energy release, indicating that the same magnetic field structures were repeatedly involved in magnetic reconnection. We find that a large number of electrons was accelerated to non-thermal energies, revealing a steep power-law spectrum, but that only a small fraction was accelerated to high energies. The total non-thermal energy in electrons derived (on the order of 10{sup 25} J) is considerably higher than that in eruptive flares of class X1, and corresponds to about 10% of the excess magnetic energy present in the active-region corona.

Impulsive phase of solar flares: theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mackinnon, A.L.

1986-01-01

The paper reviews the theoretical interpretation of impulsive phase phenomena in solar flares. The impulsive phase is defined to be that period of approx. 10 - 100s duration, during which the flare radiative output undergoes its most rapid, dramatic increase and decrease. The interpretation of the various impulsive phase radiation signatures are examined, including the i) hard x-ray emission, ii) radio emission, iii) UV, Hα and white light emissions and iv) gamma-ray emission. The acceleration mechanisms are discussed with respect to candidate acceleration mechanisms, and the synthesis of the theory and observations. (UK)

Double-helix stellarator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Moroz, P.E.

1997-09-01

A new stellarator configuration, the Double-Helix Stellarator (DHS), is introduced. This novel configuration features a double-helix center post as the only helical element of the stellarator coil system. The DHS configuration has many unique characteristics. One of them is the extreme low plasma aspect ratio, A ∼ 1--1.2. Other advantages include a high enclosed volume, appreciable rotational transform, and a possibility of extreme-high-β MHD equilibria. Moreover, the DHS features improved transport characteristics caused by the absence of the magnetic field ripple on the outboard of the torus. Compactness, simplicity and modularity of the coil system add to the DHS advantages for fusion applications

Current Fragmentation and Particle Acceleration in Solar Flares

Science.gov (United States)

Cargill, P. J.; Vlahos, L.; Baumann, G.; Drake, J. F.; Nordlund, Å.

2012-11-01

Particle acceleration in solar flares remains an outstanding problem in plasma physics and space science. While the observed particle energies and timescales can perhaps be understood in terms of acceleration at a simple current sheet or turbulence site, the vast number of accelerated particles, and the fraction of flare energy in them, defies any simple explanation. The nature of energy storage and dissipation in the global coronal magnetic field is essential for understanding flare acceleration. Scenarios where the coronal field is stressed by complex photospheric motions lead to the formation of multiple current sheets, rather than the single monolithic current sheet proposed by some. The currents sheets in turn can fragment into multiple, smaller dissipation sites. MHD, kinetic and cellular automata models are used to demonstrate this feature. Particle acceleration in this environment thus involves interaction with many distributed accelerators. A series of examples demonstrate how acceleration works in such an environment. As required, acceleration is fast, and relativistic energies are readily attained. It is also shown that accelerated particles do indeed interact with multiple acceleration sites. Test particle models also demonstrate that a large number of particles can be accelerated, with a significant fraction of the flare energy associated with them. However, in the absence of feedback, and with limited numerical resolution, these results need to be viewed with caution. Particle in cell models can incorporate feedback and in one scenario suggest that acceleration can be limited by the energetic particles reaching the condition for firehose marginal stability. Contemporary issues such as footpoint particle acceleration are also discussed. It is also noted that the idea of a "standard flare model" is ill-conceived when the entire distribution of flare energies is considered.

A global gas flaring black carbon emission rate dataset from 1994 to 2012

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Kan; Fu, Joshua S.

2016-11-01

Global flaring of associated petroleum gas is a potential emission source of particulate matters (PM) and could be notable in some specific regions that are in urgent need of mitigation. PM emitted from gas flaring is mainly in the form of black carbon (BC), which is a strong short-lived climate forcer. However, BC from gas flaring has been neglected in most global/regional emission inventories and is rarely considered in climate modeling. Here we present a global gas flaring BC emission rate dataset for the period 1994-2012 in a machine-readable format. We develop a region-dependent gas flaring BC emission factor database based on the chemical compositions of associated petroleum gas at various oil fields. Gas flaring BC emission rates are estimated using this emission factor database and flaring volumes retrieved from satellite imagery. Evaluation using a chemical transport model suggests that consideration of gas flaring emissions can improve model performance. This dataset will benefit and inform a broad range of research topics, e.g., carbon budget, air quality/climate modeling, and environmental/human exposure.

Solar Features - Solar Flares

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — A solar flare is a short-lived sudden increase in the intensity of radiation emitted in the neighborhood of sunspots. For many years it was best monitored in the...

High-energy particles associated with solar flares

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sakurai, K.; Klimas, A.J.

1974-05-01

High energy particles, the so-called solar cosmic rays, are often generated in association with solar flares, and then emitted into interplanetary space. These particles, consisting of electrons, protons, and other heavier nuclei, including the iron-group, are accelerated in the vicinity of the flare. By studying the temporal and spatial variation of these particles near the earth's orbit, their storage and release mechanisms in the solar corona and their propagation mechanism can be understood. The details of the nuclear composition and the rigidity spectrum for each nuclear component of the solar cosmic rays are important for investigating the acceleration mechanism in solar flares. The timing and efficiency of the acceleration process can also be investigated by using this information. These problems are described in some detail by using observational results on solar cosmic rays and associated phenomena. (U.S.)

Giant Radio Flare of Cygnus X-3 in September 2016

Science.gov (United States)

Trushkin, S. A.; Nizhelskij, N. A.; Tsybulev, P. G.; Zhekanis, G. V.

2017-06-01

In the long-term multi-frequency monitoring program of the microquasars with RATAN-600 we discovered the giant flare from X-ray binary Cyg X-3 on 13 September 2016. It happened after 2000 days of the 'quiescent state' of the source passed after the former giant flare (˜18 Jy) in March 2011. We have found that during this quiet period the hard X-ray flux (Swift/BAT, 15-50 keV) and radio flux (RATAN-600, 11 GHz) have been strongly anti-correlated. Both radio flares occurred after transitions of the microquasar to a 'hypersoft' X-ray state that occurred in February 2011 and in the end of August 2016. The giant flare was predicted by us in the first ATel (Trushkin et al. (2016)). Indeed after dramatic decrease of the hard X-ray Swift 15-50 keV flux and RATAN 4- 11 GHz fluxes (a 'quenched state') a small flare (0.7 Jy at 4-11 GHz) developed on MJD 57632 and then on MJD 57644.5 almost simultaneously with X-rays radio flux rose from 0.01 to 15 Jy at 4.6 GHz during few days. The rise of the flaring flux is well fitted by a exponential law that could be a initial phase of the relativistic electrons generation by internal shock waves in the jets. Initially spectra were optically thick at frequencies lower 2 GHz and optically thin at frequencies higher 8 GHz with typical spectral index about -0.5. After maximum of the flare radio fluxes at all frequencies faded out with exponential law.

CASA : oil and gas industry perspective : flaring : case study of success

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pryce, D.

2002-01-01

A brief overview of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP) and its mission is provided at the beginning of this presentation. The importance of flaring is explained, as it represents a safety precaution in the event of an emergency or process upset. It is also an important part of operations, and is valuable in well test evaluations for gathering information as part of the facility design process. Some of the major issues associated with flaring are reviewed, namely flare performance; concerns related to health risks, odour, visibility, greenhouse gases, resource conservation; the position of the Energy and Utilities Board (EUB), and the need of the industry for regulatory certainty. The Clean Air Strategic Alliance (CASA) was commissioned by the CAPP to examine the issue of flaring in November 1996 as part of the CASA flaring project team. The key recommendations of the CASA flaring team project were submitted in 1998 and included: focus on solution gas at oil batteries, the establishment of a new management framework. The author presents the Alberta provincial policy objective with regard to flaring. The best management practices decision tree is explained, along with management tools, which were incorporated in a new guide for flaring issued in July 1999 by the Alberta Energy and Utilities Board. The reduction targets are reviewed, and the author explains the rationale for the industry support of the recommendations. The progress to date is reviewed, and the next steps in the ongoing process are described, such as the formal progress review currently underway

Fermi -LAT Observations of High-energy Behind-the-limb Solar Flares

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ackermann, M.; Buehler, R. [Deutsches Elektronen Synchrotron DESY, D-15738 Zeuthen (Germany); Allafort, A.; Bottacini, E.; Cameron, R. A.; Charles, E. [W. W. Hansen Experimental Physics Laboratory, Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology, Department of Physics and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305 (United States); Baldini, L. [Università di Pisa and Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Pisa I-56127 Pisa (Italy); Barbiellini, G. [Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Trieste, I-34127 Trieste (Italy); Bastieri, D. [Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Padova, I-35131 Padova (Italy); Bellazzini, R. [Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Pisa, I-56127 Pisa (Italy); Bissaldi, E.; Caragiulo, M.; Costanza, F. [Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Bari, I-70126 Bari (Italy); Bonino, R. [Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Torino, I-10125 Torino (Italy); Bregeon, J. [Laboratoire Univers et Particules de Montpellier, Université Montpellier, CNRS/IN2P3, F-34095 Montpellier (France); Bruel, P. [Laboratoire Leprince-Ringuet, École polytechnique, CNRS/IN2P3, F-91128 Palaiseau (France); Caraveo, P. A. [INAF-Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale e Fisica Cosmica Milano, via E. Bassini 15, I-20133 Milano (Italy); Cavazzuti, E.; Ciprini, S. [Agenzia Spaziale Italiana (ASI) Science Data Center, I-00133 Roma (Italy); Cecchi, C., E-mail: nicola.omodei@stanford.edu, E-mail: vahep@stanford.edu, E-mail: melissa.pesce.rollins@pi.infn.it [Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Perugia, I-06123 Perugia (Italy); and others

2017-02-01

We report on the Fermi -LAT detection of high-energy emission from the behind-the-limb (BTL) solar flares that occurred on 2013 October 11, and 2014 January 6 and September 1. The Fermi -LAT observations are associated with flares from active regions originating behind both the eastern and western limbs, as determined by STEREO . All three flares are associated with very fast coronal mass ejections (CMEs) and strong solar energetic particle events. We present updated localizations of the >100 MeV photon emission, hard X-ray (HXR) and EUV images, and broadband spectra from 10 keV to 10 GeV, as well as microwave spectra. We also provide a comparison of the BTL flares detected by Fermi -LAT with three on-disk flares and present a study of some of the significant quantities of these flares as an attempt to better understand the acceleration mechanisms at work during these occulted flares. We interpret the HXR emission to be due to electron bremsstrahlung from a coronal thin-target loop top with the accelerated electron spectra steepening at semirelativistic energies. The >100 MeV gamma-rays are best described by a pion-decay model resulting from the interaction of protons (and other ions) in a thick-target photospheric source. The protons are believed to have been accelerated (to energies >10 GeV) in the CME environment and precipitate down to the photosphere from the downstream side of the CME shock and landed on the front side of the Sun, away from the original flare site and the HXR emission.

The Magellanic Analog Dwarf Companions and Stellar Halos (MADCASH) Survey: Near-Field Cosmology with Resolved Stellar Populations Around Local Volume LMC Stellar-Mass Galaxies

Science.gov (United States)

Carlin, Jeffrey L.; Sand, David J.; Willman, Beth; Brodie, Jean P.; Crnojevic, Denija; Peter, Annika; Price, Paul A.; Romanowsky, Aaron J.; Spekkens, Kristine; Strader, Jay

2017-01-01

We discuss the first results of our observational program to comprehensively map nearly the entire virial volumes of roughly LMC stellar mass galaxies at distances of ~2-4 Mpc. The MADCASH (Magellanic Analog Dwarf Companions And Stellar Halos) survey will deliver the first census of the dwarf satellite populations and stellar halo properties within LMC-like environments in the Local Volume. These will inform our understanding of the recent DES discoveries of dwarf satellites tentatively affiliated with the LMC/SMC system. We will detail our discovery of the faintest known dwarf galaxy satellite of an LMC stellar-mass host beyond the Local Group, based on deep Subaru+HyperSuprimeCam imaging reaching ~2 magnitudes below its TRGB. We will summarize the survey results and status to date, highlighting some challenges encountered and lessons learned as we process the data for this program through a prototype LSST pipeline. Our program will examine whether LMC stellar mass dwarfs have extended stellar halos, allowing us to assess the relative contributions of in-situ stars vs. merger debris to their stellar populations and halo density profiles. We outline the constraints on galaxy formation models that will be provided by our observations of low-mass galaxy halos and their satellites.

Clearing the air: Alberta a model of success in decreasing venting, flaring

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Harrison, L.

2004-01-01

An historical review of flaring and venting in the Alberta oilfields is presented. The story begins with gas production in the Turner Valley, Alberta in 1931, Western Canada's first, largest and most productive source of oil and naphtha until the discovery of Leduc in 1947. Gas production at Turner Valley reached 500 mmcf per day, of which about 486 mmcf was flared. Through the efforts of the Alberta Energy and Utilities Board (EUB) and its predecessors venting and flaring was drastically cut, to the point where in 2003 the World Bank Group, an agency of the United Nations, approached the EUB to present the Alberta flaring and venting reduction model to developing countries. Accordingly, a Flaring Workshop was held at Calgary in October 2003, attended by delegates from Algeria, Angola, Cameroon, Indonesia and Nigeria. The article also details the EUB's requirements for upstream flaring in Alberta, as laid down in 'Guide 60'. The draft Guide was released in January 2003, the final draft is targeted for February 2004. In brief, the Guide requires operators, by means of a 'decision tree analysis' method which is described in the Guide, to evaluate whether it is possible to reduce or eliminate flaring and venting; it also requires operators to evaluate economic feasibility, and to determine the feasibility of conserving as much gas as possible. New developments in the field of sensors, controls and optical flow meters are also reviewed. An appended statistical summary of gas flaring trends in selected countries, compiled by the World Bank in 2000 shows Nigeria, Iran, Russia, Algeria and Mexico as the countries with the highest volumes of flaring. To give an indication of the volume of gas wasted through flaring, it is reliably estimated that the amount of gas flared in 2000 by African countries alone, could have fuelled power plants to generate sufficient electric power to meet fully half of the continent's needs for electric power. 1 tab., 2 figs

Far-ultraviolet and visible observations of flares on dMe stars

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bromage, G.E.; Patchett, B.E.; Phillips, K.J.H.

1983-01-01

Four large flare events - one on each of the dMe stars UV Cet, AT Mic, EV Lac and EQ Peg - have been witnessed during a total of 17 1/2 hours of far-UV (lambdalambda1150-1950) IUE exposures. Some observational characteristics of these four events are compared. Two showed strong enhancements of chromospheric and transition-region line strengths. The other two did not, even though their visible flares were intense (ΔU approx. 2 mag.). The brightest UV flare spectrum (EQ Peg) is contrasted with that of the largest solar flare seen from 'Skylab'. (Auth.)

Radiative hazard of solar flares in the nearterrestrial cosmic space

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kolomenskij, A.V.; Petrov, V.M.; Zil', M.V.; Eremkina, T.M.

1978-01-01

Simulation of radiation enviroment due to solar cosmic rays was carried out in the near-terrestrial space. Systematized are the data on cosmic ray flux and spectra detected during 19-th and 20-th cycles of solar activity. 127 flares are considered with proton fluxes of more than 10 proton/cm 2 at energies higher than 30 MeV. Obtained are distribution functions of intervals between flares, flux distribution of flares and characteristic rigidity, and also distribution of magnetic disturbances over Dsub(st)-variation amplitude. The totality of these distributions presents the statistic model of radiation enviroment caused by solar flare protons for the period of maximum solar .activity. This model is intended for estimation of radiation hazard at manned cosmic flights

HOOKED FLARE RIBBONS AND FLUX-ROPE-RELATED QSL FOOTPRINTS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhao, Jie; Li, Hui [Key Laboratory of Dark Matter and Space Astronomy, Purple Mountain Observatory, CAS, Nanjing 210008 (China); Gilchrist, Stuart A.; Aulanier, Guillaume; Schmieder, Brigitte; Pariat, Etienne, E-mail: nj.lihui@pmo.ac.cn [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)

2016-05-20

We studied the magnetic topology of active region 12158 on 2014 September 10 and compared it with the observations before and early in the flare that begins at 17:21 UT (SOL2014-09-10T17:45:00). Our results show that the sigmoidal structure and flare ribbons of this active region observed by the Solar Dynamics Observatory /Atmospheric Imaging Assembly can be well reproduced from a Grad–Rubin nonlinear force-free field extrapolation method. Various inverse-S- and inverse-J-shaped magnetic field lines, which surround a coronal flux rope, coincide with the sigmoid as observed in different extreme-ultraviolet wavelengths, including its multithreaded curved ends. Also, the observed distribution of surface currents in the magnetic polarity where it was not prescribed is well reproduced. This validates our numerical implementation and setup of the Grad–Rubin method. The modeled double inverse-J-shaped quasi-separatrix layer (QSL) footprints match the observed flare ribbons during the rising phase of the flare, including their hooked parts. The spiral-like shape of the latter may be related to a complex pre-eruptive flux rope with more than one turn of twist, as obtained in the model. These ribbon-associated flux-rope QSL footprints are consistent with the new standard flare model in 3D, with the presence of a hyperbolic flux tube located below an inverse-teardrop-shaped coronal QSL. This is a new step forward forecasting the locations of reconnection and ribbons in solar flares and the geometrical properties of eruptive flux ropes.

HOOKED FLARE RIBBONS AND FLUX-ROPE-RELATED QSL FOOTPRINTS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhao, Jie; Li, Hui; Gilchrist, Stuart A.; Aulanier, Guillaume; Schmieder, Brigitte; Pariat, Etienne

2016-01-01

We studied the magnetic topology of active region 12158 on 2014 September 10 and compared it with the observations before and early in the flare that begins at 17:21 UT (SOL2014-09-10T17:45:00). Our results show that the sigmoidal structure and flare ribbons of this active region observed by the Solar Dynamics Observatory /Atmospheric Imaging Assembly can be well reproduced from a Grad–Rubin nonlinear force-free field extrapolation method. Various inverse-S- and inverse-J-shaped magnetic field lines, which surround a coronal flux rope, coincide with the sigmoid as observed in different extreme-ultraviolet wavelengths, including its multithreaded curved ends. Also, the observed distribution of surface currents in the magnetic polarity where it was not prescribed is well reproduced. This validates our numerical implementation and setup of the Grad–Rubin method. The modeled double inverse-J-shaped quasi-separatrix layer (QSL) footprints match the observed flare ribbons during the rising phase of the flare, including their hooked parts. The spiral-like shape of the latter may be related to a complex pre-eruptive flux rope with more than one turn of twist, as obtained in the model. These ribbon-associated flux-rope QSL footprints are consistent with the new standard flare model in 3D, with the presence of a hyperbolic flux tube located below an inverse-teardrop-shaped coronal QSL. This is a new step forward forecasting the locations of reconnection and ribbons in solar flares and the geometrical properties of eruptive flux ropes.

Giant Rapid X-ray Flares in Extragalactic Globular Clusters

Science.gov (United States)

Irwin, Jimmy

2018-01-01

There is only one known class of non-destructive, highly energetic astrophysical object in the Universe whose energy emission varies by more than a factor of 100 on time scales of less than a minute -- soft gamma repeaters/anomalous X-ray pulsars, whose flares are believed to be caused by the energy release from the cracking of a neutron star's surface by very strong magnetic fields. All other known violent, rapid explosions, including gamma-ray bursts and supernovae, are believed to destroy the object in the process. Here, we report the discovery of a second class of non-destructive, highly energetic rapidly flaring X-ray object located within two nearby galaxies with fundamentally different properties than soft gamma repeaters/anomalous X-ray pulsars. One source is located within a suspected globular cluster of the host galaxy and flared one time, while the other source is located in either a globular cluster of the host galaxy or the core of a stripped dwarf companion galaxy that flared on six occasions over a seven year time span. When not flaring, the sources appear as normal accreting neutron star or black hole X-ray binaries, indicating that the flare event does not significantly disrupt the host system. While the nature of these sources is still unclear, the discovery of these sources in decade-old archival Chandra X-ray Observatory data illustrates the under-utilization of X-ray timing as a means to discover new classes of explosive events in the Universe.

The energetic relationship among geoeffective solar flares, associated CMEs and SEPs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bhatt Nipa J; Jain Rajmal; Awasthi Arun Kumar

2013-01-01

Major solar eruptions (flares, coronal mass ejections (CMEs) and solar energetic particles (SEPs)) strongly influence geospace and space weather. Currently, the mechanism of their influence on space weather is not well understood and requires a detailed study of the energetic relationship among these eruptive phenomena. From this perspective, we investigate 30 flares (observed by RHESSI), followed by weak to strong geomagnetic storms. Spectral analysis of these flares suggests a new power-law relationship (r ∼ 0.79) between the hard X-ray (HXR) spectral index (before flare-peak) and linear speed of the associated CME observed by LASCO/SOHO. For 12 flares which were followed by SEP enhancement near Earth, HXR and SEP spectral analysis reveals a new scaling law (r ∼ 0.9) between the hardest X-ray flare spectrum and the hardest SEP spectrum. Furthermore, a strong correlation is obtained between the linear speed of the CME and the hardest spectrum of the corresponding SEP event (r ∼ 0.96). We propose that the potentially geoeffective flare and associated CME and SEP are well-connected through a possible feedback mechanism, and should be regarded within the framework of a solar eruption. Owing to their space weather effects, these new results will help improve our current understanding of the Sun-Earth relationship, which is a major goal of research programs in heliophysics

Solar Flares Observed with the Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI)

Science.gov (United States)

Holman, Gordon D.

2004-01-01

Solar flares are impressive examples of explosive energy release in unconfined, magnetized plasma. It is generally believed that the flare energy is derived from the coronal magnetic field. However, we have not been able to establish the specific energy release mechanism(s) or the relative partitioning of the released energy between heating, particle acceleration (electrons and ions), and mass motions. NASA's RHESSI Mission was designed to study the acceleration and evolution of electrons and ions in flares by observing the X-ray and gamma-ray emissions these energetic particles produce. This is accomplished through the combination of high-resolution spectroscopy and spectroscopic imaging, including the first images of flares in gamma rays. RHESSI has observed over 12,000 solar flares since its launch on February 5, 2002. I will demonstrate how we use the RHESSI spectra to deduce physical properties of accelerated electrons and hot plasma in flares. Using images to estimate volumes, w e typically find that the total energy in accelerated electrons is comparable to that in the thermal plasma. I will also present flare observations that provide strong support for the presence of magnetic reconnection in a large-scale, vertical current sheet in the solar corona. RHESSI observations such as these are allowing us to probe more deeply into the physics of solar flares.

Variations of the Hβ-emission line during a large flare on UV Ceti

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Moffett, T.J.; Evans, D.S.; Ferland, G.

1977-01-01

Simultaneous high-speed photometry and photoelectric scanner observations of the Hβ-line were obtained for five flare events, one a major flare, on UV Ceti on 1975 January 6. The relative increase in the intensity of the Hβ-line during the large flare was much greater than the relative continuum rise as measured both by the scanner and by broad-band photometric observations. In Hβ the flare lasted nearly 30 times as long as in the continuum. Peak intensity in the Hβ-line occurred later than the continuum maximum. The possibility of using emission line observations to detect flare activity on early spectral-type stars (dK - dG) is discussed. Some speculations on the mechanism of flare production are indulged. (author)

Discovery of decaHz flaring in SAX J1808.4-3658

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bult, P.

2014-01-01

We report on the discovery of strong decaHz flaring in the early decay of two out of five outbursts of the accreting millisecond X-ray pulsar SAX J1808.4-3658. The decaHz flaring switches on and, after ~3 days, off again, on a time scale of 1-2 hours. When the flaring is present, the total 0.05-10

Bright x-ray flares in gamma-ray burst afterglows.

Science.gov (United States)

Burrows, D N; Romano, P; Falcone, A; Kobayashi, S; Zhang, B; Moretti, A; O'brien, P T; Goad, M R; Campana, S; Page, K L; Angelini, L; Barthelmy, S; Beardmore, A P; Capalbi, M; Chincarini, G; Cummings, J; Cusumano, G; Fox, D; Giommi, P; Hill, J E; Kennea, J A; Krimm, H; Mangano, V; Marshall, F; Mészáros, P; Morris, D C; Nousek, J A; Osborne, J P; Pagani, C; Perri, M; Tagliaferri, G; Wells, A A; Woosley, S; Gehrels, N

2005-09-16

Gamma-ray burst (GRB) afterglows have provided important clues to the nature of these massive explosive events, providing direct information on the nearby environment and indirect information on the central engine that powers the burst. We report the discovery of two bright x-ray flares in GRB afterglows, including a giant flare comparable in total energy to the burst itself, each peaking minutes after the burst. These strong, rapid x-ray flares imply that the central engines of the bursts have long periods of activity, with strong internal shocks continuing for hundreds of seconds after the gamma-ray emission has ended.

A COLD FLARE WITH DELAYED HEATING

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fleishman, Gregory D.; Pal'shin, Valentin D.; Lysenko, Alexandra L.; Meshalkina, Natalia; Kashapova, Larisa K.; Altyntsev, Alexander T.

2016-01-01

Recently, a number of peculiar flares have been reported that demonstrate significant nonthermal particle signatures with low, if any, thermal emission, which implies a close association of the observed emission with the primary energy release/electron acceleration region. This paper presents a flare that appears “cold” at the impulsive phase, while displaying delayed heating later on. Using hard X-ray data from Konus- Wind , microwave observations by SSRT, RSTN, NoRH, and NoRP, context observations, and three-dimensional modeling, we study the energy release, particle acceleration, and transport, and the relationships between the nonthermal and thermal signatures. The flaring process is found to involve the interaction between a small loop and a big loop with the accelerated particles divided roughly equally between them. Precipitation of the electrons from the small loop produced only a weak thermal response because the loop volume was small, while the electrons trapped in the big loop lost most of their energy in the coronal part of the loop, which resulted in coronal plasma heating but no or only weak chromospheric evaporation, and thus unusually weak soft X-ray emission. The energy losses of the fast electrons in the big tenuous loop were slow, which resulted in the observed delay of the plasma heating. We determined that the impulsively accelerated electron population had a beamed angular distribution in the direction of the electric force along the magnetic field of the small loop. The accelerated particle transport in the big loop was primarily mediated by turbulent waves, which is similar to other reported cold flares.

Physics of Coupled CME and Flare Systems

Science.gov (United States)

2016-12-21

AFRL-RV-PS- AFRL-RV-PS- TR-2016-0162 TR-2016-0162 PHYSICS OF COUPLED CME AND FLARE SYSTEMS K. S. Balasubramaniam, et al. 21 December 2016 Final...30 Sep 2016 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE Physics of Coupled CME and Flare Systems 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER 5b. GRANT NUMBER 5c. PROGRAM ELEMENT NUMBER 61102F...objectives for this task were: (i) derive measureable physical properties and discernible structural circumstances in solar active regions that

Magnetic Properties of Solar Active Regions that Govern Large Solar Flares and Eruptions

Science.gov (United States)

Toriumi, Shin; Schrijver, Carolus J.; Harra, Louise; Hudson, Hugh S.; Nagashima, Kaori

2017-08-01

Strong flares and CMEs are often produced from active regions (ARs). In order to better understand the magnetic properties and evolutions of such ARs, we conducted statistical investigations on the SDO/HMI and AIA data of all flare events with GOES levels >M5.0 within 45 deg from the disk center for 6 years from May 2010 (from the beginning to the declining phase of solar cycle 24). Out of the total of 51 flares from 29 ARs, more than 80% have delta-sunspots and about 15% violate Hale’s polarity rule. We obtained several key findings including (1) the flare duration is linearly proportional to the separation of the flare ribbons (i.e., scale of reconnecting magnetic fields) and (2) CME-eruptive events have smaller sunspot areas. Depending on the magnetic properties, flaring ARs can be categorized into several groups, such as spot-spot, in which a highly-sheared polarity inversion line is formed between two large sunspots, and spot-satellite, where a newly-emerging flux next to a mature sunspot triggers a compact flare event. These results point to the possibility that magnetic structures of the ARs determine the characteristics of flares and CMEs. In the presentation, we will also show new results from the systematic flux emergence simulations of delta-sunspot formation and discuss the evolution processes of flaring ARs.

Ripple transport in helical-axis advanced stellarators - a comparison with classical stellarator/torsatrons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Beidler, C.D.; Hitchon, W.N.G.

1993-08-01

Calculations of the neoclassical transport rates due to particles trapped in the helical ripples of a stellarator's magnetic field are carried out, based on solutions of the bounce-averaged kinetic equation. These calculations employ a model for the magnetic field strength, B, which is an accurate approximation to the actual B for a wide variety of stellarator-type devices, among which are Helical-Axis Advanced Stellarators (Helias) as well as conventional stellarators and torsatrons. Comparisons are carried out in which it is shown that the Helias concept leads to significant reductions in neoclassical transport rates throughout the entire long-mean-free-path regime, with the reduction being particularly dramatic in the ν -1 regime. These findings are confirmed by numerical simulations. Further, it is shown that the behavior of deeply trapped particles in Helias can be fundamentally different from that in classical stellarator/torsatrons; as a consequence, the beneficial effects of a radial electric field on the transport make themselves felt at lower collision frequency than is usual. (orig.)

Convection and stellar oscillations

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Aarslev, Magnus Johan

2017-01-01

for asteroseismology, because of the challenges inherent in modelling turbulent convection in 1D stellar models. As a result of oversimplifying the physics near the surface, theoretical calculations systematically overestimate the oscillation frequencies. This has become known as the asteroseismic surface effect. Due...... to lacking better options, this frequency difference is typically corrected for with ad-hoc formulae. The topic of this thesis is the improvement of 1D stellar convection models and the effects this has on asteroseismic properties. The source of improvements is 3D simulations of radiation...... atmospheres to replace the outer layers of stellar models. The additional turbulent pressure and asymmetrical opacity effects in the atmosphere model, compared to convection in stellar evolution models, serve to expand the atmosphere. The enlarged acoustic cavity lowers the pulsation frequencies bringing them...

HIGH-ENERGY NEUTRINOS FROM RECENT BLAZAR FLARES

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Halzen, Francis; Kheirandish, Ali [Wisconsin IceCube Particle Astrophysics Center and Department of Physics, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706 (United States)

2016-11-01

The energy density of cosmic neutrinos measured by IceCube matches the one observed by Fermi in extragalactic photons that predominantly originate in blazars. This has inspired attempts to match Fermi sources with IceCube neutrinos. A spatial association combined with a coincidence in time with a flaring source may represent a smoking gun for the origin of the IceCube flux. In 2015 June, the Fermi Large Area Telescope observed an intense flare from blazar 3C 279 that exceeded the steady flux of the source by a factor of 40 for the duration of a day. We show that IceCube is likely to observe neutrinos, if indeed hadronic in origin, in data that are still blinded at this time. We also discuss other opportunities for coincident observations that include a recent flare from blazar 1ES 1959+650 that previously produced an intriguing coincidence with AMANDA observations.

Thermodynamic Spectrum of Solar Flares Based on SDO/EVE Observations: Techniques and First Results

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Yuming; Zhou, Zhenjun; Zhang, Jie; Liu, Kai; Liu, Rui; Shen, Chenglong; Chamberlin, Phillip C.

2016-01-01

The Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO)/EUV Variability Experiment (EVE) provides rich information on the thermodynamic processes of solar activities, particularly on solar flares. Here, we develop a method to construct thermodynamic spectrum (TDS) charts based on the EVE spectral lines. This tool could potentially be useful for extreme ultraviolet (EUV) astronomy to learn about the eruptive activities on distant astronomical objects. Through several cases, we illustrate what we can learn from the TDS charts. Furthermore, we apply the TDS method to 74 flares equal to or greater than the M5.0 class, and reach the following statistical results. First, EUV peaks are always behind the soft X-ray (SXR) peaks and stronger flares tend to have faster cooling rates. There is a power-law correlation between the peak delay times and the cooling rates, suggesting a coherent cooling process of flares from SXR to EUV emissions. Second, there are two distinct temperature drift patterns, called Type I and Type II. For Type I flares, the enhanced emission drifts from high to low temperature like a quadrilateral, whereas for Type II flares the drift pattern looks like a triangle. Statistical analysis suggests that Type II flares are more impulsive than Type I flares. Third, for late-phase flares, the peak intensity ratio of the late phase to the main phase is roughly correlated with the flare class, and the flares with a strong late phase are all confined. We believe that the re-deposition of the energy carried by a flux rope, which unsuccessfully erupts out, into thermal emissions is responsible for the strong late phase found in a confined flare. Furthermore, we show the signatures of the flare thermodynamic process in the chromosphere and transition region in the TDS charts. These results provide new clues to advance our understanding of the thermodynamic processes of solar flares and associated solar eruptions, e.g., coronal mass ejections.

THERMODYNAMIC SPECTRUM OF SOLAR FLARES BASED ON SDO/EVE OBSERVATIONS: TECHNIQUES AND FIRST RESULTS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wang, Yuming; Zhou, Zhenjun; Liu, Kai; Liu, Rui; Shen, Chenglong [CAS Key Laboratory of Geospace Environment, Department of Geophysics and Planetary Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026 (China); Zhang, Jie [School of Physics, Astronomy and Computational Sciences, George Mason University, 4400 University Drive, MSN 6A2, Fairfax, VA 22030 (United States); Chamberlin, Phillip C., E-mail: ymwang@ustc.edu.cn [Solar Physics Laboratory, Heliophysics Division, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771 (United States)

2016-03-15

The Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO)/EUV Variability Experiment (EVE) provides rich information on the thermodynamic processes of solar activities, particularly on solar flares. Here, we develop a method to construct thermodynamic spectrum (TDS) charts based on the EVE spectral lines. This tool could potentially be useful for extreme ultraviolet (EUV) astronomy to learn about the eruptive activities on distant astronomical objects. Through several cases, we illustrate what we can learn from the TDS charts. Furthermore, we apply the TDS method to 74 flares equal to or greater than the M5.0 class, and reach the following statistical results. First, EUV peaks are always behind the soft X-ray (SXR) peaks and stronger flares tend to have faster cooling rates. There is a power-law correlation between the peak delay times and the cooling rates, suggesting a coherent cooling process of flares from SXR to EUV emissions. Second, there are two distinct temperature drift patterns, called Type I and Type II. For Type I flares, the enhanced emission drifts from high to low temperature like a quadrilateral, whereas for Type II flares the drift pattern looks like a triangle. Statistical analysis suggests that Type II flares are more impulsive than Type I flares. Third, for late-phase flares, the peak intensity ratio of the late phase to the main phase is roughly correlated with the flare class, and the flares with a strong late phase are all confined. We believe that the re-deposition of the energy carried by a flux rope, which unsuccessfully erupts out, into thermal emissions is responsible for the strong late phase found in a confined flare. Furthermore, we show the signatures of the flare thermodynamic process in the chromosphere and transition region in the TDS charts. These results provide new clues to advance our understanding of the thermodynamic processes of solar flares and associated solar eruptions, e.g., coronal mass ejections.

Intralesional triamcinolone for flares of hidradenitis suppurativa (HS)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Riis, Peter Theut; Boer, Jurr; Prens, Errol P

2016-01-01

(triamcinolone acetonide 10 mg/mL) in the management of acute flares in HS. METHODS: This was a prospective case series evaluating the effect of intralesional corticosteroids for alleviation of acute flares in HS. Physician- and patient-reported outcomes were noted. RESULTS: Significant reductions in physician......-assessed erythema (median score from 2-1, P edema (median score from 2-1, P

The classification of flaring states of blazars

Science.gov (United States)

Resconi, E.; Franco, D.; Gross, A.; Costamante, L.; Flaccomio, E.

2009-08-01

Aims: The time evolution of the electromagnetic emission from blazars, in particular high-frequency peaked sources (HBLs), displays irregular activity that has not yet been understood. In this work we report a methodology capable of characterizing the time behavior of these variable objects. Methods: The maximum likelihood blocks (MLBs) is a model-independent estimator that subdivides the light curve into time blocks, whose length and amplitude are compatible with states of constant emission rate of the observed source. The MLBs yield the statistical significance in the rate variations and strongly suppresses the noise fluctuations in the light curves. We applied the MLBs for the first time on the long term X-ray light curves (RXTE/ASM) of Mkn 421, Mkn 501, 1ES 1959+650, and 1ES 2155-304, more than 10 years of observational data (1996-2007). Using the MLBs interpretation of RXTE/ASM data, the integrated time flux distribution is determined for each single source considered. We identify in these distributions the characteristic level, as well as the flaring states of the blazars. Results: All the distributions show a significant component at negative flux values, most probably caused by an uncertainty in the background subtraction and by intrinsic fluctuations of RXTE/ASM. This effect concerns in particular short time observations. To quantify the probability that the intrinsic fluctuations give rise to a false identification of a flare, we study a population of very faint sources and their integrated time-flux distribution. We determine duty cycle or fraction of time a source spent in the flaring state of the source Mkn 421, Mkn 501, 1ES 1959+650 and 1ES 2155-304. Moreover, we study the random coincidences between flares and generic sporadic events such as high-energy neutrinos or flares in other wavelengths.

MR Persei - A new rotating, spotted flare star

Science.gov (United States)

Honeycutt, R. K.; Turner, G. W.; Vesper, D. N.; Schlegel, E. M.

1992-01-01

Spectroscopy and photometry are used to show that MR Persei, an object originally classified as a dwarf nova, is in fact a flare star. The automated CCD photometry consists of sequences of exposures within a single night as well as long-term photometry over a five-month interval. One sequence shows a 30-min flare, accompanied by post-flare 'dips'. A 0.2 mag variation with a period of about one-half day is also seen in this sequence. The long-term photometry is used to refine the period to 0.45483 d, which we attribute to the rotation of a spotted star. Evidence for membership of MR Per in the young Alpha Per cluster is considered, and found to be inconclusive.

Stellarator Research Opportunities: A report of the National Stellarator Coordinating Committee

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gates, David A. [Princeton Plasma Physics Lab. (PPPL), Princeton, NJ (United States); Anderson, David [University of Wisconsin-Madison

2017-06-01

This document is the product of a stellarator community workshop, organized by the National Stellarator Coordinating Committee and referred to as Stellcon, that was held in Cambridge, Massachusetts in February 2016, hosted by MIT. The workshop was widely advertised, and was attended by 40 scientists from 12 different institutions including national labs, universities and private industry, as well as a representative from the Department of Energy. The final section of this document describes areas of community wide consensus that were developed as a result of the discussions held at that workshop. Areas where further study would be helpful to generate a consensus path forward for the US stellarator program are also discussed. The program outlined in this document is directly responsive to many of the strategic priorities of FES as articulated in “Fusion Energy Sciences: A Ten-Year Perspective (2015-2025)” [2]. The natural disruption immunity of the stellarator directly addresses “Elimination of transient events that can be deleterious to toroidal fusion plasma confinement devices” an area of critical importance for the U.S. fusion energy sciences enterprise over the next decade. Another critical area of research “Strengthening our partnerships with international research facilities,” is being significantly advanced on the W7-X stellarator in Germany and serves as a test-bed for development of successful international collaboration on ITER. This report also outlines how materials science as it relates to plasma and fusion sciences, another critical research area, can be carried out effectively in a stellarator. Additionally, significant advances along two of the Research Directions outlined in the report; “Burning Plasma Science: Foundations - Next-generation research capabilities”, and “Burning Plasma Science: Long pulse - Sustainment of Long-Pulse Plasma Equilibria” are proposed.

Stellarator Research Opportunities: A Report of the National Stellarator Coordinating Committee

Science.gov (United States)

Gates, D. A.; Anderson, D.; Anderson, S.; Zarnstorff, M.; Spong, D. A.; Weitzner, H.; Neilson, G. H.; Ruzic, D.; Andruczyk, D.; Harris, J. H.; Mynick, H.; Hegna, C. C.; Schmitz, O.; Talmadge, J. N.; Curreli, D.; Maurer, D.; Boozer, A. H.; Knowlton, S.; Allain, J. P.; Ennis, D.; Wurden, G.; Reiman, A.; Lore, J. D.; Landreman, M.; Freidberg, J. P.; Hudson, S. R.; Porkolab, M.; Demers, D.; Terry, J.; Edlund, E.; Lazerson, S. A.; Pablant, N.; Fonck, R.; Volpe, F.; Canik, J.; Granetz, R.; Ware, A.; Hanson, J. D.; Kumar, S.; Deng, C.; Likin, K.; Cerfon, A.; Ram, A.; Hassam, A.; Prager, S.; Paz-Soldan, C.; Pueschel, M. J.; Joseph, I.; Glasser, A. H.

2018-02-01

This document is the product of a stellarator community workshop, organized by the National Stellarator Coordinating Committee and referred to as Stellcon, that was held in Cambridge, Massachusetts in February 2016, hosted by MIT. The workshop was widely advertised, and was attended by 40 scientists from 12 different institutions including national labs, universities and private industry, as well as a representative from the Department of Energy. The final section of this document describes areas of community wide consensus that were developed as a result of the discussions held at that workshop. Areas where further study would be helpful to generate a consensus path forward for the US stellarator program are also discussed. The program outlined in this document is directly responsive to many of the strategic priorities of FES as articulated in "Fusion Energy Sciences: A Ten-Year Perspective (2015-2025)" [1]. The natural disruption immunity of the stellarator directly addresses "Elimination of transient events that can be deleterious to toroidal fusion plasma confinement devices" an area of critical importance for the US fusion energy sciences enterprise over the next decade. Another critical area of research "Strengthening our partnerships with international research facilities," is being significantly advanced on the W7-X stellarator in Germany and serves as a test-bed for development of successful international collaboration on ITER. This report also outlines how materials science as it relates to plasma and fusion sciences, another critical research area, can be carried out effectively in a stellarator. Additionally, significant advances along two of the Research Directions outlined in the report; "Burning Plasma Science: Foundations - Next-generation research capabilities", and "Burning Plasma Science: Long pulse - Sustainment of Long-Pulse Plasma Equilibria" are proposed.

A Study of Sympathetic Flaring Using a Full-Sun Event Catalog

Science.gov (United States)

Higgins, P. A.; Schrijver, C. J.; Title, A. M.; Bloomfield, D.; Gallagher, P.

2013-12-01

There has been a trove of papers published on the statistics of flare occurrence. These studies are trying to answer the question of whether or not subsequent solar flares are related. The majority of these works have not included both flare location information and the physical properties of the regions responsible for the eruptions, and none have taken advantage of full-Sun event coverage. Now that SDO/AIA is available and the STEREO spacecraft have progressed past 90 degrees from Earth's heliographic longitude, this new information is available to us. This work aims to quantify how common sympathetic events are, and how important they are in the forecasting of solar flares. A 3D plot of detected and clustered flare events for a full solar rotation, including the Valentine's Day Event of 2011. A full-Sun image in the EUV (304A) including both STEREO view points and AIA. The GOES X-ray light curves during the February period of 2011 are shown in the bottom panel. Detected flare events are indicated by the green dashed lines and the time stamp of this image is denoted by the red line.

Habitability in different Milky Way stellar environments: a stellar interaction dynamical approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Jiménez-Torres, Juan J; Pichardo, Bárbara; Lake, George; Segura, Antígona

2013-05-01

Every Galactic environment is characterized by a stellar density and a velocity dispersion. With this information from literature, we simulated flyby encounters for several Galactic regions, numerically calculating stellar trajectories as well as orbits for particles in disks; our aim was to understand the effect of typical stellar flybys on planetary (debris) disks in the Milky Way Galaxy. For the solar neighborhood, we examined nearby stars with known distance, proper motions, and radial velocities. We found occurrence of a disturbing impact to the solar planetary disk within the next 8 Myr to be highly unlikely; perturbations to the Oort cloud seem unlikely as well. Current knowledge of the full phase space of stars in the solar neighborhood, however, is rather poor; thus we cannot rule out the existence of a star that is more likely to approach than those for which we have complete kinematic information. We studied the effect of stellar encounters on planetary orbits within the habitable zones of stars in more crowded stellar environments, such as stellar clusters. We found that in open clusters habitable zones are not readily disrupted; this is true if they evaporate in less than 10(8) yr. For older clusters the results may not be the same. We specifically studied the case of Messier 67, one of the oldest open clusters known, and show the effect of this environment on debris disks. We also considered the conditions in globular clusters, the Galactic nucleus, and the Galactic bulge-bar. We calculated the probability of whether Oort clouds exist in these Galactic environments.

The “Building Blocks” of Stellar Halos

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kyle A. Oman

2017-08-01

Full Text Available The stellar halos of galaxies encode their accretion histories. In particular, the median metallicity of a halo is determined primarily by the mass of the most massive accreted object. We use hydrodynamical cosmological simulations from the apostle project to study the connection between the stellar mass, the metallicity distribution, and the stellar age distribution of a halo and the identity of its most massive progenitor. We find that the stellar populations in an accreted halo typically resemble the old stellar populations in a present-day dwarf galaxy with a stellar mass ∼0.2–0.5 dex greater than that of the stellar halo. This suggests that had they not been accreted, the primary progenitors of stellar halos would have evolved to resemble typical nearby dwarf irregulars.

Are Complex Magnetic Field Structures Responsible for the Confined X-class Flares in Super Active Region 12192?

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhang, Jun; Li, Ting; Chen, Huadong, E-mail: zjun@nao.cas.cn, E-mail: hdchen@nao.cas.cn [Key Laboratory of Solar Activity, National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100012 (China)

2017-08-10

From 2014 October 19 to 27, six X-class flares occurred in super active region (AR) 12192. They were all confined flares and were not followed by coronal mass ejections. To examine the structures of the four flares close to the solar disk center from October 22 to 26, we firstly employ composite triple-time images in each flare process to display the stratified structure of these flare loops. The loop structures of each flare in both the lower (171 Å) and higher (131 Å) temperature channels are complex, e.g., the flare loops rooting at flare ribbons are sheared or twisted (enwound) together, and the complex structures were not destroyed during the flares. For the first flare, although the flare loop system appears as a spindle shape, we can estimate its structures from observations, with lengths ranging from 130 to 300 Mm, heights from 65 to 150 Mm, widths at the middle part of the spindle from 40 to 100 Mm, and shear angles from 16° to 90°. Moreover, the flare ribbons display irregular movements, such as the left ribbon fragments of the flare on October 22 sweeping a small region repeatedly, and both ribbons of the flare on October 26 moved along the same direction instead of separating from each other. These irregular movements also imply that the corresponding flare loops are complex, e.g., several sets of flare loops are twisted together. Although previous studies have suggested that the background magnetic fields prevent confined flares from erupting,based on these observations, we suggest that complex flare loop structures may be responsible for these confined flares.

Center-to-Limb Variability of Hot Coronal EUV Emissions During Solar Flares

Science.gov (United States)

Thiemann, E. M. B.; Chamberlin, P. C.; Eparvier, F. G.; Epp, L.

2018-02-01

It is generally accepted that densities of quiet-Sun and active region plasma are sufficiently low to justify the optically thin approximation, and this is commonly used in the analysis of line emissions from plasma in the solar corona. However, the densities of solar flare loops are substantially higher, compromising the optically thin approximation. This study begins with a radiative transfer model that uses typical solar flare densities and geometries to show that hot coronal emission lines are not generally optically thin. Furthermore, the model demonstrates that the observed line intensity should exhibit center-to-limb variability (CTLV), with flares observed near the limb being dimmer than those occurring near disk center. The model predictions are validated with an analysis of over 200 flares observed by the EUV Variability Experiment (EVE) on the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), which uses six lines, with peak formation temperatures between 8.9 and 15.8 MK, to show that limb flares are systematically dimmer than disk-center flares. The data are then used to show that the electron column density along the line of sight typically increases by 1.76 × 10^{19} cm^{-2} for limb flares over the disk-center flare value. It is shown that the CTLV of hot coronal emissions reduces the amount of ionizing radiation propagating into the solar system, and it changes the relative intensities of lines and bands commonly used for spectral analysis.

Constraining the Stellar Mass Function in the Galactic Center via Mass Loss from Stellar Collisions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Douglas Rubin

2011-01-01

Full Text Available The dense concentration of stars and high-velocity dispersions in the Galactic center imply that stellar collisions frequently occur. Stellar collisions could therefore result in significant mass loss rates. We calculate the amount of stellar mass lost due to indirect and direct stellar collisions and find its dependence on the present-day mass function of stars. We find that the total mass loss rate in the Galactic center due to stellar collisions is sensitive to the present-day mass function adopted. We use the observed diffuse X-ray luminosity in the Galactic center to preclude any present-day mass functions that result in mass loss rates >10-5M⨀yr−1 in the vicinity of ~1″. For present-day mass functions of the form, dN/dM∝M-α, we constrain the present-day mass function to have a minimum stellar mass ≲7M⨀ and a power-law slope ≳1.25. We also use this result to constrain the initial mass function in the Galactic center by considering different star formation scenarios.

The Dependence of Solar Flare Limb Darkening on Emission Peak Formation Temperature

Science.gov (United States)

Thiemann, Edward; Epp, Luke; Eparvier, Francis; Chamberlin, Phillip C.

2017-08-01

Solar limb effects are local brightening or darkening of an emission that depend on where in the Sun's atmosphere it forms. Near the solar limb, optically thick (thin) emissions will darken (brighten) as the column of absorbers (emitters) along the line-of-sight increases. Note that in limb brightening, emission sources are re-arranged whereas in limb darkening they are obscured. Thus, only limb darkening is expected to occur in disk integrated observations. Limb darkening also results in center-to-limb variations of disk-integrated solar flare spectra, with important consequences for how planetary atmospheres are affected by flares. Flares are typically characterized by their flux in the optically thin 0.1-0.8 nm band measured by the X-ray Sensor (XRS) on board the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES). On the other hand, Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) line emissions can limb darken because they are sensitive to resonant scattering, resulting in a flare's location on the solar disk controlling the amount of ionizing radiation that reaches a planet. For example, an X-class flare originating from disk center may significantly heat a planet's thermosphere, whereas the same flare originating near the limb may have no effect because much of the effective emissions are scattered in the solar corona.To advance the relatively poor understanding of flare limb darkening, we use over 300 M-class or larger flares observed by the EUV Variability Experiment (EVE) onboard the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) to characterize limb darkening as a function of emission peak formation temperature, Tf. For hot coronal emissions (Tf>2 MK), these results show a linear relationship between the degree of limb darkening and Tf where lines with Tf=2 MK darken approximately 7 times more than lines with Tf=16 MK. Because the extent of limb darkening is dependent on the height of the source plasma, we use simple Beer-Lambert radiative transfer analysis to interpret these results

Principles of Stellar Interferometry

CERN Document Server

Glindemann, Andreas

2011-01-01

Over the last decade, stellar interferometry has developed from a specialist tool to a mainstream observing technique, attracting scientists whose research benefits from milliarcsecond angular resolution. Stellar interferometry has become part of the astronomer’s toolbox, complementing single-telescope observations by providing unique capabilities that will advance astronomical research. This carefully written book is intended to provide a solid understanding of the principles of stellar interferometry to students starting an astronomical research project in this field or to develop instruments and to astronomers using interferometry but who are not interferometrists per se. Illustrated by excellent drawings and calculated graphs the imaging process in stellar interferometers is explained starting from first principles on light propagation and diffraction wave propagation through turbulence is described in detail using Kolmogorov statistics the impact of turbulence on the imaging process is discussed both f...

Brief Report: Validation of a Definition of Flare in Patients With Established Gout.

Science.gov (United States)

Gaffo, Angelo L; Dalbeth, Nicola; Saag, Kenneth G; Singh, Jasvinder A; Rahn, Elizabeth J; Mudano, Amy S; Chen, Yi-Hsing; Lin, Ching-Tsai; Bourke, Sandra; Louthrenoo, Worawit; Vazquez-Mellado, Janitzia; Hernández-Llinas, Hansel; Neogi, Tuhina; Vargas-Santos, Ana Beatriz; da Rocha Castelar-Pinheiro, Geraldo; Amorim, Rodrigo B C; Uhlig, Till; Hammer, Hilde B; Eliseev, Maxim; Perez-Ruiz, Fernando; Cavagna, Lorenzo; McCarthy, Geraldine M; Stamp, Lisa K; Gerritsen, Martijn; Fana, Viktoria; Sivera, Francisca; Taylor, William

2018-03-01

To perform external validation of a provisional definition of disease flare in patients with gout. Five hundred nine patients with gout were enrolled in a cross-sectional study during a routine clinical care visit at 17 international sites. Data were collected to classify patients as experiencing or not experiencing a gout flare, according to a provisional definition. A local expert rheumatologist performed the final independent adjudication of gout flare status. Sensitivity, specificity, predictive values, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used to determine the diagnostic performance of gout flare definitions. The mean ± SD age of the patients was 57.5 ± 13.9 years, and 89% were male. The definition requiring fulfillment of at least 3 of 4 criteria (patient-defined gout flare, pain at rest score of >3 on a 0-10-point numerical rating scale, presence of at least 1 swollen joint, and presence of at least 1 warm joint) was 85% sensitive and 95% specific in confirming the presence of a gout flare, with an accuracy of 92%. The ROC area under the curve was 0.97. The definition based on a classification and regression tree algorithm (entry point, pain at rest score >3, followed by patient-defined flare "yes") was 73% sensitive and 96% specific. The definition of gout flare that requires fulfillment of at least 3 of 4 patient-reported criteria is now validated to be sensitive, specific, and accurate for gout flares, as demonstrated using an independent large international patient sample. The availability of a validated gout flare definition will improve the ascertainment of an important clinical outcome in studies of gout. © 2017, American College of Rheumatology.

Advanced stellarator power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Miller, R.L.

1994-01-01

The stellarator is a class of helical/toroidal magnetic fusion devices. Recent international progress in stellarator power plant conceptual design is reviewed and comparisons in the areas of physics, engineering, and economics are made with recent tokamak design studies

Spectropolarimetric Inversions of the Ca II 8542 Å Line in an M-class Solar Flare

Science.gov (United States)

Kuridze, D.; Henriques, V. M. J.; Mathioudakis, M.; Rouppe van der Voort, L.; de la Cruz Rodríguez, J.; Carlsson, M.

2018-06-01

We study the M1.9-class solar flare SOL2015-09-27T10:40 UT using high-resolution full Stokes imaging spectropolarimetry of the Ca II 8542 Å line obtained with the CRISP imaging spectropolarimeter at the Swedish 1-m Solar Telescope. Spectropolarimetric inversions using the non-LTE code NICOLE are used to construct semiempirical models of the flaring atmosphere to investigate the structure and evolution of the flare temperature and magnetic field. A comparison of the temperature stratification in flaring and nonflaring areas reveals strong heating of the flare ribbon during the flare peak. The polarization signals of the ribbon in the chromosphere during the flare maximum become stronger when compared to its surroundings and to pre- and post-flare profiles. Furthermore, a comparison of the response functions to perturbations in the line-of-sight magnetic field and temperature in flaring and nonflaring atmospheres shows that during the flare, the Ca II 8542 Å line is more sensitive to the lower atmosphere where the magnetic field is expected to be stronger. The chromospheric magnetic field was also determined with the weak-field approximation, which led to results similar to those obtained with the NICOLE inversions.

The evaluation of endodontic flare-ups and their relationship to various risk factors.

Science.gov (United States)

Onay, Emel Olga; Ungor, Mete; Yazici, A Canan

2015-11-14

To evaluate the incidence of flare-ups and identify the risk factors including age, gender, tooth type, number of root canals, initial diagnosis, the type of irrigation regimen, treatment modality and the number of visits, in patients who received root canal treatment from January 2002 to January 2008. Records of 1819 teeth belonging to 1410 patients treated by 1 endodontics specialist during 6-year period were kept. Patient, tooth, and treatment characteristics were evaluated and the relationships between these characteristics and flare-ups were studied. Statistical analysis was carried out by using Pearson Chi-square test, Fisher's Exact test, and Binary Logistic regression analyses. The incidence of flare-ups was 59 (3.2 %) out of 1819 teeth that received endodontic therapy. Pulpal necrosis without periapical pathosis was the most common indication for flare-up (6 %) (p flare-ups compared to those with single appointments (OR: 3.14, CI: 1.414-7.009, p flare-ups regarding to age, gender, tooth type, number of root canals, treatment modality, and the irrigation solutions that used during the treatment. The incidence of flare-up is minimal when teeth are treated in one visit. Absence of a periapical lesion in necrotic teeth is a significant risk factor for flare-ups.

A Novel Forecasting System for Solar Particle Events and Flares (FORSPEF)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Papaioannou, A; Anastasiadis, A; Sandberg, I; Tsiropoula, G; Tziotziou, K; Georgoulis, M K; Jiggens, P; Hilgers, A

2015-01-01

Solar Energetic Particles (SEPs) result from intense solar eruptive events such as solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) and pose a significant threat for both personnel and infrastructure in space conditions. In this work, we present FORSPEF (Forecasting Solar Particle Events and Flares), a novel dual system, designed to perform forecasting of SEPs based on forecasting of solar flares, as well as independent SEP nowcasting. An overview of flare and SEP forecasting methods of choice is presented. Concerning SEP events, we make use for the first time of the newly re-calibrated GOES proton data within the energy range 6.0-243 MeV and we build our statistics on an extensive time interval that includes roughly 3 solar cycles (1984-2013). A new comprehensive catalogue of SEP events based on these data has been compiled including solar associations in terms of flare (magnitude, location) and CME (width, velocity) characteristics. (paper)

Transition Region Emission and the Energy Input to Thermal Plasma in Solar Flares

Science.gov (United States)

Holman, Gordon D.; Holman, Gordon D.; Dennis, Brian R.; Haga, Leah; Raymond, John C.; Panasyuk, Alexander

2005-01-01

Understanding the energetics of solar flares depends on obtaining reliable determinations of the energy input to flare plasma. X-ray observations of the thermal bremsstrahlung from hot flare plasma provide temperatures and emission measures which, along with estimates of the plasma volume, allow the energy content of this hot plasma to be computed. However, if thermal energy losses are significant or if significant energy goes directly into cooler plasma, this is only a lower limit on the total energy injected into thermal plasma during the flare. We use SOHO UVCS observations of O VI flare emission scattered by coronal O VI ions to deduce the flare emission at transition region temperatures between 100,000 K and 1 MK for the 2002 July 23 and other flares. We find that the radiated energy at these temperatures significantly increases the deduced energy input to the thermal plasma, but by an amount that is less than the uncertainty in the computed energies. Comparisons of computed thermal and nonthermal electron energies deduced from RHESSI, GOES, and UVCS are shown.

The Effect of Magnetic Topology on the Escape of Flare Particles

Science.gov (United States)

Antiochos, S. K.; Masson, S.; DeVore, C. R.

2012-01-01

Magnetic reconnection in the solar atmosphere is believed to be the driver of most solar explosive phenomena. Therefore, the topology of the coronal magnetic field is central to understanding the solar drivers of space weather. Of particular importance to space weather are the impulsive Solar Energetic particles that are associated with some CME/eruptive flare events. Observationally, the magnetic configuration of active regions where solar eruptions originate appears to agree with the standard eruptive flare model. According to this model, particles accelerated at the flare reconnection site should remain trapped in the corona and the ejected plasmoid. However, flare-accelerated particles frequently reach the Earth long before the CME does. We present a model that may account for the injection of energetic particles onto open magnetic flux tubes connecting to the Earth. Our model is based on the well-known 2.5D breakout topology, which has a coronal null point (null line) and a four-flux system. A key new addition, however, is that we include an isothermal solar wind with open-flux regions. Depending on the location of the open flux with respect to the null point, we find that the flare reconnection can consist of two distinct phases. At first, the flare reconnection involves only closed field, but if the eruption occurs close to the open field, we find a second phase involving interchange reconnection between open and closed. We argue that this second reconnection episode is responsible for the injection of flare-accelerated particles into the interplanetary medium. We will report on our recent work toward understanding how flare particles escape to the heliosphere. This work uses high-resolution 2.5D MHD numerical simulations performed with the Adaptively Refined MHD Solver (ARMS).

Solar Features - Solar Flares - Patrol

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — The H-alpha Flare Patrol identifies time periods each day when the sun is being continuously monitored by select ground-based solar observatories.

Detecting Solar Neutrino Flare in Megaton and km3 detectors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fargion, Daniele; Di Giacomo, Paola

2009-01-01

To foresee a solar flare neutrino signal we infer its upper and lower bound. The upper bound was derived since a few years by general energy equipartition arguments on observed solar particle flare. The lower bound, the most compelling one for any guarantee neutrino signal, is derived by most recent records of hard Gamma bump due to solar flare on January 2005 (by neutral pion decay). Because neutral and charged pions (made by hadron scattering in the flare) are born on the same foot, their link is compelling: the observed gamma flux [Grechnev V.V. et al., (arXiv:0806.4424), Solar Physics, Vol. 1, October, (2008), 252] reflects into a corresponding one for the neutrinos, almost one to one. Moreover while gamma photons might be absorbed (in deep corona) or at least reduced inside the flaring plasma, the secondaries neutrino are not. So pion neutrinos should be even more abundant than gamma ones. Tens-hundred MeV neutrinos may cross undisturbed the whole Sun, doubling at least their rate respect a unique solar-side for gamma flare. Therefore we obtain minimal bounds opening a windows for neutrino astronomy, already at the edge of present but quite within near future Megaton neutrino detectors. Such detectors are considered mostly to reveal cosmic supernova background or rare Local Group (few Mpc) Supernovas events [Matthew D. Kistler et al. (0810.1959v1)]. However rarest (once a decade), brief (a few minutes) powerful solar neutrino 'flare' may shine and they may overcome by two to three order of magnitude the corresponding steady atmospheric neutrino noise on the Earth, leading in largest Neutrino detector at least to one or to meaning-full few events clustered signals. The voice of such a solar anti-neutrino flare component at a few tens MeVs may induce an inverse beta decay over a vanishing anti-neutrino solar background. Megaton or even inner ten Megaton Ice Cube detector at ten GeV threshold may also reveal traces in hardest energy of solar flares. Icecube

Compact stellarator coils

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pomphrey, N.; Berry, L.A.; Boozer, A.H.

2001-01-01

Experimental devices to study the physics of high-beta (β>∼4%), low aspect ratio (A<∼4.5) stellarator plasmas require coils that will produce plasmas satisfying a set of physics goals, provide experimental flexibility, and be practical to construct. In the course of designing a flexible coil set for the National Compact Stellarator Experiment, we have made several innovations that may be useful in future stellarator design efforts. These include: the use of Singular Value Decomposition methods for obtaining families of smooth current potentials on distant coil winding surfaces from which low current density solutions may be identified; the use of a Control Matrix Method for identifying which few of the many detailed elements of the stellarator boundary must be targeted if a coil set is to provide fields to control the essential physics of the plasma; the use of Genetic Algorithms for choosing an optimal set of discrete coils from a continuum of potential contours; the evaluation of alternate coil topologies for balancing the tradeoff between physics objective and engineering constraints; the development of a new coil optimization code for designing modular coils, and the identification of a 'natural' basis for describing current sheet distributions. (author)

M DWARFS IN SLOAN DIGITAL SKY SURVEY STRIPE 82: PHOTOMETRIC LIGHT CURVES AND FLARE RATE ANALYSIS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kowalski, Adam F.; Hawley, Suzanne L.; Hilton, Eric J.; Becker, Andrew C.; Sesar, Branimir; West, Andrew A.; Bochanski, John J.

2009-01-01

We present a flare rate analysis of 50,130 M dwarf light curves in Sloan Digital Sky Survey Stripe 82. We identified 271 flares using a customized variability index to search ∼2.5 million photometric observations for flux increases in the u and g bands. Every image of a flaring observation was examined by eye and with a point-spread function-matching and image subtraction tool to guard against false positives. Flaring is found to be strongly correlated with the appearance of Hα in emission in the quiet spectrum. Of the 99 flare stars that have spectra, we classify eight as relatively inactive. The flaring fraction is found to increase strongly in stars with redder colors during quiescence, which can be attributed to the increasing flare visibility and increasing active fraction for redder stars. The flaring fraction is strongly correlated with |Z| distance such that most stars that flare are within 300 pc of the Galactic plane. We derive flare u-band luminosities and find that the most luminous flares occur on the earlier-type m dwarfs. Our best estimate of the lower limit on the flaring rate (averaged over Stripe 82) for flares with Δu ≥ 0.7 mag on stars with u -1 deg -2 but can vary significantly with the line of sight.

Use of the stellarator expansion to investigate plasma equilibrium in modular stellarators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anania, G.; Johnson, J.L.; Weimer, K.E.

1982-11-01

A numerical code utilizing a large-aspect ratio, small-helical-distortion expansion is developed and used to investigate the effect of plasma currents on stellarator equilibrium. Application to modular stellarator configurations shows that a large rotational transform, and hence large coil deformation, is needed to achieve high-beta equilibria

Stellar wind theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Summers, D.

1980-01-01

The theory of stellar winds as given by the equations of classical fluid dynamics is considered. The equations of momentum and energy describing a steady, spherically symmetric, heat-conducting, viscous stellar wind are cast in a dimensionless form which involves a thermal conduction parameter E and a viscosity parameter γ. An asymptotic analysis is carried out, for fixed γ, in the cases E→O and E→infinity (corresponding to small and large thermal conductivity, respectively), and it is found that it is possible to construct critical solutions for the wind velocity and temperature over the entire flow. The E→O solution represents a wind which emanates from the star at low, subsonic speeds, accelerates through a sonic point, and then approaches a constant asymptotic speed, with its temperature varying as r/sup -4/3/ at large distances r from the star; the E→infinity solution represents a wind which, after reaching an approximately constant speed, with temperature varying as r/sup -2/7/, decelerates through a diffuse shock and approaches a finite pressure at infinity. A categorization is made of all critical stellar wind solutions for given values of γ and E, and actual numerical examples are given. Numerical solutions are obtained by integrating upstream 'from infinity' from initial values of the flow parameters given by appropriate asymptotic expansions. The role of viscosity in stellar wind theory is discussed, viscous and inviscid stellar wind solutions are compared, and it is suggested that with certain limitations, the theory presented may be useful in analyzing winds from solar-type stars

Statistical relationship between the succeeding solar flares detected by the RHESSI satellite

Science.gov (United States)

Balázs, L. G.; Gyenge, N.; Korsós, M. B.; Baranyi, T.; Forgács-Dajka, E.; Ballai, I.

2014-06-01

The Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager has observed more than 80 000 solar energetic events since its launch on 2002 February 12. Using this large sample of observed flares, we studied the spatiotemporal relationship between succeeding flares. Our results show that the statistical relationship between the temporal and spatial differences of succeeding flares can be described as a power law of the form R(t) ˜ tp with p = 0.327 ± 0.007. We discuss the possible interpretations of this result as a characteristic function of a supposed underlying physics. Different scenarios are considered to explain this relation, including the case where the connectivity between succeeding events is realized through a shock wave in the post Sedov-Taylor phase or where the spatial and temporal relationship between flares is supposed to be provided by an expanding flare area in the sub-diffusive regime. Furthermore, we cannot exclude the possibility that the physical process behind the statistical relationship is the reordering of the magnetic field by the flare or it is due to some unknown processes.

Particle propagation, wave growth and energy dissipation in a flaring flux tube

Science.gov (United States)

White, S. M.; Melrose, D. B.; Dulk, G. A.

1986-01-01

Wave amplification by downgoing particles in a common flare model is investigated. The flare is assumed to occur at the top of a coronal magnetic flux loop, and results in the heating of plasma in the flaring region. The hot electrons propagate down the legs of the flux tube towards increasing magnetic field. It is simple to demonstrate that the velocity distributions which result in this model are unstable to both beam instabilities and cyclotron maser action. An explanation is presented for the propagation effects on the distribution, and the properties of the resulting amplified waves are explored, concentrating on cyclotron maser action, which has properties (emission in the z mode below the local gyrofrequency) quite different from maser action by other distributions considered in the context of solar flares. The z mode waves will be damped in the coronal plasma surrounding the flaring flux tube and lead to heating there. This process may be important in the overall energy budget of the flare. The downgoing maser is compared with the loss cone maser, which is more likely to produce observable bursts.

Stellarator fusion neutronics research in Australia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zimin, S.; Cross, R.C.

1997-01-01

The new status of the H-INF Heliac Stellaralor as a National Facility and the signed international Implementing Agreement on 'Collaboration in the Development of the Stellarator Concept' represents a significant encouragement for further fusion research in Australia. In this report the future of fusion research in Australia is discussed with special attention being paid to the importance of Stellarator power plant studies and in particular stellarator fusion neutronics. The main differences between tokamak and stellarator neutronics analyses are identified, namely the neutron wall loading, geometrical modelling and total heating in in-vessel reactor components including toroidal field (TF) coils. Due to the more complicated nature of stellarator neutronics analyses, simplified approaches to fusion neutronics already developed for tokamaks are expected to be even more important and widely used for designing a Conceptual Stellarator Power Plant

The Natural History of Flare-Ups in Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva (FOP): A Comprehensive Global Assessment.

Science.gov (United States)

Pignolo, Robert J; Bedford-Gay, Christopher; Liljesthröm, Moira; Durbin-Johnson, Blythe P; Shore, Eileen M; Rocke, David M; Kaplan, Frederick S

2016-03-01

Fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva (FOP) leads to disabling heterotopic ossification (HO) from episodic flare-ups. However, the natural history of FOP flare-ups is poorly understood. A 78-question survey on FOP flare-ups, translated into 15 languages, was sent to 685 classically-affected patients in 45 countries (six continents). Five hundred patients or knowledgeable informants responded (73%; 44% males, 56% females; ages: 1 to 71 years; median: 23 years). The most common presenting symptoms of flare-ups were swelling (93%), pain (86%), or decreased mobility (79%). Seventy-one percent experienced a flare-up within the preceding 12 months (52% spontaneous; 48% trauma-related). Twenty-five percent of those who had received an intramuscular injection reported an immediate flare-up at the injection site, 84% of whom developed HO. Axial flare-ups most frequently involved the back (41.6%), neck (26.4%), or jaw (19.4%). Flare-ups occurred more frequently in the upper limbs before 8 years of age, but more frequently in the lower limbs thereafter. Appendicular flare-ups occurred more frequently at proximal than at distal sites without preferential sidedness. Seventy percent of patients reported functional loss from a flare-up. Thirty-two percent reported complete resolution of at least one flare-up and 12% without any functional loss (mostly in the head or back). The most disabling flare-ups occurred at the shoulders or hips. Surprisingly, 47% reported progression of FOP without obvious flare-ups. Worldwide, 198 treatments were reported; anti-inflammatory agents were most common. Seventy-five percent used short-term glucocorticoids as a treatment for flare-ups at appendicular sites. Fifty-five percent reported that glucocorticoids improved symptoms occasionally whereas 31% reported that they always did. Only 12% reported complete resolution of a flare-up with glucocorticoids. Forty-three percent reported rebound symptoms within 1 to 7 days after completing a course of

Solar flare pion and neutron production

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Forrest, D.J.; Vestrand, W.T.

1992-01-01

During cycle 21, the Gamma Ray Spectrometer on SMM observed three large flares with clear evidence for pion decay gamma rays and high energy neutrons. Two of these had an extended emission phase. The emission observed in these extended phases were clearly different from those observed in the impulsive phase. Compared to the impulsive phase, the extended phase emissions were strongly deficient in electron bremsstrahlung relative to the nuclear line emission in the 1.0-7.0 MeV band and appeared to have a reduced energetic neutron to pion gamma ray emission in the >10 MeV band. These changes can be produced either by a strong hardening of the accelerated ion spectrum together with a relative decrease in the energetic electron spectrum, or by a pronounced change in the geometry of the particle spectrum downwards towards the photosphere. The authors review the observational evidence in terms of these two possibilities. A dramatic change in the energetic particle geometry appears to offer the simplest explanation. If true these two flares represent the first clear evidence of strong particle geometry effects within individual flares

UBV-photometry of flare stars in pleiades

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chavushyan, O.S.; Garibdzhanyan, A.T.

1975-01-01

The results are presented of UBV-photometry of 283 flare stars at the minimum of brightness in the Pleiad region. A new method has been developed and used of taking into account the background in photographic UBV-photometry with an iris microphotometer. The data obtained indicate that the flare Pleiad stars are located on both sides of the main sequence in the light-luminosity (V,B-V) diagram, while in the (U-B,B-V) diagram they are largely located above the main sequence

Reconnection Fluxes in Eruptive and Confined Flares and Implications for Superflares on the Sun

Science.gov (United States)

Tschernitz, Johannes; Veronig, Astrid M.; Thalmann, Julia K.; Hinterreiter, Jürgen; Pötzi, Werner

2018-01-01

We study the energy release process of a set of 51 flares (32 confined, 19 eruptive) ranging from GOES class B3 to X17. We use Hα filtergrams from Kanzelhöhe Observatory together with Solar Dynamics Observatory HMI and Solar and Heliospheric Observatory MDI magnetograms to derive magnetic reconnection fluxes and rates. The flare reconnection flux is strongly correlated with the peak of the GOES 1–8 Å soft X-ray flux (c = 0.92, in log–log space) for both confined and eruptive flares. Confined flares of a certain GOES class exhibit smaller ribbon areas but larger magnetic flux densities in the flare ribbons (by a factor of 2). In the largest events, up to ≈50% of the magnetic flux of the active region (AR) causing the flare is involved in the flare magnetic reconnection. These findings allow us to extrapolate toward the largest solar flares possible. A complex solar AR hosting a magnetic flux of 2 × 1023 Mx, which is in line with the largest AR fluxes directly measured, is capable of producing an X80 flare, which corresponds to a bolometric energy of about 7 × 1032 erg. Using a magnetic flux estimate of 6 × 1023 Mx for the largest solar AR observed, we find that flares of GOES class ≈X500 could be produced (E bol ≈ 3 × 1033 erg). These estimates suggest that the present day’s Sun is capable of producing flares and related space weather events that may be more than an order of magnitude stronger than have been observed to date.

Diagnostics of solar flare reconnection

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Karlický

2004-01-01

Full Text Available We present new diagnostics of the solar flare reconnection, mainly based on the plasma radio emission. We propose that the high-frequency (600-2000 MHz slowly drifting pulsating structures map the flare magnetic field reconnection. These structures correspond to the radio emission from plasmoids which are formed in the extended current sheet due to tearing and coalescence processes. An increase of the frequency drift of the drifting structures is interpreted as an increase of the reconnection rate. Using this model, time scales of slowly drifting pulsating structure observed during the 12 April 2001 flare by the Trieste radiopolarimeter with high time resolution (1 ms are interpreted as a radio manifestation of electron beams accelerated in the multi-scale reconnection process. For short periods Fourier spectra of the observed structure have a power-law form with power-law indices in the 1.3-1.6 range. For comparison the 2-D MHD numerical modeling of the multi-scale reconnection is made and it is shown that Fourier spectrum of the reconnection dissipation power has also a power-law form, but with power-law index 2. Furthermore, we compute a time evolution of plasma parameters (density, magnetic field etc in the 2-D MHD model of the reconnection. Then assuming a plasma radio emission from locations, where the 'double-resonance' instability generates the upper-hybrid waves due to unstable distribution function of suprathermal electrons, we model radio spectra. Effects of the MHD turbulence are included. The resulting spectra are compared with those observed. It is found, that depending on model parameters the lace bursts and the decimetric spikes can be reproduced. Thus, it is shown that the model can be used for diagnostics of the flare reconnection process. We also point out possible radio signatures of reconnection outflow termination shocks. They are detected as type II-like herringbone structures in the 200-700 MHz frequency range. Finally

Photospheric Spots and Flare on the Active Dwarf Star FR Cnc

Science.gov (United States)

Kozhevnikova, A. V.; Kozhevnikov, V. P.; Alekseev, I. Yu.

2018-03-01

We perform analysis of new BVRI photometry of young active dwarf star FR Cnc (K7V), obtained at Kourovka astronomical observatory of Ural Federal University with the help of multichannel electrophotometer in February 2010. The lightcurve displays sinusoidal rotation modulation with the amplitude of 0m.15 in V band. Reddening of the brightness at the photometric minimum confirms that this modulation is caused by cold photospheric spots. An analysis of the spottedness distribution in terms of a zonal model based on our own and published data shows that the spots are localized at lower and middle latitudes from 47° to 56°, occupy 10-21% of the star's area, and are colder than the photosphere by 1650 K. A flare was detected on February 3, 2010, at a time corresponding to HJD=2455231. 3136. A maximum amplitude of 0m.11 was observed in the B band, the amplitudes in the V, R, and I bands were 0m.04, 0m.03, and 0m.02, respectively, and the duration of the flare was 32.5 min. It was noted that the flare occurred near the maximum spottedness of the star. The calculated total energy of the flare was 2.4·1033 and 1.3·1033 erg in the B and V bands, respectively. The flare was found to have an afterglow, with an overall increase in the star's brightness by 0m.02 in the B band after the flare compared to the pre-flare level.

The Galactic stellar disc

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Feltzing, S; Bensby, T

2008-01-01

The study of the Milky Way stellar discs in the context of galaxy formation is discussed. In particular, we explore the properties of the Milky Way disc using a new sample of about 550 dwarf stars for which we have recently obtained elemental abundances and ages based on high-resolution spectroscopy. For all the stars we also have full kinematic information as well as information about their stellar orbits. We confirm results from previous studies that the thin and the thick discs have distinct abundance patterns. But we also explore a larger range of orbital parameters than what has been possible in our previous studies. Several new results are presented. We find that stars that reach high above the Galactic plane and have eccentric orbits show remarkably tight abundance trends. This implies that these stars formed out of well-mixed gas that had been homogenized over large volumes. We find some evidence that suggest that the event that most likely caused the heating of this stellar population happened a few billion years ago. Through a simple, kinematic exploration of stars with super-solar [Fe/H], we show that the solar neighbourhood contains metal-rich, high velocity stars that are very likely associated with the thick disc. Additionally, the HR1614 moving group and the Hercules and Arcturus stellar streams are discussed and it is concluded that, probably, a large fraction of the groups and streams so far identified in the disc are the result of evolution and interactions within the stellar disc rather than being dissolved stellar clusters or engulfed dwarf galaxies.

The Lived Experience of Lupus Flares: Features, Triggers, and Management in an Australian Female Cohort

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marline L. Squance

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Individuals living with lupus commonly experience daily backgrounds of symptoms managed to acceptable tolerance levels to prevent organ damage. Despite management, exacerbation periods (flares still occur. Varied clinical presentations and unpredictable symptom exacerbation patterns provide management and assessment challenges. Patient perceptions of symptoms vary with perceived impact, lifestyles, available support, and self-management capacity. Therefore, to increase our understanding of lupus’ health impacts and management, it was important to explore lupus flare characteristics from the patient viewpoint. Lupus flares in 101 Australian female patients were retrospectively explored with the use of a novel flare definition. Qualitative methods were used to explore patient-perceived flare symptoms, triggers, and management strategies adopted to alleviate symptom exacerbations. A mean of 29.9 flare days, with 6.8 discrete flares, was experienced. The study confirmed that patients perceive stress, infection, and UV light as flare triggers and identified new potential triggers of temperature and weather changes, work, and chemical exposure from home cleaning. The majority of flares were self-managed with patients making considered management choices without medical input. Barriers to seeking medical support included appointment timings and past negative experiences reflecting incongruence between clinician and patient views of symptom impact, assessment, and ultimately flare occurrence.

Analysis of ultraviolet and X-ray observations of three homologous solar flares from SMM

Science.gov (United States)

Cheng, Chung-Chieh; Pallavicini, Roberto

1987-01-01

Three homologous flares observed in the UV lines of Fe XXI and O V and in X-rays from the SMM were studied. It was found that: (1) the homology of the flares was most noticeable in Fe XXI and soft X-ray emissions; (2) the three flares shared many of the same loop footprints which were located in O V bright kernals associated with hard X-ray bursts; and (3) in spite of the strong spatial homology, the temporal evolution in UV and X-ray emissions varied from flare to flare. A comparison between the UV observations and photospheric magnetograms revealed that the basic flare configuration was a complex loop system consisting of many loops or bundles of loops.

Sgr A* flares: tidal disruption of asteroids and planets?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Zubovas, K.; Nayakshin, S.; Markoff, S.

2012-01-01

It is theoretically expected that a supermassive black hole (SMBH) in the centre of a typical nearby galaxy disrupts a solar-type star every ∼105 yr, resulting in a bright flare lasting for months. Sgr A*, the resident SMBH of the Milky Way, produces (by comparison) tiny flares that last only hours

LONG DURATION FLARE EMISSION: IMPULSIVE HEATING OR GRADUAL HEATING?

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Qiu, Jiong; Longcope, Dana W. [Department of Physics, Montana State University, Bozeman MT 59717-3840 (United States)

2016-03-20

Flare emissions in X-ray and EUV wavelengths have previously been modeled as the plasma response to impulsive heating from magnetic reconnection. Some flares exhibit gradually evolving X-ray and EUV light curves, which are believed to result from superposition of an extended sequence of impulsive heating events occurring in different adjacent loops or even unresolved threads within each loop. In this paper, we apply this approach to a long duration two-ribbon flare SOL2011-09-13T22 observed by the Atmosphere Imaging Assembly (AIA). We find that to reconcile with observed signatures of flare emission in multiple EUV wavelengths, each thread should be heated in two phases, an intense impulsive heating followed by a gradual, low-rate heating tail that is attenuated over 20–30 minutes. Each AIA resolved single loop may be composed of several such threads. The two-phase heating scenario is supported by modeling with both a zero-dimensional and a 1D hydrodynamic code. We discuss viable physical mechanisms for the two-phase heating in a post-reconnection thread.

Stellar and Laboratory XUV/EUV Line Ratios in Fe XVIII and Fe XIX

Science.gov (United States)

Träbert, Elmar; Beiersdorfer, P.; Clementson, J.

2011-09-01

A so-called XUV excess has been suspected with the relative fluxes of Fe XVIII and Fe XIX lines in XUV and EUV spectra of the star Capella as observed by the Chandra spacecraft [1] when comparing the observations with simulations of stellar spectra based on APEC or FAC. We have addressed this problem by laboratory studies using the Livermore electron beam ion trap (EBIT). Our understanding of the EBIT spectrum is founded on work by Brown et al. [2]. The electron density of the electron beam in an EBIT is compatible to the density in energetic stellar flares. In our experiments, the relative detection efficiencies of two flat-field grating spectrographs operating in the EUV (near 100 Å) and XUV (near 16 Å) ranges have been determined using the calculated branching ratio of 1-3 and 2-3 transition in the H-like spectrum O VIII. FAC calculations assuming several electron beam energies and electron densities serve to correct the EBIT observations for the Maxwellian excitation in a natural plasma. In the EUV, the line intensity pattern predicted by FAC agrees reasonably well with the laboratory and Capella observations. In the XUV wavelength range, agreement of laboratory and astrophysical line intensities is patchy. The spectral simulation results from FAC are much closer to stellar and laboratory observation than those obtained by APEC. Instead of claiming an XUV excess, the XUV/EUV line intensities can be explained by a somewhat higher temperature of Capella than the previously assumed T=6 MK. This work was performed under the auspices of the USDoE by LLNL under Contract DE-AC52-07NA27344 and was supported by the NASA under work order NNH07AF81I issued by the APRA Program. E.T. acknowledges support by DFG Germany. 1. P. Desai et al., ApJ 625, L59 (2005). 2. G. V. Brown et al., ApJS 140, 589 (2002).

Quasisymmetry equations for conventional stellarators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pustovitov, V.D.

1994-11-01

General quasisymmetry condition, which demands the independence of B 2 on one of the angular Boozer coordinates, is reduced to two equations containing only geometrical characteristics and helical field of a stellarator. The analysis is performed for conventional stellarators with a planar circular axis using standard stellarator expansion. As a basis, the invariant quasisymmetry condition is used. The quasisymmetry equations for stellarators are obtained from this condition also in an invariant form. Simplified analogs of these equations are given for the case when averaged magnetic surfaces are circular shifted torii. It is shown that quasisymmetry condition can be satisfied, in principle, in a conventional stellarator by a proper choice of two satellite harmonics of the helical field in addition to the main harmonic. Besides, there appears a restriction on the shift of magnetic surfaces. Thus, in general, the problem is closely related with that of self-consistent description of a configuration. (author)

Solar flare leaves sun quaking

Science.gov (United States)

1998-05-01

Dr. Alexander G. Kosovichev, a senior research scientist from Stanford University, and Dr. Valentina V. Zharkova from Glasgow (United Kingdom) University found the tell-tale seismic signature in data on the Sun's surface collected by the Michelson Doppler Imager onboard the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) spacecraft immediately following a moderate-sized flare on July 9, 1996. "Although the flare was a moderate one, it still released an immense amount of energy," said Dr. Craig Deforest, a researcher with the SOHO project. "The energy released is equal to completely covering the Earth's continents with a yard of dynamite and detonating it all at once." SOHO is a joint project of the European Space Agency and NASA. The finding is reported in the May 28 issue of the journal Nature, and is the subject of a press conference at the spring meeting of the American Geophysical Union in Boston, Mass., May 27. The solar quake that the science team recorded looks much like ripples spreading from a rock dropped into a pool of water. But over the course of an hour, the solar waves traveled for a distance equal to 10 Earth diameters before fading into the fiery background of the Sun's photosphere. Unlike water ripples that travel outward at a constant velocity, the solar waves accelerated from an initial speed of 22,000 miles per hour to a maximum of 250,000 miles per hour before disappearing. "People have looked for evidence of seismic waves from flares before, but they didn't have a theory so they didn't know where to look," says Kosovichev. Several years ago Kosovichev and Zharkova developed a theory that can explain how a flare, which explodes in space above the Sun's surface, can generate a major seismic wave in the Sun's interior. According to the currently accepted model of solar flares, the primary explosion creates high-energy electrons (electrically charged subatomic particles). These are funneled down into a magnetic flux tube, an invisible tube of magnetic

Solar flares at submillimeter wavelengths

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Krucker, S.; Gimenez de Castro, C.G.; Hudson, H. S.; Trottet, G.; Bastian, T.S.; Hales, A.S.; Kašparová, Jana; Klein, K. L.; Kretzschmar, M.; Luethi, T.; Mackinnon, A.; Pohjolainen, S.; White, S.M.

2013-01-01

Roč. 21, č. 1 (2013), 58/1-58/45 ISSN 0935-4956 Institutional support: RVO:67985815 Keywords : Sun * flares * radio observations Subject RIV: BN - Astronomy, Celestial Mechanics, Astrophysics Impact factor: 13.312, year: 2013

A Double Candle-Flame-Shaped Solar Flare Observed by SDO and STEREO

Science.gov (United States)

Gou, T.; Liu, R.; Wang, Y.; Liu, K.; Zhuang, B.; Zhang, Q.; Liu, J.

2015-12-01

We investigate an M1.4 flare occurring on 2011 January 28 near the northwest solar limb. The flare loop system exhibits a double candle-flame configuration in SDO/AIA's hot passbands, sharing a much larger cusp-shaped structure. The results of DEM analysis show that each candle flame has a similar temperature distribution as the famous Tsuneta flare. STEREO-A provides us a view from directly above the flare, and in SECCHI/EUVI 195 Å the post-flare loops are observed to propagate eastward. We performed a 3D reconstruction of the pos-flare loops with AIA and EUVI data. With the aid of the squashing factor Q based on a potential extrapolation of the photospheric field, we recognized that the footpoints of the post-flare loops were slipping along high-Q lines on the photosphere, and the reconstructed loops share similarity with the filed lines that are traced starting from the high-Q lines. The heights of the loops increase as they slip horizontally eastward, giving the loop-top a velocity of about 10 km/s. An extremely large EUV late phase in Fe XVI 33.5 nm observed by SDO/EVE is suggested to be related to the slipping magnetic reconnection occurring in the quasi-separatrix layers (QSLs) whose photosheric footprints are featured by the high-Q lines.

Study of the behaviour of the equatorial ionization anomaly (EIA) during solar flares

Science.gov (United States)

Aggarwal, Malini; Astafyeva, Elvira

2014-05-01

A solar flare occurring in the sun's chromosphere is observed in various wavebands (radio to x-rays). The response of the solar flare which causes sudden changes in the earth's ionosphere is not yet well understood though investigations suggested that its impact depends on the size and location of occurrence of solar flare on sun. Considering this, we have carried an investigation to study the response of two strong and gradual solar flares: 2 Apr 2001 (X20, limb) and 7 Feb 2010 (M6.4, disk) on the earth's equatorial-low latitude regions using multi-technique observations of satellite and ground-based instruments. We found a weakening of strength of equatorial ionization anomaly (EIA) in total electron content during both the flares as observed by TOPEX, JASON-1 and JASON-2 altimeter measurements. The H component of the geomagnetic field also shows a sudden change at equatorial and low latitude stations in the sunlit hemisphere during the flare. The observations of ionosonde at low-latitudes indicate a strong absorption of higher-frequency radio signals. The detail response of these flare on EIA of the earth's ionosphere will be presented and discussed.

Stellar formation

CERN Document Server

Reddish, V C

1978-01-01

Stellar Formation brings together knowledge about the formation of stars. In seeking to determine the conditions necessary for star formation, this book examines questions such as how, where, and why stars form, and at what rate and with what properties. This text also considers whether the formation of a star is an accident or an integral part of the physical properties of matter. This book consists of 13 chapters divided into two sections and begins with an overview of theories that explain star formation as well as the state of knowledge of star formation in comparison to stellar structure

Optimizing Stellarators for Turbulent Transport

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mynick, H.E.; Pomphrey, N.; Xanthopoulos, P.

2010-01-01

Up to now, the term 'transport-optimized' stellarators has meant optimized to minimize neoclassical transport, while the task of also mitigating turbulent transport, usually the dominant transport channel in such designs, has not been addressed, due to the complexity of plasma turbulence in stellarators. Here, we demonstrate that stellarators can also be designed to mitigate their turbulent transport, by making use of two powerful numerical tools not available until recently, namely gyrokinetic codes valid for 3D nonlinear simulations, and stellarator optimization codes. A first proof-of-principle configuration is obtained, reducing the level of ion temperature gradient turbulent transport from the NCSX baseline design by a factor of about 2.5.

Intracanal medications and antibiotics in the control of interappointment flare-ups.

Science.gov (United States)

Rimmer, A

1991-12-01

Acute exacerbation of symptoms, or "flare-up," after the debridement of the root canals and provisional restoration is a well-known postoperative complication of endodontic treatment. In this clinical study, various types of intracanal medications were compared for their ability to decrease interappointment flare-ups. The result showed that use of intracanal medicaments containing anti-inflammatory agents in combination with the administration of prophylactic systematic antibiotics was the most effective method of controlling interappointment flare-ups.

Twin Screw Extruder Production of MTTP Decoy Flares SERDP WP-1240