Dust outflow velocity and the gas-to-dust ratio in comets

The observational determination of coma outflow velocity for gaseous species is fairly straightforward using high-resolution spectroscopy. The determination of the outflow speed of the dust is much more difficult. Most sources cite Bobrovnikoff (1954). This brief report is not a strictly refereed publication, however, and mixes data from different comets. We present here a simple analysis of some data from the International Halley Watch (IHW) archive. Differences between continuum images from successive nights show dust jets and shells clearly. Their motion is apparent to first order from the edges of the features. The component of the dust outflow velocity perpendicular to the observer's line of sight may thus be determined. This is of course a lower limit on the dust outflow velocity. Many measurements, at different heliocentric distances (R), allow determination of the heliocentric dependence of the dust outflow velocity. We find that the dust outflow velocity in comet P/Halley varied as R ^?0.41 . If data from an outburst at 14 AU (Sekanina et al. 1992) is included in the fit, this dependence becomes R ^?0.55. This confirms the canonical (e.g. Delsemme 1982) inverse-square-root law, and supports the conclusion of Storrs et al. (1992) on the variability of cometary gas-to-dust ratios.     

Infrared Observations Of Dust Emission From Comet Hale-Bopp

We present infrared imaging and photometry of the bright, giant comet C/1995 O1 (Hale-Bopp). The comet was observed in an extended infrared and optical observing campaign in 1996–1997. The infrared morphology of the comet was observed to change from the 6 to 8 jet “porcupine” structure in 1996 to the “pinwheel” structure seen in 1997; this has implications for the position of the rotational angular momentum vector. Long term light curves taken at 11.3 μm indicate a dust production rate that varies with heliocentric distance as ∶ r^−1.4. Short term light curves taken at perihelion indicate a rotational periodicity of 11.3 hours and a projected dust outflow speed of ∶ 0.4 km s⁻¹. The spectral energy distribution of the dust on October 31, 1996 is well modeled by a mixture of 70% silicaceous and 30% carbonaceous non-porous grains, with a small particle dominated size distribution like that seen for comet P/Halley (McDonnell et al., 1991), an overall dust production rate of 2 × 10⁵ kg s⁻¹, a dust-to-gas ratio of ∶5, and an albedo of 39%. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Opposition Effects in Brightness,Color, and Polarization of Comet 1P/Halley: Comparison with Atmosphereless Solar System Bodies

Systematic and uniform sets of photometric and polarimetric observations of comet 1P/Halley have been analyzed. The phase dependence of brightness for comet Halley was obtained at phase angles α ranging from 1.4° ≤ α ≤ 65°. The following parameters were determined: the amplitude of the opposition effect Δm = 0.75^m ± 0.06^m; the half-width at a half-maximum of intensity HWHM = 6.4° ± 1.6°; the linear phase coefficient β = 0.0045 ± 0.0001 mag/deg for α from 30° ≤ α ≤ 65°; and the phase angle at which a nonlinear increase in brightness starts, α _opp ≈ 31°. For the first time, the phase-angle dependence was obtained for the color of the dust of comet Halley: the color index BC-RC systematically decreases with increasing phase angle. Such a phase behavior of the dust color can be caused by the decrease in the mean size of dust particles that occurs when the comet approaches the Sun. For comet Halley, the negative polarization branch is almost symmetric; the minimal value of polarization is P _min = −1.54% at a phase angle α_min = 10.5°, and the inversion angle is α_inv = 21.7°. A comparative analysis of the phase functions of brightness and polarization has been performed for the cometary dust and atmosphereless bodies. Among the latter are low-albedo asteroids of the P and C types (102 Miriam and 47 Aglaja, respectively), as well as Deimos; high-albedo objects, such as the E-type asteroid 64 Angelina and the icy satellite of Jupiter Europa; and the Moon with its intermediate albedo. The possibility of a weak depression in the negative polarization branch of comets Halley and 47P/Ashbrook-Jackson at phase angles smaller than 2° is discussed.__________Translated from Astronomicheskii Vestnik, Vol. 39, No. 4, 2005, pp. 353–363.Original Russian Text Copyright © 2005 by Rosenbush.     

Fast Solar Wind Velocity in a Polar Coronal Hole during Solar Minimum

We present a study of the outflow velocity of the fast wind in the northern polar coronal hole observed on 21 May 1996, during the minimum of solar activity, in the frame of a joint observing program of the SOHO (Solar Heliospheric Observatory) mission. The outflow velocity is inferred from an analysis of the Doppler dimming of the intensities of the Ovi 1032, 1037 and Hi L 1216 lines observed between 1.5 R and 3.5 R with the Ultraviolet Coronagraph Spectrometer (UVCS), operating onboard SOHO. The analysis shows that for a coronal plasma characterized by low density, as derived for a polar hole at solar minimum by Guhathakurta et al. (1999), and low temperature, as directly measured at the base of this coronal hole by David et al. (1998), the oxygen outflow speed derived spectroscopically is consistent with that implied by the proton flux conservation. The hydrogen outflow is also consistent with flux conservation if the deviation from isotropy of the velocity distribution of the hydrogen atoms is negligible. Hence, for this cool and tenuous corona, the oxygen ions and neutral hydrogen atoms flow outward roughly at the same speed, which increases from 40 km s^–1 at 1.5 R to 360 km s^–1 at 3.1 R , with an average acceleration of the order of 4.5×10³ cm s^–2. The highly anisotropic velocity distributions of the Ovi ions found in the analysis confirm that the process which is heating the oxygen ions acts preferentially across the magnetic field.     

Some requirements of a colliding comet source of gamma ray bursts

Colliding comets in the Solar System may be an important source of gamma ray bursts. The spherical gamma ray comet cloud required by the results of the Venera Satellites (Mazets and Golenetskii, 1987) and the BATSE detector on the Compton Satellite (Meeganet al., 1992a, b) is neither the Oort Cloud nor the Kuiper Belt. To satisfy observations ofN(>P _max) vsP _max for the maximum gamma ray fluxes,P _max > 10^–5 erg cm^–2 s^–1 (about 30 bursts yr^–1), the comet density,n, should increase asn a ¹ from about 40 to 100 AU wherea is the comet heliocentric distance. The turnover above 100 AU requiresn a ^–1/2 to 200 AU to fit the Venera results andn a ^1/4 to 400 AU to fit the BATSE data. Then the masses of comets in the 3 regions are from: 40–100 AU, about 9 earth masses,m _E; 100–200 AU about 25m _E; and 100–400 AU, about 900m _E. The flux of 10^–5 erg cm^–2 s^–1 corresponds to a luminosity at 100 AU of 3 × 10²⁶ erg s^–1. Two colliding spherical comets at a distance of 100 AU, each with nucleus of radiusR of 5 km, density of 0.5 g cm^–3 and Keplerian velocity 3 km s^–1 have a combined kinetic energy of 3 × 10²⁸ erg, a factor of about 100 greater than required by the burst maximum fluxes that last for one second. Betatron acceleration in the compressed magnetic fields between the colliding comets could accelerate electrons to energies sufficient to produce the observed high energy gamma rays. Many of the additional observed features of gamma ray bursts can be explained by the solar comet collision source.     

Organics-glued dust aggregates in Halley's coma and some implications of the snow line inward motion for the formation of comets

In view of the solar nebula models, organics-glued dust aggregates (whose disintegration resulted in the two phenomena found in Halley's coma, the dust boundary and small-scale dust structures) originated due to coagulation of iceless dust particles somewhere within the snow line, and then were incorporated into Halley's nucleus as a consequence of the snow line inward motion. This implies that two types of comets exist: outer comets, formed entirely beyond the snow line, and inner comets, similar to Halley, which are bodies intermediate between outer comets and primitive asteroids. The presence of large iceless dust aggregates in nuclei of inner comets constrains the inward drift velocity of meter-sized dust bodies, which in turn implies that the radial transport of water in the solar nebula was predominantly outward. It is shown that in nuclei of inner comets: both the upper mass limit of iceless dust aggregates and the ice mantle thickness increase with decreasing formation heliocentric distance, while the cumulative mass distribution index decreases; the lower limit of the mass index is ∼0.8, and the upper limit of the ice mantle thickness is ∼10⁻³ cm (∼200 times the interstellar value); the lower limit of the latent heat of organics in organic mantles of submicron particles increases toward small heliocentric distances; the recondensation of organics combined with the growth of dust bodies leads to a fractionation of organics within iceless dust aggregates; last accreted sub-units of an aggregate are always glued by organics with the lowest value of the latent heat, which somewhat exceeds 60 kJ/mol. Based on in situ observations at Halley, the parameters characterizing iceless dust aggregates in that comet are calculated. Finally, feasible observational tests of the conclusions drawn are discussed.     

Meteorite Ablation Evaluated from Data on the Distribution of Cosmogenic Neon Isotopes

The type of the functional dependence of the ratio of the production rates of the cosmogenic isotopes ²²Ne/²¹Ne_c on their location depth d (cm) in ordinary chondrites with a radius R 60 cm was determined on the basis of experimental data on the elemental production rates of cosmogenic Ne isotopes in chondrites (Leya et al., 2000a). The dependence found is of the type ²²Ne/²¹Ne_c = Aexp(–Bd) + C, where the parameters A, B, and C are determined from the relationships: B = 0.560exp(–0.0105R) – 0.187, C = 0.170exp(–0.092R) + 1.083, and 0.170exp(–0.092R) + 1.144. These relationships were used to calculate the average weighted values of the ²²Ne/²¹Ne_c ratio for the volume of the fallen meteorite depending on its given preatmospheric radius. The data obtained served as a basis for plotting a nomogram that makes it possible to estimate the mass lost during passage through the Earth's atmosphere (ablation quantity) from the mass of the fallen meteorite and the average value of the ²²Ne/²¹Ne_c ratio measured in it. The average (median) value of ablation found for 262 chondrites was 91.5^+2.1 _–2.6%. In addition to the earlier-established (Alexeev, 2001a; Alexeev, 2001b) peculiarities of H5-chondrites that distinguish them from H-chondrites of other petrologic types, H5-chondrites appeared to exhibit a higher degree of ablation. The observed effect and other distinctive features of H5-chondrites may be due to the specific evolution of the parent body of H-chondrites in the process of its disintegration, reaccumulation, and subsequent reworking of the surface layers.     

Three years of Ulysses dust data: 1993–1995

The Ulysses spacecraft is orbiting the Sun on a highly inclined ellipse (i = 79°). After its Jupiter flyby in 1992 at a heliocentric distance of 5.4 AU, the spacecraftreapproached the inner solar system, flew over the Suns south polar region in September 1994,crossed the ecliptic plane at a distance of 1.3 AU in March 1995, and flew over the Suns northpolar region in July 1995. We report on dust impact data obtained with the dust detector onboardUlysses between January 1993 and December 1995. We publish and analyse the complete dataset of 509 recorded impacts of dust particles with masses between 10⁻¹⁶ g–10⁻⁷ g. Together with 968 dust impacts from launch until the end of 1992 published earlier (Grün et al., 1995c), information about 1477 particles detected with theUlysses sensor between October 1990 and December 1995 is now available. The impact ratemeasured between 1993 and 1995 stayed relatively constant at about 0.4 impacts per day andvaried by less than a factor of ten. Most of the impacts recorded outside about 3.5 AU arecompatible with particles of interstellar origin. Two populations of interplanetary particles havebeen recognized: big micrometer-sized particles close to the ecliptic plane and smallsub-micrometer-sized particles at high ecliptic latitudes. The observed impact rate is comparedwith a model for the flux of interstellar dust particles which gives relatively good agreement withthe observed impact rate. No change in the instruments noise characteristics or degradation of thechanneltron could be revealed during the three-year period.     

Solar irradiance from Nimbus-7 compared with ground-based photometry

We have compared total solar irradiance from Nimbus-7 with ground-based photometry from the San Fernando Observatory (SFO) for 109 days between June 1 and December 31, 1988. We have also included in some analyses NOAA-9 SBUV2 data orF10.7 radio flux. The Nimbus-7 data are from orbital samples, averaged to the mean time of observation at SFO. Using the same parameters as in Chapmanet al. (1992), the multiple regression gives anR ² = 0.9131 and a solar minimum irradiance,S ₀, = 1371.76 ± 0.18 W m^–2 for the best fit.     

Single particle approximation for the inner coma of comet Halley

Parameters of the plasma in the inner coma of comet Halley are derived from the magnetic field measurements by using single particle approximation. Both the plasma velocity and the temperature obtained by using this approach are self-consistent and happen to be in good agreement within situ measurements whereas the neutral gas production rate happens to be 2–3 times higher than the conventionally cited value 6.9 × 10²⁹ s^–1.     

The Spatial Distribution of Gaseous Atomic Sodium in the Comae of Comets: Evidence for Direct Nucleus and Extended Plasma Sources

Sodium D-line emission (5890 and 5896 Å) has been observed in bright comets at small to moderate heliocentric distances for many years. We present here the first in depth study of a set of spatial profiles of the sodium D-line emission constructed from long-slit spectroscopic observations of Comets Bennett C/1969 Y1, Kohoutek C/1973 D1, and 1P/Halley. Preliminary analysis of these data lead to the suggestion by Combiet al.(1996,A Plasmagenic Source for Gaseous Sodium in Comets.Presented at Asteroids, Comets, Meteors) that a major fraction of the gaseous sodium was produced by an extended source in the tail and that the source was likely to be some charged species. Dissociative recombination of a molecular ion was suggested. The spatial profiles of sodium are not like typical neutral species. The inner region from the nucleus (<2 × 10⁴km) can be explained in terms of a model that accounts for collisional entrainment in the expanding coma and the heliocentric velocity dependent fluorescence rate and radiation pressure acceleration. This source comes either directly from the nucleus or has a very short-lived parent (?10³s). Away from the nucleus, down the tail and to the sides, the spatial profile slope flattens, indicating a second extended source. The striking similarity of the extended region of sodium spatial profiles with those of ions (H₂O⁺), both along and perpendicular to the tail, is highly suggestive that an ion source is responsible for the production of the extended component of gaseous sodium in the coma. The production rate of the highly variable extended source when present is four to five times that of the direct nucleus source. Observations (Schneideret al., 1991,Science253,1394–1397) and quantitative model analyses (Wilson and Schneider, 1994,Icarus111,31–34) have shown that a dissociative recombination of a sodium bearing molecular ion (NaX⁺) produces a peculiar component of the neutral sodium near Io. It displays a variable spatial morphology consistent with that of a molecular ion source “picked-up” in the plasma torus corotating with Jupiter's magnetic field. The rapid onset of the appearance of gaseous sodium in bright comets, its spatial distribution in the extended coma and near tail, and recent observations of sodium tails are all consistent with our original suggestion of this plasma source for sodium in comets.     

High-resolution bispectrum speckle interferometry and two-dimensional radiative transfer modeling of the Red Rectangle

We present the first diffraction-limited K-band image of the Red Rectangle with 76 mas resolution, an H-band image with 75 mas resolution, and an RG 715 filter image ( 800 nm wavelength) with 78 mas resolution (corresponding to 25 AU for a distance of 330 pc). The H and K images were reconstructed from 6 m telescope speckle data and the RG 715 image from 2.2 m telescope data using the speckle masking bispectrum method. At all wavelengths the images show a compact, highly symmetric bipolar nebula, suggesting a toroidal density distribution of the circumstellar material. No direct light from the central binary can be seen as it is obscured by a dust disk or circumbinary torus. Our first high-resolution H−K color image of the nebula shows a broad red plateau of H−K≈ 2^m in the bright inner regions.The optical and near-infrared images and the available photometric continuum observations in a wide range of ultraviolet to centimeter wavelengths enabled us to model the Red Rectangle in detail using a two-dimensional radiative transfer code. Our model matches both the high-resolution images and the spectral energy distribution of this object very well, making the following picture much more certain. The central close binary system with a total luminosity of 3000 L is embedded in a very dense, compact circumbinary torus which has an average number density n_H ≈5×10¹² cm⁻³, an outer radius of the dense inner region of R≈30 AU (91 mas), and a ρ∝r⁻² density distribution. The full opening angle of the bipolar outflow cavities in our model is 70°. By comparing the observed and theoretical images, we derived an inclination angle of the torus to the line of sight of 7°±1°.The radiative transfer calculations show that the dust properties in the Red Rectangle are spatially inhomogeneous. The modeling confirms that the idea of large grains in the long-lived disk around the Red Rectangle (Jura et al., 1997 [ApJ, 474, 741]) is quantitatively consistent with the observations. In our models, unusually large, approximately millimeter-sized grains dominate the emission of the compact, massive torus. Models with smaller average grain sizes can possibly be found in future studies, for instance, if it turns out that the radio spectrum is not mainly caused by continuum dust emission. Therefore, the large grains suggested by our models require further confirmation by both new observations and radiative transfer calculations. Assuming a dust-to-gas ratio ρ_d/ρ_g of 0.005, the dense torus mass is 0.25 M. The model gives a lower limit of 0.0018 M, for the mass of the large particles, which produce a gray extinction of A≈ 28^m, towards the center. A much smaller mass of submicron-sized dust grains is presumably located in the polar outflow cavities, their conical surface layers, and in the outer low-density parts of the torus (where ρ∝r⁻⁴, in the region of 30 AUr 2000 AU corresponding to 0.^′′09–6^′′).     

Excitation rate of sodium D line in the nightglow

The processes responsible for the emission of Na-D line in the Earth's atmosphere and laboratory are briefly reviewed. From the laboratory results of Ghoshet al. (1970), the rate coefficient of reactions exciting sodium D line is estimated to be 4.73×10^–25 cm⁶/sec², and its intensity in the nightglow is found to be about 114R in summer and 302R in winter.     

The velocities of intranetwork and network magnetic fields

We analyzed two sequences of quiet-Sun magnetograms obtained on June 4, 1992 and July 28, 1994. Both were observed during excellent seeing conditions such that the weak intranetwork (IN) fields are observed clearly during the entire periods. Using the local correlation tracking technique, we derived the horizontal velocity fields of IN and network magnetic fields. They consist of two components: (1) radial divergence flows which move IN fields from the network interior to the boundaries, and (2) lateral flows which move along the network boundaries and converge toward stronger magnetic elements. Furthermore, we constructed divergence maps based on horizonal velocities, which are a good representation of the vertical velocities of supergranules. For the June 4, 1992 data, the enhanced network area in the field of view has twice the flux density, 10% higher supergranular velocity and 20% larger cell sizes than the quiet, unenhanced network area. Based on the number densities and flow velocities of IN fields derived in this paper and a previous paper (Wang et al., 1995), we estimate that the lower limit of total energy released from the recycling of IN fields is 1.2 × 10²⁸ erg s^–1, which is comparable to the energy required for coronal heating.     

3D interstellar extinction map within the nearest kiloparsec

The product of the previously constructed 3D maps of stellar reddening (Gontcharov 2010) and Rv variations (Gontcharov 2012) has allowed us to produce a 3D interstellar extinction map within the nearest kiloparsec from the Sun with a spatial resolution of 50 pc and an accuracy of {ie87-1}. Thismap is compared with the 2D reddening map by Schlegel et al. (1998), the 3D extinction map at high latitudes by Jones et al. (2011), and the analytical extinctionmodels by Arenou et al. (1992) and Gontcharov (2009). In all cases, we have found good agreement and show that there are no systematic errors in the new map everywhere except the direction toward the Galactic center. We have found that the map by Schlegel et al. (1998) reaches saturation near the Galactic equator at E(B - V) > 0.8, has a zero-point error and systematic errors gradually increasing with reddening, and among the analytical models those that take into account the extinction in the Gould Belt are more accurate. Our extinction map shows that it is determined by reddening variations at low latitudes and Rv variations at high ones. This naturally explains the contradictory data on the correlation or anticorrelation between reddening and Rv available in the literature. There is a correlation in a thin layer near the Galactic equator, because both reddening and Rv here increase toward the Galactic center. There is an anticorrelation outside this layer, because higher values of Rv correspond to lower reddening at high and middle latitudes. Systematic differences in sizes and other properties of the dust grains in different parts of the Galaxy manifest themselves in this way. The largest structures within the nearest kiloparsec, including the Local Bubble, the Gould Belt, the Great Tunnel, the Scorpius, Perseus, Orion, and other complexes, have manifested themselves in the constructed map.     

Anisotropic angular broadening in the solar wind

We present Very Large Array observations at wavelengths of 2, 3.5, 6, and 20 cm, of angular broadening of radio sources due to the solar wind in the region 2–16 solar radii. Angular broadening is anisotropic with axial ratios in the range 2–16. Larger axial ratios are observed preferentially at smaller solar distances. Assuming that anisotropy is due to scattering blobs elongated along magnetic field lines, the distribution of position angles of the elliptically broadened images indicates that the field lines are non-radial even at the largest heliocentric distances observed here. At 5R , the major axis scattering angle is 0.7 at =6 cm and it varies with heliocentric distance asR ^–1.6. The level of turbulence, characterized by the wave structure function at a scale of 10 km along the major axis, normalized to =20 cm, has a value 20±7 at 5R and varies with heliocentric distance asR ^–3. Comprison with earlier results suggest that the level of turbulence is higher during solar maximum. Assuming a power-law spectrum of electron density fluctuations, the fitted spectral exponents have values in the range 2.8–3.4 for scales sizes between 2–35 km. The data suggests temporal fluctuations (of up to 10%) in the spectral exponent on a time scale of a few tens of minutes. The observed structure functions at different solar distances do not show any evidence for an inner scale; the upper limits are 1 km at 2R and 4 km at 13R . These upper limits are in conflict with earlier determinations and may suggest a reduced inner scale during solar maximum.     

Pioneer-10 observation of the solar wind proton temperature heliocentric gradient

Solar wind isotropic proton temperatures as measured out to 12.2 AU heliocentric distance by the Ames plasma analyzer aboard Pioneer-10 are presented as consecutive averages over three Carrington solar rotations and discussed. The weighted least-squares fit of average temperature to heliocentric radial distance, R, yields the power law R ^-0.52. These average proton temperatures are not correlated as well with Pioneer-10's heliocentric radial distance (-0.85) as are the corresponding average Zürich sunspot numbers R _z (-0.95). Consequently, it is difficult to isolate the spatial gradient in the Pioneer-10 solar wind proton temperatures using that data alone.     

Is there an oblique magnetic rotator inside the Sun?

The size of the rotational splitting recently observed (Claverie et al., 1981) is correlated with the 12.2^d variation in the measurements of solar oblateness observed by Dicke (1976) and implies a convection zone of depth of 0.1 R . The near equality of amplitudes of global velocity oscillations (Claverie et al., 1981) of the various m components of the l = 1 and l = 2 modes as seen from the Earth viewing the Sun nearly along the equator is unexpected for pure rotational splitting. It is suggested that a magnetic perturbation is present and an oblique asymmetric magnetic rotator with magnetic fields of a few million gauss is responsible. A more detailed account was submitted to Nature.Proceedings of the 66th IAU Colloquium: Problems in Solar and Stellar Oscillations, held at the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory, U.S.S.R., 1–5 September, 1981.     

Das ProduktAR 0 und Weitere Galaktische Parameter

According to the tangential method the productAR ₀ is determined with 145.7 km s^–1 from measurements of the line profiles of the 21-cm line of the neutral hydrogen by Weaver and Williams (1973). The recent individual measurements of Oort's constantA and of the distanceR ₀ of the Sun from the galactic centre yields 138.5 km s^–1. The mean value 142.1 kms^–1 leads toA=14.56 km s^–1 kpc^–1 andR ₀=9.76 kpc. At the galactocentric distanceR nearR ₀ the angular velocity is represented by (R)=25.84–2.98 (R–9.76)+0.075 (R–9.76)². The mass of the Galaxy amounts to 1-92×10¹¹ .

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Herrn Kollegen Prof. Dr W. Gleisberg zum 70. Geburtstag am 26.12.1973 gewidmet.

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Mitteilungen Serie A.