Quenching of auroral hydrogen line emission by collisional ionization

With the aid of the classical impulse approximation a simple formula is derived for the cross section for electron loss from fast excited hydrogen atoms passing through a neutral gas. Detailed computations relevant to the quenching of hydrogen line emission in auroras are performed. It is found, incidentally, that the population distribution amongst the states of a level is unlikely to be brought into statistical equilibrium by the collisions suffered by the hydrogen atoms.     

Theoretical line intensities from MgVI,SiVIII, and SX coronal ions

Emission line intensities from MgVI, SiVIII, andSX ions of nitrogen sequence have been computed by use of the model atmosphere of Kopp and Orrall (1976) for the quiet Sun and coronal holes and compared with observational data available from rocket and satellite.     

Vibrationally excited molecular hydrogen in circumstellar clouds and the interstellar CH+ abundance

The production of CH⁺ in dense interstellar clouds under intense UV irradiation is discussed. A model applicable to the cloud towards the star 20 Tau is described.     

Modelling the VUV emission spectrum of N2: preliminary results on the effects of rotational interactions on line intensities

A theoretical model of the excited singlet ungerade electronic states of the nitrogen molecule is presented. This work is an extension of a previous study (D. Stahel, M. Leoni and K. Dressler, J. Chem. Phys. 79, 2541-2558, 1983) with the addition of rotational interactions between states of different symmetry. These rotational interactions together with the homogeneous couplings frequently lead to extreme mixing of the states. This model is being used to analyse the high resolution vacuum ultraviolet emission spectrum which is currently being recorded photoelectrically. The ultimate goal of this work is the reliable interpretation of the low resolution emission spectra observed from planetary atmospheres, notably that of Titan, and the transitions assigned as being important in the Voyager 1 spectra of Titan are discussed in detail.     

Coronal Fe ix line intensities and electron density diagnostics

The relative intensities of the most prominent extreme-ultraviolet lines of Fe  ix , seen in the outer atmospheres of the Sun and other stars, have been shown to be inconsistent with the best available atomic data. The density-sensitive Fe  ix λ 241.7/ λ 244.9 line intensity ratio, for example, yields electron densities in the solar corona that disagree with those obtained from ratios in other ions, particularly at higher densities. We show here that these differences can be largely removed by using newly calculated atomic data, in particular electron impact collision strengths that include pronounced resonance features, and by incorporating a measure of line excitation by collisional excitation and cascading.     

Modelling line profiles in infalling cores

Results are presented from a model of molecular line formation in collapsing star-forming cores. The study includes, for the first time, a self-consistent chemical and dynamical model which is then directly coupled to an appropriate radiative transfer model. The assumptions of chemical uniformity or simple monotonic variations within such cores are shown to be unacceptable. The results show that the abundance variations and the line profiles are highly sensitive to the assumed values of the free parameters in the chemical model. Extreme caution is therefore advised in the quantitative analysis of emission-line profiles from infall sources. The implied degeneracy can be overcome by multiple line-of-sight observations of many species and transitions.     

Stationary equations of hydrogen excitation and ionization in prominences

The statistical equilibrium equations for the continuum and first 10 levels of a hydrogen atom show that the radiation of a bright prominence (the brightness of the H line has attained 56 mÅ of the disc centre spectrum) is completely due to scattering of the Sun radiation. The basic unknowns are separated with certainty: electron concentration (n _e = 3.0 × 10¹⁰ cm^–3), effective thickness (l = 4.2 × 10⁸ cm) and electron temperature (T _e = 5000 K).Radiation of a very bright prominence (A (H) = 213 mÅ; T _e = 7300 K; n _e = 5.0 × 10¹¹ cm^–3; l = 1.3 × 10⁷ cm) is on account of electron impacts (40%) and the Sun radiation scattering (60%).The parameters are shown to depend greatly on the prominence optical thickness in the lines of the first subordinate series of a hydrogen atom. In the course of determination all the parameters and 100 interconnected integral equations of the radiation diffusion have been thickness-averaged; the population of levels has been calculated by observations using the self-absorption factors.     

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.     

Improved solar coronal temperature for equal green and red line intensities

An improved value of the temperature in the solar corona for equal green and red line intensities is obtained. This temperature is in better agreement with a quoted line-width value than the previous theoretical ones.     

Molecules and dust in circumstellar shells

Circumstellar shells provide a unique environment for the study of dust formation and the relation of dust composition to specific atomic and molecular components. As a specific example, the formation of carbonaceous dust is discussed in relation to the presence of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon molecules and their survival in the interstellar medium. Some conclusions will be drawn concerning the composition of carbonaceous dust in circumstellar sources and that in the diffuse interstellar medium.     

Radial matrix elements of hydrogen atom and the correspondence principle

Radial dipole matrix elements having astrophysical importance have been computed for highly excited states of hydrogen atom. Computation is based on Heisenberg’s form of correspondence principle for Coulomb potential. Particular attention has been paid to the choice of classical analogue(n _c) of principal quantum number (n). The computed radial matrix elements are in good agreement with quantum mechanical results. Further, radial matrix elements for few transitions involving highn neighboring states of hydrogen atom are presented.     

Polarized light from circumstellar dust: observations and models

Es werden zwei Modelle der bikonischen Staubnebel mit einem undurchsichtigen Staubtorus in der Symmetrieebene vorgestellt: ein Modell mit Staub im ganzen Doppelkegelraum (A) und ein “leeres” Modell mit einer Staubschicht an der Oberfläche dieses leeren Raumes (B). Die Helligkeits-verteilung an der Oberfläche und die Polarisation des emittierten Lichts werden mit Hilfe einer Monte-Carlo-Simulation des Strahlungstransports im Nebel berechnet. Die Ergebnisse der Berechnungen zeigen charakteristische Merkmale, wie sie auch bei einigen kompakten Reflexionsnebeln zu beobachten sind.     

Suprathermal oxygen atoms in the Martian upper atmosphere: Contribution of the proton and hydrogen atom precipitation

This is a study of the kinetics and transport of hot oxygen atoms in the transition region (from the thermosphere to the exosphere) of the Martian upper atmosphere. It is assumed that the source of the hot oxygen atoms is the transfer of momentum and energy in elastic collisions between thermal atmospheric oxygen atoms and the high-energy protons and hydrogen atoms precipitating onto the Martian upper atmosphere from the solar-wind plasma. The distribution functions of suprathermal oxygen atoms by the kinetic energy are calculated. It is shown that the exosphere is populated by a large number of suprathermal oxygen atoms with kinetic energies up to the escape energy 2 eV; i.e., a hot oxygen corona is formed around Mars. The transfer of energy from the precipitating solar-wind plasma protons and hydrogen atoms to the thermal oxygen atoms leads to the formation of an additional nonthermal escape flux of atomic oxygen from the Martian atmosphere. The precipitation-induced escape flux of hot oxygen atoms may become dominant under the conditions of extreme solar events, such as solar flares and coronal mass ejections, as shown by recent observations onboard NASA’s MAVEN spacecraft (Jakosky et al., 2015).     

Polarization in the young cluster NGC 6611: circumstellar, interstellar, or ... both?

We obtained linear polarization observations of 82 A/B-type stars in the young cluster NGC 6611, in order to probe the circumstellar material and to search for any evidence of intracluster or interstellar material that could also contribute to the polarization. We found linear polarization values that reach up to 14%. We consider the distribution of the polarization, its position angle, correlations with extinction and membership probability, polarization variability and wavelength distribution to identify the origin of the polarization toward NGC 6611. The polarization is found to be dominated by interstellar polarization, although some stars also have some circumstellar polarization. There is no evidence for intracluster dust. Rather, the dust must be located in a low density cloud toward the general line of sight to NGC 6611 and in front of it. The depth of that cloud along the line of sight increases slowly from the south–east to the north–west. The cloud is threaded by a very uniform magnetic field.     

A possible E-W asymmetry of the coronal emission line intensities and K-corona brightness

The analysis of the daily measurements of the coronal green and red line intensities as well as the K-corona brightness, which have been collected by the Pic-du-Midi Observatory, for the time period 1944–1974, has revealed some very interesting features. North-South (N-S) asymmetries for all these coronal intensities are confirmed again for this time period. The main point of this analysis is a strong evidence of longitudinal distribution of the coronal intensities as derived from the data record. In our effort to confirm this asymmetry, we have examined the yearly and monthly distribution of the asymmetry coefficient in each solar quadrant showing that the northeast (NE) quadrant appears the most active of all. We have also examined the intensity ratios measured at the East and West solar limbs which is continuously greater than the unit.A seasonal variation of this ratio has also been reported with a maximum during the winter period and a minimum during the summer period.     

Spectral line and white-light intensities in the corona in the presence of propagating or standing shocks

The effect of a propagating shock on the Hi L line and the polarization brightness in the inner solar wind region is investigated. We find that the shock produces measurable changes in both and, provided the measurements are made simultaneously, the alteration of the density and velocity across the shock can be derived. For a standing shock the effect on the L line and the white-light radiation is much smaller.     

A comparison of computed and observed line profiles and flash intensities in the photosphere-chromosphere transition region

This paper mainly deals with the development of a method for the interpretation of eclipse observations in the extreme limb - lower chromosphere transition region. We compute line profiles emitted by a column of 1 cm² cross section along the line of sight and, by integration, profiles and total (flash) intensities from a slice of 1 cm width beyond the Moon's edge, at various heights with respect to the solar limb. The solar models used are mentioned in Section 1; method and approximations are described in Section 2. Calculations have been made for some Fei lines with various equivalent widths (Table I); the results are discussed in Section 3. It appears that the method enables one to distinguish between the various models. Particularly line intensities just inside the limb are very important.We compared our computed results with some observations made by Houtgast (Section 4). The main conclusion is that a BCA-type temperature distribution alone does not agree with observations; we have to assume an excitation temperature of Holweger's type.Investigation performed at the Astronomical Institute, Utrecht; present address: Royal Belgian Observatory, 1180 Brussels.