Stellar oscillations and magnetic field perturbations of the boundary conditions

The effect of a weak magnetic field on the adiabatic radial and non-radial oscillations of a stellar configuration is studied by means of a perturbation method. Special attention is devoted to the perturbation of the oscillation frequencies resulting from the change of the boundary conditions caused by the magnetic field. This change is related to the fact that the introduction of a magnetic field removes the singularity at the surface of the equilibrium configuration. The perturbation method is applied to Ferraro's model and the influence of a magnetic field on the frequencies of the different types of oscillation modes is discussed.     

Analysis of the 5 min oscillatory photospheric motion

A more objective statistical technique is applied directly to the four time series used in Paper I. The empirical probability density functions indicate that the measurements are realizations of a narrow-band random process with Gaussian statistics. This result allows quantitative statistical use of the mean autocorrelation function. For example, a characteristic correlation time is 23 min, and the motion becomes statistically uncorrelated over intervals greater than 40 min. The mean autocorrelation function is found to be free of secondary maxima that have been so troublesome in other analyses. The question raised in this paper is whether our statistical model of the motion as a Gaussian random process is also applicable to smaller regions on the order of 1 to 2 in size.The National Center for Atmospheric Research is sponsored by the National Science Foundation.     

Stellar Inversions

Inversions of oscillation frequencies have proved to be extremelypowerful in studying the structure of the Sun. We examine theconditions under which we can invert oscillation frequenciesof other stars to study their structure. We show that despite thevery limited number of modes that are expected to be observed in otherstars, we can perform inversions that will give localized informationof the stellar core. These results can limit the space of admissiblemodels of a given star.     

Stellar Convection

Seismology provides powerful tests of convection deep instellar interiors. First, the role of convective overshoot and lowefficiency convection, two areas of uncertainty with importantastrophysical implications, are reviewed briefly. In the rest of thetalk, a critical introduction to numerical simulations of radiativehydrodynamics will be given. The basic underlyingassumptions and challenges are explained, and some recent resultsare presented.     

Stellar associations

This article is intended to remind us of the history of the origins of one of the fundamental discoveries of the twentieth century, stellar associations, which are connected with the name of V. A. Ambartsumyan. It is not a complete discussion of all the published work, for this is, of course, impossible. Research on stellar associations began immediately after their discovery and continues to this day. Observations are now also carried out by automatic satellites and a vast amount of observational data has been obtained. Many stellar associations have been discovered, both in our galaxy and in other galaxies. Catalogs of stellar associations have been compiled and many problems relating to stellar associations have been solved. Translated from Astrofizika, Vol. 52, No. 2, pp. 171–184 (May 2009).     

Stellar dynamics

This review attempts to place stellar dynamics in relation to other dynamical fields and to describe some of its important techniques and present-day problems. Stellar dynamics has some parallels, in increasing order of closeness, with celestial mechanics, statistical mechanics, kinetic theory, and plasma theory; but even in the last case the parallels are not very close. Stellar dynamics describes, usually through distribution functions, the motions of a large number of bodies as they all act on each other gravitationally. To a good approximation each star can be considered to move in the smoothed-out field of all the others, with random encounters between pairs of stars adding a slow statistical change to these smooth motions. Smooth-field dynamics has a well-developed theory, and the state of smooth stellar systems can be described in some detail. The ‘third integral’ presents an outstanding problem, however. Stellar encounters also have a well-developed theory, but close encounters and encounters of a single star with a binary pose serious problems for the statistical treatment. Star-cluster dynamics can be approached through a theory of smooth-field dynamics plus changes due to encounters, or alternatively through numerical simulations. The relation between the two methods is not yet close enough. The dynamical evolution of star clusters is still not fully understood.     

Stellar flares

Different aspects of stellar flares as one of the events of stellar activity with different levels of similarity to solar-activity phenomena are briefly discussed: those which are understandable by means of scaling of solar events, those that do not occur on the Sun but general solar features allow us to understand them, and such stellar events that have not been understood as yet.     

Stellar Tomography

I review recent progress in the field of stellar surface imaging, with particular reference to advanced methods for mapping surface-brightness inhomogeneities and the surface vector magnetic field on magnetically active late-type stars. New signal enhancement techniques, utilising profile information from hundreds or thousands of photospheric lines simultaneously, allow images to be derived for stars several magnitudes fainter than was previously possible. For brighter stars, the same techniques make it possible to map features as small as two or three degrees in extent on the stellar surface. This opens up whole new areas of research, such as the ability to use starspot tracking to study surface differential rotation patterns on single and binary stars, and to follow the secular evolution of the magnetic field itself. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

A search for 5 min periodic structure in solar 2 cm emission

Two hundred and eighty-five hours of solar data obtained from the University of Iowa 2 cm radiometer during 1968–1969 were analyzed for evidence of periodic structure related to the 5 min periodic chromospheric oscillations detected in optical line emissions. A power spectral analysis of the data failed to show any statistically significant (> 96 % confidence) periodic activity in the frequency range 1–15 mHz (periods of 1–16 min) for data organized according to solar activity in H, soft solar X-rays (2–12 ), and several microwave frequencies (3–15 GHz).A small shift in power from low to higher frequencies in the power spectrum of the 2 cm data was found to be correlated with H and X-ray activity. This power shift is attributed to a relative increase in chromospheric turbulence at altitudes common to H, X-ray, and 2 cm emission.Consistent statistical analyses of previous works reporting evidence for oscillations at microwave and extreme-ultraviolet frequencies indicate that confidence in these previous results is marginal.A model for chromospheric oscillation bursts in quiescent supergranules is incorporated into a statistical analysis of the power spectrum detectability of the oscillations to understand the negative results obtained.     

星族合成

以简单星族为例介绍了演化星族合成的算法 ,并总结了在演化星族合成中常用的恒星演化库 ,光谱库 ,初始质量函数和合成判据 ,最后简要讨论了目前星族合成中仍存在的问题。     

Stellar dynamic spectroscopy

The dynamic spectrum, a three dimensional record of the radio intensity as a function both of time and frequency, has long been used as a probe of plasma processes in the solar corona. Beginning with the work of Wild and McCready (1950) dynamic spectroscopy has been used to distinguish between the multitude of radio wave emitting phenomena which occur in the solar corona and to infer the physical mechanisms responsible.Stellar dynamic spectroscopy has always been a tantalizing prospect. The vast body of experience with solar dynamic spectroscopy would prove invaluable in interpreting stellar dynamic spectra. Further, the new parameter regimes presented by stellar coronas would allow further insight to be gained in the physical processes at work in stellar coronas.Recently, Bastian and Bookbinder (1987) used the Very Large Array in spectral line mode at 1.4 GHz with a bandwidth of 50 MHz to obtain the first dynamic spectra of nearby flare stars. The spectral resolution was 3.125 MHz and the temporal resolution was 5 s. While the relative bandwidth was less than ideal (/ 5%), the spectra so obtained were sufficient to show the presence of narrowband structure in a radio outburst from the well-known dMe flare star UV Ceti.Several efforts are now underway to obtain stellar dynamic spectra, of both RS CVn binaries and dMe flare stars, with higher degrees of spectral and temporal resolution. Among these are use of a 1024 channel correlator with the 1000' telescope at Arecibo and use of the Berkeley Fast Pulsar Search Machine (Kulkarni et al. 1984) with the Green Bank 140' telescope.

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Stellar Wind Theories

In this lecture I describe the basic theory of stellar winds with momentum input due to a force or with energy input and I formulate the five laws of stellar winds. I review the different wind mechanisms and discuss the line driven wind model and the dust driven wind models. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Stellar chromospheric temperatures

The emission doublet 2800 Mgii of stellar chromospheric origin is always stronger than the emission in the Lα line of hydrogen. At the same time, the ratio of their fluxes,Q=F(Mgii)/F(Lα), varies over a wide range— from 2 up to 20 in stars of one and the same type. Assuming that both emission structures, 2800 Mgii and Lα, are excited in one and the same region of the chromosphere, an attempt is made to represent the ratioQ as a function from one physical parameter only—chromospheric electron temperature. Such an approach explains easily the observed behaviour of the ratioQ in different stars.     

Stellar dynamic spectroscopy

The dynamic spectrum, a three dimensional record of the radio intensity as a function both of time and frequency, has long been used as a probe of plasma processes in the solar corona. Beginning with the work of Wild and McCready (1950) dynamic spectroscopy has been used to distinguish between the multitude of radio wave emitting phenomena which occur in the solar corona and to infer the physical mechanisms responsible.

Stellar dynamic spectroscopy has always been a tantalizing prospect. The vast body of experience with solar dynamic spectroscopy would prove invaluable in interpreting stellar dynamic spectra. Further, the new parameter regimes presented by stellar coronas would allow further insight to be gained in the physical processes at work in stellar coronas.

Recently, Bastian and Bookbinder (1987) used the Very Large Array in spectral line mode at 1.4 GHz with a bandwidth of 50 MHz to obtain the first dynamic spectra of nearby flare stars. The spectral resolution was 3.125 MHz and the temporal resolution was 5 s. While the relative bandwidth was less than ideal (δν/ν ∼ 5%), the spectra so obtained were sufficient to show the presence of narrowband structure in a radio outburst from the well-known dMe flare star UV Ceti.

Several efforts are now underway to obtain stellar dynamic spectra, of both RS CVn binaries and dMe flare stars, with higher degrees of spectral and temporal resolution. Among these are use of a 1024 channel correlator with the 1000' telescope at Arecibo and use of the Berkeley Fast Pulsar Search Machine (Kulkarni et al. 1984) with the Green Bank 140' telescope.

     

Solar velocity fields: 5-min oscillations and supergranulation

One dimensional magnetograph scans have been used to study the 5-min photospheric velocity oscillations and the supergranulation. The oscillations in wing brightness lead the oscillations in velocity by less than 90° in the photosphere, and about 90° in the chromosphere, suggesting that they are traveling waves at lower levels and standing waves at higher levels. Downward flows have been observed to be coincident with the chromospheric network confirming the hypothesis that material is flowing downward at supergranular boundaries.     

Atomic-beam study of the 5-min solar wavelength oscillations

Long records of the wavelength oscillations of the solar 7699 Å potassium line have been obtained with an atomic-beam resonance-scattering apparatus taken to Kitt Peak. Data are presented giving the dependence of rms oscillation amplitude on the size of the area observed and power spectra of the oscillations are shown. The results are compared with recent work by others.

     

Nucleosynthesis and Stellar Evolution

Two of the basic building blocks of galaxies are stars and the interstellar medium. The evolution of the abundance composition in the latter and especially the enrichment of heavy elements as a function of space and time reflects in turn the history of star formation and the lifetimes of the diverse contributing stellar objects. Therefore, the understanding of stellar evolution and its endpoints (mainly planetary nebulae, supernovae of type Ia and type II/Ib/Ic) is essential. Despite many efforts, a full and self-consistent understanding of supernovae (the main contributors to nucleosynthesis in galaxies) is not existing, yet. However, they leave fingerprints, seen either in spectra, lightcurves, radioactivities/decay gamma-rays or in galactic evolution. Here we want to address the composition of ejecta, their model uncertainties and relate them to constraints from abundance observations in galactic evolution. This revised version was published online in September 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Stellar Rotation and Activity

This review is limited to solar-type stars (late-F to early-K main sequence stars) and to recent developments in the study of the evolution of angular momentum in those stars. Observations of rotation in young clusters are discussed, together with the models that have been put forth to account for what is seen. One key question is whether or not the convective envelopes of solar-type stars decouple from the radiative cores when the stars near the Zero-Age Main Sequence. That question cannot yet be answered, but forthcoming observations are likely to address the issue. Another significant open question is the degree to which any one cluster of stars is typical of all stars at that age, and that too is near to being resolved as we reach deeper into the Galaxy at high spectroscopic resolution. Finally, some general properties of activity in solar-type stars are presented. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.