Sensitivity of Selected Ba <Emphasis Type="SmallCaps">ii</Emphasis>, Fe <Emphasis Type="SmallCaps">i</Emphasis>, Fe <Emphasis Type="SmallCaps">ii</Emphasis>, and Cr <Emphasis Type="SmallCaps">i</Emphasis> Spectral Lines to Velocity in Quiet Solar Atmosphere

We examine the sensitivity of selected Ba?ii, Fe?i, Fe?ii, and Cr?i spectral lines to changes of the line-of-sight velocity by sharpness of their line profiles and response functions to line-of-sight velocity evaluated by the 1-D model of the quiet solar atmosphere in the LTE approximation. The set of selected lines includes the Ba?ii 4554 Å line, generally considered to be an excellent Doppler mapper. Our findings confirm earlier results showing that the sensitivity increases not only with wavelength, as anticipated from the Doppler relation, but mainly with the sharpness of line profiles given by the ratio of their depths and widths. The line Fe?i 5247 Å is the most sensitive in our set, whereas the Fe?i and Fe?ii infrared lines show very low sensitivity because of their large thermal widths. The line Ba?ii 4554 Å shows only moderate sensitivity due to its large width, given by a broad hyperfine structure and isotopic split. For the first time we identify a very promising and so far unknown Doppler mapper of the solar photosphere and low chromosphere, which is the line Ba?ii 6497 Å. Its sensitivity is comparable with the sensitivity of Fe?i 5247 Å and clearly surpasses the sensitivity of Ba?ii 4554 Å. The line Ba?ii 6497 Å offers many advantages, making it a highly recommendable choice for future studies of line-of-sight velocities in the photosphere and low chromosphere.     

The Na <Emphasis Type="SmallCaps">i</Emphasis> and Sr <Emphasis Type="SmallCaps">ii</Emphasis> Resonance Lines in Solar Prominences

We estimate the electron density, \(n_{\mathrm{e}}\), and its spatial variation in quiescent prominences from the observed emission ratio of the resonance lines Na?i?5890 Å (D₂) and Sr?ii?4078 Å. For a bright prominence (\(\tau_{\alpha}\approx25\)) we obtain a mean \(n_{\mathrm{e}}\approx2\times10^{10}~\mbox{cm}^{-3}\); for a faint one (\(\tau _{\alpha }\approx4\)) \(n_{\mathrm{e}}\approx4\times10^{10}~\mbox{cm}^{-3}\) on two consecutive days with moderate internal fluctuation and no systematic variation with height above the solar limb. The thermal and non-thermal contributions to the line broadening, \(T_{\mathrm{kin}}\) and \(V_{\mathrm{nth}}\), required to deduce \(n_{\mathrm{e}}\) from the emission ratio Na?i/Sr?ii cannot be unambiguously determined from observed widths of lines from atoms of different mass. The reduced widths, \(\Delta\lambda_{\mathrm{D}}/\lambda_{0}\), of Sr?ii?4078 Å show an excess over those from Na?D₂ and \(\mbox{H}\delta\,4101\) Å, assuming the same \(T_{\mathrm{kin}}\) and \(V_{\mathrm{nth}}\). We attribute this excess broadening to higher non-thermal broadening induced by interaction of ions with the prominence magnetic field. This is suggested by the finding of higher macro-shifts of Sr?ii?4078 Å as compared to those from Na?D₂.     

Visibility of Prominences Using the He <Emphasis Type="SmallCaps">i</Emphasis> D<Subscript>3</Subscript> Line Filter on the PROBA-3/ASPIICS Coronagraph

We determine the optimal width and shape of the narrow-band filter centered on the He?i D₃ line for prominence and coronal mass ejection (CME) observations with the ASPIICS (Association of Spacecraft for Polarimetric and Imaging Investigation of the Corona of the Sun) coronagraph onboard the PROBA-3 (Project for On-board Autonomy) satellite, to be launched in 2020. We analyze He?i D₃ line intensities for three representative non-local thermal equilibrium prominence models at temperatures 8, 30, and 100 kK computed with a radiative transfer code and the prominence visible-light (VL) emission due to Thomson scattering on the prominence electrons. We compute various useful relations at prominence line-of-sight velocities of 0, 100, and 300 km?s^?1 for 20 Å wide flat filter and three Gaussian filters with a full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) equal to 5, 10, and 20 Å to show the relative brightness contribution of the He?i D₃ line and the prominence VL to the visibility in a given narrow-band filter. We also discuss possible signal contamination by Na?i D₁ and D₂ lines, which otherwise may be useful to detect comets. Our results mainly show that i) an optimal narrow-band filter should be flat or somewhere between flat and Gaussian with an FWHM of 20 Å in order to detect fast-moving prominence structures, ii) the maximum emission in the He?i D₃ line is at 30 kK and the minimal at 100 kK, and iii) the ratio of emission in the He?i D₃ line to the VL emission can provide a useful diagnostic for the temperature of prominence structures. This ratio is up to 10 for hot prominence structures, up to 100 for cool structures, and up to 1000 for warm structures.     

On the intensity ratio of emission lines of Nai D1 to D2 in prominences

Spectroscopic observations of the Nai D emission lines of prominences were made with the Domeless Solar Telescope in Hida Observatory. When active prominences are bright in the D₂ emission line, the intensity ratio of D₁ to D₂ is found to deviate significantly from the theoretical ratio of the optically-thin case. On the other hand, the intensity ratio is close to the theoretical ratio for the most part of quiescent prominences. Furthermore, the full widths at half maximum intensity of the D₂ emission line for active prominences become wider than those of the D₁ line, as the intensity of the D₂ line gets higher. These observed features clearly show that the emitting region of the Nai D lines is optically thick in some types of prominences. Non-LTE calculations were made by taking the ionization degree of hydrogen atoms and the thickness of the prominences and the electron temperature as free parameters. It is shown that the electron temperature of the emitting region of the Nai D lines should be as low as 4000 K for an explanation of the large optical thickness of the Nai D lines for active prominences. Brief discussions are included about the possible existence of low temperatures in active prominences.     

IRIS Observations of Spicules and Structures Near the Solar Limb

We have analyzed Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) spectral and slit-jaw observations of a quiet region near the South Pole. In this article we present an overview of the observations, the corrections, and the absolute calibration of the intensity. We focus on the average profiles of strong (Mg?ii h and k, C?ii and Si?iv), as well as of weak spectral lines in the near ultraviolet (NUV) and the far ultraviolet (FUV), including the Mg?ii triplet, thus probing the solar atmosphere from the low chromosphere to the transition region. We give the radial variation of bulk spectral parameters as well as line ratios and turbulent velocities. We present measurements of the formation height in lines and in the NUV continuum from which we find a linear relationship between the position of the limb and the intensity scale height. We also find that low forming lines, such as the Mg?ii triplet, show no temporal variations above the limb associated with spicules, suggesting that such lines are formed in a homogeneous atmospheric layer and, possibly, that spicules are formed above the height of \(2''\). We discuss the spatio-temporal structure of the atmosphere near the limb from images of intensity as a function of position and time. In these images, we identify p-mode oscillations in the cores of lines formed at low heights above the photosphere, slow-moving bright features in O?i and fast-moving bright features in C?ii. Finally, we compare the Mg?ii k and h line profiles, together with intensity values of the Balmer lines from the literature, with computations from the PROM57Mg non-LTE model, developed at the Institut d’ Astrophysique Spatiale, and estimated values of the physical parameters. We obtain electron temperatures in the range of \({\sim}\, 8000~\mbox{K}\) at small heights to \({\sim}\, 20\,000~\mbox{K}\) at large heights, electron densities from \(1.1\times 10^{11}\) to \(4\times 10^{10}~\mbox{cm}^{-3}\) and a turbulent velocity of \({\sim}\, 24~\mbox{km}\,\mbox{s}^{-1}\).     

Optical observations of the interstellar absorption lines towards the M8 Nebula

High resolution optical observations (FWHM ～ 10–13 km s^?1) of the I-S gas towards the early-type stars HD 164 794, HD 164816, and HD 165052 in the M8 Nebula are presented. A high velocity componentV _LSR=?26 km s^?1 has been detected in all 3 stars' spectra. A line profile fitting analysis has been carried out on the observed Caii and Nai absorption lines to determine cloud component column densities and to subsequently determine the physical and chemical conditions of the associated I-S gas.     

DLA abundances in the CUBES’s spectral window

Absorption systems observed along the line of sights to distant quasars are observed at all redshifts and the full range of the electromagnetic spectrum is needed to recover the variety of transitions of different elements. However, some important elements are found within the Lyman forest and their absorption line profiles need to be analyzed against the presence of possible Ly-α contamination. Considering the cosmological evolution of the number density of hydrogen clouds, the probability to detect uncontaminated metal lines is higher in the UV-Optical region exploited by CUBES. The list of these elements includes some important ones such as D, H₂, O?i, N?i, O?vi, Ar?i, P?ii, C?ii, S?ii and B?ii. The determination of some of them in the Damped Ly-α galaxies and their astronomical interest are briefly discussed.     

Height of helium emission in the chromosphere

Filtergrams of the limb show the He i D₃ chromosphere as a shell which is separated from the limb by a gap. The height of maximum D₃ contribution occurs at about 1350 km above the limb and is independent of the intensity of the D₃ emission. We interpret this effect as the height to which coronal EUV radiation is capable of penetrating the atmosphere.     

Spectral Characteristics of the He <Emphasis Type="SmallCaps">i</Emphasis> D<Subscript>3</Subscript> Line in a Quiescent Prominence Observed by THEMIS

We analyze the observations of a quiescent prominence acquired by the Téléscope Heliographique pour l’Étude du Magnetisme et des Instabilités Solaires (THEMIS) in the He?i 5876 Å (He?i D₃) multiplet aiming to measure the spectral characteristics of the He?i D₃ profiles and to find for them an adequate fitting model. The component characteristics of the He?i D₃ Stokes I profiles are measured by the fitting system by approximating them with a double Gaussian. This model yields an He?i D₃ component peak intensity ratio of \(5.5\pm0.4\), which differs from the value of 8 expected in the optically thin limit. Most of the measured Doppler velocities lie in the interval ±?5 km?s^?1, with a standard deviation of ±?1.7 km?s^?1 around the peak value of 0.4 km?s^?1. The wide distribution of the full-width at half maximum has two maxima at 0.25 Å and 0.30 Å for the He?i D₃ blue component and two maxima at 0.22 Å and 0.31 Å for the red component. The width ratio of the components is \(1.04\pm0.18\). We show that the double-Gaussian model systematically underestimates the blue wing intensities. To solve this problem, we invoke a two-temperature multi-Gaussian model, consisting of two double-Gaussians, which provides a better representation of He?i D₃ that is free of the wing intensity deficit. This model suggests temperatures of 11.5 kK and 91 kK, respectively, for the cool and the hot component of the target prominence. The cool and hot components of a typical He?i D₃ profile have component peak intensity ratios of 6.6 and 8, implying a prominence geometrical width of 17 Mm and an optical thickness of 0.3 for the cool component, while the optical thickness of the hot component is negligible. These prominence parameters seem to be realistic, suggesting the physical adequacy of the multi-Gaussian model with important implications for interpreting He?i D₃ spectropolarimetry by current inversion codes.     

Direct Measurement Results of the Time Lag of LOS-Velocity Oscillations Between Two Heights in Solar Faculae and Sunspots

We present an investigation of line-of-sight (LOS) velocity oscillations in solar faculae and sunspots. To study the phase relations between chromospheric and photospheric oscillations of the LOS velocity, we measured the time lag of the chromospheric signal relative to the photospheric one for several faculae and sunspots in a set of spectral line pairs. The measured time lags are different for different objects. The mean measured delay between the oscillations in the five-minute band in faculae is 50?s for the Si?i 10?827?Å?–?He?i 10?830?Å pair; for the pair Fe?i 6569?Å?–?Hα 6563?Å the mean delay is 20?s; for the pair Fe?i 4551?Å?–?Ba?ii 4554?Å the mean delay is 7?s; for the pair Si?i 8536?Å?–?Ca?ii 8542?Å the mean delay is 20?s. For the oscillations in the three-minute band in sunspot umbrae the mean delay is 55?s for the Si?i 10?827?Å?–?He?i 10?830?Å pair; for the Fe?i 6569?Å?–?Hα 6563?Å pair it was not possible to determine the delay; for the Fe?i 4551?Å?–?Ba?ii 4554?Å pair the mean delay is 6?s; for the Si?i 8536?Å?–?Ca?ii 8542?Å pair the mean delay is 21?s. Measured delays correspond to the wave propagation speed, which significantly exceeds the generally adopted speed of sound in the photosphere. This raises the question of the origin of these oscillations. The possibility that we deal with slow MHD waves is not ruled out.     

Spectrophotometric studies of star HD 157978

Examination of the stellar spectrum of this star reveals that it has a composite spectrum. It could be classified as (A7V+G5V). It contains three forbidden [Feii] lines which are of the essential features of η Carinae stars. The spectrum also contains H, Hei, Feii, Mni, Tiii, and other different lines. The K-line seems to be sharp double line while other lines appear single ones which suggest early component may be double. This also seems to be true according to radial velocity measurements.     

A Comparison of Theoretical Si VIII Emission Line Ratios with Observations from Serts

Recent R-matrix calculations of electron impact excitation rates in N-like Si VIII are used to derive theoretical emission line intensity ratios involving 2s ²2p ³–2s2p ⁴ transitions in the 216–320 Å wavelength range. A comparison of these with an extensive dataset of solar active region, quiet-Sun, sub-flare and off-limb observations, obtained during rocket flights of the Solar EUV Research Telescope and Spectrograph (SERTS), indicates that the ratio R ₁= I(216.94 Å)/I(319.84 Å) may provide a usable electron density diagnostic for coronal plasmas. The ratio involves two lines of comparable intensity, and varies by a factor of about 5 over the useful density range of 10⁸–10¹¹ cm^?3. However R ₂= I(276.85 Å)/I(319.84 Å) and R ₃=I(277.05 Å)/I(319.84 Å) show very poor agreement between theory and observation, due to the severe blending of the 276.85 and 277.05 Å lines with Si VII and Mg VII transitions, respectively, making the ratios unsuitable as density diagnostics. The 314.35 Å feature of Si VIII also appears to be blended, with the other species contributing around 20% to the total line flux.

     

Optical spectral decomposition of NGC 4051

Considering the host galaxy contribution, a spectral decomposition method is used to reanalyzed the archive data of optical spectra for a narrow line Seyfert 1 galaxy, NGC 4051. The light curves of the continuum f _λ (5100 Å), and Hβ, He ii, Fe ii emission lines are given. We find strong flux correlations between line emissions of Hβ, He ii, Fe ii and the continuum f _λ (5100 Å). These low-ionization lines (Hβ, Fe ii, He ii) have “inverse” intrinsic Baldwin effects. Using the methods of the cross-correlation function and the Monte Carlo simulation, we find the time delays, with respect to the continuum, are $3.45^{+12.0}_{-0.5}~\mbox{days}$ with the probability of 34 % for the intermediate component of Hβ, $6.45^{+13.0}_{-1.0}~\mbox{days}$ with the probability of 65 % for the intermediate component of He ii. From these intermediate components of Hβ and He ii, the calculated central black hole masses are $0.86^{+4.35}_{-0.33}\times 10^{6}$ and $0.82^{+3.12}_{-0.45}\times 10^{6}~M_{\odot }$ . We also find that the time delays for Fe ii are $9.7^{+3.0}_{-5.0}~\mbox{days}$ with the probability of 36 %, $8.45^{+1.0}_{-2.0}~\mbox{days}$ with the probability of 18 % for the total epochs and “subset 1” data, respectively. It seems that the Fe ii emission region is outside of the Hβ emission region.     

The work of the diode array: He 10 830 observations of spicules and subflares

At a spatial resolution of 1″ and with spectral passbands of 0.25–0.47 Å, the chromospheric fine structure was studied with an array of 512 silicon photodiodes. The high quantum efficiency of the diodes in the near infrared allowed low noise spectroheliograms to be constructed from observations in the lines of H i, Ca ii, and He i. Magnetograms of the underlying photosphere were obtained simultaneously. Tachograms in the He 10830 Å line revealed 1″ points and elongated features that are interpreted as spicules seen against the disk. Active regions and filaments at 10830 are compared with Hα and Ca ii (8542 Å) features. Filament contrast increases with the proximity of bright plage. Twelve subflares were studied and in eight cases, 3–5″ kernels of He I emission appeared over small, growing pores or over 5″ patches of magnetic field emerging through the photosphere. All the subflares showed 10830 emission, contrary to established belief that the 10830 line goes into emission only in the largest flares. All the subflares included at least one emission kernel over regions where the photospheric magnetic field, as seen with a resolution of 1–2″, broke down into a mosaic of both polarities with 3–5″ diam. elements.     

Doppler Shifts of the Hα Line and the Ca ii 854.2 nm Line in a Quiet Region of the Sun Observed with the FISS/NST

The characteristics of Doppler shifts in a quiet region of the Sun are compared between the Hα line and the Ca?ii infrared line at 854.2 nm. A small area of 16″×40″ was observed for about half an hour with the Fast Imaging Solar Spectrograph (FISS) of the 1.6 meter New Solar Telescope (NST) at Big Bear Solar Observatory. The observed area contains a network region and an internetwork region, and identified in the network region are fibrils and bright points. We infer Doppler velocity v _m from each line profile at each individual point with the lambdameter method as a function of half wavelength separation Δλ. It is confirmed that the bisector of the spatially averaged Ca?ii line profile has an inverse C-shape with a significant peak redshift of +?1.8 km?s^?1. In contrast, the bisector of the spatially averaged Hα line profile has a C-shape with a small peak blueshift of ??0.5 km?s^?1. In both lines, the bisectors of bright network points are significantly redshifted not only at the line centers, but also at the wings. The Ca?ii Doppler shifts are found to be correlated with the Hα ones with the strongest correlation occurring in the internetwork region. Moreover, we find that here the Doppler shifts in the two lines are essentially in phase. We discuss the physical implications of our results in view of the formation of the Hα line and Ca?ii 854.2 nm line in the quiet region chromosphere.     

XUV emission from above the solar west limb near 20:00 UT,January 17, 1974

A complex eruptive event took place on January 17, 1974 at approximately 19:20 UT in McMath Hulbert Plage No. 12 686, located near N 06^o and behind the west limb. The effects were recorded by the XUV spectroheliograph on Skylab from 19:44 UT to 20:46 UT. An eruptive prominence of spray was observed in Heii 304 Å to reach >1R _s. It was also photographed in many emission lines at temperatures reaching 1 MK in Mgix. There were at least four other parts of the eruption, each changing character differently with temperature. These first appeared with Ne.vii at 0.6 MK, and were recorded in lines of ions up to Fexvi at 2.6 MK.     

High resolution spectroscopy of the disk chromosphere

We describe time-series observations of small-scale Ca ii emission features located outside the network in the quiet chromosphere. Simultaneous spectra in K and λ 8542 show unambiguously that the evolutionary behaviour of the K-line profile due to an outwardly propagating velocity pulse. Assuming that this pulse is a progressive acoustic wave, as suggested by the inferred flow parameters, we show that the wave loses mechanical energy in traversing the chromosphere. This implies that the bright Ca ii features (K-grains) are the manifestation of local heating in the chromosphere, possibly by shock waves.

     

Spectral Characteristics of Solar Flares in Different Chromospheric Lines and Their Implications

Using the spectral data of representative solar flares observed with the infrared detector system of the solar spectrograph at Purple Mountain Observatory, we study the spectroscopic characteristics of solar flares in the Hα, the Ca i i 8?542 Å, and the He i 10?830 Å lines in different phases and various locations of flares and discuss their possible implications coupled with space observations. Our results show that in the initial phase of a flare the Hα line displays a red shift only with no wide wing. Large broadenings of the Hα line are observed a few minutes after the flare onset within small regions of 3?–?5^′′ in both disk and limb flares with and without nonthermal processes. Far wings similar to those of damping broadening appear not only in the Hα line but in the He i 10?830 Å line as well in flares with nonthermal processes. Sometimes we even detect weak far-wing emission in the Ca i i 8?542 Å line in disk flares. Such large broadenings are observed in both the footpoints and the flare loop-top regions and possibly result from strong turbulence and/or macroscopic motions. Therefore, the so-called nonthermal wing of the Hα line profile is not a sufficient condition to distinguish whether nonthermal electrons are accelerated or not in a flare. The Ca i i 8?542 Å line shows lower intensity in the loop-top regions and higher intensity in the parts close to the solar surface. Emissions larger than nearby continuum in the He i 10?830 Å line are detected only in small regions with strong X-ray emissions and avoid sunspot umbrae.     

Properties of the ionised gas of circumnuclear star-forming regions in early-type spirals

A study of circumnuclear star-forming regions (CNSFRs) in several early-type spirals has been carried out in order to investigate their main properties: stellar and gas kinematics, dynamical masses, ionising stellar masses, chemical abundances and other properties of the ionised gas. Both high resolution (R～20,000) and moderate resolution (R～5000) have been used. In some cases, these regions (about 100–150 pc in size) are composed of several individual star clusters with sizes between 1.5 and 4.9 pc, estimated from Hubble Space Telescope images. Stellar and gas velocity dispersions are found to differ by about 20 to 30 km?s^?1, with the Hβ emission lines being narrower than both the stellar lines and the [Oiii]λ5007 Å lines. The twice ionised oxygen, on the other hand, shows velocity dispersions comparable to those of stars. We have applied the virial theorem to estimate dynamical masses of the clusters, assuming that the systems are gravitationally bounded and spherically symmetric, and using previously measured sizes. The measured values of the stellar velocity dispersions yield dynamical masses of the order of 10⁷ to 10⁸ M_⊙ for the full CNSFRs. We obtain oxygen abundances which are comparable to those found in high-metallicity disc Hii regions from direct measurements of electron temperatures and consistent with solar values within the errors. The region with the highest oxygen abundance is R3+R4 in NGC3504, 12+log(O/H)=8.85, about 1.5 times solar. The derived N/O ratios are, on average, larger than those found in high-metallicity disc Hii regions, and they do not seem to follow the trend of N/O vs. O/H which marks the secondary behaviour of nitrogen. On the other hand, the S/O ratios span a very narrow range—between 0.6 and 0.8 times solar. Compared to high-metallicity disc Hii regions, CNSFRs show values of the O₂₃ and the N2 parameters whose distributions are shifted to lower and higher values, respectively. Hence, even though their derived oxygen and sulphur abundances are similar, higher values would in principle be obtained for the CNSFRs if pure empirical methods were used to estimate abundances. CNSFRs also exhibit lower ionisation parameters than their disc counterparts, as derived from [Sii]/[Siii]. Their ionisation structure also seems to be different, with CNSFRs showing radiation-field properties more similar to Hii galaxies than to disc high-metallicity Hii regions.     

The age decay of stellar magnetic activity in MS field solar-type stars

The age decay of two indicators of the stellar magnetic activity (λ 2800 Mgii emission flux and λ 10830 Hei equivalent width) have been studied for field solar-type stars. The Li abundance has been used, in most of the cases, as a stellar age indicator. A calibrated decay law for Mgii has been determined and compared with a similar one, recently published, for the Caii K emission. The greater scatter in the Hei results is atributed to the different rotation rates.