Searching for calcium‐aluminum‐rich inclusions in cometary particles with Rosetta/COSIMA

The calcium‐aluminum‐rich inclusions (CAIs) found in chondritic meteorites are probably the oldest solar system solids, dating back to 4567.30 ± 0.16 million years ago. They are thought to have formed in the protosolar nebula within a few astronomical units of the Sun, and at a temperature of around 1300 K. The Stardust mission found evidence of CAI‐like material in samples recovered from comet Wild 2. The appearance of CAIs in comets, which are thought to be formed at lower temperatures and larger distances from the Sun, is only explicable if some mechanism allows the efficient transfer of such objects from the inner solar nebula to the outer solar nebula. Such mechanisms have been proposed such as an X‐wind or turbulence. In this work, particles collected from within the coma of comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko are examined for compositional evidence of the presence of CAIs. COSIMA (the Cometary Secondary Ion Mass Analyzer) uses secondary ion mass spectrometry to analyze the composition of cometary dust captured on metal targets. While CAIs can have a radius of centimeters, they are more typically a few hundred microns in size, and can be smaller than 1 μm, so it is conceivable that particles visible on COSIMA targets (ranging in size from about 10 μm to hundreds of microns) could contain CAIs. Using a peak fitting technique, the composition of a set of 13 particles was studied, looking for material rich in both calcium and aluminum. One such particle was found.     

Solar Chemical Abundances Determined with a CO5BOLD 3D Model Atmosphere

In the last decade, the photospheric solar metallicity as determined from spectroscopy experienced a remarkable downward revision. Part of this effect can be attributed to an improvement of atomic data and the inclusion of NLTE computations, but also the use of hydrodynamical model atmospheres seemed to play a role. This “decrease” with time of the metallicity of the solar photosphere increased the disagreement with the results from helioseismology. With a CO ⁵ BOLD 3D model of the solar atmosphere, the CIFIST team at the Paris Observatory re-determined the photospheric solar abundances of several elements, among them C, N, and O. The spectroscopic abundances are obtained by fitting the equivalent width and/or the profile of observed spectral lines with synthetic spectra computed from the 3D model atmosphere. We conclude that the effects of granular fluctuations depend on the characteristics of the individual lines, but are found to be relevant only in a few particular cases. 3D effects are not responsible for the systematic lowering of the solar abundances in recent years. The solar metallicity resulting from this analysis is Z=0.0153, Z/X=0.0209.     

Variation of sodium on mercury with solar radiation pressure

Sodium atoms in the atmosphere of Mercury can be accelarated by solar radiation pressure, and several authors have suggested that radiation pressure could sweep sodium off the planet, provided that the sodium is nonthermal, with velocities in excess of 2.1 km/sec. As a consequence, the sodium abundance might be expected to decrease as the radiation pressure increases. We have measured the average sodium abundance over a range of solar radiation pressures and found that the sodium abundance does decrease with increasing radiation pressure. However, high-resolution line profile measurements of the sodium emission show that little, if any of the sodium is nonthermal, with the bulk at a temperature approximating that of the surface. Models which assume that the bulk of the sodium is nonthermal are ruled out. Possible explanations for the observed variation are (1) that radiation pressure sweeps away transient high-velocity sodium atoms generated upon meteoric material impacts, thus reducing the supply rate of sodium, or (2) that the accommodation coefficient of sodium for surface interactions is less than unity, so that radiation pressure can effectively push sodium to the dark side of the planet, where it cannot be detected by scattered sunlight.     

Models of the giant planets

Models of the giant planets were constructed based on the assumption that the hydrogen to helium ratio is solar in these planets. This assumption, together with arguments about the condensation sequence in the primitive solar nebula, yields models with a central core of rock and possibly ice surrounded by an envelope of hydrogen, helium, methane, ammonia, and water. These last three volatiles may be individually enhanced due to condensation at the period of core formation. Jupiter was found to have a core of about 40 earth masses and a water enhancement in the atmosphere of about 7.5 times the solar value. Saturn was found to have a core of 20 earth masses and a water enhancement in the atmosphere of about 25 times the solar value. Rock plus ice constitute 75–85% of the mass of Uranus and Neptune. Temperatures in the interiors of these planets are probably above the melting points, if there is an adiabatic relation throughout the interiors. Some aspects of the sensitivities of these results to uncertainties in rotational flattening are discussed.     

Influence of the acoustic radiation pressure on the atmosphere of the sun

In addition to the heating the corona by sound waves, there exists a radiation pressure caused by the absorption of acoustic waves as well as plasma waves. Whereas in the hydrostatic balance of the solar atmosphere, the light pressure can be neglected, the radiation pressure due to acoustic waves and Alfvén waves is much higher and has to be taken into account.In the solar atmosphere, the acoustic radiation pressure is generated by (i) absorption of sound energy, (ii) reflection of sound energy, and (iii) change of the sound velocity.The radiation pressure caused by absorption is dominating within the solar corona. The radiation pressure caused by reflection and the wave velocity change probably produce a pressure inversion in the transition zone between chromosphere and corona. Furthermore, the spicule phenomena are due to instationary radiation pressure.     

The equilibrium state of shock-heated rotating atmosphere under the force of gravitation

Equations are developed to describe the flow of a rotating atmosphere under force of gravitation heated by an arbitrary distribution of cylindrical shock waves. Solutions are obtained for the outer solar atmosphere with a steady mass motion in which the heat supplied by shock wave is balanced by the convective heat loss due to this motion. It is found that, for very large range of shock strength and frequencies, the temperature profile is similar to that predicted by the constant shock-strength hypothesis. This hypothesis is used as the basis of a model of the outer solar atmosphere starting near the solar atmosphere.     

Gas capture and rare gas retention by accreting planets in the solar nebula

In this paper, the physico-chemical effects of the nebula gas on the planets are reviewed from a standpoint of planetary formation in the solar nebula.The proto-Earth growing in the nebula was surrounded by a primordial atmosphere with a solar chemical composition and solar isotopic composition. When the mass of the proto-Earth was greater than 0.3 times the present Earth mass, the surface was molten because of the blanketing effect of the atmosphere. Therefore, the primordial rare gasses contained in the primordial atmosphere dissolved into the molten Earth material without fractionation and in particular the dissolved neon is expected to be conserved in the present Earth material. Hence, if dissolved neon with a solar isotopic ratio is discovered in the Earth material, it will indicate that the Earth was formed in the nebula and that the dissolved rare gases were one of the sources which degassed to form the present atmosphere.     

A Saturnian gas ring and the recycling of Titan's atmosphere

Atoms which escape Titan's atmosphere are unlikely to possess escape velocity from Saturn, and can orbit the planet until lost by ionization or collision with Titan. It is predicted that a toroidal ring of between ～1 and ～10³ atoms or molecules cm^?3 exists around Saturn at a distance of about 10 times the radius of the visible rings. This torus may be detectable from Earth-orbit and detection of nondetection of it may provide some information about the presence or absence of a Saturnian magnetic field, and the exospheric temperature and atmospheric escape rate of Titan. It is estimated that, if Titan has a large exosphere, ～97% or more of the escaping atoms can be recaptured by Titan, thereby decreasing the effective net atmospheric loss rate by up to two orders of magnitude. With such a reduction in atmospheric loss rates, it becomes more plausible to suggest that satellites previously thought too small to retain an atmosphere may have one. It is suggested that Saturn be examined by Lyman-α and other observations to search for the gaseous torus of Titan. If successful, these could then be extended to other satellites.The effect of a hypothetical Saturnian magnetosphere on the atmosphere of Titan is investigated. It is shown that, if Saturn has a magnetic field comparable to Jupiter's (～10 G at the planetary surface), the magnetospheric plasma can supply Titan with hydrogen at a rate comparable to the loss rates in some of the models of Trafton (1972) and Sagan (1973). A major part of the Saturnian ionospheric escape flux (～ 10²⁷ photoelectrons sec^?1) could perhaps be captured by Titan. At the upper limit, this rate of hydrogen input to the satellite could total ～0.1 atm pressure over the lifetime of the solar system, an amount comparable to estimates of the present atmospheric pressure of Titan.     

Interference Mechanism of “Zebra-Pattern” Formation in Solar Radio Emission

It is shown that “zebra-pattern” in solar continuum events (in type IV bursts) can be formed as a result of interference between direct and reflected rays coming from a source of small size in a stratified atmosphere. The emission is generated by plasma mechanism. Full emission flux is contributed from a great number of narrow-band short-lived sources of small sizes, which are formed by plasma waves captured in density minima of background plasma fluctuations.     

Magnetic Energy of Force-Free Fields with Detached Field Lines

Using an axisymmetrical ideal MHD model in spherical coordinates, we present a numerical study of magnetic configurations characterized by a levitating flux rope embedded in a bipolar background field whose normal field at the solar surface is the same or very close to that of a central dipole. The characteristic plasma β (the ratio between gas pressure and magnetic pressure) is taken to be sosmall (β= 10^-4) that the magnetic field is close to being force-free. The system as a whole is then let evolve quasi-statically with a slow increase of either the annular magnetic flux or the axial magnetic flux of the rope, and the total magneticenergy of the system grows accordingly. It is found that there exists an energy threshold: the flux rope sticks to the solar surface in equilibrium if the magneticenergy of the system is below the threshold, whereas it loses equilibrium if the threshold is exceeded. The energy threshold is found to be larger than that of thecorresponding fully-open magnetic field by a factor of nearly 1.08 irrespective as towhether the background field is completely closed or partly open, or whether the magnetic energy is enhanced by an increase of annular or axial flux of the rope.This gives an example showing that a force-free magnetic field may have an energy larger than the corresponding open field energy if part of the field lines is allowed tobe detached from the solar surface. The implication of such a conclusion in coronal mass ejections is briefly discussed and some comments are made on the maximum energy of force-free magnetic fields.     

Radiative forcing of the Venus mesosphere: I. Solar fluxes and heating rates

Most of the solar energy absorbed by Venus is deposited in the atmosphere, at levels more than 60 km above the surface. This unusual flux distribution should have important consequences for the thermal structure and dynamical state of that atmosphere. Because there are few measurements of the solar flux at levels above 60 km, a radiative transfer model was used to derive the structure and amplitude of the solar fluxes and heating rates in the Venus mesosphere (60–100 km). This model accounts for all sources of extinction known to be important there, including absorption and scattering by CO₂, H₂O, SO₂, H₂SO₄ aerosols and an unidentified UV absorber. The distributions of these substances in our model atmosphere were constrained by a broad range of spacecraft and ground-based observations. Above the cloud tops, (71 km), near-infrared CO₂ bands absorb enough sunlight to produce globally averaged heating rates ranging from 4° K/day (24-hr period) at 71 km to more than 50° K/day at 100 km. The sulfuric acid aerosols that compose the Venus clouds are primarily scattering agents at solar wavelengths. These aerosols reflect about 75% of the incident solar flux before it can be absorbed by the atmosphere or surface. The unknown substance that causes the observed cloud-top ultraviolet contrasts is responsible for most of the absorption of sunlight within the upper cloud deck (57.5−71 km). This substance absorbs almost half of the sunlight deposited on Venus and contributes to solar heating rates as large as 6° K/day at levels near 65 km. With the exception of CO₂, all of the important sources of solar extinction have concentrations that vary with position, and, in general, these concentrations are not well known. To determine the sensitivity of the model results to these uncertainties, the concentrations of these opacity sources were varied in the model atmosphere and solar fluxes were computed for each case. These tests indicate that CO₂ dominates the solar absorption at levels above the cloud tops and that heating rates are relatively insensitive to the distribution of other sources of extinction there. Within the upper cloud deck, uncertainties in the distribution of the UV absorber and the H₂SO₄ aerosols can produce heating rate errors as large as 50% at some levels. Diurnally averaged solar heating rates for the nominal opacity distribution were computed as a function of latitude at altitudes between 55 and 100 km, where most of the solar flux is deposited. The zonal wavenumber 1 (diurnal) and zonal wavenumber 2 (semidiurnal) components of the diurnally varying solar heating rates were also computed in this domain. These results should be sufficiently reliable for use in numerical dynamical models of the Venus atmosphere.     

Sausage MHD Waves in Incompressible Flux Tubes with Twisted Magnetic Fields

Twisted magnetic flux tubes are of considerable interest because of their natural occurrence from the Sun’s interior, throughout the solar atmosphere and interplanetary space up to a wide range of applicabilities to astrophysical plasmas. The aim of the present work is to obtain analytically a dispersion equation of linear wave propagation in twisted incompressible cylindrical magnetic waveguides and find appropriate solutions for surface, body and pseudobody sausage modes (i.e. m = 0) of a twisted magnetic flux tube embedded in an incompressible but also magnetically twisted plasma. Asymptotic solutions are derived in long- and short-wavelength approximations. General solutions of the dispersion equation for intermediate wavelengths are obtained numerically. We found, that in case of a constant, but non-zero azimuthal component of the equilibrium magnetic field outside the flux tube the index ν of Bessel functions in the dispersion relation is not integer any more in general. This gives rise to a rich mode-structure of degenerated magneto-acoustic waves in solar flux tubes. In a particular case of a uniform magnetic twist the total pressure is found to be constant across the boundary of the flux tube. Finally, the effect of magnetic twist on oscillation periods is estimated under solar atmospheric conditions. It was found that a magnetic twist will increase, in general, the periods of waves approximately by a few percent when compared to their untwisted counterparts.     

Refractory Metal Nuggets – Formation of the first condensates in the Solar Nebula

As gas flowed from the solar accretion disk or Solar Nebula onto the proto-Sun, magnetic pressure gradients in the solar magnetosphere and the inner Solar Nebula provided an environment where some of this infalling flow was diverted to produce a low pressure, high temperature, gaseous, “infall” atmosphere around the inner Solar Nebula. The pressure in this inner disk atmosphere was mainly dependant on the accretion flow rate onto the star. High flow rates implied relatively high pressures, which decreased over time as the accretion rate decreased.In the first hundred thousand years after the formation of the Solar Nebula, accretional flow gas pressures were high enough to create submicron-sized Refractory Metal Nuggets (RMNs) – the precursors to Calcium Aluminum Inclusions (CAIs). Optimal temperatures and pressures for RMN formation may have occurred between 20,000 and 100,000 years after the formation of the Solar Nebula. It is possible that conditions were conducive to RMN/CAI formation over an 80,000 year timescale. The “infall” atmosphere and the condensation of refractory particles within this atmosphere may be observable around the inner disks of other protostellar systems.The interaction of forces from magnetic fields with the radiation pressure from the proto-Sun and the inner solar accretion disk potentially produced an optical-magnetic trap above and below the inner Solar Nebula, which provided a relatively stable environment in which the RMNs/proto-CAIs could form and grow. These RMN formation sites only existed during accretion events from the proto-solar disk onto the proto-Sun. As such, the formation and growth time of a particular RMN was dependent on the timescale of its nascent accretion event.Observational evidence suggests that RMNs were the nucleation particles for CAIs. As a consequence, the observed bimodal distribution of ²⁶Al in CAIs, where some CAIs have ²⁶Al while others do not, is probably due to the injection ²⁶Al during the short CAI formation period, where ²⁶Al was not present when the first CAIs were formed.     

Energetic Neutral Atoms (ENA) at Mars: Properties of the hydrogen atoms produced upstream of the martian bow shock and implications for ENA sounding technique around non-magnetized planets

We have studied the interaction of fast solar wind hydrogen atoms with the martian atmosphere by a three-dimensional Monte Carlo simulation. These energetic neutral hydrogen atoms, H-ENAs, are formed upstream of the martian bow shock. Both H-ENAs scattered and non-scattered from the martian atmosphere/exosphere were studied. The colliding H-ENAs were found to scatter both to the dayside and nightside. On the dayside they contribute to the so-called H-ENA albedo. On the nightside the heated and scattered hydrogen atoms were found also in the martian wake. The density, the energy distribution function and the direction of the velocity of H-ENAs on the nightside are presented. The present study describes a novel “ENA sounding” technique in which energetic neutral atoms are used to derive information of the properties of planetary exosphere and atmosphere in a similar manner as the solar wind photons are used to derive atmospheric densities by measuring the scattered UV light. A detailed study of the direction and energy of the scattered and non-scattered H-ENAs suggest that the ENA sounding is a method to study the interaction between the planetary atmosphere and the solar wind and to monitor the density, and likely also the magnetization, of the planetary upper atmosphere. Already present-day ENA instrument should be capable to detect the analyzed particle fluxes.     

The dynamic magnetic quiet Sun: physical mechanisms and UV signature

The changes in the Sun occurring at human time-scales can be pinned down to the presence of magnetic fields. These fields determine the structure of the outer solar atmosphere and, therefore, they are responsible for all the energetic part of the solar spectrum, including the UV. Our understanding of the magnetic fields existing at the base of the atmosphere has changed during the last years. The new spectro-polarimeters reveal an ubiquitous magnetic field, present even in the quiet regions. They are widespread and of complex topology, containing far more (unsigned) magnetic flux and magnetic energy that all traditional manifestations of solar activity. These so-called quiet Sun magnetic fields are the subject of the contribution. I summarize their main observational properties, as well as the models put forward to explain them. According to the common wisdom, they may be generated by a turbulent dynamo driven by convective motions. Their true physical role is not understood yet, but it may be consequential both for the Sun (e.g., in determining the structure of the quiet corona), and for other astronomical objects (e.g., if a turbulent dynamo operates in the Sun, the same mechanism provides a very efficient mean of creating surface magnetic fields in all stars with convective envelopes). I discuss the impact of the quiet Sun fields on the transition region and corona, trying to point out the UV signatures of those fields.     

O2 concentrations in dense primitive atmospheres: commentary

Now that astronomers are, I understand, on the verge of detecting extrasolar planets, the question of whether such planets might be inhabited is beginning to be discussed in serious scientific circles. Specifically, astronomers such as Rosenqvist and Chassefiére (see the preceding article) are interested in whether spectroscopic measurements of free O2 in a planet's atmosphere might be used as evidence for life. As such, they have attempted to place constraints on the amount of O2 that might be found in the atmosphere of a lifeless planet or, more specifically, on a planet where oxygenic photosynthesis has not yet been invented. This question can be addressed by photochemical modeling, if one is careful about how one goes about it. The calculations presented here suggest an upper limit of approximately 10 mbar on the O2 partial pressure in a dominantly CO2 atmosphere.     

The association of solar radio bursts with auroral streams

Slow drift (Type II) radio bursts from the sun are believed to be caused by a primary disturbance moving outward through the solar atmosphere with a velocity of about 1000 km/sec. Analysis of the 2 years, 1956 October 1 through 1958 September 30, over the sunspot maximum shows that 45 per cent of these bursts are associated with the subsequent occurrence of terrestrial auroræ and magnetic storms. The mean delay between the radio bursts and the terrestrial disturbances is 33 hr, which is in good accord with the velocity for the disturbing source as deduced from the radio data. Investigation of the properties of the individual slow drift bursts and their association with other solar radio and optical phenomena reveals no completely conclusive criteria to explain why only 45 per cent of the bursts are geomagnetically important. The geomagnetic effects are enhanced, however, if the bursts occur near the equinoxes and if they are accompanied by a flare o'f importance 2 or 3, or by continuum (Type IV) radiation.

In the reverse association, with radio data available for an average 14 hr daily, it is shown that at least 60 per cent of magnetic storms are preceded, within 4 days, by a slow drift burst.     

The influence of radiometer forces on the pressure balance within the solar atmosphere

In a gas heat transport is accompanied by the transport of momentum. The momentum change that accompanies a spatial change in heat flow - this is the radiometer force - results in a pressure gradient. This effect is analogous to the radiation pressure of wavemechanical energy transport. The radiometer pressure increases with temperature and temperature gradient but is independent of the gas density. In the transition zone and in the solar corona the radiometer forces have a definite effect on the pressure balance within the solar atmosphere. In this note the relationship between the radiometer pressure and the acoustic radiation pressure in the solar atmosphere is derived.     

Aeronomical evidence for higher CO2 levels during Earth’s Hadean epoch

According to recent simulations of the Earth’s thermosphere, the exospheric temperature is not expected to rise above 7000-8000 K even under extreme solar EUV conditions anticipated for the early Earth. Rather, when the solar EUV flux exceeds some critical value, the escaping flow of the bulk upper thermosphere starts cooling it due to adiabatic expansion, which results in a decrease of the exobase temperature. Under these extreme conditions, the exobase might have expanded above the magnetopause and the magnetosphere had not been able to protect the upper atmosphere against strong non-thermal erosion by the solar wind.This study shows that a nitrogen-rich terrestrial atmosphere with a present-day composition would have been removed within a few million years during the extreme EUV and solar wind conditions that are expected to have prevailed before the late heavy bombardment period ∼3.8 Ga ago. Our results suggest that a CO₂ amount in the early nitrogen-rich terrestrial atmosphere of at least two orders of magnitude higher than the present-time level was needed to confine the upper atmosphere after the onset of the geodynamo within the shielding magnetosphere and thus might have protected it from complete destruction.     

Hydrodynamic instability of the solar nebula in the presence of a planetary core

When a planetary core composed of condensed matter is accumulated in the primitive solar nebula, the gas of the nebula becomes gravitationally concentrated as an envelope surrounding the planetary core. Models of such gaseous envelopes have been constructed subject to the assumption that the gas everywhere is on the same adiabat as that in the surrounding nebula. The gaseous envelope extends from the surface of the core to the distance at which the gravitational attraction of core plus envelope becomes equal to the gradient of the gravitational potential in the solar nebula; at this point the pressure and temperature of the gas in the envelope are required to attain the background values characteristics of the solar nebula. In general, as the mass of the condensed core increases, increasing amounts of gas became concentrated in the envelope, and these envelopes are stable against hydrodynamic instabilities. However, the core mass then goes through a maximum and starts to decrease. In most of the models tested, the envelopes were hydrodynamically unstable beyond the peak in the core mass. An unstable situation was always created if it was insisted that the core mass contain a larger amount of matter than given by these solutions. For an initial adiabat characterized by a temperature of 450°K and a pressure of 5 × 10^?6 atm, the maximum core mass at which instability occurs is approximately 115 earth masses; this value is rather insensitive to the position in the solar nebula or to the background pressure of the solar nebula. However, if the adiabat is lowered, then the core mass corresponding to instability is decreased. Since the core masses found by Podolak and Cameron for the giant planets are significantly less than the critical core mass corresponding to the initial solar nebula adiabat, we conclude that the giant planets obtained their large amounts of hydrogen and helium by a hydrodynamic collapse process in the solar nebula only after the nebula had been subjected to a considerable period of cooling.