Rotational evolution of the Sun

The evolutionary behaviour of rotating solar models with different initial angular-momentum distributions has been investigated through the pre-Main-Sequence and Main-Sequence phases. The angular momentum was removed from the convective evelope of the solar models according to the Kawaler's model of magnetic stellar wind (Kawaler, 1988). The models show that (i) the surface rotational velocities of the solar mass stars are independent of initial angular momentum for ages greater than 10⁸ years and (ii) it is not possible to explain the neutrino problem and the sufficient depletion of lithium in the Sun.     

Survival of the Earth and the future evolution of the Sun

The question of the survival of the planet Earth as the Sun becomes a red giant and possibly a planetary nebula depends on the maximum extent of the Sun's envelope. This study shows that if the Earth is reached by this envelope, it will be destroyed; but if it is not, it will survive. Present stellar evolution calculations imply that the Earth will be destroyed.     

A recalibration of the quiet Sun millimeter spectrum based on the Moon as an absolute radiometric standard

The solar millimeter continuum between 1 and 20 mm is recalibrated using observations of the average lunar brightness temperature at the center of lunar disk and new Moon brightness temperatures. The solar data are placed on a common scale according to the average lunar brightness temperature distribution proposed by Linsky. A least-squares parabolic regression curve is proposed for the solar millimeter continuum. A small departure from this regression curve near 8 mm may indicate the existence of an absorption feature.Staff member, Laboratory Astrophysics Division, National Bureau of Standards.     

The colours of the Sun

We compile a sample of Sun-like stars with accurate effective temperatures, metallicities and colours (from the ultraviolet to the near-infrared). A crucial improvement is that the effective temperature scale of the stars has recently been established as both accurate and precise through direct measurement of angular diameters obtained with stellar interferometers. We fit the colours as a function of effective temperature and metallicity, and derive colour estimates for the Sun in the Johnson–Cousins, Tycho, Strömgren, 2MASS and SDSS photometric systems. For  ( B − V )_⊙  , we favour the 'red' colour 0.64 versus the 'blue' colour 0.62 of other recent papers, but both values are consistent within the errors; we ascribe the difference to the selection of Sun-like stars versus interpolation of wider colour– T _eff–metallicity relations.     

The population of pulsars with interpulses and the implications for beam evolution

The observed fraction of pulsars with interpulses, their period distribution and the observed pulse width versus pulse period correlation are shown to be inconsistent with a model in which the angle α between the magnetic axis and the rotation axis is random. This conclusion appears to be unavoidable, even when non-circular beams are considered. Allowing the magnetic axis to align from a random distribution at birth with a time-scale of  ∼7 × 10⁷ yr  can, however, explain those observations well. The time-scale derived is consistent with that obtained via independent methods. The probability that a pulsar beam intersects the line of sight is a function of the angle α and therefore beam evolution has important consequences for evolutionary models and for estimations of the total number of neutron stars. The validity of the standard formula for the spin-down rate, which is independent of α, appears to be questionable.     

The abundance of chlorine in the Sun

The Cli line 8375.943 (4s ⁴P_5/2 – 4p ⁴D7/2) is identified in the solar spectrum. This is the first identification of a chlorine line in solar spectrum. The measured equivalent width (W = 0.8 mÅ) corresponds to an abundance log N(Cl) = 5.65 on the scale log N(H) = 12.00.     

Multiple cycles of magnetic activity in the Sun and Sun-like stars and their evolution

The wavelet transform method for high-quality time-frequency analysis is applied to sets of observations of relative sunspot numbers and stellar chromosphere fluxes of 10 Sun-like stars.Wavelet analysis of solar data shows that in a certain interval of time there are several cycles of activity with periods of duration which vary considerably from each other:from quasi-biennial cycles to 100-yr cycles.Cyclic activity was detected in almost all Sun-like stars that we examined,even those that previously were not considered as stars with cyclic activity according to analysis using a Scargle periodogram.The durations of solar and stellar cycles significantly change during the observation period.     

The integral Newton's and MacLaurin's theorems in tensor form

The current paper deals with the investigation of the gravitational potential of heterogeneous ellipsoids and its extension to the tensor potential, since little attention has been given to this point in the last century. In this view, both integral Newton's and integral MacLaurin's theorems are formulated in tensor form. The generalization is extended to heterogeneous homeoids and focaloidally striated ellipsoids, respectively. A discontinuity in the tensor potential is found across a homogeneous, infinitely thin focaloid, which vanishes in the spherical limit. The potential‐energy tensors related to focaloidally striated ellipsoids are expressed in integral form, depending on the density profile. All the results are particularized to the spherical limit, for which both Newton's and MacLaurin's theorems hold. With the aim of illustrating the procedure, an explicit calculation of the potential‐energy tensors is outlined in the special case of homogeneous, spherical configurations. Finally, an application is made to the Coma cluster of galaxies.     

The chemical composition of the Sun

We present a redetermination of the solar abundances of all available elements. The new results have very recently been published by Asplund et al. (Annu. Rev. Astron. Astrophys. 47:481, 2009). The basic ingredients of this work, the main results and some of their implications are summarized hereafter.     

The early despinning of the Sun

It is shown that if the Sun passed through a T Tauri stage, then a mass loss of only 15% would be sufficient to despin the Sun to an angular velocity of 0 (10^–5 rad/sec) at 10⁷ years without the additional braking effect of an enhanced magnetic field. Thus the present Sun could have a core rotating at most ten times faster than its surface.     

Time evolution of orbital uncertainties for the impactor candidate 2004 AS1

We evaluate the asteroid impact risk from the discovery night onwards using six-dimensional statistical orbit computation techniques to examine the a posteriori probability density of the orbital elements. Close to the discovery moment the observational data of an object are typically exiguous: the number of observations is very small and/or the covered orbital arc is very short. For such data, the covariance matrices computed in the linear approximation (e.g., with the least-squares technique) are known to fail to describe the uncertainties in the orbital parameters. The technique of statistical ranging gives us rigorous means to assess the orbital uncertainties already on the discovery night. To examine the time evolution of orbital uncertainties, we make use of a new nonlinear Monte Carlo technique of phase-space sampling using volumes of variation, which complements the ranging technique for exiguous data and the least-squares technique for extensive observational data. We apply the statistical techniques to the near-Earth Asteroid 2004 AS₁, which grabbed the attention of asteroid scientists because, for one day, it posed the highest and most immediate impact risk so far recorded. We take this extreme case to illustrate the ambiguities in the impact risk assessment for short arcs. We confirm that the weighted fraction of the collision orbits at discovery was large but conclude that this was mostly due to the discordance of the discovery-night observations. This case study highlights the need to introduce a regularization in terms of an a priori probability density to secure the invariance of the probabilistic analysis especially in the nonlinear orbital inversion for short arcs. We remark that a predominant role of the a priori can give indications of the feasibility of the probabilistic interpretation, that is, how reliable the results derived from the a posteriori probability density are. Nevertheless, the strict mathematical definition of, e.g., the collision probability remains valid, and our nonlinear statistical techniques give us the means to always deduce, at the very least, order-of-magnitude-estimates for the collision probability.     

Investigation of galaxy and quasar luminosity evolution in the model of standard cosmology

It is shown that the Hubble curvem(z) for galaxies and quasars averaged over a large volume of data forms in the first approximation a single continuous curve in the interval of red shifts 10^–2.5z4.5, which is satisfactorily described by the dependence .A large deviation of the observed mean dependence from the theoretical one predicted by the standard cosmology is explained by the evolution of the galaxy and especially quasar luminosity. The corresponding mid-statistical function of the absolute luminosity variation for the last 4/5 times of existence in the Universe is equal toM(z)–M(z ₀)=logz/z ₀+2z–0.4z ².The luminosity of the most far distant from the observed quasars on the average by 5–6 stellar magnitudes high than the luminosity of near galaxies and quasars. It is obtained that even the most far distant quasars atz5 are in the maximum of luminosity, or their extinction has just began, thus the quasar formation should be expected forz>(5–6). The relative rate of the luminosity decrease of galaxies and near quasars is rather accurately amounts in the recent epoch 7% per 10⁹ years. The obtained average Hubble curve of galaxies and quasars is evidently the main cause of their evolution in the Universe.     

Atmosphere-surface interactions on Venus and implications for atmospheric evolution

The physico-chemical processes controlling the Venusian tropospheric chemical composition surface rock mineral assemblages and volatile element distribution in the atmosphere and planetary crust is considered.     

The evolution of the martian elastic lithosphere and implications for crustal and mantle rheology

Estimates of the martian elastic lithosphere thickness Te imply that Te increased from around 20 km in the Noachian to about 70 km in the Amazonian period. A phase of rapid lithospheric growth is observed during the Hesperian and we propose that this elastic thickness history is a consequence of the martian crustal rheology and its thermal evolution. A wet crustal rheology is found to generate a mechanically incompetent layer in the lower crust during the early evolution and the rapid growth of Te during the Hesperian results from the disappearance of this layer due to planetary cooling. The incompetent layer and the related rapid lithospheric growth are absent for a dry basaltic crustal rheology, which is therefore incompatible with the observations. Furthermore, we find that the observed elastic thickness evolution is best compatible with a wet mantle rheology, although a dry mantle cannot be ruled out. It therefore seems likely that rheologically significant amounts of water were retained in the Martian crust and mantle after planetary accretion.     

太阳强磁区的精细结构形态

作者希望通过对国内外太阳物理学家多年来在太阳磁场精细结构方面的研究成果的回顾，探讨立足现有和将有的仪器设备，可能和应该从事的高分辨太阳磁场的研究工作。为突出重点，侧重评述１０００Ｇ以上的强磁场精细结构特征及与之相关的亮度特征的精细结构。     

The EUV chromospheric network in the quiet Sun

Investigations on the structure and intensity of the chromospheric network from quiet solar regions have been carried out with EUV data obtained from the Harvard spectroheliometer on the Apollo Telescope Mount of Skylab. The distribution of intensities within supergranulation cell interiors follows a near normal function, where the standard deviation exceeds the value expected from the counting rate, which indicates fine-scale structure below the 5 arc sec resolution of the data. The intensities from the centers of supergranulation cells appear to be the same in both quiet regions and coronal holes, although the network is significantly different in the two types of regions. The average halfwidth of the network elements was measured as 10 arc sec, and was independent of the temperature of formation of the observing line for 3.8 < log T _e < 5.8. The contrast between the network and the centers of cells is greatest for lines with log T _e 5.2, where the network contributes approximately 75% of the intensity of quiet solar regions. The contrast and fractional intensity contributions decrease to higher and lower temperatures characteristic of the corona and chromosphere.     

The separation of field and fluid in the Sun

The magnetic field at the surface of the Sun is confined to widely separated small, intense magnetic flux bundles or fibrils with most of the gas in a relatively field free state in the interstices. There is evidently a systematic field and fluid separation effect in operation, overriding the tendency for turbulent mixing of the two phases. It is well known that a constantly rotating volume of fluid soon excludes any exterior magnetic field. To take the next theoretical step, this paper examines the exclusion of magnetic field from a circular cylinder with oscillating angular velocity. The result is that the field is effectively excluded from any oscillating or tumbling body of fluid that maintains coherence over a sufficiently long time. However, there is no expectation of such long term coherence in turbulent convection in the Sun, suggesting that the observed separation of field and fluid does not come about by the exclusion of field from convective cells. This leads to the conclusion that the separation of fluid and field is a consequence of extraction of fluid from the field through buoyancy and reconnection.     

The distribution of sunspots over the Sun

The distribution of the sunspots for the period 1967–1987 (solar cycles 20 and 21) is presented here. We find that the ±11–20° latitude belt is most prolific for the occurrence of various spot types irrespective of magnetic-field ranges. Furthermore, longitudinally sunspots occur most prolifically at six or more places on the Sun. Spatially 7–9 zones are present in each hemisphere (north or south) of the Sun where about 50% sunspots occur and occupy only about 4% area of the Sun. During the above cycles at least 5 flare zones were regularly present in each hemisphere. The existing models cannot explain these active zones on the Sun. Thus, the present analysis emphasizes the need for a new magnetic models of the Sun.     

The fine structure of the quiet Sun

The observed properties of the small-scale features visible in the quiet photosphere — the granulation, of convective origin, and the network bright points, associated with kG magnetic fields — are described. The known properties of the magnetic flux tubes associated with network bright points are also presented. Empirical models derived from the observations are discussed, as well as a few theoretical models of particular importance for the understanding of the origin of the small-scale features of the quiet photosphere. Finally, the observational evidences showing that the structure of the granulation and of the photospheric network are varying over the solar cycle are reported.