EUV arcades: Signatures of filament instability

We have examined seven active regions of the Skylab period in the EUV (Harvard College Observatory), and in H and K₃ (Observatoire de Meudon, spectroheliograms and patrols) in order to elucidate the magnetic geometry in the coronal environment of filaments. We have also looked for signatures of magnetic reconfigurations associated with instabilities (i.e. velocities or disappearances) of filaments. Out of sixteen H filaments observed, six were stable (lifetime 48^h). All the filaments lay within coronal cavities as seen in lines formed above 1.5 × 10⁶ K (Mgx 625, Sixii 521, Fexvi 417, Fexv 361). None of the stable filaments had arcades or arches spanning the cavities except (sometimes) at the ends of the filaments. On the other hand, most (8/10) of the unstable filaments (having concurrent Doppler shifts or a subsequent DB within 24^h) had arcades or single arches spanning their cavities. The arches were observed in EUV lines with formation temperatures as low as 2–4 × 10⁵ K (Oiv 554, Ovi 1032, Ne vii 465), as well as in hotter lines. A statistical test shows that the arcade/instability vs non-arcade/stability association is significant at the 99% confidence level. We suggest 2 types of scenario relating arcades to instabilities. The more preferable scenario is closely related to the Kuperus/Van Tend model of filament disruptions.     

Lα, Lβ (of Hi), k and h (of Mgii), K and H (of Ca ii) observations in a quiescent prominence with the OSO-8 LPSP instrument

A sequence of images taken at different positions in the resonance lines of Ca ii, Mg ii, and H i was obtained over a quiescent prominence with the LPSP instrument on OSO-8. Ca ii K (and H) profiles are reconstructed at different locations in the prominence with a (10 × 5) arc sec² resolution. Significant variations of FWHM and line shifts are found: FWHM range from 0.14 Å to 0.5 Å; blue shifts reach about 14 km s^-1. The ratio of K to H absolute intensities shows a large spread around the average value of 1.2. The same ratio for the Mg ii lines in the whole prominence is higher (1.7), a fact already noticed at the edge of an active prominence (Vial et al., 1979). The ionization degree, as measured by the L/Ca K ratio, shows noticeable variations within the prominence. The L intensity is about 0.3 times the intensity measured in the quiet Sun, and the L/L ratio is less than one half the disk value. These results indicate important variations of the thermal conditions inside the prominence.DASOP, Observatoire de Paris, 92190 Meudon, France.     

The determination of physical parameters for circumstellar clouds

The possibility of the detection of circumstellar clouds around hot stars have been shown based on the analysis of observed equivalent widths of resonance line 2852 Mgi of interstellar origin. An attempt has been made to combine two methods, earlier suggested — Method of Doublet 2800 Mgii and Method of Depression — for the determination of the parameters of circumstellar clouds. The sequence of the determination of these parameters is illustrated on the application of this combined method for circumstellar clouds around five hot stars. The value of the mean absorption coefficientk ₀ for the system of resonance lines in the region of depression 2400 Å, is obtained. An application of the conception of spectral classification of circumstellar clouds has been realized.     

A two-dimensional multi-band spectroheliograph

The present paper describes a two-dimensional multi-band spectrograph which is located at Yunnan Observatory (25° N 103° E), Kunming. The instrument consists of a coelostat system with an aperture of 40 cm, and spatial resolution better than 1 under excellent seeing, and a spectrograph equipped with a plane reflecting grating. It can simultaneously obtain spectral data in ten bands, including the Balmer lines, metallic lines [Fei 6173 ,D _{1, 2, 3}, Mg, and Caii (H + K)] and Heii 4686 . We are able to control the observational processes by means of a computer and obtain the following data synchronously or quasi-synchronously: multi-band spectra, H filtergrams, magnetic field, and white light. With the aid of H slit-jaw filtergrams, we can determine where and when the spectral data are obtained and, on the basis of analysing the spectral line profiles, we can understand the physical characteristics of an active region and derive the fields of physical parameters. For the line-of-sight velocities, the values measured are as high as hundreds of kilometers per second and as low as a few kilometers per second.     

Detectiin of RS CVn-type systems by doublet 2800 Mgii

The problem of the detection or discovery of RS CVn-type close binary systems with the aid of the magnesium emission doublet 2800 Mgii is discussed. On the example of a star, HD 102077, the possibility of such an approach is shown. The determining factor is the magnitude of the measureless parameterR(Mgii), that is, the relative power of the magnesium doublet emission. For the normal Main-Sequence stars the magnesium emission has a purely chromospheric origin andR(Mgii) 1 (in units of 10^–5). However, in the case of close binary systems of RS CVn-typeR(Mgii) 100. Wit the help of IUE it is foundR(Mgii) 100 for the star HD 102077 and, therefore, it is identified with RS CVn-type objects in which the magnesium doublet emission is generated in the intercomponent medium by gaseous matter and is transferred from one component of the system to the other. The basic physical parameters of the intercomponent medium in the case of HD 102077 are obtained.     

Simultaneous measurements of magnetic fields and brightness fields using a 4-image spectroheliograph

The use of an auxiliary beamsplitter with the Kitt Peak 15-foot spectroheliograph permits spectroheliograms to be taken simultaneously in 4 identical images of the sun. By using two of these images for a Zeeman spectroheliogram, a third image for a Fei 4071 spectroheliogram, and the fourth image for a 6107Å continuum spectroheliogram, simultaneous measurements of magnetic fields and brightness fields have been obtained. Within the limits of intensity variations imposed by doppler shifts and brightness fluctuations of the continuum, a quantitative relation does exist between the measured values of brightness and magnetic field strength of the photospheric network. For intensities measured +0.12 Å from the core of Fei 4071, this relation is ln(1 +I/I) = ¦B ¦, whereB refers to the component of magnetic field normal to the solar surface,I/I is the fractional excess of brightness of the magnetic regions relative to the brightness of non-magnetic regions, and = (6±2)%/100 gauss.Kitt Peak National Observatory Contribution No. 538.Operated by The Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under contract with the National Science Foundation.Visiting Astronomer, Solar Division, Kitt Peak National Observatory.     

Raies nébulaires et coronales dans le spectre infrarouge de la Nova Delphini

Nova Delphini 1967 has been observed in the red and photographic infrared at the Haute-Provence Observatory from September 7 to November 12, 1968. Dispersions range from 230 Å/mm to 4 Å/mm. The slope of the continuous spectrum in the region 1.3–1.7 ^–1 leads to a gradient of 3.06, which did not appear to vary during the observing period. This gradient is, however, very different from the value 1.71 measured on plates secured in August 1968. Lines ofHi, Hei, Heii, Feii,Oi,Cii and forbidden transitions due toOi,Oii, Fevii, Fex, Fexi,Siii,Aiii,Av,Axi and Nixv have been identified. Their intensities at various dates are given in Table II. Line profiles could be measured for a few lines taken on a 39 Å/mm spectrogram on October 3. Hei 6678 and 7065 are displayed on Figures 2 and 3. Figure 4 gives the [Oii] doublet at 7319–7330, while the H profile, obtained on October 4 can be seen on Figure 5. The line extends over more than 45 Å and narrow absorptions are seen at 6551.05; 6555.75; 6563.15; 6571.49; 6574.45. Due to the absence of published data on radial velocities of absorption lines in the visible spectrum at that time, it is not possible to give a clear identification for these features. Some of them may belong to H, while others are probably due to metals.     

Determinations of atomic lifetimes for the rare earth ions: Prii,Tmii, Luii,Ceiii

Radiative lifetimes have been determined by the beam-foil method for some excited states in the singly ionized rare earths Pr ii, Tm ii, and Lu ii, in order to test the reliability of the transition probabilities and oscillator strengths found by Corliss and Bozman and usually applied for solar abundance determinations. Correction factors of 4.5, 2.5, and 0.3 should be applied to Corliss and Bozman's values for Pr ii, Tm ii, and Lu ii, respectively. These corrections eliminate the discrepancies between the abundance in the solar photosphere and in meteorites for Pr and Tm. Radiative lifetimes for Ce iii are also reported.     

Solar X-ray spectra observed from the ‘Intercosmos-4’ satellite and the ‘Vertical-2’ rocket

Results are given of the detailed analysis of fourteen Fe xxv-xxiii lines ( = 1.850–1.870 Å) in the spectra of a solar flare on 16 Nov. 1970. The spectra were obtained with a resolution of about 4 × 10^–4 Å, which revealed lines not previously observed and allowed the measurement of line profiles. The measured values of the wavelengths and emission fluxes are presented and compared with theoretical calculations. The analysis of the contour of the Fe xxv line ( = 1.850 Å) leads to the conclusion that there is unidirectional macroscopic gas motion in the flare region with the velocity (projection on the line of sight) ± 90 km s^–1.Measurements of the 8.42 Å Mg xii and 9.16 Å Mg xi lines in the absence of solar flares indicate prolonged existence of active regions on the solar disk with T _e = 4–6 × 10⁶K and emission measure ME 10⁴⁸ cm^–3. The profile of the Mg xii line indicates a macroscopic ion motion with a velocity up to 100 km s^–1.     

The possibility of transition radiation in planetary nebulae

A new concept —the Paradox of Nebula IC4997 — is the main subject of the present article. The essence of this paradox arises when the variations of the intensities of forbidden lines 4363 [Oiii] andN ₁+N ₂ [Oiii] take place not in unison as is predicted by the classical theory. An attempt is made to solve this paradox, suggesting the possibility both of spontaneous appearance of relativistic electrons in the nebula and the generation of so-calledtransition radiation as a result of electrodynamic interaction of these electrons with dust particles in nebula. The parameters of relativistic electrons and power of transition radiation are obtained. The problems which need further examination are also enumerated.     

Study of the outer galactic structure for 288°≤l≤310°, −7°≤b≤2°

The structure of the outer part of the Galaxy is studied, based upon 21-cm line observations of Hi in the region 288°l310°, –7°b2°.In this longitude range the galactic plane is strongly bend toward negative latitudes.The principal outer structure is a spiral arm which has a pitch angle of 10° and is formed by several concentrations differing in shape and size. There exists also a secondary concentration which could be a split from the previous structure.Possible hypotheses about the origin of the later feature are discussed.     

The prominence-corona interface compared with the chromosphere-corona transition region

The intensities of 52 EUV emission lines from each of 9 hedgerow prominences observed at the limb with the Harvard experiment on ATM-Skylab have been compared with intensities from the interior of network cells at the center of the disk, in order to compare the prominence-corona (P-C) interface with the chromosphere-corona (C-C) transition region. The intensity ratio I _cell/I _prominence for each line varies systematically (in all of the prominences observed), with the temperature of formation of the line as T ^–0.6. The density sensitive C iii (formed at T 9 × 10⁴ K) line ratio I ₁₁₇₅/I ₉₇₇ implies an average density 1.3 × 10⁹ electrons cm^–3 in the P-C interface and 4 times this value in the C-C transition of the cells. The total optical thickness at the head of the Lyman continuum is 10 in most of the prominences studied; in two of the prominences, however, we cannot reject the possibility that _o is large. Methods of analysis of these EUV data are developed assuming both a resolved and an unresolved internal prominence structure. Although the systematic differences between the P-C interface and the C-C transition are stressed, the similarities are probably more remarkable and may be a result of fine structure in the C-C transition.Currently on leave from the Institute of Astronomy, Hawaii; at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, 80309.     

Solar flare X-ray spectra

Results are presented of an investigation of solar flare X-ray spectra in the region 1.70–1.95 Å, obtained aboard the Intercosmos-4 satellite during the maximum of solar activity (October–November, 1970). With the use of 6 high resolution spectra in the region 1.85–1.87 Å the identification of lines due to 18 transitions of 2p 1s type, consisting of the resonance, intercombination and forbidden Fe xxv ion lines and the satellite Fe xxiv lines has been performed. With the use of the recent laboratory data the averaged wavelengths of the lines were obtained confirming the theoretically calculated ones with an accuracy about ± 0.0004 Å. A variable Doppler shift of the Fe xxv resonance lines was observed for the flare of November 16, 1970, which points to hot plasma motions with velocities up to 400 km s^-1.     

Galactic4He and heavy elements enrichment by stellar nucleosynthesis

The contribution to the galactic abundance of He and heavy elements by stellar nucleosynthesis is calculated as a function of time, keeping account of present knowledge about stellar and galactic evolution. A model is used which distinguishes the phase of the contracting halo from the subsequent history of the disc. Various uncertainties involved both in stellar and in galactic evolutionary theory are discussed. The amount of⁴He produced by stars of different masses and ejected in interstellar medium is fairly well known from stellar theory, while we have assumed its primordial abundance as a free parameter, ranging from 0 up to 0.4. We find that stellar activity provides a significant contribution to the cosmic⁴He, though not sufficient to explain the observed abundance. The best agreement with observational data (Y 0.26 andY _now0.28) is obtained starting with a primordial abundanceY =(0.20–0.23), which is consisten with the Big-Bang theory predictions and with recent observational estimates. The contribution to the abundance of heavy elements depends on the last stellar stages and on the final explosion mechanism, which are only now beginning to be understood. Nevertheless, in the framework of present theories, we individuate a stellar evolutionary scheme reproducing the observedZ abundances for Populationi and Populationii stars, with the correctly estimated Y/Z value. In this scheme, only stars belonging to two narrow mass ranges (10m/m 15 andm/m 80) are allowed to eject metal-enriched matter, possibly with the solar (C+O)/(Si+Fe) ratio.     

Medium resolution EUV observations and network structure

Medium resolution observations have been used to find the fractional emitting area in three transition region lines. It is found that is given by DI _{mg x} ^k where k varies from 0.78 to 0.51 in the temperature range 2 × 10⁵ to 7 × 10⁵ K. The average emitting area in O vi deduced by this method is in good agreement with the results from ATM observations. The fractional emitting areas at different values of the Mg x intensity and at different temperatures are combined to find the variation of the areas with height. This variation is in good agreement with Giovanelli's model of the fractional area of cross-section of a magnetic tube of force in the transition region.     

A systematic method for the analysis of high-resolution fraunhofer line profiles

A fraunhofer line profile depends on various parameters, partly related to the photospheric structure (T, P _g, P _e, v _conv, v _turb), partly to the atom or ion involved (such as oscillator strength, energy levels), partly also resulting from the interaction of the relevant kind of particles with the photosphere, and the photospheric radiation field. In this paper we shall mainly pay attention to the determination of: the macroturbulent (convective) velocities, v _conv (); the damping constant (); the abundance, A _el; the distribution function (v _conv, ) of the convective velocities at each depth ; the source function, S (); the microturbulent velocities, v _turb ().The particular difficulty with these unknowns is that they are, as a rule, coupled in the resulting line profiles, that is: the shapes and intensities in these profiles are determined by the combined influence of these unknowns (together with the other above-given parameters).In this paper we describe a method to determine these six unknowns empirically by separating them, in analysing accurate high-resolution observations of line profiles of a multiplet. The unknown functions and quantities are consecutively determined in the above given succession. For each determination another, appropriate part of the line profile is used. In some cases the influence of the mutual coupling of the various parameters cannot be completely eliminated, and an iterative method has to be used.The method is summarized in Table II and section 2, and is further explained in sections 3 to 8. It is applied to an infrared Ci multiplet. The main results are the following:     

Emission cores in H and K lines

Calculations are made for the center-limb variations of the K₂ and K₃ components of the solar Ca ii K line using an optically thick model of the chromosphere. The center-limb variations are shown to require an increase of Doppler width with height in the chromosphere and to depend critically upon the location of the point where _D has increased by a factor e. Good agreement with observations is found when, and only when, the increase in _D occurs nearly simultaneously with the increase in chromospheric temperature.     

On the occurrence of convective motions in the upper photosphere

We have examined whether the motion field in the photosphere in the range of optical depths 0.25< ₀< 0.6 is dominated by thermal convection or by vibrations. The observed asymmetries of infrared Fraunhofer lines indicate the presence of motions, and the fact that the asymmetry is zero for lines of low excitation and increases with the excitation potential shows that these motions are chiefly convective in this part of the photosphere: upward moving elements appear to be hotter than downward moving ones.Assuming furthermore that the photosphere can be described by a three-column model, with temperature differences as given by Edmonds (1967), we find that in the range of optical depths given above, where T seems to vary between 80 and 160 °K, average convective velocities of 2.3 to 3.2 km/sec should occur. This result is in numerical agreement with (a) a previous one by the present authors (1967) derived from the variation of line asymmetry with depth in lines of one multiplet, (b) a finding by Lambert and Mallia (1968) deduced from absolute wavelength measurements of Fraunhofer lines, and (c) a recent result of Beckers (1968) found from a comparison of two granulation pictures obtained simultaneously with a narrow-band filter centred on the two wings of a faint line.     

Coronal survey in X-rays of O vii and Ne ix

We report some results of a rocket experiment flown on 29 April, 1971. A survey of the solar corona was carried out with a pair of collimated Bragg spectrometers to study the resonance, intersystem and forbidden line emission from the helium-like ions O vii (22 Å) and Ne ix (13 Å). In the direction of dispersion the collimator provided a field of view of 1.7. Also, the continuum radiation near 3 Å was monitored by a collimated proportional counter within a view angle of 4.2. The observed X-ray emission came from the general corona, seven plage regions, and one dynamic feature- the late stage of a small flare. From the intensity of the O vii and Ne ix resonance lines the electron temperature and emission measure of the individual emitting regions are derived on the basis of two models, one (a) in which the region is assumed to be isothermal and another (b) in which the emission measure decreases exponentially with increasing temperature. The latter model, which is the most adequate of the two, yields for the electron temperature of the time-varying feature 2–3 × 10⁶ K, for the other active regions 1.5–2.5 × 10⁶ K, and for the general corona 1.3–1.7 × 10⁶ K. The Ne ix emitting regions are about 1.5 times as hot as the O vii regions. The emission measure ranges from 0.4–2.3 × 10⁴⁸ cm^–3 for all active regions and is about 2 × 10⁴⁹ cm^–3 for one hemisphere of the general corona above 10⁶ K. From an analysis of the ratio, R, of the forbidden and intersystem lines of O vii we conclude that none of the regions producing these lines at the time of the rocket flight had electron densities exceeding about 3 × 10⁹ cm^–3. Our data demonstrate a dependence of R upon temperature in agreement with the theory of Blumenthal et al. (1971). The wavelengths for the intersystem, the 1s ²2s ² S ^e–1s2p2s ² P ⁰ satellite, and the forbidden transition show in the case of Ne ix improved agreement with predictions. The observed strength of the satellite lines for both O vii and Ne ix agrees with the predictions of Gabriel's (1972) theory, which attributes their formation to dielectronic recombination.We are saddened to report the death of A. J. Meyerott on 13 November, 1971.     

Intensity fluctuations in Fraunhofer lines

An expression is derived for the fluctuation (t) in emergent intensity (observed at some wavelength in a Fraunhofer line or the continuum) caused by a perturbation in temperature (z, t) in the Sun's atmosphere. If the contribution function for the observed intensity is single-peaked near z and if (z) and p(z) are not too rapidly varying, then (t) m (z , t)+N p(z , t) where m and N depend on the structure of the atmosphere. We compute M, N, and contribution functions for several values of and in the inner wings of the K line (13933 Caii).Presently on leave of absence from the Institute for Astronomy, Honolulu, Hawaii.The National Center for Atmospheric Research is sponsored by the National Science Foundation.