Forced nutations of a two-layer Earth model

In this paper we present a theory of the Earth rotation for a model composed of an inelastic mantle and a liquid core, including the dissipation in the core–mantle boundary (CMB). The main features of the theory are: (i) to be Hamiltonian, therefore the computation of some complex inner torques can be avoided; (ii) to be self-consistent and non-dependent on a previous rigid Earth theory, so there is no need to use transfer functions; (iii) to be analytical, the solution being derived by perturbation methods. Numerical nutation series deduced from the theory are compared with the IERS 96 empirical series, an accuracy better than 0.8 mas in providing celestial ephemeris pole (CEP) offsets .     

Diurnal and subdiurnal luni-solar nutations: comparisons and effects

We present a comparison of the diurnal and subdiurnal terms of the three last theories of rigid Earth's rotation: SMART97, RDAN97 and REN 2000. For a better interpretation of the observations, we characterize their contribution to the polar motion and we estimate the non-rigid effects, which are at the level of a few microarcseconds.     

Active-Region Magnetic Structure Observed in the Photosphere and Chromosphere

The full magnetic vector has been measured in both the photosphere and chromosphere across sunspots and plage in NOAA Active Region 8299. We investigate the vertical magnetic structure above the umbral, penumbral and plage regions using quantitative statistical comparisons of the photospheric and chromospheric magnetic data. The results include: (1) a general decrease in average magnetic flux density with height; (2) the direct detection of the superpenumbral canopy in the chromosphere; (3) values for dB/dz which are consistent with earlier investigations when derived from a straight difference between the two measurements, but which are somewhat small when derived from the B=0 condition, (4) a monolithic structure in the umbrae which extends well into the upper chromosphere, with a very complex and varied structure in penumbrae and plage, as evidenced by (5) a uniform magnetic scale height in the umbrae with an abrupt jump to widely varying scale heights in penumbral and plage regions. Further, we find (6) evidence that field extrapolations using the photospheric flux as the boundary may not agree with expectations or with observed coronal structures as well as those which use the chromospheric magnetic flux as the extrapolation starting point.     

Evolution of the Geminids Observed Over 60 Years

Visual observations collected over 60 years (1944–2003) are analysed. The profiles and values of the population index near the activity peak are rather constant over the entire period and confirm the strong mass segregation within the stream. The peak activity is characterized by a plateau in the profile with a ZHR between 120 and 130 lasting for about 12 h between λ_⊙=261.5° and 262.4° (J2000). This is consistent with an age of the Geminid stream of about 6000 years. The position of this plateau is constant. Variations of the ZHR by more than 10% within the peak period are found in data of well-observed returns. These structures of about 0.2° duration can be traced over more than a decade with an average drift of about −0.02° in solar longitude per year     

Solar Microflares Observed by SphinX and RHESSI

In 2009, the Russian Complex Orbital Observations Near-Earth of Activity of the Sun (CORONAS-Photon) spacecraft was launched, carrying the Polish Solar PHotometer In X-rays (SphinX). The SphinX was most sensitive in the spectral range 1.2?–?15 keV, thus an excellent opportunity appeared for comparison with the low-energy end of Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI) spectra. Common spectral measurements with these instruments cover the range where most of the flare energy is accumulated. We have chosen four consecutive small solar events observed on 4 July 2009 at 13:43 UT, 13:48 UT, 13:52 UT, and 13:55 UT (RHESSI flare peak times) and used them to compare the data and results from the two instruments. Moreover, we included Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) records in our analysis. In practice, the range of comparison performed for SphinX and RHESSI is limited roughly to 3?–?6 keV. RHESSI fluxes measured with a use of one, four, and nine detectors in the 3?–?4 keV energy band agree with SphinX measurements. However, we observed that SphinX spectral irradiances are three times higher than those of RHESSI in the 4?–?6 keV energy band. This effect contributes to the difference in obtained emission measures, but the derived temperatures of plasma components are similar. RHESSI spectra were fitted using a model with two thermal components. We have found that the RHESSI hot component is in agreement with GOES, and the RHESSI hotter component fits the SphinX flaring component well. Moreover, we calculated the so-called thermodynamic measure and the total thermal energy content in the four microflares that we studied. The results obtained show that SphinX is a very sensitive complementary observatory for RHESSI and GOES.     

Observed interstellar magnetized supershells and stellar-wind theories

Early theories of stellar winds from an association of OB stars predicted the formation of a common superbubble enclosed by athin, dense supershell, through the combined effort of the winds from the stars at the center. These early theories were adequate for explaining the primary observational features (defined as: shell age, outer radius, shell speed, shell mass, shell energy), but they were not adequate to explain the secondary features (defined as: shell thickness, shell magnetic field, shell gas density). A recently published theory for a stellar-wind-bubble and supershell, predicting a range ofthick supershells, can now be compared with the secondary observational features.Using the observed parameters from all large (> 100 pc) interstellar magnetized supershells near the sun (< 1 kpc away), I assemble for comparison with stellar-wind theories: (a) the primary observational features of these shells — I find: large shell age, large outer radius, low shell speed, large shell mass, large shell energy; and (b) some of their secondary observational features — I find: thick shell, low shell magnetic field strengh, low shell gas density.     

云南天文台观测到的黑子本影点

本文报道了国内首次对黑子本影细节的直接照相观测。通过对这些本影细节的形态的考察和对它们的平均视大小的粗略估计,认为其中一些是本影点。本文还讨论了它们与黑子发展演化过程的关系及其它有关问题。     

Magnetic Flux Cancellation Observed in the Sunspot Moat

In this paper we study the evolution of magnetic fields of a 1F/2.4C solar flare and following magnetic flux cancellation. The data are Big Bear Solar Observatory and SOHO/MDI observations of active region NOAA 8375. The active region produced a multitude of subflares, many of them being clustered along the moat boundary in the area with mixed polarity magnetic fields. The study indicates a possible connection between the flare and the flux cancellation. The cancellation rate, defined from the data, was found to be 3×10¹⁹ Mx h^–1. We observed strong upward directed plasma flows at the cancellation site. Suggesting that the cancellation is a result of reconnection process, we also found a reconnection rate of 0.5 km s^–1, which is a significant fraction of Alfvén speed. The reconnection rate indicates a regime of fast photospheric reconnection happening during the cancellation.     

Observed heating effects of conjugate photoelectrons

A gridded spherical electrostatic analyzer aboard Injun 5 has been used to measure fluxes of thermal and hyperthermal electrons at subauroral latitudes in the midnight sector of the northern ionosphere between altitudes of 2500 and 850 km. Due to the offset between the geomagnetic and geographic poles hyperthermal fluxes, consisting of energetic photoelectrons that have escaped from the sunlit southern hemisphere are observed along orbits over the Atlantic Ocean and North America but not over Asia. The ambient electron temperatures (T_e) near 2500 km have their highest values at trough latitudes for all longitudes. At altitudes near 1000 km elevated electron temperatures in the trough were not a consistent feature of the data. Equatorward of the trough, in the longitude sector to which conjugate photoelectrons have access, T_e ～ 4000 K at 2500 km and ～ 3000 K at 1000 km. For regions with the conjugate point in darkness T_e ? 2300 K over the 1000–2500 km altitude range. The effective thermal characteristics of conjugate photoelectrons are studied as functions of altitude and latitude. The observations indicate that (1) at trough latitudes elevated electron temperatures in the topside ionosphere are mostly produced by sources other than conjugate photoelectrons, and (2) at subtrough latitudes, in the Alantic Ocean-North American longitude sector, conjugate photoelectrons contribute significantly to the heating of topside electrons. Much of the conjugate photoelectron energy is deposited at altitudes >2500 km then conducted along magnetic field lines into the ionosphere.     

Observed heights of EUV lines formed in the transition zone and corona

The heights of formation of a number of extreme ultraviolet lines in active regions have been measured from OSO-IV spectroheliograms. Using the Lyman continuum at 2000 km above the white light limb as a reference, we find heights for Hei, Heii, Ciii, Niii, Oiv, Ovi, Neviii, Mgx, Sixii, Fexv and Fexvi that are in approximate agreement with models based on analysis of EUV emission intensities. The height of Cii is anomalously high. The accuracy of measurement is typically about 2000 km. The data suggest that the transition zone is less steep than calculated from EUV emission intensities; however, higher resolution observations are necessary to resolve the discrepancy.     

Time Evolution of the Altitude of an Observed Coronal Wave

The nature of coronal wave fronts is intensely debated. They are observed in several wavelength bands and are frequently interpreted as magnetosonic waves propagating in the lower solar atmosphere. However, they can also be attributed to the line-of-sight projection of the edges of coronal mass ejections. Therefore, estimating the altitude of these features is crucial for deciding in favor of one of these two interpretations. We took advantage of a set of observations obtained from two different view directions by the EUVI instrument onboard the STEREO mission on 7 December 2007 to derive the time evolution of the altitude of a coronal wave front. We developed a new technique to compute the altitude of the coronal wave and found that the altitude increased during the initial 5 min and then slightly decreased back to the low corona. We interpret the evolution of the altitude as follows: the increase in the altitude of the wave front is linked to the rise of a bubble-like structure depending on whether it is a magnetosonic wave front or a CME in the initial phase. During the second phase, the observed brightness of the wave front was mixed with the brightening of the underlying magnetic structures as the emission from the wave front faded because the plasma became diluted with altitude.     

Global Asymmetry of the Sun Observed in the Extreme Ultraviolet Radiation

We report on observations of the solar luminosity variations in the Fexii line (195 Å) over the period 1996–1999, which corresponds to the minimum and rising phase of the current 23rd solar cycle. The relatively or rather high temporal cadence and spatial resolution of the Extreme-ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (EIT) on board the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) allowed a nearly continuous measurement of intensity of different structures on the Sun. We find that a significant contribution to the longitudinal asymmetry, and thus to the 27-day variability of the solar EUV radiation, is produced by the numerous intermediate brightness elements that are globally distributed over large areas (up to about of the whole surface of the Sun). When activity is low, this component even becomes dominant over the contribution from localized active regions and bright points. This suggests that weak magnetic field areas outside active regions constitute an important factor through which solar activity modulates the solar EUV luminosity.     

Inner polar rings and disks: Observed properties

A list of galaxies with inner regions revealing polar (or strongly inclined to the main galactic plane) disks and rings is compiled from the literature data. The list contains 47 galaxies of all morphological types, from E to Irr. We consider the statistics of the parameters of polar structures known from observations. The radii of the majority of them do not exceed 1.5 kpc. The polar structures are equally common in barred and unbarred galaxies. At the same time, if a galaxy has a bar (or a triaxial bulge), this leads to the polar disk stabilization, so that its axis of rotation usually coincideswith the major axis of the bar. More than two thirds of all considered galaxies reveal one or another sign of recent interaction or merging. This fact indicates a direct relation between the external environment and the presence of an inner polar structure.     

Coronal Hole Influence on the Observed Structure of Interplanetary CMEs

We report on the coronal hole (CH) influence on the 54 magnetic cloud (MC) and non-MC associated coronal mass ejections (CMEs) selected for studies during the Coordinated Data Analysis Workshops (CDAWs) focusing on the question if all CMEs are flux ropes. All selected CMEs originated from source regions located between longitudes 15E?–?15W. Xie, Gopalswamy, and St. Cyr (2013, Solar Phys., doi: 10.1007/s11207-012-0209-0 ) found that these MC and non-MC associated CMEs are on average deflected towards and away from the Sun–Earth line, respectively. We used a CH influence parameter (CHIP) that depends on the CH area, average magnetic field strength, and distance from the CME source region to describe the influence of all on-disk CHs on the erupting CME. We found that for CHIP values larger than 2.6 G the MC and non-MC events separate into two distinct groups where MCs (non-MCs) are deflected towards (away) from the disk center. Division into two groups was also observed when the distance to the nearest CH was less than 3.2×10⁵ km. At CHIP values less than 2.6 G or at distances of the nearest CH larger than 3.2×10⁵ km the deflection distributions of the MC and non-MCs started to overlap, indicating diminishing CH influence. These results give support to the idea that all CMEs are flux ropes, but those observed to be non-MCs at 1 AU could be deflected away from the Sun–Earth line by nearby CHs, making their flux rope structure unobservable at 1 AU.