Investigation of Nova Cygni 1975 (V 1500) at Abastumani. I. Photographic Observations of Spectra

On the night of August 30/31, 1975, one of the authors discovered a nova in the constellation Cygnus. Spectroscopic observations of the nova were made with a 70-cm meniscus telescope, using a 72-cm, 8°, objective prism and a diffraction spectrograph mounted at the Cassegrain focus. The radial velocity of expansion of the nova's shell turned out to be about 2000 km/sec and its mass was on the order of 10^-5 M and had a tendency to increase with time; we estimated the emission energy to be 5·10⁴⁴ erg and the kinetic energy of the shell to be 10⁴⁵ erg, while the electron temperature in the shell is 5000 K.     

The angular momentum loss of low-mass close binary systems

The detailed evolution of low-mass main-sequence stars (M < 1M ) with a compact companion is studied. For angular momentum loss associated with magnetic braking it is found that about 10^–11–10^–12 M yr^–1 in stellar wind loss would be required. This wind is 10²–10³ times stronger than the solar wind, so we believe here magnetic stellar wind is insufficient. It is well known that there is mass outflow in low-mass close binary systems. We believe here that these outflows are centrifugal driven winds from the outer parts of the accretion disks. The winds extract angular momentum from these systems and therefore drive secular evolution. Disk winds are preferred to winds from the secondary, because of the lower disk surface gravity.     

A quantitative analysis of the prototype [WCL] star CPD-56° 8032

We present a detailed, quantitative study of the standard [WC10] Wolf-Rayet central star CPD-56^o 8032 based on new high resolution AAT UCLES observations and the Hillier (1990) WR standard model. Our analysis of CPD-56^o 8032 gives the wind properties (T _*=34500K, lg (L/L )=3.8, lg (M/M a^–1)=–5.4,v =225 km s^–1) and chemistry (C/He=0.5, O/He=0.1, by number), the latter suggesting an intimate relationship with the Ovi PN central stars and the PG 1159-035 objects. A comparison between the wind properties of CPD-56^o 8032 and Sk-66^o 40 (WN 10) indicates that low excitation, low wind velocity WR winds are common to both low mass PN central stars (WC sequence) and high mass post-LBV's (WN sequence).     

TWO-FLUID MODEL FOR HEATING OF THE SOLAR CORONA AND ACCELERATION OF THE SOLAR WIND BY HIGH-FREQUENCY ALFVÉN WAVES

A model of the solar corona and wind is developed which includes for the first time the heating and acceleration effects of high-frequency Alfvén waves in the frequency range between 1 Hz and 1 kHz. The waves are assumed to be generated by the small-scale magnetic activity in the chromospheric network. The wave dissipation near the gyro-frequency, which decreases with increasing solar distance, leads to strong coronal heating. The resulting heating function is different from other artificial heating functions used in previous model calculations. The associated thermal pressure-gradient force and wave pressure-gradient force together can accelerate the wind to high velocities, such as those observed by Helios and Ulysses. Classical Coulomb heat conduction is also considered and turns out to play a role in shaping the temperature profiles of the heated protons. The time-dependent two-fluid (electrons and protons) model equations and the time-dependent wave-spectrum equation are numerically integrated versus solar distance out to about 0.3 AU. The solutions finally converge and settle on time-stationary profiles which are discussed in detail. The model computations can be made to fit the observed density profiles of a polar coronal hole and polar plume with the sonic point occurring at 2.4 R and 3.2 R , respectively. The solar wind speeds obtained at 63 R are 740 km s^-1 and 540 km s^-1; the mass flux is 2.1 and 2.2 × 10⁸ cm^-2 s^-1 (normalized to 1 AU), respectively. The proton temperature increases from a value of 4 × 10⁵ K at the lower boundary to 2 × 10⁶ K in the corona near 2 R .     

Interaction of the supernova remnant HB3 with the ambient interstellar gas

The well-known shell supernova remnant (SNR) HB3 is part of a feature-rich star-forming region together with the nebulae W3, W4, and W5. We study the HI structure around this SNR using five RATAN-600 drift curves obtained at a wavelength of 21 cm with an angular resolution of 2′ in one coordinate over the radial-velocity range ?183 to +60 km s^?1 in a wider region of the sky and with a higher sensitivity than in previous works by other authors. The spatial-kinematic distribution of HI features around the SNR clearly shows two concentric expanding shells of gas that surround the SNR and coincide with it in all three coordinates (α, δ, and V). The outer shell has a radius of 133 pc, a thickness of 24 pc, and an expansion velocity of 48 km s^?1. The mass of the gas in it is ≈2.3 × 10⁵M_⊙. For the inner shell, these parameters are 78 pc, 36 pc, 24 km s^{? 1}, and 0.9 × 10⁵M_⊙, respectively. The inner shell is immediately adjacent to the SNR. Assuming that the outer shell was produced by the stellar wind and the inner shell arose from the shock wave of the SNR proper, we estimated the age of the outer shell, ≈1.7 × 10⁶ yr, and the mechanical luminosity of the stellar wind, 1.5 × 10³⁸ erg s^?1. The inner shell has an age of ≈10⁶ yr and corresponds to a total supernova explosion energy of ≈10⁵² erg.     

Non-thermal solar wind heating by supra-thermal ions

The effect of a new energy source due to energies transferred from supra-thermal secondary ions on the temperature profile of the solar wind has been considered. For this purpose a solution of a tri-fluid model of the solar wind including solar electrons, protons, and -particles, and starting with the boundary conditions of Hartle and Barnes at 0.5 AU is given. On the base of the assumption that suprathermal He⁺-ions which have four times the temperature of suprathermal protons are predominantly coupled to solar -particles by Alfvén waves, it is shown that the temperature T of solar -particles should be appreciably higher than those T _p of solar protons beyond the orbit of the Earth. For 1 AU a temperature excess T over T _p according to that which has been found in some solar wind ion spectrograms can only be explained for a small part of the orbit of the earth which is inside the cone of enhanced helium densities. Around 1 AU the temperatures T and T _p are found to decrease much slighter with solar distance than given in the two-fluid model of Hartle and Barnes. Beyond 1.7 and 2.2 AU the temperatures T and T _p even start increasing with solar distance and come up to about 10⁵ at about 10 AU. These predictions should lend some support to future temperature measurements with deep-space probes reaching Solar distances of some AU.Forschungsberichte des Astronomischen Institutes, Bonn, 72-10.     

On steady-state nuclear burning in accreting neutron stars

The properties of the hydrogen burning shell in the envelope of an accreting neutron star have been studied for a range of mass accretion rates, neutron star radii, and metal abundances of the accreted matter. It is found that the hydrogen burning shells lie at densities ranging from 10⁵–6×10⁶ gm cm^–3. For mass accretion rates in excess ofM _c2 hydrogen and helium burn together. ForM _c1MM _c2, the hydrogen burning shell is stabilized by the limited CNO cycle. Implications of these results to the X-ray burst phenomena are briefly discussed.     

The case of the fastest stellar wind in central stars of planetary nebulae

An exceptionally fast wind (8500 km/s) was suggested to occur in the central star of the planetary nebula K1-16, belonging to the class of the PG 1159 H-deficient pre-white dwarfs. To ascertain the reality of such a fast wind this star has been observed with the HST telescope using the GHRS in the zone of theCiv 155.0 nm doublet. The HST data and tests made using synthetic stellar spectra support the existence of a stellar wind with a terminal velocity of 3800 km/s and a mass loss rate lower thanM<2 · 10^–11 M per year. Possibly it is no longer the fastest stellar wind so far observed but it is still among the fastest.     

Evolution of low-mass close binaries and the problem of orbital period gap in cataclysmic variables

Evolution of close binary composed of a white dwarf primary and a Main-Sequence secondary has been calculated. Angular-momentum loss via gravitational radiation and magnetic stellar wind have been taken into account. We have found that magnetic stellar wind with a rate greater than (10^–10–10^–9)M yr^–1 is able to drive the evolution with mass exchange. If the time-scale of switch-off of wind when the primary becomes fully convective is not longer than 10⁶ yr, mass exchange interrupts due to a contraction of the secondary and the system becomes unobservable. Mass exchange resumes when components approach one another due to loss of momentum via gravitational radiation. The location and width of the thus-arising gap in the orbital periods are comparable to those observed.     

Searches for the shell swept up by the stellar wind from Cyg OB2

We investigated the kinematics of ionized gas in an extended (20°×15°) region containing the X-ray Superbubble in Cygnus with the aim of finding the shell swept up by a strong wind from Cyg OB2. Hα observations were carried out with high angular and spectral resolutions using a Fabry-Perot interferometer attached to the 125-cm telescope at the Crimean Observatory of the Sternberg Astronomical Institute. We detected high-velocity gas motions, which could result from the expansion of the hypothetical shell at a velocity of 25–50 km s^?1. Given the number of OB stars increased by Knödlseder (2000) by an order of magnitude, Cyg OB2 is shown to possess a wind that is strong enough [L _w ? (1–2) × 10³⁹ erg s^?1] to produce a shell comparable in size to the X-ray Superbubble and to a giant system of optical filaments. Based on our measurements and on X-ray and infrared observations, we discuss possible observational manifestations of the shell swept up by the wind.     

The ultraviolet extinction by hollow spherical particles of graphite

Using the discrete dipole approximation, we have calculated the extinction efficiency of hollow spherical particles of graphite as a possible constituent of interstellar grains. The particles had a shell structure with the basal plane perpendicular to the radius. The calculations were made on the particles having the outer radiusR ₀=10 and 5nm in the wave number region from 0.8 to 8.0 m^–1 using the anisotropic optical constants. It was found that the hollow particles with the inner radiusR ₁0.65R ₀ yield an extinction feature at 4.6 m^–1, which fits fairly well to one observed in the interstellar extinction.     

Solar Scintillometry: Calibration of Signals and its Use for Seeing Measurements

Since 1993 it is known that there is a good correlation between the scintillation in the solar irradiance and solar image quality (Seykora, 1993). This effect is now being used in a number of experiments to evaluate solar image quality and to measure site seeing. In this paper we explore further the calibration of this scintillation (_I) in terms of the Fried parameter (_r0) taking into account variations in the refractive index structure constant C _N ² with height (h), zenith distance () dependence and the effects of wind velocities. A variant in the scintillometer setup is proposed which decreases sharply the dependance on C _N ² , , and the wind velocities. It uses an array of scintillometers. The same array can be used to measure theC _N ² profile with height. Some preliminary results of the calibration of current NSO site survey measurements are presented.     

A complete model of the propagation of solar-flare cosmic rays

A two-stage model of the propagation of 1–50 MeV solar-flare cosmic rays is presented. The first stage consists of a thin spherical shell of radius r _a near the Sun which feeds particles into interplanetary space (the second stage) where they propagate along the Archimedean mean interplanetary magnetic field under the influences of anisotropic diffusion, convection, and energy changes. To calculate the time dependence at a fixed point in space, account is taken of the corotation of flux tubes past the observer.It is shown that the well-known east-west effect of the time-to-maximum cannot be obtained if the injection from the first stage is impulsive and thus a time and longitude dependent release for the second stage is essential. This is achieved by treating the first stage as a thin, spherical, diffusing shell of radius r _a with diffusion coefficient _s, from which particles leak into interplanetary space at a rate determined by the leakage coefficient .With this model we are able to reproduce simultaneously four principal features of solar events observed at r = 1 AU: (i) the east-west effect, i.e. the time-to-maximum as a function of flare longitude; (ii) the three phases of the anisotropy vector variation; (iii) the time-to-convective-phase as a function of flare longitude; and (iv) the longitudinal distribution of the differential intensity. Our best estimates of the parameters of the near-Sun propagation are that 0.01 hr^–1 _s/r _a ² 0.02 hr^–1 and 1/15 hr^–1 1/10 hr^–1. For the interplanetary propagation we estimate /V - 1.2AU with , the effective cosmic-ray diffusion coefficient and V, the solar-wind speed.     

The galactic centre

An attempt is made to present all the relevant observations of our galactic centre and to explain them by means of a working scheme that involves a minimum number ofad hoc assumptions.In this scheme, the central engine is Sgr A^*, a supermassive star of some 10³ M and surface temperature 3.6×10⁴ K in Keplerian rotation, fuelled by the strongly magnetized disk. It drives both a non-thermal (pair-plasma) wind and a thermal wind. Interactions with the central star cluster and with the circumnuclear disk give rise to the thermal vortex Sgr A West and to the non-thermal spill-over bubble Sgr A East. The relativistic pair plasma escapes supersonically through the galactic chimney into the galactic twin jets, as in Seyfert galaxies.     

Structure of X-ray irradiated stellar wind

The effect of X-ray irradiation on the line-driven stellar wind in X-ray binary systems is studied. The product of the X-ray luminosityL _x and the densityn in the wind is a measure to distinguish between the optically thin and thick wind regimes. For an X-ray source of the radiation temperature of 10 keV, the critical value(L _x n) _c , is of the order of 10³⁷ erg s^–1 cm^–3; hence, most of wind-fed X-ray sources lie in the optically thick wind regime because ofL _x n>(L _x n) _c . Then the wind structure is determined not only by the parameter =(L _x /nR ²),R the distance from the X-ray source, but also by the optical thickness due to helium. The formation of fully ionized helium region depends onL _x andn in a way different from that of the Strömgren sphere. In such an optically thick wind, the region behind the He II ionization boundary is little affected by X-ray irradiation and the trace elements remain to be responsible for wind acceleration. Thus, its location is important for the structure of the wind and the interpretation of various phenomena in objects such as wind-fed X-ray pulsars.     

Noise-Storm Continua: Power Estimates for Electron Acceleration

We use a generic stochastic acceleration formalism to examine the power L_in (erg s^-1) input to non-thermal electrons that cause noise-storm continuum emission. The analytical approach includes the derivation of the Greens function for a general second-order Fermi process, and its application to obtain the particular solution for the non-thermal electron distribution resulting from the acceleration of a Maxwellian source in the corona. We compare L_in with the power L_out observed in noise-storm radiation. Using typical values for the various parameters, we find that L_in 10²³–10²⁶ erg s^-1, yielding an efficiency estimate L_out/L_in in the range 10^-10 10^-6 for this non-thermal acceleration/radiation process. These results reflect the efficiency of the overall process, starting from electron acceleration and culminating in the observed noise-storm emission.     

The structure and evolution of a slow deflagration front propagating into a degenerate star

The structure and evolution of a slow reaction front propagation into a cool, hydrogen rich shell above an inert core has been studied. It has been found that, during the evolution of the front, the total radiative luminosity drops from 10⁴ L to 10^–4 L in a time scale of the order of 10⁹ yr. The burned up fraction of the fuel is found to be less than 1%.     

Magnetic and thermal pressures in the solar wind

Explorer 34 solar wind data for the period June to December, 1967 show that(a) The magnetic pressure, P _BB ²/8, and thermal pressure,P _kn _p kTp+n kT+n _e kTe,are variable and positively correlated on a scale of 2 days, but (b) changes in P _b and P _k are anticorrelated on a scale 1 hr (0.01 AU). Thus, dynamical hydromagnetic processes (dv/dto) must occur on the mesoscale, but the solar wind tends to be in equilibrium(P _B+P _Kconstant) on a smaller scale, the microscale. The 3-hr averages show that the most probable value of P _{k/P B} is =1.0±0.1, which implies that the most probable state of the solar wind at 1 AU is not one of equipartition between the thermal energy and magnetic energy. The average total pressure for a given bulk speed(P(V)=P ^k+P _k+P _B) is essentially independent of V, implying that P is not determined by the heating or acceleration mechanisms of the solar wind; the average pressure is P=(2.9±1.5)×10^-10dyne/cm².     

Differential rotation in a solar-driven quasi-axisymmetric circulation

We consider the concept of a quasi-axisymmetric circulation to explore the global scale dynamics of planetary atmospheres. The momentum and energy transport processes in the smaller scales are formulated in terms of anisotropic eddy diffusion. In the early work of Williams and Robinson (1973) these concepts have been introduced to describe the Jovian circulation. Our study differs in that we adopt a spectral model (with vector spherical harmonics) and consider a linear system; we are also examining a different parameter regime. The troposphere of Jupiter is assumed to be weakly convectively unstable, and the circulation is driven by the fundamental component of solar differential heating with a broad maximum at the equator. Mode coupling arising from the Coriolis action is considered in self consistent form, and momentum and energy are allowed to cascade from lower to higher order modes. With a limited number of spherical harmonics, up to order 40, and with homogeneous boundary conditions, the conservation equations are integrated between the 25 and 10^–5 bar pressure levels. In addition, a simplified single layer model is discussed which, even though heuristic in nature, elucidates and complements the numerical results. Our analysis leads to the following conclusions: (a) For a negative stability, S ₀ = T ₀/r + , the energy transports arising from large scale advection by the meridional circulation can amplify the response to the external heating. This crucially depends on the latitudinal structure of the circulation, so that banded wind fields with equatorial zonal jets are preferentially excited. (b) With a negative stability of order S ₀ ~ – 10^–6 K cm^–1, the computed number of positive (and negative) zonal jets is similar to that observed on Jupiter. (c) The observed magnitudes in the zonal wind velocities require that the vertical eddy diffusion coefficient is of the order K _r ~ 3 × 10⁵ cm² s^–1, which in turn is consistent with the observed outward flux of energy from the planetary interior (F K _r S ₀ ); this diffusion rate is also of the right order of magnitude to obey mixing length theory. (d) The ratio between the horizontal and vertical eddy diffusion coefficients (relative mixing factor) is of critical importance. If it is too large ( 10⁵), differential rotation or alternating zonal jets cannot be maintained; if it is too small ( 10⁴), the equator tends to corotate. The intermediate value of order R ~ 5 × 10⁴ is again consistent with mixing length theory. (e) With the above constraints on the transport coefficients, the flow is quasigeostrophic. (f) The meridional circulation is multicellular and of the Ferrel-Thomson type. It is consistent with the observed cloud striations in the Jovian atmosphere. (g) In the stable stratosphere at higher altitudes the fundamental component, directly driven by the Sun, dominates. The circulation degenerates, and broad, positive zonal jets develop at middle latitudes, resembling the observed wind field in the visible cloud cover of the Venus atmosphere.Applied Research Corporation, Landover, Maryland, U.S.A.     

Theoretical evolution of a hydrogen-helium star of 3M ⊙ from the pre-Main Sequence to the core helium-exhaustion phase

The evolution of a first-generation 3M star from the threshold of stability through the stage of helium exhaustion in the core has been studied. The total time elapsed is 4.174×10⁸ yr and most of this time is spent in the blue-giant region of theH-R diagram. Hydrogen-burning near the Main Sequence occurs at a high central temperature via the proton-proton chain until the triplealpha reactions generate a small amount of C¹² toward the end of the hydrogen-burning phase. The corresponding evolution time is longer than that of a normal population I star with the same mass. The ignition of the triple-alpha processes begins in a mildly degenerate, small convective core while the star still has a high surface temperature. Helium-burning in the core, coupled with hydrogenburning in the shell, occupies a period of about 1.8×10⁷ yr, which is only one-third that of a normal star. The mass of the star interior to the hydrogen shell source has increased to a value of 0.50M near the end of core helium exhaustion. This region maintains an inhomogenous composition composed of helium, carbon and oxygen.