Modeling Solar Spectral Irradiance and Total Magnetic Flux Using Sunspot Areas

We show that daily sunspot areas can be used in a simple, single parameter model to reconstruct daily variations in several other solar parameters, including solar spectral irradiance and total magnetic flux. The model assumes that changes in any given parameter can be treated mathematically as the response of the system to the emergence of a sunspot. Using cotemporal observational data, we compute the finite impulse response (FIR) function that describes that response in detail, and show that the response function has been approximately stationary over the time period for which data exist. For each parameter, the impulse response function describes the physical evolution of that part of a solar active region that is the source of the measured variability. We show that the impulse response functions are relatively narrow functions, no more than 3 years wide overall. Each exhibits a pre-active, active, and post-active region component; the active region component dominates the variability of most of the parameters studied.     

Sensitivity Kernels for Time-Distance Inversion

Inversion of local-area helioseismic time-distance data has so far only been done in the ray approximation (Kosovichev, 1996). Since this is a high-frequency approximation its applicability can be questioned for the solar case. Bogdan (1997) showed that for a simple solar model the localized wave packets do follow, but are not confined to, the ray path. We use an approximation based on the first Fresnel zone that has been developed in geophysics by Snieder and Lomax (1996) to go beyond the ray approximation in the inversions. We have calculated sensitivity kernels using both approximations. To test them we use a finite-difference forward modeling of the whole wave field in an acoustic medium reminiscent of the Sun. We use the finite-difference modeling to calculate sensitivity kernels for the full wave field and compare this with the other kernels. The results show that the Fresnel-zone-based kernels are in good agreement with the sensitivity obtained from the modeling. Thus these new kernels represent a significant step forward in the inversion of time-distance data.     

Observation of standing kink waves in solar spicules

We analyze the time series of Ca ii H-line obtained from Hinode/SOT on the solar limb. The time-distance analysis shows that the axis of spicule undergos quasi-periodic transverse displacement at different heights from the photosphere. The mean period of transverse displacement is ∼180 s and the mean amplitude is 1 arc sec. Then, we solve the dispersion relation of magnetic tube waves and plot the dispersion curves with upward steady flows. The theoretical analysis shows that the observed oscillation may correspond to the fundamental harmonic of standing kink waves.     

Bandpass calibration of a wideband spectrometer using coherent pulse injection

We present a relatively simple time domain method for determining the bandpass response of a system by injecting a nanosecond pulse and capturing the system voltage output. A pulse of sub-nanosecond duration contains all frequency components with nearly constant amplitude up to 1 GHz. Hence, this method can accurately determine the system bandpass response to a broadband signal. In a novel variation on this impulse response method, a train of pulses is coherently accumulated providing precision calibration with a simple system. The basic concept is demonstrated using a pulse generator-accumulator setup realised in a Bedlam board which is a high speed digital signal processing unit. The same system was used at the Parkes radio telescope between 2–13 October 2013 and we demonstrate its powerful diagnostic capability. We also present some initial test data from this experiment.     

Magnetic Stereoscopy of Coronal Loops in NOAA 8891

The Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory (STEREO) requires powerful tools for the three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction of the solar corona. Here we test such a program with data from SOHO and TRACE. By taking advantage of solar rotation, a newly developed stereoscopy tool for the reconstruction of coronal loops is applied to the solar active region NOAA 8891 observed from 1 March to 2 March 2000. The stereoscopic reconstruction is composed of three steps. First, we identify loop structures in two TRACE images observed from two vantage viewpoints approximately 17 degrees apart, which corresponds to observations made about 30 hours apart. In the second step, we extrapolate the magnetic field in the corona with the linear force-free field model from the photospheric line-of-sight SOHO/MDI data. Finally, combining the extrapolated field lines and one-dimensional loop curves from two different viewpoints, we obtain the 3D loop structures with the magnetic stereoscopy tool. We demonstrate that by including the magnetic modeling this tool is more powerful than pure geometrical stereoscopy, especially in resolving the ambiguities generated by classical stereoscopy. This work will be applied to the STEREO mission in the near future.     

Observational manifestations of the change in the tilt of the accretion disk to the orbital plane in her X-1/HZ her with phase of its 35-day period

We analyze and interpret the RXTE/ASM X-ray light curves for the close binary system Her X-1/HZ Her obtained from February 1996 to September 2004. Some of the features found previously in the averaged X-ray light curves are confirmed by the new RXTE/ASM data. In particular, the anomalous dips and post-eclipse recoveries in two successive orbits in the short-on state are clearly distinguishable and are stable features of the X-ray light curves. We argue that to account for these features, the tilt of the accretion disk to the orbital plane must be assumed to change with phase of the 35-day period. We present a numerical model that can reproduce the observed features of the light curves.     

日冕加速区附近射电尖峰辐射的小尺度结构

太阳射电尖峰辐射(spike)的窄频带是一个具有特征性的参数,不但可从它计算出Spike辐射源区的小尺度结构,而且观测结果与Spike辐射理论可相互验证.我们利用云南天文台0.5 MHz频率分辨率的射电频谱观测资料,作出了230—300MHz频段上单个Spike带宽分布,并由此给出一群Spike源区的最可几尺度为151km,最大源区尺度为830km.     

Can coronal loop transients be driven magnetically?

In this note we investigate the possibility of magnetic driving of loop transients. The action of local magnetic forces to balance gravity in a coasting loop and to confine the loop has been proposed by Mouschovias and Poland (1977). In this paper we use similar configurations but deal with the global field structure and present models which show both the initial phase of large acceleration and the later phase of almost constant velocity. We use very simple one-dimensional models consisting of a ring current which is subjected to gravitational attraction. The velocity curves calculated for these models are in good agreement with the observations. Therefore we conclude that if such ring currents can be produced fast enough in the solar corona, they are capable of driving the loop transients observed in the ATM white light coronagraph.On leave from Max-Planck Institut für Physik und Astrophysik, Föhringer Ring 6, 8 München 40, F.R.G.The National Center for Atmospheric Research is sponsored by the National Science Foundation.     

TIME-DISTANCE HELIOSEISMOLOGY WITH THE MDI INSTRUMENT: INITIAL RESULTS

In time-distance helioseismology, the travel time of acoustic waves is measured between various points on the solar surface. To some approximation, the waves can be considered to follow ray paths that depend only on a mean solar model, with the curvature of the ray paths being caused by the increasing sound speed with depth below the surface. The travel time is affected by various inhomogeneities along the ray path, including flows, temperature inhomogeneities, and magnetic fields. By measuring a large number of times between different locations and using an inversion method, it is possible to construct 3-dimensional maps of the subsurface inhomogeneities. The SOI/MDI experiment on SOHO has several unique capabilities for time-distance helioseismology. The great stability of the images observed without benefit of an intervening atmosphere is quite striking. It has made it possible for us to detect the travel time for separations of points as small as 2.4 Mm in the high-resolution mode of MDI (0.6 arc sec pixel^-1). This has enabled the detection of the supergranulation flow. Coupled with the inversion technique, we can now study the 3-dimensional evolution of the flows near the solar surface.     

Observation of kink waves and their reconnection-like origin in solar spicules

We analyze the time series of Ca?ii H-line obtained from Hinode/SOT on the solar limb. We follow three cases of upwardly propagating kink waves along a spicule and inverted Y-shaped structures at the cusp of it. The time-distance analysis shows that the axis of spicule undergos quasi-periodic transverse displacement at different heights from the photosphere. The mean period of transverse displacement is ～175 s and the mean amplitude is 1 arc?sec. The oscillation periods are increasing linearly with height which may be counted as the signature that the spicule is working as a low pass filter and allows only the low frequencies to propagate towards higher heights. The oscillations amplitude is increasing with height due to decrease in density. The phase speeds are increasing until some heights and then decreasing which may be related to the small scale reconnection at the spicule basis. We conclude that transversal displacement of spicules axis can be related to the propagation of kink waves along them. Moreover, we observe signatures of small-scale magnetic reconnection at the cusp of spicules which may excite kink waves.     

Four-color photometry of the Galilean satellites

Photometry obtained in 1973 on the uvby system yields high-precision rotational light curves for Io, Europa, and Ganymede at a mean phase angle of ～6°. By combining our observations with photometry obtained by others over a broader range of phase angle, we alsi derive improved values for the phase coefficients and opposition surges of the four Galilean satellites. The values of V(1, 0) obtained by linear extrapolation to zero phase are accurate to ±0.03 magnitudes. We also derive the colors of the sun of the uvby system and use these to obtain albedos of the satellites in four colors.     

On the formation of TeV radiation in LS 5039

The recent detections of TeV gamma-rays from compact binary systems show that relativistic outflows (jets or winds) are sites of effective acceleration of particles up to multi-TeV energies. In this paper, we discuss the conditions of acceleration and radiation of ultrarelativistic electrons in LS 5039, the gamma-ray emitting binary system for which the highest quality TeV data are available. Assuming that the gamma-ray emitter is a jet-like structure, we performed detailed numerical calculations of the energy spectrum and light curves accounting for the acceleration efficiency, the location of the accelerator, the speed of the emitting flow, the inclination angle of the system, as well as specific features related to anisotropic inverse Compton (IC) scattering and pair production. We conclude that the accelerator should not be deep inside the binary system unless we assume a very efficient acceleration rate. We show that within the IC scenario both the gamma-ray spectrum and flux are strongly orbital phase dependent. Formally, our model can reproduce, for specific sets of parameter values, the energy spectrum of gamma-rays reported by HESS for wide orbital phase intervals. However, the physical properties of the source can be constrained only by observations capable of providing detailed energy spectra for narrow orbital phase intervals (Δφ≪ 0.1).     

A photometric study of a new short period eclipsing sdB binary NSVS 07826147

NSVS?07826147 and NSVS?04818255 were suspected as possible eclipsing sdB binary systems by Kelley and Shaw. In order to investigate the short period eclipsing sdB binaries, we have listed them as our observing targets and began to monitor it from March 2009. Till now, we have obtained four complete CCD light curves and 16 high precise times of light minimum of NSVS?07826147. All light curves show strong reflection and a very narrow eclipse, which implies that NSVS?07826147 should be a new short period eclipsing sdB binary. For the system NSVS?04818255, no eclipse character was found in the light curves according to our observations. However, we found that a star near NSVS?04818255 is a close binary system with a period of about 0.32498 days. Up to now, only seven short period eclipsing sdB binary systems have been found, including NSVS?07826147. With the new precise epochs obtained by us, the new period of this system is derived as 0.16177046(5) days, which can be used to predict the epochs of light minimum. Furthermore, the light curves of NSVS?07826147 are analyzed using the Wilson–Van Hamme code and the testing photometric solutions are presented and discussed.     

Transfers between libration-point orbits in the elliptic restricted problem

A strategy is formulated to design optimal time-fixed impulsive transfers between three-dimensional libration-point orbits in the vicinity of the interiorL ₁ libration point of the Sun-Earth/Moon barycenter system. The adjoint equation in terms of rotating coordinates in the elliptic restricted three-body problem is shown to be of a distinctly different form from that obtained in the analysis of trajectories in the two-body problem. Also, the necessary conditions for a time-fixed two-impulse transfer to be optimal are stated in terms of the primer vector. Primer vector theory is then extended to non-optimal impulsive trajectories in order to establish a criterion whereby the addition of an interior impulse reduces total fuel expenditure. The necessary conditions for the local optimality of a transfer containing additional impulses are satisfied by requiring continuity of the Hamiltonian and the derivative of the primer vector at all interior impulses. Determination of the location, orientation, and magnitude of each additional impulse is accomplished by the unconstrained minimization of the cost function using a multivariable search method. Results indicate that substantial savings in fuel can be achieved by the addition of interior impulsive maneuvers on transfers between libration-point orbits.An earlier version was presented as Paper AAS 92–126 at the AAS/AIAA Spaceflight Mechanics Meeting, Colorado Springs, Colorado, February 24–26, 1992.     

Evolutionary Stellar Population Synthesis at 2 Å Spectral Resolution

I present an evolutionary stellar population synthesis model which predicts spectral energy distributions, SEDs, for simple old single-metallicity stellar populations, SSPs, in the wavelength intervalsλλ 3856–4476Å and 4795–5465Å at a resolution of FWHM$equals;1.8 $Aring;, on the basis of an extensive empirical spectral library composed of ≈550 stars. The synthesized model spectra can be used to analyse observed galaxy spectra in a very easy and flexible way, allowing us to adapt the theoretical predictions to the characteristics of the data instead of proceeding in the opposite direction (as we must do, for example, when transforming observational data to a particular system of indices at specific resolution/s, such as Lick, which is heavily instrument-dependent).The SSP spectra, with flux-calibrated response curves, can be smoothed to the same resolution as that of the data or to galaxy internal velocity dispersion, allowing us to analyse the observed spectra in their own system, and with no need to correct the index measurements for velocity dispersion. Thus, we are able to use all the information contained in the data, at their higher spectral resolution. Excellent fits are obtained for various metal-rich globular clusters at relatively high resolution, and well known spectral peculiarities such as the strong CN absorption features are detected. When applied to early-type galaxies the model also shows its potential for studying element ratios such as the Mg/Fe overabundance. The model spectra provided robust age indicators for old stellar populations which do not depend on metallicity and therefore have a great potential for solving the age–metallicitydegeneracy of galaxy spectra.     

Optimal Gaussian Phase-Speed Filters in Time-Distance Helioseismology

Gaussian phase-speed filters are widely used in time-distance helioseismology to select specific wave packets whose travel times are then measured at the solar surface. This filtering increases the signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio of the temporal cross-covariances that are fitted to derive the travel times. The central phase speeds of these Gaussian filters are prescribed by a solar model; their widths are typically chosen empirically. No systematic study has been published on the effect of this filter width on the S/N ratio of the travel times. Such an analysis requires the ability to generate both noise and signal travel-time perturbations, this is now possible due to the recent introduction of a noise model and Born-approximation sensitivity kernels. These kernels allow for a derivation of travel-time perturbations as functions of a given sound-speed perturbation and are dependent on the phase-speed filters applied to the data, unlike simpler kernels. In this paper, we show that there is indeed an optimum value of the filter width that results in a maximum S/N ratio for the travel-time maps. Narrower filters exclude too much signal to produce useful travel-time perturbation maps, while broader filters are not selective enough.     

Particle motions in Maxwell’s ring dynamical systems

The focus of this contribution is an effort to review and report the main results obtained so far, concerning the periodic motions of a small body in the combined gravitational field created by a regular ν-gon arrangement of ν big bodies with equal masses, where ν > 7, and another central primary with different mass. Various types of planar periodic motions are presented and networks of characteristic curves of families are depicted, in order to show their distribution in the space of the initial conditions, as well as the evolution of their members that are also examined under the variation of the parameters of the system. Furthermore, the regions of the allowed three-dimensional motions, as well as their variation, are illustrated by means of the zero-velocity surfaces. All this new material is added to the already existing data, and completes thus the profile of the dynamical behavior of the system.     

Comparison OF Noise Properties Of GONG And MDI Time-Distance Helioseismic Data

The recently upgraded system of the ground-based Global Oscillation Network Group (GONG) network of helioseismic observatories has started to provide higher-resolution solar oscillation measurements suitable for local helioseismic studies. Selecting simultaneously observed regions on the Sun by both GONG and the space-borne Michelson Doppler Imager (MDI) instrument on board the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO), we perform a comparative analysis of time-distance measurements focussing on the noise properties.     

Light Scattering from Regolith: Intensity Versus Particle Size Behavior

Nature of the photometric phase curves of the regolith like surfaces (like those of the asteroids) are believed to be dependent on the single particle characteristics like particle size, shape, composition etc. and physical characteristics of the surface like porosity and roughness. Most of the phase curves have a rapid surge of intensity at small phase angles (typically below 5^°) known as opposition effect, followed by a linear less decreasing trend at larger phase angles. Average intensity of the linear region has been found to be mostly dependent on the average particle size and its composition, in many laboratory observations. Generally, it is difficult to explain the nature of light scattering by an ensemble of irregular shaped inhomogeneous particles with a theoretical model, just by studying the phase curves. In the present work, we have investigated whether the theoretically expected variation of the scattered light intensity (at a given phase angle) with the average particle size of the grains constituting regoliths, for a given material of the particle is in agreement with the experimental results or not? If yes, this can be a simpler but efficient way to study light scattering by regolith like surfaces. For theoretical analysis, Hapke formula has been used with Mie theory for single particle phase function, where we have neglected the influence of porosity and roughness presently. The data are also fitted with an empirical formula. It has been found that this empirical formula may also be used to estimate the unknown average particle size of a real regolith with known composition.     

Travel Time Sensitivity Kernels

We derive, following the standard first Born approximation approach used in the geophysics literature, an expression for the travel time perturbation caused by a perturbation to sound speed. In our simple model we employ a point source at one point and calculate the time taken for a wave packet created at the source to move to a second point. In the first Born approximation the travel time delay caused by a perturbation to the background model can be expressed as the integral over the whole sun of some function, called the travel time sensitivity kernel, multiplied by the perturbation. The sensitivity kernels are zero along the geometrical ray connecting the two points and have maximum weight in a tube around the ray; they are the solar equivalent of `the banana-doughnut' kernels discussed in the geophysics literature. Calculating sensitivity kernels that are more accurate than those derived from ray theory is important for the future of inversions done with time-distance helioseismology data as they will allow greater confidence in the results as well as increased resolution.