Evaluating the Uncertainties in the Electron Temperature and Radial Speed Measurements Using White Light Corona Eclipse Observations

We examine the uncertainties in two plasma parameters from their true values in a simulated asymmetric corona. We use the Corona Heliosphere (CORHEL) and Magnetohydrodynamics Around the Sphere (MAS) models in the Community Coordinated Modeling Center (CCMC) to investigate the differences between an assumed symmetric corona and a more realistic, asymmetric one. We were able to predict the electron temperatures and electron bulk flow speeds to within ±?0.5 MK and ±?100 km?s^?1, respectively, over coronal heights up to 5.0 R_⊙ from Sun center. We believe that this technique could be incorporated in next-generation white-light coronagraphs to determine these electron plasma parameters in the low solar corona. We have conducted experiments in the past during total solar eclipses to measure the thermal electron temperature and the electron bulk flow speed in the radial direction in the low solar corona. These measurements were made at different altitudes and latitudes in the low solar corona by measuring the shape of the K-coronal spectra between 350 nm and 450 nm and two brightness ratios through filters centered at 385.0 nm/410.0 nm and 398.7 nm/423.3 nm with a bandwidth of ≈?4 nm. Based on symmetric coronal models used for these measurements, the two measured plasma parameters were expected to represent those values at the points where the lines of sight intersected the plane of the solar limb.     

A search for shocked quartz grains in the Allerød‐Younger Dryas boundary layer

The Younger Dryas impact hypothesis suggests that multiple airbursts or extraterrestrial impacts occurring at the end of the Allerød interstadial resulted in the Younger Dryas cold period. So far, no reproducible, diagnostic evidence has, however, been reported. Quartz grains containing planar deformation features (known as shocked quartz grains), are considered a reliable indicator for the occurrence of an extraterrestrial impact when found in a geological setting. Although alleged shocked quartz grains have been reported at a possible Allerød‐Younger Dryas boundary layer in Venezuela, the identification of shocked quartz in this layer is ambiguous. To test whether shocked quartz is indeed present in the proposed impact layer, we investigated the quartz fraction of multiple Allerød‐Younger Dryas boundary layers from Europe and North America, where proposed impact markers have been reported. Grains were analyzed using a combination of light and electron microscopy techniques. All samples contained a variable amount of quartz grains with (sub)planar microstructures, often tectonic deformation lamellae. A total of one quartz grain containing planar deformation features was found in our samples. This shocked quartz grain comes from the Usselo palaeosol at Geldrop Aalsterhut, the Netherlands. Scanning electron microscopy cathodoluminescence imaging and transmission electron microscopy imaging, however, show that the planar deformation features in this grain are healed and thus likely to be older than the Allerød‐Younger Dryas boundary. We suggest that this grain was possibly eroded from an older crater or distal ejecta layer and later redeposited in the European sandbelt. The single shocked quartz grain at this moment thus cannot be used to support the Younger Dryas impact hypothesis.     

Decoupling the host and nuclear spectra of type I AGNs using integral field spectroscopy: A test on 3C 120

We have developed a new technique to decouple the spectra of the host and the nucleus of type I AGNs using integral field spectroscopy data. The technique is a simple extension of methods widely tested in 2D imaging. We present here the results from applying the technique to data taken with INTEGRAL at the 4.2 m William Herschel Telescope on the Seyfert 1 radio-galaxy 3C 120. We obtained, for the first time, a clean spectrum of the host galaxy, without contamination from the nuclear source.     

ISO-SWS Observations of NGC 1068

We present a first analysis of 2.4-45μm spectra of NGC 1068 obtained with the Short Wavelength Spectrometer SWS on board the Infrared Space Observatory ISO. The measured fine-structure line fluxes can be fit successfully by a simple photoionization model invoking an EUV bump in the ionizing continuum, similar to the case of the Circinus galaxy. Difference are observed between the [OIV] 26μm NLR line profile and optical NLR line profiles which may indicate significant extinction to part of the NLR. We detect pure rotational transitions of molecular hydrogen that must be emitted by molecular gas spanning a wide range of temperatures. The unusual strength of the fundamental S(0) 28μm rotational transition is evidence for a large (> 1.5 × 109 M⊙) gas mass at temperatures nea r 100 K. Either most of the gas in the circumnuclear region of NGC 1068 is warm or previous molecular mass estimates based on CO observations were too low. Strong mid-infrared continuum from the circumnuclear warm dust is prominent in our spectrum. The weak PAH emission detected at the edges of the 9.7μm silicate absorption should be considered in interpretations of the silicate feature. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Evidence for fractional condensation and reprocessing at high temperatures in CH chondrites

Abstract— We performed a detailed study of silica‐rich components (SRC) in the paired CH chondrites Acfer 182 and 207. These SRCs appear either as chondrules or fragments, and they contribute <0.1 vol% to the bulk meteorite. They usually contain a silica and a silicate portion. Both portions are, in most cases, cryptocrystalline and have bulk SiO₂‐concentrations between 65 and 85 wt%. The silicate generally has a pyroxene normative composition. The silica often appears as blebs within the silicate matrix or vice versa. If there are no blebs, silica and silicate still form rounded interfaces. The SRCs are depleted in refractory elements like Ca, Al, and Ti relative to CI. A few SRC‐like objects are extremely rich in Mn and show no depletion in refractory elements. We conducted micro‐Raman studies on the silica portions of the SRCs to determine their structure, and we identified several silica phases: α‐quartz, cristobalite, glass, and a yet unidentified polymorph. The silicate portion is glass when the silica is glass and crystalline when the silica is crystalline. The low contents of Al and Ca make an igneous origin of the SRCs very unlikely, and the absence of metal excludes the formation by reduction of pyroxene. We suggest, instead, a fractional condensation origin of the SRCs from a Si‐enriched gas after removal of gaseous Mg by forsterite condensation. Additional evidence for fractional condensation is provided by a unique layered object with olivine in the core, pyroxene and metal at the rim, and silica at the outermost border; these layers record the condensation sequence. Two chondrules were found with several percent of Mn and high Cr, Na, and K contents, providing further evidence for condensation from a fractionated gas. The texture of the SRCs and the occurrence of cristobalite and silica glass, however, require formation by liquid immiscibility at high temperatures, above 1968 K, and subsequent fast cooling. Therefore, we propose a 2‐stage model for the formation of SRCs in CH chondrites: 1) fractional condensation of forsterite, enstatite, and SiO₂‐rich phases; and 2) reheating of SiO₂‐rich components to temperatures above 1968 K followed by rapid cooling. All other phases identified in CH chondrites can be understood within the framework of this model. Thus, the extremely unequilibrated CH chondrites provide a wealth of evidence for fractional condensation processes in the early solar nebula, in metals (Meibom et al. 1999), and in silicates.     

Review of effects of radiation damage on the luminescence emission of minerals, and the example of He-irradiated CePO4

The accumulation of structural damage that is created in minerals upon corpuscular irradiation, has two apparently contrarious effects on their luminescence behaviour. First, irradiation may cause the generation of luminescent defect centres, which typically results in broad-band emissions. Such defect emissions are characteristic of low levels of radiation damage. Second, radiation damage depletes in general the luminescence of minerals, which is associated with broadenings and intensity losses of individual emission lines. Minerals that have suffered elevated levels of irradiation hence tend to be virtually non-luminescent. This review paper aims at giving an overview of the possible correlations of radiation damage and emission characteristics of minerals. After a brief, introductory summary of the damage-accumulation process and its causal corpuscular radiation, an array of examples is presented for how internal and/or external irradiation may change appreciably the emission of rock-forming and accessory minerals. As a detailed example for the complexity of changes of emissions upon damage accumulation, preliminary results of a case study of the photoluminescence (PL) of synthetic CePO₄ irradiated with 8.8 MeV He ions are presented. Irradiation-induced spectral changes include (i) the initial creation, and subsequent depletion, of a broad-band, defect-related PL emission of orange colour, and (ii) gradual broadenings and intensity losses of PL lines related to electronic transitions of rare-earth elements, eventually leading to gradual loss of their splitting into multiple Stark levels (shown for the ⁴F_3/2 → ⁴I_9/2 transition of Nd³⁺).