A comparison between photospheric and chromospheric quiet-Sun magnetograms

Photospheric (Fei 5324.19 Å line) and chromospheric (H line) magnetic fields in quiet-Sun regions have been observed in the solar disk center by using the vector video magnetograph at Huairou Solar Observing Station of Beijing Astronomical Observatory. Observational results show that the quiet-Sun magnetic elements in the solar photosphere and chromosphere present similar magnetic structures. Photospheric and chromospheric magnetograms show corresponding time variations. This suggests that the magnetic fields in quiet-Sun regions present different 3-D magnetic configurations compared to those in solar active regions.     

The unusual X-ray light curve of GRB 080307: the onset of the afterglow?

Swift -detected GRB 080307 showed an unusual smooth rise in its X-ray light curve around 100 s after the burst, at the start of which the emission briefly softened. This 'hump' has a longer duration than is normal for a flare at early times and does not demonstrate a typical flare profile. Using a two-component power-law-to-exponential model, the rising emission can be modelled as the onset of the afterglow, something which is very rarely seen in Swift -X-ray light curves. We cannot, however, rule out that the hump is a particularly slow early-time flare, or that it is caused by upscattered reverse shock electrons.     

Forecasting the dark energy measurement with baryon acoustic oscillations: prospects for the LAMOST surveys

The Large Area Multi-Object Fibre Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST) is a dedicated spectroscopic survey telescope being built in China, with an effective aperture of 4 m and equipped with 4000 fibres. Using the LAMOST telescope, one could make redshift survey of the large-scale structure (LSS). The baryon acoustic oscillation features in the LSS power spectrum provide standard rulers for measuring dark energy and other cosmological parameters. In this paper, we investigate the measurement precision achievable for a few possible surveys: (1) a magnitude-limited survey of all galaxies, (2) a survey of colour-selected luminous red galaxies (LRG) and (3) a magnitude-limited, high-density survey of   z < 2  quasars. For each survey, we use the halo model to estimate the bias of the sample, and calculate the effective volume. We then use the Fisher matrix method to forecast the error on the dark energy equation of state and other cosmological parameters for different survey parameters. In a few cases, we also use the Markov Chain Monte Carlo method to make the same forecast as a comparison. The fibre time required for each of these surveys is also estimated. These results would be useful in designing the surveys for LAMOST.     

水脉泽寄主活动星系核的吸积率(英文)

水超脉泽辐射( 各向同性光度超过 10 个太阳光度) 通常在星系中心最内部的核区( 小于几个秒差距) 被发现,因而活动星系核被认为是其唯一的能量源。同其它没有检测到水脉泽辐射的活动星系核相比,水脉泽寄主活动星系核可能隐含着某种或某些特殊性质。基于此我们调研了已经公开发表的所有水脉泽源的 X 射线观测情况,得到了一个有 X 射线观测研究结果的子样本( 39 个源) 。由它们的 X 射线光度以及估算的黑洞质量,导出了它们的无量纲吸积率( logL2-10keV /LEdd,其中 L2-10keV和 LEdd分别是 2 - 10keV 的固有光度和爱丁顿光度) ; 与距离范围相当的、没有检测到水脉泽的活动星系核样本相比,发现脉泽寄主活动星系核有较高的吸积率。进一步分析比较这两个活动星系核样本的质量吸积率,也发现类似的趋势。此外,为了探索吸积率和水脉泽辐射间可能的内在联系,我们对它们的脉泽光度和吸积率进行了统计分析,然而结果显示二者之间没有明显的相关性。     

CO Clouds around SNR G21.8-0.6 and G32.8-0.1

We made the first CO(I—0) mapping to SNR G21.8-0.6 and SNR G32.8-0.1, both associated with OH 1720 MHz maser.Based on the morphological correspondence and velocity and position agreement between the radio remnant and the CO clouds,we tentatively identify the clouds that are respectively interacting with the two SNRs.     

Inferring the emission regions for different kinds of gamma‐ray bursts

Using a theoretical model describing pulse shapes, we have clarified the relations between the observed pulses and their corresponding timescales, such as the angular spreading time, the dynamic time as well as the cooling time. We find that the angular spreading timescale caused by curvature effect of fireball surface only contributes to the falling part of the observed pulses, while the dynamic one in the co‐moving frame of the shell merely contributes to the rising portion of pulses provided the radiative time is negligible. In addition, the pulses resulted from the pure radiative cooling time of relativistic electrons exhibit properties of fast rise and slow decay (a quasi‐FRED) profile together with smooth peaks. Besides, we interpret the phenomena of wider pulses tending to be more asymmetric to be a consequence of the difference in emission regions. Meanwhile, we find the intrinsic emission time is decided by the ratios of lorentz factors and radii of the shells between short and long bursts. Based on the analysis of asymmetry, our results suggest that the long GRB pulses may occur in the regions with larger radius, while the short bursts could locate at the smaller distance from central engine. (© 2007 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Variability of Extended Bipolar Regions

Using NSO/Kitt Peak synoptic charts from 1975 to 2003, we group the main solar magnetic fields into two categories: one for active regions (ARs) and the other for extended bipolar regions (EBRs). Comparing them, we find that there exist three typical characteristics in the variability of EBRs: First, there exists a correlation between ARs and EBRs. The phase of EBR flux has a delay nearly two CRs. Second, we find that the EBR flux has two prominent periods at 1.79 years and 3.21 years. The 1.79-year period seems to only belong to large-scale magnetic features. Lastly, the North – South asymmetry of EBR flux is not very significant on a time scale of one solar cycle. However, during solar maxima, its dominance is found to shift from one hemisphere to the other.     

磁场中p模/s模的转换及黑子对声波的吸收

在柱坐标下将黑子周围的环形区域（黑子除外）内的振荡分解为朝向黑子传播的（入射的）波和离开黑子传播的（出射的）波。对无黑子的环形区域内的振荡也进行了同样的分解。将黑子周围的入射波看成是被黑子磁流管磁化了的介质（介质内的磁场基本是水平的）中的波。而无黑子区的入射波看成是非磁化介质中的波。比较这两种波在固定波数下功率随频率的分布发现，在磁化介质中不同径向除ｎ的声波（ｐ模）频率系统降低，同时功率也降低，降低的功率最高达非磁化介质中波的功率的３０％。而比较在固定频率下功率随波数的分布发现，磁场中ｆ模及ｎ＝１，２，３的ｐ模的脊向高波数方向位移，功率的降低受频率调制，即声波在某些有限的频带中被吸收。这些观测表明，在磁场中ｐ模与磁声重力波（ＭＡＧ）产生了模式混合或耦合。模式混合的存在支持了模式转换作为ｐ模式被黑子吸收的机制的解释。此外，本文还分析了转换的ＭＡＧ波进入黑子磁流管（其中的磁场基本上是垂直的）后进一步被吸收，吸收的功率最高达ＭＡＧ波的２０％。在磁流管内没有进一步观测到模式的转换     

Solar Radio Spikes in 2.6 – 3.8 GHz during the 13 December 2006 Event

On 13 December 2006, some unusual radio bursts in the range 2.6?–?3.8 GHz were observed during an X3.4 flare/CME event from 02:30 to 04:30 UT in active region NOAA 10930 (S06W27) with the digital spectrometers of the National Astronomical Observatories of China (NAOC). During this event many spikes were detected with the high temporal resolution of 8 ms and high frequency resolution of 10 MHz. Many of them were found to have complex structures associated with other radio burst types. The new observational features may reflect certain emission signatures of the electron acceleration site. In this paper, we present the results of the analysis of the new observational features of the complex spikes. According to the observed properties of the spikes, we identify five classes. Their observational parameters, such as duration, bandwidth, and relative bandwidth, were determined. Most spikes had negative polarization, but spikes with positive polarization were observed during a short time interval and were identified as a separate class. Based on the analysis of observations with Hinode/SOT (Solar Optical Telescope) we suggest that the sources of the spikes with opposite polarizations were different. Combined observations of spikes and fiber bursts are used to estimate the magnetic field strength in the source.     

The Venusian induced magnetosphere: A case study of plasma and magnetic field measurements on the Venus Express mission

Plasma and magnetic field measurements made onboard the Venus Express on June 1, 2006, are analyzed and compared with predictions of a global model. It is shown that in the orbit studied, the plasma and magnetic field observations obtained near the North Pole under solar minimum conditions were qualitatively and, in many cases also, quantitatively in agreement with the general picture obtained using a global numerical quasi-neutral hybrid model of the solar wind interaction (HYB-Venus). In instances where the orbit of Venus Express crossed a boundary referred to as the magnetic pileup boundary (MPB), field line tracing supports the suggestion that the MPB separates the region that is magnetically connected to the fluctuating magnetosheath field from a region that is magnetically connected to the induced magnetotail lobes.