Diurnal photometric conditions at Teide observatory and long-term solar irradiance variations

Monochromatic extinction coefficients at four wavelengths have been obtained over a period of more than two years at the Observatorio del Teide (Izaña Tenerife) using a full disc, direct sunlight, quadruple photometer devoted to the detection of integral luminosity oscillations of the Sun. The mean extinction coefficients (0.13 at 500 nm) show a seasonal variation of about 15%, the best atmospheric conditions being in winter and autumn. Moreover, in anyone day the extinction coefficient in the afternoon is always lower than the one in the morning by 7%. A one-year period fluctuation, with an amplitude of 0.035 mag, has been identified in the instrumental magnitudes outside the atmosphere, and is interpreted as the variation produced by the different Sun-Earth distance from winter to summer. Finally, the study made to detect periodic time fluctuations in both, Sun's magnitude and extinction coefficients, has given null results at levels of 0.04 and 1.8%, respectively.     

The investigation of the solar wind transsonic region at meter wavelengths

Radio astronomy experiments designed to probe the interplanetary plasma close to the Sun have been carried out at the wavelength = 2.92 m using the occultation method. The experiments are based on a modification of the occultation method by which the sources, in this case quasars, are used to measure the radial dependence of the apparent source size, the scattering angle (R). The radial dependence of this source size (R) reveals that an anomalous enhancement in the scattering appears at radial distances from about 16 to 30 R , which is associated with the solar wind transsonic region. It is shown by analysis of the theoretical equations that the radial profiles of both the source size (R) and the scintillation index m(R) are consistent in the near solar interplanetary medium (R 40 R ). Combining these two independent applications of the occultation method extends the range of the investigation and provides a powerful new diagnostic of the solar wind transsonic region.     

Observed nonpotential magnetic fields and the inferred flow of electric currents at a location of repeated flaring

We have analyzed the vector magnetic field of an active region at a location of repeated flaring to determine the nature of the currents flowing in the areas where the flares initiated. The component of electric current density crossing the photosphere along the line-of-sight was derived from the observed transverse component of the magnetic field. The maximum concentrations of these currents occurred exactly at the sites of flare initiation and where the photospheric field was sheared the most. The calculated distribution of current density at the flare sites suggested that currents were flowing out of an area of positive magnetic polarity and across the magnetic inversion line into two areas of negative polarity. This interpretation was reinforced by a calculation of the source field, the magnetic field produced in the photosphere by the electric currents above the photosphere. In the vicinity of the flare sites, the calculated source field exhibited three particular characteristics: (1) maximum magnitudes at the sites of flare initiation, (2) a rotational direction where the vertical current density was concentrated, and (3) a fairly constant angular orientation with the magnetic inversion line. The source field was thus very similar to the field produced by two arcades of currents crossing the inversion line at the locations of greatest magnetic shear with orientations of about 60° to the inversion line. With this orientation, the inferred arcades would be aligned with the observed chromospheric fibrils seen in the H data so that the currents were field-aligned above the photosphere. The field thus exhibited a vertical gradient of magnetic shear with the shear decreasing upward from the photosphere. We estimated the currents in the two arcades by matching the source field derived from observations with that produced by a model of parallel loops of currents. We found that the loops of the model would each have a radius of 4500 km, a separation of 1830 km, and carry a current of 0.15 × 10¹² A. Values of vertical current densities and source fields appearing in the umbrae of the two large sunspots away from the flare sites were shown to lie at or below the level of uncertainty in the data. The main source of this uncertainty lay in the method by which the 180° ambiguity in the azimuth of the transverse field is resolved in umbral areas. We thus concluded that these quantities in large umbrae should be treated with a healthy skepticism. Finally, we found that the source field at the flare sites was produced almost entirely by the angular difference between the observed and potential field and not by the difference in field intensity.     

The solution of radiation transfer problem for a slab with space-dependent albedo and anisotropic scattering

The transport of thermal radiation has been considered within a finite slab which absorb and scatter anisotropically. The problem involves the space-dependent single-scattering albedow(x). Two approximations are taken forw(x). In the first it is represented in exponential form asw(x)=w ₀ exp(–x/s), wherew ₀ ands are given constants andx is the optical variable. The second approximation assumes the formw(x) = _r=0 ^R d _r ^* p _r (x/a), whered _r ^* are known expansion coefficients anda is the half optical thickness of the slab. Analytic expressions for the forward, backward radiation intensities and fluxes are given in each approximation. The solution of the linear transport equation is performed on the basis of integral Fourier transforms.     

Anthropomorphism and cosmographic principle in the Mandelbrot appraoch

The property of anthropomorphism as it is held in fractal cosmography is reconstructed.Man is only interested in the probability distribution of mass in cases where mass does not vanish, and he finds no help at all to be told that such cases almost never occur.     

Birkeland currents in the Earth's magnetosphere

As a result of his polar expeditions at the beginning of this century, Kristian Birkeland determined that intense ionospheric currents were associated with the aurora. Birkeland suggested that these currents originated far from the Earth and that they flowed ointo and away from the polar atmosphere along the geomagnetic field lines. The existence of such field-aligned or Birkeland currents was disputed because it was not possible to unambiguously identify current systems that are field-aligned (as suggested by Alfvén, 1939, 1940) and those which are completely contained in the ionosphere (as developed by Vestine and Chapman, 1938) with surface magnetic field observations. The presence of Birkeland currents has been absolutely confirmed with satellite-borne particle and magnetic field experiments conducted over the past two decades. These satellite observations have determined the large-scale patterns, flow directions, and intensities of Birkeland currents in the auroral and polar regions, and their relationship to the orientation and magnitude of the interplanetary magnetic field. The Birkeland currents are directly associated with visible and UV auroral forms observed with satellites. The results obtained from a variety of recently launched satellites are discussed here. These include Sweden's first satellite, VIKING, which has provided evidence for resonant Alfvén waves on the same geomagnetic field lines that guide stationary Birkeland currents. These observations demonstrate the important role that these currents play in the coupling of energy between the interplanetary medium and the lower ionosphere and atmosphere.Paper dedicated to Professor Hannes Alfvén on the occasion of his 80th birthday, 30 May 1988.     

Implications of liouville's theorem on the apparent brightness temperatures of solar radio bursts

Liouville's theorem for radiation, of which the generalized étendue is a consequence, implies ² d² d² A = constant along the ray path, where is the refractive index and d² and d² A are the ranges, respectively, of solid angle and of area that define a ray (actually a bundle of rays). Implications of this concept on the propagation of radio waves from the actual to the apparent source in the solar corona (i.e., the scatter image of the true source) are discussed. The implications for sources of fundamental plasma radiation include: (1)The observed solid angle (defining the directivity) and apparent area A of the source are compatible with Liouville's theorem only if the apparent source (the scatter image of the true source) corresponds to the envelope of subsources with a small filling factor f. (2) The brightness temperature T _Bof the actual source is greater than that of the apparent source by f ^-1. (3) For sources of fundamental plasma radiation the factor f is very small ( 10^-2). (4) A long-standing discrepancy between the observed low value of T _B at meter/decameter wavelengths for the quiet Sun and the known coronal temperature may be resolved by noting that the implied coronal temperature is given by T _B f and that the factor f must be significantly less than unity.A brief discussion is included of the relation between Liouville's theorem, the generalized étendue, Milne's laws, occupation numbers, extension in phase, and suppression of emission by a medium with refractive index unequal to unity.     

The lunar geochemistry of chromium and vanadium

Crystal/liquid partition coefficients for Cr, V, Mn, and Fe have been determined experimentally between olivine, orthopyroxene, clinopyroxene and silicate melt possesing the composition of a primitive lunar green glass, at oxygen fugacities appropriate to the lunar interior. These species all behave essentially as compatible elements and possess crystal/liquid partition coefficients mostly between 0.3 and 0.9. Partition coefficients for Cr, V, and Mn are generally similar to those of Fe. This implies that crystal/liquid fractionation processes in the lunar interior which do not involve the participation of spinels would not have been effective in fractionating MnO, CrO, and VO from FeO. The well-known constancy of FeO/MnO ratios in nearly all lunar rocks is a reflection of this behaviour. It is shown that comparably strong correlations between CrO-;FeO and VO-;FeO exist for lunar highland breccias and soils from all sites and that these correlations extend to primitive lunar volcanic glasses associated with mare volcanism, strongly suggesting that the CrO/FeO and VO/FeO ratios so derived are of global importance. The observed ratios characterizing differentiated regions of the Moon can be combined with the corresponding ratios for residual refractory portions of the Moon, using measured partition coefficients for Fe, Mg, Cr, V, and Mn between olivine, orthopyroxene and liquid. Bulk Moon abundances for Cr and V have been calculated for a range of reasonable assumptions concerning the petrogenetic relationships between differentiated portions of the Moon and complementary refractory residua consisting of olivine and orthopyroxene mineralogies. Because of the small differences in crystal liquid partition coefficients between FeO, CrO, and VO, these estimates are insensitive to large variations in the models. The bulk Moon is accordingly estimated to contain 2190–2463 ppm Cr and 79–95 ppm V. These values are very similar to the Cr and V contents of the Earth's mantle, estimated as 3010 ppm Cr and 81 ppm V by Sun (1982). The geochemical implications of these similarities are discussed.     

Bidimensional spectroscopy of network bright points

We develop an automatic, computer controlled procedure to select and to analyze the Network Bright Points (NBPs) on solar images. These have been obtained at the Sac Peak Vacuum Tower Telescope by means of the Universal Birefringent Filter and Zeiss H filters, tuned, respectively, along the profiles of the H, Mg-b1, Na-D2, and H lines.A structure is identified as an NBP if at the wavelength H- 1.5 A its maximum intensity is greater than I + 3 and its area is greater than 1.5 arc sec² at I + 1.5, where I is the mean value and the standard deviation of the intensity distribution on the image. Each detected NBP is then searched and confirmed in all the remaining 31 images at different wavelengths.For each NBP several parameters are measured (position, area, mean and maximum contrast, Dopplergram velocity, compactness, and so on) and some identification constraints are applied.The statistical analysis of the various parameter distributions, for NBPs present within an active region and its surroundings, shows that two types of NBPs can be identified according to the value of their mean contrast C _min the H- 1.5 Å image (C _m 0.1 type I, C _m> 0.1 type II). The type I NBPs (all occurring on the boundaries of the supergranular network) appear to be much more frequent (180/26) than the type II ones.The size A of type I NBPs is less than 1.0 arc sec for H/H wings but of the order of 1.2 arc sec for Na-D2 and Mg-bl. The mean contrast C _m is around the value of 10% along the Na-D2 and Mg-bl profiles and of 20% along the H/H wings.The C _m - A scatter diagrams show, for the photospheric radiation (h < 100 km), a narrow range of variability for C _min correspondence with a wide range for A. For radiation orginated at higher levels (h > 200 km), the C _m- A scatter diagrams seem to indicate, even if with a large variance, that the highest C _m's tend to correspond to the highest A values.The mean Doppler shift is close to zero for Na-D2 and Mg-bl lines but negative (downward motion) for H and H lines.The type II NBPs tends to be preferentially located in the neighbourhood of small, compact sunspots and their detectability is almost constant through all the 4 studied line profiles. No conclusions can be derived on the mean size, contrast and Doppler shift values because their distributions are too dispersed. The only positive information is that its C _m- A scatter diagram, in H and H wings, indicates a wide range of variability for C _m in correspondence with very narrow range of variability for A.     

Observations of interstellar HOCO+: abundance enhancements toward the galactic center

A survey of the 4(04)-3(03) and 1(01)-0(00) transitions of HOCO+ has been made toward several molecular clouds. The HOCO+ molecule was not observed in any sources except Sgr B2 and Sgr A. The 5(05)-4(04) and 4(14)-3(13) transitions were also detected toward Sgr B2. The results indicate that gas phase CO2 is not a major carbon reservoir in typical molecular clouds. In Sgr B2, the HOCO+ antenna temperature exhibits a peak approximately 2' north of the Sgr B2 central position (Sgr B2[M]) and the 4(04)-3(03) line emission is extended over a approximately 10' x 10' region. The column density of HOCO+ at the northern peak in Sgr B2 is approximately 3 x 10(14) cm-2, and the fractional abundance relative to H2 > or = 3 x 10(-10), which is about 2 orders of magnitude greater than recent predictions of quiescent cloud ion-molecule chemistry.