Comet Hale-Bopp and the Diffuse Interstellar Lines

As an illustration of the manner in whichserendipitous events can be used to obtain usefulscientific information, the reasons for observing,spectroscopically, the appulse of HD 12895 and CometHale-Bopp are discussed and the conclusions of thestudy are briefly presented.     

Terrestrial age measurements using natural thermoluminescence of a drained zone under the fusion crust of Antarctic ordinary chondrites

Abstract— Miono et al. (1990) and Miono and Nakanishi (1994) have proposed that the build‐up of natural thermoluminescence (TL) in a drained layer directly below the meteorite fusion crust can be used to determine terrestrial ages of meteorites in the 40 to 200 ka range. We have measured the natural TL of the drained layer of 15 meteorites. The data indicate that this technique could be used to determine terrestrial ages of meteorites with ages <200 ka, after which TL equilibrium is reached. Comparison of TL build‐up with terrestrial ages for a suite of Antarctic meteorites suggests that the meteorites have been exposed to temperatures of 0 to 5 °C. The close correspondence between natural TL levels and surface exposure TL growth curves suggest that Allan Hills meteorites with ages <200 ka have spent a significant portion of their terrestrial history exposed on the ice surface, rather than being buried in the ice sheet. The technique is, however, sensitive to thermal history; and, for Antarctic meteorites with terrestrial ages <200 ka, natural TL of the drained zone largely reflects exposure on the ice surface.     

The Behavior of Sunspot Contrast during Cycle 23

Results are presented from a study of various sunspot contrast parameters in broadband red (672.3 nm) Cartesian full-disk digital images taken at the San Fernando Observatory (SFO) over eight years, 1997 – 2004, of the twenty-third sunspot cycle. A subset of over 2700 red sunspots was analyzed and values of average and maximum sunspot contrast as well as maximum umbral contrast were compared to various sunspot parameters. Average and maximum sunspot contrasts were found to be significantly correlated with sunspot area (r _s=− 0.623 and r _s=− 0.714, respectively). Maximum umbral contrast was found to be significantly correlated with umbral area (r _s=− 0.535). These results are in agreement with the works of numerous other authors. No significant dependence was detected between average contrast, maximum contrast, or maximum umbral contrast during the rising phase of the solar cycle (r _s=0.024, r _s=0.033, and r _s=0.064, respectively). During the decay phase, no significant correlation was found between average contrast or maximum contrast and time (r _s=− 0.057 and r _s=0.009, respectively), with a weak dependence seen between maximum umbral contrast and cycle (r _s=0.102).     

A multiphysics and multiscale software environment for modeling astrophysical systems

We present MUSE, a software framework for combining existing computational tools for different astrophysical domains into a single multiphysics, multiscale application. MUSE facilitates the coupling of existing codes written in different languages by providing inter-language tools and by specifying an interface between each module and the framework that represents a balance between generality and computational efficiency. This approach allows scientists to use combinations of codes to solve highly coupled problems without the need to write new codes for other domains or significantly alter their existing codes. MUSE currently incorporates the domains of stellar dynamics, stellar evolution and stellar hydrodynamics for studying generalized stellar systems. We have now reached a “Noah’s Ark” milestone, with (at least) two available numerical solvers for each domain. MUSE can treat multiscale and multiphysics systems in which the time- and size-scales are well separated, like simulating the evolution of planetary systems, small stellar associations, dense stellar clusters, galaxies and galactic nuclei. In this paper we describe three examples calculated using MUSE: the merger of two galaxies, the merger of two evolving stars, and a hybrid N-body simulation. In addition, we demonstrate an implementation of MUSE on a distributed computer which may also include special-purpose hardware, such as GRAPEs or GPUs, to accelerate computations. The current MUSE code base is publicly available as open source at http://muse.li.     

Imaging Spectropolarimetry of Ti I 2231 nm in a Sunspot

Spectro-polarimetric observations at 2231 nm were made of NOAA 10008 near the west solar limb on 29 June 2002 using the National Solar Observatory McMath–Pierce Telescope at Kitt Peak and the California State University Northridge – National Solar Observatory infrared camera. Scans of spectra in both Stokes I and Stokes V were collected; the intensity spectra were processed to remove strong telluric absorption lines, and the Stokes V umbral spectra were corrected for instrumental polarization. The sunspot temperature is computed using the continuum contrast and umbral temperatures down to about 3700 K are observed. A strong Tii line at 2231.0 nm is used to probe the magnetic and velocity fields in the spot umbra and penumbra. Measurements of the Tii equivalent width versus plasma temperature in the sunspot agree with model predictions. Zeeman splitting measurements of the Stokes I and Stokes V profiles show magnetic fields up to 3300 G in the umbra, and a dependence of the magnetic field on the plasma temperature similar to that which was seen using Fei 1565 nm observations of the same spot two days earlier. The umbral Doppler velocity measurements are averaged in 16 azimuthal bins, and no radial flows are revealed to a limit of ±200 m s^–1. A Stokes V magnetogram shows a reversal of the line-of-sight magnetic component between the limb and disk center sides of the penumbra. Because the Tii line is weak in the penumbra, individual spectra are averaged in azimuthal bins over the entire penumbral radial extent. The averaged Stokes V spectra show a magnetic reversal as a function of sunspot azimuthal angle. The mean penumbral magnetic field as measured with the Stokes V Zeeman component splitting is 1400 G. Several weak spectral lines are observed in the sunspot and the variation of the equivalent width versus temperature for four lines is examined. If these lines are from molecules, it is possible that lines at 2230.67, 2230.77, and 2231.70 nm originate from OH, while the line at 2232.21 nm may originate from CN.