A search for ultra-high energy counterparts to gamma-ray bursts

A small air shower array operating over many years has been used to search for ultra-high energy (UHE) gamma radiation ( 50 TeV) associated with gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) detected by the BATSE instrument on the Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory (CGRO). Upper limits for a one minute interval after each burst are presented for seven GRBs located with zenith angles < 20°. A 4.3 excess over background was observed between 10 and 20 minutes following the onset of a GRB on 11 May 1991. The confidence level that this is due to a real effect and not a background fluctuation is 99.8%. If this effect is real then cosmological models are excluded for this burst because of absorption of UHE gamma rays by the intergalactic radiation fields.     

Room temperature solid-state detectors for Gamma ray burst spectroscopy

We have evaluated several solid state detectors which offer excellent energy resolution at room temperature for soft X-rays. For soft X-rays (< 1 keV to 20 keV), silicon P-intrinsic-N (PIN) and avalanche-mode photodiodes (APD's) have been studied. Using commercially available charge sensitive pre-amplifiers, these photodiodes provide 1 keV resolution without cooling. Their detection efficiencies are limited to about 20 keV and 15 keV, respectively. To overcome this constraint, we have studied thick (1.5 mm) PIN detectors made by Micron Semiconductor Ltd., U.K., as well as compound semiconducting materials with high Z constituents such as CZT and PbI₂. PbI₂ allows high detection efficiencies of photons up to 100 keV with detectors 100–300 microns thick. These new detectors offer the capability to study the low-energy spectral evolution of Gamma ray bursts (GRBs). A matrix of these detectors could be used as an image plane detector with moderate spatial resolution for imaging.     

Solar structure in terms of Gauss' hypergeometric function

Hydrostatic equilibrium and energy conservation determine the conditions in the gravitationally stabilized solar fusion reactor. We assume a matter density distribution varying non-linearly through the central region of the Sun. The analytic solutions of the differential equations of mass conservation, hydrostatic equilibrium, and energy conservation, together with the equation of state of the perfect gas and a nuclear energy generation rate = ₀ ⁿ T ⁿT ^m ,are given in terms of Gauss' hypergeometric function. This model for the structure of the Sun gives the run of density, mass, pressure, temperature, and nuclear energy generation through the central region of the Sun. Because of the assumption of a matter density distribution, the conditions of hydrostatic equilibrium and energy conservation are separated from the mode of energy transport in the Sun.     

Circumstellar dynamics and transfer

This paper is both a review and a presentation of new models. Observation and modelization of circumstellar envelopes of early type or late type stars are now quickly evolving because of new techniques and facilities for observations, and increased power of computers. More and more complex physical phenomena involved in mass driving can now be modelized, at many different size scales. While most of models were previously based on informations derived from spectrophotometric data only or on measurements concerning objects observed with no spatial resolution, observations at much increased angular resolution can provide constraints on models of these phenomena. Theory and modelization must take this new situation into account. Two approaches are possible and effectively used. On the one hand, dynamical/physical self consistent models can be built; on the other hand, elaborate semi-empirical models including complicated distributions of matter with asymmetries (3D models) can be built and fitted for direct comparison with results of High Angular Resolution Measurements. Adding such constraints to classical constraints leads to a new insight in the physics of circumstellar matter and, through it, of stellar and interstellar evolution. Two examples have been chosen, in which new models are presented and assuming or not spherical symmetry is carefully discussed:

?Circumstellar matter around evolved stars

?Shock waves propagating in the circumstellar matter around evolved stars.

     

Near-infrared imaging in H2 of molecular (CO) outflows from young stars

We have imaged several known molecular (CO) outflows in H₂ v=1-0 S(1) and wide-band K in order to identify the molecular shocks associated with the acceleration of ambient gas by outflows from young stars. We detected H₂ line emission in all the flows we observed: L 1157, VLA 1623, NGC 6334I, NGC 2264G, L 1641N and Haro 4-255. A comparison of the H₂ data with CO outflow maps strongly suggests that prompt entrainment near the head of a collimated jet probably is the dominant mechanism for producing the CO outflows in these sources.     

New kinematic distances of NGC 7009 and BD+30°3639 from UV and radio data

Measurements of the equivalent width of the interstellar Lyman line from IUE spectra in the direction of the planetary nebulae NGC 7009 and BD+30°3639 are used to infer the H column density in these directions. Hydrogen 21 cm profiles are also used in connection with the ultraviolet data so that the expected rotation velocities and distances can be determined. The results are compared with recently published distances, in an attempt to distinguish between the short and long PN distance scales as applied to these objects.     

Noise storms and the structure of microwave emission of solar active regions

Solar radio and microwave sources were observed with the Very Large Array (VLA) and the RATAN-600, providing high spatial resolution at 91 cm (VLA) and detailed spectral and polarization data at microwave wavelengths (1.7 to 20 cm - RATAN). The radio observations have been compared with images from the Soft X-ray Telescope (SXT) aboard theYohkoh satellite and with full-disk phoptospheric magnetic field data from the Kislovodsk Station of the Pulkovo Observatory. The VLA observations at 91 cm show fluctuating nonthermal noise storm sources in the middle corona. The active regions that were responsible for the noise storms generally had weaker microwave emission, fainter thermal soft X-ray emission, as well as less intense coronal magnetic fields than those associated with other active regions on the solar disk. The noise storms did, however, originate in active regions whose magnetic fields and radiation properties were evolving on timescales of days or less. We interpret these noise storms in terms of accelerated particles trapped in radiation belts above or near active regions, forming a decimetric coronal halo. The particles trapped in the radiation belts may be the source of other forms of nonthermal radio emission, while also providing a reservoir from which energetic particles may drain down into lower-lying magnetic structures.Presented at the CESRA-Workshop on Coronal Magnetic Energy Release at Caputh near Potsdam in May 1994.     

Plasma processing of interstellar PAHs into solar system kerogen

Processes resulting in the formation of hydrocarbons of carbonaceous chondrites and the identity of the interstellar molecular precursors involved are an objective of investigations into the origin of the solar system and perhaps even life on earth. We have combined the resources and experience of an astronomer and physicists doing laboratory simulations with those of a chemical expert in the analysis of meteoritic hydrocarbons, in a project that investigated the conversion of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) formed in stellar atmospheres into alkanes found in meteorites. Plasma hydrogenation has been found in the University of Alabama at Birmingham Astrophysics Laboratory to produce from the precursor PAH naphthalene, a new material having an IR absorption spectrum (Lee, W. and Wdowiak, T.J., Astrophys. J. 417, L49-L51, 1993) remarkably similar to that obtained at Arizona State University of the benzene-methanol extract of the Murchison meteorite (Cronin, J.R. and Pizzarello, S., Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 54, 2859-2868, 1990). There are astrophysical and meteoritic arguments for PAH species from extra-solar sources being incorporated into the solar nebula, where plasma hydrogenation is highly plausible. Conversion of PAHs into alkanes could also have occurred in the interstellar medium. The synthesis of laboratory analogs of meteoritic hydrocarbons through plasma hydrogenation of PAH species is underway, as is chemical analysis of those analogs. The objective is to clarify this heretofore uninvestigated process and to understand its role during the origin of the solar system as a mechanism of production of hydrocarbon species now found in meteorites. Results have been obtained in the form of time-of-flight spectroscopy and chemical analysis of the lab analog prepared from naphthalene.     

The impact cratering record of Fennoscandia

The current database of craterform structures in Fennoscandia contains 22 structures of impact origin and about fifty other structures which lack sufficient evidence for impact. The discovery rate of new structures has been one or two per year during the past ten years. The proven impact structures are located in southern Fennoscandia and the majority have been found in Proterozoic target rocks. The age of the structures varies from prehistoric to 1000 Ma and their diameters (D) from 0.04 km to 55 km. Nine of the structures contain impact melt. A characteristic feature of the Fennoscandian impact record is a relatively large number of small ( 5 km) but old (> 200 Ma) structures: this is a result of success of geophysical methods to discover small but old impact structures in an eroded shield covered with relatively thin overburden. Some of the large circular structures in satellite images and/or in geophysical maps may represent deeply eroded scars of very old impacts, but due to the lack of shock metamorphic features, impact-generated rocks or identified ejecta layers, they cannot yet be classified as impact sites. Two huge structures are proposed here as possible impact sites on the basis of circular satellite images and distinct geophysical anomalies: the Lycksele structure in northern Sweden (D ~ 120 km, see also Witschard, 1984) and the Valga structure in Latvia/Estonia (D ~ 180 km). However, endogeneous explanations, like buried granites, basement domings, or fault-bounded blocks are also possible for these structures. Hints, such as distal ejecta layers or impact produced breccia dykes, of an Archaean or Early Proterozoic impact structure have not been found in Fennoscandia so far. New ways of searching for these structures are proposed with particular emphasis on high-resolution integrated geophysical methods. The impact cratering rate in Fennoscandia is ~ 2.0 · 10^–14 km^–2 a^–1 (for craters with D > 3 km) corresponding to about two events per every 100 Ma for the last 700 Ma. Due to erosion, this is a minimal estimate but is higher than the global rate probably due to strong research activity for finding impact structures in Fennoscandia.     

Location of type I radio continuum and bursts on Yohkoh soft X-ray maps

A solar type I noise storm was observed on 30 July, 1992 with the radio spectrometer Phoenix of ETH Zürich, the Very Large Array (VLA) and the soft X-ray (SXR) telescope on board theYohkoh satellite. The spectrogram was used to identify the type I noise storm. In the VLA images at 333 MHz a fully left circular polarized (100% LCP) continuum source and several highly polarized (70% to 100% LCP) burst sources have been located. The continuum and the bursts are spatially separated by about 100 and apparently lie on different loops as outlined by the SXR. Continuum and bursts are separated in the perpendicular direction to the magnetic field configuration. Between the periods of strong burst activities, burst-like emissions are also superimposed on the continuum source. There is no obvious correlation between the flux density of the continuum and the bursts. The burst sources have no systematic motion, whereas the the continuum source shows a small drift of 0.2 min^–1 along the X-ray loop in the long-time evolution. The VLA maps at higher frequency (1446 MHz) show no source corresponding to the type I event. The soft X-ray emission measure and temperature were calculated. The type I continuum source is located (in projection) in a region with enhanced SXR emission, a loop having a mean density of n _e = (1.5 ± 0.4) × 10⁹ cm^–3 and a temperature ofT = (2.1 ± 0.1) × 10⁶ K. The centroid positions of the left and right circularly polarized components of the burst sources are separated by 15–50 and seem to be on different loops. These observations contradict the predictions of existing type I theories.Presented at the CESRA-Workshop on Coronal Magnetic Energy Release at Caputh near Potsdam in May 1994.