Polyoxymethylene co-polymers on grains

Conditions prevalent in dense molecular clouds are shown to favour the polymerization of H₂CO molecules and the deposition of formaldehyde co-polymer mantles, with typical radii 10^–5 cm, on smaller refractory grains. If a significant fraction of such co-polymer coated grains are expelled with systematic gas flows into the general interstellar medium, these moderately refractory grains may be responsible for the bulk of interstellar extinction and polarization at optical wavelengths. Mie calculations for a mixture consisting of iron, graphite and POM particles are presented as an example where POM grains of radii 0.15 dominate the extinction at optical wavelengths, providing a satisfactory overall fit to a range of extinction data. A size distribution of POM needles with a mean radius 0.15 also provides good agreement with data on interstellar linear as well as circular polarization. Suitably end-capped and stabilized co-polymer-coated grains, with either silicate or graphite cores, may survive at temperatures 450 K under interstellar ambient conditions and be responsible for the 10 emission feature in many sources. Theoretically computed band profiles of the 10 -feature in POM coated grains, in general, provide better agreement with observations than most types of silicate grains considered so far. We also note that an unexplained dip at 10 in the 8–12 feature of the infrared source OH 231.8+4.2 may be a signature of POM grains; likewise, a persistent 3.3 emission feature in many different types of infrared source could be attributed to the CH stretching mode in formaldehyde co-polymer grains.     

On the interplanetary cosmic-ray scintillations

The equation for the two-particles cosmic-ray distribution function is derived by means of the Boltzmann kinetic equation averaging. This equation is valid for arbitrary ratio of regular and random parts of the magnetic field. For small energy particles the guiding-center approximation is used. On the basis of the derived equation the dependence between power spectra of cosmic-ray intensity and random magnetic field is obtained. If power spectra are degree functions for high energy particles ( 10 GeV nucleon^–1), then the spectral exponent of magnetic field lies between and –2, where is the spectral exponent of cosmic-ray power spectra. The experimental data concerning moderate energy particles are in accordance with =, which demonstrates that the magnetic fluctuations are isotropic or cosmic-ray space gradient is small near the Earth orbit.     

Ionization states and the origin of low energy cosmic ray nuclei

The origin of the new component of cosmic ray nuclei in 1–30 MeV amu^–1 recently detected through space vehicles in interplanetary space is investigated in detail. It is assumed that these particles may originate from nearby sources, e.g., from novae type explosions, which have peculiar C, N and O compositions. These particles are further assumed to be accelerated and modulated within the heliosphere. The charged states of these ions in the interstellar space have been calculated in detail and it is shown that the same charged states are preserved in the heliosphere when they are accelerated to energies of the order of 10⁷eV amu^–1 from energies of 10⁵ ev amu^–1. Modulation of these ions are calculated and it is found that because of low charged states of the ions these have high rigidities and are modulated in such a way as to enhance the O-ion abundances as compared to C-ions. A comparison is made of the demodulated composition of C to Si-ions with available abundance data of some novae.     

Essential features of the 11-year solar cycle

Investigation of sunspots, coronal lines intensity, flares and other solar and geophysical data have confirmed the fact that the 11-year cycle consists of two events (maxima) having different features.During the first maximum (it coincides in time with the maximum of the Wolf numbers) the solar activity increases in all heliographic latitudes but it is maximal in latitude 25° in each hemisphere. The far UV radiation and number of small spots, flares and geomagnetic disturbances with sudden commencements and without 27-day recurrences are maximum at this time.During the second maximum, which appears 2–3 years after the first one, the activity is maximal in latitudes ± 10°. At this time the biggest spots, big flares, aurora and geomagnetic disturbances with the gradual commencements and long series of 27-day recurrences appear.The variations of averaged 5303 and 6374 Å coronal line intensities may be interpreted as an increase of coronal density and temperature during the first maximum and a sharp decrease of density and temperature rise during the second one. The temperature during the second maximum is higher than that during the first one.The distribution of activity on time-latitude diagrams (so-called butterflies) is a result of superposition of two random distributions corresponding to the two maxima mentioned above.     

Energetic properties of interplanetary plasma at the earth's orbit following the August 4, 1972 flare

Solar wind and interplanetary magnetic field data were obtained by the PROGNOZ 1 and PROGNOZ 2 satellites during the period following the August 4, 1972 (0621 UT) solar flare. A thermalized plasma was recorded one hour after the shock followed two hours later by the plasma piston with a bulk velocity higher than 1700 km s^-1. The comparison between the PROGNOZ and PIONEER 9 solar wind data shows an attenuation of the plasma properties with the deflection from the flare's meridian.     

Spectral analyses of solar photospheric fluctuations

Successful subtraction of instrumental background variations has permitted spectral analyses of two-dimensional measurement arrays of granulation brightness fluctuations at the center of the disk, arrays obtained from Stratoscope I, 1959B-flight, high-resolution frames B1551 and B3241.

1. RMS's, uncorrected for instrumental blurring, are 0.0850 of mean intensity for B1551 and 0.0736 for B3241, somewhat higher than other determinations. These between-frame and between-investigation differences probably result from a combination of calibration errors, frame resolution differences, and, most likely, granulation pattern differences.
2. Significant variations over each array of mean intensities and RMS's, determined for sub-arrays with dimensions in the 2500–10000 km range, indicate spatial brightness and RMS variations larger than the ‘scale’ of the granulation pattern, supporting a turbulent interpretation of photospheric convection.
3. One-dimensional power-spectra shapes provide objective and discriminating criteria for determining granulation pattern differences and, possibly, frame resolution.
4. Two-dimensional power spectra show small, essentially random deviations from axial symmetry which lie almost entirely within the 50% confidence limits.
5. Spectral densities and fluctuation power spectra, computed from the two-dimensional power spectra and corrected for instrumental blurring, noise, and blemishes, have a useable radial wavenumber range nearly double that of earlier Stratoscope I analyses.
6. Corrected RMS's obtained from the corrected fluctuation power spectra, 0.145 ± 0.046 for B1551 and 0.136 ± 0.048 for B3241, depend critically on the accuracy of the correction.
7. The spectra's wavenumber range includes the granulation-fluctuation-producing domain but not the Kolmogoroff domain of turbulence spectra.

     

Wave propagation in the quiet solar chromosphere

In order to precise previous results about wave propagation in the quiet chromosphere (N. Mein and P. Mein, 1976), we study the behaviour of Doppler shifts and intensity fluctuations in 3 lines of Ca ii. We use the same observation as in our previous work, that is to say a sequence of spectra lasting 27 mn, taken at Sacramento Peak Observatory solar tower. Results can be summarized as follows:

1. Phase-lag between intensity fluctuations and dopplershifts is always near 90° in the Ca ii lines, even for frequencies as high as 15 mHz, and whatever is the location in the chromospheric network.
2. Magneto-acoustic waves propagating vertically in a vertical or horizontal magnetic field could account for the observations only if they were, on one hand reflected in the upper atmosphere, on the other hand propagating with a very high sound or Alfvén speed. The lower limit for the speed (70 km s^-1) does not seem to be realistic. Oblique waves could be investigated for better agreement.

     

Generalized polytropes: Stellar structure with a boltzmann factor

In order to study the structure of a chemically homogeneous star in equilibrium, a density profile of the form T ^N exp(–µm(–)/kT) is suggested. As for polytropes, qualitative aspects of the resulting stellar model can be discussed analytically. In particular it is shown that one reobtains forN=3 Eddington's standard model, whereas forN<3 nearly polytropic models result. WhenN>3, the effective polytropic index does vary appreciably over the star. Numerical results indicate that the proposed density profile is quite reasonable in view of the simplicity of the model. From a comparison of the degree of precision of a polytropic approximation with that of the newly proposed model it follows that the new approximation is definitely better than the polytropic one. It is suggested that the model may be useful to study the structure of stellar clouds, clusters and (spherical) galaxies.Now at Department of Applied Mathematics, Queen Mary College, University of London, England.     

The spectrum of the Ap star HR 465 near the rare-earth minimum phase

Four spectra of the long-period Ap star HR 465 were taken in 1969–70 near its rare-earth minimum phase and analysed. Equivalent widths or upper limits were obtained for lines of 23 elements. Lines of Cr were very strong. The relative abundances of the iron-peak elements were derived by a differential curve-of-growth analysis using Gem as the comparison star. The Sc/Fe, Ti/Fe, V/Fe, and Ni/Fe abundance ratios were found to be abnormally low, while the Cr/Fe ratio was abnormally high (0.08). The equivalent widths in 1969–70 were compared with those measured by Aller on a spectrum taken in 1960 near the rare-earth maximum phase. Ionized lines of Sc, Ti, V, Te, Nb, Mo, and the rare-earths all vary out of phase with the Cri and Crii lines. Although Mo and Cr occupy corresponding positions in the periodic table, the Mo/Cr abundance ratio was apparently at least 180 times higher in 1960 than in 1969–70.