A Flare-Triggered Heating of a Quiescent Filament

Using data obtained with the 20-cm H full-disk telescope at Big Bear Solar Observatory and Fexii 195 Å EIT on SOHO, we analyze a sudden disappearance event of a quiescent filament in detail. The filament was located along the common boundary of the active regions NOAA 9672 (S19 E13) and NOAA 9673 (N03 E18). The filament disappeared during a time interval between 17:59 UT and 19:47 UT on 22 October 2001 immediately after the onset of a major flare, which occurred in the active region NOAA 9672. At about 23:23 UT of the same day, the filament began to reappear in H and, after about 15 hours, the filament recovered to its steady state with its size being slightly smaller than that before its disappearance. This filament disappearance event belongs to the thermal type of sudden filament disappearances, which is caused by an input of additional heat. The heating mechanism that leads to sudden thermal disappearances of quiescent filaments is still not well understood. This simple event, due to the explicit cause and effect relationship between the flare and the disappearance of the filament, shows us that the flare triggered some kind of heating mechanism which continued several hours. The heat may come from the flare via heat conduction from its ribbon or from the excitation of dissipating Alfvén waves. However, from the data analysis, we conclude that the flare triggered an in-situ heating, which is likely caused by magnetic reconnection.     

NASA's Astrophysics Data Archives

The NASA Office of Space Science has established a series of archivalcenters where science data acquired through its space science missionsis deposited. The availability of high quality data to the generalpublic through these open archives enables the maximization of sciencereturn of the flight missions. The Astrophysics Data Centers CoordinatingCouncil, an informal collaboration of archival centers, coordinates datafrom five archival centers distiguished primarily by the wavelength rangeof the data deposited there. Data are available in FITS format. Anoverview of NASA's data centers and services is presented in this paper.A standard front-end modifyer called Astrowbrowse is described. Othercatalog browsers and tools include WISARD and AMASE supported by theNational Space Scince Data Center, as well as ISAIA, a follow on toAstrobrowse.     

The ‘Stained Glass Procedure’, a new method to compare classification performance of images acquired with different pixel sizes

Objective comparison of classification performance of earth observation images, acquired at different spatial resolutions (e.g. NOAA-AVHRR, IRS-MOS, IRS-WiFS, Landsat-TM, IRS-LISS), is complicated because both class definition and training site selection are hampered by the inherent scale differences. This paper presents a new, generic method to compare the information content of such a set of images, the “Stained Glass Procedure”. It overcomes the stated problems by computing the scale-dependent, internal spectral variation in an image and by using this as an indicator for land cover information. The Stained Glass Procedure creates segments in the images and calculates the internal spectral variation in a high-spatial-resolution image for each segment. For each image from the set the average variance, weighted to area, is calculated. The Stained Glass Procedure can be used to predict the performance of sensors that are not available, yet, or to roughly determine the optimal spatial resolution for the classification of a specific area.The procedure was applied to images with pixel sizes ranging from 23 to 1100 m. Classification detail of Envisat-MERIS (300 m pixel size), not included in the image set, could be predicted accurately using the Stained Glass Procedure.The Stained Glass Procedure applies one procedure to all images, without any subjective decision during the analysis, thus offering a method to compare images with different pixel sizes in terms of classification detail that is truly objective.     

Some Aspects of Exoplanets Detection with the Transit Method

Earth, Moon, and Planets -     

Post-collisional volcanism in a sinking slab setting—crustal anatectic origin of pyroxene-andesite magma, Caldear Volcanic Group, Neogene Alborán volcanic province, southeastern Spain

Caldear Volcanic Group (CVG), a stratigraphically well defined, calc-alkaline rock complex within S^a de Gata in the eastern part of the Alpine Betic mountain chain, S Spain, consists of three distinct formations: Hernández pyroxene andesites, Bujo hornblende-bearing pyroxene andesites and Viuda hornblende-bearing pyroxene dacites–rhyolites. The letter rock formation may have developed through crystal fractionation of mainly plagioclase and pyroxenes, however there is no direct relation between two formations. CVG has a domainal structure with a northeastern domain where Hernández formation is overlain by Bujo formation while Viuda formation is absent, and a southwestern domain where Viuda formation forms the only fractionate after Hernández formation. Hernández parent magma is thought generated through crustal anatexis by dehydration melting of a predominantly amphibolitic source rock complex which was formed by metamorphism from c. 500 Ma volcano-sedimentary parent material. The domainal structure of CVG is explained by compositional variation within this protogenetic complex. Single crystal U–Pb ages of c. 500 Ma to 1800 Ma for inherited zircon support the presence of clastic material of Proterozoic derivation within the original volcano-sedimentary complex. Regional study of syn-collisional rock formations (Alpine nappe complexes) indicate that the collisional tectonic stage in the Betic-Rif orogenic belt took place rather early (25–30 Ma?) and was followed by a stage of rapid regional rock uplift, fast cooling (c. 500°C/my) and extensional tectonics in the period 22–17 Ma. This later tectonic stage was set into motion by slab break-off which set the stage for a high temperature regime in the overlying lithosphere, providing the framework for the crustal melting and magma production responsible for the calc-alkaline rocks of Alborán volcanic province. Miocene zircon with ages ranging from c. 17 to 11 Ma indicate a rather protracted magmatic development prior to eruption at c. 11 Ma. Post-collisional character of Caldear Volcanic Group thus seems well established.     

On the MHD Simple Waves in Fully Relativistic Electron-Positron Plasmas with Radiation

The one dimensional propagation of simple waves in the system of electron-positron and photon gas at relativistic temperatures is considered. The presence of the transverse (across the wave propagation direction) velocity will change the dependencies of the phase velocity and magnetosound velocity upon temperature essentially. It is shown that at the presence of transverse velocity, the decrease of these characteristic velocities of simple wave takes place, while the time of shock wave formation becomes shorter. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.