Thermosolutal-convective instability in a stellar atmosphere

The thermosolutal-convective instability of a stellar atomsphere is studied in the presence of suspended particles. The criteria for monotonic instability are derived and are found to hold good also in the presence of uniform rotation and uniform magnetic field on the thermosolutal-convective instability. The thermosolutal-convective instability of a stellar atmosphere is also studied in the presence of suspended particles and radiative transfer effects and the criteria for monotonic instability are obtained in terms of source function.     

Studies of some diatomic molecules in the F- and early G-type dwarf stars

A critical analysis of CH, NH, OH, C₂, and CN molecules/radicals has been made in twenty-four F- and early G-type dwarfs at different effective temperature as well as in new constructed model atmosphere. Molecular indices of bandheads ofA-X system of CH, NH, OH, C₂, and CN have been obtained by using the data available in the literature (thirteen-colour and eight-colour photometry).Besides, some interesting plots of the molecular indices vs _eff, molecular abundances and molecular indices vs dissociation energy, reduced equivalent widths and FCF's vs dissociation energy for respective molecules have also been enumerated. It is found that the molecular indices at bandheads ofA-X system of CH, NH, OH, C₂, and CN are approximately constant (5810–6570 K). It is to be noted that the molecular indices decrease in the order OH, NH, CH, C₂, and CN at a given temperature.The dissociation equilibrium of CH, NH, OH, C₂, and CN is considered at 5810, 6570, and 7160 K phases in model atmosphere. At standard scale of abundance the molecular abundance and molecular index decrease in the order OH, NH, CH, C₂, and CN at any given phase, however, CN abundance and index increase (_eff=0.867-0.767). The amplitude of abundance and index variation decrease in the order NH, OH, CH, C₂, and CN (_eff=0.767-0.704).The reduced equivalent width decrease in the order OH, NH, CH, and C₂ and FCF's decrease in the order CH, OH, NH, CN, and C₂.The confrontation of models and observations of spectra of F- and early G-type dwarfs of parent molecules is of primary importance to investigate the physical conditions within atmospheres. Reliable excitation models are also requisite for interpreting spectroscopic observations of parent molecules and deriving molecular abundances.     

Spectrophotometric observations and evolutionary status of ten Be stars

The continuum energy distribution data of ten Be stars — namely, HR 1761, HR 1786, HR 1820, Ori, Ori, OT Gem, Lyr, HR 7983, Cyg, and 59 Cyg — have been presented in the wavelength range 3200–8000 Å. The observed energy distribution curve shows near infrared excess for majority of Be stars and a double Balmer jump for HR 8047 and HR 8146. Empirical effective temperatures of these stars have been estimated by comparing the observed continuum energy distributions with that of computed theoretical models given by Kurucz (1979).On the basis of an HR diagram with evolutionary tracks for different solar masses the masses of these Be stars have been estimated. Position of these studied stars on the HR diagram suggests that these Be stars may be in the stage of core contraction after exhausting hydrogen at the centre and have undergone hydrogen exhaustion in the thick shell.     

The structure and oscillations of low-mass stars in the presence of a magnetic field

The equilibrium structure and oscillations of a partially degenerate standard model in the presence of a poloidal magnetic field have been studied. The magnetic field in the interior has been matched with an outside dipole field. The effect of magnetic field on the various structural parameters, e.g., mass, central condensation, moment of inertia, and oblateness has been computed for different values of the central degeneracy of the model. We have also studied the effect of magnetic field on radial oscillations of the configuration. A variational formulation is used to compute the changes in the frequency of radial mode of oscillation. It has been shown that the changes in frequency computed for various models using a two-parameter eigenfunction are in fair agreement with the values obtained by using the exact eigenfunction.     

Repercussions of solar high energy protons on ozone layer during super storms

We are very aware of the importance of the ozone layer, without which life on the Earth would not have evolved in the way it has. Solar storms carry energetic protons into the Earth's upper atmosphere,where they boost production of nitrogen oxides which are known as ozone killers and which ultimately increase ultraviolet(UV) radiations. In the present study, we estimate the effects of solar energetic protons during super storms(Dst index -300 nT) over the total ozone column for the last 32 yr. We select a total of seven super storm events that occurred during solar cycles 22–24(for the last 32 yr) having Dst index -300 nT. To that end, we apply superposed epoch analysis(SEA) to verify the impact of storm events on the quantitative variation of total ozone column and on UV radiations during super storm events.After completing the empirical analysis, we conclude that the ozone column gets depleted significantly(22±6.8%) as proton density increases during super storm events and this decrement in the ozone level is further responsible for a substantial increase(26±11.2%) in peak UV radiation intensities.     

Relative abundances of 10≤Z≤26 nuclei in medium energy cosmic rays

Abundances of primary cosmic-ray nuclei from neon to iron, in the energy interval 200 to 650 MeV n^–1, have been determined using a balloon exposed cellulose nitrate plastic detector. These abundances have been extrapolated back to the source regions using various models of cosmic ray interstellar propagation. Some aspects of cosmic-ray propagation and origin have been discussed in the light of results of the present experiment.     

Whistler observations of the quiet time plasmasphere-ionosphere coupling fluxes at low latitude

Observations of whistlers during quiet times made at low-latitude ground station Nainital (geomag. lat. 19 1 N) are used to deduce plasmasphere-ionosphere coupling fluxes. The whistler data from 3 magnetically quiet days are presented that show a smooth decrease in dispersion with time. This decrease in dispersion is interpreted in terms of a corresponding decrease in electron content of tubes of ionization. The electron densities, electron tube contents (10¹⁶ el/m²-tube) and coupling fluxes (10 el m^–1 s^–2) are computed by means of an accurate curve fitting method developed by Tarcsai (1975) and are in good agreement with the results reported by other workers.     

Tessellation of SoHO magnetograms

A gradient based algorithm which divides arbitrary images into non-overlapping surface filling tiles of opposite polarity is used to study the flux and size distributions of large scale magnetic flux concentrations in solar and heliospheric observatory (SoHO) magnetograms. The mean absolute flux and size of the concentrations at the considered scale is found to be about 1.7 × 10¹⁸Mx and 5.2Mm for both polarities. The form of the flux distribution is characterized by a skewness of α₃ = 4.9 and a kurtosis of α₄ = 42.8. The fall in the distribution in the range 6.5 × 10¹⁷ Mx to 5×10¹⁸ Mx is described by an exponential fit, in agreement with a model for the sustenance of quiet region flux.     

Equilibrium Structures of Rotationally and Tidally Distorted Polytropic Models of Stars

We propose suitable modifications in the concept of Roche equipotentials to account for the effect of mass distribution inside a star. The Kippenhahn and Thomas (1970) approach is used to incorporate the effects of rotational and tidal forces in the equations of stellar structure. The proposed method is applied to compute structures of certain rotationally and tidally distorted polytropic models.     

A Multifrequency Study of Five Large Radio Galaxies

We present the results of GMRT and VLA observations of five large radio sources over a wide frequency range to investigate their structural and spectral asymmetries. The hot-spot brightness ratios suggest intrinsic source asymmetries, while the spectral indices show evidence of re-acceleration of particles.