The effects of solar and ionospheric parameters on seasonal variation of 6300 Å line emission at Calcutta

The purpose of this paper is to find correlation between OI 6300 Å line intensity with solar and ionospheric parameters. A critical study have been made and the following important results are obtained:

Rosat wide field camera data and the temperature of the interstellar medium

The shadowing effects of the molecular clouds in the nearby interstellar medium on the soft x-ray background has been investigated, using ROSAT WFC data in conjunction with previous rocket B and C band surveys. Shadowing over a 5° extent occurs only for a few percent of the sky, but the mixed model of the ISM is supported.Detailed modelling of the Draco shadowing region shows little evidence for a multi-temperature, hot ISM component.     

A Yohkoh search for “black-light flares”

Calculations which predict that a phenomenon analogous to stellar negative pre-flares could also exist on the Sun were published by Hénouxet al. (1990), and Aboudarhamet al., (1990), who showed that at the beginning of a solar white-light flare (WLF) event an electron beam can cause a transient darkening before the WLF emission starts, under certain conditions. They named this event a black light flare (BLF). Such a BLF event should appear as diffuse dark patches lasting for about 20 seconds preceding the WLF emission, which would coincide with intense and impulsive hard X-ray bursts. The BLF location would be at (or in the vicinity of) the forthcoming bright patches. Their predicted contrast depends on the position of the flare on the solar disc and on the wavelength band of the observation.TheYohkoh satellite provided white-light data from the aspect camera of the SXT instrument (Tsunetaet al., 1991), at 431 nm and with a typical image interval of 10–12 s. We have studied nine white-light flares observed with this instrument, with X-ray class larger than M6. We have found a few interesting episodes, but no unambiguous example of the predicted BLF event. This study, although the best survey to date, was not ideal from the observational point of view. We therefore encourage further searches. Successful observations of this phenomenon on the Sun would greatly strengthen our knowledge of the lower solar atmosphere and its effects on solar luminosity variations.     

Radiation-hydrodynamic waves and global solar oscillations

We investigate nonadiabatic hydrodynamic waves in a nongrey, radiating, thermally conducting, homogeneous atmosphere in LTE with a finite mean free path of photons. Avoiding the Eddington approximation the remaining simplifications in the basic equations are discussed, the generalized dispersion relation is analysed, and some wave properties in a grey model are studied. The properties of waves in a stratified atmosphere are analysed as well. In connection with the predicted properties of the nonadiabatic waves we discuss observations ofp-modes by measuring brightness fluctuations.     

Regional development in the United States during the 1980s: population redistribution and economic restructuring

The reduction of the rate of growth of the Brazilian population from 3% in the 1960s to 2% by 1993 resulted from a significant reduction of fertility. According to the 1986 national maternal-child health and family planning survey (PNSMIPF) results, 43.3% of women were using some type of contraception: 65.6% of married or cohabiting women. Women relied most on sterilization (17.2%), followed by oral contraceptives (OCs) (17%), the rhythm method (2.8%), the condom (1.1%), and others (5.2%). Only in the south was OC use more prevalent (28.5%) than sterilization (12.2%). The proportion of sterilization reached 27.8% in the north/center-east urban regions. In urban areas sterilization averaged 18.7% vs. 12.7% in rural areas. 26.9% of currently married women in the age range of 15-44 years had been sterilized. A 1990 international estimation indicated that the proportion of sterilization amounted to 36.9% in China, 30.95 in India, 29.7% in Brazil, 47.6% in South Korea, 30.4% in Thailand, and 36.5% in the Dominican Republic. The 1986 PNSMIPF survey also indicated that sterilized women were better informed than other women about contraception. 75% of the former had used OCs, 5% had used the diaphragm, 3% the IUD, 30% the condom, and 35% coitus interruptus at one time or other. The sterilized women had an average of 1.7 more children than those who were using other methods of contraception. 48.6% of women were sterilized before the age of 30, when they had had an average of 3.6 children. 66.6% of the sterilized women who had given birth before the age of 20 had 4 or more live births as compared to 5.9% of sterilized women aged 30 with the same number of children. 47% of women without any schooling were using some kind of contraception vs. 77% of those who had completed secondary school. A multivariate analysis also showed that the age of the mother, the number of live births, the educational status of the mother, and family income were positively correlated with sterilization.     

H2 in interstellar and extragalactic ices: infrared characteristics, ultraviolet production, and implications

H2 is the most abundant molecule in the universe. We demonstrate that this molecule may be an important component of interstellar and possibly intergalactic ices, both because it can be formed in situ, within the ices, and because gas phase H2 can freeze out onto dust grains in some astrophysical environments. The condensation-sublimation and infrared spectral properties of ices containing H2 are presented. We show that solid H2 in H20-rich ices can be detected by an infrared absorption band at 4137 cm-1 (2.417 micrometers). The surface binding energy of H2 to H2O ice was measured to the delta Hs/k = 555 +/- 35 K. Surface binding energies can be used to calculate the residence times of H2 on grain surfaces as a function of temperature. Some of the implications of these results are considered.     

Morphology and variability of helium line profiles in the P Cygni spectrum

The morphology and variability of 13 helium lines in the P Cygni optical spectrum have been studied in detail over a period of three years. It is found that most lines in the sample have often shown profiles with a complicated structure: discrete components are superposed on a broader underlying P Cyg profile. Multiple sets of components were frequently observed. The radial velocity of the discrete components varies with time. In this article the velocity evolution of two sets of components is studied in detail and the corresponding velocity laws are derived. It is found that the velocity variations in the helium and hydrogen discrete components are correlated. The recurrence timescale for the appearance of new helium components is estimated.An attempt is made for a qualitative interpretation of the obtained results.     

Thermal conduction and modeling of static stellar coronal loops

We have modeled stellar coronal loops in static conditions for a wide range of loop length, plasma pressure at the base of the loop and stellar surface gravity, so as to describe physical conditions that can occur in coronae of stars ranging from low mass dwarfs to giants as well as on a significant fraction of the Main-Sequence stars.Three alternative formulations of heat conduction have been used in the energy balance equation, depending on the ratio ₀/L _Tbetween electron mean free path and temperature scale height: Spitzer's formulation for ₀/L _Tless than 2 × 10^–3, the Luciani, Mora, and Virmont non-local formulation for ₀/L _Tbetween 2 × 10^–3 and 6.67 × 10^–3 and the limited free-streaming formulation for ₀/L _Tlarger than 6.67 × 10^–3.We report the characteristics of all loop models studied, and present examples to illustrate how the temperature and density stratification can be drastically altered by the different conductivity regimes. Significant differences are evident in the differential emission measure distribution vs temperature, an important observable quantity. We also show how physical conditions of coronal plasma, and in particular thermal conduction, change with stellar surface gravity.We have found that, for fixed loop length and stellar gravity, a minimum of loop-top plasma temperature occurs, corresponding to the highest value of base plasma pressure for which the limited free-streaming conduction occurs. This value of temperature satisfies the appropriate scalingT 10^–9 L g, in cgs units.     

Radiation pressure effects in the oscillations of compressible rotating homogeneous spheroids

Earlier models of compressible, rotating, and homogeneous ellipsoids with gas pressure are generalized to include the presence of radiation pressure. Under the assumptions of a linear velocity field of the fluid and a bounded ellipsoidal surface, the dynamical behaviour of these models can be described by ordinary differential equations. These equations are used to study the finite oscillations of massive radiative models with masses 10M and 30M in which the effects of radiation pressure are expected to be important.Models with two different degrees of equilibrium are chosen: an equilibrium (i.e., dynamically stable) model with an initial asymmetric inward velocity, and a nonequilibrium model with a nonequilibrium central temperature and which falls inwards from rest. For each of these two degrees of equilibrium, two initial configurations are considered: rotating spheroidal and nonrotating spherical models.From the numerical integration of the differential equations for these models, we obtain the time evolution of their principal semi-diametersa ₁ anda ₃, and of their central temperatures, which are graphically displayed by making plots of the trajectories in the (a ₁,a ₃) phase space, and of botha ₁ and the total central pressureP _c against time.It is found that in all the equilibrium radiative models (in which radiation pressure is taken into account), the periods of the oscillations of botha ₁ andP _c are longer than those of the corresponding nonradiative models, while the reverse is true for the nonequilibrium radiative models. The envelopes of thea ₁ oscillations of the equilibrium radiative models also have much longer periods; this result also holds for the nonequilibrium models whenever the envelope is well defined. Further, as compared to the nonradiative models, almost all the radiative models collapse to smaller volumes before rebouncing, with the more massive model undergoing a larger collapse and attaining a correspondingly larger peakP _c.When the mass is increased, the dynamical behavior of the radiative model generally becomes more nonperiodic. The ratio of the central radiation pressure to the central gas pressure, which is small for low mass models, increases with mass, and at the center of the more massive model, the radiation pressure can be comparable in magnitude to the gas pressure. In all the radiative models, the average periods as well as the average amplitudes of both thea ₁ andP _c oscillations also increase with mass.When either rotation or radiation pressure effects or both are included in the equilibrium nonradiative model, the period of the envelope of thea ₁ oscillations is increased. The presence of rotation in the equilibrium radiative model, however, decreases this period.Some astrophysical implications of this work are briefly discussed.     

Multiple flows and the fine structure of the transition region around sunspots

The fine structure in the flow field in the transition region above and surrounding a sunspot is determined fromCIV 1548 line profiles, observed with the High Resolution Telescope and Spectrograph (HRTS) during the Spacelab 2 mission. The observed line profiles show one, two, or three distinct velocity components within the resolution element of 1 × 1. Supersonic flows occur in small regions where the line profile has two or three components. The line component that shows supersonic speed often is weaker than the subsonic line component, which may explain why some observers have been unable to detect the supersonic flow component. The broadening of individual line components shows non-thermal velocities close to 20 km s^–1. This suggests that turbulence is less important than usually considered.The presence of multiple flows, which also occurs in quiet solar regions, suggests that the transition region above sunspots has a sub-arc-second fine structure, perhaps consisting of thin fibrils. The Evershed flow in the transition region appears to have a correspondingly complex character, possibly consisting of sub- and supersonic siphon flows along the individual fibrils. Time changes in the flow field over 5 min may correspond to characteristic times of individual fine structures. Possible explanations of the net downward directed mass flux are presented.