The Bastille day Shocks and Merged Interaction Region

Near 1 AU the solar wind structure associated with the solar flare of 14 July 2000 (Bastille Day) consisted of a large high-speed stream of 15 July and five nearby small streams during a 10-day period. At the leading edge of the large high-speed stream, in less than 6 hours, the flow speed increased from 600 km s⁻¹ to 1100 km s⁻¹, the magnetic field intensity increased from 10 nT to 60 nT, and an interaction region was identified. The interaction region was bounded between the pair of a forward shock F and a reverse shock R. Additional forward shocks were also identified at the leading edge of each of the five smaller streams. This paper presents a magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) simulation using ACE plasma and magnetic field data near 1 AU as input to study the radial evolution of the Bastille Day solar wind event. The two shocks, F and R, propagated in opposite directions away from each other in the solar wind frame and interacted with neighboring shocks and streams; the spatial and temporal extent of the interaction region continued to increase with the heliocentric distance. The solar wind was restructured from a series of streams at 1 AU to a huge merged interaction region (MIR) extending over a period of 12 days at 5.5 AU. Throughout the interior of the MIR bounded by the shock pair F and R the magnetic field intensity was a few times stronger than that outside the MIR. The simulation shows how merging of shocks, collision of shocks, and formation of new shocks contributed to the evolution process.     

The RHESSI Imaging Concept

The Reuven Ramaty High-Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI) observes solar hard X-rays and gamma-rays from 3 keV to 17 MeV with spatial resolution as high as 2.3 arc sec. Instead of focusing optics, imaging is based on nine rotating modulation collimators that time-modulate the incident flux as the spacecraft rotates. Starting from the arrival time of individual photons, ground-based software then uses the modulated signals to reconstruct images of the source. The purpose of this paper is to convey both an intuitive feel and the mathematical basis for this imaging process. Following a review of the relevant hardware, the imaging principles and the basic back-projection method are described, along with their relation to Fourier transforms. Several specific algorithms (Clean, MEM, Pixons and Forward-Fitting) applicable to RHESSI imaging are briefly described. The characteristic strengths and weaknesses of this type of imaging are summarized.     

Sediment trap and in-situ pump size-fractionated POC/234Th ratios in the Mediterranean Sea and Northwest Atlantic: Implications for POC export

Measurements of particle size-fractionated POC/²³⁴Th ratios and ²³⁴Th and POC fluxes were conducted using surface-tethered, free-floating, sediment traps and large-volume in-situ pumps during four cruises in 2004 and 2005 to the oligotrophic eastern Mediterranean Sea and the seasonally productive western Mediterranean and northwest Atlantic. Analysis of POC/²³⁴Th ratios in sediment trap material and 10, 20, 53, 70, and 100 μm size-fractionated particles indicate, for most stations, decreasing ratios with depth, a weak dependence on particle size, and ratios that converge to ～1–5 μmol dpm^?1 below the euphotic zone (～100–150 m) throughout the contrasting biogeochemical regimes. In the oligotrophic waters of the Aegean Sea, ²³⁴Th and POC fluxes estimated using sediment traps were consistently higher than respective fluxes estimated from water-column ²³⁴Th–²³⁸U disequilibrium, observations that are attributed to terrigenous particle scavenging of ²³⁴Th. In the more productive western Mediterranean and northwest Atlantic, ²³⁴Th and POC fluxes measured by sediment trap and ²³⁴Th–²³⁸U disequilibrium agreed within a factor of 2–4 throughout the water column. An implication of these results is that estimates of POC export by sediment traps and ²³⁴Th–²³⁸U disequilibrium can be biased differently because of differential settling speeds of POC and ²³⁴Th-carrying particles.     

A polarimetric spectral imager using acousto-optic tunable filters

We report laboratory and telescopic observations with a polarimetric spectral imager based on an acousto-optic tunable filter (AOTF) where we demonstrate simultaneous acquisition of orthogonally polarized images at a spectral resolving power on the order of 103 and at a Rayleigh criterion spatial resolution of 100 line pairs per mm. This matches the spatial resolution of most digital arrays. An AOTF is shown to be usable as a fast shutter with a contrast of over 10⁴ on a sub-millisecond time scale while providing an high transmittance of about 75% (both polarizations summed) when illuminated by white light. The polarization contrast between the orthogonally polarized images exceeds 10⁴ across the field of view, permitting accurate measurement of the polarization parameters of incident light. These characteristics are now being used in a program of high spatial resolution imaging in narrow spectral bands. Some peculiarities and limitations of AOTFs are indicated.This research was supported by NASA under Grant NAGW-122 and under contract with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory under NASA grant NAS 7-918.Visiting Astronomer, Mauna Kea Observatory.     

Spokes in Saturn's rings: Dynamical and reflectance properties

Orbital velocities and relative reflectances of a preliminary sample of 15 Saturnian spokes recorded in the Voyager 2 low-resolution ring movie have been examined. While 13 spokes exhibit the expected Keplerian velocities, 2 anomalous spokes deviate from this motion. For approximately 2 hr after their formation these spokes exhibit corotational motion and, only then, accelerate to Keplerian speeds. Only 1 of the 2 accelerating spokes is within view of the Voyager cameras throughout its lifetime. When first seen this spoke appears on the morning ansa of the B ring with a 0.02 contrast; it gains in contrast throughout its corotational phase, reaching a maximum of 0.09 during its velocity transition. The spoke then loses contrast during its Keplerian phase, dropping to 0.02 in the last visible image. Thus a correlation between the contrast and the anomalous dynamical phases of this feature is observed. The radial reflectance profile, measured when the spoke is approximately 1 hr old, suggests discrete sources for spoke material in regions of maximum contrast within the B ring; a lower limit of 3 × 10¹¹ g can be established for the mass at this point. The behavior of this spoke seems to be explained by the plasma cloud model of Goertz and Morfill (1983, Icarus 55, 111–123). The atypical dynamics of these 2 spokes suggest that they are generated by plasma clouds of unusually high charge density, while the contrast of these features appears to depend more on ring particulate concentration than on plasma cloud density.     

Simulation of hypervelocity impacts using a contact charge

Two sets of hypervelocity impact experiments have been performed in the open using a contact charge technique and recorded using fast-framing cameras. It has been possible to record the uninterrupted ballistic trajectories of fragments from the catastrophically disrupted targets, together with their velocity and rotational properties directly after the impact, as well as their size. By performing these experiments in the open and on fairly soft ground, secondary fragmentation normally caused by impact onto the walls or floor of a test chamber has been minimised. A total of 10 experiments have been performed using targets of artificial rock which were either homogeneous, cored or carefully pre-fractured. We report here on the analysis of some of these data using a computer and special software written and developed by our group, with an indication of the results obtained.     

X-ray observations of a major eruptive flare behind the limb

We analyze X-ray images and spectra of a coronal structure which extended to altitudes over 130 000 km above an eruptive flare located 20° behind the western solar limb. The images were obtained by the Flat Crystal Spectrometer (FCS) and the spectra were obtained by the Bent Crystal Spectrometer (BCS) aboard the SMM spacecraft. Images in Oviii and Mgxi lines cover the period from before the flare onset (which occurred at 22:31 UT on 16 February, 1986) through 17 UT on 17 February and were used for determination of temperature and emission measure within the structure. BCS obtained Caxix spectra of the coronal event, benefiting from the occultation of the active region behind the solar limb.The BCS data show, and FCS data confirm, that the temperature, after an initial rise and decline, stayed almost constant for many hours after 04:30 UT on 17 February. This may indicate that initially we observed the rise and decay of post-flare loops, but later the X-ray emission came predominantly from a post-flare giant arch that formed above them. This has been observed in many previous cases. However, a comparison with other events characterized by very high post-flare loops, such as those that occurred on 29 July, 1973 (Skylab data) and on 14 February, 1986 (from this same region), suggests that we may be observing the same system of slowly growing groups all the time. Therefore, we suggest a third possibility, i.e., that such anomalously high loop systems first behave like post-flare loops but gradually take over some characteristics of a post-flare giant arch. The Soft X-ray Telescope aboardYohkoh, with spatial resolution improved by nearly an order of magnitude, might be able to check up on the development of such large-scale coronal structures if proper observational modes are applied after the occurrence of major eruptive flares.Deceased 1 June, 1993.