Increase of the Magnetic Flux From Polar Zones of the sun in the Last 120 Years

Lockwood, Stamper, and Wild (1999) argued that the average strength of the magnetic field of the Sun has doubled in the last 100 years. They used an analysis of the geomagnetic index aa. We calculated the area of polar zones of the Sun, A _pz, occupied by unipolar magnetic field on H synoptic magnetic charts, following Makarov (1994), from 1878 to 2000. We found a gradual decrease of the annual minimum latitude of the high-latitude zone boundaries, _2m, of the global magnetic field of the Sun at the minimum of activity from 53° in 1878 down to 38° in 1996, yielding an average decrease of 1.2° per cycle. Consequently the area of polar zones A _pz of the Sun, occupied by unipolar magnetic field at the minimum activity, has risen by a factor of 2 during 1878–1996. This means that the behavior of the index aa and consequently the magnetic flux from the Sun may be explained by an increase of the area of polar caps with roughly the same value of the magnetic field in this period. The area of the unipolar magnetic field at the poles (A _pz) may be used as a new index of magnetic activity of the Sun. We compared A _pz with the aa, the Wolf number W and A^* -index (Makarov and Tlatov, 2000). Correlations based on `11-year' averages are discussed. A temperature difference of about 1° between the Maunder Minimum and the present time was deduced. We have found that the highest latitude of the polar zone boundaries of the large-scale magnetic field during very low solar activity reaches about 60°, cf., the Maunder Minimum. It is supposed that the _2m-latitude coincides with the latitude where _r=0, with (r,) being the angular frequency of the solar rotation. The causes of the waxing and waning of the Sun's activity in conditions like Maunder Minimum are discussed.     

Application of Theorems on Null-Geodesics on The Solar Limb Effect

A direct and more general calculation of the limb effect connected with red-shift observations is obtained. Result agrees completely, in its general form, with that obtained from observations of the solar spectra but with different value for the maximum effect. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Limb Prominence Eruption on 11 August 2000 as Seen From Ground- and Space-Based Observations

We report on a prominence eruption as seen in H with the Crimean Lyot coronagraph, the global H network, and coronal images from the LASCO C2 instrument on board SOHO. We observed an H eruption at the northwest solar limb between 07:38:50 UT and 07:58:29 UT on 11 August 2000. The eruption originated in a quiet-Sun region and was not associated with an H filament. No flare was associated with the eruption, which may indicate that, in this case, a flux rope was formed prior to the eruption of the magnetic field. The H images and an H Dopplergram show a helical structure present in the erupted magnetic field. We suggest that the driving mechanism of the eruption may be magnetic flux emergence or magnetic flux injection. The limb H observations provide missing data on CME speed and acceleration in the lower corona. Our data show that the prominence accelerated impulsively at 5.5 km s^–2 and reached a speed slightly greater than 800 km s^–1 in a narrow region (h<0.14 R ) above the solar surface. The observations presented here also imply that, based only on a CME's speed and acceleration, it cannot be determined whether a CME is the result of a flare or an eruptive prominence.     

Differential rotation of the sun determined tracing sunspots and oscillations of sunspot tilt angle

The time and spatial characteristics of 324 large sunspots (S50 millionths of the solar hemisphere) selected from the Abastumani Astrophysical Observatory photoheliogram collection (1950–1990) have been studied. The variations of sunspot angular rotation velocity residuals and oscillations of sunspot tilt angle were analyzed. It has been shown that the differential rotation rate of selected sunspots correlates on average with the solar cycle. The deceleration of differential rotation of large sunspots begins on the ascending arm of the activity curve and ends on the descending arm reaching minimum near the epochs of solar activity maxima. This behavior disappears during the 21st cycle. The amplitudes and periods of sunspot tilt-angle oscillations correlate well with the solar activity cycle. Near the epochs of activity maximum there appear sunspots with large amplitudes and periods showing a significant scatter while the scatter near the minimum is rather low. We also found evidence of phase difference between the sunspot angular rotation velocity and the amplitudes and periods of tilt-angle oscillations.     

Neutrino radiation from a collapsing galactic nucleus

We discuss the possible observational manifestation of the formation of massive black holes in galactic nuclei in the form of an intense high-energy neutrino flux. A short-lived (≤10 yr) hidden neutrino source results from the natural dynamicalal evolution of a central star cluster in the galactic nucleus before its gravitational collapse. The central star cluster at the final evolutionary stage consists of degenerate compact stars (neutron stars and stellar-mass black holes) and is embedded in a massive gaseous envelope produced by destructive collisions of normal stars. Multiple fireballs from frequent collisions of neutron stars give rise to a tenuous quasi-stationary cavity in the central part of the massive envelope. The cavity is filled with shock waves on which an effective cosmic-ray acceleration takes place. Allthe accelerated particles, except the secondary high-energy neutrinos, are absorbed in the dense envelope. The neutrino signal that carries information on the dynamicals of the collapsing galactic nucleus can be recorded by a neutrino detector with an effective area S∼1 km².     

The magnetic nature of solar flares

The main challenge for the theory of solar eruptions has been to understand two basic aspects of large flares. These are the cause of the flare itself and the nature of the morphological features which form during its evolution. Such features include separating ribbons of H emission joined by a rising arcade of soft x-ray loops, with hard x-ray emission at their summits and at their feet. Two major advances in our understanding of the theory of solar flares have recently occurred. The first is the realisation that a magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) catastrophe is probably responsible for the basic eruption and the second is that the eruption is likely to drive a reconnection process in the field lines stretched out by the eruption. The reconnection is responsible for the ribbons and the set of rising soft x-ray loops, and such a process is well supported by numerical experiments and detailed observations from the Japanese satellite Yohkoh. Magnetic energy conversion by reconnection in two dimensions is relatively well understood, but in three dimensions we are only starting to understand the complexity of the magnetic topology and the MHD dynamics which are involved. How the dynamics lead to particle acceleration is even less well understood. Particle acceleration in flares may in principle occur in a variety of ways, such as stochastic acceleration by MHD turbulence, acceleration by direct electric fields at the reconnection site, or diffusive shock acceleration at the different kinds of MHD shock waves that are produced during the flare. However, which of these processes is most important for producing the energetic particles that strike the solar surface remains a mystery. Received 2 January 2001 / Published online 17 July 2001     

Boguslawsky Crater on the Moon: Landing Site Selection for the <Emphasis Type="Italic">Luna–Glob</Emphasis> Mission Descent Module

The article reviews the results of photo geological study of the lunar surface in terms of selection of most favorable landing sites from the point of view of science merit and safety for the Luna—Glob mission descent module.     

Light Curve Modelling and Evolutionary Status of the Short Period Binary 1SWASP J092328.76+435044

Light curve modeling for the newly discovered super contact low-mass WUMa system 1SWASPJ092328.76+435044 was carried out by using a new BVR complete light curves. A spotted model was applied to treat the asymmetry of the light curves. The output model was obtained by means of Wilson–Devinney code, which reveals that the massive component is hotter than the less massive one with about ΔT ～ 40 K. A total of six new times of minima were estimated. The evolutionary state of the system components was investigated based on the estimated physical parameters.     

Gravitational instability in isotropic MHD plasma waves

The effect of compressive viscosity, thermal conductivity and radiative heat-loss functions on the gravitational instability of infinitely extended homogeneous MHD plasma has been investigated. By taking in account these parameters we developed the six-order dispersion relation for magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) waves propagating in a homogeneous and isotropic plasma. The general dispersion relation has been developed from set of linearized basic equations and solved analytically to analyse the conditions of instability and instability of self-gravitating plasma embedded in a constant magnetic field. Our result shows that the presence of viscosity and thermal conductivity in a strong magnetic field substantially modifies the fundamental Jeans criterion of gravitational instability.     

Behaviour of physical parameters in extended gravity with hyperbolic function

In this paper, we have constructed the cosmological model of the universe in f(R, T) theory of gravity in a Bianchi type \(\mathrm{VI}_h\) universe for the functional f(R, T) in the form \(f(R,T)=\mu R+\mu T\), where R and T are respectively Ricci scalar and trace of energy momentum tensor and \(\mu \) is a constant. We have made use of the hyperbolic scale factor to find the physical parameters and metric potentials defined in the space-time. The physical parameters are constrained from different representative values to build up a realistic cosmological model aligned with the observational behaviour. The state finder diagnostic pair is found to be in the acceptable range. The energy conditions of the model are also studied.