A refined measurement of the sunspot radiative flux deficit

New measurements of the radiative flux deficits of two large sunspots are presented, based on detailed isophotometric maps. Results are given separately for umbrae and penumbrae. The umbral and penumbral deficits are 4–5 × 10¹⁰ and 1–1.5 × 10¹⁰ erg cm^–2 s^–1 respectively, the larger figures ref to the larger spot. Over limited areas centered on the umbral cores the deficits for the two spots amount to 76 and 86% of the photospheric flux.     

OSO-8 observations of CaII H and K,MgII h and k,Lα and Lβ above a sunspot

Observations with the French (L.P.S.P.) experiment on board OSO-8 of a sunspot and nearby plage region are described. The behaviour of the emission cores of the Ca II H and K and Mg II h and k resonance lines is very similar and the correspondence in intensity between the four lines persists in all observed features. In contrast, the Lyman lines show little correlation with the other lines. Their emission regions appear broader in the spectroheliograms than the underlying sunspot structure and must not necessarily possess a counterpart in lower layers. From the central intensity of L above the umbra an electron density of 4.3 × 10¹⁰ cm^-3 n _e ^* 2.3 × 10¹¹ cm^-3 at 20 000 K is estimated.Mitteilungen aus dem Kiepenheuer-Institut Nr. 186.Stockholm Observatorium, S-13300 Saltsjöbaden, Sweden.Laboratoire de Physique Stellaire et Planétaire, CNRS, P.O. Box 10, F-91370 Verrières-le-Buisson, France.     

The solar power spectrum — a fractal set?

A preliminary numerical analysis of the power spectrum of solar oscillations of the SCLERA group suggests that this curve can be characterized by a Hausdorff-Besicovich dimension close to 3/2 near the present observational resolution (0.03 mHz). We show that this result is not inconsistent with the presence of a component due to non-linear, turbulent-like motions, which, in addition to linear oscillation modes, is shaping the observed spectral distribution.On leave of absence from Institut d'Astrophysique, Cointe-Ougrée, Belgium.     

On periodic flybys of the moon

This paper considers the plane circular restricted three-body problem for small . Symmetric periodic solutions of the second species (passing near the body of mass ) and their distance from the center of the body of mass are studied by constructing perturbations of arc-solutions (solutions with consecutive collisions) existing for =0. Orbits which also pass near the body of mass 1- are studied in detail. The results are applied to finding periodic orbits in the Earth-Moon system and in the Sun-Jupiter system.Russian version: Preprint No. 91 (1978) of Inst. Appl. Math.; present English translation was made by L. M. Perko and W. C. Schulz (February 1979).     

Radius of convergence of Lie series for some elliptic elements

For equatorial orbits about an oblate body, we show that the Lie series for the elliptic elementse,f,l and diverge when the oblateness exceeds a critical multiple of the transformed eccentricity constant. The use of similar truncated series expansions for such elliptic elements by Brouwer accounts for the first-order errors at low eccentricity in his derived coordinates for an artificial satellite.     

On the perturbation of the anomalistic period of a highly eccentric orbit satellite due to the zonal harmonics

In this note a simple formula is given for the perturbation of the anomalistic period of a highly eccentric orbit due to the zonal harmonics. This perturbation depends essentially only on the semi-major axisa, the eccentricitye (or pericentre radius r =a(1-e)) and the latitude of the pericentre.     

A survey of coronal holes and their solar wind associations throughout sunspot cycle 20

To gain insight into the relationships between solar activity, the occurrence and variability of coronal holes, and the association of such holes with solar wind features such as high-velocity streams, a study of the period 1963–1974 was made. This period corresponds approximately with sunspot cycle 20. The primary data used for this work consisted of X-ray and XUV solar images obtained from rockets. The investigation revealed that:

1. The polar coronal holes prominent at solar minimum, decreased in area as solar activity increased and were small or absent at maximum phase. This evolution exhibited the same phase difference between the two hemispheres that was observed in other indicators of activity.
2. During maximum, coronal holes occurred poleward of the sunspot belts and in the equatorial region between them. The observed equatorial holes were small and persisted for one or two solar rotations only; some high latitude holes had lifetimes exceeding two solar rotations.
3. During 1963–74 whenever XUV or X-ray images were available, nearly all recurrent solar wind streams of speed ?500 km s^?1 were found associated with coronal holes at less than 40° latitude; however some coronal holes appeared to have no associated wind streams at the Earth.

     

Population explosion in Africa: further implications

A serious problem associated with the population explosion in Africa is the widespread degradation of vegetation and soils. Various factors such as climate, animal overgrazing, overcultivation, fires, and soil erosion contribute to the social and economic impact in some areas. An increase of droughts due to lack of precipitation has damaged grasslands. In addition, increased animal population due to animal disease control, increased water supply, and social custom of measuring wealth in terms of herd size cause near wastelands from overgrazing. Also, overcultivation of commercial crops due to an increasing population has accelerated soil erosion by allowing shorter fallow periods, which causes lower crop yields and soil deterioration. Firing woodlands and grasslands to suppress new woody growth is damaging soil as well as encouraging the growth of coarse grasses that have little value for grazing animals. The barren land due to firing causes soil erosion both by water and wind; a total estimated drift of dust from western Africa is 60 million tons/year. These conditions indicate that deterioration will continue resulting in lower carrying capacities and lower productivity from cultivated land.     

The evolution of massive close binaries

The results of evolutionary computations for massive binary systems (initial masses of the primary 10M ) with mass ratios between 0.3 and 0.8 are summarized and compared with observations in order to verify how far one can go with the conservative assumption of mass exchange. It is found that conservative mass exchange leads to acceptable first-order models of W-R and massive X-ray binaries. However, the comparison between this theory and observation reveals that for the observed systems (W-R and X-ray binaries) a preference exists for low intial mass ratios; moreover, the X-ray luminosities of the theoretical models are systematically too low, though this may be due to the adopted wind model. In addition, the influences of several parameters (distance between the components, chemical composition, primary mass, mass ratio and atmosphere) are examined. These parameters influence the remnant mass and any further evolution only marginally. Attention is also given to the effect on the system parameters of a supernova explosion of the remnant of the mass-losing component. For a large range of systems a disruption probability smaller than 25% is found.