Far- and Extreme-UV Solar Spectral Irradiance and Radiance from Simplified Atmospheric Physical Models

This article describes an update of the physical models that we use to reconstruct the FUV and EUV irradiance spectra and the radiance spectra of the features that at any given point in time may cover the solar disk depending on the state of solar activity. The present update introduces important modifications to the chromosphere–corona transition region of all models. Also, the update introduces improved and extended atomic data. By these changes, the agreement of the computed and observed spectra is largely improved in many EUV lines important for the modeling of the Earth’s upper atmosphere. This article describes the improvements and shows detailed comparisons with EUV/FUV radiance and irradiance measurements. The solar spectral irradiance from these models at wavelengths longer than ≈?200 nm is discussed in a separate article.     

HESS J1616−508: likely to be powered by PSR J1617−5055

HESS J1616−508 is one of the brightest emitters in the TeV sky. Recent observations with the IBIS/ISGRI telescope onboard the INTEGRAL spacecraft have revealed that a young, nearby and energetic pulsar, PSR J1617−5055, is a powerful emitter of soft γ-rays in the 20–100 keV domain. In this paper, we present an analysis of all available data from the INTEGRAL , Swift , BeppoSAX and XMM–Newton telescopes with a view to assessing the most likely counterpart to the High Energy Stereoscopic System (HESS) source. We find that the energy source that fuels the X/γ-ray emissions is derived from the pulsar, both on the basis of the positional morphology, the timing evidence and the energetics of the system. Likewise the 1.2 per cent of the pulsar's spin-down energy loss needed to power the 0.1–10 TeV emission is also fully consistent with other HESS sources known to be associated with pulsars. The relative sizes of the X/γ-ray and very high energy sources are consistent with the expected lifetimes against synchrotron and Compton losses for a single source of parent electrons emitted from the pulsar. We find that no other known object in the vicinity could be reasonably considered as a plausible counterpart to the HESS source. We conclude that there is good evidence to assume that the HESS J1616−508 source is driven by PSR J1617−5055 in which a combination of synchrotron and inverse-Compton processes combine to create the observed morphology of a broad-band emitter from keV to TeV energies.     

Effective Hamiltonian for the D'Alembert Planetary Model Near a Spin/Orbit Resonance

The D'Alembert model for the spin/orbit problem in celestial mechanics is considered. Using a Hamiltonian formalism, it is shown that in a small neighborhood of a p:q spin/orbit resonance with (p,q) different from (1,1) and (2,1) the 'effective' D'Alembert Hamiltonian is a completely integrable system with phase space foliated by maximal invariant curves; instead, in a small neighborhood of a p:q spin/orbit resonance with (p,q) equal to (1,1) or (2,1) the 'effective' D'Alembert Hamiltonian has a phase portrait similar to that of the standard pendulum (elliptic and hyperbolic equilibria, separatrices, invariant curves of different homotopy). A fast averaging with respect to the 'mean anomaly' is also performed (by means of Nekhoroshev techniques) showing that, up to exponentially small terms, the resonant D'Alembert Hamiltonian is described by a two-degrees-of-freedom, properly degenerate Hamiltonian having the lowest order terms corresponding to the 'effective' Hamiltonian mentioned above.     

Treatment of ground-motion predictive relationships for the reference seismic hazard map of Italy

In the framework of the 2004 reference seismic hazard map of Italy the amplitude of the strong-motion (expressed in terms of Peak Horizontal Acceleration with 10% probability of non-exceedence in 50 years, referred to average hard ground conditions) was computed using different predictive relationships. Equations derived in Italy and in Europe from strong-motion data, as well as a set of weak and strong-motion based empirical predictive relationships were employed in a logic tree procedure, in order to capture the epistemic uncertainty affecting ground-motion attenuation. This article describes the adjustments and conversions required to eliminate the incompatibilities amongst the relations. Particularly significant are distance conversions and style-of-faulting adjustments, as well as the problems related to the use of regional relations, such as the selection of a reference depth, the quantification of random variability and the strong-motion prediction. Moreover, a regional attenuation relationship specific for volcanic areas was also employed, allowing a more realistic evaluation of seismic hazard, as confirmed by the attenuation of macroseismic intensities.     

Periodic Behavior and Stochastic Fluctuations of Solar Activity: Proper Orthogonal Decomposition Analysis

We use the Proper Orthogonal Decomposition (POD) to investigate the spatiotemporal features of the solar activity. Daily observation in the period 1949–1996 of the green coronal emission line at 530.3 nm are used as indicators of the activity behavior. We show that few POD modes suffice in describing both the space and time main periodicities. In particular, being affected by a strongly energetic stochastic behavior, daily data are described by five POD modes, while two POD modes are enough to describe the butterfly diagram in monthly averaged data. Apart from the basic period T₀ = 11 years, using daily data we found evidences for intercycle temporal periodicities.     

Polarization in spectral lines

The general formalism, presented in a previous paper of this series (Landi Degl'Innocenti, 1983a), is particularized to deduce the radiative transfer equations for polarized radiation and the statistical equilibrium equations for a multi-level atom in the zero-magnetic field, collisionless regime. The formulae are developed both in the standard representation and in the representation of the statistical tensors. For resonance scattering in a two-level atom, in the limiting case of complete depolarization of the ground level, we recover the classical results for Rayleigh scattering and we derive the expression of the phase matrix in terms of ordinary rotation matrices. The law of scattering is then generalized to take properly into account the influence of the anisotropy of the radiation field on the atomic polarization of the ground level (depopulation pumping).     

Crash-testing the cauldron code for joint lensing and dynamics analysis of early-type galaxies

We apply the joint lensing and dynamics code for the analysis of early-type galaxies, 'Combined Algorithm for Unified Lensing and Dynamics ReconstructiON ( cauldron )', to a rotating N -body stellar system with dark matter halo which significantly violates the two major assumptions of the method, i.e. axial symmetry supported by a two-integral distribution function. The goal is to study how cauldron performs in an extreme case, and to determine which galaxy properties can still be robustly recovered. Three data sets, corresponding to orthogonal lines of sight, are generated from the N -body system and analysed with the identical procedure followed in the study of real lens galaxies, adopting an axisymmetric power-law total density distribution. We find that several global properties of the N -body system are recovered with remarkable accuracy, despite the fact that the adopted power-law model is too simple to account for the lack of symmetry of the true density distribution. In particular, the logarithmic slope of the total density distribution is robustly recovered to within less than 10 per cent (with the exception of the ill-constrained very inner regions), the inferred angle-averaged radial profile of the total mass closely follows the true distribution, and the dark matter fraction of the system (inside the effective radius) is correctly determined within ∼10 per cent of the total mass. Unless the line-of-sight direction is almost parallel to the total angular momentum vector of the system, reliably recovered quantities also include the angular momentum, the   V /σ  ratio and the anisotropy parameter δ. We conclude that the cauldron code can be safely and effectively applied to real early-type lens galaxies, also providing reliable information for the systems that depart significantly from the method's assumptions.     

A Century of Solar Ca <Emphasis Type="SmallCaps">ii</Emphasis> Measurements and Their Implication for Solar UV Driving of Climate

Spectroheliograms and disk-integrated flux monitoring in the strong resonance line of Ca ii (K line) provide the longest record of chromospheric magnetic plages. We compare recent reductions of the Ca ii K spectroheliograms obtained since 1907 at the Kodaikanal, Mt. Wilson, and US National Solar Observatories. Certain differences between the individual plage indices appear to be caused mainly by differences in the spectral passbands used. Our main finding is that the indices show remarkably consistent behavior on the multidecadal time scales of greatest interest to global warming studies. The reconstruction of solar ultraviolet flux variation from these indices differs significantly from the 20th-century global temperature record. This difference is consistent with other findings that, although solar UV irradiance variation may affect climate through influence on precipitation and storm tracks, its significance in global temperature remains elusive.