Period distributions in pulsating and binary stars

We analyze the hypothesis of quantization in bands for the angular momenta of binary systems and for the maount of actionA _c in stable and pulsating stars. This parameter isA _c=Mv _eff R _eff, where the effective velocity corresponds to the kinetic energy in the stellar interior and the effective radius corresponds to the potential energyGM ²/R _eff. Analogous parameters can be defined for a pulsating star withm=M where is the rate of the massm participating in the oscillation to the total massM andv _osc,R _osc the effective velocity and oscillation radius.From an elementary dimensional analysis one has thetA _c (energy x time) (period)^1/3 independently ifA _c corresponds to the angular momentum in a binary system, or to the oscillation in a pulsating star or the inner energy and its time-scaleP _eff in a stable star.From evolving stellar models one has that P _effP _eff(solar)1.22 hr a near-invariant for the Main Sequence and for the range of masses 0.6M <M<1.6M .With this one can give scalesn _k=kn ₁ withk integers andn ₁=(P/P ₁)^1/3 withP ₁=P _eff1.22 hr. In these scales proportional toA _c, one sees that the periods in binary and pulsating stars are clustered in discrete unitsn ₁,n ₂,n ₃, etc.This can be seen in pulsating Scuti, Cephei, RR Lyrae, W Virginis, Cephei, semi-regular variables, and Miras and in binary stars as cataclysmic binaries, W Ursa Majoris, Algols, and Lyrae with the corresponding subgroups in all these materials. Phase functions (n _k) in RR Lyrae and Cephei are also associated with discrete levelsn _k.the suggested scenario is that the potential energies and the amounts of actionE _p(t), A_c(t) are indeed time-dependent, but the stars remain more time in determinated most proble states. The Main Sequence itself is an example of this. These most probable states in binary systems, or pulsating or stable stars, must be associated with velocities sub-multiplesc/ _F , given by the velocity of light and the fine structure constant.Additional tests for such a hypothesis are suggested when the sufficient amount of observational data are available. They can made with oscillation velocities in pulsating stars and velocity differences of pairs of galaxies.     

Magnetoacoustic-gravity surface waves

The linearized theory for the parallel propagation of magnetoacoustic-gravity surface waves is developed for an interface of a horizontal magnetic field above a field-free medium. The media either side of the interface are taken to be isothermal. The dispersion relation is obtained for the case of a constant Alfvén speed. In the absence of gravity the interface may support one or two surface modes, determined by the relative temperatures and magnetism of the two media. The effect of gravity on the modes is examined and dispersion diagrams and eigenfunctions are given. In the usual - k _x diagnostic diagram, the domain of evanescence is shown to be divided into two distinct regions determining whether a given mode will have a decaying or growing vertical velocity component. In the absence of a magnetic field the transcendental dispersion relation may be rewritten as a polynomial. This polynomial possesses two acceptable solutions only one of which may exist in any given circumstances (depending on the ratio of the densities). If the gas density within the field exceeds that in the field-free medium, then the f-mode may propagate. The f-mode exists in a restricted band of horizontal wavenumber and only when the field-free medium is warmer than the magnetic atmosphere. An analytical form for the wave speed of the f-mode is obtained for small values of the Alfvén speed. It is shown that the f-mode is related to the fast magnetoacoustic surface wave, merging into that mode at short wavelengths.     

Unusually low coronal radio emission at the solar minimum

We present two-dimensional observations of the quiet Sun at 73.8, 50.0, and 38.5 MHz obtained with the Clark Lake Radioheliograph during the sunspot minimum period of September 1986. The observed peak brightness temperatures during the entire period of sunspot minimum are found to be extremely low, lying in the range (0.6 × 10⁵ K – 2.5 × 10⁵ K). It is shown that these low values cannot be explained by the generally adopted models for N _e and T _e in a homogeneous corona. The effect of scattering by random density fluctuations is introduced in order to decrease the values of predicted T _b . The value of peak T _b is computed as a function of relative r.m.s. density fluctuations = <N _e >/N _e ; and it is found that should be in the range from 0.07 to 0.19, 0.1 to 0.25, and 0.15 to 0.35, respectively, at 38.5, 50.0, and 73.8 MHz, respectively, to explain the observed low brightness temperatures.On leave from Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bangalore, India.     

Testing for quantized redshifts. I. The project

A project intended to examine the long-standing claims that extragalactic redshifts are periodic or quantized was initiated some years ago at the Royal Observatory, Edinburgh. The approach taken is outlined, and the main conclusions to date are summarized. The existence of a galactocentric redshift quantization is confirmed at a high confidence level.     

Gravitational mass of magnetostatic field

Maxwell's displacement current equation is interpreted in the light of recent work to show that static magnetic field in free space should have a colocated and contemporaneous mass that is neither embodied in, nor can be anticipated from, the mass-energy relation. Thus magnetostatic field in the universe represents an invisible mass. Some consequences are discussed.     

An analysis of 1983 observations of facular contrast with an extreme limb photometer

Analysis of facular contrast I/I _qs from Extreme Limb Photometer (ELP) data of the summer of 1983 yield a mean contrast of 0.91 ± 0.19% and 1.57 ± 0.16% for apertures 1 and 2 located at = 0.198 and at = 0.111, respectively. The ratio of the mean contrast in the outer aperture (closer to the limb) to that of the inner one is 1.71 ± 0.40, indicating an increase in the mean facular contrast toward the limb. This result is in agreement with observations made in 1975, 1979, and 1982. The errors are dominated by the random presence of solar active regions. The combined results from all seasons follow an approximately ^–1 curve. Facular excess solar oblateness signals for 1983 are 33.8 ± 6.6 arc ms and 16.5 ± 2.1 arc ms for ELP apertures 1 and 2, respectively, in reasonable agreement with the 1983 excess solar oblateness results of Dicke, Kuhn, and Libbrecht (1985).     

Propagation of solar cosmic rays: Diffusion versus focused diffusion

This paper is designed to bring to the attention the fact that the effect of focusing of solar energetic particles is always essential as compared with scattering, no matter how small the value of the mean free path may be. That is why, an ordinary (focusing-free) diffusion approach can not be applied to the solar cosmic ray transport. In the case of high-energy solar particles, the focused diffusion is demonstrated to lead to a power law decay of energetic particle intensity much like an ordinary diffusion. However, the power law index of the decay is renormalized by the focusing.     

Imaging coronal emission lines under high sky-background conditions

We have obtained images in solar coronal emission lines under high sky-background conditions by making precise differential measurements between the coronal emission line and the near-by continuum, which is primarily due to scattered light from the solar disk. Chopping between the two wavelengths was performed at 100 kHz to avoid artifacts from fast-flying dust particles and other aerosols, and also from seeing effects. The differential signal was detected with a novel CCD camera that demodulates signals up to 100 kHz. These preliminary observations show coronal emission at the 0.2% level of the scattered-light background and pave the way to efficient and precise imaging of coronal emission features under less than ideal coronal-sky conditions.Operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc. (AURA) under cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation.     

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:

Once more on quasar periodicities

In an earlier paper Arp, Bi, Chu and Zhu investigated various quasar samples and recognized a periodicity of remarkable degree in them. Their conclusion was that the existence of such a periodicity is a counterevidence against the cosmological origin of quasar redshifts. Since this question is of great importance in a cosmological context, here we reanalyze some of the samples together with a galaxy sample of the pencil-beam survey of Broadhurstet al. Our result is that on the plane of cosmological parameters (₀, ₀) there is a non-negligible region where two quasar samples and the galaxy sample are simultaneously fairly periodic. Pure periodicity is still compatible with cosmological principles, at least on length scales much longer than the period length. So the regularities can fit into a cosmological context.