Multiple flows and the fine structure of the transition region around sunspots

The fine structure in the flow field in the transition region above and surrounding a sunspot is determined fromCIV 1548 line profiles, observed with the High Resolution Telescope and Spectrograph (HRTS) during the Spacelab 2 mission. The observed line profiles show one, two, or three distinct velocity components within the resolution element of 1 × 1. Supersonic flows occur in small regions where the line profile has two or three components. The line component that shows supersonic speed often is weaker than the subsonic line component, which may explain why some observers have been unable to detect the supersonic flow component. The broadening of individual line components shows non-thermal velocities close to 20 km s^–1. This suggests that turbulence is less important than usually considered.The presence of multiple flows, which also occurs in quiet solar regions, suggests that the transition region above sunspots has a sub-arc-second fine structure, perhaps consisting of thin fibrils. The Evershed flow in the transition region appears to have a correspondingly complex character, possibly consisting of sub- and supersonic siphon flows along the individual fibrils. Time changes in the flow field over 5 min may correspond to characteristic times of individual fine structures. Possible explanations of the net downward directed mass flux are presented.     

The substructure of the local group

The subclustering within the Local Group is studied by means of the recently developed treediagram technique, enabling one to establish substructures of different boundness. Thirty-two galaxies from 39 listed are shown to form an interacting system which includes Milky Way and M31 giant spirals; we define the Local Group as that interacting system only. Second-level boundness indicates two clear subsystems, influenced by Milky Way and that of M31. The search of systems bound stronger, specifies several pair galaxies of similar morphology.     

Microwave emission from a sunspot

From the gyroresonance brightness temperature spectrum of a sunspot, one can determine the magnetic field strength by using the property that microwave brightness is limited above a frequency given by an integer-multiple of the gyrofrequency. In this paper, we use this idea to find the radial distribution of magnetic field at the coronal base of a sunspot in the active region, NOAA 4741. The gyroresonance brightness temperature spectra of this sunspot are obtained from multi-frequency interferometric observations made at the Owens Valley Radio Observatory at 24 frequencies in the range of 4.0–12.4 GHz with spatial resolution 2.2″–6.8″. The main results of present study are summarized as follows: first, by comparison of the coronal magnetic flux deduced from our microwave observation with the photospheric magnetic flux measured by KPNO magnetograms, we show that theo-mode emission must arise predominantly from the second harmonic of the gyrofrequency, while thex-mode arises from the third harmonic. Second, the radial distribution of magnetic fieldsB(r) at the coronal base of this spot (say, 2000–4000 km above the photosphere) can be adequately fitted by $$B(r) = 1420(1 \pm 0.080)\exp \left[ { - \left( {\frac{r}{{11.05''(1 \pm 0.014)}}} \right)^2 } \right]G,$$ wherer is the radial distance from the spot center at coronal base. Third, it is found that coronal magnetic fields originate mostly from the photospheric umbral region. Fourth, although the derived vertical variation of magnetic fields can be approximated roughly by a dipole model with dipole moment 1.6 × 10³⁰ erg G^?1 buried at 11000 km below the photosphere, the radial field distribution at coronal heights is found to be more confined than predicted by the dipole model.     

Interplanetary Nanodust Detection by the Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory/WAVES Low Frequency Receiver

New measurements using radio and plasma-wave instruments in interplanetary space have shown that nanometer-scale dust, or nanodust, is a significant contributor to the total mass in interplanetary space. Better measurements of nanodust will allow us to determine where it comes from and the extent to which it interacts with the solar wind. When one of these nanodust grains impacts a spacecraft, it creates an expanding plasma cloud, which perturbs the photoelectron currents. This leads to a voltage pulse between the spacecraft body and the antenna. Nanodust has a high charge/mass ratio, and therefore can be accelerated by the interplanetary magnetic field to the speed of the solar wind: significantly faster than the Keplerian orbital speeds of heavier dust. The amplitude of the signal induced by a dust grain grows much more strongly with speed than with mass of the dust particle. As a result, nanodust can produce a strong signal despite its low mass. The WAVES instruments on the twin Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory spacecraft have observed interplanetary nanodust particles since shortly after their launch in 2006. After describing a new and improved analysis of the last five years of STEREO/WAVES Low Frequency Receiver data, we present a statistical survey of the nanodust characteristics, namely the rise time of the pulse voltage and the flux of nanodust. We show that previous measurements and interplanetary dust models agree with this survey. The temporal variations of the nanodust flux are also discussed.     

A new look at the origin of the 6.67 hr period X-ray pulsar 1E 161348-5055

The point X-ray source 1E 161348-5055 is observed to display pulsations with the period 6.67?hr and $|\dot{P}| \leq1.6 \times10^{-9}\,{\rm s\,s^{-1}}$ . It is associated with the supernova remnant RCW?103 and is widely believed to be a ～2000?yr old neutron star. Observations give no evidence for the star to be a member of a binary system. Nevertheless, it resembles an accretion-powered pulsar with the magnetospheric radius ～3000?km and the mass-accretion rate $\sim 10^{14}\,{\rm g\,s^{-1}}$ . This situation could be described in terms of accretion from a (residual) fossil disk established from the material falling back towards the star after its birth. However, current fall-back accretion scenarios encounter major difficulties explaining an extremely long spin period of the young neutron star. We show that the problems can be avoided if the accreting material is magnetized. The star in this case is surrounded by a fossil magnetic slab in which the material is confined by the magnetic field of the accretion flow itself. We find that the surface magnetic field of the neutron star within this scenario is ～10¹²?G and that a presence of $\gtrsim10^{-7}\,{\rm M_{\odot}}$ magnetic slab would be sufficient to explain the origin and current state of the pulsar.     

Five dimensional bulk viscous cosmological model with wet dark fluid in general relativity

In this paper, we have constructed a five dimensional LRS Bianchi type I cosmological model with wet dark fluid (WDF) in general relativity with the matter field described as bulk viscosity. It is found that in presence of bulk viscosity an inflationary effective stiff fluid cosmological model is obtained, whereas in absence of bulk viscosity the wet dark fluid degenerate to stiff fluid. Some physical and geometrical properties of the model are also discussed.     

Photometric and spectroscopic investigation of the B2E Herbig star HD52721: First results

We present first results of the photometric and spectroscopic investigation of the B1/B2 Herbig star HD52721 performed in 2009–2010 at three observatories: Mountain Astronomical Station (Kislovodsk)—photometry, CrAO (Crimea, Ukraine)—spectroscopy, Observatory San Pedro Martyr (Ensenada, Mexico)—high-resolution echelle-spectroscopy. We have also used photometric data from the ASAS survey for 2003–2009. Our analysis has shown that a) the object is a close binary system with the orbital period of 1.610 days composed of two components of similar spectral type (B1–B2); b) the system is surrounded by the common disk-like envelope containing azimuthal inhomogeneity rotating with the orbital period of the system. We present preliminary estimates of the system parameters and discuss its possible nature.     

Reionization and the Cosmic Dawn with the Square Kilometre Array

The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) will have a low frequency component (SKA-low) which has as one of its main science goals the study of the redshifted 21 cm line from the earliest phases of star and galaxy formation in the Universe. This 21 cm signal provides a new and unique window both on the time of the formation of the first stars and accreting black holes and the subsequent period of substantial ionization of the intergalactic medium. The signal will teach us fundamental new things about the earliest phases of structure formation, cosmology and even has the potential to lead to the discovery of new physical phenomena. Here we present a white paper with an overview of the science questions that SKA-low can address, how we plan to tackle these questions and what this implies for the basic design of the telescope.     

Did the universe start with the Higgs-field?

In a cosmological model developed by the author in previous articles the universe starts in a geometrical phase transition in Minkowski space. Here the source of the gravitational field is a Higgs-like scalar field $\bar{\phi}$ . A relation of this cosmological field $\bar{\phi}$ with the Higgs-field ? _H in the gauge theory of electroweak interaction is established. This relation leads to two dimensionless constants. One of them is interpreted as a characteristic constant of the phase transition and is connected with the volume of huge bubbles of open universes.     

Thermal properties of charged dilaton black hole, energy and momentum in teleparallel equivalent of general relativity

Two different charged dilaton black holes in 4-dimension, within teleparallel equivalent of general relativity (TEGR), are derived. These solutions are related through local Lorentz transformation. The total energy of these black holes, using three different methods, the Hamiltonian method, the translational momentum 2-form and the Euclidean continuation method given by Gibbons and Hawking, is calculated. It is shown that the three methods give the same results. The value of energy is shown to depend on the mass M and charge q. The verification of the first law of thermodynamics is proved. Finally, it is shown that if the charge q is vanishing then, the total energy reduced to that of Schwarzschild’s black hole.