Simultaneous five color (UBVRI) polarimetry of VV Puppis

Observations of linear and circular polarization in five colour bands during a highly active state of VV Puppis in January-86 are reported. A strong linear polarization pulse with the maximum in the blue, P_B22 %, is observed at the end of the bright phase when the active pole is at the limb and a weaker secondary pulse, P_B7 %, is seen in the beginning of the bright phase, when the active pole reappears. Strong positive circular polarization is also observed in the blue and the ultraviolet, P_UP_B18 %, P_V10 % during the bright phase. The circular polarization reverses the sign in the B and V bands during the faint phase and a negative polarization hump is seen when the active pole crosses the limb. The circular polarization in the V band reaches the value P_V–10% at the hump, after which it remains near P_V–5% during the faint phase. This is probably due to radiation coming from the second, less active pole and accretion thus takes place onto both poles. The wavelength dependences of the positive and negative parts of the circular polarization curve are different and no polarization reversal is seen in the U band. The position angle of the linear polarization is well determined during a large portion of the cycle, especially in the V band, thanks to the activity from both poles. A best fit to the position angle curve, taking into account also the duration of the positive circular polarization phase interval =0.40 (in the V band), yields the values of orbital inclination i=78°±2° and the colatitude of the active magnetic pole =146°±2°. The relatively good fit to the position angle data indicates that the simple dipole model is nearly correct in the case of VV Puppis. Some wavelength dependence is, however, seen in the position angle curves, especially in the I band where the slope / at the main pulse is considerably smaller than in the other bands. The shape of the position angle curves changes also in the blue and the ultraviolet around the middle of the bright phase. This is probably due to optical thickness effects as the side of the accretion column which is toward the observer changes near this phase.Based on observations made at the European Southern Observatory, La Silla, Chile.Paper presented at the IAU Colloquium No. 93 on Cataclysmic Variables. Recent Multi-Frequency Observations and Theoretical Developments, held at Dr. Remeis-Sternwarte Bamberg, F.R.G., 16–19 June, 1986.On leave from University of Helsinki Observatory     

Disk-instability model for outbursts of dwarf novae: Fine mesh calculations

We have executed fine mesh calculations which can almost fully resolve the transition front in the accretion disk of dwarf novae. Results show that the effects of thermal diffusion become very important only when the heating wave passes by. But it is unlikely that they cause drastic changes in the situation of wave propagation. The validity of the localized front approximation is examined. It is found that this approximation is relatively good for heating waves but it is marginal for cooling waves.Paper presented at the IAU Colloquium No. 93 on Cataclysmic Variables. Recent Multi-Frequency Observations and Theoretical Developments, held at Dr. Remeis-Sternwarte Bamberg, F.R.G., 16–19 June, 1986.     

Spectrophotometric observations and evolutionary status of ten Be stars

The continuum energy distribution data of ten Be stars — namely, HR 1761, HR 1786, HR 1820, Ori, Ori, OT Gem, Lyr, HR 7983, Cyg, and 59 Cyg — have been presented in the wavelength range 3200–8000 Å. The observed energy distribution curve shows near infrared excess for majority of Be stars and a double Balmer jump for HR 8047 and HR 8146. Empirical effective temperatures of these stars have been estimated by comparing the observed continuum energy distributions with that of computed theoretical models given by Kurucz (1979).On the basis of an HR diagram with evolutionary tracks for different solar masses the masses of these Be stars have been estimated. Position of these studied stars on the HR diagram suggests that these Be stars may be in the stage of core contraction after exhausting hydrogen at the centre and have undergone hydrogen exhaustion in the thick shell.     

The energy distributions of magnetic variables: The effects of inhomogeneous accretion columns

Previous shock models for the AM Herculis-type magnetic variables have assumed homogeneous accretion columns, with constant infall densities out to a characteristic column radius. The resulting energy distributions are strongly peaked in the visible to ultraviolet and are in disagreement with observations. We report the preliminary results of calculations with more general radial functions of the infall density. Exponential and gaussian profiles yield continua profiles produce continua which are flatter and in better agreement with observations. Comparisons are made to data for AM Her and E2003+225.Paper presented at the IAU Colloquium No. 93 on Cataclysmic Variables. Recent Multi-Frequency Observations and Theoretical Developments, held at Dr. Remeis-Sternwarte Bamberg, F.R.G., 16–19 June, 1986.     

Age distribution of open clusters as a function of their linear diameter and age-dependence of cluster masses

From the well-observed data of star clusters, the age distribution of galactic clusters is obtianed as a function of their linear diameter and it is concluded that the observed age distribution of clusters for different linear diameter intervals within 1500 pc, is not seriously affected by the selection effects. If we assume that the rate of formation of clusters is constant, the lifetimes _1/2 of the clusters for different linear diameter intervals have been obtained and it is found that the clusters with a linear diameter in the range 0–1.9 pc have longer lifetimes than the clusters having linear diameters larger than 2.0 pc.Total masses of 57 clusters have been obtained using the catalogues of Piskunov (1983) and Myakutinet al. (1984). A study of age-dependence of cluster masses, based on the total masses of the clusters obtained in the present study and the cluster masses given by Bruch and Sanders (1983) and Lynga (1983b), shows that there is a decreasing trend in the total mass with the age, however, there is an increasing trend after the age of about 10⁸ yr. It is also concluded that the initial rate of formation of rich clusters was relatively higher than the present rate of formation.     

Microstructures in type III events in the solar wind

A model is presented for the generation and evolution of bump-in-tail driven Langmuir waves in the solar wind during type III emission, which removes a number of apparent inconsistencies between theory and observations. It is argued that there must be localized enhancements of f _b /v by a factor of 10² over the measured average values. Growth rates and energy densities of Langmuir waves are, therefore, considerably enhanced, permitting growth to overcome linear scattering losses, and also allowing nonlinear decay into ion-acoustic waves, in line with observations. Estimates are made of the probability distribution p(E), of wave field strengths E, based on linear and nonlinear wave-packet evolution, yielding p(E) E ^–a, 3. This helps explain why very high values of E are rarely found in the measured spiky wave turbulence.     

Observations of longperiod mass velocity oscillations in the Sun's chromosphere

Observations made by the differential method in the H line have revealed longperiod (on a timescale of 40 to 80 min) line-of-sight velocity oscillations which increase in amplitude with distance from the centre to the solar limb and, as we believe, give rise to prominence oscillations. As a test, we present some results of simultaneous observations at the photospheric level where such periods are absent.Oscillatory processes in the solar chromosphere have been studied by many authors. Previous efforts in this vein led to the detection of shortperiod oscillations in both the mass velocities and radiation intensity (Deubner, 1981). The oscillation periods obtained do not, normally, exceed 10–20 min (Dubov, 1978). More recently, Merkulenko and Mishina (1985), using filter observations in the H line, found intensity fluctuations with periods not exceeding 78 min. However, the observing technique they used does not exclude the possibility that those fluctuations were due to the influence of the Earth's atmosphere. It is also interesting to note that in spectra obtained by Merkulenko and Mishina (1985), the amplitude of the 3 min oscillations is anomalously small and the 5 min period is altogether absent, while the majority of other papers treating the brightness oscillations in the chromosphere, do not report such periods in the first place. So far, we are not aware of any other evidence concerning the longperiod velocity oscillations in the chromosphere on a timescale of 40–80 min.Longperiod oscillations in prominences (filaments) in the range from 40 to 80 min, as found by Bashkirtsev et al. (1983) and Bashkirtsev and Mashnich (1984, 1985), indicate that such oscillations can exist in both the chromosphere and the corona (Hollweg et al., 1982).In this note we report on experimental evidence for the existence of longperiod oscillations of mass velocity in the solar chromosphere.     

Evidence for interacting loop process in a phase of the May 16, 1981 flare

The behaviour of the flare in the period of enhancement and maximum of hard X-ray, microwave and decimetric type IV continuum is analysed. The elongation of the H ribbons and microwave source disclose that the energy release site was shifting through a system of loops with a velocity less than 200 km s^-1, and that the energy was carried down the field lines with a velocity of about 1000 km s^-1, implying the thermal conduction front mechanism of energy transport. Several processes of energy release are considered and it is concluded that an explanation in terms of succeeding interactions of neighbouring loops, involving fast reconnection of their poloidal components is in best agreement with the observations.Proceedings of the Second CESRA Workshop on Particle Acceleration and Trapping in Solar Flares, held at Aubigny-sur-Nère (France), 23–26 June, 1986.     

A photometric search for solar giant convection cells

We limit the photometric contrast of solar giant convection cells using 525.6 nm continuum images obtained on 15 days in May 1985. The r.m.s. of the giant cell intensity pattern must be less than or equal to the observed r.m.s. on spatial scales 80 to 240 Mm which is 0.023% or, equivalently, 0.33 K. However, the spatial scale and time-scale dependence of the variance demonstrate that giant cells are not the source of the observed variance. Consequently, a tighter constraint on the r.m.s. of the giant cell pattern may be placed, namely 0.016% or 0.23 K. This limit is consistent with temperature perturbations estimated from recent nonlinear simulations of global-scale solar convection. We use this limit on the r.m.s. of the giant cell pattern to estimate that the contribution of giant cells to the fluctuation of the solar irradiance on a one-month time-scale is less than 3 × 10^–5 S.     

Collisional excitation of interstellar cyclopropenylidene

Theoretical rotational excitation rates were computed for C3H2 in collisions with He atoms at temperatures from 30 to 120 K. The intermolecular forces were obtained from accurate self-consistent field and perturbation theory calculations, and collision dynamics were treated within the infinite-order sudden approximation. The accuracy of the latter was examined by comparing with the more exact coupled states approximation.