Optical Identification of Four Hard X-ray Sources from the INTEGRAL Sky Surveys

Astronomy Letters - We continue the study begun in Karasev et al. (2018) and present the results of our optical identifications of four hard X-ray sources from the INTEGRAL sky surveys. Having...     

Spectroscopic Redshift Measurements for Galaxy Clusters from the Lockman Hole Survey with the eROSITA Telescope Onboard the SRG Observatory

Astronomy Letters - We present the first results of our program of optical observations for galaxy clusters from the Lockman Hole X-ray survey with the eROSITA telescope onboard the SRG space...     

Comment on the paper “CAWSES November 7–8, 2004, Superstorm: Complex Solar and Interplanetary Features in the Post-Solar Maximum Phase,” B. T. Tsurutani,E. Echer,F. L. Guarnieri,and J. U. Kozyra,Geophys. Res. Lett. 35 (2008)

The solar sources of the magnetic storms of November 8 and 10, 2004, are analyzed. The preliminary results of such an analysis [Yermolaev et al., 2005] are critically compared with the results of the paper [Tsurutani et al., 2008], where solar flares were put in correspondence with these magnetic storms. The method for determining solar sources that cause powerful magnetospheric storms is analyzed. It has been indicated that an optimal approach consists in considering coronal mass ejections (CMEs) as storm sources and accompanying flares as additional information about the location of CME origination.     

A study of the effect of different solar wind streams on spacecraft functioning

The paper suggests that spacecraft equipment failures in the near-Earth environment may be caused by one of the following types of streams coming to the Earth’s orbit: (a) slow solar wind in the streamer belt or chains; (b) sporadic solar wind; (c) proton flux with an energy of E > 60 MeV. The laws of solar-terrestrial physics derived to date allow sufficiently reliable determination of the sources of these streams on the Sun as well as fairly precise calculation of their parameters and time of arrival at the Earth’s orbit. We have concluded that spacecraft maintenance and extension of their service life require timely and fairly accurate information regarding the onset of an adverse environmental effect on spacecraft. A successful solution to the problem depends mainly on the current state of the art of research and development in solar-terrestrial, ionospheric, and magnetospheric physics.     

Study of the nonradial directional property of the rays of the streamer belt and chains in the solar corona

Based on analyzing corona images taken by the LASCO C1, C2, and C3 instruments, a study is made of the behavior of the streamer belt spanning one half of the 1996–2001 cycle of solar activity, from minimum to maximum activity, in the absence of coronal mass ejections. It is shown that: (1) The position of the streamer belt relative to the solar equator is generally characterized by two angles: _o and _E, where _o is the latitudinal position (near the solar surface) of the middle of the base of the helmet, the top of which gradually transforms to a ray of the streamer belt with a further distance from the Sun, and _E is the latitude of this ray for R>5–6 R from the Sun's center where the ray becomes radial. (2) Only rays lying at some of the selected latitudes _o retain their radial orientation (_oE) throughout their extent. Namely: _o0° (equator), _o±90° (north and south poles), and the angle _o lying in the range ±(65°–75°) in the N- and S-hemispheres. (3) A deviation of rays from their radial orientation in the direction normal to the surface of the streamer belt occurs: for latitudes _o<|65°–75°| toward the equator (>0°) reaching a maximum in the N and S hemispheres, respectively, when _OM40°, and _OM–42° for latitudes _o>|65°–75°| toward the pole (<0°). The regularities obtained here are a numerical test which can be used to assess of the validity of the theory for describing the behavior of the Sun's quasi-stationary corona over a cycle of solar activity.     

Evidence for shock generation in the solar corona in the absence of coronal mass ejections

The solar event SOL2012–10–23T03:13, which was associated with a X1.8 flare without an accompanying coronal mass ejection (CME) and with a Type II radio burst, is analyzed. A method for constructing the spatial and temporal profiles of the difference brightness detected in the AIA/SDOUVand EUV channels is used together with the analysis of the Type II radio burst. The formation and propagation of a region of compression preceded by a collisional shock detected at distances R < 1.3R _⊙ from the center of the Sun is observed in this event (R _⊙ is the solar radius). Comparison with a similar event studied earlier, SOL2011–02–28T07:34 [1], suggests that the region of compression and shock could be due to a transient (impulsive) action exerted on the surrounding plasma by an eruptive, high-temperature magnetic rope. The initial instability and eruption of this rope could be initiated by emerging magnetic flux, and its heating from magnetic reconnection. The cessation of the eruption of the rope could result from its interaction with surrounding magnetic structures (coronal loops).     

Disturbed region and a shock wave driven by a coronal mass ejection

The existence of a disturbed region in front of a coronal mass ejection (CME) has been proved; its variation with increasing CME velocity has been investigated. It has been shown that a plasma density discontinuity, which can be interpreted as a shock wave, is formed in front of the disturbed region at CME velocities that are about or above the local Alfvén velocity. Within the experimental error, the observed shock-front width is estimated to be about the mean free path for proton-proton collisions at distances R < 15−20 R _⊙ from the center of the Sun; i.e., the energy dissipation mechanism in the front is conceivably collisional at these distances.     

Physical differences between the initial phase of the formation of two types of coronal mass ejections

Physical differences in the formation of “gradual” and “impulsive” coronal mass ejections (CMEs) at heights of h < 0.2 R _⊙ just before and during the initial phase of their motion are studied using AIA/SDO ultraviolet data (h is the altitude above the solar surface and R _⊙ is the solar radius). The basic structure of a gradual CME is a magnetic rope located in the corona. During an hour or more preceding the initial phase, the magnetic rope demonstrates an increase in brightness and transverse size, first of the low, inner elements of the rope and then of elements in its outer envelope most distant from the Sun. The rope remains motionless during this time. The initial phase of a gradual CME begins from the motion of the magnetic rope’s outer envelope, which further becomes the basis for the CME frontal structure. At this stage, the inner low elements of the rope remain almost motionless. The initial phase of an impulsive CME begins with the appearance near the photosphere of a cavity moving away from the Sun; the dynamics of this cavity probably correspond to a magnetic tube filled with cool plasma rising from beneath the photosphere. This magnetic tube collides with and drags arch structures, which initially block the tube’s motion. These arch structures contribute to the CME formation, although the magnetic tube itself forms the basis of the CME.     

The formation of a perturbed zone and shock wave excited by a coronal mass ejection

The existence of perturbed zones ahead of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) has been confirmed, and their evolution with increasing CME velocity studied. At CME velocities that are close to or higher than the local Alfvén velocity, a discontinuity forms in the plasma density distribution ahead of the perturbed zone, which can be interpreted as a shock. Estimates testify that, at distances from the solar center of R < (15–20) R _⊙, the width of the observed shock front is probably of the order of the mean free path for proton-proton collisions.     

Streamer Belt and Chains as the Main Sources of Quasi-Stationary Slow Solar Wind

Synoptic maps of white-light coronal brightness from SOHO/LASCO C2 and distributions of solar wind velocity obtained from interplanetary scintillation are studied. Regions with velocity V≈300 – 450 km s⁻¹ and increased density N>10 cm⁻³, typical of the “slow” solar wind originating from the belt and chains of streamers, are shown to exist at Earth’s orbit, between the fast solar wind flows (with a maximum velocity V _max≈450 – 800 km s⁻¹). The belt and chains of streamers are the main sources of the “slow” solar wind. As the sources of “slow” solar wind, the contribution from the chains of streamers may be comparable to that from the streamer belt.