982 research outputs found
X-Ray Topography
The purpose of this paper is to discuss some elements of dynamical theory and to introduce some basic ideas on defect image formation in X-ray topographs. After some explanations of the basic principles of dynamical theory of X-rays, examples of defect contrast are given. Two examples of studies of quartz single crystals by X-ray topography are developed. First, the analysis of the X-ray spherical wave topographs of various Y-cut plates of synthetic quartz crystals show that the coherence of the lattice between the seed and the grown crystal is directly related to the density of the dislocations present in the seed. For the samples, the local deformations are essentially related to the density of the dislocations. Plane-wave topography shows that the local deformations can be estimated with good precision and related to the growth defects. The second example concerns Stroboscopic X-ray topography. With the use of synchrotron radiation, we have examined three quartz resonators. Several types of vibration modes and the perturbations due to the defects are described. Defects such as growth bands and especially dislocations disturb acoustic wave propagation in the crystals and can induce losses by untrapping a part of the energy of the mode conversion
VLBI observations of jupiter with the initial test station of LOFAR and the nancay decametric array
AIMS: To demonstrate and test the capability of the next generation of
low-frequency radio telescopes to perform high resolution observations across
intra-continental baselines. Jupiter's strong burst emission is used to perform
broadband full signal cross-correlations on time intervals of up to hundreds of
milliseconds. METHODS: Broadband VLBI observations at about 20 MHz on a
baseline of ~50000 wavelengths were performed to achieve arcsecond angular
resolution. LOFAR's Initial Test Station (LOFAR/ITS, The Netherlands) and the
Nancay Decametric Array (NDA, France) digitize the measured electric field with
12 bit and 14 bit in a 40 MHz baseband. The fine structure in Jupiter's signal
was used for data synchronization prior to correlation on the time-series data.
RESULTS: Strong emission from Jupiter was detected during snapshots of a few
seconds and detailed features down to microsecond time-scales were identified
in dynamic spectra. Correlations of Jupiter's burst emission returned strong
fringes on 1 ms time-scales over channels as narrow as a hundred kilohertz
bandwidth. CONCLUSIONS: Long baseline interferometry is confirmed at low
frequencies, in spite of phase shifts introduced by variations in ionospheric
propagation characteristics. Phase coherence was preserved over tens to
hundreds of milliseconds with a baseline of ~700 km. No significant variation
with time was found in the correlations and an estimate for the fringe
visibility of 1, suggested that the source was not resolved. The upper limit on
the source region size of Jupiter Io-B S-bursts corresponds to an angular
resolution of ~3 arcsec. Adding remote stations to the LOFAR network at
baselines up to thousand kilometers will provide 10 times higher resolution
down to an arcsecond.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures. Nigl, A., Zarka, P., Kuijpers, J., Falcke, H.,
Baehren, L., VLBI observations of Jupiter with the Initial Test Station of
LOFAR and the Nancay Decametric Array, A&A, 471, 1099-1104, accepted on
31/05/200
Transient behaviour in RDA systems of the Schnakenberg type
Initial stages in the evolution of linear disturbances near a homogeneous equilibrium are considered for the standard Schnakenberg and modified Schnakenberg models. The focus is on a possibility of transient amplification of perturbations. It is shown that, depending on the coefficients in the governing equations, transient growth may appear in both asymptotically stable and unstable situations
Searching for Star-Planet interactions within the magnetosphere of HD 189733
HD 189733 is a K2 dwarf, orbited by a giant planet at 8.8 stellar radii. In
order to study magnetospheric interactions between the star and the planet, we
explore the large-scale magnetic field and activity of the host star.
We collected spectra using the ESPaDOnS and the NARVAL spectropolarimeters,
installed at the 3.6-m Canada-France-Hawaii telescope and the 2-m Telescope
Bernard Lyot at Pic du Midi, during two monitoring campaigns (June 2007 and
July 2008).
HD 189733 has a mainly toroidal surface magnetic field, having a strength
that reaches up to 40 G. The star is differentially rotating, with latitudinal
angular velocity shear of domega = 0.146 +- 0.049 rad/d, corresponding to
equatorial and polar periods of 11.94 +- 0.16 d and 16.53 +- 2.43 d
respectively. The study of the stellar activity shows that it is modulated
mainly by the stellar rotation (rather than by the orbital period or the beat
period between the stellar rotation and the orbital periods). We report no
clear evidence of magnetospheric interactions between the star and the planet.
We also extrapolated the field in the stellar corona and calculated the
planetary radio emission expected for HD 189733b given the reconstructed field
topology. The radio flux we predict in the framework of this model is time
variable and potentially detectable with LOFAR
The Search for Signatures Of Transient Mass Loss in Active Stars
The habitability of an exoplanet depends on many factors. One such factor is
the impact of stellar eruptive events on nearby exoplanets. Currently this is
poorly constrained due to heavy reliance on solar scaling relationships and a
lack of experimental evidence. Potential impacts of Coronal Mass Ejections
(CMEs), which are a large eruption of magnetic field and plasma from a star,
are space weather and atmospheric stripping. A method for observing CMEs as
they travel though the stellar atmosphere is the type II radio burst, and the
new LOw Frequency ARray (LOFAR) provides a means for detection. We report on 15
hours of observation of YZ Canis Minoris (YZ CMi), a nearby M dwarf flare star,
taken in LOFAR's beam-formed observation mode for the purposes of measuring
transient frequency-dependent low frequency radio emission. The observations
utilized Low-Band Antenna (10-90 MHz) or High-Band Antenna (110-190 MHz) for
five three-hour observation periods. In this data set, there were no confirmed
type II events in this frequency range. We explore the range of parameter space
for type II bursts constrained by our observations Assuming the rate of shocks
is a lower limit to the rate at which CMEs occur, no detections in a total of
15 hours of observation places a limit of shocks/hr for YZ CMi due to the stochastic nature of the events and
limits of observational sensitivity. We propose a methodology to interpret
jointly observed flares and CMEs which will provide greater constraints to CMEs
and test the applicability of solar scaling relations
A magnetic field evolution scenario for brown dwarfs and giant planets
Very little is known about magnetic fields of extrasolar planets and brown
dwarfs. We use the energy flux scaling law presented by Christensen et al.
(2009) to calculate the evolution of average magnetic fields in extrasolar
planets and brown dwarfs under the assumption of fast rotation, which is
probably the case for most of them. We find that massive brown dwarfs of about
70 M_Jup can have fields of a few kilo-Gauss during the first few hundred
Million years. These fields can grow by a factor of two before they weaken
after deuterium burning has stopped. Brown dwarfs with weak deuterium burning
and extrasolar giant planets start with magnetic fields between ~100G and ~1kG
at the age of a few Myr, depending on their mass. Their magnetic field weakens
steadily until after 10Gyr it has shrunk by about a factor of 10. We use
observed X-ray luminosities to estimate the age of the known extrasolar giant
planets that are more massive than 0.3M_Jup and closer than 20pc. Taking into
account the age estimate, and assuming sun-like wind-properties and radio
emission processes similar to those at Jupiter, we calculate their radio flux
and its frequency. The highest radio flux we predict comes out as 700mJy at a
frequency around 150MHz for Boob, but the flux is below 60mJy for the
rest. Most planets are expected to emit radiation between a few Mhz and up to
100MHz, well above the ionospheric cutoff frequency.Comment: 7 pages, accepted by A&
A Blind Search for Magnetospheric Emissions from Planetary Companions to Nearby Solar-type Stars
This paper reports a blind search for magnetospheric emissions from planets
around nearby stars. Young stars are likely to have much stronger stellar winds
than the Sun, and because planetary magnetospheric emissions are powered by
stellar winds, stronger stellar winds may enhance the radio luminosity of any
orbiting planets. Using various stellar catalogs, we selected nearby stars (<~
30 pc) with relatively young age estimates (< 3 Gyr). We constructed different
samples from the stellar catalogs, finding between 100 and several hundred
stars. We stacked images from the 74-MHz (4-m wavelength) VLA Low-frequency Sky
Survey (VLSS), obtaining 3\sigma limits on planetary emission in the stacked
images of between 10 and 33 mJy. These flux density limits correspond to
average planetary luminosities less than 5--10 x 10^{23} erg/s. Using recent
models for the scaling of stellar wind velocity, density, and magnetic field
with stellar age, we estimate scaling factors for the strength of stellar
winds, relative to the Sun, in our samples. The typical kinetic energy carried
by the stellar winds in our samples is 15--50 times larger than that of the
Sun, and the typical magnetic energy is 5--10 times larger. If we assume that
every star is orbited by a Jupiter-like planet with a luminosity larger than
that of the Jovian decametric radiation by the above factors, our limits on
planetary luminosities from the stacking analysis are likely to be a factor of
10--100 above what would be required to detect the planets in a statistical
sense. Similar statistical analyses with observations by future instruments,
such as the Low Frequency Array (LOFAR) and the Long Wavelength Array (LWA),
offer the promise of improvements by factors of 10--100.Comment: 11 pages; AASTeX; accepted for publication in A
Modelling the radio pulses of an ultracool dwarf
<b>Context:</b> Recently, unanticipated magnetic activity in ultracool dwarfs (UCDs, spectral classes later than M7) has emerged from a number of radio observations. The highly (up to 100%) circularly polarized nature and high brightness temperature of the emission have been interpreted as requiring an effective amplification mechanism of the high-frequency electromagnetic waves â the electron cyclotron maser instability (ECMI).
<p/><b>Aims:</b> We aim to understand the magnetic topology and the properties of the radio emitting region and associated plasmas in these ultracool dwarfs, interpreting the origin of radio pulses and their radiation mechanism.
<p/><b>Methods:</b> An active region model was built, based on the rotation of the UCD and the ECMI mechanism.
<p/><b>Results:</b> The high degree of variability in the brightness and the diverse profile of pulses can be interpreted in terms of a large-scale hot active region with extended magnetic structure existing in the magnetosphere of TVLM 513-46546. We suggest the time profile of the radio light curve is in the form of power law in the model. Combining the analysis of the data and our simulation, we can determine the loss-cone electrons have a density in the range of 1.25 Ă 105â5 Ă 105 cm-3 and temperature between 107 and 5 Ă 107 K. The active region has a size <1 RJup, while the pulses produced by the ECMI mechanism are from a much more compact region (e.g. ~0.007 RJup). A surface magnetic field strength of â7000 G is predicted.
<p/><b>Conclusions:</b> The active region model is applied to the radio emission from TVLM 513-46546, in which the ECMI mechanism is responsible for the radio bursts from the magnetic tubes and the rotation of the dwarf can modulate the integral of flux with respect to time. The radio emitting region consists of complicated substructures. With this model, we can determine the nature (e.g. size, temperature, density) of the radio emitting region and plasma. The magnetic topology can also be constrained. We compare our predicted X-ray flux with Chandra X-ray observation of TVLM 513-46546. Although the X-ray detection is only marginally significant, our predicted flux is significantly lower than the observed flux. Further multi-wavelength observations will help us better understand the magnetic field structure and plasma behavior on the ultracool dwarf
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