Oscillation of a small Hα surge in a solar polar coronal hole

Hα surges (i.e. cool/dense collimated plasma ejections) may act as a guide for a propagation of magnetohydrodynamic waves. We report a high-resolution observation of a surge observed with 1.6 m Goode Solar Telescope (GST) on 2009 August 26, from 18:20 UT to 18:45 UT. Characteristics of plasma motions in the surge are determined with the normalizing radial gradient filter and the Fourier motion filter. The shape of the surge is found to change from a ‘C’ shape to an inverse ‘C’ shape after a formation of a cusp, a signature of reconnection. There are apparent upflows seen above the cusp top and downflows below it. The upflows show rising and rotational motions in the right-hand direction, with the rotational speed decreasing with height. Near the cusp top, we find a transverse oscillation of the surge, with the period of∼2 min. There is no change of the oscillation phase below the cusp top, but above the top a phase change is identified, giving a vertical phase speed about 86 km s−1. As the height increases, the initial amplitude of the oscillation increases, and the oscillation damping time decreases from 5.13 to 1.18 min. We conclude that the oscillation is a propagating kink wave that is possibly excited by the repetitive spontaneous magnetic reconnection

On the Nature of Propagating Intensity Disturbances in Polar Plumes during the 2017 Total Solar Eclipse

The propagating intensity disturbances (PIDs) in plumes are still poorly understood and their identity (magnetoacoustic waves or flows) remains an open question. We investigate PIDs in five plumes located in the northern polar coronal hole observed during the 2017 total solar eclipse. Three plumes are associated with coronal bright points, jets and macrospicules at their base (active plumes) and the other two plumes are not (quiet plumes). The electron temperature at the base of the plumes is obtained from the filter ratio of images taken with the X-ray Telescope on board Hinode and the passband ratio around 400 nm from an eclipse instrument, the Diagnostic Coronagraph Experiment (DICE). The phase speed (v_r), frequency (omega), and wavenumber (k) of the PIDs in the plumes are obtained by applying a Fourier transformation to the space-time (r-t plane) plots in images taken with the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) in three different wavelength channels (171 A, 193 A, and 211 A). We found that the PIDs in the higher temperature AIA channels, 193 and 211 A, are faster than that of the cooler AIA 171 A channel. This tendency is more significant for the active plumes than the quiet ones. The observed speed ratio (~1.3) between the AIA 171 and 193 A channels is similar to the theoretical value (1.25) of a slow magnetoacoustic wave. Our results support the idea that PIDs in plumes represent a superposition of slow magnetoacoustic waves and plasma outflows that consist of dense cool flows and hot coronal jets.Comment: 18 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in Ap

Kinematic oscillations of post-CME blobs detected by K-Cor on 2017 September 10

We investigate 20 post-coronal mass ejection (CME) blobs formed in the post-CME current sheet (CS) that were observed by K-Cor on 2017 September 10. By visual inspection of the trajectories and projected speed variations of each blob, we find that all blobs except one show irregular "zigzag" trajectories resembling transverse oscillatory motions along the CS, and have at least one oscillatory pattern in their instantaneous radial speeds. Their oscillation periods are ranging from 30 to 91 s and their speed amplitudes from 128 to 902 km s-1. Among 19 blobs, 10 blobs have experienced at least two cycles of radial speed oscillations with different speed amplitudes and periods, while 9 blobs undergo one oscillation cycle. To examine whether or not the apparent speed oscillations can be explained by vortex shedding, we estimate the quantitative parameter of vortex shedding, the Strouhal number, by using the observed lateral widths, linear speeds, and oscillation periods of the blobs. We then compare our estimates with theoretical and experimental results from MHD simulations and fluid dynamic experiments. We find that the observed Strouhal numbers range from 0.2 to 2.1, consistent with those (0.15-3.0) from fluid dynamic experiments of bluff spheres, while they are higher than those (0.15-0.25) from MHD simulations of cylindrical shapes. We thus find that blobs formed in a post-CME CS undergo kinematic oscillations caused by fluid dynamic vortex shedding. The vortex shedding is driven by the interaction of the outward-moving blob having a bluff spherical shape with the background plasma in the post-CME CS

The mosaic genome of indigenous African cattle as a unique genetic resource for African pastoralism

© 2020, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature America, Inc. Cattle pastoralism plays a central role in human livelihood in Africa. However, the genetic history of its success remains unknown. Here, through whole-genome sequence analysis of 172 indigenous African cattle from 16 breeds representative of the main cattle groups, we identify a major taurine × indicine cattle admixture event dated to circa 750–1,050 yr ago, which has shaped the genome of today’s cattle in the Horn of Africa. We identify 16 loci linked to African environmental adaptations across crossbred animals showing an excess of taurine or indicine ancestry. These include immune-, heat-tolerance- and reproduction-related genes. Moreover, we identify one highly divergent locus in African taurine cattle, which is putatively linked to trypanotolerance and present in crossbred cattle living in trypanosomosis-infested areas. Our findings indicate that a combination of past taurine and recent indicine admixture-derived genetic resources is at the root of the present success of African pastoralism