3,769 research outputs found
Ion Temperatures in the Low Solar Corona: Polar Coronal Holes at Solar Minimum
In the present work we use a deep-exposure spectrum taken by the SUMER
spectrometer in a polar coronal hole in 1996 to measure the ion temperatures of
a large number of ions at many different heights above the limb between 0.03
and 0.17 solar radii. We find that the measured ion temperatures are almost
always larger than the electron temperatures and exhibit a non-monotonic
dependence on the charge-to-mass ratio. We use these measurements to provide
empirical constraints to a theoretical model of ion heating and acceleration
based on gradually replenished ion-cyclotron waves. We compare the wave power
required to heat the ions to the observed levels to a prediction based on a
model of anisotropic magnetohydrodynamic turbulence. We find that the empirical
heating model and the turbulent cascade model agree with one another, and
explain the measured ion temperatures, for charge-to-mass ratios smaller than
about 0.25. However, ions with charge-to-mass ratios exceeding 0.25 disagree
with the model; the wave power they require to be heated to the measured ion
temperatures shows an increase with charge-to-mass ratio (i.e., with increasing
frequency) that cannot be explained by a traditional cascade model. We discuss
possible additional processes that might be responsible for the inferred
surplus of wave power.Comment: 11 pages (emulateapj style), 10 figures, ApJ, in press (v. 691,
January 20, 2009
New views of the solar wind with the Lambert W function
This paper presents closed-form analytic solutions to two illustrative
problems in solar physics that have been considered not solvable in this way
previously. Both the outflow speed and the mass loss rate of the solar wind of
plasma particles ejected by the Sun are derived analytically for certain
illustrative approximations. The calculated radial dependence of the flow speed
applies to both Parker's isothermal solar wind equation and Bondi's equation of
spherical accretion. These problems involve the solution of transcendental
equations containing products of variables and their logarithms. Such equations
appear in many fields of physics and are solvable by use of the Lambert W
function, which is briefly described. This paper is an example of how new
functions can be applied to existing problems.Comment: 16 pages (revtex4), 3 figures, American J. Phys., in press (2004
Improved Constraints on the Preferential Heating and Acceleration of Oxygen Ions in the Extended Solar Corona
We present a detailed analysis of oxygen ion velocity distributions in the
extended solar corona, based on observations made with the Ultraviolet
Coronagraph Spectrometer (UVCS) on the SOHO spacecraft. Polar coronal holes at
solar minimum are known to exhibit broad line widths and unusual intensity
ratios of the O VI 1032, 1037 emission line doublet. The traditional
interpretation of these features has been that oxygen ions have a strong
temperature anisotropy, with the temperature perpendicular to the magnetic
field being much larger than the temperature parallel to the field. However,
recent work by Raouafi and Solanki suggested that it may be possible to model
the observations using an isotropic velocity distribution. In this paper we
analyze an expanded data set to show that the original interpretation of an
anisotropic distribution is the only one that is fully consistent with the
observations. It is necessary to search the full range of ion plasma parameters
to determine the values with the highest probability of agreement with the UVCS
data. The derived ion outflow speeds and perpendicular kinetic temperatures are
consistent with earlier results, and there continues to be strong evidence for
preferential ion heating and acceleration with respect to hydrogen. At
heliocentric heights above 2.1 solar radii, every UVCS data point is more
consistent with an anisotropic distribution than with an isotropic
distribution. At heights above 3 solar radii, the exact probability of isotropy
depends on the electron density chosen to simulate the line-of-sight
distribution of O VI emissivity. (abridged abstract)Comment: 19 pages (emulateapj style), 13 figures, ApJ, in press (v. 679; May
20, 2008
Hydrodynamical Simulations of Corotating Interaction Regions and Discrete Absorption Components in Rotating O-Star Winds
We present two-dimensional hydrodynamical simulations of corotating stream
structure in the wind from a rotating O star, together with resulting synthetic
line profiles showing discrete absorption components (DACs). An azimuthal
variation is induced by a local increase or decrease in the radiative driving
force, as would arise from a bright or dark ``star spot'' in the equatorial
plane. Since much of the emergent wind structure seems independent of the exact
method of perturbation, we expect similar morphology in winds perturbed by
localized magnetic fields or nonradial pulsations, as well as by either
rotationally-modulated structure or transient mass ejections. We find that
bright spots with enhanced driving generate high-density, low-speed streams,
while dark spots generate low-density, high-speed streams. Corotating
interaction regions (CIRs) form where fast material collides with slow material
-- e.g. at the leading (trailing) edge of a stream from a dark (bright) spot,
often steepening into shocks. The unperturbed supersonic wind obliquely impacts
the high-density CIR and sends back a nonlinear signal which takes the form of
a sharp propagating discontinuity (``kink'' or ``plateau'') in the radial
velocity gradient. These features travel inward in the co-moving frame at the
radiative-acoustic characteristic speed, and thus slowly outward in the star's
frame. We find that these slow kinks, rather than the CIRs themselves, are more
likely to result in high-opacity DACs in the absorption troughs of unsaturated
P Cygni line profiles.Comment: Submitted to Ap. J., 8-1-95. 20 pages of LaTeX text, using AASTeX 4.0
macros. Postscript figures available on WWW, along with postscript version of
paper, at http://www.bartol.udel.edu/~cranmer/hot_pre.htm
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