9,831 research outputs found
Three-dimensional simulations of solar magneto-convection including effects of partial ionization
Over the last decades, realistic 3D radiative-MHD simulations have become the
dominant theoretical tool for understanding the complex interactions between
the plasma and the magnetic field on the Sun. Most of such simulations are
based on approximations of magnetohydrodynamics, without directly considering
the consequences of the very low degree of ionization of the solar plasma in
the photosphere and bottom chromosphere. The presence of large amount of
neutrals leads to a partial decoupling of the plasma and the magnetic field. As
a consequence of that, a series of non-ideal effects (ambipolar diffusion, Hall
effect and battery effect) arises. The ambipolar effect is the dominant one in
the solar chromosphere. Here we report on the first three-dimensional realistic
simulations of magneto-convection including ambipolar diffusion and battery
effects. The simulations are done using the newly developed Mancha3D code. Our
results reveal that ambipolar diffusion causes measurable effects on the
amplitudes of waves excited by convection in the simulations, on the absorption
of Poynting flux and heating and on the formation of chromospheric structures.
We provide a low limit on the chromospheric temperature increase due to the
ambipolar effect using the simulations with battery-excited dynamo fields.Comment: To appear in Astronomy & Astrophysic
Numerical simulations of quiet Sun magnetic fields seeded by Biermann battery
The magnetic fields of the quiet Sun cover at any time more than 90\% of its
surface and their magnetic energy budget is crucial to explain the thermal
structure of the solar atmosphere. One of the possible origins of these fields
is due to the action of local dynamo in the upper convection zone of the Sun.
Existing simulations of the local solar dynamo require an initial seed field,
and sufficiently high spatial resolution, in order to achieve the amplification
of the seed field to the observed values in the quiet Sun. Here we report an
alternative model of seeding based on the action of the Bierman battery effect.
This effect generates a magnetic field due to the local imbalances in electron
pressure in the partially ionized solar plasma. We show that the battery effect
self-consistently creates from zero an initial seed field of a strength of the
order of micro G, and together with dynamo amplification, allows the generation
of quiet Sun magnetic fields of a similar strength to those from solar
observations.Comment: To appear in Astronomy & Astrophysic
High frequency waves in the corona due to null points
This work aims to understand the behavior of non-linear waves in the vicinity
of a coronal null point. In previous works we have showed that high frequency
waves are generated in such magnetic configuration. This paper studies those
waves in detail in order to provide a plausible explanation of their
generation. We demonstrate that slow magneto-acoustic shock waves generated in
the chromosphere propagate through the null point and produce a train of
secondary shocks that escape along the field lines. A particular combination of
the shock wave speeds generates waves at a frequency of 80 mHz. We speculate
that this frequency may be sensitive to the atmospheric parameters in the
corona and therefore can be used to probe the structure of this solar layer
Population structure, phenotypic information and association studies in long-generation crops
Poster presented at Generation Challenge Program Annual Research Meeting. Sao Paulo (Brazil), 12-16 Sep. 200
On the heating of source of the Orion KL hot core
We present images of the J=10-9 rotational lines of HC3N in the vibrationally
excited levels 1v7, 1v6 and 1v5 of the hot core (HC) in Orion KL. The images
show that the spatial distribution and the size emission from the 1v7 and 1v5
levels are different. While the J=10-9 1v7 line has a size of 4''x 6'' and
peaks 1.1'' NE of the 3 mm continuum peak, the J=10--9 1v5 line emission is
unresolved (<3'') and peaks 1.3'' south of the 3 mm peak. This is a clear
indication that the HC is composed of condensations with very different
temperatures (170 K for the 1v7 peak and K for the 1v5 peak). The
temperature derived from the 1v7 and 1v5 lines increases with the projected
distance to the suspected main heating source I. Projection effects along the
line of sight could explain the temperature gradient as produced by source I.
However, the large luminosity required for source I, >5 10^5 Lsolar, to explain
the 1v5 line suggests that external heating by this source may not dominate the
heating of the HC. Simple model calculations of the vibrationally excited
emission indicate that the HC can be internally heated by a source with a
luminosity of 10^5 Lsolar, located 1.2'' SW of the 1v5 line peak (1.8'' south
of source I). We also report the first detection of high-velocity gas from
vibrationally excited HC3N emission. Based on excitation arguments we conclude
that the main heating source is also driving the molecular outflow. We
speculate that all the data presented in this letter and the IR images are
consistent with a young massive protostar embedded in an edge-on disk.Comment: 13 pages, 3 figures, To be published in Ap.J. Letter
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