Mass Loss In M67 Giants: Evidence From Isochrone Fitting

We present a study of the stellar content of the open cluster M67. We have computed new evolutionary sequences of stellar models with solar abundance that cover all phases of evolution from the Zero-Age Main Sequence to the bright end of the Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB). We examine the fit between the calculated and the observed red giant branch (RGB) in particular, and discuss factors that most influence its quality. The distinct color gap between the RGB and the clump giants is compared with the temperature gap between the He-burning tracks and the computed 5 Gyr isochrone. This purely differential approach strongly indicates that the clump giants have M \lta 0.70\msun\ , implying an amount of mass loss ($\approx 0.6$ \msun) well in excess of that found in globular cluster stars. Observational constraints on mass loss processes favor the interpretation that mass loss in cool low-mass giant stars increases with metallicity.Comment: 21pp., plain TeX astro-ph/yymmnn

Annual variations of cosmic rays and intensity variations of cosmic radiation as a function of earth's heliolatitude

Annual variations and intensity variations of cosmic radiation as function of earth heliolatitud

The Spatial Distribution Of OH And CN Radicals In The Coma Of Comet Encke

Multiple potential parent species have been proposed to explain CN abundances in comet comae, but the parent has not been definitively identified for all comets. This study examines the spatial distribution of CN radicals in the coma of comet Encke and determines the likelihood that CN is a photodissociative daughter of HCN in the coma. Comet Encke is the shortest orbital period (3.3 years) comet known and also has a low dust-to-gas ratio based on optical observations. Observations of CN were obtained from 2003 October 22 to 24, using the 2.7 m telescope at McDonald Observatory. To determine the parent of CN, the classical vectorial model was modified by using a cone shape in order to reproduce Encke's highly aspherical and asymmetric coma. To test the robustness of the modified model, the spatial distribution of OH was also modeled. This also allowed us to obtain CN/OH ratios in the coma. Overall, we find the CN/OH ratio to be 0.009 +/- 0.004. The results are consistent with HCN being the photodissociative parent of CN, but we cannot completely rule out other possible parents such as CH(3)CN and HC(3)N. We also found that the fan-like feature spans similar to 90 degrees, consistent with the results of Woodney et al..NASAOffice of the Vice President for Research and Economic Development at Mississippi State UniversityMcDonald Observator

Solar activity beyond the disk and variations of the cosmic ray gradient

Part of galactic cosmic rays (CR) observed near the Earth and on the Earth come from beyond-disk regions of circumsolar space. But CR of those energies which undergo substantial modulation cover too large a path across the lines of force of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) in order that they could provide an effective transfer of information about beyond-disk solar activity. And if it is still possible, the most probable channel for transferring such information must be a neutral layer of heliomagnetosphere in which the transverse CR transport is facilitated by their drift in an inhomogeneous magnetic field. A simple diffusion model for an expected CR variation in a neutral layer near the Earth is discussed. It is of importance that variations of the CR gradient are not at all always accompanied by considerable variations of IMF and solar wind velocity at the point of observation

Cosmic ray modulation by high-speed solar wind fluxes

Cosmic ray intensity variations connected with recurrent high-speed fluxes (HSF) of solar wind are investigated. The increase of intensity before the Earth gets into a HSF, north-south anisotropy and diurnal variation of cosmic rays inside a HSF as well as the characteristics of Forbush decreases are considered

Long-period cosmic ray variations and their altitude dependence

Long-period variations were studied from the data of ground-based cosmic ray (CR) observations. In spite of a large value of an 2-year variation, it is more difficult to obtain its spectrum than the spectrum of a solar diurnal variation. Serious obstacles are caused by changes in individual detectors and in the whole world wide network of CR detectors, by the absence of continuity and uniformity of data series, by various apparatus variations. In discrimination and investigation of long-period variations an important and determining point is preparation and preliminary analysis of data

Particle Acceleration by Fast Modes in Solar Flares

We address the problem of particle acceleration in solar flares by fast modes which may be excited during the reconnection and undergo cascade and are subjected to damping. We extend the calculations beyond quasilinear approximation and compare the acceleration and scattering by transit time damping and gyroresonance interactions. We find that the acceleration is dominated by the so called transit time damping mechanism. We estimate the total energy transferred into particles, and show that our approach provides sufficiently accurate results We compare this rate with energy loss rate. Scattering by fast modes appears to be sufficient to prevent the protons from escaping the system during the acceleration. Confinement of electrons, on the other hand, requires the existence of plasma waves. Electrons can be accelerated to GeV energies through the process described here for solar flare conditions.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, accepted to Ap

Cosmic ray modulation in a random anisotropic magnetic field

Inhomogeneities of the interplanetary magnetic field can be divided into small scale and large scale ones as may be required by the character of the problem of cosmic ray (CR) propagation. CR propagation in stochastic magnetic fields is of diffusion character. The main contribution into the scattering of CR particles is made by their interaction with inhomogeneities of the magnetic field H which have characteristic dimensions 1 of the order of Larmor radius R=cp/eH of particle (p is the absolute value of particle momentum, e is particle charge, c is velocity of light). Scattering of particles on such inhomogeneities leads to their diffusion mostly along a magnetic field with characteristic dimensions of variation in space exceeding the mean free path