Photon scattering in the solar ultraviolet lines of HeI and HeII

Observations made with the Coronal Diagnostic Spectrometer (CDS) onboard the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) are used to investigate the behaviour of the intensities of the emission lines of He I, He II and O III at the quiet Sun-centre and at θ = 60° towards the equatorial limb. The aim is to examine the possible effects of photon scattering on the spatial variation of the optically thick helium lines. At the quiet Sun-centre, we find that, in agreement with previous work, the ratios of the intensities of the He I 584-Å and He II 304-Å lines to those of the O III 600-Å line decrease systematically as the intensity of the O III line increases. However, we find that the dependence of these ratios on the O III intensity is not unique, but differs between the individual regions studied. Similar results are found at θ = 60°. We have also used line intensities and intensity ratios to investigate limb-to-disc effects and variations across a sample of supergranulation cell boundaries and adjacent cell interiors at both locations. The results do not exclude photon scattering as the cause of the larger observed ratios in cell interiors. The differences between the apparent widths of boundaries in O III at Sun-centre and 60° show that the emitting material is extended in height, which will aid the process of scattering into cell interiors. Photon scattering could also account for the lack of oscillations in the He I intensities in a cell interior studied by Pietarila and Judge. Three-dimensional radiative transfer calculations in chosen geometries are now needed to account for the observations in detail. © 2005 RAS

New constraints on the formation of the helium lines

We analyse observations of the helium lines obtained with CDS onboard SOHO. The He I 584.3 Angstrom/O III intensity ratio shows a lower limit and an upper limit that decrease with increasing 0 in intensity. At low O III intensities this ratio increases significantly. An upper limit arises naturally if the enhancement mechanism involves turbulent motions transporting the helium atoms and ions through the steep transition region temperature gradient. The He I 537.0-Angstrom/He I 584.3-Angstrom and He II 303.8-Angstrom/He I 584.3-Angstrom intensity ratios both decrease as the He I 584.3-Angstrom line intensity increases. The values of the line ratios support the enhancement of the helium lines by turbulent motions, but appear to rule out the enhancement due to excitation by non-thermal coronal electrons

What makes a planet habitable?

This work reviews factors which are important for the evolution of habitable Earth-like planets such as the effects of the host star dependent radiation and particle fluxes on the evolution of atmospheres and initial water inventories. We discuss the geodynamical and geophysical environments which are necessary for planets where plate tectonics remain active over geological time scales and for planets which evolve to one-plate planets. The discoveries of methane–ethane surface lakes on Saturn’s large moon Titan, subsurface water oceans or reservoirs inside the moons of Solar System gas giants such as Europa, Ganymede, Titan and Enceladus and more than 335 exoplanets, indicate that the classical definition of the habitable zone concept neglects more exotic habitats and may fail to be adequate for stars which are different from our Sun. A classification of four habitat types is proposed. Class I habitats represent bodies on which stellar and geophysical conditions allow Earth-analog planets to evolve so that complex multi-cellular life forms may originate. Class II habitats includes bodies on which life may evolve but due to stellar and geophysical conditions that are different from the class I habitats, the planets rather evolve toward Venus- or Mars-type worlds where complex life-forms may not develop. Class III habitats are planetary bodies where subsurface water oceans exist which interact directly with a silicate-rich core, while class IV habitats have liquid water layers between two ice layers, or liquids above ice. Furthermore, we discuss from the present viewpoint how life may have originated on early Earth, the possibilities that life may evolve on such Earth-like bodies and how future space missions may discover manifestations of extraterrestrial life