195 research outputs found
Observed variability in the Fraunhofer line spectrum of solar flux, 1975 - 1980
Over the five years double-pass spectrometer observations of the Sun-as-a-star revealed significant changes in line intensities. The photospheric component weakened linearly with time 0 to 2.3%. From a lack of correlation between these line weakenings and solar activity indicators like sunspots and plage, a global variation of surface properties is inferred. Model-atmosphere analysis suggests a slight reduction in the lower-photospheric temperature gradient corresponding to a 15% increase in the mixing length within the granulation layer. Chromospheric lines such as Ca II H and K, Ca II 8543 and the CN band head weaken synchronously with solar activity. Thus, the behavior of photospheric and chromospheric lines is markedly different, with the possibility of secular change for the former
Are Giant Planets Forming Around HR 4796A?
We have obtained FUSE and HST STIS spectra of HR 4796A, a nearby 8 Myr old
main sequence star that possesses a dusty circumstellar disk whose inclination
has been constrained from high resolution near-infrared observations to be ~17
deg from edge-on. We searched for circumstellar absorption in the ground states
of C II at 1036.3 A, O I at 1039.2 A, Zn II at 2026.1 A, Lyman series H2, and
CO (A-X) and failed to detect any of these species. We place upper limits on
the column densities and infer upper limits on the gas masses assuming that the
gas is in hydrostatic equilibrium, is well-mixed, and has a temperature, Tgas ~
65 K. Our measurements suggest that this system possesses very little molecular
gas. Therefore, we infer an upper limit for the gas:dust ratio (<4.0) assuming
that the gas is atomic. We measure less gas in this system than is required to
form the envelope of Jupiter.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures (including 1 color figure), accepted for
publication in Ap
Line formation in convective stellar atmospheres. I. Granulation corrections for solar photospheric abundances
In an effort to estimate the largely unknown effects of photospheric
temperature fluctuations on spectroscopic abundance determinations, we have
studied the problem of LTE line formation in the inhomogeneous solar
photosphere based on detailed 2-dimensional radiation hydrodynamics simulations
of the convective surface layers of the Sun. By means of a strictly
differential 1D/2D comparison of the emergent equivalent widths, we have
derived "granulation abundance corrections" for individual lines, which have to
be applied to standard abundance determinations based on homogeneous 1D model
atmospheres in order to correct for the influence of the photospheric
temperature fluctuations. In general, we find a line strengthening in the
presence of temperature inhomogeneities as a consequence of the non-linear
temperature dependence of the line opacity. For many lines of practical
relevance, the magnitude of the abundance correction may be estimated from
interpolation in the tables and graphs provided with this paper. The
application of abundance corrections may often be an acceptable alternative to
a detailed fitting of individual line profiles based on hydrodynamical
simulations. The present study should be helpful in providing upper bounds for
possible errors of spectroscopic abundance analyses, and for identifying
spectral lines which are least sensitive to the influence of photospheric
temperature inhomogeneities.Comment: Accepted by A&
Hydrodynamical model atmospheres and 3D spectral synthesis
We discuss three issues in the context of three-dimensional (3D)
hydrodynamical model atmospheres for late-type stars, related to spectral line
shifts, radiative transfer in metal-poor 3D models, and the solar oxygen
abundance. We include a brief overview about the model construction, taking the
radiation-hydrodynamics code CO5BOLD (COnservative COde for the COmputation of
COmpressible COnvection in a BOx of L Dimensions with L=2,3) and the related
spectral synthesis package Linfor3D as examples.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures, to appear in the Proceedings of the
ESO/Lisbon/Aveiro Workshop "Precision Spectroscopy in Astrophysics", eds. L.
Pasquini, M. Romaniello, N.C. Santos, and A. Correi
The solar photospheric abundance of hafnium and thorium. Results from CO5BOLD 3D hydrodynamic model atmospheres
Context: The stable element hafnium (Hf) and the radioactive element thorium
(Th) were recently suggested as a suitable pair for radioactive dating of
stars. The applicability of this elemental pair needs to be established for
stellar spectroscopy. Aims: We aim at a spectroscopic determination of the
abundance of Hf and Th in the solar photosphere based on a \cobold 3D
hydrodynamical model atmosphere. We put this into a wider context by
investigating 3D abundance corrections for a set of G- and F-type dwarfs.
Method: High-resolution, high signal-to-noise solar spectra were compared to
line synthesis calculations performed on a solar CO5BOLD model. For the other
atmospheres, we compared synthetic spectra of CO5BOLD 3D and associated 1D
models. Results: For Hf we find a photospheric abundance A(Hf)=0.87+-0.04, in
good agreement with a previous analysis, based on 1D model atmospheres. The
weak Th ii 401.9 nm line constitutes the only Th abundance indicator available
in the solar spectrum. It lies in the red wing of an Ni-Fe blend exhibiting a
non-negligible convective asymmetry. Accounting for the asymmetry-related
additional absorption, we obtain A(Th)=0.09+-0.03, consistent with the
meteoritic abundance, and about 0.1 dex lower than obtained in previous
photospheric abundance determinations. Conclusions: Only for the second time,
to our knowledge, has am non-negligible effect of convective line asymmetries
on an abundance derivation been highlighted. Three-dimensional hydrodynamical
simulations should be employed to measure Th abundances in dwarfs if similar
blending is present, as in the solar case. In contrast, 3D effects on Hf
abundances are small in G- to mid F-type dwarfs and sub-giants, and 1D model
atmospheres can be conveniently used.Comment: A&A, in pres
Forecasting Solar Wind Speeds
By explicitly taking into account effects of Alfven waves, I derive from a
simple energetics argument a fundamental relation which predicts solar wind
(SW) speeds in the vicinity of the earth from physical properties on the sun.
Kojima et al. recently found from their observations that a ratio of surface
magnetic field strength to an expansion factor of open magnetic flux tubes is a
good indicator of the SW speed. I show by using the derived relation that this
nice correlation is an evidence of the Alfven wave which accelerates SW in
expanding flux tubes. The observations further require that fluctuation
amplitudes of magnetic field lines at the surface should be almost universal in
different coronal holes, which needs to be tested by future observations.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures embedded, ApJL, in pres
Mixing and Accretion in lambda Bootis Stars
Strong evidence for deep mixing has been uncovered for slowly rotating F, and
A stars of the main sequence. As the accretion/diffusion model for the
formation of lboo stars is heavily dependent on mixing in superficial regions,
such deep mixing may have important repercussions on our understanding of these
stars. It is shown that deep mixing at a level similar to that of FmAm stars
increases the amount of matter that needs to be accreted by the stars with
respect with the standard models by some three orders of magnitude. It is also
shown that significantly larger accretion rates have to be maintained, as high
as ~M_\sun yr^{-1}, to prevent meridional circulation from
canceling the effect of accretion. The existence of old (~Gyr) is
not a likely outcome of the present models for accretion/diffusion with or
without deep mixing. It is argued that lboo stars are potentially very good
diagnostics of mixing mechanisms in moderately fast rotators.Comment: To appear in Astrophysical Journal Letters. 4 pages, 2 fgure
Making the corona and the fast solar wind: a self-consistent simulation for the low-frequency Alfven waves from photosphere to 0.3AU
We show that the coronal heating and the fast solar wind acceleration in the
coronal holes are natural consequence of the footpoint fluctuations of the
magnetic fields at the photosphere, by performing one-dimensional
magnetohydrodynamical simulation with radiative cooling and thermal conduction.
We initially set up a static open flux tube with temperature 10^4K rooted at
the photosphere. We impose transverse photospheric motions corresponding to the
granulations with velocity = 0.7km/s and period between 20 seconds and 30
minutes, which generate outgoing Alfven waves. We self-consistently treat these
waves and the plasma heating. After attenuation in the chromosphere by ~85% of
the initial energy flux, the outgoing Alfven waves enter the corona and
contribute to the heating and acceleration of the plasma mainly by the
nonlinear generation of the compressive waves and shocks. Our result clearly
shows that the initial cool and static atmosphere is naturally heated up to
10^6K and accelerated to 800km/s.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, ApJL, 632, L49, corrections of mistypes in
eqs.(3) & (5), Mpeg movie for fig.1 (simulation result) is available at
http://www-tap.scphys.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~stakeru/research/suzuki_200506.mp
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