333 research outputs found
The Pinhole/Occulter Facility
Scientific objectives and requirements are discussed for solar X-ray observations, coronagraph observations, studies of coronal particle acceleration, and cosmic X-ray observations. Improved sensitivity and resolution can be provided for these studies using the pinhole/occulter facility which consists of a self-deployed boom of 50 m length separating an occulter plane from a detector plane. The X-ray detectors and coronagraphic optics mounted on the detector plane are analogous to the focal plane instrumentation of an ordinary telescope except that they use the occulter only for providing a shadow pattern. The occulter plane is passive and has no electrical interface with the rest of the facility
The Pinhole/Occulter Facility
A large occulting system in space can be used for high resolution X-ray observations and for large aperture coronagraphic observations in visible and UV light. The X-ray observations can combine high angular resolution in hand (10 keV) X-radiation with the high sensitivity of a multiple pinhole camera, and can permit sensitive observations of bremsstrahlung from nonthermal particles in the corona. The large aperture coronagraphs have two major advantages: high angular resolution and good photon collection. This will permit observations of small scale structures in the corona for the first time and will give sufficient counting rates above the coronal background rates for sensitive diagnostic analysis of intensities and line profiles for coronal structures in the solar wind acceleration region. The technical basis for performing observations with a large occulting system in these three wavelength ranges is described as well as a pinhole/occulter facility presently being considered for Spacelab. Some indications about future developments are included
Estimation of solar prominence magnetic fields based on the reconstructed 3D trajectories of prominence knots
We present an estimation of the lower limits of local magnetic fields in
quiescent, activated, and active (surges) promineces, based on reconstructed
3-dimensional (3D) trajectories of individual prominence knots. The 3D
trajectories, velocities, tangential and centripetal accelerations of the knots
were reconstructed using observational data collected with a single
ground-based telescope equipped with a Multi-channel Subtractive Double Pass
imaging spectrograph. Lower limits of magnetic fields channeling observed
plasma flows were estimated under assumption of the equipartition principle.
Assuming approximate electron densities of the plasma n_e = 5*10^{11} cm^{-3}
in surges and n_e = 5*10^{10} cm^{-3} in quiescent/activated prominences, we
found that the magnetic fields channeling two observed surges range from 16 to
40 Gauss, while in quiescent and activated prominences they were less than 10
Gauss. Our results are consistent with previous detections of weak local
magnetic fields in the solar prominences.Comment: 14 pages, 12 figures, 1 tabl
The ultra high resolution XUV spectroheliograph: An attached payload for the Space Station Freedom
The principle goal of the ultra high resolution XUV spectroheliograph (UHRXS) is to improve the ability to identify and understand the fundamental physical processes that shape the structure and dynamics of the solar chromosphere and corona. The ability of the UHRXS imaging telescope and spectrographs to resolve fine scale structures over a broad wavelength (and hence temperature) range is critical to this mission. The scientific objectives and instrumental capabilities of the UHRXS investigation are reviewed before proceeding to a discussion of the expected performance of the UHRXS observatory
On the existence of oscillations in solar filaments observed in H alpha and C IV lines
Time sequence observations of filaments in both the H alpha line and the 1548 A C IV line were analyzed with the Fourier transform technique in the frequency range (1 - 10 mHz). No oscillation is detected in filaments except at the footpoints where a steady velocity gradient is large. The energy is probably due to convective motions rather than pressure oscillations
Numerical calculations of effective elastic properties of two cellular structures
Young's moduli of regular two-dimensional truss-like and eye-shape-like
structures are simulated by using the finite element method. The structures are
the idealizations of soft polymeric materials used in the electret
applications. In the simulations size of the representative smallest units are
varied, which changes the dimensions of the cell-walls in the structures. A
power-law expression with a quadratic as the exponential term is proposed for
the effective Young's moduli of the systems as a function of the solid volume
fraction. The data is divided into three regions with respect to the volume
fraction; low, intermediate and high concentrations. The parameters of the
proposed power-law expression in each region are later represented as a
function of the structural parameters, unit-cell dimensions. The presented
expression can be used to predict structure/property relationship in materials
with similar cellular structures. It is observed that the structures with
volume fractions of solid higher than 0.15 exhibit the importance of the
cell-wall thickness contribution in the elastic properties. The cell-wall
thickness is the most significant factor to predict the effective Young's
modulus of regular cellular structures at high volume fractions of solid. At
lower concentrations of solid, eye-like structure yields lower Young's modulus
than the truss-like structure with the similar anisotropy. Comparison of the
numerical results with those of experimental data of poly(propylene) show good
aggreement regarding the influence of cell-wall thickness on elastic properties
of thin cellular films.Comment: 7 figures and 2 table
Near-Limb Zeeman and Hanle Diagnostics
"Weak" magnetic-field diagnostics in faint objects near the bright solar disk
are discussed in terms of the level of non-object signatures, in particular, of
the stray light in telescopes. Calculated dependencies of the stray light
caused by diffraction at the 0.5-, 1.6-, and 4-meter entrance aperture are
presented. The requirements for micro-roughness of refractive and reflective
primary optics are compared. Several methods for reducing the stray light (the
Lyot coronagraphic technique, multiple stages of apodizing in the focal and
exit pupil planes, apodizing in the entrance aperture plane with a special
mask), and reducing the random and systematic errors are noted. An acceptable
level of stray light in telescopes is estimated for the V-profile recording
with a signal-to-noise ratio greater than three. Prospects for the limb
chromosphere magnetic measurements are indicated.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figure
Transverse oscillations of flowing prominence threads observed with Hinode
Recent observations with the Hinode Solar Optical Telescope display an active
region prominence whose fine threads oscillate in the vertical direction as
they move along a path parallel to the photosphere. A seismological analysis of
this event is carried out by taking advantage of the small radius of these
structures compared to the total length of magnetic field lines, i.e. by using
the thin tube approximation. This analysis reveals that the oscillatory period
is only slightly modified by the existence of the flow and that the difference
between the period of a flowing thread and a static one is below the error bars
of these observations. Moreover, although it is not possible to obtain values
of the physical parameters, a lower bound for the Alfv\'en speed (ranging
between 120 km s and 350 km s) is obtained for each of the
threads. Such Alfv\'en speeds agree with the intense magnetic fields and large
densities usually found in active region prominences
Bright Points and Subflares in UV Lines and in X-Rays
We have analysed an active region which was observed in Halpha (MSDP), UV lines (SMM/UVSP), and in X rays (SMM/HXIS). In this active region there were only a few subflares and many small bright points visible in UV and in X rays. Using an extrapolation based on the Fourier transform we have computed magnetic field lines connecting different photospheric magnetic polarities from ground-based magnetograms. Along the magnetic inversion lines we find 2 different zones: 1. a high shear region (less than 70 degrees) where subflares occur 2. a low shear region along the magnetic inversion line where UV bright points are observed
Observation of the impulsive phase of a simple flare
We present a broad range of complementary observations of the onset and impulsive phase of a fairly large (1B, M1.2) but simple two-ribbon flare. The observations consist of hard X-ray flux measured by the SMM HXRBS, high-sensitivity measurements of microwave flux at 22 GHz from Itapetinga Radio Observatory, sequences of spectroheliograms in UV emission lines from Ov (T ≈ 2 × 10⁵ K) and FeXXI (T ≈ 1 × 10⁷ K) from the SMM UVSP, Hα and HeI D₃ cine-filtergrams from Big Bear Solar Observatory, and a magnetogram of the flare region from the MSFC Solar Observatory. From these data we conclude:
(1)
The overall magnetic field configuration in which the flare occurred was a fairly simple, closed arch containing nonpotential substructure.
(2)
The flare occurred spontaneously within the arch; it was not triggered by emerging magnetic flux.
(3)
The impulsive energy release occurred in two major spikes. The second spike took place within the flare arch heated in the first spike, but was concentrated on a different subset of field lines. The ratio of Ov emission to hard X-ray emission decreased by at least a factor of 2 from the first spike to the second, probably because the plasma density in the flare arch had increased by chromospheric evaporation.
(4)
The impulsive energy release most likely occurred in the upper part of the arch; it had three immediate products:
(a)
An increase in the plasma pressure throughout the flare arch of at least a factor of 10. This is required because the FeXXI emission was confined to the feet of the flare arch for at least the first minute of the impulsive phase.
(b)
Nonthermal energetic (∼ 25 keV) electrons which impacted the feet of the arch to produce the hard X-ray burst and impulsive brightening in Ov and D₃. The evidence for this is the simultaneity, within ± 2 s, of the peak Ov and hard X-ray emissions.
(c)
Another population of high-energy (∼100keV) electrons (decoupled from the population that produced the hard X-rays) that produced the impulsive microwave emission at 22 GHz. This conclusion is drawn because the microwave peak was 6 ± 3 s later than the hard X-ray peak
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