Simultaneous Observations of the Chromosphere with TRACE and SUMER

Using mainly the 1600 angstrom continuum channel, and also the 1216 angstrom Lyman-alpha channel (which includes some UV continuum and C IV emission), aboard the TRACE satellite, we observed the complete lifetime of a transient, bright chromospheric loop. Simultaneous observations with the SUMER instrument aboard the SOHO spacecraft revealed interesting material velocities through the Doppler effect existing above the chromospheric loop imaged with TRACE, possibly corresponding to extended non-visible loops, or the base of an X-ray jet.Comment: 14 pages, 10 figures, accepted by Solar Physic

Serologic survey for phocid herpesvirus-1 and -2 in marine mammals from Alaska and Russia.

Blood samples were collected from 1,042 marine mammals off the coast of Alaska (USA) and Russia during the period 1978 to 1994. Eight species of pinnipeds were represented. Sera were tested for presence of neutralizing antibodies to both the PB84 isolate of phocid herpesvirus-1 (PhHV-1) and the 7848/Han90 strain of phocid herpesvirus-2 (PhHV-2). Species-specific antibody prevalences ranged from 22% to 77% for PhHV-1 and 11% to 50% for PhHV-2. Species-specific antibody prevalences for PhHV-1 were greater than or equal to prevalences for PhHV-2. For both viruses and each host species, differences in antibody prevalences were not related to: (1) sex, (2) location of capture, or (3) year of collection. Antibody prevalence of PhHV-1 in walruses (Odobenus rosmarus) could be quantitatively predicted as a function of age. These two viruses have distinct biological properties and based on current data the epizootiology of the two viruses is different, as well. No evidence of herpesvirus-induced mortality has been detected in areas included in this survey. Based on results of this survey, neither PhHV-1 nor PhHV-2 are considered significant mortality factors in mammals which inhabit the marine environment off the coast of Alaska or Russia

Limb Spicules from the Ground and from Space

We amassed statistics for quiet-sun chromosphere spicules at the limb using ground-based observations from the Swedish 1-m Solar Telescope on La Palma and simultaneously from NASA's Transition Region and Coronal Explorer (TRACE) spacecraft. The observations were obtained in July 2006. With the 0.2 arcsecond resolution obtained after maximizing the ground-based resolution with the Multi-Object Multi-Frame Blind Deconvolution (MOMFBD) program, we obtained specific statistics for sizes and motions of over two dozen individual spicules, based on movies compiled at 50-second cadence for the series of five wavelengths observed in a very narrow band at H-alpha, on-band and in the red and blue wings at 0.035 nm and 0.070 nm (10 s at each wavelength) using the SOUP filter, and had simultaneous observations in the 160 nm EUV continuum from TRACE. The MOMFBD restoration also automatically aligned the images, facilitating the making of Dopplergrams at each off-band pair. We studied 40 H-alpha spicules, and 14 EUV spicules that overlapped H-alpha spicules; we found that their dynamical and morphological properties fit into the framework of several previous studies. From a preliminary comparison with spicule theories, our observations are consistent with a reconnection mechanism for spicule generation, and with UV spicules being a sheath region surrounding the H-alpha spicules