Quantifying the relationship between Moreton-Ramsey waves and "EIT waves" using observations of 4 homologous wave events

Freely-propagating global waves in the solar atmosphere are commonly observed using Extreme UltraViolet passbands (EUV or "EIT waves"), and less regularly in H-alpha (Moreton-Ramsey waves). Despite decades of research, joint observations of EUV and Moreton-Ramsey waves remain rare, complicating efforts to quantify the connection between these phenomena. We present observations of four homologous global waves originating from the same active region between 28-30 March 2014 and observed using both EUV and H-alpha data. Each global EUV wave was observed by the Solar Dynamics Observatory, with the associated Moreton-Ramsey waves identified using the Global Oscillations Network Group (GONG) network. All of the global waves exhibit high initial velocity (e.g., 842-1388 km s$^{-1}$ in the 193A passband) and strong deceleration (e.g., -1437 - -782 m s$^{-2}$ in the 193A passband) in each of the EUV passbands studied, with the EUV wave kinematics exceeding those of the Moreton-Ramsey wave. The density compression ratio of each global wave was estimated using both differential emission measure and intensity variation techniques, with both indicating that the observed waves were weakly shocked with a fast magnetosonic Mach number slightly greater than one. This suggests that, according to current models, the global coronal waves were not strong enough to produce Moreton-Ramsey waves, indicating an alternative explanation for these observations. Instead, we conclude that the evolution of the global waves was restricted by the surrounding coronal magnetic field, in each case producing a downward-angled wavefront propagating towards the north solar pole which perturbed the chromosphere and was observed as a Moreton-Ramsey wave.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journa

Simulating Rayleigh-Taylor induced magnetohydrodynamic turbulence in prominences

Solar prominences represent large-scale condensations suspended against gravity within the solar atmosphere. The Rayleigh-Taylor (RT) instability is proposed to be one of the important fundamental processes leading to the generation of dynamics at many spatial and temporal scales within these long-lived, cool, and dense structures amongst the solar corona. We run 2.5D ideal magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations with the open-source MPI-AMRVAC code far into the nonlinear evolution of an RT instability perturbed at the prominence-corona interface. Our simulation achieves a resolution down to $\sim 23$ km on a 2D $(x,y)$ domain of size 30 Mm $\times$ 30 Mm. We follow the instability transitioning from a multi-mode linear perturbation to its nonlinear, fully turbulent state. Over the succeeding $\sim 25$ minute period, we perform a statistical analysis of the prominence at a cadence of $\sim 0.858$ s. We find the dominant guiding $B_z$ component induces coherent structure formation predominantly in the vertical velocity $V_y$ component, consistent with observations, demonstrating an anisotropic turbulence state within our prominence. We find power-law scalings in the inertial range for the velocity, magnetic, and temperature fields. The presence of intermittency is evident from the probability density functions of the field fluctuations, which depart from Gaussianity as we consider smaller and smaller scales. In exact agreement, the higher-order structure functions quantify the multifractality, in addition to different scale characteristics and behavior between the longitudinal and transverse directions. Thus, the statistics remain consistent with the conclusions from previous observational studies, enabling us to directly relate the RT instability to the turbulent characteristics found within quiescent prominence.Comment: 21 pages, 17 figures, Accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysic

Velocities of an Erupting Filament

Solar filaments exist as stable structures for extended periods of time before many of them form the core of a coronal mass ejection (CME). We examine the properties of an erupting filament on 2017 May 29–30 with high-resolution He i 10830 Å and Hα spectra from the Dunn Solar Telescope, full-disk Dopplergrams of He i 10830 Å from the Chromospheric Telescope, and EUV and coronograph data from SDO and STEREO. Pre-eruption line-of-sight velocities from an inversion of He i with the HAZEL code exhibit coherent patches of 5 Mm extent that indicate counter-streaming and/or buoyant behavior. During the eruption, individual, aligned threads appear in the He i velocity maps. The distribution of velocities evolves from Gaussian to strongly asymmetric. The maximal optical depth of He i 10830 Å decreased from τ = 1.75 to 0.25, the temperature increased by 13 kK, and the average speed and width of the filament increased from 0 to 25 km s−1 and 10 to 20 Mm, respectively. All data sources agree that the filament rose with an exponential acceleration reaching 7.4 m s−2 that increased to a final velocity of 430 km s−1 at 22:24 UT; a CME was associated with this filament eruption. The properties during the eruption favor a kink/torus instability, which requires the existence of a flux rope. We conclude that full-disk chromospheric Dopplergrams can be used to trace the initial phase of on-disk filament eruptions in real time, which might potentially be useful for modeling the source of any subsequent CMEs

Magnetic Structure of an Erupting Filament

The full 3-D vector magnetic field of a solar filament prior to eruption is presented. The filament was observed with the Facility Infrared Spectropolarimeter at the Dunn Solar Telescope in the chromospheric He i line at 10830 {\AA} on May 29 and 30, 2017. We inverted the spectropolarimetric observations with the HAnle and ZEeman Light (HAZEL) code to obtain the chromospheric magnetic field. A bimodal distribution of field strength was found in or near the filament. The average field strength was 24 Gauss, but prior to the eruption we find the 90th percentile of field strength was 435 Gauss for the observations on May 29. The field inclination was about 67 degree from the solar vertical. The field azimuth made an angle of about 47 to 65 degree to the spine axis. The results suggest an inverse configuration indicative of a flux rope topology. He i intensity threads were found to be co-aligned with the magnetic field direction. The filament had a sinistral configuration as expected for the southern hemisphere. The filament was stable on May 29, 2017 and started to rise during two observations on May 30, before erupting and causing a minor coronal mass ejection. There was no obvious change of the magnetic topology during the eruption process. Such information on the magnetic topology of erupting filaments could improve the prediction of the geoeffectiveness of solar storms

Plasma evolution within an erupting coronal cavity

Coronal cavities have previously been observed associated with long-lived quiescent filaments and are thought to correspond to the associated magnetic flux rope. Although the standard flare model predicts a coronal cavity corresponding to the erupting flux rope, these have only been observed using broadband imaging data, restricting analysis to the plane-of-sky. We present a unique set of spectroscopic observations of an active region filament seen erupting at the solar limb in the extreme ultraviolet (EUV). The cavity erupted and expanded rapidly, with the change in rise phase contemporaneous with an increase in non-thermal electron energy flux of the associated flare. Hot and cool filamentary material was observed to rise with the erupting flux rope, disappearing suddenly as the cavity appeared. Although strongly blue-shifted plasma continued to be observed flowing from the apex of the erupting flux rope, this outflow soon ceased. These results indicate that the sudden injection of energy from the flare beneath forced the rapid eruption and expansion of the flux rope, driving strong plasma flows which resulted in the eruption of an under-dense filamentary flux rope.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures. Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journa

Meeting report : Ocean ‘omics science, technology and cyberinfrastructure : current challenges and future requirements (August 20-23, 2013)

© The Author(s), 2014. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Standards in Genomic Sciences 9 (2014): 1251-1258, doi:10.4056/sigs.5749944.The National Science Foundation’s EarthCube End User Workshop was held at USC’s Wrigley Marine Science Center on Catalina Island, California in August 2013. The workshop was designed to explore and characterise the needs and tools available to the community focusing on microbial and physical oceanography research with a particular focus on ‘omic research. The assembled researchers outlined the existing concerns regarding the vast data resources that are being generated, and how we will deal with these resources as their volume and diversity increases. Particular attention was focused on the tools for handling and analysing the existing data, and on the need for the construction and curation of diverse federated databases, as well as development of shared interoperable, “big-data capable” analytical tools. The key outputs from this workshop include (i) critical scientific challenges and cyberinfrastructure constraints, (ii) the current and future ocean ‘omics science grand challenges and questions, and (iii) data management, analytical and associated and cyber-infrastructure capabilities required to meet critical current and future scientific challenges. The main thrust of the meeting and the outcome of this report is a definition of the ‘omics tools, technologies and infrastructures that facilitate continued advance in ocean science biology, marine biogeochemistry, and biological oceanography.We gratefully acknowledge support for the Ocean ‘Omics EarthCube end-user workshop by the Geo-sciences Division of the U.S. National Science Foundation

All Six Planets Known to Orbit Kepler-11 Have Low Densities

The Kepler-11 planetary system contains six transiting planets ranging in size from 1.8 to 4.2 times the radius of Earth. Five of these planets orbit in a tightly-packed configuration with periods between 10 and 47 days. We perform a dynamical analysis of the system based upon transit timing variations observed in more than three years of \ik photometric data. Stellar parameters are derived using a combination of spectral classification and constraints on the star's density derived from transit profiles together with planetary eccentricity vectors provided by our dynamical study. Combining masses of the planets relative to the star from our dynamical study and radii of the planets relative to the star from transit depths together with deduced stellar properties yields measurements of the radii of all six planets, masses of the five inner planets, and an upper bound to the mass of the outermost planet, whose orbital period is 118 days. We find mass-radius combinations for all six planets that imply that substantial fractions of their volumes are occupied by constituents that are less dense than rock. The Kepler-11 system contains the lowest mass exoplanets for which both mass and radius have been measured.Comment: 39 pages, 10 figure

Kepler-4B: A Hot Neptune-Like Planet of A G0 Star Near Main-Sequence Turnoff

Early time-series photometry from NASA's Kepler spacecraft has revealed a planet transiting the star we term Kepler-4, at R.A. = 19(h)02(m)27.(s)68, delta = +50 degrees 08'08 '' 7. The planet has an orbital period of 3.213 days and shows transits with a relative depth of 0.87 x 10(-3) and a duration of about 3.95 hr. Radial velocity (RV) measurements from the Keck High Resolution Echelle Spectrometer show a reflex Doppler signal of 9.3(-1.9)(+1.1) m s(-1), consistent with a low-eccentricity orbit with the phase expected from the transits. Various tests show no evidence for any companion star near enough to affect the light curve or the RVs for this system. From a transit-based estimate of the host star's mean density, combined with analysis of high-resolution spectra, we infer that the host star is near turnoff from the main sequence, with estimated mass and radius of 1.223(-0.091)(+0.053) M(circle dot) and 1.487(-0.084)(+0.071) R(circle dot).We estimate the planet mass and radius to be {M(P), R(P)} = {24.5 +/- 3.8 M(circle plus), 3.99 +/- 0.21 R(circle plus)}. The planet's density is near 1.9 g cm(-3); it is thus slightly denser and more massive than Neptune, but about the same size.W. M. Keck FoundationNASA's Science Mission DirectorateAstronom

The bright rim prominences according to 2.5D radiative transfer

Solar prominences observed close to the limb commonly include a bright feature that, from the perspective of the observer, runs along the interface between itself and the underlying chromosphere. Despite several idealized models being proposed to explain the underlying physics, a more general approach remains outstanding. In this manuscript we demonstrate as a proof of concept the first steps in applying the Lightweaver radiative transfer framework's 2.5D extension to a "toy" model prominence + VAL3C chromosphere, inspired by recent 1.5D experiments that demonstrated a significant radiative chromosphere–prominence interaction. We find the radiative connection to be significant enough to enhance both the electron number density within the chromosphere, as well as its emergent intensity across a range of spectral lines in the vicinity of the filament absorption signature. Inclining the viewing angle from the vertical, we find these enhancements to become increasingly asymmetric and merge with a larger secondary enhancement sourced directly from the prominence underside. In wavelength, the enhancements are then found to be the largest in both magnitude and horizontal extent for the spectral line cores, decreasing into the line wings. Similar behavior is found within new Chinese Hα Solar Explorer/Hα Imaging Spectrograph observations, opening the door for subsequent statistical confirmations of the theoretical basis we develop here

Discovery of the Transiting Planet Kepler-5B

We present 44 days of high duty cycle, ultra precise photometry of the 13th magnitude star Kepler-5 (KIC 8191672, T(eff) = 6300 K, log g = 4.1), which exhibits periodic transits with a depth of 0.7%. Detailed modeling of the transit is consistent with a planetary companion with an orbital period of 3.548460 +/- 0.000032 days and a radius of 1.431(-0.052)(+0.041) R(J). Follow-up radial velocity measurements with the Keck HIRES spectrograph on nine separate nights demonstrate that the planet is more than twice as massive as Jupiter with a mass of 2.114(-0.059)(+0.056) M(J) and a mean density of 0.894 +/- 0.079 g cm(-3).NASA's Science Mission DirectorateAstronom