Observations of the plasma flow in comet P/Swift‐Tuttle

We present direct ground based observations of the plasma flow sunward and tailward of the nucleus of comet P/Swift‐Tuttle. The observations are long‐slit high resolution spectra of the H_2O^+ emission centered at 6199Å with a velocity resolution of about 7 km s^(−1) (FWHM) and a spatial resolution of about 10^4 km at the comet. Emission is visible from just inside the predicted position of the cometopause on the sunward side of the nucleus out to 5 × 10^5 km on the tailward side. The deceleration of the solar plasma on the sunward side is clearly observed as is the acceleration of cometary ions into the tail. These observations show the effectiveness of ground based methods for the systematic study of cometary plasmas and point to the need for a better theoretical understanding of their acceleration mechanisms

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Eddy Impacts on the Florida Current

The Gulf Stream in the Atlantic carries warm water northwards and forms both the return closure of the subtropical gyre as well as the upper limb of the meridional overturning circulation. Recent time series recorded east of the Bahamas at 26°N indicate that from May 2009 to April 2011, in contrast with past observations, the northward flowing Antilles Current covaried with the Gulf Stream in the Florida Straits—the Florida Current—even though the Florida and Antilles Currents are separated by banks and islands spanning 150?km. The peak-to-trough amplitude of transport variations during this period was 15?×?106?m3?s?1 for the Florida Current and 12?×?106?m3?s?1 for the Antilles Current, at time scales of 50?days to a year. From satellite observations, we show that the fluctuations in both the Florida and Antilles Currents between May 2009 and April 2011 are driven by eddy activity east of the Bahamas. Since the Florida Current time series is a critical time series for the state of the oceans, and often compared to climate models, this newly identified source of variability needs careful consideration when attributing the variability of the Florida Current to changes in the larger-scale circulations (e.g., gyre and overturning) or wind forcing.<br/

Non-detection of the OH Meinel system in comet P/Swift-Tuttle

We report a search for emissions from the OH Meinel system in high-resolution near-infrared spectra of comet P/Swift-Tuttle. Because of the large cometary heliocentric velocity and high resolution of the spectrograph, the cometary lines should be well separated from the bright OH sky lines. Contrary to the findings of Tozzi et al. (1994) - who report seeing cometary OH at intensities comparable to the sky emissions in their low-resolution spectra - we find no OH in these spectra with an upper limit of 5% the value of the night sky lines. The non-detection of these cometary lines is consistent with theoretical calculations of expected emission strengths from prompt and fluorescent emission from cometary OH

A high-Resolution Catalog of Cometary Emission Lines

Using high-resolution spectra obtained with the Hamilton echelle spectrograph at Lick Observatory, we have constructed a catalog of emission lines observed in comets Swift-Tuttle and Brorsen-Metcalf. The spectra cover the range between 3800 Å and 9900 Å with a spectral resolution of λ/Δλ~42000. In the spectra, we catalog 2997 emission lines of which we identify 2438. We find cometary lines due to H, O, C_2, CN, NH_2, C_3, H_2O^+, CH, and CH^+. We list 559 unidentified lines compiled from the two spectra and comment on possibilities for their origins

The Far-Ultraviolet Spectra of TW Hya. II. Models of H2 Fluorescence in a Disk

We measure the temperature of warm gas at planet-forming radii in the disk around the classical T Tauri star (CTTS) TW Hya by modelling the H2 fluorescence observed in HST/STIS and FUSE spectra. Strong Ly-alpha emission irradiates a warm disk surface within 2 AU of the central star and pumps certain excited levels of H2. We simulate a 1D plane-parallel atmosphere to estimate fluxes for the 140 observed H2 emission lines and to reconstruct the Ly-alpha emission profile incident upon the warm H2. The excitation of H2 can be determined from relative line strengths by measuring self-absorption in lines with low-energy lower levels, or by reconstructing the Ly-alpha profile incident upon the warm H2 using the total flux from a single upper level and the opacity in the pumping transition. Based on those diagnostics, we estimate that the warm disk surface has a column density of log N(H2)=18.5^{+1.2}_{-0.8}, a temperature T=2500^{+700}_{-500} K, and a filling factor of H2, as seen by the source of Ly-alpha emission, of 0.25\pm0.08 (all 2-sigma error bars). TW Hya produces approximately 10^{-3} L_\odot in the FUV, about 85% of which is in the Ly-alpha emission line. From the H I absorption observed in the Ly-alpha emission, we infer that dust extinction in our line of sight to TW Hya is negligible.Comment: Accepted by ApJ. 26 pages, 17 figures, 6 table

The Magnetic Fields of Classical T Tauri Stars

We report new magnetic field measurements for 14 classical T Tauri stars (CTTSs). We combine these data with one previous field determination in order to compare our observed field strengths with the field strengths predicted by magnetospheric accretion models. We use literature data on the stellar mass, radius, rotation period, and disk accretion rate to predict the field strength that should be present on each of our stars according to these magnetospheric accretion models. We show that our measured field values do not correlate with the field strengths predicted by simple magnetospheric accretion theory. We also use our field strength measurements and literature X-ray luminosity data to test a recent relationship expressing X-ray luminosity as a function of surface magnetic flux derived from various solar feature and main sequence star measurements. We find that the T Tauri stars we have observed have weaker than expected X-ray emission by over an order of magnitude on average using this relationship. We suggest the cause for this is actually a result of the very strong fields on these stars which decreases the efficiency with which gas motions in the photosphere can tangle magnetic flux tubes in the corona.Comment: 25 pages, 5 figure

Simultaneous Multi-Wavelength Observations of Magnetic Activity in Ultracool Dwarfs. I. The Complex Behavior of the M8.5 Dwarf TVLM513-46546

[Abridged] We present the first simultaneous radio, X-ray, ultraviolet, and optical spectroscopic observations of the M8.5 dwarf TVLM513-46546, with a duration of 9 hours. These observations are part of a program to study the origin of magnetic activity in ultracool dwarfs, and its impact on chromospheric and coronal emission. Here we detect steady quiescent radio emission superposed with multiple short-duration, highly polarized flares; there is no evidence for periodic bursts previously reported for this object, indicating their transient nature. We also detect soft X-ray emission, with L_X/L_bol~10^-4.9, the faintest to date for any object later than M5, and a possible weak X-ray flare. TVLM513-46546 continues the trend of severe violation of the radio/X-ray correlation in ultracool dwarfs, by nearly 4 orders of magnitude. From the optical spectroscopy we find that the Balmer line luminosity exceeds the X-ray luminosity by a factor of a few, suggesting that, unlike in early M dwarfs, chromospheric heating may not be due to coronal X-ray emission. More importantly, we detect a sinusoidal H-alpha light curve with a period of 2 hr, matching the rotation period of TVLM513-46546. This is the first known example of such Balmer line behavior, which points to a co-rotating chromospheric hot spot or an extended magnetic structure, with a covering fraction of about 50%. This feature may be transitory based on the apparent decline in light curve peak during the four observed maxima. From the radio data we infer a large scale steady magnetic field of ~100 G, in good agreement with the value required for confinement of the X-ray emitting plasma. The radio flares, on the other hand, are produced in a component of the field with a strength of ~3 kG and a likely multi-polar configuration.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figure

KH 15D: A Spectroscopic Binary

We present the results of a high-resolution spectroscopic monitoring program of the eclipsing pre-main-sequence star KH 15D that reveal it to be a single-line spectroscopic binary. We find that the best-fit Keplerian model has a period P = 48.38 days, which is nearly identical to the photometric period. Thus, we find the best explanation for the periodic dimming of KH 15D is that the binary motion carries the currently visible star alternately above and below the edge of an obscuring cloud. The data are consistent with the models involving an inclined circumstellar disk, as recently proposed by Winn et al. (2004) and Chiang & Murray-Clay (2004). We show that the mass ratio expected from models of PMS evolution, together with the mass constraints for the visible star, restrict the orbital eccentricity to 0.68 < e < 0.80 and the mass function to 0.125 < Fm < 0.5 Msun.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, 3 tables, accepted for publication in September AJ. Discussion of rotational velocity deferred to Hamilton, et al. (2004, in prep). Previously reported vsini value in error; Replaced Table 3 with new Figure 3; Added new Table 2 showing individual radial velocities w.r.t. each reference star; Fixed typo in Figure