1,516 research outputs found
Spacecraft charging and ion wake formation in the near-Sun environment
A three-dimensional (3-D), self-consistent code is employed to solve for the
static potential structure surrounding a spacecraft in a high photoelectron
environment. The numerical solutions show that, under certain conditions, a
spacecraft can take on a negative potential in spite of strong photoelectron
currents. The negative potential is due to an electrostatic barrier near the
surface of the spacecraft that can reflect a large fraction of the
photoelectron flux back to the spacecraft. This electrostatic barrier forms if
(1) the photoelectron density at the surface of the spacecraft greatly exceeds
the ambient plasma density, (2) the spacecraft size is significantly larger
than local Debye length of the photoelectrons, and (3) the thermal electron
energy is much larger than the characteristic energy of the escaping
photoelectrons. All of these conditions are present near the Sun. The numerical
solutions also show that the spacecraft's negative potential can be amplified
by an ion wake. The negative potential of the ion wake prevents secondary
electrons from escaping the part of spacecraft in contact with the wake. These
findings may be important for future spacecraft missions that go nearer to the
Sun, such as Solar Orbiter and Solar Probe Plus.Comment: 25 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in Physics of Plasma
The Planck-LFI instrument: analysis of the 1/f noise and implications for the scanning strategy
We study the impact of the 1/f noise on the PLANCK Low Frequency Instrument
(LFI) osbervations (Mandolesi et al 1998) and describe a simple method for
removing striping effects from the maps for a number of different scanning
stategies. A configuration with an angle between telescope optical axis and
spin-axis just less than 90 degrees (namely 85 degress) shows good destriping
efficiency for all receivers in the focal plane, with residual noise
degradation < 1-2 %. In this configuration, the full sky coverage can be
achieved for each channel separately with a 5 degrees spin-axis precession to
maintain a constant solar aspect angle.Comment: submitted to Astronomy and Astrophysics, 12 pages, 15 PostSript
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Planck Low Frequency Instrument: Beam Patterns
The Low Frequency Instrument on board the ESA Planck satellite is coupled to
the Planck 1.5 meter off-axis dual reflector telescope by an array of 27
corrugated feed horns operating at 30, 44, 70, and 100 GHz. We briefly present
here a detailed study of the optical interface devoted to optimize the angular
resolution (10 arcmin at 100 GHz as a goal) and at the same time to minimize
all the systematics coming from the sidelobes of the radiation pattern. Through
optical simulations, we provide shapes, locations on the sky, angular
resolutions, and polarization properties of each beam.Comment: On behalf of the Planck collaboration. 3 pages, 1 figure. Article
published in the Proceedings of the 2K1BC Experimental Cosmology at
millimetre wavelength
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Observation and Modeling of the Solar Wind Turbulence Evolution in the Sub-Mercury Inner Heliosphere
This letter exploits the radial alignment between the Parker Solar Probe and BepiColombo in late 2022 February, when both spacecraft were within Mercury's orbit. This allows the study of the turbulent evolution, namely, the change in spectral and intermittency properties, of the same plasma parcel during its expansion from 0.11 to 0.33 au, a still unexplored region. The observational analysis of the solar wind turbulent features at the two different evolution stages is complemented by a theoretical description based on the turbulence transport model equations for nearly incompressible magnetohydrodynamics. The results provide strong evidence that the solar wind turbulence already undergoes significant evolution at distances less than 0.3 au from the Sun, which can be satisfactorily explained as due to evolving slab fluctuations. This work represents a step forward in understanding the processes that control the transition from weak to strong turbulence in the solar wind and in properly modeling the heliosphere.
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Linking Small-scale Solar Wind Properties with Large-scale Coronal Source Regions through Joint Parker Solar Probe-Metis/Solar Orbiter Observations
The solar wind measured in situ by Parker Solar Probe in the very inner heliosphere is studied in combination with the remote-sensing observation of the coronal source region provided by the METIS coronagraph aboard Solar Orbiter. The coronal outflows observed near the ecliptic by Metis on 2021 January 17 at 16:30 UT, between 3.5 and 6.3 R⊙ above the eastern solar limb, can be associated with the streams sampled by PSP at 0.11 and 0.26 au from the Sun, in two time intervals almost 5 days apart. The two plasma flows come from two distinct source regions, characterized by different magnetic field polarity and intensity at the coronal base. It follows that both the global and local properties of the two streams are different. Specifically, the solar wind emanating from the stronger magnetic field region has a lower bulk flux density, as expected, and is in a state of well-developed Alfvénic turbulence, with low intermittency. This is interpreted in terms of slab turbulence in the context of nearly incompressible magnetohydrodynamics. Conversely, the highly intermittent and poorly developed turbulent behavior of the solar wind from the weaker magnetic field region is presumably due to large magnetic deflections most likely attributed to the presence of switchbacks of interchange reconnection origin.
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Magnetospheric Multiscale Observations Of Large-Amplitude, Parallel, Electrostatic Waves Associated With Magnetic Reconnection At The Magnetopause
Commensurate Growth of Magnetite Microinclusions in Olivine under Mantle Conditions
Magnetite-bearing multiphase solid inclusions hosted in metamorphic olivine have been interpreted as final products of the trapping of the aqueous fluid produced by the subduction-zone dehydration of former serpentinites. We provide here a careful analysis performed by microfocus single-crystal X-ray diffraction of inclusions found in harzburgites from the Almirez Complex (Bétic Cordillera, Spain) to determine the occurrence of preferential crystallographic orientation relationships between the olivine host and the magnetite inclusion. The results demonstrate that the magnetite–olivine interface selectively displays parallelism between crystallographic planes (111) and (100) and between crystallographic directions ⟨110⟩ and ⟨011⟩, respectively. This evidence points to a clear epitaxial growth of magnetite on olivine. The calculation of the geometrical misfit between the two lattices in contact as a function of their relative azimuthal orientation shows that, under the aforementioned reciprocal orientation, a perfect commensurism is achieved; i.e., all of the nodes of the magnetite lattice coincide with nodes of the olivine lattice. This particular relationship must be interpreted as a unique occurrence, playing a fundamental role in favoring the heterogeneous nucleation of magnetite on olivine
SSADH variation in primates: Intra- and interspecific data on a gene with a potential role in human cognitive functions
In the present study we focus on the nucleotide and the inferred amino acid variation occurring in humans and other primate species for mitochondrial NAD(+)-dependent succinic semialdehyde dehydrogenase, a gene recently supposed to contribute to cognitive performance in humans. We determined 2527 bp of coding, intronic, and flanking sequences from chimpanzee, bonobo, gorilla, orangutan, gibbon, and macaque. We also resequenced the entire coding sequence on 39 independent chromosomes from Italian families. Four variable coding sites were genotyped in additional populations from Europe, Africa, and Asia. A test for constancy of the nonsynonymous vs. synonymous rates of nucleotide changes revealed that primates are characterized by largely variable d(N)/d(S) ratios. On a background of strong conservation, probably controlled by selective constraints, the lineage leading to humans showed a ratio increased to 0.42. Human polymorphic levels fall in the range reported for other genes, with a pattern of frequency and haplotype structure strongly suggestive of nonneutrality. The comparison with the primate sequences allowed inferring the ancestral state at all variable positions, suggesting that the c.538(C) allele and the associated functional variant is indeed a derived state that is proceeding to fixation. The unexpected pattern of human polymorphism compared to interspecific findings outlines the possibility of a recent positive selection on some variants relevant to new cognitive capabilities unique to humans
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