10 research outputs found
Time-variability in the Interstellar Boundary Conditions of the Heliosphere: Effect of the Solar Journey on the Galactic Cosmic Ray Flux at Earth
During the solar journey through galactic space, variations in the physical
properties of the surrounding interstellar medium (ISM) modify the heliosphere
and modulate the flux of galactic cosmic rays (GCR) at the surface of the
Earth, with consequences for the terrestrial record of cosmogenic
radionuclides. One phenomenon that needs studying is the effect on cosmogenic
isotope production of changing anomalous cosmic ray fluxes at Earth due to
variable interstellar ionizations. The possible range of interstellar ram
pressures and ionization levels in the low density solar environment generate
dramatically different possible heliosphere configurations, with a wide range
of particle fluxes of interstellar neutrals, their secondary products, and GCRs
arriving at Earth. Simple models of the distribution and densities of ISM in
the downwind direction give cloud transition timescales that can be directly
compared with cosmogenic radionuclide geologic records. Both the interstellar
data and cosmogenic radionuclide data are consistent with cloud transitions
during the Holocene, with large and assumption-dependent uncertainties. The
geomagnetic timeline derived from cosmic ray fluxes at Earth may require
adjustment to account for the disappearance of anomalous cosmic rays when the
Sun is immersed in ionized gas.Comment: Submitted to Space Sciences Review
Horizontal Branch Stars: The Interplay between Observations and Theory, and Insights into the Formation of the Galaxy
We review HB stars in a broad astrophysical context, including both variable
and non-variable stars. A reassessment of the Oosterhoff dichotomy is
presented, which provides unprecedented detail regarding its origin and
systematics. We show that the Oosterhoff dichotomy and the distribution of
globular clusters (GCs) in the HB morphology-metallicity plane both exclude,
with high statistical significance, the possibility that the Galactic halo may
have formed from the accretion of dwarf galaxies resembling present-day Milky
Way satellites such as Fornax, Sagittarius, and the LMC. A rediscussion of the
second-parameter problem is presented. A technique is proposed to estimate the
HB types of extragalactic GCs on the basis of integrated far-UV photometry. The
relationship between the absolute V magnitude of the HB at the RR Lyrae level
and metallicity, as obtained on the basis of trigonometric parallax
measurements for the star RR Lyrae, is also revisited, giving a distance
modulus to the LMC of (m-M)_0 = 18.44+/-0.11. RR Lyrae period change rates are
studied. Finally, the conductive opacities used in evolutionary calculations of
low-mass stars are investigated. [ABRIDGED]Comment: 56 pages, 22 figures. Invited review, to appear in Astrophysics and
Space Scienc