394 research outputs found
Variations in elemental composition of several MEV/nucleon ions observed in interplanetary space
Six years of accumulated ISEE-3 and IMP-8 data to study variations in elemental relative abundances among the different populations of energetic ions seen in interplanetary space are surveyed. Evidence suggesting that heavy ion enrichments may be organized by a rigidity scaling factor A/Z over the range H to Fe is presented. Data to support the hypothesis that shock-associated particles are probably accelerated from ambient energetic fluxes are shown
The Unpredictability of the Most Energetic Solar Events
Observations over the past two solar cycles show a highly irregular pattern
of occurrence for major solar flares, gamma-ray events, and solar energetic
particle (SEP) fluences. Such phenomena do not appear to follow the direct
indices of solar magnetic activity, such as the sunspot number. I show that
this results from the non-Poisson occurrence for the most energetic events.
This Letter also points out a particularly striking example of this
irregularity in a comparison between the declining phases of the recent two
solar cycles (1993-1995 and 2004-2006, respectively) and traces it through the
radiated energies of the flares, the associated SEP fluences, and the sunspot
areas. These factors suggest that processes in the solar interior involved with
the supply of magnetic flux up to the surface of the Sun have strong
correlations in space and time, leading to a complex occurrence pattern that is
presently unpredictable on timescales longer than active region lifetimes
(weeks) and not correlated well with the solar cycle itself.Comment: 4 page
Solar source regions of 3HE-rich particle events
Hydrogen alpha X-ray, and metric and kilometric radio data to examine the solar sources of energetic 3He-rich particle events observed near earth in association with impulsive 2 to 100 keV electron events were applied. Each 3He/electron event is associated with a kilometric type 3 burst belonging to a family of such bursts characterized by similar interplanetary propagation paths from the same solar active region. The 3He/electron events correlate very well with the interplanetary low frequency radio brightnesses of these events, but progressively worse with signatures from regions closer to the Sun. When H alpha brightnings can be associated with 3He/electron events, they have onsets coinciding to within 1 min of that of the associated metric type 3 burst but are often too small to be reported. The data are consistent with the earlier idea that many type 3 bursts, the 3He/electron events, are due to particle acceleration in the corona, well above the associated H alpha and X-ray flares
The High Energy Telescope for STEREO
The IMPACT investigation for the STEREO Mission includes a complement of Solar Energetic Particle instruments on each of the two STEREO spacecraft. Of these instruments, the High Energy Telescopes (HETs) provide the highest energy measurements. This paper describes the HETs in detail, including the scientific objectives, the sensors, the overall mechanical and electrical design, and the on-board software. The HETs are designed to measure the abundances and energy spectra of electrons, protons, He, and heavier nuclei up to Fe in interplanetary space. For protons and He that stop in the HET, the kinetic energy range corresponds to ∼13 to 40 MeV/n. Protons that do not stop in the telescope (referred to as penetrating protons) are measured up to ∼100 MeV/n, as are penetrating He. For stopping He, the individual isotopes 3He and 4He can be distinguished. Stopping electrons are measured in the energy range ∼0.7–6 MeV
Lithium-6 from Solar Flares
By introducing a hitherto ignored Li-6 producing process, due to accelerated
He-3 reactions with He-4, we show that accelerated particle interactions in
solar flares produce much more Li-6 than Li-7. By normalizing our calculations
to gamma-ray data we demonstrate that the Li-6 produced in solar flares,
combined with photospheric Li-7, can account for the recently determined solar
wind lithium isotopic ratio, obtained from measurements in lunar soil, provided
that the bulk of the flare produced lithium is evacuated by the solar wind.
Further research in this area could provide unique information on a variety of
problems, including solar atmospheric transport and mixing, solar convection
and the lithium depletion issue, and solar wind and solar particle
acceleration.Comment: latex 9 pages, 2 figures, ApJ Letters in pres
Empirical Solar Wind Forecasting from the Chromosphere
Recently, we correlated the inferred structure of the solar chromospheric
plasma topography with solar wind velocity and composition data measured at
1AU. We now offer a physical justification of these relationships and present
initial results of a empirical prediction model based on them. While still
limited by the fundamentally complex physics behind the origins of the solar
wind and how its structure develops in the magnetic photosphere and expands
into the heliosphere, our model provides a near continuous range of solar wind
speeds and composition quantities that are simply estimated from the inferred
structure of the chromosphere. We suggest that the derived quantities may
provide input to other, more sophisticated, prediction tools or models such as
those to study Coronal Mass Ejections (CME) propagation and Solar Energetic
Particle (SEP) generation.Comment: In Press ApJ [March 2007] - 14 pages, 4 figures, one movie [available
on request
Argon Abundances in the Solar Neighborhood: Non-LTE Analysis of Orion Association B-type Stars
Argon abundances have been derived for a sample of B main-sequence stars in
the Orion association. The abundance calculations are based on NLTE metal
line-blanketed model atmospheres calculated with the NLTE code TLUSTY and an
updated and complete argon model atom. We derive an average argon abundance for
this young population of A(Ar) = 6.66 +- 0.06. While our result is in excellent
agreement with a recent analysis of the Orion nebula, it is significantly
higher than the currently recommended solar value which is based on abundance
measurements in the solar corona. Moreover, the derived argon abundances in the
Orion B stars agree very well with a measurement from a solar impulsive flare
during which unmodified solar photospheric material was brought to flare
conditions. We therefore argue that the argon abundances obtained independently
for both the Orion B stars and the Orion nebula are representative of the disk
abundance value in the solar neighborhood. The lower coronal abundance may
reflect a depletion related to the FIP effect. We propose a new reference value
for the abundance of argon in the solar neighborhood, A(Ar) = 6.63 +- 0.10,
corresponding to Ar/O = 0.009.Comment: to appear in Astrophysical Journal, 24 pages, 3 figures; minor
corrections after referee's repor
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