1,379 research outputs found
The place of the Sun among the Sun-like stars
Context. Monitoring of the photometric and chromospheric HK emission data
series of stars similar to the Sun in age and average activity level showed
that there is an empirical correlation between the average stellar
chromospheric activity level and the photometric variability. In general, more
active stars show larger photometric variability. Interestingly, the
measurements and reconstructions of the solar irradiance show that the Sun is
significantly less variable than indicated by the empirical relationship. Aims.
We aim to identify possible reasons for the Sun to be currently outside of this
relationship. Methods. We employed different scenarios of solar HK emission and
irradiance variability and compared them with available time series of Sun-like
stars. Results. We show that the position of the Sun on the diagram of
photometric variability versus chromospheric activity changes with time. The
present solar position is different from its temporal mean position as the
satellite era of continuous solar irradiance measurements has accidentally
coincided with a period of unusually high and stable solar activity. Our
analysis suggests that although present solar variability is significantly
smaller than indicated by the stellar data, the temporal mean solar variability
might be in agreement with the stellar data. We propose that the continuation
of the photometric program and its expansion to a larger stellar sample will
ultimately allow us to constrain the historical solar variability.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in
Astronomy&Astrophysic
From Solar to Stellar Brightness Variations: The Effect of Metallicity
Context. Comparison studies of Sun-like stars with the Sun suggest an
anomalously low photometric variability of the Sun compared to Sun-like stars
with similar magnetic activity. Comprehensive understanding of stellar
variability is needed, to find a physical reasoning for this observation. Aims.
We investigate the effect of metallicity and effective temperature on the
photometric brightness change of Sun-like stars seen at different inclinations.
The considered range of fundamental stellar parameters is sufficiently small so
the stars, investigated here, still count as Sun-like or even as solar twins.
Methods. To model the brightness change of stars with solar magnetic activity,
we extend a well established model of solar brightness variations, SATIRE
(which stands for Spectral And Total Irradiance Reconstruction), which is based
on solar spectra, to stars with different fundamental parameters. For that we
calculate stellar spectra for different metallicities and effective temperature
using the radiative transfer code ATLAS9. Results. We show that even a small
change (e.g. within the observational error range) of metallicity or effective
temperature significantly affects the photometric brightness change compared to
the Sun. We find that for Sun-like stars, the amplitude of the brightness
variations obtained for Str\"omgren (b + y)/2 reaches a local minimum for
fundamental stellar parameters close to the solar metallicity and effective
temperature. Moreover, our results show that the effect of inclination
decreases for metallicity values greater than the solar metallicity. Overall,
we find that an exact determination of fundamental stellar parameters is
crucially important for understanding stellar brightness changes.Comment: 12 pages, 12 figures, accepted in A&
P-mode leakage and Lyman-α intensity
We present an observational test of the hypothesis that leaking p modes heat the solar chromosphere. The amplitude of the leaking p modes in magneto-acoustic portals is determined using MOTH and MDI data. We simulate the propagation of these modes into the chromosphere to determine the height where the wave energy is dissipated by shock waves. A statistical approach is then used to check if this heating process could account for the observed variability of the intensity in the Lyman-α emissio
The role of the Fraunhofer lines in solar brightness variability
The solar brightness varies on timescales from minutes to decades. A clear
identification of the physical processes behind such variations is needed for
developing and improving physics-based models of solar brightness variability
and reconstructing solar brightness in the past. This is, in turn, important
for better understanding the solar-terrestrial and solar-stellar connections.
We estimate the relative contributions of the continuum, molecular, and
atomic lines to the solar brightness variations on different timescales.
Our approach is based on the assumption that variability of the solar
brightness on timescales greater than a day is driven by the evolution of the
solar surface magnetic field. We calculated the solar brightness variations
employing the solar disc area coverage of magnetic features deduced from the
MDI/SOHO observations. The brightness contrasts of magnetic features relative
to the quiet Sun were calculated with a non-LTE radiative transfer code as
functions of disc position and wavelength. By consecutive elimination of
molecular and atomic lines from the radiative transfer calculations, we
assessed the role of these lines in producing solar brightness variability.
We show that the variations in Fraunhofer lines define the amplitude of the
solar brightness variability on timescales greater than a day and even the
phase of the total solar irradiance variability over the 11-year cycle. We also
demonstrate that molecular lines make substantial contribution to solar
brightness variability on the 11-year activity cycle and centennial timescales.
In particular, our model indicates that roughly a quarter of the total solar
irradiance variability over the 11-year cycle originates in molecular lines.
The maximum of the absolute spectral brightness variability on timescales
greater than a day is associated with the CN violet system between 380 and 390
nm.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in
Astronomy&Astrophysic
Fundamental stellar parameters of zeta Pup and gamma^2 Vel from HIPPARCOS data
We report parallax measurements by the HIPPARCOS satellite of zeta Puppis and
gamma^2 Velorum. The distance of zeta Pup is d=429 (+120/ -77) pc, in agreement
with the commonly adopted value to Vela OB2. However, a significantly smaller
distance is found for the gamma^2 Vel system: d=258 (+41/-31) pc. The total
mass of gamma^2 Vel derived from its parallax, the angular size of the
semi-major axis as measured with intensity interferometry, and the period is
M(WR+O)=29.5 (+/-15.9) Msun. This result favors the orbital solution of Pike et
al. (1983) over that of Moffat et al. (1986). The stellar parameters for the O
star companion derived from line blanketed non-LTE atmosphere models are:
Teff=34000 (+/-1500) K, log L/Lsun=5.3 (+/-0.15) from which an evolutionary
mass of M=29 (+/-4) Msun and an age of 4.0 (+0.8/-0.5) Myr is obtained from
single star evolutionary models. With non-LTE model calculations including He
and C we derive a luminosity log L/Lsun~4.7 (+/-0.2) for the WR star. The
mass-luminosity relation of hydrogen-free WR stars implies a mass of M(WR)~5
(+/-1.5) Msun. From our data we favor an age of ~10 Myr for the bulk of the
Vela OB2 stars. Evolutionary scenarios for zeta Pup and gamma^2 Vel are
discussed in the light of our results.Comment: Submitted to ApJ Letters (misprints corrected
NLTE model calculations for the solar atmosphere with an iterative treatment of opacity distribution functions
Modeling the variability of the solar spectral irradiance is a key factor for
understanding the solar influence on the climate of the Earth. As a first step
to calculating the solar spectral irradiance variations we reproduce the solar
spectrum for the quiet Sun over a broad wavelength range with an emphasis on
the UV. We introduce the radiative transfer code COSI which calculates solar
synthetic spectra under conditions of non-local thermodynamic equilibrium
(NLTE). A self-consistent simultaneous solution of the radiative transfer and
the statistical equation for the level populations guarantees that the correct
physics is considered for wavelength regions where the assumption of local
thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE) breaks down. The new concept of iterated
opacity distribution functions (NLTE-ODFs), through which all line opacities
are included in the NLTE radiative transfer calculation, is presented. We show
that it is essential to include the line opacities in the radiative transfer to
reproduce the solar spectrum in the UV. Through the implemented scheme of
NLTE-ODFs the COSI code is successful in reproducing the spectral energy
distribution of the quiet Sun.Comment: 13 pages, 9 figures. accepted for publication in Astronomy and
Astrophysic
Wolf-Rayet nebulae as tracers of stellar ionizing fluxes: I. M1-67
We use WR124 (WN8h) and its associated nebula M1-67, to test theoretical
non-LTE models for Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars. Lyman continuum ionizing flux
distributions derived from a stellar analysis of WR124, are compared with
nebular properties via photo-ionization modelling. Our study demonstrates the
significant role that line blanketing plays in affecting the Lyman ionizing
energy distribution of WR stars, of particular relevance to the study of HII
regions containing young stellar populations.
We confirm previous results that non-line blanketed WR energy distributions
fail to explain the observed nebular properties of M1-67, such that the
predicted ionizing spectrum is too hard. A line blanketed analysis of WR124 is
carried out using the method of Hillier & Miller (1998), with stellar
properties in accord with previous results, except that the inclusion of
clumping in the stellar wind reduces its wind performance factor to only
approx2. The ionizing spectrum of the line blanketed model is much softer than
for a comparable temperature unblanketed case, such that negligible flux is
emitted with energy above the HeI 504 edge. Photo-ionization modelling,
incorporating the observed radial density distribution for M1-67 reveals
excellent agreement with the observed nebular electron temperature, ionization
balance and line strengths. An alternative stellar model of WR124 is
calculated, following the technique of de Koter et al. (1997), augmented to
include line blanketing following Schmutz et al. (1991). Good consistency is
reached regarding the stellar properties of WR124, but agreement with the
nebular properties of M1-67 is somewhat poorer than for the Hillier & Miller
code.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figures, latex2e style file, Astronomy & Astrophysics
(accepted
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