916 research outputs found
Atmosphere above a large solar pore
A large solar pore with a granular light bridge was observed on October 15,
2008 with the IBIS spectrometer at the Dunn Solar Telescope and a 69-min long
time series of spectral scans in the lines Ca II 854.2 nm and Fe I 617.3 nm was
obtained. The intensity and Doppler signals in the Ca II line were separated.
This line samples the middle chromosphere in the core and the middle
photosphere in the wings. Although no indication of a penumbra is seen in the
photosphere, an extended filamentary structure, both in intensity and Doppler
signals, is observed in the Ca II line core. An analysis of morphological and
dynamical properties of the structure shows a close similarity to a
superpenumbra of a sunspot with developed penumbra. A special attention is paid
to the light bridge, which is the brightest feature in the pore seen in the Ca
II line centre and shows an enhanced power of chromospheric oscillations at 3-5
mHz. Although the acoustic power flux in the light bridge is five times higher
than in the "quiet" chromosphere, it cannot explain the observed brightness.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, accepted in Journal of Physics: Conference Serie
Chromospheric heating by acoustic waves compared to radiative cooling
Acoustic and magnetoacoustic waves are among the possible candidate
mechanisms that heat the upper layers of solar atmosphere. A weak chromospheric
plage near a large solar pore NOAA 11005 was observed on October 15, 2008 in
the lines Fe I 617.3 nm and Ca II 853.2 nm with the Interferometric
Bidimemsional Spectrometer (IBIS) attached to the Dunn Solar Telescope.
Analyzing the Ca II observations with spatial and temporal resolutions of 0.4"
and 52 s, the energy deposited by acoustic waves is compared with that released
by radiative losses. The deposited acoustic flux is estimated from power
spectra of Doppler oscillations measured in the Ca II line core. The radiative
losses are calculated using a grid of seven 1D hydrostatic semi-empirical model
atmospheres. The comparison shows that the spatial correlation of maps of
radiative losses and acoustic flux is 72 %. In quiet chromosphere, the
contribution of acoustic energy flux to radiative losses is small, only of
about 15 %. In active areas with photospheric magnetic field strength between
300 G and 1300 G and inclination of 20-60 degrees, the contribution increases
from 23 % (chromospheric network) to 54 % (a plage). However, these values have
to be considered as lower limits and it might be possible that the acoustic
energy flux is the main contributor to the heating of bright chromospheric
network and plages.Comment: 9 pages, 10 figures. Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical
Journa
Dynamics of the solar atmosphere above a pore with a light bridge
Context: Solar pores are small sunspots lacking a penumbra that have a
prevailing vertical magnetic field component. They can include light bridges at
places with locally reduced magnetic field. Like sunspots, they exhibit a wide
range of oscillatory phenomena.
Aims: A large isolated pore with a light bridge (NOAA 11005) is studied to
obtain characteristics of a chromospheric filamentary structure around the
pore, to analyse oscillations and waves in and around the pore, and to
understand the structure and brightness of the light bridge.
Methods: Spectral imaging observations in the line Ca II 854.2 nm and
complementary spectropolarimetry in Fe I lines, obtained with the DST/IBIS
spectrometer and HINODE/SOT spectropolarimeter, were used to measure
photospheric and chromospheric velocity fields, oscillations, waves, the
magnetic field in the photosphere, and acoustic energy flux and radiative
losses in the chromosphere.
Results: The chromospheric filamentary structure around the pore has all
important characteristics of a superpenumbra: it shows an inverse Evershed
effect and running waves, and has a similar morphology and oscillation
character. The granular structure of the light bridge in the upper photosphere
can be explained by radiative heating. Acoustic waves leaking up from the
photosphere along the inclined magnetic field in the light bridge transfer
enough energy flux to balance the total radiative losses of the light-bridge
chromosphere.
Conclusions: The presence of a penumbra is not a necessary condition for the
formation of a superpenumbra. The light bridge is heated by radiation in the
photosphere and by acoustic waves in the chromosphere.Comment: 14 pages, 14 figures, 3 tables, accepted for publication in
Astrononomy & Astrophysic
The dissimilar chemical composition of the planet-hosting stars of the XO-2 binary system
Using high-quality spectra of the twin stars in the XO-2 binary system, we
have detected significant differences in the chemical composition of their
photospheres. The differences correlate strongly with the elements' dust
condensation temperature. In XO-2N, volatiles are enhanced by about 0.015 dex
and refractories are overabundant by up to 0.090 dex. On average, our error bar
in relative abundance is 0.012 dex. We present an early metal-depletion
scenario in which the formation of the gas giant planets known to exist around
these stars is responsible for a 0.015 dex offset in the abundances of all
elements while 20 M_Earth of non-detected rocky objects that formed around
XO-2S explain the additional refractory-element difference. An alternative
explanation involves the late accretion of at least 20 M_Earth of planet-like
material by XO-2N, allegedly as a result of the migration of the hot Jupiter
detected around that star. Dust cleansing by a nearby hot star as well as age
or Galactic birthplace effects can be ruled out as valid explanations for this
phenomenon.Comment: ApJ, in press. Complete linelist (Table 3) available in the "Other
formats -> Source" downloa
The size distribution of magnetic bright points derived from Hinode/SOT observations
Context. Magnetic Bright Points (MBPs) are small-scale magnetic features in
the solar photosphere. They may be a possible source of coronal heating by
rapid footpoint motions that cause magnetohydrodynamical waves. The number and
size distribution are of vital importance in estimating the small
scale-magnetic-field energy. Aims. The size distribution of MBPs is derived for
G-band images acquired by the Hinode/SOT instrument. Methods. For
identification purposes, a new automated segmentation and identification
algorithm was developed. Results. For a sampling of 0.108 arcsec/pixel, we
derived a mean diameter of (218 +- 48) km for the MBPs. For the full resolved
data set with a sampling of 0.054 arcsec/pixel, the size distribution shifted
to a mean diameter of (166 +- 31) km. The determined diameters are consistent
with earlier published values. The shift is most probably due to the different
spatial sampling. Conclusions. We conclude that the smallest magnetic elements
in the solar photosphere cannot yet be resolved by G-band observations. The
influence of discretisation effects (sampling) has also not yet been
investigated sufficiently.Comment: Astronomy and Astrophysics, Volume 498, Issue 1, 2009, pp.289-29
Nonlocal extension of the dispersive-optical-model to describe data below the Fermi energy
Present applications of the dispersive-optical-model analysis are restricted
by the use of a local but energy-dependent version of the generalized
Hartree-Fock potential. This restriction is lifted by the introduction of a
corresponding nonlocal potential without explicit energy dependence. Such a
strategy allows for a complete determination of the nucleon propagator below
the Fermi energy with access to the expectation value of one-body operators
(like the charge density), the one-body density matrix with associated natural
orbits, and complete spectral functions for removal strength. The present
formulation of the dispersive optical model (DOM) therefore allows the use of
elastic electron-scattering data in determining its parameters. Application to
Ca demonstrates that a fit to the charge radius leads to too much
charge near the origin using the conventional assumptions of the functional
form of the DOM. A corresponding incomplete description of high-momentum
components is identified, suggesting that the DOM formulation must be extended
in the future to accommodate such correlations properly. Unlike the local
version, the present nonlocal DOM limits the location of the deeply-bound hole
states to energies that are consistent with (\textit{e,e}\textit{p})
and (\textit{p,2p}) data.Comment: 14 pages, 10 figures, submitted to Physical Review
Structure and function of gene regulatory networks associated with worker sterility in honeybees.
A characteristic of eusocial bees is a reproductive division of labor in which one or a few queens monopolize reproduction, while her worker daughters take on reproductively altruistic roles within the colony. The evolution of worker reproductive altruism involves indirect selection for the coordinated expression of genes that regulate personal reproduction, but evidence for this type of selection remains elusive. In this study, we tested whether genes coexpressed under queen-induced worker sterility show evidence of adaptive organization within a model brain transcriptional regulatory network (TRN). If so, this structured pattern would imply that indirect selection on nonreproductive workers has influenced the functional organization of genes within the network, specifically to regulate the expression of sterility. We found that literature-curated sets of candidate genes for sterility, ranging in size from 18 to 267, show strong evidence of clustering within the three-dimensional space of the TRN. This finding suggests that our candidate sets of genes for sterility form functional modules within the living bee brain\u27s TRN. Moreover, these same gene sets colocate to a single, albeit large, region of the TRN\u27s topology. This spatially organized and convergent pattern contrasts with a null expectation for functionally unrelated genes to be haphazardly distributed throughout the network. Our meta-genomic analysis therefore provides first evidence for a truly social transcriptome that may regulate the conditional expression of honeybee worker sterility
An Estimate of Chromospheric Heating by Acoustic Waves
Several mechanisms may heat the solar chromosphere: acoustic waves, magnetoacoustic waves (slow, fast, and Alfv\u27en waves),
and small-scale magnetic reconnections. Based on observations in the Ca II 854.2 nm line, the contribution of acoustic waves to
the heating of quiet and plage regions in the chromosphere is discussed. The energy released by radiative losses is compared with
the energy deposited by acoustic waves. Radiative losses are computed using a grid of six semi-empirical models VAL A-F. The
deposited acoustic flux is calculated using power spectra of Doppler oscillations measured in the Ca~II line core. The comparison
shows that the spatial correlation of maps of radiative losses and acoustic flux is 70%. The deposited acoustic flux provides at
least 25-30% of the energy radiated in the quiet chromosphere and 50% in plage regions
Neutron and Proton Transverse Emission Ratio Measurements and the Density Dependence of the Asymmetry Term of the Nuclear Equation of State
Recent measurements of pre-equilibrium neutron and proton transverse emission
from (112,124)Sn+(112,124)Sn reactions at 50 MeV/A have been completed at the
National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory. Free nucleon transverse emission
ratios are compared to those of A=3 mirror nuclei. Comparisons are made to BUU
transport calculations and conclusions concerning the density dependence of the
asymmetry term of the nuclear equation-of-state at sub-nuclear densities are
made. The double-ratio of neutron-proton ratios between two reactions is
employed as a means of reducing first-order Coulomb effects and detector
efficiency effects. Comparison to BUU model predictions indicate a density
dependence of the asymmetry energy that is closer to a form in which the
asymmety energy increases as the square root of the density for the density
region studied. A coalescent-invariant analysis is introduced as a means of
reducing suggested difficulties with cluster emission in total nucleon
emission. Future experimentation is presented
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