17 research outputs found
Case Studies of Habitable Trojan Planets in the System of HD 23079
We investigate the possibility of habitable Trojan planets in the HD 23079
star-planet system. This system consists of a solar-type star and a
Jupiter-type planet, which orbits the star near the outer edge of the stellar
habitable zone in an orbit of low eccentricity. We find that in agreement with
previous studies Earth-mass habitable Trojan planets are possible in this
system, although the success of staying within the zone of habitability is
significantly affected by the orbital parameters of the giant planet and by the
initial condition of the theoretical Earth-mass planet. In one of our
simulations, the Earth-mass planet is captured by the giant planet and thus
becomes a habitable moon.Comment: 24 pages, 8 figures, 3 tables; International Journal of Astrobiology
(in press
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Numerical simulations of torsional Alfvén waves in axisymmetric solar magnetic flux tubes
We numerically investigate Alfvén waves propagating along an axisymmetric and non-isothermal solar flux tube embedded in the solar atmosphere. The tube magnetic field is current-free and diverges with height, and the waves are excited by a periodic driver along the tube magnetic field lines. The main results are that the two wave variables, the velocity and magnetic field perturbations in the azimuthal direction, behave differently as a result of gradients of the physical parameters along the tube. To explain these differences in the wave behavior, the time evolution of the wave variables and the resulting cutoff period for each wave variable are calculated and used to determine regions in the solar chromosphere where strong wave reflection may occur
Stochastic excitation of acoustic modes in stars
For more than ten years, solar-like oscillations have been detected and
frequencies measured for a growing number of stars with various characteristics
(e.g. different evolutionary stages, effective temperatures, gravities, metal
abundances ...).
Excitation of such oscillations is attributed to turbulent convection and
takes place in the uppermost part of the convective envelope. Since the
pioneering work of Goldreich & Keely (1977), more sophisticated theoretical
models of stochastic excitation were developed, which differ from each other
both by the way turbulent convection is modeled and by the assumed sources of
excitation. We review here these different models and their underlying
approximations and assumptions.
We emphasize how the computed mode excitation rates crucially depend on the
way turbulent convection is described but also on the stratification and the
metal abundance of the upper layers of the star. In turn we will show how the
seismic measurements collected so far allow us to infer properties of turbulent
convection in stars.Comment: Notes associated with a lecture given during the fall school
organized by the CNRS and held in St-Flour (France) 20-24 October 2008 ; 39
pages ; 11 figure
Oscillations and waves in solar spicules
Since their discovery, spicules have attracted increased attention as energy/mass bridges between the dense and dynamic photosphere and the tenuous hot solar corona. Mechanical energy of photospheric random and coherent motions can be guided by magnetic field lines, spanning from the interior to the upper parts of the solar atmosphere, in the form of waves and oscillations. Since spicules are one of the most pronounced features of the chromosphere, the energy transport they participate in can be traced by the observations of their oscillatory motions. Oscillations in spicules have been observed for a long time. However the recent high-resolutions and high-cadence space and ground based facilities with superb spatial, temporal and spectral capacities brought new aspects in the research of spicule dynamics. Here we review the progress made in imaging and spectroscopic observations of waves and oscillations in spicules. The observations are accompanied by a discussion on theoretical modelling and interpretations of these oscillations. Finally, we embark on the recent developments made on the presence and role of Alfven and kink waves in spicules. We also address the extensive debate made on the Alfven versus kink waves in the context of the explanation of the observed transverse oscillations of spicule axes
Atmospheric Heating and Wind Acceleration: Results for Cool Evolved Stars based on Proposed Processes
A chromosphere is a universal attribute of stars of spectral type later than
~F5. Evolved (K and M) giants and supergiants (including the zeta Aurigae
binaries) show extended and highly turbulent chromospheres, which develop into
slow massive winds. The associated continuous mass loss has a significant
impact on stellar evolution, and thence on the chemical evolution of galaxies.
Yet despite the fundamental importance of those winds in astrophysics, the
question of their origin(s) remains unsolved. What sources heat a chromosphere?
What is the role of the chromosphere in the formation of stellar winds? This
chapter provides a review of the observational requirements and theoretical
approaches for modeling chromospheric heating and the acceleration of winds in
single cool, evolved stars and in eclipsing binary stars, including physical
models that have recently been proposed. It describes the successes that have
been achieved so far by invoking acoustic and MHD waves to provide a physical
description of plasma heating and wind acceleration, and discusses the
challenges that still remain.Comment: 46 pages, 9 figures, 1 table; modified and unedited manuscript;
accepted version to appear in: Giants of Eclipse, eds. E. Griffin and T. Ake
(Berlin: Springer
Stochastic excitation of gravity modes in massive main-sequence stars
We investigate the possibility that gravity modes can be stochastically excited by turbulent convection in massive main-sequence (MS) stars. We build stellar models of MS stars with masses M=10 M [SUB]ȯ[/SUB],15 M [SUB]ȯ[/SUB], and 20 M [SUB]ȯ[/SUB]. For each model, we then compute the power supplied to the modes by turbulent eddies in the convective core (CC) and the outer convective zones (OCZ). We found that, for asymptotic gravity modes, the major part of the driving occurs within the outer iron convective zone, while the excitation of low n order modes mainly occurs within the CC. We compute the mode lifetimes and deduce the expected mode amplitudes. We finally discuss the possibility of detecting such stochastically-excited gravity modes with the CoRoT space-based mission