18 research outputs found
Coronal Loop Evolution Observed with AIA and Hi-C
Despite much progress toward understanding the dynamics of the solar corona, the physical properties of coronal loops are not yet fully understood. Recent investigations and observations from different instruments have yielded contradictory results about the true physical properties of coronal loops. In the past, the evolution of loops has been used to infer the loop substructure. With the recent launch of High Resolution Coronal Imager (Hi-C), this inference can be validated. In this poster we discuss the first results of loop analysis comparing AIA and Hi-C data. We find signatures of cooling in a pixel selected along a loop structure in the AIA multi-filter observations. However, unlike previous studies, we find that the cooling time is much longer than the draining time. This is inconsistent with previous cooling models
Testing the theory of immune selection in cancers that break the rules of transplantation
Modification of cancer cells likely to reduce their immunogenicity, including loss or down-regulation of MHC molecules, is now well documented and has become the main support for the concept of immune surveillance. The evidence that these modifications, in fact, result from selection by the immune system is less clear, since the possibility that they may result from reorganized metabolism associated with proliferation or from cell de-differentiation remains. Here, we (a) survey old and new transplantation experiments that test the possibility of selection and (b) survey how transmissible tumours of dogs and Tasmanian devils provide naturally evolved tests of immune surveillance
CLASP2: The Chromospheric LAyer Spectro-Polarimeter
A major remaining challenge for heliophysicsis to decipher the magnetic structure of the chromosphere, due to its "large role in defining how energy is transported into the corona and solar wind" (NASA's Heliophysics Roadmap). Recent observational advances enabled by the Interface Region Imaging Spectrometer (IRIS) have revolutionized our view of the critical role this highly dynamic interface between the photosphere and corona plays in energizing and structuring the outer solar atmosphere. Despite these advances, a major impediment to better understanding the solar atmosphere is our lack of empirical knowledge regarding the direction and strength of the magnetic field in the upper chromosphere. Such measurements are crucial to address several major unresolved issues in solar physics: for example, to constrain the energy flux carried by the Alfven waves propagating through the chromosphere (De Pontieuet al., 2014), and to determine the height at which the plasma Beta = 1 transition occurs, which has important consequences for the braiding of magnetic fields (Cirtainet al., 2013; Guerreiroet al., 2014), for propagation and mode conversion of waves (Tian et al., 2014a; Straus et al., 2008) and for non-linear force-free extrapolation methods that are key to determining what drives instabilities such as flares or coronal mass ejections (e.g.,De Rosa et al., 2009). The most reliable method used to determine the solar magnetic field vector is the observation and interpretation of polarization signals in spectral lines, associated with the Zeeman and Hanle effects. Magnetically sensitive ultraviolet spectral lines formed in the upper chromosphere and transition region provide a powerful tool with which to probe this key boundary region (e.g., Trujillo Bueno, 2014). Probing the magnetic nature of the chromosphere requires measurement of the Stokes I, Q, U and V profiles of the relevant spectral lines (of which Q, U and V encode the magnetic field information)
ALMA Observations of the Sun in Cycle 4 and Beyond
This document was created by the Solar Simulations for the Atacama Large
Millimeter Observatory Network (SSALMON) in preparation of the first regular
observations of the Sun with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array
(ALMA), which are anticipated to start in ALMA Cycle 4 in October 2016. The
science cases presented here demonstrate that a large number of scientifically
highly interesting observations could be made already with the still limited
solar observing modes foreseen for Cycle 4 and that ALMA has the potential to
make important contributions to answering long-standing scientific questions in
solar physics. With the proposal deadline for ALMA Cycle 4 in April 2016 and
the Commissioning and Science Verification campaign in December 2015 in sight,
several of the SSALMON Expert Teams composed strategic documents in which they
outlined potential solar observations that could be feasible given the
anticipated technical capabilities in Cycle 4. These documents have been
combined and supplemented with an analysis, resulting in recommendations for
solar observing with ALMA in Cycle 4. In addition, the detailed science cases
also demonstrate the scientific priorities of the solar physics community and
which capabilities are wanted for the next observing cycles. The work on this
White Paper effort was coordinated in close cooperation with the two
international solar ALMA development studies led by T. Bastian (NRAO, USA) and
R. Brajsa, (ESO). This document will be further updated until the beginning of
Cycle 4 in October 2016. In particular, we plan to adjust the technical
capabilities of the solar observing modes once finally decided and to further
demonstrate the feasibility and scientific potential of the included science
cases by means of numerical simulations of the solar atmosphere and
corresponding simulated ALMA observations.Comment: SSALMON White Paper with focus on potential solar science with ALMA
in Cycle 4; 54 pages. Version 1.2, March 29th, 2016 (updated technical
capabilities and observing plans
The Chromospheric Lyman-Alpha Spectro-Polarimeter (CLASP)
To Understand energy release process in the Sun including solar flares, it is essentially important to measure the magnetic field of the atmosphere of the Sun. Magnetic field measurement of the upper layers (upper chromosphere and above) was technically difficult and not well investigated yet. Upper chromosphere and transition region magnetic field measurement by Chromospheric Lyman-Alpha SpectroPolarimeter (CLASP) sounding rocket to be launched in 2015. The proposal is already selected and developments of the flight components are going
Review of Coronal Oscillations - An Observer's View
Recent observations show a variety of oscillation modes in the corona. Early
non-imaging observations in radio wavelengths showed a number of fast-period
oscillations in the order of seconds, which have been interpreted as fast
sausage mode oscillations. TRACE observations from 1998 have for the first time
revealed the lateral displacements of fast kink mode oscillations, with periods
of ~3-5 minutes, apparently triggered by nearby flares and destabilizing
filaments. Recently, SUMER discovered with Doppler shift measurements loop
oscillations with longer periods (10-30 minutes) and relatively short damping
times in hot (7 MK) loops, which seem to correspond to longitudinal slow
magnetoacoustic waves. In addition, propagating longitudinal waves have also
been detected with EIT and TRACE in the lowest density scale height of loops
near sunspots. All these new observations seem to confirm the theoretically
predicted oscillation modes and can now be used as a powerful tool for
``coronal seismology'' diagnostic.Comment: 5 Figure
Plasma diagnostics of transition region 'Moss' using SOHO/CDS and TRACE
Recent observations of solar active regions with the Transition Region and Coronal Explorer (TRACE) have revealed finely textured, low-lying EUV emission, called the ``moss,'' appearing as a bright dynamic pattern with dark inclusions. The moss has been interpreted as the upper transition region by Berger and coworkers. In this study we use SOHO Coronal Diagnostic Spectrometer and TRACE observations of Active Region 8227 on 1998 May 30 to determine the physical parameters of the moss material. We establish that the plasma responsible for the moss emission has a temperature range of (0.6-1.5)x10^6 K and is associated with hot loops (T>2x10^6 K). Moss plasma has an electron density of (2-5)x10^9 cm^-3 at a temperature of 1.3x10^6 K, giving a pressure of 0.7-1.7 dynes cm^-2 (a few times higher than in coronal loops observed in the TRACE Fe IX/X lambda171 passband). The volume filling factor of the moss plasma is of order 0.1, and the path along which the emission originates is of order 1000 km long
Further and higher education statistics in Wales 1997/98
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