132 research outputs found
The calculation of theoretical chromospheric models and the interpretation of solar spectra from rockets and spacecraft
Models and spectra of sunspots were studied, because they are important to energy balance and variability discussions. Sunspot observations in the ultraviolet region 140 to 168 nn was obtained by the NRL High Resolution Telescope and Spectrograph. Extensive photometric observations of sunspot umbrae and prenumbrae in 10 chanels covering the wavelength region 387 to 3800 nm were made. Cool star opacities and model atmospheres were computed. The Sun is the first testcase, both to check the opacity calculations against the observed solar spectrum, and to check the purely theoretical model calculation against the observed solar energy distribution. Line lists were finally completed for all the molecules that are important in computing statistical opacities for energy balance and for radiative rate calculations in the Sun (except perhaps for sunspots). Because many of these bands are incompletely analyzed in the laboratory, the energy levels are not well enough known to predict wavelengths accurately for spectrum synthesis and for detailed comparison with the observations
The calculation of theoretical chromospheric models and predicted OSO 1 spectra
Theoretical solar chromospheric and photospheric models are computed for use in analyzing OSO 8 spectra. The Vernazza, Avrett, and Loeser (1976) solar model is updated and self-consistent non-LTE number densities for H I, He I, He II, C I, Mg I, Al I, Si I, and H(-) are produced. These number densities are used in the calculation of a theoretical solar spectrum from 90 to 250 nm, including approximately 7000 lines in non-LTE. More than 60,000 lines of other elements are treated with approximate source functions
The calculation of theoretical chromospheric models and predicted OSO I spectra
A computer program was developed which, given a line list and a model atmosphere, computes a solar ultraviolet spectrum, broadens it, plots it together with an observed spectrum, and labels each line. An iterative procedure is utilized. Several of the computed and observed spectra are presented
Analysis of OSO data to determine the structure and energy balance of the solar chromosphere
A detailed reexamination of the temperature-density structure of the photosphere and low chromosphere shows that the middle and upper chromosphere, which directly emits most of the OSO spectrum, is sensitive to conditions in this underlying region of the atmosphere. A model of this region is based on a unified compilation of all recently published broadband flux and central intensity observations of the solar spectrum from 500 microns in the far infrared to 1220 A in the far ultraviolet. This extensive compilation includes the OSO 4 and 6 observations in the wavelength range 1400 to 1220 A. A model is presented of the quiet solar atmosphere in the height range between the temperature minimum and the upper part of the chromosphere-corona transition region. This model is based on statistical equilibrium calculations of H, He 1, He 2, Si 1, C 1, and other ions
The calculation of theoretical chromospheric models and the interpretation of solar spectra from rockets and spacecraft
Calculated results based on two chromospheric flare models F1 and F2 of Machado, et al., (1980) are presented. Two additional models are included: F1*, which has enhanced temperatures relative to the weak-flare model F1 in the upper photosphere and low chromosphere, and F3 which has enhanced temperatures relative to the strong flare model F2 in the upper chromosphere. Each model is specified by means of a given variation of the temperature as a function of column mass. The corresponding variation of particle density and the geometrical height scale are determined by assuming hydrostatic equilibrium. The coupled equations of statistical equilibrium is solved as is radiative transfer for H, H-, He I-II, C I-IV, Si I-II, Mg I-II, Fe, Al, O I-II, Na, and Ca II. The overall absorption and emission of radiation by lines throughout the spectrum is determined by means of a reduced set of opacities sampled from a compilation of over 10 to the 7th power individual lines. That the white flight flare continuum may arise by extreme chromospheric overheating as well as by an enhancement of the minimum temperature region is also shown. The radiative cooling rate calculations for our brightest flare model suggest that chromospheric overheating provides enhanced radiation that could cause significant heating deep in the flare atmosphere
Energy Balance in the Solar Transition Region. IV. Hydrogen and Helium Mass Flows With Diffusion
In this paper we have extended our previous modeling of energy balance in the
chromosphere-corona transition region to cases with particle and mass flows.
The cases considered here are quasi-steady, and satisfy the momentum and energy
balance equations in the transition region. We include in all equations the
flow velocity terms and neglect the partial derivatives with respect to time.
We present a complete and physically consistent formulation and method for
solving the non-LTE and energy balance equations in these situations, including
both particle diffusion and flows of H and He. Our results show quantitatively
how mass flows affect the ionization and radiative losses of H and He, thereby
affecting the structure and extent of the transition region. Also, our
computations show that the H and He line profiles are greatly affected by
flows. We find that line shifts are much less important than the changes in
line intensity and central reversal due to the effects of flows. In this paper
we use fixed conditions at the base of the transition region and in the
chromosphere because our intent is to show the physical effects of flows and
not to match any particular observations. However, we note that the profiles we
compute can explain the range of observed high spectral and spatial resolution
Lyman alpha profiles from the quiet Sun. We suggest that dedicated modeling of
specific sequences of observations based on physically consistent methods like
those presented here will substantially improve our understanding of the energy
balance in the chromosphere and corona.Comment: 50 pages + 20 figures; submitted to ApJ 9/10/01; a version with
higher resolution figures is available at http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/~avrett
Radiative Transfer Effects in He I Emission Lines
We consider the effect of optical depth of the 2 ^{3}S level on the nebular
recombination spectrum of He I for a spherically symmetric nebula with no
systematic velocity gradients. These calculations, using many improvements in
atomic data, can be used in place of the earlier calculations of Robbins. We
give representative Case B line fluxes for UV, optical, and IR emission lines
over a range of physical conditions: T=5000-20000 K, n_{e}=1-10^{8} cm^{-3},
and tau_{3889}=0-100. A FORTRAN program for calculating emissivities for all
lines arising from quantum levels with n < 11 is also available from the
authors.
We present a special set of fitting formulae for the physical conditions
relevant to low metallicity extragalactic H II regions: T=12,000-20,000 K,
n_{e}=1-300 cm^{-3}, and tau_{3889} < 2.0. For this range of physical
conditions, the Case B line fluxes of the bright optical lines 4471 A, 5876 A,
and 6678 A, are changed less than 1%, in agreement with previous studies.
However, the 7065 A corrections are much smaller than those calculated by
Izotov & Thuan based on the earlier calculations by Robbins. This means that
the 7065 A line is a better density diagnostic than previously thought. Two
corrections to the fitting functions calculated in our previous work are also
given.Comment: To be published in 10 April 2002 ApJ; relevant code available at
ftp://wisp.physics.wisc.edu/pub/benjamin/Heliu
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