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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 433 records · Page 24
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2010

THE DEPENDENCE OF MAGNETIC RECONNECTION ON PLASMA {beta} AND MAGNETIC SHEAR: EVIDENCE FROM SOLAR WIND OBSERVATIONS

We address the conditions for the onset of magnetic reconnection based on a survey of 197 reconnection events in solar wind current sheets observed by the Wind spacecraft. We report the first observational evidence for the dependence of the occurrence of reconnection on a combination of the magnetic field shear angle, {theta}, across the current sheet and the difference in the plasma {beta} values on the two sides of the current sheet, {Delta}{beta}. For low {Delta}{beta}, reconnection occurred for both low and high magnetic shears, whereas only large magnetic shear events were observed for large {Delta}{beta}: Events with shears as low as 11{sup 0} were observed for {Delta}{beta} < 0.1, but for {Delta}{beta} > 1.5 only events with {theta} > 100{sup 0} were detected. Our observations are in quantitative agreement with a theoretical prediction that reconnection is suppressed in high {beta} plasmas at low magnetic shears due to super-Alfvenic drift of the X-line caused by plasma pressure gradients across the current sheet. The magnetic shear-{Delta}{beta} dependence could account for the high occurrence rate of reconnection observed in current sheets embedded within interplanetary coronal mass ejections, compared to those in the ambient solar wind. It would also suggest that reconnection could occur at a substantially higher rate in solar wind current sheets closer to the Sun than at 1 AU and thus may play an important role in the generation and heating of the solar wind.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2010

QUASI-BIENNIAL OSCILLATIONS IN THE SOLAR TACHOCLINE CAUSED BY MAGNETIC ROSSBY WAVE INSTABILITIES

Quasi-biennial oscillations (QBOs) are frequently observed in solar activity indices. However, no clear physical mechanism for the observed variations has been suggested so far. Here, we study the stability of magnetic Rossby waves in the solar tachocline using the shallow water magnetohydrodynamic approximation. Our analysis shows that the combination of typical differential rotation and a toroidal magnetic field with a strength of {>=}10{sup 5} G triggers the instability of the m = 1 magnetic Rossby wave harmonic with a period of {approx}2 years. This harmonic is antisymmetric with respect to the equator and its period (and growth rate) depends on the differential rotation parameters and magnetic field strength. The oscillations may cause a periodic magnetic flux emergence at the solar surface and consequently may lead to the observed QBO in solar activity features. The period of QBOs may change throughout a cycle, and from cycle to cycle, due to variations of the mean magnetic field and differential rotation in the tachocline.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2010

WHERE DOES FLUID-LIKE TURBULENCE BREAK DOWN IN THE SOLAR WIND?

Power spectra of the magnetic field in solar wind display a Kolmogorov law f {sup -5/3} at intermediate range of frequencies f, say within the inertial range. Two spectral breaks are also observed: one separating the inertial range from an f {sup -1} spectrum at lower frequencies, and another one between the inertial range and an f {sup -7/3} spectrum at higher frequencies. The breaking of fluid-like turbulence at high frequencies has been attributed to either the occurrence of kinetic Alfven wave fluctuations above the ion-cyclotron frequency or to whistler turbulence above the frequency corresponding to the proton gyroradius. Using solar wind data, we show that the observed high-frequency spectral break seems to be independent of the distance from the Sun, and then of both the ion-cyclotron frequency and the proton gyroradius. We suppose that the observed high-frequency break could be either caused by a combination of different physical processes or associated with a remnant signature of coronal turbulence.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2011

EVIDENCE FOR SOLAR FREQUENCY DEPENDENCE ON SUNSPOT TYPE

High-degree solar mode frequencies as measured by ring diagrams are known to change in the presence of the strong magnetic fields found in active regions. We examine these changes in frequency for a large sample of active regions analyzed with data from the Michelson Doppler Imager on board the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory spacecraft, spanning most of solar cycle 23. We confirm that the frequencies increase with increasing magnetic field strength, and that this dependence is generally linear. We find that the dependence is slightly but significantly different for active regions with different sunspot types.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2011

DIMMING OF THE 17TH CENTURY SUN

Reconstructions of total solar irradiance (TSI) rely mainly on linear relations between TSI variation and indices of facular area. When these are extrapolated to the prolonged 15th-17th century Spoerer and Maunder solar activity minima, the estimated solar dimming is insufficient to explain the mid-millennial climate cooling of the Little Ice Age. We draw attention here to evidence that the relation departs from linearity at the lowest activity levels. Imaging photometry and radiometry indicate an increased TSI contribution per unit area from small network faculae by a factor of 2-4 compared with larger faculae in and around active regions. Even partial removal of this more TSI-effective network at prolonged minima could enable climatically significant solar dimming, yet be consistent with the weakened but persistent 11 yr cycle observed in Be 10 during the Maunder Minimum. The mechanism we suggest would not alter previous findings that increased solar radiative forcing is insufficient to account for 20th century global warming.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2011

CONVECTIVE NATURE OF SUNSPOT PENUMBRAL FILAMENTS: DISCOVERY OF DOWNFLOWS IN THE DEEP PHOTOSPHERE

We study the velocity structure of penumbral filaments in the deep photosphere to obtain direct evidence for the convective nature of sunspot penumbrae. A sunspot was observed at high spatial resolution with the 1 m Swedish Solar Telescope in the deep photospheric C I 5380 A absorption line. The Multi-Object Multi-Frame Blind Deconvolution method is used for image restoration and straylight is filtered out. We report here the discovery of clear redshifts in the C I 5380 A line at multiple locations in sunspot penumbral filaments. For example, bright head of filaments show larger concentrated blueshift and are surrounded by darker, redshifted regions, suggestive of overturning convection. Elongated downflow lanes are also located beside bright penumbral fibrils. Our results provide the strongest evidence yet for the presence of overturning convection in penumbral filaments and highlight the need to observe the deepest layers of the penumbra in order to uncover the energy transport processes taking place there.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2011

A MODEL FOR MAGNETICALLY COUPLED SYMPATHETIC ERUPTIONS

Sympathetic eruptions on the Sun have been observed for several decades, but the mechanisms by which one eruption can trigger another remain poorly understood. We present a three-dimensional MHD simulation that suggests two possible magnetic trigger mechanisms for sympathetic eruptions. We consider a configuration that contains two coronal flux ropes located within a pseudo-streamer and one rope located next to it. A sequence of eruptions is initiated by triggering the eruption of the flux rope next to the streamer. The expansion of the rope leads to two consecutive reconnection events, each of which triggers the eruption of a flux rope by removing a sufficient amount of overlying flux. The simulation qualitatively reproduces important aspects of the global sympathetic event on 2010 August 1 and provides a scenario for the so-called twin filament eruptions. The suggested mechanisms are also applicable for sympathetic eruptions occurring in other magnetic configurations.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2011

UBIQUITOUS ROTATING NETWORK MAGNETIC FIELDS AND EXTREME-ULTRAVIOLET CYCLONES IN THE QUIET SUN

We present Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) observations of EUV cyclones in the quiet Sun. These cyclones are rooted in the rotating network magnetic fields (RNFs). Such cyclones can last several to more than 10 hr and, at the later phase, they are found to be associated with EUV brightenings (microflares) and even EUV waves. SDO Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) observations show a ubiquitous presence of RNFs. Using HMI line-of-sight magnetograms on 2010 July 8, we find 388 RNFs in an area of 800 x 980 arcsec{sup 2} near the disk center where no active region is present. The sense of rotation shows a weak hemisphere preference. The unsigned magnetic flux of the RNFs is about 4.0 x 10{sup 21} Mx, or 78% of the total network flux. These observational phenomena at small scale reported in this Letter are consistent with those at large scale in active regions. The ubiquitous RNFs and EUV cyclones over the quiet Sun may suggest an effective way to heat the corona.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2010

Three Dimensional Anisotropic k Spectra of Turbulence at Subproton Scales in the Solar Wind

We show the first three dimensional (3D) dispersion relations and k spectra of magnetic turbulence in the solar wind at subproton scales. We used the Cluster data with short separations and applied the k-filtering technique to the frequency range where the transition to subproton scales occurs. We show that the cascade is carried by highly oblique kinetic Alfven waves with {omega}{sub plas{<=}}0.1{omega}{sub ci} down to k{sub perpendicular{rho}i{approx}}2. Each k spectrum in the direction perpendicular to B{sub 0} shows two scaling ranges separated by a breakpoint (in the interval [0.4,1]k{sub perpendicular{rho}i}): a Kolmogorov scaling k{sub perpendicular}{sup -1.7} followed by a steeper scaling {approx}k{sub perpendicular}{sup -4.5}. We conjecture that the turbulence undergoes a transition range, where part of the energy is dissipated into proton heating via Landau damping and the remaining energy cascades down to electron scales where electron Landau damping may predominate.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2011

Effect of Current Sheets on the Solar Wind Magnetic Field Power Spectrum from the Ulysses Observation: From Kraichnan to Kolmogorov Scaling

The MHD turbulence theory developed by Iroshnikov and Kraichnan predicts a k{sup -1.5} power spectrum. Solar wind observations, however, often show a k{sup -5/3} Kolmogorov scaling. Based on 3 years worth of Ulysses magnetic field data where over 28 000 current sheets are identified, we propose that the current sheet is the cause of the Kolmogorov scaling. We show that for 5 longest current-sheet-free periods the magnetic field power spectra are all described by the Iroshnikov-Kraichnan scaling. In comparison, for 5 periods that have the most number of current sheets, the power spectra all exhibit Kolmogorov scaling. The implication of our results is discussed.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2011

Systematic Measurements of Ion-Proton Differential Streaming in the Solar Wind

The small amount of heavy ions in the highly rarefied solar wind are sensitive tracers for plasma-physics processes, which are usually not accessible in the laboratory. We have analyzed differential streaming between heavy ions and protons in the solar wind at 1 AU. 3D velocity vector and magnetic field measurements from the Solar Wind Electron Proton Alpha Monitor and the Magnetometer aboard the Advanced Composition Explorer were used to reconstruct the ion-proton difference vector v{sub ip}=v{sub i}-v{sub p} from the 12 min 1D Solar Wind Ion Composition Spectrometer observations. We find that all 44 analyzed heavy ions flow along the interplanetary magnetic field at velocities which are smaller than, but comparable to, the local Alfven speed C{sub A}. The flow speeds of 35 of the 44 ion species lie within the range of {+-}0.15C{sub A} around 0.55C{sub A}, the flow speed of He{sup 2+}.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2011

New Ion-Wave Path in the Energy Cascade

We present the results of kinetic numerical simulations that demonstrate the existence of a novel branch of electrostatic nonlinear waves driven by particle trapping processes. These waves have an acoustic-type dispersion with phase speed comparable to the ion thermal speed and would thus be heavily Landau damped in the linear regime. At variance with the ion-acoustic waves, this novel electrostatic branch can exist at a small but finite amplitude even for low values of the electron to ion temperature ratio. Our results provide a new interpretation of observations in space plasmas, where a significant level of electrostatic activity is observed in the high frequency region of the solar-wind turbulent spectra.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
NASA NTRS1981

Low luminosity galactic X-ray sources

Models of soft X-ray emission from low-luminosity galactic X-ray sources are compared with currently available data. Emphasis is placed on disk population stars, irrespective of source temperatures spectral type, luminosity class, and age; and predictions of source temperatures and variability have been used to distinguish between the various models. It is tentatively found that the X-ray emission characteristics of late and early spectral types, and young and old stars, share many similarities; an economical explanation for this is the manifestation of coronal surface activity modulated by the stellar parameters that govern stellar magnetic activity (e.g., rotation). In some cases (such as for OB stars), a proper theory accounting for the heating of the coronal plasma does not exist.

Vaiana, G. S.↗
DOE OSTI2011

Mirror Modes in the Heliosheath

Mirror mode (MM) structures are identified in the Voyager 1 heliosheath magnetic field data. Their characteristics are: (1) quasiperiodic structures with a typical scale size of {approx}57 {rho}{sub p}(proton gyroradii), (2) little or no angular changes across the structures ({approx}3 deg. longitude and {approx}3 deg. latitude), and (3) a lack of sharp boundaries at the magnetic dip edges. It is proposed that the pickup of interstellar neutrals in the upstream region of the termination shock (TS) is the likely cause of MM instability during intervals when the IMF is nearly orthogonal to the solar wind flow direction. Concomitant (quasiperpendicular) shock compression of the MM structures at the TS and additional injection of pickup ions (PUIs) throughout the heliosheath will enhance MM growth.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2011

Occurrence of high-beta superthermal plasma events in the close environment of Jupiter's bow shock as observed by Ulysses

The ratio of the plasma pressure to the magnetic field pressure (or of their energy densities) which is known as the plasma parameter 'beta'({beta}) has important implications to the propagation of energetic particles and the interaction of the solar wind with planetary magnetospheres. Although in the scientific literature the contribution of the superthermal particles to the plasma pressure is generally assumed negligible, we deduced, by analyzing energetic particles and magnetic field measurements recorded by the Ulysses spacecraft, that in a series of events, the energy density contained in the superthermal tail of the particle distribution is comparable to or even higher than the energy density of the magnetic field, creating conditions of high-beta plasma. More explicitly, in this paper we analyze Ulysses/HI-SCALE measurements of the energy density ratio (parameter {beta}{sub ep}) of the energetic ions'(20 keV to {approx}5 MeV) to the magnetic field's in order to find occurrences of high-beta ({beta}{sub ep}>1) superthermal plasma conditions in the environment of the Jovian magnetosphere, which is an interesting plasma laboratory and an important source of emissions in our solar system. In particular, we examine high-beta ion events close to Jupiter's bow shock, which are produced by two processes: (a) bow shock ion acceleration and (b) ion leakage from the magnetosphere.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2011

Kinetic simulation of neutral/ionized gas and electrically charged dust in the coma of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

The cometary coma is a unique phenomenon in the solar system being a planetary atmosphere influenced by little or no gravity. As a comet approaches the sun, the water vapor with some fraction of other gases sublimate, generating a cloud of gas, ice and other refractory materials (rocky and organic dust) ejected from the surface of the nucleus. Sublimating gas molecules undergo frequent collisions and photochemical processes in the near-nucleus region. Owing to its negligible gravity, comets produce a large and highly variable extensive dusty coma with a size much larger than the characteristic size of the cometary nucleus.The Rosetta spacecraft is en route to comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko for a rendezvous, landing, and extensive orbital phase beginning in 2014. Both, interpretation of measurements and safety consideration of the spacecraft require modeling of the comet's dusty gas environment.In this work we present results of a numerical study of multispecies gaseous and electrically charged dust environment of comet Chyuryumov-Gerasimenko. Both, gas and dust phases of the coma are simulated kinetically. Photolytic reactions are taken into account. Parameters of the ambient plasma as well as the distribution of electric/magnetic fields are obtained from an MHD simulation of the coma connected to the solar wind. Trajectories of ions and electrically charged dust grains are simulated by accounting for the Lorentz force and the nucleus gravity.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2011

Solar Wind Charge Exchange Studies Of Highly Charged Ions On Atomic Hydrogen

Accurate studies of low-energy charge exchange (CX) are critical to understanding underlying soft X-ray radiation processes in the interaction of highly charged ions from the solar wind with the neutral atoms and molecules in the heliosphere, cometary comas, planetary atmospheres, interstellar winds, etc.. Particularly important are the CX cross sections for bare, H-like, and He-like ions of C, N, O and Ne, which are the dominant charge states for these heavier elements in the solar wind. Absolute total cross sections for single electron capture by H-like ions of C, N, O and fully-stripped O ions from atomic hydrogen have been measured in an expanded range of relative collision energies (5 eV/u-20 keV/u) and compared to previous H-oven measurements. The present measurements are performed using a merged-beams technique with intense highly charged ion beams extracted from a 14.5 GHz ECR ion source installed on a high voltage platform at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. For the collision energy range of 0.3 keV/u-3.3 keV/u, which corresponds to typical ion velocities in the solar wind, the new measurements are in good agreement with previous H-oven measurements. The experimental results are discussed in detail and compared with theoretical calculations where available.

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS↗