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At least 577 records · Page 32
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1975

Heavy particle emission of unusual composition from the sun

Sustained emission of low energy (0.6-4 MeV/nuc) solar particles with a composition richer in iron than in oxygen is observed in three time periods of 1974. The relative abundances of Ne, Mg, Si, and S-Ca to O are also enhanced as compared to those of the sun and of solar cosmic rays. During all three periods, a large H-3/H-4 isotope ratio was also observed; for two cases, it is in the order of unity. On the other hand, the d/H-4 and the T/He-4 are less than 0.04 and 0.02 respectively. The solar activity during the time periods of the reported emission was low. At present, it is not clear whether the emission processes which yielded enriched heavy ions also produced the He-3 enhancement. It seems that any explanation of heavy ion enrichments in solar cosmic rays has to explain also the He-3 enrichment.

Hovestadt, D.↗
NASA NTRS1975

Nucleosynthesis of He-3 in the sun and the variation of He-3/He-4 in solar wind

The time history of the variation of He-3/He-4 (R) on the surface of the sun as a result of nucleosynthesis in the solar interior has been studied for different empherical models of mixing. For homogeneous mixing with mixing periods between one million and 1,000 millions years, the expected value of R is very much larger than the observed solar wind value. On the other hand, the absolute value of R and its possible time variation in the solar wind are consistent with a model in which slow mixing with adjacent layers, equivalent to about 0.01 Mr, of the core takes place over a period of 100 million years. The possibility of explaining the He-3 rich solar flare events is discussed.

Stephens, S. A.↗
NASA NTRS1975

Solar cosmic ray events at large radial distances from the sun

The cosmic ray telescopes on Pioneer 10 and 11 are used to examine solar cosmic ray events out to a distance about 5 AU from the sun. A detailed error analysis of the cosine fit to the anisotropy is presented. The anisotropy and intensity time characteristics during solar events are discussed as a function of radial distance.

Zwickl, R.↗
NASA NTRS1976

The quiet sun in the extreme ultraviolet

Observations of the quiet sun with an XUV spectrometer during the Skylab mission are reported for the chromosphere, transition region, and corona. The changing structure of the network is examined over the temperature range from 10,000 to 1.5 million K, and the distribution of intensities in the cell interiors and the network are examined from the standpoint of creating characteristic models. Observations of traces of periodic oscillations at 300 s in the cells for temperatures not exceeding 20,000 K are reported together with the absence of any periodic contributions at higher temperatures or periodic effects at any height in the network elements. Frequent nonperiodic brightenings are observed, and their characteristics discussed. Observations of the increased thickness of the transition region in coronal holes, as well as other properties, are discussed in limited detail. Observations of the center-to-limb behavior of transition-region and coronal lines are used to construct coronal models, and the assumptions of spherical symmetry evaluated from the intensity data. The effects of spicules on the limb and disk data are discussed in relation to the observations.

Reeves, E. M.↗
NASA NTRS1976

On the reality of a sun-weather effect

It has been reported by Wilcox et al. (1973, 1974) that the solar magnetic sector structure extended away from the sun by the solar wind has an effect on the terrestrial atmospheric vorticity, the effect being a decrease in the vorticity area index with a width of about 5 days and a minimum 1 day after the sector boundary is swept past the earth by the solar wind. In the present study the vorticity area index is filtered so as to reject variations with periods less than 3 days or greater than 13 days. The 500 mb vorticity area index is used since the observations are more homogeneous. The persistence of the solar sector/atmospheric vorticity effect in the new data when the number of sector boundary passages is increased from 54 to 131 and in the independent latitude zones 35 deg N to 55 deg N and greater than 54 deg N, as well as the greater depth of the effect near sector boundary passages as compared with all other minima, suggest that the effect is real. This is further strengthened by the analysis of Hines and Halevy (1975).

Wilcox, J. M.↗
NASA NTRS1976

The emission-line spectrum above the limb of the quiet sun - 1175-1940 A

Spectra of a quiet solar region obtained at positions within and above the solar white-light limb in the wavelength region from 1175 to 1940 A are discussed. The spectra were obtained by the slit spectrograph (SO82-B) on Skylab. The spectral resolution is 0.06 A, and the projected slit area on the sun was 2 x 60 arcsec (1450 x 43500 km). Relative line intensities are presented for lines formed in the temperature region of the solar atmosphere from about 8000 to 220,000 K. Representative line profiles of both optically thin and optically thick lines are shown as a function of height above the limb. Random mass-motion velocities are deduced from the optically thin lines, and the relative intensities and profiles of the lines are discussed in terms of current theoretical models. A wavelength list with identifications is given for the spectrum obtained at +4 arcsec above the white-light limb.

Doschek, G. A.↗
NASA NTRS1976

Calculation of the twilight visibility function of near-sun objects

The visibility function, defined here as the magnitude difference between the excess brightness of a given object and that of the background sky, of near-sun objects during twilight is obtained from a general calculation which considers the twilight sky background, atmospheric extinction, and night glow. Visibility curves are computed for a number of cases in which observations have been recorded, particularly that of comet Kohoutek. For this object, the computed visibility maxima agree well in time with the reported times of observation.

Kastner, S. O.↗
NASA NTRS1977

The mean magnetic field of the sun: Observations at Stanford

A solar telescope was built at Stanford University to study the organization and evolution of large-scale solar magnetic fields and velocities. The observations are made using a Babcock-type magnetograph which is connected to a 22.9 m vertical Littrow spectrograph. Sun-as-a-star integrated light measurements of the mean solar magnetic field were made daily since May 1975. The typical mean field magnitude is about 0.15 gauss with typical measurement error less than 0.05 gauss. The mean field polarity pattern is essentially identical to the interplanetary magnetic field sector structure (seen near the earth with a 4 day lag). The differences in the observed structures can be understood in terms of a warped current sheet model.

Scherrer, P. H.↗
NASA NTRS1976

Plasma diagnostic techniques in the ultraviolet - The C III density-sensitive lines in the sun

Spectra and spectroheliograms of the C III transitions at 977 and 1176 A are obtained with the Harvard extreme-ultraviolet spectrometer on Skylab. Analysis of the intensities of these lines, and of their density-sensitive ratio, indicates a wide range of temperature gradients and electron densities in the transition region of various solar features. From values of the observed ratio, we suggest necessary revisions to the excitation rates, and propose a relationship between the ratio and density. The significantly higher ratio found in active regions indicates a density increase of about a factor 2 relative to the network. In the quiet sun, there is no significant difference in density between network and cell interiors, but the uncertainty is as large as a factor 3. The very central 10% of the areas of cell interiors shows a significantly higher density than the mean value for cell interiors.

Dupree, A. K.↗
NASA NTRS1976

The sun as a magnetic star

The sun as a magnetic star is described on the basis of recent work on solar magnetism. Observations at an arbitrary angle to the rotation axis would show a 22-year polar field variation and a 25-day equatorial sector variation. The sector variation would be similar to an oblique rotator with an angle of 90 deg between the magnetic and rotational axis.

Wilcox, J. M.↗
NASA NTRS1976

Quasi-biennial geomagnetic variation caused by the sun

Clear evidence for the existence of a quasi-biennial geomagnetic variation is shown by an analysis of annual averages of the horizontal (H) component of the geomagnetic field observed at five observatories. The analysis uses a numerical filter, which is equivalent to taking the second order time derivative of the time series. The cause for the variation is external to the earth because its amplitude depends on magnetic activity. The second order time derivative of H is well correlated with the corresponding time derivatives of the relative sunspot number and 10.7 cm solar flux. It is suggested that quasi-biennial oscillations observed in the geomagnetic field, cosmic rays, stratospheric zonal wind and temperature, total ozone, and other meteorological parameters could be produced by a common cause on the sun.

Sugiura, M.↗
NASA NTRS1976

Relation of a contracting earth to the apparent accelerations of the sun and moon

It has been concluded that the theoretical ratio of the apparent secular accelerations of the moon and the sun implied by tidal theory is far higher than the ratio of observed values. This paper shows that the discrepancy can be entirely removed within the range of uncertainty of the various quantities involved if terms making allowance for a secularly decreasing terrestrial moment of inertia are included in the dynamical equations for the apparent secular accelerations. Such a decrease has already been predicted on the basis of the phase-change hypothesis for the nature of earth's core. The development of this hypothesis is reviewed, the modified dynamical equations are derived, and values of tidal couples implied by existing observational data are examined. The numerically determined rate of decrease of earth's moment of inertia is found to be in close agreement with that predicted by the phase-change hypothesis. The results indicate that a diminishing gravitational constant is unlikely, that the moon would have been in close proximity to earth only 1 billion years ago, and that earth's rotation period at that time would have been about 5 hr.

Lyttleton, R. A.↗
NASA NTRS1977

Open magnetic structures on the sun

High-resolution harmonic analysis of the solar magnetic field has been used succesfully to calculate the geometry of open magnetic field lines in the solar corona. Comparison of the loci of open-field-line footpoints with solar X-ray photographs shows that all the coronal holes during two solar rotations are successfully represented, including details of their evolution. Some open magnetic configurations derived in the calculations precede by up to one solar rotation the manifestation of coincident dark areas on the X-ray photographs. The only other areas that contribute open field lines to the corona are separations between active-region loop systems. By varying the radius at which field lines are forced to be open in the calculation, it is possible to reproduce more closely the surface configuration of particular coronal holes. Comparison of the size of X-ray holes with the fraction of the solar surface covered by open field lines leads to the conclusion that a significant part of the area of coronal holes must contain closed magnetic fields. Comparison of open field lines which lie in the equatorial plane of the sun with solar-wind data indicates that eventual high-speed solar-wind streams are associated with those parts of open magnetic structures that diverge the least.

Levine, R. H.↗
NASA NTRS1978

A close-up of the sun

NASA's long-range plan for the study of solar-terrestrial relations includes a Solar Probe Mission in which a spacecraft is put into an eccentric orbit with perihelion near 4 solar radii (0.02 AU). The scientific experiments which might be done with such a mission are discussed. Topics include the distribution of mass within the Sun, solar angular momentum, the fine structure of the solar surface and corona, the acceleration of the solar wind and energetic particles, and the evolution of interplanetary dust. The mission could also contribute to high-accuracy tests of general relativity and the search for cosmic gravitational radiation.

Neugebauer, M.↗
NASA NTRS1978

Plasma waves near the sun: Advances possible with a solar probe

A review is presented of current experimental and theoretical knowledge of plasma waves in the solar wind, with comments on the scientific importance of obtaining plasma wave measurements in the region near the sun with the solar probe. The waves discussed include the acoustic waves and shocks which are thought to be the primary source for heating the solar corona, Alfven waves, ion-cyclotron waves, whistler-mode turbulence, ion-acoustic waves, and electron plasma oscillations associated with solar radio emissions. A discussion is presented of the types of measurements which would be needed to study these waves on the solar probe, the constraints imposed on the spacecraft and the research and development which would be needed to provide the necessary instrumentation.

Gurnett, D. A.↗
NASA NTRS1978

Scintillation observations near the sun

Results on the electron density spectrum, the random velocity and the mean velocity of the solar wind in the region from 5 to 100 solar radii are presented. Results are based on intensity scintillations of incoherent radio sources at different locations and different radio frequencies. The shape of the electron density irregularity spectrum is shown to be well modeled by a power law in wavenumber with a slope that abruptly steepens at higher wavenumbers. This two slope power law model is shown to have a break (defined as the wavenumber of the change of slope) that increases with decreasing distance from the Sun. The fractional random velocity is shown to be insignificant at distances of greater than 40 solar radii, but shows a steady increase with decreasing solar distance inside of 40 solar radii.

Coles, W. A.↗
NASA NTRS1978

Detection of gravitational radiation and oscillations of the sun via Doppler tracking of spacecraft

The magnitude of Doppler signals produced by gravitational wave burst, continuous gravitational waves, and oscillations of the sun interacting with a spacecraft are considered. Expressions are worked out for the appropriate noise entering each measurement. The noise sources considered are the Doppler extractor, fluctuations in the solar wind and the troposphere, and fluctuations in the reference oscillator.

Douglas, D. H.↗