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At least 1,189 records · Page 66
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NASA NTRS1989

IUE observations of the M dwarfs CM Draconis and Rossiter 137 B - Magnetic activity at saturated levels

IUE observations of two active M dwarfs with known rotation rate or age and presumed to be almost totally convective are presented. The first of these stars, CM Draconis (Gl 630.1), is an old Population II binary with its components in tidally induced rapid rotation (P = 1.27 d, dM 4 + dM 4). The other one, Rossiter 137 B, forms with HD 36705 (AB Dor) a visual pair of young active stars. The activity of CM Dra is due to the forced rotation in a close binary, while Rst 137 B is assumed to rotate fast enough to generate its magnetica activity. These results are compared with those for M dwarfs, particularly AU Mic and YZ CMi, that have known rotational periods and measured ultraviolet emission line fluxes. The chromospheric-coronal saturation levels of cool dwarfs between 0.3 less than B-V less than 1.6 is determined. It is found that saturated F stars have stronger chromospheres than saturated M stars, but the opposite is true for the corona. Results of these observations seem to favor a rotation-dependent distributed dynamo generating magnetic flux in totally convective stars.

Vilhu, O.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Mass motions associated with solar flares

Mass motions are a principal means by which components of solar flares can be distinguished. Typical patterns of mass motions in H-alpha are described for chromospheric flare ribbons, remote chromospheric flare patches, flare loops, flaring arches, surges, erupting filaments and some expanding coronal features. Interrelationships between these phenomena are discussed and illustrations of each are presented.

Martin, Sara F.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Momentum balance in four solar flares

Solar Maximum Mission soft X-ray spectra and National Solar Observatory (Sacramento Peak) H-alpha spectra were combined in a study of high-speed flows during the impulsive phase of four solar flares. In all events, a blue asymmetry (indicative of upflows) was observed in the coronal Ca XIX line during the soft X-ray rise phase. In all events a red asymmetry (indicative of downflows) was observed simultaneously in chromospheric H-alpha. These oppositely directed flows were concurrent with impulsive hard X-ray emission. Combining the velocity data with estimates of the density based on emission measurements and volume estimates, it is shown that for the impulsive phase as a whole the total momentum of upflowing soft X-ray plasma equaled that of the downflowing H-alpha plasma, to within an order of magnitude, in all four events. Only the chromospheric evaporation model predicts equal total momentum in the upflowing soft X-ray-emitting and downflowing H-alphba-emitting materials.

Canfield, Richard C.↗
NASA NTRS1989

The footpoints of giant arches

H-alpha photographs are presented, which show chromospheric footpoints of the giant post-flare arches discovered by the Hard X-ray Imaging Spectrometer on the SMM satellite. The photographs display chromospheric signatures associated with five sequential giant arch events observed during November 6-10, 1980. The sets of footpoints at both ends of the arches have very slow brightness variations correlated in time with the brightness variations of the X-ray arches. The identifications of the two sets of footpoints is confirmed by current-free modeling of the coronal magnetic field (Kopp and Poletto, 1989). Possible explanations for the giant arch phenomenon are discussed.

Martin, Sara F.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Submillimeter observations of the sun from the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope

The first submillimeter solar observations from the 15 m James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) on Mauna Kea are reported. The JCMT submillimeter heterodyne receiver is used to observe the sun in 850 micron radiation. These are the first submillimeter observations of features on the size scale of the chromospheric supergranular network and of sunspots. A comparison is made between 850 micron images and calcium K line images of the chromospheric supergranular network in the quiet sun and in plage. Images of sunspots are given, noting that their 850 micron brightness is comparable to, or somewhat greater than, that of the quiet sun.

Lindsey, Charles A.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Microwave structure of the quiet sun at 8.5 GHz

Multifrequency VLA observations of the quiet sun near 8.5 GHz are presented. Two regions of the sun were observed, one dominated by an enhanced network corresponding to a decayed active region, and the other corresponding to an enhanced network with no active features. The full-day synthesis maps for both show nearly perfect correspondence to H-alpha images, and to longitudinal magnetograms. The coronal loops were observed to appear as regions of radio emission with no underlying longitudinal magnetic fields, being aligned with H-alpha fibrils in the photosphere, and connecting regions of opposite magnetic polarity. The emission can be modeled as optically thin free-free emission from a coronal loop with a peak axial density of approximately 2.4-2.8 x 10 to the 9th/cu cm, for an assumed coronal temperature of 1-2 x 10 to the 6th K. The quiet chromosphere sources are measured, and the significance of these measurements for existing chromospheric models is discussed.

Gary, Dale E.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Energy balance in the solar transition region. I - Hydrostatic thermal models with ambipolar diffusion

The energy balance in the lower transition region is analyzed by constructing theoretical models which satisfy the energy balance constraint. The energy balance is achieved by balancing the radiative losses and the energy flowing downward from the corona. This energy flow is mainly in two forms: conductive heat flow and hydrogen ionization energy flow due to ambipolar diffusion. Hydrostatic equilibrium is assumed, and, in a first calculation, local mechanical heating and Joule heating are ignored. In a second model, some mechanical heating compatible with chromospheric energy-balance calculations is introduced. The models are computed for a partial non-LTE approach in which radiation departs strongly from LTE but particles depart from Maxwellian distributions only to first order. The results, which apply to cases where the magnetic field is either absent, or uniform and vertical, are compared with the observed Lyman lines and continuum from the average quiet sun. The approximate agreement suggests that this type of model can roughly explain the observed intensities in a physically meaningful way, assuming only a few free parameters specified as chromospheric boundary conditions.

Fontenla, J. M.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Studies of H I and D I in the local interstellar medium

High-dispersion IUE spectra are presented of the hydrogen Ly-alpha chromospheric emission line of two nearby late-type stars, Capella and Lambda And. Both interstellar H I and D I Ly-alpha absorption can be seen against the chromospheric line, and the density, velocity dispersion, and bulk velocity of the gas in those lines of sight are derived. Limits are placed on the D/H ratio. The results are consistent with the current picture of the local interstellar medium.

Murthy, J.↗
NASA NTRS1990

The white-light flare of 1982 June 15 - Models

Models are presented for the two continuum-emitting kernels observed in the white-light flare (WLF) of June 15, 1982. They are the first semiempirical models of a WLF which are consistent not only with observations of the continuum emission level but also with a set of spectral lines having heights of formation which span the chromosphere and upper photosphere. It is shown that the models are not compatible with the hypothesis that the continuum emission is caused by enhanced Balmer and Paschen hydrogen continua, and they present strong evidence instead that the emission is of photospheric origin and that its source is due to H(-). The observation and the models derived from them show that white-light emission can occur in areas of the active region where there is no chromospheric emission and in particular no H-alpha emission. This fact seems to rule out the viability of downward transport mechanisms as the source of the energy required for the WLF.

Mauas, Pablo J. D.↗
NASA NTRS1990

The white-light flare of 1982 June 15 - Observations

This paper presents spectral observations of the continuum as well as the profiles of 29 selected atomic lines for the two continuum-emitting kernels of the June 15 1982 white-light flare, and for the neighboring quiet sun. It is found that one of the kernels does not show enhanced emission in chromospheric lines, particularly in H-alpha, although it presents the same level of white-light emission as the other kernel. This suggests that both kernels have the same thermal structure in the continuum-emitting region, but a different structure in the chromosphere, thus supporting the hypothesis that the continuum emission is of photospheric origin, and due to H(-).

Mauas, Pablo J. D.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Measurement of solar magnetic fields from radio observations

Measurements of magnetic fields in the sun's atmosphere using radio observations are discussed. Radio measurements of magnetic fields in the chromosphere and the corona are indirect. In the chromosphere, these are based upon the measurement of polarization of active regions at millimeter wavelengths. In the transition region and the corona, the properties of gyroresonance radiation of active regions at centimeter wavelengths are used. Total intensity and polarization maps and modeling are used to determine which harmonic (second or third) is predominant in the active region emission. A direct method of measuring coronal magnetic fields using cyclotron line emission is discussed, and the relevant data as presently available are presented.

Kundu, M. R.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Rotation and emission lines in stars and accretion disks

In the accretion disks of quiescent dwarf novae, Doppler mapping studies reveal that Balmer emission lines increase sharply toward the center of the disk, with surface brightnesses scaling roughly as R exp -3/2 varies as Omega(Kep). Similarly, among chromospherically active stars the H-alpha and Ca II H and K emission cores are stronger in the more rapidly rotating stars, with surface brightnesses scaling again roughly as Omega(rot). Since in both cases the emission lines scale linearly with the rotation frequency, it is proposed that the mechanism powering the emission lines in quiescent accretion disks is the same as that in chromospherically active stars, namely, the emergence of magnetic flux generated by the action of a dynamo, and its interaction with the atmosphere. If this empirical connection between disks and stars is in fact due to magnetic dynamos, the range of rotation rates available for testing dynamo theories expands from a factor of 1000 to 10 to the 7th.

Horne, Keith↗
NASA NTRS1991

The many faces of F stars - A rotational modulation study of Capella, Procyon, and Caph with the International Ultraviolet Explorer

Far-UV spectroscopy of the F stars Capella, Procyon, and Caph is reported. Although all three stars are regard as chromospherically 'active', none exhibited any sensible rotational modulations, indicating a smooth surface distribution of chromospheric emission. Balancing this nonsolar behavior are a variety of puzzling differences among the three stars. On the one hand, the C IV features of Procyon are narrow, while that of the Capella secondary and Caph are broad; differences in v sin i alone cannot explain the dichotomy. On the other hand, the high-excitation emissions of the Capella secondary and Procyon, but not Caph, exhibit statistically significant redshifts. The significance of these results is discussed in the light of the speculation by Simon and Drake (1989) that the X-ray deficient coronae of the early F dwarfs are produced by classical acoustic heating.

Ayres, Thomas R.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Ca II H(2v) and K(2v) cell grains

The bright Ca II H(2v) and K(2v) grains, which are intermittently present in the interiors of network cells in quiet-sun areas, should provide important diagnostics of the dynamical interaction between the quiet photosphere and the chromosphere above it, but their nature has so far eluded identification. The extensive observational literature on these grains and on related phenomena is here reviewed, and various contradictions are resolved. It is concluded that the grains are a hydrodynamical phenomenon in which magnetic fields do not play a major role. The grains are due to interference between a pervasive standing oscillation and an 8 Mm horizontal wavelength in the chromosphere, and the wave trains of the evanescent p-mode interference pattern in the upper photosphere.

Rutten, Robert J.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Cool stars, stellar systems, and the sun; Proceedings of the 6th Cambridge Workshop, Seattle, WA, Sept. 18-21, 1989

The present conference on cool stars, stellar systems, and the sun encompasses stellar chromospheres and coronae, binary stars, the stellar evolution of contracting stars and red giants, stellar evolution abundances of the elements, mass loss and envelopes, and stellar pulsation. Specific issues addressed include theories regarding the acoustic and magnetic heating of stellar chromospheres and coronae, stellar granulation, wave heating in magnetic flux tubes, observations of the solar Ca-II lines, longitudinal-transverse magnetic tube waves in the solar atmosphere, radio emission from rapidly rotating cool giant stars, and spot temperatures and area coverages on active dwarf stars. Also addressed are the optical and UV spectra of RS-CVn stars, emission lines from T-Tauri stars, the spectroscopy of HR1614 group stars, red giants in external galaxies, the rotation of evolved stars, the transition from red giant to planetary nebula, and radiative transfer in the dynamic atmospheres of variable stars.

Wallerstein, George↗
NASA NTRS1990

Modeling the ultraviolet photospheric spectrum of cool giant stars. I - Arcturus. II - Gamma Crucis

The UV photospheric spectra of cool giants are modeled analytically to facilitate the identification of UV spectral features and aid in the measurement of actual chromospheric flux at different wavelengths. Atomic line data derived experimentally and semiempirically are used with LTE model atmospheres by means of the SYNTHE FORTRAN code to generate the synthetic spectra. Surface flux spectra are determined and fitted to the absorption features of observed IUE high resolution spectra, and the modeled results are compared to the observed spectra of the cool giants Arcturus and the cooler Gamma Crucis. It is shown that the synthetic spectra can be produced for the stars, and chromospheric emission lines are thought to account for significant discrepancies between observed and calculated values. Two new fluorescence mechanisms are identified by modeling the ultraviolet photospheric spectrum of Gamma Crucis.

Carpenter, Kenneth G.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Energy balance in the solar transition region. II - Effects of pressure and energy input on hydrostatic models

The radiation of energy by hydrogen lines and continua in hydrostatic energy-balance models of the transition region between the solar chromosphere and corona is studied using models which assume that mechanical or magnetic energy is dissipated in the hot corona and is then transported toward the chromosphere down the steep temperature gradient of the transition region. These models explain the average quiet sun and also the entire range of variability of the Ly-alpha lines. The relations between the downward energy flux, the pressure of the transition region, and the different hydrogen emission are described.

Fontenla, J. M.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Heating mechanism(s) for transition layers in giants

The emission-line fluxes of lines originating in the lower parts of the transition layers between stellar chromospheres and coronas are studied. Simon and Drake (1989) suspect different heating mechanisms for 'hot' and cool stars. Changes in the flux ratios for the C IV to C II emission lines support this suspicion. Large C IV/C II line flux ratios appear to be indicative of magnetically controlled heating. A correlation between excess continuum flux around 1950 A and C II emission-line fluxes are confirmed for the cooler giants (late F and cooler). Excess continuum flux correlates positively with large C IV/C II line flux ratio. The excess continuum flux corresponds to an increase in temperature by several hundred degrees in layers with a mean optical depth of about 0.03. For chromospherically active stars these layers experience a mechanical flux deposition of the order of 1 percent of the total radiative flux. This flux is tentatively identified as an MHD wave flux similar to Alfven waves.

Bohm-Vitense, Erika↗