Lyman-alpha emission from Arcturus
Star Arcturus chromospheric Lyman alpha emission observation by rocket-borne precision pointing telescope and UV spectrometer
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Star Arcturus chromospheric Lyman alpha emission observation by rocket-borne precision pointing telescope and UV spectrometer
Polarized solar millimeter emission associated with sunspot magnetic field compatible with multiple sources from chromosphere
Stellar chromosphere characteristics from OAO observation of magnesium II emission in late type stars
Harvard-Smithsonian reference atmosphere model of solar atmosphere, combining photosphere and quiet lower chromosphere
Solar X-ray line emission, using crystal spectrometers during large chromospheric flare
The formation of the strongest ultra-violet emission lines of Mg II, O I, C II, and C III in the solar atmosphere is studied in detail. The equations of statistical equilibrium and radiative transfer for each ion are solved using a general computer program that is capable of solving non-LTE line-formation problems for arbitrary atmospheric and atomic models. Interpreting the results in terms of the structure of the solar atmosphere, it is concluded that the HSRA atmosphere has a temperature too low by about 500 K near h = 1100 km and that a temperature plateau with T sub e approximately = 18,000 K and width close to 60 km exists in the upper chromosphere. The structure of the solar atmosphere in the range 20,000 to 100,000 K and the effects of microturbulence on the formation of lines are also investigated. Approximate analytic line-formation problems are solved, and more exact solutions are derived later. An attempt is made to make the best possible fit to the Ca II K line center-to-limb profiles with a one-component atmosphere, with an assumed source function and microturbulent velocity.
Rocket measurements of the solar L-alpha (1216 A) flux during various phases of the total eclipse on Nov. 12, 1966 confirm that the radiation emanates from the chromosphere. A significant difference between two portions of the photosphere limb is attributed to enhanced emission in the region of a Ca K plage. The average size of the L-alpha disk is found to be approximately 4000 km above the photosphere, and a brightening is observed at the limb.
Review of some Harvard Observatory programs aimed at defining the physical conditions in quiet and active solar regions on the basis of data obtained from the OSO-IV and OSO-VI spacecraft. The spectral range covered is from 300 A to 1400 A. This spectral range consists of emission lines and continua from abundant elements such as hydrogen, helium, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, silicon, magnesium, aluminum, neon, iron, and calcium in various ionization states ranging from neutral to 15 times ionized. The structure is discussed of the quiet solar atmosphere as deduced from center-to-limb behavior of spectral lines and continua formed in the chromosphere and corona. In reviewing investigations of solar active regions, it is shown that the structure of these regions varies in a complicated manner from point to point. The local structure is influenced by factors such as the magnetic field configuration within the active region and the age or evolutionary state of the region.
Review of some recent contributions of X-ray spectroscopy to knowledge about solar active regions and flares. As an example of the importance of X-ray spectroscopy, it is pointed out that, while there are no emission lines from highly ionized silicon in the visible spectrum, the XUV spectrum has emission lines from SiIX through SiXIV. Jordan's (1969) calculations of ionization equilibria for silicon and iron are illustrated by diagrams and discussed. The observation of SiXIV gives evidence for regions having electron temperatures from 5 to 20 million deg. The ability to record the corona against the disk of the sun has enabled Van Speybroeck et al. (1970) to identify many bright diffuse X-ray emitting regions with remnants of old active regions of the type giving rise to unipolar magnetic regions. The physical characteristics of the hot coronal plasma associated with chromospheric flares are outlined on the basis of current observations.
Evidence for the existence of 5 min oscillations in the photospheric and low chromospheric magnetic fields is presented, their properties discussed, and a possible production mechanism suggested. It is pointed out that, because the solar magnetic field is frozen into the oscillating plasma, there are several ways in which the oscillations in the plasma (which are observed as velocity oscillations) could be transferred to the magnetic field. It is shown schematically how vertical waves could cause oscillations in a horizontal magnetic field, and how horizontal waves could cause oscillations in a vertical magnetic field.
Soft X-ray photographs of the solar corona have been obtained on four flights of a rocket-borne grazing incidence telescope having a resolution of a few arc sec. The configuration of the X-ray emitting structures in the corona has been compared to the magnetic field distribution measured by photospheric longitudinal magnetograms. The X-ray structures trace the three-dimensional configuration of the magnetic field through the lower corona. Active regions in the corona take the form of tubular structures connecting regions of opposite magnetic polarity within the same or adjacent chromospheric active regions. Higher, larger structures link widely separated active regions into complexes of activity covering substantial fractions of the disk. The complexes are separated by areas of low average field in the photosphere. Interconnections across the solar equator appear to originate over areas of preceding polarity.
Demonstration that the Mg II resonance doublet at 2800 A represents a suitable diagnostic tool for the study of physical conditions in the solar chromosphere. The interpretation of intensities and line profiles requires the knowledge of all electron collision cross sections, which can affect directly or indirectly the population of upper levels of the doublet. For this purpose collision cross sections for transitions between levels 3s, 4s, 5s, 6s, 3p, 4p, 5p, 3d, 4d, and 5d have been calculated in the unitarized Coulomb-Born approximation without exchange. For the 3s-3p and 3s-3d transitions the present results are in a good agreement with the close-coupling calculations of Burke and Moores (1968).
Measurements of flare-related impulsive enhancements in solar emission lines in the extreme ultraviolet, observed from the satellite OSO-III, are reported. The enhancement of a line, expressed in percent of the total disk intensity in the line, is of the same order of magnitude as the flare area, expressed in heliocentric square degrees. Rise-times and decay-times of impulsive enhancements average about 2 min and 5 min, respectively. The maximum enhancements of radiation from ions in the chromosphere-corona transition region precede the H-alpha maximum by an average of 2 min, and occur in the same period of time as the hard component of solar X rays and the impulsive microwave bursts. Coronal lines in the extreme ultraviolet are less impulsive than the transition region lines in flare-related enhancements and their maxima follow the H-alpha maximum.
Description of a general method for inferring, from the line emission of an optically thin medium, the physical state of a gas along the column in a line of sight. The method is devised for applications to astronomy, especially for studies of the solar corona, the chromosphere-corona transition region, planetary nebulae, and other optically thin sources. A unique specification is found in terms of a bivariate distribution function describing the partitioning of matter in a gas over density and temperature. It is shown that, given sufficient observational data, it is in principle possible to determine both this bivariate distribution function and the chemical composition. The formulation for a situation encountered in the solar corona illustrates the application of the method.
Asymmetry of sunspot area with respect to the central meridian is found to depend strongly on the location of the spot group in its chromospheric facula or plage. The usual area excess for spots in the eastern half of the disk is reversed for the relatively rare spot groups situated in the following part of the plage. Qualitatively, the observed asymmetries can be explained by supposing that the apparent area of the spot is decreased by overlying bright facula, especially west of central meridian where the spot (in the usual preceding position) is viewed through the relatively bright and extensive follower part of the plage. Since both facula and spot effects are seen along the same line of sight, optical depth must change slowly with geometric depth, that is, in the active region the atmosphere is relatively transparent.
A moderate-resolution far-ultraviolet spectrum of the K2 IIIp star Arcturus, obtained with a rocket-borne spectrometer, shows chromospheric emission features. Hydrogen L-alpha and O I (1303 A) are clearly identified. The O I (1304 A) stellar surface brightness is as great or greater than that of the sun. Other metal lines, including those of carbon, are weak compared to the O I line.
The detection and significance of 300-second oscillations in extreme-ultraviolet lines formed in the solar transition region are discussed. Detection was accomplished with the Goddard extreme-ultraviolet spectroheliograph and the Wolter type II grazing-incidence telescope. The Cooley-Tukey algorithm was used to compute the required Fourier transform of the discrete data. Presence of significant power in the observed lines around 262 sec seems to be the first observational evidence that periodic waves in this frequency range persist at heights where local kinetic temperatures are close to one million degrees K. The observed horizontal extent of the wave fronts appears to be much greater than the extent of coherent oscillating elements at chromospheric heights. Several implications are stated for the problem of heating of the transition region and low corona.
A description is given of the results of an analysis of EUV observations of a large coronal hole observed by the Harvard College Observatory (HCO) experiment on OSO-4 in 1967, November. Models were constructed for the chromospheric-coronal transition and coronal layers of the two types of regions. A comparison of the model of the hole and the normal quiet sun indicates that the electron pressure in the hole is reduced by a factor of three and the coronal temperature is lower by 600,000 K.