First results from UVCS/SOHO

We present here the first results obtained by the Ultraviolet Coronagraph Spectrometer (UVCS) operating on board the SOHO satellite. The UVCS started to observe the extended corona at the end of January 1996; it routinely obtains coronal spectra in the 1145 Å – 1287 Å, 984 Å – 1080 Å ranges, and intensity data in the visible continuum. Through the composition of slit images it also produces monocromatic images of the extended corona. The performance of the instrument is excellent and the data obtained up to now are of great interest. We briefly describe preliminary results concerning polar coronal holes, streamers and a coronal mass ejection, in particular: the very large r.m.s. velocities of ions in polar holes (hundreds km/sec for OVI and MgX); the puzzling difference between the HI Ly- image and that in the OVI resonance doublet, for most streamers; the different signatures of the core and external layers of the streamers in the width of the ion lines and in the OVI doublet ratio, indicating larger line-of-sight (l.o.s.) and outflow velocities in the latter.     

Imaging the solar corona in the EUV

The SOHO (SOlar and Heliospheric Observatory) satellite was launched on December 2nd 1995. After arriving at the Earth-Sun (L1) Lagrangian point on February 14th 1996, it began to continuously observe the Sun. As one of the instruments onboard SOHO, the EIT (Extreme ultraviolet Imaging Telescope) images the Sun's corona in 4 EUV wavelengths. The He II filter at 304 Å images the chromosphere and the base of the transition region at a temperature of 5 − 8 × 10⁴ K; the Fe IX–X filter at 171 Å images the corona at a temperature of 1.3 × 10⁶ K; the Fe XII filter at 195 Å images the quiet corona outside coronal holes at a temperature of 1.6 × 10⁶ K; and the Fe XV filter at 284 Å images active regions with a temperature of 2.0 × 10⁶ K. About 5000 images have been obtained up to the present. In this paper, we describe also some aspects of the telescope and the detector performance for application in the observations. Images and movies of all the wavelengths allow a look at different phenomena present in the Sun's corona, and in particular, magnetic field reconnection.     

Observations of stars with the Hopkins Ultraviolet Telescope

The Hopkins Ultraviolet Telescope (HUT) was flown aboard the space shuttle Columbia as part of the Astro-1 mission during December 1990. During the nine-day flight, HUT carried out 3 Å resolution spectrophotometry of a wide variety of astronomical objects, including a number of stellar targets, in the 912–1860 Å range of the far ultraviolet. A few nearby stars were observed in the 415–912 Å range of the extreme ultraviolet as well. For nearly all of these targets, the spectra obtained by HUT are the first ever obtained in the spectroscopically rich region between Lyman (1216 Å) and the Lyman limit (912 Å). Here, we present highlights of the results obtained by HUT in a variety of areas of stellar astronomy.     

Wide field ultraviolet observations of Comet Halley with the FAUST Spacelab I instrument

The wide field (7.5°), arc minute imaging, and spectroscopic capabilities of the Far Ultraviolet FAUST telescope which will be flown on Spacelab I can provide valuable information on Comet Halley. The use of the FAUST instrument in obtaining images of the hydrogen coma at 1216 Å, and in obtaining objective grating spectroscopy from 1300–3300 Å of the comet and tail, are described. The FAUST images would provide large field of view data that are required for model calculations of gas production rates and the determination of scale lengths and lifetimes of ion species.     

UVSTAR, a spectrographic telescope for the shuttle Hitchhiker-M bridge

UVSTAR is an EUV spectral imager intended as a facility instrument devoted to solar system astronomy and to astronomy. It covers the wavelength range of 500 to 1250 Å, with sufficient spectral resolution to separate atomic emission lines and to form spectrally resolved images of extended plasma sources. Targets include the Io plasma torus at Jupiter, hot stars, planetary nebulae and extragalactic sources. UVSTAR will make useful measurements of emissions from the Earth's atmosphere as well. UVSTAR consists of a pair of telescopes and concave-grating spectrographs that cover the overlapping spectral ranges of 500–900 Å and 850–1250 Å. The telescopes use two 30 cm diameter off-axis paraboloids having a focal length of 1.4 m. An image of the target is formed at the entrance slits of two concave grating spectrographs. The gratings provide dispersion and re-image the slits at the detectors, intensified CCDs. The readout format of the detectors can be chosen by computer, and three slit widths are selectable to adapt the instrument to specific tasks. The spectrograph package has internal gimbals which allow rotation of ±3° about each of two axes. Dedicated finding and tracking telescopes will acquire and track the target after rough pointing is achieved by orienting the Orbiter. Responsibilities for the implementation and utilization of UVSTAR are shared by groups the U.S. and Italy. UVSTAR is scheduled for flight in early 1994.     

EUVITA — An extreme UV imaging telescope array with spectral capability

EUVITA is a set of 8 extreme UV normal incidence imaging telescopes, each of them sensitive in a narrow band (λ/Δλ = 15 to 80), centered at wavelengths between 50 and 175 Å. Each telescope has an effective area of a few cm²; a field of view of 1.2° and a spatial resolution of 10 arcsec.

EUVITA will be flown on the Russian mission SPECTRUM X-G. This satellite will be launched in a highly eccentric orbit with a period of 4 days, allowing long, uninterrupted observations (e.g. 10⁵ seconds). EUVITA's narrow spectral bands allow the measurement of source parameters such as temperature or power law index as well as interstellar absorption, and will resolve groups of strong lines emitted by optically thin hot plasmas.     

Fe XVII X-ray lines in solar coronal plasmas

Calculated intensities of the Fe X-ray lines due to transitions 2p⁶ − 2p⁵3d lines (near 15 Å) and 2p⁶ − 2p⁵3s lines (near 17 Å) are compared with measured line intensities in solar and tokamak spectra. For the solar spectra, temperature T_e is obtained from the ratio of the Fe 16.776 Å line to a nearby Fe line. We find excellent agreement for all the major Fe line features in the 15–17 Å region except the Fe 15.015 Å line, the observed flux of which is less than the theoretical by a factor f. We find that f strongly depends on the heliocentric angle θ of the emitting region, being smallest (0.2) when the region is nearest Sun centre, but nearly 1 near the limb. Attributing this to resonance scattering, we are able to deduce the path length and electron density from the observations. Possible application to stellar active regions is given.     

Energy deposition in the upper atmosphere in the EXCEDE III experiment

The EXCEDE III sounding rocket flight of April 27, 1990 used a 18 Ampere 2.5 keV electron beam to produce an artificial aurora in the region 90 to 115 km. A “daughter” sensor payload remotely monitored the low-energy X-ray spectrum while scanning photometers measured the spatial profile of prompt emissions of N₂⁺ (1N) and N₂ (2P) transitions (3914Å and 3805Å, respectively). Two Ebert-Fastie spectrometers measured the spectral region from 1800 to 8000Å. On the “mother” accelerator payload, the return current electron differential energy spectra were monitored by an electrostatic analyzer (up to 10 keV) and by a retarding potential analyzer (0 eV to 100 eV). We present an overview of the results from this experiment.     

Results from the Far Ultraviolet Space Telescope (FAUST)

We present early results from the Far Ultraviolet Space Telescope (FAUST), which flew in March 1992 with the ATLAS space shuttle mission. The telescope provides wide-field images in the far ultraviolet (1400–1800 Å). Studies underway using the data obtained on this mission include establishing the brightness and distribution of far ultraviolet stars in the halo of our Galaxy, establishing the far ultraviolet properties of nearby galaxies and nearby clusters of galaxies, analyzing the diffuse galactic light, and searching for the origin of the extragalactic ultraviolet light. We discuss the instrument performance, and early results from these observations.     

Extreme ultraviolet observations of the solar corona: First results from the coronal diagnostic spectrometer on SOHO

We present first results from the Coronal Diagnostic Spectrometer (CDS) aboard the ESA/NASA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO). CDS is a double spectrometer operating in the 151–785 Å range. This region of the solar spectrum is rich in emission lines from trace elements in the solar atmosphere, which can be used to derive diagnostic information on coronal and transition region plasmas. Early spectra are presented and well identified lines are listed. In addition, examples of images in selected wavelength ranges are shown, for a prominence, a loop system and a bright point, demonstrating well the power of such extreme ultraviolet observations.     

Opacity effects in soft X-ray spectral lines of the solar corona

Current literature suggests that several lines in the soft X-ray portion of the coronal spectrum may not be optically thin. Here, we confirm the results of Schmelz et al. (1996) who find no significant opacity effects for three of the brightest non-iron resonance lines in this part of the spectrum — O VIII at 18.97Å, Ne IX at 13.45Å, and Mg XI at 9.17Å. A comparison is made between each of these lines and an optically thin “reference” line produced by the same element in the same ionization state — O VIII at 15.18Å, Ne IX at 13.55Å, and Mg XI at 9.23Å. In the latter two cases, the comparison line is the intersystem line of the He-like triplet. 33 spectra from the Solar Maximum Mission Flat Crystal Spectrometer are analyzed, all of which were obtained from non-flaring, quasi-stable active regions.     

MIRAX: a Brazilian X-ray astronomy satellite mission

We describe the “Monitor e Imageador de Raios-X” (MIRAX), an X-ray astronomy satellite mission proposed by the high-energy astrophysics group at the National Institute for Space Research (INPE) in Brazil to the Brazilian Space Agency. MIRAX is an international collaboration that includes, besides INPE, the University of California San Diego, the University of Tübingen in Germany, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Space Research Organization Netherlands. The payload of MIRAX will consist of two identical hard X-ray cameras (10–200 keV) and one soft X-ray camera (2–28 keV), both with angular resolution of 5–7^′. The basic objective of MIRAX is to carry out continuous broadband imaging spectroscopy observations of a large source sample (9 months/yr) in the central Galactic plane region. This will allow the detection, localization, possible identification, and spectral/temporal study of the entire history of transient phenomena to be carried out in one single mission. MIRAX will have sensitivities of 5 mCrab/day in the 2–10 keV band (2 times better than the All Sky Monitor on Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer) and 2.6 mCrab/day in the 10–100 keV band (40 times better than the Earth Occultation technique of the Burst and Transient Source Experiment on the Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory). The MIRAX spacecraft will weigh about 200 kg and is expected to be launched in a low-altitude (600 km) circular equatorial orbit around 2007/2008.     

Dynamics of the low altitude secondary proton radiation belt

At the interface between the upper atmosphere and the radiation belt region, there exists a secondary radiation belt consisting mainly of energetic ions that have become neutralized in the ring current and the main radiation belt and then re-ionized by collisions in the inner exosphere. The time history of the proton fluxes in the 0.64 – 35 MeV energy range was traced in the equatorial region beneath the main radiation belts during the three year period from 21 February 1984 to 26 March 1987 using data obtained with the HEP experiment on board the Japanese OHZORA satellite. During most of this period a fairly small proton flux of −1.2 cm⁻² s⁻¹ sr⁻¹ was detected on geomagnetic field lines in the range 1.05 < L < 1.15. We report a few surprisingly deep and rapid flux decreases (flux reduction by typically two orders of magnitude). These flux decreases were also long in duration (lasting up to three months). We also registered abrupt flux increases where the magnitude of the proton flux enhancements could reach three orders of magnitude with an enhancement duration of 1–3 days. Possible reasons for these unexpected phenomena are discussed.     

HRTS observations of spicular emission at transition region temperatures above the solar limb

Slit spectra and spectroheliograph observations were obtained during the fourth rocket flight of the High Resolution Telescope and Spectrograph (HRTS) on 7 March 1983. A curved slit 900 arc sec in length was placed at the solar limb on the western edge of the south polar coronal hole, giving both coronal hole and quiet region coverage. In addition, spectroheliograph images tuned to cover a passband around 1550 Å (primarily C IV at 10⁵ K) were taken over an 8 × 15 arc min field. Simultaneous Hα images were obtained at Sac Peak Observatory. The C IV spectroheliograms show general spiked emission above the limb, and also several small loo- or prominence-like events. Slit spectra along the tops of several of these structures show tilted features which could be interpreted as rotational velocities of approximately 50 km s^?1.     

Multiband echo tomography of Sco X-1

We present preliminary results of a simultaneous X-ray/optical campaign of the prototypical LMXB Sco X-1 at 1–10 Hz time resolution. Lightcurves of the high excitation Bowen/HeII emission lines and a red continuum at λ_c  6000 Å were obtained through narrow interference filters with ULTRACAM, and these were cross-correlated with simultaneous RXTE X-ray lightcurves. We find evidence for correlated variability, in particular when Sco X-1 enters the Flaring branch. The Bowen/HeII lightcurves lag the X-ray lightcurves with a light travel time which is consistent with reprocessing in the companion star while the continuum lightcurves have shorter delays consistent with reprocessing in the accretion disc.     

ROSAT-WFC detection of the Lyman continuum flux of β CMa (B1 II–III)

We report the first detection of Lyman continuum (≈ 600Å) emission from a non-degenerate star. The WFC on-board ROSAT detected emission from β CMa (B1 II–III) which has a very low interstellar column. Both Kurucz LTE line-blanketed and Mihalas NLTE un-blanketed model atmospheres can match the observed count rate within the very considerable absolute calibration errors. We also find very marginal evidence for variability, although not at the dominant period of the known optical pulsations.     

X-ray broad line emission in Seyfert galaxies: Mrk 766 and NGC 4051

Long (>100 ks) observations of the bright Seyfert galaxies Mrk 766 and NGC 4051 have been obtained using XMM-Newton. The RGS 5–38 Å spectra reveal evidence of broad features. These can be modelled with relativistic emission lines coming from the immediate vicinity of a massive rotating black hole. Lines of OVIII, NVII and CVI are required to reproduce the spectrum of Mrk 766, whereas the spectrum of NGC 4051 can be modelled using a single, even broader OVIII line. Both Seyferts also exhibit broad iron line emission in the 2–8 keV range, and the data available thus far suggest that the strength of the low-energy emission lines and the strength of the iron line may be correlated.     

Energetic particle fluxes data base of “CORONAS-I” satellite observations

The data base DB SCR uses data obtained by the SCR instrument package on the CORONAS-I satellite. DB SCR contains information about fluxes of relativistic electrons (0.5–124 MeV), protons (1–300 MeV), nuclei (1–19 MeV/nucl) and γ-radiation (0.1–7 MeV) in the low altitude region (500 km). The time resolution of the data is 2.5 s. Magnetic field parameters (B, magnetic latitude and longitude), L-shell and local times (LT and MLT) are included in DB SCR. Since all parameters are equivalents it is possible to perform the multidimensional analysis for any set of DB SCR parameters. The additional DB SCR software packages may be used to develop different semi-empirical models.     

Hard X-ray and high-frequency decimetric radio observations of the 4 April 2002 solar flare

Hard X-ray and high frequency decimetric type III radio bursts have been observed in association with the soft X-raysolar flare (GOES class M 6.1) on 4 April 2002 (1532 UT). The flare apparently occurred 6 degrees behind the east limb of the Sun in the active region NOAA 9898. Hard X-ray spectra and images were obtained by the X-ray imager on RHESSI during the impulsive phase of the flare. The Brazilian Solar Spectroscope and Ondrejov Radio Telescopes recorded type III bursts in 800–1400 MHz range in association with the flare. The images of the 3–6, 6–12, 12–25, and 25–50 keV X-ray sources, obtained simultaneously by RHESSI during the early impulsive phase of the flare, show that all the four X-ray sources were essentially at the same location well above the limb of the Sun. During the early impulsive phase, the X-ray spectrum over 8–30 keV range was consistent with a power law with a negative exponent of 6. The radio spectra show drifting radio structures with emission in a relatively narrow (Δf ≤ 200 MHz) frequency range indicating injection of energetic electrons into a plasmoid which is slowly drifting upwards in the corona.     

High spectral resolution Fabry-Perot interferometer measurements of comet Halley at H-alpha and 6300 Å

A 40.6 cm Newtonian telescope has been interfaced to the Fabry-Perot interferometer at the Arecibo Observatory to make high spectral resolution measurements of Comet Halley emissions at 6562.72 Å (H-alpha) and 6300.3 Å (OI). In March 1986 the H-alpha surface brightness for a 5′.9 field of view centered on the comet nucleus decreased from 39±7.8 rayleighs on 12 March to 16±3.8 rayleighs on 23 March. The atomic hydrogen production rate on 12 March 1986 was 1.62±0.5 × 10³⁰ s⁻¹, and on 23 March 1986 it was 6.76±2.3 × 10²⁹ s⁻¹. Using spectral resolution of 0.196 Å, we found the atomic hydrogen outflow velocity to be approximately 7.9±1.0 km s⁻¹. In general, the H-alpha spectra are highly structured, and indicative of a multiple component atomic hydrogen velocity distribution. An isotropic outflow of atomic hydrogen at various velocities is not adequate to explain the spectra measured at H-alpha. The 6300.3 Å emission of O(1D) had a surface brightness of 81±16 rayleighs on 15 March 1986, and 95±11 rayleighs on 17 March 1986. After adjustment for atmospheric extinction, the implied O(1D) production rate on 15 March is 6.44±3.0 × 10²⁸ s⁻¹, and the production rate on 17 March is 5.66±2.7 × 10²⁸ s⁻¹. These spectra included a feature at 6300.8 Å that we attribute to NH₂. The brightness of this emission feature was 37±11 rayleighs on 15 March.