A question raised from the observation of dynamic cusp formation: When and where does particle acceleration occur?

We present observations of a C9.4 flare on 2002 June 2 in EUV (TRACE) and X-rays (RHESSI). The multiwavelength data reveal: (1) the involvement of a quadrupole magnetic configuration; (2) loop expansion and ribbon motion in the pre-impulsive phase; (3) gradual formation of a new compact loop with a long cusp at the top during the impulsive phase of the flare; (4) appearance of a large, twisted loop above the cusp expanding outward immediately after the hard X-ray peak; and (5) X-ray emission observed only from the new compact loop and the cusp. In particular, the gradual formation of an EUV cusp feature is very clear. The observations also reveal the timing of the cusp formation and particle acceleration: most of the impulsive hard X-rays (>25 keV) were emitted before the cusp was seen. This suggests that fast reconnection occurred during the restructuring of the magnetic configuration, resulting in more efficient particle acceleration, while the reconnection slowed after the cusp was completely formed and the magnetic geometry was stabilized. This observation is consistent with the observations obtained with Yohkoh/Soft X-ray Telescope (SXT) that soft X-ray cusp structures only appear after the major impulsive energy release in solar flares. These observations have important implications for the modeling of magnetic reconnection and particle acceleration.     

The Effects of Transverse Magnetic Field and Density Variations on the Particle Energy Spectra in a Reconnecting 3D Current Sheet

Electron and proton acceleration by a super-Dreicer electric field is further investigated in a non-neutral reconnecting current sheet (RCS) with a variable plasma density. The tangential B _z and transverse magnetic field components B _x are assumed to vary with the distances x and z from the X nullpoint linearly and exponentially, respectively; the longitudinal component (a ‘guiding field’) is accepted constant. Particles are found to gain a bulk of their energy in a thin region close to the X nullpoint where the RCS density increases with z exponentially with the index λ and the tangential magnetic field B _x also increases with z exponentially with the index α. For the RCS with a constant density (λ = 0), the variations of the tangential magnetic field lead to particle power-law energy spectra with the spectral indices γ₁ being dependent on the exponent α as: for protons and for electrons in a strong guiding field (β > 10⁻²) and for electrons in a moderate or weak guiding field (β > 10⁻⁴). For the RCS with an exponential density increase in the vicinity of the X nullpoint (λ≥ 0) there is a further increase of the resulting spectral indices γ that depends on the density exponent index λ as for protons and for electrons in weaker guiding fields and as for electrons in stronger guiding fields. These dependencies can explain a wide variety (1.5–10) of particle spectral indices observed in solar flares by the variations of a magnetic field topology and physical conditions in a reconnecting region. This can be used as a diagnostic tool for the investigation of the RCS dynamics from the accelerated particle spectra found from hard X-ray and microwave emission.     

基于曲面拼接的球面全景生成算法

提出一种基于曲面拼接的球面全景自动生成算法.该算法包括球面投影、图像空洞消除、全局光强校正、图像匹配与缝合等关键步骤,实现了以固定视点为中心的4π立体空间内全方位场景观察.重点研究了水平和垂直方向的球面投影,完整保留了投影点空间信息,避免了因信息丢失造成的视图严重变形,甚至在两极无法展开的问题;采用"反算"插值的方法,解决了投影过程中因坐标离散化造成的图像走样及空洞现象;提出"分散全局累积误差"方法,对光照变化强烈的图像序列进行光强校正,克服了以往算法只对相邻而非全局图像进行光强调整的限制;利用基于特征的方法在曲面上对图像进行匹配和融合,生成视点空间内无缝平滑的球面全景图像.整个算法自动完成,光照鲁棒性强,拼接效果好,具有较高的应用价值.      

HELIO: The Heliophysics Integrated Observatory

Heliophysics is a new research field that explores the Sun–Solar System Connection; it requires the joint exploitation of solar, heliospheric, magnetospheric and ionospheric observations.     

Modeling the coronal magnetic field in a polar hole

The coronal magnetic field in the northern polar coronal hole in 1986 is predicted on the basis of the photospheric magnetic field observations and the horizontal current-current sheet coronal model (Zhao and Hoeksema, 1993). The predicted magnetic field intensity is stronger near the center of the hole than near the edge. The calculated expansion factor for the entire hole does not match the expansion factor of any flux tube in the hole, suggesting that it would not be appropriate to use the expansion factor for entire hole to represent the divergence of the flux tube in analyzing the acceleration and heating of the plasma in coronal holes.     

孙中山晚年复归儒学原因初探

孙中山晚年复归儒学，根源于其坚定的民族立场，对西方“文明”的反省，以及建设革命党和从事政党政治的需要。     

Trace — The transition region and coronal explorer

TRACE is a single-instrument solar mission that will be put into a Sunsynchronous polar orbit and will obtain continuous solar observations for about 8 months per year. It will collect images of solar plasmas at temperatures from 10⁴ to 10⁷ K, with 1-arcsec spatial resolution and excellent temporal resolution and continuity. With such data, we expect to gain a new understanding of many solar and stellar problems ranging from coronal heating to impulsive magnetohydrodynamic phenomena.     

适应间断照射雷达导引头设计中的几个问题

主要针对在间断照射条件下半主动雷达寻的导引头回波灵敏度的变化、导引头能正常工作的间断照射的时序安排、无线电修正指令的作用等几个导引头设计中必然涉及的问题进行了讨论。对在理想情况下适应间断照射导引头的回波灵敏度作出了理论估算，给出了导弹初始工作和末段工作时所需的间断频率。     

Optimal multi-site selection for a PV-based lunar settlement based on a novel method to estimate sun illumination profiles

Recently, space organizations have considered the Moon to host lunar bases. Such bases require power and energy to function. However, the efficient and safe use of the energy resources on the Moon is a huge challenge. Space photovoltaic (PV) power systems are appealing technologies due to their maturity and high solar energy availability at some locations on the Moon. The effectiveness of these PV systems depends on their selenographic location, which might necessitate the deployment of energy storage technologies to cover the base’s energy demand. Some analysts have proposed the installation of PV modules on kilometers-tall towers near the lunar poles to harvest more solar energy and limit the need for energy storage systems (ESSs). Alternatively, this paper proposes to harvest the energy from multiple sites in the lunar South Pole region using a novel technique to compute the Sun illumination profile and the LOLA topographic databases to compute the terrain elevations. The proposed algorithm seeks the most optimal configuration of sites and tower heights to minimize the longest night period and total distance between the sites. This study assesses groups of 1 to 6 sites assuming the use of towers having heights of 10, 100, and 500 [m]. The time horizon for the analysis is one Axial Precession Cycle, which is approximately 18.6 years. According to the results, a system of two sites with a separation of 42.05 [km] and towers of 500 [m] height has a maximum darkness period of only 3 [h] while another solution proposes a system of three sites with towers of 10 [m] that removes the need of EES (solar eclipse periods by the Earth are not considered). The proposed technique is suitable for engineering applications, such as base planning and operation management.