The local bubble

Recently, observations with the rosat PSPC instrument and the spectrometers onboard the euve satellite have given new detailed information on the structure and physical conditions of the Local Bubble. From the early rocket experiments, and in particular from the WISCONSIN Survey, the existence of a diffuse hot gas in the vicinity of the solar system, extending out to about 100 pc, has been inferred in order to explain the emission below 0.3 keV. The higher angular resolution and sensitivity of rosat made it possible to use diffuse neutral clouds as targets for shadowing the soft X-ray background. Thus, in some directions, more than half of the flux in the 0.25 keV band appears to come from outside the Local Bubble. Further, measurements of the diffuse EUV in the LISM, show surprisingly few emission lines. These findings are in conflict with the standard LHB model, which assumes a local hot (T 10⁶ K) plasma in CIE. Model calculations, based on the non-equilibrium cooling of an expanding plasma, show a promising way of reconciling all available observations. Thus the present temperature within the LB may be as low as 4 × 10⁴ K and its number density as large as 2 × 10^–2 cm ^–3, giving a total pressure that is roughly in agreement with the Local Cloud.Abbreviations CIE collisional ionization equilibrium - ISM Interstellar Medium - LHB Local Hot Bubble - LB Local Bubble - LISM Local ISM - SB superbubble - SXR soft X-ray - SXRB SXR Background - VLISM Very Local ISM Heisenberg Fellow     

X-ray Diffraction Gratings for Astrophysics

Over the past year, we have celebrated the tenth anniversary of the Chandra and XMM-Newton X-ray observatories. Both carry powerful, novel diffraction grating spectrometers, which have opened true X-ray spectroscopy for astrophysics. I will describe the design and operation of these instruments, as the background to some of the beautiful results they have produced. But these designs do not exhaust the versatility and essential simplicity of diffraction grating spectrometers, and I will discuss applications for the International X-ray Observatory IXO.     

X-ray emission from isolated hot white dwarfs

Hot white dwarfs are objects that copiously emit in the Extreme Ultraviolet and soft X-ray range. They are the brightest sources seen in the Low Energy Telescope of EXOSAT, with countrates up to 25 cnts/s. in contrast to their optical and UV spectrum the total flux and spectral distribution at soft X-ray energies are highly sensitive to the effective temperature, structure and elemental composition of the dwarf's atmosphere. The imaging soft X-ray experiments onboard EXOSAT cover with large sensitivity the spectral region where the peak of emission of hot white dwarfs is expected to occur.I here review some of the (preliminary) results obtained so far with broadband X-ray photometry on a dozen or so white dwarfs, and some of the high-resolution spectra obtained for three white dwarfs with the grating spectrometers.     

X-Ray Spectroscopy of Galaxy Clusters: Beyond the CIE Modeling

X-ray spectra of galaxy clusters are dominated by the thermal emission from the hot intracluster medium. In some cases, besides the thermal component, spectral models require additional components associated, e.g., with resonant scattering and charge exchange. The latter produces mostly underluminous fine spectral features. Detection of the extra components therefore requires high spectral resolution. The upcoming X-ray missions will provide such high resolution, and will allow spectroscopic diagnostics of clusters beyond the current simple thermal modeling. A representative science case is resonant scattering, which produces spectral distortions of the emission lines from the dominant thermal component. Accounting for the resonant scattering is essential for accurate abundance and gas motion measurements of the ICM. The high resolution spectroscopy might also reveal/corroborate a number of new spectral components, including the excitation by non-thermal electrons, the deviation from ionization equilibrium, and charge exchange from surface of cold gas clouds in clusters. Apart from detecting new features, future high resolution spectroscopy will also enable a much better measurement of the thermal component. Accurate atomic database and appropriate modeling of the thermal spectrum are therefore needed for interpreting the data.     

Spectroscopy in Utrecht: A Brief History

In the first half of the 20th century, Leonard Ornstein turned the Physics Laboratory of Utrecht University into a center for testing the nascent quantum mechanics through accurate measurements of line intensities in flame spectra. The microphotometer of instrument builder Willem Moll was the key to this success. Marcel Minneart used this instrument to study stellar spectra at the Utrecht Astronomical Institute, and in particular for the Photometric Atlas of the Solar Spectrum. When the opportunity came in the 1960s to build instruments for research from space, it was natural that Kees de Jager opted for spectroscopy, in X-ray observations of the Sun. The expertise developed in this program allowed the Space Research Organisation of the Netherlands to be a principal player in the development of X-ray spectrographs on the Einstein, EXOSAT, Chandra and XMM-Newton satellites.     

Future X-ray Missions for High Resolution Spectroscopy

The future X-ray missions for high resolution spectroscopy are briefly reviewed. ASTRO-H, planned for launch in 2014, will introduce microcalorimeters for the first time and reveal dynamical motions of hot gas in extended objects. High resolution spectroscopy will also be used for the search of missing baryons with oxygen lines in the local universe. Dedicated X-ray missions are also planned. A very large X-ray observatory IXO, under joint study of NASA, ESA and JAXA, will explore the evolution of the universe using X-ray spectroscopy as a very powerful tool.     

Element Abundances in X-ray Emitting Plasmas in Stars

Studies of element abundances in stars are of fundamental interest for their impact in a wide astrophysical context, from our understanding of galactic chemistry and its evolution, to their effect on models of stellar interiors, to the influence of the composition of material in young stellar environments on the planet formation process. We review recent results of studies of abundance properties of X-ray emitting plasmas in stars, ranging from the corona of the Sun and other solar-like stars, to pre-main sequence low-mass stars, and to early-type stars. We discuss the status of our understanding of abundance patterns in stellar X-ray plasmas, and recent advances made possible by accurate diagnostics now accessible thanks to the high resolution X-ray spectroscopy with Chandra and XMM-Newton.     

Magnetic activity in cool stars

Aspects of magnetic activity of late-type stars are reviewed: first, results obtained through the comparison of emissions from various temperature regimes in the outer atmospheres of cool stars, then results from stellar soft X-ray spectroscopy. Spectra obtained with different instruments (Imaging Proportional Counter and Solid State Spectrometer onboard the EINSTEIN Satellite, and the Objective Grating Instruments onboard EINSTEIN and EXOSAT) are interpreted through fits with model spectra consisting of one or two temperature components. Particular attention is given to the analysis of EXOSAT spectra of Procyon, Capella, and ² CrB. Finally various relations between rotation and different measures of activity are compared. The effective X-ray temperature, derived from single-temperature fits to soft X-ray IPC spectra, is shown to play a part in the relation between activity and rotation.     

The X-Ray Spectrometer on the MESSENGER Spacecraft

NASA’s MESSENGER (MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging) mission will further the understanding of the formation of the planets by examining the least studied of the terrestrial planets, Mercury. During the one-year orbital phase (beginning in 2011) and three earlier flybys (2008 and 2009), the X-Ray Spectrometer (XRS) onboard the MESSENGER spacecraft will measure the surface elemental composition. XRS will measure the characteristic X-ray emissions induced on the surface of Mercury by the incident solar flux. The Kα lines for the elements Mg, Al, Si, S, Ca, Ti, and Fe will be detected. The 12° field-of-view of the instrument will allow a spatial resolution that ranges from 42 km at periapsis to 3200 km at apoapsis due to the spacecraft’s highly elliptical orbit. XRS will provide elemental composition measurements covering the majority of Mercury’s surface, as well as potential high-spatial-resolution measurements of features of interest. This paper summarizes XRS’s science objectives, technical design, calibration, and mission observation strategy.     

Deducing Electron Properties from Hard X-ray Observations

X-radiation from energetic electrons is the prime diagnostic of flare-accelerated electrons. The observed X-ray flux (and polarization state) is fundamentally a convolution of the cross-section for the hard X-ray emission process(es) in question with the electron distribution function, which is in turn a function of energy, direction, spatial location and time. To address the problems of particle propagation and acceleration one needs to infer as much information as possible on this electron distribution function, through a deconvolution of this fundamental relationship. This review presents recent progress toward this goal using spectroscopic, imaging and polarization measurements, primarily from the Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI). Previous conclusions regarding the energy, angular (pitch angle) and spatial distributions of energetic electrons in solar flares are critically reviewed. We discuss the role and the observational evidence of several radiation processes: free-free electron-ion, free-free electron-electron, free-bound electron-ion, photoelectric absorption and Compton backscatter (albedo), using both spectroscopic and imaging techniques. This unprecedented quality of data allows for the first time inference of the angular distributions of the X-ray-emitting electrons and improved model-independent inference of electron energy spectra and emission measures of thermal plasma. Moreover, imaging spectroscopy has revealed hitherto unknown details of solar flare morphology and detailed spectroscopy of coronal, footpoint and extended sources in flaring regions. Additional attempts to measure hard X-ray polarization were not sufficient to put constraints on the degree of anisotropy of electrons, but point to the importance of obtaining good quality polarization data in the future.     

What Can Be Learned from X-ray Spectroscopy Concerning Hot Gas in the Local Bubble and Charge Exchange Processes?

Both solar wind charge exchange emission and diffuse thermal emission from the Local Bubble are strongly dominated in the soft X-ray band by lines from highly ionized elements. While both processes share many of the same lines, the spectra should differ significantly due to the different production mechanisms, abundances, and ionization states. Despite their distinct spectral signatures, current and past observatories have lacked the spectral resolution to adequately distinguish between the two sources. High-resolution X-ray spectroscopy instrumentation proposed for future missions has the potential to answer fundamental questions such as whether there is any hot plasma in the Local Hot Bubble, and if so what are the abundances of the emitting plasma and whether the plasma is in equilibrium. Such instrumentation will provide dynamic information about the solar wind including data on ion species which are currently difficult to track. It will also make possible remote sensing of the solar wind.     

Plasma Motion and Kinematics in Cool and Hot Stars

The environments of both hot and cool stars are the sites of highly dynamic processes involving motion of gas and plasma in winds, flows across shocks, plasma motions in closed magnetic fields, or streams along magnetospheric accretion funnels. X-ray spectroscopy has opened new windows toward the study of these processes. Kinematics are evident in line shifts and line broadening, and also more indirectly through the analysis and interpretation of density-sensitive lines. In hot stellar winds, expanding-wind kinematics are directly seen in broadened lines although the broadening has turned out to often be smaller than anticipated, and some lines are so narrow that coronal models have been revived. Although X-ray spectra of cool stars have shown line shifts and broadening due to the kinematics of the entire corona, e.g., in binary systems, intrinsic mass motions are challenging to observe at the presently available resolution. Much indirect evidence for mass motion in magnetic coronae is nevertheless available. And finally, spectral diagnostics has also led to a new picture of X-ray production in accreting pre-main sequence stars where massive accretion flows collide with the photospheric gas, producing shocks in which gas is heated to high temperatures. We summarize evidence for the above mechanisms based on spectroscopic data from XMM-Newton and Chandra.     

Langmuir Turbulence and Suprathermal Electrons

Charged particle acceleration takes place ubiquitously in the Universe including the near-Earth heliospheric environment. Typical in situ spacecraft measurements made in the solar wind show that the charged particle velocity distribution contains energetic components with quasi scale-free power-law velocity dependence, f～v ^?α , for high velocity range. In this Review a theory of quiet-time solar-wind electrons that contain a suprathermal component is discussed, in which these electrons are taken to be in dynamical equilibrium with Langmuir turbulence. This Review includes an overview of the Langmuir turbulence theory, as well as a discussion on asymptotic equilibrium solution of Langmuir turbulence/suprathermal electron system. Theoretical predictions of high-energy electron velocity power-law distribution index is then compared against the recent observations of the superhalo electron velocity distribution made by instruments onboard WIND and STEREO spacecraft. It is shown that the theoretical prediction of velocity power-law index is intermediate to the observed range.     

The THEMIS ESA Plasma Instrument and In-flight Calibration

The THEMIS plasma instrument is designed to measure the ion and electron distribution functions over the energy range from a few eV up to 30 keV for electrons and 25 keV for ions. The instrument consists of a pair of “top hat” electrostatic analyzers with common 180°×6° fields-of-view that sweep out 4π steradians each 3 s spin period. Particles are detected by microchannel plate detectors and binned into six distributions whose energy, angle, and time resolution depend upon instrument mode. On-board moments are calculated, and processing includes corrections for spacecraft potential. This paper focuses on the ground and in-flight calibrations of the 10 sensors on five spacecraft. Cross-calibrations were facilitated by having all the plasma measurements available with the same resolution and format, along with spacecraft potential and magnetic field measurements in the same data set. Lessons learned from this effort should be useful for future multi-satellite missions.     

500 – 3200 Å observations of the interacting binary stars V356 Sgr and β Lyr

In this paper we present new results from the Voyager ultraviolet spectrometers and the IUE spacecraft on V356 Sgr and β Lyr. The V356 Sgr observations cover, in detail, two eclipses and include one IUE high dispersion SWP image. During both eclipses the total strength of the UV emission lines were found to be invariant. Also, an uneclipsed UV continuum was detected at wavelengths shorter than 1600 Å. The IUE high dispersion SWP spectrum revealed that the emission lines are extremely broad, almost symmetrical lines with weak, slightly blue shifted absorption components. No evidence of carbon is seen in the emission or absorption spectrum of V356 Sgr in eclipse. A model for the origin of the circumstellar matter in this binary system is presented. The Voyager ultraviolet observations of β Lyr show a strong far-UV continuum that is detectable down to 912 Å The far-UV continuum flux level was variable on time scales shorter than the orbital period and displayed no obvious orbital modulation or eclipses. The spectral shape of the far-UV continuum closely resembles that of a UX UMa type cataclysmic variable. On 16 August 1985 an rapid brightening of the far-UV continuum was observed which was also reminiscent of cataclysmic variables. Analysis of the β Lyr data suggest that the central object must be small, with a radius on the order of 1 R_⊙ or less.     

Helium, Oxygen, Proton, and Electron (HOPE) Mass Spectrometer for the Radiation Belt Storm Probes Mission

The HOPE mass spectrometer of the Radiation Belt Storm Probes (RBSP) mission (renamed the Van Allen Probes) is designed to measure the in situ plasma ion and electron fluxes over 4π sr at each RBSP spacecraft within the terrestrial radiation belts. The scientific goal is to understand the underlying physical processes that govern the radiation belt structure and dynamics. Spectral measurements for both ions and electrons are acquired over 1 eV to 50 keV in 36 log-spaced steps at an energy resolution ΔE _FWHM/E≈15 %. The dominant ion species (H⁺, He⁺, and O⁺) of the magnetosphere are identified using foil-based time-of-flight (TOF) mass spectrometry with channel electron multiplier (CEM) detectors. Angular measurements are derived using five polar pixels coplanar with the spacecraft spin axis, and up to 16 azimuthal bins are acquired for each polar pixel over time as the spacecraft spins. Ion and electron measurements are acquired on alternate spacecraft spins. HOPE incorporates several new methods to minimize and monitor the background induced by penetrating particles in the harsh environment of the radiation belts. The absolute efficiencies of detection are continuously monitored, enabling precise, quantitative measurements of electron and ion fluxes and ion species abundances throughout the mission. We describe the engineering approaches for plasma measurements in the radiation belts and present summaries of HOPE measurement strategy and performance.     

High resolution UV solar spectroscopy

The advantages of high resolution UV spectroscopy for the investigation of the solar atmosphere are stressed while the limitations in the areas of instrumentation and diagnosis are discussed. The recent achievements (made essentially by Skylab, OSO-8 and rocket instruments) are reviewed and discussed.It is shown that high resolution UV solar spectroscopy has improved our knowledge of the dynamics of the upper layers of the solar atmosphere. Within the present instrument capabilities the birth of coronal expansion is shown to take place at the top of the transition region. The existence of downward flows over the bright regions of the network is evidenced from redshifts or transition region and chromospheric optically thin lines: velocities as large as 22 km s^-1 have been measured in O vi. Short period waves (95 s) have been detected in lines of Si ii at chromospheric levels in addition to the well known 300s and 180 s photospheric and chromospheric oscillations. There is strong evidence that optically thin chromospheric and transition region lines are broadened by a nonthermal velocity component which is maximum at 1.3 × 10⁵ K and decreases at higher temperatures. This may indicate the presence of unresolved acoustic or magnetohydrodynamic waves so oftenly set fourth as the source of chromospheric and coronal heating.Contradictions between the various results are pointed out and discussed. They might be attributed to the different angular resolution of the instruments, a key parameter for future space observations. It is suggested that the Solar Optical Telescope (SOT) and the Grazing Incidence Solar Telescope (GRIST) which are presently under phase A studies at NASA and ESA be considered as a tandem of instruments to fly on Spacelab in the 1980's. Both their angular and spectral resolution appear sufficient to resolve most of the problems under discussion today.Review presented at the Vth Conference on UV and X-ray Spectroscopy of Astrophysical and Laboratory Plasmas, London, July 4–7, 1977.     

Kinematics of Supernova Remnants: Status of X-Ray Observations

A supernova (SN) explosion drives stellar debris into the circumstellar material (CSM) filling a region on a scale of parsecs with X-ray emitting plasma. The velocities involved in supernova remnants (SNRs), thousands of km?s^?1, can be directly measured with medium and high-resolution X-ray spectrometers and add an important dimension to our understanding of the last stages of the progenitor, the explosion mechanism, and the physics of strong shocks. After touching on the ingredients of SNR kinematics, I present a summary of the still-growing measurement results from SNR X-ray observations. Given the advances in 2D/3D hydrodynamics, data analysis techniques, and especially X-ray instrumentation, it is clear that our view of SNRs will continue to deepen in the decades ahead.     

The plasma instrumentation for the Galileo Mission

The plasma instrumentation (PLS) for the Galileo Mission comprises a nested set of four spherical-plate electrostatic analyzers and three miniature, magnetic mass spectrometers. The three-dimensional velocity distributions of positive ions and electrons, separately, are determined for the energy-per-unit charge (E/Q) range of 0.9 V to 52 kV. A large fraction of the 4-steradian solid angle for charged particle velocity vectors is sampled by means of the fan-shaped field-of-view of 160°, multiple sensors, and the rotation of the spacecraft spinning section. The fields-of-view of the three mass spectrometers are respectively directed perpendicular and nearly parallel and anti-parallel to the spin axis of the spacecraft. These mass spectrometers are used to identify the composition of the positive ion plasmas, e.g., H⁺, O⁺, Na⁺, and S⁺, in the Jovian magnetosphere. The energy range of these three mass spectrometers is dependent upon the species. The maximum temporal resolutions of the instrument for determining the energy (E/Q) spectra of charged particles and mass (M/Q) composition of positive ion plasmas are 0.5 s. Three-dimensional velocity distributions of electrons and positive ions require a minimum sampling time of 20 s, which is slightly longer than the spacecraft rotation period. The two instrument microprocessors provide the capability of inflight implementation of operational modes by ground-command that are tailored for specific plasma regimes, e.g., magnetosheath, plasma sheet, cold and hot tori, and satellite wakes, and that can be improved upon as acquired knowledge increases during the tour of the Jovian magnetosphere. Because the instrument is specifically designed for measurements in the environs of Jupiter with the advantages of previous surveys with the Voyager spacecraft, first determinations of many plasma phenomena can be expected. These observational objectives include field-aligned currents, three-dimensional ion bulk flows, pickup ions from the Galilean satellites, the spatial distribution of plasmas throughout most of the magnetosphere and including the magnetotail, and ion and electron flows to and from the Jovian ionosphere.     

Ionic Charge States of Solar Energetic Particles: A Clue to the Source

The ionic charge of solar energetic particles (SEP) as observed in interplanetary space is an important parameter for the diagnostic of the plasma conditions at the source region and provides fundamental information about the acceleration and propagation processes at the Sun and in interplanetary space. In this paper we review the new measurements of ionic charge states with advanced instrumentation onboard the SAMPEX, SOHO, and ACE spacecraft that provide for the first time ionic charge measurements over the wide energy range of ∼0.01 to 70 MeV/nuc (for Fe), and for many individual SEP events. These new measurements show a strong energy dependence of the mean ionic charge of heavy ions, most pronounced for iron, indicating that the previous interpretation of the mean ionic charge being solely related to the ambient plasma temperature was too simplistic. This energy dependence, in combination with models on acceleration, charge stripping, and solar and interplanetary propagation, provides constraints for the temperature, density, and acceleration time scales in the acceleration region. The comparison of the measurements with model calculations shows that for impulsive events with a large increase of Q _Fe(E) at energies ≤1 MeV/nuc the acceleration occurs low in the corona, typically at altitudes ≤0.2 R _S .