Optical bursts from X-ray irradiated accretion disk

A new burst mode of MXB 1730 - 335, the rapid burster, as discovered by Hakucho in August 1979, is characterized by a train of long X-ray bursts whose behaviour is dictated by the accretion rate. In this mode the burst luminosity reaches the Eddington limit, so that the X-ray pressure controls the accretion from a reservoir in the magnetopause and accretion columns in the polar regions explain general features of the rapid burster observed in August 1979.     

A model of the rapid burster

A new burst mode of MXB 1730 - 335, the rapid burster, as discovered by Hakucho in August 1979, is characterized by a train of long X-ray bursts whose behaviour is dictated by the accretion rate. In this mode the burst luminosity reaches the Eddington limit, so that the X-ray pressure controls the accretion from a reservoir in the magnetopause and accretion columns in the polar regions explain general features of the rapid burster observed in August 1979.     

A review of recent results on cosmic gamma-ray bursts

The results obtained on cosmic gamma-ray bursts over the last several years are reviewed and compared with the older “historical” results. Fine time resolution measurements of burster light curves continue to reveal structure at the millisecond and sub-millisecond level, suggesting a compact object origin. Similarly, the evolution of the low energy X-ray spectra of bursts towards shapes consistent with 1–2 keV blackbodies may be interpreted in terms of a neutron star origin, as can the continuing detection of absorption and emission features. The statistical evidence, however, argues strongly for an isotropic distribution which has been completely sampled. To reconcile this with galactic neutron stars requires the assumption that they are Population II objects. Counterpart searches have evolved to the point where they may be carried out within days of an event, and a soft X-ray source has now been detected in the error box of one recent burst.     

一次较大的太阳物质抛射的光学与射电研究

用H_α色球、射电运动频谱、射电日像和米波、分米波、厘米波段上的七个单频射电总流量的观测资料及地磁记录,对1982年1月22日太阳西边缘的物质抛射事件做了综合分析.用流量变化率曲线讨论了爆发特点.在绝热假设下推得抛射物质团在1.16R_⊙附近的内部磁场为12G,总电子数为1038,总能量为7×1029erg.事件的总抛射物质～1014-1015g,总能量～2×1030erg.      

Limit cycles of accretion disks in the Rapid Burster and GRS 1915+105

The Rapid Burster is known to show rapidly repetitive bursts (Type II bursts). An interesting feature of the Type II burst is an approximate proportionality of the burst duration to the time to the next burst. The time sequence from a burst to the following quiescent phase can be said to be a time-scale invariant high (burst phase)–low (quiescent phase) transition. The Galactic superluminal source, GRS 1915+105 exhibits a variety of the time variation of the X-ray flux and often repeats transitions between a high-flux level and a low-flux level. In such high–low transitions, Belloni et al. (1997b) found an approximate proportionality between the duration of the low-flux phase and that of the following high-flux phase, over a wide range of the time scale. This low–high transition can again be said to be time-scale invariant. However, an interesting difference between the two time scale invariant transitions is an opposite order of the high and low-flux phase in the time-scale invariant sequence. In the case of the Rapid Burster, the high-flux (burst) phase is the first, while the low-flux phase is the first in the case of GRS1915+105. A limit cycle between an accretion disk in a state of the standard-disk and that in a state of the ADAF (advection dominated accretion flow) is discussed to explain the time-scale invariant high–low (or low–high) transition as well as the difference between the neutron star system and the black-hole system, qualitatively. A phenomenological relation of the accretion disk change with mass ejections from the central part of the disk is also discussed.     

Cut-off features in interplanetary solar radio type IV emission

Solar radio type IV bursts can sometimes show directivity, so that no burst is observed when the source region in located far from the solar disk center. This has recently been verified also from space observations, at decameter wavelengths, using a 3D-view to the Sun with STEREO and Wind satellites. It is unclear whether the directivity is caused by the emission mechanism, by reduced radio wave formation toward certain directions, or by absorption/blocking of radio waves along the line of sight. We present here observations of three type IV burst events that occurred on 23, 25, and 29 July 2004, and originated from the same active region. The source location of the first event was near the solar disk center and in the third event near the west limb. Our analysis shows that in the last two events the type IV bursts experienced partial cut-offs in their emission, that coincided with the appearance of shock-related type II bursts. The type II bursts were formed at the flanks and leading fronts of propagating coronal mass ejections (CMEs). These events support the suggestion of absorption toward directions where the type II shock regions are located.     

Association of time structures of solar bursts at millimetric and at metric waves

Due to the lack of simultaneous high sensitivity/time resolution observations at mm- cm-λ and m-λ a program on such investigations has been carried out with data obtained by INPE at Itapetinga and by the Astronomical Observatory of Trieste. Preliminary results obtained by comparing mm-wave burst structures with 408, 327 and 237 MHz indicate that i) for majority of major time structures (time scales of the order of 1 sec) observed at 22 GHz bursts, corresponding type III bursts have been observed at 237 MHz, however ii) start times at mm-λ and m-λ are not often coincident at two wavelengths. These observations favour the hypothesis of (a) time dependent acceleration of energetic electrons and (b) burst emission is the response to a multiple injection of energetic electrons.     

Observations of cosmic gamma-ray bursts

The recent discovery of a late-1983 cluster of soft transients /1,2/ adds a new aspect to the study of gamma ray bursts. Its source is consistent with that of an isolated, > 4-year earlier event from the galactic bulge /3/. It is the third repeating series found to date with gamma-ray burst instrumentation; typical events of all three are fairly brief in duration and have energies below those typical of the harder, > 150-keV events and well above those of X-ray bursts. One may speculate that these soft repeaters form a separate population with sources in high-density (galactic or LMC) regions, given the disk and the N49 source directions for the three series.Gamma ray burst workshops and conferences of recent years are cited. Current viewpoints include a size spectrum based on peak intensity that can fit the −1.5-index power law /4/; this, consistent with the continuing isotropy of hard bursts /5/, implies the absence of any source region information. Observations of spectral evolution /6,7/ and of very high every components /8/, together with uncertainties as to the low-energy features, suggest that the understanding of hard burst spectra may be premature. Evidence for regular features in time histories has been inferred /9/; less convincing than in the soft prototype of 1979 March 5, the effects of quasi-periodic processes may be indicated instead.Since the hard, “classical” bursts and the soft repeaters may not necessarily have a great deal in common, and with no conclusive counterpart studies, the assumption that nearby neutron stars are the sources of the hard events remains plausible but unproved.     

微波爆发前太阳射电发射的周期振荡

本文分析了1979年1月一12月紫台3.2cm、10cm波段上的爆发资料,峰值流量增量ΔS/S≥50%的爆发共计25个,发现所有25个爆发的爆前记录曲线上都存在着周期从几秒一10几秒、振幅约为太阳非扰动分量l%的振荡。这种振荡一般先于爆发几小时或几天。但对于特大爆发,如47GB型爆发,在长时间持续振荡以后,往往在爆前几十分钟或几小时突归宁静,呈平滑记录;对于较小的爆发,脉冲爆或持续期较短的复杂爆,如3S型、20GRF型以及45C型,在振荡同爆发之间不存在记录曲线的宁静时段,而往往由振荡直接延续到爆发。因此微波辐射的这种振荡特性可能是耀斑区域储能过程的一种反映。      

Extragalactic gamma-ray bursts

Several lines of evidence (the log N(>S)-log S curve and the spatial distribution of bursts) suggest that gamma-ray bursters may reside in an extended halo population, at distances of about 100 kpc from the Earth. Several recent models (e.g. the thermal synchrotron model and the extinct radio pulsar model) arrive at the same conclusion. We point out here that if bursters are indeed quite distant, then it may be possible to detect extragalactic GRB's under some conditions. Using simple scaling arguments, we calculate burst rates and intensities in two nearby galaxies, LMC and M31, and show that a variety of presently operational or planned experiments have sufficient sensitivity to detect extragalactic bursts. Even non-detection can be used to set interesting upper limits to the burster distance scale.     

Investigating gamma-ray burst data reduction techniques with Swift’s instruments

The amount of data on gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) and the detected afterglows observed by the Swift satellite contributed significantly to the understanding of the phenomenon. The behavior of the early afterglow rises some interesting questions. With the early afterglow localizations of gamma-ray burst positions made by Swift, the clear delimitation of the prompt phase and the afterglow is not so obvious any more. There are hints of a canonical X-ray afterglow lightcurve with segments of different slopes. Not all bursts necessarily show all the segments. It is important to see if the prompt phase and the afterglow has the same origin or they stem from different parts of the progenitor system. We will combine the of gamma-ray burst data from BAT and XRT and compare the extrapolated gamma-ray flux to the X-ray in a sample of bursts and find that there is a good agreement between the two measurements. This indicates that the physical process shaping burst and the early afterglow are the same.     

Kilometric type II radiation from interplanetary shocks: Interpretation of voyager results

April 1978 was an unusually active month with five well-defined kilometric type II radio bursts observed by the radio astronomy experiment on the Voyager spacecraft. An analysis has been made of these kilometric radio events and their associated interplanetary shocks. The apparent speed of each of the shocks was determined from the average frequency drift rate of the kilometric type II burst by employing the hypothesis that the radiation was emitted at the local plasma frequency. This analysis suggests that the Type II radiation is plasma emission at the fundamental with the most intense Type II emission emanating from local dense structures in the interplanetary medium. We further show that sudden changes in the frequency drift rate can be explained by assuming that the shock propagates into a region with a different density gradient.     

Evidence for a shock wave in visible light and radio observations of the 1980 June 29 event

Shock waves, as evidenced by type II radio bursts, often accompany flares and coronal mass ejection transients. At present, the density enhancements observed by coronagraphs are believed by some to be ejected matter from the low corona, and by others to be the compressed material behind a shock front. If the former is correct, one would expect in some cases to see a density enhancement, associated with the compression region of the shock, some distance ahead of the transient ejecta. Such a density enhancement has not been previously reported.The coronal transient of 1980 June 29 (0233 UT) was observed with the High Altitude Observatory's Coronagraph/Polarimeter aboard SMM. This flare-associated coronal transient event was well observed with the Culgoora Radioheliograph, including a well-developed type II burst. Visible on the coronagraph images is a faint circular arc moving out well ahead of the transient loops. This arc is moving at more than 900 km s^?1 while the transient itself is moving at a speed of about 600 km s^?1. Both the arc and transient appear to have originated either prior to the X-ray flare or at some height above the flare at the time of the flare. The type II burst observed at Culgoora is associated with the transient loops, and no type II emission is identified with the faint arc.Due to its great speed, we interpret the faint arc as a manifestation of a shock wave, but also envision a separate shock wave associated with the transient loops as evidenced by the type II emission. Preliminary density measurements are consistent with this interpretation, and show the outer shock wave associated with the faint arc to have a Mach number M_A ≤ 1.7. At present we have no convincing explanation for the lack of a type II burst in association with the arc.This work was supported in part by NASA through grants NSG-7287 and NAGW-91 to the University of Colorado, Boulder, and S-55989 to the High Altitude Observatory, National Center for Atmospheric Research. The National Center for Atmospheric Research, NCAR, is sponsored by the National Science Foundation.     

A multiple type-II burst associated with a coronal transient and its MHD simulation

A large coronal transient took place on 8 May 1981. The transient was related to an M7.7/2B flare and was associated with at least two coronal type II bursts. The velocities of the type II bursts were in the range 1100–1800 kms^?1, in excess of the transient velocity of 500–1000 kms^?1. Two dimensional positions of the type II radio sources are available from both the Clark Lake and the Culgoora Radio Observatories. We carry out two dimensional MHD simulations of the event, taking into account the observed velocity, position, and size of the type II bursts. We simulate the multiple shocks observed during the event and their interaction, and discuss some results of the simulation.     

The evolution of a complex solar radio burst corresponding to special configuration of microwave sources

A complex radio burst associated with periodic (∼1 and 6 min) pulsations and several kinds fine structures, e.g., normal- and reverse-drifting type III bursts, zebra patterns, and slowly drifting structure was observed with the radio spectrometers (1.0–2.0, 2.6–3.8, 5.2–7.6, and 0.65–1.5 GHz) at the National Astronomical Observatories of China (NAOC) in Beijing and Yunnan on 19 October 2001. In combination with the images of 17 and 34 GHz from NoRH and the magnetograms from MDI we reveal the existence and evolution of preexisting and new emerging sources, and find the horseshoe-shaped structure of microwave sources intensity during the late phase of the burst. Through the detailed comparison of the evolution of each source with the time profiles of radio bursts corresponding to these sources we indicate that the intimate correlation between the microwave sources evolution and the generation of the radio burst associated fine structures. Some fine structures can be considered as the MHD turbulence and plasma emission mechanism, based on the anisotropic beam instability and hybrid waves generations. From the characteristics of observations we may presume that the coronal magnetic structures should contain an extended coronal loop system and multiple discrete electrons acceleration/injection sites. The mechanisms of this complex radio burst are deal with the incoherent gyrosynchrotron emission from the trapped electrons and the coherent plasma emission from the non trapped electrons.     

VLF相位突然异常与太阳X射线事件相关性的分析

本文通过实测的VLF信号的SPA事件的数据和太阳X射线爆发通量密度之间的相关分析,建立了它们之间的数值关系.由于在SPA事件时,电离层高度的变化与太阳X射线爆发的通量密度之间的相关性很好,可以利用SPA事件的数据来估算太阳X射线爆发的强度.因为大气的吸收,在地面上不能直接观测X射线强度.作为一个实例,用推出的数值关系,计算了1982年6月3日的一次SPA事件,并与X射线爆发的数据作了比较.      

射电爆发显著事件与Ⅱ型爆发

本文分析了北京天文台2840MHz射电望远镜,1989年1月-1993年12月期间观测到的太阳射电爆发的显着事件与米波Ⅱ型、Ⅳ型爆发的对应关系,从相关结果来看,爆发的峰值流量越高△T越短,这说明当太阳流量越大,高达500s.f.u.以上时,Ⅱ型爆发会在爆发的峰值前后很短时间内发生,可能与粒子的加速有关。      

Hard X-ray and radio investigations prior to or during the impulsive phase of solar flares

The comparative study of radiation in the different spectral ranges, including X-ray and radio observations, can establish constraints for the electron acceleration/injection mechanisms. This paper will focus on the activity prior and during the impulsive phase of solar flares. Observations give evidence for electron acceleration prior the impulsive phase. The association between type III groups and hard X-ray bursts becomes closer with increasing starting frequency of the former observed during the impulsive phase. It is shown that pure type III burst groups, when they are X-ray associated, do not correspond to an intense X-ray emission. At the opposite, the type III/V events can be associated with strong X-ray emission. Radioheliograph observations bring constraints on the geometry of the injection/acceleration site.     

同无黑子耀斑相协的微波爆发机制的探讨

1980—1984年期间,我们在云南天文台9375MHz,3653MHz和2902 HHz三个波段的射电观测资料中,查到11组微波爆发与无黑子耀斑相伴随。本文研究了这些爆发与耀斑的大气层高度,射电爆发类型以及通过落进峰值流量-时间图的位置,确认出爆发机制是活动区中作麦克斯韦分布电子的热轫致辐射。