Lithium Abundance in Pop.II Stars A post-HIPPARCOS discussion

The relation between the lithium abundance observed in Population II stars and the primordial abundance, is still an open question (see Cayrel and Duncan, this meeting). A few recent results are discussed. HIPPARCOS data show that the standard model of stellar evolution can explain the 6Li detection in HD 84937, suggesting a negligible depletion of 7Li. A slope in the Li/Teff relation for Pop II dwarfs and a spread of their Li abundance have been advocated, and both used as arguments in favor of Li depletion. The slope is not confirmed when two other independent temperature scales are used. The Li scatter around the plateau is hardly larger than the scatter predicted from determination errors. Hints from a scatter of Li in subgiants of the globular cluster M92 are not completely conclusive. The determination of more accurate Li abundances in the Pop II stars is an urgent but difficult task, requiring better model atmosphere (better convection treatment) and the help of observational data about Pop II stars (such as long base interferometry).     

On the conditions for fluidisation in cometary mantles

In our current understanding, active cometary nuclei comprise a volatile-depleted outer crust covering a mixture of dust and ices. During each perihelion passage the thermal wave penetrates the crust and sublimates a portion of these ices, which then escape the nucleus, dragging with them dust particles that replenish the coma and dust tail. The flux of released gases is likely to vary as a complex function of solar distance, nucleus structure, spin rate, etc. It has been previously hypothesised that at some point a fluidised state could occur, in which the gas drag is approximately equal to the weight of overlying dust and ice grains. This state is well understood and used in industrial processes where extensive mixing of the gas and solid components is desired. The literature on fluidisation under reduced gravity and pressure conditions is here reviewed and published relations used to predict the conditions under which fluidisation could occur in the near-surface of a cometary nucleus.     

Intrinsic time scale for reconnection on the dayside magnetopause

Recently much attention has been focused on the transient behavior of the magnetopause in response to pressure pulses and southward fluctuations of the interplanetary magnetic field. We examine the motion of the magnetopause behind the foreshock and conclude that this motion is affected by foreshock pressure variations but not by fluctuations in the direction of the magnetic field. Neither magnetopause erosion nor flux transfer event occurrence is controlled by the foreshock. On the contrary, flux transfer events occur at times of steady IMF and thier quasi-periodic behavior is controlled by the magnetopause or the magnetosphere and is not driven by the external boundary conditions. Since flux transfer events are clearly due to reconnection, this observation implies that the IMF must be southward some time perhaps as long as 7 minutes before flux transfer begins.     

Dayside reconnection during IMF northward: A possible foreshock effect

The northward and southward orientation of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) is usually considered as providing the external boundary conditions in the solar wind interaction with the Earth's magnetopause but it is the magnetic field in the magnetosheath that interacts with the Earth's magnetic field. In this paper, we consider the possibility that the wave activity in the foreshock region may affect the magnetic field orientation in the magnetosheath with time scales that might be geomagnetically effective. If magnetosheath magnetic field becomes disturbed on plasma streamlines which are connected to the quasi-parallel bow shock and foreshock, the magnetic field orientation on the inner magnetosheath may differ significantly from the undisturbed IMF. We present a model of dayside reconnection which may occur when the IMF northward and illustrate its effects on the erosion of the magnetopause.     

Theory of magnetic reconnection in three dimensions

Magnetic reconnection in traditional, two-dimensional theory can be closely associated with topological properties of the magnetic field, separatrices, neutral lines, or separators. Such well-defined topological properties may no longer exist, or become hopelessly complicated, in more general three-dimensional configurations, that otherwise behave physically quite similarly to the two-dimensional configurations. We discuss generalized definitions of reconnection applied to such situations and illustrate typical properties with simulations of three-dimensional reconnection in the magnetotail.     

Collisionless reconnection in the magnetotail

Recent developments regarding collisionless reconnection in current sheets with a finite normal magnetic field component (B_z) are reviewed. In 2-D x, z configurations the ion tearing mode is stabilized by the electron compressibility. When the y dependence is included, cross-field current instabilities can be excited. Of these, the drift kink mode appears to be particularly important. 3-D electromagnetic particle simulations indicate that this mode can act as the precursor to the growth of tearing modes and subsequent reconnection.     

Coronal heating by reconnection

The outermost atmosphere of the Sun, called the corona, is some 200 times hotter than the surface of the Sun. The main source of energy for heating the corona is believed to be the magnetic field which dominates the corona. Magnetic reconnection is probably the most important mechanism for releasing magnetic energy and may, therefore, be important for coronal heating or micro-flaring. The best observational examples of reconnection in the corona are thought to be X-ray bright points, which are small-scale brightenings seen randomly throughout the whole corona. Theoretical models can not only explain the key observations relating to bright points, but they can also explain the complex three-dimensional structures often seen in bright points. In these models magnetic neutral points play a significant role as the centres for reconnection both in two and three dimensions.     

Turbulence dissipation scale in the inner heliosphere

Small scale turbulence in the solar corona and the solar wind is considered. The estimates of dissipation scale in the inner heliosphere are obtained in the assumption that the initial source of turbulence is located near the chromosphere-corona transition layer. Theoretical results are compared with radiooccultation data.     

Forecasting the 23 and 24 solar cycles on the basis of MGM spectrum

A new method of nonlinear spectral analysis (called the method of global minimum: MGM), based on the best presentation (in sense of minimal squares) of a given time data set as a sum of sinusoids whose frequencies, amplitudes and phases are to be determined, has been used to find periodicities in annual Wolf sunspot numbers (W) during the period 1700–1995. The possible future behaviour of the 11-year solar cycle (based on an extrapolation of the calculated model) is also presented. The main characteristics of the 23^rd solar cycle are as follows: the W maximum occurs about 2004, with a peak of nearly 220. An unusually large value of W will occur during the 23^rd cycle, which should be characterised by the longest maximum, specifically, W will be greater than 100 during the 11-year period from 1997 to 2007. The first sharp rise will occur during the period 1996–1998, the second sharp during 2002–2004. The main features of the 24 year cycle are as follows: the next minimum in W, associated with the 24^th solar cycle, should occur in the year 2008 and the maximum in 2014. W is expected to peak at about 180. The minimum value for the 25^th year cycle is expected to occur in the year 2019. It is shown that the accuracy of these predictions depends, first of all, on the extrapolation of the hyperlong harmonic of the calculated polyharmonic model fit of observed annual sunspot numbers during the period 1700–1995. The error bars in the definition of the maximum and minimum epochs can be as large as two years.     

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.