Evolution of the sun''s near-surface asphericities over the activity cycle

Solar oscillations provide the most accurate measures of cycle dependent changes in the sun, and the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory/Michelson Doppler Imager (MDI) data are the most precise of all. They give us the opportunity to address the real challenge — connecting the MDI seismic measures to observed characteristics of the dynamic sun. From inversions of the evolving MDI data, one expects to determine the nature of the evolution, through the solar cycle, of the layers just beneath the sun's surface. Such inversions require one to guess the form of the causal perturbation — usually beginning with asking whether it is thermal or magnetic. Matters here are complicated because the inversion kernels for these two are quite similar, which means that we don't have much chance of disentangling them by inversion. However, since the perturbation lies very close to the solar surface, one can use synoptic data as an outer boundary condition to fix the choice. It turns out that magnetic and thermal synoptic signals are also quite similar. Thus, the most precise measure of the surface is required.

We argue that the most precise synoptic data come from the Big Bear Solar Observatory (BBSO) Solar Disk Photometer (SDP). A preliminary analysis of these data implies a magnetic origin of the cycle-dependent sub-surface perturbation. However, we still need to do a more careful removal of the facular signal to determine the true thermal signal.     

Local-area helioseismology as a diagnostic tool for solar variability

Dynamical and thermal variations of the internal structure of the Sun can affect the energy flow and result in variations in irradiance at the surface. Studying variations in the interior is crucial for understanding the mechanisms of the irradiance variations. “Global” helioseismology based on analysis of normal mode frequencies, has helped to reveal radial and latitudinal variations of the solar structure and dynamics associated with the solar cycle in the deep interior. A new technique, - “local-area” helioseismology or heliotomography, offers additional potentially important diagnostics by providing three-dimensional maps of the sound speed and flows in the upper convection zone. These diagnostics are based on inversion of travel times of acoustic waves which propagate between different points on the solar surface through the interior. The most significant variations in the thermodynamic structure found by this method are associated with sunspots and complexes of solar activity. The inversion results provide evidence for areas of higher sound speed beneath sunspot regions located at depths of 4–20 Mm, which may be due to accumulated heat or magnetic field concentrations. However, the physics of these structures is not yet understood. Heliotomography also provides information about large-scale stable longitudinal structures in the solar interior, which can be used in irradiance models. This new diagnostic tool for solar variability is currently under development. It will require both a substantial theoretical and modeling effort and high-resolution data to develop new capabilities for understanding mechanisms of solar variability.     

The SOHO CELIAS/SEM EUV database from SC23 minimum to the present

The SOHO Solar EUV Monitor has been in operation since December 1995 onboard the SOHO spacecraft. This instrument is a highly stable transmission grating solar extreme ultraviolet spectrometer. It has made nearly continuous full disk solar irradiance measurements both within an 8 nm bandpass centered at 30.4 nm and throughout the 0.1 to 50 nm solar flux region since launch. The 30.4 nm flux, the 0.1 to 50 nm flux and the extracted soft X-ray (0.1 to 5 nm) flux are presented and compared with the behavior of solar proxies.     

Solar physics and interferometry mission (SPI)

This paper presents the scientific objectives of the Solar Physics and Interferometry Mission (SPI), describes succinctly the model payload and summarizes mission's issues. Novel instrumentation (interferometry) and clever mission design (small platform on low orbit with high telemetry and dedicated smaller platform on hexapod for permanently Sun-centered instruments) allow both spectral imaging and Helioseismology at very high spatial and temporal resolutions. Although not retained by ESA, this mission could become reality through NASA MIDEX and/or CNES PROTEUS opportunities as soon as 2007–2008.     

介质覆盖的柱面共形微带天线的互耦分析

 共形微带天线间的互耦对微带天线阵的性能有重要影响,另一方面,为了防止对微带天线阵的自然的或人为的损害,需要在天线阵表面涂覆介质层或给其加上天线罩,因此在设计共形微带天线与阵列时也应当考虑覆盖层或天线罩的影响.利用严格的全波法分析和计算了介质覆盖、探针馈电的柱面共形微带天线单元间的互耦,给出了E面和H面互耦的数值结果,并讨论了柱面曲率半径和贴片间距对互耦的影响,给出了互耦随频率的变化关系,同时也研究了衬底介质和覆盖层对互耦的作用.     

麻花钻钻尖锥面刃磨参数优化求解

麻花钻锥面刃磨方法有4个刃磨参数,当给定外缘转点的结构圆周后角、横刃斜角、锋角这3个结构参数时,后刀面的形状并不唯一.为了获得唯一的后刀面廓形,必须增加一个辅助参数.可供选择的补充参数有尾隙角、横刃后角、周边后角、切深后角等.这样,当给定一个补充参数后,4个设计参数就可以决定4个刃磨参数.然而单独使用某一个补充参数,就忽略了其余参数的影响.采用优化的方法来求解刃磨参数,将各个补充参数和刃磨参数的实际可调范围作为约束条件,就可以得到满足一定要求的最优解.     

航空航天复合材料应用的最新进展

文章介绍了先进复合材料的最新进展情况,内容包括用于最新复合材料体系的各种增强纤维、树脂基体,及复合材料结构设计的一些新概念。重点介绍了低成本和高效的制造技术。复合材料重要结构件的制造技术在不断改进,制造出的部件不仅精度和强度更高,而且更显成本效益。文章还介绍了航空航天领域一些新研发的复合材料结构件。     

Investigation of the motion of (99942) apophis asteroid using the SKIF cyberia multiprocessor computing system

We present the results of investigation of the dynamics of (99942) Apophis asteroid, which will undergo a very close encounter with the Earth on April 13, 2029. The region of possible motions of the asteroid is considered on the time interval (2004, 2040). In addition, it is shown that an increase of the observational interval (2004, 2006) until 2008 allowed us to reduce significantly the area of possible motions. All investigations were performed by numerical methods with the help of algorithms and software developed by us in the environment of parallel programming using the SKIF Cyberia multiprocessor computer of the Tomsk State University.     

Collision Risk Mitigation in Geostationary Orbit

The short- and long-term effects of spacecraft explosions, as a function of the end-of-life re-orbit altitude above the geostationary orbit (GEO), were analyzed in terms of their additional contribution to the debris flux in the GEO ring. The simulated debris clouds were propagated for 72yrs, taking into account all the relevant orbital perturbations.The results obtained show that 6–7 additional explosions in GEO would be sufficient, in the long term, to double the current collision risk with sizable objects in GEO. Unfortunately, even if spacecraft were to re-orbit between 300 and 500km above GEO, this would not significantly improve the situation. In fact, an altitude increase of at least 2000km would have to be adopted to reduce by one order of magnitude the long-term risk of collision among geostationary satellites and explosion fragments. The optimal debris mitigation strategy should be a compromise between the reliability and effectiveness of spacecraft end-of-life passivation, the re-orbit altitude and the acceptable debris background in the GEO ring. However, for as long as the re-orbit altitudes currently used are less than 500km above GEO, new spacecraft explosions must be avoided in order to preserve the geostationary environment over the long term.