Particle Acceleration at Interplanetary Shocks

This paper briefly reviews proton acceleration at interplanetary shocks. This is key to describing the acceleration of heavy ions at interplanetary shocks because wave excitation—and hence particle scattering—at oblique shocks is controlled by the protons and not the heavy ions. Heavy ions behave as test particles, and their acceleration characteristics are controlled by the properties of proton-excited turbulence. As a result, the resonance condition for heavy ions introduces distinctly different signatures in abundance, spectra, and intensity profiles, depending on ion mass and charge. Self-consistent models of heavy-ion acceleration and the resulting fractionation are discussed. This includes discussion of the injection problem and the acceleration characteristics of quasi-parallel and quasi-perpendicular shocks.     

Isotopic Composition of the Solar Wind Inferred from In-Situ Spacecraft Measurements

The Sun is the largest reservoir of matter in the solar system, which formed 4.6 Gyr ago from the protosolar nebula. Data from space missions and theoretical models indicate that the solar wind carries a nearly unfractionated sample of heavy isotopes at energies of about 1 keV/amu from the Sun into interplanetary space. In anticipation of results from the Genesis mission’s solar-wind implanted samples, we revisit solar wind isotopic abundance data from the high-resolution CELIAS/MTOF spectrometer on board SOHO. In particular, we evaluate the isotopic abundance ratios ¹⁵N/¹⁴N, ¹⁷O/¹⁶O, and ¹⁸O/¹⁶O in the solar wind, which are reference values for isotopic fractionation processes during the formation of terrestrial planets as well as for the Galactic chemical evolution. We also give isotopic abundance ratios for He, Ne, Ar, Mg, Si, Ca, and Fe measured in situ in the solar wind.     

ICME期间磁暴的太阳风参数和极光沉降能量

基于1995-2004年ICME驱动的强烈磁暴(SA型)、强磁暴(SB型)和延迟型主相暴(SC型)三种磁暴类型,对1AU处太阳风动压、太阳风速度、行星际磁场、EK-L电场以及极光沉降能量进行时序叠加分析,并分别与-vBz耦合函数和Newell耦合函数进行对比.结果表明,三种磁暴在ICME到达前期的太阳风动压较稳定,背景太阳风、极光沉降能量、行星际磁场和磁层存在相对平静期. ICME到达前期SA型磁暴的背景太阳风速度、行星际磁场南向分量以及极光沉降能量的均值高于另外两种磁暴类型,这说明大型日冕物质抛射在ICME到达前就对行星际磁场、背景太阳风和HP产生了影响.磁暴急始后,SC型磁暴的EK-L电场斜率小,峰值延后且行星际磁场北向分量增强,这些都是磁暴主相延迟的表现,极光沉降能量随着行星际磁场转为南向而增加.     

准直光学系统热变形对太阳模拟器性能影响研究

为了给太阳模拟器系统热管理提供可靠的技术依据,研究了准直光学系统热变形对系统性能的影响。选取项目组自主研发的高精度太阳模拟器准直光学系统作为研究对象,利用有限元软件仿真实际工作条件下各光学元件表面温度及热变形分布,将通光表面变形数据拟合为泽尼克系数导入光学设计软件中,分析热变形对系统准直角误差及辐照均匀度影响。研究结果表明：在未采取温控措施的自然对流条件下,热变形造成±1′的准直角误差和41.3%的辐照不均匀度,超出允许范围,需进行温控。通过光机集成分析法,给出了不同温度下,对流系数与热变形导致的准直角误差和辐照不均匀度对应关系,为风冷温控系统工程化设计提供了依据。     

Studies of electron and ion temperatures at 500 km altitude during sunrise using Indian SROSS C2 satellite

Solar dependence of electron and ion temperatures (T_e and T_i) in the ionosphere is studied using RPA data onboard SROSS C2 at an altitude of ∼500 km and 77°E longitude during early morning hours (04:00–07:00 LT) for three solar activities: solar minimum, moderate and maximum during winter, summer and equinox months in 10°S–20°N geomagnetic latitude. In winter the morning overshoot phenomenon is observed around 06:00 LT (T_e enhances to ∼4000 K) during low-solar activity and to T_e ∼ 3800 K, during higher solar activity. In summer, it is observed around 05:30 LT, but the rate of T_e enhancement is higher during moderate solar activity (∼2700 K/hr) than the low-solar activity (∼1700 K/hr). During equinox, this phenomenon is delayed and is observed around 06:00 LT (∼4200 K) during all three activities.     

The response of sporadic E-layer to the total solar eclipse of July 22, 2009 over the equatorial ionization anomaly region of the Indian zone

The digital ionosonde located in Bhopal (23.2°N, 77.2°E), India has been used to investigate the responses of the Es layer in the equatorial ionization anomaly (EIA) crest to the total solar eclipse (TSE) of July 22, 2009. Results show the presence of intense Es layer during and after the eclipse period. The gravity waves induced by the solar eclipse propagated upward in the Es layer and produced the periodic disturbance. The results of the wavelet analysis display the presence of dominant oscillation of about 24–32, 16–20 and 8 min. The appearance of intense sporadic-E concomitantly with the signatures of gravity wave suggests that the wind shear introduced by the solar eclipse induced gravity wave might be the plausible mechanism behind the intensification of Es-layer ionization.     

Mission analysis and performance comparison for an Advanced Solar Photon Thruster

The so-called “compound solar sail”, also known as “Solar Photon Thruster” (SPT), is a design concept, for which the two basic functions of the solar sail, namely light collection and thrust direction, are uncoupled. In this paper, we introduce a novel SPT concept, termed the Advanced Solar Photon Thruster (ASPT), which does not suffer from the simplified assumptions that have been made for the analysis of compound solar sails in previous studies. After having presented the equations that describe the force on the ASPT and after having performed a detailed design analysis, the performance of the ASPT with respect to the conventional flat solar sail (FSS) is investigated for three interplanetary mission scenarios: an Earth–Venus rendezvous, where the solar sail has to spiral towards the Sun, an Earth–Mars rendezvous, where the solar sail has to spiral away from the Sun, and an Earth-NEA rendezvous (to near-Earth asteroid 1996FG3), where a large change in orbital eccentricity is required. The investigated solar sails have realistic near-term characteristic accelerations between 0.1 and 0.2 mm/s². Our results show that an SPT is not superior to the flat solar sail unless very idealistic assumptions are made.     

Various methods of calibration of the STEREO/WAVES antennas

On October 25th, 2006, NASA’s two STEREO spacecraft were launched which are designed to increase our knowledge of the physics of the solar system. On board they carry a sophisticated radio experiment, called S/WAVES. The key technology, used by S/WAVES is the direction finding capability in addition to the use of two spacecraft which makes it possible to triangulate radio sources. Direction finding requires the reception properties of the antennas to be known very accurately. We applied several different methods to calibrate the S/WAVES antennas. In this paper the methods are described and compared and the results are presented and discussed with respect to advantages and disadvantages of the different methods.