Electron densities in solar flare and active region plasmas from a density-sensitive line ratio of Fe IX
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Engineering topics
Publications and source records attributed to Feldman, U..
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The expansion of plasmas produced by focusing a CO2 laser pulse onto solid planar targets is discussed. The plasmas are studied using an extreme-ultraviolet spectroheliograph. With titanium and iron targets the plasma blow-off observed in transitions within highly ionized species (e.g., Fe XVI) occurs parallel to the target normal. The plasma is tightly confined to narrow cylindrical structures about 0.7 mm in diameter and is observed as far as 1 cm from the target surface. The electron density is about 2.8 by 10 to the 18th power per cu cm at a distance of 0.7 mm from the target surface and decreases to approximately 6.5 by 10 to the 17th power per cu cm at a distance of 2.9 mm from the surface.
The expansion of laser-produced plasma is determined from the shapes of spectral lines of highly ionized iron emitted in the extreme ultraviolet. The plasmas were produced by focusing the pulse from a Nd:glass laser onto solid planar targets, and spectra were recorded with a high-resolution grazing-incidence spectrograph. From the Doppler broadening of lines of Fe XX and Fe XXI, expansion velocities of about 830 km/s were determined. The relative time-averaged ion abundances of Fe XVIII, Fe XIX, Fe XX, and Fe XXI are estimated for three different spectra. The abundances do not differ by more than a factor of 4 for any of the spectra.
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A search for a turbulence-free transition-zone region was conducted. The data used were spectra recorded by a slit spectrograph on Skylab. It was found that the nonthermal turbulent motions are smallest in certain active regions and quiescent prominences. The spectra of one such region, a quiescent prominence, are discussed. The nonthermal turbulence in the region is between about 2 and 7 km/s. Therefore, the widths of lines emitted by transition-zone ions are determined primarily by the ion temperature. To within the experimental error, temperatures derived from the line widths are equal to the temperatures of maximum emitting efficiency obtained using the ionization equilibrium calculations of Jordan (1969).
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Spectral-line ratios that may be used to determine the electron temperature and density in the solar transition zone and corona are identified. The problem of interpreting the intensity ratios of C III lines observed in Skylab EUV limb spectra is considered. It is shown that the intensity distribution with height above the solar limb of the 1176-A C III lines is different from that of the 1909-A C III lines in the Skylab spectra, suggesting that model atmospheres must be folded into the C III calculations for proper interpretation of the data. Possible reasons for the differences in the intensity distributions and widths of the 1176-A and 1909-A lines are discussed along with an application to the analogous lines of Si III.
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The coronal lines Si VIII (1446 A), Fe X (1463 A), Fe XI (1467 A), and Fe XII (1242 A and 1349 A) were observed above the limb over a quiet region, a coronal hole, and two active regions. The lines emitted at temperatures greater than 1 million K; i.e., the iron lines, are not observed in the coronal-hole spectra, so the indication is that in the coronal hole most of the plasma is at a temperature of less than 1 million K. The emission measures and column densities of the lines are derived from available atomic cross-section data, and the results are discussed. The nonthermal velocities in the coronal hole and quiet region are about 20 km/s. The velocities in the active regions are substantially less.
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Chromospheric limb spectra of a quiet-sun region between 2000 and 3200 A recorded by the normal-incidence spectrograph on Skylab are discussed. The spectral resolution is 0.12 A, and the projected slit area on the sun is 2 by 60 arcsec. A list of lines with wavelengths, identifications, and absolute intensities is given for the spectrum recorded at +4 arcsec outside the white-light limb. The intensity behavior outside the limb is shown for lines of the ions C II, Si II, Cr II, Mn II, Fe II, Fe III, Co II, and Ni II. The widths of the intersystem lines of Si II and C II increase monotonically with height above the limb. The full width at half-maximum of the Si II lines increases from 0.034 A at the limb to 0.27 A at +12 arcsec above the limb. The widths of the C II lines increase from 0.17 A at +2 arcsec to 0.31 A at +12 arcsec.
The emission-line spectrum between 1200 and 1817 A from a sunspot in McMath region 12510 near the solar center is discussed. The spectrum was obtained by the normal-incidence spectrograph on Skylab. The principal results are: (1) the widths of emission lines originating in the chromosphere and lower transition region over the sunspot are much narrower than those previously reported for a polar coronal hole observed above the limb and a quiet chromospheric network observed near the solar center, indicating that the mass motions in the sunspot are less than in these other regions; (2) the sunspot spectrum, aside from the narrow widths of emission lines, is similar to spectra from the chromospheric network boundary. The intensities of lines in the sunspot are much enhanced relative to the network interior. From the full-width at half-maximum of the 1207-A Si III line, an optical depth at line center of 3.6 is deduced. Comparison with Parker's (1974) theory of sunspots shows that, if the enhancement of emission lines is due to enhanced transport of hydromagnetic waves generated in the sunspot convective zone, the mode of the waves is predominately Alfvenic.
The paper analyzes spectra of a supergranulation cell interior and cell boundary obtained near the solar center at wavelengths between 1200 and 1560 A with a normal-incidence spectrograph aboard Skylab. Absolute intensities, relative intensities, and profiles are given for selected optically thin and optically thick lines over the cell interior, the boundary, and intermediate positions; the results are compared with spectra obtained at the limb. Characteristic lengths along the line of sight are derived for the Si III emitting region, and these are compared with the predictions of Gabriel's (1975) model. It is concluded that the present data are representative of a fairly typical cell interior and boundary, that nonthermal motions are isotropic and the same for the interior and boundary, and that the electron-density ratio between the interior and the boundary is about a factor of two or less.
A list of 193 neutral carbon lines observed in the XUV spectrum of a solar flare between 100 and 2000 A using the normal incidence spectrograph flown on Skylab is presented. Of these, 69 are newly identified lines arising from transitions from upper levels of high quantum number where the quantum number is not less than six. The new lines have allowed the determination of 63 new energy levels. Wavelengths for an additional 109 transitions were calculated by polynomial fitting using reference wavelengths of unblended neutral carbon, Si, N, and S lines emitted in the same atmospheric regions of the flare. The calculated lines falling between 1102 and 1140 A were not observed due to low instrumental efficiency at these wavelengths. The calculated wavelengths are in excellent agreement with those of Johansson (1965). It appears that in solar spectra recombination processes are dominant, enhancing the populations of the high quantum levels relative to the populations of levels with small quantum numbers.
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Spectra of a quiet solar region obtained at positions within and above the solar white-light limb in the wavelength region from 1175 to 1940 A are discussed. The spectra were obtained by the slit spectrograph (SO82-B) on Skylab. The spectral resolution is 0.06 A, and the projected slit area on the sun was 2 x 60 arcsec (1450 x 43500 km). Relative line intensities are presented for lines formed in the temperature region of the solar atmosphere from about 8000 to 220,000 K. Representative line profiles of both optically thin and optically thick lines are shown as a function of height above the limb. Random mass-motion velocities are deduced from the optically thin lines, and the relative intensities and profiles of the lines are discussed in terms of current theoretical models. A wavelength list with identifications is given for the spectrum obtained at +4 arcsec above the white-light limb.