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Observation of a flare surge at the limb in C III 977 A by the Harvard OSO 6 spectroheliometer. The kinematic behavior of the surge is the same in C III and in H alpha. The amount of C III emission is consistent with a model in which the C III ions occupy sheaths with a thickness of about 100 km surrounding the cooler H alpha-emitting threads. The mass of the material containing C III ions is about 0.01 times that emitting H alpha.
A flight-worthy pulse height analyzer that has a quadratic transfer function is described. This quadratic function permits optimum usage of the entire PHA dynamic range due to the quadratic nature of the gamma ray spectrometer's resolution vs energy. After the theoretical design discussion, the implementation of the design is examined and test results described. The analyzer is part of the University of New Hampshire gamma ray monitor for OSO-H.
Examination of data from the OSO-III X-ray telescope for evidence of X-ray emission from five optically detected extragalactic supernovae during the period from March 1967 to June 1968. Upper limits to the X-ray emission in the range from 7.7 to 113 keV near optical maximum (within 30 days) fall in the range from 10 to the minus 8th to 10 to the minus 10th ergs/sq cm-sec. Reasonable estimates of the distances to these supernovae lead to upper limits on the total energies of from 10 to the 50th to 10 to the 51st ergs.
Consideration of the possibility of studying diffuse celestial sources of relatively low surface brightness such as the Milky Way, zodiacal light, and gegenschein from above the earth's atmosphere with equipment flown in artificial satellites. The techniques used for this purpose are reviewed, and some of the difficulties encountered in daytime observations from satellites by the use of a special photometer and polarimeter flown in the orbiting skylab observatory, OSO-6, are cited.
Description of the design features and operation of a new multichannel solar spectrometer to be used for ground-based observations of active regions whose X-ray and EUV emissions are studied by the OSO-H and other satellites. The electronic systems associated with the instrument include (1) an electrooptical guider controlled by a punched paper tape capable of making raster scans of selected portions of the solar disk, (2) a programmer unit that applies paper-tape commands to various portions of the instrument, (3) a closed-loop servosystem for the vacuum heliostat, (4) stepping motor controls for spectral scans, (5) a 40-channel photomultiplier readout, and (6) a magnetometer. Preliminary solar observations indicate satisfactory performance of the system.
Measurements of flare-related impulsive enhancements in solar emission lines in the extreme ultraviolet, observed from the satellite OSO-III, are reported. The enhancement of a line, expressed in percent of the total disk intensity in the line, is of the same order of magnitude as the flare area, expressed in heliocentric square degrees. Rise-times and decay-times of impulsive enhancements average about 2 min and 5 min, respectively. The maximum enhancements of radiation from ions in the chromosphere-corona transition region precede the H-alpha maximum by an average of 2 min, and occur in the same period of time as the hard component of solar X rays and the impulsive microwave bursts. Coronal lines in the extreme ultraviolet are less impulsive than the transition region lines in flare-related enhancements and their maxima follow the H-alpha maximum.
The heights of formation of a number of extreme ultraviolet lines in active regions have been measured from OSO-IV spectroheliograms. Using the Lyman continuum at 2000 km above the white light limb as a reference, we find heights for He I, He II, C III, N III, O IV, O VI, Ne VIII, Mg X, Si XII, Fe XV and Fe XVI that are in approximate agreement with models based on analysis of EUV emission intensities. The height of C II is anomalously high. The accuracy of measurement is typically about 2000 km. The data suggest that the transition zone is less steep than calculated from EUV emission intensities; however, higher resolution observations are necessary to resolve the discrepancy.
A conversion factor is used to convert Geiger (GM) tube count rates or ion chamber currents into units of the incident X-ray energy flux in a specified passband. A method is described which varies the passband to optimize these conversion factors such that they are relatively independent of the spectrum of the incident photons. This method was applied to GM tubes flown on Explorers 33 and 35 and Mariner 5 and to ion chambers flown on OSO 3 and OGO 4. Revised conversion factors and passbands are presented, and the resulting absolute solar X-ray fluxes based on these are shown to improve the agreement between the various experiments. Calculations have shown that, although the GM tubes on Explorer 33 viewed the Sun off-axis, the effective passband did not change appreciably, and the simple normalization of the count rates to the count rates of a similar GM tube on Explorer 35 was justified.
A general discussion of the scientific importance and status of stellar X-ray polarimetry is presented. A stellar X-ray polarimeter designed to fit into the bottom half of the NASA OSO-1 wheel compartment or other similar spacecraft is described. In this design, the linear polarization is obtained as a function of energy. The sensitivity of the polarimeter in the 4-24 keV energy range was optimized with the aid of a Monte Carlo simulation computer program and is given for several important celestial X-ray sources. Estimates of sensitivity thresholds for a much larger polarimeter, suitable for flight in the NASA High-Energy Astronomy Observatory (HEAO), are also given. The minimum detectable polarization for several X-ray sources is given.
An X-ray telescope aboard OSO 3 observed the Centaurus region daily from October 1967 to February 1968, and also for five days in June 1968. For this period, we derive a stable minimum flux of 0.33 plus or minus 0.33 photons per sq cm per sec between 7.7 and 38 keV from a persistent hard X-ray source around 305 deg longitude. Several single days show enhanced fluxes; and two extensive flaring episodes, one with a soft and the other with a very hard spectrum, last at least 10 days.
The brightness and polarization of the zodiacal light have been measured from the satellite OSO-5, using two photometers of effective wavelengths 4180 and 6820 A. The satellite configuration restricts the observations to ecliptic longitudes close to 90 deg, but measurements have been made from the ecliptic to the poles. On the ecliptic, the intensity of the zodiacal light was found to be 117 S10 (blue) and 315 S10 (red) with polarizations of 16.5 and 15 per cent, respectively. At the ecliptic poles the zodiacal intensity was 35 S10 (blue) with 20 per cent polarization. No temporal changes in zodiacal light have been found nor any significant differences in the intensities in the two hemispheres. The direction of polarization of the zodiacal light has been shown to be H-pass radial.
Polarization measurements made from the satellite OSO-5 show that the polarized intensity in the direction of the Scutum arm of the Galaxy is different in intensity and direction of the polarization from that observed due to the zodiacal light. The observations are consistent with polarized diffuse galactic light superposed on the zodiacal light. The results are interpreted in terms of a model in which the galactic starlight is scattered by interstellar dust.
Extreme ultraviolet observations of a quiet region of the sun on Aug. 18, 1969, with the Harvard spectroheliometer on OSO 6 indicate that the chromospheric network can be observed in lines of the chromosphere and transition region (T = 840,000 K) with almost identical structure. At coronal heights, the network changes but some residual structure can still be discerned in Mg X and perhaps Si XII, although there is little or no evidence remaining in Fe XVI.
A description is given of the results of an analysis of EUV observations of a large coronal hole observed by the Harvard College Observatory (HCO) experiment on OSO-4 in 1967, November. Models were constructed for the chromospheric-coronal transition and coronal layers of the two types of regions. A comparison of the model of the hole and the normal quiet sun indicates that the electron pressure in the hole is reduced by a factor of three and the coronal temperature is lower by 600,000 K.
We discuss spatial variations in electron density at the base of the corona and in the temperature gradient in the chromospheric-coronal transition layer as determined from analysis of maps constructed from Mg X and O VI spectroheliograms. Both the mapping techniques and results of analyzing EUV spectra from OSO 6 observations are presented. Comparisons of these maps with photospheric magnetograms and spectroheliograms made in chromospheric EUV lines and continua indicate that the electron density and temperature gradient in the transition layer tend to be enhanced in areas where the photospheric magnetic field and chromospheric EUV emission are enhanced. Relationships among the coronal electron density, transition-layer temperature gradient, chromospheric emission, and photospheric magnetic field strength are derived.
The present status of knowledge concerning the impulsive and the continuous emission of solar gamma rays and neutrons is reviewed in the light of the recent solar activity in early August 1972. The gamma ray spectrometer on OSO-7 has observed the sun continuously for most of the activity period except for occultation by the earth. In association with the 2B flare on 4 August 1972 and the 3B flare on 7 August 1972, the monitor provides evidence for solar gamma ray line emission in the energy range from 300 keV to 10 MeV. A summary of all the results available from preliminary analysis of the data will be given. Significant improvements in future experiments can be made with more sensitive instruments and more extensive time coverage of the sun.
The observations of gamma ray emission made from the OSO-7 satellite in connection with two solar flares in early August 1972 are reported. The details of the measurements and a preliminary interpretation of some of the observed features are given.
The mechanism responsible for the modulation of synchrotron radiation in the meter wave range by a solar flare is examined. The proposed explanation is based on the interaction of a flare generated shock front with a magnetic flux tube extending out into the corona over the flare. As the shock wave propagates through the flux tube, Alfven waves are developing and travelling up the tube toward each other, thereby accelerating electrons and protons by the Fermi mechanism and thus filling the top of the flux tube with energetic electrons. Radial oscillations develop as the shock front becomes parallel to the magnetic field direction and the intensity of the synchrotron radiation is modulated by these oscillations. An OSO-5 experiment detected a hard X-ray burst associated with the flare that produced modulated radio emission and X-ray modulations that are attributed to density fluctuations in the X-ray bursts.