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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 55 records · Page 3
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2014

Dynamics of the Transition Corona

Magnetic reconnection between the open and closed magnetic fields in the corona is believed to play a crucial role in the corona/heliosphere coupling. At large scale, the exchange of open/closed connectivity is expected to occur in pseudo-streamer (PS) structures. However, there is neither clear observational evidence of how such coupling occurs in PSs, nor evidence for how the magnetic reconnection evolves. Using a newly developed technique, we enhance the off-limb magnetic fine structures observed with the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly and identify a PS-like feature located close to the northern coronal hole. We first identify that the magnetic topology associated with the observation is a PS, null-point (NP) related topology bounded by the open field. By comparing the magnetic field configuration with the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) emission regions, we determined that most of the magnetic flux associated with plasma emission are small loops below the PS basic NP and open field bounding the PS topology. In order to interpret the evolution of the PS, we referred to a three-dimensional MHD interchange reconnection modeling the exchange of connectivity between small closed loops and the open field. The observed PS fine structures follow the dynamics of the magnetic field before and after reconnecting at the NP obtained by the interchange model. Moreover, the pattern of the EUV plasma emission is the same as the shape of the expected plasma emission location derived from the simulation. These morphological and dynamical similarities between the PS observations and the results from the simulation strongly suggest that the evolution of the PS, and in particular the opening/closing of the field, occurs via interchange/slipping reconnection at the basic NP of the PS. Besides identifying the mechanism at work in the large-scale coupling between the open and closed fields, our results highlight that interchange reconnection in PSs is a gradual physical process that differs from the impulsive reconnection of the solar-jet model.

magnetic fields↗
NASA NTRS1977

The response of the dayside aurora to sharp northward and southward transitions of the interplanetary magnetic field and to magnetospheric substorms

Latitudinal shifts of the discrete dayside aurora are examined with respect to variations in the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) and to magnetospheric substorms. Within 10-15 min after steplike southward (northward) transitions in the IMF the dayside auroral oval moves equatorward (poleward). In at least some cases the auroral shift is similar to an exponential relaxation in latitude from an initial to a final steady state value; for these cases the average exponential time constant is estimated to be 17 min. Substorm features in the dayside aurora include (1) an equatorward shift by 1-3 deg of the equatorward discrete auroral boundary, (2) a brightening of the discrete aurora near substorm onset, (3) the formation of multiple auroral bands, and (4) poleward motion of short-lived individual auroral arcs occurring nearly coincident in time with the equatorward boundary shifts, the average poleward velocity of these arcs being approximately 800 m/s.

Horwitz, J. L.↗
NASA NTRS2019

Observational Evidence of Magnetic Reconnection in the Terrestrial Bow Shock Transition Region

We report evidence of magnetic reconnection in the transition region of the Earth's bow shock when the angle between the shock normal and the immediate upstream magnetic field is 65°. An ion‐skin‐depth‐scale current sheet exhibits the Hall current and field pattern, electron outflow jet, and enhanced energy conversion rate through the nonideal electric field, all consistent with a reconnection diffusion region close to the X‐line. In the diffusion region, electrons are modulated by electromagnetic waves. An ion exhaust with energized field‐aligned ions and electron parallel heating are observed in the same shock transition region. The energized ions are more separated from the inflowing ions in velocity above the current sheet than below, possibly due to the shear flow between the two inflow regions. The observation suggests that magnetic reconnection may contribute to shock energy dissipation.

Wang, Shan↗
NASA NTRS1995

Magnetic reconnection in the presence of sheared flow and density asymmetry: Applications to the Earth's magnetopause

Classical models of magnetic reconnection consist of a small diffusion region bounded by two symmetric slow shocks, across which the plasma is accelerated. Asymmetries often present in space plasmas are sheared plasma flow and dissimilar plasma densities on the two sides of current sheets. In this paper, we investigate magnetic reconnection in the presence of a shear flow and an asymmetric density across the current sheet using two-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations. The results demonstrate that magnetic reconnection can occur only for a plasma flow velocity (in the frame of the X line) which is below the Alfven speed in each inflow region. This limits the velocity of the X line to a certain range for a given flow shear and provides an upper limit to the total velocity shear at which reconnection ceases to operate. Depending on the direction of the flow in the adjacent inflow region, the effects from the sheared flow and from the density asymmetry will compete with or enhance each other in respect to the magnitude and location of the currents which bound the outflow regions. The results are applied to the dayside and flank regions of the magnetosphere. For the dayside region where the magnetosheath flow is slow, the magnetic field transition region is thin and the accelerated flow is earthward of the sharp current layer (magnetopause). At the flanks tailward of the X line, shear flow and density asymmetry effects compete making the magnetic field transition layer broad with the high-speed flow contained within the transition region which explains corresponding observations. At the flanks sunward of the X line, shear flow and density asymmetry effects enhance each other and lead to a strong current sheet on the magnetosheath side of the accelerated flow. The total volume affected by magnetic reconnection is much larger than the steady state region. A large bulge region precedes the steady state region. Qualitatively, the bulge and the steady state region have similar signatures and both can explain observations. We provide criteria in order to distinguish between the bulge and the steady state region in observations.

La Belle-Hamer, A. L.↗
NASA NTRS2021

Modeling Magnetic Disk Wind State Transitions in Black Hole X-Ray Binaries

We analyze three prototypical black hole X-ray binaries, 4U 1630–472, GRO J1655–40, and H1743–322, in an effort to systematically understand the intrinsic state transition of the observed accretion disk winds between wind-on and wind-off states by utilizing state-of-the-art Chandra/HETGS archival data from multi-epoch observations. We apply our magnetically driven wind models in the context of magnetohydrodynamic(MHD)calculations to constrain(1)their global density slope(p),(2)their density (n17) at the foot point of the inner most launching radius, and(3)the abundances of heavier elements(AFe,S,Si). Incorporating the MHD winds into xstar photoionization calculations in a self-consistent manner, we create a library of synthetic absorption spectra given the observed X-ray continua. Our analysis clearly indicates a characteristic bimodal transition of multi-ion X-ray winds; i.e., the wind density gradient is found to steepen(fro mp∼1.2–1.4 to∼1.4–1.5)while its density normalization declines as the source transitions from the wind-onto the wind-off state. The model implies that the ionized wind remains physically present even in the wind-off state, despite its apparent absence in the observed spectra. Super solar abundances for heavier elements are also favored. Our global multi-ion wind models, taking into account soft X-ray ions as well as Fe K absorbers, show that the internal wind condition plays an important role in wind transitions besides photoionization changes. Simulated XRISM/Resolve and Athena/X-IFU spectra are presented to demonstrate a high fidelity of the multi-ion wind model for a better understanding of these powerful ionized winds in the coming decades

Keigo Fukumura↗
NASA NTRS1993

Magnetic field properties of the intermediate transition of the Venus ionosheath

Results of a statistical analysis of the magnetic properties of the intermediate transition of the Venus ionosheath based on the magnetic field data of the Pioneer Venus Orbiter are reported. It is found that the transition is often characterized by a substantial decrease in magnetic field intensity and an accompanying rotation to a direction that is more closely aligned with the sun-Venus axis. In other cases, the 30 kHz bursts occur outside a region of enhanced magnetic field reminiscent of the magnetic barrier external to the Venus dayside ionopause. The rotation of the magnetic field toward the sun-Venus line associated with the 30 kHz bursts is also evident here, but generally the conditions change more gradually. Possible mechanisms of these variations and ionospheric plasma expansion are examined.

Perez-De-tejada, H.↗
NASA NTRS1996

Flow Transitions in a Rotating Magnetic Field

Critical Rayleigh numbers have been measured in a liquid metal cylinder of finite height in the presence of a rotating magnetic field. Several different stability regimes were observed, which were determined by the values of the Rayleigh and Hartmann numbers. For weak rotating magnetic fields and small Rayleigh numbers, the experimental observations can be explained by the existence of a single non-axisymmetric meridional roll rotating around the cylinder, driven by the azimuthal component of the magnetic field. The measured dependence of rotational velocity on magnetic field strength is consistent with the existence of laminar flow in this regime.

Volz, M. P.↗
NASA NTRS2016

An EUV Wide-Field Imager and Spectrometer for the ISS

The Coronal Spectrographic Imager in the EUV, COSIE, combines a wide-field solar coronal EUV imager (EUVC) and an on-disk EUV imaging spectrometer (EUVS). Located on the International Space Station (ISS), the goal of the mission is to enhance our understanding of the dynamics of the Transition Corona (the region in which the coronal magnetic field transitions from closed to open), and to provide improved detection and tracking of solar eruptive events for space weather research.

heliophysics↗
NASA NTRS1993

The differential emission measure of nested hot and cool magnetic loops

The detailed thermal structure of the magnetized solar transition region, as measured by its differential emission measure (DEM(T)), is poorly known. Building on the fact that the solar surface is strongly magnetized and thereby structured, proposals have been made that envision a significant lower-temperature contribution to the energy balance from (ion) heat flux across an arcade of different temperature loops. In this paper, we describe a self-consistent 2D MHD simulation, which includes the full thermal effects of parallel stability and anisotropic conduction, of a nested-loop model of the thermal and magnetic structure of the transition region. We then demonstrate that the predicted DEM agrees with observations in the conceptually elusive T less than 10 exp 5 K regime.

Van Hoven, G.↗
NASA NTRS1965

Magnetometer experiment

Mariner IV space probe magnetometer observations of interplanetary magnetic field transitions

MAGNETOMETER↗
NASA NTRS2017

Solar Magnetic Activity and Solar-Stellar Connections

Prediction of solar magnetic activity on various temporal scales is a fundamental element of space weather, which requires a wide range of theoretical and observational expertise in solar phenomena from the deep interior to the corona. Historical observations have revealed many features of cyclic variations of the solar activity; but these data are dramatically insufficient to draw a physical picture of global magnetic field evolution. New observational data, currently available from space missions and ground-based observatories, provide us with detailed information about solar dynamics and magnetism. However, because of the relatively short duration of data series and the great variety of data types and quality, it is challenging to assimilate these data in theoretical models and make reliable forecasts. The recent unexpectedly weak solar activity cycles, as well as observations of rotational and magnetic topology transitions in solar-type stars, suggest that the Sun and its magnetic dynamo are currently in a very interesting evolutionary stage. This could relate to the difficulty in getting a model of the Sun to produce solar-like – rather than anti-solar-like – differential rotation, to reproduce the rotation profile obtained from helioseismology, and to predict solar activity cycles.

magnetic↗
NASA NTRS1983

The role of magnetic fields in stellar chromospheres and transition regions

Consideration is given to the different roles that magnetic fields play in the control of the structure and energy balance in the chromospheres and transition regions of late-type stars, in view of IUE and Einstein satellite observations. The rotational modulation of structures ('plages') that are bright in UV emission lines and overlie dark star spots suggests that magnetic flux tubes are the dominant structural elements in late-type stellar atmospheres, as well. It is proposed that the existence of a boundary between solar-type stars and those with little or no plasma, as well as the different types of G-K giants and supergiants, may be understood in terms of the fractional surface coverage by closed magnetic structures. Models computed for active and quiet regions of the sun are compared with those for active and quiet stars.

Linsky, J. L.↗
NASA NTRS1995

Radiative and Nonradiative Transitions of the Rare-Earth Ions Tm(3+) and Ho(3+) in Y3AI5O12 and LiYF4

The optical spectra of rare earth ions in solids arise primarily from electric and magnetic dipole transitions between stark split multiplets of the 4f(sup N) electronic configuration. Electric dipole transitions are parity forbidden between levels of the 4f(sup N) configuration, while those of magnetic dipole origin are allowed. It is known from experiment, however, that the significant contributions to the intensities of most transitions are electric dipole in nature. Judd and Ofelt developed the theory of forced electric dipole transitions of rare-earth ions. This study is devoted to determining electric dipole transition probabilities and branching ratios for Tm(3+) and Ho(3+) ions in Yttrium Aluminum Garnet (YAG) and Yttrium Lithium Fluoride (YLF) using the theory of Judd and Ofelt. The radiative rates determined from the Judd-Ofelt analysis are used with measured lifetimes to find nonradiative rates of relaxation.

Walsh, Brian M.↗
NASA NTRS1986

On the magnetic structure of the quiet transition region

Existing models of the quiet chromosphere-corona transition region predict a distribution of emission measure over temperature that agrees with observation for a T greater than about 100,000 K. These 'network' models assume that all magnetic field lines that emerge from the photosphere extend into and are in thermal contact with the corona. It is shown that the observed fine-scale structure of the photospheric magnetic network instead suggests a two-component picture in which magnetic funnels that open into the corona emerge from only a fraction of the network. The gas that makes up the hotter transition region is mostly contained within these funnels, as in standard models, but, because the funnels are more constricted in our picture, the heat flowing into the cooler transition region from the corona is reduced by up to an order of magnitude. The remainder of the network is occupied by a population of low-lying loops with lengths less than about 10,000 km. It is proposed that the cooler transition region is mainly located within such loops, which are magnetically insulated from the corona and must, therefore, be heated internally. The fine-scale structure of ultraviolet spectroheliograms is consistent with this proposal, and theoretical models of internally heated loops can explain the behavior of the emission measure below a T of aobut 100,000 K.

Rabin, D.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Quantized synchrotron radiation in strong magnetic fields

Spectra from electrons making synchrotron transitions in high magnetic fields are calculated using the exact quantum transition rates for Landau states up to n = 500, and the results are compared with spectra calculated from the classical formula and the asymptotic quantum formula. The behavior of the transition rates are examined at low and high harmonics as a function of the spin state of the electron. The calculations confirm those of Herold, Ruder, and Wunner (1982) for low Landau states, extending them to higher states and individual spin state transitions. The results also confirm the dominance of ground-state transitions at high field strengths noted by White (1976). Single particle emissivities for electrons with both spin-up and spin-down in the initial state are calculated using these transition rates. Spectra for thermal electron distributions at transrelativistic temperatures and for steady state injection of monoenergetic electrons with isotropic pitch angles are also presented.

Harding, Alice K.↗