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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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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2003

A Measure from Line-of-Sight Magnetograms for Prediction of Coronal Mass Ejections

From a sample of 17 vector magnetograms of 12 bipolar active regions, we have recently found (1) that a measure of the overall nonpotentiality (the overall twist and shear in the magnetic field) of an active region is given by the strong-shear length L(sub SS), the length of the portion of the main neutral line on which the observed transverse fields is strong (greater than 150 G) and strongly sheared (shear angle greater than 45 deg), and (2) that L(sub SS) is well correlated with the CME productivity of the active regions during the +/- 2-day time window centered on the day of the magnetogram. In the present paper, from the same sample of 17 vector magnetograms, we show that there is a viable proxy for L(sub SS) that can be measured from a line-of-sight magnetogram. This proxy is the strong-gradient length L(sub SG), the length of the portion of the main neutral line on which the potential transverse field is strong (greater than 150 G) and the gradient of the line-of-sight field is sufficiently steep (greater than or approximately 50 G/Mm). In our sample of active regions, L(sub SG) is statistically significantly correlated with L(sub SS) (correlation confidence level greater than 95%), and L(sub SG) is as strongly correlated with active-region CME productivity as is L(sub SS)(correlation confidence level approximately 99.7%). Because L(sub SG) can be measured from line-of-sight magnetograms obtained from conventional magnetographs, such as the magnetograph mode of the Michelson Doppler Imager (MDI) on board the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO), it is a dependable substitute for L(sub SS) for use in operational CME forecasting. In addition, via measurement of L(sub SG), the years-long, nearly continuous sequence of 1.5-hour-cadence full-disk line-of-sight magnetograms from MDI can be used to track the growth and decay of the large-scale nonpotentiality in active regions and to examine the role of this evolution in active-region CME productivity.

Falconer, D. A.↗
DOE OSTI2017

“Dandelion” Filament Eruption and Coronal Waves Associated with a Solar Flare on 2011 February 16

Coronal disturbances associated with solar flares, such as H α Moreton waves, X-ray waves, and extreme ultraviolet (EUV) coronal waves, are discussed herein in relation to magnetohydrodynamic fast-mode waves or shocks in the corona. To understand the mechanism of coronal disturbances, full-disk solar observations with high spatial and temporal resolution over multiple wavelengths are of crucial importance. We observed a filament eruption, whose shape is like a “dandelion,” associated with the M1.6 flare that occurred on 2011 February 16 in H α images taken by the Flare Monitoring Telescope at Ica University, Peru. We derive the three-dimensional velocity field of the erupting filament. We also identify winking filaments that are located far from the flare site in the H α images, whereas no Moreton wave is observed. By comparing the temporal evolution of the winking filaments with those of the coronal wave seen in the EUV images data taken by the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly on board the Solar Dynamics Observatory and by the Extreme Ultraviolet Imager on board the Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory-Ahead , we confirm that the winking filaments were activated by the EUV coronal wave.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
NASA NTRS1995

Collapse and fragmentation of molecular cloud cores. 2: Collapse induced by stellar shock waves

The standard scenario for low-mass star formation involves 'inside-out' collapse of a dense molecular cloud core following loss of magnetic field support through ambipolar diffusion. However, isotopic anomalies in presolar grains and meteoritical inclusions imply that the collapse of the presolar cloud may have been triggered by a stellar shock wave. This paper explores 'outside-in' collapse, that is, protostellar collapse initiated directly by the compression of quiescent dense cloud cores impacted by relatively slow stellar shock waves. A second-order accurate, gravitational hydrodynamics code has been used to study both the spherically symmetrical and three-dimensional evolution of initially centrally condensed, isothermal, self-gravitating, solar-mass cloud cores that are struck by stellar shock waves with velocities up to 25 km/s and postshock temperatures of 10 to 10,000 K. The models show that such mild shock waves do not completely shred and destroy the cloud, and that the dynamical ram pressure can compress the cloud to the verge of self-gravitational collapse. However, compression caused by a high postshock temperature is a considerably more effective means of inducing collapse. Shock-induced collapse produces high initial mass accretion rates (greater than 10(exp -4) solar mass/yr in a solar-mass cloud) that decline rapidly to much lower values, depending on the presence (approximately 10(exp -6) solar mass/yr) or absence (approximately 10(exp -8) to 10(exp -7) solar mass/yr) of an infinite reservoir of mass. Stellar mass accretion rates approximately 10(exp -7) solar mass/yr have been previously inferred from the luminosities of T Tauri stars; balanced mass accretion (stellar rate = envelope rate) at approximately 10(exp -7) solar mass/yr could then be possible if accretion occurs from a finite mass reservoir. Fluid tracers are used to determine what fraction of the stellar shock material is incorporated into the resulting protostellar object and disk; roughly half the impinging material is injected into the collapsing cloud core when there is a high postshock temperature. The models are consistent with a scenario where an AGB star wind triggered the collapse of the presolar cloud while injecting about 0.01 solar mass of matter derived from the AGB star envelope, as has been separately inferred on the basis of nucleosynthesis calculations.

Boss, Alan P.↗
NASA NTRS2014

NuStar and Swift Observations of the Fast Rotating Magnetized White Dwarf AE Aquarii

AE Aquarii is a cataclysmic variable with the fastest known rotating magnetized white dwarf (P(sub spin) = 33.08 s). Compared to many intermediate polars, AE Aquarii shows a soft X-ray spectrum with a very low luminosity (LX (is) approximately 10(exp 31) erg per second). We have analyzed overlapping observations of this system with the NuSTAR and the Swift X-ray observatories in 2012 September. We find the 0.5-30 keV spectra to be well fitted by either an optically thin thermal plasma model with three temperatures of 0.75(+0.18 / −0.45), 2.29(+0.96 / −0.82), and 9.33 (+6.07 / −2.18) keV, or an optically thin thermal plasma model with two temperatures of 1.00 (+0.34 / −0.23) and 4.64 (+1.58 / −0.84) keV plus a power-law component with photon index of 2.50 (+0.17 / −0.23). The pulse profile in the 3-20 keV band is broad and approximately sinusoidal, with a pulsed fraction of 16.6% +/- 2.3%. We do not find any evidence for a previously reported sharp feature in the pulse profile.

cataclysmic variables↗
DOE OSTI2014

NuSTAR and swift observations of the fast rotating magnetized white dwarf AE Aquarii

AE Aquarii is a cataclysmic variable with the fastest known rotating magnetized white dwarf (P {sub spin} = 33.08 s). Compared to many intermediate polars, AE Aquarii shows a soft X-ray spectrum with a very low luminosity (L {sub X} ∼ 10{sup 31} erg s{sup –1}). We have analyzed overlapping observations of this system with the NuSTAR and the Swift X-ray observatories in 2012 September. We find the 0.5-30 keV spectra to be well fitted by either an optically thin thermal plasma model with three temperatures of 0.75{sub −0.45}{sup +0.18}, 2.29{sub −0.82}{sup +0.96}, and 9.33{sub −2.18}{sup +6.07} keV, or an optically thin thermal plasma model with two temperatures of 1.00{sub −0.23}{sup +0.34} and 4.64{sub −0.84}{sup +1.58} keV plus a power-law component with photon index of 2.50{sub −0.23}{sup +0.17}. The pulse profile in the 3-20 keV band is broad and approximately sinusoidal, with a pulsed fraction of 16.6% ± 2.3%. We do not find any evidence for a previously reported sharp feature in the pulse profile.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2017

Transverse Oscillations in Slender Ca ii H Fibrils Observed with Sunrise/SuFI

We present observations of transverse oscillations in slender Ca ii H fibrils (SCFs) in the lower solar chromosphere. We use a 1 hr long time series of high- (spatial and temporal-) resolution seeing-free observations in a 1.1 Å wide passband covering the line core of Ca ii H 3969 Å from the second flight of the Sunrise balloon-borne solar observatory. The entire field of view, spanning the polarity inversion line of an active region close to the solar disk center, is covered with bright, thin, and very dynamic fine structures. Our analysis reveals the prevalence of transverse waves in SCFs with median amplitudes and periods on the order of 2.4 ± 0.8 km s{sup −1} and 83 ± 29 s, respectively (with standard deviations given as uncertainties). We find that the transverse waves often propagate along (parts of) the SCFs with median phase speeds of 9 ± 14 km s{sup −1}. While the propagation is only in one direction along the axis in some of the SCFs, propagating waves in both directions, as well as standing waves are also observed. The transverse oscillations are likely Alfvénic and are thought to be representative of magnetohydrodynamic kink waves. The wave propagation suggests that the rapid high-frequency transverse waves, often produced in the lower photosphere, can penetrate into the chromosphere with an estimated energy flux of ≈15 kW m{sup −2}. Characteristics of these waves differ from those reported for other fibrillar structures, which, however, were observed mainly in the upper solar chromosphere.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Non-ideal magnetohydrodynamic simulations of the two-stage fragmentation model for cluster formation

We model molecular cloud fragmentation with thin-disk, non-ideal magnetohydrodynamic simulations that include ambipolar diffusion and partial ionization that transitions from primarily ultraviolet-dominated to cosmic-ray-dominated regimes. These simulations are used to determine the conditions required for star clusters to form through a two-stage fragmentation scenario. Recent linear analyses have shown that the fragmentation length scales and timescales can undergo a dramatic drop across the column density boundary that separates the ultraviolet- and cosmic-ray-dominated ionization regimes. As found in earlier studies, the absence of an ionization drop and regular perturbations leads to a single-stage fragmentation on pc scales in transcritical clouds, so that the nonlinear evolution yields the same fragment sizes as predicted by linear theory. However, we find that a combination of initial transcritical mass-to-flux ratio, evolution through a column density regime in which the ionization drop takes place, and regular small perturbations to the mass-to-flux ratio is sufficient to cause a second stage of fragmentation during the nonlinear evolution. Cores of size ∼0.1 pc are formed within an initial fragment of ∼pc size. Regular perturbations to the mass-to-flux ratio also accelerate the onset of runaway collapse.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2019

Stochastic Ion Acceleration by the Ion-cyclotron Instability in a Growing Magnetic Field

Using 1D and 2D particle-in-cell simulations of a plasma with a growing magnetic field ${\boldsymbol{B}}$, we show herein that ions can be stochastically accelerated by the ion-cyclotron (IC) instability. As ${\boldsymbol{B}}$ grows, an ion pressure anisotropy ${p}_{\perp ,i}\gt {p}_{| | ,i}$ arises due to the adiabatic invariance of the ion magnetic moment (${p}_{| | ,i}$ and $p_{⊥,i}$ are the ion pressures parallel and perpendicular to ${\boldsymbol{B}}$). When initially $β_ i$ = 0.5 (${\beta }_{i}\equiv 8\pi {p}_{i}/| {\boldsymbol{B}}{| }^{2}$, where $p_i$ is the ion isotropic pressure), the pressure anisotropy is limited mainly by inelastic pitch-angle scattering provided by the IC instability, which in turn produces a nonthermal tail in the ion energy spectrum. After ${\boldsymbol{B}}$ is amplified by a factor of ~2.7, this tail can be approximated as a power law of index ~3.4 plus two nonthermal bumps and accounts for 2%–3% of the ions and ~18% of their kinetic energy. On the contrary, when initially $β_i$ = 2, the ion scattering is dominated by the mirror instability, and the acceleration is suppressed. This implies that efficient ion acceleration requires that initially, $β_{i} \lesssim$ 1. Although we focus on cases where ${\boldsymbol{B}}$ is amplified by plasma shear, we check that the acceleration occurs similarly if ${\boldsymbol{B}}$ grows due to plasma compression. Our results are valid in a subrelativistic regime where the ion thermal energy is ~10% of the ion rest-mass energy. This acceleration process can thus be relevant in the inner region of low-luminosity accretion flows around black holes.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

HEATING SIGNATURES IN THE DISK COUNTERPARTS OF SOLAR SPICULES IN INTERFACE REGION IMAGING SPECTROGRAPH OBSERVATIONS

We use coordinated observations with the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) and the Swedish 1 m Solar Telescope to identify the disk counterpart of type II spicules in upper-chromospheric and transition region (TR) diagnostics. These disk counterparts were earlier identified through short-lived asymmetries in chromospheric spectral lines: rapid blue- or red-shifted excursions (RBEs or RREs). We find clear signatures of RBEs and RREs in Mg II h and k, often with excursions of the central h3 and k3 absorption features in concert with asymmetries in co-temporal and co-spatial Hα spectral profiles. We find spectral signatures for RBEs and RREs in C II 1335 and 1336 Å and Si IV 1394 and 1403 Å spectral lines and interpret this as a sign that type II spicules are heated to at least TR temperatures, supporting other recent work. These C II and Si IV spectral signals are weaker for a smaller network region than for more extended network regions in our data. A number of bright features around extended network regions observed in IRIS slit-jaw imagery SJI 1330 and 1400, recently identified as network jets, can be clearly connected to Hα RBEs and/or RREs in our coordinated data. We speculate that at least part of the diffuse halo around network regions in the IRIS SJI 1330 and 1400 images can be attributed to type II spicules with insufficient opacity in the C II and Si IV lines to stand out as single features in these passbands.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

RADIO IMAGING OBSERVATIONS OF PSR J1023+0038 IN AN LMXB STATE

The transitional millisecond pulsar (MSP) binary system PSR J1023+0038 re-entered an accreting state in 2013 June in which it bears many similarities to low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs) in quiescence or near-quiescence. At a distance of just 1.37 kpc, PSR J1023+0038 offers an unsurpassed ability to study low-level accretion onto a highly magnetized compact object. We have monitored PSR J1023+0038 intensively using radio imaging with the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array, the European VLBI Network and the Low Frequency Array, seeing rapidly variable, flat spectrum emission that persists over a period of six months. The flat spectrum and variability are indicative of synchrotron emission originating in an outflow from the system, most likely in the form of a compact, partially self-absorbed jet, as is seen in LMXBs at higher accretion rates. The radio brightness, however, greatly exceeds extrapolations made from observations of more vigorously accreting neutron star LMXB systems. We postulate that PSR J1023+0038 is undergoing radiatively inefficient “propeller-mode” accretion, with the jet carrying away a dominant fraction of the liberated accretion luminosity. We confirm that the enhanced γ-ray emission seen in PSR J1023+0038 since it re-entered an accreting state has been maintained; the increased γ-ray emission in this state can also potentially be associated with propeller-mode accretion. Similar accretion modes can be invoked to explain the radio and X-ray properties of the other two known transitional MSP systems XSS J12270–4859 and PSR J1824–2452I (M28I), suggesting that radiatively inefficient accretion may be a ubiquitous phenomenon among (at least one class of) neutron star binaries at low accretion rates.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2017

Block-induced Complex Structures Building the Flare-productive Solar Active Region 12673

Solar active region (AR) 12673 produced 4 X-class, 27 M-class, and numerous lower-class flares during its passage across the visible solar disk in 2017 September. Our study is to answer the questions why this AR was so flare-productive and how the X9.3 flare, the largest one of the past decade, took place. We find that there was a sunspot in the initial several days, and then two bipolar regions emerged nearby it successively. Due to the standing of the pre-existing sunspot, the movement of the bipoles was blocked, while the pre-existing sunspot maintained its quasi-circular shaped umbra only with the disappearance of a part of penumbra. Thus, the bipolar patches were significantly distorted, and the opposite polarities formed two semi-circular shaped structures. After that, two sequences of new bipolar regions emerged within the narrow semi-circular zone, and the bipolar patches separated along the curved channel. The new bipoles sheared and interacted with the previous ones, forming a complex topological system, during which numerous flares occurred. At the highly sheared region, a great deal of free energy was accumulated. On September 6, one negative patch near the polarity inversion line began to rapidly rotate and shear with the surrounding positive fields, and consequently the X9.3 flare erupted. Our results reveal that the block-induced complex structures built the flare-productive AR and the X9.3 flare was triggered by an erupting filament due to the kink instability. To better illustrate this process, a block-induced eruption model is proposed for the first time.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

PROPAGATION OF THE 2014 JANUARY 7 CME AND RESULTING GEOMAGNETIC NON-EVENT

On 2014 January 7 an X1.2 flare and coronal mass ejection (CME) with a radial speed ≈2500 km s{sup −1} was observed from near an active region close to disk center. This led many forecasters to estimate a rapid arrival at Earth (≈36 hr) and predict a strong geomagnetic storm. However, only a glancing CME arrival was observed at Earth with a transit time of ≈49 hr and a K{sub P} geomagnetic index of only 3−. We study the interplanetary propagation of this CME using the ensemble Wang-Sheeley-Arge (WSA)–ENLIL+Cone model, that allows a sampling of CME parameter uncertainties. We explore a series of simulations to isolate the effects of the background solar wind solution, CME shape, tilt, location, size, and speed, and the results are compared with observed in situ arrivals at Venus, Earth, and Mars. Our results show that a tilted ellipsoid CME shape improves the initial real-time prediction to better reflect the observed in situ signatures and the geomagnetic storm strength. CME parameters from the Graduated Cylindrical Shell model used as input to WSA–ENLIL+Cone, along with a tilted ellipsoid cloud shape, improve the arrival-time error by 14.5, 18.7, 23.4 hr for Venus, Earth, and Mars respectively. These results highlight that CME orientation and directionality with respect to observatories play an important role in understanding the propagation of this CME, and for forecasting other glancing CME arrivals. This study also demonstrates the importance of three-dimensional CME fitting made possible by multiple viewpoint imaging.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2021

First M87 Event Horizon Telescope Results. VII. Polarization of the Ring

In 2017 April, the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) observed the near-horizon region around the supermassive black hole at the core of the M87 galaxy. These 1.3 mm wavelength observations revealed a compact asymmetric ring-like source morphology. This structure originates from synchrotron emission produced by relativistic plasma located in the immediate vicinity of the black hole. Here we present the corresponding linear-polarimetric EHT images of the center of M87. We find that only a part of the ring is significantly polarized. The resolved fractional linear polarization has a maximum located in the southwest part of the ring, where it rises to the level of ~15%. The polarization position angles are arranged in a nearly azimuthal pattern. We perform quantitative measurements of relevant polarimetric properties of the compact emission and find evidence for the temporal evolution of the polarized source structure over one week of EHT observations. The details of the polarimetric data reduction and calibration methodology are provided. We carry out the data analysis using multiple independent imaging and modeling techniques, each of which is validated against a suite of synthetic data sets. The gross polarimetric structure and its apparent evolution with time are insensitive to the method used to reconstruct the image. These polarimetric images carry information about the structure of the magnetic fields responsible for the synchrotron emission. Their physical interpretation is discussed in an accompanying publication.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Polarization-shape alignment of IllustrisTNG star-forming galaxies

In star-forming disk galaxies, the radio continuum emission (1–10GHz) powered by star formation has an integrated polarization direction imperfectly aligned with the apparent disk minor axis. This polarization-shape alignment effect was previously observed in a small sample of local spirals. If this is prevalent for disk galaxies out to cosmological redshifts, novel measurements of cosmic birefringence and cosmic shear will be enabled by leveraging radio continuum surveys such as the Square Kilometre Array synergized with galaxy shape measurements. We calculate the polarization-shape misalignment angle for star-forming galaxies in the IllustrisTNG50 simulation at 0 < z < 2, assuming that additional polarized radio emission from an active galactic nucleus is negligible in at least a sizable fraction of the star-forming galaxies. The alignment found for z = 0 is consistent with local spiral data, but significantly deteriorates as redshift increases. Moreover, it degrades toward lower frequencies due to internal Faraday depolarization. Thanks to cosmic redshifting, observing higher-z galaxies at a fixed frequency greatly mitigates degradation due to reduced Faraday depolarization at the source-frame frequency. We present analytic fits to the non-Gaussian misalignment angle distribution, and evaluate Fisher information per galaxy for measuring a polarization rotation angle induced by cosmic birefringence. For observation at 4.8 GHz, the effective root-mean-square misalignment angle σα,eff is 18°, 23° and 33° at z = 0, 1 and 2, respectively. Analyzing N independent galaxies reduces the uncertainty on an isotropic cosmic birefringence signal to σ α,eff /√(N), providing competitive sensitivity once large samples are available. As accurate observation-driven models are not yet available for cosmological galaxy samples, our results motivate pilot observations to empirically characterize polarization-shape alignment, and can facilitate forecasts of cosmology and fundamental physics applications that exploit this effect.

axions↗
DOE OSTI2025

Horizon-scale variability of M87* from 2017–2021 EHT observations

Here, we report three epochs of polarized images of M87* at 230 GHz using data from the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) taken in 2017, 2018, and 2021. The baseline coverage of the 2021 observations is significantly improved through the addition of two new EHT stations: the 12 m Kitt Peak Telescope and the Northern Extended Millimetre Array (NOEMA). All observations result in images dominated by a bright, asymmetric ring with a persistent diameter of 43.9 ± 0.6 µas, consistent with expectations for lensed synchrotron emission encircling the apparent shadow of a supermassive black hole. We find that the total intensity and linear polarization of M87* vary significantly across the three epochs. Specifically, the azimuthal brightness distribution of the total intensity images varies from year to year, as expected for a stochastic accretion flow. However, despite a gamma-ray flare erupting in M87 quasi-contemporaneously to the 2018 observations, the 2018 and 2021 images look remarkably similar. The resolved linear polarization fractions in 2018 and 2021 peak at ∼5%, compared to ∼15% in 2017. The spiral polarization pattern on the ring also varies from year to year, including a change in the electric vector position angle helicity in 2021 that could reflect changes in the magnetized accretion flow or an external Faraday screen. The improved 2021 coverage also provides the first EHT constraints on jet emission outside the ring, on scales of ≲ 1 mas. Overall, these observations provide strong proof of the reliability of the EHT images and probe the dynamic properties of the horizon-scale accretion flow surrounding M87*.

accretion, accretion disks↗