High-resolution imaging spectroscopy of planetary atmospheres     

《Comptes Rendus Geoscience》2015,347(3):145-152

Imaging spectroscopy at high resolution, in the infrared range, is a powerful tool for monitoring the behavior of minor species in planetary atmospheres and their evolution with latitude and longitude, season or local hour. Using the TEXES imaging spectrometer at the Infrared Telescope Facility (IRTF), this method has been applied for detecting and monitoring hydrogen peroxide and water vapor (using its proxy HDO) on Mars, then for monitoring sulfur dioxide and water (again using HDO) above the H₂SO₄ cloud deck (z = 65 km on Venus). Observations of Mars have shown that its atmosphere and climate are well reproduced by the Global Climatic Models. In contrast, strong spatio-temporal variations of SO₂, observed above the Venus clouds, are not understood by the models. As a support of the forthcoming Juno space mission, a similar program has started on Jupiter to monitor its dynamics through 3-D maps of ammonia and phosphine.  相似文献   

New spectroscopic and polarimetric observations of the A0 supergiant HD 92207     

S. Hubrig  A. F. Kholtygin  M. Schller  R. I. Anderson  S. Saesen  J. F. Gonzlez  I. Ilyin  M. Briquet 《Astronomische Nachrichten》2015,336(2):168-177

Our recent search for the presence of a magnetic field in the bright early A‐type supergiant HD 92207 using FORS 2 in spectropolarimetric mode revealed the presence of a longitudinal magnetic field of the order of a few hundred Gauss. However, the definite confirmation of the magnetic nature of this object remained pending due to the detection of shortterm spectral variability probably affecting the position of line profiles in left‐ and right‐hand polarized spectra. We present new magnetic field measurements of HD 92207 obtained on three different epochs in 2013 and 2014 using FORS 2 in spectropolarimetric mode. A 3σ detection of the mean longitudinal magnetic field using the entire spectrum, 〈B_z〉_all = 104 ± 34 G, was achieved in observations obtained in 2014 January. At this epoch, the position of the spectral lines appeared stable. Our analysis of spectral line shapes recorded in opposite circularly polarized light, i.e. in light with opposite sense of rotation, reveals that line profiles in the light polarized in a certain direction appear slightly split. The mechanism causing such a behaviour in the circularly polarized light is currently unknown. Trying to settle the issue of short‐term variability, we searched for changes in the spectral line profiles on a time scale of 8–10 min using HARPS polarimetric spectra and on a time scale of 3–4 min using time series obtained with the CORALIE spectrograph. No significant variability was detected on these time scales during the epochs studied. (© 2015 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)  相似文献   

SWAS observations of water vapor in the Venus mesosphere     

Mark A. Gurwell  Gary J. Melnick  Edwin A. Bergin 《Icarus》2007,188(2):288-304

We present the first detections of the ground-state H₂¹⁶O (₁₁₀-₁₀₁) rotational transition (at 556.9 GHz) and the ¹³CO (5-4) rotational transition from the atmosphere of Venus, measured with the Submillimeter Wave Astronomy Satellite (SWAS). The observed spectral features of these submillimeter transitions originate primarily from the 70-100 km altitude range, within the Venus mesosphere. Observations were obtained in December 2002, and January, March, and July 2004, coarsely sampling one Venus diurnal period as seen from Earth. The measured water vapor absorption line depth shows large variability among the four observing periods, with strong detections of the line in December 2002 and July 2004, and no detections in January and March 2004. Retrieval of atmospheric parameters was performed using a multi-transition inversion algorithm, combining simultaneous retrievals of temperature, carbon monoxide, and water profiles under imposed constraints. Analysis of the SWAS spectra resulted in measurements or upper limits for the globally averaged mesospheric water vapor abundance for each of the four observation periods, finding variability over at least two orders of magnitude. The results are consistent with both temporal and diurnal variability, but with short-term fluctuations clearly dominating. These results are fully consistent with the long-term study of mesospheric water vapor from millimeter and submillimeter observations of HDO [Sandor, B.J., Clancy, R.T., 2005. Icarus 177, 129-143]. The December 2002 observations detected very rapid change in the mesospheric water abundance. Over five days, a deep water absorption feature consistent with a water vapor abundance of 4.5±1.5 parts per million suddenly gave way to a significantly shallower absorption, implying a decrease in the water vapor abundance by a factor of nearly 50 in less that 48 h. In 2004, similar changes in the water vapor abundance were measured between the March and July SWAS observing periods, but variability on time scales of less than a week was not detected. The mesospheric water vapor is expected to be in equilibrium with aerosol particles, primarily composed of concentrated sulfuric acid, in the upper haze layers of the Venus atmosphere. If true, moderate amplitude (10-15 K) variability in mesospheric temperature, previously noted in millimeter spectroscopy observations of Venus, can explain the rapid water vapor variability detected by SWAS.  相似文献   

On the effects of coherent structures on higher order moments in models of solar and stellar surface convection     

F. Kupka  F. J. Robinson 《Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society》2007,374(1):305-322

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Non-grey hydrogen burning evolution of subsolar mass Population III stars     

G. J. Harris  A. E. Lynas-Gray  S. Miller  J. Tennyson 《Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society》2007,374(1):337-343

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Nature of the iogenic plasma source in Jupiter's magnetosphere: II. Near-Io distribution     

William H. Smyth  M.L. Marconi 《Icarus》2005,176(1):138-154

Three-dimensional calculations are presented for the distribution of the iogenic plasma source that is created near Io (i.e., within ∼24 satellite radii about Io) by O and S gases located in the volume above Io's exobase (i.e., corona and escaping extended neutral clouds, designated as the “Outer Region”) and are complementary to a preceding paper for calculations on a circumplanetary scale. The instantaneous pickup ion production rates for both electron impact and charge exchange have significant radial, north-south, and orbital-plane asymmetries beginning just inside and/or beyond Io's Lagrange sphere (5.81 Io radii) and, within the Lagrange sphere, are distributed nearly symmetrically about Io and are highly peaked about Io's exobase. The spatial natures of the corresponding pickup ion density, mass loading rates, and the pickup ion conductivity, current, and magnetic field are investigated. Spatially integrated rates are calculated for the corona volume and compared to larger Outer Region circumplanetary volumes and are also compared to estimates drawn from the scientific literature (but not modeled here) of the spatially integrated rates for pickup processes in the strongly perturbed “Inner Region” below the exobase. Within the corona volume, the spatially-integrated net-mass loading rate and total (electron impact and charge exchange) mass loading rate are only a factor of ∼3 and ∼5, respectively, smaller than those estimated for the Inner Region, whereas for the whole plasma torus, the Outer Region rates are larger or comparable to those estimated for the Inner Region. The total pickup ion gyration power supplied to the whole plasma torus is estimated to be significantly less than the power radiated by the plasma torus, indicating that an additional power source, likely a circumplanetary distribution of nonthermal electrons, is present.  相似文献   

Latitudinal variations of CO and OCS in the lower atmosphere of Venus from near-infrared nightside spectro-imaging     

Emmanuel Marcq  Bruno Bézard  Mirel Birlan 《Icarus》2005,179(2):375-386

Spectro-imaging of Venus' nightside in the 2.3-μm window provides a powerful means of probing the lower atmosphere in the 25-40 km altitude range. We present observations recorded at the NASA/IRTF in February 2003 and August 2004, using the SpeX spectro-imager in the 2.1-2.5-μm region. Abundances of CO and OCS have been derived as a function of latitude for different longitudes. The CO abundance increases by about 15% between the equatorial region and higher latitudes (±40°). No longitudinal or temporal variations are observed. The OCS abundance shows the opposite variation in observational sets with sufficient S/N. These variations and anticorrelation are consistent with upwelling motions in the equatorial region and downwelling at higher latitudes.  相似文献   

The polarization signature from microlensing of circumstellar envelopes in caustic crossing events     

R. Ignace  J. E. Bjorkman  H. M. Bryce 《Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society》2006,366(1):92-100

In recent years, it has been shown that microlensing is a powerful tool for examining the atmospheres of stars in the Galactic bulge and Magellanic Clouds. The high gradient of magnification across the source during both small impact parameter events and caustic crossings offers a unique opportunity for determining the surface brightness profile of the source. Furthermore, models indicate that these events can also provide an appreciable polarization signal: arising from differential magnification across the otherwise symmetric source. Earlier work has addressed the signal from a scattering photosphere for both point mass lenses and caustic crossings. In a previous paper, polarimetric variations from point lensing of a circumstellar envelope were considered, as would be suitable for an extended envelope around a red giant. In this work, we examine the polarization in the context of caustic crossing events, the scenario that represents the most easily accessible situation for actually observing a polarization signal in Galactic microlensing. Furthermore, we present an analysis of the effectiveness of using the polarimetric data to determine the envelope properties, illustrating the potential of employing polarimetry in addition to photometry and spectroscopy with microlensing follow-up campaigns.  相似文献   

A Model Atmosphere Analysis of the F6V Star π3 Ori     

A. Ajabshirizadeh  A. Muradov  Z. Samedov 《Astrophysics and Space Science》2004,293(3):289-294

Model atmosphere analysis, based on Kurucz models has been applied to study the F6V star π³ Ori (=BS1543=HD30652). The following values of the effective temperature, surface gravity and microturbulence velocity were obtained: = 6270±200 K, log g = 3.80.2, ξ_t =3.5±0.5 km/s. The abundances of 10 elements were determined. The resulting element abundances for the π³ Ori were found to be about three times lower with respect to the Sun. From evolutionary calculations we derived a mass, radius and luminosity for π³ Ori of M =1.3 M_⊙, R =2.38 R_⊙, L =7.9 L_⊙. Hence this star should be classified F6IV instead of F6 V. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.  相似文献   

红团簇巨星的光谱分析及其作为I、K波段标准烛光的研究     

刘刚  赵刚 《天文学报》2004,45(3):253-265

基于高分辨率、高信噪比光谱观测资料，确定了19颗贫金属红团簇巨星的恒星大气参数，得到样本星4种α族元素(O、Mg、Ca、Si)的化学丰度．讨论了铁丰度与恒星大气参数的相关性以及α族元素丰度随金属丰度的变化，计算了共58颗红团簇巨星在I、K波段的绝对星等，讨论了它们与恒星铁丰度之间的关系．结果表明，在分析铁丰度范围内相对于I波段，K波段的绝对星等与铁丰度的相关性更弱，并且与利用理论模型得到的红团簇巨星I、K波段绝对星等与铁丰度的关系进行了比较与验证。  相似文献