Search results for "solar [axion]"

Could CoRoT-7b and Kepler-10b be remnants of evaporated gas or ice giants?

2009

We present thermal mass loss calculations over evolutionary time scales for the investigation if the smallest transiting rocky exoplanets CoRoT-7b (∼1.68REarth) and Kepler-10b (∼1.416REarth) could be remnants of an initially more massive hydrogen-rich gas giant or a hot Neptune-class exoplanet. We apply a thermal mass loss formula which yields results that are comparable to hydrodynamic loss models. Our approach considers the effect of the Roche lobe, realistic heating efficiencies and a radius scaling law derived from observations of hot Jupiters. We study the influence of the mean planetary density on the thermal mass loss by placing hypothetical exoplanets with the characteristics of Jup…

A dust-enshrouded tidal disruption event with a resolved radio jet in a galaxy merger

2018

Tidal disruption events (TDEs) are transient flares produced when a star is ripped apart by the gravitational field of a supermassive black hole (SMBH). We have observed a transient source in the western nucleus of the merging galaxy pair Arp 299 that radiated >1.5 × 10 erg at infrared and radio wavelengths but was not luminous at optical or x-ray wavelengths. We interpret this as a TDE with much of its emission reradiated at infrared wavelengths by dust. Efficient reprocessing by dense gas and dust may explain the difference between theoretical predictions and observed luminosities of TDEs. The radio observations resolve an expanding and decelerating jet, probing the jet formation and evol…

Origin and Ion Charge State Evolution of Solar Wind Transients during 4 – 7 August 2011

2016

We present study of the complex event consisting of several solar wind transients detected by Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) on 4 -- 7 August 2011, that caused a geomagnetic storm with Dst$=-$110 nT. The supposed coronal sources -- three flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) occurred on 2 -- 4 August 2011 in the active region (AR) 11261. To investigate the solar origin and formation of these transients we studied kinematic and thermodynamic properties of the expanding coronal structures using the Solar Dynamics Observatory/Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (SDO/AIA) EUV images and the differential emission measure (DEM) diagnostics. The Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) magnetic fie…

Massive Oe/Be stars at low metallicity: Candidate progenitors of long GRBs?

2010

At low metallicity the B-type stars rotate faster than at higher metallicity, typically in the SMC. As a consequence, it was expected a larger number of fast rotators in the SMC than in the Galaxy, in particular more Be/Oe stars. With the ESO-WFI in its slitless mode, the SMC open clusters were examined and an occurence of Be stars 3 to 5 times larger than in the Galaxy was found. The evolution of the angular rotational velocity seems to be the main key on the understanding of the specific behaviour and of the stellar evolution of such stars at different metallicities. With the results of this WFI study and using observational clues on the SMC WR stars and massive stars, as well as the theo…

Flares from small to large: X-ray spectroscopy of Proxima Centauri with XMM-Newton

2003

(Abridged) We report results from a comprehensive study of the nearby M dwarf Proxima Centauri with the XMM-Newton satellite. We find strongly variable coronal X-ray emission, with flares ranging over a factor of 100 in peak flux. The low-level emission is found to be continuously variable. Several weak flares are characteristically preceded by an optical burst, compatible with predictions from standard solar flare models. We propose that the U band bursts are proxies for the elusive stellar non-thermal hard X-ray bursts suggested from solar observations. A very large X-ray flare was observed in its entirety, with a peak luminosity of 3.9E28 erg/s [0.15-10 keV] and a total X-ray energy of 1…

GJ 357 b: A Super-Earth Orbiting an Extremely Inactive Host Star

2020

Aims. In this paper we present a deep X-ray observation of the nearby M dwarf GJ 357 and use it to put constraints on the atmospheric evolution of its planet, GJ 357 b. We also analyse the systematic errors in the stellar parameters of GJ 357 in order to see how they affect the perceived planetary properties. Methods. By comparing the observed X-ray luminosity of its host star, we estimate the age of GJ 357 b as derived from a recent XMM-Newton observation (log Lx [erg s-1] = 25.73), with Lx-age relations for M dwarfs. We find that GJ 357 presents one of the lowest X-ray activity levels ever measured for an M dwarf, and we put a lower limit on its age of 5 Gyr. Using this age limit, we perf…

Oscillations on Width and Intensity of Slender Ca ii H Fibrils from Sunrise/SuFI

2017

R. Gafeira et. al.

Spectropolarimetric evidence for a siphon flow along an emerging magnetic flux tube

2016

©2017 The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.We study the dynamics and topology of an emerging magnetic flux concentration using high spatial resolution spectropolarimetric data acquired with the Imaging Magnetograph eXperiment on board the sunrise balloon-borne solar observatory. We obtain the full vector magnetic field and the line of sight (LOS) velocity through inversions of the Fe i line at 525.02 nm with the SPINOR code. The derived vector magnetic field is used to trace magnetic field lines. Two magnetic flux concentrations with different polarities and LOS velocities are found to be connected by a group of arch-shaped magnetic field lines. The positive polarity footp…

2016

The spatial context is criticalwhen assessing present-day climate anomalies, attributing them to potential forcings and making statements regarding their frequency and severity in a long-term perspective. Recent international initiatives have expanded the number of high-quality proxy-records and developed new statistical reconstruction methods. These advances allow more rigorous regional past temperature reconstructions and, in turn, the possibility of evaluating climate models on policy-relevant, spatiotemporal scales. Here we provide a new proxy-based, annually-resolved, spatial reconstruction of the European summer (June-August) temperature fields back to 755 CE based on Bayesian hierarc…

The GAPS Programme with HARPS-N at TNG: . Atmospheric Rossiter-McLaughlin effect and improved parameters of KELT-9b

2019

In the framework of the GAPS project, we observed the planet-hosting star KELT-9 (A-type star, VsinI$\sim$110 km/s) with the HARPS-N spectrograph at the TNG. In this work we analyse the spectra and the extracted radial velocities (RVs), to constrain the physical parameters of the system and to detect the planetary atmosphere of KELT-9b. We extracted from the high-resolution optical spectra the mean stellar line profiles with an analysis based on the Least Square Deconvolution technique. Then, we computed the stellar RVs with a method optimized for fast rotators, by fitting the mean stellar line profile with a purely rotational profile instead of using a Gaussian function. The new spectra an…