Romanian Academy

About: Romanian Academy is a archive organization based out in Bucharest, Romania. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Nonlinear system. The organization has 3662 authors who have published 10491 publications receiving 146447 citations. The organization is also known as: Academia Română & Societatea Literară Română.

On the Tomographic Reconstruction of the 3D Electron Density for the Solar Corona from STEREO COR1 Data

Abstract: We present for the first time a three-dimensional reconstruction of the electron density in the corona at distances from 1.5R ⊙ to 4R ⊙ using COR1 STEREO observations. The reconstruction is performed using a regularized tomography inversion method for two biweekly periods corresponding to Carrington Rotations 2058 and 2066. Images from the two STEREO spacecraft are used to compare the reconstructed density structures with coronal features located by triangulation. We find that the location of a bright tip of a helmet streamer obtained from the tomographic reconstruction is in good agreement with the location obtained by triangulation. The reconstructed density structure of the equatorial streamer belt is largely consistent with the variation of the current sheet derived from a potential magnetic field extrapolation for most of the equatorial region and for an MHD model of the corona. A zero-value density region in the reconstruction is identified with a low-density region seen in an EUVI image below the reconstruction domain.

The double-peaked 2008 outburst of the accreting milli-second X-ray pulsar, IGR J00291+5934

Abstract: Context. In August 2008, the accreting milli-second X-ray pulsar (AMXP), IGR J00291+5934, underwent an outburst lasting ∼100 days, the first since its discovery in 2004. Aims. We present data from the 2008 double-peaked outburst of IGR J00291+5934 from Faulkes Telescope North, the Isaac Newton Telescope, the Keck Telescope, PAIRITEL, the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope and the Swift, XMM-Newton and RXTE X-ray missions. We study the outburst’s evolution at various wavelengths, allowing us to probe accretion physics in this AMXP. Methods. We study the light curve morphology, presenting the first radio-X-ray spectral energy Distributions (SEDs) for this source and the most detailed UV-IR SEDs for any outbursting AMXP. We show simple models that attempt to identify the emission mechanisms responsible for the SEDs. We analyse short-timescale optical variability, and compare a medium resolution optical spectrum with those from 2004. Results. The outburst morphology is unusual for an AMXP, comprising two peaks, the second containing a “plateau” of ∼10 days at maximum brightness within 30 days of the initial activity. This has implications on duty cycles of short-period X-ray transients. The X-ray spectrum can be fitted by a single, hard power-law. We detect optical variability of ∼0.05 mag, on timescales of minutes, but find no periodic modulation. In the optical, the SEDs contain a blue component, indicative of an irradiated disc, and a transient near-infrared (NIR) excess. This excess is consistent with a simple model of an optically thick synchrotron jet (as seen in other outbursting AMXPs), however we discuss other potential origins. The optical spectrum shows a double-peaked Hα profile, a diagnostic of an accretion disc, but we do not clearly see other lines (e.g. He I, II) that were reported in 2004. Conclusions. Optical/IR observations of AMXPs appear to be excellent for studying the evolution of both the outer accretion disc and the inner jet, and may eventually provide us with tight constraints to model disc-jet coupling in accreting neutron stars.