# Remote sensing of geomagnetic fields and atomic collisions in the mesosphere [CL]

Magnetic-field sensing has contributed to the formulation of the plate-tectonics theory, the discovery and mapping of underground structures on Earth, and the study of magnetism in other planets. Filling the gap between space-based and near-Earth observation, we demonstrate a novel method for remote measurement of the geomagnetic field at an altitude of 85-100 km. The method consists of optical pumping of atomic sodium in the upper mesosphere with an intensity-modulated laser beam, and simultaneous ground-based observation of the resultant magneto-optical resonance when driving the atomic-sodium spins at the Larmor precession frequency. The experiment was carried out at the Roque de Los Muchachos Observatory in La Palma (Canary Islands) where we validated this technique and remotely measured the Larmor precession frequency of sodium as 260.4(1) kHz, corresponding to a mesospheric magnetic field of 0.3720(1) G. We demonstrate a magnetometry accuracy level of 0.28 mG/$\sqrt{\text{Hz}}$ in good atmospheric conditions. In addition, these observations allow us to characterize various atomic-collision processes in the mesosphere. Remote detection of mesospheric magnetic fields has potential applications such as mapping of large-scale magnetic structures in the lithosphere and the study of electric-current fluctuations in the ionosphere.

F. Bustos, D. Calia, D. Budker, et. al.
Wed, 14 Feb 18
32/68

# ExoCross: a general program for generating spectra from molecular line lists [EPA]

ExoCross is a Fortran code for generating spectra (emission, absorption) and thermodynamic properties (partition function, specific heat etc.) from molecular line lists. Input is taken in several formats, including ExoMol and HITRAN formats. ExoCross is efficiently parallelized showing also a high degree of vectorization. It can work with several line profiles such as Doppler, Lorentzian and Voigt and support several broadening schemes. Voigt profiles are handled by several methods allowing fast and accurate simulations. Two of these methods are new. ExoCross is also capable of working with the recently proposed method of super-lines. It supports calculations of lifetimes, cooling functions, specific heats and other properties. ExoCross can be used to convert between different formats, such as HITRAN, ExoMol and Phoenix. It is capable of simulating non-LTE spectra using a simple two-temperature approach. Different electronic, vibronic or vibrational bands can be simulated separately using an efficient filtering scheme based on the quantum numbers.

S. Yurchenko, A. Al-Refaie and J. Tennyson
Wed, 31 Jan 18
31/65

# Towards an automatic wind speed and direction profiler for Wide Field AO systems [IMA]

Wide Field Adaptive Optics (WFAO) systems are among the most sophisticated AO systems available today on large telescopes. The knowledge of the vertical spatio-temporal distribution of the wind speed (WS) and direction (WD) are fundamental to optimize the performance of such systems. Previous studies already proved that the Gemini Multi-Conjugated AO system (GeMS) is able to retrieve measurements of the WS and WD stratification using the SLODAR technique and to store measurements in the telemetry data. In order to assess the reliability of these estimates and of the SLODAR technique applied to such a kind of complex AO systems, in this study we compared WS and WD retrieved from GeMS with those obtained with the atmospherical model Meso-Nh on a rich statistical sample of nights. It has been previously proved that, the latter technique, provided an excellent agreement with a large sample of radiosoundings both, in statistical terms and on individual flights. It can be considered, therefore, as an independent reference. The excellent agreement between GeMS measurements and the model that we find in this study, proves the robustness of the SLODAR approach. To by-pass the complex procedures necessary to achieve automatic measurements of the wind with GeMS, we propose a simple automatic method to monitor nightly WS and WD using the Meso-Nh model estimates. Such a method can be applied to whatever present or new generation facilities supported by WFAO systems. The interest of this study is, therefore, well beyond the optimization of GeMS performance.

G. Sivo, A. Turchi, E. Masciadri, et. al.
Wed, 24 Jan 18
36/73

Comments: 9 figures, 2 tables, MNRAS accepted

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# Muon Radiation Dose and Marine Megafaunal Extinction at the end-Pliocene Supernova [EPA]

Considerable data and analysis support the detection of a supernova at a distance of about 50 pc, ~2.6 million years ago. This is possibly related to the extinction event around that time and is a member of a series of explosions which formed the Local Bubble in the interstellar medium. We build on the assumptions made in previous work, and propagate the muon flux from supernova-initiated cosmic rays from the surface to the depths of the ocean. We find that the radiation dose from the muons will exceed the total present surface dose from all sources at depths up to a kilometer and will persist for at least the lifetime of marine megafauna. It is reasonable to hypothesize that this increase in radiation load may have contributed to a newly documented marine megafaunal extinction at that time.

A. Melott, F. Marinho and L. Paulucci
Fri, 29 Dec 2017
8/65

# Atmospheric Circulations of Hot Jupiters as Planetary Heat Engines [EPA]

Because of their intense incident stellar irradiation and likely tidally locked spin states, hot Jupiters are expected to have wind speeds that approach or exceed the speed of sound. In this work we develop a theory to explain the magnitude of these winds. We model hot Jupiters as planetary heat engines and show that hot Jupiters are always less efficient than an ideal Carnot engine. Next, we demonstrate that our predicted wind speeds match those from three-dimensional numerical simulations over a broad range of parameters. Finally, we use our theory to evaluate how well different drag mechanisms can match the wind speeds observed with Doppler spectroscopy for HD 189733b and HD 209458b. We find that magnetic drag is potentially too weak to match the observations for HD 189733b, but is compatible with the observations for HD 209458b. In contrast, shear instabilities and/or shocks are compatible with both observations. Furthermore, the two mechanisms predict different wind speed trends for hotter and colder planets than currently observed. As a result, we propose that a wider range of Doppler observations could reveal multiple drag mechanisms at play across different hot Jupiters.

D. Koll and T. Komacek
Thu, 21 Dec 17
31/76

Comments: Accepted at ApJ, 10 pages, 7 figures

# Terrestrial effects of moderately nearby supernovae [EPA]

Recent data indicate one or more moderately nearby supernovae in the early Pleistocene, with additional events likely in the Miocene. This has motivated more detailed computations, using new information about the nature of supernovae and the distances of these events to describe in more detail the sorts of effects that are indicated at the Earth. This short communication/review is designed to describe some of these effects so that they may possibly be related to changes in the biota around these times.

A. Melott and B. Thomas
Fri, 8 Dec 17
# Critical frequencies of the ionospheric $F_1$ and $F_2$ layers during the last four solar cycles: sunspot group type dependencies [SSA]
The long term solar activity dependencies of ionospheric F$_1$ and F$_2$ regions’ critical frequencies ($f_0F_1$ and $f_0F_2$) are analyzed for the last four solar cycles (1976–2015). We show that the ionospheric F$_1$ and F$_2$ regions have different solar activity dependencies in terms of the sunspot group (SG) numbers: F$_1$ region critical frequency ($f_0F_1$) peaks at the same time with the small SG numbers, while the $f_0F_2$ reaches its maximum at the same time with the large SG numbers, especially during the solar cycle 23. The observed differences in the sensitivity of ionospheric critical frequencies to sunspot group (SG) numbers provide a new insight into the solar activity effects on the ionosphere and space weather. While the F$_1$ layer is influenced by the slow solar wind, which is largely associated with small SGs, the ionospheric F$_2$ layer is more sensitive to Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) and fast solar winds, which are mainly produced by large SGs and coronal holes. The SG numbers maximize during of peak of the solar cycle and the number of coronal holes peaks during the sunspot declining phase. During solar minimum there are relatively less large SGs, hence reduced CME and flare activity. These results provide a new perspective for assessing how the different regions of the ionosphere respond to space weather effects.