The Way to Quench:Galaxy Evolution in A2142

We show how the star formation activity of galaxies is progressively inhibited from the outer region to the center of the massive cluster A2142.From an extended spectroscopic redshift survey of 2239 galaxies covering a circular area of radius~11 Mpc from the cluster center,we extract a sample of 333 galaxies with known stellar mass,star formation rate,and spectral index D_(n)4000.We use the Blooming Tree algorithm to identify the substructures of the cluster and separate the galaxy sample into substructure galaxies,halo galaxies,and outskirt galaxies.The substructure and halo galaxies are cluster members,whereas the outskirt galaxies are only weakly gravitationally bound to the cluster.For the cluster members,the star formation rate per stellar mass decreases with decreasing distance R from the cluster center.Similarly,the spectral index D_(n)4000 increases with R,indicating an increasing average age of the stellar population in galaxies closer to the cluster center.In addition,star formation in substructure galaxies is generally more active than in halo galaxies and less active than in outskirt galaxies,proving that substructures tend to slow down the transition between field galaxies and cluster galaxies.We finally show that most actively star-forming galaxies are within the cluster infall region,whereas most galaxies in the central region are quiescent.

Electric resistivity of partially ionized plasma in the lower solar atmosphere

The lower solar atmosphere is a gravitationally stratified layer of partially ionized plasma.We calculate the electric resistivity in the solar photosphere and chromosphere,which is the key parameter that controls the rate of magnetic reconnection in a Sweet-Parker current sheet.The calculation takes into account the collisions between ions and hydrogen atoms as well as the electron-ion collisions and the electron-hydrogen atom collisions.We find that under the typical conditions of the quiet Sun,electric resistivity is determined mostly by the electron-hydrogen atom collisions in the photosphere,and mostly by the ion-hydrogen collisions,i.e.ambipolar diffusion,in the chromosphere.In magnetic reconnection events with strong magnetic fields,the ambipolar diffusion,however,may be insignificant because the heating by the reconnection itself may lead to the full ionization of hydrogen atoms.We conclude that ambipolar diffusion may be the most important source of electric resistivity responsible for the magnetic flux cancelation and energy release in chromospheric current sheets that can keep a significant fraction of neutral hydrogen atoms.

Shape parameters of the solar corona from 1991 to 2016

The global structure of the solar corona observed in the optical window is governed by the global magnetic field with different characteristics over a solar activity cycle. The Ludendorff flattening index has become a popular measure of global structure of the solar corona as observed during an eclipse. In this study, 15 digital images of the solar corona from 1991 to 2016 were analyzed in order to construct coronal flattening profiles as a function of radius. In most cases, the profile can be modeled with a 2nd order polynomial function so that the radius with maximum flattening index （Rmax） can be determined. Along with this value, Ludendorff index （a ＋ b） was also calculated. Both Ludendorff index and Rmax show anti-correlation with monthly sunspot number, though the Rmax values are more scattered. The variation in Rmax can be regarded as the impact of the changing coronal brightness profile over the equator.

Comparison between the eruptive X2.2 flare on 2011 February15 and confined X3.1 flare on 2014 October 24

We compare two contrasting X-class flares in terms of magnetic free energy, relative magnetic helicity and decay index of the active regions （ARs） in which they occurred. The events in question are the eruptive X2.2 flare from AR 11158 accompanied by a halo coronal mass ejection （CME） and the confined X3.1 flare from AR 12192 with no associated CME. These two flares exhibit similar behavior of free magnetic energy and helicity buildup for a few days preceding them. A major difference between the two flares is found to lie in the time-dependent change of magnetic helicity of the ARs that hosted them. AR 11158 shows a significant decrease in magnetic helicity starting -4 hours prior to the flare, but no apparent decrease in helicity is observed in AR 12192. By examining the magnetic helicity injection rates in terms of sign, we confirmed that the drastic decrease in magnetic helicity before the eruptive X2.2 flare was not caused by the injection of reversed helicity through the photosphere but rather the CME-related change in the coronal magnetic field. Another major difference we find is that AR 11158 had a significantly larger decay index and therefore weaker overlying field than AR 12192. These results suggest that the coronal magnetic helicity and the decay index of the overlying field can provide a clue about the occurrence of CMEs.

UBVVI Surface Photometry of the Spiral Galaxy NGC 300 in the Sculptor Group

We present UBVI surface photometry over a 20.5' × 20.5' area of the late-type spiral galaxy NGC 300. We have derived isophotal maps, surface brightness profiles, ellipticity profiles, position angle profiles, and color profiles. By merging our I-band measurements with those of Boker et al. based on Hubble Space Telescope observations, we have obtained combined I-band surface brightness profiles for the region 0.02' < r < 500' and have decomposed the profiles into three components: a nucleus, a bulge, and an exponential disk.