Ground-based and additional science support for SMILE

The joint European Space Agency and Chinese Academy of Sciences Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer(SMILE)mission will explore global dynamics of the magnetosphere under varying solar wind and interplanetary magnetic field conditions,and simultaneously monitor the auroral response of the Northern Hemisphere ionosphere.Combining these large-scale responses with medium and fine-scale measurements at a variety of cadences by additional ground-based and space-based instruments will enable a much greater scientific impact beyond the original goals of the SMILE mission.Here,we describe current community efforts to prepare for SMILE,and the benefits and context various experiments that have explicitly expressed support for SMILE can offer.A dedicated group of international scientists representing many different experiment types and geographical locations,the Ground-based and Additional Science Working Group,is facilitating these efforts.Preparations include constructing an online SMILE Data Fusion Facility,the discussion of particular or special modes for experiments such as coherent and incoherent scatter radar,and the consideration of particular observing strategies and spacecraft conjunctions.We anticipate growing interest and community engagement with the SMILE mission,and we welcome novel ideas and insights from the solar-terrestrial community.

Quantum-Relativistic Properties of the Space-Time Bubbles and Their Evolution in a Multi-Bubble Universe

The quantum-relativistic properties of space-time bubbles introduced in the recently proposed multi-Bubbles Universe model have been studied and deepened in the framework of the electromagnetic Bridge theory. In this context, it is shown how the space-time fabric of the emerging universe and the primordial matter contained in it, can be considered the final result of the decay of a pre-universe formed by a BEC of neutral Planck bosons hidden under the space-time horizon, having the characteristics of balancing gravitons associated with the potential energy of the vacuum defined as the field of nothingness. The estimated mass of the Planck boson is compatible with the smallest of the Kaluza-Klein graviton with an energy mass of 2.68 TeV, this value allows to estimate the limit of the Planck energy scale characterized by a lepton particle with a rest mass of 1.27 TeV. It is also shown as an ancient multi-bubble universe obtained by the decay of a pre-universe redshifted nowadays at 2.725 K, provides a Planck blackbody spectrum perfectly in agreement with the cosmic microwave background radiation of our universe measured by the COBE satellite.

Background removal from global auroral images:Data-driven dayglow modeling

Global images of auroras obtained by cameras on spacecraft are a key tool for studying the near-Earth environment.However,the cameras are sensitive not only to auroral emissions produced by precipitating particles,but also to dayglow emissions produced by photoelectrons induced by sunlight.Nightglow emissions and scattered sunlight can contribute to the background signal.To fully utilize such images in space science,background contamination must be removed to isolate the auroral signal.Here we outline a data-driven approach to modeling the background intensity in multiple images by formulating linear inverse problems based on B-splines and spherical harmonics.The approach is robust,flexible,and iteratively deselects outliers,such as auroral emissions.The final model is smooth across the terminator and accounts for slow temporal variations and large-scale asymmetries in the dayglow.We demonstrate the model by using the three far ultraviolet cameras on the Imager for Magnetopause-to-Aurora Global Exploration(IMAGE)mission.The method can be applied to historical missions and is relevant for upcoming missions,such as the Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer(SMILE)mission.

The Soft X-ray Imager(SXI)on the SMILE Mission

The Soft X-ray Imager(SXI)is part of the scientific payload of the Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer(SMILE)mission.SMILE is a joint science mission between the European Space Agency(ESA)and the Chinese Academy of Sciences(CAS)and is due for launch in 2025.SXI is a compact X-ray telescope with a wide field-of-view(FOV)capable of encompassing large portions of Earth’s magnetosphere from the vantage point of the SMILE orbit.SXI is sensitive to the soft X-rays produced by the Solar Wind Charge eXchange(SWCX)process produced when heavy ions of solar wind origin interact with neutral particles in Earth’s exosphere.SWCX provides a mechanism for boundary detection within the magnetosphere,such as the position of Earth’s magnetopause,because the solar wind heavy ions have a very low density in regions of closed magnetic field lines.The sensitivity of the SXI is such that it can potentially track movements of the magnetopause on timescales of a few minutes and the orbit of SMILE will enable such movements to be tracked for segments lasting many hours.SXI is led by the University of Leicester in the United Kingdom(UK)with collaborating organisations on hardware,software and science support within the UK,Europe,China and the United States.

Multi-Bubble Universe Model: A Quantum-Relativistic Gravitational Theory of Space-Time

A multi-bubble model of universe is presented, in which gravity is the result of the aging of electromagnetic dipoles produced in quantum fluctuations of the action inside a condensate of a particular type of balancing gravitons. In the model, the exchange of gravitons among the dipoles and the potential of vacuum balances the energy of the fluctuation. The effect is to create bubbles of space-time that by growing they expand the local vacuum. The model suggests that the universe originates from overlapping of bubbles of space-time associated with dipoles. Matter is originated during gravitons decay. The use of the Bridge Theory demonstrates how the attractive force field that emerges in each bubble is in the first approximation in accordance with Newtonian gravity at small, medium and large distances in accordance with the theory of General Relativity by also introducing a variable cosmological term that justifies some observed cosmological anomalies. The model overcomes the current concepts of Dark Energy and Dark Mass in favor of a gravity produced by the curvature of space-time of the bubble. The existence of the balancing gravitons provides an estimate of the actual amounts of Dark Energy, Dark Matter and matter measured in the current universe. The estimated theoretical mass of the balancing gravitons is consistent with the Kaluza-Klein gravitons of 2.68 TeV observed in the ATLAS experiment during Run #1. Moreover, the use of the observational data of the rotation speeds of two samples of galaxies allows to verify the good agreement of the real universe with the model, providing a possible explanation of the variability in the measurement of the Hubble constant.

Long-Term Rainfall Trends in South West Asia—Saudi Arabia

In this study, rainfall data from 19 stations in Saudi Arabia (SA) for the period 1985-2019 was utilized to investigate interannual, monthly, and seasonal rainfall variations and trends. The magnitudes of these trends were characterized and tested using Mann-Kendall (MK) rank statistics at different significance levels. During this study period, the mean rainfall in SA showed a slight and significant decreasing trend by about 2 mm/35 years. Investigation of seasonal trends of rainfall revealed that Winter and Spring rainfall decreased significantly by 2.7 mm/35 years and 5.4 mm/35 years respectively. Three months showed very slight significant decreasing trends of rainfall. These were the months of February, March and April. Mann-Kendall analyses were carried out to investigate the annual trends of rainfall during three sub-periods, i.e., 1985-1996, 1997-2008, and 2009-2019. The results revealed that while rainfall increased by 5.3 mm/12 years and 7.8 mm/11 years for the first and the third periods respectively, it decreased by about 11 mm/12 years during the second period. While trends of rainfall in Saudi Arabia are affected by large scale circulations and local factors, the effect of extraterrestrial factors, such as solar activity and its consequent effects on the climate may, additionally, play a potential role in affecting the pattern of rainfall in Saudi Arabia.

Investigation of a Possible Link between Solar Activity and Climate Change in Saudi Arabia: Rainfall Patterns

In this study, annual, quarterly, and monthly mean precipitation data in Saudi Arabia were correlated with sunspot number (SSN) and galactic cosmic ray (CR) flux over 35 years (1985-2019). The results show that the strength, magnitude, proportion and statistical significance of the relationship between precipitation and the two variables varied by season and month. We find that mean annual precipitation in Saudi Arabia, from May to November, and summer and autumn are correlated with cosmic rays and inversely correlated with SSN. Correlations of varying intensities and scales were found during the remaining months and during winter and spring. The relationships between the rainfall and SSN and CR for each solar cycle were investigated and showed that for all three cycles, the annual rainfall over Saudi Arabia has a positive correlation with CR. Different results were obtained when the seasonal rainfall data correlated with the SSNs and CRs during each cycle. The results obtained, in terms of their strength and magnitude, are affected by terrestrial and extra-terrestrial factors. These factors have been briefly presented and discussed. These findings represent a step towards understanding the possible role of solar activity in climate change for future meteorological phenomenon forecasting, even if the physical mechanism is still poorly quantified.

The Role of Atmospheric Pressure, Temperature, and Humidity on Cosmic Ray Muons at a Low Latitude Station

This study aimed to investigate the relationship between atmospheric conditions and cosmic ray (CR) muons using daily and monthly CR data collected by the KAAU muon detector in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia between 2007 and 2012. Specifically, the study examined the effects of atmospheric pressure, air temperature, and relative humidity on CR muons at different time scales (annual, seasonal, and monthly). The results of the analysis revealed that atmospheric pressure and air temperature had a negative impact on CR muons, while relative humidity had a positive impact. Although air temperature and relative humidity had small mean values across all time scales, their coefficients varied significantly from month to month and season to season. In addition, the study conducted multivariable correlation analyses for each day, which showed that pressure coefficients had consistently negative mean values, while the temperature and humidity coefficients had varying effects, ranging from positive to negative values. The reasons for the variations in the coefficients are not yet fully understood, but the study proposed several possible terrestrial and extraterrestrial explanations. These findings provide important insights into the complex interactions between the Earth’s atmosphere and cosmic rays, which can contribute to a better understanding of the potential impacts of cosmic rays on the Earth’s climate and environment.

2004年2月11日Cluster卫星和CUTLASS雷达同时观测的磁通量传输事件

本文分析了2004年2月11日11：00-11：40UT期间Cluster卫星簇的磁通门磁力计（FGM）、等离子体电子及电流试验仪（PEACE）和CUTLASS芬兰雷达对多个磁通量传输事件（FTEs）的同时观测.在此期间,Cluster卫星簇位于北半球外极隙区附近,并于11：18UT左右穿出磁层顶进入磁鞘,四颗卫星同时观测到了多个FTEs,其出现具有准周期性,周期约为130s.利用Cluster四颗卫星的多点同时观测数据,采用最小方向微分法和时空微分方法,我们推断这些FTEs是尺度大小约为（0.87-1.81）RE的准二维结构,其运动方向为东北方向,与Cooling模型预测方向基本一致.CUTLASS芬兰雷达在相应的电离层区域观测到了明显的＂极向运动雷达极光＂结构,这些结构与Cluster卫星簇观测的FTEs有着很好的对应关系,它们是FTEs的雷达观测特征.

2004年4月1日磁通量传输事件特性的研究——通量管内电流密度、粒子运动与管轴方向的对比分析

本文利用Cluster四颗卫星上磁通门磁力计(FGM)的同时观测,采用旋度器方法(Curlometer),计算和分析了2004年4月1日12:24到12:54UT期间Cluster卫星观测的多个磁通量传输事件(FTEs)的特性。结果表明:磁通量管内电流密度较大,可达到约10-7A/m2。应用最小方向微分法(MDD),发现这些FTE事件具有准二维结构,即为圆柱形结构,其通量管轴线方向与管内电流方向及粒子运动方向基本平行。

2004年3月13日TC-1和Cluster卫星联合观测的磁通量传输事件

分析了2004年3月13日12:15到12:25UT期间TC-1和Cluster卫星簇的磁通门磁力计(FGM)和电子/电流试验仪(PEACE)的联合观测数据.在此期间,TC-1卫星位于日下点以南的磁层顶附近的磁鞘中,并在12:19UT左右观测到了一个典型的先正后负的磁鞘磁通量传输事件(FTE);向Cluster卫星簇位于北半球日侧高纬磁层顶附近,并于12:23UT左右穿出磁层顶进入磁鞘,且在12:21UT左右也观测到了一个典型的先正后负的磁层FTE.比较分析发现此两个FTE具有类似的磁场结构和等离子体特征,可能是同一个北向运动的FTE先后被TC-1和Cluster卫星观测到.利用Cluster 4颗卫星的多点同时观测数据,采用最小方向微分法和时空微分方法,推断Cluster卫星观测的这个FTE是尺度大小约为1.21 R_e的准二维结构,其运动方向为东北方向,与Cooling模型预测方向基本一致.利用Cooling模型的预测,推算了TC-1卫星在12:19UT观测的FTE的运动速度和尺度,进而得出随着通量管的极向运动,其速度和尺度均有所增加.

Analysis of a Mesoscale Convective System that Produced a Single Sprite

Sprites are brief optical emissions occurring above thunderstorms. Features of sprites and their parent thunderstorms and lightning activities have been studied by many researchers. Here, we report a single sprite recorded over a mesoscale convective system during its life cycle in Northeast China. The results show that the sprite might have been a dancing one, with a 20 km horizontal displacement from its parent cloud-to-ground flash （CG） and a 38 ms time delay; all the sprite elements occurred during the continuing current process of the parent flash. The peak current of the parent CG was the largest during the almost one-hour time window containing the sprite, and the absolute values of all the negative flashes were smaller than 100 kA during the same time period and did not produce sprite. The sprite did not occur during the time period in which the maximum area of the thunderstorm reached. The occurrence of sprite corresponded well with the decay of the thunderstorm convection, and no significant relationship between the occurrence of sprite and the increase in the 30-35 dBZ and 35-40 dBZ interval was found. The large wind gradient in the 8-12 km region of the thunderstorm may have played an important role in the sprite production.

Are collisions with electrons important for modeling the polarization of the lines of the C2 solar molecule?

Observations of the second solar spectrum(SSS) revealed the existence of prominent linear polarization signals due to lines of the C2 molecule.Interpretation of the SSS is the only tool to obtain the weak and turbulent magnetic field which is widespread in the Quiet Sun.However,this interpretation is conditioned by the determination of accurate collisional data.In this context,we present a formulation of the problem of the calculation of the polarization transfer rates by collisions of polarized C2 states with electrons.The obtained formulae are applied to determine,for the first time,the polarization transfer rates between the C2 states of the Swan band electronic system(a 3Πu d 3Πq) and electrons for temperatures going up from 1000 to 10000 K.However,due to the closeness of the electronic states of the C2 molecule,the two electronic d 3Πg and a 3Πu cannot be disconnected from the other electronic levels and,thus,a model based on only two states is not sufficient to describe the formation of the lines in the Swan band.Consequently,we also calculated the collisional polarization transfer rates in the case where the first eight electronic states of C2 are taken into account.All rates are given as functions of the temperature by power laws.Our results should be useful for future solar applications.

Physical and geometrical parameters of CVBS X:the spectroscopic binary Gliese 762.1

We present the physical and geometrical parameters of the individual components of the close visual double-lined spectroscopic binary system Gliese 762.1, which were estimated using Al-Wardat＇s complex method for analyzing close visual binary systems. The estimated parameters of the individual components of the system are as follows： radius RA= 0.845±0.09R⊙, RB= 0.795±0.10R⊙, effective temperature Teff^A = 5300luminosity±50 K, Teff^B= 5150 L±50 K, surface gravity log gA= 4.52±0.10, log gB=4.54±0.15 and A= 0.51 with a semi-major axis of 0.0865±0.08L⊙, LB= 0.40±0.07L⊙. New orbital elements are presented±0.010 arcsec using the Hippracos parallax π = 58.96 ndividual masses of the system are determined as M = 1.±0.65 mas, and an accurate total mass and i72±0.60 M⊙,MA= 0.89±0.08 M⊙and MB= 0.83 K0 V and±0.07 M⊙. Finally, the spectral types and luminosity classes of both components are assigned as K1.5V for the primary and secondary components respectively,and their positions on the H-R diagram and evolutionary tracks are given.

Rapid and Asymmetric Response of the Earth＇s Bow Shock： Multipoint Observations

We analyze observations of three bow shock crossings which occurred during 2007.using upstream data from STEREO A/B.ACE and WIND,combined with multi-point THEMIS and Cluster data,and TC-1 data located near noon.During the crossing of 7 May 2007.we find that following a rapid reduction in solar wind ram pressure and subsequent pressure pulse seen by ACE and WIND upstream,the bow shock responds asymmetrically from dawn to dusk.Cluster data on the dawn-side suggest the bow shock is significantly flared and responds rapidly to the pulse arrival,while TC-1 at noon,and THEMIS on the dusk-side,are well matched to the model bow shock,but show a delayed response.The crossings observed on 21 May and 2 June show contrasting response matching the model boundary for northward Interplanetary Magnetic Field(IMF).The IMF and solar wind plasma data suggest that,the bow shock crossing at dawn-dusk side and subsolar point were mainly caused by large and smaller scale features of the solar wind ram pressure rise rather than the influence of IMF.

Depolarizing isotropic collisions of the CN solar molecule with electrons

Existence of linear polarization,formed by anisotropic scattering in the photosphere,has been demonstrated observationally as well as theoretically and is called second solar spectrum(SSS).The SSS is distinguished by its structure,which is rich in terms of information.In order to analyze the SSS,it is necessary to evaluate the(de)polarizing effect of isotropic collisions between CN solar molecules and electrons or neutral hydrogen atoms.This work is dedicated to calculations of the polarization transfer rates associated with CN-electron isotropic collisions.We show that usual rates serve as a proxy for polarization transfer rates.Then,we take advantage of available usual excitation collisional rates obtained via sophisticated quantum methods in order to derive the polarization transfer rates for the X^2Σ+-B^2Σ+(violet) and X^2Σ+-A^2Π(red) systems of CN.Our approach is based on the infinite order sudden(IOS)approximation and can be applied for other solar molecules.We discuss the effectiveness of collisions with electrons on the SSS of the CN lines.Our results contribute to reducing the degree of complication in modeling the formation of the SSS of CN.

Effect of anisotropic collisions on solar scattering polarization

Scattering of anisotropic radiation by atoms,ions or molecules is sufficient to generate linear polarization observable in stars and planets’atmospheres,circumstellar environments,and in particular in the Sun’s atmosphere.This kind of polarization is called scattering polarization(SP)or second solar spectrum(SSS)if it is formed near the limb of the solar photosphere.Generation of linear SP can typically be reached more easily than circular SP.Interestingly,the latter is often absent in observations and theories.Intrigued by this,we propose to demonstrate how circular SP can be created by anisotropic collisions if a magnetic field is present.We also demonstrate how anisotropic collisions can result in the creation of circular SP if the radiation field is anisotropic.We show that under certain conditions,linear SP creation is accompanied by the emergence of circular SP which can be useful for diagnostics of solar and astrophysical plasmas.We treat an example and calculate the density matrix elements of tensorial order k=1 which are directly associated with the presence of circular SP.This work should encourage theoretical and observational research to be increasingly oriented towards circular SP profiles in addition to linear SP in order to improve our analysis tools of astrophysical and solar observations.

A New Statistical Distance Scale for Planetary Nebulae,Based on Gaia EDR3

The present work aims to build a new statistical distance scale for planetary nebulae(PNe)based on a rigorous calibration sample.The distances of the calibration sample are derived from the trigonometric parallax method using the recent measurements of Gaia Early Data Release 3(Gaia EDR3).The new distance scale is created by applying the well-known linear relationship between the radio surface brightness temperature and the nebular radius.The calibration sample is made up of 96 PNe of accurately computed distances with uncertainties less than20%.Earlier ground-and space-based trigonometric parallaxes of PNe display inconsistency with those of Gaia,particularly the Hipparcos results.In addition,these measurements have appreciably lower precision than those of Gaia.When compared to the trigonometric technique,the expansion and kinematic methods exhibited more consistency than the spectroscopic,extinction,gravity,and photoionization methods.Furthermore,contrary to earlier results in the literature,the extinction and gravity methods,on average,underestimate and slightly overestimate the PN distances respectively.As a byproduct of extracting the Gaia parallaxes,we detect the radial velocity and variability for 14 and 3 PN central stars(CSs),respectively.To our knowledge,the variability of Hen 2-447 CS has been determined for the first time.

Extending the correlation of L_R-L_X to gamma-ray bursts

The well-known correlation between radio luminosity （LR） and X-ray luminosity （Lx）, LR/LX 10^-5, holds for a variety of objects, such as active galactic nuclei, Galactic black holes, solar flares and cool stars. Here we extend the relation to gamma-ray bursts （GRBs） and find that the GRBs also obey a similar LR - LX relation, with a slightly different slope of LR ∝ LX^1.1. This relation implies that the explosions that occur on different scales may have a common underlying origin.

A primary study on biological behavior of aluminum using^26Al-AMS

Aluminum is concerned as a possible cause of many diseases.To investigate the long-term A1 biokinetics and bioavailability in various kinds of Al-contained medicine and food,an accelerator mass spectrometry(AMS)based on the HI-13 tandem has been established for biological analysis with ^(26)A1(T_(1/2) = 716,000 years) as the tracer.In this paper,the animal tracing,sample preparation procedure and ^(26)A1-AMS measurement are presented.The sample preparation procedure has been simplified.A high sensitivity of 5×10^(-15) for ^(26)A1/^(27)A1 has been achieved.Two phases were found before and after a break time(t_b)for the ^(26)A1 retained in blood and brain,with t_b≈8 and12 h after the ^(26)Al tracer injection,respectively.