ALBERT

Description: The topology of the magnetic field in the heliosheath is illustrated using plots of the field lines. It is shown that the Archimedean spiral inside the terminal shock is rotated back in the heliosheath into nested spirals that are advected in the direction of the interstellar wind. The 22-year solar magnetic cycle is imprinted onto these field lines in the form of unipolar magnetic envelopes surrounded by volumes of strongly mixed polarity. Each envelope is defined by the changing tilt of the heliospheric current sheet, which is in turn defined by the boundary of unipolar high-latitude regions on the Sun that shrink to the pole at solar maximum and expand to the equator at solar minimum. The detailed shape of the envelopes is regulated by the solar wind velocity structure in the heliosheath.

Description: We report on combined ultraviolet and optical observations of early stages of the outburst of Nova Cygni 1992. We show that the initial optical rise and decline were produced by the dramatic increase in UV line opacity and its gradual subsequent lifting as the ejecta expand. The source of the M(sub v) - t(sub 3) relation is easily understood in light of these low-resolution UV spectra. The multiwavelength data confirm the theoretical prediction that a nova evolves at a constant bolometric luminosity in the early stages of outburst. We verify the prediction for this nova for at least the first month of the outburst. The detection of far-UV radiation with the Voyager Ultraviolet Spectrometer and the detection of an increasing X-ray flux with Roentgen Satellite (ROSAT) imply that this phase lasted for more than 6 months.

Description: The paper discusses the occurrence and properties of disks around young stars, emphasizing in particular how these may relate to planet formation and the evolution of the solar system. The global properties of such disks often resemble those attributed to the primitive solar nebula, suggesting that conditions appropriate for planet formation commonly accompany the birth of low-mass stars. Disk masses, between 0.001 and 1 solar mass, are generally lower than those of the stars, and may represent only a fraction (less than about 10 percent) of the total system mass. From the paucity of near-IR radiation from some disks it is inferred that the inner regions there are gaps where the opacity from small particles becomes vanishingly small. Evidence is presented to the effect that gaps in the inner disks develop preferentially in the oldest objects, suggesting that, with time, matter is lost or accumulates into large particles such as planetesimals, which cannot yet be detected.

Description: Recent developments concerning the accretion-outflow connection and the role of magnetic fields are examined. It is argued that the weakly ionized wind most likely represents an MHD outflow driven centrifugally from the disk surfaces or from the boundary between the disk and the star. Specific wind models for each of these alternatives are presented, and it is contended that both provide a natural explanation of the observed correlation between accretion and outflow. The kinematic, thermal, and chemical wind properties predicted by these models are described and their observational implications are considered. It is suggested that the wind characteristics may be reflected in the observed forbidden line and IR continuum emission of T Tauri stars and in the measured abundances of various molecular species.

Description: We have observed the region in Orion containing Herbig-Haro 1 as well as a number of young, active stars. This observation shows a similar X-ray morphology to that in the first X-ray imaging observation about 10 years ago. The ROSAT High Resolution Instrument with its approximately arcsecond spatial resolution allows us in most cases to make definite optical identifications of the 0.1-2.4 keV X-ray sources. New identifications with emission-line stars are made, and prior identifications using lower resolution observations are confirmed or corrected. The X-ray emission previously detected from the vicinity of HH-1 is not associated with HH-1 but with a known T Tauri star. The observed relationships among X-ray, optical line, and infrared excess emission do not simply fall into the suggested classifications for T Tauri or T Tauri-like stars. This could be an indication of another X-ray emission region such as accretion disks that add to the emission from the stellar atmospheres.

Description: We describe a semiempirical methodology-based on measurements of far-infrared (FIR) lines-that yields information on electron densities in regions where various ionic species exist, effective temperatures (T(sub eff)) for stars ionizing H II regions, and gas-phase heavy element abundances. Although this capability has long been available via optical data, the special features of FIR lines-relative insensitivity to extinction and electron temperature variations-extend the analysis ability. Several line ratios serve as diagnostics of electron density, N(sub e), probing different ionization conditions and different density regimes. The more N(sub e)-diagnostic observations made, the more reliable will be the deciphering of the actual variation in density throughout a nebula. A method to estimate T(sub eff) from the FIR (N III)/(N II) line ratio requires that the nebula be ionization bounded and that substantially all of the flux from the revevant lines be observed. However, to estimate T(sub eff) by a second method that uses the ratio of FIR (S III)/(O III) lines, an ionization-bounded nebula is a sufficient, but not necessary, condition. These restrictions are unnecessary for estimating densities and heavy element abundances. We show that a fairly general determination of metallicity, via the S/H ratio, may be made for H II regions with observations of just two lines-(S III) 19 micron and a hydrogen recombination line (or appropriate substitute). These techniques are applied to recent FIR data for the G333.6-0.2 H II region, including application to the recently measured (N II) 122 and 205 micron lines.

Description: Three Galactic novae were observed with the IRAM 30 M telescope at (C-12)O J = 1 - 0 and J = 2 - 1. No evidence for the previously reported emission in NQ Vul is found and strong upper limits are derived for possible CO emission in QU Vul and Nova Vul 1987. There is no evidence for extensive cold molecular material surrounding old novae.

Description: This paper presents a simple physical model for the bipolar molecular outflows that frequently accompany star formation. The model forges an intrinsic link between the bipolar flow phenomenon and the process of star formation, and it helps to explain many of the systematics known for existing sources.

Description: This paper reports the observation and interpretation of the ultraviolet spectrum variations of nine helium-strong stars: HD 36485, 37017, 37479, 37776, 58260, 60344, 64740, 96446, and 133518. A unified model is developed to account for the observed correlation among three stellar properties: the line profile characteristics of the C IV and Si IV resonance doublets, the variations in the strength of these lines, and the inferred magnetic field geometry. It is proposed that circumstellar plasma is trapped in the stellar magnetosphere near the magnetic equator or is channeled to form jetlike outflows from the magnetic polar regions. These results, together with those of a previous study of the helium-weak sn stars, show that both helium-weak and helium-strong stars can possess magnetospherically trapped plasma, notwithstanding their different photospheric properties. New results for radii and temperatures of the helium-strong stars in Ori OB 1 and for HD 64740 from low-dispersion IUE spectra are also presented.

Description: The physical processes that control the thermal structure of lightly ionized winds from cool protostars are discussed. Attention is concentrated on the hydrogen gas, and the heating, cooling, and chemical processes that affect the neutral and ionic species of atomic and molecular hydrogen are examined. Warm silicate dust may condense out of the cooling wind and may heat the gas through collisions. Singly ionized sodium atoms, which do not recombine for the mass-loss rates considered, set a lower limit to the ionization fraction in the wind. Magnetic fields, which are presumed to accelerate the wind, couple directly to the ionic component of the gas and transfer momentum and energy to the neutral component through collisions. This process of ambipolar diffusion is found to be the dominant source of heat input to the gas.