Study of the polarization produced by the Zeeman effect in the solar Mg I b lines

The next generation of solar observatories aim to understand the magnetism of the solar chromosphere. Therefore, it is crucial to understand the polarimetric signatures of chromospheric spectral lines. For this purpose, we here examine the suitability of the three Fraunhofer Mg I b1, b2, and b4 lines at 5183.6, 5172.7, and 5167.3 A, respectively. We start by describing a simplified atomic model of only 6 levels and 3 line transitions for computing the atomic populations of the 3p-4s (multiplet number 2) levels involved in the Mg I b line transitions assuming non-local thermodynamic conditions and considering only the Zeeman effect using the field-free approximation. We test this simplified atom against more complex ones finding that, although there are differences in the computed profiles, they are small compared with the advantages provided by the simple atom in terms of speed and robustness. After comparing the three Mg I lines, we conclude that the most capable one is the b2 line as b1 forms at similar heights and always show weaker polarization signals while b4 is severely blended with photospheric lines. We also compare Mg I b2 with the K I D1 and Ca II 8542 A lines finding that the former is sensitive to the atmospheric parameters at heights that are in between those covered by the latter two lines. This makes Mg I b2 an excellent candidate for future multi-line observations that aim to seamlessly infer the thermal and magnetic properties of different features in the lower solar atmosphere.Comment: 14 pages, 11 figures, and 5 table

Chromospheric polarimetry through multi-line observations of the 850 nm spectral region II: A magnetic flux tube scenario

In this publication we continue the work started in Quintero Noda et al. (2017) examining this time a numerical simulation of a magnetic flux tube concentration. Our goal is to study if the physical phenomena that take place in it, in particular, the magnetic pumping, leaves a specific imprint on the examined spectral lines. We find that the profiles from the interior of the flux tube are periodically dopplershifted following an oscillation pattern that is also reflected in the amplitude of the circular polarization signals. In addition, we analyse the properties of the Stokes profiles at the edges of the flux tube discovering the presence of linear polarization signals for the Ca II lines, although they are weak with an amplitude around 0.5% of the continuum intensity. Finally, we compute the response functions to perturbations in the longitudinal field and we estimate the field strength using the weak field approximation. Our results indicate that the height of formation of the spectral lines changes during the magnetic pumping process which makes the interpretation of the inferred magnetic field strength and its evolution more difficult. These results complement those from previous works demonstrating the capabilities and limitations of the 850 nm spectrum for chromospheric Zeeman polarimetry in a very dynamic and complex atmosphere.Comment: 12 pages, 12 figures, 0 tables, MNRAS main journal publicatio

Chromospheric polarimetry through multi-line observations of the 850 nm spectral region III: Chromospheric jets driven by twisted magnetic fields

We investigate the diagnostic potential of the spectral lines at 850 nm for understanding the magnetism of the lower atmosphere. For that purpose, we use a newly developed 3D simulation of a chromospheric jet to check the sensitivity of the spectral lines to this phenomenon as well as our ability to infer the atmospheric information through spectropolarimetric inversions of noisy synthetic data. We start comparing the benefits of inverting the entire spectrum at 850 nm versus only the Ca II 8542 A spectral line. We found a better match of the input atmosphere for the former case, mainly at lower heights. However, the results at higher layers were not accurate. After several tests, we determined that we need to weight more the chromospheric lines than the photospheric ones in the computation of the goodness of the fit. The new inversion configuration allows us to obtain better fits and consequently more accurate physical parameters. Therefore, to extract the most from multi-line inversions, a proper set of weights needs to be estimated. Besides that, we conclude again that the lines at 850 nm, or a similar arrangement with Ca II 8542 A plus Zeeman sensitive photospheric lines, poses the best observing configuration for examining the thermal and magnetic properties of the lower solar atmosphere.Comment: 14 pages, 11 figure

Solar polarimetry through the K I lines at 770 nm

We characterize the K I D1 & D2 lines in order to determine whether they could complement the 850 nm window, containing the Ca II infrared triplet lines and several Zeeman sensitive photospheric lines, that was studied previously. We investigate the effect of partial redistribution on the intensity profiles, their sensitivity to changes in different atmospheric parameters, and the spatial distribution of Zeeman polarization signals employing a realistic magnetohydrodynamic simulation. The results show that these lines form in the upper photosphere at around 500 km and that they are sensitive to the line of sight velocity and magnetic field strength at heights where neither the photospheric lines nor the Ca II infrared lines are. However, at the same time, we found that their sensitivity to the temperature essentially comes from the photosphere. Then, we conclude that the K I lines provide a complement to the lines in the 850 nm window for the determination of atmospheric parameters in the upper photosphere, especially for the line of sight velocity and the magnetic field.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figures, main journal publicatio

Detection of interstellar hydrogen peroxide

The molecular species hydrogen peroxide, HOOH, is likely to be a key ingredient in the oxygen and water chemistry in the interstellar medium. Our aim with this investigation is to determine how abundant HOOH is in the cloud core {\rho} Oph A. By observing several transitions of HOOH in the (sub)millimeter regime we seek to identify the molecule and also to determine the excitation conditions through a multilevel excitation analysis. We have detected three spectral lines toward the SM1 position of {\rho} Oph A at velocity-corrected frequencies that coincide very closely with those measured from laboratory spectroscopy of HOOH. A fourth line was detected at the 4{\sigma} level. We also found through mapping observations that the HOOH emission extends (about 0.05 pc) over the densest part of the {\rho} Oph A cloud core. We derive an abundance of HOOH relative to that of H_2 in the SM1 core of about 1\times10^(-10). To our knowledge, this is the first reported detection of HOOH in the interstellar medium.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics, new version corrects a typo in Table 1 (and consequently in Fig 4

Respostas hematológicas de Arapaima gigas (Pisces: Arapaimidae) parasitados naturalmente por protozoários e metazoários.

O presente estudo comparou os parâmetros sanguíneos de Arapaima gigas Schinz, 1822 de cultivo, parasitados por uma espécie de protozoário e três espécies de helmintos. Em uma das pisciculturas os peixes foram parasitados somente por Ichthyophthirius multifiliis (Ciliophora), enquanto na outra foram parasitados por I. multifiliis, Dawestrema cycloancistrium e Dawestrema cycloancistrioides (Monogenoidea) e Polyacanthorhynchus macrorhynchus (Acanthocephala). Determinou-se a contagem total de eritrócitos , trombócitos e leucócitos (total e diferencial), hematócrito, concentração de hemoglobina, volume corpuscular média (VCM), hemoglobina corpuscular média (HCM), concentração da hemoglobina corpuscular média (CHCM), glicose e proteínas totais. Os peixes parasitados por I. multifiliis, D. cycloancistrium, D. cycloancistrioides e P. macrorhynchus mostraram menores valores de hematócrito, VCM e níveis de glicose, e maior concentração de hemoglobina, HCM, CHCM, número de eritrócitos , monócitos , neutrófilos e eosinófilos totais quando comparados aos peixes parasitados somente por I. multifiliis. Portanto, esses resultados indicam uma resposta desses parâmetr os sanguíneos ao parasitismo em A. gigas

Influência das práticas de manejo e do exercício físico moderado sobre o metabolismo de matrinxã, Brycon amazonicus.

Matrinxãs (Brycon amazonicus; 25g; 10 cm) provenientes da Piscicultura Águas Claras (Mococa, SP) foram divididos em dois grupos: exercitado (natação forçada na velocidade de 2,0 comprimentos corporais segundo-1; EX) e sedentário (sem exercício; SD), mantidos no Laboratório de Zoofisiologia e Bioquímica Comparativa, UFSCar (São Carlos, SP) em aquários com 500 L de água, aeração e fluxo contínuos, 25 ºC, fotoperíodo 12/12 h e ração comercial

Stocking density and copper effects on the antioxidant defenses and hematological paramenters of pacu.

In this study the objectives were to determine the acute toxicity of copper in pacu and the influence of fish stocking densities to copper toxicity