The search for rotating radio transients (RRATs) was carried out at a frequency of 111 MHz, as daily observations carried out on the Large Phased Array (LPA) radio telescope at declinations of −9° < δ < +42°. Overall, 19 new RRATs were discovered for dispersion measures (DMs) from 2.5 to 72.6 pc cm−3. Estimates of the periods were obtained for three RRATs, with two of them (J0408+28; J0440+35) located at distances of 134 and 136 pc from Sun, placing them among the closest of all known RRATs.
The spectra of fluctuations of electric and magnetic fields in the plasma sheet of the Earth’s magnetotail according to Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission data were statistically analyzed for the years 2017–2022 during periods with small plasma velocity. The results of measurements of the FIELDS instrument suite were considered. Three-hour intervals were identified, during which the satellites were inside the plasma sheet and the plasma parameter β > 1. Over 100 thousand spectra of fluctuations of the electric field by the EDP/DCE instrument and the magnetic field by the FGM instrument were analyzed. Intervals with plasma velocities exceeding 100 km/s were excluded. For each interval, the spectral indices were calculated in the frequency range 0.014–16 Hz. It is shown that the values of the spectral indices differ significantly for the electric and magnetic fields. The dependences of the spectral indices on the fluctuations of the electric and magnetic fields averaged over the interval are obtained.
The search for pulsars in monitoring data obtained at the radio telescope Large Phased Array (LPA) at a frequency of 111 MHz was carried out. Daily round-the-clock observations were carried out for about 3,000 days. The duration of the observation session for each direction in the sky was 3.5 minutes per day. The search for pulsars was carried out using power spectra. To search for weak pulsars, power spectra were summed up. The expected increase in sensitivity was 35-40 times compared to observations in one session. In a blind search, 330 pulsars with regular radiation were detected, with periods (P) from 0.0333 to 3.7455 s and dispersion measures (DM) up to 249 pc/cm3. 39 pulsars turned out to be new. Average profiles were obtained for 6 pulsars. The DM for 7 pulsars previously detected on the LPA have been clarified.
ABSTRACT Studies of the pulsar B0823+26 have been carried out using the Large Phased Array (LPA) radio telescope. At a time span of 5.5 yr, the amplitudes of the main pulse (MP), postcursor (PC), and interpulse (IP) were evaluated in daily sessions lasting 3.7 min. It is shown that the ratio of the average amplitudes of MP in the bright (B) and quiet (Q) modes is 60. For B-mode, the average ratio of MP amplitudes to IP amplitudes is 65, and the ratio of MP amplitudes to PC amplitudes is 28. The number of sessions with a nulling is 4 per cent of the total number of sessions. Structure function (SF) and correlation function analysis of MP, IP, and PC amplitude variations of over a long-time interval allowed us to detect typical time scales 37 ± 5 d and one year. The analysis of time variations shows that the time scale of 37 d is well explained by refraction on inhomogeneities of interstellar plasma, which is distributed mostly quasi-uniformly in the line of sight. This scintillation makes the main contribution to the observed variability. Analysis of the structure function showed that there may be a few days variability. This time scale does not have an unambiguous interpretation but is apparently associated with the refraction of radio waves on the interstellar medium. One-year variability time scale has not been previously detected. We associate its appearance with the presence of a scattering layer on a closely located screen at a distance of about 50–100 pc from the Earth.
Проведен статистический анализ спектров флуктуаций электрического и магнитного поля в плазменном слое хвоста магнитосферы Земли по данным спутников миссии Multiscale Magnetosphere Mission (MMS) за 2017–2022 гг. при небольших скоростях движения плазмы. Рассмотрены результаты измерений комплекса аппаратуры FIELDS. Выделены трехчасовые интервалы, во время которых спутники находились внутри плазменного слоя и плазменный параметр β был больше единицы. Проведен анализ более ста тысяч спектров флуктуаций электрического поля прибором EDP/DCE и магнитного поля прибором FGM. Из рассмотрения были исключены интервалы со скоростями плазмы свыше 100 км/с. Для каждого интервала определены показатели наклонов спектров в частотном диапазоне 0.014–16 Гц. Выявлено, что величины показателей спектров существенно отличаются для электрического и магнитного поля. Получены зависимости показателей спектров от усредненных по интервалу уровней флуктуаций электрического и магнитного полей.
The article presents the results of a statistical analysis of the distribution of the eddy diffusion coefficient depending on the coordinates in the plasma sheet of Earth’s magnetosphere based on data from the Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission satellite system (MMS) for the period from 2017 to 2022. The localization of satellites inside the plasma sheet was recorded from the concentration and temperature of plasma ions according to the data of the same instruments and the value of plasma parameter β. Significant anisotropy of the eddy diffusion coefficient was revealed. The dependence of the eddy diffusion coefficient on the interplanetary magnetic field is analyzed, showing that with the southern orientation of the interplanetary magnetic field, the eddy diffusion coefficients are 1.5–2 times greater than with the northern orientation. It is also shown that under disturbed geomagnetic conditions (SML < –200 nT), the eddy diffusion coefficients are several times greater than under quiet geomagnetic conditions (SML > –50 nT).
In this work, we discuss the problems associated with the formation of the outer radiation belt (ORB) taking into account previous results, including the recent ones. In our opinion, the traditional approaches to the dynamics of the ORB have the following problems: • inconsistency between the times provided by the popular “quasilinear” approach to the ORB description and the observed electron acceleration times; • impossibility to describe ORB dynamics during magnetospheric storms using the “quasilinear” approach when the particle fluxes after storm restore to their pre-storm values, i.e., belong to the storms of the third type according to Reeves et al. (2003, https://doi.org/10.1029/2002GL016513 ) classification; • impossibility of explaining the Tverskaya’s relation, which connects the position of the maximum of the relativistic flux formed after storm with the minimum value of the Dst/SYM-H variation, as well as the acceleration of relativistic electrons during magnetospheric substorms even in the absence of storms. We show that such difficulties do not appear if we take into account the large- scale magnetospheric dynamics, including auroral oval shift toward low latitudes during storms, substorm injections into the region of depressed magnetic field during storm recovery phase and the action of the adiabatic mechanism of electron deceleration and acceleration. The action of stochastic mechanisms of ORB acceleration is also discussed.
The most recent findings on the dynamics of the outer radiation belt (ORB) and the physics of magnetospheric substorms are examined. Specifically, we investigate the relationship between storm time substorms and the energetic electron population that forms the ORB. Traditionally, storm time substorms have been considered as the primary source of energetic electrons, which are further accelerated during storms to contribute to the formation of the ORB. However, several observations have demonstrated that large magnetospheric substorms can generate high-energy electrons even in the absence of magnetic storms. Substorms introduce dispersionless injections of energetic electrons deep into the magnetosphere from the geosynchronous orbit during storm times. The injected electrons undergo additional acceleration via the betatron mechanism during the storm recovery phase, thus increasing the ORB population. To gain a better understanding of this process, it is crucial to study plasma sheet turbulence, substorm onset processes, and the brightening of auroral arcs. By analyzing the aforementioned findings, this study aims to highlight the need for reanalyzing of the role of auroral processes in the formation of the ORB.
We analyzed the problems of formation of the outer radiation belt (ORB) taking into consideration the latest changes in our understanding of the high-latitude magnetospheric topology. This includes strong evidence that the auroral oval maps to the outer part of the ring current, meanwhile the ORB polar boundary maps inside the auroral oval. Our analysis also includes the variation of the plasma pressure distribution and the time of the acceleration of relativistic electrons during geomagnetic storm. It is shown that the maximum of ORB is formed after the geomagnetic storm in the region of plasma pressure maximum. The position of this maximum agrees with the prediction of the ORB formation theory based on the analysis of ring current development during storm. We emphasize the role of adiabatic processes in the ORB dynamics and the importance of the substorm injections during storm recovery phase for the formation of enhanced fluxes of ORB electrons after the storm.
The Earth's magnetosphere is mainly a collisionless plasma system with non-Maxwellian particle distributions, which are often fitted by the kappa function. While the Maxwell distribution function is described by two parameters (density and temperature), the kappa distribution function has three parameters: density, core energy, and the kappa index that characterizes the slope at high energies. In this study, we fitted an ion flux measured by the five Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms satellites in the Earth's magnetosphere during quiet geomagnetic conditions by a single kappa distribution function. The data were constrained to the following regions: from seven Earth Radii (7 RE) to the Earth's magnetopause at the dayside, and up to 20 RE for other magnetic local time sectors. The two-dimensional spatial distribution of the fitted parameters and their radial dependencies were analyzed. Regions of high and low kappa-parameter are selected and their formation is discussed.
The possible influence of MHD turbulence on the energy distributions of ions in the Earth's plasma sheet was studied using data taken by the THEMIS satellites. Turbulence levels were traced using eddy diffusion coefficients ( D ), of which we measured one for each Geocentric Solar Magnetospheric (GSM) coordinates every 12 min. Ion fluxes between 1.75 and 210.5 keV during the same time windows that correspond to mainly suprathermal populations were fitted to Kappa distribution functions, which approximate a Maxwellian distribution when the κ -index ( κ ) is large. We found that the distribution of the eddy diffusion coefficients is bimodal, independently of both the eddy diffusion component and the plasma beta ( β ) parameter, which is defined as the ratio between plasma and magnetic pressures. The main peak corresponds to turbulent plasma flows with D > 10 3 km 2 s −1 . In such cases, the impact of turbulence on the κ index depends on the value of β and also on the direction of the turbulent transport. For eddy diffusion perpendicular to the neutral sheet, the values of κ decrease as D zz increases for β < 2; while for higher values of β , κ increases with D zz . For the other two directions, the values of κ decrease as D increases. This last tendency is stronger for β ~ 1 but almost null for β ~ 10. The secondary peak in the distribution of D values might represent quasi-laminar flows forming part of very large vortices, correct detection and description of which is beyond the scope of this study.
An analysis is performed for data from the Russian METEOR-M2 spacecraft and the RBSP/Van Allen probes received during several magnetic storms with D st < –100 nT. The high latitude trapping boundary of electrons with energies >100 keV is shown to be localized inside the region of auroral precipitations and sometimes coincides with the polar boundary of an auroral oval. The contribution from the adiabatic effect to the drops in relativistic electron fluxes during the main phase of a storm and their growth during the recovery phase is determined.
Variations in the spectra and pitch-angle distribution of relativistic electrons are studied for the large magnetic storm on December 19–22, 2015, during which the position of the electron trapping boundary with an energy >100 keV was recorded inside the auroral oval according to the Meteor-M No. 2 satellite. The results of ECT-REPT observations in the RBSP/Van Allen Probes mission near the maximum of the newly formed belt are used. Changes in the spectra and pitch-angle distributions as a result of the development of individual substorms during the storm are considered. The results support effective particle acceleration at relatively short time scales (<6 h). The role of the adiabatic mechanism in the acceleration and loss of relativistic electrons is considered. Evidence has been obtained for the dominant role of processes at the latitudes of the auroral oval in the formation of the outer radiation belt.
We have analyzed the role of auroral processes in the formation of the outer radiation belt, considering that the main part of the auroral oval maps to the outer part of the ring current, instead of the plasma sheet as is commonly postulated. In this approach, the outer ring current is the region where transverse magnetospheric currents close inside the magnetosphere. Specifically, we analyzed the role of magnetospheric substorms in the appearance of relativistic electrons in the outer radiation belt. We present experimental evidence that the presence of substorms during a geomagnetic storm recovery phase is, in fact, very important for the appearance of a new radiation belt during this phase. We discuss the possible role of adiabatic acceleration of relativistic electrons during storm recovery phase and show that this mechanism may accelerate the relativistic electrons by more than one order of magnitude.
The results of observations of turbulent transport in the Earth’s magnetosphere tail are summarized. The results of recent works on the projection of the auroral oval onto the equatorial plane, according to which the main part of the oval is not projected onto the plasma sheet, are taken into account. Analysis of the eddy diffusion coefficient dependences on the geocentric distance and on the phase of a magnetosphere substorm, both across the sheet and in the azimuthal direction, is carried out. The role of eddy diffusion in the creation of quasi-equilibrium plasma structures and in the plasma transport from the magnetospheric flanks into the plasma sheet is considered. The transport along the sheet is discussed. The problems of turbulent transport that can be solved by analysis the data of multisatellite projects are indicated.