The presence of the red flash at total solar eclipses requires the existence of an extended chromosphere and therefore of a photospheric magnetic network that gives rise to spicules. We draw attention to the earliest historical reports of a red flash at the 1706 and 1715 eclipses, which therefore imply a substantial, widespread photospheric field during at least the last decade of the Maunder M...

The classic accepted view of the heliosphere is a quiescent, comet-like shape aligned in the direction of the Sun’s travel through the interstellar medium (ISM) extending for thousands of astronomical units (AUs). Here, we show, based on magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations, that the tension (hoop) force of the twisted magnetic field of the Sun confines the solar wind plasma beyond the termina...

The detection of nucleobases in carbonaceous chondrites such as Murchison supports the scenario in which extraterrestrial organic molecules could have contributed to the origin of life on Earth. However, such large molecules have not been observed to date in astrophysical environments, in particular, comets and the interstellar medium (ISM). The physico-chemical conditions under which nucleobas...

We present unified chemical and spectrophotometric evolutionary synthesis models that allow to describe composite stellar populations in a chemically consistent way. Keeping track of the ISM abundance at birth of each star and using sets of input physics (stellar yields, tracks, spectra) for different metallicities we account for the increasing initial metallicity of successive stellar generati...

A flow-chart is presented depicting atmosphere-ocean coupling, which is initiated by decadal solar variability. Possible mechanisms for Canonic ENSO, Modoki ENSO and Canonic-Modoki ENSO are proposed and their relevance to the decadal variation of Hadley, Walker circulation and mid-latitude jets are discussed. We also show subsequent teleconnections by ENSO for eg., on ISM with a special emphasi...

The Suzaku X-ray satellite observed the nearby spiral galaxy NGC 4258 for a total good exposure time of 100 ks. We present an analysis of the Suzaku XIS data, in which we confirm that the 0.5–2 keV spectra of the interstellar medium (ISM) are well-represented by a two-temperature model. The cool and hot ISM temperatures are 0.23 −0.02 and 0.59 ±0.01 keV, respectively. Suzaku’s excellent spectra...

The radioactive isotope Fe (T1/2 = 1.5 Myr) was present in the early solar system. It is unlikely that it was injected directly into the nascent solar system by a single, nearby supernova. It is proposed instead that it was inherited during the molecular cloud stage from several supernovae belonging to previous episodes of star formation. The expected abundance of Fe in star forming regions is ...

External morphology of spicules in several species of Trichodoridae was studied by scanning electron and light microscopy. The bristles on the spicules observed in the light microscope in several species were revealed as small scales forming a sheath which covers most of the spicule body. Some species have smooth spicules, whereas other species exhibited complicated structures formed by project...