Possible contribution of a solar transient to enhanced scintillation of a quasar

✍ Scribed by P. Janardhan; S. K. Alurkar

• Publisher: Springer Netherlands
• Year: 1992
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 471 KB
• Volume: 58
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1573-0794
• DOI: 10.1007/bf00058071

✦ Synopsis

Observations of the quasar 2314 + 038 were carried out during 16-21 December, 1985 at a solar elongation (e) around 85", when the plasma tail of comet Halley swept in front of it. These observations have shown a two-fold increase in scintillation index (m) as compared to the expected levels of scintillation for the source, computed using the well-known RKH model. Spacecraft data and the geomagnetic indices available during the period show that a shock-front had reached the earth on the 18 December, the day when maximum increase in scintillation was recorded. The possible contribution of such a shock-front to the enhancement has been shown to be not greater than 15 percent. Hence, the major contribution to the enhancement came from the plasma tail of a comet.