It has recently been reported (Cini-Castagnoli et al. 1973; Jacklyn and Cini-Castagnoli, 1974) that Jupiter may be responsible for a modulation component in the counting rate of underground cosmic ray detectors on the earth. The evidence suggests that a screening mechanism is operating, in as much as the observed counting rates are diminished when Jupiter is within the field of view of these detectors. The magnitude of the effect is larger than can be accounted for by simple line-of-sight obscuration by the planet itself, and it has been suggested that the intense and extensive Jovian magnetic field is producing the effect.

Multi-frequency observations with the Culgoora radioheliograph (Wild 1967); Sheridan et al. 1973) of five solar bursts of spectral type II (Wild et al. 1954) have now been analysed. The spectra of all five bursts show split-banded harmonic structure. Each type II burst passed through only two of the heliograph’s three observing frequencies (160, 80 and 43.25 MHz). Relationships between the positions, sizes and brightness temperatures of the various sources in each burst are presented and summarized; their implications for the propagation of shock waves and radio waves in the solar corona are briefly discussed.

It has been suggested, for example by Wilson and Spiegel, that the results from the study of convection in incompressible fluids may provide a basis for the study of the solar convection zone. In fact Wilson’s models contain temperature fluctuation maxima, a feature exhibited by the results obtained from the convection problem for large values of the Rayleigh number.

Observations of the solar surface indicate a cellular structure, photospheric granulation, which, as suggested by Wilson and others, could arise from a shallow convection layer. The basic observed granulation pattern has been likened to a hexagonal cell type structure.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a new expression for < ṗ > the average time-rate-of-change of momentum of cosmic-ray particles propagating in the interplanetary region. The expression derived replaces the previously used adiabatic deceleration formula and it is arrived at by a rearrangement and reinterpretation of the well known equation of transport for cosmic-rays. Thus, although we provide a new expression for < ṗ > we maintain the equation of transport and do not render invalid results for differential intensity and differential current density of cosmic-ray particles obtained by its solution (Jokipii 1971; Gleeson 1972).

The term ‘flare continuum’ (denoted by FC) was introduced by Wild (1970) to describe a strong, stationary continuum source at the metre wavelengths which occurs early in some flare events, particularly those of high energy. The flare continuum is distinct from the ‘storm continuum’ (SC), which occurs late in some flare events, becomes strongly circularly polarized and may continue as a ‘storm’. Both had previously been referred to as ‘stationary type IV’ bursts, to distinguish them from the original ‘moving type IV’ burst, IVM.

In this paper we study the steady-state interplanetary propagation of solar cosmic-rays by means of analytic solutions of the equation of transport. The cosmic-rays are released monoenergetically from a fixed heliocentric radius and redistribute in energy as they propagate. Previous investigations by Goldstein et al. (1970), Urch and Gleeson (1971,1972), and Parker (1965, 1966), were either not general enough or used numerical solutions which could not deal with strictly monoenergetic initial injection nor maintain accuracy over a wide range of particle energies. We use the analytic solutions of Gleeson and Webb (1973) and show the energy changes, the redistribution in energy (or momentum) and the characteristics of the particle flow or streaming.

Determination of the large-scale structure of flare-produced disturbances requires either multiple spacecraft observations or an ensemble averaging of single spacecraft observations of a number of events. There is currently some confusion in the results of studies of shock normals derived from spacecraft data. Chao and Lepping (1974) suggest that the average shock shape near 1 AU is essentially spherical while Bavassano et al. (1973) suggest that the disturbance corresponds closely to the shapes predicted in the numerical simulations of de Young and Hundhausen (1971).

We shall examine the question of whether the concentration of magnetic field, the downward motion and the temperature excess observed at the boundaries of supergranules can be interpreted consistently in terms of a steady flow along the magnetic lines of force. Before doing so, however, we shall first consider the development of the magnetic configuration driven by a supergranular convection overshooting into the photosphere.

In recent years, cosmic-rays have become part of the study of astrophysics and the search for information as to their origin has assumed considerable importance. The question of the origin of the rays is linked with questions concerning their acceleration and propagation through interstellar space. The main problem facing the cosmic-ray astrophysicist in attempting to elucidate these questions observationally arises from the fact that most particles are electrically charged, causing their paths to be curved by the magnetic fields of the Earth and interplanetary and interstellar space.

In this paper possible causes of line splitting in emission near the local plasma frequency are considered in connection with drift pair solar radio bursts. The basic model envisaged for the bursts involves a bunch of electrons streaming through the solar corona at several times the thermal velocity of electrons. The emission process assumed is the transformation of coherently generated electron plasma waves (I-waves) into electromagnetic waves (t-waves) with little change in frequency.

Observations on 1970 August 11 and 12 at Mauna Loa (Hawaii) of the white-light corona revealed a rare solar event in the form of a short-lived coronal brightening off the eastern limb of the Sun. The intensity of this region, as measured at a distance ρ = 1.5 (where ρ = R/R⊙), more than doubled over a period of five hours and then fell very abruptly (~10 min) to below its initial brightness. A complex radio event in the same region was observed simultaneously with the 80 MHz radioheliograph at Culgoora (Australia). Associations between the optical and radio events will be described and the physical implications briefly discussed.

The barometric coefficient of a cosmic-ray neutron monitor is found to increase with atmospheric depth from ~ 150 mm Hg to 600 mm Hg and then to decrease slowly with depth down to 760 mm Hg (Bachelet et al. 1965; Carmichael and Bercovitch 1969). Bachelet et al. 1965) tentatively attributed this change in the slope of the barometric coefficient versus atmospheric depth curve at 600 mm Hg to the contribution made by muons to the neutron monitor counting rate. Carmichael and Bercovitch (1969) have shown that the contribution to the monitor counting rate made by obliquely incident nucleons may be the real cause. Singh et al. (1970) have derived an expression for the barometric coefficient for vertically incident particles in a neutron monitor which increases continuously with increasing atmospheric depth down to 760 mm Hg, demonstrating more definitely that the above explanation of Carmichael and Bercovitch is correct.

In this paper we discuss 80 MHz heliograph observations of the multiple source structure and polarization of a type IV solar radio outburst on 1970 November 16. At times during the event six sources were present. Three of these were highly circularly polarized in a L.H. sense and two in a R.H. sense. The sixth source was extended and had oppositely polarized edges. From the source behaviour we conclude that the radio emission came from two expanding and one stationary magnetic arch.

The Fokker-Planck equation has been used by a number of authors (Jokipii 1966, 1971; Hall and Sturrock 1967; Hasselmann and Wibberentz 1968; Roelof 1968) to deduce the diffusion coefficients of cosmic-ray particles in the interplanetary magnetic field. However, these calculations suggest that the diffusion of particles perpendicular to the mean magnetic field is implausibly large; so large that the validity of a Fokker-Planck approach as applied to the interplanetary medium must be doubted.