Response of the middle atmosphere to Sco X-1

Abstract

On the night of 9 March 1983 (UT) at Punta Lobos Launch Site, Peru (12.5°S. 76.8 W. magnetic dip −0.7°), a sequence of sounding rockets was flown to study the electrical structure of the equatorial middle atmosphere and to evaluate perturbations on this environment induced by the X-ray star Sco X-1. The rocket series was anchored by two Nike Orion payloads (31.032 and 31.033) which were launched at 0327 and 0857 UT, near Sco X-1 star-rise and after it had attained an elevation angle of 70°E. Each of these payloads carried instrumentation during parachute descent to measure X-ray and electron fluxes, ion density, conductivity and mobility, and in situ electric fields. In addition, several smaller payloads capable of measuring the atmospheric electrical parameters were launched at times interspersed among the large rockets. An enhanced flux of X-rays was observed on the second Nike Orion flight (31.033). This increase is directly attributed to Sco X-1, both from the spectral properties of the measured X-ray distribution and by spatial information acquired from a spinning X-ray detector during the upleg portion of the 31.033 flight. Simultaneously, a growth in ion conductivity and density was seen to occur in the lower mesosphere between 60 and 80 km on the second flight, specifically in the region of maximum energy deposition by the Sco X-1 X-rays. These data have been combined to determine ion loss rates and other basic aeronomic parameters for this region of the atmosphere. The results imply the presence of a significant number of ionized heavy constituents within the lower mesosphere, with masses possibly in the submacroscopic range.