SXT Status Report 31 July - 6 August 1995 (Week 31) --------- Mark Weber 29-Jul-95 Hello, hello. I'm happy to be back at ISAS and in Japan. I came a few days early so I could visit Wakayama prefecture, and see some of Japan that ISN'T part of the greater Tokyo Metroplex. Now the sight-seeing is over, and I'm quickly relearning the tasks of the SXT CO. Fortunately for me, the transition has been relatively easy due to the lack of both coordinated and solar activity... SOLAR ACTIVITY The activity level remains low as we cruise through what is presumably the solar activity cycle minimum. GOES data for the past week indicates that the Sun has been mostly content to remain below B-level. This is probably tied to the fact that only one active region of note (AR 7894) has been passing across the disk. SXT INSTRUMENT STATUS No problems with the SXT this week. CALIBRATION STATUS The offpoint terminator program continues. PASS CONFLICTS We lost a total of eight (8) passes due to conflicts with ASCA. CAMPAIGNS No coordinated campaigns were carried out in Week 31. Following is the status of impending, or on-hold, campaigns. - FILAMENT OBSERVATIONS On hold for Week 32. - SPARTAN Spartan 201-03 launch delayed until "no earlier than mid-August". Our observing plan will change depending on exact launch date. - POLAR RAY CAMPAIGN The Yohkoh team has accepted a campaign proposal from Koutchmy-san Hara-san to "Identify and deduce relevant parameters of small scale features seen at high temperature in polar regions at time when polar faculae are still active." The dates of this campaign will be determined by the proposers and the SXT Chief Observer. SCIENCE The Yohkoh seminar is on vacation and many persons are at a CDAW at Nobeyama, so there is not much to report. The biggest solar science news from the outside world might be (a) rumors of solar radius changes as observed by the Mitaka meridian transit instrument, which has been working now for a full cycle; and (b) rumors of the detection of solar g-modes in an extremely unlikely place: the solar wind (See Thomson et al, Nature, just published). In terms of Yohkoh science, Nitta and Yaji submitted a paper on a superhot event, one of the very few (perhaps 3?) that have been written up from the Yohkoh data. They find, as did Kosugi et al. with the 6-Feb-92 event, that the superhot source is physically separate from a more normal flare loop, but possibly linked at one footpoint. Kano visited from Mitaka and brought five (5) beautiful preprints from Tsuneta's group there. SEMINARS Yohkoh seminars have stopped for the interim. Stay tuned! PERSONNEL Len Culhane visited ISAS for 1 week to work with Hugh Hudson on a Yohkoh review. Mark Weber arrived Thursday (July 27) and immediately headed off to Wakayama for the weekend. Weber took over as Chief Observer for Week 31. After assisting the new Chief Observer with the transfer of duties, David Alexander left Wednesday (August 2) for the fair, and noticeably cooler, mountains of Montana. OPERATIONS NOTE: It was decided at the Weekly Operations Meeting for Week 32 that the WOM for Week 33 (Mon. 14, Aug.) would be skipped. The next WOM will be held Mon. 21, August. QUOTE OF THE WEEK "That is a dumb question, but it is a cutting-edge dumb question!" -- Hugh Hudson, responding to a query from Mark Weber on filling factors. Week 31 Tohban: SSOC: Hudson and Nakagawa KSC: Noguchi and Watanabe_Te SXT Chief Observer: M. Weber SXT Systems and Data Engineer: Conspicuously none.