Solar eclipse is a phenomenon that has a direct influence on the Earth's ionosphere • The measure of the decrease in vertical value of total electron content during the eclipse hours are correlated with the partial and complete obscuration of solar radiation • The scale of the reduction is closely associated with the eclipse magnitude

As the study of ionospheric behavior during various solar activities is an important task, various studies of ionospheric changes during eclipse events have been widely performed in the different regions of the globe. This paper investigates the ionospheric responses to the solar eclipse on 22 July 2009 over Nepal using the total electron content (TEC) measured by dual-frequency Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers. The time-averaged Vertical TEC (vTEC) of ten GPS stations from Nepal is analyzed and it is found that the value of ionospheric TEC decreases due to the reduction of ionizing radiation. In addition, the deviation in the TEC value on eclipse day from the mean vTEC value of the top five quietest days is found to lie in the range ~1–5 TECu at those regions which were associated with the partial eclipse shadow. On the other hand, the region with the total eclipse (BRN2 and RMTE) faced ~6–7 TECu on average reduction in the TEC value. Considering that the eclipse of 22 July 2009 occurred just at sunrise in the Nepalese zone, a maximum reduction of about 5 TECu is very significant. Higher deviation in TEC is therefore linked with the path of totality and the obscuration rate. This study reveals that the ionospheric TEC over Nepal was altered by wave-like energy and momentum transport, as well as obscuration of the solar disc due to the partial and total solar eclipse. Furthermore, the cross-correlation results presented similar type signatures of the eclipse-induced ionospheric modification over Nepal. This research work serves a crucial future reference for the comparative study of change of ionospheric TEC variability over the Nepal region during Eclipse events

The Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES) have been monitoring the Earth's radiation environment and is providing the electron flux data (of energy >0.8 MeV, >2 MeV, and >4 MeV) by means of a connected sensor subsystem. Relativistic electron flux is one of the components of the radiation belt which not only affects the electrical system in satellites but also has an impact on Earth’s upper atmospheric climatic variation. We have carried out a study to determine the relation of sunspot number (R), solar flux (F10.7), and solar wind parameters i.e., solar wind velocity (Vsw), plasma density Nsw), the southern component of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF-Bz), Plasma temperature (Tsw) with relativistic electron flux of energy >0.8 MeV, >2 MeV, and >4 MeV in outer radiation belt using the data of 24 years (1996-2020) covering solar cycle 23 and 24. Time series analysis, Cross-correlation and wavelet analysis techniques have been used in this study. The time series plot displayed that the radiation is occupied mostly by electron flux of energy less than 4 Mev and solar cycle 23 (1996-2008) was strong to produce more intensity of relativistic electron flux of all energy in comparison to cycle 24 (2008-2019). Results from cross-correlation analysis illustrated that Bz has no significant impact on the enhancement of relativistic electron flux of any energy range in the radiation belt. Whereas other studied parameters have a positive correlation with relativistic electron flux, but with significantly different coefficient values for different energy. We found that electron flux >0.8 MeV and >2 MeV has a strong positive association with sunspot number, solar flux, solar wind velocity, plasma density and temperature whereas weak correlation with electron flux of energy >4 MeV. This result leads us to conclude that solar activity and solar parameters have greater influence in producing relativistic electron flux of energy ~ 0.8-4 MeV, than of flux > 4 MeV. The study made to observe the distribution of relativistic electrons in radiation belt with time through continuous wavelet analysis showed that electron flux of energy >0.8 has a higher periodicity in comparison to the flux of other energy ranger.

On 26th December 2019, during morning hours, an annular solar eclipse having a magnitude of 0.96 with a 118 km wide antumbra occurred and lasted for 3 minutes and 40 seconds at the point of maximum eclipse. The partial eclipse was visible in most of Asia, parts of North/East Africa, and North/West Australia. In the context of Nepal, only the partial eclipse was visible from ~ 8:34 LT (02:51 UT) and ended at ~ 11:40 LT (05:55 UT). It was 2 hours 47 mins and 54 secs long with the maximum visible eclipse time at ~ 10:01 LT (04:16 UT). Our study is based on Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) measurements from a widely distributed Global Positioning System (GPS) network over different places of Nepal on the day of the eclipse, a day before, and a day after the eclipse. We investigated the ionospheric behavior through the changes in Total Electron Content (TEC) during the partial eclipse by using the data archived at the five different GPS stations of Nepal. The result reveals that there is significant depletion of TEC, in some cases greater than 20% compared to other normal days. Observing the values of TEC before, during, and after the event, our study showed an apparent variation during the time of the eclipse, which agrees with previous studies on ionospheric responses to the eclipse as well as theoretical assumptions.

In this study, we reviewed the maximum and minimum temperature trends of the Kathmandu valley over the period of 2011-2017. In addition, the average monthly temperature trends were studied annually for the same period, with the data made available from the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology (DHM) of Nepal. The annual temperature trended in the same direction, with winter temperatures being lower and summer temperatures being higher. The annual average minimum and maximum air temperature trends were found to be slightly rising at 0.097˚C/year and 0.04˚C/year, respectively. The mean air temperature in Kathmandu valley is increasing at a rate of 0.06 degrees Celsius per year, with 2016 being the warmest year and 2012 being the least warm, with annual mean temperatures of 19.82˚C and 19.32˚C, respectively. The temperature difference is much smaller in the summer (less than ~12˚C) than in the winter.  BIBECHANA 18 (2) (2021) 95-104

We studied the dust properties of two cavity structures (namely FIC21+54 and FIC16-56) nearby Asymptotic Giant Branch stars using Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS) maps. Dust color temperature, Planck function, dust mass, and visual extinction with their distribution within the region of interest were examined. The temperature of dust was found to lie in the range of 22.24 ± 0.81 K to 23.27 ± 0.21 K, and 25.12 ± 0.43 K to 26.17 ± 0.62 K, and the mass of dust was obtained within the range of 4.21 × 1026 kg to 3.6 × 1027 kg, and 2.1 × 1027 kg to 3.31 × 1028 kg, for FIC21+54 and FIC16-56, respectively. Some unusual behaviors on the distribution of dust temperature indicated the effect of nearby sources within the studied structures. Moreover, we observed the trend of dust particles along the major and minor diameters, and plots represented that the particles were oscillating with a sinusoidal pattern in both cavities. The negative slope between 25 µm and 60 µm in far-infrared spectral distribution was encountered for both structures, which portrayed less number density of particles in 60 µm band; interaction between AGB wind and the ambient interstellar medium could be the possible reason behind this. These findings support the prior results for two new cavity structures nearby AGB stars within the galactic plane -10° < b < +10°.

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The physical properties such as dust color temperature, dust mass, visual extinction, and Planck function with their distribution in the core region of two far-infrared cavities, namely FIC16-37 (size ~ 4.79 pc x 3.06 pc) located at R.A. (J2000): 16h 33m 57.25s & Dec. (J2000): -37d 47m 04.3s, and FIC12-58 (size ~ 22.54 pc x 14.84 pc) located at R.A. (J2000): 12h 52m 50.08s & Dec. (J2000): -58d 08m 55.02s, found within a galactic plane -10o  to +10o  nearby Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) stars namely AGB15-38 (R.A. (J2000): 15h 37m 40.74s & Dec. (J2000): -38d 20m 24.6s), and AGB12-57 (R.A (J2000): 12h 56m 38.50s & Dec. (J2000): -57d 54m 34.70s), respectively were studied using Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS) survey. The dust color temperature was found to lie in the range of 23.95 ± 0.25 K to 23.44 ± 0.27 K with an offset about 0.5 K for FIC16-37, and 24.88 ± 0.27 K to 23.63 ± 0.98 K with an offset about 1 K for FIC12-58. The low offset in the dust color temperature indicated the symmetric distribution of density and temperature. The total mass of the cavities FIC16-37 and FIC12-58 were found to be 0.053 M☉ and 0.78 M☉, respectively. The contour plots of mass distribution of both of the cavities was found to follow the cosmological principle, suggesting the homogeneous and isotropic distribution of dust masses. The plot between temperature and visual extinction showed a negative correlation, suggesting that higher temperature has lower visual extinction and vice-versa. The distribution of Planck function along major and minor diameters of both of the cavities was found to be non-uniform, indicating oscillation of dust particles to get dynamical equilibrium. It further suggested the role of pressure-driven events nearby both cavities and suggested that dust particles are not in thermal equilibrium along the diameters.