镜面材料

结合实际加工过的镜面,回顾了用于反射镜面材料的发展历程、性质和加工方法,叙述了材料的现状及存在的问题,为今后的发展指出了方向.最后对常用的反射镜面材料性能进行归纳,对被广泛看好的新材料一碳化硅的应用及加工做了简要叙述.     

为什么恒星有不同的颜色?

问天狼星是白色的,心宿二是红色的老人星是黄色的……为什么恒星有不同的颜色?答夜空中闪烁的星光,有的像心宿二—样呈现出红色,有的像老人星一样泛着黄色的光芒,还有的像天狼星一样发出白色的光……其实,恒星的颜色主要跟恒星表面温度密切相关。这种颜色与温度间的关系不单存在于遥远的太空中,在我们日常生活中也随处可见。     

月球的起源

月亮是夜空中最为明显的天体,自人类文明之初,它就在世界各地的文化中占据着特殊的地位。大多数古代文明都相信,月亮是由神放置在天空中的。随着现代天文学的发展,人们以更现实的方式考察月球的起源。今天最广为接受的理论认为,地球在年轻时曾与一颗火星大小的天体相撞,而月球正晕场大冲撞溅出的碎片凝聚形成的。     

诗意的月球（七）——月亮与海潮

潮汐是大海特有的一种现象,久存海边的人会发现：海水每天都有规律地上升和下降,仿佛人的呼吸一般（如上图所示）。海水这种奇特的运动,经常成为诗人歌咏的对象,有时特殊的地理环境会造成壮观的大潮（如钱塘江大潮）,成为特别的景观,也留下许多诗词佳作。     

星际无碰撞激波的Balmer双线结构

Balmer发射线是研究星际无碰撞激波物理性质的重要途径之一.星际无碰撞激波的Balmer发射线包括宽线和窄线两个明显的成分.通常认为,这种双线成分是与激波联系在一起的,宽线产生于激波前慢中性粒子与激波后高能质子的电荷交换,反映了激波后粒子的热运动状况,而窄线则产生于激波前慢中性粒子的激发,反映了激波前粒子的热运动状况.但是,近来更细致的观测和理论计算表明,超新星遗迹中Balmer发射线的双线结构很可能还要受到其他因素的影响,并且与激波速度和电子-质子的热平衡有着密切的关系.该文将讨论影响Balmer双线结构的各种因素,并讨论Balmer双线结构在超新星遗迹研究中的一些应用.     

FITS文件管理器设计与实现

FITS文件管理器(FITS Manager)着眼于对中小规模数量的FITS文件的管理,实现对FITS文件的快速查找、预览以及相关处理。在不改变天文学家现有工作习惯的前提下融入虚拟天文台先进的技术和功能。FITS Manager采用了日趋流行的插件式软件开发模式,在完成了软件跨平台的同时极大地增强了软件的可扩展性。在FITS Manager中,所有的应用功能都由功能插件完成,软件核心组件则为应用插件提供了简便的接口、提高公用功能的复用程度。通过社区开发的模式不断添加各种功能的插件,FITS Manager将努力成为天文学家处理FITS文件的高效平台。     

Blazar喷流节点运动视速度的统计研究

VLBI观测表明,TeV伽马射线Blazar(耀变体)的喷流运动视速度远小于MeV/GeV伽马射线Blazar,然而TeV伽马射线辐射流量的快速变化却要求这些Blazar的相对论喷流速度与MeV/GeV Blazar的相当.对于这一矛盾,目前有多种解释.为了检验这些模型,我们收集了VLBI对Blazar喷流运动的监测数据,样本包括86个FSRQs(平谱射电类星体)、22个BL Lac天体,共108个Blazar;从统计上研究了,该样本中各Blazar最大视速度喷流节点的位置与射电光度相关关系.结果表明,Blazar最大视速度喷流节点的位置与射电光度有较强的相关关系,随着Blazar射电光度的减小,喷流中最大视速度VLBI节点的位置到VLBI核的距离逐渐变小.这意味着,TeV伽马源(低光度Blazar)的喷流减速区距离VLBI核较近,喷流从高能辐射区到VLBI可分辨尺度已经减速,支持减速喷流模型对TeV伽马射线Blazar上述矛盾的解释.     

新闻速递

使用意大利的伽利略国家望远镜,一个天文学家小组发现了一颗新型的岩质行星,其质量达到了地球的17倍。行星形成理论认为,这样的行星不会形成,因为如此的大质量会吸引氢气生长成类似木星的气态巨行星。但这颗行星却完全是固态的,其质量又比之前发现的“超级地球”要大得多,故称“巨型地球”。     

波片相位延迟的光强测量法研究

通过Mueller矩阵运算,推导出采用接收光强的方法计算波片相位延迟的唯一表达式,并由此总结归纳出4种测试波片延迟的方法,发现目前发表的多种光强测量法都可归纳为该4种中的一种.文中给出了这4种方法的测试原理,并对各方法中方位角误差带来的测量误差进行了分析及比对,给出不同方法所适宜的测试对象.     

9月漫步星空

→北斗横卧秋意浓北斗七星可以说是全年星空中最著名的形象,是最容易被人们认出的星象。每年秋天傍晚,北斗七星距离地平很近,如果北方地平附近有树木或是建筑物,那么就会挡住它。北斗七星是大熊星座的—部分。秋天,又是熊准备冬眠的季节,所以,生活在加拿大南部的印第安人认为,天上的北斗七星所在的大熊座也要回至嘣蔓面的洞穴冬眠了。下图是梵高笔下靠近地平的北斗七星,画于1888年9月。这正是北斗横卧秋意浓的最好写照。     

天文学研究发展趋势分析--恒星与恒星系统

对在1981-2000年世界上所发表的和中国学者所发表的有关恒星与恒星系统的论文作统计发现：此期间世界上这一领域的发展较平稳，而我国的发展快速．这反映了改革开放后，我国基础学科研究大有进展．从各分支所占的比重和发展来看，我国在恒星与恒星系统的研究与世界同期有几乎相同的分布，因此总体上我国在这一领域的发展基本正常．当然有些分支发展较快，如有关超新星及其遗迹、星际介质和恒星形成区、化学丰度的研究等，这和一些较强的研究团组形成有关；在双星研究方面，我国则与世界发展一致，双星研究始终是恒星研究领域的重点；而在世界范围内较突出的关于银河系的研究，在我国却相对较弱．恒星和恒星系统这一研究领域20年的论文数统计显示，我国学者所发表的论文只占世界总论文数的1．3％，虽然在最后5年有大幅上升，但也只占2．0％，这与我国IAU会员数所占比例相比是偏少的．就世界整体而言，恒星领域的研究进展与整个天文学领域相比是较慢的，显然这与一批能做深空探测和高能波段观测的设备投入有关．因此，除了对恒星及恒星系统领域作统计分析外，对整个天文学领域各大分支作分析可能对制定今后我国天文学发展计划更有利。     

LGM lake records from China and an analysis of climate dynamics using a modelling approach

Lake-geological studies in China have reported that there were much higher lake levels and much fresher water than today at the last glacial maximum (LGM) in western China. A compilation of lake data in this study showed LGM conditions much drier than today in eastern China but somewhat wetter in western China. These E–W differential patterns of climate conditions were completely different from the modern dry-wet conditions with a N–S differential distribution. In this study palaeoclimate simulations by an AGCM coupled with land surface process model were used to explore the possible mechanisms of LGM climate in China. The results confirmed that the dry conditions in eastern China resulted from less summer precipitation due to the Pacific Subtropical High occupying eastern China and the decline in the summer monsoon. The wet conditions in western China were produced by a decrease in evaporation due to a low temperature on land surface at the LGM and increase in precipitation. Two experiments of the palaeoclimate simulations with different land surface of modern and palaeo-vegetations have been designed to test the discrepancies of simulated LGM climate with in precipitation and P–E fields. The results suggested that the feedback from the Asian land surface within the climate system would amplify and modify external forcing, leading to marked climate changes in China.     

Numerical modelling of permafrost in bedrock in northern Fennoscandia during the Holocene

The occurrence of permafrost in bedrock in northern Fennoscandia and its dependence on past and presently ongoing climatic variations was investigated with one- (1D) and two-dimensional (2D) numerical models by solving the transient heat conduction equation with latent heat effects included. The study area is characterized by discontinuous permafrost occurrences such as palsa mires and local mountain permafrost. The ground temperature changes during the Holocene were constructed using climatic proxy data. This variation was used as a forcing function at the ground surface in the calculations. Several versions of the present ground temperature were applied, resulting in different subsurface freezing–thawing conditions in the past depending on the assumed porosity and geothermal conditions.Our results suggest that in high altitude areas with a cold climate (present mean annual ground temperature between 0°C and −3°C), there may have been considerable variations in permafrost thickness (ranging from 0 to 150 m), as well as periods of no permafrost at all. The higher is the porosity of bedrock filled with ice, the stronger is the retarding effect of permafrost against climatic variations.Two-dimensional models including topographic effects with altitude-dependent ground temperatures and slope orientation and inclination dependent solar radiation were applied to a case of mountain permafrost in Ylläs, western Finnish Lapland, where bedrock permafrost is known to occur in boreholes to a depth of about 60 m. Modelling suggests complicated changes in permafrost thickness with time as well as contrasting situations on southern and northern slopes of the mountain.Extrapolating the climatic warming of the last 200 years to the end of the next century when the anticipated increase in the annual average air temperature is expected to be about 2 K indicates that the permafrost occurrences in bedrock in northern Fennoscandia would be thawing rapidly in low-porosity formations. However, already a porosity of 5% filled with ice would retard the thawing considerably.     

Agricultural impacts on ecosystem functioning in temperate areas of North and South America

Land use has a large impact on ecosystem functioning, though evidences of these impacts at the regional scale are scarce. The objective of this paper was to analyze the impacts of agricultural land use on ecosystem functioning (radiation interception and carbon uptake) in temperate areas of North and South America. From land cover maps generated using high-resolution satellite images we selected sites dominated by row crops (RC), small grain crops (SG), pastures (PA), and rangelands (RA) in the Central Plains of USA and the Pampas of Argentina. These two regions share climatic characteristics and the agricultural conditions (crop types) are also very similar. Both areas were originally dominated by temperate grasslands. In these sites we extracted the temporal series of the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) from the NOAA satellites for the period 1989–1998 and calculated the mean seasonal NDVI curve for each site. Additionally, we calculated the mean annual NDVI, the maximum NDVI, the date of the year when the max NDVI was recorded and the interannual variability of these three attributes. We compared the mean values of each NDVI-derived attribute between land cover types and between continents. The NDVI seasonal patterns for each land cover type were roughly similar between the Central Plains and the Pampas during the growing season. The largest differences were observed during the winter and spring, when the NDVI of all land cover types in the Central Plains remained at lower values than in the Pampas. This was probably caused by the high annual thermal amplitude in the Central Plains that results in a much more restricted growing season. As a result of these differences in the shape of the NDVI curve, the mean annual NDVI in the Central Plains was lower than in the Pampas for all land cover types but the maximum NDVI did not differ importantly. In both regions, row crops delayed the date of the NDVI peak, small grain crops advanced it and pastures did not change it importantly, compared with rangelands. The interannual variability of the NDVI attributes was higher for small grains than for row crops in both regions. However, small grains crops were consistently more variable between years in the Central Plains than in the Pampas. The opposite occurred with pastures and rangelands, which were more variable in the Pampas than in the Central Plains. This paper confirms and generalizes previous findings that showed important imprints of land use on ecosystem functioning in temperate ecosystems. Our results support the idea that the changes in land cover that have occurred in the Central Plains and the Pampas leaded to similar changes in the way that ecosystems absorb solar radiation and in the patterns of carbon uptake.     

Uncertainties in climate change prediction: El Niño-Southern Oscillation and monsoons

The sensitivity of climate phenomena in the low latitudes to enhanced greenhouse conditions is a scientific issue of high relevance to billions of people in the poorest countries of the globe. So far, most studies dealt with individual model results. In the present analysis, we refer to 79 coupled ocean–atmosphere simulations from 12 different climate models under 6 different IPCC scenarios. The basic question is as to what extent various state-of-the-art climate models agree in predicting changes in the main features of El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the monsoon climates in South Asia and West Africa. The individual model runs are compared with observational data in order to judge whether the spatio-temporal characteristics of ENSO are well reproduced. The model experiments can be grouped into multi-model ensembles. Thus, climate change signals in the classical index time series, in the principal components and in the time series of interannual variability can be evaluated against the background of internal variability and model uncertainty.There are large differences between the individual model predictions until the end of the 21st century, especially in terms of monsoon rainfall and the Southern Oscillation index (SOI). The majority of the models tends to project La Niña-like anomalies in the SOI and an intensification of the summer monsoon precipitation in India and West Africa. However, the response barely exceeds the level of natural variability and the systematic intermodel variations are larger than the impact of different IPCC scenarios. Nonetheless, there is one prominent climate change signal, which stands out from model variations and internal noise: All forced model experiments agree in predicting a substantial warming in the eastern tropical Pacific. This oceanic heating does not necessarily lead to a modification of ENSO towards more frequent El Niño and/or La Niña events. It simply represents a change in the background state of ENSO. Indeed, we did not find convincing multi-model evidence for a modification of the wavelet spectra in terms of ENSO or the monsoons. Some models suggest an intensification of the annual cycle but this signal is fairly model-dependent. Thus, large model uncertainty still exists with respect to the future behaviour of climate in the low latitudes. This has to be taken into account when addressing climate change signals in individual model experiments and ensembles.     

丽江高美古的二期选址——3#点和6#点的视宁度对比观测

介绍了丽江高美古二期选址在踏勘和筛选工作的基础上 ,对 3 # 点和6# 点的视宁度进行了对比观测。通过对 1 999年 2月 6日～ 1 999年 1 2月 3 1日 2个点共 4 756组同时段观测数据的统计和处理得到 :3 # 点的视宁度平均值为 1 1 .2 62 3cm ,6# 点的视宁度平均值为 1 1 .5952cm。经F分布检验和t分布检验假设成立 ,作出 3 # 点和 6# 点的视宁度无显著性差异的推断 ,与初期用衍射环观测视宁度的结果一致 ,进一步说明了高美古整个山头的视宁度都是优良的     

Double detonations at the core–envelope boundary in Type Ia supernovae

An off-centre detonation propagating near the interface between a C–O core and a He envelope in a Type Ia supernova explosion is modelled as a steady two-dimensional similarity solution at a plane interface. We assume that in both regions the energy release occurs in an infinitely thin detonation, which produces material in nuclear statistical equilibrium (NSE) in He and in nuclear statistical quasi-equilibrium in C–O. An α-network is then used to determine the effect of the associated rarefaction wave in the C–O on the final abundance of intermediate elements. We find that, although there is a significant effect, the rarefaction is not strong enough to quench the reactions and prevent the C–O from burning to NSE.     

Environmental change and water management in the Pyrenees: Facts and future perspectives for Mediterranean mountains

This paper analyses the effect of environmental changes observed in the 20th century on hydrology and water management in the southern Pyrenees, in terms of land use and climate. Moreover, a projected water-resource scenario for the 21st century is presented and discussed. Our results demonstrate that changes in precipitation, temperature, and snow accumulation, together with an increase in vegetation density in headwater regions, have led to a marked reduction in water availability in the region. Water resource managers have introduced major changes to dam operations to meet increasing water demand for irrigation purposes in lowland areas. Climatic and land-cover scenarios for the next century indicate that the sustainability of the equilibrium between available resources and water demand will be seriously threatened. These changes predicted for the Pyrenees may be representative of the changes that will occur within many other Mediterranean mountain sectors with similar climatic and socio-economic conditions.     

Detecting protoplanets with ALMA

Theoretical investigations show that planet-disk interactions cause structures in circumstellar disks, which are usually much larger in size than the planet itself and thus more easily detectable. The specific result of planet-disk interactions depends on the evolutionary stage of the disk. Exemplary signatures of planets embedded in disks are gaps and spiral density waves in the case of young, gas-rich protoplanetary disks and characteristic asymmetric density patterns in debris disks. Numerical simulations convincingly demonstrate that high-resolution imaging performed with observational facilities which are already available or will become available in the near future will allow to trace these “fingerprints” of planets in protoplanetary and debris disks. These observations will provide a deep insight into specific phases of the formation and early evolution of planets in circumstellar disks. In this context, the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) will play a crucial role by allowing to trace features in disks which are indicative for various stages of the formation and early evolution of planets in circumstellar disks.