Polarimetry of the E-type asteroid 64 Angelina

Results of polarimetric observations of a high-albedo asteroid 64 Angelina obtained in the phase-angle range from 0.8° to 24.3° are presented. The observations were carried out in the period from September 28 to October 9, 2008, and on November 15, 2011, and September 18, 2012, with the 1.25-m and 2.6-m telescopes of the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory equipped with a five-color double-beam photopolarimeter and a single-channel photometer-polarimeter, respectively. Our observations confirm the polarimetric opposition effect in asteroid 64 Angelina at small phase angles and well agree with the other observations. The obtained results are discussed in terms of the currently available models of the light scattering by regolith surfaces.     

Polarimetry and BVRI photometry of the potentially hazardous near-Earth Asteroid (23187) 2000 PN9

The results of V-band polarimetric observations of the potentially hazardous near-Earth Asteroid (23187) 2000 PN₉ at large phase angles are presented as well as its photometric observations in BVRI bands. Observations were made in March-April 2006 during its close approach to the Earth using the 1.82-m Asiago telescope (Italy) and the 0.7-m telescope at the Chuguevskaya Observational Station (Ukraine). We obtained polarimetric measurements at the phase angle of 115°, the largest phase angle ever observed in asteroid polarimetry. Our data show that the maximum value of the polarization phase curve reached 7.7% and occurred in the phase angle range of 90-115°. The measured values of linear polarization degree, BVRI colors and magnitude-phase dependence correspond to the S-type composition of this asteroid. Based on our observations the following characteristics of the Asteroid (23187) 2000 PN₉ were obtained: a rotation period of 2.5325±0.0004 h, a lightcurve amplitude of 0.13 mag, an albedo of 0.24±0.06 and a diameter of 1.6±0.3 km.     

On post-SKA radio astronomy

It is suggested that the development of the SKA will drastically change the face of radio astronomy in the 21st Century. A FAST-style SKA would admit observations of low contrast features, and would be the best design for studying the `dark ages' of the Universe (x≫ 1) where sub-arcmin total power instruments can usefully be employed. To date there have been no proposals for post-SKA, billion square-metra instruments; we speculate that mobile communication systems can be used. In the very distant future, SKA multi-beam systems could be used to collect signals reflected by Solar system bodies such as the asteroid belt. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Polarization observations of giant radio pulses from the millisecond pulsar B1937+21 at a frequency of 600 MHz

We performed polarization observations of giant radio pulses from the millisecond pulsar B1937+21. The observations were carried out in July 2002 with the 64-m Kalyazin radio telescope at a frequency of 600 MHz in two polarization channels with left-and right-hand circular polarizations (RCP and LCP). We used the S2 data acquisition system with a time resolution of 125 ns. The duration of an observing session was 20 min. We detected twelve giant radio pulses with peak flux densities higher than 1000 Jy; five and seven of these pulses appeared in the RCP and LCP channels, respectively. We found no event that exceeded the established detection threshold simultaneously in the two polarization channels. Thus, we may conclude that the detected giant pulses have a high degree of circular polarization, with the frequency of occurrence of RCP and LCP pulses being the same.     

How precise is the orbit of asteroid (99942) Apophis and how probable is its collision with the Earth in 2036–2037?

The nearest in time close approach of potentially hazardous asteroid (99942) Apophis with the Earth will take place on April 13, 2029, when the minimum distance of the asteroid from the Earth’s center will be as small as 38 000 km. Such a close approach will result in substantial transformation of the asteroid’s orbit. The value of the perturbations depends on the minimum distance between the bodies during the approach. Among possible transformations of the orbit are those which result in new dangerous approaches and even in probable Apophis collisions with the Earth starting from 2036. At present, at least four solutions are known for the Apophis orbit which were obtained using all radar and most of available optical observations. The procedures of assigning weights to conditional equations and the models of the asteroid’s motion have differed to some extent when finding these solutions. Of considerable interest is the comparison of the found orbital parameters with the estimates of their accuracy, since small distinctions in their values result in considerable distinctions in the forecast of Apophis’ motion after 2029 and beyond. It is shown in the paper that the estimates of the probability of an Apophis collision with the Earth in 2036 differ by some orders of magnitude, according to various solutions. The influence of factors which were disregarded in the models of motion even more increases the uncertainty in forecasting the motion after 2029. More accurate forecasting can be achieved as a result of additional optical and, to a greater extent, a series of radar observations in 2013 and then in 2020–2021, and/or as a result of processing radio signals of the transmitter delivered to the Apophis surface or to the orbit of its artificial satellite, as it was proposed in a number of papers.     

Evidence of the complex structure of asteroid 21 Lutetia

We discuss the results of the analysis of three sets of observations of asteroid 21 Lutetia—spectrophotometry, simultaneous BVR photometry, and spectrometry—which show that the asteroid is not a monolithic body. The frequency analysis of the B-V and V-R color indices and the V values, which were obtained from simultaneous BVR measurements in 2004 and calculated from the spectrophotometric observations performed in 2000 (the synthetic values and the color indices), allowed us to demonstrate that the known rotation period of 8.^h172 of the asteroid does not exist at all. At a rather high confidence level, six new periods were found: 2.^h0, 2.^h93, 16.^h8, 1.^d25, 3.^d25, and 60^d. During spectral observations with a 1.25-m telescope at the southern laboratory of the Sternberg Astronomical Institute in Nauchnyi (Crimea) in 2004, the spectra of two components spaced 2.8″ apart were registered. In the short-wavelength spectral range, quick variations of the reflectance of the components were observed. They show the changes in their spectral types from S to C. The analysis of the synthetic values of the color indices determined from the spectrophotometric observations in 2000 confirmed the presence of quick spectral variations. We conclude that asteroid 21 Lutetia is a complex satellite system. This statement is confirmed by the analysis of data published in different sources.     

关于太阳射电快速活动真伪信号识别问题

本文列举了云南天文台四波段太阳射电实测中得到的几种干扰实例及确认的太阳快速信号，在认识到太阳射电和干扰信号十分相似的基础上，探讨如何识别真伪信号问题。     

Astrometric and photometric studies of the 2009 WZ104 asteroid as it approached the earth

The astrometric and photometric observations of the potentially hazardous 2009 WZ104 asteroid were carried out at the MTM-500M and ZA-320M automatic telescopes of the Pulkovo Observatory in December 2009. A total of 686 observations were performed in the integral band and 146 observations with B, V, R, and I filters on an arc of the orbit of 17°; these accounted for about 77% of all worldwide observations (). On the basis of the obtained data, the orbit was improved and an estimation of the physical parameters of the asteroid was made. Estimates of the absolute stellar magnitude of the asteroid, H = (20.52 ± 0.04) ^m , as well as its size and mass, were obtained. The taxonomic class of the 2009 WZ104 asteroid (R or Q) was determined. A frequency analysis of the series of observations was carried out; periodicities in the asteroid’s light variation were revealed using this method.     

Optical and radio studies of radio sources

We present the classification of optical identifications and radio spectra of six radio sources from a complete (in flux density) sample in the declination range 10° to 12°30′ (J2000.0). The observations were carried out with the 6-m Special Astrophysical Observatory telescope (Russia) in the wavelength range 3600–10000 Å, the 2.1-m GHAO telescope (Mexico) in the range 4200–9000 Å, and the RATAN-600 radio telescope in the frequency range 0.97–21.7 GHz. Three of the six objects under study are classified as quasars, one is a BL Lac object, one is an absorption-line radio galaxy, and one is an emission-line radio galaxy. Five objects have flat radio spectra, and one object has a power-law radio spectrum. All of the radio sources identified as quasars or BL Lac objects show variable radio flux densities. The spectra of three objects were separated into extended and compact components.     

宽带频谱序列干扰信号识别与统计方法

随着科学技术的不断进步,射电天文台站趋于自动化,各类电子设备的广泛使用使得射电天文台站的电磁环境变得尤为复杂,如何有效识别和统计复杂频谱中的干扰信号是当前射电天文台站亟需解决的问题,故提出一种宽带频谱序列干扰信号识别与统计方法.首先,对每组宽带频谱进行信噪分离、识别频谱中的干扰信号;然后,对第1组宽带频谱信号识别结果及信号特征建立模板库,后续每组频谱的信号识别结果与模板库中对应频率的信号进行相似性分析,根据相似性分析结果,统计信号次数,更新模板库;实现宽带频谱序列干扰信号的识别与统计.针对QTT (QiTai Radio Telescope)台站实测频谱,运用该方法进行干扰信号识别与统计,能够有效识别并标记频谱中的干扰信号,并统计干扰信号随时间、方向的变化趋势.     

Solar radio filtering algorithm based on improved long short-term memory

The effective observation of burst events in solar radio research has been impeded by various interference signals,especially interference signals with a wide frequency range and high intensity,as they can partially or completely obscure the observation of burst events.Image processing methods that directly remove the interference signal channels and subtract the average of the interference signal channel are not suitable for processing all types of interference signals.This paper proposes the use of a specific kind of recurrent neural networks,called long short-term memory networks,to predict the value of the radio frequency interference signals with high intensity of the burst event in the solar radio spectrum.The predicted interference can then be removed in accordance with the principle that signals can be linearly added.Therefore,predicted value is subtracted from the data containing the burst event signals and the RFI signals(The radio frequency interference signals to be processed in this article refer to the signal of the broadcast signal that can be received in the frequency range,the signal transmitted by the mobile phone,and the signal transmitted by the sea vessel,and the like) to remove the interference.Then,in order to reduce the error caused by the stepwise prediction in the network and further improve the prediction accuracy,this paper analyzes the characteristics of the value of the radio interference and applies the digital mapping method to convert the prediction problem into the classification problem in the time series.The experimental results show that the proposed method can effectively remove the radio interference in the solar spectrum and clearly show the burst events.     

Strong pulses from pulsar PSR J0034-0721

We present an analysis of strong single pulses from PSR J0034-0721. Our observations were made using the Urumqi 25-m radio telescope at a radio frequency of 1.54GHz. A total of 353 strong pulses were detected during eight hours of observing. The signal-to-noise ratios of the detected pulses range from 5 to 11.5. The peak fluxes of those pulses are 17 to 39 times that of the average pulse peak. The cumulative distribution of the signal-to-noise ratios of these strong pulses has a rough power-law distribution...     

Determination of the red shifts of selected IVS program objects. I

The spectroscopic red shifts of seven optical objects whose coordinates coincide with those of radio sources in the IVS (International VLBI Service for Geodesy and Astrometry) program list are determined from observations with the 6-m BTA telescope at the Special Astrophysical Observatory (SAO) of the Russian Academy of Sciences. A comparison of these spectra and red shifts with data in the radio frequency range shows that four of the objects discussed here are correctly identified, while the other three require further study. The distances to the radio sources derived from our measurements yield more accurate estimates of the cosmological model parameters than those based on the proper motions of these objects derived from geodesic VLBI observations.     

我国地基雷达观测月球的现状和研究进展

地基雷达观测可以提供太阳系天体目标的地形地貌、物理特征、轨道动力等信息。聚焦利用地基雷达天文技术开展月球观测的原理方法和科学意义,介绍了基于我国现有深空雷达上行装置、射电望远镜条件以及非相干散射雷达等系统,初步开展的特高频段(Ultra High Frequency,UHF)和X频段的地基雷达观测月球试验。通过月球反射回波的信号处理,获得了延迟、多普勒频移等参数,得到了一致的与近表层物质密度相关的月面雷达反射率,并得到了月球的左右旋圆极化率,反映了与波长同尺度的月球近表层结构。文章积累的数据处理经验将为我国的小行星预警、行星历表等地基雷达观测研究提供技术基础。     

脉冲星PSR B0329+54的多波段观测

给出1999年3月12日至6月8日,使用国家天文观测中心乌鲁木齐南山站25m射电望远镜在0．327GHZ,1．5GHZ,2．3GHZ,4．8GHZ和8．4GHZ频段,对脉冲星PSRB0329＋54进行的多波段观测结果．PSRB0329＋54的辐射呈幂律谱,并出现频谱转折现象,低频段谱指数为1．59,高频段为2．45,平均谱指数为1．72．五个频段上的平均脉冲轮廓的角宽度和二个弱成分峰值间的角宽度都随频率的增加而减小．     

Astrometric and photometric studies of the asteroid 2008 TC3

Near real time astrometric and photometric observations of the asteroid 2008 TC3, discovered 19 hours before it fell to Earth in the area of northern Sudan, were conducted on the night of October 6–7, 2008, using an automated telescope ZA-320M of the Pulkovo Observatory. In the interval of 4 h, 270 observations in the integral band of the telescope were performed, which was about one-third of all global observations of the asteroid. Based on the analysis of all cases, physical parameters of the asteroid were assessed. The estimates of the absolute magnitude of the asteroid (M _V = 30.6 ± 0.4 μm), its size (4.8 ± 0.8 m), and weight (131 ± 5 t) were obtained. A frequency analysis of the observational series was conducted, which helped to detect the periodicity in the brightness variation of the asteroid. The elements of the heliocentric orbit of the asteroid were refined. The trajectory of the asteroid, taking into account the atmospheric drag and nonsphericity of the Earth, was simulated.     

Asteroid polarimetric observations using the Torino UBVRI photopolarimeter

A long-term project of polarimetric observations of minor planets has been carried out since 1995 at the 2.15-m telescope of the El Leoncito Observatory (San Juan, Argentina) using the Torino photopolarimeter. We present here an updated summary of the results, including many measurements obtained during the most recent observing runs. The main purpose of the observations has been to obtain albedo estimates and compare them with previous IRAS radiometric determinations, mainly for objects having small (<50 km) IRAS diameters. Another field of investigation is the measurement of the degree of linear polarization at very small phase angles (less than 1°). The latter observations can be a useful input for modern theoretical models of light scattering from asteroid surfaces. In general, we have obtained a wealth of new results, including objects exhibiting a peculiar polarimetric behavior.     

Multi-frequency observations of PSR B 0329+54

We present the results of observations of the pulsar PSR B0329+54 at 0.327, 1.5, 2.3, 4.8 and 8.4 GHz during 1999 between 03–12 and 06–08, using the 25-m radio telescope of NAOC Urumqi Station. The spectrum shows a bend, the spectral index is 1.59 at the low frequency end, and 2.45 at the high frequency end. The angular width of the average pulse profile and the angular separation between two weak peaks both decrease with increasing frequency.     

Observations of extragalactic radio sources at 36 GHz

The observations of 34 extragalactic radio sources with the 22-m Crimean Astrophysical Observatory radio telescope at 36 GHz in 1985–1994 are presented. Intensity variations were detected in 27 objects, which may result from the appearance of new components in their cores.     

Polarimetry of the Asteroid (599) Luisa: a New Barbarian

Solar System Research - The results of polarimetric observations of the asteroid (599) Luisa carried out on the same type of aperture photoelectric polarimeters of the 2.6-m reflector of the...