Superbroad component in emission lines of SS 433

We have detected new components in stationary emission lines of SS 433; these are the superbroad components that are low-contrast substrates with a width of 2000–2500 km s^?1 in He I λ4922 and Hβ and 4000–5000 kms^?1 in He II λ4686. Based on 44 spectra taken during four years of observations from 2003 to 2007, we have found that these components in the He II and He I lines are eclipsed by the donor star; their behavior with precessional and orbital phases is regular and similar to the behavior of the optical brightness of SS 433. The same component in Hβ shows neither eclipses nor precessional variability. We conclude that the superbroad components in the helium and hydrogen lines are different in origin. Electron scattering is shown to reproduce well the superbroad component of Hβ at a gas temperature of 20–35 kK and an optical depth for Thomson scattering τ ≈ 0.25?0.35. The superbroad components of the helium lines are probably formed in the wind from the supercritical accretion disk. We have computed a wind model based on the concept of Shakura-Sunyaev supercritical disk accretion. The main patterns of the He II line profiles are well reproduced in this model: not only the appearance of the superbroad component but also the evolution of the central two-component part of the profile of this line during its eclipse by the donor star can be explained.     

New edition of the catalogue of short-period comets

The Institute of Theoretical Astronomy in St. Petersburg and the Astronomical Institute in Bratislava are preparing a new edition of the Catalogue of short-period comets. This edition will be supplemented by short-period comets discovered after the year 1983 and comprises some new features, e. g. the evolution of orbital elements between the years 1750 and 2050, and the perihelion passages of comets within the 1994–2050 years. A new method has been employed for the determination of nongravitational parameters from the osculating elements of a comet based on all its observed returns.The method has been tested on the comets P/Comas Solá and P/Forbes with all returns, except the last one. The results have been compared with the osculating elements of the last return and those used in the old edition of the Catalogue of short-period comets. The new method enables a good prediction of osculating elements for the future, at least for the next return.     

Native gold in Ti-bearing placers of the Ariadna cluster and its bedrock sources (Primorye region)

Centuries of intense mining of noble metals from placers of the southern Far East has exhausted their reserves. The prospects for increasing the raw material base of the region are connected with complex exogenic deposits, where noble metals play a subordinate role. The study of native gold from Ti-bearing placers spatially and genetically associated with the Ariadna mafic-ultramafic massif located on the right side of the Bol’shaya Ussurka River reveals the placer-forming role of polygenic and polychronous bedrock sources. Mafic-ultramafic rocks yielded cupriferous and mercuric gold; quartz veins with Au-As mineralization likely serve as another source of placers.     

Tidal oscillations in the Caspian Sea

Long-term hourly data from 12 tide gauge stations were used to examine the character of tidal oscillations in the Caspian Sea. Diurnal and semidiurnal tidal peaks are well-defined in sea level spectra in the Middle and South Caspian basins. High-resolution spectral analysis revealed that the diurnal sea level oscillations in the Middle Caspian Basin have a gravitational origin, while those in the South Caspian Basin are mainly caused by radiational effects: the amplitude of diurnal radiational harmonic S₁ is much higher than those of gravitational harmonics О₁, P₁, and K₁. In the North Caspian Basin, there are no gravitational tides and only weak radiational tides are observed. A semidiurnal type of tide is predominant in the Middle and South Caspian basins. Harmonic analysis of the tides for individual annual series with subsequent vector averaging over the entire observational period was applied to estimate the mean amplitudes and phases of major tidal constituents. The amplitude of the M₂ harmonic reaches 5.4 cm in the South Caspian Basin (at Aladga). A maximum tidal range of 21 cm was found at the Aladga station in the southeastern part of the Caspian Sea, whereas the tidal range in the western part of the South Caspian Basin varies from 5 to 10 cm.     

Noble metals in carbon-rich metamorphic rocks of the Khanka terrane, Primorie

Carbon-rich metamorphic rocks of Riphean age in the northern part of the Khanka terrane were first analyzed for concentrations of noble metals (Au, Ag, Pt, Pd, Ir, Os, and Ru). According to the data of various physicochemical analytical techniques, the Au and Pt concentrations broadly vary: from 0.01 to 52 ppm for Pt and from 0.1 to 30 ppm for Au. Various techniques of sampling and analysis variably affect the losses of these metals because of difficulties in the decomposition of metal-carbon chemical bonds. The carbon isotopic composition (¹³C from ?8.5 to ?8.7‰) of the graphitized amphibolite-facies rocks widespread in the core of the Ruzhino paleodiapir suggest that their carbon is of mantle provenance. The Early Cambrian metaterrigenous rocks metamorphosed to the greenschist facies have ¹³C from ?19.9 to ?26.6‰, which testifies to its organic origin. The elevated concentrations of noble metals in these rocks suggest that the sources of carbon and metals were polygenetic and that the ore-forming system evolved over a long time span.     

Experimental modeling of native carbon formation in a C–O–H fluid system

Integrated data are presented on structure–morphology features, as well as on the material and phase composition, of a fluid-produced carbonaceous substance (CS) formed under known thermodynamic conditions of the experiment (C–O–H system, 500–800°C, and 500–1000 atm). Solid products of the synthesis were examined by means of X-ray phase and thermal analyses, scanning electron microscopy combined with microprobe analysis, transmission electron microscopy, high-resolution Raman spectroscopy, IR spectroscopy, and CHN-analysis. The characteristics of the experimental CS may be applicable in genetic modeling of natural ore-bearing fluidal carbonaceous systems.     

The Upper Atmospheric Radiation of the Earth in the [OI] 557.7 nm Emission in Connection with the January 11, 2021, Khövsgöl Earthquake (Southwestern Flank of the Baikal Rift Zone)

Doklady Earth Sciences - Based on the results of instrumental observations carried out at the Geophysical Observatory of the Institute of Solar–Terrestrial Physics, Siberian Branch, Russian...