Probing the Formation and Evolution of early-type galaxies: the SAURON project

We are conducting a systematic study of a carefully selected sampleof nearby E/S0 galaxies and Sa bulges using the unique panoramic integral-fieldspectrograph SAURON, mounted at the WHT. The goal of the SAURON projectis to fully map the gaseous/stellar kinematics and the stellar populations of a representative sample of 80 early-type galaxies up to 1 Re,probing different environments (clusters, field). These data, used in combination with existing ground-based and HST observations, and fed to the theoretical machinery we have developed, will allow to determine theintrinsic dynamical structure of the galaxies. We will also measure the masses of central black holes, relate the internal dynamics to the ageand metallicity of the stellar populations, and establish the historyof metal enrichment as a function of Hubble type and environment. Some brief results on two targets observed during the SAURON campaign will serve as an illustration of the unique and high quality data we are currently gathering. This revised version was published online in September 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

新建岩石地层单位的基本要求——以多索曲组的创建为例

本文介绍了岩石地层单位的基本概念,今后新创或修订岩石地层单位应提供的资料和说明,并以多索曲组的创建为例,对有关基本要求进一步予以说明。     

青海南部地区煤炭资源勘查思路

青海南部及其毗邻地区,是青海省乃至全国工业基础最薄弱、社会经济最落后的地区。煤炭资源紧缺,是制约其经济发展的重要因素之一。查明煤炭资源赋存状况,探讨聚煤规律,指出进一步找煤勘探的方向,科学、合理地开发煤炭资源,以带动其它资源开发,使该区尽快脱贫致富,意义重大。     

Reconstruction of RHESSI Solar Flare Images with a Forward Fitting Method

We describe a forward-fitting method that has been developed to reconstruct hard X-ray images of solar flares from the Ramaty High-Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI), a Fourier imager with rotation-modulated collimators that was launched on 5 February 2002. The forward-fitting method is based on geometric models that represent a spatial map by a superposition of multiple source structures, which are quantified by circular gaussians (4 parameters per source), elliptical gaussians (6 parameters), or curved ellipticals (7 parameters), designed to characterize real solar flare hard X-ray maps with a minimum number of geometric elements. We describe and demonstrate the use of the forward-fitting algorithm. We perform some 500 simulations of rotation-modulated time profiles of the 9 RHESSI detectors, based on single and multiple source structures, and perform their image reconstruction. We quantify the fidelity of the image reconstruction, as function of photon statistics, and the accuracy of retrieved source positions, widths, and fluxes. We outline applications for which the forward-fitting code is most suitable, such as measurements of the energy-dependent altitude of energy loss near the limb, or footpoint separation during flares. Supplementary material to this paper is available in electronic form at http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/A:1022469811115     

青藏高原多年冻土概论

本文较系统地阐述了青藏高原多年冻土的地带性规律、冻土构造以及融区的类型和分布特征,详细论述了不同作用下形成的冻土(冰缘)地貌,并对青藏高原的冰缘期进行了初步划分与对比。     

Analysis and interpretation of Cassini Titan radar altimeter echoes

The Cassini spacecraft has acquired 25 radar altimeter elevation profiles along Titan's surface as of April 2008, and we have analyzed 18 of these for which there are currently reconstructed ephemeris data. Altimeter measurements were collected at spatial footprint sizes from 6-60 km along ground tracks of length 400-3600 km. The elevation profiles yield topographic information at this resolution with a statistical height accuracy of 35-50 m and kilometer-scale errors several times greater. The data exhibit significant variations in terrain, from flat regions with little topographic expression to very rugged Titanscapes. The bandwidth of the transmitted waveform admits vertical resolution of the terrain height to 35 m at each observed location on the surface. Variations in antenna pointing and changes in surface statistics cause the range-compressed radar echoes to exhibit strong systematic and time-variable biases of hundreds of meters in delay. It is necessary to correct the received echoes for these changes, and we have derived correction algorithms such that the derived echo profiles are accurate at the 100 m level for off-nadir pointing errors of 0.3° and 0.6°, for leading edge and echo centroid estimators, respectively. The leading edge of the echo yields the elevation of the highest points on the surface, which we take to be the peaks of any terrain variation. The mean value of the echo delay is more representative of the mean elevation, so that the difference of these values gives an estimate of any local mountain heights. Finding locations where these values diverge indicates higher-relief terrain. Elevation features are readily seen in the height profiles. Several of the passes show mountains of several hundred m altitude, spread over 10's or even 100's of km in spatial extent, so that slopes are very small. Large expanses of sub-100 m topography are commonplace on Titan, so it is rather smooth in many locations. Other areas exhibit more relief, although the overall observed variation in surface height on any pass is less than about 1 km. Some elevation features correspond to observed changes in brightness in Cassini infrared images, but many do not. Correspondence between the imaging SAR ground tracks and the altimeter paths is limited, so that identifying elevation changes with higher resolution SAR features is premature at present.     

Titan's surface at 2.2-cm wavelength imaged by the Cassini RADAR radiometer: Calibration and first results

The first comprehensive calibration and mapping of the thermal microwave emission from Titan's surface is reported based on radiometric data obtained at 2.2-cm wavelength by the passive radiometer included in the Cassini Radar instrument. The data reported were accumulated from 69 separate observational segments in Titan passes from Ta (October 2004) through T30 (May 2007) and include emission from 94% of Titan's surface. They are diverse in the key observing parameters of emission angle, polarization, and spatial resolution, and their reduction into calibrated global mosaic maps involved several steps. Analysis of the polarimetry obtained at low to moderate resolution (50+ km) enabled integration of the radiometry into a single mosaic of the equivalent brightness temperature at normal incidence with a relative precision of about 1 K. The Huygens probe measurement of Titan's surface temperature and radiometry obtained on Titan's dune fields allowed us to infer an absolute calibration estimated to be accurate to a level approaching 1 K. The results provide evidence for a surface that is complex and varied on large scales. The radiometry primarily constrains physical properties of the surface, where we see strong evidence for subsurface (volume) scattering as a dominant mechanism that determines the emissivity, with the possibility of a fluffy or graded-density surface layer in many regions. The results are consistent with, but not necessarily definitive of a surface composition resulting from the slow deposition and processing of organic compounds from the atmosphere.     

Fundamentally distinct outcomes of asteroid collisional evolution and catastrophic disruption

The outcomes of asteroid collisional evolution are presently unclear: are most asteroids larger than 1 km size gravitational aggregates reaccreted from fragments of a parent body that was collisionally disrupted, while much smaller asteroids are collisional shards that were never completely disrupted? The 16 km mean diameter S-type asteroid 433 Eros, visited by the NEAR mission, has surface geology consistent with being a fractured shard. A ubiquitous fabric of linear structural features is found on the surface of Eros and probably indicates a globally consolidated structure beneath its regolith cover. Despite the differences in absolute scale and in lighting conditions for NEAR and Hayabusa, similar features should have been found on 25143 Itokawa if present. This much smaller, 320 m diameter S-asteroid was visited by the Hayabusa spacecraft. Comparative analyses of Itokawa and Eros geology reveal fundamental differences, and interpretation of Eros geology is illuminated by comparison with Itokawa. Itokawa lacks a global lineament fabric, and its blocks, craters, and regolith may be inconsistent with formation and evolution as a fractured shard, unlike Eros. An object as small as Itokawa can form as a rubble pile, while much larger Eros formed as a fractured shard. Itokawa is not a scaled-down Eros, but formed by catastrophic disruption and reaccumulation.     

滇西兰坪盆地五茂林剖面下白垩统景星组沉积相

实测了云南西部兰坪盆地东部下白垩统下部景星组的五茂林剖面,建立了曲流河、三角洲和湖泊3种沉积序列,其中三角洲序列在云南下白垩统中属首次建立。分析了粗碎屑岩的组成,将该剖面上出露的砾岩分成4类。早白垩世时兰坪盆地属丹那沙林-高黎贡弧的弧后盆地,景星组自下而上为曲流河沉积、三角洲沉积和湖泊沉积,且随湖侵发生,湖泊向西扩大。     

Dunes on Titan observed by Cassini Radar

Thousands of longitudinal dunes have recently been discovered by the Titan Radar Mapper on the surface of Titan. These are found mainly within ±30° of the equator in optically-, near-infrared-, and radar-dark regions, indicating a strong proportion of organics, and cover well over 5% of Titan's surface. Their longitudinal duneform, interactions with topography, and correlation with other aeolian forms indicate a single, dominant wind direction aligned with the dune axis plus lesser, off-axis or seasonally alternating winds. Global compilations of dune orientations reveal the mean wind direction is dominantly eastwards, with regional and local variations where winds are diverted around topographically high features, such as mountain blocks or broad landforms. Global winds may carry sediments from high latitude regions to equatorial regions, where relatively drier conditions prevail, and the particles are reworked into dunes, perhaps on timescales of thousands to tens of thousands of years. On Titan, adequate sediment supply, sufficient wind, and the absence of sediment carriage and trapping by fluids are the dominant factors in the presence of dunes.