A Rigid-Field Hydrodynamics approach to modelling the magnetospheres of massive stars

We introduce a new Rigid-Field Hydrodynamics approach to modelling the magnetospheres of massive stars in the limit of very strong magnetic fields. Treating the field lines as effectively rigid, we develop hydrodynamical equations describing the one-dimensional flow along each, subject to pressure, radiative, gravitational and centrifugal forces. We solve these equations numerically for a large ensemble of field lines to build up a three-dimensional time-dependent simulation of a model star with parameters similar to the archetypal Bp star σ Ori E. Since the flow along each field line can be solved independently of other field lines, the computational cost of this approach is a fraction of an equivalent magnetohydrodynamical treatment.
The simulations confirm many of the predictions of previous analytical and numerical studies. Collisions between wind streams from opposing magnetic hemispheres lead to strong shock heating. The post-shock plasma cools initially via X-ray emission, and eventually accumulates into a warped, rigidly rotating disc defined by the locus of minima of the effective (gravitational plus centrifugal) potential. However, a number of novel results also emerge. For field lines extending far from the star, the rapid area divergence enhances the radiative acceleration of the wind, resulting in high shock velocities (up to  ∼3000 km s⁻¹  ) and hard X-rays. Moreover, the release of centrifugal potential energy continues to heat the wind plasma after the shocks, up to temperatures around twice those achieved at the shocks themselves. Finally, in some circumstances the cool plasma in the accumulating disc can oscillate about its equilibrium position, possibly due to radiative cooling instabilities in the adjacent post-shock regions.     

Absolute Magnitudes of Be Stars Based on Hipparcos Parallaxes

The absolute visual magnitudes of 457 Be stars are determined from Hipparcos parallaxes, subsequently the mean absolute visual magnitudes of Be stars for luminosity classes III, IV and V are obtained. The new Mv calibration is compared with existing calibrations. It is found that Be stars are generally brighter than B stars of the corresponding spectral types, and that there is no direct correlation between absolute magnitudes and the stellar rotational velocity, these results are in agreement with some earlier results. A new and interesting result is that there is no direct correlation between near infrared excess and absolute visual magnitudes for Be stars. Moreover, possible biases, such as the Malmquist bias and the Lutz–Kelker bias, are also discussed.     

Differential rotation of some HK-Project stars and the butterfly diagrams

We analyze the long-term variability of the chromospheric radiation of 20 stars monitored in the course of the HK-Project at the Mount Wilson Observatory. We apply the modified wavelet algorithm for this set of gapped time series. Besides the mean rotational periods for all these stars, we find reliable changes of the rotational periods from year to year for a few stars. Epochs of slower rotation occur when the activity level of the star is high, and the relationship repeats again during the next maximum of an activity cycle. Such an effect is traced in two stars with activity cycles that are not perfectly regular (but labeled “Good” under the classification in [Baliunas, S.L., Donahue, R.A., Soon, W.H., Horne, J.H., Frazer, J., Woodard-Eklund, L., Bradford, M., Rao, L.M., Wilson, O.C., Zhang, Q. et al., 1995. ApJ 438, 269.]) but the two stars have mean activity levels exceed that of the Sun. The averaged rotational period of HD 115404 is 18.5 days but sometimes the period increases up to 21.5 days. The sign of the differential rotation is the same as the Sun’s, and the value ΔΩ/Ω=-0.14. For the star HD 149661, this ratio is −0.074. Characteristic changes of rotational periods occur over around three years when the amplitude of the rotational modulation is large. These changes can be transformed into latitude-time butterfly diagrams with minimal a priori assumptions. We compare these results with those for the Sun as a star and conclude that epochs when surface inhomogeneities rotate slower are synchronous with the reversal of the global magnetic dipole.     

The light curve of asteroid 2867 Steins measured by VIRTIS-M during the Rosetta fly-by

On 5 September 2008, the Rosetta spacecraft encountered the asteroid 2867 Steins on its way to the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. This was the first of two planned asteroid fly-bys performed by the probe, the second fly-by being with the much larger asteroid 21 Lutetia in July 2010. The VIRTIS imaging spectrometer (IFOV 0.250 mrad, overall spectral range 0.25-5.1 μm) onboard Rosetta acquired data of Steins already before the closest approach phase, when the target was spatially unresolved, in order to obtain a light curve of the asteroid in the infrared spectral range extending up to 5 μm, that was never explored before. The VIRTIS light curve campaign started at 11:30 UTC onboard time, when the spacecraft was about 221,377 km away from the target, and ended at 17:58 UTC, at a distance of 20,741 km away from Steins. During this timeframe, the solar phase angle of the asteroid was roughly constant, ranging from 38.2° to 36.3°.Assuming the most recent value derived for the rotational period of Steins (Lamy et al., 2008), the VIRTIS observations covered slightly more than one rotation of the asteroid. In this interval, VIRTIS collected 8 hyperspectral cubes where Steins was captured 119 times, both in the visual and in the infrared range. Given the low signal and the unresolved appearance of the source, for which the instrument was not designed, only a small subset of wavelengths turned out to be suitable to sample the light curve. Nevertheless, in both the VIS and NIR ranges we find a similar trend, with two different maxima and minima during one rotational period, and amplitudes consistent with the results in the visual range obtained in previous works, including the data set acquired by the OSIRIS camera onboard Rosetta. We also report the presence of a new broad feature centered at approximately 0.81-0.82 μm, which is seen in the visual data throughout the rotation of the asteroid.     

川西龙门山中段彭州式铜矿区构造体系及与成矿的关系

川西龙门山中段彭州式铜矿形成于岛弧构造环境,其形成经历了晋宁期幔源火山沉积和褶皱变形、印支期-燕山期以来强烈的构造挤压和破坏。根据研究区地层形变的各种构造形迹,将区内构造体系划分为北北西向"多"字型和北东向华夏式两种构造体系。"多"字型构造体系是在晋宁期右行剪切作用下形成北东—北北东向的褶皱带,后经印支期-燕山期以来的左行旋转至北北西而保留至今,表现为黄水河群组成的复式背、向斜褶皱带;华夏式构造体系显示了印支期以来北东—南西方向强大的挤压,表现为前期的叠瓦状断裂和后期的"飞来峰"构造。两种构造体系共同控制着彭州式铜矿床的形成及改造。根据二者的平面展布形态、构造出露特征及其动力学标志,将其划分为包容和交接两种复合关系,即"多"字型构造体系包容于华夏式构造体系中,在研究区南部二者呈反接关系。     

汶川地震映秀-北川地表破裂带虹口乡段精细填图、位移特征和地震构造分析

同震地表破裂带是地震破裂最直观的表现。地表破裂带的精细填图对理解地震破裂过程及发震机理有着重要意义。我们对5.12汶川地震映秀-北川同震破裂带南部的虹口乡区段开展了较为精细的填图工作,该区段地表破裂带的平面几何和同震位移特征沿走向均显示出公里尺度的横向变化和复杂性。根据同震破裂不连续性特征可把地表破裂分为4段,自南向北依次为深溪沟段、庙坝段、高原新村段和八角庙段。其中,深溪沟段和八角庙段同震垂直位错较大,达.5～6m;庙坝段同震垂直位移量普遍较低,1～2m或更低;  在高原新村附近,地表破裂带分为近平行的南北两支,北支以右旋走滑为主,南支以南东盘逆冲抬升为主,这与与映秀-北川同震破裂总体北西盘抬升的性质相反。本文对高原新村附近的反向陡坎进行了深入的探讨,并综合前人的研究结果,认为是破裂在从深部往上扩展的过程中,在浅表部位顺着发育在虹口东南部的大鱼洞-龙溪飞来峰后缘的具南东倾向的断面继承而成。与北川沙坝附近的反向陡坎一样,说明老断裂带构造几何特征对单次地震破裂的扩展有牵引作用。最后,讨论了八角庙有切割关系的两组断层擦痕的地震学和地质学意义,指出可能指示了映秀-北川断裂面上局部区段震前的初始应力水平较低。