Gravity field and rotation state of Mercury from the BepiColombo Radio Science Experiments

The ESA mission BepiColombo will include a Mercury Planetary Orbiter equipped with a full complement of instruments to perform Radio Science Experiments. Very precise range and range-rate tracking from Earth, on-board accelerometry, altimetry and accurate angular measurements with optical instruments will provide large data sets. From these it will be possible to study (1) the global gravity field of Mercury and its temporal variations due to tides, (2) the medium to short scale (down do 300400 km) gravity anomalies, (3) the rotation state of the planet, in particular the obliquity and the libration with respect to the 3/2 spin orbit resonance and (4) the orbit of the center of mass of the planet.With the global gravity field and the rotation state it is possible to tightly constrain the internal structure of the planet, in particular to determine whether the solid surface of the planet is decoupled from the inner core by some liquid layer, as postulated by dynamo theories of Mercury's magnetic field. With the gravity anomalies and altimetry it is possible to study the geophysics of the planet's crust, mantle and impact basins. With the orbit of the planet closest to the Sun it is possible to constrain relativistic theories of gravitation.The possibility of achieving these scientific goals has been tested with a full cycle numerical simulation of the Radio Science Experiments. It includes the generation of simulated tracking and accelerometer data, and the determination, by least squares fit, of a long list of variables including the initial conditions for each observed arc, calibration parameters, gravity field harmonic coefficients, and corrections to the orbit of Mercury. An error budget has been deduced both from the formal covariance matrices and from the actual difference between the nominal values used in the data simulation and the solution. Thus the most complete error budget contains the effect of systematic measurement errors and is by far more reliable than a formal one. For the rotation experiment an error budget has been computed on the basis of dedicated studies on each separate error source.The results of the full cycle simulation are positive, that is the experiments are feasible at the required level of accuracy. However, the extraction of the full accuracy results from the data will be by no means trivial, and there are a number of open problems, both in the data processing (e.g., the selection of the orbital arc length) and in the mission scheduling (e.g., the selection of the target areas for the rotation experiment).     

Thermal and tidal effect on the rotation of Mercury

It is shown that the influences of the thermal and tidal effects on Mercury's libration are in equilibrium with the periods of rotation and revolution of Mercury locked in the 32 resonant state. The suggestion by Liu that the solar gravitational couple on the thermal bulges accelerates Mercury's rotation is investigated and the production of mechanical energy to balance the dissipation of the bodily tides is discussed. It is possible for Mercury to rotate with two bulges as a solar thermal engine; the tidal effect causes this engine to function and its maximum power is close to 10¹⁶ ergs per sec.     

Some Features of the X-Ray and Radio Emission from OH Megamaser Galaxies

The properties of OH megamaser galaxies in the x-ray and radio ranges are discussed. Based on a sample of OH megamaser galaxies it is shown that the x-ray emission and the width of the OH radio line are closely related. The line width is also related to the radio emission from megamasers, but it depends only weakly on the infrared emission and this relationship is statistically less significant. The OH line width and the radio and x-ray emissions depend on the central mass of megamasers. There is a weak correlation between the radio and x-ray emissions owing to multiple scattering of synchrotron photons and bursts from the galactic nucleus. These results indicate that an active nucleus can be dominant in OH megamaser galaxies.__________Translated from Astrofizika, Vol. 48, No. 3, pp. 421–430 (August 2005).     

Synchrotron Emission on the Largest Scales: Radio Detection of the Cosmic-Web

Shocks and turbulence generated during large-scale structure formation are predicted to produce large-scale, low surface-brightness synchrotron emission. On the largest scales, this emission is globally correlated with the thermal baryon distribution, and constitutes the ‘synchrotron cosmic-web’. I present the observational prospects and challenges for detecting this faint emission with upcoming SKA pathfinders.     

Upper Limits on the Continuum Emission from Geminga at 74 and 326 MHz

We report a search for radio continuum emission from the gamma-ray pulsar Geminga. We have used the VLA to image the location of the optical counterpart of Geminga at 74 and 326 MHz. We detect no radio counterpart. We derive upper limits to the pulse-averaged flux density of Geminga, taking diffractive scintillation into account. We find that diffractive scintillation is probably quenched at 74 MHz and does not influence our upper limit, S<56 mJy (2 sigma), but that a 95% confidence level at 326 MHz is S<5 mJy. Owing to uncertainties on the other low-frequency detections and the possibility of intrinsic variability or extrinsic variability (refractive interstellar scintillation) or both, our nondetections are nominally consistent with these previous detections.     

The Connection of Solar Wind Parameters with Radio and UV Emission from Coronal Holes

This paper presents the results of a comparison between observations of coronal holes in UV (SOHO EIT) and radio emission (17, 5.7 GHz, 327 and 150.9 MHz, from NoRH, SSRT and Nançay radioheliographs), and solar wind parameters, from ACE spacecraft data over the period 12 March?–?31 May 2007. The increase in the solar wind velocity up to ～?600 km?s^?1 was found to correlate with a decrease in the UV flux in the central parts of the solar disk. A connection between the parameters of the radio emission from three different layers of the solar atmosphere and the solar wind velocity near the Earth’s orbit was discovered. Such a connection is suggestive of a common mechanism of solar wind acceleration from chromospheric heights to the upper corona.     

Radio Emission from Three-dimensional Relativistic Hydrodynamic Jets: Observational Evidence of Jet Stratification

High-resolution, high signal-to-noise ratio, blue-violet spectra of three red giant branch tip stars in M15 have been obtained with the Keck I High-Resolution Echelle Spectrograph. These spectra have been analyzed to determine the abundances of several neutron-capture elements, including the radioactive chronometer element thorium. There are two principal results of this study. First, the abundances of the heavier (Z>/=56) elements for each of the three stars is well matched by a scaled solar system r-process abundance distribution. Second, a weighted mean-observed Th/Eu ratio for the stars implies an age for the neutron-capture material in M15 stars of 14+/-3 Gyr, in reasonable agreement with other recent age estimates for Galactic globular clusters.     

Seyfert Galaxies: Radio Continuum Emission Properties and the Unification Scheme

Seyfert galaxies are classified mainly into type 1 and type 2 depending on the presence and absence of broad permitted emission lines in their optical spectra, respectively. Unification scheme hypothesizes that the observed similarities and differences between the two Seyfert subtypes can be understood as due to the differing orientations of anisotropically distributed obscuring material having a torus-like geometry around the AGN. We investigate the radio continuum emission properties of a sample of Seyfert galaxies in the framework of the unification scheme.     

The Spatial Angular Function of Thermal Emission of the Moon

New satellite measurements of the lunar-surface radiation temperature are used to construct the spatial angular function of thermal radiation of the Moon in the infrared (10.5–12.5 m) spectral range. The basic material for investigations is the scanned cosmic spectrozonal images of the lunar surface transmitted by the first Russian geostationary artificial meteorological satellite GOMS. The formulas for calculating the angular parameters are given, and the photometric function of thermal radiation of the Moon is plotted as a function of the incidence angle, the reflection angle, and the azimuthal angle between the planes of the incident and reflected rays.     

Thermal Equilibrium States of Europa's Ice Shell: Implications for Internal Ocean Thickness and Surface Heat Flow

Ice-shell thickness and ocean depth are calculated for steady state models of tidal dissipation in Europa's ice shell using the present-day values of the orbital elements. The tidal dissipation rate is obtained using a viscoelastic Maxwell rheology for the ice, the viscosity of which has been varied over a wide range, and is found to strongly increase if an (inviscid) internal ocean is present. To determine steady state values, the tidal dissipation rate is equated to the heat-transfer rate through the ice shell calculated from a parameterized model of convective heat transfer or from a thermal conduction model, if the ice layer is found to be stable against convection. Although high dissipation rates and heat fluxes of up to 300 mWm⁻² are, in principle, possible for Europa, these values are unrealistic because the states for which they are obtained are thermodynamically unstable. Equilibrium models have surface heat flows around 20 mWm⁻² and ice-layer thicknesses around 30 km, which is significantly less than the total thickness of the H₂O-layer. These results support models of Europa with ice shells a few tens of kilometers thick and around 100-km-thick subsurface oceans.     

K－P关系和射电脉冲星辐射束宽度的估计

从极冠模型出发，利用观测参数Ｋ和辐射锥角的关系，通过研究Ｋ－Ｐ关系导出了对确定辐射区参数有重要意义的辐射束宽和周期的关系。给出了一种估计辐射束宽度和磁倾角的方法。     

液氮杜瓦瓶热力与漏热分析

杜瓦瓶是天文观测中重要的终端设备部件.本文主要采用有限元方法对液氮杜瓦瓶进行热力分析,以确定液氮杜瓦瓶优化设计中注意的问题,并通过对液氮杜瓦瓶各种传热途径的分析,计算出液氮杜瓦瓶的漏热.     

The morphology of craters on Mercury: Results from MESSENGER flybys

Topographic data measured from the Mercury Laser Altimeter (MLA) and the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS) aboard the MESSENGER spacecraft were used for investigations of the relationship between depth and diameter for impact craters on Mercury. Results using data from the MESSENGER flybys of the innermost planet indicate that most of the craters measured with MLA are shallower than those previously measured by using Mariner 10 images. MDIS images of these same MLA-measured craters show that they have been modified. The use of shadow measurement techniques, which were found to be accurate relative to the MLA results, indicate that both small bowl-shaped and large complex craters that are fresh possess depth-to-diameter ratios that are in good agreement with those measured from Mariner 10 images. The preliminary data also show that the depths of modified craters are shallower relative to fresh ones, and might provide quantitative estimates of crater in-filling by subsequent volcanic or impact processes. The diameter that defines the transition from simple to complex craters on Mercury based on MESSENGER data is consistent with that reported from Mariner 10 data.     

Relationship between Infrared and Radio Emission of Galaxies of the Liner Type

The relationships among the monochromatic luminosities at 0.408, 1.4, and 4.85 GHz and the integrated luminosity in the far-infrared (IR) range for galaxies of the liner type (galaxies with low-ionization, narrow-emission regions) are investigated. At all the frequencies there is a close correlation between radio luminosity and IR luminosity for liners. The character of the relationship between the radio and IR luminosities of spiral liners differs from that for spiral normal and spiral Seyfert galaxies. For the latter this relationship is linear in a wide radio range. For spiral liners it may have a nonlinear character. The scatter (standard deviation) around the regression line for the relationship between radio and IR luminosities is considerably larger for spiral liners. The ratio of the emission fluxes in the far-IR range and in the radio range is larger, on the average, for spiral liners than for normal and Seyfert spiral galaxies.     

恒星内部电荷屏蔽对β衰变率的影响

针对低能反应和共振跃迁,分析了在恒星内部电荷屏蔽对β衰变率的影响．对共振跃迁的分析是基于核的壳层模型．作为例子,详细计算了电荷屏蔽对56Cr的β衰变的影响．结果表明:在较低温度和高密度下,电荷屏蔽使β衰变率有明显的增加。这对恒星晚期演化和超新星爆发研究可能会有重要的影响。     

电荷屏蔽与恒星内部β衰变

针对低能反应和Gamow-Teller共振跃迁,分析了在恒星内部电荷屏蔽对β衰变率的影响,对共振跃迁的分析是基于核的壳层模型．作为例子,详细计算了电荷屏蔽对56Cr的β衰变的影响．结果表明:在较低温度和高密度下,电荷屏蔽使β衰变率有明显地增加．这对恒星晚期演化和超新星爆发研究可能会有重要的影响．     

太阳短分米波连续辐射中的Ⅰ型噪爆

利用中国科学院国家天文台太阳射电动态频谱仪(1.0～2.0GHz和2.6～3.8GHz)在1998年9月23日观测到伴生Ⅲ型爆发群和Ⅰ型噪爆的分米波Ⅳ型爆发,着重讨论在Ⅳ型爆发衰减相产生的Ⅰ型噪爆,这个噪爆由许多Ⅰ型爆发组成,每个Ⅰ型爆的寿命约为100～300ms,总持续时间大于11min。噪爆辐射的圆偏振度大于Ⅳ型连续辐射爆发,平均偏振度约为64%。这个Ⅰ型噪爆可能类似于高偏振的Ⅲ型噪爆,其辐射机制可能归因于基波等离子体辐射。     

Quasiperiodic Jovian Radio bursts: observations from the Ulysses Radio and Plasma Wave Experiment

The Ulysses flyby of Jupiter has permitted the detection of a variety of quasiperiodic magnetospheric phenomena. In this paper, Unified Radio and Plasma Wave Experiment (URAP) observations of quasiperiodic radio bursts are presented. There appear to be two preferred periods of short-term variability in the Jovian magnetosphere, as indicated by two classes of bursts, one with 40 min periodicity, the other with 15 min periodicity. The URAP radio direction determination capability provides clear evidence that the 40 min bursts originate near the southern Jovian magnetic pole, whereas the source location of the 15 min bursts remains uncertain. These bursts may be the signatures of quasiperiodic electron acceleration in the Jovian magnetosphere; however, only the 40 min bursts occur in association with observed electron bursts of similar periodicity. Both classes of bursts show some evidence of solar wind control. In particular, the onset of enhanced 40 min burst activity is well correlated with the arrival of high-velocity solar wind streams at Jupiter, thereby providing a remote monitor of solar wind conditions at Jupiter.