PSD法测量大型射电望远镜副面位姿

指向精度是大型射电望远镜天线具有挑战性的关键技术指标.在望远镜运行中,方位俯仰角的变化、重力以及日照等对副面撑杆的综合影响会引起望远镜的副面位姿改变从而引起指向误差的增加和天线效率的降低.基于天马65 m射电望远镜,使用位置传感器装置(PSD)法构建了副面位置偏移量测定系统,可以实时采集副面的3维位移数据,构建重力模型,将测试结果与射电法构建的现有副面模型进行对比,有较好的一致性.此外,该系统可以分析日照(引起撑腿局部温度效应)引起的副面位移情况,也可以监视风载和瞬时启停对副面位姿的影响.     

The results of the third geodetic campaign in the local geodynamic test area of the MAO NAS of Ukraine

The high-precision coordinates of reference (reduction) points of stations located in the geodynamic area of the MAO NAS of Ukraine were determined in the local topocentric coordinate system. The local geodetic ties (eccentricities) between the reference points of the GPS station “Kiev/Goloseev” and satellite laser location station “Goloseev-Kiev” that are equal to 100.2358 m, ?11.0398 m, ?85.8256 m on the X, Y, Z axes, respectively, were obtained in the ITRF97 system as of the epoch 1997.0. The coordinates of the reference point of the station “Goloseev-Kiev” were determined in the ITRF97 system as of the epoch 1997.0 by adding local geodetic ties to the coordinates of the reference point of the GPS station “Kiev/Goloseev.” They were compared with the estimates of the coordinates of these stations obtained by the methods of cosmic geodesy and geodynamics. The local deformations of the geodynamic area that took place in the 1997–2006 period were estimated and the conclusion was made about the existence of certain trends with respect to the local displacements of the points of the geodynamic area of the MAO NAS of Ukraine.     

Photometrische Kalibrierung von Schmidtspiegelaufnahmen durch ein bildteilendes Hilfsprisma

Plates of the Tautenburg Schmidt can be calibrated with the aid of a beam-splitting prisma only if Schraffierkassette plates are used. The effects of image structure, scintillation and intermittence on in-focus images are different for the main component and the prismatic companion. Therefore, such plates cannot be used to set up a photometric scale.     

The study of velocity oscillations in the solar photosphere using the velocity substraction technique

A method of measurement of local line-of-sight velocities in the solar atmosphere by means of polarization optics is described. No spurious signals due to instrumental displacements of the spectrum arise with this method. The sensitivity of the method obtained is 0.3 m s^-1, with a time constant τ = 5 s and input aperture 1.4″ × 4.5″. Some preliminary results of the assessment of spatial characteristics of 5-min oscillations are included. Data are given to illustrate a center-to-limb variation of the spectrum of 5-min oscillations.     

On the variability of the “blue objects”

The reality of the high percentage of variability among Blue Objects which was found in previous investigations was examined on 170 Tautenburg Schmidt plates of two test fields near M 31. The high percentage could not be confirmed. Spurious amplitudes can be explained by the large probable errors of the photometry (especially near the plate limit) and by bad suitability of good-looking plates. Out of 37 Blue Objects examined, only two (van den Bergh 5 and 12) are distinctly variable, but the final examination of Blue Objects which are suspected of variability can only be done by photoelectric photometry.     

Stars of later spectral classes from the FBS survey. Preliminary data for seven special cases

Preliminary data are presented on seven “special” objects found in low-dispersion spectral plates of the FBS survey. The first object, FBS 0250+167, is found to be a class M7 dwarf with a high proper motion (∼5.130 arcsec/year) lying about 3 pc from the sun. Three of the objects, with spectra of classes M8–M9, are suspected of being long-period Mirids with large mass losses and surrounded by dense clouds. The three remaining objects have very short low-dispersion spectra on the FBS survey plates (clearly they are non stellar objects) and are of interest for later detailed study. __________ Translated from Astrofizika, Vol. 50, No. 1, pp. 73–85 (February 2007).     

Helligkeitsschätzungen von 12 quasistellaren Objekten auf photographischen Himmelsaufnahmen

Twelve QSO's have been investigated for variability on plates of the “Sonneberger Himmelsüberwachung”. Besides for 3 C 273 and Ton 616 no variability exceeding the mean error (±0.08 mag for m < 17.0) was found. TON 616 shows variability of 0,4 mag on time scales from hours (1964 Apr. 15) to one year.     

Equipotential surface and normal gravity of the Galilean satellites

In this article, expanded equations of normal gravity on the equipotential surface are proposed for a natural satellite whose orbital plane is close to its equatorial plane. Tidal effects on the normal gravity are also discussed. The authors apply these to the Galilean satellites. Calculations suggest that the tides raised by Jupiter weakly affect the Galilean satellites. The radial displacements of the gravity due to the tides are in the range between 10⁻³ and 10⁻⁵ m s⁻², which are similar to the latitudinal and longitudinal displacements. The variations along the latitude circle are larger than those along the longitude circle. We conclude that the tidal effects on most of the Galilean satellites are larger than those on the Moon.     

New proper motions for some AGK3 stars

In a program conducted to isolate AGK3 stars with large proper motions, it has been found that more than one hundred stars seem to be affected by large errors in their published proper motions. For some of those objects south of +25 degrees, new proper motions are being obtained using, as first-epoch positions, the published material of the Astrographic Catalogue. Second-epoch positions are derived from new plates taken with the Yale Southern Observatory double astrograph.     

Elastic collisions in ion irradiation experiments: A mechanism for space weathering of silicates

Ion irradiation experiments have been performed on silicates (bulk samples) rich of olivine, pyroxene, and serpentine to simulate the effects of space weathering induced on asteroids by solar wind ions. We have used different ions (H⁺, He⁺, Ar⁺, Ar²⁺) having different energies (from 60 to 400 keV) to weather the samples, probed by Raman spectroscopy and UV-vis-NIR reflectance spectroscopy. All the irradiated materials have shown reddening and darkening of reflectance spectra in the 0.25-2.7 μm spectral range. We have found that the increase of the spectral slope of the continuum across the 1-μm band is strongly related with the number of displacements caused by colliding ions because of elastic collisions with the target nuclei. The spectral slopes have been compared, at increasing ion fluence, with those from irradiated Epinal meteorite. We show that formation of nuclear displacements by solar wind ion irradiation is a physical mechanism that reddens the asteroidal surfaces on a time-scale lower than 10⁶ years.     

Photometry of Galaxies in the Field of the Galaxy Cluster aBELL 1781

A method for determing the brightness and diameter of galaxies in a large field on Schmidt plates by automatic scanning with a microphotometer is described and applied to the ABELL cluster A 1781. The accuracy of this method is tested. The overall errors (r.m.s.) of brightness and diameter are 0.16 mag and 0″.44. The cluster A 1781 has been prooved to be a very poor cluster of about 10 members up to m_B ≈ 19^m.5.     

A structural model from local earthquake tomography: Application to present-day tectonics of the Upper Rhine Graben

We present a novel numerical approach to construct quantitative tectonic models from crustal velocity distributions derived from local earthquake tomography. Independent constraints on the location and orientation of structures are obtained from earthquake hypocenters and seismic reflection profiles. An application of this method is given for the southern end of the Upper Rhine Graben (northwestern Europe). Kinematic boundary conditions are imposed on the structural model to investigate the large scale intraplate deformation in the region. A 3-D finite element code is used to calculate the displacements, the distribution of stresses, and the potential for brittle failure in the Graben. The modeling takes into account the intersection and curvature of crustal faults. The results demonstrate the dependence of fault interaction in the system on kinematic conditions, as well as the influence of minor faults on the kinematics of major basin bounding master faults. We show that although most of the deformation in the region is taken up by the eastern boundary faults of the Rhine Graben, all faults in the system have the potential to be (re)activated. In particular, a fault system underlying the front of the Jura fold and thrust belt appears to accommodate a large part of the intraplate deformation.     

Precision astrometry with SuperCOSMOS

We describe the new, fast, high-precision microdensitometer SuperCOSMOS. Some aspects of hardware and software design that enable high-precision astrometry from photographic plates are explained. We show that the positioning repeatability of the measuring machine is less than 0.1 μ μ m standard error in either coordinate, and the absolute positional accuracy is about 0.15 μ m standard error. Furthermore, measurements of the same plate in different orientations show that the sampling errors are small (e.g. ∼ 0.2 μ m, rising to ∼ 1.0 μ m at the plate limit, for stellar images in a IIIaJ emulsion), thus allowing the extraction of relative positional information from Schmidt plates at accuracies less than 1 μ m. We demonstrate that SuperCOSMOS is capable of measuring the positions of bright stars (i.e. those more than ∼ 4 mag above the plate limit) to a precision ∼ 0.5 μ m with survey–grade photographic plates employing fine–grained emulsions.     

Hale's attempts to determine the sun's general magnetic field

Hale's attempts to determine the sun's general magnetic field are reviewed. The field reported by Hale was an order of magnitude stronger than that presently measured with photoelectric techniques. The polarity was opposite to that expected from Babcock's theory of the solar cycle. Practically all the reduction work had been made by Van Maanen with a tipping-plate micrometer.To free the reductions from possible personal bias, a few hundred of the plates from the 1914 series were remeasured by the author with the digitized microphotometer at the Sacramento Peak Observatory. The line profiles were recorded on magnetic tape, and the computations of the Zeeman displacements were made using a CD 3600 at Uppsala.The same plates had been measured visually by Van Maanen. His results show a neat variation of field strength with heliographic latitude, with a maximum of about 11 G at latitudes + and –45 °. The solar equator forms a sharp demarcation line between the opposite polarities in the two hemispheres. In contrast, the computer reductions do not reveal any significant field at any latitude. An approximate upper limit for the observed field strength is 5 G. There is no correlation between the new results and the old values by Van Maanen.     

A comparison of the measuring machines APM and MAMA for astrometric application

Measurements of two Tautenburg plates were used for a comparison of the astrometric accuracy of the automatic measuring machines PAM and MAMA. From plate-to plate solutions a positional accuracy of about 1 μm was achieved for stars with 7 < B < 17 for MAMA and with 11 < B < 17 for APM measurements. A rapid decrease in positional accuracy of fainter stars is caused rather by random effects of the photographic emulsion. A magnitude equation between the plates was obtained to be less than 1 μm over the whole magnitude range. Systematic errors with a small period of 2 cm in the APM measurements as well as a non-orthogonality and systematic differences between the MAMA and APM coordinate grids were found. A procedure of classifying all real objects measured into stars, galaxies and merged objets is presented for the MAMA measurements and the results are compared with the routine APM classification. Except for merged objects the MAMA and APM classification show a very good agreement for stars brighter than B = 18.5.     

Astronomical Plate Archives and Binary Blazars Studies

There are about 3 million astronomical photographic plates around the globe, representing an important data source for various aspects of astrophysics. The main advantage is the large time coverage of 100 years or even more. Recent digitization efforts, together with the development of dedicated software, enables for the first time, effective data mining and data analyses by powerful computers with these archives. Examples of blazars proposed and/or investigated on the astronomical plates are presented and discussed.     

Glacier ice mass fluctuations and fault instability in tectonically active Southern Alaska

Across the plate boundary zone in south central Alaska, tectonic strain rates are high in a region that includes large glaciers undergoing wastage (glacier retreat and thinning) and surges. For the coastal region between the Bering and Malaspina Glaciers, the average ice mass thickness changes between 1995 and 2000 range from 1 to 5 m/year. These ice changes caused solid Earth displacements in our study region with predicted values of −10 to 50 mm in the vertical and predicted horizontal displacements of 0–10 mm at variable orientations. Relative to stable North America, observed horizontal rates of tectonic deformation range from 10 to 40 mm/year to the north–northwest and the predicted tectonic uplift rates range from approximately 0 mm/year near the Gulf of Alaska coast to 12 mm/year further inland. The ice mass changes between 1995 and 2000 resulted in discernible changes in the Global Positioning System (GPS) measured station positions of one site (ISLE) located adjacent to the Bagley Ice Valley and at one site, DON, located south of the Bering Glacier terminus. In addition to modifying the surface displacements rates, we evaluated the influence ice changes during the Bering glacier surge cycle had on the background seismic rate. We found an increase in the number of earthquakes (M_L≥2.5) and seismic rate associated with ice thinning and a decrease in the number of earthquakes and seismic rate associated with ice thickening. These results support the hypothesis that ice mass changes can modulate the background seismic rate.During the last century, wastage of the coastal glaciers in the Icy Bay and Malaspina region indicates thinning of hundreds of meters and in areas of major retreat, maximum losses of ice thickness approaching 1 km. Between the 1899 Yakataga and Yakutat earthquakes (M_w=8.1, 8.1) and prior to the 1979 St. Elias earthquake (M_s=7.2), the plate interface below Icy Bay was locked and tectonic strain accumulated. We used estimated ice mass change during the 1899–1979 time period to calculate the change in the fault stability margin (FSM) prior to the 1979 St. Elias earthquake. Our results suggest that a cumulative decrease in the fault stability margin at seismogenic depths, due to ice wastage over 80 years, was large, up to 2 MPa. Ice wastage would promote thrust faulting in events such as the 1979 earthquake and subsequent aftershocks.     

Zur Methodik der Bestimmung von Entdeckungswahrscheinlichkeiten veränderlicher Sterne

The Bernoullian statistics give for rare types of variable stars only inaccurate results concerning the probability of discovery p. In these cases p may be reasonably calculated by means of the „Quality Function”︁ Q(Δm, m), defined by Borgman. Q(Δm, m) is the probability of the discovery of a magnitude difference Δm near the apparent magnitude m. Three methods are discussed which allow to find Q(Δm, m). An application to the Sonneberg material shows, as expected, that Q(Δm, m) will become smaller with Δm decreasing and m increasing. Moreover the psychologically interesting fact, already supposed by Borgman, is confirmed that even well-trained observers will overlook about 10% of all large magnitude differences < 1 mag in using the blink-, stereo- or electronic scanning method for the discovery of variable stars.     

Tidally driven stress accumulation and shear failure of Enceladus's tiger stripes

Straddling the south polar region of Saturn's moon Enceladus, the four principal “tiger stripe” fractures are a likely source of tectonic activity and plume generation. Here we investigate tidally driven stress conditions at the tiger stripe fractures through a combined analysis of shear and normal diurnal tidal stresses and accounting for additional stress at depth due to the overburden pressure. We compute Coulomb failure conditions to assess failure location, timing, and direction (right- vs left-lateral slip) throughout the Enceladus orbital cycle and explore a suite of model parameters that inhibit or promote shear failure at the tiger stripes. We find that low coefficients of friction (μf=0.1-0.2) and shallow overburden depths (z=2-4 km) permit shear failure along the tiger stripe faults, and that right- and/or left-lateral slip responses are possible. We integrate these conditions into a 3D time-dependent fault dislocation model to evaluate tectonic displacements and stress variations at depth during a tiger stripe orbital cycle. Depending on the sequence of stress accumulation and subsequent fault slip, which varies as a function of fault location and orientation, frictional coefficient, and fault depth, we estimate resolved shear stress accumulation of ∼70 kPa prior to fault failure, which produces modeled strike-slip displacements on the order of ∼0.5 m in the horizontal direction and ∼5 mm in the vertical direction per slip event. Our models also indicate that net displacements on the order of 0.1 m per orbital cycle, in both right- and left-lateral directions, are possible for particular fault geometries and frictional parameters. Tectonic activity inferred from these analyses correlates with observed plume activity and temperature anomalies at Enceladus's south polar region. Moreover, these analyses provide important details of stress accumulation and the faulting cycle for icy satellites subjected to diurnal tidal stress.     

A rotating differential accelerometer for testing the equivalence principle in space: results from laboratory tests of a ground prototype

We have proposed to test the equivalence principle (EP) in low Earth orbit with a rapidly rotating differential accelerometer (made of weakly coupled concentric test cylinders) whose rotation provides high frequency signal modulation and avoids severe limitations otherwise due to operation at room temperature [PhRvD 63 (2001) 101101]. Although the accelerometer has been conceived for best performance in absence of weight, we have designed, built and tested a variant of it at 1-g. Here we report the results of measurements performed so far. Losses measured with the full system in operation yield a quality factor only four times smaller than the value required for the proposed high accuracy EP test in space. Unstable whirl motions, which are known to arise in the system and might be a matter of concern, are found to grow as slowly as predicted and can be stabilized. The capacitance differential read-out (the mechanical parts, electronics and software for data analysis) is in all similar to what is needed in the space experiment. In the instrument described here the coupling of the test masses is 24 000 times stiffer than in the one proposed for flight, which makes it 24 000 times less sensitive to differential displacements. With this stiffness it should detect test masses separations of 1.5·10⁻² μm, while so far we have achieved only 1.5 μm, because of large perturbations—due to the motor, the ball bearings, the non-perfect verticality of the system—all of which, however, are absent in space. The effects of these perturbations should be reduced by 100 times in order to perform a better demonstration. Further instrument improvements are underway to fill this gap and also to reduce its stiffness, thus increasing its significance as a prototype of the space experiment.