A high resolution mid-infrared image of the Starburst Galaxy M82

We have produced high-resolution images of the nuclear region of M82 with SpectroCam-10, a mid-infrared instrument at the Palomar 5 m telescope. These images were taken at 11.7 m and 9.8 m with a 1m filter bandpass at the diffraction limit of 0.6 arcsec, making them the highest resolution maps yet available of M82. In addition, we have obtained high-resolution (/=2000) maps of the velocity field of the nuclear disk of M82 in the 12.81 m line emission of [NeII]. In these proceedings we present the 11.7 m image, which will appear together with the 9.8 m map and the [Ne II] spectra in a subsequent paper, now in preparation. This image shows very clearly a bridge structure joining the eastern and western clusters.     

On the restrited three-body problem when the mass parameter is small

We study some aspects of the restricted three-body problem when the mass parameter is sufficiently small. First, we describe the global flow of the two-body rotating problem, =0, and we use it for the analysis of the collision and parabolic orbits when 0. Also we show that for any fixed value of the Jacobian constant and for any >0, there exists a ₀>0 such that if the mass parameter [0,₀], then the set of bounded orbits which are not contained in the closure of the set of symmetric periodic orbits has Lebesgue measure less than .Paper presented at the 1981 Oberwolfach Conference on Mathematical Methods in Celestial Mechanics.     

Stability of and motion aboutL 4 at three-to-one commensurability

The stability ofL ₄ and the motion aboutL ₄ in the restricted problem of three bodies is investigated when there is three-to-one commensurability between the long and short periods of motion, that is, when the mass ratio has the value =0.013516.... The two time scale method is used (1) to show thatL ₄ is an unstable equilibrium point when =₃, (2) to determine for what initial conditions periodic orbits occur when ₃, (3) to determine the stability of the periodic orbits, and (4) to investigate the boundedness of the motions aboutL ₄ when ₃.     

Extinction and scattering by several types of silicate sphere of radius 0.05–1.0μm,for the wavelength range 0.21–50μm

The exact calculation of scattering and absorption by various sub-micron sized silicate spheres is presented here, using accurately determined optical constants in the wavelength range from 50 m to 0.21 m. The extinction features near 10 m and 20 m for various samples are discussed. It is found that the ratio of peak extinction at 20 m to that at 10 m is constant for small particles up tor=0.4 m, but is less for particles of radius 1 m. The ratio of maximum extinction in the ultraviolet to that at 10 m decreases with increasing particle size.     

Infrared continuum observations of five-minute oscillations

Infrared continuum observations of the Sun at wavelengths between 10 and 30 show a nonisothermal response of the upper photosphere to compression waves associated with the five-minute oscillations. Observations were made with four broad-band filters with effective transmission wavelengths between 10 and 26 and with a 10 aperture. Further observations at submillimeter wavelengths with a 2 aperture did not resolve oscillatory fluctuations of five-minute period.Comparisons with velocity field data of Howard (1976) suggest that the relaxation time of the photosphere exceeds (300/2) seconds at the height of formation of the 26 continuum (_5000Å 10^-2). The photosphere reponds to 3 mHz oscillatory motion with considerably less compression than expected for simple acoustic modes in an adiabatically responsive atmosphere, confirming the evanescent character of the five-minute oscillations.     

Astronomical imaging with InSb arrays

Ten years ago, Forrest presented the first astronomical images with an SBRC 32×32 InSb array camera at the first NASA-Ames Infrared Detector Technology Workshop. Soon after, SBRC began development of 58×62 InSb arrays, both for ground-based astronomy and for SIRTF. By the time of the 1987 Hilo workshop Ground-based Astronomical Observations with Infrared Array Detectors astronomical results from cameras based on SBRC 32×32 and 58×62 InSb arrays, a CE linear InSb array, and a French 32×32 InSb CID array were presented. And at the Tucson 1990 meeting Astrophysics with Infrared Arrays, it was clear that this new technology was no longer the province of IR pundits, but provided a tool for all astronomers. At this meeting, the first astronomical observations with SBRC's new, gateless passivation 256×256 InSb arrays will be presented: they perform spectacularly!In this review, I can only broadly brush on the interesting science completed with InSb array cameras. Because of the broad wavelength coverage (1–5.5 m) of InSb, and the extremely high performance levels throughout the band, InSb cameras are used not only in the near IR, but also from 3–5.5 m, where unique science is achieved. For example, the point-like central engines of AGNs are delineated at L and M, and Br and 3.29 m dust emission images of galactic and extragalactic objects yield excitation conditions. Examples of imaging spectroscopy, high spatial resolution imaging, as well as deep, broad-band imaging with InSb cameras at this meeting illustrate the power of InSb array cameras.     

Comparison of analytical and numerical calculations of the first class periodic orbits

The analytic construction of the direct periodic orbits in the circular 3-body problem is given in explicit form to the linear terms in . It is shown to be in good agreement with the numerically found orbits for large values of .     

Interstellar absorptions at λ=3.2 μm and 3.3 μm

Unidentified interstellar absorption bands at =3.2 m and 3.3 m might be due to amino-acids in bacterial grains.     

Arome,a balloon-borne instrument for astronomical near-infrared spectrophotometry

We present here the French balloon-borne experiment named AROME. This astronomical instrument is specifically designed for the detection of near infrared emission bands (=3–12m) from extended sources of low surface brightness with an angular resolution of 0.5°. The rms sensitivity achieved is of the order of 10^-8 Wm^-2sr^-1, in terms of the power radiated in the 3.3m band. We recall that this program led to the first detection of the 3.3m feature in the spectrum of the diffuse galactic emission. The scientific results were presented and interpreted in Paper I, Giard et al., 1989. Future work will include both the observation of fainter objects at 3.3m and the detection of other emission bands at 6.2 and 11.3m.     

Aromatic hydrocarbons in very small interstellar grains

We show that the recently observed 3.3 m emission feature in the diffuse radiation from the galactic disk might be due to an ensemble of aromatic molecules distributed within very small interstellar grains. The same particles also provide an explanation of the 2200 Å interstellar absorption feature.     

Near-infrared observations of the peculiar binary system epsilon Aurigae

Near-infrared photometric and low-resolution spectroscopic observations of Aurigae at two phases during the current eclipse are presented. The eclipse depths are found to be wavelength-independent in the infrared right up to 2.5 m. There is no infrared excess at wavelengths shorter than 2.5 m. The light absorbing particles in the eclipsing body must be larger than 10 m in size.     

Subarcsec 10μm imaging of bipolar flow sources

We have started a program of high-resolution (0.4/pixel) 10m imaging of bipolar outflow sources using the 10m camera CAMIRAS. We present recent results obtained at the Canada France Hawaii Telescope which reveal extended emission or IR companions in several luminous objects. The extended emission we detected probably arises from transiently heated very small grains, while the newly discovered companions could contribute significantly to the outflow activity and extended far-IR emission usually attributed to the main optical source.     

Mid- and far-infrared extinction coefficients of hydrous silicate minerals

Extinction coefficients were measured for three kind of hydrous silicate minerals, montmorillonite, chlorite and serpentine, from 7 to 140 m. The infrared extinction coefficients of these minerals show (1) a few broad bands in the mid-infrared region and (2) a less steep wavelength-dependence in the far-infrared region, in contrast to those of high-temperature magnesium silicates. In the far-infrared region, montmorillonite shows a ^–0.8±0.1 dependence (, the wavelength) without any band structure, chlorite has a double maxima structure around 80 m, and serpentine shows a rather steep dependence with a small peak at 77 m.The changes of mid-infrared spectra by heating were measured. Change in chlorite spectrum is the most significant. Many fine features appear by heating and then they disappear. Above 900°C one broad feature remains around 10 m. Fine features of the montmorillonite spectrum disappear by heating. For serpentine, many new peaks appear and the spectrum resembles the spectrum of olivin. In near-infrared a band around 2.72 m disappears by heating.Extinction coefficients at very low temperatures were measured in the far-infrared region. For montmorillonite and serpentine, the spectrum is the same as that at room temperature. The double peaks of chlorite around 80 m become higher.     

The evaluation of the interplanetary diffusion coefficient for energetic particles employing real magnetic field data

A numerical simulation of energetic particle motion in the interplanetary medium is carried out using HEOS-2 magnetometer data in order to computeD(), the pitch angle diffusion coefficient, where is cosine of pitch angle defined with respect to the local field. WhileD() exceeds that given by quasi-linear theory near 90° pitch angle, it is significantly less at higher values of , leading to a parallel transport coefficient in good accord with that given by experimental studies of solar proton propagation. In particular, =0.031 AU at a particle magnetic rigidity of 455 MV, while experimental results range from 0.05 to 0.07 AU (+100%, –50%) in this rigidity region. Furthermore, observed approximately -dependent solar proton pitch angle distributions are consistent with the computed findingD()/(1 – ²)² ~ constant.The validity of various analytical corrections to quasi-linear theory as 0 are also investigated numerically.     

Three-dimensional,periodic, ‘halo’ orbits

A largely numerical study was made of families of three-dimensional, periodic, halo orbits near the collinear libration points in the restricted three-body problem. Families extend from each of the libration points to the nearest primary. They appear to exist for all values of the mass ratio , from 0 to 1. More importantly, most of the families contain a range of stable orbits. Only near L₁, the libration point between the two primaries, are there no stable orbits for certain values of . In that case the stable range decreases with increasing , until it disappears at =0.0573. Near the other libration points, stable orbits exist for all mass ratios investigated between 0 and 1. In addition, the orbits increase in size with increasing .     

The velocity correlation function in cosmic-ray diffusion theory

The concept of velocity correlation functions is introduced and applied to the calculation of cosmic ray spatial diffusion coefficients. It is assumed that the pitch angle scattering coefficient is already known from some other theory, and is reasonably well-behaved. Previous results for the coefficient for diffusion parallel to the mean field are recovered when the velocity-changing mechanism is artificially restricted to pitch angle scattering. The velocity correlation method is then applied to the more general case where there are fluctuations in the local mean field. It is found that the parallel diffusion coefficient is reduced in proportion to the amplitude of the field fluctuations, and that the ratio of the perpendicular to parallel diffusion coefficients cannot be greater than B _x ² /B ₀ ² . It is shown in the appendix that the Liouville form of the scattering equation implies that the Fokker-Planck coefficients ²/t=2D and /t=D /, and that all higher-order coefficients are identically zero.     

Fourier techniques for an analysis of eclipsing binary light curves: III

The aim of the present paper will be to present a new approach to the light changes of eclipsing binary systems. The light changes have been expanded into the Fourier-Bessel and Dini series. The coefficients of these expansions which are the Hankel transforms of the order of the loss of light (1–l) have been expressed in terms of the eclipse elements. These discrete Hankel transformsH (j _m ) andH ( _m ) valid for only the positive real zerosj _m and _m of the functionsJ and [xJ(x)+J (x)] have been generalized for any positive value of andy. Thus, these general expressions for the Hankel transforms of the light curves which are valid for all types of eclipses, for any arbitrary degree of the adopted limb-darkening law and, moreover, for any positive value of the free parameters andy, may be used for the solution of the elements of eclipsing binary systems.     

Mineral and organic particles in astronomy

A mixture of inorganic mineral grains comprised mainly of silica with linked SiO₄ tetrahedra together with organic grains characterised by the spectrum of an average bacterium provides excellent agreement with astronomical data relating to broad 10 and 20m emission and absorption features. Mineral clay-like particles of radii 0.01 m are most likely to condense in the atmospheres of Mira-type stars and be expelled by radiation pressure into interstellar space. These particles would tend to stick onto the surfaces of bacterial grains in conditions of high density associated with regions of star formation.     

Ejection and collision orbits of the spatial restricted three-body problem

We begin by describing the global flow of the spatial two body rotating problem, =0. The remainder of the work is devoted to study the ejection and collision orbits when >-0. We make use of the blow up techniques to show that for any fixed value of the Jacobian constant the set of these orbits is diffeomorphic to S²×R. Also we find some particular collision-ejection orbits.     

A search for carbon stars in the AFGL Catalogue

A comparison between theGeneral Catalogue of Cool Carbon Stars (CCS) and theAFGL Catalogue has been performed.Eighty-five stars have been found in common between the two lists. Eighty-four stars which were present in Baumert's comparison between CCS and the 2 Sky Survey have no counterpart in the AFGL. Four new tentative identifications are given. The analysis of the two colours diagrams K-[4.2 ] vs. I-K and I-[4.2 ] vs. [4.2 ]-[11 ] led to the conclusion that all the infrared emission from the sources seems to come from a single circumstellar shell.