On the analogy between the zebra patterns in radio emission from the sun and the crab pulsar

We investigate the close analogy between the solar radio emission with a quasi-harmonic spectrum structure and one of the microwave emission components of the Crab pulsar in the form of the so-called zebra pattern. The radio emission mechanism of this component can be provided by instability at double plasma resonance and can be realized in extraordinary (for a radio pulsar) conditions, namely in a nonrelativistic plasma with a relatively weak magnetic field. We point out possible models of the emission source in the form of a magnetic trap or a neutral current sheet with a transverse magnetic field localized in the corotating region of the pulsar magnetosphere far from the neutron star surface.     

Observation of the absolute intensity of the Sun in the vacuum ultraviolet region

The absolute intensity of the solar spectrum between 1550 Å and 1950 Å was measured photoelectrically by a rocketborne spectrometer flown from the Kagoshima Space Centre on 19 February 1973. The spectrometer was a single dispersive type with uniaxial Sun-pointer, and the absolute intensity from the whole disk with a 78 Å spectral resolution was measured. The result was consistent with our previous observation.     

X-Raying the Star Formation History of the Universe

We discuss a new method for inferring the stellar mass of a distant galaxy of known redshift based on the combination of a near-IR luminosity and multiband optical photometry. The typical uncertainty for field galaxies with I<22 in the redshift range 0相似文献   

The Jeans mass and the origin of the knee in the IMF

We use numerical simulations of the fragmentation of a  1000 M_⊙  molecular cloud and the formation of a stellar cluster to study how the initial conditions for star formation affect the resulting initial mass function (IMF). In particular, we are interested in the relation between the thermal Jeans mass in a cloud and the knee of the IMF, i.e. the mass separating the region with a flat IMF slope from that typified by a steeper, Salpeter-like, slope. In three isothermal simulations with   M _Jeans= 1, 2  and  5 M_⊙  , the number of stars formed, at comparable dynamical times, scales roughly with the number of initial Jeans masses in the cloud. The mean stellar mass also increases (though less than linearly) with the initial Jeans mass in the cloud. It is found that the IMF in each case displays a prominent knee, located roughly at the mass scale of the initial Jeans mass. Thus clouds with higher initial Jeans masses produce IMFs which are shallow to higher masses. This implies that a universal IMF requires a physical mechanism that sets the Jeans mass to be near  1 M_⊙  . Simulations including a barotropic equation of state as suggested by Larson, with cooling at low densities followed by gentle heating at higher densities, are able to produce realistic IMFs with the knee located at  ≈1 M_⊙  , even with an initial   M _Jeans= 5 M_⊙  . We therefore suggest that the observed universality of the IMF in the local Universe does not require any fine tuning of the initial conditions in star forming clouds but is instead imprinted by details of the cooling physics of the collapsing gas.     

Accounting for the viscosity of the fluid core in the problem of the physical libration of the moon

A two-component theoretical model of the physical libration of the Moon in longitude is constructed with account taken of the viscosity of the core. In the new version, a hydrodynamic problem of motion of a fluid filling a solid rotating shell is solved. It is found that surfaces of equal angular velocity are spherical, and a velocity field of the fluid core of the Moon is described by elementary functions. A distribution of the internal pressure in the core is found. An angular momentum exchange between the fluid core and solid mantle is described by a third-order differential equation with a right-hand side. The roots of a characteristic equation are studied and the stability of rotation is proved. A libration angle as a function of time is found using the derived solution of the differential equation. Limiting cases of infinitely large and infinitely small viscosity are considered and an effect of lag of a libration phase from a phase of action of an external moment of forces is ascertained. This makes it possible to estimate the viscosity and sizes of the lunar fluid core from data of observations.     

Oxygen isotope anomalies of the Sun and the original environment of the solar system

Abstract— We present results from a model of oxygen isotopic anomaly production through selective photodissociation of CO within the collapsing proto‐solar cloud. Our model produces a proto‐Sun with a wide range of Δ¹⁷O values depending on the intensity of the ultraviolet radiation field. Dramatically different results from two recent solar wind oxygen isotope measurements indicate that a variety of compositions remain possible for the solar oxygen isotope composition. However, constrained by other measurements from comets and meteorites, our models imply the birth of the Sun in a stellar cluster with an enhanced radiation field and are therefore consistent with a supernova source for ⁶⁰Fe in meteorites.     

Viewing the Shadow of the Black Hole at the Galactic Center

Nine of the most important estimators known for the two-point correlation function are compared using a predetermined, rigorous criterion. The indicators were extracted from over 500 subsamples of the Virgo Hubble volume simulation cluster catalog. The "real" correlation function was determined from the full survey in a 3000 h(-1) Mpc periodic cube. The estimators were ranked by the cumulative probability of returning a value within a certain tolerance of the real correlation function. This criterion takes into account bias and variance, and it is independent of the possibly non-Gaussian nature of the error statistics. As a result, for astrophysical applications, a clear recommendation has emerged: the Landy & Szalay estimator, in its original or grid version (Szapudi & Szalay), is preferred in comparison with the other indicators examined, with a performance almost indistinguishable from the Hamilton estimator.     

Estimates of the size of the particles in the rings of saturn and their cosmogonic implications

Very low values of the radio brightness temperature of the rings of Saturn indicate that their high refar reflectivity is not simply due to a gain effect in the backscattering direction. These two sets of observations are consistent with the ring particles having a very high single scattering albedo at radio wavelenghts, with multiple scattering effects being important. Comparison of scattering calculations for ice and silicate particles with the radio and radar observations imply a mean particle radius of ～1 cm. The ice bands observed in the rings' near-infrared reflectivity spectra are formed by scattering within a microstructure on the surface of the ring particles, with the scattering centers being 25–125 μm in size. The Poynting-Robertson effect has caused a significant spiraling-in of the ring particles, probably resulting in a broadening of the rings. The inferred mean size is consistent with a model in which meteoroid impacts have caused a substantial reduction in the mean particle size from its initial value.     

On the status of the rotation of Venus

Owing to its extremely slow rotation, Venus must be regarded as a triaxial body with differences of all three principal moments of inertia comparable in magnitude, thus rendering it a body essentially different from a rapidly rotating planet. The dynamical problem then arises of how such a body, with a rotation-period comparable with its orbital period, would be affected by couples exerted upon it by the gravitational action of the Sun. Equations for the rotatory motion are set up in a form suitable for numerical solution by machine-calculations, but the problem so presented can be adequately investigated only for a hypothetical planet with far larger differences of principal moments than could hold for Venus. Results obtained on this limited basis nevertheless suggest that for the actual planet the direction of the rotation axis may move almost randomly between the two hemispheres defined by the orbital plane and thus that the present direction near the south celestial pole of the orbit may be only a temporary situation. Order-of-magnitude considerations based on the equations of motion suggest that a time-scale of order 10⁷ to 10⁸ yr may on average be required for large changes in direction of the rotation axis to take place.     

On the expansion of the secular part of the perturbing function of mutual attraction in the satellite systems of planets

We propose a special representation for the secular part of the perturbing function describing the mutual attraction of satellites. In contrast to the known representations, it has a single analytical form for any ratio between the semimajor axes of the perturbed and perturbing satellites. The resulting expression is a partial sum of a power series with respect to the small eccentricities and planet-equatorial inclinations of the satellites’ orbits. This sum includes terms up to and including the fourth degree with respect to these small parameters. The proposed expansion is compared with one of the known expansions for the secular part of the perturbing function.     

Precise Determination of the Orientation of the Solar Image

Accurate heliographic coordinates of objects on the Sun have to be known in several fields of solar physics. One of the factors that affect the accuracy of the measurements of the heliographic coordinates is the accuracy of the orientation of a solar image. In this paper the well-known drift method for determining the orientation of the solar image is applied to data taken with a solar telescope equipped with a CCD camera. The factors that influence the accuracy of the method are systematically discussed, and the necessary corrections are determined. These factors are as follows: the trajectory of the center of the solar disk on the CCD with the telescope drive turned off, the astronomical refraction, the change of the declination of the Sun, and the optical distortion of the telescope. The method can be used on any solar telescope that is equipped with a CCD camera and is capable of taking solar full-disk images. As an example to illustrate the method and its application, the orientation of solar images taken with the Gyula heliograph is determined. As a byproduct, a new method to determine the optical distortion of a solar telescope is proposed.     

Origin of the atmospheres of the terrestrial planets

The monotonic decrease in the atmospheric abundance of ³⁶Ar per gram of planet in the sequence, Venus, Earth, and Mars has been assumed to reflect some conditions in the primitive solar nebula at the time of formation of the planetary atmospheres, having to do either with the composition of the nebula itself or the composition of the trapped gases in small solid bodies in the nebula. Behind such hypotheses lies the assumption that planetary atmospheres steadily gain components. However, not only can gases enter atmospheres; they may also be lost from atmospheres both by adsorption into the planetary interior and by loss into space as a result of collisions with minor and major planetesimals. In this paper a necessarily qualitative discussion is given of the problem of collisions with minor planetesimals, a process called atmospheric cratering or atmospheric erosion, and a discussion is given of atmospheric loss accompanying collision of a planet with a major planetesimal, such as may have produced the Earth's Moon.     

Hypothesis on the origin of the spiral structure of the galaxies

The spiral waves in a model galaxy consisting of differentially rotating and non-rotating subsystems are considered on the basis of participating phenomena. The subsystems involved represent the Populations I and II of normal spirals, respectively. The spiral waves in such a systems are unstable in the Landau sense. Due to this instability they grow up to attain finite amplitude. This growth is stopped by a non-linear effect (the quasilinear effect), the steady state with waves of finite amplitude being established. The hypothesis is proposed that these waves should be identified with the spiral structure of the galaxies.     

On the early history of the asteroids

Among the major features of the asteroids as a group is the fact that they are small and numerous rather than being a single planet, and that they have unusually high eccentricities and inclinations. Regarding the first, this paper presents two lines of argument concerning the concept that the asteroids formed with a mass-distribution similar to what we observe today. Considerations of planet accretion are used to clarify the role of Jupiter in preventing coalescence of asteroids into a single planet. Regarding the eccentricities and inclinations, it is proposed that they were excited by secular resonances associated with the presence of Jupiter within a dissipating solar nebula.     

Modelling the bar in the centre of the starburst galaxy M82

We present VLA A-array 21-cm atomic hydrogen (H  i ) absorption observed against the central region of the starburst galaxy M82 with an angular resolution of ∼1.3 arcsec (≃20 pc). These observations, together with MERLIN H  i absorption measurements, are compared with the molecular (CO) and ionized ([Ne  ii ]) gas distributions and are used to constrain the dynamics and structure of the ionized, neutral and molecular gas in this starburst.
A position–velocity diagram of the H  i distribution reveals an unusual 'hole' feature which, when previously observed in CO, has been interpreted as an expanding superbubble contained within a ring of gas in solid body rotation. However, we interpret this feature as a signature of a nearly edge-on barred galaxy. In addition, we note that the CO, H  i and [Ne  ii ] position–velocity diagrams reveal two main velocity gradients, and we interpret these as gas moving on x₁- and x₂-orbits within a bar potential. We find the best fit to the data to be produced using a bar potential with a flat rotation curve velocity v _b=140 km s⁻¹ and a total length of 1 kpc, a non-axisymmetry parameter q =0.9, an angular velocity of the bar Ω_b=217 km s⁻¹ arcsec⁻¹, a core radius R _c=25 pc, an inclination angle i =80° and a projected angle between the bar and the major axis of the galaxy φ '=4°. We also discuss the orientation of the disc and bar in M82.     

Hipparcos and the age of the Galactic disc

We use the Hipparcos colour–magnitude diagram of field stars with Tycho colours to make a new minimum age estimate for the Galactic disc. The method is based on fits to the red envelope of subgiants in the Hipparcos colour–magnitude diagram with synthetic isochrones covering the range of disc metal abundance. The colours and luminosities of the isochrones as a function of abundance are checked using new techniques involving 'red-clump' stars in the giant branch region and on the main sequence using G and K dwarfs. We derive a minimum disc age of 8 Gyr, in good agreement with other methods.     

Large Meteoroid Fragmentation: Modeling the Interaction of the Chelyabinsk Meteoroid with the Atmosphere

The interaction between a large meteoroid and the atmosphere is modeled as its destruction into a cloud of fragments and vapors moving with a common shock wave. Under the action of aerodynamic forces the shape of this cloud is deformed—it is expanded in the direction transverse to the motion and compressed in the longitudinal direction. With allowance for the pressure distribution over the surface of a body varying its shape (it is assumed that the sphere is transformed into a flattened spheroid), the relation for the rate of increase in the midsection radius of a fragmented meteoroid has been obtained. This rate significantly depends on the degree of the meteoroid flattening which leads to a significantly smaller increase in the transverse size of the meteoroid along the trajectory as compared to similar models used in the literature where the influence of the body shape was not considered. The proposed model also takes into account the change in the density of the cloud of fragments due to an increase in gaps between them. An approximate analytical solution of equations of the physical theory of meteors with drag and heat transfer coefficients varying along the trajectory has been obtained for a fragmented meteoroid. The interaction of the Chelyabinsk meteoroid with the atmosphere is modeled and the solution obtained for the energy release curve is compared with the observational data.     

General features of the magnetic field of the equatorial electrojet measured by the POGO satellites

The magnitude of the equatorial electrojet signature, S, is a measure of its magnetic field at the location of the satellite recording the signature. The general features of the large quantity of the magnetic field data of the electrojet observed by the series of POGO satellites from 1967 to 1970 have been studied here. We have compared the position of the axis of the electrojet as indicated by the position of the minimum of the electrojet signature with the position of the dip equator on the Earth's surface, and we find no significant latitudinal shift of the electrojet axis from the dip equator on the Earth. Apart from the expected decrease of the magnetic field of the electrojet with altitude above the electrojet, we have found unexpected cases in which the field increases with altitude. More surprisingly, we have discovered that the magnitude of S oscillates with altitude having maxima at about 460km and 635km and minima at about 580km and 725km, with a mean wavelength of 160 ± 29 km. It is suggested that this could be caused by additional weak current layers flowing above the main electrojet at about 110 km altitude. It is also pointed out that Onwumechili's model based on a single current system of the equatorial electrojet predicts field oscillation with altitude. The model therefore shows that a field oscillating with altitude can also result from a single complicated system of current unaided by additional current layers.     

Third Integral and the Dynamics of the Galaxy in the Neighborhood of the Sun

Observational data on the dynamics of stars in the neighborhood of the sun indicate the existence of a third integral besides the integrals of the angular momentum and energy. The Poincaré integral is proposed as a third integral. The consequences of this assumption are derived and compared with available astrophysical data.     

On the structure of the low surface brightness dwarf galaxies in the M81 group

A detailed photometry of spheroidal dwarf galaxies in the M81 group has been carried out. The integral characteristics and the structural parameters of the spheroidal dwarfs has been determined. Their luminosity profiles are well fitted to a King law. The investigated spheroidal dwarfs together with the prototypes of the Local Group form a common sequence according to their main parameters. The observational data presented show that dSphs are not linked evolutionary with normal E and dE galaxies, but probably form a separate branch together with irregular low surface brightness dwarfs.