全球陆地水储量对地球自转变化的激发作用

用美国环境预测中心和美国大气研究中心(NCEP/NCAR)40年重新分析计划气候数据同化系统(CDAS)所得到的全球陆地水储量(土壤湿度和积雪水当量)数据,对地球自转变化(极移和日长)的激发作用作了分析．结果表明,陆地水储量对周年地极移动正频分量的激发为17．8mas,与大气激发相当,相位滞后约48°．其中,积雪水当量的激发结果与用人卫遥感技术所得到的积雪水当量激发的正、负频率分量的振幅和相位都符合得很好． 用陆地水储量数据得到对日长变化周年分量的激发作用约49μs,约占观测激发的15％,相位滞后约23°;对日长变化半年分量的激发作用约9μs,约占观测激发的3％,相位滞后约122°．     

大气和带谐潮汐对日长高频变化的影响

用国际地球自转服务提供的高精度日长序列△LOD(IERS(EOP99CO4)，和由美国国家环境预报中心(NCEP)对过去的气象资料进行重新分析和计算，提供的轴向大气角动量序列(AAM)来研究大气和带谐潮汐对地球自转变化(△LOD)中高频振荡激发的贡献。由Multitaper功率谱分析表明，△LOD序列在9．13d(天)、13．63d、13．66d、27．55d周期时呈现出比较强的谱峰，这些谱都在95％的显著性水平以上，有比较强的信噪比。从△LOD和AAM之差值序列谱分析结果及地球带谐响应系数k的估计，表明大气不是△LOD的高频变化的主要激发源。根据理论潮汐周期可知，有可能存在其它的激发源，如海洋对地球自转变化的激发。这还有待于进一步深入探讨。     

Mapping of Ozone and Water in the Atmosphere of Mars near the 1997 Aphelion

We present absolute abundances and latitudinal variations of ozone and water in the atmosphere of Mars during its late northern spring (L_s=67.3°) shortly before aphelion. Long-slit maps of the a¹Δ_g state of molecular oxygen (O₂) and HDO, an isotopic form of water, were acquired on UT January 21.6 1997 using a high-resolution infrared spectrometer (CSHELL) at the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility. O₂(a¹Δ_g) is produced by ozone photolysis, and the ensuing dayglow emission at 1.27 μm is used as a tracer for ozone. Retrieved vertical column densities for ozone above ∼20 km ranged between 1.5 and 2.8 μm-atm at mid- to low latitudes (30°S-60°N) and decreased outside that region. A significant decrease in ozone density is seen near 30°N (close to the subsolar latitude of 23.5°N). The rotational temperatures retrieved from O₂(a-X) emissions show a mean of 172±2.5 K, confirming that the sensed ozone lies in the middle atmosphere (∼24 km). The ν₁ fundamental band of HDO near 3.67 μm was used as a proxy for H₂O. The retrieved vertical column abundance of water varies from 3 precipitable microns (pr-μm) at ∼30°S to 24 pr-μm at ∼60°N. We compare these results with current photochemical models and with measurements obtained by other methods.     

Microwave Remote Sensing of the Temperature and Distribution of Sulfur Compounds in the Lower Atmosphere of Venus

A multi-wavelength radio frequency observation of Venus was performed on April 5, 1996, with the Very Large Array to investigate potential variations in the vertical and horizontal distribution of temperature and the sulfur compounds sulfur dioxide (SO₂) and sulfuric acid vapor (H₂SO₄(g)) in the atmosphere of the planet. Brightness temperature maps were produced which feature significantly darkened polar regions compared to the brighter low-latitude regions at both observed frequencies. This is the first time such polar features have been seen unambiguously in radio wavelength observations of Venus. The limb-darkening displayed in the maps helps to constrain the vertical profile of H₂SO₄(g), temperature, and to some degree SO₂. The maps were interpreted by applying a retrieval algorithm to produce vertical profiles of temperature and abundance of H₂SO₄(g) given an assumed sub-cloud abundance of SO₂. The results indicate a substantially higher abundance of H₂SO₄(g) at high latitudes (above 45°) than in the low-latitude regions. The retrieved temperature profiles are up to 25 K warmer than the profile obtained by the Pioneer Venus sounder probe at altitudes below 40 km (depending on location and assumed SO₂ abundance). For 150 ppm of SO₂, it is more consistent with the temperature profile obtained by Mariner 5, extrapolated to the surface via a dry adiabat. The profiles obtained for H₂SO₄(g) at high latitudes are consistent with those derived from the Magellan radio occultation experiments, peaking at around 8 ppm at an altitude of 46 km and decaying rapidly away from that altitude. At low latitudes, no significant H₂SO₄(g) is observed, regardless of the assumed SO₂ content. This is well below that measured by Mariner 10 (Lipa and Tyler 1979, Icarus39, 192-208), which peaked at ∼14 ppm near 47 km. Our results favor ≤100 ppm of SO₂ at low latitudes and ≤50 ppm in polar regions. The low-latitude value is statistically consistent with the results of Bézard et al. (1983, Geophs. Res. Lett.20, 1587-1590), who found that a sub-cloud SO₂ abundance of 130±40 ppm best matched their observations in the near-IR. The retrieved temperature profile and higher abundance of H₂SO₄(g) in polar regions are consistent with a strong equatorial-to-polar, cloud-level flow due to a Hadley cell in the atmosphere of Venus.     

Quantum Vacuum Effects in the Gravitational Field of a Global Monopole

A study is made of the vacuum expectation values for the energy-momentum tensor of a massive scalar field that satisfy a Robin mixed boundary condition on a spherical surface with a background gravitational field from a D+1-dimensional global monopole. Expressions are derived for the Wightman function, vacuum expectation of the square of the field, vacuum energy density, and the radial and azimuthal pressures inside the spherical surface. The regularization procedure involves using the generalized Abel-Plana formula for series in terms of the zeroes of cylindrical functions. This formula makes it possible to separate the part owing to the gravitational field of a global monopole without boundaries from the vacuum expectation and to represent the parts induced by the boundary in the form of exponentially converging integrals which are especially convenient for numerical calculations. The asymptotic behavior of the vacuum averages is studied at the center of the sphere and near its surface. It is shown that for small values of the parameter describing the solid-angle deficit in the geometry of a global monopole, the vacuum stresses induced by the boundary are highly anisotropic.     

Detection of Departure from Thermal Dynamic Equilibrium in the Solar Middle and Lower Atmosphere UsingTotal Solar Eclipse Data

There are abundant emission and absorption lines superimposed on the continuum spectra of the different solar atmospheric layers. The chemical composition and physical state of the solar atmosphere can be probed by the inversion of the profiles of these spectral lines. Due to the low density and large temperature difference in the chromosphere and transition region of the Sun, it is hard to establish the thermal dynamic equilibrium. It is necessary to adopt the theory of Non-Local Thermodynamic Equilibrium (N-LTE) to construct the corresponding atmospheric model. In this paper, the departure from the Local Thermodynamic Equilibrium (LTE) in the middle and lower atmosphere of the sun is investigated with the well-defined relative departure factor and the relevant calculations. We first make an inversion of the spectral lines formed at the different heights in the chromosphere and transition region during a total solar eclipse, to obtain the parameters of the observed spectral lines, such as the continuum source function, line source function, Doppler width, and thus the equivalent kinetic temperature. According to these line parameters obtained by the inversion, we calculate the quantitative results about the departure from the LTE at each space sampling point in the 2D field of view. Secondly, we reconstruct the 2D distributions of the radiation intensity, equivalent kinetic temperature, and relative departure factor according to the alignment of the optical fiber array in the integrated field unit (IFU) used by the telescope. The results show that there is a stronger correlation in the distributions of the temperature and relative departure factor existed in local small regions, but without evident correlation with the distribution of radiation intensity. There is an obvious difference between the distributions of the equivalent temperature and relative departure factor derived from two spectral lines, which shows a strong structurization and complexity existed in some local small regions of the solar atmosphere, and provides a new perspective for us to further understand the physics of the middle and lower atmosphere of the Sun.     

日长变化与地磁场变化的时滞相关分析

利用历史地磁场模型资料和日长资料,计算和分析了1840~2000年期间地磁场变化与日长变化的互相关特点。结果表明,地磁变化与日长变化存在时滞相关。地磁场强度参数的变化比日长变化超前7.5~10a(年);地磁场西向漂移参数比日长变化滞后,其中,西漂分量.λ12和.λ23滞后7.5a,而地磁场的平均漂移速度和纬度漂移分量滞后20~22.5a。     

The Dark Spot in the atmosphere of Uranus in 2006: Discovery, description, and dynamical simulations

We report the first definitive detection of a discrete dark atmospheric feature on Uranus in 2006 using visible and near-infrared images from the Hubble Space Telescope and the Keck II 10-m telescope. Like Neptune's Great Dark Spots, this Uranus Dark Spot had bright companion features that exhibited considerable variability in brightness and location relative to the Dark Spot. We detected the feature or its bright companions on 16 June (Hubble), 30 July and 1 August (Keck), 23-24 August (Hubble), and 15 October (Keck). The dark feature—detected at latitude ∼28±1° N with an average physical extent of roughly 2° (1300 km) in latitude and 5° (2700 km) in longitude—moved with a nearly constant zonal velocity of , which is roughly 20 m s⁻¹ greater than the average observed speed of bright features at this latitude. The dark feature's contrast and extent varied as a function of wavelength, with largest negative contrast occurring at a surprisingly long wavelength when compared with Neptune's dark features: the Uranus feature was detected out to 1.6 μm with a contrast of −0.07, but it was undetectable at 0.467 μm; the Neptune GDS seen by Voyager exhibited its most prominent contrast of −0.12 at 0.48 μm, and was undetectable longward of 0.7 μm. Computational fluid dynamic simulations of the dark feature on Uranus suggest that structure in the zonal wind profile may be a critical factor in the emergence of large sustained vortices.     

Nucleosynthesis in Low and Intermediate Mass Stars – The Good, the Bad and the Unspoken

Stellar nucleosynthesis is the corner-stone of many astrophysical problems. Its understanding, which can be tested by countless observations, leads to insights into the stellar structure and evolution and provides crucial clues to the physics of galaxies and of the Universe. Precise answers can be given to the questions ‘When, where and how are the chemical elements synthesized in stars?’ However, in spite of the observational confirmation of many predictions, important weaknesses remain in many crucial details of the global view. We discuss here some of the theoretical developments which are required in order to improve the nucleosynthesis predictions for low and intermediate mass stars.     

UKST巡天第349号天区中4个星系团内不同颜色成员星系的分布

本文利用Ｅｄｉｎｂｕｒｇｈ／Ｄｕｒｈａｍ南天星系表的资料，以及ＵＫＳＴ巡天第３４９号天区Ｒ片星像的ＣＯＳＭＯＳ机扫描参数，对４个星系团内不同颜色成员星系的分布作了统计分析。结果表明：在这些团的内区，蓝星系在成员星系总数中所占的比例ｆ_ｂ小于团的外围部分；在场区中，ｆ_ｂ之值大于团区的相应值。文末简单讨论了ｆ_ｂ的某些特征的可能含义。     

分子云浓核的密度和磁场

利用均匀磁化球模型，对OrionB云中的39个分子云浓核，从它们观测的源半径和分子线线宽，推求它们的数密度和磁场．得到平均磁场110μG，平均密度为8×104／cm3．这些计算值与观测结果一致．对于R＞0．2pc的分子云浓核，利用均匀磁化球模型推求磁场和数密度的方法是一种可行的方法．