Radio source orientation and the cosmological interpretation of the angular size-redshift relation for double-lobed quasars

The angular size-redshift test for quasars was compared with various cosmological models including non standard models. The possible effects of radio source orientation and relativistic beaming were taken into account in the analysis.It was found that orientation effects alone were not sufficient to explain the observed-z relation in terms of Friedmann models. In addition, linear size evolution of the formD ~ (1 +z)^–n , with 0.75 n 1.2 would be required for 0 1.0, or possibly an inverse correlation between luminosity and linear size. The non-standard cosmological models all gave better fits to the deprojected data than the Friedmann models in the absence of evolutionary effects, with the tired light effect providing the best fit.     

Charged particle thermonuclear reactions in nucleosynthesis

Thermonuclear reaction rates are calculated at temperatures consistent with nucleosynthesis conditions in stars and supernovae (10⁹T10¹⁰ K). The cross sections as a function of energy are determined by averaging over a density of compound nuclear states, an individual resonance contribution being represented by the Breit-Wigner formula. The proton and -particle channel radii are estimated by fitting experimental (p, n) and (, n) cross sections for nuclei in the mass range 40A200. The influence of the diffuseness of the nuclear surface on barrier penetration is taken into account by multiplying the square well penetration factors by a reflection factor in the manner described by Vogtet al. (1965). Thermonuclear rates calculated by these procedures are compared with sums over experimentally determined resonance strengths for a number of charged-particle reactions involving medium mass nuclei (24A40).     

Monochromatic brightness variations of comets

A class of comets, of which Comet Kohoutek (1973f) is typical, show total as well as monochromatic brightness asymmetries about perihelion. They are fainter after perihelion than before at the same heliocentric distance. A model of the cometary nucleus consisting of a growing non-volatile dust mantle surrounding a volatile icy core is used to discuss this phenomenon.Numerical results are obtained for Comet Kohoutek (1973f). It is found that dust mantles of thickness in the range of 10–75 cm can be grown by perihelion passage for various values of the thermal conductivity of the dust if there is no substantial dust blow-off by the sublimating volatiles.The thermal conductivity of the dust mantle is quite small and is dominated by radiative conductivity for heliocentric distances 2 AU. Since the radiative conductivity is larger for larger grain size, the thickest mantle corresponds to coarsest matrix.The strong insulation provided by the growing dust layer progressively suppresses the surface temperature of the volatile core below its quasi-equilibrium value had there been no mantle. As a consequence the production rate of the parent-molecules as well as the monochromatic brightness of their daughter products increases less steeply than in the mantleless case, as the comet approaches perihelion. Furthermore, there are significant monochromatic brightness asymmetries about perihelion, which are enhanced if there is a greater dust blow-off before perihelion than after, as is believed to be the case with Comet Kohoutek (1973f). Estimates of this asymmetry of 1 × 2 magnitudes for the OH brightness at a heliocentric distance × 1 AU are consistent with the rather limited observations.     

Seismic Diagnostics on Stellar Convection Treatment from Oscillation Amplitudes of p-modes

The excitation rate P of solar p-modes is computed with a model of stochastic excitation which involves constraints on the averaged properties of the solar turbulence. These constraints are obtained from a 3D simulation. Resulting values for P are found 4.5 times larger than when the calculation assumes properties of turbulent convection which are derived from an 1D solar model based on Gough (1977)'s formulation of the mixing-length theory (GMLT). This difference is mainly due to the assumed values for the mean anisotropy of the velocity field in each case.Calculations based on 3D constraints bring the P maximum closer to the observational one.We also compute P for several models of intermediate mass stars (1 M 2 M).Differences in the values of P _max between models computed with the classical mixing-length theory and GMLT models are found large enough for main sequence stars to suggest that measurements of P in this mass range will be able to discriminate between different models of turbulent convection.     

Mass and orbit estimation of Planet X via a family of comets

The crucial assumption of this paper is, that the observed clustering of aphelion distances of intermediate-period comets in the 70–90 AU range is due to the influence of a tenth planet, called Planet X. We contribute to the search for Planet X a new and extended evaluation of a family of comets assumed to be Planet X's family of comets.By averaging the aphelion distances of comets that belong to a transplutonic family of comets, we get Planet X's semi-major axis a _x = (83.0 ± 5.3) AU. The comets' orbits also yield the upper limit of the planet's orbital eccentricity e _x - 0.019. If this planet played an important part in sending quasi-periodic comet showers to the inner solar system, we can calculate its orbital inclination i _x = 46 .1 ± 3 .6. By distributing all planets' masses into the heliocentric, torus-like zones, in which they were formed, we get the density distribution of the primordial solar nebula. Extrapolating this distribution we find the mass of the planet M _x = (5.1_–2.4 ^+3.6 M _Earth. A few plausible assumptions (e.g. Uranus and Neptune perturbations being caused by Planet X) lead to Planet X's actual location with declination and eccliptic longitude being = 57 ± 17 and = 54 ± 34 , respectively (1989.5 position). In addition, we give Planet X's apparent brightness dependent on its unknown albedo. All those properties and predictions are more or less in agreement with earlier work on Planet X.     

Tepev Mons on Venus: Morphology and elastic bending models

Tepev Mons is a large volcanic structure of about 250 km in diameter with an elevation of 5 km above the surroundings, located at the southwestern edge of Bell Regio. It is surrounded by a moat with a depth of about 0.5 km. If this moat is considered to be caused by bending of the lithosphere due to the load of the volcano, then elastic bending models give limits for the effective flexural rigidity FR and the effective elastic thickness of the lithosphere L: 2 x 10²³ Nm FR 3 x 10²⁴ Nm and 30 km L 100 km. High flexural rigidities are associated with small depressions and large thicknesses of the lithosphere and vice versa.Contribution No 345, Institut für Geophysik der Universität Kiel, F.R.G.     

A coronal loop model for the production of X-ray and radio flares in the RS CVn binary HR 1099

The RS CVn binary stellar system HR 1099 is a source of both X-ray and radio flares. We present here a model of the system in which the two types of flare are produced by the same population of mildly-relativistic ( 10) electrons, injected into a coronal loop. After reviewing possible radiation mechanisms we conclude that, given the probable conditions in the flaring region, the radio emission is gyrosynchrotron radiation and the X-ray emission is thermal bremsstrahlung. The thermal X-ray source must lie in the stellar chromosphere, but the apparent absence of plasma absorption at radio frequencies indicates that the radio source is located high in the coronal loop. Using the relationships given by Dulk and Marsh (1982) for the radio emission from a power-law electron energy spectrum,N() ( - 1)^–, we conclude that 3 7, with 30% of the electron population trapped in the radio source. Some implications of these results for one particular version of the model are discussed.     

The multiple modes of interaction of the solar wind with a comet as it approaches the Sun

A quasi-steady 1-D hydrodynamic model, with mass addition, has been used to study the various modes of interaction of the solar wind with a medium-bright, H₂O-dominated comet (such as P/Halley) approaching the Sun.At large heliocentric distances (d 5 AU) the solar wind penetrates unimpeded on to the surface. As the comet moves further in, mass loading of the solar wind by heavy ions from the fledgling cometary atmosphere causes it to slow down, thereby causing a significant enhancement of the interplanetary field. Still further in at d 3.14 AU, as the mass loading reaches a critical value, a collision-less standing shock is formed in the solar wind upstream of the nucleus. As d decreases further, the distance of this shock from the nucleus increases. The cometary atmosphere becomes dense enough to stand off the solar wind ahead of the nuclear surface and form a well defined tangential discontinuity surface (or ionopause) only when d reaches the value 2.65 AU. When d 2.65 AU an inner shock could, in principle, also form within the cometary ionosphere, although its existence would depend on the detailed thermodynamics of the cometary ionosphere. Resolution of this question is beyond the scope of the present analysis.The conclusions of the present study would be qualitatively valid for other comets having sizes, surface optical properties and chemical compositions, different from those adopted here. The helio-centric distances at which the various transitions take place from the one mode of solar wind interaction to another, would, of course, be different, with all these distances being smaller for less active comets.     

Hollow beam distribution of energetic electrons and higher harmonics of electron cyclotron maser

The variations of the growth rates of ECM at first four harmonics in X-, Z-, and O-modes excited by a hollow beam distribution of weakly relativistic electrons with a parameter _p / _e are presented in this paper. The results show that the second harmonic of ECM in X-mode dominates the instability if < 1, and if 1.2 , 2 or 2.2 3 the third or fourth harmonic will dominate. The second and third harmonics of Z-mode waves grow faster only if 2 2.2 and 3 3.2, respectively, so it would not be a competition in most cases. It is suggested that the ECM emission at these harmonics in X-mode is a possible mechanism to produce solar spike emissions with high brightness temperature at shorter and longer decimetric wavelengths.Proceedings of the Workshop on Radio Continua during Solar Flares, held at Duino (Trieste), Italy, 27–31 May, 1985.On leave from the Department of Astronomy, Nanjing University, Nanjing, The People's Republic of China.     

Diffuse galactic FUV radiation and interstellar dust grains

A re-analysis of the diffuse far UV radiation ( 1350–1480 Å) observed in the sky region ofl ^II180° and 0°b ^II40° is presented, as a revised version of a paper by Hayakawaet al. (1969). In comparison with the previous one, the value of the half optical depth of the Galazxy in our wavelength region is reduced, and the values of the albedo coefficient and the forward phase functiong are not well determined. If, however, we combine our results with the theoretical model of interstellar grains by Gilra, the value of is given by 0.13(5)0.18(5).     

The interrelationship between cosmic dust and the microwave background

Attention is given to the radiation of microwaves by charged dust in space. Presently-used particle distributions do not restrict the presence in space of large numbers of small (r<10^–6 cm) silicate grains, but it is shown that such densities (10^–25–10^–26 g cm^–3) of small grains would produce a microwave background with an energy density of the same order of magnitude as the energy density of the (presumed) cosmological 3 K background. Limits set by the isotropy of the latter are: (HI clouds)10^–26, (Galactic plane)10^–30, (Halo)10^–32, (Local Group)10^–34 g cm^–3. These limits imply that either there is a cutoff in particle distributions atr10^–6 cm, or that the density of silicate grains in space has been generally overestimated, or that cosmic rays have broken up a lot of grains so that they now form a population of grains of very small size (10^–7 cm) which are difficult to detect by conventional methods. One way to look for the latter population is by studying expected distortions of the 3 K spectrum to the short wavelength side of the portion hitherto observed (grains may have a size distribution able to give an approximate black-body curve for radiation from larger grains of 10^–6 cm size), and by testing the effective energy density of the 3 K field in other galaxies.     

Emden-chandrasekhar axisymmetric,rigidly rotating polytropes

An approximate analytical method of solving the polytropic equilibrium equations, first developed by Seidov and Kuzakhmedov (1978), has been extended and generalized to equilibrium configurations of axisymmetric systems in rigid rotation, with polytropic index,n =n _p + _n , nearn _p =0, 1, and 5. Though the details of the method depend on the value ofn _p , acceptable results are obtained for | _n | 0.5 to describe slowly rotating configurations in the range 0n1.5, 4.5n5. In the limit of rotational equilibrium configurations, when the distorsion may be large enough, a satisfactory approximation holds only in the range 0n, 1n1.5, 4.5n5.     

Cosmic ray origin above 1018 eV: Galactic or extragalactic?

An analysis is made of the implications of assuming that suprathermal dust grains (a3×10⁸ cm) of intergalactic origin may acquire cosmic ray energies as high as 10²⁰ eV. These dust grains may attain suprathermal energy (v _g3×10⁸ cm s^–1) by the Fermi process. Initially the dust grains are accelerated by the radiation pressure against the drag of the ambient gas of the medium, but once these dust grains attain a terminal velocity (U10⁵ cm s^–1), then they may be expelled out of the galactic region into the intergalactic medium and finally acquire high energy     

Singposts of shock waves in the metagalactic medium

Explosions of quasars and young galaxies at large redshifts must cause propagation of blast waves in the metagalactic medium. The shock waves formed can, during the radiative cooling stage, produce dense cold spherical shells around the epicentres of explosions. But, even before that, at the stage of adiabatic expansion, each spherical shock-wave front, if it lies on one line-of-sight with a more distant quasar, can imprint into the quasar spectrum a specific absorption doublet with a distance between the components (in the rest frame) ₀ 3 Å. The L doublet components have a small but the same equivalent widthW ₀ 0.3 Å, the ratioW ₀/₀ weakly depending onW ₀ ifW ₀ is small. We demonstrate here that such absorption L doublets are really present among the L forest in the absorption spectra of distant quasars which are, according to Sargentet al. (1980), of mostly intervening (and not intrinsic) origin. Further accumulation of data on absorption doublets, which can serve as direct indicators of metagalactic shock-waves, may provide valuable information about the physical conditions in the metagalactic gas at large redshifts.     

Spin-down of pulsars by the current: Comparison of theory with observations

Observational data are analysed on the basis of pulsar magnetosphere theory and the Ruderman-Sutherland plasma generation mechanism. The results of theory and experiment are shown to be in good agreement. The existence of a special group of long-lived, weakly-radiating fast (the periodP0.1–0.4 s) and superfast (P0.01) pulsars is predicted.     

Neutrino luminosity by the ordinary URCA process in an intense magnetic field

The neutrino luminosity by the ordinary URCA process in a strongly magnetized electron gas is computed. General formulae are presented for the URCA energy loss rates for an arbitrary degree of degeneracy. Analytic expressions are derived for a completely degenerate, relativistic electron plasma in the special case of neutron-proton conversion. Numerical results are given for more general cases.The main results are as follows: the URCA energy loss rates are drastically reduced for the regime of great degeneracy by a factor up to 10^–3 for 1, andT ₉10, where =H/H _q ,H _q =m ² c ³/eh=4.414×10¹³ G. In the non-degenerate regime the neutrino luminosity is enhanced approximately linearly with for the temperature range 1T ₉10. Possible applications to white dwarfs and neutron stars are briefly discussed.We have been recently informed that in Gamow home-dialect (Odessa dialect) URCA means thief — (Private communication from Prof. G. Wataghin).     

Symmetry in hierarchical cosmology

An idealized model of a hierarchy of clusters is considered, and the number-count asymmetry measure in two different directions,R ₁ |N ⁺-N ^-|/(N ⁺+N ^-), is evaluated, for values ofl _I /c _I =(distance between cluster centres)/(cluster diameter). Providedl _I /c _I 10, theory predictsR _I 0.1, in agreement with the symmetry of high-redshift radio sources.     

The empirical determination of damping constants in the solar photosphere

We determine empirical damping constants for 73 selected Fe i lines following the method of Gurtovenko and Kondrashova (1980), employing high-quality observations and the accurate list of Fe i oscillator strengths by Gurtovenko and Kostik (1980).The results show: (i) No increase of the enhancement factor to van der Waals broadening with excitation potential, as predicted by Edmunds (1975), and with the frequency of the transition (Figure 1); (ii) a substantial part of the commonly-used enhancement factor for weaker lines is not due to collisional damping (Figure 2), but to a misrepresentation of the inhomogeneous structure of the deep photosphere. This false damping effect is not seen in the stronger lines which yield an average damping constant : 1.3₆ 1.5 ₆.     

Jets of moderate optical thickness from thick acceretion disks

The intense, super-Eddington, well-collimated radiation field generated by non-Keplerian accretion disks orbiting black holes can accelerate matter to high velocities. By using an energy balance argument which is both simple and physically appealing, we show that ordinary electron-proton plasmas can only reach relativistic gamma-factors up to 1.5. A light electron-positron plasma could be accelerated up to 5. The approach is valid if the optical depth along the accelerating funnel is significant, and the optical depth across the funnel is negligible. It is, therefore, appropriate for long, narrow funnels. Our method could easily be generalized to disk geometries other than the examples we give.     

Study of parallel diffusion of energetic particles in the interplanetary medium using spacecraft data at 1 and 5 AU

Energetic particle (1–100 MeV) pitch angle scattering in the Interplanetary Magnetic Field (IMF) is studied using spacecraft magnetometer data at 1 AU (IMP 7 and HEOS 2) and at 5 AU (Pioneer 10). Particle trajectories are followed by a computer simulation of their movement in a realistic model of the IMF. Determination of the pitch angle diffusion coefficient at 1 AU (D ) leads to a parallel mean free path which is roughly independent of particle energy, 0.03 AU. At the lowest energy our result is at least a factor of 3 larger than the predictions of quasi linear theory. Results at 5 AU lead to a radial mean free path which is between 2 to 6 times smaller than at 1 AU, probably indicating a greater importance for perpendicular diffusion at large heliodistances. In fact a roughly constant radial mean free path ( _r 0.01 AU) is obtained when the contribution of perpendicular diffusion at 5 AU is taken into account (Moussaset al., 1981).