Imaging Fabry-Pérot observations of [OI] 6300 Å emission in the coma of Halley's comet 1982i

The observation of [OI] 6300 » emission in the coma of Halley's comet 1982i, using the imaging Fabry-Pérot spectrometer, was carried out from Gurushikhar (2439N, 7243E, 1700m altitude), Mt. Abu, India on March 15, 1986 (R = 0.90 AU, = 0.96 AU). The analysis of the interferogram show the absence of the differential velocity of neutral oxygen above 5 km s^–1.     

The limits of possible values of inclination of Mercury's equator

The method of estimation of the limits, containing the equator inclination of a celestial body, had been developed. In this method it is necessary to know the orbital elements and the mass of a celestial body. Another condition is that the axial rotation of a body should be in the resonance with its orbital motion. It has been found that the equator inclinations should have the values between 1 .7 and 2 .6 for Mercury and between 1 .0 and 1 .8 for the Moon. It also has been found that largest harmonics in Mercury's physical libration are the harmonics sin( – 3g), cos( – 3g), sin g and sin 2.     

Structure of the martian north polar cap and vernal hood system at L s 61‡–66‡ of the 1995 apparition

The boundary and internal structure of the north polar deposits and polar hood vernal remnant on Mars have been mapped at L _s 61–66 on the hemisphere centered on longitude = 0, using images obtained in Feb–Mar 1995 with the Swedish Vacuum Solar Telescope on La Palma. On red light images, several internal rifts, including the historically well documented Rima Tenuis and Rima Hyperborea, as well as an internal, long absent, annular rift were mapped. The ground cap was asymmetric with a mean boundary at 72 N for = 270, increasing to 77 N at = 90. Images in green light showed the locations of high opacity hood clouds, including an extensive outflow to 67 N at 100. The state of the cap and hood is compared with the findings of previous studies and the historical significance of the annular rift structure is discussed. It is concluded, based on the structure of the deposited laminae, that the north polar climate was nearly, or possibly slightly milder than, normal at the northern hemisphere spring season studied.     

Information limit optimisation techniques applied to recent photometry of Pluto

An algebraic approach originally intended for the heuristic modelling of the maculation effects of chromospherically active stars has been used to model the rotational modulation of Pluto's light. Two dark spots (30.0 ± 0.8 and 16.4 ± 1.4 in radius, at longitudes 3.4 ± 3.2 and 138.0 ± 5.2 degrees, and respective latitudes –35 and –16 ) were found to model the 1982.2 data of Binzel and Mulholland (1983) best. These parameters are in reasonable agreement with the other published models of Pluto's surface for the data, however this model can not be well reconciled with older data sets. A possible solution is dynamic behaviour of the dark features themselves, increasing in radius as perihelion is approached. We stress a minimum in the introduction of ad hoc surface feature hypothesis in this treatment.     

Polarimetry of comets: A review

Some attempts of polarimetric sounding of Comet Halley will be undertaken from the flyby probes. In order to facilitate the final planning and the future interpretation of these experiments we have done a thorough analysis of practically all available polarimetric observations. An emphasis is made on interpretation attempts and their discussion. The results of the phase dependence of polarization investigations are presented covering a wide range of phase angles . The chief peculiarities of this dependence are: maximum polarization at = 90, diminishing through zero at 20, negative values up to several per cent and a final growth to zero at zero . A division into gaseous and dusty comets on polarimetric basis is revealed. The wavelength dependence of polarization is discussed. The numerous results of detailed polarimetry are compared to the negative results of attempts to detect the elliptical polarization. New observational problems arising from the evidence given by the negative polarization at small phase angles and by the opposition effect recently discovered are discussed.     

Polarization changes with time during solar microwave impulsive bursts

The evolution with time of circular polarization (t) from solar bursts at 7 GHz presents, in the majority of cases, a polarization degree peak before the maximum flux time. The subsequent evolution of (t) is continuous and usually increasing. The changes could be caused by superimposed polarization effects, due to the fast emissive electrons (dominant in the first phase), and to the propagation effects caused by the coronal condensation where the event occurred (dominant in the second phase). In an approximate approach, (t) is connected to the movement of the source in the second phase, being qualitatively sound, but limited to the lack of knowledge on acceleration processes and on magnetic field topology in the active region where the flares take place.     

New results on the strato-mesospheric cooling of the Northern Hemisphere (1969–1978)

Rocketsonde — derived temperature trends within the Northern hemisphere are examined for the stratosphere and lower mesosphere for the period 1969–1978. The rocketsonde records presented here are homogeneous because of are mostly based on the Datasonde system. It appears that stratospheric and lower mesospheric temperature fluctuations in some cases, are about one order of magnitude larger than observed by previous workers. The main features for the temperature trends throughout the decade 1969–1978 are notably: (a) 15 C cooling at 60 km, (b) 5.5 C at 50 km, (c) 5 C at 40 km, (d) 4 C at 30 km, and (e) 3.5 C at 20 km.     

Космическое черенковское излучение

, . N/E, E _r, (E _r)=1. , (, ) . .     

A laboratory experiment with relevance to the survival of micro-organisms entering a planetary atmosphere

A culture of E.coli was initially subjected to brief exposures to heat for durations of 30–60 s, starting with a temperature of 270 C. A stepwise increase of this temperature from 270 C–750 C and a sequential culturing led to the emergence of a strain of this bacterium with a much higher resistance to flash heating than the original culture possessed. This behaviour would have an important relevance to the survival of micro-organisms upon entering a planetary atmosphere.     

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.     

A search for discrete gamma-ray sources of energy greater than 2×1012 eV

The results of the observations to search gamma-ray sources with the energy greater than 2×10¹² eV, which were made in Crimean Astrophysical Observatory during the years 1969–73 are presented. A technique of the detection of the EAS Cerenkov flashes was used.The quality of the data obtained is analysed. The criteria for the selection of the data free from meteorological variations are considered.It was shown that two objects, namely, Cyg X-3 and Cas -1, may be the sources of high-energy gamma quanta. It is probable that the object with the coordinates =05^h15^m, =+1° is the source of gamma-rays as well. An unidentified object Cas -1 is variable: gamma-ray flux was observed twice — in Sepember–October 1971 and in December 1972. It is possible that the flux from Cyg X-3 has a period of 4.8 hr.

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I I , I I , - >2.10¹² . I . I , I I, I ., - -1 Cyg -3- -I . , =0515 ·=+1° -.I -1 I: I J I- - 1971 1972 . Cyg -3, , - T=4.8 .

     

Changes in coronal condensations emission after solar bursts at microwaves

The amount of circular polarization of the total solar radio emission at 7 GHz present permanent changes after the occurrence of certain radio bursts associated with larger flares. For isolated S-components, associated with such flares the changes of the polarization degree _sranges between 0.004 to 0.1, and appears to be a function of the flare importance. A semi-qualitative interpretation associates _swith magnetic field reductions at the S-component, agreeing fairly well with a flare mechanism based on collisionless dissipation of magnetic energy, corresponding to energies in the range of 10³⁰ to 10³² ergs, assuming an average model for the coronal condensations.     

The propagation of solar cosmic-ray bursts

A model is presented in which we show analytically the three phases of anisotropy which occur during solar cosmic-ray events observed in the 7.5 MeV to 21 MeV kinetic-energy interval and reported by McCracken et al. (1971): (i) a highly anisotropic, near field-aligned, initial phase, (ii) a convective phase, and (iii) a late-time phase in which the anisotropy is approximately perpendicular to the mean interplanetary magnetic field. The model is based on the cosmic-ray particles being convectively transported out from the Sun, undergoing anisotropic diffusion along the interplanetary magnetic-field lines, and losing energy by adiabatic deceleration or by collision processes. The event is seen simply as a pulse moving outward from the Sun after a cosmic-ray burst with a negative density-gradient in front of it and a positive gradient behind. The convective phase (ii) occurs as the spatial peak moves past the observer and has a propagation speed V _d associated with it; the anisotropy vector late in the decay phase (iii) is the result of a residual balance between the radial outward convection and the inward radial component of the anisotropic diffusion. The mathematical solutions are based upon a diffusion coefficient proportional to heliocentric radius and independent of energy and are thus rather special. However they yield formulae for the propagation speed of the convective phase and the direction in space of the long-time anisotropy which are useful as a guide to the dependence of these quantities on the solar wind speed V, the diffusion coefficient and the spectral index . In this model V _d increases with V, , and ; and , the angle between the anisotropy vector at infinite time and the outward radial direction increases with /V and decreases as is increased. These predictions of the dependence of and V _d upon V, , and are open to observational verification.     

Bidimensional spectroscopy of network bright points

We develop an automatic, computer controlled procedure to select and to analyze the Network Bright Points (NBPs) on solar images. These have been obtained at the Sac Peak Vacuum Tower Telescope by means of the Universal Birefringent Filter and Zeiss H filters, tuned, respectively, along the profiles of the H, Mg-b1, Na-D2, and H lines.A structure is identified as an NBP if at the wavelength H- 1.5 A its maximum intensity is greater than I + 3 and its area is greater than 1.5 arc sec² at I + 1.5, where I is the mean value and the standard deviation of the intensity distribution on the image. Each detected NBP is then searched and confirmed in all the remaining 31 images at different wavelengths.For each NBP several parameters are measured (position, area, mean and maximum contrast, Dopplergram velocity, compactness, and so on) and some identification constraints are applied.The statistical analysis of the various parameter distributions, for NBPs present within an active region and its surroundings, shows that two types of NBPs can be identified according to the value of their mean contrast C _min the H- 1.5 Å image (C _m 0.1 type I, C _m> 0.1 type II). The type I NBPs (all occurring on the boundaries of the supergranular network) appear to be much more frequent (180/26) than the type II ones.The size A of type I NBPs is less than 1.0 arc sec for H/H wings but of the order of 1.2 arc sec for Na-D2 and Mg-bl. The mean contrast C _m is around the value of 10% along the Na-D2 and Mg-bl profiles and of 20% along the H/H wings.The C _m - A scatter diagrams show, for the photospheric radiation (h < 100 km), a narrow range of variability for C _min correspondence with a wide range for A. For radiation orginated at higher levels (h > 200 km), the C _m- A scatter diagrams seem to indicate, even if with a large variance, that the highest C _m's tend to correspond to the highest A values.The mean Doppler shift is close to zero for Na-D2 and Mg-bl lines but negative (downward motion) for H and H lines.The type II NBPs tends to be preferentially located in the neighbourhood of small, compact sunspots and their detectability is almost constant through all the 4 studied line profiles. No conclusions can be derived on the mean size, contrast and Doppler shift values because their distributions are too dispersed. The only positive information is that its C _m- A scatter diagram, in H and H wings, indicates a wide range of variability for C _m in correspondence with very narrow range of variability for A.     

The first Byurakan Spectral Sky Survey. Stars of later spectral classes. V. The zone +65°⩽δ⩽+69°

We give the fifth list of red stars of the First Byurakan Spectral Sky Survey. The objects are located in the zone 5^h 18^h 30^m and +65 +69. The list contains the data on 18 new objects, one of which is a star of class R. We also give the first determination of the spectral class of 11 variable objects, for four of which we give the spectrograms in the range of wavelengths 4700–6700å.Translated fromAstrofizika, Vol. 37, No. 4, 1994.     

Spatial development of X-ray emission during the impulsive phase of a solar flare

The flare of 11 November, 1980, 1725 UT occurred in a magnetically complex region. It was preceded by some ten minutes by a gradual flare originating over the magnetic inversion line, close to a small sunspot. This seems to have triggered the main flare (at 70 000 km distance) which originated between a large sunspot and the inversion line. The main flare started at 172320 UT with a slight enhancement of hard X-rays (E > 30 keV) accompanied by the formation of a dark loop between two H bright ribbons. In 3–8 keV X-rays a southward expansion started at the same time, with - 500 km s ^–1. At the same time a surge-like expansion started. It was observable slightly later in H, with southward velocities of 200 km s^–1. The dark H loop dissolved at 1724 UT at which time several impulsive phenomena started such as a complex of hard X-ray bursts localized in a small area. At the end of the impulsive phase at 172540 UT, a coronal explosion occurred directed southward with an initial expansion velocity of 1800 km s^–1, decreasing in 40 s to 500 km s^–1.Now at Fokker Aircraft Industries, Schiphol, The Netherlands.     

Circular Polarization of Starlight

Of the 7500 stars cited in the Catalog of starlight polarization, those which satisfy the condition P _obs % and A _V 0^m.5 are selected. It is presumed that the selected stars (n=216) have circularly polarized light.     

Galactic tidal perturbations of long-period comets and the distribution of the inclinations

Perturbation of the perihelion distance q of long-period comets by the galactic tidal force is calculated using Cowell's method. It is shown that the maximum perturbation is suffered by those with i (inclination) close to 50 ~ 60 and not by those with i close to 90 , contrary to the prediction of the first order perturbation theory. The dependence of the perturbation of q upon i is compared with the distribution of the inclinations of observed long-period comets and it is shown that the later is not consistent with an isotropic cloud of comets perturbed by the galactic tid alone. A close stellar encounter is unlikely to be an external disturbance. It is argued that giant molecular cloud is the most likely mechanism of the external disturbances.