Some suggestions concerning program to generate the symmetry-adapted rotational eigenfunctions and energy levels for asymmetric top molecules

Some suggestions about the program published by Jain and Thompson (1983) are made. These suggestions may be helpful to the users of the program, and for further improvements in it.     

Variations in ground surface temperature histories in the Thompson Belt, Manitoba, Canada: environment and climate changes

Several temperature–depth profiles recorded at Pipe Mine, 32 km southwest of Thompson, Manitoba, in central Canada, exhibit a marked departure from the equilibrium gradient. These profiles could be interpreted as indicating strong warming (up to 4.5 K) of the ground surface during the last 200 years. All the temperature profiles at Pipe Mine show perturbations stronger than at the others sites in the Thompson Nickel Belt. Temperature profiles recorded near the town of Thompson show a moderate warming (≈1–2 K) trend, while temperature profiles at Soab, 45 km southwest of Pipe Mine, indicate very moderate cooling (≈0.5 K). There was little human activity in this part of Manitoba before the development of the mining camp of Thompson in the late 1950s. Our study shows the variability of ground surface temperature histories at a very local scale (i.e. <1 km) with much stronger signals at some of the Pipe Mine drill holes than at others. These holes are located within 500 m of the highway and a power line built after 1955, at ≈3 km from the now abandoned open pit mine. The ground surface temperature history (GSTH) obtained by the inversion of Pipe Mine temperature profiles suggests that a recent (50 years) and strong (≈1–2 K) ground surface warming is superimposed on a 1–2 K warming trend that started 200 years ago, without any indication of a cold (little ice ages) episode before. The recent warming (40 years) at Pipe Mine is only a local effect and is likely to be related to the presence of the highway. Before 1960, the ground surface temperature history for Pipe is similar to other sites in the Thompson region. Ground surface temperature histories from other profiles within and near the city of Thompson seem less affected by environmental perturbations and their trends are parallel to that of the meteorological records in the Canadian Prairies.     

Cover

Cover: Images of lunar soil grains (measuring 1.5 μm in size) before and after experiencing thermal shock to 1000 ºC, simulating a micrometeorite impact inside the transmission electron microscope using the Hitachi Blaze heating holder. The grain is shown in high‐angle annular dark‐field before (upper left) and after heating (upper right) as well as in secondary electron imaging before (lower left) and after (lower right). For details, see the article by Michelle Thompson et al. on p. 413 . Images courtesy of M. Thompson.     

Some Viscous Fluid Cosmological Models in General Relativity

The motivation of this paper is to investigate two viscous fluid cosmological models in General Relativity in which the expansion is only in two directions i.e. one of the Hubble parameters is zero. In the first model, coefficient of shear viscosity is assumed to be constant while in the second model, the coefficient of shear viscosity is proportional to the rate of expansion in the model. Here no additional condition is assumed except for coefficient of shear viscosity. These models are new and different from those models obtained by Bali and Jain (1987, 1988) in which free gravitational field was assumed to be Petrov Type D and non-degenerate for Marder (1958) metric and coefficient of shear viscosity is proportional to the rate of expansion in the model. The various physical and geometrical aspects of the models are also discussed. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Interpretation of the global anisotropy in the radio polarizations of cosmologically distant sources

We present a detailed statistical study of the observed anisotropy in radio polarizations from distant extragalactic objects. This anisotropy was earlier found by Birch (1982) and reconfirmed by Jain and Ralston (1999) in a larger data set. A very strong signal was seen after imposing the cut , whereRM is the rotation measure and its mean value. In this paper, we show that there are several indications that this anisotropy cannot be attributed to bias in the data. We also find that a generalized statistic shows a very strong signal in the entire data without imposing theRM dependent cut. Finally we argue that an anisotropic background pseudoscalar field can explain the observations.     

How Good are the Predictions for Oscillation Frequencies

We have used available intermediate degree p-mode frequencies for solar cycle 23 to check the validity of previously derived empirical relations for frequency shifts (Jain et al., 2000). We find that the calculated and observed frequency shifts during the rising phase of cycle 23 are in good agreement. The observed frequency shift from minimum to maximum of this cycle as calculated from MDI frequency data sets is 251±7 nHz and from GONG data is 238±11 nHz. These values are in close agreement with the empirically predicted value of 271±22 nHz.     

The loop prominence of 11 August 1972: A coronal continuum event

Observations of a loop prominence formed after the flare of 11 August 1972 are discussed. Estimates of electron density are obtained from (a) the line ratio of the Ca xv forbidden lines and (b) a Thompson scattering model. Both methods give an approximate value of n _e = 10¹¹ cm^-3. This density was high enough to render the loop structures visible as continuum features, corresponding to the Ca xv structures as seen in the plane of the sky. By a double exposure technique, it was found that the loop structures seen in H and Fe xiv differ significantly.     

The role of E+A and post-starburst galaxies – II. Spectral energy distributions and comparison with observations

In a previous paper, we have shown that the classical definition of E+A galaxies excludes a significant number of post-starburst galaxies. We suggested that analysing broad-band spectral energy distributions (SEDs) is a more comprehensive method to select and distinguish post-starburst galaxies than the classical definition of measuring equivalent widths of (Hδ) and [O  ii ] lines.
In this paper, we will carefully investigate this new method and evaluate it by comparing our model grid of post-starburst galaxies to observed E+A galaxies from the MORPHS catalogue.
In the first part, we investigate the UV-optical-NIR (near-infrared) SEDs of a large variety in terms of progenitor galaxies, burst strengths and time-scales of post-starburst models and compare them to undisturbed spiral, S0 and E galaxies as well as to galaxies in their starburst phase. In the second part, we compare our post-starburst models with the observed E+A galaxies in terms of Lick indices, luminosities and colours. We then use the new method of comparing the model SEDs with SEDs of the observed E+A galaxies.
We find that the post-starburst models can be distinguished from undisturbed spiral, S0 and E galaxies and galaxies in their starburst phase on the basis of their SEDs. It is even possible to distinguish most of the different post-starbursts by their SEDs. From the comparison with observations, we find that all observed E+A galaxies from the MORPHS catalogue can be matched by our models. However, only models with short decline time-scales for the star formation rate are possible scenarios for the observed E+A galaxies in agreement with our results from the first paper.     

The nature of Neptune’s increasing brightness: evidence for a seasonal response

Hubble Space Telescope (HST) observations in August 2002 show that Neptune’s disk-averaged reflectivity increased significantly since 1996, by 3.2 ± 0.3% at 467 nm, 5.6 ± 0.6% at 673 nm, and 40 ± 4% in the 850-1000 nm band, which mainly results from dramatic brightness increases in restricted latitude bands. When 467-nm HST observations from 1994 to 2002 are added to the 472-nm ground-based results of Lockwood and Thompson (2002, Icarus 56, 37-51), the combined disk-averaged variation from 1972 to 2002 is consistent with a simple seasonal model having a hemispheric response delay relative to solar forcing of ∼30 years (∼73% of a full season).     

Cover

Cut surface of the Vicência (S1)(3.2) LL chondrite fall of September 21, 2013, showing abundant and beautifully developed chondrules and what appear to be chondrule, mineral and rock fragments, embedded into a grey to black, fine‐grained matrix. Klaus Keil et al. discuss the meteorite in detail in their paper on pp. 1089—1111. (Image courtesy of K. Keil)     

Biomization and quantitative climate reconstruction techniques in northwestern Mexico—With an application to four Holocene pollen sequences

New paleovegetation and paleoclimatic reconstructions from the Sierra Madre Occidental (SMO) in northwestern Mexico are presented. This work involves climate and biome reconstruction using Plant Functional Types (PFT) assigned to pollen taxa. We used fossil pollen data from four Holocene peat bogs located at different altitudes (1500‑2000 m) at the border region of Sonora and Chihuahua at around 28° N latitude (Ortega-Rosas, C.I. 2003. Palinología de la Ciénega de Camilo: datos para la historia de la vegetación y el clima del Holoceno medio y superior en el NW de la Sierra Madre Occidental, Sonora, Mexico. Master Thesis, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México D.F.; Ortega-Rosas, C.I., Peñalba, M.C., Guiot, J. Holocene altitudinal shifts in vegetation belts and environmental changes in the Sierra Madre Occidental, Northwestern Mexico. Submitted for publication of Palaeobotany and Palynology). The closest modern pollen data come from pollen analysis across an altitudinal transect from the Sonoran Desert towards the highlands of the temperate SMO at the same latitude (Ortega-Rosas, C.I. 2003. Palinología de la Ciénega de Camilo: datos para la historia de la vegetación y el clima del Holoceno medio y superior en el NW de la Sierra Madre Occidental, Sonora, Mexico. Master Thesis, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México D.F.). An additional modern pollen dataset of 400 sites across NW Mexico and the SW United States was compiled from different sources (Davis, O.K., 1995. Climate and vegetation pattern in surface samples from arid western U.S.A.: application to Holocene climatic reconstruction. Palynology 19, 95–119, North American Pollen Database, Latin-American Pollen Database, personal data, and different scientific papers). For the biomization method (Prentice, I.C., Guiot, J., Huntley, B., Jolly, D., Cheddadi, R., 1996. Reconstructing biomes from paleoecological data: a general method and its application to European pollen data at 0 and 6 ka. Climate Dynamics 12, 185–194), we modified the pollen-PFT and PFT-biomes assignation of Thompson and Anderson (Thompson, R.S., Anderson, K.H., 2000. Biomes of western North America at 18,000; 6000 and 0 14C yr BP reconstructed from pollen and packrat midden data. Journal of Biogeography 27, 555–584) for a better representation of the modern vegetation of NW Mexico. The biome reconstruction method was validated with the modern pollen sites and applied to the fossil sites. Our results show that, during the early Holocene, a cool conifer forest extended at least down to 1700 m, while today this biome is present above 2000 m in the Chihuahua state. The Younger Dryas event was recorded in one site with cold and dry conditions. The reconstructed annual temperature for this period was 3°–6 °C colder than today, and annual precipitation was 250 mm lower than at present (900 mm/yr). The middle Holocene after 9200 cal yr BP was marked by a warming trend, reaching temperatures 2 °C warmer than today at 7000 cal yr BP, and by the installation of a warm mixed forest, the present day biome, at 1700 m elevation, while at higher elevations (1900 m) the cool conifer forest was still present. Summer precipitation was 200 mm/yr above the early Holocene values, suggesting that monsoon-like conditions strengthened since 9200 cal yr BP at this region. During the last 4000 yr, the same warm mixed forest was reconstructed below 1700 m and a conifer forest above 1700 m. A great variability of vegetation and climate patterns was recorded for the last 3000 yr particularly at high elevation sites, where warming and cooling trends would be coeval of the Medieval warm period and Little Ice Age, likely related to ENSO variability.     

The dynamics of S0 galaxies and their Tully–Fisher relation

This paper investigates the detailed dynamical properties of a relatively homogeneous sample of disc-dominated S0 galaxies, with a view to understanding their formation, evolution and structure. By using high signal-to-noise ratio long-slit spectra of edge-on systems, we have been able to reconstruct the complete line-of-sight velocity distributions of stars along the major axes of the galaxies. From these data, we have derived both model distribution functions (the phase density of their stars) and the approximate form of their gravitational potentials.
The derived distribution functions are all consistent with these galaxies being simple disc systems, with no evidence for a complex formation history. Essentially no correlation is found between the characteristic mass scalelengths and the photometric scalelengths in these galaxies, suggesting that they are dark-matter dominated even in their inner parts. Similarly, no correlation is found between the mass scalelengths and asymptotic rotation speed, implying a wide range of dark matter halo properties.
By comparing their asymptotic rotation speeds with their absolute magnitudes, we find that these S0 galaxies are systematically offset from the Tully–Fisher relation for later-type galaxies. The offset in luminosity is what one would expect if star formation had been suddenly switched off a few Gyr ago, consistent with a simple picture in which these S0s were created from ordinary later-type spirals which were stripped of their star-forming interstellar medium when they encountered a dense cluster environment.     

ION–Neutral Collisions Effect on MHD Surface Waves

The effect of ion–neutral collisions on the propagation of MHD waves and surface waves at a single magnetic interface is investigated. The dispersion equations for MHD waves in a partially ionized medium are derived. There are three damped propagating modes in a uniform unbounded medium: an Alfvén mode, and fast and slow modes. The damping of waves depends on both the collisional frequency and the ionization fraction. Wave damping increases as ionization fraction decreases. Surface waves are discussed in three cases: (a) the incompressible limit, (b) the low plasma, and (c) for parallel propagation. The incompressible limit leads to Alfvén surface waves in a partially ionized medium and the dispersion characteristics are similar to those obtained by Uberoi and Datta. In the low plasma of the Earth's auroral F region there are two damped propagating magnetoacoustic surface waves for =/3. There is only one damped surface mode for =/2, but no surface wave is able to propagate for =0°. For the case of parallel propagation (=0°) the results obtained in the absence of ion-neutral collisions are consistent with the results of Jain and Roberts. It is found that a three-mode structure of damped propagating waves occurs owing to ion–neutral collisions for a comparatively high ionization fraction. For the case of the solar photosphere, where the ionization fraction is low, two weakly damped surface waves are found, though the damping is almost negligible. The pattern of propagation is similar to that found in the case discussed by Jain and Roberts, but the wave speeds are lower due to ion–neutral collisions. The strong collisions tie the ion–neutral species together and reduce the damping.     

Determination of the masses of planetary satellites from their mutual gravitational perturbations

We analyze the possibility of determining the masses of outer planetary satellites from their mutual gravitational perturbations via ground-based observations. Such a technique has been applied in (Emelyanov, 2005b) to determine the mass of the Jovian satellite Himalia. In this paper, we use the least-squares method to compute the errors of satellite masses inferred from simulated observations. We analyze several of the most suitable variants of groups of outer satellites of planets with maximum mutual attraction. We found that the mass of the Satumian satellite Phoebe (S9) can be refined by continuing observations of the satellite S25 Mundilfari until 2027. We show that the masses of other known outer planetary satellites cannot be determined from ground-based observations.     

Molecular emission in dense massive clumps from the star-forming regions S231–S235

The paper is concerned with the study of the star-forming regions S231–S235 in radio lines of molecules of the interstellar medium—carbon monoxide (CO), ammonia (NH₃), cyanoacetylene (HC₃N), in maser lines—methanol (CH₃OH) and water vapor (H₂O). The regions S231–S235 belong to the giant molecular cloudG174+2.5. The goal of this paper is to search for new sources of emission toward molecular clumps and to estimate their physical parameters from CO and NH₃ molecular lines. We obtained new detections ofNH₃ andHC₃Nlines in the sources WB89673 and WB89 668 which indicates the presence of high-density gas. From the CO line, we derived sizes, column densities, and masses of molecular clumps. From the NH₃ line, we derived gas kinetic temperatures and number densities in molecular clumps. We determined that kinetic temperatures and number densities of molecular gas are within the limits 16–30 K and 2.8–7.2 × 10³ cm^?3 respectively. The shock-tracing line of CH₃OH molecule at a frequency of 36.2 GHz was detected in WB89 673 for the first time.     

Long-term evolution of spheroidal galaxies with locally isotropic velocity distribution

The short-term evolution of spheroidal galaxies has been explored by S. Chandrasekhar et al. and G. S. Sunder et al. In this paper, we study their long-term evolution with Laskar's method of frequency analysis. The main new results are as follows: (1) There exists a unique equilibrium, which is spherically symmetric. This equilibrium has a critical linear stability. (2) Generally speaking, the semi-axes exhibit quasiperiodic or nearly quasi-periodic (in a time scale longer than a Hubble time) oscillations around the radius of the above-mentioned equilibrium, so the equilibrium is practically stable. (3) There are cases in which one of the semi-axes tends fast to zero while the other to some finite value. The limit state is generally planar rather than linear, i.e. it is the symmetric semi-axis that tends to zero. This implies that some disk galaxies may have originated from spheroidal pregalaxy material.     

具局部各向同性速度分布的旋转椭球星系的长期演化

Chandrasekhar等和Sunder等讨论了具有局部各向同性速度分布的旋转椭球星系的短期（远小于哈勃时间）演化,本文运用Laskar的频率分析方法研究这种星系的长期（大于哈勃时间）演化．得到的新结论主要有：（1）这种星系存在唯一的平衡态（球对称平衡态）,它是临界线性稳定的;（2）其半轴一般在平衡态的半径邻近作拟周期或近拟周期（这种近似在远大于哈勃时间后仍可行）振动,从而是长期稳定的;（3）存在一个半轴趋于零,另一个半轴趋于有限值的情形,且一般趋于零的是对称轴的轴长（从而星系趋于扁平）,这意味着某些盘星系可能来源于具旋转棉球构形的星系前物质．     

Rotational distortion of the stars of arbitrary structure: Fourth approximation

Clairaut's theory of the rotational distortion of self-gravitating configurations of arbitrary structure, arising from axial rotation with constant angular velocity, previously developed (cf. Kopal, 1973) to quantities of third order in superficial distortion, has now been extended to terms of fourth order. The differential equations governing the form and exterior potential of stars so rotating have been set up by the method followed in our previous paper (Kopal, 1973) together with their boundary conditions; but their applications to practical cases are being postponed for a subsequent investigation.Work carried out partly at the Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, D.C., U.S.A.     

Theory of motion of saturn's coorbiting satellites

A simple analytic theory describing the 1:1 orbital resonance is presented and applied to Saturn's coorbiting pair, 1980S1 and 1980S3. These satellites are very small and can approach to within 15,000 km, but are prevented from passing each other by their mutual gravitational interaction. The long-term stability of the S1–S3 orbital configuration is discussed in this paper, and a tie between the 1966 and 1980 observations is establised.     

Instruments of RT-2 experiment onboard CORONAS-PHOTON and their test and evaluation I: ground calibration of RT-2/S and RT-2/G

Phoswich detectors (RT-2/S & RT-2/G) are major scientific payloads of the RT-2 Experiment onboard the CORONAS-PHOTON mission, which was launched into a polar Low Earth Orbit of around 550 km on 2009 January 30. These RT-2 instruments are designed and developed to observe solar flares in hard X-rays and to understand the energy transport processes associated with these flares. Apart from this, these instruments are capable of observing Gamma Ray Bursts (GRBs) and Cosmic diffuse X-ray background (CDXRB). Both detectors consist of identical NaI(Tl) and CsI(Na) scintillation crystals in a Phoswich combination, having the same diameter (116 mm) but different thicknesses. The normal working energy range is from 15 keV to 150 keV, but may be extendable up to ~1 MeV. In this paper, we present the RT-2/S and RT-2/G instruments and discuss their testing and calibration results. We used different radio-active sources to calibrate both detectors. The radio-active source ⁵⁷Co (122 keV) is used for onboard calibration of both instruments. During its lifetime (??3?C5 years), RT-2 is expected to cover the peak of the 24th solar cycle.