Novae in M31 in 1999–2005

We present the results of our study of 19 novae in the galaxy M31 on photographs taken with wide-field telescopes in 1999–2005. Two of the six novae discovered in our program (ShA 65 and ShA 67) have been identified with supersoft X-ray sources, the discovery of one nova (ShA 69) was reported in IAU Circulars, and the other three novae (ShA 66, ShA 68, and ShA 70) are reported for the first time.     

Do binaries in clusters form in the same way as in the field?

We examine the dynamical destruction of binary systems in star clusters of different densities. We find that at high densities  (10⁴– 10⁵ M_⊙ pc⁻³)  almost all binaries with separations  >10³  au are destroyed after a few crossing times. At low densities [     ], many binaries with separations  >10³  au are destroyed, and no binaries with separations  >10⁴  au survive after a few crossing times. Therefore, the binary separations in clusters can be used as a tracer of the dynamical age and past density of a cluster.
We argue that the central region of the Orion nebula cluster was ∼100 times denser in the past with a half-mass radius of only 0.1–0.2 pc as (i) it is expanding, (ii) it has very few binaries with separations  >10³  au and (iii) it is well mixed and therefore dynamically old.
We also examine the origin of the field binary population. Binaries with separations  <10²  au are not significantly modified in any cluster, therefore at these separations the field reflects the sum of all star formation. Binaries with separations in the range  10²– 10⁴  au are progressively more and more heavily affected by dynamical disruption in increasingly dense clusters. If most star formation is clustered, these binaries must be overproduced relative to the field. Finally, no binary with a separation  >10⁴  au can survive in any cluster and so must be produced by isolated star formation, but only if all isolated star formation produces extremely wide binaries.     

Variability in Blazars

1　IntroductionItiswellknownthatblazarscomprisethreesubgroupsincludingHPQs (HighlyPolarizedquasars) ,OVVs (OpticallyViolentlyVariables) ,andBLLacs.Anditisfoundthatthesethreesubgroupsarevariableontimescalefromyearstohoursinallregimes (Wagner&Witzel1 995) [1].Blazarshaveveryhighenergeticemissions.Manyblazars (66positiveand 2 5marginaldetections)areGevgamma raysources (Fichteletal.1 994,vonMontignyetal.1 995;Hartmanetal.1 991 ) [2～4 ],andsomeareTevgamma rayonessuchasMark 42 1 ,Mark 50 …     

Active Optics in LAMOST

Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST) is one of the major national projects under construction in China. Active optics is one of the most important technologies for new large telescopes. It is used for correcting telescope errors generated by gravitational and thermal changes. Here, however, we use this technology to realize the configuration of LAMOST, -a task that cannot be done in the traditional way. A comprehensive and intensive research on the active optics used in LAMOST is also reported, including an open-loop control method and an auxiliary closed-loop control method. Another important development is in our pre-calibration method of open-loop control, which is with some new features: simultaneous calculation of the forces and displacements of force actuators and displacement actuators; the profile of mirror can be arbitrary; the mirror surface shape is not expressed by a fitting polynomial, but is derived from the mirror surface shape formula which is highly accurat     

Pulsars in FIRST Observations

1 INTRODUCTION Pulsars receive a large kick velocity during the period of birth, so they move away from theirbirth place, where the center of supernova remnant is believed to be. Measuring the propermotions of pulsars can derive an independent estimate of their ages, which has a number ofastrophysical uses, for example, in the studies of the evolution of neutron star magnetic fieldand of pulsar emission beam. There are three methods of measuring proper motion: (1) traditional optical metho…     

Evidence of Evolution in the Dense Cores in Massive Star Forming Regions

The excitation of H2O masers usually needs very high density gas, hence it can serve as a marker of dense gas in HII region. We selected a sample of H2O maser sources from Plume et al. (four with, and four without detected CS(J = 7-6) emission), and observed them in 13CO(J=1-0) and C18O (J=1-0). C18O (J=1-0) emission was detected only in three of the sources with detected CS(J=7-6) emission. An analysis combined with some data in the literature suggests that these dense cores may be located at different evolutionary stages. Multi-line observation study may provide us clues on the evolution of massive star forming regions and the massive stars themselves.     

The rms–flux relations in different branches in Cyg X-2

In this paper, the rms-flux (root mean square-flux) relation along the Z-track of the bright Z-Source Cyg X-2 is analyzed using the observational data of Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE). Three types of rms-flux relations, i.e. positive, negative, and ‘arch’-like correlations are found in different branches. The rms is positively correlated with flux in normal branch (NB), but anti-correlated in the vertical horizontal branch (VHB). The rms–flux relation shows an ‘arch’-like shape in the horizontal branch (HB). We also try to explain this phenomenon using existing models.     

Light variability in ɛ UMA

FirstU, B, andV observations of UMa are presented. Light curves show light variations of varying amplitude. Colour indices also show small colour variations.     

Current Flows in Pulsar Magnetospheres

The global structure of current flows in pulsar magnetosphere is investigated, with rough calculations of the circuit elements. It is emphasized that the potential of the critical field lines (the field lines that intersect the null surface at the light cylinder radius) should be the same as that of interstellar medium, and that pulsars whose rotation axes and magnetic dipole axes are parallel should be positively charged, in order to close the pulsar's current flows. The statistical relation between the radio luminosity and pulsar's electric charge (or the spindown power) may hint that the millisecond pulsars could be low-mass bare strange stars.     

Kinetic Alfven Waves in Aurora

On the basis of the differences between ideal MHD Alfven waves and kinetic Alfven waves,the nonlinear kinetic Alfven wave with Poison equation correction and the evolution of kinetic wave have been presented.These results have been used to explain the observation data from Freja satellite and CRITⅡ rocket in aurora.     

Plasma-maser Effects in Dusty Plasma

The Plasma-maser instablility of Langmuir wave or Em wave in multicom-ponent plasma with stationary charged particulates is considered.The up-conversion of the wave evergy from low-frequency waves to the high-frequency waves is much enhanced owing to the deeper energy exchange between resonant waves and particles in dusty plasma.This results should be useful to interpret the anomalous high-frequency radiation phenomena in laboratory and astrophysical dusty plasma.     

The Role of Nuclei-Nuclei Interactions in the Production of Gamma-ray Lines in Solar Flares

Dramatic extensions of experimental possibilities (spacecraft RHESSI, CORONAS-F and others) in solar gamma-ray astronomy call for urgent, detailed theoretical consideration of a set of physical problems of solar activity and solar-terrestrial relationships that earlier may have only been outlined. Here we undertake a theoretical analysis of issues related to the production of gamma-radiation in the processes of interactions of energetic (accelerated) heavy and middle nuclei with the nuclei of the solar atmosphere (the so-called i-j interactions). We also make an estimate of the contribution of these interactions to the formation of nuclear and isotopic abundances of the solar atmosphere in the range of light and rare elements. The analysis is carried out for solar flares in the wide range of their intensities. We compare our theoretical estimates with RHESSI observations for the flare of 2002 July 23. It was shown that the 24Mg gamma-ray emission in this event was produced by the newly generated Mg nucle     

On the difference between low-ℓ p-mode frequencies seen in velocity and in intensity

We compare the line profiles and frequencies of low =0, 1, 2 acoustic oscillations seen in observations in velocity (by the GOLF and GONG experiments) and in intensity (LOI instrument). Our study indicates that the systematic shift between the frequencies of low- pmodes in intensity and in velocity measurements recently discovered by Toutain and co-workers is merely an artifact of their reduction techniques. The results obtained agree perfectly with the theoretical expectation that solar oscillations are the global eigenmodes simultaneously visible in velocity and intensity with the frequencies and line profiles coinciding within the error bars.     

Structure and oscillations in quiescent filaments from observations in He i λ10830 å

Observations of two quiescent filaments show oscillatory variations in Doppler shift and central intensity of the He i 10830 Å line.The oscillatory periods range from about 5 to 15 min, with dominant periods of 5, 9, and 16 min. The 5-min period is also detected in the intensity variations, after correction for atmospheric effects. Doppler shifts precede intensity variations by about one period. The possibility that the oscillations are Alfvén waves is discussed.The Doppler signals of the filament form fibril-like structures. The fibrils are all inclined at an angle of about 25° to the long axis of the filament. The magnetic field has a similar orientation relative to the major direction of the filament, and the measured Doppler signals are apparently produced by motions along magnetic flux tubes threading the filament.The measured lifetimes of the small-scale fibrils of quiescent disk filaments are very likely a combined effect of intensity modulations and reshuffling of the structures.     

Measurements of optical turbulence in the free atmosphere above Mount Maidanak in 2005–2007

We present the results of our 2005–2007 campaign to measure the vertical distribution of optical turbulence above Mount Maidanak. The measurements were performed with the MASS instrument, a multi-aperture scintillation sensor that has been widely used for such studies in recent years at many observatories worldwide. Analysis of the data shows that the median seeing in the free atmosphere (at an altitude of 0.5 km and higher) is 0 ″46, while the isoplanatic angle is 2″.47. Given the large time constant (about 7 ms at good seeing), such conditions are favorable for using adaptive optics and interferometric measurements in the visible and near-infrared spectral ranges.     

Strong transverse fields in δ-spots

Spectroscopic measurements of the strength and direction of transverse magnetic fields in six -spots are presented. The field direction is determined by the relative strength of the - and -components at different polarizer orientations, and is, with one exception, parallel to the neutral line and as strong as the umbral field. Field strengths determined by line splitting are as high as 3980 G.     

Photoabsorption in Ganymede’s atmosphere

In the framework of future space missions to Ganymede, a pre-study of this satellite is a necessary step to constrain instrument performances according to the mission objectives. This work aims at characterizing the impact of the solar UV flux on Ganymede’s atmosphere and especially at deriving some key physical parameters that are measurable by an orbiter. Another objective is to test several models for reconstructing the solar flux in the Extreme-UV (EUV) in order to give recommendations for future space missions.Using a Beer–Lambert approach, we compute the primary production of excited and ionized states due to photoabsorption, neglecting the secondary production that is due to photoelectron impacts as well as to precipitated suprathermal electrons. Ions sputtered from the surface are also neglected. Computations are performed at the equator and close to the pole, in the same conditions as during the Galileo flyby. From the excitations, we compute the radiative relaxation leading to the atmospheric emissions. We also propose a simple chemical model to retrieve the stationary electron density. There are two main results: (i) the modelled electron density and the one measured by Galileo are in good agreement. The main atmospheric visible emission is the atomic oxygen red line at 630 nm, both in equatorial and in polar conditions, in spite of the different atmospheric compositions. This emission is measurable from space, especially for limb viewing conditions. The OH emission (continuum between 260 and 410 nm) is also probably measurable from space. (ii) The input EUV solar flux may be directly measured or reconstructed from only two passbands solar observing diodes with no degradation of the modelled response of the Ganymede’s atmosphere. With respect to these results, there are two main conclusions: (i) future missions to Ganymede should include the measurement of the red line as well as the measurement of OH emissions in order to constrain the atmospheric model. (ii) None of the common solar proxies satisfactorily describes the level of variability of the solar EUV irradiance. For future atmospheric planetary space missions, it would be more appropriate to derive the EUV flux from a small radiometer rather than from a full-fledged spectrometer.     

Missing Mass in Galactic Coronae?

The concept of massive galactic coronae proposed by EINASTO et al. is discussed. Only hot gas and under certain circumstances black holes have a good chance to be main constituents of the galactic coronae proposed by EINASTO et al.