Simulating the Background Noise in the LEGRI CZT Detectors

A Monte-Carlo model of the MINISAT 01 satellite has been built. Thismodel, based on the GEANT software suite, is used to study the backgroundnoise induced in the cadmium zinc telluride (CZT) in the LEGRI detector.We find that the background noise count rate at the poles is 50%higher than at the equator. This increase is due to the effects of geomagneticrigidity cut-off. We also simulate the effects of passages through theSouth Atlantic Anomaly (SAA) with simulations showing an increase of 0.5 counts cm^-2 sec^-1 after the SAA, in good agreement withobservational data.     

Comparison Between Theoretical Predictions and LEGRI Background Noise Experimental Measurements

Trapped protons are responsible for the main component of LEGRIbackground. Detailed theoretical model has demonstrated that theproton-induced counting rate is two orders of magnitude larger thanthe counting rate of the diffuse gamma-ray flux. The continuous passesof LEGRI through the SAA (7 times everyday) makes very difficult thebackground modelling. Long and short lived isotopes contribute in verydifferent time scales to the proton-induced background component.The goal of this paper is to present a comparison between the long-livedbackground noise theoretical predictions and the experimental data. Theresults show an unexpected good agreement between the predicted and theobserved counting rates.     

LEGRI Science Operation Center. Architecture and Operations

The LEGRI Science Operation Center (SOC) is the single contact pointbetween the MINISAT-01 Centro de Operaciones Científicas (COC)located at Villafranca del Castillo (Madrid) and the LEGRI Consortium.Its architecture, operational procedures and associated software hasbeen developed at the Universities of Valencia and Birmingham on thescope to define a integrated Data Analysis System, able to perform thedaily follow-up of the instrument health, raw data files decompressionand archiving activities (on-line and historical). Pointing and telecommandfiles generation is also a SOC responsibility.The aim of this paper is to report the SOC activities during the two yearsof LEGRI operations. Conclusions about the SOC architecture and proceduresevolution on how to handle the operations for space-borne instrumentation,are also presented.Special attention has been paid to the operative evaluation of the pointingreconstruction solutions from the MINISAT-01 Attitude Control System bycomparing them with those obtained with the LEGRI Star Sensor. The analysisof one year of observations shows the good agreement between both sets ofdata. No systematic deviations have been found with an averaged standarddeviation of 1 degree in alpha and delta coordinates. For most of the timethe MINISAT pointing system is working slightly better than expected andwithin specifications.     

LEGRI instrument health. A historical review

LEGRI has been operating successfully on MINISAT-01 since its switch-on the 22nd of May 1997. HouseKeeping (HK) data have been continuously receivedfor nearly two years by LEGRI SOC in Valencia, and subsequently checked on adaily basis and then stored for long term monitoring analysis.LEGRI HouseKeeping data include three critical operating parameters:temperature, power and polarisation voltages. Six temperature sensors arespread over the different LEGRI units: Detector Unit, Data Processing Unit,High Voltage Unit and Star Sensor. Voltages are measured at eight differentpoints. Detector Unit temperature and polarisation voltage are thecritical parameters for LEGRI operation. Solid state detectors aresensitive to changes not only in polarisation but also in temperature.Around one and a half million of measurements for each of the HK fourteen parameters have been recorded and analysed. The data show a very remarkablestability, within the expected margins, and the averages are very close to theoptimal design values. Special attention has been paid to the detectorpolarisation voltages analysis with a mean value of 286 ± 2 V when the detectors are operating. Thermal control over all the LEGRI units shows a remarkable stability in their temperatures.On the detector plane a mean value of T _det = 13 ± 2 ^°C has been found.We can therefore conclude that LEGRI as a system has been operating withinits optimal design conditions. We also want to point out the excellentperformance of the MINISAT-01 thermal control system.     

Short Term Evolution of Artificial Satellites

When the elimination of the parallax and the elimination of the perigee is applied to the zonal problem of the artificial satellite, a one-degree of freedom Hamiltonian is obtained. The classical way to integrate this Hamiltonian is by applying the Delaunay normalization, however, changing the time to the perturbed true anomaly and the variable to the inverse of the distance, the Hamilton equations become a perturbed harmonic oscillator. In this paper we apply the Krylov—Bogoliubov—Mitropolsky (KBM) method to integrate the perturbed harmonic oscillator as an alternative method to the Delaunay normalization. This method has no problem with small eccentricities and inclinations, and shows good numerical results in the evaluation of ephemeris of satellites.This revised version was published online in October 2005 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

6颗Blazar天体的长期光变和色指数变化

文中对6颗Blazar天体15年间的大量准同时性观测数据进行了处理分析,获得了长期的光变曲线和色指数变化曲线。对比分析光变曲线和色指数变化曲线,对色指数和亮度做相关分析,得出Blazar天体的光变包括长期的单色光变和有颜色变化的短期爆发两种成份,由光变的颜色差异我们提出引起Blazar天体光变的物理机制可能是几何效应调制的激波喷流模型。     

Short Time-Scale Variability in the Light Curve of~TW~Draconis

We have re-analyzed old photometric UBV data obtained by Papoušek et al. at Skalnaté Pleso, Slovakia (1967–1980) and Brno, Czech Republic (1976–1979) observatories and analyzed new own CCD measurements (Brno, 2003–2005). In both set of photometric data the oscillations in the vicinity of the primary minimum were found. The detected periods are compatible with the previously published ones.     

Short time-scale variability in the Faint Sky Variability Survey

We present the V -band variability analysis of the point sources in the Faint Sky Variability Survey on time-scales from 24 min to tens of days. We find that about one per cent of the point sources down to   V = 24  are variables. We discuss the variability-detection probabilities for each field depending on field sampling, amplitude and time-scale of the variability. The combination of colour and variability information allows us to explore the fraction of variable sources for different spectral types. We find that about 50 per cent of the variables show variability time-scales shorter than 6 h. The total number of variables is dominated by main-sequence sources. The distribution of variables with spectral type is fairly constant along the main sequence, with 1 per cent of the sources being variable, except at the blue end of the main sequence, between spectral types F0 and F5, where the fraction of variable sources increases to about 2 per cent. For bluer sources, above the main sequence, this percentage increases to about 3.5. We find that the combination of the sampling and the number of observations allows us to determine the variability time-scales and amplitudes for a maximum of 40 per cent of the variables found. About a third of the total number of short time-scale variables found in the survey were not detected in either B or/and I band. These show a similar variability time-scale distribution to that found for the variables detected in all three bands.     

γ噪Blazar天体短时标光变的寄主星系影响

利用云南天文台1m光学望远镜2000～2001年对3个GeV和/或TeV γ噪Blazar天体的观测,发现γ噪类星体PKS 1510-089在R波段有一个光变时标为41min的星等变化为2.0mag的剧烈光变,这是迄今为止我们所观测到的变幅最大的一个γ噪Blazar天体短时标光变.对此光变,可估计限制光变辐射模型的一些参数,如辐射区半径R、多普勒因子δ以及吸积转化效率η等.η=59.6的值强烈预示着相对论聚束效应可较好解释γ噪Blazar天体的辐射机制.我们仔细考察了大气视宁度对光变的影响.发现对1ES 2344+514,观测到的光变与当地大气视宁度有一个弱相关,结果表明,对光变参数较小(C＜5)的光变,大气视宁度引起的假光变的贡献较大,需要选择较严格的光变判据.     

Optical monitoring of quasars – I. Variability

We present an analysis of quasar variability from data collected during a photometric monitoring of 50 objects carried out at CNPq/Laboratório Nacional de Astrofísicá, Brazil, between 1993 March and 1996 July. A distinctive feature of this survey is its photometric accuracy, ∼0.02  V  mag, achieved through differential photometry with CCD detectors, which allows the detection of faint levels of variability. We find that the relative variability, δ σ L , observed in the V band is anticorrelated with both luminosity and redshift, although we have no means of discovering the dominant relation, given the strong coupling between luminosity and redshift for the objects in our sample. We introduce a model for the dependence of quasar variability on frequency that is consistent with multiwavelength observations of the nuclear variability of the Seyfert galaxy NGC 4151. We show that correcting the observed variability for this effect slightly increases the significance of the trends of variability with luminosity and redshift. Assuming that variability depends only on the luminosity, we show that the corrected variability is anticorrelated with luminosity and is in good agreement with predictions of a simple Poissonian model. The energy derived for the hypothetical pulses, ∼10⁵⁰ erg, agrees well with those obtained in other studies. We also find that the radio-loud objects in our sample tend to be more variable than the radio-quiet ones, for all luminosities and redshifts.     

Variability of long-period pulsating stars. I. Methods for analyzing observations

Methods for analyzing time series of long-period variable stars from observational data bases of variable stars are discussed. These methods are compared to obtain the best accuracy for the characteristics of individual variability cycles. __________ Translated from Astrofizika, Vol. 49, No. 3, pp. 433–451 (August 2006).     

Long-Term Soft X-Ray Variability of Active Galaxies. I. Mrk 926

We present a detailed analysis of the soft X-ray (0.1–2.4 keV) emission of the Seyfert 1 galaxy Mrk 926 in order to investigate its long-term variation. The X-ray data were obtained from the ROSAT-PSPC archives. The light curves show a gradual decrease of brightness for a time scales of 36months with the exception of a single flare event superimposed on the gradual variation of brightness. The light variations for three different energy bands and the hardness ratios were investigated to search for correlations; no correlation was confirmed. In order to compare spectral variations during the flare event with other periods, the spectral parameters were determined. Results of our analysis are discussed within the framework of the accretion disk phenomenon. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Variability of Neptune

Earth-based observers of Neptune have found that the planet varies in brightness at various wavelengths in ways that suggest that changes occur in the planet's atmosphere on several different time scales. Global inhomogeneities in high-altitude haze distribution that are stable for several days permit measurements of the planet's rotation period (about 18 hr), but this stability sometimes breaks down, obscuring the diurnal lightcurve. In addition, there is an apparent long-term variability of the brightness of Neptune in anticorrelation with the cycle of solar activity. This slow variability of low amplitude may be punctuated by outburst of high-altitude condensation of particles in the atmosphere whose decay time is several months.     

Variability of Blazars

Variability is one of the characteristics of blazars. The rapid variability is superposed on the long term variation. In this work, the variability on different time scales, such as intra-day (IDV), short-term (STV) and long-term (LTV) variations are presented for some sources. We also presented our own observations of some selected objects, for which the historical data were compiled for periodicity analysis using several methods. The parameters of the binary black hole system OJ 287 are determined.     

Variability of long-period pulsating stars. II. Additional parameters for classifying stars

Results are presented from an analysis of observations in a sample of 53 long-period pulsating stars (44 of which are Mira-type and 9 are semiregular variables). A catalog of the characteristics of the individual pulsation cycles of the light curves is obtained for these stars. A correlation analysis of the characteristics of the individual pulsation cycles is carried out for each star. A number if diagrams relating the variability of the characteristics of the individual cycles to the average parameters of the variability of the stars and to their spectral classes. New criteria for classifying long-period variables are proposed on the basis of these diagrams. __________ Translated from Astrofizika, Vol. 49, No. 4, pp. 595–612 (November 2006).     

Ordinary Chondrites: 1. Short Life of Small Meteorites

The data on the concentration of cosmogenic neon isotopes and the density of cosmic-ray tracks in about 600 ordinary chondrites were analyzed. For ordinary chondrites of all chemical classes, the dispersion of the ratios between cosmogenic isotopes of neon, (²²Ne/²¹Ne) _c , and a fraction of meteorites with high rates of cosmic-ray-track formation were demonstrated to decrease with increasing cosmic-ray-exposure age. Most likely, these effects are related to the fact that chondrites of small exposure ages are more frequent among meteorites with low degrees of shielding (small sizes), probably because smaller meteorites are placed into Earth-crossing orbits faster than larger ones. This, in turn, is attributed to more effective insertion of small asteroid-belt bodies into resonances, most likely due to the diurnal Yarkovsky effect.     

Variability of 20 CVn

Using population synthesis methods we determined the relative stellar components around Seyfert nuclei in their host galaxies and the nonthermal flux contribution from the nuclei. Knowing the stellar components from the spatially resolved spectra of our objects we can calculate the number of OB-stars and from that the star formation rate. We found that the contribution of OB-stars is correlated with the strength of the nonthermal flux at the nucleus.     

Spectrophotometric Variability of Mira

Data from the Pulkovo spectrophotometric data base on the absolute quasimonochromatic fluxes from oCet in the 320–1080 nm range are used to determine the physical parameters of this star in different phases of its light curve. The continuum emission layer is found to expand between the phases of the cycle corresponding to the rising and falling branches of the light curve. The average expansion velocity is 32 km/s. By the time the star’s brightness has fallen by roughly three magnitudes, its radius has increased by almost a factor of three. Over this same time the temperature of the layer has fallen from 3000 K to 2200 K. For this expansion velocity, the calculated mass rate loss is ⊙ M /year.__________Translated from Astrofizika, Vol. 48, No. 2, pp. 175–189 (May 2005).