Cataclysmic Variables in the “Period Gap”

This article reviews observational data on cataclysmic variables (CVs) whose orbital periods fall within the so-called period gap between 2 and 3 hours. The orbital period distribution of cataclysmic variables and the filling of the period gap by various types of CVs are demonstrated. Roughly half the stars in the period gap are magnetic, of which the majority are polars, while the other half (except a few stars) are SU UMa-type stars characterized by superbursts and superhumps. It is also interesting to note that those intermediate polars whose periods fall within the gap are among the stars with constant superhumps. The height above the galactic plane is estimated for the nonmagnetic stars and it is shown that, contrary to predictions, the stars in the period gap do not belong (except for one) to the spherical component of the galaxy. Light curves, some characteristic times, burst amplitudes, etc. are given for a number of Su UMa-type stars observed by the authors. The evolution of superbursts from the stars NY Ser, V725 Aql, and Var73 Dra is described. Observational data are presented on the classical nova V Per, a star whose period lies right in the middle of the period gap but whose status (magnetic or nonmagnetic) has still unclear.     

Структура и эволюция Сверхмассивных вращающихся магнитных политроп

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The structure of rotating magnetic polytropes is considered in Roche approximation. Investigation of the influence of poloidal as well as toroidal magnetic fields on the conditions of the beginning of matter outflow due to rotational instability is carried out. The influence of the turbulent convection and twisting of magnetic force-lines on the time of smoothing of differential rotation is considered. The estimate of the magneto-turbulence energy generated by differential rotation is presented. Both maximum possible energy output and duration of the quasi-statical evolution phase up to the appearance of hydrodynamic instability due to the effects of general relativity are calculated for supermassive magnetic polytropes of index three with uniform or differential rotation. The radius-mass relation is obtained for supermassive differentially-rotating magnetic polytropes referring to the longest part of the quasi-statistical evolution stage; some consequences are pointed out, including the period-luminosity relation.The evolution of the considered models of supermassive rotating magnetic polytropes with different character of rotation and different geometry of a magnetic field is discussed.The results obtained are summarized in the last section.

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English translation will appear in the next issue ofAstrophys. Space Sci.

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Receipt delayed by postal strike in Great Britain     

The fundamental role of giant comets in earth history

We discuss some fundamental aspects of Earth history as predicted by what has come to be called coherent rather than stochastic catastrophism. The latter essentially seeks to provide an understanding of terrestrial evolution in terms of occasional kilometre-plus impactors from the asteroid belt whereas the former recognises a far more complex extraterrestrial regime arising from the streams of sub-kilometre and kilometre-plus debris due to the disintegration of successive giant comets in sub-Jovian orbits. Periodicities of 15 Myr during the later Phanerozoic (i.e. 250 to 0 Myr BP) and 200 yr during the Holocene (i.e. 10,000 to 0 yr 1313) are likely fundamental signatures in the terrestrial record relating to the action of past and present giant cornets respectively.     

Evolution, punctuational crises and the threat to civilization

The relationship between punctuated equilibrium and impact crises is critically examined in the light of our present knowledge of asteroids and comets. It turns out that the emphasis on relatively narrow epochs associated with occasional NEO impacts is probably misplaced. Rather priority should be given to the wider and more frequent epochs associated with multiple NEO debris impacts which result in so-called punctuational crises afflicting the planets. These comprise the global coolings, super-Tunguska events and generally enhanced fireball flux produced by the larger orbital debris whenever an active, dormant or dead comet fragments and produces a trail. Taken as a whole and in conjunction with the target, the response function is inevitably complex. Nevertheless we broadly expect that the strength of a punctuational crisis will vary as the progenitor comet mass, the inverse dispersion of its debris and the inverse delay since fragmentation. The encounter of P/SL-9 with Jupiter may be taken as representing an extreme punctuational crisis where the dispersion and delay were exceptionally small. The more familiar crises affecting the Earth with less extreme values of dispersion and delay, which have resulted in civilization being disturbed a good many times during recent millennia, are no less important however. Indeed, the next such threat to civilization ostensibly has a roughly 1 in 4 lifetime chance. Any support for the Spaceguard programme which detracts from consideration of these punctuational crises, whatever their strength, would seem now to be peculiarly wide of the mark.     

“C10μ” a 10 micron camera at CFHT presentation and initial results

This paper presents the general features of the C10 camera, now in routine operation at the CFHT, with initial results on CVF observations of the C₂H₂ and C₂H₆ bands and the continuum in the atmospher e of Saturn.     

Взаимооействие Излучения Рентгеновскооо Истооника с АтмосФерой Нормальной Звезды в Тесных Двойных Системах

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Synthesis of line profiles from models of structured winds

On the basis of a a careful analysis of resonance line formation (both for singlets and doublets) in structured winds, presenttime dependent models of the line driven winds of hot stars (Owocki et al., this volume; Feldmeier, this volume) are shown to be able to explain a number of observational features with respect to variability and structure: they are (in principle) able to reproduce theblack andbroad troughs (without any artificial turbulence velocity) and the blue edge variability observed in saturated resonance lines; they might explain the long lived narrow absorption components often observed in unsaturated lines at high velocities; they predict a relation between the edge velocity of UV-lines and the radiation temperature of the observed X-ray emission.As a first example of the extent to which theoretical models can be constrained by comparisons between observations and profiles calculated by spectrum synthesis from structured winds, we show here that models with deep-seated onset of structure formation ( 1.1R _* ) produce resonance lines which agreequalitatively with observational findings; in contrast, the here presented models with structure formation only well out in the wind ( 1.6R _* ) fail in this respect.     

A search for carbon stars in the AFGL Catalogue

A comparison between theGeneral Catalogue of Cool Carbon Stars (CCS) and theAFGL Catalogue has been performed.Eighty-five stars have been found in common between the two lists. Eighty-four stars which were present in Baumert's comparison between CCS and the 2 Sky Survey have no counterpart in the AFGL. Four new tentative identifications are given. The analysis of the two colours diagrams K-[4.2 ] vs. I-K and I-[4.2 ] vs. [4.2 ]-[11 ] led to the conclusion that all the infrared emission from the sources seems to come from a single circumstellar shell.     

Low-mass protostars and protostellar stages

The use of sensitive receivers on large ground-based radiotelescopes such as the JCMT, the IRAM 30 m MRT, and the VLA has recently yielded significant progress in our observational understanding of low-mass protostars. Submillimeter continuum observations suggest that the youngest stellar objects detected in the near-/mid-IR range -the so-called Class I sources or infrared protostars - have only residual amounts of circumstellar material and are thus relatively evolved. At the same time, a smaller number of colder and more obscured YSOs - designated Class 0 - characterized by virtually no emission below 10µm but strong submillimeter emission have been identified. These Class 0 or submillimeter protostars have not yet assembled the bulk of their final stellar mass, and correspond to the youngest protostar stage known to date (probable age 10⁴ yr). Direct evidence for gravitational infall has been found in some of these sources confirming their protostellar nature. However, most (if not all) Class 0 protostars already drive highly collimated CO outflows.     

Three-body problem

In the first part of this paper [Marchal, Yoshida, Sun Yi-Sui 1985] we have analyzed three-body systems satisfying the condition rkR where k is a suitable constant, r the mutual distance of the two masses of the binary and R the distance between the center of mass of the binary and the third mass.That condition rkR puts limits on the acceleration of the third mass and these limits allow us to determine the corresponding escape velocities.In this second part we look for initial conditions under which the inequality rkR will remain forever satisfied and we develop the corresponding tests of escape and their applications.This leads to a major improvement of the knowledge of the nature of three-body motions especially in the vicinity of triple close approaches.The region of bounded motions is much smaller than was generally expected and numerical computations of particular solutions show that we approach very near to the true limit.     

Космическое черенковское излучение

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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.     

Stability of the stellar structure and nonequilibrium dynamical characteristics of (g — T) effects in nuclear reactions in stellar cores

The nonequilibrium dynamical theory of thermonuclear reaction in the stars is used to analyse the stabilities of P-PI reactions in the solar core and 3 reactions of helium burning in the core of red giant stars. The constant stability of stars on the main sequence and the helium flash instability have been explained from a new point of view. Calculations show that the (g - T) term in the dynamical equation has a damaging effect on the stability of the thermonuclear reaction, but its intensity in the core of red giant stars is ~ 10⁷ times that in the solar core. It may be intimately related to some instability of the stellar structure. The effect on the flash instability is especially analysed.     

Околозвездньiе облака поданньiм ультрафиолетовьiх спектров свезл

, ii (2000–3000 Å) i . , i . i (. 2). i i i i + ( 7–10). ii (. 13). ii i i (, 2400 Å) (. 14 15). i i i , iu , i (. 1). i i ii i i . .     

Photometric study of chromospheric and coronal spikes observed during the total solar eclipse of 30 June, 1973

A photometric and colorimetric analysis of a color picture of the very inner solar corona, near the South pole region, is performed. Dimensions and average electron densities of both chromospheric and very fine resolved coronal spikes are deduced. For the coronal spike a half width of 1.67 is measured, the estimate of electron density yields n _e = 10¹⁰ cm^–3. Some conclusions are attempted on the light of a simultaneously observed spectrum of the same region which appeared to be a disappearing coronal hole. The observations seem to support the concept of a striated corona.On leave from Institut d'Astrophysique, Paris as NRC Post-Doctoral Research Assistant.     

Комптоновское рассеяние в источниках с синхротронной реабсорбцией

, ( ). n =3–5, T _e =4T _b (1 + ), - ( ) ,T _b - . , . , . W _H , ,n =3, =1. n =3–5(E), (E) , , = 1 – (), |()| < 1, |(E)| < 1. 3 273.     

An observation on the inverse extended problem of Szebehely

Through the use of Jacobi's formulation of the least action principle, differential equations for Szebehely's problem extended to a holonomic system with n degrees of freedom are obtained.

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Sunto Si riottengono le equazioni differenziali relative al problema di Szebehely esteso ad un sistema olonomo ad n gradi di libertà utilizzando il principio di minima azione nella formulazione di Jacobi.

     

On the aging of comets

This study is based primarily on the calculations of comet orbits over ~ 10⁶ years for 160 short-period comets by Harold F. Levison and Martin J. Duncan from which there are calculated ablation AGES. There are positive statistical correlations (having many deviations) with radial nongravitational forces, comet activity measures, and dust-to-gas ratios in the spectra, in the sense that comets of greater AGES tend to be less active and to show less dust in their spectra than comets of lesser AGES.Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics     

Optically thick accretion onto black holes

Spherically symmetric, steady-state, optically thick accretion onto a nonrotating black hole with the mass of is studied. The gas accreting onto the black hole is assumed to be a fully ionized hydrogen plasma withn ₀=10⁸ cm^–3 andT ₀=10⁴ K far from the black hole, and a new approximate expression for the Eddington factor is introduced. The luminosity is estimated to beL=1.875×10³³ erg s^–1, which primarily arises from the optical surface (1) ofT10⁴ K. The accretion flow is characterized by 1 and (v/c)10. In the optically thin region, the flow remains isothermal, and the increase of temperature occurs at 1. The radiative equilibrium is strictly realized at (v/c)10.