SINFONI observations of starclusters in starburst galaxies

We have used ESO’s new NIR IFS SINFONI during its Science Verification period to observe the central regions of local starburst galaxies. Being Science Verification observations, the aim was 2-fold: to demonstrate SINFONI’s capabilities while obtaining information on the nature of starclusters in starburst galaxies. The targets chosen include a number of the brighter clusters in NGC1808 and NGC253. Here we present first results.     

China's Lunar Exploration Program: Present and future

China launched its first lunar probe, Chang’E-1, at 6:05 p.m. (10:05 GMT), October 24, 2007. Chang’E-1 blasted off on a Long March 3A carrier rocket from the No. 3 launch tower in the Xichang Satellite Launch Center of southwestern Sichuan Province. China National Space Administration performed the lunar orbit injection maneuver for Chang’E-1 at 11:25 a.m. on November 5, 2007 (China Standard Time). Chang’E-1 was injected into the lunar orbit after the maneuver, and will begin to explore the moon in the following 1 year. It is the first step into its ambitious three-phase moon mission, marking a new milestone in the Chinese space exploration history.     

The potential of ground based arrays of imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes. I. Determination of shower parameters

The performance of the arrays of imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes (IACTs) for detection of ≥ 100 GeV γ-rays is discussed. The effective detection area of stereoscopic multi-IACT systems is determined essentially by the total geometrical area of the array which may be covered by independent standard ≥ 3 telescope ‘cells’ with a linear size of about 100 m. We have investigated the characteristics of a quadrangular 100 × 100 m² ‘cell’ with four ‘100 GeV’ class IACTs in its corners which is recommended as an optimal design for the future IACT arrays. The idea of the ‘cell’ makes straightforward the study of the characteristics of IACT arrays. The conclusions obtained, concerning in particular the angular and energy resolutions, and the cosmic ray background rejection efficiency, are rather general and, do not depend on the specific configuration of the array.     

Modeling the fast optical transient SN 2019bkc/ATLAS19dqr with a central engine and implication for its origin

Modern wide-field high-cadence surveys have revealed the significant diversity of optical transient phenomena in their luminosity and timescale distributions, which led to the discovery of some mysterious fast optical transients(FOTs). These FOTs can usually rise and decline remarkably in a timescale of a few days to weeks, which are obviously much rapider than ordinary supernovae. SN2019 bkc/ATLAS19 dqr is one of the fastest detected FOTs so far and, meanwhile, it was found to be unassociated with a host galaxy. These discoveries provide a good chance to explore the possible origins of FOTs. So, we model the light curves of SN 2019 bkc in details. It is found that SN 2019 bkc can be well explained by the thermal emission of an explosion ejecta that is powered by a long-lasting central engine.The engine could be a spinning-down millisecond magnetar or a fallback accretion onto a compact object.Combining the engine property, the mass of the ejecta, and the hostlessness of SN 2019 bkc, we suggest that this FOT is likely to originate from a merger of a white dwarf and a neutron star.     

In memoriam of Yu Gao

Astrophysics and Space Science - The annular solar eclipse of the previous decade that occurred on December 26, 2019, was mostly visible from most Asian countries, including India. In this...     

UHE and EHE neutrino induced taus inside the Earth

Tau neutrinos interacting inside the Earth produce τ leptons which thereafter can decay inside the atmosphere. The propagation of extremely energetic ν_τ’s and τ’s through the Earth is studied by means of a detailed Monte Carlo simulation, taking into account all major mechanisms of ν_τ interactions and τ energy loss as well as decay modes. The rates of τ’s emerging from the Earth are determined as a function of τ’s energy for several cosmic neutrino models.     

Orbital Motion and Attitude Control of the Spectrum–Röntgen–Gamma Space Observatory

Astronomy Letters - The Spectrum–Röntgen–Gamma (SRG) space observatory was launched from Baikonur on July 13, 2019, and is currently on a flight trajectory in the vicinity of the...     

Preface:Site testing campaign for the Large Optical/infrared Telescope of China

The Large Optical/infrared Telescope of China is a 12 meter diameter ground-based optical/infrared telescope which is proposed to be constructed in the western part of China in favor of its arid climate,and clear,dark nights.A site testing campaign was initiated between November 2016 and March2019 in order to investigate long term astronomical weather conditions in the western part of China,specifically,at three sites:Ali in Tibet,Daocheng in Sichuan and Muztagh-ata in Xinjiang.This is the first attempt to evaluate long term performances of three candidate sites with uniformly calibrated instruments and data collecting/processing methods for a two-year span in China.In this special issue,we present nine papers that describe the whole site testing campaign,including preparation,data collecting/processing methods,instrument set up at three candidate sites as well as detailed statistics for the measurement results from March 2017 to March 2019.     

Variation in Lake Baikal's phytoplankton distribution and fluvial input assessed by SeaWiFS satellite data

The current behaviour of selected climate proxies in Lake Baikal was assessed by remote sensing analyses of ‘Sea viewing Wide Field of view Sensor’ (SeaWiFS) satellite data. Suitable proxies include optically visible water constituents such as phytoplankton, suspended terrigenous matter and yellow substance. These limnological parameters reflect the present-day climate bioproductivity and the river discharge in the catchment area.A biological and geochemical ground truth data set for Lake Baikal was established with the help of members of the paleoclimate project ‘high-resolution CONTINENTal paleoclimate record in Lake Baikal’ (CONTINENT). For processing the SeaWiFS satellite data, the atmospheric correction was adapted to the case of Lake Baikal. Chlorophyll as a proxy for phytoplankton was quantified using global NASA ocean colour algorithms OC2 and OC4. In cases of no optical interferences by terrigenous input, the calculated chlorophyll concentrations in clear pelagic waters were within ±30% accuracy with the CONTINENT cruise data during the summers of 2001 and 2002. Within this range of accuracy, the SeaWiFS time series will be able to show the seasonal variations of chlorophyll of specified bio-optical provinces of Lake Baikal and of CONTINENT sites. In this study, the suspended matter as a proxy for the terrigenous input was calculated according to an empirical algorithm using ground truth data in the time frame of flooding events in summer 2001. The approach chosen correlates the suspended matter concentration with the remotely sensed parameter of ‘attenuation coefficient’ to account for the organic-rich terrigenous input that originates from the swampy watersheds.Seasonal and spatial information that is provided by the analyses of the SeaWiFS satellite data will assist paleoclimate researchers to interpret the autochthonous and allochthonous influences at the CONTINENT coring sites.     

Separation of gamma and hadron initiated air showers with energies between 20 and 500 TeV

The discrimination between air showers initiated by γ rays and by hadrons is one of the fundamental problems in experimental cosmic-ray physics. The physics of this ‘γ/hadron separation’ is discussed in this paper. We restrict ourselves to the energy range from about 20 to 500 TeV, and take only the information contained in the lateral Čerenkov light distribution and the number of electrons at the detector level into consideration. An understanding of the differences between air showers generated by γ rays and those due to hadrons leads us to formulate suitable observables for the separation process. Angle integrating Čerenkov arrays (AICA) offer a promising new approach to ground-based γ-ray astronomy in the energy region from about 20 to 500 TeV. In order to establish this technique, an efficient suppression of the overwhelming hadronic background radiation is required. As an example for our general discussion, we present one method for γ/hadron separation in AICAs called ‘LES’. It is based on the simultaneous determination of the shower size and some characteristic parameters of the lateral distribution of the Čerenkov light. The potential inherent within this technique is demonstrated in quantitative detail for the existing ‘AIROBICC’ AICA. We also propose an objective measure of the intrinsic sensitivity of a detection scheme in ground-based γ-ray astronomy, the ‘reduced quality factor’. It is shown that AICAs may reach a sensitivity to γ-ray point sources in the high VHE range similar to that of the Čerenkov-telescope imaging technique in the low VHE region.     

The Effect of Lunisolar Precession on Pulsar Observations

In the measurements of pulsars’ periods and their rates of change there exists the effect of lunisolar precession. Via the analysis of this effect, we find that it can affect the accurate measurements of the periods of certain pulsars. An investigation of the periods of 1771 pulsars reveals that the measured periods of 81 pulsars suffer the influence of lunisolar precession in the range of the accuracy of measurements. With the improvement of the precision of measurements of pulsars’ periods and their change rates, this effect should get the corresponding corrections.     

The electron temperature and density in interstellar medium by using carbon radio recombination line observations

The intensities of carbon radio recombination lines (RRL’s) are definedallowing for the effect of dielectronic-like recombination. The rate ofdielectronic-like recombination is calculated as functions of line number,electron density and temperature accurate to 0.05. Following from the balanceequation solutions for populations, the RRL intensities are analytically foundby the method of successive approximations to an accuracy of 0.15. Theobservations of carbon RRL’s are analyzed toward Cassiopeia A. The averageelectron temperature, density, expanded CII region lengths and inaccuraciesare found with the experimental values of RRL widths and intensities.     

Morphological analysis of open clusters’ properties: II. Relationships projected onto the galactic plane

A morphological analysis study of open clusters’ properties has been achieved for a sample of 160 UBVCCD open star clusters of approximately 128,000 stars near the galactic plane. The data was obtained and reduced from Tadross (2001) using the same reduction procedures, which makes this catalogue the largest homogeneous source of open clusters’ parameters.     

Tomography of the Earth’s core using supernova neutrinos

We investigate the possibility to use the neutrinos coming from a future galactic supernova explosion to perform neutrino oscillation tomography of the Earth’s core. We propose to use existing or planned detectors, resulting in an additional payoff. Provided that all of the discussed uncertainties can be reduced as expected, we find that the average matter densities of the Earth’s inner and outer cores could be measured with a precision competitive with geophysics. However, since seismic waves are more sensitive to matter density jumps than average matter densities, neutrino physics would give partly complementary information.     

Analytic investigation of climate stability on Titan: sensitivity to volatile inventory

We develop a semiempirical grey radiative model to quantify Titan’s surface temperature as a function of pressure and composition of a nitrogen-methane-hydrogen atmosphere, solar flux and atmospheric haze. We then use this model, together with non-ideal gas-liquid equilibrium theory to investigate the behavior of the coupled surface-atmosphere system on Titan. We find that a volatile-rich Titan is unstable with respect to a runaway greenhouse—small increases in solar luminosity from the present value can lead to massive increases in surface temperature. If methane has been photolyzed throughout Titan’s history, then this runaway can only be avoided if the photolytic ethane is removed from the surface-atmosphere system.     

Timing analysis of the black hole candidate EXO 1846-031 with insight-HXMT monitoring

We present the observational results from a detailed timing analysis of the black hole candidate EXO 1846-031 during its outburst in 2019 with the observations ...     

Vorticity in the magnetosphere

It is shown that Birkeland current and vorticity in the magnetosphere are intimately related, suggesting the importance of taking explicit account of vorticity, particularly velocity shear, when considering magnetospheric motions. An equation of motion for the magnetosphere coupled to the ionosphere is derived. It is suggested that experience with MHD fluids generally might fruitfully be brought to bear on certain problems in the magnetosphere to answer the question, not ‘why a sheet of Birkeland current,’ but rather ‘why a localised velocity shear.’     

Cots Correlator Platform

Moore’s law is best exploited by using consumer market hardware. In particular, the gaming industry pushes the limit of processor performance thus reducing the cost per raw flop even faster than Moore’s law predicts. Next to the cost benefits of Common-Of-The-Shelf (COTS) processing resources, there is a rapidly growing experience pool in cluster based processing. The typical Beowulf cluster of PC’s supercomputers are well known. Multiple examples exists of specialised cluster computers based on more advanced server nodes or even gaming stations. All these cluster machines build upon the same knowledge about cluster software management, scheduling, middleware libraries and mathematical libraries. In this study, we have integrated COTS processing resources and cluster nodes into a very high performance processing platform suitable for streaming data applications, in particular to implement a correlator. The required processing power for the correlator in modern radio telescopes is in the range of the larger supercomputers, which motivates the usage of supercomputer technology. Raw processing power is provided by graphical processors and is combined with an Infiniband host bus adapter with integrated data stream handling logic. With this processing platform a scalable correlator can be built with continuously growing processing power at consumer market prices.     

Measurements of Beam Pattern Perturbation in Corrugated Feed Horn Arrays for CMB Observations

An experimental study on the perturbation of the angular response of a W-band corrugated horn produced by nearby feeds, reproducing a typical situation of multi-feed arrays commonly used in high sensitivity Cosmic Microwave Background instruments, is reported in this paper. The effects for different positions of the scattering horn in the two principal polarisation planes were measured. We analyze the effects on both the side-lobe level and on the main beam. In particular, these results allowed us to validate design criterion for the multi-frequency focal array of the ESA PLANCK mission.This revised version was published online in July 2005. The first author’s e-mail address was removed.     

The accretion history of the universe with the SKA

In this paper, we investigate how the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) can aid in determining the evolutionary history of active galactic nuclei (AGN) from redshifts z = 0 → 6. Given the vast collecting area of the SKA, it will be sensitive to both ‘radio-loud’ AGN and the much more abundant ‘radio-quiet’ AGN, namely the radio-quiet quasars and their ‘Type-II’ counterparts, out to the highest redshifts. Not only will the SKA detect these sources but it will also often be able to measure their redshifts via the Hydrogen 21-cm line in emission and/or absorption. We construct a complete radio luminosity function (RLF) for AGN, combining the most recent determinations for powerful radio sources with an estimate of the RLF for radio-quiet objects using the hard X-ray luminosity function of [ApJ 598 (2003) 886], including both Type-I and Type-II AGN. We use this complete RLF to determine the optimal design of the SKA for investigating the accretion history of the Universe for which it is likely to be a uniquely powerful instrument.