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.     

Stability of and motion aboutL 4 at three-to-one commensurability

The stability ofL ₄ and the motion aboutL ₄ in the restricted problem of three bodies is investigated when there is three-to-one commensurability between the long and short periods of motion, that is, when the mass ratio has the value =0.013516.... The two time scale method is used (1) to show thatL ₄ is an unstable equilibrium point when =₃, (2) to determine for what initial conditions periodic orbits occur when ₃, (3) to determine the stability of the periodic orbits, and (4) to investigate the boundedness of the motions aboutL ₄ when ₃.     

Polyoxymethylene co-polymers on grains

Conditions prevalent in dense molecular clouds are shown to favour the polymerization of H₂CO molecules and the deposition of formaldehyde co-polymer mantles, with typical radii 10^–5 cm, on smaller refractory grains. If a significant fraction of such co-polymer coated grains are expelled with systematic gas flows into the general interstellar medium, these moderately refractory grains may be responsible for the bulk of interstellar extinction and polarization at optical wavelengths. Mie calculations for a mixture consisting of iron, graphite and POM particles are presented as an example where POM grains of radii 0.15 dominate the extinction at optical wavelengths, providing a satisfactory overall fit to a range of extinction data. A size distribution of POM needles with a mean radius 0.15 also provides good agreement with data on interstellar linear as well as circular polarization. Suitably end-capped and stabilized co-polymer-coated grains, with either silicate or graphite cores, may survive at temperatures 450 K under interstellar ambient conditions and be responsible for the 10 emission feature in many sources. Theoretically computed band profiles of the 10 -feature in POM coated grains, in general, provide better agreement with observations than most types of silicate grains considered so far. We also note that an unexplained dip at 10 in the 8–12 feature of the infrared source OH 231.8+4.2 may be a signature of POM grains; likewise, a persistent 3.3 emission feature in many different types of infrared source could be attributed to the CH stretching mode in formaldehyde co-polymer grains.     

Three-dimensional,periodic, ‘halo’ orbits

A largely numerical study was made of families of three-dimensional, periodic, halo orbits near the collinear libration points in the restricted three-body problem. Families extend from each of the libration points to the nearest primary. They appear to exist for all values of the mass ratio , from 0 to 1. More importantly, most of the families contain a range of stable orbits. Only near L₁, the libration point between the two primaries, are there no stable orbits for certain values of . In that case the stable range decreases with increasing , until it disappears at =0.0573. Near the other libration points, stable orbits exist for all mass ratios investigated between 0 and 1. In addition, the orbits increase in size with increasing .     

A high resolution mid-infrared image of the Starburst Galaxy M82

We have produced high-resolution images of the nuclear region of M82 with SpectroCam-10, a mid-infrared instrument at the Palomar 5 m telescope. These images were taken at 11.7 m and 9.8 m with a 1m filter bandpass at the diffraction limit of 0.6 arcsec, making them the highest resolution maps yet available of M82. In addition, we have obtained high-resolution (/=2000) maps of the velocity field of the nuclear disk of M82 in the 12.81 m line emission of [NeII]. In these proceedings we present the 11.7 m image, which will appear together with the 9.8 m map and the [Ne II] spectra in a subsequent paper, now in preparation. This image shows very clearly a bridge structure joining the eastern and western clusters.     

Silicon monoxide and the 10 μm interstellar feature

Laboratory spectra of SiO particles of 1 m radius show a broad structureless extinction peak at 9.6m. The wavelength dependence of extinction from SiO, an amorphous silicon oxide, provides a good match to that of interstellar dust.     

The extinction of starlight revisited

The rigorous Kerker-Matijevi formulae for light scattering by co-axial double cylinders are used to calculate the extinction properties of hollow organic grains. A size distribution of such particles together with iron whiskers of radii 0.01 m, silica spheres of radius 0.03 m and free aromatic molecular clusters comprised of 50–100 atoms yield excellent agreement with data on the extinction of starlight. The mass ratios of silica to organics and of iron to organics are in good accord with cosmic abundance constraints.     

The identification of the 3μ spectral feature in galactic infrared sources

We show that a 3 extinction feature in galactic infrared sources cannot be due to water-ice grains. Infrared spectra with a resolution of /=0.015 are in remarkably close agreement with the 2.5–4 extinction properties calculated for bacterial grains.     

Stability of outer planetary orbits around binary stars: A comparison of Hill's and Laplace's stability criteria

A comparison is made between the stability criteria of Hill and that of Laplace to determine the stability of outer planetary orbits encircling binary stars. The restricted, analytically determined results of Hill's method by Szebehely and co-workers and the general, numerically integrated results of Laplace's method by Graziani and Black are compared for varying values of the mass parameter =m ₂/(m ₁+m ₂). For 00.15, the closest orbit (lower limit of radius) an outer planet in a binary system can have and still remain stable is determined by Hill's stability criterion. For >0.15, the critical radius is determined by Laplace's stability criterion. It appears that the Graziani-Black stability criterion describes the critical orbit within a few percent for all values of .     

The Existence and Stability of Equilibrium Points in the Robe’s Restricted Three-Body Problem

The existence of all the equilibrium points, their location and stability in the Robe's (1977) restricted three—body problem have been studied. It is seen that the center of the first primary is always an equilibrium point, whatever be the values of the density parameter K, eccentricity parameter eand mass parameter . The other equilibrium points exist only when K 0 and e = 0 that is when the second primary, a mass point, moves around the first, a spherical shell filled with fluid, in a circular orbit. When K > 1, there is one additional equilibrium point lying on the line joining the center of the first primary and the second primary. When K + = 1, there are infinite number of equilibrium points in the x—yplane lying on a circle of radius one and center as the second primary, provided the points are inside the spherical shell. When K < 0 and K + > 0, there are two more equilibrium points lying in the x—z plane forming triangles with the center of the shell and the second primary. Results of the stability of the equilibrium point (–,0,0), center of the first primary are the same as those given by Robe (1977). Circular points and triangular points are always unstable. The equilibrium point collinear with the center of the shell and the second primary is stable provided and Ksatisfy the inequality

Extinction and scattering by several types of silicate sphere of radius 0.05–1.0μm,for the wavelength range 0.21–50μm

The exact calculation of scattering and absorption by various sub-micron sized silicate spheres is presented here, using accurately determined optical constants in the wavelength range from 50 m to 0.21 m. The extinction features near 10 m and 20 m for various samples are discussed. It is found that the ratio of peak extinction at 20 m to that at 10 m is constant for small particles up tor=0.4 m, but is less for particles of radius 1 m. The ratio of maximum extinction in the ultraviolet to that at 10 m decreases with increasing particle size.     

On the restrited three-body problem when the mass parameter is small

We study some aspects of the restricted three-body problem when the mass parameter is sufficiently small. First, we describe the global flow of the two-body rotating problem, =0, and we use it for the analysis of the collision and parabolic orbits when 0. Also we show that for any fixed value of the Jacobian constant and for any >0, there exists a ₀>0 such that if the mass parameter [0,₀], then the set of bounded orbits which are not contained in the closure of the set of symmetric periodic orbits has Lebesgue measure less than .Paper presented at the 1981 Oberwolfach Conference on Mathematical Methods in Celestial Mechanics.     

Charge-coupled device imaging spectroscopy of Mars. 1. Instrumentation and data reduction/analysis procedures

This paper describes the collection, reduction, and analysis of 0.4–1.0 m Mars imaging spectroscopy data obtained during the 1988 and 1990 oppositions from Mauna Kea Observatory and provides a general outline for the acquisition and analysis of similar imaging spectroscopy data sets. The U.H. 2.24-m Wide Field Grism CCD Spectrograph was used to collect 13 three-dimensional image cubes covering 90% of the planet south of 50°N in the 0.4–0.8 m region (/=245 at 0.6 m) and covering 55% of the planet south of 50°N in the 0.5–1.0 m region (/=293 at 0.75 m). Spectra extracted from these image cubes reveal the detailed character of the martian near-UV to visible spectrum. Images at red wavelengths reveal the classical albedo markings at 100–500 km spatial resolution while images at blue wavelengths show little surface feature contrast and are dominated by condensate clouds/hazes and polar ice. Many of the data acquisition, reduction, and analysis steps discussed here are new or unique to imaging spectroscopy data sets. These techniques exploit the information contained within the spatial domain of data such as these, thus allowing more traditional point-spectral analysis techniques to be expanded into an imaging format.     

On periodic flybys of the moon

This paper considers the plane circular restricted three-body problem for small . Symmetric periodic solutions of the second species (passing near the body of mass ) and their distance from the center of the body of mass are studied by constructing perturbations of arc-solutions (solutions with consecutive collisions) existing for =0. Orbits which also pass near the body of mass 1- are studied in detail. The results are applied to finding periodic orbits in the Earth-Moon system and in the Sun-Jupiter system.Russian version: Preprint No. 91 (1978) of Inst. Appl. Math.; present English translation was made by L. M. Perko and W. C. Schulz (February 1979).     

B,V surface photometry of the UV continuum galaxy NGC 838

Surface photometry of the UV continuum galaxy NGC 838 has been carried out in theB, V system using photographic plates obtained with the 74 Kottamia telescope, Egypt. Isophotes, luminosity profiles, integrated photographic magnitudes, effective diameters and other photometric parameters are derived.The photoelectrically calibrated total apparent magnitudes areB _T =13.57 with maximum diameters 1.57×1.34 (at threshold _m =27.7 mag.//) andV _T =12.91 with maximum diameters 1.54×1.32 (at threshold _m =27.7 mag./). The integrated colour index(B–V) _T =0.66 and the effective surface brightness _e (B=19.0 mag./) and _e (V=19.7 mag./. The major axis is at position angle =85°±1°.The nucleus of NGC 838 is quite blue (integrated colour(B–V)=0.41 forr ^*<0.1) compared to normal galaxies while the colour becomes redder from the nucleus outwards. The UV excess, H emission and radio continuum emission previously observed from this galaxy by other investigators may be attributed to a recent burst of star formation in the nucleus of the galaxy of duration slightly greater than 2×10⁷ yr.     

A model for interstellar extinction

From an analysis of the interstellar extinction we conclude that interstellar grains are of three main kinds: graphite spheres of radii 0.02 m making up 10% of the total grain mass, small dielectric spheres of radius about 0.04 m making up 25% of the mass, and hollow dielectric cylinders containing metallic iron with diameters of 2/3 m making up 45% of the mass. The remaining 20% consists of other metals and metal oxides. The main dielectric component of the grains appears to be comprised of organic material.     

Three-dimensional zero-velocity contours

Three-dimensional computer plots were drawn for various zero-velocity contours of the restricted three-body problem (=0.1, 0.3, 0.5) and the restricted four-body problem (₁=₂=₃==0.33). The infinitesimal mass was constrained to the plane of the finite masses. The three-dimensional representations yield a clear insight into the regions of motion and the stability of motion near the equilibrium points.     

How deep can one see into the Sun?

Conventional wisdom dictates that the 1.642 m H^– opacity minimum is the best window to the depths of the solar photosphere. However, the violet continuum near 0.4 m exhibits a larger intensity response to small thermal perturbations at depth, and thus might offer an even better view of the subsurface roots of granulation cells and magnetic flux tubes.     

Near-infrared observations of the peculiar binary system epsilon Aurigae

Near-infrared photometric and low-resolution spectroscopic observations of Aurigae at two phases during the current eclipse are presented. The eclipse depths are found to be wavelength-independent in the infrared right up to 2.5 m. There is no infrared excess at wavelengths shorter than 2.5 m. The light absorbing particles in the eclipsing body must be larger than 10 m in size.     

Nifte: The near infrared faint-object telescope experiment

The high sensitivity of large format InSb arrays can be used to obtain deep images of the sky at 3–5 m. In this spectral range cool or highly redshifted objects (e.g. brown dwarfs and protogalaxies) which are not visible at shorter wavelengths may be observed. Sensitivity at these wavelengths in ground-based observations is severely limited by the thermal flux from the telescope and from the earth's atmosphere. The Near Infrared Faint-Object Telescope Experiment (NIFTE), a 50 cm cooled rocket-borne telescope combined with large format, high performance InSb arrays, can reach a limiting flux < 1 Jy (1) over a large field-of-view in a single flight. In comparison, ISO will require days of observation to reach a sensitivity more than one order of magnitude worse over a similar area of the sky. The deep 3–5 m images obtained by the rocket-borne telescope will assist in determining the nature of faint red objects detected by ground-based telescopes at 2 m, and by ISO at wavelengths longer than 5 m.