中国古代月食记录中的月亮位置分析

统计和分析了我国古代月食记录中的月亮位置。这些宿度记录主要集中在北魏、宋朝和清朝,这三个朝代正史中记录的月食宿度错误率分别是15%、5%和4%。清代之前的大部分月食宿度记录应该是实测的结果,清代正史月食宿度记载则来自预报记录。地方性月食宿度记录绝大部分出自明清的地方志,其中对宋朝和明朝的月食宿度记录比较多,错误率分别为21%和6%,清朝地方志交食记录中对当朝发生日月食时的日月位置的记录很少,而对清之前出现此类天象时的日月位置有较多的记载。1740年前后至清末月食的宿度记录精度比之前有所提高,其主要原因是《历象考成后编》和《仪象考成》的编纂。     

古代诗歌与太阳（四）——对太阳属性、位置等的描写

古代诗人在写到太阳时,除了关注日出、日落等动人景象外,还有一些特殊的描写,也非常值得阅读赏析,这一讲我们把这些描写分成“火与热的化身”（属性）、“七色太阳”（颜色）、“日大如盆是多大”（尺度）、“日高三丈是多高”（位置）来分别介绍,诗歌中的这些特殊描写包含了天文、物理、心理学等等的许多有趣现象。     

中国古代太阳中天观测及二至点测算精度

研究了元代《授时历议))所保存的天象观测和推步资料，得出：(1)在AD1277—1280年问所作的98次太阳中天观测的时刻及地平高度的绝对值平均误差分别为2．64min和6．78′．(2)6部古历——《大衍历》、《宣明历》、《纪元历》、《统天历》、《重修大明历》和《授时历》推步BC522年前的3个冬至时刻的误差范围为0．97—3．51d；而AD435—1280年间的45个冬至时刻的绝对值平均误差则分别为9．35、10．42、5．54、2．97、5．68、3．36h．(3)古代确定的AD442—1280年间的16个二至时刻的绝对值平均误差为199．59min，其中元代的误差为27．89min．     

二十四史天象记录与陈垣历表的朔闰差异

对二十四史及《清史稿》帝纪和天文志中的全部天象记录进行了整理和计算验证,发现其中历日朔闰与陈垣《二十史朔闰表》不合27例。汇集这样的例证,对于恢复中国古代完整的实行历表,是至关重要的。     

从《尚书·尧典》看中国早期历法的功能——与《天学真原》一书的一点商榷

《天学真原》一书中,通过对《尚书·尧典》等作的剖析,认为中国古代历法从尧的时代（约公元前2200年前后）起主要就不是为农业生产服务的,而是用于“安排统治阶级的重大政治事务日程”。通过几方面的分析,对这一见解提出了截然相反的看法,希望引起进一步的学术讨论。     

表面边界位置对太阳ρ模本征振荡频率的影响

本文研究了表面边界位置对太阳ρ模绝热本征振荡频率的影响。数值计算结果表明，对于ｖ４０００μＨｚ的中低阶ｐ模，表面边界置于温度极小点所引起的本征振荡频率的计算误差随着ｖ和ｌ的增大，表面边界点位置对太阳理论振荡频率的影响增大，色球结构对太阳ｐ模振荡频率的影响已变得不可忽略。     

中国古代分野理论中分星变化的原因考究

分野是中国古天文以及术数论中的重要概念,是传统文化中特有的天、地对应关系.通过对正史等相关史料的分析研究:(1)认定岁差不是引发十二次二十八宿分野中分星变化的主要因素,经对16种文献的计算表明,文献分野体系中的分星变化与岁差的符合率小于26.7％.(2)分星变化受十二次划分均匀与否、分野概念演变、历法因素及观测精度,甚至包括文献作者的主观因素等的影响,这在地方志中表现犹为突出.     

授时大统历法五星推步的精度研究

用元明授时大统历步五星术和现代天文计算方法分别计算大明嘉靖十年(1531)五星每日夜半位置.利用比较法,对两种计算方法得到的五星会合周期、逆行段和合冲(或上下合)角速度进行比较,通过行星平运动和实运动的比较,分析研究授时大统历步五星精度,给出定量分析结果,探讨了授时大统历步五星误差原因.     

太阳耀斑中3He富化的理论

概述了太阳3He富化的一个完整的两阶段加速模型。具有适当带电状态的太阳粒子 ,例如3He,电子和一些重离子主要由频率为ω =2Ω3He的氢回旋波所加热。这些被预热的粒子进而在费米加速过程中被加速到高的能量。这一自洽的模型解释了加速的各个方面 ,并预言了粒子的丰度 ,加热离子的带电状态 ,以及其能谱与观测相符和的结果。     

中国古历定朔推步综述

“朔”简言之表日月黄经相等，先民对其认识经历了一个从平朔到定朔的过程，通过研究古历，文中分析并归纳了不同时期中国古历日制度的基本元素之一－朔的两种推步方法：“积年法”和“《授时历》法”，其中包括平朔，日躔，月离，及定朔的推步方法等；得出了由各历的基本历数直接推出的中国古历定朔计算的一般公式，同时亦给出了《授时历》的推朔法和部分算例。     

中国古历经朔数据的恢复及应用

中国元代的《授时历议》保存了44部古历的推朔参数及比验资料．借助古代朔望计算方法：1）恢复了诸历行用初年的天正经朔数值；2）修正了史载的错误数据．3）根据Meeus方法计算出经朔的理论值，并由此确定古历经朔的推步精度；4）尝试应用这些数据考察地球自转长期变化，得出日长变化为1．8ms／cy．     

The Moon and the New Presidential Space Vision

The new US Vision for Space Exploration is briefly described, with particular emphasis on the place of lunar exploration. The value of humans in the exploration of the Moon is discussed, and it is argued that people offer significant advantages over robots for the purposes of scientific exploration. The Vision provides a new rationale for space activities, one aimed at both broadening our knowledge base and, in the longer term, of increasing prosperity by providing access to the material and energy resources of the Solar System.     

New Earth-based absolute photometry of the Moon

A 2-month series of quasi-simultaneous imaging photometric observations of the Moon and the Sun has been performed at Maidanak Observatory (Uzbekistan). New absolute values of lunar albedo have been obtained. Maps of lunar apparent albedo and equigonal albedo at phase angles 1.7-73° at wavelength 603 nm are presented. The standard deviation of our data from a best-fitted phase curve is 2%. The average ratio of the Clementine albedo to ours is 1.41. While the ratio of ROLO albedo to ours is 0.87, our data are in agreement with independent measurements of absolute albedo by Saiki et al. (Saiki, K., Saito, K., Okuno, H., Suzuki, A., Yamanoi, Y., Hirata N., Nakamura, R. [2008]. Earth Planets Space 60, 417-424) at a phase angle near 7°. A phase ratio imaging near opposition (1.6°/2.7°) shows almost the same ratio for maria and highlands, though bright craters (e.g., Tycho, Copernicus, Aristarchus) clearly reveal smaller slopes of phase function. This is an unexpected result, as the craters are bright and one could anticipate a manifestation of the coherent backscattering effect resulting in the opposition spike increasing at so small phase angles.     

A new look at photometry of the Moon

We use ROLO photometry (Kieffer, H.H., Stone, T.C. [2005]. Astron. J. 129, 2887-2901) to characterize the before and after full Moon radiance variation for a typical highlands site and a typical mare site. Focusing on the phase angle range 45° < α < 50°, we test two different physical models, macroscopic roughness and multiple scattering between regolith particles, for their ability to quantitatively reproduce the measured radiance difference. Our method for estimating the rms slope angle is unique and model-independent in the sense that the measured radiance factor I/F at small incidence angles (high Sun) is used as an estimate of I/F for zero roughness regolith. The roughness is determined from the change in I/F at larger incidence angles. We determine the roughness for 23 wavelengths from 350 to 939 nm. There is no significant wavelength dependence. The average rms slope angle is 22.2° ± 1.3° for the mare site and 34.1° ± 2.6° for the highland site. These large slopes, which are similar to previous “photometric roughness” estimates, require that sub-mm scale “micro-topography” dominates roughness measurements based on photometry, consistent with the conclusions of Helfenstein and Shepard (Helfenstein, P., Shepard, M.K. [1999]. Icarus 141, 107-131). We then tested an alternative and very different model for the before and after full Moon I/F variation: multiple scattering within a flat layer of realistic regolith particles. This model consists of a log normal size distribution of spheres that match the measured distribution of particles in a typical mature lunar soil 72141,1 (McKay, D.S., Fruland, R.M., Heiken, G.H. [1974]. Proc. Lunar Sci. Conf. 5, Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 1 (5), 887-906). The model particles have a complex index of refraction 1.65-0.003i, where 1.65 is typical of impact-generated lunar glasses. Of the four model parameters, three were fixed at values determined from Apollo lunar soils: the mean radius and width of the log normal size distribution and the real part of the refraction index. We used FORTRAN programs from Mishchenko et al. (Mishchenko, M.I., Dlugach, J.M., Yanovitskij, E.G., Zakharova, N.T. [1999]. J. Quant. Spectrosc. Radiat. Trans. 63, 409-432; Mishchenko, M.I., Travis, L.D., Lacis, A.A. [2002]. Scattering, Absorption and Emission of Light by Small Particles. Cambridge Univ. Press, New York. <http://www.giss.nasa.gov/staff/mmishchenko/books.html>) to calculate the scattering matrix and solve the radiative transfer equation for I/F. The mean single scattering albedo is ω = 0.808, the asymmetry parameter is 〈cos Θ〉 = 0.77 and the phase function is very strongly peaked in both the forward and backward scattering directions. The fit to the observations for the highland site is excellent and multiply scattered photons contribute ?80% of I/F. We conclude that either model, roughness or multiple scattering, can match the observations, but that the strongly anisotropic phase functions of realistic particles require rigorous calculation of many orders of scattering or spurious photometric roughness estimates are guaranteed. Our multiple scattering calculation is the first to combine: (1) a regolith model matched to the measured particle size distribution and index of refraction of the lunar soil, (2) a rigorous calculation of the particle phase function and solution of the radiative transfer equation, and (3) application to lunar photometry with absolute radiance calibration.     

The sodium tail of the Moon

During the few days centered about new Moon, the lunar surface is optically hidden from Earth-based observers. However, the Moon still offers an observable: an extended sodium tail. The lunar sodium tail is the escaping “hot” component of a coma-like exosphere of sodium generated by photon-stimulated desorption, solar wind sputtering and meteoroid impact. Neutral sodium atoms escaping lunar gravity experience solar radiation pressure that drives them into the anti-solar direction forming a comet-like tail. During new Moon time, the geometry of the Sun, Moon and Earth is such that the anti-sunward sodium flux is perturbed by the terrestrial gravitational field resulting in its focusing into a dense core that extends beyond the Earth. An all-sky camera situated at the El Leoncito Observatory (CASLEO) in Argentina has been successfully imaging this tail through a sodium filter at each lunation since April 2006. This paper reports on the results of the brightness of the lunar sodium tail spanning 31 lunations between April 2006 and September 2008. Brightness variability trends are compared with both sporadic and shower meteor activity, solar wind proton energy flux and solar near ultra violet (NUV) patterns for possible correlations. Results suggest minimal variability in the brightness of the observed lunar sodium tail, generally uncorrelated with any single source, yet consistent with a multi-year period of minimal solar activity and non-intense meteoric fluxes.     

Stresses in the Moon

It is argued that a reliable theory of the stress history of the Moon should take into account several factors; and that direct observations of the Moon's surface can throw much light on this subject.