A new system for observing solar oscillations at the Mount Wilson Observatory

In this paper we describe a new observing system which is currently nearing completation at the Mount Wilson Observatory. This system has been designed to obtain daily measurements of solar photospheric and subphotospheric rotational velocities from the frequency splitting of non-radial solar p-mode oscillations of moderate to high degree (i.e. l > 150). The completed system will combine a 244 × 248 pixel CID camera with a high-speed floating point array processor, a 32-bit minicomputer, and a large-capacity disc storage system. We are integrating these components into the spectrograph of the 60-foot solar tower telescope at Mount Wilson in order to provide a facility which will be dedicated to the acquisition of oscillation data.     

A comparison of simultaneous measurements of the polar magnetic fields made at Crimea and Mount Wilson

Measurements of the polar magnetic fields of the sun made in August 1968 with the Crimean and Mt Wilson magnetographs are compared. The agreement between the results obtained at the two observatories is rather satisfactory. The correlation coefficient between the Crimean and Mt Wilson values of the observed average field strength at different latitudes is 0.7 for the north and 0.5 for the south polar region. The earlier conclusion based on the Mt Wilson material that a polarity reversal of the field occurred at latitudes +70° and -55° in the north and south hemispheres (Stenflo, 1970) is confirmed by the Crimean data.     

Multispectral analysis of asteroid 3 Juno taken with the 100-inch telescope at Mount Wilson Observatory

High-resolution multispectral images of main-belt asteroid 3 Juno were taken at visible and near-IR wavelengths with the 100-inch telescope at Mount Wilson Observatory equipped with an adaptive optics system. The images show spectral features that may represent a large relatively recent impact that deeply excavated the coarse-grained olivine-pyroxene-rich crust of the asteroid.     

A search for evidence of small-scale inhomogeneities in dense cores from line profile analysis

In order to search for intensity fluctuations on the HCN(1–0) and HCO~+(1–0) line profiles, which could arise due to possible small-scale inhomogeneous structure, long-term observations of high-mass star-forming cores S140 and S199 were carried out. The data were processed by the Fourier filtering method. Line temperature fluctuations that exceed the noise level were detected. Assuming the cores consist of a large number of randomly moving small thermal fragments, the total number of fragments is ~ 4 × 10~6 for the region with linear size ~ 0.1 pc in S140 and ~ 10~6 for the region with linear size ~ 0.3 pc in S199. Physical parameters of fragments in S140 were obtained from detailed modeling of the HCN emission in the framework of the clumpy cloud model.     

The effect of short-periodic oscillations in the photosphere on the spectral line profile

It is shown that if short-periodic acoustic waves are propagating through the photosphere they influence spectral line profiles considerably.     

昭通大山包天文气象条件统计分析

采用云南省昭通市昭阳区气象局1960年到1988年间在大山包实地采集的气象数据资料,并根据优良太阳观测台址所要求的各项参数指标,对大山包29年来的气象资料进行了系统的统计分析,发现该候选址点在干季(10月到次年4月)具有年日照时间增长、云量减少、相对湿度降低、风速较小且风向稳定、气候变化具有明显的周期性等特征。考虑到交通条件便利,初步判定它是一个具有潜力的优良太阳观测候选址点。     

Redshift Measurements for Galaxies in Clusters by Multislit Spectroscopy at the 1.5-m Telescope RTT150

Astronomy Letters - An example of simultaneous spectroscopic redshift measurements for a large number of galaxies in a cluster by multiobject spectroscopy with the medium- and low-resolution TFOSC...     

A survey of recombination line emission from the galactic plane at 325 MHz

A survey of the H 272 α recombination line at 325 MHz has been made towards 53 directions in the galactic plane using the Ooty Radio Telescope (ORT). 34 of these directions correspond to well-known Hn regions, 12 to SNRs and 6 to ‘blank’ areas selected so that the 5 GHz continuum is a minimum over the telescope beam of 2ℴ x 6 arcmin. Observing procedure and spectra of 47 sources towards which lines are detected are presented. Hydrogen recombination lines have been detected towards all the observed directions havingl <40ℴ. Carbon recombination lines are identified in 12 of the directions. The hydrogen line intensities are found to correlate well with the total continuum intensity (which includes the nonthermal galactic background) indicating that most of the lines arise due to stimulated emission by the background radiation. A preliminary discussion on the nature of the line-emitting regions is also presented.     

A statistical analysis of NaI D1 profile fluctuations at the center of the solar disk

Three radial-velocity fluctuation arrays V(Δλ, Y) and line-formation fluctuation arrays L(Δλ, Y),where Δλ is wavelength displacement from the center of Nai D₁ and Y is displacement on the Sun's surface along the spectrograph slit, were obtained from Sacramento Peak Observatory spectrograms. The variations of these line profile fluctuations are qualitatively described. The RMS_υ's, coherences, and power spectra shapes for V(Δλ, Y) fluctuations are examined at different Δλ with the corresponding effective heights of formation calculated with Mein weighting functions. Results include: (a) possible anticorrelation between continuum fluctuations and those near line center; (b) RMS _υ ^(cr) 's, which are root-mean-square values of the radial velocity corrected for instrumental and atmospheric blurring, are large (1.5 to 4.0 km s^?1) primarily due to large corrections for atmospheric blurring; (c) RMS _υ ^(cr) minima at effective heights of formation above 350 km suggest penetration of granulation velocities into the upper photosphere; (d) very rough determinations of RMS _υ ^(cr) 's, which are additionally corrected for line-of-sight averaging, range from around 5 km s^?1 in the low chromosphere to a sharp minimum ≤ 0.5 km s^?1 located in the upper photosphere; (e) power spectra shapes reflect decreasing average fluctuation scales above the temperature minimum (possibly high-frequency oscillations) and in the low and middle photosphere (possibly penetration of granulation); and (f) RMS _υ ^(cr) 's and average fluctuation scales suggest changes in the resolvable velocity field occurring near the temperature minimum.     

Background studies for acoustic neutrino detection at the South Pole

The detection of acoustic signals from ultra-high energy neutrino interactions is a promising method to measure the flux of cosmogenic neutrinos expected on Earth. The energy threshold for this process depends strongly on the absolute noise level in the target material. The South Pole Acoustic Test Setup (SPATS), deployed in the upper part of four boreholes of the IceCube Neutrino Observatory, has monitored the noise in Antarctic ice at the geographic South Pole for more than two years down to 500 m depth. The noise is very stable and Gaussian distributed. Lacking an in situ calibration up to now, laboratory measurements have been used to estimate the absolute noise level in the 10-50 kHz frequency range to be smaller than 20 mPa. Using a threshold trigger, sensors of the South Pole Acoustic Test Setup registered acoustic events in the IceCube detector volume and its vicinity. Acoustic signals from refreezing IceCube holes and from anthropogenic sources have been used to test the localization of acoustic events. An upper limit on the neutrino flux at energies E_ν > 10¹¹ GeV is derived from acoustic data taken over eight months.     

A high-resolution Fabry-Pérot spectrometer for emission line studies in planetary nebulae and other extended astronomical objects

We describe here a scanning piezo-electric Fabry-Pérot spectrometer operating in the photoncounting mode whose plate spacing and parallelism are maintained by a servo-controlled system, ensuring high accuracy, for the study of emission lines from extended astronomical objects in the spectral range 4500–7000 Å. Details of the optical set-up and the Data Acquisition System (DAS) are described. Its performance at the Cassegrain focus of the 1 m telescope at Kavalur is discussed. Some line profiles on planetary nebulae studied with the above spectrometer are also presented.     

Evidence for the detection of gamma-rays up to 150 TeV from the active galaxy centaurus A

Evidence is presented for the observation of UHE gamma-rays from the direction of the active galaxy Centaurus A (NGC 5128). An excess of events from this direction is detected only for energies below the expected cosmic microwave background induced cut-off at around 150 TeV.     

The influence of molecular blends and non-thermal line broadening on the profile of the Zeeman triplet λ5250.22 in sunspots

Calculations of the umbral profile of the Zeeman triplet 5250.22 are presented. We have taken into account the effect of a molecular blend from TiO at 5250.24 causing an apparent -component even for longitudinal magnetic fields. Also included is the depression of the spot continuum due to line wings and veiled weak lines in the umbra spectrum. The effect of different amounts of non-thermal broadening is investigated.The results point to the need of a better theoretical treatment of molecular and atomic blends and to the importance of more reliable values for the non-thermal broadening in sunspots. Furthermore, the importance of a proper stray light correction is noted, particularly including the stray light from the penumbra.     

A search for the tritium hyperfine line from nearby stars

A search for the tritium hyperfine line at 1516 MHz from 108 assorted astronomical objects, with emphasis on 53 nearby stars, was conducted in June 1983. All stars within 20 light-years visible from the 26-m telescope at Hat Creek Radio Observatory were examined using 256 4883-Hz channels. Twelve stars were also examined using 1024 76-Hz channels. The wideband- and narrowband-channel observations achieved sensitivities of 5–14 × 10⁻²⁴ W/m²/channel and 0.7–2 × 10⁻²⁴ W/m²/channel, respectively. No detections were made. The tritium frequency is highly attractive for SETI work because the isotope is cosmically rare and the tritium hyperfine line is centered in the SETI waterhole region of the terrestrial microwave window. In addition to beacon signals, tritium hyperfine emission may occur as a byproduct of extensive nuclear fusion energy production by extraterrestrial civilizations.     

A polarization-intensity anticorrelation diagram for the solar coronal green line

We analyze the complex pattern of anticorrelation between the degree of polarization p in the green λ530.3-nm line and its intensity I _λ, which was revealed by coronal observations during the total solar eclipse of July 11, 1991. For coronal points located at approximately the same distance from the disk center, the anticorrelation diagram breaks up into two branches with a zone of avoidance between them. High-latitude streamers form the upper branch, while the lower branch belongs to active equatorial regions. The arrangement of large-scale coronal structures in the p-logI _λ diagram is considered for a distance of 1.2R _⊙. The change in anticorrelation diagram with distance is analyzed in detail for the giant high-latitude coronal streamers observed on July 11, 1991. Our results contain important information about the scattering of photospheric radiation at line frequencies in the presence of a coronal magnetic field.     

Two-component galaxy models: the effect of density profile at large radii on the phase-space consistency

It is well known that the density and anisotropy profile in the inner regions of a stellar system with positive phase-space distribution function (DF) are not fully independent. Here, we study the interplay between density profile and orbital anisotropy at large radii in physically admissible (consistent) stellar systems. The analysis is carried out by using two-component  ( n - γ, γ₁)  spherical self-consistent galaxy models, in which one density distribution follows a generalized γ profile with external logarithmic slope n , and the other a standard  γ₁  profile (with external slope 4). The two density components have different 'core' radii, the orbital anisotropy is controlled with the Osipkov–Merritt recipe, and for simplicity we assume that the mass of the  γ₁  component dominates the total potential everywhere. The necessary and sufficient conditions for phase-space consistency are determined analytically, also in the presence of a dominant massive central black hole, and the analytical phase-space DF of (   n - γ  ,1) models, and of   n - γ  models with a central black hole, is derived for  γ= 0, 1, 2  . It is found that the density slope in the external regions of a stellar system can play an important role in determining the amount of admissible anisotropy: in particular, for fixed density slopes in the central regions, systems with a steeper external density profile can support more radial anisotropy than externally flatter models. This is quantified by an inequality formally identical to the 'cusp slope-central anisotropy' theorem by An & Evans, relating at all radii (and not just at the centre) the density logarithmic slope and the anisotropy indicator in all Osipkov–Merritt systems.