脉冲星PSR2217＋47的折射闪烁和星际介质电子密度的涨落谱

本文探讨脉冲星ＰＳＲ２２１７＋４７分米波段流量变化的星际折射闪烁解释。利用衍射闪烁测量所获得的星际介质参数和连续介质的折射闪烁理论，计算了多频率（０．３１，０．４２，０．６１和０．７５ＧＨｚ）上的折射闪烁结构函数，并与观测结构函数加以比较。结果表明，如果星际介质电子密度不均匀性具有幂律谱，那么幂律指数β＝４要比β＝１１／３（即Ｋｏｌｍｏｇｏｒｏｖ谱）能更好地符合观测。     

The structure of Galactic gas at high latitudes: The southern polar cap

We analyze the angular structure of the 21-cm interstellar neutral hydrogen emission at six and seven declinations in the northern (published previously) and southern polar caps of the Galaxy (Galactic latitudes from ?40° to ?90°), respectively, with an extent of 90° in right ascension. The RATAN-600 radio telescope has a beam width averaged over these regions of 2.′0×30′. One-dimensional power spectra for the angular distribution of interstellar neutral hydrogen emission were computed in each 6.3-km s^?1-wide spectral channel by using the standard Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) code and were smoothed over 1^h in right ascension. The Galactic latitude dependence of the mean parameters for the sky distribution of H I line emission at high latitudes was found to correspond to the distribution of gas in the form of a flat layer only in the northern region, while in the southern cap, the gas distribution is much less regular. In addition, the mean H I radial velocities are negative everywhere (?3.7±3.0 km s^?1 in the north and ?6.0±2.4 km s^?1 in the south). The power spectra of the angular fluctuations in the range of angular periods from 10′ to 6° appear as power laws. However, the spectral indices change greatly over the sky: from ?3 to ?1.2; on average, as the Galactic latitude increases and the H I column density decreases, the fluctuation spectrum of the interstellar gas emission becomes flatter. In the northern polar region, this behavior is much more pronounced, which probably stems from the fact that the gas column density in the south is generally a factor of 2 or 3 higher than that in the north. Therefore, the spectra are, on average, also steeper in the south, but the dependence on Galactic latitude is weaker. Using simulations, we show that the observed power-law spectrum of the H I emission distribution can be obtained in terms of not only a turbulent, but also a cloud model of interstellar gas if we use our previous spectra of the diameters and masses of H I clouds.     

分子云浓核的密度和磁场

利用均匀磁化球模型，对OrionB云中的39个分子云浓核，从它们观测的源半径和分子线线宽，推求它们的数密度和磁场．得到平均磁场110μG，平均密度为8×104／cm3．这些计算值与观测结果一致．对于R＞0．2pc的分子云浓核，利用均匀磁化球模型推求磁场和数密度的方法是一种可行的方法．     

The structure and dynamics of M17SW

The M17SW molecular cloud core has been mapped at high resolution in the C¹⁷OJ = 3 2 transition and in 450, 600, 800, 1100 and 1300µm continuum emission, using the JCMT. The clumpy nature of the cloud core is clearly revealed and the northern condensation has been resolved into 3 main clumps, each of which lies close to an H₂O maser, suggesting that they may contain young embedded stellar objects.     

The temperature of nonspherical circumstellar dust grains

The temperatures of prolate and oblate spheroidal dust grains in the envelopes of stars of various spectral types are calculated. Homogeneous particles with aspect ratios a/b≤10 composed of amorphous carbon, iron, dirty ice, various silicates, and other materials are considered. The temperatures of spherical and spheroidal particles were found to vary similarly with particle size, distance to the star, and stellar temperature. The temperature ratio T _d(spheroid)/T _d(sphere) depends most strongly on the grain chemical composition and shape. Spheroidal grains are generally colder than spherical particles of the same volume; only iron spheroids can be slightly hotter than iron spheres. At a/b≈2, the temperature differences do not exceed 10%. If a/b≥4, the temperatures can differ by 30–40%. For a fixed dust mass in the medium, the fluxes at wavelengths λ≥100 are higher if the grains are nonspherical, which gives overestimated dust masses from millimeter observations. The effect of grain shape should also be taken into account when modeling Galactic-dust emission properties, which are calculated when searching for fluctuations of the cosmic microwave background radiation in its Wien wing.     

Observations of the infrared source in s 140 and the heating of the associated gas

Near infrared observation of the infrared source in S140 was made using the 1.26 m infrared telescope of Beijing Observatory, yielding fluxes in the J, H and K bands. Combining with data from satellite and ground-based IR and submillimetre observations, we found the spectral gradient, IR luminosity and the shell structure of the IR source.

We also combined observations of CO and NH₃ in an analysis of the heating of the gas associated with the source. Besides through dust, the central source may also input energy into the gas through shock waves. External sources of heat and heating by photoelectric process and cosmic rays are also discussed.     

The Shadow of Comet Hale–Bopp in Lyman-Alpha

For a few months around perihelion, thecentral part of the Hale–Bopp hydrogencloud has been optically thick to thesolar Lyα radiation, and hassignificantly reduced the solar flux availablefor the resonance glow of interstellarhydrogen beyond the comet. This shadowing effecton the interstellar gas is the first everobserved comet shadow. It is modeled andcompared with SWAN observations. Shadowmodelling will help to constrain the cometwater production and radiative transfer effectsin the interstellar ionisation cavity.     

Low density ionized gas in the inner galaxy — Interpretation of recombination line observations at 325 MHz

The recent survey of H 272α recombination line (324.99 MHz) in the direction of 34 Hn regions, 12 SNRs and 6 regions of continuum minimum (‘blank’ regions) in the galactic plane is used to derive the properties of diffuse ionized gas in the inner Galaxy. The intensity of radio recombination lines at high frequencies is dominated by spontaneous emission in high-density gas and that at low frequencies (325 MHz) by stimulated emission in low-density gas. We have used this property to obtain the electron density in the gas in the direction of blank regions and SNRs, by combining the H 272 α measurements (preceeding paper) with the published data at higher frequencies. Further, we have imposed constraints on the electron temperature and pathlength through this gas using the observed high-frequency continuum emission, average interstellar electron density and geometry of the line-emitting regions. The derived properties of the gas are (i) electron density 0.5–6 cm^-3, (ii) electron temperature 3000–8000 K and (iii) emission measures 500–3000 pc cm^-6 The corresponding pathlengths are 50–200 pc. As the derived sizes of the low-density regions are small compared to the pathlength through the Galaxy, the low-frequency recombination lines cannot be considered as coming from a widely distributed component of the interstellar medium. The Hn regions studied in the above survey cannot themselves produce the H 272α lines detected towards them because of pressure broadening, optical depth, and beam dilution. However, the agreement in velocity of these lines with those seen at higher frequencies suggests that the low-frequency recombination lines arise in low-density envelopes of the Hn regions. Assuming that the temperature of the envelopes are similar to those of the cores and invoking geometrical considerations we find that these envelopes should have electron densities in the range 1–10 cm^-3 and linear sizes of 30–300 pc in order to produce the observed H 272α lines.     

The brightest OH maser in the sky: A flare of emission in W75 N

A flare of maser radio emission in the 1665-MHz OH line with a flux density of about 1000 Jy was discovered in the star-forming region W75 N in 2003. At the time of its observations, it was the strongest OH maser in the entire history of research since the discovery of cosmic OH masers in 1965. The linear polarization of the flare emission reached 100%. A weaker flare with a flux density of 145 Jy was observed in this source in 2000–2001; this was probably a precursor of the intense flare. The intensity of two other spectral features decreased when the flare emerged. This change in the intensity of the emission from maser condensations (a brightening of some of them and a weakening of others) can be explained by the passage of a magnetohydrodynamic shock through regions of enhanced gas concentration.     

The density and magnetic field of the dense cores of the molecular cloud L 1630

The density and magnetic field strength of the dense cores in the Orion B molecular cloud are derived from the observed radius and FWHM line width based on the model of a uniformly magnetic sphere. We obtain the average magnetic field strength of 110μG and the average density of 8 × 10⁴/cm³ for the 39 cores, which agree closely with the observations. The method for deriving the density and magnetic field strength is applicable to the cores with R>0.2pc.     

High resolution spectroscopy in the far UV: Observations of the interstellar medium by IMAPS on ORFEUS-SPAS

The Interstellar Medium Absorption Profile Spectrograph (IMAPS) is an objectivegrating, echelle spectrograph built to observe the spectra of bright, hot stars over the spectral region 950–1150Å, below the wavelength coverage of HST. This instrument has a high wavelength resolving power, making it especially well suited for studies of interstellar absorption lines. Following a series of sounding rocket flights in the 1980's, IMAPS flew on its first Shuttle-launched orbital mission in September 1993, as a partner in the ORFEUS-SPAS program sponsored by the US and German Space Agencies, NASA and DARA.On ORFEUS-SPAS, IMAPS spent one day of orbital time observing the spectra of 10 O- and early B-type stars. In addition to outlining how IMAPS works, we document some special problems that had an influence on the data, and we explain the specific steps in data reduction that were employed to overcome them. This discussion serves as a basic source of information for people who may use archival data from this flight, as well as those who are interested in some specific properties of the data that will be presented in forthcoming research papers.IMAPS is scheduled to fly once again on ORFEUS-SPAS in late 1996. On this flight, 50% of the observing time available for IMAPS and two other spectrographs on the mission will be available to guest observers.     

The Spiral Arm Connection of Egret Unidentified Sources

Based on a LogN-LogS relation we have shown that the EGRET unidentified source (UnidS) distribution closely follows the Galactic spiral arm structure. This seems to satisfy the hypothesis that the EGRET UnidS arise due to energetic interactions with molecular clouds that reside on the spiral arms. Furthermore, the luminosity distribution of the unidentified sources features a double Gaussian distribution. We suggest that a combined distribution of OB associations, SNR and superbubbles interacting with molecular clouds within the spiral arms are the most likely counterparts of the unidentified sources.     

Diagnostics of Near-Solar Plasma Turbulence Parameters Using the Radio Sounding Technique at Small Heliocentric Distances

We investigate the temporal correlation function and the mean intensity of monochromatic radio emission in the neighborhood of a regular caustic produced by radio sounding of near-solar plasma. Using asymptotic analysis and numerical simulation, we determine conditions under which the temporal correlation function is related to the temporal structure function by a relation similar to that used for the solar wind diagnostics (Coles and Harmon, Astrophys. J. 337, 1023, 1989) in the case of weak refraction of radio waves. Information on the correlation function and on the mean intensity in the caustic shadow region can be used to determine the parameters of the electron density fluctuation spectrum at small heliocentric distances.     

Status of the Connection between Unidentified Egret Sources and Supernova Remnants: The Case of Cta 1

In this paper we briefly comment on the observational status of the possible physical association between unidentified EGRET sources and supernova remnants (SNRs) in our Galaxy. We draw upon recent results presented in the review by Torres et al. (2003), concerning molecular gas in the vicinity of all 19 SNRs found to be positionally coincident with EGRET sources at low Galactic latitudes. In addition, we present new results regarding the supernova remnant CTA 1. Our findings disfavor the possibility of a physical connection with the nearby (in projection) EGRET source. There remains possible, however, that the compact object produced in the supernova explosion be related with the observed γ-ray flux.     

Interstellar extinction toward the ultradeep Galactic field of the Chandra observatory from 2MASS data

We have measured the interstellar extinction in the region of ultradeep Galactic-field observations by the Chandra telescope (l ^II, b ^II) ≈ 0.1–1.42 using photometric data from the 2MASS infrared allsky survey. The angular resolution of our interstellar extinction map is 1′.8. We show that the interstellar extinction has a minimum, A _V ～ 3.4, near the center of the Chandra field of view and increases to A _V ～ 5.8–6 at the edge of the field of view. In addition, we show that the bulk of the extinction is gained in the Galactic disk and is approximately the same for all bulge stars. Our results will be subsequently used to process the Chandra data and to estimate the properties of the stellar population in this region.     

活动星系核中相对论电子束的物理效应

本文研究了Ｂｌａｚａｒ天体的辐射性质，提出一种新的喷流模型，即具有幂律分布的极端相对论电子团从中心核注入喷流等离子体中，它在一定的注入速度下，不仅能在喷流等离子体中激发等离子体湍动，产生电磁波的相干辐射，而且能产生强的同步辐射。利用等离子体的弱湍理论，我们研究了极端相对论电子团在喷流等离子体中的辐射过程，并详细研究了它在解释Ｂｌａｚａｒ天体辐射特性中的应用，本文认为，Ｂｌａｚａｒ天体的不稳定辐射与极端相对论电子团的无规注入、喷流等离子体的物理环境瞬息变化有关。Ｂｌａｚａｒ中快速变化的辐射偏振角摆动。产生于相对论电子团在湍动等离子体中的同步辐射过程。另外，Ｘ选和射电选的ＢＬＬａｃ天体之间的区别取决于喷流等离子体的运动状态和物理环境。     

Radio haloes from simulations and hadronic models – I. The Coma cluster

We use the results from a constrained, cosmological magnetohydrodynamic simulation of the Local Universe to predict the radio halo and the γ-ray flux from the Coma cluster and compare it to current observations. The simulated magnetic field within the Coma cluster is the result of turbulent amplification of the magnetic field during the build-up of the cluster. The magnetic seed field originates from starburst driven, galactic outflows. The synchrotron emission is calculated assuming a hadronic model. We follow four approaches with different distributions for the cosmic ray proton population within galaxy clusters. The radial profile of the radio halo can only be reproduced with a radially increasing energy fraction within the cosmic ray proton population, reaching >100 per cent of the thermal-energy content at ≈1 Mpc, for example the edge of the radio-emitting region. Additionally, the spectral steepening of the observed radio halo in Coma cannot be reproduced, even when accounting for the negative flux from the thermal Sunyaev–Zeldovich effect at high frequencies. Therefore, the hadronic models are disfavoured from the present analysis. The emission of γ-rays expected from our simulated Coma is still below the current observational limits (by a factor of ∼6) but would be detectable by FERMI observations in the near future.     

Determination of linear polarization and faraday rotation of pulsar signals from spectral intensity modulation

Most of the known pulsars are sources of highly linearly polarized radiation. Faraday rotation in the intervening medium rotates the plane of the linear polarization as the signals propagate through the medium. The Rotation Measure (RM), which quantifies the amount of such rotation as a function of wavelength, is useful in studying the properties of the medium and in recovering the intrinsic polarization characteristics of the pulsar signal. Conventional methods for polarization measurements use telescopes equipped with dual orthogonally polarized feeds that allow estimation of all 4 Stokes parameters. Some telescopes (such as the Ooty Radio Telescope) that offer high sensitivity for pulsar observations may however be receptive to only a single linear polarization. In such a case, the apparent spectral intensity modulation, resulting from differential Faraday rotation of the linearly polarized signal component within the observing bandwidth, can be exploited to estimate the RM as well as to study the linear polarization properties of the source. In this paper, we present two improved procedures by which these observables can be estimated reliably from the intensity modulation over large bandwidths, particularly at low radio frequencies. We also highlight some other applications where such measurements and procedures would be useful.     

Reconstruction of the Three-Dimensional Density Distribution of Flare Stars in the Pleiades

This paper deals with the determination of the three-dimensional distribution of flare stars in the Pleiades cluster. For this purpose a one-dimensional distribution is first constructed from the observed two-dimensional distribution of the stars. It is shown that reliable construction of one dimensioned distribution requires solution of the Abel equation. The last one used to determine the dependence of the true three-dimensional distribution of the density of flare stars on distance from the center of the cluster. This reveals a spherical layer of width 0.5 pc (2.8 R 3.5 pc) with a deficit in the number of flare stars. A profile of the three-dimensional density distribution of flare stars is constructed in the region of deficit. The characteristics of this region are described.