Trials and tribulations of playing the devil’s advocate

Beginning with his student days at school and college, the author describes his training at Cambridge with special emphasis on his mentor Fred Hoyle. His early experience of participating in a controversy at Cambridge played a major role in giving him the confidence to defend his scientific ideas. All through his later life he chose areas that were not part of mainstream research. These included the steady state theory and later the quasi steady state cosmology, action at a distance, noncosmological redshifts, quantum conformal cosmology, etc. After being a founding member of the Institute of Theoretical Astronomy(IOTA) at Cambridge, the author joined the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research(TIFR) in Mumbai and later moved to Pune to set up the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics(IUCAA). He briefly reviews his own work and ends by pointing out the difficulties a non-conformist scientist faces in his professional life. In the conclusion, he mentions his interests in science popularization and science fiction for which he has won awards and appreciation, including UNESCO’s Kalinga Prize.     

Exploration of the high-redshift universe enabled by THESEUS

Experimental Astronomy - At peak, long-duration gamma-ray bursts are the most luminous sources of electromagnetic radiation known. Since their progenitors are massive stars, they provide a tracer...     

Group method of calculating the perturbations of minor planets

Celestial Mechanics and Dynamical Astronomy - An expansion of the disturbing functionR is suggested for the special case when the orbits of a group of minor planets have approximately equal major...     

应用天文学研究进展

对应用天文学涉及的领域以及国际上应用天文学的特点作了介绍，分析了我国应用天文学的研究现状，展示了我国在诮天文所依托的基础科学研究领域和应用天文学领域取得的成绩与进展，其涉及范围比较广泛，但也指出了与国际先进国家相比我国应用天文学的水平尚有差距，最后对我国应用天文发展提出了初步的构想。     

Numerical theories of motion of Triton and Nereid

The ephemerides of satellites of major planets are needed in planning spacecraft missions both for studying the satellites themselves and for navigational support during the flights of spacecraft in the vicinity of planets. In addition, accurate numerical theories of motion of the natural satellites of major planets make it possible to increase the accuracy of the ephemerides of their central planets based on positional (photographic and CCD) observations of the satellites. Numerical theories of Neptune’s satellites, Triton and Nereid, constructed within the framework of the ERA software package developed at the Institute of Applied Astronomy of the Russian Academy of Sciences are presented.     

Contributions of the Pulkovo and Kharkiv Scientific Schools to the search for exoplanets and low-mass dark satellites of stars

This article is devoted to the Pulkovo astronomer, Prof. Aleksandr Nikolaevich Deich (Deutsch) (1899-1986), on the 110-th anniversary of his birth. Deich is known as the founder of the Pulkovo program for observing stars with invisible companions, as well as for his research on the star 61 Cyg, which was suspected, in his time, of having invisible companions with the masses of planets. Astrometric observations on the long focus astrograph and searches for exoplanets of nearby stars are reviewed. Modern methods of searching for exoplanets are summarized briefly. Instrument designs proposed by astronomers at Kharkiv (Scientific Research Institute of Astronomy at Kharkiv National University, NIIA KhNU) and Kazan (Institute of Astronomy, Kazan State University, AO KGU) for use in the search for low-mass dark components of stars are discussed. Examples are given of confirmations of invisible companions of stars which were first discovered by observation. A number of theoretical results on this topic from Kharkiv National University (Scientific Research Institute of Astronomy at Kharkiv and the Dept. of Astronomy) are noted.     

SAGE测光巡天数据处理方法研究

元素丰度与星系演化(Stellar Abundance and Galactic Evolution,SAGE)是自主设计的能够准确计算恒星大气参数以及消光的新测光系统。对北天除银盘外共计约12 000 deg2的天区开展了SAGE系统测光巡天,计划获取约5亿颗恒星的高精度测光数据。单次曝光条件下100σ完备星等uSC～17. 3,vSAGE～16. 8(AB星等),这些为研究银河系提供宝贵的测光资料。介绍了巡天专用的数据处理程序的研究和开发,主要研究了针对单幅图像的快速自动化处理过程,重点介绍数据改正、天体测量校正、测光和流量定标过程,以及数据结果和数据质量检测等。     

Problems of asteroid–comet hazard

The most relevant tasks associated with the problem of asteroid–comet hazard are discussed. A review is given of the respective research at the Institute of Applied Astronomy. The institute is currently implementing a project to create an information center whose tasks include the collection and processing of optical and radar observations of small solar system bodies, determination of their orbits, and assessment of the impact hazard of the newly discovered small bodies with respect to the earth, moon, and the other major planets and their satellites.     

Sociological Profile of Astronomers in Spain

In this paper the main findings are presented of a recent study made by a team of sociologists from the University of Granada on the professional astronomers currently working in Spain. Despite the peculiarities of this group – its youth, twentyfold increase in size over the last 20 years, and extremely high rate of specialization abroad – in comparison with other Spanish professionals, this is the first time that the sociological characteristics of the group have been studied discretely. The most significant results of the study are presented in the following sections. Section 1 gives a brief historical background of the development of Astronomy in Spain. Section 2 analyzes the socio-demographic profile of Spanish Astronomy professionals (sex, age, marital status, etc.). Sections 3–5 are devoted to the college education and study programs followed by Spanish astronomers, focusing on the features and evaluations of the training received, and pre- and postdoctoral study trips made to research centers abroad. The results for the latter clearly show the importance that Spanish astronomers place on having experience abroad. Special attention is paid to scientific papers published as a result of joint research projects carried out with colleagues from centers abroad as a result of these study trips. Section 6 describes the situation of Astronomy professionals within the Spanish job market, the different positions available and the time taken to find a job after graduation. Section 7 examines Astronomy as a discipline in Spain, including the astronomers' own opinions of the social status of the discipline within Spanish society. Particular attention is paid to how Spanish astronomers view the status of Astronomy in Spain in comparison with that of other European countries. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Eight decades of solar research at Mount Wilson

The Mount Wilson solar program has figured prominently in the field of solar physics throughout this century. This review describes the development of the instrumentation and the progress of the research at Mount Wilson from 1904 to 1984.The National Optical Astronomy Observatories are operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under contract to the National Science Foundation.     

Mulit-ion plasmas in astrophysics

An isothermal hydrodynamic model of the motions of a multi-ion plasma in a gravitational field is developed and the properties of the flow are discussed for the case of major astrophysical interest in which the gas undergoes a subsonic-supersonic transition. It is shown that the existence of critical points thorough which the plasma has to pass will determine a large number of the plasma parameters, especially the temperature of the minor ions. The equation of motion of a two ion gas (hydrogen-helium) are solved numerically and yield the interesting result that the bulk velocity of the plasma constituents are not equal at 1 AU.Operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, under contract with the National Science Foundation.     

《天文学进展》的LATEX文档类使用说明

twxjz．cls是《天文学进展》刊物投稿的LATEX文档类,是在ctex宏包基础上编写而成,底层支持CCT和CJK两种中文LATEX系统。本文详细介绍如何是用twxjz．cls来准备《天文学进展》稿件,同时也是排版格式指南。     

Astronomy Education for Physics Students

Astronomy is a very interesting subject for undergraduate students studying physics. In this paper, we report astronomy education for undergraduate students in the Physics Department of Guangzhou University, and how we are teaching astronomy to the students. Astrophysics has been rapidly developing since 1994, when the center for astrophysics was founded. Now, astrophysics has become a key subject in Guangdong Province, and the Astronomy Science and Technology Research Laboratory one of the key laboratories of the Department of Education of the Guangdong Province. Many undergraduate students, working under the tutorship of faculty members completed their thesis at the Center for Astrophysics in Guangzhou.     

V1589 Cyg=B19: A foreground dMe flare star in the direction of NGC 7000

Institute of theoretical Astrophysics, Oslo, Norway; Department of Astronomy and National Astronomical Observatory, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences; Department of Astronomy and McDonald Observatory, Austin, Texas, USA; Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Arkansas, USA; Byurakan Astrophysical Observatory Armenian Academy of Sciences, USSR. Published in English in Astrofizika, Vol. 19, No. 1, 67–73, July–August, 1988.     

Explosion of a Minimum-Mass Neutron Star within Relativistic Hydrodynamics

Astronomy Letters - The relativistic hydrodynamics equations are adapted for the spherically symmetric case and the Lagrangian form. They are used to model the explosive disruption of a...     

The Soviet CETI program

In March 1974 the Board of the Scientific Council on the Radio Astronomy Problem Area, Academy of Sciences of the USSR, considered and approved a Research Program on the Problem of Communication with Extraterrestrial Civilizations. The Program was developed by the Search for Cosmic Signals of Artificial Origin section of the Council on Radio Astronomy, on the basis of recommendations made at the Soviet National Conference on the Problem of Comunication with Extraterrestrial Civilizations held at the Byurakan Astrophysical Observatory in Armenia in May 1964, and the Soviet-American CETI conference held at Byurakan in September 1971. The projected program was reported to the 7th Soviet National Conference on Radio Astronomy, which convened at Gor'kii in 1972.     

Study of the Influence of the Background Neutral Component on the Dynamics of the Envelope in Supernova Remnants

Astronomy Letters - The influence of neutrals on the development of multidimensional dense-shell instabilities in supernova remnants is investigated. We present a model in which the neutrals are...     

On the Hall Instability in Protostellar Disks

Astronomy Letters - Small perturbations of a protostellar disk with vertical and azimuthal magnetic field components are considered in terms of Hall magnetohydrodynamics. The dispersion equation...     

Women in the History of Astronomy

We think about the History of Astronomy as the History of men. As the History of a few men: Ptolemy, Copernicus, Kepler, Newton,...- men who have changed our way of looking at the sky. But the History of Astronomy is more than that, it is the History of thousand of people whose daily work has allowed the development of knowledge and scientific theories at the time they lived. This, sometimes, "tedious work" permitted the big steps. Many of these people were women, as Theano who married Pythagoras and taught mathematics and astronomy in his school, Hypatia who managed the Library of Alexandria and wrote several astronomical treatises, Hildegard of Bingen who developed a theory on the origin and structure of the Universe in the 12^th century, or Sofie Brahe who, worked with her famous brother. And so many privileged women who after a long process of study, were able to develop their scientific interests in spite of been excluded from most of the educational installations and formal and informal groups of men scientist. Most of the works done by these women have been ignored, or wrongly attributed to men throughout History. It often happens that although they have been recognized as good scientists in their own times, women have been discredited by posterior historians who refused to believe that important women scientist ever existed. Here we intend to make a short summary on the lives of some of these women and their astronomical works. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Acceleration of anomalous cosmic rays at the heliospheric termination shock

Astronomy Letters - The acceleration of anomalous cosmic rays (ACRs) at the heliospheric termination shock and their influence on the shock structure and location are analyzed in terms of a...