The 2200 Å extinction feature and the shape-distribution of graphite grains

The observed profile of the 2200 Å interstellar extinction feature is consistent with extinction by polydispersions in shape of small graphite spheroids.The National Radio Astronomy Observatory is operated by Associated Universities, Inc., under contract with the National Science Foundation.     

VLA observations of extreme hydrogen deficient stars

VLA observations at 2 and 6 cm have been obtained for six hydrogen-deficient stars R CrB, HD 160641, BD — 9°4395, V348 Sgr, MV Sgr and Sgrv Upper limits to the massloss rates have been estimated for some of these using the upper limits to the radio flux density. National Radio Astronomy Observatory’s Very Large Array is operated by Associated Universities Inc. under contract with National Science Foundation, USA     

HI absorption observations of two radio sources near the supernova remnant G 127.1 + 0.5

The compact source 0125 + 628 in the centre of the galactic supernova remnant G 127.1 + 0.5 has been re-observed in HI absorption using the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope (WSRT). The outer arm HI absorption atV = -95km s^-1 has been confirmed. The absorption spectrum is similar to that of the nearby extragalactic source 0123 + 633. We discuss the arguments concerning an extragalactic origin of 0125 + 628 and conclude that it is most likely extragalactic and not an SS 433 type object. The National Radio Astronomy Observatory is operated by Associated Universities Inc. under contract with the National Science Foundation.     

A geometrical depolarization of pulsar radiation

It is assumed that pulsar radiation originates in a polar cap region and that the emission mechanism is curvature radiation. It is further assumed the radiation reaching an observer at any one time may represent contributions from several particle bunches moving relativistically along different magnetic field lines and radiating mutually incoherently. These assumptions are used to explanation of the minimum of linear polarization appearing near the profile centre of some pulsars.The National Radio Astronomy Observatory is operated by the Associated Universities Inc., under contract with the National Science Foundation.     

Fluctuations of pulsar emission with sub-microsecond time-scales

A model of pulsar emission fluctuations down to sub-microsecond time-scales is presented. The model is consistent with the empirical amplitude modulated noise model. It is proposed that the time-scale of the shortest observed micropulses is determined by the coherence of single-particle curvature radiation.The National Radio Astronomy Observatory is operated by the Associated Universities, Inc., under contract with the National Science Foundation.     

Polarization observations of four southern pulsars at 1560 MHz

We present some interesting results from the mean pulse polarization observations of four southern pulsars made at the Australian National Radio Astronomy Observatory, Parkes, using the 64-m telescope in June and July, 1988. The 2 × 16 × 5 MHz filter system from Jodrell Bank has proved excellent in de-dispersing the pulse signals and measuring their polarization properties. We give the data for the four pulsars in some detail and discuss their spectral behaviour.     

Further VLA observations of hydrogen deficient stars

VLA observations at 6 cm have been obtained for three hydrogen-deficient objects υ Sgr, V 348 Sgr, and A bell 58. A bell 58 was also observed at 2 cm. Only upper limits to the flux density could be set for these sources. A new radio source at 6 cm was found in the field of υ Sgr. The upper limit for 6 cm flux density of V348 Sgr sets an upper limit to its reddening asE(B–V) ≤ 0.65. The hydrogen deficient planetary nebula A 58 shows much lower radio flux than expected from the infrared-radio flux density relationship of planetary nebulae. National Radio Astronomy Observatory’s Very Large Array is operated by Associated Universities Inc. under contract with National Science Foundation, USA.     

Spectroscopic investigation of the Hg−Mn Star κ Cnc. I. choice of parameters of the model atmosphere and determination of the helium abundance

Astronomy Section with the National Astronomical Observatory of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences; Astronomical Council of the USSR Academy of Sciences; Rostov State University. Translated from Astrofizika, Vol. 30, No. 1, pp. 91–98, January–February, 1989.     

26Al and the partial ionization of the solar nebula

Calculation of the ionization state and consequent magnetic Reynolds number for the solar nebula shows that the presence of²⁶Al will result in strong coupling of the gas to magnetic fields. In the absence of²⁶Al,⁴⁰K will still result in substantial ionization, but the degree of magnetic coupling is much more model dependent.Paper presented at the Conference on Protostars and Planets, held at the Planetary Science Institute, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, between January 3 and 7, 1978.also Department of Astronomy.     

Direct imaging of planetary systems with a ground-based radio telescope array

The National Radio Astronomy Observatory's proposed Millimeter Array (MMA) will bring unprecedented sensitivity, angular resolution, and image dynamic range to the millimeter wavelength region of the spectrum. An obvious question is whether such an instrument could be used to detect planets orbiting nearby stars. The techniques of aperture synthesis imaging developed for centimeter wavelength radio arrays are capable of producing images whose dynamic ranges greatly exceed the brightness ratio of a solar-type star and a Jupiter-like planet at sub-millimeter or millimeter wavelengths. The angular resolution required to separate a star and planet at a few pc distance can be obtained with baselines of several km. The greatest challenge is sensitivity. At the highest possible observing frequencies ( 300 GHz for typical high, dry sites, and 900 GHz from the Antarctic plateau), the proposed MMA will be unable to detect the thermal emission from a Jupiter-like planet a few pc away. An upgraded MMA operating near 300 GHz with twice the currently proposed number of antennas, a 20% fractional bandwidth, and improved receivers could detect Jupiter at 4 pc in a few months. Building such an array on the Antarctic plateau and operating at 900 GHz would allow Jupiter at 4 pc to be detected in approximately one day of observing time.Paper presented at the Conference onPlanetary Systems: Formation, Evolution, and Detection held 7–10 December, 1992 at CalTech, Pasadena, California, U.S.A.     

Observations of minor planets with the very large array

The weak thermal emission from the largest minor planets can be detected and measured at all points around their orbits at microwave frequencies using the Very Large Array (VLA). Position determinations of astrometric quality have been obtained, and flux measurements have provided size estimates. When enough precise positional observations have been accumulated, the orbits of the minor planets and the Earth can be determined. This will allow the equinox to be located within the radio reference frame, providing a truly fundamental coordinate system for radio source positions. It will also provide a means of relating the optical and radio (quasar) coordinate systems.The National Radio Astronomy Observatory is operated by Associated Universities, Incorporated, under contract with the National Science Foundation.     

Redshift quantization in the cosmic background rest frame

Evidence for redshift quantization is reviewed and summarlized. The cosmic background rest frame appears to be central to the effect. Periods are consistently found to be members of a set predicted by the ninth-root Lehto-Tifft rule which has implications relating to the possible nature of time, particle physics and cosmology. Galaxies can be divided into four morphological families associated with particular classes of periods. Numerous examples are given including recent work where redshifts appear to show evidence of changes between related quantized levels. This work was carried out while on sabbatical leave from Steward Observatory, University of ArizonA. The National Radio Astronomy Observatory is a facility of the National Science Foundation, operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc.     

Expected and observed late giant star counts in the Milky Way bulge

In this paper, late M giants star counts in the Milky Way central bulge are compared with those expected from the Hubble and de Vaucouleurs surface brightness distributions.Paper presented at the IAU Third Asian-Pacific Regional Meeting, held in Kyoto, Japan, between 30 September–6 October, 1984.Operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under contract with the U.S. National Science Foundation.     

Deep low-frequency observations with the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope: a search for relic radio emission

We present deep multifrequency observations using the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT) at 153, 244, 610 and 1260 MHz of a field centred on J0916+6348, to search for evidence of fossil radio lobes which could be due to an earlier cycle of episodic activity of the parent galaxy, as well as haloes and relics in clusters of galaxies. We do not find any unambiguous evidence of episodic activity in a list of 374 sources, suggesting that such activity is rare even in relatively deep low-frequency observations. We examine the spectra of all the sources by combining our observations with those from the Westerbork Northern Sky Survey (WENSS), NRAO (National Radio Astronomy Observatories) VLA (Very Large Array) Sky Survey (NVSS) and the Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters Survey (FIRST). Considering only those which have measurements at a minimum of three different frequencies, we find that almost all sources are consistent with a straight spectrum with a median spectral index,  α∼ 0.8 [S(ν) ∝ν^−α  ], which appears steeper than theoretical expectations of the injection spectral index. We identify 14 very steep-spectrum sources with  α≥ 1.3  . We examine their optical fields and discuss the nature of some of these sources.     

Radio interferometric observations of solar bursts at 3.7 and 11.1 cm wavelengths

Several solar active regions were observed during the 1976 vernal equinox with the 3-element interferometer of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory. The element spacings for these observations were 600, 2100, and 2700 m, resulting in maximum angular resolutions of about 3 arc sec at 3.7 cm and 8.5 arc sec at 11.1 cm. We fitted the fringe visibility for each baseline pair as a function of projected baseline with a single gaussian component, and calculated the extrapolated flux at zero baseline, F ₀, the FWHM source size, a, and the peak brightness temperature T _b. We present physical parameters derived for the observed bursts.     

Azimuthal structures in the wind and chromosphere of the herbig Ae star ab aur. preliminary results from the MUSICOS 1992 campaign

MUSICOS (for MUlti-SIte COntinuous Spectroscopy) is an international project to facilitate and organize world-wide multi-site campaigns in high resolution spectroscopy, in view of obtaining a complete time coverage of various types of variable stellar phenomena.In the framework of this project a vast spectroscopic campaign was organized in December 1992, involving 8 sites well distributed in longitude around the Earth. The observations concerned three scientific programs, among which was the study of azimuthal structures in the wind and chromosphere of the pre-Main-Sequence Herbig Ae star AB Aur.The Hei 5876 line of AB Aur, which is formed in the expanding chromosphere of this star, in the innermost parts of its wind, was monitored at a resolution of 30000, nearly continuously for about 4 days. A spectacular variability of this line was discovered, the profile changing from pure emission to a composite profile including a deep absorption component in the course of a few hours. This variability can be the signature of azimuthal structures in the wind of AB Aur.We present the data collected during the campaign, and discuss possible interpretations of the spectacular variations of the Hei 5876 line.ESA/VILSPAUniversity of British Columbia CanadaBased on observations obtained during the MUSICOS 92 MUlti-SIte COntinuous Spectroscopic campaign from the National Solar Observatory McMath/Pierce 1.5 m, University of Hawaii 2.2 m, Beijing Observatory Xinglong 2.16 m, La Palma 4.2 m William Herschel Telescope, and Observatoire de Haute-Provence 1.52 m telescopes.Presented at the Cosmic Winds and the Heliosphere Conference in Tucson, Arizona, U.S.A., October 18–22, 1993.Visiting Astronomer, Kitt Peak National Observatory, National Optical Astronomy Observatories, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation.Visiting Astronomer National Solar Observatory, National Optical Astronomy Observatories, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation.     

Constraints on the Regimes of Electron Acceleration in Solar Flares

Astronomy Letters - Based on the observations of microwave impulsive bursts recorded at the Nobeyama Radio Observatory, we have obtained constraints on the regimes of electron acceleration in solar...     

Initial results from the Madurai solar radio spectrograph

A new digital radio spectrograph, the Madurai Solar Radio Spectrograph (MSRS), has been constructed at Madurai Kamaraj University, Madurai, India, and is being operated at the Radio Astronomy Centre, Ooty in southern India to observe solar bursts in the frequency range 30–80 MHz. The operation of the new instrument is briefly described. Observations of solar bursts by this instrument and the results from the preliminary analysis are presented.     

A high-sensitivity search for extraterrestrial intelligence at γ18 cm

We have conducted a targeted high-sensitivity search for narrow-band signals near γ18 cm using the 91-m radiotelescope of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory. The search included 201 nearby solar-type stars and achieved a frequency resolution of 5.5 Hz over a 1.4-MHz bandwidth. This high spectral Mark I VLBI recording terminal in conjunction with the CDC 7600 computational facility at the NASA-Ames Research Center. This is the first high-resolution search for narrow-band signals in this wavelength regime. To date it is the most sensitive search per unit observing time of any search strategy which does not postulate a unique magic frequency. Our data show no evidence for narrow-band signals due to extraterrestrial intelligence at a 12-σ upper limit on signal strength of 1.1 × 10^?23 W m^?2.     

Secondary radio eclipse of the transiting planet HD 189733 b: an upper limit at 307–347 MHz

We report the first attempt to observe the secondary eclipse of a transiting extra-solar planet at radio wavelengths. We observed HD 189733 b with the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) over about 5.5 h before, during and after secondary eclipse, at frequencies of 307–347 MHz. In this frequency range, we determine the 3σ upper limit to the flux density to be 81 mJy. The data are consistent with no eclipse or a marginal reduction in flux at the time of secondary eclipse in all subsets of our bandwidth; the strongest signal is an apparent eclipse at the 2σ level in the 335.2–339.3 MHz region. Our observed upper limit is close to theoretical predictions of the flux density of cyclotron-maser radiation from the planet.