星系翘曲盘及其统计研究

河外旋涡星系外区普遍存在翘曲结构,其特征可用干翘曲参数来描述,包括翘曲角、翘曲半径、不对称度等。一些翘曲星系表已相继发表,并用于相关的统计分析。关于翘曲盘的形成已提出多种理论机制,如星系间的潮汐相互作用、星系际介质的吸积、盘与暗晕的角动量错向以及星系际磁场的作用等。     

宇宙信息

宇宙信息哈勃空间望远镜发现裸黑洞哈勃空间望远镜在室女座活动星系ＮＧＣ６２５１中拍摄到一个翘曲的尘埃盘,遇到来自一个疑似黑洞的紫外光迸发。欧洲南方天文台的菲利普斯·克兰说,这是以前从未看到的新现象。哈勃空间望远镜观测到的其他黑洞大部分是隐匿的,因为它们...     

IRAS 10173+0828的翘曲拱核环中的 OH超脉泽

对IRAS 10173+0828的拱核环中的OH超脉泽进行MERLIN§高分辨观测,得到了拱核环为翘曲的证据,同时得到了10个速度通道中OH超脉泽的等强度轮廓线向东西方向延伸的角尺寸与其相应速度通道中峰束流量密度成正相关关系.     

太阳耀斑中的射电漂移结构

结合紫金山天文台的太阳射电观测资料,对太阳耀斑中的射电漂移结构进行研究。过去的观测发现,漂移结构太阳耀斑产生的射电爆发伴随一种特殊的结构。观测特征是其中的细结构是由许多小脉冲组成,但整体随时间漂移。过去观测到的这种结构是向低频漂移。观测上他们与太阳耀斑中的等离子团抛射相对应。2003年3月18日,紫金山天文台射电频谱仪观测到的漂移结构是漂向高频。     

百秒差距尺度上的4C39.25

通过主要在短厘米波长的全球VLBI观测,已经发现强射电类星体4C39.25在十秒差距尺度结构中的视超光速运动,其运动学图景表明该源是一个很特殊的视超光速源.近几年已提出了若干模型,试图解释这特殊的运动图景.报道不多的百秒差距尺度的VLBI观测,很可能有助于检验提出的模型.本文介绍用欧洲网及上海25m天线,在18cm波长对4C39.25所作的VLBI 成象观测的初步结果,显示百秒差距尺度复杂结构及可能存在的视超光速运动.     

两个南天射电星系1331-09和1417-20的高分辨率射电观测

用澳大利亚悉尼大学的Fleurs综合孔径射电望远镜,在1415MHz上对两个南天射电星系PKS1331-09和PKS1417-20进行了观测,得到了分辨率约为40弧秒的射电亮度分布图,并求得了它们的几何参数和物理参数.前者是一个延伸达1.9 Mpc的巨射电星系,具有与CygA十分相似的双源结构.我们猜测用更高分辨率观测该源时,可期望在它的子源外边沿发现热斑结构;后者是一通常的晕核结构源.     

河外星系中的厚盘

自1979年以来,越来越多的观测证据表明,在许多盘状星系中普遍存在厚盘成分,它们在结构、化学组成和运动学等方面与薄盘有着明显的不同.一般而言,星系中厚盘的标高比薄盘大得多,厚盘恒星与薄盘恒星相比,金属丰度较低而年龄较老,绕星系中心的转动速度较慢而速度弥散度较大,上述观测证据表明厚盘确实是星系长期演化后的产物,对于研究河外星系的形成和演化史有着重要的天体物理意义.该文在简单回顾银河系和河外星系中厚盘发现和确认史的基础上.介绍了对星系厚盘结构参数等性质的探测途径和目前取得的一些主要认识,并与薄盘恒星的相应特征作了比较,结构参数主要包括厚盘和薄盘的标长、标高和轴比,其他观测性质有两类盘的颜色、年龄、金属度和运动学特性等.最后,结合上述观测性质,对厚盘形成的几种可能的机制及未来可以开展的工作做了简要的说明和讨论.     

不同天文观测对宇宙学模型的限制

正1998年,科学家们通过对Ia型超新星的观测研究,发现了宇宙在加速膨胀,揭示了暗能量的存在.该发现使得宇宙学成为当今物理学的研究热点.宇宙学是一门高度依赖于观测事实的学科,利用各类天文观测数据来限制不同的宇宙学理论模型是现代宇宙学的一项重要研究工作.本论文的主要研究内容是利用不同的天文观测来限制宇宙学.这些天文观测包括Ia型超新星、超亮的Ic型超新星、伽玛射线暴、强引力透镜、星系团的角直径距离以及星系年龄.本文第1章简要回顾     

色球磁场极性反转结构的某些观测特征

利用怀柔太阳观测站的300余对光球(FeIλ5324.19A)和色球(H_βλ4861.34A)的观测磁图,分析得出色球极性反转结构是存在于太阳大气中的真实物理现象的结论.根据对活动区两个层次上的磁场精细结构的分析,发现色球磁场反转结构可能有4种不同的存在形式.     

太阳宁静区磁元的空间结构

利用怀柔太阳磁场望远镜,我们对太阳宁静区光球和色球磁场进行了观测。日面中心到边缘的观测表明,太阳宁静区中的小尺度磁结构在从光球到色球的扩展过程中变化不大。日面边缘的观测表明,小尺度磁结构的水平分量在光球和色球都不大。对极区和赤道边缘纵向磁场的比较发现,极区磁场与赤道边缘磁场有着不同的磁结构特性     

Interpretation of the apparent north-south asymmetry and fluctuations of galactic rotation

A model of the apparent north-south asymmetry of the rotation curve of the Galaxy and of the asymmetry appearing for the rotation of its outskirts has been presented, in terms of interaction redshifts. Fluctuations in the rotation curve for neutral hydrogen are discussed and interpreted as expanding motions in the arms. The expansion of the disk of the Galaxy which has been suggested previously as an explanation for the asymmetry has been shown to meet some serious difficulties. A remarkable north-south symmetry both in the spatial distribution and in the kinematics of neutral hydrogen in the subsolar region follows from the present model.     

An anomalous velocity neutral hydrogen structure near the galactic center

An extensive concentration of neutral hydrogen has been observed in the fourth galactic quadrant, with a mean radial velocity of +44 km s^?1 referred to the local standard of rest. At a distance ofR kpc from the Sun this structure would contain 2.5×10⁴ R ² solar masses of neutral hydrogen. Five possible interpretations of this extensive concentration are considered: (1) part of the shell of a nearby explosive event; (2) a distant spiral arm of the Galaxy; (3) an extragalactic object; (4) material falling into our Galaxy; (5) gas expelled from the galactic center. Arguments are offered against the first three possibilities.     

A reappraisal of several extensive phenomena of the high galactic latitudes

This is the first of two papers dealing with the extensive high latitude phenomena. The relationships between the diffuse and filamentary gaseous nebulosity, the giant radio loops and the high, medium and low velocity neutral hydrogen are considered in the light of recent observations. The existence of other giant loops is also suggested.A further article (by K.H.E.) will present some very accurate measurements of the radial velocities of the nebulosities in the vicinity of Loop 2. These will be compared to some neutral hydrogen features in that region.     

The spiral structure in the inner parts of the Galaxy

The spiral structure of the inner parts of the Galaxy is studied using 21 cm line data and stellar data. To study the neutral hydrogen distribution in the galactic layer a parameter =(dV/dr) proportional to the mean densities is calculated using a first approximation for the velocity gradients due to differential rotation.The obtained distribution (R, Z) shows spiral features completely consistent with the early star distribution and with the Hii regions. The corrugation effect of the galactic layer is observed in all the studied zones in neutral hydrogen and in the distribution of the OB stars in the Carina zone.The pattern obtained indicates four spiral arms for the inner parts of the Galaxy, three of which are identified also in the stellar data (arms -I, -II, and -III) and the more distant -IV in Hii regions.The local arm according to the stellar data of Kilkennyet al. forms a feature completely similar to the arms -I and -II and there are no indications that this arm is a special material branch between two main spiral arms as has been supposed in order to conciliate the neutral hydrogen pattern with the stellar distribution.The pitch angles for the spiral arms are approximately 13°–17°.The observed wave form distribution of the hydrogen cloud layer is completely consistent with the theoretical predictions of Nelson (1976) but there are no indications of such an effect in the intercloud hydrogen. The corrugated cloud layer has a width of 100 pc, a wave amplitude of 70 pc, and a wavelength which grows with the galactic center distance (approx. 2 kpc in the zones next to the galactic nucleus and 2.6–3.0 kpc in the zones next to the Sun). To each wavelength correspond two spiral arms. The spiral features in our Galaxy show characteristics quite similar to the features in the Andromeda nebula, not only in the component materials (neutral hydrogen, Hii regions and possibly also dust and stars) but also in their kinematics.     

Statistical significance of some optical evidence for the bending of the galactic plane

It is argued on the basis of an analysis of variance test that the distribution of Wolf-Rayet stars in the Galaxy departs systematically from the plane in the same sense as the neutral hydrogen.     

Simulations of the formation of stellar discs in the Galactic Centre via cloud–cloud collisions

Young massive stars in the central parsec of our Galaxy are best explained by star formation within at least one, and possibly two, massive self-gravitating gaseous discs. With help of numerical simulations, we here consider whether the observed population of young stars could have originated from a large angle collision of two massive gaseous clouds at   R ≃ 1 pc  from Sgr A*. In all the simulations performed, the post-collision gas flow forms an inner, nearly circular gaseous disc and one or two eccentric outer filaments, consistent with the observations. Furthermore, the radial stellar mass distribution is always very steep,  Σ_*∝ R ⁻²  , again consistent with the observations. All of our simulations produce discs that are warped by between 30° and 60°, in accordance with the most recent observations. The three-dimensional velocity structure of the stellar distribution is sensitive to initial conditions (e.g. the impact parameter of the clouds) and gas cooling details. For example, the runs in which the inner disc is fed intermittently with material possessing fluctuating angular momentum result in multiple stellar discs with different orbital orientations, contradicting the observed data. In all the cases the amount of gas accreted by our inner boundary condition is large, enough to allow Sgr A* to radiate near its Eddington limit over ∼10⁵ yr. This suggests that a refined model would have physically larger clouds (or a cloud and a disc such as the circumnuclear disc) colliding at a distance of a few parsecs rather than 1 pc as in our simulations.     

Pillars of Heaven

Sometimes the most beautiful things are the hardest to understand. Pillars like those of the Eagle Nebula form at the boundary between some of the hottest (10000~K) and coldest (10~K) gas in the Galaxy. Many physical processes come into play in the birth and growth of such gaseous pillars: hydrodynamic instability, photoionization, ablation, recombination, molecular heating and cooling, and probably magnetic fields. High-quality astronomical observations, quantitative numerical simulations, and scaled laser experiments provide a powerful combination for understanding their formation and evolution. We put our most recent hydrodynamic model to the test, by creating simulated observations from it and comparing them directly to the actual radioastronomical observations. Successfully reproducing major characteristics of the observations in this manner is an important step in designing appropriate laser experiments.     

The period-amplitude diagram of the cepheids

A new period-amplitude diagram of cepheids has been constructed. The phtoelectric observations of 365 variables were used from which 78 were newly observed. Real differences exist both in the short and in the long period regions of the period-amplitude diagram between the Magellanic Clouds and the Galaxy. It seems there are no significant differences between the upper envelopes derived for M31 and the Galaxy.     

The post-explosion shock propagation in the central region of our Galaxy

Immediate consequences of nuclear explosions on the structure and physical state of a galactic disk are considered in this paper. Explosions in the nucleus of a Galaxy generate strong shock waves which, when propagating onward heat and condensing the gas, form thin dense ring-like gaseous features behind it. Such rings and dense gaseous complexes have been observed in the central region of the Galaxy. These features have been treated here as the remnants of galactic shocks generated by nuclear explosions. We have estimated the time elapsed since the corresponding explosion, the energy released by explosion and the initial temperature and the velocity of the shock wave thus generated. The cooling of the gas heated by strong shocks has also been considered. The time taken by shock-heated gas to cool to its original temperature has been estimated to be of the order of 10⁵ to 10⁶ yr, according to the initial shock temperature which is about 9×10⁶ K or 6.4×10⁷ K. The rate of emission of energy and the total amount of energy dissipated away in the form of radiation in the cooling process, have been calculated for different values of initial shocktemperatures and also for different field intensities. The high-energy radiation emitted in the cooling process is suggested here as a source for the heating of dust grains, which ultimately are radiated in the infrared spectrum. Thus, a part of the infrared radiation, as measured by many authors, in the central region of the Galaxy, may originate ultimately from the cooling of the shock-heated gas there.     

H I observations of flat galaxies

We present the HI observations of 94 flat spiral galaxies from RFGC (Revised Flat Galaxy Catalog) and 14 galaxies from 2MFGC (the 2MASS selected Flat Galaxy Catalog) performed with the 100-m radio telescope in Effelsberg (Germany). HI fluxes, heliocentric radial velocities, and HI line widths are given for 65 detected galaxies. We present a mosaic of HI profiles. We calculated some of the global parameters of the galaxies and analyzed the linear correlations between them. The ratios of the total (indicative) masses of the galaxies to their luminosities lie within the range 0.4–8.2 with a mean of 3.8 (M_⊙/L_⊙), and the mean mass fraction of neutral hydrogen is 13%. Upper limits are given for the radio fluxes from 43 undetected galaxies.