Lunar structure and dynamics - results from the apollo passive seismic experiment

Analysis of seismic signals from man-made impacts, moonquakes, and meteoroid impacts has established the presence of a lunar crust, approximately 60 km thick in the region of the Apollo seismic network; an underlying zone of nearly constant seismic velocity extending to a depth of about 1000 km, referred to as the mantle; and a lunar core, beginning at a depth of about 1000 km, in which shear waves are highly attenuated suggesting the presence of appreciable melting. Seismic velocitites in the crust reach 7 km s^–1 beneath the lower-velocity surface zone. This velocity corresponds to that expected for the gabbroic anorthosites found to predominate in the highlands, suggesting that rock of this composition is the major constituent of the lunar crust. The upper mantle velocity of about 8 km s^–1 for compressional waves corresponds to those of terrestrial olivines, pyroxenites and peridotites. The deep zone of melting may simply represent the depth at which solidus temperatures are exceeded in the lower mantle. If a silicate interior is assumed, as seems most plausible, minimum temperatures of between 1450°C and 1600°C at a depth of 1000 km are implied. The generation of deep moonquakes, which appear to be concentrated in a zone between 600 km and 1000 km deep, may now be explained as a consequence of the presence of fluids which facilitate dislocation. The preliminary estimate of meteoroid flux, based upon the statistics of seismic signals recorded from lunar impacts, is between one and three orders of magnitude lower than previous estimates from Earth-based measurements.Paper dedicated to Professor Harold C. Urey on the occasion of his 80th birthday on 29 April, 1973.     

The use of invariant manifolds for transfers between unstable periodic orbits of different energies

Techniques from dynamical systems theory have been applied to the construction of transfers between unstable periodic orbits that have different energies. Invariant manifolds, trajectories that asymptotically depart or approach unstable periodic orbits, are used to connect the initial and final orbits. The transfer asymptotically departs the initial orbit on a trajectory contained within the initial orbit’s unstable manifold and later asymptotically approaches the final orbit on a trajectory contained within the stable manifold of the final orbit. The manifold trajectories are connected by the execution of impulsive maneuvers. Two-body parameters dictate the selection of the individual manifold trajectories used to construct efficient transfers. A bounding sphere centered on the secondary, with a radius less than the sphere of influence of the secondary, is used to study the manifold trajectories. A two-body parameter, κ, is computed within the bounding sphere, where the gravitational effects of the secondary dominate. The parameter κ is defined as the sum of two quantities: the difference in the normalized angular momentum vectors and eccentricity vectors between a point on the unstable manifold and a point on the stable manifold. It is numerically demonstrated that as the κ parameter decreases, the total cost to complete the transfer decreases. Preliminary results indicate that this method of constructing transfers produces a significant cost savings over methods that do not employ the use of invariant manifolds.     

HST/NICMOS Observations of M82

The irregular galaxy M82 is known as the archetypal starburst galaxy. Its proximity (3.5 Mpc) makes this galaxy an ideal laboratory for studying the properties of its starburst. The detailed morphology of the [FeII] 1.644 μm and emission Pa_α (at 1.87 μm) is revealed by the NICMOS images. The peak of the 2.2 μm continuum brightness(evolved population) lies very close to the dynamical centre. Most of the Pa_α emission (which traces the young population) is distributed in a ring of star formation (with a `hole' lacking line emission at the centre of the galaxy). These observations support the scenario in which the starburst in M82 is propagating outwards. It has long been suggested that the [FeII] emission in starburst galaxies can be used as a measure of supernova (SN) activity. M82 shows a large number of radio supernova remnants (SNRs), approximately 50, lying in the plane of the galaxy. The comparison of the positions of the bright compact [FeII] emitting regions with the location of the radio SNRs shows that there is no one-to-one spatial correspondence between the two emissions, suggesting that the radio and [FeII] emissions trace two populations of SNRs with different ages. Young (a few hundred years) SNRs are best traced by their radio emission, whereas the [FeII] stage lasts for at least a few 10⁴ yr. The compact [FeII] sources contribute only some 20 % of the total [FeII] emission observed in M82. However, much of the remaining unresolved [FeII] emission in the plane of the galaxy may arise from SNRs that expanded and merged into a general interstellar medium within a few 10⁴ yr. Presumably, as much as 70% of the total extinction-corrected [FeII]1.644 μm in M82 is associated with SNRs. The extended and diffuse [FeII] component in M82 seems to be related with the superwind above and below the disc of the galaxy. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Heights of formation of non-magnetic solar lines suitable for velocity studies

Heights of formation of lines that do not exhibit Zeeman splitting are calculated using an LTE, partial non-LTE, and full non-LTE approach. Non-magnetic (g=0) lines are valuable for velocity investigations in quiet-Sun magnetic field regions, and a knowledge of their formation heights is useful for obtaining three dimensional velocity profiles in these regions. Presently at Sacramento Peak Observatory. Operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under contract with the National Science Foundation.     

EUV analysis of an active region

A sequence of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) spectroheliograms of McMath region No. 10283 were obtained by the Harvard College Observatory experiment on OSO-6. The lines Ovi λ1032 Mg × λ625, Si xii λ499 and Fe xvi λ 335 were used to determine coronal temperatures and densities above the active region. A comparison of theoretical and observed line ratios yielded coronal temperatures of 2.2 to 2.3 × 10⁶K above the active region and 2.0 to 2.1 × 10⁶K in the surrounding area. The temperatures derived from ratios involving the O vi intensities are systematically higher than the others. This is attributed to an error in the theoretical O vi intensities. The intensities observed above the limb are compared with intensities predicted with a simple model based on cylindrical geometry. The overall agreement shows that the assumption of an iso-thermal corona in hydrostatic equilibrium above the active region is a reasonable working hypothesis and that the adopted geometrical model for the electron density distribution is adequate.     

A technique to deduce atmospheric temperature and constituent profiles from a planet's limb radiance profile

The concept is described of deducing the temperature and constituent profile of a planetary atmosphere from orbiter measurements of the planet's ir limb radiance profile. Expressions are derived for the weighting functions associated with the limb radiance profile for a Goody random band model. Analysis of the weighting functions for the Martian atmosphere indicates that a limb radiance profile in the 15 μm CO₂ band can be used to determine the Martian atmospheric temperature profile from 20 to 60 km. Simulation of the Martian limb radiance profile in the rotational water vapor band indicates that Martian water vapor mixing ratios can be inferred from limb radiance observations in a water vapor band.     

The 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey: luminosity dependence of galaxy clustering

We investigate the dependence of the strength of galaxy clustering on intrinsic luminosity using the Anglo-Australian two degree field galaxy redshift survey (2dFGRS). The 2dFGRS is over an order of magnitude larger than previous redshift surveys used to address this issue. We measure the projected two-point correlation function of galaxies in a series of volume-limited samples. The projected correlation function is free from any distortion of the clustering pattern induced by peculiar motions and is well described by a power law in pair separation over the range     . The clustering of     galaxies in real space is well-fitted by a correlation length     and power-law slope     . The clustering amplitude increases slowly with absolute magnitude for galaxies fainter than M *, but rises more strongly at higher luminosities. At low luminosities, our results agree with measurements from the Southern Sky Redshift Survey 2 by Benoist et al. However, we find a weaker dependence of clustering strength on luminosity at the highest luminosities. The correlation function amplitude increases by a factor of 4.0 between     and −22.5, and the most luminous galaxies are 3.0 times more strongly clustered than L * galaxies. The power-law slope of the correlation function shows remarkably little variation for samples spanning a factor of 20 in luminosity. Our measurements are in very good agreement with the predictions of the hierarchical galaxy formation models of Benson et al.     

Morphology of lunar craters: A test of lunar erosional models

This paper is a test of published theoretical and experimental studies of crater erosion by micrometeorite bombardment which predict systematic variations in the morphology of lunar craters as a function of crater diameter and crater age. Numerical, ranking-type degradation classifications indicate that the craters on Mare Imbrium and Mare Tranquillitatus confirm these predictions by showing a systematic increase in degradation with decreasing diameter for craters smaller than a few kilometers in diameter but larger than the equilibrium diameter, and by showing fixed proportions of fresh, moderately degraded and very degraded craters under equilibrium conditions. Furthermore, the relative ages of the two mare surfaces may be determined using a diameter/mean-degradation-number curve. These determinations of relative age and process of crater erosion are both essentially independent of the traditionally studied crater diameter/frequency relationships. Morphologies of terra craters near Mare Humorum suggest a young, non-equilibrium crater population superposed on a perimordial population with about equilibrium proportions of fresh, moderately degraded and very degraded craters. The primordial population has been modified by pre-Imbrian or early Imbrian deposition of blanketing deposits. A comparative study of several crater degradation classifications indicates that all are essentially interchangeable.     

The cosmological dependence of galactic specific angular momenta

Hydrodynamical simulations of galaxy formation in spatially flat cold dark matter (CDM) cosmologies with and without a cosmological constant (Λ) are described. A simple star formation algorithm is employed and radiative cooling is allowed only after redshift z =1 so that enough hot gas is available to form large, rapidly rotating stellar discs if angular momentum is approximately conserved during collapse. The specific angular momenta of the final galaxies are found to be sensitive to the assumed background cosmology. This dependence arises from the different angular momenta contained in the haloes at the epoch when the gas begins to collapse and the inhomogeneity of the subsequent halo evolution. In the Λ-dominated cosmology, the ratio of stellar specific angular momentum to that of the dark matter halo (measured at the virial radius) has a median value of ∼0.24 at z =0. The corresponding quantity for the Λ=0 cosmology is over three times lower. It is concluded that the observed frequency and angular momenta of disc galaxies pose significant problems for spatially flat CDM models with Λ=0 but may be consistent with a Λ-dominated CDM universe.     

The line-of-sight velocity distributions of simulated merger remnants

We use Gauss–Hermite functions to study the line-of-sight velocity distributions in simulated merger remnants. Our sample contains 16 remnants; eight produced by mergers between disc galaxies of equal mass, and eight produced by mergers between disc galaxies with mass ratios of 3:1. The equal-mass mergers display a wide range of kinematic features, including counterrotation at large radii, orthogonally rotating cores and misaligned rotational axes. Most of the unequal-mass remnants exhibit fairly regular disc-like kinematics, although two have kinematics more typical of the equal-mass remnants. Our results may be compared with observations of early-type objects, including ellipticals with misaligned kinematic axes, counterrotating systems and S0 galaxies.