A comparison of type II shock speeds

Type II radio bursts are produced by material moving outwards in the solar atmosphere. Their drift in frequency allows the calculation of the radial speed with which the shock is moving- very basic information in assessing the likelihood that the shock will reach the Earth and its time of arrival. This paper compares the shock speeds derived from radio bursts observed by the Swept Frequency Interferometric Radiometer (SFIR) equipment at the US Air Force Radio Solar Telescope Network (RSTN) of observatories with those measured with the Culgoora radiospectrograph operated by IPS Radio and Space Services. The SFIR shock speeds are found to be 1.5–3.0 times larger than the Culgoora values which are consistent with earlier results. This difference appears to originate from the incorrect interpretation of events as a result of the smaller frequency range of the SFIR equipment.     

基于Chandra的活动星系核观测

活动星系核（AGN）是宇宙中最奇特的天体之一。它是真正意义上的全波天体，其中X射线波段的发射功率占到全波段功率的50％左右。AGN的X射线辐射研究涉及天体物理中的最基本问题，例如能量产生、辐射机制和宇宙论等，而Chandra X射线卫星的高分辨率图像和光谱对这一研究有着重要作用。以Chandra卫星的部分观测结果为例，简要介绍了几类不同类型AGN的X射线辐射研究进展：（1）宽吸收线类星体APM08279＋5255（z=3．91）的X射线谱分析，以及高红移类星体的观测概况；（2）Seyfert星系NGC 4151延展X射线发射问题的解决，及NGC 1068X射线辐射与光学波段的高激发态发射线（[OⅢ]λ5007）有很强相关性的发现；（3）6个BLLac天体样本的X射线环境分析；（4）射电星系X射线喷流的观测等。     

Simulations of deep pencil-beam redshift surveys

We create mock pencil-beam redshift surveys from very large cosmological N -body simulations of two cold dark matter (CDM) cosmogonies, an Einstein–de Sitter model ( τ CDM) and a flat model with Ω₀=0.3 and a cosmological constant (ΛCDM). We use these to assess the significance of the apparent periodicity discovered by Broadhurst et al. Simulation particles are tagged as 'galaxies' so as to reproduce observed present-day correlations. They are then identified along the past light-cones of hypothetical observers to create mock catalogues with the geometry and the distance distribution of the Broadhurst et al. data. We produce 1936 (2625) quasi-independent catalogues from our τ CDM (ΛCDM) simulation. A couple of large clumps in a catalogue can produce a high peak at low wavenumbers in the corresponding one-dimensional power spectrum, without any apparent large-scale periodicity in the original redshift histogram. Although the simulated redshift histograms frequently display regularly spaced clumps, the spacing of these clumps varies between catalogues and there is no 'preferred' period over our many realizations. We find only a 0.72 (0.49) per cent chance that the highest peak in the power spectrum of a τ CDM (ΛCDM) catalogue has a peak-to-noise ratio higher than that in the Broadhurst et al. data. None of the simulated catalogues with such high peaks shows coherently spaced clumps with a significance as high as that of the real data. We conclude that in CDM universes, the regularity on a scale of ∼130  h ⁻¹ Mpc observed by Broadhurst et al. has a priori probability well below 10⁻³.     

VO_IMPAT:中国虚拟天文台图像处理分析工具

中国虚拟天文台图像处理分析工具（VO_IMPAT），是由国家天文台虚拟天文台项目组开发的一项服务，它提供了对数字巡天图像数据（Digital Sky Survey，DSS）、天文星表以及其他数据库的交互访问。VO_IMPAT的设计目的是实现多波段天文数据的融合。可以将不同波段的星表叠加到DSS底图上，如光学波段的USNO星表、近红外波段的2MASS星表、射电波段的NVSS星表和X射线波段的RASS星表。同时VO_IMPAT还可以对图像进行放大、缩小、伪彩色、等高线、直方图、尖锐化、平滑化、旋转等处理，不同的星表数据可以采用不同的颜色和图标显示。     

Thermal imbalance effects on pulsational stability in stellar models

The treatment followed by Coxet al. (1973) for the estimation of the effects of thermal imbalance on the pulsational stability of stars is applied to Roche and point source (Chandrika Prashad) model. The calculations suggest that the eigenvalues obtained for the above model are correct to 0(t _ff/t_s). The expressions for stability coefficients and corresponding eigenfunctions for the stars in thermal imbalance for the above models have also been derived.     

Spectral variations of DY Cen

Two high resolution spectra of the hot RCrB star DY Cen in the red region are compared. The photospheric absorption lines show a radial velocity variation of 12 kms-1 between 1989 July and 1992 May. Emission components to some CII lines present in 1989 are almost entirely absent in 1992. Nebular forbidden lines of [OI], [NII] and [SII] appear unchanged from 1989 to 1992     

Analytical and numerical analysis of the generalized Shkarofsky function

The main analytical properties of the generalized Shkarofsky function and a numerical code for its computation are discussed. The results of a numerical analysis are compared with the results of an asymptotic analysis for parameter values relevant to the problem of whistler-mode propagation in the Earth's magnetosphere. This comparison allows us to specify the range of applicability of different approximations to the generalized Shkarofsky function, which have been used for the analysis of relativistic effects on whistler-mode propagation and instability.