The enigma of the oldest 'nova': the central star and nebula of CK Vul

CK Vul is classified as, amongst others, the slowest known nova, a hibernating nova or a very late thermal pulse object. Following its eruption in ad 1670, the star remained visible for 2 yr. A 15-arcsec nebula was discovered in the 1980s, but the star itself has not been detected since the eruption. We here present radio images which reveal a 0.1-arcsec radio source with a flux of 1.5 mJy at 5 GHz. Deep Hα images show a bipolar nebula with a longest extension of 70 arcsec, with the previously known compact nebula at its waist. The emission-line ratios show that the gas is shock-ionized, at velocities  >100 km s⁻¹  . Dust emission yields an envelope mass of  ∼5 × 10⁻² M_⊙  . Echelle spectra indicate outflow velocities up to 360 km s⁻¹. From a comparison of images obtained in 1991 and 2004 we find evidence for expansion of the nebula, consistent with an origin in the 1670 explosion; the measured expansion is centred on the radio source. No optical or infrared counterpart is found at the position of the radio source. The radio emission is interpreted as thermal free–free emission from gas with   T _e∼ 10⁴ K  . The radio source may be due to a remnant circumbinary disc, similar to those seen in some binary post-AGB stars. We discuss possible classifications of this unique outburst, including that of a sub-Chandrasekhar mass supernova, a nova eruption on a cool, low-mass white dwarf or a thermal pulse induced by accretion from a circumbinary disc.     

The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) during MRO’s Primary Science Phase (PSP)

The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) acquired 8 terapixels of data in 9137 images of Mars between October 2006 and December 2008, covering ∼0.55% of the surface. Images are typically 5-6 km wide with 3-color coverage over the central 20% of the swath, and their scales usually range from 25 to 60 cm/pixel. Nine hundred and sixty stereo pairs were acquired and more than 50 digital terrain models (DTMs) completed; these data have led to some of the most significant science results. New methods to measure and correct distortions due to pointing jitter facilitate topographic and change-detection studies at sub-meter scales. Recent results address Noachian bedrock stratigraphy, fluvially deposited fans in craters and in or near Valles Marineris, groundwater flow in fractures and porous media, quasi-periodic layering in polar and non-polar deposits, tectonic history of west Candor Chasma, geometry of clay-rich deposits near and within Mawrth Vallis, dynamics of flood lavas in the Cerberus Palus region, evidence for pyroclastic deposits, columnar jointing in lava flows, recent collapse pits, evidence for water in well-preserved impact craters, newly discovered large rayed craters, and glacial and periglacial processes. Of particular interest are ongoing processes such as those driven by the wind, impact cratering, avalanches of dust and/or frost, relatively bright deposits on steep gullied slopes, and the dynamic seasonal processes over polar regions. HiRISE has acquired hundreds of large images of past, present and potential future landing sites and has contributed to scientific and engineering studies of those sites. Warming the focal-plane electronics prior to imaging has mitigated an instrument anomaly that produces bad data under cold operating conditions.     

A Multiscale Vision Model to Analyse Field Astronomical Images

We have implemented a multiscale vision model based on the wavelet transform to analyse field astronomical images. The discrete transform is performed by the à trous algorithm. The vision model is based on the notion of significant structures. We identify the pixels of the associated wavelet transform space (WTS) with the objects. For each scale a region labelling is carried out. An interscale connectivity graph is then established. In accordance with some rules that permit false detections to be removed, the objects and their sub-objects are identified. They define respectively trees and sub-trees in the graph. In this way, the identification of the WTS pixels of the tree related to a given object leads to the reconstruction of its image by the conjugate gradient method. The model has been tested successfully on simulated images of stars and galaxies which allow us to show the capabilities of the detection and restoration procedures of the model. Finally, tests on real images show that one can analyse complex structures better than with classical astronomical vision models.     

Recent Trends in Satellite-Derived Chlorophyll and Aerosol Optical Depth Together with Simulated Dimethylsulfide in the Eastern China Marginal Seas

The biogenic compound dimethylsulfide(DMS)produced by a range of marine biota is the major natural source of re-duced sulfur to the atmosphere and plays a major role in the formation and evolution of aerosols,potentially affecting climate.The spatio-temporal distribution of satellite-derived chlorophyll_a(CHL)and aerosol optical depth(AOD)for the recent years(2011-2019)in the Eastern China Marginal Seas(ECMS)(25°-40°N,120°-130°E)are studied.The seasonal CHL peaks occurred during late April and the CHL distribution displays a clear zonal gradient.Elevated CHL was also observed along the northern and western coastlines during summer and winter seasons.Trend analysis shows that mean CHL decreases by about 10%over the 9-year study period,while AOD was higher in south and lower in north during summertime.A genetic algorithm technique is used to calibrate the key model parameters and simulations are carried out for 2015,a year when field data was available.Our simulation results show that DMS seawater concentration ranges from 1.56 to 5.88 nmol L^?1 with a mean value of 2.76 nmol L^?1.DMS sea-air flux ranges from 2.66 to 5.00mmol m^?2 d^?1 with mean of 3.80mmol m^?2 d^?1.Positive correlations of about 0.5 between CHL and AOD were found in the study region,with higher correlations along the coasts of Jiangsu and Zhejiang Provinces.The elevated CHL concentration along the west coast is correlated with increased sea-water concentrations of DMS in the region.Our results suggest a possible influ-ence of DMS-derived aerosol in the local ECMS atmosphere,especially along the western coastline of ECMS.     

Magnetic fields in planetary nebulae and post-AGB nebulae

Magnetic fields are an important but largely unknown ingredient of planetary nebulae. They have been detected in oxygen-rich asymptotic giant branch (AGB) and post-AGB stars, and may play a role in the shaping of their nebulae. Here we present SCUBA submillimetre polarimetric observations of four bipolar planetary nebulae and post-AGB stars, including two oxygen-rich and two carbon-rich nebulae, to determine the geometry of the magnetic field by dust alignment. Three of the four sources (NGC 7027, 6537 and 6302) present a well-defined toroidal magnetic field oriented along their equatorial torus or disc. NGC 6302 may also show field lines along the bipolar outflow. CRL 2688 shows a complex field structure, where part of the field aligns with the torus, whilst an other part approximately aligns with the polar outflow. It also presents marked asymmetries in its magnetic structure. NGC 7027 shows evidence for a disorganized field in the south-west corner, where the SCUBA shows an indication for an outflow. The findings show a clear correlation between field orientation and nebular structure.     

Measuring velocities using the CMB and LSS

Here is discussed various ways by which the cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation can be use to measure the velocities of matter in the universe. We include some new statistical techniques for using the kinetic Sunyaev–Zel’dovich (kSZ) effect and integrated Sachs–Wolfe (ISW) effect to determine velocities by correlating wide area CMB maps with overlapping large-scale structure (LSS) surveys.     

Sky Noise Limited Snapshot Imaging in the Presence of RFI with Lofar’s Initial Test Station

The initial test station (ITS) is the first full scale prototype of a low frequency array (LOFAR) station. It operates in the 10–40 MHz range and consists of 60 sky noise limited dipoles arranged in a five-armed spiral structure offering an instantaneous synthesized aperture of almost 200 m diameter. We will present all sky snapshot images demonstrating sky-noise limited imaging capability in the presence of a strong RFI source that exceeds the all sky power by 27 dB. This result is obtained with a two stage self-calibration procedure. First, the RFI source near the horizon is used as calibrator and then subtracted, after which Cas A shows up at a level that is a factor 2000 lower and then dominates the picture with its side lobes. A second self calibration on Cas A then reveals the same extended galactic emission as found in a RFI free adjacent spectral channel. This demonstrates that a single 10 kHz channel of a 6.7 s snapshot of a single LOFAR station already provides a dynamic range of over 10⁴.     

Mode switching in the nearby Mira-like variable R Doradus

We discuss visual observations spanning nearly 70 years of the nearby semiregular variable R Doradus. Using wavelet analysis, we show that the star switches back and forth between two pulsation modes having periods of 332 d and about 175 d, the latter with much smaller amplitude. Comparison with model calculations suggests that the two modes are the first and third radial overtone, with the physical diameter of the star making fundamental-mode pulsation unlikely. The mode changes occur on a time-scale of about 1000 d, which is too rapid to be related to a change in the overall thermal structure of the star and may instead be related to weak chaos.   The Hipparcos distance to R Dor is 62.4 ± 2.8 pc which, taken with its dominant 332-d period, places it exactly on the period–luminosity (P–L) relation of Miras in the Large Magellanic Cloud. Our results imply first-overtone pulsation for all Miras which fall on the P–L relation. We argue that semiregular variables with long periods may largely be a subset of Miras and should be included in studies of Mira behaviour. The semiregulars may contain the immediate evolutionary Mira progenitors, or stars may alternate between periods of semiregular and Mira behaviour.     

Incorporating subjective and stochastic uncertainty in an interactive multi-objective groundwater calibration framework

The interactive multi-objective genetic algorithm (IMOGA) combines traditional optimization with an interactive framework that considers the subjective knowledge of hydro-geological experts in addition to quantitative calibration measures such as calibration errors and regularization to solve the groundwater inverse problem. The IMOGA is inherently a deterministic framework and identifies multiple large-scale parameter fields (typically head and transmissivity data are used to identify transmissivity fields). These large-scale parameter fields represent the optimal trade-offs between the different criteria (quantitative and qualitative) used in the IMOGA. This paper further extends the IMOGA to incorporate uncertainty both in the large-scale trends as well as the small-scale variability (which can not be resolved using the field data) in the parameter fields. The different parameter fields identified by the IMOGA represent the uncertainty in large-scale trends, and this uncertainty is modeled using a Bayesian approach where calibration error, regularization, and the expert’s subjective preference are combined to compute a likelihood metric for each parameter field. Small-scale (stochastic) variability is modeled using a geostatistical approach and added onto the large-scale trends identified by the IMOGA. This approach is applied to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) case-study. Results, with and without expert interaction, are analyzed and the impact that expert judgment has on predictive uncertainty at the WIPP site is discussed. It is shown that for this case, expert interaction leads to more conservative solutions as the expert compensates for some of the lack of data and modeling approximations introduced in the formulation of the problem.