Evolution of oxygen and nitrogen abundances in SDSS galaxies

New expressions for ON and NS calibrations (we call them ON11 and NS11 calibrations) for the determination of oxygen and nitrogen abundances in HII regions are proposed. New criteria for the division of HII regions into three classes (hot, warm, and cold) are also proposed. ON11 and NS11 calibrations provide more accurate determination of oxygen and nitrogen abundances from integrated emission spectra, in comparison with ON and NS calibrations. Oxygen and nitrogen abundances are estimated for a sample of 57 470 SDSS galaxies using ON11 and NS11 calibrations. Strongline flux measurements for SDSS spectra of these galaxies are taken from the MPA/JHU catalog. A ??mass-metallicity?? diagram for several redshift ranges is constructed. It is found that the interstellar medium of galaxies with high masses log(M/M _??) > 11.3 was hardly enriched with either oxygen or nitrogen over the last 4 Gyrs (corresponding to the redshift interval z = 0?C0.4). This indicates that an active stage of star formation in massive galaxies was completed more than 4 Gyrs ago. For galaxies of lower masses, changes in oxygen and nitrogen abundances over the time period under consideration increase as galaxy mass decreases.     

An improved shadow measurement technique for constraining the morphometry of simple impact craters

Abstract— The lengths of the shadows cast within simple, bowl‐shaped impact craters have been used to constrain their depths on a variety of planetary bodies. This technique, however, only yields the “true” crater depth if the shadow transects the crater center where the floor is deepest. In the past, attempts have been made to circumvent this limitation by choosing only craters where the shadow tip lies very near the crater center; but this approach may introduce serious artifacts that adversely affect the slope of the regressed depth vs. diameter data and its variance. Here we introduce an improved method for deriving depth information from shadow measurements that considers three basic shape variations of simple craters: paraboloidal, conical, and flat‐floored. We show that the shape of the cast shadow can be used to constrain crater shape and we derive improved equations for finding the depths of these simple craters.     

Amino acids in the Tagish Lake meteorite

Abstract— High‐performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) based amino acid analysis of a Tagish Lake meteorite sample recovered 3 months after the meteorite fell to Earth have revealed that the amino acid composition of Tagish Lake is strikingly different from that of the CM and CI carbonaceous chondrites. We found that the Tagish Lake meteorite contains only trace levels of amino acids (total abundance = 880 ppb), which is much lower than the total abundance of amino acids in the CI Orgueil (4100 ppb) and the CM Murchison (16 900 ppb). Because most of the same amino acids found in the Tagish Lake meteorite are also present in the Tagish Lake ice melt water, we conclude that the amino acids detected in the meteorite are terrestrial contamination. We found that the exposure of a sample of Murchison to cold water lead to a substantial reduction over a period of several weeks in the amount of amino acids that are not strongly bound to the meteorite matrix. However, strongly bound amino acids that are extracted by direct HCl hydrolysis are not affected by the leaching process. Thus even if there had been leaching of amino acids from our Tagish Lake meteorite sample during its 3 month residence in Tagish Lake ice and melt water, a Murchison type abundance of endogenous amino acids in the meteorite would have still been readily detectable. The low amino acid content of Tagish Lake indicates that this meteorite originated from a different type of parent body than the CM and CI chondrites. The parent body was apparently devoid of the reagents such as aldehyldes/ketones, HCN and ammonia needed for the effective abiotic synthesis of amino acids. Based on reflectance spectral measurements, Tagish Lake has been associated with P‐ or D‐type asteroids. If the Tagish Lake meteorite was indeed derived from these types of parent bodies, our understanding of these primitive asteroids needs to be reevaluated with respect to their potential inventory of biologically important organic compounds.     

CO2 Snow on Mars and Early Earth: Experimental Constraints

Greenhouse warming due to carbon dioxide atmospheres may be responsible for maintaining the early Earth's surface temperature above freezing and may even have allowed for liquid water on early Mars. However, the high levels of CO₂ required for such warming should have also resulted in the formation of CO₂ clouds. These clouds, depending on their particle size, could lead to either warming or cooling. The particle size in turn is determined by the nucleation and growth conditions. Here we present laboratory studies of the nucleation and growth of carbon dioxide on water ice under martian atmospheric conditions. We find that a critical saturation, S=1.34, is required for nucleation, corresponding to a contact parameter between solid water and solid carbon dioxide of m=0.95. We also find that after nucleation occurs, growth of CO₂ is very rapid, and we report the growth rates at a number of supersaturations. Because growth would be expected to continue until the CO₂ pressure is lowered to its vapor pressure, we expect particles larger than those being currently suggested for the present and past martian atmospheres. Using this information in a microphysical model described in a companion paper, we find that CO₂ clouds are best described as “snow,” having a relatively small number of large particles.     

OSL and ESR studies of Aeolian quartz from the Upper Pleistocene loess sequence of Nussloch (Germany)

As part of a chronological study of the famous Upper Pleistocene Nussloch (Germany) loess sequence, three samples were collected to check the applicability of palaeodosimetric dating methods (OSL and ESR) to quartz grains. The ESR-multicentre method showed a partial bleaching of the ESR centers in aeolian sands. This partial bleaching was also observed by OSL. Laminated loess seemed to be sufficiently bleached but showed a large scatter of the doses, which we ascribed to heterogeneous responses of the luminescent grains to the SAR protocol. Ages could nevertheless be calculated for the three samples and were found to be somewhat older than the IRSL and ¹⁴C ages obtained for the same layers of the laminated loess.     

Neutron stars in the bimetric Scalar-Tensor theory of gravitation. I. new solutions of the field equations

New solutions of the equations of the bimetric scalar-tensor theory of gravitation for neutron stars are found. In these solutions the scalar field is constant, φ = φ_φ, while the metric space-time tensor is determined by the equations of the general theory of relativity. The problem was to find a background metric corresponding to φ_φ. Solutions with a variable φ were studied earlier [M. R. Avakian, L. Sh. Grigorian, and A. A. Saharian, Astrofizika, 35, 121 (1991)] and are determined by the dimensionless parameter ζ of the theory. Differences between solutions with constant and variable ? are considerable for ¦ζ¦ ≤ 1.     

Spectroscopic observations of red dwarfs. III. Observations of red stars in the solar neighborhood

This list is based on 20 stars in the solar neighborhood for which there are 52 spectra. Twelve of them are known as UV Ceti flare stars. The others behave like flare stars, but are not known to be such. Among the 20 there are many binary and triple flare stars. They all belong to the disk population of the Galaxy. Red dwarfs comprise one of the numerous populations of the system. Flare stars either continue to flare or have ceased flare activity. Three diagrams are given that show satisfactory agreement with the expected ones. A cluster analysis is carried out, which is in agreement with the original proposition and confirms the foregoing.     

Isotropic and anisotropic pointing models

This paper describes an alternative approach for generating pointing models for telescopes equipped with serial kinematics, esp. equatorial or alt-az mounts. Our model construction does not exploit any assumption for the underlying physical constraints of the mount, however, one can assign various effects to the respective components of the equations. In order to recover the pointing model parameters, classical linear least squares fitting procedures can be applied. This parameterization also lacks any kind of parametric singularity. We demonstrate the efficiency of this type of model on real measurements with meter-class telescopes where the results provide a root mean square accuracy of 1.5?2 arcseconds.     

Investigations of space debris at Terskol observatory

Within the framework of the “Astronomy in the Elbrus Region” international program, investigations of space debris objects using optical measurements are carried out at the observation complex of the Zeiss-2000 telescope (developed by the International Center for Astronomical and Medico-Ecological Research, National Academy of Sciences, Ukraine) at Terskol Observatory. The objectives of this study are to detect, catalog, and determine the physical characteristics of small-sized space debris fragments, maintain orbit catalogs, and investigate the influence of nongravitational perturbations on the orbital motion and the evolution of orbits of these fragments.