The near infrared camera on the W.M. Keck telescope

The near infrared camera (NIRC) was used for a science demonstration run on the Keck telescope during 16–24 March 1993. The camera used a 256×256 InSb array manufactured by Santa Barbara Research Corporation. Observations were obtained using narrowband and broad band filters from 1 to 2.4 microns, and grisms with a spectral resolution of 0.6 percent in the J, H and K atmospheric windows. The instrument was fully background limited over the entire wavelength range. The sky background was quite low, reaching 14.3 mag/square arc sec in the broadband K _s filter. The image quality of the camera + telescope was excellent, being seeing limited in the range 0.5–0.9.The science demonstration observations of the NIRC on the Keck Telescope included observations of the most distant galaxy known, 4C41.17 at a redshift z=3.8 and the most luminous object known, the IRAS source FSC10214+4724 at a redshift z=2.29. Observations of the radio galaxy address the problem of the alignment effect in high redshift radio galaxies as well as the environments of such systems. FSC10214+4724 appears to be a merging galaxy that is at least 5×10⁸ years old.Based on observations obtained at the W.M.Keck Observatory, which is operated jointly by the California Institute of Technology and the University of CaliforniaThe W.M. Keck Observatory is operated as a scientific partnership between the California Institute of Technology and the University of California. It was made possible by the generous gift of the W.M. Keck foundation and the support of its president, Howard Keck.     

On the temperature measurement from the O IV emission lines

The new calculations of the Oiv temperature-sensitive EUV line ratios are presented and compared with previous results.     

Effect of perturbed potentials on the non-linear stability of libration pointL 4 in the restricted problem

The non-linear stability of the libration pointL ₄ in the restricted problem has been studied when there are perturbations in the potentials between the bodies. It is seen that the pointL ₄ is stable for all mass ratios in the range of linear stability except for three mass ratios depending upon the perturbing functions. The theory is applied to the following four cases:

Star formation in starburst galaxies from near-IR spectroscopy and evolutionary population synthesis

We show that the combined study of the near-IR Stellar Energy Distribution (SED) and emission lines in IR luminous starburst galaxies, using evolutionary population synthesis, gives constraints both on the star formation (SF) parameters and on the relative spatial distribution of the components (burst stars, evolved stars, H II regions, dust). We also note that the He I λ 2.06/Br _γ ratio, used to constrain the stellar upper mass limit, is sensitive to a variety of other factors that should be accounted for.     

The Bison LL6 breccia

Abstract— Bison LL6 chondrite is an impact breccia. The meteorite consists of unmolten clasts and accessory melt-breccia clasts incorporated into a host of the same parentage.     

Observation of chromospheric evaporation during the solar maximum mission

A sample of flares detected in 1980 with the Bent Crystal Spectrometer and the Hard X-Ray Burst Spectrometer on the Solar Maximum Mission satellite has been analysed to study the upward motions of part of the soft X-ray emitting plasma. These motions are inferred from the presence of secondary blue-shifted lines in the Ca XIX and Fe XXV spectral regions during the impulsive phase of disk flares. Limb flares do not show such blue-shifted lines indicating that the direction of the plasma motion is mainly radial and outward. The temporal association of these upward motions with the rise of the thermal phase and with the impulsive hard X-ray burst, as well as considerations of the plasma energetics, favour the interpretation of this phenomenon in terms of chromospheric evaporation. The two measureable parameters of the evaporating plasma, emission measure and velocity, depend on parameters related to the energy deposition and to the thermal phase. The evaporation velocity is found to be correlated with the spectral index of the hard X-ray flux and with the rise time of the thermal emission measure of the coronal plasma. The emission measure of the rising plasma is found to be correlated with the total energy deposited by the fast electrons in the chromosphere by collisions during the impulsive phase and with the maximum emission measure of the coronal plasma.     

Microwave and hard X-Ray observations of a solar flare with a time resolution better than 100 ms

Simultaneous microwave and X-ray observations are presented for a solar flare detected on May 8, 1980 starting at 19:37 UT. The X-ray observations were made with the Hard X-Ray Burst Spectrometer on the Solar Maximum Mission and covered the energy range from 28–490 keV with a time resolution of 10 ms. The microwave observations were made with the 5 and 45 foot antennas at the Itapetinga Radio Observatory at frequencies of 7 and 22 GHz, with time resolutions of 100 ms and 1 ms, respectively. Detailed correlation analysis of the different time profiles of the event show that the major impulsive peaks in the X-ray flux preceded the corresponding microwave peaks at 22 GHz by about 240 ms. For this particular burst the 22 GHz peaks preceded the 7 GHz by about 1.5 s. Observed delays of the microwave peaks are too large for a simple electron beam model but they can be reconciled with the speeds of shock waves in a thermal model.     

Wave propagation in a magnetic cylinder

The nature of oscillations in a magnetic cylinder embedded in a magnetic environment is investigated. It is shown that the standard slender flux tube analysis of a kink mode in a cylinder excludes the possibility of a second mode, which arises under photospheric conditions. Under coronal conditions, two widely separated classes of oscillation can be freely sustained, one on an acoustic time-scale and the other on an Alfvénic time-scale. The acoustic-type oscillations are always present, but the much shorter period, Alfvénic-type, oscillations arise only in high density (strictly, low Alfvén velocity) loops. An application to waves in fibrils is also given, and suggests (following Wentzel, 1979) that they are fast kink waves propagating in a density enhancement.     

Variations of cosmic-ray energy in interplanetary space

A consistent theory of energy exchange between high-energy charged cosmic-ray particles and the random inhomogeneities of a magnetic field frozen in the moving solar wind plasma is developed. It is shown that the mode of the particle energy variations at a given law of plasma velocity variation in space is determined by the specific form of the particle distribution function. The equation for the density of cosmic-ray energy is obtained. Consideration is given to the generation of a charged particle energy spectrum in the course of multiple scatterings by the random inhomogeneities of the magnetic field.     

On stellar occultations by comets

Stellar occultations by comets can be used for studying the dust opacity of the coma in the vicinity of the cometary nucleus. This method provides high spatial resolution. If faint stars (V ≤ 15) are used in the densest regions of the sky, the event probability is typically one every 2 hr. This probability can be enhanced by a factor of 40 if the Space Telescope is used.