Interstellar clouds and the formation of stars

Part I gives a survey of the drastic revision of cosmic plasma physics which is precipitated by the exploration of the magnetosphere throughin situ measurements. The pseudo-plasma formalism, which until now has almost completely dominated theoretical astrophysics, must be replaced by an experimentally based approach involving the introduction of a number of neglected plasma phenomena, such as electric double layers, critical velocity, and pinch effect. The general belief that star light is the main ionizer is shown to be doubtful; hydromagnetic conversion of gravitational and kinetic energy may often be much more important.In Part II the revised plasma physics is applied to dark clouds and star formation. Magnetic fields do not necessarily counteract the contraction of a cloud; they may just as well pinch the cloud. Magnetic compression may be the main mechanism for forming interstellar clouds and keeping them together.Part III treats the formation of stars in a dusty cosmic plasma cloud. Star formation is due to an instability, but it is very unlikely that it has anything to do with the Jeans instability. A reasonable mechanism is that the sedimentation of dust (including solid bodies of different size) is triggering off a gravitationally assisted accretion. A stellesimal accretion analogous to the planetesimal accretion leads to the formation of a star surrounded by a very low density hollow in the cloud. Matter falling in from the cloud towards the star is the raw material for the formation of planets and satellites.The study of the evolution of a dark cloud leads to a scenario of planet formation which is reconcilable with the results obtained from studies based on solar system data. This means that the new approach to cosmical plasma physics discussed in Part I logically leads to a consistent picture of the evolution of dark clouds and the formation of solar systems.     

The volatile fraction of the cometary nucleus

In order to prepare a flyby mission to Comet Encke, six different sources of information on the possible chemical composition of the cometary nucleus are compared. These are: the neutral and charged radicals and molecules observed in cometary spectra; the chemical composition of type I carbonaceous chondrites; the meteor spectra; the metallic ions collected in the upper atmosphere and correlated with the meteor shower associated with Comet Encke; and finally the volatile molecules observed in a volatile-rich sample of lunar soil, that were interpreted as a possible cometary impact. Possible molecular abundances for the volatile fraction of Comet Encke are tentatively proposed.     

Adiabatic plasma convection in a dipole field: Variation of plasma bulk parameters with L

We here investigate the motion of particles in a dipole magnetic field under the assumption of conservation of the first two adiabatic invariants. The results are then combined with Liouville's theorem to obtain the variation of the distribution function, and hence the plasma bulk parameters with L-shell. A comparison of the numerical results with recently published analytical approximations is made. Finally, the results are used to describe the structure of the ring current plasma in the outer radiatoin zone, the effects of the Alfvén layers being quantitatively evaluated for a simple electric field model.     

The T Tauri star RU Lupi and its circumstellar surrounding

From simultaneous spectroscopic and photometric observations of the T Tauri star RU Lup, which was followed for nine consecutive nights, it was found that most if not all of the light variations observed on this star were caused by variable circumstellar extinction. The character and the time-scale of the variations imply that the variations are due to dust concentrations of stellar dimension crossing the line of sight to the star. The implications of this interpretation and its possible bearing on problems of protoplanetary systems are discussed.     

The thermal radiation of Saturn and its rings

Infrared observations of Saturn from 5 to 40 μm are described. There is intense limb brightening at 12.35 μm over the southern polar cap. The C ring is anomalously bright at 10 and 20 μm and has bluer (hotter) colours than the A and B rings. The ring spectra have been extrapolated beyond 40 μm and subtracted from low-resolution far-infrared measurements to show that the far-infrared spectrum of the disk of Saturn is qualitatively similar to that of Jupiter and that Saturn radiates 2.5 ± 0.6 times the energy it absorbs from the Sun.     

Galactic magnetic fields and their interactions with the gas and cosmic rays

(i) The controversy of dynamo or primordial origin of galactic magnetic fields is summarized and extended to show that the dynamo theory appears to fail. However, much more important than their origin are the characteristics of the fields and their interactions with the gas and cosmic rays. (ii) A passive magnetic field frozen into a turbulent plasma is not dissipated like a cloud of smoke (turbulent or eddy diffusion) as believed previously. On the contrary it is amplified exponentially until, within a few eddy periods, either the growing magnetic stresses halt the turbulence or the field becomes chaotic. Even if the Petschek reconnection mechanism operates, the field is always disordered to a scale <0.1L, whereL is the eddy dimension. The investigation may at last provide a semi-quantitative deductive theory of hydromagnetic eddies. (iii) It is concluded that the gas motions observed in our Galaxy are not convective but are mainly hydromagnetic waves or oscillations, with the magnetic field in control. The significance of this result is discussed in connection with the overall gas velocity field, the creation of stars and stellar systems, and with the origin and distribution of cosmic rays.     

Geopotential harmonics of order 15 and odd degree from analysis of resonant orbits

We have analysed the variations of inclination in 13 satellite orbits as they pass slowly, under the action of air drag, through 15th-order resonance with the geopotential, when successive equatorial crossings are 24° apart and the ground track repeats after 15 rev. The size and form of the change in inclination are determined mainly by the values of the geopotential harmonics of 15th order and odd degree, $\text{C}\text{?}{}_{\mathrm{l,15}}$ and $\text{S}\text{?}{}_{\mathrm{l,15}}$ (with l = 15, 17, 19, …) in the usual notation. Our analysis gives values of these coefficients up to l = 33 as follows:

     

108.

Editorial: The LITFASS-98 experiment     

F. Beyrich  T. Foken  H.-J. Herzog 《Theoretical and Applied Climatology》2002,73(1-2):1-2

     

109.

Middle Pleistocene molluscan and ostracod faunas from Allhallows, Kent, UK     

M.R. BatesD.H. Keen  J.E. WhittakerJ.S. Merry  F.F. Wenban-Smith 《Proceedings of the Geologists' Association. Geologists' Association》2002,113(3):223-236

     

110.

Transitions in a Globalising World     

H.J. Schellnhuber 《Global Change & Human Health》2002,3(1):73-73

     

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l	109C?l,15	109S?l,15
15	?23.5 ± 0.8	?7.7 ± 0.8
17	6.3 ± 1.5	5.6 ± 1.5
19	?25.1 ± 2.5	?7.3 ± 2.3
21	27.8 ± 3.6	?0.7 ± 3.4
23	17.1 ± 4.1	13.9 ± 4.8
25	?1.1 ± 3.0	8.5 ± 4.2
27	10.0 ± 3.3	6.7 ± 2.7
29	?9.4 ± 3.5	0.1 ± 4.7
31	10.1 ± 5.4	3.8 ± 5.6
33	1.1 ± 5.7	3.1 ± 5.8