Radar observations of Itokawa in 2004 and improved shape estimation

Abstract— We present June 2004 radar images of asteroid 25143 Itokawa (1998 SF36) that improve upon the longitude‐latitude coverage of images obtained in 2001 by Ostro et al. (2004) and use the 2001–2004 data to refine that paper's constraints on Itokawa's shape. The 2004 images, the first of the asteroid's southern side, look distinctly different from the 2001 images, revealing leading edges that are much more curved and rugged than the nearly convex leading edges seen at northern latitudes in 2001. Itokawa is shaped like a slightly asymmetrical, bent, lumpy ellipsoid with dimensions along the principal axes within 10% of 594 times 320 times 288 m. To illustrate the uncertainty space associated with shape reconstruction from images with suboptimal orientational coverage, we present two alternative three‐dimensional models of the object.     

Profiles of spectral lines of an accretion ring around a Kerr black hole

Profiles of spectral lines emitted from an accretion ring around an object with strong gravitational field should be affected by Doppler shift, gravitational redshift, and deflection of light. Taking these effects into account, precise line profile of a Keplerian ring around a Kerr black hole for a distant observer is obtained by solving the kinetic equation of photons.     

A new class of periodic solutions in the Kovalevskaya case of a rigid body in rotation about a fixed point

The equation of motion of a rigid body in Kovaleveskaya case is reduced to a plane motion. By using the method of small parameters introduced by Poincaré, the existence of a periodic solution is established.     

Spectrophotometric Variability of Mira

Data from the Pulkovo spectrophotometric data base on the absolute quasimonochromatic fluxes from oCet in the 320–1080 nm range are used to determine the physical parameters of this star in different phases of its light curve. The continuum emission layer is found to expand between the phases of the cycle corresponding to the rising and falling branches of the light curve. The average expansion velocity is 32 km/s. By the time the star’s brightness has fallen by roughly three magnitudes, its radius has increased by almost a factor of three. Over this same time the temperature of the layer has fallen from 3000 K to 2200 K. For this expansion velocity, the calculated mass rate loss is ⊙ M /year.__________Translated from Astrofizika, Vol. 48, No. 2, pp. 175–189 (May 2005).     

Characterization of zonal winds in the stratosphere of Titan with UVES

Titan has been observed with UVES, the UV-Visual Echelle Spectrograph at the Very Large Telescope, with the aim of characterizing the zonal wind flow. We use a retrieval scheme originally developed for absolute stellar accelerometry [Connes, P., 1985. Astrophys. Space Sci., 110, 211-255] to extract the velocity signal by simultaneously taking into account all the lines present in the spectrum. The method allows to measure the Doppler shift induced at a given point by the zonal wind flow, with high precision. The short-wavelength channel (4200-5200 Å) probes one scale height higher than the long-wavelength one (5200-6200 Å), and we observe statistically significant evidence for stronger winds at higher altitudes. The results show a high dispersion. Globally, we detect prograde zonal winds, with lower limits of 62 and 50 m s⁻¹ at the regions centered at 200 and 170 km altitude, but approximately a quarter of the measurements indicates null or retrograde winds.     

Diurnal variation of the dayside, ionospheric, mid-latitude trough in the southern hemisphere at 800 km: Model and measurement comparison

Our high latitude ionospheric model predicts the existence of a pronounced “dayside” trough in plasma concentration equatorward of the auroral oval in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres for solar maximum, winter, and low geomagnetic activity conditions. The trough in the Southern Hemisphere is much deeper than that in the Northern Hemisphere, with the minimum trough density at 800 km being 2 × 10³ cm⁻³ in the Southern Hemisphere and 10⁴ cm⁻³ in the Northern Hemisphere. The dayside trough has a strong longitudinal (diurnal) dependence and appears between 11:00 and 19:00 U.T. in the Southern Hemisphere and between 02:00 and 08:00 U.T. in the Northern Hemisphere. This dayside trough is a result of the auroral oval moving to larger solar zenith angles at those universal times when the magnetic pole is on the antisunward side of the geographic pole. As the auroral ionization source moves to higher geographic latitudes, it leaves a region of declining photoionization on the dayside. For low convection speeds, the ionosphere decays and a dayside trough forms. The trough is deeper in the Southern Hemisphere than in the Northern Hemisphere because of the greater offset between the geomagnetic and geographic poles. Satellite data taken in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres confirm the gross features of the dayside trough, including its strong longitudinal dependence, its depth, and the asymmetry between the Northern and Southern Hemisphere troughs.     

Polarization observations of giant radio pulses from the millisecond pulsar B1937+21 at a frequency of 600 MHz

We performed polarization observations of giant radio pulses from the millisecond pulsar B1937+21. The observations were carried out in July 2002 with the 64-m Kalyazin radio telescope at a frequency of 600 MHz in two polarization channels with left-and right-hand circular polarizations (RCP and LCP). We used the S2 data acquisition system with a time resolution of 125 ns. The duration of an observing session was 20 min. We detected twelve giant radio pulses with peak flux densities higher than 1000 Jy; five and seven of these pulses appeared in the RCP and LCP channels, respectively. We found no event that exceeded the established detection threshold simultaneously in the two polarization channels. Thus, we may conclude that the detected giant pulses have a high degree of circular polarization, with the frequency of occurrence of RCP and LCP pulses being the same.     

Seismic reflection measurements behind the Hikurangi convergent margin, southern North Island, New Zealand.

Summary. The active Australian-Pacific plate boundary passes through New Zealand. In the north, the Pacific plate subducts beneath the Australian plate with an accretionary wedge forming the eastern continental (Hikurangi) margin of the North Island. The structure of the region behind the Hikurangi margin changes from the extensional back-arc basin under central North Island to a postulated crustal downwarp under the southern North Island. A 100 km long multichannel seismic reflection profile was recorded across the region of crustal downwarp. The data show discontinuous coherent reflectors dipping westwards at the east end of the profile, and east dipping reflectors at the west end, from depths of 9 to 15 s two way time. Simple hand migration of these events indicate that the east dipping reflectors, interpreted as the base of the Australian plate crust, abut against the west dipping reflectors which are interpreted as marking the top of the subducted Pacific plate. Detailed earthquake hypocentre locations in the area show a dipping zone of high seismicity, the top of which coincides closely with the west dipping events, thus supporting this interpretation.     

Chronology and evolution of the northern Iceland Plateau

New aeromagnetic data, K-Ar age determinations of dredged marine igneous rocks, as well as other geophysical evidence have shed light on the chronology, nature and evolution of the northern Iceland Plateau. Correspondence between seismic refraction profiles taken on the Jan Mayen Ridge and westward through Jan Mayen Island, suppressed aeromagnetic anomalies, earthquake surface wave studies, and ages of dredged igneous rocks suggest these strata may form an extended region of thickened crust, possibly of Caledonian age, extending westward toward the Kolbeinsey Ridge and northwest to the south wall of the Jan Mayen Fracture Zone.     

Modeling X-Ray Photoionized Plasmas Produced at the Sandia Z-Facility

In experiments at the high-power Z-facility at Sandia National Laboratory in Albuquerque, New Mexico, we have been able to produce a low density photoionized laboratory plasma of Fe mixed with NaF. The conditions in the experiment allow a meaningful comparison with X-ray emission from astrophysical sources. The charge state distributions of Fe, Na and F are determined in this plasma using high resolution X-ray spectroscopy. Independent measurements of the density and radiation flux indicate unprecedented values for the ionization parameter ξ = 20–25 erg cm s⁻¹ under nearly steady-state conditions. First comparisons of the measured charge state distributions with X-ray photoionization models show reasonable agreement, although many questions remain.