Saturn’s wayward shepherds: the peregrinations of Prometheus and Pandora

Saturn’s narrow F ring is flanked by two nearby small satellites, Prometheus and Pandora, discovered in Voyager images taken in 1980 and 1981 (Synnott et al., 1983, Icarus 53, 156-158). Observations with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) during the ring plane crossings (RPX) of 1995 led to the unexpected finding that Prometheus was ∼19° behind its predicted orbital longitude, based on the Synnott et al. (1983) Voyager ephemeris (Bosh and Rivkin, 1996 Science 272, 518-521; Nicholson et al., 1996, Science 272, 509-515). Whereas Pandora was at its predicted location in August 1995, McGhee (2000, Ph.D. thesis, Cornell University) found from the May and November 1995 RPX data that Pandora also deviates from the Synnott et al. (1983) Voyager ephemeris. Using archival HST data from 1994, previously unexamined RPX images, and a large series of targeted WFPC2 observations between 1996 and 2002, we have determined highly accurate sky-plane positions for Prometheus, Pandora, and nine other satellites found in our images. We compare the Prometheus and Pandora measurements to the predictions of substantially revised and improved ephemerides for the two satellites based on an extensive analysis of a large set of Voyager images (Murray et al., 2000, Bull. Am. Astron. Soc. 32, 1090; Evans, 2001 Ph.D. thesis, Queen Mary College). From December 1994 to December 2000, Prometheus’ orbital longitude lag was changing by −0.71° year⁻¹ relative to the new Voyager ephemeris. In contrast, Pandora is ahead of the revised Voyager prediction. From 1994 to 2000, its longitude offset changed by +0.44° year⁻¹, showing in addition an ∼585 day oscillatory component with amplitude Δλ_CR0 = 0.65 ± 0.07° whose phase matches the expected perturbation due to the nearby 3:2 corotation resonance with Mimas, modulated by the 71-year libration in the longitude of Mimas due to its 4:2 resonance with Tethys. We determine orbital elements for freely precessing equatorial orbits from fits to the 1994-2000 HST observations, from which we conclude that Prometheus’ semimajor axis was 0.31 km larger, and Pandora’s was 0.20 km smaller, than during the Voyager epoch. Subsequent observations in 2001-2002 reveal a new twist in the meanderings of these satellites: Prometheus’ mean motion changed suddenly by an additional −0.77° year⁻¹, equivalent to a further increase in semimajor axis of 0.33 km, at the same time that Pandora’s mean motion changed by +0.92° year⁻¹, corresponding to a change of −0.42 km in its semimajor axis. There is an apparent anticorrelation of the motions of these two moons seen in the 2001-2002 observations, as well as over the 20-year interval since the Voyager epoch. This suggests a common origin for their wanderings, perhaps through direct exchange of energy between the satellites as the result of resonances, possibly involving the F ring.     

基于性能的既有钢筋混凝土建筑结构抗震评估与加固技术研究

根据我国现行的建筑结构抗震规范,无论是新建建筑结构的抗震设计还是既有建筑结构的抗震评估与加固,均通过小震弹性承载力计算+抗震延性构造措施来达到\"小震不坏、中震可修、大震不倒\"的抗震设防目标(对于不规则且具有明显薄弱部位的建筑结构还需要进行罕遇地震作用下的弹塑性层间变形验算).对于抗震延性构造措施不满足现行规范的既有建筑结构的评估、改建、扩建,如果仅通过小震弹性的承载力计算,显然无法达到\"大震不倒\"的目标.本文通过引入国际上先进的基于性能的结构抗震思想,以结构层间位移和结构构件变形作为性能目标,从定量上解决了既有钢筋混凝土建筑结构的抗震评估与加固问题.     

The distribution and abundance of pelagic gammarid amphipods on Georges Bank and Nantucket Shoals

In this study, long-term, broad-scale zooplankton survey data were used to estimate the temporal and spatial distribution and abundance of gammarid amphipods present in the water column on Georges Bank. Delta-mean abundances computed from 10 years of data showed that gammarid amphipod abundances peaked in summer and again in fall. The amphipods were also most numerous in water less than 50 m deep. The statistical tests employed revealed no conclusive evidence for diurnal vertical migration. Interannual delta-mean abundances fluctuated approximately 5-fold between 1977 and 1986, ranging from 217 to 1181 amphipods 100 m⁻³. Peak amphipod biomass occurred in July and was estimated to be 2.8 kcal m⁻². Using production-to-biomass ratios from the literature, mean annual production of amphipods in these samples was estimated to be between 1.6 and 9.8 kcal m⁻². Production in shallow areas was especially high, 22 kcal m⁻² year⁻¹.