Characterization of Titan’s Ontario Lacus region from Cassini/VIMS observations

Liquid hydrocarbons were long predicted on Titan’s surface before the RADAR instrument onboard Cassini detected lakes poleward of 70°N in July 2006. Before that the Cassini Imaging Science Subsystem (ISS) observed a lake-like feature in the South Pole, named Ontario Lacus, in July 2004. Here we analyze one observation of Ontario Lacus taken by the Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS) on 2007 December 5, during the T 38 flyby. This is the best spatially resolved image of a Titan lake to date by an imaging spectrometer, and has been previously reported in Brown et al. (Brown, R.H., Soderblom, L.A., Soderblom, J.M., Clark, R.N., Jaumann, R., Barnes, J.W., Sotin, C., Buratti, B., Baines, K.H., Nicholson, P.D. [2008]. Nature 454, 607–610) and in Barnes et al. (Barnes, J.W. et al. [2009]. Icarus 201, 217–225). The observing geometry and our data processing will be explained, followed by a discussion of the main characteristics of the image. The analyzed image covers a small portion of Ontario Lacus and shows what appears from RADAR data to be a region of modest slope (“ramp”) adjacent to the dark lake itself. Our analysis of 5.0 μm spectral data suggests that the previously reported absorption feature of ethane seen at shorter wavelengths may be produced by damp sediments adjacent to the main liquid basin. The latter appears to be absorbing all of the photons incident upon it in the 5 μm spectral region and shows no discernible absorption features. A characterization of the basin composition and morphology is developed with the help of ISS and RADAR observations. The simplest model consistent with the data is an optically deep lake surrounded by a region in which ethane, propane, possibly methane, and other, less volatile hydrocarbons and nitriles are present mixed into spectroscopically neutral sediments. The dominance of relatively low vapor pressure organics outside the lake itself suggests a retreat of Ontario Lacus associated with evaporation on seasonal or longer timescales, consistent with analysis of RADAR and ISS images.     

VISTA Variables in the Via Lactea (VVV): The public ESO near-IR variability survey of the Milky Way

We describe the public ESO near-IR variability survey (VVV) scanning the Milky Way bulge and an adjacent section of the mid-plane where star formation activity is high. The survey will take 1929 h of observations with the 4-m VISTA telescope during 5 years (2010–2014), covering ～10⁹ point sources across an area of 520 deg², including 33 known globular clusters and ～350 open clusters. The final product will be a deep near-IR atlas in five passbands (0.9–2.5 μm) and a catalogue of more than 10⁶ variable point sources. Unlike single-epoch surveys that, in most cases, only produce 2-D maps, the VVV variable star survey will enable the construction of a 3-D map of the surveyed region using well-understood distance indicators such as RR Lyrae stars, and Cepheids. It will yield important information on the ages of the populations. The observations will be combined with data from MACHO, OGLE, EROS, VST, Spitzer, HST, Chandra, INTEGRAL, WISE, Fermi LAT, XMM-Newton, GAIA and ALMA for a complete understanding of the variable sources in the inner Milky Way. This public survey will provide data available to the whole community and therefore will enable further studies of the history of the Milky Way, its globular cluster evolution, and the population census of the Galactic Bulge and center, as well as the investigations of the star forming regions in the disk. The combined variable star catalogues will have important implications for theoretical investigations of pulsation properties of stars.     

The evolution of the z distribution of normal neutron stars in the Galaxy

Under the two initial 1‐D one parameter velocity distribution forms (one is normal, the other is exponential), the z direction scale height evolution of normal neutron stars in the Galaxy is studied by numerical simulation. We do statistics for the cases at different time segments, also do statistics for the cumulative cases made of each time segment. The results show in the cumulative cases the evolution curves of the scale heights are smoother than in the each time segment, i.e., the cumulation improve the signal‐to‐noise ratio. Certainly the evolution cases are different at different Galactic disk locations, which also have very large difference from the average cases in the whole disk. In the initial stages of z evolution of normal neutron stars, after the beginning transient states, the cumulative scale heights increase linearly with time, and the cumulative scale height increasing rates have linear relationship with the initial velocity distribution parameters, which have larger fluctuation in the vicinity of the Sun than in the whole disk. We utilize the linear relationship of the cumulative scale height increasing rates vs. the initial velocity distribution parameters in the vicinity of the Sun to make comparison with the observation near the Sun. The results show if there is no magnetic decay, then the deserved initial velocity parameters are obvious lower than the present well known results from some authors; whereas if introducing magnetic decay, for the 1‐D normal case we can make consistence among concerning results using magnetic decay time values which are supported by some authors, while for the 1‐D exponential case the results show the lackness of young pulsar samples in the larger z in the vicinity of the Sun (© 2010 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

European Solar Telescope: Progress status

In this paper, the present status of the development of the design of the European Solar Telescope is described. The telescope is devised to have the best possible angular resolution and polarimetric performance, maximizing the throughput of the whole system. To that aim, adaptive optics and multi‐conjugate adaptive optics are integrated in the optical path. The system will have the possibility to correct for the diurnal variation of the distance to the turbulence layers, by using several deformable mirrors, conjugated at different heights. The present optical design of the telescope distributes the optical elements along the optical path in such a way that the instrumental polarization induced by the telescope is minimized and independent of the solar elevation and azimuth. This property represents a large advantage for polarimetric measurements. The ensemble of instruments that are planned is also presented (© 2010 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Global Simulation of Magnetospheric Space Weather Effects of the Bastille Day Storm

We present results from a global simulation of the interaction of the solar wind with Earth's magnetosphere, ionosphere, and thermosphere for the Bastille Day geomagnetic storm and compare the results with data. We find that during this event the magnetosphere becomes extremely compressed and eroded, causing 3 geosynchronous GOES satellites to enter the magnetosheath for an extended time period. At its extreme, the magnetopause moves at local noon as close as 4.9 R _E to Earth which is interpreted as the consequence of the combined action of enhanced dynamic pressure and strong dayside reconnection due to the strong southward interplanetary magnetic field component B _z, which at one time reaches a value of −60 nT. The lobes bulge sunward and shield the dayside reconnection region, thereby limiting the reconnection rate and thus the cross polar cap potential. Modeled ground magnetic perturbations are compared with data from 37 sub-auroral, auroral, and polar cap magnetometer stations. While the model can not yet predict the perturbations and fluctuations at individual ground stations, its predictions of the fluctuation spectrum in the 0–3 mHz range for the sub-auroral and high-latitude regions are remarkably good. However, at auroral latitudes (63° to 70° magnetic latitude) the predicted fluctuations are slightly too high. Supplementary material to this paper is available in electronic form at http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/A:1014228230714     

The Magnetic Structure and Generation of EUV Flare Ribbons

The `ribbons' of two-ribbon flares show complicated patterns reflecting the linkages of coronal magnetic field lines through the lower solar atmosphere. We describe the morphology of the EUV ribbons of the July 14, 2000 flare, as seen in SOHO, TRACE, and Yohkoh data, from this point of view. A successful co-alignment of the TRACE, SOHO/MDI and Yohkoh/HXT data has allowed us to locate the EUV ribbon positions on the underlying field to within ∼ 2′′, and thus to investigate the relationship between the ribbons and the field, and also the sites of electron precipitation. We have also made a determination of the longitudinal magnetic flux involved in the flare reconnection event, an important parameter in flare energetic considerations. There are several respects in which the observations differ from what would be expected in the commonly-adopted models for flares. Firstly, the flare ribbons differ in fine structure from the (line-of-sight) magnetic field patterns underlying them, apparently propagating through regions of very weak and probably mixed polarity. Secondly, the ribbons split or bifurcate. Thirdly, the amount of line-of-sight flux passed over by the ribbons in the negative and positive fields is not equal. Fourthly, the strongest hard X-ray sources are observed to originate in stronger field regions. Based on a comparison between HXT and EUV time-profiles we suggest that emission in the EUV ribbons is caused by electron bombardment of the lower atmosphere, supporting the hypothesis that flare ribbons map out the chromospheric footpoints of magnetic field lines newly linked by reconnection. We describe the interpretation of our observations within the standard model, and the implications for the distribution of magnetic fields in this active region.     

On the origin of the metagalaxy

An attempt is made to explain two properties of the metagalaxy: its expansion and the absence of causal connection of its distant regions during a large part of its initial history. It is postulated that the gravitating matter was born from the cosmological field, i.e., a medium with equation of statep=–.It is shown that such a postulate explains the expansion of metagalaxy and leads to a correct estimate of the entropy per baryon. The problem of causal connection can also be solved on this basis.     

Secular perturbations in general planetary theory

Based on a general planetary theory, the secular perturbations in the motion of the eight major planets (excluding Pluto) have been derived in polynomial form. The results are presented in the tables. The linear terms of second order with respect to the planetary masses and the nonlinear terms of first order up to the fifth (and partly seventh) degree with respect to eccentricities and inclinations were taken into account in the right-hand members of the secular system. Calculations were carried out by computer with the use of a system that performed analytic operations on power series with complex coefficients.

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