Near-Infrared Imaging Spectrophotometry Of Comet C/1995 O1 (Hale-Bopp) Near Perihelion

We present 1- to 5-μm broadband and CVF images of comet Hale-Bopp taken 1997 February 10.5 UT, 50 days before perihelion. All the images exhibit a nonspherical coma with a bright “ridge” in the direction of the dust tail approximately 10″ from the coma. Synthetic aperture spectrophotometry implies that the optically important grains are of a radius ≤0.4 μm; smallest radius for any comet seen to date. The variation of the integrated surface brightness with radial distance from the coma (ρ) in all the images closely follows the “steady state” ρ⁻¹ model for comet dust ablation (Gehrz and Ney, 1992). The near-infrared colors taken along the dust tail are not constant implying the dust grain properties vary with coma distance. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Evaluation of a Wavefront Sensing Concept for a Full Solar Disk Adaptive Optics System

Solar scintillations were investigated as a method of detecting seeing-dependent wavefront curvature variations for solar adaptive optics. The method is applicable to full-disk averaged, adaptive corrections of large-scale near-field seeing distortions. As a test case, seeing measurements were carried out on a single small adaptive mirror, representing one element of what would be a large multielement adaptive array. All observations showed a greater than 5× reduction of seeing distortions as a result of this wavefront correction.     

Control synthesis and adaptation for an underactuated autonomousunderwater vehicle

The motion of an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) is controllable even with reduced control authority such as in the event of an actuator failure. In this paper we describe a technique for synthesizing controls for underactuated AUV's and show how to use this technique to provide adaptation to changes in control authority. Our framework is a motion control system architecture which includes both feed-forward control as well as feedback control. We confine ourselves to kinematic models and exploit model nonlinearities to synthesize controls. Our results are illustrated for two examples, the first a yaw maneuver of an AUV using only roll and pitch actuation, and the second a “parking maneuver” for an AUV. Experimental results for the yaw maneuver example are described     

Porphyroblast inclusion-trail orientation data: eppure non son girate*!

Extensive examination of large numbers of spatially orientated thin sections of orientated samples from orogens of all ages around the world has demonstrated that porphyroblasts do not rotate relative to geographical coordinates during highly non-coaxial ductile deformation of the matrix subsequent to their growth. This has been demonstrated for all tectonic environments so far investigated. The work also has provided new insights and data on metamorphic, structural and tectonic processes including: (1) the intimate control of deformation partitioning on metamorphic reactions; (2) solutions to the lack of correlation between lineations that indicate the direction of movement within thrusts and shear zones, and relative plate motion; and (3) a possible technique for determining the direction of relative plate motion that caused orogenesis in ancient orogens.     

Enhanced Activity in Close T Tauri Binaries

The number of confirmed and suspected close T Tauri binaries (period days) is increasing. We discuss some systems with enhanced emission line activity and periodic line profile changes. Non-axisymmetric flows of plasma in the region between the circumbinary disk and the stars can be generated through the influence of the secondary component. Such enhanced activity is found around binaries with eccentric as well as circular orbits. We discuss our observations of the T Tauri stars RW Aurigae A and RU Lupi, which may host very close brown dwarf companions. Model simulations indicate that non-axisymmetric flows are generated around close binaries with circumbinary disks, also in systems with circular orbits.     

Simulation of adaptive optics for the Vacuum Tower Telescope

A simulation model of the adaptive optics of the German Vacuum Tower Telescope (VTT), Observatorio del Teide, Tenerife, is presented. The model uses modules from the integrated model of the Euro50 extremely large telescope, and includes submodels of a Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensor, a de-formable mirror, a tip-tilt mirror, high-voltage amplifier low-pass filters, a reconstructor and a controller. We investigate the impact on the closed loop bandwidth of changes in controller configuration and certain system parameters, such as low pass filter bandwidth and camera integration and readout time. Control strategies were tested on simple models before implementation on the full VTT model. Using the models, different control strategies are compared.     

A comparison of chemical and chemodynamical models

Representative results from a comparison of the chemical evolution of spherical collapse models without and with a intercloud medium are presented. The hot metal-rich gas distributes quickly the metals produced in supernovae throughout the galaxy, thus leading to a more homogeneous chemical evolution and flatter metallicity gradients in the gas and the stars. The stellar population is somewhat less concentrated towards the centre. The strong outflow results in a substantial loss of metals from the galaxy to its surroundings, and a lower effective yield in the galaxy. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.