Integral field spectroscopy with the GEMINI multiobject spectrographs

We describe the integral field unit (IFU) which converts the Gemini Multiobject Spectrograph (GMOS) installed on the Gemini-North telescope to an integral field spectrograph,which produces spectra over a contiguous field of view of 7 × 5 arcsec with spatial sampling of 0.2 arcsecover the wavelength range 0.4-1.0 μm.GMOS is converted to this mode by the remote insertion of the IFU into thebeam in place of the masks used for the multiobject mode. A separate fieldof half the area of the main field, but otherwise identical, is alsoprovided to improve background subtraction. The IFU contains 1500lenslet-coupled fibres and was the first facility of any type for integralfield spectroscopy employed on an 8/10 m telescope.We describe the design, construction and testing of the GMOS IFU and present measurements of the throughput both in the laboratory and at the telescope. We compare these with a theoretical prediction made before construction started. All are in good agreement with each other, with the on-telescope throughput exceeding 60% (averaged over wavelength). Finallywe show an example of data obtained during commissioning to illustrate the power of the device.     

The determination and analysis of the orbit of NIMBUS 1 ROCKET, 1964-52B: Part 1: The orbits

Orbital parameters of the satellite NIMBUS 1 ROCKET (1964-52B) have been determined at 285 epochs using about 14,500 optical and radar observations during the last 2233 days of its life. 1964-52B was in an orbit inclined at about 98.7° to the Equator and it decayed on 13 August 1974. The orbital elements were found using the RAE orbit refinement program PROP 6 giving average orbital accuracies in perigee height and inclination at 110 m and 0.002° respectively.     

THE EUROPEAN MACROSEISMIC SCALE (MSK-92)

A new updated version of the MSK macroseismic intensity scale has been prepared by a Working Group of the European Seismological Commission and has been published in April 1993 (European Macroseismic Scale 1992: updated MSK scale, 1993, ed. by G. Grünthal, Cahiers du Centre Européen de Geodynamique et de Séismologie, no. 7).     

The middle pleistocene deposits of Waverley Wood Pit,Warwickshire, England

A complex of channels underlying the Baginton-Lillington Gravel (Baginton Formation) at Waverley Wood Quarry, Warwickshire is described. Fossil pollen and plant macrofossils, Coleoptera, Ostracoda, Mollusca and Mammalia are described from the channel-fill deposits. Consideration of all the evidence allows the identification of four separate stages of channel fill which largely occurred under a cool temperate climate. At the top of Channel 2 evidence for a cold, continental climatic episode can be recognised, suggesting that the whole complex was deposited under a fluctuating climate at the end of a temperate stage. At two levels in the channels human artefacts were recovered confirming the presence of Palaeolithic people in Warwickshire during the deposition of the sediments. Amino-acid geochronology suggests an age within the ‘Cromerian Complex’ Stage for the channels. The small vertebrate and molluscan faunas indicate that the deposits are no older than the latter part of the ‘Cromerian Complex’ Stage of East Anglia. The regional stratigraphic significance of the Waverley Wood succession is outlined.     

A high‐resolution pollen and geochemical analysis of late Holocene human impact and vegetation history in southern Cumbria,England

The historic era, which in Cumbria begins with the Roman invasion of AD 71, is a frequently neglected period in palaeoecological research, but its study can bring benefits in improving knowledge of landscape history and in understanding the significance and limitations of palaeoecological records. Pollen and geochemical data are presented for late Holocene records from Deer Dyke and Hulleter Mosses in southern Cumbria. The records show initially low levels of anthropogenic impact, followed by a phase of forest clearance and mixed agriculture from the 7th to 11th centuries AD. The timing of these clearances suggests that they were initially Anglo‐Saxon in origin, rather than Norse. Further clearances in the 16th century AD are interpreted as a response to monastic dissolution and late Tudor population pressures; the landscapes reached their contemporary form following extensive clearances in the 17th century AD. Silicon and titanium concentrations at Deer Dyke Moss were used to reconstruct past levels of atmospheric dust loading, which is broadly related to soil erosion. Geochemical influx was found to peak during periods of landscape transition rather than from established land use. This relationship with pollen data is thought to reflect the predominantly low levels of anthropogenic impact in the region, which changes as substantial woodland clearances during the 16th century AD and continuous land use pressure since then have greatly increased the supply of airborne dust. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A Solution of Einstein's Field Equations fora Tachyonic Gas: Possible Astrophysical Applications

In this paper we show that a change in the signs of some of the metric components of the solution of the field equations for the classical cosmic string results in a solution which we interpret as a time-dependent wall composed of tachyons. We show that the walls have the property of focusing the paths of particles which pass through them. As an illustration of this focusing, we demonstrate the results of a simple simulation of the interaction between one such tachyon wall and a rotating disk of point masses. This interaction leads to the temporary formation of spiral structures. These spiral structures exist for a time on the order of one galactic rotation. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.