Mass density of the upper atmosphere derived from Starlette’s Precise Orbit Determination with Satellite Laser Ranging

The atmospheric mass density of the upper atmosphere from the spherical Starlette satellite’s Precise Orbit Determination is first derived with Satellite Laser Ranging measurements at 815 to 1115 km during strong solar and geomagnetic activities. Starlette’s orbit is determined using the improved orbit determination techniques combining optimum parameters with a precise empirical drag application to a gravity field. MSIS-86 and NRLMSISE-00 atmospheric density models are compared with the Starlette drag-derived atmospheric density of the upper atmosphere. It is found that the variation in the Starlette’s drag coefficient above 800 km corresponds well with the level of geomagnetic activity. This represents that the satellite orbit is mainly perturbed by the Joule heating from geomagnetic activity at the upper atmosphere. This result concludes that MSIS empirical models strongly underestimate the mass density of the upper atmosphere as compared to the Starlette drag-derived atmospheric density during the geomagnetic storms. We suggest that the atmospheric density models should be analyzed with higher altitude acceleration data for a better understanding of long-term solar and geomagnetic effects.     

SOHO/SWAN observations of comets with small perihelia: C/2002 V1 (NEAT), C/2002 X5 (Kudo–Fujikawa), 2006 P1 (McNaught) and 96P/Machholz 1

SWAN, the all-sky hydrogen Lyman-alpha camera on the SOHO spacecraft, designed primarily to image the interplanetary neutral hydrogen around the Sun, also observes comets continuously over large portions of their apparitions to the north and south of the ecliptic and at small solar elongation angles. Because of SOHO’s location at the L1 Lagrange point, analysis of SWAN images provides excellent temporal coverage of water production. We report here our results of observations of some interesting target comets selected from the extensive SWAN archive. These include three Oort Cloud Comets C/2002 V1 (NEAT), C/2002 X5 (Kudo–Fujikawa), C/2006 P1 (McNaught) and three apparitions of atypical short-period Comet 96P/Machholz 1. The common aspect of these four comets is their small perihelion distances, which are 0.19, 0.09, 0.17, and 0.12 AU, respectively. Their water production rates over their whole apparitions can be approximated by power laws in heliocentric distance (r in AU) as follows: 1.3 × 10²⁹ r^−2.1 s⁻¹ for C/2002 V1 (NEAT), 7.5 × 10²⁸ r^−2.0 s⁻¹ for C/2002 X5 (Kudo–Fujikawa), 5.4 × 10²⁹ r^−2.4 s⁻¹ for C/2006 (P1 McNaught) and 4.6 × 10²⁷ r^−2.1 s⁻¹ for 96P/Machholz 1. We also present daily-average water production rates for the long-period comets over long continuous time periods. We examine these results in light of our growing survey of comets that is yielding some interesting comparisons of water production rate variations with heliocentric distance and taxonomic classes.     

AN OVERVIEW ON THE URBAN-RURAL INTERACTION IN THE PAST 50 YEARS IN CHINA

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Volume estimation of small scale debris flows based on observations of topographic changes using airborne LiDAR DEMs

This paper describes a geographic information system(GIS)-based method for observing changes in topography caused by the initiation, transport, and deposition of debris flows using highresolution light detection and ranging(LiDAR) digital elevation models(DEMs) obtained before and after the debris flow events. The paper also describes a method for estimating the volume of debris flows using the differences between the LiDAR DEMs. The relative and absolute positioning accuracies of the LiDAR DEMs were evaluated using a real-time precise global navigation satellite system(GNSS) positioning method. In addition, longitudinal and cross-sectional profiles of the study area were constructed to determine the topographic changes caused by the debris flows. The volume of the debris flows was estimated based on the difference between the LiDAR DEMs. The accuracies of the relative and absolute positioning of the two LiDAR DEMs were determined to be ±10 cm and ±11 cm RMSE, respectively, which demonstrates the efficiency of the method for determining topographic changes at an scale equivalent to that of field investigations. Based on the topographic changes, the volume of the debris flows in the study area was estimated to be 3747 m3, which is comparable with the volume estimated based on the data from field investigations.     

Evidence for silicate dissolution on Mars from the Nakhla meteorite

Veins containing carbonates, hydrous silicates, and sulfates that occur within and between grains of augite and olivine in the Nakhla meteorite are good evidence for the former presence of liquid water in the Martian crust. Aqueous solutions gained access to grain interiors via narrow fractures, and those fractures within olivine whose walls were oriented close to (001) were preferentially widened by etching along [001]. This orientation selective dissolution may have been due to the presence within olivine of shock‐formed [001](100) and [001]{110} screw dislocations. The duration of etching is likely to have been brief, possibly less than a year, and the solutions responsible were sufficiently cool and reducing that laihunite did not form and Fe liberated from the olivine was not immediately oxidized. The pores within olivine were mineralized in sequence by siderite, nanocrystalline smectite, a Fe‐Mg phyllosilicate, and then gypsum, whereas only the smectite occurs within augite. The nanocrystalline smectite was deposited as submicrometer thick layers on etched vein walls, and solution compositions varied substantially between and sometimes during precipitation of each layer. Together with microcrystalline gypsum the Fe‐Mg phyllosilicate crystallized as water briefly returned to some of the veins following desiccation fracturing of the smectite. These results show that etching of olivine enhanced the porosity and permeability of the nakhlite parent rock and that dissolution and secondary mineralization took place within the same near‐static aqueous system.     

Lithologic mapping of HED terrains on Vesta using Dawn Framing Camera color data

The surface composition of Vesta, the most massive intact basaltic object in the asteroid belt, is interesting because it provides us with an insight into magmatic differentiation of planetesimals that eventually coalesced to form the terrestrial planets. The distribution of lithologic and compositional units on the surface of Vesta provides important constraints on its petrologic evolution, impact history, and its relationship with vestoids and howardite‐eucrite‐diogenite (HED) meteorites. Using color parameters (band tilt and band curvature) originally developed for analyzing lunar data, we have identified and mapped HED terrains on Vesta in Dawn Framing Camera (FC) color data. The average color spectrum of Vesta is identical to that of howardite regions, suggesting an extensive mixing of surface regolith due to impact gardening over the course of solar system history. Our results confirm the hemispherical dichotomy (east‐west and north‐south) in albedo/color/composition that has been observed by earlier studies. The presence of diogenite‐rich material in the southern hemisphere suggests that it was excavated during the formation of the Rheasilvia and Veneneia basins. Our lithologic mapping of HED regions provides direct evidence for magmatic evolution of Vesta with diogenite units in Rheasilvia forming the lower crust of a differentiated object.     

济南东部埠村超单元及其就位机制

分布于济南东部六山圈—大有一带的侵入岩,为燕山早期同一岩浆热事件多次侵入形成的杂岩体,依其形成顺序可划分为山张庄、西杜、大有、赵家鹊山四个单元,归并为埠村超单元。该超单元的形成与幔源基性岩浆上侵及同源岩浆分异产生的中偏基性—中性岩浆多次侵入有关,属热气球式膨胀与火山口塌陷复合就位机制。     

On stellar encounters and their effect on cometary orbits in the Oort cloud

We systematically investigate the encounters between the Sun and neighbouring stars and their effects on cometary orbits in the Oort cloud, including the intrinsic one with the star Gl 710 (HIP 89 825), with some implications to stellar and cometary dynamics. Our approach is principally based on the combination of a Keplerian‐rectilinear model of stellar passages and the Hipparcos Catalogue (ESA 1997). Beyond the parameters of encounter, we pay particular attention to the observational errors in parallaxes and stellar velocities, and their propagation in time. Moreover, as a special case of this problem, we consider the collision probability of a star passing very closely to the Sun, taking also into account the mutual gravitational attraction between the stars. In the part dealing with the influence of stellar encounters on the orbital elements of Oort cloud comets, we derive new simple formulae calculating the changes in the cometary orbital elements, expressed as functions of the Jeans impulse formula. These expressions are then applied to calculate numerical values of the element changes caused by close encounters of neighbouring stars with some model comets in the Oort cloud. Moreover, the general condition for an ejection of comets from the cloud effected by a single encounter is derived and discussed.