First results from the Isaac Newton Telescope Wide Angle Survey: the quasar survey

We report the first results of an observational programme designed to determine the luminosity density of high-redshift quasars     quasars) using deep multicolour CCD data. We report the discovery and spectra of three     high-redshift     quasars, including one with     . At     , this is the fourth highest redshift quasar currently published. Using these preliminary results we derive an estimate of the         quasar space density in the redshift range     of     . When completed, the survey will provide a firm constraint on the contribution to the ionizing UV background in the redshift range     from quasars by determining the faint-end slope of the quasar luminosity function. The survey uses imaging data taken with the 2.5-m Isaac Newton Telescope as part of the Public Isaac Newton Group Wide Field Survey (WFS). This initial sample of objects is taken from two fields of effective area ∼12.5 deg² from the final ∼100 deg².     

Noble gases in interplanetary dust particles,II: Excess helium‐3 in cluster particles and modeling constraints on interplanetary dust particle exposures to cosmic‐ray irradiation

Abstract— Measurements of He isotopes in cluster interplanetary dust particles (IDPs) from stratospheric dust collector L2009 reveal anomalous ³He/⁴He ratios comparable to those seen earlier, up to ～40x the solar wind ratio, in particles from the companion collector L2011. These overabundances of ³He in the L2009 samples are masked by much higher ⁴He contents compared to the L2011 particles, and are visible only in minor gas fractions evolved by stepwise heating at high temperatures. Cosmic‐ray induced spallogenic reactions are efficient producers of ³He. The majority of this paper is devoted to a detailed assessment of the possible role of spallation in generating the ³He excesses in these and other cluster IDPs. A model of collisional erosion and fragmentation during inward transit through the interplanetary dust environment is used to estimate space lifetimes of particles from asteroidal and Edgeworth–Kuiper Belt sources. Results of the modeling indicate that Poynting–Robertson orbital evolution timescales of IDPs small enough to elude destruction on their way to Earth from either location are far shorter than the cosmic‐ray exposure ages required to account for observed ³He overabundances. Grains large enough to have sufficiently long space residence times are fragmented close to their sources. An alternative to long in‐space exposure could be prolonged irradiation of particles buried in parent body regoliths prior to their ejection as IDPs. A qualitative calculation suggests, however, that collisional erosion of asteroidal upper‐regolith materials is likely to occur on timescales shorter than the > 1 Ga burial times needed for accumulation of spallogenic ³He to the levels seen in several cluster particles. In contrast, regoliths on Edgeworth–Kuiper Belt objects may be stable enough to account for the ³He excesses, and delivery of heavily pre‐irradiated IDPs to the inner solar system by short‐period Edgeworth–Kuiper Belt comets remains a possibility. A potential problem is that the expected associated abundances of spallation‐produced ²¹Ne appear to be absent, although here the present IDP data base is too sparse and for the most part too imprecise to rule out a spallogenic origin. Relatively short periods of pre‐ejection residence in asteroidal regoliths may be responsible for the curiously broad exposure age distributions reported for micrometeorites extracted from Greenland and sea‐floor sediments.     

广东省拖网网囊调查

为实施中华人民共和国国家标准《南海区拖网网囊最小网目尺寸》,对广东省范围内拖网网囊现状进行摸底调查,结果表明,广东省沿海拖网渔船现用网囊网目尺寸(内径)在16.7～35.2 mm范围内,总体平均为27 mm,均未能达到1989年国家技术监督局发布的中华人民共和国国家标准--《南海区拖网网囊最小网目尺寸》--内径39 mm.     

A detailed abundance analysis of the hot post-AGB star ZNG-1 in M10

We present a model-atmosphere analysis for the bright ( V ∼13) star ZNG-1, in the globular cluster M10. From high-resolution ( R ∼40 000) optical spectra we confirm ZNG-1 to be a post-asymptotic giant branch (post-AGB) star. The derived atmospheric parameters are T _eff=26 500±1000 K and log  g =3.6±0.2 dex . A differential abundance analysis reveals a chemical composition typical of hot post-AGB objects, with ZNG-1 being generally metal poor, although helium is approximately solar. The most interesting feature is the large carbon underabundance of more than 1.3 dex. This carbon deficiency, along with an observed nitrogen enhancement relative to other elements, may suggest that ZNG-1 evolved off the AGB before the third dredge-up occurred. Also, iron depletions observed in other similar stars suggest that gas–dust fractionation in the AGB progenitor could be responsible for the observed composition of these objects. However, we need not invoke either scenario since the chemical composition of ZNG-1 is in good agreement with abundances found for a Population II star of the same metallicity.     

Variable stars in the field of open cluster NGC 6819

We report on the discovery of 25 variable stars plus 13 suspected variables found in the field of the open cluster NGC 6819. The stars were identified from time-series photometric data obtained on the Isaac Newton Telescope, La Palma, during two observing runs covering the 19 nights between 1999 June  22–30  and 1999 July  22–31  . The variables found include 12 eclipsing binaries with an additional three suspected, nine BY Draconis systems, plus four variables of other types, including one star believed to be a Cepheid. Three of the 15 eclipsing binaries are believed to be cluster members. Details of a further 10 suspected variable stars are also included.     

Cosmic‐ray exposure history of two Frontier Mountain H‐chondrite showers from spallation and neutron‐capture products

Abstract— We measured the concentrations of ¹⁰Be, ²⁶Al, ³⁶Cl, ⁴¹Ca and ¹⁴C in the metal and/or stone fractions of 27 Antarctic chondrites from Frontier Mountain (FRO), including two large H‐chondrite showers. To estimate the pre‐atmospheric size of the two showers, we determined the contribution of neutron‐capture produced ³⁶Cl (half‐life = 3.01 times 10⁵ years) and ⁴¹Ca (1.04 times 10⁵ years) in the stone fraction. The measured activities of neutron‐capture ³⁶Cl and ⁴¹Ca, as well as spallation produced ¹⁰Be and ²⁶Al, were compared with Monte Carlo‐based model calculations. The largest shower, FRO 90174, includes eight fragments with an average terrestrial age of (100 ± 30) × 10³ years; the neutron‐capture saturation activities extend to 27 dpm/kg stone for ³⁶Cl and 19 dpm/kg stone for ⁴¹Ca. The concentrations of spallation produced ¹⁰Be, ²⁶Al and ³⁶Cl constrain the radius (R) to 80–100 cm, while the neutron‐capture ⁴¹Ca activities indicate that the samples originated from the outer 25 cm. With a pre‐atmospheric radius of 80–100 cm, FRO 90174 is among the largest of the Antarctic stony meteorites. The large pre‐atmospheric size supports our hypothesis that at least 50 of the ～150 classified H5/H6‐chondrites from the Frontier Mountain stranding area belong to this single fall; this hypothesis does not entirely account for the high H/L ratio at Frontier Mountain. The smaller shower, FRO 90001, includes four fragments with an average terrestrial age of (40 ± 10) × 10³ years; they contain small contributions of neutron‐capture ³⁶Cl, but no excess of ⁴¹Ca. FRO 90001 experienced a complex exposure history with high shielding conditions in the first stage (150 < R < 300 cm) and much lower shielding in the second stage (R < 30 cm), the latter starting ～1.0 million years (Ma) ago. Based on the measured ¹⁰Be/²¹Ne and ²⁶Al/²¹Ne ratios, the cosmic‐ray exposure ages of the two showers are 7.2 ± 0.5 Ma for FRO 90174 and 8 ± 1 Ma for FRO 90001. These ages coincide with the well‐established H‐chondrite peak and corroborate the observation that the exposure age distribution of FRO H‐chondrites is similar to that of non‐Antarctic falls. In addition, we found that corrections for neutron‐capture ³⁶Ar (from decay of ³⁶Cl) result in concordant ²¹Ne and ³⁸Ar exposure ages.     

Prediction of Stellar Atmospheric Parameters using Instance-Based Machine Learning and Genetic Algorithms

In this article we present a method for the automated prediction of stellar atmospheric parameters from spectral indices. This method uses a genetic algorithm (GA) for the selection of relevant spectral indices and prototypical stars and predicts their properties, using the k-nearest neighbors method (KNN). We have applied the method to predict the effective temperature, surface gravity, metallicity, luminosity class and spectral class of stars from spectral indices. Our experimental results show that the feature selection performed by the genetic algorithm reduces the running time of KNN up to 92%, and the predictive accuracy error up to 35%. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Effective collision strengths with inclusion of resonance for hyperfine-structure transitions in H- and Li-like ions

Calculations are made of the resonance contribution to electron-impact excitation of H-like ¹³C and Li-like ²³Na, ²⁵Mg, ²⁷Al and ²⁹Si to the upper hyperfine levels that produce millimetre (mm) lines of likely astrophysical interest. The resonance contribution is found to be very important for these Li-like ions, considerably more important than for Li-like ⁵⁷Fe considered previously. However, resonances are found to be rather unimportant for H-like ¹³C. The effect of radiative decay on the resonance contribution is found to be insignificant in all of the present calculations.