Experimental impact cratering: A summary of the major results of the MEMIN research unit

This paper reviews major findings of the Multidisciplinary Experimental and Modeling Impact Crater Research Network (MEMIN). MEMIN is a consortium, funded from 2009 till 2017 by the German Research Foundation, and is aimed at investigating impact cratering processes by experimental and modeling approaches. The vision of this network has been to comprehensively quantify impact processes by conducting a strictly controlled experimental campaign at the laboratory scale, together with a multidisciplinary analytical approach. Central to MEMIN has been the use of powerful two-stage light-gas accelerators capable of producing impact craters in the decimeter size range in solid rocks that allowed detailed spatial analyses of petrophysical, structural, and geochemical changes in target rocks and ejecta. In addition, explosive setups, membrane-driven diamond anvil cells, as well as laser irradiation and split Hopkinson pressure bar technologies have been used to study the response of minerals and rocks to shock and dynamic loading as well as high-temperature conditions. We used Seeberger sandstone, Taunus quartzite, Carrara marble, and Weibern tuff as major target rock types. In concert with the experiments we conducted mesoscale numerical simulations of shock wave propagation in heterogeneous rocks resolving the complex response of grains and pores to compressive, shear, and tensile loading and macroscale modeling of crater formation and fracturing. Major results comprise (1) projectile–target interaction, (2) various aspects of shock metamorphism with special focus on low shock pressures and effects of target porosity and water saturation, (3) crater morphologies and cratering efficiencies in various nonporous and porous lithologies, (4) in situ target damage, (5) ejecta dynamics, and (6) geophysical survey of experimental craters.     

A self-similar solution for a supernova explosion with allowance for accelerated relativistic particles

A self-similar solution to Sedov’s problem of a strong explosion in a homogeneous medium is generalized to the case of relativistic-particle generation in a supernova remnant; the particles are accelerated by Fermi’s mechanism at the shock front and in the perturbed post-shock region. Self-similarity takes place if the thickness of the prefront is small compared to its radius and if the pressure ratio of the relativistic and nonrelativistic components at the shock front is kept constant. In the presence of relativistic particles, the time dependence of the shock-front radius remains the same as that in their absence, but the plasma parameters in the inner perturbed region change appreciably. The shell of the matter raked up by the explosion is denser and thinner than that in the nonrelativistic case, the relativistic-particle pressure in the central region remains finite, and the nonrelativistic-gas pressure at the explosion center approaches zero. The influence of relativistic particles on the transition to the radiative phase of expansion of the supernova remnant and on its dynamics is studied. It is shown that relativistic particles can decrease several-fold the remnant radius at which the transition to the radiative phase occurs.     

Evolutionary characteristics of the orbits of outer Saturnian,Uranian, and Neptunian satellites

We present the results of our systematic study of the long-period orbital evolution of all of the outer Saturnian, Uranian, and Neptunian satellites known to date. The plots of the orbital elements against time give a clear idea of the pattern of the orbital evolution of each satellite. The tabular data allow us to estimate the basic parameters of the evolving orbits, including the ranges of variation in the semimajor axes, eccentricities, and ecliptical inclinations as well as the variation periods and mean motions of the arguments of pericenters and the longitudes of the nodes. We compare the results obtained by numerically integrating the rigorous equations of the perturbed motion of the satellites with the analytical and numerical-analytical results. The satellite orbits with a librational pattern of variation in the arguments of pericenters are set apart.     

The flare star PP Ori

We give the results of photographic, photoelectric, and spectral observations of the flare star PP Ori. The 109 photographic observations used, which were obtained on the 40 Schmidt telescope of the Byurakan Observatory over a period of about 20 years, and four spectra obtained on the same telescope with a4° objective prism show no variation in brightness. Photoelectric observations in the UBVR bands using the 50cm and 60cm telescopes of the high-altitude Maidanak station of the Tashkent Astronomical Institute in 1987 and 1989 give grounds for suspecting a variation in brightness much larger than observational errors. Spectral observations of the star PP Ori made on the 2.6m telescope of the Byurakan Observatory show weak H emission. The results of all these observations show that PP Ori is an Orion variable of spectral class K7-M0 with absolute visual magnitude7 ^m 5–8 ^m 5.Translated fromAstrofizika, Vol. 38, No. 2, 1995.     

Derivation of density and temperature from the Cassini–Huygens CAPS electron spectrometer

In this paper we present two methods to derive electron fluid parameters from the CAPS–ELS spectrometer on board the Cassini spacecraft currently in orbit around Saturn. In the first part of the paper we give a basic overview of the instrument and describe the challenges inherent in the derivation of density and temperature values using these techniques. We then describe a method to calculate electron moments by integrating the particle distribution function. We also describe a second technique in which we fit the electron energy spectrum with a Gaussian curve and use the peak energy of this curve to derive density and temperature values. We then compare the two methods with particular emphasis on their application to Cassini SOI observations in the saturnian environment and point out the limitations of the two techniques. We will show that results from the two very different methods are in agreement when the physical properties of the environment and of the observed electron populations have been inferred from inspection of the raw data. Finally we will suggest future developments that will remove these limitations.     

Variation in the flare activity of the star UV Ceti

This is an analysis of the dependence of the flare activity of the well known flare star UV Ceti on the linear distance between the components of this binary system. It is shown that its flaring activity clearly depends on the mutual distance of the components, while this kind of variability is not seen in isolated flare stars.     

Can the unresolved X-ray background be explained by the emission from the optically-detected faint galaxies of the GOODS project?

The emission from individual X-ray sources in the Chandra Deep Fields and XMM – Newton Lockman Hole shows that almost half of the hard X-ray background above 6 keV is unresolved and implies the existence of a missing population of heavily obscured active galactic nuclei (AGN). We have stacked the 0.5–8 keV X-ray emission from optical sources in the Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey (GOODS; which covers the Chandra Deep Fields) to determine whether these galaxies, which are individually undetected in X-rays, are hosting the hypothesized missing AGN. In the 0.5–6 keV energy range, the stacked-source emission corresponds to the remaining 10–20 per cent of the total background – the fraction that has not been resolved by Chandra . The spectrum of the stacked emission is consistent with starburst activity or weak AGN emission. In the 6–8 keV band, we find that upper limits to the stacked X-ray intensity from the GOODS galaxies are consistent with the ∼40 per cent of the total background that remains unresolved, but further selection refinement is required to identify the X-ray sources and confirm their contribution.