Opposition Effects in Brightness,Color, and Polarization of Comet 1P/Halley: Comparison with Atmosphereless Solar System Bodies

Systematic and uniform sets of photometric and polarimetric observations of comet 1P/Halley have been analyzed. The phase dependence of brightness for comet Halley was obtained at phase angles α ranging from 1.4° ≤ α ≤ 65°. The following parameters were determined: the amplitude of the opposition effect Δm = 0.75^m ± 0.06^m; the half-width at a half-maximum of intensity HWHM = 6.4° ± 1.6°; the linear phase coefficient β = 0.0045 ± 0.0001 mag/deg for α from 30° ≤ α ≤ 65°; and the phase angle at which a nonlinear increase in brightness starts, α _opp ≈ 31°. For the first time, the phase-angle dependence was obtained for the color of the dust of comet Halley: the color index BC-RC systematically decreases with increasing phase angle. Such a phase behavior of the dust color can be caused by the decrease in the mean size of dust particles that occurs when the comet approaches the Sun. For comet Halley, the negative polarization branch is almost symmetric; the minimal value of polarization is P _min = −1.54% at a phase angle α_min = 10.5°, and the inversion angle is α_inv = 21.7°. A comparative analysis of the phase functions of brightness and polarization has been performed for the cometary dust and atmosphereless bodies. Among the latter are low-albedo asteroids of the P and C types (102 Miriam and 47 Aglaja, respectively), as well as Deimos; high-albedo objects, such as the E-type asteroid 64 Angelina and the icy satellite of Jupiter Europa; and the Moon with its intermediate albedo. The possibility of a weak depression in the negative polarization branch of comets Halley and 47P/Ashbrook-Jackson at phase angles smaller than 2° is discussed.__________Translated from Astronomicheskii Vestnik, Vol. 39, No. 4, 2005, pp. 353–363.Original Russian Text Copyright © 2005 by Rosenbush.     

Interpretation of transient electromagnetic soundings over three-dimensional structures for the central-loop configuration

Summary. An assessment is made of the bias of fitting constrained layered-earth models to transient electromagnetic data obtained over 3-D structures. In this assessment we use the central-loop configuration and show that accurate estimates of the depth of burial of 3-D structures can be obtained with layered-earth model fitting. However, layered-earth interpretations are not reliable for estimating depth extents and resistivities of 3-D structures. When layered earths are used for interpretation, it is advantageous in some cases to use data based on the magnetic field instead of the voltage. A magnetic-field definition of apparent resistivity, in contrast to a definition based on the voltage, eliminates apparent-resistivity overshoots and undershoots in the data. A resistivity undershoot in the data can produce an extraneous and misleading layer in an interpretation of a 3-D resistive structure. Due to 3-D effects, apparent-resistivity soundings (magnetic field and voltage) may rise so steeply at late times that it may not be possible to fit a sounding to a reasonable layered-earth model. Truncating such a sounding, over a buried conductor, allows for a reasonable layered-earth fit and an accurate estimate of the depth to the conductor. However, the resistivity of the conductor is overestimated.
Measurements of the horizontal field in the central-loop configuration can map 3-D structures, provided the sensor is located accurately at the centre of the transmitting loop. Horizontal-field calculations show that the transients peak on the flanks of a 3-D structure, but are depressed over the structure's centre. Weak transient responses flanked by two large transient responses, which are opposite in sign, locate the structure. The sign reversal is caused by a corresponding reversal in the currents that are channelled through or deflected away from conductive or resistive structures, respectively.     

Microwave diagnostics of energetic electrons in flares

Electrons accelerated during solar flares are revealed by their electromagnetic radiation in different spectral ranges, emitted at different heights in the solar atmosphere. The observational analysis points to a common and continuous injection of particles. Based on this result, a quantitative investigation of the hard X-ray and microwave emissions observed during the 29 June, 1980 flare at 11: 40 UT has been performed. This is the first modelisation that takes into account both the inhomogeneity of the microwave source region and the dynamical evolution of the electron population. First results of our model computations demonstrate that during the most energetic phase of the event both hard X-rays and microwaves are described by electron populations resulting from the same injection function, and that the total numbers of electrons required for both emissions are compatible. Account for the inhomogeneity of the microwave source is shown to be a necessary condition for the interpretation of observed spectra.Proceedings of the Workshop on Radio Continua during Solar Flares, held at Duino (Trieste), Italy, 27–31 May, 1985.     

Stable nonlinear methods for sensor array processing;

Most nonlinear high-resolution bearing estimators are unstable in the presence of correlated noise, system phase errors, and multipath arrivals because they inadvertently place too much emphasis on unstable eigenvectors of the cross-sensor correlation matrix. For moderately correlated noise there will be sufficiently many stable eigenvectors to resolve and localize discrete sources. A method is given (the "stable nonlinear method" or SNLM) whereby reweighting of the eigenvectors is achieved implicitly, without actual calculation of the eigenvectors. This SNLM is compared with Capon's maximum likelihood method (MLM) in simulations of correlated noise, partially correlated signals, and phase errors, and is shown to provide good stability in the cases considered.     

Pb, Sr and Nd isotope study of two co-existing magmas in the Nízke Tatry Mountains, Western Carpathians (Slovakia)

Summary Two co-existing plutonic rocks (diorite and granodiorite) were studied from an intrusion of Variscan age in the Raztocna Valley – Nízke Tatry Mountains, Western Carpathians. Geochemical analyses of major and trace elements constrain a volcanic arc as emplacement environment and give the first hints of a mixture of two magmatic end-members: the so-called Prasivá granodiorite and the Raztocna diorite. The ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr₍₀₎ ratios vary between 0.7075 and 0.7118, the ε Nd₍₀₎ values range from −1.4 to −5.0. Common Pb isotopes reveal a dominant crustal source with minor influences from a mantle and a lower crustal source. Modelling based on Sr and Nd isotope data and using three component mixing calculations indicates that mixing of 2/3 of upper mantle material with 1/3 upper crustal material can produce the isotopic composition of the Raztocna diorite. Very minor amounts of lower crust were incorporated in the diorite. For the Prasivá granodiorite, the mixing ratio of upper mantle and upper crust is similar, but a lower crustal reservoir contributed about 5–10% of the source material.