Spectral Study of Ionized Xenon Using a Capillary Pulsed Discharge

This work presents preliminaries spectroscopic results about ionized xenon and xenon-helium mixture using a capillary pulsed discharge under several experimental results.     

Near-Infrared Imaging Spectrophotometry Of Comet C/1995 O1 (Hale-Bopp) Near Perihelion

We present 1- to 5-μm broadband and CVF images of comet Hale-Bopp taken 1997 February 10.5 UT, 50 days before perihelion. All the images exhibit a nonspherical coma with a bright “ridge” in the direction of the dust tail approximately 10″ from the coma. Synthetic aperture spectrophotometry implies that the optically important grains are of a radius ≤0.4 μm; smallest radius for any comet seen to date. The variation of the integrated surface brightness with radial distance from the coma (ρ) in all the images closely follows the “steady state” ρ⁻¹ model for comet dust ablation (Gehrz and Ney, 1992). The near-infrared colors taken along the dust tail are not constant implying the dust grain properties vary with coma distance. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

The problem of clock synchronization: A relativistic approach

The problem of synchronization of the Earth-based clocks has been discussed in the framework of General Relativity Theory. The synchronization is considered as the transformation of the observers' proper time scales to the coordinate time scale of local inertial geocentric reference system, which is single for all the observers. The formulas for the relativistic corrections occurring in some methods of Earth-based clock synchronization (transported clock, duplex communication via geostationary satellite and meteor-burst link, LASSO experiments) have been derived enabling one to attain the accuracy of 0.1 ns.     

The Monahans chondrite and halite: Argon‐39/argon‐40 age,solar gases,cosmic‐ray exposure ages,and parent body regolith neutron flux and thickness

Abstract— The Monahans H‐chondrite is a regolith breccia containing light and dark phases and the first reported presence of small grains of halite. We made detailed noble gas analyses of each of these phases. The ³⁹Ar‐⁴⁰Ar age of Monahans light is 4.533 ± 0.006 Ma. Monahans dark and halite samples show greater amounts of diffusive loss of ⁴⁰Ar and the maximum ages are 4.50 and 4.33 Ga, respectively. Monahans dark phase contains significant concentrations of He, Ne and Ar implanted by the solar wind when this material was extant in a parent body regolith. Monahans light contains no solar gases. From the cosmogenic ³He, ²¹Ne, and ³⁸Ar in Monahans light we calculate a probable cosmic‐ray, space exposure age of 6.0 ± 0.5 Ma. Monahans dark contains twice as much cosmogenic ²¹Ne and ³⁸Ar as does the light and indicates early near‐surface exposure of 13–18 Ma in a H‐chondrite regolith. The existence of fragile halite grains in H‐chondrites suggests that this regolith irradiation occurred very early. Large concentrations of ³⁶Ar in the halite were produced during regolith exposure by neutron capture on ³⁵Cl, followed by decay to ³⁶Ar. The thermal neutron fluence seen by the halite was (2–4) × 10¹⁴ n/cm². The thermal neutron flux during regolith exposure was ～0.4‐0.7 n/cm²/s. The Monahans neutron fluence is more than an order of magnitude less than that acquired during space exposure of several large meteorites and of lunar soils, but the neutron flux is lower by a factor of ≤5. Comparison of the ³⁶Ar_n/²¹Ne_cos ratio in Monahans halite and silicate with the theoretically calculated ratio as a function of shielding depth in an H‐chondrite regolith suggests that irradiation of Monahans dark occurred under low shielding in a regolith that may have been relatively shallow. Late addition of halite to the regolith can be ruled out. However, irradiation of halite and silicate for different times at different depths in an extensive regolith cannot be excluded.     

Porphyroblast inclusion-trail orientation data: eppure non son girate*!

Extensive examination of large numbers of spatially orientated thin sections of orientated samples from orogens of all ages around the world has demonstrated that porphyroblasts do not rotate relative to geographical coordinates during highly non-coaxial ductile deformation of the matrix subsequent to their growth. This has been demonstrated for all tectonic environments so far investigated. The work also has provided new insights and data on metamorphic, structural and tectonic processes including: (1) the intimate control of deformation partitioning on metamorphic reactions; (2) solutions to the lack of correlation between lineations that indicate the direction of movement within thrusts and shear zones, and relative plate motion; and (3) a possible technique for determining the direction of relative plate motion that caused orogenesis in ancient orogens.     

The Siberian Solar Radio Telescope: the current state of the instrument,observations, and data

The Siberian Solar Radio Telescope (SSRT) is one of the world's largest solar radio heliographs. It commenced operation in 1983, and since then has undergone several upgrades. The operating frequency of the SSRT is 5.7 GHz. Since 1992 the instrument has had the capability to make one-dimensional scans with a high time resolution of 56 ms and an angular resolution of 15 arc sec. Making one of these scans now takes 14 ms. In 1996 the capability was added to make full, two-dimensional images of the solar disk. The SSRT is now capable of obtaining images with an angular resolution of 21 arc sec every 2 min. In this paper we describe the main features and operation of the instrument, particularly emphasizing issues pertaining to the imaging process and factors limiting data quality. Some of the data processing and analysis techniques are discussed. We present examples of full-disk solar images of the quiet Sun, recorded near solar activity minimum, and images of specific structures: plages, coronal bright points, filaments and prominences, and coronal holes. We also present some observations of dynamic phenomena, such as eruptive prominences and solar flares, which illustrate the high-time-resolution observations that can be done with this instrument. We compare SSRT observations at 5.7 GHz, including computed `light curves', both morphologically and quantatively, with observations made in other spectral domains, such as 17 GHz radio images, Hα filtergrams and magnetograms, extreme-ultraviolet and X-ray observations, and dynamic radio spectra.     

A high-resolution radio study of neutral gas in the starburst galaxy NGC 520

We present subarcsec angular resolution observations of the neutral gas in the nearby starburst galaxy NGC 520. The central kpc region of NGC 520 contains an area of significantly enhanced star formation. The radio continuum structure of this region resolves into ∼10 continuum components. By comparing the flux densities of the brightest of these components at 1.4 GHz with published 15-GHz data we infer that these components detected at 1.4 and 1.6 GHz are related to the starburst and are most likely to be collections of several supernova remnants within the beam. None of these components is consistent with emission from an active galactic nuclei. Both neutral hydrogen (H  i ) and hydroxyl (OH) absorption lines are observed against the continuum emission, along with a weak OH maser feature probably related to the star formation activity in this galaxy. Strong H  i absorption  ( N _H∼ 10²² atoms cm⁻²)  traces a velocity gradient of 0.5 km s⁻¹ pc⁻¹ across the central kpc of NGC 520. The H  i absorption velocity structure is consistent with the velocity gradients observed in both the OH absorption and in CO emission observations. The neutral gas velocity structure observed within the central kpc of NGC 520 is attributed to a kpc-scale ring or disc. It is also noted that the velocity gradients observed for these neutral gas components appear to differ with the velocity gradients observed from optical ionized emission lines. This apparent disagreement is discussed and attributed to the extinction of the optical emission from the actual centre of this source hence implying that optical ionized emission lines are only detected from regions with significantly different radii to those sampled by the observations presented here.     

Structurally controlled gold and sulfosalt mineralization: the Altenberg example, Salzburg Province, Austria

Summary ?In the south-eastern Altenbergkar–Silbereck area in the eastern Tauern window (Lungau, Salzburg) structurally controlled precious-metal (Au–Ag) mineralization is hosted in marbles of the Permo(?)-Mesozoic Silbereck Formation and in the underlying Variscan Central gneiss. During the Alpine otogeny both lithologies were affected by ductile deformation (shearing, D1; folding, D2/D3) and subsequent brittle deformation (tension gashes, D4; normal faulting, D5) related to the uplift and exhumation of the Tauern window. Mineralization is controlled by brittle D4 structures. NE–SW trending steeply dipping tension gashes of the “Tauerngoldgang” type occur within the Central gneiss. Three different marble-hosted ore types following fracture systems as well as foliation and bedding planes can be distinguished: 1) metasomatic replacement ores, 2) ores in tension gashes and 3) ores in talc-bearing structures, often containing high-grade gold and silver mineralization (native gold in association with Ag–Pb–Bi–sulfosalts). Four stages of mineralization can be distinguished which occur in all ore types: arsenopyrite–pyrite–pyrrhotite (first stage), Au–(Ag–Pb–Bi–sulfosalts) (second stage), base-metal sulfides and tetrahedrite–tennantite (third stage) and Ag-rich galena (fourth stage). Preliminary fluid inclusion data indicate temperatures of ore formation well above 300 °C (346 °C mean) for the second stage within the Central gneiss and temperatures between 310 and 230 °C for the second and third stages in the marble. Received October 12, 2001; revised version accepted September 5, 2002 Published online March 10, 2003