Possible formation of meteoritic chondrules and inclusions in the precollapse Jovian protoplanetary atmosphere

Most meteoritic chondrules and inclusions appear to have been liquid droplets at one time, or at least to have been close to the melting point so that they are easily deformed. The simplest mode of formation of such objects would be to have the liquid phases of the chondrules in thermodynamic equilibrium with gas in the primitive solar nebula, as suggested some years ago by Wood, but unfortunately pressures in the primitive solar nebula are orders of magnitude too small at temperatures in the range of the liquid mineral phases. This difficulty has led to an abandonment of this basic idea, but we suggest that the idea should be reexamined in view of the presence of higher pressures at moderate temperatures, together with water vapor enrichments, in the protoplanetary atmosphere of Jupiter prior to the collapse stage, which was recently studied by Perri and Cameron. A number of advantages arise from the complexities of such a model, and we discuss these together with a number of constraints.     

Limits on the 2.2-μm contrast ratio of the close-orbiting planet HD 189733b

We obtained 238 spectra of the close-orbiting extrasolar giant planet HD 189733b with resolution   R ∼ 15 000  during one night of observations with the Near-Infrared High-Resolution Spectrograph (NIRSPEC), at the Keck II Telescope. We have searched for planetary absorption signatures in the  2.0–2.4 μm  region where H₂O and CO are expected to be the dominant atmospheric opacities. We employ a phase-dependent orbital model and tomographic techniques to search for the planetary absorption signatures in the combined stellar and planetary spectra. Because potential absorption signatures are hidden in the noise of each single exposure, we use a model list of lines to apply a spectral deconvolution. The resulting mean profile possesses a signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) that is 20 times greater than that found in individual lines. Our spectral time series thus yields spectral signatures with a mean S/N = 2720. We are unable to detect a planetary signature at a contrast ratio of  log₁₀( F _p/ F _*) =−3.40  , with 63.8 per cent confidence. Our findings are not consistent with model predictions which nevertheless give a good fit to mid-infrared observations of HD 189733b. The 1σ result is a factor of 1.7 times less than the predicted 2.185-μm planet/star flux ratio of  log₁₀( F _p/ F _*) ∼−3.16  .     

Glutathione S-transferase from an antarctic fish, Dissostichus mawsoni

Glutathione S-transferase activity was measured in the hepatic cytosol front Dissostichus mawsoni and Pagothenia borchgrevinki. Activity measures with 1-chloro-2,4-dinitrobenzene as substrate were 11·2 and 16·7 μmol/min/g tissue respectively. Little or no activity was detected when p-nitrobenzyl chloride or 3,4-dichloro-1-nitrobenzene were used as substrate. The hepatic glutathione S-transferases from D. mawsoni were partially purified using gel filtration and chromatofocusing. Three peaks of activity were resolved. The major isozyme (158-fold purification) eluting at pH7·1 appeared to be catalytically a homodimer. The isozyme was highly inhibited by triphenyltin chloride (IC₅₀ = 0·1 μ) while inhibition constants for Cibicron Blue 3GA, bromosulphophalein and hematin were 1·1, 20 and 34 μ respectively.     

Possible influence of comets on the chemical evolution of the galaxy

It has been suggested by Cameron that a cloud of comets containing a mass of condensable elements, comparable to the mass of such elements in the sun, formed on the outskirts of the solar system. If the formation of such comet clouds is a general feature of star formation, they constitute a significant sink of elements heavier than helium. It is shown here that this process provides a possible explanation for the very slow rate at which the mean metal abundance of disk stars has increased during the lifetime of the Galaxy.     

Rare earth element, 87Sr/86Sr,and 143Nd/144Nd compositions of Cenozoic orogenic dacites from Baja California,northwestern Mexico,and adjacent west Texas: evidence for the predominance of a subcrustal component

Dacitic lavas and ignimbrites were examined from seven localities that span the entire 700 km width of the mid- to late Cenozoic magmatic arc of northwestern Mexico and adjacent west Texas. These rocks have remarkably similar REE patterns that are parallel in the heavy REE and have modest negative Eu anomalies. Samples from three localities including Baja California, the Sierra Madre Occidental, and the Chihuahuan Basin and Range have initial ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr between 0.7044 and 0.7050 and _Nd near 0.0±1.0. These dacites are isotopically similar to associated basalts, and they show no systematic isotopic variation that is correlated with age or composition of the basement. There is no evidence that magmas parental to these dacites interacted significantly with continental crust. Samples form three other localites in the Basin and Range vary in initial ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr from 0.7051 to 0.7070 and _Nd from about -1 to –2. The composition of these rocks reflects contamination of the parental magmas by relatively small amounts of Precambrian crust. Collectively, the dacites of this study show much less isotopic variation than do Mesozoic granitoids (Farmer and DePaolo 1983) and late Cenozoic olivine tholeiites (Hart 1985) from similar transects of the western United States. The distinctive source region for the magmas parental to the Mexican dacites was relatively uniform isotopically, but it was enriched in LIL and HFS elements beneath the eastern Basin and Range.     

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.     

Petrophysics and mineral exploration: a workflow for data analysis and a new interpretation framework

As mineral exploration seeks deeper targets, there will be a greater reliance on geophysical data and a better understanding of the geological meaning of the responses will be required, and this must be achieved with less geological control from drilling. Also, exploring based on the mineral system concept requires particular understanding of geophysical responses associated with altered rocks. Where petrophysical datasets of adequate sample size and measurement quality are available, physical properties show complex variations, reflecting the combined effects of various geological processes. Large datasets, analysed as populations, are required to understand the variations. We recommend the display of petrophysical data as frequency histograms because the nature of the data distribution is easily seen with this form of display. A petrophysical dataset commonly contains a combination of overlapping sub-populations, influenced by different geological factors. To understand the geological controls on physical properties in hard rock environments, it is necessary to analyse the petrophysical data not only in terms of the properties of different rock types. It is also necessary to consider the effects of processes such as alteration, weathering, metamorphism and strain, and variables such as porosity and stratigraphy. To address this complexity requires that much more supporting geological information be acquired than in current practice. The widespread availability of field portable instruments means quantitative geochemical and mineralogical data can now be readily acquired, making it unnecessary to rely primarily on categorical rock classification schemes. The petrophysical data can be combined with geochemical, petrological and mineralogical data to derive explanations for observed physical property variations based not only on rigorous rock classification methods, but also in combination with quantitative estimates of alteration and weathering. To understand how geological processes will affect different physical properties, it is useful to define three end-member forms of behaviour. Bulk behaviour depends on the physical properties of the dominant mineral components. Density and, to a lesser extent, seismic velocity show such behaviour. Grain and texture behaviour occur when minor components of the rock are the dominate controls on its physical properties. Grain size and shape control grain properties, and for texture properties the relative positions of these grains are also important. Magnetic and electrical properties behave in this fashion. Thinking in terms of how geological processes change the key characteristics of the major and minor mineralogical components allows the resulting changes in physical properties to be understood and anticipated.     

WASP-1b and WASP-2b: two new transiting exoplanets detected with SuperWASP and SOPHIE

We have detected low-amplitude radial-velocity variations in two stars, USNO-B1.0 1219–0005465 (GSC  02265–00107 = WASP–1  ) and USNO-B1.0 0964–0543604 (GSC  00522–01199 = WASP–2  ). Both stars were identified as being likely host stars of transiting exoplanets in the 2004 SuperWASP wide-field transit survey. Using the newly commissioned radial-velocity spectrograph SOPHIE at the Observatoire de Haute-Provence, we found that both objects exhibit reflex orbital radial-velocity variations with amplitudes characteristic of planetary-mass companions and in-phase with the photometric orbits. Line-bisector studies rule out faint blended binaries as the cause of either the radial-velocity variations or the transits. We perform preliminary spectral analyses of the host stars, which together with their radial-velocity variations and fits to the transit light curves yield estimates of the planetary masses and radii. WASP-1b and WASP-2b have orbital periods of 2.52 and 2.15 d, respectively. Given mass estimates for their F7V and K1V primaries, we derive planet masses 0.80–0.98 and 0.81–0.95 times that of Jupiter, respectively. WASP-1b appears to have an inflated radius of at least 1.33 R _Jup, whereas WASP-2b has a radius in the range 0.65–1.26 R _Jup.     

Formation of the prelunar accretion disk

According to the single-impact hypothesis for forming the Moon, the angular momentum needed for the present Earth-Moon system can be imparted to the proto-Earth by a collision with a body having one-tenth of the mass or more. The collision must vaporize a large amount of rock which must stay in the form of vapor after expanding in density by a factor of several, so that pressure gradients can accelerate significant amounts of the matter into orbital motion about the proto-Earth. A successful theory must put considerably more than a lunar mass into orbit, having considerably more angular momentum than is needed to assemble a lunar mass in orbit at 3 Earth radii. Such a collision has been simulated by a particular form of a particle-in-cell representation of hydrodynamics and 78 cases have been run representing variations in a variety of parameters. A significant fraction of the cases were successful in creating a satisfactory prelunar accretion disk. A fairly common characteristic of these cases was the presence of an excess velocity in the collision (above that of a parabolic orbit), implying that the projectile involved in the collision existed in an Earth-crossing orbit of significant ellipticity. A majority of the mass of the prelunar accretion disk is contributed by the projectile.