Does the plasma composition affect the long-term evolution of relativistic jets?

We study the influence of the matter content of extragalactic jets on their morphology, dynamics and emission properties. For this purpose we consider jets of extremely different compositions, including pure leptonic and baryonic plasmas. Our work is based on two-dimensional relativistic hydrodynamic simulations of the long-term evolution of powerful extragalactic jets propagating into a homogeneous environment. The equation of state used in the simulations accounts for an arbitrary mixture of electrons, protons and electron–positron pairs. Using the hydrodynamic models, we have also computed synthetic radio maps and the thermal bremsstrahlung X-ray emission from their cavities.
Although there is a difference of about three orders of magnitude in the temperatures of the cavities inflated by the simulated jets, we find that both the morphology and the dynamic behaviour are almost independent of the assumed composition of the jets. Their evolution proceeds in two distinct epochs. During the first one, multidimensional effects are unimportant and the jets propagate ballistically. The second epoch starts when the first larger vortices are produced near the jet head, causing the beam cross-section to increase and the jet to decelerate. The evolution of the cocoon and cavity is in agreement with a simple theoretical model. The beam velocities are relativistic  ( Γ ≃4)  at kiloparsec scales, supporting the idea that the X-ray emission of several extragalactic jets may be due to relativistically boosted CMB photons. The radio emission of all models is dominated by the contribution of the hotspots. All models exhibit a depression in the X-rays surface brightness of the cavity interior, in agreement with recent observations.     

Scaling up tides in numerical models of galaxy and halo formation

The purpose of this article is to show that when dynamically cold, dissipationless self-gravitating systems collapse, their evolution is a strong function of the symmetry in the initial distribution. We explore with a set of pressureless homogeneous fluids the time evolution of ellipsoidal distributions and map the depth of potential achieved during relaxation as function of initial ellipsoid axis ratios. We then perform a series of N -body numerical simulations and contrast their evolution with the fluid solutions. We verify an analytic relation between collapse factor and particle number N in spherical symmetry, such that  ∝ N ^1/3  . We sought a similar relation for axisymmetric configurations, and found an empirical scaling relation such that  ∝ N ^1/6  in these cases. We then show that when mass distributions do not respect spherical or axial symmetry, the ensuing gravitational collapse deepens with increasing particle number N but only slowly: 86 per cent of triaxial configurations may collapse by a factor of no more than 40 as   N →∞  . For   N ≈10⁵  and larger, violent relaxation develops fully under the Lin–Mestel–Shu instability such that numerical N -body solutions now resolve the different initial morphologies adequately.     

Discovery of the 'missing' mode in HR 1217 by the Whole Earth Telescope

HR 1217 is a prototypical rapidly oscillating Ap star that has presented a test to the theory of non-radial stellar pulsation. Prior observations showed a clear pattern of five modes with alternating frequency spacings of 33.3 and 34.6 μHz, with a sixth mode at a problematic spacing of 50.0 μHz (which equals  1.5×33.3 μHz)  to the high-frequency side. Asymptotic pulsation theory allowed for a frequency spacing of 34 μHz, but Hipparcos observations rule out such a spacing. Theoretical calculations of magnetoacoustic modes in Ap stars by Cunha predicted that there should be a previously undetected mode 34 μHz higher than the main group, with a smaller spacing between it and the highest one. In this Letter, we present preliminary results from a multisite photometric campaign on the rapidly oscillating Ap star HR 1217 using the 'Whole Earth Telescope'. While a complete analysis of the data will appear in a later paper, one outstanding result from this run is the discovery of a newly detected frequency in the pulsation spectrum of this star, at the frequency predicted by Cunha.     

Detection of Temperature-Dependent Spectral Variation on the Asteroid Eros and New Evidence for the Presence of an Olivine-Rich Silicate Assemblage

Data obtained by the near-infrared spectrometer carried by the NEAR-Shoemaker spacecraft show that the spectral properties of the asteroid Eros vary with temperature. The manner in which they vary demonstrates that the mineral olivine is a major constituent of the surface. The near-IR temperature-dependent spectral properties of Eros in the northern hemisphere, and for two individual regions on the surface, show clear evidence of the presence of the mineral olivine and are a close match to the temperature-spectral behavior of LL-type ordinary chondrite meteorites. While the presence of other olivine-rich meteorites cannot be excluded, H-type ordinary chondrites are clearly too pyroxene-rich to be permitted as a major surface component of Eros. The results of the thermal-spectral analysis are consistent with results from analysis of conventional reflectance spectra of the asteroid and contribute unambiguous detection of olivine to the understanding of the surface composition of Eros.     

Generalized Lyapunov exponents indicators in Hamiltonian dynamics: An application to a double star system

The Lyapunov characteristic numbers (LCNs) which are defined as the mean value of the distribution of the local variations of the tangent vectors to the flow (=ln _k ⁱ ) (see Froeschlé, 1984) have been found to be sensitive indicators of stochasticity. So we computed the distribution of these local variations and determined the moments of higher order for the integrable and stochastic regions in a binary star system with =0.5.     

Origin of the hydrocarbon component of carbonaceous chondrites: the star-meteorite connection

We report the results of an experiment that produced a residue which closely matches the hydrocarbon component of the Murchison carbonaceous chondrite. This experiment suggests that the parent material of the meteoritic component originated as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon species in carbon stars during their later stages of evolution. The experiments also indicate that the pathway from those formation sites to eventual incorporation into the meteorite parent body involved hydrogenation in a plasma in the solar nebula or in H II regions prior to the solar nebula. This model is consistent with what is known about the meteoritic hydrocarbon component including deuterium abundance, the observation of cosmic infrared emission bands best attributed to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon molecules, and the inherent stability of these molecules that allows their formation in stars and subsequent survival in the interstellar medium.     

Mapping of Ozone and Water in the Atmosphere of Mars near the 1997 Aphelion

We present absolute abundances and latitudinal variations of ozone and water in the atmosphere of Mars during its late northern spring (L_s=67.3°) shortly before aphelion. Long-slit maps of the a¹Δ_g state of molecular oxygen (O₂) and HDO, an isotopic form of water, were acquired on UT January 21.6 1997 using a high-resolution infrared spectrometer (CSHELL) at the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility. O₂(a¹Δ_g) is produced by ozone photolysis, and the ensuing dayglow emission at 1.27 μm is used as a tracer for ozone. Retrieved vertical column densities for ozone above ∼20 km ranged between 1.5 and 2.8 μm-atm at mid- to low latitudes (30°S-60°N) and decreased outside that region. A significant decrease in ozone density is seen near 30°N (close to the subsolar latitude of 23.5°N). The rotational temperatures retrieved from O₂(a-X) emissions show a mean of 172±2.5 K, confirming that the sensed ozone lies in the middle atmosphere (∼24 km). The ν₁ fundamental band of HDO near 3.67 μm was used as a proxy for H₂O. The retrieved vertical column abundance of water varies from 3 precipitable microns (pr-μm) at ∼30°S to 24 pr-μm at ∼60°N. We compare these results with current photochemical models and with measurements obtained by other methods.     

Fresh Ammonia Ice Clouds in Jupiter: I. Spectroscopic Identification, Spatial Distribution, and Dynamical Implications

We report the first spectroscopic detection of discrete ammonia ice clouds in the atmosphere of Jupiter, as discovered utilizing the Galileo Near-Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (NIMS). Spectrally identifiable ammonia clouds (SIACs) cover less than 1% of the globe, as measured in complete global imagery obtained in September 1996 during Galileo's second orbit. More than half of the most spectrally prominent SIACs reside within a small latitudinal band, extending from 2° to 7° N latitude, just south of the 5-μm hot spots. The most prominent of these are spatially correlated with nearby 5-μm-bright hot spots lying 1.5°-3.0° of latitude to the north: they reside over a small range of relative longitudes on the eastward side of hot spots, about 37% of the longitudinal distance to the next hot spot to the east. This strong correlation between the positions of hot spots and the most prominent equatorial SIACs suggests that they are linked by a common planetary wave. Good agreement is demonstrated between regions of condensation predicted by the Rossby wave model of A. J. Friedson and G. S. Orton (1999, Bull. Am. Astron. Assoc31, 1155-1156) and the observed longitudinal positions of fresh ammonia clouds relative to 5-μm hot spots. Consistency is also demonstrated between (1) the lifetime of particles as determined by the wave phase speed and cloud width and (2) the sedimentation time for 10-μm radius particles consistent with previously reported ammonia particle size by T. Y. Brooke et al. (1998, Icarus136, 1-13). A young age (<two days) for most SIAC cloud particles is indicated. To the south, the most prominent SIACs are located to the northwest of the Great Red Spot, in a region where a westward flow of jovian air, diverted approximately 10° of latitude northward by the Great Red Spot, encounters a large eastward flow. SIACs have been observed repeatedly by NIMS at this location during Galileo's first four years in Jupiter orbit. It is speculated that due to the three-dimensional interactions of these flows, relatively large amounts of ammonia gas are steadily transported from the sub-cloud troposphere (below the ∼600-mbar level) to the high troposphere, nearly continuously forming fresh ammonia ice clouds to the northwest of the Great Red Spot.