Tidally induced secondary circulations and their associated sedimentation processes

Fine grained (mud) deposits or coarse grained (sand) deposits, which occur in tidally dominated coastal environments (bays, tidal inlets and estuaries), are associated with topographical (small-scale) tidally induced eddies; these are considered to be caused by the phenomenon of flow separation, downstream from headlands and at abrupt coastal discontinuities. Extensive sand deposits, which have been described as bed-load convergence zones can, similarly, be associated with residual (large-scale) circulation eddies.     

Orientation of first-ranked galaxies in rich clusters

We present new evidence that first ranked galaxies are aligned with their parent cluster and with the direction of the nearest neighbour cluster (scale 15h ^–1 Mpc). The effect is stronger for cD and gE galaxies than for first-ranked galaxies of later type. The relevance of this result for different galaxy formation scenarios is discussed. In hierarchical clustering scenarios like the cold dark matter theory, galactic halos and clusters of galaxies are expected to have moderate asphericity. We present some numerical results of an on-going study of the dissipationless collapse of moderately aspherical systems. Our results indicate that the central part of the collapsed and virialized system does show the large scale elongation imposed by the initial conditions. It is pointed out that this may have important implications also for the properties of disk galaxies in dark halos.     

The circumstellar imager: Direct detection of extra-solar planetary systems

The Astrometric Imaging Telescope (AIT) is designed to probe the circumstellar environment by both direct imaging and indirect astrometric measurements. The Circumstellar Imager (CI) is a coronagraphic camera and is the direct imaging component of the AIT. The CI is designed to obtain high-sensitivity images of the circumstellar region. It provides crucial non-inferential information relating to the frequency, origin, and evolution of planetary systems and all forms of circumstellar matter. Such imaging is usually limited by the scattered and diffracted light halos of the star itself, which are greatly suppressed in the CI by mating a novel high-efficiency coronagraph with a phasecompensated optical system. For faint point sources in the circumstellar region, the CI will have a sensitivity in excess of 5 magnitudes fainter than the as-designed Hubble Space Telescope (HST). Laboratory data are shown for the coronagraph, which, in a diffraction-limited environment, is capable of suppressing the stellar diffraction sidelobes by several orders of magnitude without significant sacrifice of field of view. In order to realize the high rejection levels inherent in the coronagraph design, it is necessary to limit scatter in the optical systems, imposing a mid-spatial frequency figure error requirement an order of magnitude smaller than that of the HST. Experimental data directed toward meeting this requirement are also shown.Paper presented at the Conference onPlanetary Systems: Formation, Evolution, and Detection held 7–10 December, 1992 at CalTech, Pasadena, California, U.S.A.     

Meteorite finds by EUROMET near Frontier Mountain,North Victoria Land,Antarctica

Abstract— A team from EUROMET (a joint initiative of scientific institutions in Europe interested in meteorites) was sent for the first time to Antarctica in the 1990/91 season to undertake a systematic search for meteorites. The project was organised within the framework of the Italian Antarctic Program (Programma Nationale di Richerche in Antartide, PNRA). The search was carried out in the vicinity of Frontier Mountain (North Victoria Land) and 256 meteorite fragments were discovered, most of which were wind-blown across the blue-ice field to the NE of Frontier Mountain and finally caught in an ice depression about 5 km to the N. The larger meteorites which remained on the ice surface from which they were uncovered may have been transported down to the mountain edge where they have subsequently been destroyed or covered in debris. A search for meteorites at neighbouring Sequence Hills, where similar glaciological conditions as at Frontier Mountain exist, proved unsuccessful. At this location the surface of the blue ice in the valleys with suspected meteorite concentrations was covered by meltwater lakes.