Astrometry from space: GAIA and planet detection

The proposed baseline GAIA mission will be able to detect the astrometric signature of Jupiter-size planets around of the order of a million stars, using either global or narrow-angle astrometry. If the mission can realize the higher astrometric accuracy that photon statistics allows for bright stars, lower-mass planets (from Earth size to ten times larger) can be found around ten to a few hundred stars.     

Tensile stresses around boreholes due to transient fluid flow

We present solutions for the effective stress induced by gas flow through a porous solid into a borehole resulting from sudden pressure reduction. Tensile effective stress that exceeds the strength of the solid will lead to borehole failure. This has applications to the intentional creation of cavities, relevant to the efficient recovery of coalbed methane, and the avoidance of borehole stability problems in conventional gas production.     

Speciation of trace metals in sediments of a tropical estuary

Axial surveys were performed in the two river tributaries of the Cochin estuary, SW India during November 1988. Surficial sediments were subjected to sequential chemical extractions to delineate five metal fractions, namely, exchangeable, carbonate bound, easily reducible, organic/sulfide bound, and residual. The results indicated selective accumulation of Mn and Ni in carbonate bound and organic/sulfide forms, along with marginal amounts of Co in the exchangeable fraction. Large portions of Fe and Cr occurred in the residual fraction, whereas composite fractionation of Zn species was noticed. The exchangeable fractions of Fe and Cr as well as of easily reducible cobalt were below detection limits. The levels of Cr and Zn indicate anthropogenic inputs in this estuary, whereas Co and Ni show regional contamination exceeding natural levels. The analytical speciation procedure helps to deduce the sedimental diagenetic processes in the estuarine environment.     

Cosmological constraints from the X-ray gas mass fraction in relaxed lensing clusters observed with Chandra

We present precise measurements of the X-ray gas mass fraction for a sample of luminous, relatively relaxed clusters of galaxies observed with the Chandra observatory, for which independent confirmation of the mass results is available from gravitational lensing studies. Parametrizing the total (luminous plus dark matter) mass profiles using the model of Navarro, Frenk & White, we show that the X-ray gas mass fractions in the clusters asymptote towards an approximately constant value at a radius r ₂₅₀₀, where the mean interior density is 2500 times the critical density of the Universe at the redshifts of the clusters. Combining the Chandra results on the X-ray gas mass fraction and its apparent redshift dependence with recent measurements of the mean baryonic matter density in the Universe and the Hubble constant determined from the Hubble Key Project, we obtain a tight constraint on the mean total matter density of the Universe,     , and measure a positive cosmological constant,     . Our results are in good agreement with recent, independent findings based on analyses of anisotropies in the cosmic microwave background radiation, the properties of distant supernovae, and the large-scale distribution of galaxies.     

A 20 cm2 CCD mosaic camera for a dark matter search part I : Mechanics,optics and cryogeny

A 20cm ² CCD mosaic camera has been especially built to search for dark galactic halo objects by the gravitational microlensing effect. The sensitive area is made of 16 edge-buttable CCDs developped by Thomson-CTS, with 23×23 µm ² pixels. The 35 kg camera housing and mechanical equipment is presented. The associated electronics and data acquisition system are described in a separate paper. The camera resides at the focal plane of a 40 cm, f/10, Ferson reflector. The instrument has been in operation since December 1991 at the La Silla Observatory (ESO).