Kleť minor planet discovery frequency by months (comparison)

Abstrakt The Kle search programme for minor planets using 0,63m Maksutov camera of Kle Observatory was begun in 1977 as a long-term project continuing up to the present day. The discovery frequency according to seasons in the year shows multiple differences between particular months.The comparison with the number of observing nights and obtained search plates; weather conditions and other influences will be discussed. The Kle minor planet discovery frequency also will be compared with the data base of all numbered minor planets.     

A multivariate statistical and geostatistical study on the geochemistry of allochtonous karst bauxite deposits in Hungary

A geochemical evaluation of the Szc-Halimba-Kisld area, Hungary, covering an area of more than 200 km² is presented using different statistical and geostatistical methods. The study area is a representative example of allochtonous karst bauxite accumulation. The three groups of deposits studied here have been explored and mined since 1950. Several thousand boreholes have been drilled, and bauxite cores were analyzed for the five main chemical components. A total of 80,000 pleces of analytical data were processed, followed by a geological examination of borehole logs and of mining excavations.The quantitative geochemical evaluation of the data set led to both geochemical and practical results: The geochemical behavior of the allochtonous, clastic karst bauxite deposits differs essentially from that of the autochtonous and parautochtonous ones, as well as that of the lateritic bauxite deposits. The deposits of the study area can be split into several subsequent geochemical-sedimentological units, each representing an event of bauxite transport and accumulation. Clear regional patterns can be revealed in the composition of these units. The geostatistically measured chemical variability of the geochemical units is rather different, the lowest units showing the smallest variability. The interrelations of the main chemical components are weaker and more irregular in the studied deposits than in the autochtonous lateritic bauxite deposits. Additional local genetic features, such as transport routes, can be delineated by the methods applied. Within each deposit, local changes of chemical composition and of its variability can be determined more precisely. These results can be used in bauxite prospecting and exploration, because areas of high or low bauxite quality can be predicted.     

A plan for a new generation 2M-class telescope in Indonesia

One of the prime astrophysical interests of the Observatorium Bosscha is, and has always been, double star research: visual double star research with the double-60 cm Zeiss telescope (dedicated in 1928), and theoretical research of evolved massive spectroscopic binaries (since 1972). For one thing, this is the very reason that this IAU Colloquium No. 80, celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Observatorium Bosscha in Lembang, is devoted to binary astrophysics.Up to now, visual, photographic, and photometric tools have been used for binary research at the Observatorium Bosscha. An important, essential additional tool for binary research is spectrographic equipment, in order to measure radial velocities of binary components.Therefore, we suggest to make a plan for a new modern telescope, a reflector with a primary mirror of about 2 m in diameter and with a modern spectrograph/detector combination for radial velocity measurements.At a number of major astronomical observatories scientists have been considerating to erect new telescopes devoted primarily to radial velocity measurements. The reason for this is that at the end of this decade the parallax and proper motion measurements to be made by the ESA astrometric satellite Hipparcos will become available of more than 100 000 single stars and double stars. At that time there will be a compelling need for radial velocity measurements of all these stars to complement the parallax and proper motion measurements. With the combination of this data enormous progress will be made in double star research, and in the study of galactic dynamics, another topic of interest of the Observatorium Bosscha. If it could be realized to build such a dedicated radial velocity telescope in Indonesia, Indonesian astronomers could take a leading role in this field of research.Without going into technical details, we would like to emphasize here that such a new instrument should be a trueNew Generation Telescope, and that the Institut Teknologi Bandung should participate from the very beginning in its design, construction and assembling, and the subsequent servicing; ITB could participate in the field of optics, mechanics, and electronics. Modern astronomy offers tremendous challenges to technology, which are of great interest to technological institutes. The new telescope should be computer controlled, and the spectrograph should have a modern digital read-out (Reticon, IPCS, or CCD). The telescope should have one of those recently becoming availablethin mirrors, allowing more mechanical freedom. It could be a telescope with a siderostat which feeds the light into a fixed telescope, thus improving both the stability of the telescope and that of the spectrograph. In this way the staff and students of ITB, as well as the technical staff of the Observatorium Bosscha will be drawn into modern techniques of many varieties. And for ITB such an enterprise may even have a spin-off into other fields than astronomy.One aspect which is of great importance for the new telescope is the selection of its site. The present site of the Observatorium Bosscha in Lembang is a good one, but for a new modern telescope one wants to make sure that it is going to be located at the most ideal site.Therefore an Indonesian site-survey should be initiated promptly. Site survey equipment is available at many big observatories and could be borrowed. The site survey should extend over at least 4–5 years to monitor the meteorological and environmental situation at many sites.In the meantime the design and fund rainsing can be considered. Modern day astronomy depends on financial support from governments and inter-governmental organizations. Therefore it is urged that a proposal for a new telescope as indicated above clearly describes the advantages of such a new telescope both for astrophysical research in Indonesia, and for the introduction of new technologies in Indonesian technological institutes.The recently formed Steering Committee for Indonesian-Netherlands Astrophysics (INA) is willing to explore the possibilities for this plan. We hope that after investigating the interest of ITB in this matter, a proposal could be made before the end of this year.Paper presented at the Lembang-Bamberg IAU Colloquium No. 80 on Double Stars: Physical Properties and Generic Relations, held at Bandung, Indonesia 3–7 June, 1983.     

Motions in the solar atmosphere associated with the white light flare of 11 July 1978

Series of white light heliograms and oft- and on-band H filtergrams have been obtained, with an average spatial resolution of 1, to study the flare active McMath region 15403 on 11 July, 1978. A great number of accurate heliographic positions were determined for the umbrae, the white light flare patches and several bright H flare knots, as well as along the principal zero filament and an arch prominence. Using the measured heliographic coordinates of these objects their motions could be analyzed in some detail. The velocities of several different objects could be deduced from the coordinates. Since the heliocentric angle of the region was about 45°, the variation in apparent heliographic coordinates also enabled some variations in heights to be determined.It is pointed out that the flare when fully developed, consisted almost entirely of loops. The zero filament which was activated prior to the flare ran between two umbrae of common penumbra and opposite polarity, one belonging to an old, the other to a new spot group. The white light flare developed on both sides of the filament where it passed between these two umbrae; it was also the place where the flare started. Observational evidence appears to indicate that the erupted filament re-formed from below.An indication has been found that there was a link between the motion of some umbrae and the major flare occurrence.     

Stability of the solar system

If the solar system is considered as a mechanical clockwork consisting of its present members which attract each other as mass-points, the extent of its present approach to secular stability (i.e., the state of minimum potential energy) — manifested by the existence of a number of nearcommensurabilities of the present orbital periods, not only of the planets, but also of their satellites —could not have been attained in a time-span of 4.6×10⁹ yr of its age by gravitational perturbations alone.The existence of such commensurabilities — striking in many instances— could then be understood only on the assumption that either (a) the solar system was actually born with the present 2-, 3- and 4-term couplings between the orbital period of the planets already built-in from the outset (which is improbable on any known grounds); or (b) that these couplings — in particular, the 25 Jupiter-Saturn commensurability — have arisen as a result of tidal interaction between proto-planetary globes of much larger dimensions than these planets possess today. For the present dimensions and mutual distances of these planets, their tidal interaction in 10⁹ yr would exert but negligible effects; and during that time neither their masses, nor the scale of the solar system underwent any essential change.Therefore, a hypothesis is proposed that the situation now obtaining had its origin in the early days of the formation of the solar system, when the planetary globes — in particular, those of Jupiter and Saturn (now in the terminal stage of Kelvin contraction) — were very much larger than they are today; and when, as a result, the tidal coupling between them operated at a much higher rate than at the present time.Paper presented at the European Workshop on Planetary Sciences, organised by the Laboratorio di Astrofisica Spaziale di Frascati, and held between April 23–27, 1979, at the Accademia Nazionale del Lincei in Rome, Italy.     

Problems connected with the tangential metric coefficient in the Schwarzschild metric: A possible solution

Four situations are shown where the Schwarzschild metric cannot be used or is subject to unsurmountable problems. The first is the question of a metric useful for PPN-formalism checking different gravitational theories. The second problem occurs in connection with Mach's principle, when the flatness of the spacetime inside a massive hollow sphere is a generally accepted solution. The metrical discontinuity on the same spherical shell is a third problem. The fourth one is the anisotropy of the mass-energy of a test particle in the gravitational field. Three principles for solution are proposed:

1. The space is not dilated, but rather contracted, in the gravitational field; then the measurement-rods are shorter and measured distances have greater magnitudes.
2. The potential energy is to be related to a potential level where a stationary observer is placed and the general relativistic potential must be used.
3. A new metric must be introduced which is distinct from the Schwarzschild metric, so that the space in the gravitational field is warped isotropically.

Then the problems stated are shown to be easily solvable.     

Linear hydromagnetic stability of a differentially rotating non-uniformly stratified fluid layer

Summary Our discussion is concerned with the common effect of the non-uniformity of layer rotation and stratification. We have assumed a model of differential rotation with the upper part of the layer rotating more slowly, the bottom part more quickly. The upper part of the layer is stratified stably, the bottom part unstably.The thermal instabilities are preferred in the strong differential rotation case and they are the most easily excited by a strong magnetic field (10²–10³). The direction of its propagation is westward in the uniformly stratified layer and eastward in the non-uniformly stratified layer.     

Window technique for climate trend analysis

Climatic characteristics are affected by various systematic and occasional impacts: besides the changes in the observing system (locations of the stations of the meteorological network, instruments, observing procedures), the possible local-scale and global natural and antropogenic impacts on climatic conditions should be taken into account. Apart from the predictability problems, the phenomenological analysis of the climatic variability and the determination of past persistent climatic anomalies are significant problems, among other aspects, as evidence of the possible anomalous behavior of climate or for climate impact studies. In this paper, a special technique for the identification of such shifts in the observational series is presented. The existence of these significant shorter or longer term changes in the mean characteristics for the properly selected adjoining periods of time is the necessary condition for the formation of any more or less unidirectional climatic trends. Actually, the window technique is based on a complete set of orthogonal functions. The sensitivity of the proposed model on its main parameters is also investigated. This method is applied for hemispheric and Hungarian data series of the mean annual surface temperature.Contribution to Clima Locarno — Past and Present Climate Dynamics; Conference September 1990, Swiss Academy of Sciences — National Climate Program     

Investigation of the instability of graveyard orbits due to the earth's gravitational perturbations

Summary The Banach theorem is applied to the Lagrange planetary equation for the semimajor axis of a geostationary satellite orbit to estimate the stability of near-geostationary satellite orbits. To achieve a graveyard (disposal) orbit, which will not interfere (=cross) the initial geostationary orbit, the geostationary semi-major axis a_g have to be increased at least by 50 km. Numerical results for a variety of graveyard orbits show that the increase of a_g by about 100 km will yield sufficiently stable orbits (accounting for the Earth's gravitational perturbations only) during the next 150 years.Dedicated to the 75th Birthday of Professor Academician Tibor Kolbenheyer