Spectroscopic studies of three novae

We present our spectroscopic observations of the novae V1425, V1493, and V1494 Aql carried out with the 125-cm telescope at the Crimean Station of the Sternberg Astronomical Institute in the wavelength range 4000–11000 Å. We measured the emission-line intensities, determined the nova shell expansion velocities from the line profile FWHMs and components, and estimated the interstellar reddening from the first members of the Balmer series. The chemical composition of the nova shells is analyzed. Nitrogen and oxygen were found to be overabundant in V1425 and V1494 Aql; the helium abundance turned out to be normal in the two stars.     

Gamma-Hadron Separation using Čerenkov Photon Density Fluctuations

In the atmospheric Čerenkov technique γ-rays are detected against the abundant background produced by hadronic showers. In order to improve the signal to noise ratio of theexperiment, it is necessary to reject a significant fraction of hadronic showers. Traditional background rejection methods based on image shape parameters have been extensively used for the data from imaging telescopes. However, non-imaging Čerenkov telescopes have to develop very different means of statistically identifying and removing cosmic ray events. Some of the parameters, which could be potentially important for non-imaging arrays, are the temporal and spectral differences, the lateral distributions and density fluctuations of Čerenkov photons generated by γ-ray and hadron primaries. Here we study the differences in fluctuations of Čerenkov photon density in the light pool at the observation level from showers initiated by photons and those initiated by protons or heavier nuclei. The database of simulated events for the PACT array has been used to evaluate the efficiency of the new technique. Various types of density fluctuations like the short range and medium range fluctuations as well as flatness parameter are studied. The estimated quality factors reflect the efficiencies with which the hadrons can be rejected from the data. Since some of these parameters are independent, the cuts may be applied in tandem and we demonstrate that the proton rejection efficiency of ∼90% can be achieved. Use of density fluctuations is particularly suited for wavefront sampling observations and it seems to be a good technique to improve the signal to noise ratio. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

The effects of topographically-controlled thermal tides in the martian upper atmosphere as seen by the MGS accelerometer

Mars Global Surveyor accelerometer observations of the martian upper atmosphere revealed large variations in density with longitude during northern hemisphere spring at altitudes of 130-160 km, all latitudes, and mid-afternoon local solar times (LSTs). This zonal structure is due to tides from the surface. The zonal structure is stable on timescales of weeks, decays with increasing altitude above 130 km, and is dominated by wave-3 (average amplitude 22% of mean density) and wave-2 (18%) harmonics. The phases of these harmonics are constant with both altitude and latitude, though their amplitudes change significantly with latitude. Near the South Pole, the phase of the wave-2 harmonic changes by 90° with a change of half a martian solar day while the wave-3 phase stays constant, suggesting diurnal and semidiurnal behaviour, respectively. We use a simple application of classical tidal theory to identify the dominant tidal modes and obtain results consistent with those of General Circulation Models. Our method is less rigorous, but simpler, than the General Circulation Models and hence complements them. Topography has a strong influence on the zonal structure.     

Planar deformation features and impact glass in inclusions from the Vredefort Granophyre,South Africa

Abstract— The Vredefort Granophyre represents impact melt that was injected downward into fractures in the floor of the Vredefort impact structure, South Africa. This unit contains inclusions of country rock that were derived from different locations within the impact structure and are predominantly composed of quartzite, feldspathic quartzite, arkose, and granitic material with minor proportions of shale and epidiorite. Two of the least recrystallized inclusions contain quartz with single or multiple sets of planar deformation features. Quartz grains in other inclusions display a vermicular texture, which is reminiscent of checkerboard feldspar. Feldspars range from large, twinned crystals in some inclusions to fine‐grained aggregates that apparently are the product of decomposition of larger primary crystals. In rare inclusions, a mafic mineral, probably biotite or amphibole, has been transformed to very fine‐grained aggregates of secondary phases that include small euhedral crystals of Fe‐rich spinel. These data indicate that inclusions within the Vredefort Granophyre were exposed to shock pressures ranging from <5 to 8–30 GPa. Many of these inclusions contain small, rounded melt pockets composed of a groundmass of devitrified or metamorphosed glass containing microlites of a variety of minerals, including K‐feldspar, quartz, augite, low‐Ca pyroxene, and magnetite. The composition of this devitrified glass varies from inclusion to inclusion, but is generally consistent with a mixture of quartz and feldspar with minor proportions of mafic minerals. In the case of granitoid inclusions, melt pockets commonly occur at the boundaries between feldspar and quartz grains. In metasedimentary inclusions, some of these melt pockets contain remnants of partially melted feldspar grains. These melt pockets may have formed by eutectic melting caused by inclusion of these fragments in the hot (650 to 1610 °C) impact melt that crystallized to form the Vredefort Granophyre.     

An analytical representation of non-gyrotropic distributions and related space applications

Clear signature of non-gyrotropic energetic electron distributions was found by ISEE 1 and ISEE 2 spacecrafts just upstream of the Earth's bow shock and recently detected by in situ observations of the WIND plasma experiment. On the other hand, the appearance of non-gyrotropic ion velocity distributions is well established in the magnetotail providing evidence of magnetic reconnection processes. Motivated by these findings we introduce an analytical representation of non-Maxwellian/non-gyrotropic distribution functions, accurately fitting the characteristics of observations, where Maxwellians are recovered as special case of these highly general velocity space distributions. In particular, the analytical distribution function model can serve as basis of detailed wave-particle interaction analysis and of studies of the physical background of the evolution of both, non-gyrotropic electron and ion distributions, which is discussed for various space plasma environments.     

初轨计算中的病态分析

本文对现有初轨计算方法进行病态性分析与误差分析；研究结果表明：病态对现有初轨算法的影响，主要来源于法方程系数中包含观测误差．系数行列式愈大，定轨精度的损失愈多，当■被随机误差项△μ淹盖时，现有初轨算法将失效．此外，仿真结果还显示：■与△μ的大小还极大地依赖观测弧段的空间位置，当观测弧段包含近站点作为中点时，■最大，而■小，此时定轨精度较高；当观测弧段位于近站点的某一侧时，■小，而■大，此时定轨精度较低，观测弧段愈偏离近站点，病态影响愈大；因而在观测时，应尽量使观测弧段与近站点对称（此时μ值较大），这是提高短弧定轨的一种有效途径．