The correlation of solar flare production with magnetic energy in active regions

An investigation of 531 active regions was made to determine the correlation between energy released by flares and the available energy in magnetic fields of the regions. Regions with magnetic flux greater than 10²¹ maxwell during the years 1967–1969, which included sunspot maximum, were selected for the investigation. A linear regression analysis of flare production on magnetic flux showed that the flare energy is correlated with magnetic energy with a coeificient of correlation of 0.78. Magnetic classification and field configuration also significantly affect the production of flares.This work was supported by the Aerospace Sponsored Research Program.     

Biological and granulometric controls on sedimentary organic matter of an intertidal mudflat

A variety of measures of organic matter concentration and quality were made on samples collected from the top few mm of intertidal mudflat sediment over the course of a year, in order to assess the relative importance of biological and sedimentological influences on sedimentary organic matter. Winter and summer were times of relatively fine-grained sediment accumulation, caused by biological deposition or stabilization processes and resulting in higher organic matter concentrations. Stable carbon isotope and Br:C ratios indicated a planktonic source of bulk organic matter. Ratios of organic carbon to specific surface area of the sediments were consistent with an organic monolayer coverage of sediment grains. Correction for changing grain size during the year showed no change in the organic concentration per unit surface area, in spite of organic matter inputs by in situ primary production, buildup of heterotroph biomass and mucus coatings, and biodeposition of organic-rich seston. There were also no indications of changes in bulk organic quality, measured as hydrolyzable carbohydrates and amino acids, in response to these biological processes. It is concluded that biological processes on a seasonal time scale affect the bulk organic matter of these sediments via a modulation of grain size rather than creation or decay of organic matter.     

Rayleigh-Taylor instability of two viscous superposed rotating and conducting fluids

Classical R-M and synthetic W-D analysis of V758 Centauri are presented. Two solutions (semi-detached and contact) were found from differential corrections approach. The semi-detached model is physically acceptable since the system is thermally decoupled. The solution for this case and the photometric data are consistent with a B9 primary and A9 secondary components having parameters close to Main-Sequence values. It is suggested that V758 Centauri is a B-type W UMa system at the brokencontact phase predicted by the Thermal Relaxation Oscillations theory.     

Is 1220 Crocus a precessing,binary asteroid?

Photoelectric observations of asteroid 1220 Crocus (an Eos family member) show evidence for two distinct periods in its light variation: 30.7 days and 7.90 hr. The lightcurve amplitudes are 0.87 and 0.15 mag, respectively. The shorter period variation appears to be modulated over the longer period. Two periods are possible for a rigid body only if it is in a state of precession. The observations are shown to be compatible with a body in a forced precession state. This result leads us to hypothesize the existence of a satellite of Crocus as the source of the external torque. Calculations are presented which show that there are in fact dynamically possible “binary asteroid” solutions consistent with the observations. More photoelectric and perhaps direct (space telescope) observations are needed to resolve the true nature of this asteroid.     

The NAIAD experiment for WIMP searches at Boulby mine and recent results

The NAIAD experiment (NaI Advanced Detector) for weakly interacting massive particle (WIMP) dark matter searches at Boulby mine (UK) is described. The detector consists of an array of encapsulated and unencapsulated NaI(Tl) crystals with high light yield. Six crystals are collecting data at present. Data accumulated by four of them (10.6 kg × year exposure) have been used to set upper limits on the WIMP–nucleon spin-independent and WIMP–proton spin-dependent cross-sections. Pulse shape analysis has been applied to discriminate between nuclear recoils, as may be caused by WIMP interactions, and electron recoils due to gamma background. Various calibrations of crystals are presented.     

Theoretical and experimental lifetime and oscillator strength determination in singly ionized neodymium (Nd ii)

Radiative lifetime measurements were performed with time-resolved laser-induced fluorescence techniques for 24 levels of Nd  ii in the energy range 20 500–32 500 cm⁻¹. For 17 levels, no previous experimental data exist. These results have allowed the testing of new theoretical calculations with the relativistic Hartree–Fock method taking configuration interactions and core-polarization effects into account, and a satisfying agreement has been found for this complex ion. A new set of calculated oscillator strengths, accurate within a few per cent for the strongest transitions, is presented for 107 lines of astrophysical interest appearing in the wavelength range 358.0–1100.0 nm. These results will be useful to evaluate abundance values of neodymium in chemically peculiar stars in relation with cosmochronology.     

Circular Polarisation Observations of SS433

We present four epochs of observations of the Galactic X-ray binarySS433 using the Australian Telescope Compact Array (ATCA). These observations, taken on 4 February, 29 February, 23 March and 27 June 2000, at four frequencies ranging from 1–9 Ghz, are used to monitor the circular polarised emission from the source. We obtain circular polarisation spectra for the first three epochs with spectralindices α, (m _c ∝ν ^α), equal to 0.07±0.10, –1.07±0.09 and –0.18±0.05 and also observe a sign change in Stokes V. This change of handedness may indicate along-term restructuring of the magnetic field.     

Tidal dwarfs in the M81 group: the second generation?

We present a quantitative star formation history derivation of the four suspected tidal dwarf galaxies in the M 81 group: Holmberg IX, BK3N,Arp-loop (A0952+69) and Garland using HST/WFPC2 images of these galaxies. We construct a library of synthetic Colour-Magnitude Diagrams(CMDs) based on theoretical isochrones and data-derived determinations of photometric errors. These synthetic CMDs were combined linearly andχ²-compared to observed photometry. All the galaxies show continuous star formation between about 20 and 200 Myr ago with star formation rates between 7.5⋅10^-3 M_⊙/yr and 7.67⋅10^-4 M_⊙/yr. The metallicity of the detected stars is spanning rather a wide range, being lower than solar abundance. We suppose, that all the galaxies were formed out of material from metal-poor outer part of the giant spiral galaxy M81after tidal interaction about 200 Myr ago. However, this suggestion requires significantly more deep color-magnitude diagrams to be sure with the scenario of the galaxy evolution. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.