Rb-Sr and K-Ar indicators of the transformation of precambrian clayey rocks in the East European Platform

Rb-Sr and K-Ar characteristics of Vendian and Upper Riphean sections in various structural units of the East European Platform are studied. It is shown that Neoproterozoic clayey rocks of the platform underwent postsedimentary transformations, primarily owing to processes of K accumulation (illitization). Their intensity decreases with depth and isotopic signatures of provenance rocks are partly retained in Riphean rocks. Stages of the most active transformations approximately 400 and 600 Ma ago are manifested in the Vendian clayey rocks. Events of approximately 1000 Ma ago are recorded in Riphean rocks of the East European Platform. The least altered rocks of the Pachelma aulacogen can retain ancient hydrocarbon pools.     

GETEMME—a mission to explore the Martian satellites and the fundamentals of solar system physics

GETEMME (Gravity, Einstein??s Theory, and Exploration of the Martian Moons?? Environment), a mission which is being proposed in ESA??s Cosmic Vision program, shall be launched for Mars on a Soyuz Fregat in 2020. The spacecraft will initially rendezvous with Phobos and Deimos in order to carry out a comprehensive mapping and characterization of the two satellites and to deploy passive Laser retro-reflectors on their surfaces. In the second stage of the mission, the spacecraft will be transferred into a lower 1500-km Mars orbit, to carry out routine Laser range measurements to the reflectors on Phobos and Deimos. Also, asynchronous two-way Laser ranging measurements between the spacecraft and stations of the ILRS (International Laser Ranging Service) on Earth are foreseen. An onboard accelerometer will ensure a high accuracy for the spacecraft orbit determination. The inversion of all range and accelerometer data will allow us to determine or improve dramatically on a host of dynamic parameters of the Martian satellite system. From the complex motion and rotation of Phobos and Deimos we will obtain clues on internal structures and the origins of the satellites. Also, crucial data on the time-varying gravity field of Mars related to climate variation and internal structure will be obtained. Ranging measurements will also be essential to improve on several parameters in fundamental physics, such as the Post-Newtonian parameter ?? as well as time-rate changes of the gravitational constant and the Lense-Thirring effect. Measurements by GETEMME will firmly embed Mars and its satellites into the Solar System reference frame.     

Robotic optical telescopes global network MASTER II. Equipment, structure, algorithms

Presented paper describes the basic principles and features of the implementation of a robotic network of optical telescopes MASTER, designed to study the prompt (simultaneous with gamma radiation) optical emission of gamma-ray bursts and to perform the sky survey to detect unknown objects and transient phenomena. With joint efforts of Sternberg astronomical institute, High altitude astronomical station of the Pulkovo observatory, Ural state university, Irkutsk state university, Blagoveshchensk pedagogical university, the robotic telescopes MASTER?II near Kislovodsk, Yekaterinburg, Irkutsk and Blagoveshchensk were installed and tested. The network spread over the longitudes is greater than 6?h. A further expansion of the network is considered.     

Catalog of stars with high proper motions (version 3.0)

We compiled a catalog (containing astrometric and astrophysical characteristics) of 4 302 200 stars with high proper motions (no less than 40 mas/year) using original measurements of proper motions of stars from the catalogs FONAK 1.1, HIPPARCOS, ??Tycho-2,?? UCAC2,3, CMC (STAR 11), PPM, PPMX, NPM1, NPM2, XZ80Q, Pul-3, Pul2, NLTT, GCVS, LHS, ??Lowell Proper Motion,?? and ??Bruce Proper Motion,?? as well as some data from approximately 800 other published sources. The location of our catalog is ftp://ftp.mao.kiev.ua/pub/astro/h-pms3.dat.     

Valleys,paleolakes and possible shorelines at the Libya Montes/Isidis boundary: Implications for the hydrologic evolution of Mars

We describe the results of our morphologic, stratigraphic and mineralogic investigations of fluvial landforms, paleolakes and possible shoreline morphologies at the Libya Montes/Isidis Planitia boundary. The landforms are indicative of aqueous activity and standing bodies of water, including lakes, seas and oceans, that are attributed to a complex hydrologic cycle that may have once existed on Mars in the Noachian (>3.7 Ga) and perhaps also in the Hesperian (>3.1 Ga). Our observations of the Libya Montes/Isidis Planitia boundary between 85°/86.5°E and 1.8°/5°N suggest, that (1) the termination of valley networks between roughly ?2500 and ?2800 m coincide with lake-size ponding in basins within the Libya Montes, (2) an alluvial fan and a possible delta, layered morphologies and associated Al-phyllosilicates identified within bright, polygonally fractured material at the front of the delta deposits are interpreted to be the results of fluvial activity and discharge into a paleolake, (3) the Arabia “shoreline” appears as a series of possible coastal cliffs at about ?3600 and ?3700 m indicating two distinct still stands and wave-cut action of a paleosea that temporarily filled the Isidis basin the Early Hesperian, and (4) the Deuteronilus “shoreline” appears at ?3800 m and is interpreted to be a result of the proposed sublimation residue of a frozen sea that might have filled the Isidis basin, similar to the Vastitas Borealis Formation (VBF) identified in the northern lowlands. We interpret the morphologic–geologic setting and associated mineral assemblages of the Libya Montes/Isidis Planitia boundary as results of fluvial activity, lake-size standing bodies of water and an environmental change over time toward decreasing water availability and a cold and dry climate.     

Observations of extrasolar planet transits with the automated telescopes of the Pulkovo Astronomical Observatory

Exoplanet observations have been performed on the automated Pulkovo Observatory telescopes. We have obtained 33 transit light curves for 16 known exoplanets and six transit observations for three exoplanet candidates discovered by the Kepler telescope. Based on our observations, we have reliably confirmed the existence of an exoplanet with an extremely large radius, R _pl = 1.83 ± 0.16R _Jup, in the system KOI 256 and detected a strong deviation of its orbital revolution from the theoretically predicted one. During the transit of the exoplanet WASP-12b across the stellar disk, we detected bursts that could be caused by the planet transit across spots on the star or by the presence of a satellite around this exoplanet. We detected possible periodic variations in the duration of the exoplanet transit across the stellar disk with time for HAT-P-12b that could be caused by variations in orbital inclination. The transit duration and depth, the central transit time, and the radius and orbital inclination of the planet have been estimated. The equilibrium temperature and albedo have been estimated for several exoplanets.     

Cross-identifications of stars with high proper motions (Version 2.0)

A cross index list of 493 200 stars with proper motions higher than 0.04″/yr (ftp://ftp.mao.kiev.ua/pub/astro/c-ihpms2) was compiled on the basis of the original determinations for the FONAK1.1 catalog stars, the data from the Hipparcos, Tycho-2, UCAC2, CMC (STAR 11), PPM, NPM1, NPM2, XZ80Q, Pul-3, PUL2, GCVS, NLTT, LHS, Lowell Proper Motion, and Bruce Proper Motion catalogs, as well as the data published in other sources.