A model for the constant-head pumping test conducted in vertically fractured media

An analytical model for the constant-head pumping test is developed for a partially penetrating well that has a finite thickness skin, and intersects a single vertical fracture. In the model, the fracture is fully confined and flow occurs only in the fracture. The model is developed using Laplace transform and finite Fourier transform methods. The model is to be used for analysing well test data from vertically fractured media and for verifying numerical models. Dimensionless curves are used to study the effects of a finite thickness skin and a partially penetrating wellbore. In the presence of a finite thickness skin, or a partially penetrating wellbore, a typical flow response for the constant-head pumping test has three distinct periods of flow corresponding to small-, intermediate- and large-time. Small- and large-time approximations are presented for the model. For tests where the wellbore is fully penetrating, or the partial penetration ratio is known, these approximations can be used to analyse field data.     

Wavelet analysis of a magnetogram

I analyze a quiet-Sun magnetogram with an orthogonal wavelet transform, which allows me to define an entropy measure. The entropy measure of the magnetogram as a function of spatial scale obeys a scaling law, which leads to a fractal dimension ofD _f = 1.7. Furthermore, the entropy scaling law is directly related to the intermittency of magnetic features, which increases for decreasing spatial scales, as expected for a turbulent signal. In this context, the scaling law parameter can be interpreted as a fractional reduction in volume from one step of the turbulent cascade to the next.Operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation.     

BATSE/OSSE rapid burst response

The BATSE and OSSE instrument teams have modified flight software to promptly (within 2 min of trigger) slew the OSSE detectors to burst locations determined on-board by BATSE. This enables OSSE to make sensitive searches for prompt and delayed post-burst line and continuum emission above 50 keV. In the best cases our sensitivity will be more than an order of magnitude better than any other search in this energy range. We expect to slew to 1–2 bursts per month, based on the OSSE FOV and BATSE event rate. Detections or limits from continued operation of this system may provide significant constraints on burst models. As an example of the observations made using this system, we present preliminary limits for post-burst emission from GRB 950223 on several time scales.     

Magnetic reconnection model for X-ray flare loop interaction

The subtle interactions between the magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) and transverse plasmons are investigated. It is shown that there is a resistive instability by the plasmon's soliton in a current sheet, which eventually turns into an eruptive instability at the magnetic field reconnection. In the case of ion-acoustic turbulence, the high temperature current sheet model must adopt the aromalous conductivity instead of the Coulomb conductivity. The numerical results are consistent with the observations obtained by Hanaoka (1994). Thus the flare caused by X-ray loop coalescence can be basically interpreted by this model of magnetic field reconnection driven by ponderomotive force.     

Direct mid-IR images of Gl 2591,W51-IRS2 and S140

We present the results of direct mid-IR images of the luminous young stellar objects GL 2591, S140-IRS1, and W51-IRS2. The sources show an extended mid-IR emission at the limit of our spatial resolution indicating the presence of dense circumstellar dust disks.     

The Relationship of Green-Line Transients to White-Light Coronal Mass Ejections

We report observations by the Large Angle Spectrometric Coronagraph (LASCO) on the SOHO spacecraft of three coronal green-line transients that could be clearly associated with coronal mass ejections (CMEs) detected in Thomson-scattered white light. Two of these events, with speeds >25 km s^-1, may be classified as ‘whip-like’ transients. They are associated with the core of the white-light CMEs, identified with erupting prominence material, rather than with the leading edge of the CMEs. The third green-line transient has a markedly different appearance and is more gradual than the other two, with a projected outward speed <10 km s^-1. This event corresponds to the leading edge of a ‘streamer blowout’ type of CME. A dark void is left behind in the emission-line corona following each of the fast eruptions. Both fast emission-line transients start off as a loop structure rising up from close to the solar surface. We suggest that the driving mechanism for these events may be the emergence of new bipolar magnetic regions on the surface of the Sun, which destabilize the ambient corona and cause an eruption. The possible relationship of these events to recent X-ray observations of CMEs is briefly discussed. Supplementary material to this paper is available in electronic form at http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/A:1004981125702     

The lost world of the olenid trilobites

Trilobites of the Family Olenidae (Upper Cambrian to Upper Ordovidan) were closely tied to an oxygen-poor environment. They show a remarkable range of adaptations, testifying to a singular evolutionary plasticity.     

Rotation of a two-component model neutron star in the GTR

Equations are obtained for the dynamics of the rotation of a two-component model neutron star within the framework of the generai theory of relativity. It is shown that for steady rotation of the star’s normal component, Ω_c = const, the angular velocity Ω_s of the superfluid component depends on the coordinates and is Ω_c + ω, where ω is the nondiagonal component of the metric tensor. Translated from Astrofizika, Vol. 40, No. 3, pp. 403–412, August, 1997.