Community structure of bathyal decapod crustaceans off South-Eastern Sardinian deep-waters (Central-Western Mediterranean)

Community structure and faunal composition of bathyal decapod crustaceans off South-Eastern Sardinian deep-waters (Central-Western Mediterranean) were investigated. Samples were collected during 32 hauls between 793 and 1598 m in depth over the 2003–2007 period. A total of 1900 decapod specimens belonging to 23 species were collected. Multivariate analysis revealed the occurrence of three faunistic assemblages related to depth: (i) an upper slope community at depths of 793–1002 m; (ii) a middle slope community at depths of 1007–1212 m and (iii) a lower slope community at depths greater 1420 m. In the upper and middle slopes the benthic ( Polycheles typhlops ) and epibenthic–endobenthic feeders (mainly Aristeus antennatus and Geryon longipes ), which eat infaunal prey, were dominant, followed by the macroplankton–epibenthic feeders such as Acanthephyra eximia and Plesionika acanthonotus . In the deepest stratum, the most remarkable feature was the prevalence of macroplankton–epibenthic feeders ( A. eximia and P. acanthonotus ). A small percentage of the benthic deep-sea lobster Polycheles sculptus was also present. The biomass presented higher values in the middle slope and declined strongly in the lower slope. There was no general pattern of mean individual weight/size versus depth among decapods, and the changes seemed to be species-specific with different trends.     

Estimating copepods' abundance with paired nets: Implications of mesh size for population studies

Three representative copepods occurring in the southern Patagonian shelf, i.e., Calanus australis, Drepanopus forcipatus and Oithona helgolandica were sampled by the first time with paired nets of 66 and 150 µm mesh size. The stage-specific estimates of abundance of their populations were statistically analyzed to assess differences in the catchability by both plankton nets. Differences between nets were significant only for smaller developmental stages and species, with higher catchabilities by the 66 µm net, while no differences were detected for most of the stages of the medium and large size species. A significant effect of the spatial distribution on the estimates of abundance was detected for the majority of the species and stages but the interaction between mesh size and spatial distribution was not significant. This means that differences between both nets were maintained across the latitudinal gradient. Our results strongly suggest the convenience of using the 66 µm plankton net to estimate the abundance of the three copepods' populations. Furthermore, we propose a correction factor to adjust past estimates of abundances from 150 µm mesh collections.     

Searching for tidal tails – investigating galaxy harassment

Galaxy harassment has been proposed as a physical process that morphologically transforms low surface density disc galaxies into dwarf elliptical galaxies in clusters. It has been used to link the observed very different morphology of distant cluster galaxies (relatively more blue galaxies with 'disturbed' morphologies) with the relatively large numbers of dwarf elliptical galaxies found in nearby clusters. One prediction of the harassment model is that the remnant galaxies should lie on low surface brightness tidal streams or arcs. We demonstrate in this paper that we have an analysis method that is sensitive to the detection of arcs down to a surface brightness of 29 B μ and we then use this method to search for arcs around 46 Virgo cluster dwarf elliptical galaxies. We find no evidence for tidal streams or arcs and consequently no evidence for galaxy harassment as a viable explanation for the relatively large numbers of dwarf galaxies found in the Virgo cluster.     

Minimum control for spacecraft formations in a J2 perturbed environment

Large ΔV amounts are often required to maintain the relative geometry which is needed to implement a formation flying concept. A wise use of the orbital environment makes the orbit keeping phase easier, reducing the overall propellant consumption. A first important step in this direction is the selection of formation configurations and orbits which, while still satisfying the mission requirements, are less subject to perturbations resulting naturally in closed relative motion. Within this frame, a number of studies have been recently carried out in order to identify possible sets of invariant relative orbits under the effects of the Earth oblateness, a conservative force commonly referred to as J2 which is also the most important perturbation for Low Earth Orbit. These efforts clearly marked the difficulties connected with achieving genuine periodic relative motion under J2 effect, but they also showed the existence of a set of conditions on the orbital parameters which allow for quasi-periodic J2 trajectories. This paper presents these particular trajectories, by means of deeper theoretical explanations, showing the dependency of the shape of the relative configurations on the orbital inclination. Since the quasi-periodic trajectories cannot be written analytically, and moreover, they are very sensitive with respect to the initial conditions, difficulties arise when trying to exploit these paths as reference for the control of a formation. This paper proposes a novel approach to find, from the actual quasi periodic natural trajectories, minimal control periodic reference trajectories. Next, it evaluates quantitatively the amount of propellant which is needed to control a spacecraft formation along these paths. The choice of Hill’s classical circular projected configuration as a nominal trajectory is considered as a comparison, showing the clear advantages of the proposed guidance design, which assumes low-perturbed periodic reference orbits as nominal trajectories.