Structures far from the head of comet Kohoutek: II. A discussion of the swan cloud of January 11 and of the general morphology of cometary plasma tails

Photographs taken in New Mexico and in Japan during 1974 January 9–11 show that the “Swan Cloud” observed in comet Kohoutek on January 11 (C. L. Hyder, J. C. Brandt, and R. G. Roosen, 1974, Icarus23, 601–610: Paper I) was an advanced stage of a plasma tail disconnection event (DE). The event commenced and evolved with the development of strong tail ray activity, the actual tail disconnection, the merging of the disconnected tail with the new tail to form the Swan, and a new feature not discussed in recent disconnection models—the formation of arcade loops in the space between closing tail rays. An unusual aspect of the event was the deceleration of the rejected tail as it receded from the head.The observed morphological sequence is easily understood in the sector boundary model (M. B. Niedner, Jr., and J. C. Brandt, 1978, Astrophys. J.223, 655–670; 1979, Astrophys. J.234 723–732), in which dayside reconnection of captured interplanetary fields at sector boundary crossings strips away the existing tail, and field capture in the new sector builds a new tail. The associated sector boundary for the event passed Earth of 1974 January 14.The arcade loops are proposed to be reconnected flux tubes between oppositely polarized tail rays in the incipient new tail which followed the disconnection. This interpretation is not only consistent with the magnetic field topology advocated in Alfvén's original model (H. Alfvén, 1957 Tellus9 92–96), but it may also provide a physical model for some of the features known historically as “condensation,” at least some of which appear to have formed in the same manner.     

An RXTE observation of the Seyfert 1 galaxy MCG–6-30-15: X-ray reflection and the iron abundance

We report on a 50-ks observation of the bright Seyfert 1 galaxy MCG–6-30-15 with the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer . The data clearly show the broad fluorescent iron line (equivalent width ∼ 250 eV) and the Compton reflection continuum at higher energies. A comparison of the iron line and the reflection continuum has enabled us to constrain the reflective fraction and the elemental abundances in the accretion disc. Temporal studies provide evidence that spectral variability is a result of changes in both the amount of reflection seen and the properties of the primary X-ray source itself.     

Comet Hyakutake (C/1996 B2): Spectacular disconnection event and the latitudinal structure of the solar wind

Images of comet Hyakutake (C/1996 B2) are analyzed in conjunction with solar wind data from spacecraft to determine the relationship between solar wind conditions and plasma tail morphology. The disconnection event (DE) on March 25, 1996 is analyzed with the aid of data from the IMP-8 and WIND Earth-orbiting spacecraft and the DE is found to be correlated with a crossing of the heliospheric current sheet. The comet was within of Earth at the time of the DE and data from IMP-8 and WIND show no high-speed streams, significant density enhancements or shocks.The latitudinal variation in the appearance and orientation of the plasma tail are interpreted based on results from the Ulysses spacecraft. In the polar solar wind region, the comet has a relatively undisturbed appearance, no DEs were observed, and the orientation of the plasma tail was consistent with a higher solar wind speed. In the equatorial solar wind region, the comet's plasma tail had a disturbed appearance, a major DE was observed, and the orientation of the plasma tail was consistent with a lower solar wind speed. The boundary between the equatorial and polar regions crossed by comet Hyakutake in April 1996 was near 30°N (ecliptic) or 24°N (solar) latitude.     

Distributional effects of property rights: Transitions in the Atlantic Herring fishery

A principal challenge in developing any fishery management plan is the allocation of benefits and costs among participants in the fishery. This process is further complicated by imperfect information about future market demand and limited ability to predict the consequences of regulatory change. This paper offers a new approach to policymakers, using econometric analysis to simulate the potential impact of individual tradable quotas (ITQs) in a fishery. We compare the distribution of harvest across participants in the Atlantic Herring fishery under the current open access regime and under a potential ITQ regime, assuming two different levels of future demand. Our results show that production efficiency varies by vessel gear, home-port and relationship with buyers. Some of the predicted consequences of ITQs are: vessels from Massachusetts will gain share relative to those from Maine; trawlers will gain share relative to purse seine vessels; and independent vessels will lose share relative to vessels that are primarily contracted to specific processors or bait companies. These results will help policymakers in developing future management plans for the herring fishery. More generally, this analytical approach can help regulators in any fishery assess the potential impact of alternative policy changes under alternative future demand scenarios.     

On Novel Methods to Determine Areas of Sunspots from Photoheliograms

Two novel methods of measuring umbral and penumbral areas of sunspots and of complex sunspot groups are described. Both methods comprise the digitization of photoheliograms by a frame grabber and the computation of intensity histograms of selected areas of activity. The first method, called cumulative histogram method, in principle determines the intensity boundaries umbra–penumbra and penumbra–photosphere from the intersections of linear fits into the corresponding parts of the cumulative histograms of sunspots. The second method, called maximum gradient method, marks image pixels of a given intensity level ±2 units wide as a white isophote on a display. Interactive variation of this level makes it easy to visually select the contour line fitting the boundary penumbra–photosphere (or umbra–penumbra) best. At the same level usually the width of the contour line is smallest. In both cases the summation of the pixel numbers above the corresponding intensity levels yields the umbral and the total sunspot areas, respectively. Some limitations of the two methods are discussed.     

Study of WATCH GRB error boxes

We have studied the first WATCH GRB Catalogue of-ray Bursts in order to find correlations between WATCH GRB error boxes and a great variety of celestial objects present in 33 different catalogues. No particular class of objects has been found to be significantly correlated with the WATCH GRBs.     

Iceland's best kept secret

The ‘forgotten fjords’ and ‘deserted inlets’ of NE‐Iceland, in the region between Borgarfjörður Eystri and Loðmundarfjörður, are not only prominent because of their pristine landscape, their alleged elfin settlements, and the puffins that breed in the harbour, but also for their magnificent geology. From a geological point of view, the area may hold Iceland's best kept geological secret. The greater Borgarfjörður Eystri area hosts mountain chains that consist of voluminous and colourful silicic rocks that are concentrated within a surprisingly small area (Fig. 1 ), and that represent the second‐most voluminous occurrence of silicic rocks in the whole of Iceland. In particular, the presence of unusually large volumes of ignimbrite sheets documents extremely violent eruptions during the Neogene, which is atypical for this geotectonic setting. As a group of geoscientists from Uppsala University (Sweden) and the Nordic Volcanological Center (NordVulk, Iceland) we set out to explore this remote place, with the aim of collecting material that may allow us to unravel the petrogenesis of these large volumes of silicic rocks. This effort could provide an answer to a long‐standing petrological dilemma; the question of how silicic continental crust is initially created. Here we document on our geological journey, our field strategy, and describe our field work in the remote valleys of NE‐Iceland.     

Middle Pleistocene biota of the early Anglian ‘Arctic Fresh-water Bed’ at Ostend, Norfolk, UK

At three sites along the North Norfolk coast, freshwater sediments containing arctic plants have been reported to occur immediately beneath the glacial deposits. The sections at Mundesley and Beeston are no longer visible but a small exposure of this ‘Arctic Fresh-water Bed’ has recently been rediscovered at Ostend near Bacton. The fossils from this deposit are distinctly high boreal/arctic in character, indicating a small, possibly ephemeral, pool in a generally open landscape supporting some dwarf shrubs and conifers. Noteworthy records include three beetle species (Pterostichus brevicornis, P. middendorffi and Helophorus obscurellus) that today have their closest occurrences on either the Kanin or Kola peninsulas in arctic Russia. A Mutual Climatic Range reconstruction on the limited beetle fauna suggests that the mean temperatures of the warmest and coldest months were between 9 °C and 11 °C and between −36 °C and −10 °C, respectively. Other noteworthy occurrences include the aquatic pulmonate gastropod Gyraulus rossmaessleri (second and earliest British record), the ostracod Amplocypris tonnensis (earliest British record), ground squirrel (Spermophilus sp.) and the first record of arctic lemming (Dicrostonyx sp.) from the Cromer Forest-bed Formation (CF-bF). The ‘Arctic Fresh-water Bed’ has been assigned to the Bacton Member of the CF-bF and formed during the early Anglian, correlated with Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 12 of the deep sea record. The Ostend assemblage is therefore important in providing a glimpse of conditions that occurred during a major cold stage in the early Middle Pleistocene.     

First ENA observations at Mars: Charge exchange ENAs produced in the magnetosheath

Measurements of energetic neutral atoms (ENA) generated in the magnetosheath at Mars are reported. These ENAs are the result of charge exchange collisions between solar wind protons and neutral oxygen and hydrogen in the exosphere of Mars. The peak of the observed ENA flux is . For the case studied here, i.e., the passage of Mars Express through the martian magnetosheath around 20:15 UT on 3 May 2004, the measurements agree with an analytical model of the ENA production at the planet. It is possible to find parameter values in the model such that the observed peak in the ENA count rate during the spacecraft passage through the magnetosheath is reproduced.     

Mantle sources of the Cenozoic volcanic rocks of the Lake Kizi region in the eastern Sikhote Alin

The Middle Cenozoic lava sequence of the Lake Kizi region was studied. It characterizes the activity of sources in the Northern zone of the eastern Sikhote Alin: a Middle Eocene pulse of slab-related magmatism and prolonged injection of magmas from the sublithospheric convecting mantle in the Late Oligocene. Low contents of high field strength elements (Nb and Ta) with low Nb/Ta, Ce/Pb, and Nb/La and high K/Nb ratios and a low (⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr)₀ of 0.703399 were determined in a Middle Eocene dacite with an age of ∼43.5 Ma. Three phases of Late Oligocene volcanic eruptions were distinguished: (1) basaltic andesites (29–27 Ma), (2) basaltic trachyandesites and trachyandesites (27–24 Ma), and (3) andesites (∼23 Ma). The lavas of the first and third phases showed low Ce/Pb, Nb/La, and Ba/La and high K/Nb ratios, which are also characteristic of supraslab processes. The lavas of the second phase are shifted with respect to these ratios toward ocean island basalt compositions. The entire Late Oligocene volcanic sequence falls within a narrow range of the initial strontium isotope ratios, (⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr)₀, from 0.703661 to 0.703853. Such ratios are characteristic of volcanic and subvolcanic rocks with ages of ∼37, 31–23, and ∼16 Ma over the whole region of the Tatar Strait coast.