Seismomagnetic signals and perturbations recorded during the 2007 Nevelsk earthquake and its aftershocks

Anomalous variations in the geomagnetic field observed in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk are compared with six-hour-long records of aftershocks of the Nevelsk earthquake of August 2, 2007. It is established that the geomagnetic signals usually appeared a few minutes before or after the closest-in-time-aftershocks. Sometimes, the geomagnetic signals were detected between the arrivals of P and S waves from the repeated quakes. Possible correlations between several parameters of the repeated quakes and the characteristics of magnetic signals are studied.     

Stellar content of the metal-poor galaxy DDO 68

Based on archival Hubble Space Telescope ACS/WFC images, we have performed stellar photometry for the metal-poor galaxy DDO 68. The apparent distributions of stars of different ages and stellarmetallicity determinations indicate that DDO68 is a systemof two galaxies that have different stellar metallicities (Z = 0.004 and 0.001) and are in the stage of interaction or merging. We have determined the distance to DDO 68, D = 12.0 ± 0.3 Mpc, which differs significantly from previous estimates of the distance to this system. A concentration of red giants is observed outside DDO 68. This can be interpreted as the periphery of a partially visible low-surface-brightness galaxy located at the same distance as DDO 68. Comparison of the constructed CM diagrams with theoretical isochrones from Bertelli et al. has allowed us to determine that the age of each galaxy is at least 10 Gyr.     

On the seismic regime of the Japan region before the Tohoku mega-earthquake (M w = 9)

The seismic regime taking place before the Tohoku mega-earthquake was studied using the catalog of the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA). We show that the Tohoku earthquake was preceded by a 6–7-year period of regional reduction in the b-value and in the rate of main shocks. The space-time regions that involved precursory activation were nearly identical with the predictive phenomena that were previously detected by A.A. Lyubushin from an analysis of seismic noise based on data from the Japanese F-net. We discovered a previously unknown effect of correlation between the number of main shocks and the b-value. Both the ordinary foreshock activation and the longer weaker tendency, which consist in a precursory increase in the seismicity rate, were identified in the vicinities of M ≈ 7 Japanese earthquakes (similarly to the seismicity in the Generalized Vicinities of large earthquakes based on worldwide data).     

Sizes of Stellar Subsystems of Disk Galaxies and the Metallicities of Red Giants

Stellar photometry of 53 low-mass spiral and irregular galaxies has been carried out using archival frames obtained by the Hubble Space Telescope. Young and old stars (blue supergiants and red giants) are distinguished on the resulting Hertzsprung–Russell diagrams, and the spatial sizes of the subsystems formed by these stars are determined. A correlation is found between the metallicities of red giants and the difference between the linear sizes of stellar systems of different ages. This dependence can be explained if the sizes of stellar subsystems expand over the lifetimes of galaxies, as well as the influence of the relationship between the mass of a galaxy and the metallicity of its stars.     

Searching for the brightest stars in galaxies outside the Local Group

This paper introduces a technique for searching for bright massive stars in galaxies beyond the Local Group.To search for massive stars,we processed the results of stellar photometry from the Hubble Space Telescope(HST) images using the DAOPHOT and DOLPHOT packages.The results of such searches are demonstrated with examples of the galaxies DDO 68,M94 and NGC 1672.In the galaxy DDO 68,the LBV star changes its brightness,and massive stars in M94 can be identified by excess in the Ha band.For the galaxy NGC 1672,we measure the distance for the first time by the TRGB method,which enabled determining the luminosities of the brightest stars,likely hypergiants,in the young star formation region.So far,we have performed stellar photometry on HST images of 320 northern sky galaxies located at a distance less than 12 Mpc.This allowed us to identify 53 galaxies with probable hypergiants.Further photometric and spectral observations of these galaxies are planned to search for massive stars.     

Distance to the galaxy IC 342

Based on archival Hubble Space Telescope images, we have performed stellar photometry for a region of the spiral galaxy IC 342 located in the Milky Way zone. On the constructed Hertzsprung-Russell diagram, we have identified the red giant branch and determined the distance modulus for the galaxy by the TRGB (tip of the red giant branch) method, (m−M) = 27.97 ± 0.10, which corresponds to D = 3.93 ± 0.10 Mpc. The estimated distance puts IC 342 spatially close to the galaxy Maffei 1 (D = 4.1 Mpc) and allows these galaxies to be considered the center of a single group.     

Stellar Disks and Halos of Edge-on Spiral Galaxies: NGC 891, NGC 4144, and NGC 4244

Stellar photometry of images from the ACS and WFPC2 cameras on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) is used to study the star composition and spatial distribution of stars in three edge-on visible spiral galaxies: NGC 891, NGC 4144, and NGC 4244. Measurements of the surface number density of old stars revealed two stellar subsystems in these galaxies: a thick disk and a halo. The boundaries of these subsystems, which consist mainly of red giants, are determined from the change in the gradient of the number density of the stars. The halos are flattened at the poles of the galaxies and extend to distances of 8–25 kpc from the planes of the galaxies. The present results on the number density distribution of stars with different ages perpendicular to the planes of these galaxies make it possible to improve our model for the stellar structure of spiral galaxies. The distances to these galaxies are calculated using a determination of the tip of the red giant branches (the TRGB method): D = 9.82 Mpc (NGC 891), D = 7.24 Mpc (NGC 4144), and D = 4.29 Mpc (NGC 4244).__________Translated from Astrofizika, Vol. 48, No. 2, pp. 261–280 (May 2005).     

Integrative algorithm of determining ice conditions in Polar Regions by data of satellite microwave radiometry (VASIA2)

In this paper, a new algorithm for determining the concentration of the ice cover in Polar Regions by data of satellite microwave radiometry is considered. The technique of its construction is described in detail; it cardinally differs from the technique of creating present-day algorithms. The new algorithm demonstrates good results in determining the concentration of the ice cover in Polar Regions. The algorithm permits one not only to obtain maps of ice concentration, but also to determine areas of puddles covering the ice-cover surface in summer months. The algorithm is easy-to-use and requires no additional or fitting parameters. At the end of the work, advantages and disadvantages of the new algorithm are discussed.     

The ecological implications of a Yakutian mammoth's last meal

Part of a large male woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius) was preserved in permafrost in northern Yakutia. It was radiocarbon dated to ca. 18,500 ¹⁴C yr BP (ca. 22,500 cal yr BP). Dung from the lower intestine was subjected to a multiproxy array of microscopic, chemical, and molecular techniques to reconstruct the diet, the season of death, and the paleoenvironment. Pollen and plant macro-remains showed that grasses and sedges were the main food, with considerable amounts of dwarf willow twigs and a variety of herbs and mosses. Analyses of 110-bp fragments of the plastid rbcL gene amplified from DNA and of organic compounds supplemented the microscopic identifications. Fruit-bodies of dung-inhabiting Ascomycete fungi which develop after at least one week of exposure to air were found inside the intestine. Therefore the mammoth had eaten dung. It was probably mammoth dung as no bile acids were detected among the fecal biomarkers analysed. The plant assemblage and the presence of the first spring vessels of terminal tree-rings of dwarf willows indicated that the animal died in early spring. The mammoth lived in extensive cold treeless grassland vegetation interspersed with wetter, more productive meadows. The study demonstrated the paleoecological potential of several biochemical analytical techniques.     

A new model for seismicity parameterization and predictive aspects of its application to the Sakhalin region

Seismicity is generally treated as an example of self-organized criticality. One alternative to this treatment may possibly be furnished by a model of seismicity that is thought of as a set of episodes of avalanching relaxation that occur randomly on a set of metastable subsystems. This model is defined by the parameter r, which specifies the hierarchical divisibility of the block structure of the medium, and by the parameter p, which specifies the probability for the incipient relaxation of a metastable state to continue. These two parameters together define the modeled value of the slope of the recurrence curve, or b-value, thus determining the mode of seismicity occurrence. This model is used to describe the seismicity in southern Sakhalin Island. In this modeling, the coefficient of hierarchical divisibility r in the block structure of the medium was assumed to be stationary and the disequilibrium parameter p was assumed to describe time-dependent variations of seismicity. We calculated models for the spatial variability of r and the time variability of p. We found abnormal growth in p during the Gornozavodsk earthquake (2006, M _w = 5.6) and the Nevel??sk earthquake (2007, M _w = 6.2). At present, we report values of p that are high (and increasing over time) in the wide area of the Poyasok isthmus. The results derived here are compared with other ideas on seismicity and with the experience that was previously gained in the area of earthquake prediction.