Use of groundwater of the Upper Permian deposits for drinking water supply of the Chuvash Republic

The possibility and expediency of the use of groundwater from the Upper Permian aquifers of the right-bank area of the Volga River as an alternative to the Cheboksary aquifer are shown on the basis of multipurpose studies using uranium-isotope and microelement hydrogeochemical methods. Currently, the Cheboksary aquifer is under exploration in Quaternary deposits of the left-bank area and is meant for centralized environmentally most safe supply of drinking water to the population of the towns of Cheboksary and Novocheboksarsk.     

Nonlinear regular features in the development of the seismic process in time

This work is a certain stage in investigations devoted to the recognition and examination of the seismic process dynamics in order to assess prospects and elaborate recommendations for the prediction of very strong earthquakes. The work is based on the use of the second-order differential equation, the so-called equation of the dynamics of self-developing processes, as an approximation model. Nine seismic catalogs including information about more than 1.5 million earthquakes were analyzed. The time behavior of three parameters characterizing the seismic process development, namely, the number of seismic events, accumulated conventional strain, and total energy of the events, was examined in terms of the model approximation. More than 17 000 well-defined seismic sequences of activation and attenuation were revealed using these parameters. The sequences account for about 38.5% of the total number of earthquakes from the catalogs studied. The remaining earthquakes belong to sequences of stationary development (in the form of background seismicity and earthquake swarms) and ill-defined sequences of activation and attenuation. The presence of stable regular patterns in the nonlinear development of the seismic process in time makes this process basically predictable. However, additional investigations are required for direct practical use of the regular features revealed in this work.     

TRGB Distances to Galaxies Based on Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Images in One F814W Filter1

Astronomy Letters - We analyze the reasons for imaging in the $$V$$ and $$I$$ filters to measure the distances to galaxies by the TRGB method. We show the possibility of using the TRGB method if...     

Distances to 24 Galaxies in the Direction of the Virgo Cluster and a Determination of the Hubble Constant

To study the spatial distribution of galaxies lying between the Virgo cluster and the Local Group, a search was made for probable nearby galaxies. Using the method of brightest stars and of blue and red supergiants made it possible to determine the distances to 24 galaxies, among which six relatively nearby galaxies were identified. The results of the distance determinations showed that the maximum in the number distribution of galaxies lies at 17.0 Mpc, which we take as the distance to the Virgo cluster. Using the difference between the distance moduli of two clusters of galaxies, in Virgo and Coma Berenices, from literature sources and the velocity of the latter cluster, we determined the Hubble constant to be H ₀ = 77 ± 7 km·sec^–1·Mpc^–1.     

Correlation properties of galaxies from the Main Galaxy Sample of the SDSS survey

The apparatus of correlation gamma function (Γ^*(r)) is used to analyze volume-limited samples from the DR4 Main Galaxy Sample of the SDSS survey with the aim of determining the characteristic scales of galaxy clustering. Up to 20h ^?1 Mpc (H ₀ = 65 km s^?1 Mpc^?1), the distribution of galaxies is described by a power-law density—distance dependence, Γ^*(r) ∝ r ^?γ , with an index γ ≈ 1.0. A change in the state of clustering (a significant deviation from the power law) was found on a scale of (20–25) h ^?1 Mpc. The distribution of SDSS galaxies becomes homogeneous (γ ～ 0) from a scale of ～60h ^?1 Mpc. The dependence of γ on the luminosity of galaxies in volume-limited samples was obtained. The power-law index γ increases with decreasing absolute magnitude of sample galaxies M _abs. At M _abs ～ ?21.4, which corresponds to the characteristic value M _r ^* of the SDSS luminosity function, this dependence exhibits a break followed by a more rapid increase in γ.     

Stellar population of the irregular galaxy IC 10

Based on our observations with the 6-m BTA telescope at the Special Astrophysical Observatory, the Russian Academy of Sciences, and archival Hubble Space Telescope images, we have performed stellar photometry for several regions of the irregular galaxy IC 10, a member of the Local Group. Distance moduli with a median value of m − M = 24.47, D = 780 ± 40 kpc, have been obtained by the TRGB method for several regions of IC 10. We have revealed 57 star clusters with various masses and ages within the fields used. Comparison of the Hertzsprung-Russell diagrams for star clusters in IC 10 with theoretical isochrones has shown that this galaxy has an enhanced metallicity, which probably explains the high ratio of the numbers of carbon and nitrogen Wolf-Rayet stars (WC/WN). The size of the galaxy’s thick disk along its minor axis is 10′.5 and a more extended halo is observed outside this disk.     

Stellar subsystems of the galaxy NGC 1313

Based on archival Hubble Space Telescope (HST) ACS/WFC images, we have performed stellar photometry for eight fields of the spiral galaxy NGC 1313 and its satellite, the low-mass Sph/Irr galaxy AM0319-662. Stars of various ages have been identified on the constructed Hertzsprung–Russell diagrams: young supergiants, middle-aged stars, and old stars (red giants); their apparent distributions over the body of the galaxy are presented. The red supergiants and giants have been divided into groups with larger and smaller color indices, corresponding to a difference in stellar metallicity. These groups of stars are shown to have different spatial distributions and to belong to two galaxies, NGC1313 itself and the disrupted satellite. We have determined the distance to NGC 1313, D = 3.88 ± 0.07 Mpc, by the TRGB method from six fields. Our photometry of 2014 HST images has revealed an emerged charge transfer inefficiency on the ACS/WFC CCDs, which manifests itself as a dependence of the photometry of stars on their coordinates on the CCD.     

Correlation properties of the galaxies in the Local Supercluster

The apparatus of a correlation gamma function is used to analyze the spatial clustering of galaxies in the Local Supercluster. In particular, we analyzed a sample corrected for the peculiar velocities of the Local Supercluster galaxies by using our original technique for separating groups of galaxies. It turned out that the peculiar velocities did not significantly distort the gamma function even for relatively small sample sizes. The distribution of the galaxies obeys a power-law decrease in density with an index of 0.6–0.7. We found evidence for a luminosity dependence of the degree of galaxy clustering within the volume under study.     

M 101 group galaxies

Based on archival Hubble Space Telescope images, we have performed stellar photometry for the galaxy M 101 and other neighboring galaxies located at a small angular distance from M 101 and having radial velocities similar to that of M 101: M 51, M 63, NGC 5474, NGC 5477, UGC 9405, Ho IV, KUG1413+573, and others. Based on the TRGB method, we have determined the distances to these galaxies. We have found that the M 101 group lies at a distance of 6.8 Mpc and is a small compact galaxy group consisting of four galaxies: NGC 5474, NGC 5477, UGC 9405, and Ho IV. The bright massive galaxies M 51 and M 63 are considerably farther (D = 9.0 and 9.3 Mpc, respectively) than the M 101 group and do not belong to it. Applying the virial theorem to 27 objects (H II regions and galaxies),M 101 satellites located at different distances from the galaxy, has revealed an increase in the dynamical mass of M 101 with increasing sizes of the system of satellites used in calculating the mass. The maximum calculated mass of M 101 is 7.5 × 10¹¹ M _⊙. The dynamical mass of M 101 calculated on the basis of the four galaxies constituting the group is 6.2 × 10¹¹ M _⊙. The mass-to-light ratio for this mass is M/L = 18 (at the adopted luminosity of M 101, M _B = ?20.8).     

Stellar population of the central regions of NGC 5128

We present the results of stellar photometry in eight fields of NGC 5128 (Cen A), a candidate polar-ring galaxy, obtained by reducing images from the Hubble Space Telescope archive. In all cases, the color-magnitude diagrams reached the red-giant region, and the distance to the galaxy was determined from the position of the tip of the red-giant branch (4.1 Mpc), in agreement with previous estimates. Comparison of the diagrams with theoretical isochrones indicates that the red supergiants in the dark lane region are metal-rich, which is atypical of the polar rings. Our results are consistent with the assumption made by several authors that the absorption of a less massive spiral galaxy by a more massive one is observed in NGC 5128.