Luminescence chronology of non‐glacial sediments in Changeable Lake,Russian High Arctic,and implications for limited Eurasian ice‐sheet extent during the LGM

A 10.5 m core from Changeable Lake in the Severnaya Zemlya Archipelago just north of the Taymyr Peninsula intersects ca. 30 cm of diamicton at its base, interpreted as a basal till. Because the upper 10.13 m of this core consists of non‐glacial sediments, a maximum numeric age for these non‐glacial sediments would provide a clear lower limit to the timing of the last glaciation in the area of Changeable Lake. Radiocarbon (¹⁴C) dating of several materials from this core yielded widely scattered results. Consequently we applied photonic dating to sediments above the diamicton. The experimental single‐aliquot‐regenerative (SAR) dose fine‐grain method was applied to two samples, using the ‘double SAR’ approach. With one exception, these fine‐grain SAR results and the results of application of the SAR method to sand‐sized quartz grains from two samples, at ca. 9.95 m and ca. 10.05 m depth, are discrepant with age estimates from the multi‐aliquot infrared‐photon‐stimulated luminescence (IR‐PSL) method applied to fine grains. Multi‐aliquot IR‐PSL dating of 10 samples produces ages increasing monotonically from ca. 4 ka at 2 m to 53 ± 4 ka at 9.97 m. These self‐consistent multi‐aliquot IR‐PSL ages, along with limiting ¹⁴C ages of >47 ka at ca. 10 m, provide direct evidence that glacial ice did not advance over this lake basin during the Last Glacial Maximum, and thus delimit the northeastern margin of the Barents–Kara Sea ice‐sheet to somewhere west of this archipelago. The last regional glaciation probably occurred during marine isotope stage (MIS) 4 or earlier. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Near-infrared H- and K-band studies of the 2006 outburst of the recurrent nova RS Ophiuchi

We present near-infrared photospectroscopy in the H and K bands of the 2006 outburst of the recurrent nova RS Ophiuchi. The observations cover the period between 1 and 94 d after the eruption. The near-infrared light curve is presented. An extensive set of spectra is presented, lines identified and the general characteristics of the spectra discussed. Analysis of the H  i line profiles shows the presence of broad wings on both flanks of a strong central component indicating the presence of a bipolar velocity flow in the ejecta. Such a flow is kinematically consistent with the bipolar structure that the object displays in high-resolution spatial images. We discuss the behaviour and origin of the Fe  ii lines at 1.6872 and 1.7414 μm that are prominently seen throughout the span of the observations. It is examined and shown that Lyman α and Lyman continuum fluorescence are viable mechanisms to excite these lines. We draw upon the result, that collisional excitation can also contribute in exciting and significantly enhancing the strength of these Fe  ii lines, to propose that these lines originate from a site of high particle density. Such a likely site could be the high-density, low-temperature contact surface that should exists in the shock front in between the shocked ejecta and red giant wind. Recombination analysis of the H  i lines indicates deviations from case B conditions during most of the span of our observations indicating optical depth effects. It appears likely that the breakout of the shock front had not yet occurred till the end of our observations. An analysis is made of the temporal evolution of the [Si  vi ] 1.9641 μm coronal line and another coronal line at 2.0894 μm which is attributed to [Mn  xiv ]. Assuming collisional effects to dominate in the hot coronal gas, estimates are made of the ion temperature in the gas.     

Combining paleointensity methods: A dual-valued determination on lunar sample 10017,135

A single-heating procedure is presented which makes possible the determination of two partially independent values of paleofield intensity for a given sample, one serving as a check to the other. The approach combines data required for Shaw-type and “ARM-method” determinations and in so doing furnishes a value of the ratio of TRM to ARM acquisition efficiency (f′) corrected for any physicochemical alteration to the magnetic carriers which may have occurred during laboratory heating.

Applicability of the Shaw-method to Fe-bearing samples is favorably demonstrated through simulated paleointensity determinations conducted on synthetic samples containing multi-domain grains. Moreover, coercivity spectra corresponding to anhysteretic remanent magnetization (ARM) are found to be considerably more sensitive to thermally induced alteration when compared with those corresponding to thermoremanent magnetization (TRM).

The combined Shaw-ARM procedure was successfully applied to lunar basalt sample 10017,135 rendering a paleointensity of 0.82 ± 0.11 Oe. The Thellier-Thellier method, however, was not able to provide a meaningful determination on the neighboring chip (number 136). These apparently conflicting findings may be explained by one or more of the following possible interpretations: (1) multiple step-wise heatings cause considerably more damage to the carriers of remanence than does a single-heating procedure; (2) the rock possesses extreme variability in magnetic properties from one sub-sample to the other; (3) the natural remanent magnetization in this lunar basalt is not a simple TRM.     

Exact Scalar Field Cosmology with Causal Viscous Fluid

An exact cosmological solution for Friedman Robertson Walker (FRW)metric is obtained with a classical scalar field φ along with a potential in the presence of a causal viscous fluid. Assuming the scale factor to be a function of the scalar field we have obtained solutions in both the truncated and the full causal theory. It is shown that an inflationary model can be obtained by imposing certain constraints on some constants. The radiative bulk viscosity during the decoupling era has also been studied as a special case. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Optical/IR studies of Be stars in NGC 6834 with emphasis on two specific stars

We present optical and infrared photometric and spectroscopic studies of two Be stars in the 70–80-Myr-old open cluster NGC 6834. NGC 6834(1) has been reported as a binary from speckle interferometric studies whereas NGC 6834(2) may possibly be a γ Cas-like variable. Infrared photometry and spectroscopy from the United Kingdom Infrared Telescope(UKIRT), and optical data from various facilities are combined with archival data to understand the nature of these candidates.High signal-to-noise near-IR spectra obtained from UKIRT have enabled us to study the optical depth effects in the hydrogen emission lines of these stars. We have explored the spectral classification scheme based on the intensity of emission lines in the H and K bands and contrasted it with the conventional classification based on the intensity of hydrogen and helium absorption lines. This work also presents hitherto unavailable UBV CCD photometry of NGC 6834, from which the evolutionary state of the Be stars is identified.     

Spherical Collapse Of A Heat Conducting Fluid In Higher Dimensions Without Horizon

We consider a scenario where the interior spacetime, described by a heat conducting fluid sphere is matched to a Vaidya metric in higher dimensions. Interestingly we get a class of solutions, where following heat radiation the boundary surface collapses without the appearance of an event horizon at any stage and this happens with reasonable properties of matter field. The non-occurrence of a horizon is due to the fact that the rate of mass loss was exactly counterbalanced by the fall of boundary radius. Evidently this poses a counter example to the so-called cosmic censorship hypothesis. Two explicit examples of this class of solutions are also given and it is observed that the rate of collapse is delayed with the introduction of extra dimensions. The work extends to higher dimensions our previous investigation in 4D.     

Masses of binary stars for general orbits

The masses of a pair of stars in the visual binary system have been estimated. The angle between the orbital plane of the stars and the plane of the sky has been taken into account. Inclination of the major axes of the orbits of the stars with the line of interaction between the orbital plane and the plane of the sky has also been considered. These two inclinations are also computed in terms of the observed quantities. Major and minor axes of actual orbits of the stars are determined.