MIDI – the 10 μm instrument on the VLTI

After more than five years of preparation, the mid-infrared interferometric instrument MIDI has been transported to Paranal where it will undergo testing and commissioning on theVery Large Telescope Interferometer VLTI from the end of 2002through large part of this year 2003. Thereafter it will be available as a user instrument to perform interferometric observations over the8 μm–13 μm wavelength range, with a spatial resolution of typically 20 milliarcsec, a spectral resolution of up to 250, and an anticipated point source sensitivity of N = 3–4 mag or 1–2.5 Jy for self –fringe tracking, which will be the only observing mode during the first months of operation. We describe the layout of the instrument, laboratory tests, and expected performance, both for broadband and spectrally resolved observing modes. We also briefly outline the planned guaranteed time observations. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Radiation Exchange Between Stratus Clouds and Polar Marine Surfaces

The radiative energy exchange between arctic sea-ice and stratiform clouds is studied by means of aircraft measurements and a two-stream radiation transfer model. The data have been obtained by flights of two identically instrumented aircraft during the Radiation and Eddy Flux Experiments REFLEX I in autumn 1991 and REFLEX II in winter 1993 over the arctic marginal ice zone of Fram Strait. The instrumental equipment comprised Eppley pyranometers and pyrgeometers, which measure the solar and terrestrial upwelling and downwelling hemispheric radiation flux densities, and a line-scan-camera on one aircraft to monitor the surface structure of the sea-ice. An empirical parametrization of the albedo of partly ice-covered ocean surfaces is obtained from the data, which describes the albedo increasing linearly with the concentration of the snow-covered sea-ice and with the cosine of the sun zenith angle at sun elevations below 10°. Cloud optical parameters, such as single scattering albedo, asymmetry factor and shortwave and longwave height-dependent extinction coefficient are determined by adjusting modeled radiation flux densities to observations. We found significant influence of the multiple reflection of shortwave radiation between the ice surface and the cloud base on the radiation regime. Consistent with the data, a radiation transfer model shows that stratus clouds of 400 m thickness with common cloud parameters may double the global radiation at the surface of sea-ice compared to open water values. The total cloud-surface-albedo under these circumstances is 30% larger over sea-ice than over water. Parametrizations of the global and reflected radiation above and below stratus clouds are proposed on the basis of the measurements and modeling. The upwelling and downwelling longwave emission of stratus clouds with thicknesses of more than 500 m can be satisfactorily estimated by Stefan's law with an emissivity of nearly 1 and when the maximum air temperature within the cloud is used.     

Résultats préliminaires d'études sur des méthodes de détermination de l'âge individuel par l'histologie chez quelques Téléostéens

The study discusses the potential of various histological methods for enhancing the readability of the lines of arrested growth (LAC, annuli) in different bony elements, particularly fin rays, of some freshwater fish species.      

Sphalerite stars in chalcopyrite: Are they always the result of an unmixing process?

Sphalerite skeletal crystals in inclusions in chalcopyrite (so-called sphalerite stars) are widely thought to be the result of high-temperature unmixing processes. Detailed observations in the chalcopyrite ores at Aïn Barbar (Algeria) demonstrate that the unmixing theory cannot work in this case. It is here proposed that skeletal crystals are the result of a local supersaturation in sphalerite at the growing fronts of chalcopyrite. This implies a high precipitation rate, estimated to be ca. 10^-6 m sec^-1, remaining compatible, however, with a recharge in ore-forming components by the flowing mineralizing solutions. In addition to Aïn Barbar, this explanation is probably of more general significance since the kind of relationships described here is by no means restricted to this particular deposit.     

Solar Eclipses and the Surface Properties of Water

Earth, Moon, and Planets - During four solar eclipse events (two annular, one total and one partial) a correlation was observed between a change in water surface tension and the magnitude of the...