Microtextures and crystal chemistry in P21/c pigeonites

Summary ?A single-crystal X-ray investigation was performed on crystals of P2₁/c natural pigeonite with varying Ca and Fe^* ( = Fe²⁺ + Mn²⁺) contents, in order to verify the effect of microtextural disorder on structure refinements and to constrain the crystal chemistry of pigeonite. Antiphase domains and exsolution lamellae affect differently the refinement results. In a crystal free of exsolution the structure obtained after refinement with all reflections is an average of that of the antiphase domains and of their boundaries, whereas in an exsolved crystal it represents only the structure of the prevailing pigeonite lamellae. The refinement using only h + k odd reflections seems to give the structure of the Ca-free pigeonite characteristic of the antiphase domains rather than that of Ca-rich domain walls. The ratio of the scale factors in refinements with all reflections and with only h + k odd reflections allows the ratios of the exsolved augite and pigeonite phases to be estimated. The crystal chemistry of the investigated samples follows the trends outlined by data on Ca-free and Fe-free synthetic samples. In particular, it is shown that Ca and Fe^* substitution for Mg induce similar changes in the average structure, i.e. both induce an expansion in the M1 polyhedron and decrease the difference between the M2–O3 distances. Received October 18, 2001; revised version accepted February 15, 2002     

A qualitative and quantitative evaluation of experimental model catchment evolution

Due to the geological time scales required for observation of catchment evolution, surrogates or analogues of field data are necessary to understand long‐term processes. To investigate long‐term catchment behaviour, two experimental model catchments that developed without rigid boundaries under controlled conditions are examined and a qualitative and quantitative analysis of their evolution is presented. Qualitatively, the experimental catchments have the visual appearance of field scale data. Observation demonstrates that changes in catchment shape and network form are conservative. Quantitative analysis suggests that the catchments reach an equilibrium form while a reduction in the channel network occurs. While the catchments are laboratory scale models, the results provide insights into field scale behaviour. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Interstellar Extinction and the Intrinsic Colors of Classical Cepheids in the Galaxy, the LMC, and the SMC

New methods are applied to samples of classical cepheids in the galaxy, the Large Magellanic Cloud, and the Small Magellanic Cloud to determine the interstellar extinction law for the classical cepheids, R _B:R _V:R _I:R _J:R _H:R _K= 4.190:3.190:1.884:0.851:0.501:0.303, the color excesses for classical cepheids in the galaxy, E(B-V)=-0.382-0.168logP+0.766(V-I), and the color excesses for classical cepheids in the LMC and SMC, E(B-V)=-0.374-0.166logP+0.766(V-I). The dependence of the intrinsic color (B-V)₀ on the metallicity of classical cepheids is discussed. The intrinsic color (V-I)₀ is found to be absolutely independent of the metallicity of classical cepheids. A high precision formula is obtained for calculating the intrinsic colors of classical cepheids in the galaxy: (<B>-<V>)₀=0.365(±0.011)+0.328(±0.012)logP.     

Plane Symmetric Domain Wall in Lyra Geometry

In this paper general solutions are found for domain walls in Lyra geometry in the plane symmetric spacetime metric given by Taub. Expressions for the energy density and pressure of domain walls are derived in both cases of uniform and time varying displacement field β. It is also shown that the results obtained by Rahaman et al [IJMPD, 10, 735 (2001)] are particular case of our solutions. Finally, the geodesic equations and acceleration of the test particle are discussed. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Large-scale structure in the NIR-selected MUNICS survey

The Munich Near-IR Cluster Survey (MUNICS) is a wide-area, medium-deep, photometric survey selected in the K' band. The project's main scientific aims are the identification of galaxy clusters up to redshifts of unity and the selection of a large sample of field early-type galaxies up to z < 1.5 for evolutionary studies. We created a Large Scale Structure catalog, using a new structure finding technique specialized for photometric datasets, that we developed on the basis of a friends-of-friends algorithm. We tested the plausibility of the resulting galaxy group and cluster catalog with the help of Color-Magnitude Diagrams (CMD), as well as a likelihood- and Voronoi-approach. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Search for groups of extragalactic radio sources

We explore the possibility of searching for groups of radio sources from the FIRST catalog on angular scales 1′–5′. We developed an efficient method of searching for such groups that takes into account the need for combining the components of extended sources represented in the catalog by separate objects. We found 31 groups of radio sources with angular sizes <5′ that contain no fewer than five sources with flux densities ≥3 mJy. This number is at least triple the expected number of such groups for a random Poisson distribution of radio sources in the sky. The prospects for using groups of radio sources to detect and study distant systems of galaxies are discussed.     

The shape of the rotation curves of edge-on galaxies

We consider the effects of projection, internal absorption, and gas-or stellar-velocity dispersion on the measured rotation curves of galaxies with edge-on disks. Axisymmetric disk models clearly show that the rotational velocity in the inner galaxy is highly underestimated. As a result, an extended portion that imitates nearly rigid rotation appears. At galactocentric distances where the absorption is low (i.e., it does not exceed 0.3–0.5^m kpc^?1), the line profiles can have two peaks, and a rotation curve with minimum distortions can be obtained by estimating the position of the peak that corresponds to a higher rotational velocity. However, the high-velocity peak disappears in high-absorption regions and the actual shape of the rotation curve cannot be reproduced from line-of-sight velocity estimates. In general, the optical rotation curves for edge-on galaxies are of little use in reconstructing the mass distribution in the inner regions, particularly for galaxies with a steep velocity gradient in the central region. In this case, estimating the rotation velocities for outer (transparent) disk regions yields correct results.     

疏散星团的最新研究进展

疏散星团在天文学和天体物理学研究中有着多方面的重要性。近年来在观测和理论工作上都取得了显著的进展。综述了疏散星团的研究现状，对成员判别、基本参数确定、团与恒星的演化、团的结构和动力学进行了详细评述。