Origin of the Asteroids: Collision of a small planet with a large comet

It is not likely that the asteroids originated from the collision of a small planet with a large comet, because such a catastrophic event has much too low a probability.     

Gravitational heating of planets

Analytical estimates for three important and general planetary heating processes, excluding radioactive heating, are presented: accretional heating, adiabatic compression and core formation. The relative importance of these processes appears to be as follows. Accretional heating is important for almost all planets and satellites including asteroid-size bodies. Heating due to core formation becomes important for objects which are similar to, or larger than the terrestrial planets. Compressional heating is important only for the outer cores and the envelopes of the giant planets, provided that they are heated, before compression, up to about 1000 K.     

Characterization of biophysical land units using remote sensing and gis

In the present study, an attempt has been made to characterize the biophysical land units in Kanholi bara river basin of sub-humid tropical ecosystem of central India using remotely sensed data, field surveys and GIS based multi-criteria overlay analysis. The geo-spatial database on elevation, slope, landforms, soil depth, soil erosion, land use/land cover and hydrogeomorphological parameters has been generated using IRS-ID LISS-III satellite data coupled with soil survey data in GIS. The methodology followed in characterization of biophysical land units in GIS includes assigning scores for different classes of the layers and weighatges for different layers based on their characteristics and degree of influence on desired output. GIS based ‘multi criteria overlay’ analysis reveals seventeen distinct biophysical land units in the river basin. Severe (50.5-59.5) to very severe (59.5) biophysical stress units are found in plateau spurs, isolated mounds, linear ridges, dissected plateau and escarpments. These zones are associated with severe to very severe erosion, steep to very steep, extremely shallow soils, poor to very poor groundwater prospects, wastelands and scrublands. The characterization of biophysical land units helps in analysis of their potentials, problems and stress environment to plan and execute site-specific landscape management practices and maximize the productivity from each biophysical land unit. The present study demonstrates that generation of geo-spatial database based on remotely sensed data and field surveys in GIS and their analysis helps great extent in characterization of biophysical land units and analysis of their stress environment for management.     

SHARE Asia自动气象站网络：喜马拉雅山—喀喇昆仑山地区气候研究的一个必要组成部分

Ev K2 CNR SHARE Asia计划的目标就是建立一个沿喜马拉雅山—喀喇昆仑山脉的监测网络，为气象学和气候研究提供参数，特别是为季风变化、大气化学、冰川学、高海拔湖沼学和古湖沼学等研究，同时也为准确地确定地球表面坐标。SHARE Asia 计划的一个特殊的目的是发展一套完整的测量系统，以满足不断进步的环境与地球科学；促进当地的技术升级和建设的能力。 就像WMO CEOP 和UNEP ABC一样，SHARE Asia 气象—气候及大气化学观测站已经成为重要的国际科学计划的一部分。     

Physical characteristics ofN-dimensional,radially-symmetric polytropes

The physical characteristics radius, mass, mean density, gravitational potential and acceleration, gravitational and internal energy are presented with the aid of the gamma function forN-dimensional, radially-symmetric polytropes. The virial theorem with external pressure is derived in the relativistic limit, with Newtonian gravitation still valid. The gravitational energy of polytropes obeying the generalized Schuster—Emden integral is shown to be finite. Finiteness of mass and radius is discussed for the cases of practical interestN=1 (slab),N=2 (cylinder), andN=3 (sphere). Uniform contraction or expansion ofN-dimensional polytropes is considered in the last section.     

The Titius-Bode law-place for more than ten planets?

This note presents the results of five numerical examples concerning the Titius-Bode law. The last section contains the principal conclusions.     

Seven-digit tables of Lane-Emden functions

In Table I we present seven digit numerical solutions of the Lane-Emden equation for the plane-parallel, cylindrical, and spherical case for polytropic indices ofn=–10, –5, –4, –3, –2, –1.5, –1.01, –0.9, –0.5, 0, 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 20, ±, supplemented byn=2.5, 3.5, 4.5, and 4.99 for the spherical case.In Table II some finite boundary values of polytropic slabs, cylinders, and spheres are summarized. For polytropic spheres (N=3) we have also quoted boundary values near the minimum of the dimensionless mass -² ₁₁ occurring atn4.823 (Seidov and Kuzakhmedov, 1978).     

Early collisional heating of the Moon

It is shown that, because of the occurrence of fall-back craters, there could occur considerable heating of the Moon above the melting point of silicates during accretional time scales of order 10⁶–10⁸ yr.     

Unified formation of astronomical objects up to stellar mass range

In dense interstellar clouds or in the surroundings of just-formed stars, the larger grains form proto-cores by segregating from the gas under the influence of the gravitational field of the cloud during intervals of the order 10⁸ yr.If the mass of the proto-cores is smaller than a certain limit, the object possesses a negligible atmosphere and remains composed mainly of solid grain material. If the mass of the proto-core exceeds the limiting mass, the proto-core can bind around it an atmosphere. When the temperature of the opaque part of the atmosphere is only fractions of a degree above the temperature of the surrounding tenuous gas, gravitational contraction of the opaque part of the atmosphere sets in, forming gaseous objects up to stellar mass range.Binary and multiple systems originate from neighbouring proto-cores, through gravitational contraction of both their separate and common outer atmospheres.Pycnonuclear reactions are not able to prevent a star with mass 0.08M from cooling to the black dwarf stadium.     

Accretional heating as the major cause of compositional differences among meteorite parent bodies,the Moon,and Earth

Accretional energy can be retained with sufficient efficiency in the outer layers of the Moon due to the considerable amount of debris falling back into large craters.Heating of meteorite parent bodies occurs mainly after their accretion, by destructive collisions. The heating was generally not sufficient to differentiate the parent bodies completely so that iron meteorites would originate from the mantle, rather than from the core of a meteorite parent body. Assuming that the Earth and Moon accreted from material of similar chemical composition, we suggest that only from the outer lunar shell is there a loss of gases and volatiles due to accretional melting. The Earth melted completely and degassing was efficient for the whole mass of the Earth leading to its ≈20% higher uncompressed mean density in comparison to the Moon. Because of its lower gravitational field, gases and volatiles escaped much more easily from the lunar atmosphere than from the terrestrial one, leading to the observed depletion in volatiles of the outer parts of the Moon.