U–Pb dating of plutonic rocks involved in the nappe tectonic in southern Cameroon: consequence for the Pan-African orogenic evolution of the central African fold belt

TIMS-ID and SIMS U–Pb dating on zircons from metaplutonic rocks involved in the Pan-African nappe of southern Cameroon allow definition of three groups of subduction-related intrusions: group-I intrusions represented by the Masins metagabbro in the Lomie region yielded 666 ± 26 Ma; group-II intrusions represented by the Mamb metasyenogabbro and the Yaoundé pyriclasite yielded ca. 620 Ma and are broadly coeval with the deposition of the Yaoundé metasediments; group-III intrusions represented by the Elon augen metagranite and the Ngaa Mbappe metamonzodiorite yielded ca. 600 Ma. The onset of the nappe tectonics occurred under high-grade conditions in the range 616 to 610 Ma and continued around 600 Ma with the emplacement of the shallowest nappes. Finally, the construction of southern Cameroon proceeded by a multi-stage evolution characterized by a long-lived development of magmatic arcs associated with rapid opening and closure of sedimentary marginal basins in relation to a northward subduction.     

Late superhumps and the stream–disc impact in IY UMa

We present two simple dynamical models for Sagittarius based on N -body simulations of the progressive disruption of a satellite galaxy orbiting for 12.5 Gyr within a realistic Galactic potential. In both models the satellite initially has observable properties similar to those of current outlying dwarfs; in one case it is purely stellar while in the other it is embedded in an extended massive halo. The purely stellar progenitor is a King model with a total velocity dispersion of 18.9 km s⁻¹, a core radius of 0.44 kpc and a tidal radius of 3 kpc. The initial stellar distribution in the other case follows a King profile with the same core radius, a slightly larger total velocity dispersion and similar extent. Both these models are consistent with all published data on the current Sagittarius system, they match not only the observed properties of the main body of Sagittarius, but also those reported for unbound debris at larger distances.     

Accurate parameter estimation for star formation history in galaxies using SDSS spectra

To further our knowledge of the complex physical process of galaxy formation, it is essential that we characterize the formation and evolution of large data bases of galaxies. The spectral synthesis starlight code of Cid Fernandes et al. was designed for this purpose. Results of starlight are highly dependent on the choice of input basis of simple stellar population (SSP) spectra. Speed of the code, which uses random walks through the parameter space, scales as the square of the number of the basis spectra, making it computationally necessary to choose a small number of SSPs that are coarsely sampled in age and metallicity. In this paper, we develop methods based on a diffusion map that, for the first time, choose appropriate bases of prototype SSP spectra from a large set of SSP spectra designed to approximate the continuous grid of age and metallicity of SSPs of which galaxies are truly composed. We show that our techniques achieve better accuracy of physical parameter estimation for simulated galaxies. Specifically, we show that our methods significantly decrease the age–metallicity degeneracy that is common in galaxy population synthesis methods. We analyse a sample of 3046 galaxies in Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 6 and compare the parameter estimates obtained from different basis choices.     

Molecular band variations as a probe of the vertical structure of a Jovian atmosphere

A variational technique is used to compute synthetic spectra for models of cloudy Jovian planetary atmospheres which incorporate abrupt changes in their vertical structure. The dependence of the center-to-limb variations in equivalent widths of molecular bands upon the properties of the various scattering layers in the model is examined. A range of theoretical models are delineated on the basis of their ability to reproduce observational results for the specific case of Jupiter.     

Coordinate systems and lunar observing station positions

Satellite geodesy has yielded the locations of more than fifty stations in a single coordinate system referred to the Earth's center of mass with accuracies in the five to ten meter range. The following different methods have been used at Goddard to accomplish this.Dynamical solutions have been obtained for the locations of some fifty key stations using data from the GEOS satellite program. The distribution of observations about the stations is illustrated in terms of the data obtained for a typical station such as the one at Edinburg, Texas. Geopotential coefficients were held fixed in these solutions. The results of these dynamical determinations implied geodetic datum shifts which were then used to arrive at positions for some two hundred additional stations.Another approach involved the adjustment of the coordinates of seventeen stations on the basis of observations of short arcs of GEOS satellite orbits. These results were found to be consistent with those obtained through ground surveys to about five meters rms in each coordinate.Simultaneous solutions for station locations and geopotential coefficients have also yielded values for positions of some sixty stations, again in a coordinate system defined in terms of the Earth's center of mass.Lunar laser ranging and lunar occultation observing programs involve knowledge of the positions of the observing sites. In some cases the lunar observing program itself yields station coordinate information. In other cases greater reliance is placed upon independent determinations of site locations. The location of an occultation observation site at Olifantsfontein, for example, has been obtained in a center-of-mass system in both the dynamical and simultaneous satellite solutions. It is anticipated that a dynamical satellite solution will be extended in 1973 to obtain center-of-mass coordinates for a station in New Zealand. This will make it possible to tie an occultation site in that region to a dynamically determined coordinate system referred to the mass center. Coordinates for stations at Organ Pass, New Mexico, determined in both the dynamical and simultaneous solutions, and Edinburg, Texas, found in both the dynamical and short-arc adjustments, provide the basis for referring the location of a facility such as the McDonald Observatory to a center-of-mass system either through accurate ground surveying techniques or by means of a satellite geodesty tie. The latter approach has already been used, for example, to fix the position of an isolated site on Madagascar relative to a reference point in Africa and, in turn, to a center-of-mass coordinate system.Estimates of the accuracies of the satellite determinations are discussed.Theoretical aspects of coordinate systems associated with the Earth and the Moon are also considered.Communication presented at the conference on Lunar Dynamics and Observational Coordinate Systems held January 15–17, 1973 at the Lunar Science Institute, Houston, Tex., U.S.A.     

Constraining the dark matter annihilation cross-section with Cherenkov telescope observations of dwarf galaxies

The presence of dark matter in the halo of our Galaxy could be revealed through indirect detection of its annihilation products. Dark matter annihilation is one possible interpretation of the recently measured excesses in positron and electron fluxes, provided that boost factors of the order of 10³ or more are taken into account. Such boost factors are actually achievable through the velocity-dependent Sommerfeld enhancement of the annihilation cross-section. Here, we study the expected γ-ray flux from two local dwarf galaxies for which Cherenkov telescope measurements are available, namely Draco and Sagittarius. We use recent stellar kinematical measurements to model the dark matter haloes of the dwarfs and the results of numerical simulations to model the presence of an associated population of subhaloes. We incorporate the Sommerfeld enhancement of the annihilation cross-section. We compare our predictions with the observations of Draco and Sagittarius performed by MAGIC and HESS, respectively, and derive exclusion limits on the effective annihilation cross-section. We also study the sensitivities of Fermi and of the future Cherenkov telescope array to cross-section enhancements. We find that the boost factor due to the Sommerfeld enhancement is already constrained by the MAGIC and HESS data, with enhancements greater than ∼10⁴ being excluded.     

Heating of the intergalactic medium as a result of structure formation

We report observations of the dwarf star ε Eri (K2 V) made with the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) on the Hubble Space Telescope . The high sensitivity of the STIS instrument has allowed us to detect the magnetic dipole transitions of Fe  xii at 1242.00 and 1349.38 Å for the first time in a star other than the Sun. The width of the stronger line at 1242.00 Å has also been measured; such measurements are not possible for the permitted lines of Fe  xii in the extreme-ultraviolet. To within the accuracy of the measurements, the N  v and the Fe  xii lines occur at their rest wavelengths. Electron densities and linewidths have been measured from other transition region lines. Together, these can be used to investigate the non-thermal energy flux in the lower and upper transition regions, which is useful in constraining possible heating processes. The Fe  xii lines are also present in archival STIS spectra of other G/K-type dwarfs.