Could CoRoT-7b and Kepler-10b be remnants of evaporated gas or ice giants?

We present thermal mass loss calculations over evolutionary time scales for the investigation if the smallest transiting rocky exoplanets CoRoT-7b (∼1.68R_Earth) and Kepler-10b (∼1.416R_Earth) could be remnants of an initially more massive hydrogen-rich gas giant or a hot Neptune-class exoplanet. We apply a thermal mass loss formula which yields results that are comparable to hydrodynamic loss models. Our approach considers the effect of the Roche lobe, realistic heating efficiencies and a radius scaling law derived from observations of hot Jupiters. We study the influence of the mean planetary density on the thermal mass loss by placing hypothetical exoplanets with the characteristics of Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune, and Uranus to the orbital location of CoRoT-7b at 0.017 AU and Kepler-10b at 0.01684 AU and assuming that these planets orbit a K- or G-type host star. Our findings indicate that hydrogen-rich gas giants within the mass domain of Saturn or Jupiter cannot thermally lose such an amount of mass that CoRoT-7b and Kepler-10b would result in a rocky residue. Moreover, our calculations show that the present time mass of both rocky exoplanets can be neither a result of evaporation of a hydrogen envelope of a “Hot Neptune” nor a “Hot Uranus”-class object. Depending on the initial density and mass, these planets most likely were always rocky planets which could lose a thin hydrogen envelope, but not cores of thermally evaporated initially much more massive and larger objects.     

The Maria asteroid family: Genetic relationships and a plausible source of mesosiderites near the 3:1 Kirkwood Gap

We present a mineralogical assessment of 12 Maria family asteroids, using near-infrared spectral data obtained over the years 2000-2009 combined with visible spectral data (when available) to cover the spectral interval of 0.4-2.5 μm. Our analysis indicates the Maria asteroid family, which is located adjacent to the chaotic region of the 3:1 Kirkwood Gap, appears to be a true genetic family composed of assemblages analogous to mesosiderite-type meteorites. Dynamical models by Farinella et al. (Farinella, P., Gunczi, R., Froeschlé, Ch., Froeschlé, C., [1993]. Icarus 101, 174-187) predict this region should supply meteoroids into Earth-crossing orbits. Thus, the Maria family is a plausible source of some or all of the mesosiderites in our meteorite collections. These individual asteroids were most likely once part of a larger parent object that was broken apart and dispersed. One of the Maria dynamical family members investigated, ((695) Bella), was found to be unrelated to the genetic Maria family members. The parameters of (695) Bella indicate an H-chondrite assemblage, and that Bella may be a sister or daughter of Asteroid (6) Hebe.     

The origin of our galactic magnetic field

A serious difficulty with the standard alpha‐omega theory of the origin of galactic magnetic fields involves the question of flux expulsion. This is intimately related to flux freezing. The alpha‐omega theory is shown in the context of the giant superbubble explosions that have a large impact on the physics of the interstellar medium. It is shown that superbubbles alone can duplicate the processes of the alpha‐omega dynamo and produce exponential growth of the galactic magnetic field. The possibility of the blow‐out of pieces of the magnetic field is discussed and it is shown that they have the potential to solve the flux‐expulsion problem. However, such an explanation must lead to apparent ‘gaps’ in the field in the galactic disc. These gaps are probably unavoidable in any dynamo theory and should have important observable consequences, one of which is an explanation for the escape of cosmic rays from the disc (© 2010 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Topology of magnetic field and polarization in accretion discs of AGN

In this paper we demonstrate that the wavelength dependence of polarization degree and position angle allows us to derive the distribution of magnetic field in accretion disc. The polarized radiation arises due to scattering of emission light by electrons in a magnetized optically thick accretion disc. Faraday rotation of polarization plane is taken into consideration. Through wavelength dependence of polarization it is possible to derive the value of the magnetic Prandtl number in the accretion disc plasma. The power law index of the polarization wavelength dependence is related with the radial distribution of magnetic field in an accretion disc. This allows us to test the various models of an accretion disc around the central black hole.     

High resolution imaging of the Hubble Deep and Flanking Fields

42 hours of A-array VLA data and 18 days MERLIN data at 1.4 GHz have been combined to image a 10 arcminute field centred on the Hubble Deep Field (HDF). This area encloses both the Hubble Deep and Flanking Fields. A complete sample of 87 sources have been detected with flux densities above 40 μJy. All these have been imaged with the MERLIN+VLA combination to produce images with 0.2, 0.3 and 0.5 arcsecond resolution. These are the most sensitive 1.4 GHz images yet made with rms noise levels of 3.3 μJy/beam in the 0.2 arcsecond images. About 70% of the microJy sources are found to be starburst type systems associated with major disk galaxies in the redshift range 0.4–1. Some 20% are found to be low-luminosity AGN systems identified with field ellipticals at redshifts close to 1. The remaining 10% are associated with optically faint systems close to or beyond the HDF limit; many of these may be dust-shrouded starbursts at high redshift. We propose to extend this study to include VLBI data of comparable sensitivity to investigate the compact radio structures found in the microJy source population.     

Updated version of the ‘homogeneous catalog of open cluster parameters’

We report a new version of the “Homogeneous catalog of open cluster parameters” maintained by our team over the last decades. The catalog is based on redetermination of the main parameters of clusters (color excesses, heliocentric distances, and ages) based on published photometric measurements, in particular, those provided by the 2MASS point-source catalog. Currently, our catalog provides the parameters for 959 clusters. It also gives the estimates of cluster radial velocities for 496 clusters partly based on the data fromRAVE catalog. Estimates of proper-motion components are provided for all clusters included into the catalog. We analyze the distributions of the errors of the main cluster parameters and compare the distribution of cluster positions projected onto the Galactic plane with the distribution of cosmic masers thereby validating the distance scale of open clusters.     

Adiabatic indices in a convecting anisotropic plasma

Adiabatic indices for a non-dissipative anisotropic convecting plasma are analyzed, and general expressions for the effective adiabatic index and the partial adiabatic indices parallel (γ_∥) and perpendicular (γ_⟂) to the magnetic field are obtained. It is shown that, in the general case, the value of the effective adiabatic index is not an universal constant and depends on the plasma temperature anisotropy and on the properties of the plasma motion. The values of γ_⟂ and γ_∥ are shown to be independent of the plasma parameters being completely determined by the characteristics of the plasma flow.     

A Helicity-Based Method to Infer the CME Magnetic Field Magnitude in Sun and Geospace: Generalization and Extension to Sun-Like and M-Dwarf Stars and Implications for Exoplanet Habitability

Patsourakos et al. (Astrophys. J. 817, 14, 2016) and Patsourakos and Georgoulis (Astron. Astrophys. 595, A121, 2016) introduced a method to infer the axial magnetic field in flux-rope coronal mass ejections (CMEs) in the solar corona and farther away in the interplanetary medium. The method, based on the conservation principle of magnetic helicity, uses the relative magnetic helicity of the solar source region as input estimates, along with the radius and length of the corresponding CME flux rope. The method was initially applied to cylindrical force-free flux ropes, with encouraging results. We hereby extend our framework along two distinct lines. First, we generalize our formalism to several possible flux-rope configurations (linear and nonlinear force-free, non-force-free, spheromak, and torus) to investigate the dependence of the resulting CME axial magnetic field on input parameters and the employed flux-rope configuration. Second, we generalize our framework to both Sun-like and active M-dwarf stars hosting superflares. In a qualitative sense, we find that Earth may not experience severe atmosphere-eroding magnetospheric compression even for eruptive solar superflares with energies \({\approx}\, 10^{4}\) times higher than those of the largest Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) X-class flares currently observed. In addition, the two recently discovered exoplanets with the highest Earth-similarity index, Kepler 438b and Proxima b, seem to lie in the prohibitive zone of atmospheric erosion due to interplanetary CMEs (ICMEs), except when they possess planetary magnetic fields that are much higher than that of Earth.