Development of a three channel photometer for UPSO, Naini Tal

The design and performance of a portable three channel photometer installed at the Uttar Pradesh State Observatory (UPSO), Naini Tal is described. The photometer is modular and the whole unit can be disassembled as individual channels such that the system can also be used as a single channel or two channel photometer. The system also has provision to monitor a guide star. The instrument was put into operation since November 1999 on the 1m Sampurnanand telescope at UPSO, Naini Tal. Since then, it is used extensively for the ‘Survey of rapidly oscillating Ap (roAp) stars in the northern sky’ from UPSO. Observational results using this new photometer in its initial phase of operation are discussed. The advantage of having continuous sky measurement is demonstrated.     

Large‐scale magnetic flux concentrations from turbulent stresses

In this study we provide the first numerical demonstration of the effects of turbulence on the mean Lorentz force and the resulting formation of large‐scale magnetic structures. Using three‐dimensional direct numerical simulations (DNS) of forced turbulence we show that an imposed mean magnetic field leads to a decrease of the turbulent hydromagnetic pressure and tension. This phenomenon is quantified by determining the relevant functions that relate the sum of the turbulent Reynolds and Maxwell stresses with the Maxwell stress of the mean magnetic field. Using such a parameterization, we show by means of two‐dimensional and three‐dimensional mean‐field numerical modelling that an isentropic density stratified layer becomes unstable in the presence of a uniform imposed magnetic field. This large‐scale instability results in the formation of loop‐like magnetic structures which are concentrated at the top of the stratified layer. In three dimensions these structures resemble the appearance of bipolar magnetic regions in the Sun. The results of DNS and mean‐field numerical modelling are in good agreement with theoretical predictions. We discuss our model in the context of a distributed solar dynamo where active regions and sunspots might be rather shallow phenomena (© 2010 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Numerical modelling of the vertical structure and dark halo parameters in disc galaxies

The non‐linear dynamics of bending instability and vertical structure of a galactic stellar disc embedded into a spherical halo are studied with N‐body numerical modelling. Development of the bending instability in stellar galactic disc is considered as the main factor that increases the disc thickness. Correlation between the disc vertical scale height and the halo‐to‐disc mass ratio is predicted from the simulations. The method of assessment of the spherical‐to‐disc mass ratio for edge‐on spiral galaxies with a small bulge is considered. Modelling of eight edge‐on galaxies: NGC 891, NGC 4738, NGC 5170, UGC 6080, UGC 7321, UGC 8286, UGC 9422 and UGC 9556 is performed. Parameters of stellar discs, dark haloes and bulges are estimated. The lower limit of the dark‐to‐luminous mass ratio in our galaxies is of the order of one within the limits of their stellar discs. The dark haloes dominate by mass in the galaxies with very thin stellar discs (NGC 5170, UGC 7321 and UGC 8286) (© 2010 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Detection, excision and statistics of interference at the Mauritius radio telescope

A technique to detect man-made interference in the visibility data of the Mauritius Radio Telescope (MRT) has been developed. This technique is based on the understanding that the interference is generally ‘spiky’ in nature and has Fourier components beyond the maximum frequency which can arise from the radio sky and can therefore be identified. We take the sum of magnitudes of visibilities on all the baselines measured at a given time to improve detectability. This is then high-pass filtered to get a time series from which the contribution of the sky is removed. Interference is detected in the high-pass data using an iterative scheme. In each iteration, interference with amplitudes beyond a certain threshold is detected. These points are then removed from the original time series and the resulting data are high-pass filtered and the process repeated. We have also studied the statistics of the strength, numbers, time of occurrence and duration of the interference at the MRT. The statistics indicate that most often the interference excision can be carried out while post-integrating the visibilities by giving a zero weight to the interference points.     

Brightness Variation and Proper Motions of Three Objects in the Cygnus Region

The results of an investigation of three peculiar objects in the Cygnus region are given. One of them was already known to be a Herbig-Haro object. In accordance with its observational characteristics, the second object is, in all probability, a T Tauri star. The physical character of the last object is not yet entirely clear, but from the properties of its emission in the near infrared range it is probably also a T Tauri star. The proper motions of the objects have been measured. It is shown that all three objects are members of a tight system of the Trapezium type and evidently are the results of the successive fragmentation of an original protostellar body.     

List of Forthcoming Papers

Other Index

List of Forthcoming Papers     

Responses of the polar ionosphere to the Bastille Day solar event

Simultaneous observations at Zhongshan Station, Antarctica, are presented for the interval of 13–17 July 2000 to show responses of the polar ionosphere to the Bastille Day (14 July 2000) solar event. The polar ionosphere was highly disturbed, as shown by frequently large deviations of the geomagnetic H-component, large riometer absorption events and strong ULF waves. Associated with the huge solar proton event produced by the X5/3B flare, a polar cap absorption (PCA) was observed. It began at ∼ 10:40 UT on 14 July and ended at ∼ 19:40 UT on 17 July. Superposed on it, there was a large absorption event with a peak of 26 dB, starting at ∼ 03:00 UT and ending at ∼ 11:10 UT on 15 July. This kind of absorption was probably produced by an intense `cloud of energetic electrons' during an auroral substorm. The ULF waves were very intense during the main phase and the recovery phase of the severe magnetic storm on 15 and 16 July. The ionospheric absorption was so strong that the digisonde signal was blacked out most of the time. The ionosphere returned to normal in the afternoon on 17 July.     

X-ray bursts from the source A1742-294 in the Galactic-center region

We present observations of the X-ray burster A1742-294 near the Galactic center with the ART-P telescope onboard the Granat observatory. The shape of its persistent spectra was described well by the model of bremsstrahlung from optically thin plasma, and it remained essentially unchanged over ～2.5 years of observations. We show that the mean interval between X-ray bursts from the source is several times shorter than assumed previously and that the burst profile itself depends on the flux during the burst. We analyze in detail the strong X-ray burst detected from this source on October 18, 1990, and construct the evolution curves of its luminosity and radiation temperature.