Tidal oscillations in the Caspian Sea

Long-term hourly data from 12 tide gauge stations were used to examine the character of tidal oscillations in the Caspian Sea. Diurnal and semidiurnal tidal peaks are well-defined in sea level spectra in the Middle and South Caspian basins. High-resolution spectral analysis revealed that the diurnal sea level oscillations in the Middle Caspian Basin have a gravitational origin, while those in the South Caspian Basin are mainly caused by radiational effects: the amplitude of diurnal radiational harmonic S₁ is much higher than those of gravitational harmonics О₁, P₁, and K₁. In the North Caspian Basin, there are no gravitational tides and only weak radiational tides are observed. A semidiurnal type of tide is predominant in the Middle and South Caspian basins. Harmonic analysis of the tides for individual annual series with subsequent vector averaging over the entire observational period was applied to estimate the mean amplitudes and phases of major tidal constituents. The amplitude of the M₂ harmonic reaches 5.4 cm in the South Caspian Basin (at Aladga). A maximum tidal range of 21 cm was found at the Aladga station in the southeastern part of the Caspian Sea, whereas the tidal range in the western part of the South Caspian Basin varies from 5 to 10 cm.     

Climatic characteristics of the ionosphere over Irkutsk. Observations and comparison with the IRI-2001 model

The morphological peculiarities of the behavior of the electron density over Irkutsk (52.3° N, 104.3° E) have been investigated by the current-median method. The observations are compared with the IRI model data at the decay phase of solar activity (2003–2006). Systematic discrepancies between the prediction and observations are discussed.     

Response of the midlatitude ionosphere to extreme geomagnetic storms of the 23rd solar cycle

The ionospheric response in the Irkutsk region (52.3° N, 104.3° E) to the extreme geomagnetic storms of solar cycle 23 was studied based on the data of the Irkutsk incoherent scatter radar (ISR) and DPS-4 vertical sounding digital ionosonde. The deviations of parameters from the undisturbed level, i.e., from the monthly medians or the values obtained on a quiet day, were considered as an ionospheric response. Values of the electron concentration maximum (N _mF2) and electron temperature (T _e) at a height of 350 km were chosen as parameters. The ionospheric response is interpreted in the scope of the concept of a thermospheric storm and penetration of the magnetospheric electric field.     

Discovery of the Most X-ray Luminous Quasar SRGE J170245.3+130104 at Redshift $$\boldsymbol{z\approx 5.5}$$

Astronomy Letters - During the first all-sky survey of the SRG orbital observatory, the X-ray source SRGE J170245.3+130104 was discovered with the eROSITA telescope on March 13–15, 2020. Its...     

On the possibility of crater formation associated with an ascending plume

A hypothetical possibility of a qualitative explanation of large crater formation on the surfaces of the Moon and Mercury is discussed in terms of the concept of thermal mantle plumes. Prerequisites to this hypothesis are revealed under the assumption that the model equation of state of SiO₂ exhibiting an anomaly (a negative coefficient of thermal expansion) in the range of states approximately corresponding to average conditions typical of mantles of minor planets is applicable, in a first approximation, to mantle material. The anomaly reduces the buoyancy of hot plume material in such a way that, under conditions of moderate overheating, only relatively high columns comparable in size to the mantle are capable of ascending from the mantle bottom to the crust; allows cold peripheral material surrounding the hot column to be pushed away; causes compaction of the vertical zone of the contact of the column with the surrounding medium at the first stages after the plume ascent; and leads to compaction of the deep mantle due to the long-term heat supply. Such phenomena can lead to vertical craterlike deformations of the crust in areas of ascending large plumes whose presence can be supposed at early stages of the existence of minor planets. Significant implications of such an anomaly for geophysical processes can also be postulated.     

Spectroscopic Redshift Determination for a Sample of Distant Quasars Detected by the SRG Observatory Based on RTT-150 Observations. I

Astronomy Letters - Results of the first spectroscopic observations at the 1.5-m Russian–Turkish telescope for the X-ray sources discovered by the eROSITA telescope onboard the SRG space...     

Method of determining the orbits of the small bodies in the solar system based on an exhaustive search of orbital planes

A universal method of determining the orbits of newly discovered small bodies in the Solar System using their positional observations has been developed. The proposed method suggests determining geocentric distances of a small body by means of an exhaustive search for heliocentric orbital planes and subsequent determination of the distance between the observer and the points at which the chosen plane intersects with the vectors pointing to the object. Further, the remaining orbital elements are determined using the classical Gauss method after eliminating those heliocentric distances that have a fortiori low probabilities. The obtained sets of elements are used to determine the rms between the observed and calculated positions. The sets of elements with the least rms are considered to be most probable for newly discovered small bodies. Afterwards, these elements are improved using the differential method.     

Effect of a Starting Model on the Solution of a Travel Time Seismic Tomography Problem

In the problems of three-dimensional (3D) travel time seismic tomography where the data are travel times of diving waves and the starting model is a system of plane layers where the velocity is a function of depth alone, the solution turns out to strongly depend on the selection of the starting model. This is due to the fact that in the different starting models, the rays between the same points can intersect different layers, which makes the tomography problem fundamentally nonlinear. This effect is demonstrated by the model example. Based on the same example, it is shown how the starting model should be selected to ensure a solution close to the true velocity distribution. The starting model (the average dependence of the seismic velocity on depth) should be determined by the method of successive iterations at each step of which the horizontal velocity variations in the layers are determined by solving the two-dimensional tomography problem. An example illustrating the application of this technique to the P-wave travel time data in the region of the Black Sea basin is presented.