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.     

The SuperCOSMOS Sky Survey – III. Astrometry

In this, the third in a series of three papers concerning the SuperCOSMOS Sky Survey, we describe the astrometric properties of the data base. We describe the algorithms employed in the derivation of the astrometric parameters of the data, and demonstrate their accuracies by comparison with external data sets using the first release of data, the South Galactic Cap survey. We show that the celestial coordinates, which are tied to the International Celestial Reference Frame via the Tycho–2 reference catalogue, are accurate to better than ±0.2 arcsec at J , R ∼19,18 , rising to ±0.3 arcsec at J , R ∼22,21 , with positional-dependent systematic effects from bright to faint magnitudes at the ∼0.1-arcsec level. The proper motion measurements are shown to be accurate to typically ±10 mas yr⁻¹ at J , R ∼19,18 , rising to ±50 mas yr⁻¹ at J , R ∼22,21 , and are tied to zero using the extragalactic reference frame. We show that the zero-point errors in the proper motions are ≤1 mas yr⁻¹ for R >17 , and are no larger than ∼10 mas yr⁻¹ for R <17 mas yr⁻¹ .     

Celestial-mechanical peculiarities of Uranus’s satellite system

We consider the structural peculiarities of Uranus’s satellite system associated with its separation into two groups: inner equatorial satellites moving in nearly circular orbits and distant irregular satellites with retrograde motion in highly elliptical orbits. The intermediate region is free from satellites in a wide range of semimajor axes. By analyzing the evolution of satellite orbits under the combined effect of solar attraction and Uranus’s oblateness, we offer a celestial-mechanical explanation for the absence of equatorial satellites in this region. M.L. Lidov’s studies during 1961–1963 have served as a basis for our analysis.     

On the temperature measurement from the O IV emission lines

The new calculations of the Oiv temperature-sensitive EUV line ratios are presented and compared with previous results.     

Evidence of climatic warming in the southern Urals region derived from borehole temperatures and meteorological data

Thirty borehole temperature–depth profiles in the central and southern Urals, Russia were scrutinized for evidence of ground surface temperature histories. We explored two inversion schemes: a simple ramp inversion in which solutions are parameterized in terms of an onset time and magnitude of change and a more sophisticated functional space inverse algorithm in which the functional form of the solution is left unspecified. To enhance and potentially identify latitudinal differences in the ground surface temperature signal, we subdivided the data into three groups based on geographic proximity and simultaneously inverted the borehole temperature–depth logs. The simultaneous inversions highlighted 13 temperature–depth logs that could not both fit a common ground surface temperature history and a priori models within reasonable bounds. Our results confirm that this is an effective way to reduce site-specific noise from an ensemble of boreholes. Each inversion scheme gives comparable results indicating locally variable warming on the order of 1°C starting between 1800 and 1900 AD. Similarly surface air temperature records from 12 nearby meteorological stations exhibit locally variable warming also on the order of 1°C of warming during the 20th century. To explore the degree to which borehole temperatures and surface air temperature (SAT) time series are responding to the same signal, we average the SAT data into the same three groups and used these averages as a forcing function at the Earth's surface to generate synthetic transient temperature profiles. Root mean square (RMS) misfits between these synthetic temperature profiles and averaged temperature–depth profiles are low, suggesting that first-order curvature in borehole temperatures and variations in SAT records are correlated.     

A high speed near infrared photometer for lunar occultation studies

A recently developed near infrared high speed photometer intended for lunar oc-cultation studies is described. The primary scientific objective is to reach milli arc second levels of angular resolution so that circumstellar structure of the occulted sources can be resolved. Near infrared sky brightness close to the lunar limb is also studied. Angular diameter derived from the observed occultation of IRC +20169 is presented and system performance discussed.     

Chemo-spectrophotometric evolution of spiral galaxies – IV. Star formation efficiency and effective ages of spirals

We study the star formation history of normal spirals by using a large and homogeneous data sample of local galaxies. For our analysis we utilize detailed models of chemical and spectrophotometric galactic evolution, calibrated on the Milky Way disc. We find that star formation efficiency is independent of galactic mass, while massive discs have, on average, lower gas fractions and are redder than their low-mass counterparts; put together, these findings convincingly suggest that massive spirals are older than low-mass ones. We evaluate the effective ages of the galaxies of our sample and we find that massive spirals must be several Gyr older than low-mass ones. We also show that these galaxies (having rotational velocities in the 80–400 km s⁻¹ range) cannot have suffered extensive mass losses, i.e. they cannot have lost during their lifetime an amount of mass much larger than their current content of gas+stars.     

Cygnus X-3 with ISO: investigating the wind

We have observed the energetic binary Cygnus X-3 in both quiescent and flaring states between 4 and 16 μm using the ISO satellite. We find that the quiescent source shows the thermal free–free spectrum typical of a hot, fast stellar wind, such as from a massive helium star. The quiescent mass-loss rate arising from a spherically symmetric, non-accelerating wind is found to be in the range (0.4–2.9)×10⁻⁴ M_⊙ yr⁻¹, consistent with other infrared and radio observations, but considerably larger than the 10⁻⁵ M_⊙ yr⁻¹ deduced from both the orbital change and the X-ray column density. There is rapid, large-amplitude flaring at 4.5 and 11.5 μm at the same time as enhanced radio and X-ray activity, with the infrared spectrum apparently becoming flatter in the flaring state. We believe that non-thermal processes are operating, perhaps along with enhanced thermal emission.     

Comparison of atmospheric aerosol backscattering and air mass back trajectories

Summary Atmospheric backscattering from aerosol particulates has been measured over the Atlantic at 10.6 μm wavelength with an airborne, coherent heterodyne, lidar, and corresponding air mass back trajectories have been calculated. These back trajectories (usually extended up to 10 days prior to the backscatter measurement) have shown very diverse origins for the air parcels at different altitudes. In many cases it has been possible to attribute the observed levels of scattering to these origins over oceanic, arctic, continental, industrial etc. regions. This is illustrated by 6 flight records: out of Ascension Island in the South Atlantic; over the Azores in the mid North Atlantic; over the UK and the North Sea; and in the Arctic along 71° North. In each of these regions the profiles of backscatter versus altitude show highly variable features; remarkably different origins for air masses at different altitudes are evident from the corresponding back trajectory analyses. It is thus possible for the first time to present probable explanations for the different levels of scattering observed at different altitudes. Received July 14, 2000 Revised May 14, 2001     

EFFECT OF LIGHT INTENSITY ON THE TOTAL LIPID AND FATTY ACID COMPOSITION OF SIX STRAINS OF MARINE DIATOMS

The effect of light intensity ( 1500 Ix and 5000 Ix) on the total lipid and fatty acid composition of six strains of marine diatoms Cylindrotheca fusiformis (B211 ), Phaeodactylum tricornutum (Bl14, Bl18 and B221) Nitzschia closterium (B222) and Chaetoceros gracilis (B13) was investigated.The total lipids of B13, Bl14, and B211 grown at 5000 Ix were lower than those grown at 1500 Ix. No evident changes were observed in Bl18, B221 and B222. Fatty acid composition changed considerably at different light intensity although no consistent correlation between the relative proportion of a single FA and light intensity. The major fatty acids of the 6 strains were 14:0, 16:0, 16:l(n- 7) and 20:5(n-3) . Cylindrothecafusiformis had high percentage of 20:4n - 6 (9.2 - 10.9% ) . The total polyunsaturated fatty acid /rl all 6 strains decreased with increasing light intensity. The percentage of the highly unsaturated fatty acid eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) decreased with increasing light intensity in all strains except Chaetoceros gracilis.