On the habitability of Europa

It has recently been suggested that tidal and radiogenic heating of Europa has led to formation and maintenance of a liquid water ocean overlain by a thin ice crust (S. W. Squyres, R. T. Reynolds, P. M. Cassen, and S. J. Peale (1983). Nature301, 225–226). The present work examines the environmental consequences of such a model with regard to the possible existence on Europa of regions that could satisfy the basic requirements for the survival of known organisms. Appropriate temperatures and long-term environmental stability are implied by the ocean model. The presence of necessary biogenic elements is assumed based on the expected origin of the ocean. The availability of biologically useful energy is assumed to be the principal limiting factor for life on Europa. Possible electrical, thermal, and chemical energy sources are discussed. Calculated resurfacing rates for the active crust model are used to estimate the quantity of photosynthetically active radiation that might reach the proposed ocean through crustal fractures. The amount of biomass that this energy could support, based on Antartic microorganism analogs, is estimated and discussed. Although these calculations cannot determine whether life forms exist or could exist on Europa, they do suggest that there may be regions on Europa, very limited on both space and time, with physical conditions that are within the range of adaptation of life on Earth.     

Gravitational collapse in an expanding background and the role of substructure – I. Planar collapse

We study the interplay of clumping at small scales with the collapse and relaxation of perturbations at much larger scales. We present results of our analysis when the large-scale perturbation is modelled as a plane wave. We find that in the absence of substructure, collapse leads to formation of a pancake with multistream regions. Dynamical relaxation of the plane wave is faster in the presence of substructure. Scattering of substructures and the resulting enhancement of transverse motions of haloes in the multistream region lead to a thinner pancake. In turn, collapse of the plane wave leads to formation of more massive collapsed haloes as compared to the collapse of substructure in the absence of the plane wave. The formation of more massive haloes happens without any increase in the total mass in collapsed haloes. A comparison with the Burgers equation approach in the absence of any substructure suggests that the preferred value of effective viscosity depends primarily on the number of streams in a region.     

Unveiling the Launching Region of YSO Jets with AMBER

The interplay between accretion and ejection in the environment of young stellar objects (YSOs) is believed to be a crucial element in the star formation process. Since most of the properties of the models are set up in the first few AUs from the source (below the so-called Alfvèn surface), to validate and constrain the models observationally we need very high angular resolution. With HST (resolution ∼ 0.'1, i.e. about 14 AU in Taurus)we have been able to access the external border of the acceleration region, for jets in the Taurus-Auriga cloud. Here we see an onion-like kinematic structure in the first 200 AU of the flow, and indications for rotation around the symmetry axis for the resolved low/moderate velocity component. We have now planned observations with AMBER on the VLTI to investigate at 1 mas resolution (in J) the core of the central engine, down to 0.1 AU from the source. Here we describe a joint project by several Institutes in the AMBER consortium dedicated to the study of the morphology and detailed kinematics of a few selected targets. On one hand we will use the large UV coverage of the ATs to explore at medium spectral resolution the structure of the flow. On the other hand the large collection area of the UTs combined with the high resolution mode (R=10000) of AMBER will allow us to search for interesting kinematic features, among which signatures of rotation around the axis, that would constitute an important validation of the proposed models for the jet launching. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Linearized perturbation on stationary inflow solutions in an inviscid and thin accretion disc

The influence of a linearized perturbation on stationary inflow solutions in an inviscid and thin accretion disc has been studied here, and it has been argued that a perturbative technique would indicate that all possible classes of inflow solutions would be stable. The choice of the driving potential, Newtonian or pseudo-Newtonian, would not particularly affect the arguments which establish the stability of solutions. It has then been surmised that in the matter of the selection of a particular solution, adoption of a non-perturbative technique, based on a more physical criterion, as in the case of the selection of the transonic solution in spherically symmetric accretion, would give a more conclusive indication concerning the choice of a particular branch of the flow.     

Criteria for the detection of lunar cryptomaria

Cryptomaria are mare basalt deposits hidden or obscured by superposed higher albedo material or variations in albedo. They represent a record of the earliest mare volcanism, and may be a significant volumetric contribution to the volcanic and magmatic history of the Moon. In order to assess their global distribution and significance, criteria for the identification of cryptomaria are developed and techniques for locating them are described. These criteria and techniques include the presence of dark halo craters, identification by spectral mixing analysis, identification by geochemical evidence, association with light plains units, location within basin topography, proximity to known mare, relation to mascons indicated by gravity anomalies, and identification of the source of an obscuring agent, such as crater ejecta. On the basis of these criteria and techniques, several types of cryptomare are recognized, depending on the nature of ejecta and mare materials. Cryptomaria may be formed when maria are obscured by coverings of proximal or distal basin ejecta, or by crater ejecta dusting, or when ejecta covers over basalts which lack a distinctive 1µm absorption band. Using these concepts we outline three case studies: 1) the Schiller-Schickard region adjacent to the Orientale basin, classified as a basin-ejecta cryptomare and grading from distal to proximal, with possible crater-ejecta covering occurring in the southwestern portion of the region, 2) the Balmer basin, classified as a crater-ejecta-dusting cryptomare, and 3) the Australe basin, in which two types of cryptomare were identified: a) crater-ejecta-dusting on old mare patches and b) possible distal-basin-ejecta covering even older mare material. These case studies provide criteria for the further global identification and classification of cryptomaria and stress the need for utilization of multiple criteria and data sets.     

Gamma-ray bursts: the time domain

Temporal aspects of the gamma-ray burst phenomenon are reviewed in a hierarchical schema. The macrocosm - burst profiles taken as a whole - is fairly well characterized. The bimodal duration distribution can be framed in terms of discretization of pulse structures. The average burst envelope is slightly asymmetric, an aspect possibly related to spectral softening. Burst durations are longer for dim BATSE bursts, an effect explainable by either cosmic time dilation or a luminosity function governed by special relativistic beaming, or a combination. GeV emission, persisting up to thousands of seconds after burst cessation at keV-MeV energies is one of the most challenging features of bursts. On the timescale of pulses structures (the mesocosm), some properties mirror the macrocosm: rise/decay asymmetry; wider pulses and longer intervals between pulses in dim bursts than in bright ones; and the tendency of pulses to soften with time. A central clue to the burst mechanism may be the organization in time and energy, manifest as pulses, for both long and short bursts. Burst profiles appear to be well represented by pulses, accounting for the vast majority of emission in the BATSE energy band. In the microcosm, existence of a higher frequency component - with properties possibly unlike those of pulses - has not been well addressed.     

Formation of episodic magnetically driven radiatively cooled plasma jets in the laboratory

We report on experiments in which magnetically driven radiatively cooled plasma jets were produced by a 1 MA, 250 ns current pulse on the MAGPIE pulsed power facility. The jets were driven by the pressure of a toroidal magnetic field in a “magnetic tower” jet configuration. This scenario is characterized by the formation of a magnetically collimated plasma jet on the axis of a magnetic “bubble”, confined by the ambient medium. The use of a radial metallic foil instead of the radial wire arrays employed in our previous work allows for the generation of episodic magnetic tower outflows which emerge periodically on timescales of ～30 ns. The subsequent magnetic bubbles propagate with velocities reaching ～300 km/s and interact with previous eruptions leading to the formation of shocks.     

Relativistic anisotropic charged fluid spheres with varying cosmological constant

Static spherically symmetric anisotropic source has been studied for the Einstein-Maxwell field equations assuming the erstwhile cosmological constant Λ to be a space-variable scalar, viz., Λ=Λ(r). Two cases are examined out of which one reduces to isotropic sphere. The solutions thus obtained are shown to be electromagnetic in origin as a particular case. It is also shown that the generally used pure charge condition, viz., ρ+p=0 is not always required for constructing electromagnetic mass models.     

The bolometric light curve of SN 1993J and the nature of its progenitor

We have constructed the bolometric light curve of SN 1993J based on UBVRI(JHK) photometric data obtained from various sources and assumingA _V = 0 and a distance modulus of 27.6. Effective temperatures and photosphere radius at various times have been obtained from detailed blackbody fits. The bolometric light curve shows two maxima. The short rise time to the second maximum, and the luminosities at the minimum and the second maximum are used to constrain the properties of the progenitor star. The total mass of the hydrogen envelope M_H, in the star is found to be ≲ 0.2 M_⊙ at the time of explosion, and the explosion ejected about 0.05 M_⊙ of Ni⁵⁶. Thin hydrogen envelope combined with a sufficient presupernova luminosity suggest that the exploding star was in a binary with a probable period range of 5yr ≤P _orb ≤ 11yr.