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.     

Variable stars in the field of open cluster NGC 6819

We report on the discovery of 25 variable stars plus 13 suspected variables found in the field of the open cluster NGC 6819. The stars were identified from time-series photometric data obtained on the Isaac Newton Telescope, La Palma, during two observing runs covering the 19 nights between 1999 June  22–30  and 1999 July  22–31  . The variables found include 12 eclipsing binaries with an additional three suspected, nine BY Draconis systems, plus four variables of other types, including one star believed to be a Cepheid. Three of the 15 eclipsing binaries are believed to be cluster members. Details of a further 10 suspected variable stars are also included.     

Silicon limitation on primary production and its destiny in Jiaozhou Bay, China——Ⅳ：Study on cross-bay transect from estuary to ocean

The authors analyzed the data collected in the Ecological Station Jiaozhou Bay from May 1991 to November 1994, including 12 seasonal investigations, to determine the characteristics, dynamic cycles and variation trends of the silicate in the bay. The results indicated that the rivers around Jiaozhou Bay provided abundant supply of silicate to the bay. The silicate concentration there depended on river flow variation. The horizontal variation of silicate concentration on the transect showed that the silicate concentration decreased with distance from shorelines. The vertical variation of it showed that silicate sank and deposited on the sea bottom by phytoplankton uptake and death, and zooplankton excretion. In this way, silicon would endlessly be transferred from terrestrial sources to the sea bottom. The silicon took up by phytoplankton and by other biogeochemical processes led to insufficient silicon supply for phytoplankton growth. In this paper, a 2D dynamic model of river flow versus silicate concentration was established by which silicate concentrations of 0.028–0.062 μmol/L in seawater was yielded by inputting certain seasonal unit river flows (m³/s), or in other words, the silicate supply rate; and when the unit river flow was set to zero, meaning no river input, the silicate concentrations were between 0.05–0.69 μmol/L in the bay. In terms of the silicate supply rate, Jiaozhou Bay was divided into three parts. The division shows a given river flow could generate several different silicon levels in corresponding regions, so as to the silicon-limitation levels to the phytoplankton in these regions. Another dynamic model of river flow versus primary production was set up by which the phytoplankton primary production of 5.21–15.55 (mgC/m²·d)/(m³/s) were obtained in our case at unit river flow values via silicate concentration or primary production conversion rate. Similarly, the values of primary production of 121.98–195.33 (mgC/m²·d) were achieved at zero unit river flow condition. A primary production conversion rate reflects the sensitivity to silicon depletion so as to different phytoplankton primary production and silicon requirements by different phytoplankton assemblages in different marine areas. In addition, the authors differentiated two equations (Eqs. 1 and 2) in the models to obtain the river flow variation that determines the silicate concentration variation, and in turn, the variation of primary production. These results proved further that nutrient silicon is a limiting factor for phytoplankton growth. This study was funded by NSFC (No. 40036010), and the Director's Fund of the Beihai Sea Monitoring Center, the State Oceanic Administration.     

Common Proper Motion Search for Faint Companions Around Early-Type Field Stars – Progress Report

The multiplicity of early-type stars is still not well established. The derived binary fraction is different for individual star forming regions, suggesting a connection with the age and the environment conditions. The few studies that have investigated this connection do not provide conclusive results. To fill in this gap, we started the first detailed adaptive-optic-assisted imaging survey of early-type field stars to derive their multiplicity in a homogeneous way. The sample has been extracted from the Hipparcos Catalog and consists of 341 BA-type stars within ∼300 pc from the Sun. We report the current status of the survey and describe a Monte-Carlo simulation that estimates the completeness of our companion detection.     

Umbral Three-Minute Oscillations and Running Penumbral Waves

We present results of investigations into chromospheric velocity oscillations in sunspots, carried out at the Sayan Solar Observatory. It is shown that the “chevron” structures in the space-time diagrams demonstrate wavetrain properties. Such structures are indicators of a propagating wave process and they are typical of many sunspots. In the authors’ opinion, three-minute umbral oscillations are not the source of running penumbral waves (RPW). It is very likely that umbral oscillations and RPW initially propagate along different magnetic field lines. We explain the decrease in RPW propagation velocity and frequency in the outer penumbra, as compared with the inner, by the combined action of different frequency modes. To better reveal the properties of these modes, frequency filtering was used. Our measurements of the RPW (five-minute mode) wavelength and RPW propagation velocity in different sunspots vary from 12^″ to 30^″ and from 28 to 60 – 70 km s⁻¹ correspondingly.