Microseismicity and tectonics of Sinai

Five microearthquake seismographs were used at 11 sites in northern Sinai in the period February 1987 to February 1988 to study the microseismicity of the area around the Maghara coal mine for mine-development studies. A total of 270 events were recorded on 850 records. The magnitude, epicenter and depth of each event were calculated using suitable software for an Egyptian Geological Survey and Mining Authority's (EGSMA) XT computer. The interpretation of the seismic activity in the area is given in view of plate tectonics, the Sinai subplate boundary follows the Gulf of Aqaba and the Dead Sea. The plate and subplate boundaries are presently active, and there seems to be a diffuse zone of deformation between “NW Africa” and “Nubia” affecting the Cairo-Suez district.     

Surface Photometry of Proplyds in the Vicinity of θ1 Ori C

Results of studies of the surface-brightness distributions of a group of young stellar objects located within 16″ of the star θ₁ Ori C are presented. Isophotes around each proplyd are constructed using violet, red, and near-infrared images. No regularity in the sizes of the diametral cross sections of the proplyds in the various photometric bands is observed. The measured relative intensities are converted to absolute fluxes, and the absolute luminosities of the brightest parts of the disks and of the disk peripheries are estimated. The ratio of the semi-major to the semi-minor axes of the objects range from 1.5 to 2.5. The maximum lengths of the proplyd tails in various filters range from 300 to 700 AU. They become shorter with decreasing distance from the illuminating star, possibly due to enhanced dissipation of the disk, due to the growth in the role of photovaporization.

     

Experimental investigation of turbulent processes in a complex terrain

In the present paper the first results of the international KOPEX-86 experiment are presented. The experiment took place at the Kopisty Atmospheric Observatory of the Institute of Physics of the Atmosphere in Prague as part of a special project of the Commission of the Academy of Sciences in Planetary Geophysics (KAPG) in June and July 1986. Using 4 ultrasonic anemometers at 4 levels up to 80 m, Doppler-SODAR and wind-, temperature- and radiation balance gradients from 2 to 80 m, a complex investigation of the atmospheric boundary layer in an industrial area was made. The authors present the first results of

Asymptotic regimes in unstable miscible displacements in random porous media

We study two asymptotic regimes of unstable miscible displacements in porous media, in the two limits, where a permeability-modified aspect ratio, R_L=L/H(k_v/k_h)^1/2, becomes large or small, respectively. The first limit is known as transverse (or vertical) equilibrium, the second leads to the problem of non-communicating layers (the Dykstra–Parsons problem). In either case, the problem reduces to the solution of a single integro-differential equation. Although at opposite limits of the parameter R_L, the two regimes coincide in the case of equal viscosities, M=1. By comparison with high-resolution simulation we investigate the validity of these two approximations. The evolution of transverse averages, particularly under viscous fingering conditions, depends on R_L. We investigate the development of a model to describe viscous fingering in weakly heterogeneous porous media under transverse equilibrium conditions, and compare with the various existing empirical models (such as the Koval, Todd–Longstaff and Fayers models).     

Group method of calculating the perturbations of minor planets

Celestial Mechanics and Dynamical Astronomy - An expansion of the disturbing functionR is suggested for the special case when the orbits of a group of minor planets have approximately equal major...     

Light variations and flares on V471 tauri

Two-colour photometric observations of the white-dwarf and K-dwarf eclipsing binary V471 Tau were made during the last four years. The resulting light curves and thirteen timings of mid-eclipse are presented. During the observations two flares were obtained on September 23 and December23, 1992. Both events occurred just after the fourth contact. The increment in the brightness was measured as 0 _. ^m 067. The energy liberated by the flare was computed to be 5.43 × 10³² erg s^–1 in the JohnsonB band, which amounts 1.13 times that of the total radiation of the K-dwarf.     

Classifying GRB 170817A/GW170817 in a Fermi duration–hardness plane

GRB 170817A, associated with the LIGO-Virgo GW170817 neutron-star merger event, lacks the short duration and hard spectrum of a Short gamma-ray burst (GRB) expected from long-standing classification models. Correctly identifying the class to which this burst belongs requires comparison with other GRBs detected by the Fermi GBM. The aim of our analysis is to classify Fermi GRBs and to test whether or not GRB 170817A belongs—as suggested—to the Short GRB class. The Fermi GBM catalog provides a large database with many measured variables that can be used to explore gamma-ray burst classification. We use statistical techniques to look for clustering in a sample of 1298 gamma-ray bursts described by duration and spectral hardness. Classification of the detected bursts shows that GRB 170817A most likely belongs to the Intermediate, rather than the Short GRB class. We discuss this result in light of theoretical neutron-star merger models and existing GRB classification schemes. It appears that GRB classification schemes may not yet be linked to appropriate theoretical models, and that theoretical models may not yet adequately account for known GRB class properties. We conclude that GRB 170817A may not fit into a simple phenomenological classification scheme.