Optical observations of geostationary spin-stabilised satellites

The first two AUSSAT communication satellites have been located and their optical variability studied. We have found that the objects are exceptionally bright for the few days each year when an ideal solar mirror reflection occurs for our ground latitude. At this time their 1.1 s spin periods are detectable in real time and FFT analyses show a range of much faster periodic features. The frequencies of these components have been identified with the arragement of the solar cells on the outer surface of the AUSSAT spacecraft. Possible applications for these objects are mentioned and a list is given of other suitable spinning spacecraft.     

Treatment of groundwater contaminated with high levels of explosives using advanced oxidation processes

Current and former military installations around the world have numerous sites with groundwater contaminated with explosive compounds polluted from military related activities. The test influent used in this study was a groundwater collected from an US Army facility that was contaminated with high levels of military derived explosives. The sample had a total explosive concentration in excess of 75 mg/l. Bench-scale evaluations were performed to determine the effectiveness of the candidate advanced oxidation processes for treatment of the groundwater in terms of removing the pollutants to method sub-detection limits with these results formulating the basis for comparison along with generating data that can be used toward increasing the understanding of treatment mechanisms associated with the various processes. Results indicate that the ozonated systems generally resulted in the removal of the explosives to the targeted levels with 1,3,5-trinitrobenzene removal lagging in terms of removal due to its simultaneous formation and degradation. The oxidation system that was irradiated using the medium-pressure UV lamp and dosed with hydrogen peroxide and ozone achieved the best performance with complete removal of all targeted pollutants within 10 min of treatment.     

Light-curve analysis and eclipse mapping of the contact binaries KQ Gem and V412 Her

CCD photometry of the short-period binary stars KQ Gem and V412 Her is presented, together with some spectroscopic observations of KQ Gem. Although both systems are classified in the General Catalogue of Variable Stars as having light curves of EB/KW type, our data and analyses, involving light-curve synthesis and stellar surface imaging, show that KQ Gem is an EB system that is in marginal contact and has an enhanced bright region around the substellar point on the secondary component, whilst V412 Her is an EW system, a true contact binary with a mass ratio of 0.46 and both stars having the same surface brightness. The properties of the components of the two systems are compared with other marginal-contact and contact binaries, and a plea is repeated for more theoretical work on the mass/energy interchanges in contact binaries.     

散射系数矩阵的计算及其应用

利用Gabor Daubechies（G? D）小波束域波场分解和传播在空间和方向上的双重局域性，提出了基于G? D小波束域叠前深度偏移进行角度域成像和计算局部散射系数矩阵的方法. 以简单分层模型为例，对不同探测系统的局部散射系数矩阵分布特征进行分析. 分析结果表明，在一定的探测系统几何布局下，由本文方法得到的局部散射系数矩阵能够较真实地反映局部结构的散射(或反射)特性. 通过局部散射系数矩阵进一步外推具有不同速度反差的水平界面随角度变化的反射系数，并估计界面的空间位置和倾角等说明局部散射系数矩阵的潜在应用.     

The eclipses of EX Hydrae

Two short runs of spectral data on EX Hya have been obtained. One of these provides a high time and wavelength resolution data set covering a cycle in the 67 min modulation and containing a deep eclipse. The other was acquired shortly preceding one of the relatively rare outbursts of this system. Examination of these data sets confirms features noted in other studies. In particular, a broadV/R eclipse effect' is seen in the Balmer lines, and a sharp peak in Balmer line equivalent width is detected at mid-eclipse. Also, the correlation with 67 min phase of the (O-C) residuals for optical eclipse time is examined in relation to the location of the eclipsed structure. The accretion curtain model of Rosenet al. (1988) is discussed and shown to be qualitatively consistent with the observational data in both the optical and X-ray bands.     

Tasmante cruise: Swath-mapping and underway geophysics south and west of Tasmania

The 1994 Tasmante swath-mapping and reflection seismic cruise covered 200 000 km² of sea floor south and west of Tasmania. The survey provided a wealth of morphological, structural and sedimentological information, in an area of critical importance in reconstructing the break-up of East Gondwana.The west Tasmanian margin consists of a non-depositional continental shelf less than 50 km wide and a sedimented continental slope about 100 km wide. The adjacent 20 km of abyssal plain to the west is heavily sedimented, and beyond that is lightly sedimented Eocene oceanic crust formed as Australia and Antarctica separated. The swath data revealed systems of 100 m-deep downslope canyons and large lower-slope fault-blocks, striking 320° and dipping landward. These continental blocks lie adjacent to the continent ocean boundary (COB) and are up to 2500 m high and have 15°–20° scarps.The South Tasman Rise (STR) is bounded to the west by the Tasman Fracture Zone extending south to Antarctica. Adjacent to the STR, the fracture zone is represented by a scarp up to 2000 m high with slopes of 15–20°. The scarp consists of continental faultblocks dipping landward. Beyond the scarp to the west is a string of sheared parallel highs, and beyond that is lightly sedimented Oligocene oceanic crust 4200–4600 m deep with distinct E-W spreading fabric. The eastern margin of the bathymetric STR trends about 320° and is structurally controlled. The depression between it and the continental East Tasman Plateau (ETP) is heavily sedimented; its western part is underlain by thinned continental crust and its central part by oceanic crust of Late Cretaceous to Early Tertiary age. The southern margin of the STR is formed by N-S transform faults and south-dipping normal faults.The STR is cut into two major terrains by a N-S fracture zone at 146°15E. The western terrain is characterised by rotated basement blocks and intervening basins mostly trending 270°–290°. The eastern terrain is characterised by basement blocks and intervening strike-slip basins trending 300°–340°. Recent dredging of basement rocks suggests that the western terrain has Antarctic affinities, whereas the eastern terrain has Tasmanian affinities.Stretching and slow spreading between Australia and Antarctica was in a NW direction from 130–45 Ma, and fast spreading was in a N-S direction thereafter. The western STR terrain was attached to Antarctica during the early movement, and moved down the west coast of Tasmania along a 320° shear zone, forming the landward-dipping continental blocks along the present COB. The eastern terrain either moved with the western terrain, or was welded to it along the 146°15 E fracture zone in the Early Tertiary. At 45 Ma, fast spreading started in a N-S direction, and after some probable movement along the 146°15E fracture zone, the west and east STR terrains were welded together and became part of Australia.     

Downstream lightening and upward heavying: Experiments with sediments differing in density

Sorting and selective transport of particles by material density is important for understanding a wide range of processes, including the formation of mineral placers, deposition of mine tailings and routing of tracers and contaminants. This article describes an experimental study of the transport of mixtures of particles of differing density in a sediment‐feed flume. During the runs, a downstream prograding wedge‐shaped deposit was formed. Results show two sorting processes: (i) longitudinal sorting characterized by preferential deposition of heavy particles in the upstream part of the deposit – downstream lightening; and (ii) vertical sorting with less dense particles preferentially deposited in the lowermost portion of the migrating front – upward heavying. Downstream lightening is the analogue of the well‐known downstream fining observed in the more studied case of mixtures of heterogeneous size with the same density. In both cases, the lighter particles are carried further downstream than the heavier particles. Upward heavying is unexpected when compared with deposits of heterogeneous size and same‐density particles, where the heaviest (i.e. coarsest) particles are deposited in the lowermost part of the front. The physical mechanism underlying this upward heavying might be related to the physics of gravity‐driven granular flows; the front of the deposit acts like a dense granular flow down an inclined plane. In this case, the denser particles settle away from the free surface and at the top of the heap, while the lighter particles flow to the bottom. As the front of the deposit advances, this progressively gives rise to an upward heavying pattern. The application of classical surface‐based fractional bedload transport models suggests that equal mobility is not approached in the case of mixtures of particles with uniform size and different densities. This study hypothesizes that other mechanics related to the physics of the segregation processes in these systems contribute to these results.     

Hubble’s Law Implies Benford’s Law for Distances to Galaxies

A recent article by Alexopoulos and Leontsinis presented empirical evidence that the first digits of the distances from the Earth to galaxies are a reasonably good fit to the probabilities predicted by Benford’s law, the well known logarithmic statistical distribution of significant digits. The purpose of the present article is to give a theoretical explanation, based on Hubble’s law and mathematical properties of Benford’s law, why galaxy distances might be expected to follow Benford’s law. The new galaxy-distance law derived here, which is robust with respect to change of scale and base, to additive and multiplicative computational or observational errors, and to variability of the Hubble constant in both time and space, predicts that conformity to Benford’s law will improve as more data on distances to galaxies becomes available. Conversely, with the logical derivation of this law presented here, the recent empirical observations may be viewed as independent evidence of the validity of Hubble’s law.     

Optical spectroscopy of two overlapping, flux-density-limited samples of radio sources in the North Ecliptic Cap, selected at 38 and 151 MHz

We present the results of optical spectroscopy of two flux-density-limited samples of radio sources selected at frequencies of 38 and 151 MHz in the same region around the North Ecliptic Cap, the 8C-NEC and 7C- iii samples respectively. Both samples are selected at flux density levels ≈20 times fainter than samples based on the 3C catalogue. They are amongst the first low-frequency selected samples with no spectral or angular size selection for which almost complete redshift information has been obtained, and contain many of the lowest-luminosity z >2 radio galaxies so far discovered. They will therefore provide a valuable resource for understanding the cosmic evolution of radio sources and their hosts and environments. The 151-MHz 7C- iii sample is selected to have S ₁₅₁≥0.5 Jy and is the more spectroscopically complete; out of 54 radio sources fairly reliable redshifts have been obtained for 44 objects. The 8C sample has a flux limit of S ₃₈≥1.3 Jy and contains 58 sources of which 46 have fairly reliable redshifts. We discuss possible biases in the observed redshift distribution, and some interesting individual objects, including a number of cases of probable gravitational lensing. Using the 8C-NEC and 7C- iii samples in conjunction, we form the first sample selected on low-frequency flux in the rest-frame of the source, rather than the usual selection on flux density in the observed frame. This allows us to remove the bias associated with an increasing rest-frame selection frequency with redshift. We investigate the difference this selection makes to correlations of radio source properties with redshift and luminosity by comparing the results from traditional flux-density selection with our new method. We show in particular that flux-density-based selection leads to an overestimate of the steepness of the correlation of radio source size with redshift.