The Aristarchus-Harbinger region of the moon: Surface geology and history from recent remote-sensing observations

The region including the Aristarchus Plateau and Montes Harbinger is probably the most diverse, geologically, of any area of comparble size on the Moon. This part of the northwest quadrant of the lunar near side includes unique dark mantling material; both the densest concentration and the largest of the sinuous rilles; apparent volcanic vents, sinks, and domes; mare materials of various ages and colors; one of the freshest large craters (Aristarchus) with ejecta having unique colors and albedos; and three other large craters in different states of flooding and degradation (krieger, Herodotus, and Prinz). The three best-authenticated lunar transient phenomena were also observed here.This study is based principally on photographic and remote sensing observations made from Earth and Apollo orbiting space craft. Results include (1) delineation of geologic map units and their stratigraphic relationships; (2) discussion of the complex interrelationships between materials of volcanic and impact origin, including the effects of excavation, redistribution and mixing of previously deposited materials by younger impact craters; (3) deduction of physical and chemical properties of certain of the geologic units, based on both the remote-sensing information and on extrapolation of Apollo data to this area; and (4) development of a detailed geologic history of the region, outlining the probable sequence of events that resulted in its present appearance.A primary concern of the investigation has been anomalous red dark mantle on the Plateau. Based on an integration of Earth- and lunar orbit-based data, this layer seems to consist of fine-grained, block-free material containing a relatively large fraction of orange glass. It is probably of pyroclastic origin, laid down at some time during the Imbrian period of mare flooding.     

Kelvin-Helmholtz instability in an Alfvén resonant layer of a solar coronal loop

A Kelvin-Helmholtz instability has been identified numerically on an azimuthally symmetric Alfvén resonant layer in an axially bounded, straight cylindrical coronal loop. The physical model employed is an incompressible, reduced magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) model including resistivity, viscosity, and density variation. The set of equations is solved numerically as an initial value problem. The linear growth rate of this instability is shown to be approximately proportional to the Alfvén driving amplitude and inversely proportional to the width of the Alfvén resonant layer. It is also shown that the linear growth rate increases linearly with m - 1 up to a certain m, reaches its maximum value for the mode whose half wavelength is comparable to the Alfvén resonant layer width, and decreases at higher m's. (m is the azimuthal mode number.)     

The crustal structure of Concepcion Bank

From reflection and refraction data a crustal model of the Concepcion Bank NE of Lanzarote Island has been calculated. It is interpreted as a tectonic unit of volcanic origin. Its evolution history of mainly Tertiary age does not depend on sea floor spreading. The Bank is built of intruded basaltic layers over material with a reduced mantle p-velocity.     

The Centurion 18 telescope of the Wise Observatory

We describe the second telescope of the Wise Observatory, a 0.46-m Centurion 18 (C18) installed in 2005, which enhances significantly the observing possibilities. The telescope operates from a small dome and is equipped with a large-format CCD camera. In the last two years this telescope was intensively used in a variety of monitoring projects. The operation of the C18 is now automatic, requiring only start-up at the beginning of a night and close-down at dawn. The observations are mostly performed remotely from the Tel Aviv campus or even from the observer’s home. The entire facility was erected for a component cost of about 70k$ and a labor investment of a total of one man-year. We describe three types of projects undertaken with this new facility: the measurement of asteroid light variability with the purpose of determining physical parameters and binarity, the following-up of transiting extrasolar planets, and the study of AGN variability. The successful implementation of the C18 demonstrates the viability of small telescopes in an age of huge light-collectors, provided the operation of such facilities is very efficient.     

Evaluating Natural Attentuation with Spreadsheet Analytical Fate and Transport Models

Superposition techniques can extend the capabilities of relatively simple analytical fate and transport models. Complex source geometries, simple aquifer boundaries, and electron acceptor limited biodegradation can be simulated by using superposition techniques in computer spreadsheets. Spreadsheet models are an easily used tool for interpreting sampling results and for estimating attenuation and degradation rates in relatively homogeneous aquifers. Analytical spreadsheet models are based on the Domenico analytical model and can provide results that are in close agreement with the numerical model UIOPLUMH II.     

High resolution imaging of the Hubble Deep and Flanking Fields

42 hours of A-array VLA data and 18 days MERLIN data at 1.4 GHz have been combined to image a 10 arcminute field centred on the Hubble Deep Field (HDF). This area encloses both the Hubble Deep and Flanking Fields. A complete sample of 87 sources have been detected with flux densities above 40 μJy. All these have been imaged with the MERLIN+VLA combination to produce images with 0.2, 0.3 and 0.5 arcsecond resolution. These are the most sensitive 1.4 GHz images yet made with rms noise levels of 3.3 μJy/beam in the 0.2 arcsecond images. About 70% of the microJy sources are found to be starburst type systems associated with major disk galaxies in the redshift range 0.4–1. Some 20% are found to be low-luminosity AGN systems identified with field ellipticals at redshifts close to 1. The remaining 10% are associated with optically faint systems close to or beyond the HDF limit; many of these may be dust-shrouded starbursts at high redshift. We propose to extend this study to include VLBI data of comparable sensitivity to investigate the compact radio structures found in the microJy source population.