Milestones in the Observations of Cosmic Magnetic Fields

Magnetic fields are observed everywhere in the universe. In this review, we concentrate on the observational aspects of the magnetic fields of Galactic and extragalactic objects. Readers can follow the milestones in the observations of cosmic magnetic fields obtained from the most important tracers of magnetic fields, namely, the star-light polarization, the Zeeman effect, the rotation measures (RMs, hereafter) of extragalactic radio sources, the pulsar RMs, radio polarization observations, as well as the newly implemented sub-mm and mm polarization capabilities. The magnetic field of the Galaxy was first discovered in 1949 by optical polarization observations. The local magnetic fields within one or two kpc have been well delineated by starlight polarization data. The polarization observations of diffuse Galactic radio background emission in 1962 confirmed unequivocally the existence of a Galactic magnetic field. The bulk of the present information about the magnetic fields in the Galaxy comes from anal     

The Amplitude of Mass Fluctuations and Mass Density of the Universe Constrained by Strong Gravitational Lensing

We investigate the linear amplitude of mass fluctuations in the universe, σ8, and the present mass density parameter of the Universe, Ωm, from statistical strong gravitational lensing. We use the two population model of lens halos with fixed cooling mass scale Mc = 3×1013h-1M⊙ to match the observed lensing probabilities, and leave σ8 orΩm as a free parameter to be constrained by the data. Another varying parameter, the equation of state of dark energy ω, and its typical values of -1, -2/3, -1/2 and -1/3 are investigated. We find that σ8 is degenerate with Ωm in a way similar to that suggested by present day cluster abundance as well as cosmic shear lensing measurements: σ8Ω0.6m≈0.33. However, both σ8≤0.7 and Ωm≤0.2 can be safely ruled out, the best fit is when σ8 = 1.0, Ωm = 0.3 and ω= - 1. This result is different from that obtained by Bahcall & Bode, who gave σ8 = 0.98±0.1 and Ωm = 0.17 ±0.05. For σ8 = 1.0, the higher value ofΩm = 0.35 requires ω = -2/3 and Ωm = 0.40 require     

有关宇宙水的近期研究进展

本文介绍有关宇宙水的研究的新进展,事实上现在振动基态6_(16)-5_(23)水脉泽(λ=1.3cm)已不再是可以用来研究宇宙水的唯一谱线了。由于科学技术的进步,振动基态的一些其他水脉泽,振动激发态的一些发射线与吸收线已变得可以探测。宇宙水除了1.3cm波段外,还可以通过在毫米、亚毫米、红外波段的多种谱线来进行研究,取得更丰富、更全面的天文信息。     

“宇宙中的地球”体验式学习的尝试

强调“做中学”的体验式学习,能够将学习者的潜能真正发挥出来,是提高学习效率的有效方式。通常将传统学习方式比喻成“观摩游泳”,将体验式学习方式比喻成“自己游泳”。传统学习通过教师和书本讲解正确姿势,但是无论讲解观摩如何细致,学生若不亲身体验是学不会游泳的。而体验式学习就是让你亲自下水,在摸索中与教练不断沟通,发现自己的盲点,总结姿势技巧,学习主体是自己,而池边的教练只是一面镜子,为你的表现不断作出回馈及鼓励。     

“宇宙的起源”教学设计

一、教材分析本节是浙教版《科学》教材九年级下第一章第一节的内容,学生已经学习过转化与平衡,知道了自然界各种物质的层次结构、运动、变化、转化和平衡等基本特性,转化与平衡是可重演的研究,可以通过猜想加实验验证的方式来进行;第一章"演化的自然"是不可重演的研究,基于此,可以由现象→假说→模型,模型、假说法非常适合这一章的教学。第一章依据从宏观到微观,从久远到现代的线索展示自然的演化过程。宇宙是物质的世界,它处于不断的运动和发展中。千百年来,     

Old stellar population synthesis： new age and mass estimates for Mayall Ⅱ = G1

Mayall Ⅱ = G1 is one of the most luminous globular clusters （GCs） in M31. Here, we determine its age and mass by comparing multicolor photometry with theoretical stellar population synthesis models. Based on far- and near-ultraviolet GALEX photometry, broad-band UBVRI, and infrared JHKs 2MASS data, we construct the most extensive spectral energy distribution of G 1 to date, spanning the wavelength range from 1538 to 20 000A. A quantitative comparison with a variety of simple stellar population （SSP） models yields a mean age which is consistent with G1 being among the oldest building blocks of M31 and having formed within ～1.7 Gyr after the Big Bang. Irrespective of the SSP model or stellar initial mass function adopted, the resulting mass estimates （of order 10^7M⊙） indicate that GI is one of the most massive GCs in the Local Group. However, we speculate that the cluster＇s exceptionally high mass suggests that it may not be a genuine GC. Our results also suggest that G1 may contain, on average, （1.65±0.63） × 10^2L⊙ far-ultraviolet-bright, hot, extreme horizontal-branch stars, depending on the adopted SSP model. In addition, we demonstrate that extensive multi-passband photometry coupled with SSP analysis enables one to obtain age estimates for old SSPs that have similar accuracies as those from integrated spectroscopy or resolved stellar photometry, provided that some of the free parameters can be constrained independently.     

宇宙信息

紫金山天文台在空间高能电子观测领域获重大突破;中法“起源”天文联合实验室成立;国家天文台南京天文光学技术研究所喜迎50华诞;天空闪烁“黄润乾”星;发现存在地外生命的新证据等。     

夜空“爆炸”知多少

在我们的眼中,无垠的夜空深邃而静谧,为我们带来平和宁静的心情。不过在天文学家看来,夜空比地球上的任何角落都要狂暴得多,不计其数的足以把地球毁灭亿万次的剧烈爆炸正在夜幕的掩盖下此起彼伏,只不过它们距离我们实在太远而未被察觉而已。尽管在大多数情况下,天文学家研究的目标天体都是相对稳定或是缓变的,如寿命很长的恒星,还有宇宙的结构在几十亿年中的演化轨迹等等。但是爆发的天休却往往是他们重点关注的对象,比如本文要介绍的几种恒星爆发。