Scattered light models of the dust shell around HD 179821

The dust shell around the evolved star HD 179821 has been detected in scattered light in near-IR imaging polarimetry observations. Here, we subtract the contribution of the unpolarized stellar light to obtain an intrinsic linear polarization of between 30 and 40 per cent in the shell that seems to increase with radial offset from the star. The J - and K -band data are modelled using a scattering code to determine the shell parameters and dust properties. We find that the observations are well described by a spherically-symmetric distribution of dust with an r ⁻² density law, indicating that when mass-loss was occurring, the mass-loss rate was constant. The models predict that the detached nature of a spherically-symmetric, optically-thin dust shell, with a distinct inner boundary, will only be apparent in polarized flux. This is in accordance with the observations of this and other optically-thin circumstellar shells, such as IRAS 17436+5003. By fitting the shell brightness we derive an optical depth to the star that is consistent with V -band observations and that, assuming a distance of 6 kpc, gives an inner-shell radius of     , a dust number density of     at r _in and a dust mass of     . We have explored axisymmetric shell models but conclude that any deviations from spherical symmetry in the shell must be slight, with an equator-to-pole density contrast of less than 2:1. We have not been able to fit simultaneously the high linear polarizations and the small     colour excess of the shell and we attribute this to the unusual scattering properties of the dust. We suggest that the dust grains around HD 179821 either are highly elongated or consist of aggregates of smaller particles.     

广东省拖网网囊调查

为实施中华人民共和国国家标准《南海区拖网网囊最小网目尺寸》,对广东省范围内拖网网囊现状进行摸底调查,结果表明,广东省沿海拖网渔船现用网囊网目尺寸(内径)在16.7～35.2 mm范围内,总体平均为27 mm,均未能达到1989年国家技术监督局发布的中华人民共和国国家标准--《南海区拖网网囊最小网目尺寸》--内径39 mm.     

Observations on the ecological importance of salt marshes in the Cumberland Basin,a macrotidal estuary in the Bay of Fundy

The Cumberland Basin, a 118 km² estuary at the head of the Bay of Fundy which has an average tidal range of about 11m, contains large tracts of salt marsh (15% of the area below highest high water). Low marsh (below about 0·9 m above mean high water) is composed almost exclusively of Spartina alterniflora while the vegetation on high marsh is more diverse but dominated by Spartina patens. Because of its higher elevation, high marsh is flooded infrequently for short periods by only extreme high tides. Low marsh is inundated much more frequently by water as much as 4m deep for periods as long as 4 h per tide. Temporal variability in the occurrence of extreme tides influences the flooding frequency of high marsh for any given month and year. Using a modification of Smalley's method, the mean annual net aerial primary production (NAPP) of low and high marsh is estimated to be 272 and 172 g C m^?2, respectively. Vegetation turnover times average 1·0 and 2·0 y for low and high marsh, respectively. Because of abundant tidal energy, much of the low marsh production appears to be exported and distributed widely about the estuary. Since high levels of turbidity suppress phytoplankton production, salt marshes produce approximately half of the carbon fixed photosynthetically in the Cumberland Basin. It is concluded that salt marshes play a major ecological role in the Cumberland Basin.     

对月日潮汐摩擦耗散的估计

月日潮汐摩擦和地球惯量矩变化是日长长期变化的主要原因．在本文中，利用最新的地球物理和古生物钟数据，对过去15亿年以来的月日潮汐摩擦、地球惯量矩变化和日长长期变化等作了数值对比研究．由此得到二个重要结论：一是仅利用地球的自转形变不能解释J2的变化，这说明地球的重力分异现象至今仍存在着；其二是在几亿年前的潮汐摩擦比现在大得多，若取潮汐耗散与距离的立方成反比时，理论结果与由古生物钟得到的回归年日数和朔望月日数数据较为符合。     

Polarization observations of giant radio pulses from the millisecond pulsar B1937+21 at a frequency of 600 MHz

We performed polarization observations of giant radio pulses from the millisecond pulsar B1937+21. The observations were carried out in July 2002 with the 64-m Kalyazin radio telescope at a frequency of 600 MHz in two polarization channels with left-and right-hand circular polarizations (RCP and LCP). We used the S2 data acquisition system with a time resolution of 125 ns. The duration of an observing session was 20 min. We detected twelve giant radio pulses with peak flux densities higher than 1000 Jy; five and seven of these pulses appeared in the RCP and LCP channels, respectively. We found no event that exceeded the established detection threshold simultaneously in the two polarization channels. Thus, we may conclude that the detected giant pulses have a high degree of circular polarization, with the frequency of occurrence of RCP and LCP pulses being the same.     

青藏块体东北缘地壳水平运动状态

应用青藏块体东北缘1999～2003年多期GPS观测资料，计算了不同时段GPS点水平运动速率。通过分析发现：甘青块体可分为东部块体和西部块体，东、西部块体的运动状态存在明显的差异；受2001年11月14日昆仑Ms8．1地震的影响，震后地壳运动状态发生了明显的改变。     

桐柏县固庙—新集1：20万金银异常评价方法及效果

随着河南区域化探扫面工作的结束，异常评价是摆在我们面前的当务之急。近年来，随着地质工作的不断深入，我们在异常评价程序及方法上作了一些探索，下面以桐柏县固庙—新集１：２０万金银异常评价方法及效果为例，重点加以讨论。     

Simulations of deep pencil-beam redshift surveys

We create mock pencil-beam redshift surveys from very large cosmological N -body simulations of two cold dark matter (CDM) cosmogonies, an Einstein–de Sitter model ( τ CDM) and a flat model with Ω₀=0.3 and a cosmological constant (ΛCDM). We use these to assess the significance of the apparent periodicity discovered by Broadhurst et al. Simulation particles are tagged as 'galaxies' so as to reproduce observed present-day correlations. They are then identified along the past light-cones of hypothetical observers to create mock catalogues with the geometry and the distance distribution of the Broadhurst et al. data. We produce 1936 (2625) quasi-independent catalogues from our τ CDM (ΛCDM) simulation. A couple of large clumps in a catalogue can produce a high peak at low wavenumbers in the corresponding one-dimensional power spectrum, without any apparent large-scale periodicity in the original redshift histogram. Although the simulated redshift histograms frequently display regularly spaced clumps, the spacing of these clumps varies between catalogues and there is no 'preferred' period over our many realizations. We find only a 0.72 (0.49) per cent chance that the highest peak in the power spectrum of a τ CDM (ΛCDM) catalogue has a peak-to-noise ratio higher than that in the Broadhurst et al. data. None of the simulated catalogues with such high peaks shows coherently spaced clumps with a significance as high as that of the real data. We conclude that in CDM universes, the regularity on a scale of ∼130  h ⁻¹ Mpc observed by Broadhurst et al. has a priori probability well below 10⁻³.