A disturbed molecular disc in the Circinus galaxy

We have used the Swedish ESO Submillimeter Telescope to observe the molecular gas in the Circinus galaxy using the CO(1 → 0) transition as a tracer. The central region and major axis have been mapped and several other points were also observed. The gas in the galaxy is concentrated towards the nucleus, the peak being coincident with the radio/optical core. The inclination of the molecular galactic disc is more comparable to that of the radio continuum than to that of the large-scale H  i emission. Evidence for an anomalous spur structure pointing radially away from the galactic centre is presented, and may indicate a causal link between it and similar features seen in optical lines and radio continuum. Our data suggest the presence of a central molecular ring or disc with radius 300 ± 50 pc and a rotation velocity of about 200 km s⁻¹ (assuming i  = 73°). The dynamical mass of the nucleus is estimated to be no greater than 3.9 × 10⁹ M_⊙. Assuming that the distribution of gas varies smoothly in the outer regions, we calculate the mass of molecular gas in the galaxy to be at least M _mol = 1.1 × 10⁹ M_⊙, and the star-forming efficiency to be 11 ± 2 L_⊙ M_⊙⁻¹. These results imply that Circinus is undergoing a massive central starburst which may be, at least partially, responsible for its extended minor axis emission seen in several wavebands.     

基于GPS的气球观测天体自动跟踪方法

本文详细介绍了一种新颖的用GPS卫星定位接收机的高空科学气球观测天体的自动跟踪方法,此方法成功解决了飞行中望远镜对观测天体的自动跟踪难题。实测方位、仰角的跟踪精度可达0.1°。     

计算机跟踪伺服系统的保护电路

本文介绍了为紫台13.7米射电望远镜跟踪系统设计制造的一套的简单实用的保护电路。实验证明该电路性能可靠、效果显著。     

瓦斯突出煤层的无线电波响应特征

在瓦斯突出煤体和非突出煤体的电学性质研究基础上 ,研究了瓦斯突出煤层的无线电波响应特征 ,为利用无线电波透视技术探测瓦斯突出煤体和进行瓦斯突出带的非接触式预测提供了理论基础     

地面大回线源在地下形成的瞬变电磁场的反演研究

本文研究了地面大回线源在地下形成的瞬变电磁场的反演方法。其反演计算采用改进的阻尼最小二乘可行方向法,理论计算表明,反演计算效果好。     

在97.8GHz处测量地球大气的不透明度

用研制的全自动辐射计在97．8GHz上测量南京市内大气的不透明度以及这种不透明度随时间的变化．辐射计记录大气在不同天顶高度的辐射温度,由此测出天顶方向的大气不透明度。在56小时的测量时间内,取得了1400多组数据,拟合得到了在观测时段内天顶方向的大气不透明度在0．2至0．7之间,典型值为0．4,表明测试地点的大气条件允许进行3mm波段的射电天文观测．由于在工作频段内大气不透明度的主要来源是对流层水汽的吸收,测量的不透明度可用来直接反映大气内水汽的含量,并实时校准大气吸收．     

Interferometer phase calibration sources — II. The region 0° ≤ δB1950≤ +20°

We present a catalogue of 781 compact radio sources in the declination range 0° ≤ δ_B1950≤ +20° whose positions have been measured to an rms accuracy of about 14 mas with the Very Large Array (VLA). These sources are primarily intended for use as phase calibration sources for the Jodrell Bank MERLIN. However, they will also be suitable as phase calibrators for the VLA and can be considered as candidate phase calibrators for very long-baseline interferometry (VLBI) networks.     

Submillimetre-wave gravitational lenses and cosmology

One of the most direct routes for investigating the geometry of the Universe is provided by the numbers of strongly magnified gravitationally lensed galaxies as compared with those that are either weakly magnified or de-magnified. In the submillimetre waveband the relative abundance of strongly lensed galaxies is expected to be larger as compared with the optical or radio wavebands, both in the field and in clusters of galaxies. The predicted numbers depend on the properties of the population of faint galaxies in the submillimetre waveband, which was formerly very uncertain; however, recent observations of lensing clusters have reduced this uncertainty significantly and confirm that a large sample of galaxy–galaxy lenses could be detected and investigated using forthcoming facilities, including the FIRST and Planck Surveyor space missions and a large ground-based millimetre/submillimetre-wave interferometer array (MIA). We discuss how this sample could be used to impose limits on the values of cosmological parameters and the total density and form of evolution of the mass distribution of bound structures, even in the absence of detailed lens modelling for individual members of the sample. The effects of different world models on the form of the magnification bias expected in sensitive submillimetre-wave observations of clusters are also discussed, because an MIA could resolve and investigate images in clusters in detail.     

Observational limits to source confusion in the millimetre/submillimetre waveband

The first observations to detect a population of distant galaxies directly in the submillimetre waveband have recently been made using the new Submillimetre Common-User Bolometer Array (SCUBA) on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT). The results indicate that a large number of distant galaxies are radiating strongly in this waveband. Here we discuss their significance for source confusion in future millimetre/submillimetre-wave observations of both distant galaxies and cosmic microwave background radiation (CMBR) anisotropies. Earlier estimates of such confusion involved significant extrapolation of the results of observations of galaxies at low redshifts; our new estimates do not, as they are derived from direct observations of distant galaxies in the submillimetre waveband. The results have important consequences for the design and operation of existing and proposed millimetre/submillimetre-wave telescopes: the Planck Surveyor survey will be confusion-limited at frequencies greater than 350 GHz, even in the absence of Galactic dust emission; a 1σ confusion noise limit of about 0.44 mJy beam⁻¹ is expected for the JCMT/SCUBA at a wavelength of 850 μm; and the subarcsecond resolution of large millimetre/submillimetre-wave interferometer arrays will be required in order to execute very deep galaxy surveys.     

The radio properties of radio-quiet quasars

Although radio-quiet quasars (RQQs) constitute ≳ 90 per cent of optically identified quasar samples, their radio properties are only poorly understood. In this paper we present the results of a multi-frequency VLA study of 27 low-redshift RQQs. We detect radio emission from 20 objects, half of which are unresolved (≤ 0.24 arcsec). In cases where significant structure can be resolved, double, triple and linear radio sources on scales of a few kpc are found. The radio emission (typically) has a steep spectrum (α ∼ 0.7, where S  ∝ ν^−α), and high brightness temperatures ( T _B ≥ 10⁵ K) are measured in some of the radio components. The RQQs form a natural extension to the radio luminosity–absolute magnitude distribution of nearby Seyfert 1s. We conclude that a significant fraction of the radio emission in RQQs originates in a compact nuclear source directly associated with the quasar. There are no significant differences between the radio properties of RQQs with elliptical hosts and those in disc galaxies within the current sample.