The continuing saga of Sakurai's object (V4334 Sgr): dust production and helium line emission

We report further UKIRT spectroscopic observations of Sakurai's object (V4334 Sgr) made in 1999 April/May in the 1–4.75 μm range, and find that the emission is dominated by amorphous carbon at T _d~600 K. The estimated maximum grain size is 0.6 μm, and the mass lower limit is 1.7±0.2×10⁻⁸ M_⊙ to 8.9±0.6×10⁻⁷ M_⊙ for distances of 1.1–8 kpc. For 3.8 kpc the mass is 2.0±0.1×10⁻⁷ M_⊙.
We also report strong He  i emission at 1.083 μm, in contrast to the strong absorption in this line in 1998. We conclude that the excitation is collisional, and is probably caused by a wind, consistent with the P Cygni profile observed by Eyres et al. in 1998.     

Seismic fragility assessment of RC frame structure designed according to modern Chinese code for seismic design of buildings

Following several damaging earthquakes in China,research has been devoted to find the causes of the collapse of reinforced concrete(RC) building sand studying the vulnerability of existing buildings.The Chinese Code for Seismic Design of Buildings(CCSDB) has evolved over time,however,there is still reported earthquake induced damage of newly designed RC buildings.Thus,to investigate modern Chinese seismic design code,three low-,mid-and high-rise RC frames were designed according to the 2010 CCSDB and the corresponding vulnerability curves were derived by computing a probabilistic seismic demand model(PSDM).The PSDM was computed by carrying out nonlinear time history analysis using thirty ground motions obtained from the Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research Center.Finally,the PSDM was used to generate fragility curves for immediate occupancy,significant damage,and collapse prevention damage levels.Results of the vulnerability assessment indicate that the seismic demands on the three different frames designed according to the 2010 CCSDB meet the seismic requirements and are almost in the same safety level.     

Determination of tidal distortion in the eclipsing binary system V621 Cen by means of deviations from the third Kepler law

In this paper we determine the tidal distortion parameter k_m of the secondary partner (mass loser) of the semi-detached eclipsing binary system V621 Cen by comparing the phenomenologically determined orbital period P_b=3.683549(11) d to the Keplerian one P^Kep computed with the values of the relevant system’s parameters determined independently of the third Kepler law itself. Our result is k_m=-1.5±0.6. Using the periastron precession, as traditionally done with other eclipsing binaries in eccentric orbits, would have not been possible because of the circularity of the V621 Cen path.     

Possible third body effects in the period changes of four Algol binaries: RY Aqr,SZ Her,RV Lyr and V913 Oph

An investigation of the orbital period changes of the neglected eclipsing binaries, RY Aqr, SZ Her, RV Lyr and V913 Oph, is presented based on all published minima times. Although the explanation of magnetic activity on the surface of the secondaries of the studied Algols is still open, the preferred light‐time effect due to the unseen components around the systems seems more plausible in explaining the tilted sinusoidal variations with relatively high‐amplitudes. The minimal mass values of possible tertiary components have been estimated to be about 1.06, 0.25, 0.78 and 2.85 M_⊙ for RY Aqr, SZ Her, RV Lyr and V913 Oph, respectively and the results indicate that their contributions to the total light of the eclipsing pairs are measurable with high accuracy photometric and spectroscopic data, if they exist. Applegate's (1992) model has been discussed as an alternative mechanism assuming that the cooler components have magnetic cycles. It is found that the model parameters of RY Aqr and V913 Oph are consistent with the required values in Applegate's model. In addition to the first detailed orbital study on these systems, a statistical survey on the character of the O – C variations of classical Algols has revealed that about 50 percent of the systems show cyclic behavior. This means that the presence of possible third bodies around classical Algols should be tested with careful analysis using new data. (© 2008 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Outbursts of selected dwarf novas and postnovas

Observations are presented of selected cataclysmic variables (the dwarf novas V1504 Cyg and GO Com and the postnovas Q Cyg, V446 Her, and DI Lac) carried out at the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory and the Crimean Laboratory of the Sternberg Astronomical Institute in 1995–2007. The outburst parameters and the behavior of these objects on the “magnitude (V)-color (V-R)” diagram are described. The tracks of postnova outbursts on this diagram are similar to the dwarf-nova behavior. On average, all the studied systems show a break on the “brightness-color” dependence. The color V-R before the break increases more weakly than after it or does not increase at all.     

Reliability of equivalent-dose determination and age-models in the OSL dating of historical and modern palaeoflood sediments

The challenge of accurately estimating the deposition age of incompletely-bleached samples in luminescence dating has motivated developments in the analysis of single grain dose distributions, and a number of statistical approaches have been proposed over the last few years. In this study, we compare the behaviour of the arithmetic average, so-called ‘robust statistics’, the Central Age Model (CAM), the Minimum Age Model (MAM) and the Internal–External Consistency Criterion (IEU) and lowest 5% method, when applied to single-grain dose distributions from a sequence of eight recent (40–1000 years) flash-flood deposits. These sediments are expected to be incompletely bleached, but all have age control from historical records. Modifications were made to allow the use of the standard CAM and MAM models with dose distributions containing near zero and negative dose values. An assessment of minimum over-dispersion (OD) is based on dose recovery tests based on gamma-irradiated samples. We then present a detailed analysis of the effect of an additional uncertainty added to the individual dose estimates on the burial dose estimates from the MAM and the IEU approach. The results of the various models are discussed in terms of the accuracy of the resulting age, and we conclude that, overall, the IEU approach generates the most accurate ages. We also demonstrate that accurate doses can be obtained for those older samples for which uncertainties of ∼40 years are unimportant by applying the IEU model to small aliquot (∼30 grains) dose distributions. From our study we conclude that these and similar young slack-water flood deposits can be accurately dated using quartz OSL, opening up the possibility of establishing time series of flood discharge in catchments for which no instrumental or historical record exists.     

山西地区不同时段地震目录最小完整性震级研究

对地震目录的最小完整性震级M_C的科学评估, 是进行地震活动性和地震危险性分析的重要基础, 而最小完整性震级M_C又是表征台网监测能力的关键参数。 本文据山西地震观测台网建设时间的阶段性差异, 将其分为4个时段, 以1970—2012年山西地区地震目录为基础资料, 利用震级-序号法、 最大曲率法(MAXC)、 90%和95%的拟合度GFT法, 研究了不同时段山西地区地震目录最小完整性震级M_C的时序变化特征。 1970年以来随着山西测震台网的改造, M_C逐步降低, 尤其是“十五”数字化台网改造后, 山西M_L≥0.9地震基本完整, 表明山西地震监测能力逐步提升。     

重力和重力梯度数据联合聚焦反演方法

重力数据包含较多的低频信息,重力梯度数据包含较多的高频信息,将重力数据和重力梯度数据进行联合反演得到的结果更加可信.本文基于聚焦反演方法,实现了这一过程.因为联合反演中分量种类增加,所以计算灵敏度矩阵所需要的时间增加,为此,本文提出了一种快速计算灵敏度矩阵的方法.因为联合反演对内存的要求增大,本文选择有限内存BFGS拟牛顿法求解反演问题.本文通过再加权的方法实现深度加权.文中利用单一分量的反演结果来预测异常体的埋深信息,随后将埋深信息结合到深度加权函数中,将其用于多分量组合反演计算.给出了模型试验,发现预测得到的异常体的埋深信息与其实际埋深存在偏差,但是将这一信息应用到反演计算,能够得到与真实模型一致的结果.之后,本文通过模型试验来探究重力和重力梯度联合反演的优势,发现将重力和重力梯度数据联合,能够识别出额外的噪声,反演得到的模型更加合理.但是,对于不同分量组合得到的反演结果是相近的,反演模型的提高很小.最后,将联合反演方法应用到美国路易斯安那州Vinton岩丘的实际数据中,结果显示,将重力和重力梯度数据联合反演,反演模型得到了提高,反演得到的结果与地质资料吻合.     

Seismic response of deep Quaternary sediments in historical center of L’Aquila City (central Italy)

On 6 April 2009 a M_w=6.1 earthquake produced severe destruction and damage over the historic center of L’Aquila City (central Italy), in which the accelerometer stations AQK and AQU recorded a large amount of near-fault ground motion data. This paper analyzes the recorded ground motions and compares the observed peak accelerations and the horizontal to vertical response spectral ratios with those revealed from numerical simulations. The finite element method is considered herein to perform dynamic modeling on the soil profile underlying the seismic station AQU. The subsurface model, which is based on the reviewed surveys that were carried out in previous studies, consists of 200–400 m of Quaternary sediments overlying a Meso-Cenozoic carbonate bedrock. The Martin-Finn-Seed's pore-water pressure model is used in the simulations. The horizontal to vertical response spectral ratio that is observed during the weak seismic events shows three predominant frequencies at about 14 Hz, 3 Hz and 0.6 Hz, which may be related to the computed seismic motion amplification occurring at the shallow colluvium, at the top and base of the fluvial-lacustrine sequence, respectively. During the 2009 L’Aquila main shock the predominant frequency of 14 Hz shifts to lower values probably due to a peculiar wave-field incidence angle. The predominant frequency of 3 Hz shifts to lower values when the earthquake magnitude increases, which may be associated to the progressive softening of soil due to the excess pore-water pressure generation that reaches a maximum value of about 350 kPa in the top of fluvial-lacustrine sequence. The computed vertical peak acceleration underestimates the experimental value and the horizontal to vertical peak acceleration ratio that is observed at station AQU decreases when the earthquake magnitude increases, which reveals amplification of the vertical component of ground motion probably due to near-source effects.