Extragalactic sources with asymmetric radio structure II. further observations of the quasar B2 1320 + 299

We present VLA A-array observations at λ20, 6 and 2 cm and B-array observations at λ20 and 6 cm of the quasar B2 1320 + 299, which has a very unusual radio structure. In addition to a component, A, coincident with the quasar, there are two lobes of radio emission, B and C, on the same side of A. These are located at distances of -25 and 50 arcsec respectively from A. The present observations show that A has a flat-spectrum component coincident with the quasar and a weak outer component at a distance of-4 arcsec along PA - 100°. The morphology of B resembles a head-tail type of structure with its tail towards the north-east. The magnetic field lines in component B appear to follow the bend in the tail. Component C exhibits some extension towards the north-west. We discuss the possible nature of B2 1320 + 299 and suggest that while A appears to be an independent source, the relation between B and C, if they are associated at all, is unclear. Deep optical observations are essential to help clarify the situation.     

Sediment sources and transport pathways in a rural catchment,Herefordshire, UK

The relative significance of primary and secondary suspended sediment sources has been identified in a small (15 km²) agricultural catchment through the application of a linear unmixing model using mineral magnetic, geochemical and radionuclide signatures of fine sediments. Roads appear to be important as a secondary source of suspended sediment and in the conveyance of topsoils to the river channel. Roads also alter the source signatures of sediment in transport, especially that derived from agricultural topsoils. Modelling suggests that c. 30% of the suspended sediment collected from suspended sediment traps in the River Leadon were derived from, or transported via, roads. Relative contributions from primary sources of c. 43% and c. 27% were estimated from a combined (subsoil and channel bank) subsurface source, and a combined (arable and grassland) topsoil source, respectively. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

FOOD SOURCES AND CARBON BUDGET OF CHINESE PRAWN PENAEUS CHINENSIS

ＩＮＴＲＯＤＵＣＴＩＯＮＰｒａｗｎｆａｒｍｉｎｇｉｎＣｈｉｎａｉｓａｎｉｍｐｏｒｔａｎｔｍａｒｉｃｕｌｔｕｒｅｉｎｄｕｓｔｒｙｗｈｏｓｅａｎｎｕａｌｐｒｏｄｕｃｔｉｏｎｈａｓｅｖｅｒｒｅａｃｈｅｄｔｏｍｏｒｅｔｈａｎ 2 .0× 1 0 5 ｔ,ｉｎｗｈｉｃｈｓｅｍｉ ｉｎｔｅｎｓｉｖｅｃｕｌｔｕｒｅｏｆＣｈｉｎｅｓｅｐｒａｗｎ (ＰｅｎａｅｕｓｏｒｉｅｎｔａｌｉｓＫｉｓｈｉｎｏｕｙｅ)ｃｏｎｔｒｉｂｕｔｅｄｔｈｅｇｒｅａｔｅｓｔｐａｒｔ.Ｂｕｔｉｎｒｅｃｅｎｔｙｅａｒｓｔｈｅｐｒａｗｎｃｕｌｔｕｒｅｉｎｄｕｓｔ…     

Temporal and spatial variations of runoff and rainwash erosion on an agricultural field

This paper investigates the spatial and temporal variations of runoff, erosion and rate of sediment transport on an agricultural field submitted to natural rainfalls. The site, located in the Eastern Townships (Québec, Canada), is a corn field (10000 m²) where sheetwash erosion is active. Water (Q) and sediment (Qs) discharges were measured from June to October at eight locations on the field and for ten rainfall events. Analysis of the data was carried out on an aggregate data set and on the distributed measurements in time and space. The results showed that changes in vegetation, soil compaction and crusting are critical in determining temporal variations of runoff and erosion. Until August, the increase in soil compaction reduced infiltration capacity and depression storage and generated greater runoff for a given rainfall intensity (I). Sediment transport decreased as particle detachment is less likely to occur when vegetation breaks the drop impact and the soil surface is sealed. Later in the season, we observed an increase in sediment concentration associated with the presence of burrowing insects and harvest activity, providing loose sediments to the broken down surface. Intercepts and slopes of the relationship between Q and Qs also vary during the period of measurement. High sediment availability over the soil surface in June and October gives high intercept values. The slope of the relationship is more stable but difficult to estimate for extreme events (high values of I or low Q values) where the number of sampled points are small. During a rainfall, the response of the field is dominated by the topography and drainage area. The largest amount of runoff and erosion occurred on straight and steep slopes with small drainage areas, and on converging gentle slopes with large drainage areas. Although aggregate runoff and erosion values are decreasing with drainage area, parameters of the Qs-Q relationship for different locations on the field are not statistically different. These results bear important consequences for models of sheetwash erosion on agricultural fields.     

Optical positions of 3C 273

We have measured an optical position of 3C 273 in the AGK3 system using the 40cm astrograph of Shanghai Observatory. Combining with others' observations, we have derived a “proper motion”. A comparison with other results is made.     

Current problems in star formation and infrared surveys

Star forming regions and young stellar objects are well known to be strong sources of infrared radiation. Such objects will be among the conspicous targets in the upcoming NIR surveys. Therefore, these surveys promise important new information on various unsolved questions concerning the star formation process. Among the problems where significant progress can be expected are the environmental effects on star formation, the derivation of star formation efficiencies and star formation rates, and all questions related to the fragmentation process and the initial mass function. Moreover, the NIR surveys may also help identifying new examples of protostars and PMS objects for follow-up investigations of their physical structure.     

Scope of high-frequency time keeping in searches for short-period gamma-ray sources

This paper presents a novel technique to derive the absolute time of occurrence of an event with an accuracy of < 200 μs by adapting the HF time synchronization technique to correct for the aging rate and the frequency drift of a temperature-controlled quartz frequency standard. The propagation delay suffered by the HF time signals has been estimated by monitoring the clock error with respect to time signals from five broadcast stations located at distances in the range 500–3700 km from Gulmarg. Using simulated data, we further show the viability of this technique in permitting periodicity searches on timescales of ≥5 milliseconds in cosmic gamma-ray data An erratum to this article is available at .     

The first results of observations of the transient pulsar SAX J2103.5+4545 by the INTEGRAL observatory

We present the preliminary results of our analysis of the observations of the X-ray pulsar SAX J2103.5+4545 by the INTEGRAL Observatory in December 2002. We mapped this region of the sky in a wide energy range, from 3 to 200 keV. The detection of the source is shown to be significant up to energies of ～100 keV. The hard X-ray flux in the energy range 15–100 keV is variable and presumably depends on the orbital phase. We show that the shape of the pulsar spectrum and its parameters derived from 18–150-keV IBIS data are compatible with the RXTE observations of the source.     

Observations of the infrared source in s 140 and the heating of the associated gas

Near infrared observation of the infrared source in S140 was made using the 1.26 m infrared telescope of Beijing Observatory, yielding fluxes in the J, H and K bands. Combining with data from satellite and ground-based IR and submillimetre observations, we found the spectral gradient, IR luminosity and the shell structure of the IR source.

We also combined observations of CO and NH₃ in an analysis of the heating of the gas associated with the source. Besides through dust, the central source may also input energy into the gas through shock waves. External sources of heat and heating by photoelectric process and cosmic rays are also discussed.