Is the Variable X—ray Source in M82 due to Gravitational Lensing？

1 INTRODUCTIONObservations of the most famous starburst galaxy M82 with the High-Resolution Cameraon board the Chandra X-Ray Observatory, showed that there are nine sources in the celltral11 x 11 region, but no son-roe was detected at the galactic center (Matsumoto et al. 2001).Comparing the observations on 1999 October 28 and those on 2000 January 20, the authorsfound an extremely large time variability of the source CXO M82 J095550.2 694047, which islocated gll away from the galact…     

The brightness temperature problem in extreme intra-day variable quasars: a model for PKS 0405-385

I re-examine the brightness temperature problem in PKS 0405-385, which is an extreme intra-day variable radio quasar with an inferred brightness temperature of  ∼5 × 10¹⁴ K  at 5 GHz, well above the Compton catastrophe limit of  ∼10¹¹ K  that is reached when the synchrotron photon energy density exceeds the energy density of the magnetic field. If one takes into account the uncertainty in the distance to the ionized clouds responsible for interstellar scintillation causing rapid intra-day variability in PKS 0405-385, it is possible that the brightness temperature could be as low as  ∼10¹³ K  at 5 GHz, or even lower. The radio spectrum can be fitted by optically thin emission from mono-energetic electrons, or an electron spectrum with a low-energy cut-off such that the critical frequency of the lowest energy electrons is above the radio frequencies of interest. If one observes optically thin emission along a long narrow emission region, the average energy density in the emission region can be many orders of magnitude lower than calculated from the observed intensity if one assumed a spherical emission region. I discuss the physical conditions in the emission region and find that the Compton catastrophe can then be avoided using a reasonable Doppler factor. I also show that MeV to 100-GeV gamma-ray emission at observable flux levels should be expected from extreme intra-day variable sources such as PKS 0405-385.     

利用核对软件降低MARK IV格式磁带回放数据的误码率

由于磁带回放的不稳定性及磁带与处理机的不匹配 ,导致由磁带导入硬盘的数据误码率很高 ,影响了送入处理机的数据可用率。结果显示 ,采用核对软件能将数据可用率提高一个数量级     

A unique Galactic planetary nebula with a [WN] central star

We report the discovery of the first probable Galactic [WN] central star of a planetary nebula (CSPN). The planetary nebula candidate was found during our systematic scans of the AAO/UKST Hα Survey of the Milky Way. Subsequent confirmatory spectroscopy of the nebula and central star reveals the remarkable nature of this object. The nebular spectrum shows emission lines with large expansion velocities exceeding 150 km s⁻¹, suggesting that perhaps the object is not a conventional planetary nebula. The central star itself is very red and is identified as being of the [WN] class, which makes it unique in the Galaxy. A large body of supplementary observational data supports the hypothesis that this object is indeed a planetary nebula and not a Population I Wolf–Rayet star with a ring nebula.     

Late Cretaceous-Paleogene Palynostratigraphy from the Arkhara-Boguchan Brown Coal Mine of Zeya-Bureya Depression, Russia

1IntroductionThe Arkhara-Boguchan brown coal mine is lo-cated in the western Arkhara depression,southeast-ern part of the Zea-Bureya Basin (Fig.1). Late Creta-ceous-Paleogene coal-bearing strata are well out-cropped at the Arkhara-Boguchan quarry. It contains four coal-bearing beds (in descending order): “Ve-likan”, “Promezhutochny”,“Dvoinoy”and “Nyzhny”, and composed of three sedimentary cycles (Fig.2). The lower cycle can be divided into two sub-cycles:the lowest sub-cycle is …     

On the Spectral Index－Flux Density Relation for Large Samples of Radio Sources

We present new statistical results on the spectral index-flux density relation for large samples of radio sources using archival data of the most sensitive surveys, such as 6C, Miyun, WENSS, B3, NVSS, GB87. Instrumental selection effects and the completeness of the catalogs are discussed. Based on the spectral indices calculated for about 200 000 sources from the WENSS (327 MHz) and NVSS (1.4 GHz) catalogs, we obtained (1) The median spectral index increases from amed --0.9 toαmed --0.8 (Svαvα), while S327 flux densities decrease from 0.1 Jy down to 25mJy. The median spectral indices nearly show no variation within the error bars when the flux density is larger than 0.1 Jy. (2) A dependence of the fraction of ultra-steep spectrum sources (USS, -1.5 <α<-1.0), steep spectrum sources (SSS, -1.0 <α< -0.5) and flat spectrum sources (FSS, -0.5≤α≤0.0) is partly responsible for the spectral flattening. Another contribution to the spectral flattening comes from the variation of αmed of steep spectrum so     

Gamma-rays and cosmic rays from a pulsar in Cygnus OB2

We argue that γ-ray sources observed in the direction of the Cygnus OB2 association in the GeV and TeV energy range are due to a pulsar that was created by a supernova a few tens of thousands of years ago. The GeV emission is produced by a middle-aged pulsar, a factor of 2 older than the Vela pulsar. The TeV emission is produced by high-energy hadrons and/or leptons accelerated in pulsar wind nebulae. We suggest, moreover, that the excess of cosmic rays at ∼10¹⁸ eV observed from the direction of the Cygnus region can also be related to the appearance of this very energetic pulsar in the Cyg OB2 association. Some of the relativistic hadrons, captured in strong magnetic fields of a high-density region of Cyg OB2, produce neutrons and γ-rays in collisions with matter. These neutrons can arrive from Cyg OB2, creating an excess of cosmic rays.     

The Effect of Solar Activity on the Annual Precipitation in the Beijing Area

Using continuous wavelet transform, we examine the relationship between solar activity and the annual precipitation in the Beijing area. The results indicate that the annual precipitation is closely related to the variation of sunspot numbers, and that solar activity probably plays an important role in influencing the precipitation on land.     

2001-2002年上海天文台卫星激光测距观测报告

介绍了 2 0 0 1- 2 0 0 2年上海天文台卫星激光测距观测概况和亚厘米级精度的测距实验