Low-mass binary-induced outflows from asymptotic giant branch stars

A significant fraction of planetary nebulae (PNe) and protoplanetary nebulae (PPNe) exhibit aspherical, axisymmetric structures, many of which are highly collimated. The origin of these structures is not entirely understood, however, recent evidence suggests that many observed PNe harbour binary systems, which may play a role in their shaping. In an effort to understand how binaries may produce such asymmetries, we study the effect of low-mass  (<0.3 M_⊙)  companions (planets, brown dwarfs and low-mass main-sequence stars) embedded into the envelope of a  3.0-M_⊙  star during three epochs of its evolution [red giant branch, asymptotic giant branch (AGB), interpulse AGB]. We find that common envelope evolution can lead to three qualitatively different consequences: (i) direct ejection of envelope material resulting in a predominately equatorial outflow, (ii) spin-up of the envelope resulting in the possibility of powering an explosive dynamo-driven jet and (iii) tidal shredding of the companion into a disc which facilitates a disc-driven jet. We study how these features depend on the secondary's mass and discuss observational consequences.     

The origin of the initial mass function and its dependence on the mean Jeans mass in molecular clouds

We investigate the dependence of stellar properties on the mean thermal Jeans mass in molecular clouds. We compare the results from the two largest hydrodynamical simulations of star formation to resolve the fragmentation process down to the opacity limit, the first of which was reported by Bate, Bonnell & Bromm. The initial conditions of the two calculations are identical except for the radii of the clouds, which are chosen so that the mean densities and mean thermal Jeans masses of the clouds differ by factors of 9 and 3, respectively.
We find that the denser cloud, with the lower mean thermal Jeans mass, produces a higher proportion of brown dwarfs and has a lower characteristic (median) mass of the stars and brown dwarfs. This dependence of the initial mass function (IMF) on the density of the cloud may explain the observation that the Taurus star-forming region appears to be deficient in brown dwarfs when compared with the Orion Trapezium cluster. The new calculation also produces wide binaries (separations >20 au), one of which is a wide binary brown dwarf system.
Based on the hydrodynamical calculations, we develop a simple accretion/ejection model for the origin of the IMF. In the model, all stars and brown dwarfs begin with the same mass (set by the opacity limit for fragmentation) and grow in mass until their accretion is terminated stochastically by their ejection from the cloud through dynamically interactions. The model predicts that the main variation of the IMF in different star-forming environments should be in the location of the peak (due to variations in the mean thermal Jeans mass of the cloud) and in the substellar regime. However, the slope of the IMF at high masses may depend on the dispersion in the accretion rates of protostars.     

Palynostratigraphy of the Erkovtsy field of brown coal (the Zeya-Bureya sedimentary basin)

The Erkovtsy brown coal field in the northwestern Zeya-Bureya sedimentary basin (129°–130° E, 46°–47° N) is structurally confined to southern flank of the Mesozoic-Cenozoic Belogor’e depression. The verified stratigraphic scheme of the coalfield sedimentary sequence is substantiated by palynological data on core samples from 18 boreholes sampled in the course of detailed prospecting and by paleobotanical analysis of sections in the Yuzhnyi sector of the coalfield (data of 1998 by M.A. Akhmetiev and S.P. Manchester). Sections of the Erkovtsy, Arkhara-Boguchan, and Raichikha brown-coal mines are correlated. Stratigraphic subdivisions distinguished in the studied sedimentary succession are the middle and upper Tsagayan subformations (the latter incorporating the Kivda Beds), Raichikha, Mukhino, Buzuli, and Sazanka formations.     

贵定晚二叠世高有机硫煤的成因特点

贵州中西部贵定县境内出产的有机硫含量大于10%的煤,成因至今未决,本文用煤岩学和有机地化的方法和手段研究了矿区主采K₃煤层,揭示出高有机硫煤的聚集是在局限碳酸盐台地潮坪上发育的泥炭沼泽受海水强烈作用,水介质处碱性强还原条件,微生物活动强烈及成煤母质中有大量低等生源输入的情况下进行的。同时还发现有机硫主要以噻吩及其衍生物形式賦存。这为其脱除提供了信息。     

A population of very young brown dwarfs and free-floating planets in Orion

We describe the results of a very deep imaging survey of the Trapezium cluster in the IJH bands, using the UKIRT high-resolution camera UFTI. Approximately 32 per cent of the 515 point sources detected are brown dwarf candidates, including several free-floating objects with masses below the deuterium-burning (planetary) threshold at 0.013 M_⊙, which are detectable because of their extreme youth. We have confidence that almost all the sources detected are cluster members, since foreground contamination is minimal in the 33-arcmin² area surveyed, and the dense backdrop of OMC-1 obscures all background stars at these wavelengths. Extinction is calculated from the ( J − H ) colours, permitting accurate luminosity estimates, and temperatures are derived from the dereddened ( I − J ) colours. There is some evidence for a cut-off in the luminosity function below the level corresponding to several Jupiter masses, which may represent the bottom end of the initial mass function . Since star formation is complete in the Trapezium, this limit could have wide significance, if confirmed. However, it could well be an effect of the dispersal of the molecular cloud by the central O-type stars, a process for which the time-scale will vary between star formation regions.     

四种绿藻和四种褐藻脂肪酸组成的比较研究

对绿藻门和褐藻门8种大型海藻的脂肪酸组成进行了研究,发现两类海藻都有其特征脂肪酸或有几种特征脂肪酸组合做为其化学分类的标记。4种绿藻的主要脂肪酸是16:0、16:1ω7、18:4ω3、18:1ω7、18:2ω6、18:3ω3、18:1ω9,其中18:1ω7和18:3ω3的含量相对较高;4种褐藻中16:0、18:1ω9、18:2ω6、18:3ω3、18:4ω3、20:5ω3、20:4ω6的含量占绝对优势,十八碳和二十碳多不饱和脂肪酸是褐藻门脂肪酸的典型特征。另外,褐藻中含有较高含量的EPA,海带和裙带菜尤为明显。对2门类5属8株海藻所含脂肪酸进行聚类分析的结果显示海藻各门及种间的亲缘关系,表明利用静态条件下海藻脂肪酸的聚类分析结果,可在一定程度上判别海藻在分类上亲缘关系的远近,海藻脂肪酸组成的差异可以作为海藻分类的一个辅助技术手段。     

Tertiary coal geology and stratigraphy of the Port Phillip Basin,Victoria

Results from coal‐exploration drilling in the onshore part of the Port Phillip Basin, Victoria, have established stratigraphic and age correlations of the Lower Miocene Werribee Formation brown coal deposits at Bacchus Marsh to similar brown coals at Altona. The coal deposits occur in a northwest‐southeast structural depression (the Parwan Trough) that appears to be a southeast continuation of the Ballan Graben. Recent drilling for potential coal‐bed methane in the trough has provided new data on the deeper stratigraphy not penetrated by earlier drilling, including recognition of an Upper Cretaceous to Eocene Yaloak Formation coal‐bearing interval, similar to the Anglesea area, Ballan Graben and Lal Lal Basin. Up to 200 m of coal‐bearing sediment and minor volcanics underlie the Miocene coal measures. A marine facies transition takes place between the Miocene coal swamps of the Parwan Trough, through barrier sands west of Werribee, to carbonate facies near Geelong. To the south beneath Port Phillip Bay, a similar transition probably occurs between coal swamps of the Parwan Trough and fully marine carbonate environments of the contiguous Sorrento Graben. The palaeogeographical reconstructions suggest a similar coal‐to‐carbonate facies transition as in the adjacent onshore Gippsland Basin.     

自燃煤有机地球化学特征研究

通过有机地球化学研究，发现神府、焦坪、灵武三种自燃煤的ＣＨ２Ｃｌ２抽提率、族组分组成、有机地球化学参数有较大的差别。色谱曲线表现为两种类型，即单峰型和双峰型。生物标志物组合也有较大的差别。由于这种有机地球化学特征的不同，导致了自燃煤的自燃属性的不同。因而，有机地球化学方法可以用于自燃煤的研究。