The Knorre astronomers' dynasty

We attempt to throw light upon the poorly known astronomical dynasty of Knorre and describe its contribution to astronomy. The founder of the dynasty, Ernst Christoph Friedrich Knorre (1759–1810), was born in Germany in 1759, and since 1802 he was a Professor of Mathematics at the Tartu University, and observer at its temporary observatory. He determined the first coordinates of Tartu by stellar observations. Karl Friedrich Knorre (1801–1883) was the first director of the Naval Observatory in Nikolaev since the age of 20, provided the Black Sea navy with accurate time and charts, trained mariners in astronomical navigation, and certified navigation equipment. He compiled star maps and catalogues, and determined positions of comets and planets. He also participated in Bessel's project of the Academic Star Charts, and was responsible for Hora 4, published by the Berlin Academy of Sciences. This sheet permitted to discover two minor planets, Astraea and Flora. Viktor Knorre (1840–1919) was born in Nikolaev. In 1862 he left for Berlin to study astronomy. After defending his thesis for a doctor's degree, he went to Pulkovo as an astronomical calculator in 1867. Since 1873 Viktor worked as an observer of the Berlin Observatory Fraunhofer refractor. His main research focussed on minor planets, comets and binary stars. He discovered the minor planets Koronis, Oenone, Hypatia and Penthesilea. Viktor Knorre also worked on improving astronomical instrumentation, e.g. the Knorre & Heele equatorial telescope mounting (© 2009 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Multiverses of the past

More than 2000 years ago, Epicurus taught that there are an infinite number of other worlds, both like and unlike ours, and Aristotle taught that there are none. Neither hypothesis can currently be falsified, and some versions of current multiverses perhaps never can be, which has contributed to occasional claims that “this isn't science!” (a common complaint about cosmology for centuries). Define “cosmos”, or “world”, or “universe” to mean the largest structure of which you and the majority of knowledgeable contemporaries will admit to being a part. This begins with the small, earth‐centered worlds of ancient Egyptian paintings, Greek mythology, and Genesis, which a god could circumnavigate in a day and humans in a generation. These tend to expand and become helio‐rather than geo‐centric (not quite monotonically in time) and are succeeded by various assemblages of sun‐like stars with planets of their own. Finite vs. infinite assemblages are debated and then the issue of whether the Milky Way is unique (so that “island universes” made sense, even if you were against the idea) for a couple of centuries. Today one thinks as a rule of the entire 4‐dimensional space‐time we might in principle communicate with and all its contents. Beyond are the modern multi‐verses, sequential (cyclic or oscillating), hierarchical, or non‐communicating entities in more than four dimensions. Each of these has older analogues, and, in every milieu where the ideas have been discussed, there have been firm supporters and firm opponents, some of whose ideas are explored here. Because astronomical observations have firmly settled some earlier disputes in favor of very many galaxies and very many stars with planets, “other worlds” can now refer only to other planets like Earth or to other universes. The focus is on the latter (© 2009 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

The development of the Schmidt telescope

Bernhard Schmidt (1879–1935) was born in Estonia. After a few years of studying engineering he ran an optical workshop in Mittweida, Saxonia, between 1901 and 1927. Astronomers appreciated the quality of his telescopes. Starting in 1925, on behalf of the Hamburg Observatory, he developed a short focal length optical system with a large field of view. For this purpose, Schmidt moved his workshop to the observatory. He succeeded in inventing the “Schmidt telescope” which allows the imaging of a large field of the sky without any distortions. Schmidt's first telescope (spherical mirror diameter 0.44 m, correction plate 0.36 m diameter, aperture ratio 1:1.75, and focal length 0.625 m) has been used since 1962 at the Boyden Observatory in Bloemfontein/South Africa. Apart from his 0.36m telescope, Schmidt produced a second larger one of 0.60m aperture. Shortly after Schmidt's death, the director of the observatory published details on the invention and production of the Schmidt telescope. After World War II, Schmidt telescopes have been widely used. The first large Schmidt telescope, the “Big Schmidt” (1.26 m), Mount Palomar, USA, was completed in 1948. The 0.80 m Schmidt telescope of Hamburg Observatory, planned since 1936, finished in 1954, is now on Calar Alto/Spain (© 2009 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Trees, lateral shrinkage and building damage

This article presents the study conducted and the actions taken to stabilise the foundations of 25 low-rise (two/three-storey) buildings in Alcázar de San Juan (Ciudad Real, central Spain). Owing to the immediate attention required, it was decided that the study would focus on procuring a synthetic model that would be able to provide a satisfactory explanation for the tendency of the movements, overlooking the detailed model of each building. This analysis pointed out that the mobilisation was probably due to both the shrinkage caused by the existing trees during the dry-growing seasons, and to the loss of lateral confinement caused by the excavation of a service trench adjacent to the footings of the buildings. In keeping with this mechanism, stabilization was carried out by transplanting the trees growing near the damaged buildings and installing a line of piles to provide lateral support to the footings. The evolution of the damage was therefore stopped.     

Simulation of the progressive failure of an embankment on soft soil

A pragmatic strain-softening constitutive model, which is based on Modified Cam Clay, was applied to the simulation of the progressive failure of an embankment constructed on a deposit of sensitive (strain-softening) clay in Saga, Japan. A comparison of the predictions for this case indicates that if softening is ignored, only relatively small deflections and consolidation settlements are predicted, especially after construction. In contrast, for the case where softening is included in the analysis, progressive failure within the clay induces large shear deformations and finally failure of the embankment is predicted. This comparison suggests that softening-induced progressive failure should be considered in the design of embankments on such soils, and the residual strength of the deposit may have an important influence on the overall factor of safety of the construction. Detailed analyses of predicted excess pore water pressures, shear strains and shear stress levels in the ground indicate that considering the strain-softening process: (a) is associated with the buildup of excess pore water pressure; (b) promotes strain localization; and (c) results generally in a larger zone of soil involved in the failure.     

安徽绩溪伏岭岩体隆升时代的磷灰石裂变径迹证据

安徽绩溪伏岭岩体位于安徽省南部、黄山花岗岩体的东部。伏岭岩体裂变径迹（AFT）热年代分布于51±5～68±7 Ma之间,围限径迹长度为11.9～12.9μm。岩体形成之后,所在山系经历了速率波动较大的隆升过程,至55 Ma期间为一加速隆升过程,到55 Ma时速度达到最大的73 mm/ka;随后速度减缓,54 Ma左右时的平均抬升速率为60 mm/ka;54～51 Ma间又是一个快速加速隆升时期,到51 Ma时,速度达到70 mm/ka。研究区具有三个主要的冷却剥露阶段：130～116 Ma左右,冷却速率约为1.34℃/Ma;70～60 Ma左右,进入第二个较为快速冷却阶段,冷却速率约为25℃/Ma;在7～8 Ma左右发生突然加剧冷却事件,持续至今,速率达到8℃/km。总体来说,伏岭岩体经历了速率逐渐增加的冷却过程。由于黄山山体与伏岭岩体在大地构造位置、岩性特征及侵入时间上具有很大的相似性,二者的隆升时代、速率以及抬升剥蚀量是大致相当的。     

古本今本《竹书纪年》的天象记载和纪年

对《竹书纪年》记载的天象和纪年进行了初步的分析研究,结果表明,今本《竹书纪年》中新增的天象如日食等,并非汲冢出土佚书的原有内容,而为宋元以后学者所加.     

中国历代荧惑守列宿与四星聚、五星聚考查

利用授时历法和现代天文计算方法,对中国历代天文志记录的荧惑(火星)守列宿、四星聚、五星聚进行分析研究,结果表明:65条荧惑守列宿,正误率分别为49%和51%.如果把荧惑留、留守、在某宿等运动形态也考虑为守的范围,共有95条,其正误率分别为56%和44%.12条四星聚正误率各占一半,即50%.11条五星聚正误率分别为82%和18%(其中含五星并见).并对错误记录的原因做了初步探讨.     

考虑楼板作用的SRC柱-钢梁混合框架动力时程分析

为了解楼板空间作用对型钢混凝土(SRC)柱-钢梁混合框架抗震性能的影响,利用有限元软件ABAQUS分别建立带有楼板和不带楼板的两跨三层SRC柱-钢梁框架,选取2组天然波和1组人工波对其进行弹塑性分析,对比2种框架结构的型钢应力分布、混凝土板损伤、层间相对位移角以及框架基底剪力,分析楼板在结构抗震中的影响规律。结果表明:增加楼板可以有效增加框架抗侧刚度,最大可使层间位移角降低38.7%;同时可以减小核心区梁端塑性区域的面积,减缓型钢上翼缘应力发展速度;而且楼板的存在可使最大基底剪力提升60.7%,有利于减小结构损伤和提高抗震性能。