Principal components in active galactic nuclei variability data and the estimation of the flux contributions from different components

It has been found that the near-infrared flux variations of Seyfert galaxies satisfy relations of the form   F_i ≈α _{i j} +β _{i j} F_j   , where F_i , F_j are the fluxes in filters i and j ; and  α _{i , j} , β _{i , j}   are constants. These relations have been used to estimate the constant contributions of the non-variable underlying galaxies. The paper attempts a formal treatment of the estimation procedure, allowing for the possible presence of a third component, namely non-variable hot dust. In an analysis of a sample of 38 Seyfert galaxies, inclusion of the hot dust component improves the model fit in approximately half the cases. All derived dust temperatures are below 300 K, in the range 540–860 K or above 1300 K. A noteworthy feature is the estimation of confidence intervals for the component contributions: this is achieved by bootstrapping. It is also pointed out that the model implies that such data could be fruitfully analysed in terms of principal components.     

中国大陆科学钻探先导孔零偏VSP资料解释

用六级三分量检波器在中国大陆科学钻探先导孔中实施了零偏VSP测量.数据处理结果表明,中国大陆科学钻探孔区超高压变质岩石的地震波速度主要介于4500～7000m/s之间,显著高于一般的沉积岩地区,而且随深度变化不明显.声波测井速度系统地稍低于VSP层速度,可能是由于井壁处岩石的完整性受到破坏而造成的.地震波速度与岩石密度和岩性存在明确的对应关系,榴辉岩的密度和地震波速度均显著高于片麻岩类岩石;由榴辉岩退变生成的斜长角闪岩类岩石,其密度和地震波速度均呈现出较大的变化,主要与其退变质程度有关;超基性岩中的裂隙系统导致其密度和地震波速度大幅度下降.由于榴辉岩与其他岩石类型之间存在较大的波阻抗差异,因此用零偏VSP资料标定该区地震波的地质层位是有效的.关于地震波反射的原因,通过综合研究地震波(包括反射纵波、上行转换横波、井筒波)的特征、岩石速度和密度分布以及井径变化,认为主要是岩性分界面、韧性剪切带和断裂(带),但还有一些因素尚待进一步研究.     

Automatic Determination of Stellar Atmospheric Parameters Using Neural Networks and Instance-Based Machine Learning

In this article we show how machine learning methods can beeffectively applied to the problem of automatically predictingstellar atmospheric parameters from spectral information, a veryimportant problem in stellar astronomy. We apply feedforwardneural networks, Kohonen's self-organizing maps andlocally-weighted regression to predict the stellar atmosphericparameters effective temperature, surface gravity and metallicityfrom spectral indices. Our experimental results show that thethree methods are capable of predicting the parameters with verygood accuracy. Locally weighted regression gives slightly betterresults than the other methods using the original dataset asinput, while self-organizing maps outperform the other methods when significant amounts of noise are added. We also implemented a heterogeneous ensemble of predictors, combining the results given by the three algorithms. This ensemble yields better results than any of the three algorithms alone, using both the original and the noisy data.     

The SuperCOSMOS Sky Survey – III. Astrometry

In this, the third in a series of three papers concerning the SuperCOSMOS Sky Survey, we describe the astrometric properties of the data base. We describe the algorithms employed in the derivation of the astrometric parameters of the data, and demonstrate their accuracies by comparison with external data sets using the first release of data, the South Galactic Cap survey. We show that the celestial coordinates, which are tied to the International Celestial Reference Frame via the Tycho–2 reference catalogue, are accurate to better than ±0.2 arcsec at J , R ∼19,18 , rising to ±0.3 arcsec at J , R ∼22,21 , with positional-dependent systematic effects from bright to faint magnitudes at the ∼0.1-arcsec level. The proper motion measurements are shown to be accurate to typically ±10 mas yr⁻¹ at J , R ∼19,18 , rising to ±50 mas yr⁻¹ at J , R ∼22,21 , and are tied to zero using the extragalactic reference frame. We show that the zero-point errors in the proper motions are ≤1 mas yr⁻¹ for R >17 , and are no larger than ∼10 mas yr⁻¹ for R <17 mas yr⁻¹ .     

Analysis of mapping coverage obtained from spacecraft

An exact analysis of the coverage obtained by spacecraft using cross-track scanning and nadir-centered conical imaging, under imposed viewing obliqueness and resolution requirements, is presented. In addition to exact expressions for the area acquired and the area acquisition rate, envelope theory is introduced to obtain the boundary of the imaged area. These expressions are relatively compact, allowing rapid machine computation. The effects of the sun phase angle, and of imaging system limitations are also examined. The Galileo mission encounter with Callisto is used as a numerical example, from which certain general conclusions are drawn regarding optimal imaging trajectories.     

The electron pressure in the outer atmosphere of ε Eri (K2 V)

Observations of ε Eri (K2 V) have been made with the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph on the Hubble Space Telescope . The spectra obtained show a number of emission lines which can be used to determine, or place limits on, the electron density and pressure. Values of the electron pressure are required in order to make quantitative models of the transition region and inner corona from absolute line fluxes, and to constrain semi-empirical models of the chromosphere. Using line flux ratios in Si  iii and O  iv a mean electron pressure of P _e= N _e T _e=4.8×10¹⁵ cm⁻³ K is derived. This value is compatible with the lower and upper limits to P _e found from flux ratios in C  iii , O  v and Fe  xii . Some inconsistencies which may be because of small uncertainties in the atomic data used are discussed.     

抗差估计的初值选择

对L1 范估计的平差值和LS估计的平差值作为抗差估计的初值进行了比较 ,指出在 ρ函数是严凸函数时 ,二者无明显的区别。因为LS估计简单且易于计算 ,因此建议用LS估计的平差值作为抗差估计的初值。     

Particle-mesh simulations of the Lyα forest

We have analysed short-exposure high-resolution images obtained on the William Herschel Telescope (WHT), Big Telescope Azimuthal (BTA) and CanadaFranceHawaii Telescope (CFHT) in order to investigate mechanical vibrations that are capable of reducing the high angular resolution allowed by speckle-interferometric methods. After filtering the photon noise we have computed power spectra of the image centres of gravity. In these spectra we have found vibration features that differ from one telescope to another and that vary in particular with the zenith angle. In the case of the WHT we discuss these results in terms of possible causes and in terms of degradation of the transfer function. We present some means to improve the data.