Fast variability of BL Lacertae at 1 μm

We present the results of photometric observations of BL Lacertae at 1 μm performed during the strong outburst that occurred in the summer of 1997. Measurements were carried out using the F99 filter of the Arizona system. Simultaneous observations in the B V bands were made with other telescopes. Large and fast variations were observed on the night of August 2 when the brightness of BL Lacertae changed by ∼ 0.5 mag in about 2 h: the variation amplitude is greater at higher frequency. Some implications of these results for the origin of the fast variations are discussed. We also report the first F99 calibration for three reference stars in the BL Lac field.     

西藏冈底斯-念靑唐古拉成矿带典型矿床硫化物Pb同位素特征——对成矿元素组合分带性的指示

冈底斯-念青唐古拉成矿带矿床成矿元素组合由南向北存在着Cu-Au、Cu-Mo向Pb-Zn-Cu-Fe、Pb-Zn过渡的变化规律,但引起该变化规律的原因目前少研究。本文通过对成矿带典型矿床Pb同位素特征较为系统的总结,并结合成矿年代学和区域构造演化研究成果,从成矿物质来源的角度对该分带性进行了初步探讨。研究表明成矿带由南到北成矿物质来源存在着差异:最南端Cu-Au矿床Pb同位素组成具幔源特征(207Pb/204Pb和208Pb/204Pb平均值分别为15.490和38.016),反映成矿物质来自于俯冲过程中的交代地幔楔;最北端的Pb-Zn矿床Pb同位素组成与念青唐古拉群基底片麻岩相近(207Pb/204Pb和208Pb/204Pb分别变化于15.641～15.738和38.976～39.362),反映成矿物质来自于基底片麻岩。Pb-Zn-Cu-Fe矿床Pb同位素组成介于幔源Pb和上地壳Pb之间,且具混合线特征,反映了同碰撞期成矿物质同时从俯冲板片和念青唐古拉基底片麻岩活化的混源模式;而Cu-Mo矿床不具混合线特征的造山带Pb同位素组成,反映了成矿物质来源于俯冲阶段楔形地幔部分熔融并底侵到地壳底部与地壳发生物质交换后所形成的新生下地壳源区。甲马Cu多金属矿床Pb同位素组成具幔源和造山带两个端元,推测除新生下地壳源区提供成矿物质外,叶巴组火山岩也提供了部分成矿物质。由南向北成矿物质来源的差异很大程度上与板片俯冲的"距离效应"有关,正是由于成矿物质来源的差异导致成矿带成矿元素分带性的形成。     

The lower limit of the Doppler factor for a Fermi blazar sample

We selected 457 blazars(193 flat spectrum radio quasars, 61 lowsynchrotron peaked blazars, 69 intermediate-synchrotron peaked blazars and 134high-synchrotron peaked blazars) from the second Fermi-LAT catalog(2FGL) of γ-ray sources, which have X-ray observations. We calculated the lower limits for their Doppler factors, δγ, and compared the lower limits with the available Doppler factors and the apparent superluminal velocities in the literature.     

The Long-term Light Variation of BL Lac Object 1ES 1959+650

According to the data of optical observations of the Tuorla Observatory in Finland, using the power spectrum method, DCF (Discrete Correlation Function) method, and Jurkevich method, respectively, we analyzed the periodicity of the long-term light variation of the BL Lac object 1ES 1959+650, and obtained its light period to be P =1.4±0.3 yr. Assuming that the origin of the periodicity is concerned with the accretion disk, we obtained the region where the instability of this source occurs being R =9.65 R_g, here R_g represents the Schwarzschild radius.     

分子外流源L1211中近红外HH天体的发现

报告分子外流源Ｌ１２１１ 中新发现的１２ 个近红外ＨＨ 天体．在Ｌ１２１１ 的～４’区域,取得了ＪＨＫ’宽带和Ｈ２ 　ｖ ＝ １０ 　Ｓ（１） 发射线窄带的近红外图像．分析表明,新探测到的许多红外源与浓密分子云物理成协,其中有２０ 多个源表现出典型的Ｔ Ｔａｕｒｉ 星、Ｈｅｒｂｉｇ Ａｅ／Ｂｅ星和原恒星的红外超．Ｌ１２１１ 中的ＩＲＡＳ点源没有被观测到,可能是更深地埋于分子云中．对红外观测和分子线观测消光估计的比较显示,小于２μｍ 的近红外观测还不足以揭示深埋于分子云的整个年轻星团．根据近红外ＨＨ 天体的形态分布和红外源性质,能进一步证认这些ＨＨ 天体的激发源．其结果表明,Ｌ１２１１ 分子云中具有多个红外源驱动的多个外流活动     

VSOP and ground-based VLBI observations of Markarian 421

We have produced 22 VLBI images of the TeV blazar Markarian 421 at 11 epochs, including a Space VLBI observation with the HALCA satellite. We measure the speeds of the three innermost jet components to be 0.64±0.33, 0.48±0.09, and 0.06±0.09c (H₀=65 km s⁻¹ Mpc⁻¹). Interpretation of these subluminal speeds in terms of the high Doppler factor demanded by the TeV observations is discussed.     

Differential astrometry over 15°

We observed the pair of radio sources 1150+812 and 1803+784 in November 1993 with a VLBI array, simultaneously recording at 8.4 and 2.3 GHz. We determined the angular separation between the two sources with submilliarcsecond accuracy by using differential techniques. This result demonstrates the feasibility of high precision differential astrometry for radio sources separated in the sky by almost 15°, and opens the avenue to its application to larger samples of radio sources.     

Spin rate distribution of small asteroids

The spin rate distribution of main belt/Mars crossing (MB/MC) asteroids with diameters 3-15 km is uniform in the range from f=1 to 9.5 d⁻¹, and there is an excess of slow rotators with f<1 d⁻¹. The observed distribution appears to be controlled by the Yarkovsky-O'Keefe-Radzievskii-Paddack (YORP) effect. The magnitude of the excess of slow rotators is related to the residence time of slowed down asteroids in the excess and the rate of spin rate change outside the excess. We estimated a median YORP spin rate change of ≈0.022 d⁻¹/Myr for asteroids in our sample (i.e., a median time in which the spin rate changes by 1 d⁻¹ is ≈45 Myr), thus the residence time of slowed down asteroids in the excess is ≈110 Myr. The spin rate distribution of near-Earth asteroids (NEAs) with sizes in the range 0.2-3 km (∼5 times smaller in median diameter than the MB/MC asteroids sample) shows a similar excess of slow rotators, but there is also a concentration of NEAs at fast spin rates with f=9-10 d⁻¹. The concentration at fast spin rates is correlated with a narrower distribution of spin rates of primaries of binary systems among NEAs; the difference may be due to the apparently more evolved population of binaries among MB/MC asteroids.     

Evidence of N2-ice on the surface of the icy dwarf Planet 136472 (2005 FY9)

We present high signal precision optical reflectance spectra of 2005 FY9 taken with the Red Channel Spectrograph and the 6.5-m MMT telescope on 2006 March 4 UT (5000-9500 Å; 6.33 Å pixel⁻¹) and 2007 February 12 UT (6600-8500 Å; 1.93 Å pixel⁻¹). From cross-correlation experiments between the 2006 March 4 spectrum and a pure CH₄-ice Hapke model, we find the CH₄-ice bands in the MMT spectrum are blueshifted by 3 ± 4 Å relative to bands in the pure CH₄-ice Hapke spectrum. The higher resolution MMT spectrum of 2007 February 12 UT enabled us to measure shifts of individual CH₄-ice bands. We find the 7296, 7862, and 7993 Å CH₄-ice bands are blueshifted by 4 ± 2, 4 ± 4, and 6 ± 5 Å. From four measurements we report here and one of our previously published measurements, we find the CH₄-ice bands are shifted by 4 ± 1 Å. This small shift is important because it suggest the presence of another ice component on the surface of 2005 FY9. Laboratory experiments show that CH₄-ice bands in spectra of CH₄ mixed with other ices are blueshifted relative to bands in spectra of pure CH₄-ice. A likely candidate for the other component is N₂-ice because its weak 2.15 μm band and blueshifted CH₄ bands are seen in spectra of Triton and Pluto. Assuming the shift is due to the presence of N₂, spectra taken on two consecutive nights show no difference in CH₄/N₂. In addition, we find no measurable difference in CH₄/N₂ at different depths into the surface of 2005 FY9.