Suzaku observations of clusters of galaxies

We review results of Suzaku observations of the intracluster medium of clusters of galaxies whose O, Mg, Si, S and Fe abundances have been measured with good accuracy due to the good energy resolution and low background. Metal massto‐light ratios were derived and we will discuss the origin of the metals. We also review the results of the search for bulk motion and hard X‐ray emission. (© 2008 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

青藏高原北部不冻泉移动冰丘及灾害效应

不冻泉移动冰丘发育于青藏高原北部常年冻土区断裂破碎带,2001年仅在青藏公路东南侧形成1个小型冰丘,2002年在青藏公路西北侧形成低矮冰丘群,2004-2005年发展成为大型冰丘群,2006年移动冰丘的发育高度和分布范围进一步增大。不冻泉移动冰丘不仅穿刺青藏公路路基,破坏青藏公路桥涵结构,蚕食青藏公路路堤,影响青藏公路的交通安全;而且导致输油管道拱曲变形,诱发地面塌陷和地裂缝,产生显著的灾害效应。采用适当的工程措施,通过地下疏导或地表排放沿断裂破碎带上涌的地下泉水,能够有效减轻或防治不冻泉移动冰丘的灾害效应。     

Scalar field haloes as gravitational lenses

A non-topological soliton model with a repulsive scalar self-interaction of the Emden type provides a constant-density core, similarly as the empirical Burkert profile of dark matter (DM) haloes. As a further test, we derive the gravitational lens properties of our model, in particular, the demarcation curves between 'weak' and 'strong' lensing. Accordingly, strong lensing with typically three images is almost three times more probable for our solitonic model than for the Burkert fit. Moreover, some prospective consequences of a possible flattening of DM haloes are indicated.     

Astrophysical boosters

Constraints are derived on the acceleration of charges in shocks to highly relativistic energies. When applied to the extended extragalactic radio sources and to the cosmic rays, they cast doubt on the mechanism of ‘in-situ acceleration’, both for energy, entropy and statistical mechanics reasons.     

Stellar populations and dust in the galaxy NGC 2976, a low-luminosity member of the M81 group

Photographic UBV photometry of NGC 2976, a low-luminosity member of the central M81 group of galaxies, is presented. Young stars in the central disk determine the optical view and the classification of this Sc(pec) galaxy. It is surrounded by a halo of an old population which contains nearly all the mass and half the luminosity of the system. This halo has some properties typical of spheroidal dwarf galaxies: an exponential brightness profile, an ellipticity trend of the isophotes typical of low-mass systems, and mass and luminosity near the upper limit of typical dwarfs. In the central population I disk, star formation proceeds in dense associations scattered irregularly in a broad ringlike region of 1.2 kpc radius just inside the turnover of the rotation curve. This star formation episode may last since some 10⁸ a; it is possibly triggered by gas infall from the interstellar cloud generated during encounters between other group members in the central M81 group. A direct triggering by recent encounters is excluded since NGC 2976 is undisturbed in its outer parts.     

Exploring the X-ray spectral variability of MCG–6-30-15 with XMM–Newton

We present a study of the spectral variability of the Seyfert I galaxy MCG–6-30-15 based on the two long XMM–Newton observations from 2000 and 2001. The X–ray spectrum and variability properties of the 2001 data have previously been well described with a two-component model consisting of a variable power-law and a much less variable reflection component, containing a broad relativistic iron line from the accretion disc around a rapidly rotating Kerr black hole. The lack of variability of the reflection component has been interpreted as an effect of strong gravitational light bending very close to the central black hole. Using an improved reflection model, we fit the two-component model to time-resolved spectra of both observations. Assuming that the photon index of the power law is constant, we reconfirm the old result and show that this does not depend on the time-scale of the analysis.