Comparison of the SFI peculiar velocities with the IRAS 1.2-Jy gravity field

We present a comparison between the peculiar velocity fields measured from a recently completed l -band Tully–Fisher survey of field spirals (SFI) and that derived from the IRAS 1.2-Jy redshift survey galaxy distribution. The analysis is based on the expansion of these data in redshift space using smooth orthonormal functions, and is performed using low- and high-resolution expansions, with an effective smoothing scale which increases almost linearly with redshift. The effective smoothing scales at 3000 km s⁻¹ are 1500 and 1000 km s⁻¹ for the low- and high-resolution filters. The agreement between the high- and low-resolution SFI velocity maps is excellent. The general features in the filtered SFI and IRAS velocity fields agree remarkably well within 6000 km s⁻¹. This good agreement between the fields allows us to determine the parameter β = Ω^0.6 / b , where Ω is the cosmological density parameter, and b is the linear biasing factor. From a likelihood analysis on the SFI and IRAS modes we find that β = 0.6 ± 0.1, independently of the resolution of the modal expansion. For this value of β, the residual fields for the two filters show no systematic variations within 6000 km s⁻¹. Most remarkable is the lack of any coherent, redshift-dependent dipole flow in the residual field.     

利用空间测地技术结果估计地球平均下地幔粘性(英)

基于IEC－4G冰期后地壳反弹模型,和地球上Laurentia,Fennoscandia,Antarctica,andGreenland四大冰盖最近21000年以来的冰融参数,计算了对地球最大主转动惯量的影响△I33,并进而由现代空间测地技术观测资料分析得到的地球自转非潮汐加速项为约束,估计了地球平均下地幔（670km以下）粘性vLM为（0．9～2．5）·1022Pas,这个结果表明了vLM应具有1022Pas量级．     

On the completeness of the lists of Compact Galaxy Groups

It is shown that the lists of Shakhbazian Compact Galaxy Groups (SCGGs) are not complete. The number of the detected groups in the strip between b = ±30° and b = ±20° is by four to five times smaller than expected. The most probable reason is that during the search for SCGGs it was hard to distinguish images of compact galaxies from that of stars on the POSS prints in dense areas of the sky at lower galactic latitudes. There is some deficit of the detected groups between 60° and 40° of the north galactic latitudes. The surface density of SCGGs in the southern galactic hemisphere between b = −50° and b = −30° is by about three times less than it is expected. Obviously, the southern sky has not been searched properly. The list of Hickson's groups is complete down to galactic latitude ±30°. However, some excess of HCGs is found in the southern hemisphere, where the surface density of the found groups is by about two times higher than that of in the northern hemisphere.     

The non-linear redshift-space power spectrum of galaxies

We study the power spectrum of galaxies in redshift space, with third-order perturbation theory to include corrections that are absent in linear theory. We assume a local bias for the galaxies: i.e., the galaxy density is sampled from some local function of the underlying mass distribution. We find that the effect of the non-linear bias in real space is to introduce two new features: first, there is a contribution to the power which is constant with wavenumber, whose nature we reveal as essentially a shot-noise term. In principle this contribution can mask the primordial power spectrum, and could limit the accuracy with which the latter might be measured on very large scales. Secondly, the effect of second- and third-order bias is to modify the effective bias (defined as the square root of the ratio of galaxy power spectrum to matter power spectrum). The effective bias is almost scale-independent over a wide range of scales. These general conclusions also hold in redshift space. In addition, we have investigated the distortion of the power spectrum by peculiar velocities, which may be used to constrain the density of the Universe. We look at the quadrupole-to-monopole ratio, and find that higher order terms can mimic linear theory bias, but the bias implied is neither the linear bias, nor the effective bias referred to above. We test the theory with biased N -body simulations, and find excellent agreement in both real and redshift space, providing the local biasing is applied on a scale whose fractional rms density fluctuations are < 0.5.     

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。     

Cosmic rays and changes in atmospheric infra-red transmission

Recent work by Aplin and Lockwood (2013) [1] was interpreted by them as showing that there is a multiplying ratio of order 10¹² for the infra-red energy absorbed in the ionization produced by cosmic rays in the atmosphere to the energy content of the cosmic rays themselves. We argue here that the interpretation of the result in terms of infra-red absorption by ionization is incorrect and that the result is therefore most likely due to a technical artefact.     

The Chinese comet observation in AD 773 January

The strong ¹⁴C increase in the year AD 774/5 detected in one German and two Japanese trees was recently suggested to have been caused by an impact of a comet onto Earth and a deposition of large amounts of ¹⁴C into the atmosphere (Liu et al. 2014). The authors supported their claim using a report of a historic Chinese observation of a comet ostensibly colliding with Earth's atmosphere in AD 773 January. We show here that the Chinese text presented by those authors is not an original historic text, but that it is comprised of several different sources. Moreover, the translation presented in Liu et al. is misleading and inaccurate. We give the exact Chinese wordings and our English translations. According to the original sources, the Chinese observed a comet in mid January 773, but they report neither a collision nor a large coma, just a long tail. Also, there is no report in any of the source texts about “dust rain in the daytime” as claimed by Liu et al. (2014), but simply a normal dust storm. Ho (1962) reports sightings of this comet in China on AD 773 Jan 15 and/or 17 and in Japan on AD 773 Jan 20 (Ho 1962). At the relevant historic time, the Chinese held that comets were produced within the Earth's atmosphere, so that it would have been impossible for them to report a “collision” of a comet with Earth's atmosphere. The translation and conclusions made by Liu et al. (2014) are not supported by the historical record. Therefore, postulating a sudden increase in ¹⁴C in corals off the Chinese coast precisely in mid January 773 (Liu et al. 2014) is not justified given just the ²³⁰Th dating for AD 783 ± 14. (© 2014 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

New Stars and telescopes: Nova research in the last four centuries

This article gives a brief overview of 400 years of research in the field of novae and related stars. Important objects, first applications of various observing techniques, and early ideas of the interpretation of phenomena are listed. Also, the historical evolution of the classification of novae and related stars (supernovae, dwarf novae), as well as their use as distance indicators is discussed (© 2009 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)