Short time-scale variability in the Faint Sky Variability Survey

We present the V -band variability analysis of the point sources in the Faint Sky Variability Survey on time-scales from 24 min to tens of days. We find that about one per cent of the point sources down to   V = 24  are variables. We discuss the variability-detection probabilities for each field depending on field sampling, amplitude and time-scale of the variability. The combination of colour and variability information allows us to explore the fraction of variable sources for different spectral types. We find that about 50 per cent of the variables show variability time-scales shorter than 6 h. The total number of variables is dominated by main-sequence sources. The distribution of variables with spectral type is fairly constant along the main sequence, with 1 per cent of the sources being variable, except at the blue end of the main sequence, between spectral types F0 and F5, where the fraction of variable sources increases to about 2 per cent. For bluer sources, above the main sequence, this percentage increases to about 3.5. We find that the combination of the sampling and the number of observations allows us to determine the variability time-scales and amplitudes for a maximum of 40 per cent of the variables found. About a third of the total number of short time-scale variables found in the survey were not detected in either B or/and I band. These show a similar variability time-scale distribution to that found for the variables detected in all three bands.     

太阳光球磁通量南北不对称性研究

运用统计方法系统研究了1978-2002年太阳光球磁通量南北不对称性变化特征，发现其与太阳活动周有关．不对称值在太阳活动极小年要明显高于太阳活动极大年，并且磁通量变化总是由上升段的北半球占优逐渐过渡到下降段的南半球占优．另外运用小波变换方法详细讨论了这种不对称性变化可能存在的周期信息．     

Stellar Population Analysis of Galaxies based on Genetic Algorithms

We present a new method for determining the age and relative contribution of different stellar populations in galaxies based on the genetic algorithm. We apply this method to the barred spiral galaxy NGC 3384, using CCD images in U, B, V, R and I bands. This analysis indicates that the galaxy NGC 3384 is mainly inhabited by old stellar population (age >109yr). Some problems were encountered when numerical simulations are used for determining the contribution of different stellar populations in the integrated color of a galaxy. The results show that the proposed genetic algorithm can search efficiently through the very large space of the possible ages.     

基于历史TLE的空间目标轨道预报误差演化规律研究

北美防空司令部(North American Aerospace Defense Command, NORAD)发布的双行根数(Two Line Element, TLE)是广大航天工作者最常用的轨道根数,与其对应的轨道模型是SGP4/SDP4 (Simplified General Perturbation Version 4/Simplified Deep-space Perturbation Version 4)解析模型.由于TLE中并没有包含相应的轨道精度信息,编目轨道的应用范围受到很大的限制.基于Space-Track网站发布的历史TLE数据和配套的SGP4/SDP4动力学模型,采用定轨标预报的方法统计并生成了大量目标轨道的预报误差,通过对预报轨道的时间区间划分给出了每个目标的预报误差随预报时间变化的拟合系数,并进一步对不同类型轨道预报误差的演化规律和特征进行了分类讨论,给出了4种轨道类型目标的轨道预报误差随时间演化的平均解析模型,为拓展双行根数的应用提供有价值的参考.     

Neptune Trojans: a Revisit and a New Membertwo

Up to now, 17 Neptune Trojan asteroids have been detected with their orbits being well determined by continuous observations. This paper analyzes systematically their orbital dynamics. Our results show that except for two temporary members with relatively short lifespans on Trojan orbits, the vast majority of Neptune Trojans located within their orbital uncertainties may survive in the solar system age. The escaping probability of Neptune Trojans, through slow diffusion in the orbital element space in 4.5 billion years, is estimated to be ～50%. The asteroid 2012 UW177 classified as a Centaur asteroid by the IAU Minor Planet Center currently is in fact a Neptune Trojan. Numerical simulations indicate that it is librating on the tadpole-shaped orbit around the Neptune's L₄ point. It was captured into the current orbit approximately 0.23 million years ago, and will stay there for at least another 1.3 million years in the future. Its high inclination of i ≈ 54^° not only makes it the most inclined Neptune Trojan, but also makes it exhibit the complicated and interesting co-orbital transitions between the leading and trailing Trojans via the quasi-satellite orbit phase.     

Evidence for the Retrograde Accretion onto Supermassive Black Holestwo

Recently, Sloan Digital Sky Survey successfully carried out the reverberation mapping of a sky area, aiming to test the R ? L relation that has been already widely used. Here, R is the responsivity-weighted radius of the broad line region, and L is the optical luminosity at 5100 Å. Two results have been obtained from the data in the first year: (1) The time lags of AGNs (Active Galactic Nuclei) with a high accretion rate are much shorter than that estimated from the R ? L relation, which confirmed the results of reverberation mapping observations made by the Lijiang 2.4 meter telescope. (2) Some AGNs with a lower accretion rate also have very short time lags. The shortening of the time lags of the AGNs with a low accretion rate is caused by the retrograde accretion of black holes. This result has verified from observations the theoretical prediction made by Wang et al. (2014). The discovery of the black holes with a retrograde accretion has important significance, it indicates that the cosmological evolution of the black holes in quasars is implemented via the inherently random accretion.