Pulsar Wind Nebulae in Egret Error Boxes

A remarkable number of pulsar wind nebulae (PWN) are coincident with EGRET γ-ray sources. X-ray and radio imaging studies of unidentified EGRET sources have resulted in the discovery of at least six new pulsar wind nebulae (PWN). Stationary PWN (SPWN) appear to be associated with steady EGRET sources with hard spectra, typical for γ-ray pulsars. Their toroidal morphologies can help determine the geometry of the pulsar which is useful for constraining models of pulsed γ-ray emission. Rapidly moving PWN (RPWN) with more cometary morphologies seem to be associated with variable EGRET sources in regions where the ambient medium is dense compared to what is typical for the ISM.     

Evidence in a glassy cosmic spherule from Antarctica for grazing incidence encounters with the Earth's atmosphere

Abstract— Cosmic dust accreted by the Earth can be extensively reprocessed during atmospheric encounters. The textures and compositions of reprocessed material provide important constraints by which the processes affecting extraterrestrial matter in the Earth's atmosphere can be better understood. Here we report results on an unusual Antarctic glassy cosmic spherule that demonstrates strong textural evidence for at least two grazing incidence encounters with the Earth's atmosphere prior to final reentry. The particle consists of a central glassy core with four peripheral glass lobes that transect a silicate particle rim. The texture of the particle confirms previous theoretical speculations that some high velocity, low incidence angle interplanetary particles experience numerous encounters with the Earth's atmosphere and also indicates that micrometeorites demonstrating multiple melting episodes should be interpreted with caution.     

Morphological redshift estimates for galaxy clusters in a Sunyaev–Zel'dovich effect survey

We develop a new method to estimate the redshift of galaxy clusters through resolved images of the Sunyaev–Zel'dovich effect (SZE). Our method is based on morphological observables which can be measured by actual and future SZE experiments. We test the method with a set of high-resolution hydrodynamical simulations of galaxy clusters at different redshifts. Our method combines the observables in a principal component analysis. After calibrating the method with an independent redshift estimation for some of the clusters, we show – using a Bayesian approach – how the method can give an estimate of the redshift of the galaxy clusters. Although the error bars given by the morphological redshift estimation are large, it should be useful for future SZE surveys where thousands of clusters are expected to be detected; a first preselection of the high-redshift candidates could be done using our proposed morphological redshift estimator. Although not considered in this work, our method should also be useful to give an estimate of the redshift of clusters in X-ray and optical surveys.     

SHRIMP U–Pb ages of diagenetic and hydrothermal xenotime from the Archaean Witwatersrand Supergroup of South Africa

SHRIMP dating of xenotime overgrowths on detrital zircon grains can constrain maximum durations since diagenesis and therefore provide minimum dates of sediment deposition. Thus, xenotime dating has significant economic application to Precambrian sediment-hosted ore deposits, such as Witwatersrand Au–U, for which there are no precise depositional ages. The growth history of xenotime in the Witwatersrand Supergroup is texturally complex, with several phases evident. The oldest authigenic xenotime ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁶Pb age obtained in sandstone underlying the Vaal Reef is 2764 ± 5 Myr (1 σ), and most likely represents a mixture of diagenetic and hydrothermal growth. Nevertheless, this represents the oldest authigenic mineral age yet recorded in the sequence and provides a minimum age of deposition. Other xenotime data record a spread of ages that correspond to numerous post-diagenetic thermotectonic events (including a Ventersdorp event at ≈ 2720 Ma) up to the ≈2020 Ma Vredefort event.     

TEMPORAL TRENDS IN SOIL PRODUCTIVITY EVALUATIONS*

Studies of soil productivity must compensate for the effects of temporal trends in order to examine the pattern of crop yields along spatial gradients. An analysis of the published yield estimates for 30 soils in 233 counties, however, did not find consistent yield increases over the past three decades. On the contrary, the yield estimates for many soils were markedly uniform since 1972. The uniformity appears to have two causes: the acknowledged difficulty of making yield estimates in a time of increasing variability in soil and crop management, both within and between regions, and surveyors' awareness of data stored in a national soils data base. The effect is to cast doubt on soil productivity data reported in county soil surveys published between 1973 and 1988.     

Integral field spectroscopy with the GEMINI multiobject spectrographs

We describe the integral field unit (IFU) which converts the Gemini Multiobject Spectrograph (GMOS) installed on the Gemini-North telescope to an integral field spectrograph,which produces spectra over a contiguous field of view of 7 × 5 arcsec with spatial sampling of 0.2 arcsecover the wavelength range 0.4-1.0 μm.GMOS is converted to this mode by the remote insertion of the IFU into thebeam in place of the masks used for the multiobject mode. A separate fieldof half the area of the main field, but otherwise identical, is alsoprovided to improve background subtraction. The IFU contains 1500lenslet-coupled fibres and was the first facility of any type for integralfield spectroscopy employed on an 8/10 m telescope.We describe the design, construction and testing of the GMOS IFU and present measurements of the throughput both in the laboratory and at the telescope. We compare these with a theoretical prediction made before construction started. All are in good agreement with each other, with the on-telescope throughput exceeding 60% (averaged over wavelength). Finallywe show an example of data obtained during commissioning to illustrate the power of the device.     

Deglaciation of the younger dryas or Loch Lomond Stadial ice-field in the northern Highlands,Scotland

When viewed from the air, Scottish ‘hummocky moraine’ can be resolved into a series of linear ridges that resemble those found at the margins of actively retreating glaciers today. Recent work has supported the interpretation of these linear ridges as ice-marginal landforms and the authors believe that the majority of ‘hummocky moraine’ deposits can be interpreted in this way. Consequently the pattern of deglaciation can be established fairly precisely from the pattern of linear ridges. This approach is applied to the landforms of the northern part of the Loch Lomond Stadial ice-field in order to reconstruct the regional pattern of deglaciation. This leads to important inferences about the significance of topographic control during deglaciation and more importantly it provides fresh insight into the environment of the British Isles during the Loch Lomond Stadial.