Imaging the surface of Mercury using ground-based telescopes     

Michael Mendillo  Johan Warell  Sanjay S. Limaye  Jeffrey Baumgardner  Ann Sprague  Jody K. Wilson 《Planetary and Space Science》2001,49(14-15)

We describe and compare two methods of short-exposure, high-definition ground-based imaging of the planet Mercury. Two teams have recorded images of Mercury on different dates, from different locations, and with different observational and data reduction techniques. Both groups have achieved spatial resolutions of <250 km, and the same albedo features and contrast levels appear where the two datasets overlap (longitudes 270–360°). Dark albedo regions appear as mare and correlate well with smooth terrain radar signatures. Bright albedo features agree optically, but less well with radar data. Such confirmations of state-of-the-art optical techniques introduce a new era of ground-based exploration of Mercury's surface and its atmosphere. They offer opportunities for synergistic, cooperative observations before and during the upcoming Messenger and BepiColombo missions to Mercury.  相似文献   

Exposure age,terrestrial age and pre‐atmospheric radius of the Chinguetti mesosiderite: Not part of a much larger mass     

K. C. WELTEN  P. A. BLAND  S. S. RUSSELL  M. M. GRADY  M. W. CAFFEE  J. MASARIK  A. J. T. JULL  H. W. WEBER  L. SCHULTZ 《Meteoritics & planetary science》2001,36(7):939-946

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The minimum orbital period in thermal time-scale mass transfer     

A. R. King  K. Schenker  U. Kolb  M. B. Davies 《Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society》2001,321(2):327-332

We show that the usual picture of supersoft X-ray binary evolution as driven by conservative thermal time-scale mass transfer cannot explain the short orbital periods of RX J0537.7–7034 (3.5 h) and 1E 0035.4–7230 (4.1 h). Non-conservative evolution may produce such periods, but requires very significant mass loss, and is highly constrained.  相似文献   

Starbursts And Their Consequences: The Case Of NGC 1569     

S. Mühle  S. Hüttemeister  U. Klein  E.M. Wilcots 《Astrophysics and Space Science》2002,281(1-2):327-328

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A formation mechanism of magnetic elements in regions of mixed polarity     

Gadun  A.S.  Solanki  S.K.  Sheminova  V.A.  Ploner  S.R.O. 《Solar physics》2001,203(1):1-7

We present 2-D, fully compressible radiation-MHD simulations of the solar photospheric and subphotospheric layers that run for 2 hours of solar time starting from a magnetic configuration with mixed polarities. In the atmospheric layers the simulation reveals a correlation between field strength and inclination, with a nearly vertical strong-field magnetic component and a more horizontal weak-field component, in agreement with the observations. Our simulation also shows that magnetic flux is converted from one of these states to the other. In particular, magnetic flux sheets can also be formed when a new downflow lane starts due to granule fragmentation. The dynamics of the granulation and field-line reconnection are found to play a role in the initial stages of a magnetic element's formation. The simulation predicts that during or shortly after their formation magnetic elements could be associated with oppositely polarized flux at a small spatial scale.  相似文献   

Cosmic‐ray exposure history of two Frontier Mountain H‐chondrite showers from spallation and neutron‐capture products     

K. C. WELTEN  K. NISHIIZUMI  J. MASARIK  M. W. CAFFEE  A. J. T. JULL  S. E. KLANDRUD  R. WIELER 《Meteoritics & planetary science》2001,36(2):301-317

Abstract— We measured the concentrations of ¹⁰Be, ²⁶Al, ³⁶Cl, ⁴¹Ca and ¹⁴C in the metal and/or stone fractions of 27 Antarctic chondrites from Frontier Mountain (FRO), including two large H‐chondrite showers. To estimate the pre‐atmospheric size of the two showers, we determined the contribution of neutron‐capture produced ³⁶Cl (half‐life = 3.01 times 10⁵ years) and ⁴¹Ca (1.04 times 10⁵ years) in the stone fraction. The measured activities of neutron‐capture ³⁶Cl and ⁴¹Ca, as well as spallation produced ¹⁰Be and ²⁶Al, were compared with Monte Carlo‐based model calculations. The largest shower, FRO 90174, includes eight fragments with an average terrestrial age of (100 ± 30) × 10³ years; the neutron‐capture saturation activities extend to 27 dpm/kg stone for ³⁶Cl and 19 dpm/kg stone for ⁴¹Ca. The concentrations of spallation produced ¹⁰Be, ²⁶Al and ³⁶Cl constrain the radius (R) to 80–100 cm, while the neutron‐capture ⁴¹Ca activities indicate that the samples originated from the outer 25 cm. With a pre‐atmospheric radius of 80–100 cm, FRO 90174 is among the largest of the Antarctic stony meteorites. The large pre‐atmospheric size supports our hypothesis that at least 50 of the ～150 classified H5/H6‐chondrites from the Frontier Mountain stranding area belong to this single fall; this hypothesis does not entirely account for the high H/L ratio at Frontier Mountain. The smaller shower, FRO 90001, includes four fragments with an average terrestrial age of (40 ± 10) × 10³ years; they contain small contributions of neutron‐capture ³⁶Cl, but no excess of ⁴¹Ca. FRO 90001 experienced a complex exposure history with high shielding conditions in the first stage (150 < R < 300 cm) and much lower shielding in the second stage (R < 30 cm), the latter starting ～1.0 million years (Ma) ago. Based on the measured ¹⁰Be/²¹Ne and ²⁶Al/²¹Ne ratios, the cosmic‐ray exposure ages of the two showers are 7.2 ± 0.5 Ma for FRO 90174 and 8 ± 1 Ma for FRO 90001. These ages coincide with the well‐established H‐chondrite peak and corroborate the observation that the exposure age distribution of FRO H‐chondrites is similar to that of non‐Antarctic falls. In addition, we found that corrections for neutron‐capture ³⁶Ar (from decay of ³⁶Cl) result in concordant ²¹Ne and ³⁸Ar exposure ages.  相似文献   

Prediction of Stellar Atmospheric Parameters using Instance-Based Machine Learning and Genetic Algorithms   总被引：1，自引：0，他引：1  

J. Federico Ramírez  Olac Fuentes  Ravi K. Gulati 《Experimental Astronomy》2001,12(3):163-178

In this article we present a method for the automated prediction of stellar atmospheric parameters from spectral indices. This method uses a genetic algorithm (GA) for the selection of relevant spectral indices and prototypical stars and predicts their properties, using the k-nearest neighbors method (KNN). We have applied the method to predict the effective temperature, surface gravity, metallicity, luminosity class and spectral class of stars from spectral indices. Our experimental results show that the feature selection performed by the genetic algorithm reduces the running time of KNN up to 92%, and the predictive accuracy error up to 35%. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.  相似文献   

Radar observations of Itokawa in 2004 and improved shape estimation     

Steven J. Ostro  Lance A. M. Benner  Christopher Magri  Jon D. Giorgini  Randy Rose  Raymond F. Jurgens  Donald K. Yeomans  Alice A. Hine  Michael C. Nolan  Daniel J. Scheeres  Stephen B. Broschart  Mikko Kaasalainen  Jean‐Luc Margot 《Meteoritics & planetary science》2005,40(11):1563-1574

Abstract— We present June 2004 radar images of asteroid 25143 Itokawa (1998 SF36) that improve upon the longitude‐latitude coverage of images obtained in 2001 by Ostro et al. (2004) and use the 2001–2004 data to refine that paper's constraints on Itokawa's shape. The 2004 images, the first of the asteroid's southern side, look distinctly different from the 2001 images, revealing leading edges that are much more curved and rugged than the nearly convex leading edges seen at northern latitudes in 2001. Itokawa is shaped like a slightly asymmetrical, bent, lumpy ellipsoid with dimensions along the principal axes within 10% of 594 times 320 times 288 m. To illustrate the uncertainty space associated with shape reconstruction from images with suboptimal orientational coverage, we present two alternative three‐dimensional models of the object.  相似文献   

A 2000-YEAR CONTEXT FOR MODERN CLIMATE CHANGE     

K.A. MAASCH  P.A. MAYEWSKI  E.J. ROHLING  J.C. STAGER  W. KARLEN  L.D. MEEKER  E.A. MEYERSON 《Geografiska Annaler: Series A, Physical Geography》2005,87(1):7-15

ABSTRACT. Although considerable attention has been paid to the record of temperature change over the last few centuries, the range and rate of change of atmospheric circulation and hydrology remain elusive. Here, eight latitudinally well-distributed (pole-equator-pole), highly resolved (annual to decadal) climate proxy records are presented that demonstrate major changes in these variables over the last 2000 years. A comparison between atmospheric ¹⁴C and these changes in climate demonstrates a first-order relationship between a variable Sun and climate. The relationship is seen on a global scale.  相似文献   

Effect of Ploughing Depth on the Growth and Yield of Heracleum candicans： a Threatened Medicinal Herb and a Less-explored Potential Crop of the Himalayan Region     

Hemant K. Badola Jitendra S. Butola 《山地科学学报》2005,2(2):173-180

This paper examines the effect of ploughing depths （A -- 60 cm, B -- 45 cm and C -- 30 cm） on the growth and yield of Heracleum candicans Wall （Apiaceae）, a threatened medicinal herb of the Himalayan region. This less-explored plant is being suggested as a potential crop for the mountain agriculture. The study was carried out in an orchard in Himachal Pradesh, India at 2500 m altitude, for two successive growth years. During the first year, all plants remained in juvenile state; in the second year, nearly 65 % plants produced flowers only under 60cm ploughing depth. Among its morphological traits, plant height, collar diameter and aboveground flesh weight were found to be strongly correlated （P 〈 0.01） with the belowground biomass during the first year （r =0.968, 0.925 and 0.973, respectively） and during the second year （r=0.945, 0.928 and 0.775, respectively）. Increase in the ploughing depth was significantly correlated （P〈0.01） with all growth parameters, including the belowground dry weight, marketable portion of the produce. The belowground biomass （commercial yield; 16.28 Qt/hec） at depth A was about 2.6 and 4.7 times higher than those recorded at depths B and C, respectively. The results clearly justify the importance of deep ploughing and this paper strongly recommends it for economically sustainable cropping.  相似文献