A simple model for lensing by black holes in galactic nuclei     

M. C. Werner  N. W. Evans 《Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society》2006,368(3):1362-1368

The lensing properties of the Plummer model with a central point mass and external shear are derived, including the image multiplicities, critical curves and caustics. This provides a simple model for a flattened galaxy with a central supermassive black hole. For the Plummer model with black hole, the maximum number of images is four, provided the black hole mass is less than an upper bound which is calculated analytically. This introduces a method to constrain black hole masses by counting images, thus applicable at cosmological distance. With shear, the maximum number of images is six and we illustrate the occurrence of an astroid caustic and two metamorphoses.  相似文献   

Photometric distances to nine dark globules     

G. Maheswar  H. C. Bhatt 《Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society》2006,369(4):1822-1836

Distances to nine dark globules are determined by a method using optical ( VRI ) and near-infrared (near-IR) ( JHK ) photometry of stars projected towards the field containing the globules. In this method, we compute intrinsic colour indices of stars projected towards the direction of the globule by dereddening the observed colour indices using various trial values of extinction   A _V   and a standard extinction law. These computed intrinsic colour indices for each star are then compared with the intrinsic colour indices of normal main-sequence stars and a spectral type is assigned to the star for which the computed colour indices best match with the standard intrinsic colour indices. Distances ( d ) to the stars are determined using the   A _V   and absolute magnitude  ( M_V )  corresponding to the spectral types thus obtained. A distance versus extinction plot is made and the distance at which   A _V   undergoes a sharp rise is taken to be the distance to the globule. All the clouds studied in this work are in the distance range 160–400 pc. The estimated distances to dark globules LDN 544, LDN 549, LDN 567, LDN 543, LDN 1113, LDN 1031, LDN 1225, LDN 1252 and LDN 1257 are  180 ± 35, 200 ± 40, 180 ± 35, 160 ± 30, 350 ± 70, 200 ± 40, 400 ± 80, 250 ± 50  and 250 ± 50 pc, respectively. Using the distances determined, we have estimated the masses of the globules and the far-IR luminosity of the IRAS sources associated with them. The mass of the clouds studied are in the range  10–200 M_⊙  .  相似文献   

Infrared spectrophotometry of Comet IRAS-Araki-Alcock (1983d): a bare nucleus revealed?     

M.S. Hanner  D.K. Aitken  R. Knacke  S. McCorkle  P.F. Roche  A.T. Tokunaga 《Icarus》1985,62(1):97-109

Spectra of the central core and surrounding coma of Comet IRAS-Araki-Alcock (1983d) were obtained at 8–13 μm on 11 May and 2–4 μm on 12 May 1983. Spatially resolved measurements at 10 μm with a 4-arcsec beam showed that the central core was more than 100 times brighter than the inner coma only 8 arcsec away; for radially outflowing dust, the brightness ratio would be a factor of 8. The observations of the central core are consistent with direct detection of a nucleus having a radius of approximately 5 km. The temperature of the sunlit hemisphere was > 300 K. Spectra of the core are featureless, while spectra of the coma suggest weak silicate emission. The spectra show no evidence for icy grains. The dust producton rate on 11.4 May was ～ 10⁵ g/sec, assuming that the gas flux from the dust-producing areas on the nucleus was ～ 10^?5 g/cm²/sec.  相似文献   

Simulation of a population of isolated neutron stars evolving through the emission of gravitational waves     

C. Palomba 《Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society》2005,359(3):1150-1164

We study, via a Monte Carlo simulation, a population of isolated asymmetric neutron stars where the magnitude of the magnetic field is low enough so that the dynamical evolution is dominated by the emission of gravitational waves. A starting population, with age uniformly distributed back to 100 Myr (or 500 Myr) and endowed with a birth kick velocity, is evolved in the Galactic gravitational potential to the present time. In describing the initial spatial distribution, the Gould belt, with an enhanced neutron star formation rate, is taken into account. Different models for the initial period distribution are considered. The star ellipticity, measuring the amount of deformation, is drawn from an exponential distribution. We estimate the detectability of the emitted gravitational signals by the first and planned second generation of interferometric detectors. Results are parametrized by the fraction of the whole galactic neutron star population made up of these kinds of sources. Some possible mechanisms, which would make possible the existence of such a population, are discussed. A comparison of the gravitational spin-down with the braking due to a possible interaction of the neutron star with the interstellar medium is also presented.  相似文献   

Contrasting the chemical evolution of the Milky Way and Andromeda     

Agostino Renda  Daisuke Kawata  Yeshe Fenner  Brad K. Gibson 《Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society》2005,356(3):1071-1078

The chemical evolution history of a galaxy hides clues about how it formed and has been changing through time. We have studied the chemical evolution history of the Milky Way (MW) and Andromeda (M31) to find which are common features in the chemical evolution of disc galaxies as well as which are galaxy-dependent. We use a semi-analytic multizone chemical evolution model. Such models have succeeded in explaining the mean trends of the observed chemical properties in these two Local Group spiral galaxies with similar mass and morphology. Our results suggest that while the evolution of the MW and M31 shares general similarities, differences in the formation history are required to explain the observations in detail. In particular, we found that the observed higher metallicity in the M31 halo can be explained by either (i) a higher halo star formation efficiency (SFE), or (ii) a larger reservoir of infalling halo gas with a longer halo formation phase. These two different pictures would lead to (i) a higher [O/Fe] at low metallicities, or (ii) younger stellar populations in the M31 halo, respectively. Both pictures result in a more massive stellar halo in M31, which suggests a possible correlation between the halo metallicity and its stellar mass.  相似文献   

Coma Morphology of Three Non-periodic Comets     

R. Schulz  J. A. Stüwe  C. Erd 《Earth, Moon, and Planets》2005,97(3-4):387-397

The coma morphology and short-term evolution was investigated of three non-periodic comets in retrograde orbits, C/2001 Q4 (NEAT), C/2002 T7 (LINEAR), and C/2003 K4 (LINEAR). All three comets display distinct coma features, which were very different from one comet to the next and remained rather constant in shape during the observational period. A single, broad feature perpendicular to the sun-tail direction dominated the coma of C/2003 K4 in all used filters (B,V,R,I), whereas the coma of Comet C/2002 T7 exhibited different features in blue and red filters. C/2001 Q4 showed rather complex coma morphology with clear short-term variability in coma brightness. Therefore, these non-periodic comets neither show a featureless coma nor any similarities of the features detected. The overall distribution of coma material was investigated from the shape of radial coma profiles averaged around the comet nucleus. For C/2001 Q4 and C/2002 T7, the slopes fitted to the linear part of these profiles are flatter in the blue than in the red, which can be explained by the presence of coma gas. For C/2003 K4 no such difference is indicated in the May observations (r = 2.3 AU), while in July (r = 1.7 AU) the profiles in the B-filter are flatter than in V, R, and I, hence gas contamination was relevant at least in the B filter. The R and I filter images were used to determine approximate Afρ values of each comet as a function of time.  相似文献   

Compaction-induced inclination shallowing of the post-depositional remanent magnetization in a synthetic sediment     

G. L. Anson  K. P. Kodama 《Geophysical Journal International》1987,88(3):673-692

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Non-zero rest mass neutrinos and the cosmological constant     

C. Sivaram 《Astrophysics and Space Science》1985,116(1):39-42

Recently it was pointed out that a non-zero cosmological constant can play a role in the formation of neutrino halos only in the case of neutrinos of very low rest mass (m _v <-0.1eV). However, phase-space considerations would requirem _v >50 eV if neutrinos dominate the missing mass in halos of large spiral galaxies and moreoverm _v >200 eV is implied in the case of dwarf spheroidals. These larger neutrino masses would be in conflict with observed constraints on the age of the Universe unless a cosmological constant is invoked.  相似文献   

Deep-ocean piezometer probe technology for geotechnical investigations     

Bennett  R. Burns  J. Nastav  F. Lipkin  J. Percival  C. 《Oceanic Engineering, IEEE Journal of》1985,10(1):17-22

Two single-sensor piezometer probes, 8 mm in diameter, were developed for deep-ocean geotechnical investigations. These probes were tested in a hyperbaric chamber pressurized to 55 MPa (8000 psi). Testing was performed for a period of five weeks under high hydrostatic pressure with the probes inserted in reconstituted illitic marine sediment. Small differential pore-water pressures were generated in response to both mechanically and thermally generated forcing functions. During deep-ocean simulated pressure tests, the sensors exhibited excellent sensitivity and stability. These developments in piezometer-probe technology provide a quantitative means of assessing important geotechnical parameters of fine-grained seabed deposits.  相似文献   

The intracluster iron distribution around 4C+55.16     

K. Iwasawa  A.C. Fabian  S.W. Allen  S. Ettori 《Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society》2001,328(1):L5-L10

We report on the metal distribution in the intracluster medium around the radio galaxy 4C+55.16     observed with the Chandra X-ray Observatory . The radial metallicity profile shows a dramatic change at 10 arcsec (∼50 kpc) in radius from half solar to twice solar at inner radii. Also found was a plume-like feature located at ∼3 arcsec to the south-west of the centre of the galaxy, which is mostly accounted for by a strong enhancement of iron L emission. The X-ray spectrum of the plume is characterized by the metal abundance pattern of Type Ia supernovae (SNeIa), i.e. large ratios of Fe to α elements, with the iron metallicity being unusually high at     solar (90 per cent error). How the plume has been formed is not entirely clear. The inhomogeneous iron distribution suggested in this cluster provides important clues to understanding the metal enrichment process of the cluster medium.  相似文献