Observations of pulsating Ap stars in South Africa     

Peter Martinez  D. W. Kurtz 《Astrophysics and Space Science》1995,230(1-2):29-39

The rapidly oscillating Ap (roAp) stars currently represent the only main sequence stars other than the Sun which exhibit non-radial acoustic pulsations of high overtone. This makes them excellent subjects for asteroseismology, an approach which promises to yield accurate knowledge of the interior structures of stars. Of the 27 known roAp stars, 24 were discovered in Sutherland despite extensive searches conducted elsewhere. This paper reviews the discovery of the roAp phenomenon and describes the factors that contribute to the high discovery rate for these stars at Sutherland. Two long-term observational projects in progress at Sutherland are discussed,viz. the Cape roAp Star Survey and long-term monitoring of frequency variations in roAp stars.  相似文献   

Photopolarimetry of 3C 66A in 2003     

Yu. S. Efimov  N. V. Primak 《Astrophysics》2006,49(1):36-53

The BL Lac-type object 3C 66A was observed at the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory during the international project OJ-94. Observations were made over 10 nights from February through December 2003 at the Cassegrain focus of the 125-cm AZT-11 telescope with a photopolarimeter capable of simultaneous measurements in the UBVRI bands. In the course of our measurements the brightness of the object increased by more than 1 magnitude in all these bands. Its color indices varied and the degree of polarization decreased from ∼16% in February to ∼3% at the end of our observations. In December 2003 a rapid change in the position angle from 15° to 40° was noticed. The spectral energy distribution F_n is well described by a power law with a spectral index a (F_ν ∝ ν ^−α . The increase in brightness was accompanied by a reduction in the spectral index. The most probable mechanism for the observed changes in the brightness, degree of polarization, and spectral index may be a decrease in the magnetic field strength or a change in its configuration owing to a increase in the chaotic component of the field. __________ Translated from Astrofizika, Vol. 49, No. 1, pp. 41–59 (February 2006).  相似文献   

Merger Dynamics of the Pair of Galaxy Clusters——A399 and A401     

Qi-Rong Yuan  Peng-Fei Yan  Yan-Bin Yang  Xu Zhou Department of Physics  Nanjing Normal University  Nanjing yuanqirong@njnu. edu. cn National Astronomical Observatories  Chinese Academy of Sciences  Beijing Department of Mathematics  Physics  Qingdao University of Science  Technology  Qingdao 《中国天文和天体物理学报》2005,5(2):126-136

Convincing evidence for a past interaction between the two rich clusters A399 and A401 was recently found in the X-ray imaging observations. We examine the structure and dynamics of this pair of galaxy clusters. A mixture-modeling algorithm was applied to obtain a robust partition into two clusters, which allowed us to discuss the virial mass and velocity distribution of each cluster. Assuming that these two clusters follow a linear orbit and they have once experienced a close encounter, we model the binary cluster as a two-body system. As a result, four gravitationally bound solutions are obtained. The recent X-ray observations seem to favor a scenario in which the two clusters with a true separation of 5.4h-1 Mpc are currently expanding at 583 km s-1 along a direction with a projection angle of 67.5°, and they will reach a maximum extent of 5.65 h-1 Mpc in about 1.0 h-1 Gyr.  相似文献   

SN 1998A: explosion of a blue supergiant     

A. Pastorello  E. Baron  D. Branch  L. Zampieri  M. Turatto  M. Ramina  S. Benetti  E. Cappellaro  M. Salvo  F. Patat  A. Piemonte  J. Sollerman  B. Leibundgut  G. Altavilla 《Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society》2005,360(3):950-962

We present spectroscopic and photometric observations of the peculiar Type II supernova (SN) 1998A. The light curves and spectra closely resemble those of SN 1987A, suggesting that the SN 1998A progenitor exploded when it was a compact blue supergiant. However, the comparison with SN 1987A also highlights some important differences: SN 1998A is more luminous and the spectra show bluer continua and larger expansion velocities at all epochs. These observational properties indicate that the explosion of SN 1998A is more energetic than SN 1987A and more typical of Type II supernovae. Comparing the observational data with simulations, we deduce that the progenitor of SN 1998A was a massive star  (∼25 M_⊙)  with a small pre-supernova radius  (≲6 × 10¹² cm)  . The Ba  ii lines, unusually strong in SN 1987A and some faint II-P events, are almost normal in the case of SN 1998A, indicating that the temperature plays a key role in determining their strength.  相似文献   

数字滤波技术在射电天文测量中的应用     

项英  张秀忠 《天文学进展》2004,22(2):95-103

随着数字技术的发展，数字信号处理芯片的速度越来越快，这为高速数字滤波的实时实现提供了可能。简要阐述了数字滤波的原理，并对两种数字滤波的实现方法进行了分析；给出了数字滤波较模拟滤波的优势；介绍了数字滤波在射电天文测量中的各种应用。  相似文献   

G359.95-0.04: an energetic pulsar candidate near Sgr A*     

Q. D. Wang  F. J. Lu  E. V. Gotthelf 《Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society》2006,367(3):937-944

We report the discovery of a prominent non-thermal X-ray feature located near the Galactic centre that we identify as an energetic pulsar wind nebula. This feature, G359.95-0.04, lies 1-lyr north of Sgr A* (in projection), is comet like in shape, and has a power-law spectrum that steepens with increasing distance from the putative pulsar. The distinct spectral and spatial X-ray characteristics of the feature are similar to those belonging to the rare class of ram-pressure confined pulsar wind nebulae. The luminosity of the nebula at the distance of Sgr A*, consistent with the inferred X-ray absorptions, is   L_x ∼ 1 × 10³⁴ erg s⁻¹  in the 2–10 keV energy band. The cometary tail extends back to a region centred at the massive stellar complex IRS 13 and surrounded by an enhanced diffuse X-ray emission, which may represent an associated supernova remnant. Furthermore, the inverse Compton scattering of the strong ambient radiation by the nebula consistently explains the observed TeV emission from the Galactic centre. We also briefly discuss plausible connections of G359.95-0.04 to other high-energy sources in the region, such as the young stellar complexes IRS 13 and SNR Sgr A East.  相似文献   

Contour binning: a new technique for spatially resolved X-ray spectroscopy applied to Cassiopeia A     

J. S. Sanders 《Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society》2006,371(2):829-842

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Absorption of nuclear γ-rays on the starlight radiation in FR I sources: the case of Centaurus A     

&#;. Stawarz  F. Aharonian  S. Wagner  M. Ostrowski 《Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society》2006,371(4):1705-1716

Several BL Lac objects are confirmed sources of variable and strongly Doppler-boosted TeV emission produced in the nuclear portions of their relativistic jets. It is more than probable that also many of the Fanaroff–Riley type I (FR I) radio galaxies, believed to be the parent population of BL Lacs, are TeV sources, for which Doppler-hidden nuclear γ-ray radiation may be only too weak to be directly observed. Here we show, however, that about 1 per cent of the total time-averaged TeV radiation produced by the active nuclei of low-power FR I radio sources is inevitably absorbed and re-processed by photon–photon annihilation on the starlight photon field, and the following emission of the created and quickly isotropized electron–positron pairs. In the case of the radio galaxy Centaurus A, we found that the discussed mechanism can give a distinctive observable feature in the form of an isotropic γ-ray halo. It results from the electron–positron pairs injected to the interstellar medium of the inner parts of the elliptical host by the absorption process, and upscattering starlight radiation via the inverse-Compton process mainly to the GeV–TeV photon energy range. Such a galactic γ-ray halo is expected to possess a characteristic spectrum peaking at ∼0.1 TeV photon energies, and the photon flux strong enough to be detected by modern Cherenkov Telescopes and, in the future, by GLAST. These findings should apply as well to the other nearby FR I sources.  相似文献   

Comparison of radial basis function networks and empirical equations for converting from pan evaporation to reference evapotranspiration     

Slavisa Trajkovic 《水文研究》2009,23(6):874-880

Evapotranspiration (ET) is one of the major processes in the hydrological cycle, and its reliable estimation is essential to water resources management. Numerous equations have been developed for estimating ET, most of which are complex and require numerous items of weather data. In many areas, the necessary data are lacking, and simpler techniques are required. Evaporation pans are used throughout the world because of the simplicity of technique, low cost, and ease of application. In this study, the radial basis function (RBF) network is applied for pan evaporation to evapotranspiration conversions. The adaptive pan‐based RBF network was trained using daily Policoro data from 15 May 1981 to 23 December 1983. The RBF network obtained, Christiansen, FAO‐24 pan, and FAO‐56 Penman–Monteith equations were verified in comparison with lysimeter measurements of grass evapotranspiration using daily Policoro data from 25 February to 18 December 1984. Based on summary statistics, the RBF network ranked first with the lowest RMSE value (0·433 mm day^?1). The RBF network obtained on the basis of the daily data from Policoro, Italy and pan‐based equations were further tested using mean monthly data collected in Novi Sad, Serbia, and Kimberly, Idaho, USA. The overall results favoured use of the RBF network for pan evaporation to evapotranspiration conversions. The use of the RBF network is very simple and does not require any knowledge of ANNs. Users require only code (RBF network), E_pan data and corresponding R_a data. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.  相似文献   

顾及大气延迟效应的YG-13A斜距标定   总被引：2，自引：1，他引：1  

邓明军  张过  赵瑞山  李少宁  李建松 《遥感学报》2018,22(3):373-380

针对大气延迟时变误差影响遥感卫星十三号(YG-13A)斜距标定精度的问题,提出利用顾及大气延迟时变误差的斜距标定方法提高其斜距标定精度的策略。首先,利用基于NCEP气象资料和全球TEC数据的大气延迟改正方法来计算各标定景的大气延迟改正量。其次,将各标定景的大气延迟改正量代入斜距标定模型中。最后,在地面布设高精度角反射器控制点的情况下通过顾及大气延迟时变误差的斜距标定模型求解斜距测量系统误差,从而提高和验证斜距测量精度,角反射器控制点的平面和高程精度均优于0.1 m。利用嵩山遥感定标场地区的4组不同拍摄模式下获得的YG-13A卫星影像数据对比试验表明,相较于传统的斜距定标方法,在顾及大气延迟时变误差的情况下,4组数据的斜距改正值离散度均有所下降。利用太原、天津两个区域3景影像验证斜距改正后的精度,最小值为0.55 m,最大值为0.91 m,均值为0.70 m。试验结果证明了顾及大气延迟时变误差的斜距标定方法的有效性和可行性。  相似文献