Gamma-Hadron Separation using Čerenkov Photon Density Fluctuations     

V. R. Chitnis  P. N. Bhat 《Experimental Astronomy》2002,13(2):77-100

In the atmospheric Čerenkov technique γ-rays are detected against the abundant background produced by hadronic showers. In order to improve the signal to noise ratio of theexperiment, it is necessary to reject a significant fraction of hadronic showers. Traditional background rejection methods based on image shape parameters have been extensively used for the data from imaging telescopes. However, non-imaging Čerenkov telescopes have to develop very different means of statistically identifying and removing cosmic ray events. Some of the parameters, which could be potentially important for non-imaging arrays, are the temporal and spectral differences, the lateral distributions and density fluctuations of Čerenkov photons generated by γ-ray and hadron primaries. Here we study the differences in fluctuations of Čerenkov photon density in the light pool at the observation level from showers initiated by photons and those initiated by protons or heavier nuclei. The database of simulated events for the PACT array has been used to evaluate the efficiency of the new technique. Various types of density fluctuations like the short range and medium range fluctuations as well as flatness parameter are studied. The estimated quality factors reflect the efficiencies with which the hadrons can be rejected from the data. Since some of these parameters are independent, the cuts may be applied in tandem and we demonstrate that the proton rejection efficiency of ∼90% can be achieved. Use of density fluctuations is particularly suited for wavefront sampling observations and it seems to be a good technique to improve the signal to noise ratio. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.  相似文献   

Laboratory kinetics of C₂H radical reactions with ethane, propane, and n-butane at T = 96-296 K: implications for Titan     

James E. Murphy  Stephen R. Leone 《Icarus》2003,163(1):175-181

The kinetics of the reactions of C₂H radical with ethane (k₁), propane (k₂), and n-butane (k₃) are studied over the temperature range of T = 96-296 K with a pulsed Laval nozzle apparatus that utilizes a pulsed laser photolysis-chemiluminescence technique. The C₂H decay profiles in the presence of both the alkane reactant and O₂ are monitored by the CH(A²Δ) chemiluminescence tracer method. The results, together with available literature data, yield the following Arrhenius expressions: k₁(T) = (0.51 ± 0.06) × 10⁻¹⁰ exp[(−76 ± 30)K/T] cm³ molecule⁻¹ s⁻¹ (T = 96-800 K), k₂(T) = (0.98 ± 0.32) × 10⁻¹⁰exp[(−71 ± 60)K/T] cm³ molecule⁻¹ s⁻¹ (T = 96-361 K), and k₃(T) = (1.23 ± 0.26) × 10⁻¹⁰ cm³ molecule⁻¹ s⁻¹ (T = 96-297 K). At T = 296 K, k₁ is measured as a function of total pressure and has little or no pressure dependence. The results from this work support a direct hydrogen abstraction mechanism for the title reactions. Implications to the atmospheric chemistry of Titan are discussed.  相似文献   

The effects of topographically-controlled thermal tides in the martian upper atmosphere as seen by the MGS accelerometer     

Paul Withers  S.W Bougher 《Icarus》2003,164(1):14-32

Mars Global Surveyor accelerometer observations of the martian upper atmosphere revealed large variations in density with longitude during northern hemisphere spring at altitudes of 130-160 km, all latitudes, and mid-afternoon local solar times (LSTs). This zonal structure is due to tides from the surface. The zonal structure is stable on timescales of weeks, decays with increasing altitude above 130 km, and is dominated by wave-3 (average amplitude 22% of mean density) and wave-2 (18%) harmonics. The phases of these harmonics are constant with both altitude and latitude, though their amplitudes change significantly with latitude. Near the South Pole, the phase of the wave-2 harmonic changes by 90° with a change of half a martian solar day while the wave-3 phase stays constant, suggesting diurnal and semidiurnal behaviour, respectively. We use a simple application of classical tidal theory to identify the dominant tidal modes and obtain results consistent with those of General Circulation Models. Our method is less rigorous, but simpler, than the General Circulation Models and hence complements them. Topography has a strong influence on the zonal structure.  相似文献   

Ghosts of the Milky Way: a search for topology in new quasar catalogues     

S. J. Weatherley  S. J. Warren  S. M. Croom  R. J. Smith  B. J. Boyle  T. Shanks  L. Miller  M. P. Baltovic 《Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society》2003,342(1):L9-L13

  相似文献   

Optical flashes and very early afterglows in wind environments     

X. F. Wu  Z. G. Dai  Y. F. Huang  T. Lu 《Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society》2003,342(4):1131-1138

  相似文献   

Planar deformation features and impact glass in inclusions from the Vredefort Granophyre,South Africa     

P. C. Buchanan  W. U. Reimold 《Meteoritics & planetary science》2002,37(6):807-822

Abstract— The Vredefort Granophyre represents impact melt that was injected downward into fractures in the floor of the Vredefort impact structure, South Africa. This unit contains inclusions of country rock that were derived from different locations within the impact structure and are predominantly composed of quartzite, feldspathic quartzite, arkose, and granitic material with minor proportions of shale and epidiorite. Two of the least recrystallized inclusions contain quartz with single or multiple sets of planar deformation features. Quartz grains in other inclusions display a vermicular texture, which is reminiscent of checkerboard feldspar. Feldspars range from large, twinned crystals in some inclusions to fine‐grained aggregates that apparently are the product of decomposition of larger primary crystals. In rare inclusions, a mafic mineral, probably biotite or amphibole, has been transformed to very fine‐grained aggregates of secondary phases that include small euhedral crystals of Fe‐rich spinel. These data indicate that inclusions within the Vredefort Granophyre were exposed to shock pressures ranging from <5 to 8–30 GPa. Many of these inclusions contain small, rounded melt pockets composed of a groundmass of devitrified or metamorphosed glass containing microlites of a variety of minerals, including K‐feldspar, quartz, augite, low‐Ca pyroxene, and magnetite. The composition of this devitrified glass varies from inclusion to inclusion, but is generally consistent with a mixture of quartz and feldspar with minor proportions of mafic minerals. In the case of granitoid inclusions, melt pockets commonly occur at the boundaries between feldspar and quartz grains. In metasedimentary inclusions, some of these melt pockets contain remnants of partially melted feldspar grains. These melt pockets may have formed by eutectic melting caused by inclusion of these fragments in the hot (650 to 1610 °C) impact melt that crystallized to form the Vredefort Granophyre.  相似文献   

High energy phenomena in eta carinae     

Roberto F. Viotti  Lucio Angelo Antonelli  Sonja Rebecchi  Corinne Rossi 《Journal of Astrophysics and Astronomy》2002,23(1-2):19-22

We have investigated with BeppoSAX the long term behaviour of the harder X-ray component of the supposed supermassive binary system η Car along its 5.52 year cycle. We have found that in March 1998 during egress from the last December 1997 eclipse, this component was the same as outside eclipse, but for a large (×3.5) increase of NH _h , that can be attributed to the presence or formation of opaque matter in front of the source near periastron. Unexpectedly, at that time the iron 6.7 keV emission line was 40% stronger. BeppoSAX has for the first time found ahard X-ray tail extending to at least 50 keV, that cannot be adequately fitted with an additional hotter thermal component. The 2–100 keV spectrum of η Car is instead well fitted with an absorbed powerlaw spectrum with photon index 2.53, suggesting non-thermal emission as an alternative model for the core source.  相似文献   

Symplectic Mappings of Co-orbital Motion in the Restricted Problem of Three Bodies     

Zsolt Sándor  Bálint Érdi  Carl D. Murray 《Celestial Mechanics and Dynamical Astronomy》2002,84(4):355-368

The dynamics of co-orbital motion in the restricted three-body problem are investigated by symplectic mappings. Analytical and semi-numerical mappings have been developed and studied in detail. The mappings have been tested by numerical integration of the equations of motion. These mappings have been proved to be useful for a quick determination of the phase space structure reflecting the main characteristics of the dynamics of the co-orbital problem.  相似文献   

Small hypervelocity particles captured in aerogel collectors: Location,extraction, handling and storage     

Andrew J. Westphal  Christopher Snead  Janet Borg  Eric Quirico  Pierre‐Ivan Raynal  Michael E. Zolensky  Gianluca Ferrini  Luigi Colangeli  Pasquale Palumbo 《Meteoritics & planetary science》2002,37(6):855-865

Abstract— It has now been about a decade since the first demonstrations that hypervelocity particles could be captured, partially intact, in aerogel collectors. But the initial promise of a bonanza of partially‐intact extraterrestrial particles, collected in space, has yet to materialize. One of the difficulties that investigators have encountered is that the location, extraction, handling and analysis of very small (10 μm and less) grains, which constitute the vast majority of the captured particles, is challenging and burdensome. Furthermore, current extraction techniques tend to be destructive over large areas of the collectors. Here we describe our efforts to alleviate some of these difficulties. We have learned how to rapidly and efficiently locate captured particles in aerogel collectors, using an automated microscopic scanning system originally developed for experimental nuclear astrophysics. We have learned how to precisely excavate small access tunnels and trenches using an automated micromanipulator and glass microneedles as tools. These excavations are only destructive to the collector in a very small area—this feature may be particularly important for excavations in the precious Stardust collectors. Using actuatable silicon microtweezers, we have learned how to extract and store “naked” particles—essentially free of aerogel—as small as 3 μm in size. We have also developed a technique for extracting particles, along with their terminal tracks, still embedded in small cubical aerogel blocks. We have developed a novel method for storing very small particles in etched nuclear tracks. We have applied these techniques to the extraction and storage of grains captured in aerogel collectors (Particle Impact Experiment, Orbital Debris Collector Experiment, Comet‐99) in low Earth orbit.  相似文献   

An analytical representation of non-gyrotropic distributions and related space applications     

M.P. Leubner 《Planetary and Space Science》2003,51(12):723-729

Clear signature of non-gyrotropic energetic electron distributions was found by ISEE 1 and ISEE 2 spacecrafts just upstream of the Earth's bow shock and recently detected by in situ observations of the WIND plasma experiment. On the other hand, the appearance of non-gyrotropic ion velocity distributions is well established in the magnetotail providing evidence of magnetic reconnection processes. Motivated by these findings we introduce an analytical representation of non-Maxwellian/non-gyrotropic distribution functions, accurately fitting the characteristics of observations, where Maxwellians are recovered as special case of these highly general velocity space distributions. In particular, the analytical distribution function model can serve as basis of detailed wave-particle interaction analysis and of studies of the physical background of the evolution of both, non-gyrotropic electron and ion distributions, which is discussed for various space plasma environments.  相似文献