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   

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   

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   

SN 1999E: another piece in the supernova–gamma-ray burst connection puzzle     

L. Rigon  M. Turatto  S. Benetti  A. Pastorello  E. Cappellaro  I. Aretxaga  O. Vega  V. Chavushyan  F. Patat  I. J. Danziger  M. Salvo 《Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society》2003,340(1):191-196

  相似文献   

Double–double radio galaxies: remnants of merged supermassive binary black holes     

F. K. Liu  Xue-Bing Wu  S. L. Cao 《Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society》2003,340(2):411-416

  相似文献   

Digital photographic photometry of NGC 5253 and NGC 2915     

J. L. Sérsic  C. J. Donzelli 《Astrophysics and Space Science》1992,193(1):87-94

The surface digital photometry for NGC 5253 and NGC 2915 is given. The luminosity profiles and colour gradients are discussed and compared. It is concluded that NGC 2915 differs from NGC 5253, both in the extension and intensity of the star burst event because of the kinematical behaviour of the captured gas.CONICET, Buenos Aires, Visiting Astronomer, Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, La Serena, Chile, operated by NSF  相似文献   

对数周期偶极子天线的设计、制造和测试     

耿立红 《天文研究与技术》1997,(1)

文中所作的主要工作是为云南天文台十米抛物面设计、制造一付好的对数周期偶极子天线（ＬＰＤＡ）作馈源。工作有：（１）设计一对交叉的ＬＰ－ＤＡ；（２）分析ＬＰＤＡ特性；（３）估算抛物面的电特性；（４）讨论线极化向园极化转换的问题；（５）天线测量。ＬＰＤＡ的测量结果比较满意。该天线的方向图、平均输入阻抗、三分贝和十分贝波瓣宽度都在从０．５－１．５ＧＨｚ的频率范围内比较一致和稳定，变化很小。天线理论上的许多成就都是与数子计算机有关的。在文中，我们充分利用了计算机的功能来设计天线，分析天线特性，并从测量所得的所有数据文件中计算天线的参数。所编ＦＯＲＴＲＡＮ程序使这一切工作变得容易。最后，我们还讨论了用功率合成器实现线极化向园极化转换的各种情况  相似文献   

The MPE X-ray test facility PANTER: Calibration of hard X-ray (15–50 kev) optics     

M. J. Freyberg  H. Bräuninger  W. Burkert  G. D. Hartner  O. Citterio  F. Mazzoleni  G. Pareschi  D. Spiga  S. Romaine  P. Gorenstein  B. D. Ramsey 《Experimental Astronomy》2005,20(1-3):405-412

The Max-Planck-Institut für extraterrestrische Physik (MPE) in Garching, Germany, uses its large X-ray beam line facility PANTER for testing X-ray astronomical instrumentation. A number of telescopes, gratings, filters, and detectors, e.g. for astronomical satellite missions like Exosat, ROSAT, Chandra (LETG), BeppoSAX, SOHO (CDS), XMM-Newton, ABRIXAS, Swift (XRT), have been successfully calibrated in the soft X-ray energy range (< 15keV). Moreover, measurements with mirror test samples for new missions like ROSITA and XEUS have been carried out at PANTER. Here we report on an extension of the energy range, enabling calibrations of hard X-ray optics over the energy range 15–50 keV. Several future X-ray astronomy missions (e.g., Simbol-X, Constellation-X, XEUS) have been proposed, which make use of hard X-ray optics based on multilayer coatings. Such optics are currently being developed by the Osservatorio Astronomico di Brera (OAB), Milano, Italy, and the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA), Cambridge, MA, USA. These optics have been tested at the PANTER facility with a broad energy band beam (up to 50 keV) using the XMM-Newton EPIC-pn flight spare CCD camera with its good intrinsic energy resolution, and also with monochromatic X-rays between C-K (0.277 keV) and Cu-Kα (8.04 keV). PACS: 95.55.Ka, 95.55.Aq, 41 50.+h, 07.85.Fv  相似文献   

Pulsar Wind Nebulae in Egret Error Boxes     

Mallory S. E. Roberts  Crystal L. Brogan  Bryan M. Gaensler  Jason W. T. Hessels  C.-Y. Ng  Roger W. Romani 《Astrophysics and Space Science》2005,297(1-4):93-100

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.  相似文献