The mass of the white dwarf in the recurrent nova U Scorpii     

T.D. Thoroughgood  V.S. Dhillon  S.P. Littlefair  T.R. Marsh  D.A. Smith 《Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society》2001,327(4):1323-1333

We present spectroscopy of the eclipsing recurrent nova U Sco. The radial velocity semi-amplitude of the primary star was found to be     from the motion of the wings of the He  ii λ 4686-Å emission line. By detecting weak absorption features from the secondary star, we find its radial velocity semi-amplitude to be     . From these parameters, we obtain a mass of     for the white dwarf primary star and a mass of     for the secondary star. The radius of the secondary is calculated to be     , confirming that it is evolved. The inclination of the system is calculated to be     , consistent with the deep eclipse seen in the light-curves. The helium emission lines are double-peaked, with the blueshifted regions of the disc being eclipsed prior to the redshifted regions, clearly indicating the presence of an accretion disc. The high mass of the white dwarf is consistent with the thermonuclear runaway model of recurrent nova outbursts, and confirms that U Sco is the best Type Ia supernova progenitor currently known. We predict that U Sco is likely to explode within ∼700 000 yr.  相似文献   

The first World Atlas of the artificial night sky brightness   总被引：5，自引：0，他引：5  

P. Cinzano  F. Falchi  C.D. Elvidge 《Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society》2001,328(3):689-707

We present the first World Atlas of the zenith artificial night sky brightness at sea level. Based on radiance-calibrated high-resolution DMSP satellite data and on accurate modelling of light propagation in the atmosphere, it provides a nearly global picture of how mankind is proceeding to envelop itself in a luminous fog. Comparing the Atlas with the United States Department of Energy (DOE) population density data base, we determined the fraction of population who are living under a sky of given brightness. About two-thirds of the World population and 99 per cent of the population in the United States (excluding Alaska and Hawaii) and European Union live in areas where the night sky is above the threshold set for polluted status. Assuming average eye functionality, about one-fifth of the World population, more than two-thirds of the United States population and more than one half of the European Union population have already lost naked eye visibility of the Milky Way. Finally, about one-tenth of the World population, more than 40 per cent of the United States population and one sixth of the European Union population no longer view the heavens with the eye adapted to night vision, because of the sky brightness.  相似文献   

Scattered light models of the dust shell around HD 179821     

T.M. Gledhill  M. Takami 《Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society》2001,328(1):266-276

The dust shell around the evolved star HD 179821 has been detected in scattered light in near-IR imaging polarimetry observations. Here, we subtract the contribution of the unpolarized stellar light to obtain an intrinsic linear polarization of between 30 and 40 per cent in the shell that seems to increase with radial offset from the star. The J - and K -band data are modelled using a scattering code to determine the shell parameters and dust properties. We find that the observations are well described by a spherically-symmetric distribution of dust with an r ⁻² density law, indicating that when mass-loss was occurring, the mass-loss rate was constant. The models predict that the detached nature of a spherically-symmetric, optically-thin dust shell, with a distinct inner boundary, will only be apparent in polarized flux. This is in accordance with the observations of this and other optically-thin circumstellar shells, such as IRAS 17436+5003. By fitting the shell brightness we derive an optical depth to the star that is consistent with V -band observations and that, assuming a distance of 6 kpc, gives an inner-shell radius of     , a dust number density of     at r _in and a dust mass of     . We have explored axisymmetric shell models but conclude that any deviations from spherical symmetry in the shell must be slight, with an equator-to-pole density contrast of less than 2:1. We have not been able to fit simultaneously the high linear polarizations and the small     colour excess of the shell and we attribute this to the unusual scattering properties of the dust. We suggest that the dust grains around HD 179821 either are highly elongated or consist of aggregates of smaller particles.  相似文献   

关于非球形粒子光散射的T-矩阵数值计算方法的研究   总被引：1，自引：0，他引：1  

丁继烈  许丽生  张强 《成都信息工程学院学报》2001,16(1):1-7

首先介绍了无规取向轴对称非球形粒子光散射的T－矩阵数值方法。然后，进一步研究了T－矩阵计算的收敛问题，提出了一种新的关于无规取向无吸收非线形散射物体的物理收敛方法，我们研究了椭球粒子的收敛问题，结果表明我们的数值方法和T－矩阵计算程序是有效的， 收敛精度与粒子的尺度和形状有很强的依赖性，在一定的条件下，我们的物理收敛速度优于NASA Mishchenko的数学收敛速序。  相似文献   

On water ice formation in interstellar clouds     

R. Papoular 《Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society》2005,362(2):489-497

A model is proposed for the formation of water ice mantles on grains in interstellar clouds. This occurs by direct accretion of monomers from the gas, be they formed by gas or surface reactions. The formation of the first monolayer requires a minimum extinction of interstellar radiation, sufficient to lower the grain temperature to the point where thermal evaporation of monomers is just offset by monomer accretion from the gas. This threshold is mainly determined by the adsorption energy of water molecules on the grain material; for hydrocarbon material, chemical simulation places this energy between 0.5 and 2 kcal mol⁻¹, which sets the (true) visible extinction threshold at a few magnitudes. However, realistic distributions of matter in a cloud will usually add to this an unrelated amount of cloud core extinction, which can explain the large dispersion of observed (apparent) thresholds. Once the threshold is crossed, all available water molecules in the gas are quickly adsorbed, because the grain cools down and the adsorption energy on ice is higher than on bare grain. The relative thickness of the mantle, and, hence, the slope of  τ₃( A _v)  depend only on the available water vapour, which is a small fraction of the oxygen abundance. Chemical simulation was also used to determine the adsorption sites and energies of O and OH on hydrocarbons and study the dynamics of formation of water molecules by surface reactions with gaseous H atoms, as well as their chances to stick in situ.  相似文献   

Yields of Nucleosynthesis from massive and intermediate mass stars and constraints on their final evolution     

D. C. V. Mallik  Sushma V. Mallik 《Journal of Astrophysics and Astronomy》1985,6(3):113-130

Nucleosynthetic yields and production rates of helium and heavy elements are derived using new initial mass functions which take into account the recent revisions in O star counts and the stellar models of Maeder (1981a, b) which incorporate the effects of massloss on evolution. The current production rates are significantly higher than the earlier results due to Chiosi & Caimmi (1979) and Chiosi (1979), and a near-uniform birthrate operating over the history of the galactic disc explains the currently observed abundances. However, the yields are incompatibly high, and to obtain agreement it is necessary to assume that stars above a certain mass do not explode but proceed to total collapse. Further confirmation of this idea comes from the consideration of the specific yields and production rates of oxygen, carbon and iron and the constraints imposed by the observational enrichment history in the disc as discussed by Twarog & Wheeler (1982). Substantial amounts of⁴He and¹⁴C, amongst the primary synthesis species, are contributed by the intermediate mass stars in their wind phases. If substantial numbers of them exploded as Type I SN, their contribution to the yields of¹²C and⁵⁶Fe would be far in excess of the requirements of galactic nucleosynthesis. Either efficient massloss precludes such catastrophic ends for these stars, or the current stellar models are sufficiently in error to leave room for substantial revisions in the specific yields. The proposed upward revision of the¹²C (α,γ)¹⁶O rate may produce the necessary changes in stellar yields to provide a solution to this problem. Stars that produce most of the metals in the Galaxy are the same ones that contribute most to the observed supernova rate.  相似文献   

Characterization of zonal winds in the stratosphere of Titan with UVES     

D. Luz  T. Civeit  J.-P. Lebreton  P. Rannou  O. Witasse  F. Ferri 《Icarus》2005,179(2):497-510

Titan has been observed with UVES, the UV-Visual Echelle Spectrograph at the Very Large Telescope, with the aim of characterizing the zonal wind flow. We use a retrieval scheme originally developed for absolute stellar accelerometry [Connes, P., 1985. Astrophys. Space Sci., 110, 211-255] to extract the velocity signal by simultaneously taking into account all the lines present in the spectrum. The method allows to measure the Doppler shift induced at a given point by the zonal wind flow, with high precision. The short-wavelength channel (4200-5200 Å) probes one scale height higher than the long-wavelength one (5200-6200 Å), and we observe statistically significant evidence for stronger winds at higher altitudes. The results show a high dispersion. Globally, we detect prograde zonal winds, with lower limits of 62 and 50 m s⁻¹ at the regions centered at 200 and 170 km altitude, but approximately a quarter of the measurements indicates null or retrograde winds.  相似文献   

Physical characteristics of Comet Nucleus C/2001 OG₁₀₈ (LONEOS)     

Paul A. Abell  Yanga R. Fernández  Petr Pravec  Tony L. Farnham  Paul S. Hardersen  Peter Kušnirák  Scott S. Sheppard 《Icarus》2005,179(1):174-194

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Observations of hydrogen deficient binary Upsilon sagittarii     

N. Kameswara Rao  V. R. Venugopal 《Journal of Astrophysics and Astronomy》1985,6(2):101-112

The absolute magnitudeM _v of the hydrogen deficient binary υ Sgr has been estimated as -4.8 ± 1.0 from the distribution of the interstellar reddening, polarization and interstellar lines of the surrounding stars. From the ANS observations obtained at the time of the secondary eclipse, it appears that the hotter secondary is surrounded by a disc with colours of a B8-B9 star. The λ 1550 CIv absorption line arising in the stellar wind does not show any change in strength during the secondary minimum. The upper limit to the mass-loss rate from the high temperature wind is estimated as ≤ 5 × 10^-7 M⊙ yr^-1 from the 2 cm and 6 cm radio observations. Based on observations obtained with the Astronomical Netherlands Satellite and VLA. The National Radio Astronomy Observatory’s Very Large Array at Socorro, New Mexico is operated by Associated Universities Inc. under contract with the National Science Foundation.  相似文献   

On the highly reddened members in six young galactic star clusters – a multiwavelength study     

Brijesh Kumar  Ram Sagar  B. B. Sanwal  M. S. Bessell 《Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society》2004,353(3):991-1014

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