ALBERT

Description: The thinning and intensification of the cross tail current sheet during the substorm growth phase are analyzed during the CDAW 6 substorm (22 Mar. 1979) using two complementary methods. The magnetic field and current sheet development are determined using data from two spacecraft and a global magnetic field model with several free parameters. These results are compared with the local calculation of the current sheet location and structure previously done by McPherron et al. Both methods lead to the conclusion that an extremely thin current sheet existed prior to the substorm onset, and the thicknesses estimated by the two methods at substorm onset agree relatively well. The plasma data from the ISEE 1 spacecraft at 13 R(sub E) show an anisotropy in the low energy electrons during the growth phase which disappears just before the substorm onset. The global magnetic model results suggest that the field is sufficiently stretched to scatter such low energy electrons. The strong stretching may improve the conditions for the growth of the ion tearing instability in the near Earth tail at substorm onset.

Description: An approach to the study of the solar wind-magnetosphere interaction by signal type, that is, by examining the effect in the magnetosphere of well defined interplanetary structures, is presented. Focus is on the response of the magnetosphere to interplanetary magnetic clouds. Among their properties are: the slow and smooth variation of the magnetic field vector, with fluctuation level well below common interplanetary values; the similarly well behaved bulk flow; the wide range of field and flow parameters; and the longevity of passage (1 to 2 days). If the magnetic cloud is oriented such that a long period of uninterruptedly northward pointing field is followed by a long interval of continuously southward pointing field, then the transition of the magnetosphere from a quiescent state (the 'ground state') to a very active state can be studied, the latter being sustained by continued forcing from the magnetic cloud. A synopsis of the main findings of a recent study in such an interaction is given, concentrating on the substorm activity attending the second part of cloud passage.

Description: Millisecond pulsars are galactic objects that exhibit a very stable spinning period. Several tens of these celestial clocks have now been discovered, which opens the possibility that an average time scale may be deduced through a long-term stability algorithm. Such an ensemble average makes it possible to reduce the level of the instabilities originating from the pulsars or from other sources of noise, which are unknown but independent. The basis for such an algorithm is presented and applied to real pulsar data. It is shown that pulsar time could shortly become more stable than the present atomic time, for averaging times of a few years. Pulsar time can also be used as a flywheel to maintain the accuracy of atomic time in case of temporary failure of the primary standards, or to transfer the improved accuracy of future standards back to the present.

Description: The stability of the geomagnetic tail is investigated on the basis of three dimensional resistive magnetohydrodynamic simulations, using different dynamic constraints and different initial equilibria. Different forms of the energy equation for isotropic pressure are found to have no significant effect on the dynamic growth of a resistive tearing instability, which is responsible for near Earth reconnection, plasmoid formation and ejection, and the generation of fast plasma flows. The constraints of a modified double adiabatic approach, however, can quench the tearing instability through the development of large, mirror type, anisotropies in the boundary regions of the plasma sheet, unless isotropization occurs on fast, nearly Alfvenic, time scales. The presence of a net cross tail magnetic field component B(sub yN) can reduce the growth of the instability without complete stabilization. An increase of B(sub z) from midnight toward the tail flanks, however, by more than a factor of about 3, apparently completely stabilizes the tearing mode. Stabilization and destabilization thus may depend on properties and constraints (and their release) in regions other than the neutral sheet where reconnection is initiated.

Description: Issues concerning the 'driven' versus 'unloading' nature of substorms are presented. The original concepts attendant to this debate are presented and substorms are concluded to inextricably combine aspects that are driven with aspects that represent a loading-unloading system. For isolated substorms, the magnetosphere-ionosphere system is shown to exhibit a bimodal response to solar wind changes. A 20 min response characteristic is associated with the driven aspect of substorms, while a 1 hr response time is associated with unloading. It is found that for strong solar wind input conditions, the magnetospheric response becomes more nearly unimodal. This is interpreted in terms of a nonlinear dynamical evolution of the system. Simple analog models are described which capture the essence of the nonlinear magnetospheric behavior. These models exhibit chaotic transitions for strong driving conditions: this may explain the observed behavior of the magnetosphere during strong geomagnetic activity.

Description: A pseudobreakup is a phenomenon similar to the substorm expansive phase onset, including an activation of an auroral arc, a burst of Pi2 micropulsations, and enhancement of the westward electrojet. However, these effects are weak and a pseudobreak is generally assumed to be very localized. The pseudobreakups are discussed based on simultaneous observations made in space and on the ground during the substorm growth phase. In the events studied the main features listed above are found, but the significance of the localization is unclear. The optical pseudobreakup, with associated magnetic perturbations, is highly localized, but simultaneously a wide local time sector of the auroral oval may be activated. The major differences between pseudobreakups and substorm expansive phase onsets are concluded to be the intensity and the development that follows. Careful study of pseudobreakups may help to determine phase initiation, and the role of the ionosphere-magnetosphere coupling in the substorm process.

Description: We study the transfer of momentum from photons to dust grains to (molecular) gas in the outflow around cool giants (carbon-stars, Mira variables and OH/IR stars) beyond the radius where the dust grains condense. The problem is circular: radiation pressure determines the outflow velocity of the dust and thus also the dust density; on the other hand the dust density determines, via radiative transfer effects, the spectrum of the photons and thus the effective radiation pressure. This circular problem is solved by a rapidly converging iterative procedure. We compare our predictions with observed properties of a large sample of OH/IR stars and of Miras and find a good qualitative and quantitative agreement. We confirm a conclusion by Wood et al. (1993) that very luminous OH/IR stars in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) owe their low outflow velocity to the low dust-to-gas ratio, a consequence of the low metallicity of the LMC. Similarly we consider a sample of about 100 OH/IR stars within 200 pc from the galactic center that has an average asymptotic giant branch (AGB) luminosity and an uncommonly high value of v(sub out); we conclude that these stars are probably very metal rich, perhaps even more than the stars in the Baade window studied by Rich (1990).

Description: A 54.95-MHz coherent backscatter radar, an ionosonde and the magnetometer located at Trivandrum in India (8.5 deg N, 77 deg E, 0.5 deg N dip angle) recorded large-amplitude ionospheric fluctuations and magnetic field fluctuations associated with a Pc5 micropulsation event, which occurred during an intense magnetic storm on 24 March 1991 (A(sub p) = 161). Simultaneous 100-n T-level fluctuations are also observed in the H-component at Brorfelde, Denmark (55.6 deg N gm) and at Narsarsuaq, Greenland (70.6 deg N gm). Our study of the above observations shows that the E-W electric field fluctuations in the E- and F-regions and the magnetic field fluctuations at Thumba are dominated by a near-sinusoidal oscillation of 10 min during 1730-1900 IST (1200-1330 UT), the amplitude of the electric field oscillation in the equatorial electrojet (EEJ) is 0.1-0.25 mV/m and it increases with height, while it is about 1.0 mV/m in the F-region, the ground-level H-component oscillation can be accounted for by the ionospheric current oscillation generated by the observed electric field oscillation in the EEJ and the H-component oscillations at Trivandrum and Brofelde are in phase with each other. The observations are interpreted in terms of a compressional cavity mode resonance in the inner magnetosphere and the assoicated ionospheric electric field penetrating from high latitudes to the magnetic equator.

Description: The Coast Ranges of the Cascadia margin are overriding the subducted Juan de Fuca/Gorda plate. We investigate the extent to which the latitudinal change in attributes related to the subduction process. These attributes include the varibale age of the subducted slab that underlies the Coast Ranges and average vertical crustal velocities of the western margin of the Coast Rnages for two markedly different time periods, the last 45 years and the last 100 kyr. These vertical crustal velocities are computed from the resurveying of highway bech marks and from the present elevation of shore platforms that have been uplifted in the late Quaternary, respectively. Topogarphy of the Coast Ranges is in part a function of the age and bouyancy of the underlying subducted plate. This is evident in the fact that the two highest topographic elements of the Coast Rnages, the Klamath Mountains and the Olympic Mountains, are underlain by youngest subducted oceanic crust. The subducted Blanco Fracture Zone in southernmost Oregon is responsible for an age discontinuity of subducted crust under the Klamath Mountains. The norhtern terminus of hte topographically higher Klamaths is offset to the north relative to the position of the underlying Blanco Fracture Zone, teh offset being in the direction of migration of the farcture zone, as dictated by relative plate motions. Vertical crustal velocities at the coast, derived from becnh mark surveys, are as much as an order of magnitude greater than vertical crustal velocities derived from uplifted shore platforms. This uplift rate discrepancy indicates that strain is accumulating on the plate margin, to be released during the next interplate earthquake. In a latitudinal sense, average Coast Rnage topography is relatively high where bench mark-derived, short-term vertical crustal velocities are highest. Becuase the shore platform vertical crustal velocities reflect longer-term, premanent uplift, we infer that a small percentage of the interseismic strain that accumulates as rapid short-term uplift is not recovered by subduction earthquakes but rather contributes to rock uplift of the Coast Ranges. The conjecture that permanent rock uplift is related to interseismic uplift is consistent with the observation that those segments of the subduction zone subject to greater interseismic uplift rates are at approximately the same latitudes as those segments of the Coast Ranges that have higher magnitudes of rock uplift over the long term.

Description: Magnetic field data measured by the MAGMA instrument in the Martian magnetotail lobes are compared with the ram pressure of the upstream solar wind observed by the TAUS instrument in the circular orbits of the Phobos 2 spacecraft. High correlation was found between the magnetic field intensity in the Martian magnetotail lobes and the solar wind ram pressure. From this relationship the average flaring angle of the Martian magnetotail was determined as approximately 13 deg, and the average magnetosonic Mach number was estimated as approximately 5. The observed relationship between the Martian magnetotail magnetic field intensity and the solar wind magnetic field reflects the correlation of the solar wind magnetic field to the ram pressure providing a value of approximately 7 for the average Alfvenic Mach number. The flaring angle obtained for the Martian magnetotail was found to be an intermediate value between the flaring angle of the magnetotail of the Earth and that of Venus at comparable distances.

Description: A comprehensive review is presented of the mathematical models used to represent magnetic fields in the Earth's magnetosphere, of the way existing data-based models use these methods and of the associated problems and concepts. The magnetic field has five main components: the internal field, the magnetopause, the ring current, the tail and Birkeland currents. Methods of representing separately each of these are discussed, as is the deformation of magnetic fields; Appendix B traces the connection between deformations and the Cauchy integral. A summary section lists the uses of data-based models and their likely future evolution, and Appendix A supplements the text with a set of problems.

Description: We present a map of the coseimic displacement field resulting from the Landers, California, June 28, 1992, earthquake derived using data acquired from an orbiting high-resolution radar system. We achieve results more accurate than previous space studies and similar in accuracy to those obtained by conventional field survey techniques. Data from the ERS 1 synthetic aperture radar instrument acquired in April, July, and August 1992 are used to generate a high-resolution, wide area map of the displacements. The data represent the motion in the direction of the radar line of sight to centimeter level precision of each 30-m resolution element in a 113 km by 90 km image. Our coseismic displacement contour map gives a lobed pattern consistent with theoretical models of the displacement field from the earthquake. Fine structure observed as displacement tiling in regions several kilometers from the fault appears to be the result of local surface fracturing. Comparison of these data with Global Positioning System and electronic distance measurement survey data yield a correlation of 0.96; thus the radar measurements are a means to extend the point measurements acquired by traditional techniques to an area map format. The technique we use is (1) more automatic, (2) more precise, and (3) better validated than previous similar applications of differential radar interferometry. Since we require only remotely sensed satellite data with no additioanl requirements for ancillary information. the technique is well suited for global seismic monitoring and analysis.

Description: A search was conducted for the signatures of Birkeland currents in the Earth's magnetic tail, using observed values of B(sub x) and B(sub y) from large sets of spacecraft data. The data were binned by x and y for -10 greater than x(sub GSM) greater than -35 and absolute value of y(sub GSM) less than or equal to 20 R(sub E) (less than or equal to 30 R(sub E) for x(sub GSM) less than or equal to -25 R(sub E)) and in each bin their distribution in the (B(sub x), B(sub y)) plane was fitted by least squares to a piecewise linear function. That gave average x-y distributions of the flaring angle between B(sub xy) and the x direction, as well as that angle's variation across the thickness of the plasma sheet. Angles obtained in the central plasma sheet differed from those derived near the lobe boundary. That is the expected signature if earthward or tailward Birkeland current sheets are embedded in the plasma sheet, and from this dfiference we derived the dawn-dusk profiles of the tail Birkeland currents for several x(sub GSM) intervals. It was found that (1) the Birkeland currents have the sense of region 1 currents, when mapped to the ionosphere; (2) both the linear current density (kiloamperes/R(sub E)) and the net magnitude of the field-aligned currents decrease rapidly down the tail; (3) the total Birkeland current at x approximately equals -10 R(sub E) equals approximately equals 500-700 kA, which is approx. 30% of the net region 1 current observed at ionospheric altitudes, in agreement with model mapping results; and (4) the B(sub z) and B(sub y) components of the interplanetary magnetic field influence the distribution of Birkeland currents in the tail.

Description: We present a model of the focused transport of approximately 1 MeV solar energetic protons through interplanetary Alfven waves that the protons themselves amplify or damp. It is based on the quasi-linear theory but with a phenomenological pitch angle diffusion coefficient in the 'resonance gap.' For initial Alfven wave distributions that give mean free paths greater than approximately 0.5 AU for approximately 1 MeV protons in the inner heliosphere, the model predicts greater than roughly an order of magnitude amplification (damping) in the outward (inward) propagating resonant Alfven waves at less than or approximately equal to o.3 AU heliocentric distance. As the strength of proton source is increased, the peak differential proton intensity at approximately 1 MeV at 1 AU increases to a maximum of approximately 250 particles (/(sq cm)(s)(sr)(MeV)) and then decreases slowly. It may be attenuated by a factor of 5 or more relative to the case without wave evolution, provided that the proton source is sufficiently intense that the resulting peak differential intensity of approximately 1 MeV protons at 1 AU exceeds approximately 200 particles (/(sq cm)(s)(sr)(MeV)). Therefore, in large solar proton events, (1) one may have to take into account self-amplified waves in studying solar particle propagation, (2) the number of accelerated protons escaping from a flare or interplanetary shock may have been underestimated in past studies by a significant factor, and (3) accelerated protons escaping from a traveling interplanetary shock at r less than or approximately equal to 0.3 AU should amplify the ambient hydromagnetic waves siginificantly to make the shock an efficient accelerator, even if initially the mean free path is greater than or approximately equal to 1 AU.

Description: Direct one-photon annihilation rate of positrons with a bound atomic electron is evaluated in the nonrelativistic limit. The K- and L-shell contributions are estimated including the screening and effective Coulomb repulsion effects. The annihilation rate of thermal positrons is calculated for various temperatures. The total number of one-photon annihilation events in the interstellar medium is discussed. These results provide the directional and structural information for cosmic gamma-ray sources.

Description: The origin of tektites has been obscure because of the following dilemma. The application of physical principles to the data available on tektites points strongly to origin from one or more lunar volcanoes; but few glasses of tektite composition have hitherto been reported from the lunar samples. Instead, the lunar silicic glasses consist chiefly of a material very rich in K2O and poor in MgO. The ratio of K2O/MgO is higher in these glasses than in any tektites reported. The solution of the dilemma seems to come from the study of some recently discovered terrestrial deposits of tektite glass with high values of K2O/MgO at the Cretaceous Tertiary boundary. These glasses are found to be very vulnerable to crystallization into sandine or to alteration to smectite. These end products are known and are more abundant than any terrestrial deposits of tektite glass. It seems possible that, in fact, the moon produces tektite glass, mostly of the high K2O-low MgO type; but on Earth these deposits are destroyed. The much less abundant deposits with lower K and higher Mg are observed because they survive. Other objections to the lunar origin hypothesis appear to be answerable.

Description: We investigate the radiative shock overstability for finite-sized objects. We follow the analysis of Chevalier & Imamura (1982), but we take into account the transverse flow of material out of the potshock region. The mass loss from the postshock region stabilizes the flow. As a rough estimate, the shock radiative instability takes place when the shock wave position with no radiative cooling (only mass loss present) is larger than the shock position with no mass loss (only radiative cooling present). For typical conditions of planetary nebulae we find that in order for the shock radiative overstability to occur, the nebular radius should be R approximately less than 10(exp 19) n(sub a)(exp -1) cm, where n(sub alpha) is the total number density of the interstellar medium (in units of cm(exp -3). We give several examples of interacting planetary nebulae in light of this condition.

Description: New line parameters for two heavy odd nitrogen molecules HNO3 in the nu(sub 5)/2nu(sub 9) region, and ClONO2 in the nu(sub 4) region are incorporated in the analysis of high resolution i.r. atmospheric spectra. The line parameters are tested and renormalized vs laboratory spectra, and then applied to retrievals from balloon-borne and ground-based solar absorption spectra.

Description: The spectroscopic identification for the HNO3 3 nu(sub 9) - nu(sub 9) band Q branch at 830.4/cm is reported based on 0.01/cm resolution solar occultation spectra of the lower stratosphere recorded by the Atmospheric Trace Molecule Spectroscopy (ATMOS) Fourier transform spectrometer and a recent analysis of this band. Least-squares fits to 0.0025/cm resolution laboratory spectra in the Q branch region indicate an integrated intensity of 0.529 x 10(exp -18)/cm/mol/sq cm at 296 K for this weak band. Stratospheric HNO3 retrievals derived from the ATMOS data are consistent with this value within its estimated uncertainty of about +/- 30%. A set of spectroscopic line parameters suitable for atmospheric studies has been generated.

Description: About 200 i.r. solar spectra recorded at 0.01/cm resolution on 71 days between November 1991 and July 1993 at the Network for the Detection of Stratospheric Change (NDSC) station at Mauna Loa, Hawaii (latitude 19.53 deg N, longitude 155.58 deg W, elevation 3.459 km) have been analyzed with a nonlinear least-squares spectral fitting technique to study temporal variations in the total column of atmospheric ethane (C2H6) above the site. The results were derived from the analysis of the unresolved nu(sub 7) band (P)Q(sub 3) subbranch at 2976.8/cm. A distinct seasonal cycle is observed with a factor of 2 variation, a maximum total column of 1.16 x 10(exp 16) mol/sq cm at the end of winter, and a minimum total column of 0.53 x 10(exp 16) mol/sq cm at the end of summer. Our measurements are compared with previous observations and model predictions.

Description: Quantitative measurements of the wavelength dependence of aerosol extinction in the 750-3400/cm spectral region have been derived from 0.01/cm resolution stratospheric solar occultation spectra recorded by the ATMOS (Atmospheric Trace Molecule Spectroscopy) Fourier transform spectrometer about 9 1/2 months after the Mt Pinatubo volcanic eruption. Strong, broad aerosol features have been identified near 900, 1060, 1190, 1720, and 2900/cm below a tangent height of approximately 30 km. Aerosol extinction measurements derived from approximately 0.05/cm wide microwindows nearly free of telluric line absorption in the ATMOS spectra are compared with transmission calculations derived from aerosol size distribution profiles retrieved from correlative SAGE (Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment) II visible and near i.r. extinction measurements, seasonal and zonally averaged H2SO4 aerosol weight percentage profiles, and published sulfuric acid optical constants derived from room temperature laboratory measurements. The calculated shapes and positions of the aerosol features are generally consistent with the observations, thereby confirming that the aerosols are predominantly concentrated H2SO4-H2O droplets, but there are significant differences between the measured and calculated wavelength dependences of the aerosol extinction. We attribute these differences as primarily the result of errors in the calculated low temperature H2SO4-H2O optical constants. Errors in both the published room temperature optical constants and the limitations of the Lorentz-Lorenz relation are likely to be important.

Description: We compare model predictions of cometary water group ion densities and the solar wind slow down with measurements made by the Giotto Johnstone plasma analyzer implanted ion sensor at the encounter with comet Grigg-Skjellerup (G-S) on July 10, 1992. The observed slope of the ion density profile on approach to the comet is unexpectedly steep. Possible explanations for this are discussed. We present also a preliminary investigation of the quasilinear velocity-space diffusion of the implanted heavy ion population at G-S using a transport equation including souce, convection, adiabatic compression, and velocity diffusion terms. Resulting distributions are anisotropic, in agreement with observations. We consider theoretically the waves that may be generated by the diffusion process for the observed solar wind conditions. At initial ion injections, waves are generated at omega approximately Omega(sub i) the ion gyrofrequency, and lower frequencies are predicted for diffusion toward a bispherical shell.

Description: Large-amplitude ultralow-frequency wave structure observed on both sides of the magnetic pileup boundary of comet P/Halley during the flyby of the Giotto spacecraft have been analyzed using suprathermal electron density and magnetic field observations. Upstream of the boundary, electron density and magnetic field magnitude variations are anticorrelated, while in the pileup region these quantities are clearly correlated. Both in front of and behind the pileup boundary the observed waves are quasi-perpendicular wave structures as a minimum variance analysis shows. A detailed comparison of our observations in the prepileup region with theoretical and numerical results shows that the mirror mode mode waves may have been generated by a mirror instability driven by the pressure anisotropy of the ring-type distributions of the heavy (water group) pickup cometary ions.

Description: We present vertical column abundances of H2O, N2O, HNO3, NO2, O3, HF, HCl, and ClNO3, determined from solar absorption spectra measured by the JPL MkIV interferometer from the NASA DC-8 aircraft. These observations, taken in 1987 and 1992, covered latitudes ranging from 85 deg S to 85 deg N. Although most gases display latitude symmetry, large asymmetries in H2O, HNO3, and O3 are apparent, which can be ascribed to processes enhanced by the colder Antarctic winter temperatures.

Description: Simultaneous in situ measurements of NO2, NO, O3, ClO, pressure and temperature have been made for the first time, presenting a unique opportunity to test our current understanding of the photochemistry of the lower stratospere. Data were collected from several flights of the ER-2 aircraft at mid-latitudes in May 1993 during NASA's Stratospheric Photochemistry, Aerosols and Dynamics Expedition (SPADE). The daytime ratio of NO2/NO remains fairly constant at 19 km with a typical value of 0.68 and standard deviation of +/- 17. The ratio observations are compared with simple steady-state calculations based on laboratory-measured reaction rates and modeled NO2 photolysis rates. At each measurement point the daytime NO2/NO with its measurements uncertainty overlap the results of steady-state caculations and associated uncertainty. Possible sources of error are examined in both model and measurements. It is shown that more accurate laboratory determinations of the NO + 03 reaction rate and of the NO2 cross-sections in the 200-220 K temperature range characteristic of the lower stratosphere would allow for a more robust test of our knowledge of NO(X) phtochemistry by reducing significant sources if uncertainties in the interpretation of statospheric measurements.

Description: The ability to predict short-term variations in the Earth's rotation has gained importance in recent years owing to more precise spacecraft tracking requirements. Universal time (UT1), that component of the Earth's orientation corresponding to the rotation angle, can be measured by number of high-precision space geodetic techniques. A Kalman filter developed at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) optimally combines these different data sets and generates a smoothed times series and a set of predictions for UT1, as well as for additional Earth orientation components. These UT1 predictions utilize an empirically derived random walk stochastic model for the length of the day (LOD) and require frequent and up-to-date measurements of either UT1 or LOD to keep errors from quickly accumulating. Recent studies have shown that LOD variations are correlated with changes in the Earth's axial atmospheric angular momentum (AAM) over timescales of several years down to as little as 8 days. AAM estimates and forecasts out to 10 days are routinely available from meteorological analysis centers; these data can supplement geodetic measurements to improve the short-term prediction of LOD and have therefore been incorporated as independent data types in the JPL Kalman filter. We find that AAM and, to a lesser extent, AAM forecast data are extremely helpful in generating accurate near-real-time estimates of UT1 and LOD and in improving short-term predictions of these quantities out to about 10 days.

Description: The energy spectra of the black-hole candidate GX 339-4 in the low-intensity state were observed on four occasions through 1989 to 1991 with the Large Area Counter on board the Ginga satellite. The spectra showed significant deviations from a power-law, with an iron K(sub alpha) emission line at approximetaly 6.4 keV and a broad iron K-edge structure above approximately 7 keV. The enrgy spectra above approximately 4 keV were successfully explained with a reflection model, in which part of the incident X-rays with a power-law spectrum is Compton reflected by optically thick matter, resulting in a harder continuum component with iron K-edge absorption and an iron flourescent line. The line equivalent width with respect to the reflection component decreases as the source flux increases. This is consistent with an increase in the ionization state of the material, so that resonant absorption followed by Auger ionization depletes the line. The photon-index of the power-law component was clearly variable, and it correlated with the relative amount of the reflection component. Such a correlation may be explained in the context of the anisotropic Comptonization models of Haardt et al. (1993), or by a variation of the relative geometry of the source and disk.

Description: We suggest that prior to its impact with Jupiter, comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 will behave as an electrical generator in the Jovian magnetosphere, converting planetary rotational energy to electrical energy via a dust/plasma interaction. This electrical energy will then be deposited in the dayside auroral region where it may drive various auroral phenomena including cyclotron radio emission. Such emission could be detected by spacecraft like Ulysses and Galileo many hours prior to the actual comet impact with the upper atmosphere. We apply the theory originally developed to explain the spokes in Saturn's rings. This theory allows us to quantify the driving potential associated with the comet and, consequently, to determine the radio power created in the auroral region. We conclude that if enough fine dust is present in the cometary system, comet-induced auroral radio emissions will reach detectable levels. This emission should be observable in the dayside hemisphere about 12-24 hours prior to each fragment impact.

Description: The Far-Infrared Absolute Spectrophotometer (FIRAS) instrument on the Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) has determined the dipole spectrum of the cosmic microwave background radiation (CMBR) from 2 to 20/cm. For each frequency the signal is decomposed by fitting to a monopole, a dipole, and a Galactic template for approximately 60% of the sky. The overall dipole spectrum fits the derivative of a Planck function with an amplitude of 3.343 +/- 0.016 mK (95% confidence level), a temperature of 2.714 +/- 0.022 K (95% confidence level), and an rms deviation of 6 x 10(exp -9) ergs/sq cm/s/sr cm limited by a detector and cosmic-ray noise. The monopole temperature is consistent with that determined by direct measurement in the accompanying article by Mather et al.

Description: Theoretical O I density-sensitive emission-line ratios R = I(2s(sup 2))(2p(sup 4))((sup 3)P(sub 0))-((2s(sup 2))(2p(sup 4))((sup 3)P(sub 1)))/I((2s(sup 2))(2p(sup 4))((sup 3)P(sub 1))-(2s(sup 2))(2p(sup 4))((sup 3)P(sub 2))) = I(146 micrometers)/I(63 micrometers) are presented for a range of temperatures (T = 100-10,000 K), neutral hydrogen densities (N(sub H) = 10(exp -2) to 10(exp 7)/cu cm) and radiation fields (G(sub 0) = 1-10(exp 6)) applicable to both photodissociation regions (PDRs) and H II regions and the diffuse ionized medium (DIM). The observed values of R for several PDRs, measured from far-infrared spectra obtained with the Kuiper Airborne Observatory (KAO), imply hydrogen densities which are in good agreement with those determined using other methods. This provides observational support for the validity of the theoretical O I line ratios, and hence the atomic data used in their derivation.

Description: The 1.6-1.8 micron spectrum of the planetary nebula, IRAS 21282+5050, a strong emitter of the unidentified interstellar bands, contains a 0.02 micron wide eimission feature centered at 1.680 micron, which is well matched by laboratory spectra of the 0-2 CH stretching mode in polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). We identify the new feature as the overtone of the well-known 3.3 micron band. In view of the high excitation required for emission in this band, the identification indicates that the emission is by free molecules rather than molecular moieties in solid dust grains. Modeling of the intensity ratio of the 2-0 to 1-0 band implied that the PAHs emitting in these bands contain about 60 carbon atoms. It is inferred that the nu = 2-1 hot band of the CH stretching mode occurs at about 3.43 micron and contributes to the long-wavelength shoulder of the 3.40 micron feature. The main 3.40 micron feature probably is due to aliphatic sidegroups on PAH molecules.

Description: Weakly nonlinear Magneto Hydrodynamic (MHD) stability of the Halley cometosheath determined by the balance between the outward ion-neutral drag force and the inward Lorentz force is investigated including the transverse plasma motion as observed in the flanks with the help of the method of multiple scales. The eigenvalues and the eigenfunctions are obtained for the linear problem and the time evolution of the amplitude is obtained using the solvability condition for the solution of the second order problem. The diamagnetic cavity boundary and the adjacent layer of about 100 km thickness is found unstable for the travelling waves of certain wave numbers. Halley ionopause has been observed to have strong ripples with a wavelength of several hundred kilometers. It is found that nonlinear effects have stabilizing effect.

Description: We have developed a radiative transfer model of the dust and gas envelopes around late-type stars. The gas kinetic temperature for each star is calculated by solving equations of motion and the energy balance simultaneously. The main processes include viscous heating and adiabatic and radiative cooling. Heating is dominated by viscosity as the grains stream outward through the gas, with some contribution in oxygen-rich stars by near-IR pumping of H2O followed by collisional de-excitation in the inner envelope. For O-rich stars, rotational H2O cooling is a dominant mechanism in the middle part of the envelope, with CO cooling being less significant. We have applied our model to three well-studied oxygen-rich red giant stars. The three stars cover a wide range of mass-loss rates, and hence they have different temperature structures. The derived temperature structures are used in calculating CO line profiles for these objects. Comparison of the dust and gas mass-loss rates suggests that mass-loss rates are not constant during the asymptotic giant branch phase. In particular, the results show that the low CO 1-0 antenna temperatures of OH/IR stars reflect an earlier phase of much lower mass-loss rate.

Description: Solid state SiS2 is proposed as the material responsible for the recently discovered 21 micrometer emission feature that is observed in the carbon-rich circumstellar shells of certain protoplanetary nebulae. Sulfurized SiC, or SiS2 mantles on grains of either SiC or a:C-H are discussed as possible forms for which no spectroscopic laboratory observations yet exist. The identification with a relatively minor species and required special abundance ratios are consistent with the low incidence rate that the 21 micrometer feature presents in the population of carbon rich objects. It is also consistent with the lack of a good correlation between the 21 micrometer feature and the other solid-state spectroscopic features that have been observed in protoplanetaries that would be expected if the feature arose from molecules composed of H, C, N, and O. SiS2 condensate is consistent with the circumstellar shell temperature range, T(sub CS) approximately equal to or less than 150 K, at which the feature appears, and the available mass of SiS2, M(sub SiS2) approx. = 5 x 10(exp -6) solar mass, that is possible in the circumstellar shell.

Description: Disk-shaped current distributions are useful tools in modeling the magnetospheres of Earth and other planets and have also been adapted for modeling the geotail. Such models usually start with an axisymmetric vector potential but may be modified to account for observed asymmetries, variable thickness, and warping in response to an inclined orientation of the planetary dipole axis. Models of this type until now either have lacked the ability to simulate a sharp inner edge of the current and to control accurately its falloff with distance or did not allow a simple analytical representation. Here existing methods will be reviewed, after which a new class of models which overcomes the above deficiencies and also allows the modeling of current disks of finite thickness flanked by current-free regions will be presented.

Description: An improved model of Earth's gravitational field, Goddard Earth Model T-3 (GEM-T3), has been developed from a combination of satellite tracking, satellite altimeter, and surface gravimetric data. GEM-T3 provides a significant improvement in the modeling of the gravity field at half wavelengths of 400 km and longer. This model, complete to degree and order 50, yields more accurate satellite orbits and an improved geoid representation than previous Goddard Earth Models. GEM-T3 uses altimeter data from GEOS 3 (1975-1976), Seasat (1978) and Geosat (1986-1987). Tracking information used in the solution includes more than 1300 arcs of data encompassing 31 different satellites. The recovery of the long-wavelength components of the solution relies mostly on highly precise satellite laser ranging (SLR) data, but also includes Tracking Network (TRANET) Doppler, optical, and satellite-to-satellite tracking acquired between the ATS 6 and GEOS 3 satellites. The main advances over GEM-T2 (beyond the inclusion of altimeter and surface gravity information which is essential for the resolution of the shorter wavelength geoid) are some improved tracking data analysis approaches and additional SLR data. Although the use of altimeter data has greatly enhanced the modeling of the ocean geoid between 65 deg N and 60 deg S latitudes in GEM-T3, the lack of accurate detailed surface gravimetry leaves poor geoid resolution over many continental regions of great tectonic interest (e.g., Himalayas, Andes). Estimates of polar motion, tracking station coordinates, and long-wavelength ocean tidal terms were also made (accounting for 6330 parameters). GEM-T3 has undergone error calibration using a technique based on subset solutions to produce reliable error estimates. The calibration is based on the condition that the expected mean square deviation of a subset gravity solution from the full set values is predicted by the solutions' error covariances. Data weights are iteratively adjusted until this condition for the error calibration is satisfied. In addition, gravity field tests were performed on strong satellite data sets withheld from the solution (thereby ensuring their independence). In these tests, the performance of the subset models on the withheld observations is compared to error projections based on their calibrated error covariances. These results demonstrate that orbit accuracy projections are reliable for new satellites which were not included in GEM-T3.

Description: We have studied the spectacular 1991 June X-class flares using gamma-ray data from the Charged Particle Detectors (CPDs) of the Burst and Transient Source Experiment (BATSE) on the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory (CGRO) and 80 GHz millimeter data from Nobeyama, Japan. The CPDs were the only CGRO instrument that did not saturate during the extremely intense 1991 June 4 flare. We have shown that for this flare the CPDs respond to MeV photons, most of which are due to bremsstrahlung produced by relativistic electrons at the Sun. We have further shown that the gamma-ray and millimeter observations agree numerically if the 80 GHz radiation is gyrosynchrotron radiation produced by trapped electrons and the gamma rays are thick-target bremsstrahlung due to electrons precipitating out of the trap. The requirement that the trapping time obtained from the numerical comparison be consistent with the observed time profiles implies a magnetic field between about 200 and 300 G and an electron spectral index between about 3 to 5. By comparing the CPD observations with both the 80 GHz data and nuclear line data from the Energetic Gamma Ray Experiment Telescope (EGRET) and the Oriented Scintillation Spectroscopy Experiment (OSSE) on CGRO for the flares of June 4, 6, 9, and 11, we found that the ratio of the CPD counts to both the millimeter flux densities and the nuclear line fluences decreases with decreasing flare heliocentric angle. All of these flares were produced in the same active region. We interpreted this result in terms of a loop model in which the gyrosynchrotron emission is produced in the coronal portion of the loop where the electrons are kept isotropic by pitch angle scattering due to plasma turbulence, while the bremsstrahlung is produced by precipitating electrons that interact anisotropically. We found that the trapping time in the coronal portion is time dependent, reaching a minimum of about 10 s at the peak of the CPD count rate. We suggested the damping of the turbulence as a possible reason for the variation of the trapping time. turbulence as a possible reason for the variation of the trapping time.

Description: Several possible models have been suggested to explain the observed distribution of gamma-ray bursts: heliocentric distributions such as the Oort cloud, large galactic halos, and cosmological models. We report here on an investigation into the implications of the Burst and Transient Source Experiment (BATSE) gamma-ray burst distribution (Meegan et al. 1992a) data on the possible helocentric origin of gamma-ray bursts. We find no statistically significant anisotropy in the angular distribution of the bursts in a Sun-referenced coordinate system; there is no dipole moment in the direction of the Sun, and no quardrupole moment associated with the ecliptic plane. We have employed direct analytic calculations and Monte Carlo simulations of sources in the Oort cloud to constrain possible helicentric burst distributions. These can produce distributions consistent with the observed angular isotropy, the meal value of V/V(sub max), and the observed C/C(sub min) distribution of BATSE, and provide limits to burst energy of a few times approximately 10(exp 27) ergs. However, the agreement of the heliocentric C/C(sub min) distributions with the BATSE data is attributable to the relatively limited sampling of strong, nearby bursts. These bursts are known from observation to be homogeneously distributed, yet the density of sources in the Oort cloud is not constant in this region. Integral number-intensity distributions from the Oort cloud for larger numbers of bursts cannot reproduce the known homogeneity of the strong bursts without modification to the computed cometary number density and are therefore unlikely explanations of the gamma-ray burst distribution.

Description: We present predictions of the signatures of magnetosheath particle precipitation (in the regions classified as open low-latitude boundary layer, cusp, mantle and polar cap) for periods when the interplanetary magnetic field has a southward component. These are made using the 'pulsating cusp' model of the effects of time-varying magnetic reconnection at the dayside magnetopause. Predictions are made for both low-altitude satellites in the topside ionosphere and for midaltitude spacecraft in the magnetosphere. Low-altitude cusp signatures, which show a continuous ion dispersion signature, reveal 'quasi-steady reconnection' (one limit of the pulsating cusp model), which persists for a period of at least 10 min. We estimate that 'quasi-steady' in this context corresponds to fluctuations in the reconnection rate of a factor of 2 or less. The other limit of the pulsating cusp model explains the instantaneous jumps in the precipitating ion spectrum that have been observed at low altitudes. Such jumps are produced by isolated pulses of reconnection: that is, they are separated by intervals when the reconnection rate is zero. These also generate convecting patches on the magnetopause in which the field lines thread the boundary via a rotational discontinuity separated by more extensive regions of tangential discontinuity. Predictions of the corresponding ion precipitation signatures seen by midaltitude spacecraft are presented. We resolve the apparent contradiction between estimates of the width of the injection region from midaltitude data and the concept of continuous entry of solar wind plasma along open field lines. In addition, we reevaluate the use of pitch angle-energy dispersion to estimate the injection distance.

Description: We report the first X-ray observations of the Seyfert 1 galaxy MCG-6-30-15 obtained at medium spectral resolution. The partially-ionized, 'warm' absorber is resolved and shown to be due to O VII and O VIII. The main absorption edge agrees with that of O VII at the redshift of the galaxy to within 1%. The column density of the absorbing material is greater by a factor of 2 in the first of our two obsevations, which were 3 weeks apart, while the mean flux is slightly lower and the ionization parameter slightly higher. We also discuss the flourescent iron emssion line seen in the source, which is at 6.40 keV. The line is significantly broadened, with a Full Width at Half Maximum (FWHM) of about 0.4 keV.

Description: Near supernova 1987a, the rare honeycomb structure of 20-30 galactic bubbles measures 30 x 90 light years. Its remarkable regularity in bubble size suggests a single-event origin which may correlate with the nearby supernova. To test the honeycomb's regularity in shape and size, the formalism of statistical crystallography is developed here for bubble sideness. The standard size-shape relations (Lewis's law, Desch's law, and Aboav-Weaire's law) govern area, perimeter and nearest neighbor shapes. Taken together, they predict a highly non-equilibrium structure for the galactic honeycomb which evolves as a bimodal shape distribution without dominant bubble perimeter energy.

Description: Simultaneous profiles of aerosol backscatter ratio were measured over Lauder, New Zealand (45 deg S, 170 deg E) on the night of November 24, 1992. Instrumentation comprised two complementary lidar systems and a backscattersonde, to give measurements at wavelengths 351, 490, 532, and 940 nm. The data from the lidars and the backscattersonde were self-consistent, enabling the wavelength dependence of aerosol backscatter to be determined as a function of altitude. This wavelength-dependence is a useful parameter in radiative transfer calculations. In the stratosphere, the average wavelength exponent between 351 and 940 nm was -1.23 +/- 0.1, which was in good agreement with values derived from measured physical properties of aerosols.

Description: If, as many believe, Sgr A* is a massive black hole at the Galactic center, one should expect it to be a source of X-ray and gamma-ray activity, behaving basically as a scaled-down active galactic nucleus. An unavoidable source of accretion is the wind from IRS 16, a nearby group of hot, massive stars. Since the density and velocity of the accreting matter are known from observations, the accretion rate is basically a function of the putative black hole mass, M(sub h), only; this value represents a reliable lower limit to a real rate, given the other possible sources of accreting matter. Based on this and on the theories about shock acceleration in active galactic nuclei, we have estimated the expected production of relativistic particles and their hard radiation. These values turn out to be a function of M(sub h) as well. Comparing our results with available X-ray and gamma-ray observations which show Sgr A* to have a relatively low activity level, we conclude tentatively that the putative black hole in the Galactic center cannot have a mass greater than approximately 6 x 10(exp 3) solar mass. This conclusion is consistent with the upper limits to the black hole mass found by different methods earlier, although much more work is needed to make calculations of shock acceleration around black holes more reliable.

Description: The light curve of the Type Ia supernova SN 1937C (in IC 4182) is important because Sandage et al. have measured a distance to the host galaxy by means of Cepheid variables and thus have derived the Hubble constant. However, the peak brightness of SN 1937C has only been derived with the relatively poor original comparison star brightnesses and without regard to a large body of data in the literature. In this paper, I will correct these and other procedural difficulties. I find that the late time photographic light curve appears to have a broken exponential decay with equivalent half-lives of 46 and 58 days with the break near 300 days after maximum. I also find that the peak B-magnitude was 8.71 +/- 0.14 on JD 2428770.0 +/- 1.0 at which time the B-V was -0.03 +/- 0.13. With these improved peak brightnesses, the distance modulus of Sandage et al., and peak absolute magnitudes in the center of the range of modern estimates, I derive the Hubble constant to be 50 km/s Mpc.

Description: High-energy electrons have been measured systematically in a low-altitude (520 x 675 km), nearly polar (inclination = 82 deg) orbit by sensitive instruments onboard the Solar, Anomalous, and Magnetospheric Particle Explorer (SAMPEX). Count rate channels with electron energy thresholds ranging from 0.4 MeV to 3.5 MeV in three different instruments have been used to examine relativistic electron variations as a function of L-shell parameter and time. A long run of essentially continuous data (July 1992 - July 1993) shows substantial acceleration of energetic electrons throughout much of the magnetosphere on rapid time scales. This acceleration appears to be due to solar wind velocity enhancements and is surprisingly large in that the radiation belt 'slot' region often is filled temporarily and electron fluxes are strongly enhanced even at very low L-values (L aprroximately 2). A superposed epoch analysis shows that electron fluxes rise rapidly for 2.5 is approximately less than L is approximately less than 5. These increases occur on a time scale of order 1-2 days and are most abrupt for L-values near 3. The temporal decay rate of the fluxes is dependent on energy and L-value and may be described by J = Ke-t/to with t(sub o) approximately equals 5-10 days. Thus, these results suggest that the Earth's magnetosphere is a cosmic electron accelerator of substantial strength and efficiency.

Description: Rocket data have been used to evaluate the characteristics of precipitating relativistic electrons and their effects on the electrodynamic structure of the middle atmosphere. These data were obtained at Poker Flat, Alaska, on May 13 and 14, 1990, during a midday, highly relativistic electron (HRE) precipitation event. Solid state detectors were used to measure the electron fluxes and their energy spectra. An X ray scintillator was included on each flight to measure bremsstrahlung X rays produced by energetic electrons impacting on the upper atmosphere. However, these were found the be of negligible importance for this particular event. The energy deposition by the electrons has been determined from the flux measurements and compared with in situ measurements of the atmospheric electrical response. The electrodynamic measurements were obtained by the same rockets and additionally on May 13, with an accompanying rocket. The impact flux was highly irregular, containing short-lived bursts of relativistic electrons, mainly with energies below 0.5 MeV and with fluxes most enhanced between pitch angles of 0 deg - 20 deg. Although the geostationary counterpart of this measured event was considered to be of relatively low intensity and hardness, energy deposition peaked near 75 km with fluxes approaching an ion pair production rate in excess of 100/cu cm s. This exceeds peak fluxes in relativistic electron precipitation (REP) events as observed by us in numerous rocket soundings since 1976. Conductivity measurements from a blunt probe showed that negative electrical conductivities exceeded positive conductivities down to 50 km or lower, consistent with steady ionization by precipitating electrons above 1 MeV. These findings imply that the electrons from the outer radiation zone can modulate the electrical properties of the middle atmosphere to altitudes below 50 km. During the decline and activity minimum of the current solar cycle, we anticipate the occurence of similar events but with fluxes 1-2 orders of magnitude above that reported here, based on studies of earlier solar cycles (e.g., Baker et al., 1993).

Description: Nitrous oxide (N2O) measured on board the ER-2 aircraft during the Airborne Arctic Stratospheric Expedition 2 (AASE 2) has been used to monitor descent of air inside the Arctic vortex between October 1991 and March 1992. Monthly mean N2O fields are calculated from the flight data and then compared with mean fields calculated from the high-resolution Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory general circulation model SKYHI in order to evaluate the model's simulation of the polar vortex. From late fall through winter the model vortex evolves in much the same way as the 1991-1992 vortex, with N2O gradients at the edge becoming progressively steeper. The October to March trends in N2O profiles inside the vortex are used to verify daily net heating rates in the vortex that were computed from clear sky radiative heating rates and National Meteorological Center temperature observations. The computed heating rates successfully estimate the descent of vortex air from December through February but suggest that before December, air at high latitudes may not be isolated from the midlatitudes. SKYHI heating rates are in good agreement with the computed rates but tend to be slightly higher (i.e., less cooling) due to meteorological differences between SKYHI and the 1991-1992 winter. Three ER-2 flights measured N2O just north of the subtropical jet. These low-midlatitude profiles show only slight differences from the high-midlatitude profiles (45 deg - 60 deg N), indicating strong meridional mixing in the midlatitude 'surf zone.' Mean midwinter N2O profiles inside and outside the vortex calculated from AASE 2 data are shown to be nearly identical to 1989 AASE profiles, pointing to the N2O/potential temperature relationship as an excellent marker for vortex air.

Description: The combined Nimbus 7 solar backscattered ultraviolet (SBUV) and NOAA 11 SBUV/2 ozone data, covering a period of more than a solar cycle (about 15 years), are used to study the UV response of ozone in the stratosphere. The study shows that about 2% change in total column ozone and about 5-7% change in ozone mixing ratio in the upper stratosphere (0.7 to 2 hPa) may be attributed to the change in the solar UV flux over a solar cycle. In the upper stratosphere, where photochemical processes are expected to play a major role, the measured solar cycle variation of ozone is significantly larger than inferred either from the photochemical models or from the ozone response to the 27-day solar UV modulation. For example, the observed solar cycle related change in ozone mixing ratio at 2 hPa is about 1% for 1% change in the solar UV flux near 200 nm. The inferred change in ozone from either the photochemical models or from the 27-day ozone-UV response is about a factor of 2-3 lower than this value.

Description: Vertical profiles of N2O and NO(y) taken by the ER-2 outside the vortex are used to construct average vertical profiles of F(NO(y)) = NO(y)/(A-N2O), where A is the tropospheric content of N2O three years prior to the measurements. The southern hemisphere had less nitrous oxide in the range 400 less than Theta less than 470 K, by up to 25% relative to the northern hemisphere. F(NO(y)) is the ratio of NOy produced to N2O lost in a stratospheric air mass since entry from the troposphere. The profiles of F(NO(y)) have the following characteristics: (1) Relative to 1991-1992, a year without denitrification inside or outside the vortex, the northern hemisphere in 1988-1989 showed denitrification outside the vortex ranging up to 25% and averaging 17% above Theta = 425 K. (2) Relative to the northern hemisphere in 1991-1992, the southern hemisphere in 1987 showed denitrification outside the vortex ranging up to 32% and averaging 20% above Theta = 400 K. (3) Below Theta = 400 K the southern hemisphere showed enhancements of F(NO(y)) relative to the northern hemisphere in 1991-1992 ranging up to 200% at Theta = 375 K, outside the vortex. Corresponding profiles of residual water, R(H2O) = H2O - 2(1.6 - CH4), are considered and shown to be consistent with those of F(NO(y)) in the sense that they show deficits outside the Antarctic vortex, which was both dehydrated and denitrified, but not outside the 1988-1989 Arctic vortex, which was denitrified but not dehydrated. R(H2O) is the water content of stratospheric air with the contribution from methane oxidation subtracted. Comparison of F(NO(y)) and R(H2O) below 400 K outside the Antarctic vortex leads to the suggetion that dehydration in the Antarctic vortex occurs by the sedimentation of ice crystals large enough to fall out of the stratosphere, whereas denitrification occurs mainly on mixed nitric acid-water crystals which evaporate below the base of the vortex at Theta = 400 K but above the tropopause.

Description: We have found a new way to make Thorne-Zytkow objects, which are massive stars with degenerate neutron cores. The asymmetric kick given to the neutron star formed when the primary of a massive tight binary system explodes as a supernova sometimes has the appropriate direction and amplitude to place the newly formed neutron star into a bound orbit with a pericenter distance smaller than the radius of the secondary. Consequently, the neutron star becomes embedded in the secondary. Thorne-Zytkow objects are expected to look like extreme M-type supergiants, assuming that they can avoid a runaway neutrino instability. Accretion onto the embedded neutron star will produce either an isolated, spun-up neutron star (possibly a short-period pulsar) or a black hole. Whether neutron star or black hole remnants predominate depends on the lifetime of Thorne-Zytkow objects, the accretion rates involved, and the maximum neutron star mass, none of which are definitively understood.

Description: Observations of the red supergiant (M2 Iab) alpha Ori with the Goddard High Resolution Spectrograph (GHRS) on board the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) have provided an unambiguous detection of a far-ultraviolet (far-UV) chromospheric continuum on which are superposed strong molecular absorption bands. The absorption bands have been identified by Carpenter et al. (1994) with the fourth-positive A-X system of CO and are likely formed in the circumstellar shell. Comparison of these GHRS data with archival International Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE) spectra of alpha Ori indicates that both the continuum and the CO absorption features can be seen with IUE, especially if multiple IUE spectra, reduced with the post-1981 IUESIPS extraction procedure (i.e., with an oversampling slit), are carefully coadded to increase the signal to noise over that obtainable with a single spectrum. We therefore initiated a program, utilizing both new and archival IUE Short Wavelength Prime (SWP) spectra, to survey 15 cool, low-gravity stars, including alpha Ori, for the presence of these two new chromospheric and circumstellar shell diagnostics. We establish positive detections of far-UV stellar continua, well above estimated IUE in-order scattered light levels, in spectra of all of the program stars. However, well-defined CO absorption features are seen only in the alpha Ori spectra, even though spectra of most of the program stars have sufficient signal to noise to allow the dectection of features of comparable magnitude to the absorptions seen in alpha Ori. Clearly if CO is present in the circumstellar environments of any of these stars, it is at much lower column densities.

Description: The giant radio galaxy NGC 6251 is a particularly good object for observational tests of relativistic jet models. Due to its high declination and approximately 0.5 Jy radio nucleus, high-quality Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) images of the central regions of the source can be made with northern hemisphere arrays. In addition, the large-scale radio morphology strongly suggests that the radio axis lies close to the plane of the sky, so Doppler boosting should be less extreme than in the core-dominated superluminal sources. Earlier 18 cm VLBI observations of NGC 6251 revealed an unexpectedly large jet/counterjet brightness ratio and small transverse motion of a feature in the parsec-scale jet. These early results are difficult to reconcile with the simplest symmetric relativistic jet models. In this paper we present a third-epoch 18 cm VLBI image of the parsec-scale radio jet in NGC 6251, and compare jet morphology over a 5 year time span. The jet shows a minor brightness peak at nearly the same distance from the core as the '25 mas knot' seen in the first- and second-epoch VLBI images. This feature is much less pronounced in the third epoch, and a relatively bright, new knot has appeared approximately 12 mas from the core. If this new component had a constant brightness during the 5 years separating the first and third observing epochs, then it must have moved away from the core with an apparent speed of at least 1.2c (compared with an upper limit of 0.23c for motion of the 25 mas knot). However, we cannot yet rule out a local brightening of the inner jet in favor of a new moving component. We determine a lower limit for the jet/couterjet brightness ratio of 100:1 within 6 mas of the core. We also present a new Very Large Array (VLA) image of the kpc-scale jet with 3 sec resolution, made from data obtained during the VLBI observations. The rate of decrease in jet surface brightness from parsec to kiloparsec scales is similar to jets in known superluminal radio sources.

Description: During January and August 1985, the scanning radiometers of the Earth Radiation Budget Experiment(ERBE) aboard the Earth Radiation Budget Satellite (ERBS) and the NOAA-9 satellite were operated in along-track scanning modes. Along-track scanning permits the study of many measurement problems. It provides the data for developing a limb-darkening model for a single site over a short period of time and also permits the indentification of the scene from data taken at smaller nadir angles. The earth-emitted radiation measured by the scanners has been analyzed to produce limb-darkening models for a variety of scene types. Limb-darkening models relate the radiance in any given direction to the radiant flux. The scene types were computed using measurements within 10 deg of zenith. The models have values near zenith of 1.02-1.09. The typical zenith values of the model are 1.06 for both day and night for ERBS, and for NOAA-9, 1.06 for day and 1.05 for night. Mean models are formed for the ERBS and NOAA-9 results and are found to differ less than 1%, the ERBS results being the higher. The models vary about 1% with latitude near zenith and agree with earlier models that were used to analyze ERBE data typically to 2%.

Description: We compute the three-point temperature correlation function of the Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) Differential Microwave Radiometer (DMR) first-year sky maps to search for non-Gaussian temperature fluctuations. The level of fluctuations seen in the computed correlation function are too large to be attributable solely to instrument noise. However the fluctuations are consistent with the level expected to result from a superposition of istrument noise and sky signal arising from a Gaussian power-law model of initial fluctuations, with a quadrupole normalized amplitude of 17 micro K and a power-law spectral index n = 1. We place limits on the amplitude of intrinsic three-point correlations with a variety of predicted functional forms.

Description: The Burst and Transient Source Experiment on the Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory detected 260 cosmic gamma-ray bursts during the period 19 Apr 1991 to 5 Mar 1992. This paper presents the occurrence times, locations, peak count rates, peak fluxes, fluences, durations, and plots of time histories for these bursts. The angular distribution is consistent with isotropy. The intensity distribution shows a deficit in the number of weak bursts, which is not consistent with a homogeneous distribution of burst sources in Euclidean space. The duration distribution shows evidence for a separate class of bursts with durations less than about 2 seconds.

Description: A simple method for deriving well-behaved temperature solutions to the equation of hydrostatic equilibrium for intracluster media with X-ray imaging observations is presented and applied to a series of generalized models as well as to observations of the Perseus cluster and Abell 2256. In these applications the allowed range in the ratio of nonbaryons to baryons as a function of radius is derived, taking into account the uncertainties and crude spatial resolution of the X-ray spectra and considering a range of physically reasonable mass models with various scale heights. Particular attention is paid to the central regions of the cluster, and it is found that the dark matter can be sufficiently concentrated to be consistent with the high central mass surface densities for moderate-redshift clusters from their gravitational lensing properties.

Description: Electric dipole transition matrix elements for rovibrational transitions in the X (sup 1)Sigma(sup +) state of the CO minor isotopes (14)C(16)O and (13)C(17)O are calculated for the first time for all the delta v = +1, +2, and +3 transitions for which v less than or equal to 20 and J less than or equal to 150. Improved electric dipole transition matrix elements are also calculated for the minor isotopes (12)C(17)O, (12)C(18)O, (13)C(18)O. We have fitted polynomials to these matrix elements as a function of the parameter m which is defined in terms of the lower state angular momentum quantum number J; the convenient to use polynomial representations are given in tabular form. These results for the minor species of CO complement those previously reported by us for (12)C(16)O and (13)C(16)O.

Description: One of the oldest mysteries in geomagnetism is the linkage between solar and geomagnetic activity. In investigating the causes of geomagnetic storms occurring during solar maximum, the following topics are discussed: solar phenomena; types of solar wind; magnetic reconnection and magnetic storms; an interplanetary example; and future space physics missions.

Description: Atmospheric mass loading produces a primarily vertical displacement of the Earth's crust. This displacement is correlated with surface pressure and is large enough to be detected by very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) measurements. Using the measured surface pressure at VLBI stations, we have estimated the atmospheric loading term for each station location directly from VLBI data acquired from 1979 to 1992. Our estimates of the vertical sensitivity to change in pressure range from 0 to -0.6 mm/mbar depending on the station. These estimates agree with inverted barometer model calculations (Manabe et al., 1991; vanDam and Herring, 1994) of the vertical displacement sensitivity computed by convolving actual pressure distributions with loading Green's functions. The pressure sensitivity tends to be smaller for stations near the coast, which is consistent with the inverted barometer hypothesis. Applying this estimated pressure loading correction in standard VLBI geodetic analysis improves the repeatability of estimated lengths of 25 out of 37 baselines that were measured at least 50 times. In a root-sum-square (rss) sense, the improvement generally increases with baseline length at a rate of about 0.3 to 0.6 ppb depending on whether the baseline stations are close to the coast. For the 5998-km baseline from Westford, Massachusetts, to Wettzell, Germany, the rss improvement is about 3.6 mm out of 11.0 mm. The average rss reduction of the vertical scatter for inland stations ranges from 2.7 to 5.4 mm.

Description: A theoretical model is used to describe and investigate the effects of simultaneous crystallization, radiation loss, and entrainment of cooler material on the temperature of a well-mixed core of an active aa lava flow. Entrainment of crust, levee debris, and base material into the interior of active flows has been observed, but the degree of assimilation and the thermal consequences are difficult to quantify. The rate of entrainment can be constrained by supplementing the theoretical model with information on the crystallization along the path of the flow and estimation of the radiative loss from the flow interior. Application of the model is demonstrated with the 1984 Mauna Loa flow, which was erupted about 30 C undercooled. Without any entrainment of cooler material, the high crystallization rates would have driven temperatures in the core wall above temperatures measured by thermocouple and estimated from glass geothermometry. One plausible scenario for this flow, which agrees with available temperature and crystallinity measurements, has a high initial rate of entrainment during the first 8 hours of travel (a mass ratio of entrained material to fluid core of about 15% if the average temperature of the entrained material was 600 C), which counterbalances the latent heat from approximately 40% crystallization. In this scenario, the model suggests an additional 5% crystallization and a 5% entrainment mass ratio over the subsequent 16-hour period. Measurements of crystallization, radiative losses, and entrainment factors are necessary for understanding the detailed thermal histories of active lava flows.

Description: The data from the infrared telescope (IRT), which was flown on space shuttle Challenger Spacelab 2 mission (July 1985), were originally reported by Koch et al. (1987) as originating from near orbital emissions, primarily H2O. In this study, analysis of this data was extended to determine the collisional cross sections for the excitation of the low lying vibrational levels of H2O, present in the orbiter cloud, by atmospheric O(3P). The evaluation of the contribution to the measured signal from solar excitation and ram O excitation of outgassing H2O permits the determination of the H2O column density and the excitation cross section of the (101) level at an O(3P) velocity of approximately 7.75 km/s. Contributions to the radiation in the 1.7-3.0 micron band by transitions from the (100), (001), and multiquantum excited levels are discussed. The findings of the study are (1) the IRT data for the 4.5-9.5 micron and the nighttime data for the 1.7-3.0 micron sensors are consistent with being explained by collision excitation of H2O by O(3P), (2) diurnal variations of 4.5-9.5 micron intensities follow the model predicted O density for a full orbit, (3) daytime increases in the H2O cloud density were not evident, (4) the cross sections for the collisional excitation process are derived and compared to values computated by Johnson (1986) and Redmon et al. (1986), (5) theoretical investigation suggests greater than 60% of the radiation from H2O is a result of multiphoton emission resulting from collisional multiquanta excitation, and (6) the large daytime increase in the 1.7-3.0 micron intensity data suggests that O(+) may likely be instrumental in producing excited H2O(+) through charge exchange.

Description: We present six ROSAT Position-Sensitive Proportional Counter (PSPC) observations of Seyfert 1 galaxies chosen to have low Galactic line-of-sight absorption (N(sub H) approx. = 10(exp 20)/sq cm). As expected, it is found that all of these sources possess significantly steeper spectra below approximately 1 keV, than that observed at higher X-ray energies. In addition we find evidence for soft X-ray spectral features, which are best parameterized as line emission at approximately 0.63 keV in NGC7469 and approximately 0.75 keV in ESO198-G24. We examine these results in the light of the accuracy of the PSPC spectral calibration. We suggest that Seyfert galaxies are a class of object whose spectra are similar to the diffuse X-ray background in the soft X-ray band. We suggest these data provide the first direct evidence that the sources which dominate the background differ as a function of energy.

Description: NASA's Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) carries three scientific instruments to make precise measurements of the spectrum and anisotropy of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation on angular scales greater than 7 deg and to conduct a search for a diffuse cosmic infrared background (CIB) radiation with 0.7 deg angular resolution. Data from the Far-Infrared Absolute Spectrophotometer (FIRAS) show that the spectrum of the CMB is that of a blackbody of temperature T = 2.73 +/- 0.06 K, with no deviation from a blackbody spectrum greater than 0.25% of the peak brightness. The first year of data from the Differential Microwave Radiometers (DMR) show statistically significant CMB anisotropy. The anisotropy is consistent with a scale invariant primordial density fluctuation spectrum. Infrared sky brightness measurements from the Diffuse Infrared Background Experiment (DIRBE) provide new conservative upper limits to the CIB. Extensive modeling of solar system and galactic infrared foregrounds is required for further improvement in the CIB limits.

Description: We report on the evolution in the X-ray spectrum of the transient X-ray pulsar EXO 2030+375 during part of an outburst in 1985 May-August. The overall continuum spectral shape is similar to that of other accreting pulsars and can be represented by a power-law spectrum modified at low energies by significant absorption and at high-energies either by an exponential cut-off or by the effects of cyclotron scattering. As the luminosity decreased by a factor of approximately 100, the X-ray spectrum became harder with the photon index decreasing from 1.83 +/- 0.01 to 1.29 +/- 0.01. In addition, the high-energy cutoff decreased from 20 to 10 keV during the same interval. If the cutoff is interpreted in terms of cyclotron resonance scattering, then this implies a magnetic field strength that decreased from 2.6 x 10(exp 12) G to 1.3 x 10(exp 12) G. This variation implies that the cutoff energy does not provide a reliable measure of the surface magnetic field strength in this system.

Description: A more appropriate title for this talk would have been 'Measurements of Large Scale Structure from X-ray Background Fluctuations'. While it has long been recognized that the X-ray Background (XRB) is primarily of a cosmological origin (with z less than a few), it has recently become apparent that surface brightness fluctuations in the surveys of the XRB can be used to trace the distribution of matter in much the same way as complete catalogs of individual objects. The distance which is probed is related to the angular resolution of the detector; for the HEAO-1 A2 experiment, which provides the best all-sky data base for the XRB in the 2-20 keV band, the effective depth is a few 100 Mpc.

Description: The observational selection bias properties of the large Mathewson-Ford-Buchhorn (MFB) sample of axies are demonstrated by showing that the apparent Hubble constant incorrectly increases outward when determined using Tully-Fisher (TF) photometric distances that are uncorreted for bias. It is further shown that the value of H(sub 0) so determined is also multivlaued at a given redshift when it is calculated by the TF method using galaxies with differenct line widths. The method of removing this unphysical contradiction is developed following the model of the bias set out in Paper II. The model developed further here shows that the appropriate TF magnitude of a galaxy that is drawn from a flux-limited catalog not only is a function of line width but, even in the most idealistic cases, requires a triple-entry correction depending on line width, apparent magnitude, and catalog limit. Using the distance-limited subset of the data, it is shown that the mean intrinsic dispersion of a bias-free TF relation is high. The dispersion depends on line width, decreasing from sigma(M) = 0.7 mag for galaxies with rotational velocities less than 100 km s(exp-1) to sigma(M) = 0.4 mag for galaxies with rotational velocities greater than 250 km s(exp-1). These dispersions are so large that the random errors of the bias-free TF distances are too gross to detect any peculiar motions of individual galaxies, but taken together the data show again the offset of 500 km s(exp-1) fond both by Dressler & Faber and by MFB for galaxies in the direction of the putative Great Attractor but described now in a different way. The maximum amplitude of the bulk streaming motion at the Local Group is approximately 500 km s(exp-1) but the perturbation dies out, approaching the Machian frame defined by the CMB at a distance of approximately 80 Mpc (v is approximately 4000 km s(exp -1)). This decay to zero perturbation at v is approximately 4000 km s(exp -1) argues against existing models with a single attraction at approximately 4500 km s(exp -1) (the Great Attactor model) pulling the local region. Rather, the cause of the perturbation appears to be the well-known clumpy mass distribution within 4000 km s(exp -1) in the busy directions of Hydra, Centaurus, Antila and Dorado, as postulated earlier (Tammann & Sandage 1985).

Description: Observations of stratospheric column amounts of nitrogen dioxide (NO2), nitric oxide (NO) and nitric acid (HNO3) have been made following major eruptions of the El Chichon and Mt. Pintatubo volcanoes. Midlatitude abundances of NO2 and NO were reduced by as much as 70% in the months following the appearance of the volcanic aerosols as compared to volcanically quite periods. There are heterogeneous reactions which could occur on the volcanic aerosols to convert NO2 into HNO3 but no commensurate increase in HNO3 column amounts was observed at the times of NO2 decrease.

Description: Nonthermal radio emission has been observed from some of the most luminous hot star winds. It is understood to be synchrotron radiation of the relativistic electrons in the winds. To understand how the electrons are accelerated to such high energies and to correctly explain the observed radio flux and spectra require an exhaustive investigation of all the relevant physical processes involved and possibly point to a complex wind structure. In this paper we discuss the logical path toward a comprehensive model of the nonthermal radio emission from hot star winds. Based on the available observational data and fundamental theoretical considerations, we found that the only physically viable and self-consistent scenario is: the nonthermal radio emission is synchrotron radiation of relativistic electrons the electrons are accelerated by shocks via the first-order Fermi mechanism the acceleration has to be in situ in the radio emitting region and the shocks formed at the base of the winds have to propagate to beyond the radio photosphere.

Description: Extensive observations of the molecular gas in the young, compact planetary nebula M1-16 have been made, using the Swedish-ESO-Submillimeter Telescope. A map of the CO J = 2-1 emission shows that the molecular envelope contains both a slow and a fast outflow with expansion velocities of 19 km/s and greater than 34 km/s, respectively. The slow outflow is mildly elliptical, while the fast molecular outflow is bipolar. This fast outflow is roughly aligned with the very fast outflows recently found in the optical, while the long axis of the slow elliptical outflow is roughly orthogonal to the optical outflow axis. The kinematic timescales for the CO fast outflow and the optical very fast outflow agree closely, supporting the view that the former represents material in the slow outflow accelerated by the very fast outflow. The kinematic signature of a disk expanding with about 15.5 km/s can also be seen in the CO J = 2-1 data. The mass-loss rate (a) for the slow outflow is greater than or equal to 2.8 x 10(exp -5) solar mass/yr and possibly as large as 9 x 10(exp -5) solar mass/yr, (b) for the fast outflow is greater than or equal to 5 x 10(exp -6) solar mass/yr, and (c) for the very fast optically visible outflow is approximately equal 5 x 10(exp -7) solar mass/yr. The disk mass is approximately equal 6 x 10(exp -3) solar mass. Grain photoelectric heating results in temperatures of 20-70 K in molecular gas of the slow outflow. The (13)C/(12)C abundance ratio in M1-16 is found to be 0.33, quite possibly the highest found for any evolved object. Upper limits for the (18)O/(16)O and (17)O/(16)O ratios were found to be consistent with the values found in AGB stars. A search for other molecular species in M1-16 resulted in the detection of the high-excitation species HCN, CN, (13)CN, HCO(+), and H(13)CO(+) and possibly N2H(+). Both the HCO(+)/HCN and CN/HCN line-intensity ratios are enhanced, the former by a very large factor, over the values found in the envelopes of AGB stars, probably as a result of enhancement of the CN and HCO(+) abundances due to photochemistry induced by the stellar UV. The CS J = 2-1, SiO J = 2-1 (v = 0), and SiS J = 6-5 lines were not detected to low levels. For the high-excitation molecules, adequate collisional excitation of rotational levels and survival against photodissociation by the UV radiation requires significant clumping of the molecular gas into clumps with H2 densities approximately 10(exp 5)/cu cm. The IRAS fluxes of M1-16, assuming negligible contribution from line emission, imply the presence of about (1.7-0.4) x 10(exp -3) solar mass of cool dust (temperature around 50 K) and a smaller quantity, (2.7-3.1) x 10(exp -6) solar mass, of warmer dust (temperature around 125 K) for a power-law emissivity index p = 1-2. The evolutionary nature of M1-16 cannot be explained by existing single-star models of post-AGB evolution. The very high (13)C/(12)C abundance ratio in M1-16 suggests a possible evolutionary connection between M1-16 and the rare class of J-type silicate-carbon stars which also have high (13)C/(12)C ratios and are thought to be binary systems with accretion disks.

Description: We have observed the C91 alpha radio recombination line toward the Orion H II region. This narrow (approximately 3-5 km per sec full width at half maximum (FWHM)) line is spatially very extended (approximately 8 arcmin or 1 pc). These charateristics compare well with the observed characteristics of the C II fine structure line at 158 microns. Thus, the C91 alpha line originates in the predominantly neutral photodissociation regions separating the H II region from the molecular cloud. We have developed theoretical models for the C II radio recombination lines from photodissociation regions. The results show that the I(C91 alpha)/I(C158) intensity ratio is a sensitive function of the temperature and density of the emitting gas. We have also extended theoretical models for photodissociation regions to include the C II recombination lines. Comparison with these models show that, in the central portion of the Orion region, the C91 alpha line originates in dense (10(exp 6) per cu cm), warm (500-1000 K) gas. Even at large projected distances (approximately 1 pc), the inferred density is still high (10(exp 5) per cu cm) and implies extremely high thermal pressures. As in the case of the (C II) 158 microns line, the large extent of the C91 alpha line shows that (FUV) photons can penetrate to large distances from the illuminating source. The decline of the intensity of the incident radiation field with distance from Theta(sup 1) C seems to be dominated by geometrical dilution, rather than dust extinction. Finally, we have used our models to calculate the intensity of the 9850 A recombination line of C II. The physical conditions inferred from this line are in good agreement with those determined from the radio recombination and the far-infrared fine-structure lines. We show that the ratio of the 9850 A to the C91 alpha lines is a very good probe of very high density clumps.

Description: The devolatilization of calcium sulfate, which is present in the target rock of the Chicxulub, Mexico impact structure, and dispersal in the stratosphere of the resultant sulfuric acid aerosol have been suggested as a possible mechanism for the Cretaceous-Tertiary extinctions. We measured the amount of SO2 produced from two shock-induced devolatilization reactions of calcium sulfate up to 42 GPa in the laboratory. We found both to proceed to a much lower extent than calculated by equilibrium thermodynamic calculations. Reaction products are found to be approx. 10(exp -2) times those calculated for equilibrium. Upon modeling the quantity of sulfur oxides degassed into the atmosphere from shock devolatilization of CaSO4 in the Chicxulub lithographic section, the resulting 9 x 10(exp 16) to 6 x 10(exp 17) g (in sulfur mass) is lower by a factor of 10-100 than previous upper limit estimates, the related environmental stress arising from the resultant global cooling and fallout of acid rain is insufficient to explain the widespread K-T extinctions.

Description: Energetic atomic (O(+1) and N(+1)) and molecular (O2(+1), NO(+1), and N2(+1)) ions of ionospheric origin were observed in Earth's magnetotail at X approximately -146 R(sub E) during two plasma sheet sunward/tailward flow-reversal events measured by instruments on the GEOTAIL spacecraft. These events were associated with concurrent ground-measured geomagnetic disturbance intensification at auroral-and mid-latitudes (Kp = 7(-)). Energetic ions in the sunward-component and tailward flows were from both the solar wind and ionosphere. Plasma and energetic ions participated in the flows. During tailward flow, ionospheric origin ion abundance ratios at approximately 200-900 km/s in the rest frame were N(+1)/O(+1) = approximately 25-30% and ((O2(+1), NO(+1), and N2(+1))/O(+1) = approximately 1-2%. We argue that tailward flow most likely initiated approximately 80-100 R(sub E) tailward of Earth and molecular ions were in the plasma sheet prior to geomagnetic intensification onset.

Description: Wave forms of BEN (Broadband Electrostatic Noise) in the geomagnetic tail were first detected by the Wave Form Capture reciever on the GEOTAIL spacecraft. The results show that most of the BEN in the plasma sheet boundary layer (PSBL) are not continuous broadband noise but are composed of a series of solitary pulses having a special form which we term 'Electrostatic Solitary Waves (ESW)'. A nonlinear BGK potential model is proposed as the generation mechanism for the ESW based upon a simple particle simulation which considers the highly nonlinear evolution of the electron beam instability. The wave forms produced by this simulation are very similar to those observed by GEOTAIL and suggest that the nonlinear dynamics of the electron beam play an essential role in the generation of ESW.

Description: Radiometric (K-Ar and Ar-40/Ar-39) age determinations of volcanic and volcaniclastic rocks, combined with structural, gravity, and seismic reflection data, are used to constrain the age of sedimentary strata contained within the seismically and volcanically active northern Malawi (Nyasa) rift and to characterize changes in basin and flank morphologies with time. Faulting and volcanism within the Tukuyu-Karonga basin began at approximately 8.6 Ma, when sediments were deposited in abroad, initially asymmetric lake basin bounded on its northeastern side by a border fault system with minor topographic relief. Extensions, primarily by a slip along the border fault, and subsequent regional isostatic compensation led to the development of a 5-km-deep basin bounded by broad uplifted flanks. Along the low-relief basin margin opposite border fault, younger stratigraphic sequences commonly onlap older wedge-shaped sequences, although their internal geometry is often progradational. Intrabasinal faulting, flankuplift, and basaltic and felsic volcanism from centers at the northern end of the basin became more important at about 2.5 Ma when cross-rift transfer faults developed to link the Tukuyu-Karonga basin to the Rukwa basin. Local uplift and volcanic construction at the northern end of the basin led to a southeastward shift in the basin's depocenter. Sequence boundaries are commonly erosional along this low-relief (hanging wall) margin and conformable in the deep lake basin. The geometry of stratigraphic sequences and the distribution of the erosion indicate that horizontal and vertical crustal movements both across and along the length of the rift basin led to changes in levels of the lake, irrespective of paleoclimatic fluctuations.

Description: Statistical uncertainties in determining the temperatures of hot (0.5-10 keV) coronal plasmas are investigated. The statistical presicion of various spectral temperature diagnostics is established by analyzing synthetic ASCA solid-state imaging spectrometer (SIS) CCD spectra. The diagnostics considered are the ratio of hydrogen-like to helium-like line complexes of Z greater than or = 14 elements, line-free portions of the continuum, and the entire spectrum. While fits to the entire spectrum yield the highest statistical precision, it is argued that fits to the line-free continuum are less susceptible to atomic data uncertainties but lead to a modest increase in statistical uncertainty over full spectral fits. Temperatures deduced from line ratios can have similar accuracy, but only over a narrow range of temperatures. Convenient estimates of statistical accuracies for the various temperature diagnostics are provided which may be used in planning ASCA SIS observations.

Description: The shape of the velocity distribution of water group ions observed by the Giotto ion mass spectrometer on its approach to comet Halley is modeled to derive empirical values for the rates of ionization, energy diffusion, and loss in the midcometosheath. The model includes the effect of rapid pitch angle scattering into a bispherical shell distribution as well as the effect of the magnetization of the plasma on the charge exchange loss rate. It is found that the average rate of ionization of cometary neutrals in this region of the cometosheath appears to be of the order of a factor 3 faster than the `standard' rates approx. 1 x 10(exp -6)/s that are generally assumed to model the observations in most regions of the comet environment. For the region of the coma studied in the present work (approx. 1 - 2 x 10(exp 5) km from the nucleus), the inferred energy diffusion coefficient is D(sub 0) approx. equals 0.0002 to 0.0005 sq km/cu s, which is generally lower than values used in other models. The empirically obtained loss rate appears to be about an order of magnitude greater than can be explained by charge exchange with the `standard' cross section of approx. 2 x 10(exp -15)sq cm. However such cross sections are not well known and for water group ion/water group neutral interactions, rates as high as 8 x 10(exp -15) sq cm have previously been suggested in the literature. Assuming the entire loss rate is due to charge exchange yields a rate of creation of fast neutral atoms of the order of approx. 10(exp -4)/s or higher, depending on the level of velocity diffusion. The fast neutrals may, in turn, be partly responsible for the higher-than-expected ionization rate.

Description: HH 80-81 are two optically visible Herbig-Haro (HH) objects located about 5 minutes south of their exciting source IRAS 18162-2048. Displaced symmetrically to the north of this luminous IRAS source, a possible HH counterpart was recently detected as a radio continuum source with the very large array (VLA). This radio source, HH 80 North, has been proposed to be a member of the Herbig-Haro class since its centimeter flux density, angular size, spectral index, and morphology are all similar to those of HH 80. However, no object has been detected at optical wavelengths at the position of HH 80 North, possibly because of high extinction, and the confirmation of the radio continuum source as an HH object has not been possible. In the prototypical Herbig-Haro objects HH 1 and 2, ammonia emission has been detected downstream of the flow in both objects. This detection has been intepreted as a result of an enhancement in the ammonia emission produced by the radiation field of the shock associated with the HH object. In this Letter we report the detection of the (1,1) and (2,2) inversion transitions of ammonia downstream HH 80 North. This detection gives strong suppport to the interpretation of HH 80 North as a heavily obscured HH object. In addition, we suggest that ammonia emission may be a tracer of embedded Herbig-Haro objects in other regions of star formation. A 60 micrometer IRAS source could be associated with HH 80 North and with the ammonia condensation. A tentative explanation for the far-infrared emission as arising in dust heated by their optical and UV radiation of the HH object is presented.

Description: We report on the observations of a number of quasi-dc electric field events associated with large-scale atmospheric weather formations. The observations were made by the electric field experiment onboard the San Marco D satellite, operational in an equatorial orbit from May to December 1988. Several theoretical studies suggest that electric fields generated by thunderstorms are present at high altitudes in the ionosphere. In spite of such favorable predictions, weather-related events are not often observed since they are relatively weak. We shall report here on a set of likely E field candidates for atmospheric-ionospheric causality, these being observed over the Indonesian Basin, northern South America, and the west coast of Africa; all known sites of atmospheric activity. As we shall demonstrate, individual events often be traced to specific active weather features. For example, a number of events were associated with spacecraft passages near Hurricane Joan in mid-October 1988. As a statistical set, the events appear to coincide with the most active regions of atmospheric weather.

Description: The Giotto ion mass spectrometer high-intensity spectrometer (IMS-HIS) measured fluxes of ions from about 260,000 km before (1008:37 UT spacecraft time) to about 86,000 km after (1701:33 UT spacecraft time) closest approach to comet P/Grigg-Skjellerup during the encounter on July 10, 1992. Although the HIS sensor was not designed to measure protons, these ions were measured far from the comet. Close in to the comet, the ions observed were probably also protons, although heavier ions cannot be completely ruled out. Considerable temporal structure appears in the data, well-correlated with the data of other instruments onboard, especially those of the magnetometer. In particular, the ion count rate correlates with the direction of the magnetic field. This strong modulation at the water group ion cyclotron period (approx. 90 s) inside the inbound bow wave indicates a very narrow ion pitch angle distribution. Hence at Grigg-Skjellerup the ions appear to experience very little pitch angle scattering. This may result from strong compression in the rapidly increasing magnetic field.

Description: In 1970 the International Astronomical Union (IAU) defined any object's north pole to be that axis of rotation which lies north of the solar system's invariable plane. A competing definition in widespread use at some institutions followed the 'right hand rule' whereby the 'north' axis of rotation was generally said to be that of the rotational angular momentum. In the case of the latter definition, the planet Neptune and its satellite Triton would have their 'north' poles in opposite hemispheres because Triton's angular momentum vector is in the hemisphere opposite from that of Neptune's rotation angular momentum. The IAU resolutions have been somewhat controversial in some quarters ever since their adoption. A Working Group has periodically updated the recommended values of planet and satellite poles and rotation rates in accordance with the IAU definition of north and the IAU definition of prime meridian. Neither system is completely satisfactory in the perception of all scientists, and some confusion has been generated by publishing data in the two different systems. In this paper we review the IAU definitions of north and of the location of prime meridian and we present the algorithm which has been employed in determining the rotational parameters of the natural satellites. The IAU definition of the prime meridian contains some ambiguities which in practice have been 'specified' by the numerical values published by the IAU working group but which have not yet been explicitly documented. The purpose of this paper is to explicitly document the algorithm employed by the IAU working group in specifying satellite poles and rotation rates.

Description: A radiation model, together with National Meteorological Center temperature observations, was used to compute daily net heating rates in the northern hemisphere (NH) for the Arctic late fall and winter periods of both 1988-1989 and 1991-1992 and in the southern hemisphere (SH) for the Antarctic fall and winters of 1987 and 1992. The heating rates were interpolated to potential temperature (theta) surfaces between 400 K and 2000 K and averaged within the polar vortex, the boundary of which was determined by the maximum gradient in potential vorticity. The averaged heating rates were used in a one-dimensional vortex interior descent model to compute the change in potential temperature with time of air parcels initialized at various theta values, as well as to compute the descent in log pressure coodinates. In the NH vortex, air parcels which were initialized at 18 km on November 1, descended about 6 km by March 21, while air initially at 25 km descended 9 km in the same time period. this represents an average descent rate in the lower stratosphere of 1.3 to 2 km per month. Air initialized at 50 km descended 27 km between November 1 and March 21. In the SH vortex, parcels initialized at 18 km on March 1, descended 3 km, while air at 25 km descended 5-7 km by the end of October. This is equivalent to an average descent in the lower stratosphere of 0.4 to 0.9 km per month during this 8-month period. Air initialized at 52 km descended 26-29 km between March 1 and October 31. In both the NH and the SH, computed descent rates increased markedly with height. The descent for the NH winter of 1992-1993 and the SH winter of 1992 computed with a three-dimensional trajectory model using the same radiation code was within 1 to 2 km of that calculated by the one-dimensional model, thus validating the vortex averaging procedure. The computed descent rates generally agree well with observations of long-lived tracers, thus validating the radiative transfer model.

Description: In this paper we report radiometric measurements of tropospheric brightness temperatures obtained during the AASE 2 experiment. These measurements represent the first attempt to characterize effective radiative temperatures as seen from above the troposphere during the Arctic winter. The reported measurements include brightness temperatures at 6.7 and 10.5 microns as seen from the NASA DC-8 aircraft flying at about 11 km altitude. We also present radiative transfer calculations to estimate the effect of tropospheric brightness temperature on the lower stratospheric heating rates. Because of the recent massive eruption of the Pinatubo volcano, we also discuss the effects of a volcanic aerosol layer. It is concluded that small particles like the volcanic aerosol or polar stratospheric clouds (PSCs) type 1 do not affect stratospheric heating rates by much; on the other hand, larger particles, PSCs types 2 and 3, may have significant effects on heating rates and consequently on dynamics of the lower stratosphere. The dynamical effects of local stratospheric temperature variations are briefly discussed.

Description: We report tropospheric (altitudes greater than 5 km) observations of CO2, CO, CH4, and light hydrocarbons (C2-C4) over the latitude range from 90 deg N to 23 deg S recorded onboard the NASA DC-8 aircraft during the winter 1992 Second Airborne Arctic Stratospheric Expedition (AASE-2). Mixing ratios for these species exhibited significant north-south gradients with maximum values in subpolar and arctic regions and minima over the southern tropics. At latitudes greater than 40 deg N, the mixing ratios of most species increased significantly over the course of the 3-month measurement period. Also at high northern latitudes, the variations of all relatively long-lived reactive carbon species were linearly correlated with fluctuations of CO2 with CO, CH4, C2H6, C2H2, C3H8, and n-C4H10 exhibiting average enhancement ratios in terms of ppbv(X)/ppmb(CO2) of 13.8, 8.4, 0.21, 0.075, 0.085, and 0.037, respectively.

Description: Vertical column measurements of the gaseous composition of the tropical stratosphere were made from the NASA DC-8 aircraft early in 1992. As anticipated, the burdens of the stratospheric source gases (e.g., O3, HF, HCl, ClNO3, HNO3) were reduced from their mid-latitude values due to increased uplift and photolysis. The tracers revealed considerably more uplift near the equator than the sub-tropics. For example, the HF burdens at +/- 20 deg latitude were nearly double those at 5 deg N. This, together with results obtained from other long-lived gases (e.g. N2O, CH4, CF2Cl2) indicates that volume mixing ratios found at 22 km altitude at mid-latitudes occurred at 26 km in the sub-tropics and at 30 km in the equatorial zone. This zone of uplift was symmetrical about the equator even though the sun was overhead at 20 deg S.

Description: We welcome this opportunity which Drs. Ricard, Sabadini and Spada (RSS) have offered us to elaborate on some points concerning the connection between convective circulations and rotational dynamics. The relationship of the linear viscoelastic normal-mode theory to other approaches, such as viscous and the non-linear viscoelastic treatments, can be found in Moser et al. (1993). We will address the issues raised by RSS by first going over the reference system. This will be followed by a discussion concerning long-term polar wander and relative angular momentum. We will also go over the issues concerning the off-diagonal terms in the total moment of inertia and polar wander.

Description: In late July and early August of 1991, a major suborbital scientific campaign (NLC-91) involving scientists from eight countries was conducted as ESRANGE, Kiruna, Sweden and at Heiss Island, Russia. The purpose of the program was to investigate the chemical, dynamical, and electrodynamical properties of the polar summer mesosphere. Thirty one rocket flights were coordinated with two coherent radar facilities, EISCAT and CUPRI, and with other ground-based observatories and facilities. This permitted direct comparison between the in situ measurements and those obtained by remote sensing of the mesosphere via continuous ground-based monitoring. The primary objectives of the campaign were to study noctilucent clouds (NLCs) and polar mesospheric summer echoes (PMSEs), including their possible relationship to local aerosols and/or small scale turbulence. This overview describes the scientific program, discusses the geophysical conditions during launch activities, and reviews some of the preliminary results. More detailed results can be found in the papers which follow.

Description: The International Sun-Earth Explorer 3 (ISEE-3) magnetic field and plasma electron data from Jan - March 1983 have been searched to study thin current sheets in the deep tail region. 33 events were selected where the spacecraft crossed through the current sheet from lobe to lobe within 15 minutes. The average thickness of the observed current sheets was 2.45 R(sub E), and in 24 cases the current sheet was thinner than 3.0 R(sub E); 6 very thin current sheets (thickness lambda less than 0.5 R(sub E) were found. The electron data show that the very thin current sheets are associated with considerable temperature anisotropy. On average, the electron gradient current was about 17% of the total current, whereas the current arising from the electron temperature anisotropy varied between 8-45% of the total current determined from the lobe field magnitude.

Description: Measurements of the very broadband structure in the visual part of the extinction curve are compared to IUE extinction curve parameters in the scheme of Fitzpatrick and Massa. The correlation of Very-broadband-structure (VBS) depth with FUV rise found by Reimann & Friedemann (1991) is shown to be a correlation with linear rise and not with far UV non-linear rise. The correlation with linear rise suggests that the VBS is due to an onset of extinction at about 1.8/micrometer, rather than what has previously been suggested: due to luminescence or the presence of two extinction components longward and shortward of the VBS. The optical properties inferred for the linear rise carrier are consistent with some amorphous solid with a large optical gap. Small carbonaceous grains may be the carrier of the linear rise in extinction, because the erosion of core-mantle particles is expected to produce many of such small grains and offers a natural mechanism for the existence of the inferred two populations of big (a approximately 0.13 micrometer) and small (a approximately 0.005 micrometer) grains.

Description: The modulated light in the Intermediate Polar FO Aqr at the three periods P(sub spin) = 20.9 min, P(sub orb) = 4.85 hr and P(sub beat) = 22.5 min is studied in different spectral ranges to derive information on their nature. In this system the accretion geometry, with or without an accretion disk, is still a matter of debate (Hellier 1991; Norton et al. 1992). The different orbital behavior of phase coherence between the spin and beat pulses in the X-rays (Norton et al. 1992) and in the optical/IR regions cannot be easily accounted for by only a diskless dominated geometry where the accretion flow is switching from one pole to the other each half of the beat period. We therefore propose an accretion scenario where a non-axisymmetric disk is present. In such a non-standard accretion disk an azimuthal structure provides not only the source of variable mass transfer to the white dwarf, but also a reprocessing site which is mainly viewing the X-ray emission from the lower pole. Our spectral analysis shows that reprocessing is also occurring at the surface of the secondary star. The spin pulsation in the optical and IR continua can be explained by the so-called 'accretion curtain' model (Rosen et al. 1988) though an additional reprocessing component at the spin period cannot be excluded. In contrast to the X-rays, the beat optical/IR modulation is not intrinsic. Reprocessing at the surface of the secondary star and at the thickened part of the disk can also account for the orbital modulation in the UV, optical and IR regions.

Description: We present Vela 5B observations of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) region obtained during the years 1969 - 1979. We detect the 3.89 day orbital modulation of SMC X-1 with a false alarm probability of 4.3 x 10(exp -3) and observe a high state beginning in 1970 September and lasting approximately 100 days. We also detect three outbursts by a transient source consistent with the position of the candidate Be-neutron star system H0107-750 (= 1H 0103-762). These events occur roughly 100 days apart and last for approximately 35 days. No detections of SMC X-2 or SMC X-3 are apparent above a limit of approximately 7 x 10(exp 37) ergs/s.

Description: The hard X-ray transient, GRO J1008-57, was discovered during a bright outburst in 1993 July by the Burst and Transient Source Experiment (BATSE) instrument on board the Compton Gamme-Ray Observatory (CGRO). There are no published reports of previous emission from this 93.6 sec X-ray pulsar. Recent optical results have suggested a Be star as the companion. A search of the EXOSAT archives shows that an ME observation centered on the star HD 88661 includes GRO J1008-57 within the field of view. The characteristics of the medium-energy detection including a hard spectrum and pulsed emission at 91.36 sec (with chance probability of 3 x 10(exp -4)) indicates that EXOSAT detected GRO J1008-57 rather than the field star. The estimated flux is 2.4 x 10(exp -11) ergs/cm sq/sec for a luminosity of 1.1 x 10(exp 34) (D/2 kpc)(exp 2) ergs/sec. The X-ray spectrum is hard (photon index approximately equals 1.2) and highly absorbed (N(sub H) approximately equals 0.7 x 10(exp 22)). The detection of this transient suggests that there is a pulse shape dependence on luminosity, a spectral shape independent of luminosity, a large period derivative of P-dot/P = 2.3 x 10(exp -3)/yr, and a dynamic range of at least 100 in L(sub chi). We discuss GRO J1008-57 data in the context of wind-accretion models for this new member of the Be class of X-ray binaries.

Description: In 1991 and 1992, the dust detector onboard the Ulysses spacecraft detected several dust streams apparently originating from the jovian system. The timing and measured speeds of the final two dust streams are compatible with dust from comet Shoemaker-Levy 9's (SL9) disruption in 1992. Our further investigations of stream characteristics and dust acceleration mechanisms, however, shed some doubt that two of the eleven dust streams are of SL9 origin. In July 1994 when SL9 impacts Jupiter, the Galileo spacecraft will be about 3500 jovian radii away from the planet. Submicronsized dust released into, and accelerated by, the jovian magnetosphere during this event may reach Galileo and impact its dust detector between September and November 1994. We also discuss the possibility of directly sampling dust from SL9 during Galileo's orbital tour.

Description: We have investigated the influence of the color temperature of the illuminating radiation field on the chemical and thermal structure of photon-dominated regions (PDRs). We present the results of a study of the photoelectric efficiency of heating by large molecules such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and very small grains for radiation fields characterized by different effective temperatures. We show that the efficiency for cooler (T(sub eff) approximately = 6000-10,000 K) stars is at most an order of magnitude smaller than that for hotter (T(sub eff) approximately = 20,000-30,000 K) stars. While cooler radiation fields result in less ultraviolet photons capable of heating, the efficiency per absorbed photon is higher, because the grains become less positively charged. We also present detailed calculations of the chemistry and thermal balance for generic PDRs (n(sub 0) approximately = 10(exp 3), G(sub 0) approximately = 10(exp 3)). For cooler radiation fields, the H/H2 and C(+)/C/CO transition layers shift toward the surface of the PDR, because fewer photons are available to photodissociate H2 and CO and to ionize C. The dominant cooling lines are the (C II) 158 micron and the (O I) 63 micron lines for the hotter radiation fields, but cooling by CO becomes dominant for a color temperature of 6000 K or lower. The (C II)/CO and (O I)/CO ratios are found to be very good diagnostics for the color temperature of the radiation field.

Description: The theory of spectral formation in thermal X-ray sources, where the effects of Comptonization and Klein-Nishina corrections are important, is presented. Analytical expressions are obtained for the produced spectrum as a function of such input parameters as the plasma temperature, the optical depth of the plasma cloud and the injected soft photon spectrum. The analytical theory developed here takes into account the dependence of the scattering opacity on the photon energy. It is shown that the plasma temperature as well as the asymptotic rate of photon escape from the plasma cloud determine the shape of the upscattered hard tail in the emergent spectra, even in the case of very small optical depths. The escape distributions of photons are given for any optical depth of the plasma cloud and their asymptotic dependence for very small and large optical depths are examined. It is shown that this new generalized approach can fit spectra for a large variety of hard X-ray sources and determine the plasma temperature in the region of main energy release in Cyg X-1 and the Seyfert galaxy NGC 4151.

Description: The map of the coseismic displacement field generated by interferometric processing of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images taken before and after the June 28, 1992, Landers earthquake sequence brings new insights into the nature of deformation caused by these earthquakes. We use the interferometric map generated by Massonnet et al. (1993) to analyze the surface displacement field in the vicinity of the fault trace. Complexities in the fringe pattern near the fault reflect short-wavelength variations of the surface rupture and slip distribution, and attest to large displacement gradients. Along two sections of the fault, characteristic fringe patterns can be recognized, contrasting in density and direction with patterns observed away from the rupture. In order to understand the observed fringe patterns, we compute synthetic interferograms in three simple cases: (1) rigid-body rotations about a vertical axis, (2) about a horizontal axis (tilt), and (3) distributed, simple shear. The orientation and spatial separation of interferometric fringes predicted by these models help constrain near-field deformation and rupture parameters. Where the Kickapoo fault connects with the Homestead Valley fault, the interferogram shows a clear pattern of parallel N20 deg W fringes separated by about 160 m. This pattern and vertical offsets measured along the Kickapoo fault suggest that the block between this fault and the Johnson Valley fault may have been tilted, down to the west. A 5-km block lifted by 1 m on one side would be tilted by an angle of 0.01 deg (190 microrad), producing fringes separated by about 160 m, parallel to the tilt axis. Such a tilt, parallel to a N20 deg W direction, would account for the gradual, northward increase of the vertical slip component observed along the Kickapoo fault. This tilt may also explain the 1 m of reverse slip observed along the 'slip gap' section of the Homestead Valley break. Between the southern end of the Johnson Valley fault and the Eureka Peak fault, where no surface rupture has been mapped, the dense pattern of fringes implies distributed shear, probably resulting from fault slip at depth. The density and direction of the fringes in the gap are consistent with a right-lateral slip of 1.2-3.8 m on a blind fault locked above the depth of 1.5-2 km. Such observations of small wavelength features in the SAR interferogram bring new insights into the near-field displacement gradient and thus on response of the uppermost crust to seismic rupture.

Description: Global distributions of surface and atmospheric cloud radiative forcing parameters have been derived using parameterized radiation models with satellite meteorological data from the International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project, and directly measured top-of-atmosphere radiative fluxes from the Earth Radiation Budget Experiment. Specifically, shortwave, longwave, and total cloud forcing at the surface, and column-averaged values of longwave cloud forcing of the atmosphere were derived for the midseasonal months of April, July, and October 1985 and January 1986, covering a complete annual cycle. Seasonal variability is illustrated by comparing the results for July 1985 and January 1986, which represent the seasonal extremes. Surface shortwave cloud forcing is always negative, representing a cooling of the surface, with strongest cooling (-120 to -180 W/sq m) occurring over midlatitude storm tracks of the summer hemisphere. Surface longwave cloud forcing is always positive, representing a warming of the surface, with strongest warming (60 to 75 W/sq m) occurring over storm tracks of the winter hemisphere. Zonal averages show the entire summer hemisphere dominated by shortwave cooling, the middle and high latitudes of the winter hemisphere dominated by longwave warming, and a broad zone of transition in between. The globally averaged total cloud forcing amounts to a cooling throughout the year, ranging from a low of about -12 W/sq m for July 1985 to a high of about -25 W/sq m for January 1986. The longwave cloud forcing of the atmosphere shows a strong warming over deep convective regions in the tropics and a moderate cooling outside the tropics, amounting to a weak cooling (-2 to -5 W/sq m) in the global average. Comparisons of the results with general circulation model simulations show broad qualitative agreement regarding the locations of prominent warming and cooling regions. Quantitative comparisons, on the other hand, show significant differences between the magnitudes of warming and cooling in these regions. Most of the larger differences can be attributed to known deficiences of the general circulation model simulations. Comparisons with satellite-derived results of other investigators show much better agreement.

Description: We have measured the spectra of H and He isotopes during the 1987 solar minimum with the cosmic-ray detector system (CRS) on the Voyager 2 spacecraft. By carrying out the measurement near solar minimum and at large heliospheric distances, the effects of solar modulations were reduced. In particular, the adiabatic energy losses were smaller, and these results from 23 AU over the solar minimum period of cycle 21 represent observations at energies not accessible from previous measurements near 1 AU. The modulated spectra with the diffusion coefficient constant k(sub 0) = 3.15 x 10(exp 22) sq cm/s (which corresponds to a solar modulation parameter of 360 MV at 23 AU and 500 MV at 1 AU) agree well with both our data at 23 AU and the previous solar minimum measurements at 1 AU. The measured H-1 and H-2 spectra are both consistent with the calculated spectra, using standard Galactic and heliospheric propagation models without invoking an anomalous hydrogen component. With the fixed modulation parameter of 360 MV, the mean pathlengths, source spectra, and cross sections were varied to study the effects of different input parameters on the spectra and relative abundances. At this stage of our work, we have not found any strong evidence from the low-energy H-2 and He-3 data that H-1 and He-4 should have a different propagation history, or different types of source spectra from the heavier cosmic-ray nuclei.

Description: Significant differences are found in the IRAS color-color diagrams of small regions (2 min x 2 min, or 0.4 x 1.8 kpc) within the disk of M31 compared to Galactic cirrus, most noticeably demonstrated by a trend of low 60 to 100 micrometer surface brightness ratio and high 12 to 25 micrometer ratio. Based on physical arguments, we conclude that these color differences are best explained by assuming that 'very small grains' (VSG; but not polycylic aromatic hydrocarbons) are only half as abundant in M31 as they are in Galactic cirrus. We confirm this conclusion and test its detailed agreement with data by using the phenomenological model of Desert et al. (1990). In particular, we show that the data cannot be explained by postulating weaker UV heating in the disk of M31. We also show that the VSG-deficient model predicts correctly the correspondence between the IRAS colors and the 100 micrometer emissivity per H I atom in the outer disk of M31. 'Very small grains' are a leading candidate for the carrier of the 2175 A bump in the extinction curve. Our suggested VSG deficiency in M31 is thus consistent with recent Hubble Space Telescope (HST) observations which show evidence for a weaker and narrower 2175 A bump on the M31 extinction curve. Some speculation is offered as to possible links between very small grains and the low rate of current star formation in M31.

Description: We present a model for explaining the recent combined X-ray and low-energy gamma-ray observations of the Seyfert galaxy NGC 4151. According to this model, soft photons become Comptonized in a hot spot producing simultaneously the low-energy power law as observed by Ginga and the high-energy cutoff observed by the Oriented Scintillation Spectrometer Experiment (OSSE). Implementing recently developed theoretical calculations toward a generalized theory of Comptonization, we were able to find fits to the observations using only two parameters which characterize the physical quantities of the emission region: the plasma cloud optical depth and its temperature. We find that there is no need for additional nonthermal, reflection, or higher temperature thermal components to fit the aforementioned OSSE and Ginga observations. We derive in addition the size of the photon region and the temperature of the upscattered soft photons. We should emphasize, also, that any attempt at fitting only the high-energy parts of the spectrum (photon energies greater than 60 keV) by the Sunyaev & Titarchuk (1980) nonrelativistic Comptonization model leads to an underestimate of the Comptonization parameter y (or, equivalently, to an overestimation of the X-ray power-law spectral slope) and leads, as a result, to incorrect proportions between the low-energy and high-energy parts of the spectrum.

Description: The acceleration of protons in a dynamically evolving magnetotail is investigated by tracing particles in the fields obtained from a three-dimensional resistive magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulation. The MHD simulation, representing plasmoid formation and ejection through a near-Earth reconnection process, leads to cross-tail electric fields of up to approximately 4 mV/m with integrated voltages across the tail of up to approximately 200 kV. Energization of particles takes place over a wide range along the tail, due to the large spatial extent of the increased electric field together with the finite cross-tail extent of the electric field region. Such accelerated particles appear earthward of the neutral line over a significant portion of the closed field line region inside of the separatrix, not just in the vicinity of the separatrix. Two different acceleration processes are identified: a 'quasi-potential' acceleration, due to particle motion in the direction of the cross-tail electric field, and a 'quasi-betatron' effect, which consists of multiple energy gains from repeated crossings of the acceleration region, mostly on Speiser-type orbits, in the spatially varying induced electric field. The major source region for accelerated particles in the hundreds of keV range is the central plasma sheet at the dawn flank outside the reconnection site. Since this source plasma is already hot and dense, its moderate energization by a factor of approximately 2 may be sufficient to explain the observed increases in the energetic particle fluxes. Particles from the tail are the source of beams at the plasma sheet/lobe boundary. The temporal increase in the energetic particle fluxes, estimated from the increase in energy gain, occurs on a fast timescale of a few minutes, coincident with a strong increase in B(sub z), despite the fact that the inner boundary ('injection boundary') of the distribution of energized particles is fairly smooth.