ALBERT

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: 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 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.