281 results match your criteria: "Astronomical Institute[Affiliation]"

We present the precision measurement of the daily proton fluxes in cosmic rays from May 20, 2011 to October 29, 2019 (a total of 2824 days or 114 Bartels rotations) in the rigidity interval from 1 to 100 GV based on 5.5×10^{9} protons collected with the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer aboard the International Space Station. The proton fluxes exhibit variations on multiple timescales.

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Stellar ejecta gradually enrich the gas out of which subsequent stars form, making the least chemically enriched stellar systems direct fossils of structures formed in the early Universe. Although a few hundred stars with metal content below 1,000th of the solar iron content are known in the Galaxy, none of them inhabit globular clusters, some of the oldest known stellar structures. These show metal content of at least approximately 0.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study of electron scales is crucial for understanding plasma behavior in space and astrophysics, specifically in terms of plasma turbulence and energy transfer.
  • There is a significant gap in knowledge regarding how plasma electrons contribute to heat flux and its regulation, making it a key area of research.
  • This White Paper outlines important scientific questions related to electron processes and proposes new space missions to address these challenges in the fields of space physics and astrophysics.
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NV diamond laser.

Nat Commun

December 2021

LLC VELMAN 43, Russkaya str, Novosibirsk, 630058, Russian Federation.

For the first time, lasing at NV centers in an optically pumped diamond sample is achieved. A nanosecond train of 150-ps 532-nm laser pulses was used to pump the sample. The lasing pulses have central wavelength at 720 nm with a spectrum width of 20 nm, 1-ns duration and total energy around 10 nJ.

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Analysis of the size of Solar system close to the state with zero total angular momentum via Sundman's inequality.

An Acad Bras Cienc

December 2021

Odessa State Academy of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Odessa, Ukraine.

In this paper, we present a new mathematical approach or solving procedure for analysis of the Sundman's inequality (for estimating the moment of inertia of the Solar system's configuration) with the help of Lagrange-Jacobi relation, under additional assumption of decreasing of the total angular momentum close to the zero absolute magnitude in the final state of Solar system in a future. By assuming such the final state for Solar system, we have estimated the mean-size of Solar system R via analysis of the Sundman's inequality. So, to answer the question "Does the ninth planet exist in Solar system?", one should meet the two mandatory criteria for such the ninth planet, first is that it should have the negligible magnitude of inclination of its orbit with respect to the invariable plane.

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Ultrashort-period (USP) exoplanets have orbital periods shorter than 1 day. Precise masses and radii of USP exoplanets could provide constraints on their unknown formation and evolution processes. We report the detection and characterization of the USP planet GJ 367b using high-precision photometry and radial velocity observations.

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Baseline-dependent clock offsets in VLBI data analysis.

J Geod

November 2021

Department of Geodesy and Geoinformation, Technische Universität Wien (TU Wien), Wiedner Hauptstraße 8-10, 1040 Vienna, Austria.

The primary goal of the geodetic Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) technique is to provide highly accurate terrestrial and celestial reference frames as well as Earth orientation parameters. In compliance with the concept of VLBI, additional parameters reflecting relative offsets and variations of the atomic clocks of the radio telescopes have to be estimated. In addition, reality shows that in many cases significant offsets appear in the observed group delays for individual baselines which have to be compensated for by estimating so-called baseline-dependent clock offsets (BCOs).

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The far-infrared (FIR) regime is one of the wavelength ranges where no astronomical data with sub-arcsecond spatial resolution exist. None of the medium-term satellite projects like SPICA, Millimetron, or the Origins Space Telescope will resolve this malady. For many research areas, however, information at high spatial and spectral resolution in the FIR, taken from atomic fine-structure lines, from highly excited carbon monoxide (CO), light hydrides, and especially from water lines would open the door for transformative science.

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We investigated the suitability of the astronomical 15 GHz Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) observing program MOJAVE-5 for estimation of geodetic parameters, such as station coordinates and Earth orientation parameters. We processed a concurrent dedicated VLBA geodesy program observed at 2.3 GHz and 8.

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Black holes are unique among astrophysical sources: they are the simplest macroscopic objects in the Universe, and they are extraordinary in terms of their ability to convert energy into electromagnetic and gravitational radiation. Our capacity to probe their nature is limited by the sensitivity of our detectors. The LIGO/Virgo interferometers are the gravitational-wave equivalent of Galileo's telescope.

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Volatiles and refractories represent the two end-members in the volatility range of species in any surface-bounded exosphere. Volatiles include elements that do not interact strongly with the surface, such as neon (detected on the Moon) and helium (detected both on the Moon and at Mercury), but also argon, a noble gas (detected on the Moon) that surprisingly adsorbs at the cold lunar nighttime surface. Refractories include species such as calcium, magnesium, iron, and aluminum, all of which have very strong bonds with the lunar surface and thus need energetic processes to be ejected into the exosphere.

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On the stability of Laplace resonance for Galilean moons (Io, Europa, Ganymede).

An Acad Bras Cienc

October 2021

Odessa State Academy of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Odessa 65029, Ukraine.

This paper presents the application of recent ansatz for estimation of stability of the Laplace resonance for Galilean moons (Io, Europa, Ganymede). We estimate over time the eccentricity + semi-major axis in a binary system experiencing the net tidal friction, including the additional tidal heating which comes from the transformation of net transfer of angular momentum between the Galilean moons of Jupiter (due to dynamical features of the Laplace resonance). Presumably, there should be a net transfer of angular momentum between Io and Europa (for the reason that tidal heating on Ganymede seems to be negligible with respect to Io and Europa).

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Ryugu is a carbonaceous rubble-pile asteroid visited by the Hayabusa2 spacecraft. Small rubble pile asteroids record the thermal evolution of their much larger parent bodies. However, recent space weathering and/or solar heating create ambiguities between the uppermost layer observable by remote-sensing and the pristine material from the parent body.

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The Universe is filled with a diffuse background of MeV gamma-rays and PeV neutrinos, whose origins are unknown. Here, we propose a scenario that can account for both backgrounds simultaneously. Low-luminosity active galactic nuclei have hot accretion flows where thermal electrons naturally emit soft gamma rays via Comptonization of their synchrotron photons.

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Over the past decades, rest-frame ultraviolet (UV) observations have provided large samples of UV luminous galaxies at redshift (z) greater than 6 (refs. ), during the so-called epoch of reionization. While a few of these UV-identified galaxies revealed substantial dust reservoirs, very heavily dust-obscured sources at these early times have remained elusive.

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The Dark Ages and Cosmic Dawn are largely unexplored windows on the infant Universe (z ~ 200-10). Observations of the redshifted 21-cm line of neutral hydrogen can provide valuable new insight into fundamental physics and astrophysics during these eras that no other probe can provide, and drives the design of many future ground-based instruments such as the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) and the Hydrogen Epoch of Reionization Array (HERA). We review progress in the field of high-redshift 21-cm Cosmology, in particular focussing on what questions can be addressed by probing the Dark Ages at z > 30.

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The Ice Chamber for Astrophysics-Astrochemistry (ICA) is a new laboratory end station located at the Institute for Nuclear Research (Atomki) in Debrecen, Hungary. The ICA has been specifically designed for the study of the physico-chemical properties of astrophysical ice analogs and their chemical evolution when subjected to ionizing radiation and thermal processing. The ICA is an ultra-high-vacuum compatible chamber containing a series of IR-transparent substrates mounted on a copper holder connected to a closed-cycle cryostat capable of being cooled down to 20 K, itself mounted on a 360° rotation stage and a z-linear manipulator.

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Since their introduction 22 years ago, lightning mapping arrays (LMA) have played a central role in the investigation of lightning physics. Even in recent years with the proliferation of digital interferometers and the introduction of the LOw Frequency ARray (LOFAR) radio telescope, LMAs still play an important role in lightning science. LMA networks use a simple windowing technique that records the highest pulse in either 80 μs or 10 μs fixed windows in order to apply a time-of-arrival location technique.

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Article Synopsis
  • Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs) are powerful, brief astrophysical events that have been detected at various frequencies, but lower-frequency emissions have been challenging to observe.
  • One notable FRB, FRB 20180916B, shows a 16.35-day periodicity and emits at frequencies as low as 120 megahertz, with its activity window varying by frequency — narrower and earlier at higher frequencies.
  • The findings indicate that lower-frequency emissions can escape their surrounding medium, suggesting that some FRBs are in environments that don't absorb low-frequency signals, contradicting previous theories about absorption affecting FRB periodicity.
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A distinct negative leader propagation mode.

Sci Rep

August 2021

Astrophysical Institute, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, 1050, Brussels, Belgium.

The common phenomenon of lightning still harbors many secrets such as what are the conditions for lightning initiation and what is driving the discharge to propagate over several tens of kilometers through the atmosphere forming conducting ionized channels called leaders. Since lightning is an electric discharge phenomenon, there are positively and negatively charged leaders. In this work we report on measurements made with the LOFAR radio telescope, an instrument primarily build for radio-astronomy observations.

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Article Synopsis
  • This study analyzes the cosmic rays of sodium (Na) and aluminum (Al) within a rigidity range of 2.15 GV to 3.0 TV, using data from the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer on the ISS.
  • The findings indicate that Na and Al belong to a unique cosmic ray group alongside nitrogen (N), showing similar flux behaviors.
  • The research establishes that both Na and Al fluxes can be explained by a combination of primary and secondary cosmic ray components, with the primary component becoming more significant at higher rigidities.
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The homogeneous characterisation of Ariel host stars.

Exp Astron (Dordr)

July 2021

INAF - Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri, Largo E. Fermi 5, 50125 Firenze, Italy.

The Ariel mission will characterise the chemical and thermal properties of the atmospheres of about a thousand exoplanets transiting their host star(s). The observation of such a large sample of planets will allow to deepen our understanding of planetary and atmospheric formation at the early stages, providing a truly representative picture of the chemical nature of exoplanets, and relating this directly to the type and chemical environment of the host star. Hence, the accurate and precise determination of the host star fundamental properties is essential to Ariel for drawing a comprehensive picture of the underlying essence of these planetary systems.

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Spectrum of kinetic plasma turbulence at 0.3-0.9 astronomical units from the Sun.

Phys Rev E

June 2021

LESIA, Observatoire de Paris, Université PSL, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, Université de Paris, 5 place Jules Janssen, F-92195 Meudon, France.

We investigate spectral properties of turbulence in the solar wind that is a weakly collisional astrophysical plasma, accessible to in situ observations. Using the Helios search coil magnetometer measurements in the fast solar wind, in the inner heliosphere, we focus on properties of the turbulent magnetic fluctuations at scales smaller than the ion characteristic scales, the so-called kinetic plasma turbulence. At such small scales, we show that magnetic power spectra between 0.

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Palomar 5 is one of the sparsest star clusters in the Galactic halo and is best-known for its spectacular tidal tails, spanning over 20 degrees across the sky. With -body simulations we show that both distinguishing features can result from a stellar-mass black hole population, comprising ~ 20% of the present-day cluster mass. In this scenario, Palomar 5 formed with a 'normal' black hole mass fraction of a few per cent, but stars were lost at a higher rate than black holes, such that the black hole fraction gradually increased.

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InSAR surface deformation and numeric modeling unravel an active salt diapir in southern Romania.

Sci Rep

June 2021

Department of Geomorphology-Pedology-Geomatics, Faculty of Geography, University of Bucharest, Nicolae Balcescu 1, Sector 1, 010041, Bucharest, Romania.

Salt diapirism is often associated with potential hydrocarbon energy resources, and detecting active diapirs can strongly affect the prospect to discover new gas and oilfields. Here we use InSAR techniques as a proxy to evaluate surface deformation in the Diapiric Fold Zone located in the East Carpathians Bend. Significant surface uplift (~ 5 mm/year) is identified in a relatively small region not previously known for the presence of an actively rising salt diapir.

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