583 results match your criteria: "Institute of Astronomy[Affiliation]"

The accurate classification of seismic events into natural earthquakes (EQ) and quarry blasts (QB) is crucial for geological understanding, seismic hazard mitigation, and public safety. This paper proposes a machine-learning approach to discriminate seismic events, particularly differentiating between natural EQs and man-made QBs. The core of this study is to integrate different features into a unified dataset to train some linear and nonlinear supervised machine learning (ML) models.

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Local magnitude (M) scales have been developed for Egypt based on 14,453 normalized Wood-Anderson amplitudes from 1670 earthquakes. These events were recorded by at least four seismic stations, with hypocentral depths of less than 40 km and earthquake magnitudes ranging from 0.1 to 6.

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Recent observations have found a large number of supermassive black holes already in place in the first few hundred million years after the Big Bang, many of which seem to be overmassive relative to their host galaxy stellar mass when compared with local relation. Several different models have been proposed to explain these findings, ranging from heavy seeds to light seeds experiencing bursts of high accretion rate. Yet, current datasets are unable to differentiate between these various scenarios.

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Owing to their rapid cooling rate and hence loss-limited propagation distance, cosmic-ray electrons and positrons (CRe) at very high energies probe local cosmic-ray accelerators and provide constraints on exotic production mechanisms such as annihilation of dark matter particles. We present a high-statistics measurement of the spectrum of CRe candidate events from 0.3 to 40 TeV with the High Energy Stereoscopic System, covering 2 orders of magnitude in energy and reaching a proton rejection power of better than 10^{4}.

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Using traditional machine learning (ML) methods may produce results that are inconsistent with the laws of physics. In contrast, physics-based models of complex physical, biological, or engineering systems incorporate the laws of physics as constraints on ML methods by introducing loss terms, ensuring that the results are consistent with these laws. However, accurately deriving the nonlinear and high order differential equations to enforce various complex physical laws is non-trivial.

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Asteroid discoveries are essential for planetary-defense efforts aiming to prevent impacts with Earth, including the more frequent megaton explosions from decameter impactors. While large asteroids (≥100 km) have remained in the main belt since their formation, small asteroids are commonly transported to the near-Earth object (NEO) population. However, due to the lack of direct observational constraints, their size-frequency distribution -which informs our understanding of the NEOs and the delivery of meteorite samples to Earth-varies significantly among models.

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New particle formation (NPF) in the tropical upper troposphere is a globally important source of atmospheric aerosols. It is known to occur over the Amazon basin, but the nucleation mechanism and chemical precursors have yet to be identified. Here we present comprehensive in situ aircraft measurements showing that extremely low-volatile oxidation products of isoprene, particularly certain organonitrates, drive NPF in the Amazonian upper troposphere.

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Molecular modeling analyses of functionalized cellulose.

Sci Rep

November 2024

Nanotechnology Research Centre (NTRC), The British University in Egypt (BUE), Suez Desert Road, El-Sherouk City, Cairo, 11837, Egypt.

Functionalization of cellulose with nanomaterials and functional groups is essential for enhancing its properties for specific applications, such as flexible sensors and printed electronics. This study employs Hartree Fock (HF) and Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations to investigate the vibrational spectra of cellulose, identifying DFT: B3LYP/3-21 g** as the optimal model aligning with experimental spectra. Using this model, we examined the impact of functionalizing cellulose with various groups (OH, NH, COOH, CH, CHO, CN, SH) and graphene oxide (GO) on its electronic properties.

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Metals have a tendency to accumulate in the environment and can have carcinogenic effects. Accordingly, this study used density functional theory (DFT) calculations to investigate the adsorption of different metal ions on the glycine surface. Glycine has attracted a lot of research interest because of its remarkable metal-binding properties and cost effectiveness.

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Astrochemistry: The study of chemical processes in space.

Life Sci Space Res (Amst)

November 2024

Institute of Astronomy Space and Earth Science, P177 CIT-Road, Scheme 7m, Kolkata, 700054, West Bengal, India. Electronic address:

The formation of our solar system occurred approximately 4.6 billion years ago as a result of the gravitational collapse of a small portion of a giant molecular cloud. The origin of life on Earth is yet to be fully understood.

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We present the discovery and characterization of a new multi-planetary system around the Sun-like star K2-360 (EPIC 201595106). K2-360 was first identified in K2 photometry as the host of an ultra-short-period (USP) planet candidate with a period of 0.88 d.

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Article Synopsis
  • Large-scale epidemics of arboviruses like dengue emphasize the importance of understanding the environmental factors that affect vector populations, particularly in urban areas.
  • A study conducted in Recife, Brazil, found a correlation between rainfall and confirmed dengue cases, with higher incidences during the rainy season, though surprising outbreaks occurred during drier months.
  • The research highlights the complexity of dengue dynamics, indicating that while precipitation is important, other factors such as serotype circulation and broader climate influences also play crucial roles in disease spread.
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Oxygen enriched PAni-based counter electrode network toward efficient dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs).

Sci Rep

October 2024

Department of General Studies, Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu, Yanbu Industrial College, Yanbu, 30436, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) have great potential as a renewable energy technology assisting combat climate change due to its low cost, adaptability, and sustainability. Oxygen plasma ion doping is a promising strategy to improve the capacity of a low-cost, platinum-free counter-electrodes (CEs) to absorb photons and drive high-performance DSSCs via generating an abundance of active absorption sites. In this instance, novel PAni-ZnO (PZ) composite layers were designed as a CE material and received various in-situ oxygen plasma dosages, including 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 min, to improve their physiochemical and microstructural feature for the first time, to the best of our knowledge.

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Our knowledge of galaxy formation and evolution has incredibly progressed through multi-wavelength observational constraints of the interstellar medium (ISM) of galaxies at all cosmic epochs. However, little is known about the physical properties of the more diffuse and lower surface brightness reservoir of gas and dust that extends beyond ISM scales and fills dark matter haloes of galaxies up to their virial radii, the circumgalactic medium (CGM). New theoretical studies increasingly stress the relevance of the latter for understanding the feedback and feeding mechanisms that shape galaxies across cosmic times, whose cumulative effects leave clear imprints into the CGM.

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Article Synopsis
  • * The likely cause of this meteorite influx is the breakup of a large asteroid in the main asteroid belt, which continues to produce over 20% of current meteorite falls.
  • * Evidence suggests that the Massalia collisional family of asteroids in the inner belt is the most probable source of this event, aligning with the distribution of L chondrite-like materials found on Earth today.
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Understanding the origin of bright shooting stars and their meteorite samples is among the most ancient of astronomy-related questions, which at larger scales has human consequences. As of today, only approximately 6% of meteorite falls have been firmly linked to their sources (Moon, Mars or asteroid (4) Vesta). Here we show that approximately 70% of meteorites originate from three recent break-ups of D > 30 km asteroids that occurred 5.

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The cool brown dwarf Gliese 229 B is a close binary.

Nature

October 2024

European Southern Observatory, Garching, Germany.

Article Synopsis
  • Brown dwarf companions to stars help us understand planet formation processes, but some of them are more massive than expected based on their luminosities and host star ages.
  • Gliese 229 B, previously thought to be a single entity, was revealed through observations to actually be two brown dwarfs, Gliese 229 Ba and Bb, with masses of 38.1 and 34.4 Jupiter masses, respectively.
  • This discovery challenges existing theories and raises questions about the formation and occurrence of binary brown dwarfs in close orbits around stars.
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During the most active period of star formation in galaxies, which occurs in the redshift range 1 3, strong bursts of star formation result in significant quantities of dust, which obscures new stars being formed as their UV/optical light is absorbed and then re-emitted in the infrared, which redshifts into the mm/sub-mm bands for these early times. To get a complete picture of the high- galaxy population, we need to survey a large patch of the sky in the sub-mm with sufficient angular resolution to resolve all galaxies, but we also need the depth to fully sample their cosmic evolution, and therefore obtain their redshifts using direct mm spectroscopy with a very wide frequency coverage. This requires a large single-dish sub-mm telescope with fast mapping speeds at high sensitivity and angular resolution, a large bandwidth with good spectral resolution and multiplex spectroscopic capabilities.

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Understanding the extent and implications of microplastic (MP) pollution along the São Paulo State coastline in southeastern Brazil is crucial, considering the significant environmental burden imposed by industrial and port activities in this region. This research aims to understand the complex dynamics of MP deposition on sandy beaches, which poses severe environmental risks to coastal ecosystems, marine organisms, and humans. Using a comprehensive five-step methodology-geodetic surveys, sediment collection, μ-RAMAN spectrometry for polymer identification, and multivariate statistical models-we analyzed the distribution of MPs across six coastal compartments (C1 to C6).

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In this paper, we re-estimate the astrometric and photometric parameters of the young open star cluster King 18 based on Gaia Data Release 3 (DR3), Two Micron All-sky Survey (2MASS) and VRI CCD observations using the f/4.9 Newtonian focus of 74-inch telescope at Kottamia Astronomical Observatory (KAO) in Egypt. King 18 is a poorly studied open star cluster, for which new results are found in the current study.

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Article Synopsis
  • Researchers are studying the multi-scale interstellar medium (ISM) of our Galaxy to understand the relationships between gas, dust, and star formation in Giant Molecular Clouds (GMCs).
  • The Milky Way's complex structure is influenced by massive stars and dust lanes, making it essential to observe these features at (sub-)millimeter wavelengths for in-depth analysis.
  • A proposed 50m single-dish sub-mm telescope called AtLAST aims to provide comprehensive observations of the Galactic Plane and surrounding areas to enhance our understanding of stellar formation, planetary system evolution, and the overall ecology of our Galaxy.
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Quasi-periodic X-ray eruptions years after a nearby tidal disruption event.

Nature

October 2024

Astrophysics Research Centre, School of Mathematics and Physics, Queen's University Belfast, Belfast, UK.

Quasi-periodic eruptions (QPEs) are luminous bursts of soft X-rays from the nuclei of galaxies, repeating on timescales of hours to weeks. The mechanism behind these rare systems is uncertain, but most theories involve accretion disks around supermassive black holes (SMBHs) undergoing instabilities or interacting with a stellar object in a close orbit. It has been suggested that this disk could be created when the SMBH disrupts a passing star, implying that many QPEs should be preceded by observable tidal disruption events (TDEs).

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Massive stars are predominantly born in stellar associations or clusters. Their radiation fields, stellar winds and supernovae strongly impact their local environment. In the first few million years of a cluster's life, massive stars are dynamically ejected and run away from the cluster at high speed.

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Supernova-Neutrino-Boosted Dark Matter from All Galaxies.

Phys Rev Lett

September 2024

Institute of Physics, Academia Sinica, Taipei 115, Taiwan.

Article Synopsis
  • Scientists have discovered that "boosted dark matter" (BDM) from supernovae can help us learn more about dark matter and how it interacts with regular particles called leptons.
  • They looked at the flow of this dark matter from distant galaxies and found that big neutrino experiments can detect it better than before.
  • The research also suggests that the presence of dark matter near supermassive black holes doesn't change the findings much, unless a big supernova happens very close to our galaxy's center.
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Refractive lensing of scintillating FRBs by subparsec cloudlets in the multiphase CGM.

Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A

September 2024

Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 3H8, Canada.

We consider the refractive lensing effects of ionized cool ([Formula: see text]) gas cloudlets in the circumgalactic medium (CGM) of galaxies. In particular, we discuss the combined effects of lensing from these cloudlets and scintillation from plasma screens in the Milky Way interstellar medium (ISM). We show that, if the CGM comprises a mist of subparsec cloudlets with column densities of order [Formula: see text] (as predicted by [M.

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