Reliability of minor planet satellite observations

In an examination of the reliability of occultation observations of minor planet companions, redundant photoelectric observations have been made of possible occultation events. These observations indicate that spurious events may be easily misidentified as true occultations, and that caution must be exercised in interpreting such occurrences. Further analysis of observations of the 1973 Pallas occultation suggests that earlier results may be unreliable.     

Geostationary satellite observations of the april 1979 soufriere eruptions

Infrared images from the geostationary satellite SMS-1 were used to study the growth of the eight major eruptions of Soufriere, St. Vincent, during April 1979. These eruptions differed considerably in growth and intensity, the most intense being that of 17 April which formed an ash cloud of 96,000 square kilometers in 4 hours. The weakest eruption formed a cloud of only 16,000 square kilometers.     

Recent Greenland ice mass loss by drainage system from satellite gravity observations

Mass changes of the Greenland Ice Sheet resolved by drainage system regions were derived from a local mass concentration analysis of NASA-Deutsches Zentrum für Luftund Raumfahrt Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE mission) observations. From 2003 to 2005, the ice sheet lost 101 +/- 16 gigaton/year, with a gain of 54 gigaton/year above 2000 meters and a loss of 155 gigaton/year at lower elevations. The lower elevations show a large seasonal cycle, with mass losses during summer melting followed by gains from fall through spring. The overall rate of loss reflects a considerable change in trend (-113 +/- 17 gigaton/year) from a near balance during the 1990s but is smaller than some other recent estimates.     

双边带相干辐射计原理及仿真试验

介绍了相干辐射计的工作原理,指出了单边带相干辐射计系统的不足,提出了双边带相干辐射计方案,证明了该方案在微波辐射相关测量中的有用性,得出其系统增益要求、灵敏度、探测距离等性能优于单边带系统的有用结论,并对双边带与单边带相干辐射计做了仿真试验对比,验证了以上结论。     

Generation of an artificial aurora

On 26 January 1969 an Aerobee 350 rocket was fired from Wallops Island, Virginia, carrying an electron accelerator. Above 230 kilometers the electron guns put out a beam of 0.5 ampere of 10 kev electrons in pulses of 1-second duration aimed downward along the earth's magnetic field lines. The interaction of electron beam with the atmosphere at an altitude of about 100 kilometers generated enough light so that the auroral rays produced could be photographed on the ground by television camera systems.     

Interferometric identification of a pre-brown dwarf

It is not known whether brown dwarfs [stellar-like objects with masses less than the hydrogen-burning limit, 0.075 solar mass (M)[symbol:see text]] are formed in the same way as solar-type stars or by some other process. Here we report the clear-cut identification of a self-gravitating condensation of gas and dust with a mass in the brown-dwarf regime, made through millimeter interferometric observations. The level of thermal millimeter continuum emission detected from this object indicates a mass ~0.02 to 0.03 M[symbol:see text], whereas the small radius, <460 astronomical units, and narrow spectral lines imply a dynamical mass of 0.015 to 0.02 M[symbol:see text]. The identification of such a pre-brown dwarf core supports models according to which brown dwarfs are formed in the same manner as hydrogen-burning stars.     

Two-dimensional Mott-Hubbard electrons in an artificial honeycomb lattice

Artificial crystal lattices can be used to tune repulsive Coulomb interactions between electrons. We trapped electrons, confined as a two-dimensional gas in a gallium arsenide quantum well, in a nanofabricated lattice with honeycomb geometry. We probed the excitation spectrum in a magnetic field, identifying collective modes that emerged from the Coulomb interaction in the artificial lattice, as predicted by the Mott-Hubbard model. These observations allow us to determine the Hubbard gap and suggest the existence of a Coulomb-driven ground state.     

Probing and controlling the bonds of an artificial molecule

We demonstrate how molecular quantum states of coupled semiconductor quantum dots are coherently probed and manipulated in transport experiments. The applied method probes quantum states by the virtual cotunneling of two electrons and hence resolves the sequences of molecular states simultaneously. This result is achieved by weakly probing the quantum system through parallel contacts to its constituting quantum dots. The overlap of the dots' wave functions and, in turn, the splitting of molecular states are adjusted by the direct influence of coupling electrodes.     

The Kondo effect in an artificial quantum dot molecule

Double quantum dots provide an ideal model system for studying interactions between localized impurity spins. We report on the transport properties of a series-coupled double quantum dot as electrons are added one by one onto the dots. When the many-body molecular states are formed, we observe a splitting of the Kondo resonance peak in the differential conductance. This splitting reflects the energy difference between the bonding and antibonding states formed by the coherent superposition of the Kondo states of each dot. The occurrence of the Kondo resonance and its magnetic field dependence agree with a simple interpretation of the spin status of a double quantum dot.     

Interferometric coupling of the Keck telescopes with single-mode fibers

Here we report successful interferometric coupling of two large telescopes with single-mode fibers. Interference fringes were obtained in the 2- to 2.3-micrometer wavelength range on the star 107 Herculis by using the two Keck 10-meter telescopes, each feeding their common interferometric focus with 300 meters of single-mode fibers. This experiment demonstrates the potential of fibers for future kilometric arrays of telescopes and is the first step toward the 'OHANA (Optical Hawaiian Array for Nanoradian Astronomy) interferometer at the Mauna Kea observatory in Hawaii. It opens the way to sensitive optical imagers with resolutions below 1 milli-arc second. Our experimental setup can be directly extended to large telescopes separated by many hundreds of meters.     

High-Resolution Water Vapor Mapping from Interferometric Radar Measurements

Spaceborne radar interferometric delay measurements were used to infer high-resolution maps of integrated atmospheric water vapor, which can be readily related to meteorological phenomena. Maps of the water vapor distribution associated with a precipitating cloud, a partly precipitating cold front, and horizontal convective rolls reveal quantitative measures that are not observed with conventional methods, and suggest that such radar observations can be used for forecasting and to study atmospheric dynamics.     

Jupiter plasma wave observations: an initial voyager 1 overview

The Voyager I plasma wave instrument detected low-frequency radio emissions, ion acoustic waves, and electron plasma oscillations for a period of months before encountering Jupiter's bow shock. In the outer magnetosphere, measurements of trapped radio waves were used to derive an electron density profile. Near and within the Io plasma torus the instrument detected high-frequency electrostatic waves, strong whistler mode turbulence, and discrete whistlers, apparently associated with lightning. Some strong emissions in the tail region and some impulsive signals have not yet been positively identified.     

Venus thermosphere and exosphere: first satellite drag measurements of an extraterrestrial atmosphere

Atmospheric drag measurements obtained from the study of the orbital decay of Pioneer Venus 1 indicate that atomic oxygen predominates in the Venus atmosphere above 160 kilometers. Drag measurements give evidence that conditions characteristic of a planetary thermosphere disappear near sundown, with inferred exospheric temperatures sharply dropping from approximately 300 K to less than 150 K. Observed denisities are generally lower than given by theoretical models.     

Recognition of a hidden mineral deposit by an artificial intelligence program

A computer program that uses artificial intelligence techniques has successfully identified the location of a porphyry molybdenum deposit. Given geological maps of readily available predrilling exploration data for Mount Tolman in Washington State and using rules obtained from a porphyry molybdenum exploration specialist, the program (called PROSPECTOR) identified the location of previously unknown ore-grade mineralization. This appears to be the first reported determination of the location of mineralization by such a computer-based approach.     

Experimental study of inequality and unpredictability in an artificial cultural market

Hit songs, books, and movies are many times more successful than average, suggesting that "the best" alternatives are qualitatively different from "the rest"; yet experts routinely fail to predict which products will succeed. We investigated this paradox experimentally, by creating an artificial "music market" in which 14,341 participants downloaded previously unknown songs either with or without knowledge of previous participants' choices. Increasing the strength of social influence increased both inequality and unpredictability of success. Success was also only partly determined by quality: The best songs rarely did poorly, and the worst rarely did well, but any other result was possible.     

Infrared speckle observations of io: an eruption in the loki region

Speckle observations of Jupiter's satellite Io at a wavelength of 5 micrometers during July 1984 resolved the disk and showed emission from a hot spot in the Loki region. The hot spot contributed a flux approximately equal to 60 percent of that from the disk. Images reconstructed by means of the Knox-Thompson algorithm showed the spot moving across the disk as the satellite rotated. It was located at 301 degrees +/- 6 degrees west longitude, 10 degrees +/- 6 degrees north latitude, and had a radiance of (2.96 +/- 0.54) x 10(22) ergs sec(-1) cm(-1) sr(-1)/A where A is the area of the spot. For an assumed temperature of 400 K, the area of the source would be 11,400 square kilometers. An active "lava lake" similar to that seen by Voyager may be the source of the infrared emission.