X-Ray Wakes in Abell 160

`Wakes' of X-ray emission have now been detected trailing behind a few (at least seven) elliptical galaxies in clusters. To quantify how widespread this phenomenon is, and what its nature might be, we have obtained a deep (70 ksec) X-ray image of the poor cluster Abell 160 using the ROSAT HRI. Combining the X-ray data with optical positions of confirmed cluster members, and applying a statistic designed to search for wake-like excesses, we confirm that this phenomenon is observed in galaxies in this cluster. The probability that the detections arise from chance is less than 0.0038. Further, the wakes are not randomly distributed in direction, but are preferentially oriented pointing away from the cluster centre. This arrangement can be explained by a simple model in which wakes arise from the stripping of their host galaxies' interstellar media due to ram pressure against the intracluster medium through which they travel.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA

The Planetary Nebulae Spectrograph: the green light for Galaxy Kinematics

Planetary nebulae are now well established as probes of galaxy dynamics and as standard candles in distance determinations. Motivated by the need to improve the efficiency of planetary nebulae searches and the speed with which their radial velocities are determined, a dedicated instrument - the Planetary Nebulae Spectrograph or PN.S - has been designed and commissioned at the 4.2m William Herschel Telescope. The high optical efficiency of the spectrograph results in the detection of typically ~ 150 PN in galaxies at the distance of the Virgo cluster in one night of observations. In the same observation the radial velocities are obtained with an accuracy of ~ 20 km/sComment: Accepted by PASP, to appear November 2002; the figures have been degraded for archival purpose

Encouraging political participation among the next generation.

Elizabeth Rosser, acting Executive Dean, Deputy Dean for Education and Professional Practice, and Professor of Nursing at Bournemouth University, discusses how nurses can be encouraged to be politically engaged

Measurements of near-surface turbulence and mixing from autonomous ocean gliders

Author Posting. © The Oceanography Society, 2017. This article is posted here by permission of The Oceanography Society for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Oceanography 30, no. 2 (2017): 116–125, doi:10.5670/oceanog.2017.231.As autonomous sampling technologies have matured, ocean sensing concepts with long histories have migrated from their traditional ship-based roots to new platforms. Here, we discuss the case of ocean microstructure sensing, which provides the basis for direct measurement of small-scale turbulence processes that lead to mixing and buoyancy flux. Due to their hydrodynamic design, gliders are an optimal platform for microstructure sensing. A buoyancy-driven glider can profile through the ocean with minimal vibrational noise, a common limitation of turbulence measurements from other platforms. Moreover, gliders collect uncontaminated data during both descents and ascents, permitting collection of near-surface measurements unattainable from ship-based sensing. Persistence and the capability to sample in sea states not feasible for deck-based operations make glider-based microstructure sampling a profoundly valuable innovation. Data from two recent studies illustrate the novel aspects of glider-based turbulence sensing. Surface stable layers, characteristic of conditions with incoming solar radiation and weak winds, exemplify a phenomenon not easily sampled with ship-based methods. In the North Atlantic, dissipation rate measurements in these layers revealed unexpected turbulent mixing during times of peak warming, when enhanced stratification in a thin layer led to an internal wave mode that received energy from the deeper internal wave field of the thermocline. Hundreds of profiles were obtained in the Bay of Bengal through a barrier layer that separates a strongly turbulent surface layer from a surprisingly quiescent interior just 20 m below. These studies demonstrate the utility of buoyancy-driven gliders for collecting oceanic turbulence measurements.We thank the US Office of Naval Research (ONR) for supporting the development of autonomous glider systems and the integration effort to incorporate microstructure sensing. The National Science Foundation supported the SPURS microstructure glider effort. ONR supported for the glider program in the Bay of Bengal

Study of arc-jet propulsion devices Final report, 20 Nov. 1964 - 19 Dec. 1965

Energy transfer mechanisms in radiation, water, and regeneratively cooled, and MPD arc jet propulsion device

The scaling properties of dissipation in incompressible isotropic three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic turbulence

The statistical properties of the dissipation process constrain the analysis of large scale numerical simulations of three dimensional incompressible magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) turbulence, such as those of Biskamp and Muller [Phys. Plasmas 7, 4889 (2000)]. The structure functions of the turbulent flow are expected to display statistical self-similarity, but the relatively low Reynolds numbers attainable by direct numerical simulation, combined with the finite size of the system, make this difficult to measure directly. However, it is known that extended self-similarity, which constrains the ratio of scaling exponents of structure functions of different orders, is well satisfied. This implies the extension of physical scaling arguments beyond the inertial range into the dissipation range. The present work focuses on the scaling properties of the dissipation process itself. This provides an important consistency check in that we find that the ratio of dissipation structure function exponents is that predicted by the She and Leveque [Phys. Rev. Lett 72, 336 (1994)] theory proposed by Biskamp and Muller. This supplies further evidence that the cascade mechanism in three dimensional MHD turbulence is non-linear random eddy scrambling, with the level of intermittency determined by dissipation through the formation of current sheets.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figures. Figures embedded in text. Typos corrected in text and references. Published in Physics of Plasmas. Abstract can be found at:http://link.aip.org/link/?php/12/02230

Testing the nature of S0 galaxies using planetary nebula kinematics in NGC 1023

We investigate the manner in which lenticular galaxies are formed by studying their stellar kinematics: an S0 formed from a fading spiral galaxy should display similar cold outer disc kinematics to its progenitor, while an S0 formed in a minor merger should be more dominated by random motions. In a pilot study to attempt to distinguish between these scenarios, we have measured the planetary nebula (PN) kinematics of the nearby S0 system NGC 1023. Using the Planetary Nebula Spectrograph, we have detected and measured the line-of-sight velocities of 204 candidate PNe in the field of this galaxy. Out to intermediate radii, the system displays the kinematics of a normal rotationally-supported disc system. After correction of its rotational velocities for asymmetric drift, the galaxy lies just below the spiral galaxy Tully-Fisher relation, as one would expect for a fading system. However, at larger radii the kinematics undergo a gradual but major transition to random motion with little rotation. This transition does not seem to reflect a change in the viewing geometry or the presence of a distinct halo component, since the number counts of PNe follow the same simple exponential decline as the stellar continuum with the same projected disc ellipticity out to large radii. The galaxy's small companion, NGC 1023A, does not seem to be large enough to have caused the observed modification either. This combination of properties would seem to indicate a complex evolutionary history in either the transition to form an S0 or in the past life of the spiral galaxy from which the S0 formed. More data sets of this type from both spirals and S0s are needed in order to definitively determine the relationship between these types of system.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS. Version with full resolution figure 1 can be found at http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/~ppzmrm/N1023_PNS.accepted.pd

Kinematics of Spiral Arm Streaming in M51

We use CO and H alpha velocity fields to study the gas kinematics in the spiral arms and interarms of M51 (NGC 5194), and fit the 2D velocity field to estimate the radial and tangential velocity components as a function of spiral phase (arm distance). We find large radial and tangential streaming velocities, which are qualitatively consistent with the predictions of density wave theory and support the existence of shocks. The streaming motions are complex, varying significantly across the galaxy as well as along and between arms. Aberrations in the velocity field indicate that the disk is not coplanar, perhaps as far in as 20\arcsec\ (800 pc) from the center. Velocity profile fits from CO and H alpha are typically similar, suggesting that most of the H alpha emission originates from regions of recent star formation. We also explore vortensity and mass conservation conditions. Vortensity conservation, which does not require a steady state, is empirically verified. The velocity and density profiles show large and varying mass fluxes, which are inconsistent with a steady flow for a single dominant global spiral mode. We thus conclude that the spiral arms cannot be in a quasi-steady state in any rotating frame, and/or that out of plane motions may be significant.Comment: 50 pages, including 20 figures; Accepted for publication in ApJ. PDF version with high resolution figures available at http://www.astro.umd.edu/~shetty/Research

Tur\'an Graphs, Stability Number, and Fibonacci Index

The Fibonacci index of a graph is the number of its stable sets. This parameter is widely studied and has applications in chemical graph theory. In this paper, we establish tight upper bounds for the Fibonacci index in terms of the stability number and the order of general graphs and connected graphs. Tur\'an graphs frequently appear in extremal graph theory. We show that Tur\'an graphs and a connected variant of them are also extremal for these particular problems.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figure

Enhanced diapycnal diffusivity in intrusive regions of the Drake Passage

Author Posting. © American Meteorological Society, 2016. This article is posted here by permission of American Meteorological Society for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Physical Oceanography 46 (2016): 1309-1321, doi:10.1175/JPO-D-15-0068.1.Direct measurements of oceanic turbulent parameters were taken upstream of and across Drake Passage, in the region of the Subantarctic and Polar Fronts. Values of turbulent kinetic energy dissipation rate ε estimated by microstructure are up to two orders of magnitude lower than previously published estimates in the upper 1000 m. Turbulence levels in Drake Passage are systematically higher than values upstream, regardless of season. The dissipation of thermal variance χ is enhanced at middepth throughout the surveys, with the highest values found in northern Drake Passage, where water mass variability is the most pronounced. Using the density ratio, evidence for double-diffusive instability is presented. Subject to double-diffusive physics, the estimates of diffusivity using the Osborn–Cox method are larger than ensemble statistics based on ε and the buoyancy frequency.This work was supported by grants from the U.S. National Science Foundation.2016-10-0