A Deep Infrared Search for AXP 1E 1841-045

Multi-colour (JHKs) imaging and photometry of the field of the Anomalous X-ray Pulsar AXP 1E 1841-045 is analysed in the light of new, accurate coordinates from Chandra (Wachter et al, 2004). From excellentquality images, we find multiple sources in and around the position error circle. Of these, none can be confidently identified as the infrared counterpart. The limiting magnitudes reached were J=22.1, H=20.7 and Ks=19.9$ (95% confidence).Comment: 8 pages LaTeX, 2 eps figures; ApJ accepte

A search for the optical counterpart to the magnetar CXOU J010043.1-721134

After our tentative detection of an optical counterpart to CXOU J010043.1-721134 from archival Hubble Space Telescope (HST) imaging, we have followed up with further images in four bands. Unfortunately, the source originally identified is not confirmed. We provide deep photometric limits in four bands and accurate photometry of field stars around the location of the magnetar.Comment: 9 pages, accepted by Ap

The infrared counterpart to the magnetar 1RXS J170849.0-400910

We have analyzed both archival and new infrared imaging observations of the field of the Anomalous X-ray Pulsar 1RXS J170849.0-400910, in search of the infrared counterpart. This field has been previously investigated, and one of the sources consistent with the position of the AXP suggested as the counterpart. We, however, find that this object is more likely a background star, while another object within the positional error circle has non-stellar colors and shows evidence for variability. These two pieces of evidence, along with a consistency argument for the X-ray-to-infrared flux ratio, point to the second source being the more likely infrared counterpart to the AXP.Comment: 19 pages AASTEX, 4 figure. Accepted for publication in ApJ. Full resolution figures at: http://www.astro.utoronto.ca/~durant/1708.ps.g

Description of groundwater droughts in the UK: 1890 to 2015

Droughts pose a threat to lives and livelihoods in many parts of the world and may also cause significant problems in temperate areas, including in the UK; a humid country, but one marked by significant regional and temporal/inter-annual variations in rainfall. For example, the recent UK drought of 2010-2012 (Kendon et al., 2013) exemplified many of these challenges. Despite its unusually abrupt termination, the drought had major impacts on agriculture, the environment and recreation, and was the focus of extensive media and public debate. As part of a NERC directed programme on Drought and Water Scarcity in the UK (http://www.nerc.ac.uk/research/funded/programmes/droughts/), a project to investigate and characterise episodes of historic drought and water scarcity in the UK using a systems-based study of drivers and impacts was awarded to a consortium led by the Centre for Ecology and Hydrolgy (CEH) and including the BGS. The project started in 2014 and will run until 2018. One of the aims of the study is to develop an inventory of droughts, including groundwater droughts, in the UK. This BGS report is the first contribution to the development of such an inventory and builds on the work of Bloomfield and Marchant (2013) who through development of the Standardised Groundwater level Index (SGI) were the first to systematically document groundwater droughts in the UK using groundwater level time series since the late 19th C. In this report groundwater drought events identified in those time series are explored further by placing them in the hydrometeorological context and by describing their impacts as recorded in the literature of the time and subsequently. The work described in this report was undertaken by Mason Durant in January 2015 as part of Research Assistant placement with BGS Groundwater Science Directorate, Wallingford

Media stylistics

In this chapter we review the concept of ‘media stylistics’. In particular, we disentangle the polysemy of these two terms which, when combined, describe but can also obscure work in this area; and we discuss key themes and concerns which emerge. Through analysis of two short extracts of media discourse in English, we elaborate a distinction between two alternative emphases: study of media language as concerned with the capabilities associated with changing technologies for conveying linguistic messages (e.g. language use in telegraphy, radio, or instant messaging); and study of media language as commentary on modern society’s dominant communication forms, which tend to take an electronic ‘media’ form. In the first emphasis, media discourse is important in understanding the social functions of language and as regards social change. In the second emphasis, media language is more a matter of linguistic resources being used to communicate within an array of contemporary media choices whose availability is simply taken as a social fact. In later stages of the chapter we examine interaction between these different emphases at the level of media ‘genres'. In the formation of media genres, we argue, patterns of linguistic choice are superimposed on a given technical infrastructure and history of media capabilities. Distinctive media styles gradually evolve from each such combination to serve specific and changing expressive and communicative purposes. We conclude with discussion of the implications of this view of media technologies and forms as regards the development of new communicative styles on the Internet

HUAC Investigates North Carolina: How Federal Documents Can Help Uncover State and Local History

Presented at the North Carolina Library Association’s Government Resources Section and Reference and Adult Services Section joint workshop.Federal government documents tend to be all too often overlooked when providing general reference assistance, especially on topics involving state and local history. Reasons include the unique and often arcane nature of federal publications; unfamiliarity and trepidation on the part of many non-specialist librarians; and a lack of awareness of how federal documents might prove relevant to researching state and local topics. One good example is the history of the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC: 1934-35; 1938-69.) While many think of HUAC as a body that primarily affected politics at a national level, the committee held a number of hearings that directly discussed individuals, organizations, and events in North Carolina, and these hearings in turn impacted political and social developments in our state. This 50 minute presentation will discuss this neglected yet fascinating aspect of North Carolina history, while serving as a case study in how federal documents can shed light on state and local history. Time for questions will be included

Absorption Features in the X-ray Spectrum of an Ordinary Radio Pulsar

The vast majority of known non-accreting neutron stars (NSs) are rotation-powered radio and/or gamma-ray pulsars. So far, their multiwavelength spectra have all been described satisfactorily by thermal and non-thermal continuum models, with no spectral lines. Spectral features have, however, been found in a handful of exotic NSs and thought to be a manifestation of their unique traits. Here we report the detection of absorption features in the X-ray spectrum of an ordinary rotation-powered radio pulsar, J1740+1000. Our findings bridge the gap between the spectra of pulsars and other, more exotic, NSs, suggesting that the features are more common in the NS spectra than they have been thought so far.Comment: 18 pages, 4 color figures, 1 Tabl