21,476 research outputs found
Statistical analysis of thermospheric gravity waves from Fabry-Perot Interferometer measurements of atomic oxygen
Data from the Fabry-Perot Interferometers at KEOPS (Sweden), Sodankylä (Finland), and Svalbard (Norway), have been analysed for gravity wave activity on all the clear nights from 2000 to 2006. A total of 249 nights were available from KEOPS, 133 from Sodankylä and 185 from the Svalbard FPI. A Lomb-Scargle analysis was performed on each of these nights to identify the periods of any wave activity during the night. Comparisons between many nights of data allow the general characteristics of the waves that are present in the high latitude upper thermosphere to be determined. Comparisons were made between the different parameters: the atomic oxygen intensities, the thermospheric winds and temperatures, and for each parameter the distribution of frequencies of the waves was determined. No dependence on the number of waves on geomagnetic activity levels, or position in the solar cycle, was found. All the FPIs have had different detectors at various times, producing different time resolutions of the data, so comparisons between the different years, and between data from different sites, showed how the time resolution determines which waves are observed. In addition to the cutoff due to the Nyquist frequency, poor resolution observations significantly reduce the number of short-period waves (5 h) detected. Comparisons between the number of gravity waves detected at KEOPS and Sodankylä over all the seasons showed a similar proportion of waves to the number of nights used for both sites, as expected since the two sites are at similar latitudes and therefore locations with respect to the auroral oval, confirming this as a likely source region. Svalbard showed fewer waves with short periods than KEOPS data for a season when both had the same time resolution data. This gives a clear indication of the direction of flow of the gravity waves, and corroborates that the source is the auroral oval. This is because the energy is dissipated through heating in each cycle of a wave, therefore, over a given distance, short period waves lose more energy than long and dissipate before they reach their target
High time resolution measurements of the thermosphere from Fabry-Perot Interferometer measurements of atomic oxygen
Recent advances in the performance of CCD detectors
have enabled a high time resolution study of the high
latitude upper thermosphere with Fabry-Perot Interferometers(FPIs) to be performed. 10-s integration times were used during a campaign in April 2004 on an FPI located in northern Sweden in the auroral oval. The FPI is used to study the thermosphere by measuring the oxygen red line emission at 630.0 nm, which emits at an altitude of approximately 240 km. Previous time resolutions have been 4 min at best, due to the cycle of look directions normally observed. By using 10 s rather than 40 s integration times, and by limiting the number of full cycles in a night, high resolution measurements down to 15 s were achievable. This has allowed the maximum variability of the thermospheric winds and temperatures, and 630.0 nm emission intensities, at approximately 240 km, to be determined as a few minutes. This is a significantly greater variability than the often assumed value of 1 h or more. A Lomb-Scargle analysis of this data has shown evidence of gravity wave activity with waves with short periods. Gravity waves are an important feature of mesospherelower thermosphere (MLT) dynamics, observed using many techniques and providing an important mechanism for energy transfer between atmospheric regions. At high latitudes gravity waves may be generated in-situ by localised auroral activity. Short period waves were detected in all four clear nights when this experiment was performed, in 630.0 nm intensities and thermospheric winds and temperatures. Waves with many periodicities were observed, from periods of several hours, down to 14 min. These waves were seen in all parameters over several nights, implying that this variability is a typical property of the thermosphere
Quantum Inequalities and Singular Energy Densities
There has been much recent work on quantum inequalities to constrain negative
energy. These are uncertainty principle-type restrictions on the magnitude and
duration of negative energy densities or fluxes. We consider several examples
of apparent failures of the quantum inequalities, which involve passage of an
observer through regions where the negative energy density becomes singular. We
argue that this type of situation requires one to formulate quantum
inequalities using sampling functions with compact support. We discuss such
inequalities, and argue that they remain valid even in the presence of singular
energy densities.Comment: 18 pages, LaTex, 2 figures, uses eps
The host galaxy of the z=2.4 radio-loud AGN MRC 0406-244 as seen by HST
We present multicolour Hubble Space Telescope images of the powerful z=2.4
radio galaxy MRC 0406-244 and model its complex morphology with several
components including a host galaxy, a point source, and extended nebular and
continuum emission. We suggest that the main progenitor of this radio galaxy
was a normal, albeit massive (M ~10^{11} solar masses), star-forming galaxy.
The optical stellar disc of the host galaxy is smooth and well described by a
S\'ersic profile, which argues against a recent major merger, however there is
also a point-source component which may be the remnant of a minor merger. The
half-light radius of the optical disc is constrained to lie in the range 3.5 to
8.2kpc, which is of similar size to coeval star forming galaxies.
Biconical shells of nebular emission and UV-bright continuum extend out from
the host galaxy along the radio jet axis, which is also the minor axis of the
host galaxy. The origin of the continuum emission is uncertain, but it is most
likely to be young stars or dust-scattered light from the AGN, and it is
possible that stars are forming from this material at a rate of
200^{+1420}_{-110} solar masses per year.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRA
Detection of Formaldehyde Towards the Extreme Carbon Star IRC+10216
We report the detection of H2CO (formaldehyde) around the carbon-rich AGB
star, IRC+10216. We find a fractional abundance with respect to molecular
hydrogen of x(H2CO)= (1.3 {+1.5}{-0.8}) x 10^{-8}. This corresponds to a
formaldehyde abundance with respect to water vapor of x(H2CO)/x(H2O)=(1.1 +/-
0.2) x 10^{-2}, in line with the formaldehyde abundances found in Solar System
comets, and indicates that the putative extrasolar cometary system around
IRC+10216 may have a similar chemical composition to Solar System comets.
However, we also failed to detect CH3OH (methanol) around IRC+10216 and our
upper limit of x(CH3OH)/x(H2O) < 7.7 x 10^{-4}, (3 sigma), indicates that
methanol is substantially underabundant in IRC+10216, compared to Solar System
comets. We also conclude, based on offset observations, that formaldehyde has
an extended source in the envelope of IRC+10216 and may be produced by the
photodissociation of a parent molecule, similar to the production mechanism for
formaldehyde in Solar System comet comae. Preliminary mapping observations also
indicate a possible asymmetry in the spatial distribution of formaldehyde
around IRC+10216, but higher signal-to-noise observations are required to
confirm this finding. This study is based on observations carried out with the
IRAM 30m telescope. IRAM is supported by INSU/CNRS (France), MPG (Germany) and
IGN (Spain). (abridged)Comment: accepted to ApJ, 45 pages, 11 figure
Violations of the Weak Energy Condition in Inflating Spacetimes
We argue that many future-eternal inflating spacetimes are likely to violate
the weak energy condition. It is possible that such spacetimes may not enforce
any of the known averaged conditions either. If this is indeed the case, it may
open the door to constructing non-singular, past-eternal inflating cosmologies.
Simple non-singular models are, however, unsatisfactory, and it is not clear if
satisfactory models can be built that solve the problem of the initial
singularity.Comment: 18 pages, 1 figure (which emerges automatically if you use dvips
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