962 research outputs found
A single sub-km Kuiper Belt object from a stellar Occultation in archival data
The Kuiper belt is a remnant of the primordial Solar System. Measurements of
its size distribution constrain its accretion and collisional history, and the
importance of material strength of Kuiper belt objects (KBOs). Small, sub-km
sized, KBOs elude direct detection, but the signature of their occultations of
background stars should be detectable. Observations at both optical and X-ray
wavelengths claim to have detected such occultations, but their implied KBO
abundances are inconsistent with each other and far exceed theoretical
expectations. Here, we report an analysis of archival data that reveals an
occultation by a body with a 500 m radius at a distance of 45 AU. The
probability of this event to occur due to random statistical fluctuations
within our data set is about 2%. Our survey yields a surface density of KBOs
with radii larger than 250 m of 2.1^{+4.8}_{-1.7} x 10^7 deg^{-2}, ruling out
inferred surface densities from previous claimed detections by more than 5
sigma. The fact that we detected only one event, firmly shows a deficit of
sub-km sized KBOs compared to a population extrapolated from objects with r>50
km. This implies that sub-km sized KBOs are undergoing collisional erosion,
just like debris disks observed around other stars.Comment: To appear in Nature on December 17, 2009. Under press embargo until
1800 hours London time on 16 December. 19 pages; 7 figure
Solar System: Sifting through the debris
A quadrillion previously unnoticed small bodies beyond Neptune have been
spotted as they dimmed X-rays from a distant source. Models of the dynamics of
debris in the Solar System's suburbs must now be reworked.Comment: 3 pages, 1 figure; Nature News and Views on Chang et al. 2006,
Nature, 442, 660-66
Smith-Purcell Radiation from Low-Energy Electrons
Recent advances in the fabrication of nanostructures and nanoscale features
in metasurfaces offer a new prospect for generating visible, light emission
from low energy electrons. In this paper, we present the experimental
observation of visible light emission from low-energy free electrons
interacting with nanoscale periodic surfaces through the Smith-Purcell (SP)
effect. SP radiation is emitted when electrons pass in close proximity over a
periodic structure, inducing collective charge motion or dipole excitations
near the surface, thereby giving rise to electromagnetic radiation. We
demonstrate a controlled emission of SP light from nanoscale gold gratings with
periodicity as small as 50 nm, enabling the observation of visible SP radiation
by low energy electrons (1.5 to 6 keV), an order of magnitude lower than
previously reported. We study the emission wavelength and intensity dependence
on the grating pitch and electron energy, showing agreement between experiment
and theory. Further reduction of structure periodicity should enable the
production of SP-based devices that operate with even slower electrons that
allow an even smaller footprint and facilitate the investigation of quantum
effects for light generation in nanoscale devices. A tunable light source
integrated in an electron microscope would enable the development of novel
electron-optical correlated spectroscopic techniques, with additional
applications ranging from biological imaging to solid-state lighting.Comment: 16 pages, 4 figure
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A Portfolio approach to wind and solar deployment in Australia
We develop a new framework that can be used to analyse interactions between solar and wind generation using a Mean-Variance Portfolio Theory (MPT) framework. We use this framework to understand the role of electricity transmission integrating a high shar
Mid-Infrared Ethane Emission on Neptune and Uranus
We report 8- to 13-micron spectral observations of Neptune and Uranus from
the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility spanning more than a decade. The
spectroscopic data indicate a steady increase in Neptune's mean atmospheric
12-micron ethane emission from 1985 to 2003, followed by a slight decrease in
2004. The simplest explanation for the intensity variation is an increase in
stratospheric effective temperature from 155 +/- 3 K in 1985 to 176 +/- 3 K in
2003 (an average rate of 1.2 K/year), and subsequent decrease to 165 +/- 3 K in
2004. We also detected variation of the overall spectral structure of the
ethane band, specifically an apparent absorption structure in the central
portion of the band; this structure arises from coarse spectral sampling
coupled with a non-uniform response function within the detector elements. We
also report a probable direct detection of ethane emission on Uranus. The
deduced peak mole fraction is approximately an order of magnitude higher than
previous upper limits for Uranus. The model fit suggests an effective
temperature of 114 +/- 3 K for the globally-averaged stratosphere of Uranus,
which is consistent with recent measurements indicative of seasonal variation.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ. 16 pages, 10 figures, 2 table
The INTEGRAL/SPI response and the Crab observations
The Crab region was observed several times by INTEGRAL for calibration
purposes. This paper aims at underlining the systematic interactions between
(i) observations of this reference source, (ii) in-flight calibration of the
instrumental response and (iii) the development and validation of the analysis
tools of the SPI spectrometer. It first describes the way the response is
produced and how studies of the Crab spectrum lead to improvements and
corrections in the initial response. Then, we present the tools which were
developed to extract spectra from the SPI observation data and finally a Crab
spectrum obtained with one of these methods, to show the agreement with
previous experiments. We conclude with the work still ahead to understand
residual uncertainties in the response.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, Proc. of the 5th INTEGRAL Workshop (Feb. 16-20
2004), to be published by ES
Biology of the Chalcid Wasp, Megastimus wachtli, and Its Relationship to Colonization of Cypress Seeds by the Tortricid Moth, Pseudococcyx tessulatana, in Algeria
The biology of Megastimus wachtli Seitner (Hymenoptera: Torymidae) was found to be similar to other species of Megastigmus. During the period of flight that lasted six weeks from the beginning of September to mid-October, M. wachtli laid eggs in cypress (Cupressus sempervirens L., Pinales: Cupressaceae) cones and showed preferences for oviposition on particular sites on cones. M. wachtli has a high potential for colonization because it has evolutionary advantages due to its developmental possibilities including its capacity for parthenogenesis, its fecundity and longevity. It generally did not attack cones colonized by the torticid moth, Pseudococcyx tessulatana (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae). The competition between these species for use of cypress cones suggests that they use different strategies for different species of cypress. The number of insects that could develop relative to the number of cones available also varies between species of cypress
Early SPI/INTEGRAL contraints on the morphology of the 511 keV line emission in the 4th galactic quadrant
We provide first constraints on the morphology of the 511 keV line emission
from the galactic centre region on basis of data taken with the spectrometer
SPI on the INTEGRAL gamma-ray observatory. The data suggest an azimuthally
symmetric galactic bulge component with FWHM of ~9 deg with a 2 sigma
uncertainty range covering 6-18 deg. The 511 keV line flux in the bulge
component amounts to (9.9+4.7-2.1) 10e-4 ph cm-2 s-1. No evidence for a
galactic disk component has been found so far; upper 2 sigma flux limits in the
range (1.4-3.4) 10e-3 ph cm-2 s-1 have been obtained that depend on the assumed
disk morphology. These limits correspond to lower limits on the bulge-to-disk
ratio of 0.3-0.6.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in A&
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