Electron density distribution and solar plasma correction of radio signals using MGS, MEX and VEX spacecraft navigation data and its application to planetary ephemerides

The Mars Global Surveyor (MGS), Mars Express (MEX), and Venus Express (VEX) experienced several superior solar conjunctions. These conjunctions cause severe degradations of radio signals when the line of sight between the Earth and the spacecraft passes near to the solar corona region. The primary objective of this work is to deduce a solar corona model from the spacecraft navigation data acquired at the time of solar conjunctions and to estimate its average electron density. The corrected or improved data are then used to fit the dynamical modeling of the planet motions, called planetary ephemerides. We analyzed the radio science raw data of the MGS spacecraft using the orbit determination software GINS. The range bias, obtained from GINS and provided by ESA for MEX and VEX, are then used to derive the electron density profile. These profiles are obtained for different intervals of solar distances: from 12Rs to 215Rs for MGS, 6Rs to 152Rs for MEX, and form 12Rs to 154Rs for VEX. They are acquired for each spacecraft individually, for ingress and egress phases separately and both phases together, for different types of solar winds (fast, slow), and for solar activity phases (minimum, maximum). We compared our results with the previous estimations that were based on in situ measurements, and on solar type III radio and radio science studies made at different phases of solar activity and at different solar wind states. Our results are consistent with estimations obtained by these different methods. Moreover, fitting the planetary ephemerides including complementary data that were corrected for the solar corona perturbations, noticeably improves the extrapolation capability of the planetary ephemerides and the estimation of the asteroids masses.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&

An Overview of the 13:8 Mean Motion Resonance between Venus and Earth

It is known since the seminal study of Laskar (1989) that the inner planetary system is chaotic with respect to its orbits and even escapes are not impossible, although in time scales of billions of years. The aim of this investigation is to locate the orbits of Venus and Earth in phase space, respectively to see how close their orbits are to chaotic motion which would lead to unstable orbits for the inner planets on much shorter time scales. Therefore we did numerical experiments in different dynamical models with different initial conditions -- on one hand the couple Venus-Earth was set close to different mean motion resonances (MMR), and on the other hand Venus' orbital eccentricity (or inclination) was set to values as large as e = 0.36 (i = 40deg). The couple Venus-Earth is almost exactly in the 13:8 mean motion resonance. The stronger acting 8:5 MMR inside, and the 5:3 MMR outside the 13:8 resonance are within a small shift in the Earth's semimajor axis (only 1.5 percent). Especially Mercury is strongly affected by relatively small changes in eccentricity and/or inclination of Venus in these resonances. Even escapes for the innermost planet are possible which may happen quite rapidly.Comment: 14 pages, 11 figures, submitted to CMD

Comparison of different exoplanet mass detection limit methods using a sample of main-sequence intermediate-type stars

The radial velocity (RV) technique is a powerful tool for detecting extrasolar planets and deriving mass detection limits that are useful for constraining planet pulsations and formation models. Detection limit methods must take into account the temporal distribution of power of various origins in the stellar signal. These methods must also be able to be applied to large samples of stellar RV time series We describe new methods for providing detection limits. We compute the detection limits for a sample of ten main sequence stars, which are of G-F-A type, in general active, and/or with detected planets, and various properties. We use them to compare the performances of these methods with those of two other methods used in the litterature. We obtained detection limits in the 2-1000 day period range for ten stars. Two of the proposed methods, based on the correlation between periodograms and the power in the periodogram of the RV time series in specific period ranges, are robust and represent a significant improvement compared to a method based on the root mean square of the RV signal. We conclude that two of the new methods (correlation-based method and local power analysis, i.e. LPA, method) provide robust detection limits, which are better than those provided by methods that do not take into account the temporal sampling.Comment: 18 pages, 15 figures Accepted in Astronomy & Astrophysic

A Potential Bio-sorbent for Heavy Metals in the Remediation of Waste Water

Bay leaves are used for flavoring in cold drinks production, in bakery goods, sauces, confectionary products and liquors. The waste generated from these sources has been valorized by attempting the remediation of waste water. Hence, adsorption of toxic metals onto Bay leaves has been investigated after optimizing the experimental parameters, namely the pH, contact time, adsorbent and Zn(II) concentrations as well as the temperature of the equilibrium mixture (consisting of the metal solution in contact with the adsorbent). The participation of the constituent functional groups, of the adsorbent, was ascertained with Fourier transform spectroscopic studies. The mode of adsorption was examined by employing important isotherm models, namely Langmuir, Freundlich and Dubinin-Radushkevich models. The adsorption process was found to follow pseudo-first order kinetic model and also followed the intraparticle diffusion up to 60 minutes of contact time. The thermodynamic parameters suggest the spontaneous nature of adsorption

Design of a Low Offset, Low Noise Amplifier for Neural Recording Applications

The design of a capacitive feedback based neural recording amplifier is presented. The prime design requirements in case of neural amplifiers includes low noise, high gain, high CMRR, low power, low area and low offset voltage. However, there is an inherent trade-off between noise-power and area-offset in the design process which needs to be addressed. A Recycling Folded Cascode based Operational Transconductance Amplifier (RFC-OTA) topology is employed to realize the amplifier as it offers better gain and offset voltage as compared to other topologies. The sizing of the transistors has been done with the primary objective of low random offset voltage while meeting other design criteria within the specified range subject to all inherent trade-offs. Simulations have been done in Cadence Virtuoso using SCL 180 nm technology and comparative analysis with other reported designs reveals that the proposed RFC-OTA based neural amplifier design achieves a low random offset voltage of 1.4 mV with a low input noise of 1.38 µV as compared to most of the reported design

Where are the Uranus Trojans?

The area of stable motion for fictitious Trojan asteroids around Uranus' equilateral equilibrium points is investigated with respect to the inclination of the asteroid's orbit to determine the size of the regions and their shape. For this task we used the results of extensive numerical integrations of orbits for a grid of initial conditions around the points L4 and L5, and analyzed the stability of the individual orbits. Our basic dynamical model was the Outer Solar System (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune). We integrated the equations of motion of fictitious Trojans in the vicinity of the stable equilibrium points for selected orbits up to the age of the Solar system of 5 billion years. One experiment has been undertaken for cuts through the Lagrange points for fixed values of the inclinations, while the semimajor axes were varied. The extension of the stable region with respect to the initial semimajor axis lies between 19.05 < a < 19.3 AU but depends on the initial inclination. In another run the inclination of the asteroids' orbit was varied in the range 0 < i < 60 and the semimajor axes were fixed. It turned out that only four 'windows' of stable orbits survive: these are the orbits for the initial inclinations 0 < i < 7, 9 < i < 13, 31 < i < 36 and 38 < i < 50. We postulate the existence of at least some Trojans around the Uranus Lagrange points for the stability window at small and also high inclinations.Comment: 15 pages, 12 figures, submitted to CMD

The Intermediate Luminosity Optical Transient SN 2010da: The Progenitor, Eruption and Aftermath of a Peculiar Supergiant High-mass X-ray Binary

We present optical spectroscopy, ultraviolet to infrared imaging and X-ray observations of the intermediate luminosity optical transient (ILOT) SN 2010da in NGC 300 (d=1.86 Mpc) spanning from -6 to +6 years relative to the time of outburst in 2010. Based on the light curve and multi-epoch SEDs of SN 2010da, we conclude that the progenitor of SN 2010da is a ~10-12 Msol yellow supergiant possibly transitioning into a blue loop phase. During outburst, SN 2010da had a peak absolute magnitude of M<-10.4 mag, dimmer than other ILOTs and supernova impostors. We detect multi-component hydrogen Balmer, Paschen, and Ca II emission lines in our high-resolution spectra, which indicate a dusty and complex circumstellar environment. Since the 2010 eruption, the star has brightened by a factor of ~5 and remains highly variable in the optical. Furthermore, we detect SN 2010da in archival Swift and Chandra observations as an ultraluminous X-ray source (L~6x10^{39} erg/s). We additionally attribute He II 4686 Angstrom and coronal Fe emission lines in addition to a steady X-ray luminosity of ~10^{37} erg/s to the presence of a compact companion.Comment: published; updated citations and other minor edit