483 research outputs found
Paleolimnological Evidence of Terrestrial and Lacustrine Environmental Change in Response to European Settlement of the Red River Valley, Manitoba and North Dakota
Limnological and terrestrial changes in three floodplain lakes are correlated with settlement of the Red River valley in Manitoba and North Dakota. Distinctive pollen, diatom and thecamoebian assemblages provide proxy evidence of the ecological changes from pre- to post-settlement periods in Horseshoe Lake, Lake Louise and Salt Lake. In the pre-settlement period (Zone I), prior to ~1812, grass and Quercus pollen dominate and are indicative of a tall grass prairie-oak riparian forest ecosystem. Diatom and thecamoebian assemblages suggest oligo- to mesotrophic limnological conditions, and more brackish water than presently occurs in Horseshoe Lake. The onset of the post-settlement period (Zone II) corresponds to distinctive terrestrial and limnological changes. A sharp decline in Quercus at the base of this zone correlates with documented regional riparian deforestation, whereas the increase in the weed taxa Salsola, Brassica, Rumex and Ambrosia is associated with the introduction of European agricultural practices and cereal grasses. Diatom and thecamoebian assemblages indicate progressive floodplain lake eutrophication, as well as increased salinity in Salt Lake. Salt Lake is the most brackish lake and supports the brackish-water foraminifera Trochammina macrescens cf. polystoma. Increased erosion and run off in the watershed has caused a more than twofold increase in lake basin sedimentation between the pre-settlement and post-settlement periods.Cette Ă©tude Ă©tablit une corrĂ©lation entre les changements limnologiques et terrestres dans la plaine dâinondation de trois lacs et le peuplement de la vallĂ©e de la riviĂšre Rouge au Manitoba et dans le Dakota du Nord. Divers assemblages polliniques, de diatomĂ©es et de thĂ©camoĂ©biens mettent en Ă©vidence de façon indirecte des changements Ă©cologiques entre les pĂ©riodes prĂ©- et post-peuplement aux alentours des lacs Horseshoe, Louise et Salt. Dans la pĂ©riode antĂ©rieure au peuplement (Zone I), soit avant 1812, la domination de la signature pollinique des graminĂ©es et du chĂȘne indique un Ă©cosystĂšme forestier riverain composĂ© de graminĂ©es de haute taille et de chĂȘnes. Quant aux assemblages de diatomĂ©es et de thĂ©camoĂ©biens, ils permettent de penser Ă des conditions limnologiques dâoligo Ă mĂ©sotrophiques et des eaux plus saumĂątres Ă cette pĂ©riode quâactuellement dans le lac Horseshoe. La pĂ©riode post-peuplement (Zone II) correspond Ă des changements terrestres et limnologiques spĂ©cifiques. Le dĂ©clin marquĂ© du chĂȘne Ă la base de cette zone correspond en effet Ă la dĂ©forestation des rives de cette rĂ©gion, telle quâattestĂ©e dans les documents, tandis que les taxons Salsola, Brassica, Rumex et Ambrosia correspondent Ă lâinstauration de pratiques agricoles europĂ©ennes et la culture des cĂ©rĂ©ales. Les assemblages de diatomĂ©es et de thĂ©camoĂ©biens indiquent aussi une eutrophisation progressive de la plaine inondable de mĂȘme que lâaugmentation de la salinitĂ© du lac Salt, ce dernier Ă©tant le plus salĂ© des trois lacs. Il accueille des foraminifĂšres dâeaux saumĂątres du genre Trochammina macrescens cf. polystoma. Lâaccroissement de lâĂ©rosion et du ruissellement dans le bassin-versant a quadruplĂ© la sĂ©dimentation entre les pĂ©riodes prĂ©- et post-peuplement
Ejection of Matter and Energy from NGC 4258
It has been claimed that the megamaser observations of the nucleus of NGC
4258 show that a massive black hole is present in its center (Miyoshi et al.
1995, Greenhill et al. 1995). We show that the evidence of ejection of gas,
radio plasma, and X-ray emitting QSOs from this nucleus all show that the
ejection is coming from the center in a curving flow within a cone with angle
~40 degrees, centered at P.A. 100 degrees. This is close to the direction in
which the velocities from the megamaser have been measured, so that the
evidence taken as a whole suggests that the masering gas also is being ejected
in the same direction at velocities +/- 900 km/sec and not rotating about a
massive black hole. Thus it does not provide evidence for a black hole in the
center.
Subject headings: galaxies: nuclei: individual (NGC 4258) -- black holes --
masersComment: 7 pages, 1 Figure, LaTex using epsf.tex, submitted to Ap.J.Letter
Policy opportunities
Recommendations are given regarding National Science Foundation (NSF) astronomy programs and the NASA Space Astrophysics program. The role of ground based astronomy is reviewed. The role of National Optical Astronomy Observatories (NOAO) in ground-based night-time astronomical research is discussed. An enhanced Explored Program, costs and management of small and moderate space programs, the role of astrophysics within NASA's space exploration initiative, suborbital and airborne astronomical research, the problems of the Hubble Space Telescope, and astronomy education are discussed. Also covered are policy issues related to the role of science advisory committees, international cooperation and competition, archiving and distribution of astronomical data, and multi-wavelength observations of variable sources
Properties of Quasar-Galaxy Associations and Gravitational Mesolensing by Halo Objects
A new catalog of 8382 close quasar-galaxy pairs is presented. The catalog was
composed using published catalogs of quasars and active galactic nuclei
containing 11358 objects, as well as the LEDA catalog of galaxies, which
contains on the order of 100 thousand objects. The search for pairs was carried
out in such a way that the linear distance between the galaxy and projected
quasar does not exceed 150kpc. Based on these new data, the dependence of the
number of pairs on a=z_G/z_Q is analysed, where z_G and z_Q are the redshifts
of the galaxy and quasar, respectively, revealing an excess of pairs with a<0.1
and a>0.9. This means that the galaxies in pairs are preferably located close
to either the observer or the quasar and avoid intermediate distances along the
line of sight to the quasar. Computer simulations demonstrate that it is not
possible to explain this number of pairs with the observed distribution in a as
the result of chance positional coincidences with a uniform spatial
distribution of galaxies. Data on globular clusters show that the excess of
pairs with a0.9 is consistent with the hypothesis that we are
observing distant compact objects that are strongly gravitationally lensed by
transparent lenses with a King mass distribution located in the halos of nearby
galaxies. The Hubble diagram for galaxies and quasars is presented.
Observational tests of the mesolensing hypothesis are formulated.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figure
Environmental Effect on the Associations of Background Quasars with Foreground Objects: II. Numerical Simulations
Using numerical simulations of cluster formation in the standard CDM model
(SCDM) and in a low-density, flat CDM model with a cosmological constant
(LCDM), we investigate the gravitational lensing explanation for the reported
associations between background quasars and foreground clusters. Under the
thin-lens approximation and the unaffected background hypothesis , we show that
the recently detected quasar overdensity around clusters of galaxies on scales
of arcminutes cannot be interpreted as a result of the gravitational
lensing by cluster matter and/or by their environmental and projected matter
along the line of sight, which is consistent with the analytical result based
on the observed cluster and galaxy correlations (Wu, et al. 1996). It appears
very unlikely that uncertainties in the modeling of the gravitational lensing
can account for the disagreement between the theoretical predictions and the
observations. We conclude that either the detected signal of the quasar-cluster
associations is a statistical fluke or the associations are are generated by
mechanisms other than the magnification bias.Comment: 15 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in Ap
Molecular Gas Kinematics in Barred Spiral Galaxies
To quantify the effect that bar driven mass inflow can have on the evolution
of a galaxy requires an understanding of the dynamics of the inflowing gas. In
this paper we study the kinematics of the dense molecular gas in a set of seven
barred spiral galaxies to determine which dynamical effects dominate. The
kinematics are derived from observations of the CO J=(1-0) line made with the
Berkeley-Illinois-Maryland Association (BIMA) millimeter array. We compare the
observed kinematics to those predicted by ideal gas hydrodynamic and ballistic
cloud-based models of gas flow in a barred potential. The hydrodynamic model is
in good qualitative agreement with both the current observations of the dense
gas and previous observations of the kinematics of the ionized gas. The
observed kinematics indicate that the gas abruptly changes direction upon
entering the dust lanes to flow directly down the dust lanes along the leading
edge of the bar until the dust lanes approach the nuclear ring. Near the
location where the dust lanes intersect the nuclear ring, we see two velocity
components: a low velocity component, corresponding to gas on circular orbits,
and a higher velocity component, which can be attributed to the fraction of gas
flowing down the bar dust lane which sprays past the contact point toward the
other half of the bar. The ballistic cloud-based model of the ISM is not
consistent with the observed kinematics. The kinematics in the dust lanes
require large velocity gradients which cannot be reproduced by an ISM composed
of ballistic clouds with long mean-free-paths. Therefore, even the dense ISM
responds to hydrodynamic forces.Comment: To be published in the Astrophysical Journal, Nov. 20, 199
Indication of Anisotropy in Electromagnetic Propagation over Cosmological Distances
We report a systematic rotation of the plane of polarization of
electromagnetic radiation propagating over cosmological distances. The effect
is extracted independently from Faraday rotation, and found to be correlated
with the angular positions and distances to the sources. Monte Carlo analysis
yields probabilistic P-values of order 10^(-3) for this to occur as a
fluctuation. A fit yields a birefringence scale of order 10^(25) meters.
Dependence on redshift z rules out a local effect. Barring hidden systematic
bias in the data, the correlation indicates a new cosmological effect.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figure, ReVTeX. For more information, see
http://www.cc.rochester.edu/college/rtc/Borge/aniso.htm
Cosmology and Cosmogony in a Cyclic Universe
In this paper we discuss the properties of the quasi-steady state
cosmological model (QSSC) developed in 1993 in its role as a cyclic model of
the universe driven by a negative energy scalar field. We discuss the origin of
such a scalar field in the primary creation process first described by F. Hoyle
and J. V. Narlikar forty years ago. It is shown that the creation processes
which takes place in the nuclei of galaxies are closely linked to the high
energy and explosive phenomena, which are commonly observed in galaxies at all
redshifts.
The cyclic nature of the universe provides a natural link between the places
of origin of the microwave background radiation (arising in hydrogen burning in
stars), and the origin of the lightest nuclei (H, D, He and He). It
also allows us to relate the large scale cyclic properties of the universe to
events taking place in the nuclei of galaxies. Observational evidence shows
that ejection of matter and energy from these centers in the form of compact
objects, gas and relativistic particles is responsible for the population of
quasi-stellar objects (QSOs) and gamma-ray burst sources in the universe.
In the later parts of the paper we briefly discuss the major unsolved
problems of this integrated cosmological and cosmogonical scheme. These are the
understanding of the origin of the intrinsic redshifts, and the periodicities
in the redshift distribution of the QSOs.Comment: 51 pages including 1 figur
Measurement of neutron capture on Ca at thermal and thermonuclear energies
At the Karlsruhe pulsed 3.75\,MV Van de Graaff accelerator the thermonuclear
Ca(n,)Ca(8.72\,min) cross section was measured by the
fast cyclic activation technique via the 3084.5\,keV -ray line of the
Ca-decay. Samples of CaCO enriched in Ca by 77.87\,\% were
irradiated between two gold foils which served as capture standards. The
capture cross-section was measured at the neutron energies 25, 151, 176, and
218\,keV, respectively. Additionally, the thermal capture cross-section was
measured at the reactor BR1 in Mol, Belgium, via the prompt and decay
-ray lines using the same target material. The
Ca(n,)Ca cross-section in the thermonuclear and thermal
energy range has been calculated using the direct-capture model combined with
folding potentials. The potential strengths are adjusted to the scattering
length and the binding energies of the final states in Ca. The small
coherent elastic cross section of Ca+n is explained through the nuclear
Ramsauer effect. Spectroscopic factors of Ca have been extracted from
the thermal capture cross-section with better accuracy than from a recent (d,p)
experiment. Within the uncertainties both results are in agreement. The
non-resonant thermal and thermonuclear experimental data for this reaction can
be reproduced using the direct-capture model. A possible interference with a
resonant contribution is discussed. The neutron spectroscopic factors of
Ca determined from shell-model calculations are compared with the values
extracted from the experimental cross sections for Ca(d,p)Ca and
Ca(n,)Ca.Comment: 15 pages (uses Revtex), 7 postscript figures (uses psfig), accepted
for publication in PRC, uuencoded tex-files and postscript-files also
available at ftp://is1.kph.tuwien.ac.at/pub/ohu/Ca.u
Modeling Repulsive Gravity with Creation
There is a growing interest in the cosmologists for theories with negative
energy scalar fields and creation, in order to model a repulsive gravity. The
classical steady state cosmology proposed by Bondi, Gold and Hoyle in 1948, was
the first such theory which used a negative kinetic energy creation field to
invoke creation of matter. We emphasize that creation plays very crucial role
in cosmology and provides a natural explanation to the various explosive
phenomena occurring in local (z<0.1) and extra galactic universe. We exemplify
this point of view by considering the resurrected version of this theory - the
quasi-steady state theory, which tries to relate creation events directly to
the large scale dynamics of the universe and supplies more natural explanations
of the observed phenomena. Although the theory predicts a decelerating universe
at the present era, it explains successfully the recent SNe Ia observations
(which require an accelerating universe in the standard cosmology), as we show
in this paper by performing a Bayesian analysis of the data.Comment: The paper uses an old SNeIa dataset. With the new improved data, for
example the updated gold sample (Riess et al, astro-ph/0611572), the fit
improves considerably (\chi^2/DoF=197/180 and a probability of
goodness-of-fit=18%
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