New Nesting Records of the Le Conte's Sparrow, Ammospiza leconteii, from Northeastern Ontario, with Some Notes on Nesting Behaviour

Le Conte’s Sparrow is sparsely distributed through northeastern Ontario with no confirmed records from Algoma District and eastern Lake Superior. Two nests were found in open poor fen between Wawa and Hawk Junction in central Algoma District in 1999. Notes on behaviour, nests, nestling development and feeding effort were taken during 9 hours and 38 minutes at one nest over three days

Observations on the Nesting of the Northern Hawk Owl, Surnia ulula, near Timmins and Iroquois Falls, Northeastern Ontario, in 2001

Three breeding pairs of Northern Hawk Owls were observed in northeastern Ontario in the vicinity of Timmins and Iroquois Falls in 2001, and two nests and a brood were recorded. The young from one nest fledged prematurely (likely due to a storm) and the another nest probably failed. Four other territorial pairs were observed. Notes on nest sites, feeding and nest attendance were taken

Analysis of spiral arms using anisotropic wavelets: gas, dust and magnetic fields in M51

We have developed a technique of isolating elongated structures in galactic images, such as spiral arms, using anisotropic wavelets and apply this to maps of the CO, infrared and radio continuum emission of the grand-design spiral galaxy M51. Systematic shifts between the ridges of CO, infrared and radio continuum emission that are several \kpc long are identified, as well as large variations in pitch angle along spiral arms, of a few tens of degrees. We find two types of arms of polarized radio emission: one has a ridge close to the ridge of CO, with similar pitch angles for the CO and polarization spirals and the regular magnetic field; the other does not always coincide with the CO arm and its pitch angle differs from the orientation of its regular magnetic field. The offsets between ridges of regular magnetic field, dense gas and warm dust are compatible with the sequence expected from spiral density wave triggered star formation, with a delay of a few tens of millions of years between gas entering the shock and the formation of giant molecular clouds and a similar interval between the formation of the clouds and the emergence of young star clusters. At the position of the CO arms the orientation of the regular magnetic field is the same as the pitch angle of the spiral arm, but away from the gaseous arms the orientation of the regular field varies significantly. Spiral shock compression can explain the generation of one type of arm of strong polarized radio emission but a different mechanism is probably responsible for a second type of polarization arm. (Shortened abstract.

Magnetic fields in galaxies: I. Radio disks in local late-type galaxies

We develop an analytical model to follow the cosmological evolution of magnetic fields in disk galaxies. Our assumption is that fields are amplified from a small seed field via magnetohydrodynamical (MHD) turbulence. We further assume that this process is fast compared to other relevant timescales, and occurs principally in the cold disk gas. We follow the turbulent energy density using the Shabala & Alexander (2009) galaxy formation and evolution model. Three processes are important to the turbulent energy budget: infall of cool gas onto the disk and supernova feedback increase the turbulence; while star formation removes gas and hence turbulent energy from the cold gas. Finally, we assume that field energy is continuously transferred from the incoherent random field into an ordered field by differential galactic rotation. Model predictions are compared with observations of local late type galaxies by Fitt & Alexander (1993) and Shabala et al. (2008). The model reproduces observed magnetic field strengths and luminosities in low and intermediate-mass galaxies. These quantities are overpredicted in the most massive hosts, suggesting that inclusion of gas ejection by powerful AGNs is necessary in order to quench gas cooling and reconcile the predicted and observed magnetic field strengths.Comment: 10 pages, 8 figures; MNRAS in pres

Measuring interstellar magnetic fields by radio synchrotron emission

Radio synchrotron emission, its polarization and its Faraday rotation are powerful tools to study the strength and structure of interstellar magnetic fields. The total intensity traces the strength and distribution of total magnetic fields. Total fields in gas-rich spiral arms and bars of nearby galaxies have strengths of 20-30 $\mu$Gauss, due to the amplification of turbulent fields, and are dynamically important. In the Milky Way, the total field strength is about 6 $\mu$G near the Sun and several 100 $\mu$G in filaments near the Galactic Center. -- The polarized intensity measures ordered fields with a preferred orientation, which can be regular or anisotropic fields. Ordered fields with spiral structure exist in grand-design, barred, flocculent and even in irregular galaxies. The strongest ordered fields are found in interarm regions, sometimes forming "magnetic spiral arms" between the optical arms. Halo fields are X-shaped, probably due to outflows. -- The Faraday rotation of the polarization vectors traces coherent regular fields which have a preferred direction. In some galaxies Faraday rotation reveals large-scale patterns which are signatures of dynamo fields. However, in most galaxies the field has a complicated structure and interacts with local gas flows. In the Milky Way, diffuse polarized radio emission and Faraday rotation of the polarized emission from pulsars and background sources show many small-scale and large-scale magnetic features, but the overall field structure in our Galaxy is still under debate.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures. To be published in "Cosmic Magnetic Fields: From Planets, to Stars and Galaxies", K.G. Strassmeier, A.G. Kosovichev & J.E. Beckman, eds., Proc. IAU Symp. 259, CU

СОЗДАНИЕ МОДЕЛИ ЗОН ВОЗМОЖНЫХ ОЧАГОВ ЗЕМЛЕТРЯСЕНИЙ ДЛЯ ТЕРРИТОРИЙ, РАСПОЛОЖЕННЫХ ВБЛИЗИ ЗОН БЕНЬОФА

Based on the catalogue of earthquakes of the Kuril-Kamchatka region for the period from 1737 to 2007, a 3D model may zones of potential earthquake foci is developed for the Southern Kuril territory. The model can be useful for seismic hazard forecasting. Boundaries of structural elements of the zones with potential earthquake foci are determined by seismic methods.На основе каталога землетрясений Курило-Камчатского региона за 1737–2007 гг. для Южных Курильских островов создана трехмерная модель зон возможных очагов землетрясений (ВОЗ) для оценки сейсмической опасности. Сейсмическими методами уточнены границы структурных элементов зон ВОЗ (линеаментов)

Magnetic fields and the dynamics of spiral galaxies

We investigate the dynamics of magnetic fields in spiral galaxies by performing 3D MHD simulations of galactic discs subject to a spiral potential. Recent hydrodynamic simulations have demonstrated the formation of inter-arm spurs as well as spiral arm molecular clouds provided the ISM model includes a cold HI phase. We find that the main effect of adding a magnetic field to these calculations is to inhibit the formation of structure in the disc. However, provided a cold phase is included, spurs and spiral arm clumps are still present if $\beta \gtrsim 0.1$ in the cold gas. A caveat to two phase calculations though is that by assuming a uniform initial distribution, $\beta \gtrsim 10$ in the warm gas, emphasizing that models with more consistent initial conditions and thermodynamics are required. Our simulations with only warm gas do not show such structure, irrespective of the magnetic field strength. Furthermore, we find that the introduction of a cold HI phase naturally produces the observed degree of disorder in the magnetic field, which is again absent from simulations using only warm gas. Whilst the global magnetic field follows the large scale gas flow, the magnetic field also contains a substantial random component that is produced by the velocity dispersion induced in the cold gas during the passage through a spiral shock. Without any cold gas, the magnetic field in the warm phase remains relatively well ordered apart from becoming compressed in the spiral shocks. Our results provide a natural explanation for the observed high proportions of disordered magnetic field in spiral galaxies and we thus predict that the relative strengths of the random and ordered components of the magnetic field observed in spiral galaxies will depend on the dynamics of spiral shocks.Comment: 17 pages, 14 figures, accepted by MNRA