Measurements of Saturn in 1969

Photographic measurements of Saturn and its ring

Jupiter's red spot in 1968 - 1969

Photographic observations of Jupiter Red Spo

Measurements of planetary dimensions

Recent measurements of planetary dimension

An Annotated Checklist of Scarab Beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) from Northeastern Iowa

A survey of scarab beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) was conducted during 2009 in the geographically distinct area of Winneshiek and Allamakee counties in extreme Northeast Iowa. Four plant communities distributed among 10 locations, including tallgrass prairie, mixed grassland and forest, oak-hickory forest, and pasture were sampled during 2009 using black light traps, banana- beer traps, rodent burrow pitfalls, manure-baited pitfalls, and gleaning. Additionally, previous specimen records were examined. Forty-nine scarab species were documented for Winneshiek and Allamakee counties, including five species not previously reported in Iowa. Mixed grassland and forest habitat contained the greatest scarab species richness (n=31); black light trapping yielded the greatest number of individual beetles and collected the most species

The structure of hypersonic shock waves using Navier-Stokes equations modified to include mass diffusion

Howard Brenner has recently proposed modifications to the Navier-Stokes equations that relate to a diffusion of fluid volume that would be significant for flows with high density gradients. In a previous paper (Greenshields & Reese, 2007), we found these modifications gave good predictions of the viscous structure of shock waves in argon in the range Mach 1.0-12.0 (while conventional Navier-Stokes equations are known to fail above about Mach 2). However, some areas of concern with this model were a somewhat arbitrary choice of modelling coefficient, and potentially unphysical and unstable solutions. In this paper, we therefore present slightly different modifications to include molecule mass diffusion fully in the Navier-Stokes equations. These modifications are shown to be stable and produce physical solutions to the shock problem of a quality broadly similar to those from the family of extended hydrodynamic models that includes the Burnett equations. The modifications primarily add a diffusion term to the mass conservation equation, so are at least as simple to solve as the Navier-Stokes equations; there are none of the numerical implementation problems of conventional extended hydrodynamics models, particularly in respect of boundary conditions. We recommend further investigation and testing on a number of different benchmark non-equilibrium flow cases.Comment: written for the 2nd European Conference on AeroSpace Sciences (EUCASS), Belgium, 200

The structure of shock waves as a test of Brenner's modifications to the Navier-Stokes equations

Brenner has recently proposed modifications to the Navier-Stokes equations that are based on theoretical arguments but supported only by experiments having a fairly limited range. These modifications relate to a diffusion of fluid volume that would be significant for flows with high density gradients. So the viscous structure of shock waves in gases should provide an excellent test case for this new model. In this paper we detail the shock structure problem and propose exponents for the gas viscosity-temperature relation based on empirical viscosity data that is independent of shock experiments. We then simulate shocks in the range Mach 1.0-12.0 using the Navier-Stokes equations, both with and without Brenner's modifications. Initial simulations showed Brenner's modifications display unphysical behaviour when the coefficient of volume diffusion exceeds the kinematic viscosity. Our subsequent analyses attribute this behaviour to both an instability to temporal disturbances and a spurious phase velocity-frequency relationship. On equating the volume diffusivity to the kinematic viscosity, however, we find the results with Brenner's modifications are significantly better than those of the standard Navier-Stokes equations, and broadly similar to those from the family of extended hydrodynamic models that includes the Burnett equations. Brenner's modifications add only two terms to the Navier-Stokes equations, and the numerical implementation is much simpler than conventional extended hydrodynamic models, particularly in respect of boundary conditions. We recommend further investigation and testing on a number of different benchmark non-equilibrium flow cases

Statistical distribution of mechanical properties for three graphite-epoxy material systems

Graphite-epoxy composites are playing an increasing role as viable alternative materials in structural applications necessitating thorough investigation into the predictability and reproducibility of their material strength properties. This investigation was concerned with tension, compression, and short beam shear coupon testing of large samples from three different material suppliers to determine their statistical strength behavior. Statistical results indicate that a two Parameter Weibull distribution model provides better overall characterization of material behavior for the graphite-epoxy systems tested than does the standard Normal distribution model that is employed for most design work. While either a Weibull or Normal distribution model provides adequate predictions for average strength values, the Weibull model provides better characterization in the lower tail region where the predictions are of maximum design interest. The two sets of the same material were found to have essentially the same material properties, and indicate that repeatability can be achieved

Mode identification in rapidly rotating stars

Context: Recent calculations of pulsation modes in rapidly rotating polytropic models and models based on the Self-Consistent Field method have shown that the frequency spectrum of low degree pulsation modes can be described by an empirical formula similar to Tassoul's asymptotic formula, provided that the underlying rotation profile is not too differential. Aims: Given the simplicity of this asymptotic formula, we investigate whether it can provide a means by which to identify pulsation modes in rapidly rotating stars. Methods: We develop a new mode identification scheme which consists in scanning a multidimensional parameter space for the formula coefficients which yield the best-fitting asymptotic spectra. This mode identification scheme is then tested on artificial spectra based on the asymptotic formula, on random frequencies and on spectra based on full numerical eigenmode calculations for which the mode identification is known beforehand. We also investigate the effects of adding random frequencies to mimic the effects of chaotic modes which are also expected to show up in such stars. Results: In the absence of chaotic modes, it is possible to accurately find a correct mode identification for most of the observed frequencies provided these frequencies are sufficiently close to their asymptotic values. The addition of random frequencies can very quickly become problematic and hinder correct mode identification. Modifying the mode identification scheme to reject the worst fitting modes can bring some improvement but the results still remain poorer than in the case without chaotic modes

A rapidly moving spot on jupiter's north temperate belt

Photographic observations of rapidly moving spot in Jupiter atmospher