The ASTRO-H X-ray Observatory

The joint JAXA/NASA ASTRO-H mission is the sixth in a series of highly successful X-ray missions initiated by the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS). ASTRO-H will investigate the physics of the high-energy universe via a suite of four instruments, covering a very wide energy range, from 0.3 keV to 600 keV. These instruments include a high-resolution, high-throughput spectrometer sensitive over 0.3-2 keV with high spectral resolution of Delta E < 7 eV, enabled by a micro-calorimeter array located in the focal plane of thin-foil X-ray optics; hard X-ray imaging spectrometers covering 5-80 keV, located in the focal plane of multilayer-coated, focusing hard X-ray mirrors; a wide-field imaging spectrometer sensitive over 0.4-12 keV, with an X-ray CCD camera in the focal plane of a soft X-ray telescope; and a non-focusing Compton-camera type soft gamma-ray detector, sensitive in the 40-600 keV band. The simultaneous broad bandpass, coupled with high spectral resolution, will enable the pursuit of a wide variety of important science themes.Comment: 22 pages, 17 figures, Proceedings of the SPIE Astronomical Instrumentation "Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2012: Ultraviolet to Gamma Ray

The Quiescent Intracluster Medium in the Core of the Perseus Cluster

Clusters of galaxies are the most massive gravitationally-bound objects in the Universe and are still forming. They are thus important probes of cosmological parameters and a host of astrophysical processes. Knowledge of the dynamics of the pervasive hot gas, which dominates in mass over stars in a cluster, is a crucial missing ingredient. It can enable new insights into mechanical energy injection by the central supermassive black hole and the use of hydrostatic equilibrium for the determination of cluster masses. X-rays from the core of the Perseus cluster are emitted by the 50 million K diffuse hot plasma filling its gravitational potential well. The Active Galactic Nucleus of the central galaxy NGC1275 is pumping jetted energy into the surrounding intracluster medium, creating buoyant bubbles filled with relativistic plasma. These likely induce motions in the intracluster medium and heat the inner gas preventing runaway radiative cooling; a process known as Active Galactic Nucleus Feedback. Here we report on Hitomi X-ray observations of the Perseus cluster core, which reveal a remarkably quiescent atmosphere where the gas has a line-of-sight velocity dispersion of 164+/-10 km/s in a region 30-60 kpc from the central nucleus. A gradient in the line-of-sight velocity of 150+/-70 km/s is found across the 60 kpc image of the cluster core. Turbulent pressure support in the gas is 4% or less of the thermodynamic pressure, with large scale shear at most doubling that estimate. We infer that total cluster masses determined from hydrostatic equilibrium in the central regions need little correction for turbulent pressure.Comment: 31 pages, 11 Figs, published in Nature July

Hitomi (ASTRO-H) X-ray Astronomy Satellite

The Hitomi (ASTRO-H) mission is the sixth Japanese x-ray astronomy satellite developed by a large international collaboration, including Japan, USA, Canada, and Europe. The mission aimed to provide the highest energy resolution ever achieved at E  >  2  keV, using a microcalorimeter instrument, and to cover a wide energy range spanning four decades in energy from soft x-rays to gamma rays. After a successful launch on February 17, 2016, the spacecraft lost its function on March 26, 2016, but the commissioning phase for about a month provided valuable information on the onboard instruments and the spacecraft system, including astrophysical results obtained from first light observations. The paper describes the Hitomi (ASTRO-H) mission, its capabilities, the initial operation, and the instruments/spacecraft performances confirmed during the commissioning operations for about a month

Land capability assessment for farm forestry in the Illawarra and Shoalhaven regions

Currently, fanners have environmental and economic problems because of their non-environmentally sustainable businesses. Farm forestry is one of the potential alternatives that can improve both the environment and economy. In spite of these benefits, farm forestry has not been adopted in the Illawarra and Shoalhaven regions. One of the reasons for this is because of a lack of knowledge and research on farm forestry. This study aimed to assess the potential for commercial tree plantation in farmland in the Illawarra and Shoalhaven regions with local native species to these regions. This was evaluated by (1) the area of land available and its capability for plantations; (2) potential local native species for commercial plantations; and (3) matching of the available lands, the plantation species and site characteristics (including climate, geology and topography). As for the matching, a case study was conducted in Kiama LGA. There are a significant number of lands that are available for farm forestry. Most of these lands have mild climate and productive soils, which would support optimal tree plantations. Some areas in the regions that have high rainfalls and volcanic soils have a high potential for rainforest plantations as well. It is concluded that Eucalyptus species would be the most suitable local native species for commercial plantations because of their relatively fast growth rates and wide range of timber uses, from posts and poles from thinning, to fiamiture and cabinet timber from mature trees. Currently, the market for local native rainforest timber is small due to the limited supply of timber and small consumer demand. However, the fact that some furniture and cabinet workers look for rainforest timber from other regions shows that there is a potential to create a bigger market by increasing the supply of rainforest timbers through expanding the plantations. Matching of available lands, land capability and potentially commercial local native species was conducted with GIS, as a case study, for Kiama LGA. There are significant areas of potential sites for local native eucalypts and rainforest plantations on cleared, private land in the LGA. The GIS study still needs to be developed to obtain more reliable and accurate results of the study. It is concluded that there is a high potential for the establishment of farm forestry, using local native species in the Illawarra and Shoalhaven

HT2005-72180 DNS OF EXPANSION RATIO EFFECTS ON THREE-DIMENSIONAL UNSTEADY SEPARATED FLOW AND HEAT TRANSFER AROUND A DOWNWARD STEP

ABSTRACT The direct numerical simulation methodology was employed to analyze the unsteady features of a three-dimensional separated flow and heat transfer around a downward step in a rectangular channel, and to clarify systematically the channel expansion ratio effects upon them. Numerical calculations were carried out using the finite difference method. The Reynolds number Re based on the mean velocity at inlet and the step height was varied from 300 to 1000. The channel expansion ratio ER is 1.5, 2.0 and 3.0 under a step aspect ratio of 36.0. It is found that the flow is steady upto Re=500 but becomes sensibly unsteady at Re=700 for all the three expansion ratios. In the case of ER=2.0, the separated shear layer is most unstable. In the case of ER=1.5, the longitudinal vortices formed near the side walls of channel are strongest. Nusselt number reaches its maximum in the reattachment flow region and also in the neighborhood of the side wall, and their locations depend greatly upon ER and Re