Douglas G. Currie

Analysis of isoplanatic high resolution stellar fields by the StarFinder code

We describe a new code for the deep analysis of stellar fields, designed for Adaptive Optics Nyquist-sampled images with high and low Strehl ratio. The Point Spread Function is extracted directly from the image frame, to take into account the actual structure of the instrumental response and the atmospheric effects. The code is written in IDL language and organized in the form of a self-contained widget-based application, provided with a series of tools for data visualization and analysis. A description of the method and some applications to AO data are presented.

The Lunar Laser Ranging Experiment: Accurate ranges have given a large improvement in the lunar orbit and new selenophysical information

The lunar ranging measurements now being made at the McDonald Observatory have an accuracy of 1 nsec in round-trip travel time. This corresponds to 15 cm in the one-way distance. The use of lasers with pulse-lengths of less than 1 nsec is expected to give an accuracy of 2 to 3 cm in the next few years. A new station is under construction in Hawaii, and additional stations in other countries are either in operation or under development. It is hoped that these stations will form the basis for a worldwide network to determine polar motion and earth rotation on a regular basis, and will assist in providing information about movement of the tectonic plates making up the earths surface. Several mobile lunar ranging stations with telescopes having diameters of 1.0 m or less could, in the future, greatly extend the information obtainable about motions within and between the tectonic plates. The data obtained so far by the McDonald Observatory have been used to generate a new lunar ephemeris based on direct numerical integration of the equations of motion for the moon and planets. With this ephemeris, the range to the three Apollo retro-reflectors can be fit to an accuracy of 5 m by adjusting the differences in moments of inertia of the moon about its principal axes, the selenocentric coordinates of the reflectors, and the McDonald longitude. The accuracy of fitting the results is limited currently by errors of the order of an arc second in the angular orientation of the moon, as derived from the best available theory of how the moon rotates in response to the torques acting on it. Both a new calculation of the moons orientation as a function of time based on direct numerical integration of the torque equations and a new analytic theory of the moons orientation are expected to be available soon, and to improve considerably the accuracy of fitting the data. The accuracy already achieved routinely in lunar laser ranging represents a hundredfold improvement over any previously available knowledge of the distance to points on the lunar surface. Already, extremely complex structure has been observed in the lunar rotation and significant improvement has been achieved in our knowledge of lunar orbit. The selenocentric coordinates of the retroreflectors give improved reference points for use in lunar mapping, and new information on the lunar mass distribution has been obtained. Beyond the applications discussed in this article, however, the history of science shows many cases of previously unknown, phenomena discovered as a consequence of major improvements in the accuracy of measurements. It will be interesting to see whether this once again proves the case as we acquire an extended series of lunar distance observations with decimetric and then centimetric accuracy.

Saturn's E ring

Abstract The tenuous E ring of Saturn is found to commence abruptly at 3 Saturn radii, to peak sharply in the vicinity of the orbit of the satellite Enceladus (about 4 radii), and to spread out thinly to more than 8 radii. This distribution strongly suggests it to be associated with Enceladus and perhaps to be material ejected from Enceladus. The spread of E-ring material above and below the ring plane is greater in its tenuous outskirts than in its denser inner region, suggesting that the E ring may be at an early stage in its evolution. Thus far, our analysis reveals only a marginal variation of the ring with time or Enceladus azimuth. In this paper we describe the special instrumentation used for photometric observations of the E ring, and we present some of the data obtained in March 1980. In Paper II we shall derive the three-dimensional distribution of material in the E ring and discuss its cosmogonic implications.

Four stellar-diameter measurements by a new technique: amplitude interferometry

Abstract : Diameters are reported for four late-type giant stars, alpha Boo, alpha Ori, alpha Tau and beta Peg. The diameters were obtained with a new kind of interferometer designed expressly to operate in the presence of atmospheric fluctuations. The new technique, called Amplitude Inferferometry, is briefly described. The results include measurements of alpha Ori at several wavelengths. (Author)

The ASCA X‐Ray Spectrum of η Carinae

We have obtained high signal-to-noise ratio 0.5-10 keV band X-ray spectra of the peculiar, extremely luminous star η Carinae with the Advanced Satellite for Cosmology and Astrophysics (ASCA) X-ray observatory during Cycle 4 observations in mid-1996. These data comprise the best X-ray spectra to date of the cool source (kT ~ 0.3 keV) surrounding the homunculus and of the hot source (kT ~ 5 keV) associated with η Car itself. We identify line emission from ions of N, Mg, Si, and S and numerous strong transitions of Fe in a variety of ionization stages, including the first clear identification of a fluorescent Fe line produced by photoionization of cool material by the X-ray continuum from the hot source. The line strengths are consistent with thermal equilibrium models, though abundances of some important elements are nonsolar. Our analysis suggests that Fe is slightly underabundant and S and Si somewhat overabundant. Most importantly, we confirm the high N enrichment derived by Tsuboi et al. from their analysis of a shorter ASCA observation obtained during the performance verification (PV) phase in 1993 August. The O/N abundance ratio derived from the ASCA spectra is consistent with an upper limit from optical/UV spectral analysis (Davidson et al.) and with predictions of evolutionary models for extremely massive stars. Comparison of the Cycle 4 and PV-phase spectra shows that the X-ray luminosity increased by ~50% during this 3 year interval. Using the ASCA spectral model as a template, we reevaluate the spectrum of η Car obtained by the Rontgen Satelite (ROSAT) in late 1992 and construct an X-ray light curve for the 1992.4-1996.6 interval. We present spectra from the International Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE) satellite obtained at nearly the same time as the Cycle 4 ASCA spectra and show that the observed X-ray variability is reflected in changes of some important UV spectral features. Our data suggest that the X-ray emission and state of the stellar wind are intimately connected, though the exact mechanism of coupling is not known. We suggest two alternatives: an underlying photospheric change of undetermined origin in η Car itself, or a collision between a dense stellar wind from η Car and the wind or photosphere of a companion.

Hubble Space Telescope Planetary Camera observations of Arp 220

Planetary Camera images of peculiar galaxy Arp 220 taken with V, R, and I band filters reveal a very luminous object near the position of the western radio continuum source, assumed to be the major nucleus, ans seven lesser objects within 2 sec of this position. The most luminous object is formally coincident with the radio source to within the errors of Hubble Space Telescope (HST) pointing accuracy, but we have found an alternate, more compelling alignment of maps in which the eastern radio source coincides with one of the lesser objects and the OH radio sources reside near the surfaces of other optical objects. The proposed centering places the most luminous object 150 pc (0.4 sec) away from the western radio source. We explore the possibilities that the objects are either holes in the dense dust distribution, dusty clouds reflecting a hidden bright nucleus, or associations of bright young stars. We favor the interpretation that at least the brightest two objects are massive young star associations with luminosities 10(exp 9) to 10(exp 11) solar luminosity, but highly extinguished by intervening dust. These massive associations should fall into the nucleus on a time scale of 10(exp 8) yr. About 10% of the enigmatic far-IR flux arises from the observed objects. In addition, if the diffuse starlight out to a radius of 8 sec is dominated by stars with typical ages of order 10(exp 8) yr (the time since the alleged merger of two galaxies), as indicated by the blue colors at larger radius, then the lower limit to the reradiation of diffuse starlight contributes 3 x 10(exp 11) solar luminosity to the far-infrared flux, or greater than or equal to 25% of the total far-IR flux. Three additional bright objects (M(sub V) approximately equals -13) located about 6 sec from the core are likely young globular clusters, but any of these could be recently exploded supernovae instead. The expected supernovae rate, if the dominant energy source is young stars, is about one per month for the region where the intense far-infrared flux originates. Also, individual giant dust clouds are visible in these images. Their typical size is 300 pc (1 sec).

Imaging of the gravitational lens system PG 1115+080 with the Hubble Space Telescope

This paper is the first of a series presenting observations of gravitational lenses and lens candidates, taken with the Wide Field/Planetary Camera (WFPC) of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). We have resolved the gravitational lens system PG 1115 + 080 into four point sources and a red, extended object that is presumably the lens galaxy; we present accurate relative intensities, colors, and positions of the four images, and lower accuracy intensity and position of the lens galaxy, all at the epoch 1991.2. Comparison with earlier data shows no compelling evidence for relative intensity variations between the QSO components having so far been observed. The new data agree with earlier conclusions that the system is rather simple, and can be produced by the single observed galaxy. The absence of asymmetry in the HST images implies that the emitting region of the quasar itself has an angular radius smaller than about 10 milliarcsec (100 pc for H_0=50, q_0=0.5).

On ``Diagonal'' Coherent‐State Representations for Quantum‐Mechanical Density Matrices

It is proved that every density matrix is the limit, in the sense of weak operator convergence, of a sequence of operators each of which may be represented as an integral over projection operators onto coherent states (in the sense of Glauber) with a square‐integrable weight function. This result is a special case of one that holds for all operators with trace and for overcomplete families of states other than just the coherent states. We prove our more general result, at no cost of complexity, within the more general framework of continuous‐representation theory. The significance of our results for representing traces of operators is indicated.

LAGEOS I once‐per‐revolution force due to solar heating

Photon thrust from the solar heating of the LAGEOS I satellite appears to explain much of the eccentricity variations seen in the satellites orbital elements. We invoke a thermal model of LAGEOS I in which the photon thrust from solar heating is directed along the satellites spin axis and functionally depends only on the cosine of the angle between the Suns position and the spin axis. We calibrated the amplitude of the force from the 1980–1983 equivalent along-track acceleration derived from the observed orbital perturbations; during this time the spin axis position is assumed to be known and to be that at orbit injection. The photon thrust from this simple thermal model, plus later spin axis positions obtained from Sun glint data (which show LAGEOS I to be precessing), give reasonable agreement with the observed along-track acceleration in the time period 1988–1995. Thus much of the eccentricity variations seem to be due to thermal thrust and do not have a geophysical origin (atmospheric tides) as has been proposed. However, our solar heating model does not appear to explain the highest peaks and deepest troughs seen in the along-track acceleration, indicating the need for a better thermal model and consideration of other forces, such as that due to anisotropic reflection.

Canonical transformations and quadratic hamiltonians

SummaryIt is shown that there exist symmetry transformations in phase space that preserve Hamilton’s canonical equations of motion for one Hamiltonian, but not for all. Examples of these « canonoid » transformations are given and their relation to canonical transformations is developed. It is demonstrated that a sufficient condition for a canonoid transformation to be canonical is that it preserve Hamilton’s equations for all Hamiltonians quadratic in theq’s andp’s.RiassuntoSi dimostra che esistono trasformazioni di simmetria nello spazio delle fasi oho preservano le equazioni canoniche di moto di Hamilton per un hamiltoniano, ma non per tutti. Si danno esempi di questo trasformazioni « canonoidi » e si sviluppa la loro relazione con le trasformazioni canoniche. Si dimostra che una condizione sufficiente perché una trasformazione canonoide sia canonica è che essa preservi le equazioni di Hamilton per tutti gli hamiltoniani quadratici neiq e neip.