Based on the observations of M giant stars in the north galactic polar objective-prism survey of Upgren (1960) and the data summarized by Blanco (1965) the overall space density of all M-type giants as a function of distance from the galactic plane at the position of the sun can be approximated by,

where z is in kpc and ρ(z) is the number of stars per 106 pc3. This relationship is derived from the observed fall-off in space densities up to a distance of about 2 kpc.

The question arises as to the validity of extrapolation equation (1) to larger z distances so as to predict the number of faint M giants expected per unit area near the galactic poles. Adopting for the M giants a mean visual absolute magnitude of −1.0 (Blanco 1965), one finds that equation (1) predicts that less than one giant fainter than V~12 should be expected in a region of 200 square degrees. This expectation formed the hypothesis of a thesis study (Sanduleak 1965) in which it was assumed that the very faint M stars detected in a deep, infrared objective-prism survey at the NGP were main-sequence stars, since this could not be ascertained spectroscopically on the very low-dispersion plates used.

This paper presents a brief survey on the history of radar observations of meteors in Kazan from 1950s to present days. Such achievements of Kazan researchers as development and further improvement of original measuring equipment and antenna systems, of observational data processing methods, their contribution to the theory of physics of meteor phenomena and theoretical interpretation of experimental data are highlighted. A particular progress in meteor astronomy has been achieved with a new discrete quasi-tomoghraphic method for faint meteor showers identification that uses goniometer data of meteor radio reflections detected on radar as input data. The current state and new horizons of meteor studies in Kazan are stated.

The Deep Impact mission aims at understanding the third dimension of a cometary nucleus, the physical and chemical properties as a function of depth below the surface. General wisdom holds that comets, because they are small and spend most of their lives far from the sun, hold primordial ices in their interiors. However, it is universally agreed that the surface layers have evolved, whether from cosmic rays while residing in the Oort cloud or from solar heating during previous perihelion passages. Clearly, in order to interpret surface observations and outgassing, we must understand how the surface layers differ from the interior. Deep Impact is the first mission to carry out a macroscopic experiment on a planetary body since the Apollo program dropped a lunar module on the moon and measured the seismic response.

The different research teams involved in the study of δ Sct stars have slightly changed their strategy in the past years. The observational effort to secure worldwide coverage of case studies has been continued, but the requirements have become more severe, especially about target characterization and frequency resolution.

After the successful launch of the Canadian satellite MOST, which will be the pioneer of asteroseismology from space, the future missions are programmed to properly take into account the need for adequate frequency resolution: COROT will spent 30 and 150 d (additional and core programs, respectively) on the target, while EDDINGTON will spend up to 3yr. Such a requirement is a direct consequence of the observational results on δ Sct, γ Dor, SPB, and other stars obtained from ground. It should be noted that without these results (see Poretti 2000 for a review about δ Sct stars) the scientific background of the space missions would be much less defined and the risks of incomplete results (owing to inaccurate selection of targets, insufficient resolution, underestimate of the influence of the rotation) much higher.

Differences of latitudes and of mean latitudes of stations located along a common meridian were studied in order to find influences of local geophysical phenomena on their variations. Some correlation of variations of the mean latitude of Belgrade with the occurrence of earthquakes in the vicinity can be noticed as well as instabilities of the mean latitude of stations located near sea coasts. Some attempts at measurements of variations of the meridian component of the vertical and a discussion of spectral analysis of latitudes and of mean latitudes of considered stations are presented.

The discovery of diffuse synchrotron radio emission and, more recently, of the hard X-ray (HXR) tails have triggered a growing interest about non-thermal phenomena in galaxy clusters. After a brief review of the most important evidences for non-thermal emission, I will focus on the origin of the emitting particles and of the hadronic component. In particular I will describe the particle-injection and -acceleration mechanisms at work in the intra-cluster medium (ICM) and, at the same time, discuss the possibility to test current modellings of these phenomena with future radio, HXR, and gamma ray observatories.To search for other articles by the author(s) go to: http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abstract_service.html

Though widely spread across the H-R diagram the compact pulsators have much in common. All are multi-periodic, and most have extremely complex light curves. All appear to be pulsating in nonradial g-modes, with temperature variations responsible for the bulk of the light modulations. The g-modes are global in nature and, typically, many are excited in each pulsator, so they are a rich source of seismological information about the interior regions of the white dwarf stars.

The pulsating DB white dwarf stars (DBV’s) form one of the three distinct classes of pulsating compact objects currently known. We find these classes nearly uniformly distributed in log Te spanning virtually the whole range of the white dwarf cooling sequence, from the hot DOV stars at log Te ~ 5 to the DAV (ZZ Ceti) stars at log Te ~ 4; the DBV stars, with logTe ~ 4.5, fall in the middle.

High resolution observations, theoretical models, and simulations are discovering many new and exciting phenomena in the solar atmosphere. In recent years, there have been a number of very high quality observations of the solar surface and lower photosphere made on the ground at Sacramento Peak Observatory, Pic du Midi, and at the Swedish Solar Observatory, La Palma. In space the Solar Optical Universal Polarimeter (SOUP) has made diffraction limited (30 cm aperture) time sequences completely free from atmospheric disturbances. The recognition that significant progress is possible in non-linear dynamics has encouraged a number of theoretical groups to attack the problem of convection in the solar atmosphere. Two, two and a half, and three dimensional simulations yield the geometry of the flow below the surface and a prediction of the response of the atmosphere above the surface. Models of magnetic flux tubes are now very sophisticated, and modern high resolution observations should be able to test these theories. The development of the technique of Local Correlation Tracking (LCT) has allowed the direct measurement of horizontal velocities in the atmosphere near disk center. The combination of Doppler and LCT measurements allows a direct measurement of the photospheric vector flow field. Measurements from SOUP, Sacramento Peak, Pic du Midi, and La Palma have shown that mesoscale flows cover the surface and that there exist still larger scale flows associated with emerging pores and active regions. Much of the recent experimental and theoretical progress in processing and understanding high resolution data has resulted from the availability of powerful scientific workstations for user interaction, large amounts of memory for image storage, and supercomputers for the massive fluid dynamics calculations. We are now in the very early stages of learning how to use these new computer tools to identify and follow processes in the solar atmosphere.

We report on visual polarimetric measurements of B[e] and related stars, and on an unsuccessful search for correlating the observational data with characteristics of the objects or of their surrounding dust shells.

Based on a preliminary analysis of 3 nights of high-dispersion spectral observations of HD 101065 (Przybylski's star) obtained on the ESO 3.6-m telescope + HARPS we find rapid multiperiodic radial velocity oscillations of at least three pulsation modes. The detailed analysis of the frequency space and probable splitting based on 4 nights of data will be given later.To search for other articles by the author(s) go to: http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abstract_service.html

Requirements and problems in establishing an absolute solar spectrum, which could serve equally well all concerned sciences (e.g. solar physics, atmospheric physics, astrophysics) as a qualified reference, are illustrated by means of a high resolution spectral atlas with absolute intensity and irradiance scales. Also the organizational aspects are pointed out: the desire for one worldwide reference spectrum involves its recommendation by a competent team of scientists and the agreement of the relevant, official organizations.

One of the few carbon-rich environments found in interstellar space is the ejecta of asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars. Such material, which forms a circumstellar envelope, becomes enriched in carbon due to “dredge-up” phenomena associated with nucleosynthesis. A unique organic synthesis flourishes in the gas phase in these envelopes, and radio and millimeter observations have identified a wide range of C-bearing compounds, including long acetylenic chains such as HC5N, HC7N, C4H, C6H, C8H, C6H−, C8H−, and C3O. Oxygen-rich envelopes also have a non-negligible carbon chemistry, fostering species such as HCN and HCO+. Phosphorus chemistry appears to be active as well in circumstellar shells, as evidenced by the recent detections of HCP, CCP, and PO. Radio observations also indicate that some fraction of the circumstellar molecular material survives into the planetary nebula stage, and then becomes incorporated into diffuse, and eventually, dense clouds. The complex organic molecules found in dense clouds such as Sgr B2(N) may be the products of “seed” material that can be traced back to the carbon-enriched circumstellar gas.

Thermal pulses in AGB stars cause large luminosity variations at the stellar surface. The role of these luminosity variations in the production of planetary nebulae is discussed. Results of theoretical evolution calculations which include mass loss modulated by thermal pulses are presented.

This contribution reviews two topics of current interest in the study of black hole demographics in active galaxies: Can the stellar velocity dispersions of quasar host galaxies be measured? And can we constrain the black hole mass function below 106 M$_\odot$?To search for other articles by the author(s) go to: http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abstract_service.html

This IAU Joint Discussion proposes to address the subject of redshift surveys in the 21st century. This paper, however, deals with two major new redshift surveys that those involved sincerely hope will be completed in the 20th century. Nonetheless, these surveys are relevant to the topic of the meeting, as they clearly foreshadow the scope and style of redshift surveys, if not in the coming millennium, at least in the coming decade.

The surveys are being carried out with the new Two Degree Field (2dF) facility on the Anglo-Australian Telescope (AAT), a 400-fibre multi-object spectrograph with the capability, as described in Section 2, to increase the size of redshift surveys by an order of magnitude over current best efforts. The main scientific goals, survey strategy and some preliminary results from the 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey are outlined in Section 3, while Section 4 similarly describes the 2dF QSO Redshift Survey. Further information can be found on the WWW at http://www.aao.gov.au/2df/ for the 2dF facility, at http://msowww.anu.edu.au/~colless/2dF/ for thegalaxy survey and at http://www.aao.gov.au/local/www/rs/qso_surv.html for the QSO survey.

RESIK Bragg spectrometer aboard CORONAS-F solar observatory collected spectra of hundreds of solar flares in the unique spectral range between 3.3 Å and 6.1 Å. The instrument's absolute and relative calibrations are now finished which allows for the first time to interpret the observations in terms of the differential emission measure (DEM) distribution. With known DEM shape it is possible to derive and study in detail flaring plasma composition and energy balance. Here we report results of using an improved Maximum Likelihood iterative algorithm (Withbroe-Sylwester) for determination of the DEM distributions for 7 January 2003 flare at 23:30 UT. The study is based on the absolute flux values observed in a number of strong H- and He-like transitions of K xviii, Ar xviii, Ar xvii, S xvi, S xv, Si xiv and Si xiii ions. In this respect, we use line and continuum X-ray emissivities as provided by CHIANTI package from SolarSoft.To search for other articles by the author(s) go to: http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abstract_service.html

The low metallicity interstellar medium of dwarf galaxies gives a different picture in the far infrared(FIR)/submillimetre(submm)wavelengths than the more metal-rich galaxies. Excess emission is often found in the submm beginning at or beyond 500 μm. Even without taking this excess emission into account as a possible dust component, higher dust-to-gas mass ratios (DGR) are often observed compared to that expected from their metallicity for moderately metal-poor galaxies. The Spectral Energy Distributions (SEDs) of the lowest metallicity galaxies, however, give very low dust masses and excessively low values of DGR, inconsistent with the amount of metals expected to be captured into dust if we presume the usual linear relationship holding for all metallicities, including the more metal-rich galaxies. This transition seems to appear near metalllicities of 12 + log(O/H) 8.0 - 8.2. These results rely on accurately quantifying the total molecular gas reservoir, which is uncertain in low metallicity galaxies due to the difficulty in detecting CO(1-0) emission. Dwarf galaxies show an exceptionally high [CII] 158 μm/CO (1-0) ratio which may be indicative of a significant reservoir of ‘CO-free’ molecular gas residing in the photodissociated envelope, and not traced by the small CO cores.

Although it is presently not possible to extract the true composition of a comet nucleus from its coma composition, the distribution of physical and chemical coma properties among comets may be expedient to establish a comet classification scheme that reflects their origin and/or evolution. Most of the coma species visible in the optical were extensively observed in the past. The analysis of these gas coma constituents, mainly daughter products produced for the most part by photolytic destruction of their parent species, is therefore of major importance, if we want to draw conclusions on diversities and similarities of comets in terms of coma composition on a statistically relevant basis. Hundreds of gas and dust production rates are published, but have never been combined into a single database that would allow identifying whether and how the abundances of coma species differ from comet to comet and how they vary with heliocentric distance and with the number of apparitions. A common database can however only be established if the production rates are re-calculated with a common model and set of parameters.

We briefly review the assumptions and methods required to construct NLTE line-blanketed model atmospheres of hot stars. We describe our new grid of NLTE model atmospheres covering the parameter range of O stars at various metallicities. We have applied these new models to the analysis of HST/STIS and FUSE UV spectra of O stars in the SMC. This analysis leads us to revise down the effective temperature scale of O-type stars.

As a recently recognized class of objects exhibiting apparently cometary (sublimation-driven) activity yet orbiting completely within the main asteroid belt, main-belt comets (MBCs) have revealed the existence of present-day ice in small bodies in the inner solar system and offer an opportunity to better understand the thermal and compositional history of our solar system, and by extension, those of other planetary systems as well. Achieving these overall goals, however, will require meeting various intermediate research objectives, including discovering many more MBCs than the currently known seven objects in order to ascertain the population's true abundance and distribution, confirming that water ice sublimation is in fact the driver of activity in these objects, and improving our understanding of the physical, dynamical, and thermal evolutionary processes that have acted on this population over the age of the solar system.