Soft X-Ray and Extreme Ultraviolet Excess Emission from Clusters of Galaxies

An excess over the extrapolation to the extreme ultraviolet and soft X-ray ranges of the thermal emission from the hot intracluster medium has been detected in a number of clusters of galaxies. We briefly present each of the satellites (EUVE, ROSAT PSPC and BeppoSAX, and presently XMM-Newton, Chandra and Suzaku) and their corresponding instrumental issues, which are responsible for the fact that this soft excess remains controversial in a number of cases. We then review the evidence for this soft X-ray excess and discuss the possible mechanisms (thermal and non-thermal) which could be responsible for this emission.     

Evolution of galaxy cluster scaling from XMM-Newton observation of the galaxy clusters at z ⩾ 0.4

We present here new XMM-Newton observations of 3 relatively cool clusters at z ≈ 0.4, complemented by archival observations of 3 other clusters at similar redshift. We derived the M–T and R–T relations from the hydrostatic equation using an isothermal temperature distribution.     

XMM-Newton survey of non-thermal shell candidates: Preliminary results on DA 530

The investigation of the general properties of non-thermal (NT) X-ray shell supernova remnants (SNRs), of which SN 1006 is the prototype, is important to understand how electrons are accelerated in SNR shocks and what is the origin of cosmic rays. Using the XMM-Newton satellite, we are carrying on a survey of putative non-thermal SNR candidates previously unknown or little studied in the X-ray band, in order to investigate the different manifestations of NT emission in SNR shells. The SNRs we have selected are likely to expand in a low density medium, and therefore to have a low thermal X-ray emission, that usually outshines the non-thermal one. We report here preliminary results obtained on the SNR shell DA 530.     

UKF方法在脉冲星自主导航中的应用

针对X射线脉冲星自主导航中的非线性系统滤波问题，将无迹卡尔曼滤波方法应用于自主导航计算过程中。首先，在简述脉冲星导航可行性的基础上，研究了脉冲星自主导航系统的基本原理和实施方案。然后，根据牛顿二体引力模型构建了航天器运动状态方程，根据脉冲到达时间模型建立了系统观测方程，并对二者进行了误差分析和建模。最后，将UKF算法应用于航天器自主导航过程中，仿真结果表明该方法能够实现航天器自主导航信息的解算。     

金属多层膜超晶格结构研究

用高分辨的三晶体x—射线衍射仪测量了Zr、Cu金属交替的多层膜的x—射线小角反射谱。用扩展了的Born—wolf光学模型对Zr、Cu多层膜的x—射线小角反射数据进行了定量分析。结果表明，该金属多层膜在其生长方向具有超晶格结构。在两层金属膜之间的界面上，由于内扩散，形成了界面交混层，它使x—射线小角反射所产生的高阶Bragg峰的强度减弱。由于两种金属膜的晶格不匹配，使高阶Bragg峰加宽。界面的粗糙度可用来模拟x—射线小角反射曲线的阻尼振荡效应。     

超低轨道地球卫星脉冲星/星光折射/光谱组合导航

针对超低轨道地球卫星导航自主需求,提出了一种脉冲星/星光折射/光谱测速组合天文导航方法。首先根据地球超低轨道卫星运行轨道动力学方程建立导航系统状态模型;分别根据脉冲到达时间差和星光折射角与天体光谱频率建立导航系统量测模型;使用Unscented卡尔曼滤波方法,降低随机误差对导航精度的影响,使用基于UKF的信息融合方法,有效融合了三种天文导航方法结果数据。经计算机仿真分析,该组合导航方法位置导航误差均值为85.62m,速度误差均值0.190m/s,能够满足超低轨道地球卫星在轨运行导航需求。     

基于DCT-CS的脉冲星周期超快速估计方法

受快速傅里叶变换（fast Fourier transform，FFT）的影响，基于FFT和压缩感知（compressive sensing, CS）的脉冲星周期快速估计算法的计算量大。为进一步减小计算量并提高计算精度，利用离散余弦变换（discrete cosine transform，DCT)取代FFT，提出了一种基于DCT-CS的脉冲星周期超快速估计算法。在该方法中，利用DCT提取脉冲星信号的低频部分构建低频DCT矩阵；构建畸变轮廓字典并获取累积轮廓；提出了利用最大值超分辨率稀疏恢复估计脉冲星周期的方法。仿真结果表明，DCT-CS的脉冲星周期估计精度达到了3.82×10-12 s，计算时间达到了9.31 ms。与FFT-CS相比，周期估计精度提高了约16%，计算时间缩短了约37.5%，实现了实时高精度的脉冲星周期估计。     

He-like Ar xvii triplet observed by RESIK

We present the observations of He-like Ar triplet lines obtained by RESIK spectrometer aboard CORONAS-F. Interpretation of intensity ratios between triplet lines of lower Z elements is known to provide useful diagnostics of plasma conditions within the emitting source. Here, we investigate whether triplet line ratios are useful for interpretation of higher Z element spectra. A high sensitivity, low background and precise absolute calibration of RESIK allow to consider in addition also the continuum contribution. This provides a way to determine the Ar absolute abundance from the observed triplet component ratios. The method is presented and the results are shown for two selected flares. Derived values of Ar absolute abundance for these flares are found to be similar: 2.6 × 10⁻⁶ and 2.9 × 10⁻⁶. They fall in the range between presently accepted Ar photospheric and coronal abundances.     

Soft X-ray observations of helmet structures from SXT/Yohkoh

We present soft X-ray observations of helmet structures in solar active regions obtained from SXT/Yohkoh. These helmet structures are observed to form in the flare decay phase and to be associated with active region loop interactions. Their morphology is similar to the much larger scale helmet streamers that appear in the outer corona as shown in optical images of solar eclipse. The observed X-ray helmet structures appear to be in quasi-equilibrium with lifetimes greater than the MHD time scale. Using the filter ratio method for the X-ray observations, we find that the cusp region has lower temperature and higher density than that in the stalk region above it. The plasma pressure in the cusp region is about the same or slightly higher than that in the stalk region.     

Indicators of black-hole mass and Eddington accretion ratio from QSO X-ray and UV spectra

The evolution of luminous QSOs is linked to the evolution of massive galaxies. We know this because the relic black-holes found locally have masses dependent on the properties of the host galaxy’s bulge. An important way to explore this evolution would be to measure dependences of black-hole masses and Eddington accretion ratios over a range of redshifts, i.e., with cosmological age. For low redshift QSOs (and their lower luminosity Seyfert galaxy counterparts) it has been possible to infer black-hole masses from the luminosities and velocity dispersions of their host-galaxy bulges. These masses agree with those virial black-hole masses calculated from the Doppler widths of the broad Hβ emission lines. The latter method can then be extended to more distant and luminous QSOs, up to redshifts of 0.6 with ground-based optical observations. We discuss ways to extend these explorations to higher redshifts – up to 3 using the widths of QSOs’ broad UV emission lines, and in principle, and to redshifts near 4 from ground-based infrared observations of rest-frame Hβ at 2.5 μm. We discuss the possibility of investigating the accretion history of the higher redshift QSOs using measures of Eddington accretion ratio – the soft X-ray spectral index and the eigenvectors of Principal Components Analyses of QSOs’ UV emission-line spectra.