星系金属丰度的计算方法

本文介绍了几种主要的计算金属丰度的方法,其中理论上最成熟,可信度最高的使用发射线光谱计算星系HII区域金属丰度的方法,笔者详细做出了介绍;从辐射机制出发计算金属丰度虽然理论上成熟,但应用起来困难较大,本文也作了较详细介绍;对恒星化学组成的分析方法也已相当成熟,文中除了对动力学金属丰度的概念作了详细介绍之外,对其他的方法,如星族测光法,图像法,X射线方法,星族合成方法,则给出简要介绍。     

众眼看宇宙

为纪念哈勃空间望远镜成功发射19周年,美国航宇局发布了这张精彩的相互作用星系（阿尔普194）照片。这几个星系连同它们之间的“宇宙喷泉”（由恒星、气体和尘埃组成）,延伸范围超过100万光年。这三个星系中,真正发生碰撞的是上面的那两个星系（右边那个小星系也是背景星系）,尽管“喷泉”看似流向了下方的星系,但实际上它是一个遥远的背景星系,与上面两个毫不相关!     

众眼看宇宙

Arp274 Arp274这个三体一组的星系群位于室女座，直径约为20万光年，距离我们大约4亿光年远。中间和右边的两个星系看上去像要发生碰撞，当然两个星系内的恒星不会真的互撞，因为星系内主要是真空区域，而恒星仅仅占据了星系很小的部分。在星系碰撞期间，一个星系的牵引力能撕裂另一个星系，两星系内的尘埃与气体也会合并，当两星系结合以后，星系中心的黑洞最终也将融合。由于两个星系间的距离很大，整个过程所需的时间将超过数亿年。     

众眼看宇宙

这张取自于哈勃望远镜拍摄的照片,可以在哈勃数据库的宇宙照片资料中下载。照片的主角是两个碰撞的星系,并清晰地揭示出了它们缠绕的旋臂。这个特殊的星系对编号为Arp272,不过除了中央的NGC6050以及右上方的IC 1179,左边的第三个小星系有可能也是碰撞的参与者。整个碰撞发生的范围大约为15万光年,比整个银河系还大一半!星系碰撞并不罕见,这是因为星系与星系之间的空隙往往只有星系大小的几百倍甚至几十倍,要比恒星相撞的概率高得多。     

众眼看宇宙

触须星系 这个被称为NGC4038群的集团中共有5个星系,正在发生碰撞的两个星系被称为触须星系。这幅涵盖了大约五十万光年天区的壮丽影像为我们呈现了新诞生的星团以及被重力潮汐力所抛出的长条状物质。由于星系碰撞而产生的恒星、气体以及尘埃组成的两条长长的尾巴,很像昆虫的触须而被人们戏称为“触须星系”。在这个耗时数十亿年的冗长的事件中,这两个星系（NGC4038和NGC4039）内的恒星却不会发生碰撞,只有它们巨大的分子云气和尘埃云会受到影响。     

众眼看宇宙

雨伞星系NGC 4651 NGC 4651 是一个位于后发座的螺旋星系,它是室女座星系团的成员,并且位于该星系团的外缘。因为该星系有一个从盘面向东延伸的由多条星流组成的和雨伞相似的结构,因此又被称为＂雨伞星系＂。我们现在知道,这把巨大的＂伞＂其实是比NGC 4651小的多的星系被潮汐力撕裂后的残余。     

众眼看宇宙

色彩斑斓的“斯蒂芬五重星系”,是130年前由天文学家Stephan发现的一个致密星系团,距离地球2．8亿光年。其中有一个星系（紧挨蓝色“桥”右侧的星系）正在高速穿过其它几个星系组成的星系团核心区,并因此而产生激波,加热气体,产生X射线辐射。     

中国太空美术作品赏析——喻京川作品赏析

《天涯》（水彩喷色） 作品描写了从旋涡星系边缘的一颗行星上看到的情景。这里是离星系最边远的地方，巨大的星系高悬天际，异常壮观。左侧的那颗恒星闪耀着白色光芒照耀着这片冰雪覆盖的大地，这里就是天涯吗？画作使用水彩喷绘技法。用柔和的晕调表现出星系与星球的效果，没有笔触的干扰，显得细腻逼真。     

众眼看宇宙

纠结的旋臂加上怪异的星系之“眼”,让这个名为NGC1097的旋涡星系呈现出魔幻般的妖异气息。其实那只“眼睛”的蓝白色“瞳仁”是一个正在吸积物质而发出炽热辐射的超级黑洞,外围的白色光晕则是无数聚集成环的恒星,受到向星系棒上掉落的气体的引力扰动,其中正在诞生大量新恒星。     

中西神话Milk Way之比较

Milk Way这个庞大遥远的星系,中国人把它叫做"银河",而西方则称之为"奶路".不同的文化,对同一个星系给出了截然不同的诗意阐释.文章从几个方面比较了中西神话传说的异同.     

Astrobiologically interesting stars within 10 parsecs of the sun

The existence of life based on carbon chemistry and water oceans relies upon planetary properties, chiefly climate stability, and stellar properties, such as mass, age, metallicity, and galactic orbits. The latter can be well constrained with present knowledge. We present a detailed, up-to-date compilation of the atmospheric parameters, chemical composition, multiplicity, and degree of chromospheric activity for the astrobiologically interesting solar-type stars within 10 parsecs of the Sun. We determined their state of evolution, masses, ages, and space velocities, and produced an optimized list of candidates that merit serious scientific consideration by the future space-based interferometry probes aimed at directly detecting Earthsized extrasolar planets and seeking spectroscopic infrared biomarkers as evidence of photosynthetic life. The initially selected stars number 33 solar-type within the total population (excluding some incompleteness for late M-dwarfs) of 182 stars closer than 10 parsecs. A comprehensive and detailed data compilation for these objects is still lacking; a considerable amount of recent data has so far gone unexplored in this context. We present 13 objects as the nearest "biostars," after eliminating multiple stars, young, chromospherically active, hard x-ray- emitting stars, and low metallicity objects. Three of these "biostars"-- Zeta Tucanae, Beta Canum Venaticorum, and 61 Virginis -- closely reproduce most of the solar properties and are considered as premier targets. We show that approximately 7% of the nearby stars are optimally interesting targets for exobiology.     

A model of habitability within the Milky Way galaxy

We present a model of the galactic habitable zone (GHZ), described in terms of the spatial and temporal dimensions of the Galaxy that may favor the development of complex life. The Milky Way galaxy was modeled using a computational approach by populating stars and their planetary systems on an individual basis by employing Monte Carlo methods. We began with well-established properties of the disk of the Milky Way, such as the stellar number density distribution, the initial mass function, the star formation history, and the metallicity gradient as a function of radial position and time. We varied some of these properties and created four models to test the sensitivity of our assumptions. To assess habitability on the galactic scale, we modeled supernova rates, planet formation, and the time required for complex life to evolve. Our study has improved on other literature on the GHZ by populating stars on an individual basis and modeling Type II supernova (SNII) and Type Ia supernova (SNIa) sterilizations by selecting their progenitors from within this preexisting stellar population. Furthermore, we considered habitability on tidally locked and non-tidally locked planets separately and studied habitability as a function of height above and below the galactic midplane. In the model that most accurately reproduces the properties of the Galaxy, the results indicate that an individual SNIa is ～5.6× more lethal than an individual SNII on average. In addition, we predict that ～1.2% of all stars host a planet that may have been capable of supporting complex life at some point in the history of the Galaxy. Of those stars with a habitable planet, ～75% of planets are predicted to be in a tidally locked configuration with their host star. The majority of these planets that may support complex life are found toward the inner Galaxy, distributed within, and significantly above and below, the galactic midplane.     

空间红外天文望远镜低温制冷技术综述

空间红外天文观测对于研究行星、恒星、星系以及宇宙的起源具有重要意义,空间红外天文观测载荷代表了一个国家空间红外遥感载荷技术的最高水平。文章对现有的空间低温制冷方式进行了分析总结,介绍了各种低温制冷方式的特点、技术成熟度及适用温度范围。文章对典型空间红外天文望远镜（HST、IRTS、SIRTF、ASTRO-F、Herschel、WISE、JWST）的低温制冷技术进行了研究与总结,介绍了先进空间红外天文望远镜的制冷系统指标参数、制冷方案,总结了空间红外天文望远镜制冷系统发展规律与发展趋势,为中国空间红外低温制冷技术的发展提出了几点建议。     

Pervasive orbital eccentricities dictate the habitability of extrasolar earths

The long-term habitability of Earth-like planets requires low orbital eccentricities. A secular perturbation from a distant stellar companion is a very important mechanism in exciting planetary eccentricities, as many of the extrasolar planetary systems are associated with stellar companions. Although the orbital evolution of an Earth-like planet in a stellar binary system is well understood, the effect of a binary perturbation on a more realistic system containing additional gas-giant planets has been very little studied. Here, we provide analytic criteria confirmed by a large ensemble of numerical integrations that identify the initial orbital parameters leading to eccentric orbits. We show that an extrasolar earth is likely to experience a broad range of orbital evolution dictated by the location of a gas-giant planet, which necessitates more focused studies on the effect of eccentricity on the potential for life.     

一种基于信息融合的卫星自主天文导航新方法

直接敏感地平和利用星光折射间接敏感地平是两种基于天体敏感器的自主天文导航方法,其定位精度主要取决于地平的敏感精度。通常利用红外地平仪直接敏感地平的方法简单、可靠,但精度较低,而近年出现的利用星光折射间接敏感地平的方法精度高,但必须能观测到符合一定条件的折射星,根据上述两种方法的特点,提出了一种基于信息融合的直接敏感地平和利用星光折射间接敏感地平相结合的自主天文导航的新方法,计算机仿真结果表明该方法可以进一步提高系统的精度和可靠性。     

Is interstellar archeology possible?

Searching for signatures of cosmic-scale archeological artifacts such as Dyson spheres is an interesting alternative to conventional radio SETI. Uncovering such an artifact does not require the intentional transmission of a signal on the part of the original civilization. This type of search is called interstellar archeology or sometimes cosmic archeology. A variety of interstellar archeology signatures is discussed including non-natural planetary atmospheric constituents, stellar doping, Dyson spheres, as well as signatures of stellar, and galactic-scale engineering. The concept of a Fermi bubble due to interstellar migration is reviewed in the discussion of galactic signatures. These potential interstellar archeological signatures are classified using the Kardashev scale. A modified Drake equation is introduced. With few exceptions interstellar archeological signatures are clouded and beyond current technological capabilities. However SETI for so-called cultural transmissions and planetary atmosphere signatures are within reach.     

A novel SETI strategy targeting the solar focal regions of the most nearby stars

Many hypotheses have been raised to explain the famous Fermi paradox. One of them is that self-replicating probes could have explored the whole Galaxy, including our Solar System, and that they are still to be detected. In this scenario, it is proposed here that probes from neighboring stellar systems could use the stars they orbit as gravitational lenses to communicate efficiently with each other. Under this hypothesis, a novel SETI approach would be to monitor the solar focal regions of the most nearby stars to search for communication devices. The envisioned devices are probably not detectable by imagery or stellar occultation, but an intensive multi-spectral monitoring campaign could possibly detect some communication leakages. Another and more direct option would be to message the focal regions of nearby stars in an attempt to initiate a reaction.     

一种星光折射卫星自主导航系统方案设计

利用星光折射间接敏感地平的卫星自主导航方案具有导航精度高、自主性强的特点,是一种极具应用潜力的自主导航方案。在基于星光折射的自主导航方案中,折射星的准确识别与折射角的精确获取是实现高精度导航的基础。提出了一种基于双星敏感器,利用连续高度星图模拟与匹配技术实现高精度折射星识别和折射角获取的方法,并在此基础上设计了一种新颖的基于星光折射的卫星自主导航系统方案。同时,为了验证该方案的可行性,设计了相关的折射星仿真程序,以轨道高度为686km的对地观测卫星为例进行计算机仿真验证,结果表明在星敏感器精度为3″时,该导航系统平均位置误差约为145m,最大位置误差不超过400m。     

Coronal mass ejection (CME) activity of low mass M stars as an important factor for the habitability of terrestrial exoplanets. I. CME impact on expected magnetospheres of Earth-like exoplanets in close-in habitable zones

Low mass M- and K-type stars are much more numerous in the solar neighborhood than solar-like G-type stars. Therefore, some of them may appear as interesting candidates for the target star lists of terrestrial exoplanet (i.e., planets with mass, radius, and internal parameters identical to Earth) search programs like Darwin (ESA) or the Terrestrial Planet Finder Coronagraph/Inferometer (NASA). The higher level of stellar activity of low mass M stars, as compared to solar-like G stars, as well as the closer orbital distances of their habitable zones (HZs), means that terrestrial-type exoplanets within HZs of these stars are more influenced by stellar activity than one would expect for a planet in an HZ of a solar-like star. Here we examine the influences of stellar coronal mass ejection (CME) activity on planetary environments and the role CMEs may play in the definition of habitability criterion for the terrestrial type exoplanets near M stars. We pay attention to the fact that exoplanets within HZs that are in close proximity to low mass M stars may become tidally locked, which, in turn, can result in relatively weak intrinsic planetary magnetic moments. Taking into account existing observational data and models that involve the Sun and related hypothetical parameters of extrasolar CMEs (density, velocity, size, and occurrence rate), we show that Earth-like exoplanets within close-in HZs should experience a continuous CME exposure over long periods of time. This fact, together with small magnetic moments of tidally locked exoplanets, may result in little or no magnetospheric protection of planetary atmospheres from a dense flow of CME plasma. Magnetospheric standoff distances of weakly magnetized Earth-like exoplanets at orbital distances 相似文献