Oxygen line mapping of SN 1006 with Suzaku

SN 1006 is one of the supernova remnants (SNRs) with relatively low-temperature electrons, considering the young age of just 1000 years. We carried out SN 1006 mapping observations with the X-ray Imaging Spectrometers (XIS) and the Hard X-ray Detector (HXD) onboard Suzaku, the fifth Japanese X-ray satellite. Thanks to the excellent spectral resolution of XIS in the soft X-ray band, H-like and He-like oxygen emission lines were clearly detected, and we could make a map of the line intensity, and as well as a flux and the photon index of nonthermal component. We found that these parameters have spatial dependences from region to region in the SNR; the north region is bright in nonthermal, while dim in thermal; the east region is bright in both nonthermal and thermal; the inner region shows dim nonthermal and bright thermal emission. The photon index is the smallest in the north region.     

Orbit determination by genetic algorithm and application to GEO observation

This paper demonstrates an initial orbit determination method that solves the problem by a genetic algorithm using two well-known solutions for the Lambert’s problem: universal variable method and Battin method. This paper also suggests an intuitive error evaluation method in terms of rotational angle and orbit shape by separating orbit elements into two groups. As reference orbit, mean orbit elements (original two-lines elements) and osculating orbit elements considering the J2 effect are adopted and compared. Our proposed orbit determination method has been tested with actual optical observations of a geosynchronous spacecraft. It should be noted that this demonstration of the orbit determination is limited to one test case. This observation was conducted during approximately 70 min on 2013/05/15 UT. Our method was compared with the orbit elements propagated by SGP4 using the TLE of the spacecraft. The result indicates that our proposed method had a slightly better performance on estimating orbit shape than Gauss’s methods and Escobal’s method by 120 km. In addition, the result of the rotational angle is closer to the osculating orbit elements than the mean orbit elements by 0.02°, which supports that the estimated orbit is valid.     

Simultaneous observations of the plasma density on the same field line by the CPMN ground magnetometers and the Cluster satellites

By applying the cross-phase method and the amplitude-ratio method to magnetic field data obtained from two ground stations located close to each other, we can determine the frequency of the field line resonance (FLR), or the field line eigenfrequency, for the field line running through the midpoint of the two stations. From thus identified FLR frequency we can estimate the equatorial plasma mass density (ρ)$(\rho )$ by using the T05s magnetospheric field model [Tsyganenko, N.A., Sitnov, M.I. Modeling the dynamics of the inner magnetosphere during strong geomagnetic storms, J. Geophys. Res. 110, A03208, 2005] and the equation of Singer et al. [Singer, H.J., Southwood, D.J., Walker, R.J., Kivelson, M.G. Alfven wave resonances in a realistic magnetospheric magnetic field geometry, J. Geophys. Res. 86 (A6) 4589–4596, 1981].