Teaching astronomy for pre-service elementary teachers: A comparison of methods

This study investigates the effect of text structure and “hands-on” methods in the acquisition of the concepts of moon phases and seasons for pre-service elementary teachers. The goal is to evaluate the most appropriate method for facilitating conceptual change. The presentation of two main misconceptions associated with each concept (moon phases and seasons) is tested. Sixty pre-service elementary teachers are divided into three same size experimental groups after a pre-test on their knowledge about astronomy: one group read a simple expository text that presents factual information about seasons and moon phases, another group read a refutation text that moreover presents explicitly two main and usual misconceptions about each concept and arguments to refute them; the last group participates to a refutation modelling activity by testing, for each concept, three hypothesis: the scientific explanation and the two common misconceptions. The hands-on method is used as a way to refute the pre-conceptions thanks to a collaborative activity in small groups.     

Assessment of gas temperature fluctuations in the GTE combustion chamber exit section at generalizing experimental data on fuel combustion efficiency

It is suggested that gas composition at every point of the combustion chamber exit section be characterized by the temperature values T _i (“ideal” temperature) corresponding to the local values of the air-to-fuel coefficient α _i under complete fuel combustion (ν _comb ≈ 1). It is assumed that the values of T _i are distributed over the exit section area (gas mass) linearly and the values of T _imax and T _imin can be determined by the experimental data on the gas temperature fields in the combustion chambers. The distribution of temperatures T _i is used when it is necessary to generalize the experimental data on fuel combustion efficiency in GTE combustion chambers.     

Lunar astrobiology: a review and suggested laboratory equipment

In October of 2005, the European Space Agency (ESA) and Alcatel Alenia Spazio released a "call to academia for innovative concepts and technologies for lunar exploration." In recent years, interest in lunar exploration has increased in numerous space programs around the globe, and the purpose of our study, in response to the ESA call, was to draw on the expertise of researchers and university students to examine science questions and technologies that could support human astrobiology activity on the Moon. In this mini review, we discuss astrobiology science questions of importance for a human presence on the surface of the Moon and we provide a summary of key instrumentation requirements to support a lunar astrobiology laboratory.     

卫星导航地面试验验证的平行系统方法

应用平行系统理论,研究全球卫星导航系统（GNSS）人工建模、计算实验和平行执行的方法。首先构建GNSS平行系统框架,分析GNSS平行系统人工建模的关键技术,提出基于代理（Agent）的导航系统实体建模方法;然后根据计算实验需求,设计GNSS平行系统在人工建模、试验支持与运行维护等方面的计算实验方法及流程。在此基础上,给出GNSS平行系统的运行模式及其平行执行过程。最后,以GNSS平行系统在人员培训方面的应用为例,说明GNSS平行系统在实际GNSS运行维护方面的应用。研究结果表明,建立GNSS平行系统是提高GNSS建设和运行维护效率的有效方法。     

速率偏频激光陀螺偏频速率模糊PID自适应控制的设计与实现

应用模糊 PID自适应技术设计并实现了激光陀螺偏频速率的控制系统,结果表明 :偏频台速率平稳性优于 3.1 2× 1 0 - 4;角速率正反换向速度快,在± 60°/ s之间的转换时间约为 1 4 ms,而且换向过程速率超调很小。该控制系统在实际系统中得到了良好的应用     

基于图像的测量方法在工业风洞跨声速流测量中的最新进展

风洞中非定常复杂流场的实验研究要求先进的测量技术.基于图像的测量技术中最重要的是测量平面流速度场、平面压强分布、模型位置和变形、模型温度以及定量的高速流可视化等技术.DLR(德国宇航研究院)对这些技术的应用包括从低速流到跨声速流、从增升装置到螺旋桨和旋翼、从弹射装置和水塔储水罐尾迹流旋涡到三角翼上涡破裂现象等的研究.由于跨声速风洞的特殊环境,将基于图像的测量技术用于跨声速流要求专门的技术开发和有经验的科学家.给出了DLR空气动力学和流动技术研究所将基于图像的测量技术应用于跨声速流研究的最新进展.     

临近空间飞艇内部自然对流换热计算研究

综合考虑太阳辐射、长波辐射、对流换热等热环境因素对临近空间飞艇热特性的影响,建立飞艇热特性的数学模型,编写程序并计算得到蒙皮表面温度分布。以此作为热边界条件,采用Fluent软件模拟其内部自然对流的流动状态和温度分布,对不同季节不同时刻飞艇内部自然对流换热系数进行了计算分析,并对四个自然对流经验公式进行了评价分析。结果表明,Eckert-Jackson和Bayley公式更适用于计算浮空器内部自然对流换热,与数值模拟结果相比,平均绝对误差（MAD）分别为22.6%和24.1%。     

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.     

Experimental Investigation of InSight HP<Superscript>3</Superscript> Mole Interaction with Martian Regolith Simulant

The InSight mission launches in 2018 to characterize several geophysical quantities on Mars, including the heat flow from the planetary interior. This quantity will be calculated by utilizing measurements of the thermal conductivity and the thermal gradient down to 5 meters below the Martian surface. One of the components of InSight is the Mole, which hammers into the Martian regolith to facilitate these thermal property measurements. In this paper, we experimentally investigated the effect of the Mole’s penetrating action on regolith compaction and mechanical properties. Quasi-static and dynamic experiments were run with a 2D model of the 3D cylindrical mole. Force resistance data was captured with load cells. Deformation information was captured in images and analyzed using Digitial Image Correlation (DIC). Additionally, we used existing approximations of Martian regolith thermal conductivity to estimate the change in the surrounding granular material’s thermal conductivity due to the Mole’s penetration. We found that the Mole has the potential to cause a high degree of densification, especially if the initial granular material is relatively loose. The effect on the thermal conductivity from this densification was found to be relatively small in first-order calculations though more complete thermal models incorporating this densification should be a subject of further investigation. The results obtained provide an initial estimate of the Mole’s impact on Martian regolith thermal properties.     

Towards a Unified View of Inhomogeneous Stellar Winds in Isolated Supergiant Stars and Supergiant High Mass X-Ray Binaries

Massive stars, at least \(\sim10\) times more massive than the Sun, have two key properties that make them the main drivers of evolution of star clusters, galaxies, and the Universe as a whole. On the one hand, the outer layers of massive stars are so hot that they produce most of the ionizing ultraviolet radiation of galaxies; in fact, the first massive stars helped to re-ionize the Universe after its Dark Ages. Another important property of massive stars are the strong stellar winds and outflows they produce. This mass loss, and finally the explosion of a massive star as a supernova or a gamma-ray burst, provide a significant input of mechanical and radiative energy into the interstellar space. These two properties together make massive stars one of the most important cosmic engines: they trigger the star formation and enrich the interstellar medium with heavy elements, that ultimately leads to formation of Earth-like rocky planets and the development of complex life. The study of massive star winds is thus a truly multidisciplinary field and has a wide impact on different areas of astronomy.In recent years observational and theoretical evidences have been growing that these winds are not smooth and homogeneous as previously assumed, but rather populated by dense “clumps”. The presence of these structures dramatically affects the mass loss rates derived from the study of stellar winds. Clump properties in isolated stars are nowadays inferred mostly through indirect methods (i.e., spectroscopic observations of line profiles in various wavelength regimes, and their analysis based on tailored, inhomogeneous wind models). The limited characterization of the clump physical properties (mass, size) obtained so far have led to large uncertainties in the mass loss rates from massive stars. Such uncertainties limit our understanding of the role of massive star winds in galactic and cosmic evolution.Supergiant high mass X-ray binaries (SgXBs) are among the brightest X-ray sources in the sky. A large number of them consist of a neutron star accreting from the wind of a massive companion and producing a powerful X-ray source. The characteristics of the stellar wind together with the complex interactions between the compact object and the donor star determine the observed X-ray output from all these systems. Consequently, the use of SgXBs for studies of massive stars is only possible when the physics of the stellar winds, the compact objects, and accretion mechanisms are combined together and confronted with observations.This detailed review summarises the current knowledge on the theory and observations of winds from massive stars, as well as on observations and accretion processes in wind-fed high mass X-ray binaries. The aim is to combine in the near future all available theoretical diagnostics and observational measurements to achieve a unified picture of massive star winds in isolated objects and in binary systems.