The properties of hard X-ray emitting symbiotic stars

Hard X-ray emitting symbiotic stars are candidates for SN Ia progenitors. The importance of Type Ia SNe as standard candles for cosmology makes the study of their progenitor systems particularly important. Additionally, they provide one of the most promising laboratories for the study of astrophysical jets. Typically, the X-ray emission in these systems is modeled with a collisional plasma model, sometimes with an emission measure distribution taken from a cooling flow model. The lack of any coherent periods in both X-rays and optical wave band strongly suggests that the accreting white dwarfs in the hard X-ray symbiotic stars are non-magnetic. Although relatively few have been discovered to date, but we believe that there are very many of them in our galaxy and could be possible candidates for the Galactic Ridge X-ray Emissions (GRXE).     

Influence of the helicopter flight design speed on the selection of working process parameters for GTE

This paper considers issues of designing a gas-turbine engine in the helicopter system at the early design stages. The optimum and rational values of engine working process parameters at different flight speeds of the flight vehicle (FV) are analyzed. Several characteristics of mathematical models (MM) that form the helicopter–engine system, are described.     

Evaluation and improvement of coastal GNSS reflectometry sea level variations from existing GNSS stations in Taiwan

Global sea level rise due to an increasingly warmer climate has begun to induce hazards, adversely affecting the lives and properties of people residing in low-lying coastal regions and islands. Therefore, it is important to monitor and understand variations in coastal sea level covering offshore regions. Signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) data of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) have been successfully used to robustly derive sea level heights (SLHs). In Taiwan, there are a number of continuously operating GNSS stations, not originally installed for sea level monitoring. They were established in harbors or near coastal regions for monitoring land motion. This study utilizes existing SNR data from three GNSS stations (Kaohsiung, Suao, and TaiCOAST) in Taiwan to compute SLHs with two methods, namely, Lomb–Scargle Periodogram (LSP)-only, and LSP aided with tidal harmonic analysis developed in this study. The results of both methods are compared with co-located or nearby tide gauge records. Due to the poor quality of SNR data, the worst accuracy of SLHs derived from traditional LSP-only method exceeds 1?m at the TaiCOAST station. With our procedure, the standard deviations (STDs) of difference between GNSS-derived SLHs and tide gauge records in Kaohsiung and Suao stations decreased to 10?cm and the results show excellent agreement with tide gauge derived relative sea level records, with STD of differences of 7?cm and correlation coefficient of 0.96. In addition, the absolute GNSS-R sea level trend in Kaohsiung during 2006–2011 agrees well with that derived from satellite altimetry. We conclude that the coastal GNSS stations in Taiwan have the potential of monitoring absolute coastal sea level change accurately when our proposed methodology is used.     

OSIRIS-REx low-velocity particles during outbound cruise

We analyzed high-angular rate streaks first recorded by OSIRIS-REx’s MapCam during a 2017 search for Earth Trojan asteroids. We interpret them as water-ice particles that translated across the imager’s field of view, originating from the spacecraft itself. Their translation velocities approximated 0.1–1?m/s based on reasonable conclusions about their range. Pursuing several lines of investigation to seek a coherent hypothesis, we conclude that the episodic releases of the water ice particles are associated with spacecraft attitudes that resulted in solar illumination of previously shadowed regions. This correlation suggests that the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft itself possesses micro-climatic zones consisting of hot regions and cold traps that may temporarily potentially pass volatiles back and forth before losing most of them.     

Multi-criteria analysis of high-altitude UAV concepts

In this paper, we consider an example of estimating and comparing the efficiency of different concepts for a high-altitude unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) under diversity of efficiency criteria.     

Dynamics of a discretely reinforced cylindrical shell under live load

This study proposes an approximate solution to a contact problem of dynamic deformation of a cyclically symmetrical discretely ring-stiffened cylindrical shell, the side surface of which is subjected to an evenly distributed inertia live load. The solution of the problem assumes the quasistatic mode of deformation of the structure. Several critical velocities of the live load have been found. A number of examples are presented.     

Multi-criteria analysis of aircraft structures fracture

A novel modular multistep algorithm is proposed for multi-criteria analysis of fracture of aircraft structures with complex geometries. In order to evaluate the algorithm, the crack growth analysis is realized by the following three criteria, namely, the stress intensity factor, the strain energy release rate, and the J-integral. The algorithm implementation by the finite element method is considered and prospects of alternative implementation based on the meshfree methods are assigned.     

A concept of increasing efficiency for ramjet operation

The vortical mixing concept in the ramjet channel is analyzed. The results of simulating the gasodynamic scheme permit the concept of increasing efficiency for ramjet operation to be substantiated.     

Very Long Baseline Interferometry: Dependencies on Frequency Stability

Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) is a differential technique observing radiation of compact extra-galactic radio sources with pairs of radio telescopes. For these observations, the frequency standards at the telescopes need to have very high stability. In this article we discuss why this is, and we investigate exactly how precise the frequency standards need to be. Four areas where good clock performance is needed are considered: coherence, geodetic parameter estimation, correlator synchronization, and UT1 determination. We show that in order to ensure the highest accuracy of VLBI, stability similar to that of a hydrogen maser is needed for time-scales up to a few hours. In the article, we are considering both traditional VLBI where extra-galactic radio sources are observed, as well as observation of man-made artificial radio sources emitted by satellites or spacecrafts.