The origin of the prompt optical emission in GRB 060111B

The detection of a bright optical emission measured with good temporal resolution during the prompt phase makes GRB 060111B a rare event that is especially useful for constraining theories of the prompt optical emission. Comparing this burst with other GRBs with evidence of optical peaks, we find that the optical peak epoch (t_p) is anti-correlated with the high energy burst energetic assuming an isotropic energy release (E_iso) in agreement with Liang et al. (2009), and that the steeper is the post-peak afterglow decay, the less is the agreement with the correlation. GRB 060111B is among the latters and it does not match the correlation. The Cannonball scenario is also discussed and we find that this model cannot be excluded for GRB 060111B.     

The Crab pulsar seen with AquEYE at Asiago Cima Ekar observatory

We are developing fast photon-counter instruments to study the rapid variability of astrophysical sources by time tagging photon arrival times with unprecedented accuracy, making use of a Rubidium clock and GPS receiver. The first realization of such optical photon-counters, dubbed AquEYE (the Asiago Quantum Eye), was mounted in 2008 at the 182 cm Copernicus Observatory in Asiago. AquEYE observed the Crab pulsar several times and collected data of extraordinary quality that allowed us to perform accurate optical timing of the Crab pulsar and to study the pulse shape stability on a timescale from days to years with an excellent definition. Our results reinforce the evidence for decadal stability of the inclination angle between the spin and magnetic axis of the Crab pulsar. Future realizations of our instrument will make use of the Galileo Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) time signal.     

Science operations planning expertise: A neglected component of mission design

In this paper, Science Operations Planning Expertise (SOPE) is defined as the expertise that is held by people who have the two following qualities. First they have both theoretical and practical experience in operations planning, in general, and in space science operations planning in particular. Second, they can be used, on request and at least, to provide with advice the teams that design and implement science operations systems in order to optimise the performance and productivity of the mission. However, the relevance and use of such SOPE early on during the Mission Design Phase (MDP) is not sufficiently recognised. As a result, science operations planning is often neglected or poorly assessed during the mission definition phases. This can result in mission architectures that are not optimum in terms of cost and scientific returns, particularly for missions that require a significant amount of science operations planning. Consequently, science operations planning difficulties and cost underestimations are often realised only when it is too late to design and implement the most appropriate solutions. In addition, higher costs can potentially reduce both the number of new missions and the chances of existing ones to be extended. Moreover, the quality, and subsequently efficiency, of SOPE can vary greatly. This is why we also believe that the best possible type of SOPE requires a structure similar to the ones of existing bodies of expertise dedicated to the data processing such as the International Planetary Data Alliance (IPDA), the Space Physics Archive Search and Extract (SPASE) or the Planetary Data System (PDS). Indeed, this is the only way of efficiently identifying science operations planning issues and their solutions as well as of keeping track of them in order to apply them to new missions. Therefore, this paper advocates for the need to allocate resources in order to both optimise the use of SOPE early on during the MDP and to perform, at least, a feasibility study of such a more structured SOPE.     

Advanced Pulsed Plasma Thrusters and Their Application as a Part of Small Spacecraft Propulsion Systems

The paper presents the research results of the effect of a capacitor energy storage device configuration on the specific characteristics of advanced modern propulsion systems based on the ablative pulsed plasma thrusters (APPT). These thrusters are designed to perform specific tasks within the small spacecrafts with the onboard power capacity up to 200 W.     

Remote upgrading of a space-borne instrument

The main purposes of experiment “Obstanovka” (“Environment” in Russian) consisting of several instruments are to measure a set of electromagnetic and plasma phenomena characterizing the space weather conditions, and to evaluate how such a big and highly energy consuming body as the International Space Station disturbs the surrounding plasma, and how the station itself is charged due to the operation of so many instruments, solar batteries, life supporting devices, etc. Two identical Langmuir electrostatic probes are included in the experiment “Obstanovka”. In this paper the Langmuir probes for “Obstanovka” experiment are described, including the choice of geometry (spherical or cylindrical), a more reliable method for the sweep voltage generation, an adaptive algorithm for the probe’s operation. Special attention is paid to the possibility for remote upgrading of the instrument from the ground using the standard communication channels.     

Gravity wave momentum flux generation close to mid-latitude Andes in mesoscale simulations of late 20th and 21st centuries

Adequate representations of diverse dynamical processes in general circulation models (GCM) are necessary to obtain reliable simulations of the present and the future. The parameterization of orographic gravity wave drag (GWD) is one of the critical components of GCM. It is therefore convenient to evaluate whether standard orographic GWD parameterizations are appropriate. One alternative is to study the generation of gravity waves (GW) with horizontal resolutions that are higher than those used in current GCM simulations. Here we assess the seasonal pattern of topographic GW momentum flux (GWMF) generation for the late 20th and 21st centuries in a downscaling using the Rossby Centre regional atmospheric model under the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change A1B emission conditions. We focus on one of the world’s strongest extra-tropical GW zones, the Andes Mountains at mid-latitudes in the Southern Hemisphere. The presence of two GCM sub-grid scale structures locally contributing to GWMF (one positive and one negative) is found to the East of the mountains. For the late 21st century the strength of these structures during the GW high season increases around 23% with respect to the late 20th century, but the GWMF average over GCM grid cell scales remains negative and nearly constant around −0.015 Pa. This constitutes a steady significant contribution during GW high season, which is not related to the GWMF released by individual sporadic strong GW events. This characteristic agrees with the fact that no statistically significant variation in GWMF at source level has been observed in recent GCM simulations of atmospheric change induced by increases in greenhouse gases.     

Cascaded detector for multiple high-PRF pulse Doppler radars

A postdetection design methodology for a multiple high-pulse-repetition frequency (PRF) pulse Doppler radar has been developed. The postdetection processor consists of an M out of N detector where range and target ambiguities are resolved, followed by a square-law detector which enhances the minimum signal-to-noise (S/N) power-ratio per pulse burst performance. For given probabilities of false alarm and detection, formulas are derived from which the three thresholds associated with the cascaded detector can be found. Fundamental tradeoffs between the minimum S/N required, number of ghosts, and the number of operations (NOPs) that the cascaded detector must perform are identified. It is shown that the NOPs and the number of ghosts increase and the minimum S/N required decreases as the binary M out of N detector passes more detections to the square-law detector     

Relationship Between Substorm Auroras and Processes in the Near-Earth Magnetotail

Although the auroral substorm has been long regarded as a manifestation of the magnetospheric substorm, a direct relation of active auroras to certain magnetospheric processes is still debatable. To investigate the relationship, we combine the data of the UV imager onboard the Polar satellite with plasma and magnetic field measurements by the Geotail spacecraft. The poleward edge of the auroral bulge, as determined from the images obtained at the LHBL passband, is found to be conjugated with the region where the oppositely directed fast plasma flows observed in the near-Earth plasma sheet during substorms are generated. We conclude that the auroras forming the bulge are due to the near-Earth reconnection process. This implies that the magnetic flux through the auroral bulge is equal to the flux dissipated in the magnetotail during the substorm. Comparison of the magnetic flux through the auroral bulge with the magnetic flux accumulated in the tail lobe during the growth phase shows that these parameters have the comparable values. This is a clear evidence of the loading–unloading scheme of substorm development. It is shown that the area of the auroral bulge developing during substorm is proportional to the total (magnetic plus plasma) pressure decrease in the magnetotail. These findings stress the importance of auroral bulge observations for monitoring of substorm intensity in terms of the magnetic flux and energy dissipation.     

Structure of a two-phase flow of boiling water at low-head adiabatic efflux through the laval nozzle

The critical flow conditions and structural forms of a two-phase flow that is formed during water efflux from the region of moderate and low pressures into a rarefied medium are analyzed. The difference in the structural forms of a flow realized at the low-head efflux from the structure of a flow occurring in the fluid flow with moderate and high initial pressures is established. The critical pressure differential characterizing the establishment of the maximum flowrate is determined and the decisive influence of turbulence on the vapor phase generation and flow conditions of a two-phase medium is shown.     

Elemental Abundances of the Bulk Solar Wind: Analyses from Genesis and ACE

Analysis of the Genesis samples is underway. Preliminary elemental abundances based on Genesis sample analyses are in good agreement with in situ-measured elemental abundances made by ACE/SWICS during the Genesis collection period. Comparison of these abundances with those of earlier solar cycles indicates that the solar wind composition is relatively stable between cycles for a given type of flow. ACE/SWICS measurements for the Genesis collection period also show a continuum in compositional variation as a function of velocity for the quasi-stationary flow that defies the simple binning of samples into their sources of coronal hole (CH) and interstream (IS).