Detection of water masers in a sample of 84 IRAS sources

Using a newly installed system on the 25 m telescope of Urumqi Observatory, we searched for H20 maser emission towards 84 IRAS sources including young stellar objects （YSOs） and candidates for OFUIR stars. Water masers were detected in four star formation regions and one envelope of late type of stars for the first time. New water maser components were measured in two sources. In a maser source with no water maser emission detected six years ago, strong maser emission was found at different velocities, showing that there was a new explosion of water maser in this source.     

河外水脉泽源的红外特性

收集了最新的河外水脉泽样本资料(截至2007.03),并计算给出这些源的部分物理参数.主要分析了水脉泽辐射和脉泽寄主星系的红外辐射之间的可能相关性.分析结果显示河外水脉泽源与银河系内脉泽源一样,水脉泽辐射光度和脉泽寄主星系的红外辐射光度存在相关性,即LH2O~10-9LFIR.     

水超脉泽源：[OIV]发射线和脉泽辐射

水超脉泽辐射光度很大,因此活动星系核被公认为是其唯一的能源,而近来[OIV]发射线被认为可以准确地示踪活动星系核各向同性的强度．为了分析活动星系核和脉泽辐射间的内在联系,对所有发表的水脉泽星系的（OIV]发射线观测资料进行了全面调研和收集．整个脉泽样本和3个恒星形成脉泽的[oIV]线的平均光度分别为10^7.09±0.17和10^-6.55太阳光度．对比脉泽星系和非脉泽星系样本的[OIV]光度,没有发现大的差别．对于同活动星系核成协的脉泽星系,发现它们的[OIV]光度和水脉泽光度间存在一个明显的相关,尽管存在较大的弥散．如果活动星系核是脉泽辐射的能量激发源,那么这一相关性为[OIV]发射线可以很好示踪活动星系核强度的观点提供了支持．     

水超脉泽源：[OIV]发射线和脉泽辐射

水超脉泽辐射光度很大,因此活动星系核被公认为是其唯一的能源,而近来[OIV]发射线被认为可以准确地示踪活动星系核各向同性的强度．为了分析活动星系核和脉泽辐射间的内在联系,对所有发表的水脉泽星系的（OIV]发射线观测资料进行了全面调研和收集．整个脉泽样本和3个恒星形成脉泽的[oIV]线的平均光度分别为10^7.09±0....     

星际H2O脉泽的观测与研究

从１９９２年９月起，对近８２个外流源或电离氢区，用紫金山天文台青海站的１３．７ｍ望远镜进行了水脉泽观测。有三个源首次测得了弱Ｈ２Ｏ脉泽辐射；对已知源的观测结果表明星际水脉泽的时变化比较普遍。流量变化２０％以上的源达７５％，在高质量外流源中水脉泽深测率比低质量外流源中的高。本文还讨论了脉泽产生率与ＣＯ谱线宽度及成协源红外辐射的相关性。     

Room-temperature solid-state maser

The invention of the laser has resulted in many innovations, and the device has become ubiquitous. However, the maser, which amplifies microwave radiation rather than visible light, has not had as large an impact, despite being instrumental in the laser's birth. The maser's relative obscurity has mainly been due to the inconvenience of the operating conditions needed for its various realizations: atomic and free-electron masers require vacuum chambers and pumping; and solid-state masers, although they excel as low-noise amplifiers and are occasionally incorporated in ultrastable oscillators, typically require cryogenic refrigeration. Most realizations of masers also require strong magnets, magnetic shielding or both. Overcoming these various obstacles would pave the way for improvements such as more-sensitive chemical assays, more-precise determinations of biomolecular structure and function, and more-accurate medical diagnostics (including tomography) based on enhanced magnetic resonance spectrometers incorporating maser amplifiers and oscillators. Here we report the experimental demonstration of a solid-state maser operating at room temperature in pulsed mode. It works on a laboratory bench, in air, in the terrestrial magnetic field and amplifies at around 1.45 gigahertz. In contrast to the cryogenic ruby maser, in our maser the gain medium is an organic mixed molecular crystal, p-terphenyl doped with pentacene, the latter being photo-excited by yellow light. The maser's pumping mechanism exploits spin-selective molecular intersystem crossing into pentacene's triplet ground state. When configured as an oscillator, the solid-state maser's measured output power of around -10 decibel milliwatts is approximately 100 million times greater than that of an atomic hydrogen maser, which oscillates at a similar frequency (about 1.42 gigahertz). By exploiting the high levels of spin polarization readily generated by intersystem crossing in photo-excited pentacene and other aromatic molecules, this new type of maser seems to be capable of amplifying with a residual noise temperature far below room temperature.     

宇宙水分子脉泽谱线接收系统和观测研究

详细分析了１３ ｍｍ谱线接收系统的结构和这个系统设计的独特之处．接收机是制冷的ＨＥＭＴ接收系统，工作温度为２０ Ｋ，噪声温度为５０ Ｋ，带宽为２ＧＨｚ．频谱分析终端是一架基于付里叶线性调频Ｚ变换（ＣＺＦ）的声表面波频谱仪（ＳＡＷ），总带宽为４０ ＭＨｚ，频率分辨率为４０ｋＨｚ，每帧输出为６７ｕｓ，工作效率为 １００％．利用这套系统已观测到了一批Ｈ２Ｏ脉泽源，发现有的源有激烈的变化．     

弯曲磁场中相对论性电子辐射的自吸收性质及等离子体影响

根据同步曲率辐射理论，论文推导了真空中和等离子体中弯曲磁场下相对论性电子辐射的自吸收系数，发现真空中同步曲率辐射与同步辐射一样没有负吸收放大作用，而等离子体对辐射谱和自吸收性质有重大影响，存在脉泽放大效应。这些结果有可能对宇宙中多种射电源的射电高亮温度等问题提供可能的解释。     

13mm制冷HEMT接收系统

介绍了按装在乌鲁木齐天文站２５ｍ射电望远镜上的１３ｍｍ制冷ＨＥＭＴ接收系统．给出各个部分的结构、基本工作参数、功能和特征．概括了该系统的设计优点．利用这个接收系统，配备声表面波频谱仪终端，我们观测到一批水分子脉泽源．经测量，接收机噪声温度为５０Ｋ，估计乌鲁木齐天文站２５ｍ射电望远镜系统１３ｍｍ频谱接收系统９００秒积分时间的灵敏度为７Ｊｙ．     

A magnetically collimated jet from an evolved star

Planetary nebulae often have asymmetric shapes, even though their progenitor stars were symmetric; this structure could be the result of collimated jets from the evolved stars before they enter the planetary nebula phase. Theoretical models have shown that magnetic fields could be the dominant source of jet-collimation in evolved stars, just as these fields are thought to collimate outflows in other astrophysical sources, such as active galactic nuclei and proto-stars. But hitherto there have been no direct observations of both the magnetic field direction and strength in any collimated jet. Here we report measurements of the polarization of water vapour masers that trace the precessing jet emanating from the asymptotic giant branch star W43A (at a distance of 2.6 kpc from the Sun), which is undergoing rapid evolution into a planetary nebula. The masers occur in two clusters at opposing tips of the jets, approximately 1,000 au from the star. We conclude from the data that the magnetic field is indeed collimating the jet.     

The development of a protoplanetary disk from its natal envelope

Class 0 protostars, the youngest type of young stellar objects, show many signs of rapid development from their initial, spheroidal configurations, and therefore are studied intensively for details of the formation of protoplanetary disks within protostellar envelopes. At millimetre wavelengths, kinematic signatures of collapse have been observed in several such protostars, through observations of molecular lines that probe their outer envelopes. It has been suggested that one or more components of the proto-multiple system NGC 1333-IRAS 4 (refs 1, 2) may display signs of an embedded region that is warmer and denser than the bulk of the envelope. Here we report observations that reveal details of the core on Solar System dimensions. We detect in NGC 1333-IRAS 4B a rich emission spectrum of H2O, at wavelengths 20-37 microm, which indicates an origin in extremely dense, warm gas. We can model the emission as infall from a protostellar envelope onto the surface of a deeply embedded, dense disk, and therefore see the development of a protoplanetary disk. This is the only example of mid-infrared water emission from a sample of 30 class 0 objects, perhaps arising from a favourable orientation; alternatively, this may be an early and short-lived stage in the evolution of a protoplanetary disk.     

A powerful bursting radio source towards the Galactic Centre

Transient astronomical sources are typically powered by compact objects and usually signify highly explosive or dynamic events. Although high-time-resolution observations are often possible in radio astronomy, they are usually limited to quite narrow fields of view. The dynamic radio sky is therefore poorly sampled, in contrast to the situation in the X-ray and gamma-ray bands in which wide-field instruments routinely detect transient sources. Here we report a transient radio source, GCRT J1745-3009, which was detected during a moderately wide-field monitoring programme of the Galactic Centre region at 0.33 GHz. The characteristics of its bursts are unlike those known for any other class of radio transient. If located in or near the Galactic Centre, its brightness temperature (approximately 10(16) K) and the implied energy density within GCRT J1745-3009 vastly exceed those observed in most other classes of radio astronomical sources, and are consistent with coherent emission processes that are rarely observed. We conclude that it represents a hitherto unknown class of transient radio sources, the first of possibly many new classes that may be discovered by emerging wide-field radio telescopes.     

脉冲微波式氢原子钟初步结果

通过向原子钟微波腔内导入相干的脉冲微波信号,同时设置适当的脉冲信号参数,可以激发原子共振跃迁的Ramsey条纹,利用其中心条纹作为钟跃迁可以极大地压缩原子钟的谱线宽度,有望提高原子钟的电性能指标.该项技术已经在pop铷钟上得到应用,成功压缩了铷原子的共振谱线线宽.中国科学院上海天文台在被动型氢原子钟物理系统的基础上,开展了氢原子微波脉冲激励技术的研究,设计了微波脉冲扫频电路,目前已经初步观测到氢原子的Ramsey条纹,从而证明了该项技术用于氢原子钟的可行性.计划优化系统和微波信号参数,从而进一步压缩原子线宽.同时设计完善的伺服电路,实现原子钟的环路锁定,形成脉冲微波式氢原子钟,并测试和优化了整机性能指标.     

中国空间站大规模多色测光与无缝光谱巡天的设想及其在暗能量研究领域的应用

大型巡天是今后数十年内国际天文学研究的重点方向,高精度大样本的巡天观测将极大地推动暗物质、暗能量、天体起源与演化等天文学和物理学的根本问题的研究.空间站的建设为我国空间天文的发展带来了不可多得的机遇.巡天观测与空间站运行模式相当匹配,而国际上尚未有大型的高分辨率光学与近紫外深度巡天计划,中国空间站正可以在此方向上实现突破,使我国在国际天文界的下一代大规模巡天工作中处于领先地位.本文阐述在空间站上开展大天区面积、高角分辨率、覆盖近紫外-光学-近红外波段的多色测光与无缝光谱巡天的设想,并讨论这个巡天在暗能量研究领域中的应用.     

星际OH及其脉泽的一种新的发生机制

针对星际ＯＨ自由基及ＯＨ脉泽起源的多种解释各自存在的困境,抓住ＯＨ的生成环境特征,从星形成区紫外光子与Ｈ２Ｏ分子的相互作用出发,对ＯＨ自由基的产生与ＯＨ脉泽的激发机制提出一种新解释。这种新解释克服了过去提出的辐射机制的困难,并且能满足各实际天文条件,因此是一种有前途的机制。     

Mixed aromatic-aliphatic organic nanoparticles as carriers of unidentified infrared emission features

Unidentified infrared emission bands at wavelengths of 3-20 micrometres are widely observed in a range of environments in our Galaxy and in others. Some features have been identified as the stretching and bending modes of aromatic compounds, and are commonly attributed to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon molecules. The central argument supporting this attribution is that single-photon excitation of the molecule can account for the unidentified infrared emission features observed in 'cirrus' clouds in the diffuse interstellar medium. Of the more than 160 molecules identified in the circumstellar and interstellar environments, however, not one is a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon molecule. The detections of discrete and broad aliphatic spectral features suggest that the carrier of the unidentified infrared emission features cannot be a pure aromatic compound. Here we report an analysis of archival spectroscopic observations and demonstrate that the data are most consistent with the carriers being amorphous organic solids with a mixed aromatic-aliphatic structure. This structure is similar to that of the organic materials found in meteorites, as would be expected if the Solar System had inherited these organic materials from interstellar sources.     

An H2O flare in GGD25

We report the observing results of a short time scale monitoring of the 22 GHz water maser emission in GGD25. A rapid water maser outburst with the time scales of 4 d has been detected, and the variations are accompanied by some changes in the line width. The time variations were probably caused by a collision pump which led to changes in the pump input.     

Spherical episodic ejection of material from a young star

The exact processes by which interstellar matter condenses to form young stars are of great interest, in part because they bear on the formation of planets like our own from the material that fails to become part of the star. Theoretical models suggest that ejection of gas during early phases of stellar evolution is a key mechanism for removing excess angular momentum, thereby allowing material to drift inwards towards the star through an accretion disk. Such ejections also limit the mass that can be accumulated by the stellar core. To date, these ejections have been observed to be bipolar and highly collimated, in agreement with theory. Here we report observations at very high angular resolution of the proper motions of an arc of water-vapour masers near a very young, massive star in Cepheus. We find that the arc of masers can be fitted to a circle with an accuracy of one part in a thousand, and that the structure is expanding. Only a sphere will always produce a circle in projection, so our observations strongly suggest that the perfectly spherical ejection of material from this star took place about 33 years earlier. The spherical symmetry of the ejecta and its episodic nature are very surprising in the light of present theories.     

An efficient photoelectric X-ray polarimeter for the study of black holes and neutron stars

The study of astronomical objects using electromagnetic radiation involves four basic observational approaches: imaging, spectroscopy, photometry (accurate counting of the photons received) and polarimetry (measurement of the polarizations of the observed photons). In contrast to observations at other wavelengths, a lack of sensitivity has prevented X-ray astronomy from making use of polarimetry. Yet such a technique could provide a direct picture of the state of matter in extreme magnetic and gravitational fields, and has the potential to resolve the internal structures of compact sources that would otherwise remain inaccessible, even to X-ray interferometry. In binary pulsars, for example, we could directly 'see' the rotation of the magnetic field and determine if the emission is in the form of a 'fan' or a 'pencil' beam. Also, observation of the characteristic twisting of the polarization angle in other compact sources would reveal the presence of a black hole. Here we report the development of an instrument that makes X-ray polarimetry possible. The factor of 100 improvement in sensitivity that we have achieved will allow direct exploration of the most dramatic objects of the X-ray sky.     

强远红外源中CO(1-0)谱线的新观测

利用紫金山天台１３．７ｍ射电望远镜对２０个强ＩＲＡＳ远红外源（Ｆ１００μｍ〉５００Ｊｙ）进行了ＣＯ（１－０）的谱线观测，全部观测到ＣＯ发射，其中６个源为第１次观测到ＣＯ（１－０）谱线，在新观测的源中，５个可能有分子外向流，这些观测源的红外性质暗示出它们是仍深埋在分子云中的年轻星，显示出远红外源与分子云有关。