Thunderstorm activity according to VLF observations at Kamchatka

The azimuthal distribution of lightning discharges and cyclone epicenters at a distance of up to 4000 km from the observation point at Kamchatka is given. The azimuths of lightning discharges were determined using an ELF finder, and the cyclone epicenters were determined from meteorological maps. Time dependences of the distribution of received radiations from lightning discharges have been obtained.     

Platinum potential of mafic–ultramafic massifs in the western part of the Dambuka ore district (Upper Amur Region,Russia)

New data on the Pt potential of mafic–ultramafic massifs of the Khani–Maya, Uldegit, and Dzhalta complexes in the western part of the Dambuka ore district are discussed. The Khani–Maya Complex is represented by metamorphosed gabbro, gabbronorites, gabbro anorthosites, subordinate pyroxenites, hornblendites, and peridotites. The Uldegit Complex is composed of pyroxenites, hornblendites, gabbro, gabbronorites, norites, troctolites, peridotites, dunites, actinolite–tremolites, serpentinites, anthophyllites, and tremolite–plagioclase rocks. The Dzhalta Complex is formed of peridotites, gabbro, eclogitized gabbro, hornblendites, cortlandites, and pyroxenites. All these complexes differ from each other by the concentrations of Ni, Cu, Co, Au, and platinoids depending on the composition of the constituting rocks and the presence of sulfide minerals.     

Analysis of the productivity of gold deposits of Amur province

By the amount of extracted placer and primary gold (~1300 t), Amur province is one of the major gold provinces of Russia. Its numerous placers yielded almost 1132 t Au in contrast to ~180 t from primary deposits. The central part of the province is most productive for placer and primary gold in comparison with the periphery. Native gold from placers has moderately high and high fineness, and its composition corresponds to that of gold from dominant gold–quartz and gold–quartz–sulfide deposits and occurrences. The preponderance of placer gold in gold production indicates significant prospects for discovery of new gold deposits.     

Dependence of the SCR proton flux estimate on radio burst parameters

We present results suggesting that the accuracy of estimating the solar cosmic-ray (SCR) proton flux from μ-burst parameters is much higher for proton events characterized by a low level of post-burst increase (PBI) in the μ-burst flux, a powerful decametric (DCM) component, and a small time shift (Δt < 9 min) of the DCM burst maximum relative to the μ-burst maximum. These three parameters are probably related between themselves, since events characterized by a small Δt have a very low PBI level. We show that the accuracy of estimating the proton flux depends to a greater extent on Δt than on the intensity of the DCM component. For approximately half of the events from the investigated sample, the accuracy of estimating the proton flux approaches the maximum possible accuracy from μ-burst parameters.     

Flare-plasma diagnostics from millisecond pulsations of the solar radio emission

Two solar radio bursts exhibiting narrow-band millisecond pulsations in intensity and polarization are analyzed. There were considerable time delays between the left-and right-circularly polarized components of the radio emission. The observed oscillations of the degree of polarization are due to the different group velocities of the ordinary and extraordinary modes in their propagation from the source to the observer; the frequency dependence of the delay is in excellent agreement with the theoretically calculated group delay in a magnetoactive plasma. It unambiguously follows that the pulsed radio emission is generated near the double upper hybrid frequency by the nonlinear plasma mechanism, since the source emission has a low degree of polarization. In addition to dispersion effects, a Fourier analysis also reveals effects associated with the source inhomogeneity. We detected a frequency drift of pulsations (autodelays) with different signs for different polarization components. This drift suggests that, apart from the dispersion effects, there are also the effects related to inhomogeneity of the radio source. It is shown, in particular, that the upper hybrid modes (generating the radio emission) are unstable in regions with enhanced gradients of the plasma density and/or magnetic field.     

Periodic phenomena in Ae / Be Herbig stars light curves

Light curves of 78 Herbig Ae/Be stars were studied by digital analysis methods. Twenty-five thousand photoelectricUBVR observations of these stars were made by the authors in 1978–1990. A star was usually observed once a night. The stars were observed between 70 and 770 nights and on average each star was observed at more than 300 nights. The mean epoch for a star is 5 years. A morphologic classification of the light curves is suggested. The method of digital analysis are briefly described. To estimate the reliability of cyclic phenomena discovered in our study, a large number of them has been examined.     

X-ray Emission from the Pre-Main Sequence Systems FU Orionis and T Tauri

We present new results from recent X-ray observations of the accreting pre-main sequence stars FU Orionis and T Tauri. XMM-Newton observations of the close binary system FU Ori reveal an unusual X-ray spectrum consisting of a cool moderately-absorbed component and a hot component viewed through much higher absorption. The two components thus originate in physically distinct regions. The double absorption spectrum is qualitatively different than observed in typical coronal sources and may signal either non-coronal emission or separate unresolved X-ray contributions from more than one star in the system. High-resolution Chandra imaging of the T Tau triple system shows that its X-ray emission is dominated by the optically-revealed northern component T Tau N. X-ray spectra of T Tau obtained with XMM can be acceptably fitted with a moderately absorbed two-temperature thermal plasma model. Its spectral properties are similar to those seen in coronal X-ray sources.     

On the chaotic orbital dynamics of the planet in the system 16 Cyg

The chaotic orbital dynamics of the planet in the wide visual binary star system 16 Cyg is considered. The only planet in this system has a significant orbital eccentricity, e = 0.69. Previously, Holman et al. suggested the possibility of chaos in the orbital dynamics of the planet due to the proximity of 16 Cyg to the separatrix of the Lidov–Kozai resonance. We have calculated the Lyapunov characteristic exponents on the set of possible orbital parameters for the planet. In all cases, the dynamics of 16 Cyg is regular with a Lyapunov time of more than 30 000 yr. The dynamics is considered in detail for several possible models of the planetary orbit; the dependences of Lyapunov exponents on the time of their calculation and the time dependences of osculating orbital elements have been constructed. Phase space sections for the system dynamics near the Lidov–Kozai resonance have been constructed for all models. A chaotic behavior in the orbital motion of the planet in 16 Cyg is shown to be unlikely, because 16 Cyg in phase space is far from the separatrix of the Lidov–Kozai resonance at admissible orbital parameters, with the chaotic layer near the separatrix being very narrow.     

Ranking the Productivity Potential of Ore-Placer Nodes of the Amur Gold-bearing Province

Ore-placer nodes with a high, moderate, and low productivity were distinguished according to the level of gold mining in the Amur Province. It has been shown that highly and moderately productive oreplacer nodes are naturally attributed to metallogenic zones of the central part of the province, and low productive nodes, to the peripheral parts. This is due to the presence of large ore-leading faults in the central part of the province. The areas with highly productive ore-placer nodes are the most promising to explore ore gold; the areas with moderately and low productive ore-placer nodes are less and much less promising, respectively.     

The Role of the Anomalous Doppler Effect in the Interaction of Energetic Electrons with Whistler Turbulence in Flare Loops

Geomagnetism and Aeronomy - The influence of the anomalous Doppler effect on the resonant interaction of fast electrons injected into the magnetic trap of the flare loop is studied. Its relative...