A large part of the energy lost from interiors of evolving stars at temperatures greater than about 5 × 108°K is carried away by neutrinos. Three neutrino-producing reactions which have been incorporated in various evolutionary models are the photoneutrino process:

direct annihilation of electron-positron pairs:

and the plasma process:

In our study of the extended supernova remnant G54.4–0.3, we find a CO emission shell at about 40km s−1 radial velocity, in striking alignment with the radio continuum shell. The correspondence in position and size argues strongly for a physical connection, and allows derivation of the kinematic distance as well as the mass and density of the CO shell. The correlation with an OB association supports the value derived for the kinematic distance. Model calculations suggest that the formation of the CO shell results from a stellar wind and that the supernova remnant has expanded into the wind bubble located inside the shell.

Recent observational results are presented which strongly suggest that a much wider range of upper-main-sequence stars have appreciable surface magnetic fields than has previously been believed.

The spectrophotometric results from the Copernicus satellite have stimulated considerable interest in interstellar molecular hydrogen. In this note calculations are presented which suggest that it may be possible for hydrogen molecules on grains to give rise to diffuse interstellar lines in the ultraviolet.

When using a formulation of smooth particle hydrodynamics (SPH) which conserves momentum exactly the motion of the particles is observed to be unstable to negative stress. It is also found that under normal circumstances a lattice of SPH particles is potentially unstable to transverse waves. This paper is a summary of a detailed report (Morris 1994) investigating the nature of these and other instabilities in depth. Approaches which may be used to eliminate these instabilities are suggested. It is found that the stability properties of SPH in general improve as higher-order spline interpolants, approximating a Gaussian, are used as kernels.

We have used rocket-borne photometers to determine the ultra-violet flux of the full moon in the wavelength range 2400-2900A where atmospheric ozone prevents ground-based observations. The lunar fluxes determined in two rocket firings from Woomera on 9th December, 1965, and 30th August, 1966, are summarized in the Table. The results for the two firings have been corrected to full moon values on the assumption that the lunar phase law is the same at these ultra-violet wavelengths as it is in the visible.

The amplitude scintillations of pulsars and the broadening of their profiles are different manifestations of the scattering of the signal by fine structure in the ionized interstellar gas.

The Fleurs synthesis telescope, which provides 20 arcsec resolution at 1.4 GHz, was used to map the continuum emission in NGC 4945 and the Circinus galaxy. Both objects have prominent small-diameter radio nuclei, containing 50% to 75% of the total intensity, superimposed on extended emission associated with the outer regions of the galaxies. The scale of the nuclei, together with the large velocity widths of the associated spectral-line profiles, are not unlike those encountered in the central region of the Galaxy.

The Molonglo fan-beam survey is a digitized survey carried out in March and April 1966, using the 1 mile E-W arm of the Molonglo cross operating at 408 MHz. Three 1´.5 fan beams separated by 1´.5 in right ascension were used. The survey covered the region in right ascension from 10h30m to 18h30m and in declination from +18° to —40°. The region common to the 4C survey has been analysed and we have obtained right ascensions for the 4C sources.

The nearest star α Centauri is a triple system. The star α Cen, one of the pointers to the Southern Cross, is itself a −0.3 mag visual binary consisting of a α Cen A, a G2V star popularly considered to resemble the Sun, and α Cen B, a KOV star. The orbital period is 80.089 years, the semimajor axis is 23.5 AU, the distance 1.34 pc, the masses are 1.11 and 0.92 (±0.03) M⊙ (Kamper & Wesselink 1977). The third star, Proxima Cen (V645 Cen) is a faint common proper-motion companion separated from α Cen AB by about 2°. It is known to most people only by virtue of being slightly closer to the Sun than is α Cen A, and therefore actually the closest star.. This 11th mag flare star is undoubtedly coeval with a α Cen AB, but being the least massive by a considerable margin, may have been ejected from the system shortly after formation.

It is generally agreed that early-type stars, and hence their HII regions, appear to develop preferentially in dense concentrations within molecular clouds. These parent molecular clouds owe their existence in two ways to the dust grains in the interstellar gas, a component which comprises about 1% by mass. First, dust grains provide stable surfaces upon which hydrogen atoms can come together to form molecules. Then, once formed, the molecules are protected in cloud interiors by dust absorption of the dissociating ultraviolet radiation which pervades the low-density interstellar medium.

The 30 Doradus region offers an excellent opportunity to study cluster formation processes and recent star formation in the Large Magellanic Cloud.

This paper presents results from a series of rocket flights which have yielded the first unambiguous evidence for the variability of a cosmic X-ray source. The evidence rests primarily on three flights, the first two of which were conducted from Woomera by a joint Universities of Adelaide and Tasmania (UAT) team, and the third from Hawaii by the Lawrence Radiation Laboratories (LRL) of California. Data from two additional flights, one by LRL and the other by the University of Leicester, support this evidence.

The naked-eye cluster, Messier 7, is situated in the constellation of Scorpius, south of the great Sagittarius star clouds, and close to the galactic centre.