Mestel, Wang and Westfold (1984; ‘MWW’) have recently introduced a pulsar magnetosphere model in which electrons leave the star with non-negligible, but not highly-relativistic, speeds, and flow with moderate acceleration along magnetic field lines before reaching a limiting surface, near which rapid acceleration occurs. Such moderately accelerated flows are analysed here. A second class of flows, which do not encounter a region of rapid acceleration, is found.

This note describes a method of image formation which i applicable to radio astronomy. AH the information simultaneously reaching an aerial array from an extended region is utilized to produce the image so that the maximum sensitivity is realized. The method is simple in principle and involves relatively few components. One stage of the data processing presents some technical difficulty, but it is believed that particularly for observations below about.

Distributions in longitude of solar radio bursts often are compiled by identifiying the position of the burst with the position of the associated H-Alpha flare. Early work on the longitudinal distribution of type II bursts compiled in this way (eg. Maxwell and Thompson 1962) indicated an approximately uniform distribution. Subsequently Svestka and Fritzova — Svestkova (1974) and Svestka (1976) published a distribution of 244 H-Alpha flares with which type II bursts were associated (hereafter called type II flares) that showed marked deficits near central meridian and the limb (Fig. 1). They suggested that the distribution was a product of propagational selection, being in some way dependant on the nature of the type II source mechanism as well as the manner by which the radiation reached the observer. On this basis they argued that the number of type II bursts that occurred near central meridian and near the limb was underestimated.

The Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer (EUVE) is a NASA funded astronomy mission which will operate in the 70–760Å spectral hand. The science payload has been designed and built by the Space Sciences Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley and consists of three grazing incidence scanning telescopes and an EUV spectrometer/deep survey instrument.

We give an overview of the planned mission profile and briefly discuss the instrumentation which comprises the science payload. The EUVE is scheduled for launch in late August 1991.

Among the astrophysical researches which will largely benefit from observation from the Antarctic Plateau, we consider those which require high-quality, continuous, daylight, uninterrupted observation in the optical–near-IR region. The systematic study of the stellar micro-oscillations and surface activity of individual objects, as well as of stellar associations extended for periods of weeks, will make a fundamental contribution to our knowledge of stellar structure and will ultimately provide the physical parameters of the stars. A similar consideration applies for the short-period (a few hours to a few days) binaries, which include the W UMa contact binaries. These objects are subject to continuously varying light curves associated with surface activity and secular effects, which cannot be adequately studied from the currently available ground telescopes. Finally, the exceptional seeing and low background will allow the systematic search for and study of supernovae in clusters of galaxies at cosmological distances, which will improve our knowledge of the geometry of the Universe at z ~ 0·7–1.

The supernova rate in spirals of types Sc and Sd shows a sharp peak in face-on galaxies with inclination i ≤ 25°. This suggests that most supernovae in late-type galaxies occur in rich clusters or associations that are located at the base of chimney-like structures formed by a previous generation of supernovae. These chimneys are transparent because most of the dust contained in the rising column of gas within them had previously been destroyed in the hot bubble surrounding supernovae.

Since its discovery in 1964, interplanetary scintillation has become recognized as a valuable method for investigating the solar wind and the small-scale structure of the interplanetary medium. A particular advantage of the method lies in the ability to study those regions of the medium outside the plane of the ecliptic. To date little has been written about the relation between interplanetary scintillation and solar activity, although regular observations of the source 3C48 during 1965-6 have indicated that a small correlation may exist between the scintillation index and sunspot number. It also appears that anomalous increases in the scintillation index are, on occasion, related to strong flare activity on the Sun.

The basic model for the precipitation of trapped energetic particles from a magnetic flux tube is Kennel and Petschek’s (1966) model. Their model is symmetric, implying equal precipitation rates at the two feet of the flux tube. We have developed a model for precipitation in an asymmetric flux tube (Melrose and White 1979). Here we explore some of the consequences for the precipitation model of Melrose and Brown (1976) for solar hard X-ray bursts. In Melrose and Brown’s model roughly half the X-rays arise from precipitating electrons. With present instruments it is not possible to resolve the two feet of the flux tube. However, if the feet can be resolved, either directly by future X-ray telescopes, or indirectly through secondary optical, UV or radio observations, then, as we shall show, the additional information obtained could be used to derive information on processes in the magnetic trap.

The major programs at the Molonglo Radio Observatory are nearing completion. Much can still be done using the existing 1 mile Cross-type radio-telescope (Mills et al. 1963) but, to tackle properly many of the current problems in radio astronomy, a fundamental change is required from a transit to a trackable radio-telescope, combined with an increase in the operating frequency and the resolution.

The Fokker-Planck equation has been used by a number of authors (Jokipii 1966, 1971; Hall and Sturrock 1967; Hasselmann and Wibberentz 1968; Roelof 1968) to deduce the diffusion coefficients of cosmic-ray particles in the interplanetary magnetic field. However, these calculations suggest that the diffusion of particles perpendicular to the mean magnetic field is implausibly large; so large that the validity of a Fokker-Planck approach as applied to the interplanetary medium must be doubted.

We present preliminary results from a number of deep radio polarization surveys being made of the Magellanic Clouds at 2.3 GHz, 4.75 GHz and 8.55 GHz. Extended and linearly polarized radio emission has been found at 2.3 and 4.75 GHz from both the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) and the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). However, as the analysis of these data is not yet complete we present only some of the 4.75 GHz results at this time.

In the past decade, planetary nebulae have assumed considerable importance in elucidating our understanding of the final stages of stellar evolution at low mass. This began with the work of Shklovsky, O’Dell and Seaton, who showed not only that the nuclei of these nebulae were among the hottest stellar objects, but also that they evolved on a track in the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram (the Harman-Seaton sequence) on a time scale very rapid by stellar evolutionary standards (~ 20,000 years).

In science we have good, successful laboratories and scientists and we also have wasteful, inefficient and unproductive ones. The differences are not matters of chance.

It is not an accident that just one Cambridge College, Trinity, has achieved more Nobel Prizes than all of Japan. There was something in common amongst the Nobel prize winners Todd, Adrian, Perutz, Bragg, Crick, Ryle, Hewish and Mott that I was fortunate enough to meet and, in some cases, get to know well. Of course there was the personal and intellectual calibre of these people, their drive and determination. But also, there was the laboratory culture within which they worked, a culture still benefiting from the influence of Maxwell, Thomson and Rutherford.

The overall aim of the planned astronomical programme at Hobart (University of Tasmania) is to obtain stellar and planetary spectra in the ultra-violet, visible, and infrared regions of the spectrum. The major instruments to be used are a 16-inch telescope, a 40-inch telescope, and a solar spectrograph. Included in the project is a programme of laboratory studies, aimed at making quantitative comparisons of several of the most efficient methods for detecting and recording spectra from astronomical objects with low levels of flux. In addition, several new methods will be investigated. These will be referred to later in this paper.

Using a complete sample, we have looked for correlations in position between radio sources with S 408 ≥ 1 Jy in the Molonglo Reference Catalogue (MRC) and rich clusters of galaxies in the Abell, Corwin and Olowin catalogue (ACO). Within a projected radius of 100 kpc of the cluster centre, we find an overdensity of radio sources similar to that seen by Robertson and Roach (1990). They attributed this feature to centrally located dominant cluster galaxies. We confirm this hypothesis by looking at the morphology of the clusters within this peak and by optically identifying galaxies associated with the radio emission. Due to the relatively high flux density limit imposed, the cluster radio sources in this sample are among the most powerful in the southern sky. The probability of a cluster containing a radio source of this power is found not to depend on cluster richness.

Various authors have reported observations of the flux and circular polarization for the three stars PG 1658 + 441, PG 1533 − 057 and K 813 − 14. On the basis of the observational data, the stars were classified as magnetic white dwarfs. To place constraints on the magnetic field strengths and geometries of these stars, the relevant authors qualitatively compared the data with available theory and, in two cases, used a model of optically thin hydrogen threaded by a magnetic field.

In this paper we use a more detailed model for magnetic white dwarfs to assess the results previously obtained for these three stars. We find that, in two cases, the observed spectra can be explained by the Zeeman splitting of hydrogen lines in a stellar magnetic field which takes the form of a dipole situated at the centre of the star. The circular polarization data for PG 1658 + 441, however, may indicate a field geometry for this star which is significally different from that of a centred dipole.

As part of an identification programme undertaken on the southern section of the Molonglo Deep Sky Survey of Radio Sources, the limiting magnitudes of some of the available ESO-B films and SRC-J films and plates in this area have been determined. The Molonglo Deep Sky Survey has been described by Robertson (1977). The southern section comprises a 45’ wide strip centred about declination -62° and stretching in an irregular fashion from 18h 25m to 00h 16m.

The space density of degenerate stars is an important parameter in Galactic Structure studies, not only because white dwarfs represent a significant fraction of the local mass density, but also because they act as tracers of the history of star formation (see e.g., Bessell 1978). Combining the present day luminosity function with theoretical cooling tracks allows constraints to be set on the birth rate of main sequence progenitors. However, since white dwarfs are intrinsically low luminosity objects, observational studies are hampered by difficulties in defining complete samples large enough to have statistical significance. This paper discusses preliminary results from one method of tackling this problem.