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Introduction. Ursa Major is the constellation most venerated by Mongolic peoples. Goals. The article seeks to examine related beliefs traced in folklore and collected field data, reveal key mythological characteristics, and cast light upon diachronous layers in the beliefs of Kalmyks and Oirats (Western Mongols). So, the work aims at analyzing basic Kalmyk and Oirat folklore plots dealing with origins of the Great Bear in comparison to those of other Mongolic cultures; and at examining the concept of Ursa Major against the background of some calendar rites and revered mythological images with due regard of contemporary ceremonies addressed to the constellation. Materials. The paper analyzes folklore and ethnographic materials. Results. Part 1 of the article identifies main variants of mythological texts about Ursa Major (Mong. Долоон бурхан, Долоон өвгөн, Kalm. Долан бурхн, Долан одн) existing in Kalmyk and Oirat discourses, comparing the latter to myths of other Mongolic populations. It shows that basically the myths narrate about seven male characters (siblings, sworn brothers, or thieves) or an ox-man, though etymology of terms may tie the constellation (its emergence) to the archaic plot of day and night alternation as a chase of shedeer, and the solar theme at large. Part 2 further analyzes Ursa Major-related beliefs and compares the latter to some calendar rites and mythological images revered in Kalmyk and Oirat culture. The paper informs that the constellation was sometimes referred to by the Oirats as ‘Seven Maral Deer’ (Oir. Долоон марал), which implies our analysis may extend to the legend of how the heavenly hunter pursued a flock of she-deer. The Oirat oral tradition believes that both the characters of Ursa Major stories and Khukhedei Mergen the Hunter (whose chase made three she-deer turn into the three stars of Orion’s Belt therefore referred to by the Mongols as ‘Three She-Deer’, Mong. Гурван марал, Kalm. Һурвн марл) can be considered masters of the two horses tied to the ‘Golden Pole’ (i.e. Pole Star) — two stars of Ursa Minor. Oirats and Kalmyks also associate Ursa Major with thawing weather, protection of children, livestock (from wolves), and increase of its numbers, remission of sins — similar functions attributed to the White Old Man (Kalm. Цаhан аав) revered by the Oirats as the Lord of the Altai, while Kalmyks tend to view him as a protector deity of the nation, one of his manifestations being that of the Lord of the Year (Kalm. Җилин эзн). The article also analyzes contemporary Buddhist rites dealing with Ursa Major among Mongolic populations.

Introduction. Ursa Major is the constellation most venerated by Mongolic peoples. Goals. The article seeks to analyze related beliefs traced in folklore and collected field data, reveal key mythological characteristics, and cast light upon diachronous layers in the beliefs of Kalmyks and Oirats (Western Mongols). So, the work aims at analyzing basic Kalmyk and Oirat folklore plots dealing with origins of the Great Bear in comparison to those of other Mongolic cultures; and at examining the concept of Ursa Major against the background of some calendar rites and revered mythological images with due regard of contemporary ceremonies addressed to the constellation. Materials. Part One investigates folklore, ethnographic, and linguistic sources involved, thus focusing on the first objective declared. Part Two to be published in the next issue of the journal shall deal with the remaining tasks. Results. The paper identifies main variants of mythological texts about Ursa Major (Mong. Долоон бурхан, Долоон өвгөн, Kalm. Долан бурхн, Долан одн) existing in Kalmyk and Oirat discourses, comparing the latter to myths of other Mongolic populations. Basically, the myths narrate about seven male characters (siblings, sworn brothers, or thieves) or an ox-man. The Kalmyk plot of thieves is somewhat unique in Mongolic traditions, being rather typical for Turkic ones. The plot of ox-man Masn Mirü (or Massang) was borrowed from Tibet, though etymology of terms may tie the constellation (its emergence) to the archaic plot of day and night alternation as a chase of she-deer, and the solar theme at large.

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At the beginning of the Apocalypse the figure of Jesus Christ appears bright like the sun in its full shine, while holding seven stars in his right hand (Ap 1,16; cf. 2,1; 3,1). The meaning of the vision is explained a little further (Ap 1,20): the seven stars symbolize the angels of the seven churches of Asia, recipients of seven letters. Seven stars appear occasionally in the Bible and in late apocryphal Jewish literature with various meanings. Their placement in the hand of Christ, however, has no precedent in these traditions, while occurs in the Greco-Roman iconography, where the motif is associated with Zeus on Crete or Jupiter in Rome and with the deified Roman emperors, which are considered as equivalent in the role of rulers of the cosmos. The seven stars of these mythological accounts are identifiable with the Septem Triones, the constellation of Ursa Major. In Stoic philosophy and later in the imperial apotheosis they indicate the highest point of the sky that never sets and revolve about the axis of the world governed by the Logos (identified with Zeus and Jupiter, too). The cycle of death and rebirth of the Cretan Zeus as well as the light of Sun-Apollo, both associable with the risen Christ of the apocalyptical vision, dialogue further with the Hellenistic-Roman figurative language. Christ appears then as a new, complete synthesis of previous experiences and at the same time he overcomes them: as the true king at the top of the cosmos he guides history and, in it, the essential action of the Church. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A study on the CO 12 , CO 13 , and C 18 O lines of the high Galactic latitude cloud HSVMT 27, located in Ursa Major, was conducted. A relatively low CO 12 excitation temperature was found. While some C 18 O emissions were detected, they were too weak to be mapped. With the spatial resolution of 0.08 pc and the velocity resolution of 0.17 km·s −1 , 26 CO 13 cores were identified in the dense regions. All the local thermodynamic equilibrium masses of these cores are less than their Virial masses, ranging in 0.5–10 M ⊙ , and have no infrared point sources associated with them. Overall, the data indicate that there is no recent or ongoing star formation in this cloud. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A summary of the astronomical beliefs of four tribes Gond, Banjara, Kolam and Korku from Nagpur region of Maharashtra has been presented. Primary conclusions are that the tribals are mainly focused on the winter sky with Big Dipper (Saptarshi), the Orion region including Orion, Taurus, Auriga, Gemini, Canis Major and Pleiades. They are also quite conscious of the Southern Cross (Crux) and the region around it. Many tribes are aware of Scorpius but are often unable to define its location in the sky. Gonds are aware of the Great Square of Pegasus and of Leo. We discuss these beliefs in the background of the region of the sky that occupies them and the similarity and differences in their beliefs of these regions. We then summarize the results in the general framework of human intellectual development and the environment in which they live. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We analyse the photometric data and spectroscopic data collected on the δ Scuti star AE Ursae Majoris (AE UMa). The fundamental and the first overtone frequencies are confirmed as f0 = 11.625 60 c d-1 and f1 = 15.031 24 c d-1, respectively, from the frequency content by analysing light curves over 40 nights, spanning from 2009 to 2012. Additionally, another 37 frequencies are identified as either the harmonics or the linear combinations of the fundamental and the first overtone frequencies, among which 25 are newly detected. The rate of period change of the fundamental mode is determined as (1/P0)(dP0/dt) = 5.4(±1.9) x 10-9 yr-1 as revealed from the O - C diagram based on the 84 newly determined times of maximum light combined with those derived from the literature. The spectroscopic data suggest that AE UMa is a Population I δ Scuti star. With these physical properties, we perform theoretical explorations based on the stellar evolution codeMESA on this target, considering that the variation of pulsation period is caused by secular evolutionary effects. We finally constrain AE UMa with physical parameters as follows: mass of 1.805 ± 0.055 M⊙, radius of 1.647 ± 0.032 x 1011 cm, luminosity of 1.381 ± 0.048(log L/L⊙) and age of 1.055 ± 0.095 x 109 yr. AE UMa can be the (Population I) δ Scuti star that locates just after the second turn-off of its evolutional track leaving the main sequence, a star in the phase of the Hertzsprung Gap with a helium core and a hydrogen-burning shell. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context. Stellar kinematic groups are kinematically coherent groups of stars that might have a common origin. These groups spread through the Galaxy over time owing to tidal effects caused by Galactic rotation and disk heating. However, the chemical information survives these processes. Aims. The information provided by analysis of chemical elements can reveal the origin of these kinematic groups. Here we investigate the origin of the stars that belong to the Ursa Major (UMa) moving group (MG). Methods. We present high-resolution spectroscopic observations obtained from three different spectrographs of kinematically selected FGK stars of the Ursa Major moving group. Stellar atmospheric parameters (Teff, log g, ξ, and [Fe/H]) were determined using our own automatic code (StePar), which makes use of the sensitivity of iron equivalent widths (EWs) measured in the spectra. We critically compared the StePar results with other methods (Te values derived using the infrared flux method (IRFM) and log g values based on Hipparcos parallaxes). We derived the chemical abundances of 20 elements and their [X/Fe] ratios for all stars in the sample. We performed a differential abundance analysis with respect to a reference star of the UMa MG (HD 115043). We also carried out a systematic comparison of the abundance pattern of the Ursa Major MG and the Hyades SC with the thin disk stellar abundances. Results. Our chemical tagging analysis indicates that the Ursa Major MG is less affected by field star contamination than other moving groups (such as the Hyades SC). We find a roughly solar iron composition [Fe/H] = 0.03 ± 0.07 dex for the finally selected stars, whereas the [X/Fe] ratios are roughly subsolar except for super-solar Barium abundance. Conclusions. We conclude that 29 out of 44 (i.e., 66%) candidate stars have similar chemical compositions. In addition, we find that the abundance pattern of the Ursa Major MG might be marginally different from that of the Hyades SC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The B V R c I c bands light curves of the newly discovered binary system GSC 03122-02426 are obtained and analyzed using the Wilson–Devinney (W–D) code. The solutions suggest that the mass ratio of the binary system is q = 2.70 and the less massive component is 422 K hotter than the more massive one. We conclude that GSC 03122-02426 is a W-subtype shallow contact (with a contact degree of f = 15.3 % ) binary system. It may be a newly formed contact binary system which is just under geometrical contact and will evolve to be a thermal contact binary system. The high orbital inclination ( i = 81 . 6 ∘ ) implies that GSC 03122-02426 is a total eclipsing binary system and the photometric parameters obtained by us are quite reliable. We also estimate the absolute physical parameters of the two components in GSC 03122-02426, which will provide fundamental information for the research of contact binary systems. The formation and evolutionary scenario of GSC 03122-02426 is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This chapter examines research carried out to date on the Sky Bear and seeks to demonstrate the implications of this line of research for "cultural astronomy". It begins by reviewing research that has been done cross-culturally on bear ceremonialism, focusing on the role of circumpolar stars, Dipper stars and stars adjacent to them, and how they came to be integrated, cognitively, into an over-arching cosmology shared by different hunter-gatherer populations across the N. Hemisphere. Next, using three mutually reinforcing ethnographic datasets, the manner in which, specifically in Europe, this archaic worldview, characterized by embodied reciprocity, allowed humans, animals and nature to be bound together. The cosmology, grounded in the belief that humans descended from bears, integrated skyscape and landscape into a single interlocking reality. Furthermore, the worldview can be understood as embodying a "relational epistemology" or "relational ecology". This more culturally-informed approach coincides with the goals of "cultural astronomy" as well as the methodology and goals of the emerging field of archaeological ethnography. The reasons that these particular sky resources were chosen to project this set of spirtual beliefs skyward are also addressed. In the final section I suggest that the skyscape acts a kind of mnemonic device. As such, it is a cognitive resource, readily available to the social collective in question, which can act as a repository for past beliefs. Anchoring key components of a cosmology in the stars above allows the resulting skyscape to act as an enduring "memory bank". In short, the datasets analyzed facilitate the reconstruction of a European-wide ethno-cultural substrate that points to an archaic relational cosmovision and the belief that humans descended from bears as well as providing evidence for the way that skyscape and landscape were integrated into this cosmology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of the bear as a calendric deity among the Finnic and Finno-Ugric peoples echoes it general importance in all aspects of the northern cultures. The Finnic peoples divided their year into four parts by two Bear Days in January and July, and the Summer and Winter Nights between those. In the earliest wooden folk calendars in Finland that can be traced to the 13th century, those calendric marker days had already been fixed into the Julian year, but in earlier times, they would have been determined by a lunisolar or lunar calendar. The calendric system of the late Iron Age Finns and other Finnic peoples was lunisolar with intercalation, and its structure and main marker days indicate that it had several layers of different age: the „Bear Year' seasonal division, the idea of the eight-divided solar year-probably of Indo-European origin-, and a basic lunisolar intercalation calendar with twelve or thirteen months. The Finnish celestial lore related to the bear can also be connected to the seasonal positions of the Big Dipper asterism. While the seasonal calendric significance of the bear in Eurasian cultures is probably very ancient, possibly even Paleolithic, the connection of the Finnic Bear Year seasonal division and lunisolar calendars can be traced at least to the late Neolithic period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The simulations of the sky for the very far past are briefly discussed, and a possible application to the study of the Bear constellations, in particular for the epoch of the last glacial maximum, is presented; reference is made to the different length of seasons, climate and environment. Many ethnographic studies described the special relationship between men and bears, in connection also with a cosmic hunt, and it may be possible that such a relation dates back to the Palaeolithic epoch. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this fourth and fifth grade activity, students become comfortable with the concept that light-years are a measure of distance, not time, and discover how we are looking back in time when we look at stars. Since the enormous distances in space can make astronomical studies even more confusing, students explore the meaning of a light-year by first examining a unit on a smaller scale: the person-walking-week. Students determine how many kilometers a person can walk in a week and then use this unit of measurement to determine distances between cities. Once comfortable with the idea that this is a unit of distance, students then tackle the light-year and examine the stars in the Big Dipper and Orion. Using known distances to the stars, they determine when light seen today from those stars originally began its journey through space. Cross-curricular connections can then be easily made with topics in history. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Using SDSS-DR7 and NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database spectroscopic data, we identify 166 galaxies as members of the Ursa Major cluster with Mr < −13.5 mag. We morphological classify all galaxies by means of carefully inspecting g-, r-, i-band colour and monochromatic images. We show that the Ursa Major cluster is dominated by late-type galaxies, but also contains a significant number of early-type galaxies, particularly in the dwarf regime. We present further evidence for the existence of several subgroups in the cluster, consistent with previous findings. The early-type fraction is found to correlate with the mass of the subgroup. We also investigate environmental effects by comparing the properties of the Ursa Major early-type dwarf galaxies to those of the Virgo cluster. In contrast to the Virgo, the red sequence of the Ursa Major cluster is only sparsely populated in the optical and ultraviolet colour–magnitude relations. It also shows a statistically significant gap between −18 < Mr < −17 mag, i.e. the Ursa Major cluster lacks early-type dwarf galaxies at the bright end of their luminosity function. We discover that the majority of early-type dwarf galaxies in the Ursa Major cluster have blue cores with hints of recent or ongoing star formation. We suggest that gravitational tidal interactions can trigger central blue star-forming regions in early-type dwarfs. After that, star formation would only fade completely when the galaxies experience ram-pressure stripping or harassment, both of which are nearly absent in the Ursa Major cluster. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Traditional approaches to the documentation of indigenous astronomical knowledge often assume a one-to-one or near one-to-one correspondence between indigenous and classical constellation terms. Only a single constellation, equated with the Big Dipper, is robustly attested across the Northern Dene languages. Here we provide evidence from Gwich'in (Dene) that shows that the equation of this single Gwich'in constellation with the classical constellation is only partial. The Gwich'in constellation yahdii is actually a whole-sky constellation that maps nearly the entire sky. The Big Dipper is the tail of yahdii, and the remaining stars in the constellation are identified by other Gwich'in body-part terms, forming a unified functional conceptualization of the sky. Our work demonstrates how observational and cultural biases can prejudice the description of cultural astronomy. Dene astronomy is much richer than has been previously claimed and provides the first well-documented indigenous example of a whole-sky constellation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers news briefs related to astronomy as April 2014. Undergraduate astronomy students from the University College London discovered a supernova in the M82 galaxy at Ursa Major on January 21, 2014. The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter revealed on November 19, 2013 images of a new crater in Mars. A new galaxy was found by the Hubble and the Spitzer Space Telescopes near the Abell 2744 galaxy cluster.

Context. The Hercules-Lyra association, a purported nearby young moving group, contains a few tens of zero age main sequence stars of spectral types F to M. The existence and the properties of the Her-Lyr association are controversial and have been discussed in the literature. Aims. The present work reassesses the properties and the member list of the Her-Lyr association based on kinematics and age indicators. Many objects form multiple systems or have low-mass companions and so we need to properly account for multiplicity. Methods. We use our own new imaging observations and archival data to identify multiple systems. The colors and magnitudes of kinematic candidates are compared to isochrones. We derive further information on the age based on Li depletion, rotation, and coronal and chromospheric activity. A set of canonical members is identified to infer mean properties. Membership criteria are derived from the mean properties and used to discard non-members. Results. The candidates selected from the literature belong to 35 stellar systems, 42.9% of which are multiple. Four multiple systems (V538 Aur, DX Leo, V382 Ser, and HH Leo) are confirmed in this work by common proper motion. An orbital solution is presented for the binary system which forms a hierarchical triple with HHLeo. Indeed, a group of candidates displays signatures of youth. Seven canonical members are identified The distribution of Li equivalent widths of canonical Her-Lyr members is spread widely and is similar to that of the Pleiades and the UMa group. Gyrochronology gives an age of 257 ± 46 Myr which is roughly in between the ages of the Pleiades and the Ursa Major group. The measures of chromospheric and coronal activity support the young age. Four membership criteria are presented based on kinematics, lithium equivalent width, chromospheric activity, and gyrochronological age. In total, eleven stars are identified as certain members including co-moving objects plus additional 23 possible members while 14 candidates are doubtful or can be rejected. A comparison to the mass function, however, indicates the presence of a large number of additional low-mass members, which remain unidentified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Milky Way ultra-faint dwarf (UFD) galaxies contain some of the oldest, most metal-poor stars in the universe. We present [Mg/Fe], [Si/Fe], [Ca/Fe], [Ti/Fe], and mean [α/Fe] abundance ratios for 61 individual red giant branch stars across eight UFDs. This is the largest sample of alpha abundances published to date in galaxies with absolute magnitudes MV > -8, including the first measurements for Segue 1, Canes Venatici II, Ursa Major I, and Leo T. Abundances were determined via medium-resolution Keck/DEIMOS spectroscopy and spectral synthesis. The sample spans the metallicity range -3.4 < [Fe/H] < -1.1. With the possible exception of Segue 1 and Ursa Major II, the individual UFDs show on average lower [α/Fe] at higher metallicities, consistent with enrichment from Type Ia supernovae. Thus, even the faintest galaxies have undergone at least a limited level of chemical self-enrichment. Together with recent photometric studies, this suggests that star formation in the UFDs was not a single burst, but instead lasted at least as much as the minimum time delay of the onset of Type Ia supernovae (~100 Myr) and less than~2 Gyr.We further show that the combined population of UFDs has an [α/Fe] abundance pattern that is inconsistent with a flat, Galactic halo-like alpha abundance trend, and is also qualitatively different from that of the more luminous CVn I dSph, which does show a hint of a plateau at very low [Fe/H]. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have performed the first study of the variable star population of Ursa Major I (UMa I), an ultra-faint dwarf satellite recently discovered around the Milky Way (MW) by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. Combining time series observations in the B and V bands from four different telescopes, we have identified seven RR Lyrae stars in UMa I, of which five are fundamental-mode (RRab) and two are first-overtone pulsators (RRc). Our V, B-V color-magnitude diagram of UMa I reaches V ~23 mag (at a signal-to-noise ratio of~6) and shows features typical of a single old stellar population. The mean pulsation period of the RRab stars (Pab) = 0.628, σ = 0.071 days (or (Pab) = 0.599, σ = 0.032 days, if V4, the longest period and brightest variable, is discarded) and the position on the period-amplitude diagram suggest an Oosterhoff-intermediate classification for the galaxy. The RR Lyrae stars trace the galaxy horizontal branch (HB) at an average apparent magnitude of (V (RR)) = 20.43±0.02 mag (average on six stars and discarding V4), giving in turn a distance modulus for UMa I of (m-M)0 = 19.94 ± 0.13 mag, distance d=97.3+6.0 -5.7 kpc, in the scale where the distance modulus of the Large Magellanic Cloud is 18.5±0.1mag. Isodensity contours of UMa I red giants and HB stars (including the RR Lyrae stars identified in this study) show that the galaxy has an S-shaped structure, which is likely caused by the tidal interaction with the MW. Photometric metallicities were derived for six of the UMa I RR Lyrae stars from the parameters of the Fourier decomposition of the V-band light curves, leading to an average metal abundance of [Fe/H]=-2.29 dex (σ = 0.06 dex, average on six stars) on the Carretta et al. metallicity scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context. We study an SDSS sample of galaxies within ~50 Mpc of the nominal center of the Ursa Major supercluster. Aims. Our aim is to study galaxy distribution around groups in the supercluster and the link between the distribution of relaxed and nonrelaxed galaxy systems with respect to the supercluster environment. Methods. Using the FoF algorithm, 40 galaxy groups were identified in this region. Velocity distributions for these groups were studied after applying a 3σ-clipping routine for outlier removal. We classified the systems according to the results of normality and substructure tests applied to member galaxies. Then, we studied the relative distribution of relaxed and nonrelaxed systems across the supercluster. Results. We find that 68% of galaxy groups are Gaussian and that all the non-Gaussian systems have substructures and probably correspond to multimodal systems in redshift space. We also find that the Gaussian systems inhabit the denser regions of the supercluster, with higher densities of both red and blue galaxies within 2.5 h-1 Mpc, and have smaller group-group pairwise separations. Conclusions. Our results suggest a spatial segregation of dynamical states, where relaxed systems may have formed and evolved earlier and faster around high-density peaks, while nonrelaxed systems may be growing slower on the peripheries of lower density peaks. In this picture, galaxy clustering seems to be prompting a continuous internal evolution in the supercluster, with several groups collapsing into the more evolved and contracted regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have conducted the first blind H i survey covering 480 deg2 and a heliocentric velocity range from 300 to 1900 km s−1 to investigate the H i content of the nearby spiral-rich Ursa Major region and to look for previously uncatalogued gas-rich objects. Here we present the catalogue of H i sources. The H i data were obtained with the four-beam receiver mounted on the 76.2-m Lovell telescope [full width at half-maximum (FWHM) 12 arcmin] at the Jodrell Bank Observatory (UK) as part of the H i Jodrell All Sky Survey (HIJASS). We use the automated source finder duchamp and identify 166 H i sources in the data cubes with H i masses in the range of 107–1010.5 M⊙. Our Ursa Major H i catalogue includes 10 first-time detections in the 21-cm emission line.We identify optical counterparts for 165 H i sources (99 per cent). For 54 H i sources (∼33 per cent) we find numerous optical counterparts in the HIJASS beam, indicating a high density of galaxies and likely tidal interactions. Four of these H i systems are discussed in detail.We find only one H i source (1 per cent) without a visible optical counterpart out of the 166 H i detections. Green Bank Telescope (FWHM 9 arcmin) follow-up observations confirmed this H i source and its H i properties. The nature of this detection is discussed and compared to similar sources in other H i surveys. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Abstract: In this work, we report on the intense flaring activity from Mkn-421 in X-ray and γ-ray regimes simultaneously observed by Swift-XRT/BAT and Fermi-LAT satellite telescopes in February 2010. With the aim of understanding the underlying physics of the flaring state in Mkn-421, we have performed a detailed spectral analysis of Swift/XRT and Fermi/LAT observations of Mkn-421 during February 12–25, 2010 (MJD 55239–55252). Over this period, we study the daily light curves and spectral variability of the source in 1–10keV, 0.1–1GeV and 1–100GeV energy bands. We have performed the spectral analysis of Swift-XRT and Fermi/LAT observations to study the spectral evolution in the X-ray and gamma-ray energy domains respectively. We also compute the fractional variability amplitude in both the energy bands during the above period. We study trends between spectral parameters and physical insights provided by the parameter responsible for X-ray and γ-ray emission from the source. We search for energetic features phenomenologically linked to the single zone SSC model for blazar emission. We also produce the broad band SED with a leptonic single zone SSC model for the source. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The mythical narrative of Apollo's northern voyage and the place of his festivals in several Greek calendars, reflected also in local ritual practice, seems to reflect certain elements in his nature best explained through his association with the sun, more precisely, the annual solar movement. The association was noted long ago, but a selective analysis will show that both the narrative and the ritual reflect the model of annual solar motion expressed in terms of a suspended reference, a mythical metaphor, a linear narrative defined both by the very nature of language and the celestial phenomenon it is describing. The analysis of various Greek calendars supports the notion of the solstices as the most important defining moments in the annual solar motion, and their connection with Apollo reflects precisely this fact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Recently, several studies have shown that young, open clusters are characterized by a considerable overabundance in their barium content. In particular, D'Orazi et al. reported that in some younger clusters [Ba/Fe] can reach values as high as ∼0.6 dex. The work also identified the presence of an anticorrelation between [Ba/Fe] and cluster age. For clusters in the age range ∼4.5 Gyr -500 Myr, this is best explained by assuming a higher contribution from low-mass asymptotic giant branch stars to the Galactic chemical enrichment. The purpose of this work is to investigate the ubiquity of the barium overabundance in young stellar clusters. We analysed high-resolution spectroscopic data, focusing on the s-process elemental abundance for three nearby young associations, i.e. AB Doradus, Carina-Near and Ursa Major. The clusters have been chosen such that their age spread would complement the D'Orazi et al. study. We find that while the s-process elements Y, Zr, La and Ce exhibit solar ratios in all three associations, Ba is overabundant by ∼0.2 dex. Current theoretical models cannot reproduce this abundance pattern; thus, we investigate whether this unusually large Ba content might be related to chromospheric effects. Although no correlation between [Ba/Fe] and several activity indicators seems to be present, we conclude that different effects could be at work which may (directly or indirectly) be related to the presence of hot stellar chromospheres. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, several studies have shown that young, open clusters are characterized by a considerable overabundance in their barium content. In particular, D’Orazi et al. reported that in some younger clusters [Ba/Fe] can reach values as high as ∼0.6 dex. The work also identified the presence of an anticorrelation between [Ba/Fe] and cluster age. For clusters in the age range ∼4.5 Gyr-500 Myr, this is best explained by assuming a higher contribution from low-mass asymptotic giant branch stars to the Galactic chemical enrichment.The purpose of this work is to investigate the ubiquity of the barium overabundance in young stellar clusters. We analysed high-resolution spectroscopic data, focusing on the s-process elemental abundance for three nearby young associations, i.e. AB Doradus, Carina-Near and Ursa Major. The clusters have been chosen such that their age spread would complement the D’Orazi et al. study.We find that while the s-process elements Y, Zr, La and Ce exhibit solar ratios in all three associations, Ba is overabundant by ∼0.2 dex. Current theoretical models cannot reproduce this abundance pattern; thus, we investigate whether this unusually large Ba content might be related to chromospheric effects. Although no correlation between [Ba/Fe] and several activity indicators seems to be present, we conclude that different effects could be at work which may (directly or indirectly) be related to the presence of hot stellar chromospheres. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The Ursa Major group is a nearby stellar supercluster which, while not gravitationally bound, is defined by co-moving members. DD UMa is a δ Scuti star whose membership in the Ursa Major group is unclear. The objective of this study is to confirm the membership of DD UMa in the Ursa Major group, as well as perform a detailed spectral analysis of the star. Since DD UMa is a low-amplitude δ Scuti star, we performed a frequency analysis. We determined fundamental parameters, chemical abundances, and derive a mass and age for the star. For this study we observed DD UMa at the Okayama Astrophysical Observatory with the high-resolution spectrograph HIDES, between the 27th of February and the 4th March, 2009. Additional observations were extracted from the ELODIE archive in order to expand our abundance analysis. Group membership of DD UMa was assessed by examining the velocity of the star in Galactic coordinates. Pulsational frequencies were determined by examining line profile variability in the HIDES spectra. Stellar fundamental parameters and chemical abundances were derived by fitting synthetic spectra to both the HIDES and ELODIE observations. DD UMa is found to be a member of the extended stream of the Ursa Major group, based on the space motion of the star. This is supported by the chemical abundances of the star being consistent with those of Ursa Major group members. The star is found to be chemically solar, with T eff =7450±150K and logg =3.98±0.2. We found pulsational frequencies of 9.4 and 15.0c/d. While these frequencies are insufficient to perform an asteroseismic study, DD UMa is a good bright star candidate for future study by the BRITE-constellation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

We analyze the properties of galaxy clusters in the region of the Leo supercluster using observational data from the SDSS and 2MASS catalogs. We have selected 14 galaxy clusters with a total dynamical mass of 1.77 × 10 M in the supercluster region 130 by 60 Mpc in the plane of the sky ( z ≃ 0.037). The composite luminosity function of the supercluster is described by a Schechter function with parameters that, within the error limits, correspond to field galaxies and does not differ from the luminosity function of the richer Ursa Major (UMa) supercluster for the same luminosity range (the bright end). The luminosity functions of early-type and late-type galaxies in Leo at the faint end are characterized by a sharp decrease ( α = −0.60±0.08) and a steep increase ( α = −1.44± 0.10) in the number of galaxies, respectively. In the virialized cluster regions, the fraction of early-type galaxies selected by the u- r color, bulge contribution, and concentration index among the galaxies brighter than M + 1 is, on average, 62%. This fraction is smaller than that in the UMa supercluster at a 2-3 σ level. The near-infrared luminosities of galaxy clusters down to a fixed absolute magnitude correlate with their masses almost in the same way as for other samples of galaxy clusters ( L ∝ M)). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study on the orbital and superhump periods of SDSS J150240.98+333423.9 (SDSS S1502), an eclipsing dwarf nova first identified in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) database. It says that, in the first four days after its July 2009 outburst, SDSS 1502 has an orbital period of 0.05890946(5)d and a superhump period of 0.06028(19)d. Accordingly, it was a member of the SU Ursa Majoris (UMa) family, and its eclipse duration had declined from 10.5 to 3.5 minutes in the outburst.

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Two potential sites of H2 formation have been discovered in diffuse gas at high Galactic latitude through examining the far-infrared (FIR) H i ratio and looking for an excess over that expected from an atomic medium. We call these the Spider and Ursa Major fields. New 12CO and 13CO Five College Radio Astronomical Observatory observations are presented for both regions (53 936 spectra in the Spider and 23 517 spectra in Ursa Major). Although there is a correlation between FIR excess and CO emission, we find that the FIR excess peaks do not coincide with the 12CO emission peaks, indicating that CO might be a poor tracer of H2 in diffuse regions. This implies (i) that the density is too small to allow CO excitation, (ii) that the CO self-shielding is insufficient or (iii) local variations of the dust properties. The 12CO observations are compared with H i observations from the Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory. We decompose the 10 000 H i profiles of the Spider and the 20 302 H i profiles of Ursa Major into Gaussian components. We always find at most two narrow components and one broad component. CO always seems to appear where two H i velocity components merge or where there is a H i velocity-shear. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Finite thin disc models of four galaxies in the Ursa Major cluster are presented. The models are obtained by means of the Hunter method and the particular solutions are chosen in such a way that the circular velocities are adjusted very accurately to the observed rotation curves of some specific spiral galaxies. We present particular models for the four galaxies NGC 3877, NGC 3917, NGC 3949 and NGC 4010 with data taken from the recent paper by Verheijen & Sancici. By integrating the corresponding surface mass densities, and considering all the mass as concentrated at the galactic disc, we obtain the total mass of these galaxies and for all of them we obtain values of the order of . Accordingly, these values for may be taken as a quite accurate estimate of an upper bound to the disc mass of these galaxies and a lower bound to their total mass. These models can be considered as a first approximation to obtaining quite realistic models of spiral galaxies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A Bayesian analysis of 47 Ursae Majoris radial velocity data confirms and refines the properties of two previously reported planets with periods of 1079 and 2325 d. The analysis also provides orbital constraints on an additional long-period planet with a period of d. The three-planet model is found to be 105 times more probable than the next most probable model which is a two-planet model. The non-linear model fitting is accomplished with a new hybrid Markov chain Monte Carlo (HMCMC) algorithm which incorporates parallel tempering, simulated annealing and genetic crossover operations. Each of these features facilitate the detection of a global minimum in . By combining all three, the HMCMC greatly increases the probability of realizing this goal. When applied to the Kepler problem, it acts as a powerful multiplanet Kepler periodogram. The measured periods are and , and the corresponding eccentricities are and . The results favour low-eccentricity orbits for all three. Assuming the three signals (each one consistent with a Keplerian orbit) are caused by planets, the corresponding limits on planetary mass and semimajor axis are and , respectively. Based on a three-planet model, the remaining unaccounted for noise (stellar jitter) is 5.7 m s−1. The velocities of model fit residuals were randomized in multiple trials and processed using a one-planet version of the HMCMC Kepler periodogram. In this situation, periodogram peaks are purely the result of the effective noise. The orbits corresponding to these noise-induced periodogram peaks exhibit a well-defined strong statistical bias towards high eccentricity. We have characterized this eccentricity bias and designed a correction filter that can be used as an alternate prior for eccentricity to enhance the detection of planetary orbits of low or moderate eccentricity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Suur Vanker ('the Great Wain' in Estonian, the Big Dipper) is a commonly known constellation in Estonia. In addition to Suur Vanker, the astronym Hunt Härja kõrval 'Wolf beside the Ox' is one of the oldest written recordings of ethno-astronomic designations. The tale about farmer Peedu and his wagon, formalised and elaborated by Jakob Hurt based on his collections, has been printed in school textbooks since the issuing of Mihkel Kampmann's reading book, Kooli lugemise raamat at the beginning of the previous century. Thus, the story is widely known and has been simultaneously considered an Estonian astral myth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The first known Chumash tree carving from south-central California was recently discovered in the Santa Lucia Range of San Luis Obispo County. We present Saint-Onge's hypothesis that the principal symbolic element of this arborglyph represents Ursa Major, known as 'ilᶤhᶤy, and Polaris (the North Star), known as Shnilemun or the Coyote of the Sky, in Chumash oral literature. Some of the most famous rock art sites in south-central California contain a similar motif Furthermore, the position of this image at many of these sites appears to be one that affords unobstructed views of the North Star This research builds upon previous studies of archaeoastronomical links between Chumash ritual and rock art. We present further evidence that periodic celebrations were held in conjunction with certain predictable celestial events throughout the year, and that the symbolism of the counterclockwise rotation of Ursa Major around the North Star was embodied in Chumash ceremonial behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents information on the northern hemisphere constellation Big Dipper or Ursa Major, its shape and the seven brightest stars that compose it. As stated, the stars Mizar and Alcor represent the handle of the Big Dipper or the Big Bear and the five stars belong to Ursa Major in a cluster called Collinder 285 with the corner stars named Alfa and Delta while the bottom two are called Beta and Gamma Ursae Majoris which leads to other Messier objects.

Over the past five years, the Egyptian-Spanish Mission on the archaeoastronomy of ancient Egypt and its collaborators has been performing an ambitious scientific project with the aim of studying the cosmovision of the ancient civilization of the pharaohs. Part of the project has consisted of a re-analysis of the iconographic and historical sources that has allowed, among other things, a reassessment of the calendar theory and a new proposal for the sky-maps of ancient Egypt. For various reasons, Archaeoastronomy has not been one of the favourite disciplines of egyptologists in the past. Probably because of this, important questions such as the orientation of Egyptian temples and the relevance of astronomy in this respect had never been afforded with the requisite seriousness and depth. Our work has had among its various priorities, the solution of this problem. In order to achieve this, our team has so far measured the orientation of some 330 temples in the Valley, the Delta, the Oases and the Sinai. The aim is to find a correct and almost definitive answer to the question of whether the ancient Egyptian sacred constructions were astronomically aligned or not. Our results may provide an affirmative answer. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

We have studied some kinematic features of the coronas of near-solar stellar streams, based on Hipparcos observations. Apex diagrams for kinematic streams, open clusters, and field stars are plotted. In our analysis, we used the apex-diagram (AD) method we developed earlier. We find that the Eggen streams and Arcturus stream have similar properties, providing evidence for kinematic inhomogeneity of their coronas and the existence of stellar groups such as those detected in the corona of the Ursa Major stream. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present bulge and disc (B/D) decompositions of existing surface brightness profiles for 65 Ursa Major (UMa) cluster spiral galaxies. This improves upon the disc-only fits of Tully et al. The 1996 disc fits were used by Tully & Verheijen for their discovery of the bimodality of structural parameters in the UMa cluster galaxies. It is shown that our new one-dimensional B/D decompositions yield disc structural parameters that differ only slightly from the basic fits of Tully et al. and evidence for structural bimodality of UMa galaxies is maintained. Our B/D software for the decomposition of one-dimensional surface brightness profiles of galaxies uses a non-linear minimization scheme to recover the best-fitting Sérsic bulge and the exponential disc while accounting for the possible presence of a compact nucleus and spiral arms and for the effects of seeing and disc truncations. In agreement with Tully & Verheijen, we find that the distribution of near-infrared disc central surface brightnesses is bimodal with an F-test confidence of 80 per cent. There is also strong evidence for a local minimum in the luminosity function at . A connection between the brightness bimodality and a dynamical bimodality, based on new H i linewidths, is identified. The B/D parameters are presented in Table 1 . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Orbital-period variations of the neglected W UMa-type binary star, NY Lyr, were analyzed based on two newly determined eclipse times together with the others compiled from the literature. A cyclic oscillation with a period of 82.1 yr and an amplitude of 0.0247 d was discovered to be superimposed on a continuous period increase (dP/dt= +1.33 × 10-7d yr-1). After the long-term period increase and the large-amplitude cyclic oscillation were removed from the O–C diagram, the residuals suggest that there is another small-amplitude period oscillation (A4= 0.0053 d, P4= 19.4 years) in the orbital period changes. As in the cases of AH Cnc and AD Cnc, both the continuous period increase and the two cyclic period oscillations make NY Lyr an interesting system to study in the future. In order to understand the evolutionary state of the binary system, new photometric and spectroscopic observations and a careful investigation on those data are needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have determined a complete set of parameters for the young pre-cataclysmic variable BE UMa from a comprehensive photometric and spectroscopic analysis using model atmospheres. Our precise photometry and spectroscopy were acquired with the 6-m telescope and Zeiss-1000 telescope of the Special Astrophysical Observatory and the 1.5-m Russian-Turkish telescope at a wide range of orbital phases, including times of primary eclipses.We performed a detailed identification of emission lines of ten elements. At phases of minimum brightness, the spectra reveal absorption lines and molecular bands formed in the secondary’s atmosphere, whose effective temperature was determined to be T = 4750 ± 150 K. We have studied the radial-velocity curves of the cool star using lines of various elements. All the curves exhibit the previously predicted distortions due to reflection effects in the close binary. The derived component-mass ratio is q = 0.43 ± 0.09, and the component masses are M 1 = 0.59 ± 0.07 M ⊙ and M 2 = 0.25 ± 0.08 M ⊙. We analyzed the light curves using model atmospheres for irradiated stars; all the parameters of BE UMa were refined. We demonstrate the validity of our modeling of the binary’s spectra at phases of brightness maximum, which provides a good description of the observed intensities of most lines of heavy elements. The abundances of helium and several light elements (C, N, O, Ne, Mg) in the atmosphere of the cool star are probably higher than the solar values. We conclude that the physical characteristics of the primary are in good agreement with evolutionary tracks for planetary-nebula nuclei, and that the secondary is overluminous by a factor of 30 compared to main-sequence stars of the same mass. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a new method to derive the age of young (<0.7 Gyr) L dwarfs based on their near-infrared photometry, colours and distances. The method is based on samples of L dwarfs belonging to the Upper Sco association (5 Myr), the Alpha Per (85 Myr) and Pleiades (125 Myr) clusters, and the Ursa Major (400 Myr) and Hyades (625 Myr) moving groups. We apply our method to a number of interesting objects in the literature, including a known L dwarf binary, L dwarf companions and spectroscopic members of the young σ Orionis cluster. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We consider kinematic inhomogeneities (stellar groups) in the corona of the Ursa Major flow. We show that the orientation of the major axis of the error ellipse for each star is defined by its position relative to its own apex. We apply the AD-diagram method suggested by us earlier; a statistical analysis confirms the existence of stellar groups in the corona of the Ursa Major flow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The proper motion measurements for 143 previously known L and T dwarfs are presented. From this sample we identify and discuss eight high-velocity L dwarfs. We also find four new wide common proper motion binaries/multiple systems. Using the moving cluster methods we have also identified a number of L dwarfs that may be members of the Ursa Major (age ≈ 400 Myr), the Hyades (age ≈ 625 Myr) and the Pleiades (age ≈ 125 Myr) moving groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present the analysis of 23 published rotation curves of disc galaxies belonging to the Ursa Major group of galaxies, with kinematics free of irregularities. The rotation curves are analysed in the context of modified Newtonian dynamics (MOND). We add an extra component to the rotation curve fits, in addition to the stellar and gaseous discs: a speculative halo of constant density made of, for example, neutrinos, which would solve the bulk of the problem currently faced by MOND on rich galaxy cluster scales. We find that this additional unseen mass density is poorly constrained (as expected a priori, given that a neutrino halo never dominates the kinematics), but we also find that the best-fitting value is non-zero: , and that a zero density is marginally excluded with 87 per cent confidence; also, the 95 per cent confidence upper limit for the density is . These limits are slightly above the expectations from the Tremaine–Gunn phase-space constraints on ordinary 2 eV neutrinos, but in accordance with the maximum density expected for one or two species of 5 eV sterile neutrinos. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Hyades Cluster is used to analyze details of the AD-diagram method developed in our earlier works and applied to the corona of the Ursa Major stream. Hipparcos data are used to analyze the kinematics of the Hyades Cluster and determine its apex. Evidence for rotation of the cluster is presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Photometry of the short-period (P?0.285 d) low-mass (M1?0.67, M2?0.48 M?) W UMa-type eclipsing binary RW Dor, mainly involving a good series of observations in 1987?88, using standard B and V filters at the Auckland Observatory, is examined. Analysis via light curve fittings alone permits both transit (near main sequence) and occultation (W-type contact binary) solutions. Consideration of proximity or other effects on the relatively small number of measured radial velocities gives rise to a more detailed review of the alternatives, though the (W-type) configuration determined by Hilditch, Hill & Bell (1992) is still confirmed. Further implications of this configuration are examined, given an apparent general trend to period decrease (? P/P?6 10?11), and some light curve asymmetry. This is consistent with the initially low-mass companion, Case-B scenario of Budding (1984). The evidence does suggest irregularity of the period variation however, and further detailed surveillance, including more spectroscopy, is desirable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have previously described the results of a search for low surface brightness (LSB) objects in data drawn from an east–west strip of the Virgo cluster and have compared this to a large-area strip outside the cluster. In this paper, we compare the cluster east–west data with new data along a cluster north–south strip and with data obtained for the Ursa Major (UMa) cluster and fields around the spiral galaxy M101. Our intention is to look for differences in the nature of the dwarf galaxy population with location in the cluster and within other environments. These uniform data sets reach central surface brightness values of ∼26 Bμ, and an apparent B magnitude of 21 for a Virgo cluster distance of 16 Mpc). Over a north–south strip area of ∼15 deg2, we find ∼22 LSB objects per square degree. This compares with ∼4 deg−2 in both the UMa and the M101 fields. These results are very similar to what we have previously found for the east–west cluster strip and for other fields outside the cluster. There are far more small LSB features detected in Virgo cluster fields and we associate them with an extensive cluster dwarf galaxy population. In the cluster north–south strip there is an average dwarf-to-giant number ratio of 31 ± 9, which is much higher than would be expected from observations of galaxies in the Local Group, but significantly less than that required by Λ cold dark matter galaxy formation models. The dwarf-to-giant ratios in UMa and M101 are consistent with those in the Local Group. Comparing the cluster east–west and north–south data, we find clear differences in the way the number density of dwarfs decreases with cluster radius and the distributions of galaxy magnitudes and sizes. The north–south strip covers a region of the cluster that contains not only the main cluster region associated with M87, but also two more distant infalling clouds. Additionally, the north–south strip lies approximately along the extended filamentary structure associated with Virgo while the east–west strip is perpendicular to it. We interpret the differences between the two strips as being due to these different environments. We suggest that the Virgo cluster is assembling itself out of subclusters and clouds that are already rich in dwarf galaxies compared to the environment of the general field. There is no evidence for any systematic difference in dwarf galaxy ( colour between dwarf galaxies of different magnitudes or in different parts of the Virgo cluster. A typical value of = 1.8 is consistent with the colours of a wide range of stellar systems including the globular clusters of the central elliptical galaxy M87, but is bluer than is typical for giant ellipticals. We discuss and interpret our results in the context of various physical processes that are thought to act on galaxies as they form and evolve. Additionally, we give images and positions of possible new dwarf galaxy companions of M101. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focuses on a vector activity in introductory physics utilizing a concept of the stars of the Big Dipper. Description of the Matters and Interactions curriculum used in the Student-Centered Activities for Large Enrollment Undergraduate Programs at North Carolina State University; Data on the stars of the Big Dipper; Details of tracing outlines between stars and reproducing the shape of the Big Dipper as an exercise in vector subtraction.