Parte 11 Encyclopedia of Astronomy and Astrophysics

Universe E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
Universe
The sum of everything that exists and of which we can be
aware; the entirety of space. There is a semantic difficulty
in talking about the universe; on the one hand, we define
it to be ‘everything’, but it may be (a) that our universe is
finite, yet unbounded; (b) that the accessible universe is
only a small part of a much larger entity, most of which
we cannot observe; or (c) that there exist other universes
of which we are not ‘aware’.
See also: astrometry, astronomy, astrophysics.
Copyright © Nature Publishing Group 2001

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Universe: Simulations of Structure and Galaxy
E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
Formation
the 1980s and 1990s. The key concept is the gravitational
Universe: Simulations of Structure instability experienced by small matter overdensities in
and Galaxy Formation the expanding universe. Matter fluctuations present in
The current cosmogonic paradigm posits that structures the early universe grow in amplitude approximately as a
in the universe (such as galaxies and clusters) originated power-law in time and eventually collapse to form self-
from tiny density fluctuations generated around the time gravitating objects.
of the Big Bang and subsequently amplified by gravity. The process of gravitational instability sets the scene
The precise origin of the primordial density fluctuations for galaxy formation, the main physical ingredients of
is uncertain. One possibility is that they were generated which are set out in figure 1. Although the precise
when the universe underwent a brief period of exponential details depend on the identity of the dark matter, under
expansion known as inflation, a tiny fraction of a second quite general conditions, galaxy formation is expected to
after the Big Bang. In the most successful model, the proceed via a two-stage process originally outlined by
mass density of the universe is dominated by an exotic White and Rees in 1978. First, gravitational instability
form of matter called cold dark matter which consists of acting on collisionless dark matter, results in the formation
elementary particles that do not make any contribution to of self-gravitating dark matter haloes. Gas, initially
the luminosity density of the universe. The predictions well mixed with the dark matter, participates in this
of this model have been set out extensively, using both collapse, but it is heated by shocks to the thermal (or
analytic calculations and computer simulations, the latter virial) temperature of the dark matter haloes. Second,
having become increasingly important over the past 20 the hot gas cools radiatively, on a time scale set by
years. The build-up of structure in a cold dark matter atomic physics, due to bremsstrahlung, recombination
universe is hierarchical: small-mass objects are the first and collisionally excited line emission. The rate of
to condense out from the expanding universe at early cooling depends upon the density of electrons and atomic
times (high REDSHIFT), whilst more massive objects (such nuclei, and so it was most efficient at high redshift, when
as rich clusters) form later by repeated mergers of smaller the universe was denser. (In practice, the heating and
objects. A remarkable confirmation of this framework was subsequent cooling of the gas may occur rapidly and
provided by the discovery, in 1992, of anisotropies in the chaotically, particularly in small galaxies.) Just prior to
temperature of the COSMIC MICROWAVE BACKGROUND radiation gravitational collapse, angular momentum is imparted
(CMB) by the DMR instrument aboard the COBE satellite. on the generally aspherical perturbations by gravitational
The amplitude of these anisotropies was within a factor torques exerted by neighboring clumps, as proposed by
of two of the extant theoretical predictions. Spurred on Hoyle in 1948. Thus, the initial collapse generically
by the deep images of the sky produced by the Hubble results in the formation of a gaseous disk. Once the
Space Telescope, which show galaxies as they were when disk has become centrifugally supported, the material
the universe was only about 10% of its present age, a great in it begins to fragment into stars by processes that are
deal of effort is now being directed towards modeling the still poorly understood. In this simplified picture, the
formation and evolution of galaxies within the setting of spheroidal components of galaxies form by mergers of disk
cosmological structure formation in the dark matter. The galaxies which jumble up the stellar orbits, disrupting their
dissipative gas dynamical processes involved in GALAXY organized configuration.
FORMATION make this a challenging task that can only be The scheme outlined above provides a natural
tackled using either idealized models or large amounts of explanation for why there are galaxies of two basic types:
supercomputer time. disks and spheroids. It also elegantly explains why
there is a limit to the luminosity that galaxies attain at
The physics of galaxy formation the present day. The most luminous galaxies form in
Studies of the dynamics of galaxies confirm a fundamental the most massive dark matter haloes. These have only
inference made 25 years ago from studies of the recently collapsed because, as is the case in most current
kinematics of stars within galaxies: on scales larger models, the amplitude of mass fluctuations is smallest
than galactic nuclei, the dominant physical interaction on large scales. At the high temperatures and low gas
is gravity. Furthermore, it is now well established that densities prevailing in recently formed structures, cooling
the predominant source of gravity is dark matter, that is very inefficient and the gas has not had time to cool
is matter that does not emit detectable electromagnetic and fragment into stars over the lifetime of the universe.
radiation. Dark matter is now routinely ‘imaged’ through One problem of hierarchical structure formation models
the phenomenon of GRAVITATIONAL LENSING, the relativistic is that the number of low-mass haloes that form exceeds
deflection of the light from distant galaxies as it passes the number of faint galaxies seen in the local universe.
near an intervening cluster of galaxies. Independently of However, a likely solution is that the feedback of energy
the exact identity of the dark matter, the dominance of into the cooled gas from early generations of stars will
gravity leads directly to a general scheme for structure have acted as a self-regulating mechanism. This feedback
formation, first outlined by Landau and Lifshitz in the prevents substantial star formation activity in shallow
1950s, rigorously developed by Peebles during the 1970s, gravitational potential wells, thus causing most of the
and calculated in detail using computer simulations in small-mass haloes to harbor extremely faint galaxies.

Formation
QUANTUM DENSITY FLUCTUATIONS
GRAVITATIONAL INSTABILITY
INFLATION
PRIMORDIAL SPECTRUM OF FLUCTUATIONS
DARK MATTER DAMPING EXPANSION OF UNIVERSE
FORMATION OF DEEP GRAVITATIONAL POTENTIAL WELLS

DARK MATTER HALOES
VIRIALIZATION
GAS DYNAMICS
DISSIPATIVE
RADIATIVE COOLING
FEEDBACK PROCESSES
supernovae, stellar winds
STAR FORMATION
Figure 1. The ingredients of the standard model for the formation of galaxies and cosmological structure.
Cosmological structure formation COSMOLOGICAL CONSTANT, 0 , and the identity of the dark
The processes of gravitational instability and collapse, gas matter.

cooling and star formation operate under quite general The second key idea from the 1980s concerns the
conditions. A quantitative theory of galaxy formation, identity of the dark matter. The abundance of the
however, requires that two key cosmological questions light elements (H, D, He, Li) produced during Big Bang
be addressed: (i) what is the origin of primordial mass nucleosynthesis agrees with astronomical data only if
fluctuations and (ii) what is the identity of the dark matter? the present-day density of baryons is low enough for
Significant progress towards answering these questions deuterium to form in at least the abundance measured
was made in the early 1980s, as the result of a fruitful in primitive gas clouds at high redshift. The baryon
interaction between particle physics and cosmology. density required for this is about one order of magnitude
The first influential idea of the ‘New Cosmology’ was smaller than the total mass density of the Universe inferred
proposed around 1980 by Alan Guth and extended by through a variety of tests. Thus, a fundamental conclusion
Andrei Linde. Searching for a solution to the ‘magnetic is that the dark matter must consist of non-baryonic
monopole problem’, Guth proposed that the universe elementary particles.
had undergone a period of exponential expansion, or Particle candidates for the dark matter are conve-
INFLATION, very soon after the Big Bang, triggered perhaps niently classified into ‘hot’ and ‘cold’ varieties, a nomen-
by the transition of a quantum field from a false to the clature introduced by J R Bond around 1980. The pro-
true vacuum. Quantum fluctuations generated during totype of a hot particle is a stable neutrino with a mass
this epoch would be swept across the event horizon of the order of a few eV. (A single species of neutrino
and thus become established as classical ripples in the would give = 1 if its mass were approximately 30 eV
energy density of the universe. When they cross the and H0 = 50 km s−1 Mpc−1 .) Examples of cold particles
horizon back again, their amplitude is independent of include the least massive stable supersymmetric particle,
scale. Thus, the inflationary model predicts a scale- the neutralino, and the much lighter axion. Cold particles
invariant power spectrum of primordial fluctuations, are often referred to as weakly interacting massive parti-
P (k) ∝ k, with a Gaussian distribution of amplitudes. cles or WIMPs. There is a fundamental difference in the
(More elaborate versions of the same idea can produce way in which galaxies are predicted to form in hot and
models whose power spectra have an exponent that differs cold dark matter cosmogonies, arising from the different
slightly from unity.) The subsequent evolution of the damping mechanisms that affect the development of pri-
fluctuations depends on the values of the cosmological mordial fluctuations in the two cases. If the universe were
density parameter, 0 , the Hubble constant, H0 , the dominated by massive neutrinos, then fluctuations below

Formation
some critical mass would be wiped out because the neu- of the merging hierarchy of dark matter haloes into which
trinos move at relativistic speeds in the early universe and the baryons must fall in order to make the galaxies.
rapidly free-stream out of overdense regions. For a single Currently, the most successful version of the cold dark
neutrino of mass 30 eV, this critical scale corresponds to a matter model has around 30% of the critical density in cold
fluctuation wavelength of matter and 70% in the form of a vacuum energy density
or cosmological constant term, so that the universe has a
2π 13 spatially flat geometry. This model is in good agreement
λc = = Mpc (1)
kc h2 with a range of observational data: the amplitude of the
angular power spectrum of temperature fluctuations in
where we have parametrized Hubble’s constant as H0 = the cosmic microwave background (including the location
100h km s−1 Mpc−1 . The power spectrum decays of the first ‘Doppler’ peak), the abundance of clusters of
exponentially for wavenumbers k > kc . galaxies ranked by their x-ray luminosity, the clustering
In the case of cold dark matter, the damping of density of galaxies on large scales, and the expansion rate of
fluctuations is much less severe. The free-streaming the universe as deduced from the brightness of distant
scale of cold dark matter is many orders of magnitude supernovae.
smaller than that of hot dark matter, and so this effect The recent detection of oscillations in neutrino flavour
is not important. The most relevant damping process is by the Super-Kamiokande experiment, which require the
the Mezaros effect, whereby oscillations in the radiation neutrino to have a non-zero mass, has rekindled interest
energy density stifle the growth of matter fluctuations. in the possibility that neutrinos might, after all, make
This situation persists until the energy density of matter some contribution to the density of the universe. In order
dominates over that of the radiation, which occurs after a to avoid the problems faced by a universe dominated
redshift of 1 + zeq = 23 900h2 . The size of the horizon at by hot dark matter outlined above, most of the mass in
this epoch is imprinted upon the cold dark matter power the universe must still consist of cold dark matter, with
spectrum, marking the turnover of the primordial form, neutrinos providing only a minority contribution. Such
P (k) ∝ k, to the damped fluctuation spectrum which ‘mixed’ dark matter models have not proved as successful
asymptotes to P (k) ∝ k −3 at small scales. at matching the data as the pure cold dark matter
In neutrino dominated models, the first structures model. Another possibility for accommodating massive
that form are flat, pancake-like objects of mass comparable neutrinos is to replace inflation with a different mechanism
to that enclosed within the critical free-streaming scale, for generating primordial density fluctuations. Tom
corresponding approximately to 1016 M . These are objects Kibble suggested in the 1980s that TOPOLOGICAL DEFECTS IN
of supercluster scale which must somehow subsequently COSMOLOGY might arise during phase transitions in scalar
fragment, in a ‘top-down’ fashion, in order for galaxies to fields present in the early universe. Certain classes of
form. Early computer N-body simulations of this process defects, such as strings and textures, can act as seeds
carried out by Frenk, White and Davis in 1983 showed that onto which matter gravitates, generating inhomogeneities
for a neutrino dominated universe not to exceed the level in the mass density of the universe. These have the
of clustering measured in the galaxy distribution today, defining feature of being non-Gaussian. Unfortunately,
galaxies would need to form at redshifts z 1. Yet, it modeling the formation of structure in defect models has
was already known at that time that quasars can have turned out to be more complicated than in the Gaussian
much higher redshifts than this and, today, we know that case because, amongst other subtleties, the properties of
there is a large population of galaxies already established the defects themselves evolve with time. Defect models
at z = 3–5. Thus, although rather appealing at first sight, have not yet been explored with the same degree of rigor
neutrino dominated universes with Gaussian primordial as the cold dark matter model. However, the current
fluctuations were soon abandoned. indications are that they have difficulties reproducing the
The alternative, a cold dark matter universe, proved spectrum of temperature anisotropies measured in the
to be much more successful, as discussed, for example, in a cosmic microwave background radiation. Thus, from
series of papers in the 1980s based on N-body simulations, a cosmological point of view, the oscillation data are
by Davis, Efstathiou, Frenk and White. The defining best accommodated if the neutrino mass is very small
property of the fluctuation spectrum in a cold dark matter (much less than 1 eV), so that neutrinos make a negligible
universe is that small-scale perturbations are preserved. contribution to the cosmic mass budget.
Thus, subgalactic mass haloes are the first to collapse and
separate out from the expansion of the universe. These Computer simulations of galaxy formation
haloes then grow, either gradually by accreting smaller The remarkable developments of the past 15 years—the
clumps, or in big jumps by merging with other haloes idea of cosmic inflation, the cold dark matter model, the
of comparable size. The timetable for the formation discovery of ripples in the microwave background, and the
of structure in a universe dominated by cold particles observations of galaxies at high redshift—have laid down
is hierarchical or ‘bottom-up’—small objects form first, very solid foundations on which to build an understanding
larger objects form later. The cold dark matter fluctuation of galaxy formation. The ‘initial conditions’ for the
power spectrum thus specifies completely the evolution evolution of the dominant dark matter component and its

Formation
z=3 z=1 z=0
CDM
SCDM
CDM
OCDM
Figure 2. The formation of structure in N -body simulations of representative cosmological volumes of the universe. The intensity of
the shading indicates the density of cold dark matter. Each row shows results from different versions of the cold dark matter model.
The top row is a flat universe with 0 = 0.3 and a cosmological constant; the middle two rows are 0 = 1 universes, with different
power spectra; the bottom row is an open universe with 0 = 0.4. The images, from left to right, show the evolution of structure in
each model as a function of redshift. The present day corresponds to z = 0 while z = 3 corresponds to the epoch when the universe
was approximately 15% of its current age. (Courtesy of the VIRGO Consortium for Cosmological N -body Simulations.)
subsequent gravitational evolution are well understood. the N-body technique, which has been very successfully
Yet formulating an ab initio theory of galaxy formation applied to modeling the evolution of collisionless dark
and evolution over 10 billion years of cosmic history matter. Using various computationally efficient methods,
remains a tall order. The main stumbling block is our the computer solves the coupled equations of motion
poor understanding of the behavior of cosmic gas— of N particles, interacting only through gravity, in the
most probably a complex, dynamic, multiphase medium, expanding universe. Progress over the past two decades
of the physics of star formation, and of the feedback has been driven mainly by dramatic improvements in
between the two mediated by winds from massive stars the speed and memory of computers. By way of
and supernovae explosions. The best way to address illustration, the early simulations of the cold dark matter
these issues is through extensive computer simulation and cosmogony in 1985 employed 32 768 particles. In 1999,
modeling. the largest simulations performed on massively parallel
The basis for present-day cosmological simulations is supercomputers (using essentially the same algorithms as

Formation
Figure 3. A high-resolution simulation of the formation of a single dark matter halo in a cold dark matter universe. The brighter colors
indicate higher densities of dark matter. The sequence shows a series of snapshots of the evolution of the halo, at the redshifts
indicated in the legend. The present-day halo displays a significant amount of substructure within its virial radius. (Courtesy of Ben
Moore, Joachim Stadel, Tom Quinn and George Lake.) This figure is reproduced as Color Plate 69.
those of the 1980s) can follow the evolution of 109 particles. cold dark matter model, differing only in the values of the
cosmological parameters, and . At the present day, the
Snapshots from simulations of representative, cosmo- dark matter is arranged in a complex network of voids, fil-
logical volumes are displayed in figure 2. This figure il- aments and super-clusters (dubbed the ‘Cosmic Web’ by
lustrates the evolution of structure in four versions of the Bond, Kofman and Pogosyan). It is similar in all the sim-

Formation
The N -body technique can be augmented with
numerical hydrodynamic methods to model the evolution
of gas subject to cooling and heating processes and coupled
gravitationally to the dark matter. Two such methods are
currently in use: Eulerian methods (including adaptive
mesh refinements in some cases) and a Lagrangian
scheme known as smoothed particle hydrodynamics. The
two techniques have advantages and disadvantages, but
so far the latter has proved to be the best suited to
studying galaxy formation, because of the formidable
dynamic range in thermodynamic quantities involved
in the problem. At present, most progress has been
achieved in modeling the physics of primitive gas clouds
at high redshift, the so-called LYMAN ALPHA FOREST, detected
observationally as absorption lines in the spectrum of
distant quasars. The first simulations capable of following
the evolution of gas to the present, with enough resolution
Figure 4. The star formation history of the universe. The curve
to model the brightest galaxies, are now being carried
shows the theoretical prediction for a cold dark matter universe,
from the Durham semi-analytic model of galaxy formation. The out by various groups around the world. Currently,
points show a selection of recent observational determinations only a subset of the relevant gas physics, such as the
of the star formation rate density expressed in units of the shock heating of gas within dark matter haloes and its
present-day value. subsequent radiative cooling, are treated reliably.
A complementary technique for simulating galaxy
formation ab initio, known as semi-analytic modeling,
ulations, partly because the amplitude of the initial fluc- was developed in the 1990s by researchers at Durham
tuation spectrum was adjusted so that all models would and Munich. The main difference with the direct
approximately reproduce the observed local abundance of simulation approach is the abandonment of the ideal
hot, x-ray emitting clusters. (In addition, the initial fluctu- of solving the equations of hydrodynamics directly,
ations were set up with the same random phases in all the in favor of a simple, spherically symmetric model in
simulations, so that structures form at the same locations which the gas is assumed to have been fully shock-
within each volume.) The development of structure pro- heated to the equilibrium temperature of each halo, from
ceeds at different rates in the different cosmological mod- where its cooling and accretion onto the halo can be
els. In those with a low value of (top and bottom rows in accurately calculated. This simplification speeds up the
figure 2), the formation of structure is essentially frozen at calculations enormously and has the added advantage of
high redshift, whereas in the models with = 1, growth bypassing resolution considerations which are one of the
continues to the present. This merely reflects the fact that main limiting factors of full hydrodynamic simulations.
low-density universes expand more rapidly at late times, Phenomenological models of star formation, feedback
with the result that the expansion overwhelms the accre- and metal enrichment by supernovae are included in the
tion of matter onto overdensities which lies at the root of semi-analytic program, through simple scaling relations.
their growth. The semi-analytic machinery may be grafted onto haloes
Simulations of sufficient size to resolve the internal grown in a cosmological N -body simulation or onto
structure and dynamics of dark matter haloes have haloes whose formation histories have been generated
recently become possible. The largest of these employ using a Monte Carlo approach. The models describe the
several million particles to model the formation of a single entire star formation and merger history of the galaxy
halo, revealing the existence of a rich substructure of population. The free parameters of the model, which,
lumps within the virial radius (figure 3). The simulations perhaps surprisingly, are rather few in number, can be
show that there is a remarkable uniformity in the density set by requiring a good match to a selection of properties
structure of dark matter haloes: over a wide range of of the local galaxy population, such as its luminosity
scales, the spherically averaged halo density profile in distribution. This results in a fully specified model that
follows a simple form proposed by Navarro, Frenk and provides an ideal tool for comparing the predictions of
White in 1996: the cold dark matter theory with observations of the high
1 redshift universe.
ρ(r) ∝ (2)
r/rs (1 + [r/rs ]2 )
Confronting the high-redshift universe
where rs is a scale length related to the density of the The combination of direct simulations and semi-analytic
universe at the time when the halo formed. This functional modeling has revealed in detail the manner in which
form appears to be universal, independent of the choice of galaxies are expected to form in the cold dark matter
halo mass, power spectrum or cosmological parameters. model. The picture that emerges is one of gradual

Formation
Figure 5. The evolution of clustering in the dark matter and galaxies. The left-hand panel shows an N -body simulation of a flat,
low-density, cold dark matter universe with a cosmological constant, in a cube of comoving side 141h−1 Mpc, at z = 3. The right-hand
panel shows the same simulation evolved to the present day. The gray scale indicates the density of the dark matter. Dark matter
haloes in the simulation have been ‘populated’ with galaxies using a semi-analytic model of galaxy formation. The color of each spot
reflects the color of each model galaxy, which is sensitive to the star formation rate. The size of the spot increases with the absolute
luminosity of the galaxy. The inset shows the development of a cluster of galaxies. (Courtesy of Andrew Benson, Shaun Cole, CSF,
CMB and Cedric Lacey.) This figure is reproduced as Color Plates 70 and 71.
evolution punctuated by major merging events that are most of the star formation activity, and the associated
accompanied by intense bursts of star formation and production of chemical elements, over the entire lifetime
which trigger the transformation of disks into spheroids. of the universe.
Galaxy formation stutters into action around z ∼ 5. Only a A second important prediction of the cold dark matter
tiny fraction of the stars present today would have formed theory concerns the clustering properties of galaxies at
prior to that time. By z ∼ 3, the epoch when galaxies high redshift. At the heart of the hierarchical clustering
isolated by the ‘Lyman-break’ technique1 are observed, process lies the fact that galaxies tend to form first near
galaxy formation has started in earnest, even though only high peaks of the density field because these are the
10 per cent of the final population of stars has emerged. first to collapse at any given epoch. This predilection
The midway point is not reached until about a redshift for high-density regions is known as ‘biased galaxy
of 1–1.5, when the universe was approximately half of formation’ (a term introduced by M Davis in 1985),
its present age. These theoretical predictions are shown because the distribution of galaxies offers a biased view
in figure 4. Observationally, the star formation rate per of the underlying distribution of mass. An important
unit volume can be inferred from the density of ultraviolet consequence of biased galaxy formation is that bright
radiation, which is a measure of the number of high-mass, galaxies tend to be born in a highly clustered state and
short-lived stars. Estimates of the star formation density remain so for long periods of time. The process of biased
based on data taken by ground-based telescopes and by the galaxy formation is illustrated in figure 5. The left-hand
Hubble Space Telescope are shown as the points in figure 4. panel shows a snapshot of an N-body simulation of a
The major uncertainty in the interpretation of these data cold dark matter universe at z = 3, whilst the right-hand
is the obscuring effect of dust, a modest amount of which panel shows the same simulation evolved to the present.
has been allowed for in the models. But unless this effect The semi-analytic model of galaxy formation has been
turns out to be much stronger than anticipated, the theory implemented in the dark matter haloes identified in the
and data in figure 4 suggest that we have now tracked simulation at each redshift, in order to populate them with
1 galaxies. Galaxies that are bright enough to be detected
The so-called ‘Lyman-break’ galaxies are detected in passbands
at z = 3 may be seen to form at the locations where the
above the redshifted Lyman-limit at 912 Å and undetected in
passbands below this limit; the strength of the Lyman-limit break dark matter density (depicted by the gray scale) is highest.
is enhanced by absorption due to cold gas in the galaxy and in Observational confirmation of this clustering prediction
clouds along the line of sight. came with the discovery that the population of galaxies at

Formation
z ∼ 3 identified by the Lyman-break technique is about as and of the processes that play a role in galaxy formation
strongly clustered as bright galaxies are today. The relative may be found in:
clustering strengths of galaxies and dark matter evolve
quite differently. The right-hand panel of figure 5 shows Peacock J A 1999 Cosmological Physics (Cambridge:
that the dark matter is much clumpier today than it was at Cambridge University Press)
z = 3. On the other hand, the clustering pattern of galaxies
Numerical simulations are reviewed in:
has hardly changed over this long period of time. Galaxies
today are found in a wide range of environments and have Bertschinger E 1998 Ann. Rev. Astron. Astrophys. 36 599–654
a clustering amplitude similar to that of the dark matter.
This was not the case at high redshift when bright galaxies Some of the observational data discussed in this article are
were much more strongly clustered than the dark matter— reviewed in:
in other words, when they were very strongly biased.
Ellis R S 1997 Ann. Rev. Astron. Astrophys. 35 389–443
The next steps
The two areas of agreement between theory and data Carlton M Baugh and Carlos S Frenk
highlighted here—the cosmic history of star formation and
the clustering of high-redshift galaxies—are particularly
noteworthy because they concern fundamental aspects of
the theory. The broad agreement between models and data
suggests that the main ingredients of a coherent picture of
galaxy formation are now in place. These ingredients are:
primordial Gaussian density fluctuations; collisionless,
non-baryonic dark matter; gravitational instability; and
the growth of galaxies by hierarchical clustering. There
are justifiably high expectations for the next decade. The
number of 10 m class telescopes is proliferating: the
first of the four European Space Observatory ‘Very Large
Telescopes’ came into full operation in 1999, the same
year in which the Gemini and Subaru telescopes first saw
light. Other large telescopes are under construction in
the USA and Spain. The middle of the first decade of
the new century should also see the launch of NASA’s
Next Generation Space Telescope, that will search for
galaxies out to a redshift of 10, and ESA’s Planck Surveyor,
that will map the microwave background radiation with
unprecedented precision. Towards the end of the decade,
the ‘Large Millimeter Array’, sponsored by a major
international partnership, is scheduled to come into
operation in the Chilean desert. It will search for galaxy
formation at high redshift and examine star formation
in nearby galaxies in the still relatively unexplored sub-
millimeter waveband. Ultimately, the cornerstone upon
which much of modern cosmology rests is the idea that
the universe is dominated by non-baryonic dark matter.
Experiments under way in the UK, Italy and the USA stand
a good chance of detecting it, if it really exists, within the
next few years. This will no doubt count as one of the
most exciting discoveries in the history of science. For
their part, theorists will not be standing still. Increased
computing power, more efficient algorithms and, above
all, a better understanding of the astrophysics of galaxy
formation, are likely to result in a pretty good imitation,
by computer, of the processes through which galaxies in
our universe formed.
Bibliography
A pedagogical discussion (at an advanced level) of the
physics of structure formation in the expanding universe

Universe: Thermal History E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
pairs and were present in the thermal soup in numbers

Universe: Thermal History comparable to photons. During the radiation era, the
HUBBLE’s discovery of the expansion of the universe in 1929 thermal-energy scale √ and age of the universe were related
revealed our beginning from a much smaller and much by: kB T ∼ 1 MeV t (in s).
denser initial state (BIG BANG THEORY). Penzias and Wilson’s The soup of particles that existed at 10−5 s consisted of
discovery of the COSMIC MICROWAVE BACKGROUND radiation the up, down and strange quarks and their antiparticles;
(CMBR) in 1964 implied further that just after creation electrons, electron neutrinos, muons, muon neutrinos, tau
the universe was a hot soup of the fundamental particles neutrinos and their antiparticles; eight types of gluons and
whose dynamics was controlled by the energy density of photons (the eight massless gluons are the carriers of the
the CMBR. strong color force). The thermal-energy scale at this time
The microwave radiation that A A PENZIAS and R W was about 200 MeV (T ∼ 2 × 1012 K), and the other quarks
WILSON discovered is more precisely BLACK-BODY RADIATION (charm, bottom and top) and the tau lepton were too heavy
characterized by a temperature of around 3 K. Because to be pair produced and were not present (any present
this black-body radiation fills space and its photons would have annihilated). At even earlier times, when it
outnumber all other photons and known particles by was hotter, they (and possibly other particles) would have
a billion to one, it sets the average temperature of the been present in great numbers too.
universe. Of course, many hotter places exist in the According to quantum chromodynamics (QCD), the
cosmos—stars, planets and even the interstellar medium. theory of the strong color force, a phase transition from
As the universe expands its temperature decreases a quark–gluon plasma to hadronic matter occurred at a
inversely as its linear size. While the temperature today temperature of around 1012 K. Because of the increasing
seems unimportantly small, the fact that the universe still strength of the color force with distance, all particles with
has a measurable temperature means that it was incredibly color (quarks and gluons) became confined in colorless
hot in the beginning. quark triplets (neutrons, protons and other particles,
The thermal history of the universe is thus the story known as baryons) and quark–antiquark pairs (pions,
of what happens when a tremendously hot and dense kaons and other particles, known as mesons). Collectively,
plasma expands and cools. Understanding the very the mesons and baryons are known as hadrons; the
earliest moments requires knowledge of the fundamental hadrons are the particles that experience the strong nuclear
particles and their behavior under extreme conditions force.
(high densities and temperatures). The connection
At the end of the phase transition from quarks and
between the inner space of elementary particle physics
gluons to hadronic matter, almost all the hadrons were
and the deep outer space of cosmology which plays such
too heavy to be pair produced. They could, of course,
an important role in cosmology today was born with the
still annihilate, and as the temperature approached 1011 K
discovery of the CMBR.
annihilations had eliminated almost all of the hadrons.
The known thermal history Were it not for the slight excess of baryons over antibaryons
The hot Big Bang cosmological model (see COSMOLOGY: (whose origin is still a mystery, but see next section),
STANDARD MODEL) provides an account of the universe from
nucleons (neutrons and protons) would have annihilated
the hot soup of quarks, gluons, leptons and photons that and disappeared too. The one additional nucleon for every
existed before 10−5 s, when the transition from quarks and billion or so antinucleons, left a few nucleons for every
gluons to neutrons, protons and related particles occurred, several billion photons without antinucleon partners to
until the present. During much of the time the universe annihilate with. The primordial excess of baryons over
was in a state of near thermal equilibrium; needless to antibaryons is responsible for all the ordinary matter that
say, the departures from thermal equilibrium are very exists in the universe today.
important and make the universe an interesting place At an age of about 1 s and temperature of about 1010 K,
today! As the universe expanded, it cooled, T ∝ 1/R(t), the primary constituents of the universe were photons,
where R(t) is the cosmic scale factor which sets the size of electron–positron pairs, and neutrinos and antineutrinos
the universe. As it cooled, layer upon layer of structure of all three species. There were also a few nucleons for
evolved, beginning with the neutrons and protons being every ten billion or so photons, about equally divided
produced from quarks culminating with the building of between neutrons and protons. Over the next 200 s or so,
the largest structures seen today, the great walls of galaxies. a sequence of nuclear reactions occurred out of thermal
During its earliest moments, the temperature was equilibrium and synthesized about 25% of the nucleons
the key to describing the state of the universe, because into 4 He. Trace amounts of D (a few parts in 105 ) and 3 He
it sets the level of thermal particle energies. The thermal- (about one part in 105 ) escaped being incorporated into 4 He
energy scale kB T ∼ 1 MeV (T /1010 K) determines when and a tiny amount of 7 Li (a few parts in 1010 ) was produced.
it is energetically favorable for the next layer of structure The other 75% of the nucleons remained as free protons.
to form, and which particle species are present in great This series of events is known as Big Bang NUCLEOSYNTHESIS
number. When kB T was much greater than the rest mass (BBN). The rest of the periodic table was produced billions
of a particle, it and its antiparticle were easily produced in of years later by nuclear reactions in stars.

Big Bang nucleosynthesis occurred rapidly and at low excess of electrons over positrons preserved the few elec-
density (around 10−2 g cm−3 ), while the rest of the elements trons per ten billion photons required to balance the charge
were cooked more slowly and at higher density (around of the protons. The electron–positron annihilations raised
102 g cm−3 or higher) in stars and stellar explosions. This the number of photons in the universe by a factor of 11/4
explains the great differences in the nuclear yields of and heated the photons slightly relative to the neutrinos;
the Big Bang and stellar nucleosynthesis. In particular, thereafter Tν = (4/11)1/3 T .
Coulomb barriers and the lack of stable nuclides of mass The radiation era ended when the universe was
5 and 8 prevented BBN from producing elements beyond around 40 000 years old and the temperature was about
7
Li. 10 000 K. At this epoch, called matter-radiation equality,
Big Bang nucleosynthesis provides the earliest test of the energy density contributed by matter (both baryons
the standard cosmology as well as a probe of conditions in and exotic dark matter, more below) and that by relativistic
the early universe. The fact that the pattern of abundances particles (photons and three neutrino species) were equal.
seen in the most primitive samples of the cosmos is Thereafter, the matter density would exceed that of
consistent with its predictions is one of the experimental relativistic particles, growing in proportion to the linear
cornerstones of the standard cosmology. Further, the exact size of the universe. (The matter density decreases as
yields of the light elements, most especially deuterium, 1/R(t)3 due to the volume dilution effect of the expansion;
depend upon the baryon mass density; from recent the energy density of the CMBR decreases as 1/R(t)4 , with
measurements of the primeval deuterium abundance in the extra factor of 1/R arising because photon energies are
high-redshift clouds of largely unprocessed hydrogen, we redshifted with the expansion.) Today, the energy density
can infer that ordinary matter (i.e. matter comprised of of matter is about a factor of 4000 times larger than that of
neutrons and protons) today contributes between about the energy density of photons and neutrinos.
4% and 6% of the critical density. (The average density of The dawning of the matter era marked the beginning
the universe determines its curvature: a critical-density of the formation of large-scale structure in the universe
universe is spatially flat; a subcritical-density universe (see also UNIVERSE: SIMULATIONS OF STRUCTURE AND GALAXY
is open or negatively curved and a supercritical-density FORMATION). The small inhomogeneities in the distribution
universe is closed or positively curved.) Because BBN of the exotic matter that existed (spatial variations in the
‘weighs’ all the ordinary matter at a simpler time, it mass density at the level of about one part in 105 ) began
provides the most accurate determination of the amount growing through the attractive force of gravity; prior to
of ordinary matter. Today, baryons exist in many forms— matter–radiation equality the universe was expanding too
bright stars, faint stars including white dwarfs and black fast for this to occur. Their tight coupling to photons
holes, clouds of cold gas and of hot gas, and dust—and prevented baryons from participating in this growth.
are more difficult to inventory. Thus far, only about one- Shortly after the radiation era ended, at a time of
third of the BBN-determined baryon abundance has been around 400 000 years and a temperature of around 3000 K,
directly accounted for. two related and very significant events involving the
Light-element production also depends upon the radiation took place. The first was the transition from
ambient conditions in the universe, and Big Bang ionized matter to neutral matter (called ‘recombination’,
nucleosynthesis can thus also be used as a probe of which is paradoxical since neutral matter had not
the particle soup that existed then. For example, the previously existed). As the temperature dropped below
existence of an additional neutrino species beyond the tau 3000 K neutral matter became thermodynamical favored,
neutrino would have led to additional 4 He production, in and all but a few ions combined with the free electrons
contradiction to the observations. This argument against to form neutral atoms (a residual ionization fraction
the existence of another neutrino species was put forth of around 10−4 persisted thereafter because ions and
in the 1980s by David SCHRAMM and his collaborators and electrons became too rare to find one another to combine
was confirmed by experiments at particle accelerators in to form atoms). When the universe became neutral, its
the 1990s. opacity dropped precipitously (free electrons efficiently
Two other important thermodynamical events took scatter light, neutral atoms do not), and matter and
place during Big Bang nucleosynthesis. At a tempera- radiation decoupled. Photons streamed freely and have
ture of around 1010 K neutrinos and antineutrinos (all three not scattered since; this important event is referred to
species) ceased interacting with electron–positron pairs as last scattering. Once baryons decoupled, they were
and decoupled from the electromagnetic plasma. There- rapidly pulled into the cosmic structures being formed by
after, they evolved independently of the rest of the uni- the gravity of the exotic dark matter.
verse, interacting only through gravity. Neutrino decou- The black-body character of the radiation, established
pling occurred because the decreasing particle energies by the hot, dense conditions in the early universe, was
and densities made neutrino interactions with other par- preserved by the expansion of the universe (the deep
ticles increasingly infrequent. When the temperature was mathematical reason involves the conformal invariance
around 109 K, essentially all of the electrons and positrons of Maxwell’s equations and the conformal nature of the
disappeared as pairs destroyed by annihilations were no expansion), albeit with a decreasing temperature, T ∝
longer replenished by thermal pair creation. The slight 1/R(t)). Today, this black-body radiation, which at last

scattering resembled the light emitted by the Sun today, in the universe, and the origin of the primeval density
has been redshifted to the microwave part of the spectrum. inhomogeneities. The second motivation is the possibility
In 1996, the far infrared absolute spectrophotometer that the early universe can be used to probe fundamental
(FIRAS) instrument on the Cosmic Background Explorer physics more deeply than particle accelerators and other
(COBE) satellite made the most precise measurement of its Earth-based experiments. At the moment, the discussion
temperature, T = 2.7277 ± 0.002 K, and showed that any of the universe at times earlier than 10−5 s is speculative,
deviations from a perfect black-body spectrum are smaller both because of uncertainties about the microphysics
than 0.005%. Because there is no other viable mechanism needed to describe these early times and the absence
for producing such perfect black-body radiation, the of cosmological tests like Big Bang nucleosynthesis. In
spectrum of the CMBR is one of the experimental pillars any case, the physics and the cosmology are of sufficient
of the hot Big Bang cosmology. interest to merit the discussion of the possibilities.
The radiation in the CMBR has not scattered since On fairly firm ground, the discussion of the thermal
the universe was 400 000 years old, and so it provides a history of the universe can be extended back to around
snapshot of the universe at a simpler time, when matter 10−11 s when the temperature was about 1015 K. This was
was still nearly uniformly distributed and stars, galaxies sufficiently hot that the thermal-energy scale exceeded
and clusters of galaxies did not exist. The variations the rest masses of all known particles. At this time the
in the intensity (or temperature) of the CMBR across thermal soup should have included all the quark and
the sky today map the two-dimensional distribution of lepton species, gluons, photons and the W± and Z0 bosons,
matter at this time because variations in the mass density all in roughly equal abundance.
produce temperature variations of the same size. Thus, The state of the universe earlier than this is much
the temperature variations of a few parts in 105 measured less certain. The prevailing belief is that a phase
by the differential microwave radiometer (DMR) on transition occurred and restored the full symmetry of the
the COBE satellite and other balloon and ground-based SU(2) ⊗ U(1) gauge theory of the electroweak interactions.
experiments imply the existence of variations in the matter (SU(2)⊗U(1) is the mathematical symmetry that underlies
density of approximately the same size. This level of the unified theory of the electromagnetic and weak
inhomogeneity is just what is needed to produce the large- interactions.) At low temperatures the symmetry between
scale structure seen today—provided that the bulk of the the weak and the electromagnetic interactions is not
matter is exotic dark matter and not baryons (more below). manifest: the electromagnetic interaction has long range,
The variations (or anisotropy) of the CMBR also encode a while the weak interaction has very short range because
wealth of information about the early universe and how the mediators of the weak force, the W± and Z0 bosons, are
large-scale structure formed. Higher precision and higher very massive. The symmetry is said to be spontaneously
angular-resolution measurements will be made by future broken, by the Higgs mechanism. When the symmetry is
experiments including NASA’s MAP satellite (scheduled restored, all of the force mediators become massless. If the
for launch in late 2000) and ESA’s PLANCK SURVEYOR satellite Higgs mechanism is correct, then there is at least one more
(scheduled for launch in 2007). spin-zero particle species, the Higgs boson, whose rest
Three cosmic seas of thermal neutrinos should mass is greater than about 100 GeV and probably less than
be with us today. Just as with the CMBR, the 300 GeV. Its discovery would be a striking confirmation
expansion of the universe maintained their thermal of spontaneous symmetry breaking, and thus the Higgs
(Fermi–Dirac) distributions with a temperature that has is at the top of the ‘most wanted’ list at all accelerator
decreased inversely with the cosmic scale factor since laboratories.
they decoupled. Because neutrinos did not share in the As successful as the electroweak theory is, it provides
energy release from the electron–positron annihilations, only a partial unification of the forces, leaving out the
the temperature of the neutrino seas is predicted to be strong color force and gravity. One possibility is there
smaller than that of the photons, Tν = 1.947 K. If they are other levels of symmetry breaking and symmetry
can be detected, these neutrinos will reveal the universe breaking phase transitions. The simplest idea, grand
as it was about 1 s after the beginning. However, unification, unifies the color force with the electroweak
because low-energy neutrinos interact extremely weakly force. Estimates for the temperature at which the grand
with ordinary matter their detection presents one of the unification phase transition might take place are even more
greatest challenges in all of science. uncertain, but are around 1029 K, corresponding to a time
of about 10−39 s.
Beyond the standard cosmology: the very early Another interesting feature of symmetry breaking is
universe the possibility that the phase transition did not occur
The earliest history of the universe (before 10−5 s) is still smoothly and that ‘defects’ are created. (Such defects are
a mystery, but is under intense study. The motivation known to be produced in phase transitions in condensed
is twofold: the hope that events which took place may matter systems: vortices and magnetic flux tubes.) These
explain some of the most pressing cosmological puzzles. so-called topological defects are concentrations of energy:
For example, the reason for the small excess of matter point-like magnetic monopoles, one-dimensional cosmic
over antimatter, the explanation for the regularity seen string and two-dimensional domain walls. The kinds of

defects that can be produced depend upon the symmetry neutrons and protons, this led to the excess of baryons over
breaking pattern. Thus far, the cosmology of topological antibaryons needed to ensure the existence of the ordinary
defects has not been promising: monopoles should matter.
have been grossly overproduced, domain walls have The weak interactions violate matter–antimatter
disastrous cosmological consequences, and cosmic string, symmetry at a small level and are also predicted to violate
once thought to be a possible seed for the formation of baryon-number conservation through subtle quantum
structure in the universe, predicts a pattern of CMBR effects. Moreover, baryon-number non-conservation is
anisotropy that is inconsistent with the measurements. a generic prediction of grand unified theories. While
A much more promising idea arising from the con- the details are not currently understood, nor is there
sideration of cosmological phase transitions is INFLATION. any experimental evidence for the non-conservation of
Inflation refers to an enormous burst of expansion which baryon number, nonetheless baryogenesis is a promising
might have taken place very early on (probably earlier than
framework for understanding how the crucial excess of
about 10−32 s). Because of its potential to explain a number
matter over antimatter arose.
of the most fundamental and most puzzling features of the
To date, superstring theory has been the most
universe, inflation has been the dominant theoretical idea
in cosmology over the past 15 years. It can account for the successful approach to the unification of gravity with
smoothness of the universe, the origin of the primeval mat- the other forces. Superstring theory makes two generic
ter inhomogeneity, the heat of the Big Bang, and the nature predictions relevant for cosmology. First, the existence
of the Big Bang itself. Originally inflation was thought of a new symmetry of nature that relates fermions and
to be driven by the latent heat (or false-vacuum energy) bosons (supersymmetry), and second, the likely existence
associated with a first-order phase transition. Most mod- of additional spatial dimensions. Because the known
els of inflation no longer involve a phase transition, but particles of nature cannot be paired off as fermion–boson
instead rely upon the potential energy of a fundamental partners, supersymmetry requires the doubling of the
scalar field. number of fundamental particles. The superpartners, as
Besides inflation, the most compelling ideas of they are called, are predicted to have rest energies of the
early-universe cosmology are particle dark matter and order of 100 GeV. If correct, this implies a doubling of the
BARYOGENESIS. It has been known for more than 50 years number of particles in the primordial soup only occurs
that most of the matter that holds galaxies and clusters of at temperatures greater than around 1015 K. The lightest
galaxies together is not in the form of visible stars but is superpartner, usually the neutralino, is stable or very long-
‘dark’ (i.e. does not emit or absorb detectable radiation lived and has a rest energy of order 100 GeV. As mentioned
of any form; see DARK MATTER: ITS NATURE). For at least a above, it is a prime candidate for particle dark matter.
decade it has also been known that the total amount of If there are extra spatial dimensions they must be
dark matter exceeds by more than a factor of three the ‘small’ enough to have escaped detection or be otherwise
amount of matter in the form of baryons as determined hidden from us. Small here refers to their being curled
from Big Bang nucleosynthesis. Further, with the level of up like the circular dimension of a straw. While many
inhomogeneity measured by COBE, the observed large- versions of superstring theory predict that the extra
scale structure can only form if there is exotic dark matter. dimensions are exceedingly tiny—10−34 cm or smaller—
These facts are strong circumstantial evidence for a new some versions suggest that they might be as large as a
form of matter in the universe. millimeter in extent! The cosmological implications of
The most promising candidates for the dark matter extra dimensions are not well understood and raise a
are elementary particles that were present in copious
host of additional cosmological questions, for example the
numbers in the thermal soup early on and which failed
explanation for the size discrepancy between the familiar
to annihilate away because of the weakness of their
three spatial dimensions and the extra spatial dimensions.
interactions. Of all the possibilities considered, the three
most attractive are neutrinos (if they have a small mass) Even if superstring theory does not prove successful
and axions or neutralinos (if they exist). (The axion and in unifying gravity with the other forces and in providing
neutralino are as yet hypothetical particles predicted to a quantum description of gravity, ‘interesting physics’
exist by theories that unify the particles and forces of should have occurred at times earlier than 10−44 s and
nature.) temperatures greater than 1032 K. This is the Planck era,
Baryogenesis is a higher-level analog of Big Bang the epoch when quantum gravitational effects should have
nucleosynthesis: BBN explains how baryons come been extremely important and the classical description
together to make nuclei and baryogenesis hopes to explain of gravity given by general relativity should have been
the origin of the excess of quarks over antiquarks that leads inapplicable. It could be that the universe achieved a
to the existence of ordinary matter. The idea is that particle limiting temperature due to the exponentially growing
interactions that violate matter–antimatter symmetry and number of particle species (also a prediction of string
the conservation of baryon number and which occurred theory), or that space-time dissolves into a foam. Even by
out of thermal equilibrium produced a slight excess of the standards of early universe cosmology, speculations
quarks over antiquarks. When the quarks formed into about the Planck era are extraordinarily speculative.

Bibliography
Bernstein J 1988 Kinetic Theory in the Expanding Universe
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press)
Kolb E W and Turner M S 1990 The Early Universe (Reading,
MA: Addison-Wesley)
Schramm D N and Turner M S 1990 Rev. Mod. Phys. 70 303
Michael S Turner

Universität Radioastronomisches Institut, Bonn E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
Universität Radioastronomisches
Institut, Bonn
An institute of the University of Bonn, Germany.
Carries out research at infrared, radio and submillimeter
wavelengths. Particular research interests are the
interstellar medium and intergalactic medium, especially
galactic halos, and dwarf galaxies.
The institute was responsible for the discovery of the
x-ray halo around the Milky Way in 1991.
Although it has recently disposed of a 25 m radio
telescope in the Eiffel Mountains, the institute has a
cooperative agreement with the Institute of Physics,
Cologne, to use KOSMA, a 3 m radio telescope on
Gornergrat in Switzerland.
For further information see
http://www.astro.uni-bonn.de/.

University Observatory, Ludwig-Maximilians-
Universität
University Observatory,
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität
The University Observatory of Ludwig-Maximilians-
Universität was founded in 1816. Astronomers who
worked or graduated at the Munich Observatory
include: Fraunhofer, Soldner, Lamont, Seeliger and Karl
Schwarzschild. At present four professors and ten staff
astronomers work here. Funding comes from the Bavarian
Government, the German Science Foundation, and other
German and European research programs.
Facilities include the Wendelstein Observatory in the
Bavarian Alps with a 0.8 m telescope. The Observatory
is also a partner in the Hobby–Eberly Telescope Project in
Texas.
The Observatory’s mission is to teach astrophysics
at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität in Munich, to
research astrophysics and instrument development for the
Very Large Telescope (ESO), the Hobby–Eberly Telescope
(Texas) and the Wendelstein Observatory.
Research specialties are stellar atmospheres and
winds; binary stars; structure, formation and chemical
evolution of galaxies; galaxy clusters; dark matter and
gravitational lensing; plasma astrophysics.
http://www.usm.uni-muenchen.de.

University of Crete Observatory E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
University of Crete Observatory

Based in Heraklion. Scientific activity is evenly distributed
between theory and observation. Observational research
has been undertaken using a small observatory on Mount
Ida (Skinakas), and international facilities such as Arecibo
and Effelsberg (radio), the ATO-Australia (optical) and
Rosat (x-ray). The observational activities cover a wide
range of objects including comets, supernova remnants,
planetary nebulae, nearby galaxies, the Magellanic
Clouds, dwarf galaxies, radio pulsars and the Earth’s
ionosphere and magnetosphere.
http://www.physics.uch.gr/english/.

University of Hawaii Institute for Astronomy E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
‘Magnum’ telescope and on the US Air Force 3.7 m

University of Hawaii Institute for Advanced Electro-Optical Systems (AEOS) Telescope,
Astronomy both of which are located at the Haleakala Observatory.
The University of Hawaii Institute for Astronomy was Rocketdyne Technical Services is contracted by the US Air
founded in 1967 to manage Haleakala Observatory on Force to carryout satellite ranging, surveillance and other
Maui, and later, Mauna Kea Observatory, and to carry developmental activities at the Maui Space Surveillance
out its own program of fundamental research. Institute Site on land leased from UH at the Haleakala Observatory.
staff also make extensive use of spacecraft for astronomical Hawaiian students will share the use of the 2 m Faulkes
research and planetary exploration. The Institute’s main telescope with students in the UK when it is installed in
offices are located in Manoa valley, just off the University’s Haleakala Observatory in 2001.
main campus on Oahu. A research institute within the The summit of Mauna Kea on the island of Hawaii
University of Hawaii (UH), the IfA has a total staff of houses the world’s largest astronomical observatory, with
approximately 200, including about 50 faculty staff. telescopes operated by astronomers from eleven countries.
The Institute is one of the world’s leading astronom- The combined light-gathering power of the telescopes on
ical research centers. Its broad-based research program Mauna Kea is fifteen times greater than that of the Palomar
includes studies of the Sun, planets and stars, as well as telescope in California—for many decades the world’s
interstellar matter, galaxies and cosmology. Most IfA as- largest—and fifty times greater than that of the Hubble
tronomers use the giant telescopes atop Mauna Kea and Space Telescope.
Haleakala. They also use space observatories, such as the In addition to developing its own research program,
Hubble Space Telescope and the Chandra X-ray Observa- the IfA has provided the scientific impetus for the
tory, to make observations that cannot be made from the development of Mauna Kea into the world’s premier
ground. In addition to doing research, some astronomers site for ground-based astronomical observatories. More
design and build new instruments to measure and anal- major telescopes are located on Mauna Kea than on any
yse the radiation collected by the telescopes. Other IfA other single mountain peak, and Mauna Kea is widely
scientists develop theories which explain the observations recognized as offering better observing conditions for
made by their colleagues. optical, infrared and mm/sub-millimeter measurements
During the last 30 years, the State of Hawaii has than any other developed site.
become the most sought-after location in the world for the The success of the 2.2 m telescope led to proposals
construction of large ground-based telescopes. The focal for the construction of several other telescopes on Mauna
points for this construction are Mauna Kea (4200 m) on the Kea by national and international organizations. By
island of Hawaii and Haleakala (3000 m) on Maui. The the end of the 1970s, there were three new 4 m class
remarkable clarity, dryness and stillness of the air above telescopes—the NASA INFRARED TELESCOPE FACILITY (IRTF), the
these isolated high-altitude sites led to the commissioning UNITED KINGDOM INFRARED TELESCOPE (UKIRT) and the CANADA–
by the University of Hawaii of the Mees Solar Observatory FRANCE–HAWAII TELESCOPE (CFHT). Two of these telescopes
on Haleakala in 1963 and the UH 2.2 m telescope on Mauna are specifically designed to collect infrared radiation;
Kea in 1970. the dryness of the atmosphere above Mauna Kea is
Haleakala is lower in altitude than Mauna Kea, particularly advantageous at these wavelengths.
yet when compared to other astronomical sites outside The characteristics that make Mauna Kea a pre-
Hawaii, Haleakala is an excellent location for optical and eminent site for optical and infrared astronomy also make
infrared observations of objects in Earth orbit, solar obser- it an excellent site for measuring short-wavelength radio
vations, laser ranging and laser guide star experiments, waves. In 1987, two submillimeter-wave observatories
and the whole range of night-time astronomical observa- were completed just below the summit. The California
tions. The IfA’s Mees Solar Observatory on Haleakala is Institute of Technology and the US National Science
central to the Institute’s solar astronomy program. It is Foundation supplied the expertise and funds for the
set in a naturally fine location for studies of the extremely CALTEC SUBMILLIMETER OBSERVATORY (CSO). The JAMES CLERK
faint radiation emitted by the solar corona and chromo- MAXWELL TELESCOPE (JCMT) belongs to a consortium of the
sphere. At sea level, these outer atmospheric layers of the United Kingdom, Canada and the Netherlands. More
Sun are normally obscured by light scattered by small air- recently, the Smithsonian Institution, in collaboration with
borne particles, such as dust or pollen. Mees is a perfect astronomers from Taiwan, has built an array consisting
use of Haleakala, which means ‘The House of the Sun’. of eight 6 m submillimeter antennas designed to work
The Lunar Ranging Experiment (LURE Observatory) together as a single telescope.
operated by IfA for NASA, measures the motions of the The 1990s saw the construction of a new series of
Pacific Basin and interior of Earth by bouncing laser beams giant optical/infrared telescopes on Mauna Kea. The
off reflectors on satellites. It has also been used to bounce twin telescopes of the W M KECK OBSERVATORY are the
laser beams off reflectors left on the Moon by the Apollo largest optical/infrared telescopes in the world. Their
astronauts. 10 m diameter mirrors each consist of 36 hexagons
Institute for Astronomy staff will receive a share whose positions are controlled by computer. Japan and
of the observing time on the University of Tokyo 2 m an international consortium led by the United States

University of Hawaii Institute for Astronomy E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
have built the Subaru and Gemini Northern Telescopes,

respectively. Both of these telescopes contain thin
meniscus 8 m primary mirrors, and are designed for both
optical and infrared astronomy.
At a lower altitude, on the southern flank of Mauna
Kea, is the Hawaii antenna of the Very Long Baseline Array,
which is part of a 5000 mile wide system of ten 25 m radio
dishes that work together as the world’s largest dedicated
full-time astronomical instrument.
As part of the agreement between these organizations
and the University of Hawaii, astronomers at UH are
entitled to 10–15% of the observing time on each non-UH
telescope on Mauna Kea, in addition to full use of the UH
2.2 m and 0.6 m telescopes.
http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu.

University of Tokyo, Institute of Astronomy E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
University of Tokyo, Institute of

Astronomy
Founded in 1987, the Institute of Astronomy, University
of Tokyo, is located at Ohsawa, Mitaka, Japan, 30 km west
of central Tokyo. Its objectives are research and education
in observational astronomy. It has a staff of 3 professors;
5 associate professors; 8 research associates, 2 technical
support staff, 2 administrative officers and several part-
time staff (secretary, catering etc). Its major facilities
include Kiso Observatory (105 cm Schmidt telescope);
two 60 cm submillimeter telescopes; 2 m IR telescope (in
collaboration with the Physics Department). Research
specialities: galactic and extragalactic radio astronomy;
galactic center; extragalactic optical/IR observations;
observational cosmology/formation and evolution of
galaxies; infrared stellar physics.
The Institute is supported by an annual fund from the
University of Tokyo (Ministry of Education) and science
research aids from the Ministry of Education.
Its member organization (in joint ventures) is the
University of Tokyo, Graduate School of Sciences
http://www.ioa.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp.

Unsöld, Albrecht (1905–95) E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
Unsöld, Albrecht (1905–95)

German astrophysicist, became professor at the University
of Kiel, where he studied stellar atmospheres and the way
that spectral lines were formed and shaped—the effects of
abundances, radiation damping, Doppler shifts, electric
fields and atomic collisions. He analysed the spectrum of
the star Tau Scorpii, which he obtained on a visit to the
Yerkes and McDonald observatories. This was the first
detailed analysis of a star other than the Sun and yielded
the physical conditions in the atmosphere of the star.

Uppsala Astronomical Observatory E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
Uppsala Astronomical Observatory

The Uppsala Astronomical Observatory (UAO) is a
department of Uppsala University (UU) with research,
undergraduate, graduate and public education as its main
objectives.
UU was founded in 1477, and preserved lecture notes
show that astronomy was taught in the 1480s. Among
well-known professors at UAO are Anders Celsius (1730–
44), Anders Angström (1842–58), Gunnar Malmquist
(1939–59), Erik Holmberg (1959–75) and Bengt Westerlund
(1975–87).
Current research focuses mainly on galaxies, stellar
astrophysics and solar system minor bodies and is char-
acterized by the combination of theory and observations.
Nowadays the observational material comes from large
international facilities like ESO (EUROPEAN SOUTHERN OBSER-
VATORY) or space observatories like the HST (Hubble Space
Telescope).
At UAO, about 70 km north of Stockholm, there is
a 36 + 33 cm double refractor from 1893 currently used
mainly for public shows and at Kvistaberg, 50 km south of
Uppsala, there is a 135 cm Schmidt telescope from 1964.
http://www.astro.uu.se.

Uranus E NCYCLOPEDIA OF A STRONOMY AND A STROPHYSICS
his home-made telescope in the back yard of his home in

Uranus Bath, England (see HERSCHEL FAMILY). Technically, at sixth
magnitude, Uranus is marginally visible with the unaid-
With an equatorial diameter of 51 118 km (at the 1 bar
ed eye. However, it was indistinguishable from back-
atmospheric pressure level), Uranus is the third largest of
ground stars until Herschel’s telescopic observations.
the planets in the solar system, slightly larger than the
more distant NEPTUNE. However, because of its lower
The early observations
density (1.27 g cm–3 compared with 1.64 g cm–3 for
In the 200+ yr of observation since its discovery, there
Neptune), Uranus ranks fourth among solar system
have been monumental changes in our understanding of
planets in mass at 14.54 terrestrial masses. Its character-
the planets in general and of Uranus in particular. The
istic blue–green appearance is due to a layer of clouds of
first major change was a recognition that the solar system
methane ice in its upper atmosphere that is not present in
was much larger than previously supposed. Uranus was
the atmospheres of JUPITER and SATURN. This cloud layer
more than twice the distance of Saturn from the Sun; its
and the overlying methane gas preferentially absorb the
discovery gave great impetus to searches for even more
red portion of sunlight, resulting in the distinctive color.
distant planets. Perturbations to the orbit of Uranus led
Prior to the flyby of Uranus by VOYAGER 2 in 1989, little
to independent predictions by mathematicians John
was known about the rotational or other physical char-
Couch Adams in England and Urbain Jean Joseph Le
acteristics of Uranus (given in table 1).
Verrier in France. On the basis of Le Verrier’s predictions,
Uranus has a ring system and many satellites. The
Johann Gottfried Galle and his student Heinrich Louis
rings were first detected from observations of stellar
D’Arrest found Neptune on 23 September 1846, the same
occultations as the narrow rings passed in front of distant
day they received Le Verrier’s prediction.
stars, causing the observed light to blink out temporarily
In the meantime, Herschel continued his observa-
as viewed from Earth. Nine narrow rings were detected
tions of Uranus with a telescope, again of his own mak-
in this manner. Voyager 2 detected a tenth narrow ring, a
ing and far superior to those available to other
broad diffuse ring closer to the planet, and tenuous dust
astronomers of his day. OBERON and TITANIA were discov-
rings scattered among the rest (see URANUS: RINGS).
ered by him in 1787, less than 6 yr after the discovery of
Prior to 1986, only five moons of Uranus were
the planet. For more than 10 yr, no other astronomers
known. Voyager 2 found an additional 10 (plus one iden-
were even able to confirm his findings. Herschel was
tified in 1999 from Voyager images). Earth-based obser-
convinced that other satellites must also exist, but in 40
vations since 1986 have resulted in the finding of anoth-
yr of searching he found none, although some historians
er five confirmed or probable moonlets much more dis-
claim that he may have been the first to see UMBRIEL (four
tant from the planet. The satellites, known and suspect-
times between 1790 and 1801). Credit for the discovery of
ed, are listed in table 3.
Umbriel and ARIEL is generally given to William Lassell,
Uranus is the first of the non-naked-eye planets to be
who reported their sighting in 1851 to the Royal
discovered. Observations of the closer planets (Mercury
Astronomical Society. MIRANDA was discovered by
through Saturn) date back to antiquity, but Uranus was
Gerard Peter Kuiper in 1948, using the 82 in reflector of
discovered by William Herschel in March of 1781 using
the McDonald Observatory in Texas. The same instru-
ment was used by Kuiper and co-worker D L Harris to
discover Neptune’s Nereid in 1949.
Table 1. Orbital and physical characteristics of Uranus.
The orbits of the Urananian satellites provided the
Semimajor axis of the orbit 19.191 AU first evidence of the unusual tilt of the equator of Uranus
Eccentricity 0.046 relative to its orbital plane. Excluding Miranda and the
Inclination over the ecliptic 0.77°
irregular satellite discovered in 1997 and 1999, all other
Sidereal period 83.7474 yr
Mean orbital velocity 6.83 km s–1
Uranian satellite orbits are within 0.4° of being coplanar
Equatorial diameter 51 118 km with Uranus’s equator. The actual tilt of the rotation axis
Equatorial diameter relative to Earth 4.007 of Uranus is 97.92°, although by International
Polar diameter 49 946 km Astronomical Union convention, which specifies as the
Flattening 0.023 north pole that rotation pole which lies north of the eclip-
Mass relative to Earth 14.54 tic plane, the tilt is more properly designated as 82.08°
Mean density 1.27 g cm–3 with retrograde rotation. Much speculation has sur-
Surface gravity (at P=1 bar) 8.86 m s–2
rounded this unusual rotation of Uranus. One popular
Surface gravity relative to Earth 0.906
Escape velocity 21.28 km s–1 theory is that, during its early history, Uranus had a more
Sidereal rotation period 17.24 h normal tilt, but that during the latter stages of formation
Inclination of equator to orbital plane 97.92¬∞ the planet was struck by an Earth-sized PLANETESIMAL,
Albedo (visual geometric) 0.57 resulting in the present extreme tilt. The only other plan-
Albedo (bolometric Bond) 0.30 ets to exhibit more than a modest tilt are VENUS and
Main atmospheric composition H2 (83%), He (15%), PLUTO, which are 1–3 orders of magnitude smaller in
CH4 (2%) mass.

It was the low reflectivity of Uranus at the red end of of hydrogen. This dominance of light elements is reflect-
the spectrum which led spectroscopist R Wildt to propose ed in the low densities of the gas giant planets and in the
in 1932 the presence of methane (CH4) in the atmospheres absence of distinct liquid or solid surfaces in the interiors
of each of the gas giant planets of the solar system. The of these planets. However, in contrast to Jupiter and
low densities of these giant planets had also led to the Saturn, methane, ammonia, water and the heavier core
conclusion that the primary atmospheric constituent was materials are thought to constitute a larger total mass
hydrogen (H2), but confirmation of that fact came from than the overlying hydrogen and helium. These mea-
Kiess et al. in 1960. Formal detection of helium (He) in the sured or deduced characteristics are thought to be the
atmosphere of Uranus first came from Voyager 2 in 1986. consequence of the formation process by which these
All other gaseous components of Uranus’s atmosphere planets came to be. There are a number of competing the-
(above the cloud tops) constitute a combined abundance ories about the nature of that formation process. Since
of much less than 1%. each theory, if sufficiently developed, predicts outcomes
By analogy with Jupiter, each of the other gas giant that are generally dependent on the starting conditions,
planets in the solar system was expected to have an the measured or deduced characteristics can become
intrinsic magnetic field. However, the strength and ori- both an effective discriminator between theories and a
entation of those fields and the associated radio emis- means of determining the starting conditions.
sions were not determined until Pioneer and/or Voyager All formation theories have certain characteristics in
spacecraft flew close to these planets. It was the monitor- common. For example, each assumes a decrease in tem-
ing of these radio emissions that enabled Voyager scien- perature in the presolar nebula as a function of increas-
tists to determine the rotation periods of Saturn, Uranus ing solar distance. That temperature gradient in turn
and Neptune (see also URANUS AND NEPTUNE: ATMOS- determines which compounds are solid at a given dis-
PHERES, IONOSPHERES AND MAGNETOSPHERES). tance from the Sun and which are not. With more mater-
ial from which to coalesce, it is likely that the planetary
Space exploration cores which formed from the coalescing solids were larg-
The only space vehicle ever to fly close to Uranus was er at the distances of the gas giants than for the Earth-like
Voyager 2. This hardy spacecraft was launched in August planets, enabling the gas giants to capture more massive
1977, flew by Jupiter in July 1979, Saturn in August 1981, atmospheres. Uranus and Neptune may be smaller than
Uranus in January 1986 and Neptune in August 1989. As Jupiter and Saturn as a consequence of the solar nebula
of late 1999, Voyager 2 continued to send back useful being less dense at these greater distances from the Sun.
data about the particle and magnetic field environment Perhaps the growth of Uranus and Neptune therefore
of the outer solar system. Voyager 2 provided high- lagged behind that of Jupiter and Saturn. If the Sun went
resolution images of Uranus’s atmosphere, the ring sys- through its T-Tauri stage when atmospheric accretion
tem and 16 of the 21 known satellites. In fact, 11 of the 16 was more or less complete for Jupiter and Saturn, but
moons it imaged were discovered by Voyager 2. Voyager incomplete for Uranus and Neptune, most of the remain-
2 also determined the detailed composition of the atmos- ing source material may have been swept away, and fur-
phere, confirmed the presence of a highly tilted and off- ther growth of the planets would have essentially
set magnetic field and measured the rotation period of stopped. In that scenario, the cores of Uranus and
the planet’s interior. In fact, more than 90% of all we Neptune would have occupied a much larger percentage
know about Uranus came from the measurements made of their interiors than would have been the case for
by Voyager 2 and the subsequent interpretation of those Jupiter and Saturn. Jupiter and Saturn were therefore
measurements. expected to more closely represent the mix of materials in
No other space missions to Uranus are at present the original solar nebula (and in the present-day solar
planned and funded. Nevertheless, continued improve- atmosphere).
ments in Earth-based telescopes and techniques are now Actual measurements confirm the predicted higher
providing updates to some of the Voyager data, especial- relative abundance of methane in the atmosphere of
ly in the area of atmospheric studies (as well as in the dis- Uranus than that of Jupiter, Saturn or the Sun. These
covery of the new satellites mentioned earlier). The pre- numbers imply an enrichment of carbon (relative to
sent emphasis on smaller, faster, less expensive missions hydrogen) in Uranus’s atmosphere that is about 24 times
does not bode well for missions to Uranus or Neptune, as high as the C/H ratio in the Sun. Carbon enrichment
each of which requires long flight times and concomitant was also noted for Jupiter (Galileo probe measurements)
higher space flight operations budgets. and estimated for Saturn, although to a lesser extent than
for Uranus (as predicted). As in the other gas giants, pho-
Composition and structure tochemistry of methane in the upper atmosphere pro-
Like its larger counterparts (Jupiter, Saturn and duces a suite of hydrocarbons, but only acetylene (C2H2)
Neptune), Uranus is composed primarily of the light ele- has been detected thus far. Water (H2O) has also been
ments hydrogen and helium. Even the somewhat heavier detected in the upper atmosphere (Feuchtgruber et al.
compounds, confirmed methane (CH4) and suspected 1997); its presence reveals an exogenic source of the
ammonia (NH3) and water (H2O), are composed largely water, presumably micrometeoroid ablation.

Helium abundance relative to hydrogen is also high-

er for Uranus (and Neptune) than for Jupiter and Saturn.
Strangely, the helium abundances for Uranus and
Neptune coincide (within the uncertainties of the mea-
surements) with that measured for the Sun. Jupiter’s
atmosphere is moderately depleted in helium relative to
the Sun; Saturn’s is strongly depleted, having only a
scant 20% of the solar He/H abundance. At very high
pressures (>3 million bar) in the interiors of Jupiter and
Saturn, hydrogen is transformed into a liquid metallic
state. It is possible, especially in the case of Saturn, that
higher-density liquid helium droplets slowly sink
through the liquid hydrogen owing to the force of gravi- Figure 1. Uranus in true color (left) and contrast-enhanced false
ty, thus depleting the source of helium to the visible color (right). The planet’s south (positive rotation) pole is left
atmosphere. No such mechanism can operate in the inte- and below the center of the disk, at the center of the concentric
riors of the smaller Uranus and Neptune. patterns. Image from Voyager 2 courtesy of NASA Jet
The vertical temperature profile of Uranus below the Propulsion Laboratory.
600 mbar level increases monotonically with depth at an
adiabatic lapse rate. Voyager radio science occultation
measurements detected the presence of a methane cloud of the paucity of non-axisymmetric cloud features.
deck near the 1 bar pressure level, where the temperature Furthermore, only the illuminated southern hemisphere
is near 80 K. This value is colder than the minimum tem- was visible. The data are best fitted with a latitudinal
peratures in the atmospheres of Jupiter and Saturn; it is wind velocity in m s–1 of 200 (0.4cosb–cos3b), where
for that reason that no methane clouds are present in –90°<b<0° is the latitude. This formula predicts a maxi-
their atmospheres. Uranus’s tropopause is located near mum prograde wind speed of about 240 m s–1 near –60°
100 mbar, where the temperature is near the minimum latitude, zero wind speed near –23° latitude and 120 m s–1
value of about 50 K. retrograde wind speed near the equator.
Extrapolation of measured atmospheric tempera- More recent images from the Hubble Space
tures into the interior of Uranus at an adiabatic gradient Telescope (HST) show greatly increased atmospheric
would lead to a central temperature between 6000 and 10 activity for Uranus than was seen during the Voyager 2
000 K. Unlike the other three gas giant planets, Uranus flyby. Two color-stretched images, each including rings
appears to have little or no heat escaping from its interi- and satellites, are displayed in figure 2. The increase in
or to warm the upper regions of the planet. Whether that atmospheric activity between 1986 and the 1997 HST
is a consequence of its extreme axial tilt or is due to insu- images may be due in part to seasonal changes. During
lating layering below the visible cloud deck is not known the Voyager 2 flyby, Uranus was near its southern sum-
at present. Interior modeling yields central densities of
between 4.5 and 9 g cm–3, depending on whether or not
there is a separate molten rocky core out to a distance of
about 5000 km from the center. Such a model might have
the larger density values at its center, whereas a relative-
ly well-mixed massive core of molten rocky and icy
material extending through most of the interior would
have the lower central density value. The measured sec-
ond-order gravity harmonic (J2=0.003 343), combined
with a rotation period of 17.24 h and an oblateness (polar
flattening) of 0.023, tends to favor the well-mixed core.
Dynamics
With little or no discernible internal heat source, Uranus
might be expected to have little atmospheric turbulence.
Figure 1 depicts the planet Uranus as seen by Voyager 2.
The left-hand view is true color; the right-hand view is a
Figure 2. Uranus as seen from the HST’s Wide Field Planetary
highly color and contrast-stretched version of the same
Camera in 1997. The image on the right was taken later and
image. It is apparent that essentially all atmospheric fea- shows the motion of satellites and atmospheric spots in the
tures are symmetric around the rotation axis whose posi- intervening time. The bright portion of the ring is the unre-
tive pole is just left of and slightly below the center of the solved epsilon (ε) ring; the dimmer portion is a composite of
disk in these images. Zonal wind velocities were measur- several of the rings. Image from HST is courtesy of NASA Jet
able for only a few latitudes on the planet, mainly because Propulsion Laboratory.

mer solstice (beginning of summer). In 2008 Uranus will

Table 2. Uranus’s rings’ orbital data.
reach an equinox, and all latitudes will be illuminated by
sunlight. If the changes are due to seasonal effects, Ring Semimajor Orbit Inclination Period
atmospheric cloud activity may be expected to increase name axis (km) eccentricity (°) (h)
until 2008 or beyond. 6 41 837 0.001 01 0.062 6.1988
The temperature in the troposphere does not exhibit 5 42 235 0.001 90 0.054 6.2875
4 42 571 0.001 06 0.032 6.3628
any north–south asymmetry despite the peculiar insola-
α 44 718 0.000 76 0.015 6.8508
tion pattern. The horizontal thermal structure shows lit- β 45 661 0.000 44 0.005 7.0688
tle contrast other than shallow minima at mid-latitudes. η 47 176 0.000 00 0.001 7.4239
The observed latitudinal dependence indicates that the γ 47 627 0.000 11 0.002 7.5307
zonal winds decay with height. Dynamical models sug- δ 48 300 0.000 00 0.001 7.6911
gest that the mid-latitude cool regions result from adia- λ 50 024 ~0.0 ~0.0 8.1069
batic cooling associated with upwelling in the tropos- ε 51 149 0.007 94 0.000 8.3823
phere and that poleward and equatorward flow occurs at
upper levels.
Voyager 2 near the 44.2° north latitude magnetic pole.
Uranus’s magnetosphere The auroral region was 15°–20° in diameter and is
The magnetic field of Uranus was first detected about 8 h believed to be excited by electrons with energies of about
before Voyager 2’s closest approach to Uranus. 10 000 eV. A variety of radio emissions originating with-
Amazingly, the best dipole model of that magnetosphere in the magnetosphere were detected. It was variations in
indicates a magnetic dipole tilt of 58.6° and an offset from the narrowband emissions near 60 kHz that enabled
the center of the planet of 1/3 the radius of the planet in Voyager to determine that Uranus rotates once every
the direction of the unilluminated north pole. The high 17.24 h. Detected charged particle species within the
tilt and offset may indicate that the magnetic field is gen- magnetosphere included mainly electrons and protons,
erated by electrical currents at fairly shallow depths although small amounts of ionized hydrogen gas (H2+)
within the liquid icy–rocky core. The dipole moment is may have been present. It seems evident that the prima-
more than a factor of 50 greater than the dipole moment ry source of these particles is the extended hydrogen
of Earth’s magnetic field, but, because of the larger size atmosphere of Uranus, which has a temperature of about
of Uranus, typical surface magnetic fields are of compa- 800 K at altitudes of 5000–7000 km above the cloud tops.
rable magnitude for the two planets. The magnetic field
of Uranus, like those of other planets in the solar system, Rings
is highly distorted by the solar wind. Its typical sunward Uranus has 10 narrow rings with sufficient optical depth
extent is about 18 Uranian radii; the magnetic tail proba- to block out starlight as they passed between a star and
bly extends to thousands of radii downwind. the Voyager spacecraft or groundbased observers. By far
Ultraviolet auroral emissions were observed by the densest and widest of these rings is the ε ring, which
Table 3. The satellites of Uranus.

Name Distance (km) Period (days) Incl (°) Eccentricity Diameter (km) Density (g cm–3)
Cordelia 49 792 0.3350 0.08 0.000 ~26 ?
Ophelia 53 764 0.3764 0.10 0.001 ~32 ?
Bianca 59 165 0.4346 0.19 0.001 ~44 ?
Cressida 61 767 0.4636 0.01 0.000 ~66 ?
Desdemona 62 659 0.4737 0.11 0.000 ~58 ?
Juliet 64 358 0.4931 0.07 0.001 ~84 ?
Portia 66 097 0.5152 0.06 0.000 ~110 ?
Rosalind 69 927 0.5585 0.28 0.000 ~54 ?
Belinda 75 255 0.6235 0.03 0.000 ~68 ?
1986U10 76 500 0.637 ? ? ~40 ?
Puck 86 006 0.7618 0.32 0.000 154 ?
Miranda 129 847 1.4135 4.22 0.027 472 1.15
Ariel 190 929 2.5204 0.31 0.0034 1158 1.56
Umbriel 265 979 4.1442 0.36 0.0050 1170 1.52
Titania 436 273 8.7059 0.14 0.0022 1578 1.70
Oberon 583 421 13.4632 0.10 0.0008 1522 1.64
Caliban 7 168 900 579 139.68 0.082 ~44 ?
Sycorax 12 213 600 1289 152.67 0.509 ~40 ?
1999U1 ? ? ? ? ? ?
1999U2 ? ? ? ? ? ?
1999U3 ? ? ? ? ? ?

varies in width from 20 to 95 km as its particles circle the earlier in this article. Ten more (Cordelia, Ophelia,
planet. The other rings have typical widths of 1–10 km. Bianca, Cressida, Desdemona, Juliet, Portia, Rosalind,
The ‘equivalent depth’ of the ε ring (and most of the Belinda and Puck) were discovered by Voyager in 1986.
other variable-width rings) is constant; in other words, All of the moons discovered by Voyager orbit Uranus
the same number of ring particles pass through the nar- closer to the planet than the five ‘classical’ satellites. In
rower portions of each ring during each orbit as through 1997 Caliban was discovered by Brett Gladman and his
the wider portions of the same ring. Their narrow ring associates. The same year Sycorax was discovered by
widths are the result of gravitational interactions with Phil Nicholson and his associates. Caliban and Sycorax
nearby satellites, which act as ‘shepherds’ to keep the are more than 10 times as far from the planet as any of
ring material from spreading. The orbital characteristics the previously known ‘regular’ satellites. Their orbits are
of the narrow rings are given in table 2. retrograde, highly inclined and more eccentric than is
In addition to the 10 narrow rings, Uranus has a true for the regular satellites.
broad, diffuse and optically thin ring component seen in In 1999, Erich Karkoschka found a previously undis-
some of the Voyager 2 images. It is interior to the other covered moon in images shuttered by Voyager 2 in 1986.
rings, extending from a radius of about 37 000 to about 39 This moon, which has an orbit almost identical to that of
500 km from the center of the planet. During passage Belinda, was found in seven different Voyager 2 images.
through the shadow of Uranus, Voyager 2 also snapped Based on a preliminary orbit, it is estimated that Belinda
an image of the rings that is unlike any other taken at laps (passes) 1986U10 about once a month, a highly
Uranus. In this unique geometry, forward-scattered sun- unusual circumstance.
light brings out the optically thin dust bands that occupy Three more probable satellites of Uranus were sight-
much of the area between the ten narrow rings men- ed in 1999 by Gladman, J J Kavelaars and others. Orbits
tioned above. There is a lot of radial structure in these for these satellites are not yet well-determined, but they
dust rings (see figure 3), little of it understood at present. are probably all distant, irregular satellites. Their tempo-
rary designations are 1999U1, 1999U2 and 1999U3. In
Satellites 2002 the discovery of another satellite was confirmed.
Prior to 1999, Uranus had 17 known moons. The discov- Named S/2001 U 1, this brings the total number of con-
ery of the five largest (Miranda, Ariel, Umbriel, Titania firmed Uranian moons to 21. S/2001 U 1 and five others
and Oberon) was discussed in the introductory material like it have very irregular, eccentric orbits that do not
share the same orbital plane as the larger moons of
Uranus. Ranging in size from 10 to 20 km (about 6 to 12
mi), these moons are thought to be remnants of ancient
collisions that occurred at the early stage of planetary
formation.
Bibliography
The Voyager 2 Encounter with Uranus 1987 J. Geophys.
Res. 92 14 873–15 375
Bergstralh J T, Miner E D and Matthews M S (ed) 1990
Uranus (Tucson, AZ: University of Arizona Press)
Feuchtgruber et al. 1997 Nature 389 159–62
Miner E D 1998 Uranus: the Planet, Rings and Satellites 2nd
edn (Chichester: Wiley)
Ellis D Miner
Figure 3. This long-exposure image from Voyager 2 was taken

of the back side of the rings of Uranus during the spacecraft
passage through the rings. The image was taken during rotation
of the spacecraft and is therefore motion compensated at the left
edge of the image, but the right side and the background stars
are smeared. The outermost ring is the ε ring, but most of the
other features seen are not identifiable with the narrow, optical-
ly thicker rings normally seen in backscattered light.

Uranus and Neptune: Atmospheres, Ionospheres, and
Magnetospheres
enough to attract substantial amounts of the still-gaseous
Uranus and Neptune: Atmospheres, hydrogen and helium.
Ionospheres, and Magnetospheres Thus by number of atoms, Uranus’s and Neptune’s
Nearly the entire mass of URANUS and NEPTUNE consists atmospheres are mostly hydrogen with some helium and
of gas, much like the other gas giant planets Jupiter heavier gases, like the other gas giant planets and the Sun.
and Saturn. Therefore Neptune and Uranus might be Compared with the Sun, Jupiter and Saturn, however,
regarded as essentially all atmosphere, although it is Neptune and Uranus are highly enriched in oxygen,
conventional to limit the definition to the outermost layers. carbon and other elements heavier than hydrogen and
helium. As a result, these heavy elements constitute
In a tenuous outer layer of the atmosphere we find the
at least 80% of Uranus and Neptune by mass. In
ionosphere (see PLANETARY IONOSPHERES), where ultraviolet
these planets’ atmospheres, carbon mostly combines with
light and other radiations knock electrons loose from
hydrogen to form methane, which is slowly broken down
atmospheric molecules so that electrical currents can flow
by solar ultraviolet light to form smog, just as on Earth (see
there. The magnetosphere begins even further out, where
PLANETARY ATMOSPHERES, EARTH’S ATMOSPHERE). Oxygen mainly
the atmosphere becomes so thin that collisions between
joins with hydrogen to form water, which freezes out,
its molecules are rare, and so they fly freely like orbiting
leaving a dry upper atmosphere just as at Earth. Both
satellites. In this region, the largest forces on electrons
of these condensible materials fall into the interior, where
and IONS (electrically charged atoms or molecules) come
they are recycled back into gaseous water and methane.
from electric and magnetic fields, and so their motions
are organized by the planetary magnetic field instead of Table 1. Useful Uranian constants, in units compared with Earth
planetary gravity (see PLANETARY MAGNETOSPHERES). (⊕) and SI metric units.
Most of what we know about Uranus’s and
Quantity Earth units SI units
Neptune’s atmosphere and everything we know about
their ionospheres and magnetospheres were learned from Distance from Sun 19.18⊕ 2.870 × 1012 m
data collected during the close passes of VOYAGER 2 near Radius 4.01⊕ 2.556 × 107 m
Uranus in January 1986 and near Neptune in August Mass 14.54⊕ 8.683 × 1025 kg
1989. Unfortunately this also means that it will be difficult Orbital period 84.01⊕ 2.651 × 109 s
Rotation period 0.720⊕ 6.206 × 104 s
to learn much more without more dedicated spacecraft
encounters. As a result, our mental picture of these
planets, especially Uranus, is dominated by their state
during their Voyager flyby, and will become increasingly Table 2. Useful Neptunian constants, in units compared to Earth
unrealistic as time progresses. (⊕) and SI metric units.
Quantity Earth units SI units

Atmosphere
Visually, Uranus and Neptune are blue planets, chiefly Distance from sun 30.06⊕ 4.497 × 1012 m
because of absorption of red light by atmospheric methane Radius 3.89⊕ 2.476 × 107 m
Mass 17.23⊕ 1.024 × 1026 kg
(CH4 ). Uranus is virtually featureless, while Neptune
Orbital period 164.8⊕ 5.200 × 109 s
has large but short-lived cyclonic storms that appear as Rotation period 0.673⊕ 5.800 × 104 s
spots. By tracking cloud features, strong east–west winds
varying with latitude were found (especially at Neptune),
indicating the presence of weather.
As tables 1 and 2 show, Neptune and Uranus are Uranus One of Uranus’s most remarkable traits is the
nearly twin planets about four times the size of the Earth direction of its rotation axis. Most planets’ orbits lie in
and at much greater distance from the Sun. During the approximately the same plane, and their rotation axes (and
formation of the solar system, the material coalescing into the Sun’s) are roughly perpendicular to this plane. Not
the planets was extremely cold because of its distance Uranus; its rotational axis lies nearly in its orbital plane.
from the Sun, and so most common gases (such as It is believed that this great tilt was caused by a near-
water, carbon monoxide and dioxide, ammonia and catastrophic collision at the time when Uranus was still
methane) were frozen. Because solid material more forming out of infalling bodies, one of which must have
easily accumulates into planets than does gas, Uranus been comparable in size with Uranus itself.
and Neptune incorporated much more of this material This ‘tipped-over’ orientation means that, part of the
than did planets like the Earth, that formed in warmer time, the Sun will be nearly overhead at Uranus’s north
regions. Once these frozen gases were incorporated into or south pole. Because the rotational axis stays fixed
Uranus’s and Neptune’s warm interiors, they became in direction while Uranus orbits around the Sun, 1/4
gaseous again, but nevertheless were still bound by of an orbit later the Sun will be over Uranus’s equator.
gravity. Because they were able to accumulate these Therefore the differences between the solar heating during
more common materials, Uranus and Neptune grew much Uranus’s summer and winter are much more extreme than
bigger than the terrestrial planets, and thus were massive at Earth, in addition to being much colder overall because

Magnetospheres
of Uranus’s much greater distance from the sun. Despite Neptune The magnetic field of Neptune is also drastically
these extremes of heat input, the temperature extremes tilted and offset with respect to the rotation axis. Despite
are small, apparently because the atmosphere can equalize Neptune’s normal rotation axis orientation, charged
temperature differences by transporting heat. particle trajectories are even more complicated here
Another anomalous trait of Uranus is its low rate of than at Uranus. Many of these trajectories exit the
internal heat release. Heat slowly leaks out of the interiors magnetosphere, so the density of ions in Neptune’s
of the other gas giant planets, at rates comparable with magnetosphere is very sparse.
the planets’ absorption of sunlight. However, Uranus’ Neptune’s magnetosphere contains mostly atomic
internal heat loss is undetectable. hydrogen ions (H+ ) and atomic nitrogen ions (N+ ).
These ions are probably derived from the atmosphere of
TRITON, Neptune’s large, icy moon. Triton’s atmosphere
Neptune Despite Neptune’s greater distance, its temper- is mostly molecular nitrogen with traces of hydrogen-
ature at its apparent surface is about the same as Uranus’s. bearing species such as methane.
The reason for this is the heat release from Neptune’s inte-
rior, which makes up for its relative shortfall of sunlight. Lower atmosphere and interior
In this aspect Neptune is a more typical gas giant planet Because Uranus and Neptune are gas giants, the
than Uranus. Neptune’s rotational axis is also more typ- distinction between atmosphere and interior is arbitrary.
ical, in being roughly perpendicular to its orbit plane, so By convention the boundary between them is placed
Neptune’s seasonal variation of solar heating is much less at a level where the pressure is 10–100 bar (1 bar =
extreme than Uranus’s. 105 N m−2 is about the pressure at the bottom of the
Earth’s atmosphere). This definition is based partly
on observability and partly on the diminished effect of
Ionosphere
weather at that level.
Uranus’s and Neptune’s ionospheres are currently poorly Also by convention, the planetary radius is defined
understood, because of the limitations of the observations as the distance from the planetary center out to the level
and gaps in theoretical knowledge. However, it appears where the pressure is 1 bar at the equator. These are
that ionization due to solar ultraviolet and galactic cosmic abbreviated as RU = 25 559 km and RN = 24 764 km, for
rays is mostly responsible for maintaining the ionosphere, Uranus and Neptune respectively.
with enhancements from meteoritic impacts. Most of what is known of Uranus’s and Neptune’s
interiors is derived from the slight departure of their
Magnetosphere gravity fields from spherical symmetry, detected by
Uranus and Neptune have planetary magnetic fields perturbations of Voyager’s flyby trajectory. From these
whose surface intensity is the same order of magnitude slight perturbations has been deduced an approximate
as the Earth’s field, but whose distribution is completely density versus radius profile, which suggests the presence
different. At Earth the field is oriented roughly north– of rocky cores roughly half the size of Earth, representing
south and its strength is roughly the same everywhere. about 0.1–1% of Neptune’s or Uranus’s total volume.
Neptune’s and Uranus’s fields are much more variable in The properties of Uranus’s atmosphere are summa-
strength and direction. rized in figure 1, while Neptune’s is summarized in
Like Earth, Neptune and Uranus have AURORAS, figure 2. The number of molecules per cubic centimeter
which are glows created by electrons hitting the upper (number density) of each of the more important species is
atmosphere where the magnetic field lines converge. At profiled versus altitude and pressure. The H2 density is
Earth auroras occur near the north and south geographic controlled by the temperature profile via the hydrostatic
equation,
poles, but at Uranus and Neptune the magnetic poles lie at
dp mpg(r)
middle latitudes so that is where their auroras occur also. =−
dr kT (p)
with p is the pressure, m the mass of an H2 molecule, k
Uranus The magnetosphere of Uranus is tilted once by Boltzmann’s constant, g(r) the acceleration of gravity as
Uranus’s rotation axis and once again by the magnetic a function of altitude and T (p) the temperature versus
field’s tilt with respect to the rotation axis. The charged pressure profile. The densities of the other species are
particles in Jupiter’s and Saturn’s magnetospheres mostly controlled by their interactions with the dominant H2 .
rotate with their planets. At Earth charged particles flow The temperature profile is controlled by the balance
in a kind of back-eddy opposite to the direction of the solar of heat gain and loss, which is in turn controlled by
wind. At Uranus they do both at the same time, although the mechanisms by which heat is transported. The
this may change as Uranus’s orbit carries it from Sun-over- different temperatures seen at different levels result from
pole to Sun-over-equator orientation. different heat sources and transport modes dominating at
Uranus’s magnetosphere contains mostly atomic different densities.
hydrogen ions (H+ ), which probably come from Uranus’ Both planets’ tropospheres (from words meaning the
atmosphere. region of changes; the lower atmosphere, where there

Magnetospheres
At Earth the vertical temperature profile is compli-
cated by the condensation of water, but, in the colder Ura-
nian troposphere, water condenses at a deeper level. At
Neptune and Uranus the visible clouds are probably con-
densed methane. These clouds are located near the level
of the sharp bend in the CH4 profile just below the 1 bar
level in figures 1 and 2. Above that level the ratio of CH4
to H2 density abruptly decreases because of methane con-
densation.
At the tropopause (the upper boundary of the
troposphere, where the temperature stops falling with
altitude), the temperature is about 50–52 K (much colder
than liquid nitrogen) at both planets. The altitude of this
transition point is marked on the temperature profiles
displayed in figures 1 and 2. At this altitude the methane
vapor pressure (at a given temperature, the pressure of
vapor in equilibrium with its solid form; usually extremely
Figure 1. Profiles of temperature and density versus altitude in temperature dependent) is at a minimum. Any methane
Uranus’s atmosphere. The temperature (T ) is read from the top abundance in excess of this pressure is frozen out and the
scale, the densities (labeled by chemical symbol) from the
resulting ice falls to lower altitude, which is why the CH4
bottom. Important boundary altitudes are marked on the
profiles that determine them. profiles in figures 1 and 2 show abrupt decreases there.
Uranus
The temperatures within Uranus’s interior are probably
high, but unknown. Heat constantly leaks out of the other
gas giant planet interiors, and from the rate of heat loss a
temperature versus radius profile necessary to maintain
that loss can be calculated for those planets. Uranus’s
internal heat loss, by contrast, is too small to have been
measured, so its internal temperature is unknown.
It may be that Uranus’s interior is actually cooler than
the other gas giants’, perhaps because the collision that
tipped Uranus over also stirred it enough to let its excess
heat out. Another possibility is that the settling of denser
materials has stabilized the interior so that hot gas does not
rise and carry out heat, because even if the lower regions
are hotter they would be compositionally denser and so
not buoyant.
Neptune
Figure 2. Profiles of temperature and density versus altitude in Unlike Uranus, Neptune does have a measurable rate of
Neptune’s atmosphere. The temperature (T ) is read from the
heat loss, which is about 1.6 times as large as the rate of
top scale, the densities (labeled by chemical symbol) from the
bottom. The temperature profile is an approximation heat absorption from sunlight. From this heat loss rate, a
constructed to match the observations; its sharp bends are not temperature versus radius profile can be calculated, which
real. Important boundary altitudes are marked on the profiles is very near to an adiabat. The temperatures within the
that determine them. interior are high, reaching a maximum of probably about
6000 K at the center.
is weather) are very cold compared with Earth. Within Upper atmosphere
the troposphere the dominant heat transport mode is Above the tropopause in each planet is the stratosphere,
convection, whereby heat is carried along with the gas as it where the atmosphere is relatively stable (hence the name)
rises and falls. Because the pressure changes with altitude, because the temperature rises with altitude. Atmospheric
the gas is cooled by expansion as it rises and heated by stirring does not completely cease here, but it is greatly
compression as it sinks. Thus in the troposphere the attenuated compared with the troposphere. In the
temperature variation with altitude follows the adiabatic lower stratosphere, the temperature profile is mainly
rate of change, that is, the rate at which a column of rising controlled by the absorption and reradiation of heat
air would cool just as a result of expansion without heat absorbed from sunlight. The upper atmosphere is
exchange. heated by a high-altitude energy source of unknown

Magnetospheres
nature. Because the energy is input at such low densities, water aerosols (clouds) is negligible, Rayleigh scattering
no known component of sunlight or bombardment by is also important, turning the sky blue and sunsets red
magnetospheric charged particles can be responsible. because of its λ−4 wavelength dependence.
This heat is not reradiated from where it arrives, Because the hydrocarbons lie so deep in the
because H2 and He are very poor radiators of heat stratosphere, heat conducted from its source around
and the more effective radiators, the hydrocarbons, are 10−11 bar must travel a great distance. In order for
scarce here. Thus thermal conduction transports the heat conduction to carry the heat this far, the heat-source
down to the level where it can be radiated into space region’s temperature must rise to about 850 K.
by the hydrocarbons. In order for conduction to carry This high temperature inflates the upper atmosphere
the heat this far, the heat-source region’s temperature greatly, particularly the light atomic hydrogen component
must rise to high temperatures. From there up to the (a minor component at lower altitudes), so that it falls
exobase (the atmospheric level above which atomic and off slowly with altitude. Therefore even at the great
molecular collisions are negligible), the atmosphere is altitudes (1.64RU ≤ r ≤ 2RU ) of Uranus’s rings, which
roughly isothermal. are basically icy orbiting pebbles, the gas density is high
Because of the factor of m in the hydrostatic equation, enough to produce frictional drag. As with artificial Earth
atmosphere pressure diminishes with altitude at a rate satellites, atmospheric drag causes Uranus’s ring particles
proportional to m, the atmospheric molecular mass. to gradually lose their orbit-maintaining momentum
When an atmosphere is a mixture of gases, atmospheric until eventually they fall vertically into the troposphere.
turbulence and other stirring mechanisms tend to keep Because the ratio of gas drag to particle inertia is largest for
the different gases mixed in equal proportions. Thus all the smallest ring particles, Uranus’s inflated atmosphere
gas densities decrease with altitude at the same rate, an selectively removes the finest ring particles. The steady
average value which, at Uranus and Neptune, is about shrinkage of ring-particle orbits, piling up against the
equal to the rate for H2 . However, above a certain altitude, repulsive perturbations of larger orbiters with slower
where the mixing is not vigorous enough to keep the orbital decay, may be part of the reason that Uranus’s rings
proportions uniform, each gas density decreases with are a series of very thin concentric bands, in contrast with
altitude at its own individual rate. The point where the nearly continuous disk that constitutes Saturn’s rings.
this separation of rates begins is called the homopause,
which is marked on figures 1 and 2. Notice the change in Neptune
slope of the He and CH4 profiles there, above which each The upper atmosphere of Neptune is much more
constituent is decoupled from the others and so follows its
vigorously mixed than is Uranus’s, as shown in figure 2 by
own independent profile.
its higher homopause altitude (at around 10−6 bar instead
It is because of the rapid falloff of the CH4 density
of 10−4 bar as at Uranus). For this reason methane and
compared with the lighter elements that the hydrocarbons
other hydrocarbons are found at significant densities much
are confined to lower altitudes, to which heat absorbed
higher in the atmosphere at Neptune, as is also evident in
at high altitudes must be conducted before it can be
figure 2. Neptune’s degree of atmospheric mixing is more
radiated into space. Thus the level of the homopause helps
typical of the other giant planets, Jupiter and Saturn, than
determine the maximum temperature of the uppermost
is Uranus’s.
region of the atmosphere.
Probably because the hydrocarbons reach higher
Uranus in the atmosphere, the heat flow from Neptune’s high
The stratosphere of Uranus has been discovered to be altitude heat source (not well defined, but probably at no
unusually calm compared with the other giant planets, higher an altitude in pressure units than at Uranus) has
so that heavier gases such as helium and methane are a shorter distance to travel before it can be radiated into
not well-mixed with the hydrogen at higher altitudes. In space. Therefore the hot uppermost regions of Neptune’s
other words, the homopause lies at lower altitude and atmosphere, at about 550–650 K, do not reach as high a
higher pressure, about 10−4 bar in figure 1. Because of temperature (about 850 K) as Uranus’s does.
the low methane abundance at the higher altitudes where
solar extreme ultraviolet light can penetrate and drive Ionosphere
photochemistry, there are also lower abundances of the Ionospheres are formed by ionizing radiation and
higher hydrocarbons such as ethane and acetylene there. represent a balance between the ion production rate
Therefore there are fewer photochemically produced and the recombination loss rate. Because both the
aerosol particles, or smog (an aerosol is a particle so small recombination loss rate and the atmospheric opacity
that it settles out of the air very slowly). As a result, to ionizing radiation are proportional to gas density,
Uranus’s stratosphere is unusually clear for a gas giant, which increases rapidly with depth in the atmosphere,
so that Rayleigh scattering (light scattering caused by ionospheres typically have sharp lower boundaries. The
spontaneous microscopic fluctuations of the air’s density) upper part of the ionosphere, however, typically decreases
is the dominant atmospheric opacity at wavelengths away upwards at an exponential rate determined by the local
from methane absorptions. At Earth, when opacity from atmospheric temperature. This rate has been measured for

Magnetospheres
Neptune’s and Uranus’s ionospheres and is about right for
H+ ions.
In addition to this smooth variation, thin layers of
higher electron density were observed in Uranus’s and
Neptune’s ionospheres. It has been conjectured that
these are transitory effects of meteor showers, which are
observed to create ionization in Earth’s atmosphere. These
thin layers are at the bottoms of the two ionospheres, which
lie at about 1000–2000 km above 1 bar at Uranus and about
500–1000 km at Neptune.
Magnetosphere
The magnetosphere is the region outside a planet’s
exobase, where the planetary magnetic field is strong
enough to deflect the solar wind. On the upwind side,
the pressure balance between field and wind creates a
roughly parabolic boundary, called the magnetopause,
with nose distance about 20RU upstream at Uranus and
25RN at Neptune. This boundary envelops its associated
planet and extends downstream in a wake many tens
of planetary radii long. Outside of this boundary is a
roughly hyperboloidal bow shock standing in the highly
supersonic solar wind.
The inner boundary of the magnetosphere is
effectively its planet’s exobase, below which collisions
with atmospheric molecules control charged-particle
motion. However, atmosphere–magnetosphere coupling Figure 3. Diagrams of Uranus’s magnetoshere. The curved lines
can extend more deeply than the exobase, as magnetic- depict the magnetic field as it is confined within the
magnetopause. The arrow labeled is Uranus’s axis of rotation,
field-aligned currents can flow into the ionosphere,
and is fixed in space. The arrow labeled D is the magnetic dipole
across to other field lines and back out into the axis and rotates with the planet. The two diagrams show the
magnetosphere. It is this coupling that drives much magnetosphere at half-rotation intervals. The axis labeled XGSM
collective magnetospheric motion. points toward the Sun. (Figure from Voigt et al 1987
The magnetosphere encompasses a wide range of J. Geophys. Res. 86 15 337.)
phenomena, described in their individual sections (see
figures 3 and 4). Because of the long-range coupling
present in the magnetosphere, its seemingly independent The low-energy (≤104 eV) plasma drifts through
phenomena mutually interact more than is the case in the these magnetospheres on paths determined mostly by
neutral atmosphere. the electric and magnetic fields. Both the rotation of
the planets and the interaction of the solar wind with the
Plasma magnetospheres create electric fields that fluctuate in time
PLASMA is a gas which contains significant numbers of as well as space. In the following, we describe what is
ions and electrons, so that it conducts electricity at least known of the behavior of the low-energy plasma.
along the magnetic field, and often perpendicular to it
as well. The plasma at both Uranus and Neptune was
composed of ions and electrons with kinetic energies Uranus. Uranus’s magnetospheric plasma is rather
covering Voyager’s entire range of measurement, from 10 tenuous and consists almost entirely of H+ . It appears
to about 107 eV (1 eV = 1.6 × 10−19 J is a particle kinetic to originate from Uranus’s atmosphere, because if it came
energy equivalent to a temperature of about 8700 K). from the icy satellites there would also be O+ , which is not
Plasmas in different energy ranges behave differently, so observed. It drifts Sunward as at Earth, but because of
we discuss them separately. the pole-on configuration simultaneously co-rotates with
The high-energy (≥105 eV) plasma at both planets is Uranus. However, the co-rotation does not interfere with
extremely sparse and forms radiation belts similar to those the plasma drift, as it does in the Earth’s plasmasphere,
at Earth. It diffuses inwards through the magnetosphere, because the rotation occurs about an axis parallel to the
so that its absorption by satellites and rings creates drift.
decreases in density that were observed by Voyager. A As the plasma drifts toward (away from) Uranus,
few faint rings and satellites were discovered in this way. it sees an increasing (decreasing) magnetic field strength
When these energetic particles strike icy satellites and ring which compresses (expands) the plasma and heats (cools)
particles, hydrogen and oxygen atoms are ejected. it drastically. Thus there is a plasma adiabat in the

Magnetospheres
charged particles from far out in the magnetosphere hit
the atmosphere near the magnetic poles, this plasma loss
refers to low-energy (tens of eV) plasma on field lines near
the planet that is impacting the atmosphere far from the
magnetic poles.
The motion of Neptune’s magnetospheric plasma
is complex and not completely understood. Neptune’s
spin axis is roughly perpendicular to its orbital plane,
just as it is at Jupiter and Saturn, where magnetospheric
plasma rotates with the planet. However, the large
tilt of the magnetic field results in Neptune’s magnetic
dipole alternating between states pointed at the Sun and
perpendicular to the Sun–Neptune line as Neptune rotates.
As a result plasma motions in Neptune’s magnetosphere
fluctuate as Neptune rotates. As at Uranus, plasma motion
is part Sunward back-eddy and part co-rotation.
Aurora
Figure 4. Diagram of Neptune’s magnetosphere, showing its Auroras are regions where the atmosphere glows
components. The curved lines with triangular arrowheads because of bombardment by high-energy charged particles
depict the solar wind flow deflected around the magnetopause. (usually electrons) which flow into the atmosphere along
Those with V-like arrowheads are magnetic field lines, except the magnetic field lines. They typically occur near, but
the one labeled ‘Triton’, which is Triton’s orbit. The line with the
not quite at, magnetic poles because the field lines there
full dots is the trajectory of the Voyager flyby. (From Schulz et al
1995 Magnetospheric configuration of Neptune Neptune and connect to the largest regions of the magnetosphere.
Triton ed D P Cruikshank (Tucson, AZ: University of Arizona
Press). Copyright © 1995 by The Arizona Board of Regents. Uranus. Uranus’s magnetic poles, and therefore its
Reprinted by permission of the University of Arizona Press.) auroras, are far from the geographic poles because of
its large magnetic dipole tilt (60◦ ) and offset (0.3RU ).
Moreover, both auroras are on magnetic field lines that
magnetosphere just as there is a gaseous adiabat in connect to the magnetospheric tail, so that the aurora-
Uranus’s interior. exciting particles (probably 104 eV electrons) streaming
The plasma consists of a number of components, down the field lines into the atmosphere are still drifting
which are distinguished by their temperatures. Because toward Uranus. Because the plasma drift paths continue
of the adiabatic drift compression, their densities and on past Uranus, on field lines where there is no aurora, it
temperatures are best compared by referral to a standard seems likely that the auroras are exhausting the available
distance from the Uranian magnetic dipole. Two low- hot electrons before they can drift completely past Uranus.
energy populations are known; a warm plasma (0.5 cm−3 The aurora is visible primarily at in the extreme
and 10 eV at 5RU ) and a hot plasma (0.3 cm−3 and ultraviolet at wavelengths between 90 and 110 nm, emitted
1000 eV at 5RU ). The warm plasma drifts by Uranus by electronic transitions between low-lying states of
without much change, but the hot electrons continually molecular hydrogen. These bands are excited by the low-
lose energy (relative to their adiabatic temperature) as they energy secondary electrons emitted when high-energy
approach Uranus. The hot ions also abruptly disappear charged particles impact the atmosphere.
inside approximately 5RU , as though their drift paths were
avoiding Uranus.
Neptune. Neptune’s magnetic poles and auroras are also
far from the geographic poles because of its large magnetic
Neptune. Neptune’s magnetospheric plasma is very dipole tilt (47◦ ) and offset (0.55RN ). The light from
tenuous and consists mostly of H+ and N+ ions. Its Neptune’s aurora, like Uranus’s, is extreme ultraviolet
source appears to be the atmosphere of Triton, because H2 molecular band emission between 90 and 110 nm,
of the presence of N+ ions. In addition, a measure of the stimulated by auroral secondary electrons. Some diffuse
plasma density, corrected for compression by the magnetic glow is also stimulated by electrons which are emitted by
field, appears to decrease as Neptune is approached. If the day-side atmosphere in response to solar ultraviolet
Neptune were the source, the plasma density measure light and which follow the magnetic field lines around to
would increase towards the planet instead. impact the dark side.
The decrease of plasma density measure towards
Neptune is due to loss of some of the plasma to collisions Radio waves
with the atmosphere as the charged particles bounce back There are a number of types of radio waves emitted
and forth along the magnetic field lines. Unlike the by Uranus and Neptune with frequencies in the range
case of the aurora, where high-energy (104 eV or more) 100–1000 kHz, both narrow and wide bandwidth and

Magnetospheres
emitted both in bursts and semicontinuously. Uranus’s pure tones descending in frequency; hence the name.
and Neptune’s radio emissions are more similar to each Whistlers emitted by lightning discharges were detected
other than to those of other planets. They can be in Neptune’s magnetosphere.
observed from outside the magnetosphere, although, at
the present orientation of Uranus, the strongest Uranian Current research
radio emissions are beamed away from the Earth Mostly because of the lack of new data, Uranus and
Several types are emitted from regions not far Neptune research has declined greatly in recent years.
out of the atmosphere on the auroral field lines. In The HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE (or HST, a 2.4 m aperture
most cases they are generated by electron velocity orbiting telescope covering the wavelengths 115–2500 nm)
distributions that are relaxing to equilibrium by means of and large-aperture ground-based telescopic infrared
collective instabilities. One of the ways to cause electron observations of the ionospheric species H+3 between 3890
velocity distributions to depart from equilibrium, and so and 4090 nm are the main sources of new data.
generate these waves, is to selectively remove part of There are many questions for future research. How
the distribution by atmospheric absorption in an aurora, does Uranus’s atmosphere smooth out such great seasonal
which is why these radio emissions are located there. extremes of solar heating? Why is Uranus’s internal heat
Most of the radio emissions are confined to a narrow source so small compared with those of the other gas
range of directions, or beamed, and rotate with the giants? Why is Uranus’s stratosphere so much calmer and
planet. The rotation periods of both Neptune and Uranus less mixed than other giant planet stratospheres? What
were measured by timing the recurrent detection of these is the high-altitude heat source that heats Neptune’s and
emissions in the weeks after each Voyager flyby. Uranus’s upper atmospheres to such high temperatures?
Another radio emission emitted at Uranus, but only What is the pattern of motion of Uranus’s and Neptune’s
marginally at Neptune, is the radio noise produced by magnetospheric plasma? What is the origin of bursty radio
lightning discharges. The strength of these emissions emissions? Why are Jupiter’s, Uranus’s and Neptune’s
suggests that lightning discharges are weaker at Uranus radio emissions rotation controlled, while Earth’s and
than at Saturn but considerably stronger than at Neptune Saturn’s are solar wind controlled?
and at Earth. At Neptune, however, whistler plasma
waves (see below) originating from lightning were found Bibliography
instead. Therefore lightning does occur at Neptune, but Bergstralh J T, Miner E D and Matthews M S 1991 Uranus
the discharges must be much weaker than at Uranus. (Tucson, AZ: University of Arizona Press)
Cruikshank D P 1995 Neptune and Triton (Tucson, AZ:
Plasma waves University of Arizona Press)
Plasma waves are collective disturbances in a plasma that Lunine J I 1993 The atmospheres of Uranus and Neptune
are coupled to perturbations in the electric and magnetic Ann. Rev. Astron. Astrophys. 31 217–63
fields and that move with respect to the plasma. They are,
like the radio emissions, typically generated by departures Floyd Herbert
of the plasma from thermal equilibrium. Unlike the
radio waves, however, they do not propagate out of the
plasma, and so cannot be observed from outside the
magnetosphere.
The strongest of them, Whistler-mode noise, is caused
by the depletion of magnetospheric electrons traveling
along the magnetic field when they impact the atmosphere
and create an aurora. This imbalance between the numbers
of electrons with velocities parallel and perpendicular
to the magnetic field is unstable, and the whistler-mode
noise is generated by the motions of the electrons as
they approach equilibrium. In the process, however,
more electrons stream along the field and impact the
atmosphere, perpetuating the process. Unsurprisingly,
therefore, whistler-mode noise was observed at its greatest
intensity at Uranus when Voyager was on field lines that
were connected to the aurora.
Whistlers are plasma waves propagating in the same
mode as whistler-mode noise (and vice versa) but are
generated by a different process—lightning discharges.
Whistlers are very short bursts of plasma wave noise
that are spread out in frequency as they propagate along
the magnetic field. In a radio receiver they sound like

Uranus: Rings E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
Table 1. Orbital properties† of Uranus’s rings.

Uranus: Rings
The Uranian ring system comprise ten narrow rings, Semimajor Radial Inclination
one diffuse ring and some tenuous material between the Ring axis (km) width (km) Eccentricity (degrees)
narrow rings. With a mixed nomenclature arising from 6 41 837.2 1.0–2.5 0.001 013 0.062
historical tradition, the names of the ten narrow rings (in 5 42 234.8 1–7 0.001 899 0.054
order of increasing distance from the planet) are 6, 5, 4, α, 4 42 570.9 1–7 0.001 059 0.0323
β, η, γ , δ, λ, ; the name of the diffuse ring is 1986U1R. α 44 718.5 4.5–10.5 0.000 761 0.0152
β 45 661.0 5.5–12 0.000 442 0.0051
The innermost narrow ring lies about 16 000 km above the
η 47 175.9 55 ∼0.004 ∼0.0011
microbar pressure level in the Uranian atmosphere, and γ 47 626.9 1–8 0.109 ∼0.002
the entire ring system is about 10 000 km in radial extent. δ 48 300.12 2–8 0.004 0.0011
The distinctive feature of these rings is their narrowness, λ 50 023.9 1.3–2.5 ∼0.0 ∼0.0
most having a radial width less than 12 km (table 1). ε 51 149.3 20–96 0.007 936 ∼0.0002
Although these rings can now be easily imaged
† Errors in these quantities are in the least significant digit, and
from the Earth with modern detectors, they were first
values preceded by a tilde have an error comparable to the
observed with the technique of stellar occultations. A value. These results are from French et al (1991).
stellar occultation occurs when starlight is blocked from an
observer by an intervening body—in this case the Uranian
rings. Observations are carried out with high-speed from Uranus is minimized. In 1986 the Voyager 2
photometric equipment, ideally with several observing spacecraft flew by the Uranian system and recorded
sites well spaced in the direction perpendicular to the several high-resolution images of the rings. In addition,
motion of the ring shadows across the Earth. The
the Voyager Photo-polarimeter Subsystem (PPS) and
recording of the starlight intensity as a function of time
Ultraviolet Spectrometer (UVS) instruments observed
then provides a ‘line scan’ of the transmission of the
stellar occultations by the rings, and occultations of the
ring material. With multiple observations of the same
Voyager radio signal (from the Radio Science Subsystem,
occultation by a network of telescopes, several points
RSS) were observed from Earth. Due to the much closer
around each ring are recorded, and the ring orbits can
vantage point of the spacecraft, the Voyager data have
be constructed. By repeatedly observing occultations
provided the highest spatial resolution observations of
over several years, one can learn the ring orbits to
the rings that we have so far. In particular, the radio-
great accuracy. One advantage of the stellar occultation
occultation data at X-band has a resolution of 50 m, which
technique over ordinary imaging observations with Earth-
can be compared with the 2 km resolution of ground-based
based telescopes is that occultations achieve a spatial
stellar occultation data at visible wavelengths.
resolution (limited by fresnel diffraction) of just a few
kilometers, rather than the much coarser resolution Several ring phenomena were first observed in the
achievable with Earth-based telescopic observations. Uranian ring system. After the extreme narrowness of the
The discovery of the Uranian rings with airborne and rings, the most surprising of these is the elliptical and/or
ground-based observations of a stellar occultation in 1977 inclined orbits exhibited by some of the rings. Dynamical
ushered in the beginning of modern ring research. With theories had predicted that rings would be limited to
only the broad, bright ring system of Saturn as an example circular orbits in the equatorial plane of the planet. The
(see SATURN: RINGS, no one had suspected the existence eccentricities and inclinations are excited by the shepherd
of dark, narrow rings. Any thought of narrow rings satellites, which can also produce an extremely sharp ring
was quickly dismissed because collisions between ring edge, if it is located at an exact orbital resonance with the
particles would cause them to spread out into a broader satellite. Examples of sharp edges produced by resonances
ring over time. In order to explain the existence of narrow with the satellites Cordelia and Ophelia are the inner and
rings, theorists postulated the existence of small satellites outer edges of the ε ring, the outer edge of the δ ring and
near the rings, termed SHEPHERD MOONS, that would confine the inner edge of the γ ring.
the particles through their gravitational interaction. This Elliptical ring orbits exhibit PRECESSION, which is a slow
idea was borne out by VOYAGER’s discovery of Prometheus change in the orientation of the ellipse. The precession of
and Pandora, two satellites that shepherd the narrow the ring orbits is caused by the oblate mass distribution
F ring of Saturn. Voyager also discovered Cordelia within Uranus, and the rate of this motion gives us
and Ophelia, the two shepherd satellites of the ε ring. information about the interior structure of the planet.
However, pairs of shepherd satellites have not yet been Here we can consider the rings as ‘test particles’ moving
identified for the other Uranian rings, so the mechanism(s) within Uranus’ gravitational field. From their precessional
for maintaining narrow rings may not be completely motions, two of the gravitational harmonic coefficients
identified. have been precisely established (J2 = 3.3434 × 10−3 and
In the two decades following their discovery, about J4 = −2.89 × 10−5 ). These allow the computation of the
20 stellar occultations by the rings were observed, Uranian internal density distribution, which provides a
mostly in methane bands where the background light constraint on allowable interior models for Uranus.

Figure 1. Discovery observations of the Uranian rings from the

Kuiper Airborne Observatory. The intensity of starlight before
and after Uranus occulted the star is plotted versus distance
from the center of the planet. Nine dips were observed on each
side, which occurred at the same radius, indicating that Uranus
is encircled by a system of narrow rings. (After Elliot J L 1979 Figure 2. Voyager observations of the Uranian ring system. The
Stellar occultation studies of the solar system Ann. Rev. Astron. three faint rings in the lower right are (in order of increasing
Astrophys. 17 445–75. Reprinted, with permission, from the radius) 6, 5 and 4; these are followed by α, β, η, γ , δ and ε. The λ
Annual Reviews of Astronomy and Astrophysics Volume 17, ©1979, ring is not visible. Ring ε contains the most material and is the
by Annual Reviews www.AnnualReviews.org.) brightest because it reflects the most sunlight. (Courtesy
NASA/JPL/Caltech.)
The largest ring of the system (ε) has a minimum

radial width of 20 km (at PERIAPSIS, its closest distance to material in the ring in a way that is independent of the
Uranus) and a maximum 96 km (at APOAPSIS, its furthest angle at which the ring occults a star or other source of
distance). This width is a strict linear function of the radiation. For most rings the equivalent depth is the
ring radius, which implies that the precessions of the same all around the ring, indicating a constant amount
individual particle orbits are ‘locked’ at the same rate. of material at each longitude of the ring orbit. Equivalent
If the precession rates were not all the same, then the depth has the dimensions of length.
orbits of the particles in the outer parts of the ring would Rings 6, 5 and 4 have a structure similar to each
precess more slowly than those for the particles closer to other, being very narrow with equivalent depths of 0.8,
the planet, and the radial width of the ring would become 1.8 and 1.4 km. These rings have variable widths, but
uniform around the ring. The radial widths of rings α and the widths do not correlate with orbital radius (as they
β also vary linearly as with distance from the planet, but do for the α, β and ε rings). The Voyager occultation
the variation is only 4.5 to 10.5 km for the α ring and 5.5 data reveal significant internal structure. Rings α and β
to 12 km for the β ring. One mechanism proposed for are more substantial, with equivalent depths of 6.0 km
maintaining the locked precession of the particle orbits is and 3.8 km respectively. These rings rarely exhibit the
the gravity of the ring particles themselves, but this has sharp edges characteristic of resonances with satellites
not been conclusively proven to be the case. (two sharp-edged profiles were observed for the α ring
In discussing the structure of the Uranian rings, in the Voyager data). Rings γ and δ are concentrated, with
one property of interest is the equivalent depth, which equivalent depths of 6.6 km and 4.1 km. Each of these rings
is the optical depth (minus the natural logarithm of the has an excited normal mode, with an amplitude of 5 km for
ring transmission) integrated along the radial direction. the γ ring and 3 km for the δ ring. The δ ring may also have
Thus the equivalent depth measures the amount of an internal density wave. The η ring is unique, with a sharp

drag from Uranus’ exosphere. One can then estimate how

long these processes could have been operating in the past,
which sets limits on the age of the rings. Estimates along
these lines suggest ring ages of a few × 106 years—much
less than the age of the solar system (4.5 × 109 yr).
Bibliography
Elliot J and Kerr R 1984 Rings: Discoveries from Galileo to
Voyager (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press)
Elliot J L and Nicholson P D 1984 The rings of Uranus
Planetary Rings ed R Greenberg and A Brahic (Tucson,
AZ: University of Arizona Press) pp 25–72
Esposito L W, Brahic A, Burns J A and Marouf E A
1991 Particle properties and processes in Uranus’
rings Uranus ed J T Bergstrahl, E D Miner and M S
Matthews (Tucson, AZ: University of Arizona Press)
Figure 3. Occultation profile of the ε ring. This graph shows the
normal radio opacity (optical depth) of the ring as a function of
pp 410–65
radius. Note the sharp inner and outer edges caused by orbital French R G, Nicholson P D, Porco C C and Marouf E A 1991
resonances with Cordelia and Ophelia and the detailed internal Dynamics and structure of the Uranian rings Uranus
structure. Below the dashed line, the variations are mostly due ed J T Bergstralh, E D Miner and M S Matthews
to noise, rather than structure of the ring. (After Gresh D L, (Tucson, AZ: University of Arizona Press) pp 327–409
Marouf E A, Tyler G L, Rosen P A and Simpson R A 1989
Voyager radio occultation by Uranus’ rings. I. Observational
results Icarus 78 131–68.) J L Elliot
inner feature (similar to rings 4, 5 and 6) and an adjacent

broad, low-optical-depth component about 55 km in radial
extent and with a sharp outer edge. Both components of
the η ring follow circular orbits in the equatorial plane
of Uranus. The λ ring is tenuous and clumpy, with an
equivalent depth of only 0.1 km. Finally, the ε ring has
very sharp inner and outer edges and an equivalent depth
of 83.8 km. Its occultation profile has a ‘W’ shape, showing
that its material becomes more concentrated at its edges
(figure 3).
The rings are very flat—with a vertical thickness
(perpendicular to the plane of their orbits) of only a few
tens of meters. The ring particles themselves are dark, with
ALBEDOS of a few per cent. Comparison of the occultation
profiles of the rings at different wavelengths reveals that
they contain very few particles smaller than centimeter
sizes, with particle sizes tens of centimeters having been
inferred in the ε ring. A Voyager image of the rings (in
forward scattered sunlight) shows a small population of
micron-sized dust particles in the ring system.
Compared with the other ring systems, Uranus’ rings
have less material than those of Saturn, but more than
the ring systems of Jupiter and Neptune (see JUPITER: RINGS
NEPTUNE: RINGS). All the Uranian rings lie inside the ROCHE
LIMIT, which is the smallest radius for which a body can
remain intact by its self-gravitational forces alone (without
being pulled apart by the tidal forces from Uranus). For
a satellite (such as Cordelia and Ophelia) to exist within
this region, it must have sufficiently high density and/or
tensile strength to prevent the tidal forces from Uranus
breaking it up. In fact, each of the rings could have formed
in this manner. Once formed, a ring is subject to erosion
processes, such as radiation drag, meteoroid impact and

Urey, Harold Clayton (1893–1981) E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
Urey, Harold Clayton (1893–1981)

Chemist, born in Walkerton, Indiana, Nobel prizewinner
for Chemistry in 1934 ‘for his discovery of heavy
hydrogen’. It was at Columbia University that he isolated
the isotope deuterium by distilling liquid hydrogen; in
the Second World War, he directed the effort to separate
uranium-235 from uranium-238 for the atomic bomb. At
the University of Chicago, he worked on the origin of the
elements, their abundance in stars, and the origin of the
planets, including the chemical properties of the Earth.
He invented a technique that used oxygen isotope-bearing
minerals to date rocks and to measure paleohistoric water
temperatures (see MILUTIN MILANKOVITCH). He analysed
lunar rocks from the Apollo missions.

Ursa Major E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
See also: Groombridge 1830, Mizar and Alcor, Plough.

Ursa Major
(the Great Bear; abbrev. UMa, gen. Ursae Majoris; area
1280 sq. deg.) a northern constellation which lies between
Draco and Leo Minor–Leo–Canes Venatici, and culminates
at midnight in mid March. Its origin is uncertain, though
it was known to the ancient Greeks, who identified it
with two mythological figures—Callisto, a mortal who
was turned into a bear after having fallen victim to Zeus’s
passion and whom he placed for safety in the sky, and
Adrasteia, a Cretan nymph who raised the infant Zeus
and whom in gratitude he placed among the stars. Its
brightest stars were cataloged by Ptolemy (c. AD 100–175)
in the Almagest.
The third-largest and probably the best known of
the constellations, Ursa Major is easily recognized by the
asterism of the Plough or Big Dipper, formed by seven of
its brightest stars, α, β, γ , δ, , ζ and η, which since ancient
times has been used for navigation, as a line drawn from β
through α Ursa Majoris points to α Ursae Minoris (Polaris),
a second-magnitude star that lies within 1◦ of the north
celestial pole. The brightest stars of Ursa Major are ε Ursae
Majoris (Alioth), magnitude 1.8, α Ursae Majoris (Dubhe),
a very close binary with orange (K0) and pale yellow
(F0) components, magnitudes 2.0 and 4.9 (combined
magnitude 1.8), separation 0.7 , period 44.4 years, η Ursae
Majoris (Alkaid or Benetnasch), magnitude 1.9, ζ Ursae
Majoris (Mizar), a multiple system consisting of two
white (A2 and A7) components, magnitudes 2.3 and 3.9,
separation 14.4 , both of which have a fainter companion,
which forms a wide optical double with 80 Ursae Majoris
(Alcor), magnitude 4.0, separation 11.8 , β Ursae Majoris
(Merak), magnitude 2.3, and γ Ursae Majoris, magnitude
2.4. There are 13 other stars of magnitude 4.0 or brighter.
The five central stars of the Plough (β, γ , δ, and ζ Ursae
Majoris) are part of the Ursa Major Moving Cluster, which
is the closest star cluster to the Sun, its center being about
75 light-years distant.
Another interesting multiple star system is ξ Ursae
Majoris (Alula Australis), which consists of two yellow
(G0) components, magnitudes 4.3 and 4.8 (combined
magnitude 3.8), separation 0.9–3.1 , period 59.8 years,
the former of which has an unseen companion which
revolves around it in 669 days, and the latter two unseen
companions, one of which revolves around it in 3.98 days.
The main components were the first binary system to have
an orbit computed, by M Savary in 1828. Other interesting
stars include Lalande 21185 (magnitude 7.5), which, at a
distance of 8.3 light-years, is the fourth closest star to the
Sun, and Groombridge 1830 (magnitude 6.4), which has
the third largest proper motion of any star.
Other interesting objects include M81 (NGC 3031), a
seventh-magnitude spiral galaxy, its near neighbor M82
(NGC 3034), an eighth-magnitude irregular, starburst
galaxy which is thought to have experienced disruption
following a near-collision with the much more massive
M81 some 40 million years ago, and M101 (NGC 5457), an
eighth-magnitude face-on spiral galaxy.

Ursa Minor E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
Ursa Minor
(the Little Bear; abbrev. UMi, gen. Ursae Minoris; area
256 sq. deg.) a northern circumpolar constellation which
is surrounded on three sides by Draco and includes the
north celestial pole. Its origin is uncertain, though it was
known to the ancient Greeks, who identified it with Ida, a
Cretan nymph who helped her sister, Adrasteia, raise the
infant Zeus and whom in gratitude Zeus placed among
the stars alongside Adrasteia (who is represented by the
neighboring constellation of Ursa Major). Its brightest
stars were cataloged by Ptolemy (c. AD 100–175) in the
Almagest.
A small, rather inconspicuous constellation, Ursa
Minor’s only claim to fame is that its brightest star, α Ursae
Minoris (Polaris or Alrucaba), lies within 1◦ of the north
celestial pole. α Urase Minoris is actually a triple system
with pale yellow (F7 and F3) components, the primary of
which is a Cepheid variable (range 1.86–2.13 decreasing,
period 3.97 days) and the secondary a star of magnitude
8.2, separation 18.4 , and a third, unseen component which
revolves around the primary in 30.5 years. There are
two other stars brighter than magnitude 4.0: β Ursae
Majoris (Kochab), magnitude 2.1, and γ Ursae Majoris
(Pherkad), magnitude 3.0, which together are known as
the ‘Guardians of the Pole’. The seven brightest stars of
the constellation (β, γ , η, ζ , ε, δ and α) form an asterism
similar to the Plough and are sometimes called the Little
Dipper.
There are no bright star clusters, nebulae or galaxies
in the constellation, the brightest being NGC 6217, an
eleventh-magnitude spiral galaxy.
See also: Polaris.

US Astronomy E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
There are numerous sources of non-federal funding

US Astronomy for astronomy. These include private organizations,
As the 19th century ended, astronomy underwent a period private universities, state universities, state and local
of rapid growth in the United States, a growth that was governments and private foundations. The amount of
fueled by both the expansion of the university system non-federal funding for astronomical research is difficult
and private philanthropy and which also paralleled the to determine owing to the broad array of sources.
growth in astrophysical research. For the first half of the Universities typically provide a significant level of support
20th century, the US government took little interest in the through salaries for faculty members. Private universities
funding of astronomical research, concentrating on those such as the California Institute of Technology or Harvard
aspects of astronomy that were of greatest commercial University as well as public universities such as the
and military interest: navigation and the determination University of California or the University of Texas also
of time. use institutional funds to support observatory operations.
Following World War II, the involvement of the US Among private organizations, the Carnegie Institution of
government in funding all branches of science grew and Washington and the Lowell Endowment provide ongoing
the National Science Foundation (NSF) established and operating funds for specific observatories while other
built the national observatories. With the birth of space groups such as the Keck Foundation, the Sloan Foundation
astronomy in the 1960s, the National Aeronautics and and the Ford Foundation have provided substantial
Space Administration (NASA) became a major force in funding for the construction of observatories or for specific
astronomical research. Despite an increasing government research projects.
presence, there remained a steady source of private
and institutional funds contributing to the operations of Facilities
astronomical facilities and to the support of research. To effectively study the diverse array of objects in the uni-
Together with this growth in funding came steady growth verse, observations must be made using all wavelengths
in the number of practicing research astronomers in the of electromagnetic radiation. Some wavelengths of light
US, a number which grew more than six-fold in the three are not able to penetrate the Earth’s atmosphere. Some
decades from 1960 to 1990. methods of observation require extensive instrumentation.
Some direct physical data are gleaned from analysis of col-
Funding sources lected cosmic dust particles or meteoritic material. For
The dominant portion of US government funding for these reasons, observations must take place both from the
astronomy is provided through two agencies, NASA and surface of the Earth and from space.
the NSF. Other agencies supporting astronomical research In the United States, observatories are funded by the
include the Department of Defense, the Department Federal Government and through private sources. The
of Energy and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric NSF owns the facilities of and contracts for the operations
Administration. of the National Observatories. These are as follows:
NASA currently provides about 80% of the total
federal funding, with most of the balance provided by • the National Optical Astronomy Observatories, with
the NSF. NASA funds astronomy through the Office of observatories on KITT PEAK, Arizona, CERRO TOLOLO,
Space Science (OSS), which had a budget of 2.1 billion Chile, and Sunspot, New Mexico;
dollars in fiscal year (FY) 1999. This office funds the • The NATIONAL RADIO ASTRONOMY OBSERVATORY, with
planning, construction, launch and operation of space- observatories at Green Bank, West Virginia, Socorro,
based astronomical observing facilities. It also provides New Mexico, and Kitt Peak, Arizona;
funding for the archiving and analysis of data from space • the National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center at
missions. Furthermore, the OSS operates some high- ARECIBO, Puerto Rico.
altitude observing facilities, which fly on balloons or

In addition:
airplanes.
The NSF division of astronomical sciences (AST) • The NSF provides operational support to a number
operates within the Mathematical and Physical Science of university radio astronomy facilities and the NSF
directorate of the agency. Its budget for FY 1999 Office of Polar Programs, which operates several
was 119 million dollars. The NSF operates several astronomical facilities at the South Pole,
national observing facilities, directly funds astronomical • the NSF is a member of an international optical
researchers and provides some funding for educational telescope partnership named GEMINI, which has
purposes. The NSF also provides funding for the design, built two identical telescopes, one in the northern
development and construction of national ground-based hemisphere and one in the southern hemisphere (the
observational facilities. In FY 1999, 8 million dollars United States funds approximately 48% of the overall
was allocated for the design and development phases budget; see GEMINI OBSERVATORY).
of the ATACAMA LARGE MILLIMETER Array (ALMA, formerly
known as the MMA or millimeter array), an international The non-federally funded observatories are mainly
collaboration. supported through universities, consortia of universities

or private foundations. Many observatories operate Toward the end of the 1990s there has been a leveling
with mixed sources of funding. For example, some off and even a decrease in the number of students pursuing
observatories are constructed using university funds or studies in physics and astronomy at the undergraduate
with grants from private foundations and then rely and graduate levels in American universities. Almost
on grants from the federal agencies to provide funds all graduate students in astronomy or astrophysics have
for development and construction of instruments and prepared themselves for graduate study by obtaining an
sometimes for operations. undergraduate degree in either physics or astronomy.
In the last 10 yr, NASA has launched three of Among astronomy PhD recipients from US institutions
the four so-called ‘Great Observatories’. These include in 1997, 19% were female and 27% were not US citizens
the HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE, the CHANDRA X-RAY OBSERVATORY (source: American Institute of Physics, 1997 Graduate
and the COMPTON GAMMA-RAY OBSERVATORY. The final Great Student Report).
Observatory, the SPACE INFRARED TELESCOPE FACILITY, is About six out of every ten astronomers in the United
scheduled for launch in December 2001. These satellites States are employed in academic institutions, colleges or
have radically changed our view of the universe and
universities, and slightly over half of these are in tenured
provided unprecedented discoveries unattainable from
or tenure-track positions. Most of the others are working
the ground.
in federal laboratories or research centers or for industrial
In addition to the Great Observatories series, NASA
contractors supporting these centers.
has a range of other missions from small to large. There
are several major mission programs including Discovery,
Explorer, Mars Exploration and New Millennium. Each Research publications
mission has specific goals. Discovery missions explore The bulk of the research published in the United States
objects within our solar system such as planets, moons appears in one of the four scholarly journals published
and other small bodies. The Explorer program provides by the astronomical societies. The AMERICAN ASTRONOMICAL
frequent flight opportunities at three separate funding SOCIETY (AAS) publishes The Astrophysical Journal, The
levels for missions that support one of the four major Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series and The Astronomical
themes of the Office of Space Science: university (less Journal. The ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY OF THE PACIFIC (ASP)
than $7.5 million), small (less than $71 million) and publishes The Publications of the Astronomical Society of the
medium (less than $140 million). These themes are the Pacific. In addition, there is a section of The Physical Review
Astronomical Search for Origins, Planetary Systems, The (published by the American Physical Society) devoted
Sun–Earth Connection and the Structure and Evolution of
to astrophysical research, and both Icarus (Academic
the Universe.
Press) and The Journal of Geophysical Research (American
NASAmaintains 15 research centers across the United
Geophysical Union) publish research in planetary and
States, each of which fulfills various portions of NASA’s
space physics.
overall mission. The centers most closely associated
with astronomy missions include the GODDARD SPACE Annual Reviews, Inc., publishes a review volume,
FLIGHT CENTER in Greenbelt, Maryland, the JET PROPULSION
The Annual Review of Astronomy and Astrophysics. The
LABORATORY in Pasadena, California, and MARSHALL SPACE
Astronomical Society of the Pacific and the American
FLIGHT CENTER in Huntsville, Alabama.
Institute of Physics are the principal publishers of
NASA has led the way in archiving astronomical conference proceedings.
data. It has created numerous facilities such as the Hubble As technology has developed in recent years, there
Data Archive, the Astronomical Data Center, the Planetary has been an increasing use of on-line preprint posting
Node system and the Astrophysics Data System, which services for rapid dissemination of research results. The
provide researchers access to archival data. most popular of these is part of the arXiv e-print archive
There has been a recent trend toward major projects, service hosted at the Los Alamos National Laboratory
whether on the ground or in space, being undertaken (http://xxx.lanl.gov/archive/astro-ph).
through international collaborations because of the large
costs and complexity of the projects. This trend is likely to Amateur astronomers in the US
continue into the near future.
Astronomy appeals to nearly everyone. Since the sky is
Demographics and employment patterns accessible to all, astronomy is blessed with a large and
After a decade of rapid growth in the 1980s, the number of active amateur community. The US has a number of
astronomers in the United States has grown more slowly amateur organizations that serve many diverse purposes.
but steadily in the 1990s. The median age of astronomical These range from small local clubs that meet regularly
researchers has remained approximately the same, but the to exchange advice on telescopes and host ‘star parties’
age distribution has widened somewhat with the number to large national organizations that coordinate research
of astronomers in the age range from 35 to 50 decreasing activities easily performed by amateurs. Some of the larger
from about 50% at the end of the 1980s to 40% at the end national organizations that include amateurs are listed in
of the 1990s. table 1.

Table 1. Larger national organizations.
Organization Purpose Webpage

AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF VARIABLE
STAR OBSERVERS (AAVSO) Variable star research www.aavso.org
Astronomical Society of the Pacific Education, outreach www.aspsky.org
Astronomical League Observation www.astroleague.org
INTERNATIONAL DARK SKY ASSOCIATION Light pollution control www.ida.org
Summary
Astronomy in the United States is ending a period that
has lasted a few years more than a century and has seen
the US emerge as a world leader in astronomical research.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the US was leading
observational astronomy into an era of increasingly
powerful and sophisticated telescopes. The 40 in refractor
had just been commissioned and the two powerful
telescopes on MOUNT WILSON were in the near future. When
these were put to work, our view of the universe changed
completely. Edwin HUBBLE explored the extragalactic
distance scale and we began to understand the expansion
of the universe. These discoveries, in turn, spurred the
construction of newer, more powerful telescopes such as
the 200 in Hale telescope. Following the discovery of radio
waves from cosmic sources, powerful instruments such as
the Very Large Array were commissioned (see VERY LARGE
ARRAY NATIONAL RADIO ASTRONOMY OBSERVATORY). The United
States led the way in space beginning in the 1960s and
opened new and previously unexplored regions of the
electromagnetic spectrum for astronomical observations.
A series of increasingly ambitious and complex spacecraft
were built and operated, leading finally to NASA’s Great
Observatory Series, which reaches completion in the early
years of the 21st century.
At the beginning of the 21st century, American
astronomers have access to an unprecedented suite
of instruments and techniques with which to observe
the heavens. New technology has made possible the
construction of telescopes of a size that was inconceivable
a generation ago, and the Keck Telescopes, at 10 m each,
have led the way in showing what can be achieved with
such powerful instruments. The successors to the NASA
instruments of the 1990s are being planned even while the
current generation is at its peak of performance.
Kevin B Marvel and Robert W Milkey

US Naval Observatory E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
US Naval Observatory
The US Naval Observatory is the oldest astronomical
observatory in the United States, and the oldest
continuously operating scientific institution in the US
government. Founded in 1830 as a Depot of Charts
and Instruments for rating chronometers and maintaining
navigational instruments, by 1844 it had become the
first national observatory of the United States, analogous
to the ROYAL OBSERVATORY IN GREENWICH, England. The
observatory’s headquarters are located in Washington,
DC, including the historic 0.66 m refractor used to discover
the two moons of Mars in 1877. The observatory’s largest
telescope, a 1.55 m astrometric reflector, is located at its
station in Flagstaff, Arizona. The observatory’s mission
has always been to aid in the improvement of navigation
as well as to conduct basic research in astronomy. Today,
it provides the national time service for the United States,
determines the precise positions and motions of celestial
bodies, measures Earth rotation parameters including
polar motion, and produces a variety of almanacs for use
by astronomers, navigators and the general public.
http://www.usno.navy.mil/

Ussher, James (1581–1656) E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
Ussher, James (1581–1656)

The Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland,
Ussher was a churchman and a scholar. He correlated
Middle Eastern and Mediterranean histories with Jewish
genealogies of the Old Testament, and the resulting
chronology was incorporated into the Authorized Version
of the Bible of 1701. The chronology established the year of
creation as 4004 BC. Lightfoot followed Ussher, improving
on Ussher’s accuracy by declaring that the Earth had been
created at 6:00 a.m. on 26 October 4004 BC. The dates of
other biblical events followed, for example, that Adam and
Eve were driven from Paradise on Monday 10 November
4004 BC, and that the Ark landed on Mount Ararat on 5 May
1491 BC, ‘on a Wednesday’. Ussher was a great scholar,
if over-literal in his analysis of the Bible. He collected
the earliest available manuscripts into his library, which
formed the nucleus of the great library of Trinity College,
Dublin.

Valles Marineris E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
Valles Marineris
A complex system of canyons on Mars, centered at 11.6 ◦ S,
70.7 ◦ W, stretching for a total of 4128 km in the east–west
direction just south of the equator, and reaching depths
of over 6 km. It is named after the Mariner probes which
returned the first close-up images of the planet’s surface,
and is also referred to as Mariner Valley. Individual
sections of the systems are termed chasmata. At its western
end, where the system abuts the faulted area at the east
of the Tharsis Bulge known as Noctis Labyrinthus, lie
Tithonium Chasma and, to its south, Ius Chasma. To their
east, the system expands into the three parallel canyons
named, from north to south, Ophir Chasma, Candor
Chasma and Melas Chasma. To the northwest lies the
unconnected Hebes Chasma. The main system continues
eastward with Coprates Chasma, and then opens out, via
Capri Chasma to the north and Eos Chasma to the south,
into the so-called chaotic terrain of the region known as
Margaritifer Sinus.
Valles Marineris was created largely by faulting, but
other forces have been at work. The deep branching
valleys running into the southern edge of Ius Chasma
suggest erosion by groundwater, while at the eastern end
are teardrop-shaped islands suggestive of flowing water.
Close up views of Coprates and the other central chasmata
clearly reveal the presence of layered sediments, which
could only have been deposited under water.
See also: Mars: surface.

Valongo Observatory E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
Valongo Observatory
The Valongo Observatory, part of the Federal University of
Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), sited in downtown Rio de Janeiro,
Brazil, was founded in 1881. Its main activity is scientific
research in the field of astronomy, carried out by its staff
of twelve astronomers. The professors/researchers keep
scientific collaboration programs with other institutions at
both national and international levels. The main research
areas are: fundamental astronomy, stellar astrophysics, in-
terstellar medium, extragalactic astronomy and laboratory
astrophysics. Funding comes chiefly from the Brazilian
government agencies. The Valongo Observatory offers an
undergraduate course in astronomy, attended by approx-
imately 90 students. Its astronomical instruments include
an original turn of the century Thomas Cook & Sons 30 cm
refractor telescope, and a Zeiss reflector of 15 cm, for un-
dergraduate teaching. As extracurricular activities, there
is a visitation program offered to the general public, also
serving secondary schools, which features telescopic ob-
servations and conferences given twice a month.
http://www.ufrj.br/ov.

Van Allen Belts E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
Van Allen Belts

Two toroidal regions surrounding the Earth which contain
trapped charged particles, discovered by James Van Allen.
See: Magnetosphere of Earth: radiation belts.

Van Allen, James (1914–) E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
Van Allen, James (1914–)

Magnetospheric physicist, born in Mount Pleasant, Iowa,
discovered the Van Allen belts that surround Earth. After
war-time service, Van Allen used V-2 rockets on high-
altitude experiments, specifying a replacement rocket,
the Aerobee, when supplies of the V-2 ran out. During
the International Geophysical Year (1957–8), the first
American satellite, Explorer 1, carried a micrometeorite
detector and a cosmic ray experiment designed by Van
Allen. Data from Explorer 1 and Explorer 3 (launched 26
March 1958) revealed the existence of a doughnut-shaped
region of charged particle radiation trapped by Earth’s
magnetic field. Later in 1958, Pioneer 3 led to the discovery
of a second radiation belt.

van de Kamp, Peter (1901–95) E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
van de Kamp, Peter (1901–95)

Astronomer, born in Kampen, Netherlands, became
director of the Sproul Observatory and professor at
Swarthmore College, PA. He worked on the astrometric
measurement of proper motions of stars across the sky
and discovered oscillations in their paths. He interpreted
the deflections as due to the revolution of planetary
systems around the stars. The oscillations have not
been confirmed, and many astronomers think that they
were instrumental effects caused by the telescopes and
measurement techniques.

van Maanen, Adriaan (1884–1947) E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
van Maanen, Adriaan (1884–1947)

Dutch astronomer, became a member of the Mount Wilson
staff, and studied the rotation of spiral nebulae as a means
to establish their distances. His detection of rotational
motions was illusory and misleadingly suggested that they
were relatively nearby. Through its proper motion and
parallax, he discovered the white dwarf van Maanen’s star.

Van Maanen’s Star E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
Van Maanen’s Star

This star in the constellation of Pisces, although faint, is
of much importance as it is the nearest readily observable
white dwarf—a class of star of considerable significance
in studies of stellar evolution. The white dwarfs Sirius B
and Procyon B are both closer, but their proximity to their
much brighter companions makes them very difficult to
study as individual stars.
Van Maanen’s Star, also known by the catalog
designation Wolf 28, is situated about 2◦ south of δ
Piscium. It was discovered in 1917 by the Dutch-American
astronomer Adriaan Van Maanen (1884–1946), from a
comparison of plates exposed in 1914 and 1917, to have the
large proper motion of 2.978 per annum. Its spectrum is
classified DG. With a parallax of 0.227 , it is only 14.4 light-
years distant, yet its apparent magnitude is only 12.37,
indicating that it has a very low intrinsic luminosity (its
absolute magnitude is 14.1). It has been estimated that its
diameter may be no more than 12 500 km, comparable to
that of the Earth.
See also: white dwarfs.

Van Vleck Observatory E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
Van Vleck Observatory

The Van Vleck Observatory on the campus of Wesleyan
University in Middletown, Connecticut, was built in the
years 1914–16 upon the disassociation of the departments
of mathematics and astronomy. It was named in memory
of John Monroe Van Vleck, Professor of Natural Science at
Wesleyan throughout much of the nineteenth century.
The primary instrument of the observatory is a visual
refracting telescope of 0.5 m aperture and a focal length
of 8.41 m. The crown and flint lenses were made by
C A R Lundin of the Alvan Clark Co. and were installed on
a Warner and Swasey mounting in 1992. The two lenses
are separated by about 10 cm, allowing cleaning of all
surfaces without disturbing them. Their alignment has
thus not been altered, and this and other features make the
refractor among the best for astronomical research. Since
1992, the telescope has been mainly used to determine
trigonometric parallaxes and proper motions of many
hundreds of faint nearby stars. In the last few decades
the Van Vleck astrometric program has been one of the
leaders in the use of parallaxes to respond to problems in
stellar astrophysics.
In 1971, a 0.6 cm reflecting telescope was obtained
from the estate of Richard Perkin, founder of the Perkin-
Elmer Corp. Like the refractor, the on-campus site of
this instrument has encouraged a monitoring program
using photoelectric photometry and later CCD imaging
capability, of properties of T Tauri variables and other
young stars. The department of astronomy offers the
BA and MA degrees, and research programs on both
telescopes feature student participation at every level.
http://www.astro.wesleyan.edu/astro.html.

Variable Stars ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
transient spots on rotating stars, and rotating distorted

Variable Stars stars. All of these phenomena commonly occur, but early
assignments to particular stars were usually wrong.
Stars vary in many ways and for many reasons. Broad Pulsation was advocated only much later. Algol was
categories of variation include stars that pulsate, (correctly) said to eclipse by Pigott and Goodricke, but
fluoresce, become veiled, are disturbed by companions, both later favored other ideas. Curiously, the eclipse
erupt, explode and even change their spots. Variations hypothesis of Algol was cast into disrepute by discovery
may be episodic, irregular, semi-regular or periodic. A of variable stars that clearly were not eclipsing binaries,
separate wide class comprises the extrinsic variables such apparently from a wish to have all variables follow a
as eclipsing and tidally distorted binaries and single theory. Spots on rotating stars were very popular
gravitationally lensed stars, whose variations result from in the 1700s and 1800s, even for Mira, and have now
changing aspect, but here we survey the intrinsic returned for RS Canum Venaticorum, W Ursae Majoris,
variables. FK Comae and BY Draconis type binaries. As late as c.
The first recognized variable stars were novae and 1930, pulsating star velocity curves were fitted in terms
supernovae (‘new’ stars), with some very old records of orbital parameters, even when there was little or no
being astrophysically useful, chiefly because they fix the doubt about their pulsational origin. A common finding
accurate date of a stellar explosion. Although the ancient was that the orbit of a star’s unseen (and non-existent)
accounts are obscure and fragmentary and do not companion was actually inside the observed star. The
recognize modern distinctions (such as nova versus orbit parameters would be printed anyway after a
supernova), the type of event may still be discernible. For comment or two on the unphysical situation and the need
example, a supernova can be visible for 6 months or even to fit something. Although the reality of pulsation for
longer, whereas ordinary novae are prominent for a Long Period Variables (LPVs) and Cepheids was not
matter of weeks, so a nearby nova can mimic a distant seriously disputed, there was much uncertainty in sorting
supernova in brightness but is typically a much briefer true pulsators from a miscellany of competing
event. Observations of exploding stars go back to several phenomena. Most authors simply avoided explicit
centuries BC with records of some objects from two or mention of pulsation while discussing effects that
more places, and would go back further if not for library scarcely could be due to anything else, with an
burnings. The records were kept by imperial astrologers occasional remark that velocity variations might not
in China (later in Japan and Korea) as the ‘new’ stars really be due to line of sight motion of any kind. The
were considered important omens. Today’s telescopic popularity of pulsation was undeniable in the 1920s and
observations provide good statistics of novae, but useful 1930s, however, when up to 10% of Astrophysical
statistics of the infrequent supernovae in our Galaxy rely Journal papers concerned Cepheids and related stars—
on the old records. Events observed in other galaxies remarkably high for one subject. Nearly all contributions
have demonstrated enormous differences in scale were observational at that time, although major
between supernovae and novae. Theory has shown those theoretical advances had already been made by A Ritter
differences to be far greater than optical observations in the 1870s and 1880s and by A S Eddington in the
indicate, as supernovae release the vast bulk of their 1920s. Full acceptance of spectroscopy’s implications for
energy in invisible forms. the pulsation hypothesis took nearly a half century (c.
Except for novae, stars were regarded as constant 1890–1935), yet many kinds of pulsating stars were
until the mid to late 1600s, when the first non-eruptive eventually recognized as a direct consequence of the
variables were recognized. Most notable was the radial velocity and temperature changes discovered
pulsating red giant o Ceti (Mira, the Wonderful) with its spectroscopically. Not only the existence of radial
≈330d large-amplitude variations. An appearance and motion, but its phasing compared with that of light
disappearance of Mira had been noticed by D Fabricius curves, is a crucial discriminant among models.
in 1596, but was taken to be a nova. The early histories Realization that large numbers of variable stars exist
of intrinsic and extrinsic variables are inextricably linked, was slow to develop until the breakthrough of
as ideas about causes emerged only slowly over several photography. Only ≈10 non-exploding variables were
centuries. Systematic recording replaced casual notes known in the early 1800s, but the permanent records in
over the 1700s, with the improved records leading to photographic plates quickly extended the list into the
further discoveries. Thus θ Serpentis was conclusively hundreds between 1850 and 1900. Systematic
shown to be variable by E Pigott, confirming G photographic surveys in the 1900s at Harvard, Bamberg,
Montanari’s suspicions of a century earlier, and J Leiden and other observatories raised catalog listings into
Goodricke found periodic variation in δ Cephei, the the tens of thousands. Recent automated gravitational
prototype of Cepheid variables, and in the eclipsing lens surveys with electronic detectors have produced
binary β Lyrae. The improved records also led to some light curves of thousands of variables as a by-product of
success in identifying variation mechanisms. Speculation the surveys’ primary objective, thereby substantially
of the late 1700s cycled among eclipses, moving and
Brunel Road, Houndmills Basingstoke, Hampshire, RG21 6XS, UK Registered No. 785998
increasing the discovery rate. The General Catalog of although there probably is continuity in the overall class,
Variable Stars (‘GCVS’, Kholopov 1984) is a four- including Galactic distribution, space velocity and
volume listing of coordinates, types and other composition as well as light variation. There may also be
information on 28 211 variables of all kinds, nearly 70% continuity with ‘non-variable’ red giants, which probably
being intrinsic variables. A companion catalog of New have some variation. Spectra of LPVs and especially
Suspected Variables (‘NSV’, Kholopov 1982) contains Miras show prominent emission lines that are clearly due
14 811 stars of uncertain status. to pulsation, as non-variable red giants lack emission
A reasonably complete list of variable star types with lines but otherwise have similar spectra. More
minimal descriptions would exceed available space, but specifically, pulsation amplitude correlates with emission
the GCVS devotes five pages to descriptions. It line strength. Miras vary by up to 9m in blue light (a
recognizes 88 types of intrinsic variables, including 34 factor of ≈4000), but the enormous optical variations are
pulsating, 7 rotating, 10 x-ray, 22 eruptive and 15 caused by emission being ultra temperature-sensitive,
cataclysmic types (cataclysmic and other eruptive with the optical band lying far to the short-wavelength
variables are kept distinct). A standard naming side of the spectral energy peak. Bolometric amplitudes
convention allows immediate recognition of a star as are similar to those of Cepheids. A problem for
variable, although some bright variables have only their spectroscopy, especially prior to modern efficient
Bayer names. To begin the sequence, a single capital spectrographs and large telescope apertures, was the
letter is assigned alphabetically in order of discovery faintness of Miras near minimum light. Observations
from R to Z, then double letters RR, RS, …, RZ, then must cover full cycles if much is to be learned about
double letters AA, AB, … to AZ, then BB, BC, … to BZ, pulsation, and it was only in 1926 that A Joy produced
and ultimately to ZZ, followed by the constellation name the first complete velocity curve of Mira. The classical
(e.g. T CrB; ZZ Cet). Letter J is not used. Designations of Cepheids are highly luminous F and G type pulsating
the form V335 Cygni, V336 Cygni, etc. follow the 334 giants and supergiants that vary periodically up to
names of the letter system. roughly a magnitude. Periods range from a few days to
There is great interest in variable stars among over 100 days. Rather early it was realized that the
amateur astronomers, whose observations are important relation between period and mean density
indispensible for professionals. Not only visual
brightness estimates but phototube and charge-coupled
device (CCD) measures are now made available in large
quantities through bulletins, journals and especially the applies to Cepheids and several other prominent
Internet. Variable star organizations include the categories of pulsating stars. The relation exists because a
American Association of Variable Star Observers star’s dynamical timescale depends on its size and mass,
(AAVSO), the Association Française des Observateurs with some dependence on internal structure (thus a
d’Etoiles Variables (AFOEV), the British Astronomical different constant for each category). Stars with given
Association Variable Star Section (BAAVSS), HR diagram coordinates have the same size, but not
Bundesdeutsche Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Veränderliche necessarily the same mass and structure, so pulsation
Sterne (BAV), the Center for Backyard Astrophysics periods provide a link to structure and thereby to
(CBA), the Hungarian Astronomical Association, understanding evolution. The W Virginis stars, members
International Amateur-Professional Photoelectric of a very old Galactic population, pulsate with their own
Photometry (IAPPP), the Variable Star Group of the Pρ1/2 relation and are understood to be in a later
Astronomical Society of Southern Australia, Variable evolutionary stage than classical Cepheids, having lost
Star Network (VSNET), and the Variable Star Section of much of their original envelopes. Thus pulsation is an
the Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand. important evolutionary diagnostic that can even help
Information on all these organizations can be found via trace Galactic origins.
the Internet. Their imprints on professional astronomy In addition to the essentially periodic and roughly
date at least as far back as the 1920s—for example in periodic classes of pulsating stars, there are giants and
Joy’s use of an AAVSO Mira light curve in the 1926 supergiants of spectral classes F to M that pulsate
Astrophysical Journal. The role of such organizations is irregularly or semi-regularly. Curiously they lie mainly
rapidly expanding today. The central professional between the more regular Cepheids and LPVs in the HR
organization is Commission 27 of the International diagram. The less regular and typically redder of these
Astronomical Union. are known as RV Tauri stars, while the somewhat more
LPVs and Cepheid variables were not only regular ones are simply called yellow semi-regular
discovered early but still dominate our catalogs. LPVs variables. Periods, in so far as they can be quantified at
are pulsating red giant stars of great luminosity and are all, range from tens to thousands of days, and amplitudes
thereby rather easy to discover. The name Mira type is can be up to about four magnitudes. These stars may be
reserved for the LPVs of larger light amplitudes, interesting in terms of chaos theory, as some show

alternating cycles of larger and smaller amplitude that Entering the middle era, note that the eye can reliably
hint of the period doubling seen in the approach to chaos. judge brightness equality between two stars, a point well
appreciated and exploited by F W Herschel, J Herschel,
Brightness measurement Argelander, J Hartmann and K Schwarzschild, but eye
We have astrophysically useful records of the brightness estimates of inequality are notoriously subjective. The
variations of the supernovae of 1572 and 1604, as better visual work accordingly employed a variety of
observed by T Brahe and others and by J Kepler now obsolete ways to reduce the apparent brightness of
respectively, despite lack of light detection equipment one star by a known factor so as to equal that of another.
and even of telescopes 400 years ago. Their usefulness Techniques, sometimes applied also to photographic
illustrates two points about astronomical brightness observing, included partial aperture blocking with twin
measurement. First, although precision requirements are telescopes, extra-focal imaging, tapered neutral filters
stringent for small variations, they can be relaxed for (wedges), and crossed polarizers. Photographic
large variations. Second, in no case can we allow the magnitudes were extracted from diameters of focused
scale to be wrong, unless mere detection of variability is images or blackening of unfocused images. The modern
the only objective. One might expect eye estimates to be definition of astronomical magnitudes, relating
quantitatively useless, but Brahe’s and Kepler’s light magnitude (m) differences to light (l) ratios, m1 − m2 =
curves demonstrate otherwise. The situation has been −2.5 log (l1/l2), was suggested in 1850 by N Pogson.
saved by the ‘secret’ advantage of the photometric Simple as it may seem, Pogson’s contribution was
astronomer—the remarkable long-term constancy of crucially important, as the quantitative meaning of
normal stars. Brahe and Kepler recorded their magnitudes had previously been vague. The new
supernovas’ magnitudes relative to known stars that, as accuracy and increased time lines allowed period
far as we know, are essentially unchanged in brightness. changes to be measured, with S Newcomb’s text of 1884,
Modern photoelectric observations of the reference stars Astronomy, already mentioning period changes for Algol,
have accordingly placed the supernova estimates on an Mira and β Lyrae. The above-mentioned accuracy tricks
objective scale. Of course the old estimates are work only within small fields, so measurement of actual
subjective, but the largest overall errors are limited by the magnitudes, as opposed to ‘local’ magnitude differences,
magnitude spacings of reference stars. An estimation received a large boost with the arrival of photoelectric
method involving magnitude steps, introduced by F detectors. Invention of the photomultiplier tube in the
Argelander about 1840, further diminished maximum 1940s especially helped to surmount atmospheric
errors. attenuation problems via all-sky photometry, and also
The existence of natural constant brightness greatly improved accuracy of magnitude changes for
standards largely accounts for the accuracy of variable stars. Development of modern standard
astronomical photometry, which is typically better than magnitude systems began when photomultipliers came
that of laboratory photometry despite the disadvantage of into widespread use. Examples include the U, B, V, R, I,
observing through Earth’s irregular atmosphere. J, K, L wide-band systems and the uvby medium-band
Astronomers also have an advantage in the temperatures systems. A standard star has accurately known constant
of reference sources, as very hot laboratory standards magnitude in one or more standard systems (e.g. γ Oph
would vaporize their surroundings, while hot stars have has V = 3m.72, B = 3m.76), while a comparison star has
no surroundings to vaporize. Difficulties due to daylight (presumably) constant but not necessarily known
and weather as well as complete blockage of spectral magnitude. CCD detectors similar to those in video
regions are best dealt with by observing from space, cameras are now replacing photomultipliers because of
although many less severe problems have been their ability to measure many sources simultaneously and
minimized through a variety of clever techniques. thus provide for accurate differential photometry. New
The history of star brightness measurement can practical problems have arisen out of the enormous
roughly be divided into an early era of qualitative notes quantities of data coming from CCD photometry.
(c. 1600 to c. 1800), a middle era of quantitative but Advanced computer technology is being applied to
inaccurate estimation by eye or photography (beginning storage and distribution problems, in some cases with
c. 1800 and still somewhat active), and a recent era of data collection directly from the detecting equipment.
accurate quantitative measurement with various Automatic telescope operation is becoming ever more
electronic detectors (beginning c. 1910). Even the early widespread in many spectral regions, not only in
qualitative work was a major improvement on the discovery modes (as in extra-Galactic supernova
unplanned occasional notices of preceding times. It made searches) and quick follow-up on γ and x-ray transients,
possible the discovery of periodic variation and, coupled but also in routine observation of known variables. The
with long baselines in time, even accurate periods. Thus acronym APT, for Automatic Photometric Telescope,
Goodricke estimated Algol’s period in 1784 with an implies remotely operated, programmable instruments
uncertainty of less than a minute out of 2.87 days. that are primarily used for variable star research.
Astrophysical importance of variable stars separable changes in surface brightness and size.
The scientific value of variable stars can be seen in two ‘Wesselink radii’ (after A Wesselink) require three kinds
issues—why they vary (theory) and what their variations of accurate observations—a radial velocity curve, a light
allow us to measure (observation). The theoretical point curve and a color index curve (briefly ‘color curve’—
connects physical makeup with behavior, while the formed by differencing light curves (in magnitudes) for
observational one concerns properties such as size, two effective wavelengths). Color curves of Cepheids
distance and internal structure that are measurable or resemble their light curves at first glance, having smaller
estimable because of variation. amplitudes and subtly different shapes. Points with given
Most astronomical distance estimates are based on color occur at paired times that are close together near a
the standard candle method, a comparison of apparent color maximum or minimum and well separated at
and intrinsic brightness. The extra-Galactic distance scale intermediate color. The basic idea is that color index is a
is an important application, and distances to multiple reliable indicator of Teff and therefore of surface
stars and clusters within our Galaxy also are found from brightness. However, a quantitative relation to predict
embedded standard candles. The method applies to any surface brightness from color is not needed—just the
stellar group that contains a standard candle and whose reasonable assumption that when the star returns to a
diameter is small compared with its distance. Good given color it also returns to the ‘original’ surface
standard candles are consistent (small luminosity range brightness. Any change in observable light, l, between
among individuals), highly luminous (for observation at those two times is due to changed surface area, so the
great distance) and reliably recognizable. Variable stars ratio of radii at the two times is
naturally satisfy the recognition requirement, while some
types satisfy the other requirements reasonably well and
in some cases quite well. Cepheids, being giants and
supergiants, can be observed in distant galaxies.
Individual Cepheids differ in luminosity by factors up to
about 100 and so might seem not to satisfy the The difference of radii follows from an integration
consistency requirement, but H Leavitt discovered (c. between the corresponding points on the radial velocity
1905) that Cepheid luminosities are closely related to curve,
their directly measurable periods of brightness variation.
After calibration, the period–luminosity (P–L) relation
allows Cepheids to be used as standard candles, although
essentially correct calibration required another half-
century and is still being refined. However, even faulty Now having both ratio and difference, we find the
early calibrations established distances to galaxies that individual radii at the two times. Repeating the procedure
were correct to an order of magnitude and thereby helped for many time pairs, we find the run of R with time. The
elucidate the nature of the ‘spiral nebulae’ and the scale fundamental assumption that surface brightness is a
of the Universe. Early applications were E Hertzsprung’s unique function of color for a given star may not be quite
distance estimate for the Small Magellanic Cloud and H true, but is close enough for useful applications. With
Shapley’s work on the extra-Galactic distance scale, actual radii in kilometers and with model stellar
following E Hubble’s discovery of Cepheids in several atmosphere predictions of surface emission per unit area,
galaxies. The distinction between Galactic and extra- a final step computes luminosities. The method is one of
Galactic objects was well established by 1925, five years the few direct means to find accurate radii of giant stars
after the famous Shapley–Curtis debates, when Hubble and to calibrate P–L relations.
found 11 Cepheids in galaxy NGC 6822 and derived a Another natural situation to exploit is the existence
distance. The Hubble Space Telescope and large ground- of variable stars in binaries and multiple star systems,
based telescopes have recently produced important where the variable star and binary star characteristics
increases in the Cepheid distance limit. Several kinds of should be compatible if our evolutionary understanding is
exploding stars have very high luminosity, but Type Ia correct. For example, the age of a variable should agree
supernovae are best for recognition and consistency, in with that of its companion(s), and its absolute dimensions
addition to being especially luminous. However, even the and distance may be derivable from observations of the
far less luminous and far less consistent ordinary novae binary or multiple system. Examples include δ Scuti (see
have been used as distance indicators. below) type members in Y Camelopardalis and AB
The large-amplitude pulsations of Cepheids and Cassiopeia, a Cepheid in V350 Sagittarii, and a β Cephei
related variables can be exploited to measure radii rather star in 16 Lacertae. It is important to discover more such
directly. Luminosities then follow from combination of systems.
the radii with effective temperature (Teff) estimates, so as There are few probes of stellar interiors so it is
to provide standard candles. Observed variation is due to important to have a wide variety of checks on global and
surface properties, and the measures provided by much rarer, and main sequence donors greatly outnumber
pulsation and other forms of variation are welcome. For evolved donors, but a wide variety of combinations
example, Cepheid masses can be inferred from both occur. An especially abundant class is that of the
evolutionary and pulsational models, so the comparison cataclysmic variables (CVs) where the compact object is
either provides a check or sounds an alarm. Light curve a white dwarf, although the white dwarf often cannot be
and velocity curve details also can be predicted from detected directly. In most CVs the companion is a low-
pulsation models. The help comes where needed, as mass main sequence star, the orbit period is well under a
pulsational instabilities occur primarily in highly evolved day, and the entire binary is similar in size to the Sun,
stars where structure is complicated and theories are and smaller in many cases. CVs are typically old objects
uncertain. Not only stellar structure theories but also as shown by their distribution in the Galaxy, which is in a
equations of state, opacities, and energy generation rates thicker disk than ordinary Population I stars.
(‘laboratory physics’ in principle but not in practice) are A major clue into mechanisms and evolution was the
thereby subject to scrutiny. inferred presence, via radial velocities and light curves,
On a wide front, galactic evolution is largely of white dwarfs in post novae, recurrent novae and nova-
understood in terms of population types. For example the like variables in the 1950s to 1960s. Although
RR Lyrae type pulsating stars found in globular clusters thermonuclear models had been proposed earlier, ideas
and spheroidally distributed Galactic populations are not for explosions soon focused on accretion-driven surface
just short-period Cepheids, but have quite different hydrogen-burning runaways on white dwarfs. CV
Galactic distribution, motions, history and structure. component masses are difficult to estimate, but the white
Insight into RR Lyraes and Cepheids can apply to their dwarfs are typically much more massive than their non-
non-variable neighbors in the HR diagram. On the degenerate companions. Relatively massive donors
observational side of galaxies, certain variable stars can should be subject to unstable mass transfer that would
be recognized at large distances and thus serve as radically change the configuration (flow from high to low
population indicators. mass or between comparable mass stars favors
Pulsation studies have now broadened into the instability). Evolved donors (giants and subgiants) have
rapidly developing field of asteroseismology, in which the same problem—for structural reasons they tend to
new observing methods and theoretical work on stellar expand, overflow their lobes and transfer gas unstably on
oscillations extract structural information from multiple- a large scale. So the lack of evolved and of relatively
frequency small amplitude variations in light and massive donor stars is commonly explained by their self-
velocity. Applications to the Sun (helioseismology) are destructive tendencies. However, a CV needs some level
particularly successful because the Sun is spatially of slow mass transfer to fuel its eruptions. A suitable
resolved and because it has a rich spectrum of level can be maintained by orbit shrinkage due to
oscillations. The directly tapped energy of solar magnetic wind braking or gravitational radiation.
oscillations is that of convective motions in the outer Classical novae brighten by 9m or more over a few
envelope that generate sound waves. Certain other kinds days and then decline irregularly over weeks for fast
of stars, such as Ap, δ Scuti (see below) and especially novae or months for slow novae. Symbiotic novae (see
some white dwarf stars, show intricate oscillations that below) are much slower (duration ≈ decades) than the
are clues to their evolutionary states. World-wide slowest classical nova and are much wider binaries than
observing networks such as the Whole Earth Telescope the ordinary CVs. The mass donor is typically a giant.
(WET) allow the long, nearly continuous, coverage For classical novae, more or less standard spectral
needed to separate closely spaced frequencies. developments occur, with emission and absorption line
episodes and ejecta velocities of the order of 103 km s−1,
Explosion mechanisms but with a large velocity range among examples.
Nova theories of the early to mid 1900s involved rapid Interpretation is difficult, as the state of the gas is hard to
contraction to the white dwarf state or dynamical compute and the dynamical situation is intricate, with
resonances combined with nuclear reactions. Those multiple velocity systems seen at most times. Classical
theories now seem inapplicable to known kinds of stellar novae have had only one known outburst, but that
explosions. A modern schematic model that covers many circumstance is attributed to the short history of
particular categories includes a donor star to provide a observational astronomy. Thus there are also nova-like
supply of gas and an accreting star on which eruptions variables that are probably the same as classical novae
occur. The flow may be a stream from overspilling a but have not exploded in (astronomical) historical times.
critical lobe or it may be a wind, and the eruptions may Observations of post-novae find the underlying binaries
be powered by thermonuclear or gravitational energy. not markedly changed by their outbursts.
Ordinarily the donor is non-degenerate while the accretor Recurrent novae explode like classical novae but the
is some kind of compact degenerate object, and most eruptions are frequent, typically decades apart. Current
commonly a white dwarf star. Neutron star accretors are thinking favors accretors that are close to the white dwarf
mass limit, such that only small accretion build-up is reactions leading to core pulsations (the E mechanism),
needed to start a thermonuclear runaway. Chemical but theory predicts that core pulsations will be quickly
abundances in the ejecta do suggest advanced nuclear damped, except for supermassive stars. There are no
processing, as expected for remnants of stellar cores near candidates for core pulsation among the recognized
the edge of collapse. variable stars, except perhaps the bizarre object η Carinae
A computation of simple energetics shows that (see below) which may be a supermassive pulsating star.
gravitational energy alone can power a large outburst Pulsations grow when there is net conversion of thermal
from a white dwarf for a plausible sudden accretion to mechanical energy, so the star is a heat engine. There
episode. Objects identified with that mechanism are the are zones that drive pulsation (net [thermal ⇒
dwarf novae—CVs that have cyclic outbursts with high mechanical]) and others that damp pulsation (net
repetition rates. Brightenings of up to about five [mechanical ⇒ thermal]). Elementary thermodynamics
magnitudes are separated by typical intervals of weeks to requires net heat injection in the compression stage if
months and complicated shorter-term behavior includes heat is to be converted to work so that the engine runs.
fast flickering. Ideas to account for the episodes include However, direct injection of heat around maximum
sudden release of matter from a circumstellar disk (disk compression (as in an ordinary engine) is not the only
instability) and variable supply from the donor star way. Eddington realized in the 1920s that favorable
(source instability). Examples are SS Cygni, U circumstances could occur if a star is relatively heat-tight
Geminorum, Z Camelopardalis and SU Ursae Majoris, when compressed. Rather than thermal energy being
each a prototype in a finer classification. Thermonuclear inserted, its escape is prevented. This is the famous
energy may play some role in dwarf novae. Ideas about Eddington valve mechanism—a generic means to achieve
evolutionary relationships among the several kinds of net driving that covers all specific ways to implement
CVs are under continual revision. heat-tightness upon compression. Two specific ways are
Impressive as they are, CV explosions are small the κ and γ mechanisms. The κ mechanism traps thermal
firecrackers compared with supernovae. In contrast to energy by making material in driving zones more opaque
CVs, where the basic configuration remains after an upon compression (κ is the usual symbol for opacity).
explosion, a supernova event involves the entire star. Kramers’ Law, κ = κ0ρ/T3.5, provides roughly correct
Supernova mechanisms include thermonuclear opacity for given density (ρ) and temperature (T). With ρ
incineration of a massive white dwarf star (in a binary) and T entered from accurate stellar structure models, it
and collapse of an old, dense stellar core to nuclear predicts that stellar material becomes less opaque upon
degeneracy. Other types that are probably much less compression, and indeed most stars do not pulsate.
common have been proposed. The energy release in However, actual opacity depends in a complicated way
burning a white dwarf star can be estimated by on thermodynamic variables and, although it decreases
multiplying a white dwarf mass (≈ 3 × 1033 g) by c2 and with compression in most parts of most stars, it increases
by an efficiency factor (≈10−3 for helium burning and with compression in the driving zones of Cepheids and
beyond) to arrive at an energy between 1051 and 1052 erg, some other pulsating stars. The γ mechanism operates by
about a million times that of a typical nova. The increasing the surface density of absorbing particles upon
minimum energy of a core collapse supernova is even compression. Imagine a thin pulsating shell of gas at its
much larger and follows from energy conservation in maximum and minimum radii. The number of contained
formation of a neutron star, whose gravitational binding particles is the same whether the shell is large or small
energy, Eg, is of order −1053 erg. Obviously a positive but the number per unit area is greatest when the shell is
energy that at least matches Eg must appear in the small. Therefore the shell more effectively blocks
radiative and material ejecta. The visible radiation radiation, or is more heat-tight, when compressed. The γ
amounts to only ≈1048 to 1049 erg, and thus is a tiny mechanism always contributes to driving for obvious
fraction of the energy budget. Theoretical simulations geometrical reasons, while the κ mechanism can produce
indicate that nearly all of the energy is carried by either driving or damping.
neutrinos. The detection of about two dozen neutrinos Driving will be weak if the main driving zones are
from supernova 1987a in the Large Magellanic Cloud too close to the surface (high) or too deep inside the star
was a great triumph of supernova theory, as the number (low), and net damping will arrest pulsation. In the high
observed was the number predicted for a core collapse, case, the problem is insufficient density in the driving
within the uncertainties. zones so that too little matter contributes to driving. In
the low case, the driving zones lie in the nearly adiabatic
Pulsation interior where, although there is plenty of mass, each
Pulsating stars undergo true pulsations (oscillations in gram makes only a small contribution. Because driving is
size or shape). The pulsations are of the envelope, as the associated with ionization zones of the abundant
core is static and not directly involved. One could elements H and He, net driving zones will be high in
imagine the high-temperature sensitivity of nuclear relatively hot (blue) stars and low in relatively cool (red)
stars. Thus we have a roughly vertical instability strip in course, energy can feed from one mode to another and
the HR diagram where Cepheids are found. However, its between fundamental and overtones.
red and blue borders are not well defined and many non- No one kind of pulsation analysis serves all
pulsating stars lie within the strip. The instability strip purposes. As in other areas, success in computing
extends down to and below the main sequence and detailed behavior does not guarantee understanding. The
includes the little-evolved or mildly evolved δ Scuti and general phenomenon is highly nonlinear and one might
related variables with their typical periods of hours. It expect maximum insight to follow from all-
then continues to the region of the pulsating white dwarfs encompassing computations, but much insight has been
(ZZ Ceti stars). gained from linear analyses in which only infinitesimal
Several major distinctions characterize stellar pulsations are studied. N Baker realized that outcome by
pulsations. To begin, there are radial pulsations that restricting attention to a single mass shell—the One Zone
preserve a star’s figure (shape) but change its volume, model. However, pulsating stars are complicated
and non-radial pulsations that preserve volume but vary structures with many (thermally and mechanically)
the figure. An example of radial pulsation could be the coupled zones, so quantitative predictions of periods
expansion and contraction of a balloon under cyclically need complete models. To view the problem the opposite
changing external pressure. A small-amplitude example way, a full nonlinear computation should settle into a
of the non-radial case is provided by the tidal distortions correct period, but will not identify all possible periods
of the Earth and its oceans. A large-amplitude example found from linear theory. Although linear analysis leads
would be the oscillations of a disturbed water globule. A to insight on several fronts, it deals only with
more formal description of the contrasting behavior is in infinitesimal pulsations and therefore cannot produce
terms of a vector field. In radial pulsation, the complete models for comparison with observations.
displacement vectors of local matter elements pass back Possible pulsation modes and overtones are identified
and forth through zero length but maintain fixed through linear analysis, with detailed behavior at finite
alignments along local radii. Non-radial pulsation is more amplitude examined via nonlinear analysis, including
complicated, with the vectors cyclically changing both possible interactions of fundamental and overtones.
length and direction. Of course, real pulsations need not Similarly, growth and decay rates of small-amplitude
be purely radial or non-radial but can involve both pulsations can be investigated via linear analysis, but
volume and figure changes. However, many realistic rates for large pulsations and final saturation amplitudes
situations approximate these idealized types. are matters for nonlinear analysis. Of course, specific
Another distinction involves fundamental and light and velocity curve features can be modeled only
overtone pulsation. The situation is conceptually the with full nonlinear computations.
same as for a flexible string with one fixed and one free A wealth of observed phenomena in pulsating stars
end, where the free end is the analog of a pulsating star’s remain only partly understood or have only recently been
surface. The string can have a fundamental oscillation, understood, including light versus velocity phase lags
with a node only at the fixed end, and also overtone that are characteristic of a given class, unusual surface
oscillations with 1, 2, 3,…, n additional nodes. At a given abundances, changing velocity amplitudes and multiple
instant, adjacent inter-node regions have opposite periodicity. Magnetic fields, fast rotation and binary
motions (up versus down), and of course there is no companions are clearly present in some cases, but their
motion at the nodes. Similarly a pulsating star can have roles in pulsation are not usually obvious. Specific
fundamental and overtone pulsations, with extra nodes driving mechanisms may not be clear. An active testing
for the overtones. For a uniform string the nodes will be ground for pulsation theory is provided by the β Cephei
equally spaced, but a star has inwardly increasing stars, a class sometimes called the β Canis Majoris stars,
density, with the consequence that node spacings are not although current usage seems to have settled on the name
even approximately equal and must be computed. β Cephei. These stars have remarkably short pulsation
Fundamental and overtone pulsations can coexist and, periods of order 0.d2, with about half being doubly
accordingly, some unusual stars show beat phenomena. periodic and thereby showing beat behavior in light and
Still another distinction is among pulsation modes, velocity. Many RR Lyr and δ Sct stars also are doubly
i.e. possible ways to pulsate. The large amplitude radial periodic, but the two periods of a β Cep star can differ by
pulsations of Cepheid and RR Lyr type variables are in as little as 1%. The prototype β Cephei (not itself doubly
pressure modes (p-modes), so called because they periodic) is strongly magnetic and at least a triple system,
involve large local pressure variations. Both radial and with weak B-emission (Be) characteristics. A
non-radial p-mode pulsations can occur. Gravity modes phenomenon that must occur but is difficult to model is
(g-modes) involve global oscillations about a hydrostatic that of dynamical tides in eccentric and/or asynchronous
level surface and are necessarily non-radial. They have binaries, which can be regarded as forced non-radial
much smaller pressure variations than do p-modes. Of pulsations. Like ocean waves, such tides are largely
stochastic so that prediction is mainly limited to
statistical behavior. Several supergiants with neutron star as it flickers by 0.m1 to 0.m2 on a time scale of minutes,
companions show the expected fluctuations in light and due to irregular inflow. Usually the hot spot itself, rather
velocity, including GP Velorum = Vela X1 and V884 than either star or the overall disk, is the brightest light
Scorpii, but quantitative matches with tidal theory remain source in the binary. X-ray binaries whose accreting
unrealized. objects are neutron stars have accretion power at least 30
times their thermonuclear power (for H burning; more
Other variation mechanisms than 100 times for He burning), so the promptly released
While eruptive and pulsating stars vary due to a variety energy is about the same whether the material burns or
of dynamical, thermal and cyclic instabilities that are not. However, large thermonuclear bursts can occur on
more or less understood, or at least largely identified, neutron stars if substantial amounts of fuel accumulate,
variations in many categories are caused by instabilities providing the sources known as x-ray bursters, where
that are not so well understood, by random events and by helium is the fuel. As a group, x-ray binaries are variable
random drifts in conditions. Some of these stars live on in all spectral regions, from radio to gamma, although
the border between intrinsic and extrinsic variables. For most individuals are detected only in restricted ranges.
example, RS CVn, BY Dra and W UMa binaries can be There are two essentially disjoint classes on greatly
heavily covered by magnetic spots, similar to sunspots. different scales, low-mass x-ray binaries (LMXBs) and
The agent understood to produce such spots is dynamo high-mass x-ray binaries (HMXBs). At first inspection,
action in a fast-rotating convective envelope, so cool LMXBs and HMXBs have little in common except that
stars that have convective envelopes are likely they contain neutron stars, and even a sketch of ideas
candidates—if they spin fast. The RS CVns, BY Dras, about their origins would exceed available space.
and W UMas naturally spin fast because they are tidally Configurations are such that HMXBs accrete mainly via
locked close binaries, but FK Com and a small number of winds from their blue supergiant companions and many
similar stars are fast spinning single giants! Their fast pulse in x-rays, while LMXBs accrete mainly via lobe
rotation currently is attributed to their being recently overflow and very few pulse. LMXBs bear a remarkable
merged ex-binary systems, with the binary orbital similarity to CVs, including absolute dimensions, with
angular momentum now existing as spin angular the notable difference being that a neutron star replaces
momentum. Spot-modulated stars are extrinsic variables the CV’s white dwarf. It has been noted that some
in that they vary on the orbital time scale because of LMXBs may form from CVs in rare cases of accretion
changing aspect of their spots. However, the spots grow, beyond the white dwarf mass limit.
decline and move, so they are intrinsic variables on Still another kind of intrinsic–extrinsic hybrid is the
longer time-scales. symbiotic star, where ultraviolet radiation from the
Accretion tends to be highly irregular and causes not environs of a small, hot accretor interacts with the wind,
only modest brightness fluctuations in active binaries, but extended atmosphere or chromosphere of a red giant
variations of up to several magnitudes in newly formed companion. Fluctuations in UV radiation and in wind
stars that accrete from their surroundings (T Tauri stars). flow lead to intrinsically variable fluorescence modulated
Much of the luminosity of T Tauris and related stars is by orbital aspect effects, sometimes including eclipses.
from the accretion process. Young objects of the FU Orbit periods are long compared with most variable
Orionis type have brightening episodes of up to five binaries, being typically hundreds of days or more.
magnitudes on a time-scale of decades to centuries. Because of observational difficulties, the defining
Outflows are associated with accretion but are not well characteristics of the class are necessarily superficial—
understood at present. Some classical T Tau stars are the accreting objects are not usually directly observed
surrounded by circumstellar disks that have been imaged and may be as diverse as neutron stars, white dwarfs and
in the infrared, with spectroscopic and imaging evidence main sequence stars. Extreme examples of symbiotics
of bipolar outflows. Accretion onto white dwarfs not only include symbiotic novae that have outbursts by brightness
leads to circumstances that eventually produce nova factors of order 100 and are believed to contain white
explosions but also directly converts gravitational energy dwarf accretors. Unlike CVs, a symbiotic nova can be in
to more tangible forms, as seen above for dwarf novae. outburst for decades. The mechanism usually assumed is
Even an occasional non-degenerate binary such as V361 a thermonuclear surface flash on the accretor followed by
Lyrae has a hot spot where high-speed gas impacts one of slow cooling. These objects are often called slow novae
the stars, having flowed in a well defined stream from the but differ radically from the CVs with the same name, so
other. Variable flows produce variable spot luminosities ‘symbiotic nova’ should consistently be applied.
and thus another kind of intrinsic–extrinsic variable. In Examples of symbiotic novae include PU Vulpeculae,
post novae and dwarf novae, the hot spot is on a disk RR Telescopii and V1329 Cygni.
surrounding the stream’s target star. Most exploding stars Variable polarization can result from scattering by
show variability between outbursts in their ‘quiescent’ circumstellar gas, but really spectacular variable
light curves. A common seat of variation is the hot spot polarization is seen in CVs that contain accreting white
dwarfs with extremely strong magnetic fields. These are magnetically active stars. The UV Ceti or flare stars are
the polars, or AM Her binaries, where cyclotron low-mass main sequence stars with unusually high levels
radiation in an oblique rotator produces strong circular of chromospheric activity. Flares are much hotter than
polarization over a wide range of wavelength, including red dwarf photospheres, so the brightening in magnitudes
optical light. Polars also are moderately strong x-ray is highly wavelength dependent, increasing strongly into
sources and natural laboratories for studying the ultraviolet. As with spot-modulated stars, rotation in a
hydrodynamic flows under combined gravitational and deep convective envelope generates strong dynamo
magnetic fields, with variable light and polarization as action, with UV Cet stars being especially fast rotators.
diagnostics. Intermediate polars have magnetic fields Flare activity is at least statistically a sign of youth, since
that are intense but somewhat below those of polars. red dwarf rotation decreases with age.
Examples of intermediate polars are EX Hydrae and GK Stars described as variable are traditionally those that
Persei. vary in brightness, especially over broad spectral regions.
Fluctuations in stellar winds can generate small-scale However, several kinds of spectrum variables vary most
emission line and continuum variation, particularly where notably in spectral details, with behavior that can be as
winds are strong. Most Wolf–Rayet (W–R) stars interesting as in the more obvious variables. For
accordingly vary by a few hundredths of a magnitude. A example, strong variable magnetic fields are involved in
W–R star is the highly evolved residue of a very massive spectral variations of Ap and Am stars (Ap = peculiar
star that has lost much of its envelope so as to expose hot stars of spectral type A; Am = metallic line stars of
inner regions. Often there is an evolved close companion spectral type A). Stars that lose matter via powerful and
with its own strong wind, so that wind–wind interactions unsteady winds, such as those of spectral type Of, show
cause further variation. variable emission lines with great Doppler broadening.
Intermittent veiling is a very unusual variation Stars of type Be (B emission stars) were among the first
mechanism and a major diagnostic of circumstellar to draw special attention as spectroscopically interesting
conditions and interior structure in certain (usually giant) in the 1800s, and continue to stimulate hypotheses,
stars. In veiled stars we find intrinsic and extrinsic observations, and controversy. The emission lines of Be
variation combined, as clouds come and go while stars are usually ascribed to circumstellar equatorial rings
changing aspect controls their influence on light curves. associated with centrifugal ejection of matter, but
Hydrodynamic flow in a mass transferring binary can circumstances leading to that situation are not widely
lead to concentrations of partially opaque material being agreed upon. Even the basic point of whether binary
projected onto the face of one or both stars, so that light nature is essential or irrelevant to Be behavior remains at
curves can help map circumstellar gas. An example is issue.
AX Monocerotis. Particularly spectacular examples of
veiling are the R Coronae Borealis stars—extremely Unique objects
carbon rich and hydrogen deficient (apparently single) Much of the fascination of variable star astrophysics is
supergiants that are veiled by carbon particles at irregular provided by unique objects that may result from
times, with brightness drops by factors of up to about anomalous formation, short effective lifetime or selection
1000. These pulsating stars eject clouds of gas whose effects. A few examples may give some of the flavor.
carbon condenses to soot when sufficiently far from the Most recognized causes of variation, including
hot photosphere, with clouds that happen to lie on the pulsation, gas dynamic interactions and rotation
line of sight producing the veiling. Pulsational phenomena, have been proposed for the spectacular and
characteristics, together with the strange abundances, mysterious η Carinae. Especially notable are its great
provide strong constraints on possible evolutionary luminosity and enormous swings in apparent magnitude
histories of R CrB stars. Given that only a few dozen are over centuries, including an interval in the 1840s when it
known, R CrBs must either represent a very brief stage of approached Sirius in brightness. It is usually regarded as
normal evolution or products of an unusual formation a supermassive star with mass above (and perhaps far
process such as a merger. above) 60 solar masses, and therefore a candidate for
Large evolutionary changes over the brief history of core pulsation via unstable thermonuclear burning.
observational astrophysics are extremely unusual. Speculation that it is a binary is supported by recent high
Perhaps the most spectacular example is FG Sagittae, resolution imaging of a bipolar nebula that must have
which has evolved from the small, hot exciting star of a been ejected in η Car’s great outburst of c. 1840 and by
planetary nebula into a pulsating R CrB type red giant in discovery of 5.5 year spectroscopic and photometric
only a century, with decade to decade developments. periodicities. Understanding of η Car is rapidly
Whether FG Sge is typical as a progenitor of R CrBs is developing but still rudimentary.
an open issue at present. The recurrent nova T Corona Borealis has the basic
Flares are brief local eruptions, prominent in both red star–blue star binary morphology of novae, but with a
continuum light and lines, from the chromospheres of red giant in place of the usual main sequence red star and
an orbit period (228d) typical of symbiotic novae.

However, it can scarcely be called a symbiotic nova, as
the outbursts last not for decades but only for weeks. T
CrB has no known siblings, but does have a rich and
extensive literature.
And then there are the pulsating WHITE DWARF stars,
the DUSTY CIRCUMSTELLAR DISKS, the QUASIPERIODIC
OSCILLATIONS IN X-RAY BINARY STARS, the incredible
SS433 and HERCULES X-1, …, but wait—those are other
articles. No brief synopsis could do them justice. So turn
to those articles—your instrumentation is a comfortable
chair and a cup of hot chocolate. Enjoy.
Bibliography
Clark D H and Stephenson F R 1977 The Historical Supernovae
(Oxford: Pergamon)
Gallagher J S and Starrfield S 1978 Annu. Rev. Astron.
Astrophys. 16 171
Hoskin M 1979 J. Hist. Astron. 10 23
Lewin W H G, van Paradijs J and van den Heuvel E P J (ed)
1995 X-ray Binaries (Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press)
Kholopov P N 1982 Catalog of New Suspected Variable Stars
(Moscow: Nauka)
Kholopov P N 1984 General Catalog of Variable Stars
(Moscow: Nauka)
Kippenhahn R and Weigert A 1990 Stellar Structure and
Evolution (Berlin: Springer)
Payne-Gaposchkin C 1957 The Galactic Novae (Amsterdam:
North Holland)
Warner B 1995 Cataclysmic Variable Stars (Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press)
R E Wilson

Vatican Observatory E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
Vatican Observatory
The Vatican Observatory is one of the oldest astronomical
institutes in the world. It began with the reformation
of the calendar in 1582. At the Roman College, Father
Angelo Secchi first classified stars according to their
spectra. With these rich traditions Leo XIII, in 1891,
formally founded the Vatican Observatory on a hillside
behind the dome of St Peter’s Basilica. In 1935 Pius
XI provided a new location for the Observatory at the
Papal Summer Residence at Castel Gandolfo. In 1981 the
Observatory founded a second research center in Tucson,
Arizona. In 1993 the Observatory, in collaboration with
STEWARD OBSERVATORY, completed the construction of the
Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope (VATT) which
has pioneered the new technology of creating large,
lightweight, stable mirrors in a rotating furnace. Research
includes cosmological models, spectral classification of
peculiar stars, photometric studies of metallicity, mass-
exchanging binary stars, material in star-forming dark
clouds, dust envelopes about young stars, planetary
dynamics. The Observatory is supported with an
annual budget from the Holy See and by contributions
to the Vatican Observatory Foundation, a tax-exempt
corporation in the State of Arizona.
http://clavius.as.arizona.edu/vo/.

Vega E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
Vega
The star α Lyrae, the only bright star in the constellation.
Its name, formerly Wega, derives from the Arabic Al Waki,
‘the Swooping (or Falling) Eagle’, hence the form Alvaka
used on some seventeenth century celestial globes. In
ancient Greek and Latin writings it sometimes shared
the constellation name Lyra, and consequently appears
as ‘the Harp Star’ in some later texts. It is the dominant
component of the Summer Triangle asterism, with Altair
and Deneb. It was the Pole Star about 12 000 years ago,
and will be again 14 000 years hence.
Vega is the fifth brightest star in the heavens, with an
apparent magnitude of 0.03. It is the brightest star with
sufficiently high northern declination to appear overhead
in north temperate latitudes, and dominates their skies
on clear summer nights. It is a striking object when
viewed with binoculars or a low-power telescope, its blue-
white color (sometimes described as ‘sapphire’) belying its
relatively cool spectral type (A0Vvar). Fairly close at 25.3
light-years distance (parallax 0.129 ), Vega is in fact the
third closest of the bright stars. Its absolute magnitude
is 0.6. In 1983 it was discovered by the IRAS survey
to be surrounded by a disk of gas and dust, which may
eventually form a planetary system.

VEGA Space Mission E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
Both balloons were inserted on the nightside of Venus,

VEGA Space Mission one (VEGA 1) ∼7◦ north of the equator and the other
VEGA (mission) is a combined spacecraft mission to VENUS ∼7◦ south of the equator. They drifted westward with
and COMET HALLEY. It was launched in the USSR at the the predominant zonal wind closely parallel to the lines of
end of 1984. The mission consisted of two identical latitude. Each balloon was tracked over a distance of more
spacecraft VEGA 1 and VEGA 2. VEGA is an acronym built than 11 000 km, encountering dawn and then penetrating
from the words ‘Venus’ and ‘Halley’ (‘Galley’ in Russian far into the daylit atmosphere (figure 1(D)). Transmission
spelling). The basic design of the spacecraft was the same was stopped after 46 h of flight owing to limited battery
as has been used many times to deliver Soviet landers resources.
and orbiters to Venus. In June 1985, these spacecraft There were two types of measurements: in situ by
successfully delivered the first balloons into the Venus means of on-board instruments transmitted by telemetry
atmosphere and also landers. After this the VEGA 1 and ground-based determination of balloon motion by
and VEGA 2 cometary probes were directed to the comet very-long-baseline interferometry (VLBI). The balloon’s
Halley. They encountered it on 6 and 9 March 1986. Such transmitter sent directly to the Earth signals at a
a trajectory was possible only because of the favorable wavelength of 18 cm used ordinarily by VLBI astronomers
mutual positions of the comet and Venus at this time. The for observations of distant galactic OH sources. Because
gravitational field of Venus turned the spacecraft to the of Earth’s rotation, continuous reception of telemetry data
comet and only a short switch-on of the spacecraft engine required the use of many antennas widely distributed in
was necessary. longitude.
The most important scientific achievements of the It was known earlier that so-called superrotation is
VEGA mission were as follows: (a) the first direct tracing the dominating dynamical property of Venus’ atmosphere:
of Venusian atmospheric properties (winds, turbulence, its rotation period (about 4 days near cloud top) is much
illuminance, cloud density) on a long horizontal path; (b) shorter than for the solid surface. This means that a fast
the first look at a cometary nucleus, not as a star-like object, westward wind is a permanent feature on Venus (see VENUS:
but as a spatially resolved body; (c) the first identification ATMOSPHERE). VEGA balloons provided its mean velocity
of a set of components of the cometary atmosphere, (67–69 m s−1 ) and its fine fluctuation pattern also.
including organic matter; (d) the first study of the cometary Strong turbulence was found with amplitude to
environment by direct (contact) methods. The VEGA 2 m s−1 with a time scale of 30–100 s (figure 1(C)). The
mission was an important step in the development of influence of surface topography on atmospheric motions
international cooperation in space studies. Scientists was found; it was not expected for such high altitudes.
and engineers of many countries were involved together The measurements covered the twilight zone which was
with Russians in the creation of sophisticated scientific found to be 7◦ wide in the clouds of Venus. The horizontal
instruments and supporting systems. Such international profile of the clouds’ optical properties (backscattering
cooperation in a space project was new not only for Russia. coefficient) was measured for the first time. It was found
Professor R Sagdeev (leader then of the Institute of Space that at the height of flight it is smooth in general; even the
Research in Moscow) was the head of the whole project, strongest variations were no more than a factor of 3 from
and these innovations were in many points results of his the average level (figure 1(E)). Such an experiment has not
enlightened activity. yet been repeated; however, balloons are present in many
proposals for future studies of the atmospheres of Venus
Venus and Mars.
Balloons
The launch of balloons with meteorological instruments Descent probes
is traditional in studies of the terrestrial atmosphere. It Studies of Venus by means of descent probes were started
is natural to apply this for atmospheres of other planets. by the VENERA 4 mission in 1967. Another 10 Soviet
The concept of a Venusian balloon was first proposed by VENERA MISSIONS followed during 1969–1983; eight of them
J Blamont in 1967, but only after 18 yr of technical studies included descent probes with instrumental packages that
(in the USSR and France) was it realized in the VEGA provided measurements of the chemical composition of
mission. the atmosphere and soil, images of the landscape around
The Venus module of the VEGAspacecraft entered the landers, vertical profiles of temperature and pressure, the
atmosphere of the planet and separated into two parts at a cloud particles’ properties and solar illuminance within
height of 64 km. One of them was a descent probe (lander) the deep atmosphere of Venus. VEGA1 and 2’s descending
and the other was a canister containing balloon, ballast, probes landed on the nightside of the planet, unlike most
parachute and inflating systems. Beginning at 64 km the of the previous descenders, but the general scheme was
container went down with the parachute to about 50 km traditional: entry to the atmosphere, fast aerodynamic
(where the atmospheric pressure is near 1 bar); there the deceleration of capsule with descenders between 100 and
balloon was inflated, and parachute and ballast separated. 64 km, opening of capsule, about 10 min of descent to
After this balloon went up to about 53.6 km corresponding 46 km, separation of parachute, landing after about 51 min
to a pressure of 535 mbar and a temperature of 305 K. and 20 min of working data transfer from the surface.

Figure 1. Mission history for VEGA 1 balloon showing (A) pressure, (B) temperature, (C) atmospheric vertical velocity, (D) ambient
light level and (E) cloud backscatter coefficient as functions of time after insertion on 11 June 1985. Venus longitudes are also shown on
the abscissa. The approximate position of the terminator is shown as a broken line in the plot (D). Gaps in the data sets indicate times
when no in situ measurements were transmitted by the balloon (Sagdeev et al 1986b).
Improved measurements of atmospheric temperature another between 45 and 58 km (unlike our planet where
were made in the full range between ∼63 km and the only one convective zone exists, between ∼10 km and the
surface. The temperature rises monotonically from up surface).
to down but an inversion was found near 61 km. The Cloud particles were studied in different ways with
lapse rate is not constant; its variations confirmed the a set of sensors that measured size distribution, number
existence of two convective zones, one below 15 km, density and chemical composition. Sulfuric acid (H2 SO4 )

as one of the constituents of the Venusian cloud particles

was detected by in situ measurements. This compound
dominates the upper and probably the middle clouds
(down to 54 km) but below this level cloud particles mostly
consist of a phosphorus compound (probably H3 PO4 ).
A UV lamp and spectrometer were used to study the
strong UV spectral band created by small traces of SO2
which was found by earlier probes by another method
(gas chromatography). Analysis of the new measurements
confirmed the presence of SO2 but gave different quantities
and covered larger height ranges.
Measurements of soil composition were made
after landing by two methods. One of them (x-
ray fluorescent spectrometry on VEGA 2) showed that
elemental composition is like that of very ancient lunar
rocks (see also VENUS: SURFACE). Another (based on K, U and
Th abundances) in both places showed rocks like toleit
basalts.
The VEGA descent probes were the last in a long set of
Soviet VENERA missions but most of the studies resulted
in new questions that require new experiments. However,
it is impossible to say at the moment where and when new
steps will be made for prolongation of the study of Venus.
Figure 2. The Halley probe of the VEGA spacecraft , showing
the locations of some subsystems and scientific instruments:
Comet Halley 1, solar panels; 2, pencil-beam antenna; 3, omnidirectional
COMETARY NUCLEI are probably samples of pristine solar antenna; 4, steerable platform; 5, the pointing sensor; 6, camera
system material and their study may be important for an system TVS; 7, infrared spectrometer IKS;
understanding of the origin of the solar system. However, 8, ultraviolet–visible–near-infrared spectrometer a; 9, dust
they are practically not available for observations from particle sensor SP-1; 10, particle composition analyser PUMA;
the Earth; only products of their evaporation (coma and 11, plasma composition analyser PLASMAG; 12, dust protection
shield; 13, astro-orientation unit. The Venus probe is not shown.
tail) are observable. Spacecraft give a unique possibility of
Its location before separation is on the top of the Halley probe.
approach to the cometary nucleus and investigation of it as
a spatially resolved object. Comet Halley was selected for
the first try. At every periapsis passage (once per 76 yr) it automatically pointed with high accuracy to the cometary
is available for astronomical observations but the relative nucleus. A TV camera, IR spectrometer and UV–Visible–
position of the comet and Earth is not same in different near-IR spectrometer were placed on this platform. The
apparitions. For example, the passage of 1986 was not most difficult task was to locate the nucleus, with its low
favorable, because the comet periapsis point and Earth albedo, against the background of the bright coma with
were nearly in opposite directions from the Sun. So it gas and dust jets, and this problem was solved successfully.
was reasonable to use spacecraft during this apparition. The fly-by speed was extremely high (∼78 km s−1 ), because
Comet Halley was especially attractive for such a mission the direction of orbital motion of the comet is opposite
because it is a periodic comet with a well-known orbit, it to that of the Earth, and thus of the spacecraft. This
is the brightest among the periodical comets and it is the high speed resulted in a strong dust hazard and required
only periodic comet having physical properties like those protection of parts of the spacecraft.
of a young comet. VEGA 1 passed through the comet Halley coma on 6
In reality not one but five spacecraft were sent to the March 1986 at a nearest distance to the nucleus of 8890 km,
comet Halley: Soviet VEGA 1, VEGA 2, European GIOTTO VEGA 2 did it 3 days later at a distance of 8030 km. Most of
and Japan SUISEI and SAKIGAKE. The VEGA cometary probes the data were sent to Earth in real time , because loss of the
were the largest and had more scientific instruments spacecraft due to the dust hazard was possible. However,
than the European and Japanese craft put together. The this did not happen; both of the spacecraft were alive after
mass of every VEGA spacecraft (figure 2) was about the fly-by, although the solar-battery current dropped by
4500 kg, including about 2500 kg for the cometary module. 50%. Figure 3 shows how comet Halley looked from the
There were two sorts of experiments on VEGA cometary spacecraft VEGA 2 on 6 March 1986. Results of the analysis
modules: (a) camera and other optical instruments for of images, spectra, and in situ data obtained are briefly
remote sensing studies of the nucleus and inner coma outlined below.
and (b) instruments for contact measurements in cometary It was concluded that the nucleus is a single solid
gas, dust and plasma. Imaging of the comet from the body. Its shape is irregular (like a potato); the size is
spacecraft required a steerable platform which could be approximately 8 km × 8 km × 16 km. It has a very low

other experiments. This discrepancy may be explained by

a patchy structure of the surface (icy and rocky patches)
or by a porous mantle which may be hot on the upper
boundary and cold on the lower. The mass of nucleus was
estimated as 3 × 1014 t and density about 0.6 t m−3 .
Indirect estimates of the chemical composition of
the nucleus are possible on the basis of measurements of
the chemical composition of gas and dust going out from
the nucleus surface to the coma. H2 O was identified as the
most abundant constituent with a production rate of about
1030 molecules s−1 . Organic substance outflow (never
observed earlier) was identified using IR spectra obtained
by VEGA 1. Its production rate may be comparable
with that of H2 O. CO2 , CO and HCHO were observed
with same instrument as parent species with mixing
ratios of a few per cent. It is important that mainly
secondary components arising from the decay of such
parent molecules were observed earlier from the Earth.
Detailed observations of secondary species with the VEGA
spacecraft revealed their production rates, geometry of
ejection, lifetimes of species and their parent and species
velocities.
Neutral atoms and molecules in the coma are
converted to ions by photoionization. The SOLAR WIND
when it encounters them creates a shock wave that was
met by the spacecraft at a distance of ∼106 km from
the nucleus. Nearer, at a distance ∼105 km, another
characteristic boundary (not predicted by theory) was met;
later it was called the ‘cometopause’. Cometary ions
dominate the plasma inside this. The plasma composition,
its energy distribution, plasma waves and magnetic fields
were measured.
Grains of different masses (from ∼10−19 to ∼10−11 kg)
were counted by a few VEGA instruments. The dust mass
production rate was estimated. One of the instruments
provided measurements of the chemical composition of
individual particles and showed its large diversity. Some
of them contain simultaneously C, H, O, N as was
predicted for interstellar particles; others are icy, silicate
Figure 3. How comet Halley looked from spacecraft VEGA 2
or metallic bearing. Very small particles (<10−14 g) are
flying through its coma. (a) The distance to the nucleus
d = 29 000 km, the Sun is on the left, the nucleus is near the right dense (1 and 2.5 g cm−3 for organic and silicate particles,
edge of the bright dust fan directed towards the Sun; the frame respectively), while optically active particles (>10−10 g) are
size is 228 km × 308 km. (b) d = 8000 km, the Sun is above the of low density (0.3 g cm−3 ) and of a complicated structure.
plane of the image (phase angle ∼30◦ ), the frame size is VEGA’s flight to comet Halley was an important part
62 km × 84 km; the upper part of the visible spot is the nucleus, of coordinated international efforts giving a very strong
the lower is a dust jet. (c) The Sun is to the right, the nucleus is to impulse to studies of comets and other small bodies of the
the left; the distance and size are the same as in (a). (Moroz 1989). solar system.
Bibliography
reflectivity; the geometrical albedo is ∼0.04. So it is one Moroz V I 1989 Halley’s comet (part II): space studies
of the darkest bodies of the solar system. Dust is emitted Highlights Astron. 8 17–31
by its surface from the sunlit side. The dust flow consists Sagdeev R Z, Blamont J, Galeev A A, Moroz V I, Shapiro
mainly of narrow jets. The thermal IR radiation of the V D, Schevchenko V I and Szego K 1986a Vega
nucleus was measured by an infrared device. Its value spacecraft encounter with comet Halley Nature 321
corresponds to a temperature of about 380 K near the 259–62
subsolar point. This was unexpected because a lot of Sagdeev R Z et al 1986b Overview of VEGA balloon in situ
water ice with a temperature about 200 K should exist meteorological measurements Science 321 1411–4
in the upper layers of the nucleus to provide the H2 O
flux observed by the same instrument and also in many V Moroz

Vela E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
Vela
(the Sails; abbrev. Vel, gen. Velorum; area 500 sq. deg.)
a southern constellation which lies between Antlia–Pyxis
and Carina, and culminates at midnight in mid February.
It was introduced by the French astronomer Nicolas L de
Lacaille (1713–62), who charted the southern sky in 1751–
2, from stars that formed part of the ancient constellation
of Argo Navis (the Ship), which had been included by
Ptolemy (c. AD 100–175) in the Almagest.
The brightest stars in Vela are γ Velorum (Regor), a
multiple system consisting of the brightest Wolf–Rayet star
in the sky (bluish-white, WC8 + O9, range 1.81–1.87) and
a bluish-white (B2) component, magnitude 4.3, separation
41 , the former of which has an unseen companion that
revolves around it in 78.5 days, and a fourth, bluish-white
(B6) component, magnitude 7.7, separation 63 , δ Velorum,
a very close binary with a white (A1) primary, magnitude
2.0, and a fainter secondary, magnitude 5.6, separation
0.74 , λ Velorum (Suhail), magnitude 2.2, κ Velorum
(Markeb), magnitude 2.5, and µ Velorum, another binary,
with yellow (G5 and G2) components, magnitudes 2.9 and
5.9, separation 2.0 . There are nine other stars brighter
than magnitude 4.0. δ and κ Velorum together with ι and
ε Carinae make up as asterism called the False Cross, as
it is sometimes confused with the constellation Crux (the
Southern Cross).
The Milky Way passes through Vela and the
constellation contains more than 40 open clusters and
many planetary nebulae, including IC 2391, an open
cluster of more than 20 stars scattered across a 1◦ field,
the brightest of which is o Velorum, magnitude 3.6, and
NGC 3132 (the Eight-Burst Nebula), a ninth-magnitude
planetary nebula with a tenth-magnitude star at its center.
Other interesting objects include NGC 3201, a seventh-
magnitude globular cluster, and the vast Gum Nebula, an
expanding emission nebula some 36◦ across that extends
into the neighboring constellations of Antlia, Pyxis, Puppis
and Carina, and is thought to be the result of a supernova
explosion that occurred more than 1 million years ago,
inside which is the more recent Vela supernova remnant
and at its center the Vela pulsar.
See also: False Cross, Gum Nebula, Vela pulsar, Vela
supernova remnant.

Vela Pulsar E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
Vela Pulsar
The pulsar PSR 0833–45, discovered in 1968. With a period
of only 9.3 ms, it has one of the fastest pulse-rates known,
implying that it is one of the youngest pulsars. This is
borne out by an observed deceleration in its pulse-rate
of 10.7 ns per day, which sets an upper limit to the time
elapsed since it was formed in a supernova explosion
of about 11 000 years. In 1977 its pulsations were also
recorded in visible light, making it one of the first optical
pulsars to be confirmed.
The Vela pulsar is located in the southern Milky Way,
2.8◦ south of the galactic equator and approximately at the
centre of a triangle formed by the stars ζ Puppis, γ Velorum
and λ Velorum. It is surrounded by extensive nebulosity
more than 5◦ across, also a product of the supernova, and is
associated with a moderately strong radio source, Vela X;
its distance has been estimated at between 1300 and 1600
light-years. The Vela pulsar and supernova remnant lie
within a much older and larger supernova remnant, the
Gum Nebula.

Vela Supernova Remnant E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
Vela Supernova Remnant

A supernova remnant in the constellation Vela, position
RA 08 h 34 m , dec. −45◦ 45 . It extends to nearly 5◦ in
diameter, and consists of material expelled by a supernova
an estimated 11 000 years ago. The core of the supernova
remains as the Vela Pulsar.
See: Vela Pulsar.

Velikovsky, Immanuel (1895–1979) E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
Velikovsky, Immanuel (1895–1979)

Physician, psychoanalyst, cosmologist and writer, born
in Vitebsk, Russia. His book Worlds in Collision claimed
from analysis of mythology and scientific fragments that
a breakaway piece of the planet Jupiter had collided with
the Earth, causing various disasters recorded in the Bible,
and ending as the planet Venus. None of his theories stood
up to analysis and further exploration.

Venera (Missions) E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
density, plasma bow shock at 19 000 km from the planet,

Venera (Missions) low density of the nightside plasma, magnetic moment
Veneras 1 to 16 are the Russian (Soviet) spacecraft missions (< 3 × 10−4 of the Earth’s value).
to VENUS launched in the period 1961–1983 (table 1). Venus V5, 6. Measurements of pressure, density and
was also studied by the VEGA MISSION. temperature (p, ρ, T , respectively) at 55–17 km, chemical
The first three Venera (hereafter V) missions, V1–V3, gas sensors.
were developed by the space center headed by Sergey V7. First soft landing on Venus. Measurements of T
Korolyov, father of the Russian space industry (1906– from 55 km to the surface.
1966). (This space center is now a division of the Energia V8. p, ρ, T from 55 km to the surface, radar altimeter
Association.) Since 1967, spacecraft for missions to planets for determination of altitude, photometer to study the
have been developed by the Lavochkin Association. V1– light conditions and the cloud structure (the lower cloud
V8 are the first generation of the Venera spacecraft. The boundary was observed at 33 km), measurements of wind
spacecraft mass varied from 900 to 1200 kg. The three- speed using the Doppler shift of the radiotransmitter
stage Soyuz missile, with the first two stages similar to frequency, γ -spectroscopy of the surface rocks.
those used for the first manned flights to space, launched V9, 10. Lander (1560 kg): γ -spectrometer, γ -
a spacecraft and the fourth stage into Earth orbit. Then the densitometer, p, T sensors, camera, accelerometer (p, T
fourth stage accelerated the spacecraft and moved it into at 90–65 km), mass spectrometer, nephelometer (angles
the interplanetary orbit to Venus. Due to the insufficient of 4, 15, 45 and 175◦ ), photometer for five broad
reliability of the fourth stage and some subsystems in the intervals in the range 0.44–1.16 µm, narrow band
early 1960s, some spacecraft were lost or their programs photometer for 0.8, 0.82 and 0.87 µm (continuum,
were not completed in full. However, the first generation H2 O and CO2 bands, respectively), onboard transmitter
spacecraft made the first soft entries into the atmosphere (Doppler measurements of wind speed). Orbiter: imaging
and landed on the surface of Venus. system (0.3–0.4 µm), spectrometer (0.24–0.75 µm), IR
V9 to 16 (and also Vega 1 and 2) represent the second spectrometer (1.7–2.8 µm), IR radiometer (8–28 µm),
generation of missions to Venus. Their mass was 5000 kg, multiband photopolarimeter (0.35–0.8 µm), photometer at
and they were launched by the Proton rocket. Those H 1216 Å with absorption cells, magnetometer, plasma
missions were successful, reliable and, along with ground- electrostatic spectrometer, plasma sensors, cosmic rays,
based observations and the USA Mariner 2, 5 and 10, dual-frequency onboard transmitter (radio occultations
Pioneer Venus and Magellan spacecraft, they provided the and bistatic radar).
basis of our current knowledge of Venus. V11, 12. Lander: p, T sensors, accelerometer, mass
spectrometer, gas chromatograph, optical spectropho-
Scientific objectives
tometer (0.45–1.2 µm), nephelometer, x-ray fluorescence
The objectives of these missions were to study (i) the
spectrometer, low-frequency electromagnetic detector, on-
surface relief and properties of rocks, (ii) the ther-
board transmitter (Doppler measurements of wind speed).
mal structure and chemical composition of the lower
Flyby: ultraviolet spectrometer (304–1657 Å), plasma sen-
atmosphere (h < 65 km), (iii) the atmosphere and
sors, cosmic rays, γ -ray bursts.
ionosphere above the cloud layer (h > 65 km), (iv) the
V13, 14. Color camera, rock sampling, penetrometer,
magnetic field and plasma environment near Venus, and
electric conductivity of rocks, x-ray fluorescence spectrom-
(v) the solar wind, interplanetary magnetic field, cosmic
eters for (a) rocks and (b) aerosols, p, T sensors, accelerom-
rays and micrometeorites during the cruise phase.
eter, mass spectrometer, gas chromatograph, spectropho-
Scientific instrumentation tometer (0.32–1.2 µm), electromagnetic and microseismic
V2. Magnetometer, plasma detectors, cosmic ray and detectors, electric conductivity of aerosol, onboard trans-
micrometeorite sensors, telecamera, infrared (5–40 µm) mitter (wind speed measurements), γ -ray bursts (cruise).
and ultraviolet (1700–3500 Å) spectrometers, radiometer V15, 16. Synthetic aperture radar, radio altime-
in the decimeter range. Only some data during the cruise ter, Fourier transform spectrometer (5–40 µm), dual-
phase were obtained. frequency onboard transmitter (radio occultations).
V3. Flyby: magnetometer, plasma detectors and
cosmic ray sensors, photometer at H 1216 Å and O 1304 Å. Main scientific results
Lander: atmospheric temperature, pressure and density Relief. Detailed mapping of the Venus relief was made
sensors, chemical gas sensors, photometer, γ -ray counter. with the synthetic aperture radars and radio altimeters
Only some data during the cruise phase were obtained. (V15, 16). This study covered the vast area north of about
V4. The same as V3 with an altimeter instead of 30◦ that is about a quarter of the total surface of Venus.
the lander photometer. Results: the first entry and direct This mapping had a spatial resolution of 1–2 km, which
measurements in the atmosphere down to h = 23 km. is sufficient to distinguish various landforms and terrains
Pressure at 55–33 km, density at 55–28 km, temperatures and determine the geological processes responsible for
at 55–23 km, atmospheric composition (CO2 > 90%, N2 < their formation. This resolution is better than that of 20 km
7%). Hydrogen corona, upper limit to atomic oxygen in a similar study from the Pioneer Venus orbiter in 1979

Table 1. Venera 1 to 16 missions.

# Launch Encounter Comment
1 12/02/1961 — First interplanetary spacecraft; flyby 100 000 km
2 12/11/1965 27/02/1966 Flyby 24 000 km
3 16/11/1965 01/03/1966 First hard landing
4 12/06/1967 18/10/1967 First soft entry (to 23 km) and flyby
5 05/01/1969 16/05/1969 Soft entry (to 17 km)
6 10/01/1969 17/05/1969 Soft entry (to 17 km)
7 17/08/1970 15/12/1970 First soft landing
8 27/03/1972 22/07/1972 Soft landing
9 08/06/1975 22/10/1975 Soft landing and first orbiter hmin = 1560 km
10 14/06/1975 25/10/1975 Soft landing and orbiter hmin = 1620 km
11 09/09/1978 21/12/1978 Soft landing and flyby at 40 000 km
12 14/09/1978 25/12/1978 Soft landing and flyby at 40 000 km
13 30/10/1981 01/03/1982 Soft landing and flyby
14 04/11/1981 05/03/1982 Soft landing and flyby
15 02/06/1983 10/10/1983 Orbiter hmin = 1000 km
16 07/06/1983 14/10/1983 Orbiter hmin = 1000 km
but not so good as the 0.12 km achieved by the Magellan Mechanical properties of rocks. The density of rocks was
orbiter seven years later (1990–1994). measured by the gamma-ray densitometer from V10 to
The Venus surface (see VENUS: SURFACE) is dominated by be 2.8 ± 0.1 g cm−3 , which is typical of crystalline basalts.
plains formed by vast floods of the non-viscous volcanic Determinations of the bearing strength and firmness of
lavas, probably basalts. About 15% of the mapped area rocks were made by V13 and 14 using three methods: (i)
is covered by so-called tessera, which is a specific terrain a penetrometer which impacted the ground, (ii) sampling
formed by heavy tectonic deformation of some unknown the rocks by drilling for the x-ray fluorescence analyses,
precursor terrain. The morphology of numerous ring-like and (iii) accelerometer observations during the shock of
volcanic plain features, so-called coronae, is evidence of landing. Heavy clays and compacted dust-like sand are
their formation due to tectonics and volcanism related the terrestrial analogs for V13, and volcanic tuffs and
to the uplifting plumes in the planet’s interior. Several fissured rocks are those for V14.
large fracture zones sharing many properties with the Temperature, pressure and dynamics in the lower
continental rift zones on Earth were found. Many impact atmosphere (0–60 km) were measured by all landing and
craters of 8 to 150 km diameter show the age of the mapped entry probes. T and p vary from T = 735 K and
area to be 0.5–1 billion years. The main conclusion is that p = 90 bar near the surface to 260 K and 0.2 bar at
the geology on Venus, contrary to that on Earth, is not 60 km. The temperature lapse rates (gradients) may be
driven by plate tectonics. compared with the adiabatic lapse rate for the CO2 (97%)
Panoramas of the landing sites of V9, 10 (figure 1), 13 + N2 (3%) mixture which varies from −11.2 K km−1 at
and 14 show the small-scale structure of the surface. Of 60 km to −8.0 K km−1 near the surface. The adiabatic lapse
four sites, only two are similar (V10 and 13). V9 shows rate corresponds to the static stability of the atmosphere.
a slope of the mountain ridge covered by irregular and Significant deviations from static stability were observed
sharp-edged stones having sizes up to 0.5–0.7 m. V10 and at 50–35 km and 22–7 km. Wind speed (measured using
13 landed on the rolling plain with outcrops of crystallized the Doppler shift of the radiotransmitter frequency) varies
magmatic rocks changed by deep chemical weathering. from 70 m s−1 at 50 km to 0.5 m s−1 near the surface. See
Steeply sloped uplands with layered structured rocks are also VENUS: ATMOSPHERE.
seen sloping away. V14 found a smooth region of the Abundances of noble gases and isotope ratios were
stone plain (lowland) composed of relatively fresh fine- measured by the V11–14 mass spectrometers. The total
grained rocks having a horizontal layered structure which argon abundance is 100 parts per million (ppm). The
resembles the accumulation of volcanic tuff. ratio of primary isotopes, 36Ar/38Ar, is that on Earth, while
Composition of rocks. The abundances of Mg, Al, Si, the radiogenic isotope 40Ar is depleted by a factor of 270
K, Ca, Ti, Mn, S, Cl and Na given as their oxides were relative to the Earth’s value. The abundance of Ne is
measured by the x-ray fluorescence spectrometers at the 8 ppm, and 20 Ne/22 Ne = 12.15 ± 0.1, which is between
V13, 14 and Vega 2 landing sites. Abundances of the the ratios found on the Earth’s (10.1 ± 0.4) and in the solar
natural radionuclides (K, U, Th) were measured by the wind (13.7±0.3). The abundances of Kr and Xe are 35 parts
gamma-ray spectrometers from V8, 9, 10, Vega 1 and 2. per billion (ppb) and less than 20 ppb, respectively. The
Both elemental and radionuclide abundances are typical isotope ratios for C and O are equal to the Earth’s ratios.
of various types of erupted basalts, with the exception of All these values are important for the origin and evolution
V8 which is more similar to granites. of the atmosphere.

Figure 1. Panoramas of the surface of Venus observed from V9 and V10. Each panorama is 180◦ × 40◦ .
The chemical composition of the atmosphere was studied ratio corresponding to FeCl3 . Later, on Vega 1 and 2, this
by the V12–14 gas chromatographs: N2 ≈ 3% and method was used to measure the abundances of S, Cl and P.
Ar = 100 ppm (both were also measured by the mass Gas chromatographic and mass spectrometric analyses of
spectrometers), SO2 = 130 ± 35 ppm, CO varies from 30 aerosol pyrolysis products (Vega 1 and 2) revealed sulfuric
ppm at 36 km to 17 ppm at 12 km. Detections of some acid and sulfur aerosols with the mass ratio 1:0.1. FeCl3
other gases are disputable. is probably present as very small (0.3 µm) particles and
Strong CO2 and H2 O bands observed at various constitutes 1% of the total aerosol mass. These particles
heights with the V11–14 spectrophotometers resulted in may serve as condensation centers for sulfuric acid and
an estimate of the full water abundance of 1 g cm−2 above explain the near-UV absorption. The Vega data favor P as
the surface (first done at V11). The absorption at 0.37 µm phosphoric acid H3 PO4 at locations where the lower cloud
observed with V14 below 58 km is due to SO2 , which varies boundary extends to 35 km. The observed excess of Cl may
from 50 ppm at 50 km to 10 ppm at 57 km. indicate AlCl3 .
Observations with the V15 Fourier spectrometer Lightning. Strong and frequent electromagnetic
resulted in H2 O abundances of 5–15 ppm at 60 ± 3 km. pulses at 10–100 kHz observed at V11 to 14 favor
SO2 abundances at 70 km were equal to 20–40 ppb at the lightning on Venus. The Pioneer Venus electromagnetic
low and middle latitudes, 1–10 ppb in the polar collar, and observations also support lightning. However, of three
100–1000 ppb near the north pole. sets of observations in the visible (V9, 10, and Pioneer
Structure of clouds and aerosols. Illumination. Analysis Venus orbiters, Vega 1 and 2 balloons), there was only one
of the solar radiation scattered in the atmosphere and case for suspecting a thunderstorm. Overall, the problem
measured by the photometers and spectrophotometers
is uncertain.
onboard the V8–14 landing probes established three main
Properties of clouds and the atmosphere near the upper
layers within the cloud deck structure and the lower cloud
cloud boundary (68 km) were studied by the near-UV
boundary at 48 km (near 35 km at V8 and Vega 1 and 2).
camera, visible spectrometer, photopolarimeter, near-IR
Optical depths of the layers were derived at each landing
spectrometer and IR radiometer onboard the V9 and 10
sites. The V14 near-UV (0.32–0.39 µm) photometer
orbiters, and Fourier spectrometer (FS) on V15.
established two absorption layers, above 60 km and below
58 km. 90% of the solar near-UV energy is absorbed above FS covered the range 5–40 µm with a spectral
60 km and supports strong winds in the upper cloud level. resolving power λ/δλ ≈ 200. 1500 spectra obtained mostly
A few per cent of the solar flux reaches the surface. in the northern hemisphere showed sulfuric acid as a
A nephelometer is an instrument that illuminates a main cloud species at all latitudes. The cloud deck is
volume of atmospheric medium by a narrow beam and homogeneous with a smooth decrease in particle density
measures the scattered radiation at fixed angles. Four- at latitudes < 50◦ , and is horizontally variable with a steep
angle nephelometers were used onboard V9 and 10 and vertical decrease at the polar and subpolar regions.
one-angle (backscattering) nephelometers on V11, 13 and Limb observations of haze above the clouds by the V9
14. They also established the three-layer structure of the and 10 visible spectrometers resulted in vertical profiles
main cloud deck and determined aerosol properties in of the haze particle size, their number density and eddy
those layers. diffusion at 70–100 km.
The chemical composition of clouds was measured by Pressure, temperature and dynamics in the middle atmo-
the V12 and 14 x-ray fluorescence spectrometers, which sphere were studied by three methods: (i) accelerometers
determined the presence of S, Cl and Fe, with the Fe/Cl on the entry and landing probes, (ii) dual-frequency radio

occultations from the V9, 10, 15 and 16 orbiters, and (iii) Hunten D M, Colin L, Donahue T M and Moroz V I (ed)
FS spectra of the CO2 band at 15 µm. 1983 Venus (Tucson, AZ: University of Arizona Press)
50 and 90 p–T profiles in the range 40–90 km were Keldysh M V 1977 Venus exploration with the Venera 9
observed with radio occultations from V9, 10 and 15, and Venera 10 spacecraft Icarus 30 605–25
16, respectively, to study the thermal balance, day– Krasnopolsky V A 1986 Photochemistry of the Atmospheres of
night variations and latitudinal behavior with a special Mars and Venus (Heidelberg: Springer)
emphasis on the polar and collar regions. Temperature Moroz V I 1981 The atmosphere of Venus Space Sci. Rev. 29
profiles deduced from the FS spectra are different at low 3–127
and high latitudes and depend also on local time. Wind
velocities (≈ 100 m s−1 at 70 km) estimated from the Vladimir A Krasnopolsky
temperature profiles vary with local time, showing the
half-day period typical of the atmospheric tides.
Airglow. Observations with the high-sensitive visible
spectrometers (V9 and 10 orbiters) solved the three-
centuries-old problem of the Venus ashen light (nonzero
brightness of the night side) and revealed spectra of the
nightglow. Laboratory simulations of these spectra helped
to identify four O2 band systems. Their intensities, vertical
profiles and variations with local time were obtained.
These emissions originate near h = 100 km in the reaction
O + O + CO2 → O2∗ + CO2 with subsequent quenching and
excitation trasnfer.
Dayglow emissions of H, O, He and O+ were observed
with the V9 and 10 airglow photometers and V11 and
12 spectrometers. The densities of these species and the
temperature of the upper atmosphere were obtained from
the observations.
Profiles of electron density in the ionosphere were
measured using dual-frequency radio occultations from
the V9, 10, 15 and 16 orbiters. About 100 profiles were
used to study variations of the density maximum and
its height, the scale height above the maximum, and the
ionopause height with solar zenith angle, solar activity and
other geophysical parameters. The nightside ionosphere is
especially variable and often shows a two-peak structure.
The magnetosphere and interaction with the solar wind
were studied by two plasma spectrometers and a
magnetometer onboard the V9 and 10 orbiters. The shape
and location of the bow shock indicated that the solar
wind is diverted almost completely by a magnetic barrier.
Charge exchange between the solar wind protons and
atmospheric hot oxygen atoms and their photoionization
add mass to the solar wind. This mass loading was
observed in the boundary layer of the solar wind flow
around the planet and plays a crucial role in the formation
of the magnetosphere. The planetary ion outflow on
the nightside forms the distinct plasma tail. Its polarity
is controlled by the local direction of the interplanetary
magnetic field, thus confirming the induced nature of the
Venus magnetosphere. Both plasma flow from the dayside
and electron precipitations on the nightside support the
nightside ionosphere (see also VENUS: INTERACTION WITH SOLAR
WIND).
Bibliography
Barsukov V L, Basilevsky A T, Volkov V P and Zharkov V N
(ed) 1992 Venus Geology, Geochemistry, and Geophysics
(Tucson, AZ: University of Arizona Press)

Venus E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
no intrinsic magnetic field. In addition, Venus does not

Venus possess any satellites.
Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It orbits the
Sun at 0.72 times the Earth’s distance, or 108.2 million Earth-based investigations
km. Because of its location relative to the Earth, Venus Until the first successful space mission to Venus in 1962,
is always seen close to the Sun, at less than 48◦ angular all that was known about Venus came from Earth-based
distance from it. The planet appears either as a morning investigations. In 1761, M V Lomonosov, who observed a
‘star’ or as an evening ‘star’. Actually, as in the case of transit of Venus accross the Sun in an attempt to measure
Mercury, for a long time it was thought that there were the distance from the Earth to the Sun, was the first to
two different bodies (the ancient names for Venus were detect a halo around Venus that he interpreted as being due
Eosphorus and Hesperus), until the Greek astronomers to the presence of an atmosphere. Spots or markings on
realized that there was only one body. The distance of the planet had been seen since about 1666. Around 1930,
Venus to the Earth varies from 41 million km to 257 million ultraviolet measurements detected the Y-shaped features
km. As seen from the Earth, Venus’s apparent diameter of the upper clouds. Studies of these markings established
varies from 10 to 64.5 arcsec. However, we see the full in 1966 that the atmosphere was rotating in about 5 days
disk illuminated by the Sun only at Superior conjunction. at the cloud tops. These features appear much better in
The planet has phases, like the Moon (figure 1). They were the ultraviolet than in the visible. The first identification
first seen by Galileo in 1610. Venus is the brightest object of an atmospheric constituent was that of CO2 in 1932
in the sky, after the Sun and the Moon, but the planet’s by spectroscopy at 8000 Å. Later on, H2 O was detected
brightness is very variable. Venus is the brightest between from the ground, but also from balloons and aircraft, in
maximum elongation and inferior conjunction. At inferior visible spectra of the planet and in very variable amounts.
conjunction, which happens about every 19 months, when Infrared spectroscopy from Earth around 1967 led to the
Venus’s size is the largest, the disk is completely dark at detections of CO, HCl and HF in small amounts above the
visible wavelengths. The brightness of Venus is due not clouds. Ultraviolet measurements allowed the detection
only to its close proximity to the Sun (Venus receives twice of SO2 in 1979. The cloud composition remained unknown
more solar light as the Earth) and to the Earth but also to for a long time. It was believed that the clouds were made
the high reflecting power of the clouds that reflect 75% of of water, as on Earth. It is only around 1974, through the
the solar light. analysis of the polarization of Venus’s radiation, that a
The rotation of Venus is nearly synchronous. Indeed, value for the refractive index of the particles was obtained,
the period of rotation of Venus around the Sun is 224.7 n = 1.45, and it was then correctly inferred that the cloud
days, while the planet’s rotational period is 243 days (Earth particles were in fact droplets of concentrated sulfuric acid
days), which is extremely slow, and in the retrograde (H2 SO4 ). This was confirmed later on by space missions,
direction (i.e. opposite to the direction of the movement which provided much more information about the clouds.
of the rotation of the planet around the Sun). Because However, it is interesting to note that an explanation for
of the combined effects of the slow retrograde rotation of the ultraviolet markings in the upper clouds is still lacking,
Venus and of its orbital motion around the sun, the solar although it is suspected that they are related to sulfur
day (time between two sunrises) on Venus corresponds chemistry.
to 117 Earth days. The eccentricity of the orbit and the Measurements of the radio emission of the planet
inclination of the planetary rotation axis are both very at 3.15 cm in the late 1950s seemed to indicate that the
small. Therefore no major seasonal changes are expected. temperature at the surface of Venus was much higher than
In fact, Venus is the planet with the most circular orbit. that on Earth. As it was believed at that time that Earth
It is also the most Earth-like of the terrestrial planets in and Venus were very similar planets, this came as a big
terms of size and bulk properties. The planetary radius surprise, and a confirmation was needed. This was one
at the equator is 6051.5 km, which corresponds to 95% of the goals of the first American spacecraft that went to
of the Earth’s radius (6378 km). Furthermore, Venus’s Venus in 1962.
mean density (5.24 g cm−3 ) and surface gravity (8.6 m s−2 ) Concerning the surface itself, it is only by radar
are comparable with those of the Earth (5.97 g cm−3 and measurements that are not stopped by clouds that
9.78 m s−2 , respectively). However, now that we know information on the surface could be gained. Information
Venus better, we find many more differences from the on the rotation of the planet as a solid body came only
Earth than was believed only 50 yr ago. In particular, with the first radar studies of Venus with the Goldstone
Venus has a very high surface temperature of 740 K (hot radio antenna around 1964–9 that allowed the direction
enough to melt lead) and a very dense atmosphere (93 and rate of rotation of the solid planet to be obtained. The
times that on Earth). The main atmospheric constituent extremely slow rotation thus inferred, and the fact that
is carbon dioxide, instead of nitrogen for the Earth. The Venus was rotating in the retrograde direction were other
clouds are made of sulfuric acid and not pure water as significant surprises. It was also found at that time that the
on Earth. Besides, the surface of Venus is essentially of rotation axis is nearly perpendicular to the ecliptic. Radar
volcanic origin and does not present evidence for lateral observations from Goldstone, California, and Arecibo,
plate tectonics in recent history. Furthermore, Venus has Puerto Rico, at 12.6 cm (S-band), around Venus’s inferior

The first fly-by was that of the American Mariner 2

spacecraft, in 1962, which carried a microwave radiometer
to check whether the surface temperature was high. Then,
another American spacecraft, Mariner 5, that went to
Venus in 1967, confirmed that the surface pressure was
very high, about 90 atm. Mariner 10 on its way to Mercury
explored Venus in 1974 (see MARINER MISSIONS). The Soviets
began exploration of Venus in 1967 with Venera 4 (first
successful launch) which carried an atmospheric probe.
Figure 1. A schematic view of Venus as observed from Earth at The first successful landing on Venus was achieved by
various phases. Venus is largest at inferior conjunction, but then Venera 7 in 1970 (another Soviet spacecraft), and the first
it is very dark. At superior conjunction, Venus is smallest but photographs of the surface were obtained by the Venera
completely illuminated by the Sun. Venus is brightest around
9 and 10 Soviet spacecraft in 1975 (see VENERA MISSIONS).
east and west elongations. (From Colin L 1983 Venus ed D M
Hunten, L Colin, T M Donahue and V I Moroz (Tucson, AZ: Venera 8, 9 and 10 lander capsules carried gamma-
University of Arizona Press) p 21.) ray spectrometers, which allowed the first geochemical
measurements to be made. The amounts of radioactive
elements U (uranium), Th (thorium) and K (potassium)
conjunction, provided the first radar images of portions of were determined.
the surface at 5–20 km resolution. Then, in 1978, came the American Pioneer Venus
The studies of the atmosphere made nowadays 1 and 2 missions, with an orbiter on Pioneer Venus 1
by Earth-based telescopes cover all wavelength ranges and entry probes on Pioneer Venus 2. Pioneer Venus
from the ultraviolet to the radio range. Earth-orbiting orbiter penetrated the upper atmosphere and made mass
ultraviolet satellites as well as sounding rockets are also spectrometer measurements. Four probes reached the
used regularly to probe the upper atmosphere of the surface. The orbiter part of the mission lasted from
planet. December 1978 to October 1992. Topographic maps were
As the planet is covered by thick cloud layers, the part obtained by the radar altimeter on Pioneer Venus 1 in 1978
of the atmosphere below the clouds is difficult to probe by with a resolution of about 50 km in horizontal extent and
Earth-based observations. For many years, information on about 200 m in altitude (see PIONEER VENUS MISSION). The
Venera 11 and 12 spacecraft, which carried descent landers,
the deep atmosphere came essentially from space probes
were also sent to Venus by the Soviet Union in 1978.
that went into the atmosphere or from occultations of
Altogether, in December 1978, ten separate spacecraft
spacecraft by the atmosphere of the planet during a space
visited Venus.
mission. However, in 1984, it was discovered that the
The Soviet exploration continued with other Venera
night-side of Venus emits near-infrared radiation coming
missions (up to Venera 16) and with the Vega 1 and 2
from deep atmospheric layers below the main clouds. This
spacecraft that were initially designed for an exploration
property has since been used to probe these deep layers
of Venus but were sent to comet Halley as well as to
using Earth-based telescopes. It led to measurements of
Venus (see VEGA SPACE MISSION). The Venera 13 and 14 probes,
sulfur compounds (SO2 , OCS), CO, H2 O and halides (HCl,
which landed on Venus in 1982, and the Vega 2 probe,
HF), below the clouds.
which dropped a landing module in June 1985, carried an
Radio measurements that are made today concern
instrument that was able to measure the x-ray fluorescence
mostly the millimeter range, and they pertain to the upper of soil samples introduced into a vacuum chamber. Venera
atmosphere of the planet. They provide information on 13 and 14 obtained some more images of the surface of
minor species such as CO and H2 O and on the temperature Venus, and the Venera 15 and 16 probes provided radar
profile in the upper atmosphere. They allow the variations mapping at a resolution of 1–2 km of the northern 25%
with the time of the day to be studied. For instance, larger of the surface of Venus close to the north pole, starting in
concentrations of CO have been found on the night-side 1983.
than on the day-side. Also, Doppler shifts of the CO Another major step in the exploration of Venus was
lines have been used to measure wind speeds. Long-term achieved by the American Magellan Radar Mapping
variations in CO have also been observed by this method. spacecraft that was launched from the space shuttle
Atlantis in 1989. Between 1990 and 1992, it mapped 98% of
Space missions the surface at resolutions between 120 and 300 m. It also
Space exploration of Venus started in 1962. Since then, provided altimetric, radiometric and gravity data. The
there have been many spacecraft explorations with fly- final orbit occurred on October 1994. The radar maps are
bys and orbiting spacecraft. The most favorable periods spectacular. The American spacecraft, Galileo, designed to
for launch occur at times of inferior conjunction, when explore the planet Jupiter, accomplished a fly-by of Venus
Venus is closest to the Earth, which happens about every in February 1990. It has allowed us, in particular, to study
19 months. Venus is the planet that has been the most the deep clouds of Venus from near-infrared imaging of
explored by space missions. the night-side.

The atmosphere time) varies from 170 to 330 K. These maps indicate that,
Composition and temperature at these altitudes, the polar regions are up to 20 K warmer
Our current knowledge of the composition of the than the equator, which is very surprising.
atmosphere of Venus comes from a number of in situ At still higher altitudes, in the thermosphere, the
analyses with infrared and ultraviolet spectrometers, temperature in the day-side is around 300 K, and therefore
mass spectrometers and gas chromatographs on space much colder than on Earth (where it is 1000–2000 K).
probes that went into the atmosphere of the planet. It Heating in this part of the atmosphere is caused mainly
is also the result of spectroscopy obtained with Earth- by the absorption of ultraviolet photons from the Sun.
based telescopes, airplanes, rockets and satellites. Venus The difference in temperature with respect to the Earth
has a very dense atmosphere, with CO2 as the major is due to the greater abundance of CO2 which is very
constituent (mixing ratio: 0.965), instead of N2 as on efficient at radiating heat to space. The temperature varies
Earth. Minor components are nitrogen (N2 ), water vapor spectacularly from day to night. At night, it can be as cold
(H2 O), sulfur dioxide (SO2 ), sulfur monoxide (SO), carbon as 100 K. The long duration of the days on Venus and the
monoxide (CO), carbonyl sulfide (COS), sulfuric acid cooling effect of CO2 on the night-side probably combine
(H2 SO4 ), oxygen (O2 ), hydrogen chloride (HCl), hydrogen to produce this strong contrast in temperature.
fluoride (HF), argon (Ar), neon (Ne) and krypton (Kr) (see The homopause is the region of the atmosphere above
VENUS: ATMOSPHERE). The atmospheric surface pressure is which the gases are no longer uniformly mixed (gases of
95 bar, or 95 times that at the surface of the Earth. The different mass have different scale heights). On Venus,
temperature at the surface is very high: 740 K. this occurs at around 130–145 km altitude. What is found
One of the striking characteristics of Venus is its is a surprisingly low concentration of the dissociation
dryness. At the high surface temperature of Venus, products of CO2 —O and CO—above the homopause.
water could not currently exist in the liquid state at the These products must be quickly removed and transported
surface. However, even in the atmosphere, only very to lower altitudes where they recombine (maybe through
small amounts of H2 O vapor are found. The deuterium- a catalytic cycle that involves chlorine, which is about 1000
to-hydrogen ratio is very high (about 150 times that on times more abundant on Venus than on Earth).
Earth). In contrast, isotopic ratios of C and O are the same Still higher up, Venus has an ionosphere, which
on Venus and Earth. was first detected by the radio-occultation experiment on
Concerning the nonradiogenic noble gases 20 Ne, 36Ar Mariner 5 in 1967 and has been studied in more detail by
and Kr, 20 Ne is about 20 times more abundant on Venus an ion-mass spectrometer that went to the ionosphere and
than on Earth, 36Ar about 70 times more abundant and Kr by remote-sensing observations with other instruments on
only 3 times more abundant. Radiogenic argon (40Ar) is the Pioneer Venus orbiter. The day-side ionosphere peaks
about 4 times less abundant on Venus than on Earth. near 140 km and stops at about 500 km. It is produced
The high average surface temperature is somewhat primarily by solar extreme ultraviolet radiation. The most
surprising. Indeed, in spite of the close proximity of Venus abundant positive ions are O+2 , O+ and CO+2 . O+2 (and not
to the Sun, because of the high reflecting power of the CO+2 ) is the dominant ion up to about 190 km because
clouds, only about 25% of the solar flux penetrates into of the rapid reaction rate of CO2 + O. Higher up, O+
the atmosphere. However, the high surface temperature dominates. Quite surprisingly, the night-side ionosphere
can be explained by a very efficient greenhouse effect as can sometimes be rather significant. This happens during
the atmosphere of Venus contains gases that are strong periods of solar maximum when the day-side ionosphere
infrared absorbers (CO2 , SO2 , H2 O, OCS) and clouds is so dense and extensive that the solar wind cannot
that trap the thermal radiation emitted by the deep penetrate the planet’s environment. A large flux of O+
atmosphere. This causes an increase in the surface ions then goes to the night-side of the planet and creates
temperature of nearly 500 K (compared with the expected a significant night-side ionosphere (the long duration of
temperature without an atmosphere). the nights prevents the ions from recombining). At solar
The measurements of temperature in the atmosphere minimum, the day-side ionosphere is much less extensive,
come from infrared radiometry and radio occultations. and the flow of ions to the night-side not as strong (see
Spacecraft radio-occultation measurements indicate that VENUS: INTERACTION WITH SOLAR WIND).
the temperature decreases from 740 K at the surface
to about 240 K at the cloud tops. Temperatures Clouds
below 35–50 km approximately follow an adiabat. This Although the upper part of the cloud layers can be
indicates that the temperature structure below the observed and monitored from the Earth, the vertical
clouds is controlled essentially by atmospheric dynamics structure of the clouds can be studied only during space
(convection). Diurnal and latitudinal variations are very missions. Probes and the Vega 1 balloons have gone
small below the clouds. through the cloud layers, and the Galileo spacecraft has
Above the clouds, in the region called the mesosphere, imaged the clouds on the night-side of the planet around
temperature measurements obtained from Pioneer Venus 40–50 km altitude during its fly-by of Venus.
around 15 µm have provided maps covering the 60– Clouds cover Venus globally in generally three layers
105 km vertical range. The temperature (averaged over between 48 and 68 km. At some times and at some

is always present, whereas on Earth it is mostly absorbed

at the surface.
What we know about the global circulation in the
atmosphere of Venus comes from various sources of
information. Direct sources are cloud-feature tracking and
the radio tracking of descending probes (Doppler tracking
of Veneras 8, 9, 10 and 12 and interferometric tracking of
the Pioneer Venus probes) and of balloons that went into
the atmosphere (Vega mission). Doppler-shifted emission
lines from atmospheric gases (such as CO2 and CO) also
provide direct measurements of wind speeds. Spatial
variations in gaseous abundances are also used as tracers
of the global circulation. In a more indirect way, theoretical
analyses of planet-wide variations in temperature at a
given pressure, obtained by radio occultations and IR
radiometry, have been used. However, winds can be
determined in this manner only if the atmosphere is in
cyclostrophic balance, a condition which, on Venus, occurs
in the non-equatorial regions below 60 km altitude.
Figure 2. A possible model for the Venusian sulfur cycle (from As we have seen, Venus rotates extremely slowly,
Lewis J S and Prinn R G 1984 Planets and their Atmospheres: in 243 days, whereas the atmosphere at the cloud levels
Origin and Evolution (New York: Academic). (around 60 km altitude) rotates in 4–5 days, which
corresponds to wind speeds of 100 m s−1 , in the same
retrograde direction as the planet. This zonal (along
locations, the lower two layers may combine. However, a line of constant latitude) superrotation of the entire
the variability in structure is much less important than in atmosphere of Venus from about 10 km up to about 100 km,
the Earth’s clouds. Hazes are present above and below the which is so different from what is found on Earth, is the
clouds. The total cloud optical depth has been estimated main mode of circulation of the atmosphere.
to be between 25 and 35. Their total mass is relatively The zonal winds are not constant with altitude,
small; the Venus clouds are more like the hazes on Earth. however. They decrease regularly from a speed of
The droplets are about 2 µm in size, but the particle size 100 m s−1 at the cloud tops to values close to 1 m s−1 near
distributions differ from layer to layer. the surface. However, there exist some layers of relatively
The clouds are made mostly of concentrated sulfuric constant wind speeds that alternate with regions of large
acid, with about 75% by weight sulfuric acid and 25% increase in velocity. Differences in zonal wind speeds with
water vapor. They resemble terrestrial acid rain (caused time of the day also exist.
by pollution). This composition is probably the result of Above the clouds, zonal winds generally decrease
photochemical production of SO3 from SO2 . H2 O and SO3 with altitude up to about 100 km, where they reach
then react to make H2 SO4 (figure 2). H2 SO4 is thermally very small values. At still higher altitudes, a very
decomposed into SO3 and H2 O in the lower atmosphere. different circulation regime exists. The global circulation
Chemical reactions with the surface should be removing is there dominated by a strong flow from the day-side
hemisphere to the night-side hemisphere (subsolar to
sulfur quickly from the atmosphere, maybe through the
antisolar circulation). Peak velocities reach approximately
formation of anhydrite (CaSO4 ). Some sulfur must go
250 m s−1 across the terminator. This circulation, which is
back into the atmosphere from the decomposition of sulfur
also different from that existing on Earth, is a consequence
compounds present in the crust, such as pyrite (FeS2 ). To
of the high temperature contrasts between the day-side
explain the presence of permanent cloud layers of sulfuric
and the night-side above 150 km. With only a strong
acid on Venus, a source of sulfur (continuous or episodic)
subsolar-to-antisolar flow, one would expect upwelling
is needed, and it is postulated that surface volcanism plays
centered on the subsolar point and subsidence centered
an essential role in the release of sulfur gases from the crust
on the antisolar point, with a return flow around 70–
(see also CLOUDS IN PLANETARY ATMOSPHERES). 90 km altitude. However, subsidence does not occur
at midnight but, instead, at around 2–3 a.m. local time.
Atmospheric circulation This asymmetry may be due to the superposition of the
The atmospheric circulation of Venus is very different subsolar-to-antisolar flow and of some zonal retrograde
from that on Earth (see EARTH’S ATMOSPHERE). This is not winds (these two flows add across the evening terminator,
surprising given the different rotation rates, the different but go in opposite directions at the morning terminator).
atmospheric composition and structure, and the lack of There is, in addition, a slow meridional (in the
seasons. Furthermore, on Venus, solar light is mainly equator-to-pole direction) circulation that may consist of
deposited within and above the upper cloud layer which Hadley cells, as on Earth. Cloud-tracked winds from

Origin and evolution

Although giant planets have retained most of their
primitive atmosphere, this is not the case for the terrestrial
planets Venus, the Earth and Mars that have lost their
primitive atmosphere, probably through massive escape,
and have acquired a secondary atmosphere. A large part
is made of gases outgassed from the interior which is
heated during planetary formation by contraction and by
decay of natural radioactive elements. During periods of
large-scale volcanism, CO2 , SO2 , H2 O and other volatiles
are injected into the atmospheres. An extra component
comes from cometary and meteoritic impacts (for the
Earth, biological processes also play a role). Gases can be
removed by atmospheric escape (solar wind interaction),
interaction with the surface or major impacts. See also
PLANETARY ATMOSPHERES.
As Venus and Earth were formed in approximately
the same region of the solar nebula, they may have had
the same global composition. There are some indication
that this may be the case. Indeed, the total estimated
oxidized carbon inventories on Venus and Earth are
Figure 3. A possible model for the general circulation of the comparable, although on Earth the carbon is mainly
Venusian atmosphere (from Schubert G 1983 Venus ed D M present in carbonate rocks at the surface of the planet
Hunten, L Colin, T M Donahue and V I Moroz (Tucson, AZ: and in the oceans while, on Venus, it is mainly present
University of Arizona Press) p 730.) in the atmosphere, where it can accumulate because of the
absence of liquid water. Nitrogen inventories on Earth and
Venus are also comparable.
Pioneer Venus and Mariner 10 have shown equator-to-pole The underabundance of radiogenic argon 40Ar
velocities of about 5 m s−1 in each hemisphere. However, (produced by the decay of 40 K—potassium) could be due to
the interferometric tracking of the Pioneer Venus probes different outgassing rates and/or duration on Venus and
has revealed a complex altitude variation, with changes on Earth. If it is due essentially to a shorter duration of
in magnitude and in direction. Interpretations of these outgassing on Venus than on Earth, then the measurement
observations and theoretical considerations suggest that would indicate that most of Venus’s outgassing happened
the Pioneer Venus probes went through several vertically during the first billion years.
layered large meridional cells that each extend from the The high values of the nonradiogenic noble gases
20
equator to high latitudes. There may be three different Ne, 36Ar and Kr on Venus compared with Earth have
cells: a Hadley cell near the surface, a weak indirect cell in not yet found a completely satisfactory explanation. The
the stable layer below the clouds (between 30 and 50 km) postulated early episode of massive supersonic escape of
and a Hadley cell at the cloud level (that may be ‘thermally the early hydrogen-rich atmospheres by enhanced extreme
indirect’) (figure 3). ultraviolet radiation from the young Sun would probably
have carried along the noble gases on both Venus and the
There are many indications of wave motions on
Earth, in spite of their high molecular weight. The only
different scales in the atmosphere of Venus. In particular,
major difference in the evolution of the two planets may
the relative stability of the large-scale dark markings in
come from the giant impact with a planetesimal that must
the ultraviolet photographs may be due to planetary-scale have occurred on Earth (but not on Venus) to explain the
waves drifting slowly with respect to the atmospheric Moon’s formation. This would have produced another
superrotation. The thermal tides that follow the motion major erosion of the Earth’s atmosphere, including the
of the Sun in Venus’s sky (the Sun rises in the west and noble gases, and, according to some scientists, it could
sets in the east) may also play an important role. There be the main reason for smaller abundances of noble gases
is also evidence for small-scale turbulence. One of the on Earth than on Venus (except for Xe, which may be a
main problems in Venus’s global circulation is to explain particular case because of its higher molecular weight).
the existence and maintenance of the superrotation. The The current endowment in these noble gases for the
eddies that have been observed in the lower atmosphere Earth would come essentially from subsequent periods of
may, in combination with the mean meridional circulation outgassing from the interior, with, maybe, some additional
and the planetary-scale waves, help in providing the contribution of less destructive and more recent cometary
upward transport of angular momentum required to or meteoritic impacts that could enrich the atmosphere in
explain Venus superrotation. noble gases. More measurements of noble gas abundances

on Venus, as well as measurements in comets, are needed The highlands are dominated by two continent-size
to enable the further development of these hypotheses. features: APHRODITE TERRA and ISHTAR TERRA (figure 4). The
Venus’s atmosphere currently contains about 100 000 largest one, Aphrodite Terra (about 10 000 km across),
times less water than is found in the oceans and is larger than Africa in surface area. It lies mostly in
atmosphere of the Earth. Venus could originally have had the southern hemisphere, close to the equator, at 1–
the same amount of water as the Earth. A significant loss 5 km elevation. Ishtar Terra, about 5600 km across
of water could have occurred on Venus, but not on Earth, (about the size of Australia), and located in the northern
because of a runaway greenhouse effect due to the much hemisphere, possesses the highest mountain belts on the
higher temperatures of Venus that would have vaporized planet, including Maxwell Montes which is up to about
the water. The water molecules dissociate in the upper 12 km high. Following V L Hansen and colleagues,
atmosphere, and hydrogen then escapes. After a period the highlands can be subdivided into three groups: the
of massive escape, it has been computed that fractionation volcanic rises, the crustal plateaux and Ishtar Terra. The
would start (the heavier deuterium D does not escape as volcanic rises are more than 1000 km across, they rise 1–
easily as the lighter H) after the amount of water has been 2.5 km above the surrounding plains and they have gentle
reduced to the equivalent of a layer of water a few meters slopes. They include the Atla, Beta, Bell, Dione, Imdr
thick covering the surface of Venus. The very high value of and Themis Regiones. The most prominent volcanoes
the D/H ratio measured on Venus could therefore indicate on Venus and numerous coronae (which are circular to
that much larger amounts of water were present in the past, elliptical features with tectonic annuli unique to Venus)
with, maybe, the possibility that OCEANS once existed on the are found there. The volcanic rises are mostly located in
planet. However, such calculations are not simple, as it is equatorial regions of Venus. The crustal plateaux such
hard to track the amount of water present at a given time. as Ovda and Thetis in Aphrodite Terra, or the Alpha,
Indeed, during the more recent past, significant ejections Phoebe or Tellus Regiones are 1000–3000 km across; they
of water could have been produced by a major volcanic have steep slopes and reach elevations of 2–4 km above
episode or by a massive outgassing event. Furthermore, the surrounding plains. They contain regions of very
cometary impacts continually replenish the atmosphere rough, highly deformed terrain called tesserae, and some
with relatively weakly deuterated water. volcanic features, as well as many other structures such
as ridges, fractures and grabens. Ishtar Terra has unique
Surface and interior of Venus characteristics; it is an irregular platform with a complex
Little was known about the surface until the 1970s. topographic profile that includes a high interior plateau,
After the first observations by Earth-based Goldstone and Lakshmi Planum, with mountain belts in its periphery, and
Arecibo radar mapping in the 1960s, global-scale radar surrounding high tesserae. In addition, its tesserae are
mappings of large parts of the surface were carried out by different from the ones found elsewhere. They have more
Pioneer Venus in 1978 and Venera 15 and 16 in 1983. This coherent structures.
was then followed by the US Magellan mission in 1990–4 Thousands of volcanoes have been identified on
that has provided radar images, altimetric and radiometric Venus, from kilometer-size vents to broad shields
data at a remarkable spatial resolution of 120–300 m for hundreds of km across. Volcanoes and other volcanic
98% of the surface of Venus. features are found everywhere, but they are less abundant
in the tesserae regions and more abundant in the Beta–
Main characteristics of the surface Atla–Themis region which covers about 20% of the planet.
The radar altimetric data indicate that more than 90% of So far, 167 volcanoes more than 100 km across have been
the surface has an elevation between −1 and +2.5 km, found. Examples are Maat Mons in Atla Regio (figure 5)
compared with Venus’s reference mean radius of 6051.8 and Theia Mons in Beta Regio, which have diameters
km. The surface is dominated by plains. One can in the range 100–200 km and rise to 1–9 km above the
distinguish the lowland plains (or planitiae), such as the mean planetary radius. These volcanoes are surrounded
Atalanta Planitia, that have elevations between 1 and 2 km by radar-bright (rough) ejecta with circular or elliptical
below the mean Venusian radius and that cover about shapes that sometimes form kinds of festoons. About 300
27% of the surface, and the upland or rolling plains that intermediate-size volcanoes have been found (20–100 km
constitute 65% of the surface and have elevations between in diameter), including several ‘pancake domes’ that
0 and 2 km above the mean surface radius. The rest (about are steep-sided, circular, flat-top features. The smallest
8% of the surface) is made of highlands with 2–12 km volcanoes are mostly found in groups called shield fields.
elevation. There are about 1000 impact CRATERS on Venus, which
The lowland plains are generally very smooth (dark is not much compared with what is found on Mars or
at radar wavelengths), whereas the upland or rolling the Moon. The largest crater, Mead, has a diameter of
plains are a little more rough and possess many small- 270 km, and the smallest ones have diameters of about
scale landforms such as scarps, ridges, troughs, hills, 1.5 km. The absence of small craters and the fact that
channels, . . . . The plains are interrupted by the large-scale craters on Venus seem to come in groups are probably due
landforms at higher elevations called highlands (see VENUS: to the presence of a dense atmosphere around the planet
SURFACE). that has broken the large meteroids and completely burnt

Figure 4. Topography of Venus in a Mercator projection (from Hunten D M, Colin L, Donahue T M and Moroz V I (ed) 1983 Venus
(Tucson, AZ: University of Arizona Press) p 1059).
smaller ones. Higher crater densities are usually found The plains are apparently completely covered by
in the plains. Most craters are pristine. The low number volcanic deposits. Concerning the volcanic centers, one
of craters, their distribution and their shapes suggest that can distinguish two main categories. The first category is
the surface of Venus cannot be older than 500–800 million characterized by very significant flows that generally come
years on average. from a vent region during repetitive eruptions. It includes
Information on the surface composition comes from large and intermediate-size volcanic edifices, flow fields
in situ data and from radar data. The geochemical data and calderas. To explain the formation of centers of
from the Venera 9, 10, 13 and Vega 1 and 2 landers repetitive volcanic eruption it is necessary to assume the
imply a predominantly basaltic composition, with one site presence of stable shallow magma reservoirs. The global
indicating possibly more alkalinic rocks. Venera 8 found a eruption rates corresponding to the population of large
more granitic composition for the soil. Radar backscatter volcanoes have been estimated by L S Crumpler and
is a function of both roughness and the bulk properties of colleagues to be about 1.7 × 10−2 km3 yr−1 of magma.
the target material. The radar properties of the lowland The second type concerns regions of the order of 100–
plains indicate surface dielectric constants of 3–8, which 200 km in diameter characterized by the presence of many
small edifices and by relatively limited associated volumes
corresponds to low values of the dielectric constants of
of lava flows. It includes the groups of small-size edifices
basalts on Earth. Much higher dielectric constants have
that are called shield fields. Some calculations indicate that
been found for some regions at high elevation. They
these shield fields form where magma replenishment rates
can be explained by highly conducting materials such as
are about 10−4 km3 yr−1 or less, but there is no estimate of
iron-bearing minerals (pyrite (FeS2 ) or iron oxides such as
the global rate for this category.
magnetite (Fe3 O4 )) but identification of a specific phase
Concerning Venus’s resurfacing history, it looks as if
which would exist only in a narrow band of elevation is a substantial decrease in area resurfacing rates from about
problematic. 4 km2 yr−1 during plain emplacement to about 0.5 km2 yr−1
over the past 290 million years has occurred. This
Volcanism and tectonism reduction has probably been accompanied by a change
Volcanic deposits and volcanic centers are very important in volcanic style from flood-type volcanism in the plains
characteristics of the surface of Venus. The processes of to more localized development of volcanoes, coronae and
volcanism have been largely preserved on this planet, rifts.
which is not the case for Mars and the Earth (see VOLCANISM Concerning the types of lava, some indication comes
IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM). from the existence and morphology of some of the

Figure 5. Magellan image showing a perspective view of Maat Mons, with a vertical exaggeration factor of 10. Maat Mons is a 5 km (or
8 km above the mean planetary radius) high volcano located in Atla Regio, at the eastern end of Aphrodite Terra (image P-40175 from
the NASA/JPL Magellan Radar Mapping Mission). This figure is reproduced as Color Plate 45.
coronae & chasmata

ISHTAR
tessera TERRA
plains Lakshmi
crustal montes
plateaus
spinel
volcanic perovskite
rises
decayed plumes
LEGEND
crust
mantle
residuum
CORE upper mantle
lithosphere
LOWER upper boundary
BOUNDARY
layer
plains LAYER
plumes / diapirs
Figure 6. A possible global tectonic model for Venus (from Hansen V L et al 1997 Venus II ed S W Bougher, D M Hunten and R J Phillips
(Tucson, AZ: University of Arizona Press) p 835.) This figure is reproduced as Color Plate 46.
channels observed on Venus. The longest of the various They are 1–3 km wide, and their depth seems to be
classes of channels observed on Venus are called canali. less than 50 m. Highly fluid lavas, that have erupted
They have remarkably constant width along very long during sustained, high discharges, seem best to explain
paths, exceeding 500 km and up to 6800 km (Baltis Vallis). many of the channel features, particularly the canali.

Possible candidates for this fluid are native sulfur or, and that constitutes most of the Earth’s seafloor. The
preferably, alkali–carbonatite lavas (very rare on Earth) crust, therefore, probably formed from melting of an
which would have resulted from the melting of the crust upper mantle with an Earth-like composition. Theoretical
altered by interaction with the CO2 –SO2 –halogen-rich models constrained by the observed depths of impact
atmosphere. In contrast, the pancake domes and festoon craters and the spacings of ridges and rifts imply crustal
flows correspond to high-viscosity lavas. thicknesses in many parts of Venus of 10–20 km, which is
Hundreds of coronae are distributed across the less than the average thickness of the Earth’s continental
surface, most with diameters of less than 300 km, but crust (about 40 km) but greater than the thickness of the
a few exceed 1000 km in diameter. They are not seen oceanic crust (about 6 km). Gravitational data indicate
on any other terrestrial planetary body. Many of them that the mean thickness of Venus’s crust is 20–50 km.
are associated with rift zones, forming linear chains Alternatively, arguments based on mineralogy and high
thousands of kilometers long. In other places, they occur topographic elevations suggest crustal thicknesses in some
individually or in clusters in the plains. All coronae have areas of 100 km or more. Seismic probes are needed to
some association with volcanism. Coronae may represent obtain more information on the thickness of the crust.
collapsed domes over large magma chambers. The depth of the lithosphere is even more uncertain.
There are numerous other tectonic surface features Some think that Venus’s lithosphere may be thicker than
on Venus that have been formed by compression or by Earth’s, owing to its lower water content in mantle rocks,
extension: ridges, valleys, mountain belts, . . . . In tesserae, thus making its surface geology somewhat less active.
one finds ridges and grooves that intersect and form Others speak of a lithosphere only about 100 km thick,
very chaotic patterns. They probably reflect a complex similar to or thinner than Earth’s. They argue that the
deformation history. One also finds rift zones on dome- high temperature of the surface of Venus prevents a thick
like features that are linear depressions that probably lithosphere from forming because the rocks are near their
formed where Venus’s lithosphere has ruptured owing melting points.
to horizontal extension. The most important one is Beta Based on the identification and study of the different
Regio, which presents some analogy with the terrestrial types of volcanic and tectonic features on Venus, and on
East African Rift. gravitational data, it appears that there cannot be on Venus
a global plate-tectonic activity as on Earth. There is instead
Geological evolution and the interior of Venus evidence for active mantle convection with a recycling that
Studies of impact craters on Venus indicate that about occurs mainly in the vertical direction through regions of
80% of the history of Venus is not accessible to us. The upwelling and downwelling. According to some models,
surface we see is very young. The oldest terrain on volcanic centers must be associated with regions of mantle
Venus is tesserae. They are probably due to intensive upwelling. The long-lived plumes (which are narrow
tectonic deformation. Other apparently younger tectonic regions of hot mantle upwelling) that allow sustained
features must have formed during successive episodes eruptions may be at the origin of the large volcanoes.
of compressional and tensional deformations: fractures, Short-lived plumes may explain coronae. They may
broad ridges, wrinkle ridges. A period during which be due to local upwelling currents in Venus’s mantle
several stages of extensive volcanism occurred, burying (figure 6).
areas of tesserae and forming the plains we see now, One must also take into account the fact that the
probably occurred afterwards. lithosphere may have been thin early in the history
Similarities in mean density and moment of inertia of Venus and has thickened with time. This would
factor between Earth and Venus could indicate similar bulk result in differences in the surface response above mantle
compositions and internal structures. Models suggest that upwellings. For instance, as has been suggested by some
the interior of Venus is indeed compositionally similar scientists, crustal plateaux could represent the interaction
to the Earth, except for small differences in iron, sulfur of ancient deep thermal plumes (or hotspots) with a
and oxygen content. Venus has certainly differentiated. thinner lithosphere. In contrast, volcanic rises may have
It must have a crust, a mantle and a core. Although the formed only in the relatively recent past, after Venus’s
relatively large value of the mean density of Venus strongly lithosphere had thickened enough to support them.
suggests that the planet has an iron core, Venus lacks an The gravitational data and the presence of ridge belts
intrinsic magnetic field that would be strong evidence that that indicate compressive stress suggest that the plains
at least part of its core exists in the liquid state, as is the case may correspond to regions of mantle downwelling on a
for Earth. Most models predict the radii of the core and broad scale. Regions of diffuse mantle upwelling would
mantle to be of the order of 3200 and 2800 km, respectively. result instead in extension of the lithosphere and formation
Venus probably has a lithosphere, as does the Earth, but of coronae and chasmata (the chasmata are arrangements
gravitational data indicate that it most likely does not have of troughs and scarps).
the low-viscosity astenosphere that exists on Earth below There is certainly a very complex time evolution. The
the lithosphere. regions of mantle upwellings and mantle downwellings
Most of the sites exhibit compositions similar to may change location with time, which could result for
basalt, a volcanic rock that is very common on Earth instance in formation of coronae and chasmata in plain

regions. In contrast, some early-formed crustal plateaux

may have collapsed owing to changes in temperature or
to tectonics and could constitute some of the plains we see
today.
Bibliography
Bougher S W, Hunten D M and Phillips R J (eds) 1997 Venus
II (Tucson, AZ: University of Arizona Press)
Hunten D M, Colin L, Donahue T M and Moroz V I (eds)
1983 Venus (Tucson, AZ: University of Arizona Press)
C de Bergh

Venus: Atmosphere ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
at least consisting of sulfate aerosol similar to the much

Venus: Atmosphere thinner layers of volcanic origin found in the terrestrial
stratosphere (see VENUS: SURFACE). On Venus, the clouds
VENUS is the nearest planet to the Earth, both in terms of have a complex layered structure and, although never
distance and in overall size and mass (table 1). However, completely absent, their coverage is very variable. They
Venus has lost most of its atmospheric and surface water, play an even larger role in the energy balance of the planet
probably because it is significantly closer to the Sun. As a than clouds do on Earth, through their contribution to the
result of this, much of the carbon dioxide which on the Earth atmospheric ‘GREENHOUSE EFFECT’.
has been processed by the oceans to produce carbonates is Localized dynamical or ‘weather’ activity on Venus,
still free in the atmosphere on Venus. This in turn means as far as is known at present, is dominated by four major
that Venus’ atmosphere is very massive by terrestrial phenomena: the cloud-top zonal super-rotation, the
standards, with a surface pressure of almost 100 bar and a ultraviolet markings and associated planetary waves,
searingly high surface temperature in excess of 730 K. cumulus dynamics in the deeper layers and the double-
The rotational axis of Venus is nearly perpendicular to vortex structures at the poles. These and other types of
the ecliptic, and the orbit is nearly circular, so seasonal activity, such as atmospheric tides, are no doubt linked to
changes in the climate are probably very small. The each other and to the general circulation, but all remain
Venusian year is 224.7 Earth days, longer than the time for poorly understood.
Venus to rotate on its axis, which is 243 Earth days. The
solar day, defined as the time for the Sun to go from noon
to noon as seen from the surface of Venus, is about 117
Energy balance
At a distance of 108.2 million km, Venus is closer to the
Earth days. This very slow rotation of the solid body of
Sun than the Earth by a factor of about 2J, and so has
Venus is retrograde, i.e. backwards compared with the
other planets, a curious state of affairs which is difficult to about twice the incidence of solar energy. It is also much
explain in terms of currently accepted models of the hotter at the surface, nearly 2J; times more than the
evolution of the SOLAR SYSTEM. The resulting absence of a terrestrial mean of about 300 K. These facts are not
strong Coriolis force at the surface is likely to be a major simple to reconcile, however, because the ubiquitous and
factor in determining the structure and dynamics of the highly reflective cloud cover on Venus reflects 76% of
atmosphere. Persistent high winds of the order of 100 m the incoming solar flux and this results in a smaller net
s−1 are observed near the cloud tops, 50 or 60 km above the solar constant for Venus than for Earth. The high surface
surface, where the density of the air is similar to that near temperature must, therefore, be due to ‘greenhouse’
the ground on the Earth. It is not known reliably how these warming produced by the thick, cloudy atmosphere,
are produced. possibly augmented by a contribution from the internal
The surface of Venus is obscured at visible heat of the planet.
wavelengths by planet-wide cloud cover, the upper layers
Table 1. Physical constants for the terrestrial planets.

Venus Earth Mars
Orbital and rotational data
Mean distance from Sun (km) 1.082 × 108 1.496 × 108 2.279 × 108
Eccentricity 0.0068 0.0167 0.0934
Obliquity (deg) 177 23.45 23.98
Sidereal period (days) 224.701 365.256 686.980
Rotational period (h) 5832.24 23.9345 24.6229
Solar day (days) 117 1 1.0287
Solar constant (kW m−2) 2.62 1.38 0.594
Net heat input (kW m−2) 0.367 0.842 0.499
Solid body data

Mass (kg) 4.870 × 1024 5.976 × 1024 6.421 × 1023
Radius (km) 6051.5 6378–6357 3398
Surface gravity (m s−2) 8.60 9.78 3.72
Atmospheric data
Composition See table 2
Mean molecular weight 43.44 28.98 (dry) 43.49
Mean surface temperature (K) 730 288 220
Mean surface pressure (N m−2) 92 1 0.007
Mass (kg) 4.77 × 1020 5.30 × 1018 ~1016

Figure 1. The computed transmission of Venus’ atmosphere from the surface to space, showing the spectral gaps to be plugged by
cloud opacity in order to maintain the observed ‘greenhouse’ effect (V Meadows and D Crisp).
It is not simple to prove that the observed of only about 230 K. This 500 K greenhouse
atmospheric conditions can in fact generate such a large enhancement of the surface temperature compares with
‘greenhouse’ effect. The problem is that the massive only about 30 K on Earth and 10 K on Mars.
amounts of carbon dioxide are very effective at blocking
the emission of thermal infrared radiation, but only at Composition
those wavelengths where the gas has absorption bands, The primordial atmosphere of Venus which originally
which are far from covering the entire spectrum. formed with the solid body, like those of the other
Moderate amounts of water vapor are also required, and TERRESTRIAL PLANETS, was likely to have been lost in the
even then considerable spectral gaps or ‘windows’ distant past as the young Sun went through phases of
remain (figure 1). These could be blocked by the clouds, high activity. The present atmosphere would have been
since liquid or solid absorbers present some opacity at produced much later by outgassing from the crust, a
every wavelength, the details depending on composition process which we are probably observing today as active
and particle size. The difficulty for early theorists was volcanism, and by the influx of cometary and meteoritic
that using clouds to ‘close’ the greenhouse also tended to material, which is also still going on. The relative
block the incoming sunlight, so that the calculated contributions of these distinct sources can, to some
equilibrium temperature of the surface remained well extent, be deduced from the data which are gradually
below that observed. being accrued on the composition, and in particular the
This problem began to be resolved when it was isotopic ratios, in the contemporary terrestrial planet
realized that the clouds are made of sulfuric acid atmospheres and in comets and meteorites.
droplets, at least in the higher, most easily measured COMETS are a rich source of volatile compounds such
layers. These have the property of being highly absorbing as carbon dioxide, water vapor, methane and ammonia. If
at thermal infrared wavelengths, while being nearly the last of these was the source of the nitrogen now
conservative scatterers in the visible and near-infrared. present, and we allow for processes such as the
Thus, the clouds tend to diffuse downwards those of the production of argon by the decay of radioactive
incoming solar photons that they do not reflect to space, potassium in the crust, the contemporary atmosphere
while blocking thermal emission from the lower could all be of external origin. On the other hand, the
atmosphere and surface. This explains the result, high abundance of sulfur in Venus’ clouds is strongly
surprising at the time, that the VENERA landers in the suggestive of extensive volcanic activity and volcanoes
1970s were able to photograph the surface in natural are also prolific sources of carbon dioxide, nitrogen and
light. It also means that radiative transfer models, the other gases required to explain present-day Venus.
involving weak as well as strong bands of CO2 and H2O, Apart from carbon dioxide and water vapor, Venus’
plus those of the minor constituents CO, HCl and SO2, atmosphere consists primarily of inert gases, particularly
can account for the high surface temperatures by careful nitrogen and argon (table 2). The amount of water
incorporation of the scattering and absorbing properties present as gas and bound up with sulfuric acid and other
of the clouds. compounds in the clouds is between 10 and 100 000
The total solar energy diffusing through the cloud times less than exists in the oceans and atmosphere of the
cover on Venus corresponds to about 17 W cm−2 of Earth (see EARTH’S ATMOSPHERE). Thus Venus is overall
surface insolation on the average, about 12% of the total very dry compared with the Earth while, at the same
absorbed by the planet and the atmosphere. The high time, deuterium is about 100 times more abundant on
opacity of the gaseous atmosphere and cloud at longer Venus than Earth. This suggests that Venus may have
wavelengths requires the surface to reach temperatures had much more water initially, but that most of it has
high enough to melt zinc before the upwelling flex is been lost. Loss takes place by dissociation of the water in
intense enough, and at shorter wavelengths, so that the upper atmosphere by solar ultraviolet radiation and
equilibrium is attained. An airless body with the same the subsequent escape of the hydrogen. Both deuterium
ALBEDO and at the same distance from the Sun as Venus and normal hydrogen escape from the atmosphere while
would reach equilibrium for a mean surface temperature there is free water on the surface, but the heavier isotope
escapes less efficiently, leading to the observed Table 2. Compositions of the terrestrial planet atmospheres.
fractionation. Venus Earth Mars
The loss rate of the water depends strongly on its Carbon dioxide 0.96 0.0003 0.95
abundance in the relatively cool middle atmosphere as Nitrogen 0.035 0.770 0.027
well as the intensity of the solar ultraviolet flux. Models Argon 0.00007 0.0093 0.016
Water vapor 0.0001(?) 0.01 0.0003
of the process suggest that Venus could have lost an
Oxygen 0.0013 0.21 0
ocean of present-day terrestrial proportions in only a few Sulfur dioxide 0.00015 0.2 ppb
hundred million years. The oxygen produced at the same Carbon monoxide 0.00004 0.12 ppm 0.0007
time is too massive to escape at any significant rate, Neon 5 ppm 18 ppm 2.5 ppm
according to Jeans’ formula, and must remain on the Hydrogen chloride 0.5 ppm 3 ppb <0.1 ppm
planet, presumably most of it bound chemically within Hydrogen fluoride 5 ppm 1 ppb
the crust, mainly as carbonate rocks. As on the Earth, this Values are given as fractional abundances except where parts per
process would remove atmospheric carbon dioxide million (ppm) or parts per billion (ppb) are stated.
efficiently as long as liquid water was available. Once the
free water was all used up, the mixing ratio of water Thermal structure
vapor in the upper atmosphere would fall sharply and the The solar radiation which penetrates the clouds warms
loss rates of both forms of hydrogen, and the take-up of the lower atmosphere, which is prevented by the opacity
oxygen into minerals, have also declined to the present of the overlying layers from cooling by radiation to
relatively low levels. space. It therefore forms a deep convective region, the
In the present-day atmosphere of Venus, chemical troposphere (figure 2). This links the high surface
reactions coupled with the transport and radiative temperature of around 730 K, produced by the
processes regulate the abundances of the most important ‘greenhouse’ effect as described above, with the level at
minor constituents. The most important are the cycles which the temperature is close to the effective bolometric
involving water vapor, sulfuric acid and their products, temperature of Venus (about 230 K), where strong
which maintain the cloud layers, and which probably also radiative cooling to space can occur. The adiabatic lapse
involve reactions between the atmosphere and the rate, which applies when the vertical gradient is
surface. However, there are currently very few hard data
controlled by convection, is −g/cp (g being the
on the abundances of reactive species near the surface,
acceleration due to gravity and cp the specific heat at
and still less on the composition and mineralogy of the
constant pressure) or about 10 K km−1 for Venus, so that
surface itself. It seems likely, however, that the surface is
the troposphere is around 50 km in vertical extent, much
a net sink for sulfur compounds, the combination of
deeper than on Earth or Mars.
sulfur dioxide with calcite being an example of likely
Above the troposphere the temperature tends to be
importance in this regard. Similar considerations must
constant with height, because the atmosphere here is
apply to interactions between halogen compounds and
optically thin and, to a first approximation, each layer
the surface, since relatively large (compared with Earth)
tends to find the same equilibrium temperature. The
amounts of hydrogen chloride and hydrogen fluoride are
temperature is determined by the balance between the
present above and below the clouds. Halogen chemistry
absorption of upwelling infrared from the surface and
may also have an important role in the formation of the
troposphere and cooling to space, with no significant
clouds themselves.
absorption of direct solar energy taking place.
Another important chemical cycle is that which gives
rise to the observed distribution of carbon monoxide. CO
is very abundant (mixing ratios of the order of a few parts
per thousand by volume) in the upper atmosphere of
Venus, as would be expected from the action of solar
ultraviolet radiation on carbon dioxide. It is strongly
depleted in the cloud layers (<1 ppm), again not too
surprisingly, since it is involved in reactions with SO2
and the other species which make up the sulfur cycle.
Below the clouds, and near the surface, however, the
carbon monoxide values recovers to around 30 ppm, and
shows a marked equator-to-pole gradient. It seems likely
that CO is transported rapidly down from the
thermosphere in the polar vortices (see below) to the Figure 2. Mean model temperature profiles for the atmospheres
troposphere where it is gradually removed by reactions in of the terrestrial planets.
the hot lower atmosphere and at the surface.

the small number of direct measurements made by the

various entry probes. Remote sensing of the lower
atmosphere has recently been shown to be possible, in
particular at near-infrared wavelengths, as well as in the
microwave, but uncertainties in the distribution of
opacity sources in both spectral regions make these
difficult to interpret in terms of temperature variations.
Such data as exist show that the temperature gradients in
the lower atmosphere are close to adiabatic in the
vertical, and close to zero in the horizontal, as would be
expected theoretically from the high opacity and high
density. (However, there must be temperature structure
associated with the dynamical activity seen in the deep
atmosphere cloud structure—cf figure 5—although this
has yet to be measured or even estimated.)
Above the clouds, where the density is lower, more
temperature variability is expected, and this has been
observed as gradients of the order of several tens of
Kelvins on constant-pressure surfaces planet wide. Figure
4 shows the time-averaged (72-day mean) global
temperature field from Pioneer Orbiter infrared
soundings, in which several features clearly related to the
general circulation stand out. Note the ‘polar warming’,
in which the equator-to-pole temperature gradient leads
to higher temperatures over pole than equator, in spite of
the fact that the trend in radiative heating is in the
opposite direction. The ‘polar collar’ feature stands out in
the meridional cross-section; this is an intense ribbon of
cold air surrounding the pole at about 65º latitude. These
Figure 3. Measured details of the temperature profiles on are both features of dynamical origin, related to the zonal
Venus and Earth, on a common pressure scale. super-rotation and the polar vortex respectively. The
meridional average temperature field is dominated by the
On the Earth, this situation is altered by the ozone diurnal variation or solar tide, the temperature cycle
layer, which is responsible for substantial heating which which is induced by the apparent motion of the Sun
divides the middle atmosphere into the stratosphere, overhead. This contains a whole spectrum of Fourier
where temperature rises with height, and the mesosphere, components, because the forcing is non-sinusoidal; the
where it falls. There is no corresponding effect on Venus actual atmospheric response depends on the mean wind
(figure 3), except for small amounts of absorption of and the interference between the various components.
solar and thermal energy in the near-infrared bands of The solar tide on Venus and classical atmospheric tidal
water vapor and carbon dioxide. The two profiles are theory as originally developed for the Earth (see TIDES)
quite similar near 1 bar and near 10−4 mbar, away from can be reconciled, provided that a realistic representation
the ozone heating region on the Earth which peaks near of the zonal wind is incorporated.
1 mbar.
The tendency for temperature to increase at the top Clouds
of the range covered by figure 3 marks the base of the Venus is completely enshrouded by clouds in a complex
thermosphere, which on Venus begins at a height of layered structure over 30 km deep; their properties are
around 120 km above the surface. Here the atmosphere is summarized in table 3. As already noted, the clouds are a
very rarefied, and short-wavelength solar radiation and key part of a highly interactive climate system (see
energetic particles drive rapid photochemical reactions CLOUDS IN PLANETARY ATMOSPHERES). Concentrated
and high temperatures by day. When the heating is H2SO4 droplets have properties which contribute very
absent, efficient radiative cooling by CO2 results in the significantly to the atmospheric ‘greenhouse’, by
rapid decline of temperature, so there is a sharp gradient scattering conservatively at short (solar) wavelength
across the terminator, from over 300 K on the illuminated radiation while strongly absorbing at long (planetary)
hemisphere down to 100 K or less on the night side. wavelengths. Changes in the optical properties or depth
Data on the planet-wide variability of temperature of the cloud layers, for example if the clouds dissipated
below the clouds are sparse and are still mainly limited to
Figure 4. Time-averaged temperature fields in the middle atmosphere of Venus: (a) the zonal mean field and (b) the variations
around a latitude belt from 0º to 30º N, both plotted against pressure and approximate height. The horizontal stepped line represents
the retrieved mean cloud top height.
Table 3. Properties of clouds and dust in the terrestrial planet atmospheres.

Venus Earth Mars
Fractional coverage 1.00 0.40 0.05 (cloud); 0–1.0 (dust)
Typical average depth 25–40 5–7 0.01–1.00; 0.2–6 (dust)
Composition H2SO4·H2O H2O H2O, CO2, magnetite etc (dust)
Number density, liquid (cm−3) 50–300 100–1000 0
Number density, solid (cm−3) 10–50 0.1–50 30–1000 (near surface)
Typical mass loading (g m−3) 0.01–0.1 0.1–10 0.0002–0.1
Main production process Chemistry Condensation Condensation, windblown (dust)
Equivalent depth (mm) 0.1–0.2 0.03–0.05 1–100
Effective radius (µm) 0.2–30 10 0.4–2.5 (dust)
Main forms Stratiform Stratiform, cumulus Stratiform, mixed (dust)
Temporal variability Slight High High
Dominant heat exchange process Radiation Latent heat Radiation
The equivalent length is the estimated thickness of the cloud material if it were deposited on the surface. The effective radius is
the radius of the spherical particles having most nearly the same scattering properties as the cloud at visible wavelengths.
or changed their composition, owing to a reduction in the producing feedback which seems more likely to be
supply of SO2 and other source gases from volcanoes, or positive (accelerating the change) than negative. At
to an instability in the dynamical regime, would cause the present the radiative, dynamical and chemical processes
lower atmosphere and surface gradually to cool down (or, appear to be in balance, but the stability of the currently
conceivably, to become even hotter). Changes in observed state may be precarious.
temperature would be likely to further modify the Most of our detailed knowledge of the cloud
atmospheric circulation and the formation of clouds, properties comes from optical measurements: polarimetry
as a function of phase angle from the Earth,

nephelometry and particle size measurements from entry
probes, and visible, ultraviolet and infrared remote
sensing from orbiter and fly-by spacecraft. It has recently
been discovered that near-infrared spectroscopic
measurements in atmospheric ‘windows’, that is
wavelength regions where the main atmospheric gases
are weakly absorbing, penetrate the clouds, in some
windows all the way to the surface. This type of
observation reveals the cloud morphology all over the
planet and shows that the integrated vertical opacity is
very variable, by factors of 20 or more. Thick and
relatively thin clouds form patterns suggestive of large-
scale cumulus dynamics, presumably with the cloud
material actively condensing and dissipating in rising and
falling air associated with weather systems (figure 5),
although the details are lacking because of a shortage of
high-resolution data in space and time.
At the PIONEER VENUS Large Probe entry site, the
main cloud deck extends from about 47 to about 67 km
above the surface, declining gradually at the upper
boundary with a scale height of a few km, and with a thin
haze layer some 13 km deep below. Within this vertical
structure, detailed, and presumably variable, layering
occurs and particles of different sizes congregate at
different height levels. The particles range in diameter
from less than 1 to over 30 µm and tend to a trimodal size Figure 5. 2.7 µm image of Venus from Galileo–NIMS.
distribution, with the commonest diameters falling
towards the ends of the overall range and in the 2–3 µm
region. It is these intermediate size or ‘mode 2’ droplets Dynamics
which are visible from outside Venus and for which As a result of the slow rotation of the planet, its near-
spectroscopic, polarimetric and other evidence yields a circular orbit and small obliquity, the underlying
composition of 75% H2SO4 and 25% H2O. The circulation of Venus’ atmosphere is quite simple. The
composition of the smaller drops, which form an aerosol Sun is always above the equator, to within a couple of
haze extending throughout the cloud layer, is unknown. degrees, so the air warmed at low latitudes rises and
Most of the mass of the clouds is in the biggest drops, for moves towards the poles, where it cools and descends
which there is some inconclusive evidence of a non- before returning equatorwards at lower altitudes.
spherical shape, implying a solid composition, perhaps On top of this simple picture are superimposed
crystalline sulfur. The formation of the cloud droplets can various complications. One that has been observed for
be explained by a model in which H2O and SO2 (the many decades, but remains difficult to explain, is the
latter possibly of volcanic origin) combine global ‘super-rotation’, which manifests itself in cloud
photochemically near the cloud-top level. It is more structure which moves rapidly around the planet in a
difficult to explain the size distribution, particularly the direction parallel to the equator. The cloud markings,
existence of more than one mode. Compositional which appear with high contrast through an ultraviolet
contrasts and dynamical effects may be at work but once filter, have their origin at heights 50 or 60 km above the
again the observations which would elucidate these are surface (where the pressure is of the order of 100 mbar)
lacking. and travel around the equator in 4–5 days, corresponding
There is some evidence in infrared maps from the to speeds near 100 m s−1. This is more than 50 times
Pioneer Venus orbiter of cold, high cloud, presumably faster than the rotation rate of the surface below.
condensed CO2, near the tropopause above the dawn Measurements of the winds below the clouds, and
terminator, where the atmosphere is coldest as it comes calculations (from temperature data) of the winds above
to the end of the long (>50 h at this altitude) Venus night. the cloud tops, show that the zonal wind speed declines at
higher and lower levels, reaching values near zero at
about 100 km and near the surface respectively.
Direct measurements of the winds 1 m or so above
the surface by the Russian landers Venera 9 and 10 found
velocities of ≤1 m s−1. Tracking of the Pioneer and from the equator to high latitudes. The layered eddy
Venera landers during their descent showed that there is a sources and sinks which could drive the zonal super-
steady decrease with height from the 100 m s−1 or so rotation may be related to the cell interfaces.
observed in the ultraviolet markings near the cloud tops. Motions in the deeper atmosphere were observed by
Earth-based observers had earlier shown, by the near-infrared imaging carried out by the Galileo probe in
measurement of Doppler-shifted emission lines from 1990. The features observed on the night side of the
atmospheric gases, that the cloud-tracked winds do, in planet at wavelengths from 1 to 3.5 µm originate in the
fact, apply to mass motions, rather than the phase speed main cloud deck, illuminated from below by thermal
of waves as had also been suggested. emission from the hot lower atmosphere. The typical
Attempts have been made to explain these high zonal velocities inferred near the equator were about half as
wind speeds on Venus by several mechanisms, all of fast as those from UV markings, which is consistent with
which fall into one of three main categories, i.e. (i) the the vertical profiles of wind and cloud opacity measured
gravitational interaction of the Sun with the atmospheric by the Pioneer and Venera probes, since the cloud layer
tides, (ii) the overhead motion of the Sun in the sky (the providing most of the opacity in the case of the near-IR
‘moving flame’ mechanism) and (iii) the upward markings is 10–15 km deeper than for the UV markings.
transport of momentum from the surface. Currently Galileo winds feature a zonal jet of more than 100 m s−1
prevailing opinion favors a version of mechanism (iii), in at middle latitudes and equator-to-pole drifts of a few
which momentum from the solid planet is transported by m s−1.
waves whose interaction with the main flow is complex
and in which the mean meridional circulation plays an Conclusion
important role. Parameterizations have been found which Venus presents an arresting picture. What we appear to
are able to produce large zonal velocities in dynamical see is an Earth-like planet whose atmosphere failed to
models of the Venusian atmosphere, although of course
this is not the same as saying that we understand the
forcing or dissipation mechanisms responsible for the
transfer of momentum from the surface to the cloud tops.
The cloud motions which trace the zonal winds also
reveal the pattern of the meridional circulation on Venus.
As expected on the simple theoretical grounds outlined
above, Hadley cells exist in each hemisphere. These are
global-scale circulation cells characterized by rising
motion all around one constant latitude belt and
descending motion at another. Each cell extends to higher
latitudes than on Earth, in part a consequence of the
slower zonal rotation speeds. Near the poles on Venus, a
complex instability develops, resulting in dramatic long-
lived wave structures. The polar collar takes the form of
a band of very cold air, some 10 km deep and 1000 km in
radius, centered on the pole. Inside the collar,
temperatures are some 40 K cooler than outside the
feature. Poleward of the inner edge of the collar lies the
polar dipole, a wavenumber 2 feature consisting of two
well-defined warm regions circulating around the pole.
Both the dipole and the collar have so far resisted
attempts to model them as normal modes of the
atmosphere.
The cloud-tracked winds obtained from Pioneer
Venus and Mariner 10 both show equator-to-pole
velocities of around 5 m s−1 in each hemisphere. Tracking
of the Pioneer Venus probes shows winds of this
magnitude at about 50–60 km altitude, with a very
complicated vertical structure (figure 6). One possible
interpretation of the alternations in the direction, as well
as the magnitude, of the meridional wind is that these Figure 6. Profiles of the zonal (east-to-west) and meridional
(north-to-south) wind on Venus as measured by tracking the
could mark the passage of the probe through the different
descent of the Pioneer Venus probes.
components of a stack of Hadley cells, each extending
evolve in the same way, primarily because of the early For Venus, most of the fluorescent x-rays come from
loss of water, and which now supports a thick, primitive oxygen and carbon atoms between 120 and 140 km (74
atmosphere in rapid, turbulent motion. Thick, sulfurous to 87 mi) above the planet’s surface. In contrast, the
clouds, probably originating in volcanic activity on the optical light is reflected from clouds at a height of 50 to
surface and possibly requiring present-day volcanism for 70 km (31 to 43 mi). As a result, Venus’ Sun-lit
their maintenance, blanket the planet. The resulting hemisphere appears surrounded by an almost-transparent
‘greenhouse’ effect drives the surface temperature to luminous shell in x-rays that appears brightest over the
remarkably high levels. limb.
These conditions make exploration difficult since
remote sensing is inhibited (but not prevented altogether) Bibliography
by the clouds, while landings are arduous and short lived. Two major surveys of Venus have been published in recent
Advanced techniques are under development that will years. The reader is referred to the atmospheric chapters in
allow sample return from Venus’ surface and clouds and these for a more detailed overview of current knowledge and
submarine-like ‘aerobots’ to cruise in the hot, thick problems and for a complete set of references to original work.
lower-atmospheric regions. New remote-sensing
Bougher S W, Hunten D M and Phillips R J (eds) 1997 Venus 2
techniques for the lower atmosphere will be applied from
(Tucson, AZ: University of Arizona Press)
orbit. Hunten D M, Donahue T M and Moroz V (eds) 1983 Venus
The focus of this new generation of Venus (Tucson, AZ: University of Arizona Press)
atmospheric studies will be an understanding of the
dynamical regimes present, the photochemistry of the F W Taylor
clouds, the scale of volcanism on Venus and the question
of whether or not our sister planet once had oceans, like
the Earth. Above all, however, will be the need to
understand the dynamical regimes present. Knowledge of
even the principle of the origin and maintenance of the
zonal super-rotation is lacking; the same is true of the
spectacular giant vortices in the high-latitude regions, in
particular the phenomena known as the polar collar and
the polar dipole. The deep atmosphere shows huge
weather systems whose very existence was unsuspected
until about a decade ago and for which there exists no
theoretical basis at all. How can such a simply rotating,
nearby, Earth-like planet be in such an incomprehensible
state?
Breaking news update (30 April 2002)

Scientists have captured the first x-ray view of Venus
using NASA’s CHANDRA X-RAY OBSERVATORY. The
observations provide new information about the
atmosphere of Venus. Venus in x-rays looks similar to
Venus in visible light, but there are important
differences. The optically visible Venus is due to the
reflection of sunlight and, for the relative positions of
Venus, Earth and Sun during these observations, shows a
uniform half-crescent that is brightest toward the middle.
The x-ray Venus is slightly less than a half-crescent and
brighter on the limbs. The differences are due to the
processes by which Venus shines in visible and x-ray
light. The x-rays from Venus are produced by
fluorescence, rather than reflection. Solar x-rays bombard
the atmosphere of Venus, knock electrons out of the
inner parts of the atoms, and excite the atoms to a higher
energy level. The atoms almost immediately return to
their lower energy state with the emission of a
fluorescent x-ray. A similar process involving ultraviolet
light produces the visible light from fluorescent lamps.
Venus: Interaction with Solar Wind E NCYCLOPEDIA OF A STRONOMY AND A STROPHYSICS
neutralization of ionospheric ions and electrons pro-

Venus: Interaction with Solar Wind duced by solar EUV radiation) and ‘mechanical’ (involv-
The solar wind interaction with VENUS provides the ing collisions of energetic particles from above with the
archetypal interaction of a flowing magnetized PLASMA ambient gas). Thus atomic oxygen at Venus has a cold
with a PLANETARY IONOSPHERE. Mars interacts with the component, with a scale height of a few tens of km, and
solar wind in much the same way as does Venus, while a hot component that extends to high altitudes with a
the rotating plasma in the Saturnian magnetosphere is scale height of hundreds of km. This latter component
believed to interact similarly with its moon, Titan (see plays a special role in the solar wind interaction,
SATURN: MAGNETOSPHERE INTERACTION WITH TITAN). The described below.
interaction of the Jovian plasma with its moon Io is As on Earth the Venus upper atmosphere is partial-
intermediate between the cometary and Venus interac- ly ionized by solar ultraviolet radiation and energetic
tions (see IO: PLASMA TORUS). From a more academic per- particles that enter from the surrounding space. The rate
spective, this interaction illustrates how a magnetized of ionization decreases rapidly with decreasing altitude
plasma interacts with an unmagnetized plasma, and how at low altitudes where the ionizing radiation and parti-
mass pickup (of planetary ions, in this case) affects a cles are absorbed. It also decreases with increasing alti-
flowing plasma. Our understanding of the interaction tude at high altitudes where the ionizing radiation is
has been built up over a series of flight missions: Mariner constant but the ionizable neutral particles decrease with
2 and 5, Venera 2, 4, 6, 8–14 and Pioneer Venus. The lat- altitude. Thus there is a maximum ion production rate at
ter mission remained in orbit for 14 yr investigating the some altitude hm. The rate of ionization, Q, varies with
solar wind interaction with Venus over a complete solar altitude for a simple one-component isothermal ionos-
cycle. phere as
Although Venus is famous for its sulfuric acid
clouds and sulfur dioxide haze, its main atmospheric
constituent is carbon dioxide of mass 44. Because Venus where Qm is the peak production rate and y = (h–hm)/Hn
is similar to the Earth in mass and size (6051 km radius), where Hn is the neutral scale height and hm is the height
we might expect a priori its atmospheric behavior to be of peak production. This function is sketched for a scale
similar. Paradoxically, while the lower atmosphere is height of 25 km in figure 1, representative of oxygen in
much warmer than the terrestrial atmosphere owing to the warmer dayside upper atmosphere of Venus. If the
the greenhouse effect, the upper atmosphere of Venus, ionosphere is in photochemical equilibrium in which the
above 100 km, is much cooler than that of Earth because recombination of electrons and ions takes place without
of the absence of heating by a magnetosphere at Venus vertical transport, then the rate of recombination is pro-
(see VENUS: ATMOSPHERE). As a consequence the scale portional to the product of the electron and ion number
height of the neutral Venus atmosphere is quite small. In densities which are equal in our simple ionosphere.
the cold (cryosphere) nightside it is only a few km. In Hence the electron number density is
general, the atmospheric density falls off according to the
equation of hydrostatic equilibrium that balances the
upward pressure gradient force with the downward where χ is the solar zenith angle and we have referenced
force of gravity on that parcel of gas: the density to the maximum at the subsolar point, Nm0,
and the normalized altitude, z, to its altitude, hm0, and
the scale height, Hn. This function is shown in the bottom
panel of figure 1.
where n, m, g, k, T and h are respectively the number of At Venus the high-altitude ionospheric electron tem-
molecules per unit volume, their mass, the force of grav- perature is about 5000 K. The peak of the dayside ionos-
ity, Boltzmann’s constant, their temperature and the alti- phere is at an altitude of about 140 km and has a peak
tude of the point of interest. number density of just under 106 cm–3. At 400 km the
For an isothermal atmosphere the density decreases number density is about 20 000 cm–3 under solar maxi-
as mum conditions near the subsolar point. At this altitude
the collision rate is quite low and the electrical conduc-
tivity quite high. This is important for the solar wind
where Hn = kT/mg. The isothermal description fails at interaction because the solar wind is a magnetized plas-
the highest altitudes (above about 200 km) for some con- ma. When it flows against the Venus ionosphere it does
stituents, such as atomic oxygen, where nonthermal not generally penetrate below about 400 km unless the
processes, notably dissociative recombination of O2+, solar wind conditions are disturbed. The ionospheric
increase the average temperature. The important non- pressure at 400 km under solar maximum conditions is
thermal processes are both photochemical (e.g. involving sufficient to stand off the typical dynamic pressure of the

400
Bow Shock
300
200 Ionopause
Ion Pickup
Solar
100 Radiation
Atmospheric Neutrals
0
-6 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 Solar
Wind
Log Radiation Flux [I/Io] Tail Rays Tail
400
Photoion
Ionosphere
300
Altitude [km]
Magnetosheath
200
100
0 Figure 2. The solar wind interaction with the Venus ionosphere

-3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 and neutral atmosphere. The solar UV ionizes the atmosphere
Log Production Function [cm-3 sec-1 ] and the ionosphere deflects the solar wind. Some neutral atoms
are ionized in the solar wind and are picked up by the electric
400 field.
300 internal magnetic field), the size of the bow shock is

much smaller (see MAGNETOSPHERE OF EARTH: BOW SHOCK).
200 At the nose of the Venus shock the Mach number or
shock strength is close to 4 under typical conditions.
100 In the ideal case when none of the solar wind is
absorbed by Venus and no ions are added to the flow by
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 the atmosphere of Venus, the shock front, or bow shock
Log Ne [cm-3 ] as it is called, stands off from the obstacle at a distance
sufficient to allow all the material that is compressed and
Figure 1. The formation of a Chapman-layer’ ionosphere. Top:
UV radiation from Sun drops in intensity as it is absorbed in
deflected by the shock to flow around the obstacle. When
photoionization process. Middle: Rate of electron production the shock is strong, the density of the solar wind flow can
with altitude. As altitude decreases, the rate first increases increase a factor of 4 across the shock. At solar maximum
owing to the increasing atmospheric density and then decreases when the pressure of the ionosphere is high, the shock
when the UV radiation is exhausted. Bottom: The electron den- front is about 2000 km above the surface of Venus at the
sity consistent with the production if there is no vertical or hor-
subsolar point. If the shock weakens, the density jump
izontal transport.
becomes less and the shock moves away from the planet.
solar wind. This is not expected to be the usual case at In the limit as the Mach number approaches unity, the
solar minimum when the ionospheric pressure is less. shock moves away to infinity. At solar minimum the typ-
The SOLAR WIND is a supersonic flow of electrons and ical ionosphere does not have sufficient pressure to pre-
ions with a number density near the orbit of Venus of vent some direct interaction of the solar wind with the
about 15 particles per cm3, a velocity of about 440 km s–1, neutral atmosphere and the shock moves closer to Venus
an ion temperature of about 105 K, an electron tempera- as some solar wind is absorbed by Venus.
ture of about 2–105 K and a magnetic field strength of The shocked plasma immediately downstream from
about 10 nT. The velocity of a wave that could compress the shock front is simply heated and compressed solar
the solar wind flow and deflect it around Venus is about wind whose properties can be calculated by a set of mag-
100 km s–1 or about 1/4 of the speed of the solar wind. netohydrodynamic equations called the Rankine–
Thus, the deflection has to occur via the formation of a Hugoniot equations. However, the flow velocity perpen-
standing shock wave whose strength is measured by the dicular to the magnetic field direction drops drastically
ratio of the compressional wave velocity to the incoming as the subsolar point on the obstacle is approached. The
flow velocity. This interaction is sketched in figure 2. The magnetic field of the solar wind plasma is compressed as
Venus bow shock has a shape similar to Earth’s bow the stagnation point is approached, and the field
shock shape but, because the obstacle producing the becomes draped around the obstacle. The thermal veloc-
shock is in this case the planetary ionosphere (and not an ity of the particles is then able to evacuate the field lines

Bow Shock Upstream Foreshock
Streamlines
of Solar Wind
Plasma Flow
Tangent
Field Line
Ionosphere
Solar Wind
Magnetic
Barrier Ion Foreshock
Electron Foreshock
Downstream
Foreshock
Figure 4. The geometry of the electron and ion foreshock at
Venus. These regions mark the field lines that intersect the shock
Magnetic and along which electrons and ions can reach a spacecraft at the
Field Lines velocities to which they have been accelerated.
Figure 3. The solar wind flow and interplanetary magnetic field or leak from the hot population behind the shock and
as it interacts with Venus, leading to the formation of a mag- move upstream against the solar wind flow. The geome-
netic barrier.
try of this region is sketched in figure 4. The waves can
so that the inner edge of the shocked plasma, or mag- either be generated by the backstreaming particles (and
netosheath, becomes a magnetic barrier in which the generally be convected toward the shock) or be generat-
transverse pressure is exerted almost totally by the mag- ed at the shock and move upstream. In many respects the
netic field and not by the thermal plasma pressure. A wave and particle phenomena in front of the Venus bow
similar situation occurs in what is called the ‘depletion shock are the same as those generated in front of the bow
layer’ just outside Earth’s magnetosphere. As sketched in shocks of magnetized planets including Earth. The
figure 3 the magnetic field wraps around Venus, main- nature of the obstacle is not important here.
taining a barrier between the flowing solar wind and the Returning to the obstacle for a moment, we note
ionosphere and contributing to the formation of a mag- that the magnetic barrier has the effect of maintaining a
netic tail in the antisolar direction. The plasma in the cap on the ionosphere. This upper boundary is called
magnetosheath accelerates with distance behind Venus the ionopause. Ionospheric plasma is not detected
and the shock expands and weakens. Eventually far above the barrier because the atmospheric ions pro-
behind Venus the solar wind that interacted with Venus duced there are immediately removed by the interplan-
is indistinguishable from solar wind that did not interact, etary electric field (equal to –VswB), either swept away
as long as Venus did not add anything to the solar wind from Venus or deposited into the deeper atmosphere.
flow. Two such ions are sketched in figure 2. Nevertheless,
Even though the bow shock marks the upper extent most ions are produced within the ionosphere and
of the pressure wave that Venus launches to deflect the remain in the ionosphere proper until they recombine.
solar wind, there still are phenomena that can be seen in At comets the opposite is true. The recombination rate
advance of the bow shock. These upstream phenomena at high altitudes in a planetary ionosphere is small so
consist of charged particles and waves. The particles are that in steady state ions must flow to low altitudes to
electrons and ions that either were reflected at the shock recombine. In the subsolar region the typical motion of

bundles or ropes. These flux ropes cause the large spikes

in field strength that are seen low in the ionosphere in the
left-hand panel of figure 5. Observations suggest that
they are untwisted at high altitudes but become twisted
and even kinked as they sink. Figure 6 illustrates the for-
Magnetic
Barrier
Figure 5. Vertical profiles of the electron density, Ne (symbols), J

and magnetic field strength, B, (full curve), on days of low (left),
moderate (middle) and (high) solar wind pressure.
Measurements by the Pioneer Venus orbiter on three early orbits
when the spacecraft was entering the dayside ionosphere and
periapsis, the closest approach to the planet, were at low alti- Ionosphere
tudes.
the ionosphere is downward. There are few ions creat-

ed at any altitude in the Venus shadow so that the
nightside ionospheric pressure is much less than on the
dayside. Away from the subsolar region the pressure Magnetic
gradient induces a supersonic expansion of the upper Barrier
ionosphere into the nightside whenever the ionosphere
is present at altitudes of 400 km and above. This flow
J
produces a significant nightside ionosphere even
though little ionosphere is produced there. At solar
minimum or when the solar wind dynamic pressure is
high the ionopause is too low to allow horizontal trans-
port to the nightside ionosphere, which becomes very
weak as a result.
Ionosphere
Complications
The above description is a correct first-order model of the
Venus interaction but there are details that need to be
added to complete the picture. We look first at the varia-
tions in the ionosphere caused by varying solar wind Magnetic
pressure. We then examine the effects of planetary ion Barrier
mass added to the solar wind flow and finally examine
how the interaction varies with the solar cycle.
J
The effect of varying pressure

The boundary between the magnetic barrier and the
ionosphere, the ionopause, is generally a thin current
layer, at least when the solar wind pressure is low and
the ionopause altitude is high (about 400 km). This thick- J
ness appears to be about one ionospheric thermal ion
gyroradius. As mentioned above, the electrical conduc-
tivity is so high under these conditions that there is no
Ionosphere
diffusion of the draped solar wind magnetic field across
the ionopause current layer. The left-hand panel of figure Figure 6. Formation of a flux rope in the Venus ionosphere due
to the sinking of an initially buoyant flux tube from the magnet-
5 shows such a situation illustrated with vertical profiles
ic barrier. In the middle panel the flux tube has become heavier
of the magnetic field and plasma density seen by the owing to mass addition through photoionization of the neutral
Pioneer Venus orbiter. Nevertheless, magnetic field can ionosphere and sinks. The magnetic force due to the curvature
apparently get into the ionosphere in the form of flux in the plane perpendicular to the page accelerates this motion.

Low Dynamic Pressure
Interior Structure of Flux Rope
Figure 7. The magnetic structure of a flux rope. In the interior Ionosphere

the magnetic field is strong and parallel to the axis of the rope.
In the outer parts of the rope the magnetic field is weak and
wraps around the axis.
mation of one of these ropes from an originally buoyant

flux tube of the magnetic barrier. The twist in the ropes
helps to maintain the coherence of the rope and to bal-
ance the outward pressure of the magnetic field. The
twist is believed to arise as the rope sinks through a ver-
tical shear in the horizontal velocity of the ionospheric
plasma. Often the magnetic field of the ropes is almost in
force balance by itself so pressure gradient forces in the
plasma are not important. Such ropes are called force High Dynamic Pressure
free. A sketch of the magnetic structure of such a flux
rope is shown in figure 7.
Because the ionopause forms where pressure bal-
ance with the solar wind pressure occurs, its height
varies with solar wind conditions. As illustrated by the
rightmost two panels of figure 5, when the solar wind
pressure increases to about 20 nPa and the altitude of the
ionopause current layer falls to 250 km or less, the cur-
rent layer thickens and magnetic field diffuses into the
ionosphere because of ion–neutral and electron–neutral
collisions. The downward ionospheric plasma velocity
near the subsolar region carries the magnetized plasma
to low altitude where it recombines and deposits the
magnetic flux. Thus the collisional Venus ionosphere can
Figure 8. The magnetic configuration of the Venus ionosphere at
become magnetized from the ionopause down to the times of low (top) and high (bottom) solar wind dynamic pres-
peak of the ionosphere. The magnetic flux then collision- sure.
ally diffuses through the current layer at the bottom of
the ionosphere, creating a magnetic field between the non called a ‘disappearing’ ionosphere results. This same
ionosphere and the planet’s core. The diffusion of mag- situation prevails at solar minimum when the dayside
netic flux below the dayside ionopause is balanced by the ionospheric pressure is lower than the typical solar wind
upward diffusion of magnetic field on the nightside. pressure. The magnetic structure of the ionosphere under
Since field lines in the ionosphere generally have their these low and high solar wind dynamic pressure condi-
ends in the solar wind, these field lines on the nightside tions (relative to ionospheric plasma pressure) is shown
have ends that have moved far down the magnetotail. in figure 8.
Hence the field lines are mainly vertical or radial on the
nightside and close beneath the ionosphere. These Mass addition to the solar wind flow
regions of radial magnetic field on the nightside prevent The interaction of a comet with the solar wind is well
the plasma from entering these regions so that they understood (see SOLAR WIND: INTERACTION WITH COMETS).
appear as ‘holes’ in the plasma measurements. The mag- Gas sublimes from the comet nucleus and expands
netic pressure in the holes is enhanced by the amount rapidly into the relative vacuum of space. This gas is
that the plasma pressure is diminished so that the plas- ionized and swept up by the solar wind. The mass addi-
ma and field pressures are in equilibrium. tion to the solar wind in the form of cometary ions slows
If the dayside ionosphere becomes fully magnetized, it down by the conservation of momentum. The ends of
then the flow of plasma from the dayside to the nightside the interplanetary field lines threading the cometary
is cut off. Under those circumstances the nighttime plas- atmosphere are rooted in the undisturbed solar wind
ma density drops to very low values and the phenome- and thus carried past the comet at the solar wind speed.

tions this stress should be rather uniform. When the

Bow Shock Magnetotail magnetic field changes direction the uniformity of this
stress changes and ridges and enhancements at the
ionospheric plasma–solar wind boundary can form.
7 When spacecraft pass through such a structure, the den-
sity enhancement may appear to be a ‘cloud’ of ionos-
pheric plasma near the ionopause. These clouds stretch
6 out from the nighttime ionosphere of Venus and are cor-
related with interplanetary magnetic field rotations.
Bow Other filamentary structures of ionospheric plasma
Shock
extend out of the nightside upper ionosphere when solar
1 2 3 4 5
Flow wind conditions are steady. These ‘tail rays’ may repre-
B (In Tail) sent a low-altitude component of planetary ions picked
B (Outside Tail)
up by the solar wind from the denser cold upper atmos-
Figure 9. The formation of the Venus magnetotail. Flux tubes phere.
that pass closest to Venus are slowed the most, while their ends A final phenomenon that has been seen at Venus that
are carried along in the solar wind. appears to be associated with the solar wind interaction
A long tail is formed downstream of the nucleus as a is the Venus aurora. On Earth AURORAS are often associat-
result. ed with parallel electric fields that accelerate electrons
The rate of addition of mass by Venus to the solar down into the atmosphere causing atoms to be excited
and to emit photons. Weak, patchy auroras exist on the
wind is much less than that of a comet because the plan-
nightside of Venus also, but no explicit cause of these
et’s gravitational pull prevents the atmospheric gas from
auroras has been determined.
expanding rapidly and keeps it close to the planet.
Nevertheless, as noted above, Venus does have a neutral
oxygen exosphere that extends to at least 4000 km. Ions
produced above the ionopause, by photoionization or col-
lisions with the solar wind particles themselves, interact
directly with the solar wind. The atomic oxygen exos-
2.1 R V 2.4 R V
phere is produced by the ionosphere, in particular by the
dissociative recombination of O2+ ions at lower altitude,
in which ions recombine with an electron to form two
suprathermal oxygen atoms. These atoms have enough
energy to allow them to reach altitudes above the
ionopause where, if ionized, they will be carried away in
Solar min
the magnetosheath or solar wind flow. This additional ion Solar max
mass can slow down the flow near the magnetic barrier
where the ion production is highest owing to the greater 2.6 250
neutral densities there. A larger region of stagnation
* Venera 9/10
could increase the size of the barrier and push the shock Bow Shock Position
200
2.5
away from the obstacle. It could also add additional mag- Sunspot
Bow Shock Position (RV)
Numbers
netized plasma to the ionosphere and enhance the mag-
Sunspot Numbers
netic tail. As illustrated in figure 9 the magnetic field lines 2.4 150
approaching closest to Venus are slowed down in their

motion at closest approach while their ends in the undis- 100
2.3
turbed solar wind are carried away at the solar wind PVO
velocity. This produces a long comet-like ‘induced’ tail. Bow Shock
The ions on these field lines are eventually accelerated 2.2 50
up to the solar wind velocity. However, the composition of
these ions always tags them as Venus ions. The Venus mag- *
netic tail was regularly detected at the apogee of the PIO- 2.1 0
75 77 79 81 83 85 87 89
NEER VENUS spacecraft (12 Venus radii) but the ions have Year
been detected as far away as the orbit of the Earth. Figure 10. The motion of the bow shock in the course of the solar
The draped magnetic field will apply a stress to the cycle. Top: An ecliptic plane view. Bottom: Position above the
plasma surrounding Venus but under steady-state condi- terminator and sunspot number through a solar cycle.

Solar cycle variation hemisphere appears surrounded by an almost–transpar-

The above discussion enables us to now address how ent luminous shell in x–rays that appears brightest over
Venus responds to the solar cycle changes on the Sun. the limb.
The Earth’s solar wind interaction is sensitive to the
SOLAR CYCLE mainly because there are more coronal mass Bibliography
ejections launched from the Sun near solar maximum Bougher S W, Hunten D M and Phillips R J (ed) 1997
than solar minimum. The Venus interaction is also sensi- Venus II (Tucson, AZ: University of Arizona Press)
tive to these episodic, mainly magnetic, structures (albeit Hunten D M, Colin L, Donahue T M and Moroz V I (ed)
in very different ways than is Earth’s magnetospheric 1983 Venus (Tucson, AZ: University of Arizona)
interaction), but it is more generally sensitive to the Luhmann J G, Tatrallyay M and Pepin R O (ed) 1992
changing ultraviolet flux during the solar cycle. At solar Venus and Mars: Atmospheres, Ionospheres and Solar
minimum the ionosphere is not as well developed, and Wind Interaction (Washington, DC: American
so the same solar wind pressure results in an ionopause Geophysical Union)
deeper in the atmosphere where the ionosphere is less Russell C T (ed) 1991 Venus Aeronomy (Dordrecht:
highly electrically conducting. This routinely magnetizes Kluwer)
the dayside ionosphere and drastically reduces the flow C T Russell and J G Luhmann
to the nightside ionosphere. The obstacle becomes a little
smaller but more importantly some of the solar wind is
probably absorbed. Thus the solar wind does not have to
be deflected so far above the planet as at solar maximum.
This effect is so marked that the shock approaches to
within 1000 km of the planet of solar minimum as
sketched in figure 10.
At solar maximum the dayside ionosphere is denser
and better able to stand off the solar wind plasma above
the ionosphere. In addition the neutral exosphere of hot
oxygen is denser and more ions are created within the
magnetosheath itself. This extra ionization further
enhances the deflection of the solar wind.
Web Update (31 July 2002)

Scientists have captured the first x–ray view of Venus
using NASA’s CHANDRA X-RAY OBSERVATORY. The observa-
tions provide new information about the atmosphere of
Venus. Venus in x–rays looks similar to Venus in visible
light, but there are important differences. The optically
visible Venus is due to the reflection of sunlight and, for
the relative positions of Venus, Earth and Sun during
these observations, shows a uniform half–crescent that is
brightest toward the middle. The x–ray Venus is slightly
less than a half–crescent and brighter on the limbs. The
differences are due to the processes by which Venus
shines in visible and x–ray light. The x–rays from Venus
are produced by fluorescence, rather than reflection.
Solar x–rays bombard the atmosphere of Venus, knock
electrons out of the inner parts of the atoms, and excite
the atoms to a higher energy level. The atoms almost
immediately return to their lower energy state with the
emission of a fluorescent x–ray. A similar process involv-
ing ultraviolet light produces the visible light from fluo-
rescent lamps. For Venus, most of the fluorescent x–rays
come from oxygen and carbon atoms between 120 and
140 km (74 to 87 mi) above the planet’s surface. In con-
trast, the optical light is reflected from clouds at a height
of 50 to 70 km (31 to 43 mi). As a result, Venus’ Sun–lit

Venus: Surface E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
1 km in the data acquired since 1986. The second ground-

Venus: Surface based observations from the Venusian surface come from
Because of its thick and dense atmosphere, VENUS has only the Arecibo observatory in Puerto Rico. On this site, the
very recently revealed the aspect and the characteristics first reflectivity images were taken in 1975 and the last
of its surface. In fact, the only means to penetrate the in 1988. With these data, that covered latitudes up to
atmosphere and to see what is underneath is to observe 50◦ N, the spatial resolution was 1.5 km. From space, the
the planet in wavelength regions of the electromagnetic first almost global observation of the surface of Venus was
spectra where the atmosphere is transparent such as obtained by the NASA PIONEER VENUS Orbiter that arrived
the radar centimetric wavelengths or some near-infrared at the planet on 4 December 1978. Around 93% of the
windows around 1 micron. An alternative solution is to surface was covered between 74◦ N and 63◦ S latitude.
send probes that directly land on the surface. These two These observations gave the first large-scale altimetric
means have been used to explore the surface of Venus and and topographic coverage with an altimetric precision of
they give two complementary kinds of information. The 150 m at a sampling resolution of about 60 km. Then,
first gives global and large-scale information about the from October 1983 to July 1984, the twin Soviet probes
surface, such as topography, surface roughness, altimetry, VENERA 15 and VENERA 16 surveyed the planet and mapped
etc, while the second gives very local information such essentially the north pole area covering approximately
as surface images and/or composition. These two 25% of the surface from 30◦ N to 88◦ N. The resolution
complementary techniques have greatly enhanced our of the reflectivity images ranges from 1 to 4 km and the
knowledge of the surface of Venus and of its history. topographic precision was 50 m with a sampling resolution
of about 8 km. The last global data from the surface of
The Venus coordinate system Venus were obtained by the NASA MAGELLAN Orbiter. The
The map coordinate system used for measuring longitude insertion of the probe into the mapping orbit took place
on Venus is different from that used on Earth. On Earth, on 10 August 1990 and the formal mapping of the surface
longitude (an imaginary line stretching from pole to pole) began on 1 September 1990. These operations, divided
in four observation cycles, lasted until 14 October 1994
is measured from a starting point (the prime meridian) at
when the probe was lost. The coverage of the surface was
Greenwich, England (near London), toward the east and
almost complete. The precision of the altimetric data is
toward the west with increasing values in degrees until
below 50 m at a sampling resolution of the order of 10 km.
east meets west at the 180◦ point (the dateline), which is
The resolution of the reflectivity images is of the order of
diametrically opposed to Greenwich. On Venus, longitude
75 m.
is measured from 0 to 360 degrees with the prime meridian
Infrared observations of Venus have been made from
centered within a small impact crater named Ariadne,
the ground and during the flyby of Venus by two probes.
located in Sedna Planitia. There is an arbitrary convention
The first one was GALILEO during its travel to Jupiter on
that determines the direction of increasing longitude on
10 February 1990 and the second occured very recently
planetary bodies other than Earth: longitude shall be
with the CASSINI/HUYGENS probe on 24 June 1999 during
measured in a direction opposite to that in which the planet
its travel to Saturn. These two probes have infrared
rotates. Because Venus rotates in a clockwise direction
spectrometers on board (NIMS on board Galileo and
as viewed looking down on the north pole, longitude on
VIMS on board Cassini). The surface was detected on
Venus increases in numerical value toward the east from
the nightside of Venus by its thermal emission. These
the planet’s prime meridian.
observations show that the surface temperature is in
equilibrium with the atmosphere at the same altitude (see
Large-scale observations VENUS: ATMOSPHERE).
Most of the large-scale and global observations of the
Venusian surface have been obtained by radar. There Local observations
are different kinds of radar data: (a) altimetric data, All available on-ground local observations and measure-
(b) reflectivity data and (c) emissivity data. The first ments come from the various Soviet Venera/VEGA landers.
gives the altitude of the topography, the second gives These probes have made images of the ground surround-
information about the roughness of the surface and the ing them and/or composition analysis of the surface. The
last gives information about the brightness of the surface. first of these landers was Venera 8 that landed in 1972 and
The first reflectivity data for the Venusian surface gave the first natural radioactive element composition of
were obtained from ground-based radar observatories. the surface. Then three sets of twin probes reached the
The first images were acquired in 1972 from the Goldstone surface. The first pair of landers were Venera 9 and 10 that
satellite radar tracking system located in California. made images of the surface and chemical analyses in Octo-
Observations with the Goldstone station were made until ber 1975. They were followed seven years later by Venera
1988 covering essentially the equatorial regions between 13 (1 March 1982) and Venera 14 (5 March 1982) landers
15◦ N and 15◦ S latitude and 260◦ E and 30◦ E (through 0◦ ) that made color images of the surrounding surface and also
longitude. The spatial resolution, that was of the order surface composition analyses. Finally the Vega 1 and Vega
of 5–10 km in the first images, has been improved to near 2 probes in 1984 were able to analyse the soil composition.

Figure 1. Topographic map of Venus. The highland at the equator is Aphrodite Terra and the highland at the north is Ishtar Terra.
Global topography • Terra (terrae,pl.) cover vast areas and have variable
Although Venus, like most of the TERRESTRIAL PLANETS, can be topographic relief, as continents do on Earth.
divided into two broad physiographic regions, highlands • Planum (plana, pl.). Lakshmi Planum is the only
and lowlands, its hypsometric distribution is unimodal, planum recognized on Venus. It is a 3–4 km high
unlike that of the Earth (bimodal) or Mars (trimodal) and plateau, bordered by mountainous ridges.
over 80% of the Venusian surface lies within 1 km of the
mean radius of 6051.84 km (figure 1). The mean slopes on There are four highland areas on Venus: (1) ISHTAR TERRA in
Venus are of the order of 1◦ but average kilometer-scale the north, (2) LADA TERRA in the south, (3) APHRODITE TERRA
slopes greater than 30◦ are not uncommon. in the equatorial zone east of the prime meridian and
(4) the last area is defined by BETA REGIO, Phoebe and Themis
Highlands regiones distributed along roughly the 285◦ meridian.
• Regio (regiones, pl.) are topographically high regions, Ishtar Terra comprises the high Lakshmi Planum
often hosting large shield volcanoes. plateau to the west and the extremely elevated region

(39◦ E, 18◦ N), Bell Regio (49◦ E, 33◦ N) and Tellus Regio
(82◦ E, 39◦ N).
The landscape of Venus

The landscape of Venus is characterized by some very
particular and specific geomorphological and tectonic
features that illustrate how Venus can be very different
from the Earth and that can help to understand its
geological history.
Volcanic features
Several types of volcanic flows and edifices are recognized.
The presence of volcanic features on Venus suggest local
magma sources at depth. The distribution of these features
may provide clues about the crustal properties and thermal
history of Venus. They can be divided into three groups
according to their mean size. Brief characteristics are given
for each below:
(i) Large volcanic forms (<100 km): large shield

Figure 2. This Magellan full-resolution image shows Maxwell volcanoes are characterized by numerous lava flows
Montes, and is centered at 65◦ N latitude and 6◦ E longitude. radiating away from a central caldera. Many
Maxwell is the highest mountain on Venus, rising almost 12 km individual flows extend for hundreds of kilometers.
above mean planetary radius. The western slopes (on the left)
Several of the 156 identified shields are located
are very steep, whereas the eastern slopes descend gradually
into Fortuna Tessera. The broad ridges and valleys making up in topographically high regions (e.g. Gula and Sif
Maxwell and Fortuna suggest that the topography resulted from Montes at Western Eistla Regio; Sapas, Maat and
compression. Most of Maxwell Montes has a very bright radar Ozza Montes at Alta Regio) reaching elevations as
return; such bright returns are common on Venus at high high as 3–5 km above the surrounding area.
altitudes. This phenomenon is thought to result from the (ii) Intermediate-sized volcanic forms (20–100 km):
presence of a radar reflective mineral such as pyrite.
Interestingly, the highest area on Maxwell is less bright than the • Anemones: a type of volcanic edifice characterized
surrounding slopes, suggesting that the phenomenon is limited by flows radiating outward, often in bilateral
to a particular elevation range. The pressure, temperature and fashion from a central graben or fissure. They
chemistry of the atmosphere vary with altitude; the material are relatively rare; only 25 have been identified.
responsible for the bright return is probably only stable in a Anemones are typically 30–40 by 40–60 km in
particular range of atmospheric conditions and therefore a
particular elevation range. The prominent circular feature in
dimension.
eastern Maxwell is Cleopatra. Cleopatra is a double-ring impact • Ticks are volcanic domes, so named because of their
basin about 100 km in diameter and 2.5 km deep. A large appearance in radar images. They have flat or
amount of lava originating in Cleopatra flowed through this
depressed circular domes about 25 km in diameter
channel and filled valleys in Fortuna Tessera. Cleopatra is
superimposed on the structures of Maxwell Montes and appears and are flanked by strongly defined radial ridges
to be undeformed, indicating that Cleopatra is relatively young. and troughs. At one end, the tick edifice may
exhibit signs of a collapsed graben with extensive
fault scarps. Occasionally, flows originating from
surrounding the Maxwell Montes that are, with their 12 km the small central calderas appear to be directed
altitude, the highest topographic point on Venus (figure 2). outward along the radial fault-valleys. About 50
have been identified.
Lowlands • Steep-sided domes, commonly referred to as
• Planitia (planitiae, pl.) are topographic low-lying pancake domes: these volcanic domes have well-
regions, generally the most featureless on Venus in terms defined circular outlines and are characterized by
of tectonic and volcanic structures. radial fractures near the steep perimeter, radial and
concentric fracturing on the flat interior and small
There are five lowlands areas in which lie other smaller summit calderas near the center. Over 150 have
highlands: (1) Atalanta Planitia at the north of Aphrodite been recognized, very often in groups, sometimes
Terra, (2) Aino Planitia and (3) Helen Planitia at the overlapping one another.
south of Aphrodite Terra, (4) Guinevere Planitia at the • Calderas and paterae are volcanic depressions
equator between Aphrodite Terra and Phoebe Regio and bounded by arcuate fault scarps and are the source
(5) Lavinia Planitia at the south of Guinevere Planitia. The area of numerous lava flows. 86 calderas have
small highlands are Alpha Regio (6◦ E, 25◦ S), Eistla Regio identified.

(iii) Small volcanic forms (>20 km) shield fields cover

relatively large areas (average area 17 700 km2 ) and
are delimited by numerous, but small (typically
2–3 km across, but 6–12 km ones are not unusual)
volcanic domes or vents. Some shield fields
develop extensive flow fields surrounding the shield
volcanoes whereas others are located within tectonic
structures such as coronae or linear extensional zones.
Overall, 556 shield fields have been recognized on
Venus.
Tectonic features
Many features recognized from Magellan images are
reminiscent of TECTONIC structures on Earth. Some of these
features cover regions of thousands of square kilometers,
whereas other features are narrow linear structures that
appear to be related to fractures, grabens and perhaps
dykes. A classification and nomenclature of Venusian
physiographic features and how they may be related to
tectonism has been made. Some of these features are
described below.
Figure 3. This region, roughly 100 km on a side, shows a
(i) Large tectonic forms (100 to 1 000 km) are:
gigantic structure known as a corona. Coronae are circular to
• Tessera (tesserae, pl.): a terrain network consisting elliptical features marked by a ring of concentric ridges. Such
of two or more directions of anastomosing linear features are thought to be the result of hot rising bodies of
ridges and troughs. They are tectonically complex magma that reach the crust. As hot material rises, it weakens the
upper layers of the crust, causing the surface to dome upwards.
terrains, thought to be largely compressional in
Then as the region cools, the dome begins to subside. As the
origin and may represent the oldest part of the upper layers rise and fall, they are subjected to stresses that
crust. crack the surface, creating both circular and radial fractures.
• Chasma (chasmate, pl.): a broad trench or Magellan acquired this view of Venus during its first mapping
cycle around the planet in 1990 and 1991.
linear zone consisting of a parallel arrangement
of troughs or valleys bounded by fault scarps.
These zones are interpreted to reflect extensional
tectonics.
• Arachnoid(s) (mean diameter = 115 km) are
circular to elliptical structures that consist of a
• Mons (montes, pl.): large highland provinces central dome or depression surrounded by an
are termed montes (e.g. Maxwell Montes, Danu extensive network of radial and concentric linear
Montes, Akna Montes and Freyja Montes), descrip- features. These locally developed structures
tive of their mountain range-like appearance (fig- may represent the surface expression of faulting
ure 2). and dyke emplacement associated with magma
(ii) Others features likely to be associated with volcanic injection at shallow depths. About 259 have been
and/or intrusive activity are: found on Venus.
• Corona (coronae, pl.): (mean diameter = 250 km) • Nova (novae, pl.) (mean diameter = 190 km)
are large circular structures whose circumference are similar to arachnoids, but are dominated by
is defined by an elevated ring-like zone consisting radial structures. Novae are generally centered on
of compressional ridges and extensional troughs. a domal uplift and may possibly represent the early
The interior part often shows evidence of volcanic stages of corona formation. Over 50 have been
activity and early fracturing. Radial graben-like identified.
structures may extend beyond the outer diameter.
Topographically, the interior may be raised or
depressed relative to the surrounding terrain. Impact craters
Corona structures likely represent the surface There are 935 recognized impact CRATERS on Venus. About
expression of mantle upwelling. They range from half the craters have been formally assigned names, the
75 to over 2000 km across and occur in groups, in others remain unnamed. All have been named after
chains or as isolated structures. More than 360 have famous women in history, but craters with diameters
been recognized, of which about half have been less than 20 km have been given female common names.
formally assigned names (figure 3). Venusian craters range in size from 1.4 km in diameter to

Table 1. Uranium, thorium and potassium content in the Venusian surface rocks given by gamma ray spectrometry.
Venera 8 Venera 9 Venera 10 Vega 1 Vega 2

K2 O, wt % 4.8 ± 1.4 0.6 ± 0.1 0.4 ± 0.2 0.54 ± 0.26 0.48 ± 0.24
U (ppm) 2.2 ± 0.7 0.6 ± 0.2 0.5 ± 0.3 0.64 ± 0.47 0.68 ± 0.38
Th (ppm) 6.5 ± 0.2 3.7 ± 0.4 0.7 ± 0.3 1.5 ± 1.2 2.0 ± 1.0
Table 2. Contents of the major elements in the Venusian surface

rocks given by x-ray fluorescence.
• Double-ring craters are defined by an outer rim and a
circular arrangement of inner peaks and ridges. These
Venera 13 Venera 14 Vega 2 craters are typically greater than 40 km.
SiO2 45.1 ± 3.0 48.7 ± 3.6 45.6 ± 3.2 • Multiple-ring craters have two or more concentric ridge
TiO2 1.59 ± 0.45 1.2 ± 0.41 0.2 ± 0.1 structures that rise above the crater floor. The largest
Al2 O3 15.8 ± 3.0 17.9 ± 2.6 16.0 ± 1.8 craters on Venus, ranging from 86 to 280 km in diameter,
FeO 9.3 ± 2.2 8.8 ± 1.8 7.7 ± 1.1 are of this type.
MnO 0.2 ± 0.1 0.16 ± 0.08 0.14 ± 0.12
MgO 11.4 ± 6.2 8.1 ± 3.3 11.5 ± 3.7 • Irregular craters have non-circular rim outlines and
CaO 7.1 ± 0.96 10.3 ± 1.2 7.5 ± 0.7 structural disruptions to otherwise flat crater floors.
K2 O 4.0 ± 0.63 0.2 ±0.07 0.1 ± 0.08 Almost one-third of the craters on Venus are of this type,
S 0.65 ± 0.4 0.35 ± 0.31 1.9 ± 0.6
most of which are less than 16 km across.
Cl 0.3 0.4 0.3
• Multiple crater formation occurs when a falling body
fragments into pieces. Each fragment creates a separate
impact crater whose rim may overlap with adjacently
280 km. Crater Mead is the largest impact crater identified formed craters. Individuals of this type are up to 44 km
on Venus. in diameter, but most are less than 11 km.
In contrast to Mercury, Mars or the Moon, which are
covered with thousands of craters that have accumulated In general, small-diameter craters are flat-floored,
over the last 4 to 4.5 billion years, Venus is scarred by have irregular outlines and may be part of a multiple
curiously few. In fact the spatial distribution of craters impact event. Complex internal structures occur in large
is uniform (random and anticlustered) over the entire craters and tend to develop progressively as a central peak,
planet, suggesting that Venus experienced complete global a double ring, or a multiple ring, with increasing crater
resurfacing in the relatively recent (geologically speaking) diameter.
past.
In the global resurfacing model, tectonic and volcanic Surface properties and composition
activity affected the entire surface of Venus which A somewhat unexpected finding in the Magellan images
obliterated the majority of (if not all) previous impact was the abundant wind streaks. More than 4000 wind
craters. An observation that lends support to the sudden streaks have been identified and this evidence of eolian
arrest of these events is the fact that the majority of activity is widespread and is particularly concentrated
craters, 84%, do not show any signs of modification. This between 17◦ S and 30◦ S latitude and at 5◦ N–52◦ N on
resurfacing activity is thought to have ceased between 300 smooth plains. These wind streaks are generally oriented
to 800 million years ago. The uncertainty of the timing lies with the downwind direction towards the equator. This
in the uncertainty of estimating the impact flux. eolian activity is also demonstrated by parabolic crater
Craters on Venus are recognized by their expression deposits, made up of fine, centimeters thick debris
on images and hence classified by their morphology. The distributed by high-speed zonal E–W winds. These
high temperature of the Venusian surface (470 ◦ C) and observations are consistent with the radar signature of
its thick atmosphere make Venusian impact morphology the surface that indicates that weathering, mass wasting
unique among planetary bodies in the solar system. Based and eolian activity operated continuously on deposits
on the development of crater floor structures and degree of similar to lava flows. This activity confirms the aspect
circularity, a classification of simple craters and five types of the surface as it is known by the Venera lander images
of complex crater into a six-fold scheme can be made. (figure 4). The reddish color of the images taken by the
Venera 13 and Venera 14 landers also supports the volcanic
• Structureless craters are simple craters where the origin of the surface which is confirmed by the chemical
internal floor is flat and featureless. The smallest craters composition.
are generally of this type. Our knowledge of the chemical composition of the
• Central peak craters have a central uplift that rises above surface of Venus comes from two types of experiment on
the crater floor. These craters range in size from 8 to board the seven Russian landers. These two methods are
79 km, but are most commonly 16–32 km. Outlining gamma spectroscopy and x-ray fluorescence spectrometry.
rims are quite circular and often terraced. The first one gives the contents of the radiogenic elements,

Figure 4. Venera 14 lander images of the surface of Venus at 1◦ S, 310◦ E on 5 March 1982. The lander survived for 60 min. Both images
show part of the lander at the bottom. This area is composed of flat basalt-like rocks, but little soil or fine-grained material, as was seen
at other Venera lander sites. Near the center of the top image is a lens cover, and the bottom image shows a test arm.
uranium, thorium and potassium (table 1). The second geological history of Venus can be proposed, defining units
one gives the contents of the major elements of the surface of common ages, their formation and evolution through
rocks (table 2). time as described by Basilevsky and Head (1998) (see
Most of these analyses show a trace element and/or figure 5).
bulk chemistry typical of tholeitic basalts. Moreover, The oldest unit, the Fortuna Group, is mainly
all the dominant type of terrain within the Venera/Vega composed of tessera terrains that cover about 8% of
landing sites is plains so that their measurements can the Venusian surface. The morphology of this unit is
be considered representative samples of the Venusian dominated by intersecting systems of ridges and grooves
plains. Finally morphological observations of long and of tectonic origin. This deformation does not extend into
vast lava flows together with the results of the geochemical the surrounding plains that clearly embay the tessera.
measurements show that the plains of the landing sites as It is not clear if this group was formed in a very short
well as the Venusian plains as a whole are predominantly time or if it is composed of various subunits of different
the result of large basaltic volcanism. Two exceptions come ages. However, it is clear that all other units overlie or
from the data of Venera 8 and Venera 13. The gamma embay this group, making it the oldest recognized unit
spectroscopic analysis at the Venera 8 landing site shows of Venus like the Precambrian basement of continents on
that the surface material contains relatively high amounts Earth. Although this group may have formed at different
of K, U and Th (table 1). X-ray fluorescence analysis at ages, its heavy deformation seems to have spanned a
the Venera 13 site shows that the bulk chemistry of the relatively short period of time as suggested by the density
surface rocks is analogous to that of alkaline basalt. Its of superposed impact craters that is approximately the
potassium content is indeed very similar to that of the same.
Venera 8 site. For these two sites, where non-tholeitic The next unit in chronological appearance is called
composition of the surface material was identified, steep- the Guinevere Supergroup. It represents an assemblage of
sided domes have been found which are not present at plains-forming units and consists of four groups separated
the other sites. These particular morphological features, from one another and from the underlying Fortuna Group
together with the fact that the Venera 8 and possibly by episodes of tectonic deformation.
Venera 13 material compositions are the combination of The first unit consisting of material of densely
evolved igneous rocks and more mafic and primitive rocks, fractured plains is called the Sigrun Group and covers
suggest that these rocks are the geochemical signature of 3% of the surface of Venus. It appears as uncovered
the presence and involvement of material of continental terrains by the younger plains and is deformed by densely
crustal origin in their magma genesis. This raises the spaced swarms of faults usually subparallel to each other.
question about the presence or absence of continental-like The material composing this unit appears to be primarily
crust on Venus, which remains an enigma. plains that were emplaced as floods of lavas.
The second group, called the Lavinia Group, is
Stratigraphic history represented by the materials of fractured and ridged plains
From the study of all these features and of their and covers about 3% of the surface. The ridges are
morphological and chronological relationships, a tentative sometimes clustered forming ridge belts. They appear

generally as elongated islands among the younger plains the upper boundary of the Atlian time (that is, the lower
but embay the tessera and the Sigrun Group. The Lavinia boundary of the Aurelian period) was estimated from the
Group material, as the Sigrun Group, was also primarily proportion of craters with radar-dark parabolas to be about
emplaced as lava floods (figure 5(a)). 0.1T prior to the present (figure 5(a)).
The third group consists of materials of shield plains
and plains with wrinkle ridges. Together this group, Geological history of Venus
called the Rusalka Group, occupies 70–75% of the surface The history of Venus as recorded on its surface represents
of Venus. The wrinkle ridges plains dominate among only the last 10–20% of the total history of the planet
this group and represent 60–65% of the total surface. A because the morphological signatures of the terrains
characteristic of these plains is the presence of wrinkle before those of the Fortuna Group were not preserved.
ridges, typically 1 km wide, that often form a network with The beginning of this part of the history of Venus is
a dominant trend. Usually subunits can be recognized characterized by intensive tectonic deformation on a
in this group because they are deformed by a single global scale which formed the tessera terrains. Early
ridge network, thus separating them all from the younger stages of this deformation were clearly compressional
stratigraphic units. The youngest of these subunits form and later changed into extensional. Termination of the
extended flow-like features. This observation and the compression stage is estimated to have occurred at about
in situ geochemical measurements made by the Venera time 1.4T , while the extensional stage lasted for another
9, 10 and Vega 1, 2 landers suggest that these plains formed 0.1–0.2T . Numerous internal dynamical processes
by extended floods of mafic lavas. The shield plains is the have been proposed to account for the tessera-forming
second component of the Rusalka group. It is represented
deformation sequence; from chemical instabilities causing
by materials of plains formed by clustered and coalescing
mantle overturn, an oscillatory convective behavior of
sloping shields of volcanic origin. These plains occupy
the mantle or catastrophic avalanche within the mantle
10% of the surface of Venus and are usually embayed by the
due to the presence of high-pressure phase transitions.
wrinkle ridge plains that appear consequently younger.
These hypotheses raise the question of whether the large
The volcanic shields, on the basis of their gentle slopes,
currently preserved tessera blocks might represent relicts
are made by lavas composed of alkaline basalts or even
of downwelling or upwelling. Anyway, this intensive
more differentiated material such as andesite as shown by
tectonism was accompanied by volcanic activity so that
the Venera 8 analyses.
the emplacement of tessera-forming material and its
The last group of the Guinevere Supergroup is
deformation into tessera terrain are the major geological
mostly made of the materials of lobate and smooth plains
events of Fortunian time (figure 5(a)).
undeformed by wrinkle ridges. This unit covers 10–15%
After tessera formation, several stages of extensive
of Venus and is called the Alta Group. It overlies
volcanism occurred that buried vast areas of the tessera
and embays all the already described units. Most of
the Alta Group materials are associated with rift zones and formed the regional plains of Sigrunian, Lavinian
occurring in the form of large, gently sloping volcanic and Rusalkian ages. The combined duration of the
edifices. Some materials of this group are associated with emplacement of these plains is estimated to be 0.2–
coronae, forming lava flows aprons around them. Their 0.3T . Plain forming of all these groups is separated
morphology as well as their geochemical composition by episodes of tectonic activity that occurred generally
given by Venera 14 suggest that they also are mafic lavas. synchronously in different areas of Venus. These episodes
The last and youngest group, the Aurelia Group, are characterized by the dominance of compression, then
is represented by the materials of radar-dark parabolas tension, then again compression, and finally tension.
associated with the youngest impact craters as well with The last globally distributed tectonic episode, extensive
the eolian patches and streaks. wrinkle ridging, happened at about time T and marked
the transition to the present stage of the history of Venus,
Absolute age estimates which is dominated by regional rifting and its local
The duration of the morphologically distinguishable part associated volcanism in the form of large shield volcanoes.
of the geological history of Venus is estimated on the basis The majority of this stage is represented by the Atlian
of impact crater densities. The average age of the surface period, which appears to have lasted until 0.1T from the
of Venus is estimated to vary between 300 and 500 million present. This period is thus the longest in duration among
years, for the lower bound, up to 800 million years for the all the other units, although its resulting tectonic and
upper bound. In terms of this average age T , the age of volcanic features and deposits represent only 10–20% of
the oldest group represented by the tessera is estimated the surface of Venus. The last period of the history of Venus
to be about 1.4T . Then, the average age T of the surface is the Aurelian period and is characterized by a certain
of Venus is apparently a good estimate of the age of the level of reworking of the surface by eolian processes. From
Rusalkian Group. This means that the total duration of the the point of view of volcanic and tectonic processes, it
Sigrunian, Lavinian and Rusalkian group is of the order represents simply the continuation of the Atlian period
of 0.2–0.3T that is, approximately a few tens of millions so that Venus may be today already endogenically active
of years to about one hundred million years. Finally, at a low level (figure 5(b)).

Bibliography
Barsukov V L et al 1986 The geology and geomorphology
of Venus surface as revealed by the radar images
obtained by Veneras 15 and 16 Proc. Lunar and Planet.
Sci. Conf. 16th, Part 2, J. Geophys. Res. 91 (suppl B4)
D378–D398
Basilevsky A T and Head J W 1998 The geologic history of
Venus: a stratigraphic view J. Geophys. Res. 103 (E4)
8531–44
Bougher, S W, Hunten M and Phillips R J 1997 Venus
II-Geology, Geophysics, Atmosphere and Solar Wind
Environment (Tucson, AZ: University of Arizona
Press)
Carlson R W et al 1991 Galileo infrared imaging
spectroscopy measurements at Venus Science 253
1541–8
Chapman C R (ed) 1992a Magellan at Venus J. Geophys. Res.
97 (E8) 13 063–689
Chapman C R (ed) 1992b Magellan at Venus, part 2
J. Geophys. Res. 97 (E10) 15921–6380
Surkov Y A et al 1984 New data on the composition,
structure and properties of Venus rock obtained by
Figure 5. (a) Venus stratigraphic units following Basilevsky and Venera 13 and 14 Proc. Lunar and Planet. Sci. Conf. 14th,
Head (1988) (Tt: tessera terrains; Pdf: densely fractured plains;
J. Geophys. Res. 89 B393–B402
Pfr: fractured and ridged plains; RB: ridge belts; FB: fracture
belts; Pwr: wrinkle ridge plains; Psh: plains with shield; Ps: Surkov Y A et al 1986 Venus rock composition at the Vega 2
smooth plains; Pl: lobate plains; Cdp: dark parabola craters). landing site Proc. Lunar and Planet. Sci. Conf. 17th,
(b) Summary of the geological history of Venus. The tectonic is Part 1, J. Geophys. Res. 91 E215–E218
dominated by the succession of compression–tension cycles and
the volcanism, intense at the beginning, decreases and changes
in style with time (Basilevsky and Head 1998). T , the average Olivier Forni
age of the surface of Venus, is of the order of 300–500 million
years or possibly up to about 800 million years.
In summary, the observable part of the history of

Venus is characterized by two key points that stand in
contrast to the comparable period of Earth history when
global geodynamical processes are dominated by plate
tectonics.
(a) Venus shows no signature of plate tectonics. Instead,

its global tectonic environment is characterized by
two successive compression–tension cycles with
the magnitude of the deformation and strain rate
declining with time.
(b) During the first cycle, plains-forming volcanism
occurred at a rate comparable to terrestrial volcanism
but in a non-plate tectonic style, and then during
the second cycle Venus was dominated by a
rift-associated volcanism emplaced at a very low
production rate comparable with that of today’s
intraplate volcanism.
The surface features, structures and composition

illustrate the distinctive difference between the recent
history of Venus and the Earth that are in other ways so
similar.

Verbiest, Ferdinand (1623–88) E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
Verbiest, Ferdinand (1623–88)

Flemish cartographer and astronomer, member of the
Jesuit mission to China in the early seventeenth century,
was made President of the Astronomical Board and
produced textbooks on astronomy and maps for the
Chinese Emperor.

Very Large Array, National Radio Astronomy Observa-
tory
Very Large Array, National Radio

Astronomy Observatory
The Very Large Array (VLA), 80 km west of Socorro, NM,
is one of the world’s premier radio-astronomy facilities,
offering researchers a unique combination of resolving
power, sensitivity and observational flexibility. Dedicated
in 1980, the VLA includes 27 25 m diameter dish antennas,
arranged in a ‘Y’ pattern, that work together as a single
aperture-synthesis interferometric imaging system.
A facility of the US National Science Foundation, the
VLA is open for use by all scientists on a peer-reviewed
basis. Capable of observing at frequencies from 74 MHz
to 50 GHz (non-continuous), and with antennas deployed
through a 16 month cycle of four standard configurations,
the VLA provides resolution ranging from 15 arcmin to
0.05 arcsec.
The VLA’s versatility has allowed it to serve a wide
range of research specialties, including planetary, solar,
stellar and galactic astronomy as well as cosmology.
It has made important contributions to the study of
both galactic and extragalactic relativistic jets; the Milky
Way’s central region; galactic structure, dynamics and
evolution; supernova remnants; and transient events such
as supernovae and gamma ray bursters.
http://www.nrao.edu.

Very-high-energy Gamma-ray Sources E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
Basic concepts
Very-high-energy Gamma-ray Sources We measure motions close to the speed of light in terms of
Gamma-ray photons at TeV energies have been observed the Lorentz factor γ , where
in recent years from a special class of active galactic
1
nuclei, the so-called BLAZARS. The maximum photon energy Lorentz factor γ = . (1)
observed is now approaching energies beyond 10 TeV, 1 − β2
opening up new windows into the high-energy universe. The relative speed is β = v/c, where v is the velocity of the
The basic concept in our present day understanding particle or material such as gas in a jet under consideration,
of ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEI is the existence of a central BLACK and c is the speed of light.
HOLE (our Galaxy is now well established to harbor one We call the motion of matter relativistic, when γ is
of ∼2.5 × 106 solar masses (Genzel et al 1997)) with a much larger than unity. Since the total energy E of a
surrounding ACCRETION DISK. Perpendicular to the inner moving particle is given by E = γ mc2 , where m is the
accretion disk is a stream of high-velocity gas, commonly rest mass of the particle, the total energy can be very
referred to as a jet; one expects jets on both sides. The large. The largest particle energies directly observed are
material in this jet is usually moving at very near the speed 3 × 1020 eV, which corresponds for protons to a Lorentz
of light. In addition, this basic picture appears to hold factor of 3 × 1011 . The motions of jets in active galactic
quite well for solar mass black hole systems such as some nuclei can often be characterized by a bulk Lorentz factor
compact binary stars in our Galaxy, as well as for the most of order 10. From the electromagnetic emission from
these jets, we can infer Lorentz factors of electrons moving
powerful quasars we know, with black hole masses of the
around inside the jet in its frame of reference of order 106
order of 1010 solar masses.
and lower.
From Hubble Space Telescope observations we have We observe the electromagnetic emission from highly
also learned that these massive black holes always sit in relativistic electrons, and possibly protons, from these jets
the dynamical center of their host galaxies. The spheroidal at all wavelengths, and interpret the radiation at TeV
distribution of older stars within these galaxies has a mass energies also as emission from a relativistic jet. The
which appears to be approximately proportional to the principal source of this emission can be synchrotron
mass of the central black hole, with a factor of order emission, due to the gyrating motion of highly relativistic
300. This can be readily understood in an accretion disk electrons in a magnetic field. It can also be inverse
scenario by modelling the entire galaxy as a system of Compton emission, from collisions between relativistic
accreting gas, out of which stars are formed and which electrons and photons. Obviously, at high photon
feeds the budding black hole at its very center. Mergers of energies approaching or exceeding 109 (1 GeV), it can
galaxies then turn these disks of stars into a more spherical also for instance derive from π 0 decay following hadronic
distribution (Faber et al 1997, Wang and Biermann 1998). interactions.
Hadronic interactions are interactions between nuclei
The radio emission from the environment of these
or between other particles where pions (or at extreme
black holes and their associated jets is usually dominated energies nuclei) are created. Since pions have a large
by non-thermal emission from the jet, most often rest mass, and in turn decay into photons or muons and
synchrotron emission from the gyrating motion of highly neutrinos, hadronic interactions are usually heralded by
energetic electrons/positrons in a magnetic field. This the emission of neutrinos.
emission process is accompanied by absorption, and so
often synchrotron self-absorption becomes important. In Observational techniques
the overall radio emission from the various segments of the At TeV energies photons are observed on Earth with
jet this leads to an approximately flat spectrum, where the Cerenkov telescopes. These telescopes use the Cerenkov
flux density (energy per bandwidth per second received light emitted from the products of the shower maximum
in a unit telescope area) is approximately constant with produced by interactions of the incoming primary par-
frequency. A survey of the data shows that such flat ticle, to determine its energy and direction. Since the
spectrum radio sources are almost always variable, and overwhelming number of all primaries are directional ran-
show signs of bulk relativistic motion along the jet. domly distributed charged nuclei, the intrinsic properties
of photon and hadron initiated air showers (see COSMIC RAYS:
The power from active galactic nuclei ranges from EXTENSIVE AIR SHOWERS) may be also used for a separation
under 1038 erg s−1 to over 1047 erg s−1 (1 erg = 10−7 J). between photons and hadrons (see Gaisser (1990) and re-
The source sizes, best measured by intercontinental radio views by Weekes (1996), Cawley and Weekes (1996) and
interferometry, can extend from smaller than the solar Weekes et al (1997)).
system to many millions of light years. Their emission Looking into the air shower one sees an image,
in the electromagnetic spectrum has been observed from which is rather different for hadronic showers and purely
around 10 MHz in the radio to a photon energy beyond electromagnetic showers. Hadronic showers produce
order of 10 TeV (1 TeV = 1012 eV = 1.6 erg = 1.6 × 10−7 J). an image which is very irregular in its appearance,

while electromagnetic showers, initiated by a high-energy

photon, give an elliptic image, which points towards the
source on the sky. This analysis was originally developed
by M Hillas of Leeds, and then evolved into a technique
by T C Weekes, of Tucson, at the Whipple telescope (in the
mountains of Arizona, USA).
There are internationally many telescopes using this
technique, with one of the most active telescope arrays
being HEGRA, on La Palma in the Canary Islands. There are
further such telescopes in many countries now, such as
in Australia, France, India, Russia, South Africa, Ukraine
and USA (Meyer 1997, Ong 1998). Table 1 lists some of the
major telescopes already in operation.
The acceptance of a large initial detectable photon
energy is a strong function of the zenith angle of the
observation, and one needs large zenith angles to reach
beyond 10 TeV.
Observations
These observations started in 1992 with the first successful
detection of Mrk421 by the Whipple observatory (Punch
Figure 1. The spectrum of MKn501 as measured by HEGRA
et al 1992). (Aharonian et al 1999b).
There are now several blazars, which have been
observed at such energies, with the most observations
being taken of the objects Markarian 421 and Markarian based on COBE observations (Fixsen et al 1996). Early
501, originally discovered by the Armenian astronomer galaxy star formation extended the background radiation
B E Markarian. TeV energies means a factor of 1000 higher from dust emission around young stars to the far-
than the photon energy (1 GeV = 109 eV) at which a much infrared. Encounters of TeV photons with this microwave
larger class of blazars have been observed with the EGRET and far-infrared background produces electron–positron
instrument onboard the COMPTON GAMMA RAY OBSERVATORY pairs, which translates to an effective absorption.
satellite (Mattox et al 1997). But all these blazars, whether
Therefore observing a source at multiples of TeV
seen only at GeV energies or at TeV energies, have common
energy gives us information about the far-infrared
properties: all of them have a flat radio spectrum in
background at wavelengths otherwise nearly inaccessible.
the GHz range, are variable at almost all frequencies
Interestingly, early models for galaxy formation in the
observed, and their radiation is interpreted as emission
universe exceeded the level required by the gamma-ray
from a relativistic jet. In the case of the TeV blazars, their
observations by a large margin. The gamma-ray data
emission appears to be the greatest at these energies, far
are still pushing the envelope lower for the possible level
greater than at any other wavelength observed (Aharonian
of far-infrared background radiation. Therefore these
et al 1997, Bradbury et al 1997, Funk et al 1998, Hayashida
gamma-ray observations provide one of the most stringent
et al 1998, Krennrich et al 1997, Zweerink et al 1997).
limits known for the violent early phases of the universe
The observations now show that the spectral shape
(Malkan and Stecker 1998, Mannheim 1998, Stanev and
is variable, and occasionally extends to the edge of
Franchescini 1998).
what is observable, suggesting that perhaps the emission
continues to many 10 TeV. Some of the time the spectrum There are two main interpretations proposed for the
is flat, which means that the energy output per logarithmic physical process of the TeV gamma-ray emission itself, a
photon energy interval is constant with energy. The leptonic and a hadronic process (Mannheim 1996).
variability time scale is as short as can be detected with The leptonic process proposed is a collision between
the photon counting statistics, at a few hours or less. a very energetic (and highly relativistic) electron and a
Figure 1 shows the spectrum of Mkn501 measured photon from its surroundings either outside the jet, or
by HEGRA. The work of Aharonian et al (1999a) shows inside the jet. In such a model electrons are presumed
that the spectrum continues without an obvious break to to be accelerated, all the while undergoing losses; this
24 TeV. implies one stringent limit to their maximum energy,
which leads to a maximum energy of any photon with
Physics which the electrons interact. This encounter, called the
These observations are interesting in their own right: the inverse Compton process, boosts the energy of the photon
Big Bang produced a bath of microwave background to much higher energies. In such a picture the maximum
radiation as a remnant of its early hot phase, which photon energy is then limited by the maximum energy
can be characterized by a temperature of 2.73 K, the electron could have, and by the kinematics of the

Table 1. Main parameters of the Air Cherenkov Telescope.

Sensitivity‡
Mirror Threshold at the
Elevation No of area No of Pixel σθ FOV energy threshold
Telescope Site Country Longitude Latitude (m) telescopes (m2 ) pixels (deg) (deg) (deg) (GeV) (cm−2 s−1 )
Whipple Mt Hopkins USA −110.5◦ 31.4◦ N 2300 1 74 151 0.25 0.1 3.5 250 10−11
CAT Themis France −2.0◦ 42.5◦ N 1650 1 17.5 548 + 52 0.10 0.1 4.8 250 10−11
HEGRA La Palma Spain −17.8◦ 28.8◦ N 2200 4 4 × 8.4 4 × 271 0.25 0.1 500 4 × 10−12
HEGRA CT1† La Palma Spain −17.8◦ 28.8◦ N 2200 1 5.0 127 0.25 0.1 4.6 1500 3 × 10−12
TA Dugway USA −113.0◦ 40.3◦ N 1600 3 3 × 6.0 3 × 256 0.25 0.1 4.5 500
TACTIC Mt Abu India +72.7◦ 24.6◦ N 1300 4 4 × 9.5 4 × 81 0.31 2.8 700
CANGAROO Woomera Australia +136.8◦ 31.1◦ S 160 1 11.3 256 0.12 0.18 3.0 1000 4 × 10−12
Durham Mk 6 Narrabri Australia +149.8◦ 30.5◦ S 200 1 (3 dishes) 3 × 42.0 109 + 19 + 19 0.25 0.1 3.4 250 5 × 10−11
CrAO GT-48 Crimea Ukraine +34◦ 45◦ N 600 2 × 6 dishes 2 × 13 6 × 37 0.40 0.2 2.7 900 5 × 10−12
Nooitgedacht Potchefstroom South Africa +27.2◦ 26.9◦ S 1440 4 7 4 1.7 1.7 700
Patchmari Patchmari India +78.4◦ 22.5◦ N 1075 25 4 1 3.0
SHALON Tien-Shan Russia +75.0◦ 42.0◦ N 3300 1 10 144 0.4 7.2 1000
† For the old mirrors, i.e. up to November 1997.

‡ Defined as the 5σ limit for 50 h observation time.
collision. In standard models this leads to a limitation of to milliseconds. The time-integrated spectrum can be
the maximum photon energy to about 10 TeV. approximated by two power laws which break around
A hadronic process can easily produce photons 150 keV, suggesting a non-thermal process just as in active
of much higher energy, by starting with energetic galactic nuclei jets. These GRBs are now known to be
protons, which can clearly produce very energetic photons at cosmological distances (Metzger et al 1997), and thus
through proton–photon or proton–proton encounters and require enormous powers to be released; it is still unknown
subsequent decay of a pion produced in the interaction. what physical picture can explain all these features.
We observe high-energy particles directly from outside One immediate and clear consequence of the hadronic
the Galaxy with energies up to several 1020 eV; since the picture is the emergence of a cosmological neutrino
gyration motion of such particles—if they are protons— background at high neutrino energies. This neutrino
is larger than the size of the Galaxy, they must come background would be much stronger at high energies
from outside, as argued early by Cocconi (1956). Also, than both the atmospheric neutrinos (which have now
the interaction of these high-energy particles with the been used to present impressive evidence for neutrino
microwave background ought to limit their energy upon oscillations by the Super-Kamiokande experiment), and
arrival at Earth to less than 5 × 1019 eV, if they are also higher than the Galactic neutrino background, from
protons; this expected cut-off is called the Greisen– p–p interactions of cosmic rays in the Galaxy (which in
Zatsepin–Kuzmin cut-off. It is not observed. We are still turn can be estimated from the observed GeV gamma-ray
spectrum). There is currently an experiment at the South
trying to identify the sources for particles at these extreme
Pole, AMANDA, which hopes to detect this expected
energies. If these active galactic nuclei could be shown to
cosmological neutrino background.
require protons at extreme energies, then we would have
Similarly a gamma-ray background is expected,
a very good candidate class. The experiments AGASA
which leads to another implicit use of those TeV gamma-
in Japan, HIRES in the US, and in the future AUGER in
ray data: what fraction of the diffuse gamma-ray
Argentina, are looking for more events at these extreme
background is due to active galactic nuclei such as blazars,
energies, to beyond 1021 eV (Biermann 1997).
and what fraction, if any, is left to be derived from different
We also expect TeV photon emission from the interac- physics? Standard BIG BANG THEORY predicts ubiquituous
tion of the known COSMIC RAY population (Berezinsky et al relics, among them topological defects, which can decay
1990, Wiebel-Sooth and Biermann 1999) in the Galaxy with into particles of the order of 1024 eV in most versions of
the interstellar medium (Hunter et al 1997); since the cos- the theory, which in turn decay via a cascade into protons,
mic ray spectrum of probable Galactic sources extends to neutrinos and gamma rays, thus producing a truely diffuse
3×1018 eV, very high photon energies are expected from the gamma-ray background (Sigl et al 1995). If we could find
decay of pions resulting from nucleus–proton encounters. an upper limit to the GeV and TeV contribution from
Since the cosmic ray population is likely to be stronger in the decay of topological defects, it would give a major
the galactic center region, we expect the as yet unobserved constraint to particle physics near the energy scale of GRAND
TeV emission to peak at the galactic center. UNIFIED THEORIES for particles (GUTs).
There is another class of sources for which TeV Once we have thus identified a class of sources re-
photons are expected to be detected at some point in the sponsible for very-high-energy protons, possibly observ-
future: the now famous gamma-ray bursts (GRBs; see able in high energy photons following interactions, and
also GAMMA-RAY ASTRONOMY). GRBs are characterized by a also other high-energy particles, then these accelerators in
sudden outburst of gamma-ray photons at typical energies the cosmos and their environment provide us with tools—
of tens of keV to MeV, occasionally to GeV. The time scale albeit very distant tools—to do very-high-energy physics
of the emission is a few seconds, with substructure down at energies far beyond any physicist’s dream.

Acknowledgments
I wish to thank Torsten Ensslin, Heino Falcke, Galen
Gisler, Todd Haines, Norbert Magnussen, Karl Mannheim,
Sera Markoff, Hinrich Meyer, Rene Ong, Rainer Plaga,
Ray Protheroe, Wolfgang Rhode, Günther Sigl, Todor
Stanev, Heinz Völk and Yiping Wang for contributions,
discussions, perusing the manuscript and/or suggesting
corrections.
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(Amsterdam: North-Holland)
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Peter L Biermann

Vesta E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
Relative reflectance
Vesta
1.0
Vesta, with a mean diameter of 529 km, is the third Feldspar
largest main-belt ASTEROID and was the fourth asteroid
to be discovered. It was found in 1807 by the German 0.8
Astronomer HEINRICH OLBERS and named after the goddess Pyroxene
Olivine
of fire and the hearth in the Roman mythology. Vesta is Pyroxene
the sole ‘intact’ asteroid that may have undergone heating 0.6
at temperatures able to produce a complete planetary-
type DIFFERENTIATION (when the heaviest element sank to 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5
the core of the asteroid while lighter minerals remained
Wavelength ( µ m)
near the surface). Telescopic observations at high angular
resolution, either from space or from the ground, can
Figure 1. Mean reflectance spectrum of Vesta’s surface at visible
now provide images of Vesta’s surface that help to better
and near-infrared wavelengths. The deflections from the
understand its formation and collisional history. Such continuum are attributed to pyroxene and feldspar minerals.
images show that Vesta has undergone a large impact Olivine is also present on Vesta but locally only, and its
event, 4.5 billion years ago. This discovery supports the absorption band is not visible in this rotationally averaged
idea that Vesta is the parent body of a group of small Vesta- spectrum. Pyroxene, feldspar and olivine are characteristic of
like asteroids and possibly the source of a particular type magmatic material. Their presence on Vesta is the signature of
of METEORITES (the basaltic achondrite meteorites) collected the high temperature it has undergone. Therefore, complete—or
partial—melting occurred on Vesta, which is the only large
on Earth. Although space agencies have not yet selected differentiated asteroid that has escaped catastrophic and fully
a large main-belt asteroid as primary target for a robotic destructive collisions with other bodies of the asteroids’ main
mission, Vesta is considered an excellent candidate for belt. Spectrum from Gaffey (1997).
future in situ exploration of the ASTEROID BELT.
Surface properties preserved part of its primordial crust. As a result of these

About every 18 months, Vesta is at OPPOSITION. Because impacts, the variegated surface of Vesta produces strong
its surface is made of high-ALBEDO material (table 1), features in the asteroid’s lightcurve.
the asteroid can be, at that time, visible with a naked
eye (its visible magnitude becomes close to 6th). Early Table 1. Vesta’s ID card.
photometric measurements made by Bobrovnikoff in 1929
Mean diameter 529 km a
showed that the surface of Vesta reflects irregularly the Density 3.5 g cm−3 a
solar flux over a rotation period (∼5.34 h). These Rotation period 5.34 h b
brightness changes could be more easily explained by Semimajor axis 2.362 AU
strong albedo variations over its surface than through Orbital period 3.63 yr
effects purely induced by an irregular shape. The Orbital eccentricity 0.097
particularity of its surface properties was confirmed in Orbital inclination 7.14◦
Pole coordinates RA2000 = 301◦ , DE2000 = 41◦ a
the 1970s when McCord et al obtained the first spectra
Asteroid type V
of Vesta at visible wavelengths. They attributed a strong Albedo 0.423 c
absorption band centered at 0.93 µm to the electronic Composition Pyroxene, feldspar, olivine
transitions on the M2 site of a magnesian pyroxene,
a Thomas et al (1997).
transitions characteristic of magmatic minerals. The
b Gaffey (1997).
nature of its basaltic surface was confirmed soon after
c IRAS catalog (1992).
with the detection of the second absorption band of
pyroxene near 2.0 µm. Figure 1 shows an averaged
reflection spectrum of Vesta at visible and near-infrared
wavelengths. In addition to the 1.0 µm and 2.0 µm Link to HED meteorites
bands attributed to pyroxene, a wide absorption band, The distribution of minor planets as a function of their
also diagnostic of basaltic material, is visible between heliocentric distance is such that, the further from the
1.1 µm and 1.4 µm and is produced by the presence of Sun, the more primitive are the asteroids. All asteroids
feldspar on Vesta. The strength of these bands varies having surface properties characteristic of magmatic
across the surface, depending on whether the material has material are concentrated at the inner edge of the belt.
been excavated from underneath the crust by impactors Asteroids of types A (olivine + metal), M (metal), R (iron-
or is a relic of the original eucritic layer. When compared poor pyroxene + olivine) or V (pyroxene–plagioclase,
with the spectra of other asteroid classes, the depth of diogenite) can be found up to 3.2 AU from our star.
the absorption bands displayed in the reflection spectrum Vesta’s eucritic crust is nearly intact and is typical of a
of Vesta is among the strongest. Vesta has undergone differentiated object that has undergone thermal heating
powerful but localized impacts in its history that have at temperatures above 1000 K. The source of this heating is

still not certain but the actual adopted theories implicate

electrical heating induced during the early T Tauri phase
of the Sun or decay of long-lived radionuclides. Basaltic
ACHONDRITE (or HED, for howardite, eucrite, diogenite)
meteorites have similar composition to Vesta: the eucrites
display the pyroxene absorptions as well as the weaker
band of feldspar while diogenites are pyroxene rich and do
not display the feldspar feature. Because of the similarity
of their spectra, Vesta is suspected to be the parent
body of the HED meteorites. Among the population
of differentiated asteroid, Vesta, with a semimajor axis
A
of 2.36 AU, does not occupy a remarkable position that
could provide a significant flux of meteorites to Earth.
Delivering pieces of Vesta to Earth would require some
very energetic impacts that could produce fragments with
velocities of the order of ∼1000 m s−1 . Only with such
a kinetic energy could the fragments reach the nearest
resonance zone (3:1 resonance with Jupiter) and be ejected
towards inner regions of the solar system, and, for some of
them, into Earth-crossing orbits. Binzel and Xu discovered
in 1993 a family of small Vesta-like asteroids extending
from the secular resonance ν6 (a = 2.18 AU) to the 3:1 B
resonance with Jupiter (2.5 AU). Their visible spectrum
displays the 0.9 µm absorption band which is also present Figure 2. Asteroid Vesta imaged from the ground and space.
in the spectrum of Vesta, eucrites and diogenites. More (A) Image obtained at 0.83 µm from Mt Wilson Observatory on
recent observations with the HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE and 14 June 1996 using the adaptive optics system on the 2.5 m
ground-based telescopes equipped with ADAPTIVE OPTICS telescope. A 20◦ phase angle is responsible for the strong
showed the presence of a large impact zone located near increase in brightness of the right-hand side (eastern) limb of
the Vesta south pole (figure 2). These observations support Vesta. The sub-Earth coordinates of Vesta are latitude = −3◦ and
longitude = 255◦ in this picture. (B) Image obtained by the
the big picture in which Vesta could be the source of the
Hubble Space Telescope and its visible camera WFPC2 on 6 May
family of small Vesta-like asteroids and be the parent body 1996 with a 5◦ phase angle. The central coordinates on Vesta
of the HED meteorites. correspond to latitude = −9◦ and longitude = 12◦ . Both images
Although the pieces of the puzzle fit together nicely, are oriented so the spin axis is vertical, north pointing up. Note
alternative solutions still exist. Indeed, Vesta is the the strong albedo marks visible on Vesta that correspond to
only differentiated asteroid that has survived catastrophic various geological units. These albedo changes are related to
collisions, but we know from spectroscopic studies that spatial variations in the surface composition as well as to the
action of space weathering (aging process). A complete study at
asteroids from class A represent the inner mantle of
near-IR wavelengths is needed to fully understand the nature
some differentiated asteroids now disrupted. Similarly, and history of these geological units. A simple picture would be
asteroids from class M could be fragments of the core of to attribute the low albedo regions to old eucritic assemblages
some fully differentiated asteroids while class R asteroids and the high albedo features to fresher material excavated from
are likely to be the product of the disruption of a Vesta- below the crust. The irregular shape of the south pole is believed
like asteroid, exposing material from the mantle and to be the result of a major, but not fully destructive, impact that
outer crust. These three asteroid classes originate from occurred on Vesta early in its history. These recent observations
Vesta-like asteroids that have been entirely disrupted by support the theory that HED meteorites and small Vesta-like
asteroids might originate from such impact. Credit for (A):
impactors and constitute an additional potential source
Christophe Dumas and Chris Shelton. Credit for (B): Alex Storrs
of basaltic achondrite meterorites. Astronomers have (image processing) and NASA/STScI.
found several Earth-approaching asteroids whose surface
composition is similar to HED meteorites. In addition,
measurements of the oxygen isotope ratios in HEDs match Surface mapping
closely those found in stony-iron meteorites and sustain
the possibility that the HEDs might come, in fact, from a Because of its early differentiation and volcanism, Vesta
completely disrupted parent body, more than originating can be considered as the smallest terrestrial ‘planet’ of
from removal of the outer layers of Vesta. the solar system. Detailed mapping of its surface is
Regardless of whether the HED meteorites come important to understand how PLANETESIMALS accreted from
from Vesta itself or have been created by disruption of the material that was present in the inner regions of the
one or several Vesta-like asteroids, the undoubted point PROTOPLANETARY NEBULA and what endogenic and exogenic
is that Vesta is unique as the sole ‘intact’ differentiated processes these planetesimals have undergone. Only a
asteroid. This point alone provides strong constraints to few techniques are currently available to return images
the collisional history of the whole asteroid belt. with the required spatial resolution for mapping. The

most direct and expensive solution consists in obtaining material to the surface through cracks in the mantle. The
in situ measurements of Vesta’s surface from a spacecraft. images recorded at various visible wavelengths by HST
At the present time, only three main-belt asteroids have confirmed the existence of a large crater near the south
been visited by a spacecraft: GALILEO flew over GASPRA pole. This feature is apparently the result of a large, but
and IDA (and discovered Ida’s satellite named Dactyl) not entirely destructive, impact which had occurred on
while en route to Jupiter, and the NEAR spacecraft visited Vesta soon after its crust cooled down. Recent ground-
Mathilde during its journey to a rendezvous with the near- based and HST results show an increase in the band
Earth asteroid EROS. Ground-based optical observations depth of pyroxene at high southern latitude that could be
were, until recently, limited in spatial resolution because explained by a local removal of the crust by the impactor
of the deformations undergone by the wavefront of to expose fresher material from the mantle. The family of
the light while traveling through atmospheric layers of small Vesta-like asteroids and HED meteorites could have
different optical indices. For this reason astronomers originated from the EJECTA produced during this violent
used the Hubble Space Telescope to obtain the first impact. The topology of the asteroid derived from the
resolved images of Vesta. However, new ground-based HST images agrees with this picture and the estimated
observational techniques, such as adaptive optics, can mass excavated from Vesta during this impact could easily
now measure the wavefront deformation and correct accommodate the formation of Vesta-like asteroids and
it in real time. Adaptive optics allows the large HED meteorites. Complete mapping of Vesta at similar
telescopes to image at angular resolution equivalent to and even higher spatial resolution in the near-infrared
their theoretical diffraction limit, providing performances (at a wavelength that provides a better diagnostic of
at least comparable with HST. Other techniques such the nature of the minerals) is currently under progress
as speckle interferometry can provide diffraction-limited using HST and ground-based telescopes equipped with
images but are still strongly limited to the observation adaptive optics systems. These observations will bring
of the brightest objects. Recent improvements in the some important insights to understanding the processes
sensitivity of radar detectors will allow radar observations of planetary differentiation that occurred on Vesta and
of asteroids to be extended to the largest bodies in the main investigating the existing scenarios that link Vesta to the
belt and their topography to be derived from Doppler- HED meteorites.
delay measurements.
The surface of Vesta is mostly a pyroxene–plagioclase Bibliography
assemblage with few regions where the excavated Binzel R P and Xu S 1993 Chips off of asteroid 4 Vesta:
crust displays the feldspar-poor inner mantle material evidence for the parent body of basaltic achondrite
(diogenite). At a few locations, impacts occurred at meteorites Science 260 186–91
energy sufficient to expose the deeper olivine-rich layer Binzel R P, Gaffey M J, Thomas P C, Zellner B J, Storrs A D
of the mantle. The core of Vesta is presumably made and Wells E N 1997 Geological mapping of Vesta from
of metallic-rich material or even pure metal. In order the 1994 Hubble Space Telescope images Icarus 128
to understand how Vesta differentiated, we need to 95–103
measure the distribution of the diverse geological units Gaffey M J 1997 Surface lithologic heterogeneity of asteroid
over its surface. Depending on how Vesta melted, the 4 Vesta Icarus 127 130–57
distribution of diogenites would be different. In case Gaffey M J, Bell J F and Cruikshank D P 1989 Reflectance
of total melting of the asteroid, the diogenite-like layer spectroscopy and asteroid surface mineralogy Aster-
would be confined underneath the eucritic crust while oids II ed R P Binzel, T Gherels and M S Matthews
a partial melting would implicate a crust composition (Tucson, AZ: University of Arizona Press) pp 98–127
made of a mixture of feldspar-rich (plagioclase) and Thomas P C, Binzel R P, Gaffey M J, Storrs A, Wells E
feldspar-poor (diogenites) units. Prior to the HST and and Zellner B H 1997 Impact excavation on asteroid
adaptive optics observations, the first successful attempt 4 Vesta: Hubble Space Telescope results Science 277
to map the surface of Vesta from the ground was realized 1492–5
in 1981 by Gaffey using rotational spectroscopy. This
technique consists in measuring the variation in depth Christophe Dumas
and position of the bands with the rotational phase of
the asteroid to derive the location and nature of the main
geological units. Such measurement is better constrained
in longitude than in latitude but a compositional map
of Vesta could be derived and several geological units
identified across Vesta. Thanks to the particular inclination
of Vesta’s rotation axis at the time it was observed, it was
possible to locate several diogenite units near Vesta’s south
pole as well as one olivine-rich region near the equator.
These units correspond certainly to a partial removal of
the outer crust, or lava flows that transported diogenitic

Viking Mission E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
vidicon cameras incorporated into a Visible Imaging

Viking Mission Subsystem (VIS), (2) an Infrared Thermal Mapper (IRTM)
The Viking mission was a spacecraft mission to MARS whose to determine the thermal properties of the surface and
main purpose was to search for life. Four spacecraft atmosphere and (3) a Mars Atmospheric Water Detector
were involved: two identical orbiter–lander pairs. Each (MAWD). Each of these instruments was mounted on the
pair was launched separately in the summer of 1975 and scan platform and aligned along a common axis to view
arrived at Mars the following year. At Mars the orbiters the same area of the planet.
searched for safe and scientifically interesting sites. The During the time the landers were traversing the
landers were then targeted to those sites and conducted a atmosphere, an entry science investigation was conducted.
variety of life detection experiments. The consensus view This consisted of a retarding potential analyzer to measure
was that no compelling evidence for life was found (see the ion and electron abundances of the upper atmosphere,
also LIFE ON OTHER WORLDS). a mass spectrometer to measure neutral species and
a three-axis accelerometer to measure the spacecraft
The spacecraft deceleration history. Pressure and temperature were also
The Viking Orbiters (VO-1 and VO-2) were designed and measured (see also MARS: ATMOSPHERE).
built by the JET PROPULSION LABORATORY (figure 1). The The lander cameras were designed to characterize the
orbiters were solar-powered, three-axis stabilized vehicles local geology, look for macroscopic evidence of life and
with substantial propulsive capability. The launch mass of support the other lander experiments. The two cameras
the orbiters was over 2300 kg of which more than 1400 kg also provided a stereoscopic capability. Furthermore,
was fuel required for orbit insertion. The orbiter science by monitoring the brightness of the Sun and sky, the
payload was mounted on a moveable scan platform which cameras could provide information on the opacity of the
provided both thermal control and pointing capability. atmosphere.
In addition to communicating directly with Earth, the The lander biology investigation consisted of three
orbiters were capable of relaying data from the landers experiments. Each of these acquired small samples of
as well. Martian surface material and exposed them to substances
The Viking Landers (VL-1 and VL-2) were built of various kinds and then monitored the results. The
under contract to Martin Marietta Aerospace Corporation Carbon Assimilation Experiment was designed to detect
(figure 2). The contract was managed by NASA’s photosynthesis of organic compounds by introducing
Langley Research Center. The landers housed the radioactively labeled CO and CO2 gases incubated under
scientific instruments and were powered by radioisotope Mars-like conditions. The Labeled Release Experiment
thermoelectric generators. Each lander had a sampling sought to detect metabolic processes by introducing an
arm with a scoop for returning samples to selected aqueous solution of labeled simple organic materials.
instruments for analysis. Meteorology sensors were The Gas Exchange Experiment also looked for metabolic
mounted on a boom, and a seismometer was mounted processes, but by wetting Martian soils with a more
on the lander underside. The landers had a two-way complex and unlabeled nutrient solution.
communication link with Earth and a one-way (transmit) While not principally a life detection instrument,
link with the orbiters. The mass of the landers was about the landers also carried a GCMS which could detect
600 kg. organic compounds in surface material, and measure the
To avoid possible contamination from Earth organ- composition of the atmosphere. They also carried an x-ray
isms, the landers were heat sterilized and encapsulated in fluorescence spectrometer to measure the abundance of
a bioshield. The encapsulated landers, including the entry selected elements in Martian surface material. In addition
system, had a total mass of almost 1200 kg. The landers to determining the composition of surface materials, these
were then mated to the orbiters and the combined craft data provided chemical and mineralogical information to
placed in the shroud of a Titan III launch vehicle. The final help interpret the biology experiments.
launch mass of the orbiter–lander pair was 3530 kg. The remaining lander experiments were not directly
related to the biology investigation. The lander
Experiments meteorology sensors recorded the pressure, temperature
While the primary scientific objective was to search for and wind velocity to help characterize Martian weather
life, other objectives were to image the surface and moons, systems. The lander seismometers were designed to
determine the composition of the atmosphere and surface, characterize the background noise level and to listen for
monitor the weather and climate, and detect marsquakes. major seismic events which would provide information
To meet these objectives, 13 investigations were conducted on the interior structure of the planet. An array
(table 1): three mapping experiments from orbit, an of magnets of differing strengths was attached to the
atmospheric investigation from the lander during entry, sampling arm and to the top of the lander. By monitoring
eight investigations on the surface and a radio science (with the camera) the accumulation of particles on these
experiment. magnets, information on the abundance and composition
The orbiter mapping experiments were carried out of magnetic minerals could be obtained. Finally, the
by three instruments: (1) a pair of high resolution physical properties of the soil could be ascertained from

Figure 1. Viking Orbiter.
Figure 2. Viking Lander.
engineering data such as variations in motor currents from several weeks of surface observations, a landing site was
the sampler arm during digging operations (see also MARS: selected and the landing sequence was initiated. The
SURFACE). lander separated from the orbiter and oriented itself for a
The communication system (along with a tracking 4 km s−1 entry into the Martian atmosphere at about 300 km
system) on the orbiters and landers was also used above the surface. An ablatable aeroshell protected the
for science. The orbiter radios mapped the planet’s lander from the heat of entry. At 6 km above the surface,
gravity field, measured its surface relief and determined a parachute was deployed, the aeroshell was jettisoned
local atmospheric temperature profiles during occultation and the three lander legs were extended. At 1.5 km, retro-
events. Lander radios were used to determine lander rockets were fired to slow the lander to several m s−1 and
locations, the spin rate of the planet and the orientation eliminate horizontal drift. VL-1 touched down on 20 July
of the spin axis. 1976 in Chryse Planitia (22◦ N, 48◦ W) at about 4 p.m. local
time; VL-2 landed on 3 September 1976 in Utopia (44◦ N,
Mission profile 226◦ W) at about 10 a.m. local time. Both landings were
Viking 1 and 2 were launched respectively on 20 August successful.
and 9 September 1975 and were inserted into elliptical After landing, there were several months of intense
orbits around Mars on 19 June and 7 August 1976. After activity. The cameras systematically returned images

Table 1. Science investigations and instrumentation.
Investigation Instrumentation
Orbiter investigations
Orbiter imaging Two vidicon cameras
Water vapor mapping Near-infrared grating spectrometer
Thermal mapping Solar and infrared radiometers
Entry science Retarding potential analyzer, mass spectrometer,
pressure, temperature and acceleration sensors
Lander investigations
Lander imaging Two facsimile cameras
Biology Carbon Assimilation, Labeled Release, and
Gas Exchange Experiments
Molecular analysis Gas chromatograph–mass spectrometer (GCMS)
Inorganic analysis X-ray fluorescence spectrometer
Meteorology Pressure, temperature, wind velocity sensors
Seismology Three-axis short-period seismometer
Magnetic properties Permanent magnets on sampler arm
Physical properties Various engineering sensors
Orbiter and lander investigations
Radio science Orbiter and lander communication systems
of the entire panorama around the lander. They also in CO2 and O2 after the soil was humidified. The CO2
photographed the sky, the Sun, small permanent magnets, can be explained by the displacement of adsorbed CO2
trenches dug by the sampler arm and rocks that were molecules by water vapor, but the O2 requires some other
intentionally displaced. The meteorology boom was explanation. The observed 200-fold increase in O2 is
deployed and began returning weather data. Seismic best explained by the decomposition of peroxides in the
experiments were initiated, although the seismometer at Martian soil. Such peroxides are theoretically expected
VL-1 failed to uncage (the VL-2 seismometer operated from photochemical processes in the Martian atmosphere.
nominally). Numerous soil samples were acquired and Also, a highly reactive oxidant in the Martian soil could
subjected to chemical and biological analysis. readily explain the absence of organic material.
The primary mission was to last 90 days for each The Labeled Release Experiment showed a surge in
lander. However, the mission was repeatedly extended radioactive CO2 after wetting the soil with its mixture of
as long as the spacecraft remained healthy and returned nutrients. Taken by itself, this result satisfied the criteria
useful data. The first hardware problem occurred in for a biological interpretation. However, when viewed in
September of 1977 when VL-2 was no longer able to context with the other biology experiments and the GCMS,
communicate directly with Earth, but it was not shut down this too was believed to be a chemical rather than biological
until 12 April 1980. Leaking attitude control propellant result. Peroxides present in the soil would have oxidized
left the VO-2 spacecraft unable to align itself with the Sun one of the compounds in the nutrient solution (formic acid)
and it ceased operations on 25 July 1978. VO-1 was also and produced CO2 gas. Also, if microorganisms were
running out of fuel and was commanded off on 7 August involved, a second injection of the nutrient solution should
1980. The mission finally ended on 13 November 1982 have produced a further increase in CO2 levels, yet none
when contact was lost with VL-1. was observed.
The results of the Carbon Assimilation Experiments
Scientific results were more complicated, but they too favor a chemical
Biology explanation. The amount of fixed carbon produced in
The most significant result was the lack of detection of these experiments was generally higher than the expected
organic compounds at either landing site by the GCMS background levels, particularly the first experiment at
experiment. The GCMS was extremely sensitive to organic VL-1. This experiment also showed a temperature
compounds and could detect them at the parts per billion sensitivity to the amount of fixed carbon produced. It
level for large molecules, a level some 100 times less than is now believed that an iron-catalyzed reaction was the
those found in deserts on Earth. Yet the results were source of the signals seen in the Carbon Assimilation
unambiguously negative. The absence of organic matter, Experiment.
regardless of the results of the biology experiments, argued
strongly against the possibility for life in Martian soil. Meteorology
While the three biology experiments produced results Lander meteorological measurements showed that the av-
which in some ways simulated life, in detail they were erage surface pressure on Mars is about 7 mbar. However,
more consistent with the presence of soil oxidants. The it varies semiannually owing to the condensation and sub-
Gas Exchange Experiment showed a significant increase limation of CO2 in the polar regions. The amplitude of the

fluctuation is about 2.3 mbar, or about one-third of the was observed over the north polar cap during summer.
annual mean. Thus, the seasonal polar caps on Mars are Very little water vapor was observed over the south polar
made of dry ice (frozen carbon dioxide). cap during its summer. This difference in behavior is due
The pressure data also revealed eastward-traveling to the different compositions of the summer residual caps:
weather systems and westward-propagating thermal the north summer cap is made of water ice, while that in
tides. The temperature at the Viking sites ranged from the south is made of CO2 ice.
180 K to 240 K depending on time of day and season
and was more repeatable during summer than winter.
Winds were found to be strongest during winter with gusts Atmospheric structure
up to 30 m s−1 . During summer winds were calm by During their descent to the surface, the Viking landers
comparison. recorded the spacecraft deceleration history. These data
During autumn of the first year, the sky opacity at were used to construct a temperature profile from near the
the Viking sites increased dramatically on two occasions. surface to about 200 km. The profiles at the two landing
These increases were associated with the development of sites were found to be very similar even though they were
global scale dust storms. No such storms were observed collected at different locations and times. Temperatures
during the second and third (Mars) years of operations. decreased from 230 K near the surface to about 150 K aloft,
and they showed considerable structure possibly due to
Seismology thermal tides and/or gravity waves.
No major seismic events were detected. A magnitude 2.8
event (on the Richter scale) was detected 110 km from the
Viking Lander 2 site. The signal was significantly damped Thermal mapping
within minutes, indicating the likely presence of water Surface temperatures were mapped by the IRTM instru-
and gas within the crust. From shear wave reflections, ment. Highest temperatures (300 K) occur in early af-
the crust was estimated to be about 15 km thick in this ternoon in southern subtropical latitudes during summer.
region. The natural background level of seismic activity Lowest temperatures (130 K) occur in polar regions dur-
was found to be very low. Winds were a major source of ing winter. The daily variation in surface temperature
the seismic background because of the poor coupling of was used to map the thermal inertia of the soil. Ther-
the seismometer to the ground. mal inertias range from about 50 to 500 SI units and in-
dicate fine sandy material and well-consolidated bedrock,
Atmospheric composition respectively. Atmospheric temperatures near 25 km were
The composition of the Martian atmosphere was measured also mapped and showed great sensitivity to dust.
by the Viking landers during entry and descent and
while on the surface. The principal components are CO2
(95.32%), N2 (2.7%), Ar (1.6%) and O2 (0.13%). The mean Orbiter imaging
molecular weight is 43.34. These gases were found to be Over 50 000 images were returned by the Viking orbiters.
well mixed up to 120 km altitude. Above 120 km they begin The images covered the entire planet at a resolution of
to diffusively separate. In the ionosphere O+ was found 200 m and large areas at resolutions as high as 7.5 m. Much
to be the dominant species with CO+ about an order of of the planet has been photographed in color and stereo,
magnitude less abundant. although at lower resolution. Orbiter cameras also imaged
Isotopic ratios of various elements were also the moons of Mars (PHOBOS AND DEIMOS), and photographed
measured. The stable ISOTOPES of carbon and oxygen were the shadow of Phobos as it crossed the VL-1 site.
found to be similar to Earth’s, but 15 N/14 N was enriched For almost two Mars years, the orbiter cameras
by 60%. The enrichment is due to the selective escape of monitored weather patterns, the advance and retreat of
the lighter isotope with respect to the heavier one, and the polar caps, dust storm activity and the continual
it implies that Mars may have had a denser atmosphere redistribution of fine-grained material on the surface.
in its distant past. 40Ar/36Ar and 129 Xe/132 Xe were also
They returned pictures of enormous volcanoes, a vast
found to be enriched with respect to terrestrial values. In
equatorial canyon system, numerous impact craters,
this case, however, the enrichment is thought to be due to
polar layered deposits and fluvial features suggesting
removal of a substantial fraction of Mars’ early atmosphere
catastrophic flooding and possible climate change.
by impacts events followed by the accumulation of the
radiogenic isotopes 40Ar and 129 Xe. The northern hemisphere was found to be geologi-
cally young and covered with volcanic fields. The giant
Atmospheric water detection shield volcanoes in the Tharsis region have relatively few
Water vapor in the Martian atmosphere was found to vary craters indicating that volcanism lasted for an extended
seasonally and spatially. On average, a column of Martian period of time. In contrast, the southern hemisphere is
air contains the equivalent of a layer of liquid water about old and heavily cratered. Parts of its surface may have
10 µm deep. EARTH’S ATMOSPHERE, by comparison, contains formed at the end of the heavy bombardment period 3.8
2–4 cm of water. Approximately 100 µm of water vapor billion years ago.

Soil properties
The fine-grained material at the two Viking sites has
similar elemental abundances. Silicon is the most
abundant element (21%), followed by Fe (13%), Mg (5%),
Ca (4%), Al (3%) and S (3%). The surprisingly uniform soil
composition suggests planetary-scale homogenization of
the soil by winds. The soil is weakly cohesive and has
a bulk density of about 1.2 g cm−3 . Magnets on top of
the landers attracted soil-derived airborne dust. About
2% of the soil contains magnetic material with maghemite
(γ -Fe2 O3 ) being the most likely candidate. A plausible
model for the soil material is that it is a basaltic weathering
product.
Bibliography
Soffen and Young 1972 Icarus 16 1–16
give a description of the Viking mission as it was originally

envisioned. For an historical perspective of the Viking
mission see
Ezell and Ezell 1983 On Mars: Exploration of the Red Planet,

1958–1978 NASA SP 4212
The Viking Project as flown is described by
Soffen 1977 J. Geophys. Res. 82 3959–70
The first results of the Viking mission were published in
1976 Science 193 (27 August)

1976 Science 194 (1 October)
1976 Science 194 (17 December)
More comprehensive papers were published in special

issues:
1977 J. Geophys. Res. 82 (September)

1978 Icarus 34 (June)
1979 J. Geophys. Res. 84 (December)
1982 J. Geophys. Res. 87 (November)
The state of the art in our thinking about Mars has been
summarized in the book
Kieffer et al (ed) 1992 Mars (Tucson, AZ: University of

Arizona Press)
Robert M Haberle

Vilnius University Observatory E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
Vilnius University Observatory

Vilnius University Observatory, the astronomical obser-
vatory of Vilnius University, Lithuania, was founded in
1753. In 1831, when Vilnius University was closed, the ob-
servatory was entrusted to the Academy of Sciences of St
Petersburg (Russia) and continued its activities until 1881.
The Observatory resumed its operation in 1919 when Vil-
nius University was reopened. Activities of the observa-
tory were again interrupted by Nazi occupation (1941–44)
and resumed after World War II. Its main instruments are
a 60 cm reflector located at Moletai Observatory 80 km
north of Vilnius and a 48 cm reflector located at the Maid-
anak observing site in Uzbekistan, Central Asia. Present
staff consists of eleven astronomers and six technicians.
Activities are in the field of construction of photometric
equipment, investigation of physical properties of stars,
interstellar matter and galactic structure.
http://www.ff.vu.lt/astro/inde40.htm.

Virgo E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
Virgo
(the Virgin; abbrev. Vir, gen. Virginis; area 1294 sq. deg.)
an equatorial zodiacal constellation which lies between
Leo and Libra, and culminates at midnight in mid-April.
Its origin dates back to Babylonian times and it has been
associated with numerous female deities, including Ishtar
(Babylonia), Isis (ancient Egypt), Demeter (ancient Greece)
and Astraea (ancient Rome). Its brightest stars were
catalogued by Ptolemy (c. AD 100–175) in the Almagest.
Virgo is the second-largest of the 88 constellations but
is not particularly prominent, save for its brightest star,
α Virginis (Spica or Azimech), magnitude 1.0. Other bright
stars include γ Virginis (Porrima), a fine binary with pale
yellow (F0) components, both magnitude 3.6 (combined
magnitude 2.7), separation 2.7 , period 168.7 years (closest
2005), ε Virginis (Vindemiatrix or Almuredin), magnitude
2.9, ζ Virginis, magnitude 3.4, and δ Virginis, also
magnitude 3.4. There are five other stars of magnitude
4.0 or brighter.
There are no bright open star clusters or nebulae
in Virgo, but the constellation contains a large number
of galaxies, many of which are members of the Virgo
Cluster, which extends into neighboring Coma Berenices.
The brightest members of the Virgo Cluster are the giant
elliptical galaxies M49 (NGC 4472), 8th magnitude, and
M87 (NGC 4486, Virgo A), 9th magnitude, which is a strong
x-ray and radio source and from which emanates a jet of
material thought to have been expelled from a black hole at
its center. An interesting non-cluster galaxy is M104 (NGC
4594, the Sombrero Galaxy), an 8th-magnitude spiral with
a dark lane of obscuring dust presented almost edge-on.
The constellation also contains the first quasar to have
been detected (in 1963), 3C 273, magnitude 12.9.
See also: Sombrero Galaxy, Spica, Virgo A, Virgo Cluster.

Virgo A E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
Virgo A
The brightest radio source in the constellation of Virgo.
Virgo A, otherwise known by the catalog number 3C 274,
coincides with M87 a giant elliptical galaxy, and active
galaxy, located at a distance of some 50 million light-years
in the Virgo cluster of galaxies. Although part of the radio
emission comes from two elongated lobes, one on either
side of the center of the galaxy, the lobes, which span an
overall diameter of about 16 000 light-years, are contained
within the optical galaxy (rather than, as with most radio
galaxies, extending beyond its visible perimeter). The
majority of the radio output comes from a jet that emerges
from the core of the galaxy and stretches out some 8000
light-years into one of the two lobes.
The jet radiates at all wavelengths from x-ray to radio.
Like the lobes, it emits synchrotron radiation (radiation
that is generated by electrons moving at very high speeds
in magnetic fields). The motion of bright knots in the jet
indicate that they are traveling outwards at about half the
speed of light and implies that the electrons themselves
must be traveling within the jet at speeds at least as high,
if not higher, than this.
With a mass of at least 1012 solar masses, M87 is an
exceptionally massive galaxy. Observations of the rates at
which stars and gas clouds revolve within its central core,
and of the way that stars appear to be concentrated at its
center, imply that M87 contains a compact massive object,
most probably a black hole, of about 3 billion solar masses.
See also: active galaxy, astrophysical jets, radio galaxy,
synchrotron radiation, M87, Virgo cluster.

Virgo Cluster E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
centered on the well-known galaxy M87 (NGC4486) which

Virgo Cluster is both a strong radio source (VIRGO A) and a strong x-
The Virgo cluster is the nearest and best-studied rich ray source. This subcluster, at 12h 30m.8 + 12◦ 23 , is also a
CLUSTER OF GALAXIES, lying at a distance of about 55 million strong x-ray source produced by a reservoir of extremely
light-years in the constellation of VIRGO. Figure 1 is a hot intracluster gas. This INTRACLUSTER MEDIUM is at a
map of the distribution of nearby galaxies (as determined temperature of ∼107 K, emits thermal bremsstrahlung
by their REDSHIFTS) in a 1500 square degree region of radiation and is a major contributor to the total mass of
the constellation of Virgo. The Virgo cluster is the the system. The southern large subcluster is centered on
strong, somewhat irregular, concentration of galaxies at M49 (NGC 4472) at 12h 29m .8 + 8◦ 00 , the most luminous
the center. In three-dimensional (3D) space, the Virgo galaxy in the cluster, but is significantly less massive than
cluster constitutes the nucleus of the Local Supercluster the M87 subcluster. The total mass of the Virgo core region
(LSC) of galaxies, in whose outskirts our MILKY WAY GALAXY is ∼1015 M , that of the M87 subclump ∼3 × 1014 M and
is situated. the M49 subclump is ∼1 × 1014 M , assuming a distance
As early as 1784, CHARLES MESSIER noted an unusual to the cluster core of 16 Mpc. The cluster distance of
group of ‘nebulae’ in Virgo. Fifteen out of the 109 famous ∼16 Mpc has been estimated via a variety of techniques
‘Messier objects’ are, in fact, member galaxies of the Virgo including measurements of Cepheids to six galaxies with
cluster. However, only in the 1920s, following EDWIN the Hubble Space Telescope, studies of globular clusters
HUBBLE’s proof of the extragalactic nature of those ‘nebulae’, and planetary nebulae (PNe) luminosity functions, and
was Messier’s group understood as a self-gravitating surface brightness fluctuations (SBFs).
system of hundreds of galaxies, and the first systematic At present, approximately 1300 member galaxies of
investigations of the Virgo cluster, as it was henceforth the Virgo cluster are known, most of which are very faint
called, were carried out by HARLOW SHAPLEY and others. DWARF GALAXIES (but this number is bound to grow fast
Virgo was the first galaxy cluster to be studied in the near future, as ever fainter members are going to
dynamically by Smith and Zwicky in the 1930s. Their be detected with improving techniques). Their projected
work showed that the dynamical mass of Virgo, estimated positions within the cluster—spread over a large sky area
by using the virial theorem of roughly 100 square degrees, or 500 full moons (see
figure 4)—reveal a rich substructure. The Virgo cluster
2T + U = 0 indeed represents the most common type of clusters of
galaxies that are loosely concentrated and ‘irregular’.
where T and U are the time-averaged kinetic energy Several gravitationally bound subsystems of galaxies have
and potential energy of the relaxed system, was much been identified. Of these, the subcluster centered on
larger than the mass inferred by integrating the light Messier 87 is by far the largest and most massive structure
of all the galaxies in the cluster and multiplying by a (the Virgo cluster proper, so to speak)—and M87 itself,
mass-to-light ratio (M/L) like the average of stars in the the giant, active galaxy with its famous jet, can truly be
solar neighborhood. This was the first clear detection regarded as the heart of the Virgo cluster. The smaller
of ‘DARK MATTER,’ or more properly, non-luminous mass. subclusters seem to be in a state of merging with the M87
The distribution of galaxies in the direction of Virgo in subcluster. In this sense, the Virgo cluster (like many, if
redshift space is shown in figure 2, and figure 3 displays the not most, clusters of galaxies) is still in the making.
histogram of galaxy velocities inside a circle of 6◦ radius The Virgo cluster has always been, and still is, one of
centered on the core of the cluster at 12h 28m and +10◦ 28 . the most important stepping stones for the cosmological
The Virgo cluster lies at the center of the LSC, distance scale. Much of the current debate on the value of
first dynamically studied by G de Vaucouleurs and the HUBBLE CONSTANT boils down to a debate on the mean
collaborators in the 1950s. The Milky Way appears to distance of the Virgo cluster (see below).
be falling into the Virgo cluster, relative to the general A new and very exciting era of Virgo cluster research
expansion of the universe, with a velocity of ∼250 km s−1 . has recently been opened by the first detection of
That is to say, we are still moving away from the cluster intracluster PLANETARY NEBULAE (PNe) and single RED GIANT
core with an apparent velocity, cz, of ∼1100 km s−1 , but STARS, i.e. stellar objects that are not bound to a single galaxy
that velocity is 250 km s−1 less than it would have been but to the cluster as a whole. This adds a whole new
if the cluster had no mass. Curiously, the M/L for the population to the cluster, which in the future will be used
whole LSC derived from this Virgo infall is similar to that to explore the 3D structure and dynamical history of the
derived via the virial theorem for the dynamically relaxed Virgo cluster.
cluster core; both M/L values, when applied to the mean
luminosity density of the universe derived from redshift Global structure
surveys, imply a mean matter density of the universe that The primary optical database for the galaxy content of
is only 1/4 to 1/3 of the critical density. the Virgo cluster is the Las Campanas photographic
The kinematics of the cluster is quite complex as survey, carried out in the 1980s by Allan Sandage and
can be seen in figures 1 and 4. There are two main collaborators, and encapsulated in the Virgo Cluster
concentrations of galaxies; the largest and densest is Catalog (VCC). Figure 4 is a map of the ca 1300 galaxies in

Virgo
DEC
RA
Figure 1. The distribution of nearby galaxies (apparent recession velocities less than 3000 km s−1 ) in the direction of Virgo. Each circle
represents a galaxy; the size of the circle represents its apparent brightness. Galaxies with apparent velocities less than 500 km s−1 are
shown in red, those above 2100 km s−1 in green, and those between 500 and 1300 km s−1 and between 1300 and 2100 km s−1 in blue
and magenta, respectively. This figure is reproduced as Color Plate 63.
the sky area covered by the Las Campanas survey that From the distribution of symbol sizes in figure 4 one can
were judged to be members of the Virgo cluster. The obtain a feeling of the exponentially growing luminosity
membership criteria were based on (1) the morphological function of galaxies. Of the 1300 known members, 850
appearance of the galaxies, e.g. dwarf ellipticals have a alone are of the dwarf elliptical (dE) type. The basic
characteristically low surface brightness, and/or (2) the characteristic of dEs is a relation between luminosity and
measured radial velocities, which for members have to be surface brightness: fainter dwarfs have also lower surface
smaller than ca 2700 km s−1 (heliocentric). Velocities are at brightness. As the detection limit for extended objects such
present available only for the brightest 400 members (but as galaxies is set by the surface brightness rather than total
this number, too, will steadily grow in the future). magnitude, it is clear that many hundreds, if not thousands
The magnitude limit of completeness of the Las more, of extremely faint and diffuse dE members of the
Campanas survey is around apparent blue magnitude Virgo cluster have yet to be discovered by future deep
B = 18 or, if we assume a mean distance of 16 Mpc, surveys. These will be the analogs of the dwarf spheroidal
absolute magnitude MB = −13.0. However, fainter companions of our Galaxy, which are as faint as MB = −8
members (up to B = 20) were included as well. For (corresponding to B ≈ 23 at Virgo distance).
comparison, the brightest cluster members, M49 and M87, Among the remaining 450 member galaxies, there
have B 9.0 and B 9.5, respectively. Thus the known are roughly 80 elliptical (E) and S0 galaxies, 130 spirals,
cluster population spans a range of ≈10 000 in luminosity. 90 irregulars and 90 dwarf galaxies of intermediate type

Figure 2. The distribution of galaxies in redshift space in the direction of the Virgo cluster. We are at the apex of the wedge. The main
body of the cluster is the picturesquely named ‘Finger of God’ at the center of the wedge. This is not a real feature. Its extension along
the line of sight in this plot is a measure of the internal velocity dispersion (and thus the mass) of the galaxy cluster so that a galaxy
with a given radial velocity is placed in front of or behind its true position. The large and diffuse structure seen to the right (10.5h –11h
and 1100 km s−1 ) of Virgo is the Leo group.
Figure 3. Histogram of apparent velocities for galaxies within a 6◦ radius of the center of the Virgo cluster. The breadth of the
distribution from 0 to 300 km s−1 accounts for the ‘Finger of God’ structure in figure 2.
(Irr–dE). The distribution of these morphological types are strongly confined to the regions of highest galaxy
within the cluster varies considerably—in accord with density, defining the ‘skeleton’ of the cluster (dwarf Es only
Dressler’s GALAXY ‘MORPHOLOGY–DENSITY RELATION’: Es and S0s to a slightly lesser degree), while spirals and irregulars

gives
vc 1200 km s−1 .
Subcluster dynamics
The primary structural characteristic of the Virgo cluster
(cf figure 4) is certainly its high degree of irregularity
and subclustering. Several subclumps (gravitationally
bound subclusters) of galaxies suggest themselves: a main
northern subclump around M87, M86 and M84, a southern
clump around M49 and possible subgroups around M60
and M100. The global structure of Virgo seems defined
by two main axes: one N–S, i.e. M100–M86/M87–M49,
and one E–NW, i.e. M60–M87–M86/M84. Remarkably, the
former axis is nearly perfectly aligned with the position
angle of the outer isophotes of M87, while the latter is
perfectly aligned with the jet axis of M87. This shows once
more that M87 is the heart of the Virgo cluster.
The reality of the main N–S double structure cannot
be doubted, because the northern and southern subclumps
are sufficiently well separated. Both have a very similar
mean radial velocity, which would suggest that they are
at the same distance, i.e. lying in the plane of the sky
(however, see below). The southern M49 clump is rather
spiral rich and has a surprisingly small velocity dispersion
of σv ≈ 500 km s−1 .
The core region with M87, M86 and M84 is much
harder to disentangle. The key observation here is
that the velocity distribution of galaxies in this northern
Figure 4. Map of the Virgo cluster as it appears in the sky. All
clump (especially for dEs) is strongly skewed towards
cluster members are plotted with luminosity-weighted symbols.
The symbol size (area) is proportional to the luminosity of the low velocities. In the low-velocity tail we find the most
galaxy. The most prominent Messier galaxies are indicated. The blueshifted galaxies known in the sky (the record holder,
broken lines indicate the boundary of the Las Campanas survey. VCC846, has v = −730 km s−1 ). These objects tend to be
clustered around M86, which itself has a negative velocity
(v = −227 km s−1 ). On the other hand, the velocity
(S+Irr) are very weakly clustered, lying preferentially in distribution is peaked around v = 1300 km s−1 —nearly
the cluster outskirts. coinciding with the velocity of M87 (v = 1258 km s−1 ).
This morphological segregation is also reflected in the A clear asymmetry in the velocity distribution of a
velocity distributions. An analysis of the radial velocity cluster of galaxies is almost certainly an indication of
data so far available gives a velocity dispersion (1σ ) of ongoing subcluster merging. In the Virgo cluster we seem
≈600 km s−1 for early-type galaxies (E, S0, dE), but one of to witness the merging between a subclump around M87
≈750 km s−1 for late types (S+Irr), i.e. late types are more and another clump around M86 (or rather, the infall of the
dispersed in space and velocity. Moreover, the velocity M86 subcluster into the more massive M87 subcluster, see
distribution for S + Irr is distinctly non-Gaussian with below). Both giant galaxies must be the centers of huge
a low-velocity and a high-velocity wing. These wings swarms of dwarf galaxies. M86 is apparently falling into,
are probably caused by infalling and expanding shells of or through, the M87 subclump from the back, hence with a
galaxies around the cluster core. Most Virgo spirals and high relative (negative) velocity, dragging along its dwarf
Irrs may have fallen only recently, or are still in the stage of companions. (The giant galaxy M84, very close to M86 in
falling, into the cluster from the surroundings, explaining the sky, but with v = 1000 km s−1 , has to be a member of
their lack of dynamical relaxation (virialization). Those the M87 subcluster.)
spirals observed to be H I deficient have apparently This whole picture is fully confirmed by an analysis
already fallen through the cluster core. of the x-ray structure of the Virgo cluster. Figure 5
The all-cluster mean heliocentric velocity is
vhelio shows, as a gray-scale image, the distribution of the x-ray
1050 km s−1 (there is no difference with respect to type). intensity in the Virgo cluster as measured by the ROSAT x-
Note that this is not the cosmic (Hubble flow) recession ray satellite. The x-rays originate from the hot intracluster
velocity of the Virgo cluster,
vc , which can be derived gas via thermal bremsstrahlung. The gas feels the same
by (1) correcting for the solar motion with respect to the gravitational potential of the cluster as the galaxies. The
centroid of the Local Group by subtracting ≈100 km s−1 global appearances of the cluster in the x-rays and in the
and (2) correcting for the Virgocentric infall (deceleration) optical (figure 5 versus figure 4) are therefore very similar.
of the Local Group by adding ≈250 km s−1 . This finally However, the main subclusters around M87, M86 and M49

the Virgo cluster distance are now within the reach of

the HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE (HST). This achievement was
so long awaited that the first Cepheid-based distance
determination of a Virgo cluster spiral in 1994 (M100 at
17 Mpc) had an enormous impact. The caveat with this
was, and is, that spirals tend to avoid the cluster core and
may be in the field far off the cluster (cf also above). It has
been conjectured that M100, as well as other spirals located
by Cepheids with HST later on, might lie at the near side
of the cluster.
On the other hand, from work based on the TULLY–
FISHER (TF) RELATION, which allows the distance to an
individual spiral galaxy to be given with an accuracy of
≈0.4 mag, there is consistent evidence that Virgo late types
are distributed in a prolate cloud, or filament, stretching—
nearly along our line of sight—from the cluster backwards
to the so-called ‘W cloud’ at twice Virgo’s distance.
Probably this is part of a very long filament that is running
way back to the ‘Great Wall’ at the distance of the Coma
cluster. On the near side of Virgo it might even be
connected with the ‘Coma–Sculptor cloud’ that is running
Figure 5. X-ray image of the Virgo cluster from the through us, i.e. includes the Local Group.
ROSAT All-Sky Survey. Various foreground stars, quasars, Abell There is a hint, again from TF distances, that the
clusters and Virgo cluster members (NGCs and Messiers) are southern M49 subcluster is lying significantly in the back
indicated. The large, bright spot is centered on M87. Compare of the M87 subcluster. If so, the M49 subcluster must
with figure 4. Courtesy of Dr H Böhringer and the MPE be infalling from the back with a velocity of several
Garching. 100 km s−1 , as the mean observed velocities of the two
subclusters are very similar. The merging of subclusters
along the large-scale filament in which they are embedded
are popping out much more clearly in the x-ray image. is plausible.
M87 has a huge x-ray halo and is obviously the center of the To determine the distance of the core of the Virgo
dominating subcluster in Virgo. M86 has a large gas halo cluster one should avoid late-type galaxies. The safest
as well—larger than expected for an isolated giant, but of would be to use only elliptical and dwarf elliptical
the right order for a whole subcluster. The infall of this members. Unfortunately, the primary distance indicators
subcluster from the back is supported by the observation here, RR LYRAE STARS, are much too faint at the distance of
of a ram pressure plume in the x-ray structure of M86. Virgo even for HST. The secondary distance indicators
Subcluster merging has turned out to be a general which can be applied to Virgo ellipticals give controversial
feature of cluster of galaxies, even with so-called ‘regular’ results: globular clusters, Dn –σ and novae tend to give
ones, such as the COMA CLUSTER. This is not unexpected in large distances (D ≈ 20 Mpc), SBFs and PNe lead to
a bottom-up (clustering) picture of structure formation, as a small D ≈ 16 Mpc. Great efforts are spent in the
described by the much favored ‘cold dark matter’ scenario. application of the SBF method because its claimed distance
Under the (tested) assumption of hydrostatic equilib- uncertainty for an individual galaxy is almost as small as
rium, the x-ray halo profiles can be used to calculate the with Cepheids (≤0.2 mag) and hence would allow us to
gravitational masses of the subclusters that are binding resolve the cluster depth (the front-to-back depth is about
the gas. For the dominating M87 subcluster the integrated 2 Mpc, or 0.2 mag, if the cluster is spherical). Individual
mass out to 1 Mpc from M87 amounts to M 1.4×1014 M , Virgo E distances, with a surprisingly large scatter, have
of which 14% is in the gas, and only 4% in the galaxies. indeed been reported, but there is still some concern
This means that the cluster is essentially dark matter, sec- whether all variations of the stellar content of ellipticals,
ond comes the intracluster gas and only in third place the on which the method critically depends, are sufficiently
luminous matter in galaxies, with a correspondingly high well understood. For instance, the SBF distance of M49 is
mass-to-light ratio of M/L ≈ 500. This is quite typical for much smaller than the (probably more reliable) TF distance
clusters of galaxies. of the whole M49 subcluster, which means that either
M49 is lying in the foreground, being projected on top
Distance and depth of the background ‘M49’ subcluster by chance, or the SBF
The mean distance of the Virgo cluster is still a matter of method is wrong.
debate. Distances quoted range from 14 to 22 Mpc. In Some hope for the future is resting with dwarf
general, the most reliable extragalactic distance indicators ellipticals, of which there is an almost inexhaustible
are the Cepheids. Cepheids at (and slightly beyond) reservoir in the cluster. A first, very promising

application of the tip-of-the-red-giant-branch (TRGB)

distance indicator to a particular dE based on HST
observations has given D 16 Mpc. A recent claim that
dEs are distributed in a prolate structure pointing towards
us, based on the shape of the luminosity profile of these
galaxies, will soon be tested by an extension of the SBF
method to dEs.
A new tool to determine the mean distance and
depth of the Virgo cluster core may be provided by the
recently discovered population of free-floating giant stars
and PNe. Such a population has long been suspected in
clusters of galaxies, as stars will be ripped from galaxies
by tidal encounters in the cluster core, a process called
‘galaxy harassment’. The data available so far suggest that
approximately 10% of the stellar mass of the Virgo cluster
is in intergalactic stars. There are ongoing programs
with large telescopes to measure the radial velocities and
metallicities of a large number of intracluster PNe. These
data will provide crucial constraints on the dynamical state
and history of the Virgo cluster.
Bibliography
Binggeli B 1999 The Virgo cluster—home of M87 The
Radiogalaxy M87 ed H-J Röser and K Meisenheimer
(Berlin: Springer) p 9
Binggeli B, Tammann G A and Sandage A 1987 Studies of
the Virgo cluster. VI. Morphology and kinematics of
the Virgo cluster Astron. J. 94 251
Bruno Binggeli and John Huchra

Virgo Gravitational-wave Interferometer (VIRGO) E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
Virgo Gravitational-wave
Interferometer (VIRGO)
VIRGO is a collaboration between Italian and French re-
search teams to construct an interferometric gravitational
wave detector at Cascina, near Pisa, Italy. It relies on a
technique called laser interferometry to measure with im-
mense accuracy the minute changes in distance induced
by gravitational waves from astronomical sources.
The VIRGO project plans to set up a laser interferom-
eter made of two, 3 km long, orthogonal arms. Light from
a laser is split into two beams which travel down the arms
and are then reflected back by mirrors. In effect, multiple
reflections will increase the optical length of each arm to
120 km. Variations in the pattern of interference between
the returning beams will enable gravitational waves to be
detected and their sources to be identified.
VIRGO will be sensitive to gravitational waves at
frequencies from 10 to 6000 Hz. It should be able to detect
radiation produced by supernovae and by the coalescence
of binary systems in the Milky Way and other galaxies, for
instance from the Virgo cluster.
It will use high-power ultrastable lasers and high-
reflectivity mirrors, as well as seismic isolation and control
of position and alignment. Each optical component is
isolated by a 10 m high elaborate system of compound
pendulums, called a ‘superattenuator’. The 6 km long,
1.2 m diameter evacuated tube through which the light
beam passes will be one of the largest vacuum vessels in
the world. The signals will be detected, registered and
elaborated by computer.
http://www.virgo.infn.it/.

Visual Binary Stars E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
Some results of statistics

Visual Binary Stars Adding all kinds of binaries, and with a statistical estimate
Already since the early development of telescopes, an of the occurrence of undetected, low-mass components,
increasing number of stars—single to the naked eye— the fraction of stars on the upper and middle main
were found to consist of two or more components. They sequence which are members of binary and multiple
became known as ‘double stars’ (étoiles doubles, dvoinye systems comes to about 80%. This membership rate
zvozdy, Doppelsterne) and soon were too numerous to decreases toward RED DWARF STARS, and for faint dM types—
be explained as random pairings of stars in the sky. of which only the nearest are well studied—may be as
With increasing observing-time span, some pairs showed low as 40%. Thus the most abundantly occurring stellar
around 1800 that the components orbited one another. masses, around 0.2 of the solar mass, are less frequently
The English term ‘BINARY STARS’ tends to emphasize this found in binaries.
gravitational connection. In distinction from close doubles Very wide pairs have only a weak gravitational bond,
recognized by stellar eclipses or by periodic changes which may be disrupted by fairly close random encounters
of spectral-line shifts (photometric and spectroscopic with passing stars. As estimated from the star density in
binaries), the directly resolved objects are termed ‘visual’ the Galactic disk, the limit of separations, below which a
although eyepiece observations are no longer the only pair is expected to remain bound through its lifetime is
method of study. Telescopes and techniques of the 20th at 10 000–20 000 AU (astronomical units), or 0.05–0.1 pc.
century have improved the angular resolution to below 0.1 Existence of orbit periods up to some millions of years is
arcsec, but in order that components be separated, that is thus to be expected.
be recognised by their different positions in the sky, visual Inevitably some pairs of stars appear close together
pairs are subject to at least one of two limitations. by chance alignment, although the components are at
different distances and unrelated. These are ‘optical’
(a) They are not very distant from Earth. Visual objects
or ‘perspectivic’ double stars. Statistics show that the
thus are predominantly of the more populous types
probability of a random alignment to within 5 or so is
in the solar neighborhood: stars from the middle and
quite low for stars down to about 12th magnitude. Most
lower main sequence;
of the catalogued double stars thus are genuinely physical
(b) The true distance between the components is not too
systems.
small. The orbit periods are therefore generally much
longer than in ECLIPSING and SPECTROSCOPIC BINARY STARS, Observing techniques
and so it is important that measurements dating back Visual measurement by micrometer
100 yr and more are available for many of them. The FILAR MICROMETER contains a set of thin wires, one
In addition, detection is impeded when the stars have movable against another with a precision screw, and
a large brightness difference. Hence not many lowest- mounted on a rotatable frame in the focus of a high-
luminosity dwarf components, or companions of bright power eyepiece. This simple device supplies the position
supergiants, are known. of one double-star component relative to the other in
polar coordinates: the position angle (direction in the
Designations of visual double stars sky) counted from N over E, S, W from 0◦ to 360◦ by
The celestial position for J2000 (the beginning of the Julian orientation of the frame, and the separation between stars
year 2000) is generally used, for instance 07346 + 3153 in arcsec by the spacing of the wires. Since the eye
means right ascension 7h 34.6m and declination 31◦ 53 has a good time resolution of 0.05 s, it can suppress
N (Castor). Cataloguing confusion can occur when the much of the atmospheric turbulence, often reaches the
positions of faint stars are not well enough determined or diffraction-limited resolving power provided by the
when the transfer to J2000 ignored proper motions. telescope aperture and may even recognise elongated
Also used are discoverers’ codes, e.g. Bu 1077 for α double-star images below resolution. (The often-heard
Ursae Majoris (Dubhe) after the finding by S W BURNHAM. statement that atmospheric blurring limits ground-based
These letter codes are unambiguous but owing to their instruments to about 1 arcsec of resolution is false; it
variety a bit cumbrous. The master file of visual applies only to long recording times.) Although a 17th-
double stars, maintained at the US Naval Observatory, century invention, the filar micrometer became a high-
Washington DC, and currently being revised, lists both precision tool only in the hands of F W STRUVE in 1820.
these identifiers for nearly 100 000 entries, and in addition Since then most double-star positions have been obtained
the Durchmusterung number (Bonn, Cordoba, Cape), if that way, quite close binaries being reached already with
any. the refractors around 1900 (Aitken and others), at least in
The double-star catalogue by R G AITKEN contains the northern hemisphere. The southern sky lagged behind
objects discovered before 1927 in the sky north of −30◦ until W H van den Bos began his micrometric productivity
declination. Since it includes many well-known binaries, in the 1920s, and R A Rossiter followed with the discovery
the ADS number is still used. Some publications cite the of many thousands of fainter pairs.
HIP number after the star catalogue from the HIPPARCOS A modification favored by some observers is the
satellite mission. double-image micrometer which uses a birefringent prism.

The four star images produced from a double star are for stars of nearly identical composition the equilibrium
brought into a well-measurable configuration by rotating conditions governing interior stability make the luminosi-
and shifting the prism. ties and radii dependent only on the mass: L increases
with the kth power of M. The exponent k varies along the
Photography main sequence, and it also depends on the colours within
During much of the 20th century, photography was the which the luminosities are defined; for visual magnitudes,
best direct-imaging method in astronomy, but its resolving k = 3.8 for the middle main sequence, but k decreases to
power was limited by adjacency effects from the chemical about 2.6 for both high- and low-mass (B and M) types.
processing and by blurring during the fairly long exposure The apparent orbit of a visual binary as seen in the sky
times needed. Extensive double-star data were obtained (at right angles to the line of sight) is a parallel projection of
for wider pairs, typically over 2 arcsec. The long-term the true orbit ellipse. Seven constants, the so-called orbital
photographic monitoring of stars has helped in other elements, are needed to describe the motion. Three of them
ways: with PARALLAX results for nearby binaries, their mass are angles specifying the projection: the inclination is the
ratios from the orbital shifts of blended images against angle between orbit and projection planes, the node is the
their centre of mass and sometimes the detection of unseen celestial direction in which the planes intersect and the
components from periodic shifts in the motions of stars. longitude of periastron (the point of closest approach of
Such work could now be done with digitizing cameras the components, and of fastest orbital motion), counted
(CCDs) which have replaced photographic emulsions in from the node, gives the orientation of the ellipse. The
direct imaging. other elements fix the motion within the orbit: the period
(P ) in years, the eccentricity, the time of passage through
Interferometry
periastron, and the semimajor axis (a) in arcsec. The
Owing to high instrumental demands, the original form
position in the orbit at any time is then given by formulae
of interference was little used. A successful variant is the
which represent Kepler’s first and second laws (see KEPLER’S
eyepiece interferometer as was constructed and widely
LAWS). There are several computer routines on how to
used by W S Finsen.
solve for the seven elements as best fitting a given set of
In the last 25 yr a combined high resolution in both
observations.
angular separation and recording time, now also for
Visual binaries with known orbits (some very precise,
modest-size telescopes, has been achieved by ‘speckle’
others tentative and subject to future revision) now
interferometry (see SPECKLE IMAGING OF BINARY STARS). It
number about 1000. The orbit sizes (a) are mostly under
results in superior precision by correlating numerous,
very short-exposure images (speckles, tavelures). Most 1 arcsec; the periods range from a few years to some
currently used devices consist of microscope optics as centuries (in cases with well-observed periastron passages
objective and collimator, a CCD camera with image up to about 1000 yr), and almost all objects are within
intensifier as detector and computers for very fast 150 pc from Earth. Contrary to the planetary system and
recording, centering, autocorrelation and processing; to close binaries, orbits of medium or high eccentricities
colour filters and usually a pair of prisms, to remove dominate among visual pairs.
atmospheric dispersion in both amount and direction, To determine the total mass (M1 + M2 ), Kepler’s third
are added. The full theoretical resolving power at law is used in the form a 3 = P 2 (M1 + M2 ) only if a is
large reflectors, around 0.03 arcsec, can be reached. An determined in astronomical units:
important development toward yet higher resolution is
the application of long-baseline interferometry (long used a (length in AU ) = a (angular size in arcsec)
in radio astronomy) now at optical wavelengths, as × d (distance in pc).
evidenced by results from devices such as the Mark III
interferometer. Inaccuracies of distances d cause often the largest
uncertainty in the masses. This can be remedied in other
Space instruments ways.
The Hipparcos satellite measured around 1991 numerous
double stars and added some 3000 new pairs, mostly those (a) By spectroscopic observations of the orbital motion.
of larger brightness differences whose detection from the Doppler-shift amplitudes alone yield only the
ground was impeded. one-dimensional radial motion, leaving the orbit
inclination and hence the true orbit size and the mass
Orbits undetermined, but the combination with the visual
Apart from their significance for the understanding of elements supplies the missing link. The speckle
stellar origin and of evolutionary patterns, binary stars technique in particular has resolved many short-
supply direct determinations of the masses of stars as period pairs discovered by spectroscopists.
fundamental quantities. This requires knowledge of their (b) When the components can be assumed to be
orbits. main-sequence stars, a mass–luminosity relation
Main-sequence stars have a relation between mass can be invoked, along with the known apparent
M and luminosity L, as expected from theory, because magnitudes, to connect the masses and the distance.

Cases where this assumption does not hold are the system, is a unique case of a red-dwarf eclipsing binary
revealed by a disagreement between spectral type (type dM) with a period of 19.5 h.
and the computed mass. Many stars spectrally still Capella (α Aurigae, 05167 + 4600), a long-known
classified as main sequence are found to be already spectroscopic binary with P = 104 days, and at a
evolved in luminosity to above ‘zero age’ level. distance of 13 pc, was resolved and well observed by
interferometers and speckle cameras. It consists of two G
Multiple systems type giants of nearly equal masses (2.5 solar masses each)
About a third of binary stars contain at least one additional and luminosities, evolving synchronously. Also part of the
component. However, the separations are almost always system is a later-discovered, distant red-dwarf pair which
quite different: the ratio of wider versus closer pair is at may have a period around 400 yr.
least 6:1 and often much more. Long-term stability of The closest pair resolved by a large interferometer is
multiple systems with stellar (not very unequal) masses Spica (α Virginis, 13252 − 1110) at a separation of only
demands this ‘hierarchical’ order. So the periods are very 0 .0015, with a period of 4 days.
different, and there are few visual systems in which both ε Hydrae (08468 + 0625), at a distance of 36 pc, is
orbits are reliably known. of interest because of the diversity of its five known
More common are close spectroscopic subsystems components: a G type and a fainter F type subgiant in
within visual pairs, and there are also cases of definite, a 15 yr orbit, an F type main-sequence star (period about
periodic deviations from the elliptical motion indicating 1100 yr around the primary pair) which is a spectroscopic
the presence of an unresolved component. These objects binary with a low-mass companion (P = 10 days), and
require elaborate analysis since two orbits (14 elements a still more distant, subluminous dK dwarf star whose
instead of seven) have to be computed simultaneously. period may be around 10 000 yr.
Slow changes in the orbits owing to perturbations between Finally, GC 20393/4 (15102 − 1623) is a faint, wide
components are known in two of them: ξ Ursae Majoris pair of very old subdwarf stars, separated by 5 arcmin,
(11182 + 3132) and ζ Cancri (08122 + 1739). and 30 pc distant. They race through the solar vicinity at
a record speed of nearly 600 km s−1 relative to the Sun,
Some noteworthy objects or practically at escape velocity within the Milky Way,
suggesting an origin in the outer galactic halo. It should
Within 3 parsec from the Sun, four apparently single dwarf
be noted that, although separated by at least 10 000 AU,
stars and the following three interesting binaries are found.
they have kept together on the long trip for twice the age
α Centauri (14396 − 6050), the nearest system,
of the solar system.
consists of two solar-type stars (masses 1.1 and 0.9) in
an orbit of period 79.9 yr, now slowly closing in after W D Heintz
maximum separation was reached in 1980, and a red-
dwarf companion, a full 13 000 AU distant from the
primary pair, but even closer to Earth, hence called
Proxima Centauri.
Sirius (06451 − 1643) has a companion with a period
of 50.1 yr, which was predicted from periodic changes in
the proper motion of the bright star. Resolved in 1862, the
companion was found to be almost 10 magnitudes fainter,
and the identical white color indicated an enormous
disparity of the radii of the stars. It was the first
identification of a white dwarf star. (40Eridani B =
04153 − 0739 had been observed long before but its 252 yr
orbit with a faint red-dwarf companion and its white-
dwarf nature were not known until later.)
LDS 838 (01390 − 1757), a 12th magnitude object with
a period of 26.5 yr is one of the lowest-luminosity pairs of
red dwarfs. Each component has only 0.12 solar masses;
one of them is the very active flare star UV Ceti.
A few other remarkable binaries and multiples may
be added.
Castor (α Geminorum, 07346 + 3153) is a sixtuple at a
distance of 14 pc. The bright pair has been observed for
almost three centuries, and the latest orbit gives it a period
of 467 yr. Both components are close spectroscopic binaries
with low-mass companions (periods of 9 and 3 days), and
the distant 9th magnitude star YY Gem, which belongs to

VLBI (Very Long Baseline Interferometry) E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
numerically calculating the Fourier inversion, the actual

VLBI (Very Long Baseline brightness distribution B(x, y) can be constructed.
Interferometry) It follows that an array of N radio telescopes, suitably
The Michelson stellar INTERFEROMETER was developed by distributed on the Earth, will yield N (N − 1)/2 pairs, thus
MICHELSON as an optical instrument to measure the angular
allowing one to map radio sources with an instrument
diameter of stars. In recent times, the method has having an effective diameter, and a corresponding angular
been extensively used at radio wavelengths, to achieve resolution, of a telescope of diameter Dmax , the length of the
extremely high angular resolution, greater than that maximum interferometer spacing. Such an instrument is
achieved by single-aperture telescopes at any wavelength. called an aperture-synthesis array; the density of Fourier
The principle is as follows: two RADIO TELESCOPES, receiving transform samples can be increased by observing as the
a signal from a distant radio source, amplify the signals Earth rotates, thus changing the projected baseline length
on the uv-plane. In this case, the technique is known
and send them via transmission lines to a radio receiver.
as Earth-rotation aperture synthesis. The VERY LARGE
the radio signals arrive at different times at the two
ARRAY (commonly known as the VLA), operated by the
radio telescopes, so the shorter path length is lengthened
National Radio Astronomy Observatory on the Plains of
by a delay line that equalizes the time at which the
St Augustine, near Socorro, New Mexico, with 27 antennas
signals are combined by the receiver. If the signals are
in a variable-length, Y-shaped array, is a good example of
in phase, they will reinforce one another and the signal
an aperture-synthesis instrument.
amplitude will be twice that of a single telescope (i.e.
four times the power). If the signals are 180◦ out of Techniques of VLBI
phase, there will be no signal, since they destructively The technique of Very Long Baseline Interferometry, or
interfere. If the telescopes are rotating with the Earth, and VLBI, is an extension of Michelson interferometry, made
the time delay is held fixed, the alternating constructive possible by the exquisite control that modern electronics
and destructive interference will give a sinusoidal output exerts over the time domain. If the transmission lines
whose amplitude and phase can be measured. (The optical from the telescopes to the receiver are removed, it is still
Michelson stellar interferometer is functionally identical; possible to observe the interference fringes by having a
the radio telescopes are replaced by plane mirrors that send highly stable clock (usually a hydrogen maser frequency
plane waves into a telescope, where they are combined standard) at each telescope. The amplified signals are
at the focus, where interference fringes are detected.) By recorded on wide-band magnetic tape recorders (typically
extension from the optical case, the sinusoidal radio signal at a data rate of the order of 108 bits per second or more),
is also called a fringe, even though it is seldom seen directly using the hydrogen standards for time control. The tapes
in modern interferometers. This is because the receiver are then shipped to a central processing facility, where
has, in effect, two channels that cross-correlate the two the received signal is now a string of discrete samples
signals, directly and in quadrature. From the amplitudes e(ti ) at known times ti . The two data streams are then
of these two outputs, the fringe amplitude and phase are cross-correlated numerically, giving the fringe amplitude
derived. and phase. (For a general treatment of interferometry,
The great power of the Michelson interferometer lies including VLBI, see Burke and Graham-Smith (1997).)
in its extension to APERTURE SYNTHESIS, in which the signals Several VLBI arrays are in operation: the VLB Array
from an assemblage of many telescopes are combined (VLBA) of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory
pairwise. As in so many areas of modern science, with its processor in Socorro NM, the European
the Fourier transform technique is used to derive an VLBI Network (EVN), with a processor in Dwingeloo,
image. Given a radio source with a brightness distribution Netherlands (see JOINT INSTITUTE FOR VLBI IN EUROPE), and
B(α, δ) on the sky, where α and δ are right ascension the Southern Hemisphere Array, with its processor in
and declination, one constructs an approximate Cartesian Narrabri, NSW, Australia. There is also a worldwide
coordinate system x, y. The distribution B(x, y) has network, a collaboration among the above VLBI arrays
a Fourier dual b(u, v), and it can be shown that the with the addition of other national radio telescopes.
amplitude and phase of the radio fringe from a Michelson The VLBA can be taken as an example of a dedicated
interferometer is proportional to the Fourier transform of VLBI system. It consists of ten similar radio telescopes
the source brightness distribution. The dual coordinates spread across the USA and its outlying territories; the
(u, v) are determined by the baseline bλ , measured in array is bounded by telescopes in St Croix, US Virgin
terms of the observing wavelength λ, projected on the sky Islands, on the southeast, Hancock NH on the northeast,
perpendicular to the line of sight to the radio source. This Brewster WA on the northwest, and Mauna Kea HA on
plane is usually taken with u in the east–west direction, and the southwest, with a maximum baseline of 10 000 km.
with v north–south, and is commonly referred to as the uv- At the present time its shortest operating wavelength is
plane. A sufficiently large sample of fringe amplitudes and 7 mm, giving a maximum angular resolution of about
phases, with interferometers sampling many points on the 150 microarcseconds. The operating wavelength can
uv-plane, can give a good approximation to the Fourier be switched rapidly from one band to another, and the
transform b(u, v) of the brightness distribution, and by observing schedule, sent out to the individual telescopes

some time in advance, includes the time and duration of by accretion disks (the hot gas in these accretion disks,
observation the source to be observed, and the frequency observed at ultraviolet and x-ray wavelengths, is in the
band. process of spiralling down into the black hole at the
There are some practical considerations that arise center). The exact process is still unclear, but seems to
when making VLBI observations. The masers at involve magnetic fields in the accretion disks, twisted
the individual telescopes will have slightly different by differential rotation in the disks, ultimately releasing
frequencies, and therefore the time base on each magnetic enormous amounts of energy by accelerating electrons to
tape will have systematic errors, showing up as time relativistic energies and confining the particles to a narrow
differences and differences in fringe rotation. The VLBA jet. Shortly after VLBI was developed, it became clear
correlator, therefore, performs the cross-correlation for that rapid changes were developing in the structure of
a number of different time delays and fringe rotation the jets, and it is now well-established that the jets exhibit
rates, in order to correct for these differences. In the apparent motions that significantly exceed the speed of
case of a ‘hard-wired’ interferometer such as the VLA, light, sometimes by an order of magnitude. Although
timing variations occur, and these are usually corrected the structure of fundamental physics might be questioned,
by observing a nearby calibration source and deriving such a dramatic revision as superluminal velocity does not
the necessary corrections. For VLBI observations, this is
seem to be needed. The effect is almost certainly caused
sometimes possible, but in many cases it is not feasible to
by the aberration effects observed when a relativistic beam
do so. For an array of several telescopes, however, there
is directed at the observer. The effect requires a beam of
are closure relations that allow extra information to be
particles having bulk motion close to the speed of light,
derived. If three telescopes are observing the same source,
directed within a few degrees of the observer.
there is a sum condition on the three fringe phases that
gives useful phase information, and there is a condition A relativistic effect that must be considered in
on the fringe amplitudes, when observing with four conjunction with these compact, relativistic sources of
telescopes, that gives useful constraints on the individual SYNCHROTRON RADIATION is the self-Comptonization of the
amplitudes. When an array of ten telescopes is used, as in radiation. As the sources increase in energy density, there
the case of the VLBA, there is enough redundancy in the can be so many radio photons generated that they are
various combinations to constrain the uncertainties in the Compton-scattered by the electrons and become x-ray
Fourier transform, giving maps of remarkable fidelity. photons, which can be observed by X-RAY TELESCOPES. This
has the effect of limiting the possible surface brightness
Science applications of VLBI at radio wavelengths; expressed in terms of ‘brightness
There is a surprising variety of scientific problems that temperature’ (the temperature a source would need to
can be addressed by the methods of VLBI. Quasars have at the observing band to give the observed specific
and the nuclei of active galaxies (BL Lac sources, radio intensity, not a physical temperature necessarily). As a
galaxies and Seyfert galaxies) all have structures in the consequence, it is not possible for a synchrotron source
milliarcsecond range or smaller. Pulsars and gamma-ray to exhibit a brightness temperature in excess of 1012 K.
burst sources are even smaller, requiring baseline lengths Unfortunately, it is not possible to verify this prediction
far longer than anything currently feasible, Molecular by interferometer baselines on Earth. The flux of a
maser sources are also of milliarcsecond size, and these RADIO SOURCE is proportional to the product of its average
occur in association with star-forming regions and cool, surface brightness and its angular size, and the wavelength
evolved stars such as the Mira variables. Three general dependences cancel out. At any wavelength, therefore, an
classes of observation can be identified: the mapping interferometer with a baseline length of an Earth diameter,
of milliarcsecond structures, the measurement of relative observing even the strongest radio source, can only set a
source positions to achieve higher astrometric accuracy, limit of 1012 K on the surface brightness of the compact
and the use of known sources as references to study
structures.
geophysical phenomena such as continental drift and
This limitation to our knowledge can be overcome by
polar wandering.
using interferometer baselines that exceed the diameter of
Active galactic nuclei the Earth. By placing a VLBI telescope in space, there is in
The detailed study of ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEI (AGNs) principle no limit on the angular resolution that might be
has shown that the jet-like structures seen on large achieved. It has turned out that the technical difficulties
scales persist at the smallest angular scales that have can be overcome; a successful demonstration was carried
been studied. Paradoxically, the (relatively) long radio out, using the TDRSS (a data relay satellite system), that
wavelengths are closely related to phenomena at x-ray showed the practical feasibility of such measurements.
wavelengths. The radio phenomena observed by VLBI This was followed up by HALCA, a dedicated VLBI satellite
are in large measure relativistic, since the radio waves launched by the Japanese Space Institute ISAS in February
are generated by synchrotron radiation from relativistic 1997. The results are clear: a large fraction of quasars
electrons circulating in magnetic fields. A large fraction and AGNs have radio nuclei that exceed the self-Compton
of the sources involve massive black holes, surrounded limit.

Maser sources
The extragalactic maser sources have been another major
object of VLBI research. The lambda-doublet lines of
the hydroxyl radical at 1612, 1665, 1667 and 1720 MHz
all exhibit high surface brightness (1010 K or more)
that can only be a consequence of gas clouds being
pumped by radiation or by collisions to invert the level
populations, resulting in a one-pass maser that can amplify
the background radiation. The same phenomenon occurs
in the rotational lines of water, silicon oxide and methanol
that are accessible in the radio spectrum. Star-forming
regions frequently have many such maser sources, as do a
wide variety of evolved stars. In such cases, the difficulty
in determining the fringe phase can be overcome by self-
referencing: a particular compact line feature can serve as
a reference within the maser complex, and the positions
of other line sources, often separated in Doppler shift
by several km s−1 , can be measured with respect to the
reference maser.
Megamasers
Extragalactic maser sources have also been discovered.
These are referred to as ‘megamasers’ since the necessary
energies are so high. One of the best studied of these, the
megamaser in the active galaxy NGC 4258, appears to be
emitting 300 solar luminosities in the 22 GHz water line.
The line structure turned out to be extraordinary: there
was a complex of strong central lines, having very little
velocity relative to that of the galaxy, but in addition there
were satellite maser lines with relative Doppler velocities
±900 km s−1 to either side of the central complex. A
detailed analysis of the VLBI-derived map showed that
the velocities could be accurately explained by a simple
model. A ring of gas surrounds the (presumed) black hole
at the center, and we see the ring nearly edge-on. The
central line complex changes linearly in Doppler velocity
across the source, and is amplifying the radiation from the
central source; this allows the acceleration of the molecular
gas to be measured. The high-velocity lines come from
masers at the terminus of the edge-on ring, and these allow
the Keplerian velocity to be determined. The result is firm
evidence of a central black hole having a mass of 70 million
solar masses (see Miyoshi et al 1975, Herrnstein et al 1999).
Bibliography
Burke and Graham-Smith 1997 An Introduction to Radio
Astronomy (Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press)
Herrnstein et al 1999 A geometric distance to the galaxy
NGC 4258 from orbital motions in a nuclear gas disk
Nature 400 539
Miyoshi et al 1975 Evidence for a black hole from high
rotation velocities in a sub-parsec region of NGC 4258
Nature 373 127
Bernard F Burke

Vogel, Hermann Carl (1841–1907) E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
Vogel, Hermann Carl (1841–1907)

German astronomer, became director of the Potsdam As-
trophysical Observatory, where he made spectroscopic
analyses of stars, planets, comets and the Sun. He used
photography to measure Doppler shifts of stars to deter-
mine their radial velocities, discovering spectroscopic bi-
naries and, with Julius Scheiner, determining stellar diam-
eters and masses.

Voids E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
the south of this plane in supergalactic coordinates there is

Voids anther filament. However, to the north of this plane, just
Galaxies have a strong tendency to cluster. They have beyond the last galaxies of the Local Group, is the Local
been drawn together by mutual gravitational attraction. Void. This empty region is poorly surveyed because it
Seventy per cent of galaxies are found in groups or clusters is intersected by the Milky Way. However, there are few
that are probably gravitationally bound. In turn, the nearby galaxies on either side of the Galactic plane over a
groups of galaxies lie along filaments that interconnect. wide segment of the sky.
The largest clusters of galaxies tend to be found at the There are several voids that are somewhat farther
intersections of several filaments. Even the 30% of galaxies away but better studied because they cover a restricted
that are not in bound groups lie, almost entirely, within the part of the sky and stand out with good contrast against
filaments. pronounced filaments. The Perseus–Pisces filament is
The filaments occupy only a small fraction of space. particularly well defined, at a distance of 60 Mpc (200
Most of space has no observable matter. These empty million light-years). Immediately to the foreground is a
regions are the ’voids’. large region devoid of galaxies.
The discovery of voids The topology of voids

Although the general tendency for galaxies to cluster was The complement of voids are the superclusters and figure 1
known for a long time, the extreme segregation of galaxies in SUPERCLUSTERS AND THE LOCAL SUPERCLUSTER illustrates both
into a small fraction of the available volume was not the filamentary nature of the distribution of galaxies and
appreciated until recently. With information about the the voids. The filament–void network can be compared
distribution of objects on the plane of the sky augmented with a sponge. The material of the sponge can be equated
by only crude information about distances from galaxy with the filaments and the sponge holes with the voids.
sizes and magnitudes, there is too much confusion from The sponge material is all interconnected, else the sponge
projection overlay to get a good sense of structure. It would fall apart, but also the holes are all interconnected,
is necessary to have the REDSHIFTS of galaxies in order to so water can pass through. However, with this analogy,
place them in distance and, hence, to be able to construct the universe is a very tenuous sponge with frail material
a three-dimensional map of the distribution of galaxies connections and big holes.
(see DISTRIBUTION OF GALAXIES, CLUSTERS, AND SUPERCLUSTERS). The universe must have begun with only minute
Only in 1978, with galaxy redshifts in hand, did Stephen density variations. Over time, matter has gathered
Gregory and Laird Thompson comment that there were through self-attraction in the high-density regions and
regions nearly devoid of galaxies to the foreground of evacuated the low-density regions. Hence, even in co-
a supercluster that extends from the Coma cluster to moving coordinates the domain of the voids has been
the cluster Abell 1367. Several other empty regions growing. In metric coordinates, the voids are much bigger
were found within the next few years and, in 1981, the now than in the past. It follows that matter is moving away
instantly famous Boötes void was reported by Robert from voids, toward high density concentrations.
Kirshner, August Oemler, Paul Schechter and Stephen There is still debate about how much residual matter
Shectman. This void extends over roughly a million cubic there is in voids. Galaxy formation may only occur
megaparsecs (30 million cubic light-years). above a certain density threshold which leaves open the
Over the years since, there have been searches to possibility that there could be a considerable amount of
see whether there is anything to be found in the Boötes total mass tenuously spread through the voids. Stringent
void. A few small galaxies have turned up. Still, it limits are set by failure to detect intergalactic gas over
is an empty place. The Boötes void may not even be a wide range of temperatures. The only hint that there
the biggest empty region within the currently accessible might be residual gas comes from studies of absorption
universe. It is distinctive in part because it is surrounded lines in distant quasars. These absorption lines arise from
by the prominent supercluster domains of Hercules– tenuous intergalactic gas in the foreground of the quasars.
Corona Borealis, Leo and Ursa Major. There are even larger However, at low redshifts (the present epoch) there are
regions of substantial underdensity. The larger regions are relatively few absorbing gas clouds and it remains to
hard to characterize because they extend so far across the be demonstrated whether that gas is associated with the
sky that they become lost in the obscuration of our Milky intersection of filaments with the line of sight or with voids.
Way Galaxy and they extend so far in distance that redshift
surveys become incomplete. Bibliography
Rood H J 1988 Ann. Rev. Astron. Astrophys. 26 245
Nearby voids
There is no need to go far to find a void. The Milky Way R Brent Tully
Galaxy is part of the LOCAL GROUP which in turn is part
of the Coma–Sculptor cloud, a filament that lies in the
equatorial plane of the Local Supercluster. In the plane
of this filament there are galaxies in all directions and to

Volans E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
Volans
(the Flying Fish; abbrev. Vol, gen. Volantis; area 141 sq.
deg.) a southern constellation which lies between Mensa
and Carina, and culminates at midnight in mid January.
It was first shown on Petrus Plancius’ celestial globe of
c. 1598 as Piscis Volans, though it is usually attributed to
the Dutch navigators Pieter Dirkszoon Keyser (also known
as Petrus Theodorus) and Frederick de Houtman, who
charted that part of the southern sky in 1595–7.
A small, inconspicuous constellation, the brightest
stars in Volans are β Volantis, magnitude 3.8, γ Volantis, a
binary with yellow (G8) and pale yellow (F2) components,
magnitudes 3.8 and 5.7, separation 14.11 , ζ Volantis,
magnitude 3.9, and δ Volantis and α Volantis, both
magnitude 4.0. Another interesting star is ε Volantis,
a double with bluish-white (B6 and B9.5) components,
magnitudes 4.4 and 7.5, separation 6.0 , that have the
same proper motion, the former of which has an unseen
companion that revolves around it in 14.17 days.
There are no bright star clusters, nebulae or galaxies
in the constellation, the brightest being NGC 2442, an
eleventh magnitude barred spiral galaxy.

Volcanism in the Solar System ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
system. Io and Europa, two Galilean satellites of Jupiter,

Volcanism in the Solar System are silicated bodies, although they belong to the outer
solar system. Volcanism exists on almost all of these
Volcanism is the main endogenous process (a process bodies.
originating within the planet) which gives PLANETARY
SURFACES most of their characteristic features.
Volcanism consists of the superficial outflow of liquid
Volcanism in the inner solar system
mixed with a variable quantity of gas and crystals, which
comes from the PLANETARY INTERIOR. These liquids are Active worlds
produced by the melting of the planet’s or satellite’s The Earth (diameter 12 750 km), the basis for
interior. They are called ‘lava’ or ‘magma’ and come up planetology. Volcanism on Earth has been studied
to the surface owing to buoyancy forces. Water and considerably since Pliny the Younger died studying the
hydrocarbon springs on Earth are not part of these famous eruption of Vesuvius in AD 79. Terrestrial
magmatic liquids. volcanism is the reference for comparative planetary
Volcanism not only modifies the structure and the volcanism studies, and the definitions of rocks, eruptions
morphology of the planetary surface. During and just and feature types were proposed on Earth.
after the formation of planetary bodies, accretional The geographical distribution of volcanoes on Earth
heating partially separated volatile from refractory is one of the characteristics of our planet. About 95% of
elements, degassed the mantle and produced primitive active volcanoes are grouped together and form volcanic
atmosphere. Volcanism causes this degassing of the lines. The first group is located on the islands or
mantle to continue, and it is gradually modifying both the mountains near oceanic trenches around the Pacific and
planetary interior and the atmosphere. near Indonesia and the West Indies. This volcanism is
The morphological types of volcanic features mainly andesitic (SiO2 55%), basaltic (SiO2 50%) and
strongly depend on the magma viscosity and gas content. rhyolitic (SiO2 60%). The second group lies under
Very-low-viscosity magma induces flat lava flows and oceans, on the top of oceanic ridges. This volcanism is
may produce lava plains in the case of abundant flooding. basaltic (SiO2 50%). The location of these two volcanic
An increase in the viscosity produces shield volcanoes types is strongly correlated with the global dynamics of
with shallow sloping flanks (inclined at about 10º) for the EARTH’S INTERIOR (plate tectonics). Volcanism
intermediate-viscosity lava or domes with steep mainly occurs near plate boundaries. The other 5% of
peripheral flanks (inclined at about 25º) for high- volcanoes are isolated volcanoes, spread over ocean
viscosity lava. A significant gas content fragments the floors or continents. These volcanoes are basaltic ones
magma during volcanic explosions and produces and are called ‘hot spots’.
fragments of rock called ‘tephra’. During low-energy The popular notion of the Earth’s interior is a world-
explosions, the tephra again fall around the outflow wide layer of magma beneath a solid thin shell.
points, forming scoria or cinder cones. High-energy Following this notion, volcanism is simply the arrival of
explosions cover large areas with ash or pyroclastic magma through a hole or a fracture crossing the crust.
deposits expelled aerially from a vent. Some volcanoes This popular notion is totally false. The Earth is divided
may produce continually the same magma with the same into three levels: the superficial crust 5–40 km thick, the
gas content that produces monogenic volcanic mantle from the base of the crust to 2900 km and the core
construction (built up by one kind of eruption). from 2900 km to the centre of the Earth. The Earth is
Elsewhere, the gas content and the magma viscosity may entirely solid with the exception of the outer core, which
change during a single eruption or throughout the is made of molten iron. This liquid outer core represents
volcano’s history, inducing a complex polygenic volcanic less than 15% of the Earth’s volume, 2900 km below the
construction (built up by several kinds of eruption). surface, which is not directly involved in volcanism. The
Volcanism timing allows the distinction between Earth’s interior is solid, but hot, with a temperature of up
three kinds of worlds: (1) active worlds, with present to 5000 ºC. This heat is generated by natural radioactive
evidence of endogenic activities, (2) recently active decay. The solid state of the Earth despite this high
worlds on which active resurfacing processes have temperature is due to the very high pressure created by
occurred on a large scale after the end of the heavy the weight of overlying rocks.
bombardment, but which now seem dead, and (3) dead Temperature differences between the cold superficial
worlds, on which the majority of the surface pre-dates the layers and the hot interior produce density differences
end of heavy bombardment and where the geological and enormous buoyancy, circulatory and convective
activity has occurred only occasionally after the end of forces. Impelled by these convective forces, the solid
this bombardment. mantle flows very slowly like ice in a glacier. These
Two types of solid planets and satellites exist in the mantle motions induce superficial motion of the cold
solar system. There are silicated and rocky bodies in the superficial layers, called continental drift or plate
inner solar system and icy bodies in the outer solar tectonics. Downward-flowing superficial oceanic rocks
introduce oceanic water deep into the mantle. This water ‘pancakes’. Some strange volcanic features without
lowers the melting point and produces a small proportion equivalents on Earth or other planets exist on Venus.
of molten material. Upward-flowing mantle reaches a There are complex overlaps of bulges, faults, cinder
level where the drop in pressure allows a small cones and lava flows, and they are called ‘coronae’,
proportion to melt. If enough is formed, the formed ‘arachnoids’, ‘novae’…. The majority of these volcanic
magma rises away from the denser residue of solid features are consistent with basaltic composition, a
infusible rocks, owing to buoyancy forces. On Earth the hypothesis confirmed by the findings of Soviet landers
convective cells are more than 1000 km wide; the upper whose soil analyses are chemically similar to those of
parts of these cells are the tectonic plates with only basalt (SiO2 50%). The steep-sided domes may represent
horizontal motion. Volcanism occurs at the plates’ more silicic magma (SiO2 60%), while lava channels may
boundary where upwards or downwards motions exist represent ultramafic lava flows (SiO2 45%). Only a little
and induce a partial melting of the mantle. Some other evidence was found for extensive pyroclastic deposits.
circulatory motions exist inside the mantle, with The volcanic features show a broad global
localized upward flows of solid mantle. These localized distribution, in contrast to the distribution of volcanoes
upward flows which induce localized drops in the along plate boundaries on Earth. Some highlands show
pressure, partial melting and volcanoes, and are far from an excess of volcanic features, while some lowlands
the plates’ boundaries, are called ‘hot spots’. show only lava floods.
In 2001, a NASA mission to study Alaska’s unique There is no direct evidence in the Magellan data for
terrain provided scientists with their first detailed look at current volcanic activity. Some atmospheric analyses
the changing topography of one of Earth’s most active have shown sulfur dioxide variations, which may be due
volcanic regions. Researchers at the Alaska Synthetic to volcanic activity. However, the dynamics of the
Aperture Radar Facility, Fairbanks, created a high- atmosphere may also explain these observed variations.
resolution digital elevation model of Umnak Island, Crater counts would indicate that the whole Venusian
home to the Okmok volcano. This model can be used to surface is younger than 0.8–0.5 Gyr. An equilibrium
produce new, accurate geologic maps. The most recent resurfacing model for explaining the impact craters’
topographic map of the region was made in 1957 from density implies a current volcanic lava flux of
aerial photographs. Okmok has erupted four times since 0.5 km3 yr−1, a value comparable with the terrestrial
then, dramatically changing the landscape. The Alaska intraplate volcanism. Thus there is hardly any doubt that,
scientists used data gathered in October 2000 by the as is the Earth, Venus is a geologically active planet
NASA/JPL Airsar instrument, a side-looking imaging despite the lack of active eruptive processes identified
radar system carried aboard a NASA DC-8. It collected during the Magellan mission.
the Alaska data as part of its PacRim 2000 Mission,
which took the instrument to French Polynesia, American
and Western Samoa, Fiji, New Zealand, Australia, New
Guinea, Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia, Philippines,
Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, Northern Marianas, Guam,
Palau, Hawaii and Alaska. Researchers there combined
numerous Airsar strips of data into a mosaic, fused it to
Landsat imagery, checked its accuracy and generated a
number of data products, including the mosaic of Umnak
Island.
Venus (diameter 12 102 km) (figure 1). There is no doubt

that volcanism has been responsible for the generation of
the majority of the Venusian surface. The Venusian
surface is affected by only few impact craters, indicating
a geologically young age. Venusian plains exhibit long
flow-fields, with long lava channels in some places. Figure 1. A volcano on a rocky body: Sapas Mons on Venus.
Many thousands of volcanoes exist on Venus, either on Sapas Mons is 400 km across and 2 km high. It is a typical
plains or in the highlands (see VENUS: SURFACE). The shield volcano. The sides of the volcano are covered with
numerous overlapping lava flows which appear clear in this
MAGELLAN pictures revealed 550 concentrations of small
image. This volcano looks like Hawaiain volcanoes or large
volcanoes <20 km in diameter, 270 intermediate Martian volcanoes. No impact craters are visible on this picture,
volcanoes between 20 and 100 km in diameter with a which indicates a very young age for the Venusian volcanism.
great variety of morphologies, 150 large volcanoes in This three-dimensional perspective view is produced with radar
excess of 100 km in diameter, 80 caldera-like features data from Magellan (NASA).
and more than 100 steep-sided domes sometimes called
The density of Venus indicates that the Venusian convection was active, and looked like hot-spot-like
interior is theoretically more or less similar to the Earth’s convection rather than plate tectonics convection.
interior. On Venus, mantle convection produced and still
produces superficial motions and tectonic features, which Dead worlds
are different from plate tectonics. The volcanism The Moon (diameter 3476 km figure 2). On the MOON,
distribution confirms that the global dynamics of Venus’s 84% of the surface which was called ‘terrae’ by GALILEO
interior is quite different from that of the Earth. The in the 17th century consists of old anorthositic cratered
localized ‘hot-spot-like’ convection strongly dominates crust. However, about 16% of the surface consists of
the plate-tectonics-like convection. The origin of this younger flat basaltic plains and flows which fill the old
difference is poorly understood. low-lying basins and form black patches on the Moon’s
face. These plains were called ‘maria’ by Galileo. The
Recently active worlds lava flows inside the plains are very long (up to 1000 km)
Mars (diameter 6794 km). Volcanoes are unquestionably with very low slopes (less than 1º), a factor that indicates
on Mars (see MARS: SURFACE). Four enormous shield a very low viscosity for the lava, with very low gas
volcanoes and many smaller ones rise 15–25 km above content. Many of these flows present sinuous rilles,
the surface. These volcanoes are mainly located on a which may be interpreted as collapsed lava tubes or
8000 km wide broad topographic bulge which stands erosional features caused by very hot lava flows. The
about 10 km high. OLYMPUS MONS, the largest volcano in thickness of lava may reach 10 km under Mare Imbrium.
the known solar system, rises 26 km above the A very few cinder cones, shield volcanoes and volcanic
surrounding plateau. These volcanoes possess nested domes rise up from the lava flows. The majority of maria
summit calderas and have numerous lobate lava flows on are located on the near side.
their flanks. Other smaller shield volcanoes exist in other This volcanism became evident during the waning
places. Low-relief shields with irregular summit craters stage of heavy bombardment which occurred before
and numerous radial flows on their flanks are called −3.9 Gyr. The volcanism was important from −3.9 to
‘paterae’. Some domes (called ‘Tholus’) and cinder −3.5 Gyr, then decreased and virtually stopped 3 Gyr
cones have also been identified across Mars. Volcanic ago. The larger maria fill very old impact basins, but the
plains with multiple overlapping flow lobes are found superficial flows are some hundreds of millions of years
around the periphery of the shield volcanoes. The younger than the impact itself. The maria are more
complex flows can extend for >1000 km beyond the abundant on the nearside than on the farside. Apollo
shields. Large plains covering wide areas in the northern samples indicate that lunar lava chemical composition is
hemisphere (but rare in the southern hemisphere) have relatively similar to that of terrestrial basalts.
controversial origin. The preferred origin is a volcanic
one, based primarily on morphological similarity to lunar
maria. No or only little evidence was found for extensive
pyroclastic deposits.
In 1976 and 1997, respectively, the two VIKING
landers and MARS PATHFINDER made in situ chemical
analyses of soil and rocks. These analyses are consistent
with volcanic rocks (mainly basalts, and one andesite-
like analysis). Some meteorites (the SNC METEORITES) are
supposed to have a Martian origin. These meteorites are
mainly volcanic rocks (basalts and pyroxenites).
Volcanism existed on Mars from the earliest epoch,
the lower Noachian, to the latest one, the upper
Amazonian. The maximum of visible volcanic materials
was produced during the Hesperian (from 3.5 to −2 Gyr).
The younger volcanoes, Olympus and Arsia Mons, are
estimated to be near 0.5±0.25 Gyr.
The Martian interior is theoretically more or less Figure 2. A lava plain on a rocky body: Mare Serenitatis (left)
similar to the Earth’s interior. On Mars, mantle on the Moon. White mountains (on the right) are ‘terrae’. No
convection produced superficial motions and tectonic visible volcanic structures are seen inside this part of Mare
features which are different from plate tectonics. The Serenitatis, which only consists of very flat lava flows.
lack of active volcanoes since 500 million years ago Numerous small impact craters are visible on the mare, because
indicates that the mantle convection now is either very the lava flows are 3.5 Gyr old (NASA–Apollo).
low or has completely stopped. In the past, the mantle

On the Moon, volcanoes ceased 3 Gyr ago. The production by massive bodies is supposed to be the same
dynamics of the lunar mantle during these very old for all the silicated bodies and identical to the chondritic
epochs is poorly known. It is only known that this heat production value (about 10−11 W kg−1). This heat
volcanism was not accompanied by significant tectonic production inside the planets’ interior balances the heat
motions, contrary to the Earth, Venus and Mars. lost to space. This balance fixes the interior temperature.
Volcanism is more abundant on the nearside than on the If the loss is efficient with regard to the production, the
farside, because the crust thickness is more significant on temperature is low; if the loss is not efficient, the
the farside, and the buoyancy forces seldom allowed the temperature is high. The heat is produced inside the
magma to reach the surface. There is a geographical planet and is related to its volume; the heat is lost by the
relation between volcanism and large impact on the surface. This balance is thus regulated by the
Moon, but genetic relationships are not clear because of volume/surface ratio, which is proportional to the
the large chronological interval between large impacts planetary radius: a small planetary body with a low
and maria flooding. volume/surface ratio has efficient heat loss and a low
internal temperature ; this is the case now for the Moon,
Mercury (diameter 4878 km). On MERCURY, maria-like Mercury and the asteroids. A large planetary body with a
plains called ‘smooth plains’ are probably volcanic in high volume/surface ratio has inefficient heat lost and a
origin. Unfortunately, the modest resolution of MARINER high internal temperature ; this is now the case for Venus
10 images makes it difficult to clearly identify volcanic and Earth. An intermediate planetary body has an
features. These smooth plains are mainly inside and intermediate volume/surface ratio and has an
around CALORIS BASIN, the major impact basin of intermediate internal temperature; this is the case for
Mercury. These smooth plains cover large areas of Mars today.
relatively ancient ‘intercrater plains’ which are possibly At the beginning of their history, all the planetary
volcanic plains flooded during the heavy bombardment. bodies were hot because of the accretional heating and the
Crater chronology would indicate that the maximum short-lived radioactivity. After the end of this primeval
of smooth plain flooding is geologically heat production, the heat production was mainly due to
contemporaneous with the Caloris impact. The end of long-lived radioactive elements (K, U, Th). When
volcanism probably occurred 3.5 Gyr ago. considering the solution to the spherically symmetric heat
The dynamics of the Mercurian mantle during these equation, the accumulation of heat from long-lived
very old epochs is poorly known. As on the Moon, it is radionuclides produces a maximum in temperature after
only known that these periods of volcanism were not several hundred million years in large bodies. This has
accompanied by significant tectonic motions, in contrast been confirmed by the extensive magmatic phase on the
to the Earth, Venus and Mars. There is a geographical Moon which started 500 million years after its formation.
and a chronological relation between volcanism and large After this maximum in temperature, because of the natural
impacts on Mercury, suggesting genetic relationships decay of radioactivity, there has been a secular cooling for
such as a pressure fall in the mantle under the Caloris all the planetary bodies. This cooling has induced a
cavity. gradual stoppage of volcanism, with end times related to
size and volume/surface ratio of the planets: this stoppage
The meteorites’ parent bodies and the asteroid belt. occurred very early for the small bodies (the meteorites’
About 8% of the catalogued METEORITES are volcanic parent bodies), 1–1.5 Gyr after the accretion of Mercury
rocks, mainly basalt or pyroxenite. There are five main and the Moon, 4 Gyr after the accretion of Mars and has
kinds of these volcanic meteorites and they are called not yet occurred for Venus and the Earth.
eucrite, howardite, aubrite, diogenite and urellite. The
meteorites are suposed to be Earth-crossing fragments of Volcanism in the outer solar system
asteroids. Thus, some ASTEROIDS with past volcanic In the outer solar system, where the temperature is 100
activity exist in the asteroid belt. Some asteroids have a K, one planet (Pluto) and almost all large satellites have a
spectral signature of volcanic rocks. VESTA is supposed to low density (≤2 g cm−3) and water ice spectral
be the diogenite and eucrite parent body, and Nysa is reflectance. This indicates that water ice is a major
supposed to be the aubrite parent body. component of these bodies, with a proportion larger than
Radiochronological dating of volcanic meteorites indicates 50%. Other volatile compounds (N2, NH3…) may be
that the volcanism in the asteroid belt occurred only 10– mixed with water ice. These bodies are called icy bodies.
100 million years after the formation of the solar system. Only two satellites of Jupiter, Io and Europa, have a
density >3 g cm−3 and are mainly rocky bodies.
The relationship between the duration of volcanism
and planetary size Io, Europa and tidal heating
After the end of ACCRETION, the heat inside a planet is Io (diameter 3630 km, figure 3) is one of the four
mainly produced by radioactive decay. This heat Galilean satellites of Jupiter. Its density of 3.55 g cm−3
indicates a global composition of silicates and iron. Io’s particularly pronounced because of the phenomenon of
surface displays a wide variety of colors and spectra orbital resonance with Europa and Ganymede. The result
which are dominated by sulfur compounds. Io’s surface of this forced eccentricity is that Io’s tidal bulges are
geology is dominated by volcanic vents, craters, fissures, continually flexed and moved with respect to Io’s
flows and other morphological forms attributed to interior. The tidal bulge is about 7 km in height, and its
volcanic processes (see also IO: VOLCANISM AND periodic flexion is ±100 m. This is a significant source of
GEOPHYSICS). Active plumes of volcanic material friction and of tidally generated heat. In the case of Io,
reaching heights of 300 km were seen by Voyager and heat generated by tidal dissipation (about 1014 W,
GALILEO MISSION spacecraft in 1979 and 1997. These corresponding to 10−9 W kg−1) is probably 100 times the
plumes are thought to be driven up by SO2 or sulfur rate of radiogenic heating. This is enough to melt at least
vapors. Sulfur compounds are certainly present on the some parts of Io’s interior.
surface, but, because of the low viscosity of solid sulfur, EUROPA (diameter 3138 km) is a satellite of Jupiter,
the heights of mountains, 9000 m, indicate a dominantly 3.04 g cm−3 in density. This density indicates a silicated
silicated composition for high mountains. Temperatures composition. It may be briefly described in this section
>1500 ºC measured by Galileo above active volcanoes even though its visible surface is completely covered by
prove the existence of molten silicates. It is not known water ice. Density calculation and modelling indicate a
whether low topography lava flows are composed of pure silicated sphere of radius 1400–1500 km, surrounded by
sulfur or sulfur rich silicates. a 100–150 km thick H2O layer. Voyager and Galileo
New large volcanic deposits and flows were seen by images revealed geologically active or recent resurfacing
the Galileo spacecraft 18 yr after the Voyager fly-bys. No processes bringing liquid water or ice-crystal mush to the
impact craters can be seen on Io’s pictures, an surface. The 100–150 km thick H2O layer is probably not
observation which indicates that the volcanism is a very completely frozen, and a liquid water ocean is probably
active resurfacing process. The global average height of overlain by an ice field. The flooding of liquid water on
Io’s resurfacing is about 100 m (106 yr)−1. the surface does not correspond to volcanism sensu
Io’s volcanism supplies a very thin atmosphere stricto, but rather to polar-like phenomena. The H2O
(10−2–10−7 Pa). Around Jupiter, a plasma torus is a result layer is probably warmed at the H2O–silicate boundary
of material escaping from Io (see also IO: PLASMA by volcanism, similar in origin to Io’s volcanism, but
TORUS). with a lower intensity.
Io is a small planetary body, with theoretically not
enough radiogenic heating to be active now. However, The icy bodies
Voyager revealed that Io is the most active solid world in The surfaces of 13 of these icy bodies larger than 450 km
the solar system. Another heat source other than in diameter have been well imaged by Voyager and
radiogenic heating must be present for Io. The orbit Galileo spacecraft. On these kinds of bodies, volcanism
of Io has a measurable forced eccentricity, which is may bring to the surface the molten compound of the
interior: liquid water. The morphology created by this
water volcanism is very different from that of their
silicated counterparts. Fractures, vents and dykes may
exist, but volcanic morphologies similar to the popular
notion of volcanoes do not exist. On many satellites
(Ganymede, Enceladus, Miranda, Triton), the surface of
resurfaced ice is affected by sets of parallel or
crosscutting ridges and grooves, poorly understood in
origin, despite their frequency in the solar system.
Active worlds: Enceladus (Saturn’s satellite) and Triton

(Neptune’s satellite). ENCELADUS (diameter 500 km)
displays two different terrain units: old heavily cratered
terrain units, cut and overlain with smoother units closest
in morphology to bright grooved or smooth terrains of
Figure 3. Global view of Io, showing numerous lava flows, and GANYMEDE. There are essentially two types of grooves
two active plumes: one on the limb (right) and the other on the on Enceladus: Ganymede-like sinuous grooves, which
terminator (left). These two plumes are about 200 km high. may have the same origin (extruded and ridged low-
Detailed views of these plumes are shown on the right. Note the viscosity fluid, probably liquid water or a mush of water-
shadow of the plume located near the terminator (NASA– ice crystals), and straight grooves generally interpreted as
Galileo). tensional or volcanic fissures. The grooved and smooth
terrains of Enceladus have no detectable impact craters,
which implies a very young age, of less than a few

hundred million years. The albedo of Enceladus is
uniform and virtually equal to 1. Analysis of the way the
surface scatters light suggests that it is covered by fresh
ice frost. A likely cause of this is a deposit of frozen
spray from young volcanic eruptions perhaps continuing
on Enceladus up to the present day. Another argument in
support of the present dispersion of spay from Enceladus
is that Enceladus orbits in the middle of the E ring, which
consists of spherical particles about 1 µm in size. Such
small particles would not survive more than ten thousand
years in the interplanetary medium, suggesting that active
volcanism from Enceladus is at the origin of the E ring.
TRITON (diameter 2720 km) is the largest satellite of
Neptune. The entire visible surface is crater poor and
relatively young. The older terrains (the hummocky and
the cantaloupe terrains) show volcanic evidence: flow-
generated terrains containing a variety of domes and
ridges which appear to be viscous extrusions which have
erupted along the fault lines. These older terrains are
overlain with smooth plains, which in some places form
full flat-floored depressions 200 km wide. These younger
terrains seem to have been formed as a series of large-
volume, viscous flows. In the center of the flat-floored
depressions is a collection of pits and flows, which may
be the site of the most recent volcanic activity. The
southern part of Triton is covered by a polar cap probably
made of frozen nitrogen. In 1989, two active plumes
were seen by Voyager inside the polar cap. Each plume
sends a jet of dark material upwards to an altitude of
8 km and produces dark deposits. Triton is the only icy
body in the solar system where eruption processes have
been seen without doubt in action.
Recently active worlds: Ganymede (Jupiter’s satellite), Figure 4. (a) Global view of the south pole of Ganymede. Flat
Dione, Tethys (Saturn’s satellites), Ariel, Miranda and terrains probably consist of large frozen water flows. Ridged
Titania (Uranus’s satellites). These are worlds where and grooved terrains are deformed ice flows. Numerous impact
there are evidences of both tectonic proceses on a global craters indicate that this flooding stopped 3.5 Gyr ago (NASA–
scale and vast volcanic outpourings which occurred after Voyager). (b) Detailed view of Ganymedean surface. Flat and
the end of late heavy bombardment. ridged terrains are crosscut by an elongated caldera-like feature.
Ganymede (diameter 5262 km, figure 4) represents Viscous flow (probably ice–liquid mush) is visible inside the
the best known of these bodies. Ganymede is divided into caldera (NASA–Galileo).
dark heavily cratered terrains that occur as polygonal
regions and poorly cratered bright terrains in the form of Large-scale resurfacing and flooding without
bands that separate the heavily cratered polygons. The tectonics is visible on DIONE (diameter 1120 km) and on
bright terrains are usually strongly grooved and ridged one area of TETHYS (diameter 1060 km), while evidence
and provide unequivocal evidence of widespread-to- of water volcanism and resurfacing related to tectonism
global volcanism and tectonism. In some place, bright exists on other parts of Tethys, and on TITANIA (diameter
terrains are smooth, notably where they overlay the dark 1580 km) and ARIEL (diameter 1158 km). On Ariel,
terrains. This suggest that the bright terrains were canyons called ‘Chasma’ have clearly been flooded by
emplaced during extensional tectonic events, such as an some kind of volcanic flow processes which somewhere
extruded low-viscosity fluid, probably liquid water or a produced sinuous rilles with scales and morphology
mush of water-ice crystals. The age of the end of this comparable with their lunar maria counterparts.
flooding is strongly dependent on cratering models in the MIRANDA (diameter 472 km) is one of the most
outer solar system, and may be estimated to be 3– remarkable and complex worlds in the solar system
3.5 Gyr. despite its small diameter. Half of Miranda is a uniform
densely cratered plain, while the other half is occupied by
regions of younger grooved terrains, the detailed mixture. Even low internal heating could increase
appearance of which has never been found elsewhere in the temperature sufficiently to reach the melting
the solar system. These regions are called ‘corona’ and temperature and to produce water or water–
exhibit belts of parallel or crosscutting ridges. These ammoniac volcanism.
ridges are commonly interpreted as fracture-controlled
extrusions of warm ice or mush. The pattern of ridges is The case of Triton is more complex. Volcanism-
not understood at all. Somewhere, the ridges seem induced resurfacing which occurred everywhere is
submerged by lava-flow-like structures. probably due to radiogenic and tidal heating, as for
Ganymede or other large icy satellites. Such mechanisms
Dead worlds: Callisto (Jupiter’s satellite), Iapetus, could explain the active plumes. However, these active
Mimas, Rhea (Saturn’s satellites), Oberon, Umbriel plumes are only located on the southern polar cap, and an
(Uranus’s satellites). The Voyager and Galileo fly-bys exogenous origin is possible. The polar cap is made of
revealed six satellites as intensely cratered worlds. If transparent nitrogen ice covering a darker substrate. This
some kind of volcanic resurfacing processes had existed, was Tritonian ‘springtime’ when Voyager 2 imaged the
they ceased before the end of late heavy bombardment. south pole of Triton in 1989, and the temperature was
Possible volcanic morphologies have now almost increasing. Nitrogen ice is transparent and allows most of
completely disappeared, with the possible exception of the sunlight to heat the underlying darker layer. A rise of
Callisto and Rhea. only 10 ºC of this dark layer above the surface
On CALLISTO (diameter 4800 km), some flat plains temperature of −236 ºC would cause the vaporization of
are associated with fractures surrounding a large impact the base of the nitrogen ice layer and its eruption as a
(Valhalla) and may be due to some water resurfacing. nitrogen gas plume, through the icy superficial crust.
On RHEA (diameter 1530 km), one-third of the
known surface is less cratered than the other two-thirds. Pierre Thomas
Possible clues that there was endogenic activity on Rhea
are given by features such as linear troughs and ridges,
which may be interpreted as subdued volcanic vents.
Origins of volcanism on the icy satellites

Icy bodies are not large bodies (smaller than or equal in
size to Mercury), and their volcanism should be
completely extinct. Moreover, the size does not display a
significant effect on internal activity: the small Enceladus
is still active, while the large Callisto never has
significant activity. Two physical reasons may produce
abnormally active volcanism.
(1) With the exception of the unimaged Pluto, all the icy
bodies are satellites of large planets, and permanent
or transitional orbital resonances with other satellites
may produce permanent or transitional orbital
eccentricity and tidally generated heat. That would
explain the difference between Ganymede and
Callisto: Ganymede is closer to Jupiter than Callisto;
tidal heating may have been greater for Ganymede
and sufficient to produce volcanism during the first
billion years. Tidal heating was never sufficient for
Callisto. The heat sources of Enceladus and other
bodies smaller than 1000 km in diameter are more
uncertain and may be searched for in temporary
orbital resonances with other satellites. The nature
and shape of convective motions inside icy mantles
are unknown at present.
(2) If a temperature of 1100 ºC is necessary to melt
silicates, a temperature of about 0 ºC is sufficient to
melt pure water ice, and a temperature of −100 ºC
induces the melting of a water–ammoniac ice
Voyager Mission E NCYCLOPEDIA OF A STRONOMY AND A STROPHYSICS
the successful dual-orbiter, dual-lander VIKING MISSION

Voyager Mission to Mars.)
The two Voyager spacecraft were built with identical
If one were to ask a space scientist which of all the space engineering designs and identical scientific payloads.
missions ever flown he or she would consider the most Part of that design was based on results from the smaller
scientifically successful, there is a good chance that PIONEERS 10 and 11. Neither Pioneer spacecraft detected
NASA’s Voyager Mission to Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and dust particles in their passages through the Asteroid Belt.
Neptune would be mentioned more than all others com- As a consequence, the Voyager dust detector was dis-
bined. Launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, in 1977 carded in favor of a plasma wave detector. The eleven
(Voyager 2 on 20 August and Voyager 1 on 5 September), investigations and their Principal Investigators or Team
these two hardy spacefarers celebrated their 20th Leaders are given in table 1. The two Pioneer spacecraft
anniversary in late 1997. Although their last planetary also experienced very high levels of radiation in the
encounter was in 1989, they continue to collect useful vicinity of Jupiter; this led to a campaign to build the
data about the outer solar system and will probably cel- Voyager engineering and scientific hardware to be resis-
ebrate their 40th anniversary in the year 2017 before their tant to damage from these higher radiation fields.
useful lives come to an end. Although the Voyager Mission was approved by
As early as 1966, engineers at NASA’s JET PROPUL- NASA for the 4 yr flight including Jupiter and Saturn
SION LABORATORY (JPL) realized that it was possible with encounters only, NASA gave approval for JPL to design
a single spacecraft to visit all of the giant gaseous plan- the mission of Voyager 2 (but not the spacecraft or its
ets in the solar system (JUPITER, SATURN, URANUS and NEP- scientific payload) to go beyond Saturn to Uranus and
TUNE). After rejecting a number of more costly and more Neptune (or to Pluto). As noted earlier, Voyager 1 was
ambitious missions proposed by JPL, NASA approved a launched more than two weeks after Voyager 2.
two-spacecraft Mariner Jupiter/Saturn Mission to take However, the flight to Uranus required a slower flyby of
partial advantage of this fortuitous planetary align- Saturn; Voyager 2’s flight to Jupiter and Saturn was
ment. The initial approval was for a 4 yr mission, therefore a few per cent slower than that of Voyager 1. It
including flybys of Jupiter and Saturn only by each of was prior knowledge of that fact that prompted the
the two Voyager spacecraft. The official project start ‘reverse numbering’ of Voyagers 2 and 1. Voyager 1
date was 1 July 1972, and launch was slated for the late encountered the planet Jupiter on 5 March, 1979. Voyager
summer of 1977. The mission was renamed Voyager 2 followed on 9 July of that same year. Voyagers 1 and 2
shortly after project start. (The name Voyager had pre- flew by Saturn on 12 November 1980 and 25 August
viously been selected by JPL for an unsuccessfully pro- 1981, respectively.
posed mission to Mars. The basic concepts of that Following Voyager 1’s successful flyby of Saturn,
earlier Voyager mission were essentially reproduced in which included a very close approach of Saturn’s largest
Table 1. Voyager Investigations and their Lead Scientists.

Investigation and acronym Lead Scientist Affiliation
Cosmic Ray Subsystem (CRS) Rochus E Vogt (1972–84) California Institute of Technology
Edward C Stonea (1984–) California Institute of Technology
Infrared Imaging Spectrograph Subsystem (IRIS) Rudolph A Hanel (1972–87) NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Barney J Conrath (1987–91) NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Imaging Science Subsystem (ISS) Bradford A Smith (1972–91) University of Arizona
Low Energy Charged Particles Subsystem (LECP) S M (Tom) Krimigis (1972–) APL, Johns Hopkins University
Magnetometer Subsystem (MAG) Norman F Ness (1972–) NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
and University of Delaware
Plasma Science Subsystem (PLS) Herbert S Bridge (1972–87) Massachusetts Inst. of Technology
John W Belcher (1987–97) Massachusetts Inst. of Technology
John D Richardson (1997–) Massachusetts Inst. of Technology
Photopolarimeter Subsystem (PPS) Charles F Lillie (1972–78) University of Colorado
Charles W Hord (1978–9) University of Colorado
Arthur L Lane (1979–91) NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Planetary Radio Astronomy Subsystem (PRA) James W Warwick (1972–91) Radiophysics, Incorporated
Plasma Wave Science Subsystem (PWS) Frederick L Scarf (1972–88) TRW Systems
Donald A Gurnett (1988–) University of Iowa
Radio Science Subsystem (RSS) Von R Eshleman (1972–8) Stanford University
G Leonard Tyler (1978–91) Stanford University
Ultraviolet Spectrometer Subsystem (UVS) A Lyle Broadfoot (1972–91) University of Southern California and
University of Arizona
a Note that Edward C Stone also served as Project Scientist from project start through the present time.

moon, TITAN, NASA gave approval for the Voyager Following a week of no command receipt by Voyager 2,
Project to target Voyager 2’s Saturn encounter for a con- a computer-stored failure algorithm automatically
tinuation on to Uranus. The transition between the pri- switched to the spacecraft’s backup receiver. It was soon
mary mission and the Voyager Uranus/Interstellar discovered that the backup receiver was ‘tone deaf’. In
Mission (VUIM) occurred on 1 October 1981. Similar other words, if the S-band signal arriving at the space-
approvals were given for subsequent portions of the craft differed by more than 96 Hz from the receiver’s
extended Voyager Missions. The Voyager frequency, it would not be detected. Factors such as the
Neptune/Interstellar Mission (VNIM) started 1 April velocity of the spacecraft and the rotation and revolution
1986; the Voyager Interstellar Mission (VIM) began 1 of the Earth would cause changes (due to Doppler shift-
October 1989. Because of Voyager 1’s close approach to ing of the transmitted radio signal) that easily exceeded
Titan, the spacecraft’s trajectory passed well south of 96 Hz. While adjustments in the transmitted S-band
Saturn. The massive gravity of Saturn pulled Voyager 1’s frequency could be made for the factors mentioned, inde-
path northward of the ecliptic and hence northward of terminate shifts in the central receiver frequency would
the orbits of Uranus, Neptune and PLUTO. However, the occur each time power usage (and hence temperature)
measurements Voyager 1 makes of interplanetary would change by more than a couple of watts. Power
charged particles and magnetic fields continue to be of changes were therefore minimized; when power usage
great interest to solar system scientists. Voyager 2 changes were necessary, a command moratorium of from
encountered Uranus on 24 January 1986, and Neptune on 24 to 72 h was honored, providing enough time to deter-
25 August 1989; like Voyager 1, its mission is now direct- mine the new receiver frequency. Voyager engineers
ed at interplanetary and interstellar measurements. became very proficient at dealing with this shortcoming
The intensive data collection periods surrounding of Voyager 2, and it never substantially limited the space-
each of the planetary encounters generally included craft’s capabilities.
about 3 months prior to closest approach and one month Another Voyager 2 hardware problem occurred dur-
thereafter. The first approximately two months of the ing the Saturn flyby. Voyagers 1 and 2 are three-axis sta-
encounter period constituted an ‘Observatory’ phase. bilized spacecraft. Except for brief periods of time, the 3.7
‘Far Encounter’ spanned the period from the end of the m wide high-gain communications antenna is kept
Observatory phase to about 1 day before closest pointed at Earth, and the star tracker is locked on a
approach. ‘Near Encounter’ generally lasted about 2 selected bright star. The cameras and spectrometers were
days, more or less centered on the closest approach to the then pointed at their targets by means of a steerable two-
relevant planet. A ‘Post Encounter’ of about 1 month con- degree-of-freedom scan platform. One of the two axes of
cluded each planetary encounter period. Each of these that scan platform seized about half an hour after
phases included two or three sequence computer ‘loads’, Voyager 2’s closest approach to Saturn. The problem was
which updated the central computer and sequencer traced to the migration of lubricant out of the gear train
(CCS) contents. The CCS would then control spacecraft during periods of heavy usage. Motion was restored a
activity, including recording to and playback of the digi- few days later. Careful study of the characteristics of the
tal tape recorder storage device. A full tape recorder failure, both from spacecraft engineering data and from
would hold the equivalent of about 100 full-resolution life tests on similar gear trains at JPL, enabled engineers
(i.e. uncompressed) images. to devise a usage plan that would avoid another seizure.
Because Voyager was designed to operate at great The scan platform operated flawlessly during the Uranus
distances from the Sun where solar panels were ineffec- and Neptune encounters.
tive, power was (and is) provided for each of the Voyager There are several examples of engineering ‘tricks’
spacecraft by means of radioisotope thermoelectric gen- that improved the Voyager science return. Normal limit
erators (RTGs). These ‘batteries’ generate electricity by cycle motion of the spacecraft was controlled within
transforming heat radiated by the natural decay of plu- 0.05° in each of the three spacecraft axes. Attitude
tonium dioxide. These batteries, which utilize non-fis- knowledge was provided by monitoring the Sun Sensor
sionable plutonium-238, are highly reliable and long and Star Tracker. Attitude control was accomplished by
lived, a perfect combination for a mission like Voyager. 200 ms bursts of hydrazine fuel through appropriate
The RTGs carried by each Voyager generated about 500 thruster jets. Using that scheme, the motion of the cam-
W of power at launch and are decreasing in output by era field of view across the sky was slower than the
about 5 W yr–1. This will permit them to continue to motion of an hour hand on a clock. Nevertheless, long
power the two spacecraft with usable amounts of exposures and low light levels demanded even slower
wattage until about the year 2020. rates. The Attitude and Articulation Control System
Communication with the spacecraft occurred via (AACS) aboard Voyager 2 was programmed to shorten
digitally modulated radio signals. Commands transmit- the thruster pulses, slowing the resultant rates across
ted from the ground occurred at S-band, near a frequen- the 0.05° deadband to less than 10% of the normal qui-
cy of 2113 MHz. Data were transmitted to the ground at escent rate, almost eliminating image smear in more
X-band, near a frequency of 8415 MHz. Early in its mis- than 90% of the images obtained at Uranus and
sion, the Voyager 2 primary radio receiver failed. Neptune.

Another scheme to reduce image smear involved Neptune (see below) offer additional clues. Excess heat
rotating the cameras at a rate that matched the apparent in the form of infrared energy escaping from each of the
motion of a nearby satellite (moon) during flyby of that four planets is also important in constraining models of
satellite. This scheme involved using onboard gyro- the interior.
scopes for attitude reference (instead of the Sun Sensor
and Star Tracker). The AACS was fooled by doctored Rings
data in the spacecraft computer into thinking the gyro- The Voyager spacecraft revealed the enormous amount
scopes were drifting. As the AACS compensated (as it of detail in the rings of Saturn, discovered the rings of
was designed to do) for this false ‘gyro drift’, it caused Jupiter and provided the first detailed images of the
the spacecraft to turn in a way that kept the cameras rings of Uranus and Neptune. Ring data from Voyager
pointed at the nearby moon without having to use the have raised even more questions on the nature of ring
(somewhat jerky) movement of the scan platform. This systems than they have answered. The answers to those
technique was first used to obtain unsmeared images of questions may be important to studies of the asteroid
Saturn’s moon Rhea and was particularly successful in belt, the Oort cloud of comets, galactic structure and
image sequences of Uranus’s moon MIRANDA, and clusters of galaxies within the universe.
Neptune’s moon TRITON.
The scientific findings of the Voyager Mission have Satellites
been the most notable of its contributions. The individual Voyager imaged Earth’s MOON. Three new satellites of
scientific articles based on Voyager data now number in Jupiter (Metis, Adrastea, and Thebe) were discovered in
the thousands, and Voyager data continue to be the Voyager data, and Voyager images were obtained of
source of detailed comparative studies of the giant plan- eight of Jupiter’s 16 known moons. Only the outer eight
ets and their rings, satellites and magnetospheres (the moons, all thought to be tiny captured asteroids, were
magnetic fields surrounding each of the giant planets missed. Voyager revealed active volcanoes on IO, an obvi-
and the electrically charged particle population trapped ously fractured and geologically young icy surface on
within or traversing those magnetic fields). EUROPA (first evidence of a global subsurface ocean), a
variegated array of surface structures on GANYMEDE and
Atmospheres and interiors an ancient cratered icy surface on CALLISTO. The sizes,
Voyagers 1 and 2 obtained the first detailed composition, masses, densities and reflectivities of the four Galilean
temperature and pressure profiles of the atmospheres of satellites were also measured, showing Ganymede to be
Saturn, Uranus and Neptune and improved our under- the solar system’s largest satellite, Europa to be the
standing of those characteristics of the atmosphere of brightest Galilean satellite and a decrease in bulk densi-
Jupiter, previously visited by Pioneers 10 and 11. The ty with increasing distance from the planet (presumably
GALILEO MISSION has dropped an instrumented probe into due to water depletion from the closer satellites due to
Jupiter’s atmosphere and completed its orbital mission heat from Jupiter).
around the solar system’s largest planet, improving on At Saturn, four new satellites (Pan, Atlas,
many of the measurements made by Voyagers 1 and 2. Prometheus and Pandora) were discovered in Voyager
Ulysses also completed a high-latitude flyby of Jupiter on data. These data also showed that Janus and Epimetheus,
its way to study the polar regions of the Sun (see SOLAR previously thought to be a single satellite, were actually
WIND: ULYSSES). The CASSINI/HUYGENS MISSION is designed two satellites with remarkably similar orbits. Three satel-
to make enormous improvements in our understanding lites (Telesto, Calypso and Helene) were discovered from
of Saturn’s atmosphere and interior as it circles the plan- Earth as a result of the increased interest in Saturn gen-
et for 4 yr starting 1 July 2004. However, for Uranus and erated by the approaching Voyager. Voyager revealed
Neptune, the Voyager in situ results and the high-resolu- that Titan was the solar system’s second largest satellite,
tion and high-phase-angle remote-sensing observations and the only one with a substantial atmosphere. Titan is
will probably remain unique for the foreseeable future. covered by a high atmospheric haze, which hides the sur-
Our understanding of the interiors of the giant plan- face from visible imaging. However, infrared and
ets is based largely on theoretical considerations. radiowave measurements penetrated to the surface of
However, there are many bits and pieces of information, this strange moon, which may be the only body in the
mostly from Voyager results, that serve to constrain the solar system (other than Earth) with both liquid and
range of viable models. Careful measurements of the solid material at its surface. Voyager obtained images of
paths of the Voyager spacecraft helped determine accu- all 18 known satellites of Saturn. These images revealed
rate measurements of the masses of the giant planets and a geologically young surface on ENCELADUS, erratic rota-
of their entire systems. Voyager determined the rotation tion for HYPERION and a remarkably sharp boundary
rates of the interiors of Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. between dark material on Iapetus’ leading face and
(Jupiter’s interior rotation rate was determined by bright material on its trailing face. Phoebe, apparently a
radiowave measurements made from Earth.) The orien- captured asteroid, was revealed to have the darkest sur-
tations of the strange magnetic fields of Uranus and face among Saturn’s satellites.

Voyager added 10 new satellites (Cordelia, Ophelia,

Bianca, Cressida, Desdemona, Juliet, Portia, Rosalind,
Belinda and Puck) to the five previously known at
Uranus. Miranda has unique surface features known as
coronae owing to their strange concentric patterns. Six
new satellites (Naiad, Thalassa, Despoina, Galatea,
Larissa and Proteus) were added to Neptune’s prior
repertoire of two. Triton was discovered to have nitrogen
ice, extremely cold temperatures (32 K), and geyser-like
plumes spewing dust through cracks in the icy surface.
Magnetospheres
Little was known about the magnetospheres of the giant
planets before the Voyager flybys. Pioneers 10 and 11, as
Voyager ‘pathfinders’, had made preliminary measure-
ments of Jupiter’s magnetosphere, and Pioneer 11
probed Saturn’s magnetosphere. Voyager made signifi-
cant improvements in those measurements and provided
the first measurements of the magnetospheres of Uranus
and Neptune. The magnetic fields of the latter two plan-
ets were found to be highly inclined to the planetary
rotation axes, something previously expected only for
certain stars.
The final frontier for Voyager is a search for the outer
edge of the heliosphere (the Sun’s magnetosphere).
Theoretical calculations show that the boundary should
be at a distance of between 80 and 120 astronomical units
(AU) (1 AU is the mean distance between Sun and Earth).
Voyager 1 crossed 80 AU in 2001; Voyager 2 reaches that
distance in 2006. Once Voyager 1 is beyond the helios-
phere, humanity will be able for the first time to sample
the magnetic fields and charged particles in the space
between the stars.
The two Voyager spacecraft are still sending back
data, 25 years after their launch. Voyager 1 is now the
most distant human-made object; in August 2002 it was
about 85 times as far from the Sun as the Earth and
Voyager 2 was about 68 times the Sun–Earth distance.
They are both continuing outwards at about 3 AU per
year (slightly more for Voyager 1 and slightly less for
Voyager 2). The Voyager team at JPL still receives infor-
mation almost daily from the Voyagers which are exam-
ining the far reaches of the solar wind.
Bibliography
A detailed pre-launch description of the Voyager mis-
sion, the spacecraft and the scientific investigations is
given in Space Science Reviews 21 pages 75–376 (1977).
Voyager scientific results have been chronicled in
multiple dedicated issues of Science, Nature, Icarus and
the Journal of Geophysical Research. They have also result-
ed in at least six separate many-hundred-page scientific
texts on planetary science published by The University of
Arizona Press.
Ellis D Miner

Vulcan E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
Vulcan
The name given to a hypothetical planet believed by
Urbain Le Verrier to exist within the orbit of Mercury.
At the request of François Arago, Le Verrier first studied
the orbit of Mercury in the early 1840s. He managed
to explain the greater part of the discrepancy between
its calculated and observed positions (the advance of its
perihelion) as being caused by gravitational perturbations
by the other planets. The residual discrepancy eluded
him, and he abandoned the problem as intractable. He
returned to it in 1859, having in the meantime successfully
predicted the existence of Neptune. Now he invoked
an intramercurial planet or asteroid belt as the cause of
Mercury’s irregularities. Shortly after, he heard that a
physician and amateur astronomer, Edmond Lescarbault,
had observed a small body in transit across the Sun’s disk.
Le Verrier examined Lescarbault’s observations closely
and, convinced they were genuine, announce the existence
of a new planet which he named Vulcan. Subsequent
sightings were reported but never confirmed. Vulcan is
now known not to exist.
See also: perihelion.

Vulpecula E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
Vulpecula
(the Fox; abbrev. Vul, gen. Vulpeculae; area 268 sq. deg.)
a northern constellation which lies between Cygnus and
Sagitta–Delphinus, and culminates at midnight in late July.
It was introduced as Vulpecula cum Ansere (the Fox and
Goose) by the astronomer Johannes Hevelius (1611–87) of
Danzig (Gdansk), who included it in his atlas Firmamentum
Sobiescianum sive Uranographia of 1687.
A small, inconspicuous constellation, the brightest
star in Vulpecula is α Vulpeculae, magnitude 4.4. The
Milky Way passes through Vulpecula and the constellation
contains a number of open star clusters and planetary
nebulae, including Cr 399 (Brocchi’s Cluster, the Coat-
hanger), which consists of about a dozen stars of
magnitudes 6–8, elongated east–west, NGC 6940, another
open cluster with about 100 stars fainter than ninth
magnitude, and M27 (NGC 6853), the Dumbbell Nebula,
an eighth-magnitude planetary nebula.

W M Keck Observatory ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
W M Keck Observatory
The W M Keck Observatory, located on the island of
Hawaii, operates the world’s two largest optical/infrared
telescopes, each with a primary mirror 10 m in diameter,
near the 4200 m summit of Mauna Kea. Made possible
through grants totaling more than $140 million from the
W M Keck Foundation, the observatory is operated by
the California Institute of Technology, the University of
California and the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration (NASA), which joined the partnership in
October 1996. The Keck I telescope began science
observations in May 1993; Keck II in October 1996.
A staff of 80 scientists, engineers, technicians and
support personnel operate the observatory whose
administrative facility is located in Waimea, Hawaii, and
whose mission is to provide a world-class research
facility for astronomers from Caltech, University of
California, NASA and the University of Hawaii. Over
400 astronomers per year are involved with observations
from the Keck telescopes, which are carried out from
Waimea via a fiber-optic link to the summit of Mauna
Kea.
The Keck telescopes employ a unique segmented
design for their primary mirrors: 36 1.8 m diameter
hexagonal segments are fitted together like a floor-tile
mosaic to form each primary, the segments being aligned
with respect to each to a tolerance of one-millionth of an
inch under computer control. This expandable technology
is that most likely to be adopted for the giant telescopes
being planned for the 21st century.
A $55 million project funded by NASA is aimed at
joining the two Kecks, along with four 1.8 m ‘outrigger’
telescopes, as an infrared interferometric array to achieve
unprecedented angular resolution, by the year 2003.
The first test observation obtained by linking the two
Keck 10 m telescopes was made on 12 March 2001.
Light from HD61294, a faint star in the constellation
Lynx, was captured by both Keck telescopes. The
collected light waves were combined and processed with
a beam combiner and camera. To phase the two
telescopes properly, adaptive optics on both telescopes
removed the distortion caused by the Earth’s atmosphere.
In addition, the optical system in the tunnel adjusted the
light path to within a millionth of an inch.
Major discoveries from this young observatory
include: the discovery of several planetary systems
around other stars; the identification of gamma-ray
bursters as being at cosmological distances; the discovery
of the most distant objects in the universe; the
measurement via supernova observations of the apparent
acceleration of the universe.
http://www2.keck.hawaii.edu:3636/.

Wallenquist, Åke Anders Edvard (1904–94) E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
Wallenquist, Åke Anders Edvard

(1904–94)
Swedish astronomer, worked at the Bosscha Observatory
in Indonesia and became professor in Uppsala at the
Kvistaberg Observatory. He worked on double stars and
open star clusters.

Ward, Seth (1617–89) E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
Ward, Seth (1617–89)

Born in Aspenden, Hertfordshire, became Savilian
Professor of Astronomy at Oxford, formulated an ‘empty
focus’ alternative to KEPLER’s law of areas. (A planet moved
with uniform angular velocity around the empty focus of
its ellipse.)

Warner & Swasey Observatory E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
Warner & Swasey Observatory

Located at Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas, home
of the Warner & Swasey 29 cm refractor. Built in the late
1800s, the telescope was displayed at the 1912 World’s Fair,
then acquired by Washburn College. Crane Observatory
was built on campus to house the telescope. The Warner &
Swasey survived a tornado in the 1960s. During telescope
refurbishment, which was completed in 1998, all of the
original parts were retained.
http://www.icstars.com/warner swasey/wsmain.htm.

Warner, Worcester Reed (1846–1929) E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
Warner, Worcester Reed (1846–1929)

American mechanical engineer, designed the 36 in
telescope for the Lick Observatory and built telescopes for
Canada and Argentina. With AMBROSE SWASEY he established
a machine manufacturing company, and established the
Warner & Swasey Observatory.

Water Cycle E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
Water Cycle • Its density is maximal at 4 ◦ C, permitting ice to float over

liquid water: freezing and warming of water bodies
The Earth’s water cycle is the endless circulation of water occur from the top, progressive freezing of the whole
on a planetary scale, from ocean to continent through ocean being avoided.
the atmosphere and back to the ocean, under the driving • Its low viscosity makes it a very mobile liquid, able to
influence of solar energy and gravity. This main cycle in occupy all the space available, even within very small
fact consists of many overlapping loops and branches at pores, and its surface tension allows soil water retention
all scales, involving more or less durable storage, more or by capillarity against gravity, by which vegetation can
less rapid transfers, more or less intense transformations persist between two rainfalls.
between water phases. Because of this complexity, it was
only in the late 16th and 17th centuries that the concepts of • Water molecules present several isotopic combinations,
water cycle and balance arose, with the pioneering work whose relative abundances provide very useful (pa-
of B Palissy, P Perrault, E Mariotte and E Halley founding leo)thermometers and tracers of the water’s origins.
scientific hydrology. Earth is a system approximately
Origin and uniqueness of water on the Earth
closed for water but largely open for energy. The particular
Earth, the ‘blue planet’, is unique within the solar system
properties of water together with the strong coupling
by the presence in great abundance of water in its three
between water and energy cycles regulate the Earth’s mean
phases.
temperature and shape weather and climate patterns and
The Jovian planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune)
their fluctuations (see CLIMATE). The water cycle interacts
are composed of light elements, including hydrogen and
also strongly with most biogeochemical cycles, with long-
helium, and most of their satellites contain a large fraction
term environmental feedbacks. Human activities have
of water ice, because of the very cold conditions prevailing
an increasing impact on the water cycle and the coupled
so far from the Sun. The Jovian satellite Europa, in
fluxes, with some alarming consequences for the quantity
addition, might contain a water ocean below its icy crust.
and quality of water resources.
In the Telluric planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars)
constituted of heavy elements, water was partly outgassed
Properties of water
by tectonic and volcanic activity and partly brought by
Water (H2 O) is a very stable molecule (covalent link),
impacts of meteorites of asteroidal or cometary origin. The
which has very specific physicochemical properties,
fate of water in the Telluric planets has differed largely
mostly because of its dipolar structure and the related according to the very different temperature and pressure
hydrogen link between molecules. These properties conditions prevailing on each planet, mostly as a result of
explain its multiform importance within the Earth’s their distances from the Sun (figure 1).
hydrosphere and its four main functions as resource, While Mercury no longer has an atmosphere and
agent, vector and biotope. probably still contains only a little ice in cold regions,
• Its three phases (solid, liquid, vapor) are present within on Venus the thick carbon dioxide atmosphere is much
too hot for water condensation because of a strong
a relatively small range of temperature, corresponding
greenhouse effect, and most outgassed water vapor was
to the temperature range observed on the Earth.
subsequently photodissociated (photolysis) (see VENUS).
• Its very high latent heats of vaporization (2.454 MJ kg−1 Mars is currently cold and dry because of its thin carbon
at 20 ◦ C) and fusion (0.334 MJ kg−1 ) play a major role in dioxide atmosphere, but there is much geomorphological
the heat transfer by water through the atmosphere. evidence of past water-related erosion, and some limited
• Its high specific heat and low thermal conductivity make water is probably still contained in permafrost and ice
water bodies very good thermal regulators and water caps (see MARS). Earth is the only planet where the
fluxes very good heat convectors: oceans play a major three water phases coexist: a greenhouse effect due
role in heat storage and transfer. to the presence of water vapor and carbon dioxide in
its atmosphere has maintained temperature conditions
• Water vapor absorbs most of the infrared and ultraviolet permitting the condensation of very huge amounts of
radiation but is transparent to visible radiation;
outgassed water, and therefore the development of life.
atmospheric vapor leads to the ‘greenhouse effect’,
Uniformly distributed over the whole planet’s surface, the
while liquid water and solid water have contrasting
depth of all the water on Earth would amount to about
reflectivities. These radiative properties are central to
3000 m, as compared with rough estimates of about 200 m
the thermal budget of the Earth (see GREENHOUSE EFFECT).
for Mars and 0.20 m for Venus.
• Because of its high dielectric constant, water is an
excellent solvent, able to alter most minerals: natural Main reservoirs and fluxes
waters are in fact more or less dilute aqueous solutions, The total amount of water within the Earth’s hydrosphere
providing nutrients to aquatic life and contributing (that is, above and within the upper 2 km of the crust)
by their movement to the redistribution of substances; can be considered as constant, even though there are
water can also combine with many substances. very small net water exchanges with both space (loss by

10,000
1,000
100 ICE Venus

PRESSURE (atm)
10 WATER
Jupiter
1 Earth
0.1 Uranus ICE WATER VAPOR
0.01 Mars triple point
0.001 ICE
Mercury ( daylight side)

0.0001
-200 -100 0 100 200 300 400 500
TEMPERATURE (°C)
Figure 1. Planetary positions on the phase diagram of water. Adapted from National Research Council (1991). Reproduced by
permission of National Academy of Sciences.
diffusion, gain by icy comets) and the Earth’s mantle (loss residence time is short for rivers (about 18 days) and
by subduction, gain by volcanic activity), where there is much longer for lakes (up to 1000 yr).
a much slower tectonic water cycle. This huge amount of • Biomass contains only 0.0001% of total water, but the
water (about 1386 million km3 , of which only 2.5% is fresh high water content (>70%) of most plants and living
water) is stored in several main interconnected reservoirs organisms is renewed within a few hours or days.
differing by the volume and quality (salt, fresh) of the
water they contain. The fluxes they permanently exchange The atmosphere stores 0.001% of total water, mostly as
within the water cycle control their renewal rates, which vapor. Liquid and solid phases are also present in clouds,
differ largely according to their size and the water phase which cover more than 60% of Earth’s surface on average.
they store. Current estimates of global storages and mean Atmospheric water corresponds to an equivalent height
annual fluxes are still affected by rather large uncertainties of only 26 mm but is frequently and rapidly renewed in
especially for groundwater (compare for instance values 9 days, ensuring an intense recycling of water.
in table 1, table 2 and figure 2). The global water cycle presents two main intercon-
The largest reservoir is by far the world ocean, which nected loops of different intensity (figure 2).
covers 71% of the 510 million km2 of Earth’s surface with a • Ocean and atmosphere exchange large fluxes: the ocean
mean depth of 3700 m. It contains 96.5% of all the water, as loses much water by evaporation (434 000 km3 yr−1 ;
salt water, and has a long mean residence time of 2500 yr. 1202 mm yr−1 ), a flux only limited by the energy
Continents store the remaining 3.5% of water in available. Most of this flux returns directly to the ocean
several main reservoirs with a very large range of sizes by precipitation (398 000 km3 yr−1 ; 1102 mm yr−1 ).
and renewal rates.
• Continent and atmosphere exchange fluxes that are
• Ice caps, glaciers and permanent snow cover store 1.74% smaller because less water is available: precipitation
on continents (107 000 km3 yr−1 ; 719 mm yr−1 )
of total water over 3% of Earth’s surface (essentially in
is in great part compensated by evapotranspiration
the Antarctic). This solid phase represents 69% of all
(71 000 km3 yr−1 ; 477 mm yr−1 )—that is, water
fresh water, with a very long residence time in ice caps
evaporated from the land surface and transpirated by
(104 yr).
vegetation.
• Groundwaters within the upper 2 km of the Earth’s
• The water balances of both loops are equilibrated by
crust contain about 1.7% of total water (45% only as
the fluxes they exchange: vapor flux in excess from the
fresh water), with very variable residence time (1–
ocean (36 000 km3 yr−1 ; 100 mm yr−1 ) is transported
103 yr) according to their depth and the porous media
by atmospheric circulation over continents, while an
properties. Soil moisture accounts for 0.001% only. equivalent flux of precipitation excess on the continent
• Surface water (lakes,rivers, swamps) represents only (36 000 km3 yr−1 ; 242 mm yr−1 ) returns to the ocean by
0.01% of all water, most as fresh water. The mean gravity as surface and subsurface runoff.

Table 1. Water reserves on the Earth.

Distribution Water Water Proportion
area volume depth of total water Residence
Reservoir (103 km2 ) (103 km3 ) (m) (%) time
World ocean 361 200 1 338 000 3700 96.5 2500 yr
Glaciers, permanent snow 16 230 24 064 1463 1.74 Up to 104 yr
Antarctic 13 980 21 600
Groundwater (upper 2 km) 134 800 23 400 174 1.7 Up to 103 yr
Fresh water 10 530 78 0.76
Soil moisture 16.5 0.2 0.001 Days–months
Ground ice–permafrost 21 000 300 14 0.022
Lakes 2 060 176.4 85.7 0.013 Up to 103 yr
Fresh 91
Saline 85.4
Swamps 2 680 11.5 4.3 0.0008
Rivers 148 800 2.12 0.014 0.0002 18 days
Biomass 510 000 1.12 0.002 0.0001 Hours–days
Atmosphere 510 000 12.9 0.025 0.001 9 days
Total water reserves 510 000 1 386 000 2718 100
Total fresh water 148 800 35 029 235 2.53
Adapted from Shiklomanov (1993).
Table 2. Estimates of mean annual water fluxes at global scale.
National Research
Council (1991) Shiklomanov (1998)
Water flux km3 yr−1 mm yr−1 km3 yr−1 mm yr−1

Ocean
Evaporation 434 000 1202 502 800 1392
Precipitation 398 000 1102 458 000 1268
Advection to continent 36 000 100 44 800 124
Continent
Precipitation 107 000 719 119 000 800
Endorheic areas 9 000
Exorheic areas 110 000
Evapotranspiration 71 000 477 74 200 499
Endorheic areas 9 000
Exorheic areas 65 200
Runoff to ocean 36 000 242 44 800 301
From rivers 42 700
From groundwater 2 100
Total
Evaporation 505 000 990 577 000 1131
Precipitation 505 000 990 577 000 1131
Endorheic/exorheic areas: not connected/connected to the ocean.
Globally precipitation and evaporation fluxes are and the environmental factors controlling them (see SPACE-
equal and amount to 505 000 km3 yr−1 (990 mm yr−1 ). BASED OBSERVATIONS OF THE EARTH).
In the intertropical zone, where solar energy is
Space and time variations maximal, the redistribution of water and energy within
Mean global values of storage and annual fluxes in fact the atmosphere is ensured by the rather stable vertical
mask very large variations at different scales in both time circulation within the Hadley cells generated by large
and space. Variations in evaporation (E), precipitation vertical contrasts in temperature, in the absence of a strong
(P ) and the resulting continental runoff are mainly due Coriolis effect. In the equatorial zone, the convergence of
to seasonal and latitudinal variations in solar energy trade wind systems generates the uplift (low pressure) of
modulated by seasonal thermal contrasts between ocean warm air moistened by high evaporation from the ocean:
and continent (figures 3 and 4). An observation network this results in heavy convective precipitation exceeding
and remote sensing mainly from satellites help to assess the local evaporation, which is reduced by frequent cloud
and monitor the variability of water storages and fluxes cover (P > 2000 mm yr−1 , E < 1600 mm yr−1 ). Inversely,

TERRESTRIAL ATMOSPHERE MARINE ATMOSPHERE

4.5 11
Wind
36
Precipitation Evaporation &

107 Transpiration
71
Precipitation Evaporation
BIOMASS
ICE & SNOW 2 398 434
43,400
SURFACE WATER
360
Runoff
(River, etc...) OCEAN MIXED LAYER 50,000
UNDERGROUND WATER 1,400,000
15,300 36
THERMOCLINE 450,000
ABYSSAL 890,000
LAND OCEAN
Reservoirs, volumes in 103 km3 Total Reservoir Volume = 1.46 x 109 km3
Fluxes in 103 km3 yr-1
Figure 2. The water cycle at a global scale. Adapted from National Research Council (1991). Reproduced by permission of National
Academy of Sciences.
subsidence of warm and dry air (high pressure) in the While rapid surface currents are mainly induced by the
subtropical zones favors evaporation, which exceeds local prevailing surface winds, slow deep currents are mainly
precipitation (P < 1200 mm yr−1 , E > 1800 mm yr−1 ). due to differences in water density (depending on water
In the mid-latitude zones (between 30◦ and 60◦ ), the temperature and salinity). This thermohaline circulation
redistribution of water and energy from tropics to poles generates the oceanic ‘heat conveyor belt’: in its main
is rather organized horizontally, through successions of branch, cold dense water sinks in the Norwegian Sea, flows
unstable eddies moving from west to east and generated as deep water through the Atlantic ocean to the Indian and
by horizontal contrasts in temperature and by the Coriolis Pacific oceans where it warms and wells up and returns to
effect: cyclonic depressions provide precipitation, while the North Atlantic as dilute surface water in about 1000 yr.
dry anticyclonic conditions favor evaporation. At high On continents, where evapotranspiration is limited by
latitudes, because of minimal solar energy and subsidence water rather than energy, the climate pattern exhibits still
of cold and dry air (high pressure) precipitation and more contrast, with warm deserts belts (P < 300 mm yr−1 )
evaporation are very low (only a few mm yr−1 at the in the dry subtropical zones. This pattern is disturbed by
poles). In the extratropical zones, precipitation generally other factors depending on the position, size and shape of
exceeds evaporation, but, while evaporation decreases each continent, whose cumulative effects result in a very
rather regularly toward the poles, precipitation presents large range of mean continental precipitation (from almost
in the mid-latitude zone a maximum (P > 1200 mm yr−1 ) 0 to 12 000 mm yr−1 ).
associated with the depression systems.
This latitudinal climate zonation is most clearly • Ocean–continent interactions: in the tropical zone, the
observed on the ocean, where evaporation is only limited western coasts of continents receive less precipitation
by the energy available. Differences in water (P − E) and than the eastern coasts, which are supplied by easterly
energy balances associated with each climatic zone also trade winds carrying much moisture evaporated from
generate a salinity pattern at the ocean surface (increasing the tropical ocean—for instance in the Amazonian basin.
by sea-water evaporation and freezing, decreasing by • Continentality effect, especially in the middle latitude
precipitation and sea-ice melting). Redistribution of zones: precipitation on continents decreases from west
water, heat and solutes within the world ocean is to east, because of a progressive drying of air mass.
ensured by large-scale circulations and eddies (see OCEANS). Precipitation is more than 600 mm yr−1 in temperate

90° N
60°N
over sea
mm.yr-1
2000
30°N 1600
1200
800
400
0°
over land
mm.yr-1
30°S 1000
800
600
400
60°S 200
90°S
180°W 120°W 60°W 0° 60°E 120°E 180°E
Figure 3. Global distribution of mean annual evaporation. Adapted from Robinson and Henderson-Sellers (1999). Reproduced by
permission of Pearson Education.
90° N
60°N
30°N
mm.yr-1
3000
0° 2000
1000
500
250
30°S
60°S
90°S
180°W 120°W 60°W 0° 60°E 120°E 180°E
Figure 4. Global distribution of mean annual precipitation. Adapted from Robinson and Henderson-Sellers (1999). Reproduced by
permission of Pearson Education.

Western Europe, less than 100 mm yr−1 in continental of relatively short floods separated by longer recession
Kazakhstan. periods—with the extreme case of ephemeral streams.
• Orographic effect: mountain ranges on continents, Runoff variations are controlled by the time and space
islands in oceans, act as barriers to dominant humid variabilities of precipitation and evaporation, which are
air mass. The windward side receives much more very different. Precipitations are usually episodic and
orographic precipitation than the leeward side—as is intermittent, more or less concentrated during rainy
the case for the Western Cordillera in North America or seasons and irregularly distributed in space, while the
the Hawaiian Islands. energy available for evapotranspiration is much more
regularly and continuously distributed but more affected
These mean annual spatial patterns are modulated by diurnal and seasonal cycles. Evaporation intensity,
by diurnal and seasonal variations in insolation or longer- which is limited by the insolation, varies within a
term fluctuations. much smaller range (0–10 mm day−1 ) than precipitation
intensity, whose maximal recorded local values are greater
• At high altitudes as at high latitudes, a great part of than 40 mm in 1 min, 400 mm in 1 h, 1900 mm in 1
winter precipitation falls as snow, forming a seasonal or day, 26 000 mm in 1 yr. Precipitation is often buffered
even permanent snow cover affecting both water and seasonally in snow cover and glacier at high latitudes or
energy cycles. altitudes, while evapotranspiration depletes soil moisture
• Slight seasonal fluctuations of the Hadley cells around and is often reduced by summer water stress. The
the equator explain the alternation of rain and dry interannual variability is much larger for precipitation
seasons in the tropical zone. than for evapotranspiration. There is a large variety
of river runoff regimes as a result of combinations of
• Seasonal variations in thermal contrasts between ocean precipitation and evaporation regimes on their basins.
and continent also explain the monsoon, providing
huge amounts of summer precipitation to the Indian Water cycle on the basin scale
subcontinent. As the oceanic and atmospheric branches of the water
• Multiannual fluctuations can also occur in the ocean– cycle are presented elsewhere (see OCEANS and EARTH’S
atmosphere system—as for instance the ‘El Niño ATMOSPHERE), only its continental branch is detailed here,
Southern Oscillation’ (ENSO) affecting the Pacific but especially on the basin scale. A basin (or catchment)
having dramatic effects on the water balance of the is defined as the total drainage area of a river at some
whole tropical zone. specified outlet. Catchments, which can be defined at any
scale and in any environment, are functional units very
In the much longer term (10–104 yr), cyclic variations useful for both the study and the management of water
in solar activity and Earth’s orbital variations modify resources.
the insolation and the seasonal contrasts between both The water balance of a catchment expresses the
hemispheres, and therefore the climate and water principle of water conservation: the incident precipitation
cycle patterns. Ice caps and oceanic sediments is redistributed between runoff, evapotranspiration and
provide paleoclimatic archives allowing us to date such water storage within the catchment, through a competition
fluctuations and characterize their hydrological impact, between three main sources of energy and driving
especially during the past glaciation–deglaciation cycles. forces: (1) gravity, which controls most flows of liquid
Precipitation generally exceeds evaporation on con- and solid water and depends mainly on topography
tinents, but both are lower than on oceans at the same and morphometry; (2) the evaporative demand of the
latitude, because less energy (higher albedo) and water atmosphere, which controls vapor fluxes and depends
(unsaturated soils) are available on continents. Water in on energy input (radiative, advective) and climatic
excess within continental basins is collected by aquifer and conditions; (3) capillarity, which controls soil water
river networks and returns in great part to the ocean as retention and depends on the pore size distribution. At
river runoff, with inputs spatially concentrated at the river any point and any time, the dominant form of energy and
mouths. The relative contribution to total river runoff to thus the dominant component in the water balance depend
oceans is 16% for the Amazon alone, 27% for the five major on soil moisture conditions.
river systems (draining 10% of continental areas) and 50% There is a large variety of surface and subsurface
for the 50 major rivers, while 40% of river runoff is con- processes and pathways governing the hydrological
centrated in the equatorial region (flowing mainly into the response of a catchment to water and energy inputs from
Atlantic). Endorheic basins, that are not connected to the the atmosphere. They result in a strong vertical and
ocean, represent 22% of continental areas (mainly in dry lateral redistribution and recycling of precipitated water
regions): runoff disappears by infiltration or accumulates within a catchment. The main fluxes (evapotranspiration,
in closed lakes and seas, where water evaporates—as in groundwater recharge, streamflow) are usually generated
Lake Chad or the Aral Sea. simultaneously or successively by several processes,
River runoff varies during the year with usually a whose combinations are very variable in time and space.
strong seasonality of high and low flows, and successions They are indeed controlled by local characteristics and

variations of atmospheric inputs, by the water storage (liquid or solid water to vapor), which consumes much
and transfer properties of the various compartments and energy (radiative or thermal), and a turbulent vapor
their geometry. Because of many functional thresholds, transfer within the air, which increases with air saturation
catchment response is usually highly non-linear, much deficit and wind speed. Transpiration of the vegetation
depending on initial water conditions. is the vaporization within leaf stomata of the sap flow
After some interception by vegetation, precipitation extracted from soil by roots. Evapotranspiration is limited
reaches the soil surface: snow remains stored on the by the water and energy availability: evaporation of
surface until it melts, while rain infiltrates into the soil and free water (wet vegetation, surface water, groundwater)
recharges its water storage. When soil moisture exceeds depends on the available energy only, while capillary
some threshold depending on both soil texture and retention makes water in unsaturated soil less and less
structure, water percolates further vertically to recharge available when soil dries out. During dry periods
groundwater. Biological activity, soil cracks and bedrock transpiration, which exploits water within the whole
fissures, chemical dissolution (karstic cave systems,) root zone, lasts much longer than evaporation, which
often create networks of non-capillary macropores, which affects the soil top layer only. Stomatal regulation limits
provide preferential pathways for free water, bypassing transpiration in dry soil conditions, to avoid vegetation
the less permeable bedrock or soil matrix. If the wilting.
percolating flux exceeds the hydraulic conductivity of Any catchment presents a functional, spatial and
some subsurface layer, water in excess forms a perched temporal organization, because of the non-uniform and
groundwater or flows laterally as hypodermic interflow. non-random distributions of the hydrological processes,
Groundwater flows are essentially lateral and controlled factors and inputs: (1) at each point, process activation
by the conductivity of the porous media and the slope of or deactivation results from a balance between water
the piezometric surface (which is the water table slope supply from above and local water storage or transfer
for unconfined aquifers). If the water table is shallow, capacities; (2) spatio-temporal variations of factors lead
precipitation can create locally rapid groundwater ridging to some recurrence of conditions favorable or unfavorable
by saturating its capillary fringe. to each process in some areas of variable extent and
If precipitation intensity exceeds the infiltrability some periods of variable duration; (3) these variable
(depending on surface conditions), the soil surface is active areas and periods are also contributing areas to
saturated from above: water in excess accumulates in main outfluxes only if they are hydraulically connected
small depressions, then flows as diffuse surface runoff. to the catchment boundaries. Because of many possible
If subsurface lateral flows exceed locally a threshold interactions and processes, zones of interface between
depending on soil slope, depth and conductivity, soil atmosphere, vegetation and soil, or between surface water
surface is saturated from below: the excess flux exfiltrates and groundwater are very sensitive to any change.
as return surface flow. Precipitation on already saturated
areas also tends to flow as surface runoff. Whatever Coupled water, energy and matter cycles
its generating process (infiltration–excess, exfiltration, Water and energy cycles are intimately coupled in the
saturation–excess), surface runoff tends to concentrate in atmospheric and oceanic general circulations, controlling
small rills to reach the stream channel but can also infiltrate the radiation and energy balances at both global and local
downslope, depending on local surface topography, scales, and carrying energy from equator to poles and
roughness and infiltrability. water from ocean to continent.
Surface and subsurface processes contribute to • Atmospheric water vapor maintains a rather high
streamflow, provided that the generated fluxes are temperature at Earth’s surface by a ‘greenhouse effect’,
connected to a stream channel. While the slow drainage while the net solar radiation on surfaces is reduced by
of groundwater and soil water supplies stream baseflow an ‘albedo effect’ depending on water phase and content
between successive rainy events, floods are generated and generating local thermal contrasts: reflection is very
by rapid surface and subsurface flows and by direct high for low clouds and ice or snow cover, low for
precipitation on the river. Streamflow is routed downward water bodies and higher for dry bare soils than for moist
as a turbulent flux controlled by the bed slope and vegetated soils.
roughness. Within the channel network, it increases
at each confluence, decreases at each diffluence and • At evaporation sites, cooling occurs by vaporization
accumulates in lakes and artificial reservoirs. Along the consuming much energy (solar radiation, sensible heat),
channel, streamwater and groundwater exchange fluxes which is stored as latent heat in the water vapor;
whose direction and intensity depend on their water both are transported within the atmosphere by vertical
levels and the bed’s conductivity. Flooding occurs when convection and lateral advection to the precipitation
streamflow exceeds some threshold fixed by the bed sites where warming occurs by condensation releasing
geometry. the latent heat as sensible heat in the atmosphere.
Both surface and shallow subsurface waters are • Huge amounts of energy are stored as sensible heat in
subject to evapotranspiration, returning water vapor to ocean water and transported from warm to cold regions
the atmosphere. Evaporation combines a phase change by ocean currents (for instance the great ‘heat conveyor

belt’): the ocean acts as a thermal regulator, tempering Humans and water
also seasonal climatic contrasts in many continental Water is an essential part of humanity’s environment: it
regions. is one of the most important natural resources for human
life and activities; it is also a risk factor because of human
Water and matter cycles are also strongly coupled. vulnerability to water-related hazards such as floods
On continents, water is a powerful agent of transforma- and droughts, avalanches and landslides, waterborne
tion and vector of material, depending on climate, topog- diseases and toxicities. Humankind has therefore always
raphy, bedrock and soil types and vegetation cover. Wa- attempted to regulate the availability of water resources
ter in porous media (rocks, soils) increases their weath- and to protect itself against such risks. Human activities
ering by low-temperature biogeochemical alteration and have also many other major impacts on the water cycle
mechanical fragmentation and reduces their mechanical and the coupled fluxes, directly by modifying continental
resistance. Surface flows of water, snow and ice gener- surfaces and altering water quality and indirectly through
ate soil and river bed erosion and carry downward the the climate changes they could provoke. While the water
eroded material, while subsurface flows transport solutes resources available tend to decrease, there is a rapid
washed out of the soil matrix and favor mass movements increase in water demand by several uses competing for
on slopes (landslides, solifluxion). At river outlets, the limited resources. The struggle for water is becoming a
ocean receives large amounts of fresh water and its so- major source of regional conflicts, which could be avoided
lute and particulate load, which modify locally its salinity only by a strong international collaboration in order to
and induce mixing processes. These point inputs of matter increase the necessary solidarities between upstream and
from continents contribute to compensate for the chemical downstream regions.
precipitation and mechanical sedimentation occurring in Very fast population growth and economic develop-
the ocean and to maintain constant its mean salinity. Trans- ment have dramatically increased in recent decades the
port of material by water is still much more discontinu- demand for high-quality fresh water, which is at present
ous and irregular than water flow, with many possible cy- estimated to be about 3750 km3 yr−1 : about 2/3 for ir-
cles of erosion–sedimentation, dissolution–precipitation, rigated agriculture (providing 50% of food production),
concentration–dilution. Evaporation and freezing tend to 1/4 for industrial production and 1/10 for domestic use.
concentrate water solutions, while precipitation and melt- Because of their easy accessibility, rivers, lakes and su-
ing tend to dilute them, even though precipitated water perficial aquifers are the main sources of renewable fresh
can reach high concentrations in some elements through water resources. Evaluated by the difference between con-
tinental precipitation and evapotranspiration rates, cur-
the washing out of the atmosphere. As a result, water
rent mean global estimations of renewable fresh water re-
quality varies all along the different branches of the water
sources vary between 36 000 and 45 000 km3 yr−1 , about
cycle. In the long term, water activity modifies the land-
95% as river runoff and 5% as groundwater. This global
scape, with some possible feedback on water pathways
amount is much larger than the present demand, and
and flows.
should also largely meet the expected increase of about
Since life originated in the ocean about 3.4 billion 10% each 10 yr. Technological development should help
years ago, water is essential in the biosphere also, where reducing water demand.
its cycle is strongly coupled with other biogeochemical Unfortunately, these resources are very unevenly
cycles. Water is the main component of biomass distributed throughout the year and present large
and is involved in major metabolic reactions such as variations from year to year, as shown by the intense
photosynthesis and respiration. In terrestrial ecosystems, Sahelian drought during the 1970s. They are also
the redistribution within plants of nutrients extracted by very unevenly distributed over continents, with patterns
roots is ensured by the sap flow induced by transpiration, that do not match the spatial distribution of population
and the development of vegetation modifies the surface and economic activities. Significant fresh water deficit
water and energy properties. Vegetation maps reflect already occurs in many regions, affecting their social and
well at all scales the patterns of climate and water economic development: 35% of the world’s population
balance—as can be clearly seen in Africa, with the has very low or catastrophically low water supplies (for
latitudinal succession of equatorial rain forest, tropical instance in North Africa) and 75% lives in regions where
savanna, semi-arid steppe and subtropical desert. In water use exceeds 20% of available renewable water
aquatic ecosystems, which have some ability for self- resources, leading to a mining-type exploitation of deeper
purification, fresh, brackish or salt water bodies are groundwaters, which rapidly become depleted because
biotopes for many living organisms linked in complex of their much lower renewal rates. Disparity in water
trophic chains, structured according to the vertical resources, population growth and economic development
and horizontal patterns of water’s physicochemical already generates a very large inequality in fresh water
parameters. Continental wetlands, estuaries and coastal availability per person: more than 500 l day−1 in developed
regions are aquatic interface ecosystems very sensitive to countries, less than 50 l day−1 in some arid regions. Water
any change in water quality and supply. supply is already one of the key issues for humankind.

Human activity also has a rapidly increasing P H Gleick (Oxford: Oxford University Press) pp 13–
impact on the natural behavior of most hydrosystems. 24
River and aquifer regimes are often severely modified Shiklomanov I A 1998 World Water Resources: a New
by water intake for irrigation, artificial reservoirs Appraisal and Assessment for the 21st Century (Paris:
regulating discharge, or massive water exchanges between UNESCO)
basins. Large-scale changes in land use (reafforestation– Shiklomanov I A (ed) World Water Resources at the
deforestation, urbanization, wetland drainage, field Beginning of the 21st Century (IHP Monograph) (Paris:
management) have deeply affected the precipitation UNESCO) in preparation
redistribution between evapotranspiration, surface runoff Zebidi H (ed) 1998 Water: a Looming Crisis? Proc. Int.
and groundwater recharge. Irrigation with poor-quality Conf. on World Water Resources at the Beginning of the
water has generated soil salinization in many arid regions. 21st Century (Paris, 3–6 June 1998) (IHP-V Technical
The discharge in river courses of untreated domestic and Documents in Hydrology No 18) (Paris: UNESCO)
industrial wastewater as well as groundwater recharge
by polluted irrigation-excess waters have also drastically
Bruno Ambroise and Michel Vauclin
depleted water quality, further reducing the availability of
good-quality fresh water. In the longer term, the possible
global warming due to the anthropogenic increase in
atmospheric carbon dioxide is likely to alter precipitation
volume and seasonality, especially in arid regions, and
to raise the sea level because of ocean thermal dilatation
and ice cap melting: this would submerge many coastal
lowland regions, which are among the most densely
populated.
Conclusions
The water cycle is very complex at all scales, because of the
numerous physical, chemical and biological processes in-
volved and the high spatial and temporal heterogeneities
of the controlling factors. Despite much progress recently
achieved thanks to large interdisciplinary scientific collab-
orations and international effort to develop measurement
and observation networks, there is still much to be done
to understand and model all feedbacks and interactions
with coupled energy and matter cycles. Impacts of in-
creasing anthropic change and possible climate change on
water cycle and resources are therefore still difficult to an-
alyze and predict with some confidence. Nevertheless, the
growing awareness of the numerous interactions control-
ling the water cycle and the scarcity and fragility of fresh
water resources should contribute to improve the protec-
tion and management of both surface and subsurface wa-
ter resources and the control of long-term effects of human
activities on the Earth’s water cycle. It is crucial for the fu-
ture of both humankind and the ‘blue planet’.
Bibliography
Dingman S L 1994 Physical Hydrology (Englewood Cliffs,
NJ: Prentice-Hall)
Gleick P H (ed) 1993 Water in Crisis—a Guide to the World’s
Fresh Water Resources (Oxford: Oxford University
Press)
National Research Council 1991 Opportunities in the Hy-
drologic Sciences (Washington, DC: National Academy
Press)
Robinson P J and Henderson-Sellers A 1999 Contemporary
Climatology 2nd edn (London: Longman)
Shiklomanov I A 1993 World fresh water resources Water in
Crisis—a Guide to the World’s Fresh Water Resources ed

Wave–Particle Duality E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
Wave–Particle Duality
The concept that electromagnetic radiation and subatomic
particles behave in some respects like waves and in others
like particles.
Various phenomena, such as interference and
diffraction, clearly demonstrate the wave-like nature of
light (and other forms of electromagnetic radiation).
For example, if light of some particular wavelength,
originating from a single source, passes through two
adjacent narrow slits, each slit then acts as a source of
light. Where the light waves spreading out from each
slit meet, they interfere with each other, their amplitudes
(‘heights’) adding together where they are in phase (e.g.
where two wavecrests coincide) and canceling where they
are completely out of phase (e.g. where a crest meets
a trough). On the other hand, the particle behavior
of light is demonstrated by the photoelectric effect, a
phenomenon whereby certain substances emit electrons
when illuminated by a beam of light, but do so only if
the wavelength of the light is shorter than a particular
minimum value. This behavior is consistent with light
being a stream of particles (called photons) each of which
carries a discrete quantity of energy that is inversely
proportional to the wavelength of that light. If the energy
of a photon exceeds the minimum energy that is needed
to expel an electron, an electron will be ejected, but if the
photon energy is less than this minimum, no electrons will
be ejected.
Streams of subatomic particles exhibit wave-like
behavior through phenomena such as interference and
diffraction. For example, if a beam of electrons passes
through two narrow slits before falling on a phosphor
screen, which registers the arrival of each electron as a spot
of light, the distribution of light spots takes the form of an
interference pattern consistent with the pattern that would
be produced by waves of a certain particular wavelength.
As Prince Louis Victor de Broglie (1892–1987)
proposed in 1924, the wavelength (λ) associated with a
particle of momentum, p, is given by λ = h/p, where h is
the Planck constant (=6.63 × 10−34 J s). Since p = mv
(momentum = the mass of a particle multiplied by its
velocity), λ = h/mv. The wavelength associated with
a particle is known as the de Broglie wavelength. For
example, the de Broglie wavelength for an electron of mass
9.11×10−31 kg traveling at a speed of 3×106 m s−1 (1 percent
of the speed of light) is: 6.63 × 10−34 /(9.11 × 10−31 × 3 ×
106 ) ≈ 2.4 × 10−10 m = 0.24 nm. For light of wavelength λ,
the energy, E, of the photon is given by E = hc/λ, where c
denotes the speed of light, and the momentum associated
with a photon is E/c = h/λ
See also: electromagnetic radiation, electron, light, pho-
ton, quantum theory, subatomic particles, wavelength.

Wavelength E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
Wavelength
The distance between two successive crests of a wave
motion. Usually, in transverse waves (waves with
points oscillating at right angles to the direction of their
advance), wavelength is measured from crest to crest. In
longitudinal waves (waves with points vibrating in the
same direction as their advance), it is measured from
compression to compression. The term is applied to
electromagnetic radiation which is regarded as a wave
motion. For example, blue light has a wavelength of
about 440 nanometers and red light about 700 nanometers.
X-rays have wavelengths of the order of 10−10 meters and
radio waves of the order of meters. Wavelength is usually
denoted by the Greek letter lambda (λ); it is equal to the
speed (ν) of a wave train in a medium divided by its
frequency (f ): λ = ν/f .
See also: frequency.

Wegener, Alfred Lothar (1880–1930) E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
Wegener, Alfred Lothar (1880–1930)

German climatologist and geophysicist who suggested the
phenomena of continental drift and plate tectonics. His
idea was that a super-continent he called Pangaea had
broken up, the pieces drifting to their present positions.
His evidence was the fit of South America and Africa, and
similarities in climate, fossil record and geology across
the join. His path had been prepared by ALEXANDER VON
HUMBOLDT and Frank Taylor, but his book, published in
English in 1924, was scorned. His ideas are now widely
accepted.

Weight E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
Weight
The force experienced by a body resting on, for example,
the surface of a planet. A person standing on the Earth’s
surface experiences weight because the surface on which
he is standing resists the effect of the force of gravity which
otherwise would accelerate that person towards the center
of the Earth. In other words, there is a reaction up through
his feet equal and opposite to the gravitational attraction
exerted upon him on Earth. The weight of a body depends
upon the gravitational force to which it is subjected. On the
surface of a planet it is equal to the mass of the body times
the surface gravity. For example, a body that weighed
100 kg on the surface of the Earth would have the following
weights on the surfaces of the bodies listed below:
the Moon 16 kg
Mars 38 kg
Jupiter 264 kg
the Sun 2790 kg
a white dwarf 30 000 000 kg
See also: zero gravity.

Weizmann Institute of Science E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
Weizmann Institute of Science

At the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel, astrophysics
is practiced by a small theory group in the physics faculty.
Main interests are high-energy astrophysics (currently
mostly gamma-ray bursters, compact stars, and cosmic
rays) and galaxy dynamics (alternatives to dark matter).
http://www.weizmann.ac.il/physics/physics.html.

Werner, Johann (1468–1522) E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
Werner, Johann (1468–1522)

Astronomer, mathematician, instrument-maker and ge-
ographer, born in Nuremberg, Germany, follower of Re-
giomontanus. Regiomontanus had suggested that the tim-
ing of eclipses and the orbits of comets could be used as
clocks to determine longitude. Werner developed a prac-
tical version of this idea with the method of lunar dis-
tances (i.e. measuring the angle of the Moon from the Sun).
He published this concept in In Hoc Opere Haec Cotinentur
Moua Translatio Primi Libri Geographicae Cl’Ptolomaei (1514)
and described an instrument with an angular scale on a
staff from which degrees could be read off, to measure
the lunar distances. This founded the movement to deter-
mine longitude by astronomy and led to the state-funding
of observatories at Greenwich and Paris, the invention of
the chronometer by JOHN HARRISON, and the accurate mea-
surement of star positions and planetary orbits.

Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
Westerbork Synthesis Radio

Telescope
The WSRT (Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope) in
Hooghalen, The Netherlands, is an aperture synthesis
interferometer that consists of a linear array of 14 antennas
arranged on a 3 km east–west strip. The array works by
combining the signal from all the antennas and simulates
a 3 km aperture telescope.
The antennas are equatorially mounted 25 m dishes
with an f/D ratio of 0.35. This type of mounting ensures
a fixed orientation of the receiving systems with respect to
the sky. Ten of the telescopes are fixed, 144 m apart, while
two nearby dishes are movable along a 300 m track and
two others are on a 180 m track at a distance of 1.5 km.
In the array, the baselines extend from 36 m to 3 km. The
pointing accuracy of the dishes is 15 to 20 arcseconds, the
surface accuracy is of the order of 1.7 mm.
The WSRT telescope with the first 12 antennas on a
1.5 km baseline was inaugurated in 1970. The second
phase with two antennas on the 3 km extension was
completed in 1980. A major upgrade due to be finalized
in 2000 has added multi-frequency front ends capability
and new state-of-the-art backends. The array can routinely
operate at 92, 49, 21, 18, 13, 6 and 3 cm wavelength and
change frequency in less than a minute. An observing
capacity with instantaneous bandwidth up to 160 MHz is
being added.
The WSRT is used by astronomers from The
Netherlands but also from many other countries for a wide
range of scientific research starting from our Galaxy to
objects at the far reaches of the universe. There are two
proposal deadlines each year. The WSRT also participates
in the European (EVN) and Global Very Long Baseline
Interferometry networks.
The WSRT is operated by the Netherlands Foundation
for Research in Astronomy (NFRA), which is funded by the
Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO).
http://www.nfra.nl.

Whipple, Fred Lawrence (1906–) E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
Whipple, Fred Lawrence (1906–)

Astronomer, born in Red Oak, IA, became director of
the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. While still
a graduate student he helped compute the orbit of newly
discovered Pluto. Using a new method of photography
from two separated wide-angle cameras, he triangulated
on meteor tracks and determined their orbits. He
deduced that nearly all are made up of bits from comets.
He proposed the ‘dirty snowball’ model for comets,
suggesting that comets have icy cores inside layers of dirt.
This was confirmed in 1986 when the Giotto spacecraft
flew near to, and imaged, Comet Halley. Whipple tracked
artificial satellites to determine the shape of the Earth.

Whirlpool Galaxy E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
Whirlpool Galaxy
A face-on, spiral galaxy, M51, which derives its name from
its bold and clear-cut spiral pattern. Located at a distance
of some 20 million light-years in the constellation of Canes
Venatici, M51 (also known as NGC 5194), which has two
well-defined arms that spiral out from its relatively small
central bulge, is a classic example of a ‘grand design’ spiral.
It is classified as an Sc galaxy in the Hubble classification
scheme. Although, with a diameter of 65 000 light-years
and a mass of about 5 × 1010 solar masses, it is somewhat
smaller than the Milky Way Galaxy, it is several times more
luminous, its spiral arms being laden with bright young
clusters and HII regions.
M51 has a smaller, fainter companion (NGC 5195),
which lies at the end of one of the larger galaxy’s spiral
arms. Although NGC has traditionally been classified as
an irregular galaxy, it contains an elongated bar structure
and hints of incipient spiral arms. NGC 5194 appears to
be orbiting around M51 in a period of about 500 million
years. Tidal interaction between the two, during their last
close encounter, which took place some 70 million years
ago, probably played a large part in establishing the bold
spiral pattern in M51 and stimulating a vigorous bout of
star formation within it.
M51 was the first galaxy to be recognized as having a
spiral shape. This discovery was made in 1845 by William
Parsons (1800–67), third Earl of Rosse, with the aid of the
1.8 m (72 inch) telescope that he had set up at Birr, in
Ireland, and which, at that time, was the largest telescope
in the world.
See also: barred spiral galaxy, Hubble classification,
interacting galaxies, irregular galaxy, Messier Catalog,
spiral galaxy.

Whiston, William (1667–1752) E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
Whiston, William (1667–1752)

Born in Norton, Leicestershire, became the controversial
third Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge
University, succeeding ISAAC NEWTON. He used the
principles of the Principia in a popular book to explain
the Book of Genesis and the Flood, which he envisaged as
caused by the near approach of a comet, an interesting
foreshadowing of current theories. He published in
1716 the first undergraduate course based on Newton’s
principles under the cumbersome title Sir Isaac Newton’s
Mathematic Philosophy More Easily Demonstrated with Dr.
Halley’s Account of Comets Illustrated. He wrote on
numerous problems of astronomy and observed an aurora
borealis, solar eclipses and sunspots. His downfall in the
so-called Whiston’s affair was due to his popularization
of what were regarded as heretical ideas about the Trinity,
theology and politics. He wrote letters to archbishops
that raised eyebrows, caused debates in the Houses
of Parliament and caused his dismissal from his post.
Plunged into poverty, he lived off the income of a small
farm near Newmarket and lectured in the coffee houses
of London, giving scientific demonstrations for a fee as an
entertainment.

White Dwarfs E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
appropriate to white dwarfs were calculated in the 1930s

White Dwarfs by S Chandrasekhar, who received the 1983 Nobel Prize in
White dwarf stars, also known as degenerate dwarfs, Physics for his achievements.
represent the endpoint of the evolution of stars with
initial masses ranging from about 0.08 to about 8 solar Observed properties
masses. This large range encompasses the vast majority Several properties of white dwarf stars can be determined
of stars formed in our Galaxy and thus white dwarf stars fairly directly from observations. Analyses of their energy
represent the most common endpoint of STELLAR EVOLUTION. distribution, as well as of their optical and ultraviolet
It is believed that over 95% of the stars of our Galaxy spectra, fix their effective temperature; they range from
will eventually end up as white dwarfs. The defining ∼150 000 K for the hottest stars to the coolest degenerate
characteristic of these objects is the fact that their mass dwarfs, at Teff near 4000 K. Spectroscopic analyses also
is typically of the order of half that of the Sun, while their yield the surface gravity (g = GM/R 2 , but traditionally
size is more akin to that of a planet. Their compact nature given in terms of its logarithm to the base 10, log g) since
gives rise to large average densities and surface gravities. the strength and width of spectral features are sensitive
The first glimpse of the existence of these objects to the density of particles in the atmosphere, which is
came in 1844, with the study carried out by F BESSELL, controlled by the surface gravity. The average surface
the great German mathematician and astronomer, of the gravity of white dwarf stars is log g ∼ 8 (cm s−2 ),
proper motion of SIRIUS, the brightest star in the night compared with log g ∼ 4.4 for the Sun. This value implies,
sky. The irregularities in the apparent motion of Sirius on as we discuss below, that the mean STELLAR MASS must
the celestial sphere led Bessell to suggest the presence of be of the order of half that of the Sun. The luminosity
an unobserved, solar-mass companion orbiting the bright range encompassed by white dwarfs exceeds 7 orders
primary. The companion, Sirius B, was first observed by of magnitude and reflects the large range of observed
A G Clark in 1862 and represents, together with 40 Eri B, effective temperatures (L ∝ Teff 4
); the faintest known white
the first known examples of white dwarf stars. dwarfs have L ∼ 10−4.3 L , while the rare intrinsically
The luminosity of the white dwarf in the Sirius brighter ones, just entering the cooling sequence, reach
system is ∼10 000 times smaller than that of its bright, L ∼ (102 –103 )L .
main-sequence companion. Its effective temperature was Because of the intrinsic faintness of the most common
thus thought to be suitably smaller than that of the A white dwarfs, the observation of these objects tends to be
star. However, the first spectrum of Sirius B, secured restricted to small distances; the bulk of the sample of
by W Adams in 1914, showed that the white dwarf had ∼2200 spectroscopically confirmed white dwarfs available
an effective temperature quite comparable with that of today resides within ∼1 kpc from the Sun. It must
its companion. Since the stellar luminosity scales as be noted, however, that work with large, ground-based
R 2 Teff
4
, for the white dwarf to be both fairly hot and telescopes and with the Hubble Space Telescope now
quite faint required it to have a very small radius, and allows the observation of white dwarfs in GLOBULAR
a correspondingly very high average density. A similar CLUSTERS located at several kpc from the Sun. Traditionally,
conclusion was reached in the case of 40 Eri B whose however, white dwarfs have been culled from samples of
spectrum was also secured at about the same time. objects showing significant PROPER MOTION, and thus located
However, how could such stars withstand the tendency relatively nearby the Sun. A selection criterion based
to collapse onto themselves under the influence of their on color then allows the distinction to be made between
gravitational field? true white dwarfs and nearby main-sequence stars,
The answer to that question came in 1925, when and their degenerate nature is then confirmed through
R H Fowler first applied the newly-developed principles spectroscopic observations. More recently, large numbers
of QUANTUM MECHANICS to stars. He showed that, in white of hot white dwarfs have been detected in colorimetric
dwarf stars, the density is high enough for the gas of searches. Selected fields are typically photographed
free electrons to become degenerate. Electrons are said through both U (∼3650 Å) and B (∼4400 Å) filters. A
to be degenerate when a majority of them occupy the comparison of both images for a given object allows the
lowest possible energy states available to them. This selection of blue or very blue objects, whose nature can be
occurs, at fixed temperature, when the electrons are confirmed through spectroscopic means. Surveys of this
packed sufficiently close to each other. Because of the kind, carried out both at high Galactic latitude and in the
PAULI EXCLUSION PRINCIPLE that no more than two electrons plane of the Galaxy, have yielded substantial numbers of
with oppositely directed spins may occupy the same new hot white dwarfs, selected only on the basis of their
energy state, the electrons retain kinetic motions even colors without regard for their proper motion.
when cooled to zero temperature. The amplitude of this The existence of homogeneous samples containing
kinetic activity increases with increasing density, when substantial numbers of white dwarfs allows analyses of the
electrons become more degenerate. In a white dwarf, statistical properties of these objects. Their distribution in
the pressure generated by this kinetic motion, clearly of the Galaxy is consistent with that of an old disk population,
quantum mechanical origin, prevents the gravitational with an estimated scale height of 250–300 pc. Their space
collapse of the star. The first detailed stellar models density is of the order of 0.005 pc−3 for Mbol < 15, and their

The scheme of spectral classification of white dwarfs

is flexible enough to accommodate several other important
classes of objects, not illustrated in figure 1; hence the DQ
stars, whose spectrum is characterized by the presence
of carbon, generally in molecular form, in a helium-rich
atmosphere too cool to show lines of neutral helium.
Similarly, the DZ stars show lines of heavy elements
other than carbon, for example calcium, magnesium or
iron. Sometimes, the star is hot enough for weak carbon
or heavy element features to be present simultaneously
with the dominant neutral helium lines: the stars are
then classified DBQ or DBZ stars, respectively. At high
effective temperatures, near Teff ∼ 100 000 K, another class
of objects, termed PG 1159 stars, includes stars with spectra
featuring ionized helium as well as highly ionized carbon
and nitrogen features.
As hinted above, the chemical composition of the
atmosphere of a white dwarf star is intimately related to
its spectral appearance. The hydrogen line DA stars have
atmospheres where hydrogen is the dominant element,
to the near complete exclusion of any other. For their
Figure 1. Sample optical spectra of white dwarf stars: from top part, the so-called non-DA stars, which encompass objects
to bottom, a DA spectrum, dominated by the regular pattern of
the Balmer lines of hydrogen, seen here near their maximal
of the DO, DB, DC, DQ and DZ spectral types, all have
strength, a DO spectrum, dominated by the lines of ionized helium-dominated atmospheres. Within both classes, this
helium, in particular the n = 3 to n = 4 transition at 4686 Å, a DB purity is understood today as the result of gravitational
spectrum, featuring many strong lines of neutral helium, and a settling in the intense gravitational field of the white
featureless DC spectrum, characteristic of a helium-rich star too dwarf. Under its influence, all elements heavier than
cool (Teff < 12 000 K) to show neutral helium lines. the dominant atmospheric constituent rapidly sink into
the deep atmospheric layers of the stars and remain out
of sight. In fact, this settling mechanism is so efficient
birthrate is of the order of (1.5–2.3)×10−12 pc−3 yr−1 when that the presence of any element heavier than hydrogen
allowance is made for the contribution of unseen white in the atmospheres of DA stars, or helium in those of
dwarfs in BINARY SYSTEMS. non-DA stars, constitutes a puzzle. For example, lines of
The optical spectra of white dwarf stars are heavy elements (in the DAZ stars) or of helium (in the
characterized by a rich variety which reflects, to a DAB stars) are occasionally seen in DA stars at effective
considerable extent, complex and varying patterns of temperatures below 25 000 K. Similarly, traces of heavy
atmospheric abundances. Sample spectra are shown in elements are observed in the DBZ and cooler DZ stars,
figure 1. About three-quarters of white dwarfs have a while carbon is seen in the cool DQ stars. We discuss below
spectrum dominated by the Balmer series of hydrogen, the mechanisms which may permit the existence of such
which originates on the first excited, or n = 2, level of chemical impurities in the photospheres of white dwarfs.
that atom. These objects are termed DA stars; they are Another point of interest for white dwarfs is their
found over the whole effective temperature domain of mass distribution. Only in a handful of cases are direct,
white dwarfs, from the very hottest stars above 100 000 K, dynamic masses obtained for these stars. In general,
where the hydrogen lines are fairly shallow, to the coolest surface gravities are obtained either from the optical colors
white dwarfs near 4000 K, where the lines are sharp and (e.g. on the Strömgren uvby system, suitable for DA stars
extremely weak. Another important group of objects have with effective temperatures between 16 000 K and 8000 K)
optical spectra dominated by the lines of helium. The or, preferably, from optical spectra which tend to be
spectrum reflects the vastly different chemical makeup of more sensitive to surface gravity. The M/R 2 relation
their atmosphere, which is dominated by helium. At high provided by the log g determination can then be coupled
effective temperatures (Teff > 45 000 K), the lines observed to an assumed mass–radius relation, characteristic of
are those of ionized helium. These stars are called DO the mechanical structure of these stars (see below), to
stars. Between 30 000 K and 12 000 K, neutral helium is determine M. The mass distributions (based on optical
the dominant ion, and the spectrum is dominated by a spectroscopy) available for samples of two spectroscopic
bevy of transitions from that atom; these are the DB stars. subclasses of white dwarfs are shown in figure 2. The
Finally, below 12 000 K, the effective temperature is too mass distribution of the DA stars is sharply peaked, and
cool for a helium-rich atmosphere to show transitions of the mean mass is M = 0.590M , with a dispersion σ =
neutral helium; the spectrum is then featureless, and is 0.134M . Tails extend at both ends of the mass spectrum:
termed DC. the low-mass tail of the distribution is thought to be

magnetic objects, which currently includes nearly 50 stars.

The detected magnetic fields range from 105 G all the way
to 109 G and are measured through a variety of techniques
which include the detection of circular polarization in the
optical continuum (Be ≥ 107 G), the direct observation of
the Zeeman pattern in absorption lines (106 G ≤ Be ≤
107 G), and Zeeman spectropolarimetry for low fields
(Be ≤ 106 G). In the high-field objects, the spectrum
is so perturbed by the magnetic field that spectroscopic
classification is often difficult if not impossible. The
inferred field morphologies tend to be rather simple
and generally range from centered or offset dipoles to
quadrupoles. Statistical arguments favor an evolutionary
link between the chemically peculiar main-sequence Ap
and Bp stars and the magnetic white dwarfs. The other
distinct subgroup of interesting white dwarfs is that of the
variable white dwarfs, or pulsators, examples of which
are known among the hot PG 1159, the DB and the DA
stars. The usefulness of these objects for our sounding of
the internal structure of white dwarfs is discussed briefly
Figure 2. Mass distribution of DA (thick outline) and DB
(shaded area) white dwarfs. The average mass appears the below, as well as in the entries on ZZ CETI STARS and DB
same, but the DB sample studied seems to lack both the PULSATING STARS.
low-mass and the high-mass end of the distribution seen for DA Perhaps somewhat surprisingly, white dwarfs appear
stars. These wings are probably related to binary evolution. to be slow rotators, in the sense that they rotate more
slowly than would be expected if the ANGULAR MOMENTUM
present in earlier evolutionary phases had been conserved.
populated by low-mass white dwarfs with helium cores Determinations of the rotation velocity of white dwarfs
probably resulting from binary and common envelope rely on three different techniques: (i) measurement of
evolution, whereas the high-mass tail could well be the the additional broadening of the core of absorption lines
result of merging events in binary systems. Nevertheless, caused by rotation; (ii) measurement of the variation of
the case of Sirius B (M = 1.05M ), located in a wide binary the degree of circular polarization caused by rotation in
system, shows that there are genuine high-mass white magnetic white dwarfs; (iii) measurement of the rotational
dwarfs which have not been produced by close binary splitting present in the Fourier spectrum of the light curves
evolution. It is worth noting, as well, that independent of pulsating white dwarfs. While the use of any of
mass determinations for roughly three dozen DA stars can these techniques is restricted to small subsamples of white
be obtained from the gravitational redshift of their Balmer dwarfs, the picture which emerges is one where substantial
lines. General relativity predicts that the wavelength of quantities of angular momentum must have been lost by
photons emitted in a strong gravitational field should be stars on their way to the white dwarf stage. While no
redshifted by an amount λ which depends on the M/R definite model exists to explain this loss, current ideas
ratio. Provided that the star under scrutiny belongs to an focus on the fact that most stars will need to shed a lot
open cluster or a binary system with a well-determined of mass, perhaps concomitant with angular momentum,
radial velocity, and that the spectral line shifts induced by before they do become white dwarfs.
the high pressures of white dwarf photospheres are well
understood, the gravitational redshift can be isolated, and Origin and generic properties
the mass can be determined. It is generally believed that the immediate progenitors
The mass distribution of the DB stars, while based on of most white dwarfs are nuclei of PLANETARY NEBULAE,
a smaller sample of well-studied objects, shows at the very themselves the products of intermediate- and low-mass
least that there are no substantial differences between the main-sequence evolution. As mentioned above, stars
mean mass of the DA and of the DB stars (the latter being that begin their lives with masses less than about 8M ,
M = 0.585M , with a dispersion σ = 0.063M ). There that is the vast majority of them, are expected to become
is a tantalizing suggestion, however, that the low-mass white dwarfs. Among those which already have had the
and high-mass tails present in the DA sample may not be time to become white dwarfs since the formation of the
present in the DB sample; this absence accounts for the Galaxy, a majority have burned hydrogen and helium
smaller dispersion of the DB mass determination. in their interiors. Consequently, most of the mass of a
While most of the white dwarfs identified today typical white dwarf is contained in a core made of the
can be considered normal, garden-variety objects, two products of helium burning, mostly carbon and oxygen.
families of peculiar, and fascinating, white dwarfs have The exact proportions of C and O are unknown because of
also emerged over the years. One such family is that of the uncertainties in the nuclear rates of helium burning.

The observed narrow mass distribution of isolated

white dwarfs discussed above is a remarkable property
of this category of stars. Apparently, the process of mass
loss in white dwarf progenitors, which may have a wide
range of initial masses, is regulated by mechanisms that
are tuned finely enough to leave remnants with similar
masses consistently. Also, the empirical evidence suggests
that small amounts of helium and hydrogen are left over
after the mass-loss phases have subsided. Taking into
account previous thermonuclear history and the efficiency
of gravitational settling, the expected structure of a typical
white dwarf is that of a compositionally stratified object
with a mass of ∼0.6M consisting of a carbon–oxygen
core surrounded by a thin, helium-rich envelope itself
surrounded by a hydrogen-rich layer. Such an object
has an average density of ∼106 g cm−3 , a millionfold
that of a normal star such as the Sun. The thicknesses
of the hydrogen and helium outer layers are not known
a priori and must depend on the details of pre-white-dwarf
evolution. On theoretical grounds, however, it is expected
that the maximum amount of helium that can survive
nuclear burning in the hot planetary nebula phase is only Figure 3. Evolutionary tracks (solid curves) of five (M = 0.4M ,
10−2 of the total mass of the star and that the maximum 0.6M , 0.8M , 1.0M and 1.2M , from top to bottom)
fractional amount of hydrogen is about 10−4 . Although representative models of DA white dwarfs in the
these outer layers are very thin, they are extremely opaque Hertzsprung–Russell diagram. Each model is a compositionally
stratified object made of a pure carbon core surrounded by a
to radiation and regulate the energy outflow from the star.
pure helium envelope containing 10−2 of the total mass of the
They consequently play an essential role in the evolution star and an outermost pure hydrogen layer containing 10−4 of
of a white dwarf. The question of the exact masses of the total mass. The thick solid curves are isochrones, that is, loci
the hydrogen and helium layers present in white dwarfs of constant evolutionary timescales. The number next to each
constitutes a topic of intense research interest in the field. isochrone gives the cooling time in units of 109 yr. The small
The large opacity of the outer layers of a white filled circles indicate the onset of crystallization at the center of
each evolving model. The open circles at high (low) luminosity
dwarf implies that radiation escaping from the star
indicate the onset of superficial convection (the convective
originates from the outermost region—the atmosphere— coupling of the surface with the thermal core).
which contains, typically, less than 10−14 of the total mass
of the star. Spectroscopic and photometric observations
can only probe these outer regions, which are usually relationship between the mass and the radius of a white
dominated by hydrogen. Thus, a majority of white dwarf: the more massive the star, the smaller its size
dwarfs are referred to as hydrogen-atmosphere objects is. Likewise, relativistic degeneracy is also responsible
(or DA stars as discussed above). It turns out, however, for the existence of a limiting mass above which a white
that about 25% of the known white dwarfs do not dwarf cannot exist. This limiting mass is known as
possess such a hydrogen layer. These are called helium- the Chandrasekhar mass, and is of the order of 1.4M .
atmosphere white dwarfs (or non-DA stars) with, again, The effects of this peculiar mass–radius relationship are
the understanding that the underlying carbon–oxygen apparent in the diagram presented in figure 3 which shows
core must contain essentially all of the mass, even though the cooling tracks of five representative DA white dwarf
it is not directly observable. models that differ in their total mass.
Degenerate electrons also possess another property
Mechanical structure and cooling of high relevance for white dwarfs: they are excellent
As former nuclei of planetary nebulae, most white dwarfs conductors of heat, and thus they thermalize the internal
are born in the form of extremely hot, collapsed objects regions of white dwarfs efficiently (a familiar illustration
which can only cool off: their nuclear energy sources of this property is provided by the conduction electrons
are depleted, and gravitational energy can no longer in ordinary metals). We can thus envision a typical
be tapped efficiently as degenerate electron pressure white dwarf as consisting of a nearly isothermal core that
prevents additional contraction. Because this pressure contains more than 99% of the mass, surrounded by a
is independent of the temperature, a white dwarf is thin, opaque, insulating, nondegenerate outer envelope.
condemned to evolve at essentially constant radius. In the range of effective temperatures 16 000–8000 K,
The mechanical structure of such a star is therefore where the bulk of the known white dwarfs is found, core
specified by the degenerate electrons. In particular, temperatures vary from ∼2 × 107 K to ∼5 × 106 K. The
electron degeneracy is directly responsible for the curious very large temperature drop between the central regions

and the surface takes place mainly in the stellar envelope.

In the cooler models, this temperature gradient leads to the
formation of superficial convection zones, similar to those
found in the Sun. When present, atmospheric convection
plays an essential role in the determination of the emergent
flux from a white dwarf and, thus, in the interpretation
of its spectrum and colors. The small open circles at
high luminosity in figure 3 show the onset of a superficial
convection zone due to the recombination of hydrogen
in evolving models of DA stars. Convection plays also
a key role in the subsequent evolution of a white dwarf
by affecting directly the cooling rate. This occurs when
the base of the superficial convection zone reaches into
the degenerate interior, thus coupling the surface with the
core and, thereby, increasing the rate of energy transfer
across the outer opaque envelope beyond what is possible
through radiative transfer alone. The small open circles at
low luminosity in figure 3 show where convection starts
to play a significant role in the cooling process.
Largely decoupled from the electrons, the (nondegen-
erate) ions provide the thermal energy that slowly leaks
through the outside, thereby producing the star’s lumi-
nosity. Thus, an isolated white dwarf shines at the ex- Figure 4. Evolving structure of a representative model of a DA
white dwarf in a phase diagram. This is one (0.6M ) of the five
pense of its thermal reservoir. In this context, the electrons models presented in the previous figure. Each curve
do not contribute significantly to the energy reservoir be- corresponds to the density–temperature distribution from the
cause degenerate particles, already occupying their states surface to the center of the model at an effective temperature
of lowest energy, cannot be cooled. As thermal energy is given by the number alongside. The solid, dotted, and thick
gradually lost from the star in the form of radiation, the solid (for the three cooler epochs) portions of each curve indicate
kinetic motions of the ions lose amplitude, become corre- the radiative–conductive, convective and crystallized regions.
Electrons become degenerate to the right of the small filled circle
lated, and the ionic state evolves from a gas to a fluid to a on each curve. Likewise, the small open circle on each curve
solid. Ultimately, the reservoir of thermal energy becomes indicates the location where the ions become strongly correlated
depleted, and the star disappears from sight in the form of (fluid phase). The dashed curves define the composition
a cooled-off, crystallized object known as a black dwarf. transition zones, H–He at lower densities, and He–C at higher
It should be noticed that the timescale for this final densities.
demise is strongly dependent on the total mass of the
white dwarf. Indeed, because of their larger masses and A final point about the cooling evolution of white
smaller radii, more massive stars have larger internal dwarfs should be made. In the early, short-lived phase
densities (for comparable temperatures) and, therefore, of evolution following immediately the planetary nebula
develop a crystallized core earlier, at higher luminosities. phase, white dwarf interiors are still hot enough that
By the same token, they also reach earlier the state NEUTRINOS can be formed in great quantities there through
where the specific heat in the solid regime plunges to a number of processes involving the electromagnetic
very small values, a phenomenon well explained within and the weak interactions. The vast majority of the
the framework of the simple Debye theory of solids in neutrinos escape directly from the central regions where
quantum statistical mechanics. In effect, matter under they are created to the outer space, thus contributing to
these conditions has lost its ability to store thermal energy, an important stellar energy sink. For instance, neutrino
the energy reservoir of the white dwarf has become empty luminosities may become 2 orders of magnitude larger
and the star must then disappear from sight in a relatively than photon luminosities in these objects. The evolution
rapid and final phase sometimes referred to as ‘Debye of a very hot, young white dwarf is thus dominated
cooling’. Figure 3 illustrates, among other things, how by neutrino cooling. Neutrino processes largely specify
Debye cooling is a strong function of the total mass of the cooling timescale and lead as well to a temperature
the white dwarf. It is easily seen that the isochrones reversal in the stellar core. Such a reversal is still visible
are strongly dependent on the total mass; crystallization in the hotter model shown in figure 4. By the time a white
and subsequent Debye cooling are responsible for the dwarf has cooled down to Teff ∼ 25 000 K, however, the star
‘accelerated’ evolution of the more massive models at low has lost its memory of the neutrino cooling phase, and its
luminosities. To complement this, figure 4 provides more subsequent evolution and structure depend exclusively on
details on the evolving structure of a representative white the properties of its degenerate electrons and thermal ions.
dwarf model in a phase diagram. It should be clear from this discussion that there

exists an intimate relationship between dense-matter cooling sequence, should be considered in order to account
physics and the structure and evolution of white dwarfs. completely for the rich variety of spectral types.
For instance, a detailed knowledge of the opacity and White dwarf stars are not only unusual in that
thermodynamics of strongly coupled plasmas is necessary the abundance of their main atmospheric constituent
to compute the cooling rate of a white dwarf. Indeed, this (hydrogen or helium) may change in a complex way as
rate basically depends on how much thermal energy is a function of time, but they also show an amazing variety
stored in the interior of a star and how rapidly this energy of heavier trace elements in their atmospheres, arguably
is transferred from the hot core to the cold interstellar making them the most fascinating of all chemically
medium through the thin, opaque outer layers. Hence, a peculiar stars. This is because the cooling phase of
reliable description of the constitutive properties of dense white dwarfs, a relatively uneventful phase from an
plasmas is required to build a theory of evolving white evolutionary point of view as discussed above, is, in
dwarfs. By the same token, the observed properties of contrast, a most active phase for the evolution of the
cooling white dwarfs can be used, in principle, to test chemical composition of the envelope. Indeed, it is now
theories of strongly coupled plasma physics. well established that the often puzzling variety of surface
abundances observed in white dwarf stars can be traced
Spectral evolution to the simultaneous operation, in the outer layers of
There is strong observational evidence that spectral these stars, of a variety of physical processes which will
evolution takes place among white dwarfs, that is, also erase the abundances present in the photosphere at
some of the hydrogen-atmosphere stars become helium-
the onset of cooling. As discussed above, downward
atmosphere objects, and vice versa, during various
element diffusion in the intense gravitational field of a
evolutionary phases. Indeed, the ratio of DA to non-
degenerate star is perhaps the mechanism which is the
DA white dwarfs changes as a function of effective
most closely identified with white dwarf stars. However,
temperature along the cooling sequence. In particular,
in its presence, the observed abundances of various
the cases for the existence of a so-called DB gap—
atmospheric impurities, while small, are much too large
an interval of effective temperature from 45 000 K to
to be accounted for.
about 30 000 K in which no helium-atmosphere object has
Mechanisms which compete with the downward
been found—and of a cooler and narrower non-DA gap
settling must thus be called on to explain the presence
between ∼6000 K and ∼5000 K are well documented.
Completely convincing explanations for these phenomena of these impurities in the atmospheres. At high effective
(especially in the case of the cooler gap) have not been temperatures, say Teff > 20 000 K, the dominant competing
worked out yet, but the very existence of ‘holes’ in the mechanism is thought to be the selective radiative support
distribution of helium-atmosphere objects as a function of elements in the atmosphere. This mechanism, which
of effective temperature is a strong empirical proof that, involves the transfer of momentum from the intense
at least, some of the white dwarf stars must change their radiation field to ions of heavy elements such as carbon,
superficial chemical composition from helium-dominated nitrogen, silicon, iron and helium, is able to counteract
to hydrogen dominated and back to helium rich again as the downward gravitational force exerted on these ions
cooling proceeds. It is suspected that a complex interplay and allows a small, but measurable, amount of impurities
between mechanisms such as hydrogen and helium to remain in the atmosphere. Unfortunately, detailed
separation (through diffusion) and convective dilution calculations of this radiative support still do not reproduce
and mixing is responsible for the fact that a white dwarf the observed abundances, and it is currently thought that
may show two different ‘faces’ along its cooling track. For a small mass loss rate (of the order of ∼10−13 M yr−1 ),
example, in DA stars below 15 000 K, convective mixing is when coupled to radiative levitation, might be able to
thought to be effective in bringing deep-lying helium to the account for the observed abundance patterns. For cooler
surface and drastically changing the surface composition. stars, it is believed that ACCRETION from the interstellar
Unfortunately, at these effective temperatures, the helium medium plays a role in accounting for the traces of heavy
brought to the surface is spectroscopically invisible, and its elements occasionally seen. Individual accretion events,
presence must be inferred through rather indirect analyses. probably related to encounters between a white dwarf and
The case for spectral evolution is further strengthened by a small patch of neutral gas in the interstellar medium,
another observational datum of importance: as pointed might be able to account for the small fraction of DA and
out above, there is no significant difference between the non-DA stars which display impurities in their spectra.
mass distribution of DB white dwarfs and that of the In the DQ stars, it is thought that the convection in the
DA white dwarfs, excluding those objects that have been helium envelope is deep enough to dredge up traces of
formed through binary evolution. This is what one would carbon from the deeper carbon-rich layers. Much energy
expect for stars changing only surface compositions. This has been expended, in the last two decades, to untangle
being said, while spectral evolution appears unavoidable, the relative importance of these competing mechanisms
it cannot currently explain all the peculiarities of the and to decipher the complex patterns of photospheric
abundance patterns observed in white dwarfs. Alternative abundances observed in white dwarfs. Nevertheless,
schemes, for example different channels feeding the much work remains to be done.

Some areas of current interest

In the era of the Hubble Space Telescope and of giant,
8–10 m ground-based telescopes, faint white dwarf
populations are being routinely discovered and studied
in open and globular clusters. In addition, evidence
has been provided for the existence of a very old, faint
population of white dwarfs in the Galactic halo on the
basis of an interpretation of some MICROLENSING events
and, more directly, on the basis of the observed proper
motions of some very faint objects in the HUBBLE DEEP
FIELD whose positions in a color–magnitude diagram are
consistent with very cool (Teff ∼ 2000–3000 K) DA white
dwarfs. These exciting developments have led to a
renewed interest in white dwarf cooling calculations and
model atmosphere calculations using upgraded input
physics and extending into the regime of very low effective
temperatures. Such efforts are clearly worthwhile since
white dwarf physics holds the potential for providing
the best indicators of the ages of, and distances to, these
systems.
The usefulness of white dwarfs as cosmochronome-
ters was firmly established about a decade ago when it Figure 5. Luminosity function of white dwarfs in the solar
was first demonstrated that the white dwarf population neighborhood, that is the number of white dwarfs per unit
volume per unit luminosity interval as a function of luminosity
in the solar neighborhood—a population characteristic of
in solar units. The observed values are indicated by error bars.
the Galactic disk—could be used to estimate the age of Note, in particular, the deficit of low-luminosity stars shown in
the disk to much improved accuracy. This method ap- the last bin. The solid curve is a fit to the data points based on
plies because (intrinsically) faint white dwarfs cool down cooling calculations which assume an age of 9.3 × 109 yr for the
extremely slowly (see the isochrones in figure 3). This im- Galactic disk.
plies that, if white dwarf formation has been going on more
or less constantly over the distant past, many more faint
white dwarfs than bright white dwarfs should be present evolve through an interval of effective temperatures from
in a given volume of space. This is indeed what the distri- ∼25 000 K to about ∼22 000 K. The instabilities are inti-
bution of observed white dwarfs in the Galactic disk gen- mately connected to the recombination of helium in the
erally shows (figure 5). However, a very important and envelopes of these stars and the concomitant formation of
significant observational result of the last decade has been a superficial helium convection zone. There also exists an
the realization that there is a significant decrease in the lu- analogous instability strip for the hydrogen-atmosphere
minosity distribution of these stars: there is a real deficit white dwarfs, related, this time, to the recombination of
of low-luminosity white dwarfs in the solar neighborhood. hydrogen in the outer layers, and, consequently, which
The simplest model to account for this observational fact is is located at lower effective temperatures, in the range
to assume that the oldest white dwarfs in the Galactic disk 12 500–11 000 K. In both cases, the pulsational instabili-
are still visible. In other words, the corpses of the very first ties manifest themselves as temperature waves at the stel-
generation of intermediate-mass stars formed in the disk lar surface that cause multiperiodic luminosity variations.
of the Milky Way have not yet had the time to cool to invis- The pulsating DB white dwarfs are referred to as V777 Her
ibility, beyond the reach of our telescopes. By comparing stars, while their DA counterparts are known as ZZ Ceti
the location of the observed low-luminosity decrease in variables. The importance of these two instability strips
the white dwarf distribution with cooling calculations, it stems from the fact that they provide windows through
is possible to infer the age of the white dwarf population in which the internal structure of white dwarfs can be probed.
the Galactic disk (see figure 5 for an example of this). While For instance, a detailed comparison of the observed period
the method continues to be refined through numerous nu- structure of pulsating white dwarfs with those of mod-
merical simulations of evolving white dwarfs in the con- els provides a unique way of inferring the internal consti-
text of the Galactic disk, its potential for the white dwarf tution of white dwarfs and, in particular, the run of the
populations in open and globular clusters as well as for chemical composition as a function of depth. Although
the putative population in the Galactic halo is evident. the potential of this technique has been barely tapped, it
Another area of current active interest is related to is likely that asteroseismological studies of white dwarfs
the presence of so-called instability strips along the cool- will soon become a major contributor to our knowledge of
ing sequences of white dwarfs in the HERTZSPRUNG–RUSSELL the internal structure of these stars. One of the major po-
DIAGRAM. Helium-atmosphere white dwarfs become un- tential impacts of these studies is the determination of the
stable against nonradial gravity-mode pulsations as they thicknesses of the outer layers of helium and hydrogen (in

the DA stars) in individual objects, which will serve as cali-

bration of evolutionary models in more refined attempts at
the cosmochronology of various white dwarf populations.
Bibliography
D’Antona F and Mazzitelli I 1990 Ann. Rev. Astron.
Astrophys. 28 139
Liebert J 1980 Ann. Rev. Astron. Astrophys. 18 363
Rudermann M 1971 Sci. Am. 224 (2) 24
Van Horn H M 1979 Phys. Today 32 23
Wesemael F, Greenstein J L, Liebert J, Lamontagne R,
Fontaine G, Bergeron P and Glaspey J W 1993 Publ.
Astron. Soc. Pac. 105 761
Gilles Fontaine and François Wesemael

White Dwarfs in the Galaxy’s Halo E NCYCLOPEDIA OF A STRONOMY AND A STROPHYSICS
dwarfs. Alternative interpretations of this survey suggest

White Dwarfs in the Galaxy’s Halo that a fraction of this population may be part of the
The Galaxy’s large spherical halo (see GALACTIC METAL- Galaxy’s thick disk. In all of the interpretations, howev-
er, there still appears to be an unexpectedly large number
POOR HALO and HALO, GALACTIC) may harbor as many as
of white dwarfs in the halo, constituting at least 0.5% of
several hundred billion WHITE DWARFS, a population as
the halo’s mass.
large in number as the total number of stars in the
With 0.5–20% of the halo’s mass accounted for by
Galaxy’s disk (see DISK GALAXIES and GALACTIC THIN DISK).
white dwarfs, a fraction of the Galaxy’s dark matter has
Although this assertion is controversial, several astro-
finally been identified. Furthermore, the halo white
nomical surveys provide strong support for it and the
dwarf population is important to STAR FORMATION theory.
implications affect fields of astronomical inquiry as
Ongoing star formation creates many low-mass stars for
diverse as dark matter and star formation. The reason
every high-mass star. If the same proportions of high-
that this population of white dwarfs may be related to
and low-mass stars formed 13 billion years ago, when the
dark matter is tied to the fact that white dwarfs cool and
halo formed, only one to five halo white dwarfs should
fade as they age. This means that a white dwarf as old as
have been found by the recent survey. This is known
the ancient halo is extremely faint. Current large-scale
because the low-mass halo stars have not had enough
imaging surveys can only see relatively nearby white
time to evolve into white dwarfs, and we know the num-
dwarfs, and only a tiny fraction of the halo’s mass exists
ber of low-mass stars in the halo. That number, assuming
near the Sun, while the vast majority of the Galaxy’s halo
a universal star formation process, determines the num-
is thousands of light-years away.
ber of high-mass stars that have evolved into white
The theory of gravity requires that the mass of the dwarfs in the halo. The actual numbers observed imply
halo must dominate that of the Galaxy’s disk. Since the that high-mass stars formed more readily in the halo
halo is largely invisible, it is almost entirely made of dark than they do at present.
matter (see DARK MATTER IN GALAXIES). Indeed, the known Ben R Oppenheimer
population of normal stars in the halo constitutes a triv-
ial fraction of the total mass. However, those stars exhib-
it properties distinct from disk stars, including rapid
motion relative to the Sun. As a result a halo star that
happens to be within the solar neighborhood can be dis-
tinguished from a disk star by examining the rapidity
with which it passes through the solar neighborhood.
This is a statistical criterion, meaning that for any given
star one can assign a probability that it belongs to the
disk or halo. For a survey of many stars with such prob-
abilities one can estimate the actual number of stars in
the disk and halo populations.
The first hint that white dwarfs may be a significant
part of the halo emerged in 1996, when a group conduct-
ing a MICROLENSING experiment claimed to detect indi-
rectly a large population of objects in the Galaxy’s halo
all with masses characteristic of white dwarfs. Instead of
actually seeing the white dwarfs themselves, they
observed the effect they have on images of stars in the
Milky Way’s companion galaxy the Large Magellanic
Cloud (see WIMPS AND MACHOS). The microlensing results,
now backed by several independent, similar experi-
ments, have found that at most 20% of the total mass of
the Galaxy’s halo may be in this supposed population of
white dwarfs.
In 2001 a search for moving stars in an archive of
photographic plates taken between 1950 and 1998
revealed about 20 nearby white dwarfs which are mov-
ing so fast that they must be members of the Galaxy’s
halo. Statistical analysis of the data showed that at least
1% of the halo’s mass is due to a population of white

Whitford, Albert Edward (1905–) E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
Whitford, Albert Edward (1905–)

Astronomer and photometrist, worked as a student with
JOEL STEBBINS and succeeded him as professor at Wisconsin
and director of the Washburn Observatory. Became
director of the Lick Observatory. As a student he made
a successful device for measuring very small currents
from photoelectric cells, and used it to measure the light
from stars and galaxies. This turned into his career as an
astronomer.

Whittaker, Edmund Taylor (1873–1956) E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
Whittaker, Edmund Taylor (1873–1956)

Mathematician, born in Southport, Lancashire, became
Astronomer Royal of Ireland, director of Dunsink
Observatory and professor of astronomy at the University
of Dublin. Wrote the influential History of the Theories of
Ether and Electricity, from the Age of Descartes to the Close of
the Nineteenth Century (1910).

Whole Earth Telescope (WET) E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
Whole Earth Telescope (WET)

A world-wide network of cooperating astronomical
observatories which was established by astronomers from
the University of Texas in 1986. WET HQ moved to Iowa
State University in 1997.
Intended to obtain uninterrupted time-series mea-
surements of variable stars (white dwarfs and Delta Scuti
stars) and cataclysmic variables. This is done by resolv-
ing the multiperiodic oscillations observed in these objects
into their individual components. The temporal spectrum
allows astronomers to probe the interiors of the target ob-
jects using the technique of asteroseismology.
Since the first campaign in March 1988, the WET team
has coordinated global photometry campaigns so that the
target objects are visible from the night side of the planet
24 hours a day. These campaigns typically take place twice
a year.
http://ceti.as.utexas.edu/wetpage.html.

Widefield CCD Imagers E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
Widefield CCD Imagers

Since the early 1980s, the CHARGE-COUPLED DEVICE, or CCD,
has emerged as the primary detector for astronomical
observations. At the present time, CCDs are virtually
the only detectors used for observations in the optical
portion of the spectrum (300 nm–1000 nm), and their use
has been extended into the UV (200 nm–300 nm) and x-ray
(100 eV–10 keV) regions as well. Modern CCDs are superb
detectors. When thinned and backside illuminated,
and with new multilayer anti-reflection coatings, CCDs
can offer quantum efficiency (QE) exceeding 70% and
approaching unity over most of the optical waveband.
The best CCD amplifiers now have readout noise below
2e− rms and some have achieved the elusive 1e− noise
level. One of the main areas of development has been,
and continues to be, in device size and pixel count. The
very first CCD imagers had 100 × 100 pixels, while the first
astronomically useful device was the RCA 320 × 512 with
30 µm pixels, followed by the 800×800 15 µm pixel device
built by Texas Instruments for the WF/PC-I on the NASA
HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE. As the 1990s began, the sizes of these
devices began to grow. 2048 × 2048 pixel devices were
Figure 1. Drawing illustrating the layout of the SDSS CCD
produced by Ford Aerospace (which eventually became mosaic. The CCDs are arranged in six parallel columns each
Loral, Loral/Fairchild, and now Lockheed-Martin) and having five CCDs. Each CCD in a ‘row’ is covered by a different
Tektronix (now SITe). These 2K×2K pixel, and similar- filter (ugriz). The imaged scene ‘drifts’ along the columns and
sized, devices are now produced with good yields by the clocking of the charge is synchronized with the image
several manufacturers. motion. As a 2◦ .5 strip of sky is scanned, images in five colors
The technical advances in ground-based instrumenta- are obtained from the camera. For this specialized application,
the large gaps are not considered to be a serious problem.
tion have included increases in telescope apertures and im-
provements in image quality and SEEING. It is not unusual
to obtain 0 .5 images or better at premier astronomical
required to make electrical connections to the silicon die
sites. Consequently, optics and detector systems must be
and the wire bond pins that are usually located around the
designed with sufficient resolution to sample these sharp
perimeter of the typical device package.
images, requiring that the detector pixels be no larger than
∼0 .25. This requirement for small pixels, coupled with Nevertheless, several widefield mosaic CCD imagers
the need for large fields, drives the high pixel count needed have been constructed using this technique, for example
in widefield imagers. For example, to be optimally sam- the 4K×4K pixel Big Throughput Camera constructed
pled while spanning a 0◦ .5 × 0◦ .5 field requires that the by the University of Michigan and Bell Labs, the
array measure of order 8000 × 8000 pixels. In the near 4K×8K mosaic imager built by the National Astronomical
future, the image quality is likely to improve even more, Observatory of Japan and the 10K×12K pixel camera built
driving the pixel sizes smaller and the pixel count higher by Princeton University for the SLOAN DIGITAL SKY SURVEY
in order to maintain the same field of view. (SDSS).
Monolithic devices are not suitable for such very large The SDSS camera (figure 1) consists of a 5 × 6
focal planes. Limitations in wafer size and yield set a array of SITe 2K×2K CCDs with 24 µm pixels and is
practical limit to device size. In addition, other factors such somewhat special in that it is designed to operate in the
as finite charge transfer efficiency (CTE) and readout time, ‘drift scanning’ mode where the sky image is allowed to
as well as cost, must be considered when the number of scan along the device columns while the accumulating
pixels increases. In order to build the very large detectors photoelectron packets (or charge) are clocked to follow
needed to image wide fields of view at seeing-limited the image. This application differs from the conventional
resolution, one must construct mosaics of smaller devices. ‘shift and stare’ technique where the telescope is pointed
at some region, an image is taken (typically only a few
Large-gap CCD mosaic focal planes minutes integration), the telescope is shifted by an amount
The simplest approach to constructing a large mosaic focal larger than the gaps separating the CCDs, another image
plane is to mount large, packaged devices as tightly as is taken, and so on. The multiple images at different
possible on a common base. The resulting mosaic will positions allow the gaps between the mosaic elements to
have large gaps (1 cm or more) between the packaged be filled while also enabling the removal of cosmic rays
CCD imagers that come from the wire bond pads that are that hit the device during the exposure.

Figure 3. Shown are four 2K×4K three-edge-buttable CCDs

with 15 µm pixels from four different manufacturers. These
devices are the present-day building blocks for large,
close-packed mosaics. From left to right are devices made by
Loral (now Lockheed-Martin), MIT Lincoln Laboratory, SITe and
EEV. Note that the EEV package has considerably less structure
along the wire-bonding edge making it the preferred design for
focal planes with more than two rows of devices.
Figure 2. This photomicrograph of the lower left-hand corner of
a three-edge buttable CCD illustrates several key design features
for edge buttability. This particular device (a 2K×4K LL Close-packed CCD mosaic focal planes
CCID-20 with 15 µm pixels) can be operated in framestore mode For most applications, a continuous focal plane with
(if desired) so there are six metal bus lines distributing the minimal gaps between the CCD imagers is preferred.
three-phase parallel clocks to the imaging and storage regions. While it is not possible to construct a mosaic with
These can be seen as the vertical lines to the far left of the
zero gaps, there are techniques in the CCD design and
photograph. The saw cut would be made at the edge of this
image. The last three or four rows are tapered inward, and the packaging that allow for the construction of close-packed
serial register is wrapped around vertically so the output mosaics where the gaps are of order 0.5 mm or less.
amplifier does not increase the width of the device (photograph
courtesy of Dr Barry Burke, MIT Lincoln Laboratory). Device design considerations for close-packed mosaics
To enable CCD imagers to be used in close-packed mosaics,
the devices must be specially designed from the outset
to be edge buttable. This involves confining the wire
At one time, drift scanning may have offered some
bonding pads to only two or, better yet, one of the four
practical advantages such as continuous readout with no
edges of the device. Consider a three-edge buttable design.
dead time, and improved flat fielding in one dimension The only structures that need to run up the sides of
(the pixel-to-pixel sensitivity non-uniformities in a column the device are the metal clock bus lines that distribute
are effectively smoothed out by clocking the scene along a the parallel clock signals to the polysilicon gates that
column). However, except for specialized projects like the establish the potential wells in the imaging region of the
SDSS, these advantages no longer exist. Modern mosaics device. To keep the dead regions along sides of the
can be read out quickly (under 1 min), so the readout device as small as possible, the output amplifier must
time is only a small fraction of the typical integration be designed so it does not not protrude from the side
time. Also, modern CCDs do not have the gross flat- of the device. This can be accomplished by turning a
field non-uniformities that plagued earlier devices, so corner with the serial register and tucking the amplifier
the column smoothing obtained by drift scanning is inside the edge boundary defined by the outermost clock
not only unnecessary but viewed as a disadvantage. lines (see the photomicrograph in figure 2). Allowing the
smallest reasonable space for the vertical bus lines and
Furthermore, requiring a telescope and camera to operate
the boundary to the saw cut, the minimum gap from the
in drift scanning mode places strict tolerances on the
imaging area to imaging area on two adjacent arrays is
optical system field distortion because the image tracks ∼200 µm.
cannot deviate from straight lines that must map onto Currently, at least three manufacturers (EEV, SITe and
device columns or else the image quality will deteriorate. MIT Lincoln Laboratory) are producing thinned, high-QE
Considering the advantages and limitations of both 2K×4K devices with pixels of sizes in the 10–15 µm range
methods, the large majority of mosaic cameras have been that are three-edge buttable and suitable for building large
designed to operate in the shift and stare mode. mosaic focal planes (see figure 3).

imagers and yet allow a mosaic focal plane to be assembled

and dis-assembled. Examples of such packages are shown
in figures 3 and 4. In choosing a package material, one
must consider that the device will be operated at ∼170 K,
so the coefficient of thermal expansion difference between
that material and silicon is important. The standard
package materials that are a reasonable thermal expansion
match to silicon are aluminum nitride (AlN), Invar and
molybdenum.
Using the devices shown in figure 3, several close-
packed CCD mosaic focal planes containing at least
8K×8K pixels have been constructed and are in operation
(e.g. UH 8K×8K, NOAO 8K×8K mosaic imagers for the
Kitt Peak and CTIO 4m telescopes, ESO 8K×8K, CFHT
8K×12K—see figure 4).
Devices that are three-edge buttable are suitable for
close-packed mosaics having two rows and an unlimited
number of columns. If one wants to build a larger mosaic
with more than two rows, one must tolerate a larger gap
between the rows on the fourth, non-buttable edge. With
these larger mosaics in mind, some designs have been
developed for pseudo four-edge buttable packages that
minimize the packaging structures along this fourth edge.
EEV has developed a package (see figure 3) that keeps the
dead space along this fourth edge to under 3 mm from
the edge of the bottom imaging row to the edge of the
package. Another prototype design with a 3 mm dead
space is shown in figure 5.
Figure 4. This 8K×12K pixel CCD mosaic camera built by the The future
University of Hawaii for the 3.6 m Canada–France–Hawaii Widefield CCD imagers are at present being constructed
Telescope is the largest close-packed mosaic in operation at the by many observatories. Several current projects are
time of this writing (larger mosaic focal planes are under designed to span fields in excess of 1◦ × 1◦ using CCD
construction). The mosaic consists of 12 thinned, high-QE mosaics measuring 18K×18K pixels. If widefield imaging
2K×4K three-edge buttable CCDs with 15 µm pixels. The
devices were made by MIT Lincoln Laboratory. The imaging
telescopes with 3◦ × 3◦ fields are constructed, they will
area, corresponding to the black rectangular region in the center require CCD mosaics having 36K×36K pixels or more.
of the photograph, measures 185 mm×122 mm. When used at Work is also progressing on the designs for the individual
the prime focus of the CFHT, the mosaic spans a field of view of building blocks that make up the mosaic elements. Three-
45 × 30 at a scale of 0 .21/pixel. The gaps separating CCDs are edge buttable devices with 3K×6K 10 µm pixels are now
less than 0.5 mm or less than 10 on the sky. under development, and wafer-scale devices that can fill
a 150 mm wafer are being considered as yields improve.
Packaging and mosaic construction On-chip image motion compensation—the OTCCD

Once an edge-buttable device is designed, it can be One exciting CCD variation that has emerged in recent
mounted close to its neighbors to form a CCD mosaic. years is the multi-directional or orthogonal-transfer CCD
The very first attempts at this involved permanently (OTCCD)—a device that can shift charge in up to
attaching (i.e. gluing) the CCD dies to a common substrate. eight directions, thus allowing active image motion
There are several disadvantages to this approach. A compensation or fast guiding ‘on chip’ (see figure 6). A
mosaic assembled in this manner cannot be taken apart mosaic array of close-packed, independently addressable
safely if one of the CCDs is damaged. Furthermore, OTCCDs would allow compensation for image motion
the selection of the CCDs that will be used in a mosaic caused by the atmosphere over very wide fields, as well as
involves thorough testing at cryogenic temperatures. This correcting for windshake and other mechanical pointing
is difficult to accomplish with unpackaged CCD dies, so instabilities common to the telescope as a whole.
one could permanently assemble a mosaic and find after it Large, buttable OTCCDs with 2K×4K pixels have
is completed and tested that some of the mosaic elements been successfully fabricated and the first mosaics of such
are not suitable for scientific observations. These problems devices are at present under construction. Even larger
led to the development of edge-buttable packages that do devices subdivided into small (∼1 × 1 ) independently
not compromise the tight packing ability of the buttable controllable OTCCD cells are under development.

Figure 5. This drawing shows one design for a package that can be used in close-packed mosaics having more than two rows. A
ceramic piece with metallized traces that wrap around one edge is mounted at right-angles to the device. Wire bonds are made to the
traces on the short edge of the ceramic and the traces connect the signals to a surface mount connector that emerges from the backside
of the package. Mounting holes and alignment holes are shown for locating the package in focal plane mosaic.
Channel stop
4 2
Figure 6. This diagram illustrates the gate layout and charge clocking directions for a multi-directional OTCCD. The symmetry of the
gate structure allows clocking of the charge in eight directions: horizontally and vertically (as shown), or diagonally. Subpixel
stepping is also possible. In this image, the triangular structures are polysilicon gates that can be biased to form the potential wells in
the silicon below. This type of structure requires four gates per pixel, whereas the typical CCD has only three gates. In the illustration
at the left, the dark triangular gate is biased low to serve as a barrier phase while the other three phases are modulated to transfer the
charge in the vertical direction. At the right, a different gate serves as the barrier phase, and, by modulating the voltage on three
different gates, the charge can be transferred in the horizontal direction.
Bright stars and antiblooming less than the barrier potential of the neighboring vertical
Bright stars present a serious problem for widefield phases. When the charge in a pixel exceeds the potential
CCD imaging. Even at high GALACTIC LATITUDE, there are level of the drain, but before the charge can spill over to
numerous bright (m < 15) and several very bright (m < 10) the neighboring pixel, it is intercepted by the drain. Such
stars in any 0◦ .5 × 0◦ .5 field. Larger fields only make structures can be made so that they do not obscure any
the problem worse. Light from these stars can reflect of the imaging regions (e.g. the drain can be run down
off optical surfaces, including the surface of the CCD the center of the channel stop). Implementation of such
itself, and create out-of-focus halos and other scattered structures will be very valuable in future devices designed
light artifacts. Large diffraction spikes can extend well for widefield imaging.
away from the bright stars and break up into faint pieces,
Gerard A Luppino
resembling faint galaxies, especially in very good seeing.
Bright stars will also produce saturated, bloomed charge
trails; the result of filling the pixel potential well capacity
(typically 150 000–300 000 e− ) and having the excess charge
spill up and down the columns into the neighboring
pixels. For some brighter stars, the bloomed trails can
extend the full length of the device, destroying any
information about objects in the path of the bloomed
trail. Device manufacturers can address the blooming
problem by implementing antiblooming drains in their
CCD structures. An antiblooming drain is an implant on
the CCD with a potential level near full well, but slightly

Widmanstätten, Alois von Beckh- [Alois Beck, Edler
von Widmanstätten] (1753/4–1849)
Widmanstätten, Alois von Beckh-

[Alois Beck, Edler von
Widmanstätten] (1753/4–1849)
Printer and businessman, born in Graz, Austria, became
head of the Fabriksproduktenkabinett, a private technol-
ogy collection of Emperor Francis I. Discovered the crys-
talline structure of iron/nickel meteorites by etching pol-
ished slices from an iron meteorite from Zagreb and print-
ing from the etched surfaces. The patterns are known as
Widmanstätten figures.

Widmanstätten Pattern E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
Widmanstätten Pattern
A characteristic, roughly hexagonal pattern of intersecting
lines that appears on the surface of an octahedrite, a type of
iron meteorite, when it is sectioned, polished and etched
with acid. The Austrian mineralogist Aloys Joseph von
Widmanstätten discovered the pattern in 1804. It is formed
by the intergrowth of two nickel–iron alloys under the
conditions of slow cooling that pertained in the solidifying
core of an asteroidal parent body that had undergone
differentiation, and is found only in meteorites. The two
alloys are kamacite, with a low nickel content, and taenite,
which is richer in nickel.

Wien, Wilhelm (1864–1928) E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
Wien, Wilhelm (1864–1928)

Born in Gaffken, East Prussia (now Poland), Nobel
prizewinner (1911), became professor of physics at Munich
and discovered Wien’s law, for the distribution of light
in the spectrum of a black-body. Discovered the proton
in an early mass-spectrometer experiment (confirmed by
Rutherford).

Wilcox Solar Observatory E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
Wilcox Solar Observatory

The Wilcox Solar Observatory (WSO) at Stanford Univer-
sity measures the Sun’s large-scale synoptic magnetic and
velocity fields with the goal of understanding solar vari-
ability and how it affects our terrestrial environment. With
more than a 22 year solar cycle of spectrograph observa-
tions since 1975, WSO staff investigate the solar interior,
photosphere, corona, wind and cycle.
The Observatory was first funded by the Office of
Naval Research (ONR), the National Science Foundation
(NSF) and the M C Fleischman Foundation. Continuing
support comes from NSF, NASA and ONR. The
Observatory was rededicated in honor of its first director,
J M Wilcox, in 1984, shortly after his death. Stanford
University is located south of San Francisco, CA.
http://wso.stanford.edu.

Wilkins, John (1614–72) E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
Wilkins, John (1614–72)

Churchman, born in Fawsley, Northamptonshire, became
Warden of Wadham College, Oxford, and Master of Trinity
College, Cambridge. Founded the Royal Society from a
discussion group of scientists at Wadham. In 1638 Wilkins
wrote a book describing the Moon as a habitable planet and
predicting that, one day, space travel to the Moon would
be possible.

Wilson, Alexander (1714–86) E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
Wilson, Alexander (1714–86)

Born in St Andrews, Scotland, became professor at
Glasgow, observed sunspots and showed that they
were depressions in the Sun (following LA HIRE and
CASSINI). Published Thoughts on General Gravitation (1770),
answering NEWTON’s question ‘What hinders the fixed stars
from falling upon one another?’ with the speculative
answer that the entire universe rotates about a center.

Wilson, Olin Chaddock (1909–94) E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
Wilson, Olin Chaddock (1909–94)

Astronomer and spectroscopist, became a staff member
at Mount Wilson Observatory. He studied stellar
chromospheres and stellar activity cycles, showing by
intensive analysis of the H and K lines of ionized calcium
that other stars besides the Sun have cycles of activity.
With M K VAINU BAPPU, he found a means of determining
luminosity, and thus distance, of stars from the widths
of the emission in these two lines that comes from the
chromosphere (Wilson–Bappu effect). He studied spectra of
nebulae, eclipsing stars, Wolf–Rayet stars and planetary
nebulae.

Wilson, Robert Woodrow (1936–) E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
Wilson, Robert Woodrow (1936–)

Born in Houston, Texas, Nobel prizewinner for physics
in 1978) with ARNO PENZIAS ‘for their discovery of cosmic
microwave background radiation’. Interested in radio
as a boy, drawn to radioastronomy by working with
JOHN BOLTON at CalTech mapping the Milky Way. Joined
Bell Laboratories at Crawford Hill where with Arno
Penzias he shared a small allowance given to the Lab
for radioastronomy projects. With new millimeter wave
receivers at 100–120 GHz they discovered unexpectedly
large amounts of carbon monoxide in a molecular cloud
behind the Orion nebula, including isotopic spectral lines
so that it was possible to determine isotope ratios as a
probe of nucleogenesis. With a large radio telescope (the
Holmdel horn) and a new sensitive, low-noise receiver
discovered the cosmic microwave background radiation.

WIMPs and MACHOs E NCYCLOPEDIA OF A STRONOMY AND A STROPHYSICS
objects that could be the dark matter and still escape

WIMPs and MACHOs detection. For example, if the Galactic halo were filled
WIMP is an acronym for weakly interacting massive par- with Jupiter mass objects (10–3Mo.) they would not have
ticle and MACHO is an acronym for massive (astrophys- been detected by emission or absorption of light. Brown
ical) compact halo object. WIMPs and MACHOs are two dwarf stars with masses below 0.08Mo. or the black hole
of the most popular DARK MATTER candidates. They repre- remnants of an early generation of stars would be simi-
sent two very different but reasonable possibilities of larly invisible. Thus these objects are examples of
what the dominant component of the universe may be. MACHOs. Other examples of this class of dark matter
It is well established that somewhere between 90% candidates include primordial black holes created during
and 99% of the material in the universe is in some as yet the big bang, neutron stars, white dwarf stars and vari-
undiscovered form. This material is the gravitational ous exotic stable configurations of quantum fields, such
glue that holds together galaxies and clusters of galaxies as non-topological solitons.
and plays an important role in the history and fate of the An important difference between WIMPs and
universe. Yet this material has not been directly detected. MACHOs is that WIMPs are non-baryonic and
Since extensive searches have been done, this means that MACHOS are typically (but not always) formed from
this mysterious material must not emit or absorb appre- baryonic material. As discussed in the article on big bang
ciable electromagnetic radiation in any known wave- nucleosynthesis (see UNIVERSE: THERMAL HISTORY), baryon-
band. Thus it is called dark matter. The nature of this ic material probably cannot make up all of the dark mat-
material is one of the biggest unsolved problems in sci- ter, although it could make up most of the dark matter in
ence. It is important to identify the dark matter, but since the halos of spiral galaxies such as the Milky Way. There
it is easy to invent substances that could fill intergalactic is preliminary, although controversial, evidence for the
space and yet have escaped detection, there are a very existence of large numbers of MACHOs, but because
large number of dark matter candidates. Thus several they probably cannot make up all the dark matter, the
generic classes of dark matter candidates have been sug- search for WIMPs continues unabated.
gested, and each dark matter search experiment concen-
trates on one of these classes. The most important dark WIMP thermal relics as dark matter
matter classes, in terms of detection efforts, are neutri- Among the particle dark matter candidates an important
nos, WIMPs, MACHOs and axions. distinction is whether the particles were created thermal-
For example, NEUTRINOS are weakly interacting par- ly in the early universe, or whether they were created
ticles that were almost certainly created in great abun- non-thermally in a phase transition. Thermal and non-
dance during the big bang. These fill the Galaxy, moving thermal relics have a different relationship between their
freely through the Galaxy and even the Earth, and yet are relic abundance Ω and their properties such as mass and
almost impossible to detect. This is because they can be couplings, so the distinction is especially important for
sensed only through the very small electroweak interac- dark matter detection efforts. For example, the WIMP
tion. If each neutrino had a mass of several electronvolts class of particles can be defined as those particles that are
they would contribute enough mass to make up the bulk created thermally, while dark matter axions come mostly
of the dark matter. For various reasons, it is unlikely that from non-thermal processes. Light neutrinos are also
neutrinos of the type discovered in particle accelerators thermally created relics, but because of their very small
and nuclear reactors on Earth make up much of the dark mass have a different history.
matter. In thermal creation one supposes that early on,
However, it is very possible that some as yet undis- when the universe was at very high temperature, ther-
covered weakly interacting particle was created during mal equilibrium obtained, and the number density of
the big bang and today remains in large enough abun- WIMPs (or any other particle species) was roughly equal
dance to make the dark matter. The masses typically to the number density of photons (particles of light)1.
required for these particles are in the range 1 GeV–1 TeV, This is just equipartition of energy among all possible
and these hypothetical dark matter particles are called degrees of freedom. As the universe cooled the number
WIMPs. There are hundreds of elementary particles that density of WIMPs and photons decreased together.
fall into this class of dark matter particles, including When the temperature finally dropped below the WIMP
supersymmetric particles such as neutralinos, photinos, mass, however, creation of WIMPs became very rare
higgsinos or sneutrinos, and new heavy neutrinos. while annihilation still proceeded. Thus in equilibrium,
This hypothetical WIMP is well studied and the number density of WIMPs dropped exponentially :
attempts to detect these particles have been mounted exp(–mWIMP/T). If equilibrium were maintained until
both by creating them in accelerators and by sensing
1 There is a small difference between the number density of photons and
them in underground detectors as they pass through the neutrinos since photons obey Bose–Einstein statistics and neutrinos obey
Earth. However, there is a large class of astronomical Fermi–Dirac statistics.

today there would therefore be very few WIMPs left, but is the LSP so most investigations of WIMP dark matter
at some point the WIMP density dropped low enough have concentrated on the neutralino. However, there are
that the probability of one WIMP finding another to anni- many possible supersymmetric models and many free
hilate became small. Note, we must assume that an indi- parameters in the models, so precise predictions of
vidual WIMP is stable if it is to become the dark matter. supersymmetric relic abundance and supersymmetric
The WIMP number density stopped dropping at this particle detectability are not possible. Typically experi-
point and we are left with a substantial number of ments attempt to probe a range of model parameters. So
WIMPs today. Detailed evolution of the Boltzmann equa- far no concrete evidence of any supersymmetric partner
tion that describes this process can be done for an accu- exists. If even one supersymmetric partner is found, the
rate prediction, but roughly the predicted relic density theory predicts that they all must exist.
today of WIMPs is inversely proportional to their inter- Note that the parameters that determine the relic
action strength. The remarkable fact is that, for a relic abundances also determine all the particle production
density equal to the known dark matter density, the and rare decay cross sections, as well as the rate in vari-
interaction strength must be that expected for particles ous detectors. Thus once these parameters are specified
with electroweak-scale interactions: thus the ‘W’ for or measured, one can compare the model predictions
‘weakly’ in ‘WIMP’. There are several theoretical prob- with experimental results.
lems with the standard model of particle physics that are
solved by new electroweak-scale physics such as SUPER- Search for WIMPs
SYMMETRY. Thus these theoretical problems may be clues Accelerator searches
that the dark matter does indeed consist of WIMPs. Said Extensive unsuccessful searches for the particles
another way, any stable particle that annihilates with an involved in supersymmetric models have been per-
electroweak-scale cross section is bound to contribute to formed at particle accelerators throughout the world.
the dark matter of the universe. It is interesting that the- Thus substantial regions of prime neutralino dark matter
ories such as supersymmetry, invented for entirely dif- parameter space have already been eliminated. This does
ferent reasons, typically predict just such a particle. not yet mean that low-energy supersymmetry is unlikely
The fact that thermally created dark matter has to exist, since only a small portion of the allowed mass
weak-scale interactions also means that it may be within range under 1 TeV has been explored. Since supersym-
reach of accelerator experiments such as LEP and LHC at metry predicts a Higgs boson with mass under about 120
CERN, and the proton collider experiments at Fermilab. GeV, such a discovery would be very important, espe-
Thus many accelerator searches for exotic particles are cially if the Higgs boson showed non-standard proper-
also searches for the dark matter of the universe. Also, ties indicative of supersymmetry. It is correct to think of
because of the weak-scale interactions, WIMP–nuclear the particle physics search for supersymmetry as a pow-
interaction rates are within reach of many direct and erful search for the dark matter.
indirect detection methods, as discussed below.
Direct detection of WIMPs
Supersymmetry and dark matter A satisfying solution to the dark matter problem would
Supersymmetry is a new hypothetical symmetry of be the detection of WIMPs from our Galactic halo as they
nature that relates bosons and fermions. If supersymme- move past and through the Earth. This would also allow
try exists in nature then every known particle should measurement of the local density of dark matter and
have a supersymmetric partner. Bosonic ordinary parti- establish beyond doubt that the dark matter is non-bary-
cles have fermonic superpartners with the same name onic cold dark matter. There are several ways to do this,
except with the suffix ‘ino’ added, while fermonic ordi- and currently two methods are being aggressively pur-
nary particles have bosonic (scalar) superpartner names sued.
with the prefix ‘s’ added. Examples of proposed super- The most exciting result would be direct detection of
symmetric particles include photinos, higgsinos, Z-inos, the WIMP particles in the laboratory. Since we roughly
squarks and selectrons. Some supersymmetric particles know the speed (~220 km s–1) and the density (ρ~0.3 pro-
have the same quantum numbers as each other and ton masses cm–3), we can say that for a WIMP of mass of
therefore can mix together producing particles that are order 10–100 GeV, roughly 100 000 dark matter particles
not exact partners of any standard model particle. For per second pass through every square centimeter of the
example, the photino, Higgsino and Z-ino can mix into Earth. However, if WIMPs exist, they are very weakly
arbitrary combinations called the neutralinos. interacting particles, so it is quite rare that one of them
In most models, the lightest supersymmetric particle will interact at all; most of them pass right through the
(LSP) is stable, and since supersymmetric particles have Earth unimpeded. In addition, if a WIMP does elastic-
electroweak-strength interactions, the LSP makes an ally scatter off a nucleus, the deposited energy is usually
excellent dark matter candidate. Typically the neutralino in the keV to 100 keV range, too small to be noticed

except by exquisitely sensitive equipment. These difficul- Indirect detection of WIMPs

ties, however, have not stopped many groups through- A great deal of theoretical and experimental effort has
out the world from developing devices capable of detect- gone into another potential technique for WIMP detec-
ing WIMPs. The detection rates turn out to be within and tion. The idea is that if the halo is made of WIMPs, then
just beyond the reach of current experimental efforts. these WIMPs will have been passing through the Earth
The basic idea is to detect the small energy deposit- and Sun for several billion years. Since WIMPs will occa-
ed when a WIMP scatters off a nucleus in some well- sionally elastically scatter off nuclei in the Sun or Earth,
instrumented piece of material. When a WIMP scatters they will occasionally lose enough energy, or change
off a nucleus in a crystal, the nucleus recoils, causing dis- their direction of motion enough, to become gravitation-
location in the crystal structure, vibrations of the crystal ally captured by the Sun or Earth. The orbits of such cap-
lattice (i.e. phonons or heat) and also ionization. These tured WIMPs will repeatedly intersect the Sun (or Earth)
signals can be detected. For example, some experiments resulting in the eventual settling of the WIMPs into the
use kilogram size germanium and silicon crystals and core. As the number density increases over time, the self-
attempt to detect the ionization and phonon signals. annihilation rate will increase. Since ordinary neutrinos
Other groups use sodium iodide crystals and look for the can result from WIMP self-annihilation, one predicts a
scintillation light caused by the ionized electrons or stream of neutrinos coming from the core of the Sun or
search for crystal dislocations in samples of billion year Earth. Neutrinos easily escape the Solar core and detec-
old mica. Another possibility is to record the recoil of an tors on Earth capable of detecting neutrinos coming from
ionized atom in a gas using drift chamber techniques. Sun or Earth have operated for some time. The energy of
The main difficulties in these experiments come such neutrinos is roughly 1/2 to 1/3 of the WIMP mass,
from the fact that the WIMP events are rare and that so these neutrinos are much higher energy than the MeV
there are many backgrounds that deposit similar scale solar neutrinos from nuclear reactions that have
amounts of energy on much more frequent time-scales. already been detected. The higher energy of these WIMP
Thus the experiments operate deep underground, where annihilation neutrinos makes them easier to detect than
ionizing COSMIC RAYS are less frequent, and typically ordinary solar neutrinos and somewhat compensates for
operate their detectors at extremely cold temperatures to their much fewer numbers. It also makes them impossi-
keep thermal excitations low. Also many types of shield- ble to confuse with ordinary solar neutrinos. Thus the
ing, as well as redundant detection methods, are now presence of a source of high-energy neutrinos emanating
becoming standard. Even so, these are difficult experi- from the centers of the Sun and Earth would be taken as
ments and tiny amounts of radioactivity in the detector evidence for WIMP dark matter.
or shielding can swamp the expected signal. With effort, While the above chain of reasoning may seem long,
a background rate of under one event per kilogram of it appears to be robust, and several experimental groups
detector per day can be achieved. The expected signal is are in the process of designing and building detectors
highly dependent on the supersymmetry model, but typ- capable of seeing such a neutrino signal. For this signal,
ically is in the range from 10–5–10 events kg–1 day–1. The it is not the mass of the detector that is relevant, but the
events can be separated from the background in two surface area. Neutrinos from the core of the Sun or Earth
ways. In some detectors the background (non-WIMP) produce muons in the atmosphere and rock around the
interactions can be recognized and simply ignored. In the detectors, and it is primarily these muons that the detec-
larger detectors this is not possible, so they use the fact tors watch for. Muons are also copiously created by cos-
that the WIMP event rate is predicted to be larger in June mic rays entering the Earth’s atmosphere, so there is a
than in December. This annual modulation in event rate substantial background of ‘downward’ traveling muons.
is caused by the Earth’s orbit either being aligned with These detectors, then, are located deep underground,
the Sun’s motion in the Galaxy (in June) or anti-aligned where the rock shields many of the background muons,
(in December). and they also focus on ‘upward’ traveling muons, that
The current generation of detectors have detection are much more likely to have been created by neutrinos
thresholds of around 1 event kg–1 day–1, with hopes that that have traveled through Earth and interacted in the
within the next few years signals as small as 102 events rock just below the detector. Thus surprisingly, the best
kg–1 day–1 will be detectable. Thus there is a reasonable way to see high-energy neutrinos from the Sun is to go
chance that dark matter neutralinos will be detected by deep underground at night (when the Sun is ‘under’ the
this type of direct detection within the next few years. Earth).
It is also clear, however, that there are many values of The new generation of detectors are designed to
the supersymmetry parameters that predict detection have very large surface areas. A comparison of direct and
rates of below the 10–2 events kg–1 day–1 threshold, and indirect detection methods indicates that for a typical
so would not be detectable in the near future by these neutralino a kilogram of direct detector germanium has
methods. about the same sensitivity as 104–106 m2 of indirect

detector. The new generation of detectors should have imperfect alignment two images result and a large mag-
areas in this range and should be able to start to probe nification can occur.
realistic supersymmetry models, but again viable super- Since the MACHO, Earth and source star are all in
symmetric models exist which predict rates too small for relative motion, the star appears to brighten, reaches a
these detectors to measure, and a definitive test of the peak brightness, and then fades back to its usual magni-
WIMP hypothesis does not seem possible in the near tude. Thus the signature for a microlensing event is a
future. time-symmetric brightening of a star occurring as a
MACHO passes close to the line of sight. When a
MACHOs and microlensing microlensing event is detected, one fits the lightcurve
An exciting development in the dark matter story is the and extracts the peak magnification Amax, the time of the
detection of MACHOs by three separate groups, peak, t0, and event duration ^t. The primary physical
MACHO, EROS and OGLE. All three groups monitored information comes from ^t, which depends on the
millions of stars in the LARGE MAGELLANIC CLOUD (LMC), MACHO velocity, the MACHO mass, the source dis-
in the SMALL MAGELLANIC CLOUD (SMC) or in the GALACTIC tance, and the lens distance. The source distance can be
BULGE, for signs of gravitational microlensing, and all determined since it is visible, but unfortunately, one can-
three groups have found it. It has now become clear that not determine the other three physical parameters from ^t.
these objects constitute some new component of the However, statistically, one can use information about the
Milky Way, but whether they constitute a substantial part halo density and velocity distribution, along with the
of the dark matter or new stellar components of the distribution of measured event durations to gain infor-
Galaxy or LMC is not clear. mation about the MACHO masses. Using a standard
MICROLENSING is a powerful new tool for discovering model of the dark halo, MACHOs of Jupiter mass
and characterizing populations of dark objects in our (10–3Mo.) typically cause events lasting 3 days, while
Galaxy, and the current experiments may have the capa- brown dwarf mass MACHOs (0.1Mo.) cause events last-
bility to give a definitive answer to the question of ing about a month.
whether the dark matter in our Galaxy is baryonic. The Assuming a halo made entirely of MACHOs, the
reason is that the microlensing searches are probably sen- probability of any MACHO crossing in front of a star is
sitive to any objects in the range 10–8Mo.<m<103Mo., just about 5×10–7. Thus many millions of stars must be mon-
the range in which such objects are theoretically allowed itored in order to see a handful of microlensing events. In
to exist. Objects made purely of H and He with masses addition, if one wants to see microlensing from objects in
less than ~(10–9–10–7Mo.) are expected to evaporate owing the dark halo, the monitored stars must be far enough
to the microwave background in less than present age of away so that there is a lot of halo material between us
the universe, while dark matter objects with masses and the stars. Therefore, the best stars to monitor are
greater than ~103Mo. would have disrupted known GLOB- those in the LMC and SMC at distances of 50 kpc and 60
ULAR CLUSTERS. So unlike the searches for WIMP dark kpc respectively, stars in the galactic bulge at 8 kpc and
matter, which if they detect nothing will remain incon- stars in nearby galaxies such as M31 at 750 kpc.
clusive, if the MACHO searches find nothing, we would
at least know what the dark matter is not. However, the Microlensing experiments
MACHO searches have found something, as we describe There are several experimental groups that have under-
below. taken the search for microlensing and have returned
Microlensing is also described in the article on GRAV- results. All together about a dozen events have been
ITATIONAL LENSING. The idea of microlensing rests on detected towards the LMC, a couple towards the SMC,
Einstein’s observation that, if a massive object lies direct- and more than 400 towards the galactic bulge. For detec-
ly on the line of sight to a much more distant star, the tion of dark matter MACHOs, it is primarily the LMC
light from the star will be lensed and form a ring around events that are relevant. All survey collaborations oper-
the lens. The ring is called the ‘Einstein ring’ and it sets ate a medium-size telescope and monitor millions of
the scale for all the microlensing searches. In the lens stars nightly. Since the fields are crowded, each CCD
plane, the radius of the ring is given by frame contains hundreds of thousands of stellar images,
the brightness of each which must be determined by
computerized photometry. These stellar brightnesses are
arranged sequentially in a lightcurve, each of which is
finally searched for microlensing-like bumps. All togeth-
where Ro. and Mo. are the solar radius and mass, m is the er many terabytes of data have been analyzed by the sur-
MACHO mass, L is the distance to the star being moni- vey experiments.
tored and x is the distance to the MACHO divided by L. Most of the monitored stars are constant brightness
The formation of a ring is very unlikely, but even with as one expects, but about one-half of 1% are variable.

These are mostly identified as variable stars of known (VLT). This result is a strong confirmation that gravita-
types. Several signatures of microlensing, including the tional microlensing is the cause of the events detected by
unique shape of a microlensing lightcurve are used to teams searching for MACHO dark matter.
pick out microlensing events from this background of In addition, Christopher Kochanek of the
variable stars. For example, the MACHO collaboration Harvard–Smithsonian Centre for Astrophysics in
analyzed about 9.5 million lightcurves from its 2 yr LMC Cambridge, Massachusetts and Neal Dalal of the
data set and found six to eight microlensing events. University of California, San Diego have used radio tele-
scopes and gravitational lensing to search for cold dark
Experimental results matter. They have studied seven galaxies, each magni-
In order to interpret microlensing events, the efficiency fied by four nearer ones. Because each lensing galaxy is
with which an experiment can detect microlensing is in a slightly different position, the researchers got four
needed. Bad weather, bad seeing, crowded stars, etc different images of each of the seven distant galaxies. The
cause microlensing events to be missed by the experi- four images should have been identical. But each is actu-
ment. The MACHO collaboration finds an efficiency of ally slightly different. The difference was enough to have
around 30% for microlensing events that last 50 days. For been caused by the kind of clumps of dark matter around
events lasting less than a few days and events lasting lensing galaxies that mathematical models predict.
longer than 6 months the efficiency is very low.
Using the efficiency and a model of the dark halo, Interpretation of results: dark matter or not?
the number of microlensing events one expects to see if The naive interpretation of the microlensing results is
the halo consisted entirely of MACHOs is found to be that between 20% and 80% of the dark matter in the
about a dozen for the MACHO collaboration 2 yr data Milky Way has been identified. However, the result
set. This quantity is related to the lensing ‘optical depth’, that the mass of the objects is above the brown dwarf
the roughly 5×10–7 probability that at any time a source limit of 0.1Mo. is surprising. Main sequence stars with
star is lensed (if the halo is made entirely of MACHOs). masses above 0.1Mo. would have been seen and there-
Using the eight observed MACHO collaboration fore cannot be the dark matter. Several interpretations
LMC events, the observed optical depth is ~(2.5±1×10–7), are possible.
roughly half the value if the halo consisted entirely of First, perhaps the MACHOs are white dwarf stars or
MACHOs. A careful likelihood analysis of these events neutron stars. These are dark remnants of an earlier gen-
gives, for a standard dark halo model, a most likely eration of stars, but it is problematic to have enough of
MACHO halo fraction of 0.5±0.3 and a most likely mass these around to be the dark matter and not have detect-
of the MACHOs of around 0.5Mo.. This result depends on ed the other byproducts of such an early stellar popula-
the assumption that the events are due to lenses in the tion. Second, perhaps the model of the Galactic halo used
Galactic halo and on the model of the galactic halo used. is incorrect, and the masses of the MACHOs are actually
Another analysis based on noticing that none of the safely below the brown dwarf limit. However, most rea-
eight detected events had durations of less than 20 days sonable halo models investigated do not have this prop-
can rule out low-mass MACHOs. This is because ^t : m1/2, erty. Next, perhaps MACHOs are primordial black holes,
and no short-duration events have been observed or other exotic objects not currently known. This is pos-
toward the LMC. This analysis gives the strongest con- sible, but quite surprising. Most importantly, perhaps the
straints to date on the baryonic content of the dark halo. microlensing events are not due to halo lenses, and there-
The EROS and MACHO collaboration limits show that fore are not telling us about the dark matter. In a typical
objects in the mass range from 10–7Mo. to 10–3Mo. cannot microlensing event, the distance of the MACHO is not
make up the entire dark halo. Objects in the range from determined, so it is not known where the lens population
3.5–10–7Mo. to 4.5–10–5Mo. make up less than 10% of the is located. The estimate of the amount of MACHO dark
dark halo. Thus we now know that the dark matter is not matter relies on an assumed distribution of lens material,
mostly objects of Earth mass, or Jupiter mass, or any and therefore on the model of the Galaxy and LMC.
combination thereof. The only compact baryonic dark It has been suggested that the lenses could be faint
matter candidates left are objects in the brown dwarf and stars in the LMC itself, or in some small undiscovered
higher mass range. This result is independent of any dwarf galaxy between the Sun and the LMC. These pos-
assumptions about the observed microlensing events, sibilities are being vigorously pursued, but strong argu-
but does depend on the model of the dark halo. ments have been given against both possibilities. Thus
In 2002, an international team of astronomers the outcome is very unclear at the moment.
observed a dark matter object directly for the first time. If one could measure the distance to the MACHO,
Images and spectra of a MACHO microlens were taken that would be enough to distinguish between the above
by the NASA/ESA HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE (HST) and the possibilities. Thus a ‘microlensing parallax’ satellite has
European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope been proposed to measure these distances. Other ways to

measure the distance to lenses, and therefore determine

whether or not they are part of the dark halo, include
ground-based lensing parallax, binary lens caustic cross-
ing, and the finite source star effect. Unfortunately,
events where these effects can be measured are rare, so
luck, or new larger surveys and better follow-up, is need-
ed to resolve this issue of what the MACHOs are.
The next generation of microlensing surveys and fol-
low-up efforts are underway or being planned and
should determine some lens distances, as well as gather
more events. Thus, while the question of baryonic dark
matter remains open, the next few years should bring an
answer.
Bibliography
Dalal N and Kochanek C S (in press) 2002 Direct detec-
tion of CDM substructure Astrophys. J.
An older very nice review of WIMP dark matter is
Primack J R, Seckel D and Sadoulet B 1988 Annu. Rev.
Nucl. Part. S. B 38 751–807
and a newer review of supersymmetric dark matter is
Jungman G, Kamionkowski M and Griest K 1996 Phys.
Rep. 267 195
A survey of experimental results in particle dark matter
detection can be found in the book
Bottino A, di Credico A and Monacelli P 1997 TAUP 97:
Proceedings 5th Workshop on Topics in
Astroparticles and Underground Physics, Nucl.
Phys. B (Suppl.) 70
Recent reviews of microlensing include
Gould A 1996 Publ. Astron. Soc. Pac. 108 465–576
Paczynski B 1996 Annu. Rev. Astron. Astrophys. 34 419–59
The analysis of the MACHO collaboration data can be
found in
Alcock C et al 1998 Astrophys. J. Lett. 499 L9
Alcock C et al 1997 Astrophys. J. 486 697
Kim Griest

Wind E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
Wind
NASA satellite, part of NASA’s Global Geospace Science
programme and the International Solar Terrestrial Physics
programme. Launched November 1994. For the first nine
months it followed a double-lunar swingby orbit with
apogee of 80–250 Earth radii and perigee 5–10 Earth radii.
In this orbit, lunar gravity assists maintained apogee over
Earth’s day hemisphere for magnetospheric observations.
Later inserted into a ‘halo’ orbit at the sunward Sun–Earth
gravitational equilibrium point (L1) to measure the solar
wind, magnetic fields and particles, and provide a one-
hour warning to other ISTP spacecraft of changes in the
solar wind. Since October 1998, placed in ‘petal’ orbits
that take it out of the ecliptic plane.

Wing, Vincent (1619–68) E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
Wing, Vincent (1619–68)

Born in North Luffenham, Rutland, he supported himself
as a surveyor, almanac compiler (his almanac sold
50 000 copies per year), astrologer and prolific writer of
astronomical works.

Winthrop, John (1714–79) E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
Winthrop, John (1714–79)

Astronomer, mathematician, born in Boston, MA, became
professor of mathematics and natural philosophy at
Harvard and observed sunspots, a transit of Mercury and
of Venus, eclipses and the weather. He predicted the return
of Halley’s Comet in 1759. He is credited as the first
professional scientist in America. He was an ardent patriot
during the American Revolution.

Wise Observatory E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
Wise Observatory
Wise Observatory, in Mitzpe Ramon, Israel, is owned
and operated by Tel Aviv University, and has a well-
equipped 1 m telescope. Since construction in 1971,
the large percentage of clear nights at its desert site
and its unique longitude have made the observatory
particularly useful for long-term monitoring projects (e.g.
reverberation mapping of quasars and active galaxies),
and as a part of global monitoring networks (e.g. the
first detection, via gravitational microlensing, of a planet
orbiting a binary star system).
http://wise-obs.tau.ac.il.

Wittich, Paul (c. 1546–86) E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
Wittich, Paul (c. 1546–86)

Born in Breslau, Silesia (now Wroclaw, Poland), invented
(or at least developed) ‘prosthaphaeresis’, a formalism
of trigonometry that allowed one to multiply and divide
trigonometric functions by the easier process of adding
and subtracting instead (in the manner of logarithms).
He wrote a commentary on COPERNICUS’s De Revolutionibus,
which foreshadowed the Tychonic system. He worked
with TYCHO BRAHE for four months at Uraniborg.

WIYN Observatory E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
WIYN Observatory
Located at Kitt Peak in Arizona. The WIYN Observatory
is owned and operated by the WIYN Consortium, which
consists of the University of Wisconsin, Indiana University,
Yale University and the National Optical Astronomy
Observatories (NOAO). Most of the capital costs of the
observatory were provided by these universities, while
NOAO, which operates the other telescopes of the KITT
PEAK NATIONAL OBSERVATORY, provides most of the operating
services.
The 3.5 m WIYN Telescope, which was completed in
1994, is the second largest telescope on Kitt Peak. The size
of the telescope enclosure is kept to a minimum by the
short focal length of the primary mirror, which results in
a shorter telescope, while the alt-azimuth mount requires
less space. The moving weight of the telescope is a mere
46 tons.
Other innovative design features are active primary
mirror supports, primary mirror thermal controls and
active ventilation of the telescope mount. The support
system for the primary mirror includes 66 actuators, which
adjust the back face of the mirror to maintain the best
optical figure. The primary mirror thermal control system
keeps the temperature of the mirror’s surface to within
0.2 ◦ C of the ambient air temperature, eliminating local
turbulence. These innovations enable the WIYN Telescope
to produce much sharper images than any of the other
telescopes on Kitt Peak.
WIYN is equipped with the latest instruments for
astronomical spectroscopy and imaging. A multiple-
object spectrograph employing optical fibers allows the
simultaneous observation of the spectra of 100 objects.
The imaging cameras employ highly sensitive arrays of
electronic detectors.
http://www.noao.edu/wiyn/.

Wolf, Charles J E (1827–1918) E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
Wolf, Charles J E (1827–1918)

French astronomers Charles Wolf and GEORGES RAYET, using
the 40 cm Foucault telescope of the Paris Observatory,
visually observed the spectra in 1867 of several eighth
magnitude stars in Cygnus before the systematic use of
photographic plates and found very broad emission lines.
The ‘bands’ were originally thought to be hydrocarbon
molecules. The stars became known as Wolf–Rayet (WR)
stars.

Wolf, Johann Rudolf (1816–93) E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
Wolf, Johann Rudolf (1816–93)

Born in Fällanden (near Zurich), Switzerland, became
professor of astronomy at the University of Bern and
director of the Bern Observatory, then professor of
astronomy in Zürich where he founded an observatory.
He devised a system now known as Wolf’s sunspot numbers
used to quantify solar activity by counting sunspots and
sunspot groups and used it to confirm the sunspot cycle
discovered by HEINRICH SCHWABE and measure its period at
11 years. He also co-discovered with EDWARD SABINE its
connection with geomagnetic activity.

Wolf, Max[imilian] Franz Joseph Cornelius (1863–
1932)
Wolf, Max[imilian] Franz Joseph

Cornelius (1863–1932)
Astronomer, born in Heidelberg, Germany, founded
and became first director of the Königstuhl Observatory
at the University of Heidelberg. He took wide-field
photographs of the Milky Way and counted stars of
different brightnesses, plotting the results in a Wolf diagram
of number versus magnitude to prove the existence of
clouds of obscuring dust. He showed that the spiral
nebulae have absorption spectra typical of stars, rather
than emission spectra from gas. He pioneered the use of
photography to discover hundreds of asteroids.

Wolf–Rayet Nebula E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
Wolf–Rayet Nebula
Nebulosity surrounding a Wolf–Rayet star. Wolf–Rayet
stars are of around 10 solar masses and have very high
surface temperatures, up to about 40 000 K. This gives
them powerful stellar winds, up to 2000 km s−1 , and an
enormous rate of mass loss. Material is usually ejected
in the form of a spherical shell or ring (the term Wolf–
Rayet bubble is sometimes used), and the accumulating
envelope from successive ejection episodes comprises
the nebula. Examples of Wolf–Rayet nebulae are NGC
2359, surrounding the star HD 56925, and NGC 6888,
surrounding the star MR 102.
See also: Wolf–Rayet stars.

Wolf–Rayet Stars E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
stars is due to the initial mass function, which favors the

Wolf–Rayet Stars production of low-mass stars, and the short evolutionary
Wolf–Rayet (W–R) stars are a class of peculiar stars first lifetime of W–R stars, which is only a few ×105 yr. Their
identified in 1867 by C J E WOLF and G RAYET. Unlike the rarity belies their importance. All stars more massive than
spectra of most stars, which are dominated by narrow approximately 25M (for solar metallicity) pass through
absorption lines, the spectra of W–R stars show broad a W–R phase. Further, over the lifetime of a galaxy, W–R
emission lines. The rich emission line spectrum makes stars (and their progenitors) have an important influence
them easy to identify, by spectroscopic observations, even on the energetics, dynamics and chemical evolution of the
at large distances. interstellar medium.
W–R stars are divided into three broad spectroscopic W–R stars are expected to end their life via a
classes (WN, WC and WO) based on the emission lines spectacular supernovae explosion. In some cases a
present in their spectrum. WN stars show emission lines neutron star is formed, while for the more massive stars
predominantly of helium and nitrogen, although emission a black hole is formed. In the latter case the details of the
due to carbon, silicon and hydrogen can readily be seen in mechanism that actually produces the supernova are still
some of these objects. In contrast, the spectra of WC stars very uncertain. As the supernovae ejecta expands, it will
are dominated by carbon and helium emission lines with interact with the complex circumstellar environment that
hydrogen and nitrogen emission absent (figure 1). WO reflects the previous mass loss history of the progenitor
stars, which are much rarer than either WN or WC stars, star.
are similar to WC stars except that oxygen lines are more In addition to the population I W–R stars, some
prevalent, and there is a tendency to exhibit lines arising planetary nebula central stars also show W–R emission
from atomic species of higher ionization. features (see PLANETARY NEBULA CENTRAL STAR MASS LOSS/WINDS,
These spectral classes are further divided into W–R NEBULA). Their spectral types are inserted in [] to
subclasses on the basis of line ratios, yielding a distinguish them from population I W–R stars. They are
classification by ionization. The WN stars which exhibit of type [WC] and have lower masses (less than 1M ) and
spectra showing emission from high-ionization species lower luminosities (generally <3 × 104 L ). The spectra of
(e.g. He II, N V, O VI)1 are designated WN2. Those showing planetary nebula W–R stars are often dominated by strong
emission from low-ionization species (e.g. He I, N III) are narrow nebula emission lines. In some cases they can
classified as WN9, although recently the W–R spectral be difficult to distinguish spectroscopically from normal
classification has been extended to WN11. Similarly, population I W–R stars although in some [WC] stars N and
WC stars showing emission from high-ionization species H emission is seen. Because of their distinct evolutionary
(e.g. He II, C IV, O VI) are designated WC4 while those histories, they will not be further discussed in this article.
exhibiting the lowest ionization (e.g. He I, C II) are
designated WC9. In the literature there is also a tendency Basic model
to refer to WN stars of classes 2–5 as early type (WNE) The basic model for W–R stars is that of a hot star which
and classes 6–9 as late type (WNL). Similarly, WC4–6 stars is suffering extreme mass loss. The mass loss occurs via
are designated as WCE, while WC7–9 stars are designated a continuous stellar wind which is accelerated from low
as WCL. Although there are important exceptions, WNE velocities near the surface of the star to velocities that
stars generally show no evidence for H emission while H exceed the surface escape speed. The observed spectrum
emission is present in WNL stars. originates over a range of radii with the optical continuum
forming close to the stellar core, while the emission lines
The distribution of population I W–R stars, which are
originate from a volume that can extend beyond 10 stellar
discussed in this article, is similar to that of O stars; they are
radii.
primarily located in the spiral arms of our galaxy and near
The observed mass-loss rates (i.e. the amount of
H II regions. W–R masses range from an uncertain lower
material lost per year) are extreme, typically in excess of
limit of about 5M to in excess of 60M , while surface
10−5 M yr−1 . These mass-loss rates are sufficient to affect
temperatures range from a lower limit of 25 000 K to greater
the evolution of the star (see STELLAR EVOLUTION) and must
than 100 000 K. Because of their spatial association with O
be incorporated into stellar evolutionary calculations.
stars, and their peculiar surface abundances, W–R stars are
The (average) maximum velocity of material in W–R
generally believed to be descended from O stars.
winds (called the terminal velocity, V∞ ) ranges from
Approximately 220 W–R stars are known in our
800 km s−1 to in excess of 3000 km s−1 , and typically
Galaxy but this number is certainly incomplete. Most are
exceeds the escape velocity from the surface of the star. It
hidden from our view by dust, which absorbs and scatters
is generally believed, although it has yet to be rigorously
light (a process termed interstellar extinction) within our
demonstrated, that the mass loss is driven by radiation
Galaxy. Estimates of the total number of W–R stars in
pressure acting through numerous bound–bound atomic
our Galaxy range from 1000 to 2000. The rarity of W–R
transitions of Fe and other atomic species in the extreme
1 He II is a spectroscopic designation used to indicate the ion for UV (λ < 900 Å).
a transition between bound levels in singly ionized helium (i.e. The bulk of the material in the wind is believed to
He+ ). be cool—that is, it has a temperature substantially lower

Figure 1. UV and optical spectra of the WN5 star HD 50896 and the WC5 star HD 165763. The major emission line features are
identified, although it should be noted that many lines, particularly in the WC star, are blends. Notice the very distinct differences
between the WN5 and WC5 spectra. The optical spectral region, which can be observed from the ground, has typically been used to
classify W–R stars. Since the advent of space astronomy, the UV spectral region has provided additional invaluable diagnostics on the
properties of W–R stars.

than the effective temperature of the star. Energy input from the stellar wind dominates the spectral appearance of
into the wind primarily occurs through photoionization by the star. Third, the abundances are non-solar and must be
the intense UV radiation field emanating from the central determined observationally. Indeed it is the abundances
source. Thus photoionization is the ultimate source of that determine to which class (WN, WC or WO) a W–R star
the line emission that originates in the wind, although belongs (see also STELLAR ATMOSPHERES: EARLY-TYPE STARS).
individual emission lines form through a variety of In addition to the abundances (primarily of H, He, N,
different processes—recombination, collisional excitation C and O) it has been found from numerical experiments
and continuum fluorescence. that the spectra of W–R stars are determined primarily by
two parameters: Teff and a wind density parameter, Wρ .
Determination of stellar parameters The latter, which plays a similar role to geff , can be defined
The spectra of most stars are determined by three basic by
parameters: the effective temperature (Teff ), the effective Wρ = (Ṁ/V∞ )Rc−3/2
surface gravity (geff ) and the chemical abundances. For
an assumed metallicity, large grids of models can be where Rc is the radius of the hydrostatic core. Two
constructed simply by varying Teff and geff . stars will have very similar spectra if they have similar
The effective temperature is defined by the relation abundances, and if Teff and Wρ are similar. The dependence
of the spectra on Wρ arises because most of the radiative
L = 4πR∗2 σ Teff
4 processes in an extended atmosphere depend on the
square of the density. As a consequence of the scaling,
where L is the luminosity and σ is the Stefan–Boltzmann it is impossible to deduce the distance of a W–R star from
constant. The effective temperature is the surface the Sun using its spectrum2 . In principle, Ṁ and V∞ should
temperature that a star of radius R would have if it depend on the other stellar parameters—composition, M,
radiated as a blackbody (a perfect thermal emitter and L and R , but as yet our theoretical understanding of mass
absorber). loss from W–R stars is not sufficiently advanced to deduce
The effective surface gravity is defined by the relationship.
Because of the low wind densities (108 –1014 electrons
GM cm−3 )3 the simplifying assumption of local thermo-
geff = (1 − ) dynamic equilibrium (LTE) cannot be made when
R2
modeling W–R spectra. When LTE holds, it can be
where M is the star’s mass, G is Newton’s gravitational assumed that the ionization state of the gas and the
constant, and is a correction for the influence of radiation populations of the atomic levels can be found via
pressure. In conjunction with the equation of hydrostatic application of the principles of statistical mechanics and
equilibrium thus are (simple) functions of the local temperature and
2
dP R density only. For LTE to prevail, collisional processes,
= −ρgeff which couple the atomic populations with the electrons
dr r
(and hence to the local electron temperature), need to occur
where P is the pressure and ρ is the density, this sets faster than radiative processes.
the scale height of the atmosphere, h . For an isothermal In contrast, in W–R atmospheres radiative processes
atmosphere, h is given by tend to dominate over collisional processes, and hence it is
necessary to solve the equations of statistical equilibrium
kT
h = at each depth. For each atomic level of each species we
µmH geff assume that all the processes (radiative and collisional)
populating the level are in equilibrium with all processes
where µ is the mean particle mass in atomic mass units
depopulating the same level. The major difficulty arises
(amu) and mH is the atomic mass of hydrogen. For most
because the rates are a function of the radiation field, which
normal stars h R , curvature effects can be ignored
in turn is a function of the unknown populations. Thus the
and the atmosphere can be treated as a plane-parallel slab.
radiation field and atomic populations must be solved for
As a consequence of the small scale height, the Sun has a
simultaneously, and in general an iterative procedure is
definite radius at optical wavelengths.
necessary to obtain consistency.
For W–R stars the situation is quite different. First,
the atmosphere is extended, and consequently radiation 2 Stellar evolution introduces a correlation between spectral
escapes from the star over a range of radii. Further, type and luminosity which may statistically allow distances
the radius of the star at an optical depth (τ ) of 2/3 to be derived for stars of a given spectral type. However,
depends on the adopted mass-loss rate and is a function for an individual star the derived distance may be grossly in
of wavelength (figure 2). The difficulty of uniquely error, particularly if the spectral type can originate via different
evolutionary sequences. This is exemplified in the difficulty of
defining R has led to difficulties in comparing Teff determining whether some W–R stars belong to population I or
derived from evolutionary models with that obtained from are the central stars of planetary nebula.
spectroscopic analyses. Second, geff does not have a direct 3 For comparison, the density of water on Earth is of order 1022
influence on the stellar spectrum, simply because emission molecules cm−3 .

Figure 2. Illustration of how the ‘radius’ of the star varies with wavelength for the WC5 star HD 165763. The solid curve shows the
‘radius’ at which the ‘continuum’ optical depth, τ , is 1/3, which occurs in the wind at all wavelengths. The broken curve is identical
except that the electron scattering opacity was not included in the computation of τ . The bulk of the observed flux in this model is
emitted between 300 and 2000 Å. Rc is the radius of the hydrostatic core—that is, the approximate radius the star would have in the
absence of a stellar wind. For the illustrated model it was 1.8R .
Initial modeling of W–R spectra concentrated on the the nebula are ionized by the star’s radiation field. For
H and He spectra only. The second generation included ring nebula around WNE stars these analyses have usually
CNO elements, while the most recent generation of models shown reasonable consistency. However, for some WNL
include iron and other species. The inclusion of iron (and and WC stars the observed nebular spectrum was of lower
similar species) in non-LTE calculations has been a major excitation than would be predicted using the stellar UV
stumbling block for atmospheric calculations for O and radiation field derived from the modeling. The recent
W–R stars for many years. The iron-group ions have both inclusion of line blanketing in the stellar atmospheric
a wealth of atomic levels and an enormous number of models has removed this discrepancy for at least one ring
bound–bound transitions. The advent of faster computers nebula around a WN8 star.
with large memories, new numerical techniques and the
availability of atomic data have now made it feasible to
include iron and other species in non-LTE calculations. Abundances
The severe non-LTE conditions in W–R stars initially
Determination of Teff made it difficult to understand their peculiar emission
The effective temperatures of W–R stars are determined line spectra. Do W–R stars possess peculiar (i.e. non-
primarily using ionization arguments. Consider a solar) abundances? Is the difference between the WN
sequence of models with prescribed mass loss and velocity and WC stars due to an abundance difference, or is
law, but with different effective temperatures. Such a it an excitation effect? Detailed recombination and
sequence of models will exhibit a smooth variation in line spectroscopic analyses have now firmly established that
ratios for lines from two successive stages of ionization. W–R stars are characterized by non-solar abundances.
In early WN modeling it was customary to compare He II
In WN stars H, C and O are depleted, while N and
5411 with He I 5876 since both lines are easily observed and
He are enhanced. For WN stars, N (H)/N(He) ratios (by
are relatively blend free. In more recent modeling N lines
number) range from approximately 4 to <0.1 (the solar
can also be used to constrain the effective temperature,
value is 10). The observed abundances are consistent
while in WC stars C and O lines can be used. The
analyses generally give consistent results. Discrepant with the idea that material processed by the CNO nuclear
results do occur, and probably result from a poor treatment burning bi-cycle has been revealed (or mixed) at the
of line blanketing (the generic name given to the influence surface (see ‘Evolution’).
of thousands of bound–bound atomic transitions on an In WC stars, He, C, O and Ne are all enhanced.
atmosphere) and/or density inhomogeneities in the stellar N (C)/N (He) = 0.1–0.5 while the less certain N(O)/N(He)
wind. ratios are typically 0.1. H and N are not expected in WC
Analyses of the spectra of ring nebula around stars and are not detected. The variation of N (C)/N (He)
W–R stars offers a method of checking on the energy and N(O)/N(He) with WC subtype is still the subject of
distributions predicted by atmospheric modeling, since much debate.

Determination of mass-loss rates photons, and hence all the momentum in the radiation
Mass-loss rates can be determined in several ways. First, field, were absorbed. For O stars, η is typically less than
free–free radiation in the dense stellar wind gives rise to a unity. For W–R stars values as high as 100 have been
detectable flux at radio wavelengths. From measurements obtained, although by allowing for inhomogeneities and
of the radio flux, Sν , the mass-loss rate, Ṁ, can be line blanketing it has been possible to reduce the values to
determined from the simple formula less than 10. Values of η in excess of unity do not rule out
4/3 2/3 a radiation-driven wind—they simply indicate that each
Ṁz γ gν photon has to scatter many times within the wind so that
Sν = 23.2 it delivers η times its momentum to the wind. It has been
V∞ µ d3
difficult to produce radiation-driven winds for W–R stars
where d is the distance to the W–R star in kpc, Ṁ is the since current models do not have the necessary number of
mass-loss rate in M yr−1 , V∞ is the terminal velocity of bound–bound atomic transitions to perform the required
the wind in km s−1 , z is the mean ionic charge, µ is the number of scatterings.
mean ionic mass (in amu), γ is the number of electrons
Binaries
per ion, ν is the frequency in Hz and g is the free–free
Approximately 50% of W–R stars occur in binaries—a
Gaunt factor (which is the quantum correction factor to the
number comparable with O stars. In the past there has
semiclassical formula for free–free radiation) at frequency
been considerable discussion on the importance of binarity
ν. Sν is measured in janskys (1 jansky = 10−23 erg cm−2 s−1
for the W–R phenomenon. For example, it was once
Hz−1 ). The greatest uncertainties in the derived Ṁ arise
thought that W–R stars could only originate in a binary
from uncertainties in stellar distance and in the ionization
system. Mass loss from the W–R progenitor would then
state of the gas in the radio-emitting region.
occur by Roche-lobe overflow. The major uncertainty
Second, the IR flux can be used in a similar manner,
in evolutionary calculations of binary systems is how
although in this case it cannot be assumed that the wind
much material is lost from the system during Roche-lobe
has reached its terminal speed. Third, optical and UV
overflow (rather than being accreted by the companion).
emission lines can be used. Typically, recombination lines
More recently the binary channel for the production of
are used since they are less sensitive to the precise details W–R stars has virtually been ignored. There is little doubt,
of their formation. Mass-loss estimates obtained from however, that the binary channel is important, and it must
different methods generally agree to within a factor of 2. be considered when linking W–R types with evolutionary
It has generally been assumed that the winds of W–R calculations (although many researchers would disagree
stars are spherical and homogeneous. Thus at any location with this statement).
in the wind the density can simply be found from the At least three (broad) distinct classes of W–R binary
principle of mass conservation, giving systems can be envisioned: W–R + OB star, W–R + W–R,
W–R + compact companion (neutron star or black hole).
Ṁ
ρ= All (confirmed) W–R binaries belong to the first class;
4πr 2 v(r) W–R + W–R systems are expected to be rare, although
where v(r) is the velocity as a function of distance and WR98 (where WR98 denotes the 98th W–R star in the
is assumed to monotonically increase with r. However, sixth catalogue of W–R stars) may be an example of such
emission line variability studies and analyses of emission a system. The third class is expected on evolutionary
line profiles suggest that the wind is clumped (i.e. non- grounds. Although the existence of such systems has
homogeneous) on small scales. If this is true, mass-loss been difficult to verify, several good candidate systems are
estimates are too large—possibly by factors of 3 or more. known. Cyg X-3 can be considered a possible example.
This has very important implications for stellar evolution W–R binary systems are extremely useful. First,
calculations. A change in Ṁ by only a factor of 2 (over and foremost, they allow a direct determination of stellar
a star’s life) has a profound influence on the evolution masses, independent of evolutionary models. The use
of massive stars. This is seen in theoretical evolutionary of these masses in constraining single-star evolutionary
calculations and can also be indirectly inferred from the models presupposes that W–R stars in binaries have
different WN/WC ratios in the galaxy and our nearest properties similar to single W–R stars—a proposition that
extragalactic neighbor, the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). cannot be reliably tested because of poor statistics and
In the LMC the mass-loss rates are expected to be lower uncertainties in the properties of W–R stars.
because of the lower metallicity. Second, the O star can be used to probe the structure
The extreme mass-loss properties of W–R stars can of the W–R stellar wind. Indeed it was this technique,
be characterized by the ‘wind performance parameter’, η, applied to the W–R + O binary V444 Cygni, which gave
defined by the first direct evidence that W–R stars are hot (i.e. surface
ṀV∞ temperature in excess of 60 000 K). More recently it has
η= . become evident that polarization studies of binary systems
L/c
may allow determinations of mass-loss rates which are
ṀV∞ is the (scalar) momentum of the wind, while L/c insensitive to the presence of inhomogeneities within the
is the momentum that could be transferred if all the stellar wind.

X-ray emission
Most W–R stars are thermal x-ray sources. They can be
classified into two categories—single W–R stars and binary
W–R stars. In single W–R stars the observed ratio of x-ray
to bolometric luminosity is approximately 10−7 , although
there is a scatter of at least a factor of 3 about this value.
The x-rays are believed to originate within the stellar
wind through radiation-driven wind instabilities which
lead to high-velocity shocks (Vshock = 100–600 km s−1 )
and clumping of the wind. These shocks generate x-ray
emitting gas characterized by temperatures between 106
and 107 K. The shocks probably permeate most of the wind;
however, because of the high wind densities most of the
x-rays are absorbed in the wind.
A few W–R stars are stronger and/or variable x-ray
emitters. In these binary systems the x-rays can be
generated from the high-temperature gas (of order 107 K)
created via shocks generated in a wind–wind collision.
The two best examples are the WN + O system V444 Cygni Figure 3. A gray scale image at 2.27 µm showing the
and the WC + O system HD193793 (WR140). Both exhibit distribution of dust in WR104, as found by interferometric
a periodic x-ray variability broadly consistent with that observations with the KECK telescope. The dust moves away
expected from a wind–wind collision in a binary system. from the system radially—the apparent spiral motion is an
Alternatively the x-rays could be generated via accretion illusion. It results from the rotation of the dust formation zone
as a consequence of the orbital motion of the binary system. The
of wind material onto a compact companion.
ring of dust, as illustrated, has an angular diameter of
approximately 160 AU (or 0.1 arcsec). (Picture courtesy of
Dust formation W Danchi, J Monnier and P Tuthill, Berkeley.)
This topic, by all rights, should not belong in a discussion
on W–R stars since dust is destroyed by intense UV
radiation and requires low temperatures (<3000 K) for its (BSGs), red supergiants (RSGs), LUMINOUS BLUE VARIABLES
formation. Yet dust is seen around some WC stars, and (LBVs) and WN/Of stars. One of the goals of massive star
moreover dust is seen to be created in the vicinity of some evolution is to understand the links between the various
WC stars. Two distinct dusty WC classes may exist: binary classes of objects and the distribution of massive stars
systems and single stars. between the different classes. Below we briefly discuss
In many WC9 stars, presumed to be single, conditions some of the salient features of each class.
within the C-rich stellar wind appear to allow dust
Of stars are O supergiants exhibiting emission lines in
formation. The dust nucleation routes and how the
the optical. They are O stars that have evolved off the main
dust (and the necessary prerequisite molecules) forms
sequence. WN/Of stars exhibit spectral characteristics
despite the presence of an intense UV radiation field are
of both Of and WNL stars. It was this intermediate
unclear. If the stars are single, inhomogeneities generated
characteristic that suggested an evolutionary link between
by radiation instabilities probably play an important role
the Of stars, and bona-fide WN stars.
in allowing dust to form.
The second class are the binary systems, with eccen- LBVs, as their name suggests, are luminous blue stars
tric orbits, with HD193793 (WR140) being an excellent ex- which show irregular variability on a time scale of hours
ample. In these systems dust does not normally form; to centuries. Some LBVs have exhibited giant outbursts in
however, binary interaction near periastron (i.e. minimal which their visual brightness and bolometric magnitude
orbital separation) can facilitate dust formation. Appar- increased by several magnitudes. During such outbursts
ently the high densities generated in the wind–wind inter- several solar masses of material may be ejected. Other
action have the right conditions for dust formation. As in LBVs, such as AG Car, show moderate outbursts on a
the single WC stars, the dust formation is not understood. timescale of a decade. During these outbursts the effective
Recent interferometric observations of WR104 with temperature changes but the bolometric luminosity and
the KECK telescope have revealed directly the dust mass-loss rate are almost constant. The most famous LBVs
outflowing from the interaction region of the binary are P Cygni, which suffered a giant outburst in the 1600s,
(figure 3). and η Car which underwent a major outburst in the 1840s.
The outburst suffered by η Car ejected a bipolar nebula,
Related stars referred to as the Homunculus, which has a major axis
In the upper part of the Hertzsprung–Russell (H–R) diameter of 17 (approximately 4000 AU). Images of the
diagram, many different classes of massive luminous stars Homunculus are amongst the most spectacular obtained
exist (see HIGH-LUMINOSITY STARS): Of stars, blue supergiants by the Hubble Space Telescope.

A major breakthrough in our understanding of still be core hydrogen burning. If the latter is true, it
massive stars was achieved when one LMC Of/WN star means that the spectroscopic and theoretical definitions
(now classified as WN11), R 127, was observed to undergo of W–R stars are inconsistent. This creates difficulties
an LBV-like outburst, suggesting an evolutionary link in comparing observed W–R/O number ratios with
between LBVs and Of/WN stars. theoretical predictions. The W–R/O ratio is an important
LBVs are now regarded as a key phase of massive observational constraint since it provides a method (at
star evolution. It is believed that during the LBV phase least in principle) of determining the minimum stellar
a massive star ejects most of its hydrogen-rich outer mass which will evolve into a W–R star. For a solar
envelope, allowing it to become a W–R star. A key metallicity this is generally believed to be approximately
observation that has led to this scenario is the absence 25M , but higher values cannot be ruled out.
of RSGs with luminosities comparable with the most In massive stars, H burning occurs via the CNO
luminous O stars. Evolutionary calculations show that, bi-cycle through a sequence of reactions, with the CNO
during the LBV phase, extensive mass loss can prevent species acting as catalysts. In the CN cycle the following
the star from evolving into an RSG. The mechanism of reactions occur:
mass loss during the LBV phase is not yet understood,
although it may be related to the star evolving towards the
12
6C + 11 H → 137 N + γ
modified Eddington limit. The classical Eddington limit 13
7N → 136 C + e+ + ν
provides a lower limit on the mass of a star, of a given 13
+ 11 H → 147 N + γ
6C
luminosity, based on the assumption that the radiative
force arising from the electron scattering opacity cannot
14
7N + 11 H → 158 O + γ
exceed gravity. The modified Eddington limit takes into
15
8O → 157 N + e+ + ν
account that other radiative processes also contribute to 15
7N + 11 H → 126 C + 42 He.
the opacity, and further that stellar rotation can effectively
lower the surface gravity. The maximum luminosity The fourth reaction is the slowest, and as a consequence
exhibited by supergiants in the H–R diagram is termed much of the original C (and O from the other reactions
the Humphreys–Davidson limit. in the CNO bi-cycle) is converted to N. The total number
of CNO nuclei remains unchanged. When equilibrium is
Evolution obtained, the ratio of 14 N to 13 C nuclei is approximately 50,
W–R stars are believed to be descended from O stars. The very different from the solar ratio of 0.27.
basic evolutionary sequence, first proposed by Conti in In normal stars the nuclear processed material
1976, is remains within the stellar core and cannot be observed.
O → Of → W–R However, in O stars and their descendants, extensive mass
Since that time observational and theoretical work has led loss peels off the outer hydrogen-rich layers. Nuclear
to refinements in this basic sequence. From the theoretical processed material, once inside the convective core of the
work of Maeder and collaborators, one such sequence for star, is eventually revealed at the surface. In addition to
stars with initial masses greater than 50M is mass loss, it is now believed that mixing, possibly induced
by stellar rotation, can help reveal nuclear processed
O → OIf → BSG → LBV → WN → WC → supernova material at the stellar surface.
In WC stars the mass loss has been so extensive that
while stars between 35M and 50M have the alternative the products of He burning are revealed at the stellar
sequence surface. The predominant reactions for helium burning
are
O → BSG → YSG → RSG → YSG → WN
2 He + 2 He 4 Be
4 4 8
→ WC → supernova.
4 Be + 2 He → 6 C + γ
8 4 12
Other sequences have also been proposed. Suffice it to

6 C + 2 He → 8 O + γ .
12 4 16
say that the precise evolutionary path that an individual
massive star follows (which depends on the star’s initial The variation in surface abundances as a function of
mass and composition, and possibly its rotation rate and current mass for a star with an initial mass of 40M is
whether it has a companion) is still uncertain. No firm shown in figure 4.
link has been established between the different ionization
classes within the WN and WC sequences, although there W–R stars in external galaxies
has been some success in linking spectral types with initial W–R stars are moderately easy to detect in external
stellar mass. The unknown roles of binary interactions and galaxies owing to their strong emission lines. Typically
rotation only add to the confusion. they are found by performing a photometric survey in two
Both WN stars and WC stars are generally believed filters. The passband of one filter is centered on a strong
to be on the helium-burning main sequence, although emission feature (generally the He II–C III/C IV complex
some of the luminous hydrogen-rich WN stars may at 4640–4690 Å) while the second passband is centered on

Figure 4. A diagram showing the evolution in surface abundances as a function of mass for a star with an initial mass of 40M . The
WN phase occurs when the star’s mass is between (approximately) 15M and 30M , while the WC phase occurs when M < 15M .
For most of its 4.8 × 106 yr life the star has a mass close to its initial value (e.g. after 4.2 × 106 yr, its mass is still ≈36M ). The lifetimes
of various stages are very dependent on the adopted assumptions (e.g. overshooting and mixing) and the adopted mass-loss rates.
Overshooting refers to the phenomenon of convective motions extending into a convectively stable region because the convective
velocities are non-zero at the interface between the convectively stable and unstable regions. Mixing refers to the process of mixing
two chemically distinct regions of the star—for example rotation might induce nuclear processed material to be transported to the
surface layers. The calculations were undertaken by the Geneva group (Maeder, Meynet, Schaller and Schaerer) for solar metallicity,
with overshooting and ‘normal’ mass-loss rates.
the continuum only. W–R stars will be relatively bright the most massive O stars that formed in the burst have had
in the emission line passband. Alternatively, they can be sufficient time to evolve into W–R stars. They also provide
found using low-dispersion prism spectroscopic surveys. an upper limit of about 7 million years since after this time
Both the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) and the Small all massive stars that pass through a W–R stage will have
Magellanic Cloud (SMC) have been extensively surveyed done so. Both age limits are metallicity dependent.
for W–R stars. In the LMC 134 W–R stars are known,
while in the SMC only nine are known. The difference Outstanding problems
in the number of W–R stars is believed to be due to a There are many outstanding problems related to W–R
combination of the star formation rates and the lower research. Several of the most important problems related
metallicity of the SMC (which inhibits W–R production). specifically to W–R stars are discussed below.
Interestingly, the ratio of WN to WC stars in the LMC is
(1) What initiates and drives mass loss from W–R
4.5, substantially larger than the observed ratio of 1 in
stars? Is radiation pressure, as currently believed,
the solar neighborhood. This is generally interpreted as
responsible for mass loss from W–R stars? Why are
a metallicity effect.
mass-loss rates for W–R stars an order of magnitude
W–R stars have also been found in many Local Group
higher than those of their O star progenitors?
galaxies, e.g. M31, M33, IC1613 and NGC6822. The
(2) What is the role of rotation in W–R stars (and their
study of individual W–R stars in these galaxies is in its
progenitors) in modifying the spectral appearance
infancy. To date, efforts have been directed primarily into
of the star? What is the role of rotation in massive
determinations of the WN/WC, O/W–R and RSG/W–R
stars in enhancing mixing processes and in enhancing
number ratios which allow global issues, such as the
mass-loss rates, and hence in modifying stellar
effect of metallicity and the star formation rate on W–R
evolution?
production, to be addressed.
It is essential for evolutionary calculations,
W–R stars have also been found in many galaxies
whatever the mass-loss mechanism, that we are able
exhibiting extensive star formation (often called STARBURST
to derive mass-loss rates from first principles. Ideally
GALAXIES). Indeed some galaxies are termed W–R galaxies
if they exhibit strong W–R features in their integrated Ṁ = Ṁ[Minit , t, x, y, z, ((t)]
spectra. The presence of W–R stars in these galaxies
immediately provides an age determinant. The starburst where Minit is the initial stellar mass, t is the current
has to be older than approximately 2 million years so that age of the star and x, y and z are the chemical

abundances (hydrogen mass fraction, helium mass van der Hucht K A, Koenigsberger G and Eenens P R J
fraction and metal mass fraction), and where the (ed) 1999 Wolf–Rayet Phenomena in Massive Stars and
rotation rate ((t) is itself determined via the initial Starburst Galaxies (IAU Symp. 193) (Astronomical
rotation rate and the subsequent mass loss. Society of the Pacific) (review and research articles
A related question is the role of magnetic fields on different aspects of W–R research)
in massive star evolution. While the magnetic fields Vreux J M, Detal A, Fraipont-Caro D, Gosset E and Rauw G
may be too weak to affect mass-loss rates they could (ed) 1996 Wolf–Rayet Stars in the Framework of Stellar
be important in determining angular momentum Evolution: Proc. 33rd Liege Int. Astrophysical Colloq.
losses, and hence play an indirect role in mass loss (Université de Liége) (contains many review articles
through the dependence of ((t) on magnetic field on different aspects of W–R research)
strengths.
(3) What is the detailed structure of W–R winds (shape D John Hillier
and homogeneity)? How does the presence of
inhomogeneities affect the determination of the
fundamental stellar parameters? How coupled is the
mass loss to the details of the wind structure?
(4) What is the role of binaries in massive star evolution?
Are there classes of W–R stars (and LBVs) that only
come from a binary evolutionary scenario? How
much is our understanding of single-star evolution
being confused by the evolution of OB stars in
interacting binary systems?
(5) Because of uncertainties in the treatment of convec-
tion, mass-loss processes and rotation, there are still
many issues in single-star evolution which must be
addressed. Also of concern is whether W–R stars give
rise to black holes (as presumed), and to what class a
W–R supernova belongs.
Acknowledgments
This contribution is a brief synopsis of our current
understanding of W–R stars. This understanding is the
cumulative result of 130 years of W–R research by many
astrophysicists whose individual contributions cannot be
acknowledged.
Bibliography
Abbott D C and Conti P S 1987 Wolf–Rayet stars Ann. Rev.
Astron. Astrophys. 25 113 (an excellent review article
which discusses W–R stars in greater depth)
Bappu M K V and Sahade J (ed) 1973 Wolf–Rayet and High
Temperature Stars (IAU Symp. 49) (while some of the
articles are somewhat dated, the discussion between
the symposium participants is rewarding and is sadly
missing in most recent symposia)
Maeder A and Conti P S 1994 Massive star populations
in nearby galaxies Ann. Rev. Astron. Astrophys. 32 227
(an excellent review article which discusses massive
star populations and evolution, with an extensive
discussion of W–R stars)
Tylenda R 1996 Wolf–Rayet Central Stars of Planetary Nebulae
(ASP Conf. Ser. 96) ed C S Jeffery and U Heber (review:
several other papers on W–R central stars are also
contained within the same volume) p 101
van der Hucht K A, Conti P S, Lundström I and Stenholm B
1981 The sixth catalogue of galactic Wolf–Rayet stars,
their past and present Space Sci. Rev. 28 (3)

Wollaston, William (1766–1828) E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
Wollaston, William (1766–1828)

Chemist and physicist, isolated two new metals from
platinum ore, one of which he named palladium (after
the newly discovered asteroid, Pallas). He was one of the
first scientists to observe ultraviolet radiation, and in 1801
discovered the dark spectral lines in the solar spectrum
which were later investigated by FRAUNHOFER. This was the
first observation of spectral lines. A Wollaston prism is used
to study the polarization of light.

Woolley, Richard van der Riet (1906–86) E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
Woolley, Richard van der Riet

(1906–86)
Astronomer, born in Dorset, England, and followed
a varied career in England, South Africa, California
and Australia. Became director of the Commonwealth
Solar Observatory and steered it away from solar
observations and wartime optics work to become the
Mount Stromlo Observatory and part of the Australian
National University. He worked on stellar and solar
atmospheres. In 1955 he became Astronomer Royal in
Britain, directing the Royal Greenwich Observatory in
Sussex. He worked there on the motions and astrophysics
of stars and clusters of stars, directing a small army of
workers on the measurements of star positions on the
thousands of photographic plates that he caused to be
taken. He discovered the orbit of the globular cluster
Omega Centauri, which moved radially in the Galaxy.
He caused the Isaac Newton Telescope to be erected at
Herstmonceux: it was later moved to the clearer sky of La
Palma. He retired from the Royal Greenwich Observatory
and became director of the South African Astronomical
Observatory at the Cape.

Wormhole E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
Wormhole
A hypothetical shortcut, or ‘tunnel’, that, in principle, may
link the interior of a black hole to another universe or
to another location in our universe. During the 1930s,
Albert Einstein (1879–1955) and Nathan Rosen (1909–95)
showed that the sharply curved spacetime of the interior
of a black hole may open out again into another spacetime
(another universe). The hypothetical connection between
these two regions of spacetime came to be known as an
Einstein–Rosen bridge. An alternative interpretation is
that the bridge, or tunnel, links two different regions in
the spacetime of our own universe. More recently, the
term ‘wormhole’ has been used to describe a spacetime
tunnel of this kind. Although it has been speculated
that wormholes could be used to facilitate virtually
instantaneous interstellar travel, in practice it seems likely
that, even if wormholes do exist, they will be too small
and too short-lived (and too physically hazardous) to be
utilized in this way.
See also: general theory of relativity, spacetime.

Wren, Sir Christopher (1632–1723) E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
Wren, Sir Christopher (1632–1723)

Architect and astronomer, born in East Knoyle, Wiltshire,
became professor of astronomy at Gresham College, and
Savilian Professor of Astronomy at Oxford. He rebuilt
London after the fire of 1666, planning the entire city
and rebuilding 51 churches, including St Paul’s Cathedral.
Newton acknowledges Wren as a mathematician in the
Principia. Wren independently proved KEPLER’s third law
and formulated the inverse-square law of gravitational
attraction. He solved Kepler’s problem on cutting a
semicircle in a given ratio by a line through a given point
on its diameter (it had arisen as a problem in Kepler’s work
on elliptical orbits). Wren was a founder member of the
Royal Society, and its president for two years.

Wright, Thomas (1711–86) E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
Wright, Thomas (1711–86)

English astronomer, born near Durham, clock-maker and
mathematics teacher, wrote in 1750 a curiously argued
book in which he suggested that the Milky Way was a
disk-like system of stars with the solar system near the
center. Wright suggested that nebulae were star systems
similar to the Milky Way, but very far away. Conjectured
that the gap in the planets between Mars and Jupiter had
been cleared by the collision of a comet with a planet which
had then been ejected from its orbit.

Wrinkle Ridge E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
Wrinkle Ridge
A long ridge on the surface of a planetary body. Wrinkle
ridges were first identified on the Moon, where they are
often associated with rilles. As the lunar maria solidified,
tensile forces in the outer regions opened up the faults
that produced rilles, while compressive forces nearer the
center pushed up the surface to form wrinkle ridges.
Some wrinkle ridges may result from small-scale extrusion
of lava along fissures; others extend from the maria
into surrounding upland terrain. Lunar wrinkle ridges
are typically several hundred meters high and several
hundred kilometers long. On Venus wrinkle ridges are
common features on the plains, where they extend for 10 to
50 km. The alignment of many of them suggests that they
are associated with the compressive forces that uplifted
the northern upland region of Aphrodite Terra.

Xenocrates of Chalcedon (396–314 BC) E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
Xenocrates of Chalcedon (396–314 BC)

Philospher and mathematician, born in Chalcedon (now
Kadikoy, near Istanbul), Bithynia (now Turkey), succeeded
Speusippus as head of the Athenian Academy which
PLATO had founded. Believed that matter is composed of
indivisible units (and thus an early atomist). He believed
(and perhaps originated the notion) that people have a
threefold existence, mind, body and soul, and that they die
twice, once on Earth, then on the Moon, when the mind
separates from the soul and travels to the Sun.

Xenophanes of Colophon (c. 570–c. 480 BC) E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
Xenophanes of Colophon (c. 570–c.

480 BC)
Greek philosopher, born in Colophon. He believed Earth
to be the fundamental element of the universe, noting that
that because seashells are sometimes found on mountain
tops, the physical arrangement of the Earth changes with
time.

XEUS (X-ray Evolving Universe Spectroscopy Mis-
sion)
XEUS (X-ray Evolving Universe

Spectroscopy Mission)
Proposed European Space Agency x-ray observatory
mission to be located on the International Space Station.
Specifications include a 10 m diameter mirror with 25–50 m
focal length, spatial resolution of 1 arcsecond, covering the
energy range 0.1–100 keV.

X-Ray Astronomy E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
soon became clear that the mechanism by which such

X-Ray Astronomy sources are powered was the infall of matter into the
X-ray astronomy is an achievement of the space age as deep gravitational potential well of a NEUTRON STAR (as in
the Earth’s atmosphere is completely opaque at photon Sco X-1) or a BLACK HOLE. Most of the few dozen sources
energies beyond the ultraviolet region. found during the rocket era, i.e. until the end of the 1960s,
In 1949 the first X-RAYS from the solar corona were were of this kind. The other major class was SUPERNOVA
detected by a Geiger counter on a V-2 rocket. In 1962 the REMNANTS. The identification of the CRAB NEBULA as a bright
discovery of the first x-ray source outside the solar system x-ray source by means of a lunar occultation was one of
followed—SCORPIUS X-1. With the same rocket experiment the early highlights. Other important discoveries of this
an apparently diffuse x-ray background was found. Since era were the x-ray pulsations of the CRAB PULSAR and the
these early days x-ray astronomy has developed at an x-ray emission from the active galaxy M87 at the center of
enormous pace. Today, we know more than 150 000 the Virgo cluster.
x-ray sources in the sky and they include almost all After the advent of x-ray satellites rocket-borne
astrophysical species—from the nearby comets to the most experiments with their short observation time (∼5 min)
distant quasars at the edge of the universe, from the tiny were generally not competitive any more. However, they
neutron stars to the clusters and superclusters of galaxies continued to play a role as a test bed for instruments to be
as the largest physical formations in the cosmos. Some flown on satellites or for special observations, in particular
species radiate most of their power in x-rays, for instance those ones of short lead time (e.g. on the famous SUPERNOVA
black holes or neutron stars accreting matter from a binary 1987A).
companion, as well as supernova remnants and single,
cooling neutron stars. Hard x-ray balloon experiments
Many of the known objects shine in x-rays because The rocket experiments had shown that the spectra of
they are hot—having temperatures of millions to billions compact x-ray sources are quite hard, extending much
of kelvins. Other emission mechanisms are synchrotron beyond 10 keV. This opened up the possibility of using
radiation of extremely energetic electrons spiraling in
balloon-borne instruments as the atmosphere becomes
magnetic fields or the inverse Compton effect which occurs
transparent for altitudes above 40 km at high x-ray
when high-energy electrons scatter at low-energy photons,
energies (>20 keV). Balloon flights offered the advantage
e.g. from stellar light or from the 2.7 K cosmic background
of long-duration observations (up to 100 h) and the crystal
radiation. In any case, the emission of x-rays points to
scintillation counters used in these experiments allowed
extreme physical conditions in the source region. Also,
spectra to be taken up to ∼500 keV. Balloon observations
these x-rays carry information which is not available from
were pioneered by the MIT group in the 1960s. Important
observations in other spectral bands. In this article we
results of these early years were the measurement of the
shall give a brief summary of the development of x-
Crab spectrum to high energies (∼500 keV), the discovery
ray astronomy, describe the evolution of experimental
of variability in GX1 + 4 and the detection of a 20 min flux
techniques and x-ray space missions and highlight some of
from Sco X-1. This field of research culminated in the 1970s
the results which have had a major impact on astrophysics.
with experiments of the MIT–Leiden and the Tübingen–
The beginnings with sounding rockets MPE groups which flew very large detectors operating in
Like GAMMA-RAY ASTRONOMY, the field of x-ray astronomy the pointing mode. Highlights of these activities were
was pioneered by physicists. Herb Friedman, who the observation of a lunar occultation of the Crab, the
detected the first solar coronal x-rays in 1949, had been discovery of a spectral break in the Cyg X-1 spectrum
working previously in ionospheric physics; Giacconi and corresponding to a temperature of about ∼20 × 106 K and
Rossi, who led the group discovering Scorpius X-1 and the discovery of cyclotron lines at ∼40 keV in the accreting
the x-ray background in 1962, were nuclear and cosmic neutron star Her X-1, allowing the first direct measurement
ray physicists. of its polar magnetic field (∼5 × 1012 G).
The instruments used in these pioneering experi-
ments were rocket-borne Geiger counters and spectral dis- X-ray astronomy satellites
crimination was achieved by means of windows and fil- Most significant progress in x-ray astronomy came with
ters. A little later proportional counters became the stan- the advent of satellite observatories. Their ancestor, the
dard instrument, working in the 1–10 keV band and having first satellite entirely devoted to x-ray astronomy, was
a modest spectral resolution (∼20% at 5 keV). Observations UHURU. Launched in 1970 it was a spinning spacecraft with
were first performed by scanning the sky by spinning or a simple, but very powerful, instrument package: an array
precessing the rocket. Later on more sophisticated attitude of proportional counters of 840 cm2 area working in the 2–
control systems allowed pointed observations to be made 20 keV band. It performed the first all-sky survey and
with greatly improved sensitivities. located 339 objects, mostly X-RAY BINARIES and supernova
The first discoveries of cosmic x-ray astronomy were remnants, showing a strong clustering near the galactic
totally unexpected. Sco X-1 showed a luminosity many plane. At fainter flux levels an isotropic distribution of
orders of magnitude larger than that of the Sun. It Seyfert galaxies and clusters of galaxies was found.

The discovery of two pulsating and eclipsing x-

ROSAT PSPC ALL-SKY SURVEY Sources
ray binary systems, Cen X-3 and Her X-1, proved in
Aitoff Projection Galactic II Coordinate System
an impressive way that these systems contained matter-
accreting neutron stars. The discovery of short time
variability of Cyg X-1 by Uhuru led to follow-up rocket
experiments yielding accurate source positions which
enabled the optical counter-part to be identified and the
mass of the accreting compact object to be determined.
This mass turned out to be larger than the limiting mass
of a neutron star. Thus it had to be a black hole.
Uhuru also marked the beginning of an impressive
series of satellites with ever-increasing capabilities listed
in table 1. We cannot discuss them in detail here, but rather
Energy range: 0.1 - 2.4 keV
describe the main directions of developments.
ROSAT PSPC ALL-SKY SURVEY Soft X-ray Background

Imaging x-ray telescopes
Imaging of x-rays is possible in different ways. Early
solar observations used pinhole cameras and Fresnel zone
plates, but the sensitivity of such devices is insufficient for
studies of the rather weak cosmic x-ray sources. Therefore,
the standard X-RAY TELESCOPES use Wolter optics which
consist of paraboloidal–hyperboloidal mirrors reflecting x-
rays under grazing incidence (see GRAZING INCIDENCE OPTICS).
The first x-ray telescopes of this kind using x-ray film as a
detector were used for solar observations from rockets and
Skylab. The first x-ray satellite carrying a Wolter telescope
was the Einstein observatory launched in 1979. It provided red: 0.1-0.4 keV green: 0.5-0.9 keV blue: 0.9-2.0 keV
images with ∼10 arcsec resolution and represented a real

breakthrough, putting x-ray astronomy on equal footing
Figure 1. The x-ray sky as known at the end of the 20th century
with optical astronomy. on the basis of the ROSAT All Sky Survey. Top: distribution of
the ∼19 000 brightest x-ray sources; Bottom: diffuse emission
X-ray sky surveys from hot interstellar matter heated by supernova explosions.
This figure is reproduced as Color Plate 61.
All-sky surveys have traditionally been a foundation of
astrophysical research, and in the era of multiwavelength
astronomy their importance has dramatically increased. Recent highlights of x-ray astronomy
Such surveys provide an unbiased view of the sky, they
A rather detailed account of the development of x-ray
deliver large homogeneous samples of objects and they
astronomy until ∼1990 with a description of missions and
allow rare species to be discovered. Cross correlating the their results can be found in Bradt et al (1992). Here we
surveys from different wavelength bands—e.g. optical and want to highlight the progress made in the 1990s by the
x-rays—is a very effective method to select sources of a powerful x-ray telescopes on ROSAT and ASCA.
certain type, e.g. active galactic nuclei and quasars. In addition, there have been two very successful
The Uhuru and Ariel V surveys have revealed recent missions which must be mentioned here. The ROSSI
∼350 sources in the standard x-ray band (2–6 keV). The Timing Explorer (RXTE) carrying large-area collimated
subsequent HEAO-1 sky survey was not much more counters covering a wide energy range (2–200 keV) has
sensitive (840 sources) but widened the energy band deepened our understanding of compact sources by high
considerably (0.1–200 keV). The limitations of all these time resolution and spectral studies. One of its most
collimated counter surveys in terms of angular resolution exciting results was the discovery of 2.75 ms pulsations
(<1 deg2 ) and sensitivity were overcome by the German- occurring during the bursts of the low-mass x-ray binary
led ROSAT which performed the first all-sky survey in soft (LMXB) 4U 1728-34. The data suggest that the pulsation
x-rays by sweeping an imaging Wolter telescope across the came from the rotation of a thermonuclear hotspot on the
whole sky. Although it took only half a year of the more surface of the neutron star.
than 8 yr of ROSAT’s life this survey discovered 80 000 In another LMXB which had been previously
x-ray sources and located them with 25 arcsec resolution. identified as an X-RAY BURSTER by BEPPOSAX, RXTE found
In addition, the survey provided a complete map of the 2.5 ms pulsations in the persistent flux which must be
diffuse x-ray emission with 12 arcmin resolution (figure 1). due to the rotation of the neutron star. This is the first

Table 1. X-ray astronomy satellites 1969–2000. Adapted from Charles and Seward (1995) updated January 2000.
Satellite Country Launch Demise Type

Vela 5 A,B USA May 1969 June 1979 Scanning, small scintillation counter,
gamma-ray range
Uhuru USA December 1970 January 1975 Scanning, proportional counters
OSO-7 USA September 1971 May 1973 Scanning, proportional counters
Copernicus USA–UK August 1972 February 1981 Pointed, x-ray telescope (non-imaging)
ANS Netherlands–USA August 1974 July1976 Pointed proportional counters, Bragg
crystal spectrometer
Ariel-V UK October 1974 March 1980 Scanning, rotating modulation collimators
(RMCs) + proportional counters
SAS-3 USA May 1975 April 1980 Scanning, RMC
OSO-8 USA June 1975 October 1978 Scanning, proportional and scintillation
counters, Bragg crystal, polarimeter
HEAO-1 USA August 1977 January 1979 Scanning + short pointings, proportional
and scintillation counters, RMC
Einstein USA November 1978 April 1981 Pointed, imaging x-ray telescope, Bragg crystal,
transmission gratings
Hakucho Japan February 1979 April 1985 Scanning, RMCs
Tenma Japan February 1983 ∼1985 Gas scintillation proportional counter (GSPC),
all-sky monitor
EXOSAT ESA May 1983 April 1986 Pointed, imaging x-ray telescope, large
proportional counters, GSPC
Ginga Japan–UK February 1987 October 1991 Pointed, proportional counters
Kvant USSR–UK– June 1987 – Pointed, GSPC, coded mask, scintillation counter
Netherlands–Germany
Granat USSR–Russia December 1989 August 1999 Pointed, coded masks, all-sky monitor
ROSAT Germany–UK–USA June 1990 December 1998 Scanning, pointed imaging x-ray and
EUV telescopes
ASCA Japan–USA February 1993 – Pointed, imaging x-ray telescopes, imaging GSPC
RXTE USA December 1995 Pointed, large proportional counters,
scintillation counters, all-sky monitors
BeppoSAX Italy–Netherlands April 1996 Pointed imaging x-ray telescope, coded mask,
scintillation counter
Chandra USA June 1999 Pointed imaging x-ray telescope, spectrometers
XMM-Newton ESA December 1999 Pointed imaging x-ray telescope, spectrometers
and so far only LMXB showing both persistent pulsations of astrophysics. In the following a few highlights are
and bursts. BeppoSAX is an Italian–Dutch satellite with presented.
instruments covering a wide energy band (0.1–200 keV). ROSAT took the first x-ray picture ever of the MOON
By discovering the x-ray afterglows of gamma-ray bursts (figure 2(a)). The Sun-lit side of the Moon contains
it pointed the way to the solution of an old puzzle, the a uniform brightness distribution as in optical light.
physical nature of gamma-ray bursts. This is due to solar coronal x-rays undergoing Thomson
scattering in a very thin layer of the lunar surface. The
Highlights from ROSAT and ASCA PSPC spectrum shows a broad spectral bump at 0.6 keV
ROSAT and ASCA have complementary properties. which is due to fluorescent resonance scattering by oxygen
ROSAT carries a large x-ray telescope with a position- of the minerals of the lunar surface layers. The effective
sensitive proportional counter (PSPC) providing moderate reflectivity of the Moon in the ROSAT band is only ∼0.01%;
spectral resolution (∼40%) in the 0.1–2.4 keV band. this means that the Moon behaves as a black body at x-ray
With its High Resolution Imager (HRI), a microchannel energies. At the same time it casts a shadow on the ‘diffuse’
plate detector ‘black-and-white’ images with 5 arcsec x-ray background (see later section). The small flux of x-
resolution can be taken. The telescopes of ASCA cover rays apparently coming from the dark side of the Moon
the energy band 0.5–10 keV with CCD detectors and is probably produced in the Earth’s upper atmosphere
imaging gas scintillation proportional counters having by charge-exchange processes of solar wind ions. This
superior energy resolution (∼20%), but worse angular is the same mechanism which is responsible for the x-ray
resolution (∼3 arcmin), compared with ROSAT. Both emission from cometary comas (see below).
satellites have been used by many astrophysicists to study COMETS are cold objects that have been described as
a wide variety of problems. The numbers of scientific dirty snowballs. Therefore the discovery with ROSAT
publications resulting from ROSAT and ASCArun to about of x-rays from COMET HYAKUTAKE on 27 March 1996 was
4000 and 1600, respectively, covering almost all fields surprising to many scientists (figure 2(b)). Later, another

(a) (b)
Figure 2. Solar system objects in x-rays: (a) the Moon reflecting solar coronal x-rays and casting a shadow on the x-ray sky; (b) x-ray
emission from comet Hyakutake superimposed on an optical amateur photograph.
four comets were found in the ROSAT All Sky Survey to those of nuclear burning stars of low mass. This
archive, including comet Levy. In total about a dozen may suggest that young brown dwarfs have hot coronae
comets have been detected by now in x-rays, mostly with responsible for the x-ray emission just like nuclear burning
ROSAT. Various physical processes have been proposed to stars of low mass.
explain the observed extended x-ray emission, including Early in the ROSAT mission a number of objects
scattering of solar x-rays by cometary dust, x-rays were discovered emitting extremely soft x-rays. They are
produced by collisions of cometary and interplanetary very luminous and show temperatures of a few hundred
dust particles and bremsstrahlung x-rays from electrons thousand kelvins. It turned out that these sources are a
accelerated at the shock between the solar wind and the species which had been predicted to exist but which had
coma. However, all these mechanisms fail to explain the not been found before. They are WHITE DWARFS in binary
observed characteristics. The most successful and widely systems accreting matter from their companions at a rate
accepted model suggests that charge exchange between just sufficient to sustain steady nuclear burning on the
highly charged ions (such as C5+ , C6+ , O6+ and O7+ ) in surface of the white dwarf. Thus, they represent a unique
the solar wind and neutral particles (such as water) in the situation in which steady nuclear burning is observed at
cometary coma is the dominant source of the observed x- the surface of a compact star.
ray emission. Massive stars explode giving rise to a supernova
ROSAT has given many exciting results about stars when the nuclear fuel in their cores is exhausted. The
of all types. The study of a complete sample of stars core collapses to a neutron star or a black hole while
of solar type has revealed the existence of a sharp lower the shell of the star is expelled in a giant explosion. A
bound to the x-ray flux, measured at the surface of the star. large fraction of the kinetic energy is converted by shocks
Interestingly, this minimum stellar x-ray flux is identical into high-temperature x-ray emitting plasmas. Supernova
to the flux observed in the coronal holes of the Sun. This 1987A was ROSAT’s first-light target on 16 June 1990, but
result suggests that the stars of minimal x-ray flux are it turned out to be too faint to be seen at that time. Its
completely surrounded by stellar analogs of solar coronal remnant was first discovered in soft x-rays with ROSAT
holes. in 1992 and has steadily become brighter since then. A
With ground-based optical follow-up observations large increase is expected to occur in the near future
of unidentified ROSAT All-Sky Survey sources, several when the shock reaches the high-density regions of the
hundred new T TAURI STARS have been identified based red giant wind. In total, some 200 supernova remnants
on Hα emission of hydrogen and lithium absorption. have been found with ROSAT. Three of them are clustered
Surprisingly, many new T Tauri stars have been found far in the Vela region (figure 3). One is the VELA SUPERNOVA
outside regions of ongoing star formation. Such ‘off-cloud’ REMNANT, which, at a distance of 1500 ly, is one of the
T Tauri stars must have been either ejected from their closest supernova remnants. Its diameter is about 200 ly, its
birthplaces in the clouds with high velocities or formed in age about 20 000 yr. Protrusions discovered with ROSAT
small cloudlets which have largely dispersed since then. at the periphery of the shell are probably produced by
Recently, deep ROSAT observations have led to the fragments of the exploding star; x-ray spectroscopy with
discovery of young (<106 yr) brown dwarfs showing x- ASCA has revealed that they show different chemical
ray emission. The x-ray properties of these brown dwarfs, compositions (figure 3(a)). The Puppis A remnant at
in particular their x-ray to optical light ratio, are similar the north-western rim of the Vela supernova remnant

ROSAT PSPC VELA SNR PUPPIS A PUPPIS A ROSAT PSPC

A few x-ray sources have been found in the ROSAT
data showing very soft thermal spectra, (temperatures be-
low a million kelvins) and very faint optical counterparts
(25m –26m ). These objects might be either single neutron
stars accreting interstellar matter or, more likely, old (105 –
106 yr) cooling neutron stars whose supernova remnants
have already vanished. The importance of all these obser-
(a) (b) (c) vations lies in the fact that the surfaces of these tiny stars
(with radii 10 km) have now become visible. Future x-
Figure 3. The Vela complex of supernova remnants: (a) Vela
ray spectroscopy should make it possible to measure their
supernova remnant with the Vela pulsar and Puppis A;
(b) Puppis A with its central source, probably the remnant enormous gravity as well as their radii, which depend on
neutron star; (c) A young, ∼680 yr old supernova remnant, the physical properties of matter at supranuclear densities.
superimposed on Vela supernova remnant, showing titanium-44 The ROSAT deep survey of the Andromeda galaxy
emission. This figure is reproduced as Color Plate 62. led to the discovery of 550 x-ray sources, comparable in
number with the bright x-ray sources in our own galaxy
found by Uhuru. As in the Milky Way, the brightest of
is located at a much larger distance (figure 3(b)). It is them are young supernova remnants or binary systems
younger and has a much higher temperature than the with neutron stars or black holes accreting matter from a
Vela supernova remnant. Surprisingly, a third supernova companion. These bright source populations have been
remnant has been discovered recently in the Vela complex studied with ROSAT in many galaxies. In addition, the
with ROSAT. Radioactive titanium-44 has been detected hot interstellar medium, which is heated by supernova
from it with the Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory explosions, has been investigated.
(figure 3(c)). Titanium-44 is produced in supernova A small fraction of all galaxies have an ACTIVE GALACTIC
explosions and has a mean lifetime of only 90 yr, which NUCLEUS (AGN) emitting huge amounts of energy in all
means that the remnant is very young (∼680 yr). Actually, spectral bands. The radiation is variable, indicating that it
this supernova remnant looks like a twin of SN 1006. Like is emitted from a small region, generally not more than
the latter it must have been very bright at maximum (about a few light-weeks or light-months across. Such AGNs
a quarter of the full Moon) and it is unclear why it has not often display jets, originating in their core. It is generally
been recorded in the Chinese and Japanese annals. believed that the central engine is a supermassive black
Neutron stars shine in different ways. If they are hole swallowing matter at a high rate. QUASARS are
highly magnetized and rapidly rotating, they appear the most extreme representatives of the class of AGN
as radio PULSARS. These objects emit beamed radiation sources. ASCA spectroscopy of the AGN MCG-6-30-15
produced by high-energy electrons (and positrons) that and a few other sources has led to the discovery of iron
Kα emission lines with broad and asymmetric profiles.
are accelerated in their magnetospheres. In about half
This profile is most probably caused by gravitational and
a dozen young pulsars, optical and gamma-ray pulses
relativistic Doppler shifts of the rapidly rotating matter
have also been seen. With ROSAT and ASCA, 34 radio
in the accretion disk near the central black hole. These
pulsars have been detected through their magnetospheric
AGNs are very bright x-ray sources, and more than 50%
x-ray emission, including the 89 ms Vela pulsar. The
of all 150 000 ROSAT sources belong to this class. Because
characteristic features of this magnetospheric radiation
of their enormous brightness, they can be detected at large
are power law spectra and sharp pulses. Four of the
distances or redshifts. In the ROSAT Deep Surveys with
radio pulsars seen with ROSAT, including the Vela pulsar,
a total accumulated observation time of 2 weeks, about
exhibit an additional thermal spectrum corresponding to 1000 sources are detected per square degree in the sky.
a temperature of the order of 106 K, which is interpreted Optical spectroscopy has shown that most of them are
as the thermal radiation from the surface (photosphere) quasars and other AGNs at cosmological distances. The
of the neutron star. A few point sources discovered near ROSAT Deep Surveys have also answered one of the oldest
the centers of young supernova remnants also show very questions of x-ray astronomy, namely the origin of the
soft x-ray emission, which must be attributed to neutron extragalactic x-ray background: at least, in the soft x-
star surface emission as well. A prominent example is the ray band, around 1 keV, some 80% of the background
central source in Puppis A (figure 3(b)). has been resolved into discrete sources, mostly quasars.
Since the ages of radio pulsars and supernova An important current question is what evolved first, the
remnants can be determined quite well, one can use galaxies or the supermassive black holes.
these observations to test cooling models of neutron stars. Galaxies are not distributed randomly in the universe
The result is that standard cooling models describe the but form clusters or groups of galaxies consisting of a
observed temperatures and luminosities quite well. Rapid dozen to thousands of members which are gravitationally
cooling as expected in the presence of a Bose–Einstein bound. With diameters of millions of light-years, they are
condensate of pions or kaons in the neutron star core can the largest physical objects in the universe. As early as
be excluded for the observed objects. 1932, Fritz Zwicky found that CLUSTERS OF GALAXIES must

evolution is only about one-third of this critical density

which is necessary to close the universe.
The future
During the years to come enormous progress is expected
in x-ray astronomy owing to two new very powerful and
complementary x-ray telescope missions: CHANDRA and
XMM-NEWTON. Both satellites carry x-ray CCD detectors and
dispersive spectrometers for high-resolution spectroscopy.
The special strength of Chandra, launched in summer
1999, is its high angular resolution (∼0.5 arcsec) which
allows us to resolve fine structures such as jets and to
go at least a factor of 1000 deeper than the ROSAT deep
surveys did. On the other hand XMM-Newton, launched
in December 1999, provides a very high collecting power
(∼4–10 times that of Chandra, depending on energy) at
moderate angular resolution (∼10 arcsec). It will be very
powerful for spectroscopic and time variability studies.
The first results of these two powerful missions are very
tantalizing.
Plans for the future thereafter are already quite
concrete. NASA is discussing a fleet of four x-ray
telescope satellites called ‘Constellation’ to be launched
Figure 4. X-ray image of the coma cluster showing the merging
with a smaller cluster of galaxies. in ∼2007. They can observe the same object with different
instruments simultaneously or point to different regions
of the sky. ESA’s XEUS (x-ray mission for spectroscopy in
contain much more gravitating mass than accounted by an evolving universe), to be launched after 2010, foresees a
the total visible mass of all member galaxies. Actually, the giant x-ray telescope with a huge mirror system and focal
amount of ‘DARK MATTER’ had to be of the order of 95% of instruments sitting on two separate satellites, which means
the total cluster mass. that pointing requires orbital maneuvers. The collecting
area of the telescope (∼30 m2 ) is a thousand times that
One early surprise of x-ray astronomy was the
of ROSAT and about a hundred times that of XMM or
detection by Uhuru of large quantities of hot plasma in
RXTE. It should be able to penetrate into the ‘dark ages’
clusters of galaxies shining in x-rays. Later Einstein and
of our universe at redshifts of 5–10, where galaxies and
ROSAT observations showed that the mass of the hot
supermassive black holes have been formed.
plasma is typically a factor of 4 or 5 larger than that of
the galaxies and represents some 20% of the cluster mass. Bibliography
In other words, a large fraction of the ‘dark matter’ turned Bradt H V, Ohashi T and Pounds K A 1992 X-ray astronomy
out to be hot, visible only in x-rays and not in optical missions Ann. Rev. Astron. Astrophys. 30 391–427
light. ASCA spectroscopy has allowed us to measure Charles P and Seward F 1995 Exploring the X-Ray Universe
the heavy element (iron) abundance of the hot matter in (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press)
clusters, which is typically only one-third of the so-called
universal abundance. This can be explained by the infall
of primordial matter onto the clusters. Joachim Trümper
Many clusters show double structures, indicating the
merging of two clusters; others exhibit complicated inner
structures which must be due to earlier merging processes
(figure 4). Thus, the x-ray images reveal how these large
objects evolve with cosmic time.
In total, several thousand clusters have been found
with ROSAT. About 1500 of them have been optically
identified and have known redshifts, and thus known
distances. From this information one can derive the
evolution of the cluster population with time. A
comparison with simulations shows that the observed
time dependence of the cluster population is significantly
smaller than expected in a universe having the critical
density. Actually the matter density inferred from cluster

X-ray Binary Stars E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
X-ray Binary Stars

X-ray binary stars are luminous (∼1036−38 erg s−1 ) x-
ray sources that consist of a neutron star or black hole
compact object accreting material from a close (usually
≤1R ) orbiting companion star which, in most cases, has
properties similar to those of normal main sequence stars.
Such x-ray binaries are rare (only ∼200 are present in
our Galaxy and are distributed in the Galactic Plane, the
Galactic Bulge and a dozen or so as GLOBULAR CLUSTER X-
RAY SOURCES, see figure 1), whereas the related (and in
many respects similar) cataclysmic variables (where the
compact object is a white dwarf) are much more common.
The extremely high intrinsic luminosity of x-ray binaries
(the brightest are at the ‘Eddington Luminosity, a level at
which radiation pressure limits the rate at which matter
can accrete’ for a 1M star) accounts for their discovery
in the early days of x-ray astronomy (via rocket-based
experiments in the 1960s) and their domination of the field
for most of the next two decades.
X-ray binaries can be divided into two basic classes
of objects according to the mass of the mass-losing (or
Figure 1. Distribution of x-ray binaries in the Galaxy. Top:
donor) star. The division is remarkably clean with those HMXBs, associated with young, massive stars in the spiral arms.
≥5M classified as ‘high mass x-ray binaries’ (HMXBs) and Bottom: LMXBs, an older population concentrated in the
those ≤1M as ‘low mass x-ray binaries’ (LMXBs). The Galactic Bulge (also including globular clusters as open
nature of the mass transfer from the donor also divides symbols).
between these classes, with the (radiation driven) stellar
wind dominating in HMXBs and Roche-lobe overflow
being the principal mechanism in LMXBs (although there the donor star (relatively bright, early-type stars for both
are circumstances in which a combination of the two can sources), and the fact that they are eclipsing, they allow
occur). The x-ray characteristics also depend on the nature full orbital solutions and hence accurate masses for both
of the compact object. High magnetic field neutron stars donor and compact object (see table 1). Furthermore the
produce x-ray pulsators, whereas lower magnetic fields duration of the eclipse provides an accurate estimate of the
make it much harder to detect the spin of the neutron size of the donor which can be compared with the size of
star, although ‘x-ray bursts’ can occur. Note that coherent its Roche lobe.
pulsations and bursts are never seen in black hole systems.
X-ray binaries are extremely important objects as Spinning up and down
they demonstrate that stellar and binary evolution can The spinning neutron stars are orbiting their massive
produce compact objects via supernova explosions in companions and accreting material from the dense
which the binary survives. They currently provide and (presumed) uniform stellar winds. This physical
the only circumstance in which stellar-mass black hole situation is essentially identical to Bondi–Hoyle accretion
masses can be derived within our Galaxy (see BLACK HOLE as calculated for a single object moving and accreting from
CANDIDATES IN X-RAY BINARIES) as well as a majority of the a uniform interstellar medium. Matter is accreted onto the
accurately known neutron star masses. They are also neutron star from within a cylinder of radius racc , defined
a well-defined and constrained laboratory for studying as the point at which the kinetic energy of matter in the
accretion onto highly degenerate matter and the effect of wind is equal to the potential energy due to the neutron
ultra-high magnetic fields, and for testing the effects of star. If the wind’s velocity is vw , and the orbital velocity of
general relativity in the strong gravity limit. the neutron star is v then the fraction accreted is given by
(Mns /Msec )2 (v/vw )4 [1 + (v/vw )2 ]−3/2 and is usually ∼10−3 to
High mass x-ray binaries 10−5 for typical HMXBs.
X-ray pulsars The angular momentum of this material will cause it
The very first x-ray astronomy satellite, UHURU, discovered to form a small accretion disk around the compact object,
X-ray pulsations at 4.8 s and 1.2 s in Cen X-3 and Her but its final capture by the neutron star is controlled by the
X-1, respectively, and also found that those pulsations intense magnetic field at the magnetospheric radius where
were modulated (and eclipsed) on their orbital periods of the ram pressure of the (presumed spherical) infall is
2.1 d and 1.7 d (see figure 2). These results immediately balanced by magnetic pressure. At this point the accreting
established the binary star model for these sources beyond angular momentum is transferred to the spinning pulsar,
any doubt. In combination with optical spectroscopy of which then spins up at a rate Ṗ that is broadly proportional

Figure 2. Uhuru observations of the Doppler delays in the 4.8 s x-ray pulsations from Cen X-3 as a function of the 2.1 d orbital period.
The x-ray light curve (below) shows the eclipse and hence geometry of the binary.
Table 1. Orbital parameters and masses for eclipsing HMXBs.
Pulse period Orbital period f (M) Mns Msec

Source (s) (d) (M ) e i (M ) (M )
SMC X-1 0.72 3.89 10.85 <0.000 04 65 1.1 18
Her X-1 1.24 1.70 0.85 <0.0001 > 79 1.5 2.3
Cen X-3 4.82 2.09 15.34 <0.0016 70 1.21 20.5
LMC X-4 13.5 1.41 9.86 0.006 65 1.5 15.8
Vela X-1 283 8.96 19.74 0.09 >74 1.9 23.5
4U1538-52 530 3.73 11.8 <0.06 68 1.1 16.4
Figure 3. Approximately five-year history of the variations in the spin rate of the Cen X-3 pulsar as monitored by BATSE on CGRO.
The general trend shows that on average it is spinning up, but there are significant fluctuations about this trend indicating that it can
spin down as well as up.
to the observed x-ray luminosity (since this is directly with x-ray luminosity if the mass transfer rate were to
related to the accretion rate). decline, but how does it manage to reverse sign? This
Figure 3 shows the variation of spin period in Cen X-3 requires that material is being accreted whose torque is
as observed by CGRO over almost five years. While the reversed with respect to the ‘normal’ expectation, and
general trend is a spin-up, it is clear that the actual process implies that the disk rotation itself has reversed. Details
involves periods of (almost equal) spin-up and spin-down. of this process are unclear, but could be due to non-
It might be expected that the spin-up rate would decline uniformities in the stellar wind.

Figure 4. Optical spectrum of Sco X-1 which is dominated by continuum from the disk and x-ray driven high-ionization emission lines.
Table 2. Be x-ray binary parameters.
Spectral Spin period Orbital period LX (peak)

Source type V (s) (d) e (erg s−1 )
A0538-66 B2IIIe 15 0.069 16.65 ∼0.7 1039

4U0115+63 OBe 15.5 3.6 24.3 0.34 8 × 1036
V0332+53 Be 15.3 4.4 34.25 0.31 1038
A0535+26 O9.7IIIe 9 104 111 ∼0.3 2×1037
GX304-1 B2Ve 14 272 133 ? 3 × 1036
4U1154-61 B1Vpe 9 292 188 ? 1036
X Per O9.5ep 6 835 ∼580 ? 1034
Note also that spin-up will only continue until magnetic white dwarfs in the infrared, whereas cyclotron
the neutron star is rotating so fast that material at absorption features (most in the ∼12–40 keV range) have
the magnetospheric radius would have to exceed the been detected in a dozen x-ray pulsars, implying magnetic
Keplerian speed at this radius in order to enter the fields of ∼2–3 × 1012 G.
magnetosphere (and hence would be ejected). Thus a
magnetospheric ‘barrier’ then exists to counter any further Be star transients
accretion until either the neutron star has spun down or Many of the x-ray pulsars have long orbital periods with
the mass transfer rate significantly increases. B-type companions which exhibit emission lines. These
represent a sub-class of HMXBs and are associated with
Cyclotron lines the rapidly rotating Be stars, so-called because of their
The magnetic fields of neutron stars that are x-ray pulsars strong and variable emission lines (usually hydrogen)
are inferred to be ∼1012 G. Such fields control the accretion superposed on otherwise normal B star spectra. A number
of material onto the neutron star’s surface, leading to well- of transient x-ray sources (most of them x-ray pulsators)
defined hot spots. x-rays are emitted either from the hot have been identified with Be stars, establishing that both
spot or from a shock immediately above the surface (within single and binary Be systems exist. The Be transients
∼102−3 m), producing either pencil-beam or fan-beam have rare outbursts (∼ hundreds of days) and long orbital
emitting patterns. The very strong field will then lead periods (many weeks). Some (e.g. A0535+26, GX304-1)
to quantization of the energy levels within the accretion have poorly determined orbital periods >100 d, even with
column, which produces resonant scattering cross sections the accurately determined x-ray pulsation.
and hence cyclotron emission and absorption features. The Be phenomenon is interpreted as being due to
In fact, cyclotron emission lines have only been seen in the presence of an equatorial ring around the B star as

of inactivity in A0538-66 has been attributed to the effect

of the magnetospheric barrier given the very fast spin
period of the neutron star. This could only be overcome
by another interval of very high mass transfer from the
secondary.
Low mass x-ray binaries

The brightest (and first discovered) extra-solar x-ray
source is the x-ray binary Sco X-1, which was optically
identified with an unremarkable 13th magnitude blue star
in 1967. However, proof of its binary status was extremely
hard to establish and this was not accomplished until
Figure 5. Schematic diagram of an LMXB showing the effects of the mid 1970s. This was due to the optical light being
disk shadowing and obscuration by the secondary star. Above completely dominated by the x-ray heated accretion disk,
an inclination of about 80◦ , LMXBs are seen only as ADC
sources. Below about 75◦ , orbital modulation can still be seen in
making the secondary undetectable (see figure 4). Unlike
the form of regular dips, but these tend to evolve in form from HMXBs, the principal mass-transfer mechanism in LMXBs
cycle to cycle. is Roche lobe overflow from the cool, low-mass secondary
directly into the accretion disk. Furthermore, the thickness
of the accretion disk itself can render a direct view of
the compact object impossible at all phases (and not just
when it is behind the secondary star), thereby making
evidence for binarity less obvious than in HMXBs. This
is demonstrated in figure 5 where the effect of shadowing
by the disk leaves only a narrow range of viewing angles at
which an orbital modulation can be seen. X-ray irradiation
of the disk has been demonstrated in simultaneous multi-
wavelength observations of X-RAY BURSTERS, which show the
optical burst lagging the x-ray as a result of reprocessing
of x-rays in the accretion disk and heated face of the
companion.
A significant subset of LMXBs are globular cluster x-
ray sources. Indeed, they are grossly over-represented
in globular clusters when compared with the density of
LMXBs in the Galaxy as a whole. Furthermore, all the
Figure 6. Continuous monitoring of X1916-053 by EXOSAT globular cluster sources (see table 3) exhibit type I x-ray
reveals both the regular x-ray ‘dipping’ due to azimuthal
bursts, and recent HST studies of the extremely crowded
structure in the accretion disk, and the way in which this
structure can evolve from orbit to orbit. UV/optical fields have revealed that several of these
sources are ultracompact binaries with orbital periods
<1 hour (including X1820-30 which has the shortest orbital
a result of its rapid rotation. Significant mass is lost via period of any known object). It is likely that stellar
this ring and this material can be accreted by the orbiting interactions within the cluster core lead to the formation
neutron star, thereby producing x-rays. Almost all of the of such exotic objects.
Be transients with measured orbits show significant orbital
eccentricities (see table 2) and this may be related to the X-ray dippers
transient x-ray outbursts. An example here is A0538-66 A number of LMXBs display sudden ‘dips’ in their x-
in the LMC, which showed dramatic x-ray and optical ray light curves which occur at particular orbital phases
outbursts on a 16.6 day cycle which was stable for at (around ∼0.8). These are attributed to extended vertical
least 50 years (based on archival plate material), even structure in the edge of the accretion disk at the point
though these outbursts did not always occur. At their where the mass transfer stream impacts the disk. This
peak these outbursts exceeded 1039 erg s−1 and yet the material temporarily obscures our direct view of the x-
compact object was shown to be a neutron star based on an ray source, absorbing the x-rays more effectively at lower
observed 69 ms pulsation. The most likely interpretation x-ray energies (a signature of absorption which confirms
is that of a highly eccentric orbit (e ∼ 0.7) in which the the process). Extended observations of these x-ray
neutron star interacts (in a complex way) with the Be ring at dippers shows that the vertical disk structure evolves from
periastron. Longer term (hundreds to thousands of days) orbit to orbit and on much longer timescales, sometimes
variations are present in almost all Be systems, the nature disappearing altogether, at other times producing dip
of which is unclear. A recent extended (18 year) period features throughout the orbital cycle (see figure 6).

Table 3. Properties of LMXBs.
Orbital
Source period (h) X-ray type V MV Notes
X1820-303 0.19 Burster >19 globular cluster (NGC 6624), degenerate companion
4U 1850–087 0.34 Burster 21 5.6 globular cluster (NGC 6712), degenerate companion
X1626-673 0.7 Burster, pulsar 18.5 7.7s pulsar, degenerate companion
X1832-330 0.73 Burster 19.4 globular cluster (NGC 6652), degenerate companion
X1916-053 0.83 Burster, dipper 21 5.3 x-ray and optical periods different, degenerate companion
J1808.4-3658 2.0 Burster, pulsar, transient 16.5–20 millisecond (2.5 ms) pulsar, ∼0.1M companion
X1323-619 2.9 Burster, dipper
X1636-536 3.8 Burster 17 1.3
X0748-676 3.8 Burster, dipper, transient 17 1.4 no decline
X1254-690 3.9 Burster, dipper 19
X1728-169 4.2 17
X1755-338 4.4 Dipper 19
X1735-444 4.6 Burster 17.5 2.2
X2129+470 5.2 ADC 16.5 now ‘off’; triple?
X1822-371 5.6 ADC 15.5
X1658-298 7.2 Burster, dipper 18.3
A1742-289 8.4 Burster, transient eclipsing
X1957+115 9.3 18.7
X2127+119 17.1 Burster, ADC 15.5 1.0 eclipsing, globular cluster (M15)
Aql X-1 19 Burster, transient 21.6 2.9 frequent outbursts, kHz QPO
Sco X-1 19.2 Prototype LMXB 12–14 0.0 Z source
X1624-490 21 Dipper
2S0921-630 216 ADC 15.3
Cyg X-2 235 Burster 14.7 −2.0 Z source
J1744-28 283 Burster, pulsar, transient 0.47s pulsar, type II bursts
Figure 7. Comparison of the x-ray light curves of the prototype ADC source X1822-371 (top) with the eclipsing ‘dipper’ X0748-676.
The orbital periods are very similar, but the orbital inclinations are only slightly different, with that of X0748-676 being just low enough
to allow a direct view of the neutron star whilst still allowing the companion star to eclipse it (see also figure 5).
One particular source, EXO 0748-676, displays not transient that turned on in 1985, and has remained ‘on’)
only x-ray dips but also an (almost) total eclipse, albeit must be in the very narrow range (73◦ –83◦ ) that allows
very brief (see figure 7). The inclination in this LMXB (a both dips and a short total eclipse by the secondary star.

Accretion disk coronae of x-ray binaries, both LMXB and HMXB, of yet another
However, a closer examination of figure 7 will show that modulation, this time quasi-periodic and on a timescale
the eclipse in EXO 0748-676 is not in fact completely total. of tens to hundreds of days. The first discovered was the
There is a small but significant residual x-ray flux which 35 d on–off cycle in HERCULES X-1, and which is attributed
is about 3% of the normal, out-of-eclipse level. This to a tilted, precessing disk. A similar ∼30 d modulation
residual flux is due to x-rays which are scattered into our has been seen in LMC X-4, but a substantial change in this
line of sight from material (possibly a disk ‘wind’) above timescale over a year or so is difficult to account for. Sub-
and below the disk. Hence for sources at even higher sequent long-term modulations (from 70 to 200 d) have
inclinations, we would not expect to see total eclipses, been found in a variety of sources, including both LMXBs
but instead partial eclipses of this extended ‘accretion disk and HMXBs. These are currently attributed to the effects
corona’ (or ADC). Figure 7 also shows the x-ray light curve of a warped accretion disk driven by the central x-ray lu-
of X1822-371, the classical ADC source which combines a minosity.
long smooth modulation of the x-ray flux by the accretion
disk rim structure with a partial eclipse by the secondary Bibliography
star. This is essentially what would be expected if the Bildsten L et al 1997 Astrophys. J. Suppl. 113 367
dipper light curve were to be smoothed out. ADC sources Charles P A and Seward F D 1995 Exploring the X-ray
and x-ray dippers are important objects for the information Universe (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press)
that they provide on the azimuthal structure of accretion ch 7–9
disks in interacting binaries. Lewin W H G, Van Paradijs J and McClintock J E (eds) 1995
X-Ray Binaries (Cambridge: Cambridge University
X-ray pulsations Press)
The much larger accretion discs in LMXBs compared to
HMXBs should lead to substantial transfer of angular Philip A Charles
momentum onto the compact object and hence very fast
spin periods (comparable to millisecond radio PULSARS).
However, QUASIPERIODIC OSCILLATIONS IN X-RAY BINARIES were
seen with large area x-ray detectors, an effect attributed
to an interaction between the inner accretion disk and
the neutron star magnetosphere. Very recently, the first
millisecond x-ray pulsar was discovered (SAX J1808.4-
3658) with a coherent pulsation at 401 Hz. It also displays
x-ray bursts that indicate a weak (<1010 G) magnetic
field, and has a 2 h orbital period with a very low mass
companion. This object is considered to be a direct link
between LMXBs and the ‘black widow’ millisecond radio
pulsars.
There is a further group, the ‘anomalous x-ray
pulsars’ (AXPs), the nature of which remains very unclear.
Only half a dozen are known, the best studied of which is
1E2259+587. They all exhibit coherent x-ray pulsations
with periods in the range 5–12 s, have x-ray luminosities
far too high to be explained by their observed spin-down
rates and yet show no evidence for binary motion in these
pulsations, nor has any been optically identified. It has
been suggested that they may be linked to the ‘soft gamma-
ray repeaters’ (a sub-class of gamma-ray bursters, see
GAMMA-RAYASTRONOMY) which also display similar pulsation
periods during their bursts, an effect which led to the
proposal that they had much larger magnetic fields than
hitherto suspected (the so-called ‘magnetars’).
Long-term or superorbital modulations

From the early days of x-ray astronomy there have been
satellites that scan the sky repeatedly and regularly (usu-
ally because they are spin-stabilized). This automati-
cally provided the ability to monitor x-ray sources for
many weeks (sometimes continuously), providing long-
term light curves. These yielded the presence in a number

X-Ray Bursters E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
well as mass. In some cases during the x-ray bursts the

X-Ray Bursters star is not uniformly hot and the flux has been found to be
X-ray bursters are a class of sources which emit bursts modulated with a period of 2–3 ms. These modulations
of X-RAYS lasting from a few seconds to a few minutes. are believed to indicate the spin of the neutron star and the
They are further classified as either type I or type II. characteristics of the modulation also provide information
Typical type I bursts have a faster rise than decay and about the parameters of the neutron star. Thermonuclear
the average energy of the x-rays decreases as the burst bursts provide one of the few ways to obtain information
smoothly decays. Typical type II bursts stop abruptly about the densest matter.
without changing the average photon energy. There are
now over 50 sources of type I x-ray bursts known, while Type I x-ray bursts
only two sources are known as type II bursters, and one In 1975 there were three X-RAY ASTRONOMY satellites
of these also has type I bursts. Because of this imbalance exploring the properties of sources found in the first
in numbers, ‘x-ray burster’ is assumed to mean a type I x-ray survey mission, UHURU. Strong, short bursts of x-rays
x-ray burster, although there are other kinds of sources of were first seen with the Astronomical Satellite of the
short bursts or flashes of x-rays, ranging from the Sun to Netherlands, then with SAS-3 and OSO-8, as sources in
black hole candidates. Type I bursters are NEUTRON STARS on the region of the center of the Galaxy were observed. It
which gas accreted from a binary companion undergoes turned out that the phenomenon had been seen as far back
sudden nuclear burning. The sources which have been as 1969, by the Vela-5 satellites.
called type II bursters are also neutron stars accreting gas The sources from which the bursts appeared were in
from a binary companion. The type II burst is a sudden, the direction of the bulge of the Galaxy, approximately
large, but brief, increase in x-ray producing ACCRETION. 10 kpc away. From burst peak fluxes of 10−8 erg cm−2 s−1 ,
The neutron stars in x-ray bursters of both type I factors of 5–20 times normal or persistent flux of the
and type II have binary companion stars in close orbit sources, the peak luminosities are ≈1038 erg s−1 . This
such that the companion loses matter to the neutron is close to the maximum luminosity possible for a 1M
star’s gravitational attraction. (The companion fills the object, at which the radiation pressure due to photon
gravitational equipotential called the ROCHE LOBE.) The scattering balances the force of gravity. (This ‘Eddington
transferring matter has ANGULAR MOMENTUM around the limit’ depends on the chemical abundances of the gas.)
neutron star, so that it circulates around it and mixes The bursts were observed mostly in the photon energy
with gas already there in a flat ring distribution called an range 1–20 keV. Generally they have a distribution with
ACCRETION DISK. The disk material slowly moves inwards energy at a given time that is well approximated by a black
until it reaches the neutron star, where it accumulates body function with a temperature of T ≈ (1–4) × 107 K,
on the surface. As helium and hydrogen accumulate corresponding to kT ≈ 1–3 keV. Equating the estimated
under conditions of very high density and increasing luminosity to the radiation rate from a spherical black
temperature, the collisions of the ions can produce body,
inelastic nuclear reactions which generate heat. The rising Lx = 4πR 2 σ T 4
temperature increases the rate of collisions, raising the the radius R can be estimated to be ≈10 km. This is
temperature further, until a nuclear fusion chain reaction consistent with the expected radius of a neutron star. It
is set off. This is the thermonuclear flash. The heat from is one of the best pieces of evidence that the objects are
burning the thin layer of helium, and sometimes hydrogen, neutron stars. Figure 1 contains schematics of the x-ray
diffuses out of the region. It heats the surface layers luminosity, temperature and apparent radius derived for
of the neutron star to a temperature at which x-rays are a type I x-ray burst. The integral of the excess luminosity
the dominant radiation emitted. Generally the radiation due to the burst is its fluence.
increases very quickly to its peak, sometimes in less than When a source is burst active, the bursts recur at
1 s. The heat of the flash spreads to the surface and the intervals, usually of several hours to days, as illustrated in
burst decay corresponds to cooling of the surface. figure 2. The phenomenology points to a process in which
From the burst x-rays and information about the the fuel builds up until it catastrophically ignites. The
distance or with assumptions about the peak brightness energy output is consistent with the nuclear burning of the
that the source can have, the radius and mass of the accumulated matter. If the gravitational energy released
neutron star can be estimated. These values are close in accretion is turned into x-ray flux Lx = GM Ṁ/R, the
to those predicted for neutron stars and to the values mass accumulated in time T is
measured in other ways, so that the conclusion that the
star is compact enough to be a neutron star is firm. The Lx
M = T.
measurements may eventually determine neutron star GM/R
parameters, identify the composition of the matter falling
on the neutron star and confirm ideas about the sequences Scaling to nominal observed values for Lx and T ,
of nuclear reactions that turn the accreted hydrogen and
helium into the heavy elements of a neutron star’s crust. Lx R M T
M ≈ 10 21
g.
The neutron stars have accreted angular momentum as 1037 erg s−1 10 km 1.4M 5h


Lx R M T
× 37 erg.
38
Eddington Limit Lx 10 erg s−1 10 km 1.4M 5 hr
Rise Time
If the peak flux were the Eddington limit 2.0 ×

1038 M/1.4M erg s−1 (assuming cosmic abundances here),
it would take 7–40 s to cool the hot layer, with the heat
convecting and diffusing to the surface in ≤1 s.
log Lx
Generally, in the thermonuclear flash, the ratio of the

Decay Time persistent x-ray luminosity to the average burst luminosity
(the fluence per burst divided by the recurrence interval)
should be the ratio of the gravitational energy released
per gram falling on the neutron star to the nuclear energy
37 Persistent Lx
released in burning it. The observational quantity, denoted
α, is equal to the ratio of the fluxes. The predicted
values of α are in the range 25–200, depending on
kT the nuclear reaction track. Some reaction tracks imply
2 keV particular correlations between burst characteristics and
the persistent luminosity. Theoretical calculations indicate
1 keV that the nature of the reactions is more likely to go through
15 km
R cycles than to be a steady state, as the accretion rate
changes and with it the ambient temperature of the settling
material. The general agreement is regarded as a strong
7 km confirmation of the thermonuclear flash model of type I
bursts.
0 5 10 Type II x-ray bursts

time (sec) Type II x-ray bursts usually (but not invariably) have
the ratio of persistent luminosity to burst luminosity (α)
Figure 1. Type I burst parameters. The upper panel shows a too small to be consistent with what is known about
schematic of the x-ray luminosity of a burst as a function of time. thermonuclear reactions, well below 25. The first and
The lower panel shows a typical behavior of the fitted black
recurrent example of this type is MXB 1730 − 335,
body kT (right-hand scale) and the deduced apparent radius of a
spherical emitter (left-hand scale). appropriately called the Rapid Burster. The source
becomes bright approximately every 6 months and for
a few weeks goes through several metamorphoses of
behavior, sometimes exhibiting rapid-fire bursts a few
minutes apart. The Rapid Burster is also a source of type I
38 bursts, so that the two different types of bursts can be
compared for the same source. The second source was the
log Lx
T
transient GRO J1744 − 28, which first became known in
1995 as the Bursting Pulsar. This transient has reappeared
37 once, so that it is recurrent, although irregularly. Bursts
typically came about 30 min apart when it was active.
An increase in the rate at which matter falls on the
0 5
time (hr) neutron star can explain these bursts. Several possible
mechanisms have been identified to store up the matter
Figure 2. Persistent and burst luminosities. The average burst coming in, at some distance from the neutron star, and to
luminosity is the fluence in a burst per the recurrence time T . release it suddenly to complete its journey to the neutron
star.
The matter in accretion disks works its way to smaller
There are a number of nuclear reaction sequences by radii as viscous interaction with neighboring cells of the
which accreted material with the abundances of the outer accretion disk removes its angular momentum. As matter
layer of the companion star can convert into the iron and is continuously fed into the disk by the companion star,
higher atomic number elements of the neutron star crust. the viscous properties change and a sudden transition
The amount of energy released per nucleon is 2–8 MeV, so can occur from a state of low viscosity to high viscosity.
that the potential for energy release from burning, in the The higher torques allow matter to start moving rapidly
mass accumulated, is through the disk. The emission that we see as the burst can
come both from the disk itself and from the neutron star
E = (15–76) × 1038 where the matter falls on it. This instability can operate on

a range of recurrence time-scales, from years to minutes, accretion rates, the hydrogen and helium burn together,
so that it could give rise to bursts as well as to dwarf and with complex reactions, building to iron and heavier
x-ray NOVAE. elements. These reactions give the burst a longer rise time
A different possible cause of the intermittent flow and can leave unburned fuel, so that the thermonuclear
onto the neutron star is the interaction of the neutron luminosities, and therefore the values of α, are lower.
star’s magnetic field with the matter approaching the star. Type I bursts from different sources are observed to
The magnetic field of the neutron star, if strong enough, be similar, but not identical. Bursts rise times range from
interacts with the inner accretion disk. In the case of strong 0.3 to 10 s and decay times range from 5 to 100 s. The
field PULSARS at some radius the field channels the disk decay times (τ ) and the values of α vary with the persistent
material out of the plane and along the magnetic field lines luminosity. The EXOSAT Observatory caught several sources
to the magnetic poles. For the case of weaker fields, the in different states. Comparison of the behavior of the
disk may interact with the field over an extended region. parameters with the predictions of models has led to
It has been suggested that material could accumulate investigations of other degrees of freedom, for example,
outside the magnetosphere until some threshold condition dependence of the internal temperature on the history of
occurred that would allow the material to suddenly feed the burning and the extent of the burning area on the
onto the neutron star. neutron star.
For the Bursting Pulsar, pulsations with a period of For many of the x-ray bursters the persistent
0.5 s continued throughout the bursts. Considerations luminosities vary, sometimes consistently, but not exactly
of how low the accretion rate can go before pulsations periodically. Some are transient persistent sources in
cannot occur have allowed the surface magnetic field to which accretion may hardly occur in between episodes
be estimated at 5 × 1011 G. The Rapid Burster is likely to years apart. Then they rise to maximum in hours and
have a field weaker by several orders of magnitude and decay over several weeks to a year. The sources 4U
possibly the two sources represent two different instability 1608−52 and Aquila X-1 are regularly recurrent transients.
mechanisms. As the persistent flux may vary by factors of a thousand
and the supply of mass to the neutron star envelope is
Thermonuclear flashes believed to vary accordingly, the integrated effect must be
Hydrogen and helium burning
considered.
As the accreted material collects on the neutron star, it will
spread out over the surface if the magnetic field is too weak
Radius expansion during bursts
to confine the plasma (below 1011 G). If the companion is
As the temperature during bursts rises and falls, the
still on the main sequence, the material is, by weight, 70%
projected area of the hot emitter can be tracked. For
hydrogen, 30% helium, with no more than a few per cent in
many burst measurements the size of the emitter has
heavier elements (C, N, O). However, in at least one case,
4U 1820−30, the companion is known to be a helium WHITE been consistent with it remaining approximately constant
DWARF. When there is a layer of ≈10 g on the surface of the
21 throughout the burst. For a subset of bursts the apparent
neutron star, the density at the bottom of the accreting layer size increases near the beginning of the burst to values as
reaches ≈105 g cm−3 . Nuclear reactions begin to convert much as 10 times sizes theoretically estimated for neutron
hydrogen into helium and helium to oxygen. These stars. The apparent size then drops back and levels off at an
reactions release heat. At very low and very high rates the asymptotic value consistent with that of a neutron star (as
heat can be radiated as fast as the energy is released and in figure 1). In these cases the bolometric luminosity stays
the hydrogen burning is stable, but under many conditions approximately constant during the expansion episode.
the burning is unstable, and the temperature increases The temperature goes down during the expansion. The
rapidly until the fuel is completely burned. Helium burns peak luminosity appears to be the Eddington limit for
by the triple-alpha reaction 3α →12 C and by 12 C(α, γ )16 O, helium for most ‘radius-expansion’ bursts.
usually unstably. Detailed calculations have examined the Theoretically, helium flashes can generate enough
kind of succession of bursts that should occur, for a range energy to cause photospheric expansion of the neutron
of accretion rates, central neutron star temperatures and star. When the surface luminosity reaches the Eddington
neutron star masses and radii. limit, it drives a wind from the neutron star. There is
evidence within bursts from a single source that some
Observed and modeled burst properties reach a plateau of luminosity ≈1.7 times lower than the
For the intermediate accretion rates at which instabilities radius-expansion plateau luminosity of others. This has
occur, three regimes have been distinguished. Helium been interpreted as the Eddington limit for hydrogen-rich
burns unstably but, depending on the accretion rate, gas, a factor 1.7 below that of helium. These characteristics
hydrogen, if present, may burn stably or unstably. In the can be identified from the spectra, without knowing the
middle of these three regimes the hydrogen burns stably distance of the source, and are used as the basis for
(unless the interior temperature is very hot) and produces estimates of the distances to some burst sources. In the
helium which flashes with α ≥ 100, recurrence times cases in which a distance is known on other grounds, they
≥10 h, and burst rise times ≤1 s. At either higher or lower are in approximate agreement.

General relativity corrections and radiation The neutron stars

transfer X-ray bursters are in very old BINARY SYSTEMS, as shown by
The assumptions of black body emission and Eddington- the population in globular clusters. At least three may well
limited flux seem to offer the possibility of measuring the have degenerate dwarf companions (4U 1916 − 053, 4U
1820−30 and SAX J1808.4–3658) and all of the companions
radii and masses of neutron stars. These are interesting
are low-mass stars. It has been suggested that in accreting
because they depend on the properties of the matter at
over 108 –109 yr the neutron star’s magnetic field has
densities of 1015 g cm−3 at the center of the neutron star.
decayed. When radio pulsars with 108 –1010 G fields were
At least seven of the type I bursters are in GLOBULAR CLUSTERS
discovered with rotation periods of a few milliseconds,
and some of their distances are known to within 10%.
it was suggested that accretion in the low-mass x-
However, several important effects must be included in
ray binaries spins up the neutron stars to millisecond
interpreting the measurements. For neutron stars, the periods. Then irradiation could evaporate the companion,
corrections of general relativity can be important; for a leaving a rejuvenated, millisecond, radio pulsar. Recent
nominal 1.4M star, the Schwarzschild radius is 40% of observations with RXTE discovered evidence tending
the nominal radius of 10 km and the relativistic effects to confirm this scenario. The transient and burster
can be larger for some equations of state. Further, the SAX J1808.4–3658 is now known to be an x-ray pulsar. It
surface temperature of the neutron star exceeds 107 K and has a magnetic field estimated to be 5×108 G and a rotation
the neutron star has a scattering atmosphere. The surface frequency of 401 Hz (a period of 2.5 ms).
has an energy-dependent emissivity. These effects need In six other bursters an inhomogeneity in temperature
to be taken into account in understanding and using the on the star appears during bursts and appears to rotate.
observations to determine the neutron star parameters. The periods are similar to the period of SAX J1808.4–
A spherical black body neutron star has an apparent 3658. At the beginnings of bursts a high-amplitude (as
radius larger than the radius at the star, because of the high as 60%) sinusoidal oscillation starts. The oscillation
gravitational bending of rays. Taking this into account, amplitude decays along with the rise in flux. This behavior
with would be consistent with a growing burning region. The
1 + z∗ = (1 − Rg /R∗ )−1/2 periods are 1.7–3 ms. During the decays, 10 s trains
of oscillations occur with typical amplitudes of 10%.
Whether the asymmetry is associated with one spot or
R∞ = R∗ (1 + z∗ )
two is uncertain. Together with new and related results on
√ fast quasi-periodic oscillations in the persistent flux, they
(as long as R∗ ≥ (3 3/2)Rg ), where Rg = 2GM/c2 is the
Schwarzschild radius, R∗ the real neutron star radius and provide new, and potentially precise, tools to determine
R∞ the apparent radius we measure, which exceeds the properties such as the masses and radii of the neutron stars,
real radius. The Eddington limit for the luminosity as their magnetic fields, the radii at which the disks terminate
and how the accreting gas traverses from the disk to the
observed by a distant observer gives another constraint
neutron star. With RXTE, BeppoSAX, Chandra and XMM
on M and R∗ . Together with possible theoretical mass–
it will be possible to address many questions about x-ray
radii relations the Eddington limit implies a limit on the
bursters, the evolution of the systems, the flow of accreting
‘effective’ temperature (defined by Te = (Lx /4πR 2 σ )1/4 ),
gas, the progress of thermonuclear flashes and the neutron
such that kTe should never exceed 2 keV. The black body
star solutions for collapsed stars of ≤3M .
fits determine a ‘color’ temperature Tc , which at its peak
often exceeds this limit on the effective temperature. This Bibliography
is a measure of the error in the assumption of black body The literature on the subject of x-ray bursters includes
emission. When the competition between scattering and a number of reviews, which are well represented in the
absorption, the temperature increase with depth in the chapters by
atmosphere and incoherent scattering in the atmosphere
are all included, the ratio Tc /Te has been found to vary Lewin W H G and Joss P 1983 X-ray bursters and the x-ray
between 1.4 and 1.7 as the flux approached the Eddington- sources of the Galactic bulge Accretion Powered X-Ray
limited flux. Sources ed W H G Lewin and E P J van den Heuvel
Detailed data for bursts have been obtained by (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press) pp 41–115
x-ray experiments on many satellite missions, notably and by
OSO-8, SAS-3, HEAO-1, EXOSAT, Tenma, Ginga, RXTE
and BeppoSAX. Extensive work was done attempting to Lewin W H G, van Paradijs J and Taam R E 1995 X-ray
determine the properties of the neutron star using the bursts X-Ray Binaries ed W H G Lewin, J van Paradijs
EXOSAT and Tenma data. Measurement and perhaps and E P J van den Heuvel (Cambridge: Cambridge
systematic errors prevented definitive results from being University Press) pp 175–232
obtained. Similar projects to examine RXTE observations, Brief summaries of the newest results are in
which have much smaller statistical error and higher time
resolution, are still in progress. Bildsten L and Strohmayer T 1999 Phys. Today 52 4

and in articles in
Bucceri R, van Paradijs J and Alpar M A (ed) 1998 The Many

Faces of Neutron Stars (Dordrecht: Kluwer)
and in
Scarsi L, Bradt H, Giommi P and Fiore F (ed) 1998 The

Active X-Ray Sky (Amsterdam: Elsevier)
Jean Swank

X-Ray Telescopes E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
more significant past and current x-ray telescopes, and

X-Ray Telescopes then discuss future trends in x-ray telescopes.
X-ray telescopes produce images of x-ray-emitting objects
within the telescope’s FIELD OF VIEW by reflection from X-ray reflectance
precisely shaped mirrors. Hans Wolter’s design in the X-rays specularly reflect from a surface under two
early 1950s of an x-ray microscope using reflective optics conditions, when striking a surface at grazing incidence
led Riccardo GIACCONI to suggest an ‘inverted’ set of optics, and when constructive interference takes place between
not subject to the fabrication limitations of the microscope, many layers of a material whose atomic number varies in
could be used as a cosmic x-ray telescope. As described a periodic fashion.
in 1960 by Giacconi and Bruno ROSSI, imaging with x-ray
telescopes offers a significant reduction in noise, both from Reflection at grazing incidence
cosmic ray induced events and the soft x-ray background. At x-ray wavelengths the real part nr of the complex index
This is because most background counts are the result of refraction nr − ik of the reflecting surface is less than 1.
of charged particles and are uniformly distributed over Thus x-rays in vacuum are incident upon an interface that
the detector area. An imaging system concentrates the is less optically dense. From Snell’s law the angle of the
source counts in one or a few pixels. As an example, wave transmitted θt into the less dense material is
the EINSTEIN (HEAO-2) Observatory x-ray telescope offered an
sin θt = (n1 /n2 ) sin θi (1)
improvement in sensitivity of about a factor of 1000 over
that of the large-area, collimated proportional counters where θi is the angle of incidence and n1 and n2 are
on High Energy Astrophysical Observatory (HEAO) 1 the indices of refraction for vacuum and the reflecting
satellite. The improved instrument sensitivity resulting material, respectively. When n1 > n2 one obtains a real
from increased signal to noise enables the study of fainter value for θt only for incident angles θi < sin−1 (n2 /n1 ). For
sources, extending the number and age of detectable example, if n2 = 0.99, then the maximum real value for
objects. θi is 81.9◦ : at this incident angle the transmitted angle is
Imaging observations enable deeper study of ex- 90◦ , parallel to the interface. For larger incident angles
tended cosmic x-ray sources. Imaging of CLUSTERS OF GALAX- (shallower grazing angles) no radiation is transmitted.
IES reveals details of the intracluster gas temperature pro-
This is seen by allowing θt to be complex, with
file and isolates the x-ray emission from component galax-
ies. Imaging of GALAXIES allows study of any central source cos θt = ±i[(n1 /n2 )2 sin2 θi − 1]1/2 . (2)
as well as the identification and location of the galac-
tic emitters. Study of SUPERNOVA REMNANTS allows the vi- Substituting equation (2) into the Fresnel equations,
sualization of the x-ray-emitting regions and potential solving for the transmitted electric and magnetic fields,
identification of a remnant’s compact object. None of and determining the time-averaged Poynting vector
these types of studies is readily undertaken with non- reveals that no energy flows through the interface—
imaging instruments. Other imaging approaches employ- the field intensities normal to the interface decay
ing such devices as modulation collimators or scanned, exponentially into the less optically dense surface.
tightly collimated detectors provide much poorer resolu- Reflectance is calculated from the complex index of
tion (∼1 arcmin.) than that available with current x-ray refraction using the Fresnel equations. The real and
telescopes and suffer from image reconstruction artifacts. imaginary parts of the index are computed from the atomic
Studies of point sources also benefit from x-ray (forward) scattering factors f1 and f2 :
telescope resolution. Using the large-area proportional
counters on board HEAO-1, positions accurate to ∼0.1 ρ 1
nr = 1 − δ = 1 − A 0 re λ 2 f 1
square degrees were obtained for weak point sources. Wm 2π
On average, there will be one star brighter than 12th
ρ 1
magnitude in the position error box. For comparison, the k= A 0 re λ 2 f 2 (3)
optical counterparts of Sco X-1 and Cen X-1 are about 13th Wm 2π
magnitude, and that of Her X-1 about 15th magnitude. where ρ is the material density, Wm is the molar weight
Imaging enables more accurate optical identifications. of the reflecting material, A0 is Avogadro’s number, re
With better than 0.5 arcsec resolution of the Chandra X-ray is the classical electron radius and λ is the incident
Observatory (CXO) positions of point sources accurate to wavelength. The scattering factors are material and
∼10−7 square degrees may be obtained—on average less wavelength dependent. They are derived in a variety
than a single unrelated 20th magnitude star will be found of ways: they may be computed from measurement of
in the error box. the forward scattering amplitude or back calculated from
This article will first briefly discuss how x-rays may measured x-ray reflectance. Well-known sets of constants
be reflected and what optical systems can be used to form have been published by Henke et al, Auerbach and Tirsell,
images. Key considerations for performance and system and Windt. As better reflectance is achieved with materials
design will be discussed, followed by the various ways with high electron density grazing incidence optics are
of implementing x-ray telescopes. We will review the typically coated with metals to enhance reflectance.

Reflectance of Iridium Reflectance of Gold

1 1
Normalized Reflectance
0.1 0.1
0.01 0.01
0.1 1 10 0.1 1 10
Incident Energy (keV) Incident Energy (keV)

30 arc-min. graze angle 30 arc-min. graze angle
Reflectance of Nickel
1
0.1
0.01
0.1 1 10
Incident Energy (keV)

30 arc-min. graze angle
Figure 1. X-ray reflectance as a function of incident energy and graze angle.
Common materials used as reflecting coatings are iridium, where d is the layer spacing and θ is the incident angle.
gold and nickel. A plot of x-ray reflectance as a function of In practice the coating reflects a bandwidth λ that is a
incident energy and grazing angle is shown in figure 1. function of various fabrication parameters including layer
Note the local minima in reflectance at the location of thickness uniformity, density, and layer materials but is
x-ray absorption edges. The product of reflectance and typically only a few ångströms wide. Typical layer ma-
geometric collecting area (the entrance aperture) is called terial pairs include (but are not limited to) nickel/carbon,
the effective area. Reflectance decreases as a function tungsten/silicon, rhodium/beryllium, rhodium/carbon,
of increasing graze angle and starts to decrease rapidly molybdenum/carbon and platinum/carbon. A typical
near the so-called critical angle. The critical angle may be coating may contain between 40 and 500 layer pairs, with
expresses as cos−1 (nr ) ≈ (2δ)1/2 for δ 1 (see equation the larger number of layers yielding higher reflectance. Re-
(3)). flectance of 10–80% has been achieved, depending on the
incident wavelength (higher reflectance at longer wave-
Reflection from multilayer coatings lengths) and material choices.
Multilayer coatings contain alternating layers of high-Z Several soft x-ray–EUV, normal incidence, multilayer
(atomic number) and low-Z materials. Reflection occurs at telescopes have been launched on board sounding
each interface, and the layer optical thicknesses are chosen rockets and small satellites, including the recently
so as to produce constructive interference between each launched Transition Region and Corona Explorer (TRACE).
layer. Reflection occurs only for those wavelengths which To overcome the spectral bandwidth limitations of
satisfy the Bragg equation, multilayer coatings, experimenters have resorted to
integrating several smaller telescopes into a single
mλ = d sin θ (4) payload, each telescope with a different multilayer. In

the case of TRACE, different multilayer coatings were TYPE I

applied to each of the four quadrants of the optics so that CONFOCAL
a single telescope was sensitive to four separate spectral HYPERBOLOID
bandwidths (one of which was visible light).

An alternative to several different telescopes or PARABOLOID
multiple different coatings on a single telescope is graded

multilayers, or ‘supermirrors’. Here, the layer thickness
varies as a function of position (depth) in the layer stack.
The thickest layers are at the top of the stack to reflect the
longest wavelengths with a minimum of absorption. Good F F
broadband reflectance has been achieved using a thickness
law
di = a(b + i)−c (5)
where di is the thickness of the ith layer (starting from the
top), a and c are positive parameters that are a function of
the materials used, and b is a constant greater than −1. REFLECTING
SURFACES
Substrate and coating roughness degrades multilayer
performance. ‘Low’ frequency roughness (>1 µm periods)
Figure 2. Schematic representation of the Wolter type I telescope.
causes scatter which degrades image contrast. ‘High’
frequency roughness (<1 µm periods) reduces reflectance.
Types of telescopes
Two approaches are used to achieve imaging: grazing
incidence (GI) and normal incidence (NI). Grazing
incidence telescopes utilize large angles of incidence (near
90◦ ) so that the x-rays graze or glance off the surface and
are reflected. Normal incidence x-ray telescopes use more
conventional shaped optics with multilayer coatings.
Grazing incidence telescopes

In 1952 the German physicist Hans Wolter was able
to show that a two-element system containing an even
number of confocal conic optics will come close to
satisfying the Abbe sine condition; rays that reflect off Figure 3. Cutaway schematic drawing of the nested four shells
both surfaces are focused and form an image. Wolter, (paraboloid and hyperboloids) of the Chandra X-ray
attempting to produce systems for x-ray microscopy, Observatory (courtesy of the Raytheon Co).
produced three designs, referred to as Wolter types I, II and
III. The type I telescope (figure 2) consists of a paraboloid as
a primary mirror and a confocal and coaxial hyperboloid as ∼68 times. Collecting area is built up by nesting mirror
the secondary mirror. The paraboloid focus is coincident pairs within one another (figure 3). Each mirror pair, or
with the back hyperboloid focus. X-rays strike the shell, is co-aligned and confocal. The telescope entrance
paraboloid at the grazing angle (approximately the field aperture consists of a set of concentric annular apertures,
angle of the source plus half the angle subtended by the all contributing to the same focus. Ideally, the shells are
best-fit cone to the paraboloid), are reflected and strike the designed so that each one has the same focal length and
hyperbola. The image is formed at the front hyperboloid therefore the same plate scale (the proportionality constant
focus. Usually, the hyperboloid cone angle is three times relating angular distance on the sky to linear distance at
that of the paraboloid so that on-axis x-rays are incident the focal plane). All shells do not necessarily contribute
upon both mirrors with essentially the same grazing angle. the same to the image as a function of x-ray energy. As
X-rays that strike the forward end of the paraboloid reflect shown above in the section ‘X-ray reflectance’, reflectance
to strike the aft (back) end of the hyperboloid, and vice is a function of graze angle and incident energy. The inner
versa. shells have a shallower graze angle than outer shells. Thus
The entrance aperture is the projection of the primary the inner shells of a nested telescope have a larger spectral
mirror in the aperture plane. This results in an annular bandwidth (reflect higher-energy x-rays) and comparable
aperture whose width is approximately the product of or slightly higher reflectance than the outer shells, while
the optic length and the half-angle of the best fit cone also having a smaller entrance aperture.
(the cone angle). For the CXO the largest paraboloid has The type I design yields a perfect image for on-
a surface area of approximately 3.2 m2 but an entrance axis illumination. Off axis, the design suffers from field
aperture of only 0.047 m2 , a reduction of a factor of dependent coma and spherical aberration. In addition,

TYPE II Instead, collecting area may be increased by increasing the

grazing angle, thereby increasing the projected area on the
CONFOCAL
HYPERBOLOID aperture plane, while maintaining a usefully long focal
PARABOLOID length and acceptable plate scale. The increase in graze
angle, however, limits the useful spectral bandwidth of the
telescope so that most practical type II telescopes are used
for the extreme to far ultraviolet and longer wavelengths
(>100 Å).
F The type III design employs the outer surface of a
F paraboloid as the primary element and the inner surface
of an ellipsoid as the secondary mirror. The paraboloid
focus is coincident with one of the ellipsoid foci, and the
REFLECTING
image falls upon the other ellipsoid focus. The type III
SURFACES design has never been used for x-ray astronomy.
Wolter developed variants of the original designs
by extending results obtained by Karl SCHWARZSCHILD in
Figure 4. Schematic representation of the Wolter type II 1905 for normal incidence telescopes. The modified
telescope. prescriptions are called Wolter–Schwarzschild (W–S)
designs and differ slightly in their second-order figure
(shape). These optics satisfy the Abbe sine condition
the telescope focal surface is curved. Van Speybroeck and strictly and so do not exhibit any comatic aberration. The
Chase (1972) approximated the off-axis rms blur diameter improvement in off-axis performance of W–S designs over
for a flat focal plane detector at the Gaussian focus as conventional designs is graze angle dependent. Thus W–
S designs provide negligible improvement at the shallow
ξ + 1 (tan θfield )2 L
σblur ≈ 4 + 8 tan(θfield )(tan α)2 (6) graze angles (<1◦ ) employed on many x-ray telescopes
10 tan α Z0 to achieve good reflectance at shorter wavelengths. W–
where θfield is the field angle (the off-axis angle), α is the S-type designs have been used on a number of extreme
graze angle, Z0 is the axial distance from the intersection ultraviolet telescope applications which use much larger
of the paraboloid and hyperboloid surfaces (the ‘virtual graze angles (>5◦ ). The EXTREME ULTRAVIOLET EXPLORER (EUVE)
joint’) to best on-axis focus, and L is the axial length of the contained a W–S type I EUV telescope and a W–S type II
paraboloid. The first term in equation (6) represents the for the stellar spectrometer. ROSAT, besides carrying the
field-dependent coma. The second term is split between large Wolter I x-ray telescope, also carried a W–S type I
a GI equivalent of spherical aberration and image defocus EUV telescope—the Wide Field Camera—which had a 5◦
(relative to a flat detector) due to a curved focal surface. For field of view, ∼450 cm2 aperture and image half-power
the Chandra X-ray Observatory at a field angle of 5 arcmin, diameter of ∼1.7 arcmin (on axis).
the rms blur diameter ranges from 2.5 arcsec to 4 arcsec. Contamination of the optical surface will degrade
Alternative Wolter I type designs exist that mitigate the performance. Particulates both absorb and scatter the x-
off-axis aberrations at the expense of degrading on-axis rays, degrading the point spread function and reducing
performance. These designs consist of using two coaxial the effective collecting area. Hydrocarbons absorb x-rays.
(but not confocal) hyperboloids or using generalized (non- Grazing incidence telescopes are extremely sensitive to
conic) mirror prescriptions such as a power law. Because both. This is a direct result of the shallow grazing angle,
of the relative mechanical simplicity of the design and the as can be seen in figure 5. A round particle of cross section
πa 2 maps onto an entrance aperture area of 2πa 2 because x-
ability to increase collecting area by nesting telescopes the
rays may strike the particle before or after reflecting off the
type I design (or its variants) is the most common form of
mirror surface. The mirror surface area is 2πRL where R is
grazing incidence designs used in x-ray astronomy, being
the average radius of the nearly conical optic. The mirror
employed on the Einstein Observatory, Roentgen Satellite
entrance aperture has an area of 2πRL sin α. Thus the
(ROSAT), CXO, X-ray Multi-mirror Mission (XMM) and many
fraction of mirror surface area Fn covered by the particle
others described later.
is
The type II design also consists of a grazing incidence πa 2
paraboloid primary and hyperboloid secondary mirror, Fn = (7)
2πRL
but the outer surface of the hyperboloid is used, as
shown in figure 4. In the type II the image is formed but the fraction of the entrance aperture FA ‘covered’ by
at the back hyperboloid focus. Type II telescopes enable the particle is
longer focal lengths than a type I with comparable grazing 2πa 2 2
angle and entrance aperture, affording an increased plate FA = = Fn (8)
2πRL sin α sin α
scale. Field-angle-dependent aberrations are greater with
type II designs than with type I designs. Also, nesting For a 1◦ graze angle FA is ∼114 times larger than Fn .
of telescopes to increase collecting area is impractical. Similarly for a hydrocarbon layer t thick, the x-rays

Particulate
Contamination and deposition process. Thin-film stresses may be
2a estimated from Stoney’s equation:
2a
Es ts2
σf = C (9)
6(1 − νs )tf
Optical Surface where Es , νs and ts are, respectively, Young’s modulus,

the Poisson ratio and the thickness of the substrate, tf
Figure 5. Illustration of the effects of particulate contamination. is the thickness of the coating, C is the change in
Incident x-rays from the upper left are absorbed or scattered by radius of curvature of the substrate after the coating
the particle either when directly impinging upon it or when is applied and σf is the induced stress (a negative
impinging upon it after reflection from the mirror. value of σf is compressive). Typical stresses range
from −1200 to +200 MPa. These stresses can produce
significant deformations on thin substrates, requiring
must traverse a distance 2t/ sin α. In addition, because either a modification of film or substrate design, or
of their construction with little space between telescope the use of post coating stress reduction techniques such
shells and very narrow entrance and exit annuli, it is as annealing (annealing, however, may cause diffusion
extremely difficult to clean a dirty grazing incidence across the interfaces, degrading reflectance).
optic. Contamination control is a critical issue for grazing
incidence optics. Design, specification, and performance
Finally, an earlier realization than the Wolter designs Typical design constraints for an x-ray telescope will
was the Baez–Kirkpatrick telescope in which an array of include focal length, spectral bandwidth, collecting area,
parallel plates, parabolic in the plane of incidence, focus resolution or fractional encircled energy, and size and
the incident x-rays to a line image. Placing a second weight. Not always independent of one another, these
set of plates oriented at a right-angle to the first set constraints determine whether a normal or grazing
focuses the line image to a point image. This design has incidence telescope is desired, mirror figure requirements,
more aberrations than the Wolter designs, but may be coating design and element size.
approximated using optically flat plates bent in one axis Spectral bandwidth can determine whether an NI or a
so as to inexpensively build up large collecting area with GI telescope is more appropriate. For extreme ultraviolet
moderate resolution. and very soft x-rays with wavelengths greater than ∼100 Å,
NI multilayer telescopes offer lower cost, better imaging
Multilayer telescopes and larger collecting area. Spectral regions above 0.1 keV
Conventional optical telescope designs, when used as the are better served by GI optics which offer much greater
substrate for multilayer coatings, are suitable for x-ray reflection efficiency and better performance.
telescopes. The distinction between normal incidence x- Diffraction by the annular entrance aperture can be
ray and optical telescopes is that optical telescopes are significant at low energies. The intensity as a function of
diffraction limited and x-ray telescopes (to date) are not. radial position x is expressed as:
To achieve diffraction-limited performance, the telescope 2 2
wavefront error must be less than ∼λx /13, rms, where λx 4 J1 (xo ) ri J1 (xi )
I (x) = −
is the x-ray wavelength. For a two-mirror system being [1 − (ri /ro )2 ]2 xo ro xi
used at 171 Å, this equates to a surface error figure of ∼5 Å,
rms, or better than λ/1300 (λ = 633 nm), rms (neglecting where
other error contributors such as mirror figure degradation x x
due to coating, support deformation, misalignments, etc). xo = 2πro and xi = 2πri (10)
λf λf
The ability to manufacture such optics is only starting
to be feasible at the end of 1999. In addition, because where ro and ri are the outer and inner radii of the
of the short wavelength (relative to visible light) and annular aperture, respectively, f is the focal length, J1
current detector technology, extremely long focal lengths is the first-order Bessel function and λ is the incident
(>10 m) are required to make use of diffraction-limited wavelength. For NI telescopes diffraction does not limit
performance. imaging performance until one produces extraordinarily
Mechanical stresses in the multilayer coating can precisely figured optics, as discussed above in the section
produce deformations of the optic, degrading imaging. ‘Multilayer telescopes’. Depending on telescope size,
Recent studies have shown that the stresses do not appear aperture diffraction can be more significant for GI optics.
to vary as a function of the layer pair thickness, but For example, the X-Ray Telescope (XRT) on the joint US–
do vary as a function of the equivalent d thickness Japan Solar-B satellite has an aperture width of about
and the materials. Thin-film technologists have found 0.6 mm and an outer radius of ∼170 mm. At a wavelength
that coating stresses are also functions of a number of of 60 Å, the 68% point of the fractional encircled energy (the
deposition parameters including substrate temperature radial integral of the normalized point spread function)

is about 1.4 arcsec in diameter. For the large Chandra incident flux and broaden the point spread function. For
aperture diffraction is negligible. conceptual purposes mirror errors may be loosely grouped
Grazing angle, focal length and radius are related by into three categories. Low spatial error frequencies (long
the relation error periods) produce small-angle scatter which has only
1 r0
α = tan−1 (11) a small effect on the image ‘core’. Mid-spatial-frequency
4 Z0 errors produce intermediate-angle scattering and can have
where α is the graze angle at the intersection of the a significant effect on the image core, limiting resolution—
paraboloid and hyperboloid surfaces, and r0 is the radius the ability to discern two closely placed sources. High
of the virtual joint (Z0 is not the focal length but it spatial error frequencies (typically microroughness) pro-
is fairly close). The choice of graze angle affects the duce large-angle scatter (this might be on the order of 10–
short-wavelength limit of the telescope because of the 100 arcsec and greater) which degrades image ‘contrast’—
precipitous loss of reflection efficiency near the critical the ability to find a dim source in the presence of a bright
angle. Therefore spectral bandwidth coupled with focal source. The definition of what error frequencies corre-
length can drive the maximum allowable optic size. spond to the various bandwidths is dependent on the sys-
From these few parameters one can derive the optical tem requirements and grazing angle. On Chandra, errors
prescription of the paraboloid and hyperboloid using that scatter x-rays by 0.5 arcsec would be considered mid-
the method of Van Speybroeck and Chase (1972). If frequency. On XMM, mid-frequency errors might be con-
we constrain the graze angle of the hyperboloid at the sidered as those that scatter by 5 arcsec.
virtual joint to be 3 times that of the paraboloid, then the A zeroth-order estimate of encircled energy can be
prescription of the optics can be determined as made using the total integrated scatter, or TIS. This term
represents the fraction of incident energy that is scattered
P = Zo tan(4α) tan α (12) by a surface (or equivalent surface) with a given rms
surface figure error. The fractional encircled energy (or
d=P (13) EE) is approximately 1 − TIS. The EE is both incident
wavelength and included angle dependent, so the choice
and
of rms figure error must take this into account. This is done
e = cos(4α)[1 + tan(4α) tan(3α)] (14)
by using a bandlimited rms amplitude and making the
where the optical surfaces are represented as assumption that this amplitude includes all surface error
frequencies that will scatter the light outside the desired
rp2 = P 2 + 2P Z + 4e2 P d/(e2 − 1) paraboloid (15) region of interest. The encircled energy is expressed
(approximately) as
and
rh2 = e2 (d + Z)2 − Z 2 hyperboloid (16) EE ≈ exp[−(2kσ sin α)2 ] (18)
and Z represents the coordinate along the optical axis and where k is equal to 2π/λ, σ is the bandwidth-limited
is zero at the system focus and e is the eccentricity. The effective rms surface error (in the plane of incidence)
effective focal length of the system, f L, is expressed as and α is the average graze angle. Using encircled
energy goals we can estimate an acceptable value for
2e2 d σ , or, alternatively, σ can be used to estimate EE. (Of
fL = . (17)
e2 − 1 course, we want to leave some additional margin as we
recognize that pointing stability–jitter, alignment, etc will
(The ratio of f L/Zo is a function of α and is approximately
all degrade performance.) To determine the bandwidth for
2
equal to 1 + 0.0025αdeg .)
which σ applies we use the grazing incidence equivalent
Typically, performance of GI systems is expressed in
of the grating equation (making use of the small-angle
terms of the encircled energy (usually as a fraction or as a
approximation)—
per cent). This is the integral of the point spread function
λf = θs sin α (19)
within a given angular diameter. One can think of the
encircled energy as the fraction of incident flux that falls where λ is the incident wavelength, f is the spatial
on a detector pixel or some other suitable area (e.g. a slit frequency of the surface error and θs is the angle through
for some spectroscopy applications). It is a measure of which the radiation is scattered. All errors of higher
how compact or spread out the light from a point source spatial frequency will scatter through larger angles and fall
is imaged. The encircled energy may be normalized or outside the region of interest. In doing this analysis we are
scaled two different ways. In the first, normalization is mostly concerned with errors in the axial direction. This
with respect to the flux that leaves the last focusing optic is because the deviation of specular rays out of the plane
(reflection losses are ignored). In the second approach of incidence by azimuthal errors is reduced by a factor of
the normalized encircled energy is scaled by the entrance sin α. Similarly, the scattering distribution is elongated
aperture area and has units of area. in the plane of incidence by a factor of 1/ sin α (the
Image quality is affected by mirror surface imperfec- grazing incidence foreshortens the spatial error periods
tions (figure error and microroughness) which scatter the in the plane of incidence, making the errors appear as a

higher-frequency and increasing the scattering angle (see Typical glasses used for x-ray telescopes are
equation (19))). ZerodurTM , a glass ceramic produced by Schott with an ex-
A more exact method of computing telescope tremely low CTE, and ULETM (which stands for ultralow
requirements and estimating performance is obtained expansion) produced by the Corning Glass Co, another
using the scalar scattering theory of Beckmann and very low-CTE glass. Fused quartz was used for the Ein-
Spizzichino. (Vector scattering theory may also be used stein Observatory mirrors. Potential new materials in-
for modeling performance. Some references by E Church clude silicon carbide which has an extremely high strength
are listed in the bibliography.) The output intensity to weight ratio offering the promise of very light weight
distribution is given as non-replicated optics.
dP dP dP dP Optical fabrication of grazing incidence optics

= Strehl + ⊗ . (20) Optic blanks arrive from the glass supplier as rough
d*total d*spec d*spec d*scatt
machined pieces, within 250–1000 µm of final dimensions
(by contrast, final allowable figure error might be only a
Strehl is the Strehl ratio and equals the right-hand side
few hundred Ångströms, rms, or 104 –105 times better).
of equation (18). dP /d*spec is the intensity distribution
A carefully scripted material removal schedule utilizing
in the absence of scattering–diffraction, such as results
ever-finer grinding grits and polishing compound is used
from large-scale geometric figure and alignment errors, to coarse figure the optics and remove residual machining
dP /d*scatt is the scattered intensity distribution and ⊗ stresses (subsurface damage, or microcracks) that can
signifies a convolution operation. Using scattering theory degrade figure stability or even lead to catastrophic failure
to determine dP /d*scatt and integrating over d* yields the under load. The inside (optical surface), outside and
encircled energy. After much algebra this can be reduced ends of the blank are polished for damage removal, to
to a one-dimensional integral where the scattering is a provide a surface that is easily cleaned and kept free
function of the Fourier transform of the optic axial figure of contamination, and to provide a controlled bonding
error power spectrum density (PSD). Thus, by measuring surface for the optic mounting system.
the axial surface errors (i.e. the axial one-dimensional The optical surface is figured in (grinding and) pol-
profiles), computing the error PSD and measuring the ishing using computer-controlled fabrication technology
geometric in- and out-of-plane contributors, we can where a computer provides a set of commands to move
estimate performance. Initially appearing complex, this the polishing head in a controlled fashion over the sur-
formalism is very useful because optic (and replication face of the optic. Typically, the optic is supported with its
mandrel) fabrication processes are essentially surface axis nearly horizontal, the optic is made to rotate about its
filters. Imaging performance is a function of surface axis at a controlled rate, and the polishing tool is driven
error PSD, and optical fabrication technology provides a axially along the optical surface to describe a fixed path
means to operate on the surface error PSD. This approach (e.g. a spiral), but with variable path velocity. Since ma-
provides much more fabrication guidance than merely terial removal is inversely proportional to the path veloc-
specifying a single bandlimited rms amplitude as an optic ity, control of that velocity allows correction of the optical
requirement. This approach also correctly takes into figure. The velocity commands result from deconvolving
account the impact of the frequency content of the figure the polishing tool material removal profile from the op-
errors in estimating performance. tic surface error map. The fabrication process, along with
the associated measurements, is iterative with typical er-
Fabrication ror correction rates of 50–90% per iteration depending on
the optics manufacturer. For Chandra, the correction rates
Grazing incidence telescopes are produced by one of
were typically 85–95% depending on the error spatial fre-
several methods: direct polishing of the optics, replication
quency content.
of polished mandrels or forming of thin foils. Multilayer
Smoothing of the optic, critical for controlling scatter,
telescopes are manufactured using standard precision is usually performed as a separate operation from figuring.
optical fabrication methods but require the application of ROSAT optics were smoothed to surface roughness levels
the multilayer coatings. of about 3 Å, rms, and the Chandra optics were smoothed
Material considerations for x-ray optics are important. to about 2–3 Å, rms.
Since all x-ray observations are made in space, the optical The combination of computer-controlled fabrication
elements must be strong enough to survive rocket launch and smoothing function as spatial frequency filter
acoustic and seismic loads. At the same time, optic weight operations, making them readily linked to the PSD
must be minimized to reduce payload weight. Depending requirements that can be generated from the encircled
on the complexity of the spacecraft an active temperature energy requirement.
control system may or may not be present, so mirror Because of the unusual optic geometry, most
elements should have both a low coefficient of thermal fabrication and metrology equipment is custom designed
expansion (CTE) and a uniform one. This minimizes optic by the manufacturer. For larger optics such as on ROSAT
distortion due to temperature variations and gradients in and Chandra specialized handling equipment is also
the spacecraft as it orbits the Earth. required.

Fabrication of grazing incidence optics by replication Nickel replicas An aluminum mandrel is coated with
When extremely good imaging (less than a few arcsec ∼200 µm of electro-less nickel (Kanigen). The electro-
diameter) is not required, or when extremely large less nickel surface is loose abrasive ground and computer-
collecting area is required, replicated optics can be a controlled polished or diamond turned to the nominal
superior alternative to individually fabricated glass optics. figure (after diamond turning additional figuring may be
In this approach a set of replication mandrels that are required). The surface is smoothed (polished) to about 5 Å,
the inverse of the desired final figure are fabricated first. rms, roughness, to complete the mandrel. The replica is
Multiple replicas, each the inverse of a mandrel and produced by first depositing 100–200 nm of gold on the
therefore possessing the desired mirror figure, are then electro-less nickel surface and then electroplating the gold
formed. with nickel to the desired thickness (∼1 mm). The replica
The advantages of replication are several. First, when is separated from the mandrel by cooling the mandrel (the
multiple copies of the same mirror are required, replication coefficient of thermal expansion for aluminum is about
is cheaper and less time consuming than individually twice that of nickel). The gold coating separates with
fabricating each mirror. Second, many more shells can the nickel replica because its adhesion to the electroplated
be nested within one another (without unduly growing nickel is much greater than to the Kanigen. Multiple
the size of the outermost elements) because the replicas replicas may be made from a single mandrel before the
are typically much thinner than glass elements. This mandrel needs to be refurbished. Replicas of this type have
results in higher telescope ‘throughput’. Third, because been used for the BEPPOSAX, JET-X and XMM. Replica sizes
of their relative ‘thinness’ replicated optics may weigh range from 300 mm long, 68 mm diameter on BeppoSAX to
substantially less than corresponding glass elements, 600 mm long, 700 mm diameter on XMM. The half-energy
reducing payload weight. (As an example, the largest X- width of the point spread function at 1.5 keV is 13 arcsec
ray Multi-mirror Mission (XMM) replicated nickel optics for XMM.
are less than 1/4 the weight per unit axial length of As previously mentioned, internal stresses in the
the corresponding size ZerodurTM Chandra counterparts.) electroplated nickel will deform the replica when it is
These advantages mean that either the instrument can removed from the mandrel. Potential solutions to the lack
carry multiple copies of the telescope optics and detector of structural rigidity of these replicas include the use of
(such as XMM) or multiple identical satellites can be placed stiffening structures fixed to the replica during the nickel
in orbit (such as planned for Constellation-X). Replication plating process and the use of ceramics or silicon carbide
is a way to achieve much larger collecting area and higher (SiC) in place of the nickel replica substrate. In the latter
telescope throughput with lower weight per unit area at approach the SiC substrate is formed to near final shape
less cost than with non-replicated elements. by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) to a second mandrel
The disadvantage of replication (to date) is the slightly larger (102 µm) than the first. The first mandrel is
level of figure quality which may be achieved, limiting
coated with 100 nm of gold, and then the SiC substrate
imaging performance to ∼14 arcsec, half power diameter
is positioned around it. The gap is filled with epoxy,
(or 50% encircled energy). The mandrels themselves
and, after curing, the gold-coated epoxy/SiC replica is
may be fabricated with the same accuracy as large glass
separated from the Kanigen-coated aluminum mandrel
elements. The difficulty arises in attempting to remove
by cooling. The CVD SiC has little residual internal
the lightweight replica from the mandrel, maintain its
stress and has a Young’s modulus approximately 3 times
figure against internal stresses created while producing the
larger than that of nickel. The SiC replica can be made
replica and then support it for flight, without introducing
substantially thinner than the nickel replica. A similar
low spatial frequency distortions in the figure.
process using a beryllium substrate instead of SiC has been
The strengths of replicated optics and individually
used on the Exosat program. An alternative approach
figured optics telescopes such as XMM and CXO
in which aluminum oxide is plasma sprayed directly on
are complementary. Replicated telescopes, with their
the gold-coated Kanigen/aluminum mandrel is also under
large collecting area and good imaging capabilities, are
generally more useful for imaging spectroscopy. For investigation at the time this article is being written.
bright objects, however, telescope throughput is not a
limiting factor and the full imaging capabilities of glass Epoxy replicas In epoxy replication an aluminum foil
optics can be brought to bear. Replicated optics are more serves as the replica substrate. A glass (PyrexTM or
suitable for some observations of very faint objects or ZerodurTM ) mandrel is coated with ∼100 nm of gold.
deep sky surveys where the photon noise limit obviates A thin (∼100 µm) aluminum foil is pre-formed to the
finer resolution, but the limiting angular resolution may approximate shape of the coated mandrel but slightly
also result in an inability to resolve discrete sources. oversized. Both the gold-coated mandrel and the (inner)
Alternatively, glass optic telescopes may be limited in surface of the foil are sprayed with epoxy and the two
the number of deep surveys possible owing to the are then mated. The epoxy film, several tens of microns
extended observing time needed to collect enough photons thick, is cured in an oven before the foil is removed.
necessary to make full use of their imaging. The foil maintains the smoothness of the polished glass
Several methods of replication are briefly described mandrel. Epoxy replicas have not at this time achieved
below. the imaging capabilities of nickel replicas, but the replicas

Table 1. An abbreviated list of some of the more notable x-ray telescopes.
Effective Energy
area Resolution bandwidtha
Mission Type (cm2 ) (HPD, arcsec) (keV) Comments
Skylab GI 42 (collecting ∼2 arcsec 0.2–2 First x-ray telescope;
(1975) area) resolution solar observations
Einstein GI ∼200 at 1 ∼15 0.2–4.5 First telescope observatory;
Observatory keV discovered 7000+ sources
(1978–81)
RXRSb NI ∼50 ∼2 arcsec 17.3, 25.6 First NI solar telescope(s);
(1987) (collecting resolution nm 6.3 cm diameter primary mirror
area)
ROSAT GI 400 at 1 keV ∼5 0.1–2.4 4 Au coated Zerodur shells;
(1990–9) discovered 150 000+
sources
ASCA GI 1300 at 1 keV, 174 0.5–10 Conical foil Al mirrors,
(1993) 600 at 7 keV Au coat over lacquer,
4 separate telescopes
BeppoSAX GI 330 at 1 keV 60 0.1–10 Nickel-replicated conical
(1996) optics,
30 nested shells
TRACE NI ∼20 1 17, 20, 28 30 cm diameter primary,
(1998) nm 2 m focal length solar telescope
Chandra GI 800 at 1 keV 0.5 0.1–10 Highest resolution, 4 shells,
(1999) largest mirror 1.2 m diameter
transmission gratings
XMM GI 4650 at 1 keV, 14 0.1–12 Nickel replicas,
(1999) 1800 at 8 keV 3 telescopes, 58 shells each,
reflection gratings
Constellation-X GI 15 000 at 15 (<10 keV) 0.25–10, Replicated optics (type to be
(200?) 1 keV 60 (>25 keV) 6–40 determined), ∼80+ shells,
1500 at largest 1.2 m diameter
>6 keV grating
a For NI telescopes the tabulated values represent the approximate centers of the reflection bandpass(es).
b Stanford University/NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Rocket X-Ray Spectroheliograph.
are substantially lighter owing to their much thinner this limitation is a result of the approximation to a Wolter I
wall and less dense substrate material. To date limiting system, but, more importantly, it appears that the lacquer
performance is ∼1 arcmin. is ineffective at smoothing errors with spatial periods
greater than a few microns. These errors significantly
affect the ability to image at better than the 1 arcmin level.
Segmented foil replicas Segmented foil mirrors have been
used on the Broad Band X-Ray Telescope (BBXRT), ASCA Fabrication of normal incidence multi-layer telescopes
and the Sodart telescope on board SPECTRUM-X-GAMMA. Normal incidence x-ray multilayer telescopes are essen-
Here the mirrors do not form the complete surface of tially manufactured using the same processes as conven-
revolution, but instead form (typically) only a single tional precision optics with two major exceptions: optic
quadrant. Aluminum foils less than a millimeter thick and smoothness (or microroughness), which affects both scat-
optically smooth are rolled into a 90◦ section of the desired ter and multilayer reflectivity, and the deposition of the
conical shape (note that the mirrors, being true cones, x-ray multilayer coating.
are only approximations to Wolter I telescopes). Plastic As discussed above in the section ‘Reflection from
deformation (rather than elastic bending) is employed to multilayer coatings‘ reflectance is a function of high spatial
produce a final shape that more closely approaches the frequency roughness (f > 103 mm−1 ). Super-smoothing
nominal and does not introduce stresses into the support of the surface roughness in this very high spatial frequency
structure. After rolling, the foils are dip-coated with regime to levels of 2–4 Å, rms, is necessary for good
an acrylic lacquer to improve (reduce) scattering due to reflectance.
surface roughness. Care is taken to avoid introducing Along with substrate roughness, the multilayer
variations in lacquer thickness that would change the coating is the most critical element of the optics. To achieve
optical shape of the mirror, degrading imaging. Mirrors the desired reflectance over the correct spectral bandwidth
of this type are very inexpensive to produce but have not requires uniformity of coating thickness both across the
achieved better than a few arcminutes resolution. In part face of the optic as well as from layer to layer. Coating

density must also be uniform throughout the multilayer. incidence telescopes future development will probably
In addition, interlayer diffusion must be minimized as focus on achieving diffraction limited performance with
must thin-film stresses. increased focal lengths to more fully utilize the improved
optics.
Telescope systems
Other parts of a telescope system are the detector, optical Bibliography
bench and mirror mount or support structure. CHARGE There are a multitude of excellent articles in the literature
COUPLED DEVICES (CCDs) have supplanted position-sensitive discussing the technology of x-ray telescopes. For design
proportional counters. CCDs may be either front or issues of GI telescopes one is referred to
back illuminated. Front-illuminated CCDs have the x-
rays impinge upon the semiconductor gate side. Back- Van Speybroeck and Chase 1972 Design parameters
illuminated CCDs have additional wafer processing to of paraboloid–hyperboloid telescopes for x-ray
thin the backside of the chip (the side away from the astronomy Appl. Opt. 11 440
gates) and are then set so that the x-rays impinge upon the An excellent review is found in
backside. Front-illuminated CCDs provide better energy
resolution and slightly higher quantum efficiency at high Aschenbach B 1985 X-ray telescopes Rep. Prog. Phys. 48 579
energy than back-illuminated CCDS. Back-illuminated
CCDs provide substantially higher low-energy x-ray Discussions of alternative Wolter-I-like designs with
quantum efficiency. A wide range of pixel sizes are improved off-axis performance can be found in
available: the Chandra CCDs have 24 µm pixels; the Solar Nariai K 1987 Geometrical aberration of a generalized
X-ray Imager (SXI) on GOES N and O will have ∼15 µm Wolter type I telescope Appl. Opt. 26 4428
sized pixels. The long focal length (∼10 m) of Chandra Werner W 1977 Imaging properties of Wolter I type x-ray
coupled with 24 µm pixels yields ∼0.5 arcsec angular telescopes Appl. Opt. 16 764
resolution. CCDs provide excellent energy resolution,
about 120 eV for the Chandra detectors. Several CCDs may Atomic scattering factors for computing reflectance are
be arrayed to cover the full field of view of the telescope, found in
and the detectors may also be arrayed so as to be aligned
to the curved focal surface, thereby eliminating focus error Henke, Gullickson and Davis 1993 At. Data Nucl. Data
that occurs with a flat detector and a curved focal surface Tables 54 (2)
(see equation (6)). Higher imaging resolution is achieved
This information is also available on the Wide World Web
with less energy resolution using detectors such as the
at URL
Einstein, ROSAT and Chandra High Resolution Imager.
This is a pair of stacked multichannel plates with an http://xray.uu.se/hypertext/henke.html.
electronic readout. Future developments include the use A second site,
of microcalorimeters, which will be used for the first time
http://www-cxro.lbl.gov:80/optical constants
on Astro-E. This device has an energy resolution of ∼12 eV
contains the same data along with a reflectance ‘calcula-
at 6 keV but has a relatively large pixel size and so limits
tor’. A general review of multilayer coatings can be found
spatial resolution. Spectroscopy with x-ray telescopes is
in
also accomplished by the use of transmission gratings that
may be moved in and out of the focused beam, such as Barbee 1990 Advances in multilayer x-ray/EUV optics:
on Chandra, or reflection gratings fixed in the beam as on synthesis, performance, and instrumentation Opt.
XMM. Eng. 29 711
X-ray telescope missions Discussions of vector and scalar scattering theory are
Some significant x-ray telescopes and performance details reviewed by
are listed in table 1.
Church E 1979 Role of surface topography in x-ray
Future trends scattering SPIE Proc. 184 196
In grazing incidence telescopes future trends will continue Church E 1986 The interpretation of glancing incidence
the development of increased collecting area, improving scattering measurements SPIE Proc. 640 126
resolution and increasing reflectance. The use of
For more detailed discussions of developments the reader
ceramics and SiC, including the use of monolithic support
is best referred to the Society of Photo-Optical Instrumen-
structures, will improve the limiting performance of
tation Engineers (SPIE) annual proceedings for grazing
what used to be nickel mandrels, while also allowing
incidence and multilayer x-ray optics. Some recent vol-
denser nesting of mirror shells. Researchers have
umes are SPIE Proceedings volumes 3444 (published in
been experimenting with the application of broadband
1998), 3113 (1997), 2808 and 2805 (1996) and 2515 (1995).
multilayer coatings to grazing incidence optics, increasing
reflectance at higher energies. With respect to normal Paul B Reid

X-rays E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
X-rays
Energetic electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths
in the range 10 nm (10−8 m) down to 0.01 nm
(10−11 m). Although the boundaries are somewhat
arbitrary, wavelengths shorter than 0.01 nm are called
gamma-rays and those longer than 10 nm extreme
ultraviolet (EUV). Cosmic x-rays are usually described
in terms of photon energies, a wavelength of 10 nm
corresponding to an energy of 80 electron volts (eV) and a
wavelength of 0.01 nm to 8 × 105 eV (80 keV).
X-rays from cosmic sources are absorbed high in the
Earth’s atmosphere. Even the most energetic (shortest-
wavelength) x-ray photons fail to penetrate much closer
to the ground than an altitude of about 40 km.
X-rays were discovered in 1895 by the German
physicist Wilhelm Konrad Röntgen (1846–1923).
See also: electromagnetic radiation, electromagnetic spec-
trum, electronvolt, x-ray astronomy.

Yarkovsky Effect E NCYCLOPEDIA OF A STRONOMY AND A STROPHYSICS
Yarkovsky Effect
The Yarkovsky effect changes the rotation and the orbit
of a body orbiting in the Solar System by the asymmetri-
cal re-radiation of thermal energy from the Sun. The
effect constitutes a non-gravitational force which causes
the orbits of smaller, kilometer-sized asteroids to change
over time.

Year E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
Year
The period of the Earth’s revolution around the Sun, or
of the apparent motion of the Sun on the ecliptic. It may
be defined in a number of ways, each of which leads to a
slightly different value:
Sidereal year. The time interval during which the Sun
apparently completes one revolution of the celestial sphere
relative to the stars (which, for this purpose, are regarded
as being fixed in space). This is equal to the revolution
period of the Earth around the Sun as measured relative
to the stars, and is equivalent to 365.2564 mean solar days.
Tropical year. The time interval between two
successive passages of the Sun through the vernal equinox.
Its length is 365.2422 mean solar days, about 20 minutes
shorter than the sidereal year. The difference arises
because of the effects of precession. As this definition of
the year is related to the recurrence of the seasons, the term
‘year’, if unqualified, is generally taken to mean ‘tropical
year’.
Anomalistic year. The interval between two
successive passages of the Earth through the perihelion
of its orbit which, because of a slow change in the position
of perihelion, is not quite the same as the sidereal year. Its
length is 365.2596 mean solar days.
Gregorian calendar year. This is the value of the year
adopted for calendar purposes, and is equal to 365.2425
mean solar days. For practical purposes it can be taken as
equal to the tropical year (the difference amounts to 0.0003
mean solar days).
See also: calendar.

Yerkes Observatory E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
Yerkes Observatory
Yerkes Observatory lies 334 m above sea level in Williams
Bay, Wisconsin. It is a research branch of the Department of
Astronomy and Astrophysics of the University of Chicago.
The observatory was completed in 1897. It
was financed by Charles Tyson Yerkes, a Chicago
transportation tycoon, but the inspiration behind its
construction was George Ellery Hale. The showpiece of
the observatory was the 1 m refractor, the world’s largest
telescope in 1897, and still the largest refracting telescope
ever built.
Until the mid-1960s, Yerkes Observatory housed
all of the university department’s activities (including
managing the operations for MCDONALD OBSERVATORY in
Texas from 1932–62). Today, the 77 acre site provides
laboratory space and access to telescopes for research
and instruction. A substantial fraction of the university’s
library holdings in astronomy are housed at Yerkes.
The principal telescopes are the 1 m refractor, a 1 m
Ritchey–Chrétien reflector which is used for adaptive
optics studies, a 0.6 m reflector and an 18 cm Schmidt
camera for wide-field photography.
Recent research at Yerkes includes measuring the
velocities and distances of the furthest star clusters
within the Milky Way to better determine the mass
of our Galaxy; spectroscopic measurements of lithium
abundances; spectra of the dust disk around Beta
Pictoris; and studies of the properties of distant galaxies.
Yerkes astronomers are currently developing a camera
for the airborne Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared
Astronomy (SOFIA).
http://www.astro.uchicago.edu/yerkes/.

Yohkoh E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
(2) Microflares and coronal heating. Yohkoh x-ray

Yohkoh movies showed numerous small transient brightenings
The Yohkoh satellite was launched by Japan’s INSTITUTE OF far smaller than flares in energy (microflares) as well as
SPACE AND ASTRONAUTICAL SCIENCE (ISAS) on 30 August 1991 structural changes of coronal magnetic fields. Magnetic
for observations of solar FLARES and the solar CORONA in x- reconnection is again responsible for these brightenings.
ray and gamma-ray wavelengths. Excellent observations Although the heating mechanism of the persistent corona
have been made over the last nine years (see figures 1 remains unknown, these observations imply that an
and 2). The satellite has experienced the entire transition ensemble of nanoflares, which are too faint to be resolved,
from the maximum to the minimum of the last SOLAR CYCLE maintains the persistent solar corona.
and is proceeding to observations of the rising phase of (3) X-ray jets. Yohkoh discovered x-ray jets with speed
solar cycle for the first time. reaching several hundreds km s−1 . X-ray jets may be
Yohkoh carries two X-RAY TELESCOPES: the hard x-ray driven by the slingshot effect of the reconnected field lines
telescope has imaging capability above 40 keV because or maybe due to chromospheric evaporation caused by
of its utilization of modulation collimators. These hard x- heat flow from the reconnection site.
ray images allow us to obtain new information on where (4) Electron acceleration in solar flares. The Yohkoh hard
and how energetic electrons are accelerated in solar flares. x-ray telescope showed that hard x-ray flares essentially
The soft x-ray telescope is a grazing-incidence x-ray (5– have double-source structures, which are located at the
50 Å) telescope to observe the solar corona and solar flares footpoints of the soft x-ray loop. This clearly indicates
with high spatial (3 arcsec) resolution. The soft x-ray that a rich population of non-thermal electrons (up to
telescope is sensitive to plasmas with temperatures from 10 MeV or higher) are created in flare loops in association
2 MK through 20 MK. Two other instruments onboard with magnetic reconnection and emit hard x-rays with
are the Bragg crystal spectrometer to observe the iron, bremsstrahlung. A surprising discovery from the hard x-
calcium and sulfur lines from flare plasmas and the wide- ray observations is the detection of an impulsive hard x-
band spectrometers to observe flare spectra from 5 keV to ray source located above the soft x-ray loop. The loop-top
10 MeV. source is due to bremsstrahlung of high-energy electrons
The discoveries made so far by Yohkoh cover a with energy up to at least 50 keV. The energization
wide area of solar physics. In the following, we give probably occurs at the fast magnetohydrodynamic shock
representative examples. formed by the supersonic outflow from the reconnection
(1) Mechanism of solar flares. The Yohkoh data, for the site.
first time, showed unambiguously that magnetic recon- MAGNETIC RECONNECTION with associated slow magne-
nection is responsible for significant energy release in solar tohydrodynamic shocks appears to be a powerful engine
flares; intense heating occurs owing to magnetic reconnec- to convert magnetic energy to plasma kinetic and ther-
tion possibly with standing slow magnetohydrodynamic mal energies. The hard x-ray observations also show that
shocks. the resultant supersonic outflow creates fast shock, which
converts the flow energy to further heating and/or non-
thermal acceleration of electrons and protons as a result of
Fermi acceleration. In spite of the large magnetic Reynolds
number of the solar corona,Yohkoh has delivered unam-
biguous evidence of magnetic reconnection in flares and
in the corona.
Yohkoh is therefore revolutionizing our understand-
ing of the solar corona and the behavior of magnetized
plasmas in general. Yohkoh shows for the first time how
the Sun dynamically relaxes its magnetic energy, buoyant
as a result of the subsurface dynamo mechanism, by the
process of magnetic reconnection. The formation of the
solar corona with frequent sporadic (10–100 Alfvén transit
times) energy releases including solar flares, solar wind
and coronal mass ejections is a consequence and manifes-
tation of the energy release process. This suggests that
magnetic energy conversion through magnetic reconnec-
tion is likely to be a common occurrence in the cosmos.
Bibliography
For details on the instrumentation on board Yohkoh, the
interested reader is referred to volume 136 of Solar Physics
(1991).
Figure 1. X-ray image of the Sun taken with Yohkoh. Saku Tsuneta

Yohkoh E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
Figure 2. Gigantic flare arch observed with Yohkoh.

Young Stellar Objects E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
cores with n(H2 ) ∼ 104 cm−3 . It is within such dense

Young Stellar Objects regions that stars are formed.
Young stellar objects (YSOs) are stars in the earliest Although there is no complete theory of stellar
stages of development. There are two principal kinds origins, basic astrophysical considerations result in the
of YSOs: protostars and pre-main sequence stars. YSOs following general picture of star formation and early
are intimately associated with fundamental by-products stellar evolution. Stars form through the gravitational
of the star formation process such as bipolar outflows, collapse of dense molecular cloud cores. Before being
circumstellar jets, masers, Herbig–Haro objects, and incorporated into a star, the interstellar material must
circumstellar (protoplanetary) disks. YSOs are always increase its density by 20 orders of magnitude and collapse
found within or near interstellar clouds of gas and to a size nearly 7 orders of magnitude smaller than the
dust. Most YSOs populate giant molecular clouds and dimensions of the original dense cloud core. Because the
a significant number are members of fully or partially dust in the cloud is optically thin, internal energy gained
embedded stellar or protostellar clusters. by its collapse is effectively radiated away. Thus the cloud
material remains isothermal and dynamically collapses.
Background The collapse also proceeds in a non-homologous manner,
with the inner regions becoming denser and collapsing
Stars are the fundamental objects of the astronomical
faster than the outer regions which are left behind.
universe. They are self-gravitating balls of (mostly)
Eventually, the innermost infalling material becomes
hydrogen gas which convert the primary product of the
dense enough to be optically thick to its own radiation
big bang (hydrogen) into heavier elements. For most
resulting in the development of a central quasistatic stellar
of its life a star maintains a state of stable equilibrium
core surrounded by an infalling envelope. Thus is a
in which the inward force of gravity is balanced by the
protostar born.
outward force of pressure. This internal pressure is
After the formation of its embryonic core, the
generated by the energy released in the nuclear reactions
protostar enters the accretion phase of protostellar
which burn hydrogen at the star’s center. These nuclear evolution. During this time the central stellar core
reactions are also the source of the star’s luminosity. gradually gains mass via the accretion of material from its
During the time the star burns hydrogen in its core it infalling envelope. Before being finally incorporated onto
maintains a fixed radius and luminosity and consequently the growing stellar core, accreting material must dissipate
a constant surface temperature. The exact value of the the gravitational potential energy lost in infall, giving rise
equilibrium radius, luminosity and surface temperature to an accretion luminosity:
of a star depends almost exclusively on one parameter,
the star’s mass (see STELLAR MASSES). The more massive GM∗ Ṁ
the star, the greater its luminosity, size and surface Laccretion =
R∗
temperature. Together, hydrogen burning stars of varying
mass form a well defined locus of points in the observable where M∗ , and R∗ are the mass and radius of the
luminosity–effective temperature plane (the HERTZSPRUNG– protostellar core and Ṁ, the mass accretion rate. This
RUSSELL DIAGRAM). This locus of points is called the main accretion luminosity can be a significant component of
sequence and the hydrogen burning phase of a star’s life a protostar’s luminosity. The mass accretion rate is
is known as the main sequence phase. Main sequence generally expressed as:
stars range in mass from about 0.08–100 M (solar masses).
Stars with smaller masses have insufficient weight to raise a3
Ṁ = m0
their central temperatures enough to enable hydrogen G
fusion. (Such objects are referred to as brown dwarfs.) where a is the effective sound speed and m0 is a
Stars with larger masses are presumably too luminous to constant which is sensitive to the initial conditions in the
hold on to their outer atmospheres. collapsing core. Different theories of star formation predict
somewhat different values of m0 . In some models m0 varies
The formation and early evolution of stars with time and is quite large (∼10) in the early stages of
STAR FORMATION and early STELLAR EVOLUTION occur prior to collapse, falling to near unity in the later stages. However,
the main sequence or hydrogen burning phase of stellar for most protostars, this constant must be near unity to be
life. Most stars in the Galaxy originate in giant molecular consistent with the observed luminosities of protostellar
clouds (GMCs). With temperatures seldom in excess of objects.
10 K and maximum dimensions of 50–100 pc, GMCs are Initially the mass of the embryonic stellar core is very
the coldest objects in the universe and the largest objects in small, approximately 10−2 M and the central temperature
the Galaxy. With masses in excess of 105 M they also rival of the core is not sufficient to ignite nuclear reactions.
globular clusters as the most massive objects in the Galaxy. As the embryonic core begins to grow its luminosity is
GMCs are composed primarily of molecular hydrogen and dominated by accretion. The mass of the protostellar core
are characterized by mean densities of ∼100 cm−3 . About increases as M∗ (t) = Ṁt. Once a protostellar core reaches a
10% of the mass of a typical GMC is in the form of dense mass of roughly 0.2–0.3 M , its central temperature reaches

106 K and deuterium-burning nuclear reactions are ignited stellar object is surrounded by an infalling protostellar en-
providing the protostar with another source of luminosity. velope which renders it invisible. Once the envelope is ei-
ACCRETION of new material and a fully convective core ther mostly accreted onto the protostellar core or removed
enable the protostar to continue burning deuterium as it by some agent, the protostar becomes a visible PRE-MAIN
grows. If placed on the HR diagram the protostellar core SEQUENCE STAR. Its initial luminosity and surface tempera-
would follow a trajectory parallel to and somewhat above ture place it near the birthline which, for low mass stars,
the deuterium-burning main sequence which itself lies is itself basically coincident with the deuterium-burning
significantly above and roughly parallel to the (hydrogen- main sequence on the HR diagram. Because the abun-
burning) main sequence. A protostellar core can continue dance of deuterium in the young star is relatively low, it
to gain mass by accretion until its central temperature is burned up very rapidly. Without accretion to replen-
reaches 107 K and hydrogen fusion is ignited, at which ish the burned deuterium, nuclear reactions cease and the
point the embryonic core reaches the main sequence. This star slowly contracts to the main sequence. The timescale
occurs when the cores attain masses around 7–8 solar for this quasistatic contraction to the main sequence is the
masses. Presumably, the protostar can still continue to Kelvin–Helmholtz time.
grow and increase its mass. However, for reasons not
yet fully understood, most protostars cease growing long Observational characteristics of the low mass
before this point. In any event, stars which end up with young stellar objects
masses in excess of 7–8 solar masses have a very different The evolutionary status of a normal star is usually
post-protostellar evolution than stars which end up less determined by its placement on the HR diagram. This
massive. in turn requires measurements of two quantities: stellar
The physical reason for this becomes apparent if one luminosity and effective temperature. A star can be
compares the timescale for pre-main sequence evolution meaningfully placed on the HR diagram provided it emits
with that of protostellar collapse. The timescale for the a black-body-like spectrum that can be characterized by a
gravitational collapse of a cloud core, the free-fall time, is single effective temperature. For YSOs this is not always
determined largely by ρ, the density of the cloud: possible. This is because throughout their formation and
early evolution stars are intimately associated to varying
3π degrees with natal gas and dust. This circumstellar gas and
τff = . dust can absorb and reprocess substantial amounts of the
32Gρ
radiation emitted by a young stellar object, significantly
altering its spectral appearance. The circumstellar gas
For the typical mean density (n ≈ 104 cm−3 ) of a cloud
and dust associated with a young stellar object has a
core (of either low or high mass) the free–fall time is
spatial extent considerably greater than that of its stellar
about 4 × 105 yr. The timescale for pre-hydrogen-burning
photosphere. Consequently, emitting circumstellar dust,
evolution is the Kelvin–Helmholtz time:
which is in radiative equilibrium with the stellar radiation
GM∗2 field of the buried star, will exhibit a wide range of
τKH ≈ (effective) temperature and the emission that emerges will
R∗ L∗
have a spectral distribution much wider than that of a
which is very rapid for a high mass star (i.e. ≈104 yr for single temperature black body. In addition, at the optical
M∗ = 50 M ) and relatively slow for a low mass star wavelengths the youngest objects are rendered completely
(i.e. ≈3 × 107 yr for M∗ = 1 M ). More importantly invisible by the obscuration of opaque circumstellar dust
for high mass stars τKH < τff and these stars begin and a significant fraction, if not all, of their luminous
burning hydrogen and reach the main sequence before the energy is radiated in the infrared portion of the spectrum.
termination of the infall or collapse phase of protostellar To determine the evolutionary status of a young
evolution. On the other hand, for low mass stars τKH > τff stellar object requires knowledge of its overall broadband
and low mass stars have an observable pre-main sequence energy distribution, particularly at infrared wavelengths.
stage of stellar evolution. The shape of the broadband energy distribution of a YSO
The initial conditions for pre-main sequence evolu- will depend on both the nature and distribution of the
tion are those which describe the mass, radius and lumi- surrounding material. Consequently, the shape of the
nosity of an embryonic protostellar core at the the point spectrum will be a function of the state of evolution of
in time that infall and accretion cease. For this reason the a YSO. The earliest (protostellar) stages, during which
locus of points on the HR diagram which traces the initial an embryonic star is surrounded by large amounts of
starting points of PMS evolution for all stars is called the infalling material, have a very different infrared signature
birthline. The position of a given star on the birthline is a than the more advanced (pre-main sequence and main
function of the mass it has acquired by the end of its proto- sequence) stages, where most of the original star-forming
stellar accretion phase. Presumably, the protostellar evolu- material has already been incorporated into the young
tion of a given star is identical to that of all other stars until star itself. This is clearly apparent for low mass (0.1–
the time that the star stops accreting and reaches the birth- 2.0 M ) YSOs where the majority of known sources can
line. Prior to its appearance near the birthline, a young be meaningfully classified by the shapes of their observed

the infrared spectra of these objects are found to be

YSO
YSOENERGY
ENERGYDISTRIBUTIONS
DISTRIBUTIONS featureless and heavily veiled. Class I sources are almost
Protostars: λ (µm) always associated with very energetic, relatively massive,
Protostars:
1000 100 10 collimated outflows of cold molecular gas known as
bipolar outflows. The luminosities of class I sources in
Class 0 Class I
regions of low mass star formation typically range between
Log (νFν )
0.1–100 L . Class I sources are relatively rare among YSOs

in molecular clouds and statistical arguments suggest ages
of these sources of order 1–5 × 105 yr.
Class 0 sources are considerably more extinguished
and embedded than class I sources. Their energy
distributions peak at submillimeter wavelengths and
11 12 13 14 15 most are not detected at wavelengths shortward of
Pre-Main
Pre-MainSequence
SequenceStars:
Stars: 20 µm. Unlike class I sources, their energy distributions
have widths similar to single-temperature black-body
functions however, they are characterized by extremely
Class II Class III
low temperatures, 20–30 K! All are associated with bipolar
molecular outflows which are typically more energetic and
much better collimated than those associated with class I
x 10 objects. On the other hand, as a whole class 0 sources are
not significantly more luminous than class I sources. In
blackbody addition, some observations suggest that class 0 sources
emit significantly more submillimeter radiation on small
Log (ν ) spatial scales than do class I objects. In particular, the
circumstellar mass traced by submillimeter measurements
within 1000 AU of a class I source is usually found to
Figure 1. The classification scheme for the spectral energy
amount to a fraction of a stellar mass, while for a class
distributions (SEDs) of young stellar objects. A vertical fiducial
line is located at the infrared wavelength of 2.2 µm for reference. 0 source this mass can be comparable to that of the
(Figure courtesy of C J Lada.) central star. Class 0 sources are relatively rare making
up roughly 10% of embedded sources. This suggests that
their lifetimes are only of the order of ∼104 yr, which is
spectral energy distributions (SEDs) into one of four broad consistent with estimates of the dynamical ages of their
classes designated 0, I, II and III (see figure 1). associated outflows.
A subset of the class I sources, known as flat-spectrum
Embedded sources: protostars sources, merit additional comment. Flat-spectrum sources
Class 0 and I sources are characterized by SEDs that are embedded YSOs that have SEDs intermediate between
peak in the submillimeter and far-infrared portions of class I and II sources. Unlike the standard class I source,
the spectrum indicating that the SEDs are dominated these objects are often visible stars which display extreme
by emission from cold dust (see CLASSIFICATION OF STELLAR T Tauri characteristics. That is, they are optical emission-
SPECTRA). These objects are the most deeply embedded line variable stars, whose optical spectra display little
YSOs. in the way of photospheric absorption features and are
Class I SEDs are broader than a single black-body heavily veiled (most likely by excess continuum radiation
function. Longward of two microns these SEDs usually from accretion shocks at the stellar surface). Indeed,
rise with increasing wavelength producing a huge ‘excess’ the most well known member of this group is T Tauri
of infrared emission compared to that expected from a itself. Like class I sources, these objects are also veiled
normal stellar photosphere. They typically exhibit the at infrared wavelengths, but not as strongly. Roughly half
silicate absorption feature at 10 µm wavelength. Class the flat-spectrum sources display atomic and molecular
I sources derive their large infrared excesses from the absorption lines at 2.2 µm. This is significant because these
presence of large amounts of circumstellar dust. These are the only embedded objects for which the inner stellar
sources are usually deeply embedded in dense molecular component can be spectrally classified and placed on the
cloud cores and rarely exhibit detectable emission in HR diagram. These objects are found to be characterized
the optical portion of the spectrum. However, they by late-type (M) photospheres whose luminosities place
are detected at near-infrared (i.e. 2.2 µm) wavelengths them near or above the birthline. Flat-spectrum sources
and frequently associated with small (infrared) reflection appear to be objects in transition between the class I and
nebulae. Indeed, a significant fraction, in some cases II phases and can be considered ‘optical protostars’.
all, of the near-infrared emission from a class I source The embedded sources are generally considered to
is scattered light. Roughly half of the class I sources be protostars. Operationally, we define protostars as
exhibit atomic emission lines in the infrared. Otherwise, YSOs in the process of accumulating into a stellar-like

Kinematic
Kinematic Signature
Signature of
of Protostellar
Protostellar Infall
Infall
COLD NGC 1333-IRAS2
Temperature (K)
HOT
LSR Velocity (km/s)
Figure 2. The expected kinematic signature of infall from gas surrounding a protostellar source. Oval curves represent lines of
constant infall velocity. The thick dashed line represents blue-shifted gas, the thick solid line red-shifted gas. Along a single
line-of-sight the radio telescope beam intercepts the τ = 1 surface in the outer, colder regions of the cloud at redshifted velocities and
the inner, hotter regions of the cloud at blueshifted velocities producing an asymmetric emission- line profile. The observed spectrum
of carbon monoxide emission from the protostellar source NGC 1333 IRAS2 in Perseus is also shown. (CO spectrum adapted from
Ward-Thompson et al 1996 Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 314 625.)
configuration the bulk of the material they ultimately asymmetry in the line profile in which the redshifted
will contain as main sequence stars. Evidence for a portion of an optically thick emission line is depressed
protostellar nature of the embedded sources is derived relative to the corresponding blueshifted portion. Surveys
from the following considerations. of embedded sources have revealed the infall symmetry
First, theoretical models of collapsing, rotating cloud towards a substantial number (∼ 13 ) of class 0 sources. Such
cores predict the density and temperature structure of kinematic signatures provide the most direct evidence
protostellar objects and these models produce SEDs which for infall and for a protostellar nature for these heavily
closely match those of known class I sources. embedded sources.
Second, the only viable source for the enormous
energies of the bipolar outflows generated by class 0 Revealed sources: pre-main sequence stars
and I sources is gravity. Specifically, it is the release of Class II SEDs peak at visible or near-infrared wavelengths.
gravitational potential energy by material falling deep Like class I sources the class II SEDs are broader than a
into the potential well of a protostellar system. That is, single black-body function. However, longward of two
material falling all the way down to the surface of the microns class II SEDs fall with increasing wavelength
embryonic stellar core. Exactly how this energy from usually in a power-law-like fashion. This results in an
infall and accretion is tapped to drive a protostellar wind infrared excess which, though significant, is much smaller
is unclear. However, observational relations between than that exhibited by class I sources. The infrared excess
accretion and outflow diagnostics suggest that the mass- indicates the presence of circumstellar material associated
loss rate characterizing the outflows is related to the mass with the star.
accretion rate as Ṁwind = f Ṁaccretion , with 0.01 ≤ f ≤ 0.1. Theoretical calculations predicted more than two
Third, the observed veiling of class I spectra in the decades ago that T TAURI STARS would display such energy
infrared requires the existence of dust very close (i.e. distributions if they were surrounded by luminous
1 AU) to the protostellar surface. Theoretical models accretion disks. Consider an optically thick and spatially
predict that dynamically infalling protostellar envelopes thin disk that surrounds a young star and radiates
contain enough such material close to the protostellar everywhere like a black body. Imagine the disk to be
surface to account for the degree of observed veiling. composed of concentric annuli with radial dimension R
Fourth (and most significant), kinematic evidence for and area 2πRR (see figure 3). Each annulus radiates as a
collapse has been observed toward a number of mostly blackbody of temperature T (R). The emergent spectrum
class 0 sources. Under favorable conditions sub-millimeter of the disk will then be the superposition of a series of
and millimeter-wave spectral lines from collapsing clouds black-body curves of varying T (R). Now if T (R) ∼ R −n ,
will display a kinematic signature of infall motion (see the Wien law tells us that the frequency of maximum
figure 2). This signature takes the form of an infall emission scales as ν ∼ T (R) ∼ R −n . The luminosity

Figure 3. Schematic diagram of a spatially thin, optically thick

disk and its emergent (class II) spectral energy distribution,
which is composed of a superposition of black-body functions.
radiated in each annulus is given by:
Lν dν = 2πR dR σ T (R)4 ∼ R 2−3n dν ∼ ν 3−(2/n) .
Therefore, if the temperature gradient in the disk is Figure 4. Resolved HST image of a circumstellar disk observed
characterized by a radial power law, the emergent in silhoutte aganist the Orion Nebula. (Courtesy of the Space
spectrum will also be characterized by a power-law slope Telescope Science Institute.)
in frequency or wavelength. In an SED, νLν ∼ ν 4−(2/n) or
α = (2/n) − 4 where α is the slope of the SED when plotted
as a function of log λ. continuum millimeter-wave emission range between 0.01–
Thus the power-law shape of the infrared portion of 0.1 solar masses. Compelling evidence confirming the
class II SEDs strongly suggests that the infrared excess disk interpretation of class II SEDs has been provided by
arises in an optically thick circumstellar disk. The slope resolved images of YSO disks obtained by interferometric
of the SED is directly related to the temperature gradient observations at millimeter wavelengths and dramatic
in the disk. The slopes of class II SEDs longward of optical images by the Hubble Space Telescope (see
2 µm wavelength are observed to have values in the figure 4).
range between −0.7 and −1.3, corresponding to a range Class II sources can be observed at optical as well
in n, the index of the disk temperature gradient, of 0.6– as infrared wavelengths. Therefore, considerably more
0.75. A viscous accretion disk is predicted to produce a is known about the nature of these objects than is known
temperature gradient characterized by n = 0.75 which about class I or class 0 sources. When observed optically
corresponds to α = −1.33. This also turns out to be the class II sources typically exhibit the characteristics of
same temperature gradient and spectral slope predicted classical T TAURI STARS (CTTS). Conversely, most all CTTS
for a flat purely passive disk which derives its luminosity stars possess class II SEDs. Classical T Tauri stars
from the reprocessing and re-radiation of light it has are low-mass, pre-main sequence, emission-line variable
absorbed from the central star. The majority of class II stars. In addition to excess infrared continuum emission,
sources have shallower slopes (typically α ≈ −0.7) which these stars also exhibit excess emission at ultraviolet
suggests that they are surrounded by flared (passive) wavelengths. The optical spectra of CTTS contain
disks. hydrogen emission lines and frequently various forbidden
The excellent agreement between the predictions of emission lines as well. The forbidden lines are believed to
disk models and observations suggests that the most likely arise in stellar winds originating near the surface of the
interpretation of the nature of class II sources is that they star. Typically these lines are observed to be blueshifted
represent young stars surrounded by circumstellar disks. and the absence of redshifted emission is interpreted
They differ from class I objects in that they lack large, as strong supporting evidence for the presence of an
massive (infalling) envelopes of gas and dust (see DUSTY occulting disk close to the stellar surface. The origin of
CIRCUMSTELLAR DISKS). However, it is interesting to note that the Balmer emission lines is more mysterious. Analysis of
the infrared to millimeter excess emission from class II these lines provides evidence for both mass loss and mass
sources is sufficiently large that, if the emitting material loss in these objects. However, both the mass loss and
were spherically distributed and not confined to a highly ultraviolet excess are believed to be consequences of disk
flattened structure, such as a disk, the star would suffer accretion onto the stars. The accretion rates are typically
significantly more extinction than is observed. Indeed, ∼10−8 M yr−1 and, though significant, are relatively
disk masses derived from detection of optically thin low compared to the typical infall rates encountered in

protostellar evolution. >5 × 106 yr, and are likely candidates for post T Tauri
Because they are visible, CTTS can be placed on stars (PTTS), a significant number have ages which overlap
the HR diagram, and they are found to lie between with those of classical T Tauri Stars (CTTS). This indicates
the birthline and the main sequence, consistent with that many stars may evolve through the CTTS or class
theoretical expectations for pre-main sequence stars. II phase of evolution very rapidly (<106 yr). Class III
The existence of CTTS near the birthline indicates that sources are relatively strong (but variable) x-ray sources
circumstellar disks form in the protostellar phase of and can be identified in x-ray surveys. In the Taurus region
evolution as part of the collapse and infall process prior such observations suggest that the population of class III
to PMS evolution. When their positions are compared to sources is at least comparable in size to that of class II
theoretical PMS calculations (which predict trajectories or sources. Older class III objects are also found to extend
tracks of early stellar evolution on the HR diagram) one well beyond the boundaries of star formation regions in x-
derives ages for CTTS usually between 106 and 4 × 106 ray surveys. Class III sources typically produce little or no
years, although such comparisons are hampered by the Hα line emission. All class III sources are therefore weak-
fact that most existing calculations assume diskless stars lined T Tauri stars (WTTS). (Optical astronomers classify
and the process of accretion of disk material can have PMS stars with Hα equivalent widths less than 10 Å as
an effect on the evolution of a star’s luminosity and WTTS and PMS stars with Hα equivalent widths greater
temperature. Class II sources are relatively common in star than 10 Å as CTTS.)
formation regions where they typically outnumber class I
sources by more than 10 to 1. Bipolar jets, outflows and protostellar evolution
Knowledge of the duration of the class II or CTTS Although the SED classes discussed above correspond
phase of evolution has interesting implications for the to distinct physical classes of YSOs, the variation in the
formation of planetary systems. Analogy with the shapes of the energy distributions from class 0 to III
solar system suggests that planets are likely formed in is quasi-continuous. It corresponds to a sequence of
circumstellar disks. The duration of the class II phase of the gradual dissipation of circumstellar gas and dust
evolution therefore sets limits on the duration of planet around newly formed stars and represents a continuous
building around a young star. The typical lifetime of a class sequence of evolution from protostar to main sequence
II source deduced from observations of young clusters star. To evolve from class 0 to I to II requires the removal
is about 3–4 million years. The initial stages of planet of the circumstellar material contained in a protostellar
formation must occur during this interval. However, it envelope. In principle, the clearing of circumstellar
is important to note here that the duration of the class II gas and dust could be accomplished by accreting all
phase may vary significantly between stars of differing the surrounding material onto the star itself. However,
mass and even stars of similar mass formed in different this possiblility conflicts with the observation that star
environments or with different initial conditions. For formation is an inefficient process. The cores which form
example, in the Trapezium cluster in Orion, ionizing stars contain considerably more mass than the stars which
radiation from a massive O star appears to be evaporating they produce. Thus, the removal of circumstellar gas and
the circumstellar disks of other nearby cluster stars. This dust would appear to require some active physical agent.
results in abbreviated disk lifetimes (≤106 yr) for those This agent is most likely the energetic bipolar outflow that
stars and may present difficulties for planet formation in is ignited early in the protostellar phase of evolution (see
their short-lived disks. figure 5).
Class III SEDs typically peak at visible and infrared An unanticipated phenomenon of fundamental
wavelengths for low mass stars and decrease longward importance for star formation, bipolar molecular outflows
of two microns more steeply than class II sources. were only discovered by millimeter wave observations in
Since their shapes are more or less similar to single- the late 1970s and early 1980s. Bipolar outflows are very
temperature black bodies, the energy distributions of class energetic flows of cold molecular gas generally consisting
III sources are readily interpreted as arising from extincted of two spatially separate lobes moving diametrically away
or unextincted photospheres of young stars. By definition from an embedded YSO at hypersonic velocities. These
these stars display no infrared excess. However, their light outflows are very massive, often containing considerably
still could be substantially extinguished by foreground more mass than the central YSO which drives them.
dust. This indicates that the molecular outflows primarily
Class III sources can be readily placed on the HR consist of swept-up material and not ejecta from the
diagram. Class III sources are found to lie above the embedded driving star itself. Bipolar outflows are the
main sequence and can be thought of as ‘classical’ pre- manifestation of an underlying primary wind generated
main sequence stars in the sense that their positions by the embryonic protostellar core.
on the HR diagram can be unambigously compared to Other manifestations of this primary driving wind
predictions of theoretical PMS tracks (for diskless stars). include Herbig–Haro objects, circumstellar jets and water
Comparison with such theoretical tracks shows that the masers. Herbig–Haro objects are clumps of shock-
ages of class III sources range from roughly 106 yr to more excited gas created by the collision of the primary
than 107 yr. Although most class III sources have ages wind with dense ambient cloud material. Herbig–Haro

Figure 5. HST image of a bipolar outflow at optical wavelengths. The two blobs of emission are the Herbig–Haro objects 1 and 2. The
visible emission originates in shock-excited gas interacting with a hidden high-velocity bipolar wind generated by an invisible class I
protostar located in the dark cloud core between the two lobes. (Courtesy of the Space Telescope Science Institute.)
bipolar morphologies and can extend over distances (i.e.

≈1 pc) comparable to the largest molecular outflows.
Water maser sources arise in very small but dense regions
where the conditions are such that certain microwave
transitions of H2 O become nonlinearly amplified by
stimulated emission and as a result extremely bright.
Like Herbig–Haro objects, maser sources often display
significant proper motions and likely represent material
interacting with and swept up by the fast primary wind.
Very close to the surface of the protostellar object,
the primary wind is most often manifest by a highly
collimated, circumstellar jet (see figure 6). These jets
contain sufficiently hot and ionized gas to emit at optical
as well as centimeter wavelengths. Although such jets
appear to originate very close (≤50 AU) to the protostellar
core, they can also extend to large distances from the
central object. Such jets are frequently observed to
terminate at Herbig–Haro objects which have the shapes of
extended bow shocks. Such jet–bow shock systems often
exhibit bipolar morphologies similar to bipolar outflows.
Bipolar outflows are individually energetic enough
to disrupt a protostellar envelope as well as an entire
Figure 6. Infrared HST (NICMOS) image of one of the dense cloud core. Indeed, the masses of some outflows
circumstellar jets that drives the bipolar Herbig–Haro 1–2 (e.g. MonR2) are known to be comparable to those of the
outflow system shown in figure 5. The class I protostellar source
cloud cores in which they originate. Bipolar outflows are
which produces the jet is so deeply buried that it is not visible
even in this deep infrared image. It is located near the upper therefore capable of driving the evolution of a protostar
right corner of the image in a region devoid of emission. from the embedded class 0 to the revealed class II
However, light from the protostar is visible in this image. The phase. Moreover, in the process of removing surrounding
extended infrared reflection nebula, which surrounds the jet, is circumstellar material, outflows play a significant role in
produced by light from the obscured protostar which has been determing the final mass of the central star. Exactly how
scattered into our line of sight by dust in the cavity created by this mass is determined and how the initial spectrum of
the outflow. (Image courtesy of John Bally and Bo Reipurth and stellar mass (i.e. the initial mass function or IMF) originates
the Space Telescope Science Institute.)
are open questions.
The high frequency of association with embedded
sources indicates that such outflows are ignited very
objects emit primarily emission-lines and are brightest at early in protostellar evolution and have a duration
optical and infrared wavelengths (see HERBIG–HARO OBJECTS comparable to the lifetimes of the protostars that drive
AND EXCITING STARS). They are known to be interacting them. This raises the apparent paradox that protostars are
with very fast (vwind > 100 km s−1 ) winds and often simultaneously sources of both infall and outflow. The
display proper motions of similar magnitude. Similar resolution to this paradox, as mentioned earlier, is that
to molecular outflows, Herbig–Haro objects often exhibit outflows must be accretion driven.

Bipolar outflows are almost always associated with quickly evaporates and disrupts its circumstellar disk and
embedded class 0 and I sources and very rarely with class infalling envelope and perhaps even those of neighboring
II or III stars. There is some evidence to indicate that stars as well. The lifetime of such massive protostars is
outflows decline in energy as a source evolves from a class likley very short (<104 –105 yr). Yet, high-mass protostars
0 to class I stage. Without massive infalling envelopes, also manage to produce bipolar outflows and masers.
accretion rates in class II sources are not robust enough Little more is known about the protostellar evolution of
to continue to drive energetic outflows. To evolve from a massive stars. Their brief protostellar lifetimes, coupled
class II to III stage likely results from the accretion of the with the fact that massive stars are intrinsically rare, makes
remaining circumstellar disk material onto the star. it extremely difficult to find and investigate examples
Disk accretion in the class II (or even class 0 and I) of such protostars. Such objects can be expected to be
stages may not be steady. There is a subset of YSOs, located at very large distances from the Earth making their
called FU Ori stars, which appear to be characterized detailed study difficult. Moreover, massive protostars are
by non-steady accretion histories. These stars display so energetic that they significantly alter the conditions in
either episodic brightness variations of large amplitude the surrounding natal material making the processes of
or spectral signatures associated with unusually high disk protostellar and early post-protostellar evolution difficult
accretion rates. The prototype of this class, FU Orionis, to distinguish.
experienced an intense outburst in which its luminosity
increased by a factor of 100 in less than one year. Prior to Bibliography
this outbust, FU Ori appeared to be a typical CTTS. The Bachiller R 1996 Bipolar molecular outflows from young
accretion rate necessary to power its outburst luminosity stars and protostars Ann. Rev. Astron. Astrophys. 34
is ∼10−4 M yr−1 which is significantly in excess of the 111–54
accretion rates characteristic of protostellar objects (2– Beckwith S V W and Sargent A I 1996 Circumstellar disks
6 × 10−6 M yr−1 ) and class II sources (∼10−8 M yr−1 ). and the search for neighbouring planetary systems
FU Ori outbursts are believed to be short lived (∼100 yr) Nature 383 139–44
and for most sources not as energetic as that experienced Lada C J and Kylafis N D (eds) 1991 The Physics of Star
by FU Ori itself. However, such bursts of accretion may Formation and Early Evolution (Dodrecht: Kluwer)
occur frequently during the early evolution of a YSO and Lada C J and Kylafis N D (eds) 1999 The Physics of Star
a star could accrete a significant portion of its final mass Formation and Early Stellar Evolution II (Dodrecht:
in such episodes. Kluwer) (in press)
Levy E H and Lunine J (eds) 1993 Protostars and Planets III
Young stellar objects of high mass (Tucson, AZ: University of Arizona Press)
Despite their somewhat different history of formation Shu F H, Adams F C and Lizano S 1987 Star formation in
and early development, high mass (M∗ > 2 M ) stars molecular clouds: observations and theory Ann. Rev.
can sometimes display characteristics similar to low mass Astron. Astrophys. 25 23–81
YSOs. This is particularly true for intermediate mass stars
(2 ≤ M∗ ≤ 10 M) whose formation and early evolution
Charles J Lada
is most similar to that of low-mass YSOs. Intermediate
mass pre-main sequence stars are known as Herbig
AeBe (HAEBE) stars. More massive analogs of CTTS,
the HAEBE stars are emission-line stars which typically
display class II SEDs and therefore possess circumstellar
disks. They range in age between 0.5–5 × 106 yr, similar
to CTTS. Luminous (L > 102 L) class I sources are the
likely precursors to HAEBE stars.
For more massive stars (i.e. M∗ > 8 M ) there is
no pre-main sequence phase. When a protostar grows
to a mass in excess of about 10 M , it begins to emit
copious amounts of ultraviolet radiation. This results in
the dissociation and ionization of all the hydrogen in the
immediate circumstellar vicinity of the protostellar core.
A small, dense region of hot (104 K) ionized gas, known
as an ultra-compact H II REGION, is then produced. Because
the pressure in the ionized gas can be as much as three
orders of magnitude higher than that in the surrounding
material, the H II region expands rapidly, at the speed of
sound (10 km s−1 ) characterizing the ionized gas. It quickly
evolves into a compact H II region and then ultimately
a fullblown H II region. In the process the protostar

Young, Thomas (1773–1829) E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
Young, Thomas (1773–1829)

English physicist who developed the wave theory of light
to explain interference. He explained the aberration of
starlight by suggesting that the Ether was not disturbed
by the motion of the Earth through it.

Yunus, Abu’l-Hasan ibn (950–1009) E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
Yunus, Abu’l-Hasan ibn (950–1009)

Astronomer, born in Egypt, calculated trigonometric
functions for use in astronomy and wrote an astronomical
handbook, al-Zij al-Hakimi al-kabir, the Great Tables of Caliph
al-Hakim, which contained observations made by Yunus,
including 30 lunar eclipses used by SIMON NEWCOMB in his
lunar theory. Yunus was also an astrologer, predicting
the date of his own death in seven days’ time. He made
preparations, locked himself in his house and recited the
Koran, dying on the day predicted (see also JEROME CARDAN).

Z Andromedae (Z And) E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
20
Z Andromedae (Z And)
Flux (10-13 erg cm-2 s-1 Å-1)

Z And is the prototypical SYMBIOTIC STAR. Discovered as a
mundane M-type VARIABLE STAR with a 2 mag range in visual
brightness, Z And rose to prominence in the 1920s when
JOHN STANLEY PLASKETT reported a peculiar class A spectrum
with strong nebular lines on spectra near maximum light. 10
Frank Scott Hogg later noted TiO bands on Plaskett’s
spectra. The simultaneous presence of A-type features
with the TiO bands observed in much cooler M-type stars
led Hogg to speculate that Z And and a handful of similar
‘stars with combination spectra’ might be a new type of
(binary) stellar system. Roughly a dozen of these systems 0
were known in the 1940s, when PAUL MERRILL coined the 4000 5000 6000 7000 8000
term symbiotic star for the class. Wavelength (Å)
Basic properties Figure 1. Spectra of Z And in quiescence (lower curve) and

As in all symbiotic stars, the behavior of Z And can outburst (upper curve). The red end of the spectrum is
be divided into two states, eruption and quiescence. dominated by TiO absorption bands and a strong Hα emission
During quiescence, the optical spectrum resembles an M- line. The blue continuum is weak in quiesence but rises by a
type giant, with a strong red continuum and deep TiO factor of 3–10 in outburst. Several strong emission lines fade in
outburst, while other increase in intensity.
absorption bands (figure 1). This continuum peaks in the
near-infrared, where CO absorption bands dominate the
spectrum. In addition to the M-type stellar photopshere,
optical data show a weak blue continuum and intense been detected. The small amplitude of the red giant or-
emission lines from a variety of ionized species. The H I bital motion, ∼7 km s−1 , implies masses of ∼2M for the
Balmer lines are the strongest optical lines; He II, He I red giant and 0.5–1.0M for the hot companion if the ratio
and occasionally [Ne V] and [Fe VII] are also intense. The of stellar masses is 2–4 as in other symbiotics. The in-
strong Balmer emission jump at 3646 Å indicates that an tensity of the blue continuum and many strong emission
ionized nebula produces much of the optical continuum. lines varies by factors of 2–3 every orbit. The continuum
This ionized nebula is roughly 104 –106 times denser than variations are usually smaller, ∼0.2–0.4 mag in the optical
the low-density gas in a typical planetary nebula or H II and up to 1 mag in the ultraviolet. The system is brightest
region. In most planetary nebulae the [O III] and [Ne III] when the giant lies behind the line-of-sight to the hot star
forbidden emission lines are strong, and the He I triplet and is faintest when the giant lies in front of the hot star.
lines are usually three times more intense than the He I This behavior suggests that the RED GIANT occults the emis-
singlet lines. In Z And, the [O III] and [Ne III] lines are sion line region. The giant does not eclipse the hot star
weaker than intercombination lines from C III], N III] and itself; variations in the bright ultraviolet continuum and
O III]; the He I singlet lines often rival the intensities of the the polarization of several emission lines indicate an or-
triplet lines. bital inclination of ∼45◦ . This inclination is much smaller
Ultraviolet spectra of Z And confirm the hot stellar than the 70◦ inclination needed for eclipses of the hot star.
source suggested by the prominent He I and He II emission Z And also varies on extremely short time scales.
lines. The blue continuum from this component rises Some emission lines, notably O III λ3444, vary markedly
steadily into the far-ultraviolet and must peak shortwards from one night to the next, while other lines appear
of the Lyman limit. The shape of the UV continuum constant. Some emission lines, such as H I and He I,
suggests a temperature exceeding 105 K for the hot star. have velocity fluctuations that are several times larger than
The emission line spectrum is particularly intense, with the orbital motion of 7 km s−1 , but these have not been
He II, C IV and N V as the most prominent features. These investigated in much detail.
lines are fairly broad and indicate material motions in In addition to these quiescent variations, Z And
excess of ∼200 km s−1 . Despite the intense far-ultraviolet undergoes occasional outbursts. Figure 2 shows a
continuum and the presence of high-velocity gas, Z And complete light curve for the system that includes all known
is not a bright x-ray source due to strong hydrogen major outbursts. Most outbursts last ∼7 years, and begin
absorption between the binary system and the Earth. The with a slow increase in brightness, V ∼ 10.5–11.0 to V ∼
system is a modest far-infrared and radio source due to 9.5, accompanied by a periodic 0.5–1.0 mag oscillation.
the large amount of dust and gas in the BINARY SYSTEM. This phase is followed by a more rapid rise to visual
The quiescent photometric and spectroscopic varia- maximum, V ∼ 8.5–9.5, where the optical colors decrease
tions of Z And are remarkably complex. The main varia- and the UV colors increase. Visual maximum is followed
tions in the system are phased with the orbital period of by a slow decline with a continuing 0.5–1.0 mag oscillation.
759 days. Orbital motion of the hot component has not Within this train of oscillations, the interval between

successive minima is 10–15% shorter than when the system 8

is quiescent. During a complete outburst, there is exactly
9
one more minimum present than in a corresponding time
period during quiescence. This behavior is observed in at 10
least two other symbiotic stars, CI Cyg and AX Per, and 11
resembles the ‘superhumps’ observed in the SU UMa class 24000 25000 26000 27000 28000
of cataclysmic variables.
The fine details of these phenomena change from 8
outburst to outburst, but the overall behavior is 9
remarkably repeatable. During the rise to maximum, 10
the high ionization emission features fade as the optical 11
continuum brightens. Some high ionization emission 29000 30000 31000 32000 33000
lines, such as [Ne V] and [Fe VII], appear to weaken
considerably during the rise in brightness, but the He II 8
lines often remain strong throughout the eruption. At 9
Visual Magnitude
maximum light, the optical spectrum resembles an A- 10
type or F-type supergiant. Bright H I lines with strong 11
absorption cores are prominent, and He I emission lines 34000 35000 36000 37000 38000
may also have weak absorption features. These absorption
and emission lines fade as the system declines from visual 8
maximum. The TiO bands and high ionization emission 9
lines reappear as the system fades and re-establish their 10
pre-outburst levels once the optical continuum returns to 11
normal. 39000 40000 41000 42000 43000
The history of outburst observations at other
8
wavelengths is shorter than at optical wavelengths.
9
The infrared brightness of the giant remains constant,
10
indicating that the giant does not participate in the
11
eruption. In the ultraviolet, the continuum longwards
of ∼1400 Å appears to rise in step with the visual 44000 45000 46000 47000 48000
brightness. The continuum at shorter wavelengths has 8
not always followed the optical variations, but the data 9
are sparse. The low-ionization emission lines track the
10
optical variations; higher-ionization emission lines track
11
the short-wavelength ultraviolet continuum. At longer
49000 50000 51000 52000 53000
wavelengths, the radio continuum flux declined as the
Julian Date (2,400,000 +)
optical brightness increased in the most recent eruptions.
The light curve for these last two eruptions, however, does
not resemble the prolonged outbursts in the 1930s, 1940s Figure 2. Optical light curve for Z And using the 10 day means
and 1950s. Observations of future outbursts will be needed of observations from the AAVSO International Database.
to see whether or not this behavior is ‘typical’.
A new feature of Z And’s quiescent behavior is
high-quality optical spectropolarimetric observations,
the discovery of a persistent 28 min oscillation in the
Schmid and colleagues confirmed this hypothesis and
optical continuum. The oscillation has an amplitude of
derived an orbital inclination of roughly 45◦ from the
0.002–0.005 mag and is visible during quiescence and
variation of polarization position angle with orbital phase.
the most recent small outburst. The short period of the
coherent oscillation suggests an association with the hot They followed up these measurements with a similar
component. Although this variation could be due to analysis of the symbiotic AG Draconis. The optical Raman
pulsations in the hot star, a rotational period is the most lines at 6830 Å and 7088 Å are strong on the optical
likely explanation. If true, the period demonstrates that spectra of many symbiotic stars, which should allow
the hot component must be a WHITE DWARF instead of a main the measurement of accurate orbital elements for many
sequence star. systems.
Finally, two of the strongest optical emission lines in
Z And occur at 6830 Å and 7088 Å. These lines remained Interpretation
unidentified with any known atomic or molecular Figure 3 shows our current picture of the Z And binary
transition until Hans Schmid proposed an association with system. The two stellar components are a red giant with a
Raman scattering of the O VI 1032 Å and 1038 Å lines off bolometric luminosity of roughly 3000L and a low-mass
neutral hydrogen atoms surrounding the binary. With white dwarf with a luminosity of roughly 1000L for an

The origin of Z And’s eruptions is also a mystery.

In the simplest model, the outbursts of Z And and other
symbiotic stars are due to thermonuclear runaways similar
to those that produce classical novae. These eruptions
occur when hydrogen from the accretion disk collects
on the surface of the white dwarf. Nuclear reactions
begin when this material reaches a critical mass. These
yw1
reactions cause the white dwarf to expand in radius by

a factor of 10–100, thus producing the large observed
increase in optical brightness. This dramatic increase
in radius occurs at roughly constant luminosity, so the
temperature of the white dwarf cools from over 105 K
to roughly 7000 K. Aside from the apparent constancy
of some high ionization emission lines, much of the
ultraviolet and optical spectroscopic behavior is consistent
xw1
with this picture. However, the rapid recurrence time of
Figure 3. Schematic picture of the Z And binary. The binary 10–20 years is much smaller than has been achieved in
consists of a red giant star (right) and a small white dwarf star any calculation of an outburst in conditions appropriate
(left). The red giant loses material in a stellar wind indicated by for symbiotic stars. Most calculations imply a recurrence
the arrows. In the orbital plane, the white dwarf deflects wind time of 100 years or more.
material into an accretion disk. This gas spirals inwards through Additional study is needed to unravel the nature
the disk until it encounters the white dwarf magnetosphere.
Disk material then falls onto the white dwarf along magnetic
of Z And’s eruptions. Further work on repetitive
field lines, indicated as dashed lines. High-energy photons are thermonuclear runaways may reveal a mechanism that
produced by accretion through the disk and by material falling allows outbursts every 10–20 years. The main alternative
through the white dwarf’s magnetosphere. These photons to the thermonculear picture, disk instabilities similar
ionize the red giant wind. The wind heats up as it approaches to those responsible for dwarf NOVA eruptions, naturally
the white dwarf and accretion disk. (Adapted from Kenyon produces such short recurrence times, but cannot explain
(1986) and Sokoloski and Bildsten (1999).)
the apparent constancy of the bolometric luminosity
throughout an eruption. If future observations show that
assumed distance of 1.5 kpc. The high luminosity of the the luminosity is not constant, a disk instability might
red giant drives a low velocity stellar wind, which forms an provide a better explanation for the eruptions of this
extended envelope surrounding the binary system. Some prototypical symbiotic star.
of this material feeds an accretion disk around the white
dwarf. This gas drifts inwards through the disk and falls Bibliogaphy
onto the hot component. The energy generated by mass Fernández-Castro T, Gonzalez-Riestra R, Cassatella A,
infall—either through the accretion process itself or by Taylor A R and Seaquist E R 1995 The active phase
nuclear burning of the accreted material—produces the of the hot component of Z Andromedae Astrophys. J.
blue continuum; the high-energy end of this spectrum 442 366
ionizes some of the surrounding nebulosity. The densest Kenyon S J 1986 The Symbiotic Stars (Cambridge:
portion of the ionized nebula lies within an outflowing Cambridge University Press)
wind near the photosphere of the red giant. This gas has Mikołajewska J and Kenyon S J 1996 The inscrutable hot
a density of at least 1010 cm−3 . The density in the gas component in the symbiotic binary Z Andromedae
surrounding the binary system as a whole is much lower, Astron. J. 112 1659
108 cm−3 or less. Schmid H M and Schild H 1997 The polarimetric orbit of
The simple picture is deceptive, because some of Z Andromedae Astron. Astrophys. 327 219
Z And’s behavior remains unclear. Despite relatively Sokoloski J L and Bildsten L 1999 Discovery of a magnetic
good knowledge about the system geometry, the mass white dwarf in the symbiotic binary Z Andromedae
of the white dwarf is uncertain by a factor of two. The Astrophys. J. 517 919
relative contributions of the disk and the hot white dwarf
to the total luminosity are not known. The origin of Scott Kenyon
some emission lines is also poorly understood. In current
models, low-ionization emission lines, such as H I and
He I, form close to the red giant; higher ionization lines,
such as He II and C IV, form close to the hot white dwarf.
The line fluxes and profiles generally fit this picture, but
the radial velocities of the lines do not. This failure
probably reflects our poor understanding of wind-driven
mass transfer in a close binary system.

Zöllner, Johann Karl [Carl] Friedrich (1834–82) E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
Zöllner, Johann Karl [Carl] Friedrich

(1834–82)
German astronomer, born in Leipzig, was a pioneer
solar astronomer, classifying solar prominences. He first
suggested that the spectral types of stars represent an
evolutionary sequence, starting hot and cooling. This idea
was taken up with variations by H C VOGEL and NORMAN
LOCKYER.

Zach, Baron Franz Xaver von (1754–1832) E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
Zach, Baron Franz Xaver von

(1754–1832)
Hungarian astronomer, became director of the Seeberg
Observatory (Gotha), organizer of the ‘celestial police’
who took it upon themselves to search for the planet
missing, according to BODE’s law, between Mars and Jupiter.
Recovered Ceres according to GAUSS’s prediction, when it
had been lost behind the Sun following its discovery by
PIAZZI.

Zeeman Effect E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
Zeeman Effect
The splitting of a spectral line into two, three or more
components, that occurs when the source of that line
lies within a magnetic field. This phenomenon is named
after the Dutch physicist, Pieter Zeeman (1865–1943), who
discovered the effect in the laboratory, in 1896. The
separation of the components of a line is proportional
to the strength of the magnetic field and the number of
components, and the polarization of the light in each
component depends on the orientation of the field to the
observer’s line of sight. The Zeeman effect enables the
strength and orientation of magnetic fields (for example,
the magnetic fields in sunspots) to be measured. Where
the components are too close together to be resolved into
separate lines, the line appears broader than would be the
case in the absence of a magnetic field (this phenomenon
is called Zeeman broadening).
The Zeeman effect occurs because each of an atom’s
orbiting electrons has a small magnetic field (or magnetic
moment). When the atom is placed in a magnetic field, the
electrons can align themselves at certain discrete angles to
the magnetic field (the orientations are quantized), each
of which corresponds to a marginally different energy
level. Consequently, each energy level of the atom is
split into two or more closely spaced sub-levels, and more
transitions (movements of an electron from one level to
another) are then possible, each transition corresponding
to a spectral line (or a component of a line).
See also: absorption spectrum, atom, emission spectrum,
polarization, quantum mechanics, quantum theory,
spectrum, sunspots.

Zeeman, Pieter (1865–1943) E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
Zeeman, Pieter (1865–1943)

Physicist, born in Zonnemaire, on the isle of Schouwen,
Zeeland, Netherlands, Nobel prizewinner for physics
in 1902 with HENDRIK ANTOON LORENTZ ‘in recognition
of the extraordinary service they rendered by their
researches into the influence of magnetism upon radiation
phenomena’. Became professor at Leiden University,
where he discovered the splitting of spectral lines by
a strong magnetic field, indicating the quantization of
the spin of the electron, their negative charge, and the
unexpectedly high ratio of their charge and mass (e/m).
Zeeman predicted that Zeeman splitting should be seen in
the magnetic field of the Sun, and this was completely
verified by GEORGE HALE, at Mount Wilson Observatory,
even to the correct interrelationship between the directions
of polarization and the magnetic fields.

Zeiss, Carl (1816–88) E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
Zeiss, Carl (1816–88)

Optician and industrialist, born in Weimar, Germany,
established at Jena the optics factory noted for the
production of lenses, microscopes, and telescopes.

Zel’dovich [Zeldovich, Seldowitsch], Yakov Borisovich
(1914–87)
Zel’dovich [Zeldovich, Seldowitsch],

Yakov Borisovich (1914–87)
Russian physicist, worked at the Institute of Chemical
Physics in Leningrad (later in Moscow), played a
significant role in the development of Soviet nuclear and
thermonuclear weapons. In the 1960s he worked on
astrophysics and cosmology, including the theory of black
holes, the formation of galaxies and clusters, and the large-
scale structure of the universe. He identified the Sunyaev–
Zel’dovich effect of a ‘shadow’ in the cosmic microwave
background caused by intervening electrons in clusters
of galaxies. He developed astroparticle physics in the
cosmological theory of the Big Bang and started to develop
a quantum theory of gravity.

Zenith E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
Zenith
The point on the celestial sphere that is vertically above an
observer on the Earth’s surface. It is 90◦ distant from any
point on the horizon. The point 180◦ opposite the zenith,
directly underfoot, is the nadir.
See also: nadir.

Zenith Distance E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
Zenith Distance
The angular distance, measured along a great circle on the
celestial sphere, between the zenith and a celestial object.
The zenith distance of a celestial object is equal to 90◦
minus the object’s altitude.
See also: altitude, celestial sphere, great circle, zenith.

Zenithal Hourly Rate (ZHR) E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
Zenithal Hourly Rate (ZHR)

A measure of the activity of a meteor shower that takes into
account various observational factors. It is defined as the
number of meteors that would be seen by a single ‘ideal’
observer in a cloudless, perfectly dark sky if the radiant
were at the zenith. The ZHR is always greater than the
observed hourly rate. It is calculated as
ZHR = (N/t) × R × L × C
where N is the number of shower meteors observed in time

t (in hours), R is the radiant-elevation correction factor, L
is the limiting-magnitude correction factor and C is the
cloud correction factor. The simplest expression for R
is 1/ sin α, where α is the mean elevation in degrees of
the radiant over the time t; more complex formulae give
slightly better results, particularly for small values of α.
The next correction factor, L, is given by r 6.5−LM , where
r is the population index and LM the observer’s limiting
magnitude, 6.5 being the assumed limiting magnitude for
a perfectly dark sky. Values of ZHR become unreliable
when LM is worse than about 5. The population index
is a measure of the magnitude distribution of a shower.
Older meteor streams are depleted in smaller meteoroids
and produce a lower proportion of faint meteors; their r
values are higher (e.g. for the Lyrids, r = 2.9). Younger
meteor streams yield a more even distribution of meteor
magnitudes and have lower r values (e.g. r = 2.1 for
the Quadrantids). The third correction factor is given by
C = 1/(1 − x), where x is the cloud cover expressed as a
fraction; if x exceeds one-fifth the calculated ZHR will be
unreliable. The error associated with the overall result is
√
obtained by dividing it by N. A similar formula (without
the R term) can be applied to observed rates for sporadic
meteors to give the sporadic hourly rate (or corrected hourly
rate). For sporadic meteors, r = 3.42.

Zeno of Elea (c. 490–c. 425 BC) E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
Zeno of Elea (c. 490–c. 425 BC)

Philospher, born in Elea, Lucania (now southern Italy),
formulated Zeno’s Paradoxes, identifying inconsistencies
in the linguistic formulation of the mathematical theory
of infinitesimals. Diogenes Laertius reports that Zeno
proposed a universe consisting of several worlds,
composed of ‘warm’ and ‘cold’, ‘dry’ and ‘wet’ but no void
or empty space.

Zero Gravity E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
Zero Gravity
A term sometimes used to describe the state of
weightlessness or free fall. Weightlessness is the sensation
experienced by a body falling freely under the influence
of gravity, in other words, experiencing no resistance to its
acceleration. An astronaut in a spacecraft which is coasting
in a gravitational field experiences no sensation of weight
as both he and his surroundings are ‘falling’ at the same
rate. Zero gravity does not imply that there is no gravity
acting. A person in a freely falling lift will be accelerating
at the same rate as the lift itself; therefore, there will be
no relative acceleration (and therefore no force) between
the floor of the lift and his feet. He feels no sensation of
weight, but both he and the lift are falling in the Earth’s
gravitational field.
See also: weight.

Zhang Heng [Chang Heng] (78–139) E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
Zhang Heng [Chang Heng] (78–139)

Mathematician, astronomer and geographer, born in Nan-
yang, China, became chief astrologer and minister under
the Emperor An’ti, corrected the calendar to bring it into
line with the seasons. Invented the first seismoscope
for measuring earthquakes, essentially a series of finely
balanced balls that dropped and made a noise when there
was a tremor. He constructed a rotating celestial globe as a
model of the universe and described the 320 stars that can
be named, out of the 11 520 very small stars, apparently
visible to the naked eye (it must have been possible to see
beyond magnitude 6.5 in China).

Zhu Xi [Chu-hsi] (1130–1200) E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
Zhu Xi [Chu-hsi] (1130–1200)

Philosopher, classical commentator, scientific thinker, and
historian, born in Yu-hsi, Fukien Province, China. He had a
theory explaining fossils and realized that mountains had
once been under the sea. He visualized the Earth’s origins
in condensation from cosmic matter, and perceived the
universe as evolving and spinning from elemental force.

Zodiacal Light E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
Zodiacal Light
A faint cone-shaped glow in the night sky stretching
along the ecliptic, alternatively known as the counterglow
or gegenschein. Given a dark sky and the absence of
moonlight, it is visible at all times from the tropics. From
temperate latitudes it is best seen about an hour and a half
before sunrise in the fall or the same time after sunset in
the spring, for at these times the ecliptic makes its greatest
angle with the horizon. The zodiacal light is caused by
sunlight scattered by interplanetary dust particles in the
plane of the ecliptic.
See also: interplanetary dust.

Zodiacal Stars E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
Zodiacal Stars
Stars located within 8◦ of the ecliptic, i.e. within the zodiac.
There are 3539 stars listed in the Zodiacal Catalog (ZC), of
apparent magnitude 8.5 and brighter. They are the only
stars that can be occulted by the Moon: observations of
lunar occultations are valuable as a check on the Moon’s
position.

Zond E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
Zond
Series of eight Soviet deep space missions. Launched
1964–1970. Zond 1 was a failed Venus flyby. Zond 2
was a failed Mars mission. Zond 3 (launched July 1965)
conducted a lunar flyby. Zonds 4–8 were part of the test
programme for a Soviet manned lunar mission. Zond
5 (launched September 1968) was the first spacecraft to
successfully circumnavigate the Moon and return to Earth.
Zond means ‘probe’.

Zucchi, Niccolo (1586–1670) E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
Zucchi, Niccolo (1586–1670)

Born in Parma, Italy, became a Jesuit, and in 1608, or
perhaps 1616, used a lens to observe the image produced
by a concave mirror, the first reflecting telescope. He
described it in a book Optica Philosophica, in 1652. He
was the first to observe the spots on Jupiter, in 1630. In
about 1640, he is reported to have examined spots on
Mars, as discovered by Fontana, but this must be regarded
skeptically, unless his telescope was better than is believed.

Zwicky, Fritz (1898–1974) E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
Zwicky, Fritz (1898–1974)

Swiss physicist, born in Varna, Bulgaria, became professor
at the California Institute of Technology. He researched
galaxies and produced a comprehensive catalog of them.
He had an all-inclusive approach to astronomy, which
suggested that if something was physically possible then
it existed somewhere in the universe—he called this
‘morphological astronomy’. In 1934 he predicted the
existence of neutron stars and black holes, formed by
supernovae (a word he coined). His studies of the
dynamics of galaxies showed the existence of dark matter
decades before this was generally accepted.

ZZ Ceti Stars E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S
many interesting features of their internal structure at

ZZ Ceti Stars various stages of evolution through the powerful tools of
ZZ Ceti is the generic name for pulsating WHITE DWARFS asteroseismology.
of type DA, which have a pure hydrogen outer layer The first white dwarf pulsator discovered was the
composition. This name is equivalent to DAV (for variable DA HL Tau 76, in 1968. But it is the one discovered
DA white dwarfs) frequently used in the literature. next, in 1971, R548 or ZZ Ceti, which gave its name to
At the end of their evolution, medium mass stars the subsample of pulsating DA. The number of pulsating
(M 6–8 M ) become white dwarfs. After trans- white dwarfs may seem quite small: only four PG1159,
formation of their central hydrogen into helium on the seven DB and 29 DA white dwarfs are known to pulsate
main sequence, and of their helium into carbon and at present. Not surprisingly, the ZZ Ceti form the
oxygen during the subsequent evolutionary phases— largest group because (1) the hydrogen atmosphere white
giant branch, horizontal branch (HB) and asymptotic dwarfs (DA) are the most numerous and (2) the cooling
giant branch (AGB)—the stars evolve towards the white time scale increases with decreasing luminosity and the
dwarf stage. The white dwarfs are the naked degenerate ZZ Ceti define the coolest instability strip, so more stars
carbon–oxygen (C–O) core surrounded by a tiny helium will be found in a given range of temperature. But
layer (in ≈ 20% of cases—the DB white dwarfs), itself considering that we have been able to discover only those
surrounded by an even thinner hydrogen outer layer (in pulsating white dwarfs that are close enough, because of
the remaining ≈ 80%—the DA white dwarfs). This late their intrinsic faintness, the population of pulsating white
evolution proceeds either through the PLANETARY NEBULA dwarfs may in fact constitute the largest group of VARIABLE
phase, during which the stars expel their outer layers STARS in our Galaxy.
into the interstellar medium, or through the subdwarf White dwarfs have been discovered in two main
sequence (sdO, sdB). The way a star becomes a white ways: from surveys of PROPER MOTIONS and from surveys
dwarf depends on whether enough hydrogen mass is left of objects with a blue color excess. Faint blue stars with
on top of the degenerate core on the HB, allowing the star a large proper motion have a high probability of being
to increase its luminosity from shell hydrogen burning to white dwarfs; systematic proper motion studies such as
climb the AGB in the HERTZSPRUNG–RUSSELL DIAGRAM (HRD); those conducted by Giclas, Luyten and the Bruce Proper
if not enough hydrogen is left at this stage, the star evolves Motion survey have led to the discovery of many faint blue
directly towards a white dwarf through the subdwarf stars later identified spectroscopically as white dwarfs.
sequence. More recently, systematic surveys aimed at discovering
As no more nuclear fuel is available once the stars quasar candidates among UV or blue color excess objects
have reached this stage, their subsequent evolution is have also produced new white dwarfs: i.e. the Kiso,
governed by the release of the internal thermal energy Palomar–Green, Hamburg Quasar, Edinburgh–Cape and
stored in their degenerate core, and of the gravitational Montreal–Cambridge–Tololo surveys. White dwarfs
energy available during the final contraction of the outer with appropriate colors, or atmospheric parameters, to
layers onto the degenerate core. This latter source of be candidates for pulsators are subsequently observed
energy may still contribute to the stellar luminosity during through fast photometry techniques to search for STELLAR
the early phases of the white dwarf lifetime but rapidly PULSATIONS. Efforts to search for new pulsating white
becomes negligible as the stars reach their final degenerate dwarfs are still ongoing and new pulsators are regularly
structure. discovered, mainly among the ZZ Ceti group.
White dwarfs constitute accordingly the graveyard of
most of the stellar population in our Galaxy, and in other General properties of ZZ Ceti stars
galaxies, except for those most massive stars which end ZZ Ceti stars are found in a narrow instability strip
as SUPERNOVAE. So they offer astrophysicists a way to test in the HRD. The hot (blue) and cool (red) edges are
their current knowledge of STELLAR EVOLUTION, some phases beginning to be well defined since 29 ZZ Ceti stars are
of which are still poorly understood. known. However, the precise observational location of
Along the two currently known channels leading the instability strip still needs to be improved. This
to white dwarfs, the stars may become pulsationally can be achieved partly by improving the precision in
unstable: these are the Variable Planetary Nebula Nuclei the determination of atmospheric parameters (effective
(PNNV) and the variable sdBs (also called EC14026 temperature Te and surface gravity log g) and partly by
pulsators). Once on the white dwarf sequence, the stars finding more ZZ Ceti stars. The boundaries of the ZZ Ceti
cross three more instability strips as they cool down: instability strip depend on stellar parameters like Te and
(1) the pulsating PG1159 STARS (also called GW Vir stars), the total mass of the star, but also on less well understood
which are the nuclei of planetary nebulae after the nebulae physics entering into the models like the efficiency of
have been diluted in the interstellar matter, at an effective convective transport in the envelope. Accordingly, the
temperature between 150 000 K and 80 000 K; (2) the location of the blue edge of the ZZ Ceti has been debated
variable DB white dwarfs (DBV) at about 25 000 K; and for years and is still a matter of discussion. The red
(3) the variable DA (ZZ Ceti stars) at about 12 000 K. Each edge is even more poorly understood because convection
of these groups of pulsators offers a way of studying becomes an ever more important conveyor of the energy

radiated by the stars as they cool across the instability of the stars, producing temperature fluctuations which
strip from blue to red. At the red edge, most of the translate into flux variations detectable by very sensitive
energy is transported by convection and there is as yet instruments like photomultiplier photometers and, more
no satisfactory description of the interaction between the recently, CCD photometers. They also propagate inside
pulsations and the convective motions. Both the blue the stars, but they can do that only in those regions of
and red edges depend on the total mass of the stars, the star where their frequency is lower than the Brunt-
the instability strip being wider for more massive white Väisälä frequency (N ) and the Lamb frequency. N is
dwarfs. The observationally determined instability strip the characteristic frequency with which a particle of gas
is about 1200 K wide for the average ZZ Ceti population, taken away from its equilibrium position in the radiative
whose mean mass is the same as the mean mass of white part of the star returns to its original location through
dwarfs: 0.6 M . It extends from about 12 400 K on the oscillations. The Lamb frequency characterizes the local
blue edge to about 11 200 K on the red edge. Because the sound frequency corresponding to the degree of the non-
instability occurs at the effective temperature for which the radial mode . This criterion defines cavities inside the
hydrogen Balmer lines have their maximum equivalent star in which the waves can propagate.
widths, the method for determining Te based on fitting Because of the spherical symmetry of the star, and
these lines is unfortunately not very sensitive. The method assuming that the rotation is small enough to preserve that
based on fitting the satellites of the strong Lα absoption symmetry, the non-radial oscillations follow a geometry
observed in the UV spectra of ZZ Ceti stars at λ = 1400 Å defined by spherical harmonics in the horizontal direction.
and λ = 1600 Å is more sensitive but requires UV spectra This horizontal structure is characterized by the degree of
with a high signal/noise ratio, i.e. from the Hubble Space the spherical harmonics, which may be understood as the
Telescope (HST). number of lines of nodes of the gas motions on a spherical
Within the uncertainty in the determination of the surface, and by the azimuthal number m, which is the
atmospheric parameters, and the detection limit of the number of those particular lines of nodes passing through
pulsations, there are no stable stars in the ZZ Ceti the poles defined by the pulsation axis of symmetry. In
instability strip. All DA white dwarfs crossing the the vertical direction, a given mode has a structure which
ZZ Ceti instability strip should become pulsators. As is the solution of the eigenvalue problem obeying the
a consequence, the properties derived for ZZ Ceti from boundary conditions at the surface and in the center of the
asteroseismology are presumably applicable to all DA star. The order k (or n depending on conventions adopted
white dwarfs. by various authors) is the number of nodes of the radial
The pulsations observed in ZZ Ceti stars are non- component of the eigenfunction. In white dwarfs, because
radial oscillations excited by the κ–γ mechanism and the core is degenerate, the g-modes do not propagate deep
by the response of the surface convection zone, both in the interior as N tends to 0 in degenerate matter. A g-
resulting from the recombination of ionized hydrogen mode of frequency f is consequently reflected at the depth
in the stellar envelope. Theoretical models show this where f equals the local value of N. So, contrary to the
to happen at the Te corresponding to the blue edge. case of normal stars, like the Sun and other low-mass main
Additional complications occur at cooler temperatures as sequence stars, where the expected detection of g-modes
the radiative flux and the convective flux, both perturbed would allow study of their deep internal structure, in white
by the oscillations, start interacting nonlinearly, making dwarfs the observed g-modes allow study of the structure
the theoretical modeling much more complex. Most of our of the outer regions lying above the degenerate core.
present understanding of pulsating white dwarfs comes An interesting property of the g-modes is that, for a
from linear pulsation theory, in which only information given degree , and for high order k, modes of successive
derived from the frequency of the oscillations is used. order become regularly spaced in period: this is called the
Non-radial oscillations in stars manifest themselves asymptotic regime and the difference in period between
in the form of waves of two types: (a) pressure modes (or successive orders is the period spacing. Departures from
p-modes) for which pressure is the restoring force; they regular spacing are induced by quasi-discontinuities in
are acoustic waves; and (b) gravity modes (or g-modes), the chemical composition found in white dwarfs at the
for which buoyancy is the restoring force. In ZZ Ceti stars, interface between the outer H and He layers, and deeper
p-modes would have periods of the order of 1 second or between the He and the C–O core: this is referred to as
less, and the corresponding motions of the gas, mainly in mode trapping.
the vertical direction, would have to fight the high gravity Modes of same degree and order, but with different
of the star, resulting in a very small amplitude. These value of m (where − ≤ m ≤ ) have the same frequency
modes, while predicted to be unstable, have never been in a non-rotating, non-magnetic star (mode degeneracy).
detected. The g-modes have periods two to three orders Rotation breaks the degeneracy, and in the limit of slow
of magnitude longer, from about 100 s to about 1200 s. rotation (rotation period long compared to the pulsation
The motion of the gas induced by the pulsations becomes periods) a mode of degree is split into 2 +1 modes equally
dominantly horizontal close to the surface and the high spaced in frequency. From the frequency separation
gravity is no longer an obstacle to the propagation of between the components of such multiplets, it is possible
the waves. g-modes propagate as waves at the surface to derive the rotational period of the star. Detecting triplet

or quintuplets also allows an independent check of their RADIAL STELLAR PULSATIONS allows one in principle to derive
identification as = 1 or = 2 modes. Similarly, the many basic parameters about the structure of the STELLAR
magnetic field breaks the degeneracy, each mode of degree INTERIOR and the evolution of ZZ Ceti stars. A necessary
being split into + 1 components, the frequency shift requirement, however, is to be able to unambiguously
being proportional to B 2 . identify the pulsation modes. In the case of multiperiodic
While theoretical calculations predict a large number stars this is not a trivial task. The aliases introduced in
of non-radial modes to be unstable in ZZ Ceti stars, only the frequency spectrum by gaps in the data, unavoidable
a small number are generally observed. The first reason a fortiori in single-site observations, have encouraged
is trivial: because we see the star as a point source, the development of international ground-based networks.
only large-scale perturbations of the stellar surface can be The Whole Earth Telescope (WET), operating since 1988,
detected, i.e. small values ( ≤ 3) because of geometrical has been quite successful in the asteroseismology of
averaging. Another reason is that most of the ZZ Ceti show PG1159 stars and the DBV. For ZZ Ceti stars, which have
amplitude variations. Some modes are not found when much fewer modes, the safe identification of the pulsation
their amplitude is below the detection limit. In most cases, modes requires additional constraints. Such constraints
many observational campaigns are necessary to recover a may be provided by time-resolved spectroscopy, using
more complete frequency spectrum. But even then, the the capability of the HST to get UV spectra, or of
most complete frequency spectrum is far from the expected the Very Large Telescope. The wavelength-dependent
large number of non-radial modes that can be produced variations of the ZZ Ceti spectrum induced by the
by the combination of various , k and m. A very efficient temperature changes during the pulsation cycle have
selection mechanism must be invoked. The first selection different observational signatures according to the degree
mechanism that has been invoked is mode trapping: in of the mode, because of the different limb darkening
compositionally stratified white dwarfs, it has been shown effects on the stellar surface averaging. The simultaneous
that those particular modes which have a node of their combination of ground-based fast photometry and time-
eigenfunction close to the composition interfaces have resolved spectroscopy seems a promising avenue for the
minimum pulsation kinetic energy. As a consequence they future of the asteroseimology of ZZ Ceti stars.
have smaller growth rates. Their amplitudes grow linearly From the period spacing, one can in principle deduce
until they saturate the energy available to the pulsations. the total mass. But this requires that enough modes can
This simple explanation is rather unsatisfactory since, as be identified, which is not the case for most ZZ Ceti.
the amplitudes of the modes grow, nonlinear effects couple
Additional constraints from spectroscopy are necessary to
modes and the energy stored in the trapped modes can go
get Te and log g. When PARALLAXES are available, the radius
back and forth in other modes, stable or unstable. But
and the mass may be derived and comparison of calculated
this could still act as an efficient selection mechanism.
g-modes in white dwarf models may solve the ambiguity
Another selection mechanism implies coupling between
in the identification of the degree of the observed modes.
the pulsations and convection. Pioneering works show
The departure from regular period spacing predicted
that convection may damp very efficiently the pulsations
by mode trapping could also be used in principle to derive
in large frequency domains. But the predicted instability
the mass of the outer hydrogen layer. But for the same
strip in this case does not fit with the observational one.
reason that it precludes unambiguous identification, the
With the increasing number of known ZZ Ceti stars, it
small number of observed modes makes mode trapping
becomes possible to determine some global properties. A
very difficult, and often impossible, to detect. The mass of
clear relation between pulsation periods and Te emerges:
pulsation periods increase as Te decreases across the hydrogen is then derived from best fits with stellar models,
instability strip. This is a consequence of the fact that the but the solution is generally not unique. Determining the
unstable g-modes should have periods comparable to or mass of the hydrogen layer left on top of the degenerate C–
longer than the thermal time scale at the bottom of the O core is one of the main issues in white dwarf astrophysics
convection zone. As the ZZ Ceti cool from the blue to today because it is the main uncertainty in the white dwarf
the red edge of the instability strip, the outer convection models used in other calculations: i.e. cooling time scale
zone induced by hydrogen recombination becomes deeper and calibration of the white dwarf luminosity function,
and the thermal time scale at the bottom increases. There effect of crystallization etc.
is also a clear tendency for ZZ Ceti of longer periods to Rotational splitting has been measured in some
have larger amplitude, except close to the red edge where ZZ Ceti. The resulting rotation periods, found in the range
amplitudes fall abruptly to small values. This shows that of a few hours to more than one day, are an indication
the pulsation excitation mechanism stops being efficient at that most, but not all, of the angular momentum is lost
a given Te (for a given total mass) and this defines the red during stellar evolution. The exact physical mechanisms
edge. are not completely understood, but from asteroseismology
of ZZ Ceti and other white dwarfs we know the final state.
Asteroseismology of ZZ Ceti stars: internal Only upper limits to the magnetic fields in pulsating
structure and evolution ZZ Ceti have been derived. No ZZ Ceti is known with a
The comparison of the observed frequencies with magnetic field greater than a few kG. None of the known
theoretical calculations based on the linear theory of NON- strongly magnetic white dwarfs has been found to pulsate.

In spite of the fact that the ZZ Ceti have typical cooling The more recent European Workshops on White
times of the order of 109 years, the great stability of their Dwarfs contain many contributions concerning ZZ Ceti
pulsation frequencies should allow us to measure the effect stars; these are published in:
of evolution on the pulsation modes. The cooling time
scale depends mainly on the total mass of the degenerate Koester D and Werner K 1994 White Dwarfs, Springer
quasi-isothermal core and its chemical composition. As Lecture Notes in Physics (Berlin: Springer)
the star cools, the internal structure changes, and the Isern J, Hernanz M and Garcia-Berro E 1997 White Dwarfs
spectrum of the eigenmodes changes accordingly. A (Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic)
few ZZ Ceti stars are regularly observed in a follow-up Solheim J-E and Meistas E G 1999 11th European Workshop
program to ultimately measure the rate of period changes on White Dwarfs (ASP Conf. Ser. 169) (San Francisco:
induced by their evolution (Ṗ ). Measuring Ṗ would be a Astron. Soc. Pacific)
unique check that the theory of stellar evolution correctly
The original description of the Whole Earth Telescope
predicts the composition of the white dwarf core. The best
concept may be found in:
case to date is G117-B15A, for which one has only an upper
limit for Ṗ = 2.8 ± 1.7 × 10−15 s s−1 . This is consistent with Nather R E, Winget D E, Clemens J C, Hansen C J and
the core being a C–O mixture. Hine B P 1990 Astrophys. J. 361 309
In addition to the poorly determined hydrogen
envelope mass in ZZ Ceti, the other major uncertainty Recent results on ZZ Ceti asteroseismology may be found
in the calculation of the cooling sequence is the role in the proceedings of the WET workshops; the latest
of the crystallization phase. The release of the latent published one is:
heat of crystallization slows the cooling. This is an
important effect when determining the age of the oldest Meistas E G and Moskalik P (ed) 1998 The Fourth WET
and coolest white dwarfs in the solar neighborhood, which Workshop Baltic Astronomy 7 nos 1/2
in turn may be used to determine the age of the galactic
disk. The predicted effect of crystallization has never Gérard Vauclair
been confronted to observational tests. Massive DA
white dwarfs should be in the crystallization phase while
crossing the ZZ Ceti instability strip. Most DA have the
same mass of 0.6 M and are predicted to crystallize at
a Te lower than the red edge of the ZZ Ceti instability
strip. The only exception is BPM37093, which has a mass
of 1.1 M and is currently the only massive ZZ Ceti on
which testing the efficiency of the crystallization may be
undertaken. Unfortunately, the effect of crystallization on
the oscillation frequency spectrum is small and the present
uncertainty on the hydrogen mass layer hides its signature.
Progress on both the theoretical side of non-radial
pulsations and the observations of ZZ Ceti stars should
allow us in the near future to use the calibrated
cooling sequence of white dwarfs to get an independent
determination of the age of the galactic disk, of globular
clusters etc, and to better understand the evolution of the
stars whose lives end as white dwarfs.
Bibliography
The essential reference book for understanding the theory
of non-radial pulsations in stars is:
Unno W, Osaki Y, Ando H, Saio H and Shibahashi H 1989

Nonradial Oscillations of Stars (Tokyo: University of
Tokyo Press)
A recent IAU Symposium dedicated to helio-

asteroseismology contains a review on pulsating white
dwarfs in general:
Provost J and Schmider F-X (ed) 1997 Sounding Solar

and Stellar Interiors, IAU Symposium 181 (Dordrecht:
Kluwer Academic)


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Universe E N C Y C LO P E D IA O F A S T R O N O M Y AN D A S T R O P H Y S I C S

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PRIMORDIAL SPECTRUM OF FLUCTUATIONS

DARK MATTER DAMPING EXPANSION OF UNIVERSE

FORMATION OF DEEP GRAVITATIONAL POTENTIAL WELLS

The processes of gravitational instability and collapse, gas matter.

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pairs and were present in the thermal soup in numbers

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University of Crete Observatory

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‘Magnum’ telescope and on the US Air Force 3.7 m

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have built the Subaru and Gemini Northern Telescopes,

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University of Tokyo, Institute of

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Unsöld, Albrecht (1905–95)

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Uppsala Astronomical Observatory

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his home-made telescope in the back yard of his home in

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Helium abundance relative to hydrogen is also high-

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mer solstice (beginning of summer). In 2008 Uranus will

Table 3. The satellites of Uranus.

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Figure 3. This long-exposure image from Voyager 2 was taken

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Quantity Earth units SI units

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Table 1. Orbital properties† of Uranus’s rings.

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Figure 1. Discovery observations of the Uranian rings from the

The largest ring of the system (ε) has a minimum

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drag from Uranus’ exosphere. One can then estimate how

inner feature (similar to rings 4, 5 and 6) and an adjacent

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Urey, Harold Clayton (1893–1981)

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