Том 50, № 1 (2016)

To ascertain probable variations of the intensity of galactic cosmic rays (GCR) for the recent billion years, the distribution of exposure ages T of iron meteorites has been analyzed. We considered all ~80 values of ages from the data by Voshage and Feldmann (1979), Voshage et al. (1983), and Voshage (1984), as well as a set of values obtained from the correction for eliminating the meteorites formed in a single collision. To correct the data, the Akaike information criterion was used. For the distributions of the phase values Ph = T/t–int(T/t), the dependence of the criterion χ ² on the presumable period t in the exposure age variations was analyzed. For t ~ 400–500 Myr and, partly, for t ~ 150 Myr, the significant deviations of this criterion from the corresponding mean values were found. To clear up the influence of the GCR intensity variations on the age distribution, the numerical models were calculated with an account of the set of ages randomly distributed in the interval of 0–1000 Myr with the presumptive mean lifetime of iron meteorites in outer space τ = 700 Myr. It has been ascertained that, for variations with a period of t = 450 Myr, the distribution of exposure ages of the model set is similar to that found for iron meteorites. The obtained data suggest that the GCR intensity variations with a period of approximately 400–500 Myr have probably existed during the recent billion years. These variations may be caused by periodic passages of the Solar System through spiral arms of the Galaxy. It has been shown that the earlier discussed changes in the GCR intensity with a period of ~150 Myr (Shaviv, 2002; 2003; Scherer et al., 2006) are less defined.

When cosmic bodies of asteroidal and cometary origin, with a size from 20 to approximately 100 m, enter dense atmospheric layers, they are destroyed with a large probability under the action of aerodynamic forces and decelerated with the transfer of their energy to the air at heights from 20–30 to several kilometers. The forming shock wave reaches the Earth’s surface and can cause considerable damage at great distances from the entry path similar to the action of a high-altitude explosion. We have performed a numerical simulation of the disruption (with allowance for evaporation of fragments) and deceleration of meteoroids having the aforesaid dimensions and entering the Earth’s atmosphere at different angles and determined the height of the equivalent explosion point generating the same shock wave as the fall of a cosmic body with the given parameters. It turns out that this height does not depend on the velocity of the body and is approximately equal to the height at which this velocity is reduced by half. The obtained results were successfully approximated by a simple analytical formula allowing one to easily determine the height of an equivalent explosion depending on the dimensions of the body, its density, and angle of entry into the atmosphere. A comparison of the obtained results with well-known approximate analytical (pancake) models is presented and an application of the obtained formula to specific events, in particular, to the fall of the Chelyabinsk meteorite on February 15, 2013, and Tunguska event of 1908, is discussed.

The dynamics of parameters of the near-Earth solar wind (SW) and the effect of solar activity on the parameters of three SW components (fast SW from large-scale coronal holes (CHs); slow SW from active regions, streamers, and other sources; and transient flows related to sporadic solar activity) at the beginning of the 24th solar cycle (2009–2011) are analyzed. It is demonstrated that temperaturedependent parameters of ionic composition (C⁺⁶/C⁺⁵ and O⁺⁷/O⁺⁶) of the transient SW component in the profound minimum of solar activity in 2009 were correlated with the variation of the rate of weak (type C and weaker) flares. This verifies the presence of a hot component associated with these flares in the SW. The variations in the velocity and the kinetic temperature of fast SW from CHs with an increase in activity are more pronounced in the bulk of the high-speed stream, and the variations of O⁺⁷/O⁺⁶ and Fe/O ratios and the magnitude of the interplanetary magnetic field are the most prominent in the region of interaction between fast and slow SW streams. The analysis reveals that a value of O⁺⁷/O⁺⁶ = 0.1 serves as the criterion to distinguish between fast SW streams and interplanetary coronal mass ejections in the 2009 activity minimum. This value is lower than the one (0.145) determined earlier based on the data on the 23rd cycle (Zhao et al., 2009). Therefore, the distinguishing criterion is not an absolute one and depends on the solar activity level.

In recent decades, investigations of Pluto with up-to-date astronomical instruments yielded results that have been generally confirmed by the New Horizons mission. In 2006, in Prague, the General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union (IAU) reclassified Pluto as a member of the dwarf planet category according to the criteria defined by the IAU for the term “planet”. At the same time, interest in studies of Pluto was increasing, while the space investigations of Pluto were delayed. In 2006, the New Horizons Pluto spacecraft started its journey to Pluto. On July 14, 2015, the spacecraft, being in fly-by mode, made its closest approach to Pluto. The heterogeneities and properties of the surface and rarified atmosphere were investigated thoroughly. Due to the extreme remoteness of the spacecraft and the energy limitations, it will take 18 months to transmit the whole data volume. Along with the preliminary results of the New Horizons Pluto mission, this paper reviews the basics on Pluto and its moons acquired from the ground-based observations and with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). There are only a few meteorite craters on the surfaces of Pluto and Charon, which distinctly marks them apart from such satellites of the giant planets as Ganymede and Callisto. The explanation is that the surface of Pluto is young: its age is estimated at less than 100 Myr. Ice glaciers of apparently a nitrogen nature were found. Nitrogen is also the main component of the atmosphere of Pluto. The planet demonstrates the signs of strong geologic activity, though the energy sources of these processes are unknown.