Diagnostics of interstellar medium parameters on non-discrete timing irregularities of pulsars

In this paper, a large homogenous sample of Jodrell Bank Observatory (JBO) radio pulsars was used to investigate the statistical effects of interstellar medium (ISM) parameters: dispersion and rotation measure (DM and RM, respectively) on non-discrete timing irregularities of our sample (whose observed timing activity timescales span over 40 years). This is done by using the correlations between the measured DM and RM, and some parameters that have been commonly used to measure non-discrete timing irregularities [timing activity parameter (A), the amount of timing fluctuations absorbed by the cubic term (σR23), measure of pulsar rotational stability (σz ) and stability parameter (∆8)]. Our results show that ISM parameters positively correlate (r > 0.60) with the pulsar timing irregularities parameters of our sample. The significant relationships observed are discussed.

Quantum model of naturally rotating Machian cosmology and galactic applications of current cosmic angular velocity

We would like to emphasize that, extraordinary physical concepts like Big bang, Inflation, Dark energy and Superluminal expansion demand super-normal efforts and need observational support. Observational data is raising day-by-day non-conformity and demanding changes in the original concepts. It is very interesting to note that James Peebles, the famous cosmologist and 2019 Nobel laureate strongly believes that Big bang concept is inappropriate in understanding the universe. It is better to understand and develop models of cosmology based on well supported physical concepts rather than extraordinary physical hypothesis. Unification point of view, quantum cosmology must be given a priority and one should make a note that, Spin is a basic property of quantum physics and rotation is a very common experience. In this context, with reference to life cycle of living creatures and independent of red-shift data, we have developed a quantum model of cosmology associated with Machian universe having Planck scale origin, total dark matter, light speed expansion, light speed rotation, equality of gravitational self energy density and thermal energy density, radially decreasing internal acceleration and radially increasing anisotropy. We are working on understanding and correlating observed redshift data in a unified approach. In this letter, we present various galactic applications of current cosmic angular velocity.

Occurrence characteristics of equatorial plasma bubbles over Kisumu, Kenya during Solar maximum of Solar Cycle 24

Equatorial Plasma Bubbles (EPBs) are irregular plasma density depletions in the ambient electron density in the equatorial F-region ionosphere generated after sunset. EPBs are known to bring disruptions to telecommunication and navigation systems. This paper investigates the occurrence of EPBs over Kisumu, Kenya (Geomagnetic coordinates: 9.64o S, 108.59o E; Geographic coordinates: 0.02o S, 34.6o E) for a few selected quiet and storm days between 1st January 2013 and 31st December 2014 which was a high Solar activity period for Solar Cycle 24. The study brings out EPB occurrence pattern over Kisumu, Kenya for the selected quiet and storm days of 2013 and 2014. The Receiver Independent Exchange (RINEX) data was retrieved from the Kisumu high data-rate NovAtel GSV4004B SCINDA-GPS receiver. The data was unzipped and processed to obtain Vertical Total Electron Content (VTEC), amplitude scintillation (S4) and Universal Time (UT) which were then fed into MATLAB to generate VTEC and S4 plots against UT for each selected quiet and storm day within the years 2013 and 2014. The Total Electron Content (TEC) depletion depths and S4 index values between 16:00 and 20:00 UT for each selected quiet and storm day were extracted from the VTEC and S4 plots and used to plot TEC depletion depths and S4 plots. The Rate of Change of TEC (ROT) and Rate of Change of TEC Index (ROTI) between 16:00 and 20:00 UT were generated from VTEC and used to plot ROT and the corresponding ROTI plots against UT. TEC depletion depths and ROTI values for each selected quiet and storm day between 16:00 and 20:00 UT were extracted and used to plot TEC depletion depths and ROTI plots and S4 index and ROTI plots. In this study, the enhancement of S4 index corresponded well with TEC depletions, increased fluctuation of ROT and higher ROTI values between 16:00UT and 20:00UT for most days. This correspondence was used in inferring the occurrence of EPBs during the selected quiet and storm days of the years 2013 and 2014. The obtained results showed that the highest EPB occurrence was during March equinox with 33.33% occurrence in the year 2013 and 30.76% occurrence in the year 2014, followed by the September equinox which had 20.38% occurrence in 2013 and 17.26% occurrence in 2014. The seasonal variation of EPB occurrence was attributed to the variation in the daytime E x B drift velocities. Larger E x B drift velocities resulted in increased EPB occurrence in the equinoctial period (March, April, August and September) and November solstice period (November and December) while lower E x B drift velocities resulted in reduced EPB occurrence in the June solstice period (June and July). The percentage EPB occurrence in the year 2013 was 6.49% while in the year 2014 was 4.32%. The storm period had percentage EPB occurrence of 21.42% in the year 2013 and 21.88% in the year 2014 while the quiet period had percentage EPB occurrence of 18.75% in the year 2013 and 7.89% in the year 2014. These results clearly showed that the percentage EPB occurrence was higher during the storm period than in the quiet period. Hence the development of EPBs was enhanced by geomagnetic activity through several competing dynamics such as Prompt Penetration Electric Field (PPEF), Disturbance Dynamo Electric Field (DDEF) and reduction in electron density due to increased recombination rates.

The Dazzling Comet C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE): The Comet of The Century

The newfound long period comet NEOWISE has the potential to be one of the brightest comets ever seen. The comet which was visible to the naked eye is considered as the comet of the century. This icy object was discovered on March 27, 2020. In this paper, we dive into some fascinating facts about NEOWISE comet that make such comet unique.

Is Newtonian gravitational constant a quantized constant of microscopic quantum gravity?

Considering the Newtonian gravitational constant as a quantized constant of microscopic quantum gravity, an attempt is made to fit its value in a verifiable approach with reference to three large atomic gravitational constants pertaining to weak, strong and electromagnetic interactions linked with a quantum relation. Estimated value seems to be 865 ppm higher than the recommended value.

Dark comets: the cosmic catastrophic threat to earth

Dark Comets are catastrophic hazardous objects that could hit Earth without warning. There are thousands of such unseen comets buzzing around. Very few of which are known. An overview of the dark comets deadly threat is presented in this paper. Moreover, detection techniques of these invisible objects are discussed.

Effectiveness of KS elements in satellite orbit prediction using earth's gravity, drag and solar radiation pressure

Satellite moving under the gravitational field of Earth deviates from its two-body elliptic orbit, due to the combined effects of the gravitational field of Earth, atmospheric drag, solar radiation pressure, third-body gravitational effects, etc. This paper utilizes the KS regular element equations to solve Newtonian equations of motion to obtain numerical solution with respect to perturbing forces, like, Earth's gravity (includes zonal, sectorial and tesseral harmonics terms), atmospheric drag and solar radiation pressure. Effectiveness of the theory is illustrated by comparing the results with some of the existing theories in literature.

SCINDA-GPS derived TEC depletions and amplitude scintillations over Kisumu, Kenya during selected quiet and storm days of 2013 and 2014

Total Electron Content (TEC) depletion and amplitude scintillation (S4) can be derived from, SCINDA-GPS receivers situated in various parts of the equatorial region. In this paper we present results of characterization of TEC depletions and amplitude scintillations over Kisumu, Kenya (Geomagnetic coordinates: 9.64o S, 108.59o E; Geographic coordinates: 0.02o S, 34.6o E) for both selected geomagnetically quiet and geomagnetically disturbed conditions between 1st January 2013 and 31st December 2014 using data derived from the Kisumu NovAtel GSV4004B SCINDA-GPS receiver situated at Maseno University. TEC depletions and amplitude scintillations affect Global Positioning System (GPS) signals in the ionosphere as they propagate from the satellite to the receiver. This study aims to investigate day to day variability of TEC depletions and amplitude scintillations over Kisumu, Kenya during both geomagnetically quiet and geomagnetically disturbed days of 2013 and 2014 which was a high solar activity period for Solar Cycle 24. Seasonal variability of TEC depletions and S4 index is also presented. The Receiver Independent Exchange (RINEX) data for the years 2013 and 2014 was retrieved from the Kisumu SCINDA-GPS receiver, processed to obtain Vertical Total Electron Content (VTEC), S4 and Universal Time (UT) and fed into MATLAB to generate VTEC and S4 plots against UT for each selected quiet and storm day within the 2013 and 2014 period. The obtained results showed a diurnal variation of TEC where TEC was minimum at pre-sunrise, maximum during daytime and minimum during nighttime. The minimum TEC during pre-sunrise and nighttime was attributed to reduced solar intensity while maximum TEC during daytime is attributed to increased solar intensity. Most of the selected quiet and storm days of the years 2013 and 2014 showed TEC depletions and TEC enhancements corresponding with enhanced amplitude scintillations between 1800UT and 20:00UT. This might be attributed to the rapid rise of the F-layer and the increase in the vertical E x B plasma drift due to the Pre-reversal Enhancement (PRE) of the eastward electric field. Post-midnight TEC depletions and amplitude scintillations were observed for some days and this was attributed to the effect of zonal winds which brought post-midnight enhancement of the E x B drift. The percentage occurrence of amplitude scintillations for the selected quiet and storm days exhibited a seasonal dependence with equinoctial months having higher occurrences than the solstitial months. The higher average S4 index during equinoctial months might be attributed to increased solar intensity resulting from the close alignment of the solar terminator and the geomagnetic meridian.

Expansion of the universe and its correlation with dark energy

The Universe is expanding and science has got the relevant amount of evidence to prove that. The red shift of the distant galaxies prove that the Universe is expanding and at a good rate. The trouble is not with the expansion rather the force that is helping in this expansion. The Four Forces that is understood by physics are Gravitational Force, Electromagnetic Force, The Weak Force and The Strong Force. The four forces mentioned above unfortunately does not help in understanding the expansion of the Universe even after 13.8 billion years from the Big Bang. Initially it was thought that the Universe had an exponential expansion just after the Big Bang and this expansion will slow down before Gravity starts contracting the Universe. Well this theory got a setback after the Red Shift of the Galaxies showed that the Universe is still expanding.The expansion is happening still which means that the Gravitational Force is not being able to drift the galaxies towards one another. So what could be the unknown force that is repelling the galaxies from one another? Scientists have been working on this issue and many new concepts have been developed. Many scientists have argued that there is some force that is repelling the Universe but understanding this force has been difficult till now. Major scientists now agree that there is a force that is repelling the Universe and this force is not the four fundamental forces that are known to us. They have termed this force as the Dark Energy.What is this Dark Energy is a haunting question in today’s world. Only around 5% of the observable Universe is known till date. The rest around 95% is still a mystery to us. Of that 95% around 68% is Dark Energy. So the importance of understanding this force is the need of the hour. This force can tell a lot about the formation of the Universe from the start or it can even enlighten us if the Universe is eternal.The issue is as of now, this Dark Energy is hypothetical in nature as it has not been seen or felt by the instruments available to science today. The idea of Dark Energy goes to explain the expansion of the Universe, if Dark Energy is taken as some sort of Anti- Gravitational Force.Einstein’s theory of relativity talks of how space and time is intermingled with gravity. According to this theory space time gets modified due to the amount of matter that falls into the space. So if a planet sits on a space in the Universe it will cause a deviation in the space time field in such a way that it will accommodate the matter of the planet. So Einstein placed time as the fourth dimension and showed its importance in space. This theory stands true in majority of the cases in the Universe. The only hurdle being that inside the Black Hole this theory falters.Einstein and Schrodinger did interact with one another after he had understood that the Universe was expanding through the theory presented by Hubble. Earlier Einstein had stated that the Universe was Static. To counter the exigency that space time changes with matter he had proposed a constant by the name Cosmological Constant. Later he took the constant away stating that it was his blunder not to understand that the Universe was Expanding. Schrodinger had proposed to put the Cosmological Constant in the right side of the equation. This meant the constant may change with time and be considered more of a variable force. Though, Einstein later did not agree to the idea. Still it can be considered that both of them were talking about an extra force but could not come to any conclusion on this.Einstein in his special relativity theory had talked of conversion of energy to matter with his famous equation, E=mc^2. This meant that energy can be formed by matter and matter can be converted into energy. Though energy created from matter can be seen in Atom Bomb but matter created from energy is not seen. This paper will try to show how matter can be created from energy where Dark Energy acts as a Catalyst.This paper also tries to analyze the concept of Dark Energy as a non interacting supermassive energy (NISE). The paper will try to see the relationship between expanding Universe and Dark energy. The paper will try to develop a new spectrum that can make Dark Energy or NISE as stated in the paper visible or understandable. The paper will also like to see the relationship between Dark Energy and Photon. The paper will try to show how energy is converted from matter with the help of Dark Energy.

Location and stability of the triangular Lagrange points in photo-gravitational elliptic restricted three body problem with the more massive primary as an oblate spheroid

The triangular Lagrangian points of the elliptic restricted three-body problem (ERTBP) with oblate and radiating more massive primary are studied. The mean motion equation used here is different from the ones employed in many studies on the perturbed ERTBP. The effect of oblateness on the mean motion equation varies. This change influences the location and stability of the triangular Lagrangian points. The points tend to shift in the y-direction. The influence of the oblateness on the critical mass ratio is also altered. But the eccentricity limit for stability remains the same.