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AKARI, the first Japanese satellite dedicated to infrared astronomy, was launched on 2006 February 21, and started observations in May of the same year. AKARI has a 68.5 cm cooled telescope, together with two focal-plane instruments, which survey the sky in six wavelength bands from the mid- to far-infrared. The instruments also have the capability for imaging and spectroscopy in the wavelength range 2 - 180 micron in the pointed observation mode, occasionally inserted into the continuous survey operation. The in-orbit cryogen lifetime is expected to be one and a half years. The All-Sky Survey will cover more than 90 percent of the whole sky with higher spatial resolution and wider wavelength coverage than that of the previous IRAS all-sky survey. Point source catalogues of the All-Sky Survey will be released to the astronomical community. The pointed observations will be used for deep surveys of selected sky areas and systematic observations of important astronomical targets. These will become an additional future heritage of this mission., Comment: 13 pages, 4 figures, and 3 tables. Accepted for publication in the AKARI special issue of the Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan

We have performed for the first time the simultaneous measurement of the two-body and three-body photodisintegration cross-sections of 4He in the energy range from 21.8 to 29.8 MeV using monoenergetic pulsed photons and a 4-pi time projection chamber containing 4He gas as an active target in an event-by-event mode. The photon beam was produced via the Compton backscattering of laser photons with high-energy electrons. The 4He(gamma,p)3H and 4He(gamma,n)3He cross sections were found to increase monotonically with energy up to 29.8 MeV, in contrast to the result of a recent theoretical calculation based on the Lorentz integral transform method which predicted a pronounced peak at around 26-27 MeV. The energy dependence of the obtained 4He(gamma,n)3He cross section up to 26.5 MeV is marginally consistent with a Faddeev-type calculation predicting a flat pattern of the excitation function. The cross-section ratio of 4He(gamma,p)3H to 4He(gamma,n)3He is found to be consistent with the expected value for charge symmetry of the strong interaction within the experimental uncertainty in the measured energy range. The present results for the total and two-body cross-sections of the photodisintegration of 4He are compared to previous experimental data and recent theoretical calculations., Comment: 19 pages, 24 figures, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. C

We review the next generation Japanese infrared space mission, ASTRO-F. ASTRO-F will be the first survey of the entire sky at infrared wavelengths since the IRAS mission almost 20 years ago. ASTRO-F will survey the entire sky in 4 far-infrared bands from 50-200microns and 2 mid-infrared bands at 9 and 20microns to sensitivities of 10-1000 times deeper than the IRAS satellite at angular resolutions of 25-45arcsec (c.f. IRAS 2-5arcmins). ASTRO-F can be considered a SUPER-IRAS. Using the galaxy evolution model of Pearson (2001) we produce expected numbers of sources under 3 different cosmological world models. We predict that ASTRO-F will detect of the order of 10's millions of sources in the far-infrared wavelength bands, most of which will be dusty LIG/ULIGs of which as many as half will lie at redshifts greater than unity. We produce number-redshift distributions, flux-redshift and colour-colour diagrams for the survey and discuss various segregation and photometric redshift techniques. Furthermore, we investigate the large scale structure scales that will be accessed by ASTRO-F, discovering that ASTRO-F and SIRTF-SWIRE probe both different scales and redshift domains and concluding that the 2 missions will supplement rather than supplant one another., Comment: 18 pages, 10 figures, submitted to MNRAS, models can be accessed from http://astro.ic.ac.uk/~cpp/astrof

Discrete gamma-rays from the neutron capture state of 13C to its low-lying bound states have been measured using pulsed neutrons at En = 550 keV. The partial capture cross sections have been determined to be 1.7+/-0.5, 24.2+/-1.0, 2.0+/-0.4 and 1.0+/-0.4 microb for the ground (1/2-), first (1/2+), second (3/2-) and third (5/2+) excited states, respectively. From a comparison with theoretical predictions based on the non-resonant direct radiative capture mechanism, we could determine the spectroscopic factor for the 1/2+ state to be 0.80 +/- 0.04, free from neutron-nucleus interaction ambiguities in the continuum. In addition we have detected the contribution of the non-resonant d-wave capture component in the partial cross sections for transitions leading to the 1/2- and 3/2- states. While the s-wave capture dominates at En < 100 keV, the d-wave component turns out to be very important at higher energies. From the present investigation the 12C(n,gamma)13C reaction rate is obtained for temperatures in the range 10E+7 - 10E+10 K., Comment: Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. C. - 16 pages + 8 figures

We present Ginga measurements of the spatial fluctuations in the diffuse X-ray background. When combined with earlier results, the new data constrain the extragalactic log N - log S relation in the 2-10 keV energy band to a form close to the Euclidean prediction over the flux range 1E-10 - 5E-13 erg/cm2/s. The normalisation of the 2-10 keV source counts is a factor 2-3 above that derived in the softer 0.3-3.5 keV band from the Einstein Extended Medium Sensitivity Survey if a spectral conversion is assumed which ignores X-ray absorption intrinsic to the sources. Both this result and the spectral characteristics of the spatial fluctuations are consistent with relatively low-luminosity active galaxies (i.e. L_X < 1E44 erg/s) dominating the 2-10 keV source counts at intermediate flux levels. We also use the `excess variance' of the fluctuations to constrain possible clustering of the underlying discrete sources., Comment: 16 pages, LateX and 9 jpeg figures. Accepted in MNRAS. Also at http://www.ifca.unican.es/~barcons/preprints.html

In May 1994 the BL Lac object PKS 2155-304 was observed continuously for ~10 d with IUE and EUVE and for 2 d with ASCA, as well as with ROSAT and with ground- based radio, IR, and optical telescopes. The light curves show a well-defined X-ray flare (x2 increase in 1/2 d, with similar decay) followed by a broader, lower amplitude EUV flare ~1 day later, and a broad, low-amplitude UV flare ~2 d later (amplitude ~35%, duration >2 d). In the preceding week there was at least one X-ray flare of comparable amplitude or perhaps ongoing stochastic X-ray variations. An extremely rapid change in UV flux was seen at the beginning of the IUE observation. Assuming the central X-ray, EUV, and UV events are associated, the lags, the decrease of amplitude with wavelength, and the broadening of the temporal profile with wavelength are all qualitatively as expected for synchrotron emission from an inhomogeneous relativistic jet. We can rule out a Fermi-type shock acceleration event or a pair cascade in a homogeneous synchrotron-emitting region. A homogeneous region is still possible if there was an instantaneous (t<

We report the results from an ASCA X-ray observation of the powerful Broad Line Radio Galaxy, 3C109. The ASCA spectra confirm our earlier ROSAT detection of intrinsic X-ray absorption associated with the source. The absorbing material obscures a central engine of quasar-like luminosity. The luminosity is variable, having dropped by a factor of two since the ROSAT observations 4 years before. The ASCA data also provide evidence for a broad iron emission line from the source, with an intrinsic FWHM of ~ 120,000 km/s. Interpreting the line as fluorescent emission from the inner parts of an accretion disk, we can constrain the inclination of the disk to be $> 35$ degree, and the inner radius of the disk to be $< 70$ Schwarzschild radii. Our results support unified schemes for active galaxies, and demonstrate a remarkable similarity between the X-ray properties of this powerful radio source, and those of lower luminosity, Seyfert 1 galaxies., Comment: MNRAS in press. 7 pages, 5 figures in MNRAS LaTex style

We obtained X-ray spectra of the Seyfert 1 galaxy NGC~3516 in March 1995 using ASCA. Simultaneous far-UV observations were obtained with HUT on the Astro-2 shuttle mission. The ASCA spectrum shows a lightly absorbed power law of energy index 0.78. The low energy absorbing column is significantly less than previously seen. Prominent O~vii and O~viii absorption edges are visible, but, consistent with the much lower total absorbing column, no Fe K absorption edge is detectable. A weak, narrow Fe~K$\alpha$ emission line from cold material is present as well as a broad Fe~K$\alpha$ line. These features are similar to those reported in other Seyfert 1 galaxies. A single warm absorber model provides only an imperfect description of the low energy absorption. In addition to a highly ionized absorber with ionization parameter $U = 1.66$ and a total column density of $1.4 \times 10^{22}~\rm cm^{-2}$, adding a lower ionization absorber with $U = 0.32$ and a total column of $6.9 \times 10^{21}~\rm cm^{-2}$ significantly improves the fit. The contribution of resonant line scattering to our warm absorber models limits the Doppler parameter to $< 160~\rm km~s^{-1}$ at 90\% confidence. Turbulence at the sound speed of the photoionized gas provides the best fit. None of the warm absorber models fit to the X-ray spectrum can match the observed equivalent widths of all the UV absorption lines. Accounting for the X-ray and UV absorption simultaneously requires an absorbing region with a broad range of ionization parameters and column densities., Comment: 14 pages, 4 Postscript figures, uses aaspp4.sty To appear in the August 20, 1996, issue of The Astrophysical Journal

We present the results of a 4 day ASCA observation of the Seyfert galaxy MCG-6-30-15, focussing on the nature of the X-ray absorption by the warm absorber, characterizd by the K-edges of the intermediately ionized oxygen, OVII and OVIII. We confirm that the column density of OVIII changes on a timescale of $\sim 10^4$~s when the X-ray continuum flux decreases. The significant anti-correlation of column density with continuum flux gives direct evidence that the warm absorber is photoionized by the X-ray continuum. From the timescale of the variation of the OVIII column density, we estimate that it originates from gas within a radius of about $10^{17}\cm$ of the central engine. In contrast, the depth of the OVII edge shows no response to the continuum flux, which indicates that it originates in gas at larger radii. Our results strongly suggest that there are two warm absorbing regions; one located near or within the Broad Line Region, the other associated with the outer molecular torus, scattering medium or Narrow Line Region., Comment: 8 pages (including figures) uuencoded gziped PS file. Submitted to Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan

The Advanced Satellite for Cosmology and Astrophysics (ASCA) observations of 3C 279, Mkn 421, PKS 2155-304, BL Lac 0716+714 and OJ 287 blazars are presented. Blazars are a class of active galactic nuclei characterized by high variability, high polarization, flat radio spectrum and featureless spectrum. The X-ray spectra and flux variations of blazars are discussed. The inverse correlation between X-ray flux and index, soft lag, the convex curvature of the spectrum, flat gamma-ray and/or X-ray spectra, fast variability and featureless spectrum are common characteristics of blazars.

Ginga X-ray observations of the high excitation dwarf nova BV Pup and the suspected DQ Her dwarf nova V426 Oph are presented. The observation of BV Pup took place during optical quiescence and showed no detectable X-ray flux, implying the X-ray luminosity was below that observed by Exosat during the decline from an outburst. An optical spectrum obtained near the time of the X-ray observations showed no high-excitation He II 4686, so that it is not clear if this was an unusual low-excitation time for BV Pup or if this is a normal phase of the outburst cycle. V426 Oph was observed for four days near maximum outburst brightness with overlapping X-ray coverage on three days. The 2-10 keV flux was a factor of 2 below that observed by Exosat during a quiescent state. There is evidence for a 28 min timescale in the X-ray, and optical data which are not strictly periodic in nature.