We present the latest improvements in the Center for Radiative Shock Hydrodynamics (CRASH) code, a parallel block-adaptive-mesh Eulerian code for simulating high-energy-density plasmas. The implementation can solve for radiation models with either a
gray or a multigroup method in the flux-limited-diffusion approximation. The electrons and ions are allowed to be out of temperature equilibrium and flux-limited electron thermal heat conduction is included. We have recently implemented a CRASH laser package with 3-D ray tracing, resulting in improved energy deposition evaluation. New, more accurate opacity models are available which significantly improve radiation transport in materials like xenon. In addition, the HYPRE preconditioner has been added to improve the radiation implicit solver. With this updated version of the CRASH code we study radiative shock tube problems. In our set-up, a 1 ns, 3.8 kJ laser pulse irradiates a 20 micron beryllium disk, driving a shock into a xenon-filled plastic tube. The electrons emit radiation behind the shock. This radiation from the shocked xenon preheats the unshocked xenon. Photons traveling ahead of the shock will also interact with the plastic tube, heat it, and in turn this can drive another shock off the wall into the xenon. We are now able to simulate the long term evolution of radiative shocks.
We present an analysis of BVRcIc observations of the field sized around 4 x 4 centered at the host galaxy of the gamma-ray burst GRB 021004 with the 6-m BTA telescope of the Special Astrophysical Observatory of the Russian Academy of Sciences. We mea
sured the magnitudes and constructed the color diagrams for 311 galaxies detected in the field (S/N > 3). The differential and integral counts of galaxies up to the limit, corresponding to 28.5 (B), 28.0 (V), 27.0 (Rc), 26.5 (Ic) were computed. We compiled the galaxy catalog, consisting of 183 objects, for which the photometric redshifts up to the limiting magnitudes 26.0 (B), 25.5 (V), 25.0 (Rc), 24.5 (Ic) were determined using the HyperZ code. We then examined the radial distribution of galaxies based on the z estimates. We have built the curves expected in the case of a uniform distribution of galaxies in space, and obtained the estimates for the size and contrast of the possible super-large-scale structures, which are accessible with the observations of this type.
We discuss how some coronal mass ejections (CMEs) originating from the western limb of the Sun are associated with space weather effects such as solar energetic particles (SEPs), shock or geo-effective ejecta at Earth. We focus on the August 24, 2002
coronal mass ejection, a fast (~ 2000 km/s) eruption originating from W81. Using a three-dimensional magneto-hydrodynamic simulation of this ejection with the Space Weather Modeling Framework (SWMF), we show how a realistic initiation mechanism enables us to study the deflection of the CME in the corona and the heliosphere. Reconnection of the erupting magnetic field with that of neighboring streamers and active regions modify the solar connectivity of the field lines connecting to Earth and can also partly explain the deflection of the eruption during the first tens of minutes. Comparing the results at 1 AU of our simulation with observations by the ACE spacecraft, we find that the simulated shock does not reach Earth, but has a maximum angular span of about 120$^circ$, and reaches 35$^circ$ West of Earth in 58 hours. We find no significant deflection of the CME and its associated shock wave in the heliosphere, and we discuss the consequences for the shock angular span.
