2008 DEC 30 - (VerticalNews.com) -- "High time resolution observations of PSR B0906-49 (or PSR J0908-4913) over a wide range of frequencies have enabled us to determine the geometry and beam shape of the pulsar. We have used the position angle traverse to determine highly constrained solutions to the rotating vector model which shows conclusively that PSR B0906-49 is an orthogonal rotator," scientists in Manchester, the United Kingdom report ...read more

  2008 DEC 30 - (VerticalNews.com) -- According to recent research from the United States, "We probe the geometry of magnetospheric accretion in classical T Tauri stars (CTTSs) by modeling red absorption at He I lambda 10830 via scattering of the stellar and veiling continua. Under the assumptions that the accretion flow is an azimuthally symmetric dipole and helium is sufficiently optically thick that all incident 1 mu m radiation is scattered, we illustrate the sensitivity of He I lambda 10830 red absorption to both the size of the magnetosphere and the filling factor of the hot accretion shock. ...read more

  2008 DEC 30 - (VerticalNews.com) -- According to a study from the United States, "Previous analyses of magnetospheric accretion and outflow in classical T Tauri stars (CTTSs), within the context of both the X-wind model and other theoretical scenarios, have assumed a dipolar geometry for the stellar magnetic field if it were not perturbed by the presence of an accreting, electrically conducting disk. However, CTTS surveys reveal that accretion hot spots cover a small fraction of the stellar surface and that the net field polarization on the stellar surface is small. ...read more