Report on Mooring Processing of PS99.2/PS100/PS101 Recoveries

This report documents the processing applied to the physical oceanography sensors on moorings recovered during the Arctic summer cruises of Polarstern in 2016 PS99.2/PS100/PS101

Spectrophotometric measurement of the Extragalacic Background Light

The Extragalactic Background Light (EBL) at UV, optical and NIR wavelengths consists of the integrated light of all unresolved galaxies along the line of sight plus any contributions by intergalactic matter including hypothetical decaying relic particles. The measurement of the EBL has turned out to be a tedious problem. This is because of the foreground components of the night sky brightness, much larger than the EBL itself: the Zodiacal Light (ZL), Integrated Starlight (ISL), Diffuse Galactic Light (DGL) and, for ground-based observations, the Airglow (AGL) and the tropospheric scattered light. We have been developing a method for the EBL measurement which utilises the screening effect of a dark nebula on the EBL. A differential measurement in the direction of a high-latitude dark nebula and its surrounding area provides a signal that is due to two components only, i.e. the EBL and the diffusely scattered ISL from the cloud. We present a progress report of this method where we are now utilising intermediate resolution spectroscopy with ESO's VLT telescope. We detect and remove the scattered ISL component by using its characteristic Fraunhofer line spectral signature. In contrast to the ISL, in the EBL spectrum all spectral lines are washed out. We present a high quality spectrum representing the difference between an opaque position within our target cloud and several clear OFF positions around the cloud. We derive a preliminary EBL value at 400 nm and an upper limit to the EBL at 520 nm. These values are in the same range as the EBL lower limits derived from galaxy counts.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures, Invited talk, IAU Symposium No.28

AABA, refrain, chorus, bridge, prechorus : song forms and their historical development

This paper deals with different dimensions of the formal construction of songs in 20th century popular music. First, it proposes that the form of songs is not only an obligatory starting point for analysis but is actually itself a worthwhile object of interpretation. It explains how the analysis of the formal song structure can produce meaningful insights on a semantic, symbolic, and functional level. Secondly, the authors provide a critical discussion on the use of prevalent terms such as chorus, refrain, verse, bridge, etc. They show that a study of the historical evolution both of constituent song parts, and of song forms in general, is necessary to overcome the internal contradictions and incompatibilities of the current terminology. This approach is the center of this paper. It refers to the authors’ analysis of c. 3000 songs spanning the whole 20th century with a focus on the decisive years 1920 to 1970. Illustrating the results with a large number of examples, the authors trace the development of the AABA-form, various verse/chorus-forms, the evolution of the prechorus and various other song parts, and song form models. The findings are supported by statistical data based on the US Billboard Top 100, and show the prevalence of certain models as well as specific trends in historic change. Finally, the paper shows that the awareness of formal conventions and particularities can be an essential pre-condition for the analysis of popular music’s cultural meanings