A high deuterium abundance in the early Universe.

Intergalactic gas clouds at high redshifts have element abundances that are close to primordial. The ratio of deuterium to hydrogen (D/H) within such clouds-which is determined from absorption lines in the spectra of more distant quasars that lie along the same line of sight-provides the best estimate of the density of baryons (omegaB) in the Universe. Previous estimates of D/H in the early Universe have yielded values that differ by about an order of magnitude, with the lower values implying a high density of baryons that may be difficult to reconcile with both estimates of the primordial abundances of other light elements (especially 4He) and the known number of light neutrinos. The accuracy of such D/H determinations is heavily dependent on the inferred column density of neutral hydrogen in the absorbing clouds. Here we report an independent measurement of the neutral hydrogen column density in the cloud towards the quasar Q1937 - 1009, for which one of the low D/H values was derived. Our measurement requires a substantial revision to the D/H value reported previously; we obtain a lower limit of D/H > 4 x 10(-5) for this cloud, which implies omegaB < 0.016 for a Hubble constant of 100 km s(-1) Mpc(-1). This reduced upper limit for the baryon density relieves any conflict with standard Big Bang nucleosynthesis.

Laser ranging retro-reflector: continuing measurements and expected results.

After successful acquisition in August of reflected ruby laser pulses from the Apollo 11 laser ranging retro-reflector (LRRR) with the telescopes at the Lick and McDonald observatories, repeated measurements of the round-trip travel time of light have been made from the McDonald Observatory in September with an equivalent range precision of +/-2.5 meters. These acquisition period observations demonstrated the performance of the LRRR through lunar night and during sunlit conditions on the moon. Instrumentation activated at the McDonald Observatory in October has yielded a precision of +/-0.3 meter, and improvement to +/-0.15 meter is expected shortly. Continued monitoring of the changes in the earth-moon distance as measured by the round-trip travel time of light from suitably distributed earth stations is expected to contribute to our knowledge of the earth-moon system.

Laser beam directed at the lunar retro-reflector array: observations of the first returns.

On 1 August between 10:15 and 12:50 Universal Time, with the Lick Observatory 120-inch (304-cm) telescope and a laser operating at 6943 angstroms, return signals from an optical retro-reflector array placed on the moon by the Apollo 11 astronauts were successfully detected. After the return signal was first detected it continued to appear with the expected time delay for the remainder of the night. The observed range is in excellent agreement with the predicted ephemeris. Transmitting between 7 and 8 joules per pulse, we found that each return signal averaged more than one photoelectron. This is in good agreement with calculations of the expected signal strength.