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At least 199 records · Page 11
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1979

Deep X-ray survey of the Small Magellanic Cloud

An extended survey of the Small Magellanic Cloud with the SAS 3 X-ray observatory detected SMC X-1 but no other source with a luminosity greater than 1.0 x 10 to the 37th ergs/sec. In particular, SMC X-2 and SMC X-3, observed one month earlier at luminosities of 7 x 10 to the 37th and 10 x 10 to the 37th ergs/sec, respectively, were not detected, which proves that they are both highly variable. The results indicate that the maximum luminosities of early-type X-ray stars in the SMC congregate near 10 to the 38th ergs/sec, which is about five times the maximum luminosity of similar sources in the Galaxy.

Clark, G.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Ultraviolet interstellar absorption toward stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud. II - Sk 159

On the basis of a study of high-dispersion spectra of stars in the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds (LMC and SMC) obtained with the International Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE) satellite, Savage and de Boer (1979, 1981) have detected the Milky Way halo gas. The existence of gaseous coronae around both the LMC and SMC was also suggested. The evidence for this included the presence of strong interstellar absorption lines from high-ionization stages (e.g., C IV, Si IV, and Al III). Fitzpatrick and Savage (1983) concluded that the strongest C IV and Si IV features in the spectrum of the SMC star HD 5980 are probably nebular in origin, produced by stellar photoionization in NGC 346. However, other evidence indicated that at least one additional region of high-ionization stage gas is present in the HD 5980 line of sight. The present investigation is concerned with a reobservation of the star SK 159. It is found that the Milky Way disk and halo absorption features toward Sk 159, except for Al III are very similar to those seen toward HD 5980, also in the SMC.

Fitzpatrick, E. L.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Attitude control system conceptual design for the GOES-N spacecraft series

The attitude determination sensing and processing of the system are considered, and inertial reference units, star trackers, and beacons and landmarks are discussed as well as an extended Kalman filter and expected attitude-determination performance. The baseline controller is overviewed, and a spacecraft motion compensation (SMC) algorithm, disturbance environment, and SMC performance expectations are covered. Detailed simulation results are presented, and emphasis is placed on dynamic models, attitude estimation and control, and SMC disturbance accommmodation. It is shown that the attitude control system employing gyro/star tracker sensing and active three-axis control with reaction wheels is capable of maintaining attitude errors of 1.7 microrad or less on all axes in the absence of attitude disturbances, and that the sensor line-of-sight pointing errors can be reduced to 0.1 microrad by SMC.

Markley, F. L.↗
NASA NTRS1992

A comprehensive X-ray study of the Small Magellanic Cloud

A comprehensive analysis of the Einstein data base on the SMC is presented. Twenty-four soures are classified as objects in the SMC, and 13 as Galactic stars, AGN, and clusters of galaxies. The detected discrete emitters account for less than half of the excess emission associated with the SMC. The extensive diffuse emission has an X-ray spectrum substantially softer than that of the discrete sources, which is consistent with the presence of X-ray-emitting coronal gas associated with the SMC. A detailed study of the discrete sources is presented. An X-ray source is found to vary in its X-ray luminosity by a factor larger than 10 over a period of about 1 yr and has a relatively hard X-ray spectrum which apparently changes with the X-ray luminosity. It is suggested that this source, associated with a B1-type star, is a new high-mass X-ray binary in the Small Cloud.

Wang, Qingde↗
NASA NTRS1992

Imaging of four planetary nebulae in the Magellanic Clouds using the Hubble Space Telescope Faint Object Camera

Using the Faint Object Camera on-board the Hubble Space Telescope, we have obtained images of four planetary nebulae (PNe) in the Magellanic Clouds, namely N2 and N5 in the SMC and N66 and N201 in the LMC. Each nebula was imaged through two narrow-band filters isolating forbidden O III 5007 and H-beta, for a nominal exposure time of 1000 s in each filter. In forbidden O III, SMC N5 shows a circular ring structure, with a peak-to-peak diameter of 0.26 arcsec and a FWHM of 0.35 arcsec while SMC N2 shows an elliptical ring structure with a peak-to-peak diameter of 0.26 x 0.21. The expansion ages corresponding to the observed structures in SMC N2 and N5 are of the order of 3000 yr. LMC N201 is very compact, with a FWHM of 0.2 arcsec in H-beta. The Type I PN LMC N66 is a multipolar nebula, with the brightest part having an extent of about 2 arcsec and with fainter structures extending over 4 arcsec.

Blades, J. C.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Observations of the Small Magellanic Cloud by the Vela 5B X-ray monitor

We present Vela 5B observations of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) region obtained during the years 1969 - 1979. We detect the 3.89 day orbital modulation of SMC X-1 with a false alarm probability of 4.3 x 10(exp -3) and observe a high state beginning in 1970 September and lasting approximately 100 days. We also detect three outbursts by a transient source consistent with the position of the candidate Be-neutron star system H0107-750 (= 1H 0103-762). These events occur roughly 100 days apart and last for approximately 35 days. No detections of SMC X-2 or SMC X-3 are apparent above a limit of approximately 7 x 10(exp 37) ergs/s.

Whitlock, L.↗
NASA NTRS1995

The physics of massive OB stars in different parent galaxies. 1: Ultraviolet and optical spectral morphology in the Magellanic Clouds

Hubble Space Telescope/Faint Object Spectrograph (HST/FOS) and European Space Observatory (ESO) 3.6-m/CASPEC observations have been made of 18 stars ranging in spectral type from O3 through B0.5 Ia, half of them in each of the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds, in order to investigate massive stellar winds and evolution as a function of metallicity. The spectroscopic data are initially presented and described here in an atlas format. The relative weakness of the stellar-wind features in the SMC early O V spectra, due to their metal deficiency, is remarkable. Because of their unsaturated profiles, discrete absorption components can be detected in many of them, which is generally not possible in LMC and Galactic counterparts at such early types, or even in SMC giants and supergiants. On the other hand, an O3 III spectrum in the SMC has a weak C IV but strong N V wind profile, possibly indicating the presence of processed material. Wind terminal velocities are also given and intercompared between similar spectral types in the two galaxies. In general, the terminal velocities of the SMC stars are smaller, in qualitative agreement with the predictions of radiation-driven wind theory. Further analyses in progress will provide atmospheric and wind parameters for these stars, which will be relevant to evolutionary models and the interpretation of composite starburst spectra.

Walborn, Nolan R.↗
NASA NTRS1997

Simulated Hypergravity Alters Vascular Smooth Muscle Cell Proliferation and Motility

The cellular effects of gravity are poorly understood due to its constancy and nonavailability of altered gravitational models. Such an understanding is crucial for prolonged space flights. In these studies, we assessed the influence of centrifugation at 6G (HGrav) on vascular smooth muscle (SMC) mobility and proliferation. Cells were: (a) plated at low density and subjected to HGrav for 24-72 hr for proliferation studies, or (b) grown to confluency, subjected to HGrav, mechanically denuded and monitored for cell movement into the denuded area. Controls were maintained under normogravity. SMC showed a 50% inhibition of growth under HGrav and 10% serum; HGrav and low serum resulted in greater growth inhibition. The rate of movement of SMC into the denuded area was 2-3-fold higher under HGrav in low serum compared to controls, but similar in 10% serum. These studies show that HGrav has significant effects on SMC growth and mobility, which are dependent on serum levels.

Hunt, Shameka↗
NASA NTRS2000

Freely Suspended Smectic Filaments and the Structure of the B7 Phase of MHOBOW

Our recent discovery of the spontaneous formation of chiral domains in fluid smectic phases of achiral bow-shaped molecules opens up a wide variety of possibilities for new liquid crystal phases and phenomena. The basic, spontaneously chiral layer structure of the highest temperature fluid smectic phases, the B2 and B7, are shown. One of the most intriguing aspects of this structure is the plethora of possible phases coming from different stacking sequences of the polar ordering and tilt directions. The four possibilities of next-nearest neighbor alternation are shown. In the original material studied, NOBOW, the ground states found are antiferroelectric, either the racemic SmC(sub S)P(sub A) or the chiral SmC(sub A)P(sub A). We are currently studying MHOBOW, synthesized by D. Walba which, by virtue of its methyl hexyloxy tail has a tendency to form anticlinic layer interfaces, in the hope of finding a phase with a ferroelectric ground state, either SmC(sub A)P(sub S) or SmC(sub S)P(sub A), which can be obtained in NOBOW only by applying a field. Preliminary observations of MHO-BOW have made its study, from the point of view of understanding novel LC structures, extremely high priority. The following truly remarkable characteristics have been revealed: (i) The smectic phase grows out of the isotropic in the form of helical ribbons. The resulting planar aligned textures of focal conics with layers normal to glass plates exhibit bizarre modulations, including stripes and checker-boards. These have also been seen in other materials suggesting that this is a new phase (tentatively called B7), which is a fluid smectic with some kind of in-layer structure. (ii) It is virtually impossible to make freely suspended films of MHOBOW. Rather it makes the freely suspended filaments which preliminary x-ray scattering experiments reveal to have the nested cylinder layer structure indicated; (iii) The powder x-ray diffraction exhibits four resolution-limited smectic layering peaks, very close in layer spacing, which vary continuously with T. This is further evidence for a more complex three dimensional structure than NOBOW, which has a typical single layering reflection. (iv) The x-ray structure factor of the layering peak of the filaments is extraordinarily complex and rich. Varying in qL (the scattering vector component along the filament axis) from a double slit-like pattern to modulated layer-like patterns, as qH (the scattering vector component normal to the filament axis) is varied over the range where the four powder peaks are located. These results suggest some kind of mosaic structure, perhaps with different layer spacings corresponding to the different stacking sequences. Recent x-ray diffraction experiments show that the peaks are modulated in intensity upon translation along a filament, in domains of several hundred microns dimension. These preliminary experiments suggest that the B7 is a fluid smectic with extremely unusual and fascinating structures. Of all of the many hundreds of fluid smectic materials we have attempted to study in the freely suspended film geometry over the years, only a few have failed to form films, and none showed any great tendency to form filaments, although this clearly should be a possible freely suspended smectic LC morphology. On several occasions in the past we have intentionally tried to make filaments from a variety of smectics without success. Thus the smectic filament formation property makes the B7 phase unique. It seems quite likely that the stability of filaments is related to the in-plane structure. The filaments exhibit other interesting structural and optical features. They are birefringent with a local optic axis which is oblique and which can vary continuously along filament and which can be manipulated with an electric field applied normal to the fiber, as if the field were causing a rotation of the optic axis about the fiber axis. Rapid displacement of the ends of the fiber toward one another causes a macroscopic helixing at low T and causes thick regions to transiently appear at high T, a 1D analog of island formation on a rapidly compressed film.

Clark, N.↗
NASA NTRS1995

Concept Designed and Developed for Distortion- Tolerant, High-Stability Engine Control

Engine Control Future aircraft turbine engines, both commercial and military, must be able to successfully accommodate expected increased levels of steady-state and dynamic engine-face distortion. Advanced tactical aircraft are likely to use thrust vectoring to enhance their maneuverability. As a result, the engines will see more extreme aircraft angles-of-attack and sideslip levels than are currently encountered with present-day aircraft. Also, the mixed-compression inlets needed for the High Speed Civil Transport will likely encounter disturbances similar to those seen by tactical aircraft, in addition to planar pulse, inlet buzz, and high distortion levels at low flight speed and off-design operation. The current approach of incorporating a sufficient component design stall margin to tolerate these increased levels of distortion would significantly reduce performance. The objective of the High Stability Engine Control (HISTEC) program is to design, develop, and flight demonstrate an advanced, high-stability, integrated engine-control system that uses measurement-based, real-time estimates of distortion to enhance engine stability. The resulting distortion-tolerant control reduces the required design stall margin, with a corresponding increase in performance and decrease in fuel burn. The HISTEC concept has been designed and developed, and the software implementing the concept has successfully accommodated time-varying distortion. The NASA Lewis Research Center is currently overseeing the development and validation of the hardware and software necessary to flight test the HISTEC concept. HISTEC is a contracted effort with Pratt & Whitney of West Palm Beach, Florida. The HISTEC approach includes two major systems: A Distortion Estimation System (DES) and Stability Management Control (SMC). DES is an aircraft-mounted, high-speed processor that estimates the amount and type of distortion present and its effect on the engine. It uses high-response pressure measurements at the engine face to calculate indicators of the type and extent of distortion in real time. From these indicators, DES determines the effects of distortion on the propulsion systems and the corresponding engine match point necessary to accommodate it. DES output consists of fan and compressor pressure ratio trim commands that are passed to the SMC. In addition, DES uses maneuver information, consisting of angle-of-attack and sideslip from the flight control, to anticipate high inlet distortion conditions. The SMC, which is contained in the engine-mounted, Improved Digital Electronic Engine Control (IDEEC), includes advanced control laws to directly control the fan and compressor transient operating line (pressure ratio). These advanced control laws, with a multivariable design, have the potential for higher bandwidth and the resulting more precise control of engine match. The ability to measure and assess the distortion effects in real time coupled with a high-response controller improves engine stability at high levels of distortion. The software algorithms implementing DES have been designed, developed, and demonstrated, and integration testing of the DES and SMC software has been completed. The results show that the HISTEC system will be able to sense inlet distortion, determine the effect on engine stability, and accommodate distortion by maintaining an adequate margin for engine surge. The Pratt &Whitney Comprehensive Engine Diagnostic Unit was chosen as the DES processor. An instrumented inlet case for sensing distortion was designed and fabricated. HISTEC is scheduled for flight test on the ACTIVE F-15 aircraft at the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, in late 1996.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS2005

Solar Wind Drivers for Steady Magnetospheric Convection

Steady magnetospheric convection (SMC) also known as convection bays, is a particular mode of response of the magnetosphere to solar wind coupling. It is characterized by convection lasting for times longer than a typical substorm recovery during which no substorms expansions can be identified. It is generally believed that the solar wind must be unusually steady for the magnetosphere to enter this state. However, most previous studies have assumed this is true and have used such conditions to identify events. In a preliminary investigation using only the AE and AL indices to select events we have shown that these expectations are generally correct. SMC events seem to be associated with slow speed solar wind and moderate, stable IMF Bz. In this report we extend our previous study including additional parameters and the time variations in various statistical quantities. For the intervals identified as SMCs we perform a detailed statistical analysis of the properties of different solar wind variables. We compare these statistics to those determined from all data, and from intervals in which substorms but not SMCs are present. We also consider the question of whether substorms are required to initiate and terminate an SMC. We conclude that the intervals we have identified as SMC are likely to be examples of the original Dungey concept of balanced reconnection at a pair of x-lines on the day and night side of the Earth.

McPherron, Robert L.↗
NASA NTRS2013

The Contribution of Thermally-Pulsing Asymptotic Giant Branch and Red Supergiant Starts to the Luminosities of the Magellanic Clouds at 1-24 micrometers

We present the near-through mid-infrared flux contribution of thermally-pulsing asymptotic giant branch (TP-AGB) and massive red supergiant (RSG) stars to the luminosities of the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds (LMC and SMC, respectively). Combined, the peak contribution from these cool evolved stars occurs at approx 3 - 4 micron, where they produce 32% of the SMC light, and 25% of the LMC flux. The TP-AGB star contribution also peaks at approx 3 - 4 micron and amounts to 21% in both galaxies. The contribution from RSG stars peaks at shorter wavelengths, 2.2 micron, where they provide 11% of the SMC flux, and 7% for the LMC. Both TP-AGB and RSG stars are short lived, and thus potentially impose a large stochastic scatter on the near-IR derived mass-to-light (M/L) ratios of galaxies at rest-frame 1 - 4 micron. To minimize their impact on stellar mass estimates, one can use the M/L ratio at shorter wavelengths (e.g., at 0.8 - 1 micron). At longer wavelengths (much > 8 micron), emission from dust in the interstellar medium dominates the flux. In the LMC, which shows strong polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) emission at 8 micron, TP-AGB and RSG contribute less than 4% of the 8 micron flux. However, 19% of the SMC 8 micron flux is from evolved stars, nearly half of which is produced by the rarest, dustiest, carbon-rich TP-AGB stars. Thus, star formation rates of galaxies, based on an 8 micron flux (e.g., observed-frame 24 micron at z = 2), may be biased modestly high, especially for galaxies with little PAH emission.

Melbourne, J.↗
DOE OSTI2016

3D Representative Volume Element Reconstruction of Fiber Composites via Orientation Tensor and Substructure Features

To provide a seamless integration of manufacturing processing simulation and fiber microstructure modeling, two new stochastic 3D microstructure reconstruction methods are proposed for two types of random fiber composites: random short fiber composites, and Sheet Molding Compounds (SMC) chopped fiber composites. A Random Sequential Adsorption (RSA) algorithm is first developed to embed statistical orientation information into 3D RVE reconstruction of random short fiber composites. For the SMC composites, an optimized Voronoi diagram based approach is developed for capturing the substructure features of SMC chopped fiber composites. The proposed methods are distinguished from other reconstruction works by providing a way of integrating statistical information (fiber orientation tensor) obtained from material processing simulation, as well as capturing the multiscale substructures of the SMC composites.

Li, Yi↗
DOE OSTI2014

Sequential Monte Carlo sampling in hidden Markov models of nonlinear dynamical systems

We investigate the issue of which state functionals can have their uncertainty estimated efficiently in dynamical systems with uncertainty. Because of the high dimensionality and complexity of the problem, sequential Monte Carlo (SMC) methods are used. We investigate SMC methods where the proposal distribution is computed by maximum likelihood or by a linearization approach. We prove that the variance of the SMC method is bounded linearly in the number of time steps when the proposal distribution is truncated normal distribution. We also show that for a moderate large number of steps the error produced by approximation of dynamical systems linearly accumulates on the condition that the logarithm of the density function of noise is Lipschitz continuous. This finding is significant because the uncertainty in many dynamical systems, in particular, in chemical engineering systems, can be assumed to have this nature. We demonstrate our findings for a simple test case from chemical engineering. The theoretical findings provide a foundation for the parallel software SISTOS.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2015

MiR-138 promotes smooth muscle cells proliferation and migration in db/db mice through down-regulation of SIRT1

Background: Diabetic vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) exhibit significantly increased rates of proliferation and migration, which was the most common pathological change in atherosclerosis. In addition, the study about the role for miRNAs in the regulation of VSMC proliferation is just beginning to emerge and additional miRNAs involved in VSMC proliferation modulation should be identified. Methods: The expression of miR-138 and SIRT1 were examined in SMCs separated from db/db mice and in SMC lines C-12511 exposed to high glucose with qRT-PCR and western blot. The regulation of miR-138 on the expression of SMCs was detected with luciferase report assay. VSMCs proliferation and migration assays were performed to examine the effect of miR-138 inhibitor on VSMCs proliferation and migration. Results: We discovered that higher mRNA level of miR-138 and reduced expression of SIRT1 were observed in SMCs separated from db/db mice and in SMC lines C-12511. Moreover, luciferase report assay showed that the activity of SIRT1 3′-UTR was highly increased by miR-138 inhibitor and reduced by miR-138 mimic. In addition, we examined that the up-regulation of NF-κB induced by high glucose in SMCs was reversed by resveratrol and miR-138 inhibitor. MTT and migration assays showed that miR-138 inhibitor attenuated the proliferation and migration of smooth muscle cells. Conclusion: In this study, we revealed that miR-138 might promote proliferation and migration of SMC in db/db mice through suppressing the expression of SIRT1. - Highlights: • Higher mRNA level of miR-138 was observed in SMCs from db/db mice. • The mRNA and protein level of SIRT1 in SMCs from db/db mice were greatly reduced. • miR-138 could regulate the expression of SIRT1 in SMCs. • SIRT1 overexpression reversed the up-regulation of acetylized p65 and NF-κB induced by high glucose. • MiR-138 inhibitor reversed VSMCs proliferation and migration induced by high glucose.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2015

Effect of hydrogen on superelasticity of the titanium nickelide-based alloy

The hydrogen effect on the inelastic properties and plastic strain development after electrolythical hydrogenation in physiological solution was investigated. This effect virtually results in a failure under torsion of Ti{sub 49.1}Ni{sub 50.9} (atom per cent) alloy specimens with coarse-grained (CG) and submicrocrystalline (SMC) structures. It is shown that hydrogen embrittlement (HE) phenomenon occurs irrespective of the grain size in the studied specimens at approximately equal strain values. However, compared to the specimens with CG structure, those with SMC structure accumulate two to three times more hydrogen for the same hydrogenation time. It is found that hydrogen has a much smaller effect on the inelastic properties of specimens with SMC structure as compared to those with CG structure.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2016

Anomalous temperature dependence of layer spacing of de Vries liquid crystals: Compensation model

Smectic liquid crystals that exhibit temperature independent layer thickness offer technological advantages for their use in displays and photonic devices. The dependence of the layer spacing in SmA and SmC phases of de Vries liquid crystals is found to exhibit distinct features. On entering the SmC phase, the layer thickness initially decreases below SmA to SmC (T{sub A–C}) transition temperature but increases anomalously with reducing temperature despite the molecular tilt increasing. This anomalous observation is being explained quantitatively. Results of IR spectroscopy show that layer shrinkage is caused by tilt of the mesogen's rigid core, whereas the expansion is caused by the chains getting more ordered with reducing temperature. This mutual compensation arising from molecular fragments contributing to the layer thickness differs from the previous models. The orientational order parameter of the rigid core of the mesogen provides direct evidence for de Vries cone model in the SmA phase for the two compounds investigated.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2013

THE INITIAL MASS FUNCTION OF FIELD OB STARS IN THE SMALL MAGELLANIC CLOUD

Some theories of star formation suggest massive stars may only form in clustered environments, which would create a deficit of massive stars in low-density environments. Observationally, Massey finds such a deficit in samples of the field population in the Small and Large Magellanic Clouds, with an initial mass function (IMF) slope of {Gamma}{sub IMF} {approx} 4. These IMF measurements represent some of the largest known deviations from the standard Salpeter IMF slope of {Gamma}{sub IMF} = 1.35. Here, we carry out a comprehensive investigation of the mass function above 20 M {sub Sun} for the entire field population of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), based on data from the Runaways and Isolated O Type Star Spectroscopic Survey of the SMC (RIOTS4). This is a spatially complete census of the entire field OB star population of the SMC obtained with the IMACS multi-object spectrograph and MIKE echelle spectrograph on the Magellan telescopes. Based on Monte Carlo simulations of the evolved present-day mass function, we find the slope of the field IMF above 20 M {sub Sun} is {Gamma}{sub IMF} = 2.3 {+-} 0.4. We extend our IMF measurement to lower masses using BV photometry from the OGLE II survey. We use a statistical approach to generate a probability distribution for the mass of each star from the OGLE photometry, and we again find {Gamma}{sub IMF} = 2.3 {+-} 0.6 for stellar masses from 7 M {sub Sun} to 20 M {sub Sun }. The discovery and removal of ten runaways in our RIOTS4 sample steepens the field IMF slope to {Gamma}{sub IMF} = 2.8 {+-} 0.5. We discuss the possible effects of binarity and star formation history on our results, and conclude that the steep field massive star IMF is most likely a real effect.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗