Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “core formation”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 217 records · Page 12
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1985

Millimeter-scale variations of stable isotope abundances in carbonates from banded iron-formations in the Hamersley Group of Western Australia

Several diamond drill cores from formations within the Hamersley Group of Western Australia have been studied for evidence of short-range variations in the isotopic compositions of the carbonates. For a set of 32 adjacent microbands analyzed in a specimen from the Marra Mamba Iron Formation, carbon isotope compositions of individual microbands ranged from -2.8 to -19.8 per mil compared to PDB and oxygen isotope compositions ranged from 10.2 to 20.8 per mil compared to SMOW. A pattern of alternating abundances was present, with the average isotopic contrasts between adjacent microbands being 3.0 per mil for carbon and 3.1 per mil for oxygen. Similar results were obtained for a suite of 34 microbands (in four groups) from the Bruno's Band unit of the Mount Sylvia Formation. Difficulties were experienced in preparing samples of single microbands from the Dales Gorge Member of the Brockman Iron Formation, but overall isotopic compositions were in good agreement with values reported by previous authors. Chemical analyses showed that isotopically light carbon and oxygen were correlated with increased concentrations of iron. The preservation of these millimeter-scale variations in isotopic abundances is interpreted as inconsistent with a metamorphic origin for the isotopically light carbon in the BIF carbonates. A biological origin is favored for the correlated variations in 13C and Fe, and it is suggested that the 13C-depleted carbonates may derive either from fermentative metabolism or from anaerobic respiration. A model is presented in which these processes occur near the sediment-water interface and are coupled with an initial oxidative precipitation of the iron.

NASA Program Exobiology↗
NASA NTRS1984

North Atlantic Deep Water Formation: Information from Ice Cores

The main results of measurements of the CO2 concentration of air occluded in natural ice during periods of climatic change are presented, as well as other measured ice core parameters. Elements of an interpretation of the data in terms of mechanisms of changing environmental systems are briefly discussed.

Oeschger, H.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Overturn of magma ocean ilmenite cumulate layer: Implications for lunar magmatic evolution and formation of a lunar core

We explore a model for the chemical evolution of the lunar interior that explains the origin and evolution of lunar magmatism and possibly the existence of a lunar core. A magma ocean formed during accretion differentiates into the anorthositic crust and chemically stratified cumulate mantle. The cumulative mantle is gravitationally unstable with dense ilmenite cumulate layers overlying olivine-orthopyroxene cumulates with Fe/Mg that decreases with depth. The dense ilmenite layer sinks to the center of the moon forming the core. The remainder of the gravitationally unstable cumulate pile also overturns. Any remaining primitive lunar mantle rises to its level of neutral buoyancy in the cumulate pile. Perhaps melting of primitive lunar mantle due to this decompression results in early lunar Mg-rich magmatism. Because of its high concentration of incompatible heat producing elements, the ilmenite core heats the overlying orthopyroxene-bearing cumulates. As a conductively thickening thermal boundary layer becomes unstable, the resulting mantle plumes rise, decompress, and partially melt to generate the mare basalts. This model explains both the timing and chemical characteristics of lunar magmatism.

Hess, P. C.↗
NASA NTRS1995

Line formation in collapsing cloud cores with rotation and applications to B335 and IRAS 16293-2422

We present radiative transfer models of collapsing clouds with rotation and apply them to B335 and IRAS 16293-2422, the two best candidates of protostellar collapse known to date. By including rotation in the manner of Tereby, Shu, & Cassen (1984), we can reproduce the profiles of several molecular lines not only toward the center position, but also toward a grid of positions near the center. We find that the model of B335 by Zhou et al. (1993) is not affected significantly by the presence of rotation. By including rotation, we can reproduce the observations of IRAS 16293-2422 by Menden et al. (1987); hence, we support the infall interpretations of spectral lines from IRAS 16293-2422 proposed by Walker et al. (1986). We also observed the large-scale rotation of IRAS 16293-2422 in the C(18)O J = 2 approaches 1 line. The observed rotation rate is a factor of 6 smaller than that required to explain the small-scale CS data of Menden et al. (1987). This probably means the precollapse cloud has differential rotation, possibly due to more efficient magnetic braking on large scales.

Zhou, Shudong↗
NASA NTRS2014

Ionized Gas Kinematics at High Resolution. IV. Star Formation and a Rotating Core in the Medusa (NGC 4194)

NGC 4194 is a post-merger starburst known as The Medusa for its striking tidal features.We present here a detailed study of the structure and kinematics of ionized gas in the central 0.65 kpc of the Medusa. The data include radio continuum maps with resolution up to 0".18 (35 pc) and a 12.8 micron [Ne II] data cube with spectral resolution approx. 4 km/s: the first high-resolution, extinction-free observations of this remarkable object. The ionized gas has the kinematic signature of a core in solid-body rotation. The starburst has formed a complex of bright compact H II regions, probably excited by deeply embedded super star clusters, but none of these sources is a convincing candidate for a Galactic nucleus. The nuclei of the merger partners that created the Medusa have not yet been identified.

Ionized↗
NASA NTRS2020

Effect of Pressure on the Activity Coefficients of Au and Other Siderophile Elements in Liquid Fe-Si Alloys

Light elements can alloy into the iron cores of terrestrial planetary bodies. It is estimated that the Earth’s core contains ~10% of a light element, most likely a combination of S, C, Si, and O with Si probably being the most abundant. Si dissolved into Fe metal liquids can have a significant influence on the activity coefficients of siderophile elements, and thus the partitioning behavior of those elements between the core and mantle. Many of these elements have been investigated extensively at ambient pressure, and studies up to 1 GPa are becoming more common, but few have been studied at pressures above this. The formation of the Earth’s core has been estimated to have formed at pressures between 40-60 GPa, so investigating the effect pressure has on Si’s influence on siderophile element partitioning is important for modeling core formation in the Earth and smaller planets. Pressure is well known to influence volumetric properties of metallic and silicate liquids, and oxygen fugacity (e.g., [10,11]), but less is known about its effect on activity coefficients (e.g., [12]). Some activity coefficients depend strongly upon the Si content of Fe liquids, and the concentration of siderophile elements such as P, Sb, and As in the terrestrial mantle is easily influenced by dissolved Si in the core. Thus, isolating the effect of pressure on activity coefficients in general is critical in quantitative analysis of core formation models. In this work, we investigate the effect variable Si content has on the partitioning of Au between Fe metal and silicate melt at 10 GPa and 2373 K, with the intention of comparing the behavior to that already investigated at lower pressures. In addition, P, V, Mn, Ga, Zn, Cd, Sn, W, Pb, and Nb were also measured and could thus be included in the assessment of potential pressure effects.

Righter, K.↗
NASA NTRS1993

The collapse of clouds and the formation and evolution of stars and disks

We consider the interrelationships among the structure of molecular clouds; the collapse of rotating cloud cores; the formation of stars and disks; the origin of molecular outflows, protostellar winds, and highly collimated jets; the birth of planetary and binary systems; and the dynamics of star/disk/satellite interactions. Our discussion interweaves theory with the results of observations that span from millimeter wavelengths to X-rays.

Shu, Frank↗
NASA NTRS2019

The Evolution of Dust Opacity in Core Collapse Supernovae and the Rapid Formation of Dust in Their Ejecta

Infrared (IR) observations of core collapse supernovae (CCSNe) have been used to infer the mass of dust that has formed in their ejecta. A plot of inferred dust masses versus supernova (SN) ages shows a trend of increasing dust mass with time, spanning a few decades of observations. This trend has been interpreted as evidence for the slow and gradual formation of dust in CCSNe. Observationally, the trend exhibits a t (sup 2) behavior, exactly what is expected from an expanding optically-thick ejecta. In this case, the observed dust resides in the IR-thin "photosphere" of the ejecta, and constitutes only a fraction of the total dust mass. We therefore propose that dust formation proceeds very rapidly, condensing most available refractory elements within two years after the explosion. At early epochs, only a fraction of the dust emission escapes the ejecta accounting for the low observed dust mass. The ejecta's entire dust content is unveiled only a few decades after the explosion, with the gradual decrease in its IR opacity. Corroborating evidence for this picture includes the early depletions of refractory elements in the ejecta of SN1987A and the appearance of a silicate emission band around day 300 in SN2004et.

Dwek, Eli↗
NASA NTRS2005

Proceedings of Protostars and Planets V

Oral presentation sessions in this conference include: Clouds and cores; Star formation and protostars; Binaries and multiples; Newborn massive stars; jets and outflows; Clusters and associations; T Tauri stars and disks; Brown dwarfs; Planet formation and evolution; Extrasolar planets; Dust and protoplanetary disks; Early solar system and Astrobiology. Poster presentations included: Clouds and Cores. Collapse and Protostars, Binaries and Multiples, Clusters, Associations, and the IMF, Jets and Outflows, T Tauri Stars and Other Young Stars, Disks and Disk Accretion, Brown Dwarfs, Herbig Ae/Be Stars and Massive Stars, Solar System Objects, Planet Formation, Extrasolar Planets and Planet Detection, Properties of Protoplanetary Disks, Migration and Planetary Orbits and Meteoritics and Astrobiology

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1986

Self-regulated cooling flows in elliptical galaxies and in cluster cores - Is exclusively low mass star formation really necessary?

A self-consistent treatment of the heating by supernovae associated with star formation in a spherically symmetric cooling flow in a cluster core or elliptical galaxy is presented. An initial stellar mass function similar to that in the solar neighborhood is adopted. Inferred star-formation rates, within the cooling region - typically the inner 100 kpc around dominant galaxies at the centers of cooling flows in XD clusters - are reduced by about a factor of 2, relative to rates inferred when the heat input from star formation is ignored. Truncated initial mass functions (IMFs) are also considered, in which massive star formation is suppressed in accordance with previous treatments, and colors are predicted for star formation in cooling flows associated with central dominant elliptical galaxies and with isolated elliptical galaxies surrounded by gaseous coronae. The low inferred cooling-flow rates around isolated elliptical galaxies are found to be insensitive to the upper mass cutoff in the IMF, provided that the upper mass cutoff exceeds 2 M solar mass. Comparison with observed colors favors a cutoff in the IMF above 1 M solar mass in at least two well-studied cluster cooling flows, but a normal IMF cannot be excluded definitively. Models for NGC 1275 support a young (less than about 3 Gyr) cooling flow. As for the isolated elliptical galaxies, the spread in colors is consistent with a normal IMF. A definitive test of the IMF arising via star formation in cooling flows requires either UV spectral data or supernova searches in the cooling-flow-centered galaxies.

Silk, J.↗
NASA NTRS1995

Star formation in the Galactic Center GMC cores: Sagittarius B2 and the dust ridge

The total far-infrared luminosity and the ionizing flux inferred from radio continuum observations of the Galactic center region imply a rate of star formation per unit mass of molecular material comparable to that in the Galactic disk. However, H2O and OH masers commonly found in sites of high-mass star formation are relatively rare in the nuclear disk. Far-infrared studies suggest that the formation rate of stars with masses greater than approximately 20 Solar Mass is reduced in the central region compared to the Galactic disk. Star formation might be suppressed currently in the central region as a result of the different geometry and strength of the magnetic fields there, which arguably might tend to inhibit cloud collapse. High gas pressures implied by observations of the diffuse X-ray emission suggest that giant molecular clouds (GMCs) in the nuclear disk may be held together by external pressure rather than self-gravity. The gravitational collapse leading to the formation of high density cores may thus be suppressed in all but the most massive clouds.

Lis, D. C.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Steranes and triterpanes generated from kerogen pyrolysis in the absence and presence of minerals

Changes in the degree of isomerization of steranes and triterpanes during kerogen pyrolysis in the absence or presence of minerals are described. Kerogen from a Monterey Formation diatomite core sample was pyrolyzed under reduced pressure at 300 C for 2-1000 hrs in the presence or absence of calcite, illite, and montmorillonite. It is observed that the extent of isomerization of biomakers in C-20 in 14 alpha(H), 17 alpha(H)-steranes, at C-22 in 17 alpha(H), 21 beta(H)-hopanes and of 17 beta(H), 21 beta(H)-hopanes correlates to early diagenetic stages in rock extracts from sedimentary basins, and faster isomerization for steranes and triterpanes in the bitumen then for those in the kerogen structure are detected. The effects of the minerals on the isomerization reactions are examined; calcite inhibits, and illite and montmorillonite catalyze the reactions.

Tannenbaum, E.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Experiments pertaining to the formation and equilibration of planetary cores

The phase diagram of FeO was experimentally determined to pressures of 155 GPa and temperatures of 4000 K using shock wave and diamond-cell techniques. Researchers discovered a metallic phase of FeO at pressures greater than 70 GPa and temperatures exceeding 1000 K. The metallization of FeO at high pressures implies that oxygen can be present as the light alloying element of the Earth's outer core, in accord with the geochemical predictions of Ringwood. The high pressures necessry for this metallization suggest that the core has acquired its composition well after the initial stages of the Earth's accretion. The core forming alloy can react chemically with oxides such as those forming the mantle. The core and mantle may never have reached complete chemical equilibrium, however. If this is the case, the core-mantle boundary is likely to be a zone of active chemical reactions.

Jeanloz, Raymond↗
NASA NTRS2004

On the Final Mass of Giant Planets

In the core accretion model of giant planet formation, when the core reaches critical mass, hydrostatic equilibrium is no longer possible and gas accretion ensues. If the envelope is radiative, the critical core mass is nearly independent of the boundary conditions and is roughly M(sub crit) ~ 10Mass of the Earth (with weak dependence on the rate of planetesimal accretion M(sub core) and the disk opacity k). Given that such a core may form at the present location of Jupiter in a time comparable to its Type I migration time (10(exp 5) - 10(exp 6) years) provided that the nebula was significantly enhanced in solids with respect to the MMSN and stall at this location in a weakly turbulent (alpha approximately less than 10(exp -4) disk, it may be appropriate to assume that such objects inevitably form and drive the evolution of late-phase T Tauri star disks. Here we investigate the final masses of giant planets in disks with one or more than one such cores. Although the presence of several planets would lead to Type II migration (due to the effective viscosity resulting from the planetary tidal torques), we ignore this complication for now and simply assume that each core has stalled at its location in the disk. Once a core has achieved critical mass, its gaseous accretion is governed by the given Kelvin-Helmholtz timescale.

Estrada, P. R.↗
NASA NTRS2023

TOI-5344 b: A Saturn-like Planet Orbiting a Super-solar Metallicity M0 Dwarf

We confirm the planetary nature of TOI-5344 b as a transiting giant exoplanet around an M0-dwarf star. TOI-5344 b was discovered with the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite photometry and confirmed with ground-based photometry (the Red Buttes Observatory 0.6 m telescope), radial velocity (the Habitable-zone Planet Finder), and speckle imaging (the NN-Explore Exoplanet Stellar Speckle Imager). TOI-5344 b is a Saturn-like giant planet (ρ = 0.80 +0.17 −0.15 g cm −3 ) with a planetary radius of 9.7 ± 0.5 R⊕ (0.87 ± 0.04 R Jup ) and a planetary mass of 135 +17 −18 M⊕ (0.42 +0.05 −0.06 M Jup ). It has an orbital period of 3.792622 +0.000010 −0.000010 days and an orbital eccentricity of 0.06 +0.07 −0.04 . We measure a high metallicity for TOI-5344 of [Fe/H] = 0.48 ± 0.12, where the high metallicity is consistent with expectations from formation through core accretion. We compare the metallicity of the M-dwarf hosts of giant exoplanets to that of M-dwarf hosts of nongiants (≲8 R⊕). While the two populations appear to show different metallicity distributions, quantitative tests are prohibited by various sample caveats.

Te Han↗