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At least 235 records · Page 13

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NASA NTRS1985

On magnetic pair production above fast pulsar polar caps

Magnetic pair production is one of high-energy electromagnetic conversion processes important to the development of pair-photon cascades in pulsars. On the basis of current polar cap models, the properties of magnetic pair production in fast pulsars are discussed. Suppose there is a roughly dipole magnetic field at the stellar surface, the author estimate the effects on non-zero curvature of magnetic field lines upon curvature radiation from primary particles and pair production rate near the surface of pulsars.

An, S.↗

NASA NTRS1984

Mixing and the dynamics of the deep chlorophyll maximum in Lake Tahoe

Chlorophyll-temperature profiles were measured across Lake Tahoe about every 10 days from April through July 1980. Analysis of the 123 profiles and associated productivity and nutrient data identified three important processes in the formation and dynamics of the deep chlorophyll maximum (DCM): turbulent diffusion, nutrient supply rate, and light availability. Seasonal variation in these three processes resulted in three regimes: a diffusion-dominated regime with a weak DCM, a variable-mixing regime with a pronounced, nutrient supply-dominated DCM, and a stable regime with a deep, moderate light availability-dominated DCM. The transition between the first two regimes occurred in about 10 days, the transition between the last two more gradually over about 3 weeks. The degree of spatial variability of the DCM was highest in the second regime and lowest in the third. These data indicate that the DCM in Lake Tahoe is constant in neither time nor space.

Abbott, M. R.↗

NASA NTRS1985

A systematic study of magnetic braking in low-mass binaries

A short summary is given of Rappaport et al. (1983) which described results of extending a simplified stellar evolution code covering the evolution of low-mass compact binaries. Magnetic braking is probably an important process in the evolution of such binaries (such as cataclysmic variables and low-mass X-ray sources). The initial simplified code describes the mass-losing star as an n = 3/2 polytrope and was developed to study the evolution of binaries with a secondary of low mass (between 0.01 and 0.4 solar mass) when the angular momentum losses are due to gravitational radiation. In the extended code, a composite polytrope model is used for the secondary, wherein the structure of the radiative core is described by an n = 3 polytrope and the convective envelope by an n = 3/2 polytrope.

Verbunt, F.↗

NASA NTRS1985

Fusion Target Technology

In order to produce the high quality spherical shells that are required, three parameters must be controlled accurately: the shell dimensions, shell sphericity and concentricity, and the surface topology of the shell. Attempts to conduct experiments on the dynamics of liquid bubbles (molten shells) in laboratories are limited by a strong coupling among the three parameters, time, gravity, and temperature. These limitations are circumvented and detailed study of each of the important processes is carried out through the use of low gravity environments collectively available in drop towers, in KC-135 flights, in a neutrally buoyant immiscible system, and in an acoustic levitation system.

Wang, T. G.↗

NASA NTRS1985

Ion partitioning in the hot Io torus - The influence of S2 outgassing

An alternative time-independent model of the ion partitioning in the hot Io torus is proposed which introduces the ratio of sulfur to oxygen in the neutral source as a free parameter. Measurements of the ion abundances in the torus plasma are presented and discussed, noting some ambiguities and identifying the features that are well established. Physical processes important to the understanding of the ion partitioning calculation are reviewed. The results of the model are discussed in the context of observational constraints, and spectroscopic constraints are discussed. It is concluded that a bimodal source model, together with a small percentage of hot electrons and a relatively short diffusion time scale, can account for the principal observational features without invoking significant time variability. In particular, the O III deficiency observed in 1981 can be obtained in a model that produces other aspects of the torus ion partitioning measured during the Voyager 1 encounter.

Moreno, M. A.↗

NASA NTRS1987

Mantle convection and the state of the Earth's interior

During 1983 to 1986 emphasis in the study of mantle convection shifted away from fluid mechanical analysis of simple systems with uniform material properties and simple geometries, toward analysis of the effects of more complicated, presumably more realistic models. The important processes related to mantle convection are considered. The developments in seismology are discussed.

Hager, Bradford H.↗

NASA NTRS1987

The role of regolith adsorption in the transition from early to late Mars climate

Researchers reexamined radiative transfer models of early Mars that were advanced to show the existance of a greenhouse effect. These models were reexamined with regard to the effect that regolith adsorption may have had. It is argued that while the precipitation of carbonates has probably been an important process during Mars history, the rates at which this process could have taken place under early Mars conditions would have dropped sharply once liquid water was fairly scarce. Furthermore, conditions under which liquid water was available may have involved efficient recycling of carbonate so that steady state conditions rather than irreversible CO2 removal prevailed. In contrast, the growth of regolith surface area demands corresponding and predictable CO2 removal from the atmosphere-cap system and is fully capable of terminating any enhanced temperature regime on early Mars in the absence of any other effects.

Fanale, F. P.↗

NASA NTRS1987

A test of the hypothesis that impact-induced fractures are preferred sites for later tectonic activity

Impact cratering has been an important process in the solar system. The cratering event is generally accompanied by faulting in adjacent terrain. Impact-induced faults are nearly ubiquitous over large areas on the terrestrial planets. The suggestion is made that these fault systems, particularly those associated with the largest impact features are preferred sites for later deformation in response to lithospheric stresses generated by other processes. The evidence is a perceived clustering of orientations of tectonic features either radial or concentric to the crater or basin in question. An opportunity exists to test this suggestion more directly on Earth. The terrestrial continents contain more than 100 known or probable impact craters, with associated geological structures mapped to varying levels of detail. Prime facie evidence for reactivation of crater-induced faults would be the occurrence of earthquakes on these faults in response to the intraplate stress field. Either an alignment of epicenters with mapped fault traces or fault plane solutions indicating slip on a plane approximately coincident with that inferred for a crater-induced fault would be sufficient to demonstrate such an association.

Solomon, Sean C.↗

NASA NTRS1986

An experimental investigation of agglutinate melting mechanisms - Shocked mixtures of Apollo 11 and 16 soils

Mixtures of chemically contrasting lunar soils have been shocked at pressures ranging from 18.2-62.0 GPa. Other than the generation of impact melts, modal and textural changes caused by shock include destruction of pore space and fused soil clasts and conversion of plagioclase to maskelynite. The loss of the fused soil component in these runs indicates that low agglutinate contents in shocked and/or compacted regolith breccias cannot be considered by themselves to be evidence of formation from immature regolith. From the petrographic and chemical data it appears that the impact glass formed mainly from the fine fraction and the fused soil component in the target, with relatively minor contributions from the other coarse clasts. The impact glasses exhibit the same chemical enrichments and depletions as their corresponding fine fractions and plot on or near a mixing line between the bulk and fine fraction of the soil in which they were formed. From this as well as several other studies it appears that the fusion of the finest fraction model is valid and that it accurately predicts the chemical systematics of impact glass formed from lunar soil. In addition, fusion of agglutinates present in the target soil is an important process.

Simon, S. B.↗

NASA NTRS1986

Star formation in active dwarf galaxies

Star formation and the ISM in active dwarf galaxies are studied based on data from the IRAS Point Source Catalog. The dwarf galaxies that show evidence of recent energetic star formation are generally also strong far-infrared emitters; thus, active current star formation is associated with a history of energetic star formation. A fraction of the galaxies considered here have a star formation rate that is significantly greater than the average rate in the recent past. Available gas is being consumed as efficiently in the presently active dwarfs as in the Milky Way. A primary difference between galaxies that are energetically forming stars and those that are not is the difference in gas mass, as well as the efficiency of star formation. The most important process may be the assembly of large amounts of gaseous material.

Thronson, Harley A., Jr.↗

NASA NTRS1987

Comparison of the compositions of Venusian surface rocks with those of the terrestrial ocean floor

A statistical comparison of data on the composition of the Venusian surface obtained with Venera and Vega lander X-ray fluorescence spectrometers and data on the composition of the terrestrial ocean floor indicates that the Venera 14 data correspond to certain thoeiitic basalts of the Kane fracture zone in the Middle-Atlantic ridge (22-25 deg N). It is suggested that deep magma storage regions exist on Venus and that the separation of tholeiitic and alkali magmas from a single primitive parent magma is an important process on Venus.

Garvin, J. B.↗

NASA NTRS1987

Mantle convection and the state of the earth's interior

Hager, Bradford H.↗

NASA NTRS1987

The Low Frequency Space Array

The Low Frequency Space Array (LFSA) is a conceptual mission to survey the entire sky and to image individual sources at frequencies between 1.5 and 26 MHz, a frequency range over which the earth's ionosphere transmits poorly or not at all. With high resolution, high sensitivity observations, a new window will be opened in the electromagnetic spectrum for astronomical investigation. Also, extending observations down to such low frequencies will bring astronomy to the fundamental limit below which the galaxy becomes optically thick due to free-free absorption. A number of major scientific goals can be pursued with such a mission, including mapping galactic emission and absorption, studies of individual source spectra in a frequency range where a number of important processes may play a role, high resolution imaging of extended sources, localization of the impulsive emission from Jupiter, and a search for coherent emission processes.

Dennison, Brian↗

NASA NTRS1987

Electrical conductivity of carbonaceous chondrites and electric heating of meteorite parent bodies

Electromagnetic heating of rock-forming materials most probably was an important process in the early history of the solar system. Electrical conductivity experiments of representative materials such as carbonaceous chondrites are necessary to obtain data for use in electromagnetic heating models. With the assumption that carbon was present at grain boundaries in the material that comprised the meteorite parent bodies, the electrical heating of such bodies was calculated as a function of body size and solar distance using the T-Tauri model of Sonett and Herbert (1977). The results are discussed.

Duba, AL↗

NASA NTRS1987

Experimental studies of crystal-melt differentiation in planetary basalt compositions

An important process that controls the evolution of magmas on and within planetary bodies is crystal-melt differentiation. Experimental studies of silicate melt solidification were performed on several planetary and terrestrial melt compositions, and experiments on one of these compositions in the microgravity environment of the space station would provide an opportunity to understand the factors that control crystal growth and crystal-melt exchange processes at crystal-melt interfaces during solidification. Experimental requirements are presented.

Grove, T. L.↗

NASA NTRS1988

Glass: A source of data leading to constraints on the volcanic, impact, and atmospheric histories of Mars

Volcanism and impact are important processes on Mars. Both mechanisms can produce glasses. Criteria exist for distinguishing between impact glasses and volcanic glasses. Owing to the single-phase nature of glass, tiny pieces (approximately 50-micrometer diameter) are as compositionally representative as larger pieces, in contrast to multi-phase crystalline samples, such as basalts. The thesis of this abstract is that glasses may be common in the Martian regolith and should be a high-priority sample owing to their combination of: (1) low representative mass, and (2) high content of information.

Delano, J. W.↗

NASA NTRS1988

Valles Marineris, Mars: An optimum science-sample site

The Valles Marineris troughs offer an opportunity to sample rocks that reflect various ages and compositions, giving insight into important processes on Mars. Most of the samples would be located within reasonable proximity and could be easily reached by rovers or balloons. Although landing a spacecraft on the floor of the Valles Marineris may be too dangerous for the first sample-return mission to Mars, the scientific rewards would be so great that such a landing should be considered for later flights.

Lucchitta, B. K.↗

NASA NTRS1989

NASA/MSFC FY88 Global Scale Atmospheric Processes Research Program Review

Interest in environmental issues and the magnitude of the environmental changes continues. One way to gain more understanding of the atmosphere is to make measurements on a global scale from space. The Earth Observation System is a series of new sensors to measure globally atmospheric parameters. Analysis of satellite data by developing algorithms to interpret the radiance information improves the understanding and also defines requirements for these sensors. One measure of knowledge of the atmosphere lies in the ability to predict its behavior. Use of numerical and experimental models provides a better understanding of these processes. These efforts are described in the context of satellite data analysis and fundamental studies of atmospheric dynamics which examine selected processes important to the global circulation.

Wilson, Greg S.↗