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At least 307 records · Page 17

Discovery of polarized light scattered by dust around Alpha Orionis

Following the suggestion by Jura and Jacoby (1976), linearly polarized blue continuum starlight scattered by the dust shell around the M2 Iab star Alpha Orionis (Betelgeuse) has been discovered. The polarization has been traced in the NE, NW, SE, and SW directions and has positive (tangential) orientation. Some asymmetry of the optical depth in the shell exists 15 and 30 arcsec from the star. In the NE direction the polarization was measured as far as 90 arcsec (17,000 AU) from the star. The dependence of the average intensity of the scattered light from the nebula on angular distance from the star is more consistent with an inverse-square density law than with inverse 1.5 or inverse-cube laws. Assuming that the density is proportional to the inverse square of distance from the star, the scattering optical depth in blue light along a radius of 0.03 arcsec is no more than 0.15 + or - 0.05. Future observations of the wavelength dependence of polarization will allow a determination of grain size.

Mcmillan, R. S.↗

Further observational support for the lossy radial diffusion model of the inner Jovian magnetosphere

A mathematical model describing radial diffusion, with violation of the third adiabatic invariant and with local losses, is applied to the Pioneer 10 and 11 observations of omnidirectional integral intensities of electrons with energy exceeding 21 MeV. Local losses outside L = 3 are much stronger than synchrotron losses but weaker than the losses one would expect for strong pitch angle diffusion. If radial diffusion is driven by ionospheric winds, as was suggested by Brice and McDonough (1973), it is found that the theoretical solution which best fits the data requires that the radial diffusion coefficient equals 3 x 10 to the -9th L-cubed/s and the lifetime against local losses is approximately a few million seconds.

Goertz, C. K.↗

The Yamato-74659 ureilite and some new findings on the Yamato achondritic pyroxenes

A cube-like fragment with an approximately 4 mm edge was taken from the Yamato-74659 meteorite for the mineralogical and crystallographic examination discussed in the present paper. An analysis of powdered fragments by a standard wet chemical method showed that it matched to weathered ureilite. The chemical composition was found to differ from other ureilites in that the FeO content (8.83 wt%) is the lowest among known ureilites and it is richer in SiO2 contents (42.91 wt%).

Takeda, H.↗

Stability of inner planetary systems

The stability of inner planetary systems with arbitrary mass ratios is studied on the basis of the model of the plane restricted three-body problem. A quantitative stability criterion is obtained in terms of the difference between the critical value of the Jacobi constants (at which bifurcation can occur) and the critical value corresponding to a planetary orbit. An orbit is stable if it cannot leave a region that contains only the larger central body (Hill). For small values of the mass parameter, the maximum dimensionless radius of a Hill-stable orbit is 1 minus 2.4 times the cube root of the mass parameter.

Szebehely, V.↗

Lunar crater volumes - Interpretation by models of impact cratering and upper crustal structure

Lunar crater volumes can be divided by size into two general classes with distinctly different functional dependence on diameter. Craters smaller than approximately 12 km in diameter are morphologically simple and increase in volume as the cube of the diameter, while craters larger than about 20 km are complex and increase in volume at a significantly lower rate implying shallowing. Ejecta and interior volumes are not identical and their ratio, Schroeters Ratio (SR), increases from about 0.5 for simple craters to about 1.5 for complex craters. The excess of ejecta volume causing the increase, can be accounted for by a discontinuity in lunar crust porosity at 1.5-2 km depth. The diameter range of significant increase in SR corresponds with the diameter range of transition from simple to complex crater morphology. This observation, combined with theoretical rebound calculation, indicates control of the transition diameter by the porosity structure of the upper crust.

Croft, S. K.↗

Direct integration of transient rotor dynamics

An implicit method was developed for integrating the equations of motion for a lumped mass model of a rotor dynamics system. As an aside, a closed form solution to the short bearing theory was also developed for a damper with arbitrary motion. The major conclusions are that the method is numerically stable and that the computation time is proportional to the number of elements in the rotor dynamics model rather than to the cube of the number. This computer code allowed the simulation of a complex rotor bearing system experiencing nonlinear transient motion and displayed the vast amount of results in an easily understood motion picture format - a 10 minute, 16 millimeter, color, sound motion picture supplement. An example problem with 19 mass elements in the rotor dynamics model took 0.7 second of central processing unit time per time step on an IBM 360-67 computer in a time sharing mode.

Kascak, A. F.↗

Parametric study of variation in cargo-airplane performance related to progression from current to spanloader designs

A parametric analysis was made to investigate the relationship between current cargo airplanes and possible future designs that may differ greatly in both size and configuration. The method makes use of empirical scaling laws developed from statistical studies of data from current and advanced airplanes and, in addition, accounts for payload density, effects of span distributed load, and variations in tail area ratio. The method is believed to be particularly useful for exploratory studies of design and technology options for large airplanes. The analysis predicts somewhat more favorable variations of the ratios of payload to gross weight and block fuel to payload as the airplane size is increased than has been generally understood from interpretations of the cube-square law. In terms of these same ratios, large all wing (spanloader) designs show an advantage over wing-fuselage designs.

Toll, T. A.↗

An extended investigation of Helios 1 and 2 observations - The interplanetary magnetic field between 0.3 and 1 AU

Helios 1 and 2 spacecraft allowed a detailed investigation of the radial dependence of the interplanetary magnetic field components between 0.3 and 1 AU. The behavior of the radial component is in a very good agreement with Parker's model (approximately equal to the inverse square of the heliocentric distance) and the azimuthal component also shows a radial dependence which is close to theoretical predictions (approximately equal to the inverse of the heliocentric distance). Experimental results for the normal component and for the field magnitude are consistent with those from previous investigations. The relative amplitude of the directional fluctuations with periods less than 12 hr is essentially independent of heliocentric distance, while their power decreases approximately as the inverse cube of the heliocentric distance without any appreciable difference between higher and lower velocity regimes.

Mariani, F.↗

Space Borne Event Timer

The Space Borne Event Timer is a part of the NASA laser ranging system that is intended to operate aboard the Space Shuttle orbiting over California. The object is to measure, by laser ranging, the earth movement along the San Andreas fault and possibly forecast future earthquakes. A number of cube reflector targets will be placed along both sides of the fault. The ranging system aboard the Space Shuttle will fire a burst of laser pulses at each target and detect the reflected light. Time differences between pulses from the two sides of the fault will indicate earth displacements. The Space Borne Event Timer is a CAMAC compatible system that provides extremely accurate timing data and controls the operation of the ranging system. For each event the time is given in 19.53 increments from the instant of firing the laser to the instant the reflected light is received back, within a range of 130 days.

Turko, B.↗

Finite difference grid generation by multivariate blending function interpolation

The General Interpolants Method (GIM) code which solves the multidimensional Navier-Stokes equations for arbitrary geometric domains is described. The geometry module in the GIM code generates two and three dimensional grids over specified flow regimes, establishes boundary condition information and computes finite difference analogs for use in the GIM code numerical solution module. The technique can be classified as an algebraic equation approach. The geometry package uses multivariate blending function interpolation of vector-values functions which define the shapes of the edges and surfaces bounding the flow domain. By employing blending functions which conform to the cardinality conditions the flow domain may be mapped onto a unit square (2-D) or unit cube (3-D), thus producing an intrinsic coordinate system for the region of interest. The intrinsic coordinate system facilitates grid spacing control to allow for optimum distribution of nodes in the flow domain.

Anderson, P. G.↗

Grid and metric generation on the assembly of locally bi-quadratic coordinate transformations

The generation of metric coefficients of the coordinate transformation from a generally curved-sided domain boundary to the unit square (cube) is required for efficient solution algorithms in computational fluid mechanics. An algebraic procedure is presented for establishment of these data on the union of arbitrarily selected sub-domains of the global solution domain. A uniformly smooth progression of grid refinement is readily generated, including multiple specification of refined grids for a given macro-element domain discretization. The procedure is illustrated as generally applicable to non-simply connected domains in two and three dimensions.

Baker, A. J.↗

Microstructure and mechanical properties of bulk and plasma-sprayed y2O3-partially stabilized zirconia

Bulk 8.0 weight percent yttria partially stabilied zirconia (PSZ) was studied by light microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray analysis, microhardness testing, and fracture toughness testing. The as received PSZ contained spheroidal and grain boundary precipitates up to 4 micrometers in size. Spheroids up to 1.26 micrometers were metastable tetragonal; large spheroids were monoclinic. Grinding the PSZ into powder did not cause a significant amount of tetragonal to transform to monoclinic. This indicates that transformation toughness is not a significant mechanism in PSZ. Aging the PSZ at 1500 C caused the fine tetragonal precipitates to grow from 0.06 to 0.12 micrometers, in 250 minutes. A peak hardness of 1400 kg/sq mm was attained after 50 minutes. Solution annealing and quenching the as received PSZ eliminated the large precipitates, but fine tetragonal precipitates reformed on quenching. Aging at 1500 C caused the fine 0.02 micrometers tetragonal precipitates to grow into plates about 0.10 by 0.50 micrometers. A peak hardness of 1517 kg/sq mm was obtained after 250 minutes. On further aging, monoclinic percipitates formed along grain boundaries. The fracture toughness of the aged and unaged solution annealed and quenched PSZ was found to be between 2 and 3 MN /square root of m cubed. This range of fracture toughness is consistent with PSZ's that do not undergo transformation toughening.

Valentine, P. G.↗

Space deployable truss structure design

The development status of the deployable box truss structure is summarized. Potential applications for this structural system are described. Structural and component design requirements derived from these applications are discussed. Components of prototype 4.6 m cubes which incorporate graphite/epoxy structural members, fittings, and mechanisms are described. The benefits of the component designs and their respective manufacturing processes are presented.

Coyner, J. V., Jr.↗

Wind speed statistics for Goldstone, California, anemometer sites

An exploratory wind survey at an antenna complex was summarized statistically for application to future windmill designs. Data were collected at six locations from a total of 10 anemometers. Statistics include means, standard deviations, cubes, pattern factors, correlation coefficients, and exponents for power law profile of wind speed. Curves presented include: mean monthly wind speeds, moving averages, and diurnal variation patterns. It is concluded that three of the locations have sufficiently strong winds to justify consideration for windmill sites.

Berg, M.↗

Improving the Mach number capabilities of arc driven shock tubes

New systematic trends in one of the performance parameters of pressure loaded arc driven shock tubes have been determined. For a given configuration, the Mach number increases with the cube root of capacitor energy; however, the initial driver gas pressure is relatively unimportant. A qualitative model based on the assumption of Joule-preheating by the arc discharge is discussed.

Johnson, J. A., III↗

Asymptotic form of the longitudinal correlation function for isotropic homogeneous turbulence

An asymptotic form is derived for the longitudinal correlation function for isotropic homogeneous turbulence in an incompressible fluid governed by the Navier-Stokes equation. The result is obtained from an analysis of the algebraic-differential structure of the two-point correlation tensor contained in the complex-valued Fourier transform of the probability measure over the turbulence ensemble, which reveals that the Hopf characteristic functional (the complex-valued Fourier transform of the probability measure) satisfies the Fourier interference inequality. Consequences of the expression obtained, in which the correlation function is a positive definite function of the inverse cube of the spatial coordinate as it approaches infinity, are shown to include the nonexistence of the Loitsianskii invariant, and the solution is shown to be consistent with empirical formulas.

Rosen, G.↗

Parallel processing implementations of a contextual classifier for multispectral remote sensing data

The applicability of parallel processing schemes to the implementation of a contextual classification algorithm which exploits the spatial and spectral context of a multispectral remote sensing pixel to achieve classification is examined. Two algorithms for classifying each multivariate pixel taking into account the probable classifications of neighboring pixels are presented which make use of a size three horizontally linear neighborhood, and the serial computational complexity of the more efficient algorithm is shown to grow in proportion to the number of pixels and the cube of the number of possible categories. The implementation of the more efficient algorithm on a CDC Flexible Processor system and on a multimicroprocessor system such as the proposed PASM is then discussed. It is noted that the use of N processors to perform the calculations N times faster than a single processor overcomes the principal disadvantage of contexual classifiers, i.e., their computational complexity.

Siegel, H. J.↗

Grid-generated isotropic homogeneous turbulence at high Reynolds numbers

Consideration is given to an empirical formula for the longitudinal correlation function for grid-generated incompressible fluid turbulence at Reynolds numbers above 12,800. The formula, which relates the longitudinal correlation function to the inverse cube of a dimensionless geometrical ratio, is shown to minimize the global correlation integrals into which the two-point velocity correlation tensor has been substituted subject to a global constraint on the Sobolev concomitent of the longitudinal correlation function. Furthermore, the energy spectrum function associated with the empirical formula is shown to satisfy a tertiary Helmholtz-type linear condition throughout the initial period of decay.

Rosen, G.↗