Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “INTERSTELLAR GAS”

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 325 records · Page 18
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2014

Herschel extreme lensing line observations: Dynamics of two strongly lensed star-forming galaxies near redshift z = 2

We report on two regularly rotating galaxies at redshift z ≈ 2, using high-resolution spectra of the bright [C II] 158 μm emission line from the HIFI instrument on the Herschel Space Observatory. Both SDSS090122.37+181432.3 ({sup S}0901{sup )} and SDSSJ120602.09+514229.5 ({sup t}he Clone{sup )} are strongly lensed and show the double-horned line profile that is typical of rotating gas disks. Using a parametric disk model to fit the emission line profiles, we find that S0901 has a rotation speed of vsin (i) ≈ 120 ± 7 km s{sup –1} and a gas velocity dispersion of σ {sub g} < 23 km s{sup –1} (1σ). The best-fitting model for the Clone is a rotationally supported disk having vsin (i) ≈ 79 ± 11 km s{sup –1} and σ {sub g} ≲ 4 km s{sup –1} (1σ). However, the Clone is also consistent with a family of dispersion-dominated models having σ {sub g} = 92 ± 20 km s{sup –1}. Our results showcase the potential of the [C II] line as a kinematic probe of high-redshift galaxy dynamics: [C II] is bright, accessible to heterodyne receivers with exquisite velocity resolution, and traces dense star-forming interstellar gas. Future [C II] line observations with ALMA would offer the further advantage of spatial resolution, allowing a clearer separation between rotation and velocity dispersion.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
NASA NTRS1994

Origin of the O(+) pick-up ions in the hehiosphere

The main sources for the ions in the interplanetary medium are the solar wind and the interstellar gas intruding into the heliosphere. Other sources, i.e. comets and planets can, however, contribute significantly locally. We present approximate expressions for deriving fluxes of pick-up ions originating from local neutral gas sources. Since the Io-torus is thought to be a relatively strong emitter of fast atoms, particular O and S, we used the O(+) data obtained by SWICS-Ulysses as a function of distance from Jupiter, both in and out-off the ecliptic plane in order to recognize a possible contribution of the Ionian source to the measured O(+). We find that - except for a very limited zone near the Jovian magnetosphere - the contribution of the Io-torus to the O(+) fluxes is minor, thus confirming our previous results on the pick-up H(+), He(+), N(+), O(+), and Ne(+) fluxes of interstellar origin.

Geiss, J.↗
NASA NTRS2014

Herschel Extreme Lensing Line Observations: Dynamics of Two Strongly Lensed Star-Forming Galaxies near Redshift z=2*

We report on two regularly rotating galaxies at redshift z approx. = 2, using high-resolution spectra of the bright [C microns] 158 micrometers emission line from the HIFI instrument on the Herschel Space Observatory. Both SDSS090122.37+181432.3 ("S0901") and SDSSJ120602.09+514229.5 ("the Clone") are strongly lensed and show the double-horned line profile that is typical of rotating gas disks. Using a parametric disk model to fit the emission line profiles, we find that S0901 has a rotation speed of v sin(i) approx. = 120 +/- 7 kms(sup −1) and a gas velocity dispersion of (standard deviation)g < 23 km s(sup −1) (1(standard deviation)). The best-fitting model for the Clone is a rotationally supported disk having v sin(i) approx. = 79 +/- 11 km s(sup −1) and (standard deviation)g 4 kms(sup −1) (1(standard deviation)). However, the Clone is also consistent with a family of dispersion-dominated models having (standard deviation)g = 92 +/- 20 km s(sup −1). Our results showcase the potential of the [C microns] line as a kinematic probe of high-redshift galaxy dynamics: [C microns] is bright, accessible to heterodyne receivers with exquisite velocity resolution, and traces dense star-forming interstellar gas. Future [C microns] line observations with ALMA would offer the further advantage of spatial resolution, allowing a clearer separation between rotation and velocity dispersion.

LENSING↗
NASA NTRS2001

Self-assembling amphiphilic molecules: Synthesis in simulated interstellar/precometary ices

Interstellar gas and dust constitute the primary material from which the solar system formed. Near the end of the hot early phase of star and planet formation, volatile, less refractory materials were transported into the inner solar system as comets and interplanetary dust particles. Once the inner planets had sufficiently cooled, late accretionary infall seeded them with complex organic compounds [Oro, J. (1961) Nature (London) 190, 389-390; Delsemme, A. H. (1984) Origins Life 14, 51-60; Anders, E. (1989) Nature (London) 342, 255-257; Chyba, C. F. & Sagan, C. (1992) Nature (London) 355, 125-131]. Delivery of such extraterrestrial compounds may have contributed to the organic inventory necessary for the origin of life. Interstellar ices, the building blocks of comets, tie up a large fraction of the biogenic elements available in molecular clouds. In our efforts to understand their synthesis, chemical composition, and physical properties, we report here that a complex mixture of molecules is produced by UV photolysis of realistic, interstellar ice analogs, and that some of the components have properties relevant to the origin of life, including the ability to self-assemble into vesicular structures.

Meteoroids↗
NASA NTRS2005

Numerical Model for Cosmic Rays Species Production and Propagation in the Galaxy

In recent years, considerable progress has been made in studying the propagation and origin of cosmic rays, as new and more accurate data have become available. Many models have been developed to study cosmic ray interactions and propagation showed flexibility in resembling various astrophysical conditions and good agreement with observational data. However, some astrophysical problems cannot be addressed using these models, such as the stochastic nature of the cosmic rays source, small-scale structures and inhomogeneities in the interstellar gas that can affect radioactive secondary abundance in cosmic rays. We have developed a new model and a corresponding computer code that can address some of these limitations. The model depends on the expansion of the backward stochastic solution of the general diffusion transport equation (Zhang 1999) starting from an observer position to solve a group of diffusion transport equations each of which represents a particular element or isotope of cosmic ray nuclei. In this paper we are focusing on key abundance ratios such as B/C, sub-Fe/Fe, (10)Be/(9)Be, (26)Al/(27)Al, (36)Cl/(37)Cl and (54)Mn/(55)Mn, which all have well established cross sections, to evaluate our model. The effect of inhomogeneity in the interstellar medium is investigated. The contribution of certain cosmic ray nuclei to the production of other nuclei is addressed. The contribution of various galactic locations to the production of cosmic ray nuclei observed at solar system is also investigated.

Farahat, Ashraf↗
DOE OSTI2016

THERMAL PRESSURES IN THE INTERSTELLAR MEDIUM OF THE MAGELLANIC CLOUDS

We discuss the thermal pressures ( n {sub H} T ) in predominantly cold, neutral interstellar gas in the Magellanic Clouds, derived from analyses of the fine-structure excitation of neutral carbon, as seen in high-resolution Hubble Space Telescope /Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph spectra of seven diverse sight lines in the LMC and SMC. Detailed fits to the line profiles of the absorption from C i, C i*, and C i** yield consistent column densities for the three to six C i multiplets detected in each sight line. In the LMC and SMC, N (C i{sub tot}) is consistent with Galactic trends versus N (Na i) and N (CH), but is slightly lower versus N (K i) and N (H{sub 2}). As for N (Na i) and N (K i), N (C i{sub tot}) is generally significantly lower, for a given N (H{sub tot}), in the LMC and (especially) in the SMC, compared to the local Galactic relationship. For the LMC and SMC components with well-determined column densities for C i, C i*, and C i**, the derived thermal pressures are typically factors of a few higher than the values found for most cold, neutral clouds in the Galactic ISM. Such differences are consistent with the predictions of models for clouds in systems (like the LMC and SMC) that are characterized by lower metallicities, lower dust-to-gas ratios, and enhanced radiation fields—where higher pressures are required for stable cold, neutral clouds. The pressures may be further enhanced by energetic activity (e.g., due to stellar winds, star formation, and/or supernova remnants) in several of the regions probed by these sight lines. Comparisons are made with the C i observed in some quasar absorption-line systems.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

THREE-DIMENSIONAL KINETIC-MHD MODEL OF THE GLOBAL HELIOSPHERE WITH THE HELIOPAUSE-SURFACE FITTING

This paper provides a detailed description of the latest version of our model of the solar wind (SW) interaction with the local interstellar medium (LISM). This model has already been applied to the analysis of Lyα absorption spectra toward nearby stars and for analyses of Solar and Heliospheric Observatory/SWAN data. Katushkina et al. (this issue) used the model results to analyze IBEX-Lo data. At the same time, the details of this model have not yet been published. This is a three-dimensional (3D) kinetic-magnetohydrodynamical (MHD) model that takes into account SW and interstellar plasmas (including α particles in SW and helium ions in LISM), the solar and interstellar magnetic fields, and interstellar hydrogen atoms. The latitudinal dependence of SW and the actual flow direction of the interstellar gas with respect to the Sun are also taken into account in the model. It was very essential that our numerical code was developed in such a way that any numerical diffusion or reconnection across the heliopause were not allowed in the model. The heliospheric current sheet is a rotational discontinuity in the ideal MHD and can be treated kinematically. In the paper, we focus in particular on the effects of the heliospheric magnetic field and on the heliolatitudinal dependence of SW.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

The heating of mid-infrared dust in the nearby galaxy M33: A testbed for tracing galaxy evolution

Infrared emission is an invaluable tool for quantifying star formation in galaxies. Because the 8 μm polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) emission has been found to correlate with other well-known star formation tracers, it has widely been used as a star formation rate (SFR) tracer. There are, however, studies that challenge the accuracy and reliability of the 8 μm emission as a SFR tracer. Our study, part of the Herschel (Herschel is an ESA space observatory with science instruments provided by European-led Principal Investigator consortia and with important participation from NASA) M33 Extended Survey (HERM33ES) open time key program, aims at addressing this issue by analyzing the infrared emission from the nearby spiral galaxy M33 at the high spatial scale of ∼75 pc. Combining data from the Herschel Space Observatory and the Spitzer Space Telescope, we find that the 8 μm emission is better correlated with the 250 μm emission, which traces cold interstellar gas, than with the 24 μm emission. Furthermore, the L(8)/L(250) ratio is more tightly correlated with the 3.6 μm emission, a tracer of evolved stellar populations and stellar mass, than with a combination of Hα and 24 μm emission, a tracer of SFR. The L(8)/L(24) ratio is highly depressed in 24 μm luminous regions, which correlate with known H II regions. We also compare our results with the dust emission models by Draine and Li. We confirm that the depression of 8 μm PAH emission near star-forming regions is higher than what is predicted by models; this is possibly an effect of increased stellar radiation from young stars destroying the dust grains responsible for the 8 μm emission as already suggested by other authors. We find that the majority of the 8 μm emission is fully consistent with heating by the diffuse interstellar medium, similar to what recently determined for the dust emission in M31 by Draine et al. We also find that the fraction of 8 μm emission associated with the diffuse interstellar radiation field ranges between ∼60% and 80% and is 40% larger than the diffuse fraction at 24 μm.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2017

The spatially resolved [C ii] cooling line deficit in galaxies

We present [C ii] 158 μm measurements from over 15,000 resolved regions within 54 nearby galaxies of the Kingfish program to investigate the so-called [C ii] “line-cooling deficit” long known to occur in galaxies with different luminosities. The [C ii]/TIR ratio ranges from above 1% to below 0.1% in the sample, with a mean value of 0.48 ± 0.21%. We find that the surface density of 24 μm emission dominates this trend, with [C ii]/TIR dropping as νI{sub ν}(24 μm) increases. Deviations from this overall decline are correlated with changes in the gas-phase metal abundance, with higher metallicity associated with deeper deficits at a fixed surface brightness. We supplement the local sample with resolved [C ii] measurements from nearby luminous infrared galaxies and high-redshift sources from z = 1.8–6.4, and find that star formation rate density drives a continuous trend of deepening [C ii] deficit across six orders of magnitude in Σ{sub sfr}. The tightness of this correlation suggests that an approximate Σ{sub sfr} can be estimated directly from global measurements of [C ii]/TIR, and a relation is provided to do so. Several low-luminosity active galactic nucleus (AGN) hosts in the sample show additional and significant central suppression of [C ii]/TIR, but these deficit enhancements occur not in those AGNs with the highest X-ray luminosities, but instead those with the highest central starlight intensities. Taken together, these results demonstrate that the [C ii] line-cooling line deficit in galaxies likely arises from local physical phenomena in interstellar gas.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2012

NOT DEAD YET: COOL CIRCUMGALACTIC GAS IN THE HALOS OF EARLY-TYPE GALAXIES

We report new observations of circumgalactic gas in the halos of early-type galaxies (ETGs) obtained by the COS-Halos Survey with the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph on board the Hubble Space Telescope. We find that detections of H I surrounding ETGs are typically as common and strong as around star-forming galaxies, implying that the total mass of circumgalactic material is comparable in the two populations. For ETGs, the covering fraction for H I absorption above 10{sup 16} cm{sup -2} is {approx}40%-50% within {approx}150 kpc. Line widths and kinematics of the detected material show it to be cold (T {approx}< 10{sup 5} K) in comparison to the virial temperature of the host halos. The implied masses of cool, photoionized circumgalactic medium baryons may be up to 10{sup 9}-10{sup 11} M{sub Sun }. Contrary to some theoretical expectations, strong halo H I absorbers do not disappear as part of the quenching of star formation. Even passive galaxies retain significant reservoirs of halo baryons that could replenish the interstellar gas reservoir and eventually form stars. This halo gas may feed the diffuse and molecular gas that is frequently observed inside ETGs.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2012

MAGNETICALLY LEVITATING ACCRETION DISKS AROUND SUPERMASSIVE BLACK HOLES

In this paper, we report on the formation of magnetically levitating accretion disks around supermassive black holes (SMBHs). The structure of these disks is calculated by numerically modeling tidal disruption of magnetized interstellar gas clouds. We find that the resulting disks are entirely supported by the pressure of the magnetic fields against the component of gravitational force directed perpendicular to the disks. The magnetic field shows ordered large-scale geometry that remains stable for the duration of our numerical experiments extending over 10% of the disk lifetime. Strong magnetic pressure allows high accretion rate and inhibits disk fragmentation. This in combination with the repeated feeding of magnetized molecular clouds to an SMBH yields a possible solution to the long-standing puzzle of black hole growth in the centers of galaxies.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

NEW CALCULATION OF ANTIPROTON PRODUCTION BY COSMIC RAY PROTONS AND NUCLEI

A dramatic increase in the accuracy and statistics of space-borne cosmic ray (CR) measurements has yielded several breakthroughs over the last several years. The most puzzling is the rise in the positron fraction above ∼10 GeV over the predictions of the propagation models assuming pure secondary production. The accuracy of the antiproton production cross section is critical for astrophysical applications and searches for new physics since antiprotons in CRs seem to hold the keys to many puzzles including the origin of those excess positrons. However, model calculations of antiproton production in CR interactions with interstellar gas are often employing parameterizations that are out of date or are using outdated physical concepts. This may lead to an incorrect interpretation of antiproton data which could have broad consequences for other areas of astrophysics. In this work, we calculate antiproton production in pp-, pA-, and AA-interactions using EPOS-LHC and QGSJET-II-04, two of the most advanced Monte Carlo (MC) generators tuned to numerous accelerator data including those from the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). We show that the antiproton yields obtained with these MC generators differ by up to an order of magnitude from yields of parameterizations commonly used in astrophysics.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
NASA NTRS1997

Evidence for a New Class of Extreme Ultraviolet Sources

Most of the sources detected in the extreme ultraviolet (EUV; 100-600 A) by the ROSAT/WFC and EUVE all-sky surveys have been identified with active late-type stars and hot white dwarfs that are near enough to the Earth to escape absorption by interstellar gas. However, about 15 per cent of EUV sources are as yet unidentified with any optical counterparts. We examine whether the unidentified EUV sources may consist of the same population of late-type stars and white dwarfs. We present B and R photometry of stars in the fields of seven of the unidentified EUV sources. We detect in the optical the entire main-sequence and white dwarf population out to the greatest distances where they could still avoid absorption. We use color-magnitude diagrams to demonstrate that, in most of the fields, none of the observed stars has the colours and magnitudes of late-type dwarfs at distances less than 100 pc. Similarly, none of the observed stars is a white dwarf within 500 pc that is hot enough to be a EUV emitter. The unidentified EUV sources we study are not detected in X-rays, while cataclysmic variables, X-ray binaries, and active galactic nuclei generally are. We conclude that some of the EUV sources may be a new class of nearby objects, which are either very faint at optical bands or which mimic the colours and magnitudes of distant late-type stars or cool white dwarfs. One candidate for optically faint objects is isolated old neutron stars, slowly accreting interstellar matter. Such neutron stars are expected to be abundant in the Galaxy, and have not been unambiguously detected.

Maoz, Dan↗
DOE OSTI2014

Explanation of the local galactic cosmic ray energy spectra measured by Voyager 1. I. Protons

Almost exactly 100 yr after the original discovery of cosmic rays, the V1 spacecraft has observed, for the first time, the local interstellar medium energy spectra of cosmic ray H, He, C/O nuclei at nonrelativistic kinetic energies, after leaving the heliosphere modulation region on 2012 August 25. We explain these observations by modeling the propagation of these particles in the local Galactic environment with an updated steady-state spatial diffusion model including all particle momentum losses with the local interstellar gas (Coulomb/ionization, pion production, adiabatic deceleration, and fragmentation interactions). Excellent agreement with the V1 cosmic ray H observations is obtained if the solar system resides within a spatially homogeneous layer of distributed cosmic ray sources injecting the same momentum power law ∝p {sup –s} with s = 2.24 ± 0.12. The best fit to the V1 H observations also provides an estimate of the characteristic break kinetic energy T{sub C} = 116 ± 27 MeV, representing the transition from ionization/Coulomb energy losses at low energies to pion production and adiabatic deceleration losses in a Galactic wind at high energies. As the determined value is substantially smaller than 217 MeV in the absence of adiabatic deceleration, our results prove the existence of a Galactic wind in the local Galactic environment.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2016

THE IMPACT OF ACCURATE EXTINCTION MEASUREMENTS FOR X-RAY SPECTRAL MODELS

Interstellar extinction includes both absorption and scattering of photons from interstellar gas and dust grains, and it has the effect of altering a source's spectrum and its total observed intensity. However, while multiple absorption models exist, there are no useful scattering models in standard X-ray spectrum fitting tools, such as XSPEC. Nonetheless, X-ray halos, created by scattering from dust grains, are detected around even moderately absorbed sources, and the impact on an observed source spectrum can be significant, if modest, compared to direct absorption. By convolving the scattering cross section with dust models, we have created a spectral model as a function of energy, type of dust, and extraction region that can be used with models of direct absorption. This will ensure that the extinction model is consistent and enable direct connections to be made between a source's X-ray spectral fits and its UV/optical extinction.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

Secondary antiprotons as a Galactic Dark Matter probe

We present a novel determination of the astrophysical uncertainties associated to the secondary antiproton flux originating from cosmic-ray spallation on the interstellar gas. We select a set of propagation models compatible with the recent B/C data from PAMELA, and find those providing minimal and maximal antiproton fluxes in different energy ranges. We use this result to determine the most conservative bounds on relevant Dark Matter (DM) annihilation channels: we find that the recent claim of a DM interpretation of a gamma-ray excess in the Galactic Center region cannot be ruled out by current antiproton data. Finally, we discuss the impact of the recently released preliminary data from AMS-02. In particular, we provide a reference model compatible with proton, helium and B/C spectra from this experiment. Remarkably, the main propagation parameters of this model are in agreement with the best fit presented in our earlier statistical analyses. We also show that the antiproton-to-proton ratio does not exhibit any significant anomaly at high energy with respect to our predictions.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2018

Galactic bulge preferred over dark matter for the Galactic centre gamma-ray excess

An anomalous gamma-ray excess emission has been found in the Fermi Large Area Telescope data1 covering the centre of the Galaxy2,3. Several theories have been proposed for this ‘Galactic centre excess’. They include self-annihilation of dark-matter particles4, an unresolved population of millisecond pulsars5, an unresolved population of young pulsars6, or a series of burst events7. We report on an analysis that exploits hydrodynamical modelling to register the position of interstellar gas associated with diffuse Galactic gamma-ray emission. We find evidence that the Galactic centre excess gamma rays are statistically better described by the stellar over-density in the Galactic bulge and the nuclear stellar bulge, rather than a spherical excess. Given its non-spherical nature, we argue that the Galactic centre excess is not a dark-matter phenomenon but rather associated with the stellar population of the Galactic bulge and the nuclear bulge.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2016

Deep view of the Large Magellanic Cloud with six years of Fermi -LAT observations

Context. The nearby Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) provides a rare opportunity of a spatially resolved view of an external star-forming galaxy in -rays. The LMC was detected at 0.1–100 GeV as an extended source with CGRO/EGRET and using early observations with the Fermi-LAT. The emission was found to correlate with massive star-forming regions and to be particularly bright towards 30 Doradus. Aims. Studies of the origin and transport of cosmic rays (CRs) in the Milky Way are frequently hampered by line-of-sight confusion and poor distance determination. The LMC offers a complementary way to address these questions by revealing whether and how the -ray emission is connected to specific objects, populations of objects, and structures in the galaxy. Methods. We revisited the -ray emission from the LMC using about 73 months of Fermi-LAT P7REP data in the 0.2–100 GeV range. We developed a complete spatial and spectral model of the LMC emission, for which we tested several approaches: a simple geometrical description, template-fitting, and a physically driven model for CR-induced interstellar emission. Results. In addition to identifying PSR J0540-6919 through its pulsations, we find two hard sources positionally coincident with plerion N 157B and supernova remnant N 132D, which were also detected at TeV energies with H.E.S.S. We detect an additional soft source that is currently unidentified. Extended emission dominates the total flux from the LMC. It consists of an extended component of about the size of the galaxy and additional emission from three to four regions with degree-scale sizes. If it is interpreted as CRs interacting with interstellar gas, the large-scale emission implies a large-scale population of ~1–100GeV CRs with a density of ~30% of the local Galactic value. On top of that, the three to four small-scale emission regions would correspond to enhancements of the CR density by factors 2 to 6 or higher, possibly more energetic and younger populations of CRs compared to the large-scale population. An alternative explanation is that this is emission from an unresolved population of at least two dozen objects, such as pulsars and their nebulae or supernova remnants. This small-scale extended emission has a spatial distribution that does not clearly correlate with known components of the LMC, except for a possible relation to cavities and supergiant shells. Conclusions. The Fermi-LAT GeV observations allowed us to detect individual sources in the LMC. Three of the newly discovered sources are associated with rare and extreme objects. The 30 Doradus region is prominent in GeV -rays because PSR J0540-6919 and N 157B are strong emitters. The extended emission from the galaxy has an unexpected spatial distribution, and observations at higher energies and in radio may help to clarify its origin. Key words. Gamma

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗