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At least 343 records · Page 19
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1981

X-ray and optical observations of HD 155638 - A remarkably active cool star

X-ray and optical observations of the 8.5-mag star HD 155638 are reported which reveal a remarkably active chromosphere and corona for the star. The object was first observed in soft X-rays with the HEAO 1 A2 low-energy detectors, and later reobserved with the HEAO 2 IPC. X-ray fluxes of about 2 x 10 to the -11th and 3 x 10 to the -12th ergs/sq cm per sec were obtained on the two occasions, indicative of source variability over the 2.5-year period between observations. SIT spectrographs taken in July-August 1980 show evidence of Ca II H and K core emission reversals and filled-in H alpha, while spectra taken in March and July 1981 show evidence of asymmetry and variability in the Ca II reversals. The spectral data are consistent with a G8 IV-V classification, from which is inferred a distance of 35-120 pc, and an X-ray luminosity from 4 x 10 to the 29th to 4 x 10 to the 31st ergs/sec. An absence of emission lines characteristic of mass transfer in binary systems indicates the X-rays to be coronal in origin. The properties of the star are noted to be similar to those of the RS CVn binaries.

Stern, R. A.↗
NASA NTRS1980

Laboratory studies of actinide metal-silicate fractionation

Actinide and Sm partition coefficients between silicate melt and several metallic phases have been measured. Under reducing conditions Si, Th, U and Pu can be reduced to metals from silicate melts and alloyed with a platinum-gold alloy. U and Pu enter a molten Pt-Si alloy with roughly equal affinity but U strongly partitions into the solid Pt. Th behaves qualitatively the same as Pu but is much less readily reduced than U, and Sm appears to remain unreduced. Experiments with Fe metal have shown that the partition coefficients of the actinides between Fe and silicate liquid are extremely low, suggesting a very low actinide concentration in planetary cores. Experiments show that platinum metals can efficiently fractionate actinides and fractionate actinides from lanthanides and this process may be relevant to the condensation behavior of these elements from the solar nebula. Pt-metal grains in Allende Ca-Al-rich inclusions appear to be U-poor, although the sub-class of Zr-bearing Pt metals may have high U contents.

Jones, J. H.↗
NASA NTRS1980

Clouding of pyroxene and plagioclase in eucrites - Implications for post-crystallization processing

The clouding of pyroxene and plagioclase in the basaltic eucrites ALHA 77302, Juvinas, Pasamonte, and Stannern, is caused by finely disseminated inclusions. This clouding is interpreted to be the result of exsolution of minor components which became incompatible and crystallized on microfractures and other nucleation sites during postbrecciation metamorphism. The phases found in clouding require reduction of silicate FeO to metallic Fe in both pyroxene and plagioclase and possible redox of Cr(2+) to Cr(3+) in pyroxene. The assemblage of coexisting phases that make up clouding record conditions of T approximately equal to 900 C and f(O2) of 10 to the -16th to 10 to the -18th during slow cooling. Thus, clouding can be a useful indicator of postcrystallization conditions.

Harlow, G. E.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Radiative lifetime of the 5S2 metastable state of N/+/

The radiative lifetime of metastable N(+)(5S2) has been measured to be 4.2 + or - 0.6 msec, a value generally in agreement with theory, by direct monitoring of the spontaneous emission from approximately 1,000,000 ions stored in a radio-frequency ion trap. Additional measurements were made of the quenching rate coefficient (2.5 x 10 to the -9th cu cm/sec) and the production cross section (greater than or equal to 10 to the -18th sq cm) of N(+)(5S2) in N2. This work supports the interpretation of the 2145-A feature in the spectrum of aurorae as being due to N(+)(5S2) emission.

Knight, R. D.↗
NASA NTRS1982

VLA observations of mass loss from T Tauri stars

Six of 24 pre-main sequence stars surveyed with the VLA have been found to emit at 4.885 GHz. Radio maps of the six stars, V410 Tau, T Tau, DG Tau, LkH-alpha 101, L1551 IRS5, and Z CMa, show unresolved cores of less than 0.5 arcsec in most cases, along with 1-2 arcsec, faint, extended structures. Mass loss rates, derived under the assumption of uniform spherical winds, range from approximately 3 x 10 to the -7th to about 4 x 10 to the -5th solar masses/year. Because the flows are highly anisotropic, however, these estimates are to be taken only as likely upper limits.

Cohen, M.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Stability of ammonia in the primitive terrestrial atmosphere

The rate at which ammonia would have been destroyed in the earth's atmosphere under assumed NH3 mixing ratio conditions of 10 to the -8th to 0.0001 is calculated by a one-dimensional photochemical model, and the destruction rates are compared with possible biotic and abiotic ammonia sources. It is found that, while the mixing ratio of 10 to the -8th needed for the evolution of life could have been maintained by abiotic sources, the value of 0.00001 needed for the production of significant greenhouse warming could not have been sustained abiotically. The increase of atmospheric ammonia due to biological activities during the Archean is also considered lower than the level required for the generation of measurable thermal effects.

Kasting, J. F.↗
NASA NTRS1982

X-ray emission from the Carina Nebula and the associated early stars

New Einstein observations of the Carina Nebula show the extent of the diffuse X-ray nebula to be 1.1 deg E-W by 0.7 deg N-S. The diffuse X-ray emission is generally associated with optically bright regions, but the correlation is not exact. Emission is strongest from regions bordering the apparently overlying dust lane, indicating an interaction between the energetic material of the optical nebula and the region containing the dust. The diffuse X-rays are from hot gas with temperatures of about 10 million K, and electron densities of 0.1-1/cu cm. The energy to heat this gas probably comes from strong stellar winds of the early stars embedded in the nebula. X-rays from 15 O and W-R stars in the Carina OBI association have been detected. Data are consistent with the hypothesis that X-ray luminosity is equal to about 2.0 x 10 to the -7th of bolometric luminosity for all O stars in this region with remarkably little scatter. X-ray emission from the three W-R stars observed is significantly different. In particular, the WN6 star, HD 93162, has an X-ray luminosity equal to about 2.0 x 10 to the -6th of bolometer luminosity, a factor of 30 higher than for two other W-R stars in this nebula, and perhaps the highest X-ray luminosity/bolometric luminosity of any W-R star for which X-ray observations have been made.

Seward, F. D.↗
NASA NTRS1981

The number-intensity distribution for extragalactic X-ray sources

It is shown that a self-consistent assessment of source count data can be made, if many of the deep survey sources are QSOs which are known to be evolving strongly at fluxes comparable to the survey limits. The QSO contribution would in this case become significant at X-ray fluxes below 10 to the -12th erg/sq cm per sec, and dominates at fluxes below 10 to the -13th erg/sq cm per sec. The X-ray background intensity places a limit on total source counts and requires a turnover in the evolution of X-ray emitting sources. Sources detected in the Einstein survey account for over 35% of the 1-3 keV background flux, suggesting that most of the background is due to discrete sources.

Murray, S. S.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Conversion of para and ortho hydrogen in the Jovian planets

A mechanism is proposed which partially equilibrates the para and ortho rotational levels of molecular hydrogen in the atmospheres of Jupiter, Saturn, and Uranus. Catalytic reactions between the free-radical surface sites of aerosol particles and hydrogen modecules yield significant equilibration near 1 bar pressure, if the efficiency of conversion per collision is between 10 to the -8th and 10 to the -10th and the effective eddy mixing coefficient is 10,000 sq cm/sec. At lower pressures the ortho-para ratio retains the value at the top of the cloud layer, except for a very small effect from conversion in the thermosphere. The influence of conversion on the specific heat and adiabatic lapse rate is also investigated. The effect is found to be generally small, though is can rise to 10% inside the aerosol layer.

Massie, S. T.↗
NASA NTRS1982

RW Sextantis, a disk with a hot, high-velocity wind

The continuum spectrum of the flickering blue variable RW Sex was observed from 10,000 to 1150 A. The star is a cataclysmic variable currently stabilized at maximum, and the spectrum is dominated by an accretion disk, with flat spectrum in the ultraviolet, except at more than 5000 A, where a blackbody near 7000 K is seen. A distance of 400 pc is derived, if the latter arises from an F type main sequence star. The accretion rate required is near 10 to the -8th solar masses per year. Only weak emission is seen, except for Lyman alpha; strong, broad UV absorption lines are seen with centers displaced up to -3000 km/s, with terminal velocities up to -4500 km/s, the velocity of escape from a white dwarf. The low X-ray flux may arise from absorption within an unusually dense, hot wind from the innermost portions of the disk. The estimated mass loss rate is nearly 10 to the -12th solar masses per year.

Greenstein, J. L.↗
NASA NTRS1981

Particle physics in the very early universe

Events in the very early big bang universe in which elementary particle physics effects may have been dominant are discussed, with attention to the generation of a net baryon number by way of grand unification theory, and emphasis on the possible role of massive neutrinos in increasing current understanding of various cosmological properties and of the constraints placed on neutrino properties by cosmology. It is noted that when grand unification theories are used to describe very early universe interactions, an initially baryon-symmetrical universe can evolve a net baryon excess of 10 to the -9th to 10 to the -11th per photon, given reasonable parameters. If neutrinos have mass, the bulk of the mass of the universe may be in the form of leptons, implying that the form of matter most familiar to physical science may not be the dominant form of matter in the universe.

Schramm, D. N.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Homogeneous and heterogeneous condensation of nitrogen in transonic flow

Onset of both homogeneous and heterogeneous nucleation for nitrogen gas has been measured in the Langley 0.3m Transonic Cryogenic Tunnel. Homogeneous nucleation data have been taken using a DFVLR CAST-10 airfoil and are used to evaluate classical liquid droplet theory and several proposed corrections to it. A correction for differences in translational energy states between the droplet and the bulk liquid due to either Reiss (1977) or Kikuchi (1977) achieves good agreement between the predicted onset of nucleation and the data. Good agreement is also found using a Tolman constant of 0.25 x 10 to the -10th m. Onset of heterogeneous nucleation on pre-existing seed particles in the flow has also been studied, and preliminary estimates of seed size and number are 0.25 x 10 to the -6th m and 3.0 x 10 to the 12th per kilogram of the gas. It is shown that this preexisting seed population is insufficient to influence the observed onset of homogeneous nucleation.

Hall, R. M.↗
NASA NTRS1981

Near optimum delay-line detection filters for serial detection of MSK signals

A method for designing transversal delay-line filter approximations to the matched filter for the serial detection of minimum-shift keyed (MSK) modulated signals is given. Two configurations are characterized in terms of signal-to-noise ratio degradation at a bit error rate (BER) of 10 to the -6th. One is shown to depart less than 0.3 dB from the ideal matched filter performance when its parameter values are optimized. A lumped-element equivalent is also given and shown to provide a degradation of less than 0.4 dB at a BER of 10 to the -6th

Ziemer, R. E.↗
NASA NTRS1982

The evolutionary state of zeta Aurigae

Ultraviolet studies, originally undertaken to ascertain the state of the atmosphere of the K-supergiant component of the zeta Aurigae system, have been sidetracked by the discovery of significant accretion effects. An analysis of the phase dependence of the profiles of resonance lines in Mg II and C IV has led to a qualitative model of the wind flow from the K star. At the position of the B star the flow velocity is about 100 km/sec and the density is 0.000003 per cu cm, leading to a mass loss rate of 2 x 10 to the -8th solar masses per year. This wind interacts with the B star in a shock, which will be described, leading to accretion on the B star at a rate of 4 x 10 to the -10th solar masses per year.

Chapman, R. D.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Mass flow due to heating in a binary system - Application to U Cephei

The possibility of mass flow due to the heating of the cooler component in a close binary system has been investigated. The heating may be caused by irradiation from the hotter companion or by other mechanisms such as the spacial coincidence of non-linear 'g-mode' oscillations in the cooler star. The 2.4-day period binary U Cep, in which gas streaming has been observed, has been chosen for model calculations. Preliminary results show that such a heating of the lower atmosphere of the cooler star could lead to mass flow at an average rate of 10 to the -9th - 10 to the -7th solar mass per year without the star necessarily filling its critical Roche surface.

Kondo, Y.↗
NASA NTRS1983

Detection of sulphur in the galactic center

A strong detection at the (SIII) 18.71 micron line is reported for the Galactic Center region, Sgr A West. A line flux of 1.7 + or - 0.2x10 to the -17th power W cm(-2) is found for a 20-arc second beam-size measurement centered on IRS 1. A preliminary analysis indicates that the SIII abundance relative to hydrogen is consistent with the cosmic abundance of sulfur, 1.6x10 to the -5th power, if a filling factor of unity within the known clumps is assumed. However, the sulfur abundance in the Galactic Center may be as much as a factor of 3 overabundant if a filling factor of 0.03 is adopted, a value found to hold for some galactic HII regions.

Herter, T.↗
NASA NTRS1983

The need for an intermediate mass scale in GUTs

The minimal SU(5) grand unified field theory (GUT) model fails to resolve the strong charge parity (CP) problem, suffers from the cosmological monopole problem, sheds no light on the nature of the 'dark' mass in the universe, and predicts an unacceptably low value for the baryon asymmetry. All these problems can be overcome in suitable grand unified axion models with an intermediate mass scale of about 10 to the 11th power to 10 to the 12th power GeV. An example based on the gauge group SO(10) is presented. Among other things, it predicts that the axions comprise the 'dark' mass in the universe, and that there exists a galactic monopole flux of 10 to the -8th power to 10 to the -7th power/sq cm/yr. Other topics that are briefly discussed include proton decay, family symmetry, neutrino masses and the gauge hierarchy problem.

Shafi, Q.↗
NASA NTRS1982

The abundances of CH4, CH3D, NH3, and PH3 in the troposphere of Jupiter derived from high-resolution 1100-1200/cm spectra

High-resolution spectra of the 1100-1200/cm region of the central part of Jupiter obtained in March 1980 and April 1981 are analyzed. The best fit NH3 distribution curve reveals a higher than solar mixing ratio, the abundance of NH3 to that of H2 being (3.3 + or - 1.7) x 10 to the -4th, below the 147 K layer (greater than 0.6 atmosphere). If NH3 ice particles are introduced as an opacity source, the NH3 mixing ratio below the 147 K layer can be lowered, but the fit is worse than that given by the model that excludes NH3 ice particles. The best fit PH3 distribution curve exhibits a PH3/H2 mixing ratio of (8.3 + or - 2.0) x 10 to the -7th in the troposphere. In addition, a CH4/H2 mixing ratio of (2.5 + or - 0.4) x 10 to the -3rd is found in the troposphere.

Knacke, R. F.↗