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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.

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NASA NTRS2024

SiC Charged Particle Telescope GRC Independent Research and Development (IRAD) Program End of Project Final Report

In an advancement over the state-of-the art, NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC) has developed a large area silicon carbide (SiC)-based charged particle telescope through an Independent Research and Development (IRAD) project. The telescope has been demonstrated to have improved noise characteristics and resolution than previous SiC detectors. This improvement will meet the challenges of compact multidirectional robust radiation detector systems to study a wide range of elementary particle mass and energies. In order to provide a complete understanding of how energetic processes internal and external to the solar system shape magnetospheres, atmospheres, and surfaces, in situ particle observations should include measurements of Solar Energetic Particles (SEP) and Galactic Cosmic Rays (GCR), along with solar wind and plasma. The potential temperature stability, tolerance to high radiation environments, and low noise characteristics expected in SiC-based detectors can have advantages over the state-of-the-art silicon detectors. These advantages will allow the detectors to be deployed in small compact systems on a variety of platforms, enabling compact structures for small satellite platforms with improved data quality.

Field and particle detectors↗
NASA NTRS1990

Gas flows in elliptical galaxies

In preparation for the next generation of x ray telescopes, researchers have begun a program investigating the evolving x ray properties of elliptical galaxies. Their galaxy models consist of a modified King profile for the luminous portion of the galaxy and can include an isothermal dark halo comprising 90 percent of the total mass. The stellar population is assumed to form at a rate which decreases exponentially on a dynamical time scale with a Salpeter initial mass function. Stellar mass loss occurs instantaneously as stars evolve off the main sequence. All stars more massive than 8 solar mass produce type II supernovae, while less massive stars loss mass through a planetary nebulae. The evolving rate of type I supernovae is normalized to a fraction, gamma sub sn I, of Tammann's (1974) value. All of this information is then incorporated into a one-dimensional hydrodynamics code to determine the evolving dynamical state of the interstellar medium.

David, L. P.↗
NASA NTRS1990

The molecular spiral arms of NGC 6946

High resolution observations of molecules in external galaxies are essential to understanding physical processes leading to the formation of stars. One question is whether there is a spiral structure in the molecular gas, but it was not possible to resolve the spiral arms of external galaxies until the advent of large millimeter-wave telescopes. With the Institute for Radio Astronomy in the Millimeter Range (IRAM) 30 m telescope, researchers are carrying through the mapping of NGC 6946 in the CO-12(1-0) and (2-1) lines. This galaxy is a large, gas-rich Scd spiral with a strong star formation activity. NGC 6946 is well studied at radio and optical wavelengths, so that it is possible to compare the location of the spiral arms tracers: HI ridge, HII regions and molecular clouds. The disk CO emission is very contrasted (no lines for some positions, 1 K in CO(1-0) for some others) and correlated with the optical spiral arms: this clearly shows up in a figure which presents superimposed contours of CO(2-1) integrated emissivity and of H alpha line emission. The agreement is very good, and there is no displacement across the arm between the CO, HI and H alpha ridges of emission. The arms are barely resolved by the 23 inch beam and the molecular contrast averaged over the map is about 4. The CO(2-1) maxima are closer to the position of the HII regions than those of CO(1-0), which could be due to variations of excitation conditions. The CO excitation in the disk of NGC 6946 is low: when all data are convolved to the same resolution of 23 inches the CO(2-1) lines are about 0.45 times fainter than the CO(1-0) ones, while in the nucleus they have roughly the same intensity. This suggests that in the disk of NGC 6946 most of the CO emission comes from cold optically thick gas located in cloud envelopes rather than from cloud cores. The molecular and atomic component in the observed regions of NGC 6946 seems to be organized in large gaseous complexes.

Casoli, F.↗
NASA NTRS1999

Nonthermal Linewidths from Serts: Implications for Coronal Heating Models

Observations from Solar Extreme-ultraviolet Research Telescope and Spectrograph (SERTS) are used to determine the nonthermal velocity in the corona for active and quiet Sun regions in 1991 and 1993. A nonthermal velocity of 20-30 km/s is obtained in all solar structures observed at both observing times. These observations can be used to constrain coronal heating models. The idea that magnetic reconnection could provide energy to heat the non-transient corona is not supported by the data.

Davila, Joseph M.↗
NASA NTRS2003

Solar Imaging UV/EUV Spectrometers Using TVLS Gratings

It is a particular challenge to develop a stigmatic spectrograph for UV, EUV wavelengths since the very low normal-incidence reflectance of standard materials most often requires that the design be restricted to a single optical element which must simultaneously provide both reimaging and spectral dispersion. This problem has been solved in the past by the use of toroidal gratings with uniform line-spaced rulings (TULS). A number of solar extreme ultraviolet (EUV) spectrometers have been based on such designs, including SOHO/CDS, Solar-B/EIS, and the sounding rockets Solar Extreme ultraviolet Research Telescope and Spectrograph (SERTS) and Extreme Ultraviolet Normal Incidence Spectrograph (EUNIS). More recently, Kita, Harada, and collaborators have developed the theory of spherical gratings with varied line-space rulings (SVLS) operated at unity magnification, which have been flown on several astronomical satellite missions. We now combine these ideas into a spectrometer concept that puts varied-line space rulings onto toroidal gratings. Such TVLS designs are found to provide excellent imaging even at very large spectrograph magnifications and beam-speeds, permitting extremely high-quality performance in remarkably compact instrument packages. Optical characteristics of three new solar spectrometers based on this concept are described: SUMI and RAISE, two sounding rocket payloads, and NEXUS, currently being proposed as a Small-Explorer (SMEX) mission.

Thomas, Roger J.↗
NASA NTRS2011

Determination of Non-Thermal Velocity Distributions from SERTS Linewidth Observations

Non-thermal velocities obtained from the measurement of coronal Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) linewidths have been consistently observed in solar EUV spectral observations and have been theorized to result fro m many plausible scenarios including wave motions, turbulence, or magnetic reconnection. Constraining these velocities can provide a physical limit for the available energy resulting from unresolved motions in the corona. We statistically determine a series of non-thermal velocity distributions from linewidth measurements of 390 emission lines from a wide array of elements and ionization states observed during the Solar Extreme Ultraviolet Research Telescope and Spectrograph 1991-1997 flights covering the spectral range 174-418 A and a temperature range from 80,000 K to 12.6 MK. This sample includes 248 lines from active regions, 101 lines from quiet-Sun regions, and 41 lines were observed from plasma off the solar limb. We find a strongly peaked distribution corresponding to a non-thermal velocity of 19-22 km/s in all three of the quiet-Sun, active region, and off-limb distributions. For the possibility of Alfven wave resonance heating, we find thai velocities in the core of these distributions do not provide sufficient energy, given typical densities and magnetic field strengths for the coronal plasma, to overcome the estimated coronal energy losses required to maintain the corona at the typical temperatures working as the sole mechanism. We find that at perfect efficiency 50%-60% of the needed energy flux can be produced from the non-thermal velocities measured.

Coyner, Aaron J.↗
NASA NTRS2020

Evidence for Magnetic Activity at Starbirth: a Powerful X-ray Flare From the Class 0 Protostar HOPS 383

Context. Class 0 protostars represent the earliest evolutionary stage of solar-type stars, during which the majority of the system mass resides in an infalling envelope of gas and dust and not yet in the central, nascent star. Although X-rays are a key signature of magnetic activity in more evolved protostars and young stars, whether such magnetic activity is present at the Class 0 stage is still debated. Aims. We aim to detect a bona fide Class 0 protostar in X-rays. Methods. We observed HOPS 383 in 2017 December in X-rays with the Chandra X-ray Observatory (~84 ks) and in near-infrared imaging with the Southern Astrophysical Research Telescope (SOAR). Results. HOPS 383 was detected in X-rays during a powerful flare. This hard (E > 2 keV) X-ray counterpart was spatially coincident with the northwest 4-cm component of HOPS 383, which would be the base of the radio thermal jet launched by HOPS 383. The flare duration was ~3.3 h; at the peak, the X-ray luminosity reached ~4 x 10(exp 31) erg/s in the 2–8 keV energy band, a level at least an order of magnitude larger than that of the undetected quiescent emission from HOPS 383. The X-ray flare spectrum is highly absorbed (N(H) ~ 7 x 10(exp 23) per sq.cm), and displays a 6.4 keV emission line with an equivalent width of ~1:1 keV, arising from neutral or low-ionization iron. Conclusions. The detection of a powerful X-ray flare from HOPS 383 constitutes direct proof that magnetic activity can be present at the earliest formative stages of solar-type stars.

Nicolas Grosso↗
NASA NTRS2025

Nonthermal Velocities in a Solar Active Region Observed by SERTS

We present measurements of coronal nonthermal Doppler velocities in NOAA Active Region 7870 observed by the Solar EUV Research Telescope and Spectrograph during its 1995 sounding rocket flight (SERTS-95). The instrument included a multilayer-coated toroidal diffraction grating that enhanced its sensitivity in second order at wavelengths between about 171 and 225 Å. Analyses of spectra from this flight were previously published but did not address the issue of nonthermal velocities; we do so here for spectra averaged over the 123װ .8 segment of the slit for which the brightest portion of the region observed by SERTS was recorded. All emission lines are fit with Gaussian profiles. With post-flight laboratory spectra of He ii and Ne II-IIINe we derive a first-order instrumental width (full width at half-maximum intensity) of Finst,1 = 50.6 ± 3.1 mÅ and a second-order instrumental width of Finst,2 = 25.3 ±1.5 mÅ. For emission lines of Fe x−Fe xv, formed at 6.05 ≤ log T(K) ≤ 6.35, we find nonthermal velocities between 26.1 and 35.0 km s −1 , independent of temperature; this range corresponds to Vnonth = 30.6 ± 4.5 km s −1 . For the two unblended Fe xii lines at 192.394 and 193.509 Å closest to the maximum sensitivity of SERTS-95, we have Vnonth = 33.7 ± 1.3 km s −1 . When solar observations are used to derive or confirm instrumental widths for spectrometers in orbit, those observations should compensate for nonthermal velocities such as the ones reported here in order to extract instrumental widths that are free of nonthermal broadening.

Jeffrey W Brosius↗
NASA NTRS1998

The Associate Principal Astronomer for AI Management of Automatic Telescopes

This research program in scheduling and management of automatic telescopes had the following objectives: 1. To field test the 1993 Automatic Telescope Instruction Set (ATIS93) programming language, which was specifically developed to allow real-time control of an automatic telescope via an artificial intelligence scheduler running on a remote computer. 2. To develop and test the procedures for two-way communication between a telescope controller and remote scheduler via the Internet. 3. To test various concepts in Al scheduling being developed at NASA Ames Research Center on an automatic telescope operated by Tennessee State University at the Fairborn Observatory site in southern Arizona. and 4. To develop a prototype software package, dubbed the Associate Principal Astronomer, for the efficient scheduling and management of automatic telescopes.

Henry, Gregory W.↗
DOE OSTI2025

FORECASTOR – II. Simulating galaxy surveys with the Cosmological Advanced Survey Telescope for Optical and UV Research

The Cosmological Advanced Survey Telescope for Optical and UV Research (CASTOR) is a planned flagship space telescope, covering the blue-optical and UV part of the spectrum. Here, we introduce the CASTOR image simulator, a python GalSim package-based script capable of generating mock CASTOR images from an input catalogue. We generate example images from the CASTOR Wide, Deep, and Ultra-Deep surveys using simulated lightcones from the Santa Cruz semi-analytic model. We make predictions for the performance of these surveys by comparing galaxies that are extracted from each image using Source Extractor to the input catalogue. We find that the Wide, Deep, and Ultra-Deep surveys will be 75 per cent complete for point sources down to $\sim 27$, 29, and 30 mag, respectively, in the UV, u, and g filters, with the UV-split and u-split filters reaching a shallower depth. With a large area of $\sim 2200$ deg$^2$, the Wide survey will detect hundreds of millions of galaxies out to $z\sim 4$, mostly with $M_\ast \gtrsim 10^{9}\,{\rm M}_{\odot }$. The Ultra-Deep survey will probe to $z\sim 5$, detecting galaxies with $M_\ast \gtrsim 10^{7}{\rm M}_{\odot }$. These galaxy samples will enable precision measurements of the distribution of star formation in the cosmic web, connecting the growth of stellar mass to the assembly of dark matter haloes over two thirds of the history of the Universe, and other core goals of CASTOR’s legacy surveys. These image simulations and the tools developed to generate them will be a vital planning tool to estimate CASTOR’s performance and iterate the telescope and survey designs prior to launch.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
NASA NTRS1979

Scientific Research with the Space Telescope: International Astronomical Union Colloquium No. 54

The application of the space telescope for extragalactic astronomy, planetary research, and stellar, interstellar, and galactic structural problems is discussed. Topics include investigations of small solar system objects, the physical characteristics of ionized gaseous nebulae, the central regions of active galaxies and quasars, problems of cosmology, and the distribution and composition of interstellar matter.

Longair, M. S.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Lisp Object State Saver (LOSS): A facility used to save partial schedules of the Hubble Space Telescope

Current research in the area of long term scheduling of the Hubble Space Telescope is being done using Common Lisp and Flavors on Lisp Machines. The planning tools manipulate memory-resident data structures which represent the many entities and relationships that represent planning states. The Lisp Object State Saver (LOSS), a general purpose utility, was constructed which allows one to take a snapshot of memory by storing a representation of the structures in a text file. This text file can later be loaded thus restoring the pre-existing and logically equivalent planning state. A LOSS template must be created for each datatype to be stored and a simple grammar governs the creation of such templates.

Sponsler, Jeffrey L.↗
NASA NTRS2016

Development of the NASA MCAT Auxiliary Telescope for Orbital Debris Research

The National Aeronautical Space Administration has deployed the Meter Class Autonomous Telescope (MCAT) to Ascension Island with plans for it to become fully operational by summer 2016. This telescope will be providing data in support of research being conducted by the Orbital Debris Program Office at the Johnson Space Center. In addition to the main observatory, a smaller, auxiliary telescope is being deployed to the same location to augment and support observations generated by MCAT. It will provide near-simultaneous photometry and astrometry of debris objects, independent measurements of the seeing conditions, and offload low priority targets from MCAT's observing queue. Its hardware and software designs are presented here The National Aeronautical and Space Administration (NASA) has recently deployed the Meter Class Autonomous Telescope (MCAT) to Ascension Island. MCAT will provide NASA with a dedicated optical sensor for observations of orbital debris with the goal of statistically sampling the orbital and photometric characteristics of the population from low Earth to Geosynchronous orbits. Additionally, a small auxiliary telescope, co-located with MCAT, is being deployed to augment its observations by providing near-simultaneous photometry and astrometry, as well as offloading low priority targets from MCAT's observing queue. It will also serve to provide an independent measurement of the seeing conditions to help monitor the quality of the data being produced by the larger telescope. Comprised of off-the-shelf-components, the MCAT Auxiliary Telescope will have a 16-inch optical tube assembly, Sloan g'r'i'z' and Johnson/Cousins BVRI filters, and a fast tracking mount to help facilitate the tracking of objects in low Earth orbit. Tracking modes and tasking will be similar to MCAT except an emphasis will be placed on observations that provide more accurate initial orbit determination for the objects detected by MCAT. The near-simultaneous observations will also provide the opportunity for multi-filter color information of the debris objects to be obtained. Color information can further distinguish the individual objects within the population and provide insight into the reflectance properties of their surface material. The specific hardware, software, and tasking methodology of the MCAT Auxiliary Telescope is presented here..

Frith, James↗
NASA NTRS2016

Development of the NASA MCAT Auxiliary Telescope for Orbital Debris Research

The National Aeronautical and Space Administration (NASA) has recently deployed the Meter Class Autonomous Telescope (MCAT) to Ascension Island. MCAT will provide NASA with a dedicated optical sensor for observations of orbital debris with the goal of statistically sampling the orbital and photometric characteristics of the population from low Earth to Geosynchronous orbits. Additionally, a small auxiliary telescope, co-located with MCAT, is being deployed to augment its observations by providing near-simultaneous photometry and astrometry, as well as offloading low priority targets from MCAT's observing queue. It will also be available to provide observational measurements to the Space Surveillance Network for the United States Air Force.

Frith, James↗
NASA NTRS2019

The Peculiar Volatile Composition of CO-Dominated Comet C/2016 R2 (PanSTARRS)

Comet C/2016 R2 (PanSTARRS) has a peculiar volatile composition, with CO being the dominant volatile, as opposed to H2O, and one of the largest N2/CO ratios ever observed in a comet. Using observations obtained with the Spitzer Space Telescope, NASA’s Infrared Telescope Facility, the 3.5 m Astrophysical Research Consortium telescope at Apache Point Observatory, the Discovery Channel Telescope at Lowell Observatory, and the Arizona Radio Observatory 10 m Submillimeter Telescope, we quantified the abundances of 12 different species in the coma of R2 PanSTARRS: CO, CO2, H2O, CH4, C2H6, HCN, CH3OH, H2CO, OCS, C2H2, NH3, and N2. We confirm the high abundances of CO and N2 and heavy depletions of H2O, HCN, CH3OH, and H2CO compared to CO reported by previous studies. We provide the first measurements (or most sensitive measurements/constraints) on H2O, CO2, CH4, C2H6, OCS, C2H2, and NH3, all of which are depleted relative to CO by at least 1–2 orders of magnitude compared to values commonly observed in comets. The observed species also show strong enhancements relative to H2O, and, even when compared to other species like CH4 or CH3OH, most species show deviations from typical comets by at least a factor of 2–3. The only mixing ratios found to be close to typical are CH3OH/CO2 and CH3OH/CH4. The CO2/CO ratio is within a factor of 2 of those observed for C/1995 O1 (Hale- Bopp) and C/2006 W3 (Christensen) at a similar heliocentric distance, though it is at least an order of magnitude lower than many other comets observed with AKARI. While R2 PanSTARRS was located at a heliocentric distance of 2.8 au at the time of our observations in 2018 January/February, we argue, using sublimation models and comparison to other comets observed at similar heliocentric distance, that this alone cannot account for the peculiar observed composition of this comet and therefore must reflect its intrinsic composition. We discuss possible implications for this clear outlier in compositional studies of comets obtained to date and encourage future dynamical and chemical modeling in order to better understand what the composition of R2 PanSTARRS tells us about the early solar system.

McKay, Adam J.↗
NASA NTRS2022

Foraging with MUSHROOMS: A Mixed-integer Linear Programming Scheduler for Multimessenger Target of Opportunity Searches with the Zwicky Transient Facility

Electromagnetic follow-up of gravitational-wave detections is very resource intensive, taking up hours of limited observation time on dozens of telescopes. Creating more efficient schedules for follow-up will lead to a commensurate increase in counterpart location efficiency without using more telescope time. Widely used in operations research and telescope scheduling, mixed-integer linear programming is a strong candidate to produce these higher-efficiency schedules, as it can make use of powerful commercial solvers that find globally optimal solutions to provided problems. We detail a new target-of-opportunity scheduling algorithm designed with Zwicky Transient Facility in mind that uses mixed-integer linear programming. We compare its performance to gwemopt, the tuned heuristic scheduler used by the Zwicky Transient Facility and other facilities during the third LIGO–Virgo gravitational-wave observing run. This new algorithm uses variable-length observing blocks to enforce cadence requirements and to ensure field observability, along with having a secondary optimization step to minimize slew time. We show that by employing a hybrid method utilizing both this scheduler and gwemopt, the previous scheduler used, in concert, we can achieve an average improvement in detection efficiency of 3%–11% over gwemopt alone for a simulated binary neutron star merger data set consistent with LIGO–Virgo's third observing run, highlighting the potential of mixed-integer target of opportunity schedulers for future multimessenger follow-up surveys.

B Parazin↗
NASA NTRS2019

Extended mission technology demonstrations using the ASTERIA spacecraft

ASTERIA (Arcsecond Space Telescope Enabling Research In Astrophysics) is a CubeSat space telescope currently operating in low-Earth orbit. It is expected to remain in orbit at least through October 2019. Developed as a technology demonstration mission under the JPL Phaeton Program for training early-career engineers, ASTERIA has achieved sub-arcsecond pointing stability and milliKelvin thermal stability over 20-minute observations.

Knapp, Mary↗