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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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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1989

Passive microwave observations of asteroids

The advances made since 1979 in the quantity and quality of the radio observations of asteroids and in the understanding of the physics of asteroidal microwave emission are reviewed. Radio continuum spectra analyses are now available for the four largest asteroids (Ceres, Vesta, Pallas, and Hygiea) at several wavelengths and several smaller asteroids (including Interamnia and Eunomia) at one wavelength. The spectra show that most asteroids are covered by a layer of material with physical properties of finely divided dust. This surface material is in layers of variable depth and has dielectric properties which vary from asteroid to asteroid. The effect of instrumentation on the interpretation of microwave observations is examined.

Webster, William J., Jr.↗
NASA NTRS1975

A planetary radio astronomy discussion of the 1.55 cm microwave emission of the earth

Using 1.55 cm observations of the earth made by the Electrically Scanned Microwave Radiometer (ESMR) experiment on Nimbus 5, the appearance of the earth from Venus is simulated. A single antenna unable to resolve the earth's disk would give a time-averaged disk temperature of 183 K. In one rotation, the disk temperature would vary from 194 K to 172 K. During the 1973 inferior conjunction, a radio telescope with 1 arc sec resolution would resolve most of the major surface features of the earth.

Webster, W. J., Jr.↗
DOE OSTI2024

Spatial decay of electromagnetic waves from hypervelocity impact plasmas

Due to the high kinetic energy of impactors in space, hypervelocity impacts on spacecraft can ablate spacecraft material and produce plasmas. These plasmas have been observed in ground-based experiments to produce electromagnetic pulses (EMPs) and are suspected to be a cause of spacecraft anomalies. The initial EMP that is produced after plasma formation is replicated using a 2D electromagnetic plasma simulation, consisting of a discontinuous Galerkin, particle-in-cell (DG-PIC) framework. The spontaneous formation of EMPs from an initial quasineutral plasma is consistent with previous works and show behavior similar to that of waves emitted by antennas. The EMP emits from the plasma with a frequency less than the plasma frequency associated with the point of maximum density, showing the importance of the density gradient, and the far-field region of the “plasma antenna” is estimated. From the proportionality between plasma frequency and EMP frequency, there is a direct correlation between plasma density and radiation. Finally, as the plasma density decreases, the EMP frequency decreases, which suggests that several observable phenomena, such as optical flashes, radio frequency emission, and microwave emission, all result from the same plasma-related mechanism within a single hypervelocity impact.

42 ENGINEERING↗
NASA NTRS1972

Thermal radio emission from Jupiter and Saturn.

Microwave brightness temperature calculations have been carried out for a number of model atmospheres for Jupiter and Saturn. The models considered are characterized by helium to hydrogen number mixing ratios which range from 0 to 0.2. Gaseous ammonia is assumed to be a trace constituent in all the models. The ammonia abundance below the (NH3) cloud level is a free parameter which is determined by comparing the observed thermal spectrum of Jupiter and the total spectrum of Saturn with the model calculations. The theoretical microwave spectra corresponding to those models in which the ammonia abundance is that expected from an atmosphere containing a solar abundance of elements are found to be in generally good agreement with the observations.

Gulkis, S.↗
NASA NTRS1972

Thermal radio emission from Jupiter and Saturn

Microwave brightness temperature calculations have been carried out for a number of model atmospheres for Jupiter and Saturn. The models considered are characterized by helium to hydrogen number mixing ratios which range from 0 to 0.2. Gaseous ammonia is assumed to be a trace constituent in all the models. The ammonia abundance below the (NH3) cloud level is a free parameter which is determined by comparing the observed thermal spectrum of Jupiter and the total spectrum of Saturn with the model calculations. The theoretical microwave spectra corresponding to those models in which the ammonia abundance is that expected from an atmosphere containing a solar abundance of elements are found to be in generally good agreement with the observations. This result is shown to be nearly independent of the helium to hydrogen ratio for the models considered. There is no evidence at this time that a non-thermal component contributes to Saturn's microwave spectrum.

Gulkis, S.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Jupiter's and Saturn's fine-scale magnetic fields

In situ magnetic field data from Jupiter and Saturn are used to interpret earth-based microwave observations for all areas except Branson's hot spot on Jupiter. It is found that Jupiter's field is strongly dipolar but has large high-order moments compared with the magnetic field of the earth. Decametric emissions of Jupiter have a complex rotational pattern which appears to have been stable since 1980. Microwave observations Saturn's radio emissions were strongly asymmetric along the rotational axis, indicating the presence of longitudinal variations in the magnetic fields a thousand kilometers from the cloud tops. The magnetic fields within a few thousand kilmeters of the cloud tops of both Jupiter and Saturn could not be identified.

Warwick, J. W.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Microwave emission from Saturn's rings

Passive radio measurements of Saturn's rings are reviewed and interferometric measurements at 2.7 mm are presented. The brightness temperatures of the A plus B rings at a rings angle of B = 10 deg are found to be 17 and 38 K in separate experiments, the latter being the more reliable. Results are interpreted in terms of ring particle emission and scattering of the planet's disk emission by the rings.

Muhleman, D. O.↗
NASA NTRS1966

Radio Astronomy

Radio astronomical studies in OH interferometry, discrete radio sources, and spectrum measurements of Venus and Jupiter

SPECTRAL EMISSION↗
NASA NTRS1994

The effect of comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 on Jupiter's synchrotron radiation

Solid material from comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 is expected to modify Jupiter's decimetric radio emission. Electrons passing through dust grains suffer a degradation in their energy, while larger sized material absorbs all electrons impinging on it. If there is enough dust and/or larger sized material in the magnetosphere, the effect on the energetic electrons can be observed via their synchrotron radiation, emitted at microwave frequencies. The planet's radio emission is expected to decrease, and the presence of dust induces a hardening in the radio spectrum. We expect the intensity to decrease immediately after cometary material enters the radiation belts; the radio emission continues to drop for many months as electrons diffuse inwards through a dusty magnetosphere. Radio observations of the planet during and after the cometary impact thus yield information on the amount of cometary material (optical depth of the dust and macroscopic material), impacts between cometary material and Jupiter's ring, and the diffusion process of energetic electrons through the magnetosphere.

De Pater, Imke↗
NASA NTRS1985

Radio emission from AM Herculis

Observations of the quiescent microwave emission of the magnetic cataclysmic variable AM Herculis are presented. The emission, which declined from a mean value of 0.58 mJy at 4.9 GHz to about 0.3 mJy, in rough coincidence with the entry of AM Herculis into an optical low state (mid-1983), is explained in terms of optically thick gyrosynchrotron emission. It is noted that the observation of a coherent outburst at 4.9 GHz, interpreted as the result of a cyclotron maser on the red dwarf secondary, indicates that the secondary is magnetized. Possible implications are briefly explored. Comparisons between this system and other stellar continuum radio sources are made.

Bastian, T. S.↗
NASA NTRS1992

The high-frequency characteristics of solar radio bursts

The millimeter, microwave, and soft X-ray emission from a number of solar flares is compared in order to determine the properties of the HF radio emission of flares. The millimeter observations use a sensitive interferometer at 86 GHz which offers much better sensitivity and spatial resolution than most previous high-frequency observations. The 86-GHz emission onset appears often to be delayed with respect to the microwave onset. Even in large flares the millimeter-wavelength emission can arise in sources of only a few arc sec dimension. The millimeter emission in the impulsive phase does not correlate with the soft X-ray emission, and thus is unlikely to contain any significant thermal bremsstrahlung component. The electron energy distributions implied by the millimeter observations are much flatter (spectral indices of 2.5 to 3.6) than is usual for microwave or hard X-ray observations.

Lim, J.↗
NASA NTRS1983

Uranus - Variability of the microwave spectrum

Radio astronomical observations of Uranus show that the radio emission spectrum is evolving in time. Ammonia vapor must be depleted in the Uranian atmosphere as Gulkis et al. (1978) previously suggested. Since 1965, ammonia either has been decreasing in time or is a decreasing function of latitude, or both, provided that the radio emission is atmospheric in origin. If Uranus has an observable low-emissivity 'surface', these trends may be reversed. The microwave observations made in 1965, at the time when the spin axis of Uranus was nearly perpendicular to the sun-Uranus line, are consistent with an atmospheric opacity profile that would be produced by saturated ammonia vapor in a predominantly hydrogen atmosphere. At the present time, when the spin axis of Uranus is nearly aligned with the sun-Uranus line, the measurements require an opacity that would be produced by saturated water vapor. A large thermal gradient between the pole and equator is ruled out.

Gulkis, S.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Polarization features of solar radio emission and possible existence of current sheets in active regions

We show that it is possible to account for the polarization features of solar radio emission provided the linear mode coupling theory is properly applied and the presence of current sheets in the corona is taken into account. We present a schematic model, including a current sheet that can explain the polarization features of both the low frequency slowly varying component and the bipolar noise storm radiation; the two radiations face similar propagation conditions through a current sheet and hence display similar polarization behavior. We discuss the applications of the linear mode coupling theory to the following types of solar emission: the slowly varying component, the microwave radio bursts, metric type U bursts, and bipolar noise storms.

Gopalswamy, N.↗