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The performance of the solar wind near one astronomical unit is discussed. The solar wind is shown to act as a compressible, supersonic, magnetogasdynamic fluid. The creation of magnetogasdynamic shock waves by solar flares and other causes is analyzed. The observations of shock fronts and the flows behind these fronts are discussed and synoptic views of the observations are described. Theoretical concepts and models are summarized.
This investigation of vapor-liquid phase separation (VLPS) of He 2 is related to long-term storage of cryogenic liquid. The VLPS system utilizes porous plugs in order to generate thermomechanical (thermo-osmotic) force which in turn prevents liquid from flowing out of the cryo-vessel (e.g., Infrared Astronomical Satellite). An apparatus was built and VLPS data were collected for a 2 and a 10 micrometer sintered stainless steel plug and a 5 to 15 micrometer sintered bronze plug. The VLPS data obtained at high temperature were in the nonlinear turbulent regime. At low temperature, the Stokes regime was approached. A turbulent flow model was developed, which provides a phenomenological description of the VLPS data. According to the model, most of the phase separation data are in the turbulent regime. The model is based on concepts of the Gorter-Mellink transport involving the mutual friction known from the zero net mass flow (ZNMF) studies. The latter had to be modified to obtain agreement with the present experimental VLPS evidence. In contrast to the well-known ZNMF mode, the VLPS results require a geometry dependent constant (Gorter-Mellink constant). A theoretical interpretation of the phenomenological equation for the VLPS data obtained, is based on modelling of the dynamics of quantized vortices proposed by Vinen. In extending Vinen's model to the VLPS transport of He 2 in porous media, a correlation between the K*(GM) and K(p) was obtained which permits an interpretation of the present findings. As K(p) is crucial, various methods were introduced to measure the permeability of the porous media at low temperatures. Good agreement was found between the room temperature and the low temperature K(p)-value of the plugs.
With the Voyager spacecrafts' discovery of low-frequency radio emissions from the depths of the outer heliosphere has come the realization that the boundaries between our heliosphere and the local interstellar medium have been detected. A model is presented here that can account for the observed radio emissions, based upon a termination shock modified by the dynamical effect of galactic and anomalous cosmic rays. Frequency and time domain properties of both continuum and transient radio events are explained, and new estimates for the distance to the termination shock (approximately 60-70 astronomical units) and the heliopause (less than or approximately 90 AU) are given.
Studies of tectonic plate motions, regional crustal deformations, strain accumulation and release, deformations associated with earthquakes and fault motion, and micro-plate motion, were collected and are summarized. To a limited extent, papers dealing with global models of current plate motions and crustal stress are included. The data base is restricted to articles appearing in reveiwed technical journals during the years 1970-1980. The major journals searched include: Journal of Geophysical Research (solid earth), Tectonophysics, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, Geological Society of America Bulletin, Geophysical Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society, and the Journal of Geology.
The statistical treatment of univariate censored data is discussed. A heuristic derivation of the Kaplan-Meier maximum-likelihood estimator from first principles is presented which results in an expression amenable to analytic error analysis. Methods for comparing two or more censored samples are given along with simple computational examples, stressing the fact that most astronomical problems involve upper limits while the standard mathematical methods require lower limits. The application of univariate survival analysis to six data sets in the recent astrophysical literature is described, and various aspects of the use of survival analysis in astronomy, such as the limitations of various two-sample tests and the role of parametric modelling, are discussed.
An efficient numerical method for solving the problem of radiation transport in a dusty medium with two dimensional (2-D) disk geometry is described. It is a generalization of the one-dimensional quasi-diffusion method in which the transport equation is cast in diffusion form and then solved as a boundary value problem. The method should be applicable to a variety of astronomical sources, the dynamics of which are angular-momentum dominated and hence not accurately treated by spherical geometry, e.g., protoplanetary nebulae, circumstellar disks, interstellar molecular clouds, accretion disks, and disk galaxies. The computational procedure and practical considerations for implementing the method are described in detail. To illustrate the effects of 2-D radiation transport, some model results (dust temperature distributions and IR flux spectra) for externally heated, interstellar dust clouds with spherically symmetric and disk geometry are compared.
Detailed understanding of the properties of the point-spread function (PSF) of Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) imaging modes is necessary to separate real effects of geometrically complex astronomical sources, such as protoplanetary disks surrounding bright stars, from instrumental effects, such as scattering and diffraction. In order to investigate STIS imaging properties we have numerically simulated broadband stellar PSFs generated by STIS in CCD clear imaging mode, including the effects of the Lyot stop and the coronagraphic wedges. The input spectrum is a stellar model atmosphere of the appropriate spectral type, convolved with the pre-flight STIS CCD response function. The PSF modeler generates broadband PSFs by co-adding weighted monochromatic PSFs across the waveband.
We present the results of an analysis of the effects of atmospheric seeing and of instrumental spectral and spatial resolution on the observed variation of absorption-line profiles across the disk of Jupiter. The technique described may be applied equally well to the analysis of observations of any extended astronomical source. These results show the necessity of obtaining accurate point-spread-function information during the course of observations of this nature. We also point out that in order to avoid the uncertainties and ambiguities inherent in attempts at deconvolution of observational data, one must properly convolve the appropriate spatial and spectral resolution functions with the models being tested and then compare the results with the observational data.
High-accuracy laboratory measurements of the temperature dependence of the opacity from gaseous sulfur dioxide (SO2) in a carbon dioxide (CO2) atmosphere at temperatures from 290 to 505 K and at pressures from 1 to 4 atm have been conducted at frequencies of 2.25 GHz (13.3 cm), 8.5 GHz (3.5 cm), and 21.7 GHz (1.4 cm). Based on these absorptivity measurements, a Ben-Reuven (BR) line shape model has been developed that provides a more accurate characterization of the microwave absorption of gaseous S02 in the Venus atmosphere as compared with other formalisms. The developed BR formalism is incorporated into a radiative transfer model. The resulting microwave emission spectrum of Venus is then used to set an upper limit on the disk-averaged abundance of gaseous S02 below the main cloud layer. It is found that gaseous S02 has an upper limit of 150 ppm, which compares well with previous spacecraft in situ measurements and Earth-based radio astronomical observations.
The NASTRAN structural analysis program was used to investigate the dynamic properties of thin primary mirrors suitable for use in large orbiting astronomical telescopes. An analysis is included of the mode shapes and modal frequencies for several thin, homogeneous, isotropic mirrors. Typical cases include two different mirror diameters, two different diameter-to-thickness ratios, and both a mirror without and a mirror with a central hole that is 22 percent of the mirror diameter. The finite-element structural model is evaluated by comparing the NASTRAN generated results with theoretical values for a simply supported, flat, circular mirror. The same model is then used for evaluating the spherical mirrors. The mode shapes and frequencies of a 0.762-meter-diameter mirror with a 60-to-1 diameter-to-thickness ratio and a three-point rigid kinematic (not overconstrained) mount are calculated and plotted for comparison with results obtained previously from the SAMIS structural analysis program for this same mirror. A static analysis is also shown for comparison with experimentally obtained influence coefficients.
The research emphasis during the period of this report has been on radio observations of comets, related to the International Halley Watch. Observations of the 18 cm lambda-doublet of OH have been carried out monthly. Both of the 1667 and 1665 MHz lines have been repeatedly detected for Comets Halley, Giacobini-Zinner, Thiele, and Hartley-Good. The first astronomical detection of the weak satellite line at 1720 MHz was made for P/Halley. These data promise to supply the highest signal-to-noise-ratio data over an extended period ever obtained for cometary radio observations. Analysis will provide gas production rates as a function of heliocentric distance and allow for detailed comparisons with the OH excitation model involving ultraviolet pumping. In the case of Halley, the lines appear quite symmetric, usually being centered within 0.1 km/s with respect to the nominal nuclear velocity. Line widths have been typically within 10% of 2 km/s. There is thus little evidence for asymmetric emission in the data obtained to date. It seems likely that non-steady-state models of the coma will be required to interpret the data. Evidence for significant departures from the LTE hyperfine ratios was found for Comet Giacobini-Zinner. Smaller, but nonetheless significant, deviations have been found for Comet Halley.
The article Measuring the Hubble constant by Mario Livio and Adam Riess (Physics Today, October 2013, page 41) reviewed studies of the expanding universe from the 1920s to the present. Although the history of the subject underwent considerable compression to fit the length of a magazine article, we think it may leave a misleading impression of some of the key steps to our current understanding. We therefore offer the following clarifications. Most significantly, papers by Arthur Eddington and by Willem de Sitter in 1930, who successfully promoted Georges Lematres 1927 article for the Scientific Society of Brussels, effected a paradigm shift in interpretation of extragalactic redshifts in 1930. Before then, the astronomical community was generally unaware of the existence of nonstatic cosmological solutions and did not broadly appreciate that redshifts could be thought of locally as Doppler shifts in an expanding matter distribution. Certainly, in 1929 Edwin Hubble referred only to the de Sitter solution of 1917. At the time, the relation between distance and redshift predicted in that model was generally seen purely as a manifestation of static spacetime curvature.
The APART code (Arizona's Analysis of Radiation Transfer) is a deterministic stray radiation analysis program capable of yielding quantitative descriptions of systems along with insight into the scattering mechanism present. It uses geometrical optics to image primarily rotationally symmetrical systems. The APART code provides a sectional power map of the internal surfaces of a system and identifies critical objects seen from the image. Vane structures are modeled by configuration factors. Once the geometrical configuration factor between the internal objects has been calculated and stored, nonstructural changes to the system can be analyzed without re-running the complete program.
Seven studies have been conducted on research in the existence and nature of solutions of the restricted problems of three and four bodies. The details and results of five of these research investigations have already been published, and the latest two studies will be published shortly. A complete bibliography of publications is included in this report. This research has been primarily qualitative and has yielded new information on the behavior of trajectories near the libration points in the Earth-Moon-Sun and Sun-Jupiter-Saturn systems, and on the existence of periodic trajectories about the libration points of the circular and elliptical restricted four-body models. We have also implemented Birkhoff's normalization process for conservative and nonconservative Hamiltonian systems with equilibrium points. This makes available a technique for analyzing stability properties of certain nonlinear dynamical systems, and we have applied this technique to the circular and elliptical restricted three-body models. A related study was also conducted to determine the feasibility of using cislunar periodic trajectories for various space missions. Preliminary results suggest that this concept is attractive for space flight safety operations in cislunar space. Results of this research will be of interest to mathematicians, particularly those working in ordinary differential equations, dynamical systems and celestial mechanics; to astronomers; and to space guidance and mission analysts.
Properties of the zodiacal dust bands are derived from fits to Infrared Astronomical Satellite profiles of the ecliptic. Three observations lead to the conclusion that the dust-band material is spread over a range of heliocentric distances between the asteroid belt and the sun: parallax, color temperature, and wavelength dependence of the band latitudes. The orientations of the midplanes of the bands are found to be typical of asteroids. A model of 'migrating bands', wherein dust is produced near the asteroid belt and spirals into the sun under the influence of Poynting-Robertson drag, is used to explain the range of heliocentric distances of dust-band material.
NASA Laboratory Astrophysics Workshop 2006, is the fourth in a series of workshops held at four year intervals, to assess the laboratory needs of NASA's astrophysics missions - past, current and future. Investigators who need laboratory data to interpret their observations from space missions, theorists and modelers, experimentalists who produce the data, and scientists who compile databases have an opportunity to exchange ideas and understand each other's needs and limitations. The multi-wavelength character of these workshops allows cross-fertilization of ideas, raises awareness in the scientific community of the rapid advances in other fields, and the challenges it faces in prioritizing its laboratory needs in a tight budget environment. Currently, we are in the golden age of Space Astronomy, with three of NASA s Great Observatories, Hubble Space Telescope (HST), Chandra X-Ray Observatory (CXO), and Spitzer Space Telescope (SST), in operation and providing astronomers and opportunity to perform synergistic observations. In addition, the Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE), XMM-Newton, HETE-2, Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX), INTEGRAL and Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP), are operating in an extended phase, while Swift and Suzaku are in their prime phase of operations. The wealth of data from these missions is stretching the Laboratory Astrophysics program to its limits. Missions in the future, which also need such data include the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), Space Interferometry Mission (SIM), Constellation-X (Con-X), Herschel, and Planck. The interpretation of spectroscopic data from these missions requires knowledge of atomic and molecular parameters such as transition probabilities, f-values, oscillator strengths, excitation cross sections, collision strengths, which have either to be measured in the laboratory by simulating space plasma and interactions therein, or by theoretical calculations and modeling. Once the laboratory data are obtained, a key step to making them available to the observer is the creation and maintenance of critically compiled databases. Other areas of study, that are important for understanding planet formation, and for detection of molecules that are indicators of life, are also supported by the Laboratory Astrophysics program. Some examples are: studies of ices and dust grains in a space environment; nature and evolution of interstellar carbon-rich dust; and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. In addition, the program provides an opportunity for the investigation of novel ideas, such as simulating radiative shock instabilities in plasmas, in order to understand jets observed in space. A snapshot of the currently funded program, mission needs, and relevance of laboratory data to interpreting observations, will be obtained at this workshop through invited and contributed talks and poster papers. These will form the basis for discussions in splinter groups. The Science Organization Committee will integrate the results of the discussions into a coherent White Paper, which will provide guidance to NASA in structuring the Laboratory Astrophysics program in subsequent years, and also to the scientific community in submitting research proposals to NASA for funding.
We discuss the formation of an artificial atmosphere generated by vigorous lunar base activity in this paper. We developed an analytical, steady-state model for a lunar atmosphere based upon previous investigations of the Moon's atmosphere from Apollo. Constant gas-injection rates, ballistic trajectories, and a Maxwellian particle distribution for an oxygen-like gas are assumed. Even for the extreme case of continuous He-3 mining of the lunar regolith, we find that the lunar atmosphere would not significantly degrade astronomical observations beyond about 10 km from the mining operation.
The potential link between neutral and/or ionized polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and the diffuse interstellar band (DIB) carriers is examined. Based on the study of the general physical and chemical properties of PAHs, an assessment is made of their possible contribution to the DIB carriers. It is found that, under the conditions reigning in the diffuse interstellar medium, PAHs can be present in the form of neutral molecules as well as positive and/or negative ions. The charge distribution of small PAHs is dominated, however, by two charge states at one time with compact PAHs present only in the neutral and cationic forms. Each PAH has a distinct spectral signature depending on its charge state. Moreover, the spectra of ionized PAHs are always clearly dominated by a single band in the DIB spectral range. In the case of compact PAH ions, the strongest absorption band is of type A (i.e., the band is broad, falls in the high-energy range of the spectrum, and possesses a large oscillator strength), and seems to correlate with strong and broad DIBs. For noncompact PAH ions, the strongest absorption band is of type I (i.e., the band is narrow, falls in the low-energy range of the spectrum, and possesses a small oscillator strength), and seems to correlate with weak and narrow DIBs. Potential molecular size and structure constraints for interstellar PAHs are derived by comparing known DIB characteristics to the spectroscopic properties of PAHs. It is found that (i) only neutral PAHs larger than about 30 carbon atoms could, if present, contribute to the DIBs. (ii) For compact PAHs, only ions with less than about 250 carbon atoms could, if present, contribute to the DIBs. (iii) The observed distribution of the DIBs between strong/moderate and broad bands on the one hand and weak and narow bands on the other can easily be interpreted in the context of the PAH proposal by a distribution of compact and noncompact PAH ions, respectively. A plausible correlation between PAH charge states and DIB "families" is thus provided by the PAH-DIB proposal. Following this proposal, DIB families would reflect conditions within a cloud which locally determine the relative importance of cations, anions, and neutral species, rather than tracers of a specific species. Observational predictions are given to establish the viability of the PAH hypothesis. It is concluded that small PAH ions are very promising candidates as DIB carriers provided their population is dominated by a finite number (100-200) of species. A key test for the PAH proposal, consisting of laboratory and astronomical investigations in the ultraviolet range, is called for.