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At least 55 records · Page 3

The largest white light flare ever observed: 25 April 1984, 0001 UT

The X13/3B flare of 25 April 1984, 0001 UT, was accompanied by intense white light emission that reached a peak power output approx 2x10 to the 29 erg/sec in the optical/near UV continuum; the total energy radiated in the continuum alone reached 10 to the 32 power ergs. This was the most powerful white light flare yet recorded, exceeding the peak output of the largest previously known event by more than one order of magnitude. The flare was a two-ribbon type with intense embedded kernels as observed in both Balmer-alpha line and Balmer continuum, and each of these flare ribbons covered separate umbrae shortly after the maximum of the event. The onset and peak of the white light emission coincided with the onset and peak of the associated E greater than 100 KeV hard X-ray burst, while the 1-8 angstrom soft X-ray emission reached its maximum 4 minutes after the peak in white light.

Neidig, D. F.↗

Overview of computational control research at UT Austin

An overview of current research activities at UT Austin is presented to discuss certain technical issues in the following areas: (1) Computer-Aided Nonlinear Control Design: In this project, the describing function method is employed for the nonlinear control analysis and design of a flexible spacecraft equipped with pulse modulated reaction jets. INCA program has been enhanced to allow the numerical calculation of describing functions as well as the nonlinear limit cycle analysis capability in the frequency domain; (2) Robust Linear Quadratic Gaussian (LQG) Compensator Synthesis: Robust control design techniques and software tools are developed for flexible space structures with parameter uncertainty. In particular, an interactive, robust multivariable control design capability is being developed for INCA program; and (3) LQR-Based Autonomous Control System for the Space Station: In this project, real time implementation of LQR-based autonomous control system is investigated for the space station with time-varying inertias and with significant multibody dynamic interactions.

Bong, Wie↗

Magnetic islands in the near geomagnetic tail and its implications for the mechanism of 1054 UT CDAW 6 substorm

During the 1054 UT CDAW 6 substorm event, two ISEE spacecraft observed dynamic changes in the magnetic field and in the flux of energetic particles in the near-earth plasma sheet. In the substorm growth phase, the magnetic field at both ISEE spacecraft became tail-like. Following expansion phase onset, two small scale magnetic islands were observed moving tailward at a velocity of about 580 km/s. The passage of these two magnetic islands was coincident with bursts of tailward streaming energetic particles. The length of the magnetic loops was estimated to have been about 2 to 3 earth radii while the height of the loops was less than 0.5 earth radii. The magnetic islands were produced by multipoint reconnection processes in the near tail plasma sheet which may have been associated with the formation of the near-earth neutral line and the subsequent formation of a large scale plasmoid. The near-earth neutral line retreated tailward later in the expansion phase, as suggested by the reversal of the streaming of energetic particles.

Lin, N.↗

The 1991 November 9 flare at 03.2 UT: Observations from Yohkoh

We discuss X-ray spectra and soft X-ray images of an M1.9 flare that occurred on 1991 November 9 near 03.2 UT. These data were obtained with instrumentation on the Japanese Yohkoh spacecraft. They cover the entire rise phase and peak flare emission, and the beginning of the decay phase. We determine the dynamics, temperature, and emission measure of the flare as inferred from the X-ray line profiles of resonance lines of Fe XXV, Ca XIX, and S XV. We discuss the morphology of the flare as inferred from the soft X-ray images. The November 9 flare is atypical in that a stronger than usual blueshifted emission component (relative to the stationary component) is observed for the resonance lines at flare onset. We discuss several methods for deconvolving the blueshifted component from the stationary component. The X-ray line profiles are consistent with predictions of numerical simulations of chromospheric evaporation. The X-ray images reveal a flare with a complicated loop geometry that is not fully understood. Many of the features in the images are moving upwards at speeds ranging from a few km/s to about 800 km/s. The blueshifted emission begins near the onset of hard X-ray emission, implying that particle acceleration and upflowing plasma have a common energy source.

Doschek, G. A.↗

Pixon deconvolution of far-infrared images from the UT multichannel photometer

Experiments with Pixon-based image deconvolution demonstrate that this technique can significantly enhance the spatial resolution of two-dimensional images acquired by the UT multichannel far-infrared photometer. A deconvolved 100 micron image of the giant HII region NGC 3603 reveals a bright, asymmetrical central peak some 40 x 55 arcsec in size, possibly surrounded by several secondary peaks. The results using the pixon technique are compared with those obtained using the standard Maximum Entropy and Richardson-Lucy methods.

Koresko, Chris D.↗

A UT positioning approach for dynamic satellite constellations

In this paper, we discuss a new positioning scheme which is thought to be applicable for dynamic satellite constellations. We begin with the introduction of our filter model which is based on stochastic process and filtering theory. Then, simulation results of the technique are presented based on a LEO constellation and some of the IRIDIUM system parameters. Performance of this algorithm is investigated under various noise conditions. Finally, several applications of this UT (user terminal) positioning algorithm are discussed.

Zhao, W.↗

The UT 7/8 February 2013 Sila-Nunam Mutual Event and Future Predictions

A superior mutual event of the Kuiper Belt binary system (79360) Sila-Nunam was observed over 15.47 h on UT 7/8 February 2013 by a coordinated effort at four different telescope facilities; it started approximately 1.5 h earlier than anticipated, the duration was approximately 9.5 h (about 10% longer than predicted), and was slightly less deep than predicted. It is the first full event observed for a comparably sized binary Kuiper Belt object. We provide predictions for future events refined by this and other partial mutual event observations obtained since the mutual event season began.

Satellites↗

Reconnection Guide Field and Quadrupolar Structure Observed by MMS on 16 October 2015 at 1307 UT

We estimate the guide field near the X point, B(sub M0), for a magnetopause crossing by the Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) spacecraft at 1307 UT on 16 October 2015 that showed features of electron-scale reconnection. This component of the magnetic field is normal to the reconnection plane L-N containing the reconnection magnetic field, B(sub L), and the direction e(sub N) normal to the current sheet. The B(sub M) field component appears to approximately have quadrupolar structure close to the X point. Using several different methods to estimate values of the guide field near the X point, some of which use an assumed quadrupolar symmetry, we find values ranging between -3.1 nT and -1.2 nT, with a nominal value of about -2.5 nT. The rough consistency of these values is evidence that the quadrupolar structure exists.

Denton, R. E.↗

Motion of the MMS Spacecraft Relative to the Magnetic Reconnection Structure Observed on 16 October 2015 at 1307 UT

We analyze a magnetopause crossing by the Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) spacecraft at 1307 UT on 16 October 2016 that showed features of electron-scale reconnection. For this event, we find orthonormal LMN coordinates from the magnetic field, with N and L varying respectively along the maximum gradient and maximum variance directions. We find the motion along N from the Spatio-Temporal Difference analysis and motion along L from measured particle velocities. We locate the position of the magnetic X point, finding that MMS-4 passed within about 1A km from the X point and that MMS-3 and MMS-2 passed within about 1.7 km and 2.4 km, respectively, from the position of maximum out of plane current.

Denton, R. E.↗

Material around the Centaur (2060) Chiron from the 2018 November 28 UT Stellar Occultation

A stellar occultation of Gaia DR3 2646598228351156352 by the Centaur (2060) Chiron was observed from the South African Astronomical Observatory on 2018 November 28 UT. Here we present a positive detection of material surrounding Chiron from the 74-inch telescope for this event. Additionally, a global atmosphere is ruled out at the tens of microbars level for several possible atmospheric compositions. There are multiple 3σ drops in the 74-inch light curve: three during immersion and two during emersion. Occulting material is located between 242 and 270 km from the center of the nucleus in the sky plane. Assuming the ring-plane orientation proposed for Chiron from the 2011 occultation, the flux drops are located at 352, 344, and 316 km (immersion) and 357 and 364 km (emersion) from the center, with normal optical depths of 0.26, 0.36, and 0.22 (immersion) and 0.26 and 0.18 (emersion) and equivalent widths between 0.7 and 1.3 km. This detection is similar to the previously proposed two-ring system and is located within the error bars of that ring-pole plane; however, the normal optical depths are less than half of the previous values, and three features are detected on immersion. These results suggest that the properties of the surrounding material have evolved between the 2011, 2018, and 2022 observations.

Amanda A. Sickafoose↗

Sandia-UT Academic Alliance Project Summary

This project seeks to leverage various hyperspectral tensor products for the purposes of target classification/detection/prediction. In addition to hyperspectral, these products may be images, time series, geometries, or other modalities. The scenarios in which the targets of interest must be identified are typically from remote sensing platforms such as satellites. As such, there are numerous real-world constraints that drive algorithmic formulation. Cost, complexity, and feasibility of the algorithm should all be considered. Targets of interest are exceedingly rare, and collecting many data samples is prohibitively expensive. Furthermore, model interpretability is paramount due to the application space. The goal of this project is to develop a constrained supervised tensor factorization framework for use on hyperspectral data products. Supervised tensor factorizations already exist in the literature, although they have not seen widespread adoption in the remote sensing domain. The novelty of this project will be the formulation and inclusion of constraints that take into account mission considerations and physics based limits to learn a factorization that is both physically interpretable and mission deployable. This will represent a new contribution to the field of remote sensing for performing supervised learning tasks with hyperspectral data.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗