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At least 631 records · Page 35

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NASA NTRS1979

Implications of cyclotron features in the X-ray spectrum of Her X-1

The X-ray spectra from binary pulsars is investigated through the modification of physical processes due to an intense magnetic field. An effective scattering cross section for line photons and the Coulomb cross section for electron-ion collisions, treating the electrons relativistically, are calculated. The quantization of electron orbits in strong fields are discussed. The absorption cross sections and emission rates for cyclotron photons are calculated. An application of the results to the data from Hercules X-1 is examined.

Bussard, R.↗

NASA NTRS1980

Analysis of the measured effects of the principal exhaust effluents from solid rocket motors

The feasibility of conducting environmental chamber tests using a small rocket motor to study the physical processes which occur when the exhaust products from solid motors mix with the ambient atmosphere was investigated. Of particular interest was the interaction between hydrogen chloride, aluminum oxide, and water vapor. Several types of instruments for measuring HCl concentrations were evaluated. Under some conditions it was noted that acid aerosols were formed in the ground cloud. These droplets condensed on Al2O3 nuclei and were associated with the rocket exhaust cooling during the period of plume rise to stabilization. Outdoor firings of the solid rocket motors of a 6.4 percent scaled model of the space shuttle were monitored to study the interaction of the exhaust effluents with vegetation downwind of the test site. Data concerning aluminum oxide particles produced by solid rocket motors were evaluated.

Dawbarn, R.↗

NASA NTRS1980

The opportunities offered by SCADM for the study of surface phenomena related to interior structure and dynamics

The physical processes to be probed by experiments may be grouped as large scale flows, oscillations, and chromospheric/coronal diagnostics. While the fundamental concerns and observational equipments are similar within each class, different investigations may tell different things about the Sun. Observational requirements are listed for experiments to study (1) plasma-magnetic field interactions; (2) interior structure via oscillations; (3) chromospheric and coronal tracers; (4) rotation, meridional flows, and giant cells; (5) the depth dependence of rotation; (6) EUV luminosity; (7) intensity fluctuations and tracers; and (8) diameter oscillations, the effects of noise and timestring on experiment results are assessed.

Brown, T. M.↗

NASA NTRS1980

Control of the Earth's electric field intensity through solar wind modulation of galactic cosmic radiation: Support for a proposed atmospheric electrical sun-weather mechanism

The ionospheric potential and galactic cosmic radiation, found to be inversely correlated with the solar wind velocity are examined as being germane to weather modification. Since the ionospheric potential is proportional to the fair weather electric field intensity and cosmic radiation is the dominant source of atmospheric ionization, it is concluded that the Earth's overall electric field varies in phase with atmospheric ionization and that the latter is modulated by the solar wind. A proposed mechanism, in which solar control of ionizing radiation influences atmospheric electrification and thus possibly cloud physical processes is discussed. An experimental approach to critically test the proposed mechanism through comparison of the temporal variation of the Earth's electric field with conditions in the interplanetary medium is outlined.

Markson, R.↗

NASA NTRS1979

Requirements for predictions and real-time monitoring for the study of travelling interplanetary phenomena

Physical processes within quiescent as well as disturbed flows of solar wind plasma, energetic particles, and magnetic and electric fields from the Sun are considered. Specifically, travelling interplanetary phenomena to be studied during the years of the solar maximum of solar cycle 21 are covered. It is noted that predictions, while needed for long range, logistical planning, is secondary to the requirements of synoptic real time monitoring over a wide range of particle energies and spectral bandwidths.

Dryer, M.↗

NASA NTRS1979

High-latitude E and F region ionospheric predictions

The physical processes and morphology of the high latitude E and F layers are discussed. The existence and adequacy of models, and features to be included are examined, as well as reliability of ionospheric predictions.

Hunsucker, R. D.↗

NASA NTRS1980

Ion extraction from a plasma

An experimental investigation of the physical processes governing ion extraction from a plasma is presented. The screen hole plasma sheath of a multiaperture ion accelerator system is defined by equipotential plots for a variety of accelerator system geometries and operating conditions. A sheath thickness of at least fifteen Debye lengths is shown to be typical. The electron density variation within the sheath satisfies a Maxwell Boltzmann density distribution at an effective electron temperature dependent on the discharge plasma primary to Maxwellian electron density ratio. Plasma ion flow up to and through the sheath is predominately one dimensional and the ions enter the sheath with a modified Bohm velocity. Low values of the screen grid thickness to screen hole diameter ratio give good ion focusing and high extracted ion currents because of the effect of screen webbing on ion focusing.

Aston, G.↗

NASA NTRS1979

Energy deposition in the earth's atmosphere due to impact of solar activity-generated disturbances

Energy deposition in and dynamic responses of the terrestrial atmosphere to solar flare-generated shocks and other physical processes - such as particle precipitation and local heating - are investigated self-consistently in the context of hydrodynamics, the problem being treated as an initial boundary-value problem. It is extremely difficult to construct a general model for the line solar activity-magnetosphere-atmosphere; however, a limited model for this link is possible. The paper describes such a model, and presents some results on energy deposition into the earth's atmosphere due to solar activity-generated disturbances. Results from the present calculations are presented and discussed.

Wu, S. T.↗

NASA NTRS1980

Numerical experiments in boundary-layer stability

Numerical solution of the three-dimensional incompressible Navier-Stokes equations is used to study the instability of a flat-plate boundary layer in a manner analogous to the vibrating-ribbon experiments. Flow-field structures are observed which are very similar to those found in the vibrating-ribbon experiment to which computational initial conditions have been matched. Streamwise periodicity is assumed in the simulation so that the evolution occurs in time, but the events which constitute the instability are so similar to the spatially occurring ones of the laboratory that it seems clear the physical processes involved are the same. A spectral and finite difference numerical algorithm is employed in the simulation.

Wray, A.↗

NASA NTRS1980

Upwelled spectral radiance distribution in relation to particulate matter in sea water

Spectral analysis of water color and concurrent measurements of the relative concentration of various particulate and dissolved constituents within a broad range of water types are necessary to quantify ocean color observations and successfully relate them to various biological and physical processes that can be monitored by remote sensing. Some of the results of a Nimbus-G prelaunch cruise in connection with the Coastal Zone Color Scanner (CZCS) experiment, which was carried out in the Gulf of Mexico in October 1977, are presented and discussed. Based upon a small but diverse sample of near-surface measurements, it appears possible to estimate total suspended particulate matter (SPM) to useful accuracies by forming ratios of the spectral radiances measured at wavelengths falling near the centers of certain CZCS bands, viz., 440 nm:550 nm and 440 nm:520 nm. Furthermore, the analysis suggests a very high degree of covariation between SPM and phytoplankton pigments except for certain well-defined special cases.

Clark, D. K.↗

NASA NTRS1979

A fast semi-implicit algorithm for problems of mixed type

Certain physical processes are modeled by partial differential equations which are parabolic over part of the domain and elliptic over the remainder. A family of semi-implicit algorithms which are well suited to initial-boundary value problems of this mixed type is discussed. One important feature of these algorithms is the use of an approximate inverse for the solution of the implicit linear system. A strong error analysis results in an estimate of the total error as a function of approximate inverse error e and time step h.

Frederickson, P. O.↗

NASA NTRS1980

Interstellar C IV and Si IV column densities toward early-type stars

Equivalent widths and deduced column densities of Si IV and C IV are examined for 18 early-type close binaries, and physical processes responsible for the origin of these ions in the interstellar medium are investigated. The available C IV/Si IV column density ratios typically lie within a narrow range from 0.8 to 4.5, and there is evidence that the column density of C IV is higher than that of N V along most lines of sight, suggesting that C IV is not formed in the same hot region as O VI. In addition, the existence of regions with a narrowly defined new temperature range around 50,000 deg K is indicated. The detection of the semitorrid gas of Bruhweiler, Kondo, and McCluskey (1978, 1979) is substantiated, and the relation of this gas to the observations of coronal gas in the galactic halo is discussed.

Bruhweiler, F. C.↗

NASA NTRS1980

Primary energy release

The physical processes by which the magnetic energy of a solar active region is converted to other forms of energy in the appearance of a solar flare are discussed. Observations of the secondary manifestations of flare energy release, such as thermal plasmas and energetic particle emissions, are presented, with particular attention given to the temporal variations of flare radiation, the various forms of energy release, flare energy density, flare locations and sizes, energy distributions and H alpha, hard X-ray and microwave burst events. Current models of the primary energy release process are surveyed, and the models of Spicer (1976, 1977), which explains rapid flare energy release in terms of multiple tearing modes causing reconnection in sheared magnetic fields, and Uchida and Sakurai (1976, 1978), which attributes primary energy release to dynamic collapse caused by the interchange instability of the neutral sheet, are examined in detail.

Kahler, S.↗

NASA NTRS1980

The chromosphere and transition region

The physical processes occurring as a result of the transfer of energy and momentum from the primary solar flare energy release site in the corona to the underlying chromosphere and transition region during the course of the flare are investigated through a comparison of theoretical models and observational data. Static, dynamic and hydrodynamic models of the lower-temperature chromospheric flare are reviewed. The roles of thermal conduction, radiation, fast particles and mass motion in chromosphere-corona interactions are analyzed on the basis of Skylab UV, EUV and X-ray data, and empirical and synthetic models of the chromospheric and upper photospheric responses to flares are developed. The canonical model of chromospheric heating during flares as a result of primary energy release elsewhere is found to be justified in the chromosphere as a whole, although not entirely as the temperature minimum, and a simplified model of horizontal chromospheric flare structure based on results obtained is presented.

Canfield, R. C.↗

NASA NTRS1980

The thermal X-ray flare plasma

Following a review of current observational and theoretical knowledge of the approximately 10 to the 7th K plasma emitting the thermal soft X-ray bursts accompanying every H alpha solar flare, the fundamental physical problem of the plasma, namely the formation and evolution of the observed X-ray arches, is examined. Extensive Skylab observations of the thermal X-ray plasmas in two large flares, a large subflare and several compact subflares are analyzed to determine plasma physical properties, deduce the dominant physical processes governing the plasma and compare large and small flare characteristics. Results indicate the density of the thermal X-ray plasma to be higher than previously thought (from 10 to the 10th to 10 to the 12th/cu cm for large to small flares), cooling to occur radiatively as much as conductively, heating to continue into the decay phase of large flares, and the mass of the thermal X-ray plasma to be supplied primarily through chromospheric evaporation. Implications of the results for the basic flare mechanism are indicated.

Moore, R.↗

NASA NTRS1980

Physical loss of long-period comets

Loss of long-period comets from the solar system through a variety of physical processes is investigated. It is shown that planetary collision, defined as a comet passing within the Roche radius of any planet, has a probability of 1.35 x 10 to the -7th per perihelion passage for a long-period comet on a randomly oriented orbit. Sublimation of all volatiles for a one-kilometer radius hydrate ice nucleus would require on the order of 600 to 27,600 perihelion passages, depending on the surface albedo and assuming a perihelion distance of one astronomical unit. Analysis of observational records indicates that for dynamically 'new' comets in the Oort-Schmidt sense there is about a 10% probability of the comet randomly disrupting on its first perihelion passage. This probability drops to 4% per perihelion passage for older long-period comets, and less than 1% for short-period comets. The consequences of these loss mechanisms when incorporated into Monte-Carlo studies of long-period comet evolution are also discussed.

Weissman, P. R.↗

NASA NTRS1980

Origin and evolution of planetary atmospheres

The current understanding of the origin and evolution of the atmospheres of solar system objects is reviewed. Physical processes that control this evolution are described in an attempt to develop a set of general principles that can help guide studies of specific objects. Particular emphasis is placed on the planetary and satellite atmospheres of the inner solar system objects; current hypotheses on the origin and evolution of these objects are critically considered.

Pollack, J. B.↗

NASA NTRS1980

The role of fallback ejecta in the modification of impact craters

The physical processes responsible for the deposition of fragments of target material ejected from the transient cavity of an impact crater within the crater are discussed and quantities of fallback ejecta deposited in impact craters formed on different planetary surfaces are estimated. Consideration is given to the relative importance of in-flight particle collisions and atmospheric particle deceleration, and a model of the aerodynamic deceleration of fallback ejecta is developed. When applied to Meteor Crater in Arizona, the model predicts 5% of the primary ejecta, with an average fragment size of 1.4 cm, to have fallen back into the crater, in agreement with empirical studies of the crater fallback deposit, thus indicating atmospheric deceleration to be the principal mechanism for fallback deposition on earth. The model also predicts the proportion of primary ejecta to be deposited as fallback to increase with excavation cavity diameter on the earth. Model estimates also suggest that more than half of the primary ejecta from large-scale Venusian cavities should be redeposited as fallback, while relatively small amounts of fallback are expected for lunar and Martian craters.

Settle, M.↗