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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2023

Creating a high energy alert system for the HAWC gamma ray observatory

One of the greatest mysteries in astrophysics is exactly how Cosmic Rays (CRs) are accelerated up to extremely high energies within our galaxy. The highest-energy galactic CRs are associated with gamma rays at ~100 TeV. Hadronic models of possible CR accelerators, including supernova remnants and pulsars, require the production of both gamma rays and neutrinos at these sources. Searching for coincidences between neutrino and the highest energy gamma ray observations can help confirm these theories. The High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) observatory is a ground based gamma ray observatory located in Puebla, Mexico. HAWC is able to detect gamma rays with energies greater than 100 TeV. It has a wide field of view and a 95% duty cycle, making it ideal for these types of coincidence searches. This work aims to create a high energy alert system for HAWC, sending out an alert to other experiments for high-energy gamma ray events it sees.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Gamma-ray Spectroscopy in Low-Power Nuclear Research Reactors

Gamma-ray spectroscopy is an effective technique for radioactive material characterization, routine inventory verification, nuclear safeguards, health physics, and source search scenarios. Gamma-ray spectrometers typically cannot be operated in the immediate vicinity of nuclear reactors due to their high flux fields and their resulting inability to resolve individual pulses. Low-power reactor facilities offer the possibility to study reactor gamma-ray fields, a domain of experiments hitherto poorly explored. In this work, we present gamma-ray spectroscopy experiments performed with various detectors in two reactors: The EPFL zero-power research reactor CROCUS, and the neutron beam facility at the Ohio State University Research Reactor (OSURR). We employed inorganic scintillators (CeBr3), organic scintillators (trans-stilbene and organic glass), and high-purity germanium semiconductors (HPGe) to cover a range of typical—and new—instruments used in gamma-ray spectroscopy. The aim of this study is to provide a guideline for reactor users regarding detector performance, observed responses, and therefore available information in the reactor photon fields up to 2 MeV. The results indicate several future prospects, such as the online (at criticality) monitoring of fission products (like Xe, I, and La), dual-particle sensitive experiments, and code validation opportunities.

Pakari, Oskari V. (ORCID:0000000337048190)↗
NASA NTRS2011

Generic, Extensible, Configurable Push-Pull Framework for Large-Scale Science Missions

The push-pull framework was developed in hopes that an infrastructure would be created that could literally connect to any given remote site, and (given a set of restrictions) download files from that remote site based on those restrictions. The Cataloging and Archiving Service (CAS) has recently been re-architected and re-factored in its canonical services, including file management, workflow management, and resource management. Additionally, a generic CAS Crawling Framework was built based on motivation from Apache s open-source search engine project called Nutch. Nutch is an Apache effort to provide search engine services (akin to Google), including crawling, parsing, content analysis, and indexing. It has produced several stable software releases, and is currently used in production services at companies such as Yahoo, and at NASA's Planetary Data System. The CAS Crawling Framework supports many of the Nutch Crawler's generic services, including metadata extraction, crawling, and ingestion. However, one service that was not ported over from Nutch is a generic protocol layer service that allows the Nutch crawler to obtain content using protocol plug-ins that download content using implementations of remote protocols, such as HTTP, FTP, WinNT file system, HTTPS, etc. Such a generic protocol layer would greatly aid in the CAS Crawling Framework, as the layer would allow the framework to generically obtain content (i.e., data products) from remote sites using protocols such as FTP and others. Augmented with this capability, the Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO) and NPP (NPOESS Preparatory Project) Sounder PEATE (Product Evaluation and Analysis Tools Elements) would be provided with an infrastructure to support generic FTP-based pull access to remote data products, obviating the need for any specialized software outside of the context of their existing process control systems. This extensible configurable framework was created in Java, and allows the use of different underlying communication middleware (at present, both XMLRPC, and RMI). In addition, the framework is entirely suitable in a multi-mission environment and is supporting both NPP Sounder PEATE and the OCO Mission. Both systems involve tasks such as high-throughput job processing, terabyte-scale data management, and science computing facilities. NPP Sounder PEATE is already using the push-pull framework to accept hundreds of gigabytes of IASI (infrared atmospheric sounding interferometer) data, and is in preparation to accept CRIMS (Cross-track Infrared Microwave Sounding Suite) data. OCO will leverage the framework to download MODIS, CloudSat, and other ancillary data products for use in the high-performance Level 2 Science Algorithm. The National Cancer Institute is also evaluating the framework for use in sharing and disseminating cancer research data through its Early Detection Research Network (EDRN).

Foster, Brian M.↗
DOE OSTI2017

Pulsator-like Spectra from Ultraluminous X-Ray Sources and the Search for More Ultraluminous Pulsars

Ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) are a population of extragalactic objects whose luminosity exceeds the Eddington limit for a 10 M {sub ⊙} black hole (BH). Their properties have been widely interpreted in terms of accreting stellar-mass or intermediate-mass BHs. However at least three neutron stars (NSs) have been recently identified in ULXs through the discovery of periodic pulsations. Motivated by these findings we studied the spectral properties of a sample of bright ULXs using a simple continuum model which was extensively used to fit the X-ray spectra of accreting magnetic NSs in the Galaxy. We found that such a model, consisting of a power-law with a high-energy exponential cut-off, fits most of the ULX spectra analyzed here very well, at a level comparable to that of models involving an accreting BH. On these grounds alone we suggest that other non-pulsating ULXs may host NSs. We also found that above 2 keV the spectrum of known pulsating ULXs is harder than that of the majority of the other ULXs of the sample, with only IC 342 X-1 and Ho IX X-1 displaying spectra of comparable hardness. We thus suggest that these two ULXs may host an accreting NS and encourage searches for periodic pulsations in the flux.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Threat Sources for Creating Synthetic Urban Search Data

Equivalent point source energy emission distributions were computed for various threat sources for use in simulating the detector responses for urban search scenarios. The sources include standard isotopic sources used in detector testing, medical and industrial sources occasionally encountered in urban searches, and several types of special nuclear materials. Most of the equivalent point source distributions represent small sources inside some amount of shielding, but the special nuclear material sources represent volumetrically distributed sources in spheres of metal. Text-based inputs for emission distributions are available for the Monte Carlo transport codes Monte Carlo N-Particle, SCALE/MAVRIC, and Omnibus/Shift, any of which can easily be converted to other formats. These sources were developed for use in the Radiological Anomaly Detection and Identification (RADAI) project and the follow-on project, the RADAI-Extended project, sponsored by the National Nuclear Security Administration Office of Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation Research and Development.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
NASA NTRS1986

The search for reference sources for delta VLBI navigation of the Galileo spacecraft

A comprehensive search was made in order to identify celestial radio sources that can be used as references for navigation of the Galileo spacecraft by means of VLBI observations. The astronomical literature was seached for potential navigation sources, and several VLBI experiments were performed to determine the suitability of those sources for navigation. The results of such work performed since mid-1983 is reported. A summary is presented of the source properties required, the procedures used to identify candidate sources, and the results of the observations of these sources. The lists of souces presented are not meant to be taken directly and used for VLBI navigation, but they do provide a means of identifying the radio sources that could be used at various positions along the Galileo trajectory. Since the reference sources nearest the critical points of Jupiter encounter and probe release are rather weak, it would be extremely beneficial to use a pair of 70-m antennas for the VLBI measurements.

Ulvestad, J. S.↗
NASA NTRS1977

Search for microarcsecond structure in low-frequency variable radio sources

A search for interstellar scintillation (ISS) of low-frequency variable radio sources is reported. Observations of 28 confirmed or suspected low-frequency variables, 21 nonvariable sources, and two pulsars were made at 408 MHz. As expected, the pulsars showed ISS, but scintillation was not detected in any other source. A typical upper limit to the rms modulation due to ISS is 150 mJy, giving lower limits to the apparent angular diameter of about 10 to the -6th arcsec. The possibilities that a true point source is broadened to an apparent angular diameter greater than or roughly equal to 10 to the -6th arcsec by scattering local to the source or in a general intergalactic medium are discussed.

Armstrong, J. W.↗
NASA NTRS2002

A Search for Solar Sources of High-Speed Solar Wind Streams

This report covers technical progress during the third and fourth years of Subcontract No. 5710000474, 'A Search for Solar Sources of High-speed Solar Wind Streams,' between Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), covering the period November 2000 to December 2002. This is a subcontract originating from NASA SR&T Contract NAG5-7967 with MIT. In the following sections we summarize our progress during this reporting period.

Mikic, Zoran↗
NASA NTRS1999

A Counterpart Search for a Source of 2.2 MeV Gamma-Rays

The goal of this project was to search for a counterpart to an apparent point source of 2.2 MeV gamma-rays that had been detected using data from the COMPTEL experiment on Compton Gamma Ray Observatory (CGRO). The source detected by Compton Telescope (COMPTEL) was of marginal significance (less than 4 sigma) and a further confirmation at low energies was highly desired. An observation of this region was Rossi X Ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) performed on 04-Feb-1998. An analysis of the Proportional Counter Array (PCA) data from this observation yielded a negative result. Short discussions of the COMPTEL Source, RXTE Observations, RXTE Analysis results, other observations as well as future work are included.

McConnell, Mark L.↗
NASA NTRS1983

A search for X-ray emission from optically quiet, compact radio sources

A search for X-ray emission from optically quiet, compact radio sources reveals that such sources are significantly weaker X-ray emitters than are optically identified objects with comparable radio properties. For the radio samples examined here, the X-ray luminosity, relative to the radio, is typically at least 3 times lower in the optically quiet, compact radio sources than in the optically identified ones. Possible reasons for the distinction between optically quiet, compact radio sources and other compact radio sources are discussed. If strong nonthermal sources occur in the nuclei of dust-rich galaxies and do not eliminate the dust and gas of the interstellar medium, a few percent of such sources should be optically faint and red (due to extinction by dust) and X-ray weak (due to K-edge absorption). However, many optically quiet, compact radio sources are apparently 'blazars' with particularly sharp high-frequency breaks in their synchrotron spectra.

Ledden, J. E.↗
DOE OSTI2026

Deep Search for Joint Sources of Gravitational Waves and High-energy Neutrinos with IceCube during the Third Observing Run of LIGO and Virgo

The discovery of joint sources of high-energy neutrinos and gravitational waves has been a primary target for the LIGO, Virgo, KAGRA, and IceCube observatories. The joint detection of high-energy neutrinos and gravitational waves would provide insight into cosmic processes, from the dynamics of compact object mergers and stellar collapses to the mechanisms driving relativistic outflows. The joint detection of multiple cosmic messengers can also elevate the significance of the common observation even when some or all of the constituent messengers are subthreshold, i.e., not significant enough to declare their detection individually. Using data from the LIGO, Virgo, and IceCube observatories, including subthreshold events, we searched for common sources of gravitational waves and high-energy neutrinos during the third observing run of the Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo detectors. Our search did not identify significant joint sources. We derive constraints on the rate densities of joint sources. Our results constrain the isotropic neutrino emission from gravitational-wave sources for very high values of the total energy emitted in neutrinos (>10 52 –10 54 erg).

Abbasi, R. [Loyola University Chicago] (ORCID:0000↗
NASA NTRS1994

Search for unresolved sources in the COBE-DMR two-year sky maps

We have searched the temperature maps from the Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) Differential Microwave Radiometers (DMR) first two years of data for evidence of unresolved sources. The high-latitude sky (absolute value of b greater than 30 deg) contains no sources brighter than 192 microKelvin thermodynamic temperature (322 Jy at 53 GHz). The cumulative count of sources brighter than threshold T, N(greater than T), is consistent with a superposition of instrument noise plus scale-invariant spectrum of cosmic temperature fluctuations normalized to Q(sub rms-PS) = 17 microKelvin. We examine the temperature maps toward nearby clusters and find no evidence for any Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect, delta y less than 7.3 x 10(exp -6) (95% CL) averaged over the DMR beam. We examine the temperature maps near the brightest expected radio sources and detect no evidence of significant emission. The lack of bright unresolved sources in the DMR maps, taken with anisotropy measurements on smaller angular scales, places a weak constraint on the integral number density of any unresolved Planck-spectrum sources brighter than flux density S, n(greater than S) less than 2 x 10(exp 4)/(S/1 Jy)(exp 2)/sr.

Kogut, A.↗
DOE OSTI2015

Parkes radio searches of Fermi gamma-ray sources and millisecond pulsar discoveries

In a search with the Parkes radio telescope of 56 unidentified Fermi-Large Area Telescope (LAT) gamma-ray sources, we have detected 11 millisecond pulsars (MSPs), 10 of them discoveries, of which five were reported by Kerr et al. We did not detect radio pulsations from six other pulsars now known in these sources. We describe the completed survey, which included multiple observations of many targets conducted to minimize the impact of interstellar scintillation, acceleration effects in binary systems, and eclipses. We consider that 23 of the 39 remaining sources may still be viable pulsar candidates. We present timing solutions and polarimetry for five of the MSPs and gamma-ray pulsations for PSR J1903–7051 (pulsations for five others were reported in the second Fermi-LAT catalog of gamma-ray pulsars). Two of the new MSPs are isolated and five are in >1 day circular orbits with 0.2–0.3 M{sub ⊙} presumed white dwarf companions. PSR J0955–6150, in a 24 day orbit with a ≈0.25 M{sub ⊙} companion but eccentricity of 0.11, belongs to a recently identified class of eccentric MSPs. PSR J1036–8317 is in an 8 hr binary with a >0.14 M{sub ⊙} companion that is probably a white dwarf. PSR J1946–5403 is in a 3 hr orbit with a >0.02 M{sub ⊙} companion with no evidence of radio eclipses.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2016

SIX NEW MILLISECOND PULSARS FROM ARECIBO SEARCHES OF FERMI GAMMA-RAY SOURCES

We have discovered six radio millisecond pulsars (MSPs) in a search with the Arecibo telescope of 34 unidentified gamma-ray sources from the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) four year point source catalog. Among the 34 sources, we also detected two MSPs previously discovered elsewhere. Each source was observed at a center frequency of 327 MHz, typically at three epochs with individual integration times of 15 minutes. The new MSP spin periods range from 1.99 to 4.66 ms. Five of the six pulsars are in interacting compact binaries (period ≤ 8.1 hr), while the sixth is a more typical neutron star-white dwarf binary with an 83 day orbital period. This is a higher proportion of interacting binaries than for equivalent Fermi-LAT searches elsewhere. The reason is that Arecibo's large gain afforded us the opportunity to limit integration times to 15 minutes, which significantly increased our sensitivity to these highly accelerated systems. Seventeen of the remaining 26 gamma-ray sources are still categorized as strong MSP candidates, and will be re-searched.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2016

Constraints on Ultrahigh-Energy Cosmic-Ray Sources from a Search for Neutrinos above 10 PeV with IceCube

In this study, we report constraints on the sources of ultra-high-energy cosmic ray (UHECR) above 10 9 GeV , based on an analysis of seven years of IceCube data. This analysis efficiently selects very high energy neutrino-induced events which have deposited energies from 5 X 10 5 GeV to above 10 11 GeV . Two neutrino-induced events with an estimated deposited energy of (2.6±0.3)×10 6 GeV , the highest neutrino energies observed so far, and (7.7±2.0)×10 5 GeV were detected. The atmospheric background-only hypothesis of detecting these events is rejected at 3.6σ . The hypothesis that the observed events are of cosmogenic origin is also rejected at > 99% CL because of the limited deposited energy and the non-observation of events at higher energy, while their observation is consistent with an astrophysical origin. Our limits on cosmogenic neutrino fluxes disfavor the UHECR sources having cosmological evolution stronger than the star formation rate, e.g., active galactic nuclei and $γ$-ray bursts, assuming proton-dominated UHECRs. Constraints on UHECR sources including mixed and heavy UHECR compositions are obtained for models of neutrino production within UHECR sources. Our limit disfavors a significant part of parameter space for active galactic nuclei and new-born pulsar models.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2016

MULTIFREQUENCY PHOTO-POLARIMETRIC WEBT OBSERVATION CAMPAIGN ON THE BLAZAR S5 0716+714: SOURCE MICROVARIABILITY AND SEARCH FOR CHARACTERISTIC TIMESCALES

Here we report on the results of the Whole Earth Blazar Telescope photo-polarimetric campaign targeting the blazar S5 0716+71, organized in 2014 March to monitor the source simultaneously in BVRI and near-IR filters. The campaign resulted in an unprecedented data set spanning ∼110 hr of nearly continuous, multiband observations, including two sets of densely sampled polarimetric data mainly in the R filter. During the campaign, the source displayed pronounced variability with peak-to-peak variations of about 30% and “bluer-when-brighter” spectral evolution, consisting of a day-timescale modulation with superimposed hour-long microflares characterized by ∼0.1 mag flux changes. We performed an in-depth search for quasi-periodicities in the source light curve; hints for the presence of oscillations on timescales of ∼3 and ∼5 hr do not represent highly significant departures from a pure red-noise power spectrum. We observed that, at a certain configuration of the optical polarization angle (PA) relative to the PA of the innermost radio jet in the source, changes in the polarization degree (PD) led the total flux variability by about 2 hr; meanwhile, when the relative configuration of the polarization and jet angles altered, no such lag could be noted. The microflaring events, when analyzed as separate pulse emission components, were found to be characterized by a very high PD (>30%) and PAs that differed substantially from the PA of the underlying background component, or from the radio jet positional angle. We discuss the results in the general context of blazar emission and energy dissipation models.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗