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At least 919 records · Page 51

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NASA NTRS1986

Correcting observed stellar Lyman alpha profiles for the effects of interstellar absorption and geocoronal emission

Techniques to compensate for interstellar absorption and geocoronal emission in IUE studies of late stars atmospheres were developed. Thus it is possible to determine the Lyman alpha flux from nearby cool stars using the low-resolution spectra in the IUE archives. The accuracy of such a procedure depends fundamentally upon the assumptions regarding the shape of the intrinsic profile and the density and velocity structure of the local interstellar medium, not upon measurement uncertainties of the low-resolution spectra. Geocoronal emission and saturated spectra are fatal only to a one-dimensional spectral analysis. When both the spatial and the spectral dimensions are considered, the observed Lyman alpha flux can be recovered.

Neff, J. E.↗

NASA NTRS1987

The size distribution of interstellar grains

Three major areas involving interstellar grains were investigated. First, studies were performed of scattering in reflection nebulae with the goal of deriving scattering characteristics of dust grains such as the albedo and the phase function asymmetry throughout the visible and the ultraviolet. Secondly, studies were performed of the wavelength dependence of interstellar extinction designed to demonstrate the wide range of grain size distributions naturally occurring in individual clouds in different parts of the galaxy. And thirdly, studies were also performed of the ultraviolet powered emission of dust grains in the 0.5 to 1.0 micron wavelength range in reflection nebulae. Findings considered of major importance are highlighted.

Witt, Adolf N.↗

NASA NTRS1986

The alignment of interstellar grains

The magnetic-field alignment of interstellar silicate grains containing superparamagnetic (SPM) inclusions is investigated theoretically. It is shown that the observed dependence of polarization on wavelength can be fully explained in terms of the alignment mechanisms and the size distribution of the SPM grains, at least for interstellar polarizations peaking at wavelength 550 nm or higher. The implications of this finding for models of grain coagulation and shattering are considered.

Mathis, J. S.↗

NASA NTRS1986

The interstellar carbon abundance. II - Rho Ophiuchi and Beta Scorpii

A procedure designed to obtain increased sensitivity from high-dispersion IUE spectra by using a flat-field spectrum to remove nonrandom noise due to the response pattern of the SEC vidicon detector is described. Application of this procedure to spectra of Rho Oph and Beta(1) Sco near the spin-forbidden interstellar 2325 line of C II yields 2 sigma upper limits on absorption of W (lambda) not greater than about 4 mA. The resulting depletion of carbon from the interstellar gas toward Rho Oph exceeds a factor of 1.4.

Welty, D. E.↗

NASA NTRS1986

The HRS GTO program to study the neutral hydrogen column density and D/H ratio in the local interstellar medium

Theoretical line profiles are presented that demonstrate why 100,000 spectral resolution and high S/N are needed to derive accurate column densities from spectral lines that lie close to the flat part of the curve of growth and may contain multiple velocity components. The aim of the Space Telescope high-resolution-spectrograph observing program is to obtain column densities in the hydrogen and deuterium Lyman alpha lines along a variety of lines of sight within and extending beyond the local cloudlet, in which the sun is located near an edge. The broad chromospheric Lyman alpha emission lines of late-type stars are used as background sources against which to measure the interstellar absorption features. Profiles of interstellar absorption features in Mg II and Fe II lines will be obtained to derive the broadening parameter and/or identify possible multiple velocity components in the lines of sight.

Linsky, J. L.↗

NASA NTRS1987

Pulsar activation by the interstellar medium?

Recent work suggests that rotating magnetized neutron stars (i.e., pulsar models) trap plasma instead of emitting it. The trapping arises because nonneutral plasma can be stably trapped within such a magnetosphere provided the overall system charge is nonzero. It has been argued that particles from the interstellar medium would discharge this system, thereby presumably reactivating the system as a pulsar. However, radiation pressure either precludes such discharging (requiring an alternative source of ionization) or pulsar magnetic moments must be almost perfectly aligned with the spin axis (a revolutionary alternative). Indeed, the pulsars for which particles could reach the neutron star are those with periods of at least 3 sec. But those periods are where pulsars become inactive, not active. Conceivably, nulling might represent intermittent accretion of the interstellar medium.

Michel, F. Curtis↗

NASA NTRS1987

Bipolar flows, molecular gas disks, and the collapse and accretion of rotating interstellar clouds

Rigorous numerical models of the collapse and accretion of rotating, axisymmetric, isothermal interstellar clouds are studied. The results show that molecular gas disks and evacuated bipolar cavities both appear to be natural consequences of the collapse of rotating interstellar clouds. Dynamically significant magnetic fields may not be necessary for explaining either phenomenon. The models strongly support theoretical models of the type where an isotropic wind from a pre-main sequence star is extrinsically collimated by a rotationally derived molecular gas cloud. The models imply that collimation should be strongest on small scales where rotational effects are most important, i.e., in the dense region of the molecular gas disk.

Boss, Alan P.↗

NASA NTRS1987

Interstellar polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and carbon in interplanetary dust particles and meteorites

Raman spectra of interplanetary dust particles (IDPs) and meteorites containing material similar to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) show features that are similar in position and relative strength to interstellar IR emission features attributable to vibrational transitions in free molecular-sized PAHs. In addition, these spectra sometimes show red photoluminescence that has elsewhere been attributed to PAHs, and a part of the carbonaceous phase in IDPs and meteorites contain a degree of deuterium enrichment anticipated in small, free PAHs that are exposed to ISM UV radiation. These observations suggest that some of the IDPs' carbonaceous material may have been produced in circumstellar dust shells, and only slightly modified in interstellar space.

Allamandola, L. J.↗

NASA NTRS1987

Evolutionary models of interstellar chemistry

The goal of evolutionary models of interstellar chemistry is to understand how interstellar clouds came to be the way they are, how they will change with time, and to place them in an evolutionary sequence with other celestial objects such as stars. An improved Mark II version of an earlier model of chemistry in dynamically evolving clouds is presented. The Mark II model suggests that the conventional elemental C/O ratio less than one can explain the observed abundances of CI and the nondetection of O2 in dense clouds. Coupled chemical-dynamical models seem to have the potential to generate many observable discriminators of the evolutionary tracks. This is exciting, because, in general, purely dynamical models do not yield enough verifiable discriminators of the predicted tracks.

Prasad, Sheo S.↗

NASA NTRS1988

Photoabsorption and phototdissociation of molecules important in the interstellar medium

The photoabsorption and photodissociation cross sections of interstellar molecules and radicals were measured in the 90 to 200 nm region using synchrotron radiation, F sub 2 laser, excimer lasers, and discharge lamps as light sources. These data are currently needed for determining the formation and destruction rates of molecules and radicals by the interstellar radiation field.

Lee, Long C.↗

NASA NTRS1988

Catalog of open clusters and associated interstellar matter

The Catalog of Open Clusters and Associated Interstellar Matter summarizes observations of 128 open clusters and their associated ionized, atomic, and molecular iinterstellar matter. Cluster sizes, distances, radial velocities, ages, and masses, and the radial velocities and masses of associated interstellar medium components, are given. The database contains information from approximately 400 references published in the scientific literature before 1988.

Leisawitz, David↗

NASA NTRS1987

High-resolution ultraviolet observations of interstellar lines toward Zeta Persei observed with the balloon-borne ultraviolet stellar spectrometer

The balloon-borne ultraviolet stellar spectrometer payload has been used to obtain high-resolution data on interstellar absorption lines toward Zeta Per. The only lines clearly present in the 2150-2450 region were several Fe II features, which show double structure. The two velocity components were sufficiently well separated that it was possible to construct separate curves of growth to derive the Fe II column densities for the individual components. These column densities and the component velocity separation were then used to compute a realistic two-component curve of growth for the line of sight to Zeta Per, which was then used to reanalyze existing ultraviolet data from Copernicus. The results were generally similar to an earlier two-component analysis of the Copernicus data, with the important exception that the silicon depletion increased from near zero to about 1 dex. This makes the Zeta Per depletion pattern quite similar to those derived for other reddened lines of sight, supporting the viewpoint that the general diffuse interstellar medium has a nearly constant pattern of depletions.

Snow, Theodore P.↗

NASA NTRS1987

The physics of interstellar shock waves

This review discusses the observations and theoretical models of interstellar shock waves, in both diffuse cloud and molecular cloud environments. It summarizes the relevant gas dynamics, atomic, molecular and grain processes, radiative transfer, and physics of radiative and magnetic precursors in shock models. It then describes the importance of shocks for observations, diagnostics, and global interstellar dynamics. It concludes with current research problems and data needs for atomic, molecular and grain physics.

Shull, J. Michael↗

NASA NTRS1987

Heating and cooling of the interstellar gas

Basic considerations of the global heating and cooling of the interstellar gas are summarized. The various energy sources are reviewed. Expressions for the rates of a number of typical heating and cooling processes are given. General comments are made about the conditions in the several phases of the interstellar medium in thermal balance.

Black, John H.↗

NASA NTRS1987

VLA and low-frequency VLBI observations of the radio source 0503 + 467 - Austere constraints on interstellar scattering in two media

The radio source 0503 + 467 lies near the Galactic plane (l = 161.0 deg, b = 3.7 deg) and at the edge of the supernova remnant (SNR) HB 9. The VLA observations show that it has a spectrum typical of a compact extragalactic radio source. The resultant small angular size of the source makes it an excellent probe of turbulence in two media: the diffuse, or 'type A', component of interstellar turbulence and a hypothesized region of hydromagnetic turbulence upstream of the supernova remnant. An eight-station VLBI experiment at 326 MHz indicates that the source is less than about 20 milliarcseconds (mas) in angular diameter. A value of 16 mas is most appropriate as an upper limit to the interstellar scattering contribution to the measured angular size. The implications of this upper limit are twofold. First, the galactocentric radial scale to the type-A turbulence is probably less than or equal to about 6 kpc. Second, no evidence is seen for shock-associated turbulence upstream of HB 9. The measurements make it possible to constrain a parameter which is a function of the rms density fluctuation in the upstream region, the outer scale to the density turbulence, and the thickness of SNR foreshock region.

Spangler, Steven R.↗

NASA NTRS1987

Supernovae and the interstellar medium

Repeated supernovae from an OB association will, in a few 10s of Myr, create a cavity of coronal gas in the interstellar medium, with radius greater than 100 pc, surrounded by a dense expanding shell of cool interstellar gas. Such a cavity will likely burst through the gas layer of a disk galaxy. Such holes and 'supershells' have been observed in optical and H I radio emission maps of the Galaxy and other nearby galaxies. The gas swept up in supershell is likely to become gravitationally unstable, providing a mechanism for propagating star formation that may be particularly effective in irregular galaxies.

Mccray, Richard↗

NASA NTRS1987

Infrared emission from interstellar PAHs

The mid-IR absorption and Raman spectra of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and the mechanisms determining them are reviewed, and the implications for observations of similar emission spectra in interstellar clouds are considered. Topics addressed include the relationship between PAHs and amorphous C, the vibrational spectroscopy of PAHs, the molecular emission process, molecular anharmonicity, and the vibrational quasi-continuum. Extensive graphs, diagrams, and sample spectra are provided, and the interstellar emission bands are attributed to PAHs with 20-30 C atoms on the basis of the observed 3.3/3.4-micron intensity ratios.

Allamandola, L. J.↗

NASA NTRS1988

Newly detected molecules in dense interstellar clouds

The last year or so has seen the identification of several new interstellar molecules, including C2S, C3S, C5H, C6H, and (probably) HC2CHO in the cold, dark cloud TMC-1, and the discovery of the first interstellar phosphorus-containing molecule, PN, in the Orion 'plateau' source. Further interesting results include the observations of (C-13))3H2 and C3HD, and the first detection of HCOOH (formic acid) in a (C-13)3H2 cold cloud.

Irvine, William M.↗