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At least 973 records · Page 54
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1980

Nature of the fossil evidence - Moon and meteorites

The nature of the fossil evidence to be found in extraterrestrial materials concerning the history of solar activity is reviewed. The various types of lunar rocks and meteorites containing evidence of exposure to solar radiations are distinguished, including igneous rocks, breccias, glassy agglutinates, single mineral crystals, carbonaceous meteorites, and the Antarctic meteorites, some of which fell to earth as much as a million years ago. The characteristic effects of energetic particles from space in materials are then examined, including ion implantation and surface radiation damage to a depth of several hundred A by the solar wind, radioactivity, electron trapping and track production induced by solar flares to depths from millimeters to centimeters, and spallation due to galactic cosmic rays at depths from centimeters to meters. Complications in the interpretation of radiation exposure histories represented by dynamic surface processes, the nonsolar origin of some trapped elements, and difficulties in determining the duration and epoch of surface exposure of individual crystals are also noted.

Walker, R. M.↗
NASA NTRS1981

The stochastic evolution of asteroidal regoliths and the origin of brecciated and gas-rich meteorites

A model is constructed which views regolith evolution on asteroids as a stochastic process. Average values are shown to be poor descriptors of regolith depth. The utility of the average depth is not significantly increased by avoiding large craters or thick ejecta deposits, a procedure adopted in previous regolith studies. The statistical uncertainty associated with regolith depth severely limits the power of regolith models in predicting parent-body size for brecciated meteorites. A Monte Carlo algorithm was used to simulate the random walks and corresponding charged-particle irradiation histories of grains in regoliths. On rocky asteroids, only about 20 percent of the grains was exposed to solar cosmic ray ions. Results based on present-day conditions in the asteroid belt agree well with irradiation features observed in gas-rich meteorites. An origin during epochs of early solar system evolution is not required.

Housen, K. R.↗
NASA NTRS1981

Accretion disk coronae

Recent observations of partial X-ray eclipses from 4U1822-37 have shown that the central X-ray source in this system is diffused by a large Compton-thick accretion disk corona (ADC). Another binary, 4U2129-47, also displays a partial eclipse and contains an ADC. The possible origin of an ADC is discussed and a simple hydrostatic evaporated ADC model is developed which, when applied to 4U1822-37, 4U2129+47 and Cyg X-3, can explain their temporal and spectral properties. The quasi-sinusoidal modulation of all three sources can be reconciled with the partial occultation of the ADC by a bulge at the edge of the accretion disk which is caused by the inflowing material. The height of this bulge is an order of magnitude larger than the hydrostatic disk height and is the result of turbulence in the outer region of the disk. The spectral properties of all three sources can be understood in terms of Compton scattering of the original source spectrum by the ADC. Spectral variations with epoch in Cyg X-3 are probably caused by changes in the optical depth of the corona. A consequence of our model is that any accreting neutron star X-ray source in a semi-detached binary system which is close to its Eddington limit most likely contains an optically thick ADC.

White, N. E.↗
NASA NTRS1982

High accuracy OMEGA timekeeping

The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO) operates a worldwide satellite tracking network which uses a combination of OMEGA as a frequency reference, dual timing channels, and portable clock comparisons to maintain accurate epoch time. Propagational charts from the U.S. Coast Guard OMEGA monitor program minimize diurnal and seasonal effects. Daily phase value publications of the U.S. Naval Observatory provide corrections to the field collected timing data to produce an averaged time line comprised of straight line segments called a time history file (station clock minus UTC). Depending upon clock location, reduced time data accuracies of between two and eight microseconds are typical.

Imbier, E. A.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Comparison of VLBI, TV and traveling clock techniques for time transfer

A three part experiment was conducted to develop and compare time transfer techniques. The experiment consisted of (1) a very long baseline interferometer (VLBI), (2) a high precision portable clock time transfer system between the two sites, and (3) a television time transfer. A comparison of the VLBI and traveling clock shows each technique can perform satisfactorily at the five nsec level. There was a systematic offset of 59 nsec between the two methods, which we attributed to a difference in epochs between VLBI formatter and station clock. The VLBI method had an internal random error of one nsec at the three sigma level for a two day period. Thus, the Mark II system performed well, and VLBI shows promise of being an accurate method of time transfer. The TV system, which had technical problems during the experiment, transferred time with a random error of about 50 nsec.

Spencer, J. H.↗
NASA NTRS1981

Investigation of geomagnetic field forecasting and fluid dynamics of the core

Progress in the use of MAGSAT data to confirm that the radius of the Earth's core-mantle boundary can be accurately determined magnetically is reported. The MAGSAT data was used in conjunction with a high quality manfield model for epoch 1965. The unsigned flux linking the core and mantle of the Earth is considered to be a legitimate invariant for a span of time. The value from MAGSAT of this constant is 16.056 GWb (gigawebers).

Benton, E. R.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Doppler line profiles measurement of the Jovian Lyman Alpha emission with OAO-C

Observation of Jupiter made with the high resolution ultraviolet spectrometer of the Orbiting Astronomical Observatory copernicus in April and May, 1980, yield a Jovian Lyman alpha emission intensity of 7 + or 2.5 RR. This indicates a decrease by about a factor of two since the Voyager ultraviolet spectrometer measurements, nearly a year earlier. An unusually high column abundance of hydrogen atoms above the methane homopause at the Voyager epoch is indicated. Since the auroral charged particle bombardment of molecular hydrogen is expected to contribute significantly to the global population of the hydrogen atoms, it is suggested that at the time of the Voyager Jupiter encounter unusually high auroral activity existed, perhaps d to the high concentration of the Io plasma torus. The temporal variation of the Saturn lyman alpha emission, when contrasted with the Jovian data, reveals that the auroral processes are not nearly as important in determining the Saturn Lyman alpha intensity in the nonauroral region.

Barker, E. S.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Coordinated observations of Markarian 501 at ultraviolet, X-ray, optical, and radio wavelengths

The results of multifrequency observations of MrK 501 = B2 1652+39 are presented here. It is a BL Lac object embedded in a giant elliptical galaxy obtained during the period August 1980 - March 1981. It is argued that MrK 501 varies sufficiently slowly at ultraviolet, optical and radio wavelengths on time scales of months that the data are representative of a spectrum obtained at a single epoch. The importance of MrK 501 derives mostly from its association of a quasar-like object with a galaxy whose absorption-line redshift (z = 0.034) unambiguously determines its distance. This implies that physical conditions within this local quasar can be discussed without the confusion introduced by distance uncertainties.

Hutter, D. J.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Simultaneous multifrequency observations of BL Lac objects and violently variable quasars

Ultraviolet spectra simultaneous with radio, infrared, optical, and X-ray measurements were obtained for three BL Lac objects and one violently variable quasar during several epochs (0735+178, BL Lac, IZw-187, and 3C446). A feature common to these objects is that the radio-mm continuum must steepen in the far-infrared region in order to connect smoothly to the IR-UV continuum. This indicates that synchrotron emission becomes optically thick in the mm or far-infrared region. The continuum of 3C446 and BL Lac steepen quite rapidly between the IR and UV spectra with slopes near unity. The X-ray emission in BL Lac, 3C446, and 0735+178 has a different origin from the IR-UV radiation, probably from the inverse Compton process. However, the synchrotron radiation is the probable source of X-ray emission in the X-ray bright BL Lac object IZw-187. In IZw-187, most of the energy emerges in the UV - X-ray region, while for the other sources, most of the energy emerges in the far infrared region.

Bregman, J. N.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Spectral anomalies in low dispersion SWP images

Physical interpretation of IUE spectra obtained with the SWP camera may be significantly affected by artificial spectral features of several types. In low dispersion large aperture SWP exposures of sources with nominally featureless spectra, a spectral imprint which alters the shape of the continuum, several spurious "emission features" which recur at fixed locations on the camera target, and fixed pattern noise which can result in illusory emission and absorption features were identified. The anomalies appear in spectra extracted from line by line files generated by IUESIPS at all epochs, regardless of the ITF or rectification scheme used for processing.

Hackney, R. L.↗
NASA NTRS1981

Revised age estimates of Brunhes palaeomagnetic events - Support for a link between geomagnetism and eccentricity

Revisions in the dates of reported geomagnetic excursions during the Brunhes Epoch are proposed in light of possible correlations between a section at Gioia Tauro, Italy, deep-sea cores, a core from Lake Biwa, Japan, and some lava flows. The anomalously long, double Blake Event reported at Gioia Tauro is here correlated with the Blake Event (approximately 110 kyr) and the Biwa 1 event (180 plus or minus 5 kyr); an hiatus may be present in the section between these two events. The alpha event at Gioia Tauro is correlated with the Biwa 2 event at about 295 kyr; the beta event with the 'Biwa 3' event at about 400 kyr; the gamma event with the Snake River event at 480 plus or minus 50; and the delta event, not recorded elsewhere, is estimated to have occurred at approximately 620 kyr. These proposed refinements in the age estimates of the excursions suggest an approximately 100 kyr cyclicity. If the events are real and the revised dating is correct, the timing of the geomagnetic events seems to coincide with times of peak eccentricity of the earth's orbit, suggesting a causal connection.

Rampino, M. R.↗
NASA NTRS1981

Intergalactic shells at large redshift

The intergalactic shells produced by galactic explosions at large redshift, whose interiors cool by inverse Compton scattering off the cosmic background radiation, have a characteristic angular size of about 1 arcmin at peak brightness. At z values lower than 2, the shells typically have a radius of 0.5 Mpc, a velocity of about 50 km/sec, a metal abundance of about 0.0001 of cosmic values, and strong radiation in H I(Lyman-alpha), He II 304 A, and the IR fine-structure lines of C II and Si II. The predicted extragalactic background emission from many shells, strongly peaked toward the UV, sets an upper limit to the number of exploding sources at z values of about 10. Shell absorption lines of H I, C II, Si II, and Fe II, which may be seen at more recent epochs in quasar spectra, may probe otherwise invisible explosions in the early universe.

Shull, J. M.↗
NASA NTRS1981

318-MHz variability of complete samples of extragalactic radio sources

It is found by a low-frequency variability survey, involving two- and three-epoch, 318-MHz observations of extragalactic sources in samples complete to 3 Jy at 1400 MHz and 1 Jy at 5000 MHz, that steep-spectrum sources do not seem to vary while all flat-spectrum sources exhibit low-frequency variability greater than 8% over about 5 yr. It is also found that the flat-spectrum sources with inverted spectra show the largest fractional variations, and that there is a correlation between the incidence of low-frequency variability and the determination that a source is an optically violent variable. These statistical properties are consistent with models which invoke radio and optical emission relativistic beaming.

Dennison, B.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Interplanetary magnetic clouds at 1 AU

Statistical characteristics of magnetic clouds observed in the interplanetary medium near earth are investigated. Forty-five magnetic clouds are identified in which one component of B changes direction by rotating parallel to a plane, while the component of B normal to that plane is either constant or zero. Three classes of clouds are identified: clouds preceded by a shock, clouds followed by a stream interface, and clouds associated with a CME. In superposed epoch plots, the maximum field strength is found to be approximately the same for each class of clouds. Temperatures are all low, densities are somewhat high, and the pressure is higher that the ambient pressure in all three types of clouds. The physical characteristics of the magnetic clouds and their rate of occurrence suggests that many or all of the clouds may be related to coronal mass eject elements observed in white light data.

Klein, L. W.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Performance analysis for the expanding search PN acquisition algorithm

An approach is described for approximating the cumulative probability distribution of the acquisition time of the serial pseudonoise (PN) search algorithm. The results are applicable to both variable and fixed dwell time systems. The theory is developed for the case where some a priori information is available on the PN code epoch (reacquisition problem or acquisition of very long codes). Also considered is the special case of a search over the whole code. The accuracy of the approximation is demonstrated by comparisons with published exact results for the fixed dwell time algorithm.

Braun, W. R.↗
NASA NTRS1982

The effects of transmitter/receiver clock time-base instability on coherent communication system performance

The purpose of this paper is to present a model and associated analysis of the deleterious effects which both transmitter and receiver data clock time-base instability have on bit-error probability. The types of time-base instability modeled and analyzed include what is commonly referred to as bit jitter (epoch jitter), bit-jitter rate (time interval jitter), and data asymmetry. The bit-error probability is determined as a function of the statistical characteristics of the time-base instability, the data-transition density, the signal-to-noise ratio in the bit-rate bandwidth and the mechanizations of both the data-bit detector and bit synchronizer. The latter is manifested through the bit synchronizer's natural frequency and loop-damping parameters. Numerical results which indicate the sensitivity of the system bit-error rate to various parameters of the model are provided.

Chie, C. M.↗
NASA NTRS1980

Open-loop nanosecond-synchronization for wideband satellite communications

A synchronization technique for use with an onboard processing satellite communication system is discussed. The satellite oscillator is used both as the system time reference and as the frequency source for all downlink carriers and data clocks. Downlink timing is established at each system earth terminal through a combination of carrier and data-clock tracking and a downlink timing epoch signal consisting of one bit per TDMA data burst. Uplink timing is established by an open-loop range prediction process using precision ephemerides calculated and distributed by the central control station. Overall timing accuracy of the uplink signal at the satellite receiver of + or - 7 nanoseconds permits unambiguous identification of each data bit position in a 128 Mbps TDMA burst. This is accomplished by means of simple, inexpensive terminal hardware using available crystal oscillators for time/frequency references and digital synthesis techniques that may be implemented in digital LSI chips.

Holmes, W. M., Jr.↗
NASA NTRS1981

Remote sensing of the asteroids

Knowledge of the compositions of the asteroids is obtained by the remote sensing of reflected and emitted radiation from what are essentially star-like points of light. Since asteroids are a remnant population of planetesimals that were never accreted into the larger planets, their compositions and properties can provide insight into the nature of planetary matter in early epochs, before most of it was physically and chemically modified by geological processes within the planets. The progress made during the past decade in learning about asteroids through remote sensing is reviewed.

Chapman, C. R.↗