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At least 991 records · Page 55

The ionization structure of planetary nebulae. IX - NGC 1535

The ionization structure of planetary nebula NGC 1535 was investigated using spectrophotometric observations of emission-line intensities over the spectral range 1400-7200 A, which were carried out in five positions in this nebula. The results obtained on the ionic abundances of He, O, N, Ne, C, and Ar in NGC 1535 suggest that it is a planetary nebula that formed initially in a somewhat metal-poor region and has undergone little or no enhancement of its original abundances by mixing with nuclear-processed material.

Barker, Timothy↗

Silicon carbide and the origin of interstellar carbon grains

Experimental evidence is adduced for an interstellar carbon grain formation mechanism in which SiC nucleates at higher temperatures than 900-1100 C in a hydrogen atmosphere to furnish a surface for subsequent carbon condensation. Studies comparing the spatial distribution of the 11.2-micron SiC feature, or its spectral shape, with thermal dust emission, may further elucidate the present relationship. The model is also consistent with recent laboratory studies which have identified grains of SiC as a constituent of primitive meteorites.

Frenklach, M.↗

Fraunhofer filters to reduce solar background for optical communications

A wavelength that lies within a spectral interval of reduced solar emission (a Fraunhofer line) can carry optical communications with reduced interference from direct or reflected background sunlight. Suitable Fraunhofer lines are located within the tuning range of good candidate lasers. The laser should be tunable dynamically to track Doppler shifts in the sunlight incident on any solar system body that may appear in the background as viewed by the receiver. A Fraunhofer filter used with a direct-detection receiver should be tuned to match the Doppler shifts of the source and background. The required tuning calculated here for various situations is also required if, instead, one uses a heterodyne receiver with limited post-detection bandwidth.

Kerr, E. L.↗

The ionization structure of planetary nebulae 10: NGC 2392

Spectrophotometric observations of emission-line intensities over the spectral range 1400 to 7200 A were made in six positions in the planetary nebula NGC 2392. Standard equations used to correct for the existence of elements in other than the optically observable ionization stages give consistent results for the different positions that are in excellent agreement with abundances calculated using ultraviolet lines, and there is no evidence for any abundance gradient in the nebula. The logarithmic abundances agree well with determinations by Aller and Keyes.

Barker, Timothy↗

Stratospheric H2(O-18) distribution from far infrared observations

The stratospheric distribution of H2(O-18) in the 22 to 37 km altitude range has been obtained from balloon-based measurement of far infrared thermal emission spectra with an unapodized spectral resolution of 0.0033/cm. The analysis is based on the observed spectra of 9 isolated spectral lines in the 46 to 72/cm region obtained from four complete limb sequences. Comparison of the results with the statistically expected values indicates enhancement in the H2(O-18) concentrations increasing from 27 + or - 14 percent at 29 km to 40 + or - 23 percent at 37 km. No significant enhancement at lower altitudes was observed.

Guo, J.↗

X-ray echoes from gamma-ray bursts

The identification of an echo of reflected radiation in time histories of gamma-ray burst spectra can provide important information about the existence of binary companions or accretion disks in gamma-ray burst systems. Because of the nature of Compton scattering, the spectrum of the echo will be attenuated at gamma-ray energies compared with the spectrum of the primary burst emission. The expected temporal and spectral signatures of the echo and a search for such echoes are described, and implications for gamma-ray burst models are discussed.

Dermer, Charles D.↗

The ionization structure of planetary nebulae. X - NGC 2392

Spectrophotometric observations of emission-line intensities over the spectral range 1400 to 7200 A were made in six positions in the planetary nebula NGC 2392. Standard equations used to correct for the existence of elements in other than the optically observable ionization stages give consistent results for the different positions that are in excellent agreement with abundances calculated using ultraviolet lines, and there is no evidence for any abundance gradient in the nebula. The logarithmic abundances agree well with determinations by Aller and Keyes.

Barker, Timothy↗

An EUV imaging spectrograph for high-resolution observations of the solar corona

An extreme ultraviolet (EUV) imaging spectrograph for the wavelength range from 235 to 450 A has been developed and used for resolution observations of the sun. The instrument incorporates a glancing incidence Wolter Type II Telescope and a near-normal incidence toroidal grating spectrograph to achieve near-stigmatic performance over this spectral range. The design of the spectrograph entrance aperture enables both stigmatic spectra with spectral resolution adequate to observe emission line profiles and spectroheliograms of restricted portions of the sun to be obtained concurrently. The design and performance of the instrument are described, and an overview of results obtained during a sounding rocket flight on May 5, 1989 is provided.

Neupert, Werner M.↗

A halo and a blow-out in NGC 253

We present the discovery of a 'synchrotron halo' in NGC 253. NGC 253 is an inclined, dusty, barred Sc galaxy in the Sculptor Group. It is also one of the prototype nuclear star burst galaxies. Very Large Array observations at 327 MHz and 1.4 GHz have revealed a synchrotron emitting 'halo' extending 9 kpc above and below the plane of NGC 253 (assuming a distance of 4 Mpc). The spectral index for the radio emission steepens from -0.7 in the disk to -1.0 in the halo. The fractional polarization at 1.4 GHz increases from less than or equal to 2 percent in the disk up to 20 percent in the halo, and the magnetic field vectors project parallel to the plane over most of the halo.

Carilli, C. L.↗

Burst detection capability of the Mars Observer gamma-ray spectrometer

This paper describes the gamma-ray burst detection capability of the gamma-ray spectrometer on board the Mars Observer spacecraft. The instrument is designed to respond to significant bursts by suspending its observation of the Martian surface in favor of optimizing the collection of pre-burst, burst, and post-burst data. The results are expected to contribute to our understanding of gamma-ray bursts through a high energy resolution search for line emission, by the examination of spectral shapes and by comprising one leg of an arrival time network to determine the direction of origin.

Metzger, Albert E.↗

H2O(+) production rates of Comets Austin 1990 V and P/Halley 1986 III

High-spectral-resolution scans of H2O(+) emissions from Austin 1990 V were obtained. A simple model of the ion distribution in the FOV is used to determine a lower limit phi(H2O+) to the H2O(+) ion flux away from the nucleus for each night of observations. A similar analysis is applied to previous observations of H2O(+) emissions from Comet P/Halley 1986 III. It is found that the mean ratio is phi(H2O+)/Q(H2O) is 1.2 x exp -3 for Halley (solar minimum) and 2.6 x 10 exp -3 for Austin (solar maximum).

Schultz, D.↗

Investigation of physical parameters in stellar flares observed by GINGA

This program involves analysis and interpretation of results from GINGA Large Area Counter (LAC) observations from a group of large stellar x-ray flares. All LAC data are re-extracted using the standard Hayashida method of LAC background subtraction and analyzed using various models available with the XSPEC spectral fitting program. Temperature-emission measure histories are available for a total of 5 flares observed by GINGA. These will be used to compare physical parameters of these flares with solar and stellar flare models.

Stern, Robert A.↗

Topside observation of gravity waves

The AEPI (Atmospheric Emissions Photometric Imager) experiment on the ATLAS-1 shuttle mission (launched March 24, 1992) imaged the earth night airglow emission in O2 Atmospheric (0,0) bands, at 762.0 nm. Earthward views of O2 A bands show structure from gravity waves which exhibit extended horizontal structure with horizontal wavelenghts on the order of 50-100 km. These observations of the O2 A (0,0) bands are particularly interesting since in this wavelength the lower atmosphere absorbs all the earth-reflected emissions and most of the spectrally diffuse backgrounds. Herein we present observations of gravity waves using a topside airglow imaging technique.

Mende, S. B.↗

Remote sensing of cloud, aerosol and water vapor properties from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS)

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS) is an Earth-viewing sensor being developed as a facility instrument for the Earth Observing System (EOS) to be launched in the late 1990s. MODIS consists of two separate instruments that scan a swath width sufficient to provide nearly complete global coverage every two days from a polar-orbiting, Sun-synchronous, platform at an altitude of 705 km. Of primary interest for studies of atmospheric physics is the MODIS-N (nadir) instrument which will provide images in 36 spectral bands between 0.415 and 14.235 micrometers with spatial resoulutions of 250 m (2 bands), 500 m (5 bands) and 1000 m (29 bands). These bands have been carefully selected to enable advanced studies of land, ocean and atmosperhic processes. The intent of this lecture is to describe the current status of MODIS-N and its companion instrument MODIS-T (tilt), a tiltable cross-track scanning radiometer with 32 uniformly spaced channels between 0.410 and 0.875 micrometers, and to describe the physical principles behind the development of MODIS for the remote sensing of atmospheric properties. Primary emphasis will be placed on the main atmospheric applications of determining the optical, microphysical and physical properties of clouds and aerosol particles form spectral-reflection and thermal-emission measurements. In addition to cloud and aerosol properties, MODIS-N will be utilized for the determination of the total precipitable water vapor over land and atmospheric stability. The physical principles behind the determination of each of these atmospheric products will be described herein.

King, M. D.↗

Shocked Plagioclase Signatures in Thermal Emission Spectrometer Data of Mars

Deconvolution of TES (Thermal Emission Spectrometer) data using a spectral library that includes spectra of experimentally shocked anorthosite (bytownite) suggests that shocked materials can be identified on Mars at low to intermediate abundances (10 - 20%) over a range of pressures. Additional information is contained in the original extended abstract.

Johnson, J. R.↗

Spectroscopy and Photometry of the Earth Grazer 2002 NY40

The near Earth asteroid 2002 NY40 was discovered on July 14, 2002 by the LINEAR survey. The object was predicted to make a close pass by the Earth on August 18, which led to observations at a large range of wavelengths, including radar. The combination of visible and near infrared spectroscopy/spectrophotometry gives some indication of the composition. Thermal emission in the 3 micron spectral region gives constraints on the albedo, which is consistent with the spectral type and with the available size from the radar measurements. The lightcurve was well measured by a large number of observers, which helps to determine the rotation phase of the observations at the various wavelengths. The favorable observing conditions and rapid dissemination of the astrometry have led to a good physical characterization of this object, which is relatively rare for a newly discovered near Earth asteroid. The data sets reported in this abstract are shown.

Rivkin, A. S.↗

Status of the MODIS Level 1B Algorithms and Calibration Tables

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) makes observations using 36 spectral bands with wavelengths from 0.41 to 14.4 m and nadir spatial resolutions of 0.25km, 0.5km, and 1km. It is currently operating onboard the NASA Earth Observing System (EOS) Terra and Aqua satellites, launched in December 1999 and May 2002, respectively. The MODIS Level 1B (L1B) program converts the sensor's on-orbit responses in digital numbers to radiometrically calibrated and geo-located data products for the duration of each mission. Its primary data products are top of the atmosphere (TOA) reflectance factors for the sensor's reflective solar bands (RSB) and TOA spectral radiances for the thermal emissive bands (TEB). The L1B algorithms perform the TEB calibration on a scan-by-scan basis using the sensor's response to the on-board blackbody (BB) and other parameters which are stored in Lookup Tables (LUTs). The RSB calibration coefficients are processed offline and regularly updated through LUTs. In this paper we provide a brief description of the MODIS L1B calibration algorithms and associated LUTs with emphasis on their recent improvements and updates developed for the MODIS collection 5 processing. We will also discuss sensor on-orbit calibration and performance issues that are critical to maintaining L1B data product quality, such as changes in the sensor's response versus scan-angle.

MODIS LEVEL 1B ALGORITHMS↗

Characteristics of the Extended Burst Tails from SGR 1806-20 During the 2004 Active Episode

In 2004, SGR 1806-20 underwent an episode of extreme activities, exhibiting thousands of recurrent bursts and finally the 27 December giant flare, which was the most energetic extra-solar event ever detected near Earth. During this active episode, we routinely monitored the source with Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer and occasionally with Chandra. We identified two relatively strong event that were followed by extended (few hundreds-thousands seconds long) tail emission. Here, we present detailed spectral investigations of these two strong SGR 1806-20 events with extended tail observed about 6 and 1.5 months prior to the 27 December 2004 giant flare. We find that both extended burst tail spectra exhibit thermal behavior. Similar thermal spectral trend was also seen in two SGR 1900+14 bursts with extended tails, therefore, it may be a general characteristic of extended SGR events.

Gogus, Ersin↗