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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 1,189 records · Page 66
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NASA NTRS1989

Survey observations of emission-line stars in the Orion region

Survey observations were conducted for H alpha-emission stars in the Orion region using the Kiso Schmidt telescope and partly the CTIO Curtis Schmidt telescope. In the area of about 25 square degrees, a total of 236 H alpha-emission objects, mostly supposed to be T Tau type stars, have been detected among which 155 are new ones including 6 non-stellar objects. Celestial coordinates and V-magnitude are measured for the detected objects. Eye estimation of the H alpha-emission intensity is also made at three epochs in a time span of about two years, where notable variation of H alpha intensity was found in 68 out of 236 objects. Besides a remarkable concentration along the northern dark cloud complex, a loose concentration is noticed near the Orion Belt region, fairly well coinciding with the distribution of the Orion OBIb association members. A comparison with the Av-map is also made to see the relationship between the distribution of emission-line objects and that of interstellar dust.

Wiramihardja, Suhardja D.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Gravity field error analysis: Applications of GPS receivers and gradiometers on low orbiting platforms

The concept of a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver as a tracking facility and a gradiometer as a separate instrument on a low orbiting platform offers a unique tool to map the Earth's gravitational field with unprecedented accuracies. The former technique allows determination of the spacecraft's ephemeris at any epoch to within 3 to 10 cm, the latter permits the measurement of the tensor of second order derivatives of the gravity field to within 0.01 to 0.0001 Eotvos units depending on the type of gradiometer. First, a variety of error sources in gradiometry where emphasis is placed on the rotational problem pursuing as well a static as a dynamic approach is described. Next, an analytical technique is described and applied for an error analysis of gravity field parameters from gradiometer and GPS observation types. Results are discussed for various configurations proposed on Topex/Poseidon, Gravity Probe-B, and Aristoteles, indicating that GPS only solutions may be computed up to degree and order 35, 55, and 85 respectively, whereas a combined GPS/gradiometer experiment on Aristoteles may result in an acceptable solution up to degree and order 240.

Schrama, E.↗
NASA NTRS1990

A statistical study of merging galaxies: Theory and observations

A study of the expected frequency of merging galaxies is conducted, using the impulsive approximation. Results indicate that if we consider mergers involving galaxy pairs without halos in a single crossing time or orbital period, the expected frequency of mergers is two orders of magnitude below the observed value for the present epoch. If we consider mergers involving several orbital periods or crossing times, the expected frequency goes up by an order of magnitude. Preliminary calculation indicate that if we consider galaxy mergers between pairs with massive halos, the merger is very much hastened.

Chatterjee, Tapan K.↗
NASA NTRS1990

On the large-scale structures formed by wakes of open cosmic strings

Large-scale structures of the universe have been variously described as sheetlike, filamentary, cellular, bubbles or spongelike. Recently cosmic strings became one of viable candidates for a galaxy formation scenario, and some of the large-scale structures seem to be simply explained by the open cosmic strings. According to this scenario, sheets are wakes which are traces of moving open cosmic strings where dark matter and baryonic matter have accumulated. Filaments are intersections of such wakes and high density regions are places where three wakes intersect almost orthogonally. The wakes formed at t sub eq become the largest surface density among all wakes, where t sub eq is the epoch when matter density equals to radiation density. If we assume that there is one open cosmic string per each horizon, then it can be explained that the typical distances among wakes, filaments and clusters are also approx. 10(exp 2) Mpc. This model does not exclude a much more large scale structure. Open cosmic string may move even now and accumulate cold dark matter after its traces. However, the surface density is much smaller than the ones formed at t sub eq. From this model, it is expected that the typical high density region will have extended features such as six filaments and three sheets and be surrounded by eight empty regions (voids). Here, the authors are mainly concerned with such structures and have made numerical simulations for the formation of such large scale structures.

Hara, Tetsuya↗
NASA NTRS1990

Ammonia and nitrogen abundances in comets

Comets consist of pristine material preserved from an earlier galactic epoch. Determination of the molecular, elemental, and isotopic abundances in the dust and volatile components of comet nuclei produce vital clues to the chemical evolution of both interstellar and solar nebula matter. Here the abundances of nitrogen-containing molecules in comets are considered. The molecular abundances of NH3 in four comets are summarized (Tegler 1990, Wyckoff, Tegler, and Engel, 1990). From an inventory of nitrogen-containing compounds (Wyckoff, Engel, and Tegler 1990, Wyckoff, Engel, Womack, Ferro, Tegler and Peterson, 1990), an estimate of the elemental N abundance is also presented.

Wyckoff, Susan↗
NASA NTRS1991

Plausible double inflation

It is likely that extended inflation is followed by an epoch of slowroll inflation. Such a sequence of events may lead to a very interesting perturbation spectrum with significant power on the scale of the transition between the extended and slowroll phase, superimposed upon a power-law spectrum with deviations from the Harrison-Zeldovich slope. Normalization of the spectra above and below the transition scale is expected to differ.

Holman, Richard↗
NASA NTRS1989

Second catalog of interferometric measurements of binary stars (McAlister and Hartkopf 1988): Documentation for the machine-readable version

The machine-readable version of the catalog, as it is currently being distributed from the Astronomical Data Center, is described. The catalog is a compilation of measurements of binary- and multiple-star systems obtained by speckle interferometric techniques; this version supersedes a previous edition of the catalog published in 1985. Stars that have been examined for multiplicity with negative results are included, in which case upper limits for the separation are given. The second version is expanded from the first in that a file of newly resolved systems and six cross-index files of alternate designations are included. The data file contains alternate identifications for the observed systems, epochs of observation, reported errors in position angles and separation, and bibliographical references.

Warren, Wayne H., Jr.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Non-Gaussian microwave background fluctuations from nonlinear gravitational effects

Whether the statistics of primordial fluctuations for structure formation are Gaussian or otherwise may be determined if the Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) Satellite makes a detection of the cosmic microwave-background temperature anisotropy delta T(sub CMB)/T(sub CMB). Non-Gaussian fluctuations may be generated in the chaotic inflationary model if two scalar fields interact nonlinearly with gravity. Theoretical contour maps are calculated for the resulting Sachs-Wolfe temperature fluctuations at large angular scales (greater than 3 degrees). In the long-wavelength approximation, one can confidently determine the nonlinear evolution of quantum noise with gravity during the inflationary epoch because: (1) different spatial points are no longer in causal contact; and (2) quantum gravity corrections are typically small-- it is sufficient to model the system using classical random fields. If the potential for two scalar fields V(phi sub 1, phi sub 2) possesses a sharp feature, then non-Gaussian fluctuations may arise. An explicit model is given where cold spots in delta T(sub CMB)/T(sub CMB) maps are suppressed as compared to the Gaussian case. The fluctuations are essentially scale-invariant.

Salopek, D. S.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Estimation and filtering for high-precision GPS positioning applications

Estimation of GPS satellite orbits and other parameters for high-accuracy geodetic and tracking applications is carried out with a multi-satellite batch sequential pseudo-epoch state process noise filter. Both square-root information filtering and UD factorized covariance filtering and smoothing formulations are implemented in the software to enhance numerical stability. The filtering algorithms have been arranged to take advantage of sparse matrices and other characteristics of the GPS measurement scenarios. The filter includes unique error evaluation capabilities to assess effects from mismodeling. Process noise plays a key role in the orbit determination for stochastic behavior of transmitter/receiver clocks, atmospheric-induced delay fluctuations, and unmodeled spacecraft accelerations. Present GPS orbit accuracy is better than 1 m, with ground baselines determined simultaneously to relative accuracy of 1.5 parts in 10 to the 8th over several thousand km distance.

Lichten, Stephen M.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Differential spacecraft tracking by interferometry

This study estimates measurement system errors for two space vehicles on the surface of Mars, and for two Mars orbiting spacecraft, which are being tracked by differential interferometry. In these examples, signals from all spacecraft lie within the same beamwidth of an earth-based radio antenna. The measurements of all spacecraft signals are made simultaneously; errors that scale with angular source separation or with temporal separation between measurement epochs are practically removed. It is shown that errors due to system thermal noise and to systematic effects within ground receiver electronics dominate, except for geometries when signals pass close to the sun, when solar plasma becomes the dominant error source. The instantaneous relative position of two orbiters may be measured to within ten meters, leading to 50-meter three-dimensional orbital accuracy.

Border, James S.↗
NASA NTRS1990

The use and misuse of statistics in space physics

This paper presents several statistical techniques most commonly used in space physics, including Fourier analysis, linear correlation, auto- and cross-correlation, power spectral density and superimposed epoch analysis, and presents tests to assess the significance of the results. New techniques such as bootstrapping and jackknifing are presented. When no test of significance is in common usage, a plausible test is suggested.

Reiff, Patricia H.↗
NASA NTRS1990

First images of water vapor masers in the galaxy M33

The first successful VLBI observations of 10 extragalactic H2O masers in the M33 galaxy are reported. A spectral-line VLBI synthesis map is constructed, the first of any extragalactic H2O maser sources. The map has the lowest noise of any K-band spectral line VLBI map yet produced. The maser emission extends over about 300 milliarcseconds and is divided into 14 distinct spatial components, the strongest of which has a correlated flux density of about 0.7 Jy. The relative positions of some of these components are determined accurately enough to provide first-epoch measurements for proper motion studies. The characteristics of the maser are similar to those of the most powerful maser in the Galaxy, W49N. A compact H II region is found close to the maser which is 1 pc in diameter and whose emission measure is about 6 x 10 to the 7th pc/cm exp 6. This region is the compact component of a more extended H II complex that extends over about 100 pc.

Greenhill, L. J.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Natural inflation with pseudo Nambu-Goldstone bosons

It is shown that a pseudo-Nambu-Goldstone boson of given potential can naturally give rise to an epoch of inflation in the early universe. Mass scales which arise in particle physics models with a gauge group that becomes strongly interacting at a certain scales are shown to be conditions for successful inflation. The density fluctuation spectrum is nonscale-invariant, with extra power on large length scales.

Freese, Katherine↗
NASA NTRS1991

Quasars and galaxy formation. I - The z greater than 4 objects

The physical properties of the known quasars with z greater than 4 are examined with particular reference to theories of cosmic structure formation. A 'standard' massive accreting black hole model for quasars is used to calculate the masses, radiative efficiencies, and accretion rates of the observed objects. The masses, densities, cosmological overdensities, and sizes of the accretion fuel reservoirs associated with the quasar black holes are considered, and several indirect arguments are used to connect these quantities to the masses and overdensities of the quasar host objects. Finally, constraints on the epoch of formation of the host objects are discussed. The general conclusion is that the observed quasars with z greater than 4 suggest that the cosmic structure formation was already well advanced at z = 5, when the universe was a small fraction of its present age.

Turner, Edwin L.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Signal-to-noise ratios in IUE SWP-LO spectra of chromospheric emission-line sources

The short-wavelength-prime (SWP) detector of the International Ultraviolet Explorer should operate near the photon-counting limit, but the noise levels in flat-field images are several times higher. The exaggerated noise can be traced to the incomplete removal of the pixel-to-pixel granularity of the television frames by the prevailing spectral image processing system. An empirical noise model for the current-epoch photometric linearization strategy and one for a hypothetical processing system that achieves complete flat fielding of the raw images are derived. A formula is then proposed to predict the signal-to-noise ratio in the measured flux of an emission line (possibly superimposed on a smooth continuum) in an IUE low-dispersion (5 A resolution) far-ultraviolet (1150 A-1950 A) spectrum as recorded with the SWP camera. For illustration, the formula is specialized to the important C IV 1549 A feature of F-K stars. The S/N relation permits one to determine sensitivity limits, upper limits in faint exposures, and optimum exposure times.

Ayres, Thomas R.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Limits to the lunar atmosphere

Apollo UV spectrometer experiment set limits on the density of oxygen of less than 500/cu cm, and the Apollo Lunar Atmospheric Composition Experiment data imply a value less than 50/cu cm above the subsolar point. These limits are surprisingly small relative to the measured value for sodium. A simple consideration of sources and sinks predicts significantly greater densities of oxygen. It is possible but doubtful that the Apollo measurements occurred during an epoch in which source rates were small. A preferential loss process for oxygen on the darkside of the moon is considered in which ionization by electron capture in surface collisions leads to escape through acceleration in the local electric field. Cold trapping in permanently shadowed regions as a net sink is considered and discounted, but the episodic nature of cometary insertion may allow formation of ice layers which act as a stabilized source of OH. On the basis of an assumed meteoroid impact source, a possible emission brightness of 50 R in the OH(A - X)(0,0) band above the lunar bright limb is predicted.

Morgan, T. H.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Shedding light on baryonic dark matter

Halo dark matter, if it is baryonic, may plausibly consist of compact stellar remnants. Jeans mass clouds containing 10 to the 6th to 10 to the 8th solar masses could have efficiently formed stars in the early universe and could plausibly have generated, for a suitably top-heavy stellar initial mass function, a high abundance of neutron stars as well as a small admixture of long-lived low mass stars. Within the resulting clusters of dark remnants, which eventually are tidally disrupted when halos eventually form, captures of neutron stars by nondegenerate stars resulted in formation of close binaries. These evolve to produce, by the present epoch, an observable X-ray signal associated with dark matter aggregations in galaxy cluster cores.

Silk, Joseph↗
NASA NTRS1991

Premaximum observations of the type Ia SN 1990N

Spectroscopic and photometric observations of SN 1990N were obtained at ultraviolet and optical wavelengths, beginning 14 days before maximum light. The early observations reveal important differences from spectra of SN Ia's around maximum light. Photometry and spectroscopy obtained after maximum show that SN 1990N is a typical SN Ia and that most of the observed differences are due to the early epoch of the observations. The most significant characteristics are (1) the high velocities of Ca and Si up to 22,000 km/s; (2) the presence of Co and Fe 2 weeks before maximum; and (3) the more rapid increase in the UV flux compared to the optical. The most popular models for white dwarf deflagration that have provided the standard interpretation for SN Ia's at maximum light do not reproduce the high velocities of Ca II and Si II lines observed in SN 1990N.

Leibundgut, Bruno↗