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At least 1,405 records · Page 78
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NASA NTRS1987

Relativistic beaming and the nuclei of double-lobed quasars

If the simple relativistic beaming model for extragalactic radio sources is at all correct, Doppler boosting may bias us toward choosing those objects pointing nearly at us in flux-density limited samples. In order to minimize any such effects in statistical tests of physical theories of these objects, an attempt is made to define a complete sample of sources with random orientations. For a sample of 26 double-lobed quasars, the dependence of a number of observable features on the angle to the line of sight and on the superluminal velocity is examined, and the distribution of superluminal velocities for the sources is measured. Two new superluminals are reported, and their apparent velocities and nuclear strengths are discussed.

Hough, David H.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Measurements and calculations of the Coulomb cross section for the production of direct electron pairs by energetic heavy nuclei in nuclear track emulsion

Measurements and theoretical predictions of the Coulomb cross section for the production of direct electron pairs by heavy ions in emulsion have been performed. Nuclear track emulsions were exposed to the 1.8 GeV/amu Fe-56 beam at the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory bevalac and to the 60 and 200 GeV/amu O-16 and the 200 GeV/amu S-32 beam at the European Center for Nuclear Research Super Proton Synchrotron modified to accelerate heavy ions. The calculations combine the Weizsacker-Williams virtual quanta method applicable to the low-energy transfers and the Kelner-Kotov relativistic treatment for the high-energy transfers. Comparison of the measured total electron pair yield, the energy transfer distribution, and the emission angle distribution with theoretical predictions revealed a discrepancy in the frequency of occurrence of the low-energy pairs (less than or = 10 MeV). The microscope scanning criteria used to identify the direct electron pairs is described and efforts to improve the calculation of the cross section for pair production are also discussed.

Derrickson, J. H.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Ultra-high-energy photons from active galactic nuclei - Theory

First-order Fermi acceleration in collisionless shocks is supposed to operate in the central regions of AGN, initiating processes which ultimately result in ultrahigh energy (UHE) photons. This paper analyzes the formation of the UHE photon spectrum inside the central source. The escape probability of the UHE photons, the energy spectra of created electron-positron pairs, and their synchrotron radiation in the external region are calculated.

Sikora, Marek↗
NASA NTRS1989

Bars within bars - A mechanism for fuelling active galactic nuclei

A mechanism, applicable to AGN and nuclear starburst galaxies in which there is accretion onto a supermassive black hole (SBH), is proposed which brings in gas from large to small scales by successive dynamical instabilities. On the large scale, a stellar bar sweeps the interstellar medium into a gaseous disk a few hundred pc in radius. Under certain conditions, this disk can become unstable again, allowing material to flow inwards until turbulent viscous processes control angular-momentum transport. This flow pattern may feed viscosity-driven accretion flows around an SBH or lead to the formation of an SBH if none was present initially.

Shlosman, Isaac↗
NASA NTRS1988

Active galactic nuclei

The astrophysical processes in AGN are examined, reviewing the results of ground-based and space observations obtained in different regions of the electromagnetic spectrum. Topics addressed include blazars and blazar variability, the apparently nonthermal broadband continuum emission of blazars, simple synchrotron self-Compton models, inhomogeneous models, and the need for multiwavelength spectra of blazars. Consideration is given to nonblazar emission-line AGN, the radio/IR power law, dust emission in the IR, the NIR excess, host-galaxy starlight, 'blue bumps', the X-ray power law, the big blue bump, broadband X-ray emission, and emission lines. The great potential value of multiwavelength variability studies of AGN is stressed.

Urry, C. Megan↗
NASA NTRS1989

The radiative deceleration of ultrarelativistic jets in active galactic nuclei

A detailed study of the dynamical interaction between a highly relativistic jet and the thermal radiation field from an AGN accretion disk is reported, and the Comptonized spectrum arising from this interaction is self-consistently determined. A simple model that captures the essential radiative and geometrical features of realistic disk configurations is presented, and the disk radiation field is calculated. The results confirm Phinney's (1987) suggestion that the thermal radiation field produced by accretion in an AGN could be very effective in decelerating ultrarelativistic jets that are accreted by electromagnetic or hydromagnetic forces closer to the central black hole. Terminal Lorentz factors are consistent with the values inferred in superluminal radio sources are readily produced in this model for plausible disk and jet parameters without additional acceleration in the interaction zone. A new interpretation of the hard X-ray component detected in BL Lac spectra is proposed.

Melia, Fulvio↗
NASA NTRS1988

The effects of X-rays from active galactic nuclei on the interstellar medium of the surrounding galaxy

The effects of an active nucleus on the large-scale properties of the host galaxy are examined, focusing on the effects of X-ray heating on the host galaxy's interstellar medium. The basic properties of AGNs and several questions concerning AGNs are reviewed. The relationship between X-ray heated winds and coronae is outlined. The case of X-ray heated winds in type 2 Seyfert galaxies is discussed.

Begelman, Mitchell C.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Active galactic nuclei. III - Accretion flow in an externally supplied cluster of black holes

This third paper in the series modeling QSOs and AGNs as clusters of accreting black holes studies the accretion flow within an externally supplied cluster. Significant radiation will be emitted by the cluster core, but the black holes in the outer halo, where the flow is considered spherically symmetric, will not contribute much to the overall luminosity of the source because of their large velocities relative to the infalling gas and therefore their small accretion radii. As a result, the scenario discussed in Paper I will refer to the cluster cores, rather than to entire clusters. This will steepen the high-frequency region of the spectrum unless inverse Compton scattering is effective. In many cases accretion flow in the central part of the cluster will be optically thick to electron scattering, resulting in a spectrum featuring optically thick radiative component in addition to power-law regimes. The fitting of these spectra to QSO and AGN observations is discussed, and application to 3C 273 is worked out as an example.

Pacholczyk, A. G.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Structure of line-emitting accretion disks in active galactic nuclei - Arp 102B

The prime objects of the present self-consistent model of a line-emitting accretion disk able to account for the properties observed in a small class of AGNs are Arp 102B and 3C 390.3, whose double-peaked emission lines have been attributed to a Keplerian disk. Improved calculations of the line profile of a relativistic Keplerian disk, generalized to include a variety of emissivity laws as well as local broadening due to electron scattering or turbulence, are noted to fit Arp 102B; analytic and numerical calculations of the solid angle presented by the outer thin disk to an extended isotropic source of illumination demonstrate that the energy budget requirements for line emission from the disk are also satisfied.

Chen, Kaiyou↗
NASA NTRS1989

New calculations and measurements of the Coulomb cross-section for the production of direct electron pairs by high energy nuclei

Recently, new calculations were made of the direct Coulomb pair cross section that rely less in arbitrary parameters. More accurate calculations of the cross section down to low pair energies were made. New measurements of the total direct electron pair yield, and the energy and angular distribution of the electron pairs in emulsion were made for O-16 at 60 and 200 GeV/amu at S-32 at 200 GeV/amu which give satisfactory agreement with the new calculations. These calculations and measurements are presented along with previous accelerator measurements made of this effect during the last 40 years. The microscope scanning criteria used to identify the direct electron pairs is described. Prospects for application of the pair method to cosmic ray energy measurements in the region 10 (exp 13) to 10 (exp 15) eV/amu are discussed.

Derrickson, J. H.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Thermonuclear breakup reactions of light nuclei. II - Gamma-ray line production and other applications

The main consequence of nuclear breakup reactions in high-temperature plasmas is shown to be to reduce the production of the gamma-ray lines, due to the breakup of these species at high temperature. Results of the emissivities of all the relevant gamma-ray lines are discussed. It is shown that the magnitude of the breakup effect on the line emissivities depends strongly on temperature, but more importantly on the plasma density and on the available time for the ion processes. Other effects considered include the production of neutrons (from the breakup of helium) and its consequences (such as the production of gamma rays from n-capture reactions and dynamical effects in accretion disk plasmas).

Guessoum, Nidhal↗
NASA NTRS1989

Nuclei of two earth-grazing comets of fan-shaped appearance

The conceptual model of a collimated particle flow from isolated sources on the nucleus formulated for comets displaying a persisting sunward fanlike coma is successfully applied to two short-period comets, Pons-Winnecke (PW) and Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 (SW3), observed respectively in 1927 and 1930. For PW, the interpretation of fan-orientation pattern is compatible with the spin axis inertially fixed in May-June 1927, but for SW3 the interpretation requires rapid nucleus precession at a peak rate of about 1.4 deg/day. Both comets satisfy the basic conditions for displaying a fan in the time span covered by the fan observations. The emission sources are situated within 35 deg of the sunlit rotation pole of PW and within 19 deg of the pole of SW 3. A rotation period of 8.2 hr is suggested for PW if the rotation sense is prograde or 5.8 hr if it is retrograde. Water production rates and global loss and erosion rates for the comets are estimated.

Sekanina, Z.↗
NASA NTRS1989

On the nature of emission-line clouds of quasars and active galactic nuclei

It is proposed that the clouds responsible for the emission lines in AGN and QSOs are stratified and not uniform in density. Specifically, it is suggested that they are winds from evolved stars, in particular red giants. This assumption appears to solve, in straightforward fashion, several problems concerning the origin, dynamics, and response of these clouds to changes in the continuum luminosity, while preserving the most successful feature of the current two-phase equilibrium photoionization models.

Kazanas, Demosthenes↗
NASA NTRS1989

Processes affecting the composition and structure of silicate grains in cometary nuclei

Characteristics which might be observed in silicate grains from a cometary nucleus are examined on the basis of theoretical studies of the life cycle of refractory grains and laboratory experiments using simple analogs to the complex natural system. The life-cycle of a typical silicate grain is reviewed from condensation in a circumstellar outflow to incorporation into a cometary parent body. The possibility for grain metamorphism in the cometary environment is discussed and results are presented from experiments on the properties of interstellar grains. Also, consideration is given to the information about presolar refractory grains that might be gained from studying samples returned from a cometary nucleus.

Nuth, Joseph A., III↗
NASA NTRS1990

A catalog of X-ray measurements of selected samples of active galaxies and nuclei

X-ray fluxes or upper limits in the 2-10 keV energy band from the HEAO 1 A-2 experiment are given for well-defined samples of QSOs and of Seyfert galaxies of types 1, 1.5 and 2, and for a list of BL Lac objects (334 sources in total). All on-orbit X-ray measurements of these objects published between 1976 and 1986 from other experiments have also been cataloged.

Della Ceca, R.↗
NASA NTRS1990

The X-ray flux dipole of active galactic nuclei and the peculiar motion of the Local Group

X-ray emission from 30 resolved AGN's are used to study the dipole moment of their flux distribution on the sky. The data are derived from the Piccinotti et al. (1982) survey. X-ray fluxes are analyzed in terms of the alignment with the direction of the Local Group (LG) of galaxies. It is observed that the direction of the dipole moment of the flux is (313 deg, 38 deg); the dipole direction deviates from the LG velocity by 39 deg. It is detected that the amplitude of the dipole is about 50 percent of the corresponding monopole. Based on a comparison of the data with previous observations it is suggested that the X-ray emission from AGNs traces the underlying mass distribution at least as strongly as optical and IR emission from galaxies.

Miyaji, Takamitsu↗