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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 1,441 records · Page 80
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DOE OSTI2021

A Tidal Origin for a Three-body Resonance in Kepler-221

Over the course of the last two decades, traditional models of planet formation have been repeatedly challenged by the emerging census of extrasolar planets. Key among them is the orbital architecture problem: while standard models of orbital migration predict resonant orbits for short-period objects, most planets do not appear to lie in orbital resonances. Here, we show that the four-planet system Kepler-221, not previously recognized to have active orbital resonances, has a three-body commensurability relation unique within the Kepler sample. Using a suite of numerical experiments as well as a perturbative analysis, we demonstrate that this system likely began as a resonant chain and proceeded to undergo large-scale divergence away from resonance, under the action of tidal dissipation. Our results further indicate that obliquity tides, driven by a secular spin–orbit resonance and mutual inclination, are an excellent candidate for driving this orbital divergence, and that the high tidal luminosity may also explain the anomalous size of planet b, which lies within the Fulton radius gap.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2016

THE ASTEROID BELT AS A RELIC FROM A CHAOTIC EARLY SOLAR SYSTEM

The orbital structure of the asteroid belt holds a record of the solar system’s dynamical history. The current belt only contains ∼10{sup −3} Earth masses yet the asteroids’ orbits are dynamically excited, with a large spread in eccentricity and inclination. In the context of models of terrestrial planet formation, the belt may have been excited by Jupiter’s orbital migration. The terrestrial planets can also be reproduced without invoking a migrating Jupiter; however, as it requires a severe mass deficit beyond Earth’s orbit, this model systematically under-excites the asteroid belt. Here we show that the orbits of the asteroids may have been excited to their current state if Jupiter’s and Saturn’s early orbits were chaotic. Stochastic variations in the gas giants’ orbits cause resonances to continually jump across the main belt and excite the asteroids’ orbits on a timescale of tens of millions of years. While hydrodynamical simulations show that the gas giants were likely in mean motion resonance at the end of the gaseous disk phase, small perturbations could have driven them into a chaotic but stable state. The gas giants’ current orbits were achieved later, during an instability in the outer solar system. Although it is well known that the present-day solar system exhibits chaotic behavior, our results suggest that the early solar system may also have been chaotic.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2016

PSR J1301+0833: a kinematic study of a black-widow pulsar

We have obtained spectroscopic measurements of the P {sub s} = 1.8 ms, P {sub B} = 6.5 hr black-widow (BW) pulsar PSR J1301+0833 as part of a program to investigate optical companions of wind-shrouded pulsars. The derived radial-velocity amplitude (259±4 km s{sup −1}) and inclination (i≈52{sup ∘}) imply a neutron star mass M{sub p}=1.74{sub −0.17}{sup +0.20} M{sub ⊙}, smaller (for similar fit assumptions) than that of the well-studied original BW pulsar PSR J1959+2048, which shares similar values of P {sub s} and P {sub B}. This fit, which assumes d≈1 kpc, indicates a small heated region on the (anomalously faint) companion. With a free distance and full surface heating the best fit is statistically acceptable, but the large inferred d=4.7±0.3 kpc is inconsistent with the observed pulsar proper motion. Improved photometry and heating models will be needed to refine these measurements.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2016

ON HELIUM MIXING IN QUASI-GLOBAL SIMULATIONS OF THE INTRACLUSTER MEDIUM

The assumption of a spatially uniform helium distribution in the intracluster medium (ICM) can lead to biases in the estimates of key cluster parameters if composition gradients are present. The helium concentration profile in galaxy clusters is unfortunately not directly observable. Current models addressing the putative sedimentation are one-dimensional and parametrize the presence of magnetic fields in a crude way, ignoring the weakly collisional, magnetized nature of the medium. When these effects are considered, a wide variety of instabilities can play an important role in the plasma dynamics. In a series of recent papers, we have developed the local, linear theory of these instabilities and addressed their nonlinear development with a modified version of Athena. Here, we extend our study by developing a quasi-global approach that we use to simulate the mixing of helium as induced by generalizations of the heat-flux-driven buoyancy instability (HBI) and the magnetothermal instability, which feed off thermal and composition gradients. In the inner region of the ICM, mixing can occur over a few gigayears, after which the average magnetic field inclination angle is ∼30°–50°, resulting in an averaged Spitzer parameter higher by about 20% than the value obtained in homogeneous simulations. In the cluster outskirts the instabilities are rather inefficient, due to the shallow gradients. This suggests that composition gradients in cluster cores might be shallower than one-dimensional models predict. More quantitative statements demand more refined models that can incorporate the physics driving the sedimentation process and simultaneously account for the weakly collisional nature of the plasma.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2016

DISK–WIND CONNECTION DURING THE HEARTBEATS OF GRS 1915+105

Disk and wind signatures are seen in the soft state of Galactic black holes, while the jet is seen in the hard state. Here we study the disk–wind connection in the ρ class of variability in GRS 1915+105 using a joint NuSTAR – Chandra observation. The source shows 50 s limit cycle oscillations. By including new information provided by the reflection spectrum and using phase-resolved spectroscopy, we find that the change in the inner disk inferred from the blackbody emission is not matched by reflection measurements. The latter is almost constant, independent of the continuum model. The two radii are comparable only if the disk temperature color correction factor changes, an effect that could be due to the changing opacity of the disk caused by changes in metal abundances. The disk inclination is similar to that inferred from the jet axis, and oscillates by ∼10°. The simultaneous Chandra data show the presence of two wind components with velocities between 500 and 5000 km s{sup −1}, and possibly two more with velocities reaching 20,000 km s{sup −1} (∼0.06 c ). The column densities are ∼5 × 10{sup 22} cm{sup −2}. An upper limit to the wind response time of 2 s is measured, implying a launch radius of <6 × 10{sup 10} cm. The changes in wind velocity and absorbed flux require the geometry of the wind to change during the oscillations, constraining the wind to be launched from a distance of 290–1300 r{sub g} from the black hole. Both data sets support fundamental model predictions in which a bulge originates in the inner disk and moves outward as the instability progresses.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2016

γ DORADUS PULSATIONS IN THE ECLIPSING BINARY STAR KIC 6048106

We present the Kepler photometry of KIC 6048106, which is exhibiting the O’Connell effect and multiperiodic pulsations. Including a starspot on either of the components, light-curve synthesis indicates that this system is a semi-detached Algol with a mass ratio of 0.211, an orbital inclination of 73.°9, and a large temperature difference of 2534 K. To examine in detail both the spot variations and pulsations, we separately analyzed the Kepler time-series data at the interval of an orbital period in an iterative way. The results reveal that the variable asymmetries of the light maxima can be interpreted as the changes with time of a magnetic cool spot on the secondary component. Multiple frequency analyses were performed in the outside-eclipse light residuals after removal of the binarity effects from the observed Kepler data. We detected 30 frequencies with signal to noise amplitude ratios larger than 4.0, of which six ( f {sub 2}– f {sub 6} and f {sub 10}) can be identified as high-order (17 ≤ n ≤ 25) low-degree ( ℓ = 2) gravity-mode pulsations that were stable during the observing run of 200 days. In contrast, the other frequencies may be harmonic and combination terms. For the six frequencies, the pulsation periods and pulsation constants are in the ranges of 0.352–0.506 days and 0.232–0.333 days, respectively. These values and the position on the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram demonstrate that the primary star is a γ Dor variable. The evolutionary status and the pulsation nature of KIC 6048106 are discussed.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2016

Three-dimensional shock structure of the Orion KL outflow with IGRINS

We report a study of the three-dimensional (3D) outflow structure of a 15″ × 13″ area around the H{sub 2} peak 1 in Orion KL with slit-scan observations (13 slits) using the Immersion Grating Infrared Spectrograph. The datacubes have a high-velocity resolution (∼7.5 km s{sup −1}), provide high-contrast imaging within ultra-narrow bands, and enable the detection of the main stream of the previously reported H{sub 2} outflow fingers. We identified 31 distinct fingers in the H{sub 2} 1−0 S(1) λ2.122 μm emission. The line profile at each finger shows multiple-velocity peaks with a strong low-velocity component around the systemic velocity at V{sub LSR} = +8 km s{sup −1} and high-velocity emission (|V{sub LSR}| = 45–135 km s{sup −1}), indicating a typical bow-shock. The observed radial velocity gradients of ∼4 km s{sup −1} arcsec{sup −1} agree well with the velocities inferred from large-scale proper motions, where the projected motion is proportional to the distance from a common origin. We construct a conceptual 3D map of the fingers with estimated inclination angles of 57°–74°. The extinction difference (ΔA {sub v} > 10 mag) between blueshifted and redshifted fingers indicates high internal extinction. The extinction, the overall angular spread, and the scale of the flow argue for an ambient medium with a very high density (10{sup 5}–10{sup 6} cm{sup −3}), consistent with molecular line observations of the Orion Molecular Cloud core. The radial velocity gradients and the 3D distributions of the fingers together support the hypothesis of a simultaneous radial explosion of the Orion KL outflow.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2017

DETECTION OF VERY LOW-FREQUENCY, QUASI-PERIODIC OSCILLATIONS IN THE 2015 OUTBURST OF V404 CYGNI

In 2015 June, the black hole X-ray binary (BHXRB) V404 Cygni went into outburst for the first time since 1989. Here, we present a comprehensive search for quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs) of V404 Cygni during its recent outburst, utilizing data from six instruments on board five different X-ray missions: Swift /XRT, Fermi /GBM, Chandra /ACIS, INTEGRAL ’s IBIS/ISGRI and JEM-X, and NuSTAR . We report the detection of a QPO at 18 mHz simultaneously with both Fermi /GBM and Swift /XRT, another example of a rare but slowly growing new class of mHz-QPOs in BHXRBs linked to sources with a high orbital inclination. Additionally, we find a duo of QPOs in a Chandra /ACIS observation at 73 mHz and 1.03 Hz, as well as a QPO at 136 mHz in a single Swift /XRT observation that can be interpreted as standard Type-C QPOs. Aside from the detected QPOs, there is significant structure in the broadband power, with a strong feature observable in the Chandra observations between 0.1 and 1 Hz. We discuss our results in the context of current models for QPO formation.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2017

Bright times for an ancient star

Field stars of Population II are among the oldest sources in the Galaxy. Most of their solar-type dwarfs are non-single and, given their extreme age, a significant fraction is accompanied by stellar remnants. Here we report the discovery of the bright F7V star 49 Lib as a massive and very metal-rich Population II field blue straggler, along with evidence for a white dwarf as its dark and unseen companion. 49 Lib is known as a relatively fast-rotating, single-lined spectroscopic binary in a 3 year orbit and with an apparent age of about τ ≃ 2.3 Gyr. Its chemistry and kinematics, however, both consistently imply that 49 Lib must be an ancient Population II star at τ ≃ 12 Gyr. With reference to the inclination from the astrometric orbit, leading to a M{sub WD}=0.50{sub −0.04}{sup +0.03} M{sub ⊙} low-mass white dwarf, and in view of the M{sub BS}=1.55{sub −0.13}{sup +0.07} M{sub ⊙} massive, evolved F-type blue straggler star, we demonstrate that 49 Lib must have been the subject of a mostly conservative mass transfer with a near-equal-mass M ≃ 1.06 + 1.00 M{sub ⊙} G-type binary at birth. For its future evolution, we point to the possibility as a progenitor system toward a type Ia supernova. Most importantly, however, we note that the remarkable metal enrichment of 49 Lib at [Mg/H] = +0.23 and [Fe/H] = −0.11 has principally very relevant implications for the early epoch when the Milky Way came into being.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2017

ASTROPHYSICAL PRIOR INFORMATION AND GRAVITATIONAL-WAVE PARAMETER ESTIMATION

The detection of electromagnetic counterparts to gravitational waves (GWs) has great promise for the investigation of many scientific questions. While it is well known that certain orientation parameters can reduce uncertainty in other related parameters, it was also hoped that the detection of an electromagnetic signal in conjunction with a GW could augment the measurement precision of the mass and spin from the gravitational signal itself. That is, knowledge of the sky location, inclination, and redshift of a binary could break degeneracies between these extrinsic, coordinate-dependent parameters and the physical parameters that are intrinsic to the binary. In this paper, we investigate this issue by assuming perfect knowledge of extrinsic parameters, and assessing the maximal impact of this knowledge on our ability to extract intrinsic parameters. We recover similar gains in extrinsic recovery to earlier work; however, we find only modest improvements in a few intrinsic parameters—namely the primary component’s spin. We thus conclude that, even in the best case, the use of additional information from electromagnetic observations does not improve the measurement of the intrinsic parameters significantly.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2017

OSCILLATING FILAMENTS. I. OSCILLATION AND GEOMETRICAL FRAGMENTATION

We study the stability of filaments in equilibrium between gravity and internal as well as external pressure using the grid-based AMR code RAMSES. A homogeneous, straight cylinder below a critical line mass is marginally stable. However, if the cylinder is bent, such as with a slight sinusoidal perturbation, an otherwise stable configuration starts to oscillate, is triggered into fragmentation, and collapses. This previously unstudied behavior allows a filament to fragment at any given scale, as long as it has slight bends. We call this process “geometrical fragmentation.” In our realization, the spacing between the cores matches the wavelength of the sinusoidal perturbation, whereas up to now, filaments were thought to be only fragmenting on the characteristic scale set by the mass-to-line ratio. Using first principles, we derive the oscillation period as well as the collapse timescale analytically. To enable a direct comparison with observations, we study the line-of-sight velocity for different inclinations. We show that the overall oscillation pattern can hide the infall signature of cores.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2017

ALMA MEASUREMENTS OF CIRCUMSTELLAR MATERIAL IN THE GQ LUP SYSTEM

We present Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array observations of the GQ Lup system, a young Sun-like star with a substellar-mass companion in a wide-separation orbit. These observations of 870 μ m continuum and CO J = 3–2 line emission with beam size ∼0.″3 (∼45 au) resolve the disk of dust and gas surrounding the primary star, GQ Lup A, and provide deep limits on any circumplanetary disk surrounding the companion, GQ Lup b. The circumprimary dust disk is compact with an FWHM of 59 ± 12 au, while the gas has a larger extent with a characteristic radius of 46.5 ± 1.8 au. By forward-modeling the velocity field of the circumprimary disk based on the CO emission, we constrain the mass of GQ Lup A to be M {sub *} = (1.03 ± 0.05) ∗ ( d /156 pc) M {sub ⊙}, where d is a known distance, and determine that we view the disk at an inclination angle of 60.°5 ± 0.°5 and a position angle of 346° ± 1°. The 3 σ upper limit on the 870 μ m flux density of any circumplanetary disk associated with GQ Lup b of <0.15 mJy implies an upper limit on the dust disk mass of <0.04 M {sub ⊕} for standard assumptions about optically thin emission. We discuss proposed mechanisms for the formation of wide-separation substellar companions given the non-detection of circumplanetary disks around GQ Lup b and other similar systems.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2017

How bright are planet-induced spiral arms in scattered light?

Recently, high angular resolution imaging instruments such as SPHERE and GPI have discovered many spiral-arm-like features in near-infrared scattered-light images of protoplanetary disks. Theory and simulations have suggested that these arms are most likely excited by planets forming in the disks; however, a quantitative relation between the arm-to-disk brightness contrast and planet mass is still missing. Using 3D hydrodynamics and radiative transfer simulations, we examine the morphology and contrast of planet-induced arms in disks. We find a power-law relation for the face-on arm contrast (δ{sub max}) as a function of planet mass (M{sub p}) and disk aspect ratio (h/r): δ{sub max}≈((M{sub p}/M{sub J})/(h/r){sup 1.38}){sup 0.22}. With current observational capabilities, at a 30 au separation, the minimum planet mass for driving detectable arms in a disk around a 1 Myr, 1 M{sub ⊙} star at 140 pc at low inclinations is around Saturn mass. For planets more massive than Neptune masses, they typically drive multiple arms. Therefore, in observed disks with spirals, it is unlikely that each spiral arm originates from a different planet. We also find that only massive perturbers with at least multi-Jupiter masses are capable of driving bright arms with δ{sub max}≳2 as found in SAO 206462, MWC 758, and LkHα 330, and these arms do not follow linear wave propagation theory. Additionally, we find that the morphology and contrast of the primary and secondary arms are largely unaffected by a modest level of viscosity with α≲0.01. Finally, the contrast of the arms in the SAO 206462 disk suggests that the perturber SAO 206462 b at ∼100 au is about 5--10 M{sub J} in mass.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2017

A New Two-fluid Radiation-hydrodynamical Model for X-Ray Pulsar Accretion Columns

Previous research centered on the hydrodynamics in X-ray pulsar accretion columns has largely focused on the single-fluid model, in which the super-Eddington luminosity inside the column decelerates the flow to rest at the stellar surface. This type of model has been relatively successful in describing the overall properties of the accretion flows, but it does not account for the possible dynamical effect of the gas pressure. On the other hand, the most successful radiative transport models for pulsars generally do not include a rigorous treatment of the dynamical structure of the column, instead assuming an ad hoc velocity profile. In this paper, we explore the structure of X-ray pulsar accretion columns using a new, self-consistent, “two-fluid” model, which incorporates the dynamical effect of the gas and radiation pressures, the dipole variation of the magnetic field, the thermodynamic effect of all of the relevant coupling and cooling processes, and a rigorous set of physical boundary conditions. The model has six free parameters, which we vary in order to approximately fit the phase-averaged spectra in Her X-1, Cen X-3, and LMC X-4. In this paper, we focus on the dynamical results, which shed new light on the surface magnetic field strength, the inclination of the magnetic field axis relative to the rotation axis, the relative importance of gas and radiation pressures, and the radial variation of the ion, electron, and inverse-Compton temperatures. The results obtained for the X-ray spectra are presented in a separate paper.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2017

What is the Mass of a Gap-opening Planet?

High-contrast imaging instruments such as GPI and SPHERE are discovering gap structures in protoplanetary disks at an ever faster pace. Some of these gaps may be opened by planets forming in the disks. In order to constrain planet formation models using disk observations, it is crucial to find a robust way to quantitatively back out the properties of the gap-opening planets, in particular their masses, from the observed gap properties, such as their depths and widths. Combining 2D and 3D hydrodynamics simulations with 3D radiative transfer simulations, we investigate the morphology of planet-opened gaps in near-infrared scattered-light images. Quantitatively, we obtain correlations that directly link intrinsic gap depths and widths in the gas surface density to observed depths and widths in images of disks at modest inclinations under finite angular resolution. Subsequently, the properties of the surface density gaps enable us to derive the disk scale height at the location of the gap h , and to constrain the quantity M {sub p}{sup 2}/ α , where M {sub p} is the mass of the gap-opening planet and α characterizes the viscosity in the gap. As examples, we examine the gaps recently imaged by VLT/SPHERE, Gemini/GPI, and Subaru/HiCIAO in HD 97048, TW Hya, HD 169142, LkCa 15, and RX J1615.3-3255. Scale heights of the disks and possible masses of the gap-opening planets are derived assuming each gap is opened by a single planet. Assuming α = 10{sup −3}, the derived planet masses in all cases are roughly between 0.1 and 1 M {sub J}.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2017

Pruning The ELM Survey: Characterizing Candidate Low-mass White Dwarfs through Photometric Variability

We assess the photometric variability of nine stars with spectroscopic T {sub eff} and log g values from the ELM Survey that locates them near the empirical extremely low-mass (ELM) white dwarf instability strip. We discover three new pulsating stars: SDSS J135512.34+195645.4, SDSS J173521.69+213440.6, and SDSS J213907.42+222708.9. However, these are among the few ELM Survey objects that do not show radial velocity (RV) variations that confirm the binary nature expected of helium-core white dwarfs. The dominant 4.31 hr pulsation in SDSS J135512.34+195645.4 far exceeds the theoretical cut-off for surface reflection in a white dwarf, and this target is likely a high-amplitude δ Scuti pulsator with an overestimated surface gravity. We estimate the probability to be less than 0.0008 that the lack of measured RV variations in four of eight other pulsating candidate ELM white dwarfs could be due to low orbital inclination. Two other targets exhibit variability as photometric binaries. Partial coverage of the 19.342 hr orbit of WD J030818.19+514011.5 reveals deep eclipses that imply a primary radius >0.4 R {sub ⊙}—too large to be consistent with an ELM white dwarf. The only object for which our time series photometry adds support to ELM white dwarf classification is SDSS J105435.78−212155.9, which has consistent signatures of Doppler beaming and ellipsoidal variations. We conclude that the ELM Survey contains multiple false positives from another stellar population at T {sub eff}≲9000 K, possibly related to the sdA stars recently reported from SDSS spectra.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2017

First Results from the Hertzsprung SONG Telescope: Asteroseismology of the G5 Subgiant Star μ Herculis

We report the first asteroseismic results obtained with the Hertzsprung Stellar Observations Network Group Telescope from an extensive high-precision radial-velocity observing campaign of the subgiant μ Herculis. The data set was collected during 215 nights in 2014 and 2015. We detected a total of 49 oscillation modes with l values from zero to three, including some l = 1 mixed modes. Based on the rotational splitting observed in l = 1 modes, we determine a rotational period of 52 days and a stellar inclination angle of 63°. The parameters obtained through modeling of the observed oscillation frequencies agree very well with independent observations and imply a stellar mass between 1.11 and 1.15 M {sub ⊙} and an age of 7.8{sub −0.4}{sup +0.3} Gyr. Furthermore, the high-quality data allowed us to determine the acoustic depths of the He ii ionization layer and the base of the convection zone.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2017

An ALMA and MagAO Study of the Substellar Companion GQ Lup B

Multi-wavelength observations provide a complementary view of the formation of young, directly imaged planet-mass companions. We report the ALMA 1.3 mm and Magellan adaptive optics Hα, i{sup ′}, z{sup ′}, and Y {sub S} observations of the GQ Lup system, a classical T Tauri star with a 10--40 M{sub Jup} substellar companion at ∼110 au projected separation. We estimate the accretion rates for both components from the observed Hα fluxes. In our ∼0.″05 resolution ALMA map, we resolve GQ Lup A’s disk in the dust continuum, but no signal is found from the companion. The disk is compact, with a radius of ∼22 au, a dust mass of ∼6 M {sub ⊕}, an inclination angle of ∼56°, and a very flat surface density profile indicative of a radial variation in dust grain sizes. No gaps or inner cavity are found in the disk, so there is unlikely a massive inner companion to scatter GQ Lup B outward. Thus, GQ Lup B might have formed in situ via disk fragmentation or prestellar core collapse. We also show that GQ Lup A’s disk is misaligned with its spin axis, and possibly with GQ Lup B’s orbit. Our analysis on the tidal truncation radius of GQ Lup A’s disk suggests that GQ Lup B’s orbit might have a low eccentricity.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗