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At least 163 records · Page 9

Data Validation in the Kepler Science Operations Center Pipeline

We present an overview of the Data Validation (DV) software component and its context within the Kepler Science Operations Center (SOC) pipeline and overall Kepler Science mission. The SOC pipeline performs a transiting planet search on the corrected light curves for over 150,000 targets across the focal plane array. We discuss the DV strategy for automated validation of Threshold Crossing Events (TCEs) generated in the transiting planet search. For each TCE, a transiting planet model is fitted to the target light curve. A multiple planet search is conducted by repeating the transiting planet search on the residual light curve after the model flux has been removed; if an additional detection occurs, a planet model is fitted to the new TCE. A suite of automated tests are performed after all planet candidates have been identified. We describe a centroid motion test to determine the significance of the motion of the target photocenter during transit and to estimate the coordinates of the transit source within the photometric aperture; a series of eclipsing binary discrimination tests on the parameters of the planet model fits to all transits and the sequences of odd and even transits; and a statistical bootstrap to assess the likelihood that the TCE would have been generated purely by chance given the target light curve with all transits removed. Keywords: photometry, data validation, Kepler, Earth-size planets

Wu, Hayley↗

Background Count Rates and the Anti-Coincidence Detector on the Instrument on Astro-E2

Minimum ionizing particles incident on the XRS microcalorimeter array will deposit energy in the pixels on the same scale as an x-ray photon and would be confused with x-rays without an anti-coincidence detector. The XRS anti-coincidence detector is a silicon ionization detector placed directly behind the calorimeter array. Given an isotropic particle flux, 98% of those particles that pass through a calorimeter pixel will also deposit energy in the anti-coincidence detector. Particle events that are not rejected by coincidence are those that pass through at small angles relative to the plane of the array, and thus deposit more energy. Modeling with GEANT4 showed that only 0.1% of all protons incident on the array miss the anti-coincidence detector yet deposit less than 10 keV in a pixel. The unrejected background will thus be dominated by secondary events; we will provide an estimate of this rate. Protons incident on the thick silicon frame around the active area of the array deposit enough energy t o heat the whole chip slightly. This results in small simultaneous pulses on multiple pixels. These can be easily rejected by pixel-to-pixel coincidence. We will discuss the impact of these events on the instrument dead time and will present the expected rate. We will present laboratory background data demonstrating the performance of the anti-coincidence detector and the effectiveness of coincidence analysis in the laboratory environment.

Kilbourne, C. A.↗

The First Simultaneous Microlensing Observations by Two Space Telescopes: Spitzer and Swift Reveal a Brown Dwarf in Event OGLE-2015-BLG-1319

Simultaneous observations of microlensing events from multiple locations allow for the breaking of degeneracies between the physical properties of the lensing system, specifically by exploring different regions of the lens plane and by directly measuring the "microlens parallax". We report the discovery of a 30-65M J brown dwarf orbiting a K dwarf in the microlensing event OGLE-2015-BLG-1319. The system is located at a distance of approximately 5 kpc toward the Galactic Bulge. The event was observed by several ground-based groups as well as by Spitzer and Swift, allowing a measurement of the physical properties. However, the event is still subject to an eight-fold degeneracy, in particular the well-known close-wide degeneracy, and thus the projected separation between the two lens components is either approximately 0.25 au or approximately 45 au. This is the first microlensing event observed by Swift, with the UVOT camera. We study the region of microlensing parameter space to which Swift is sensitive, finding that though Swift could not measure the microlens parallax with respect to ground-based observations for this event, it can be important for other events. Specifically, it is important for detecting nearby brown dwarfs and free-floating planets in high magnification events.

microlensing events↗

Vortex rings in event-by-event relativistic heavy-ion collisions

We present event-by-event simulations for central asymmetric light+heavy and Au +Au collisions to investigate the formation and evolution of vortex-ring structures in the longitudinal flow velocity profile. The production-plane polarization of Λ hyperons, defined with respect to the Λ momentum and the beam, can track the “vortex-ring” feature in the event, a characteristic vortical structure generated by longitudinal flow gradients. We make comprehensive model predictions for the rapidity-dependent vortex-ring observables for different collision system sizes at √s NN = 200 and 72 GeV. Furthermore, our predictions at the latter energy can be explored in the future LHCb fixed-target experiment at the Large Hadron Collider.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Transform fault earthquakes in the North Atlantic: Source mechanisms and depth of faulting

The centroid depths and source mechanisms of 12 large earthquakes on transform faults of the northern Mid-Atlantic Ridge were determined from an inversion of long-period body waveforms. The earthquakes occurred on the Gibbs, Oceanographer, Hayes, Kane, 15 deg 20 min, and Vema transforms. The depth extent of faulting during each earthquake was estimated from the centroid depth and the fault width. The source mechanisms for all events in this study display the strike slip motion expected for transform fault earthquakes; slip vector azimuths agree to 2 to 3 deg of the local strike of the zone of active faulting. The only anomalies in mechanism were for two earthquakes near the western end of the Vema transform which occurred on significantly nonvertical fault planes. Secondary faulting, occurring either precursory to or near the end of the main episode of strike-slip rupture, was observed for 5 of the 12 earthquakes. For three events the secondary faulting was characterized by reverse motion on fault planes striking oblique to the trend of the transform. In all three cases, the site of secondary reverse faulting is near a compression jog in the current trace of the active transform fault zone. No evidence was found to support the conclusions of Engeln, Wiens, and Stein that oceanic transform faults in general are either hotter than expected from current thermal models or weaker than normal oceanic lithosphere.

Bergman, Eric A.↗

Transform fault earthquakes in the North Atlantic - Source mechanisms and depth of faulting

The centroid depths and source mechanisms of 12 large earthquakes on transform faults of the northern Mid-Atlantic Ridge were determined from an inversion of long-period body waveforms. The earthquakes occurred on the Gibbs, Oceanographer, Hayes, Kane, 15 deg 20 min, and Vema transforms. The depth extent of faulting during each earthquake was estimated from the centroid depth and the fault width. The source mechanisms for all events in this study display the strike slip motion expected for transform fault earthquakes; slip vector azimuths agree to 2 to 3 deg of the local strike of the zone of active faulting. The only anomalies in mechanism were for two earthquakes near the western end of the Vema transform which occurred on significantly nonvertical fault planes. Secondary faulting, occurring either precursory to or near the end of the main episode of strike-slip rupture, was observed for 5 of the 12 earthquakes. For three events the secondary faulting was characterized by reverse motion on fault planes striking oblique to the trend of the transform. In all three cases, the site of secondary reverse faulting is near a compression jog in the current trace of the active transform fault zone. No evidence was found to support the conclusions of Engeln, Wiens, and Stein that oceanic transform faults in general are either hotter than expected from current thermal models or weaker than normal oceanic lithosphere.

Bergman, Eric A.↗

Galilean satellite mutual occultation data processing

Results of processing seven mutual occultation lightcurves are presented. The lightcurves were obtained using the 60-in. telescope (152 cm) at Mt. Wilson to observe six J1 occulting J2 events and one J3 occulting J2 event. Using a uniformly illuminated disk model, local satellite Jovicentric longitude corrections of 675 plus or minus 150 km, 275 plus or minus 240 km, and 1175 plus or minus 350 km for J1, J2, and J3, respectively, were determined. These corrections enabled the event midpoint times to be computed to within 5 sec of the observed midpoint times for all seven events. These longitude corrections have been verified by Pioneer 10 and recent (1973 and 1974) conventional Jovian eclipse observations. A relative J1:J2 out-of-plane error of less than a few hundred kilometers has been indicated; however, it appears that the relative J3:J2 out-of-plane error is larger than 600 km. Deficiencies in both the uniformly illuminated disk model and Sampson's theory of the Galilean satellite motions for the reduction of mutual event data are described.

Duxbury, T. C.↗

May 4, 1998 Storm: Observations of Energetic Ion Composition by POLAR

A major geomagnetic storm occurred at 5:00-12:05 UT on May 4, 1998. During this period, the magnetosphere was compressed and eroded; POLAR traveled in its outbound orbit from the equatorial radiation belt to the cusp and crossed the magnetopause into the magnetosheath. Two CEP-like (Cusp Energetic Particle) events with two to three orders of magnitudes enhancements of MeV ion fluxes were measured. The first event had a peak flux higher than that of the intense outer radiation belt in the equatorial plane. The shape of the measured energy spectra (in the unit of keV/e) were ion species dependent. For He+/He++ ratio at 18-269 keV/e, the difference between the radiation belt and the magnetosheath can be by a factor of as large as 62. In the magnetosheath, the 18-269 keV/e ion composition are variable, indicating a mass dependent acceleration process. These MeV ions may be energized by a mechanism in the cusp responsible for the CEP events previously reported.

Chen, Jiasheng↗

The influence of alloying on slip intermittency and the implications for dwell fatigue in titanium

Dwell fatigue, the reduction in fatigue life experienced by titanium alloys due to holds at stresses as low as 60% of yield, has been implicated in several uncontained jet engine failures. Dislocation slip has long been observed to be an intermittent, scale-bridging phenomenon, similar to that seen in earthquakes but at the nanoscale, leading to the speculation that large stress bursts might promote the initial opening of a crack. Here we observe such stress bursts at the scale of individual grains in situ, using high energy X-ray diffraction microscopy in Ti–7Al–O alloys. This shows that the detrimental effect of precipitation of ordered Ti 3 Al is to increase the magnitude of rare pri $\langle$a$\rangle$ and bas $\langle$a$\rangle$ slip bursts associated with slip localisation. By contrast, the addition of trace O interstitials is beneficial, reducing the magnitude of slip bursts and promoting a higher frequency of smaller events. This is further evidence that the formation of long paths for easy basal plane slip localisation should be avoided when engineering titanium alloys against dwell fatigue.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

In vivo evaluation of an adaptive resuscitation controller using whole blood and crystalloid infusates for hemorrhagic shock

Introduction Hemorrhage remains the leading cause of preventable death on the battlefield. The most effective means to increase survivability is early hemorrhage control and fluid resuscitation. Unfortunately, fluid resuscitation requires constant adjustments to ensure casualty is properly managed, which is often not feasible in the pre-hospital setting. In this study, we showed how an adaptive closed-loop controller for hemorrhage resuscitation can be used to automate hemodynamic management using a swine hemorrhagic shock injury model. Methods The adaptive resuscitation controller (ARC) was previously developed to track pressure–volume responsiveness in real time and adjust its infusion rate to reach the target mean arterial pressure (MAP). Swine while maintained under a surgical plane of anesthesia and analgesia underwent a splenectomy, followed by two hemorrhage and resuscitation events. For the first resuscitation event, hemorrhage was induced to reduce the MAP to 35 mmHg until arterial lactate reached 4 mmol/L. The ARC system then infused whole blood (WB) to reach the target MAP and maintained the subject using crystalloids for 120 min. For the second resuscitation event, the subjects were hemorrhaged again but resuscitated using only crystalloid infusion to reach the target MAP and 120-min maintenance. Results The ARC was effective at WB resuscitation, reaching the target MAP in 2.0 ± 1.0 min. The median performance error was 1.1% ± 4.6%, and target overshoot was 14.4% ± 7.0% of the target MAP. The ARC maintained all animals throughout the 120 min maintenance period. For the second crystalloid-based resuscitation, ARC required a longer time to reach the target MAP, at an average rise time of 4.3 ± 4.0 min. However, target overshoot was reduced to 8.4% ± 7.3% of the target MAP. Much higher flow rates were required to maintain the target MAP during the second resuscitation event than during the first resuscitation event. Discussion The ARC was able to rapidly reach and maintain the target MAP effectively. However, this sometimes required large volumes of fluid as the ARC’s only goal was to reach the target MAP. Further clinical insight is needed regarding the preferred aggression level to achieve the target MAP. In conclusion, the ARC was successful in its programmed objective of reaching and maintaining the target MAP for extended periods of time in vivo , a critical next step toward improving hemorrhage treatment in the pre-hospital environment.

Snider, Eric J.↗

Planetary radio astronomy observations from Voyager 2 near Saturn

Planetary radio astronomy measurements obtained by Voyager 2 near Saturn have added further evidence that Saturnian kilometric radiation is emitted by a strong dayside source at auroral latitudes in the northern hemisphere and by a weaker source at complementary latitudes in the southern hemisphere. These emissions are variable because of Saturn's rotation and, on longer time scales, probably because of influences of the solar wind and Dione. The electrostatic discharge bursts first discovered by Voyager 1 and attributed to emissions from the B ring were again observed with the same broadband spectral properties and an episodic recurrence period of about 10 hours, but their occurrence frequency was only about 30 percent of that detected by Voyager 1. While crossing the ring plane at a distance of 2.88 Saturn radii, the spacecraft detected an intense noise event extending to above 1 megahertz and lasting about 150 seconds. The event is interpreted to be a consequence of the impact, vaporization, and ionization of charged, micrometer-size G ring particles distributed over a vertical thickness of about 1500 kilometers.

Warwick, J. W.↗

Geology and geochemistry of the Middle Proterozoic Eastern Ghat mobile belt and its comparison with the lower crust of the Southern Peninsular shield

Two prominent rock suites constitute the lithology of the Eastern Ghat mobile belt: (1) the khondalite suite - the metapelites, and (2) the charnockite suite. Later intrusives include ultramafic sequences, anorthosites and granitic gneisses. The chief structural element in the rocks of the Eastern Ghats is a planar fabric (gneissosity), defined by the alignment of platy minerals like flattened quartz, garnet, sillimanite, graphite, etc. The parallelism between the foliation and the lithological layering is related to isoclinal folding. The major structural trend (axial plane foliation trend) observed in the belt is NE-SW. Five major tectonic events have been delineated in the belt. A boundary fault along the western margin of the Eastern Ghats, bordering the low grade terrain has been substantiated by recent gravity and the deep seismic sounding studies. Field evidence shows that the pyroxene granulites (basic granulites) post-date the khondalite suite, but are older than the charnockites as well as the granitic gneisses. Polyphase metamorphism, probably correlatable with different periods of deformation is recorded. The field relations in the Eastern Ghats point to the intense deformation of the terrain, apparently both before, during and after metamorphism.

Rao, M. V. Subba↗

Hypersonic nozzle design

Possible experimental facilities appropriate to a university environment that could make meaningful contributions to the solution of problems in hypersonic aerodynamics are investigated. Needs for the National Aerospace Plane and interplanetary flights with atmospheric aerobraking are used to scope the problem. Relevant events of the past two decades in universities and at the national laboratories are examined for their implications regarding both problems and prospects. Most striking is the emergence of computational fluid dynamics, which is viewed here as an equal partner with laboratory experimentation and flight test in relating theory with reality. Also significant are major advances in instrumentation and data processing methods, especially optical techniques. The direction of the study was guided by the concept of a companion program, i.e., the university effort should complement a major area of endeavor at NASA-Langley. Through this, both faculty and student participants gain a natural and effective working relationship. Existing and proposed major hypersonic aerodynamic facilities in industry and at the national laboratories are examined by type; hypersonic wind tunnels, arc-heated tunnels, shock tubes and tunnels, and ballistic ranges. Of these, the free piston tunnel and shock tube/tunnel are most appropriate for a university.

Griffith, Wayland C.↗

Velocity perturbation distributions in the breakup of artificial satellites

A method is presented for calculating the three orthogonal components of the velocity perturbations of satellite fragments, with a view to ascertaining the nature and intensity of the satellite breakup. The method employs three simultaneous equations furnished by changes in fragment specific energy, specific angular momentum, and plane orientation. Velocity perturbations are thereby calculated for fragments from 20 major satellite breakup events; these results, in conjunction with a technique for determining fragment masses, yield a description of the breakup process.

Badhwar, Gautam D.↗

The Optical Two- and Three-dimensional Fundamental Plane Correlations for Nearly 180 Gamma-Ray Burst Afterglows with Swift/UVOT, RATIR, and the Subaru Telescope

Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are fascinating events due to their panchromatic nature. We study optical plateaus in GRB afterglows via an extended search into archival data. We comprehensively analyze all published GRBs with known redshifts and optical plateaus observed by many ground-based telescopes (e.g., Subaru Telescope, RATIR) around the world and several space-based observatories such as the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory. We fit 500 optical light curves, showing the existence of the plateau in 179 cases. This sample is 75% larger than the previous one, and it is the largest compilation so far of optical plateaus. We discover the 3D fundamental plane relation at optical wavelengths using this sample. This correlation is between the rest-frame time at the end of the plateau emission, ${T}_{\mathrm{opt}}^{* }$, its optical luminosity, L opt , and the peak in the optical prompt emission, L peak,opt , thus resembling the three-dimensional (3D) X-ray fundamental plane (the so-called 3D Dainotti relation). We correct our sample for redshift evolution and selection effects, discovering that this correlation is indeed intrinsic to GRB physics. We investigate the rest-frame end-time distributions in X-rays and optical (${T}_{\mathrm{opt}}^{* }$, ${T}_{{\rm{X}}}^{* }$), and conclude that the plateau is achromatic only when selection biases are not considered. We also investigate if the 3D optical correlation may be a new discriminant between optical GRB classes and find that there is no significant separation between the classes compared to the Gold sample plane after correcting for evolution.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Measurement of muon neutrino charged-current quasielasticlike cross section using off-axis NuMI beam at ICARUS

This paper presents the first neutrino cross-section measurement from the ICARUS detector at Fermilab, using Neutrinos at the Main Injector (NuMI) beam data collected from two beam operation periods corresponding to 2.5 × 10 20 protons-on-target in neutrino beam mode. The signal is defined by events with no pions produced in the final state, a topology dominated by charged-current quasielasticlike signatures. The measurement is reported as flux-averaged differential cross sections as functions of kinematic variables that provide sensitivity to the complex nuclear effects that often dominate the systematic uncertainty budgets of neutrino oscillation measurements. Specifically, this work reports cross sections in two angular variables—the angle of the outgoing lepton and the opening angle between the lepton and leading proton—and two variables characterizing the kinematic imbalance between the muon and proton in the plane transverse to the incoming neutrino. These results are compared against predictions from a variety of neutrino event generators, with p values calculated between the extracted cross sections and each prediction. Overall, the predictions agree with the data; however, the current budget of uncertainties does not yet provide sufficient discriminating power to favor a specific model.

Abd Alrahman, F. [Houston U.]↗

Geomagnetic activity associated with earth passage of interplanetary shock disturbances and coronal mass ejections

Coronal mass ejection events (CMEs) are important occasional sources of plasma and magnetic field in the solar wind at 1 AU, accounting for approximately 10 percent of all solar wind measurements in the ecliptic plane during the last solar activity maximum. Using a recently appreciated capability for distinguishing CMEs in solar wind data in the form of counterstreaming solar wind electron events, this paper explores the overall effectiveness of shock wave disturbances and CMFs in general in stimulating geomagnetic activity. The study is confined to the interval from mid-August 1978 through mid-October 1982, spanning the last solar activity maximum, when ISEE 3 was in orbit about the L1 Lagrange point 220 Re upstream from earth. It is found that all but one of the 37 largest geomagnetic storms in that era were associated with earth passage of CMEs and/or shock disturbances, with the large majority of these storms (27 out of 37) being associated with interplanetary events where earth encountered both a shock and the CME driving the shock (shock/CME events). Although CMEs and/or shock disturbances were increasingly the cause of geomagnetic activity as the level of geomagnetic activity increased, many smaller geomagnetic disturbances were unrelated to these events.

Gosling, J. T.↗

Measurement of energy resolution with the NEXT-White silicon photomultipliers

The NEXT-White detector, a high-pressure gaseous xenon time projection chamber, demonstrated the excellence of this technology for future neutrinoless double beta decay searches using photomultiplier tubes (PMTs) to measure energy and silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs) to extract topology information. This analysis uses $^{83m}$Kr data from the NEXT-White detector to measure and understand the energy resolution that can be obtained with the SiPMs, rather than with PMTs. The energy resolution obtained of (10.9 ± 0.6)%, full-width half-maximum, is slightly larger than predicted based on the photon statistics resulting from very low light detection coverage of the SiPM plane in the NEXT-White detector. The difference in the predicted and measured resolution is attributed to poor corrections, which are expected to be improved with larger statistics. Furthermore, the noise of the SiPMs is shown to not be a dominant factor in the energy resolution and may be negligible when noise subtraction is applied appropriately, for high-energy events or larger SiPM coverage detectors. These results, which are extrapolated to estimate the response of large coverage SiPM planes, are promising for the development of future, SiPM-only, readout planes that can offer imaging and achieve similar energy resolution to that previously demonstrated with PMTs.[graphic not available: see fulltext]

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗