SEARCH · Engineering Papers
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.
Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.
Astronomy is an area of applied physics in which unusually beautiful objects challenge the imagination to explain observed phenomena in terms of known laws of physics. It is a field that has stimulated the development of physical laws and of mathematical and computational methods. Current computational applications are discussed in terms of stellar and galactic evolution, galactic dynamics, and particle motions.
The nearby star Procyon is a visual binary containing the F5 IV-V subgiant Procyon A, orbited in a 40.84-year period by the faint DQZ white dwarf (WD) Procyon B. Using images obtained over two decades with the Hubble Space Telescope, and historical measurements back to the 19th century, we have determined precise orbital elements. Combined with measurements of the parallax and the motion of the A component, these elements yield dynamical masses of 1.478 plus or minus 0.012M and 0.592 plus or minus 0.006M for A and B, respectively. The mass of Procyon A agrees well with theoretical predictions based on asteroseismology and its temperature and luminosity. Use of a standard core-overshoot model agrees best for a surprisingly high amount of core overshoot. Under these modeling assumptions, Procyon A's age is approximately 2.7 Gyr. Procyon B's location in the H-R diagram is in excellent agreement with theoretical cooling tracks for WDs of its dynamical mass. Its position in the mass-radius plane is also consistent with theory, assuming a carbon-oxygen core and a helium-dominated atmosphere. Its progenitor's mass was 1.9-2.2M, depending on its amount of core overshoot. Several astrophysical puzzles remain. In the progenitor system, the stars at periastron were separated by only approximately AU, which might have led to tidal interactions and even mass transfer; yet there is no direct evidence that these have occurred. Moreover the orbital eccentricity has remained high (approximately 0.40). The mass of Procyon B is somewhat lower than anticipated from the initial-to-final-mass relation seen in open clusters. The presence of heavy elements in its atmosphere requires ongoing accretion, but the place of origin is uncertain.
The statistical treatment of univariate censored data is discussed. A heuristic derivation of the Kaplan-Meier maximum-likelihood estimator from first principles is presented which results in an expression amenable to analytic error analysis. Methods for comparing two or more censored samples are given along with simple computational examples, stressing the fact that most astronomical problems involve upper limits while the standard mathematical methods require lower limits. The application of univariate survival analysis to six data sets in the recent astrophysical literature is described, and various aspects of the use of survival analysis in astronomy, such as the limitations of various two-sample tests and the role of parametric modelling, are discussed.