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Results for “GAS SPECTROSCOPY”

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At least 19 records

Beam-foil-gas spectroscopy - A technique for studying steady-state non-equilibrium processes.

When a thin foil is inserted in the beam of a beam-gas experiment, the beam particle state populations are driven far from their beam-gas equilibrium values. Downstream from the foil, the 'new beam' and gas species interact to produce a new equilibrium, usually different from the beam-gas equilibrium. Experimental results are presented to demonstrate this effect and to show how relative cross-section measurements can be used to study the beam-foil interaction.

Bickel, W. S.

Measurements of Doppler shifts by gas correlation spectroscopy

IR gas correlation spectroscopy is a sensitive technique for the measurement of small Doppler shifts in spectra. This technique also exhibits several important advantages over alternative methods in the remote sensing of stratospheric and mesospheric winds from spacecraft. Attention is presently given to laboratory tests demonstrating gas correlation spectroscopy's quantitative measurement of small Doppler shifts in spectra, whose close agreement with theoretical predictions suggests that measurements of the change in the radiant flux through a gas correlation spectrometer can be used to measure the relative velocity between gas and instrument for a moving parcel of gas.

Mccleese, D. J.

Spectroscopy with gas targets.

Spectroscopy of fast atoms resulting from fast ion impact with gas targets and electron capture into excited state

Hughes, R. H.

Electrooptic phase modulation gas correlation spectroscopy - A laboratory demonstration

A new gas-correlation spectroscopy technique is described which uses electrooptic phase modulation (EOPM) of atmospheric emission spectra together with a reference cell to selectively detect radiatively active gases. Laboratory results demonstrate that the EOPM gas-correlation technique is a sensitive approach to species abundance measurements, and support the feasibility of an instrument for measurement of winds in the stratosphere and mesosphere using an EOPM. Through the measurement of wind-induced Doppler shifts in the spectra of atmospheric species, this instrument offers a means of monitoring the wind field in the 20-100 km altitude range from a satellite.

Rider, D. M.

Phase-Modulation Gas-Correlation Spectroscopy

Electro-optic phase-modulation gas-correlation spectroscopy demonstrated in laboratory tests promising candidate technique for remote sensing of gases, temperatures, and wind velocities in atmosphere. In technique radiation emitted by sample atmosphere passed through electro-optic phase modulator, and modulated and unmodulated versions of spectrum alternately passed through reference absorption cell containing gas to be detected. Radiation emerging from reference cell band-pass filtered and detected. Correlation signal is difference in intensity between phase-modulated and unmodulated detected signals.

Rider, David M.

Trace gas absorption spectroscopy using laser difference-frequency spectrometer for environmental application

A widely tunable infrared spectrometer based on difference frequency generation (DFG) has been developed for organic trace gas detection by laser absorption spectroscopy. On-line measurements of concentration of various hydrocarbons, such as acetylene, benzene, and ethylene, were investigated using high-resolution DFG trace gas spectroscopy for highly sensitive detection.

Non-NASA Center

Ultraviolet and visual wavelength spectroscopy of gas around ETA Carinae

Observational results of Eta Carinae are reported, especially spectroscopy of the outer 'S condensation' supplemented by data on the homunculus and its core. Theoretical calculations of atmosphere/wind models and of the shock-heated S condensation are needed for a proper analysis of the data, but some simplified results are discussed. The helium abundance at the surface of Eta Car appears to be roughly 0.4, and most of the CNO is nitrogen. There does not appear to be any reason, at present, to alter the often quoted temperature estimate of 30,000 K for the radiating surface (which may or may not be the surface of the star itself). The presently observed mass loss rate is probably less than 10 exp -2.4 solar masses/yr if the outflow is not strongly direction-dependent. Finally, a largely forgotten but highly relevant historical conjecture concerning Eta Car is mentioned.

Davidson, K.

Developing Atmospheric Retrieval Methods for Direct Imaging Spectroscopy of Gas Giants in Reflected Light I: Methane Abundances and Basic Cloud Properties

Reflected light spectroscopy and photometry of cool, directly imaged extrasolar giant planets are expected to be performed in the next decade by space-based telescopes equipped with optical wavelength coronagraphs and integral field spectrographs, such as the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST). We are developing a new atmospheric retrieval methodology to help assess the science return and inform the instrument design for such future missions, and ultimately interpret the resulting observations. Our retrieval technique employs an albedo model coupled with both a Markov chain Monte Carlo Ensemble Sampler (emcee) and a multimodal nested sampling algorithm (MultiNest) to map the posterior distribution. This combination makes the global evidence calculation more robust for any given model, and highlights possible discrepancies in the likelihood maps. Here we apply this methodology to simulated spectra of cool giant planets. As a proof-of-concept, our current atmospheric model contains 1 or 2 cloud layers, methane as a major absorber, and a H2-He background gas. This 6-to-9 parameter model is appropriate for Jupiter-like planets and can be easily expanded in the future. In addition to deriving the marginal likelihood distribution and confidence intervals for the model parameters, we perform model selection to determine the significance of methane and cloud detection as a function of expected signal-to-noise, in the presence of spectral noise correlations. After internal validation, the method is applied to realistic reflected-light spectra of Jupiter, Saturn, and HD 99492 c, a likely observing target. We find that the presence or absence of clouds and methane can be determined with high accuracy, while parameters uncertainties are model-dependent.

spectroscopy

Long-slit spectroscopy of gas in the cores of X-ray luminous clusters

The results of long-slit spectroscopy obtained for the core regions of 14 clusters of galaxies are reported. The data are presented in detail. It is shown that the presence of optical emission is tied to the properties of the hot gas in the cluster and not to the morphology of the central galaxy or cluster, demonstrating that the optical systems are indeed formed by the cooling of hot gas. Cooling flows occur when the gas density exceeds a critical central value which corresponds to a cooling time scale which, it is argued, weakly favors low values of H(0). The kinematics of the gas flows are discussed. The excitation mechanisms, correlation of optical emission with radio properties, and upper limits on coronal line strengths from the hot gas are discussed.

Hu, E. M.

JWST Mid-Infrared Spectroscopy Resolves Gas, Dust, and Ice in Young Stellar Objects in the Large Magellanic Cloud

In this work, we present spectra of 11 young stellar objects (YSOs) taken with the Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) / Medium Resolution Spectroscopy (MRS) instrument onboard the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). The YSOs are located in the N79 region of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), an active star forming region with hundreds of Spitzer - and Herschel-identified YSOs and host to super star cluster (SSC) candidate H72.97-69.39. The three giant molecular clouds (GMCs) in N79 (East, West, and South) have varying star formation rates and stellar populations. MRS follow-up observations of four Spitzer -identified YSOs in N79 East, West, and South reveal that what seemed to be a single, massive YSO is actually a cluster of YSOs. We discuss the emission and absorption lines of six YSOs which have complete or almost-complete spectral coverage from 4.9 – 27.9 µm. YSO Y3, located in N79 East, is the youngest source in this study and likely to be less than 10,000 years old inferred from the prominent CH 4 , NH 3 , CH 3 OH, CH 3 OCHO, and CO 2 ice absorption features. The most luminous source is the central ionizing YSO of SSC H72.97-69.39, Y4, which has dozens of fine-structure and H 2 emission lines. Unlike the other YSOs in this work, Y4 has no polyaromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) emission lines due to the intense ionizing radiation destroying these large carbon chain molecules. The mass accretion rate based on H I (7-6) line luminosity of YSOs Y1, Y2, Y4, and Y9 range between 1.22 × 10 −4 – 1.89 × 10 −2 M ⊙ yr −1 For the first time in the mid-infrared, we are able to resolve individual high-mass protostars forming in small clusters in an extra-galactic environment like the LMC.

Omnarayni Nayak

Gas Phase Spectroscopy of Cold PAH Ions: Contribution to the Interstellar Extinction and the Diffuse Interstellar Bands

Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon molecules (PAHs) are ubiquitous in the interstellar medium (ISM) and constitute the building blocks of interstellar dust grains. Despite their inferred important role in mediating the energetic and chemical processes in thc ISM, their exact contribution to the interstellar extinction, and in particular to the diffuse interstellar bands (DIBs) remains unclear. The DIBs are spectral absorption features observed in the line of sight of stars that are obscured by diffuse interstellar clouds. More than 200 bands have been reported to date spanning from the near UV to the near IR with bandwidths ranging from 0.4 to 40 Angstroms (Tielens & Snow 1995). The present consensus is that the DIBs arise from free flying, gas-phase, organic molecules and/or ions that are abundant under the typical conditions reigning in the diffuse ISM. PAHs have been proposed as possible carriers (Allamandola et al. 1985; Leger & DHendecourt 1985). The PAH hypothesis is consistent with the cosmic abundance of Carbon and Hydrogen and with the required photostability of the DIB carriers against the strong VUV radiation field in the diffuse interstellar clouds. A significant fraction of PAHs is expected to be ionized in the diffuse ISM.

Biennier, L.

Non-mechanical optical path switching and its application to dual beam spectroscopy including gas filter correlation radiometry

A non-mechanical optical switch is developed for alternately switching a monochromatic or quasi-monochromatic light beam along two optical paths. A polarizer polarizes light into a single, e.g., vertical component which is then rapidly modulated into vertical and horizontal components by a polarization modulator. A polarization beam splitter then reflects one of these components along one path and transmits the other along the second path. In the specific application of gas filter correlation radiometry, one path is directed through a vacuum cell and one path is directed through a gas correlation cell containing a desired gas. Reflecting mirrors cause these two paths to intersect at a second polarization beam splitter which reflects one component and transmits the other to recombine them into a polarization modulated beam which can be detected by an appropriate single sensor.

Sachse, Glen W.

Solid and Gas-Phase Spectroscopy of Cosmic Carbon Analogs: Results and Perspectives

The laboratory studies of interstellar carbon materials analogs (PAHs, Fullerenes, chains) will be discussed with their advantages and limitations from the point of view of the application to astrophysical processes. The discussion will focus on the newest generation of laboratory experiments that has been developed in order to provide a closer simulation of space environments and a better support to space missions. The astrophysical implications and future perspectives will be stressed.

Salama, Farid