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Frecker, J. E.

Publications and source records attributed to Frecker, J. E..

8 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1986

A Fabry-Perot interferometer for accurate measurement of temporal changes in stellar Doppler shift

The scrambling of incident light by an optical filter, and the stability obtainable through wavelength calibration by means of a tilt-tunable Fabry-Perot etalon, allow the accurate observation of Doppler shift changes in stellar absorption lines. Distinct, widely spaced monochromatic images of the entrance aperture are formed in the focal plane of the camera through a sampling of about 350 points on the profile of the stellar spectrum by successive orders of interferometric transmission through the etalon. Changes in Doppler shift modify the relative intensities of these images, in proportion to the slope of the spectral profile at each point sampled.

Mcmillan, R. S.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Use of a scanning CCD to discriminate asteroid images moving in a field of stars

In the presently revealed use of a CCD in scanning mode to recover asteroids and comet nuclei, discover new asteroids in the main belt, and follow up the astrometry of selected new asteroids, the routine limiting visual magnitude is 19.6. Semiautomatic software for detection of moving objects is in use, allowing angular speeds as low as 11.0 arcsec/hr to be distinguished from the effects of the earth's atmosphere on the field of view. A typical set of three 29-min scans near the opposition point along the ecliptic typically nets at least five new main belt asteroids down to magnitude 19.6. In 18 monthly observing runs, 59 new asteroids have been obtained and 22 comets have been located.

Mcmillan, R. S.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Results from observations of the 15 June 1983 occultation by the Neptune system

Observations of eight Neptune occultations from six sites in the southwestern Pacific on June 15, 1983. The data were used to search for evidence of rings around Neptune down to a distance of 0.03 Neptune radii from the planetary surface, but the results were negative. An astrometric analysis of the timings yielded solution for the equatorial radius a(0) of Neptune at 1 microbar pressure and the oblatness e at this level. The results are: a(0) = 25,295 + or - 50 km; e = 0.022 + or - 0.004, from which a value for a(1) (equatorial radius at 1 bar pressure) of 24,830 + or - 100 km; and a rotation period of P = 15 h (+3, -2 h) is derived. These results are based on a recent determination of Neptune's pole position and mass quadruple moment, and are consistent with the hypothesis that Neptune and Uranus have homologous mass distributions, although the constraint on interior structure is a weak one. If the probable uncertainty of the pole position is taken into account, error bars on e and derived quantities should be increased by about 50 percent. The present determinations of Neptune atmospheric temperatures at 1 microbar are consistent with earlier results and when combined with all previous data give an average value of 156 + or - 10 K. There is only slight evidence for any latitude dependence in the temperatures. Profiles with a high signal-to-noise ratio suggest the possible presence of an absorbing layer at altitudes higher than the 1-microbar level.

Hubbard, W. B.↗
NASA NTRS1985

The LPL radial accelerometer

The LPL stellar accelerometer, an interferometrically calibrated spectrometer, is described. Particular attention is given to light feed, image scrambling, and interferometric wavelength calibration. Changes in radial velocity are inferred from changes in the relative intensities of starlight transmitted through the Fabry-Perot.

Mcmillan, R. S.↗
NASA NTRS1984

A CCD System for Photometry of Direct and Spectroscopic Images

A charge-coupled device (CCD) for direct imagery at the focus of a ground-based telescope and for high dispersion spectroscopy of stars is evaluated. The CCD is an RCA SID 53612 thinned, buried channel array of 512x320 30-micron square pixels that are back-illuminated and refrigerated to about -60 C in a rugged, RF-shielded vacuum housing. The double-correlated sampling (integrator) readout system, the Z80 microprocessor readout control system, and the data collection system are described. The readout noise is 120 electron-hole pairs (ehp) per pixel per readout, the thermal dark current is 50 ehp/pixel/sec, and the scale of the 12-bit analog-to-digital converter is 25 ehp/AD unit. Unique features of this system are compared to other astronomical implementations of the same model of CCD.

Frecker, J. E.↗
NASA NTRS1976

Linear polarimeter with rapid modulation, achromatic in the 0.3-1.1-micron range

A polarimeter is described, which provides achromatic modulation over the spectral range 0.3 to 1.1 microns, with very small light losses. The instrument is the first one to use superachromatic half-wave plates; such a plate is made of three achromatic half-wave plates of quartz and magnesium fluoride cemented with the optical axis of the central plate making an angle of 1.00 rad with the axes of the parallel-oriented outer half-wave plates. Wavelength dependence of the axis direction of the optical axis was eliminated by using two identical such plates in front of a Wollaston prism. The plate closer to the prism is stationary, while the other is continuously rotated by a stepper motor. In the polarimeter constructed, the range of instrumentally induced wavelength dependence of the plane of polarization did not exceed 0.002 rad. Using the polarimeter on a 228-cm telescope, a 10-min integration through the blue filter of the UBV photometric system for a star of magnitude 10.0 gives the percentage polarization with a mean error of + or - 0.014%.

Frecker, J. E.↗