Engineering topics
Melnick, G.
Publications and source records attributed to Melnick, G..
The Origins Space Telescope
The Origins Space Telescope will trace the history of our origins from the time dust and heavy elements permanently altered the cosmic landscape to present-day life. How did galaxies evolve from the earliest galactic systems to those found in the universe today? How do habitable planets form? How common are life-bearing worlds? To answer these alluring questions, Origins will operate at mid- and far-infrared wavelengths and offer powerful spectroscopic instruments and sensitivity three orders of magnitude better than that of Herschel, the largest telescope flown in space to date. After a 3 ½ year study, the Origins Science and Technology Definition Team will recommend to the Decadal Survey a concept for Origins with a 5.9-m diameter telescope cryo cooled to 4.5 K and equipped with three scientific instruments. A mid-infrared instrument (MISC-T) will measure the spectra of transiting exoplanets in the 2.8 – 20 μm wavelength range and offer unprecedented sensitivity, enabling definitive biosignature detections. The Far-IR Imager Polarimeter (FIP) will be able to survey thousands of square degrees with broadband imaging at 50 and 250 μm. The Origins Survey Spectrometer (OSS) will cover wavelengths from 25 – 588 μm, make wide-area and deep spectroscopic surveys with spectral resolving power R ~ 300, and pointed observations at R ~ 40,000 and 300,000 with selectable instrument modes. Origins was designed to minimize complexity. The telescope has a Spitzer-like architecture and requires very few deployments after launch. The cryo-thermal system design leverages JWST technology and experience. A combination of current-state-of-the-art cryocoolers and next-generation detector technology will enable Origins’ natural background limited sensitivity.
The Origins Space Telescope: Mission Concept Overview
The Origins Space Telescope (OST) will trace the history of our origins from the time dust and heavy elements permanently altered the cosmic landscape to present-day life. How did the universe evolve in response to its changing ingredients? How common are life-bearing planets? To accomplish its scientific objectives, OST will operate at mid- and far-infrared wavelengths and offer superlative sensitivity and new spectroscopic capabilities. The OST study team will present a scientifically compelling, executable mission concept to the 2020 Decadal Survey in Astrophysics. To understand the concept solution space, our team studied two alternative mission concepts. We report on the study approach and describe both of these concepts, give the rationale for major design decisions, and briefly describe the mission-enabling technology.
ExSPO: A Discovery Class Apodized Square Aperture (ASA) Expo-Planet Imaging Space Telescope Concept
ExSPO is a Discovery Class (approx. 4 meter) apodized square aperture (ASA) space telescope mission designed for direct imaging of extrasolar Earth-like planets, as a precursor to TPF. The ASA telescope concept, instrument design, capabilities, mission plan and science goals are described.
Implications of the ISO LWS spectrum of the prototypical ultraluminous galaxy: ARP 220
The low resolution far infrared spectrum of the galaxy Arp 220, obtained with the low wavelength spectrometer (LWS) onboard the Infrared Space Observatory (ISO), is presented. The spectrum is dominated by the OH, H2O, CH, NH3 and O I absorption lines. The upper limits on the far infrared fine structure lines indicate a softer radiation in Arp 220 than in starburst galaxies.
Galactic structure from the Spacelab infrared telescope. I - 2.4 micron map
The Infrared Telescope, flown aboard the Space Shuttle as part of the Spacelab-2 mission, scanned a large fraction of the sky at 2.4 microns with a resolution of approximately 1 deg. A calibrated map of the Galactic plane in the region -20-120 deg l and -30-30 deg b. The photometry is accurate to a surface brightness of mu K = 20.0 mag/arcsec. Aside from uncertainties in the magnitude zero-point, the data agree quite well with previous maps derived from balloon experiments, except that some systematic differences at high Galactic longitudes are evident. These data will permit more extensive modeling of the 2.4-micron emissivity in the Milky Way than has been possible previously.
Metabolism of Nonessential N15-Labeled Amino Acids and the Measurement of Human Whole-Body Protein Synthesis Rates
Eight N-15 labeled nonessential amino acids plus (15)NH4Cl were administered over a 10 h period to four healthy adult males using a primed-constant dosage regimen. The amount of N-15 excreted in the urine and the urinary ammonia, hippuric acid, and plasma alanine N-15 enrichments were measured. There was a high degree of consistency across subjects in the ordering of the nine compounds based on the fraction of N-15 excreted (Kendall coefficient of concordance W = 0.83, P is less than 0.01). Protein synthesis rates were calculated from the urinary ammonia plateau enrichment and the cumulative excretion of N-15. Glycine was one of the few amino acids that gave similar values by both methods.
Metabolism of nonessential N-15-labeled amino acids and the measurement of human whole-body protein synthesis rates
Eight N-15-labeled nonessential amino acids plus (N-15)H4Cl were administered over a 10-h period to four healthy adult males using a primed-constant dosage regimen. The amount of N-15 excreted in the urine and the urinary ammonia, hippuric acid, and plasma alanine N-15 enrichments were measured. There was a high degree of consistency across subjects in the ordering of the nine compounds based on the fraction of N-15 excreted.
Infrared observations of contaminants from Shuttle flight 51-F
A small helium-cooled infrared telescope, IRT, was flown on the Shuttle in July/August 1985. The principal astrophysical objectives were to measure the large scale structure of sources and the background radiation. A cold shutter was incorporated to permit absolute flux measurements. Additionally, the engineering objectives included setting upper limits on the infrared radiation from the local environment. Even though the local background overwhelmed the astrophysical background, astronomical sources were still detectable superimposed on this background radiation. Data are presented covering the spectral range from 2 microns to 120 microns. The spatial, spectral, and temporal variations are described. Based on the spectral character and variability in different wavelength bands, the background radiation does not appear to have a single origin. In this paper, the results on the Shuttle environment are presented.
Observations of the 157.7 micron (C II) emission from the galactic H II regions W3 and W51
The 157.7 micron ground-state fine-structure transition of singly ionized carbon was detected from three positions, each in galactic H II region W3 and W51. These findings show that this emission goes beyond the H II regions and the carbon recombination region in each source. In addition these observations establish a lower limit to the luminosity in the 157.7 micron (C II) line of 360 solar luminosity from W3 and 41 solar luminosity from W51. Mechanisms for 157.7 micron-line excitation are discussed, and it is noted that a substantial part of the observed emission originates in the thin carbon recombination line-emitting region which borders on the H II regions and the warm atomic and molecular gas at the surface of neighboring molecular clouds. It is proposed that excitation by electrons present in the diffuse gas surrounding W51 contributes to the extended 157.7 micron (C II) line emission from this region. It was found that the (C II)FIR continuum ratios for W3 and W51 are in agreement with those of other galactic H II regions.
Observations of far-infrared line profiles in the Orion-KL region
Measurements of several far-infrared emission line profiles in the Orion-KL region are reported. The emission from the CO, OH, and forbidden O I emission lines toward the BN-KL and H2 peak 1 positions probably comes from dense, hot molecular gas in the Orion-KL shock. The CO and forbidden O I lines have similar profiles, suggesting that the high-velocity forbidden O I emission also arises in magnetohydrodynamic 'cloud' shocks. The velocity centroids of the lines are somewhat blueshifted. The far-infrared data thus support the interpretation that the blue asymmetry of the H2 2 micron lines is not mainly due to differential dust extinction, but rather to the kinematics and geometry of the shocked gas in the Orion-KL outflow. The forbidden O I and CO lines, however, have significantly less extreme blueshifted emission than the H2 lines. Both the forbidden O I 63 micron and forbidden C II 158 micron lines have features strongly supporting a common origin near the surface of the Orion molecular cloud.
Spectrophotometry of Saturn and its rings from 60 to 180 microns
Comparisons of Saturn observations at far-IR and submillimeter wavelengths, obtained during the earth's March 1980 passage through the plane of Saturn's rings, with spectroscopic observations obtained at an earlier time when the ring plane tilt angle was 21.8 deg, allow a separation of disk and ring contributions to the flux observed in this wavelength range. It is noted that the observed disk emission at 60-180 microns corresponds to a brightness temperature of 104 + or 2 K, and that the brightness temperature of the rings drops 20 K in the 60-80 micron range. An improved estimate of total Saturnian surface brightness is derived which corresponds to an effective temperature of 96.1 + or - 1.6 K.
The 157 micron /C II/ emission from NGC 2024 - Core and halo components
Portions of the nebula NGC 2024 were mapped in the 157 micron (C II) line. Results show the presence of a compact component centered on the radio-recombination line regions and a more extended nebulosity. It is found that the central component emits 157 micron line and continuum fluxes at a level of 4 x 10 to the -16th W/sq cm and 5 x 10 to the -16th W/sq cm (micron), respectively. The continuum emission drops off more rapidly with distance from the peak, although line emission is approximately 30% of the peak value at a distance 18 min to the SE of the peak. In addition, related observations were carried out on M42.
The mass of hot, shocked CO in Orion - First observations of the J = 17-J = 16 transition at 153 microns
Observations of the Kleinmann-Low Nebula in Orion detected the J = 17-J = 16 transition of CO at 153 microns and at a flux level of 7 x 10 to the -17th W/sq cm. The total mass of hot (not less than about 750 K) carbon monoxide in the nebula is estimated at 8 x 10 to the 30th g, and the total hydrogen mass at this temperature is assessed to be about 1.5 solar masses. A CO column density of about 4 x 10 to the 17th per sq cm is derived for the region, which agrees with those predictions made by Storey et al. (1981), and an apparent deficit of oxygen in the nebula is discussed.
Giant forbidden C II halos around H II regions
The submillimeter (157-micron) forbidden line emission from the M17 complex has been mapped. The forbidden line emission extends over at least 1/4 deg in the sky. The regions emitting the C II radio recombination lines contribute only in a minor way to the total 157-micron flux. The total forbidden line luminosity of M17 exceeds 2,000 solar luminosities.
Far-infrared emission line and continuum observations of NGC 7027
The first observation of a fine-structure transition in NGC 7027 at wavelengths greater than 30 microns is reported. The flux in the 63.2-micron line is found to be approximately 10 to the -16th W/sq cm. It is noted that if NGC 7027 lies at 1 kpc, this corresponds to a luminosity, in the line, approximately 30 times greater than the solar luminosity. The flux of the 88.35-micron line is less than 10 to the -17th W/sq cm, and the upper limit to the line flux at 51.8 microns is found to be 10 to the -16th W/sq cm. These upper limits imply an electron density that is less than 1.6 x 10 to the 5th/cu cm. It is noted that the continuum measurements obtained support a dust temperature of 90 K with an emissivity approximately equal to the reciprocal of the square of the wavelength. The data exclude grain materials whose wavelength-dependent emissivity (the reciprocal of the wavelength raised to nth power) requires n to be outside the range between 1.6 and 2, unless the temperature varies drastically across the dust cloud
Far-infrared polarization of the Kleinmann-Low Nebula
Further data on the polarization of the far-infrared (wavelength greater than 40 microns) emission from the Orion Nebula shows no evidence for polarized emission by aligned grains. Results at wavelength about 71-115 microns are consistent with a small (about 1.5%) absorption-induced polarization with about the same position angle on the sky as the polarization measured at shorter wavelengths.
Detection of the 157 micron /1910 GHz/ /C II/ emission line from the interstellar gas complexes NGC 2024 and M42
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