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Niel, M.

Publications and source records attributed to Niel, M..

At least 37 records · Page 2
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1986

Persistent time intervals between features in solar flare hard X-ray emission

Several solar hard X-ray events (greater than 100 keV) were observed simultaneously with identical instruments on the Venera 11, 12, 13, 14, and Prognoz spacecraft. High time resolution (= 2 ms) data were stored in memory when a trigger occurred. The observations of modulation are presented with a period of 1.6 s for the event on December 3, 1978. Evidence is also presented for fast time fluctuations from an event on November 6, 1979, observed from Venera 12 and another on September 6, 1981, observed from the Solar Maximum Mission. Power spectrum analysis, epoch folding, and Monte Carlo simulation were used to evaluate the statistical significance of persistent time delays between features. The results are discussed in light of the MHD model proposed by Zaitsev and Stepanov.

Desai, Upendra D.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Search for optical flashes from gamma-ray bursters

Preliminary results of an investigation of the Ondrejov and Sonneberg plate collections for possible optical counterparts to gamma ray bursters (GRBs) are presented. The study proceeds in three directions: as time-correlated searches for GRBs with known positions, as time-correlated searches for GRBs without known positions, and as archival searches. The position of the Perseus flasher was also investigated using 1000 hours of monitoring. No evidence for true optical images associated with GRBs was found. Statistical conclusions are drawn and discussed.

Hudec, R.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Archival searches for optical counterparts to gamma ray bursters

The results of searches of about 1500 h of archival astronomical plates, taken with a variety of instruments at two observatories are reported. The areas of the sky photographed coincided with the positions of ten recently observed gamma ray bursts. The limiting magnitudes of the plates would in most cases have allowed the detection of the type of optical transients recently observed to be associated with gamma-bursters, although no such transients were found. A simple statistical argument is presented which allows confidence limits to be set for the repetition rates of bursters using these or other archival data.

Atteia, J.-L.↗
NASA NTRS1985

A second catalog of gamma ray bursts: 1978 - 1980 localizations from the interplanetary network

Eighty-two gamma ray bursts were detected between 1978 September 14 and 1980 February 13 by the experiments of the interplanetary network (Prognoz 7, Venera 11 and 12 SIGNE experiments, Pioneer Venus Orbiter, International Sun-Earth Explorer 3, Helios 2, and Vela). Sixty-five of these events have been localized to annuli or error boxes by the method of arrival time analysis. The distribution of sources is consistent with isotropy, and there is no statistically convincing evidence for the detection of more than one burst from any source position. The localizations are compared with those of two previous catalogs.

Atteia, J. L.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Limits to the burster repetition rate as deduced from the 2nd catalog of the interplanetary network

The burster repetition rate is an important parameter in many gamma ray burst models. The localizations of the interplanetary network, which have a relatively small combined surface area, may be used to estimate the average repetition rate. The method consists of (1) estimating the number of random overlaps between error boxes expected in the catalog and comparing this number to that actually observed; (2) modeling the response of the detectors in the network, so that the probability of detecting a burst can be estimated; and (3) simulating the arrival of bursts at the network assuming that burster repetition is governed by a Poisson process. The application of this method for many different burster luminosity functions shows that (1) the lower limit to the burster repetition rate depends strongly upon the assumed luminosity function; (2) the best lower limit to the repetition period obtainable from the data of the network is about 100 months; and (3) that a luminosity function for all bursters similar to that of the 1979 Mar 5 burster is inconsistent with the data.

Atteia, J. L.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Locations and time histories of five 1979 gamma-ray bursts

The locations and time histories of five gamma-ray bursts that occurred between 1979 March 7 and March 31 were studied. The error box for GB 790325 has a typical dimension of about 1.5 arcmin. The other localizations, while not precise enough for thorough optical examination, contribute to distribution studies and allow radio and X-ray observations, catalog searches, and other archival work. A search through selected catalogs did reveal one object, the star FY Aql (cataloged as a Mira-type variable but probably a dwarf nova) inside one of the gamma-ray burst boxes. Given the parameters of this particular search, the probability of at least one chance association is 0.03. Both recent and archival optical examinations of some of the error boxes were carried out, and no indications of any actual physical associations were seen. One event, GB 790331, had an interesting spectral behavior, in that the leading edges of the two main peaks within the burst had harder spectra than the remainder of the event.

Laros, J. G.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Two probable optical flashes from gamma-ray bursters

Two images on archival photographic plates which are most likely records of optical flashes from gamma-ray bursters (GRBs) were examined. One of these images appears on a 1901 plate in the field of the Nov. 5, 1979 GRB, while the other is in the field of the Jan. 13, 1979 GRB on a plate exposed in 1944. The 1901 optical transient image is circular in shape, while all normal star images are trailed by 8 in. No optical transients are found in a control region which is 34.3 times larger than the GRB error regions examined. Independent limits on the optical flash rate from the sky yield a probability of less than 0.0001 that any one of the optical transients is due to a background flash. A total exposure of 2.7 years was examined for GRB flashes at known GRB locations on the Harvard plates and a total of three GRB flashes were seen, that the average recurrence time scale for optical flashes is roughly one year. The optical fluence of these optical flashes was measured. For the three currently known GRB optical flashes, the ratio of gamma-ray fluence (from a modern burst) to the optical fluence (from a archival burst) were measured to be 800, 900, and 900.

Schaefer, B. E.↗
NASA NTRS1984

1979 January 13 - An intense gamma-ray burst with a possible associated optical transient

The time history, energy spectra, and precise localization of the intense January 13, 1979 gamma-ray burst, observed by five spacecraft in the interplanetary network, are presented. The time history displays a pulse-afterpulse structure suggestive of periodicity. Fine time resolution spectral analysis shows that a wide variety of models can be used to fit individual spectra, while spectra integrated over longer periods are well fitted by a thermal synchrotron law, making it difficult to identify any specific emission mechanism. The precise localization may be consistent with an archival optical transient having no quiescent counterpart down to 22d mag on recent plates.

Barat, C.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Three precise gamma-ray burst source locations

The precise source regions of three moderately intense gamma ray bursts are derived. These events were observed with the first interplanetary burst sensor network. The optimum locations of the detectors, widely separated throughout the inner solar system, allowed for high accuracy, over-determined source fields of size 0.7 to 7.0 arc-min(2). All three locations are at fairly high galactic latitude in regions of low source confusion; none can be identified with a steady source object. Archived photographs were searched for optical transients that are able to be associated with these source fields; one such association was made.

Cline, T. L.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Two probable optical flashes from gamma-ray bursters

Two images on archival photographic plates which are most likely records of optical flashes from gamma-ray bursters (GRBs) were examined. One of these images appears on a 1901 plate in the field of the 5 Nov. 1979 GRB, while the other is in the field of the 13 Jan. 1979 GRB on a plate exposed in 1944. The 1901 optical transient image is circular in shape, while all normal star images are trailed by 8 in. No optical transients are found in a control region which is 34.3 times larger than the GRB error regions examined. Independent limits on the optical flash rate from the sky yield a probability of less than 0.0001 that any one of the optical transients is due to a background flash. A total exposure of 2.7 years was examined for GRB flashes at known GRB locations on the Harvard plates and a total of three GRB flashes were seen, that the average recurrence time scale for optical flashes is roughly one year. The optical fluence of these optical flashes was measured. For the three currently known GRB optical flashes, the ratio of gamma-ray fluence (from a modern burst) to the optical fluence (from a archival burst) were measured to be 800, 900, and 900.

Schaefer, B. E.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Three precise gamma-ray burst source locations

The precise source regions of three moderately intense gamma ray bursts are derived. These events were observed with the first interplanetary burst sensor network. The optimum locations of the detectors, widely separated throughout the inner solar system, allowed for high accuracy, over-determined source fields of size 0.7 to 7.0 arc-min(2). All three locations are at fairly high galactic latitude in regions of low source confusion; none can be identified with a steady source object. Archived photographs were searched for optical transients that are able to be associated with these source fields; one such association was made.

Cline, T. L.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Time history, energy spectrum, and localization of an unusual gamma-ray burst

A gamma-ray burst lasting about 48 ms was observed on June 13, 1979 by four instruments in the interplanetary network. The event is unusual not only by virture of its extremely short duration, but also by the presence of rise and fall times at the 2 ms level in the time history, and because the energy spectrum is hard, extending to 2 MeV. The 0.7 sq arcmin error box contains no optical counterpart on the POSS plate (limiting magnitude, about 21). The spectral characteristics measured by experiments in the interplanetary network are substantially different from those previously reported for this burst.

Barat, C.↗
NASA NTRS1983

Fine time structure in the 1979 March 5 gamma ray burst

Data on the impulsive phase of the 1979 March 5 gamma ray burst, taken by three identical detectors aboard the Prognoz 7, Venera 11, and Venera 12 spacecraft with 2 ms time resolution, are presented. The first 200 ms of the time history may be described by an exponential decay with time constant of approximately 120 ms up to approximately 100 ms, and time constant of approximately 30 ms thereafter; at low energies, a pulsating component with a period of approximately 23 ms appears. The data could be consistent with torsional vibrations of a neutron star, the rotation of a rapidly spinning neutron star, or oscillations caused by interactions between hot plasma and a magnetic field.

Barat, C.↗
NASA NTRS1983

N49: The site of a gamma-ray burst - Preliminary results from X-ray observations

The error box of the unusual gamma-ray burst of Mar. 5, 1979 falls completely inside the optical and radio image of the supernova remnant N49 in the Large Magellanic Cloud. This region was observed twice in X-rays with the High-Resolution Imager of the Einstein Observatory, six weeks and nearly two years after the gamma-ray burst. A comparison between the two observations is shown.

Pizzichini, G.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Persistent X-ray emission from a gamma-ray burst source

A quiescent X-ray source detected with the Einstein X-ray Observatory in a location consistent with that of an intense gamma ray burst is shown to be also consistent with the location of the 1928 optical transient, the likely optical counterpart of the gamma ray burst source GBS0117-29. The system appears to be underluminous in X-rays by a factor of 10; possible reasons for this are discussed. The observed X-ray flux would require an accretion rate of about 10 to the -14th (d/1 kpc/)-squared solar masses per year, which is probably too low to be consistent with published nuclear flash models for gamma bursts, unless the distance is substantially greater than about 1 kpc or the burst recurrence time is greater than about 50 yrs, or the accretion rate is highly variable. Such a long recurrence time appears to be inconsistent with the detection of the optical burst.

Grindlay, J. E.↗
NASA NTRS1982

A catalog of gamma-ray bursts with earth crossing times

A catalog of 111 confirmed gamma-ray bursts detected between 1967 July and 1979 June is presented. Both localization information and earth crossing times for the gamma-ray wave fronts are given. Data which have appeared in some previous catalogs have been revised; many previously unpublished events detected by an international network of dedicated deep space and near-earth experiments since 1976 are also presented.

Klebesadel, R.↗