Experimental Confirmation of Deep Nulling
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Engineering topics
Publications and source records attributed to Serabyn, E..
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While the baseline for the Next Generation Space Telescope (NGST) is the 1 to 5 um wavelenght interval, compelling astronomical observations become possible at longer wavelenghts.
The Keck Interferometer is being developed by JPL and CARA as one of the ground-based components of NASA's Origins Program.
If the dust content of nearby solar system is comparable to, or larger than, that of our own zodiacal disk, the thermal emission from exozodiacal disks will significantly outshine planetary companions to nearby stars.
Nulling interferometry, a proposed technique for dimming a star relative to its surroundings, has the potential to enable direct imaging of planets orbiting nearby stars.
The Keck interferometer currently under development will include a midinfrared nulling experiment that is designed to search for extrazodiacal dust around nearby stars. The potential of this technique, as wel1 as the basic experimental approach, will be discussed. The initial goal is to search for extrazodiacal emission around nearby stars at the 10-solar zodi-equivalent level, with a long-term goal of I solar zodi.
Nulling interferometry is a promising technique for reducing a star's brightness relative to its immediate surroundings, with great potential to enable direct detections of extra-solar planets and zodiacal light.
Far-infrared Fourier-transform spectrometer measurements of the 1-0 and 3-2 PH(sub 3) transitions in Saturn's disk near 267 and 800 GHz (8.9 and 26.7 cm(sup -1)), respectively, were analyzed simultaneously to derive a global mean profile for the PH(sub 3) vertical mixing ratio between 100 and 800 mbar total pressure.
Deep nulling of both laser and thermal radiation has been demonstrated in the laboratory at visible wavelengths, by means of a rotational shearing interferometer (RSI) coupled to single-mode input and output fibers.
The mass distribution of newborn stars is key to the evolution of galaxies, as it determines whether a galaxy's interstellar medium is funneled predominantly into dim, long-lived, low-mass stars, as is the case in normal galactic disks, or into bright, short-lived, massive stars, as is perhaps the case in starburst nuclei.
We present an overview of the science capabilities enabled by a mid-infrared camera/spectrometer on board the NGST. Even without full mid-IR optimization, a mid-infrared (5-30 microns) instrument on the NGST will be orders of magnitude more sensitive than any equivalent ground-based instrument/telescope combination. In the extragalactic arena, the mid-IR region is critical for a complete understanding of the or high-redshift universe, dusty star-formation regions at low and high redshifts, and starburst vs. AGN discrimination. In the local universe, great strides forward can be made using mid-IR imaging, spectroscopy, and coronagraphy of dusty and rocky disks of all ages, from protostellar to remnant debris disks. Near-neighbor detection and characterization can also be greatly advanced by mid-infrared observations.
We report near-simultaneous interferometric measurements of the spectrum of Sgr A(sup *) over the 5 to 354 GHz range, and single-dish observations which have yielded the first detection of Sgr A(sup *) at 850 GHz. We confirm that Sgr A(sup *)'s spectrum rises more steeply at short mm wavelengths than at cm wavelengths, leading to a near-millimeter/submillimeter excess which dominates its luminosity. Below 900 GHz, Sgr A(sup *)'s observed luminosity is 70 +/- 30 solar luminosity). A new upper limit to Sgr A(sup *)'s 24.3 microns flux, together with a compilation of other extant IR data, imply a FIR spectral turnover, which can result either from an intrinsic synchrotron cutoff, or excess extinction near Sgr A(sup *). If the former applies, Sgr A(sup *)'s total synchrotron luminosity is less than 10(exp 3) solar luminosity, while in the latter case it is less than 3 x 10(exp 4) solar luminosity if spherical symmetry also applies.
We present the first detection of vibrationally excited C(32)S J = 10-9 and J = 7-6 emission toward a young stellar object (YSO). Toward IRAS 16293-2422, the vibrationally excited C(32)S emission is redshifted approximately 3.9 km/s from the systemic velocity of the core. The emission must arise in warm (T greater than or approximately equal 1000 K), dense (n greater than or approximately equal to 10(exp 11)-10(exp 12) per cc) gas. The most plausible origin for the emission appears to be self-gravitating instabilities in a protostellar accretion disk, which produce waves and shocks.
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In recent observations with the Fourier transform spectrometer at the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory (CSO), we have detected the highly pressure-broadened (Full width at half maximum (FWHM) = 11.2 GHz) J = 1-0 rotational transition of PH3 (phosphine) on Saturn. By modeling the saturnian atmosphere with a radiative transfer code, we find that the observed line profile is consistent with a constant PH3 mole fraction of 0.3 +/- 1.0 ppm in the upper troposphere. A best fit to the depth of the line implies a cutoff at high altitudes, with no PH3 present at pressures less than and about 100 mbar. The observed line depth, combined with the lack of a detectable emission core, implies that a cutoff in the PH3 abundance occurs at a pressure between 13 and 140 mbar. We did not detect PH3 in Jupiter or any other molecular lines between 195 and 295 GHz (1.54 mm and 2.02 mm, respectively) in either Jupiter or Saturn.
In recent observations at the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory, the highly pressure-broadened (FWHM = 11.2 GHz) J = 1-0 rotational transition of PH3 (phosphine) was detected on Saturn. By modeling the Saturnian atmosphere with a radiative transfer code, the observed line profile was consistent with a constant PH3 mole fraction of 3.0 plus or minus 1.0 ppm in the upper troposphere. A best-fit to the depth of the line implies a cutoff at high altitudes, with no PH3 present at pressures approximately less than 100 mbar. The observed line depth, combined with the lack of a detectable emission core, implies that a cutoff in the PH3 abundance occurs at a pressure between 13 and 140 mbar. PH3 in Jupiter was not detected, nor any other molecular lines between 195 and 295 GHz (1.54 mm and 1.02 mm, respectively) in either Jupiter or Saturn.
Three fields in the molecular cloud M0.20-0.033, located near the midpoint of the filamentary 'Galactic center arc,' have been imaged in the CS J = 2-1 line with the OVRO millimeter interferometer. Several molecular clumps have been found to coincide with the endpoints of a number of the arc's nonthermal filaments (NTFs), suggesting that the relativistic particles present along the filaments originate in these molecular cloudlets. The most striking correlation involves a clump that is elongated along the direction of a pair of NTFs, and that approximately coincides with both their endpoints. These observations thus provide clues to the particle acceleration mechanism operative in the Galactic center arc: magnetic energy is likely liberated as the ambient field, tangled by the clumps' motions, reconnects in the advancing clumps' leading, externally ionized, surface layers.