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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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NASA NTRS1983

Chemical state of pre-solar matter

Consideration is given to several features of the chemical state of interstellar matter that may be relevant to the observed properties of chondrules if they are formed from aggregates of pre-existing particles. First, a brief summary of the numbers and types of interstellar particles as indicated by the extinction of starlight is given. Second, a model of the free decay interval required by the low solar abundance of 129-I is advanced. This model can support variations in the 129-I/127-I ratio that are larger than typical isotopic anomalies. Third, a new steady-state model of the chemical state of the interstellar medium is presented as a first step toward a quantitative distribution of the abundances among different chemical forms. Last, the advantages of fusing chondrules from aggregates of pre-solar dust by the action of exothermic chemistry are enumerated.

Clayton, D. D.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Circumstellar dust

The presence of dust in the general interstellar medium is inferred from the extinction, polarization, and scattering of starlight; the presence of dark nebulae; interstellar depletions; the observed infrared emission around certain stars and various types of interstellar clouds. Interstellar grains are subject to various destruction mechanisms that reduce their size or even completely destroy them. A continuous source of newly formed dust must therefore be present for dust to exist in the various phases of the interstellar medium (ISM). The working group has the following goals: (1) review the evidences for the formation of dust in the various sources; (2) examine the clues to the nature and composition of the dust; (3) review the status of grain formation theories; (4) examine any evidence for the processing of the dust prior to its injection into the interstellar medium; and (5) estimate the relative contribution of the various sources to the interstellar dust population.

Dwek, E.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Review of methodology and technology available for the detection of extrasolar planetary systems

Four approaches exist for the detection of extrasolar planets. According to the only direct method, the planet is imaged at some wavelength in a manner which makes it possible to differentiate its own feeble luminosity (internal energy source plus reflected starlight) from that of the nearby host star. The three indirect methods involve the detection of a planetary mass companion on the basis of the observable effects it has on the host star. A search is conducted regarding the occurrence of regular, periodic changes in the stellar spatial motion (astrometric method) or the velocity of stellar emission line spectra (spectroscopic method) or in the apparent total stellar luminosity (photometric method). Details regarding the approaches employed for implementing the considered methods are discussed.

Tarter, J. C.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Ultraviolet spectrophotometry of three LINERs

Three galaxies known to be LINERs were observed spectroscopically in the ultraviolet in an attempt to detect the presumed nonthermal continuum source thought to be the source of photoionization in the nuclei. NGC 4501 was found to be too faint for study with the IUE spectrographs, while NGC 5005 had an extended ultraviolet light profile. Comparison with the optical light profile of NGC 5005 indicates that the ultraviolet source is distributed spatially in the same manner as the optical starlight, probably indicating that the ultraviolet excess is due to a component of hot stars in the nucleus. These stars contribute detectable absorption features longward of 2500 A; together with optical data, the IUE spectra suggest a burst of star formation about 1 billion yr ago, with a lower rate continuing to produce a few OB stars. In NGC 4579, a point source contributing most of the ultraviolet excess is found that is much different than the optical light distribution. Furthermore, the ultraviolet to X-ray spectral index in NGC 4579 is 1.4, compatible with the UV to X-ray indices found for samples of Seyfert galaxies. This provides compelling evidence for the detection of the photoionizing continuum in NGC 4579 and draws the research fields of normal galaxies and active galactic nuclei closer together. The emission-line spectrum of NGC 4579 is compared with calculations from a photoionization code, CLOUDY, and several shock models. The photoionization code is found to give superior results, adding to the increasing weight of evidence that the LINER phenomenon is essentially a scaled-down version of the Seyfert phenomenon.

Goodrich, R. W.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Cool interstellar matter in early-type galaxies

IRAS fluxes of early-type galaxies have been examined. From studying a magnitude-limited sample, it seems that although the statistics are poor, perhaps a third of these objects and possibly even more have an appreciable amount of dust. In general, the infrared emission is strongest at 100 microns, and quite often the far-infrared luminosity of an early-type galaxy can be well in excess of 10 to the 8th solar luminosities. The data are most easily understood if the infrared results from dust reprocessing of starlight. Within 3 kpc of the center of an early-type galaxy, there may be more cold matter than hot gas; recent models that the interstellar media of these objects are composed primarily of hot gas appear to be oversimplifications. The X-ray data do indicate that the thermal pressure in the early-type galaxies often is sufficiently high that in view of the expected low temperatures of their interstellar clouds, it can be speculated that the cold material that is present may be forming low-mass stars.

Jura, M.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Spectroscopy of the globular clusters in M87

With a velocity dispersion of 370 + or - 50 km/sec the globular cluster system of M87 is kinematically hotter than the stars in the giant elliptical itself. This is consistent with the clusters' shallower density distribution for isotropic orbits. The mean metallicity of the 27 clusters in the sample analyzed here is no more than a factor of 2 more metal rich than the cluster system of the Milky Way, but considerably more metal poowr than the integrated starlight in the field at a radius of 1' from the center of M87. There is no evidence for the existence of young clusters in the system. The mass-radius relation between 1' and 5' required to contain the globular clusters joins on to that required to contain the hot gas around M87.

Mould, J. R.↗
NASA NTRS1987

On the redistribution of OB star luminosity and the warming of nearby molecular clouds

Infrared Astronomy Satellite (IRAS) observations of the neighborhoods of six outer-Galaxy HII regions were combined with CO observations to show that most of the far infrared (FIR) luminosity from within approximately 25 to 75 pc of the ionizing stars is contributed by dust in molecular clouds, not by dust in the low-density ionized gas. Dust associated with the clouds is warmed by absorption of UV and visible light from the cluster of stars responsible for the ionization. Most of the OB cluster starlight is not absorbed locally. A fraction of the order of 10% of the OB cluster luminosity is absorbed by nearby molecular clouds and reradiated as FIR light. The luminosity per unit mass for the heated clouds is approximately 3 to 13 solar luminosity/solar mass, approximately one order of magnitude greater than the corresponding ratio for clouds found near clusters without O stars, and two orders of magnitude greater than the ratio for dark clouds heated primarily by the interstellar radiation field. If the observations of clouds near outer-Galaxy HII regions are used to characterize the molecular clouds heated by HII regions in the inner-Galaxy, then at most 30% of the Galaxy's molecular cloud mass is actively engaged in the formation of massive stars at the present time.

Leisawitz, D.↗
NASA NTRS1987

The luminosity function of the brightest galaxies in the IRAS survey

Results from a study of the far infrared properties of the brightest galaxies in the IRAS survey are described. There is a correlation between the infrared luminosity and the infrared to optical luminosity ratio and between the infrared luminosity and the far infrared color temperature in these galaxies. The infrared bright galaxies represent a significant component of extragalactic objects in the local universe, being comparable in space density to the Seyferts, optically identified starburst galaxies, and more numerous than quasars at the same bolometric luminosity. The far infrared luminosity in the local universe is approximately 25% of the starlight output in the same volume.

Soifer, B. T.↗
NASA NTRS1986

On the polarization of Alpha Orionis

Much of the complex behavior of the polarization observed in the M2 supergiant Alpha Ori can be explained in terms of the combined effects of Rayleigh scattering in the photosphere and scattering by circumstellar dust in the presence of one or more photospheric hot spots. The ad hoc scattering layer of electrons which Schwarz and Clarke employed in their models reported in 1984 can be avoided, eliminating the conflict with the much lower column densities found in other studies of the extended chromosphere of this star. The transfer of polarized continuum radiation in cool model atmospheres has been treated fully. Under conditions of optimal spot area and location on the disk and large temperature differences (up to 1000 K) between the spot and normal photosphere, it is possible to get a net polarization up to about 0.3 percent in the blue in the direct starlight. The effects of spot limb darkening on the polarization of scattered spot light have been evaluated. Narrow-band observations that include molecular bands are encouraged for their diagnostic value.

Doherty, L. R.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Voyager 2 photopolarimeter experiment - Evidence for tenuous outer ring material at Saturn

Voyager 2 photopolarimeter data are employed to characterize two regions of optically thin material outside the Saturn F ring. The study consists of a statistical analysis of optical depth value fluctuations caused by occultations of starlight from Delta Sco as viewed through the material. One the optically thin regions surrounds the orbital semimajor axis of the outer F ring shepherd satellite Pandora and the other thin region lies 144,090 km farther outward. The first region, with an optical depth of 0.008-0.016, is about 200 km in radius and the second, with an optical depth of 0.005-0.013, is about 1000 km in radial width. The data had a resolution of 0.5 km.

Graps, A. L.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Spectroscopy of the globular clusters in M87

With a velocity dispersion of 370 + or - 50 km/sec the globular cluster system of M87 is kinematically hotter than the stars in the giant elliptical itself. This is consistent with the clusters' shallower density distribution for isotropic orbits. The mean metallicity of the 27 clusters in the sample analyzed here is no more than a factor of 2 more metal rich than the cluster system of the Milky Way, but considerably more metal poor than the integrated starlight in the field at a radius of 1' from the center of M87. There is no evidence for the existence of young clusters in the system. The mass-radius relation between 1' and 5' required to contain the globular clusters joins on to that required to contain the hot gas around M87.

Mould, J. R.↗
NASA NTRS1987

The UV excess of quasars - Luminosity dependence

The transition from the near-infrared power law to the blue bump in quasar spectra is studied by analyzing the complete sample published by Neugebauer et al. (1987). It is found that the flattening of the continuum spectrum toward the UV increases with continuum luminosity; the spectral slope between 4200 A and 7500 A (in the quasar's rest frame) is strongly correlated with luminosity and redshift. Only part of this correlation can be attributed to contamination by starlight of the host galaxy. This result is modeled in terms of an accretion disk spectrum combined with a nonthermal power law. In order to fit the data, the Eddington ratio must be in the range L(opt)/L(E) approximately 0.003-0.03(epsilon/0.1) exp -1 (epsilon being the efficiency). This parameter range also yields inner disk temperatures of (30,000-200,000 K), in accordance with the temperatures inferred from the UV excess of quasars observed with the IUE.

Wandel, Amri↗
NASA NTRS1987

Molecular and atomic clouds associated with infrared cirrus in Ursa Major

Observations of CO and H I revealed that in Ursa Major the high-latitude far-infrared 'cirrus' emission discovered by the Infrared Astronomical Satellite comes from molecular and atomic clouds. These clouds differ sufficiently from the large clouds in the Galactic plane so that the ratio of H2 column density to velocity-integrated CO radiation temperature, N(H2)/W(CO), derived from Galactic plane surveys, may not apply to them. On the assumption of a constant gas-to-dust ratio, it is argued that the cirrus emission in Ursa Major is a good mass tracer, since both the atomic and the molecular gas are probably optically thin at visual wavelengths, and the grains are heated not by local sources but by the background field of Galactic starlight. The N(H2)/W(CO) ratio thus derived for those diffuse clouds, is significantly lower than the ratio applicable to Galactic plane surveys.

De Vries, Hendrik Willem↗
NASA NTRS1987

Spectral synthesis in the ultraviolet. I - Far-ultraviolet stellar library

A library of mean stellar energy distributions for use in population synthesis of the ultraviolet spectra of active star-forming galaxies is derived from the ultraviolet spectrophotometry in the IUE Spectral Atlas. The spectra extend from 1230 to 1930 A with a resolution of 6 A. The library contains eight main-sequence groups from O3 to A7 V, four giant groups from O5 to B9 III, and three supergiant groups from O9 to A0 I. Several continuum and spectral line indices are computed, and their usefulness as temperature and luminosity discriminants is discussed. The advantages of analyzing composite stellar populations in the far-ultraviolet, where cool starlight is strongly suppressed, are examined.

Fanelli, Michael N.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Fluorescent excitation of interstellar H2

The infrared emission spectrum of H2 excited by ultraviolet absorption, followed by fluorescence, was investigated using comprehensive models of interstellar clouds for computing the spectrum and to assess the effects on the intensity to various cloud properties, such as density, size, temperature, and the intensity of the UV radiation field. It is shown that the absolute H2 IR line intensities depend primarily on the density of the cloud and the strength of the incident UV radiation, and to a much lesser exent on the temperature of the gas, the total thickness of the cloud, and the optical properties of the grains. A variety of recent observational results are discussed with reference to theoretical models. It is shown that the rich H2 emission spectrum of the reflection nebula NGC 2023 can be reproduced by a model with density of about 10,000/cu cm, temperature of about 80 K, and UV flux approximately 300 times that of the Galactic background starlight.

Black, John H.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Kinetic isotopic fractionation and the origin of HDO and CH3D in the solar system

It is suggested that photochemical enrichment processes driven by stellar UV emissions could result in a large deuterium fractionation of water and methane relative to H2 in the primitive solar nebula. These enrichment processes could have profoundly influenced the isotopic content of water in the terrestrial planets, if a large fraction of their volatiles had been added by impacts of meteorites and comets formed in the outer parts of the solar nebula. Efficient mixing could have exposed the material in the interior of the solar nebula to starlight.

Yung, Yuk L.↗
NASA NTRS1987

The Gravity-Probe-B relativity gyroscope experiment - An update on progress

The Gravity-Probe-B (GP-B) relativity gyroscope experiment will test two effects of general relativity: (1) the geodetic precession of a gyroscope due to its Fermi-Walker transport around a massive central body; and (2) the motional or gravitomagnetic precession of the gyroscope due to rotation of the central body itself. The experiment will also provide a determination of the deflection of starlight by the sun and an improved determination of the distance to Rigel. In the Shuttle testing phase of the program, prototype hardware is being developed for a full-scale ground model of the GP-B instrument.

Parkinson, Bradford W.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Cosmic ultraviolet background radiation and zodiacal light

Spectroscopic measurements of the diffuse cosmic UV background in the 1700-2850-A range are presented. In agreement with previous results, the data have resulted in the detection at high Galactic latitude of an intensity of 300 + or - 100 photons/sq cm s sr A at 1800 A without correction for starlight or airglow, a similar intensity over the 1900-2500-A range after correction for measured airglow, and a similar intensity over the 2500-2800-A range after correction for zodiacal light. It is suggested that this radiation may originate partly in line radiation from a Galactic halo and partly from extragalactic sources, perhaps the integrated light of distant galaxies.

Tennyson, P. D.↗