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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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At least 217 records · Page 12
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1972

Measurement of mass, momentum and energy distributions in a quasi-steady MPD discharge.

Piezoelectric impact pressure measurements in the exhaust flow of a quasi-steady MPD accelerator are used to compute the profile of momentum flux 25.4 cm downstream of a 2.8 MW discharge. The integral of this profile is in good agreement with the sum of calculated electromagnetic and measured electrothermal thrust components. Velocity vector profiles obtained by a time-of-flight technique reveal a radial variation of velocity ranging from 31,000 m/sec on the centerline to 11,000 m/sec at a radius of 20 cm. When combined with the momentum flux profiles, these velocities yield information on the distribution of mass and energy in the plasma exhaust.

Clark, K. E.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Steady state cooling flow models for normal elliptical galaxies

An extensive grid of steady state cooling flow models for the hot gas in elliptical galaxies is calculated. The effects of allowing inflow of surrounding gas and varying the supernova heating rate, the mass distribution of the galaxy, the rate of stellar mass loss, and the outer boundary pressure are studied. The X-ray luminosities, spectra, and surface brightness profiles of the galaxies are computed. In all of the models, the gas density varies approximately as r exp -3/2. In the models with heavy halos, the X-ray and optical surface brightnesses are nearly proportional to one another within individual galaxies, and the temperature profiles are roughly isothermal.

Sarazin, Craig L.↗
NASA NTRS2018

Implications of the Interstellar Object 1I/'Oumuamua for Planetary Dynamics and Planetesimal Formation

'Oumuamua, the first bona fide interstellar planetesimal, was discovered passing through our Solar system on a hyperbolic orbit. This object was likely dynamically ejected from an extrasolar planetary system after a series of close encounters with gas giant planets. To account for 'Oumuamua's detection, simple arguments suggest that ∼1M⊕ of planetesimals are ejected per solar mass of Galactic stars. However, that value assumes mono-sized planetesimals. If the planetesimal mass distribution is instead top-heavy, the inferred mass in interstellar planetesimals increases to an implausibly high value. The tension between theoretical expectations for the planetesimal mass function and the observation of 'Oumuamua can be relieved if a small fraction (∼0.1−1 per cent) of planetesimals are tidally disrupted on the pathway to ejection into 'Oumuamua-sized fragments. Using a large suite of simulations of giant planet dynamics including planetesimals, we confirm that 0.1–1 per cent of planetesimals pass within the tidal disruption radius of a gas giant on their pathway to ejection. 'Oumuamua may thus represent a surviving fragment of a disrupted planetesimal. Finally, we argue that an asteroidal composition is dynamically disfavoured for 'Oumuamua, as asteroidal planetesimals are both less abundant and ejected at a lower efficiency than cometary planetesimals.

planetesimals↗
NASA NTRS2012

On Dark Peaks and Missing Mass: A Weak-Lensing Mass Reconstruction of the Merging Cluster System A520

Merging clusters of galaxies are unique in their power to directly probe and place limits on the self-interaction cross-section of dark matter. Detailed observations of several merging clusters have shown the intracluster gas to be displaced from the centroids of dark matter and galaxy density by ram pressure, while the latter components are spatially coincident, consistent with collisionless dark matter. This has been used to place upper limits on the dark matter particle self-interaction cross-section of order 1 sq cm/g. The cluster A520 has been seen as a possible exception. We revisit A520 presenting new Hubble Space Telescope Advanced Camera for Surveys mosaic images and a Magellan image set. We perform a detailed weak-lensing analysis and show that the weak-lensing mass measurements and morphologies of the core galaxy-filled structures are mostly in good agreement with previous works. There is, however, one significant difference: We do not detect the previously claimed "dark core" that contains excess mass with no significant galaxy overdensity at the location of the X-ray plasma. This peak has been suggested to be indicative of a large self-interaction cross-section for dark matter (at least approx 5alpha larger than the upper limit of 0.7 sq cm/g determined by observations of the Bullet Cluster). We find no such indication and instead find that the mass distribution of A520, after subtraction of the X-ray plasma mass, is in good agreement with the luminosity distribution of the cluster galaxies.We conclude that A520 shows no evidence to contradict the collisionless dark matter scenario.

Clowe, Douglas↗
NASA NTRS1991

A complete Arecibo map of H I 1225 + 01

Complete H I observations of a large low-density cloud, H I 1225 + 01, carried out at Arecibo with an angular resolution of 3.3 arcmin, are reported. The velocity field of the H I distribution is analyzed, and tentative models of the overall mass distribution are proposed. The implications of the observations for the structure and evolution of the system are discussed.

Giovanelli, Riccardo↗
NASA NTRS1933

A study of factors affecting the steady spin of an airplane

Data from wind-tunnel tests on a model of the NY-1 airplane were used in a study of the effect on the steady spin of a number of factors considered to be important. The factors were of two classes, mass distribution effects and aerodynamic effects. The study indicated that mass extended along the longitudinal axis has no detrimental effect or is even slightly beneficial, mass extended along the lateral axis is detrimental if the airplane spins with the inner wing tip far down, and mass extended along the normal axis, if of considerable magnitude, has a strong favorable effect. The aerodynamic effects considered in terms of rolling, pitching, and yawing moments added to those for a conventional airplane showed that added stable rolling moment could contribute favorable effect on the spin only in decreasing the amount of inward sideslip required for equilibrium. Negative pitching moment of moderate magnitude has unfavorable effect on a high-angle-of-attack spin, and stable yawing moment has pronounced beneficial effect on the spin. Experimental data from various sources were available to verify nearly all the deductions resulting from the study of the curves. When these results were considered for the purpose of deciding upon the best means to be developed for controlling the spin, the yawing-moment equilibrium was found to offer the most promising field for research. The wing-cellule yawing moment, of which the shape of the chord-force curve is an approximate measure, should be made as small as possible in the unstable sense and the damping yawing moment of the tail should be made as large as possible. The most serious unfavorable effect on the damping yawing moment of the tail is the blanketing of the vertical surfaces by the other parts of the tail.

Scudder, Nathan F↗
NASA NTRS1996

Dust Coagulation in Protoplanetary Accretion Disks

The time evolution of dust particles in circumstellar disk-like structures around protostars and young stellar objects is discussed. In particular, we consider the coagulation of grains due to collisional aggregation. The coagulation of the particles is calculated by solving numerically the non-linear Smoluchowski equation. The different physical processes leading to relative velocities between the grains are investigated. The relative velocities may be induced by Brownian motion, turbulence and drift motion. Starting from different regimes which can be identified during the grain growth we also discuss the evolution of dust opacities. These opacities are important for both the derivation of the circumstellar dust mass from submillimeter/millimeter continuum observations and the dynamical behavior of the disks. We present results of our numerical studies of the coagulation of dust grains in a turbulent protoplanetary accretion disk described by a time-dependent one-dimensional (radial) alpha-model. For several periods and disk radii, mass distributions of coagulated grains have been calculated. From these mass spectra, we determined the corresponding Rosseland mean dust opacities. The influence of grain opacity changes due to dust coagulation on the dynamical evolution of a protostellar disk is considered. Significant changes in the thermal structure of the protoplanetary nebula are observed. A 'gap' in the accretion disk forms at the very frontier of the coagulation, i.e., behind the sublimation boundary in the region between 1 and 5 AU.

Schmitt, W.↗
NASA NTRS2020

Nuclear X-Ray Activity in Low-surface-brightness Galaxies: Prospects for Constraining the Local Black Hole Occupation Fraction with a Chandra Successor Mission

About half of nearby galaxies have a central surface brightness>1 mag below that of the sky. The overall properties of these low-surface-brightness galaxies(LSBGs)remain understudied, and in particular we know very little about their massive black hole population. This gap must be closed to determine the frequency of massive black holes at z=0 as well as to understand their role in regulating galaxy evolution. Here we investigate the incidence and intensity of nuclear, accretion-powered X-ray emission in a sample of 32 nearby LSBGs with the Chandra X-ray Observatory. A nuclear X-ray source is detected in four galaxies(12.5%). Based on an X-ray binary contamination assessment technique developed for normal galaxies, we conclude that the detected X-ray nuclei indicate low-level accretion from massive black holes. The active fraction is consistent with that expected from the stellar mass distribution of the LSBGs, but not their total baryonic mass, when using a scaling relation from an unbiased X-ray survey of normal galaxies. This suggests that their black holes co-evolved with their stellar population. In addition, the apparent agreement nearly doubles the number of galaxies available within∼100 Mpc for which a measurement of nuclear activity can efficiently constrain the frequency of black holes as a function of stellar mass. We conclude by discussing the feasibility of measuring this occupation fraction to a few percent precision below ≲ 10^10 M(ʘ) with high-resolution, wide-field X-ray missions currently under consideration.

Edmund J. Hodges-Kluck↗
NASA NTRS2012

Gamma-Ray Observations of the Orion Molecular Clouds with the Fermi Large Area Telescope

We report on the gamma-ray observations of giant molecular clouds Orion A and B with the Large Area Telescope (LAT) on board the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. The gamma-ray emission in the energy band between approx 100 MeV and approx 100 GeV is predicted to trace the gas mass distribution in the clouds through nuclear interactions between the Galactic cosmic rays (CRs) and interstellar gas. The gamma-ray production cross-section for the nuclear interaction is known to approx 10% precision which makes the LAT a powerful tool to measure the gas mass column density distribution of molecular clouds for a known CR intensity. We present here such distributions for Orion A and B, and correlate them with those of the velocity-integrated CO intensity (W(sub CO)) at a 1 deg 1 deg pixel level. The correlation is found to be linear over a W(sub CO) range of approx 10-fold when divided in three regions, suggesting penetration of nuclear CRs to most of the cloud volumes. The W(sub CO)-to-mass conversion factor, X(sub CO), is found to be approx 2.3 10(exp 20) / sq cm (K km/s)(exp -1) for the high-longitude part of Orion A (l > 212 deg), approx 1.7 times higher than approx 1.3 10(exp 20) found for the rest of Orion A and B. We interpret the apparent high X(sub CO) in the high-longitude region of Orion A in the light of recent works proposing a nonlinear relation between H2 and CO densities in the diffuse molecular gas.W(sub CO) decreases faster than the H2 column density in the region making the gas "darker" to W(sub CO).

Ackermann, M.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Abell 2069 - An X-ray cluster of galaxies with multiple subcondensations

X-ray and optical observations of the cluster Abell 2069 are presented. The cluster is at a mean redshift of 0.116. The cluster shows multiple condensations in both the X-ray emission and in the galaxy surface density and, thus, does not appear to be relaxed. There is a close correspondence between the gas and galaxy distributions which indicates that the galaxies in this system do map the mass distribution, contrary to what might be expected if low-mass neutrinos dominate the cluster mass.

Gioia, I. M.↗
NASA NTRS1987

An analytically soluble problem in fully nonlinear statistical gravitational lensing

The amplification probability distribution p(I)dI for a point source behind a random star field which acts as the deflector exhibits a I exp-3 behavior for large amplification, as can be shown from the universality of the lens equation near critical lines. In this paper it is shown that the amplitude of the I exp-3 tail can be derived exactly for arbitrary mass distribution of the stars, surface mass density of stars and smoothly distributed matter, and large-scale shear. This is then compared with the corresponding linear result.

Schneider, P.↗
NASA NTRS2020

Antarctic Meteorites: A Statistical Look at a Uniquely Valuable Resource

As of the end of the 2018-19 field season, the U.S. Antarctic meteorite program has surpassed 23,000 meteorites collected. The U.S. collection is valuable in that it is classified in its entirety. The systematic methods employed to collect the meteorites have provided meteorites of more than 40 types, many of which are the first of their type ever recognized. One of the early drivers for consistent and methodical characterization of the entire U.S. Antarctic collection was to allow statistical comparisons. Early statistical assessments of the U.S. Antarctic collection examined mass distributions and the relative frequency of meteorite types as well as comparisons to a defined set of modern falls. Using these statistics argued that the flux of H chondrites changed over time used model size distributions to deconstruct the contribution of wind movement, meteorite supply and search losses to the Antarctic collection. Mass-based statistics and size distribution comparisons were examined by investigated various aspects of the statistics, including comparison with modern falls/Saharan finds. Also discuss geospatial statistics provides a comprehensive overview of the statistics of the Antarctic collections for the first 35 seasons of U.S. collection by ANSMET. Here we build upon that assessment and that from.

Corrigan, C. M.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Antarctic Meteorites: A Statistical Look at a Uniquely Valuable Resource

As of the 2019-20 field season, the U.S. Antarctic meteorite program has collected >23,000 meteorites. The U.S. collection is valuable in that it is classified in its entirety. The systematic collection methods employed have pro-vided meteorites of >40 types, many of which are the first of their type ever recognized. One of the early drivers for characterization of the entire U.S. Antarctic collection was to allow statistical comparisons. Early statistical assessments examined mass distributions and the relative frequency of meteorite types as well as comparisons to a defined set of modern falls. Using these statistics some have argued that the flux of H chondrites changed over time. Harvey used model size distributions to deconstruct the contribution of wind movement, meteorite supply and search losses to the Antarctic collection. Mass-based statistics and size distribution comparisons were examined, including comparison with modern falls/Saharan finds. Focus has been on geospatial statistics, with a comprehensive overview of the statistics of the Antarctic collections provided from the first 35 seasons of U.S. collection by ANSMET, as well as more recent assessments.

Antarctic meteorite↗
NASA NTRS1995

Simulated Craters on Venus

The thick atmosphere of Venus prevents all but the largest impactors from cratering the surface. The number of small craters on Venus provides an interesting, and statistically significant test of models for the disruption and deceleration of impacting bodies. Here we compare Monte Carlo simulated crater distributions to the observed crater distribution on Venus. The simulation assumes: (1) a power law mass distribution for impactors of the form N(sub cum) alpha m (exp-b) where b=0.8; (2) isotropic incidence angles; (3) velocity at the top of the atmosphere of 20 kilometers per second (more realistic velocity distributions are also considered); (4) Schmidt-Housen crater scaling, modified such that only the normal component of the impact velocity contributes to cratering, and using crater slumping as parameterized (5) and modern populations (60% carbonaceous, 40% stone, 3% iron) and fluxes of asteroids. We use our previously developed model for the disruption and deceleration of large bodies striking thick planetary atmospheres to calculate the impact velocity at the surface as a function of impactor mass, incident velocity, and incident angle. We use a drag coefficient c(sub d) =1; other parameters are as described in Chyba et al. We set a low velocity cutoff of 500 meters per second on crater-forming impacts. Venus's craters are nicely matched by the simulated craters produced by 700 million years of striking asteroids. Shown for comparison are the simulated craters produced by incident comets over the same period, where for comets we have assumed b=0.7 and a flux at 10(exp 14) g 30% that of asteroids. Systematic uncertainties in crater scaling and crater slumping may make the surface age uncertain by a factor of two.

Zahnle, Kevin↗