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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
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NASA NTRS1990

Efficient star formation in the spiral arms of M51

The molecular, neutral, and ionized hydrogen distributions in the Sbc galaxy M51 (NGC 5194) are compared. To estimate H2 surface densities observations of the CO (J = 1 - 0) transition were made in 60 positions out to a radius of 155 arcsec. Extinction-corrected H-alpha intensities were used to compute the detailed massive star formation rates (MSFRs) in the disk. Estimates of the gas surface density, the MSFR, and the ratio of these quantities, MSFR/sigma(p), were then examined. The spiral arms were found to exhibit an excess gas density, measuring between 1.4 and 1.6 times the interarm values at 45 arcsec resolution. The total (arm and interarm) gas content and massive star formation rates in concentric annuli in the disk of M51 were computed. The two quantities fall off together with radius, yielding a relatively constant MSFR/sigma(p) with radius. This behavior is not explained by current models of star formation in galactic disks.

Lord, Steven D.↗
NASA NTRS2003

A Very Energetic Supernova Associated with the Gamma Ray Burst of 29 March 2003

Over the past five years evidence has mounted that long-duration (greater than 2s) gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), the most brilliant of all astronomical explosions, signal the collapse of massive stars in our Universe. This evidence, originally based on the probable association of one unusual GRB with a supernova, now includes the association of GRBs with regions of massive star-formation in distant galaxies, tantalizing evidence of supernova-like light-curve 'bumps' in the optical afterglows of several bursts, and lines of freshly synthesized elements in the spectra of a few X-ray afterglows. These observations support, but do not yet conclusively validate, models based upon the deaths of massive stars, presumably associated with core collapse. Here we report evidence for a very energetic supernova (a hypernova), temporally and spatially coincident with a GRB at redshift z=0.1685. The timing of the supernova indicates that it exploded within a few days of the GRB, strongly suggesting that core-collapse events can give rise to GRBs. Amongst the GRB central engine models proposed to-date, the properties of this supernova thus favour the collapsar model.

Hjorth, Jens↗
NASA NTRS2008

The Cosmic Odyssey of Dust

We will present models for the evolution of dust in high redshift galaxies and in galaxies in the local universe. Galaxies at very high redshift, when the universe was less than one billion years old, contain massive quantities of dust that could only have for~nedin the explosion of core-collapse supernovae. These same objects are also the main source of grain destruction during the later, remnant phase of their evolution. These galaxies offer therefore a unique opportunity for examining the effect of massive stars on the formation and destruction of interstellar dust, and the lecture will present a model for the evolution of dust in these very young galaxies. Spectral and photometric observations of nearby galaxies show a correlation between the strength of their mid-IR aromatic features, attributed to PAH molecules, and their metal abundance, leading to a deficiency of these features in low-metallicity galaxies. We show the observed correlation represents a trend of PAH abundance with galactic age, reflecting the delayed injection of carbon dust into the ISM by AGB stars in the final post-AGB phase of their evolution. We also show that larger dust particles giving rise to the far-IR emission follow a distinct evolutionary trend closely related to the injection of dust by massive stars into the ISM.

Dwek, Eli↗
NASA NTRS1994

Properties and evolution of the central stellar cluster

The implications of recent near-infrared imaging and spectroscopy of the Galactic center stellar cluster are discussed. The central parsec appears to be powered by a cluster of hot, massive stars of which the IRS 16 complex is the central core. In the 1 to 2 micrometer band, the brightest members of this cluster are 10 to 15 HeI/HI emission line stars that can be characterized as approximately 20000 K, helium rich, very luminous supergiants. The He-I/H-I stars can account for a major fraction of the total and Lyman continuum luminosity of the central parsec, but hotter, earlier type stars are probably required in addition to account for the He-continuum. The brightest cool stars in the central parsec are red supergiants, and asymptotic giant branch stars. Two scenarios for the evolution of the central stellar core are presented: one involves a small star formation burst years ago that was the result of substantial prior gas influx into the core. In this scenario the Galactic center is presently in a short-lived, post-main sequence 'wind phase'. The second scenario involves the buildup of massive stars by sequential merging of lower mass stars. The intense mass loss from the hot stars probably affects strongly the gas dynamics in the central 0.1 pc and may prevent gas to accelerate onto the possible central hole.

Genzel, R.↗
NASA NTRS2008

Heavy Elements and Cool Stars

We report on progress in the analysis of high-resolution near-IR spectra of alpha Orionis (M2 Iab) and other cool, luminous stars. Using synthetic spectrum techniques, we search for atomic absorption lines in the stellar spectra and evaluate the available line parameter data for use in our abundance analyses. Our study concentrates on the post iron-group elements copper through zirconium as a means of investigating the slow neutron-capture process of nucleosynthesis in massive stars and the mechanisms that transport recently processed material up into the photospheric region. We discuss problems with the atomic data and model atmospheres that need to be addressed before theoretically derived elemental abundances from pre-supernova nucleosynthesis calculations can be tested by comparison with abundances determined from observations of cool, massive stars.

Wahlgren, Glenn M.↗
NASA NTRS1987

A simple two-component model for the far-infrared emission from galaxies

A simple model was constructed to calculate the far-infrared emission of galaxies made up of a disk component containing cool dust heated by the general interstellar radiation field and of a molecular cloud component containing warm dust heated by recently formed massive stars. This model is fitted to the optical and far-infrared data of 120 Shapley-Ames galaxies and of 20 optically studied mini-survey galaxies, resulting in the determination of blue face-on extinctions and of the total luminosities of recently born massive stars and disk stars. The ratio of these two luminosities is a more reliable star formation activity index than the previously used ratio L sub IR/L sub B. The results show that infrared selected galaxies are on the average almost three times more dusty than optically selected ones. Only about 10% of the mini-survey galaxies exhibits strongly enhanced star formation.

Dejong, T.↗
NASA NTRS2013

X-ray Properties of the Young Open Clusters HM1 and IC 2944-2948

Using XMM-Newton data, we study for the first time the X-ray emission of HM1 and IC 2944/2948. Low-mass, pre-main-sequence objects with an age of a few Myr are detected, as well as a few background or foreground objects. Most massive stars in both clusters display the usual high-energy properties of that type of objects, though with log [L(sub X)/L(sub BOL)] apparently lower in HM1 than in IC2944/2948. Compared with studies of other clusters, it seems that a low signal-to-noise ratio at soft energies, due to the high extinction, may be the main cause of this difference. In HM1, the two Wolf-Rayet stars show contrasting behaviors:WR89 is extremely bright, but much softer than WR87. It remains to be seen whether wind-wind collisions or magnetically confined winds can explain these emissions. In IC 2944/2948, the X-ray sources concentrate around HD 101205; a group of massive stars to the north of this object is isolated, suggesting that there exist two subclusters in the field-of-view.

X-ray properties↗
NASA NTRS1995

The evolution of C/O in dwarf galaxies from Hubble Space Telescope FOS observations

We present UV observations of seven H II regions in low-luminosity dwarf irregular galaxies and the Magellanic Clouds obtained with the Faint Object Spectrograph (FOS) on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) in order to measure the C/O abundance ratio in the interstellar medium (ISM) of those galaxies. We measure both O III 1666 A and C III 1909 A in our spectra, enabling us to determine C(+2)/O(+2) with relatively small uncertainties. The results from our HST observations show a continuous increase in C/O with increasing O/H, consistent with a power law having an index of 0.43 +/- 0.09 over the range -4.7 to -3.6 in log (O/H). One possible interpretation of this trend is that the most metal-poor galaxies are the youngest and dominated by the products of early enrichment by massive stars, while more metal-rich galaxies show increasing, delayed contributions of carbon from intermediate-mass stars. Our results also suggest that it may not be appropiate to combine abundances in irregular galaxies with those in spiral galaxies to study the evolution of chemical abundances. Our measured C/O ratios in the most metal-poor galaxies are consistent with predictions of nucleosynthesis from massive stars for Weaver & Woosley's best estimate for the 12C(alpha, gamma) 16O nuclear reaction rate, assuming negligible contanmination from carbon produced in intermediate-mass stars in these galaxies. We detect a weak N III 1750 A multiplet in SMC N88A and obtain interesting upper limits for two other objects. Our 2 sigma uppr limits on the 1750 A feature indicate that the N(+2)/O(+2) ratios in these objects are not significantly larger than the N(+)/O(+) ratios measured from optical spectra. This behavior is consistent with predictions of photionization models, although better detections of N III are needed to confirm the results.

Garnett, D. R.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Interstellar extinction toward the Cas OB6 association: Where is the dust?

We have completed a multiband (ultraviolet, optical, and near-infrared) study of the interstellar extinction properties of nine massive stars in IC 1805 and IC 1848, which are both part of Cas OB6 in the Perseus spiral arm. Our analysis includes determination of absolute extinction over the wavelength range from 3 micrometers to 1250 A. We have attempted to distinguish between foreground dust and dust local to Cas OB6. This is done by quantitatively comparing extinction laws of the least reddened sightlines (sampling mostly foreground dust) versus the most reddened sightlines (sampling a larger fraction of the dust in the Cas OB6 region). We have combined previous investigations to better understand the evolution of the interstellar medium in this active star forming region. We found no variation of extinction curve behavior between moderately reddend and heavily reddened Cas OB6 stars. None of the curves show any significant deviation from the Cardelli-Clayton-Mathis (CCM) R(sub upsilon)-dependent extinction. They are all consistent with that seen from diffuse dust. Most or all of the dust along the line of sight may be foreground to Cas OB6. Massive star forming regions can show significant deviations from CCM behavior which have been attributed to processing of the dust grains. Any dust local to the association must exist far from the hot stars in IC 1805 and IC 1848. A previous episode of star formation may have already cleared out the region of most of the gas and dust. Evidence for this can be seen in H I and IRAS data of the region.

Hanson, Margaret Murray↗
NASA NTRS1984

Far-infrared observations of galactic nuclei

Measurements of far-infrared continuum emission from the central regions of 30 late-type galaxies, 24 of which were previously unreported, are given. Photometry covering wavelengths from 40 to 160 microns has been obtained, yielding information on luminosities, temperatures, and dust masses for most. Good correlations of the far-infrared luminosity with blue colors, reddening, and molecular line radiation are found, supporting the identification of the sources with the molecular cloud component in these galaxies, and strengthening the identification of the energy sources as the young massive stars formed from those clouds. Comparisons with 10-micron data indicate that such data are useful for statistical studies, but have too much scatter to use directly in the analysis of individual sources. Strong correlation with nonthermal radio continuum emission and radio-to-optical flux ratios suggest that massive star formation underlies a wide range of galactic activity.

Rickard, L. J.↗
NASA NTRS2006

Ejecta of Eta Carinae: What We Learn about N-Rich Chemistry

At least one member of the binary system, Eta Carinae, is in the late stages of CNO-cycle. At least ten solar masses of ejecta make up the Homunculus, a neutral bi-polar shell ejected in the 1840s and the Little Homunculus, an internal, ionized bi-polar shell ejected in the 1890s. HST/STIS and VLTAJVES high dispersion spectroscopy revealed absorptions of multiple elements and diatomic molecules in these shells, some, such as V II and Sr II have not been seen previously in the ISM. The skirt region between the bi-lobes includes the very bright Weigelt blobs, within 0.1 to 0.3" of the central source, and the more distant, unusual Strontium Filament, a neutral emission nebula photoexcited by Balmer continuum, but shielded by Fe II from Lyman radiation. The 600+ emission lines are due to metals usually tied up in dust, but underabundances of C and O prevent precipitation as oxides onto the dust grains. Indications are that Ti/Ni is 100X solar, likely due not to nuclear processing, but the very different photo-excitation environments coupled with N-rich, C-, O-poor chemistry. In the Homunculus, level populations of the molecules indicate 60K gas; the metal absorption lines, 760K; that of the Little Homunculus 6400K during the broad spectroscopic maximum, relaxing to 5000K for the few month long minimum. Lyman radiation, including both continuum and Lyman lines, is trapped across periastron. leading to temporary relaxation of the ejecta. These ejecta are a treasure trove of information on material thrown out of massive stars in the CNO-cycle, well before the helium burning phase. Curiously, spectra of three very recent SWIFT GRBs indicate the presence of warm, photoexcited ejecta in the vicinity of the protoGRBs, but obviously of very different abundances. However, the ejecta of Eta Carinae promise to be a nearby example of massive ejecta, the study of which should lead to increased insight of earlier, very distant massive stars.

Gull, Theodore↗
NASA NTRS2005

The locations of cosmic explosions

When massive stars exhaust their fuel they collapse and often produce the extraordinarily bright explosions known as core-collapse supernovae. Recently, it has become apparent that stellar collapse can power the even more brilliant relativistic explosions known as long-duration gamma-ray bursts. In some cases, a gamma-ray burst and a supernova have been observed from the same event. One would thus expect that gamma-ray bursts and supernovae should be found in similar environments. Here we show that this expectation is wrong. Using Hubble Space Telescope imaging of the host galaxies of long-duration gamma-ray bursts and core-collapse supernovae, we demonstrate that while the distribution of the supernovae in their hosts traces the blue light of young stars, the gamma-ray bursts are much more concentrated on the very brightest regions of their hosts. Furthermore, the host galaxies of the gamma-ray bursts are significantly fainter and more irregular than the hosts of the supernovae. Together these results suggest that long-duration gamma-ray bursts are associated with the very most massive stars and may be restricted to galaxies of limited chemical evolution. Our results directly imply that long-duration gamma-ray bursts are relatively rare in galaxies such as our own Milky Way.

Fruchter, A. S.↗
NASA NTRS1997

The Influence of the Photoionizing Radiation Spectrum on Metal-Line Ratios in Ly(alpha) Forest Clouds

Recent measurements of Si IV/C IV ratios in the high-redshift Ly(alpha) forest (Songaila & Cowie, AJ, 112, 335 (1996a); Savaglio et at., A&A (in press) (1997)) have opened a new window on chemical enrichment and the first generations of stars. However, the derivation of accurate Si/C abundances requires reliable ionization corrections, which are strongly dependent on the spectral shape of the metagalactic ionizing background and on the 'local effects' of hot stars in nearby galaxies. Recent models have assumed power-law quasar ionizing backgrounds plus a decrement at 4 Ryd to account for He II attenuation in intervening clouds. However, we show that realistic ionizing backgrounds based on cosmological radiative transfer models produce more complex ionizing spectra between 1-5 Ryd that are critical to interpreting ions of Si and C. We also make a preliminary investigation of the effects of He II ionization front nonoverlap. Because the attenuation and reemission by intervening clouds enhance Si IV relative to C the observed high Si IV/C IV ratios do not require an unrealistic Si overproduction (Si/C greater than or equal to 3 (Si/C)(solar mass)). If the ionizing spectrum is dominated by 'local effects' from massive stars, even larger Si IV/C IV ratios are possible. However, unless stellar radiation dominates quasars by more than a factor of 10, we confirm the evidence for some Si overproduction by massive stars; values Si/C approx. 2(Si/C)(solar mass) fit the measurements better than solar abundances. Ultimately, an adequate interpretation of the ratios of C IV, Si IV, and C II may require hot, collisionally ionized gas in a multiphase medium.

Giroux, Mark L.↗
NASA NTRS2018

Luminous Blue Variable Outbursts from the Variations of Helium Opacity

Luminous blue variables are evolved massive stars that exhibit poorly understood variability on timescales from months to years with significant mass loss rates. They typically reach an effective temperature of ≈ 9000K during outbursts. These variations and large mass loss rates are believed to be caused by the radiation force on the cooler, more opaque outer layers that can balance or even exceed the force of gravity, although the exact mechanisms for the outburst and variability are unknown and cannot be calculated in one dimension. Here we report three dimensional simulations of radiation-dominated massive stars, which show that helium opacity plays an important role for the outburst and setting the observed effective temperature ≈ 9000K. It also likely triggers the episodic mass loss at rates of 10(exp -7) – 10(exp -5)M(sub ⨀)/yr. The helium opacity peak only shows up in our three-dimensional simulations but not in one dimensional calculation because the envelope structures need to be determined self-consistently with convection. The simulations not only reproduce similar observed long time scale variabilities, but also predict that convection causes irregular envelope oscillations and 10-30% brightness variations on a typical timescale of a few days and reaches larger amplitudes for even cooler stars. These short time scale variabilities should be observed with future high cadence observations.

Helium opacities↗
NASA NTRS1993

On Al-26 and other short-lived interstellar radioactivity

Several authors have shown that massive stars exploding at a rate of about three per century can account for a large portion, if not all, of the observed interstellar Al-26. In a separate argument using models of Galactic chemical evolution, Clayton (1984) showed that the Al-26/Al-27 production ratio was not large enough to maintain enough Al-26 in the Galactic disk gas of about 10 exp 10 solar masses having solar composition. We present a resolution of those conflicting arguments. A past history of Galactic infall growing the Galactic disk so dilutes the stable Al-27 concentration that the two approaches can be brought into near agreement. If massive stars dominate the production of Al-26, we suggest that the apparent shortfall of their Al-26/Al-27 yield ratio is to be interpreted as evidence for significant growth of the Galactic disk. We also discuss the implications of these arguments for other extinct radioactivities in meteorites, using I-129 and Sm-146 as examples.

Clayton, Donald D.↗
NASA NTRS1995

The Tully-Fisher relation of the IRAS minisurvey galaxies

We investigated the possible influence on the Tully-Fisher relation of active massive star formation in IRAS galaxies, in order to estimate the contribution of star formation to their near-infrared luminosity. We observed 60 galaxies from the infrared complete so-called IRAS Minisurvey sample in the 21 cm H1 line at Arecibo, determined the near-infrared (H-band) Tully-Fisher relation for the 36 objects in the sample we judged to be usable for this purpose, and compared this relation with that of optically selected normal galaxies. The results show no significant enhancement of the near-infrared luminosities of the IRAS Minisurvey galaxies compared to those of the optically selected normal glaxies. From these results we inferred that in the minisurvey galaxies the average contribution of the active massive star formation to the total near-infrared luminosity is less and that exponential decay times for the starbursts occurring in the Minisurvey galaxies are of the order of 10 Myr. The Tully-Fisher relation shows one exceptional galaxy (IRAS 03565+2139) with an about 25 times higher luminosity than average for its rotational velocity.

Van Driel, W.↗
NASA NTRS2021

A Large Fraction of Hydrogen-rich Supernova Progenitors Experience Elevated Mass Loss Shortly Prior to Explosion

Spectroscopic detection of narrow emission lines traces the presence of circumstellar mass distributions around massive stars exploding as core-collapse supernovae. Transient emission lines disappearing shortly after the supernova explosion suggest that the material spatial extent is compact and implies an increased mass loss shortly prior to explosion. Here, we present a systematic survey for such transient emission lines (Flash Spectroscopy) among Type II supernovae detected in the first year of the Zwicky Transient Facility survey. We find that at least six out of ten events for which a spectrum was obtained within two days of the estimated explosion time show evidence for such transient flash lines. Our measured flash event fraction (>30% at 95% confidence level) indicates that elevated mass loss is a common process occurring in massive stars that are about to explode as supernovae.

Rachel J. Bruch↗
NASA NTRS2020

On the Maximum Stellar Rotation to Form a Black Hole without an Accompanying Luminous Transient

The collapse of a massive star with low angular momentum content is commonly argued to result in the formation of a black hole without an accompanying bright transient. Our goal in this Letter is to understand the flow in and around a newly-formed black hole, involving accretion and rotation, via general relativistic hydrodynamics simulations aimed at studying the conditions under which infalling material can accrete without forming a centrifugally supported structure and, as a result, generate no effective feedback. If the feedback from the black hole is, on the other hand, significant, the collapse would be halted and we suggest that the event is likely to be followed by a bright transient. We find that feedback is only efficient if the specific angular momentum of the infalling material at the innermost stable circular orbit exceeds that of geodesic circular flow at that radius by at least≈20%. We use the results of our simulations to constrain the maximal stellar rotation rates of the disappearing massive progenitors PHL293B-LBV and N6946-BH1, and to provide an estimate of the overall rate of disappearing massive stars. We find that about a few percent of single O-type stars with measured rotational velocities are expected to spin below the critical value before collapse and are thus predicted to vanish without a trace.

Scott C Noble↗