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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 235 records · Page 13
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NASA NTRS1994

Multiwaveband study of a major X-ray outburst from the Be/X-ray transient system A 1118-616

The Be/X-ray binary system A 118-616 has been observed to undergo a major outburst in January 1992 by the Burst and Transient Source Experiment (BATSE) all-sky monitor on the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory. Ground-based optical and IR observations, supported by UV observations obtained under an IUE Target of Opportunity program, have provided us with an excellent multiwavelength study of this system to complement the X-ray data set. The results from this campaign are presented showing the details of the X-ray timing studies, the very strong H-alpha emission and the bright IR excess from the Be star's circumstellar disk (the fuel for the accretion process). Implications for the physics of the system are discussed.

Coe, M. J.↗
NASA NTRS1995

Nucleosynthesis and the nova outburst

A nova outburst is the consequence of the accretion of hydrogen rich material onto a white dwarf and it can be considered as the largest hydrogen bomb in the Universe. The fuel is supplied by a secondary star in a close binary system while the strong degeneracy of the massive white dwarf acts to contain the gas during the early stages of the explosion. The containment allows the temperature in the nuclear burning region to exceed 10(sup 8)K under all circumstances. As a result a major fraction of CNO nuclei in the envelope are transformed into (beta)(sup +)-unstable nuclei. We discuss the effects of these nuclei on the evolution. Recent observational studies have shown that there are two compositional classes of novae; one which occurs on carbon-oxygen white dwarfs, and a second class that occurs on oxygen-neon-magnesium white dwarfs. In this review we will concentrate on the latter explosions since they produce the most interesting nucleosynthesis. We report both on the results of new observational determinations of nova abundances and, in addition, new hydrodynamic calculations that examine the consequences of the accretion process on 1.0M(sub (circle dot)), 1.25M(sub (circle dot)), and 1.35M(sub (circle dot)) white dwarfs. Our results show that novae can produce (sup 22)Na, (sup 26)Al, and other intermediate mass nuclei in interesting amounts. We will present the results of new calculations, done with updated nuclear reaction rates and opacities, which exhibit quantitative differences with respect to published work.

Starrfield, S.↗
NASA NTRS1997

Broadband High-Energy Observations of the Superluminal Jet Source GRO J1655-40 During an Outburst

The X-ray/radio transient superluminal jet source GRO J1655-40 was recently suggested to contain a black hole from optical observations. Because it is a relatively close-by system (d approximately 3.2 kpc), it can likely provide us with rich information about the physics operating in both Galactic and extragalactic jet sources. We present the first simultaneous broadband high-energy observations of GRO J1655-40 during the 1995 July-August outburst by three instruments: ASCA, WATCH/Granat, and BATSE/CGRO, in the energy band from 1 keV to 2 MeV. Our observations strengthen the interpretation that GRO J1655-40 contains a black hole. We detected a two-component energy spectrum, commonly seen from other Galactic black hole binaries, but never detected from a neutron star system. Combining our results with the mass limits derived from optical radial velocity and orbital period measurements, we further constrain the mass of the central object to be between 3.3 and 5.8 solar mass, above the well-established mass upper limit of 3.2 solar mass for a neutron star (the optical mass function for GRO J1655-40 is 3.16 + 0.2 solar mass). This system is therefore the first Galactic superluminal jet source for which there is strong evidence that the system contains a stellar mass black hole. The inclination angle of the binary system is constrained to be between 76 deg and 87 deg, consistent with estimates obtained from optical light curves and radio jet kinematics.

Zhang, S. N.↗
NASA NTRS1997

ISOPHOT and SWS spectra of classical novae in outburst

The rationale for making photometric and spectroscopic observations of classical novae using the Infrared Space Observatory (ISO) is reviewed. Special attention is given to the coronal phase in ONeMg novae. The abundances of CNO, Ne, Mg, Al and Si were obtained from ISO's short wavelength spectrometer (SWS) data. The presence of forbidden line and dust emissions after the outburst were investigated with ISO photometer (ISOPHOT) photometry from 5 micrometers to 200 micrometers.

Gehrz, Robert D.↗
NASA NTRS1998

Radio and X-Ray Observations of the 1998 Outburst of the Recurrent X-Ray Transient 4U 1630-47

We report radio (VLA and ATCA), soft X-ray (RXTE ASM), and hard X-ray (CGRO BATSE) observations of a 1998 outburst in the recurring X-ray transient 4U 1630-47 where radio emission was detected for the first time. The radio observations identify the position of 4U 1630-47 to within 1". Because the radio emission is optically thin with a spectral index of approximately -0.6 during the rise and approximately -1 during the peak and decay of the initial radio event, the emission is probably coming from an optically thin radio jet ejected over a period of time. The 20-100 keV emission first appeared 1998 January 28 (MJD 50841), the 2-12 keV emission first appeared February 3 (MJD 50847), and the first radio emission was detected February 12.6 (MJD 50856.6). The rise of the radio emission probably began about February 7 (MJD 50851) when the X-rays were in a very hard, fluctuating hardness state, just before changing to a softer, more stable hardness state.

Hjellming, R. M.↗
NASA NTRS1998

Observations of a Major Outburst of BL Lacertae in the Active Galactic Nuclei Monitoring Program in the Center for Automated Space Science

BL Lacertae (BL Lac) is the prototype for a class of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) known as BL Lac objects. These objects are characterized by a featureless optical continuum that is both highly polarized and extremely variable. Historically, this object is known to have an optical variability range of 5 magnitudes (Webb, et al., 1987, Carini, et al. 1992) and exhibits episodic periods in which the source is observed to be bright (V = 12.0) and other periods when the source is observed to be quite faint (V = 16.5). In May, 1997, we found, in the course of our routine monitoring of these objects, that BL Lac was in an elevated state, with a V magnitude peaking near V = 12.5. The purpose of this paper is to report on our observations of the behavior of the optical continuum flux of BL Lac during this major outburst.

Carini, M. T.↗
NASA NTRS1999

Does Turbulence in the Iron Convection Zone Cause the Massive Outbursts of Eta Carinae?

Taken at face value, the observed properties of the central object in Eta-Car suggest a very massive, hot main-sequence star, only slightly evolved. If this is so, the star's extraordinarily high steady rate of mass loss must dynamically perturb its outer envelope down to the iron convection zone, where the kinetic energy associated with turbulent convection can be directly fed into mass ejection. Runaway mass loss, triggered by either internal (pulsational, rotational) or external (tidal) forcing, would produce a secular oscillation of the outer envelope. In either case, the oscillation is potentially able to account for the observed approximately 5 yr cycles of visual outbursts in Eta-Car, including the giant eruption of 1843.

Stothers, Richard B.↗
NASA NTRS2001

Discovery of Weak EXO 2030+375 Outbursts with BATSE

EXO 2030+375 is a 42-second X-ray pulsar orbiting a Be star every 46 days. Previous work using epoch-folded frequency searches over one-day intervals of BATSE data indicated that EXO 2030+375 underwent a 2.5 year period of quiescence from 1993 Sept-1996 March. Improvements in the search method that reduced systematic errors due to aperiodic noise from the nearby black hole candidate Cyg X-1 and sources undergoing Earth occultation, have allowed longer time intervals to be searched, hence increasing BATSE's sensitivity. Using the improved method with four-day intervals, we detect EXO 2030+375 near most of its periastron passages during 1993 Sept-1996 March for most periastron passages during BATSE's nine years in orbit. Earth occultation measurements in the 20-100 keV band, selected with Cyg X-1 was below the Earth's horizon and epoch-folded at EXO 2030+375's orbital period of 46 days also indicate that EXO 2030+375 was active for most of the mission. We will present histories of EXO 2030+375's pulse frequency, pulse flux, and total flux. In addition, we will present results of pulse timing analyses and evidence that EXO 2030+375's outbursts shift in orbital phase.

Wilson, Colleen A.↗
NASA NTRS2001

Discovery of Weak EXO 2030+375 Outbursts With BATSE

EXO 2030+375 is a 42-second X-ray pulsar orbiting a Be star every 46 days. Previous work using epoch-folded frequency searches over 1-day intervals of BATSE data [1] indicated that EXO 2030+375 underwent a 2.5 year period of quiescence from 1993 September-1996 March. Improvements in the search method that reduced systematic errors due to (1) aperiodic noise from the nearby black hole candidate Cyg X-1 and (2) sources undergoing Earth occultation, have allowed longer time intervals to be searched, hence increasing BATSE's sensitivity. Using the improved method with 4-day intervals, we detect EXO 2030+375 near most of its periastron passages during 1993 September-1996 March and for most periastron passages during BATSE's 9 years in orbit. Earth occultation measurements in the 20-100 keV band, selected when Cyg X-1 was below the Earth's horizon and epoch-folded at EXO 2030+375's orbital period of 46 days, also indicate that EXO 2030+375 was active for most of the mission. We will present histories of EXO 2030+375's pulse frequency and pulsed flux. In addition, we will present results of a pulse timing analysis and evidence that EXO 2030+375's outbursts shift in orbital phase.

Wilson, Colleen A.↗
NASA NTRS2002

The Evolution of Disks and Winds in Dwarf Nova Outbursts - FUSE

This project was a project to study the FUV spectra of two proto-typical dwarf novae, U Gem and SS Cygni, through an outburst cycle. The luminosity of the boundary layer in the two systems, as evidenced by earlier EUVE observations, is different in the two systems. Our intensive study of the two systems was intended to (1) probe the ionization and kinematic structure of the wind as a function of system brightness, (2) isolate the contributions of the disk to the FUV spectra, and (3) examine physical conditions and abundances of material just being accreted onto the disk from the secondary. The U Gem and SS Cyg observations took place in March and October 2000, respectively. The data obtained with FUSE was of excellent quality. Analysis of the both observations is now essentially complete, although some modeling of the SS Cyg spectra is ongoing, as we complete an ApJ manuscript on this object. Our main results for U Gem are as follows: The plateau spectra have continuum shapes and fluxes that are approximated by steady state accretion disk model spectra with an accretion rate 7x10(exp 9) Msolar/yr. The spectra also show numerous absorption lines of H I, He II, and 2-5 times ionized transitions of C, N, O, P, S, and Si. There are no emission features in the spectra, with the possible exception of a weak feature on the red wing of the 0 VI doublet. The absorption lines are narrow (FWHM approx. 50 km/s), too narrow to arise from the disk photosphere, and at low velocities (less than or equal to 700 km/s). The S VI and O VI doublets are optically thick. The absorption lines in the plateau spectra show orbital variability: in spectra obtained at orbital phases between 0.53 and 0.79, low-ionization absorption lines appear and the central depths of the preexisting lines increase. The increase in line absorption occurs at the same orbital phases as previously observed EUV and X-ray light-curve dips. If the absorbing material is in (near-) Keplerian rotation around the disk, it must be located at large disk radii. The final observation occurred when U Gem was about 2 mag from optical quiescence. The spectra are dominated by emission from an approx. 43,000 K, metal-enriched white dwarf (WD). The inferred radius of the WD is 4.95x10(exp 8) cm, close to that observed in quiescence. Allowing for a hot heated region on the surface of the WD improves the fit to the spectrum at short (less than 960 A) wavelengths. Our main results for SS Cyg are as follows: The first two of four observations of SS Cyg show disk dominated spectra with accretion rates of order 10(exp -8) Msolar/yr. Except for narrow interstellar features (atomic and molecular H), the lines are all broad consistent with a disk or wind origin. The O VI line in the spectra is mostly of wind origin as detailed modeling with our Monte Carlo code (developed in part using funds from this project) show. The continua from spectra in observations 3 and 4, observed during the decline phase, are not well fit with steady-state disks, and show considerable resemblance to quiescent spectra obtained with HUT. The most probable interpretation for the emission features seen in the spectrum in the last two observations is that they arise from a photo-illuminated choronosphere above the disk, rather than a wind.

Long, Knox↗
NASA NTRS2003

A Synoptic Study Of An X-Ray Nova In Outburst (ADP 2000)

This grant is in support of an RXTE target-of-opportunity program (PI: J. McClintock) to study bright, black-hole X-ray novae. We request a second, one-year no-cost extension in order to (1) complete the study of X-ray nova 4U1543-47, which went into outburst on 2002 June 17, and (2) provide support during this work for Harvard graduate student Shinae Park who joined our team on 2003 February 10.

McClintock, Jeffrey E.↗
NASA NTRS2000

Does the Inner Disk Boundary of a Black Hole X-Ray Binary move During an Outburst?

Comptonization in the corona of an X-ray binary may reduce significantly the flux in the observed soft component of its X-ray spectrum. There fore the apparent inner disk radius inferred from the observed soft component may change in accordance to the fraction of the disk emission scattered into the hard component. We have developed a simple numerical model for carrying out the radiative transfer correction, in order to determine the original disk emission before the Comptonization in the hot corona. Applying this model to the extensive monitoring data of several black hole X-ray binaries with RXTE, we have found that most of the previous 1 y reported inner disk radius variations may be explained as due to this radiative transfer effect in the corona. We thus conclude that there is currently no evidence for significant inner disk boundary movement during the outbursts of these black hole X-ray binaries we have studied with the RXTE data.: GROJ1655-40, XTEJ1550-564, XTEJ1748-288 and XTEJ2012+381.

Zhang, S. N.↗
NASA NTRS2004

Meteor Outbursts and Storms from the Spacecraft Hazard Perspective

The recent Leonid meteor storms have propelled meteor shower forecasting from an idea into the realm of practical application, invoked several times per year by numerous spacecraft. This paper will describe shower activity predictions, which give zenith hourly rate (ZHR) as a function of time, and how these are translated into spacecraft risks. Common spacecraft meteor shower mitigation strategies will also be discussed, and the important issue as to when to implement such operations considered. It should be noted that, while the recent meteor storms did not result in the loss of a vehicle, there were a few spacecraft anomalies attributed to Leonid strikes, and the nature of these will be commented upon. Finally, we assess the current state of the art in shower forecasting, and take a look "down the road" at some possible outbursts in the near future.

Cooke, William↗
NASA NTRS2004

High Resolution Spectroscopy of AGN in Outburst: The Gaseous Nuclear Environment and the WIGM

This grant is associated to a successful XMM-A02 proposal to observe blazars in outburst states, to X-ray the intergalactic medium, searching for intervening ionized absorption. The observation was triggered on August 31 2003, on the blazar 1H 0414+009 (2=0.287), when the target was showing a level of activity of about 20 mCrab in the total XTE-ASM band. The observation was performed 1 day later (on September 1, 2003) and lasted for 79 ks (79 % of the requested time). Unfortunately, assuming that the XTE-ASM notification was real, the target had recovered his quiescent level of approx. 0.35 mCrab, when the XMM RGS observed it. This, combined with the lower-than-requested exposure, produced an XMM-RGS spectrum containing only - 40 counts per resolution element in the 24.1 less than lambda(A) less than 30 range, insufficient to detect even the strongest predicted lines from the OVII WHIM. However, we do detect the Local Group WHIM OVII system in the spectrum of this blazar.

Mushotzky, Richard↗
NASA NTRS2006

Fourier resolved spectroscopy of 4U 1543-47 during the 2002 outburst

We have obtained Fourier-resolved spectra of the black-hole binary 4U 1543-47 in the canonical states (high/soft, very high, intermediate and low/hard) observed in this source during the decay of an outburst that took place in 2002. Our objective is to investigate the variability of the spectral components generally used to describe the energy spectra of black-hole systems, namely a disk component, a power-law component attributed to Comptonization by a hot corona and the contribution of the iron line due to reprocessing of the high energy (E greater than or approx, equal to 7 keV) radiation. We find that i) the disk component is not variable on time scales shorter than approx. 100 seconds, ii) the reprocessing emission as manifest by the variability of the Fe K(alpha) line responds to the primary radiation variations down to time scales of approx. 70 ms in the high and very-high states, but longer than 2 s in the low state, iii) the low-frequency QPOs are associated with variations of the X-ray power law spectral component and not to the disk component and iv) the spectra corresponding to the highest Fourier frequency are the hardest (show the flatter spectra) at a given spectral state. These results questions the models that explain the observed power spectra as due to modulations of the accretion rate only.

Reig, P.↗
NASA NTRS2006

The Galactic Black Hole Transient H1743-322 During Outburst Decay Connections Between Timing Noise, State Transitions, And Radio Emission

Multiwavelength observations of Galactic black hole transients during outburst decay are instrumental for our understanding of the accretion geometry and the formation of outflows around black hole systems. H1743-322, a black hole transient observed intensely in X-rays and also covered in the radio band during its 2003 decay, provides clues about the changes in accretion geometry during state transitions and also the general properties of X-ray emission during the intermediate and low-hard states. In this work, we report on the evolution of spectral and temporal properties in X-rays and the flux in the radio band, with the goal of understanding the nature of state transitions observed in this source. We concentrate on the transition from the thermal dominant state to the intermediate state that occurs on a timescale of 1 day. We show that the state transition is associated with a sudden increase in power-law flux. We determine that the ratio of the power-law flux to the overall flux in the 3-25 keV band must exceed 0.6 for us to observe strong timing noise. Even after the state transition, once this ratio was below 0.6, the system transited back to the thermal dominant state for 1 day. We show that the emission from the compact radio core does not turn on during the transition from the thermal dominant state to the intermediate state but does turn on when the source reaches the low-hard state, as seen in 4U 1543-47 and GX 339-4. We find that the photon index correlates strongly with the QPO frequency and anticorrelates with the rms amplitude of variability. We also show that the variability is more likely to be associated with the power-law emission than the disk emission.

Kalemci, E.↗
NASA NTRS2007

The Discovery Outburst of the X-Ray Transient IGR J17497-2821 Observed with RXTE and ATCA

We report the results of a series of RXTE and ATCA observations of the recently discovered X-ray transient IGR J17497-2821. Our 3-200 keV PCA+HEXTE spectral analysis shows very little variations over a period of approx.10 days around the maximum of the outburst. IGR J17497-2821 is found in a typical low-hard state (LHS) of X-ray binaries (XRBs), well represented by an absorbed Comptonized spectrum with an iron edge at about 7 keV. The high value of the absorption (approx.4 x 10(exp 22/sq cm suggests that the source is located at a large distance, either close to the Galactic center or beyond. The timing analysis shows no particular features, while the shape of the power density spectra is also typical of the LHS of XRBs, with apprrox.36% rms variability. No radio counterpart is found down to a limit of 0.21 mJy at 4.80 and 8.64 GHz. Although the position of IGR J17497-2821 in the radio to X-ray flux diagram is well below the correlation usually observed in the LHS of black holes, the comparison of its X-ray properties with those of other sources leads us to suggest that it is a black hole candidate.

Rodriquez, Jerome↗