The Starlight formation-flying interferometer system architecture
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The Space Interferometry Mission, planned for launch in 2009, will measure the positions of celestial objects to an unprecedented accuracy of 4.0 microarcseconds.
Twenty-five long-period variable stars exhibiting intrinsic variable polarization have been monitored over the range 3.5-11 microns for several cycles. No conclusive evidence for gross changes in amount of circumstellar grains has been found. Thus circumstellar infrared emission is attributed to the total abundance of grains surrounding the star, which does not change by a large amount with time, while intrinsic polarization is attributed to more localized scattering and absorption effects. Spectrophotometry with resolution of about 0.015 over the 8-14 microns wavelength range of several stars with different chemical compositions indicates excess emission characteristic of 3 types of grains: (1) 'blackbody' grains, (2) silicate grains, and (3) silicon carbide grains.
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The photodesorption of molecules and atoms from the surfaces of interstellar grains can be an important source of heating for the interstellar medium and the origin of instabilities which may separate grains and gas. For low densities, the force exerted on the grains is proportional to the gas density and independent of the radiation intensity; for high densities, it is proportional to the radiative flux and independent of the gas density. This force may act differently on grains of different sizes. The photoelectric effect may also be an efficient mechanism for the separation of gas and dust in diffuse clouds.
The photodesorption of molecules and atoms from the surfaces of interstellar grains can be an important source of heating for the interstellar medium and the origin of instabilities which may separate grains and gas. For low densities, the force exerted on the grains is proportional to the gas density and independent of the radiation intensity; for high densities, it is proportional to the radiative flux and independent of the gas density. This force may act differently on grains of different sizes. The photoelectric effect may also be an efficient mechanism for the separation of gas and dust in diffuse clouds.
The possibility of the microwave background being produced by stars after the big bang is considered. The critical problem for this hypothesis is the source of the long-wavelength opacity for observed wavelengths greater than 10 cm. It is shown that free-free opacity cannot thermalize the background. Spherical dust grains also fail, but needle-shaped conducting grains can provide sufficient opacity to produce the observed spectrum with a metal abundance Z approximately equal to 10 to the -7th.
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Infrared maps and optical CCD images of NGC 6946, a nearly face-on spiral with evidence of active star formation, are presented. Consideration is given, at 1-3 kpc spatial scales, to the relationship of the infrared continuum to spiral and radial structure, tracers of the interstellar medium, and ionizing and nonionizing sources of stellar radiation. Two infrared components were revealed - one with surface brightnesses of 20-60 Jy per 45 arcsec aperture at 160 microns, and the other with a surface brightness of less than 20 Jy. Various continuum distributions show discrete sources coinciding with giant H II regions superposed on a smooth unresolved disk background which decreases exponentially with the radius. The optical and spectral properties of the nuclear source and the disk are described. Dust properties and heating conditions, and far-infrared emitting phases are discussed.
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This paper shows a complete model of the FIT pointing system.