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NASA NTRS1980

An investigation of previously derived Hyades, Coma, and M67 reddenings

New Hyades polarimetry and field star photometry were obtained to check the Hyades reddening, which was found to be nonzero in a previous study (Taylor, 1978). The new Hyades polarimetry implies essentially zero reddening. Four photometric techniques which are assumed to be insensitive to blanketing are used to compare the Hyades to nearby field stars and are found to yield essentially zero reddening. A simultaneous solution for the Hyades, Coma, and M67 reddenings is made, and the results are E(B-V) = 3 plus or minus 2(sigma) mmag, -1 plus or minus 3(sigma) mmag, and 46 plus or minus 6(sigma) mmag, respectively.

Taylor, B. J.↗

NASA NTRS1981

Introductory remarks: Photometry section

The principal goals of photometry and polarimetry are summarized. These goals include studies of the emission features of gaseous species of comets, the wavelength depenence of albedo, the phase function of scatter distribution, and time variation of rotation. Recent advances in photometric techniques were reviewed and include: use of proper filters, extension to the shortest and longest wavelengths, higher spectral resolving power, and polarizaton techniques.

Ahearn, M. F.↗

NASA NTRS1981

Detection of a temperature deficit in magnetic faculae at the solar photosphere

A photometric technique is presented which allows the observation of faculae across the entire solar disk. A clean continuum was used and granular noise was reduced by subtracting simultaneous spectroheliograms taken at widely separated points of the photospheric radiation curve. Spectroheliographic observations taken from March 12-14, 1980, using two color-scans in the green at gamma 4980.96 and gamma 5256.31 in the fourth order resulted in observation of clean continua in the red at gamma 6641.85 and gamma 7008.8 in another slot of the magnetograph. Approximately 20 raster scans were obtained and indications were found that dark magnetic facular structures in the Delta signal were cooler than the photosphere at equal optical continuum depths

Foukal, P.↗

NASA NTRS1984

Discovery of the first carbon star in NGC 6822

A new photometric technique has been developed for detecting carbon and M stars in distant stellar systems, leading to isolation of carbon-star candidates in a number of Local-Group galaxies. One of the brighter candidates in NGC 6822 has been confirmed spectroscopically; at a distance of approximately 0.5 Mpc, it is the first truly extragalactic carbon star to be positively identified. The star has M(I) = about -5.7 mag, placing it near the upper-luminosity end of known carbon stars in the Magellanic Clouds.

Aaronson, M.↗

NASA NTRS1990

Outer planets; Proceedings of Symposium 4 and the Topical Meeting of the 27th COSPAR Plenary Meeting, Espoo, Finland, July 18-29, 1988

Various papers on the magnetospheres, atmospheres, satellites, and rings of the outer planets are presented. Individual topics addressed include: thermal plasma in outer planet magnetospheres, neutral gas-plasma interaction in the Io plasma torus, satellite-plasma interactions, comparison of planetary magnetic fields, energization process of trapped particles in outer planets, remote sensing of planetary plasma, comparison of the deep atmospheres of the giant planets, seasonal thermal structure of giant planet atmospheres, CCD imaging of Neptune at methane-band wavelengths, physical parameters for the Uranus atmosphere, Uranus photochemistry, Uranus electroglow production, vibrationally excited H2 in Saturn's upper atmosphere, Titan, origin of outer planet satellite systems, microphysical modeling of Titan's aerosols, tectonics of icy satellites, geological evolution of Ganymede, photometric techniques for atmosphereless solar system bodies, the new rings, narrow rings, and time variability of the Jovian system.

Johnson, T. V.↗

NASA NTRS1993

Multi-filter spectrophotometry of quasar environments

A many-filter photometric technique for determining redshifts and morphological types, by fitting spectral templates to spectral energy distributions, has good potential for application in surveys. Despite success in studies performed on simulated data, the results have not been fully reliable when applied to real, low signal-to-noise data. We are investigating techniques to improve the fitting process.

Craven, Sally E.↗

NASA NTRS1993

Seeing ghosts - Photometry of Saturn's G Ring

Saturn's faint and narrow G Ring is only visible to the eye in two Voyager images, each taken at a rather high solar phase angle of about 160 deg. In this paper we introduce a new photometric technique for averaging across multiple Voyager images, and use it to detect the G Ring at several additional viewing geometries. The resultant phase curve suggests that the G Ring is composed of dust particles obeying a very steep power-law size distribution. The dust is generally smaller than that seen in other rings, ranging down to 0.03 micron. The G Ring occupies the region between orbital radii 166,000 and 173,000 km, and has a peak somewhat closer to the inner edge. Based on these limits, we demonstrate that Voyager 2 passed through and directly sampled this ring during its 1981 encounter with Saturn. Combined analysis of additional data sets suggests that a population of larger bodies is also present in the G Ring; these bodies occupy a narrower band near the observed peak and are likely the source for the visible dust. Based on some preliminary dynamical models, we propose that these larger bodies represent leftover debris from the collisional breakup of a small moon in Saturn's distant past.

Showalter, Mark R.↗

NASA NTRS2000

WFPC2 Stellar Photometry with HSTphot

HSTphot, a photometry package designed to handle the undersampled PSFs found in WFPC2 images, is introduced and described, as well as some of the considerations that have to be made in order to obtain accurate PSF-fitting stellar photometry with WFPC2 data. Tests of HSTphot's internal reliability are made using multiple observations of the same field, and tests of external reliability are made by comparing with DoPHOT reductions of the same data. Subject headz'ngs: techniques: photometric

Dolphin, Andrew E.↗

NASA NTRS2005

Lower Thermospheric Composition Studies in the Auroral Zone

This TIMED/CEDAR grant had two major objectives. The GUVI instrument on TIMED should routinely produces maps of the flux of energetic particles and their average energy. However, while those data will be available soon there were no plans to routinely produce the O/N2 ratio in the auroral. Ground-based photometric techniques have been available for years which routinely measure all three quantities in the auroral zone. The first objective of the previous proposal was to use these ground-based techniques to provide some validation for the routine measure of average energy. The second objective was to use the ground-based to data to validate GUVI algorithms for the measure of O/N2 in the auroral zone. We have made some progress to these goals while we await the release of the properly precessed GUVI data. For now these objectives are being addressed by making use of algorithms by one of us (Doug Strickland of CPI) that are being used for specific GUVI level 1B data sets that contain data coincident with the groundbased measurements. Also we have collected ground-based data from two Alaska sites and they are available on our web site and on the CEDAR website. The details of the progress we have made are discussed.

Hecht, James↗

NASA NTRS2006

Image-Subtraction Photometry of Variable Stars in the Globular Clusters NGC 6388 and NGC 6441

We have applied Alard's image subtraction method (ISIS v2.1) to the observations of the globular clusters NGC 6388 and NGC 6441 previously analyzed using standard photometric techniques (DAOPHOT, ALLFRAME). In this reanalysis of observations obtained at CTIO, besides recovering the variables previously detected on the basis of our ground-based images, we have also been able to recover most of the RR Lyrae variables previously detected only in the analysis of Hubble Space Telescope WFPC2 observations of the inner region of NGC 6441. In addition, we report five possible new variables not found in the analysis of the EST observations of NGC 6441. This dramatically illustrates the capabilities of image subtraction techniques applied to ground-based data to recover variables in extremely crowded fields. We have also detected twelve new variables and six possible variables in NGC 6388 not found in our previous groundbased studies. Revised mean periods for RRab stars in NGC 6388 and NGC 6441 are 0.676 day and 0.756 day, respectively. These values are among the largest known for any galactic globular cluster. Additional probable type II Cepheids were identified in NGC 6388, confirming its status as a metal-rich globular cluster rich in Cepheids.

Corwin, Michael T.↗

NASA NTRS2010

Detection of Planetary Emission from the Exoplanet TrES-2 Using Spitzer/IRAC

We present here the results of our observations of TrES-2 using the Infrared Array Camera on Spitzer. We monitored this transiting system during two secondary eclipses, when the planetary emission is blocked by the star. The resulting decrease in flux is 0.127% +/- 0.021%, 0.230% +/- 0.024%, 0.199% +/- 0.054%, and 0.359% +/- 0.060% at 3.6 microns, 4.5 microns, 5.8 microns, and 8.0 microns, respectively. We show that three of these flux contrasts are well fit by a blackbody spectrum with T(sub eff) = 1500 K, as well as by a more detailed model spectrum of a planetary atmosphere. The observed planet-to-star flux ratios in all four lRAC channels can be explained by models with and without a thermal inversion in the atmosphere of TrES-2, although with different atmospheric chemistry. Based on the assumption of thermochemical equilibrium, the chemical composition of the inversion model seems more plausible, making it a more favorable scenario. TrES-2 also falls in the category of highly irradiated planets which have been theoretically predicted to exhibit thermal inversions. However, more observations at infrared and visible wavelengths would be needed to confirm a thermal inversion in this system. Furthermore, we find that the times of the secondary eclipses are consistent with previously published times of transit and the expectation from a circular orbit. This implies that TrES-2 most likely has a circular orbit, and thus does not obtain additional thermal energy from tidal dissipation of a non-zero orbital eccentricity, a proposed explanation for the large radius of this planet. Key words: eclipses - infrared: stars - planetary systems - stars: individual (OSC 03549-02811) - techniques: photometric

Donovan, Francis T.↗

NASA NTRS2014

The Flux of Large Meteoroids Observed with Lunar Impact Monitoring

The flux of large meteoroids is not well determined due to relatively low number statistics, due mainly to the lack of collecting area available to meteor camera systems (10(2)-10(5) km2). Larger collecting areas are needed to provide reasonable statistics for flux calculations. The Moon, with millions of square kilometers of lunar surface, can be used as a detector for observing the population of large meteoroids in the tens of grams to kilogram mass range. This is accomplished by observing the flash of light produced when a meteoroid impacts the lunar surface, converting a portion of its kinetic energy to visible light detectable from Earth. A routine monitoring program at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center has recorded over 300 impact flashes since early 2006. The program utilizes multiple 0.35 m (14 inch) Schmidt-Cassegrain telescopes, outfitted with video cameras using the 1/2 inch Sony EXview HAD CCDTM chip, to perform simultaneous observations of the earthshine hemisphere of the Moon when the lunar phase is between 0.1 and 0.5. This optical arrangement permits monitoring of approximately 3.8x10(6) km2 of lunar surface. A selection of 126 flashes recorded in 266.88 hours of photometric skies was analyzed, creating the largest and most homogeneous dataset of lunar impact flashes to date. Standard CCD photometric techniques outlined in [1] were applied to the video to determine the luminous energy, kinetic energy, and mass for each impactor, considering a range of luminous efficiencies. The flux to a limiting energy of 2.5x10(-6) kT TNT or 1.05×10(7) J is 1.03×10(-7) km(-2) hr(-1) and the flux to a limiting mass of 30 g is 6.14×10(-10) m(-2) yr(-1). Comparisons made with measurements and models of the meteoroid population indicate that the flux of objects in this size range is slightly lower (but within the error bars) than the power law distribution determined for the near Earth object population by [2].

Cooke, W. J.↗

NASA NTRS2014

Large Meteoroid Impact on the Moon on 17 March 2013

Since early 2006, NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center has observed over 300 impact flashes on the Moon, produced by meteoroids striking the lunar surface. On 17 March 2013 at 03:50:54.312 UTC, the brightest flash of an 8-year routine observing campaign was observed in two 0.35 m telescopes outfitted with Watec 902H2 Ultimate monochrome CCD cameras recording interleaved 30 fps video. Standard CCD photometric techniques, described in [1], were applied to the video after saturation correction, yielding a peak R magnitude of 3.0 +/- 0.4 in a 1/30 second video exposure. This corresponds to a luminous energy of 7.1 × 10(exp 6) J. Geographic Information System (GIS) tools were used to georeference the lunar impact imagery and yielded a crater location at 20.60 +/- 0.17deg N, 23.92 +/- 0.30deg W. The camera onboard the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), a NASA spacecraft mapping the Moon from lunar orbit, discovered the fresh crater associated with this impact by comparing post-impact images from 28 July 2013 to pre-impact images on 12 Feb 2012. The images show fresh, bright ejecta around an 18 m diameter circular crater, with a 15 m inner diameter measured from the level of pre-existing terrain, at 20.7135deg N, 24.3302deg W. An asymmetrical ray pattern with both high and low reflectance ejecta zones extends 1-2 km beyond the crater, and a series of mostly low reflectance splotches can be seen within 30 km of the crater - likely due to secondary impacts [2]. The meteoroid impactor responsible for this event may have been part of a stream of large particles encountered by the Earth/Moon associated with the Virginid Meteor Complex, as evidenced by a cluster of 5 fireballs seen in Earth's atmosphere on the same night by the NASA All Sky Fireball Network [3] and the Southern Ontario Meteor Network [4]. Assuming a velocity-dependent luminous efficiency (ratio of luminous energy to kinetic energy) from [5] and an impact velocity of 25.6 km/s derived from fireball measurements, the impactor kinetic energy was 5.4 × 10(exp 9) J and the impactor mass was 16 kg. Assuming an impact angle of 56deg from horizontal (based on fireball orbit measurements), a regolith density of 1500 kg/m(exp 3), and impactor density between 1800 and 3000 kg/m(exp 3), the impact crater diameter was estimated to be 8-18 m at the pre-impact surface and 10-23 m rim-to-rim using the Holsapple [6] and Gault [7] models, a result consistent with the observed crater.

Moser, Danielle E.↗

NASA NTRS2013

Hubble Tarantula Treasury Project: Unraveling Tarantula's Web. I. Observational Overview and First Results

The Hubble Tarantula Treasury Project (HTTP) is an ongoing panchromatic imaging survey of stellar populations in the Tarantula Nebula in the Large Magellanic Cloud that reaches into the sub-solar mass regime (<0.5 Stellar Mass). HTTP utilizes the capability of the Hubble Space Telescope to operate the Advanced Camera for Surveys and the Wide Field Camera 3 in parallel to study this remarkable region in the near-ultraviolet, optical, and near-infrared spectral regions, including narrow-band H(alpha) images. The combination of all these bands provides a unique multi-band view. The resulting maps of the stellar content of the Tarantula Nebula within its main body provide the basis for investigations of star formation in an environment resembling the extreme conditions found in starburst galaxies and in the early universe. Access to detailed properties of individual stars allows us to begin to reconstruct the temporal and spatial evolution of the stellar skeleton of the Tarantula Nebula over space and time on a sub-parsec scale. In this first paper we describe the observing strategy, the photometric techniques, and the upcoming data products from this survey and present preliminary results obtained from the analysis of the initial set of near-infrared observations.

Tarantula↗

NASA NTRS2020

TOI-257b (HD 19916b): a warm sub-saturn orbiting an evolved F-type star

We report the discovery of a warm sub-Saturn, TOI-257b (HD 19916b), based on data from NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). The transit signal was detected by TESS and confirmed to be of planetary origin based on radial velocity observations. An analysis of the TESS photometry, the MINERVA-Australis, FEROS, and HARPS radial velocities, and the asteroseismic data of the stellar oscillations reveals that TOI-257b has a mass of M(P) = 0.138 ± 0.023 M(J) (43.9 ± 7.3 Mꚛ), a radius of R(P) = 0.639 ± 0.013 R(J) (7.16 ± 0.15 Rꚛ⁠), bulk density of 0.65 (+0.12,−0.11) (cgs), and period 18.38818 (+0.00085,−0.00084) days⁠. TOI-257b orbits a bright (V = 7.612 mag) somewhat evolved late F-type star with M⁎ = 1.390 ± 0.046 M(sun)⁠, R⁎ = 1.888 ± 0.033 R(sun)⁠, T(eff) = 6075 ± 90 K⁠, and 𝜈sin 𝑖 = 11.3 ± 0.5 km/s. Additionally, we find hints for a second non-transiting sub-Saturn mass planet on a ∼71 day orbit using the radial velocity data. This system joins the ranks of a small number of exoplanet host stars (∼100) that have been characterized with asteroseismology. Warm sub-Saturns are rare in the known sample of exoplanets, and thus the discovery of TOI-257b is important in the context of future work studying the formation and migration history of similar planetary systems.

asteroseismology↗

NASA NTRS2021

Widely Distributed Exogenic Materials of Varying Compositions and Morphologies on Asteroid (101955) Bennu

Using the multiband imager MapCam on board the OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security–Regolith Explorer) spacecraft, we identified 77 instances of proposed exogenic materials distributed globally on the surface of the B-type asteroid (101955) Bennu. We identified materials as exogenic on the basis of an absorption near 1 μm that is indicative of anhydrous silicates. The exogenic materials are spatially resolved by the telescopic camera PolyCam. All such materials are brighter than their surroundings, and they are expressed in a variety of morphologies: homogeneous, breccia-like, inclusion-like, and others. Inclusion-like features are the most common. Visible spectrophotometry was obtained for 46 of the 77 locations from MapCam images. Principal component analysis indicates at least two trends: (i) mixing of Bennu's average spectrum with a strong 1-μm band absorption, possibly from pyroxene-rich material, and (ii) mixing with a weak 1-μm band absorption. The end member with a strong 1-μm feature is consistent with Howardite-Eucrite-Diogenite (HED) meteorites, whereas the one showing a weak 1-μm feature may be consistent with HEDs, ordinary chondrites, or carbonaceous chondrites. The variation in the few available near-infrared reflectance spectra strongly suggests varying compositions among the exogenic materials. Thus, Bennu might record the remnants of multiple impacts with different compositions to its parent body, which could have happened in the very early history of the Solar system. Moreover, at least one of the exogenic objects is compositionally different from the exogenic materials found on the similar asteroid (162173) Ryugu, and they suggest different impact tracks.

minor planets↗

NASA NTRS1972

Basic research in meteorology and atmospheric physics

A survey is reported of methods for sounding the atmospheric temperature profile by remote measurements. The emphasis for this period was placed on sounding in the microwave region of the spectrum, sounding in cloudy atmosphere, and measuring sea temperatures remotely. Summaries of the research in the following areas are included: orbital detection of stratospheric aerosols, monthly precipitation charts for the world, determining planetary cloud structure by remote polarization measurement, analysis of Mariner 6 and 7 multicolor photometric photographs of Mars, and techniques for photometric detection of extrasolar planets.

Opstbaum, R.↗

NASA NTRS2022

Three New Brown Dwarfs and A Massive Hot Jupiter Revealed By TESS Around Early-Type Stars

Context. The detection and characterization of exoplanets and brown dwarfs around massive AF-type stars is essential to investigate and constrain the impact of stellar mass on planet properties. However, such targets are still poorly explored in radial velocity (RV) surveys because they only feature a small number of stellar lines and those are usually broadened and blended by stellar rotation as well as stellar jitter. As a result, the available information about the formation and evolution of planets and brown dwarfs around hot stars is limited. Aims. We aim to increase the sample and precisely measure the masses and eccentricities of giant planets and brown dwarfs transiting early-type stars detected by the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). Methods. We followed bright (V < 12 mag) stars with T eff > 6200 K that host giant companions (R > 7 R ⊕ ) using ground-based photometric observations as well as high precision radial velocity measurements from the CORALIE, CHIRON, TRES, FEROS, and MINERVA-Australis spectrographs. Results. In the context of the search for exoplanets and brown dwarfs around early-type stars, we present the discovery of three brown dwarf companions, TOI-629b, TOI-1982b, and TOI-2543b, and one massive planet, TOI-1107b. From the joint analysis of TESS and ground-based photometry in combination with high precision radial velocity measurements, we find the brown dwarfs have masses between 66 and 68 M Jup , periods between 7.54 and 17.17 days, and radii between 0.95 and 1.11 R Jup . The hot Jupiter TOI-1107b has an orbital period of 4.08 days, a radius of 1.30 R Jup , and a mass of 3.35 M Jup . As a by-product of this program, we identified four low-mass eclipsing components (TOI-288b, TOI-446b, TOI-478b, and TOI-764b). Conclusions. Both TOI-1107b and TOI-1982b present an anomalously inflated radius with respect to the age of these systems. TOI-629 is among the hottest stars with a known transiting brown dwarf. TOI-629b and TOI-1982b are among the most eccentric brown dwarfs. The massive planet and the three brown dwarfs add to the growing population of well-characterized giant planets and brown dwarfs transiting AF-type stars and they reduce the apparent paucity.

brown dwarfs↗