Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “Spectrum Width”

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.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 415 records · Page 23
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2011

X-Ray Reflected Spectra from Accretion Disk Models. II. Diagnostic Tools for X-Ray Observations

We present a comprehensive study of the emission spectra from accreting sources. We use our new reflection code to compute the reflected spectra from an accretion disk illuminated by X-rays. This set of models covers different values of ionization parameter, solar iron abundance and photon index for the illuminating spectrum. These models also include the most complete and recent atomic data for the inner-shell of the iron and oxygen isonuclear sequences. We concentrate our analysis to the 2 - 10 keV energy region, and in particular to the iron K-shell emission lines. We show the dependency of the equivalent width (EW) of the Fe Ka with the ionization parameter. The maximum value of the EW is approx. 800 eV for models with log Epsilon approx. 1.5, and decreases monotonically as Epsilon increases. For lower values of Epsilon the Fe K(alpha) EW decreases to a minimum near log Epsilon approx. 0.8. We produce simulated CCD observations based on our reflection models. For low ionized, reflection dominated cases, the 2 -10 keV energy region shows a very broad, curving continuum that cannot be represented by a simple power-law. We show that in addition to the Fe K-shell emission, there are other prominent features such as the Si and S L(alpha) lines, a blend of Ar VIII-XI lines, and the Ca x K(alpha) line. In some cases the S xv blends with the He-like Si RRC producing a broad feature that cannot be reproduced by a simple Gaussian profile. This could be used as a signature of reflection.

Garcia, J.↗
NASA NTRS1978

Airborne infrared spectrophotometry of Mira variables

Airborne spectrophotometric observations of R Cas near minimum and maximum light, R Leo near minimum, and NML Tau near maximum are reported which were obtained over the wavelength range from 1.2 to 4 microns with 1.5% resolution. The spectral energy distributions of the three stars at the indicated times are presented, and it is shown that the H2O bands at 1.4, 1.9, and 2.7 microns are clearly evident in all the spectra, while the absorption bands of CO at about 1.6 and 2.3 microns are probably present although they are masked by the strong water vapor features. The results indicate that water vapor is the dominant opacity source in the atmospheres of Mira variables, that R Leo and NML Tau may be fitted well over the entire spectrum by respective single temperatures of 2250 and 1800 K, and that R Cas near both minimum and maximum cannot be adequately described by one temperature over the entire wavelength range investigated. The shapes and depths of the absorption bands are determined together with the apparent angular diameter of each star and the equivalent widths of the H2O + CO absorption bands. It is concluded that water vapor absorption is more strongly correlated with color temperature than with spectral type for R Cas and R Leo.

Strecker, D. W.↗
NASA NTRS1982

A new interstellar component in the spectrum of HD 72127A

New high dispersion observations are reported of the very strong, broad interstellar K line of Ca II in the spectrum of HD 72127A, a star located near a filament of the Vela supernova remnant. When compared with similar observations made in 1977, the new data reveal temporal variability of the interstellar absorption, as shown both by the presence of a new, sixth line component and by a 25% increase in the total equivalent width of the K line. All five Ca II components which were seen in both years show very large column-density ratios N(Ca II) /N(Na I) at least equal to 9, probably arising from anomalously large interstellar gas-phase abundances of Ca caused by disruption of interstellar grains. Marked differences in the structure of the K line between the two early-type components of this binary star, which are separated by only 3000 AU, are confirmed.

Hobbs, L. M.↗
NASA NTRS1992

The 3 micron spectrum of the classical Be star Beta Monocerotis A

A 3.1-3.7-micron spectrum of the classical Be star Beta Mon A is presented at a resolution of lambda/Delta-lambda of 700-800. The spectrum shows strong hydrogen recombination lines, including Pf-delta and a series of Humphreys lines from Hu 19 to Hu 28. The relative recombination line strengths suggest that Pf-delta has a large optical depth. The Humphreys lines have relative strengths consistent with case B and may be optically thin. The line widths observed are broader than the Balmer lines and similar in width to Fe II lines, consistent with a disk model in which optically thinner lines arise primarily from a faster rotating inner disk, while optically thicker lines come mainly from a slower rotating outer disk. The apparent lack of Stark broadening of the Humphreys lines is used to place an upper limit on the circumstellar electron density of about 10 exp 12/cu cm.

Sellgren, K.↗
NASA NTRS1974

Magnetic fields and diffusion processes in peculiar A stars

The detailed effects of a magnetic field on the equilibrium surface abundances of Ap stars as well as on the diffusion velocity are considered. The equivalent widths of the magnetic null lines are shown to be functions of the magnetic field strength. Furthermore, null lines can be used to help distinguish between inhomogeneities in abundance and in magnetic field strength and to determine ionization temperatures. The results of the diffusion mechanism with magnetic fields are used to interpret the phenomenon of spectrum variability. A review of the observational aspects of null lines in the magnetic Ap stars is presented.

Shore, S. N.↗
NASA NTRS1981

Measurement of the oscillator strengths and autoionization widths of the neutral-aluminum multiplet 3s2 3p2 P0 - 3s 3p2 2P

The hook method is used in conjunction with absorption equivalent width measurements to determine the oscillator strengths and line widths of the Al I multiplet 3s2 3p2 P0 - 3s 3p2 2P at 176 nm. Autoionization is found to be the dominant decay channel for the two levels of the 3p2 2P term, with autoionizing widths of 4.0 and 0.87 x 10 to the 10th/sec for J of 3/2 and 1/2, respectively. The van der Waals scattering cross section for the Al I transition at 176.91 nm by He is determined to be (1.3 + or - 0.3) x 10 to the -14th sq cm at 2400 K, and a solar spectrum calculation centered at 176 nm shows that the Al I features are possible diagnostic probes of (1) solar non-LTE processes, and (2) the temperature minimum and structure of the lower chromosphere.

Lombardi, G. G.↗
NASA NTRS1994

A weak diffuse interstellar band in the far-ultraviolet spectrum of zeta Ophiuchi?

Goddard High Resolution Spectrograph (GHRS) observations at 3.5 km/s resolution reveal several new weak unidentified interstellar absorption lines in the ultraviolet spectrum of zeta Ophiuchi. The unidentified line at 1369.13 A has the appearance and characteristics of a weak diffuse interstellar band (DIB). The line has a smooth profile similar to many optical diffuse interstellar bands (i.e., a shallow asymmetric profile), it is clearly broader than identified interstellar lines near it in wavelength, and its full width at half maximum in ergs is comparable to the widths of the weak optical DIBs. The asymmetric profile cannot be attributed to blended absorption from diffuse clouds at different velocities; at this resolution the two principal cloud complexes on the sight line at heliocentric velocities of -27 and -15 km/s are clearly separated. We compare this unidentified absorption feature to identified interstellar atomic and molecular absorption lines and optical DIBs observed on the zeta Oph and xi Per sight lines, and we conclude that it is reasonable to suggest that this absorption feature might be a DIB. This is not a unique interpretation however; the unidentified line could alternatively be due to gas in the zeta Oph H II region or a blend of unknown neutral atomic or molecular absorption lines.

Tripp, Todd M.↗
NASA NTRS1994

X-ray-emitting gas surrounding the spiral galaxy NGC 891

We observed the edge-on spiral galaxy NGC 891 with the Position Sensitive Proportional Counter (PSPC) on Roentgen Satellite (ROSAT) to search for how extraplanar gas expected in the galactic fountain model. Diffuse X-ray emission surrounds the disk with a Half Width at Half Maximum (HWHM) for the surface brightness perpendicular to the disk of 50 sec (2.4 kpc) and a radial extent of approximately 6.5 kpc, both of which are similar in extent to the extended H(alpha) and radio halo component; the implied density scale height for the hot gas is 7 kpc. The spectrum is best fitted with a hard stellar component and a soft diffuse gas component of temperature 3.6 x 10(exp 6) K. The density of this gas is 2 x 10(exp -3)/cu cm, the luminosity is 4.4 x 10(exp 39) ergs/s, the mass is 1 x 10(exp 8) solar mass, and the pressure (P/k) is 1.4 10(exp 4) K/cu cm. These data are consistent with this gas participating in a galactic fountain, where the material approaches hydrostatic equilibrium before cooling at a rate of 0.12 solar mass/yr. The cooled material may be responsible for some of the H(alpha) emission.

Bregman, Joel N.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Preliminary results of spectral reflectance studies of tycho crater

The preliminary analysis and interpretation of near infrared spectra obtained for both the interior and exterior deposits associated with the Tycho crater is presented. Specific objectives were: (1) to determine the composition and stratigraphy of the highland crust in the Tycho target site; (2) to determine the likely composition of the primary ejecta which may be present in ray deposits; (3) to investigate the nature of spectral units defined in previous studies; (4) to further investigate the nature and origin of both the bright and dark haloes around the rim crest; and (5) to compare the compositions determined for the Tycho units with those of the Aristarchus crater as well as typical highland deposits. The spectra obtained for the interior areas exhibit similar spectral features. These include relatively strong 1 micron absorption bands whose minima are centered between 0.97 and 0.99 microns and shallow to intermediate continuum slopes. The spectra generally exhibit indications of a 1.3 micron feature consistent with the presence of Fe(2+) bearing plagioclase feldspar. The strong 1 micron absorption features indicate a dominant high Ca clinopyroxene component. Results obtained from the ejecta deposits show that the spectrum of the inner, bright halo is almost identical with those obtained for interior units. The spectrum of the dark halo exhibits a wide, relatively shallow absorption feature centered at 1.01 microns, a 1.3 micron absorption, and a steep continuum slope. This spectrum is interpreted as indicating the presence of pyroxene, Fe-bearing feldspar, and a significant component of Fe-bearing impact melt glass. Finally, the spectra of spots inside Tycho show similarity with certain spectra for Aristarchus. However, the suite of spectra obtained for Tycho exhibits a different trend in terms of band center versus width.

Hawke, B. R.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Velocity-resolved observations of water in Comet Halley

An infrared spectrum of comet Halley was recorded at the Kuiper Airborne Observatory with an instrumental velocity resolution of 1.1 km/sec. A total of 13 emission lines in the 2.65 micron spectral region were assigned to neutral gaseous H2O : 10 in the 001 to 000 band and 3 in the hot 011 to 010 band. The position and widths of these lines are functions of the gas velocity field in the coma. Analysis indicates that the neutral gas outflow is widely dispersed about the nucleus. This spectroscopic picture is consistent with spacecraft images that show multiple jets releasing material into most of the sunfacing hemisphere.

Larson, Harold P.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Long-slit optical spectroscopy of powerful far-infrared galaxies - The nature of the nuclear energy source

Optical spectroscopic data are presented for a sample of 47 powerful far-IR galaxies chosen for IR spectral shape, and for six other IR-bright galaxies. The stellar absorption lines expected from a population of old stars are generally very weak in the nuclei of the galaxies. Very weak Mg I absorption is found in regions well off the nucleus, implying that the visible spectrum is dominated by young stars and not by an AGN. At least one, and probably five, of the galaxies have detectable WR emission features, providing additional evidence for a young stellar population. About 20 percent of the galaxies have strong Balmer absorption lines, indicating the presence of a substantial intermediate-age stellar population. The equivalent width of the H-alpha emission line can be modeled as arising from a mixture of a large young population and an intermediate-age population of stars.

Armus, Lee↗
NASA NTRS2003

Retrieval of Ozone Column Content from Airborne Sun Photometer Measurements During SOLVE II: Comparison with SAGE III, POAM III,THOMAS and GOME Measurements

During the Second SAGE 111 Ozone Loss and Validation Experiment (SOLVE II), the 14- channel NASA Ames Airborne Trackmg Sunphotometer (AATS-14) was mounted on the NASA DC-8 and successfully measured spectra of total and aerosol optical depth (TOD and AOD) during the sunlit portions of eight science flights. Values of ozone column content above the aircraft have been derived from the AATS-14 data by using a linear least squares method. For each AATS-14 measured TOD spectrum, this method iteratively finds the ozone column content that yields the best match between measured and calculated TOD. The calculations assume the known Chappuis ozone band shape and a three-parameter AOD shape (quadratic in log-log space). Seven of the AATS-14 channels (each employing an interference filter with a nominal full-width at half maximum bandpass of -5 nm) are within the Chappuis band, with center wavelengths between 452.9 nm and 864.5 nm. One channel (604.4 nm) is near the peak, and three channels (499.4, 519.4 and 675.1 nm) have ozone absorption within 30-40% of that at the peak. For the typical DC-8 SOLVE II cruising altitudes of approx. 8-12 km and the background stratospheric aerosol conditions that prevailed during SOLVE 11, absorption of incoming solar radiation by ozone comprised a significant fraction of the aerosol-plus-ozone optical depth measured in the four AATS-14 channels centered between 499.4 and 675.1 nm. Typical AODs above the DC-8 ranged from 0.003-0.008 in these channels. For comparison, an ozone overburden of 0.3 atm-cm (300 DU) translates to ozone optical depths of 0.009,0.014, 0.041, and 0.012, respectively, at these same wavelengths. In this paper, we compare AATS-14 values of ozone column content with temporally and spatially near-coincident values derived from measurements acquired by the Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment III (SAGE III) and the Polar Ozone and Aerosol Measurement 111 (POAM III) satellite sensors. We also compare AATS-14 ozone retrievals during selected DC-8 latitudinal and longitudinal transects with total column ozone data acquired by the Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) and the Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment (GOME) satellite sensors. To enable this comparison, the amount of ozone in the column below the aircraft is estimated by combining SAGE and/or POAM data with high resolution, fast response in-situ ozone measurements acquired during the DC-8 ascent at the start of each science flight.

Livingston, J.↗
NASA NTRS1981

The X-ray spectrum of AM Herculis from 0.1 to 150 keV

No significant flux at 100 keV was detected in the observations by the HEAO 1 satellite (March and April of 1978) and in several OSO 7 observations. The spectrum above 2 keV can be fitted by a composite thermal bremsstrahlung model that includes an approximation to the albedo expected from the white dwarf. The bremsstrahlung kT sub e from this model (30.9 + or - 4.5 keV) implies a white dwarf mass in excess of 0.6 solar mass. An emission feature at 6.5 + or - 0.15 keV and equivalent width of 0.8 + or - 0.1 keV is confirmed; it is thought that this might be due to fluorescence from the white dwarf by the bremsstrahlung from a small thin shocked region. It is noted that the continuum could also have been steepened at high energy in scattering in the accretion column, but the line photons cannot have gone through the same optical depths.

Rothschild, R. E.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Wave propagation in pulsar magnetospheres - Refraction of rays in the open flux zone

The propagation of waves through a relativistically outflowing electron-positron plasma in a very strong dipolar magnetic field, conditions expected in pulsar magnetospheres, is investigated. Halmilton's equations is derived for the propagation of rays through a plasma which is inhomogeneous in density, magnetic field directions, and Lorentz factor. These equations are solved for rays propagating through the plasmas outflowing along the 'open' dipolar field lines in which the density decreases inversely as the radius cubed and in the case where gradients transverse to the radial direction exist. In the radial case, the effects of refraction on pulse profiles, spectrum, and polarization are examined, and the effects of a transverse gradient are indicated. Attention is given to models in which the observed broad bandwidth in the radio emission has its origin in a radius to frequency map. Models with broad-band emission at a single radius are also studied. These are compared to observations of pulse width and pulse component separation as a function of frequency. The origin of 'orthogonal modes' is discussed.

Barnard, J. J.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Gated photochemical hole burning in photoadducts of polyacenes

A photoadduct of anthracene and tetracene (A-T) in a polymer matrix at 1.5 K generates an absorption spectrum which exhibits two-color, photon-gated photochemical hole burning (PHB) when irradiated with narrowband exciting light into the 0-0 band of the S1-S0 absorption. The efficiency of this PHB process is found to be enhanced by simultaneous irradiation near the maximum of the Tn-T1 absorption of A-T; hole widths of less than 0.07/cm have been observed for this photochemical cleavage of A-T.

Iannone, Mark↗
NASA NTRS1986

Intelligent information extraction from reflectance spectra Absorption band positions

A multiple high-order derivative analysis algorithm has been developed which can automatically extract absorption band positions from low-quality reflectance spectra with little degredation of accuracy. Overlapping bands with comparable widths and intensities can be resolved whose centers are as close as 0.3-0.5 W, with safer resolution limits of 0.6-1.0 W band center separations suggested for overlapping bands that are dissimilar. The segment length for smoothing is continually adjusted to about 0.5 W to minimize signal distortion, and a spectral pattern recognition algorithm predicts the signal spectrum and calculates approximate W across the spectrum using its second derivative. A single-pass cubic spline is applied to the smoothed data, and a sliding segment sixth-order polynomial is fit to the spectrum, with the length of the segment being continuously locally adjusted to 1.0 W across the spectrum. Good reliability and consistency of the algorithm is demonstrated with application to laboratory and earth-based telescope spectra.

Huguenin, R. L.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Clustering and voids in the Lyman-alpha forest

In a statistical study of quasar absorption lines, no evidence is found for large voids in the Ly-alpha forest, contrary to some recent suggestions. The 28 Mpc gap found by Crotts (1987) in the spectrum of Q0420-388 is not statistically significant, and it is possible, from a sample of 18 quasar spectra, to reject at the 2 sigma level the hypothesis that comoving voids of 30 Mpc fill as much as 15 percent of the universe. However, a significant (at the 99 percent level) excess of small line intervals of velocity width 200-600 km/s is found. This provides evidence either for the gravitationally induced correlations proposed in some models or for the fragmented shells proposed in others.

Ostriker, Jeremiah P.↗
NASA NTRS1972

Line-blanketed model stellar atmospheres applied to Sirius

The primary goal of this analysis is to determine whether the effects of atomic bound-bound transitions on stellar atmospheric structure can be represented well in models. The investigation is based on an approach which is called the method of artificial absorption edges. The method is described, developed, tested, and applied to the problem of fitting a model stellar atmosphere to Sirius. It is shown that the main features of the entire observed spectrum of Sirius can be reproduced to within the observational uncertainty by a blanketed flux-constant model with T sub eff = 9700 K and Log g = 4.26. The profile of H sub gamma is reproduced completely within the standard deviations of the measurements except near line center, where non-LTE effects are expected to be significant. The equivalent width of H sub gamma, the Paschen slope, the Balmer jump, and the absolute flux at 5550 A all agree with the observed values.

Fowler, J. W.↗