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Basic mechanisms involved in the production of cosmic gamma radiation are outlined. They include Compton interactions with low energy protons, bremsstrahlung interactions, cosmic ray induced neutral pion production, and matter-antimatter annihilation. Detailed data are given on diffuse continuum radiation. Comparative data results are given in tables and graphs.
The technique of photoelectron spectroscopy was used to obtain the relative continuum transition probabilities of atomic oxygen at 584 A for transitions from 3P ground state into the 4S, D2, and P2 states of the ion. Transition probability ratios for the D2 and P2 states relative to the S4 state of the ion are 1.57 + or - 0.14 and 0.82 + or - 0.07, respectively. In addition, transitions from excited O2(a 1 Delta g) state into the O2(+)(2 Phi u and 2 Delta g) were observed. The adiabatic ionization potential of O2(+)(2 Delta g) was measured as 18.803 + or - 0.006 eV.
A user-oriented subroutine package is built around a highly stable explicit integration algorithm for solution of large order systems of ordinary differential equations, as result from discretization of initial-boundary value problems in continuum mechanics. Fast and accurate solutions, for problems in laminar and turbulent, two and three-dimensional viscous flow fields and multi-dimensional transient heat transfer, are presented using this algorithm, as embodied within a general purpose finite element computer program.
The 1-mm continuum flux from Orion Molecular Cloud 2 (OMC-2), measured with a 1-inch beam, is found to be 0.05 plus or minus 0.01 of that from the Becklin-Neugebauer/Kleinmann-Low (BN/KL) complex. This implies that the average density of dust within OMC-2 is about an order of magnitude less than within the BN/KL region.
The paper reports on experimental vibrational intensity distributions for continuum photoionization of oxygen using both 584 and 304 A helium lines. A cylindrical mirror energy analyzer with known transmission properties was used to record photoelectron spectra at a resolution of 45 meV with dispersed He radiation. At each wavelength the vibrational intensity distribution were corrected for the transmission of the analyzer and normalized to 100 at the strongest level. A table lists the results with calculated Franck-Condon factors.
The radiative transfer techniques of Huang have been further extended in an attempt to construct a specific thermal dust-emission model of eta Carinae which fits the observations of both the spectral and the spatial distribution of the infrared radiation. The model which best fits the observations requires infrared emissivities considerably higher than those of normal-size nonsilicate grains. Evidence is presented that the high infrared emissivities are caused by large particles rather than a heavy concentration of infrared-active silicates. The possibility that synchrotron radiation is responsible for some of the infrared continuum is discussed.
Continuum emission at 1 mm has been mapped with 1-min resolution over a 3-min by 8-min area including the compact H II region DR 21, the maser source W75(S)-OH, and the central portions of the surrounding molecular cloud. Peaks in the 1-mm intensity are observed at the positions of DR 21 and W75(S)-OH, and are roughly coincident with less marked peaks in the intensity of HCN and CO emission. An extended component of 1-mm emission is present as well. The principal source of 1-mm radiation is thought to be thermal emission from dust within the molecular gas. The characteristics of this radiation which make it a promising tool for the study of molecular clouds are briefly discussed.
Narrow band Ross filter measurements of the Fe 25 line flux around 0.185 nm and simultaneous broadband measurements during a solar flare were used to determine the relationship between the solar coronal abundances of iron and helium. The Fe 25 ion population was also determined as a function of time. The proportional counter and the Ross filter on OSO-7 were utilized. The data were analyzed under the separate assumptions that (1) the electron density was high enough that a single temperature could characterize the continuum spectrum and the ionization equilibrium, and that (2) the electron density was low so that the ion populations trailed the electron temperature in time. It was found that the density was at least 5x10 to the 9th power, and that the high density assumption was valid. It was also found that the iron abundance is 0.000011 for a helium abundance of 0.2, relative to hydrogen.
Results are reported for measurements of the flux densities of 33 sources at wavelengths of 13, 4, and 2 cm, which were conducted using the NASA/JPL Deep Space Network 64-m antenna at Goldstone, Calif. Besides compact H II regions, the sources included five Uhuru X-ray sources, several IR sources, an extragalactic radio source, and a H2O maser. The Lyman continuum flux is derived from the measured radio flux and the assumed distance and temperature for 10 possible H II regions; the spectra of previously known sources are extended to higher frequencies, and upper limits are placed on the flux densities for the five X-ray sources. New compact H II regions are found in the bright nebula M78, the nebula K5, and the Ophiuchus dark cloud/IR region.
When a separating body is viewed as a nonequilibrium thermodynamic process, the full thermodynamic nature of the surface energy induced by crack propagation becomes apparent. Within such a general framework it is no longer possible to view the surface energy as a material constant. For the self-propagating crack the induced surface energy is shown to depend explicitly on the square of the crack propagation speed. It is also shown that a separating body produces entropy even though the mechanical response of the solid may be elastic. The introduction of surface quantities such as surface energy into the continuum description of the fracture process forces a major departure from the mechanics appropriate to the nonseparating body. Local equations of balance are no longer obtainable as derived consequences of postulated global balance equations. They must instead be imposed as separate additional postulates.
The photoabsorption Schumann-Runge continuum in O2 has been decomposed into the contribution from states of both valence and Rydberg character. The decomposition of the experimental photoabsorption (or high-energy, zero-angle, electron energy-loss) data contains contributions from three valence states, four Rydberg states, and one state of unknown character. Information on the perturbed valence-state potential-energy curves in the Franck-Condon region obtained by this analysis substantiate the recent theoretical conclusions of strong valence-Rydberg perturbations in the 8-12 eV excitation region. There is presently no unambiguous identification for the state at 8.93 plus or minus 0.04 eV, found in the optical and all the electron energy-loss data.
Pulse phase-dependent spectral changes in the high energy (less than 20 keV) continuum of Hercules X-1 were observed. Cyclotron absorption of underlying continua can reproduce the observed angular dependence in the high energy cutoff. Implications of this model, which include the possibility of determining the angular separation between the line of sight and the neutron star magnetic field if the absorbing electron spectrum is known are discussed.
Total absorption of O2 induced by collisions with N2 has been measured at room temperature in the Hersberg continuum using a one meter normal incidence grating monochromator. The enhanced absorption is ascribed to the formation of O2-O2 and O2-N2 dimers. The interaction constants for these dimers are determined and utilized to investigate their effect on the absorption of solar radiation in the stratosphere.
Continuum emission at wavelength 3.71 cm was observed from the nuclear region of comet West 1975n on March 5, 1976. The flux density was 0.040 Jy, which is uncertain by 25% due to calibration. Assuming that the source was a uniformly illuminated disk, the diameter was no more than about 1100 km and the brightness temperature was at least 330 + or - 85 K. On March 4, 1976, similar observations yielded only an upper limit (two standard deviations) to the flux density of 0.010 Jy. Thus it appears that the source turned on with a time scale of 1 day or less, at about the time that the short-lived cometary daughter nucleus 'C' split from the main nucleus 'A'. Similar emission was observed from comet Kohoutek 1973f. In each case, it appears that the microwave emission can be interpreted as thermal radiation from a temporarily enhanced icy-grain halo (IGH). If this interpretation is correct, then the actual temperature (which is assumed to be approximately equal to the nuclear surface temperature) must be in the range 200-250 K, roughly compatible with the observations, in order to satisfy the IGH models of Delsemme (1973).
Continuum observations of 23 extragalactic objects have been made at a wavelength of 1 mm; nine of the 23 have been definitely detected at this wavelength. The sources detected include seven from which the 1-mm emission appears to be nonthermal, and two from which the emission appears to be thermal radiation from dust. Repeated observations of the brightest nonthermal sources permitted a search for 1-mm variations on time scales of one month to three years. BL Lac was observed to vary by more than a factor of 2 in flux, and 3C 84, 3C 120, and 3C 273 showed possible variations; 3C 279 showed no variations greater than + or - 30%. The 1-mm variations of BL Lac appear to be correlated with variations at radio wavelengths. The other sources with nonthermal spectra detected were 3C 111 and M87; the two thermal sources detected were NGC 253 and M82. Comparison of the latter two 1-mm measurements with 2.6-mm CO measurements suggests that the CO line in these galaxies is not heavily saturated.
The effect of temperature on the total absorption of O2 induced by collisions with N2 has been measured at various temperatures in the Herzberg continuum using a one-meter normal-incidence grating monochromator. It is observed that absorption increases as the temperature decreases, which is ascribed to changes in the rate of formation of the dimers O2-O2 and O2-N2. The interaction constants for these dimers are determined as functions of temperature and then utilized to calculate the heats of dissociation of O2-O2 and O2-N2. Their respective values are found to be 0.0146 + or - 0.001 and 0.425 + or - 0.002 eV. Also, the interaction constants for these dimers measured at 200 + or - 1 K are utilized to investigate their effect on the absorption of solar radiation in the stratosphere.
A method is presented for calculating nongrey radiative fluxes and intensities in a highly ionized, low temperature plasma with extreme line broadening. The method was developed to study radiative heating phenomena in the mass-injected hypersonic shock-layer environments characteristic of outer planet atmospheric entry, although it is not limited to such studies. The radiative properties model assumed local thermodynamic equilibrium and used standard continuum and molecular band models. The atomic line model, however, used a frequency-marching method for the frequency integration, which not only accounted completely for line overlapping (reabsorption) effects, but compared favorably in economy with the best equivalent-width methods. An assessment of hydrogen line-far-wing treatments, with recommendations for engineering models, is also presented.
Evidence for continuum absorption in the solar transition zone in EUV spectra obtained from OSO 4, OSO 6, ATM, and full-sun measurements is reported. This absorption shortward of 912 A is manifested everywhere on the sun's disk. It is present within network cells and boundaries of the quiet sun, in coronal holes, in active regions, above the limb, and in solar prominences. Models of the upper chromosphere and the transition zone must be modified to include an admixture of neutral hydrogen (or possibly single ionized helium) with the hotter plasma.