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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 55 records · Page 3
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1979

A model for the azimuthal brightness variations in Saturn's rings

The paper presents a model to explain brightness variations in Saturn rings. These variations have been interpreted as implying the presence of large, synchronously rotating particles with elongated shapes or leading-trailing-edge differences although such synchronous rotation appears unlikely. The model given here assumes that the gravitational wakes or waves can be considered as elongated distributions of particles referred to as blobs, and the radiative transfer in the rings will involve both processes internal to the blobs and analogous processes among blobs. This model explains the existence of azimuthal variation in ring brightness, as well as the dependence of their amplitude on geometrical and photometric parameters. The probable photometric effects are outlined assuming the existence of density irregularities as a result of self-gravitation, and the results simplify the geometric discussion of Franklin and Colombo (1978).

Lumme, K.↗
NASA NTRS1980

X-ray emission from the winds of hot stars

A phenomenological theory is proposed for the structure of the unstable line-driven winds of early-type stars. These winds are conjectured to break up into a population of blobs that are being radiatively driven through, and confined by ram pressure of an ambient gas that is not itself being radiatively driven. Radiation from the bow shocks preceding the blobs can account for the X-ray luminosity of zeta Puppis. The theory breaks down when used to model the much lower density wind of tau Scorpii, for then the blobs are destroyed by heat conduction from shocked gas. This effect explains why the profiles of this star's UV resonance lines depart from classical P Cygni form.

Lucy, L. B.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Magnetospheric models for QPOs

Models of quasi-periodic oscillation (QPOs) based on the assumption that QPOs have magnetospheres are discussed. Evidence supporting the use of magnetospheric models is presented. The study of low frequency noise in the blob model is examined, stressing the question of the how much the blob-to-blob correlation is needed to suppress the low frequency noise to the levels observed in QPO sources. It is suggested that in low mass X-ray binaries, larger amounts of energy should be expected to be released at the magnetospheric boundary rather than on the neutron stellar surface. Also, examples of reproducing hardness ratio curves and QPO frequencies are given.

Shaham, Jacob↗
NASA NTRS1989

Electron positron pair winds and the Eddington limit

The dynamics of pair winds in the environment of the central engine of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) are investigated assuming super Eddington accretion onto black holes. If the accretion is assumed to be spherically symmetric with the accreting matter occurring in discrete cool blobs, and pairs are produced by a nonthermal mechanism, these pairs are blown out by radiation pressure if the coupling between the pairs and accreting blobs is not complete. The coupling also determines the escaping luminosity. If the maximal coupling constraint is relaxed, then a qualitative argument shows that the classical Eddington limit may be exceeded. When the pairs are considered to be noninteracting particles, the outflow is optically thin. Frame dependent effects are considered. Equations are derived considering pair production in the rest frame of the wind and also in the rest frame of the accreting cool blobs. The hydrodynamic equations are integrated numerically.

Leighly, K. M.↗
NASA NTRS2001

Gravitational Core-Mantle Coupling and the Acceleration of the Earth

Gravitational core-mantle coupling may be the cause of the observed variable acceleration of the Earth's rotation on the 1000 year timescale. The idea is that density inhomogeneities which randomly come and go in the liquid outer core gravitationally attract density inhomogeneities in the mantle and crust, torquing the mantle and changing its rotation state. The corresponding torque by the mantle on the core may also explain the westward drift of the magnetic field of 0.2 deg per year. Gravitational core-mantle coupling would stochastically affect the rate of change of the Earth's obliquity by just a few per cent. Its contribution to polar wander would only be about 0.5% the presently observed rate. Tidal friction is slowing down the rotation of the Earth, overwhelming a smaller positive acceleration from postglacial rebound. Coupling between the liquid outer core of the Earth and the mantle has long been a suspected reason for changes in the length-of-day. The present investigation focuses on the gravitational coupling between the density anomalies in the convecting liquid outer core and those in the mantle and crust as a possible cause for the observed nonsecular acceleration on the millenial timescale. The basic idea is as follows. There are density inhomogeneities caused by blobs circulating in the outer core like the blobs in a lava lamp; thus the outer core's gravitational field is not featureless. Moreover, these blobs will form and dissipate somewhat randomly. Thus there will be a time variability to the fields. These density inhomogeneities will gravitationally attract the density anomalies in the mantle.

Rubincam, David Parry↗
NASA NTRS2003

Chandra Observation of the Core of the Galaxy Cluster AWM 7

We present results from a Chandra observation of the core region of the nearby X-ray bright galaxy cluster AWM 7. There are blob-like substructures, which are seen in the energy band 2-10 keV, within 10 kpc (20") of the cD galaxy NGC 1129, and the brightest sub-peak has a spatial extent more than 4 kpc. We also notice that the central soft X-ray peak is offset from the optical center by 1.3 kpc. These structures have no correlated features in optical, infrared, or radio band. Energy spectrum of the hard sub-peak indicates a temperature higher than 3 keV with a metallicity less than 0.3 solar, or a power-law spectrum with photon index approximately 1.2. A hardness ratio map and a narrow Fe-K band image jointly indicate two Fe-rich blobs symmetrically located around the cD galaxy, with the direction perpendicular to the sub-peak direction. In larger scales (r less than 60 kpc), the temperature gradually drops from 4 keV to 2 keV toward the cluster center and the metal abundance rises steeply to a peak of 1.5 solar at r approximately equal to 7 kpc. These results indicate that a dynamical process is going on in the central region of AWM 7, which probably creates heated gas blobs and drives metal injection.

Furusho, T.↗
NASA NTRS2022

Remote Sensing of Coronal Forces During a Solar Prominence Eruption

We present a new methodology—the Keplerian Optical Dynamics Analysis (KODA)—for quantifying the dynamics of erupting magnetic structures in the solar corona. The technique involves adaptive spatiotemporal tracking of propagating intensity gradients and their characterization in terms of time-evolving Keplerian areas swept out by the position vectors of moving plasma blobs. Whereas gravity induces purely ballistic motions consistent with Kepler's second law, noncentral forces such as the Lorentz force introduce nonzero torques resulting in more complex motions. KODA algorithms enable direct evaluation of the line-of-sight component of the net torque density from the image-plane projection of the areal acceleration. The method is applied to the prominence eruption of 2011 June 7, observed by the Solar Dynamics Observatory's Atmospheric Imaging Assembly. Results obtained include quantitative estimates of the magnetic forces, field intensities, and blob masses and energies across a vast region impacted by the postreconnection redistribution of the prominence material. The magnetic pressure and energy are strongly dominant during the early, rising phase of the eruption, while the dynamic pressure and kinetic energy become significant contributors during the subsequent falling phases. Measured intensive properties of the prominence blobs are consistent with those of typical active-region prominences; measured extensive properties are compared with those of the whole pre-eruption prominence and the post-eruption coronal mass ejection of 2011 June 7, all derived by other investigators and techniques. We show that KODA provides valuable information on spatially and temporally dependent characteristics of coronal eruptions that is not readily available via alternative means, thereby shedding new light on the environment and evolution of these solar events.

V M Uritskiy↗
DOE OSTI2025

Physics of Edge-Core Coupling by Inward Turbulence Propagation

The dynamics of edge-core coupling is critically important to the optimization of magnetically confined fusion plasmas. Since early proposals, there has been persistent speculation that inward propagation of turbulence from the boundary is a possible means to energize the edge-core coupling region. However, the detailed mechanism of this process has remained a mystery until recent experiments observed that regular, intense gradient relaxation events generated blob-void pairs very close to the last closed flux surface. Blobs ($\tilde{n}$ >0) propagate outward and detach from the bulk plasma, while voids ($\tilde{n}$ <0) propagate inward, and so stir the core plasma. Here, in this work, we demonstrate that this heretofore ignored process of void emission can drive a broad turbulent layer of width ∼100 𝜌 𝑠 , for typical parameters. The mechanism is the Cherenkov emission of drift waves from inward-propagating voids. The model shows promise to resolve several questions surrounding the shortfall problem and the strong turbulence in the edge-core coupling region.

drift waves↗
NASA NTRS1975

Enhanced interplanetary magnetic fields as the cause of Forbush decreases

A strong correlation is observed between neutron monitor variations and variations in the interplanetary magnetic field intensity. It is thought that the cosmic ray intensity depressions are caused by perpendicular gradient drifts. The perpendicular gradient drift velocity for particles with energies exceeding 500 MeV in a magnetic field configuration produced by a representative stream is at least a few times the solar wind velocity. Thus particles can be swept away from the ecliptic by such a blob faster than the blob advances. It is suggested that this mechanism might be the cause of Forbush decreases and other cosmic ray variations near 1 AU.

Burlaga, L. F.↗
NASA NTRS1980

Vortex methods for two- and three-dimensional flow simulations

The point vortex and vortex blob methods for two dimensional flows are presented. Several results are discussed concerning the numerical analysis of the latter scheme, e.g., the preservation of globally conserved quantities and the analysis of the spatial discretization error resulting from the convection of fixed blobs of vorticity. An application to the two dimensional mixing layer is briefly described. The contour dynamics method is also discussed. The simulation of three dimensional flows with vortex methods is discussed. A natural way to represent the vorticity is in the form of closed tubes of filaments of vorticity, although other schemes are examined. Applications to aircraft trailing vortices and to a turbulent spot in a laminar boundary layer are presented. Hybrid schemes that use an Eulerian mesh to solve the Poisson equation for the velocity field are discussed. The goal of these schemes is to avoid the high cost of the Biot-Savart integration if many vortex elements are used while enjoying most of the advantages of pure Lagrangian schemes.

Leonard, A.↗
NASA NTRS1981

Data base manipulation for assessment of multiresource suitability and land change

Progress is reported in three tasks which support the overall objectives of renewable resources inventory task of the AgRISTARS program. In the first task, the geometric correction algorithms of the Master Data Processor were investigated to determine the utility of data corrected by this processor for U.S. Forest Service uses. The second task involved investigation of logic to form blobs as a precursor step to automatic change detection involving two dates of LANDSAT data. Some routine procedures for selecting BLOB (spatial averaging) parameters were developed. In the third task, a major effort was made to develop land suitability modeling approches for timber, grazing, and wildlife habitat in support of resource planning efforts on the San Juan National Forest.

Colwell, J.↗
NASA NTRS1981

Periodic changes in the compact radio structure of SS 433

VLBI observations of SS 433 at 2.3 GHz made on 12 days between 1979 May and 1980 August yield the following results: (a) the position angle of the radio 'jet' of angular size of about 0.1 arcsec varies approximately sinusoidally about a mean value of 100.2 + or - 1.7 deg with an amplitude of 19.3 + or - 3.4 deg for a period fixed at 163.6 days. This resolves the ambiguity in the two angles of the optical model of Abell and Margon and assigns the inclination of the axis of the precession cone to the 79 deg value; (b) the position angle of the radio structure on this scale lags that of the optical model by 17.4 + or - 1.6 days; and (c) at least some of the radio emitting material appears to propagate away from the core in blobs. Using the rate of change of angular separation of the blobs from the core obtained from measurements on four different days, and assuming that the radio emission is traveling at the speed derived for the optical jets from the kinematic model, a distance to SS 433 of 5.1 + or - 0.5 kpc is obtained.

Niell, A. E.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Transient dips of Cygnus X-1 observed from Tenma

The transient intensity dips of the binary system Cyg X-1 have been observed, using the gas scintillation proportional counter (GSPC) array onboard the Tenma X-ray astronomy satellite. The duration of the dips was in the range from several seconds to 10 minutes, with several dips occurring as much as 15 h before the superior conjunction. Within the dips, complex structures were observed with time scales of several seconds, and, in at least one case, shorter than two seconds. For a dip lasting longer than 10 minutes, a high-quality spectrum was obtained which reveals the K-absorption edge of iron at 7.18 + or - 0.18 keV. On the basis of the observed absorption, it is suggested that the dips are caused by absorption due to relatively cool matter (less than about 30,000 k); the low-energy excess observed during the dips is due either to an extended soft X-ray emitting corona or to partial obscuration of the X-ray source by multiple blobs. From the time structure of the dip, a blob size of the order of 10 to the 9th cm is derived.

Kitamoto, S.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Radiative transfer in circumstellar 1612 MHz OH masers

A detailed investigation of radiative transfer in the 1612 MHz OH maser in the expanding envelopes around evolved stars is made in the context of the standard model in which the mass outflow is windlike. The most sensitive diagnostic of the models is the maser emission at the velocity of the star for which VLA and MERLIN data exist. Fully saturated models are analytically eliminated. Detailed numerical modeling also eliminates partially saturated models. The need to examine alternative models for the mass outflow is suggested by this conclusion. A model for the mass outflow from these stars is advocated in which all mass is lost by the ejection of blobs of material. These blobs, acted on by radiation pressure on grains, evolve into platelike structures in the OH maser region. It is shown that the peculiar difficulties of the standard model for the OH masers do not occur in this picture.

Alcock, C.↗
NASA NTRS1986

On the formation of galaxies with flat rotation curves

The dynamical development of a gravitationally unstable, initially uniform, collision-free medium has been studied by means of fully self-consistent three-dimensional numerical experiments. The system is encouraged to form just one blob by means of a small density bump, and its collapse is followed until a steady state has been reached. That blob may be interpreted as a galaxy, complete with halo. The galaxies that form have flat 'rotation curves'. Particles with initial speeds in excess of the velocity (V0) in that flat rotation curve remain unaffected by the collapse; those with speeds less than V0 join the collapse and have their speeds increased to V0. A quasi-virial argument yields correct estimates for V0.

Smith, B. F.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Modelling ionospheric density structures

Large-scale density structures are a common feature in the high-latitude ionsphere. The structures were observed in the dayside cusp, polar cap, and nocturnal auroral region over a range of altitudes, including the E-region, F-region and topside ionosphere. The origins, lifetimes and transport characteristics of large-scale density structures were studied with the aid of a three-dimensional, time-dependent ionospheric model. Blob creation due to particle precipitation, the effect that structured electric fields have on the ionosphere, and the lifetimes and transport characteristics of density structures for different seasonal, solar cycle, and interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) conditions were studied. The main conclusions drawn are: (1) the observed precipitation energy fluxes are sufficient for blob creation if the plasma is exposed to the precipitation for 5 to 10 minutes; (2) structured electric fields produce structured electron densities, ion temperatures, and ion composition; (3) the lifetime of an F-region density structure depends on several factors, including the initial location where it was formed, the magnitude of the perturbation, season, solar cycle and IMF; and (4) depending on the IMF, horizontal plasma convection can cause an initial structure to break up into multiple structures of various sizes, remain as a single distorted structure, or become stretched into elongated segments.

Schunk, R. W.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Pyramid image codes

All vision systems, both human and machine, transform the spatial image into a coded representation. Particular codes may be optimized for efficiency or to extract useful image features. Researchers explored image codes based on primary visual cortex in man and other primates. Understanding these codes will advance the art in image coding, autonomous vision, and computational human factors. In cortex, imagery is coded by features that vary in size, orientation, and position. Researchers have devised a mathematical model of this transformation, called the Hexagonal oriented Orthogonal quadrature Pyramid (HOP). In a pyramid code, features are segregated by size into layers, with fewer features in the layers devoted to large features. Pyramid schemes provide scale invariance, and are useful for coarse-to-fine searching and for progressive transmission of images. The HOP Pyramid is novel in three respects: (1) it uses a hexagonal pixel lattice, (2) it uses oriented features, and (3) it accurately models most of the prominent aspects of primary visual cortex. The transform uses seven basic features (kernels), which may be regarded as three oriented edges, three oriented bars, and one non-oriented blob. Application of these kernels to non-overlapping seven-pixel neighborhoods yields six oriented, high-pass pyramid layers, and one low-pass (blob) layer.

Watson, Andrew B.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Stripped interstellar gas in cluster cooling flows

It is suggested that nonlinear perturbations which lead to thermal instabilities in cooling flows might start as blobs of interstellar gas which are stipped out of cluster galaxies. Assuming that most of the gas produced by stellar mass loss in cluster galaxies is stripped from the galaxies, the total rate of such stripping is roughly 100 solar masses/yr, which is similar to the rates of cooling in cluster cooling flows. It is possible that a substantial portion of the cooling gas originates as blobs of interstellar gas stripped from galaxies. The magnetic fields within and outside of the low-entropy perturbations may help to maintain their identities by suppressing both thermal conduction and Kelvin-Helmholtz instabilities. These density fluctuations may disrupt the propagation of radio jets through the intracluster gas, which may be one mechanism for producing wideangle-tail radio galaxies.

Soker, Noam↗