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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 667 records · Page 37
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2014

A Magnified View of the Kinematics and Morphology of RCSGA 032727-132609: Zooming in on a Merger at z = 1.7

We present a detailed analysis of multi-wavelength Hubble Space Telescope/Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) imaging and Keck/OSIRIS near-infrared adaptive optics-assisted integral field spectroscopy for a highly magnified lensed galaxy at z = 1.70. This young starburst is representative of ultraviolet-selected star-forming galaxies (SFGs) at z approx. 2 and contains multiple individual star-forming regions. Due to the lensing magnification, we can resolve spatial scales down to 100 pc in the source plane of the galaxy. The velocity field shows disturbed kinematics suggestive of an ongoing interaction and there is a clear signature of a tidal tail. We constrain the age, reddening, star formation rate, and stellar mass of the star-forming clumps from spectral energy distribution (SED) modeling of the WFC3 photometry and measure their H(alpha) luminosity, metallicity, and outflow properties from the OSIRIS data.With strong star-formation-driven outflows in four clumps, RCSGA0327 is the first high-redshift SFG at stellar mass <10(exp 10) Stellar Mass with spatially resolved stellar winds. We compare the H(alpha) luminosities, sizes, and dispersions of the star-forming regions with other high-z clumps as well as local giant H(II) regions and find no evidence for increased clump star formation surface densities in interacting systems, unlike in the local universe. Spatially resolved SED modeling unveils an established stellar population at the location of the largest clump and a second mass concentration near the edge of the system that is not detected in H(alpha) emission. This suggests a picture of an equal-mass mixed major merger, which has not triggered a new burst of star formation or caused a tidal tail in the gas-poor component.

Magnified↗
NASA NTRS1986

Thermal ion heating in the vicinity of the plasmapause: A Dynamics Explorer guest investigation

The ion thermal structure of the plasmasphere was investigated in a series of experiments. It appears that energy may be generally available to ion and electrons in the vinicity of the plasmapause from Coulomb interactions between ambient thermal plasma and low energy ring current and suprathermal ions, particularly O+. The amount of energy transferred depends on the densities and energies of each of the components. The spatial distribution of heating in turn depends critically on the spatial distribution of the different populations, especially on the density gradients. The spatial distribution of the thermal plasma is found to vary significantly on a diurnal time scale and is complicated by the plasmasphere erosion and refilling processes associated with magnetic activity and its aftermath. Thermal ion composition also appears to be influenced by the heating taking place, often increasing the heavy ion population in the vicinity of the plasmapause. The observations of equatorial heating near the plasmapause in the presence of equatorial noise also raise the likelihood of a wave source of energy. It is not unreasonable to expect that both particle and wave heat sources are significant, although not necessarily at the same times and places.

Comfort, R. H.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Localized sources of propagating acoustic waves in the solar photosphere

A time series of Doppler measurements of the solar photosphere with moderate spatial resolution is described which covers a portion of the solar disk surrounding a small sunspot group. At temporal frequencies above 5.5 mHz, the Doppler field probes the spatial and temporal distribution of regions that emit acoustic energy. In the frequency range between 5.5 and 7.5 mHz, inclusive, a small fraction of the surface area emits a disproportionate amount of acoustic energy. The regions with excess emission are characterized by a patchy structure at spatial scales of a few arcseconds and by association (but not exact co-location) with regions having substantial magnetic field strength. These observations bear on the conjecture that most of the acoustic energy driving solar p-modes is created in localized regions occupying a small fraction of the solar surface area.

Brown, Timothy M.↗
NASA NTRS1996

Investigation of ion-beam machining methods for replicated x-ray optics

The final figuring step in the fabrication of an optical component involves imparting a specified contour onto the surface. This can be expensive and time consuming step. The recent development of ion beam figuring provides a method for performing the figuring process with advantages over standard mechanical methods. Ion figuring has proven effective in figuring large optical components. The process of ion beam figuring removes material by transferring kinetic energy from impinging neutral particles. The process utilizes a Kaufman type ion source, where a plasma is generated in a discharge chamber by controlled electric potentials. Charged grids extract and accelerate ions from the chamber. The accelerated ions form a directional beam. A neutralizer outside the accelerator grids supplies electrons to the positive ion beam. It is necessary to neutralize the beam to prevent charging workpieces and to avoid bending the beam with extraneous electro-magnetic fields. When the directed beam strikes the workpiece, material sputters in a predicable manner. The amount and distribution of material sputtered is a function of the energy of the beam, material of the component, distance from the workpiece, and angle of incidence of the beam. The figuring method described here assumes a constant beam removal, so that the process can be represented by a convolution operation. A fixed beam energy maintains a constant sputtering rate. This temporally and spatially stable beam is held perpendicular to the workpiece at a fixed distance. For non-constant removal, corrections would be required to model the process as a convolution operation. Specific figures (contours) are achieved by rastering the beam over the workpiece at varying velocities. A unique deconvolution is performed, using series-derivative solution developed for the system, to determine these velocities.

Drueding, Thomas W.↗
NASA NTRS2019

Source of the Bursty Bulk Flow Diffuse Aurora: Electrostatic Cyclotron Harmonic and Whistler Waves in the Coupling of Bursty Bulk Flows to Auroral Precipitation

Electron cyclotron harmonic (ECH) and whistler chorus waves are recognized as the two mechanisms responsible for the resonant wave‐particle interactions necessary to precipitate plasma sheet electrons into the ionosphere, producing the diffuse Aurora. Previous work has demonstrated ECH waves dominate electron scattering at L shells >8, while whistler chorus dominates scattering at L shells L < 8. However, we find from Time History of Events and Macroscale (THEMIS) Interactions during Substorms observations of fast flows at L = 12 that oblique whistler chorus emissions play the dominant role in scattering electrons. Previous works have identified whistler‐mode waves within fast flows that are produced by an electron temperature anisotropy Te,⊥/Te,||> 1, consistent with electron betatron acceleration. Here, however, we find whistler chorus emissions throughout an interval of fast flows where Te,⊥/Te,||< 1. Parallel electron beams account for the enhanced parallel electron temperature and serve as the instability mechanism for the whistler chorus. The parallel electron beams and associated cigar‐shaped distributions are consistent with Fermi acceleration at dipolarizations in fast flows. We demonstrate that the scattering efficiency of the whistler chorus exceeds that of ECH waves, which THEMIS also detects during the fast flows. The obliquity of the whistler waves permits efficient scattering of lower‐energy electrons into the diffuse aurora. We conclude that Fermi acceleration of electrons provides one important free‐energy source for the wave‐particle interactions responsible for coupling plasma sheet electrons into the diffuse aurora during substorm conditions.

Wendel, D. E.↗
NASA NTRS2024

CLARREO Pathfinder Solar Diffuser Calibration Progress

Climate Absolute Radiance and Refractivity Observatory (CLARREO) Pathfinder (CPF) mission’s Hyperspectral Imager for Climate Science (HySICS) instrument’s transmissive flight diffuser calibration is presented. The absolute Bidirectional Transmittance Distribution Function (BTDF) measurement of the transmissive diffuser is needed to calculate the instrument’s absolute efficiency. Along with a known solar irradiance source such as Total Solar Irradiance Sensor (TSIS), it can provide an absolute irradiance measurement path on orbit, with NIST traceability. This provides an additional path for CPF to cross compare with other on orbit sensors’ measurement such as Visible-Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS), Clouds and the Earth’s Radiant Energy System (CERES). The flight diffuser was calibrated at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) using the Facility’s Optical Scatterometer.

Bidirectional Transmittance Distribution Function↗
NASA NTRS1976

The inconsistency between proton charge exchange and the observed ring current decay

The equatorial pitch-angle distributions of ring-current ions observed during a storm recovery phase at L values between 3 and 4 are compared with the pitch-angle distributions predicted by proton charge exchange with neutral hydrogen. Large disagreements are found, and three alternative explanations are explored. (1) A strong proton source acts to mask the effects of charge exchange. It is believed that the required strong continual source with a unique pitch-angle and energy dependence is unrealistic at these low L values. (2) Presently accepted neutral hydrogen density models have densities well over an order of magnitude too large for a storm recovery phase. No evidence is known to support the required large errors in the densities. (3) The ring current at particle energies not exceeding 50 keV was dominated by some ion species other than protons during the storm recovery phase. Such ions must have much longer lifetimes for charge exchange with hydrogen than do protons. This alternative is strongly favored, with He(+) being an attractive candidate.

Lyons, L. R.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Cool circumstellar matter around nearby main-sequence stars

Stars are presented which have characteristics similar to Vega and other main-sequence stars with cool dust disks, based on the IRAS Point Source Catalog fluxes. The objects are selected to have a 60-micron/100-micron ratio similar to Vega, Beta Pic, Alpha PsA, and Epsilon Eri, and they are also required to show evidence of extension in the IRAS Working Survey Database. The fluxes are modeled using a blackbody energy distribution. The temperatures derived range from 50 to 650 K. The diameters of the dust disks observed by IRAS are estimated.

Walker, H. J.↗
NASA NTRS1994

On the bimodal distribution of gamma-ray bursts

Kouveliotou et al. recently confirmed that gamma-ray bursts are bimodal in duration. In this paper we compute the statistical properties of the short (less than or = 2 s) and long (greater than 2 s) bursts using a method of analysis that makes no assumption regarding the location of the bursts, whether in the Galaxy or at a cosmological distance. We find the 64 ms channel on Burst and Transient Source Experiment (BATSE) to be more sensitive to short bursts and the 1024 ms channel to be more sensitive to long bursts. We show that all the currently available data are consistent with the simple hypothesis that both short and long bursts have the same spatial distribution and that within each population the sources are standard candles. The rate of short bursts per unit volume is about 40% of the rate of long bursts. Although the durations of short and long gamma-ray bursts span several orders of magnitude and the total energy of a typical short burst is smaller than that of a typical long burst by a factor of about 20, surprisingly the peak luminosities of the two kinds of bursts are equal to within a factor of about 2.

Mao, Shude↗
NASA NTRS1996

A Complete Public Archive for the Einstein Imaging Proportional Counter

Consistent with our proposal to the Astrophysics Data Program in 1992, we have completed the design, construction, documentation, and distribution of a flexible and complete archive of the data collected by the Einstein Imaging Proportional Counter. Along with software and data delivered to the High Energy Astrophysics Science Archive Research Center at Goddard Space Flight Center, we have compiled and, where appropriate, published catalogs of point sources, soft sources, hard sources, extended sources, and transient flares detected in the database along with extensive analyses of the instrument's backgrounds and other anomalies. We include in this document a brief summary of the archive's functionality, a description of the scientific catalogs and other results, a bibliography of publications supported in whole or in part under this contract, and a list of personnel whose pre- and post-doctoral education consisted in part in participation in this project.

Helfand, David J.↗
NASA NTRS2001

Subsurface Sounding of Mars: The Effects of Surface Roughness

The Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionospheric Sounding (MARSIS) will conduct a global survey of Mars from the Mars Express Orbiter starting in 2004. The primary objective of the subsurface observations is to detect material interfaces in the upper several kilometers of the crust of Mars, with a particular emphasis on mapping the 3D distribution of water and ice in that portion of the crust. In order to detect subsurface interfaces, the returned echo from the subsurface must be distinguished from noise and clutter, which can arise from a variety of sources. One source of clutter is surface topography that generates backscattered energy at the same time delay as the subsurface region of interest. Surface topography can affect the detectability of subsurface features in several other ways. Surface roughness at scales comparable or somewhat smaller than the radar wavelength reduces the coherency of the wave as it passes the upper interface. Also, surface slope (tilt) at scales of the radar footprint and larger (> 5 km) affects the apparent Doppler signature of the echoes, and effectively disperses the wave transmitted into the subsurface, making processing and interpretation difficult. In this paper, we report on the roughness characteristics of Mars at these various scales as measured by the Mars Global Surveyor Laser Altimeter (MOLA), and consider the implications for achieving the subsurface sounding goals of MARSIS. Additional information is contained in the original extended abstract.

Plaut, J. J.↗
NASA NTRS2009

Improvements to the RXTE/PCA Calibration

The author presents the current status of the RXTE/PCA Calibration, with emphasis on recent updates to the energy scale and the background subtraction. A new treatment of the Xenon K-escape line removes the largest remaining residual in the previously distributed matrices. Observations of Sco X-1 made simultaneously with Swift XRT, expressly for the purpose of cross calibrating the response to bright sources, are presented.

Jahoda, K.↗
NASA NTRS2000

Statistical Properties of SGR 1806-20 Bursts

We present statistics of SGR 1806-20 bursts, combining 290 events detected with the Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer/Proportional Counter Array, 111 events detected with the Burst and Transient Source Experiment, and 134 events detected with the International Cometary, Explorer. We find that the fluence distribution of bursts observed with each instrument are well described by power laws with indices 1.43, 1.76, and 1.67, respectively. The distribution of time intervals between successive bursts from SGR 1806-20 is described by a lognormal function with a peak at 103 s. There is no correlation between the burst intensity and either the waiting times until the next burst or the time elapsed since the previous burst. In all these statistical properties, SGR 1806-20 bursts resemble a self-organized critical system, similar to earthquakes and solar flares. Our results thus support the hypothesis that the energy source for soft gamma repeater bursts is crustquakes due to the evolving, strong magnetic field of the neutron star, rather than any accretion or nuclear power.

Gogus, Ersin↗
NASA NTRS1973

On the relationship between acoustic energy density flux near the jet axis and far field acoustic intensity

By measurement and analysis, the relationship between the distribution of the outflow of acoustic energy over the jet boundary and the far-field intensity is considered. The physical quantity used is the gradient of the pressure evaluated on a geometrical plane at the smallest possible radial distance from the jet axis, but outside the vortical region, in the area where the homogeneous wave equation is reasonably well satisfied. The numerical and experimental procedures involved have been checked out by using a known source. Results indicate that the acoustic power output per unit length of the jet, in the region from which the sound emanates, peaks at approximately 9 diameters downstream. The acoustic emission for a jet Strouhal number of about 0.3 exceeds the emission for all other Strouhal numbers nearly everywhere along the measurement plane. However, the far-field peak intensity distribution obtained from the contribution of each station was found to depend on the spatial extent of the region where sound emanates from the jet, which, in turn, depends more on the far-field angle than on the Strouhal number.

Maestrello, L.↗
NASA NTRS1974

Primary gamma rays

Within this galaxy, cosmic rays reveal their presence in interstellar space and probably in source regions by their interactions with interstellar matter which lead to gamma rays with a very characteristic energy spectrum. From the study of the intensity of the high energy gamma radiation as a function of galactic longitude, it is already clear that cosmic rays are almost certainly not uniformly distributed in the galaxy and are not concentrated in the center of the galaxy. The galactic cosmic rays appear to be tied to galactic structural features, presumably by the galactic magnetic fields which are in turn held by the matter in the arm segments and the clouds. On the extragalactic scale, it is now possible to say that cosmic rays are not universal at the density seen near the earth. The diffuse celestial gamma ray spectrum that is observed presents the interesting possibility of cosmological studies and possible evidence for a residual universal cosmic ray density, which is much lower than the present galactic cosmic ray density.

Fichtel, C. E.↗
NASA NTRS1975

Rocket observations of the Perseus X-ray source

The spectrum and angular distribution of soft X-ray emission from the source in the Perseus cluster has been observed. A prominent feature of this source is a point-like component at the position of NGC 1275. Preliminary analysis indicates that the spectrum of this source does not rise as steeply at energies below 1 keV as has been reported previously.

Catura, R. C.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Recovery of burner acoustic source structure from far-field sound spectra

A method is presented that permits the thermal-acoustic efficiency spectrum in a long turbulent burner to be recovered from the corresponding far-field sound spectrum. An acoustic source/propagation model is used based on the perturbation solution of the equations describing the unsteady one-dimensional flow of an inviscid ideal gas with a distributed heat source. The technique is applied to a long cylindrical hydrogen-flame burner operating over power levels of 4.5-22.3 kW. The results show that the thermal-acoustic efficiency at a given frequency, defined as the fraction of the total burner power converted to acoustic energy at that frequency, is rather insensitive to burner power, having a maximum value on the order of 10 to the -4th at 150 Hz and rolling off steeply with increasing frequency. Evidence is presented that acoustic agitation of the flame at low frequencies enhances the mixing of the unburned fuel and air with the hot products of combustion. The paper establishes the potential of the technique as a useful tool for characterizing the acoustic source structure in any burner, such as a gas turbine combustor, for which a reasonable acoustic propagation model can be postulated.

Mahan, J. R.↗