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The 21-micron contour map of M17 is similar to radio maps with three components. Measured flux densities give color temperatures of both 240 and 75 K for the two principal components of M17 and 44 to 63 K for Sgr B2, NGC 2024, and DR-21.
The effects of N2, O2, Ar, and He on the absorption of radiation by the 15-micron perpendicular CO2 bands are reported. The investigation was carried out at medium resolution and at gas pressures less than 1 atm. The results of the study are presented in the form of a band-averaged broadening coefficient for N2, band-averaged broadening factors for O2, Ar, and He, and wavelength dependent broadening coefficients for N2, O2, Ar, and He. Comparisons are made with other experimental and theoretical results. In addition transmittances were calculated for homogeneous paths using some of the molecular parameters determined in the study and compared with measured transmittances.
A high resolution computer model study of the atmospheric transmittance in the 2.7 to 3.2 micron region of the spectrum is described, whose purpose was to identify atmospheric windows for the HF laser wavelengths available in this region. Three HF lines corresponding to the transitions P(12), 1 to 0, P(6), 3 to 2, and P(4), 5 to 4 are identified as having transmittances of 0.70 or greater over a 1-km sea level path.
CW laser emission has been observed from a He-N2-O2-CO laser on six vibration-rotation lines of carbon monoxide that lie below 5.0 microns. The lines correspond to V = 4:3 transitions.
Medium resolution spectra in the two-micron region have been obtained for a representative sample of carbon variables. Observed variations in band strengths as function of color, carbon abundance, and variability type are interpreted as being due to thermal emission from a circumstellar dust shell.
Eclipse observations of Jupiter's satellites Io, Europa, and Ganymede have been obtained in an 8 to 14-micron band pass during 1971. The simplest thermal model able to explain the data for each satellite is a two-layer surface structure with an upper layer, only a few millimeters thick, having low thermal conductivity consistent with fine rock powder or frost, and a subsurface having high thermal conductivity consistent with solid rock or dense ice. The upper layer on Io appears to be different from that on Europa and Ganymede, but the two-layer model fits all three satellites.
Two milligrams of less than 125-micron size particles from the Luna 20 soil sample (22001,17) have been examined. The results of the mineral identification and analysis verify earlier assumptions that the nature of the lunar highlands is predominantly anorthositic in composition. The presence of highly magnesian clinopyroxene, orthopyroxene, and olivine suggests crystallization of highland rocks in an ultrabasic environment. No fragments were observed that could be unequivocally assigned to mare basalt types.
Discussion of the limits on surface temperature (under 190 K) and reflectivity (under 0.5) corresponding to an upper limit set on the 4.9-micron flux from Titan. Special attention is given to the possibility of the presence of an opaque cloud layer or some gaseous absorber on Titan and to the subsequent implications.
The 3 nu sub 3 absorption band of C-12H4 has been measured using a high-resolution vacuum infrared spectrometer. A technique is described which allows an extension of the use of the absorption standards available at 4.7 microns to the photomultiplier region of the spectrum. The new measurements indicate a shift of about 0.18 per cm from the most recently published measurements of this band.
Narrow-band observations of Titan at selected wavelengths in the 8- to 13-micron range show evidence for a strong temperature inversion and the existence of at least one more spectroscopically active component in the atmosphere in addition to H2 and CH4.
Narrow-band photoelectric photometry was made of Uranus and Neptune over a wavelength interval from 0.3 to 1.1 micron. The wavelength dependence of the geometric albedo was determined for these planets. Evidence is given that the comparison star used resembles the sun very closely in its energy distribution. It is shown that, apart from methane, another opacity source seems to be necessary in the atmospheres of these planets to explain the observed wavelength dependence of the geometric albedo for the two planets simultaneously. Radiative transfer calculations were made to determine if the previously suggested pressure-induced dipole absorptions of H2 result in a self-consistent explanation. This seems to be the case. The H2 abundance in this case is limited for both planets between 350 km amagat less than or equal to N(H2) less than 800 km amagat. This agrees with a previous determination of the H2 abundance for Uranus.
In order to determine if a quantifiable relationship exists between the 6.7 micron radiometric patterns observed by the Nimbus-4 temperature-humidity infrared radiometer (THIR) and tropospheric dynamics, a 10-level diagnostic model is employed. The model is used to show the spatial and temporal relationships existing between radiometrically observed water vapor patterns and conventionally derived water vapor patterns, and to examine the upper and middle tropospheric water vapor budget and associated dynamics in order to assess the causes behind the spatially- and temporally-varying water vapor radiometric patterns. A particular situation involving a confluent trough located to the lee of the Rockies over the Central United States is examined.
Narrow band observations of Titan at selected wavelengths in the 8-13 micron range show evidence for a strong temperature inversion and the existence of at least one more spectroscopically active component in the atmosphere in addition to H2 and CH4.
The first infrared heterodyne spectrometer using tuneable semiconductor (PbSe) diode lasers has been constructed and was used near 8.5 micron to measure absorption line profiles of N2O in the laboratory and black body emission from the Moon and from Mars. Spectral information was recorded over a 200 MHz bandwidth using an 8-channel filter bank. The resolution was 25 MHz and the minimum detectable (black body) power was 1 x 10 to the minus 16th power watts for 8 minutes of integration. The results demonstrate the usefulness of heterodyne spectroscopy for the study of remote and local sources in the infrared.
Several hundred five-micron 'video' pictures of Jupiter, with 1-sec resolution, made during September, October, and December 1973 and compared with color photographs, are shown to exhibit direct, detailed correlations with the darker 'purple' features. Forty-four of these pictures were made just before the Pioneer-10 encounter.
Integrated intensities of acetylene bands at 3.04, 7.53, and 13.7 microns measured at 300 K at a spectral resolution of 0.6 slit widths per cm, using the technique described by Penner (1959), are presented. Comparisons with other published measurements suggest that the presented intensity values are reasonably well determined.
Measurement of the absorptance in the 6.3-micron band of a 1-m column of water vapor as a function of concentration c, pressure p, and temperature T. From the measured absorptance, the first derivatives with respect to c, p, and T, as well as the second derivatives with respect to cc, pp, cp, and pT have been obtained. These experimental results have been compared with values calculated from the line parameters of the 720 strongest rotational lines in the band.
Partial surveys in the far infrared in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres have covered 40% of the galactic equator and assorted regions away from the galactic plane. Approximately 120 100-micron objects are known. These are distributed extensively in galactic longitude and concentrated within + or - two degrees in galactic latitude. From this information, some general conclusions can be drawn about the sensitivity and coverage required for a general sky survey in the far infrared.