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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 883 records · Page 49
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1971

Experimental study of spectral index, mode coupling, and energy cascading in a turbulent, hot-ion plasma.

Experiments are described in which the spectrum of electrostatic potential fluctuations was measured with a capacitive probe in a steady state turbulent plasma confined in a magnetic mirror geometry. The plasma electron concentration ranged between 5 x 10 to the seventh power and 5 x 10 to the eighth power, the electron temperature ranged between 8 and 38 eV, the ion temperature between 350 and 960 eV, and the maximum-magnetic field was 1.0 T. When oscillation peaks were absent, the amplitude spectrum of electrostatic potential fluctuations was found to have a power law dependence on the frequency. The value of the spectral index was influenced by the probe position in the field, and at a certain position, by the plasma characteristics. The spectral index was generally below the value of 2.5 predicted by turbulence theories formulated in k space. The effects on the amplitude spectrum of a sinusoidal external modulation of the anode voltage were assessed over the range between 0 and 100 kHz. The spectra exhibited several mode coupling phenomena, including enhanced harmonics of the externally imposed frequency, and sideband modulation of plasma generated oscillation peaks.

Roth, J. R.↗
NASA NTRS1973

Initial results from the NASA Lewis Bumpy Torus experiment

Initial results were obtained from low power operation of the NASA Lewis Bumpy Torus experiment, in which a steady-state ion heating method based on the modified Penning discharge is applied in a bumpy torus confinement geometry. The magnet facility consists of 12 superconducting coils, each 19 cm i.d. and capable of 3.0 T, equally spaced in a toroidal array 1.52 m in major diameter. A 18 cm i.d. anode ring is located at each of the 12 midplanes and is maintained at high positive potentials by a dc power supply. Initial observations indicate electron temperatures from 10 to 150 eV, and ion kinetic temperatures from 200 eV to 1200 eV. Two modes of operation were observed, which depend on background pressure, and have different radial density profiles. Steady state neutron production was observed. The ion heating process in the bumpy torus appears to parallel closely the mechanism observed when the modified Penning discharge was operated in a simple magnetic mirror field.

Roth, J. R.↗
NASA NTRS1973

Initial results from the NASA Lewis Bumpy Torus experiment

Initial results are given for low power operation of the NASA Lewis Bumpy Torus experiment in which a steady-state ion heating method based on a modified Penning discharge is applied to a bumpy torus confinement geometry. The magnet facility consists of 12 superconducting coils capable of 3.0 T each and equally spaced in a toroidal array 1.52 m in major diameter. A 18 cm i.d. anode ring is located at each of the 12 midplanes and is maintained at high positive potentials by a dc power supply. Initial observations indicate electron temperatures from 10 to 150 eV, and ion kinetic temperatures from 200 eV to 1200 eV. Two modes of operation with different radial density profiles can be achieved, depending on the background pressure applied.

Roth, J. R.↗
NASA NTRS1974

The magnetosphere of Jupiter as observed with Pioneer 10. I - Instrument and principal findings

Description of the first in situ observations of energetic electrons of energy greater than 0.06 MeV in the magnetosphere of Jupiter during November-December 1973. The outer magnetosphere has the form of a thin disklike quasi-trapping region extending from about 20 to over 100 Jovian radii. This magnetodisk is confined near the magnetic equatorial plane and has approximate axial symmetry about the magnetic axis of the planet. The observations inside a radial distance of 12 Jovian radii are well organized by a centered dipolar model of the planet's magnetic field with a tilt of 9.5 plus or minus 0.5 deg to the rotational axis and with pole at a system III longitude of 230 plus or minus 3 deg. Absolute omnidirectional intensities of electrons within the stable trapping region inside 20 Jovian radii are given for five energy ranges greater than 0.06, 0.55, 5.0, 21, and 31 MeV.

Van Allen, J. A.↗
NASA NTRS1974

The radiation belts of Jupiter

The cloud of relativistic electrons which forms the Jupiter radiation belts at a distance of a few Jovian radii from the planet is considered. The inner belt is shown to consist of electrons with about three times the energy of those in the outer zone, and to have an equatorial density which is about one half the peak density in the outer zone. The pitch angle distribution of the electrons in the outer zone becomes gradually more confined to the magnetic equator with increasing distance from the planet.

Degioanni, J. J. C.↗
NASA NTRS1976

High-velocity interstellar clouds

Interstellar absorption line studies have revealed that rapidly moving clouds within one kiloparsec of the sun have considerably less depletion of heavy elements than in the low-velocity diffuse clouds, and their density is somewhat greater and their thickness smaller. Evaporation of interstellar grains, resulting from grain-grain collisions in interstellar shocks, may provide a possible explanation for the observations. Some problems involved in this mechanism are discussed, particularly the likely dominant importance of the interstellar magnetic field in confining the grains within the shocked layer and in accelerating them through the associated electric field, thus offsetting the frictional force of the gas.

Spitzer, L.↗
NASA NTRS1978

Apparatus for extraction and separation of a preferentially photo-dissociated molecular isotope into positive and negative ions by means of an electric field

Molecules of one and the same isotope were preferentially photodissociated by a laser and an ultraviolet source, or by multiphoton absorption of laser radiation. The resultant ions were confined with a magnetic field, moved in opposite directions by an electric field, extracted from the photodissociation region by means of screening and accelerating grids, and collected in ducts.

Wilhelm, H. E.↗
NASA NTRS1979

X-ray line emission from Capella

X-ray emission line components from Mg, Si, S and Fe were unambiguously detected from Capella with the Solid-State Spectrometer onboard the Einstein Observatory. The X-ray spectrum is inconsistent with an isothermal corona, and requires components between 6,000,000 K and at least 24,000,000 K for an adequate fit. An inhomogeneous corona in which the X-ray emitting plasma is confined to magnetically-contained loops appears to be reconcilable with all of the experimental evidence.

Holt, S. S.↗
NASA NTRS1981

On the nature of the apparent response of the vorticity area index to the solar magnetic field

The apparent response of the vorticity area index to the solar magnetic field is confined to tropospheric regions of intense circulation. Discussions and calculations that include larger volumes of the troposphere would not be expected to show a significant sun-weather effect. Analysis of the effect in time intervals outside the original 1963-73 is also discussed. An assessment of this sun-weather effect at the present time is given.

Wilcox, J. M.↗
NASA NTRS1982

The structure of untwisted magnetic flux tubes

While most previous investigations have concentrated on slender flux tubes, the present study of the equilibrium structure of an axisymmetric magnetic flux tube, confined by an external pressure that varies along the length of the tube, explores the properties of thick tubes in order to establish the degree to which slender tube theory is valid. It is found that slender flux tube results may in some cases give no indication of thick tube behavior in a nonuniform atmosphere. Depending on boundary conditions applied at the ends of the tube, it may expand or contract upon entering a region of increasing pressure. Rather than expanding indefinitely, the tube surface may form a cusped shape when a point of external pressure on the tube surface falls to equality with the internal pressure. Numerical solutions for an initially uniform tube give smaller expansions than would be expected from slender tube theory.

Browning, P. K.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Very large array observations of Jupiter's nonthermal radiation

The VLA has been used at 18 and 20 cm to obtain observational data on Jupiter at all rotational aspects in all four Stokes parameters, yielding maps of the total, linearly polarized and circularly polarized intensity with a resolution of 0.25 Jupiter radii. These maps reveal such previously undetected phenomena as an emission feature close to the planetary surface north and south of each of the two main radiation peaks. The emission from 1.8 to about 3 Jupiter radii from the planet's center is sharply confined to the magnetic equator.

De Pater, I.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Variable energy, high flux, ground-state atomic oxygen source

A variable energy, high flux atomic oxygen source is described which is comprised of a means for producing a high density beam of molecules which will emit O(-) ions when bombarded with electrons; a means of producing a high current stream of electrons at a low energy level passing through the high density beam of molecules to produce a combined stream of electrons and O(-) ions; means for accelerating the combined stream to a desired energy level; means for producing an intense magnetic field to confine the electrons and O(-) ions; means for directing a multiple pass laser beam through the combined stream to strip off the excess electrons from a plurality of the O(-) ions to produce ground-state O atoms within the combined stream; electrostatic deflection means for deflecting the path of the O(-) ions and the electrons in the combined stream; and, means for stopping the O(-) ions and the electrons and for allowing only the ground-state O atoms to continue as the source of the atoms of interest. The method and apparatus are also adaptable for producing other ground-state atoms and/or molecules.

Chutjian, Ara↗
NASA NTRS1990

Theory and observations of electrostatic ion waves in the cold Io torus

A study of the ELF plasma wave environment of the cold Io torus in Jupiter's magnetosphere is made. Voyager 1 data are presented which show three distinct types of electrostatic ion waves occurring there: the Buchsbaum ion-ion mode just below the proton cyclotron frequency f(cp), hydrogen Bernstein modes at (n + 1/2) f(cp), and lower hybrid waves near f(LHR). The presence of these waves at their characteristic frequencies is consistent with a predominantly heavy ion plasma composed of singly ionized sulfur and oxygen ions along with a small admixture of protons. The hydrogen Bernstein modes are tightly confined to the magnetic equator, occurring within + or - 4 deg of it, while the Buchsbaum mode is localized to the dense heavy ion plasma of the cold torus near the centrifugal equator. A general theory for excitation of the waves based on the ion pickup process is developed.

Barbosa, D. D.↗
NASA NTRS1990

The structure of the Birkeland current system in the post-midnight plasma sheet

Simultaneous magnetic field and particle measurements by AMPTE/CCE with magnetic field measurements by GOES 5 and GOES 6 clarify the structure of the field-aligned Birkeland current system in the post-midnight region of the near-earth magnetotail. The current system, consisting of current sheets flowing in opposite directions, exists near the boundary region of the plasma sheet; its magnetic effects are confined mainly to the current region because of its structure. During the expansion phase of substorms, a single-sheet current system is formed in the boundary region of the plasma sheet and net current is probably present in one meridian plane. This type of current system produces the substorm-related transient variations in the azimuthal (D) component normally observed at synchronous orbit.

Nagai, Tsugunobu↗
NASA NTRS1990

Electrostatic electron and ion cyclotron harmonic waves in Neptune's magnetosphere

Voyager 2 observations of electrostatic electron and ion cyclotron waves detected in Neptune's magnetosphere are presented. Both types of emission appear in a frequency band above the electron and ion (proton) cyclotron frequencies, respectively, and are tightly confined to the magnetic equator occurring within a few degrees of it. The electron cyclotron modes including an intense upper hybrid resonance emission excited by an unstable loss cone distribution of low-density superthermal electrons. The ion cyclotron waves are interpreted as hydrogen Bernstein modes including an intense lower hybrid resonance emission excited by an unstable ring distribution of low-density pickup N(+) ions deriving from the satellite Triton.

Barbosa, D. D.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Star and cluster formation in NGC 1275

Luminous, blue, and unresolved objects have been found by imaging the nuclear region of the central galaxy in the Perseus Cluster, NGC 1275. Stellar formation in a cooling flow in which gas clouds confined by weak magnetic fields are allowed to remain at low densities is favored. Cloud-cloud collisions and coagulation in the high cloud density environment at the center of the galaxy then causes some clouds to become gravitationally unstable and to form globular clusters.

Richer, Harvey B.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Self-consistent electrostatic potential due to trapped plasma in the magnetosphere

A steady state solution for the self-consistent electrostatic potential due to a plasma confined in a magnetic flux tube is considered. A steady state distribution function is constructed for the trapped particles from the constants of the motion, in the absence of waves and collisions. Using Liouville's theorem, the particle density along the geomagnetic field is determined and found to depend on the local magnetic field, self-consistent electric potential, and the equatorial plasma distribution function. A hot anisotropic magnetospheric plasma in steady state is modeled by a bi-Maxwellian at the equator. The self-consistent electric potential along the magnetic field is calculated assuming quasineutrality, and the potential drop is found to be approximately equal to the average kinetic energy of the equatorially trapped plasma. The potential is compared with that obtained by Alfven and Faelthammar (1963).

Miller, Ronald H.↗
NASA NTRS1995

Relativistic hadrons and the origin of relativistic outflows in active galactic nuclei

We examine the hydrodynamic origin of relativistic outflows in active galactic nuclei (AGN). Specifically, we propose that the presence of a population of relativistic hadrons in the AGN 'central engine' and the associated neutron production suffices to produce outflows which under rather general conditions could be relativistic. The main such condition is that the size of the neutron production region be larger than the neutron flight path tau(sub n) approximately 3 x 10(exp 13) cm. This condition guarantees that the mean energy per particle in the proton fluid, resulting from the decay of the neutrons outside their production region, be greater than the proton rest mass. The expansion of this fluid can then lead naturally to a relativistic outflow by conversion of its internal energy to directed motion. We follow the development of such flows by solving the mass, energy as well as the kinetic equation for the proton gas in steady state, taking into account the source terms due to compute accurately the adiabatic index of the expanding gas, and in conjunction with Bernoulli's equation the detailed evolution of the bulk Lorentz factor. We further examine the role of large-scale magnetic fields in confining these outflows to produce the jets observed at larger scales.

Contopoulos, John↗