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DOE OSTI2013

DETECTING THE RAPIDLY EXPANDING OUTER SHELL OF THE CRAB NEBULA: WHERE TO LOOK

We present a range of steady-state photoionization simulations, corresponding to different assumed shell geometries and compositions, of the unseen postulated rapidly expanding outer shell to the Crab Nebula. The properties of the shell are constrained by the mass that must lie within it, and by limits to the intensities of hydrogen recombination lines. In all cases the photoionization models predict very strong emissions from high ionization lines that will not be emitted by the Crab's filaments, alleviating problems with detecting these lines in the presence of light scattered from brighter parts of the Crab. The near-NIR [Ne VI] {lambda}7.652 {mu}m line is a particularly good case; it should be dramatically brighter than the optical lines commonly used in searches. The C IV {lambda}1549 doublet is predicted to be the strongest absorption line from the shell, which is in agreement with Hubble Space Telescope observations. We show that the cooling timescale for the outer shell is much longer than the age of the Crab, due to the low density. This means that the temperature of the shell will actually ''remember'' its initial conditions. However, the recombination time is much shorter than the age of the Crab, so the predicted level of ionization should approximate the real ionization. In any case, it is clear that IR observations present the best opportunity to detect the outer shell and so guide future models that will constrain early events in the original explosion.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2011

A HIGH-METALLICITY, HIGH-VELOCITY CLOUD ALONG THE Mrk 421 SIGHT LINE: A TRACER OF COMPLEX M?

We present a new measurement, 0.85-3.5 Z{sub sun}, of the metallicity of high-velocity cloud (HVC) Complex M by analyzing ultraviolet spectroscopic observations of the blazar Mrk 421 taken with the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph on the Hubble Space Telescope and the Far-Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer. Although an HVC at V{sub LSR} = -131 km s{sup -1} is not visible in 21 cm emission (log N{sub H{sub I}} < 18.38; 3{sigma}), it is detected in ultraviolet absorption lines of C II, N I, O I, O VI, Si II, Si III, Si IV, Fe II, and H I. By referencing velocities to the intermediate-velocity cloud at -60 km s{sup -1} and jointly analyzing H I absorption from high-order H I Lyman lines, we measure log N{sub H{sub I}} = 16.84{sup +0.34}{sub -0.13} (1{sigma}) in the HVC. Comparing H I and O I, we find an HVC metallicity [O/H] =0.32{sup +0.22}{sub -0.39}. Because the sight line passes {approx}4{sup 0} from the HVCs in Complex M, the detected HVC may represent the highest velocity component of the Complex, and our measurements provide a lower limit to its metallicity. The high, possibly super-solar metallicity, together with the low distance, z < 3.5 kpc, above the Galactic plane suggests that Complex M is condensed returning gas from a Galactic fountain.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2024

Transient fading X-ray emission detected during the optical rise of a tidal disruption event

ABSTRACT We report on the SRG/eROSITA detection of ultra-soft ($kT=47^{+5}_{-5}$ eV) X-ray emission (LX =$2.5^{+0.6}_{-0.5} \times 10^{43}$ erg s−1) from the tidal disruption event (TDE) candidate AT 2022dsb ∼14 d before peak optical brightness. As the optical luminosity increases after the eROSITA detection, then the 0.2–2 keV observed flux decays, decreasing by a factor of ∼39 over the 19 d after the initial X-ray detection. Multi-epoch optical spectroscopic follow-up observations reveal transient broad Balmer emission lines and a broad He ii 4686 Å emission complex with respect to the pre-outburst spectrum. Despite the early drop in the observed X-ray flux, the He ii 4686 Å complex is still detected for ∼40 d after the optical peak, suggesting the persistence of an obscured hard ionizing source in the system. Three outflow signatures are also detected at early times: (i) blueshifted H α emission lines in a pre-peak optical spectrum, (ii) transient radio emission, and (iii) blueshifted Ly α absorption lines. The joint evolution of this early-time X-ray emission, the He ii 4686 Å complex, and these outflow signatures suggests that the X-ray emitting disc (formed promptly in this TDE) is still present after optical peak, but may have been enshrouded by optically thick debris, leading to the X-ray faintness in the months after the disruption. If the observed early-time properties in this TDE are not unique to this system, then other TDEs may also be X-ray bright at early times and become X-ray faint upon being veiled by debris launched shortly after the onset of circularization.

Malyali, A. (ORCID:0000000288514019)↗

NASA NTRS1979

Stratospheric sounding by infrared heterodyne spectroscopy

Intensity profiles of infrared spectral lines of stratospheric constituents can be fully resolved with a heterodyne spectrometer of sufficiently high resolution (approximately 5 MHz = 0.000167 kaysers at 10 microns). The constituents' vertical distributions can then be evaluated accurately by analytic inversion of the measured line profiles. Estimates of the detection sensitivity of a heterodyne receiver are given in terms of minimum detectable volume mixing ratios of stratospheric constituents, indicating a large number of minor constituents which can be studied. Stratospheric spectral line shapes and the resolution required to measure them are discussed in light of calculated synthetic line profiles for some stratospheric molecules in a model atmosphere. The inversion technique for evaluation of gas concentration profiles is briefly described, and applications to synthetic lines of O3, CO2, CH4, and N2O are given. Some recent heterodyne measurements of CO2 and O3 absorption lines are analytically inverted, and the vertical distributions of the two gases are determined.

Abbas, M. M.↗

NASA NTRS1979

Identification of the V3 vibration-rotation band of CF4 in balloon-borne infrared solar spectra

Infrared solar spectra in the 850 to 1350/cm region, at 0.02/cm resolution, were obtained during a balloon flight made on 27 October 1978 from Alamogordo, New Mexico. Analysis of the 1275-1290/cm region indicates that the atmospheric absorption lines of CH4, N2O, H2O, HNO3 and CO2 near 1283/cm are super-imposed on a broader absorption feature which we interpret as due to the V3 band of CF4. Fine structure of CF4 is also identified. Preliminary estimates from the sunset spectra show approximately 75 pptv CF4 near 25 km.

Goldman, A.↗

NASA NTRS1993

Photometric and spectroscopic observations of SN 1990E in NGC 1035 - Observational constraints for models of type II supernovae

We present 126 photometric and 30 spectral observations of SN 1990E spanning from 12 days before B maximum to 600 days past discovery. These observations show that SN 1990E was of type II-P, displaying hydrogen in its spectrum, and the characteristic plateau in its light curve. SN 1990E is one of the few SNe II which has been well observed before maximum light, and we present evidence that this SN was discovered very soon after its explosion. In the earliest spectra we identify, for the first time, several N II lines. We present a new technique for measuring extinction to SNe II based on the evolution of absorption lines, and use this method to estimate the extinction to SN 1990E, A(V) = 1.5 +/- 0.3 mag. From our photometric data we have constructed a bolometric light curve for SN 1990E and show that, even at the earliest times, the bolometric luminosity was failing rapidly. We use the late-time bolometric light curve to show that SN 1990E trapped a majority of the gamma rays produced by the radioactive decay of Co-56, and estimate that SN 1990E ejected an amount of Ni-56 virtually identical to that of SN 1987A.

Schmidt, Brian P.↗

DOE OSTI2015

A SENSITIVE SPECTRAL SURVEY OF INTERSTELLAR FEATURES IN THE NEAR-UV [3050-3700 Å]

We present a comprehensive and sensitive unbiased survey of interstellar features in the near-UV range (3050-3700 Å). We combined a large number of VLT/UVES archival observations of a sample of highly reddened early-type stars—typical diffuse interstellar band targets—and unreddened standards. We stacked the individual observations to obtain a reddened ''superspectrum'' in the interstellar rest frame with a signal-to-noise ratio exceeding 1500. We compared this to the analogous geocentric and stellar rest frame superspectra as well as to an unreddened superspectrum to find interstellar absorption features. We find 30 known features (11 atomic and 19 molecular) and tentatively detect up to 7 new interstellar absorption lines of unknown origin. Our survey is sensitive to narrow and weak features; telluric residuals preclude us from detecting broader features. For each sightline, we measured fundamental parameters (radial velocities, line widths, and equivalent widths) of the detected interstellar features. We also revisit upper limits for the column densities of small, neutral polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon molecules that have strong transitions in this wavelength range.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2014

Three-dimensional hydrodynamic simulations of multiphase galactic disks with star formation feedback. II. Synthetic H I 21 cm line observations

We use three-dimensional numerical hydrodynamic simulations of the turbulent, multiphase atomic interstellar medium (ISM) to construct and analyze synthetic H I 21 cm emission and absorption lines. Our analysis provides detailed tests of 21 cm observables as physical diagnostics of the atomic ISM. In particular, we construct (1) the 'observed' spin temperature, T{sub s,obs}(v{sub ch})≡T{sub B}(v{sub ch})/[1−e{sup −τ(v{sub c}{sub h})}], and its optical-depth weighted mean T {sub s,} {sub obs}; (2) the absorption-corrected ''observed'' column density, N{sub H,obs}∝∫dv{sub ch}T{sub B}(v{sub ch})τ(v{sub ch})/[1−e{sup −τ(v{sub c}{sub h})}]; and (3) the 'observed' fraction of cold neutral medium (CNM), f {sub c,} {sub obs} ≡ T{sub c} /T {sub s,} {sub obs} for T{sub c} the CNM temperature; we compare each observed parameter with true values obtained from line-of-sight (LOS) averages in the simulation. Within individual velocity channels, T {sub s,} {sub obs}(v {sub ch}) is within a factor 1.5 of the true value up to τ(v {sub ch}) ∼ 10. As a consequence, N {sub H,} {sub obs} and T{sub s,} {sub obs} are, respectively, within 5% and 12% of the true values for 90% and 99% of LOSs. The optically thin approximation significantly underestimates N {sub H} for τ > 1. Provided that T{sub c} is constrained, an accurate observational estimate of the CNM mass fraction can be obtained down to 20%. We show that T{sub s,} {sub obs} cannot be used to distinguish the relative proportions of warm and thermally unstable atomic gas, although the presence of thermally unstable gas can be discerned from 21 cm lines with 200 K ≲ T{sub s,} {sub obs}(v {sub ch}) ≲ 1000 K. Our mock observations successfully reproduce and explain the observed distribution of the brightness temperature, optical depth, and spin temperature in Roy et al. The threshold column density for CNM seen in observations is also reproduced by our mock observations. We explain this observed threshold behavior in terms of vertical equilibrium in the local Milky Way's ISM disk.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2013

RED SUPERGIANT STARS AS COSMIC ABUNDANCE PROBES. II. NLTE EFFECTS IN J-BAND SILICON LINES

Medium-resolution J-band spectroscopy of individual red supergiant stars is a promising tool to investigate the chemical composition of the young stellar population in star-forming galaxies. As a continuation of recent work on iron and titanium, detailed non-LTE (NLTE) calculations are presented to investigate the influence of NLTE on the formation of silicon lines in the J-band spectra of red supergiants. Substantial effects are found resulting in significantly stronger absorption lines of neutral silicon in NLTE. As a consequence, silicon abundances determined in NLTE are significantly smaller than in local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE) with the NLTE abundance corrections varying smoothly between -0.4 dex and -0.1 dex for effective temperatures between 3400 K and 4400 K. The effects are largest at low metallicity. The physical reasons behind the NLTE effects and the consequences for extragalactic J-band abundance studies are discussed.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

NASA NTRS1977

A measurement of the width and shift of the Fe I 3719.94 A line broadened by helium

Results are reported for measurements of the widths and shifts of the overlapping helium-broadened profiles of the Fe I absorption lines at 3719.94 and 3722.56 A, which were performed in a ballistic piston compressor using a saturated solution of FeCl3 in ethanol. It is found that at 4000 K, the 3719.94-A line has a gamma/n (FWHM) value of approximately 5.2 billionths rad/sec per cu cm, the blue shift of this line corresponds to a beta/n value of about 0.49 billionth rad/sec per cu cm, and the 3722.56-A line has the same values. These results are compared with previous experimental determinations and with theoretical calculations of neutral-line broadening for the Fe I lines. The significance of these measurements with respect to the solar spectrum and cool DG white dwarfs is discussed.

Driver, R. D.↗

DOE OSTI2014

A widely tunable 10-μm quantum cascade laser phase-locked to a state-of-the-art mid-infrared reference for precision molecular spectroscopy

We report the coherent phase-locking of a quantum cascade laser (QCL) at 10-μm to the secondary frequency standard of this spectral region, a CO{sub 2} laser stabilized on a saturated absorption line of OsO{sub 4}. The stability and accuracy of the standard are transferred to the QCL resulting in a line width of the order of 10 Hz, and leading to the narrowest QCL to date. The locked QCL is then used to perform absorption spectroscopy spanning 6 GHz of NH{sub 3} and methyltrioxorhenium, two species of interest for applications in precision measurements.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

DOE OSTI2021

Discovery of a luminous starburst galaxy with hundreds of thousands of Wolf–Rayet stars

This paper reports the detection of a strong Wolf–Rayet (W-R) emission bump feature at 4400–4700 Å in the optical spectrum of a distant galaxy SDSS J150009.81+452844.4 at a redshift of 0.453. The estimated number of W-R stars is 1.5 × 10 5 without applying any internal extinction correction, and at least 4.5 × 10 5 after correcting for dust extinction. Such a number, though with uncertainties inherent from the extinction correction and others, appears to outnumber those in previous W-R galaxies after correcting for intrinsic dust extinction with the numbers available in the literature. These massive stars must have formed in an instantaneous star-forming episode lasting less than about 5 Myr. We estimate a star formation rate of at least ~80 $\mathrm{M}_{\odot }\, \mathrm{yr^{-1}}$, indicative of a violent starburst. Its mid-infrared spectrum resembles closely those of typical local ultraluminous infrared galaxies (ULIRGs). From optical to ultraviolet, it possesses a luminous blue continuum, indicating that the starburst is not heavily obscured, in contrast to that found in most ULIRGs. There is evidence for strong outflows based on the detection of systematically blue-shifted broad wings in the nebular emission lines (a bulk velocity -190 km s -1 ), as well as in the blue-shifted Mg ii absorption lines. The emission-line gases show a wide velocity range, from -1200 to ~-2000 km s -1 in blueshift to 570 km s -1 in redshift. We interpret this as a galactic fountain, of which part of the outflowing gas may be falling back to the galactic plane. Our method could be used to find a sample of similar objects, which would help understand the star formation history and stellar feedback in starburst galaxies.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

NASA NTRS1974

LX Persei, an eclipsing binary with H and K emission

The masses and MK classes were calculated for the eclipsing spectroscopic binary LX Persei. Its spectrum shows strong H and K emission and doubled lines in the photographic region. The Ca II emission velocity shifts vary in phase with the secondary's absorption lines and are presumably associated with this component. The stars are tentatively classed as G0 V and K0 IV, and the cooler component is the more massive by a ratio of 0.96. The system has a period of 8.0 days.

Weiler, E. J.↗

NASA NTRS1978

Absorption in the spectra of quasi-stellar objects

A review of the key discoveries concerning absorption lines in QSOs is given. A number of recent studies bearing on the nature and origin of the absorption are discussed. It is concluded that it is most likely that the bulk of the absorption is intrinsic to the QSOs.

Burbidge, E. M.↗

NASA NTRS1985

Absorption and fluorescence of alexandrite and of titanium in sapphire and glass

The fluorescence and absorption data for titanium in crystalline sapphire and titanium doped into two silicate and one phosphate glass structures are analyzed. It is observed that the Ti-doped silicate glass sample exhibits no absorption related to the Ti(III) ion, the Ti-doped phosphate glass is deep blue, the absorption line width of the glass samples are a factor of two larger than that of sapphire, and the absorption peak for the Ti in the glass shifted about 100 nm to the red from the Ti:sapphire absorption peak. This shift reveals that the Ti(III) ion is sensitive to the crystalline environment and not to the glass environment. The photoluminescence spectra for Ti-doped sapphire and alexandrite are compared. It is detected that the Ti:sapphire exhibits a broader spectrum than that for alexandrite with a peak at 750 nm. The three zero phonon transitions of Ti:Al2O3 at liquid nitrogen temperatures are studied.

Byvik, C. E.↗

NASA NTRS1988

HD 115781 and HD 116204 - Two RS CVn binaries

HD 115781 and HD 116204 (BL CVn and BM CVn) are shown to be RS CVn binaries with periods near 20 days. HD 115781 is double-lined. The primary type is about K1 III, while the secondary is probably a late-type subgiant. The masses of the two components are equal within observational error. HD 116204 is also of type K1 III. It shows exceptionally strong Ca II H and K emission, together with an emission-line spectrum typical of RS CVn stars in the IUE ultraviolet region, but H-alpha is an absorption line. The secondary star in the HD 116204 system has not been detected.

Griffin, R. F.↗

NASA NTRS1989

Atmospheric methane measurement instrument using a Zeeman-split He-Ne laser

The construction of an atmospheric methane measurement instrument based on a Zeeman-split IR He-Ne laser is reported. The laser has a tranverse magnetic field over about 2/3 of its gain length and can oscillate at an (unsplit) frequency (2947.91/cm) centered on a methane absorption line, or on either of two frequencies split by + or - 0.055/cm from the center, with low CH4 absorption. The laser is tuned to dwell sequentially at each frequency, giving two differential absorption measurements in each 46-ms tuning cycle. Atmospheric measurements are made using two multiple pass absorption cells, one with fast (0.75-s) and one with slow (5-s) flow response times. Fluctuations in ambient CH4 of about 20-ppb (rms, 1-s averaging) are detected, with interference fringe effects the dominant noise source. The instrument has operated in a field experiment (NASA GTE/ABLE-3A) in Alaska.

Mcmanus, J. Barry↗

NASA NTRS1990

Simultaneous measurements of velocity, temperature, and pressure using rapid CW wavelength-modulation laser-induced fluorescence of OH

The beam from a rapid-tuning single-frequency laser was used to probe the R1(7) and R1(11) A2Sigma(+) - X2Pi(0,0) line pair of OH at a 45-deg incident angle in a combustion-driven, supersonic free jet. Absorption line shapes were recorded in spatially resolved, single-point fluorescence. The Doppler shift, intensity ratio, and collisional broadening of the measured line pair were used to determine velocity, temperature, and pressure. The repetition rate of the measurement was 3 kHz.

Chang, A. Y.↗