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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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NASA NTRS1977

Optical spectrum of HDE 245770 /A0535 + 26/

Narrow-band spectrophotometric observations of HDE 245770 with the multichannel spectrometer and slit spectra obtained with the SIT digital spectrograph at the Cassegrain focus of the 5-m Hale telescope indicate that this star is of spectral type B0 with emission at H-alpha, H-beta, and probably 5876 A of He I. There is some evidence that it is of luminosity class III. The reddening is estimated in various ways and corresponds to a B-V color excess of 0.80. If the star is really a giant, its distance is approximately 1.8 kpc. No variations larger than 1% at the reported 104-x X-ray pulse period are evident in the data in visual magnitude, color, or H-alpha emission intensity. This is not surprising, since the optical star is much more luminous than the X-ray object, and the heating effect of the X-ray source (which is assumed to be one component of a binary) on the B0 star's atmosphere can produce at most a few percent modulation in visual light.

Wade, R. A.↗

NASA NTRS1982

Spectral energy distribution /119 - 685 nm/ in 16 shell stars and a tentative model for accreting Be stars

IUE low-dispersion spectra and spectral scans made with the Lick Observatory IDS scanners have been combined for 16 shell stars. Eleven objects can be represented by Kurucz (1979) model atmospheres, although some of them display strong shell-type line spectra. Five among them are known binaries. The six remaining objects display complex spectra. A model involving continuum and line radiation from a hydrogen cloud surrounding the accreting component is proposed. A generalization of this model with optically thick segments of the cloud promises to explain even more exotic objects such as beta Lyrae, W Serpentis and possibly epsilon Aurigae.

Plavec, M. J.↗

NASA NTRS1985

Spectroscopic observations of three X-ray selected late-type stars

The three X-ray selected mid-K stars with the highest values of optical flux ratios in the Einstein Medium Sensitivity Survey have been studied spectroscopically at moderate and high spectral resolution. One of these objects (1E1548.7 + 1125) is presented as a binary-star system with characteristics similar to the RS CVn class of binaries. A second of these stars (1E1751.0 + 7046) is a rapid rotator, while the third star (1E1339.9 + 6030) has not been shown to be either a binary system or a rapid rotator. The presence of both Ca II H and K emission core and high X-ray flux is attributed to chromospheric and coronal activity, but no single underlying cause is indicated.

Silva, D. R.↗

NASA NTRS1985

High-angular resolution observations of stellar binary systems

A long-term program designed to investigate the spatial structure of centimetric radio emission from close binary systems using multistation VLBI array is discussed. Eleven binaries, including eight RS CVn systems, Algol, LSI 61 deg 303, and Cyg X-1, have been detected. The measured brightness temperatures vary from T(B) about 10 exp 8.5 K during periods of low activity to T(B) about 10 exp 10.5 K during flares. Extensive observation of a few sources has shown that the spatial structure is 'core-halo' with linear dimensions of about a stellar radius and the binary system, respectively. The observations are consistent with gyrosynchrotron emission of mildly relativistic electrons in magnetic fields of about 10 exp 1.5 + or - 0.5 gauss. The core sources appear to be optically thick, while the halo component is optically thin.

Lestrade, J.-F.↗

NASA NTRS1988

Gamma-ray burst reprocessing in an accretion disk

The observational consequences of the reprocessing of gamma-ray burst (GRB) photons by an accretion disk surrounding a neutron star are explored. Reprocessing of gamma rays by cold disks driven by dynamical viscosity of nonrelativistic, degenerate electrons results in an optical/UV fluence relative to the gamma-ray fluence at earth of greater than 0.001, for GRB energies of (1-10) x 10 to the 37th ergs, and distances of 15-250 pc. The spectrum peaks in the optical/UV with a soft X-ray cutoff due to the inner edge of the disk, which lies very near the surface of the neutron star for magnetic fields less than 1 TG. The optical/UV peak is partially due to reprocessing in the outer part of the cold disk, which remains optically thick to gamma rays. At these distances, a positive identification of a quiescent counterpart is expected at an IR (K) sensitivity less than 2 microJy. On the other hand, compact binary systems with standard alpha disks and accretion rates resulting from Roche-lobe overflow must be located at least several hundred pc away in order to have escaped detection down to the current IR sensitivity. The optical/UV fluence resulting from reprocessing in these systems is deficient by at least an order of magnitude compared to the observed values.

Melia, Fulvio↗

NASA NTRS1989

The relation between X-ray emission and rotation in late-type stars from the perspective of X-ray selection

An X-ray-selected sample of 128 late-type (F-M) stars analyzed. These stars were identified as optical counterparts to serendipitous X-ray detections made by the Einstein Observatory Extended Medium Sensitivity Survey. Once identified as X-ray sources, the sample was followed up by an extensive program of optical observations, including high-resolution and low-resolution spectroscopy and photometry. Spectral types, luminosity classes, distances, X-ray luminosities, projected rotation rates (v sin i), radial velocities, and binary status have been determined for the sample.

Fleming, Thomas A.↗

NASA NTRS1990

Einstein X-ray observations of M101

The Einstein X-ray observations of the face-on spiral galaxy M101 are presented. The global X-ray luminosity L(x) of M101 is about 1.2 x 10 to the 40th ergs/s for D = 7.2 Mpc, consistent with the expected X-ray luminosity of normal spiral galaxies of its optical magnitude. The X-ray emission is mostly due to very luminous individual sources, with L(x) greater than 10 to the 38th ergs/s each, most likely very massive accreting binary systems. The data suggest a deficiency of sources in the luminosity range of L(x) from about 10 to the 37th to about 10 to the 38th ergs/s, which would indicate that the luminosity distribution of the X-ray sources in M101 might be different from that of M31 or M33.

Trinchieri, G.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Cool stars, stellar systems, and the sun; Proceedings of the 7th Cambridge Workshop, Tucson, AZ, Oct. 9-12, 1991

Consideration is given to HST observations of late-type stars, molecular absorption in the UV spectrum of Alpha Ori, EUV emission from late-type stars, Rosat observations of the Pleiades cluster, a deep ROSAT observation of the Hyades cluster, optical spectroscopy detected by EXOSAT, stellar photospheric convection, a structure of the solar X-ray corona, magnetic surface images of the BY Dra Star HD 82558, a Zebra interpretatin of BY Dra stars, optical flares on II Peg, a low-resolution spectroscopic survey of post-T tauri candidates, millimeter and sub-millimeter emission from flare stars, and activity in tidally interacting binaries. Attention is also given to modeling stellar angular momentum evolution, extended 60-micron emission from nearby Mira variables, the PANDORA atmosphere program, the global properties of active regions, oscillations in a stratified atmosphere, lithium abundances in northern RS CVn binaries, a new catalog of cool dwarf stars, the Far UV Spectrograph Explorer, and development of reflecting coronagraphs.

Giampapa, Mark S.↗

NASA NTRS1993

Extremely active long-period RS CVn binary HD 12545

The active-chromosphere giant HD 12545 is noteworthy for its remarkable 1990 photmetric amplitude of 0.6 mag in V, which implies that nearly half the visible hemisphere of the star was covered by cool spots. We report the results of a spectroscopic study of HD 12545, showing it to be an active-chromosphere binary with an orbital period of 23.97 days. We establish the spectral type as KO III, and measure v sin i = 17 +/- 2 km/s. The various indicators of activity in the optical and ultraviolet suggest that HD 12545 is one of the most active RS CVn systems yet observed. H alpha is a broad, variable emission feature, with a strength comparable to what is observed in very active RS CVn systems such as V711 Tau (HR 1099) or II Peg. The surface fluxes of chromospheric and transition-regions lines in the UV range from 10 to nearly 400 times the solar values. With a moderately strong Li I lambda 6707 feature and a large space motion, HD 12545 is an unusual but not unique giant, since these properties are similar to those of the single active-chromosphere giant HD 33798.

Bopp, Bernard W.↗

DOE OSTI2010

LATE-TIME OBSERVATIONS OF GRB 080319B: JET BREAK, HOST GALAXY, AND ACCOMPANYING SUPERNOVA

The Swift-discovered GRB 080319B was by far the most distant source ever observed at naked-eye brightness, reaching a peak apparent magnitude of 5.3 at a redshift of z = 0.937. We present our late-time optical (Hubble Space Telescope, Gemini, and Very Large Telescope) and X-ray (Chandra) observations, which confirm that an achromatic break occurred in the power-law afterglow light curve at {approx}11 days post-burst. This most likely indicates that the gamma-ray burst (GRB) outflow was collimated, which for a uniform jet would imply a total energy in the jet E{sub jet} {approx}> 10{sup 52} erg. Our observations also show a late-time excess of red light, which is well explained if the GRB was accompanied by a supernova (SN), similar to those seen in some other long-duration GRBs. The latest observations are dominated by light from the host and show that the GRB took place in a faint dwarf galaxy (r(AB) {approx} 27.0, rest frame M{sub B} {approx} -17.2). This galaxy is small even by the standards of other GRB hosts, which is suggestive of a low-metallicity environment. Intriguingly, the properties of this extreme event-a small host and bright SN-are entirely typical of the very low luminosity bursts such as GRB 980425 and GRB 060218.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2014

Heating the intergalactic medium by X-rays from population III binaries in high-redshift galaxies

Due to their long mean free path, X-rays are expected to have an important impact on cosmic reionization by heating and ionizing the intergalactic medium (IGM) on large scales, especially after simulations have suggested that Population III (Pop III) stars may form in pairs at redshifts as high as 20-30. We use the Pop III distribution and evolution from a self-consistent cosmological radiation hydrodynamic simulation of the formation of the first galaxies and a simple Pop III X-ray binary model to estimate their X-ray output in a high-density region larger than 100 comoving (Mpc){sup 3}. We then combine three different methods—ray tracing, a one-zone model, and X-ray background modeling—to investigate the X-ray propagation, intensity distribution, and long-term effects on the IGM thermal and ionization state. The efficiency and morphology of photoheating and photoionization are dependent on the photon energies. The sub-kiloelectronvolt X-rays only impact the IGM near the sources, while the kiloelectronvolt photons contribute significantly to the X-ray background and heat and ionize the IGM smoothly. The X-rays just below 1 keV are most efficient in heating and ionizing the IGM. We find that the IGM might be heated to over 100 K by z = 10 and the high-density source region might reach 10{sup 4} K, limited by atomic hydrogen cooling. This may be important for predicting the 21 cm neutral hydrogen signals. On the other hand, the free electrons from X-ray ionizations are not enough to contribute significantly to the optical depth of the cosmic microwave background to the Thomson scattering.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2021

Photometric and Spectroscopic Analysis of Four Contact Binaries

We present the photometric and spectroscopic analysis of four W UMa binaries J015829.5+260333 (hereinafter as J0158), J030505.1+293443 (hereinafter as J0305), J102211.7+310022 (hereinafter as J1022), and KW Psc. The VR {sub c} I {sub c} band photometric observations are carried out with the 1.3 m Devasthal Fast Optical Telescope (DFOT). For low-resolution spectroscopy, we used the 2 m Himalayan Chandra Telescope (HCT) as well as the archival data from the 4 m LAMOST survey. The systems J0158 and J0305 show a period increase rate of 5.26( ± 1.72) × 10{sup −7} days yr{sup −1} and 1.78( ± 1.52) × 10{sup −6} days yr{sup −1}, respectively. The period of J1022 is found to be decreasing with a rate of 4.22 ( ± 1.67) × 10{sup −6} days yr{sup −1}. The period analysis of KW Psc displays no change in its period. The PHOEBE package is used for the light-curve modeling and basic parameters are evaluated with the help of the GAIA parallax. The asymmetry of light curves is explained with the assumption of cool spots at specific positions on one of the components of the system. On the basis of temperatures, mass ratios, fill-out factors, and periods, the system J1022 is identified as a W-subtype system while the others show some mixed properties. To probe the chromospheric activities in these W UMa binaries, their spectra are compared with the known inactive stars’ spectra. The comparison shows emission in H {sub α}, H {sub β}, and Ca II. To understand the evolutionary status of these systems, the components are plotted in mass–radius and mass–luminosity planes with other well characterized binary systems. The secondary components of all the systems are away from ZAMS, which indicates that the secondary is more evolved than the primary component.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗

DOE OSTI2011

X-RAYS FROM BLUE COMPACT DWARF GALAXIES

We measured the X-ray fluxes from an optically selected sample of blue compact dwarf galaxies (BCDs) with metallicities <0.07 and solar distances less than 15 Mpc. Four X-ray point sources were observed in three galaxies, with five galaxies having no detectable X-ray emission. Comparing X-ray luminosity and star formation rate (SFR), we find that the total X-ray luminosity of the sample is more than 10 times greater than expected if X-ray luminosity scales with SFR according to the relation found for normal-metallicity star-forming galaxies. However, due to the low number of sources detected, one can exclude the hypothesis that the relation of the X-ray binaries to SFR in low-metallicity BCDs is identical to that in normal galaxies only at the 96.6% confidence level. It has recently been proposed that X-ray binaries were an important source of heating and reionization of the intergalactic medium at the epoch of reionization. If BCDs are analogs to unevolved galaxies in the early universe, then enhanced X-ray binary production in BCDs would suggest an enhanced impact of X-ray binaries on the early thermal history of the universe.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2017

The First Simultaneous X-Ray/Radio Detection of the First Be/BH System MWC 656

MWC 656 is the first known Be/black hole (BH) binary system. Be/BH binaries are important in the context of binary system evolution and sources of detectable gravitational waves because they are possible precursors of coalescing neutron star/BH binaries. X-ray observations conducted in 2013 revealed that MWC 656 is a quiescent high-mass X-ray binary (HMXB), opening the possibility to explore X-ray/radio correlations and the accretion/ejection coupling down to low luminosities for BH HMXBs. Here we report on a deep joint Chandra /VLA observation of MWC 656 (and contemporaneous optical data) conducted in 2015 July that has allowed us to unambiguously identify the X-ray counterpart of the source. The X-ray spectrum can be fitted with a power law with Γ ∼ 2, providing a flux of ≃4 × 10{sup −15} erg cm{sup −2} s{sup −1} in the 0.5–8 keV energy range and a luminosity of L {sub X} ≃ 3 × 10{sup 30} erg s{sup −1} at a 2.6 kpc distance. For a 5 M{sub ⊙} BH this translates into ≃5 × 10{sup −9} L {sub Edd}. These results imply that MWC 656 is about 7 times fainter in X-rays than it was two years before and reaches the faintest X-ray luminosities ever detected in stellar-mass BHs. The radio data provide a detection with a peak flux density of 3.5 ± 1.1 μ Jy beam{sup −1}. The obtained X-ray/radio luminosities for this quiescent BH HMXB are fully compatible with those of the X-ray/radio correlations derived from quiescent BH low-mass X-ray binaries. These results show that the accretion/ejection coupling in stellar-mass BHs is independent of the nature of the donor star.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2010

THE DISTRIBUTION OF COALESCING COMPACT BINARIES IN THE LOCAL UNIVERSE: PROSPECTS FOR GRAVITATIONAL-WAVE OBSERVATIONS

Merging compact binaries are the most viable and best-studied candidates for gravitational-wave (GW) detection by the fully operational network of ground-based observatories. In anticipation of the first detections, the expected distribution of GW sources in the local universe is of considerable interest. Here we investigate the full phase-space distribution of coalescing compact binaries at z = 0 using dark matter simulations of structure formation. The fact that these binary systems acquire large barycentric velocities at birth ('kicks') results in merger site distributions that are more diffusely distributed with respect to their putative hosts, with mergers occurring out to distances of a few Mpc from the host halo. Redshift estimates based solely on the nearest galaxy in projection can, as a result, be inaccurate. On the other hand, large offsets from the host galaxy could aid the detection of faint optical counterparts and should be considered when designing strategies for follow-up observations. The degree of isotropy in the projected sky distributions of GW sources is found to be augmented with increasing kick velocity and to be severely enhanced if progenitor systems possess large kicks as inferred from the known population of pulsars and double compact binaries. Even in the absence of observed electromagnetic counterparts, the differences in sky distributions of binaries produced by disparate kick-velocity models could be discerned by GW observatories, within the expected accuracies and detection rates of advanced LIGO-in particular with the addition of more interferometers.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2015

REVERSE SHOCK EMISSION AND IONIZATION BREAKOUT POWERED BY POST-MERGER MILLISECOND MAGNETARS

There is accumulating evidence that at least a fraction of binary neutron star (BNS) mergers result in rapidly spinning magnetars, with subrelativistic neutron-rich ejecta as massive as a small fraction of a solar mass. The ejecta could be heated continuously by the Poynting flux emanated from the central magnetars. Such a Poynting flux could become lepton dominated so that a reverse shock develops. It was demonstrated that such a picture is capable of accounting for the optical transient PTF11agg. In this paper we investigate the X-ray and ultraviolet (UV) radiation, as well as the optical and radio radiation studied by Wang and Dai. UV emission is particularly important because it has the right energy to ionize the hot ejecta at times t ≲ 600 s. It is thought that the ejecta of BNS mergers are a remarkably pure sample of r-process material, about which our understanding is still incomplete. In this paper we evaluate the possibility of observationally determining the bound-bound and bound-free opacities of the r-process material by timing the X-ray, UV, and optical radiation. It is found that these timings depend on the opacities weakly, and therefore only loose constraints on the opacities can be obtained.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2013

THE LOCATIONS OF SHORT GAMMA-RAY BURSTS AS EVIDENCE FOR COMPACT OBJECT BINARY PROGENITORS

We present a detailed investigation of Hubble Space Telescope rest-frame UV/optical observations of 22 short gamma-ray burst (GRB) host galaxies and sub-galactic environments. Utilizing the high angular resolution and depth of HST we characterize the host galaxy morphologies, measure precise projected physical and host-normalized offsets between the bursts and host centers, and calculate the locations of the bursts with respect to their host light distributions (rest-frame UV and optical). We calculate a median short GRB projected physical offset of 4.5 kpc, about 3.5 times larger than that for long GRBs, and find that ≈25% of short GRBs have offsets of ∼> 10 kpc. When compared to their host sizes, the median offset is 1.5 half-light radii (r{sub e} ), about 1.5 times larger than the values for long GRBs, core-collapse supernovae, and Type Ia supernovae. In addition, ≈20% of short GRBs having offsets of ∼> 5r{sub e} , and only ≈25% are located within 1r{sub e} . We further find that short GRBs severely under-represent their hosts' rest-frame optical and UV light, with ≈30%-45% of the bursts located in regions of their host galaxies that have no detectable stellar light, and ≈55% in the regions with no UV light. Therefore, short GRBs do not occur in regions of star formation or even stellar mass. This demonstrates that the progenitor systems of short GRBs must migrate from their birth sites to their eventual explosion sites, a signature of kicks in compact object binary systems. Utilizing the full sample of offsets, we estimate natal kick velocities of ≈20-140 km s{sup –1}. These independent lines of evidence provide the strongest support to date that short GRBs result from the merger of compact object binaries (NS-NS/NS-BH)

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2011

DEEP, WIDE-FIELD CCD PHOTOMETRY FOR THE OPEN CLUSTER NGC 3532

We present the results of a deep, wide-field CCD survey for the open cluster NGC 3532. Our new BV(RI){sub c} photometry effectively covers a one square degree area and reaches an unprecedented depth of V {approx} 21 to reveal that NGC 3532 is a rich open cluster that harbors a large number of faint, low-mass stars. We employ a number of methods to reduce the impact of field star contamination in the cluster color-magnitude diagrams (CMDs), including supplementing our photometry with JHK{sub s} data from the 2MASS catalog. These efforts allow us to define a robust sample of candidate main-sequence stars suitable for a purely empirical determination of the cluster's parameters by comparing them to the well-established Hyades main sequence. Our results confirm previous findings that NGC 3532 lies fairly near to the Sun [(m - M){sub 0} = 8.46 {+-} 0.05; 492{sup +12}{sub -11} pc] and has an extremely low reddening for its location near the Galactic plane [E(B - V) = 0.028 {+-} 0.006]. Moreover, an age of {approx}300 Myr has been derived for the cluster by fitting a set of overshooting isochrones to the well-populated upper main sequence. This new photometry also extends faint enough to reach the cluster white dwarf sequence, as confirmed by our photometric recovery of eight spectroscopically identified members of the cluster. Using the location of these eight members, along with the latest theoretical cooling tracks, we have identified {approx}30 additional white dwarf stars in the [V, (B - V)] CMD that have a high probability of belonging to NGC 3532. Reassuringly, the age we derive from fitting white dwarf isochrones to the locus of these stars, 300 {+-} 100 Myr, is consistent with the age derived from the turnoff. Our analysis of the photometry also includes an estimation of the binary star fraction as well as a determination of the cluster's luminosity and mass functions.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗