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At least 1,351 records · Page 75
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2010

PROTOPLANETARY DISK STRUCTURES IN OPHIUCHUS. II. EXTENSION TO FAINTER SOURCES

We present new results from a significant extension of our previous high angular resolution (0.''3 {approx} 40 AU) submillimeter array survey of the 340 GHz (880 {mu}m) thermal continuum emission from dusty circumstellar disks in the {approx}1 Myr old Ophiuchus star-forming region. An expanded sample is constructed to probe disk structures that emit significantly lower millimeter luminosities (hence dust masses), down to the median value for T Tauri stars. Using a Monte Carlo radiative transfer code, the millimeter visibilities and broadband spectral energy distribution for each disk are simultaneously reproduced with a two-dimensional parametric model for a viscous accretion disk that has a surface density profile {Sigma} {proportional_to} (R/R{sub c}){sup -}{gamma}exp [- (R/R{sub c}){sup 2-}{gamma}]. We find wide ranges of characteristic radii (R{sub c} = 14-198 AU) and disk masses (M{sub d} = 0.004-0.143 M{sub sun}), but a narrow distribution of surface density gradients ({gamma} = 0.4-1.1) that is consistent with a uniform value ({gamma}) = 0.9 {+-} 0.2 and independent of mass (or millimeter luminosity). In this sample, we find a correlation between the disk luminosity/mass and characteristic radius, such that fainter disks are both smaller and less massive. We suggest that this relationship is an imprint of the initial conditions inherited by the disks at their formation epoch, compare their angular momenta with those of molecular cloud cores, and speculate on how future observations can help constrain the distribution of viscous evolution timescales. No other correlations between disk and star properties are found. The inferred disk structures are briefly compared with theoretical models for giant planet formation, although resolution limitations do not permit us to directly comment on material inside R {approx} 20 AU. However, there is some compelling evidence for the evolution of dust in the planet formation region: 4/17 disks in the sample show resolved regions of significantly reduced millimeter optical depths within {approx}20-40 AU of their central stars.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2011

COLOR BEHAVIOR OF BL LACERTAE OBJECT OJ 287 DURING AN OPTICAL OUTBURST

This paper studies the color behavior of the BL Lac object OJ 287 during an optical outburst. Upon revisiting the data from the OJ 94 monitoring project, and from an analysis of the data obtained with the 60/90 cm Schmidt Telescope of NAOC, we found a bluer-when-brighter chromatism in this object. The amplitude of variation tends to decrease with frequency. These results are consistent with the shock-in-jet model. We ran some simulations and confirmed that both amplitude difference and time delay between variations at different wavelengths can result in the bluer-when-brighter phenomenon. Our observations confirmed that OJ 287 underwent a double-peaked outburst about 12 years after 1996, which provides further evidence for the binary black hole model in this object.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2010

EARLY SUPERNOVAE LIGHT CURVES FOLLOWING THE SHOCK BREAKOUT

The first light from a supernova (SN) emerges once the SN shock breaks out of the stellar surface. The first light, typically a UV or X-ray flash, is followed by a broken power-law decay of the luminosity generated by radiation that leaks out of the expanding gas sphere. Motivated by recent detection of emission from very early stages of several SNe, we revisit the theory of shock breakout and the following emission, paying special attention to the photon-gas coupling and deviations from thermal equilibrium. We derive simple analytic light curves of SNe from various progenitors at early times. We find that for more compact progenitors, white dwarfs, Wolf-Rayet stars (WRs), and possibly more energetic blue-supergiant explosions, the observed radiation is out of thermal equilibrium at the breakout, during the planar phase (i.e., before the expanding gas doubles its radius), and during the early spherical phase. Therefore, during these phases we predict significantly higher temperatures than previous analysis that assumed equilibrium. When thermal equilibrium prevails, we find the location of the thermalization depth and its temporal evolution. Our results are useful for interpretation of early SN light curves. Some examples are (1) red supergiant SNe have an early bright peak in optical and UV flux, less than an hour after breakout. It is followed by a minimum at the end of the planar phase (about 10 hr), before it peaks again once the temperature drops to the observed frequency range. In contrast, WRs show only the latter peak in optical and UV. (2) Bright X-ray flares are expected from all core-collapse SNe types. (3) The light curve and spectrum of the initial breakout pulse hold information on the explosion geometry and progenitor wind opacity. Its spectrum in more compact progenitors shows a (nonthermal) power law and its light curve may reveal both the breakout diffusion time and the progenitor radius.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

FRIENDS OF HOT JUPITERS. III. AN INFRARED SPECTROSCOPIC SEARCH FOR LOW-MASS STELLAR COMPANIONS

Surveys of nearby field stars indicate that stellar binaries are common, yet little is known about the effects that these companions may have on planet formation and evolution. The Friends of Hot Jupiters project uses three complementary techniques to search for stellar companions to known planet-hosting stars: radial velocity monitoring, adaptive optics imaging, and near-infrared spectroscopy. In this paper, we examine high-resolution K band infrared spectra of fifty stars hosting gas giant planets on short-period orbits. We use spectral fitting to search for blended lines due to the presence of cool stellar companions in the spectra of our target stars, where we are sensitive to companions with temperatures between 3500 and 5000 K and projected separations less than 100 AU in most systems. We identify eight systems with candidate low-mass companions, including one companion that was independently detected in our AO imaging survey. For systems with radial velocity accelerations, a spectroscopic non-detection rules out scenarios involving a stellar companion in a high inclination orbit. We use these data to place an upper limit on the stellar binary fraction at small projected separations, and show that the observed population of candidate companions is consistent with that of field stars and also with the population of wide-separation companions detected in our previous AO survey. We find no evidence that spectroscopic stellar companions are preferentially located in systems with short-period gas giant planets on eccentric and/or misaligned orbits.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2011

LHS 6343 C: A TRANSITING FIELD BROWN DWARF DISCOVERED BY THE KEPLER MISSION

We report the discovery of a brown dwarf that transits one member of the M+M binary system LHS 6343 AB every 12.71 days. The transits were discovered using photometric data from the Kepler public data release. The LHS 6343 stellar system was previously identified as a single high proper motion M dwarf. We use adaptive optics imaging to resolve the system into two low-mass stars with masses 0.370 {+-} 0.009 M{sub sun} and 0.30 {+-} 0.01 M{sub sun}, respectively, and a projected separation of 0.''55. High-resolution spectroscopy shows that the more massive component undergoes Doppler variations consistent with Keplerian motion, with a period equal to the transit period and an amplitude consistent with a companion mass of M{sub C} = 62.7 {+-} 2.4 M{sub Jup}. Based on our analysis of the transit light curve, we estimate the radius of the companion to be R{sub C} = 0.833 {+-} 0.021 R{sub Jup}, which is consistent with theoretical predictions of the radius of a >1 Gyr brown dwarf.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
NASA NTRS2022

UV Spectropolarimetry with Polstar: Massive Star Binary Colliding Winds

The winds of massive stars are important for their direct impact on the interstellar medium, and for their influence on the final state of a star prior to it exploding as a supernova. However, the dynamics of these winds is understood primarily via their illumination from a single central source. The Doppler shift seen in resonance lines is a useful tool for inferring these dynamics, but the mapping from that Doppler shift to the radial distance from the source is ambiguous. Binary systems can reduce this ambiguity by providing a second light source at a known radius in the wind, seen from orbitally modulated directions. From the nature of the collision between the winds, a massive companion also provides unique additional information about wind momentum fluxes. Since massive stars are strong ultraviolet (UV) sources, and UV resonance line opacity in the wind is strong, UV instruments with a high resolution spectroscopic capability are essential for extracting this dynamical information. Polarimetric capability also helps to further resolve ambiguities in aspects of the wind geometry that are not axisymmetric about the line of sight, because of its unique access to scattering direction information. We review how the proposed MIDEX-scale mission Polstar can use UV spectropolarimetric observations to critically constrain the physics of colliding winds, and hence radiatively-driven winds in general. We propose a sample of 20 binary targets, capitalizing on this unique combination of illumination by companion starlight, and collision with a companion wind, to probe wind attributes over a range in wind strengths. Of particular interest is the hypothesis that the radial distribution of the wind acceleration is altered significantly, when the radiative transfer within the winds becomes optically thick to resonance scattering in multiple overlapping UV lines.

Ultraviolet Astronomy↗
DOE OSTI2024

Perspectives and progress on wurtzite ferroelectrics: Synthesis, characterization, theory, and device applications

Wurtzite ferroelectrics are an emerging material class that expands the functionality and application space of wide bandgap semiconductors. Promising physical properties of binary wurtzite semiconductors include a large, reorientable spontaneous polarization, direct band gaps that span from the infrared to ultraviolet, large thermal conductivities and acoustic wave velocities, high mobility electron and hole channels, and low optical losses. The ability to reverse the polarization in ternary wurtzite semiconductors at room temperature enables memory and analog type functionality and quasi-phase matching in optical devices and boosts the ecosystem of wurtzite semiconductors, provided the appropriate combination of properties can be achieved for any given application. In this article, advances in the design, synthesis, and characterization of wurtzite ferroelectric materials and devices are discussed. Highlights include: the direct and quantitative observation of polarization reversal of ~135 μC/cm 2 charge in Al 1-x B x N via electron microscopy, Al 1-x B x N ferroelectric domain patterns poled down to 400 nm in width via scanning probe microscopy, and full polarization retention after over 1000 h of 200 °C baking and a 2× enhancement relative to ZnO in the nonlinear optical response of Zn 1-x Mg x O. In conclusion, the main tradeoffs, challenges, and opportunities in thin film deposition, heterostructure design and characterization, and device fabrication are overviewed.

30 DIRECT ENERGY CONVERSION↗
DOE OSTI2010

A SEMI-EMPIRICAL MASS-LOSS RATE IN SHORT-PERIOD CATACLYSMIC VARIABLES

The mass-loss rate of donor stars in cataclysmic variables (CVs) is of paramount importance in the evolution of short-period CVs. Observed donors are oversized in comparison with those of isolated single stars of the same mass, which is thought to be a consequence of the mass loss. Using the empirical mass-radius relation of CVs and the homologous approximation for changes in effective temperature T{sub 2}, orbital period P, and luminosity of the donor with the stellar radius, we find the semi-empirical mass-loss rate M-dot{sub 2} of CVs as a function of P. The derived M-dot{sub 2} is at {approx}10{sup -9.5}-10{sup -10} M{sub sun} yr{sup -1} and weakly depends on P when P>90 minutes, while it declines very rapidly toward the minimum period when P < 90 minutes, emulating the P-T{sub 2} relation. Due to strong deviation from thermal equilibrium caused by the mass loss, the semi-empirical M-dot{sub 2} is significantly different from and has a less-pronounced turnaround behavior with P than suggested by previous numerical models. The semi-empirical P- M-dot{sub 2} relation is consistent with the angular momentum loss due to gravitational wave emission and strongly suggests that CV secondaries with 0.075 M{sub sun} < M{sub 2} < 0.2 M{sub sun} are less than 2 Gyr old. When applied to selected eclipsing CVs, our semi-empirical mass-loss rates are in good agreement with the accretion rates derived from the effective temperatures T{sub 1} of white dwarfs, suggesting that M-dot{sub 2} can be used to reliably infer T{sub 2} from T{sub 1}. Based on the semi-empirical M-dot{sub 2}, SDSS 1501 and 1433 systems that were previously identified as post-bounce CVs have yet to reach the minimal period.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2012

DISK CORONA INTERACTION: MECHANISM FOR THE DISK TRUNCATION AND SPECTRUM CHANGE IN LOW-LUMINOSITY ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEI

The truncation of an optically thick, geometrically thin accretion disk is investigated in the context of low-luminosity AGNs (LLAGNs). We generalize the disk evaporation model used in the interpretative framework of black hole X-ray binaries by including the effect of a magnetic field in accretion disks surrounding supermassive black holes. The critical transition mass accretion rate for which the disk is truncated is found to be insensitive to magnetic effects, but its inclusion leads to a smaller truncation radius in comparison to a model without its consideration. That is, a thin viscous disk is truncated for LLAGNs at an Eddington ratio less than 0.03 for a standard viscosity parameter ({alpha} = 0.3). An increase of the viscosity parameter results in a higher critical transition mass accretion rate and a correspondingly smaller truncation distance, the latter accentuated by greater magnetic energy densities in the disk. Based on these results, the truncation radii inferred from spectral fits of LLAGNs published in the literature are consistent with the disk evaporation model. The infrared emission arising from the truncated geometrically thin accretion disks may be responsible for the red bump seen in such LLAGNs.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

SU-E-I-52: Validation of Multi-Frequency Electrical Impedance Tomography Using Computed Tomography

Purpose: Multi-frequency EIT has been reported to be a potential tool in distinguishing a tissue anomaly from background. In this study, we investigate the feasibility of acquiring functional information by comparing multi-frequency EIT images in reference to the structural information from the CT image through fusion. Methods: EIT data was acquired from a slice of winter melon using sixteen electrodes around the phantom, injecting a current of 0.4mA at 100, 66, 24.8 and 9.9 kHz. Differential EIT images were generated by considering different combinations of pair frequencies, one serving as reference data and the other as test data. The experiment was repeated after creating an anomaly in the form of an off-centered cavity of diameter 4.5 cm inside the melon. All EIT images were reconstructed using Electrical Impedance Tomography and Diffuse Optical Tomography Reconstruction Software (EIDORS) package in 2-D differential imaging mode using one-step Gaussian Newton minimization solver. CT image of the melon was obtained using a Phillips CT Scanner. A segmented binary mask image was generated based on the reference electrode position and the CT image to define the regions of interest. The region selected by the user was fused with the CT image through logical indexing. Results: Differential images based on the reference and test signal frequencies were reconstructed from EIT data. Result illustrated distinct structural inhomogeneity in seeded region compared to fruit flesh. The seeded region was seen as a higherimpedance region if the test frequency was lower than the base frequency in the differential EIT reconstruction. When the test frequency was higher than the base frequency, the signal experienced less electrical impedance in the seeded region during the EIT data acquisition. Conclusion: Frequency-based differential EIT imaging can be explored to provide additional functional information along with structural information from CT for identifying different tissues.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2016

MERGER SIGNATURES IN THE DYNAMICS OF STAR-FORMING GAS

The recent advent of integral field spectrographs and millimeter interferometers has revealed the internal dynamics of many hundreds of star-forming galaxies. Spatially resolved kinematics have been used to determine the dynamical status of star-forming galaxies with ambiguous morphologies, and constrain the importance of galaxy interactions during the assembly of galaxies. However, measuring the importance of interactions or galaxy merger rates requires knowledge of the systematics in kinematic diagnostics and the visible time with merger indicators. We analyze the dynamics of star-forming gas in a set of binary merger hydrodynamic simulations with stellar mass ratios of 1:1 and 1:4. We find that the evolution of kinematic asymmetries traced by star-forming gas mirrors morphological asymmetries derived from mock optical images, in which both merger indicators show the largest deviation from isolated disks during strong interaction phases. Based on a series of simulations with various initial disk orientations, orbital parameters, gas fractions, and mass ratios, we find that the merger signatures are visible for ∼0.2–0.4 Gyr with kinematic merger indicators but can be approximately twice as long for equal-mass mergers of massive gas-rich disk galaxies designed to be analogs of z ∼ 2–3 submillimeter galaxies. Merger signatures are most apparent after the second passage and before the black holes coalescence, but in some cases they persist up to several hundred Myr after coalescence. About 20%–60% of the simulated galaxies are not identified as mergers during the strong interaction phase, implying that galaxies undergoing violent merging process do not necessarily exhibit highly asymmetric kinematics in their star-forming gas. The lack of identifiable merger signatures in this population can lead to an underestimation of merger abundances in star-forming galaxies, and including them in samples of star-forming disks may bias the measurements of disk properties such as intrinsic velocity dispersion.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
NASA NTRS1978

Discovery and optical identification of 2S0921-630

The discovery of a faint X-ray source at approximately 282 deg galactic longitude, -9 deg galactic latitude with the rotation modulation collimator X-ray detectors aboard SAS 3 is reported. The source is designated 2S 0921-630 and is tentatively identified, on the basis of an optical search, with a 17th magnitude star exhibiting the He II line at 4686 A and H-beta in emission. The optical spectrum of this star is shown to be similar to those of the optical counterparts of Sco X-1 and other such galactic X-ray sources. It is suggested that 2S 0921-630 may belong to the class of low-luminosity galactic X-ray binaries.

Li, F. K.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Optical communication with semiconductor laser diode

This interim report describes the progress in the construction of a 220 Mbps Q=4 PPM optical communication system that uses a semiconductor laser as the optical transmitter and an avalanche photodiode (APD) as the photodetector. The transmitter electronics have been completed and contain both GaAs and ECL III IC's. The circuit was able to operate at a source binary data rate from 75 Mbps to 290 Mbps with pulse rise and fall times of 400 ps. The pulse shapes of the laser diode and the response from the APD/preamplifier module were also measured.

Davidson, Frederic↗
NASA NTRS1992

Gamma-ray bursts and the birthrate of bare neutron stars

Accretion of matter onto the surface of a white dwarf in a binary system can push it over the Chandrasekhar mass limit and may cause it to collapse into a neutron star without mass ejection or with the ejection of only a small mass. Such an optically quiet stellar collapse should be accompanied by a neutrino burst which could be detected with underground neutrino detectors if the collapse took place in our own Galaxy or in very close nearby galaxies. However, the frequency of such collapses is not known. Here we show that, if the ejected mass is less than 3 x 10 exp -4 solar mass, the electron-positron pairs resulting from neutrino-antineutrino annihilations outside the neutrinosphere produce a gamma-ray burst which could be observed out to distances of at least 300 Mpc, and that the observed rate of gamma-ray bursts sets stringent upper limits on the frequency of bare or nearlly bare neutron star births.

Ramaty, R.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Long-baseline optical and infrared stellar interferometry

The history and the current status of optical and infrared long-baseline interferometry are reviewed. In particular, attention is given to Michelson interferometry; the Mark III stellar interferometer and its applications to astrometry, measurement of stellar diameters, and observations of binary stars; and advanced techniques. The discussion then focuses on astrometry and imaging with space interferometers. Finally, the future of long-baseline interferometry is briefly discussed with particular reference to the interferometry of the moon.

Shao, M.↗
NASA NTRS1996

The First Diffraction-Limited Images from the W. M. Keck Telescope

The first diffraction limited, 0.05s resolution, images on the W. M. Keck Telescope have been obtained at a wavelength of 2.2 micrometers. These images were part of an experiment to test the suitability of the Keck Telescope for speckle imaging. In order to conduct this test, it was necessary to modify the pixel scale of the Keck facility Near Infrared Camera (NIRC) to optimally sample the spatial frequencies made available by the Keck telescope. The design and implementation of the external reimaging optics, which convert the standard fl25 beam from the secondary mirror to fl182, are described here. Techniques for reducing speckle data with field rotation on an alt-az telescope are also described. Three binary stars were observed in this experiment with separations as small as 0.05s. With only 100 frames of data on each, a dynamic range of at least 3.5 mag was achieved in all cases. These observations imply that a companion as faint as 14.5 mag at 2.2 micrometers could be detected around an 11th magnitude point source.

Matthews, K.↗
NASA NTRS2001

Electron-Impact Ionization of Methane

We report a study of the total ionization of CH_4 by electron impact and its dissociative ionization from the ^2T_2 channel. The calculation of the total ionization cross section uses the improved Binary-Encounter-Dipole model (iBED).(W. A Huo, Phys. Rev. A (submitted for publication).) The dipole Born cross section in the model is expressed in terms of a three-term representation and the optical oscillator strengths are taken from Backx and Van der Wiel.(C. Backx and M. J. Van der Wiel, I Phys. B 18) 3020 (1975). The nuclear dynamics for the dissociation of the ^2T_2 channel is studied using the statistical model. A search of the potential energy surface of the ^2T_2 state of CH_4^+ shows two minima, of C_2v and C_3v symmetries, in agreement with earlier calculations. ((a) K. Takeshita, J. Chem. Phys. 86), 329 (1987). (b) R. F. Frey and E. R. Davidson, J. Chem. Phys. 88, 1775 (1988). The dissociation of the CH_4^+ to CH_3^+ + H goes through a saddle point. Comparison with recent experimental data will be presented and the role of Jahn-Teller effect discussed.

Huo, Winifred M.↗
DOE OSTI2021

Experimental and modeling investigation of binary liquid mixtures

Binary mixtures of liquids may be encountered in industrial or remote sensing scenarios and present challenges to positive identification compared to neat single-component liquids. Our investigation examines whether one can predict the optical properties of the mixture, i.e. its complex index of refraction, by assuming a linear superposition of the real and imaginary components of the index of refraction in proportion to the ratio of each constituent. To investigate this hypothesis various liquid mixtures were created using mass ratios. The mixtures were then characterized as to their complex index of refraction and used in numerical modeling calculations of thin liquid mixture films on surfaces and compared with composed mixtures using linear n and k synthetic mixtures where the n and k components of the complex index of refraction were combined in similar ratios. The comparison of modeling and experimental results is presented with recommendations for further investigation.

infrared (IR) spectroscopy, Liquid mixtures, compl↗