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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 145 records · Page 8
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NASA NTRS1985

An intensified photodiode array detector for space applications

The Hopkins Ultraviolet Telescope (HUT) is a general purpose moderate resolution spectrograph which is now being constructed for launch on the Space Shuttle. The instrument contains a Rowland spectrograph, which is located at the prime focus of a 0.9-m f/2 parabola. A description is given of the progress which has been made in the development of a flight detector for HUT. The detector developed is an intensified photodiode array. The image intensifier part of the detector contains two 25-mm 80:1, 12-micron pore microchannel plates (PCPs). A thin layer of CsI deposited on the front surface of the first microchannel plate has the objective to increase the quantum efficiency of the detector below 1850 A. The detector system utilizes a spectrometer processor (SP) which is based upon a bit-sliced microprocessor. The current status of the HUT detector system is discussed, and aspects of performance are evaluated. It is felt that the developed system will meet or exceed the design requirements.

Long, K. S.↗
NASA NTRS1986

New high-resolution rocket-ultraviolet filtergrams of the solar disc

A rocket-borne solar ultraviolet telescope named Transition Region Camera was launched successfully for the third on July 13, 1982. High quality calibrated photographic images of the sun were obtained at Lyman alpha and in the continuum at 160 nm and 220 nm. The angular resolution achieved is better than one arcsec. A flare, active regions, sunspots, the 8 Mm mesostructure, the chromospheric network, bright UV grains and coronal loops were observed during the flight. The results are presented and the evolution with height in the solar atmosphere of the various structures observed is followed from one wavelength to the other, showing distinct differences. The value of the field's intensity of magnetic flux tubes is deduced from the observations.

Foing, B.↗
NASA NTRS1986

A two-dimensional intensified photodiode array for imaging spectroscopy

The Johns Hopkins University is currently developing an instrument to fly aboard NASA's Space Shuttle as a Spartan payload in the late 1980s. This Spartan free flyer will obtain spatially resolved spectra of faint extended emission line objects in the wavelength range 750-1150 A at about 2-A resolution. The use of two-dimensional photon counting detectors will give simultaneous coverage of the 400 A spectral range and the 9 arc-minute spatial resolution along the spectrometer slit. The progress towards the flight detector is reported here with preliminary results from a laboratory breadboard detector, and a comparison with the one-dimensional detector developed for the Hopkins Ultraviolet Telescope. A hardware digital centroiding algorithm has been successfully implemented. The system is ultimately capable of 15-micron resolution in two dimensions at the image plane and can handle continuous counting rates of up to 8000 counts/s.

Tennyson, P. D.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Comments about observing conditions for UV astronomy aboard Spacelab

The Spacelab missions provided a good opportunity for a first general UV survey of astrophysical objects. The UV observations carried out on Spacelab 1 yielded some new results, but revealed at the same time observing and operation constraints which must be considered for planning and preparing for future Spacelab experiments. Experience gained with two astronomical experiments, the UV Very Wide Field Camera (1ES022) and FAUST Far Ultraviolet Telescope (1NS-005) are discussed.

Courtes, G.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Compact X-Ray And Extreme-Ultraviolet Monochromator

Monochromator for x-ray and extreme-ultraviolet radiation provides higher spectral resolution than achieved with thin-metal-foil broad-band-pass filters. Uses Bragg reflection to band-pass-filter radiation from high-intensity, broad-spectrum source. Operates over much broader x-ray and extreme-ultraviolet spectrum than devices based upon natural crystals. Intended to filter continuum radiation from sources like synchrotrons, laser plasma sources, free-electron lasers, and wigglers to produce monochromatic beams for testing and analysis of x-ray and extreme-ultraviolet telescopes and microscopes, for calibration of photographic films and detectors, for biological and biomedical research, for x-ray lithography, for processing of materials, and for research in properties of materials.

Hoover, Richard B.↗
NASA NTRS1991

HUT observations of carbon monoxide in the coma of Comet Levy (1990c)

Observations of comet Levy (1990c) were made with the Hopkins Ultraviolet Telescope during the Astro-1 Space Shuttle mission on 10 Dec. 1990. The spectrum, covering the wavelength range 415 to 1850 A at a spectral emission of 3 A (in first order), shows the presence of carbon monoxide and atomic hydrogen, carbon, and sulfur in the coma. Aside from H I Lyman-beta, no cometary features are detected below 1200 A, although cometary O I and O II would be masked by the same emissions present in the day airglow spectrum. The 9.4 x 116 arcsec aperture corresponds to 12,000 x 148,000 km at the comet. The derived production rate of CO relative to water, 0.13 + or - 0.02, compared with the same ratio derived from IUE observations (made in Sep. 1990) which sample a much smaller region of the coma, 0.04 + or - 0.01, suggests the presence of an extended source of CO, as was found in comet Halley. Upper limits on Ne and Ar abundance are within an order of magnitude or solar abundances.

Feldman, P. D.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Parameters of tensile strength, elongation, and tenacity of 70mm IIaO spectroscopic film

The 70mm IIaO spectroscopic film was tested to determine its tensile strength, elongation, and breaking strength, using an Instron (strength and compression) 4201 Test Instrument. These data provide information leading to the upper and lower limits of the above parameters for 70mm IIaO spectroscopic film. This film will be developed by a commercial developing machine after the Ultraviolet Telescope Space Shuttle Mission returns to the Earth in the early 1990's; thus, it is necessary to understand these force parameters. Several test strips of approximately 200mm in length were used. The results indicate that when a stress load of 100 kg was applied, the film elongated approximately 1.06mm and the break strength was 19.45 kilograms.

Hammond, Ernest C., Jr.↗
NASA NTRS1993

LUTE primary mirror materials and design study report

The major objective of the Lunar Ultraviolet Telescope Experiment (LUTE) Primary Mirror Materials and Design Study is to investigate the feasibility of the LUTE telescope primary mirror. A systematic approach to accomplish this key goal was taken by first understanding the optical, thermal, and structural requirements and then deriving the critical primary mirror-level requirements for ground testing, launch, and lunar operations. After summarizing the results in those requirements which drove the selection of material and the design for the primary mirror are discussed. Most important of these are the optical design which was assumed to be the MSFC baseline (i.e. 3 mirror optical system), telescope wavefront error (WFE) allocations, the telescope weight budget, and the LUTE operational temperature ranges. Mechanical load levels, reflectance and microroughness issues, and options for the LUTE metering structure were discussed and an outline for the LUTE telescope sub-system design specification was initiated. The primary mirror analysis and results are presented. The six material substrate candidates are discussed and four distinct mirror geometries which are considered are shown. With these materials and configurations together with varying the location of the mirror support points, a total of 42 possible primary mirror designs resulted. The polishability of each substrate candidate was investigated and a usage history of 0.5 meter and larger precision cryogenic mirrors (the operational low end LUTE temperature of 60 K is the reason we feel a survey of cryogenic mirrors is appropriate) that were flown or tested are presented.

Ruthven, Greg↗
NASA NTRS1991

Earth's mysterious atmosphere. ATLAS 1: Teachers guide with activities

One of our mission's primary goals is to better understand the physics and chemistry of our atmosphere, the thin envelope of air that provides for human life and shields us from the harshness of space. The Space Shuttle Atlantis will carry the ATLAS 1 science instruments 296 km above Earth, so that they can look down into and through the various layers of the atmosphere. Five solar radiometers will precisely measure the amount of energy the Sun injects into Earth's environment. The chemistry at different altitudes will be measured very accurately by five other instruments called spectrometers. Much of our time in the cockpit of Atlantis will be devoted to two very exciting instruments that measure the auroras and the atmosphere's electrical characteristics. Finally, our ultraviolet telescope will probe the secrets of fascinating celestial objects. This Teacher's Guide is designed as a detective story to help you appreciate some of the many questions currently studied by scientists around the world. Many complex factors affect our atmosphere today, possibly even changing the course of global climate. All of us who live on Earth must recognize that we play an ever-growing role in causing some of these changes. We must solve this great atmospheric mystery if we are to understand all these changes and know what to do about them.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1993

Voyager 2 observations of NGC 7023 - Dust scattering shortward of 1600 A

We report the first observational determination of the nebular-to-stellar flux ratio out to wavelengths as short as 1000 A for the reflection nebula NGC 7023, using a combination of spectroscopic data from Voyager 2 and from the Hopkins Ultraviolet Telescope (HUT) on the Astro 1 mission. After accounting for contributions by H2 fluorescence to the nebular flux, the wavelength variation of the ratio of the residual dust scattered flux to that observable from the embedded star is consistent with a reduction of the dust albedo by 25 percent over the wavelength interval 1300-1000 A. This is most easily interpreted, if the particles responsible for the FUV rise in the extinction curve are low-albedo, not necessarily zero-albedo, grains. The direct proportionality between the nebular surface brightness, measured at 22 arcsec offset by HUT, and the nebular flux suggests that the phase function of scattering does not vary in the 2000-1000 A range.

Witt, A. N.↗
NASA NTRS1993

MSFC orbital spacecraft development emphases for this decade

Historically, the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) has been responsible for significant accomplishments in the area of developing both manned and unmanned spacecraft. MSFC is presently involved in many of NASA's largest and most prominent programs, with some operational, others being readied for flight, and still others in various stages of design and development. Examples of MSFC programs being designed or developed are Space Station Freedom (S.S. Freedom), the Advanced X-Ray Astrophysics Facility (AXAF) which includes imaging and spectroscopy facilities, the Laser Atmospheric Wind Sounder (LAWS), and the Lunar Ultraviolet Telescope Experiment (LUTE), with Spacelab and Tethered Satellite System (TSS) as examples of current operational MSFC spacecraft. The information obtained from the Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF) will aid the design process and life predictions for these and all future spacecraft. A second LDEF is presently being considered. All of these projects will be briefly described in this paper.

Schwinghamer, Robert J.↗
NASA NTRS1995

STS 63: Post Flight Presentation

At a post flight conference, Captain Jim Wetherbee, of STS Flight 63, introduces each of the other members of the STS 63 crew (Eileen Collins, Pilot; Dr. Bernard Harris, Payload Commander; Dr. Michael Foale, Mission Specialist from England; Dr. Janice Voss, Misssion Specialist; and Colonel Vladimir Titor, Misssion Specialist from Russia. A short biography of each member and a brief description of their assignment during this mission is given. A film was shown that included the preflight suit-up, a view of the launch site, the actual night launch, a tour of the Space Shuttle and several of the experiment areas, several views of earth and the MIR Space Station and cosmonauts, the MIR-Space Shuttle rendezvous, the deployment of the Spartan Ultraviolet Telescope, Foale and Harris's EVA and space walk, the retrieval of Spartan, and the night entry home, including the landing. Several spaceborne experiments were introduced: the radiation monitoring experiment, environment monitoring experiment, solid surface combustion experiment, and protein crystal growth and plant growth experiments. This conference ended with still, color pictures, taken by the astronauts during the entire STS 63 flight, being shown.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1994

The Fe XIV spectrum: Predicted line intensities and solar identifications

Level populations and line intensities have been calculated in a 40-level model of Fe XIV which includes the configuations 3p(exp 3) and 3s3p3d. The results have been compared against intensities of weaker, unidentified, or tentatively classified lines in published solar line lists including a recent Goddard Space Flight Center/Solar Extreme Ultraviolet Telescope and Spectrograph (GSFC/SERTS) high-resolution list, and in presently measured archival Naval Research Laboratory (NRL)/S082A active region spectra. Seven new lines are identified as Fe XIV transitions; five other observed, unidentified lines are considered to be Fe XIV transitions on the basis of wavelength coincidence, but require further observations to obtain photometric intensities for verification; one line at 216.93 A is shown to be due to some other ion than Fe XIV. In addition, a unique forbidden infrared (approx. equal to 1.25 micrometer(s)) line originating in the high metastable level 3s3p3d(F(sub 9/2)-4) is found to have an unusual intensity dependence on electron density.

Bhatia, A. K.↗
NASA NTRS1995

The origin of N III lambda 990 and C III lambda 977 emission in AGN narrow-line region gas

We discuss implications of Hopkins Ultraviolet Telescope (HUT) detections of C III lambda 977 and N III lambda 990 emission from the narrow-line region of the Seyfert 2 galaxy NGC 1068. In their discovery paper Kriss et al. showed that the unexpectedly great strength of these lines implies that the emitting gas must be shock-heated if the lines are collisionally excited. Here we investigate other processes which excite these lines in photoionization equilibrium. Recombination, mainly dielectronic, and continuum fluorescence are strong contributors to the line. The resulting intensities are sensitive to the velocity field of the emitting gas and require that the turbulence be of the same order of magnitude as the observed line width. We propose optical observations that will decide whether the gas is collisionally or radiatively heated.

Ferguson, J. W.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Sub-Lyman-alpha observations of supernova remnants

The first map of O VI lambda 1035 emission of the Cygnus Loop has now been obtained with Voyager. The first good spectra of the sub-Lyman-alpha region in the Cygnus Loop and in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) remnant N49 have been obtained with the Hopkins Ultraviolet Telescope. The lines detected below 1200 A include S VI lambda lambda 933,945, C III lambda 977, N III lambda 991, and O VI lambda lambda 1032,1038. The O VI luminosities of the Cygnus Loop and of N49 exceed their soft X-ray luminosities. There is O VI emission at the primary shock front in the Cygnus Loop and from the bright optical filaments. The HUT spectra of the Cygnus Loop can be interpreted in terms of shocks with velocities of 170-190 km/s; the differences between the two spectra are due to the time since the beginning of the shock-cloud encounter.

Long, K. S.↗
NASA NTRS1996

Cosmic Metal Production and the Contribution of QSO Absorption Systems to the Ionizing Background

The recent discovery by Cowie et al. (1995) and Tytler et al. (1995) of metals in the Ly alpha clouds shows that the intergalactic medium (IGM) at high redshift is contaminated by the products of stars and suggests that ionizing photons from massive star formation may be a significant contributor to the UV background radiation at early epochs. We assess the validity of the stellar photoionization hypothesis. Based on recent computations of metal yields and 0-star Lyman continuum (Lyc) fluxes, we find that 0.2 percent of the rest-mass energy of the metals produced is radiated as Lyc. By modeling the transfer of ionizing radiation through the IGM and the rate of chemical enrichment, we demonstrate that the background intensity of photons at 1 ryd that accompanies the production of metals in the Ly alpha forest clouds may be significant, approaching 0.5 x 10(exp -21) ergs cm squared s(-1) Hz(-1) sr(-1) at z approximately equals 3 if the Lyc escape fraction is greater than of equal to 0.25. Together with quasars, massive stars could then, in principle, provide the hydrogen and helium Lyc photons required to ionize the universe at high redshifts. We propose that observations of the He2 Gunn-Peterson effect and of the metal ionization states of the Ly alpha forest and Lyman-limit absorbers should show the signature of a stellar spectrum. We also note that the stellar photoionization model fails if a large fraction of the UV radiation emitted from stars cannot escape into the IGM, as suggested by the recent Hopkins Ultraviolet Telescope observations by Leitherer et al. (1995) of low-redshift starburst galaxies, or if most of the metals observed at z is approximately 3 were produced at much earlier epochs.

Madau, Piero↗
NASA NTRS1997

Simultaneous X-ray and Far-Ultraviolet Spectra of AGN with ASCA and HUT

We obtained ASCA spectra of the Seyfert 1 galaxy NGC 3516 in March 1995. Simultaneous far-UV observations were obtained with the Hopkins Ultraviolet Telescope on the Astro-2 shuttle mission. The ASCA spectrum shows a lightly absorbed power law of energy index 0.78. The low energy absorbing column is significantly less than previously seen. Prominent 0 VII and 0 VIII absorption edges are visible, but, consistent with the much lower total absorbing column, no Fe K absorption edge is detectable. A weak, narrow Fe K(alpha) emission line from cold material is present as well as a broad Fe K(alpha) line. These features are similar to those reported in other Seyfert 1 galaxies. A single warm absorber model provides only an imperfect description of the low energy absorption. In addition to a highly ionized absorber with ionization parameter U = 1.66 and a total column density of 1.4 x 10(exp 22)/sq cm, adding a lower ionization absorber with U = 0.32 and a total column of 6.9 x 10(exp 21)/sq cm significantly improves the fit. The contribution of resonant line scattering to our warm absorber models limits the Doppler parameter to less than 160 km/s at 90% confidence. Turbulence at the sound speed of the photoionized gas provides the best fit. None of the warm absorber models fit to the X-ray spectrum can match the observed equivalent widths of all the UV absorption lines. Accounting for the X-ray and UV absorption simultaneously requires an absorbing region with a broad range of ionization parameters and column densities.

Kriss, Gerard A.↗
NASA NTRS1998

Far UV Observations of Interstellar Shocks

This grant covered analysis of Hopkins Ultraviolet Telescope data from the Astro-2 mission. The proposed research was aimed primarily at SNR shock waves, but the ASTRO-2 GO program was intended to make the GOs part of the instrument teams. The grant therefore covered extensive travel to Marshall Space Flight Center for mission simulations and the mission itself. In keeping with the unique nature of the ASTRO-2 GO program, I participated actively in the instrument team's investigations of HH objects and cataclysmic variables. Over the course of the Astro-2 mission, we obtained good observations of the supernova remnants SN1006 (1 position), Vela (3 positions), the Cygnus Loop (7 positions) and 0519-69 in the LMC (1 position) as part of this GI program, along with Puppis A (1 position), Vela (1 position), the Cygnus Loop (7 positions) and the Schweizer- Middleditch star (HUT PI program on SNRS). We also observed the Herbig-Haro object HH2 and about a dozen cataclysmic variables, including magnetic systems and dwarf novae. This GI grant covered modest travel for data analysis. We anticipate submitting papers on the non-radiative shock in northern Cygnus Loop, on the LMC Balmer-dominated remnant LMC 0519-69, on the radiative shocks in the Eastern Cygnus Loop (the XA region), and on the cataclysmic variable YZ Cnc over the course of the coming year. We have obtained extensive supporting data from ground-based telescopes for the Cygnus Loop spectra.

Raymond, John C.↗