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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 163 records · Page 9
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1986

An unbiased X-ray sampling of stars within 25 parsecs of the sun

A search of all of the Einstein Laboratory IPC and HRI fields for untargeted stars in the Woolley, et al., Catalogue of the nearby stars is reported. Optical data and IPC coordinates, flux density F sub x, and luminosity L sub x, or upper limits, are tabulated for 126 single or blended systems, and HRI results for a few of them. IPC luminosity functions are derived for the systems, for 193 individual stars in the systems (with L sub x shared equally among blended components), and for 63 individual M dwarfs. These stars have relatively large X-ray flux densities that are free of interstellar extinction, because they are nearby, but they are otherwise unbiased with respect to the X-ray properties that are found in a defined small space around the sun.

Johnson, H. M.↗
NASA NTRS1989

IRAS observations of a large sample of normal irregular galaxies

IRAS 12, 25, 60, and 100 micron data are presented for a sample of Irr galaxies which span a large range in star-formation activity. It is found that the dwarf, giant, and amorphous Irr's generally have similar IR properties. The typical L(IR)/L(H-alpha) ratios of most classes of Irr's, except for many of the luminous blue galaxies, are low compared with those of spiral galaxies and are consistent with the Irr's being relatively transparent systems without large amounts of optically hidden star formation. Compared with spiral galaxies, the Irr's have similar L(IR)/L(B) ratios, warmer S(100)/S(60) ratios, cooler S(25)/S(12) ratios, and lower dust-to-H I gas mass ratios. The temperature, dust-to-H I gas mass ratios, and L(IR)/L(B) ratios do not correlate with the metallicity of the ionized gas of the Irr's. A correlation between the IR fluxes and both the H-alpha and the blue stellar fluxes is found for the Irr's.

Hunter, Deidre A.↗
DOE OSTI2020

Exploring the Evolution of Stellar Rotation Using Galactic Kinematics

The rotational evolution of cool dwarfs is poorly constrained after ∼1–2 Gyr due to a lack of precise ages and rotation periods for old main-sequence stars. In this work, we use velocity dispersion as an age proxy to reveal the temperature-dependent rotational evolution of low-mass Kepler dwarfs and demonstrate that kinematic ages could be a useful tool for calibrating gyrochronology in the future. We find that a linear gyrochronology model, calibrated to fit the period–T{sub eff} relationship of the Praesepe cluster, does not apply to stars older than around 1 Gyr. Although late K dwarfs spin more slowly than early-K dwarfs when they are young, at old ages, we find that late K dwarfs rotate at the same rate or faster than early-K dwarfs of the same age. This result agrees qualitatively with semiempirical models that vary the rate of surface-to-core angular momentum transport as a function of time and mass. It also aligns with recent observations of stars in the NGC 6811 cluster, which indicate that the surface rotation rates of K dwarfs go through an epoch of inhibited evolution. We find that the oldest Kepler stars with measured rotation periods are late K and early M dwarfs, indicating that these stars maintain spotted surfaces and stay magnetically active longer than more massive stars. Finally, based on their kinematics, we confirm that many rapidly rotating GKM dwarfs are likely to be synchronized binaries.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Astraea: Predicting Long Rotation Periods with 27 Day Light Curves

The rotation periods of planet-hosting stars can be used for modeling and mitigating the impact of magnetic activity in radial velocity measurements and can help constrain the high-energy flux environment and space weather of planetary systems. Millions of stars and thousands of planet hosts are observed with the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). However, most will only be observed for 27 contiguous days in a year, making it difficult to measure rotation periods with traditional methods. This is especially problematic for field M dwarfs, which are ideal candidates for exoplanet searches, but which tend to have periods in excess of the 27 day observing baseline. We present a new tool, Astraea, for predicting long rotation periods from short-duration light curves combined with stellar parameters from Gaia DR2. Using Astraea, we can predict the rotation periods from Kepler 4 yr light curves with 13% uncertainty overall (and a 9% uncertainty for periods >30 days). By training on 27 day Kepler light-curve segments, Astraea can predict rotation periods up to 150 days with 9% uncertainty (5% for periods >30 days). After training this tool on these 27 day Kepler light-curve segments, we applied Astraea to real TESS data. For the 195 stars that were observed by both Kepler and TESS, we were able to predict the rotation periods with 55% uncertainty despite the wild differences in systematics.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2020

A Survey for New Stars and Brown Dwarfs in the Ophiuchus Star-forming Complex

We have performed a survey for new members of the Ophiuchus cloud complex using high-precision astrometry from the second data release of Gaia, proper motions measured with multi-epoch images from the Spitzer Space Telescope, and color–magnitude diagrams constructed with photometry from various sources. Through spectroscopy of candidates selected with those data, we have identified 155 new young stars. Based on available measurements of kinematics, we classify 102, 47, and 6 of those stars as members of Ophiuchus, Upper Sco, and other populations in Sco–Cen, respectively. We have also assessed the membership of all other stars in the vicinity of Ophiuchus that have spectroscopic evidence of youth from previous studies, arriving at a catalog of 373 adopted members of the cloud complex. For those adopted members, we have compiled mid-infrared photometry from Spitzer and the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer and have used mid-infrared colors to identify and classify circumstellar disks. We find that 210 of the members show evidence of disks, including 48 disks that are in advanced stages of evolution. Finally, we have estimated the relative median ages of the populations near the Ophiuchus clouds and the surrounding Upper Sco association using absolute K-band magnitudes (M {sub K}) based on Gaia parallaxes. If we adopt an age 10 Myr for Upper Sco, then the relative values of M {sub K} imply median ages of ∼2 Myr for L1689 and embedded stars in L1688, 3–4 Myr for low-extinction stars near L1688, and ∼6 Myr for the group containing ρ Oph.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Variability-selected Intermediate-mass Black Hole Candidates in Dwarf Galaxies from ZTF and WISE

While it is difficult to observe the first black hole seeds in the early universe, we can study intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs) in local dwarf galaxies for clues about their origins. In this paper we present a sample of variability-selected active galactic nuclei (AGN) in dwarf galaxies using optical photometry from the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) and forward-modeled mid-IR photometry of time-resolved Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) co-added images. We found that 44 out of 25,714 dwarf galaxies had optically variable AGN candidates and 148 out of 79,879 dwarf galaxies had mid-IR variable AGN candidates, corresponding to active fractions of 0.17% ± 0.03% and 0.19% ± 0.02%, respectively. We found that spectroscopic approaches to AGN identification would have missed 81% of our ZTF IMBH candidates and 69% of our WISE IMBH candidates. Only nine candidates have been detected previously in radio, X-ray, and variability searches for dwarf galaxy AGN. The ZTF and WISE dwarf galaxy AGN with broad Balmer lines have virial masses of 10 5 M ⊙ < M BH < 10 7 M ⊙ , but for the rest of the sample, BH masses predicted from host galaxy mass range between 10 5.2 M ⊙ < M BH < 10 7.25 M ⊙ . We found that only 5 of 152 previously reported variability-selected AGN candidates from the Palomar Transient Factory in common with our parent sample were variable in ZTF. We also determined a nuclear supernova fraction of 0.05% ± 0.01% yr -1 for dwarf galaxies in ZTF. Our ZTF and WISE IMBH candidates show the promise of variability searches for the discovery of otherwise hidden low-mass AGN.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Radio transients and variables in the tenth Deeper, Wider, Faster observing run

The Deeper, Wider, Faster (DWF) program coordinates observations with telescopes across the electromagnetic spectrum, searching for transients on time-scales of milliseconds to days. The tenth DWF observing run was carried out in near real-time during September 2021, and consisted of six consecutive days of observations of the NGC 6744 galaxy group and a field containing the repeating fast radio burst FRB 190711 with the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder, the Dark Energy Camera, the Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope, and the Parkes 64-m ‘Murriyang’ radio telescope. Here, in this work, we present the results of an image-domain search for transient, variable, and circularly polarized sources carried out with ASKAP, using data from the observing run along with test observations prior to the run and follow-up observations carried out during and after the run. We identified eight variable radio sources, consisting of one pulsar, six stellar systems (five of which exhibit circularly polarized emission), and one previously uncatalogued source. Of particular interest is the detection of pulses from the ultra-cool dwarf SCR J1845–6357 with a period of 14.2 ± 0.3 h in good agreement with the known optical rotation period, making this the slowest rotating radio-loud ultra-cool dwarf discovered.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
NASA NTRS1985

Theory Tested by Means of the Stars

The viability of the solar alpha-omega dynamo model was studied through examination of extreme stellar cases expected to show specific types of deviation from solar behavior. Observational data was taken from studies of main sequence stars with shallow convective zones, fully convective M-dwarfs, and a Pleiades X-ray survey.

Golub, L.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Epsilon Aurigae in eclipse. II - Optical absorption lines from the secondary

Optical high-resolution 2.7-m McDonald Observatory observations of Epsilon Aur obtained during the 1982-1985 eclipse are discussed, with focus on the K I resonance lines, some Fe II and Ti II lines in the blue, and the near-infrared N I excitation lines. The N I lines are immune to contamination by the secondary, and their radial velocity decline over the three-year interval fits the predicted velocity curve. The 7664 A and 7699 A K I lines strengthen greatly during the eclipse due to gas in orbit around the secondary passing in front of the primary, and the velocity pattern analysis indicates a mass of the secondary to solar mass ratio of between about 3 and 6 and a primary mass of 3 solar masses. The data are consistent with the picture of a low-mass post-AGB primary having lost mass through a wind and by Roche-lobe transfer to the secondary, and which will evolve to a white dwarf in less than 10,000 years.

Lambert, D. L.↗
NASA NTRS1986

An unsuccessful search for brown dwarf companions to white dwarf stars

The results of a survey to detect excess infrared emission from white dwarf stars which would be attributable to a low mass companion are reviewed. Neither a simple comparison of spectroscopically identified white dwarf stars with the IRAS Point Source Catalog nor the coadding of IRAS survey data resulted in a detection of a brown dwarf. The seven nearest stars where the most stringent limits to the presence of a brown dwarf were obtained are listed, and an effort to detect brown dwarfs in the solar neighborhood is discussed.

Shipman, Harry L.↗
NASA NTRS1998

Simulating AXAF Grating Spectra of Accreting White Dwarfs

We present simulated AXAF spectra of accreting white dwarfs, using parameters appropriate for magnetic cataclysmic variables. The very high spectral resolution that can be obtained with the High-Energy Transmission Grating of AXAF can resolve the keV X-ray emission lines that characterize the temperature, density and velocity profiles of the shock-heated emission regions of these systems. These simulations demonstrate that actual spectra will allow us to place constraints on the white-dwarf mass and the accretion rate of the systems. The high-resolution spectra also allow the measurement of the velocity of the accretion flow in regions close to the white-dwarf surface.

Tennant, Allyn F.↗
NASA NTRS2019

Introducing NASA Ames' New Infrared Optical Constant Facility. Determinations of Complex Refractive Indices for Titan Aerosol Analogs and Other Applications

A new optical constant facility has been developed at NASA Ames that will allow the determination of optical constants in the infrared of various materials, analogs of (exo)planetary hazes and cloud particles. Our facility is composed of a Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectrometer continuously covering the Near-IR to Far-IR range (from 0.74 to 200 μm), coupled to variable angle transmittance and reflectance accessories that allow the characterization of the scattering properties of non-homogeneous samples (laboratory (exo)planetary aerosol analogs, films, slabs of material, crystals, powders, etc.) over a wide incidence and emittance angle range (0-90 degrees). This new experimental setup allows the characterization of angular light distribution in both transmission and reflection measurements, and enables the determination of the complex indices of refraction, n and k, over the full NIR-FIR range via modeling of the laboratory measurements. The resulting refractive indices are critical input parameters in radiative transfer models, microphysical models, cloud models, protoplanetary disk simulations and other models used for the interpretation of observational data from past, current and future (exo)planetary NASA missions. Here we present a description of the facility along with the first determination of optical constants for Titan aerosol analogs produced in the Titan Haze Simulation (THS) experiment on COSmIC, a unique experimental setup developed at NASA Ames that allows the simulation of Titan’s complex atmospheric chemistry at Titan-like temperature (200 K). We also introduce a new study of the optical properties of ammonium-bearing phosphates, potential cloud particles forming in temperate exoplanets and brown dwarfs.

Sciamma-O'Brien, Ella M.↗
NASA NTRS2017

OGLE-2016-BLG-1469L: Microlensing Binary Composed of Brown Dwarfs

We report the discovery of a binary composed of two brown dwarfs, based on the analysis of the micro lensing event OGLE-2016-BLG-1469. Thanks to the detection of both finite-source and micro lens-parallax effects, we are able to measure both the masses M(sub 1) ~ 0.05 Solar Mass and M(sub 2) ~ 0.01 Solar Mass, and the distance D(sub L) ~ 4.5 kpc, as well as the projected separation a(sub perpendicular) ~ 0.33 au. This is the third brown-dwarf binary detected using the micro lensing method, demonstrating the usefulness of micro lensing in detecting field brown-dwarf binaries with separations of less than 1 au.

OGLE-2016-BLG-1469↗
DOE OSTI2022

J-PLUS: Spectral evolution of white dwarfs by PDF analysis

We estimated the spectral evolution of white dwarfs with effective temperature using the Javalambre Photometric Local Universe Survey (J-PLUS) second data release (DR2), which provides 12 photometric optical passbands over 2176 deg 2 . We analyzed 5926 white dwarfs with r ≤ 19.5 mag in common between a white dwarf catalog defined from Gaia EDR3 and J-PLUS DR2. We performed a Bayesian analysis by comparing the observed J-PLUS photometry with theoretical models of hydrogen- and helium-dominated atmospheres. We estimated the probability distribution functions for effective temperature (T eff ), surface gravity, parallax, and composition; and the probability of having a H-dominated atmosphere (p H ) for each source. We applied a prior in parallax, using Gaia EDR3 measurements as a reference, and derived a self-consistent prior for the atmospheric composition as a function of T eff . We described the fraction of white dwarfs with a He-dominated atmosphere (f He ) with a linear function of the effective temperature at 5000 < T eff < 30 000 K. We find f He = 0.24 ± 0.01 at T eff = 10 000 K, a change rate along the cooling sequence of 0.14 ± 0.02 per 10 kK, and a minimum He-dominated fraction of 0.08 ± 0.02 at the high-temperature end. We tested the obtained p H by comparison with spectroscopic classifications, finding that it is reliable. We estimated the mass distribution for the 351 sources with distance d < 100 pc, mass M > 0.45 M ⊙ , and T eff > 6000 K. The result for H-dominated white dwarfs agrees with previous studies, with a dominant M = 0.59 M ⊙ peak and the presence of an excess at M ~ 0.8 M ⊙ . This high-mass excess is absent in the He-dominated distribution, which presents a single peak. The J-PLUS optical data provide a reliable statistical classification of white dwarfs into H- and He-dominated atmospheres. We find a 21 ± 3% increase in the fraction of He-dominated white dwarfs from T eff = 20 000 K to T eff = 5000 K.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2020

The Pre-He White Dwarfs in Eclipsing Binaries. I. WASP 0131+28

We report the first BV light curves and high-resolution spectra of the post-mass transfer binary star WASP 0131+28 to study the absolute properties of extremely low-mass white dwarfs. From the observed spectra, the double-lined radial velocities were derived, and the effective temperature and rotational velocity of the brighter, more massive primary were found to be T{sub eff,1}=10,000±200 K and v{sub 1}sin i = 55 ± 10 km s{sup −1}, respectively. The combined analysis of the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) archive data and ours yielded the accurate fundamental parameters of the program target. The masses were derived to about 1.0% accuracy and the radii to 0.6%, or better. The secondary component's parameters of M{sub 2}=0.200±0.002 M{sub ⊙}, R{sub 2}=0.528±0.003 R{sub ⊙}, T{sub eff,2} = 11,186 ± 235 K, and L{sub 2}=3.9±0.3 L{sub ⊙} are in excellent agreement with the evolutionary sequence for a helium-core white dwarf of mass 0.203 M{sub ⊙}, and indicates that this star is halfway through the constant luminosity phase. The results presented in this article demonstrate that WASP 0131+28 is an EL CVn eclipsing binary in a thin disk, which is formed from the stable Roche-lobe overflow channel and composed of a main-sequence dwarf with a spectral type A0 and a pre-He white dwarf.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
NASA NTRS1995

Stellar Activity at the End of the Main Sequence: GHRS Observations of the M8 Ve Star VB 10

We present Goddard High Resolution Spectrograph observations of the M8 Ve star VB 10 (equal to G1 752B), located very near the end of the stellar main sequence, and its dM3.5 binary companion G1 752A. These coeval stars provide a test bed for studying whether the outer atmospheres of stars respond to changes in internal structure as stars become fully convective near mass 0.3 solar mass (about spectral type M5), where the nature of the stellar magnetic dynamo presumably changes, and near the transition from red to brown dwarfs near mass 0.08 solar mass (about spectral type M9), when hydrogen burning ceases at the end of the main sequence. We obtain upper limits for the quiescent emission of VB 10 but observe a transition region spectrum during a large flare, which indicates that some type of magnetic dynamo must be present. Two indirect lines of evidence-scaling from the observed X-ray emission and scaling from a time-resolved flare on AD Leo suggest that the fraction of the stellar bolometric luminosity that heats the transition region of VB 10 outside of obvious flares is comparable to, or larger than, that for G1 752A. This suggests an increase in the magnetic heating rates, as measured by L(sub line)/L(sub bol) ratios, across the radiative/convective core boundary and as stars approach the red/brown dwarf boundary. These results provide new constraints for dynamo models and models of coronal and transition-region heating in late-type stars.

Linsky, Jeffrey L.↗
DOE OSTI2025

A Pride of Satellites in the Constellation Leo? Discovery of the Leo VI Milky Way Satellite Ultra-faint Dwarf Galaxy with DELVE Early Data Release 3

Abstract We report the discovery and spectroscopic confirmation of an ultra-faint Milky Way satellite in the constellation of Leo. This system was discovered as a spatial overdensity of resolved stars observed with Dark Energy Camera (DECam) data from an early version of the third data release of the DECam Local Volume Exploration (or DELVE) survey. The low luminosity ( M V = − 3.5 6 − 0.37 + 0.47 ; L V = 230 0 − 700 + 1200 L ⊙ ), large size ( R 1 / 2 = 9 0 − 30 + 30 pc), and large heliocentric distance ( D = 11 1 − 6 + 9 kpc) are all consistent with the population of ultra-faint dwarf galaxies (UFDs). Using Keck/DEIMOS observations of the system, we were able to spectroscopically confirm nine member stars, while measuring a tentative mass-to-light ratio of 70 0 − 500 + 1400 M ⊙ / L ⊙ and a nonzero metallicity dispersion of σ [ Fe / H ] = 0.1 9 − 0.11 + 0.14 , further confirming Leo VI’s identity as a UFD. While the system has a highly elliptical shape, ϵ = 0.5 4 − 0.29 + 0.19 , we do not find any conclusive evidence that it is tidally disrupting. Moreover, despite the apparent on-sky proximity of Leo VI to members of the proposed Crater-Leo infall group, its smaller heliocentric distance and inconsistent position in energy–angular momentum space make it unlikely that Leo VI is part of the proposed infall group.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗