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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 NTRS1995

Filtering Image Records Using Wavelets and the Zakai Equation

Consider the problem of detecting and localizing a faint object moving In an "essentially stationary" background, using a sequence of two-dimensional low-SNR images of the scene. A natural approach consists of "digitizing" each snapshot into a discrete set of observations, sufficiently (perhaps not exactly) matched to the object In question, then tracking the object using an appropriate stochastic filter. The tracking would be expected to make up for the low signal-to-noise ratio, this allowing one to "coherently" process successive images in order to beat down the noise and localize the object. Thus, "tracking" here does not refer to the usual notion of detecting then tracking: rather, we track in order to detect The problem then becomes one of choosing the appropriate image representation as well as the optimal (and necessarily nonlinear filter. We propose exact and approximate solutions using wavelets and the Zakai equation. The smoothness of the wavelets used is required in the derivation of the evolution equation for the conditional density giving the filter, and their orthogonality makes it possible to carry out actual computations of the Ito- and change-of-gauge-terms in the algorithm effectively.

Haddad, Ziad S.↗
NASA NTRS2018

Synthetic Tracking on a Small Telescope

Synthetic tracking uses high speed (up to 10 Hz) low noise (<2e-) large format sensors ~16 Mpix along with a multi-vector shift/add algorithm that coadds multiple image frames to increase the signal to noise ratio (SNR) needed to detect (if present) multiple moving objects in the field of view (FOV). We published the application of synthetic tracking to look for asteroids in 2014 (Shao 2014), but recently have applied it more as well to Earth orbiting objects. We have begun testing the data processing graphical processing unit (GPU) array with a small telescope, a 28 cm Celestron RASA telescope and a low cost low noise 16 Mpix CMOS camera at a dark site in California. This system is now operational with a 2 sqdeg FOV and a limiting magnitude between ~16-17.5 stellar magnitudes (mag) depending on a number of observational parameters for short integration times. The instrument can be used to search for NEOs, where we use much longer integration times to get sensitivity ~ 20.5 mag (at new moon). Synthetic tracking provides significant improvements in both sensitivity and astrometric accuracy.

Turyshev, Slava G.↗
NASA NTRS2004

EPIC Study of Two Enigmatic Sources: The Mouse and SNR 359.1-0.5

The objective of the original proposal was to observe the Mouse pulsar wind nebula (associated with PSR J1744-2958) and the nearby supernova remnant G359.1-0.5, where the pulsar was probably born, with the XMM-Newton observatory to study the properties of these objects. SNR G359.1-0.5 was accepted as a Category C target and has not been observed. The Mouse was observed on April 27,2003 for 52 ks. The image analysis has shown that the Mouse is extended in the East-West direction, possibly along the direction of the pulsar's proper motion. The spectrum of this pulsar wind nebula can be described as an absorbed power law with the photon index GAMMA = 1.9 plus or minus 0.1, effective hydrogen column density n(sub H) = (2.6 plus or minus 0.1) x 10(exp 22) per square centimeter, and flux F = 1.8 x 10(exp -11) erg per square centimeter per second in the 1-10 keV energy range. Based on the n(sub H) value, the distance to the source is about 5 kpc, which results in the luminosity 3.7 x 10(exp 34) erg per second. We conclude that PSR J1744-2958 and the Mouse are not physically associated with G359.1-0.5, which lies at a larger distance. In addition to the Mouse, we also detected two Low-Mass X-ray Binaries, SLX 1744-299 and 1744-300, in the EPIC MOS and PN fields of view. The latter of these objects showed a Type I X-ray burst during our observation, with a rise time of 5 s and decay time of 60 s. A very strong pileup during the burst made the analysis of the burst properties unreliable. The spectral analysis of the persistent radiation from SLX 1744-299 and 1744-300 yields the hydrogen column densities of 3.2 plus or minus 0.1 and (3.6 plus or minus 0.2) x 10(exp 22) per square centimeter, respectively, which suggests that the sources are close to the Galactic center (d = 8-9 kpc). The spectra can be reasonably well fitted with a blackbody plus thin disk model, with the blackbody temperatures of 1.7 plus or minus 0.2 and 1.8 plus or minus 0.2 keV, respectively.

Pavlov, George↗
NASA NTRS2019

Spectrally Resolved Synthetic Aperture Imaging Interferometer: Final Report of NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts - Phase 1 Study

The Spectrally Resolved Synthetic-Aperture Imaging Interferometer (SRSAII) is a system proposed to provide high-resolution and high-sensitivity measurements of astronomical objects. SRSAII uses long baseline interferometric methods to achieve the resolution and low-noise, high time-precision detection to achieve the sensitivity. The primary goal of the SRSAII study was to lay out a framework for using new optical physics technologies to directly resolve, both spatially and spectrally, the disk of an exoplanet. In addition to the ambitious goal of directly resolving an exoplanet, the SRSAII team also sought to identify science opportunities achievable with intermediate system configurations which may offer resolution significantly higher than the current state of the art, but insufficient for direct resolution of an exoplanetary disk. An operational SRSAII system can function with essentially arbitrarily large baselines, achieving correspondingly high angular resolution. The primary limitation occurs in the system sensitivity, which became the major technical focus for study. In this report, we compare the predicted performance (sensitivity in SNR (Signal-to-Noise Ratio) along with angular resolution) of three interferometric techniques: direct detection (also known as homodyne interferometry), multi-channel intensity interferometry (using the Hanbury Brown and Twiss effect), and multi-channel heterodyne interferometry (using an optical frequency comb as a local oscillator). Additionally, quantum-assisted interferometry is also explored as a prospective enhancement of established methods. This report presents a survey of the technologies that enable the SRSAII techniques - optical frequency combs, single photon detectors, and photonic integrated circuits. These technologies are the basis of methods critical to SRSAII's success: precision timing, length and frequency metrology, sensitive photodetection, fine-scale wavelength filtering, and dense multi-channel operation. Lastly, we give some notional performance metrics and propose some possible experimental observations.

High Resolultion↗
NASA NTRS1994

Ultraviolet interstellar absorption lines in the LMC: Searching for hidden SNRs

Strong x-ray emission detected in Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) superbubbles has been explained as the result of interior supernova remnants (SNRs) hitting the dense superbubble shell. Such SNRs cannot be found using conventional criteria. We thus investigate the possibility of using the interstellar absorption properties in the ultraviolet (UV) as a diagnostic of hidden SNR shocks. The International Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE) archives provide the database for this pilot study. They contain high-dispersion spectra of several stars in x-ray bright superbubbles. To distinguish the effects of SNR shocks from those of local stellar winds and a global hot halo around the LMC, we included control objects in different environments. We find that almost all interstellar absorption properties can be explained by the interstellar environment associated with the objects. Summarizing the two most important results of this study: (1) a large velocity shift between the high-ionization species (C IV and Si IV) and the low-ionization species (S II, Si II, and C II*) is a diagnostic of hidden SNR shocks; however, the absence of a velocity shift does not preclude the existence of SNR shocks; (2) there is no evidence that the LMC is uniformly surrounded by hot gas; hot gas is preferentially found associated with large interstellar structures like superbubbles and supergiant shells, which may extend to large distances from the plane.

Chu, You-Hua↗
NASA NTRS1999

Improving Scientific Capabilities in Space in the 21st Century: The NASA New Millennium Program

NASA's New Millennium Program (NMP) has been chartered to identify and validate in space emerging, revolutionary technologies that will enable less costly, more capable future science missions. The program utilizes a unique blend of science guidance and industry partnering to ferret out technology solutions to enable science capabilities in space which are presently technically infeasible, or unaffordable. Those technologies which present an unacceptably high risk to future science missions (whether small PI-led or operational) are bundled into technology validation missions. These missions seek to validate the technologies in a manner consistent with their future uses, thus reducing the associated risk to the first user, and obtaining meaningful science data as well. The Space Readiness Coherent Lidar Experiment (SPARCLE) was approved as the second NMP Earth Observing mission (EO2) in October 1997, and assigned to Marshall Space Flight Center for implementation. Leading up to mission confirmation, NMP sponsored a community workshop in March 1996 to draft Level-1 requirements for a doppler wind lidar mission, as well as other space-based lidar missions (such as DIAL). Subsequently, a study group was formed and met twice to make recommendations on how to perform a comparison of coherent and direct detection wind lidars in space. These recommendations have guided the science validation plan for the SPARCLE mission, and will ensure that future users will be able to confidently assess the risk profile of future doppler wind missions utilizing EO2 technologies. The primary risks to be retired are: (1) Maintenance of optical alignments through launch and operations on orbit, and (2) Successful velocity estimation compensation for the Doppler shift due to the platform motion, and due to the earth's rotation. This includes the need to account for all sources of error associated with pointing control and knowledge. The validation objectives are: (1) Demonstrate measurement of tropospheric winds from space using a scanning coherent Doppler lidar technique that scales to meet future research (e.g. ESSP) and operational (e.g. NPOESS) mission requirements. Specifically, produce and validate LOS wind data with single shot accuracy of 1-2 m/s in regions of high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and low atmospheric wind turbulence and wind shear, (2) Collect the atmospheric and instrument performance data in various scanning modes necessary to validate and improve instrument performance models that will enable the definition of future missions with greater confidence. Such data include aerosol backscatter data over much of the globe, and high SNR data such as that from surface returns, and (3) Produce a set of raw instrument data with which advanced signal processing techniques can be developed. This objective will permit future missions to better understand how to extract wind information from low backscatter regions of the atmosphere.

Raymond, Carol A.↗
NASA NTRS1994

A quick look method of detecting water of hydration in small solar system bodies

The action of aqueous alteration of the near-subsurface material on asteroids and probably some satellites in the Solar System constitutes part of the formation history of the Solar System. The C-class asteroids (and subclasses B, G, and F) were initially believed to have undergone aqueous alteration based on their low albedos and neutral broadband visible and near-infrared colors. These spectra exhibit a sharp drop at wavelengths shorter than 0.55 microns due to a strong ferric oxide intervalence change transfer transition. This IVCT comprises multiple absorptions that are not uniquely indicative of phyllosilicates, but rather are present in the spectrum of any object containing Fe(2+) and Fe(3+) in its surface material. A definitive indication of aqueous alteration came when the broad IR absorption feature having a minimum near 3.0 microns indicative of structural hydroxyl (OH) and interlayer and and absorbed water in phyllosilicates was identified in the IR photometry of many C-class asteroids. Additional mineralogical compositional evidence of aqueously-altered asteroids has come as the result of high SNR narrowband spectrophotometry in the visible and near-infrared spectral regions taken using a CCD/spectrograph combination. An absorption feature centered at 0.7 microns indicative of an Fe(2+) - Fe(3+) charge transfer transition in oxidized iron in phyllosilicates in spectra of some low-albedo asteroids, especially C and G class, and CM2 carbonaceous chondrite meteorites was identified in the CCD spectra. The correlation and covariance of the 0.7-micron and 3.0-micron features were examined by comparing observations of asteroids common to both the CCD reflectance spectra and the 3.0-micron multicolor photometry data sets. Thirty-one pairs of observations were included in this training group. The results of the statistical study indicate that with a 95% confidence level, 84% of the objects observed either having or not having the 0.7-micron feature will correspondingly have the 3.0-micron water of hydration feature.

Vilas, F.↗
NASA NTRS1999

ASCA Observations of W44

We report the detection, using data from the Advanced Satellite for Cosmology and Astrophysics (ASCA), of a hard X-ray source in the vicinity of the radio pulsar PSR B1853+01, which is located within the supernova remnant (SNR) W44. PSR B1853+01, a 267 ms pulsar, has to date been detected only in the radio band. Previous observations at soft X-ray energies (e.g., with ROSAT HRI) have failed to detect any significant X-ray emission (pulsed or unpulsed) from the pulsar. In addition, no high-energy emission (approx. > 4 keV) has been detected previously from W44. Over the 0.5-4.0 keV band, the ASCA data show soft thermal emission from W44, with a morphology very similar to that observed earlier by Einstein and ROSAT. In the high-energy band (4.0-9.5 keV), the SNR is, for the most part, invisible, although a source coincident with the position of PSR B1853+01 is evident. The observed ASCA spectra are consistent with a power-law origin (photon index approx. 2.3) for the X-ray emission from this source at a flux level (flux density approx. 0.5 micro Jy at I keV) consistent with previous upper limits. The maximum allowed size for the source is determined directiv from the ASCA data (<5 min.), while the minimum size is derived from the nondetection of a point source in the ROSAT HRI data (approx. > 30 sec.). Timing analysis of the hard X-ray source failed to detect pulsations at the pulsar's period. Based on these lines of evidence, we conclude that the new hard source in W44 represents an X-ray synchrotron nebula associated with PSR B1853+01, rather than the beamed output of the pulsar itself. This discoverv adds W44 to the small group of previously known plerionic SNRs This nebula lies at the low end of, but is consistent with, the correlation between X-ray luminosity and pulsar spin-down energy loss found for such objects, lending further support to our interpretation.

Hughes, John P.↗
NASA NTRS2012

PheniX: A New Vision for the Hard X-ray Sky

We are proposing a mission devoted to high energy X-ray astronomy that is based on a focusing telescope operating in the 1-200 keV energy range but optimized for the hard X-ray range. The main scientific topics concern: Physics of compact objects: The proximity of compact objects provides a unique laboratory to study matter and radiation in extreme conditions of temperature and density in strong gravitational environment. The emission of high energy photons from these objects is far from being understood. The unprecedented sensitivity in the high energy domain will allow a precise determination of the non-thermal processes at work in the vicinity of compact objects. The full 1-200 keV energy coverage will be ideal to disentangle the emission processes produced in the spacetime regions most affected by strong-gravity, as well as the physical links: disk-thermal emission-iron line-comptonisation-reflection-non-thermal emission-jets. Neutron stars-magnetic field-cyclotron lines: Time resolved spectroscopy (and polarimetry) at ultra-high sensitivity of AXP, milliseconds pulsars and magnetars will give new tools to study the role of the synchrotron processes at work in these objects. Cyclotron lines-direct measurement of magnetic filed-equation of state constraints-short bursts-giant flares could all be studied with great details. AGN: The large sensitivity improvement will provide detailed spectral properties of the high energy emission of AGN's. This will give a fresh look to the connection between accretion and jet emission and will provide a new understanding of the physical processes at work. Detection of high-redshift active nuclei in this energy range will allow to introduce an evolutionary aspect to high-energy studies of AGN, probing directly the origin of the Cosmic X-ray Background also in the non-thermal range (> 20 keV). Element formation-Supernovae: The energy resolution achievable for this mission (<0.5 keV) and a large high energy effective area are ideally suited for the 44Ti line study (68 and 78 keV). This radioactive nuclei emission will give an estimate of their quantities and speed in their environment. In addition the study of the spatial structure and spectral emission of SNR will advance our knowledge of the dynamics of supernovae explosions, of particles acceleration mechanisms and how the elements are released in the interstellar medium. Instrumental design: The progress of X-ray focusing optics techniques allows a major step in the instrumental design: the collecting area becomes independent of the detection area. This drastically reduces the instrumental background and will open a new era. The optics will be based on depth-graded multi-layer mirrors in a Wolter I configuration. To obtain a significant effective area in the hundred of keV range a focal length in the 40-50 meters range (attainable with a deployable mast) is needed. In addition such a mission could benefit from recent progress made on mirror coating. We propose to cover the 1-200 keV energy range with a single detector, a double-sided Germanium strip detector operating at 80 K. The main features will be: (a) good energy resolution (.150 keV at 5 keV and <.5 keV at 100 keV), (b) 3 dimensional event localization with a low number of electronic chains, (c) background rejection by the 3D localization, (d) polarisation capabilities in the Compton regime.

PHENIX↗