Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “NEAR Eros”

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.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

Finding Peas in the Early Universe with JWST

The Early Release Observations (EROs) of JWST beautifully demonstrate the promise of JWST in characterizing the universe at Cosmic Dawn. We analyze the Near Infrared Spectrograph ERO spectra of three z ~ 8 galaxies to determine their metallicities, gas temperatures, and ionization. These galaxies offer the first opportunity to understand the physical properties of Epoch-of-Reionization galaxies through detailed rest-optical emission-line spectroscopy. We show that these objects have metal abundances $12+\mathrm{log}[{\rm{O}}/{\rm{H}}]\,\approx$ 6.9–8.3, based on both the T e method and on a recent calibration of the R 23 metallicity indicator. Since the spectra are some of the earliest science data from JWST, we compare several line ratios with values expected from robust physics, to validate our measurement procedures. We compare the abundances and emission-line ratios to a nearby sample of Green Pea galaxies—a population of nearby emission-line galaxies whose UV properties resemble Epoch-of-Reionization galaxies, and which often have large Lyman continuum escape fractions. The JWST data show striking further similarities between these high-redshift galaxies and nearby Green Peas. The z ~ 8 galaxies span the metallicity range covered by Green Peas. They also show the compact morphology that is typical of emission-line-dominated galaxies at all redshifts. Based on these similarities with Green Peas, it is likely that these are the first rest-optical spectra of galaxies that are actively driving cosmological reionization.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Summary of 2020 edge-plasma modeling for FNSFand plans for 2021

This year, following the study of liquid-wall options, our edge-plasma modeling has returned to analyzing issues associated with a solid tungsten-wall, Fusion Nuclear Science Facility (FNSF)-size device, primarily using the 2D UEDGE plasma/neutral transport code. The focus is to predict plasma/neutral heat and particle fluxes to various wall components and determine the concentration of injected and wall-sputtered impurities that reach the core plasma region. Our models have been advanced in a number of areas compared to the initial modeling done in the 2017 timeframe: this year we include each individual charge-state of impurity ions instead of assuming a fixed concentration of impurities relative to the deuterium-tritium (DT) fuel plasma, including the interaction between inner and outer divertor legs. Here edge fueling of the impurity and pumping in the private-flux region is incorporated. Increasingly detailed atomic-physics rate files for impurity radiation have been compared, as well as the role of molecules. The impact of spatial variation of the turbulence-driven radial plasma transport is considered to contribute to the understanding of the heat-flux-limit effects of choosing a double-null or single-null divertor configuration. Detailed plasma/neutral wall fluxes, densities, and temperatures have been provided to the ERO group for their more detailed studies of wall sputtering and near-surface impurity transport.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

The Low-redshift Lyman Continuum Survey. I. New, Diverse Local Lyman Continuum Emitters

The origins of Lyman continuum (LyC) photons responsible for the reionization of the universe are as of yet unknown and highly contested. Detecting LyC photons from the Epoch of Reionization is not possible due to absorption by the intergalactic medium, which has prompted the development of several indirect diagnostics to infer the rate at which galaxies contribute LyC photons to reionize the universe by studying lower-redshift analogs. We present the Low-redshift Lyman Continuum Survey (LzLCS) comprising measurements made with the Hubble Space Telescope Cosmic Origins Spectrograph for a z = 0.2–0.4 sample of 66 galaxies. After careful processing of the far-UV spectra, we obtain a total of 35 Lyman continuum emitters (LCEs) detected with 97.725% confidence, nearly tripling the number of known local LCEs. We estimate escape fractions from the detected LyC flux and upper limits on the undetected LyC flux, finding a range of LyC escape fractions up to 50%. Of the 35 LzLCS LCEs, 12 have LyC escape fractions greater than 5%, more than doubling the number of known local LCEs with cosmologically relevant LyC escape.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗