1,692 research outputs found
Control of supersonic wind-tunnel noise by laminarization of nozzle-wall boundary layer
One of the principal design requirements for a quiet supersonic or hypersonic wind tunnel is to maintain laminar boundary layers on the nozzle walls and thereby reduce disturbance levels in the test flow. The conditions and apparent reasons for laminar boundary layers which have been observed during previous investigations on the walls of several nozzles for exit Mach numbers from 2 to 20 are reviewed. Based on these results, an analysis and an assessment of nozzle design requirements for laminar boundary layers including low Reynolds numbers, high acceleration, suction slots, wall temperature control, wall roughness, and area suction are presented
Turbulence in Global Simulations of Magnetized Thin Accretion Disks
We use a global magnetohydrodynamic simulation of a geometrically thin
accretion disk to investigate the locality and detailed structure of turbulence
driven by the magnetorotational instability (MRI). The model disk has an aspect
ratio , and is computed using a higher-order Godunov MHD
scheme with accurate fluxes. We focus the analysis on late times after the
system has lost direct memory of its initial magnetic flux state. The disk
enters a saturated turbulent state in which the fastest growing modes of the
MRI are well-resolved, with a relatively high efficiency of angular momentum
transport . The accretion stress
peaks at the disk midplane, above and below which exists a moderately
magnetized corona with patches of superthermal field. By analyzing the spatial
and temporal correlations of the turbulent fields, we find that the spatial
structure of the magnetic and kinetic energy is moderately well-localized (with
correlation lengths along the major axis of and respectively),
and generally consistent with that expected from homogenous incompressible
turbulence. The density field, conversely, exhibits both a longer correlation
length and a long correlation time, results which we ascribe to the importance
of spiral density waves within the flow. Consistent with prior results, we show
that the mean local stress displays a well-defined correlation with the local
vertical flux, and that this relation is apparently causal (in the sense of the
flux stimulating the stress) during portions of a global dynamo cycle. We argue
that the observed flux-stress relation supports dynamo models in which the
structure of coronal magnetic fields plays a central role in determining the
dynamics of thin-disk accretion.Comment: 24 pages and 25 figures. MNRAS in press. Version with high resolution
figures available from
http://jila.colorado.edu/~krb3u/Thin_Disk/thin_disk_turbulence.pd
Moderate Resolution Spectroscopy For The Space Infrared Telescope Facility (SIRTF)
A conceptual design for an infrared spectrometer capable of both low resolution (λ/Δ-λ = 50; 2.5-200 microns) and moderate resolution (1000; 4-200 microns) and moderate resolution (1000; 4-200 microns) has been developed. This facility instrument will permit the spectroscopic study in the infrared of objects ranging from within the solar system to distant galaxies. The spectroscopic capability provided by this instrument for SIRTF will give astronomers orders of magnitude greater sensitivity for the study of faint objects than had been previously available. The low resolution mode will enable detailed studies of the continuum radiation. The moderate resolution mode of the instrument will permit studies of a wide range of problems, from the infrared spectral signatures of small outer solar system bodies such as Pluto and the satellites of the giant planets, to investigations of more luminous active galaxies and QS0s at substantially greater distances. A simple design concept has been developed for the spectrometer which supports the science investigation with practical cryogenic engineering. Operational flexibility is preserved with a minimum number of mechanisms. The five modules share a common aperture, and all gratings share a single scan mechanism. High reliability is achieved through use of flight-proven hardware concepts and redundancy. The design controls the heat load into the SIRTF cryogen, with all heat sources other than the detectors operating at 7K and isolated from the 4K cold station. Two-dimensional area detector arrays are used in the 2.5-120μm bands to simultaneously monitor adjacent regions in extended objects and to measure the background near point sources
Discovery of Reflection Nebulosity Around Five Vega-like Stars
Coronagraphic optical observations of six Vega-like stars reveal reflection
nebulosities, five of which were previously unknown. The nebulosities
illuminated by HD 4881, HD 23362, HD 23680, HD 26676, and HD 49662 resemble
that of the Pleiades, indicating an interstellar origin for dust grains. The
reflection nebulosity around HD 123160 has a double-arm morphology, but no
disk-like feature is seen as close as 2.5 arcsec from the star in K-band
adaptive optics data. We demonstrate that uniform density dust clouds
surrounding HD 23362, HD 23680 and HD 123160 can account for the observed
12-100 micron spectral energy distributions. For HD 4881, HD 26676, and HD
49662 an additional emission source, such as from a circumstellar disk or
non-equilibrium grain heating, is required to fit the 12-25 micron data. These
results indicate that in some cases, particularly for Vega-like stars located
beyond the Local Bubble (>100 pc), the dust responsible for excess thermal
emission may originate from the interstellar medium rather than from a
planetary debris system.Comment: The Astrophysical Journal, in press for March, 2002 (32 pages, 13
figures
An Infrared Emission Line Galaxy at z = 2.43
An object discovered during an infrared survey of the field near the quasar
B2 0149+33 has an emission line at 2.25m that we interpret as H at
a redshift of 2.43. The K-band image shows two compact components 10 kpc apart
surrounded by more extended emission over ~20 kpc. The H emission
appears to be extended over ~15 kpc (2") in a coarsely sampled (0".8/pixel)
image. The star formation rate may be as high as 250 - 1000 M
yr, depending on the extinction. Alternatively, the line may be powered
by an active nucleus, although the probability of serendipitously discovering
an AGN in the survey volume is only ~0.02. The increasing number of similar
objects reported in the literature indicate that they may be an important,
unstudied population in the high redshift universe.Comment: ApJ in press, 21 pages, 2 figures. Also available at
http://www.mpia-hd.mpg.de/MPIA/Projects/STARS/preprints.htm
Molecules in the Circumstellar Disk Orbiting BP Piscium
BP Psc is a puzzling late-type, emission-line field star with large infrared
excess. The star is encircled and enshrouded by a nearly edge-on, dust
circumstellar disk, and displays an extensive jet system similar to those
associated with pre-main sequence (pre-MS) stars. We conducted a mm-wave
molecular line survey of BP Psc with the 30 m telescope of the Institut de
Radio Astronomie Millimetrique (IRAM). We detected lines of 12CO and 13CO and,
possibly, very weak emission from HCO+ and CN; HCN, H2CO, and SiO are not
detected. The CO line profiles of BP Psc are well fit by a model invoking a
disk in Keplerian rotation. The mimumum disk gas mass, inferred from the 12CO
line intensity and 13CO/12CO line ratio, is ~0.1 Jupiter masses. The weakness
of HCO+ and CN (relative to 13CO) stands in sharp contrast to the strong HCO+
and CN emission that characterizes most low-mass, pre-main sequence stars that
have been the subjects of molecular emission-line surveys, and is suggestive of
a very low level of X-ray-induced molecular ionization within the BP Psc disk.
These results lend some support to the notion that BP Psc is an evolved star
whose circumstellar disk has its origins in a catastrophic interaction with a
close companion.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures; to appear in Astronomy & Astrophysic
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