19,263 research outputs found
The search for the cause of the low albedo of the moon
Experimentation concerning lunar weathering and its effect on the albedo of the surface cover consisted of: (1) determination of the surface chemical composition of lunar soil and ground-up rock samples by Auger electron spectroscopy, (2) measurement of the optical albedo of these samples, and (3) proton or alpha-particle irradiation of terrestrial rock chips and rock powders and of ground-up lunar rock samples in order to determine the optical and surface chemical effect of simulated solar wind
The Surface Chemical Composition of Lunar Samples and Its Significance for Optical Properties
The surface iron, titanium, calcium, and silicon concentration in numerous lunar soil and rock samples was determined by Auger electron spectroscopy. All soil samples show a large increase in the iron to oxygen ratio compared with samples of pulverized rock or with results of the bulk chemical analysis. A solar wind simulation experiment using 2 keV energy alpha -particles showed that an ion dose corresponding to approximately 30,000 years of solar wind increased the iron concentration on the surface of the pulverized Apollo 14 rock sample 14310 to the concentration measured in the Apollo 14 soil sample 14163, and the albedo of the pulverized rock decreased from 0.36 to 0.07. The low albedo of the lunar soil is related to the iron + titanium concentration on its surface. A solar wind sputter reduction mechanism is discussed as a possible cause for both the surface chemical and optical properties of the soil
Flight crew aiding for recovery from subsystem failures
Some of the conceptual issues associated with pilot aiding systems are discussed and an implementation of one component of such an aiding system is described. It is essential that the format and content of the information the aiding system presents to the crew be compatible with the crew's mental models of the task. It is proposed that in order to cooperate effectively, both the aiding system and the flight crew should have consistent information processing models, especially at the point of interface. A general information processing strategy, developed by Rasmussen, was selected to serve as the bridge between the human and aiding system's information processes. The development and implementation of a model-based situation assessment and response generation system for commercial transport aircraft are described. The current implementation is a prototype which concentrates on engine and control surface failure situations and consequent flight emergencies. The aiding system, termed Recovery Recommendation System (RECORS), uses a causal model of the relevant subset of the flight domain to simulate the effects of these failures and to generate appropriate responses, given the current aircraft state and the constraints of the current flight phase. Since detailed information about the aircraft state may not always be available, the model represents the domain at varying levels of abstraction and uses the less detailed abstraction levels to make inferences when exact information is not available. The structure of this model is described in detail
Preliminary Spectral Analysis of SN 1994I
We present optical spectra of the Type Ic supernova 1994I in M51 and
preliminary non-LTE analysis of the spectra. Our models are not inconsistent
with the explosions of C+O cores of massive stars. While we find no direct
evidence for helium in the optical spectra, our models cannot rule out small
amounts of helium. More than 0.1~\msol\ of helium seems unlikely.Comment: LaTeX, MN style, psfig, and natbib substyles, 7 pages, 4 figures, to
appear in MNRAS. Postscript file available from
http://www.nhn.uoknor.edu/~baro
Hydrogen in Type Ic Supernovae?
By definition, a Type Ic supernova (SN Ic) does not have conspicuous lines of
hydrogen or helium in its optical spectrum. SNe Ic usually are modelled in
terms of the gravitational collapse of bare carbon-oxygen cores. We consider
the possibility that the spectra of ordinary (SN 1994I-like) SNe Ic have been
misinterpreted, and that SNe Ic eject hydrogen. An absorption feature usually
attributed to a blend of Si II 6355 and C II 6580 may be produced by H-alpha.
If SN 1994I-like SNe Ic eject hydrogen, the possibility that hypernova (SN
1998bw-like) SNe Ic, some of which are associated with gamma-ray bursts, also
eject hydrogen should be considered. The implications of hydrogen for SN Ic
progenitors and explosion models are briefly discussed.Comment: Accepted by PASP. Several significant changes including one
additional figur
Atmospheric Analysis of the M/L- and M/T-Dwarf Binary Systems LHS 102 and Gliese 229
We present 0.9-2.5um spectroscopy with R~800 and 1.12-1.22um spectroscopy
with R~5800 for the M dwarfs Gl 229A and LHS 102A, and for the L dwarf LHS
102B. We also report IZJHKL' photometry for both components of the LHS 102
system, and L' photometry for Gl 229A. The data are combined with previously
published spectroscopy and photometry to produce flux distributions for each
component of the kinematically old disk M/L-dwarf binary system LHS 102 and the
kinematically young disk M/T-dwarf binary system Gliese 229. The data are
analyzed using synthetic spectra generated by the latest "AMES-dusty" and
"AMES-cond" models by Allard & Hauschildt. Although the models are not able to
reproduce the overall slope of the infrared flux distribution of the L dwarf,
most likely due to the treatment of dust in the photosphere, the data for the M
dwarfs and the T dwarf are well matched. We find that the Gl 229 system is
metal-poor despite having kinematics of the young disk, and that the LHS 102
system has solar metallicity. The observed luminosities and derived
temperatures and gravities are consistent with evolutionary model predictions
if the Gl 229 system is very young (age ~30 Myr) with masses (A,B) of
(0.38,>0.007)M(sun), and the LHS 102 system is older, aged 1-10 Gyr with masses
(A,B) of (0.19,0.07)M(sun).Comment: 29 pages incl. 13 figures and 5 tables;; accepted for publication in
MNRA
A Study of Compact Radio Sources in Nearby Face-on Spiral Galaxies. II. Multiwavelength Analyses of Sources in M51
We report the analysis of deep radio observations of the interacting galaxy
system M51 from the Very Large Array, with the goal of understanding the nature
of the population of compact radio sources in nearby spiral galaxies. We detect
107 compact radio sources, 64% of which have optical counterparts in a deep
H Hubble Space Telescope image. Thirteen of the radio sources have
X-ray counterparts from a {\em Chandra} observation of M51. We find that six of
the associated H sources are young supernova remnants with resolved
shells. Most of the SNRs exhibit steep radio continuum spectral indices
onsistent with synchrotron emission. We detect emission from the Type Ic SN
1994I nearly a decade after explosion: the emission (Jy
beam at 20 cm, Jy beam at 6cm,
) is consistent with light curve models for Type Ib/Ic
supernovae. We detect X-ray emission from the supernova, however no optical
counterpart is present. We report on the analysis of the Seyfert 2 nucleus in
this galaxy, including the evidence for bipolar outflows from the central black
hole.Comment: 22 pages, 8 figures (5 color) in separate files, AASTeX. Full
resolution figures and preprint may be obtained by contacting
[email protected]. AJ accepte
Spectral Consequences of Deviation from Spherical Composition Symmetry in Type Ia Supernovae
We investigate the prospects for constraining the maximum scale of clumping
in composition that is consistent with observed Type Ia supernova flux spectra.
Synthetic spectra generated without purely spherical composition symmetry
indicate that gross asymmetries make prominent changes to absorption features.
Motivated by this, we consider the case of a single unblended line forming in
an atmosphere with perturbations of different scales and spatial distributions.
Perturbations of about 1% of the area of the photodisk simply weaken the
absorption feature by the same amount independent of the line of sight.
Conversely, perturbations of about 10% of the area of the photodisk introduce
variation in the absorption depth which does depend on the line of sight. Thus,
1% photodisk area perturbations may be consistent with observed profile
homogeneity but 10% photodisk area perturbations can not. Based on this, we
suggest that the absence of significant variation in the depths of Si II 6355
absorption features in normal Type Ia spectra near maximum light indicates that
any composition perturbations in these events are quite small. This also
constrains future three-dimensional explosion models to produce ejecta profiles
with only small scale inhomogeneities.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figure
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