367 research outputs found
Fighting for Survival: USS Yorktown (CV5) Damage Control Experiences in 1942
This study reveals how the Pacific war changed at Coral Sea and Midway due to a little known but important cadre of sailors on USS Yorktown (CV5). Those US victories resulted from not only clever code breakers and courageous airmen but equally from the determined Damage Control (DC) crews aboard Yorktown. DC crews were the ship’s first responders. They fought fires, kept power and propulsion operable, controlled the ship’s stability, and patched her flight deck to keep aircraft flying. DC teams saved Yorktown multiple times, and their story is memorable for their contributions at Coral Sea and Midway. Without DC efforts, CV5 would not have participated in the battle of Midway. Without Yorktown, the commitment of only two American carriers (with one being virtually inexperienced) against four Japanese carriers with their skilled airmen would have yielded disaster for the United States at Midway instead of victory
Fighting for Survival: USS Yorktown (CV5) Damage Control Experiences in 1942
This study reveals how the Pacific war changed at Coral Sea and Midway due to a little known but important cadre of sailors on USS Yorktown (CV5). Those US victories resulted from not only clever code breakers and courageous airmen but equally from the determined Damage Control (DC) crews aboard Yorktown. DC crews were the ship’s first responders. They fought fires, kept power and propulsion operable, controlled the ship’s stability, and patched her flight deck to keep aircraft flying. DC teams saved Yorktown multiple times, and their story is memorable for their contributions at Coral Sea and Midway. Without DC efforts, CV5 would not have participated in the battle of Midway. Without Yorktown, the commitment of only two American carriers (with one being virtually inexperienced) against four Japanese carriers with their skilled airmen would have yielded disaster for the United States at Midway instead of victory
Optical properties and spatial distribution of MgII absorbers from SDSS image stacking
We present a statistical analysis of the photometric properties and spatial
distribution of more than 2,800 MgII absorbers with 0.37<z<1 and rest
equivalent width W_0(\lambda2796)>0.8\AA detected in SDSS quasar spectra. Using
an improved image stacking technique, we measure the cross-correlation between
MgII gas and light (in the g, r, i and z-bands) from 10 to 200 kpc and infer
the light-weighted impact parameter distribution of MgII absorbers. Such a
quantity is well described by a power-law with an index that strongly depends
on W_0, ranging from ~-1 for W_0~ 1.5\AA. At redshift
0.37<z<0.55, we find the average luminosity enclosed within 100 kpc around MgII
absorbers to be M_g=-20.65+-0.11 mag, which is ~0.5 L_g*. The global
luminosity-weighted colors are typical of present-day intermediate type
galaxies. However, while the light of weaker absorbers originates mostly from
red passive galaxies, stronger systems display the colors of blue star-forming
galaxies. Based on these observations, we argue that the origin of strong MgII
absorber systems might be better explained by models of metal-enriched gas
outflows from star-forming/bursting galaxies. Our analysis does not show any
redshift dependence for both impact parameter and rest-frame colors up to z=1.
However, we do observe a brightening of the absorbers related light at high
redshift (~50% from z~0.4 to 1). We argue that MgII absorbers are a phenomenon
typical of a given evolutionary phase that more massive galaxies experience
earlier than less massive ones, in a downsizing fashion. (abridged)Comment: ApJ in press, 28 pages, 16 figures, using emulateapj. Only typo
corrections wrt the original submission (v1
STM Studies of Synthetic Peptide Monolayers
We have used scanning probe microscopy to investigate self-assembled
monolayers of chemically synthesized peptides. We find that the peptides form a
dense uniform monolayer, above which is found a sparse additional layer. Using
scanning tunneling microscopy, submolecular resolution can be obtained,
revealing the alpha helices which constitute the peptide. The nature of the
images is not significantly affected by the incorporation of redox cofactors
(hemes) in the peptides.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures (4 gifs); to appear in the Proceedings of the
XIIth Int. Winterschool on Electronic Properties of Novel Materials
"Molecular Nanostructures", Kirchberg/Tyrol, Febr. 199
Discovery of Damped Lyman-Alpha Systems at Redshifts Less Than 1.65 and Results on their Incidence and Cosmological Mass Density
We report results on the incidence and cosmological mass density of damped
Lyman-alpha (DLA) systems at redshifts less that 1.65. We used HST and an
efficient non-traditional (but unbiased) survey technique to discover DLA
systems at redshifts z<1.65, where we observe the Lyman-alpha line in known
MgII absorption-line systems. We uncovered 14 DLA lines including 2
serendipitously. We find that (1) The DLA absorbers are drawn almost
exclusively from the population of MgII absorbers which have rest equivalent
widths W(2796)>0.6A. (2) The incidence of DLA systems per unit redshift,
n(DLA), is observed to decrease with decreasing redshift. (3) On the other
hand, the cosmological mass density of neutral gas in low-redshift DLA
absorbers, Omega(DLA), is observed to be comparable to that observed at high
redshift. (4) The low-redshift DLA absorbers exhibit a significantly larger
fraction of very high column density systems in comparison to determinations at
both high redshift and locally.Comment: 47 pages in LaTeX - emulateapj style with included tables and
encapsulated postscript figures. Accepted for Publication in Astrophysical
Journal Supplements. Results unchanged, text revise
The Population of Damped Lyman-alpha and Lyman Limit Systems in the Cold Dark Matter Model
Lyman limit and damped Lyman-alpha absorption systems probe the distribution
of collapsed, cold gas at high redshift. Numerical simulations that incorporate
gravity and gas dynamics can predict the abundance of such absorbers in
cosmological models. We develop a semi-analytical method to correct the
numerical predictions for the contribution of unresolved low mass halos, and we
apply this method to the Katz et al. (1996) simulation of the standard cold
dark matter model (, , , ). Using
this simulation and higher resolution simulations of individual low mass
systems, we determine the relation between a halo's circular velocity and
its cross section for producing Lyman limit or damped absorption. We combine
this relation with the Press-Schechter formula for the abundance of halos to
compute the number of absorbers per unit redshift. The resolution correction
increases the predicted abundances by about a factor of two at z=2, 3, and 4,
bringing the predicted number of damped absorbers into quite good agreement
with observations. Roughly half of the systems reside in halos with circular
velocities v_c>100\kms and half in halos with 35\kms. Halos
with v_c>150\kms typically harbor two or more systems capable of producing
damped absorption. Even with the resolution correction, the predicted abundance
of Lyman limit systems is a factor of three below observational estimates,
signifying either a failure of standard CDM or a failure of these simulations
to resolve the systems responsible for most Lyman limit absorption. By
comparing simulations with and without star formation, we find that depletion
of the gas supply by star formation affects absorption line statistics at
only for column densities exceeding .Comment: AASlatex, 17 pages w/ 3 embedded ps figures. Submitted to Ap
Stellar Evolution in NGC 6791: Mass Loss on the Red Giant Branch and the Formation of Low Mass White Dwarfs
We present the first detailed study of the properties (temperatures,
gravities, and masses) of the NGC 6791 white dwarf population. This unique
stellar system is both one of the oldest (8 Gyr) and most metal-rich ([Fe/H] ~
0.4) open clusters in our Galaxy, and has a color-magnitude diagram (CMD) that
exhibits both a red giant clump and a much hotter extreme horizontal branch.
Fitting the Balmer lines of the white dwarfs in the cluster, using Keck/LRIS
spectra, suggests that most of these stars are undermassive, = 0.43 +/-
0.06 Msun, and therefore could not have formed from canonical stellar evolution
involving the helium flash at the tip of the red giant branch. We show that at
least 40% of NGC 6791's evolved stars must have lost enough mass on the red
giant branch to avoid the flash, and therefore did not convert helium into
carbon-oxygen in their core. Such increased mass loss in the evolution of the
progenitors of these stars is consistent with the presence of the extreme
horizontal branch in the CMD. This unique stellar evolutionary channel also
naturally explains the recent finding of a very young age (2.4 Gyr) for NGC
6791 from white dwarf cooling theory; helium core white dwarfs in this cluster
will cool ~3 times slower than carbon-oxygen core stars and therefore the
corrected white dwarf cooling age is in fact ~7 Gyr, consistent with the well
measured main-sequence turnoff age. These results provide direct empirical
evidence that mass loss is much more efficient in high metallicity environments
and therefore may be critical in interpreting the ultraviolet upturn in
elliptical galaxies.Comment: 15 pages, 9 figures, 2 tables. Accepted for publication in Astrophys.
J. Very minor changes from first versio
QSO Absorbing Galaxies at z<~1: Deep Imaging and Spectroscopy in the Field of 3C 336
We present very deep WFPC2 images and FOS spectroscopy from the Hubble Space
Telescope (HST) together with numerous supporting ground-based observations of
the field of the quasar 3C 336 (). The observations are designed
to investigate the nature of galaxies producing metal line absorption systems
in the spectrum of the QSO. Along a single line of sight, we find at least 6
metal line absorption systems (of which 3 are newly discovered) ranging in
redshift from 0.317 to 0.892. Through an extensive program of optical and IR
imaging, QSO spectroscopy, and faint galaxy spectroscopy, we have identified 5
of the 6 metal line absorption systems with luminous (L_K > 0.1 L*_K) galaxies.
These have morphologies ranging from very late-type spiral to S0, and exhibit a
wide range of inclination and position angles with respect to the QSO
sightline. The only unidentified absorber, despite our intensive search, is a
damped Lyman system at . Analysis of the absorption
spectrum suggests that the metal abundances ([Fe/H]) in this system are
similar to those in damped systems at , and to the two other damped
systems for which abundances have been determined at . We have found no
examples of intrinsically faint galaxies () at small impact
parameters that might have been missed as absorber candidates in our previous
ground-based imaging and spectroscopic programs on MgII absorbing galaxies.
There are no bright galaxies (L > 0.1 L_K) within 50h^{-1} kpc which do not
produce detectable metal lines (of Mg II 2796, 2803 and/or C IV 1548, 1550) in
the QSO spectrum. All of these results generally support the inferences which
we have previously reached from a larger survey for absorption-selected
galaxies at z\simlt 1.Comment: 32 pages latex (AAS v4.0 style). 8 Postscript figures (including HST
plate) available at ftp://astro.caltech.edu/users/ccs/3c336_figs.ps.gz .
Submitted to Ap
Spectroscopic Analysis of H I Absorption Line Systems in 40 HIRES Quasars
We list and analyze H I absorption lines at redshifts 2 < z < 4 with column
density (12 < log(N_HI) < 19) in 40 high-resolutional (FWHM = 8.0 km/s) quasar
spectra obtained with the Keck+HIRES. We de-blend and fit all H I lines within
1,000 km/s of 86 strong H I lines whose column densities are log(N_HI/[cm^-2])
> 15. Unlike most prior studies, we use not only Lya but also all visible
higher Lyman series lines to improve the fitting accuracy. This reveals
components near to higher column density systems that can not be seen in Lya.
We list the Voigt profile fits to the 1339 H I components that we found. We
examined physical properties of H I lines after separating them into several
sub-samples according to their velocity separation from the quasars, their
redshift, column density and the S/N ratio of the spectrum. We found two
interesting trends for lines with 12 < log(N_HI) < 15 which are within 200-1000
km/s of systems with log(N_HI) > 15. First, their column density distribution
becomes steeper, meaning relatively fewer high column density lines, at z <
2.9. Second, their column density distribution also becomes steeper and their
line width becomes broader by about 2-3 km/s when they are within 5,000 km/s of
their quasar.Comment: 32 pages, 14 figures, accepted for publication in the Astronomical
Journal. A complete version with all tables and figures is available at
http://www.astro.psu.edu/users/misawa/pub/Paper/40hires.ps.g
HST/NICMOS Imaging of Disks and Envelopes Around Very Young Stars
We present HST/NICMOS observations with 0.1" (15 AU) resolution of six young
stellar objects in the Taurus star-formation region. The targets of our survey
are three Class I IRAS sources (IRAS 04016+2610, IRAS 04248+2612, and IRAS
04302+2247) and three low-luminosity stars (DG Tau B, Haro 6-5B, and CoKu
Tau/1) associated with Herbig Haro jets. The broad-band images show that the
near-infrared radiation from these sources is dominated by light scattered from
dusty circumstellar material distributed in a region 10 - 15 times the size of
our solar system. Although the detailed morphologies of the individual objects
are unique, the observed young stellar objects share common features. All of
the circumstellar reflection nebulae are crossed by dark lanes from 500 - 900
AU in extent and from less than 50 to 350 AU in apparent thickness. The
absorption lanes extend perpendicular to known optical and millimeter outflows
in these sources. We interpret the dark lanes as optically thick circumstellar
disks seen in silhouette against bright reflection nebulosity. The bipolar
reflection nebulae extending perpendicular to the dust lanes appear to be
produced by scattering from the upper and lower surfaces of the disks and from
dusty material within or on the walls of the outflow cavities. Out of five
objects in which the central source is directly detected, two are found to be
subarcsecond binaries. This mini-survey is the highest resolution near-infrared
study to date of circumstellar environments around solar-type stars with age <=
1 Myr.Comment: 34 pages, 4 figures; also available at
http://spider.ipac.caltech.edu/staff/brandner/topics/disks/disks.html ;
accepted for publication in AJ (March 1999 issue
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