9,214 research outputs found
Spacelab data analysis and interactive control study
The study consisted of two main tasks, a series of interviews of Spacelab users and a survey of data processing and display equipment. Findings from the user interviews on questions of interactive control, downlink data formats, and Spacelab computer software development are presented. Equipment for quick look processing and display of scientific data in the Spacelab Payload Operations Control Center (POCC) was surveyed. Results of this survey effort are discussed in detail, along with recommendations for NASA development of several specific display systems which meet common requirements of many Spacelab experiments
Coronal Electron Confinement by Double Layers
In observations of flare-heated electrons in the solar corona, a longstanding
problem is the unexplained prolonged lifetime of the electrons compared to
their transit time across the source. This suggests confinement. Recent
particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations, which explored the transport of
pre-accelerated hot electrons through ambient cold plasma, showed that the
formation of a highly localized electrostatic potential drop, in the form of a
double layer (DL), significantly inhibited the transport of hot electrons (T.C.
Li, J.F. Drake, and M. Swisdak, 2012, ApJ, 757, 20). The effectiveness of
confinement by a DL is linked to the strength of the DL as defined by its
potential drop. In this work, we investigate the scaling of the DL strength
with the hot electron temperature by PIC simulations, and find a linear
scaling. We demonstrate that the strength is limited by the formation of
parallel shocks. Based on this, we analytically determine the maximum DL
strength, and find also a linear scaling with the hot electron temperature. The
DL strength obtained from the analytic calculation is comparable to that from
the simulations. At the maximum strength, the DL is capable of confining a
significant fraction of hot electrons in the source
On the Relevance of Compton Scattering for the Soft X-ray Spectra of Hot DA White Dwarfs
We re-examine the effects of Compton scattering on the emergent spectra of
hot DA white dwarfs in the soft X-ray range. Earlier studies have implied that
sensitive X-ray observations at wavelengths \AA might be capable
of probing the flux deficits predicted by the redistribution of
electron-scattered X-ray photons toward longer wavelengths. We adopt two
independent numerical approaches to the inclusion of Compton scattering in the
computation of pure hydrogen atmospheres in hydrostatic equilibrium. One
employs the Kompaneets diffusion approximation formalism, while the other uses
the cross-sections and redistribution functions of Guilbert. Models and
emergent spectra are computed for stellar parameters representative of HZ 43
and Sirius B, and for models with an effective temperature K. The differences between emergent spectra computed for Compton and
Thomson scattering cases are completely negligible in the case of both HZ 43
and Sirius B models, and are also negligible for all practical purposes for
models with temperatures as high as K. Models of the
soft X-ray flux from these stars are instead dominated by uncertainties in
their fundamental parameters.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in A&
- …