14,695 research outputs found
Conceptual design and analysis of orbital cryogenic liquid storage and supply systems
A wide variety of orbital cryogenic liquid storage and supply systems are defined in NASA and DOD long-range plans. These systems include small cooling applications, large chemical and electrical orbit transfer vehicles and supply tankers. All have the common requirements of low-g fluid management to accomplish gas-free liquid expulsion and efficient thermal control to manage heat leak and tank pressure. A preliminary design study was performed to evaluate tanks ranging from 0.6 to 37.4 cu m (22 to 1320 cu ft). Liquids of interest were hydrogen, oxygen, methane, argon and helium. Conceptual designs were generated for each tank system and fluid dynamic, thermal and structural analyses were performed for Shuttle compatible operations. Design trades considered the paradox of conservative support structure and minimum thermal input. Orbital performance and weight data were developed, and a technology evaluation was completed
Convective Dynamos and the Minimum X-ray Flux in Main Sequence Stars
The objective of this paper is to investigate whether a convective dynamo can
account quantitatively for the observed lower limit of X-ray surface flux in
solar-type main sequence stars. Our approach is to use 3D numerical simulations
of a turbulent dynamo driven by convection to characterize the dynamic
behavior, magnetic field strengths, and filling factors in a non-rotating
stratified medium, and to predict these magnetic properties at the surface of
cool stars. We use simple applications of stellar structure theory for the
convective envelopes of main-sequence stars to scale our simulations to the
outer layers of stars in the F0--M0 spectral range, which allows us to estimate
the unsigned magnetic flux on the surface of non-rotating reference stars. With
these estimates we use the recent results of \citet{Pevtsov03} to predict the
level of X-ray emission from such a turbulent dynamo, and find that our results
compare well with observed lower limits of surface X-ray flux. If we scale our
predicted X-ray fluxes to \ion{Mg}{2} fluxes we also find good agreement with
the observed lower limit of chromospheric emission in K dwarfs. This suggests
that dynamo action from a convecting, non-rotating plasma is a viable
alternative to acoustic heating models as an explanation for the basal emission
level seen in chromospheric, transition region, and coronal diagnostics from
late-type stars.Comment: ApJ, accepted, 30 pages with 7 figure
Turbulent Characteristics of Two-Phase, Gas-Liquid Stratified Channel Flow
The turbulence characteristics of the bulk phases were studied in a stratified, two-dimensional, gas- liquid channel flow. Initial results are presented comparing mean velocity and turbulent intensity profiles with those obtained in a prior study at the same bulk phase Reynolds numbers. The results indicate that comparison of two realizations of stratified gas- liquid flow cannot be adequately done on the basis of bulk-phase Reynolds numbers. Comparisons must be based on some more fundamental relationships involving the gas-liquid interactions
The Magnetic Fields of Classical T Tauri Stars
We report new magnetic field measurements for 14 classical T Tauri stars
(CTTSs). We combine these data with one previous field determination in order
to compare our observed field strengths with the field strengths predicted by
magnetospheric accretion models. We use literature data on the stellar mass,
radius, rotation period, and disk accretion rate to predict the field strength
that should be present on each of our stars according to these magnetospheric
accretion models. We show that our measured field values do not correlate with
the field strengths predicted by simple magnetospheric accretion theory. We
also use our field strength measurements and literature X-ray luminosity data
to test a recent relationship expressing X-ray luminosity as a function of
surface magnetic flux derived from various solar feature and main sequence star
measurements. We find that the T Tauri stars we have observed have weaker than
expected X-ray emission by over an order of magnitude on average using this
relationship. We suggest the cause for this is actually a result of the very
strong fields on these stars which decreases the efficiency with which gas
motions in the photosphere can tangle magnetic flux tubes in the corona.Comment: 25 pages, 5 figure
Spectropolarimetry of the Classical T Tauri Star TW Hydrae
We present high resolution (R ~ 60,000) circular spectropolarimetry of the
classical T Tauri star TW Hydrae. We analyze 12 photospheric absorption lines
and measure the net longitudinal magnetic field for 6 consecutive nights. While
no net polarization is detected the first five nights, a significant
photospheric field of Bz = 149 \pm 33 G is found on the sixth night. To rule
out spurious instrumental polarization, we apply the same analysis technique to
several non-magnetic telluric lines, detecting no significant polarization. We
further demonstrate the reality of this field detection by showing that the
splitting between right and left polarized components in these 12 photospheric
lines shows a linear trend with Lande g-factor times wavelength squared, as
predicted by the Zeeman effect. However, this longitudinal field detection is
still much lower than that which would result if a pure dipole magnetic
geometry is responsible for the mean magnetic field strength of 2.6 kG
previously reported for TW Hya. We also detect strong circular polarization in
the He I 5876 and the Ca II 8498 emission lines, indicating a strong field in
the line formation region of these features. The polarization of the Ca II line
is substantially weaker than that of the He I line, which we interpret as due
to a larger contribution to the Ca II line from chromospheric emission in which
the polarization signals cancel. However, the presence of polarization in the
Ca II line indicates that accretion shocks on Classical T Tauri stars do
produce narrow emission features in the infrared triplet lines of Calcium.Comment: One tar file. The paper has 22 pages, 5 figures. Accepted by AJ on
Sep 10, 200
Cool Jupiters greatly outnumber their toasty siblings : Occurrence rates from the Anglo-Australian Planet Search
This article has been accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society ©2019 The Authors. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.Our understanding of planetary systems different to our own has grown dramatically in the past 30 yr. However, our efforts to ascertain the degree to which the Solar system is abnormal or unique have been hindered by the observational biases inherent to the methods that have yielded the greatest exoplanet hauls. On the basis of such surveys, one might consider our planetary system highly unusual - but the reality is that we are only now beginning to uncover the true picture. In this work, we use the full 18-yr archive of data from the Anglo-Australian Planet Search to examine the abundance of 'cool Jupiters' - analogues to the Solar system's giant planets, Jupiter and Saturn. We find that such planets are intrinsically far more common through the cosmos than their siblings, the hot Jupiters.We find that the occurrence rate of such 'cool Jupiters' is 6.73 +2.09 -1.13 per cent, almost an order of magnitude higher than the occurrence of hot Jupiters (at 0.84 +0.70 -0.20 per cent). We also find that the occurrence rate of giant planets is essentially constant beyond orbital distances of ~1 au. Our results reinforce the importance of legacy radial velocity surveys for the understanding of the Solar system's place in the cosmos.Peer reviewe
A non-invasive study of flow dynamics in membrane distillation hollow fiber modules using low-field nuclear magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
Low-field bench-top nuclear magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has been applied to investigate the hydrodynamics in novel hollow fiber modules with four different configurations of randomly-packed, spacer-knitted, curly and semi-curly fibers, specifically designed for the membrane distillation (MD) process. Imaging, spatially resolved velocity maps and propagators (probability distributions of displacement/velocity) were all acquired in the modules with flow in the shell side. The MRI data were correlated with overall module performance.
The results have revealed that the curly configuration exhibited more significant transverse flow and hence enhanced mixing, compared to the randomly packed configuration; this was consistent with an enhanced MD performance in terms of permeation flux. Interestingly, the velocity maps of the spacer-knitted fiber design indicated a significant flow channeling in the center of the module, despite its enhanced MD performance. Fortunately, combined with further investigations on the localized velocity images of this configuration, the acquisition of propagators provided valuable information in revealing the existence of reduced stagnant regions and significant transverse flow at varied operating conditions, which indicated a better overall mixing and hence confirmed its module performance
Simultaneous Multi-Wavelength Observations of Magnetic Activity in Ultracool Dwarfs. II. Mixed Trends in VB10 and LSR1835+32 and the Possible Role of Rotation
[Abridged] As part of our on-going investigation of magnetic activity in
ultracool dwarfs we present simultaneous radio, X-ray, UV, and optical
observations of LSR1835+32 (M8.5), and simultaneous X-ray and UV observations
of VB10 (M8), both with a duration of about 9 hours. LSR1835+32 exhibits
persistent radio emission and H-alpha variability on timescales of ~0.5-2 hr.
The detected UV flux is consistent with photospheric emission, and no X-ray
emission is detected to a deep limit of L_X/L_bol<10^-5.7. The H-alpha and
radio emission are temporally uncorrelated, and the ratio of radio to X-ray
luminosity exceeds the correlation seen in F-M6 stars by >2x10^4. Similarly,
L_Halpha/L_X>10 is at least 30 times larger than in early M dwarfs, and
eliminates coronal emission as the source of chromospheric heating. The lack of
radio variability during four rotations of LSR1835+32 requires a uniform
stellar-scale field of ~10 G, and indicates that the H-alpha variability is
dominated by much smaller scales, <10% of the chromospheric volume. VB10, on
the other hand, shows correlated flaring and quiescent X-ray and UV emission,
similar to the behavior of early M dwarfs. Delayed and densely-sampled optical
spectra exhibit a similar range of variability amplitudes and timescales to
those seen in the X-rays and UV, with L_Halpha/L_X~1. Along with our previous
observations of the M8.5 dwarf TVLM513-46546 we conclude that late M dwarfs
exhibit a mix of activity patterns, which points to a transition in the
structure and heating of the outer atmosphere by large-scale magnetic fields.
We find that rotation may play a role in generating the fields as evidenced by
a tentative correlation between radio activity and rotation velocity. The X-ray
emission, however, shows evidence for super-saturation at vsini>25 km/s.Comment: Submitted to Ap
Simultaneous Multi-Wavelength Observations of Magnetic Activity in Ultracool Dwarfs. I. The Complex Behavior of the M8.5 Dwarf TVLM513-46546
[Abridged] We present the first simultaneous radio, X-ray, ultraviolet, and
optical spectroscopic observations of the M8.5 dwarf TVLM513-46546, with a
duration of 9 hours. These observations are part of a program to study the
origin of magnetic activity in ultracool dwarfs, and its impact on
chromospheric and coronal emission. Here we detect steady quiescent radio
emission superposed with multiple short-duration, highly polarized flares;
there is no evidence for periodic bursts previously reported for this object,
indicating their transient nature. We also detect soft X-ray emission, with
L_X/L_bol~10^-4.9, the faintest to date for any object later than M5, and a
possible weak X-ray flare. TVLM513-46546 continues the trend of severe
violation of the radio/X-ray correlation in ultracool dwarfs, by nearly 4
orders of magnitude. From the optical spectroscopy we find that the Balmer line
luminosity exceeds the X-ray luminosity by a factor of a few, suggesting that,
unlike in early M dwarfs, chromospheric heating may not be due to coronal X-ray
emission. More importantly, we detect a sinusoidal H-alpha light curve with a
period of 2 hr, matching the rotation period of TVLM513-46546. This is the
first known example of such Balmer line behavior, which points to a co-rotating
chromospheric hot spot or an extended magnetic structure, with a covering
fraction of about 50%. This feature may be transitory based on the apparent
decline in light curve peak during the four observed maxima. From the radio
data we infer a large scale steady magnetic field of ~100 G, in good agreement
with the value required for confinement of the X-ray emitting plasma. The radio
flares, on the other hand, are produced in a component of the field with a
strength of ~3 kG and a likely multi-polar configuration.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figure
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