9,872 research outputs found
A compact high-flux cold atom beam source
We report on an efficient and compact high-flux Cs atom beam source based on
a retro-reflected two-dimensional magneto-optical trap (2D MOT). We realize an
effective pushing field component by tilting the 2D MOT collimators towards a
separate three-dimensional magneto-optical trap (3D MOT) in ultra-high vacuum.
This technique significantly improved 3D MOT loading rates to greater than atoms/s using only 20 mW of total laser power for the source. When
operating below saturation, we achieve a maximum efficiency of atoms/s/W
Relative Density, Equilibrium Moisture Content, and Dimensional Stability of Western Hemlock Bark
The measurement of western hemlock bark samples from three coastal sites in British Columbia revealed that inner bark relative density (0.382) is less than that of the adjacent sapwood (0.413) and markedly less than that of outer bark (0.463). The equilibrium moisture content of the inner and outer bark are equivalent at both 70 and 30% relative humidity, and slightly higher than that of the sapwood.The generally higher shrinkage of bark compared with wood is the result of bark cell collapse during drying. In the outer bark, some collapse or crushing takes place in the standing tree. This compacting of tissue reduces the shrinkage of outer bark relative to the inner bark. The actual shrinkage per unit change in moisture content of the inner bark is the same as that for the sapwood. The outer bark appears to be more dimensionally stable. The longitudinal shrinkage of both inner (2.9%) and outer (2.2%) bark is markedly greater than that of the sapwood (0.1-0.2%)
Development of Replacement Heifers using Combinations of Three Forage Types and Feed Supplements (with or without Broiler Litter)
The proper management of replacement heifers is an essential component of successful cow/calf operations. The level of management and nutrition applied to replacement heifers as calves and yearlings can impact their subsequent reproductive performance and productivity
A Mechanistic Approach to Crystallite Length as Related to Cell-Wall Structure
A tentative mechanistic model is proposed that relates variation in crystallite length in wood to some physical conditions under which the crystallite may have been formed, namely the curvature and ultrastructure of the microfibril. Over most of the experimental data range, representing both hardwood and softwood samples, the model allows reasonably good prediction of the effect of crystallite orientation angle and radial distance from the cell center. As the angle increases and radial distance decreases, the average crystallite length becomes smaller
Bark-Tissue Thickness of Coastal Western Hemlock in British Columbia
Bark-tissue thicknesses of coastal western hemlock are reported. Variation in these characteristics is considered between sites, trees, and height positions. Total bark thickness did not vary significantly with site, averaging 7.4 mm, 12.2 mm, and 12.6 mm for the top, middle, and butt height positions, respectively. However, the relative contribution of the individual tissues to the total thickness did vary with site. The thickness of all bark characteristics varied with height, being least at the top position, but differing very little between middle and butt positions
Hydrodynamical simulations of the jet in the symbiotic star MWC 560 III. Application to X-ray jets in symbiotic stars
In papers I and II in this series, we presented hydrodynamical simulations of
jet models with parameters representative of the symbiotic system MWC 560.
These were simulations of a pulsed, initially underdense jet in a high density
ambient medium. Since the pulsed emission of the jet creates internal shocks
and since the jet velocity is very high, the jet bow shock and the internal
shocks are heated to high temperatures and should therefore emit X-ray
radiation. In this paper, we investigate in detail the X-ray properties of the
jets in our models. We have focused our study on the total X-ray luminosity and
its temporal variability, the resulting spectra and the spatial distribution of
the emission. Temperature and density maps from our hydrodynamical simulations
with radiative cooling presented in the second paper are used together with
emissivities calculated with the atomic database ATOMDB. The jets in our models
show extended and variable X-ray emission which can be characterized as a sum
of hot and warm components with temperatures that are consistent with
observations of CH Cyg and R Aqr. The X-ray spectra of our model jets show
emission line features which correspond to observed features in the spectra of
CH Cyg. The innermost parts of our pulsed jets show iron line emission in the
6.4 - 6.7 keV range which may explain such emission from the central source in
R Aqr. We conclude that MWC 560 should be detectable with Chandra or
XMM-Newton, and such X-ray observations will provide crucial for understanding
jets in symbiotic stars.Comment: 10 pages, 12 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ, uses
emulateap
The Study of the Pioneer Anomaly: New Data and Objectives for New Investigation
Radiometric tracking data from Pioneer 10 and 11 spacecraft has consistently
indicated the presence of a small, anomalous, Doppler frequency drift,
uniformly changing with a rate of ~6 x 10^{-9} Hz/s; the drift can be
interpreted as a constant sunward acceleration of each particular spacecraft of
a_P = (8.74 \pm 1.33) x 10^{-10} m/s^2. This signal is known as the Pioneer
anomaly; the nature of this anomaly remains unexplained. We discuss the efforts
to retrieve the entire data sets of the Pioneer 10/11 radiometric Doppler data.
We also report on the recently recovered telemetry files that may be used to
reconstruct the engineering history of both spacecraft using original project
documentation and newly developed software tools. We discuss possible ways to
further investigate the discovered effect using these telemetry files in
conjunction with the analysis of the much extended Doppler data. We present the
main objectives of new upcoming study of the Pioneer anomaly, namely i)
analysis of the early data that could yield the direction of the anomaly, ii)
analysis of planetary encounters, that should tell more about the onset of the
anomaly, iii) analysis of the entire dataset, to better determine the anomaly's
temporal behavior, iv) comparative analysis of individual anomalous
accelerations for the two Pioneers, v) the detailed study of on-board
systematics, and vi) development of a thermal-electric-dynamical model using
on-board telemetry. The outlined strategy may allow for a higher accuracy
solution for a_P and, possibly, will lead to an unambiguous determination of
the origin of the Pioneer anomaly.Comment: 43 pages, 40 figures, 3 tables, minor changes before publicatio
VETA-I x ray test analysis
This interim report presents some definitive results from our analysis of the VETA-I x-ray testing data. It also provides a description of the hardware and software used in the conduct of the VETA-I x-ray test program performed at the MSFC x-ray Calibration Facility (XRCF). These test results also serve to supply data and information to include in the TRW final report required by DPD 692, DR XC04. To provide an authoritative compendium of results, we have taken nine papers as published in the SPIE Symposium, 'Grazing Incidence X-ray/EUV Optics for Astronomy and Projection Lithography' and have reproduced them as the content of this report
The X-ray R Aquarii: A Two-sided Jet and Central Source
We report Chandra ACIS-S3 x-ray imaging and spectroscopy of the R Aquarii
binary system that show a spatially resolved two-sided jet and an unresolved
central source. This is the first published report of such an x-ray jet seen in
an evolved stellar system comprised of ~2-3 solar masses. At E < 1 keV, the
x-ray jet extends both to the northeast and southwest relative to the central
binary system. At 1 < E < 7.1 keV, R Aqr is a point-like source centered on the
star system. While both 3.5-cm radio continuum emission and x-ray emission
appear coincident in projection and have maximum intensities at ~7.5" northeast
of the central binary system, the next strongest x-ray component is located
\~30" southwest of the central binary system and has no radio continuum
counterpart. The x-ray jets are likely shock heated in the recent past, and are
not in thermal equilibrium. The strongest southwest x-ray jet component may
have been shocked recently since there is no relic radio emission as expected
from an older shock. At the position of the central binary, we detect x-ray
emission below 1.6 keV consistent with blackbody emission at T ~2 x 10^6 K. At
the central star there is also a prominent 6.4 keV feature, a possible
fluorescence or collisionally excited Fe K-alpha line from an accretion disk or
from the wind of the giant star. For this excitation to occur, there must be an
unseen hard source of x-rays or particles in the immediate vicinity of the hot
star. Such a source would be hidden from view by the surrounding edge-on
accretion disk.Comment: PS, 20 pages, including 3 figures PNG, JPG - accepted for publication
in ApJ Letters. Subject headings: stars: individual (R Aquarii) -- binaries:
symbiotic -- circumstellar matter -- stars: white dwarfs -- stars: winds,
outflows -- radio continuum: stars -- x-rays: genera
The x ray reflectivity of the AXAF VETA-I optics
The x-ray reflectivity of the VETA-I optic, the outermost shell of the AXAF x-ray telescope, with a bare Zerodur surface, is measured and compared with theoretical predictions. Measurements made at energies of 0.28, 0.9, 1.5, 2.1, and 2.3 keV are compared with predictions based on ray trace calculations. The data were obtained at the x-ray calibrations facility at Marshall Space Flight Center with an electron impact x-ray source located 528 m from the grazing incidence mirror. The source used photoelectric absorption filters to eliminate bremsstrahlung continuum. The mirror has a diameter of 1.2 m and a focal length of 10 m. The incident and reflected x-ray flux are detected using two proportional counters, one located in the incident beam of x-rays at the entrance aperture of the VETA-I, and the other in the focal plane behind an aperture of variable size. Results on the variation of the reflectivity with energy as well as the absolute value of the reflectivity are presented. We also present a synchrotron reflectivity measurement with high energy resolution over the range 0.26 to 1.8 keV on a flat Zerodur sample, done at NSLS. We present evidence for contamination of the flat by a thin layer of carbon on the surface, and the possibility of alteration of the surface composition of the VETA-I mirror perhaps by the polishing technique. The overall agreement between the measured and calculated effective area of VETA-I is between 2.6 percent and 10 percent, depending on which model for the surface composition is adopted. Measurements at individual energies deviate from the best-fitting calculation to 0.3 to 0.8 percent, averaging 0.6 percent at energies below the high energy cutoff of the mirror reflectivity, and are as high as 20.7 percent at the cutoff. We also discuss the approach to the final preflight calibration of the full AXAF flight mirror
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