1,474 research outputs found
Silicon material task. Part 3: Low-cost silicon solar array project
The feasibility of a process for carbon reduction of low impurity silica in a plasma heat source was investigated to produce low-cost solar-grade silicon. Theoretical aspects of the reaction chemistry were studied with the aid of a computer program using iterative free energy minimization. These calculations indicate a threshold temperature exists at 2400 K below which no silicon is formed. The computer simulation technique of molecular dynamics was used to study the quenching of product species
Scintillation Caustics in Planetary Occultation Light Curves
We revisit the GSC5249-01240 light curve obtained during its occultation by
Saturn's North polar region. In addition to refractive scintillations, the
power spectrum of intensity fluctuations shows an enhancement of power between
refractive and diffractive regimes. We identify this excess power as due to
high amplitude spikes in the light curve and suggest that these spikes are due
to caustics associated with ray crossing situations. The flux variation in
individual spikes follows the expected caustic behavior, including diffraction
fringes which we have observed for the first time in a planetary occultation
light curve. The presence of caustics in scintillation light curves require an
inner scale cut off to the power spectrum of underlying density fluctuations
associated with turbulence. Another possibility is the presence of gravity
waves in the atmosphere. While occultation light curves previously showed the
existence of refractive scintillations, a combination of small projected
stellar size and a low relative velocity during the event have allowed us to
identify caustics in this occultation. This has led us to re-examine previous
data sets, in which we have also found likely examples of caustics.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures; ApJL submitte
LSA silicon material task closed-cycle process development
The initial effort on feasibility of the closed cycle process was begun with the design of the two major items of untested equipment, the silicon tetrachloride by product converter and the rotary drum reactor for deposition of silicon from trichlorosilane. The design criteria of the initial laboratory equipment included consideration of the reaction chemistry, thermodynamics, and other technical factors. Design and construction of the laboratory equipment was completed. Preliminary silicon tetrachloride conversion experiments confirmed the expected high yield of trichlorosilane, up to 98 percent of theoretical conversion. A preliminary solar-grade polysilicon cost estimate, including capital costs considered extremely conservative, of $6.91/kg supports the potential of this approach to achieve the cost goal. The closed cycle process appears to have a very likely potential to achieve LSA goals
A Bayesian approach to the analysis of time symmetry in light curves: Reconsidering Scorpius X-1 occultations
We present a new approach to the analysis of time symmetry in light curves,
such as those in the x-ray at the center of the Scorpius X-1 occultation
debate. Our method uses a new parameterization for such events (the bilogistic
event profile) and provides a clear, physically relevant characterization of
each event's key features. We also demonstrate a Markov Chain Monte Carlo
algorithm to carry out this analysis, including a novel independence chain
configuration for the estimation of each event's location in the light curve.
These tools are applied to the Scorpius X-1 light curves presented in Chang et
al. (2007), providing additional evidence based on the time series that the
events detected thus far are most likely not occultations by TNOs.Comment: 24 pages, 18 figures. Preprint typeset using LaTeX style emulateapj
v. 04/20/0
A single sub-km Kuiper Belt object from a stellar Occultation in archival data
The Kuiper belt is a remnant of the primordial Solar System. Measurements of
its size distribution constrain its accretion and collisional history, and the
importance of material strength of Kuiper belt objects (KBOs). Small, sub-km
sized, KBOs elude direct detection, but the signature of their occultations of
background stars should be detectable. Observations at both optical and X-ray
wavelengths claim to have detected such occultations, but their implied KBO
abundances are inconsistent with each other and far exceed theoretical
expectations. Here, we report an analysis of archival data that reveals an
occultation by a body with a 500 m radius at a distance of 45 AU. The
probability of this event to occur due to random statistical fluctuations
within our data set is about 2%. Our survey yields a surface density of KBOs
with radii larger than 250 m of 2.1^{+4.8}_{-1.7} x 10^7 deg^{-2}, ruling out
inferred surface densities from previous claimed detections by more than 5
sigma. The fact that we detected only one event, firmly shows a deficit of
sub-km sized KBOs compared to a population extrapolated from objects with r>50
km. This implies that sub-km sized KBOs are undergoing collisional erosion,
just like debris disks observed around other stars.Comment: To appear in Nature on December 17, 2009. Under press embargo until
1800 hours London time on 16 December. 19 pages; 7 figure
Mid-Infrared Ethane Emission on Neptune and Uranus
We report 8- to 13-micron spectral observations of Neptune and Uranus from
the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility spanning more than a decade. The
spectroscopic data indicate a steady increase in Neptune's mean atmospheric
12-micron ethane emission from 1985 to 2003, followed by a slight decrease in
2004. The simplest explanation for the intensity variation is an increase in
stratospheric effective temperature from 155 +/- 3 K in 1985 to 176 +/- 3 K in
2003 (an average rate of 1.2 K/year), and subsequent decrease to 165 +/- 3 K in
2004. We also detected variation of the overall spectral structure of the
ethane band, specifically an apparent absorption structure in the central
portion of the band; this structure arises from coarse spectral sampling
coupled with a non-uniform response function within the detector elements. We
also report a probable direct detection of ethane emission on Uranus. The
deduced peak mole fraction is approximately an order of magnitude higher than
previous upper limits for Uranus. The model fit suggests an effective
temperature of 114 +/- 3 K for the globally-averaged stratosphere of Uranus,
which is consistent with recent measurements indicative of seasonal variation.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ. 16 pages, 10 figures, 2 table
Wetting to Non-wetting Transition in Sodium-Coated C_60
Based on ab initi and density-functional theory calculations, an empirical
potential is proposed to model the interaction between a fullerene molecule and
many sodium atoms. This model predicts homogeneous coverage of C_60 below 8 Na
atoms, and a progressive droplet formation above this size. The effects of
ionization, temperature, and external electric field indicate that the various,
and apparently contradictory, experimental results can indeed be put into
agreement.Comment: 4 pages, 4 postscript figure
Changes in Grape Maturity Induced by Spraying Ethanol
Three different ethanol solutions were sprayed onto Cabernet Sauvignon (Vitis vinifera L.) clusters during the ripening period: 2.5, 5 and 10% by volume in water. Controls were sprayed with water alone. Three different times of spraying were also tested: 8, 10 and 13 weeks post-flowering. One of the observed changes was a lower titratable acidity in grape samples at harvest, when the clusters were sprayed with ethanol at 10 weeks, in comparison with controls. The wines made with grapes treated with ethanol after mid-veraison, had higher ODs at 520 nm than did the controls. This may due to a combined effect of red pigment levels and acidity. In addition, following malolactic fermentation, the acidity levels of wines made with ethanoltreated grapes were slightly higher than those made with the control grapes. Spraying ethanol at 13 weeks post-flowering increased the berry weight by 10% at harvest without decreasing the °Brix value. The corresponding wines had similar degrees of alcohol. This observation was made for the first time in 2001
The INTEGRAL/SPI response and the Crab observations
The Crab region was observed several times by INTEGRAL for calibration
purposes. This paper aims at underlining the systematic interactions between
(i) observations of this reference source, (ii) in-flight calibration of the
instrumental response and (iii) the development and validation of the analysis
tools of the SPI spectrometer. It first describes the way the response is
produced and how studies of the Crab spectrum lead to improvements and
corrections in the initial response. Then, we present the tools which were
developed to extract spectra from the SPI observation data and finally a Crab
spectrum obtained with one of these methods, to show the agreement with
previous experiments. We conclude with the work still ahead to understand
residual uncertainties in the response.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, Proc. of the 5th INTEGRAL Workshop (Feb. 16-20
2004), to be published by ES
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