On the Photometric Consequences of Charge-Transfer Inefficiency in WFPC2

Charge-transfer effects in photometry with Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 aboard the Hubble Space Telescope are investigated by a comparison of WFPC2 observations with groundbased photometry for the Galactic globular clusters omega Centauri and NGC 2419. Simple numerical formulae describing the fraction of lost signal as functions of position on the detector, stellar brightness, and the diffuse sky brightness recorded in an image are presented, and the resulting corrections are compared to those previously derived by Whitmore & Heyer (1997, Instrument Science Report WFPC2 97-08). Significant lost-charge effects are seen that are proportional to both the Y coordinate (i.e., the number of shifts along the parallel register during readout) and the X coordinate (number of shifts along the serial register). The percentage of charge lost decreases as the star brightness or the diffuse sky brightness increases. Charge losses during the brief period when WFPC2 was operated at a temperature of -76 degrees C were approximately 85% greater, but apart from that no significant change in the charge transfer losses with time during the first 3.5 years of WFPC2's mission is evident, except possibly a weak effect for the very faintest star images. These results are quite similar to those of Whitmore & Heyer, which were based on a much smaller data set, but there are some differences in detail. Even with the present set of corrections, additional sources of calibration uncertainty which I am unable identify or characterize with the available data probably limit the external accuracy of photometry from WFPC2 to of order 1-2%.Comment: 5 tables, 4 figure

Homogeneous Photometry for Star Clusters and Resolved Galaxies. II. Photometric Standard Stars

Stars appearing in CCD images obtained over 224 nights during the course of 69 observing runs have been calibrated to the Johnson/Kron-Cousins BVRI photometric system defined by the equatorial standards of Landolt (1992, AJ, 104, 340). More than 15,000 stars suitable for use as photometric standards have been identified, where "suitable" means that the star has been observed five or more times during photometric conditions and has a standard error of the mean magnitude less than 0.02 mag in at least two of the four bandpasses, and shows no significant evidence of intrinsic variability. Many of these stars are in the same fields as Landolt's equatorial standards or Graham's (1982, PASP, 94, 244) southern E-region standards, but are considerably fainter. This enhances the value of those fields for the calibration of photometry obtained with large telescopes. Other standards have been defined in fields containing popular objects of astrophysical interest, such as star clusters and famous galaxies, extending Landolt-system calibrators to declinations far from the equator and to stars of sub-Solar chemical abundances. I intend to continue to improve and enlarge this set of photometric standard stars as more observing runs are reduced. The full current database of photometric indices is being made freely available via a site on the World-Wide Web, or by direct request to the author. Although the contents of the database will evolve in detail, at any given time it should represent the largest sample of precise BVRI broad-band photometric standards available anywhere.Comment: Accepted for July 2000 PAS

Risk, Return and Social Impact: Demystifying the Law of Mission Investing by U.S. Foundations

Discusses in detail the legal aspects of mission-related investing, including federal and state fiduciary laws, foundations' fiduciary responsibility, and emerging practices, and makes recommendations. Includes examples of investments and case studies

Demonstration of laser speckle system on burner liner cyclic rig

A demonstration test was conducted to apply speckle photogrammetry to the measurement of strains on a sample of combustor liner material in a cyclic fatigue rig. A system for recording specklegrams was assembled and shipped to the NASA Lewis Research Center, where it was set up and operated during rig tests. Data in the form of recorded specklegrams were sent back to United Technologies Research Center for processing to extract strains. Difficulties were found in the form of warping and bowing of the sample during the tests which degraded the data. Steps were taken by NASA personnel to correct this problem and further tests were run. Final data processing indicated erratic patterns of strain on the burner liner sample

A Brief Guide to the Law of Mission Investing for U.S. Foundations

U.S foundations have considerable freedom to invest their assets in ways that further their missions, even at greater risk or lower financial return. The legal framework that governs the investment of foundation assets is both complex and ambiguous, however, with the result that many foundation leaders and investment advisors are unclear about what is legally permissible. Anne Stetson and Mark Kramer of FSG have prepared two reports, in consultation with nationally-recognized legal experts and senior foundation officers, analyzing the federal tax and state fiduciary laws as they apply to US foundations. In addition to legal analysis, the reports provide practical recommendations as to how foundations can best navigate these laws in making mission-related or program-related investments. A Brief Guide to the Law of Mission Investing for U.S. Foundations is a short 18 page booklet, suitable for foundation staff and boards, as well as their advisors, explaining in non-technical language the factors foundations must consider in making mission investments

Johnson-Cousins magnitudes of comparison stars in the fields of ten Seyfert galaxies

We present UBVRcIc magnitudes of 49 comparison stars in the fields of the Seyfert galaxies Mrk 335, Mrk 79, Mrk 279, Mrk 506, 3C 382, 3C 390.3, NGC 6814, Mrk 304, Ark 564, and NGC 7469 in order to facilitate the photometric monitoring of these objects; 36 of the stars have not been calibrated before. The comparison stars are situated in 5x5 arcmin fields centred on the Seyfert galaxies, their V band flux ranges from 11.7 to 18.2 mag with a median value of 16.3 mag, and their B-V colour index ranges from 0.4 to 1.6 mag with a median value of 0.8 mag. The median errors of the calibrated UBVRcIc magnitudes are 0.08, 0.04, 0.03, 0.04, and 0.06 mag, respectively. Comparison stars were calibrated for the first time in three of the fields (Mrk 506, 3C 382, and Mrk 304). The comparison sequences in the other fields were improved in various aspects. Extra stars were calibrated in four fields (Mrk 335, Mrk 79, NGC 6814, and NGC 7469) - most of these stars are fainter and are situated closer to the Seyfert galaxies compared to the existing comparison stars. The passband coverage of the sequences in five fields (Mrk 335, Mrk 79, Mrk 279, NGC 6814, and Ark 564) was complemented with U band.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomische Nachrichten, the article title shortene

Discovery of a rapidly pulsating subdwarf B star candidate in omega Cen

We report the discovery of the first variable extreme horizontal branch star in a globular cluster (omega Cen). The oscillation uncovered has a period of 114 s and an amplitude of 32 mmags. A comparison between horizontal branch models and observed optical colours indicates an effective temperature of 31,500+-6,300 K for this star, placing it within the instability strip for rapidly oscillating B subdwarfs. The time scale and amplitude of the pulsation detected are also in line with what is expected for this type of variable, thus strengthening the case for the discovery of a new subdwarf B pulsator.Comment: 5 pages, 7 figures; accepted for publication in A&

Does Time Really Slow Down during a Frightening Event?

Observers commonly report that time seems to have moved in slow motion during a life-threatening event. It is unknown whether this is a function of increased time resolution during the event, or instead an illusion of remembering an emotionally salient event. Using a hand-held device to measure speed of visual perception, participants experienced free fall for 31 m before landing safely in a net. We found no evidence of increased temporal resolution, in apparent conflict with the fact that participants retrospectively estimated their own fall to last 36% longer than others' falls. The duration dilation during a frightening event, and the lack of concomitant increase in temporal resolution, indicate that subjective time is not a single entity that speeds or slows, but instead is composed of separable subcomponents. Our findings suggest that time-slowing is a function of recollection, not perception: 1a richer encoding of memory may cause a salient event to appear, retrospectively, as though it lasted longer

Laser speckle technique for burner liner strain measurements

Thermal and mechanical strains were measured on samples of a common material used in jet engine burner liners, which were heated from room temperature to 870 C and cooled back to 220 C, in a laboratory furnance. The physical geometry of the sample surface was recorded at selected temperatures by a set of 12 single exposure speckle-grams. Sequential pairs of specklegrams were compared in a heterodyne interferometer which give high precision measurement of differential displacements. Good speckle correlation between the first and last specklegrams is noted which allows a check on accumulate errors

Color-Magnitude Diagram Constraints on the Metallicities, Ages, and Star Formation History of the Stellar Populations in the Carina Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxy

Victoria-Regina isochrones for $-0.4 \le$ [alpha/Fe] $\le +0.4$ and a wide range in [Fe/H], along with complementary zero-age horizontal branch (ZAHB) loci, have been applied to the color-magnitude diagram (CMD) of Carina. The color transformations that we have used have been "calibrated" so that isochrones provide excellent fits to the $[(B-V)_0,\,M_V]$-diagrams of M3 and M92, when well supported estimates of the globular cluster (GC) reddenings and metallicities are assumed. The adopted distance moduli, for both the GCs and Carina, are based on our ZAHB models, which are able to reproduce the old HB component (as well as the luminosity of the HB clump) of the dwarf spheroidal galaxy quite well --- even if it spans a range in [Fe/H] of ~ 1.5 dex, provided that [alpha/Fe] varies with [Fe/H] in approximately the way that has been derived spectroscopically. Ages derived here agree reasonably well with those found previously for the old and intermediate-age turnoff stars, as well as for the period of negligible star formation (SF) activity (~ 6-10 Gyr ago). CMD simulations have been carried out for the faintest turnoff and subgiant stars. They indicate a clear preference for SF that lasted several Gyr instead of a short burst, with some indication that ages decrease with increasing [Fe/H]. In general, stellar models that assume spectroscopic metallicities provide satisfactory fits to the observations, including the thin giant branch of Carina, though higher oxygen abundances than those implied by the adopted values of [alpha/Fe] would have favorable consequences.Comment: 15 pages, including 12 figures; accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journa