3,306 research outputs found
Planning assistance for the NASA 30/20 GHz program. Network control architecture study.
Network Control Architecture for a 30/20 GHz flight experiment system operating in the Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) was studied. Architecture development, identification of processing functions, and performance requirements for the Master Control Station (MCS), diversity trunking stations, and Customer Premises Service (CPS) stations are covered. Preliminary hardware and software processing requirements as well as budgetary cost estimates for the network control system are given. For the trunking system control, areas covered include on board SS-TDMA switch organization, frame structure, acquisition and synchronization, channel assignment, fade detection and adaptive power control, on board oscillator control, and terrestrial network timing. For the CPS control, they include on board processing and adaptive forward error correction control
The Wide-Angle Outflow of the Lensed z = 1.51 AGN HS 0810+2554
We present results from X-ray observations of the gravitationally lensed z =
1.51 AGN HS 0810+2554 performed with the Chandra X-ray Observatory and
XMM-Newton. Blueshifted absorption lines are detected in both observations at
rest-frame energies ranging between ~1-12 keV at > 99% confidence. The inferred
velocities of the outflowing components range between ~0.1c and ~0.4c. A strong
emission line at ~6.8 keV accompanied by a significant absorption line at ~7.8
keV is also detected in the Chandra observation. The presence of these lines is
a characteristic feature of a P-Cygni profile supporting the presence of an
expanding outflowing highly ionized iron absorber in this quasar. Modeling of
the P-Cygni profile constrains the covering factor of the wind to be > 0.6,
assuming disk shielding. A disk-reflection component is detected in the
XMM-Newton observation accompanied by blueshifted absorption lines. The
XMM-Newton observation constrains the inclination angle to be < 45 degrees at
90% confidence, assuming the hard excess is due to blurred reflection from the
accretion disk. The detection of an ultrafast and wide-angle wind in an AGN
with intrinsic narrow absorption lines (NALs) would suggest that quasar winds
may couple efficiently with the intergalactic medium and provide significant
feedback if ubiquitous in all NAL and BAL quasars. We estimate the mass-outflow
rate of the absorbers to lie in the range of 1.5 and 3.4 Msolar/yr for the two
observations. We find the fraction of kinetic to electromagnetic luminosity
released by HS 0810+2554 is large (epsilon = 9 (-6,+8)) suggesting that
magnetic driving is likely a significant contributor to the acceleration of
this outflow.Comment: 27 pages, 13 figures, Accepted for publication in Ap
Prospective Memory Performance in Simulated Air Traffic Control: Robust to Interruptions but Impaired by Retention Interval
OBJECTIVE: To examine the effects of interruptions and retention interval on prospective memory for deferred tasks in simulated air traffic control. BACKGROUND: In many safety-critical environments, operators need to remember to perform a deferred task, which requires prospective memory. Laboratory experiments suggest that extended prospective memory retention intervals, and interruptions in those retention intervals, could impair prospective memory performance. METHOD: Participants managed a simulated air traffic control sector. Participants were sometimes instructed to perform a deferred handoff task, requiring them to deviate from a routine procedure. We manipulated whether an interruption occurred during the prospective memory retention interval or not, the length of the retention interval (37-117 s), and the temporal proximity of the interruption to deferred task encoding and execution. We also measured performance on ongoing tasks. RESULTS: Increasing retention intervals (37-117 s) decreased the probability of remembering to perform the deferred task. Costs to ongoing conflict detection accuracy and routine handoff speed were observed when a prospective memory intention had to be maintained. Interruptions did not affect individuals' speed or accuracy on the deferred task. CONCLUSION: Longer retention intervals increase risk of prospective memory error and of ongoing task performance being impaired by cognitive load; however, prospective memory can be robust to effects of interruptions when the task environment provides cuing and offloading. APPLICATION: To support operators in performing complex and dynamic tasks, prospective memory demands should be reduced, and the retention interval of deferred tasks should be kept as short as possible
Galactic Wind in the Nearby Starburst Galaxy NGC 253 Observed with the Kyoto3DII Fabry-Perot Mode
We have observed the central region of the nearby starburst galaxy NGC 253
with the Kyoto Tridimensional Spectrograph II (Kyoto3DII) Fabry-Perot mode in
order to investigate the properties of its galactic wind. Since this galaxy has
a large inclination, it is easy to observe its galactic wind. We produced the
Ha, [N II]6583, and [S II]6716,6731 images, as well as those line ratio maps.
The [N II]/Ha ratio in the galactic wind region is larger than those in H II
regions in the galactic disk. The [N II]/Ha ratio in the southeastern filament,
a part of the galactic wind, is the largest and reaches about 1.5. These large
[N II]/Ha ratios are explained by shock ionization/excitation. Using the [S
II]/Ha ratio map, we spatially separate the galactic wind region from the
starburst region. The kinetic energy of the galactic wind can be sufficiently
supplied by supernovae in a starburst region in the galactic center. The shape
of the galactic wind and the line ratio maps are non-axisymmetric about the
galactic minor axis, which is also seen in M82. In the [N II]6583/[S
II]6716,6731 map, the positions with large ratios coincide with the positions
of star clusters found in the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) observation. This
means that intense star formation causes strong nitrogen enrichment in these
regions. Our unique data of the line ratio maps including [S II] lines have
demonstrated their effectiveness for clearly distinguishing between shocked gas
regions and starburst regions, determining the extent of galactic wind and its
mass and kinetic energy, and discovering regions with enhanced nitrogen
abundance.Comment: 22 pages, 5 figures, 1 table, accepted for publication in Ap
Absorption-Line Probes of Gas and Dust in Galactic Superwinds
We discuss moderate resolution spectra of the NaD absorption-line in a sample
of 32 far-IR-bright starburst galaxies. In 18 cases, the line is produced
primarily by interstellar gas, and in 12 of these it is blueshifted by over 100
km/s relative to the galaxy systemic velocity. The absorption-line profiles in
these outflow sources span the range from near the galaxy systemic velocity to
a maximum blueshift of 400 to 600 km/s. The outflows occur in galaxies
systematically viewed more nearly face-on than the others. We therefore argue
that the absorbing material consists of ambient interstellar gas accelerated
along the minor axis of the galaxy by a hot starburst-driven superwind. The NaD
lines are optically-thick, but indirect arguments imply total Hydrogen column
densities of N_H = few X 10^{21} cm^{-2}. This implies that the superwind is
expelling matter at a rate comparable to the star-formation rate. This
outflowing material is very dusty: we find a strong correlation between the
depth of the NaD profile and the line-of-sight reddening (E(B-V) = 0.3 to 1
over regions several-to-ten kpc in size). The estimated terminal velocities of
superwinds inferred from these data and extant X-ray data are typically 400 to
800 km/s, are independent of the galaxy rotation speed, and are comparable to
(substantially exceed) the escape velocities for (dwarf) galaxies. The
resulting loss of metals can establish the mass-metallicity relation in
spheroids, produce the observed metallicity in the ICM, and enrich a general
IGM to 10 solar metallicity. If the outflowing dust grains survive their
journey into the IGM, their effect on observations of cosmologically-distant
objects is significant.Comment: 65 pages, including 16 figures. ApJ, in pres
Mass-loaded spherical accretion flows
We have calculated the evolution of spherical accretion flows undergoing mass-loading from embedded clouds through either conduction or hydrodynamical ablation. We have observed the effect of varying the ratios of the mass-loading timescale and the cooling timescale to the ballistic crossing timescale through the mass-loading region.
We have also varied the ratio of the potential energy of a particle injected into the flow near the outer region of mass-loading to the temperature at which a minimum occurs in the cooling curve. The two types of mass-loading produce qualitatively different types of behaviour in the accretion flow, since mass-loading through conduction requires the ambient gas to be hot, whereas mass ablation from clumps occurs throughout the flow. Higher ratios of injected to accreted mass typically occur with hydrodynamical ablation, in agreement with previous work on wind-blown bubbles and supernova remnants. We find that mass-loading damps the radiative overstability of such flows, in agreement with our earlier work. If the mass-loading is high enough it can stabilize the accretion shock at a constant radius, yielding an almost isothermal subsonic post-shock flow. Such solutions may be relevant to cooling flows onto massive galaxies. Mass-loading can also lead to the formation of isolated shells of high temperature material, separated by gas at cooler temperatures
Chemical equilibration and thermal dilepton production from the quark gluon plasma at finite baryon density
The chemical equilibration of a highly unsaturated quark-gluon plasma has
been studied at finite baryon density. It is found that in the presence of
small amount of baryon density, the chemical equilibration for gluon becomes
slower and the temperature decreases less steeply as compared to the baryon
free plasma. As a result, the space time integrated yield of dilepton is
enhanced if the initial temperature of the plasma is held fixed. Even at a
fixed initial energy density, the suppression of the dilepton yields at higher
baryo-chemical potential is compensated, to a large extent, by the slow cooling
of the plasma.Comment: Latex, 19 pages, 8 postscript figures. To appear in Phys. Rev.
Local Starbursts in a Cosmological Context
In this contribution I introduce some of the major issues that motivate the
conference, with an emphasis on how starbursts fit into the ``big picture''. I
begin by defining starbursts in several different ways, and discuss the merits
and limitations of these definitions. I will argue that the most physically
useful definition of a starburst is its ``intensity'' (star formation rate per
unit area). This is the most natural parameter to compare local starbursts with
physically similar galaxies at high redshift, and indeed I will argue that
local starbursts are unique laboratories to study the processes at work in the
early universe. I will describe how NASA's GALEX mission has uncovered a rare
population of close analogs to Lyman Break Galaxies in the local universe. I
will then compare local starbursts to the Lyman-Break and sub-mm galaxies high
redshift populations, and speculate that the multidimensional ``manifold'' of
starbursts near and far can be understood largely in terms of the
Schmidt/Kennicutt law and galaxy mass-metallicity relation. I will briefly
summarize he properties of starburst-driven galactic superwinds and their
possible implications for the evolution of galaxies and the IGM. These complex
multiphase flows are best studied in nearby starbursts, where we can study the
the hot X-ray gas that contains the bulk of the energy and newly produced
metals.Comment: Proceedings of the Conference "Starbursts: Fropm 30 Doradus to Lyman
Break Galaxies
Mid-J CO Emission From NGC 891: Microturbulent Molecular Shocks in Normal Star Forming Galaxies
We have detected the CO(6-5), CO(7-6), and [CI] 370 micron lines from the
nuclear region of NGC 891 with our submillimeter grating spectrometer ZEUS on
the CSO. These lines provide constraints on photodissociation region (PDR) and
shock models that have been invoked to explain the H_2 S(0), S(1), and S(2)
lines observed with Spitzer. We analyze our data together with the H_2 lines,
CO(3-2), and IR continuum from the literature using a combined PDR/shock model.
We find that the mid-J CO originates almost entirely from shock-excited warm
molecular gas; contributions from PDRs are negligible. Also, almost all the H_2
S(2) and half of the S(1) line is predicted to emerge from shocks. Shocks with
a pre-shock density of 2x10^4 cm^-3 and velocities of 10 km/s and 20 km/s for
C-shocks and J-shocks, respectively, provide the best fit. In contrast, the
[CI] line emission arises exclusively from the PDR component, which is best
parameterized by a density of 3.2x10^3 cm^-3 and a FUV field of G_o = 100 for
both PDR/shock-type combinations. Our mid-J CO observations show that
turbulence is a very important heating source in molecular clouds, even in
normal quiescent galaxies. The most likely energy sources for the shocks are
supernovae or outflows from YSOs. The energetics of these shock sources favor
C-shock excitation of the lines.Comment: 18 pages, 2 figures, 6 tables, accepted by Ap
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