19,729 research outputs found
System design and performance of earth/lunar horizon sensor BEC project 3744
An infrared horizon sensor system has been designed which is capable of searching over a wide field for the edges of a planet and, upon locating such edges, stations itself in a position which provides signals which identify the local vertical to the planet. In this fixed attitude it requires no continuous mechanical movement and operates with a minimum utilization of power. The system is thus capable of providing a high degree of accuracy when used for local vertical determination in orbits around the earth, the moon, or other planets. A detailed description of the design and operating features of the horizon scanner is given and the evaluation test data which have been completed are presented
Earth/lunar horizon sensor program Addendum to phase IA study report
Response time and design requirements of earth- lunar horizon sensor progra
Immersed thermistor detector optimization program, part 1 Final engineering report
Development of germanium immersed thermistor detector for Nimbus radiomete
Tycho Brahe's supernova: light from centuries past
The light curve of SN 1572 is described in the terms used nowadays to
characterize SNeIa. By assembling the records of the observations done in
1572--74 and evaluating their uncertainties, it is possible to recover the
light curve and the color evolution of this supernova. It is found that, within
the SNe Ia family, the event should have been a SNIa with a normal rate of
decline, its stretch factor being {\it s} 0.9. Visual light curve near
maximum, late--time decline and the color evolution sustain this conclusion.
After correcting for extinction, the luminosity of this supernova is found to
be M --19.58 --5 log (D/3.5 kpc) 0.42.Comment: 28 pages, 3 figures, 3 tables. submitted to ApJ (Main Journal
Design of field switched edge tracking earth/lunar horizon sensor system Phase IB REPORT
Optical and mechanical design, and electronic circuitry of field-switching, edge tracker for use in earth-lunar horizon sensor syste
The spectroscopic evolution of the -ray emitting classical nova Nova Mon 2012. I. Implications for the ONe subclass of classical novae
Nova Mon 2012 was the first classical nova to be detected as a high energy
-ray transient, by Fermi-LAT, before its optical discovery. We study a
time sequence of high resolution optical echelle spectra (Nordic Optical
Telescope) and contemporaneous NOT, STIS UV, and CHIRON echelle spectra (Nov
20/21/22). We use [O III] and H line fluxs to constrain the properties
of the ejecta. We derive the structure from the optical and UV line profiles
and compare our measured line fluxes for with predictions using Cloudy with
abundances from other ONe novae. Mon 2012 is confirmed as an ONe nova. We find
E(B-V)=0.850.05 and hydrogen column density
cm. The corrected continuum luminosity is nearly the same in the entire
observed energy range as V1974 Cyg, V382 Mon, and Nova LMC 2000 at the same
epoch after outburst. The distance, about 3.6 kpc, is quite similar to V1974
Cyg. The line profiles can be modeled using an axisymmetric bipolar geometry
for the ejecta with various inclinations of the axis to the line of sight, 60
\le i \le 80 degrees, an opening angle of \approx\Delta
R/R(t)\approx 0.4f\approx 0.1-0.3\leq 6\times
10^{-5}_\odot\gamma$-ray emission may be a generic phenomenon, common to all ONe novae,
possibly to all classical novae, and connected with acceleration and emission
processes within the ejecta (abstract severely truncated).Comment: Submitted to A&A 9/1/2013; Accepted 27/2/2013 (in press
The spectroscopic evolution of the recurrent nova T Pyxidis during its 2011 outburst. II.The optically thin phase and the structure of the ejecta in recurrent novae
We continue our study of the physical properties of the recurrent nova T Pyx,
focussing on the structure of the ejecta in the nebular stage of expansion
during the 2011 outburst. The nova was observed contemporaneously with the
Nordic Optical Telescope (NOT), at high resolution spectroscopic resolution (R
~ 65000) on 2011 Oct. 11 and 2012 Apr. 8 (without absolute flux calibration),
and with the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) aboard the Hubble
Space Telescope, at high resolution (R ~ 30000) on 2011 Oct. 10 and 2012 Mar.
28 (absolute fluxes). We use standard plasma diagnostics (e.g. [O III] and [N
II] line ratios and the H line fluxes) to constrain electron densities
and temperatures. Using Monte Carlo modeling of the ejecta, we derive the
structure and filling factor from comparisons to the optical and ultraviolet
line profiles. The ejecta can be modeled using an axisymmetric conical --
bipolar -- geometry with a low inclination of the axis to the line of sight,
i=15+/-5 degrees, compatible with published results from high angular
resolution optical spectro-interferometry. The structure is similar to that
observed in the other short orbital period recurrent novae during their nebular
stages. We show that the electron density scales as as expected from a
ballistically ejected constant mass shell; there is no need to invoke a
continuing mass outflow following the eruption. The derived mass for the ejecta
with filling factor f ~ 3%, M_ej ~ 2E-6$M_sun is similar to that obtained for
other recurrent nova ejecta but inconsistent with the previously reported
extended optically thick epoch of the explosion. We suggest that the system
underwent a common envelope phase following the explosion that produced the
recombination event. Implications for the dynamics of the recurrent novae are
discussed. (truncated)Comment: accepted for publication in A&A (10 Nov. 2012), 10 pgs, 16 fig
Reconnection and acoustic emission of quantized vortices in superfluid by the numerical analysis of the Gross-Pitaevskii equation
We study numerically the reconnection of quantized vortices and the
concurrent acoustic emission by the analysis of the Gross-Pitaevskii equation.
Two quantized vortices reconnect following the process similar to classical
vortices; they approach, twist themselves locally so that they become
anti-parallel at the closest place, reconnect and leave separately.The
investigation of the motion of the singular lines where the amplitude of the
wave function vanishes in the vortex cores confirms that they follow the above
scenario by reconnecting at a point. This reconnection is not contradictory to
the Kelvin's circulation theorem, because the potential of the superflow field
becomes undefined at the reconnection point. When the locally anti-parallel
part of the vortices becomes closer than the healing length, it moves with the
velocity comparable to the sound velocity, emits the sound waves and leads to
the pair annihilation or reconnection; this phenomena is concerned with the
Cherenkov resonance. The vortices are broken up to smaller vortex loops through
a series of reconnection, eventually disappearing with the acoustic emission.
This may correspond to the final stage of the vortex cascade process proposed
by Feynman. The change in energy components, such as the quantum, the
compressible and incompressible kinetic energy is analyzed for each dynamics.
The propagation of the sound waves not only appears in the profile of the
amplitude of the wave function but also affects the field of its phase,
transforming the quantum energy due to the vortex cores to the kinetic energy
of the phase field.Comment: 11 pages, 16 figures, LaTe
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