389 research outputs found
Perspectives on Interstellar Dust Inside and Outside of the Heliosphere
Measurements by dust detectors on interplanetary spacecraft appear to
indicate a substantial flux of interstellar particles with masses exceeding
10^{-12}gram. The reported abundance of these massive grains cannot be typical
of interstellar gas: it is incompatible with both interstellar elemental
abundances and the observed extinction properties of the interstellar dust
population. We discuss the likelihood that the Solar System is by chance
located near an unusual concentration of massive grains and conclude that this
is unlikely, unless dynamical processes in the ISM are responsible for such
concentrations. Radiation pressure might conceivably drive large grains into
"magnetic valleys". If the influx direction of interstellar gas and dust is
varying on a ~10 yr timescale, as suggested by some observations, this would
have dramatic implications for the small-scale structure of the interstellar
medium.Comment: 13 pages. To appear in Space Science Review
Evaluation of the protein characteristics of four diverse grasses
Forage protein characteristics in four grasses were evaluated by the nylon bag method. All of the forages used (Bermudagrass hay, brome hay, forage sorghum hay, and prairie hay) were of relatively low quality, except the Bermudagrass, which was of average quality. The forages differed in the size of different protein fractions and in the rate and extent of protein degradation. Predicted extent of ruminal protein degradation (i.e., ruminal protein availability) was lowest for prairie hay, intermediate for Bermudagrass and forage sorghum hay, and highest for the brome hay
Exact results for hydrogen recombination on dust grain surfaces
The recombination of hydrogen in the interstellar medium, taking place on
surfaces of microscopic dust grains, is an essential process in the evolution
of chemical complexity in interstellar clouds. The H_2 formation process has
been studied theoretically, and in recent years also by laboratory experiments.
The experimental results were analyzed using a rate equation model. The
parameters of the surface, that are relevant to H_2 formation, were obtained
and used in order to calculate the recombination rate under interstellar
conditions. However, it turned out that due to the microscopic size of the dust
grains and the low density of H atoms, the rate equations may not always apply.
A master equation approach that provides a good description of the H_2
formation process was proposed. It takes into account both the discrete nature
of the H atoms and the fluctuations in the number of atoms on a grain. In this
paper we present a comprehensive analysis of the H_2 formation process, under
steady state conditions, using an exact solution of the master equation. This
solution provides an exact result for the hydrogen recombination rate and its
dependence on the flux, the surface temperature and the grain size. The results
are compared with those obtained from the rate equations. The relevant length
scales in the problem are identified and the parameter space is divided into
two domains. One domain, characterized by first order kinetics, exhibits high
efficiency of H_2 formation. In the other domain, characterized by second order
kinetics, the efficiency of H_2 formation is low. In each of these domains we
identify the range of parameters in which, the rate equations do not account
correctly for the recombination rate. and the master equation is needed.Comment: 23 pages + 8 figure
Grain Destruction in Interstellar Shocks
Interstellar shock waves can erode and destroy grains present in the shocked
gas, primarily as the result of sputtering and grain-grain collisions.
Uncertainties in current estimates of sputtering yields are reviewed. Results
are presented for the simple case of sputtering of fast grains being stopped in
cold gas. An upper limit is derived for sputtering of refractory grains in
C-type MHD shocks: shock speeds v_s \gtrsim 50 \kms are required for return
of more than 30\% of the silicate to the gas phase. Sputtering can also be
important for removing molecular ice mantles from grains in two-fluid MHD shock
waves in molecular gas. Recent estimates of refractory grain lifetimes against
destruction in shock waves are summarized, and the implications of these short
lifetimes are discussed.Comment: To appear in Shocks in Astrophysics, ed. T.J. Millar. Talk given at
conference Shocks in Astrophysics, Manchester, Jan. 1995. 13 pages with 6
figures: uuencoded compressed postscript. Also available as POPe-633 on
http://astro.princeton.edu/~library/prep.htm
In Situ Measurements of Interstellar Dust
We present the mass distribution of interstellar grains measured in situ by
the Galileo and Ulysses spaceprobes as cumulative flux. The derived in situ
mass distribution per logarithmic size interval is compared to the distribution
determined by fitting extinction measurements. Large grains measured in situ
contribute significantly to the overall mass of dust in the local interstellar
cloud. The problem of a dust-to-gas mass ratio that contradicts cosmic
abundances is discussed.Comment: 4 pages and two figure
Effects of supplemental degradable intake protein on intake and digestibility of low-quality brome hay
The effects of increasing levels of degradable intake and digestion of low-quality brome hay were evaluated using 16 ruminally fistulated beef steers. Trends were evident for small, positive changes in total intake and digestion with increasing level of DIP supplementation. As a result, total digestible to feeding forage to provide .041, .082, and OM intake (TDOMI) increased with DIP supplementation but tended to plateau below the highest supplementation level
Physics of rotation in stellar models
In these lecture notes, we present the equations presently used in stellar
interior models in order to compute the effects of axial rotation. We discuss
the hypotheses made. We suggest that the effects of rotation might play a key
role at low metallicity.Comment: 32 pages, 7 figures, lectures, CNRS school, will be published by
Springe
Eutectic colony formation: A phase field study
Eutectic two-phase cells, also known as eutectic colonies, are commonly
observed during the solidification of ternary alloys when the composition is
close to a binary eutectic valley. In analogy with the solidification cells
formed in dilute binary alloys, colony formation is triggered by a
morphological instability of a macroscopically planar eutectic solidification
front due to the rejection by both solid phases of a ternary impurity that
diffuses in the liquid. Here we develop a phase-field model of a binary
eutectic with a dilute ternary impurity and we investigate by dynamical
simulations both the initial linear regime of this instability, and the
subsequent highly nonlinear evolution of the interface that leads to fully
developed two-phase cells with a spacing much larger than the lamellar spacing.
We find a good overall agreement with our recent linear stability analysis [M.
Plapp and A. Karma, Phys. Rev. E 60, 6865 (1999)], which predicts a
destabilization of the front by long-wavelength modes that may be stationary or
oscillatory. A fine comparison, however, reveals that the assumption commonly
attributed to Cahn that lamella grow perpendicular to the envelope of the
solidification front is weakly violated in the phase-field simulations. We show
that, even though weak, this violation has an important quantitative effect on
the stability properties of the eutectic front. We also investigate the
dynamics of fully developed colonies and find that the large-scale envelope of
the composite eutectic front does not converge to a steady state, but exhibits
cell elimination and tip-splitting events up to the largest times simulated.Comment: 18 pages, 18 EPS figures, RevTeX twocolumn, submitted to Phys. Rev.
The composition of the protosolar disk and the formation conditions for comets
Conditions in the protosolar nebula have left their mark in the composition
of cometary volatiles, thought to be some of the most pristine material in the
solar system. Cometary compositions represent the end point of processing that
began in the parent molecular cloud core and continued through the collapse of
that core to form the protosun and the solar nebula, and finally during the
evolution of the solar nebula itself as the cometary bodies were accreting.
Disentangling the effects of the various epochs on the final composition of a
comet is complicated. But comets are not the only source of information about
the solar nebula. Protostellar disks around young stars similar to the protosun
provide a way of investigating the evolution of disks similar to the solar
nebula while they are in the process of evolving to form their own solar
systems. In this way we can learn about the physical and chemical conditions
under which comets formed, and about the types of dynamical processing that
shaped the solar system we see today.
This paper summarizes some recent contributions to our understanding of both
cometary volatiles and the composition, structure and evolution of protostellar
disks.Comment: To appear in Space Science Reviews. The final publication is
available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11214-015-0167-
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