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Astrophysics and Astronomy

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2006

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Articles 31 - 60 of 192

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A Spitzer Space Telescope Study Of Sn 2002hh: An Infrared Echo From A Type Iip Supernova, W. P. S. Meikle, S. Mattila, C. L. Gerardy, R. Kotak, M. Pozzo, S. D. Van Dyk, D. Farrah, R. A. Fesen Sep 2006

A Spitzer Space Telescope Study Of Sn 2002hh: An Infrared Echo From A Type Iip Supernova, W. P. S. Meikle, S. Mattila, C. L. Gerardy, R. Kotak, M. Pozzo, S. D. Van Dyk, D. Farrah, R. A. Fesen

Dartmouth Scholarship

We present late-time (590-994 days) mid-IR photometry of the normal but highly reddened Type IIP supernova SN 2002hh. Bright, cool, slowly fading emission is detected from the direction of the supernova. Most of this flux appears not to be driven by the supernova event but instead probably originates in a cool, obscured star formation region or molecular cloud along the line of sight. We also show, however, that the declining component of the flux is consistent with an SN-powered IR echo from a dusty progenitor CSM. Mid-IR emission could also be coming from newly condensed dust and/or an ejecta/CSM impact, …


Neutrino Oscillation Effects On Supernova Light Element Synthesis, Takashi Yoshida, Toshitaka Kajino, Hidekazu Yokomakura, Keichi Kimura, Akira Takamura, Dieter H. Hartmann Sep 2006

Neutrino Oscillation Effects On Supernova Light Element Synthesis, Takashi Yoshida, Toshitaka Kajino, Hidekazu Yokomakura, Keichi Kimura, Akira Takamura, Dieter H. Hartmann

Publications

Neutrion oscillations affect light-element synthesis through the v-process in supernova explosions. The 7Li and 11B yields produced in a supernova explosion of a 16.2 M ⊙ star model increase by factors of 1.9 and 1.3 in the case of the large mixing angle solution with a normal mass hierarchy of sin^2 2θ13 >~ 2x10^-3 compared with those without the oscillations. In the case of an inerted mass hierarchy or a nonadiabatic 1-3 mixing resonance, the increment of their yields is much smaller. Neutrino oscillations raise the reaction rates of charged-current v-process reactions in the region outside oxygen-rich layers. The number …


Heavy-Ion Elemental Abundances In Large Solar Energetic Particle Events And Their Implications For The Seed Population, Mihir I. Desai, Glenn M. Mason, Robert E. Gold, Stamatios M. Krimigis, Christina M.S. Cohen, Richard A. Mewaldt, Joseph E. Mazur, Joseph R. Dwyer Sep 2006

Heavy-Ion Elemental Abundances In Large Solar Energetic Particle Events And Their Implications For The Seed Population, Mihir I. Desai, Glenn M. Mason, Robert E. Gold, Stamatios M. Krimigis, Christina M.S. Cohen, Richard A. Mewaldt, Joseph E. Mazur, Joseph R. Dwyer

Aerospace, Physics, and Space Science Faculty Publications

We have surveyed the ∼0.1-10 MeV nucleonˉ¹ abundances of heavy ions from ³He through Fe in 64 large solar energetic particle (LSEP) events observed on board the Advanced Composition Explorer from 1997 November through 2005 January. Our main results are (1) the 0.5-2.0 MeV nucleonˉ¹ ³He/⁴He ratio is enhanced between factors of ∼2-150 over the solar wind value in 29 (∼46%) events. (2) The Fe/O ratio in most LSEP events decreases with increasing energy up to ∼60 MeV nucleonˉ¹. (3) The Fe/O ratio is independent of CME speed, flare longitude, event size, the ³He/⁴He ratio, the pre-event Fe/O ratio, and …


Energy Levels And Transition Probabilities For Boron-Like Fe Xxii, V. Jonauskas, P. Bogdanovich, F. P. Keenan, R. Kisielius, M. E. Foord, R. F. Heeter, S. J. Rose, Gary J. Ferland, P. H. Norrington Sep 2006

Energy Levels And Transition Probabilities For Boron-Like Fe Xxii, V. Jonauskas, P. Bogdanovich, F. P. Keenan, R. Kisielius, M. E. Foord, R. F. Heeter, S. J. Rose, Gary J. Ferland, P. H. Norrington

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

The Multiconfiguration Dirac-Fock method is used to calculate the energies of the 407 lowest levels in FeXXII. These results are cross-checked using a suite of codes which employ the configuration interaction method on the basis set of transformed radial orbitals with variable parameters, and takes into account relativistic corrections in the Breit-Pauli approximation. Transition probabilities, oscillator and line strengths are presented for electric dipole (E1), electric quadrupole (E2) and magnetic dipole (M1) transitions among these levels. The total radiative transition probabilities, as well as the five largest values from each level be it of E1, M1, E2, M2, or E3 …


Comparison Of Tropospheric Ozone Columns Calculated From Mls, Omi, And Ozonesonde Data, Gary A. Morris, Bojan Bojkov, Mark R. Schoeberl, Amy Wozniak, Jerry Ziemke, Sushil Chandra, Jack Fishman, Ivanka Stajner Sep 2006

Comparison Of Tropospheric Ozone Columns Calculated From Mls, Omi, And Ozonesonde Data, Gary A. Morris, Bojan Bojkov, Mark R. Schoeberl, Amy Wozniak, Jerry Ziemke, Sushil Chandra, Jack Fishman, Ivanka Stajner

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Presentations

This poster shows a comparison of three derived tropospheric ozone residual (TOR) products with integrated tropospheric ozone columns from ozonesonde profile: (1) the method of Ziemke et al. (2006), (2) a modified version of Fishman et al. (2003), and (3) a trajectory mapping approach. In each case, MLS ozone profiles are integrated to the tropopause and subtracted from OMI (TOMS retrieval) total column ozone. The effectiveness of each of these techniques is examined as a function of latitude, time, and geographic region. In general, we find good agreement between the derived products and the ozonesondes, with the Fishman et al. …


The First Extrasolar Planet Discovered With A New-Generation High-Throughput Doppler Instrument, Jian Ge, Julian C. Van Eyken, Suvrath Mahadevan, Curtis Dewitt, Stephen R. Kane, Roger Cohen, Andrew Vanden Heuvel, Scott W. Fleming, Pengcheng Guo, Gregory W. Henry, Donald P. Schneider, Lawrence W. Ramsey, Robert A. Wittenmyer, Michael Endl, William D. Cochran, Eric B. Ford, Eduardo L. Martín, Garik Israelian, Jeff A. Valenti, David Montes Sep 2006

The First Extrasolar Planet Discovered With A New-Generation High-Throughput Doppler Instrument, Jian Ge, Julian C. Van Eyken, Suvrath Mahadevan, Curtis Dewitt, Stephen R. Kane, Roger Cohen, Andrew Vanden Heuvel, Scott W. Fleming, Pengcheng Guo, Gregory W. Henry, Donald P. Schneider, Lawrence W. Ramsey, Robert A. Wittenmyer, Michael Endl, William D. Cochran, Eric B. Ford, Eduardo L. Martín, Garik Israelian, Jeff A. Valenti, David Montes

Information Systems and Engineering Management Research Publications

We report the detection of the first extrasolar planet, ET-1 (HD 102195b), using the Exoplanet Tracker (ET), a new-generation Doppler instrument. The planet orbits HD 102195, a young star with solar metallicity that may be part of the local association. The planet imparts radial velocity variability to the star with a semiamplitude of 63.4 ± 2.0 m s-1 and a period of 4.11 days. The planetary minimum mass (m sin i) is 0.488MJ ± 0.015MJ. The planet was initially detected in the spring of 2005 with the Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO) 0.9 m coudé feed telescope. The detection was …


Models Of Forbidden Line Emission Profiles From Axisymmetric Stellar Winds., Richard Ignace, A. Brimeyer Sep 2006

Models Of Forbidden Line Emission Profiles From Axisymmetric Stellar Winds., Richard Ignace, A. Brimeyer

ETSU Faculty Works

A number of strong infrared forbidden lines have been observed in several evolved Wolf–Rayet (WR) star winds, and these are important for deriving metal abundances and testing stellar evolution models. In addition, because these optically thin lines form at large radius in the wind, their resolved profiles carry an imprint of the asymptotic structure of the wind flow. This work presents model forbidden line profile shapes formed in axisymmetric winds. It is well known that an optically thin emission line formed in a spherical wind expanding at constant velocity yields a flat-topped emission profile shape. Simulated forbidden lines are produced …


Detection Of A Far-Infrared Bow Shock Nebula Around R Hya: The First Miriad Results, T. Ueta, A. K. Speck, R. E. Stencel, F. Herwig, R. D. Gehrz, R. Szczerba, H. Izumiura, A. A. Zijlstra, W. B. Latter, M. Matsuura, M. Meixner, M. Steffen, Moshe Elitzur Sep 2006

Detection Of A Far-Infrared Bow Shock Nebula Around R Hya: The First Miriad Results, T. Ueta, A. K. Speck, R. E. Stencel, F. Herwig, R. D. Gehrz, R. Szczerba, H. Izumiura, A. A. Zijlstra, W. B. Latter, M. Matsuura, M. Meixner, M. Steffen, Moshe Elitzur

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

We present the first results of the MIRIAD (MIPS InfraRed Imaging of AGB Dust shells) project using the Spitzer Space Telescope. The primary aim of the project is to probe the material distribution in the extended circumstellar envelopes (CSEs) of evolved stars and recover the fossil record of their mass-loss history. Hence, we must map the whole of the CSEs plus the surrounding sky for background subtraction while avoiding the central star that is brighter than the detector saturation limit. With our unique mapping strategy, we have achieved better than 1 MJy sr-1 sensitivity in 3 hr of …


The Effect Of Porosity On X-Ray Emission-Line Profiles From Hot-Star Winds, S. P. Owocki, David H. Cohen Sep 2006

The Effect Of Porosity On X-Ray Emission-Line Profiles From Hot-Star Winds, S. P. Owocki, David H. Cohen

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Works

We investigate the degree to which the nearly symmetric form of X- ray emission lines seen in Chandra spectra of early- type supergiant stars could be explained by the possibly porous nature of their spatially structured stellar winds. Such porosity could effectively reduce the bound- free absorption of X- rays emitted by embedded wind shocks, and thus allow a more similar transmission of redshifted and blueshifted emission from the back and front hemispheres, respectively. To obtain the localized self- shielding that is central to this porosity effect, it is necessary that the individual clumps be optically thick. In a medium …


Fourier Spectroscopy Of Ultrashort Laser Pulses, Scott D. Bergeson, Justin Peatross Sep 2006

Fourier Spectroscopy Of Ultrashort Laser Pulses, Scott D. Bergeson, Justin Peatross

Faculty Publications

We describe a Fourier-transform spectrometer appropriate for use in an undergraduate optics laboratory. The modular design, which uses off-the-shelf equipment, is suitable for determining the spectra of ultrashort pulsed and continuous light sources. The spectrometer does not require equal step sizes for the motion of the mirror. An algorithm interpolates the phase of both a reference and an unknown light beam at equal intervals before performing the Fourier transform. The interferometer scan and the phase and spectral analysis are performed in a few seconds, making the apparatus a useful tool for teaching concepts of temporal coherence and Fourier spectroscopy.


Characterization Of Single-Sided Charge-Sharing Czt Strip Detectors For Gamma-Ray Astronomy, B Donmez, John R. Macri, James M. Ryan, Jason S. Legere, Mark L. Mcconnell, Mark Widholm, T Narita, L A. Hamel Aug 2006

Characterization Of Single-Sided Charge-Sharing Czt Strip Detectors For Gamma-Ray Astronomy, B Donmez, John R. Macri, James M. Ryan, Jason S. Legere, Mark L. Mcconnell, Mark Widholm, T Narita, L A. Hamel

Space Science Center

We report progress in the study of thick single-sided charge-sharing cadmium zinc telluride (CZT) strip detector modules designed to perform spectroscopy and 3-D imaging of gamma-rays. We report laboratory measurements including spectroscopy, efficiency and 3-D imaging capability of prototype detectors (15 × 15 × 7.5mm3) with 11×11 unit cells. We also report on Monte Carlo simulations (GEANT4 v7.1) to investigate the effect of multihits on detector performance in both spectroscopy and imaging. We compare simulation results with data obtained from laboratory measurements and discuss the implications for future strip detector designs.


Hr 1613: A Slowly Rotating A Dwarf Spectroscopic Binary With Solar Abundances, Francis C. Fekel, Michael H. Williamson, Christiane Buggs, Gerald Onuoha, Brittany Smith Aug 2006

Hr 1613: A Slowly Rotating A Dwarf Spectroscopic Binary With Solar Abundances, Francis C. Fekel, Michael H. Williamson, Christiane Buggs, Gerald Onuoha, Brittany Smith

Information Systems and Engineering Management Research Publications

From two sets of radial velocities we have obtained the orbital elements of HR 1613. This single-lined binary has an orbital period of 8.11128 days and a nearly circular orbit. The primary has an A9 V spectral type and a v sin i value of 11 km s-1, while the unseen secondary is likely a K or M dwarf. Spectral classifications and spectrum synthesis analysis indicate that the abundances of the primary are normal. We reject the possibility that the primary of HR 1613 is seen nearly pole-on and instead argue that its rotational inclination is at least 20°, resulting …


Heliospheric Response To Different Possible Interstellar Environments, Hans-Reinhard Muller, Priscilla C. Frisch, Vladimir Florinski, Gary P. Zank Aug 2006

Heliospheric Response To Different Possible Interstellar Environments, Hans-Reinhard Muller, Priscilla C. Frisch, Vladimir Florinski, Gary P. Zank

Dartmouth Scholarship

At present, the heliosphere is embedded in a warm, low-density interstellar cloud that belongs to a cloud system flowing through the local standard of rest with a velocity near ~18 km s-1. The velocity structure of the nearest interstellar material (ISM), combined with theoretical models of the local interstellar cloud (LIC), suggest that the Sun passes through cloudlets on timescales of ≤103-104 yr, so the heliosphere has been, and will be, exposed to different interstellar environments over time. By means of a multifluid model that treats plasma and neutral hydrogen self-consistently, the interaction of the …


Spinning-Black-Hole Binaries: The Orbital Hang-Up, Manuela Campanelli, Carlos O. Lousto, Y. Zlochower Aug 2006

Spinning-Black-Hole Binaries: The Orbital Hang-Up, Manuela Campanelli, Carlos O. Lousto, Y. Zlochower

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications and Presentations

We present the first fully-nonlinear numerical study of the dynamics of highly-spinning-black-hole binaries. We evolve binaries from quasicircular orbits (as inferred from post-Newtonian theory), and find that the last stages of the orbital motion of black-hole binaries are profoundly affected by their individual spins. In order to cleanly display its effects, we consider two equal-mass holes with individual spin parameters S/m2=0.757, both aligned and antialigned with the orbital angular momentum (and compare with the spinless case), and with an initial orbital period of 125M. We find that the aligned case completes three orbits and merges significantly after the antialigned case, …


Linda French, Willis Kern Aug 2006

Linda French, Willis Kern

Interviews for WGLT

Willis Kern interviews Associate Professor of Physics Linda French about her involvement on an advisory panel regarding Pluto's status as a planet. (requires RealPlayer)


Signals For Lorentz Violation In Post-Newtonian Gravity, Quentin G. Bailey, V. Alan Kostelecký Aug 2006

Signals For Lorentz Violation In Post-Newtonian Gravity, Quentin G. Bailey, V. Alan Kostelecký

Publications

The pure-gravity sector of the minimal standard-model extension is studied in the limit of Riemann spacetime. A method is developed to extract the modified Einstein field equations in the limit of small metric fluctuations about the Minkowski vacuum, while allowing for the dynamics of the 20 independent coefficients for Lorentz violation. The linearized effective equations are solved to obtain the post-Newtonian metric. The corresponding post-Newtonian behavior of a perfect fluid is studied and applied to the gravitating many-body system. Illustrative examples of the methodology are provided using bumblebee models. The implications of the general theoretical results are studied for a …


Mesoscopic Domain Average Engineering Simulations Of Ferroelectric Perovskites Compared With Multidomain Group Theoretical Predictions, Brandon J. Keith, Dorian M. Hatch Aug 2006

Mesoscopic Domain Average Engineering Simulations Of Ferroelectric Perovskites Compared With Multidomain Group Theoretical Predictions, Brandon J. Keith, Dorian M. Hatch

Faculty Publications

Engineered, multidomain ferroelectrics are of current interest for mechatronic and optical applications. Previously [D. M. Hatch et al., J. Appl. Phys. 94, 5220 (2003)], we presented a set of tables/symmetry rules showing all possible domain average engineered multidomain structures arising from [100]-, [110]-, and [111]-ordering ferroelectric transitions from a Pm[overline 3]m perovskite structure. In this work we test those predictions against three-dimensional mesoscopic fast quench simulations under various electric/stress field combinations and find excellent agreement with multidomain group theory. These simulations use a Langevin strain-displacement/polarization evolution strategy and are important to developing processing conditions for materials with precise domain structures.


Understanding Dc-Bias Sputtered Thorium Oxide Thin Films Useful In Euv Optics, William R. Evans, Sarah C. Barton, Michael Clemens, David D. Allred Aug 2006

Understanding Dc-Bias Sputtered Thorium Oxide Thin Films Useful In Euv Optics, William R. Evans, Sarah C. Barton, Michael Clemens, David D. Allred

Faculty Publications

We use spectroscopic ellipsometry to determine the optical constants of seven thin-film ThO2 samples deposited by radio-frequency sputtering, thickness ranging between 24 and 578 nm, for the spectral range of 1.2 to 6.5. We used a hollow-cathode light source and vacuum monochromator to measure constants at 10.2 eV. None of the deposition parameters studied including DC-bias voltages successfully increased the n of (that is, densify) thoria films. The value of n at 3.0 eV is 1.86 ± 0.04. We find compelling evidence to conclude that the direct bad gap is at ~5.9 eV, clarifying the results of others, some of …


Determining The H+ Region / Pdr Equation Of State In Star-Forming Regions, N. P. Abel, Gary J. Ferland Aug 2006

Determining The H+ Region / Pdr Equation Of State In Star-Forming Regions, N. P. Abel, Gary J. Ferland

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

The emission-line regions of starburst galaxies and active nuclei reveal a wealth of spectroscopic information. A unified picture of the relationship among ionized, atomic, and molecular gas makes it possible to better understand these observations. We performed a series of calculations designed to determine the equation of state-the relationship among density, temperature, and pressure-through emission-line diagnostic ratios that form in the H+ region and the photodissociation region (PDR). We consider a wide range of physical conditions in the H+ region. We connect the H+ region to the PDR by considering two constant pressure cases: one with no …


The N2k Consortium. Vi. Doppler Shifts Without Templates And Three New Short-Period Planets, John Asher Johnson, Geoffrey W. Marcy, Debra A. Fischer, Gregory Laughlin, R. Paul Butler, Gregory W. Henry, Jeff A. Valenti, Eric B. Ford, Steve Vogt, Jason T. Wright Aug 2006

The N2k Consortium. Vi. Doppler Shifts Without Templates And Three New Short-Period Planets, John Asher Johnson, Geoffrey W. Marcy, Debra A. Fischer, Gregory Laughlin, R. Paul Butler, Gregory W. Henry, Jeff A. Valenti, Eric B. Ford, Steve Vogt, Jason T. Wright

Information Systems and Engineering Management Research Publications

We present a modification to the iodine cell Doppler technique that eliminates the need for an observed stellar template spectrum. For a given target star, we iterate toward a synthetic template spectrum beginning with an existing template of a similar star. We then perturb the shape of this first-guess template to match the program observation of the target star taken through an iodine cell. The elimination of a separate template observation saves valuable telescope time, a feature that is ideally suited for the quick-look strategy employed by the "Next 2000 Stars" (N2K) planet search program. Tests using Keck HIRES (High …


The Role Of Interplanetary Scattering In Western Hemisphere Large Solar Energetic Particle Events, Glenn M. Mason, Mihir I. Desai, Christina M.S. Cohen, Richard A. Mewaldt, Edward C. Stone, Joseph R. Dwyer Aug 2006

The Role Of Interplanetary Scattering In Western Hemisphere Large Solar Energetic Particle Events, Glenn M. Mason, Mihir I. Desai, Christina M.S. Cohen, Richard A. Mewaldt, Edward C. Stone, Joseph R. Dwyer

Aerospace, Physics, and Space Science Faculty Publications

Using high-sensitivity instruments on the ACE spacecraft, we have examined the intensities of O and Fe in 14 large solar energetic particleevents whose parent activity was in the solar western hemisphere. Sampling the intensities at low (∼273 keV nucleonˉ¹) and high (∼12 MeV nucleonˉ¹) energies, we find that at the same kinetic energy per nucleon, the Fe/O ratio decreases with time, as has been reported previously. This behavior is seen in more than 70% of the cases during the rise to maximum intensity and continues in most cases into the decay phase. We find that for most events if we …


Whole Earth Telescope Observations Of The Pulsating Subdwarf B Star Pg 0014+067, Maja Vučković, Matt A. Wood, V. Wilkat Aug 2006

Whole Earth Telescope Observations Of The Pulsating Subdwarf B Star Pg 0014+067, Maja Vučković, Matt A. Wood, V. Wilkat

Aerospace, Physics, and Space Science Faculty Publications

PG 0014+067 is one of the most promising pulsating subdwarf B stars for seismic analysis, as it has a rich pulsation spectrum. The richness of its pulsations, however, poses a fundamental challenge to understanding the pulsations of these stars, as the mode density is too complex to be explained only with radial and nonradial low-degree (l < 3) p-modes without rotational splittings. One proposed solution, suggested by Brassard et al. in 2001 for the case of PG 0014+067 in particular, assigns some modes with high degree (l - 3). On the other hand, theoretical models of sdB stars suggest that they may retain rapidly rotating cores, and so the high mode density may result from the presence of a few rotationally split triplet (l = 1) and quintuplet (l = 2) modes, along with radial (l = 0)p-modes. To examine alternative theoretical models for these stars, we need better frequency resolution and denser longitude coverage. Therefore, we observed this star with the Whole Earth Telescope for two weeks in 2004 October. In this paper we report the results of Whole Earth Telescope observations of the pulsating subdwarf B star PG 0014+067. We find that the frequencies seen in PG 0014+067 do not appear to fit any theoretical model currently available; however, we find a simple empirical relation that is able to match all of the well-determined frequencies in this star.


Debris Disks Around White Dwarfs: The Daz Connection, Mukremin Kilic, Ted Von Hippel, Et Al. Jul 2006

Debris Disks Around White Dwarfs: The Daz Connection, Mukremin Kilic, Ted Von Hippel, Et Al.

Publications

We present near-infrared spectroscopic observations of 20 previously known DAZ white dwarfs obtained at the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility. Two of these white dwarfs (G29-38 and GD 362) are known to display significant K-band excesses due to circumstellar debris disks. Here we report the discovery of excess K-band radiation from another DAZ white dwarf WD0408041 (GD56). Using spectroscopic observations, we show that the excess radiation cannot be explained by a stellar or substellar companion, and is likely to be caused by a warm debris disk. Our observations strengthen the connection between the debris disk phenomena and the observed …


Inverting Color-Magnitude Diagrams To Access Precise Star Cluster Parameters: A Bayesian Approach, Ted Von Hippel, Et Al. Jul 2006

Inverting Color-Magnitude Diagrams To Access Precise Star Cluster Parameters: A Bayesian Approach, Ted Von Hippel, Et Al.

Publications

We demonstrate a new Bayesian technique to invert color-magnitude diagrams of main-sequence and white dwarf stars to reveal the underlying cluster properties of age, distance, metallicity, and line-of-sight absorption, as well as individual stellar masses. The advantages our technique has over traditional analyses of color-magnitude diagrams are objectivity, precision, and explicit dependence on prior knowledge of cluster parameters. Within the confines of a given set of often-used models of stellar evolution, a single mapping of initial to final masses, and white dwarf cooling, and assuming photometric errors that one could reasonably achieve with the Hubble Space Telescope, our technique …


Xmm-Newton Discovery Of The X-Ray Transient Xmmu J181227.8-181234 In The Galactic Plane, Edward M. Cackett, Rudy Wijnands, Ron Remillard Jul 2006

Xmm-Newton Discovery Of The X-Ray Transient Xmmu J181227.8-181234 In The Galactic Plane, Edward M. Cackett, Rudy Wijnands, Ron Remillard

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Research Publications

We report the discovery of an X-ray transient, observed in outburst with XMM-Newton on 2003 March 20, and with position (J2000, approximate positional error 2arcsec). No known source is present at this position and the source was not detected during published ROSAT or ASCA observations of that region. However, the source may be associated with 1H1812-182 detected by HEAO 1, although the error bars on the HEAO 1 position are very large and the two sources could also be unrelated. Therefore, we name the source XMMU J181227.8-181234. Initially, the source was not detected using the All-Sky Monitor (ASM) on-board the …


Dust Stratification In Young Circumstellar Disks, Terrence Rettig, Sean D. Brittain, Theodore Simon, Erika Gibb, Dinshaw S. Balsara, David A. Tilley, Craig Kulesa Jul 2006

Dust Stratification In Young Circumstellar Disks, Terrence Rettig, Sean D. Brittain, Theodore Simon, Erika Gibb, Dinshaw S. Balsara, David A. Tilley, Craig Kulesa

Publications

We present high-resolution infrared spectra of four YSOs (T Tau N, T Tau S, RNO 91, and HL Tau). The spectra exhibit narrow absorption lines of 12CO, 13CO, and C18O, as well as broad emission lines of gas-phase 12CO. The narrow absorption lines of CO are shown to originate from the colder circumstellar gas. We find that the line-of-sight gas column densities resulting from the CO absorption lines are much higher than expected for the measured extinction for each source and suggest the gas/dust ratio is measuring the dust settling and/or grain coagulation in these extended disks. We provide a …


Solar Cycle Variations In The Composition Of The Suprathermal Heavy-Ion Population Near 1 Au, Mihir I. Desai, Glenn M. Mason, Joseph E. Mazur, Joseph R. Dwyer Jul 2006

Solar Cycle Variations In The Composition Of The Suprathermal Heavy-Ion Population Near 1 Au, Mihir I. Desai, Glenn M. Mason, Joseph E. Mazur, Joseph R. Dwyer

Aerospace, Physics, and Space Science Faculty Publications

We have measured the annual variation in the quiet-time composition of interplanetary suprathermal ions between 0.04 and 1 MeV nucleon-1 from 1994 November 20 through 2006 January 1. Our results show the following: (1) The C/O and Fe/O ratios are similar to the corresponding values measured in the solar wind and corotating interaction regions (CIRs) during solar minimum conditions of 1994-1997 and 2005. (2) During periods of increased solar activity between 1998 and 2002, the C/O ratio is similar to that measured in solar energetic particle (SEP) events, while the Fe/O ratio lies between the values measured in coronal mass …


Book Review: Evolution Of Stars And Stellar Populations, T. D. Oswalt Jul 2006

Book Review: Evolution Of Stars And Stellar Populations, T. D. Oswalt

Publications

This document is Dr. Oswalt’s review of Evolution of Stars and Stellar Populations by Maurizio Salaris and Santi Cassisi Wiley, 2005 374p, 047009219X $150.00, 047009219X $60.00


Consequences Of Disk Scale Height On Lisa Confusion Noise From Close White Dwarf Binaries, M. Benacquista, K. Holley-Bockelmann Jul 2006

Consequences Of Disk Scale Height On Lisa Confusion Noise From Close White Dwarf Binaries, M. Benacquista, K. Holley-Bockelmann

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications and Presentations

Gravitational radiation from the Galactic population of close white dwarf binaries (CWDBs) is expected to produce a confusion-limited signal at the lower end of the sensitivity band of the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA). The canonical scale height of the disk population has been taken to be 90 pc for most studies of the nature of this confusion-limited signal. This estimate is probably too low, and the consequences of a more realistic scale height are investigated with a model of the LISA signal due to populations of CWDBs with different scale heights. If the local space density of CWDBs is …


Measurement Of Orbital Decay In The Double Neutron Star Binary Psr B2127+11c, B. A. Jacoby, P. B. Cameron, F. A. Jenet, S. B. Anderson, R. N. Murty, S. R. Kulkarni Jun 2006

Measurement Of Orbital Decay In The Double Neutron Star Binary Psr B2127+11c, B. A. Jacoby, P. B. Cameron, F. A. Jenet, S. B. Anderson, R. N. Murty, S. R. Kulkarni

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications and Presentations

We report the direct measurement of orbital period decay in the double neutron star pulsar system PSR B2127 + 11C in the globular cluster M15 at the rate of (-3.95 ± 0.13) × 10-12, consistent with the prediction of general relativity at the ∼3% level. We find the pulsar mass to be mp = 1.358 ± 0.010 M⊙ and the companion mc = 1.354 ± 0.010 M⊙. We also report long-term pulse timing results for the pulsars PSR B2127+11A and PSR B2127+11B, including confirmation of the cluster proper motion.