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Astrophysics and Astronomy

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Florida Institute of Technology

2002

Articles 1 - 8 of 8

Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Perpendicular Transport Of Charged Particles In Composite Model Turbulence: Recovery Of Diffusion, Gang Qin, William H. Matthaeus, John William Bieber Oct 2002

Perpendicular Transport Of Charged Particles In Composite Model Turbulence: Recovery Of Diffusion, Gang Qin, William H. Matthaeus, John William Bieber

Aerospace, Physics, and Space Science Faculty Publications

The computation of charged particle orbits in model turbulent magnetic fields is used to investigate the properties of particle transport in the directions perpendicular to the large-scale magnetic field. Recent results by Qin, Matthaeus, & Bieber demonstrate that parallel scattering suppresses perpendicular diffusion to a subdiffusive level when the turbulence lacks transverse structure. Here numerical computations are used to show that in turbulence in which there is substantial transverse structure, a second regime of diffusive transport can be established. In both the subdiffusion regime and this "second diffusion" regime, perpendicular transport is intrinsically nonlinear. The regime of second diffusion persists …

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Spectral Properties Of He And Heavy Ions In ³He-Rich Solar Flares, Glenn M. Mason, Joseph R. Dwyer Aug 2002

Spectral Properties Of He And Heavy Ions In ³He-Rich Solar Flares, Glenn M. Mason, Joseph R. Dwyer

Aerospace, Physics, and Space Science Faculty Publications

Using advanced instrumentation on the ACE spacecraft, we have conducted a survey of solar energetic particle spectra in ³He-rich events over a broad energy range ∼80 keV nucleon-1 to 15 MeV nucleonˉ¹ during the period 1997 September-2001 March. The spectra of ⁴He and heavy ions (C, N, O, Ne, Mg, Si, S, Ca, Fe) were generally similar over this range but often hardened below ∼1 MeV nucleonˉ¹. In most of the events there was even stronger hardening of the ³He spectrum below ∼1 MeV nucleonˉ¹, leading to an energy-dependent ³He: ⁴He ratio. These observations point to unique and distinct properties …

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Wide Binary Systems And The Nature Of High-Velocity White Dwarfs, Nicole M. Silvestri, Terry D. Oswalt, Suzanne L. Hawley Aug 2002

Wide Binary Systems And The Nature Of High-Velocity White Dwarfs, Nicole M. Silvestri, Terry D. Oswalt, Suzanne L. Hawley

Aerospace, Physics, and Space Science Faculty Publications

We present measured radial velocities and complete space motions for 116 white dwarf stars with M dwarf companions. Thirteen pairs have " halo-like " velocities. According to a recent study by Oppenheimer et al., all these high-velocity white dwarfs should be considered part of the dark matter heavy halo of the Galaxy, based on their kinematics. Based on the near-solar abundance levels of the M dwarf companions, we conclude that 12 of our 13 high-velocity white dwarfs are actually part of the high-velocity tail of the thick disk, rather than the dark matter halo of the Galaxy, in agreement with …

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A Determination Of The Local Density Of White Dwarf Stars, Jay B. Holberg, Terry D. Oswalt, Edward M. Sión May 2002

A Determination Of The Local Density Of White Dwarf Stars, Jay B. Holberg, Terry D. Oswalt, Edward M. Sión

Aerospace, Physics, and Space Science Faculty Publications

The most recent version of the Catalog of Spectroscopically Identified White Dwarfs lists 2249 white dwarf stars. Among these stars are 109 white dwarfs that have either reliable trigonometric parallaxes or color-based distance moduli that place them at a distance within 20 pc of the Sun. Most of these nearby white dwarfs are isolated stars, but 28 (25% of the sample) are in binary systems, including such well-known systems as Sirius A/B and Procyon A/B. There are also three double degenerate systems in this sample of the local white dwarf population. The sample of local white dwarfs is largely complete …

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Tip Of The Red Giant Branch Distances To Ngc 4214, Ugc 685, And Ugc 5456, Jesús Maíz Apellániz, Lucas Cieza, John W. Mackenty Mar 2002

Tip Of The Red Giant Branch Distances To Ngc 4214, Ugc 685, And Ugc 5456, Jesús Maíz Apellániz, Lucas Cieza, John W. Mackenty

Aerospace, Physics, and Space Science Faculty Publications

We have used WFPC2 VRI observations to calculate the distances to three nearby galaxies, NGC 4214, UGC 685, and UGC 5456, using the tip of the red giant branch method. Our values for NGC 4214 (2.94 ± 0.18 Mpc) and UGC 685 (4.79 ± 0.30 Mpc) are the most precise measurements of the distances to these objects ever made. For UGC 5456 the data do not allow us to reach a decisive conclusion since there are two possible solutions, one leading toward a short distance around 3.8 Mpc and another one toward a long distance of 5.6 Mpc or more.

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A New Heavy Ion Abundance Enrichment Pattern In ³He-Rich Solar Particle Events, Glenn M. Mason, Joseph E. Mazur, Joseph R. Dwyer Jan 2002

A New Heavy Ion Abundance Enrichment Pattern In ³He-Rich Solar Particle Events, Glenn M. Mason, Joseph E. Mazur, Joseph R. Dwyer

Aerospace, Physics, and Space Science Faculty Publications

We report the first examples of ³He-rich solar energetic particle (SEP) events with heavy ion enrichments that are not ordered generally by mass. A second new feature is the large enrichment of ¹⁴N, the first time large enrichments have been seen for heavy ions lighter than O or Ne. These SEP events were too small and at too low an energy (<500 keV nucleon-1) to have been observed previously. The best observed event, 2001 July 16, had abundance ratios C : N : O : Ne : Mg : Si : S : Ca : Fe of ∼0.8 : 1.0 : ≡ 1 : 0.5 : 0.5 : 2.0 : 2.4 : 0.2 : 0.9, corresponding, respectively, to enhancements over the slow solar wind of ∼1.2 :15 : ≡ 1 : 5. : 3.4 : 12 :49 : 19 : 7. This pattern is incompatible with a gravitational settling enrichment mechanism. The simultaneous large enhancements of ¹⁴N and ²⁸Si, which have identical charge-to-mass ratios for certain ionization states, suggest that selective plasma wave heating plays a key role, as has long been suspected. Enhancement of ¹⁴N implies relatively low temperatures (<1.5 × 10 6 K) since fully stripped ¹⁴N cannot be preferentially heated. Also, the presence of enhanced species such as ¹⁴N and ²⁸Si, along with others with small or no enhancements ( 16)O, ²⁰Ne), may indicate that the plasma waves must operate over a relatively narrow range of frequencies and that the material must be heated while the waves are present.

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The Temporal Spectrum Of The Sdb Pulsating Star Hs 2201+2610 At 2 Ms Resolution, R Silvotti, T D. Oswalt, Nicole M. Silvestri, Glenn Carlson Jan 2002

The Temporal Spectrum Of The Sdb Pulsating Star Hs 2201+2610 At 2 Ms Resolution, R Silvotti, T D. Oswalt, Nicole M. Silvestri, Glenn Carlson

Aerospace, Physics, and Space Science Faculty Publications

In this article we present the results of more than 180 hours of time-series photometry on the low gravity (log g = 5.4, Teff = 29 300 K, log He/H = -3.0 by number) sdB pulsating star HS 2201+2610, obtained between September 2000 and August 2001. The temporal spectrum is resolved and shows 5 close frequencies: three main signals at 2860.94, 2824.10 and 2880.69 μHz, with amplitudes of about 1%, 0.5% and 0.1% respectively, are detected from single run observations; two further peaks with very low amplitude (<0.07%) at 2738.01 and 2921.82 μHz are confirmed by phase analysis on several independent runs. Due to the small number of detected frequencies, it is not possible to obtain a univocal identification of the excited modes and perform a detailed seismological analysis of the star. No clear signatures of rotational splitting are seen. Nevertheless, the observed period spectrum is well inside the excited period window obtained from pulsation calculations with nonadiabatic models having effective temperature and surface gravity close to the spectroscopic estimates. Due to its relatively simple temporal spectrum, HS 2201+2610 is a very good candidate for trying to measure the secular variation of the pulsation periods in time. With this purpose a long-term monitoring of the star was started. The results of the first 11 months show amplitude variations up to ∼20% on time-scales of months, which are probably real, and allow us to measure the pulsation frequencies with an unprecedented 0.02 μHz resolution.

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Asteroseismology Of Rxj 2117+3412, The Hottest Pulsating Pg 1159 Star, G Vauclair, Matt A. Wood Jan 2002

Asteroseismology Of Rxj 2117+3412, The Hottest Pulsating Pg 1159 Star, G Vauclair, Matt A. Wood

Aerospace, Physics, and Space Science Faculty Publications

The pulsating PG 1159 planetary nebula central star RXJ 2117+3412 has been observed over three successive seasons of a multisite photometric campaign. The asteroseismological analysis of the data, based on the 37 identified ℓ = 1 modes among the 48 independent pulsation frequencies detected in the power spectrum, leads to the derivation of the rotational splitting, the period spacing and the mode trapping cycle and amplitude, from which a number of fundamental parameters can be deduced. The average rotation period is 1.16 ± 0.05 days. The trend for the rotational splitting to decrease with increasing periods is incompatible with a …

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