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Full-Text Articles in Astrophysics and Astronomy
Hunting Starstuff: Searching For Calcium-Aluminum-Rich Inclusions In Cometary Dust, Christian Engelbrecht
Hunting Starstuff: Searching For Calcium-Aluminum-Rich Inclusions In Cometary Dust, Christian Engelbrecht
STAR Program Research Presentations
NASA’s Stardust mission (1999 - 2006) returned physical samples of the particles ejected by the comet 81P/Wild 2, collected in ultralight and extremely low density aerogel. These samples have been extensively analyzed using X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF), among other techniques, to determine the elemental, chemical and mineralogical composition of Wild 2. Because comets are thought to be formed in the icy outer regions of the solar system, billions of years ago, the Stardust data gives us details of the composition of the ancient solar system and its subsequent evolution. One of the surprises to come out of the data is the …
Laboratory Astrophysics: Using Ebit Measurements To Interpret High Resolution Spectra From Celestial Sources, Carey Scott, Joshua Thompson, N. Hell, Greg V. Brown
Laboratory Astrophysics: Using Ebit Measurements To Interpret High Resolution Spectra From Celestial Sources, Carey Scott, Joshua Thompson, N. Hell, Greg V. Brown
STAR Program Research Presentations
Astrophysicists use radiation to investigate the physics controlling a variety of celestial sources, including stellar atmospheres, black holes, and binary systems. By measuring the spectrum of the emitted radiation, astrophysicists can determine a source’s temperature and composition. Accurate atomic data are needed for reliably interpreting these spectra. Here we present an overview of how LLNL’s EBIT facility is used to put the atomic data on sound footing for use by the high energy astrophysics community.