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Full-Text Articles in Physics

Evidence For Electron Energization Accompanying Spontaneous Formation Of Ion Acceleration Regions In Expanding Plasmas, Evan M. Aguirre, Rikard Bodin, Neng Yin, Timothy N. Good, Earl E. Scime Dec 2020

Evidence For Electron Energization Accompanying Spontaneous Formation Of Ion Acceleration Regions In Expanding Plasmas, Evan M. Aguirre, Rikard Bodin, Neng Yin, Timothy N. Good, Earl E. Scime

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

We report experiments conducted in an expanding argon plasma generated in the inductive mode of a helicon source in the Hot hELIcon eXperiment–Large Experiment on Instabilities and Anisotropies facility. As the neutral gas pressure increases, the supersonic ion acceleration weakens. Increasing neutral pressure also alters the radial profile of electron temperature, density, and plasma potential upstream of the plasma expansion region. Langmuir probe measurements of the electron energy probability function (EEPF) show that heating of electrons at the plasma edge by RF fields diminishes with increasing gas pressure, yielding a plasma with a centrally peaked electron temperature, and flat potential …


The Limited Reign Of Saturn's Rings, Laurence A. Marschall Mar 2019

The Limited Reign Of Saturn's Rings, Laurence A. Marschall

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

Saturn’s rings—stretching tens of thousands of miles above its equator but no more than a few hundred yards thick—mark an ancient debris field of orbiting ice shards, the remains of a moon-sized object that strayed too close and was torn to pieces by Saturn’s intense gravitation. Astronomers have debated when the rings formed and how long they will stay in orbit. Recent observations from large, land-based telescopes and orbiting spacecraft reveal that Saturn’s rings are remarkably young and are dissipating at a rapid rate. [excerpt]


The Measurement Of Astronomical Parallaxes With Ccd Imaging Cameras On Small Telescopes, Stephen J. Ratcliff, Thomas J. Balonek, Laurence A. Marschall, David L. Dupuy, Carlton R. Pennypacker, Ritu Verma, Anastasia Alexov, Vivian Bonney Mar 1993

The Measurement Of Astronomical Parallaxes With Ccd Imaging Cameras On Small Telescopes, Stephen J. Ratcliff, Thomas J. Balonek, Laurence A. Marschall, David L. Dupuy, Carlton R. Pennypacker, Ritu Verma, Anastasia Alexov, Vivian Bonney

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

Small telescopes equipped with charge-coupled device (CCD) imaging cameras are well suited to introductory laboratory exercises in positional astronomy (astrometry). An elegant example is the determination of the parallax of extraterrestrial objects, such as asteroids. For laboratory exercises suitable for introductory students, the astronomical hardware needs are relatively modest, and under the best circumstances, the analysis requires little more than arithmetic and a microcomputer with image display capabilities. Results from the first such coordinated parallax observations of asteroids ever made are presented. In addition, procedures for several related experiments, involving single-site observations and/or parallaxes of earth-orbiting artificial satellites, are outlined.