Astrophysics and Astronomy Commons^™

Displacement Of The Earth's Bow Shock And Magnetopause Due To An Impinging Interplanetary Shock Wave, William A. Olson

Theses and Dissertations

Interplanetary shock waves (ISWs) propagating through the solar wind can collide with the earth's bow shock, resulting in a series of new shocks, contact discontinuities, and rarefaction waves which interact to effectively move the bow shock and magnetopause toward the earth. A one dimensional MacCormack predictor corrector algorithm with Flux Corrected Transport (FCT) was developed to model the ISW bow shock and magnetopause interactions, and to numerically predict their propagation speeds after collision. Analytic relationships for the Mach numbers and propagation speeds of the generated shock waves and contact discontinuities were used to validate the model and to compare numerical …

Upper Limits To The Outflow Of Ions At Mars: Implications For Atmospheric Evolution, Jane L. Fox

Physics Faculty Publications

Escape of ions is potentially important for the evolution of volatiles on Mars, but the mechanisms and rates of ion escape processes are not fully understood. Instruments on the Russian Phobos 2 orbiter have, however, measured fluxes of heavy ions apparently of ionospheric origin in the optical shadow of Mars. These ions are assumed to arise from escape processes induced by the interaction of the solar wind with the ionosphere. We determine here upper limits to the ion loss rates by imposing upward flux boundary conditions on models of the low and high solar activity Mars ionosphere. The maximum fluxes …

Prototype For Sontrac: A Scintillating Plastic Fiber Detector For Solar Neutron Spectroscopy, James M. Ryan, Janis Baltgalvis, D Holslin, John R. Macri, Mark L. Mcconnell, Cornelia B. Wunderer, Aaron R. Polichar

Space Science Center

We report the scientific motivation for and performance measurements of a prototype detector system for SONTRAC, a solar neutron tracking experiment designed to study high- energy solar flare processes. The full SONTRAC instrument will measure the energy and direction of 20 to 200 MeV neutrons by imaging the ionization tracks of the recoil protons in a densely packed bundle of scintillating plastic fibers. The prototype detector consists of a 12.7 mm square bundle of 250 micrometer scintillating plastic fibers, 10 cm long. A photomultiplier detects scintillation light from one end of the fiber bundle and provides a detection trigger to …

The I Band Tully-Fisher Relation For Cluster Galaxies: Data Presentation., Riccardo Giovanelli, Martha P. Haynes, Terry Herter, Nicole P. Vogt, Gary Wegner, John J. Salzer, Luiz N. Da Costa, Wolfram Freudling

Dartmouth Scholarship

Observational parameters which can be used for redshift-independent distance determination using the Tully-Fisher (TF) technique are given for 782 spiral galaxies in the fields of 24 clusters or groups. I band photometry for the full sample was either obtained by us or compiled from published literature. Rotational velocities are derived either from 21 cm spectra or optical emission line long--slit spectra, and converted to a homogeneous scale. In addition to presenting the data, a discussion of the various sources of error on TF parameters is introduced, and the criteria for the assignment of membership to each cluster are given.

Automated Classification Of Stellar Spectra. Ii: Two-Dimensional Classification With Neural Networks And Principal Components Analysis, Ted Von Hippel, Coryn A.L. Bailer-Jones, Mike Irwin

Publications

We investigate the application of neural networks to the automation of MK spec- tral classification. The data set for this project consists of a set of over 5000 optical (3800–5200°A) spectra obtained from objective prism plates from the Michigan Spec- tral Survey. These spectra, along with their two-dimensional MK classifications listed in the Michigan Henry Draper Catalogue, were used to develop supervised neural network classifiers. We show that neural networks can give accurate spectral type classifications (68 = 0.82 subtypes, rms= 1.09 subtypes) across the full range of spectral types present in the data set (B2–M7). We show also that …

Do The Broad Emission Line Clouds See The Same Continuum That We See?, Kirk Korista, Gary J. Ferland, Jack Baldwin

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

Recent observations of quasars, Mrk 335 and the HST quasar composite spectrum, have indicated that many quasars have remarkably soft ionizing continua (f _∝ ~ ν^-2, 13.6-100 eV). We point out that the number of photons with hν > 54.4 eV is insufficient to create the observed strengths of the He II emission lines. While the numbers of photons which energize C IV λ1549 and O VI λ1034 are sufficient, even the most efficiently emitting clouds for these two lines must each cover at least 20%-40% of the source. If the typical quasar ionizing continuum is indeed this …

A Prototype For Sontrac, A Scintillating Plastic Fiber Tracking Detector For Neutron Imaging And Spectroscopy, James M. Ryan, John R. Macri, Mark L. Mcconnell, C B. Wunderer, D Holslin, Aaron R. Polichar, Janis Baltgalvis

Space Science Center

We report on tests of a prototype detector system designed to perform imaging and spectroscopy on 20 to 250 MeV neutrons. Although developed for the study of high-energy solar flare processes, the detection techniques employed for SONTRAC, the SOlar Neutron TRACking experiment, can be applied to measurements in a variety of disciplines including atmospheric physics, radiation therapy and nuclear materials monitoring. The SONTRAC instrument measures the energy and direction ofneutrons by detecting double neutron-proton scatters and recording images of the ionization tracks of the recoil protons in a densely packed bundle of scintillating plastic fibers stacked in orthogonal layers. By …

System For Electron Paramagnetic Resonance Measurements At High Pressure And Low Temperature, Ke Huang, Daniel L. Decker, H. Mark Nelson, J. Dean Barnett

Faculty Publications

Major improvements have been made on the sensitive high pressure electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) system developed previously in 1978 at this laboratory. These changes allow low temperature measurements and provide a more stable signal. The high pressure EPR cell is placed inside a vacuum chamber to provide thermal isolation, so that the system may be cooled by a closed cycle refrigerator to temperatures between 45 and 60 K, depending on the energy input to the modulation coil. The combination of high pressure and low temperature greatly expands the thermodynamic range over which EPR measurements can be made. An improved and …

Locally Optimally Emitting Clouds And The Narrow Emission Lines In Seyfert Galaxies, Jason W. Ferguson, Kirk T. Korista, Jack A. Baldwin, Gary J. Ferland

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

The narrow emission line spectra of active galactic nuclei are not accurately described by simple photoionization models of single clouds. Recent Hubble Space Telescope images of Seyfert 2 galaxies show that these objects are rich with ionization cones, knots, filaments, and strands of ionized gas. Here we extend to the narrow-line region the ``locally optimally emitting cloud'' (LOC) model, in which the observed spectra are predominantly determined by powerful selection effects. We present a large grid of photoionization models covering a wide range of physical conditions and show the optimal conditions for producing many of the strongest emission lines. We …

Inclination Effects In Spiral Galaxy Gravitational Lensing, Ariyeh Maller, Ricardo Flores, Joel Primack

Physics Faculty Works

Spheroidal components of spiral galaxies have been considered to be the only dynamically important component in gravitational lensing studies to date. Here we point out that including the disk component can have a significant effect, which depends on the disk inclination, on a variety of lensing properties that are relevant to present studies and future surveys. As an example, we look at the multiple image system B1600+434, which was recently identified as being lensed by a spiral galaxy. We find that by including the disk component, one can understand the fairly large image separation as being caused by the inclination …

Hydrocarbon Ions In The Ionosphere Of Titan, Jane L. Fox, Roger V. Yelle

Physics Faculty Publications

We have constructed a new model of the ionosphere of Titan that includes 67 species and 626 reactions. Although N₂⁺ is the major ion produced over most of the ionosphere, the ionization flows to ions whose parent neutrals have lower ionization potentials and to ions formed from species with large proton affinities. In contrast to other models, which have predicted that HCNH⁺ should be the major ion, our calculations suggest that the major ions at and below the ion peak are hydrocarbon ions, and H, C, and N-containing ions. Our predicted peak electron density for a solar …

Stellar Populations And The White Dwarf Mass Function: Connections To Supernova Ia Luminosities, Ted Von Hippel, G. D. Bothum, R. A. Schommer

Publications

We discuss the luminosity function of SNe Ia under the assumption that recent evidence for dispersion in this standard candle is related to variations in the white dwarf mass function (WDMF) in the host galaxies. We develop a simple parameterization of the WDMF as a function of age of a stellar population and apply this to galaxies of different morphological types. We show that this simplified model is consistent with the observed WDMF of Bergeron et al. (1992) for the solar neighborhood. Our simple models predict that WDMF variations can produce a range of more than 1.8 mag in MB(SN …

Faint Sources In The Euve Survey: Identification Of White Dwarfs, Active Late‐Type Stars, And Galactic Nuclei, Elisha Polomski, Stephane Vennes, John R. Thorstensen, Mihalis Mathioudakis, Emilio E. Falco

Dartmouth Scholarship

We report the classification of 21 new extreme-ultraviolet sources from the recent catalog of Lampton et al. The optical spectra presented identify the objects as 14 active late-type stars (including two double active stars and a possible T Tauri star), three white dwarfs, and six active galactic nuclei (a Seyfert galaxy, the BL Lac object 1ES 1028+511 [=EUVE J1031+508], and four quasi-stellar objects). We have detected Ca II absorption lines in the BL Lac object and measured its redshift. Two of the white dwarfs are unusually massive (M > 1.1 M_☉). Our sample of late-type stars includes five …

Optically Identified Supernova Remnants In The Nearby Spiral Galaxies Ngc 5204, Ngc 5585, Ngc 6946, M81, And M101, David M. Matonick, Robert A. Fesen

Dartmouth Scholarship

We present the results of an optical search for supernova remnants (SNRs) in the spiral galaxies NGC 5204, NGC 5585, NGC 6946, M81, and M101. Using the criterion that emission nebulae with [S II]/Hα ≥ 0.45 are identified as SNRs, we found three SNRs in NGC 5204, five in NGC 5585, 27 in NGC 6946, 41 in M81, and 93 in M101. Including the 35 SNRs recently detected in NGC 2403 by Matonick et al., we have doubled the current number of galaxies that have been well searched for SNRs and increased the number of known extragalactic SNRs by about …

The Eclipsing Double-Lined Spectroscopic Binary System V505 Persei, Laurence A. Marschall, Robert P. Stefanik, Claud H. Lacy, Guillermo Torres, David B. Williams, Franz Agerer

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

The recently-discovered eclipsing double-lined spectroscopic binary V505 Persei (SAO 23229) consists of two nearly identical F5 main sequence stars in a 4.2 day orbit. We have obtained both spectroscopic and photometric observations of the binary that densely sample the complete cycle of radial velocity and light variations. These observations have been used to determine the elements of the orbit, to determine individual masses of the stars in the system to a precision of better than 1%, and to estimate an age for the system. The derived properties agree well with current stellar structure models and provide fundamental data for tests …

White Dwarfs In Globular Clusters: Hubble Space Telescope Observations Of M4, Harvey B. Richer, Matt A. Wood

Aerospace, Physics, and Space Science Faculty Publications

Using WFPC2 on the Hubble Space Telescope, we have isolated a sample of 258 white dwarfs (WDs) in the Galactic globular cluster M4. Fields at three radial distances from the cluster center were observed, and sizable WD populations were found in all three. The location of these WDs in the color-magnitude diagram, their mean mass of 0.51(±0.03) M⊙, and their luminosity function confirm basic tenets of stellar evolution theory and support the results from current WD cooling theory. The WDs are used to extend the cluster main-sequence mass function upward to stars that have already completed their nuclear evolution. The …

Recurrent Geomagnetic Storms And Relativistic Electron Enhancements In The Outer Magnetosphere: Istp Coordinated Measurements, D N. Baker, X Li, Niescja E. Turner, J H. Allen, L F. Bargatze, J B. Blake, R B. Sheldon, H E. Spence, R D. Belian, G D. Reeves, S G. Kanekal, B Klecker, R P. Lepping, K Ogilvie, R A. Mewaldt, T Onsager, H J. Singer, G Rostoker

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Research

New, coordinated measurements from the International Solar-Terrestrial Physics (ISTP) constellation of spacecraft are presented to show the causes and effects of recurrent geomagnetic activity during recent solar minimum conditions. It is found using WIND and POLAR data that even for modest geomagnetic storms, relativistic electron fluxes are strongly and rapidly enhanced within the outer radiation zone of the Earth's magnetosphere. Solar wind data are utilized to identify the drivers of magnetospheric acceleration processes. Yohkoh solar soft X-ray data are also used to identify the solar coronal holes that produce the high-speed solar wind streams which, in turn, cause the recurrent …

Activation In The Comptel Double-Scattering Gamma-Ray Telescope, D Morris, Mark L. Mcconnell, James M. Ryan, R Diehl, U Oberlack, V Schonfelder, M Varendorff, G Weidenspointer, H Deboer, K Bennett

Space Science Center

Abstract-The COMPTEL gamma-ray telescope has been operating in low Earth orbit for six years, since the launch of the Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory in April 1991. Comparisons of data for different orbits and epochs show evidence of activation on time scales from minutes (27Mg, q,2=9.5 min) to years C2Na, q&.58 yr). The activation is correlated with both the orbital altitude and solar cosmic-ray modulation. Because it requires coincident measurements in two different detectors, COMPTEL is most susceptible to instrumental background events in which two or more photons are produced simultaneously.

Sontrac-A Low Background, Large Area Solar Neutron Spectrometer, C B. Wunderer, D Holslin, John R. Macri, Mark L. Mcconnell, James M. Ryan

Space Science Center

SONTRAC will measure 20-250 MeV neutrons from solar flares using scintillator fibers viewed by CCD cameras to track neutron-proton scatters. SONTRAC can also be used to track gamma rays above 20 MeV. Veto shields are used to reject all charged particles. Gamma-ray and neutron events have very different track densities, allowing discrimination between the two. Double neutron-proton scatters allow unambiguous determination of the incident neutron energy and direction. Therefore, SONTRAC is capable of rejecting almost all background except neutrons from the solar direction. SONTRAC would have detected the June 15, 1991 flare with 42σ for 20-100 MeV neutrons, having an …

Critical Issues For Understanding Particle Acceleration In Impulsive Solar Flares, James A. Miller, Peter J. Cargill, A. Gordon Emslie, Gordon D. Holman, Brian R. Dennis, Ted N. La Rosa, Robert M. Winglee, Stephen G. Benka, S. Tsuneta

Faculty Articles

This paper, a review of the present status of existing models for particle acceleration during impulsive solar flares, was inspired by a week-long workshop held in the Fall of 1993 at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. Recent observations from Yohkoh and the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory, and a reanalysis of older observations from the Solar Maximum Mission, have led to important new results concerning the location, timing, and efficiency of particle acceleration in flares. These are summarized in the first part of the review. Particle acceleration processes are then discussed, with;particular emphasis on new developments in stochastic acceleration by magnetohydrodynamic …

Physical Parameterization Of Stellar Spectra: The Neural Network Approach, Coryn A.L. Bailer-Jones, Ted Von Hippel, Mike Irwin, Gerard Gilmore

Publications

We present a technique which employs artificial neural networks to produce physical parameters for stellar spectra. A neural network is trained on a set of synthetic optical stellar spectra to give physical parameters (e.g. Teff, log g, [M/H]). The network is then used to produce physical parameters for real, observed spectra. Our neural networks are trained on a set of 155 synthetic spectra, generated using the spectrum program written by Gray (Gray & Corbally 1994, Gray & Arlt 1996). Once trained, the neural network is used to yield Teff for over 5000 B–K spectra extracted from a set of photographic …

Temporal Change Enhancement In Multispectral Images Remotely Sensed From Satellites, William P. Pfaff

Utah Space Grant Consortium

The application of principal components analysis to multispectral satellite images is a routine way to present the data in false-color composite images. These composite images include a very high percentage of available information and have no correlation between the displayed colors. The transformation of multispectral image data into its principal components is also an effective way to separate image information from noise. This paper describes a procedure for temporal change enhancement which exploits both the decorrelation and noise isolation properties of the principal components transformation. Using simulated temporal change, this procedure was demonstrated to be more effective than the standard …

Charge Transfer Between Neutral Atoms And Highly Ionized Species: Implications For Iso Observations, Gary J. Ferland, K. T. Korista, D. A. Verner, A. Dalgarno

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

We estimate rate coefficients for charge transfer between neutral hydrogen and helium and moderately to highly ionized heavy elements. Although charge transfer does not have much influence on hot collisionally ionized plasmas, its effects on photoionized plasmas can be profound. We present several photoionization models that illustrate the significant effect of charge transfer on the far-infrared lines detected by ISO.

Physical Conditions Of The Coronal Line Region In Seyfert Galaxies, Jason W. Ferguson, Kirk Korista, Gary J. Ferland

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

The launch of the Infrared Space Observatory and new atomic data have opened a window for the study of high-ionization gas in active galactic nuclei (AGNs). We present the results of a large number of photoionization simulations of the "coronal line" region in AGNs, employing new atomic data from the Opacity and Iron Projects. Our grid of line emission spans 8 orders of magnitude in gas density and 14 orders of magnitude in ionizing flux in an effort to identify the optimal conditions in which these lines form. We show that coronal lines form at distances from just outside the …

Interpretation Of Ultraviolet Absorption Lines In Sn 1006, A. J. S. Hamilton, R. A. Fesen, C.-C. Wu, D. M. Crenshaw

Dartmouth Scholarship

We present a theoretical interpretation of the broad silicon and iron ultraviolet absorption features observed with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) in the spectrum of the Schweizer-Middleditch star behind the remnant of SN 1006. These features are caused by supernova ejecta in SN 1006.

We propose that the redshifted Si II 1260 Å feature consists of both unshocked and shocked Si II. The sharp red edge of the line at 7070 km s^-1 indicates the position of the reverse shock, while its Gaussian blue edge reveals shocked Si with a mean velocity of 5050 km s^{-1 …}

Celluloid Blackness : Race, Modernity, And The Conflicted Roots Of American Cinema (1915-1939), Lincoln Farr

Honors Theses

Introduction: "The Problem of the Twentieth Century" In a full page interview in the New York Times on May 29, 1912, the Swiss psychiatrist Dr. Carl G. Jung told the American people, "It seems to me that you are about to discover yourselves. You have discovered everything else-all the land of this continent; all the resources, all the hidden things of nature."Jung used the interview to address the American people, at a moment which he somehow recognized as crucial in the development of human civilization. America, the "tragic" country which he struggled to comprehend, would soon become the harbinger of …

Time-Series Photometric Spot Modeling. Iii. Thirty Years In The Life Of Hk Lacertae., Katalin Oláh, Zsolt Kővári, János Bartus, Klaus G. Strassmeier, Douglas S. Hall, Gregory W. Henry

Information Systems and Engineering Management Research Publications

We present a spot modeling analysis of the active late-type giant HK Lac using 30 years of photometry, including 600 new data points from the last six years. We have analyzed folded light curves and, when we had long continuous data sets, applied a new computer code for time-series modeling. The validity of the modeling results was tested as a function of the photometric noise. We have determined the unspotted brightness of HK Lac in the BV(RI)_C_ bandpasses and obtained a spot temperature of {DELTA}T=1200+/-100K. Polar active regions were recovered throughout the modeling because no other scenario was able to …

Rotational Velocities Of Late-Type Stars, Francis C. Fekel

Information Systems and Engineering Management Research Publications

A calibration based on the results of Gray has been used to determine projected rotational velocities for 133 bright stars with spectral types of F, G, or K, most of which appear in {The Bright Star Catalogue}. The vast majority have {v} sin {i} ≤q 10 km s-1 and, thus, are slow rotators. With the new calibration, projected rotational velocities have been determined for a sample of 111 late-type stars, most of which are chromospherically active. Some of the stars have had their rotational velocities measured for the first time.

Whole Earth Telescope Observations Of The Helium Interacting Binary Pg 1346+082 (Cr Bootis), Judith L. Provencal, Donald E. Winget, R. Edward Nather, Edward L. Robinson, J. Christopher Clemens, Paul A. Bradley, Charles F. Claver, Scot J. Kleinman, Albert D. Grauer, Butler P. Hine, Lilia Ferrario, Darragh O'Donoghue, Brian Warner, Gerard Vauclair, Michel Chevreton, Kepler De Souza Oliveira Filho, Matt A. Wood, Gregory W. Henry

Information Systems and Engineering Management Research Publications

We present our analysis of 240 hr of white-light, high-speed photometry of the dwarf nova-like helium variable PG 1346+082 (CR Boo). We identify two frequencies in the low-state power spectrum, at 679.670 ± 0.004 μHz and 669.887 ± 0.008 μHz. The 679.670 μHz variation is coherent over at least a 2 week time span, the first demonstration of a phase-coherent photometric variation in any dwarf nova-like interacting binary white dwarf system. The high-state power spectrum contains a complex fundamental with a frequency similar, but not identical, to the low-state spectrum, and a series of harmonics not detected in low state. …

Cdznte Strip Detectors As Sub-Millimeter Resolution Imaging Gamma Radiation Spectrometers, K Larson, V Boykin, M L. Cherry, J F. Courville, F P. Doty, A Drake, T G. Guzik, L A. Hamel, John R. Macri, M Mayer, Mark L. Mcconnell, James M. Ryan, O Tousignant

Space Science Center

We report γ-ray detection performance measurements and computer simulations of a sub-millimeter pitch CdZnTe strip detector. The detector is a prototype for γ-ray measurements in the range of 20-600 keV. The prototype is a 1.5 mm thick, 64×64 orthogonal stripe CdZnTe detector of 0.375 mm pitch in both dimensions, with approximately one square inch of sensitive area. Using discrete laboratory electronics to process signals from an 8×8 stripe region of the prototype we measured good spectroscopic uniformity and sub-pitch (~0.2 mm) spatial resolution in both x and y dimensions. We present below measurements of the spatial uniformity, relative timing and …