The Sun and the Solar System Commons^™

An Analysis Of The Location Of White Light Flares In The Sun's Atmosphere, Michelle D. Wilbur

STAR Program Research Presentations

When flares occur in the Sun’s atmosphere, electromagnetic radiation in all wavelengths is emitted. Flares observed at visible wavelengths are called "white light" flares. Little is known about white light flares since the radiation from the Sun in the visible range greatly outshines what is produced during solar flares. Since white light flares are hard to see, it is not clear in what part of the solar atmosphere they occur. The point of this research is to identify where in the corona white light emission in produced during a flare. Depending on what will be discovered affects the validity of …

Observing Magnetic Fields And Currents At The Night And Terminator Sides Of Mars Through The Mars Global Surveyor Data, Nicole Ponce, Matthey Fillingim, Alexander Fogle

STAR Program Research Presentations

Mars has no global magnetic field. Changes in the solar wind and interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) can impact the upper atmosphere and induce currents in the ionosphere of Mars. During aerobraking maneuvers, Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) made over 1000 passes through Mars’s ionosphere. During these passes, MGS measured the local magnetic field. From these measurements, we can determine the ionospheric currents. We restrict our analysis to passes where the radial component of the magnetic field is nearly zero. This restriction, along with some assumptions about the gradients in the magnetic field, allows us to estimate the horizontal ionospheric currents. Additionally, …

Ibex: The First Five Years (2009-2013), D. J. Mccomas, F. Allegrini, M. Bzowski, M. A. Dayeh, R. Demajistre, H. O. Funsten, S. A. Fuselier, M. Gruntman, Paul H. Janzen, M. A. Kubiak, H. Kucharek, E. Möbius, Daniel B. Reisenfeld, N. A. Schwadron, J. M. Sokol, M. Tokumaru

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

The Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) returned its first five years of scientific observations from 2009 to 2013. In this study, we examine, validate, initially analyze, and provide to the broad scientific community this complete set of energetic neutral atom (ENA) observations for the first time. IBEX measures the fluxes of ENAs reaching 1 AU from sources in the outer heliosphere and most likely the very nearby interstellar space beyond the heliopause. The data, maps, and documentation provided in this study represent the fourth major release of the IBEX data, incorporate important improvements, and should be used for future studies and …

Ice Caves On Extraterrestrial Bodies: What Are The Prospects For Speleogenesis And Detection?, Penelope J. Boston

The International Workshop on Ice Caves

Potential mechanisms for creating cavities in icy extraterrestrial bodies have been tentatively explored by several authors. On one hand we have examples of mechanisms that create caves in water ice here on Earth. In addition, there may be unique mechanisms on other Solar System objects that do not occur on Earth but might produce cavities, e.g. sublimation of comets upon perihelion passage. The methods of detecting such cavities depend upon the nature of the icy body in question, the potential for orbital or landed missions to visit those bodies in the future, and remote or landed methods for detecting the …

Mars-Relevant Phosphate Minerals And Implications For Martian Habitability, Christopher Adcock

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This dissertation is comprised of three studies focused on martian phosphate availability, with an introductory chapter introducing and linking the three studies. Chapter two is on the subject of merrillite synthesis. Merrillite is an extraterrestrial Ca-phosphate mineral similar to the mineral whitlockite and is found as a dominant primary phosphate mineral in martian meteorites. The chapter includes methods of whitlockite and merrillite synthesis as well as a detailed characterization of the produced minerals and a mechanism by which charge balance can be maintained when merrillite is synthesized through dehydrogenation of whitlockite.

Chapter three presents the results of kinetic and thermodynamic …

The Magnetopause: Bringing Space Physics Into A Junior Lab, Jim Crumley, Ari Palczewski,, Stephen Kaster

MapCores Faculty Publications

Undergraduate students often have minimal exposure to many subfields
of physics which are active areas of research. Space physics
is an area that is particularly difficult to expose students to since
it builds off of another area that most undergraduates see little of,
plasma physics. The magnetopause is convenient entry point
into space physics, since it can be modeled as a pressure balance, which is
a concept familiar from introductory physics. We use the Earth's
magnetopause as the basis for a lab for junior physics majors. In
the lab students analyze results from a NASA MHD simulation and
data from …

Dominican Big History Scholars Student-Led Focus Groups, Lizette Cabrera, Cassandra Cannon, Talia Gonzalez, Carly Holboke, Kylie Walsh, Tegist Worku, Emily Beach, Mackenzie Hagstrom, Jennifer Lucko, J. Dan May, Mojgan Behmand

Big History | Scholar Program

No abstract provided.

The Stardust Interstellar Dust Collector Crater Origins And Hypervelocity Cratering At Oblique Angles In Aluminum Foil, Harison Wiesman

Undergraduate Theses—Unrestricted

From 1999 to 2006 the NASA Stardust mission collected cometary particles from the Wild 2 comet and interstellar dust from the interstellar medium in two collectors made from aerogel tiles and aluminum foil. By studying their isotopic compositions, these particles can provide us with information about nucleosynthetic processes in stars. Both collector trays are being studied for traces of these particles, though a number of challenges have arisen in doing so. Identifying impact craters in the aluminum foil on the interstellar collector tray has been incredibly difficult. In addition to being only a few micrometers or less in diameter, many …

Survey Of ‘Low-Z’ Particles From The Interplanetary Dust Collection In Search Of Idps, Harison Wiesman

Undergraduate Theses—Unrestricted

Micrometeorites are one of the most common types of extraterrestrial material that fall to the Earth, beside meteorites and interplanetary dust particles (IDPs). All of these materials are known to contain presolar grains that, when studied in the laboratory, provide information about the origin of the solar system and help to constrain models of nucleosynthesis in stars. Recent studies of micrometeorites revealed the presence of a group of particles with very high C contents. These ultra-carbonaceous Antarctic micrometeorites (UCAMMs) are fine-grained, fluffy particles dominated by highly disordered carbonaceous matter. The presence of H and N isotopic anomalies, abundant presolar grains, …

Could We Colonize Venus?, Nihad E. Daidzic

Aviation Department Publications

No abstract provided.

Welcome And Opening Remarks, Rick C. Chappell

Magnetospheric-Ionospheric Coupling Conference

No abstract provided.

Evidence For A Weak Wind From The Young Sun, Brian E. Wood, Hans-Reinhard Müller, Seth Redfield, Eric Edelman

Dartmouth Scholarship

The early history of the solar wind has remained largely a mystery due to the difficulty of detecting winds around young stars that can serve as analogs for the young Sun. Here we report on the detection of a wind from the 500 Myr old solar analog π1 UMa (G1.5 V), using spectroscopic observations from the Hubble Space Telescope. We detect H I Lyα absorption from the interaction region between the stellar wind and interstellar medium, i.e., the stellar astrosphere. With the assistance of hydrodynamic models of the π1 UMa astrosphere, we infer a wind only half as strong as …

Probing The Alfvén Speed Profile Using Type Ii Radio Bursts, Peter Sullivan, Hazel M. Bain

STAR Program Research Presentations

Type II radio bursts can be produced when a coronal mass ejection (CME) traveling faster than the local plasma speed of the ambient medium produces a shock. From the drift rate of type II bursts it is possible to calculate the velocity of the CME. We present a statistical survey of type II radio burst events during 2012-2013. Using radio observations we determine speeds of CME shocks as a means of setting limits on the Alfvén speed profile of the interplanetary medium as a function of distance from the sun. In particular we use observations from the WAVES instruments onboard …

Welcome To Maxwell Montes, Nichole S. Buck

Natural Sciences Student Research Presentations

This poster poses Venus as a travel destination through a fictional travel agency, Venusian Journeys, and provides facts about the planet, the continent Ishtar Terra and its highest point, Maxwell Montes. This is a project for the Natural Sciences Poster Session at Parkland College.

Proceedings Of The First International Conference On Superluminal Physics & Instantaneous Physics As New Fields Of Research, Florentin Smarandache

Branch Mathematics and Statistics Faculty and Staff Publications

In a similar way as passing from Euclidean Geometry to Non-Euclidean Geometry, we can pass from Subluminal Physics to Superluminal Physics, and further to Instantaneous Physics (instantaneous traveling). In the lights of two consecutive successful CERN experiments with superluminal particles in the fall of 2011, we believe these two new fields of research should begin developing. A physical law has a form in Newtonian physics, another form in the Relativity Theory, and different form at Superluminal theory, or at Instantaneous (infinite) speeds – according to the S-Denying Theory spectrum. First, we extend physical laws and formulas to superluminal traveling and …

Modeling Tidally Driven Coulomb Failure At Strike-Slip Linea On Europa, Marissa Elizabeth Cameron

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The surface of Europa is crosscut by a dense network of fractures and there are many candidate faults for studying past tectonic activity. To better understand the role of tidal stress sources and implications for faulting on Europa, we investigate the relationship between shear and normal stresses at four fault zones: Agenor Linea, Rhadamanthys Linea, Conamara Chaos (Agave/Asterius Linea), and Astypalaea Linea, offering a unique comparison of geological activity of fractures residing in geographically diverse locations of Europa. Assuming tidal diurnal and non-synchronous rotation (NSR) stresses are the primary mechanisms for strike-slip tectonism, here we investigate the mechanics of Coulomb …

Bacterially-Mediated Formation Of Rock Coatings In Kärkevagge, Swedish Lapland: A Mineralogical And Micro-Environmental Analog For Mars, Cassandra L. Marnocha

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The search for past or present life on Mars is, for now, limited to surface environments. An often neglected surface environment that could have served as an abode for life and could presently preserve evidence of that life is that of rock coatings. Rock coatings are mineral accretions on rock surfaces. On Earth, they are widespread and occur with considerable chemical diversity. There is growing evidence for a biotic role in their formation on Earth, particularly with respect to rock varnish. As a result, rock varnish has become a target of astrobiological interest on Mars, where varnish-like coatings have been …

Infrared Spectra Analysis Of Thermally Altered Iron Phyllosilicates And The Implications For Mars, William Thomas Bryan

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study looks at two iron-rich phyllosilicates, which may be present on Mars. The minerals, greenalite and hisingerite, are rich in iron-II and iron-III, respectively. Small samples (~0.40 grams) of each mineral were crushed and heated in a Lindberg Tube Oven for approximately twenty-four hours at temperatures selected to mimic lava flows and impact events. Following heating, each sample was placed in a Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) spectrometer to collect the near- and mid-infrared spectra. The spectra allowed for these terrestrial analogs to be analyzed with regards to how their structure breaks down with increasing temperature. The samples' colors were …

Using Open Datasets And Simulations In Laboratories, Jim Crumley

Physics Faculty Publications

While advances in instrumentation physics have made many areas more accessible to undergraduate physics laboratories, other areas are still beyond reach. Open data sets and simulations can open up some other frontiers of physics, such as Space Physics and Astronomy. In this talk, I will give an overview of some resources for open data and simulations, and then describe my experiences using these tools in both introductory and advanced labs in our curriculum.

Current-Sheet-Like Structures In Solar Winds And Their Effects On The Solar Wind Mhd Turbulence, Junxiang Hu, Allison Bratcher

Von Braun Symposium Student Posters

No abstract provided.