Secular dynamics of an exterior test particle: the inverse Kozai and other eccentricity-inclination resonances

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vinson, Benjamin R.; Chiang, Eugene

2018-03-01

The behaviour of an interior test particle in the secular three-body problem has been studied extensively. A well-known feature is the Lidov-Kozai resonance in which the test particle's argument of periastron librates about ±90° and large oscillations in eccentricity and inclination are possible. Less explored is the inverse problem: the dynamics of an exterior test particle and an interior perturber. We survey numerically the inverse secular problem, expanding the potential to hexadecapolar order and correcting an error in the published expansion. Four secular resonances are uncovered that persist in full N-body treatments (in what follows, ϖ and Ω are the longitudes of periapse and of ascending node, ω is the argument of periapse, and subscripts 1 and 2 refer to the inner perturber and the outer test particle): (i) an orbit-flipping quadrupole resonance requiring a non-zero perturber eccentricity e1, in which Ω2 - ϖ1 librates about ±90°; (ii) a hexadecapolar resonance (the `inverse Kozai' resonance) for perturbers that are circular or nearly so and inclined by I ≃ 63°/117°, in which ω2 librates about ±90° and which can vary the particle eccentricity by Δe2 ≃ 0.2 and lead to orbit crossing; (iii) an octopole `apse-aligned' resonance at I ≃ 46°/107° wherein ϖ2 - ϖ1 librates about 0° and Δe2 grows with e1; and (iv) an octopole resonance at I ≃ 73°/134° wherein ϖ2 + ϖ1 - 2Ω2 librates about 0° and Δe2 can be as large as 0.3 for small but non-zero e1. Qualitatively, the more eccentric the perturber, the more the particle's eccentricity and inclination vary; also, more polar orbits are more chaotic. Our solutions to the inverse problem have potential application to the Kuiper belt and debris discs, circumbinary planets, and hierarchical stellar systems.

A qualitative study of the complete set of solutions of the differential equation of motion of a test particle in the equatorial plane of the Kerr gravitational field

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Montgomery, H. E.; Chan, F. K.

1973-01-01

A study is made of the mathematical solution of the differential equation of motion of a test particle in the equatorial plane of the Kerr gravitational field, using S (Schwarzschild-like) coordinates. A qualitative solution of this equation leads to the conclusion that there can only be 25 different types of orbits. For each value of a, the results are presented in a master diagram for which h and e are the parameters. A master diagram divides the h, e parameter space into regions such that at each point within one of these regions the types of admissible orbits are qualitatively the same. A pictorial representation of the physical orbits in the r, phi plane is also given.

Orbital dynamics in the post-Newtonian planar circular restricted Sun-Jupiter system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zotos, Euaggelos E.; Dubeibe, F. L.

The theory of the post-Newtonian (PN) planar circular restricted three-body problem is used for numerically investigating the orbital dynamics of a test particle (e.g. a comet, asteroid, meteor or spacecraft) in the planar Sun-Jupiter system with a scattering region around Jupiter. For determining the orbital properties of the test particle, we classify large sets of initial conditions of orbits for several values of the Jacobi constant in all possible Hill region configurations. The initial conditions are classified into three main categories: (i) bounded, (ii) escaping and (iii) collisional. Using the smaller alignment index (SALI) chaos indicator, we further classify bounded orbits into regular, sticky or chaotic. In order to get a spherical view of the dynamics of the system, the grids of the initial conditions of the orbits are defined on different types of two-dimensional planes. We locate the different types of basins and we also relate them with the corresponding spatial distributions of the escape and collision time. Our thorough analysis exposes the high complexity of the orbital dynamics and exhibits an appreciable difference between the final states of the orbits in the classical and PN approaches. Furthermore, our numerical results reveal a strong dependence of the properties of the considered basins with the Jacobi constant, along with a remarkable presence of fractal basin boundaries. Our outcomes are compared with the earlier ones regarding other planetary systems.

Effects of solar radiation on the orbits of small particles

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lyttleton, R. A.

1976-01-01

A modification of the Robertson (1937) equations of particle motion in the presence of solar radiation is developed which allows for partial reflection of sunlight as a result of rapid and varying particle rotations caused by interaction with the solar wind. The coefficients and forces in earlier forms of the equations are compared with those in the present equations, and secular rates of change of particle orbital elements are determined. Orbital dimensions are calculated in terms of time, probable sizes and densities of meteoric and cometary particles are estimated, and times of infall to the sun are computed for a particle moving in an almost circular orbit and a particle moving in an elliptical orbit of high eccentricity. Changes in orbital elements are also determined for particles from a long-period sun-grazing comet. The results show that the time of infall to the sun from a highly eccentric orbit is substantially shorter than from a circular orbit with a radius equal to the mean distance in the eccentric orbit. The possibility is considered that the free orbital kinetic energy of particles drawn into the sun may be the energy source for the solar corona.

Description of the plasma diagnostics package (PDP) for the OSS-1 Shuttle mission and JSC plasma chamber test in conjunction with the fast pulse electron gun (FPEG)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shawhan, S. D.

1982-01-01

The objectives, equipment, and techniques for the plasma diagnostics package (PDP) carried by the OSS-1 instrument payload of the STS-4 and scheduled for the Spacelab-2 mission are described. The goals of the first flight were to examine the Orbiter-magnetoplasma interactions by measuring the electric and magnetic field strengths, the ionized particle wakes, and the generated waves. The RMS was employed to lift the unit out of the bay in order to allow characterization of the fields, EM interference, and plasma contamination within 15 m of the Orbiter. The PDP will also be used to examine plasma depletion, chemical reaction rates, waves, and energized plasma produced by firing of the Orbiter thrusters. Operation of the PDP was carried out in the NASA Space Environment Simulation Laboratory test chamber, where the PDP was used to assay the fields, fluxes, wave amplitudes, and particle energy spectra. The PDP instrumentation is also capable of detecting thermal ions, thermal electrons suprathermal particles, VHF/UHF EMI levels, and the S-band field strength.

Determine ISS Soyuz Orbital Module Ballistic Limits for Steel Projectiles Hypervelocity Impact Testing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lyons, Frankel

2013-01-01

A new orbital debris environment model (ORDEM 3.0) defines the density distribution of the debris environment in terms of the fraction of debris that are low-density (plastic), medium-density (aluminum) or high-density (steel) particles. This hypervelocity impact (HVI) program focused on assessing ballistic limits (BLs) for steel projectiles impacting the enhanced Soyuz Orbital Module (OM) micrometeoroid and orbital debris (MMOD) shield configuration. The ballistic limit was defined as the projectile size on the threshold of failure of the OM pressure shell as a function of impact speeds and angle. The enhanced OM shield configuration was first introduced with Soyuz 30S (launched in May 2012) to improve the MMOD protection of Soyuz vehicles docked to the International Space Station (ISS). This test program provides HVI data on U.S. materials similar in composition and density to the Russian materials for the enhanced Soyuz OM shield configuration of the vehicle. Data from this test program was used to update ballistic limit equations used in Soyuz OM penetration risk assessments. The objective of this hypervelocity impact test program was to determine the ballistic limit particle size for 440C stainless steel spherical projectiles on the Soyuz OM shielding at several impact conditions (velocity and angle combinations). This test report was prepared by NASA-JSC/ HVIT, upon completion of tests.

The orbit's evolution of particles ejected from the surface of Phobos

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mineeva, Svetlana; Lupovka, Valery

2016-04-01

1. Introduction It is known that all giant planets have ring systems. Generally there are faint rings, such as "gossamer rings" of Jupiter. One of the basic theories of faint's origin of rings is their formation from the dust ejected in collisions of meteorite material with the natural satellites. Thus, a question of possible existence of Mars's dust rings arises. Mars has two natural satellites, which are subjected to bombardment. Evidences of this are impact craters of different sizes that cover the surface of both satellites. 2. Methods To test the theory, a calculation of the movement of simulated particles, which could be ejected from the surface of Phobos by meteorite impact, was made. The initial coordinates of 650 particles on Phobos surface were simulated using regular grid 10° × 10°. Uniform distribution of the velocity was set to the absolute value in the range of 0.5 km/s to 3 km/sec; direction of the velocity vector was assigned randomly. In this study effect of the gravitational attraction of the Sun, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Phobos and Deimos was taken into account as an attraction of the central mass. Using software package for orbital dynamic MERCURY6 [1] - an integration of the equations of motion of particles was performed using Everhart method with a Radau spacing of the 15th order [2]. 3. Results Motion of 650 particles was considered at the time interval of 10 000 years. As a result of calculation: 202 of the particles (31.1%) returned to Phobos; 132 of the particles (20.3%) fell to Mars; 173 particles (26.6%) had a hyperbolic orbit; 143 particles rotated on their orbits around Mars, and they represent 22.0% of the total number of simulated particles. The orbits of the particles are elongated: eccentricity is within the range from 0.1 to 0.95; pericentric distance varies from 3 500 km to 48 100 km; respectively apocenteric distance is from 9000 to 421 400 km. In the space, orbits are inclined to the ecliptic from 1 to 73 degrees, so trajectories of the particles can form a kind of toroidal structure around Mars. 4. Conclusions As conditions which previously discussed, a cluster of ejected particles creates a dust torus around Mars, resistant to disturbances for 10 thousand years. According to statistics, nearly a quarter of the ejected particles stay on orbit around Mars. However, the formation of a dense ring, visible using by any optics, raises doubts. Orbits of particles take a variety of configurations. So, we cannot yet specify the location of area with increased density of particles. Acknowledgments: This work was supported by the Russian Science Foundation under project 14-22-00197. References: 1. http://www.arm.ac.uk/~jec/home.html 2. Chambers J. E. «Manual for the MERCURY integrator», 2001.

Factorization and resummation: A new paradigm to improve gravitational wave amplitudes. II. The higher multipolar modes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Messina, Francesco; Maldarella, Alberto; Nagar, Alessandro

2018-04-01

The factorization and resummation approach of Nagar and Shah [Phys. Rev. D 94, 104017 (2016), 10.1103/PhysRevD.94.104017], designed to improve the strong-field behavior of the post-Newtonian (PN) residual waveform amplitudes fℓm's entering the effective-one-body, circularized, gravitational waveform for spinning coalescing binaries, is improved and generalized here to all multipoles up to ℓ=6 . For a test particle orbiting a Kerr black hole, each multipolar amplitude is truncated at relative 6 PN order, both for the orbital (nonspinning) and spin factors. By taking a certain Padé approximant (typically the P24 one) of the orbital factor in conjunction with the inverse Taylor (iResum) representation of the spin factor, it is possible to push the analytical/numerical agreement of the energy flux at the level of 5% at the last-stable orbit for a quasimaximally spinning black hole with dimensionless spin parameter +0.99 . When the procedure is generalized to comparable-mass binaries, each orbital factor is kept at relative 3+3 PN order; i.e., the globally 3 PN-accurate comparable-mass terms are hybridized with higher-PN test-particle terms up to 6 PN relative order in each mode. The same Padé resummation is used for continuity. By contrast, the spin factor is only kept at the highest comparable-mass PN order currently available. We illustrate that the consistency between different truncations in the spin content of the waveform amplitudes is more marked in the resummed case than when using the standard Taylor-expanded form of Pan et al. [Phys. Rev. D 83, 064003 (2011), 10.1103/PhysRevD.83.064003]. We finally introduce a method to consistently hybridize comparable-mass and test-particle information also in the presence of spin (including the spin of the particle), discussing it explicitly for the ℓ=m =2 spin-orbit and spin-square terms. The improved, factorized and resummed, multipolar waveform amplitudes presented here are expected to set a new standard for effective one body-based gravitational waveform models.

Collisions near Kerr black holes: lower limit of energy between orbiting and incoming particles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rutkowski, Mieszko

2017-01-01

In our paper we investigate the lower limit of collisional energy of test particles near the Kerr black hole. In particular we examine the minimal Lorentz factor between the freely falling particles and the particles orbiting around a black hole. We consider collisions on the innermost stable circular orbit and examine near-extreme case, where collisions take place near an event horizon. By fine-tuning the particles' angular momentum, the Lorentz factor of the collision can always be minimized to a value dependent on the black hole's spin. We identified that this minimal value is always less than 2√{2}-1/√{3} and more than √{12}-1/√{6} (the limits are the values for an extreme Kerr and Schwarzschild, respectively). It implies that this kind of collisions of compact objects are expected to be highly energetic near supermassive black holes. In addition, we show that an interaction between black hole's and particle's spins has an influence on minimal Lorentz factor. This contribution is nonnegligible for near-extreme black holes. We also discuss the relation between our results and sci-fi movie Interstellar.

Corona And Ultraviolet Equipment For Testing Materials

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Laue, Eric G.

1993-01-01

Two assemblies of laboratory equipment developed for use in testing abilities of polymers, paints, and other materials to withstand ultraviolet radiation and charged particles. One is vacuum ultraviolet source built around commercial deuterium lamp. Other exposes specimen in partial vacuum to both ultraviolet radiation and brush corona discharge. Either or both assemblies used separately or together to simulate approximately combination of solar radiation and charged particles encountered by materials aboard spacecraft in orbit around Earth. Also used to provide rigorous environmental tests of materials exposed to artificial ultraviolet radiation and charged particles in industrial and scientific settings or to natural ultraviolet radiation and charged particles aboard aircraft at high altitudes.

Energetic Particles Dynamics in Mercury's Magnetosphere

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Walsh, Brian M.; Ryou, A.S.; Sibeck, D. G.; Alexeev, I. I.

2013-01-01

We investigate the drift paths of energetic particles in Mercury's magnetosphere by tracing their motion through a model magnetic field. Test particle simulations solving the full Lorentz force show a quasi-trapped energetic particle population that gradient and curvature drift around the planet via "Shabansky" orbits, passing though high latitudes in the compressed dayside by equatorial latitudes on the nightside. Due to their large gyroradii, energetic H+ and Na+ ions will typically collide with the planet or the magnetopause and will not be able to complete a full drift orbit. These simulations provide direct comparison for recent spacecraft measurements from MESSENGER. Mercury's offset dipole results in an asymmetric loss cone and therefore an asymmetry in particle precipitation with more particles precipitating in the southern hemisphere. Since the planet lacks an atmosphere, precipitating particles will collide directly with the surface of the planet. The incident charged particles can kick up neutrals from the surface and have implications for the formation of the exosphere and weathering of the surface

Test-particle dynamics in general spherically symmetric black hole spacetimes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

De Laurentis, Mariafelicia; Younsi, Ziri; Porth, Oliver; Mizuno, Yosuke; Rezzolla, Luciano

2018-05-01

To date, the most precise tests of general relativity have been achieved through pulsar timing, albeit in the weak-field regime. Since pulsars are some of the most precise and stable "clocks" in the Universe, present observational efforts are focused on detecting pulsars in the vicinity of supermassive black holes (most notably in the Galactic Centre), enabling pulsar timing to be used as an extremely precise probe of strong-field gravity. In this paper, a mathematical framework to describe test-particle dynamics in general black-hole spacetimes is presented and subsequently used to study a binary system comprising a pulsar orbiting a black hole. In particular, taking into account the parameterization of a general spherically symmetric black-hole metric, general analytic expressions for both the advance of the periastron and for the orbital period of a massive test particle are derived. Furthermore, these expressions are applied to four representative cases of solutions arising in both general relativity and in alternative theories of gravity. Finally, this framework is applied to the Galactic center S -stars and four distinct pulsar toy models. It is shown that by adopting a fully general-relativistic description of test-particle motion which is independent of any particular theory of gravity, observations of pulsars can help impose better constraints on alternative theories of gravity than is presently possible.

A fully-neoclassical finite-orbit-width version of the CQL3D Fokker–Planck code

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Petrov, Yu V.; Harvey, R. W.

The time-dependent bounce-averaged CQL3D flux-conservative finite-difference Fokker–Planck equation (FPE) solver has been upgraded to include finite-orbit-width (FOW) capabilities which are necessary for an accurate description of neoclassical transport, losses to the walls, and transfer of particles, momentum, and heat to the scrape-off layer. The FOW modifications are implemented in the formulation of the neutral beam source, collision operator, RF quasilinear diffusion operator, and in synthetic particle diagnostics. The collisional neoclassical radial transport appears naturally in the FOW version due to the orbit-averaging of local collision coefficients coupled with transformation coefficients from local (R, Z) coordinates along each guiding-center orbit tomore » the corresponding midplane computational coordinates, where the FPE is solved. In a similar way, the local quasilinear RF diffusion terms give rise to additional radial transport of orbits. We note that the neoclassical results are obtained for ‘full’ orbits, not dependent on a common small orbit-width approximation. Results of validation tests for the FOW version are also presented.« less

A fully-neoclassical finite-orbit-width version of the CQL3D Fokker–Planck code

DOE PAGES

Petrov, Yu V.; Harvey, R. W.

2016-09-08

The time-dependent bounce-averaged CQL3D flux-conservative finite-difference Fokker–Planck equation (FPE) solver has been upgraded to include finite-orbit-width (FOW) capabilities which are necessary for an accurate description of neoclassical transport, losses to the walls, and transfer of particles, momentum, and heat to the scrape-off layer. The FOW modifications are implemented in the formulation of the neutral beam source, collision operator, RF quasilinear diffusion operator, and in synthetic particle diagnostics. The collisional neoclassical radial transport appears naturally in the FOW version due to the orbit-averaging of local collision coefficients coupled with transformation coefficients from local (R, Z) coordinates along each guiding-center orbit tomore » the corresponding midplane computational coordinates, where the FPE is solved. In a similar way, the local quasilinear RF diffusion terms give rise to additional radial transport of orbits. We note that the neoclassical results are obtained for ‘full’ orbits, not dependent on a common small orbit-width approximation. Results of validation tests for the FOW version are also presented.« less

Dissipative particle dynamics (DPD) simulations with fragment molecular orbital (FMO) based effective parameters for 1-Palmitoyl-2-oleoyl phosphatidyl choline (POPC) membrane

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Doi, Hideo; Okuwaki, Koji; Mochizuki, Yuji; Ozawa, Taku; Yasuoka, Kenji

2017-09-01

In dissipative particle dynamics (DPD) simulations, it is necessary to use the so-called χ parameter set that express the effective interactions between particles. Recently, we have developed a new scheme to evaluate the χ parameters in a non-empirical way through a series of fragment molecular orbital (FMO) calculations. As a challenging test, we have performed the DPD simulations using the FMO-based χ parameters for a mixture of 1-Palmitoyl-2-oleoyl phosphatidyl choline (POPC) and water. The structures of both membrane and vesicle were formed successfully. The calculated structural parameters of membrane were in good agreement with experimental results.

Collision Models for Particle Orbit Code on SSX

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fisher, M. W.; Dandurand, D.; Gray, T.; Brown, M. R.; Lukin, V. S.

2011-10-01

Coulomb collision models are being developed and incorporated into the Hamiltonian particle pushing code (PPC) for applications to the Swarthmore Spheromak eXperiment (SSX). A Monte Carlo model based on that of Takizuka and Abe [JCP 25, 205 (1977)] performs binary collisions between test particles and thermal plasma field particles randomly drawn from a stationary Maxwellian distribution. A field-based electrostatic fluctuation model scatters particles from a spatially uniform random distribution of positive and negative spherical potentials generated throughout the plasma volume. The number, radii, and amplitude of these potentials are chosen to mimic the correct particle diffusion statistics without the use of random particle draws or collision frequencies. An electromagnetic fluctuating field model will be presented, if available. These numerical collision models will be benchmarked against known analytical solutions, including beam diffusion rates and Spitzer resistivity, as well as each other. The resulting collisional particle orbit models will be used to simulate particle collection with electrostatic probes in the SSX wind tunnel, as well as particle confinement in typical SSX fields. This work has been supported by US DOE, NSF and ONR.

An analysis of the orbital distribution of solid rocket motor slag

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Horstman, Matthew F.; Mulrooney, Mark

2009-01-01

The contribution by solid rocket motors (SRMs) to the orbital debris environment is potentially significant and insufficiently studied. Design and combustion processes can lead to the emission of enough by-products to warrant assessment of their contribution to orbital debris. These particles are formed during SRM tail-off, or burn termination, by the rapid solidification of molten Al2O3 slag accumulated during the burn. The propensity of SRMs to generate particles larger than 100μm raises concerns regarding the debris environment. Sizes as large as 1 cm have been witnessed in ground tests, and comparable sizes have been estimated via observations of sub-orbital tail-off events. Utilizing previous research we have developed more sophisticated size distributions and modeled the time evolution of resultant orbital populations using a historical database of SRM launches, propellant, and likely location and time of tail-off. This analysis indicates that SRM ejecta is a significant component of the debris environment.

Particle Orbit Analysis in the Finite Beta Plasma of the Large Helical Device using Real Coordinates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Seki, Ryousuke; Matsumoto, Yutaka; Suzuki, Yasuhiro; Watanabe, Kiyomasa; Itagaki, Masafumi

High-energy particles in a finite beta plasma of the Large Helical Device (LHD) are numerically traced in a real coordinate system. We investigate particle orbits by changing the beta value and/or the magnetic field strength. No significant difference is found in the particle orbit classifications between the vacuum magnetic field and the finite beta plasma cases. The deviation of a banana orbit from the flux surfaces strongly depends on the beta value, although the deviation of the orbit of a passing particle is independent of the beta value. In addition, the deviation of the orbit of the passing particle, rather than that of the banana-orbit particles, depends on the magnetic field strength. We also examine the effect of re-entering particles, which repeatedly pass in and out of the last closed flux surface, in the finite beta plasma of the LHD. It is found that the number of re-entering particles in the finite beta plasma is larger than that in the vacuum magnetic field. As a result, the role of reentering particles in the finite beta plasma of the LHD is more important than that in the vacuum magnetic field, and the effect of the charge-exchange reaction on particle confinement in the finite beta plasma is large.

Meteoroid/Orbital Debris Shield Engineering Development Practice and Procedure

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zwitter, James G.; Adams, Marc A.

2011-01-01

A document describes a series of models created for the determination of the probability of survival of critical spacecraft components from particle strike damage caused by hypervelocity impact of meteoroids and/or orbital debris. These models were integrated with both shield design and hypervelocity impact testing to develop adequate protection of said components to meet mission survivability requirements.

Electroexcitation of Low-Lying Particle-Hole RPA States of 16O with WBP Interaction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ali, H. Taqi; R. A., Radhi; Adil, M. Hussein

2014-12-01

The nuclear structure of 16O is studied in the framework of the particle-hole random phase approximation (ph RPA). The Hamiltonian is diagonalized within a model space with particle orbits {1d5/2,1d3/2, and 2s1/2} and the hole orbits {1p3/2 and 1p1/2} using Warburton and Brown interaction WBP. The ph RPA calculations are tested, by comparing the electron scattering form factors with the available experimental data. The results of electron scattering form factors and reduced transition strength for the states: 1-, T = 0 (7.116 MeV); 2-, T = 1 (12.968 MeV); 2-, T = 1 (20.412 MeV); and 3-, T = 0 (6.129 MeV) are interpreted in terms of the harmonic-oscillator (HO) wave functions of size parameter b. The occupation probabilities of the single particle and hole orbits are calculated. The spurious states are removed by adding the center of mass (CM) correction to the nuclear Hamiltonian. A comparison with the available experiments data is presented.

Particle orbits in model current sheet with a nonzero B(y) component

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zhu, Zhongwei; Parks, George

1993-01-01

The problem of charged particle motions in magnetotaillike model current sheets is revisited with the inclusion of a nonzero dawn-dusk magnetic field component. Three cases are examined considering both trapped and escaped orbits. The results show that a nonzero B(y) component disturbs the particle orbits by destroying orbit symmetry in the phase space about the z = 0 plane. It also changes the bounce frequency of particle orbits. The presence of B(y) thus modifies the Speiser orbits, particularly near the ejection phase. The process of ejected particle such as ejection direction, ejection velocity, and pitch angles are shown to depend on the sign of the charge.

Orbit classification in an equal-mass non-spinning binary black hole pseudo-Newtonian system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zotos, Euaggelos E.; Dubeibe, Fredy L.; González, Guillermo A.

2018-07-01

The dynamics of a test particle in a non-spinning binary black hole system of equal masses is numerically investigated. The binary system is modelled in the context of the pseudo-Newtonian circular restricted three-body problem, such that the primaries are separated by a fixed distance and move in a circular orbit around each other. In particular, the Paczyński-Wiita potential is used for describing the gravitational field of the two non-Newtonian primaries. The orbital properties of the test particle are determined through the classification of the initial conditions of the orbits, using several values of the Jacobi constant, in the Hill's regions of possible motion. The initial conditions are classified into three main categories: (i) bounded, (ii) escaping, and (iii) displaying close encounters. Using the smaller alignment index chaos indicator, we further classify bounded orbits into regular, sticky, or chaotic. To gain a complete view of the dynamics of the system, we define grids of initial conditions on different types of two-dimensional planes. The orbital structure of the configuration plane, along with the corresponding distributions of the escape and collision/close encounter times, allow us to observe the transition from the classical Newtonian to the pseudo-Newtonian regime. Our numerical results reveal a strong dependence of the properties of the considered basins with the Jacobi constant as well as with the Schwarzschild radius of the black holes.

Circular geodesics of naked singularities in the Kehagias-Sfetsos metric of Hořava's gravity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vieira, Ronaldo S. S.; Schee, Jan; Kluźniak, Włodek; Stuchlík, Zdeněk; Abramowicz, Marek

2014-07-01

We discuss photon and test-particle orbits in the Kehagias-Sfetsos (KS) metric of Hořava's gravity. For any value of the Hořava parameter ω, there are values of the gravitational mass M for which the metric describes a naked singularity, and this is always accompanied by a vacuum "antigravity sphere" on whose surface a test particle can remain at rest (in a zero angular momentum geodesic), and inside which no circular geodesics exist. The observational appearance of an accreting KS naked singularity in a binary system would be that of a quasistatic spherical fluid shell surrounded by an accretion disk, whose properties depend on the value of M, but are always very different from accretion disks familiar from the Kerr-metric solutions. The properties of the corresponding circular orbits are qualitatively similar to those of the Reissner-Nordström naked singularities. When event horizons are present, the orbits outside the Kehagias-Sfetsos black hole are qualitatively similar to those of the Schwarzschild metric.

Motion and collision of particles in a rotating linear dilaton black hole

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

González, P. A.; Olivares, Marco; Papantonopoulos, Eleftherios; Vásquez, Yerko

2018-03-01

We study the motion of particles in the background of a four-dimensional linear dilaton black hole. We solve analytically the equations of motion of the test particles, and we describe their motion. We show that the dilaton black hole acts as a particle accelerator by analyzing the energy in the center of mass frame of two colliding particles in the vicinity of its horizon. In particular, we find that there is a critical value of the angular momentum, which depends on the string coupling, and a particle with this critical angular momentum can reach the inner horizon with an arbitrarily high c.m. energy. This is known as the Bañados, Silk, and West process. We also show that the motion and collisions of particles have behavior similar to the three-dimensional Bañados-Teitelboim-Zanelli black hole. In fact, the photons can plunge into the horizon or escape to infinity, and they cannot be deflected, while for massive particles there are no confined orbits of the first kind, like planetary or circular orbits.

Orion Exploration Flight Test Post-Flight Inspection and Analysis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Miller, J. E.; Berger, E. L.; Bohl, W. E.; Christiansen, E. L.; Davis, B. A.; Deighton, K. D.; Enriquez, P. A.; Garcia, M. A.; Hyde, J. L.; Oliveras, O. M.

2017-01-01

The principal mechanism for developing orbital debris environment models, is to make observations of larger pieces of debris in the range of several centimeters and greater using radar and optical techniques. For particles that are smaller than this threshold, breakup and migration models of particles to returned surfaces in lower orbit are relied upon to quantify the flux. This reliance on models to derive spatial densities of particles that are of critical importance to spacecraft make the unique nature of the EFT-1's return surface a valuable metric. To this end detailed post-flight inspections have been performed of the returned EFT-1 backshell, and the inspections identified six candidate impact sites that were not present during the pre-flight inspections. This paper describes the post-flight analysis efforts to characterize the EFT-1 mission craters. This effort included ground based testing to understand small particle impact craters in the thermal protection material, the pre- and post-flight inspection, the crater analysis using optical, X-ray computed tomography (CT) and scanning electron microscope (SEM) techniques, and numerical simulations.

Numerical Researches on Dynamical Systems with Relativistic Spin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Han, W. B.

2010-04-01

It is well known that spinning compact binaries are one of the most important research objects in the universe. Especially, EMRIs (extreme mass ratio inspirals) involving stellar compact objects which orbit massive black holes, are considered to be primary sources of gravitational radiation (GW) which could be detected by the space-based interferometer LISA. GW signals from EMRIs can be used to test general relativity, measure the masses and spins of central black holes and study essential physics near horizons. Compared with the situation without spin, the complexity of extreme objects, most of which rotate very fast, is much higher. So the dynamics of EMRI systems are numerically and analytically studied. We focus on how the spin effects on the dynamics of these systems and the produced GW radiations. Firstly, an ideal model of spinning test particles around Kerr black hole is considered. For equatorial orbits, we present the correct expression of effective potential and analyze the stability of circular orbits. Especially, the gravitational binding energy and frame-dragging effect of extreme Kerr black hole are much bigger than those without spin. For general orbits, spin can monotonically enlarge orbital inclination and destroy the symmetry of orbits about equatorial plane. It is the most important that extreme spin can produce orbital chaos. By carefully investigating the relations between chaos and orbital parameters, we point out that chaos usually appears for orbits with small pericenter, big eccentricity and orbital inclination. It is emphasized that Poincaré section method is invalid to detect the chaos of spinning particles, and the way of systems toward chaos is the period-doubling bifurcation. Furthermore, we study how spins effect on GW radiations from spinning test particles orbiting Kerr black holes. It is found that spins can increase orbit eccentricity and then make h+ component be detected more easily. But for h× component, because spins change orbital inclination in a complicated way, it is more difficult to build GW signal templates. Secondly, based on the scalar gravity theory, a numerical relativistic model of EMRIs is constructed to consider the self-gravity and radiation reaction of low-mass objects. Finally, we develop a new method with multiple steps for Hamilton systems to meet the needs of numerical researches. This method can effectively maintain each conserved quantity of the separable Hamilton system. In addition, for constrained system with a few first integrals, we present a new numerical stabilization method named as adjustment-stabilization method, which can maintain all known conserved quantities in a given dynamical system and greatly improve the numerical accuracy. Our new method is the most complete stabilization method up to now.

The bar-halo interaction - I. From fundamental dynamics to revised N-body requirements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Weinberg, Martin D.; Katz, Neal

2007-02-01

A galaxy remains near equilibrium for most of its history. Only through resonances can non-axisymmetric features, such as spiral arms and bars, exert torques over large scales and change the overall structure of the galaxy. In this paper, we describe the resonant interaction mechanism in detail, derive explicit criteria for the particle number required to simulate these dynamical processes accurately using N-body simulations, and illustrate them with numerical experiments. To do this, we perform a direct numerical solution of perturbation theory, in short, by solving for each orbit in an ensemble and make detailed comparisons with N-body simulations. The criteria include: sufficient particle coverage in phase space near the resonance and enough particles to minimize gravitational potential fluctuations that will change the dynamics of the resonant encounter. These criteria are general in concept and can be applied to any dynamical interaction. We use the bar-halo interaction as our primary example owing to its technical simplicity and astronomical ubiquity. Some of our more surprising findings are as follows. First, the inner Lindblad like resonance, responsible for coupling the bar to the central halo cusp, requires more than equal-mass particles within the virial radius or inside the bar radius for a Milky Way like bar in a Navarro, Frenk & White profile. Secondly, orbits that linger near the resonance receive more angular momentum than orbits that move through the resonance quickly. Small-scale fluctuations present in state-of-the-art particle-particle simulations can knock orbits out of resonance, preventing them from lingering and, thereby, decrease the torque per orbit. This can be offset by the larger number of orbits affected by the resonance due to the diffusion. However, noise from orbiting substructure remains at least an order of magnitude too small to be of consequence. Applied to N-body simulations, the required particle numbers are sufficiently high for scenarios of interest that apparent convergence in particle number is misleading: the convergence with N may still be in the noise-dominated regime. State-of-the-art simulations are not adequate to follow all aspects of secular evolution driven by the bar-halo interaction. It is not possible to derive particle number requirements that apply to all situations, for example, more subtle interactions may be even more difficult to simulate. Therefore, we present a procedure to test the requirements for individual N-body codes to the actual problem of interest.

Potential generated inner and outside a circular wire in its plane. Application to Saturn's ring

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Najid, N.-E.; Zegoumou, M.; El Ourabi, E. H.

2012-12-01

In this article we derive the development of the potential generated by a homogeneous wire bent into a circular shape (Najid, Jammari & Zegoumou, 2005). We develop the potential as a power series of the distance from an appropriate origin to the test particle. The potential is expressed as a function of Legendre polynomials. We study both, the case where the test particle is inside or outside the circular wire. By Lagrangian formulation, we establish the differential equation of motion. The numerical resolution leads us to different orbits. Outside the wire we get a case where the test particle is confined between a maxima and minima of the radial position; while inner the wire the test particle is subjected to an escape case depending on the time of integration.

Orbital evolution of some Centaurs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kovalenko, Nataliya; Babenko, Yuri; Churyumov, Klim

2002-11-01

In this work we investigated the dynamical evolution of Centaurs objects 2060 (Chiron), 5145 (Pholus), 7066 (Nessus), 8405 (Asbolus), 10199 (Chariklo), 10370 (Hylonome), and Scattered-Disk object 15874. We have carried out orbital integration of test particles with initial orbits similar to those of these objects. Calculations were produced for +/-600kyr-10Myr starting at epoch and using the implicit single sequence Everhart methods. 12 variational orbits for each of selected Centaurs also have been numerically integrated for +/-200 kyr toward the past and the future. The most probable paths were traced up to +/-1 Myr. The character of orbital elements changes and peculiarities of close approaches to giant planets are discussed.

Atomic Oxygen Exposure of Polyimide Foam for International Space Station Solar Array Wing Blanket Box

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Finckenor, M. M.; Albyn, K. C.; Watts, E. W.

2006-01-01

Onorbit photos of the International Space Station (ISS) solar array blanket box foam pad assembly indicate degradation of the Kapton film covering the foam, leading to atomic oxygen (AO) exposure of the foam. The purpose of this test was to determine the magnitude of particulate generation caused by low-Earth orbital environment exposure of the foam and also by compression of the foam during solar array wing retraction. The polyimide foam used in the ISS solar array wing blanket box assembly is susceptible to significant AO erosion. The foam sample in this test lost one-third of its mass after exposure to the equivalent of 22 mo onorbit. Some particulate was generated by exposure to simulated orbital conditions and the simulated solar array retraction (compression test). However, onorbit, these particles would also be eroded by AO. The captured particles were generally <1 mm, and the particles shaken free of the sample had a maximum size of 4 mm. The foam sample maintained integrity after a compression load of 2.5 psi.

Numerical study of the current sheet and PSBL in a magnetotail model

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Doxas, I.; Horton, W.; Sandusky, K.; Tajima, T.; Steinolfson, R.

1989-01-01

The current sheet and plasma sheet boundary layer (PSBL) in a magnetotail model are discussed. A test particle code is used to study the response of ensembles of particles to a two-dimensional, time-dependent model of the geomagnetic tail, and test the proposition (Coroniti, 1985a, b; Buchner and Zelenyi, 1986; Chen and Palmadesso, 1986; Martin, 1986) that the stochasticity of the particle orbits in these fields is an important part of the physical mechanism for magnetospheric substorms. The realistic results obtained for the fluid moments of the particle distribution with this simple model, and their insensitivity to initial conditions, is consistent with this hypothesis.

Final Results of Shuttle MMOD Impact Database

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hyde, J. L.; Christiansen, E. L.; Lear, D. M.

2015-01-01

The Shuttle Hypervelocity Impact Database documents damage features on each Orbiter thought to be from micrometeoroids (MM) or orbital debris (OD). Data is divided into tables for crew module windows, payload bay door radiators and thermal protection systems along with other miscellaneous regions. The combined number of records in the database is nearly 3000. Each database record provides impact feature dimensions, location on the vehicle and relevant mission information. Additional detail on the type and size of particle that produced the damage site is provided when sampling data and definitive spectroscopic analysis results are available. Guidelines are described which were used in determining whether impact damage is from micrometeoroid or orbital debris impact based on the findings from scanning electron microscopy chemical analysis. Relationships assumed when converting from observed feature sizes in different shuttle materials to particle sizes will be presented. A small number of significant impacts on the windows, radiators and wing leading edge will be highlighted and discussed in detail, including the hypervelocity impact testing performed to estimate particle sizes that produced the damage.

Dynamics of charged particle motion in the vicinity of three dimensional magnetic null points: Energization and chaos

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gascoyne, Andrew, E-mail: a.d.gascoyne@sheffield.ac.uk

2015-03-15

Using a full orbit test particle approach, we analyse the motion of a single proton in the vicinity of magnetic null point configurations which are solutions to the kinematic, steady state, resistive magnetohydrodynamics equations. We consider two magnetic configurations, namely, the sheared and torsional spine reconnection regimes [E. R. Priest and D. I. Pontin, Phys. Plasmas 16, 122101 (2009); P. Wyper and R. Jain, Phys. Plasmas 17, 092902 (2010)]; each produce an associated electric field and thus the possibility of accelerating charged particles to high energy levels, i.e., > MeV, as observed in solar flares [R. P. Lin, Space Sci. Rev. 124,more » 233 (2006)]. The particle's energy gain is strongly dependent on the location of injection and is characterised by the angle of approach β, with optimum angle of approach β{sub opt} as the value of β which produces the maximum energy gain. We examine the topological features of each regime and analyse the effect on the energy gain of the proton. We also calculate the complete Lyapunov spectrum for the considered dynamical systems in order to correctly quantify the chaotic nature of the particle orbits. We find that the sheared model is a good candidate for the acceleration of particles, and for increased shear, we expect a larger population to be accelerated to higher energy levels. In the strong electric field regime (E{sub 0}=1500 V/m), the torsional model produces chaotic particle orbits quantified by the calculation of multiple positive Lyapunov exponents in the spectrum, whereas the sheared model produces chaotic orbits only in the neighbourhood of the null point.« less

An Analysis of the Orbital Distribution of Solid Rocket Motor Slag

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Horstman, Matthew F.; Mulrooney, Mark

2007-01-01

The contribution made by orbiting solid rocket motors (SRMs) to the orbital debris environment is both potentially significant and insufficiently studied. A combination of rocket motor design and the mechanisms of the combustion process can lead to the emission of sufficiently large and numerous by-products to warrant assessment of their contribution to the orbital debris environment. These particles are formed during SRM tail-off, or the termination of burn, by the rapid expansion, dissemination, and solidification of the molten Al2O3 slag pool accumulated during the main burn phase of SRMs utilizing immersion-type nozzles. Though the usage of SRMs is low compared to the usage of liquid fueled motors, the propensity of SRMs to generate particles in the 100 m and larger size regime has caused concern regarding their contributing to the debris environment. Particle sizes as large as 1 cm have been witnessed in ground tests conducted under vacuum conditions and comparable sizes have been estimated via ground-based telescopic and in-situ observations of sub-orbital SRM tail-off events. Using sub-orbital and post recovery observations, a simplistic number-size-velocity distribution of slag from on-orbit SRM firings was postulated. In this paper we have developed more elaborate distributions and emission scenarios and modeled the resultant orbital population and its time evolution by incorporating a historical database of SRM launches, propellant masses, and likely location and time of particulate deposition. From this analysis a more comprehensive understanding has been obtained of the role of SRM ejecta in the orbital debris environment, indicating that SRM slag is a significant component of the current and future population.

Dynamics and Distribution of Interplanetary Dust

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ipatov, S. I.; Mather, J. C.

2005-08-01

We integrated the orbital evolution of 12,000 asteroidal, cometary, and trans-Neptunian dust particles, under the gravitational influence of planets, Poynting-Robertson drag, radiation pressure, and solar wind drag (Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, v. 1017, 66-80, 2004; Advances in Space Research, in press, 2005). The orbital evolution of 30,000 Jupiter-family comets (JFCs) was also integrated (Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, v. 1017, 46-65, 2004). For asteroidal and cometary particles, the values of the ratio β between the radiation pressure force and the gravitational force varied from <0.0004 to 0.4 (for silicates, such values correspond to particle diameters between >1000 and 1 microns). The considered cometary particles started from comets 2P, 10P, and 39P. The probability of a collision of an asteroidal or cometary dust particle with the Earth during a lifetime of the particle was maximum at diameter about 100 microns; this is in accordance with cratering records. Our different studies of migration of dust particles and small bodies testify that the fraction of cometary dust particles of the overall dust population inside Saturn's orbit is considerable and can be dominant: (1) Some JFCs can reach orbits entirely located inside Jupiter's orbit and remain in such orbits for millions of years. Such former comets could disintegrate during millions of years and produce a lot of mini-comets and dust. (2) The spatial density of migrating trans-Neptunian particles near Jupiter's orbit is smaller by a factor of several than that beyond Saturn's orbit. Only a small fraction of asteroidal particles can migrate outside Jupiter's orbit. Therefore cometary dust particles are needed to explain the observed constant spatial density of dust particles at 3-18 AU from the Sun. (3) Comparison of the velocities of zodiacal dust particles obtained in our runs with the observations of velocities of these particles made by Reynolds et al. (Ap.J., 2004, v. 612, 1206-1213) shows that only asteroidal dust particles cannot explain these observations, and particles produced by high-eccentricity comets (such as Comet Encke) are needed for such explanation. Several our recent papers are presented on astro-ph.

Subdecoherence time generation and detection of orbital entanglement in quantum dots.

PubMed

Brange, F; Malkoc, O; Samuelsson, P

2015-05-01

Recent experiments have demonstrated subdecoherence time control of individual single-electron orbital qubits. Here we propose a quantum-dot-based scheme for generation and detection of pairs of orbitally entangled electrons on a time scale much shorter than the decoherence time. The electrons are entangled, via two-particle interference, and transferred to the detectors during a single cotunneling event, making the scheme insensitive to charge noise. For sufficiently long detector dot lifetimes, cross-correlation detection of the dot charges can be performed with real-time counting techniques, providing for an unambiguous short-time Bell inequality test of orbital entanglement.

Stable Orbits in the Didymos Binary Asteroid System - Useful Platforms for Exploration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Damme, Friedrich; Hussmann, Hauke; Wickhusen, Kai; Enrico, Mai; Oberst, Jürgen

2016-04-01

We have analyzed particle motion in binary asteroid systems to search for stable orbits. In particular, we studied the motion of particles near the asteroid 1996 GT (Didymos), proposed as a target for the AIDA mission. The combined gravity fields of the odd-shaped rotating objects moving about each other are complex. In addition, orbiting spacecraft or dust particles are affected by radiation pressure, possibly exceeding the faint gravitational forces. For the numerical integrations, we adopt parameters for size, shape, and rotation from telescopic observations. To simulate the effect of radiation pressure during a spacecraft mission, we apply a spacecraft wing-box shape model. Integrations were carried out beginning in near-circular orbits over 11 days, during which the motion of the particles were examined. Most orbits are unstable with particles escaping quickly or colliding with the asteroid bodies. However, with carefully chosen initial positions, we found stable motion (in the orbiting plane of the secondary) associated with the Lagrangian points (L4 and L5), in addition to horseshoe orbits, where particles move from one of the Lagrangian point to the other. Finally, we examined orbits in 1:2 resonances with the motion of the orbital period of the secondary. Stable conditions depend strongly on season caused by the inclination of the mutual orbit plane with respect to Didymos solar orbit. At larger distance from the asteroid pair, we find the well-known terminator orbits where gravitational attraction is balanced against radiation pressure. Stable orbits and long motion arcs are useful for long tracking runs by radio or Laser instruments and are well-suited for modelling of the ephemerides of the asteroid pair and gravity field mapping. Furthermore, these orbits may be useful as observing posts or as platforms for approach. These orbits may also represent traps for dust particles, an opportunity for dust collection - or possibly a hazard to spacecraft operation.

The Solar Poynting-Robertson Effect On Particles Orbiting Solar System Bodies: Circular Orbits

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rubincam, David P.

2013-01-01

The Poynting-Robertson effect from sunlight impinging directly on a particle which orbits a Solar System body (planet, asteroid, comet) is considered from the Sun's rest frame. There appear to be no significant first-order terms in V(sub b)/c for circular orbits, where V(sub b) is the body's speed in its orbit about the Sun and c is the speed of light, when the particle's orbital semimajor axis is much smaller than the body's orbital semimajor axis about the Sun as is mainly the case in the Solar System.

Orbit classification in an equal-mass non-spinning binary black hole pseudo-Newtonian system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zotos, Euaggelos E.; Dubeibe, F. L.; González, Guillermo A.

2018-04-01

The dynamics of a test particle in a non-spinning binary black hole system of equal masses is numerically investigated. The binary system is modeled in the context of the pseudo-Newtonian circular restricted three-body problem, such that the primaries are separated by a fixed distance and move in a circular orbit around each other. In particular, the Paczyński-Wiita potential is used for describing the gravitational field of the two non-Newtonian primaries. The orbital properties of the test particle are determined through the classification of the initial conditions of the orbits, using several values of the Jacobi constant, in the Hill's regions of possible motion. The initial conditions are classified into three main categories: (i) bounded, (ii) escaping and (iii) displaying close encounters. Using the smaller alignment index (SALI) chaos indicator, we further classify bounded orbits into regular, sticky or chaotic. To gain a complete view of the dynamics of the system, we define grids of initial conditions on different types of two-dimensional planes. The orbital structure of the configuration plane, along with the corresponding distributions of the escape and collision/close encounter times, allow us to observe the transition from the classical Newtonian to the pseudo-Newtonian regime. Our numerical results reveal a strong dependence of the properties of the considered basins with the Jacobi constant as well as with the Schwarzschild radius of the black holes.

Calculation of electromagnetic fields induced on a geostationary satellite by an electrostatic discharge

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Froger, E.; Marque, J. P.

The electromagnetic response of an orbiting satellite to an electrostatic discharge is compared to that of the same object subjected (in a susceptibility test) to an injection current. In the absence of actual data, the comparison was performed on the basis of two numerical simulations: one using the GEODE particle code for the orbiting case, and the other using the ALICE code for a representative injection configuration. It is found that the evolution of the electromagnetic fields is controlled in particular by the particle emission rhythm, giving rise to an ejection flux 'slit' whose rise time is about several tens of nanoseconds.

Improving The Near-Earth Meteoroid And Orbital Debris Environment Definition With LAD-C

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Liou, J.-C.; Giovane, F. J.; Corsaro, R. C.; Burchell, M. J.; Drolshagen, G.; Kawai, H.; Tabata, M.; Stansbery, E. G.; Westphal, A. J.; Yano, H.

2006-01-01

To improve the near-Earth meteoroid and orbital debris environment definition, a large area particle sensor/collector is being developed to be placed on the International Space Station (ISS). This instrument, the Large Area Debris Collector (LAD-C), will attempt to record meteoroid and orbital debris impact flux, and capture the same particles with aerogel. After at least one year of deployment, the whole system will be brought back for additional laboratory analysis of the captured meteoroids and orbital debris. This project is led by the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) while the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) Space Test Program (STP) is responsible for the integration, deployment, and retrieval of the system. Additional contributing team members of the consortium include the NASA Orbital Debris Program Office, JAXA Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS), Chiba University (Japan), ESA Space Debris Office, University of Kent (UK), and University of California at Berkeley. The deployment of LAD-C on the ISS is planned for 2008, with the system retrieval in late 2009.

The Capture of Interstellar Dust: The Pure Poynting-Robertson Case

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jackson, A. A.

2001-01-01

Ulysses and Galileo spacecraft have discovered interstellar dust particles entering the solar system. In general, particles trajectories not altered by Lorentz forces or radiation pressure should encounter the sun on open orbits. Under Newtonian forces alone these particles return to the interstellar medium. Dissipative forces, such as Poynting Robertson (PR) and corpuscular drag and non-dissipative Lorentz forces can modify open orbits to become closed. In particular, it is possible for the orbits of particles that pass close to the Sun to become closed due to PR drag. Further, solar irradiation will cause modification of the size of the dust particle by evaporation. The combination of these processes gives rise a class of capture orbits and bound orbits with evaporation. Considering only the case of pure PR drag a minimum impact parameter is derived for initial capture by Poynting-Robertson drag. Orbits in the solar radiation field are computed numerically accounting for evaporation with optical and material properties for ideal interstellar particles modeled. The properties of this kind of particle capture are discussed for the Sun but is applicable to other stars.

Effectiveness of metal matrix and ceramic matrix composites as orbital debris shield materials

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mcgill, Preston B.; Mount, Angela R.

1992-01-01

The effectiveness of two metal matrix composites and one ceramic matrix material in defeating hypervelocity impacts at about 3.8 km/s are evaluated to determine the potential of these composites as spacecraft shield materials. The metal matrix composites investigated consist of SiC particles (70 percent by volume) in an aluminum matrix and Al2O3 particles (50 percent by volume) in an Al matrix. The ceramic composite consists of ZrB2 platelets in a ZrC matrix. Both the metal matrix and ceramic matrix composites are found to perform as well or better than 6061-T6 aluminum, which is presently used in the Whipple type bumper shield of Space Station Freedom. Test results indicate that the composites tested may have applications as micrometeoroid/orbital debris shield materials.

Simulated orbits of heavy planetary ions at Mars for different IMF configurations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Curry, Shannon; Luhmann, Janet; Livi, Roberto; Hara, Takuya; Dong, Chuanfei; Ma, Yingjuan; McFadden, James; Bougher, Stephen

2014-11-01

We present simulated detections of O+, O2+ and CO2+ ions at Mars along a virtual orbit in the Mars space environment. Planetary pick-up ions are formed through the direct interaction of the solar wind with the neutral upper atmosphere, causing the newly created ions to be picked up and accelerated by the background convective electric field. Because previous missions such as Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) and Mars Express (MEX) have not been able to measure the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) components simultaneously with plasma measurements, the response of heavy planetary pick-up ions to changes in the IMF has not been well characterized. Using a steady-state multi-species MHD model to provide the background electric and magnetic fields, the Mars Test Particle (MTP) simulation can trace each of these particles along field lines in near-Mars space and construct virtual ion detections from a spacecraft orbit. Specifically, we will present energy-time spectrograms and velocity space distributions (VSDs) for a selection of orbits during different IMF configurations and solar cycle conditions. These simulated orbits have broader implications for how to measure ion escape. Using individual particle traces, the origin and trajectories of different ion populations can be analyzed in order to assess how and where they contribute to the total atmospheric escape rate, which is a major objective of the upcoming MAVEN mission.

On the orbital evolution of the Lyrid meteoroid stream

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kornoš, Leonard; Tóth, Juraj; Porubčan, Vladimír; Klačka, Jozef; Nagy, Roman; Rudawska, Regina

2015-12-01

A detailed analysis of the Lyrid video orbits from the EDMOND database is performed. Applying selective methods, the weighted mean orbit and mean geophysical parameters are derived. The occurrence of orbits with the semimajor axes smaller than 35 AU, in comparison with the value of 55 AU of the parent comet Thatcher, is about 80%, in the set of higher quality data of the Lyrids in the EDMOND database. The gravitational orbital evolutions of Thatcher and modelled particles ejected in five perihelion passages of the comet in the past are studied. Both, orbits of the comet and modelled particles, are under quite strong disturbing influence of Jupiter, Saturn and Earth. After the integration to the present, the mean theoretical radiants, the mean geocentric velocities and periods of activity of particles approaching the Earth's orbit were calculated. The mean orbits of the modelled streams of particles ejected from different perihelia match well the mean Lyrid orbit from the IAU MDC and the observed video Lyrids from the EDMOND database. The particles released in the two oldest simulated perihelion passages of the parent comet are most responsible for the occurrence of the Earth-crossing orbits with the semimajor axes smaller than 35 AU, but no one below 20 AU. The influence of non-gravitational effects, mainly solar radiation, may shorten semimajor axis of a submilimeter particle with density of 0.3 g/cm3 by more than half during an evolution of 50 000 years. A common influence of gravitational perturbations and non-gravitational effects can provide a dynamical way to the short-period orbits. However, this process is for millimeter and larger particles (video and photographic) less effective.

Conceptual study and key technology development for Mars Aeroflyby sample collection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fujita, K.; Ozawa, T.; Okudaira, K.; Mikouchi, T.; Suzuki, T.; Takayanagi, H.; Tsuda, Y.; Ogawa, N.; Tachibana, S.; Satoh, T.

2014-01-01

Conceptual study of Mars Aeroflyby Sample Collection (MASC) is conducted as a part of the next Mars exploration mission currently entertained in Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. In the mission scenario, an atmospheric entry vehicle is flown into the Martian atmosphere, collects the Martian dust particles as well as atmospheric gases during the guided hypersonic flight, exits the Martian atmosphere, and is inserted into a parking orbit from which a return system departs for the earth to deliver the dust and gas samples. In order to accomplish a controlled flight and a successful orbit insertion, aeroassist orbit transfer technologies are introduced into the guidance and control system. System analysis is conducted to assess the feasibility and to make a conceptual design, finding that the MASC system is feasible at the minimum system mass of 600 kg approximately. The aerogel, which is one of the candidates for the dust sample collector, is assessed by arcjet heating tests to examine its behavior when exposed to high-temperature gases, as well as by particle impingement tests to evaluate its dust capturing capability.

Comparison of CREME (cosmic-ray effects on microelectronics) model LET (linear energy transfer) spaceflight dosimetry data

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Letaw, J.R.; Adams, J.H.

The galactic cosmic radiation (GCR) component of space radiation is the dominant cause of single-event phenomena in microelectronic circuits when Earth's magnetic shielding is low. Spaceflights outside the magnetosphere and in high inclination orbits are examples of such circumstances. In high-inclination orbits, low-energy (high LET) particles are transmitted through the field only at extreme latitudes, but can dominate the orbit-averaged dose. GCR is an important part of the radiation dose to astronauts under the same conditions. As a test of the CREME environmental model and particle transport codes used to estimate single event upsets, we have compiled existing measurements ofmore » HZE doses were compiled where GCR is expected to be important: Apollo 16 and 17, Skylab, Apollo Soyuz Test Project, and Kosmos 782. The LET spectra, due to direct ionization from GCR, for each of these missions has been estimated. The resulting comparisons with data validate the CREME model predictions of high-LET galactic cosmic-ray fluxes to within a factor of two. Some systematic differences between the model and data are identified.« less

Debris Detector Verification by Hvi-Tests

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bauer, Waldemar; Drolshagen, Gerhard; Vörsmann, Peter; Romberg, Oliver; Putzar, Robin

Information regarding Space Debris (SD) or Micrometeoroids (MM) impacting on spacecraft (S/C) or payloads (P/L) can be obtained by using environmental models e.g. MASTER (ESA) or ORDEM (NASA). The validation of such models is performed by comparison of simulated results with measured or orbital observed data. The latter is utilised for large particles and can be obtained from ground based or space based radars or telescopes. Data regarding very small but abundant particles can also be gained by analysis of retrieved hardware (e.g. Hubble Space Telescope, Space Shuttle Windows), which are brought from orbit back to Earth. Furthermore, in-situ impact detectors are an essential source for information on small size meteoroids and space debris. These kind of detectors are placed in orbit and collect impact data regarding SD and MM, sending data near real time via telemetry. Compared to the impact data which is gained by analysis of retrieved surfaces, the detected data comprise additional information regarding exact impact time and, depending on the type of detector, on the orbit and particles composition. Nevertheless, existing detectors have limitations. Since the detection area is small, statistically meaningful number of impacts are obtained for very small particles only. Measurements of particles in the size range of hundreds of microns to mm which are potentially damaging to S/C require larger sensor areas. To make use of the advantages of in-situ impact detectors and to increase the amount of impact data an innovative impact detector concept is currently under development at DLR in Bremen. Different to all previous impact detectors the Solar Generator based Impact Detector (SOLID) is not an add-on component on the S/C. SOLID makes use of existing subsystems of the S/C and adopts them for impact detection purposes. Since the number of impacts on a target in space depends linearly on the exposed area, the S/C solar panels offer a unique opportunity to use them for impact detection. Considering that the SOLID method could be applied to several S/Cs in different orbits, the spatial coverage in space concerning SD and MM can be significantly increased. In this way the method allows to generate large amount of impact data, which can be used for environmental model validation. This paper focuses on the verification of the SOLID method by Hypervelocity Impact (HVI) tests performed at Fraunhofer EMI. The test set-up as well as achieved results are presented and discussed.

Evolution of Cometary Dust Particles to the Orbit of the Earth: Particle Size, Shape, and Mutual Collisions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Hongu; Ishiguro, Masateru

2018-02-01

In this study, we numerically investigated the orbital evolution of cometary dust particles, with special consideration of the initial size–frequency distribution (SFD) and different evolutionary tracks according to the initial orbit and particle shape. We found that close encounters with planets (mostly Jupiter) are the dominating factor determining the orbital evolution of dust particles. Therefore, the lifetimes of cometary dust particles (∼250,000 yr) are shorter than the Poynting–Robertson lifetime, and only a small fraction of large cometary dust particles can be transferred into orbits with small semimajor axes. The exceptions are dust particles from 2P/Encke and, potentially, active asteroids that have little interaction with Jupiter. We also found that the effects of dust shape, mass density, and SFD were not critical in the total mass supply rate to the interplanetary dust particle (IDP) cloud complex when these quantities are confined by observations of zodiacal light brightness and SFD around the Earth’s orbit. When we incorporate a population of fluffy aggregates discovered in the Earth’s stratosphere and the coma of 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko within the initial ejection, the initial SFD measured at the comae of comets (67P and 81P/Wild 2) can produce the observed SFD around the Earth’s orbit. Considering the above effects, we derived the probability of mutual collisions among dust particles within the IDP cloud for the first time in a direct manner via numerical simulation and concluded that mutual collisions can mostly be ignored.

Observing orbital debris using space-based telescopes. I - Mission orbit considerations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Reynolds, Robert C.; Talent, David L.; Vilas, Faith

1989-01-01

In this paper, mission orbit considerations are addressed for using the Space Shuttle as a telescope platform for observing man-made orbital debris. Computer modeling of various electrooptical systems predicts that such a space-borne system will be able to detect particles as small as 1-mm diameter. The research is meant to support the development of debris- collision warning sensors through the acquisition of spatial distribution and spectral characteristics for debris and testing of detector combinations on a shuttle-borne telescopic experiment. The technique can also be applied to low-earth-orbit-debris environment monitoring systems. It is shown how the choice of mission orbit, season of launch, and time of day of launch may be employed to provide extended periods of favorable observing conditions.

Chaos and nonlinear dynamics of single-particle orbits in a magnetotaillike magnetic field

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chen, J.; Palmadesso, P. J.

1986-01-01

The properties of charged-particle motion in Hamiltonian dynamics are studied in a magnetotaillike magnetic field configuration. It is shown by numerical integration of the equation of motion that the system is generally nonintegrable and that the particle motion can be classified into three distinct types of orbits: bounded integrable orbits, unbounded stochastic orbits, and unbounded transient orbits. It is also shown that different regions of the phase space exhibit qualitatively different responses to external influences. The concept of 'differential memory' in single-particle distributions is proposed. Physical implications for the dynamical properties of the magnetotail plasmas and the possible generation of non-Maxwellian features in the distribution functions are discussed.

Modeling the entry and trapping of solar energetic particles in the magnetosphere during the November 24-25, 2001 storm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Richard, R. L.; El-Alaoui, M.; Ashour-Abdalla, M.; Walker, R. J.

2009-04-01

We have modeled the entry of solar energetic particles (SEPs) into the magnetosphere during the November 24-25, 2001 magnetic storm and the trapping of particles in the inner magnetosphere. The study used the technique of following many test particles, protons with energies greater than about 100 keV, in the electric and magnetic fields from a global magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulation of the magnetosphere during this storm. SEP protons formed a quasi-trapped and trapped population near and within geosynchronous orbit. Preliminary data comparisons show that the simulation does a reasonably good job of predicting the differential flux measured by geosynchronous spacecraft. Particle trapping took place mainly as a result of particles becoming non-adiabatic and crossing onto closed field lines. Particle flux in the inner magnetosphere increased dramatically as an interplanetary shock impacted and compressed the magnetosphere near 0600 UT, but long term trapping (hours) did not become widespread until about an hour later, during a further compression of the magnetosphere. Trapped and quasi-trapped particles were lost during the simulation by motion through the magnetopause and by precipitation, primarily the former. This caused the particle population near and within geosynchronous orbit to gradually decrease later on during the latter part of the interval.

Reducing the two-body problem in scalar-tensor theories to the motion of a test particle: A scalar-tensor effective-one-body approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Julié, Félix-Louis

2018-01-01

Starting from the second post-Keplerian (2PK) Hamiltonian describing the conservative part of the two-body dynamics in massless scalar-tensor (ST) theories, we build an effective-one-body (EOB) Hamiltonian which is a ν deformation (where ν =0 is the test mass limit) of the analytically known ST Hamiltonian of a test particle. This ST-EOB Hamiltonian leads to a simple (yet canonically equivalent) formulation of the conservative 2PK two-body problem, but also defines a resummation of the dynamics which is well-suited to ST regimes that depart strongly from general relativity (GR) and which may provide information on the strong field dynamics; in particular, the ST innermost stable circular orbit location and associated orbital frequency. Results will be compared and contrasted with those deduced from the ST-deformation of the (5PN) GR-EOB Hamiltonian previously obtained in [Phys. Rev. D 95, 124054 (2017), 10.1103/PhysRevD.95.124054].

Agile deployment and code coverage testing metrics of the boot software on-board Solar Orbiter's Energetic Particle Detector

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Parra, Pablo; da Silva, Antonio; Polo, Óscar R.; Sánchez, Sebastián

2018-02-01

In this day and age, successful embedded critical software needs agile and continuous development and testing procedures. This paper presents the overall testing and code coverage metrics obtained during the unit testing procedure carried out to verify the correctness of the boot software that will run in the Instrument Control Unit (ICU) of the Energetic Particle Detector (EPD) on-board Solar Orbiter. The ICU boot software is a critical part of the project so its verification should be addressed at an early development stage, so any test case missed in this process may affect the quality of the overall on-board software. According to the European Cooperation for Space Standardization ESA standards, testing this kind of critical software must cover 100% of the source code statement and decision paths. This leads to the complete testing of fault tolerance and recovery mechanisms that have to resolve every possible memory corruption or communication error brought about by the space environment. The introduced procedure enables fault injection from the beginning of the development process and enables to fulfill the exigent code coverage demands on the boot software.

Calculation of plasma dielectric response in inhomogeneous magnetic field near electron cyclotron resonance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Evstatiev, Evstati; Svidzinski, Vladimir; Spencer, Andy; Galkin, Sergei

2014-10-01

Full wave 3-D modeling of RF fields in hot magnetized nonuniform plasma requires calculation of nonlocal conductivity kernel describing the dielectric response of such plasma to the RF field. In many cases, the conductivity kernel is a localized function near the test point which significantly simplifies numerical solution of the full wave 3-D problem. Preliminary results of feasibility analysis of numerical calculation of the conductivity kernel in a 3-D hot nonuniform magnetized plasma in the electron cyclotron frequency range will be reported. This case is relevant to modeling of ECRH in ITER. The kernel is calculated by integrating the linearized Vlasov equation along the unperturbed particle's orbits. Particle's orbits in the nonuniform equilibrium magnetic field are calculated numerically by one of the Runge-Kutta methods. RF electric field is interpolated on a specified grid on which the conductivity kernel is discretized. The resulting integrals in the particle's initial velocity and time are then calculated numerically. Different optimization approaches of the integration are tested in this feasibility analysis. Work is supported by the U.S. DOE SBIR program.

Environmental testing to prevent on-orbit TDRS failures

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cutler, Robert M.

1994-01-01

Can improved environmental testing prevent on-orbit component failures such as those experienced in the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS) constellation? TDRS communications have been available to user spacecraft continuously for over 11 years, during which the five TDRS's placed in orbit have demonstrated their redundancies and robustness by surviving 26 component failures. Nevertheless, additional environmental testing prior to launch could prevent the occurrence of some types of failures, and could help to maintain communication services. Specific testing challenges involve traveling wave tube assemblies (TWTA's) whose lives may decrease with on-off cycling, and heaters that are subject to thermal cycles. The development of test conditions and procedures should account for known thermal variations. Testing may also have the potential to prevent failures in which components such as diplexers have had their lives dramatically shortened because of particle migration in a weightless environment. Reliability modeling could be used to select additional components that could benefit from special testing, but experience shows that this approach has serious limitations. Through knowledge of on-orbit experience, and with advances in testing, communication satellite programs might avoid the occurrence of some types of failures, and extend future spacecraft longevity beyond the current TDRS design life of ten years. However, determining which components to test, and how must testing to do, remain problematical.

The Poynting-Robertson effect in the Newtonian potential with a Yukawa correction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Haranas, Ioannis; Ragos, Omiros; Gkigkitzis, Ioannis; Kotsireas, Ilias; Martz, Connor; Van Middekoop, Sheldon

2018-01-01

We consider a Yukawa-type gravitational potential combined with the Poynting-Robertson effect. Dust particles originating within the asteroid belt and moving on circular and elliptic trajectories are studied and expressions for the time rate of change of their orbital radii and semimajor axes, respectively, are obtained. These expressions are written in terms of basic particle parameters, namely their density and diameter. Then, they are applied to produce expressions for the time required by the dust particles to reach the orbit of Earth. For the Yukawa gravitational potential, dust particles of diameter 10^{ - 3} m in circular orbits require times of the order of 8.557 × 106 yr and for elliptic orbits of eccentricities e =0.1, 0.5 require times of 9.396 × 106 and 2.129 × 106 yr respectively to reach Earth's orbit. Finally, various cases of the Yukawa potential are studied and the corresponding particle times to reach Earth's are derived per case along with numerical results for circular and various elliptical orbits.

ORBIT modelling of fast particle redistribution induced by sawtooth instability

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Doohyun; Podestà, Mario; Poli, Francesca; Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory Team

2017-10-01

Initial tests on NSTX-U show that introducing energy selectivity for sawtooth (ST) induced fast ion redistribution improves the agreement between experimental and simulated quantities, e.g. neutron rate. Thus, it is expected that a proper description of the fast particle redistribution due to ST can improve the modelling of ST instability and interpretation of experiments using a transport code. In this work, we use ORBIT code to characterise the redistribution of fast particles. In order to simulate a ST crash, a spatial and temporal displacement is implemented as ξ (ρ , t , θ , ϕ) = ∑ξmn (ρ , t) cos (mθ + nϕ) to produce perturbed magnetic fields from the equilibrium field B-> , δB-> = ∇ × (ξ-> × B->) , which affect the fast particle distribution. From ORBIT simulations, we find suitable amplitudes of ξ for each ST crash to reproduce the experimental results. The comparison of the simulation and the experimental results will be discussed as well as the dependence of fast ion redistribution on fast ion phase space variables (i.e. energy, magnetic moment and toroidal angular momentum). Work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Fusion Energy Sciences under Contract Number DE-AC02-09CH11466.

Test particles dynamics in the JOREK 3D non-linear MHD code and application to electron transport in a disruption simulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sommariva, C.; Nardon, E.; Beyer, P.; Hoelzl, M.; Huijsmans, G. T. A.; van Vugt, D.; Contributors, JET

2018-01-01

In order to contribute to the understanding of runaway electron generation mechanisms during tokamak disruptions, a test particle tracker is introduced in the JOREK 3D non-linear MHD code, able to compute both full and guiding center relativistic orbits. Tests of the module show good conservation of the invariants of motion and consistency between full orbit and guiding center solutions. A first application is presented where test electron confinement properties are investigated in a massive gas injection-triggered disruption simulation in JET-like geometry. It is found that electron populations initialised before the thermal quench (TQ) are typically not fully deconfined in spite of the global stochasticity of the magnetic field during the TQ. The fraction of ‘survivors’ decreases from a few tens down to a few tenths of percent as the electron energy varies from 1 keV to 10 MeV. The underlying mechanism for electron ‘survival’ is the prompt reformation of closed magnetic surfaces at the plasma core and, to a smaller extent, the subsequent reappearance of a magnetic surface at the edge. It is also found that electrons are less deconfined at 10 MeV than at 1 MeV, which appears consistent with a phase averaging effect due to orbit shifts at high energy.

Full particle orbit effects in regular and stochastic magnetic fields

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ogawa, Shun; Cambon, Benjamin P.; Leoncini, Xavier

Here we present a numerical study of charged particle motion in a time-independent magnetic field in cylindrical geometry. The magnetic field model consists of an unperturbed reversed-shear (non-monotonic q-profile) helical part and a perturbation consisting of a superposition of modes. Contrary to most of the previous studies, the particle trajectories are computed by directly solving the full Lorentz force equations of motion in a six-dimensional phase space using a sixth-order, implicit, symplectic Gauss-Legendre method. The level of stochasticity in the particle orbits is diagnosed using averaged, effective Poincare sections. It is shown that when only one mode is present, themore » particle orbits can be stochastic even though the magnetic field line orbits are not stochastic (i.e., fully integrable). The lack of integrability of the particle orbits in this case is related to separatrix crossing and the breakdown of the global conservation of the magnetic moment. Some perturbation consisting of two modes creates resonance overlapping, leading to Hamiltonian chaos in magnetic field lines. Then, the particle orbits exhibit a nontrivial dynamics depending on their energy and pitch angle. It is shown that the regions where the particle motion is stochastic decrease as the energy increases. The non-monotonicity of the q-profile implies the existence of magnetic ITBs (internal transport barriers) which correspond to shearless flux surfaces located in the vicinity of the q-profile minimum. It is shown that depending on the energy, these magnetic ITBs might or might not confine particles. That is, magnetic ITBs act as an energy-dependent particle confinement filter. Magnetic field lines in reversed-shear configurations exhibit topological bifurcations (from homoclinic to heteroclinic) due to separatrix reconnection. Finally, we show that a similar but more complex scenario appears in the case of particle orbits that depend in a non-trivial way on the energy and pitch angle of the particles.« less

Full particle orbit effects in regular and stochastic magnetic fields

DOE PAGES

Ogawa, Shun; Cambon, Benjamin P.; Leoncini, Xavier; ...

2016-07-18

Here we present a numerical study of charged particle motion in a time-independent magnetic field in cylindrical geometry. The magnetic field model consists of an unperturbed reversed-shear (non-monotonic q-profile) helical part and a perturbation consisting of a superposition of modes. Contrary to most of the previous studies, the particle trajectories are computed by directly solving the full Lorentz force equations of motion in a six-dimensional phase space using a sixth-order, implicit, symplectic Gauss-Legendre method. The level of stochasticity in the particle orbits is diagnosed using averaged, effective Poincare sections. It is shown that when only one mode is present, themore » particle orbits can be stochastic even though the magnetic field line orbits are not stochastic (i.e., fully integrable). The lack of integrability of the particle orbits in this case is related to separatrix crossing and the breakdown of the global conservation of the magnetic moment. Some perturbation consisting of two modes creates resonance overlapping, leading to Hamiltonian chaos in magnetic field lines. Then, the particle orbits exhibit a nontrivial dynamics depending on their energy and pitch angle. It is shown that the regions where the particle motion is stochastic decrease as the energy increases. The non-monotonicity of the q-profile implies the existence of magnetic ITBs (internal transport barriers) which correspond to shearless flux surfaces located in the vicinity of the q-profile minimum. It is shown that depending on the energy, these magnetic ITBs might or might not confine particles. That is, magnetic ITBs act as an energy-dependent particle confinement filter. Magnetic field lines in reversed-shear configurations exhibit topological bifurcations (from homoclinic to heteroclinic) due to separatrix reconnection. Finally, we show that a similar but more complex scenario appears in the case of particle orbits that depend in a non-trivial way on the energy and pitch angle of the particles.« less

Full particle orbit effects in regular and stochastic magnetic fields

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ogawa, Shun; Cambon, Benjamin; Leoncini, Xavier; Vittot, Michel; del Castillo-Negrete, Diego; Dif-Pradalier, Guilhem; Garbet, Xavier

2016-07-01

We present a numerical study of charged particle motion in a time-independent magnetic field in cylindrical geometry. The magnetic field model consists of an unperturbed reversed-shear (non-monotonic q-profile) helical part and a perturbation consisting of a superposition of modes. Contrary to most of the previous studies, the particle trajectories are computed by directly solving the full Lorentz force equations of motion in a six-dimensional phase space using a sixth-order, implicit, symplectic Gauss-Legendre method. The level of stochasticity in the particle orbits is diagnosed using averaged, effective Poincare sections. It is shown that when only one mode is present, the particle orbits can be stochastic even though the magnetic field line orbits are not stochastic (i.e., fully integrable). The lack of integrability of the particle orbits in this case is related to separatrix crossing and the breakdown of the global conservation of the magnetic moment. Some perturbation consisting of two modes creates resonance overlapping, leading to Hamiltonian chaos in magnetic field lines. Then, the particle orbits exhibit a nontrivial dynamics depending on their energy and pitch angle. It is shown that the regions where the particle motion is stochastic decrease as the energy increases. The non-monotonicity of the q-profile implies the existence of magnetic ITBs (internal transport barriers) which correspond to shearless flux surfaces located in the vicinity of the q-profile minimum. It is shown that depending on the energy, these magnetic ITBs might or might not confine particles. That is, magnetic ITBs act as an energy-dependent particle confinement filter. Magnetic field lines in reversed-shear configurations exhibit topological bifurcations (from homoclinic to heteroclinic) due to separatrix reconnection. We show that a similar but more complex scenario appears in the case of particle orbits that depend in a non-trivial way on the energy and pitch angle of the particles.

The study of the physics of cometary nuclei

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Whipple, Fred L.

1987-01-01

The numerical calculations of stability for many possible orbits of the double nucleus for P/Holmes showed that the likelihood of such a precollision history was quite high. A number of investigations were made of hypothetical orbits for particles about the asteroid Amphitrite to test for stability. The purpose was to establish more favorable fly-by orbits close to the asteroid for the Galileo missions en-route to Jupiter, reducing the collisional hazards. A statistical study was made of the orbits of long-period comets with small original semi-major axes recently perturbed from the great Opik-Oort Cloud. The results from the space missions to Halley's comet are partially reported in the two papers in the appendices.

Software package for modeling spin-orbit motion in storage rings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zyuzin, D. V.

2015-12-01

A software package providing a graphical user interface for computer experiments on the motion of charged particle beams in accelerators, as well as analysis of obtained data, is presented. The software package was tested in the framework of the international project on electric dipole moment measurement JEDI (Jülich Electric Dipole moment Investigations). The specific features of particle spin motion imply the requirement to use a cyclic accelerator (storage ring) consisting of electrostatic elements, which makes it possible to preserve horizontal polarization for a long time. Computer experiments study the dynamics of 106-109 particles in a beam during 109 turns in an accelerator (about 1012-1015 integration steps for the equations of motion). For designing an optimal accelerator structure, a large number of computer experiments on polarized beam dynamics are required. The numerical core of the package is COSY Infinity, a program for modeling spin-orbit dynamics.

Conservative self-force correction to the innermost stable circular orbit: Comparison with multiple post-Newtonian-based methods

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Favata, Marc

2011-01-15

Barack and Sago [Phys. Rev. Lett. 102, 191101 (2009)] have recently computed the shift of the innermost stable circular orbit (ISCO) of the Schwarzschild spacetime due to the conservative self-force that arises from the finite-mass of an orbiting test-particle. This calculation of the ISCO shift is one of the first concrete results of the self-force program, and provides an exact (fully relativistic) point of comparison with approximate post-Newtonian (PN) computations of the ISCO. Here this exact ISCO shift is compared with nearly all known PN-based methods. These include both 'nonresummed' and 'resummed' approaches (the latter reproduce the test-particle limit bymore » construction). The best agreement with the exact (Barack-Sago) result is found when the pseudo-4PN coefficient of the effective-one-body (EOB) metric is fit to numerical relativity simulations. However, if one considers uncalibrated methods based only on the currently known 3PN-order conservative dynamics, the best agreement is found from the gauge-invariant ISCO condition of Blanchet and Iyer [Classical Quantum Gravity 20, 755 (2003)], which relies only on the (nonresummed) 3PN equations of motion. This method reproduces the exact test-particle limit without any resummation. A comparison of PN methods with the ISCO in the equal-mass case (computed via sequences of numerical relativity initial-data sets) is also performed. Here a (different) nonresummed method also performs very well (as was previously shown). These results suggest that the EOB approach - while exactly incorporating the conservative test-particle dynamics and having several other important advantages - does not (in the absence of calibration) incorporate conservative self-force effects more accurately than standard PN methods. I also consider how the conservative self-force ISCO shift, combined in some cases with numerical relativity computations of the ISCO, can be used to constrain our knowledge of (1) the EOB effective metric, (2) phenomenological inspiral-merger-ringdown templates, and (3) 4PN- and 5PN-order terms in the PN orbital energy. These constraints could help in constructing better gravitational-wave templates. Lastly, I suggest a new method to calibrate unknown PN terms in inspiral templates using numerical-relativity calculations.« less

Synchronization of finite-size particles by a traveling wave in a cylindrical flow

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Melnikov, D. E.; Pushkin, D. O.; Shevtsova, V. M.

2013-09-01

Motion of small finite-size particles suspended in a cylindrical thermocapillary flow with an azimuthally traveling wave is studied experimentally and numerically. At certain flow regimes the particles spontaneously align in dynamic accumulation structures (PAS) of spiral shape. We find that long-time trajectories of individual particles in this flow fall into three basic categories that can be described, borrowing the dynamical systems terminology, as the stable periodic, the quasiperiodic, and the quasistable periodic orbits. Besides these basic types of orbits, we observe the "doubled" periodic orbits and shuttle-like particle trajectories. We find that ensembles of particles having periodic orbits give rise to one-dimensional spiral PAS, while ensembles of particles having quasiperiodic orbits form two-dimensional PAS of toroidal shape. We expound the reasons why these types of orbits and the emergence of the corresponding accumulation structures should naturally be anticipated based on the phase locking theory of PAS formation. We give a further discussion of PAS features, such as the finite thickness of PAS spirals and the probable scenarios of the spiral PAS destruction. Finally, in numerical simulations of inertial particles we observe formation of the spiral structures corresponding to the 3:1 "resonance" between the particle turnover frequency and the wave oscillations frequency, thus confirming another prediction of the phase locking theory. In view of the generality of the arguments involved, we expect the importance of this structure-forming mechanism to go far beyond the realm of the laboratory-friendly thermocapillary flows.

Dynamics of particles in central Encke ringlet

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, K.-L.; Spahn, F.; Schmidt, J.

2012-09-01

The Encke gap is a 320 km wide division in the Saturn A ring centered at 133,581 km. There are at least 3 ringlets in Encke gap, and the central one shares the orbit with Pan [1]. Observations suggest that these ringlets are mainly composed of micronsized particles [2]. The lifetime of these particles are restricted, mechanisms must be at work to replenish these ringlets. The kinetic balance of dust production, dynamical evolution, and loss of dust has been investigated in [3]. In this work, we focus on the particle dynamics in the Encke gap. Our results show that in the central Encke ringlet: (1) The solar radiation pressure provides a minimum particle radius of 7μm; (2) The plasma drag force pushes particle outward in a rate of ˜ 1km/yr; (3) Particles are in a 'modified' horseshoe orbit which is the result of horseshoe orbit plus plasma drag, this orbit prevent particles to reach large co-rotational longitudes of Pan.

Particle orbits in two-dimensional equilibrium models for the magnetotail

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Karimabadi, H.; Pritchett, P. L.; Coroniti, F. V.

1990-01-01

Assuming that there exist an equilibrium state for the magnetotail, particle orbits are investigated in two-dimensional kinetic equilibrium models for the magnetotail. Particle orbits in the equilibrium field are compared with those calculated earlier with one-dimensional models, where the main component of the magnetic field (Bx) was approximated as either a hyperbolic tangent or a linear function of z with the normal field (Bz) assumed to be a constant. It was found that the particle orbits calculated with the two types of models are significantly different, mainly due to the neglect of the variation of Bx with x in the one-dimensional fields.

Migration of Interplanetary Dust and Comets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ipatov, S. I.; Mather, J. C.

Our studies of migration of interplanetary dust and comets were based on the results of integration of the orbital evolution of 15,000 dust particles and 30,000 Jupiter-family comets (JFCs) [1-3]. For asteroidal and cometary particles, the values of the ratio β between the radiation pressure force and the gravitational force varied from <0.0004 to 0.4. For silicates, such values correspond to particle diameters between >1000 and 1 microns. The probability of a collision of a dust particle started from an asteroid or JFC with the Earth during a lifetime of the particle was maximum at diameter d ˜100 microns. For particles started from asteroids and comet 10P, this maximum probability was ˜0.01. Different studies of migration of dust particles and small bodies testify that the fraction of cometary dust particles of the overall dust population inside Saturn's orbit is considerable and can be dominant: (1) Cometary dust particles produced both inside and outside Jupiter's orbit are needed to explain the observed constant number density of dust particles at 3-18 AU. The number density of migrating trans-Neptunian particles near Jupiter's orbit is smaller by a factor of several than that beyond Saturn's orbit. Only a small fraction of asteroidal particles can get outside Jupiter's orbit. (2) Some (less than 0.1%) JFCs can reach typical near-Earth object orbits and remain there for millions of years. Dynamical lifetimes of most of the former JFCs that have typical near-Earth object orbits are about 106 -109 yr, so during most of these times they were extinct comets. Such former comets could disintegrate and produce a lot of mini-comets and dust. (3) Comparison of the velocities of zodiacal dust particles (velocities of MgI line) based on the distributions of particles over their orbital elements obtained in our runs [3-4] with the velocities obtained at the WHAM observations shows that only asteroidal dust particles cannot explain these observations, and particles produced by comets, including high-eccentricity comets, are needed for such explanation. The fraction of particles started from Encke-type comets is not large (<0.15) in order to fit the observational distributions of particles over their distances from the Sun. Studies of velocities of MgI line and corresponding eccentricities and inclinations in our runs showed that the mean eccentricity of zodiacal dust particles is about 0.5. [1] Ipatov S.I. and Mather J.C. (2004) Annals of the New York Acad. of Sciences, 1017, 46- 65. [2] Ipatov S.I., Mather J.C., and Taylor P. (2004) Annals of the New York Acad. of Sciences, 1017, 66-80. [3] Ipatov S.I. and Mather J.C. (2006) Advances in Space Research, 37, 126-137. [4] Ipatov S.I. et al. (2006) 37th LPSC, #1471.

Sources of zodiacal dust particles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ipatov, S. I.; Mather, J. C.

2007-08-01

The orbital evolution of dust particles produced by asteroids, comets, and trans- Neptunian objects was integrated [1-3]. Analysis of results of these integrations testify in favor of a considerable fraction of particles produced by comets among overall zodiacal dust particles, but it does not contradict to >30% of asteroidal dust needed for explanation of formation of dust bands. Fractions of asteroidal particles, particles originating beyond Jupiter's orbit (including trans-Neptunian particles), and cometary particles originating inside of Jupiter's orbit are estimated to be about 1/3 each, with a possible deviation from 1/3 up to 0.1-0.2. Comparison of the plots of the number density vs. the distance R from the Sun obtained for particles produced by different small bodies with the plots based on observations shows that asteroidal and trans- Neptunian particles alone can not explain the observed almost constant number density at R ∼3-18 AU and a lot of particles must be produced by comets at R ∼5-10 AU [2-3]. Comparison of the WHAM (Wisconsin H-Alpha Mapper spectrometer) observations of spectra of zodiacal light with our models showed [4-5] that a significant fraction of particles produced by short-period comets is required to fit the observations of the width and velocity of the Mg I line. Comparison of the observations of the number density inside Jupiter's orbit with the number density of particles produced by different small bodies leads to the same conclusion about a considerable fraction of cometary particles. This comparison does not make limitations on cometary particles produced beyond Jupiter's orbit, but it shows that the fraction of particles produced by Encke-type comets (with eccentricities ∼0.8-0.9) does not exceed 0.15 of the overall population. The estimated fraction of particles produced by long-period and Halley-type comets among zodiacal dust also does not exceed 0.1-0.15. Though trans-Neptunian particles fit different observations of dust inside Jupiter's orbit, they can not be dominant in the zodiacal cloud because they can not be dominant between orbits of Jupiter and Saturn. The conclusion on a considerable fraction of cometary dust is also in an agreement with our studies [6] of the dynamics of Jupiter-family comets, which showed that some former cometary objects could get high eccentric orbits located entirely inside of Jupiter's orbit and stay in these orbits for a long time. Some of these objects could disintegrate producing a substantial amount of dust. [1] Ipatov S.I., Mather J.C., and Taylor P. (2004) Annals of the New York Acad. of Sciences, 1017, 66-80. [2] Ipatov S.I. and Mather J.C. (2006) Advances in Space Research, 37, 126-137. [3] Ipatov S.I. and Mather J.C., (2007) Dust in Planetary Systems, ed. by H. Krüger and A. Graps, ESA Publications, SP-643, p. 91-94. [4] Ipatov S.I. et al. (2006) 37th LPSC, #1471. [5] Ipatov S.I. et al., astro-ph/0608141. [6] Ipatov S.I. and Mather J.C. (2004) Annals of the New York Acad. of Sciences, 1017, 66-80.

Effects of Orbital Lifetime Reduction on the Long-Term Earth Satellite Population as Modeled by EVOLVE 4.0

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Krisko, Paula H.; Opiela, John N.; Liou, Jer-Chyi; Anz-Meador, Phillip D.; Theall, Jeffrey R.

1999-01-01

The latest update of the NASA orbital debris environment model, EVOLVE 4.0, has been used to study the effect of various proposed debris mitigation measures, including the NASA 25-year guideline. EVOLVE 4.0, which includes updates of the NASA breakup, solar activity, and the orbit propagator models, a GEO analysis option, and non-fragmentation debris source models, allows for the statistical modeling and predicted growth of the particle population >1 mm in characteristic length in LEO and GEO orbits. The initial implementation of this &odel has been to study the sensitivity of the overall LEO debris environment to mitigation measures designed to limit the lifetime of intact objects in LEO orbits. The mitigation measures test matrix for this study included several commonly accepted testing schemes, i.e., the variance of the maximum LEO lifetime from 10 to 50 years, the date of the initial implementation of this policy, the shut off of all explosions at some specified date, and the inclusion of disposal orbits. All are timely studies in that all scenarios have been suggested by researchers and satellite operators as options for the removal of debris from LEO orbits.

Is the Sky Really Falling? An Overview of Orbital Debris

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hull, Scott M.

2015-01-01

Orbital debris has been a prominent topic for a while, even before the movie Gravity came out. An anti-satellite test and a collision with an operational satellite both produced large highly-publicized debris clouds within recent years. While large objects like abandoned satellites and rocket bodies may be the most recognizable and identifiable concerns, a majority of the daily threat comes from the much more numerous smaller particles. In fact, small particle penetration continues to rank among the leading risks for manned space missions to the International Space Station and beyond. How much 'stuff' is up there, where did it come from, what harm can it do, and what is being done about it? These questions and more will be discussed.

On the perihelion precession as a Machian effect

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Eby, P. B.

1977-01-01

A Lagrangian is constructed which gives Newtonian gravity in the lowest-order approximation in an isotropic universe and also predicts the correct advance of the perihelion with the proper choice of a constant governing the ratio of inertial to gravitational mass. The situation considered is that of a test particle orbiting a central body with external mass at rest and distributed isotropically at large distances from the central body. In the theory developed, the perihelion advance is due to a small contribution to the test-particle inertial mass by the central attracting body rather than to a failure of the inverse-square law of attraction. Some interesting Machian features of this theory are that: (1) the local value of the gravitational constant is determined by the mass distribution of the external matter; (2) the orbits are fixed, and the perihelion advances unambiguously with respect to the external-mass distribution; (3) there are no vestiges of absolute space; (4) the perihelion precession arises from the inertial interaction of the test particle with the central mass; (5) the local rest mass is really determined by the mass distribution of the rest of the universe; and (6) a limited form of the equivalence principle is inherent in one of the equations.

Use of ground radar to detect reentering debris

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Crews, J. L.

1985-01-01

The velocity of the particles is required to identify the type of particles producing the ionization trails. A method of approximating the velocity of a meteor from radar data was developed. The method requires the time between the spacings of the Fresnel interference fringes, the range to the ionization trail, and the wavelength of the radar system. The orbital mechanics of the problem are evaluated, if the particles originate with the shuttle, the orbital mechanics will substantiate the relative position of the particles with the position of the shuttle. A program to determine spacecraft orbital decay due to perturbations is utilized for a preliminary evaluation of the orbital mechanics of the problem. Many assumptions concerning the size, shape, density, etc. of the particles are necessary for the preliminary evaluation. The results do not negate the possibility that the events observed by the radar are reentering particles originating from the shuttle.

Spin, tumble, and twirl - beyond Jeffery orbits in the rotation of real-world particles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Variano, E. A.; Pujara, N.

2016-12-01

The classical theory of particle rotation explained by Jeffery's 1922 paper has guided how people think about the motion of non-spherical particles. The resulting concept of Jeffery orbits has been useful in guiding intuition, but is limited by some restrictive assumptions. We present a picture of what happens when some of these restrictions are relaxed. First, we review recent results from a variety of researchers showing how inertia causes Jeffery orbits to collapse. Next, we present our results from numerical simulations of particle particle motion in turbulence to show how Jeffery orbits `survive' in unsteady flows. Finally, we combine the two and discuss the motion expected for inertial particles in turbulent flow. The presentation uses a number of videos to illustrate these motions, and indicates a youtube channel on which they can be accessed for teaching purposes.

Post-Newtonian and numerical calculations of the gravitational self-force for circular orbits in the Schwarzschild geometry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Blanchet, Luc; Detweiler, Steven; Le Tiec, Alexandre; Whiting, Bernard F.

2010-03-01

The problem of a compact binary system whose components move on circular orbits is addressed using two different approximation techniques in general relativity. The post-Newtonian (PN) approximation involves an expansion in powers of v/c≪1, and is most appropriate for small orbital velocities v. The perturbative self-force analysis requires an extreme mass ratio m1/m2≪1 for the components of the binary. A particular coordinate-invariant observable is determined as a function of the orbital frequency of the system using these two different approximations. The post-Newtonian calculation is pushed up to the third post-Newtonian (3PN) order. It involves the metric generated by two point particles and evaluated at the location of one of the particles. We regularize the divergent self-field of the particle by means of dimensional regularization. We show that the poles ∝(d-3)-1 appearing in dimensional regularization at the 3PN order cancel out from the final gauge invariant observable. The 3PN analytical result, through first order in the mass ratio, and the numerical self-force calculation are found to agree well. The consistency of this cross cultural comparison confirms the soundness of both approximations in describing compact binary systems. In particular, it provides an independent test of the very different regularization procedures invoked in the two approximation schemes.

The Thermal Expansion of Ring Particles and the Secular Orbital Evolution of Rings Around Planets and Asteroids

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rubincam, David P.

2013-01-01

The thermal expansion and contraction of ring particles orbiting a planet or asteroid can cause secular orbit evolution. This effect, called here the thermal expansion effect, depends on ring particles entering and exiting the shadow of the body they orbit. A particle cools off in the shadow and heats up again in the sunshine, suffering thermal contraction and expansion. The changing cross-section it presents to solar radiation pressure plus time lags due to thermal inertia lead to a net along-track force. The effect causes outward drift for rocky particles. For the equatorial orbits considered here, the thermal expansion effect is larger than Poynting-Robertson drag in the inner solar system for particles in the size range approx. 0.001 - 0.02 m. This leads to a net increase in the semimajor axis from the two opposing effects at rates ranging from approx. 0.1 R per million years for Mars to approx. 1 R per million years for Mercury, for distances approx. 2R from the body, where R is the body's radius. Asteroid 243 Ida has approx. 10 R per million years, while a hypothetical Near-Earth Asteroid (NEA) can have faster rates of approx. 0.5 R per thousand years, due chiefly to its small radius compared to the planets. The thermal expansion effect weakens greatly at Jupiter and is overwhelmed by Poynting-Robertson for icy particles orbiting Saturn. Meteoroids in eccentric orbits about the Sun also suffer the thermal expansion effect, but with only approx. 0.0003e2 AU change in semimajor axis over a million years for a 2 m meteoroid orbiting between Mercury and Earth.

STS-44 DS0 316, Bioreactor/Flow and Particle Trajectory in Microgravity, hdwr

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1991-01-01

STS-44 Detailed Supplementary Objective (DSO) 316, Bioreactor/Flow and Particle Trajectory in Microgravity, rotating wall vessels are stored in an incubator in JSC's Life Sciences Laboratory Bldg 37 Biotechnology Laboratories. The rotating wall vessel hardware will receive its first test and equipment checkout on the middeck of Atlantis, Orbiter Vehicle (OV) 104, during the STS-44 mission. The vessel hardware will be used in a test that researchers hope will confirm their theories and calculations about how the flow fields work in space. Plastic beads of various sizes rather than cell cultures are being flown in the vessel for the STS-44 test.

g Dependent particle concentration due to sedimentation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Haranas, Ioannis; Gkigkitzis, Ioannis; Zouganelis, George D.

2012-11-01

Sedimentation of particles in a fluid has long been used to characterize particle size distribution. Stokes' law is used to determine an unknown distribution of spherical particle sizes by measuring the time required for the particles to settle a known distance in a fluid of known viscosity and density. In this paper, we study the effects of gravity on sedimentation by examining the resulting particle concentration distributed in an equilibrium profile of concentration C m, n above the bottom of a container. This is for an experiment on the surface of the Earth and therefore the acceleration of gravity had been corrected for the oblateness of the Earth and its rotation. Next, at the orbital altitude of the spacecraft in orbit around Earth the acceleration due to the central field is corrected for the oblateness of the Earth. Our results show that for experiments taking place in circular or elliptical orbits of various inclinations around the Earth the concentration ratio C m, n / C m, ave , the inclination seems to be the most ineffective in affecting the concentration among all the orbital elements. For orbital experiment that use particles of diameter d p =0.001 μm the concentration ratios for circular and slightly elliptical orbits in the range e=0-0.1 exhibit a 0.009 % difference. The concentration ratio increases with the increase of eccentricity, which increases more for particles of larger diameters. Finally, for particles of the same diameter concentration ratios between Earth and Mars surface experiments are related in the following way C_{(m,n)_{mathit{Earth}}} = 0.99962 C_{(m,n)_{mathit{Mars}}}.

The role of orbital dynamics and cloud-cloud collisions in the formation of giant molecular clouds in global spiral structures

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Roberts, William W., Jr.; Stewart, Glen R.

1987-01-01

The role of orbit crowding and cloud-cloud collisions in the formation of GMCs and their organization in global spiral structure is investigated. Both N-body simulations of the cloud system and a detailed analysis of individual particle orbits are used to develop a conceptual understanding of how individual clouds participate in the collective density response. Detailed comparisons are made between a representative cloud-particle simulation in which the cloud particles collide inelastically with one another and give birth to and subsequently interact with young star associations and stripped down simulations in which the cloud particles are allowed to follow ballistic orbits in the absence of cloud-cloud collisions or any star formation processes. Orbit crowding is then related to the behavior of individual particle trajectories in the galactic potential field. The conceptual picture of how GMCs are formed in the clumpy ISMs of spiral galaxies is formulated, and the results are compared in detail with those published by other authors.

Orbital effects of spatial variations of fundamental coupling constants

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Iorio, Lorenzo

2011-11-01

We deal with the effects induced on the orbit of a test particle revolving around a central body by putative spatial variations of dimensionless fundamental coupling constants ζ. In particular, we assume a dipole gradient for ? along a generic direction ? in space. We analytically work out the long-term variations of all the six standard osculating Keplerian orbital elements parameterizing the orbit of a test particle in a gravitationally bound two-body system. Apart from the semimajor axis a, the eccentricity e, the inclination I, the longitude of the ascending node Ω, the longitude of pericentre ϖ and the mean anomaly ? undergo non-zero long-term changes. By using the usual decomposition along the radial (R), transverse (T) and normal (N) directions, we also analytically work out the long-term changes ΔR, ΔT, ΔN and ΔvR, ΔvT, ΔvN experienced by the position and the velocity vectors r and v of the test particle. Apart from ΔN, all the other five shifts do not vanish over one full orbital revolution. In the calculation we do not use a priori simplifying assumptions concerning e and I. Thus, our results are valid for a generic orbital geometry; moreover, they hold for any gradient direction ?. We compare our predictions to the latest observational results for some of the major bodies of the solar system. The largest predicted planetary perihelion precessions occur for the rocky planets, amounting to some 10-2-10-3 mas per century. Apart from the Earth, they are 2 - 3 orders of magnitude smaller than the present-day accuracy in empirically determining the corrections ? to the standard Newtonian-Einsteinian planetary perihelion rates. Numerically integrated time-series of the interplanetary range for some Earth-planet pairs yield Stark-like signatures as large as 0.1-10 mm; future planned planetary laser ranging facilities should be accurate at a cm level. The long-term variations of the lunar eccentricity and perigee are of the order of 10-14 yr-1 and 10-4 mas yr-1, respectively, while the change ΔR in the radial component of the Moon's geocentric orbit is as large as 0.8 μm per orbit. A numerically calculated geocentric lunar range time-series has a maximum nominal peak-to-peak amplitude of just a few mm, with an average of 0.3 μm over 30 yr. The present-day accuracies in determining ? and ? for the Moon are 10-12 yr-1 and 10-1 mas yr-1, respectively. The Apollo facility should be able to determine on a continuous basis of the Earth-Moon range with a mm accuracy.

Excitation energies from particle-particle random phase approximation with accurate optimized effective potentials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jin, Ye; Yang, Yang; Zhang, Du; Peng, Degao; Yang, Weitao

2017-10-01

The optimized effective potential (OEP) that gives accurate Kohn-Sham (KS) orbitals and orbital energies can be obtained from a given reference electron density. These OEP-KS orbitals and orbital energies are used here for calculating electronic excited states with the particle-particle random phase approximation (pp-RPA). Our calculations allow the examination of pp-RPA excitation energies with the exact KS density functional theory (DFT). Various input densities are investigated. Specifically, the excitation energies using the OEP with the electron densities from the coupled-cluster singles and doubles method display the lowest mean absolute error from the reference data for the low-lying excited states. This study probes into the theoretical limit of the pp-RPA excitation energies with the exact KS-DFT orbitals and orbital energies. We believe that higher-order correlation contributions beyond the pp-RPA bare Coulomb kernel are needed in order to achieve even higher accuracy in excitation energy calculations.

Prediction Model for Relativistic Electrons at Geostationary Orbit

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Khazanov, George V.; Lyatsky, Wladislaw

2008-01-01

We developed a new prediction model for forecasting relativistic (greater than 2MeV) electrons, which provides a VERY HIGH correlation between predicted and actually measured electron fluxes at geostationary orbit. This model implies the multi-step particle acceleration and is based on numerical integrating two linked continuity equations for primarily accelerated particles and relativistic electrons. The model includes a source and losses, and used solar wind data as only input parameters. We used the coupling function which is a best-fit combination of solar wind/interplanetary magnetic field parameters, responsible for the generation of geomagnetic activity, as a source. The loss function was derived from experimental data. We tested the model for four year period 2004-2007. The correlation coefficient between predicted and actual values of the electron fluxes for whole four year period as well as for each of these years is stable and incredibly high (about 0.9). The high and stable correlation between the computed and actual electron fluxes shows that the reliable forecasting these electrons at geostationary orbit is possible.

Relativistic Electrons at Geostationary Orbit: Modeling Results

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Khazanov, George V.; Lyatsky, Wladislaw

2008-01-01

We developed a new prediction model for forecasting relativistic (greater than 2MeV) electrons, which provides a VERY HIGH correlation between predicted and actually measured electron fluxes at geostationary orbit. This model implies the multi-step particle acceleration and is based on numerical integrating two linked continuity equations for primarily accelerated particles and relativistic electrons. The model includes a source and losses, and used solar wind data as only input parameters. We used the coupling function which is a best-fit combination of solar wind/interplanetary magnetic field parameters, responsible for the generation of geomagnetic activity, as a source. The loss function was derived from experimental data. We tested the model for four year period 2004-2007. The correlation coefficient between predicted and actual values of the electron fluxes for whole four year period as well as for each of these years is stable and incredibly high (about 0.9). The high and stable correlation between the computed and actual electron fluxes shows that the reliable forecasting these electrons at geostationary orbit is possible.

Chaos in pseudo-Newtonian black holes with halos

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guéron, E.; Letelier, P. S.

2001-03-01

Newtonian as well as special relativistic dynamics are used to study the stability of orbits of a test particle moving around a black hole with a dipolar halo. The black hole is modeled by either the usual monopole potential or the Paczyńki-Wiita pseudo-Newtonian potential. The full general relativistic similar case is also considered. The Poincaré section method and the Lyapunov characteristic exponents show that the orbits for the pseudo-Newtonian potential models are more unstable than the corresponding general relativistic geodesics.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Shaing, K. C.

It is shown that potato orbits in the near-axis region of a high beta tokamak are squeezed in a magnetic well. The squeezing factor is the same as that for the banana orbits derived in an earlier work [Phys. Plasmas 3, 2843 (1996)]. It depends on the energy of the particle. For high-energy particles, the size of the squeezed orbits is independent of their energy. This implies improved confinement for high-energy particles and for high beta tokamaks with advanced fuels.

Numerical simulations of particle orbits around 2060 Chiron

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stern, S. A.; Jackson, A. A.; Boice, D. C.

1994-01-01

Scattered light from orbiting or coorbiting dust is a primary signature by which Earth-based observers study the activity and atmosphere of the unusual outer solar system object 2060 Chiron. Therefore, it is important to understand the lifetime, dynamics, and loss rates of dust in its coma. We report here dynamical simulations of particles in Chiron's collisionless coma. The orbits of 17,920 dust particles were numerically integrated under the gravitational influence of Chiron, the Sun, and solar radiation pressure. These simulations show that particles ejected from Chiron are more likely to follow suborbital trajectories, or to escape altogether, than to enter quasistable orbits. Significant orbital lifetimes can only be achieved for very specific launch conditions. These results call into question models of a long-term, bound coma generated by discrete outbursts, and instead suggest that Chiron's coma state is closely coupled to the nearly instantaneous level of Chiron's surface activity.

Instellar Gas Experiment (IGE): Testing interstellar gas particles to provide information on the processes of nucleosynthesis in the big bang stars and supernova

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lind, Don

1985-01-01

The Interstellar Gas Experiment (IGE) is designed to collect particles of the interstellar gas - a wind of interstellar media particles moving in the vicinity of the solar system. These particles will be returned to earth where the isotopic ratios of the noble gases among these particles will be measured. IGE was designed and programmed to expose 7 sets of six copper-beryllium metallic collecting foils to the flux of neutral interstellar gas particles which penetrate the heliosphere to the vicinity of the earth's orbit. These particles are trapped in the collecting foils and will be returned to earth for mass-spectrographic analysis when Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF) on which IGE was launched, is recovered.

Space radiation test model study. Report for 20 May 1985-20 February 1986

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Nightingale, R.W.; Chiu, Y.T.; Davidson, G.T.

1986-03-14

Dynamic models of the energetic populations in the outer radiation belts are being developed to better understand the extreme variations of particle flux in response to magnetospheric and solar activity. The study utilizes the SCATHA SC3 high-energy electron data, covering energies from 47 keV to 5 MeV with fine pitch-angle measurements (3 deg field of view) over the L-shell range of 5.3 to 8.7. Butter-fly distributions in the dusk sector signify particle losses due to L shell splitting of the particle-drift orbits and the subsequent scattering of the particles from the orbits by the magnetopause. To model the temporal variationsmore » and diffusion procsses of the particle populations, the data were organized into phase-space distributions, binned according to altitude (L shell), energy, pitch angle, and time. These distributions can then be mapped to the equator and plotted for fixed first and second adiabatic invariants of the inherent particle motion. A new and efficient method for calculating the third adiabatic invariant using a line integral of the relevant magnetic potential at the particle mirror points has been developed and is undergoing testing. This method will provide a useful means of displaying the radial diffusion signatures of the outer radiation belts during the more-active periods when the L shell parameter is not a good concept due to severe drift-shell splitting. The first phase of fitting the energetic-electron phase-space distributions with a combined radial and pitch-angle diffusion formulation is well underway. Bessel functions are being fit to the data in an eigenmode expansion method to determine the diffusion coefficients.« less

Anisotropic particle in viscous shear flow: Navier slip, reciprocal symmetry, and Jeffery orbit.

PubMed

Zhang, Jiaolong; Xu, Xinpeng; Qian, Tiezheng

2015-03-01

The hydrodynamic reciprocal theorem for Stokes flows is generalized to incorporate the Navier slip boundary condition, which can be derived from Onsager's variational principle of least energy dissipation. The hydrodynamic reciprocal relations and the Jeffery orbit, both of which arise from the motion of a slippery anisotropic particle in a simple viscous shear flow, are investigated theoretically and numerically using the fluid particle dynamics method [Phys. Rev. Lett. 85, 1338 (2000)]. For a slippery elliptical particle in a linear shear flow, the hydrodynamic reciprocal relations between the rotational torque and the shear stress are studied and related to the Jeffery orbit, showing that the boundary slip can effectively enhance the anisotropy of the particle. Physically, by replacing the no-slip boundary condition with the Navier slip condition at the particle surface, the cross coupling between the rotational torque and the shear stress is enhanced, as manifested through a dimensionless parameter in both of the hydrodynamic reciprocal relations and the Jeffery orbit. In addition, simulations for a circular particle patterned with portions of no-slip and Navier slip are carried out, showing that the particle possesses an effective anisotropy and follows the Jeffery orbit as well. This effective anisotropy can be tuned by changing the ratio of no-slip portion to slip potion. The connection of the present work to nematic liquid crystals' constitutive relations is discussed.

Scientific Objectives of Electron Losses and Fields INvestigation Onboard Lomonosov Satellite

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shprits, Y. Y.; Angelopoulos, V.; Russell, C. T.; Strangeway, R. J.; Runov, A.; Turner, D.; Caron, R.; Cruce, P.; Leneman, D.; Michaelis, I.; Petrov, V.; Panasyuk, M.; Yashin, I.; Drozdov, A.; Russell, C. L.; Kalegaev, V.; Nazarkov, I.; Clemmons, J. H.

2018-02-01

The objective of the Electron Losses and Fields INvestigation on board the Lomonosov satellite (ELFIN-L) project is to determine the energy spectrum of precipitating energetic electrons and ions and, together with other polar-orbiting and equatorial missions, to better understand the mechanisms responsible for scattering these particles into the atmosphere. This mission will provide detailed measurements of the radiation environment at low altitudes. The 400-500 km sun-synchronous orbit of Lomonosov is ideal for observing electrons and ions precipitating into the atmosphere. This mission provides a unique opportunity to test the instruments. Similar suite of instruments will be flown in the future NSF- and NASA-supported spinning CubeSat ELFIN satellites which will augment current measurements by providing detailed information on pitch-angle distributions of precipitating and trapped particles.

Scalar self-force on eccentric geodesics in Schwarzschild spacetime: A time-domain computation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Haas, Roland

2007-06-15

We calculate the self-force acting on a particle with scalar charge moving on a generic geodesic around a Schwarzschild black hole. This calculation requires an accurate computation of the retarded scalar field produced by the moving charge; this is done numerically with the help of a fourth-order convergent finite-difference scheme formulated in the time domain. The calculation also requires a regularization procedure, because the retarded field is singular on the particle's world line; this is handled mode-by-mode via the mode-sum regularization scheme first introduced by Barack and Ori. This paper presents the numerical method, various numerical tests, and a samplemore » of results for mildly eccentric orbits as well as ''zoom-whirl'' orbits.« less

Relativistic spin-orbit interactions of photons and electrons

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smirnova, D. A.; Travin, V. M.; Bliokh, K. Y.; Nori, F.

2018-04-01

Laboratory optics, typically dealing with monochromatic light beams in a single reference frame, exhibits numerous spin-orbit interaction phenomena due to the coupling between the spin and orbital degrees of freedom of light. Similar phenomena appear for electrons and other spinning particles. Here we examine transformations of paraxial photon and relativistic-electron states carrying the spin and orbital angular momenta (AM) under the Lorentz boosts between different reference frames. We show that transverse boosts inevitably produce a rather nontrivial conversion from spin to orbital AM. The converted part is then separated between the intrinsic (vortex) and extrinsic (transverse shift or Hall effect) contributions. Although the spin, intrinsic-orbital, and extrinsic-orbital parts all point in different directions, such complex behavior is necessary for the proper Lorentz transformation of the total AM of the particle. Relativistic spin-orbit interactions can be important in scattering processes involving photons, electrons, and other relativistic spinning particles, as well as when studying light emitted by fast-moving bodies.

Development and Testing of UCLA's Electron Losses and Fields Investigation (ELFIN) Instrument Payload

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wilkins, C.; Bingley, L.; Angelopoulos, V.; Caron, R.; Cruce, P. R.; Chung, M.; Rowe, K.; Runov, A.; Liu, J.; Tsai, E.

2017-12-01

UCLA's Electron Losses and Fields Investigation (ELFIN) is a 3U+ CubeSat mission designed to study relativistic particle precipitation in Earth's polar regions from Low Earth Orbit. Upon its 2018 launch, ELFIN will aim to address an important open question in Space Physics: Are Electromagnetic Ion-Cyclotron (EMIC) waves the dominant source of pitch-angle scattering of high-energy radiation belt charged particles into Earth's atmosphere during storms and substorms? Previous studies have indicated these scattering events occur frequently during storms and substorms, and ELFIN will be the first mission to study this process in-situ.Paramount to ELFIN's success is its instrument suite consisting of an Energetic Particle Detector (EPD) and a Fluxgate Magnetometer (FGM). The EPD is comprised of two collimated solid-state detector stacks which will measure the incident flux of energetic electrons from 50 keV to 4 MeV and ions from 50 keV to 300 keV. The FGM is a 3-axis magnetic field sensor which will capture the local magnetic field and its variations at frequencies up to 5 Hz. The ELFIN spacecraft spins perpendicular to the geomagnetic field to provide 16 pitch-angle particle data sectors per revolution. Together these factors provide the capability to address the nature of radiation belt particle precipitation by pitch-angle scattering during storms and substorms.ELFIN's instrument development has progressed into the late Engineering Model (EM) phase and will soon enter Flight Model (FM) development. The instrument suite is currently being tested and calibrated at UCLA using a variety of methods including the use of radioactive sources and applied magnetics to simulate orbit conditions during spin sectoring. We present the methods and test results from instrument calibration and performance validation.

Dust grain resonant capture: A statistical study

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Marzari, F.; Vanzani, V.; Weidenschilling, S. J.

1993-01-01

A statistical approach, based on a large number of simultaneous numerical integrations, is adopted to study the capture in external mean motion resonances with the Earth of micron size dust grains perturbed by solar radiation and wind forces. We explore the dependence of the resonant capture phenomenon on the initial eccentricity e(sub 0) and perihelion argument w(sub 0) of the dust particle orbit. The intensity of both the resonant and dissipative (Poynting-Robertson and wind drag) perturbations strongly depends on the eccentricity of the particle while the perihelion argument determines, for low inclination, the mutual geometrical configuration of the particle's orbit with respect to the Earth's orbit. We present results for three j:j+1 commensurabilities (2:3, 4:5 and 6:7) and also for particle sizes s = 15, 30 microns. This study extends our previous work on the long term orbital evolution of single dust particles trapped into resonances with the Earth.

Development of the Kiel sensors for the EPD instrument on-board Solar Orbiter

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Martin, Cesar; Wimmer-Schweingruber, Robert F.; Kulkarni, Shrinivasrao R.; Tammen, Jan; Terasa, Christoph; Yu, Jia; Boden, Sebastian; Steinhagen, Jan; Panitzsch, Lauri; Ravanbakhsh, Ali; Boettcher, Stephan; Hamann, Christian; Seimetz, Lars; Rodriguez-Pacheco, Javier

2015-04-01

Solar Orbiter is ESA's next solar and heliospheric mission, planned for launch in January 2017 and approaching the Sun as close as 0.28 AU. One of the Solar Orbiter's scientific questions is "How do the solar eruptions produce energetic particle radiation that fills the heliosphere?". The Energetic Particle Detector (EPD) will provide key measurements for this and the other Solar Orbiter science objectives. The EPD suite consists of four sensors measuring electrons, protons, and ions from helium to iron, and operating at partly overlapping energy ranges from 2 keV/n up to 200 MeV/n. The EPD sensors are: SupraThermal Electrons and Protons(STEP), Suprathermal Ion Spectrograph (SIS), Electron Proton Telescope (EPT) and High Energy Telescope (HET). Besides, the EPD sensors share the Instrument Control Unit (ICU). The University of Kiel in Germany is responsible for developing the EPT-HET, STEP and SIS sensors. Here we present the development status of the EPT-HET and STEP sensors focusing on the activities planned for the current phase C. Those activities include results of the integration and EMC tests on the EPT-HET and STEP Engineering Model (EM) and the assembly of the Proto Qualification Model (PQM).

Development of the Kiel sensors for the EPD instrument on-board Solar Orbiter

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Martin, Cesar; Wimmer-Schweingruber, Robert F.; Kulkarni, Shrinivasrao R.; Tammen, Jan; Terasa, Christoph; Yu, Jia; Boden, Sebastian; Steinhagen, Jan; Panitzsch, Lauri; Ravanbakhsh, Ali; Boettcher, Stephan; Hamann, Christian; Seimetz, Lars; Rodriguez-Pacheco, Javier

2014-05-01

Solar Orbiter is ESA's next solar and heliospheric mission, planned for launch in January 2017 and approaching the Sun as close as 0.28 AU. One of the Solar Orbiter's scientific questions is "How do the solar eruptions produce energetic particle radiation that fills the heliosphere?". The Energetic Particle Detector (EPD) will provide key measurements for this and the other Solar Orbiter science objectives. The EPD suite consists of four sensors measuring electrons, protons, and ions from helium to iron, and operating at partly overlapping energy ranges from 2 keV/n up to 200 MeV/n. The EPD sensors are: SupraThermal Electrons and Protons(STEP), Suprathermal Ion Spectrograph (SIS), Electron Proton Telescope (EPT) and High Energy Telescope (HET). Besides, the EPD sensors share the Instrument Control Unit (ICU). The University of Kiel in Germany is responsible for developing the EPT-HET, STEP and SIS sensors. Here we present the development status of the EPT-HET and STEP sensors focusing on the activities planned for the current phase C. Those activities include results of the environmental tests on the EPT-HET Structural Thermal Model (STM) and the assembly of the Engineering Model (EM).

The analysis of influence of field of co-rotation on motion of submicronic particles in the Earth's plasmasphere

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yakovlev, A. B.

2018-05-01

The analysis of the motion of micro-particles with radii of several dozens of nanometers in the Earth's plasmasphere has confirmed that the earlier proved statement about conservation of the form for an orbit of a particle with constant electric charge which moves in superposition of the central gravitational field and the field of a magnetic dipole is true also for the case of a quasi-equilibrium electric charge. For a wide range of altitudes and the sizes of micro-particles other forces that act on the charged grain make considerably smaller impact on its motion. On the basis of numerical simulation it has been shown that for motion in an equatorial plane the field of co-rotation leads to very small monotonous growth of the semimajor axis and an orbit eccentricity, and for not-equatorial orbits there are fluctuations of the semimajor axis, an eccentricity and an inclination of an orbit with the period that considerably exceeds the period of orbital motion. In this paper, on the basis of the analysis of the canonical equations of the motion of a micro-particle in superposition of the central gravitational field and the field of co-rotation the explanation of the time dependences obtained numerically for the basic characteristics of an orbit of a micro-particle is proposed.

Determination of broken KAM surfaces for particle orbits in toroidal confinement systems

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

White, R. B.

2015-10-05

Here, the destruction of Kolmogorov–Arnold–Moser surfaces in a Hamiltonian system is an important topic in nonlinear dynamics, and in particular in the theory of particle orbits in toroidal magnetic confinement systems. Analytic models for transport due to mode-particle resonances are not sufficiently correct to give the effect of these resonances on transport. In this paper we compare three different methods for the detection of the loss of stability of orbits in the dynamics of charged particles in a toroidal magnetic confinement device in the presence of time dependent magnetic perturbations.

Compositional mapping of planetary moons by mass spectrometry of dust ejecta

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Postberg, Frank; Grün, Eberhard; Horanyi, Mihaly; Kempf, Sascha; Krüger, Harald; Schmidt, Jürgen; Spahn, Frank; Srama, Ralf; Sternovsky, Zoltan; Trieloff, Mario

2011-11-01

Classical methods to analyze the surface composition of atmosphereless planetary objects from an orbiter are IR and gamma ray spectroscopy and neutron backscatter measurements. The idea to analyze surface properties with an in-situ instrument has been proposed by Johnson et al. (1998). There, it was suggested to analyze Europa's thin atmosphere with an ion and neutral gas spectrometer. Since the atmospheric components are released by sputtering of the moon's surface, they provide a link to surface composition. Here we present an improved, complementary method to analyze rocky or icy dust particles as samples of planetary objects from which they were ejected. Such particles, generated by the ambient meteoroid bombardment that erodes the surface, are naturally present on all atmosphereless moons and planets. The planetary bodies are enshrouded in clouds of ballistic dust particles, which are characteristic samples of their surfaces. In situ mass spectroscopic analysis of these dust particles impacting onto a detector of an orbiting spacecraft reveals their composition. Recent instrumental developments and tests allow the chemical characterization of ice and dust particles encountered at speeds as low as 1 km/s and an accurate reconstruction of their trajectories. Depending on the sampling altitude, a dust trajectory sensor can trace back the origin of each analyzed grain with about 10 km accuracy at the surface. Since the detection rates are of the order of thousand per orbit, a spatially resolved mapping of the surface composition can be achieved. Certain bodies (e.g., Europa) with particularly dense dust clouds, could provide impact statistics that allow for compositional mapping even on single flybys. Dust impact velocities are in general sufficiently high at orbiters about planetary objects with a radius >1000 km and with only a thin or no atmosphere. In this work we focus on the scientific benefit of a dust spectrometer on a spacecraft orbiting Earth's Moon as well as Jupiter's Galilean satellites. This 'dust spectrometer' approach provides key chemical and isotopic constraints for varying provinces or geological formations on the surfaces, leading to better understanding of the body's geological evolution.

The simulation of the outer Oort cloud formation. The first giga-year of the evolution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dybczyński, P. A.; Leto, G.; Jakubík, M.; Paulech, T.; Neslušan, L.

2008-08-01

Aims: Considering a model of an initial disk of planetesimals that consists of 10 038 test particles, we simulate the formation of distant-comet reservoirs for the first 1 Gyr. Since only the outer part of the Oort cloud can be formed within this period, we analyse the efficiency of the formation process and describe approximately the structure of the part formed. Methods: The dynamical evolution of the particles is followed by numerical integration of their orbits. We consider the perturbations by four giant planets on their current orbits and with their current masses, in addition to perturbations by the Galactic tide and passing stars. Results: In our simulation, the population size of the outer Oort cloud reaches its maximum value at about 210 Myr. After a subsequent, rapid decrease, it becomes almost stable (with only a moderate decrease) from about 500 Myr. At 1 Gyr, the population size decreases to about 40% of its maximum value. The efficiency of the formation is low. Only about 0.3% of the particles studied still reside in the outer Oort cloud after 1 Gyr. The space density of particles in the comet cloud, beyond the heliocentric distance, r, of 25 000 AU is proportional to r-s, where s = 4.08 ± 0.34. From about 50 Myr to the end of the simulation, the orbits of the Oort cloud comets are not distributed randomly, but high galactic inclinations of the orbital planes are strongly dominant. Among all of the outer perturbers considered, this is most likely caused by the dominant, disk component of the Galactic tide. Movies (cf. caption to Fig. 1) are only available at http://www.aanda.org

The Kirillov picture for the Wigner particle

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gracia-Bondía, J. M.; Lizzi, F.; Várilly, J. C.; Vitale, P.

2018-06-01

We discuss the Kirillov method for massless Wigner particles, usually (mis)named ‘continuous spin’ or ‘infinite spin’ particles. These appear in Wigner’s classification of the unitary representations of the Poincaré group, labelled by elements of the enveloping algebra of the Poincaré Lie algebra. Now, the coadjoint orbit procedure introduced by Kirillov is a prelude to quantization. Here we exhibit for those particles the classical Casimir functions on phase space, in parallel to quantum representation theory. A good set of position coordinates are identified on the coadjoint orbits of the Wigner particles; the stabilizer subgroups and the symplectic structures of these orbits are also described. In memory of E C G Sudarshan.

Migration of small bodies and dust to the terrestrial planets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ipatov, Sergei I.; Mather, John C.

2005-02-01

We integrated the orbital evolution of 30,000 Jupiter-family comets, 1300 resonant asteroids, and 7000 asteroidal, trans-Neptunian, and cometary dust particles. For initial orbital elements of bodies close to those of Comets 2P, 10P, 44P, and 113P, a few objects got Earth-crossing orbits with semi-major axes a<2 AU and moved in such orbits for more than 1 Myr (up to tens or even hundreds of Myrs). Three objects (from 2P and 10P runs) even got inner-Earth orbits (with aphelion distance Q<0.983 AU) and Aten orbits for Myrs. Our results show that the trans-Neptunian belt can provide a significant portion of near-Earth objects, or the number of trans-Neptunian objects migrating inside the solar system can be smaller than it was earlier considered, or most of 1-km former trans-Neptunian objects that had got near-Earth object orbits for millions of years disintegrated into mini-comets and dust during a smaller part of their dynamical lifetimes. The probability of a collision of an asteroidal or cometary particle during its lifetime with the Earth was maximum at diameter d˜ 100 mum. At d<10 mum such probability for trans-Neptunian particles was less than that for asteroidal particles by less than an order of magnitude, so the fraction of trans-Neptunian particles with such diameter near Earth can be considerable.

Software package for modeling spin–orbit motion in storage rings

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zyuzin, D. V., E-mail: d.zyuzin@fz-juelich.de

2015-12-15

A software package providing a graphical user interface for computer experiments on the motion of charged particle beams in accelerators, as well as analysis of obtained data, is presented. The software package was tested in the framework of the international project on electric dipole moment measurement JEDI (Jülich Electric Dipole moment Investigations). The specific features of particle spin motion imply the requirement to use a cyclic accelerator (storage ring) consisting of electrostatic elements, which makes it possible to preserve horizontal polarization for a long time. Computer experiments study the dynamics of 10{sup 6}–10{sup 9} particles in a beam during 10{supmore » 9} turns in an accelerator (about 10{sup 12}–10{sup 15} integration steps for the equations of motion). For designing an optimal accelerator structure, a large number of computer experiments on polarized beam dynamics are required. The numerical core of the package is COSY Infinity, a program for modeling spin–orbit dynamics.« less

Towards an exact correlated orbital theory for electrons

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bartlett, Rodney J.

2009-12-01

The formal and computational attraction of effective one-particle theories like Hartree-Fock and density functional theory raise the question of how far such approaches can be taken to offer exact results for selected properties of electrons in atoms, molecules, and solids. Some properties can be exactly described within an effective one-particle theory, like principal ionization potentials and electron affinities. This fact can be used to develop equations for a correlated orbital theory (COT) that guarantees a correct one-particle energy spectrum. They are built upon a coupled-cluster based frequency independent self-energy operator presented here, which distinguishes the approach from Dyson theory. The COT also offers an alternative to Kohn-Sham density functional theory (DFT), whose objective is to represent the electronic density exactly as a single determinant, while paying less attention to the energy spectrum. For any estimate of two-electron terms COT offers a litmus test of its accuracy for principal Ip's and Ea's. This feature for approximating the COT equations is illustrated numerically.

New insights on the origin of the High Velocity Peaks in the Galactic Bulge

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fernández-Trincado, J. G.; Robin, A. C.; Moreno, E.; Pérez-Villegas, A.; Pichardo, B.

2017-12-01

We provide new insight on the origin of the cold high-V_{los} peaks (˜200 kms^{-1}) in the Milky Way bulge discovered in the APOGEE commissioning data (Nidever et al. 2012). Here we show that such kinematic behaviour present in the field regions towards the Galactic bulge is not likely associated with orbits that build the boxy/peanut (B/P) bulge. To this purpose, a new set of test particle simulations of a kinematically cold stellar disk evolved in a 3D steady-state barred Milky Way galactic potential, has been analysed in detail. Especially bar particles trapped into the bar are identified through the orbital Jacobi energy E_{J}, which allows us to identify the building blocks of the B/P feature and investigate their kinematic properties. Finally, we present preliminary results showing that the high-V_{los} features observed towards the Milky Way bulge are a natural consequence of a large-scale midplane particle structure, which is unlikely associated with the Galactic bar.

Particles motion on topological Lifshitz black holes in 3+1 dimensions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Olivares, Marco; Rojas, Germán; Vásquez, Yerko; Villanueva, J. R.

2013-09-01

In the present paper we study the causal structure of a topological black hole presented by Mann R.B. (in J. High Energy Phys. 06:075, 2009) by mean the standard Lagrangian procedure, which allow us analyze qualitatively the behavior of test particles using the effective potential. Then, the geodesic motion of massive and massless particles is obtained analytically. We find that confined orbits are forbidden on this spacetime, however radial photons can escape to infinity in an infinite proper time but in a finite coordinate time, this correspond to an interesting and novel result.

Significance of large Neptune-crossing objects for terrestrial catastrophism

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Steel, D.

2014-07-01

Over the past few decades a substantial number of objects have been discovered on orbits beyond Neptune (i.e. transneptunian objects, in various sub-classes), crossing Neptune's orbit (here: the Neptune-crossers of interest), and also others crossing the orbits of any or all of the jovian planets (i.e. Centaurs). These range in size from tens of kilometres across to hundreds of kilometres and more. Although formally classified as minor planets/asteroids, plus a few dwarf planets, the physical reality of these objects is that they are giant comets. That is, they seem to be composed largely of ices and if they were to enter the inner solar system then they would demonstrate the commonly-observed behaviour of comets such as outgassing, and the formation of ion and dust tails. Commonly-observed cometary behaviour, however, also includes fragmentation events and sometimes complete disintegration for no apparent cause (such as tidal disruption or thermal stresses). One might therefore wonder what the implications would be for life on Earth and terrestrial catastrophism if and when one of these objects, say 100 to 500 kilometres in size, dropped into a short-period orbit with perihelion distance (q) less than 1 au; or even q ˜ 5 au, given what Jupiter's gravity might do to it. How often might such events occur? One way to address that question would be to conduct numerical integrations of suitable test orbits and identify how often small-q orbits result, but this comes up against the problem of identifying very-infrequent events (with annual probabilities per object perhaps of order 10^{-12}-10^{-10}. For example, Emel'yanenko et al. [1] recently followed test orbits for approximately 5 × 10^{14} particle-years (8,925 objects with 200 clones of each, for 300 Myr) but because these were selected on the basis of initial values of q only below 36 (rather than ˜30) au many were not immediately Neptune-crossers; however, many test particles did eventually migrate into small-q orbits, including falling into the Sun. Instead of the demanding computational requirements of numerical integrations I have instead employed a statistical technique which involves: (i) The probability of some test orbit encountering a perturbing planet (Neptune, here); and (ii) The relative probabilities of new orbital elements (in particular q<1 au or q<5 au) resulting from such encounters. This technique I introduced in a paper presented at ACM III in Uppsala in 1989 [2] but I have not used it much in the quarter-century since then. I have presented elsewhere [3] some initial results from running this technique on a handful of known Neptune-crossing orbits, the results justifying the probabilities of order 10^{-12}-10^{-10} per annum that I mentioned above. Here I extend the range of computations and the variety of test orbits sampled in order to try to build a picture of how often the inner solar system might be subject to an incursion by a gigantic fragmenting comet, with obvious repercussions for all the terrestrial planets but especially for the evolution of life on Earth.

Testing of advanced technique for linear lattice and closed orbit correction by modeling its application for iota ring at Fermilab

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Romanov, A.

Many modern and most future accelerators rely on precise configuration of lattice and trajectory. The Integrable Optics Test Accelerator (IOTA) at Fermilab that is coming to final stages of construction will be used to test advanced approaches of control over particles dynamics. Various experiments planned at IOTA require high flexibility of lattice configuration as well as high precision of lattice and closed orbit control. Dense element placement does not allow to have ideal configuration of diagnostics and correctors for all planned experiments. To overcome this limitations advanced method of lattice an beneficial for other machines. Developed algorithm is based onmore » LOCO approach, extended with various sets of other experimental data, such as dispersion, BPM BPM phase advances, beam shape information from synchrotron light monitors, responses of closed orbit bumps to variations of focusing elements and other. Extensive modeling of corrections for a big number of random seed errors is used to illustrate benefits from developed approach.« less

Rings of earth. [orbiting bands of space debris

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Goldstein, Richard M.; Randolph, L. W.

1992-01-01

Small particles moving at an orbital velocity of 7.6 kilometers per second can present a considerable hazard to human activity in space. For astronauts outside of the protective shielding of their space vehicles, such particles can be lethal. The powerful radar at NASA's Goldstone Deep Communications Complex was used to monitor such orbital debris. This radar can detect metallic objects as small as 1.8 mm in diameter at 600 km altitude. The results of the preliminary survey show a flux (at 600 km altitude) of 6.4 objects per square kilometer per day of equivalent size of 1.8 mm or larger. Forty percent of the observed particles appear to be concentrated into two orbits. An orbital ring with the same inclination as the radar (35.1 degrees) is suggested. However, an orbital band with a much higher inclination (66 degrees) is also a possibility.

Results in orbital evolution of objects in the geosynchronous region

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Friesen, Larry Jay; Jackson, Albert A., IV; Zook, Herbert A.; Kessler, Donald J.

1990-01-01

The orbital evolution of objects at or near geosynchronous orbit (GEO) has been simulated to investigate possible hazards to working geosynchronous satellites. Orbits of both large satellites and small particles have been simulated, subject to perturbations by nonspherical geopotential terms, lunar and solar gravity, and solar radiation pressure. Large satellites in initially circular orbits show an expected cycle of inclination change driven by lunar and solar gravity, but very little altitude change. They thus have little chance of colliding with objects at other altitudes. However, if such a satellite is disrupted, debris can reach thousands of kilometers above or below the initial satellite altitude. Small particles in GEO experience two cycles driven by solar radiation: an expected eccentricity cycle and an inclination cycle not expected. Particles generated by GEO insertion stage solid rocket motors typically hit the earth or escape promptly; a small fraction appear to remain in persistent orbits.

Transport dynamics calculated under the full Mie scattering theory for micron and submicron lunar ejecta in selenocentric, cislunar, and geocentric space

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hyde, T. W.; Alexander, W. M.

1989-01-01

In 1967, Lunar Explorer 35 was launched from the earth and placed into a stable orbit around the moon. The data from the dust particle experiment on this spacecraft were essentially continuous over a 5-yr period from the time of insertion in lunar orbit. Analysis of this data has been interpreted to show that micron-sized lunar ejecta leave the moon and traverse through selenocentric and cislunar space and obtain either interplanetary/heliocentric orbits or intercept the earth's magnetosphere and move into geocentric orbits. Extensive studies of the orbital trajectories of lunar particles in this size range have now been conducted that include a calculation of the solar radiation force using the full Mie scattering theory. A significant flux of particles with radii less than 0.1 micron are found to intercept the earth's magnetopause surface. This flux is shown to be strongly dependent upon both the particle's density and its index of refraction.

Charged Particle In-Situ Measurements in the Inner Saturnian Magnetosphere during the "grand Finale" of Cassini in 2016/2017

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Krupp, N.; Roussos, E.; Mitchell, D. G.; Kollmann, P.; Paranicas, C.; Krimigis, S. M.; Hedman, M. M.; Dougherty, M. K.

2017-12-01

After 13 years in orbit around Saturn Cassini came to an end on 15 September 2017. The last phase of the mission was called the "Grand Finale" and consisted of high latitude orbits crossing the F-Ring 22 times between Nov 2016 and April 2017 followed by the so called proximal orbits passing the ring plane inside the D-ring. The roughly 7-day long F-ring orbits with periapsis at nearly the same local time allowed to study temporal variations of the particle distributions in the inner part of Saturn's magnetosphere while during the proximal orbits Cassini measured for the first time the charged particle environment in-situ inside the D-ring up to 2500 km above the 1-bar cloud level of the planet. In this presentation first results of the Low Energy Magnetospheric Measurement System LEMMS, part of the Magnetosphere Imaging Instrument MIMI during the "Grand Finale" will be summarized in detail, including the discovery of MeV particles close to Saturn, higher intensities of charged particles when Cassini was magnetically connected to the D-Ring, sharp dropouts at the inner edge of the D-ring as well as unexpected features and asymmetries in the particle measurements related to newly discovered ring arcs in the inner magnetosphere.

Testing of the on-board attitude determination and control algorithms for SAMPEX

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mccullough, Jon D.; Flatley, Thomas W.; Henretty, Debra A.; Markley, F. Landis; San, Josephine K.

1993-01-01

Algorithms for on-board attitude determination and control of the Solar, Anomalous, and Magnetospheric Particle Explorer (SAMPEX) have been expanded to include a constant gain Kalman filter for the spacecraft angular momentum, pulse width modulation for the reaction wheel command, an algorithm to avoid pointing the Heavy Ion Large Telescope (HILT) instrument boresight along the spacecraft velocity vector, and the addition of digital sun sensor (DSS) failure detection logic. These improved algorithms were tested in a closed-loop environment for three orbit geometries, one with the sun perpendicular to the orbit plane, and two with the sun near the orbit plane - at Autumnal Equinox and at Winter Solstice. The closed-loop simulator was enhanced and used as a truth model for the control systems' performance evaluation and sensor/actuator contingency analysis. The simulations were performed on a VAX 8830 using a prototype version of the on-board software.

Radiation forces on small particles in the solar system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Burns, J. A.; Lamy, P. L.; Soter, S.

1979-01-01

Solar radiation forces on small particles in the solar system are examined, and the resulting orbital evolution of interplanetary and circumplanetary dust is considered. An expression is derived for the effects of radiation pressure and Poynting-Robertson drag on small, spherical particles using the energy and momentum transformation laws of special relativity, and numerical examples are presented to illustrate that radiation pressure and Poynting-Robertson drag are only important for particles within a narrow size range. The orbital consequences of these radiation forces are considered both for heliocentric and planetocentric orbiting particles, and the coupling between particle sizes and dynamics is discussed. A qualitative derivation is presented for the differential Doppler effect, which is due to the differential Doppler shifting of radiation from approaching and receding solar hemispheres, and the Yarkovsky effect, which is important for rotating meter-to kilometer-sized particles, is briefly described.

A NEW GUI FOR GLOBAL ORBIT CORRECTION AT THE ALS USING MATLAB

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Pachikara, J.; Portmann, G.

2007-01-01

Orbit correction is a vital procedure at particle accelerators around the world. The orbit correction routine currently used at the Advanced Light Source (ALS) is a bit cumbersome and a new Graphical User Interface (GUI) has been developed using MATLAB. The correction algorithm uses a singular value decomposition method for calculating the required corrector magnet changes for correcting the orbit. The application has been successfully tested at the ALS. The GUI display provided important information regarding the orbit including the orbit errors before and after correction, the amount of corrector magnet strength change, and the standard deviation of the orbitmore » error with respect to the number of singular values used. The use of more singular values resulted in better correction of the orbit error but at the expense of enormous corrector magnet strength changes. The results showed an inverse relationship between the peak-to-peak values of the orbit error and the number of singular values used. The GUI interface helps the ALS physicists and operators understand the specifi c behavior of the orbit. The application is convenient to use and is a substantial improvement over the previous orbit correction routine in terms of user friendliness and compactness.« less

Backgrounds, radiation damage, and spacecraft orbits

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grant, Catherine E.; Miller, Eric D.; Bautz, Mark W.

2017-08-01

The scientific utility of any space-based observatory can be limited by the on-orbit charged particle background and the radiation-induced damage. All existing and proposed missions have had to make choices about orbit selection, trading off the radiation environment against other factors. We present simulations from ESA’s SPace ENVironment Information System (SPENVIS) of the radiation environment for spacecraft in a variety of orbits, from Low Earth Orbit (LEO) at multiple inclinations to High Earth Orbit (HEO) to Earth-Sun L2 orbit. We summarize how different orbits change the charged particle background and the radiation damage to the instrument. We also discuss the limitations of SPENVIS simulations, particularly outside the Earth’s trapped radiation and point to new resources attempting to address those limitations.

The charged particle radiation environment for AXAF

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Joy, Marshall

1990-01-01

The Advanced X Ray Astrophysics Facility (AXAF) will be subjected to several sources of charged particle radiation during its 15-year orbital lifetime: geomagnetically-trapped electrons and protons, galactic cosmic ray particles, and solar flare events. These radiation levels are presented for the AXAF orbit for use in the design of the observatory's science instruments.

Orbital-differentiated coherence-incoherence crossover identified by photoemission spectroscopy in LiFeAs

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Miao, H.; Yin, Z. P.; Wu, S. F.

In the iron-based superconductors (FeSCs), orbital differentiation is an important phenomenon, whereby correlations stronger on the d xy orbital than on the d xz/d yz orbital yield quasi-particles with d xy orbital character having larger mass renormalization and abnormal temperature evolution. However, the physical origin of this orbital di erentiation is debated between the Hund's coupling induced unbinding of spin and orbital degrees of freedom and the Hubbard interaction instigated orbital selective Mott transition. Here we use angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy to identify an orbital-dependent correlation-induced quasi-particle (QP) anomaly in LiFeAs. Lastly, the excellent agreement between our photoemission measurements and first-principlesmore » many-body theory calculations shows that the orbital-differentiated QP lifetime anomalies in LiFeAs are controlled by the Hund's coupling.« less

Orbital-differentiated coherence-incoherence crossover identified by photoemission spectroscopy in LiFeAs

DOE PAGES

Miao, H.; Yin, Z. P.; Wu, S. F.; ...

2016-11-14

In the iron-based superconductors (FeSCs), orbital differentiation is an important phenomenon, whereby correlations stronger on the d xy orbital than on the d xz/d yz orbital yield quasi-particles with d xy orbital character having larger mass renormalization and abnormal temperature evolution. However, the physical origin of this orbital di erentiation is debated between the Hund's coupling induced unbinding of spin and orbital degrees of freedom and the Hubbard interaction instigated orbital selective Mott transition. Here we use angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy to identify an orbital-dependent correlation-induced quasi-particle (QP) anomaly in LiFeAs. Lastly, the excellent agreement between our photoemission measurements and first-principlesmore » many-body theory calculations shows that the orbital-differentiated QP lifetime anomalies in LiFeAs are controlled by the Hund's coupling.« less

Orbital debris and meteoroids: Results from retrieved spacecraft surfaces

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mandeville, J. C.

1993-08-01

Near-Earth space contains natural and man-made particles, whose size distribution ranges from submicron sized particles to cm sized objects. This environment causes a grave threat to space missions, mainly for future manned or long duration missions. Several experiments devoted to the study of this environment have been recently retrieved from space. Among them several were located on the NASA Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF) and on the Russian MIR Space Station. Evaluation of hypervelocity impact features gives valuable information on size distribution of small dust particles present in low Earth orbit. Chemical identification of projectile remnants is possible in many instances, thus allowing a discrimination between extraterrestrial particles and man-made orbital debris. A preliminary comparison of flight data with current modeling of meteoroids and space debris shows a fair agreement. However impact of particles identified as space debris on the trailing side of LDEF, not predicted by the models, could be the result of space debris in highly excentric orbits, probably associated with GTO objects.

Summary of Orbital Debris Workshop

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kessler, D. J.

1982-01-01

An Orbital Debris Workshop was conducted in July 1982. The working groups established were related to measurements of large particles, modeling of large particles, measurements of small particles, spacecraft hazard and shielding requirements, and space object management. The results of the Orbital Debris Workshop reaffirm the need for research to better understand the character of orbital debris, its effects on future spacecraft, and the related requirements for policy. A clear charter is required for this research to receive the necessary support, focus, and coordination. It was recommended that NASA assume the role of lead agency. The first task is to develop an overall plan with both Department of Defense and the North American Aerospace Defense Command participation.

Solar particle events observed at Mars: dosimetry measurements and model calculations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cleghorn, T.; Saganti, P.; Zeitlin, C.; Cucinotta, F.

The first solar particle events from a Martian orbit are observed with the MARIE (Martian Radiation Environment Experiment) on the 2001 Mars Odyssey space -craft that is currently in orbit and collecting the mapping data of the red planet. These solar particle events observed at Mars during March and April 2002, are correlated with the GOES-8 and ACE satellite data from the same time period at Earth orbits. Dosimetry measurements for the Mars orbit from the period of March 13t h through April 29t h . Particle count rate and the corresponding dose rate enhancements were observed on March 16t h through 20t h and on April 22n d corresponding to solar particle events that were observed at Earth orbit on March 16t h through 21s t and beginning on April 21s t respectively. The model calculations with the HZETRN (High Z=atomic number and high Energy Transport) code estimated the background GCR (Galactic Cosmic Rays) dose rates. The dose rates observed by the MARIE instrument are within 10% of the model calculations. Dosimetry measurements and model calculation will be presented.

Space Debris Symposium (A6.) Measurements and Space Surveillance (1.): Measurements of the Small Particle Debris Cloud from the 11 January, 2007 Chinese Anti-satellite Test

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Matney, Mark J.; Stansbery, Eugene; J.-C Liou; Stokely, Christopher; Horstman, Matthew; Whitlock, David

2008-01-01

On January 11, 2007, the Chinese military conducted a test of an anti-satellite (ASAT) system, destroying their own Fengyun-1C spacecraft with an interceptor missile. The resulting hypervelocity collision created an unprecedented number of tracked debris - more than 2500 objects. These objects represent only those large enough for the US Space Surveillance Network (SSN) to track - typically objects larger than about 5-10 cm in diameter. There are expected to be even more debris objects at sizes too small to be seen and tracked by the SSN. Because of the altitude of the target satellite (865 x 845 km orbit), many of the debris are expected to have long orbital lifetimes and contribute to the orbital debris environment for decades to come. In the days and weeks following the ASAT test, NASA was able to use Lincoln Laboratory s Haystack radar on several occasions to observe portions of the ASAT debris cloud. Haystack has the capability of detecting objects down to less than one centimeter in diameter, and a large number of centimeter-sized particles corresponding to the ASAT cloud were clearly seen in the data. While Haystack cannot track these objects, the statistical sampling procedures NASA uses can give an accurate statistical picture of the characteristics of the debris from a breakup event. For years computer models based on data from ground hypervelocity collision tests (e.g., the SOCIT test) and orbital collision experiments (e.g., the P-78 and Delta-180 on-orbit collisions) have been used to predict the extent and characteristics of such hypervelocity collision debris clouds, but until now there have not been good ways to verify these models in the centimeter size regime. It is believed that unplanned collisions of objects in space similar to ASAT tests will drive the long-term future evolution of the debris environment in near-Earth space. Therefore, the Chinese ASAT test provides an excellent opportunity to test the models used to predict the future debris environment. For this study, Haystack detection events are compared to model predictions to test the model assumptions, including debris size distribution, velocity distribution, and assumptions about momentum transfer between the target and interceptor. In this paper we will present the results of these and other measurements on the size and extent of collisional breakup debris clouds.

A Semi-Empirical Model for Forecasting Relativistic Electrons at Geostationary Orbit

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lyatsky, Wladislaw; Khazanov, George V.

2008-01-01

We developed a new prediction model for forecasting relativistic (>2MeV) electrons, which provides a VERY HIGH correlation between predicted and actually measured electron fluxes at geostationary orbit. This model implies the multi-step particle acceleration and is based on numerical integrating two linked continuity equations for primarily accelerated particles and relativistic electrons. The model includes a source and losses, and used solar wind data as only input parameters. We used the coupling function which is a best-fit combination of solar wind/Interplanetary Magnetic Field parameters, responsible for the generation of geomagnetic activity, as a source. The loss function was derived from experimental data. We tested the model for four year period 2004-2007. The correlation coefficient between predicted and actual values of the electron fluxes for whole four year period as well as for each of these years is about 0.9. The high and stable correlation between the computed and actual electron fluxes shows that the reliable forecasting these electrons at geostationary orbit is possible. The correlation coefficient between predicted and actual electron fluxes is stable and incredibly high.

NASA Orbital Debris Large-Object Baseline Population in ORDEM 3.0

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Krisco, Paula H.; Vavrin, A. B.; Anz-Meador, P. D.

2013-01-01

The NASA Orbital Debris Program Office (ODPO) has created and validated high fidelity populations of the debris environment for the latest Orbital Debris Engineering Model (ORDEM 3.0). Though the model includes fluxes of objects 10 um and larger, this paper considers particle fluxes for 1 cm and larger debris objects from low Earth orbit (LEO) through Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO). These are validated by several reliable radar observations through the Space Surveillance Network (SSN), Haystack, and HAX radars. ORDEM 3.0 populations were designed for the purpose of assisting, debris researchers and sensor developers in planning and testing. This environment includes a background derived from the LEO-to-GEO ENvironment Debris evolutionary model (LEGEND) with a Bayesian rescaling as well as specific events such as the FY-1C anti-satellite test, the Iridium 33/Cosmos 2251 accidental collision, and the Soviet/Russian Radar Ocean Reconnaissance Satellite (RORSAT) sodium-potassium droplet releases. The environment described in this paper is the most realistic orbital debris population larger than 1 cm, to date. We describe derivations of the background population and added specific populations. We present sample validation charts of our 1 cm and larger LEO population against Space Surveillance Network (SSN), Haystack, and HAX radar measurements.

Characterizing Secondary Debris Impact Ejecta

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schonberg, W. P.

1999-01-01

All spacecraft in low-Earth orbit are subject to high-speed impacts by meteoroids and orbital debris particles. These impacts can damage flight-critical systems which can in turn lead to catastrophic failure of the spacecraft. Therefore, the design of a spacecraft for an Earth-orbiting mission must take into account the possibility of such impacts and their effects on the spacecraft structure and on all of its exposed subsystem components. In addition to threatening the operation of the spacecraft itself, on-orbit impacts also generate a significant amount of ricochet particles. These high-speed particles can destroy critical external spacecraft subsystem and also increase the contamination of the orbital environment. This report presents a summary of the work performed towards the development of an empirical model that characterizes the secondary ejecta created by a high-speed impacta on a typical aerospace structural surface.

An Unscented Kalman-Particle Hybrid Filter for Space Object Tracking

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Raihan A. V, Dilshad; Chakravorty, Suman

2018-03-01

Optimal and consistent estimation of the state of space objects is pivotal to surveillance and tracking applications. However, probabilistic estimation of space objects is made difficult by the non-Gaussianity and nonlinearity associated with orbital mechanics. In this paper, we present an unscented Kalman-particle hybrid filtering framework for recursive Bayesian estimation of space objects. The hybrid filtering scheme is designed to provide accurate and consistent estimates when measurements are sparse without incurring a large computational cost. It employs an unscented Kalman filter (UKF) for estimation when measurements are available. When the target is outside the field of view (FOV) of the sensor, it updates the state probability density function (PDF) via a sequential Monte Carlo method. The hybrid filter addresses the problem of particle depletion through a suitably designed filter transition scheme. To assess the performance of the hybrid filtering approach, we consider two test cases of space objects that are assumed to undergo full three dimensional orbital motion under the effects of J 2 and atmospheric drag perturbations. It is demonstrated that the hybrid filters can furnish fast, accurate and consistent estimates outperforming standard UKF and particle filter (PF) implementations.

Orbital debris and meteoroid population as estimated from LDEF impact data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zhang, Jingchang; Kessler, Donald J.

1995-01-01

Examination of LDEF's various surfaces shows numerous craters and holes due to hypervelocity impacts of meteoroids and man-made orbital debris. In this paper, the crater numbers as reported by Humes have been analyzed in an effort to understand the orbital debris and natural meteoroid environment in LEO. To determine the fraction of man-made to natural impacts, the side to top ratio of impacts and results of the Chemistry of Micrometeoroids Experiment are used. For craters in the 100 micron to 500 micron size range, about 25 percent to 30 percent of the impacts on the forward-facing surfaces and about 10 percent of the impacts on the trailing surfaces were estimated due to man-made orbital debris. A technique has been developed to convert crater numbers to particle fluxes, taking the fact into account that the distributions of impact velocity and incidence angle vary over the different surfaces of LDEF, as well as the ratio of the surface area flux to the cross-sectional area flux. Applying this technique, Humes' data concerning craters with limiting lip diameters of 100 micron, 200 micron and 500 micron have been converted into orbital debris and meteoroid fluxes ranging from about 20 micron to 200 micron particle diameter. The results exhibit good agreement with orbital debris model and meteoroid model. The converted meteoroid flux is slightly larger than Grun's model (by 40 to 70 percent). The converted orbital debris flux is slightly lower than Kessler's model for particle diameter smaller than about 30 micron and slightly larger than the model for particle diameter larger than about 40 micron. Taking also into account the IDE data point at about 0.8 micron particle diameter, it suggests to change the slope log (flux) versus log (diameter) of orbital debris flux in the 1 micron to 100 micron particle diameter range from 2.5 to 1.9.

Results of Two-Stage Light-Gas Gun Development Efforts and Hypervelocity Impact Tests of Advanced Thermal Protection Materials

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cornelison, C. J.; Watts, Eric T.

1998-01-01

Gun development efforts to increase the launching capabilities of the NASA Ames 0.5-inch two-stage light-gas gun have been investigated. A gun performance simulation code was used to guide initial parametric variations and hardware modifications, in order to increase the projectile impact velocity capability to 8 km/s, while maintaining acceptable levels of gun barrel erosion and gun component stresses. Concurrent with this facility development effort, a hypervelocity impact testing series in support of the X-33/RLV program was performed in collaboration with Rockwell International. Specifically, advanced thermal protection system materials were impacted with aluminum spheres to simulate impacts with on-orbit space debris. Materials tested included AETB-8, AETB-12, AETB-20, and SIRCA-25 tiles, tailorable advanced blanket insulation (TABI), and high temperature AFRSI (HTA). The ballistic limit for several Thermal Protection System (TPS) configurations was investigated to determine particle sizes which cause threshold TPS/structure penetration. Crater depth in tiles was measured as a function of impact particle size. The relationship between coating type and crater morphology was also explored. Data obtained during this test series was used to perform a preliminary analysis of the risks to a typical orbital vehicle from the meteoroid and space debris environment.

A periodic table for black hole orbits

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Levin, Janna; Institute for Strings, Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics, Columbia University, New York, New York 10027; Perez-Giz, Gabe

2008-05-15

Understanding the dynamics around rotating black holes is imperative to the success of future gravitational wave observatories. Although integrable in principle, test-particle orbits in the Kerr spacetime can also be elaborate, and while they have been studied extensively, classifying their general properties has been a challenge. This is the first in a series of papers that adopts a dynamical systems approach to the study of Kerr orbits, beginning with equatorial orbits. We define a taxonomy of orbits that hinges on a correspondence between periodic orbits and rational numbers. The taxonomy defines the entire dynamics, including aperiodic motion, since every orbitmore » is in or near the periodic set. A remarkable implication of this periodic orbit taxonomy is that the simple precessing ellipse familiar from planetary orbits is not allowed in the strong-field regime. Instead, eccentric orbits trace out precessions of multileaf clovers in the final stages of inspiral. Furthermore, for any black hole, there is some point in the strong-field regime past which zoom-whirl behavior becomes unavoidable. Finally, we sketch the potential application of the taxonomy to problems of astrophysical interest, in particular its utility for computationally intensive gravitational wave calculations.« less

Secular resonances between bodies on close orbits II: prograde and retrograde orbits for irregular satellites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Daohai; Christou, Apostolos A.

2017-09-01

In extending the analysis of the four secular resonances between close orbits in Li and Christou (Celest Mech Dyn Astron 125:133-160, 2016) (Paper I), we generalise the semianalytical model so that it applies to both prograde and retrograde orbits with a one-to-one map between the resonances in the two regimes. We propose the general form of the critical angle to be a linear combination of apsidal and nodal differences between the two orbits b_1 Δ π + b_2 Δ Ω, forming a collection of secular resonances in which the ones studied in Paper I are among the strongest. Test of the model in the orbital vicinity of massive satellites with physical and orbital parameters similar to those of the irregular satellites Himalia at Jupiter and Phoebe at Saturn shows that {>}20 and {>}40% of phase space is affected by these resonances, respectively. The survivability of the resonances is confirmed using numerical integration of the full Newtonian equations of motion. We observe that the lowest order resonances with b_1+|b_2|≤ 3 persist, while even higher-order resonances, up to b_1+|b_2|≥ 7, survive. Depending on the mass, between 10 and 60% of the integrated test particles are captured in these secular resonances, in agreement with the phase space analysis in the semianalytical model.

Rational orbits around charged black holes

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Misra, Vedant; Levin, Janna; Institute for Strings, Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics, Columbia University, New York, New York 10027

2010-10-15

We show that all eccentric timelike orbits in Reissner-Nordstroem spacetime can be classified using a taxonomy that draws upon an isomorphism between periodic orbits and the set of rational numbers. By virtue of the fact that the rationals are dense, the taxonomy can be used to approximate aperiodic orbits with periodic orbits. This may help reduce computational overhead for calculations in gravitational wave astronomy. Our dynamical systems approach enables us to study orbits for both charged and uncharged particles in spite of the fact that charged particle orbits around a charged black hole do not admit a simple one-dimensional effectivemore » potential description. Finally, we show that comparing periodic orbits in the Reissner-Nordstroem and Schwarzschild geometries enables us to distinguish charged and uncharged spacetimes by looking only at the orbital dynamics.« less

Conservative corrections to the innermost stable circular orbit (ISCO) of a Kerr black hole: A new gauge-invariant post-Newtonian ISCO condition, and the ISCO shift due to test-particle spin and the gravitational self-force

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Favata, Marc

2011-01-15

The innermost stable circular orbit (ISCO) delimits the transition from circular orbits to those that plunge into a black hole. In the test-mass limit, well-defined ISCO conditions exist for the Kerr and Schwarzschild spacetimes. In the finite-mass case, there are a large variety of ways to define an ISCO in a post-Newtonian (PN) context. Here I generalize the gauge-invariant ISCO condition of Blanchet and Iyer [Classical Quantum Gravity 20, 755 (2003)] to the case of spinning (nonprecessing) binaries. The Blanchet-Iyer ISCO condition has two desirable and unexpected properties: (1) it exactly reproduces the Schwarzschild ISCO in the test-mass limit, andmore » (2) it accurately approximates the recently calculated shift in the Schwarzschild ISCO frequency due to the conservative-piece of the gravitational self-force [L. Barack and N. Sago, Phys. Rev. Lett. 102, 191101 (2009)]. The generalization of this ISCO condition to spinning binaries has the property that it also exactly reproduces the Kerr ISCO in the test-mass limit (up to the order at which PN spin corrections are currently known). The shift in the ISCO due to the spin of the test-particle is also calculated. Remarkably, the gauge-invariant PN ISCO condition exactly reproduces the ISCO shift predicted by the Papapetrou equations for a fully relativistic spinning particle. It is surprising that an analysis of the stability of the standard PN equations of motion is able (without any form of 'resummation') to accurately describe strong-field effects of the Kerr spacetime. The ISCO frequency shift due to the conservative self-force in Kerr is also calculated from this new ISCO condition, as well as from the effective-one-body Hamiltonian of Barausse and Buonanno [Phys. Rev. D 81, 084024 (2010)]. These results serve as a useful point of comparison for future gravitational self-force calculations in the Kerr spacetime.« less

Numerical simulation of runaway electrons: 3-D effects on synchrotron radiation and impurity-based runaway current dissipation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

del-Castillo-Negrete, D.; Carbajal, L.; Spong, D.; Izzo, V.

2018-05-01

Numerical simulations of runaway electrons (REs) with a particular emphasis on orbit dependent effects in 3-D magnetic fields are presented. The simulations were performed using the recently developed Kinetic Orbit Runaway electron Code (KORC) that computes the full-orbit relativistic dynamics in prescribed electric and magnetic fields including radiation damping and collisions. The two main problems of interest are synchrotron radiation and impurity-based RE dissipation. Synchrotron radiation is studied in axisymmetric fields and in 3-D magnetic configurations exhibiting magnetic islands and stochasticity. For passing particles in axisymmetric fields, neglecting orbit effects might underestimate or overestimate the total radiation power depending on the direction of the radial shift of the drift orbits. For trapped particles, the spatial distribution of synchrotron radiation exhibits localized "hot" spots at the tips of the banana orbits. In general, the radiation power per particle for trapped particles is higher than the power emitted by passing particles. The spatial distribution of synchrotron radiation in stochastic magnetic fields, obtained using the MHD code NIMROD, is strongly influenced by the presence of magnetic islands. 3-D magnetic fields also introduce a toroidal dependence on the synchrotron spectra, and neglecting orbit effects underestimates the total radiation power. In the presence of magnetic islands, the radiation damping of trapped particles is larger than the radiation damping of passing particles. Results modeling synchrotron emission by RE in DIII-D quiescent plasmas are also presented. The computation uses EFIT reconstructed magnetic fields and RE energy distributions fitted to the experimental measurements. Qualitative agreement is observed between the numerical simulations and the experiments for simplified RE pitch angle distributions. However, it is noted that to achieve quantitative agreement, it is necessary to use pitch angle distributions that depart from simplified 2-D Fokker-Planck equilibria. Finally, using the guiding center orbit model (KORC-GC), a preliminary study of pellet mitigated discharges in DIII-D is presented. The dependence of RE energy decay and current dissipation on initial energy and ionization levels of neon impurities is studied. The computed decay rates are within the range of experimental observations.

Analysis of orbital perturbations acting on objects in orbits near geosynchronous earth orbit

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Friesen, Larry J.; Jackson, Albert A., IV; Zook, Herbert A.; Kessler, Donald J.

1992-01-01

The paper presents a numerical investigation of orbital evolution for objects started in GEO or in orbits near GEO in order to study potential orbital debris problems in this region. Perturbations simulated include nonspherical terms in the earth's geopotential field, lunar and solar gravity, and solar radiation pressure. Objects simulated include large satellites, for which solar radiation pressure is insignificant, and small particles, for which solar radiation pressure is an important force. Results for large satellites are largely in agreement with previous GEO studies that used classical perturbation techniques. The orbit plane of GEO satellites placed in a stable plane orbit inclined approximately 7.3 deg to the equator experience very little precession, remaining always within 1.2 percent of their initial orientation. Solar radiation pressure generates two major effects on small particles: an orbital eccentricity oscillation anticipated from previous research, and an oscillation in orbital inclination.

Simulation of the alpha particle heating and the helium ash source in an International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor-like tokamak with an internal transport barrier

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ye, Lei, E-mail: lye@ipp.ac.cn; Guo, Wenfeng; Xiao, Xiaotao

2014-12-15

A guiding center orbit following code, which incorporates a set of non-singular coordinates for orbit integration, was developed and applied to investigate the alpha particle heating in an ITER-like tokamak with an internal transport barrier. It is found that a relatively large q (safety factor) value can significantly broaden the alpha heating profile in comparison with the local heating approximation; this broadening is due to the finite orbit width effects; when the orbit width is much smaller than the scale length of the alpha particle source profile, the heating profile agrees with the source profile, otherwise, the heating profile canmore » be significantly broadened. It is also found that the stagnation particles move to the magnetic axis during the slowing-down process, thus the effect of stagnation orbits is not beneficial to the helium ash removal. The source profile of helium ash is broadened in comparison with the alpha source profile, which is similar to the heating profile.« less

Particle Sizer

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1987-01-01

Microspheres are tiny plastic beads that represent the first commercial products manufactured in orbit. An example of how they are used is a new aerodynamic particle sizer designated APS 33B produced by TSI Incorporated. TSI purchased the microspheres from the National Bureau of Standards which certified their exact size and the company uses them in calibration of the APS 33B* instrument, latest in a line of TSI systems for generating counting and weighing minute particles of submicron size. Instruments are used for evaluating air pollution control devices, quantifying environments, meteorological research, testing filters, inhalation, toxicology and other areas where generation or analysis of small airborne particles is required. * The APS 33B is no longer being manufactured. An improved version, APS 3320, is now being manufactured. 2/28/97

Orbital Modification of the Himalia Family during an Early Solar System Dynamical Instability

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Daohai; Christou, Apostolos A.

2017-11-01

Among the irregular satellites orbiting Jupiter, the Himalia family is characterized by a high velocity dispersion δ v of several hundred {{m}} {{{s}}}-1 among its members, inconsistent with a collisional origin. Efforts to account for this through internecine gravitational interactions do not readily reproduce this feature. Here, we revisit the problem in the context of recent cosmogonical models, where the giant planets migrated significantly through interaction with a planetesimal disk and suffered encounters with planetesimals and planet-sized objects. Our starting assumption is that family formation either predated this phase or occurred soon after its onset. We simulate numerically the diffusive effect of three distinct populations of perturbers on a set of test particles representing the family: Moon-sized (MPT) and Pluto-sized (PPT) planetesimals, and planetary-mass objects (PMO) with masses typical of ice-giant planets. We find that PPT flybys are inefficient, but encounters with MPTs raise the δ v of ∼60% of our test particles to > 200 {{m}} {{{s}}}-1 with respect to Himalia, in agreement with observations. As MPTs may not have been abundant in the disk, we simulate encounters between Jupiter and PMOs. We find that too few encounters generate less dispersion than MPTs while too many essentially destroy the family. For PMO masses in the range 5{--}20 {m}\\oplus , the family orbital distribution is reproduced by a few tens of encounters.

CLASHING BEAM PARTICLE ACCELERATOR

DOEpatents

Burleigh, R.J.

1961-04-11

A charged-particle accelerator of the proton synchrotron class having means for simultaneously accelerating two separate contra-rotating particle beams within a single annular magnet structure is reported. The magnet provides two concentric circular field regions of opposite magnetic polarity with one field region being of slightly less diameter than the other. The accelerator includes a deflector means straddling the two particle orbits and acting to collide the two particle beams after each has been accelerated to a desired energy. The deflector has the further property of returning particles which do not undergo collision to the regular orbits whereby the particles recirculate with the possibility of colliding upon subsequent passages through the deflector.

Alpha-driven magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) and MHD-induced alpha loss in the Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Chang, Z.; Nazikian, R.; Fu, G.Y.

1997-02-01

Alpha-driven toroidal Alfven eigenmodes (TAEs) are observed as predicted by theory in the post neutral beam phase in high central q (safety factor) deuterium-tritium (D-T) plasmas in the Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor (TFTR). The mode location, poloidal structure and the importance of q profile for TAE instability are discussed. So far no alpha particle loss due to these modes was detected due to the small mode amplitude. However, alpha loss induced by kinetic ballooning modes (KBMs) was observed in high confinement D-T discharges. Particle orbit simulation demonstrates that the wave-particle resonant interaction can explain the observed correlation between the increasemore » in alpha loss and appearance of multiple high-n (n {ge} 6, n is the toroidal mode number) modes.« less

Geodesics In A Spinning String Spacetime

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Culetu, Hristu

2006-11-28

The geodesics equations for a rotating observer in a spinning string geometry are investigated using the Euler - Lagrange equations. For test particles with vanishing angular momentum, the radial equation of motion does not depend on the angular velocity {omega} but on the angular momentum of the string. A massless particle moves tachyonic but iteed tends asymptotically to unit velocity after a time of the order of few Planck time b. The spacetime has a horizon at r = 0, irrespective of the value of {omega} but its angular velocity is given by {omega} - 1/b. The Sagnac time delaymore » is computed proving to depend both on {omega} and the radius of the circular orbit. The velocity of an ingoing massive test particle approaches zero very close to the spinning string, as if it were rejected by it.« less

Migration of Dust Particles and Their Collisions with the Terrestrial Planets

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ipatov, S. I.; Mather, J. C.

2004-01-01

Our review of previously published papers on dust migration can be found in [1], where we also present different distributions of migrating dust particles. We considered a different set of initial orbits for the dust particles than those in the previous papers. Below we pay the main attention to the collisional probabilities of migrating dust particles with the planets based on a set of orbital elements during their evolution. Such probabilities were not calculated earlier.

A preliminary numerical model of the Geminid meteoroid stream

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ryabova, G. O.

2016-02-01

A pilot numerical model of the Geminid meteoroid stream is presented. This model implies cometary origin of the stream. Ejection of relatively small amount of particles (90 000 test meteoroids with masses 0.02, 0.003 and 0.0003 g) from the asteroid (3200) Phaethon (the parent body) was simulated, and their evolution was followed till the present time. The particles close to the Earth orbit were considered as the `shower'. It was found that the width of the model shower is at least twice less comparatively the real shower. The maximum activity of the model shower is dislocated and occurs about one day late. The most probable reason for both discrepancies is the drastic transformation of the parent body orbit during rapid release of the volatiles in the process of the stream initial formation. The dispersion of the model stream was evaluated in terms of the Southworth-Hawkins D-criterion.

Adaptive particle swarm optimization for optimal orbital elements of binary stars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Attia, Abdel-Fattah

2016-12-01

The paper presents an adaptive particle swarm optimization (APSO) as an alternative method to determine the optimal orbital elements of the star η Bootis of MK type G0 IV. The proposed algorithm transforms the problem of finding periodic orbits into the problem of detecting global minimizers as a function, to get a best fit of Keplerian and Phase curves. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed approach of APSO generally more accurate than the standard particle swarm optimization (PSO) and other published optimization algorithms, in terms of solution accuracy, convergence speed and algorithm reliability.

Nongyrotropic electron orbits in collisionless magnetic reconnection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zenitani, S.

2016-12-01

In order to study inner workings of magnetic reconnection, NASA has recently launched Magnetospheric MultiScale (MMS) spacecraft. It is expected to observe electron velocity distribution functions (VDFs) at high resolution in magnetotail reconnection sites in 2017. Since VDFs are outcomes of many particle orbits, it is important to understand the relation between electron orbits and VDFs. In this work, we study electron orbits and associated VDFs in the electron current layer in magnetic reconnection, by using a two-dimensional particle-in-cell (PIC) simulation. By analyzing millions of electron orbits, we discover several new orbits: (1) Figure-eight-shaped regular orbits inside the super-Alfvenic electron jet, (2) noncrossing Speiser orbits that do not cross the midplane, (3) noncrossing regular orbits on the jet flanks, and (4) nongyrotropic electrons in the downstream of the jet termination region. Properties of these orbits are organized by a theory on particle orbits (Buchner & Zelenyi 1989 JGR). The noncrossing orbits are mediated by the polarization electric field (Hall electric field E_z) near the midplane. These orbits can be understood as electrostatic extensions of the conventional theory. Properties of the super-Alfvenic electron jet are attributed to the traditional Speiser-orbit electrons. On the other hand, the noncrossing electrons are the majority in number density in the jet flanks. This raise a serious question to our present understanding of physics of collisionless magnetic reconnection, which only assumes crossing populations. We will also discuss spatial distribution of energetic electrons and observational signatures of noncrossing electrons. Reference: Zenitani & Nagai (2016), submitted to Phys. Plasmas.

BALLIST: A computer program to empirically predict the bumper thickness required to prevent perforation of the Space Station by orbital debris

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rule, William Keith

1991-01-01

A computer program called BALLIST that is intended to be a design tool for engineers is described. BALLlST empirically predicts the bumper thickness required to prevent perforation of the Space Station pressure wall by a projectile (such as orbital debris) as a function of the projectile's velocity. 'Ballistic' limit curves (bumper thickness vs. projectile velocity) are calculated and are displayed on the screen as well as being stored in an ASCII file. A Whipple style of spacecraft wall configuration is assumed. The predictions are based on a database of impact test results. NASA/Marshall Space Flight Center currently has the capability to generate such test results. Numerical simulation results of impact conditions that can not be tested (high velocities or large particles) can also be used for predictions.

Particle tracing modeling of ion fluxes at geosynchronous orbit

DOE PAGES

Brito, Thiago V.; Woodroffe, Jesse; Jordanova, Vania K.; ...

2017-10-31

The initial results of a coupled MHD/particle tracing method to evaluate particle fluxes in the inner magnetosphere are presented. This setup is capable of capturing the earthward particle acceleration process resulting from dipolarization events in the tail region of the magnetosphere. On the period of study, the MHD code was able to capture a dipolarization event and the particle tracing algorithm was able to capture our results of these disturbances and calculate proton fluxes in the night side geosynchronous orbit region. The simulation captured dispersionless injections as well as the energy dispersion signatures that are frequently observed by satellites atmore » geosynchronous orbit. Currently, ring current models rely on Maxwellian-type distributions based on either empirical flux values or sparse satellite data for their boundary conditions close to geosynchronous orbit. In spite of some differences in intensity and timing, the setup presented here is able to capture substorm injections, which represents an improvement regarding a reverse way of coupling these ring current models with MHD codes through the use of boundary conditions.« less

Particle tracing modeling of ion fluxes at geosynchronous orbit

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Brito, Thiago V.; Woodroffe, Jesse; Jordanova, Vania K.

The initial results of a coupled MHD/particle tracing method to evaluate particle fluxes in the inner magnetosphere are presented. This setup is capable of capturing the earthward particle acceleration process resulting from dipolarization events in the tail region of the magnetosphere. On the period of study, the MHD code was able to capture a dipolarization event and the particle tracing algorithm was able to capture our results of these disturbances and calculate proton fluxes in the night side geosynchronous orbit region. The simulation captured dispersionless injections as well as the energy dispersion signatures that are frequently observed by satellites atmore » geosynchronous orbit. Currently, ring current models rely on Maxwellian-type distributions based on either empirical flux values or sparse satellite data for their boundary conditions close to geosynchronous orbit. In spite of some differences in intensity and timing, the setup presented here is able to capture substorm injections, which represents an improvement regarding a reverse way of coupling these ring current models with MHD codes through the use of boundary conditions.« less

Differential memory in the trilinear model magnetotail

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chen, James; Mitchell, Horage G.; Palmadesso, Peter J.

1990-01-01

The previously proposed concept of 'differential memory' is quantitatively demonstrated using an idealized analytical model of particle dynamics in the magnetotail geometry. In this model (the 'trilinear' tail model) the magnetotail is divided into three regions. The particle orbits are solved exactly in each region, thus reducing the orbit integration to an analytical mapping. It is shown that the trilinear model reproduces the essential phase space features of the earlier model (Chen and Palmadesso, 1986), possessing well-defined entry and exit regions, and stochastic, integrable (regular), and transient orbits, occupying disjoint phase space regions. Different regions have widely separated characteristic time scales corresponding to different types of particle motion. Using the analytical model, the evolution of single-particle distribution functions is calculated.

F Ring Core Stability: Corotation Resonance Plus Antiresonance

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cuzzi, Jeffrey N.; Marouf, Essam; French, Richard; Jacobson, Robert

2014-01-01

The decades-or-longer stability of the narrow F Ring core in a sea of orbital chaos appears to be due to an unusual combination of traditional corotation resonance and a novel kind of "antiresonance". At a series of specific locations in the F Ring region, apse precession between synodic encounters with Prometheus allows semimajor axis perturbations to promptly cancel before significant orbital period changes can occur. This cancellation fails for particles that encounter Prometheus when it is near its apoapse, especially during periods of antialignment of its apse with that of the F Ring. At these times, the strength of the semimajor axis perturbation is large (tens of km) and highly nonsinusoidal in encounter longitude, making it impossible to cancel promptly on a subsequent encounter and leading to chaotic orbital diffusion. Only particles that consistently encounter Prometheus away from its apoapse can use antiresonance to maintain stable orbits, implying that the true mean motion nF of the stable core must be defined by a corotational resonance of the form nF = nP(-kappa)P/m, where (nP, kappaP) are Prometheus' mean motion and epicycle frequency. To test this hypothesis we used the fact that Cassini RSS occultations only sporadically detect a "massive" F Ring core, composed of several-cm-and-larger particles. We regressed the inertial longitudes of 24 Cassini RSS (and VGR) detections and 43 nondetections to a common epoch, using a comb of candidate nP, and then folded them modulo the anticipated m-number of the corotational resonance (Prometheus m = 110 outer CER), to see if clustering appears. We find the "true F Ring core" is actually arranged in a series of short longitudinal arcs separated by nearly empty longitudes, orbiting at a well determined semimajor axis of 140222.4 km (from 2005-2012 at least). Small particles seen by imaging and stellar occultations spread quickly in azimuth and obscure this clumpy structure. Small chaotic variations in the mean motion and/or apse longitude of Prometheus quickly become manifest in the F Ring core, and we suggest that the core must adapt to these changes for the F Ring to maintain stability over timescales of decades and longer

Orbital-angular-momentum transfer to optically levitated microparticles in vacuum

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mazilu, Michael; Arita, Yoshihiko; Vettenburg, Tom; Auñón, Juan M.; Wright, Ewan M.; Dholakia, Kishan

2016-11-01

We demonstrate the transfer of orbital angular momentum to an optically levitated microparticle in vacuum. The microparticle is placed within a Laguerre-Gaussian beam and orbits the annular beam profile with increasing angular velocity as the air drag coefficient is reduced. We explore the particle dynamics as a function of the topological charge of the levitating beam. Our results reveal that there is a fundamental limit to the orbital angular momentum that may be transferred to a trapped particle, dependent upon the beam parameters and inertial forces present.

Dynamics of Dust Particles Released from Oort Cloud Comets and Their Contribution to Radar Meteors

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nesvorny, David; Vokrouhlicky, David; Pokorny, Petr; Janches, Diego

2012-01-01

The Oort Cloud Comets (OCCs), exemplified by the Great Comet of 1997 (Hale-Bopp), are occasional visitors from the heatless periphery of the solar system. Previous works hypothesized that a great majority of OCCs must physically disrupt after one or two passages through the inner solar system, where strong thermal gradients can cause phase transitions or volatile pressure buildup. Here we study the fate of small debris particles produced by OCC disruptions to determine whether the imprints of a hypothetical population of OCC meteoroids can be found in the existing meteor radar data. We find that OCC particles with diameters D < or approx. 10 microns are blown out from the solar system by radiation pressure, while those with D > or approx. 1 mm have a very low Earth-impact probability. The intermediate particle sizes, D approx. 100 microns represent a sweet spot. About 1% of these particles orbitally evolve by Poynting-Robertson drag to reach orbits with semimajor axis a approx. 1 AU. They are expected to produce meteors with radiants near the apex of the Earth s orbital motion. We find that the model distributions of their impact speeds and orbits provide a good match to radar observations of apex meteors, except for the eccentricity distribution, which is more skewed toward e approx. 1 in our model. Finally, we propose an explanation for the long-standing problem in meteor science related to the relative strength of apex and helion/antihelion sources. As we show in detail, the observed trend, with the apex meteors being more prominent in observations of highly sensitive radars, can be related to orbital dynamics of particles released on the long-period orbits.

Symmetry properties of the configuration interaction space in relation to one- and two-particle operators: The splitting theorem

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Živković, Tomislav P.

1984-09-01

The configuration interaction (CI) space Xn built upon n electrons moving over 2n orthonormalized orbitals χi is considered. It is shown that the space Xn splits into two complementary subspaces X+n and X-n having special properties: each state Ψ+∈X+n and Ψ-∈X-n is ``alternantlike'' in the sense that it has a uniform charge density distribution over all orbitals χi and vanishing bond-orders between all orbitals of the same parity. In addition, matrix elements Γ(ij;kl) of a two-particle density matrix vanish whenever four distinct orbitals are involved and there is an odd number of orbitals of the same parity. Further, Γ(ij;lj)=γ(il)/4 ( j≠i,l), whenever (i) and (l) are of different parity. This last relation shows the connection between a two-particle (Γ) and a one-particle (γ) density matrix. ``Elementary'' alternant and antialternant operators are identified. These operators connect either only the states in the same subspace, or only the states in different subspaces, and each one- and two-particle symmetric operator can be represented by their linear combination. Alternant Hamiltonians, which can be represented as linear combinations of elementary alternant operators, have alternantlike eigenstates. It is also shown that each symmetric Hamiltonian possessing alternantlike eigenstates can be represented as such a linear combination. In particular, the PPP Hamiltonian describing an alternant hydrocarbon system is such a case. Complementary subspaces X+n and X-n can be explicitly constructed using the so-called regular resonance structures (RRS's) which are normalized determinants containing mutually disjunct bond orbitals. Expressions for the derivation of matrix elements of one- and two-particle operators between different RRS's are also derived.

The Particle Accelerator Simulation Code PyORBIT

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gorlov, Timofey V; Holmes, Jeffrey A; Cousineau, Sarah M

2015-01-01

The particle accelerator simulation code PyORBIT is presented. The structure, implementation, history, parallel and simulation capabilities, and future development of the code are discussed. The PyORBIT code is a new implementation and extension of algorithms of the original ORBIT code that was developed for the Spallation Neutron Source accelerator at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The PyORBIT code has a two level structure. The upper level uses the Python programming language to control the flow of intensive calculations performed by the lower level code implemented in the C++ language. The parallel capabilities are based on MPI communications. The PyORBIT ismore » an open source code accessible to the public through the Google Open Source Projects Hosting service.« less

The effects of particulates from solid rocket motors fired in space

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mueller, A. C.; Kessler, D. J.

1985-01-01

The orbits attained by kick motor solid propellant particulates are modeled, and an estimate is made of the number of particulates which will remain in orbit. The fuel, Al2O3, is burned while inserting spacecraft into a transfer orbit and again while circularizing the GEO station. It is shown that 23 percent of 1 micron particles deorbit immediately, while most particles enter a retrograde orbit. The resulting flux is an order of magnitude larger than the micrometeoroid flux. The pressures exerted by solar radiation ensure that only 5 percent of the original flux is still in orbit after the first year. The estimates provided are valid for a large number of transfer orbit operations, but will vary widely over the short term.

Finite-element 3D simulation tools for high-current relativistic electron beams

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Humphries, Stanley; Ekdahl, Carl

2002-08-01

The DARHT second-axis injector is a challenge for computer simulations. Electrons are subject to strong beam-generated forces. The fields are fully three-dimensional and accurate calculations at surfaces are critical. We describe methods applied in OmniTrak, a 3D finite-element code suite that can address DARHT and the full range of charged-particle devices. The system handles mesh generation, electrostatics, magnetostatics and self-consistent particle orbits. The MetaMesh program generates meshes of conformal hexahedrons to fit any user geometry. The code has the unique ability to create structured conformal meshes with cubic logic. Organized meshes offer advantages in speed and memory utilization in the orbit and field solutions. OmniTrak is a versatile charged-particle code that handles 3D electric and magnetic field solutions on independent meshes. The program can update both 3D field solutions from the calculated beam space-charge and current-density. We shall describe numerical methods for orbit tracking on a hexahedron mesh. Topics include: 1) identification of elements along the particle trajectory, 2) fast searches and adaptive field calculations, 3) interpolation methods to terminate orbits on material surfaces, 4) automatic particle generation on multiple emission surfaces to model space-charge-limited emission and field emission, 5) flexible Child law algorithms, 6) implementation of the dual potential model for 3D magnetostatics, and 7) assignment of charge and current from model particle orbits for self-consistent fields.

Respiratory Particle Deposition Probability Due to Sedimentation with Variable Gravity and Electrostatic Forces

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Haranas, Ioannis; Gkigkitzis, Ioannis; Zouganelis, George D.; Haranas, Maria K.; Kirk, Samantha

2014-11-01

In this chapter, we study Sedimentation -- the effects of the acceleration gravity on the sedimentation deposition probability, as well as the aerosol deposition rate on the surface of the Earth and Mars, but also aboard a spacecraft in orbit around Earth and Mars as well for particles with density ρ p = 1,300 kg/m3, diameters d p = 1, 3, 5 μm, and residence times t = 0.0272, 0.2 s, respectively. For particles of diameter 1 μm we find that, on the surface of Earth and Mars the deposition probabilities are higher at the poles when compared to the ones at the equator. Similarly, on the surface of the Earth we find that the deposition probabilities exhibit 0.5 and 0.4 % higher percentage difference at the poles when compared to that of the equator, for the corresponding residence times. Moreover in orbit equatorial orbits result to higher deposition probabilities when compared to polar ones. For both residence times particles with the diameters considered above in circular and elliptical orbits around Mars, the deposition probabilities appear to be the same for all orbital inclinations. Sedimentation probability increases drastically with particle diameter and orbital eccentricity of the orbiting spacecraft. Finally, as an alternative framework for the study of interaction and the effect of gravity in biology, and in particular gravity and the respiratory system we introduce is the term information in a way Shannon has introduced it, considering the sedimentation probability as a random variable. This can be thought as a way in which gravity enters the cognitive processes of the system (processing of information) in the cybernetic sense.

Respiratory particle deposition probability due to sedimentation with variable gravity and electrostatic forces.

PubMed

Haranas, Ioannis; Gkigkitzis, Ioannis; Zouganelis, George D; Haranas, Maria K; Kirk, Samantha

2015-01-01

In this chapter, we study the effects of the acceleration gravity on the sedimentation deposition probability, as well as the aerosol deposition rate on the surface of the Earth and Mars, but also aboard a spacecraft in orbit around Earth and Mars as well for particles with density ρ p = 1,300 kg/m³, diameters d p = 1, 3, 5 μm, and residence times t = 0.0272, 0.2 , respectively. For particles of diameter 1 μm we find that, on the surface of Earth and Mars the deposition probabilities are higher at the poles when compared to the ones at the equator. Similarly, on the surface of the Earth we find that the deposition probabilities exhibit 0.5 and 0.4 % higher percentage difference at the poles when compared to that of the equator, for the corresponding residence times. Moreover in orbit equatorial orbits result to higher deposition probabilities when compared to polar ones. For both residence times particles with the diameters considered above in circular and elliptical orbits around Mars, the deposition probabilities appear to be the same for all orbital inclinations. Sedimentation probability increases drastically with particle diameter and orbital eccentricity of the orbiting spacecraft. Finally, as an alternative framework for the study of interaction and the effect of gravity in biology, and in particular gravity and the respiratory system we introduce is the term information in a way Shannon has introduced it, considering the sedimentation probability as a random variable. This can be thought as a way in which gravity enters the cognitive processes of the system (processing of information) in the cybernetic sense.

Himalia and Phoebe: Little moons that punch above their weight

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

LI, Daohai; Christou, Apostolos

2016-05-01

Small bodies in the solar system are usually treated as massless particles. While a sufficient approximation for many purposes, the small but finite mass of some of these (mass ratio μ=10^{-10}-10^{-8} of primary) can have observable consequences on the local population. Numerical experiments have shown this to be true for the orbital neighbourhood of Himalia, a prograde irregular moon of Jupiter (Christou 2005). In a recent demonstration of the same mechanism in a different context, Novaković et al. (2015) showed that the dwarf planet Ceres activates its own secular resonances, causing the long-term diffusion of asteroids in the middle part of the Main Belt.Seeking to better understand the dynamics caused by “internecine” interactions, we have constructed a semi-analytical model of a test particle’s secular evolution in the Sun-Planet-massive moon-particle restricted 4-body problem. By combining the Kozai-Lidov formalism with a model of coorbital motion valid for non-planar & non-circular orbits (Namouni 1999) we have overcome the difficulty in treating the interaction between potentially-crossing neighbouring orbits.We have applied this model to the cases of (a) J6 Himalia, a jovian irregular satellite (μ≃ 2× 10^{-9}) and the largest in a family of five moons, and (b) S9 Phoebe, a retrograde irregular moon of Saturn with μ=1.5× 10^{-8} which, curiously, is not associated with a family (Ćuk et al. 2003). We observe numerous instances of capture into secular resonances where the critical angle is a linear combination of the relative nodes and apses of the particle and the perturber. In particular we are able to reproduce the libration of the differential node found by Christou (2005). We generate fictitious families of test particles around Himalia and Phoebe and find that, while ~8% of local phase space is occupied by these resonances for Himalia, this figure is ~16% for Phoebe. We confirm these results using N-body integrations of the full equations of motion. During the meeting, we will show examples of orbital evolution in the resonances, describe the principal features of the dynamics and discuss the implications for the long-term evolution of families of small bodies.

Dynamics of test particles in thin-shell wormhole spacetimes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Diemer, Valeria; Smolarek, Elena

2013-09-01

Geodesic motion in traversable Schwarzschild and Kerr thin-shell wormholes constructed by the cut-and-paste method introduced by Visser (1989 Nucl. Phys. B 328 203; 1995 Wormholes: from Einstein to Hawking (Woodbury, MN: American Institute of Physics)) is studied. The orbits are calculated exactly in terms of elliptic functions and visualized with the help of embedding diagrams.

Two-component relativistic coupled-cluster methods using mean-field spin-orbit integrals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Junzi; Shen, Yue; Asthana, Ayush; Cheng, Lan

2018-01-01

A novel implementation of the two-component spin-orbit (SO) coupled-cluster singles and doubles (CCSD) method and the CCSD augmented with the perturbative inclusion of triple excitations [CCSD(T)] method using mean-field SO integrals is reported. The new formulation of SO-CCSD(T) features an atomic-orbital-based algorithm for the particle-particle ladder term in the CCSD equation, which not only removes the computational bottleneck associated with the large molecular-orbital integral file but also accelerates the evaluation of the particle-particle ladder term by around a factor of 4 by taking advantage of the spin-free nature of the instantaneous electron-electron Coulomb interaction. Benchmark calculations of the SO splittings for the thallium atom and a set of diatomic 2Π radicals as well as of the bond lengths and harmonic frequencies for a set of closed-shell diatomic molecules are presented. The basis-set and core-correlation effects in the calculations of these properties have been carefully analyzed.

Finite Larmor radius effects on weak turbulence transport

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kryukov, N.; Martinell, J. J.

2018-06-01

Transport of test particles in two-dimensional weak turbulence with waves propagating along the poloidal direction is studied using a reduced model. Finite Larmor radius (FLR) effects are included by gyroaveraging over one particle orbit. For low wave amplitudes the motion is mostly regular with particles trapped in the potential wells. As the amplitude increases the trajectories become chaotic and the Larmor radius modifies the orbits. For a thermal distribution of Finite Larmor radii the particle distribution function (PDF) is Gaussian for small th$ (thermal gyroradius) but becomes non-Gaussian for large th$ . However, the time scaling of transport is diffusive, as characterized by a linear dependence of the variance of the PDF with time. An explanation for this behaviour is presented that provides an expression for an effective diffusion coefficient and reproduces the numerical results for large wave amplitudes which implies generalized chaos. When a shear flow is added in the direction of wave propagation, a modified model is obtained that produces free-streaming particle trajectories in addition to trapped ones; these contribute to ballistic transport for low wave amplitude but produce super-ballistic transport in the chaotic regime. As in the previous case, the PDF is Gaussian for low th$ becoming non-Gaussian as it increases. The perpendicular transport presents the same behaviour as in the case with no flow but the diffusion is faster in the presence of the flow.

NEUDOSE: A CubeSat Mission for Dosimetry of Charged Particles and Neutrons in Low-Earth Orbit.

PubMed

Hanu, A R; Barberiz, J; Bonneville, D; Byun, S H; Chen, L; Ciambella, C; Dao, E; Deshpande, V; Garnett, R; Hunter, S D; Jhirad, A; Johnston, E M; Kordic, M; Kurnell, M; Lopera, L; McFadden, M; Melnichuk, A; Nguyen, J; Otto, A; Scott, R; Wagner, D L; Wiendels, M

2017-01-01

During space missions, astronauts are exposed to a stream of energetic and highly ionizing radiation particles that can suppress immune system function, increase cancer risks and even induce acute radiation syndrome if the exposure is large enough. As human exploration goals shift from missions in low-Earth orbit (LEO) to long-duration interplanetary missions, radiation protection remains one of the key technological issues that must be resolved. In this work, we introduce the NEUtron DOSimetry & Exploration (NEUDOSE) CubeSat mission, which will provide new measurements of dose and space radiation quality factors to improve the accuracy of cancer risk projections for current and future space missions. The primary objective of the NEUDOSE CubeSat is to map the in situ lineal energy spectra produced by charged particles and neutrons in LEO where most of the preparatory activities for future interplanetary missions are currently taking place. To perform these measurements, the NEUDOSE CubeSat is equipped with the Charged & Neutral Particle Tissue Equivalent Proportional Counter (CNP-TEPC), an advanced radiation monitoring instrument that uses active coincidence techniques to separate the interactions of charged particles and neutrons in real time. The NEUDOSE CubeSat, currently under development at McMaster University, provides a modern approach to test the CNP-TEPC instrument directly in the unique environment of outer space while simultaneously collecting new georeferenced lineal energy spectra of the radiation environment in LEO.

Modeling of ion acceleration through drift and diffusion at interplanetary shocks

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Decker, R. B.; Vlahos, L.

1986-01-01

A test particle simulation designed to model ion acceleration through drift and diffusion at interplanetary shocks is described. The technique consists of integrating along exact particle orbits in a system where the angle between the shock normal and mean upstream magnetic field, the level of magnetic fluctuations, and the energy of injected particles can assume a range of values. The technique makes it possible to study time-dependent shock acceleration under conditions not amenable to analytical techniques. To illustrate the capability of the numerical model, proton acceleration was considered under conditions appropriate for interplanetary shocks at 1 AU, including large-amplitude transverse magnetic fluctuations derived from power spectra of both ambient and shock-associated MHD waves.

Equations of motion of test particles for solving the spin-dependent Boltzmann–Vlasov equation

DOE PAGES

Xia, Yin; Xu, Jun; Li, Bao-An; ...

2016-06-16

A consistent derivation of the equations of motion (EOMs) of test particles for solving the spin-dependent Boltzmann–Vlasov equation is presented. The resulting EOMs in phase space are similar to the canonical equations in Hamiltonian dynamics, and the EOM of spin is the same as that in the Heisenburg picture of quantum mechanics. Considering further the quantum nature of spin and choosing the direction of total angular momentum in heavy-ion reactions as a reference of measuring nucleon spin, the EOMs of spin-up and spin-down nucleons are given separately. The key elements affecting the spin dynamics in heavy-ion collisions are identified. Themore » resulting EOMs provide a solid foundation for using the test-particle approach in studying spin dynamics in heavy-ion collisions at intermediate energies. Future comparisons of model simulations with experimental data will help to constrain the poorly known in-medium nucleon spin–orbit coupling relevant for understanding properties of rare isotopes and their astrophysical impacts.« less

Neoclassical transport caused by collisionless scattering across an asymmetric separatrix.

PubMed

Dubin, Daniel H E; Driscoll, C F; Tsidulko, Yu A

2010-10-29

Plasma loss due to apparatus asymmetries is a ubiquitous phenomenon in magnetic plasma confinement. When the plasma equilibrium has locally trapped particle populations partitioned by a separatrix from one another and from passing particles, the asymmetry transport is enhanced. The trapped and passing particle populations react differently to the asymmetries, leading to the standard 1/ν and sqrt[ν] transport regimes of superbanana orbit theory as particles collisionally scatter from one orbit type to another. However, when the separatrix is itself asymmetric, particles can collisionlessly transit from trapped to passing and back, leading to enhanced transport.

A torsion pendulum test of the Lisa Pathfinder free-fall mode

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Russano, Giuliana; Dolesi, Rita; Cavalleri, Antonella; Hueller, Mauro; Vitale, Stefano; Weber, William Joseph; Tu, HaiBo

The LISA Pathfinder geodesic explorer mission for gravitational wave astronomy aims to demonstrate the proof of a low acceleration noise level. The relative acceleration between two test masses free falling in orbit is perturbed by the presence of a larger constant relative acceleration that must be actively compensated in order to keep the test particles centered inside an orbiting apparatus. The actuation force applied to compensate this effect introduces a dominant source of force noise. To suppress this noise source, a “free-fall” actuation control scheme has been designed: actuation is limited to brief impulses, with test masses in free fall in between two “kicks”, with this actuation-free motion then analyzed for the remaining sources of acceleration ultra noise. In this work, we will discuss and present preliminary data for an on-ground torsion pendulum experiment to test this technique, and the associated analysis algorithms, at a level nearing the sub-femto-g/sqrt(Hz) performance required for LISA Pathfinder.

Regular and transitory showers of comet C/1979 Y1 (Bradfield)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hajduková, M.; Neslušan, L.

2017-09-01

Aims: We intend to map the whole meteor complex of the long-period comet C/1979 Y1 (Bradfield), which is a proposed parent body of the July Pegasids, No. 175 in the list of meteor showers established by the Meteor Data Center (MDC) of the International Astronomical Union (IAU). Methods: For five perihelion passages of the parent comet in the past, we model associated theoretical stream, its parts, each consisting of 10 000 test particles, and follow the dynamical evolution of these parts up to the present. Subsequently, we analyze the mean orbital characteristics of those particles of the parts that approach the Earth's orbit and, thus, create a shower or showers. The showers are compared with their observed counterparts separated from photographic, radio, and several video databases. Results: The modeled stream of C/1979 Y1 approaches the Earth's orbit in two filaments that correspond to two regular (annual) showers. We confirm the generic relationship between the studied parent comet and 175 July Pegasids. The other predicted shower is a daytime shower with the mean radiant situated symmetrically to the July Pegasids with respect to the apex of the Earth's motion. This shower is not in the IAU MDC list, but we separated it from the Cameras-for-Allsky-Meteor-Surveillance (CAMS) and SonotaCo video data as a new shower. We suggest naming it α-Microscopiids. The stronger influence of the Poynting-Robertson drag deflects the stream away from the Earth's orbit in those sections that correspond to the July Pegasids and the predicted daytime shower, but it makes the stream cross the Earth's orbit in other sections. Corresponding showers are, however, only expected to survive during a limited period and to consist of particles of sizes in a narrow interval. We identified one of these "transitory" filaments to the 104 γ-Bootids in the IAU MDC list of meteor showers.

Pebble Accretion in Turbulent Protoplanetary Disks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Ziyan; Bai, Xue-Ning; Murray-Clay, Ruth A.

2017-09-01

It has been realized in recent years that the accretion of pebble-sized dust particles onto planetary cores is an important mode of core growth, which enables the formation of giant planets at large distances and assists planet formation in general. The pebble accretion theory is built upon the orbit theory of dust particles in a laminar protoplanetary disk (PPD). For sufficiently large core mass (in the “Hill regime”), essentially all particles of appropriate sizes entering the Hill sphere can be captured. However, the outer regions of PPDs are expected to be weakly turbulent due to the magnetorotational instability (MRI), where turbulent stirring of particle orbits may affect the efficiency of pebble accretion. We conduct shearing-box simulations of pebble accretion with different levels of MRI turbulence (strongly turbulent assuming ideal magnetohydrodynamics, weakly turbulent in the presence of ambipolar diffusion, and laminar) and different core masses to test the efficiency of pebble accretion at a microphysical level. We find that accretion remains efficient for marginally coupled particles (dimensionless stopping time {τ }s˜ 0.1{--}1) even in the presence of strong MRI turbulence. Though more dust particles are brought toward the core by the turbulence, this effect is largely canceled by a reduction in accretion probability. As a result, the overall effect of turbulence on the accretion rate is mainly reflected in the changes in the thickness of the dust layer. On the other hand, we find that the efficiency of pebble accretion for strongly coupled particles (down to {τ }s˜ 0.01) can be modestly reduced by strong turbulence for low-mass cores.

Analytical slave-spin mean-field approach to orbital selective Mott insulators

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Komijani, Yashar; Kotliar, Gabriel

2017-09-01

We use the slave-spin mean-field approach to study particle-hole symmetric one- and two-band Hubbard models in the presence of Hund's coupling interaction. By analytical analysis of the Hamiltonian, we show that the locking of the two orbitals vs orbital selective Mott transition can be formulated within a Landau-Ginzburg framework. By applying the slave-spin mean field to impurity problems, we are able to make a correspondence between impurity and lattice. We also consider the stability of the orbital selective Mott phase to the hybridization between the orbitals and study the limitations of the slave-spin method for treating interorbital tunnelings in the case of multiorbital Bethe lattices with particle-hole symmetry.

Studies of neutron and proton nuclear activation in low-Earth orbit

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Laird, C. E.

1982-01-01

The expected induced radioactivity of experimental material in low Earth orbit was studied for characteristics of activating particles such as cosmic rays, high energy Earth albedo neutrons, trapped protons, and secondary protons and neutrons. The activation cross sections for the production of long lived radioisotopes and other existing nuclear data appropriate to the study of these reactions were compiled. Computer codes which are required to calculate the expected activation of orbited materials were developed. The decreased computer code used to predict the activation of trapped protons of materials placed in the expected orbits of LDEF and Spacelab II. Techniques for unfolding the fluxes of activating particles from the measured activation of orbited materials are examined.

Periastron shift for a spinning test particle around naked singularities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mukherjee, Sajal

2018-06-01

In the present article, we investigate the Periastron precession for a spinning test particle moving in nearly circular orbits around naked singularities. We consider two well-known solutions that can produce a spacetime with naked singularity—(a) first, the Reissner-Nordström metric, which is a static charged solution with spherical symmetry, and (b) second, the stationary, axisymmetric Kerr metric. For simplicity, we only consider the motion confined on the equatorial plane in both these cases and solve exactly the Mathisson-Papapetrou equations. In addition, we analytically compute the Periastron precession within the framework of linear spin approximation. The inclusion of the spin parameter modifies the results with nonspinning particles and also reflects some interesting properties of the naked geometries. Furthermore, we carried out a numerical approach without any assumptions to probe the large order spin values. The implication of the spin-curvature coupling in connection with the naked geometries is also discussed.

The New NASA Orbital Debris Engineering Model ORDEM 3.0

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Krisko, P. H.

2014-01-01

The NASA Orbital Debris Program Office (ODPO) has released its latest Orbital Debris Engineering Model, ORDEM 3.0. It supersedes ORDEM 2.0. This newer model encompasses the Earth satellite and debris flux environment from altitudes of low Earth orbit (LEO) through geosynchronous orbit (GEO). Debris sizes of 10 microns through 1 m in non-GEO and 10 cm through 1 m in GEO are modeled. The inclusive years are 2010 through 2035. The ORDEM model series has always been data driven. ORDEM 3.0 has the benefit of many more hours from existing data sources and from new sources that weren't available to past versions. Returned surfaces, ground tests, and remote sensors all contribute data. The returned surface and ground test data reveal material characteristics of small particles. Densities of fragmentation debris particles smaller than 10 cm are grouped in ORDEM 3.0 in terms of high-, medium-, and lowdensities, along with RORSAT sodium-potassium droplets. Supporting models have advanced significantly. The LEO-to-GEO ENvironment Debris model (LEGEND) includes an historical and a future projection component with yearly populations that include launched and maneuvered intacts, mission related debris (MRD), and explosion and collision fragments. LEGEND propagates objects with ephemerides and physical characteristics down to 1 mm in size. The full LEGEND yearly population acts as an a priori condition for a Bayesian statistical model. Specific, well defined populations are added like the Radar Ocean Reconnaissance Satellite (RORSAT) sodium-potassium (NaK) droplets, recent major accidental and deliberate collision fragments, and known anomalous debris event fragments. For microdebris of sizes 10 microns to 1 mm the ODPO uses an in-house Degradation/Ejecta model in which a MLE technique is used with returned surface data to estimate populations. This paper elaborates on the upgrades of this model over previous versions highlighting the material density splits and consequences of that to the penetration risk to spacecraft.

The SATRAM Timepix spacecraft payload in open space on board the Proba-V satellite for wide range radiation monitoring in LEO orbit

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Granja, Carlos; Polansky, Stepan; Vykydal, Zdenek; Pospisil, Stanislav; Owens, Alan; Kozacek, Zdenek; Mellab, Karim; Simcak, Marek

2016-06-01

The Space Application of Timepix based Radiation Monitor (SATRAM) is a spacecraft platform radiation monitor on board the Proba-V satellite launched in an 820 km altitude low Earth orbit in 2013. The is a technology demonstration payload is based on the Timepix chip equipped with a 300 μm silicon sensor with signal threshold of 8 keV/pixel to low-energy X-rays and all charged particles including minimum ionizing particles. For X-rays the energy working range is 10-30 keV. Event count rates can be up to 106 cnt/(cm2 s) for detailed event-by-event analysis or over 1011 cnt/(cm2 s) for particle-counting only measurements. The single quantum sensitivity (zero-dark current noise level) combined with per-pixel spectrometry and micro-scale pattern recognition analysis of single particle tracks enables the composition (particle type) and spectral characterization (energy loss) of mixed radiation fields to be determined. Timepix's pixel granularity and particle tracking capability also provides directional sensitivity for energetic charged particles. The payload detector response operates in wide dynamic range in terms of absorbed dose starting from single particle doses in the pGy level, particle count rate up to 106-10 /cm2/s and particle energy loss (threshold at 150 eV/μm). The flight model in orbit was successfully commissioned in 2013 and has been sampling the space radiation field in the satellite environment along its orbit at a rate of several frames per minute of varying exposure time. This article describes the design and operation of SATRAM together with an overview of the response and resolving power to the mixed radiation field including summary of the principal data products (dose rate, equivalent dose rate, particle-type count rate). The preliminary evaluation of response of the embedded Timepix detector to space radiation in the satellite environment is presented together with first results in the form of a detailed visualization of the mixed radiation field at the position of the payload and resulting spatial- and time-correlated radiation maps of cumulative dose rate along the satellite orbit.

A spin-orbit coupling for a neutral particle from Lorentz symmetry breaking effects in the CPT-odd sector of the Standard Model Extension

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Belich, H.; Bakke, K.

2015-07-01

We start by investigating the arising of a spin-orbit coupling and a Darwin-type term that stem from Lorentz symmetry breaking effects in the CPT-odd sector of the Standard Model Extension. Then, we establish a possible scenario of the violation of the Lorentz symmetry that gives rise to a linear confining potential and an effective electric field in which determines the spin-orbit coupling for a neutral particle analogous to the Rashba coupling [E. I. Rashba, Sov. Phys. Solid State 2, 1109 (1960)]. Finally, we confine the neutral particle to a quantum dot [W.-C. Tan and J. C. Inkson, Semicond. Sci. Technol. 11, 1635 (1996)] and analyze the influence of the linear confining potential and the spin-orbit coupling on the spectrum of energy.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Naoz, Smadar; Li, Gongjie; Zanardi, Macarena

The secular approximation of the hierarchical three body systems has been proven to be very useful in addressing many astrophysical systems, from planets to stars to black holes. In such a system, two objects are on a tight orbit and the tertiary is on a much wider orbit. Here, we study the dynamics of a system by taking the tertiary mass to zero and solve the hierarchical three body system up to the octupole level of approximation. We find a rich dynamics that the outer orbit undergoes due to gravitational perturbations from the inner binary. The nominal result of themore » precession of the nodes is mostly limited for the lowest order of approximation; however, when the octupole level of approximation is introduced, the system becomes chaotic, as expected, and the tertiary oscillates below and above 90°, similarly to the non-test particle flip behavior. We provide the Hamiltonian of the system and investigate the dynamics of the system from the quadrupole to the octupole level of approximations. We also analyze the chaotic and quasi-periodic orbital evolution by studying the surfaces of sections. Furthermore, including general relativity, we showcase the long-term evolution of individual debris disk particles under the influence of a far-away interior eccentric planet. We show that this dynamics can naturally result in retrograde objects and a puffy disk after a long timescale evolution (a few Gyr) for initially aligned configuration.« less

The Space Shuttle Program Pre-Flight Meteoroid and Orbital Debris Risk/Damage Predictions and Post-Flight Damage Assessments

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Levin, George M.; Christiansen, Eric L.

1997-01-01

The pre-flight predictions and postflight assessments carried out in relation to a series of Space Shuttle missions are reviewed, and data are presented for the meteoroid and orbital debris damage observed on the Hubble Space Telescope during the 1994 Hubble repair mission. Pre-flight collision risk analyses are carried out prior to each mission, and in the case of an unacceptable risk, the mission profile is altered until the risk is considered to be acceptable. The NASA's BUMPER code is used to compute the probability of damage from debris and meteoroid particle impacts based on the Poisson statistical model for random events. The penetration probability calculation requires information concerning the geometry of the critical systems, the penetration resistance and mission profile parameters. Following each flight, the orbiter is inspected for meteoroid and space debris damage. The emphasis is on areas such as the radiator panels, the windows and the reinforced carbon-carbon structures on the leading wing edges and on the nose cap. The contents of damage craters are analyzed using a scanning electron microscope to determine the nature and origin of the impactor. Hypervelocity impact tests are often performed to simulate the observed damage and to estimate the nature of the damaging particles. The number and type of damage observed provides information concerning the orbital debris environment.

THE EVOLUTION OF ASTEROIDS IN THE JUMPING-JUPITER MIGRATION MODEL

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Roig, Fernando; Nesvorný, David, E-mail: froig@on.br, E-mail: davidn@boulder.swri.edu

In this work, we investigate the evolution of a primordial belt of asteroids, represented by a large number of massless test particles, under the gravitational effect of migrating Jovian planets in the framework of the jumping-Jupiter model. We perform several simulations considering test particles distributed in the Main Belt, as well as in the Hilda and Trojan groups. The simulations start with Jupiter and Saturn locked in the mutual 3:2 mean motion resonance plus three Neptune-mass planets in a compact orbital configuration. Mutual planetary interactions during migration led one of the Neptunes to be ejected in less than 10 Myrmore » of evolution, causing Jupiter to jump by about 0.3 AU in semimajor axis. This introduces a large-scale instability in the studied populations of small bodies. After the migration phase, the simulations are extended over 4 Gyr, and we compare the final orbital structure of the simulated test particles to the current Main Belt of asteroids with absolute magnitude H < 9.7. The results indicate that, in order to reproduce the present Main Belt, the primordial belt should have had a distribution peaked at ∼10° in inclination and at ∼0.1 in eccentricity. We discuss the implications of this for the Grand Tack model. The results also indicate that neither primordial Hildas, nor Trojans, survive the instability, confirming the idea that such populations must have been implanted from other sources. In particular, we address the possibility of implantation of Hildas and Trojans from the Main Belt population, but find that this contribution should be minor.« less

Use of particle beams for lunar prospecting

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Toepfer, A. J.; Eppler, D.; Friedlander, A.; Weitz, R.

1993-01-01

A key issue in choosing the appropriate site for a manned lunar base is the availability of resources, particularly oxygen and hydrogen for the production of water, and ores for the production of fuels and building materials. NASA has proposed two Lunar Scout missions that would orbit the Moon and use, among other instruments, a hard X-ray spectrometer, a neutron spectrometer, and a Ge gamma ray spectrometer to map the lunar surface. This passive instrumentation will have low resolution (tens of kilometers) due to the low signal levels produced by natural radioactivity and the interaction of cosmic rays and the solar wind with the lunar surface. This paper presents the results of a concept definition effort for a neutral particle beam lunar mapper probe. The idea of using particle beam probes to survey asteroids was first proposed by Sagdeev et al., and an ion beam device was fielded on the 1988 Soviet probe to the Mars moon Phobos. During the past five years, significant advances in the technology of neutral particle beams (NPB) have led to a suborbital flight of a neutral hydrogen beam device in the SDIO-sponsored BEAR experiment. An orbital experiment, the Neutral Particle Beam Far Field Optics Experiment (NPB-FOX) is presently in the preliminary design phase. The development of NPB accelerators that are space-operable leads one to consider the utility of these devices for probing the surface of the Moon using gamma ray, X-ray, and optical/UV spectroscopy to locate various elements and compounds. We consider the utility of the NPB-FOX satellite containing a 5-MeV particle beam accelerator as a probe in lunar orbit. Irradiation of the lunar surface by the particle beam will induce secondary and back scattered radiation from the lunar surface to be detected by a sensor that may be co-orbital with or on the particle beam satellite platform, or may be in a separate orbit. The secondary radiation is characteristic of the make-up of the lunar surface. The size of the spot irradiated by the beam is less than 1 km wide along the ground track of the satellite, resulting in the potential for high resolution. The fact that the probe could be placed in polar orbit would result in global coverage of the lunar surface. The orbital particle beam probe could provide the basis for selection of sites for more detailed prospecting by surface rovers.

Migration of Small Bodies and Dust to Near-Earth Space

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ipatov, S. I.; Mather, J. C.

Computer simulations of the orbital evolution of Jupiter-family comets (JFCs), resonant asteroids, and asteroidal, kuiperoidal, and cometary dust particles were made. The gravitational influence of planets (exclusive of Pluto and sometimes of Mercury) was taken into account. For dust particles we also considered radiation pressure, Poynting-Robertson drag, and solar wind drag. A few JFCs got Earth-crossing orbits with semi-major axes a<2 AU and aphelion distance Q<4.2 AU and moved in such orbits for more than 1 Myr (up to tens or even hundreds of Myrs). Three considered former JFCs even got inner-Earth orbits (with Q<0.983 AU) or Aten orbits for Myrs. The probability of a collision of one of such objects, which move for millions of years inside Jupiter's orbit, with a terrestrial planet can be greater than analogous total probability for thousands other objects. Results obtained by the Bulirsch-Stoer method and by a symplectic method were mainly similar (except for probabilities of close encounters with the Sun when they were high). The fraction of asteroids migrated from the 3:1 resonance with Jupiter that collided with the Earth was greater by a factor of several than that for the 5:2 resonance. Our results show that the trans-Neptunian belt can provide a significant portion of near-Earth objects, or the number of trans-Neptunian objects migrating inside solar system could be smaller than it was earlier considered, or most of 1-km former trans-Neptunian objects that had got near-Earth object orbits disintegrated into mini-comets and dust during a smaller part of their dynamical lifetimes if these lifetimes are not small. The obtained results show that during the accumulation of the giant planets the total mass of icy bodies delivered to the Earth could be about the mass of water in Earth's oceans. In our runs for dust particles, the values of the ratio β between the radiation pressure force and the gravitational force varied from 0.0004 to 0.4 (for silicates, such values correspond to particle diameters between 1000 and 1 microns). For β >0.01 the collision probabilities of dust particles with the terrestrial planets during lifetimes of particles were considerably greater for larger asteroidal and cometary particles. At β ≥ 0.1 and β ≤ 0.001 some asteroidal particles migrated beyond Jupiter's orbit. The peaks in the distribution of migrating asteroidal dust particles with semi-major axis corresponding to the n:(n+1) resonances with Earth and Venus and the gaps associated with the 1:1 resonances with these planets are more pronounced for larger particles. Several our papers on this problem were put in http://arXiv.org/format/astro-ph/ (e.g., 0305519, 0308448, 0308450). This work was supported by INTAS (00-240) and NASA (NAG5-10776).

Particle Hydrodynamics with Material Strength for Multi-Layer Orbital Debris Shield Design

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fahrenthold, Eric P.

1999-01-01

Three dimensional simulation of oblique hypervelocity impact on orbital debris shielding places extreme demands on computer resources. Research to date has shown that particle models provide the most accurate and efficient means for computer simulation of shield design problems. In order to employ a particle based modeling approach to the wall plate impact portion of the shield design problem, it is essential that particle codes be augmented to represent strength effects. This report describes augmentation of a Lagrangian particle hydrodynamics code developed by the principal investigator, to include strength effects, allowing for the entire shield impact problem to be represented using a single computer code.

Research in Space Physics at the University of Iowa. [spaceborne experiments and instruments

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Vanallen, J. A.

1981-01-01

Currently active projects conducted to extend knowledge of the energetic particles and the electric, magnetic, and electromagnetic fields associated with Earth, other celestial bodies, and the interplanetary medium are summarized. These include investigations and/or instruments for Hawkeye 1; Pioneers 10 and 11; Voyagers 1 and 2; ISEE; IMP 8; Dynamics Explorer; Galileo; Spacelab and Orbital flight test missions; VLBI; and the International Solar Polar mission. Experiments and instruments proposed for the future international comet mission, the origin of plasmas in the Earth's environment mission, and the NASA active magnetospheric particle tracer experiment are mentioned.

Light scattering calculations for the nephelometer experiment on the 1981/1982 Jupiter Orbiter-Probe mission

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Grams, G. W.

1982-01-01

A variety of studies were carried out to help establish the accuracy of quantities describing physical characteristics of cloud particles (such as size, shape, and composition) that are to be inferred from light scattering data obtained with the nephelameter experiment on the Galileo spacecraft. The objectives were to provide data for validating and testing procedures for analyzing the Galileo nephelameter data with light scattering observations in a variety of on-going laboratory and field measurement programs for which simultaneous observations of the physical characteristics of the scattering particles were available.

Interplanetary dust particles collected in the stratosphere: observations of atmospheric heating and constraints on their interrelationships and sources.

PubMed

Sandford, S A; Bradley, J P

1989-01-01

The majority of the interplanetary dust particles (IDPs) collected in the stratosphere belong to one of three major classes, the first two dominated by the anhydrous minerals olivine and pyroxene, and the third by hydrous layer-lattice silicates. Infrared spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy studies show that the different IDP classes represent different types of dust that exist as individual particles in interplanetary space. The majority of the collected IDPs smaller than 30 micrometers in diameter in the layer-lattice silicate and pyroxene classes appear not to have been heated to temperatures above 600 degrees C during atmospheric entry. The relatively low maximum temperatures experienced by these IDPs during atmospheric entry imply that they arrive at the top of the atmosphere with low geocentric encounter velocities. This limits the possible encounter trajectories for these particles to relatively circular, prograde orbits. As a result, it is unlikely that these IDPs are from Earth-crossing comets or asteroids. Asteroids, and comets having low inclinations and perihelia outside 1.2 AU, appear to be the best candidates for the parent bodies of the pyroxene and layer-lattice silicate particles. Chemical and mineralogical information suggests that the pyroxene-rich IDPs are from comets and the layer-lattice silicate-rich IDPs are from asteroids. The collected IDPs dominated by olivine appear to include a larger fraction of particles heating above 600 degrees C, suggesting that these particles were captured from more eccentric orbits. This, and the observation of the infrared spectral features of olivine in several comets suggest these particles have a cometary origin. Since much of the collected dust has apparently been captured from nearly circular, prograde orbits and since there are no appropriate parent bodies presently in such orbits, these results provide an experimental confirmation that the Poynting-Robertson effect exists as a nongravitational force important in the orbital evolution of dust in the Solar System.

Deadly Sunflower Orbits

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hamilton, Douglas P.

2018-04-01

Solar radiation pressure is usually very effective at removing hazardous millimeter-sized debris from distant orbits around asteroidsand other small solar system bodies (Hamilton and Burns 1992). Theprimary loss mechanism, driven by the azimuthal component of radiationpressure, is eccentricity growth followed by a forced collision withthe central body. One large class of orbits, however, neatly sidestepsthis fate. Orbits oriented nearly perpendicular to the solar directioncan maintain their face-on geometry, oscillating slowly around a stableequilibrium orbit. These orbits, designated sunflower orbits, arerelated to terminator orbits studied by spacecraft mission designers(Broschart etal. 2014).Destabilization of sunflower orbits occurs only for particles smallenough that radiation pressure is some tens of percent the strength ofthe central body's direct gravity. This greatly enhanced stability,which follows from the inability of radiation incident normal to theorbit to efficiently drive eccentricities, presents a threat tospacecraft missions, as numerous dangerous projectiles are potentiallyretained in orbit. We have investigated sunflower orbits insupport of the New Horizons, Aida, and Lucy missions and find thatthese orbits are stable for hazardous particle sizes at asteroids,comets, and Kuiper belt objects of differing dimensions. Weinvestigate the sources and sinks for debris that might populate suchorbits, estimate timescales and equilibrium populations, and willreport on our findings.

Particle orbits in a force-balanced, wave-driven, rotating torus

DOE PAGES

Ochs, I. E.; Fisch, N. J.

2017-09-01

A wave-driven rotating torus is a recently proposed fusion concept where the rotational transform is provided by the E × B drift resulting from a minor radial electric field. This field can be produced, for instance, by the RF-wave-mediated extraction of fusion-born alpha particles. In this paper, we discuss how macroscopic force balance, i.e., balance of the thermal hoop force, can be achieved in such a device. We show that this requires the inclusion of a small plasma current and vertical magnetic field and identify the desirable reactor regime through free energy considerations. We then analyze particle orbits in thismore » desirable regime, identifying velocity-space anisotropies in trapped (banana) orbits, resulting from the cancellation of rotational transforms due to the radial electric and poloidal magnetic fields. The potential neoclassical effects of these orbits on the perpendicular conductivity, current drive, and transport are discussed.« less

Particle orbits in a force-balanced, wave-driven, rotating torus

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ochs, I. E.; Fisch, N. J.

A wave-driven rotating torus is a recently proposed fusion concept where the rotational transform is provided by the E × B drift resulting from a minor radial electric field. This field can be produced, for instance, by the RF-wave-mediated extraction of fusion-born alpha particles. In this paper, we discuss how macroscopic force balance, i.e., balance of the thermal hoop force, can be achieved in such a device. We show that this requires the inclusion of a small plasma current and vertical magnetic field and identify the desirable reactor regime through free energy considerations. We then analyze particle orbits in thismore » desirable regime, identifying velocity-space anisotropies in trapped (banana) orbits, resulting from the cancellation of rotational transforms due to the radial electric and poloidal magnetic fields. The potential neoclassical effects of these orbits on the perpendicular conductivity, current drive, and transport are discussed.« less

Particle orbits in a force-balanced, wave-driven, rotating torus

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ochs, I. E.; Fisch, N. J.

2017-09-01

A wave-driven rotating torus is a recently proposed fusion concept where the rotational transform is provided by the E × B drift resulting from a minor radial electric field. This field can be produced, for instance, by the RF-wave-mediated extraction of fusion-born alpha particles. In this paper, we discuss how macroscopic force balance, i.e., balance of the thermal hoop force, can be achieved in such a device. We show that this requires the inclusion of a small plasma current and vertical magnetic field and identify the desirable reactor regime through free energy considerations. We then analyze particle orbits in this desirable regime, identifying velocity-space anisotropies in trapped (banana) orbits, resulting from the cancellation of rotational transforms due to the radial electric and poloidal magnetic fields. The potential neoclassical effects of these orbits on the perpendicular conductivity, current drive, and transport are discussed.

The problems of cosmic ray particle simulation for the near-Earth orbital and interplanetary flight conditions.

PubMed

Nymmik, R A

1999-10-01

A wide range of the galactic cosmic ray and SEP event flux simulation problems for the near-Earth satellite and manned spacecraft orbits and for the interplanetary mission trajectories are discussed. The models of the galactic cosmic ray and SEP events in the Earth orbit beyond the Earth's magnetosphere are used as a basis. The particle fluxes in the near-Earth orbits should be calculated using the transmission functions. To calculate the functions, the dependences of the cutoff rigidities on the magnetic disturbance level and on magnetic local time have to be known. In the case of space flights towards the Sun and to the boundary of the solar system, particular attention is paid to the changes in the SEP event occurrence frequency and size. The particle flux gradients are applied in this case to galactic cosmic ray fluxes.

Frequency maps as a probe of secular evolution in the Milky Way

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Valluri, Monica

2015-03-01

The frequency analysis of the orbits of halo stars and dark matter particles from a cosmological hydrodynamical simulation of a disk galaxy from the MUGS collaboration (Stinson et al. 2010) shows that even if the shape of the dark matter halo is nearly oblate, only about 50% of its orbits are on short-axis tubes, confirming a previous result: under baryonic condensation all orbit families can deform their shapes without changing orbital type (Valluri et al. 2010). Orbits of dark matter particles and halo stars are very similar reflecting their common accretion origin and the influence of baryons. Frequency maps provide a compact representation of the 6-D phase space distribution that also reveals the history of the halo (Valluri et al. 2012). The 6-D phase space coordinates for a large population of halo stars in the Milky Way that will be obtained from future surveys can be used to reconstruct the phase-space distribution function of the stellar halo. The similarity between the frequency maps of halo stars and dark matter particles (Fig. 1) implies that reconstruction of the stellar halo distribution function can reveal the phase space distribution of the unseen dark matter particles and provide evidence for secular evolution. MV is supported by NSF grant AST-0908346 and the Elizabeth Crosby grant.

Space Radiation Environment Prediction for VLSI microelectronics devices onboard a LEO Satellite using OMERE-Trad Software

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sajid, Muhammad

This tutorial/survey paper presents the assessment/determination of level of hazard/threat to emerging microelectronics devices in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) space radiation environment with perigee at 300 Km, apogee at 600Km altitude having different orbital inclinations to predict the reliability of onboard Bulk Built-In Current Sensor (BBICS) fabricated in 350nm technology node at OptMA Lab. UFMG Brazil. In this context, the various parameters for space radiation environment have been analyzed to characterize the ionizing radiation environment effects on proposed BBICS. The Space radiation environment has been modeled in the form of particles trapped in Van-Allen radiation belts(RBs), Energetic Solar Particles Events (ESPE) and Galactic Cosmic Rays (GCR) where as its potential effects on Device- Under-Test (DUT) has been predicted in terms of Total Ionizing Dose (TID), Single-Event Effects (SEE) and Displacement Damage Dose (DDD). Finally, the required mitigation techniques including necessary shielding requirements to avoid undesirable effects of radiation environment at device level has been estimated /determined with assumed standard thickness of Aluminum shielding. In order to evaluate space radiation environment and analyze energetic particles effects on BBICS, OMERE toolkit developed by TRAD was utilized.

Particulate electron beam weld emission hazards in space

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bunton, Patrick H.

1996-01-01

The electron-beam welding process is well adapted to function in the environment of space. The Soviets were the first to demonstrate welding in space in the mid-1980's. Under the auspices of the International Space Welding Experiment (ISWE), an on-orbit test of a Ukrainian designed electron-beam welder (the Universal Hand Tool or 'UHT') is scheduled for October of 1997. The potential for sustained presence in space with the development of the international space station raises the possibility of the need for construction and repair in space. While welding is not scheduled to be used in the assembly of the space station, repair of damage from orbiting debris or meteorites is a potential need. Furthermore, safe and successful welding in the space environment may open new avenues for design and construction. The safety issue has been raised with regard to hot particle emissions (spatter) sometimes observed from the weld during operations. On earth the hot particles pose no particular hazard, but in space there exists the possibility for burn-through of the space suit which could be potentially lethal. Contamination of the payload bay by emitted particles could also be a problem.

Dynamical and photometric investigation of cometary type 2 tails

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sekanina, Z.

1975-01-01

The absolute calibration of the photometric profile of the antitail of Comet Kohoutek 1973 XII on plates taken with the Curtis Schmidt telescope of the University of Michigan at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory is described in detail. The formula for the determination of the air mass, and the correction for atmospheric absorption and for the loss of light due to vignetting are included. The calibration stars were used to derive the coefficients converting the relative intensity scale to the absolute surface-brightness units. The extensive results of the study of the orbital evolution of vaporizing dust particles are listed in a tabular form. Gradual evaporation from the surface of a particle results typically in its expulsion from the solar system. The properties of the particle and the elements of its orbit at expulsion are given as functions of the particle's properties and orbit before appreciable evaporation commenced. Also given are circumstances at an encounter of an expelled particle with the earth as a function of the particle's properties. A few specific cases are represented graphically.

Observation of bow shock protons at the lunar orbit. M.S. Thesis; [particle trajectory analysis of solar protons in the lunar atmosphere

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Benson, J. L.

1974-01-01

Protons with energies ranging from about 500 eV to 3,500 eV were observed by the Suprathermal Ion Detector Experiment (SIDE) on both the dusk and dawn sides of the magnetosphere. On each lunation these particles appeared as a rather continuous phenomenon for 3 to 5 days after crossing from the dawn-side magnetosheath into the solar wind and for about 2 days prior to entering the dusk-side magnetosheath. Data from the SIDE and from the Explorer 35 lunar orbiting magnetometer were analyzed and these data indicated that the transverse ion flows observed by the SIDE in the pre and post bow shock crossing regions of the lunar orbit are due to these deviated solar wind particles. A computer model based on drift trajectories for particles leaving the shock was developed and synthetic particle data produced by this model are in good agreement with the observed data.

Compositional Mapping of Planetary moons by Mass Spectrometry of Dust Ejecta

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Postberg, F.; Gruen, E.; Horanyi, M.; Kempf, S.; Krüger, H.; Schmidt, J.; Spahn, F.; Srama, R.; Sternovsky, Z.; Trieloff, M.

2011-12-01

Classical methods to analyze the surface composition of planetary objects from a space craft are IR and gamma ray spectroscopy and neutron backscatter measurements. We present a complementary method to analyze rocky or icy dust particles as samples of planetary objects from where they were ejected. Such particles, generated by the ambient meteoroid bombardment that erodes the surface, are naturally present on all atmosphereless moons and planets - they are enshrouded in clouds of ballistic dust particles. In situ mass spectroscopic analysis of these grains impacting on to a detector on a spacecraft reveals their composition as characteristic samples of planetary surfaces at flybys or from an orbiter. The well established approach of dust detection by impact ionization has recently shown its capabilities by analyzing ice particles expelled by subsurface salt water on Saturn's moon Enceladus. Applying the method on micro-meteoroid ejecta of less active moons would allow for the qualitative and quantitative analysis of a huge number of samples from various surface areas, thus combining the advantages of remote sensing and a lander. Utilizing the heritage of the dust detectors onboard Ghiotto, Ulysses, Galileo, and Cassini a variety of improved, low-mass lab-models have been build and tested. They allow the chemical characterization of ice and dust particles encountered at speeds as low as 1 km/s and an accurate reconstruction of their trajectories. Depending on the sampling altitude, a dust trajectory sensor can trace back the origin of each analyzed grain with about 10 km accuracy at the surface. Since achievable detection rates are on the order of thousand per orbit, an orbiter can create a compositional map of samples taken from a greater part of the surface. Flybies allow an investigation of certain surface areas of interest. Dust impact velocities are in general sufficiently high for impact ionization at orbiters about planetary objects with a radius of at least 1000km and with only a thin or no atmosphere. Thus, this method is ideal on a spacecraft orbiting Earth's Moon or Jupiter's Galilean satellites. The approach has a ppm-level sensitivity to salts and many rock forming materials as well as water and organic compounds. It provides key chemical and isotopic constraints for varying provinces or geological formations on the surfaces, leading to better understanding of the body's geological evolution. Regions which were subject to endogenic or exogenic alteration (resurfacing, radiation, old/new regions) could be distinguished and investigated. In particular exchange processes with subsurface ocean on the Galileian moons could be determined with high quantitative precision.

Capture of Planetesimals into a Circumterrestrial Swarm

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Weidenschilling, S. J.

1985-01-01

The lunar origin model considered in this report involves processing of protolunar material through a circumterrestrial swarm of particles. Once such a swarm has formed, it can gain mass by capturing infalling planetesimals and ejecta from giant impacts on the Earth, although the angular momentum supply from these sources remains a problem. The first stage of formation of a geocentric swarm by capture of planetesimals from initially heliocentric orbits is examined. The only plausible capture mechanism that is not dependent on very low approach velocities is the mutual collision of planetesimals passing within Earth's sphere of influence. The dissipation of energy in inelastic collisions or accretion events changes the value of the Jacobi parameter, allowing capture into bound geocentric orbits. This capture scenario was tested directly by many body numerical integration of planetesimal orbits in near Earth space.

On the Post-Keplerian Corrections to the Orbital Periods of a Two-body System and Their Application to the Galactic Center

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Iorio, Lorenzo; Zhang, Fupeng, E-mail: lorenzo.iorio@libero.it, E-mail: zhangfp7@mail.sysu.edu.cn

We perform detailed numerical analyses of the orbital motion of a test particle around a spinning primary, with the aim of investigating the possibility of using the post-Keplerian (pK) corrections to the orbiter’s periods (draconitic, anomalistic, and sidereal) as a further opportunity to perform new tests of post-Newtonian gravity. As a specific scenario, the S-stars orbiting the massive black hole (MBH) supposedly lurking in Sgr A* at the center of the Galaxy are adopted. We first study the effects of the pK Schwarzchild, Lense–Thirring, and quadrupole moment accelerations experienced by a target star for various possible initial orbital configurations. Itmore » turns out that the results of the numerical simulations are consistent with the analytical ones in the small eccentricity approximation for which almost all the latter ones were derived. For highly elliptical orbits, the sizes of the three pK corrections considered turn out to increase remarkably. The periods of the observed S2 and S0-102 stars as functions of the MBH’s spin axis orientation are considered as well. The pK accelerations lead to corrections of the orbital periods of the order of 1–100 days (Schwarzschild), 0.1–10 hr (Lense–Thirring), and 1–10{sup 3} s (quadrupole) for a target star with a = 300–800 au and e ≈ 0.8, which could be measurable with future facilities.« less

Viscosity of dilute suspensions of rodlike particles: A numerical simulation method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yamamoto, Satoru; Matsuoka, Takaaki

1994-02-01

The recently developed simulation method, named as the particle simulation method (PSM), is extended to predict the viscosity of dilute suspensions of rodlike particles. In this method a rodlike particle is modeled by bonded spheres. Each bond has three types of springs for stretching, bending, and twisting deformation. The rod model can therefore deform by changing the bond distance, bond angle, and torsion angle between paired spheres. The rod model can represent a variety of rigidity by modifying the bond parameters related to Young's modulus and the shear modulus of the real particle. The time evolution of each constituent sphere of the rod model is followed by molecular-dynamics-type approach. The intrinsic viscosity of a suspension of rodlike particles is derived from calculating an increased energy dissipation for each sphere of the rod model in a viscous fluid. With and without deformation of the particle, the motion of the rodlike particle was numerically simulated in a three-dimensional simple shear flow at a low particle Reynolds number and without Brownian motion of particles. The intrinsic viscosity of the suspension of rodlike particles was investigated on orientation angle, rotation orbit, deformation, and aspect ratio of the particle. For the rigid rodlike particle, the simulated rotation orbit compared extremely well with theoretical one which was obtained for a rigid ellipsoidal particle by use of Jeffery's equation. The simulated dependence of the intrinsic viscosity on various factors was also identical with that of theories for suspensions of rigid rodlike particles. For the flexible rodlike particle, the rotation orbit could be obtained by the particle simulation method and it was also cleared that the intrinsic viscosity decreased as occurring of recoverable deformation of the rodlike particle induced by flow.

Correlated natural transition orbital framework for low-scaling excitation energy calculations (CorNFLEx).

PubMed

Baudin, Pablo; Kristensen, Kasper

2017-06-07

We present a new framework for calculating coupled cluster (CC) excitation energies at a reduced computational cost. It relies on correlated natural transition orbitals (NTOs), denoted CIS(D')-NTOs, which are obtained by diagonalizing generalized hole and particle density matrices determined from configuration interaction singles (CIS) information and additional terms that represent correlation effects. A transition-specific reduced orbital space is determined based on the eigenvalues of the CIS(D')-NTOs, and a standard CC excitation energy calculation is then performed in that reduced orbital space. The new method is denoted CorNFLEx (Correlated Natural transition orbital Framework for Low-scaling Excitation energy calculations). We calculate second-order approximate CC singles and doubles (CC2) excitation energies for a test set of organic molecules and demonstrate that CorNFLEx yields excitation energies of CC2 quality at a significantly reduced computational cost, even for relatively small systems and delocalized electronic transitions. In order to illustrate the potential of the method for large molecules, we also apply CorNFLEx to calculate CC2 excitation energies for a series of solvated formamide clusters (up to 4836 basis functions).

Improving satellite vulnerability assessment to untrackable orbital debris

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Welty, Nathan; Schaefer, Frank; Rudolph, Martin; Destefanis, Roberto; Grassi, Lilith

2012-07-01

The projected growth in the untrackable orbital debris population will place an increased emphasis on satellite vulnerability assessments during both design and mission operations. This study presents an enhanced method for assessing satellite vulnerability to untrackable orbital debris that expands on traditional practices. By looking beyond structural penetration of the spacecraft, the method predicts the survivability of individual components and the associated degradation of system functionality resulting from untrackable debris impacts. A new risk assessment tool, the Particle Impact Risk and Vulnerability Assessment Tool (PIRAT), has been developed based on this method and is also presented here. It interfaces with both the NASA ORDEM2000 and ESA MASTER-2009 debris models and has been validated against the benchmark test cases from the Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee (IADC). This study concludes with an example vulnerability assessment using PIRAT for a generic Earth observation satellite in a Sun-synchronous low-Earth orbit. The results illustrate the additional insight provided by this method that can be used to improve the robustness of future satellite designs and mitigate the overall mission risk posed by untrackable orbital debris.

Intracalibration of particle detectors on a three-axis stabilized geostationary platform

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rowland, W.; Weigel, R. S.

2012-11-01

We describe an algorithm for intracalibration of measurements from plasma or energetic particle detectors on a three-axis stabilized platform. Modeling and forecasting of Earth's radiation belt environment requires data from particle instruments, and these data depend on measurements which have an inherent calibration uncertainty. Pre-launch calibration is typically performed, but on-orbit changes in the instrument often necessitate adjustment of calibration parameters to mitigate the effect of these changes on the measurements. On-orbit calibration practices for particle detectors aboard spin-stabilized spacecraft are well established. Three-axis stabilized platforms, however, pose unique challenges even when comparisons are being performed between multiple telescopes measuring the same energy ranges aboard the same satellite. This algorithm identifies time intervals when different telescopes are measuring particles with the same pitch angles. These measurements are used to compute scale factors which can be multiplied by the pre-launch geometric factor to correct any changes. The approach is first tested using measurements from GOES-13 MAGED particle detectors over a 5-month time period in 2010. We find statistically significant variations which are generally on the order of 5% or less. These results do not appear to be dependent on Poisson statistics nor upon whether a dead time correction was performed. When applied to data from a 5-month interval in 2011, one telescope shows a 10% shift from the 2010 scale factors. This technique has potential for operational use to help maintain relative calibration between multiple telescopes aboard a single satellite. It should also be extensible to inter-calibration between multiple satellites.

Post-launch data analysis for the cosmic ray isotope experiment ONR-604 in the Combined Release and Radiation Effects Satellite (CRRES)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Simpson, John A.; Garcia-Munoz, Moises

1995-01-01

Research was continued on the origins, acceleration mechanisms, and the propagation modes of the hierarchy of energetic charged particles found in a wide range of astrophysical settings, extending from the cosmic rays arriving from the depth of the galaxy to the energetic particles in the heliosphere and in the near earth environment. In particular this grant has been a vital support in the investigation of the particle radiations in the earth's magnetosphere. The ONR-604 instrument was launched in July 1990 aboard the CRRES spacecraft. The CRRES mission has been a joint program of NASA and the U.S. Air Force Space Test Program which has provided launch support and telemetry coverage. The spacecraft was placed into a low-inclination eccentric orbit with a period of approximately 10 hours, and thus measured charged particle fluxes in both interplanetary space and in the earth's trapped radiation. ONR-604 performed extremely well, both in interplanetary space and in the intense radiation belt environment. We were able to make detailed measurements of interplanetary fluxes and composition into L=4, or for more than 50% of the orbital period. Thus the experiment produced two valuable datasets, one set outside of L=4 for interplanetary studies, and one set inside of L=4 for radiation belt studies. The data returned by the University of Chicago ONR-604 instrument has been the base for 10 papers on magnetospheric and galactic energetic-particle research.

Particle astronomy and particle physics from the moon - The particle observatory

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wilson, Thomas L.

1990-01-01

Promising experiments from the moon using particle detectors are discussed, noting the advantage of the large flux collecting power Pc offered by the remote, stable environment of a lunar base. An observatory class of particle experiments is presented, based upon proposals at NASA's recent Stanford workshop. They vary from neutrino astronomy, particle astrophysics, and cosmic ray experiments to space physics and fundamental physics experiments such as proton decay and 'table-top' arrays. This research is background-limited on earth, and it is awkward and unrealistic in earth orbit, but is particularly suited for the moon where Pc can be quite large and the instrumentation is not subject to atmospheric erosion as it is (for large t) in low earth orbit.

Variational Optimization of the Second-Order Density Matrix Corresponding to a Seniority-Zero Configuration Interaction Wave Function.

PubMed

Poelmans, Ward; Van Raemdonck, Mario; Verstichel, Brecht; De Baerdemacker, Stijn; Torre, Alicia; Lain, Luis; Massaccesi, Gustavo E; Alcoba, Diego R; Bultinck, Patrick; Van Neck, Dimitri

2015-09-08

We perform a direct variational determination of the second-order (two-particle) density matrix corresponding to a many-electron system, under a restricted set of the two-index N-representability P-, Q-, and G-conditions. In addition, we impose a set of necessary constraints that the two-particle density matrix must be derivable from a doubly occupied many-electron wave function, i.e., a singlet wave function for which the Slater determinant decomposition only contains determinants in which spatial orbitals are doubly occupied. We rederive the two-index N-representability conditions first found by Weinhold and Wilson and apply them to various benchmark systems (linear hydrogen chains, He, N2, and CN(-)). This work is motivated by the fact that a doubly occupied many-electron wave function captures in many cases the bulk of the static correlation. Compared to the general case, the structure of doubly occupied two-particle density matrices causes the associate semidefinite program to have a very favorable scaling as L(3), where L is the number of spatial orbitals. Since the doubly occupied Hilbert space depends on the choice of the orbitals, variational calculation steps of the two-particle density matrix are interspersed with orbital-optimization steps (based on Jacobi rotations in the space of the spatial orbitals). We also point to the importance of symmetry breaking of the orbitals when performing calculations in a doubly occupied framework.

An inadvertent capture cell for orbital debris and micrometeorites - The main electronics box thermal blanket of the solar maximum satellite

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rietmeijer, F. J. M.; Schramm, L. S.; Barrett, R. A.; Mckay, D. S.; Zook, H. A.

1986-01-01

The physical properties of impact features in the Solar Max main electronics box thermal blanket are consistent with hypervelocity impacts of particles in the near-earth space environment. The majority of particles are orbital debris and include spacecraft paints and bismuth-rich particles. At least 30 percent of all impact features are caused by micrometeorites, which include silicates and sulfides. Some micrometeorites survive impact with only minor shock-metamorphic effects or chemical fractionation. Currently calibration experiments are under way to relate flux to particle diameter (or mass).

Erosion in radial inflow turbines. Volume 2: Balance of centrifugal and radial drag forces on erosive particles

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Clevenger, W. B., Jr.; Tabakoff, W.

1974-01-01

The particle motion in two-dimensional free and forced inward flowing vortices is considered. A particle in such a flow field experiences a balance between the aerodynamic drag forces that tend to drive erosive particles toward the axis, and centrifugal forces that prevent these particles from traveling toward the axis. Results predict that certain sizes of particles will achieve a stable orbit about the turbine axis in the inward flowing free vortex. In this condition, the radial drag force is equal to the centrifugal force. The sizes of particles that will achieve a stable orbit is shown to be related to the gas flow velocity diagram at a particular radius. A second analysis yields a description of particle sizes that will experience a centrifugal force that is greater than the radial component of the aerodynamic drag force for a more general type of particle motion.

Trajectories of ballistic impact ejecta on a rotating Earth

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Alvarez, W.

1994-01-01

On an airless, slowly rotating planetary body like the Moon, ejecta particles from an impact follow simple ballistic trajectories. If gaseous interactions in the fireball are ignored, ejecta particles follow elliptical orbits with the center of the planetary body at one focus until they encounter the surface at the point of reimpact. The partial elliptical orbit of the ejecta particle lies in a plane in inertial (galactic) coordinates. Because of the slow rotation rate (for example, 360 degrees/28 days for the Moon), the intersection of the orbital plane and the surface remains nearly a great circle during the flight time of the ejecta. For this reason, lunar rays, representing concentrations of ejecta with the same azimuth but different velocities and/or ejecta angles, lie essentially along great circles. Ejecta from airless but more rapidly rotating bodies will follow more complicated, curving trajectories when plotted in the coordinate frame of the rotating planet or viewed as rays on the planetary surface. The curvature of trajectories of ejecta particles can be treated as a manifestation of the Coriolis effect, with the particles being accelerated by Coriolis pseudoforces. However, it is more straightforward to calculate the elliptical orbit in inertial space and then determine how far the planet rotates beneath the orbiting ejecta particle before reimpact. The Earth's eastward rotation affects ballistic ejecta in two ways: (1) the eastward velocity component increases the velocity of eastbound ejecta and reduces the velocity of westbound ejecta; and (2) the Earth turns underneath inflight ejecta, so that although the latitude of reimpact is not changed, the longitude is displaced westward, with the displacement increasing as a function of the time the ejecta remains aloft.

Mapping the space radiation environment in LEO orbit by the SATRAM Timepix payload on board the Proba-V satellite

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Granja, Carlos; Polansky, Stepan

2016-07-01

Detailed spatial- and time-correlated maps of the space radiation environment in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) are produced by the spacecraft payload SATRAM operating in open space on board the Proba-V satellite from the European Space Agency (ESA). Equipped with the hybrid semiconductor pixel detector Timepix, the compact radiation monitor payload provides the composition and spectral characterization of the mixed radiation field with quantum-counting and imaging dosimetry sensitivity, energetic charged particle tracking, directionality and energy loss response in wide dynamic range in terms of particle types, dose rates and particle fluxes. With a polar orbit (sun synchronous, 98° inclination) at the altitude of 820 km the payload samples the space radiation field at LEO covering basically the whole planet. First results of long-period data evaluation in the form of time-and spatially-correlated maps of total dose rate (all particles) are given.

A cubic scaling algorithm for excited states calculations in particle-particle random phase approximation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lu, Jianfeng; Yang, Haizhao

2017-07-01

The particle-particle random phase approximation (pp-RPA) has been shown to be capable of describing double, Rydberg, and charge transfer excitations, for which the conventional time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) might not be suitable. It is thus desirable to reduce the computational cost of pp-RPA so that it can be efficiently applied to larger molecules and even solids. This paper introduces an O (N3) algorithm, where N is the number of orbitals, based on an interpolative separable density fitting technique and the Jacobi-Davidson eigensolver to calculate a few low-lying excitations in the pp-RPA framework. The size of the pp-RPA matrix can also be reduced by keeping only a small portion of orbitals with orbital energy close to the Fermi energy. This reduced system leads to a smaller prefactor of the cubic scaling algorithm, while keeping the accuracy for the low-lying excitation energies.

F Ring Core Stability: Corotation Resonance Plus Antiresonance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cuzzi, Jeffrey N.; Marouf, Essam; French, Richard; Jacobson, Robert

2014-11-01

The decades-or-longer stability of the narrow F Ring core in a sea of orbital chaos appears to be due to an unusual combination of traditional corotation resonance and a novel kind of “antiresonance”. At a series of specific locations in the F Ring region, apse precession between synodic encounters with Prometheus allows semimajor axis perturbations to promptly cancel before significant orbital period changes can occur (Cuzzi et al. 2014, Icarus 232, 157-175). This cancellation fails for particles that encounter Prometheus when it is near its apoapse, especially during periods of antialignment of its apse with that of the F Ring. At these times, the strength of the semimajor axis perturbation is large (tens of km) and highly nonsinusoidal in encounter longitude, making it impossible to cancel promptly on a subsequent encounter and leading to chaotic orbital diffusion. Only particles that consistently encounter Prometheus away from its apoapse can use antiresonance to maintain stable orbits, implying that the true mean motion nF of the stable core must be defined by a corotational resonance of the form nF = nP-κP/m, where (nP, κP) are Prometheus’ mean motion and epicycle frequency. To test this hypothesis we used the fact that Cassini RSS occultations only sporadically detect a “massive” F Ring core, composed of several-cm-and-larger particles. We regressed the inertial longitudes of 24 Cassini RSS (and VGR) detections and 43 nondetections to a common epoch, using a comb of candidate nP, and then folded them modulo the anticipated m-number of the corotational resonance (Prometheus m=110 outer CER), to see if clustering appears. We find the “true F Ring core” is actually arranged in a series of short longitudinal arcs separated by nearly empty longitudes, orbiting at a well determined semimajor axis of 140222.4km (from 2005-2012 at least). Small particles seen by imaging and stellar occultations spread quickly in azimuth and obscure this clumpy structure. Small chaotic variations in the mean motion and/or apse longitude of Prometheus quickly become manifest in the F Ring core, and we suggest that the core must adapt to these changes for the F Ring to maintain stability over timescales of decades and longer.

Diverse wave-particle interactions for energetic ions that traverse Alfvén eigenmodes on their first full orbit [Diverse nonlinear wave-particle interactions for energetic ions that traverse Alfvén eigenmodes on their first full orbit

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Heidbrink, W. W.; Persico, E. A. D.; Austin, M. E.

2016-02-09

Here, neutral-beam ions that are deflected onto loss orbits by Alfvén eigenmodes (AE) on their first bounce orbit and are detected by a fast-ion loss detector (FILD) satisfy the “local resonance” condition. This theory qualitatively explains FILD observations for a wide variety of AE-particle interactions. When coherent losses are measured for multiple AE, oscillations at the sum and difference frequencies of the independent modes are often observed. The amplitudes of the sum and difference peaks correlate with the amplitudes of the fundamental loss-signal amplitudes but do not correlate with the measured mode amplitudes. In contrast to a simple uniform-plasma theorymore » of the interaction, the loss-signal amplitude at the sum frequency is often larger than the loss-signal amplitude at the difference frequency, indicating a more detailed computation of the orbital trajectories through the mode eigenfunctions is needed.« less

Effects of High-Density Impacts on Shielding Capability

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Christiansen, Eric L.; Lear, Dana M.

2014-01-01

Spacecraft are shielded from micrometeoroids and orbital debris (MMOD) impacts to meet requirements for crew safety and/or mission success. In the past, orbital debris particles have been considered to be composed entirely of aluminum (medium-density material) for the purposes of MMOD shielding design and verification. Meteoroids have been considered to be low-density porous materials, with an average density of 1 g/cu cm. Recently, NASA released a new orbital debris environment model, referred to as ORDEM 3.0, that indicates orbital debris contains a substantial fraction of high-density material for which steel is used in MMOD risk assessments [Ref.1]. Similarly, an update to the meteoroid environment model is also under consideration to include a high-density component of that environment. This paper provides results of hypervelocity impact tests and hydrocode simulations on typical spacecraft MMOD shields using steel projectiles. It was found that previous ballistic limit equations (BLEs) that define the protection capability of the MMOD shields did not predict the results from the steel impact tests and hydrocode simulations (typically, the predictions from these equations were too optimistic). The ballistic limit equations required updates to more accurately represent shield protection capability from the range of densities in the orbital debris environment. Ballistic limit equations were derived from the results of the work and are provided in the paper.

Dynamics of planetary rings

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Araki, Suguru

1991-01-01

The modeling of the dynamics of particle collisions within planetary rings is discussed. Particles in the rings collide with one another because they have small random motions in addition to their orbital velocity. The orbital speed is roughly 10 km/s, while the random motions have an average speed of about a tenth of a millimeter per second. As a result, the particle collisions are very gentle. Numerical analysis and simulation of the ring dynamics, performed with the aid of a supercomputer, is outlined.

Solar heavy ion Heinrich fluence spectrum at low earth orbit.

PubMed

Croley, D R; Spitale, G C

1998-01-01

Solar heavy ions from the JPL Solar Heavy Ion Model have been transported into low earth orbit using the Schulz cutoff criterion for L-shell access by ions of a specific charge to mass ratio. The NASA Brouwer orbit generator was used to get L values along the orbit at 60 second time intervals. Heavy ion fluences of ions 2 < or = Z < or = 92 have been determined for the LET range 1 to 130 MeV-cm2/mg by 60, 120 or 250 mils of aluminum over a period of 24 hours in a 425 km circular orbit inclined 51 degrees. The ion fluence is time dependent in the sense that the position of the spacecraft in the orbit at the flare onset time fixes the relationship between particle flux and spacecraft passage through high L-values where particles have access to the spacecraft.

Debris Albedo from Laser Ablation in Low and High Vacuum: Comparisons to Hypervelocity Impact

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Radhakrishnan, G.; Adams, P. M.; Alaan, D. R.; Panetta, C. J.

The albedo of orbital debris fragments in space is a critical parameter used in the derivation of their physical sizes from optical measurements. The change in albedo results from scattering due to micron and sub-micron particles on the surface. There are however no known hypervelocity collision ground tests that simulate the high-vacuum conditions on-orbit. While hypervelocity impact experiments at a gun range can offer a realistic representation of the energy of impact and fragmentation, and can aid the understanding of albedo, they are conducted in low-pressure air that is not representative of the very high vacuum of 10-8 Torr or less that exists in the Low Earth Orbit environment. Laboratory simulation using laser ablation with a high power laser, on the same target materials as used in current satellite structures, is appealing because it allows for well-controlled investigations that can be coupled to optical albedo (reflectance) measurements of the resultant debris. This relatively low-cost laboratory approach can complement the significantly more elaborate and expensive field-testing of single-shot hypervelocity impact on representative satellite structures. Debris generated is optically characterized with UV-VIS-NIR reflectance, and particle size distributions can be measured. In-situ spectroscopic diagnostics (nanosecond time frame) provide an identification of atoms and ions in the plume, and plasma temperatures, allowing a correlation of the energetics of the ablated plume with resulting albedo and particle size distributions of ablated debris. Our laboratory experiments offer both a high-vacuum environment, and selection of any gaseous ambient, at any controlled pressure, thus allowing for comparison to the hypervelocity impact experiments in low-pressure air. Initial results from plume analysis, and size distribution and microstructure of debris collected on witness plates show that laser ablations in low-pressure air offer many similarities to the recent DebrisLV and DebriSat hypervelocity impact experiments, while ablations in high-vacuum provide critical distinctions.

The electromagnetic analogy of a ball on a rotating conical turntable

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zengel, Keith

2017-12-01

A ball on a flat rotating turntable executes circular orbits analogous to those of a charged particle in a uniform magnetic field. Stable circular orbits are also possible on rotating conical turntables and are analogous to those of a charged particle in an axial magnetic field superimposed on a radial electric field. The existence and stability of these orbits is derived and discussed. Further, parallels are drawn between the mechanical and electromagnetic cases, with particular attention to the magnetic vector potential. Finally, an experimental confirmation is reported and discussed.

Single-event and total-dose effects in geo-stationary transfer orbit during solar-activity maximum period measured by the Tsubasa satellite

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Koshiishi, H.; Kimoto, Y.; Matsumoto, H.; Goka, T.

The Tsubasa satellite developed by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency was launched in Feb 2002 into Geo-stationary Transfer Orbit GTO Perigee 500km Apogee 36000km and had been operated well until Sep 2003 The objective of this satellite was to verify the function of commercial parts and new technologies of bus-system components in space Thus the on-board experiments were conducted in the more severe radiation environment of GTO rather than in Geo-stationary Earth Orbit GEO or Low Earth Orbit LEO The Space Environment Data Acquisition equipment SEDA on board the Tsubasa satellite had the Single-event Upset Monitor SUM and the DOSimeter DOS to evaluate influences on electronic devices caused by radiation environment that was also measured by the particle detectors of the SEDA the Standard DOse Monitor SDOM for measurements of light particles and the Heavy Ion Telescope HIT for measurements of heavy ions The SUM monitored single-event upsets and single-event latch-ups occurred in the test sample of two 64-Mbit DRAMs The DOS measured accumulated radiation dose at fifty-six locations in the body of the Tsubasa satellite Using the data obtained by these instruments single-event and total-dose effects in GTO during solar-activity maximum period especially their rapid changes due to solar flares and CMEs in the region from L 1 1 through L 11 is discussed in this paper

Statistical Orbit Determination using the Particle Filter for Incorporating Non-Gaussian Uncertainties

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mashiku, Alinda; Garrison, James L.; Carpenter, J. Russell

2012-01-01

The tracking of space objects requires frequent and accurate monitoring for collision avoidance. As even collision events with very low probability are important, accurate prediction of collisions require the representation of the full probability density function (PDF) of the random orbit state. Through representing the full PDF of the orbit state for orbit maintenance and collision avoidance, we can take advantage of the statistical information present in the heavy tailed distributions, more accurately representing the orbit states with low probability. The classical methods of orbit determination (i.e. Kalman Filter and its derivatives) provide state estimates based on only the second moments of the state and measurement errors that are captured by assuming a Gaussian distribution. Although the measurement errors can be accurately assumed to have a Gaussian distribution, errors with a non-Gaussian distribution could arise during propagation between observations. Moreover, unmodeled dynamics in the orbit model could introduce non-Gaussian errors into the process noise. A Particle Filter (PF) is proposed as a nonlinear filtering technique that is capable of propagating and estimating a more complete representation of the state distribution as an accurate approximation of a full PDF. The PF uses Monte Carlo runs to generate particles that approximate the full PDF representation. The PF is applied in the estimation and propagation of a highly eccentric orbit and the results are compared to the Extended Kalman Filter and Splitting Gaussian Mixture algorithms to demonstrate its proficiency.

On the stability of dust orbits in mean-motion resonances perturbed by from an interstellar wind

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pástor, Pavol

2014-09-01

Circumstellar dust particles can be captured in a mean-motion resonance (MMR) with a planet and simultaneously be affected by non-gravitational effects. It is possible to describe the secular variations of a particle orbit in the MMR analytically using averaged resonant equations. We derive the averaged resonant equations from the equations of motion in near-canonical form. The secular variations of the particle orbit depending on the orientation of the orbit in space are taken into account. The averaged resonant equations can be derived/confirmed also from Lagrange's planetary equations. We apply the derived theory to the case when the non-gravitational effects are the Poynting-Robertson effect, the radial stellar wind, and an interstellar wind. The analytical and numerical results obtained are in excellent agreement. We found that the types of orbits correspond to libration centers of the conservative problem. The averaged resonant equations can lead to a system of equations which holds for stationary points in a subset of resonant variables. Using this system we show analytically that for the considered non-gravitational effects, all stationary points should correspond to orbits which are stationary in interplanetary space after an averaging over a synodic period. In an exact resonance, the stationary orbits are stable. The stability is achieved by a periodic repetition of the evolution during the synodic period. Numerical solutions of this system show that there are no stationary orbits for either the exact or non-exact resonances.

Inverse-Square Orbits: A Geometric Approach.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rainwater, James C.; Weinstock, Robert

1979-01-01

Presents a derivation of Kepler's first law of planetary motion from Newtonian principles. Analogus derivations of the hyperbolic and parabolic orbits of nonreturning comets and the hyperbolic orbit for a particle in a repulsive inverse-square field are also presented. (HM)

An energy- and charge-conserving, implicit, electrostatic particle-in-cell algorithm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, G.; Chacón, L.; Barnes, D. C.

2011-08-01

This paper discusses a novel fully implicit formulation for a one-dimensional electrostatic particle-in-cell (PIC) plasma simulation approach. Unlike earlier implicit electrostatic PIC approaches (which are based on a linearized Vlasov-Poisson formulation), ours is based on a nonlinearly converged Vlasov-Ampére (VA) model. By iterating particles and fields to a tight nonlinear convergence tolerance, the approach features superior stability and accuracy properties, avoiding most of the accuracy pitfalls in earlier implicit PIC implementations. In particular, the formulation is stable against temporal (Courant-Friedrichs-Lewy) and spatial (aliasing) instabilities. It is charge- and energy-conserving to numerical round-off for arbitrary implicit time steps (unlike the earlier "energy-conserving" explicit PIC formulation, which only conserves energy in the limit of arbitrarily small time steps). While momentum is not exactly conserved, errors are kept small by an adaptive particle sub-stepping orbit integrator, which is instrumental to prevent particle tunneling (a deleterious effect for long-term accuracy). The VA model is orbit-averaged along particle orbits to enforce an energy conservation theorem with particle sub-stepping. As a result, very large time steps, constrained only by the dynamical time scale of interest, are possible without accuracy loss. Algorithmically, the approach features a Jacobian-free Newton-Krylov solver. A main development in this study is the nonlinear elimination of the new-time particle variables (positions and velocities). Such nonlinear elimination, which we term particle enslavement, results in a nonlinear formulation with memory requirements comparable to those of a fluid computation, and affords us substantial freedom in regards to the particle orbit integrator. Numerical examples are presented that demonstrate the advertised properties of the scheme. In particular, long-time ion acoustic wave simulations show that numerical accuracy does not degrade even with very large implicit time steps, and that significant CPU gains are possible.

Physical Models for Particle Tracking Simulations in the RF Gap

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Shishlo, Andrei P.; Holmes, Jeffrey A.

2015-06-01

This document describes the algorithms that are used in the PyORBIT code to track the particles accelerated in the Radio-Frequency cavities. It gives the mathematical description of the algorithms and the assumptions made in each case. The derived formulas have been implemented in the PyORBIT code. The necessary data for each algorithm are described in detail.

Spin-Orbit Coupling and the Conservation of Angular Momentum

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hnizdo, V.

2012-01-01

In nonrelativistic quantum mechanics, the total (i.e. orbital plus spin) angular momentum of a charged particle with spin that moves in a Coulomb plus spin-orbit-coupling potential is conserved. In a classical nonrelativistic treatment of this problem, in which the Lagrange equations determine the orbital motion and the Thomas equation yields the…

Micrometeoroids and debris on LDEF

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mandeville, Jean-Claude

1993-01-01

Two experiments within the French Cooperative Payload (FRECOPA) and devoted to the detection of cosmic dust were flown on the Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF). A variety of sensors and collecting devices have made possible the study of impact processes on dedicated sensors and on materials of technological interest. Examination of hypervelocity impact features on these experiments gives valuable information on the size distribution and nature of interplanetary dust particles in low-Earth orbit (LEO), within the 0.5-300 micrometer size range. However no crater smaller than 1.5 microns has been observed, thus suggesting a cut-off in the near Earth particle distribution. Chemical investigation of craters by EDX clearly shows evidence of elements (Na, Mg, Si, S, Ca, and Fe) consistent with cosmic origin. However, remnants of orbital debris have been found in a few craters; this can be the result of particles in eccentric orbits about the Earth and of the 8 deg offset in the orientation of LDEF. Crater size distribution is compared with results from other dust experiments flown on LDEF and with current models. Possible origin and orbital evolution of micrometeoroids is discussed. Use of thin foil detectors for the chemical study of particle remnants looks promising for future experiments.

Orbit-induced localized spin angular momentum in strong focusing of optical vectorial vortex beams

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Manman; Cai, Yanan; Yan, Shaohui; Liang, Yansheng; Zhang, Peng; Yao, Baoli

2018-05-01

Light beams may carry optical spin or orbital angular momentum, or both. The spin and orbital parts manifest themselves by the ellipticity of the state of polarization and the vortex structure of phase of light beams, separately. Optical spin and orbit interaction, arising from the interaction between the polarization and the spatial structure of light beams, has attracted enormous interest recently. The optical spin-to-orbital angular momentum conversion under strong focusing is well known, while the converse process, orbital-to-spin conversion, has not been reported so far. In this paper, we predict in theory that the orbital angular momentum can induce a localized spin angular momentum in strong focusing of a spin-free azimuthal polarization vortex beam. This localized longitudinal spin of the focused field can drive the trapped particle to spin around its own axis. This investigation provides a new degree of freedom for spinning particles by using a vortex phase, which may have considerable potentials in optical spin and orbit interaction, light-beam shaping, or optical manipulation.

Comparison of the orbital properties of Jupiter Trojan asteroids and Trojan dust

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Xiaodong; Schmidt, Jrgen

2018-06-01

In a previous paper we simulated the orbital evolution of dust particles from the Jupiter Trojan asteroids ejected by the impacts of interplanetary particles, and evaluated their overall configuration in the form of dust arcs. Here we compare the orbital properties of these Trojan dust particles and the Trojan asteroids. Both Trojan asteroids and most of the dust particles are trapped in the Jupiter 1:1 resonance. However, for dust particles, this resonance is modified because of the presence of solar radiation pressure, which reduces the peak value of the semi-major axis distribution. We find also that some particles can be trapped in the Saturn 1:1 resonance and higher order resonances with Jupiter. The distributions of the eccentricity, the longitude of pericenter, and the inclination for Trojans and the dust are compared. For the Trojan asteroids, the peak in the longitude of pericenter distribution is about 60 degrees larger than the longitude of pericenter of Jupiter; in contrast, for Trojan dust this difference is smaller than 60 degrees, and it decreases with decreasing grain size. For the Trojan asteroids and most of the Trojan dust, the Tisserand parameter is distributed in the range of two to three.

KSC-97PC1127

NASA Image and Video Library

1997-07-24

Applied Physics Laboratory engineers and technicians from Johns Hopkins University test for true perpendicular solar array deployment of the Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) in KSC’s Spacecraft Assembly and Encapsulation Facility-II (SAEF-II). The white magnetometer boom seen across the solar array panel will deploy the panel once in space. Scheduled for launch on a Delta II rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Station on Aug. 25, ACE will study low-energy particles of solar origin and high-energy galactic particles. The ACE observatory will be placed into an orbit almost a million miles (1.5 million kilometers) away from the Earth, about 1/100 the distance from the Earth to the Sun

KSC-97PC1128

NASA Image and Video Library

1997-07-24

An Applied Physics Laboratory engineer from Johns Hopkins University tests for true perpendicular solar array deployment of the Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) in KSC’s Spacecraft Assembly and Encapsulation Facility-II (SAEF-II). The white magnetometer boom seen across the solar array panel will deploy the panel once in space. Scheduled for launch on a Delta II rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Station on Aug. 25, ACE will study low-energy particles of solar origin and high-energy galactic particles. The ACE observatory will be placed into an orbit almost a million miles (1.5 million kilometers) away from the Earth, about 1/100 the distance from the Earth to the Sun

The comet Halley meteoroid stream: just one more model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ryabova, G. O.

2003-05-01

The present attempt to simulate the formation and evolution of the comet Halley meteoroid stream is based on a tentative physical model of dust ejection of large particles from comet Halley. Model streams consisting of 500-5000 test particles have been constructed according to the following ejection scheme. The particles are ejected from the nucleus along the cometary orbit (r < 9 au) within the sunward 70° cone, and the rate of ejection has been taken as proportional to r-4. Two kinds of spherical particles have been considered: 1 and 0.001 g with density equal to 0.25 g cm-3. Ejections have been simulated for 1404 BC, 141 AD and 837 AD. The equations of motion have been numerically integrated using the Everhart procedure. As a result, a complicated fine structure of the comet Halley meteoroid stream, consisting not of filaments but of layers, has been revealed.

REVIEWS OF TOPICAL PROBLEMS: Motion of particles and photons in the gravitational field of a rotating body (In memory of Vladimir Afanas'evich Ruban)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dymnikova, I. G.

1986-03-01

A study is made of the trajectories of free motion of test particles and photons in the Kerr metric, which describes the gravitational field of a rotating massive body. The trajectories are classified on the basis of the integrals of the motion, which have a clear physical meaning. The cases of a strong gravitational field in the neighborhood of a rotating black hole as well as the weak-field approximation describing the motion of particles in the gravitational field of a rotating star or galaxy are considered. The review includes bound states (orbits) in the field of a rotating mass, scattering and gravitational capture of particles and photons by a rotating black hole, trajectories of falling into a black hole, and the bending of light rays and the gravitational time delay of signals in the gravitational field of a rotating body.

Solar particle events observed at Mars: dosimetry measurements and model calculations.

PubMed

Cleghorn, Timothy F; Saganti, Premkumar B; Zeitlin, Cary J; Cucinotta, Francis A

2004-01-01

During the period from March 13, 2002 to mid-September, 2002, six solar particle events (SPE) were observed by the MARIE instrument onboard the Odyssey Spacecraft in Martian Orbit. These events were observed also by the GOES 8 satellite in Earth orbit, and thus represent the first time that the same SPE have been observed at these separate locations. The characteristics of these SPE are examined, given that the active regions of the solar disc from which the event originated can usually be identified. The dose rates at Martian orbit are calculated, both for the galactic and solar components of the ionizing particle radiation environment. The dose rates due to galactic cosmic rays (GCR) agree well with the HZETRN model calculations. Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of COSPAR.

Solar particle events observed at Mars: dosimetry measurements and model calculations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cleghorn, Timothy F.; Saganti, Premkumar B.; Zeitlin, Cary J.; Cucinotta, Francis A.

2004-01-01

During the period from March 13, 2002 to mid-September, 2002, six solar particle events (SPE) were observed by the MARIE instrument onboard the Odyssey Spacecraft in Martian Orbit. These events were observed also by the GOES 8 satellite in Earth orbit, and thus represent the first time that the same SPE have been observed at these separate locations. The characteristics of these SPE are examined, given that the active regions of the solar disc from which the event originated can usually be identified. The dose rates at Martian orbit are calculated, both for the galactic and solar components of the ionizing particle radiation environment. The dose rates due to galactic cosmic rays (GCR) agree well with the HZETRN model calculations. Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of COSPAR.

Geomagnetic transmission disturbances and heavy-ion fluences observed in low Earth orbit during the solar energetic particle events of October 1989.

PubMed

Boberg, P R; Tylka, A J; Adams, J H; Beahm, L P; Fluckiger, E O; Kleis, T; Kobel, E

1996-01-01

The large solar energetic particle (SEP) events and simultaneous large geomagnetic disturbances observed during October 1989 posed a significant, rapidly evolving space radiation hazard. Using data from the GOES-7, NOAA-10, IMP-8 and LDEF satellites, we determined the geomagnetic transmission, heavy ion fluences, mean Fe ionic charge state, and effective radiation hazard observed in low Earth orbit (LEO) for these SEPs. We modeled the geomagnetic transmission by tracing particles through the combination of the internal International Geomagnetic Reference Field (IGRF) and the Tsyganenko (1989) magnetospheric field models, extending the modeling to large geomagnetic disturbances. We used our results to assess the radiation hazard such very large SEP events would pose in the anticipated 52 degrees inclination space station orbit.

Capture of planetesimals into a circumterrestrial swarm

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Weidenschilling, S. J.

1984-01-01

The lunar origin model considered involves processing of protolunar material through a circumterrestrial swarm of particles. Once such a swarm has formed, it can gain mass by capturing infalling planetesimals and ejecta from giant impacts on the Earth, although the angular momentum supply from these sources remains a problem. Examined is the first stage of formation of a geocentric swarm by capture of planetesimals from initialy heliocentric orbits. The only plausible capture mechanism that is not dependent on very low approach velocities is the mutual collision of planetesimals passing within Earth's sphere of influence. This capture scenario was tested directly by many body numerical integration of planetesimal orbits in near Earth space. Results agree that the systematic contribution of angular momentum is insufficient to maintain an orbiting swarm under heavy bombardment. Thus, a circumterrestrial swarm can be formed rather easily, but is hard to sustain because the mean net angular momentum of a many body swarm is small.

An analytical particle mover for the charge- and energy-conserving, nonlinearly implicit, electrostatic particle-in-cell algorithm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, G.; Chacón, L.

2013-08-01

We propose a 1D analytical particle mover for the recent charge- and energy-conserving electrostatic particle-in-cell (PIC) algorithm in Ref. [G. Chen, L. Chacón, D.C. Barnes, An energy- and charge-conserving, implicit, electrostatic particle-in-cell algorithm, Journal of Computational Physics 230 (2011) 7018-7036]. The approach computes particle orbits exactly for a given piece-wise linear electric field. The resulting PIC algorithm maintains the exact charge and energy conservation properties of the original algorithm, but with improved performance (both in efficiency and robustness against the number of particles and timestep). We demonstrate the advantageous properties of the scheme with a challenging multiscale numerical test case, the ion acoustic wave. Using the analytical mover as a reference, we demonstrate that the choice of error estimator in the Crank-Nicolson mover has significant impact on the overall performance of the implicit PIC algorithm. The generalization of the approach to the multi-dimensional case is outlined, based on a novel and simple charge conserving interpolation scheme.

Numerical study of alfvénic wave activity in the solar wind as a cause for pitch angle scattering with focus on kinetic processes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Keilbach, D.; Berger, L.; Drews, C.; Marsch, E.; Wimmer-Schweingruber, R. F.

2017-12-01

Recent studies, that determined the inflow longitude of the local interstellar medium from the anisotropy of interstellar pickup ion (PUI) radial velocity, have once again raised the question, how transport effects and especially wave activity in the solar wind modifies the velocity distribution function of PUIs.This study investigates the modification of an oxygen PUI torus distribution by alfvénic waves qualitatively with a numerical approach. The focus of this study is to understand this modification kinetically, which means, that instead of describing the PUI transport through diffusion approaches, we trace the trajectories of test particles in pitch angle space with a time resolution of at least 100 time steps per gyro orbit in order to find first principles of wave particle interactions on the most basic scale.Therefore we have implemented a Leapfrog solver of the Lorentz-Newton equations of motion for a charged test particle in a electro-magnetic field. The alfvénic waves were represented through a continuous circularly polarized wave superimposed to a constant 5 nT background magnetic field. In addition an electric field arising from induction has been added to the simulation's boundary conditions. The simulation code computes the particles' trajectories in the solar wind bulk system.Upon interaction with mono frequent single-frequency waves, the particles are found to perform stationary trajectories in pitch angle space, so that the pitch angle distribution of a conglomerate of test particles does not experience a systematic broadening over time. Also the particles do not react most strongly with waves at resonant frequencies, since the pitch angle modification by the waves sweeps their parallel velocity out of resonance quickly. However, within frequencies close to first order resonance, strong interactions between waves and particles are observed.Altogether the framework of our simulation is readily expandable to simulate additional effects, which may modify the test particles' pitch angle distribution strongly (e.g. collisions with solar wind particles or gradient drifts). So far we have expanded the simulation to support intermittent waves, where we have observed, that the pitch angle distribution of the test particles broadens systematically over time.

INSTRUMENTS AND METHODS OF INVESTIGATION Ice satellites of planets of the Solar System and the on-orbit radio detection of ultrahigh-energy particles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gusev, G. A.; Lomonosov, B. N.; Ryabov, Vladimir A.; Chechin, V. A.

2010-12-01

The problem of detecting nature's most energetic particles—cosmic rays and neutrinos—is reviewed. Prospects for using orbital radio detectors for these highest-energy particles are examined. Apertures are calculated for space experiments using the Moon and similar-sized ice satellites of planets of the Solar System as targets for the interaction of cosmic-ray particles and neutrinos. A comparative analysis shows that using the Moon as a target is the most promising scenario.

Migration of Asteroidal Dust

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ipatov, S. I.; Mather, J. C.

2003-01-01

Using the Bulirsh Stoer method of integration, we investigated the migration of dust particles under the gravitational influence of all planets, radiation pressure, Poynting Robertson drag and solar wind drag for equal to 0.01, 0.05, 0.1, 0.25, and 0.4. For silicate particles such values of correspond to diameters equal to about 40, 9, 4, 2, and 1 microns, respectively [1]. The relative error per integration step was taken to be less than 10sup-8. Initial orbits of the particles were close to the orbits of the first numbered mainbelt asteroids.

High-velocity collision of particles around a rapidly rotating black hole

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Harada, T.

2014-03-01

We have derived a general formula for the centre-of-mass (CM) energy for the near-horizon collision of two general geodesic particles around a Kerr black hole. We have found that if the angular momentum of the particle satisfies the critical condition, the CM energy can be arbitrarily high. We have then applied the formula to the collision of a particle orbiting an innermost stable circular orbit (ISCO) and another generic particle near the horizon, and found that the CM energy is arbitrarily high if we take the maximal limit of the black hole spin. In view of the astrophysical significance of the ISCO, this implies that particles can collide around a rapidly rotating black hole with a very high CM energy without any artificial fine-tuning. We have next applied the formula to the collision of general inclined geodesic particles and shown that in the direct collision scenario, the collision with an arbitrarily high CM energy can occur near the horizon of maximally rotating black holes, not only at the equator but also on a belt centred at the equator between two latitudes. This is also true in the scenario through the collision of a last stable orbit particle. This strongly suggests that if signals due to high-energy collision are to be observed, such signals will be generated primarily on this belt.

Orion Exploration Flight Test Post-Flight Inspection and Analysis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Miller, J. E.; Berger, E. L.; Bohl, W. E.; Christiansen, E. L.; Davis, B. A.; Deighton, K. D.; Enriquez, P. A.; Garcia, M. A.; Hyde, J. L.; Oliveras, O. M.

2017-01-01

The multipurpose crew vehicle, Orion, is being designed and built for NASA to handle the rigors of crew launch, sustainment and return from scientific missions beyond Earth orbit. In this role, the Orion vehicle is meant to operate in the space environments like the naturally occurring meteoroid and the artificial orbital debris environments (MMOD) with successful atmospheric reentry at the conclusion of the flight. As a result, Orion's reentry module uses durable porous, ceramic tiles on almost thirty square meters of exposed surfaces to accomplish both of these functions. These durable, non-ablative surfaces maintain their surface profile through atmospheric reentry; thus, they preserve any surface imperfections that occur prior to atmospheric reentry. Furthermore, Orion's launch abort system includes a shroud that protects the thermal protection system while awaiting launch and during ascent. The combination of these design features and a careful pre-flight inspection to identify any manufacturing imperfections results in a high confidence that damage to the thermal protection system identified post-flight is due to the in-flight solid particle environments. These favorable design features of Orion along with the unique flight profile of the first exploration flight test of Orion (EFT-1) have yielded solid particle environment measurements that have never been obtained before this flight.

Predicting Material Performance in the Space Environment from Laboratory Test Data, Static Design Environments, and Space Weather Models

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Minow, Josep I.; Edwards, David L.

2008-01-01

Qualifying materials for use in the space environment is typically accomplished with laboratory exposures to simulated UV/EUV, atomic oxygen, and charged particle radiation environments with in-situ or subsequent measurements of material properties of interest to the particular application. Choice of environment exposure levels are derived from static design environments intended to represent either mean or extreme conditions that are anticipated to be encountered during a mission. The real space environment however is quite variable. Predictions of the on orbit performance of a material qualified to laboratory environments can be done using information on 'space weather' variations in the real environment. This presentation will first review the variability of space environments of concern for material degradation and then demonstrate techniques for using test data to predict material performance in a variety of space environments from low Earth orbit to interplanetary space using historical measurements and space weather models.

Orbital Evolution of Dust Particles in the Sublimation Zone near the Sun

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shestakova, L. I.; Demchenko, B. I.

2018-03-01

We have performed the calculations of the orbital evolution of dust particles from volcanic glass ( p-obsidian), basalt, astrosilicate, olivine, and pyroxene in the sublimation zone near the Sun. The sublimation (evaporation) rate is determined by the temperature of dust particles depending on their radius, material, and distance to the Sun. All practically important parameters that characterize the interaction of spherical dust particles with the radiation are calculated using the Mie theory. The influence of radiation and solar wind pressure, as well as the Poynting-Robertson drag force effects on the dust dynamics, are also taken into account. According to the observations (Shestakova and Demchenko, 2016), the boundary of the dust-free zone is 7.0-7.6 solar radii for standard particles of the zodiacal cloud and 9.1-9.2 solar radii for cometary particles. The closest agreement is obtained for basalt particles and certain kinds of olivine, pyroxene, and volcanic glass.

Orbit transfer rocket engine technology program: Oxygen materials compatibility testing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schoenman, Leonard

1989-01-01

Particle impact and frictional heating tests of metals in high pressure oxygen, are conducted in support of the design of an advanced rocket engine oxygen turbopump. Materials having a wide range of thermodynamic properties including heat of combustion and thermal diffusivity were compared in their resistance to ignition and sustained burning. Copper, nickel and their alloys were found superior to iron based and stainless steel alloys. Some materials became more difficult to ignite as oxygen pressure was increased from 7 to 21 MPa (1000 to 3000 psia).

JSC technician checks STS-44 DSO 316 bioreactor and rotating wall vessel hdwr

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1991-01-01

JSC technician Tacey Prewitt checks the progress on a bioreactor experiment in JSC's Life Sciences Laboratory Bldg 37 biotechnology laboratory. Similar hardware is scheduled for testing aboard Atlantis, Orbiter Vehicle (OV) 104, during STS-44. Detailed Supplementary Objective (DSO) 316 Bioreactor/Flow and Particle Trajectory in Microgravity will checkout the rotating wall vessel hardware and hopefully will confirm researchers' theories and calculations about how flow fields work in space. Plastic beads of various sizes rather than cell cultures are being flown in the vessel for the STS-44 test.

Liquid Oxygen Rotating Friction Ignition Testing of Aluminum and Titanium with Monel and Inconel for Rocket Engine Propulsion System Contamination Investigation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Peralta, S.; Rosales, Keisa R.; Stoltzfus, Joel M.

2009-01-01

Metallic contaminant was found in the liquid oxygen (LOX) pre-valve screen of the shuttle main engine propulsion system on two orbiter vehicles. To investigate the potential for an ignition, NASA Johnson Space Center White Sands Test Facility performed (modified) rotating friction ignition testing in LOX. This testing simulated a contaminant particle in the low-pressure oxygen turbo pump (LPOTP) and the high-pressure oxygen turbo pump (HPOTP) of the shuttle main propulsion system. Monel(R) K-500 and Inconel(R) 718 samples represented the LPOTP and HPOTP materials. Aluminum foil tape and titanium foil represented the contaminant particles. In both the Monel(R) and Inconel(R) material configurations, the aluminum foil tape samples did not ignite after 30 s of rubbing. In contrast, all of the titanium foil samples ignited regardless of the rubbing duration or material configuration. However, the titanium foil ignitions did not propagate to the Monel and Inconel materials.

Exact charge and energy conservation in implicit PIC with mapped computational meshes

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Chen, Guangye; Barnes, D. C.

This paper discusses a novel fully implicit formulation for a one-dimensional electrostatic particle-in-cell (PIC) plasma simulation approach. Unlike earlier implicit electrostatic PIC approaches (which are based on a linearized Vlasov Poisson formulation), ours is based on a nonlinearly converged Vlasov Amp re (VA) model. By iterating particles and fields to a tight nonlinear convergence tolerance, the approach features superior stability and accuracy properties, avoiding most of the accuracy pitfalls in earlier implicit PIC implementations. In particular, the formulation is stable against temporal (Courant Friedrichs Lewy) and spatial (aliasing) instabilities. It is charge- and energy-conserving to numerical round-off for arbitrary implicitmore » time steps (unlike the earlier energy-conserving explicit PIC formulation, which only conserves energy in the limit of arbitrarily small time steps). While momentum is not exactly conserved, errors are kept small by an adaptive particle sub-stepping orbit integrator, which is instrumental to prevent particle tunneling (a deleterious effect for long-term accuracy). The VA model is orbit-averaged along particle orbits to enforce an energy conservation theorem with particle sub-stepping. As a result, very large time steps, constrained only by the dynamical time scale of interest, are possible without accuracy loss. Algorithmically, the approach features a Jacobian-free Newton Krylov solver. A main development in this study is the nonlinear elimination of the new-time particle variables (positions and velocities). Such nonlinear elimination, which we term particle enslavement, results in a nonlinear formulation with memory requirements comparable to those of a fluid computation, and affords us substantial freedom in regards to the particle orbit integrator. Numerical examples are presented that demonstrate the advertised properties of the scheme. In particular, long-time ion acoustic wave simulations show that numerical accuracy does not degrade even with very large implicit time steps, and that significant CPU gains are possible.« less

Kiel sensors for the EPD instrument on-board Solar Orbiter - An overview of the qualification and acceptance test campaigns in phase D

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ravanbakhsh, A.; Kulkarni, S. R.; Panitzsch, L.; L Richards, M.; Munoz Hernandez, A.; Seimetz, L.; Elftmann, R.; Mahesh, Y.; Boden, S.; Boettcher, S. I.; Kulemzin, A.; Martin-Garcia, C.; Prieto, M.; Rodriguez-Pacheco, J.; Sanchez Prieto, S.; Schuster, B.; Steinhagen, J.; Tammen, J.; Wimmer-Schweingruber, R. F.

2016-12-01

Solar Orbiter is ESA's next solar and heliospheric mission which is planned to be launched in October 2018. The Energetic Particle Detector (EPD) on board on Solar Orbiter will provide key measurements for the Solar Orbiter science objectives. The EPD suite consists of four sensors; STEP, SIS, EPT and HET. The University of Kiel in Germany is responsible for the design, development, and building of STEP, and the two identical units EPT-HET 1 and EPT-HET 2. ESA's Solar Orbiter will explore the heliosphere at heliocentric distances between 0.28AU and 0.9AU and with inclination up to 38deg with respect to the Sun's equator. The spacecraft uses a heat shield to protect the bus and externally mounted instruments from the solar flux at the close distances to the sun. All three EPD-Kiel units are mounted externally but in different positions on the spacecraft outer deck. Although being protected by the spacecraft heat shield from high solar flux, EPT-HET1 and EPT-HET-2 as well as STEP experience a harsh environmental condition during the course of the mission. In addition due to the highly demanding science requirements, the qualification and acceptance test requirements of these externally mounted units are quite challenging. In this paper we present the development status of the EPT-HET 1, EPT-HET 2 and STEP sensors focusing on the activities performed in phase D and the qualification and acceptance test campaigns. The main objective of these test campaigns is to ensure and demonstrate the compatibility between the scientific requirements and the harsh environment expected during the mission. This paper includes the results summary of the environmental tests on the EPT-HET and STEP Proto-Qualification Models (PQMs) as well as Proto-Flight Models (PFMs). Only an adequate selection of environmental qualification and acceptance campaigns will guarantee the success of the scientific space missions.

Capture of Hypervelocity Particles with Low-Density Aerogel

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hoerz, Friedrich; Cintala, Mark J.; Zolensky, Michael E.; Bernhard, Ronald B.; Haynes, Gerald; See, Thomas H.; Tsou, Peter; Brownlee, Donald E.

1998-01-01

Recent impact experiments conducted at Johnson Space Center supported a space-exposed flight instrument called the orbital debris collector (ODC) to see whether SiO2 acrogel performed adequately as a collector to capture cosmic dust particles and/or manmade debris, or whether additional development is needed. The first ODC was flown aboard the Mir for 18 months, while the second will be flown aboard a spacecraft (Stardust, to be launched in 1999) that will encounter the comet Wild 2 and return to Earth. Aerogels are highly porous materials that decelerate high-velocity particles without substantial melting or modifications to the particles' components; in other denser materials, these particles would melt or vaporize upon impact. The experimental data in this report must be considered somewhat qualitative because they are characterized by substantial, if not intolerable, scatter, possibly due to experimental difficulties in duplicating given sets of initial impact conditions. Therefore, this report is a chronological guide of the experimenters' attempts, difficulties, progress, and evaluations for future tests.

Dipolarizing flux bundles in the cis-geosynchronous magnetosphere: relationship between electric fields and energetic particle injections

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, J.; Angelopoulos, V.; Zhang, X. J.; Turner, D. L.; Gabrielse, C.; Runov, A.; Funsten, H. O.; Spence, H. E.

2015-12-01

Dipolarizing flux bundles (DFBs) are small flux tubes (typically < 3 RE in XGSM and YGSM) in the nightside magnetosphere that have magnetic field more dipolar than the background field. Although DFBs are known to accelerate particles to create energetic particle injections, their acceleration mechanism and importance in generating injections inside geosynchronous orbit remain open questions. To answer these questions, we investigate DFBs in the inner magnetosphere by conducting a statistical study with data from the Van Allen Probes. The results show that just like DFBs outside geosynchronous orbit, those inside that orbit occur most often in the pre-midnight sector. Half the DFBs are accompanied by energetic particle injection. Statistically, DFBs with injection have an electric field three times that of those without. All the injections accompanying DFBs appear dispersionless within the temporal and energy resolution considered. These findings suggest that the injections are ushered or locally produced by the DFB, and the DFB's strong electric field is an important aspect of the injection generation mechanism.

Mapping the space radiation environment in LEO orbit by the SATRAM Timepix payload on board the Proba-V satellite

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Granja, Carlos, E-mail: carlos.granja@utef.cvut.cz; Polansky, Stepan

Detailed spatial- and time-correlated maps of the space radiation environment in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) are produced by the spacecraft payload SATRAM operating in open space on board the Proba-V satellite from the European Space Agency (ESA). Equipped with the hybrid semiconductor pixel detector Timepix, the compact radiation monitor payload provides the composition and spectral characterization of the mixed radiation field with quantum-counting and imaging dosimetry sensitivity, energetic charged particle tracking, directionality and energy loss response in wide dynamic range in terms of particle types, dose rates and particle fluxes. With a polar orbit (sun synchronous, 98° inclination) at themore » altitude of 820 km the payload samples the space radiation field at LEO covering basically the whole planet. First results of long-period data evaluation in the form of time-and spatially-correlated maps of total dose rate (all particles) are given.« less

Primary Surface Particle Motion as a Mechanism for YORP-Driven Binary Asteroid Evolution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fahnestock, Eugene G.; Scheeres, D. J.

2008-09-01

Within the largest class of binary asteroid systems -- asynchronous binaries typified by 1999 KW4 -- we hypothesize continued YORP spin-up of the rapidly rotating primary leads to recurring episodic lofting motion of primary equator regolith. We theorize this is a mechanism for transporting YORP-injected angular momentum from primary spin into the mutual orbit. This both enables binary primaries to continue to spin at near surface fission rates and produces continued orbit expansion on time scales several times faster than expansion predicted by tidal dissipation alone. This is distinct from the Binary Yorp (BYORP) phenomenon, not studied in this work but to be added to it later. We evaluate our hypotheses using a combination of techniques for an example binary system. First high-fidelity dynamic simulation of surface-originating particles in the full-detail gravity field of the binary components, themselves propagated according to the full two body problem, gives particle final disposition (return impact, transfer impact, escape). Trajectory end states found for regolith lofted at different initial primary spin rates and relative poses are collected into probability matrices, allowing probabilistic propagation of surface particles for long durations at low computational cost. We track changes to mass, inertia dyad, rotation state, and centroid position and velocity for each component in response to this mapped particle motion. This allows tracking of primary, secondary, and mutual orbit angular momenta over time, clearly demonstrating the angular momentum transfer mechanism and validating our hypotheses. We present current orbit expansion rates and estimated orbit size doubling times consistent with this mechanism, for a few binary systems. We also discuss ramifications of this type of rapid binary evolution towards separation, including the frequency with which "divorced binaries" on similar heliocentric orbits are produced, formation of triple systems such as 2001 SN263, and separation timescale dependence on heliocentric distance.

Linking THEMIS Orbital Data to MSL GTS Measurements: The Thermophysical Properties of the Bagnold Dunes, Mars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Edwards, C. S.; Piqueux, S.; Hamilton, V. E.; Fergason, R. L.; Herkenhoff, K. E.; Vasavada, A. R.; Sacks, L. E.; Lewis, K. W.; Smith, M. D.

2017-12-01

The surface of Mars has been characterized using orbital thermal infrared observations from the time of the Mariner 9 and Viking missions. More recent observations from missions such as the Thermal Emission Spectrometer onboard the Mars Global Surveyor and the Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) instrument onboard the 2001 Mars Odyssey orbiter have continued to expand global coverage at progressively higher resolution. THEMIS has been producing 100 m/pixel thermal infrared data with nearly global coverage of the surface for >15 years and has enabled new investigations that successfully link outcrop-scale information to physical properties of the surface. However, significant discrepancies between morphologies and interpreted surface properties derived from orbital thermal measurements remain, requiring a robust link to direct surface measurements. Here, we compare the thermophysical properties and particle sizes derived from the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rover's Ground Temperature Sensor (GTS), to those derived orbitally from THEMIS, ultimately linking these measurements to ground truth particle sizes determined from Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) images. We focus on the relatively homogenous Bagnold dunes, specifically Namib dune, and in general find that all three datasets report consistent particle sizes for the Bagnold dunes ( 110-350 µm, and are within measurement and model uncertainties), indicating that particles sizes of homogeneous materials determined from thermal measurements are reliable. In addition, we assess several potentially significant effects that could influence the derived particle sizes, including: 1) fine-scale (cm-m scale) ripples, and 2) thin (mm-cm) layering of indurated/armored materials. To first order, we find that small scale ripples and thin layers do not significantly affect the determination of bulk thermal inertia determined from orbit. However, a layer of coarser/indurated material and/or fine-scale layering does change the shape of a diurnal curve and thus requires multiple time of day observations to constrain these effects. In summary, thermal inertia and grain sizes of relatively homogeneous materials derived from nighttime orbital data should be considered as reliable, as long as there is not significant sub-pixel anisothermality.

Debris perturbed by radiation pressure: relative velocities across circular orbits

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Celestino, C.; Winter, O.; Prado, A.

It is widely know that there is a large amount of space debris and meteoroid particles around the Earth. The objects larger than 10 cm can be tracked by radar and others means allowing the satellites/ships to be maneuvered to avoid collisions. However, the detection and the attendance of the orbital dynamics of objects smaller than 10 cm (particles) is very difficult. These particles can be generated by explosions of larger objects, collisions between large objects, or simply for the reaction of the oxygen in the wall of an object could generate the escape of paint pieces. The importance of studying the dynamics of these particles is that they can have relative high speeds and their effects in a collision could cause damages and even compromise the space missions. In this present work we considered a dynamical system of mm size particles around the Earth subject to the effects of radiation pressure. Our main goal is to study the evolution of its relative velocity to the circular orbits that it crosses.Firstly, it is considered that the particle is initially in circular orbit. The effect of the radiation pressure produces variations in its eccentricity, resulting in a change in its orbital velocity. The results show that the variation of the radial distance and the relative velocity can be divided in three parts: secular, long period and short period. For the radial distance the secular variation is constant, because the semi-axis is constant. The long period variation presents a configuration that repeats with period inferior to the orbital period of the Earth. And, finally, the short period variation presents points of local maxima and minima for the variation of the width of the radial distance. When considering the variation of the relative velocity we have that the secular behavior and of long period are similar to those obtained for the variation of the radial distance. However, for the short period variation, we have a larger number of local maxima and minima in comparison to the radial distance. The relative velocity for particles initially geostationary of size 5,0 mm are around 4,0 km/s. Acknowledgments: The authors thank FAPESP, CNPq and FUNDUNESP for the financial support.

A Computational Study of the Mechanics of Gravity-induced Torque on Cells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Haranas, Ioannis; Gkigkitis, Ioannis; Zouganelis, George D.

2013-10-01

In this paper, we study the effects of the acceleration gravity on the sedimentation deposition probability, as well as the aerosol deposition rate on the surface of the Earth and Mars, but also aboard a spacecraft in orbit around Earth and Mars as well. For particles with density ?p = 1300 kg/m3, diameters dp = 1, 10, 30 μm and residence times t = 0.0272, 0.2 s respectively, we find that, on the surface of Earth and Mars the deposition probabilities are higher at the poles when compared to the ones at the equator. Similarly, when in orbit around Earth we find that the deposition probabilities exhibit 0.0001 % higher percentage difference in equatorial circular and elliptical orbits when compared to polar ones. For both residence times particles with the diameters considered above in circular and elliptical orbits around Mars, the deposition probabilities appear to be the same for all orbital inclinations. Sedimentation probability increases drastically with particle diameter and orbital eccentricity of the orbiting spacecraft. Finally, as an alternative framework for the study of interaction and the effect of gravity in biology, and in particular gravity and the respiratory system we introduce is the term information in a way Shannon has introduced it, considering the sedimentation probability as a random variable. This can be thought as a way in which gravity enters the cognitive processes of the system (processing of information) in the cybernetic sense.

Post-Launch Calibration and Testing of Space Weather Instruments on GOES-R Satellite

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tadikonda, S. K.; Merrow, Cynthia S.; Kronenwetter, Jeffrey A.; Comeyne, Gustave J.; Flanagan, Daniel G.; Todrita, Monica

2016-01-01

The Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite - R (GOES-R) is the first of a series of satellites to be launched, with the first launch scheduled for October 2016. The three instruments Solar UltraViolet Imager (SUVI), Extreme ultraviolet and X-ray Irradiance Sensor (EXIS), and Space Environment In-Situ Suite (SEISS) provide the data needed as inputs for the product updates National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) provides to the public. SUVI is a full-disk extreme ultraviolet imager enabling Active Region characterization, filament eruption, and flare detection. EXIS provides inputs to solar back-ground-sevents impacting climate models. SEISS provides particle measurements over a wide energy-and-flux range that varies by several orders of magnitude and these data enable updates to spacecraft charge models for electrostatic discharge. EXIS and SEISS have been tested and calibrated end-to-end in ground test facilities around the United States. Due to the complexity of the SUVI design, data from component tests were used in a model to predict on-orbit performance. The ground tests and model updates provided inputs for designing the on-orbit calibration tests. A series of such tests have been planned for the Post-Launch Testing (PLT) of each of these instruments, and specific parameters have been identified that will be updated in the Ground Processing Algorithms, on-orbit parameter tables, or both. Some of SUVI and EXIS calibrations require slewing them off the Sun, while no such maneuvers are needed for SEISS. After a six-month PLT period the GOES-R is expected to be operational. The calibration details are presented in this paper.

Post-Launch Calibration and Testing of Space Weather Instruments on GOES-R Satellite

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tadikonda, Sivakumara S. K.; Merrow, Cynthia S.; Kronenwetter, Jeffrey A.; Comeyne, Gustave J.; Flanagan, Daniel G.; Todirita, Monica

2016-01-01

The Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite - R (GOES-R) is the first of a series of satellites to be launched, with the first launch scheduled for October 2016. The three instruments - Solar Ultra Violet Imager (SUVI), Extreme ultraviolet and X-ray Irradiance Sensor (EXIS), and Space Environment In-Situ Suite (SEISS) provide the data needed as inputs for the product updates National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) provides to the public. SUVI is a full-disk extreme ultraviolet imager enabling Active Region characterization, filament eruption, and flare detection. EXIS provides inputs to solar backgrounds/events impacting climate models. SEISS provides particle measurements over a wide energy-and-flux range that varies by several orders of magnitude and these data enable updates to spacecraft charge models for electrostatic discharge. EXIS and SEISS have been tested and calibrated end-to-end in ground test facilities around the United States. Due to the complexity of the SUVI design, data from component tests were used in a model to predict on-orbit performance. The ground tests and model updates provided inputs for designing the on-orbit calibration tests. A series of such tests have been planned for the Post-Launch Testing (PLT) of each of these instruments, and specific parameters have been identified that will be updated in the Ground Processing Algorithms, on-orbit parameter tables, or both. Some of SUVI and EXIS calibrations require slewing them off the Sun, while no such maneuvers are needed for SEISS. After a six-month PLT period the GOES-R is expected to be operational. The calibration details are presented in this paper.

A Comparison of Damaging Meteoroid and Orbital Debris Fluxes in Earth Orbit

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cooke, William; Matney, Mark; Moorhead, Althea V.; Vavrin, Andrew

2017-01-01

Low Earth orbit is populated with a substantial amount of orbital debris, and it is usually assumed that the flux from these objects contributes to most of the hypervelocity particle risk to spacecraft in this region. The meteoroid flux is known to be dominant at very low altitudes (<300 km), where atmospheric drag rapidly removes debris, and at very high altitudes beyond GEO (geostationary), where debris is practically non-existent. The vagueness of these boundaries has prompted this work, in which we compare the fluxes of meteoroids and orbital debris capable of penetrating a millimeter thick aluminum plate for circular orbits with altitudes ranging from the top of the atmosphere to 100,000 km. The outputs from the latest NASA debris and meteoroid models, ORDEM 3.0 and MEMR2, are combined with the modified Cour-Palais ballistic limit equation to make a realistic evaluation of the damage-capable particle fluxes, thereby establishing the relative contributions of hazardous debris and meteoroids in near Earth space.

Dynamics of plasma, energetic particles, and fields near synchronous orbit in the nighttime sector during magnetospheric substorms

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sauvaud, J.h.; Winckler, J.R.

We discuss two phases of substorm-associated magnetospheric dynamics in terms of the particles and fields at synchronous orbit. The first phase corresponds to the 'decreases' of energetic particle flux first identified by Erickson and Winckler (1973) and discussed by Walker et al. (1976) and Erickson et al. (1979). This phase begins one-half hour to one hour before the substorm onset and is characterized by (1) a distortion of the magnetosphere to a more taillike configuration caused by (2) an intensification and/or motion toward the earth of the cross-tail current and of its earthward part, the partial ring current, (3) amore » shift of trapped particle trajectories closer to the earth on the nightside following contours of constant B causing the particle 'decreases' accompanied by a change in the pitch angle distributions from 'pancake' to 'butterfly' as observed at geostationary orbit, (4) an initiation of a response of the auroral electrojet (AE) index. The decreases of energetic particle flux can correspond to the substorm growth phase as defined initially by McPherron (1970) or the growth or precursor phase of Erickson et al. (1979). Plasma motions and current during decreases tend to be variable, but the description above nevertheless characterizes the large-scale trend. It is suggested that the electric field induced by the increasing tail current near the earth acts opposite to the cross-tail convection field and can temporarily inhibit convection near the geostationary orbit. The second phase is the conventional expansion phase.« less

Are we close to putting the anomalous perihelion precessions from Verlinde's emergent gravity to the test?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Iorio, Lorenzo

2017-03-01

In the framework of the emergent gravity scenario by Verlinde, it was recently observed by Liu and Prokopec that, among other things, an anomalous pericenter precession would affect the orbital motion of a test particle orbiting an isolated central body. Here, it is shown that, if it were real, its expected magnitude for the inner planets of the Solar System would be at the same level of the present-day accuracy in constraining any possible deviations from their standard perihelion precessions as inferred from long data records spanning about the last century. The most favorable situation for testing the Verlinde-type precession seems to occur for Mars. Indeed, according to recent versions of the EPM and INPOP planetary ephemerides, non-standard perihelion precessions, of whatsoever physical origin, which are larger than some ≈ 0.02-0.11 milliarcseconds per century are not admissible, while the putative precession predicted by Liu and Prokopec amounts to 0.09 milliarcseconds per century. Other potentially interesting astronomical and astrophysical scenarios like, e.g., the Earth's LAGEOS II artificial satellite, the double pulsar system PSR J0737-3039A/B and the S-stars orbiting the Supermassive Black Hole in Sgr A^* are, instead, not viable because of the excessive smallness of the predicted precessions for them.

Single Event Upset Analysis: On-orbit performance of the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer Digital Signal Processor Memory aboard the International Space Station

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Jiaqiang; Choutko, Vitaly; Xiao, Liyi

2018-03-01

Based on the collection of error data from the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) Digital Signal Processors (DSP), on-orbit Single Event Upsets (SEUs) of the DSP program memory are analyzed. The daily error distribution and time intervals between errors are calculated to evaluate the reliability of the system. The particle density distribution of International Space Station (ISS) orbit is presented and the effects from the South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA) and the geomagnetic poles are analyzed. The impact of solar events on the DSP program memory is carried out combining data analysis and Monte Carlo simulation (MC). From the analysis and simulation results, it is concluded that the area corresponding to the SAA is the main source of errors on the ISS orbit. Solar events can also cause errors on DSP program memory, but the effect depends on the on-orbit particle density.

Biological effects of galactic radiation HZE particles in experiments on the orbital station Salyut 7

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Miller, A. T.; Nevzgodina, L. V.

Lettuce (Lactuca sativa) seeds were flown on-board the orbital station Salyut 7 for 66-457 days. It was found that a single heavy charged particle (HZE) hitting a seed only slightly affects the subsequent plant growth. However, morphological anomalies of varying type in primordial leaves and roots were observed that show good correlation with the location of the particle track. The most severe damage detected by light and an electron microscopy were ``channels'' in dry and soaked seeds. The appearance of ``channels'' seems to be related to the LET of the incident particle. This finding is of considerable importance for assessment of space flight radiation hazard.

The chaotic dynamical aperture

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lee, S.Y.; Tepikian, S.

1985-10-01

Nonlinear magnetic forces become more important for particles in the modern large accelerators. These nonlinear elements are introduced either intentionally to control beam dynamics or by uncontrollable random errors. Equations of motion in the nonlinear Hamiltonian are usually non-integrable. Because of the nonlinear part of the Hamiltonian, the tune diagram of accelerators is a jungle. Nonlinear magnet multipoles are important in keeping the accelerator operation point in the safe quarter of the hostile jungle of resonant tunes. Indeed, all the modern accelerator design have taken advantages of nonlinear mechanics. On the other hand, the effect of the uncontrollable random multipolesmore » should be evaluated carefully. A powerful method of studying the effect of these nonlinear multipoles is using a particle tracking calculation, where a group of test particles are tracing through these magnetic multipoles in the accelerator hundreds to millions of turns in order to test the dynamical aperture of the machine. These methods are extremely useful in the design of a large accelerator such as SSC, LEP, HERA and RHIC. These calculations unfortunately take tremendous amount of computing time. In this paper, we try to apply the existing method in the nonlinear dynamics to study the possible alternative solution. When the Hamiltonian motion becomes chaotic, the tune of the machine becomes undefined. The aperture related to the chaotic orbit can be identified as chaotic dynamical aperture. We review the method of determining chaotic orbit and apply the method to nonlinear problems in accelerator physics. We then discuss the scaling properties and effect of random sextupoles.« less

Creation of fully vectorized FORTRAN code for integrating the movement of dust grains in interplanetary environments

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Colquitt, Walter

1989-01-01

The main objective is to improve the performance of a specific FORTRAN computer code from the Planetary Sciences Division of NASA/Johnson Space Center when used on a modern vectorizing supercomputer. The code is used to calculate orbits of dust grains that separate from comets and asteroids. This code accounts for influences of the sun and 8 planets (neglecting Pluto), solar wind, and solar light pressure including Poynting-Robertson drag. Calculations allow one to study the motion of these particles as they are influenced by the Earth or one of the other planets. Some of these particles become trapped just beyond the Earth for long periods of time. These integer period resonances vary from 3 orbits of the Earth and 2 orbits of the particles to as high as 14 to 13.

Mapping the Space Radiation Environment in LEO Orbit by the SATRAM Timepix Payload On Board the Proba-V Satellite

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Granja, Carlos; Polansky, Stepan; Sospisil, Stanislav; Owens, Alan; Mellab, Karim

2016-08-01

The compact spacecraft payload SATRAM is operating in LEO orbit since 2013 on board the Proba-V satellite from ESA and provides high-resolution wide-range radiation monitoring of the satellite environment. Equipped with the pixel detector Timepix, the technology demonstration payload determines the composition (particle types) and spectral characterization (stopping power) of the mixed radiation field with quantum imaging sensitivity, charged particle tracking, energy loss and directionality capability. With a polar orbit (sun synchronous, 98° inclination) and altitude of 820 km the space radiation field is continuously sampled over the entire planet every few days. Results are given in the form of spatial- and time- correlated maps of dose rate and particle flux. Comparison is made between quiescent and geomagnetic storm activity periods.

BepiColombo MMO status update

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hayakawa, Hajime; Maejima, Hironori

2013-04-01

BepiColombo is a ESA-JAXA joint mission to Mercury with the aim to understand the process of planetary formation and evolution as well as to understand similarities and differences between the magnetospheres of Mercury and Earth. The baseline mission consists of two spacecraft, i.e. the Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO) and the Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter (MMO). The two orbiters will be launched in 2015 by an Ariane-5 and arrive at Mercury in 2022. JAXA is responsible for the development and operation of MMO, while ESA is responsible for the development and operation of MPO as well as the launch, transport, and the insertion of two spacecraft into their dedicated orbits. The main objectives of MMO are to study Mercury's magnetic field and plasma environment around Mercury. MMO is designed as a spin-stabilized spacecraft to be placed in a 400 km x 12,000 km polar orbit. The spacecraft will accommodate instruments mostly dedicated to the study of the magnetic field, waves, and particles near Mercury. MMO Mechanical Test Model (MMO-MTM) was transported to ESA/ESTEC and stack level (MCS: Mercury Cruise System) mechanical environmental test was finished last September. MMO EM electrical model was transported to Astrium Friedrichshafen and electrical interface test was performed on Octorber. MMO stand alone Flight Model (FM) AIV was started from last October and continues until early next year. After standalone AIV, MMO will be trasported to ESA/ESTEC to attend stack level final AIV. 10th BepiColombo science working team (SWT) meeting, which discusses BepiColombo science related matters, will be held on Sep. 2013 at Lapland. In this paper, we will report the latest information of MMO project status.

Orbital debris removal using ground-based lasers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Taylor, Charles R.

1996-01-01

Orbiting the Earth are spent rocket stages, non-functioning satellites, hardware from satellite deployment and staging, fragments of exploded spacecraft, and other relics of decades of space exploration: orbital debris. The United States Space Command tracks and maintains a catalog of the largest objects. The catalog contains over 7000 objects. Recent studies have assessed the debris environment in an effort to estimate the number of smaller particles and the probability of a collision causing catastrophic damage to a functioning spacecraft. The results of the studies can be used to show, for example, that the likelihood of a collision of a particle larger than about one centimeter in diameter with the International Space Station during a 10-year period is a few percent, roughly in agreement with earlier estimates for Space Station Freedom. Particles greater than about one centimeter in diameter pose the greatest risk to shielded spacecraft. There are on the order of 105 such particles in low Earth orbit. The United States National Space Policy, begun in 1988, is to minimize debris consistent with mission requirements. Measures such as venting unused fuel to prevent explosions, retaining staging and deployment hardware, and shielding against smaller debris have been taken by the U.S. and other space faring nations. There is at present no program to remove debris from orbit. The natural tendency for upper atmospheric drag to remove objects from low Earth orbit is more than balanced by the increase in the number of debris objects from new launches and fragmentation of existing objects. In this paper I describe a concept under study by the Program Development Laboratory of Marshall Space Flight Center and others to remove debris with a ground-based laser. A longer version of this report, including figures, is available from the author.

Ions lost on their first orbit can impact Alfvén eigenmode stability

DOE PAGES

Heidbrink, William W.; Fu, Guo -Yong; Van Zeeland, Michael A.

2015-08-13

Some neutral-beam ions are deflected onto loss orbits by Alfvén eigenmodes on their first bounce orbit. Here, the resonance condition for these ions differs from the usual resonance condition for a confined fast ion. Estimates indicate that particles on single-pass loss orbits transfer enough energy to the wave to alter mode stability.

The Dynamics of Orbit-Clearing for Planets on Eccentric Orbits

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hastings, Danielle; Margot, Jean-Luc

2016-10-01

The third requirement in the 2006 International Astronomical Union (IAU) definition of a planet is that the object has cleared the neighborhood around its orbit. Margot (2015) proposed a metric that quantitatively determines if an object has enough mass to clear an orbital zone of a specific extent within a defined time interval. In this metric, the size of the zone to be cleared is given by CRH, where C is a constant and RH is the Hill Radius. Margot (2015) adopts C=2*31/2 to describe the minimum extent of orbital clearing on the basis of the planet's feeding zone. However, this value of C may only apply for eccentricities up to about 0.3 (Quillen & Faber 2006). Here, we explore the timescales and boundaries of orbital clearing for planets over a range of orbital eccentricities and planet-star mass ratios using the MERCURY integration package (Chambers 1999). The basic setup for the integrations includes a single planet orbiting a star and a uniform distribution of massless particles extending beyond CRH. The system is integrated for at least 106 revolutions and the massless particles are tracked in order to quantify the timescale and extent of the clearing.

On the problem of meteor shower's radiants displacement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tikhomirova, E. N.

2011-06-01

In the context of the perturbed two-body problem a method to evaluate radiant shift for a meteor shower is suggested. We consider the evolution of a meteoroid particle which after every complete revolution "migrates" from one elliptic orbit to another with slightly changed orbital parameters. The obtained analytical solutions of the equations of particle's motion take into account radiation pressure, Poynting-Robertson effect and its corpuscular part.

New Operational Algorithms for Particle Data from Low-Altitude Polar-Orbiting Satellites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Machol, J. L.; Green, J. C.; Rodriguez, J. V.; Onsager, T. G.; Denig, W. F.

2010-12-01

As part of the algorithm development effort started under the former National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) program, the NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) is developing operational algorithms for the next generation of low-altitude polar-orbiting weather satellites. This presentation reviews the two new algorithms on which SWPC has focused: Energetic Ions (EI) and Auroral Energy Deposition (AED). Both algorithms take advantage of the improved performance of the Space Environment Monitor - Next (SEM-N) sensors over earlier SEM instruments flown on NOAA Polar Orbiting Environmental Satellites (POES). The EI algorithm iterates a piecewise power law fit in order to derive a differential energy flux spectrum for protons with energies from 10-250 MeV. The algorithm provides the data in physical units (MeV/cm2-s-str-keV) instead of just counts/s as was done in the past, making the data generally more useful and easier to integrate into higher level products. The AED algorithm estimates the energy flux deposited into the atmosphere by precipitating low- and medium-energy charged particles. The AED calculations include particle pitch-angle distributions, information that was not available from POES. This presentation also describes methods that we are evaluating for creating higher level products that would specify the global particle environment based on real time measurements.

Representation of Probability Density Functions from Orbit Determination using the Particle Filter

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mashiku, Alinda K.; Garrison, James; Carpenter, J. Russell

2012-01-01

Statistical orbit determination enables us to obtain estimates of the state and the statistical information of its region of uncertainty. In order to obtain an accurate representation of the probability density function (PDF) that incorporates higher order statistical information, we propose the use of nonlinear estimation methods such as the Particle Filter. The Particle Filter (PF) is capable of providing a PDF representation of the state estimates whose accuracy is dependent on the number of particles or samples used. For this method to be applicable to real case scenarios, we need a way of accurately representing the PDF in a compressed manner with little information loss. Hence we propose using the Independent Component Analysis (ICA) as a non-Gaussian dimensional reduction method that is capable of maintaining higher order statistical information obtained using the PF. Methods such as the Principal Component Analysis (PCA) are based on utilizing up to second order statistics, hence will not suffice in maintaining maximum information content. Both the PCA and the ICA are applied to two scenarios that involve a highly eccentric orbit with a lower apriori uncertainty covariance and a less eccentric orbit with a higher a priori uncertainty covariance, to illustrate the capability of the ICA in relation to the PCA.

Full orbit computations of ripple-induced fusion {alpha}-particle losses from burning tokamak plasmas

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

McClements, K.G.

A full orbit code is used to compute collisionless losses of fusion {alpha} particles from three proposed burning plasma tokamaks: the International Tokamak Experimental Reactor (ITER); a spherical tokamak power plant (STPP) [T. C. Hender, A. Bond, J. Edwards, P. J. Karditsas, K. G. McClements, J. Mustoe, D. V. Sherwood, G. M. Voss, and H. R. Wilson, Fusion Eng. Des. 48, 255 (2000)]; and a spherical tokamak components test facility (CTF) [H. R. Wilson, G. M. Voss, R. J. Akers, L. Appel, A. Dnestrovskij, O. Keating, T. C. Hender, M. J. Hole, G. Huysmans, A. Kirk, P. J. Knight, M.more » Loughlin, K. G. McClements, M. R. O'Brien, and D. Yu. Sychugov, Proceedings of the 20th IAEA Fusion Energy Conference, Invited Paper FT/3-1Ra]. It has been suggested that {alpha} particle transport could be enhanced due to cyclotron resonance with the toroidal magnetic field ripple. However, calculations for inductive operation in ITER yield a loss rate that appears to be broadly consistent with the predictions of guiding center theory, falling monotonically as the number of toroidal field coils N is increased (and hence the ripple amplitude is decreased). For STPP and CTF the loss rate does not decrease monotonically with N, but collisionless losses are generally low in absolute terms. As in the case of ITER, there is no evidence that finite Larmor radius effects would seriously degrade fusion {alpha}-particle confinement.« less

Extension of the XGC code for global gyrokinetic simulations in stellarator geometry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cole, Michael; Moritaka, Toseo; White, Roscoe; Hager, Robert; Ku, Seung-Hoe; Chang, Choong-Seock

2017-10-01

In this work, the total-f, gyrokinetic particle-in-cell code XGC is extended to treat stellarator geometries. Improvements to meshing tools and the code itself have enabled the first physics studies, including single particle tracing and flux surface mapping in the magnetic geometry of the heliotron LHD and quasi-isodynamic stellarator Wendelstein 7-X. These have provided the first successful test cases for our approach. XGC is uniquely placed to model the complex edge physics of stellarators. A roadmap to such a global confinement modeling capability will be presented. Single particle studies will include the physics of energetic particles' global stochastic motions and their effect on confinement. Good confinement of energetic particles is vital for a successful stellarator reactor design. These results can be compared in the core region with those of other codes, such as ORBIT3d. In subsequent work, neoclassical transport and turbulence can then be considered and compared to results from codes such as EUTERPE and GENE. After sufficient verification in the core region, XGC will move into the stellarator edge region including the material wall and neutral particle recycling.

Energy analysis in the elliptic restricted three-body problem

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qi, Yi; de Ruiter, Anton

2018-07-01

The gravity assist or flyby is investigated by analysing the inertial energy of a test particle in the elliptic restricted three-body problem (ERTBP), where two primary bodies are moving in elliptic orbits. First, the expression of the derivation of energy is obtained and discussed. Then, the approximate expressions of energy change in a circular neighbourhood of the smaller primary are derived. Numerical computation indicates that the obtained expressions can be applied to study the flyby problem of the nine planets and the Moon in the Solar system. Parameters related to the flyby are discussed analytically and numerically. The optimal conditions, including the position and time of the periapsis, for a flyby orbit are found to make a maximum energy gain or loss. Finally, the mechanical process of a flyby orbit is uncovered by an approximate expression in the ERTBP. Numerical computations testify that our analytical results well approximate the mechanical process of flyby orbits obtained by the numerical simulation in the ERTBP. Compared with the previous research established in the patched-conic method and numerical calculation, our analytical investigations based on a more elaborate derivation get more original results.

Energy Analysis in the Elliptic Restricted Three-body Problem

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qi, Yi; de Ruiter, Anton

2018-05-01

The gravity assist or flyby is investigated by analyzing the inertial energy of a test particle in the elliptic restricted three-body problem (ERTBP), where two primary bodies are moving in elliptic orbits. Firstly, the expression of the derivation of energy is obtained and discussed. Then, the approximate expressions of energy change in a circular neighborhood of the smaller primary are derived. Numerical computation indicates that the obtained expressions can be applied to study the flyby problem of the nine planets and the Moon in the solar system. Parameters related to the flyby are discussed analytically and numerically. The optimal conditions, including the position and time of the periapsis, for a flyby orbit are found to make a maximum energy gain or loss. Finally, the mechanical process of a flyby orbit is uncovered by an approximate expression in the ERTBP. Numerical computations testify that our analytical results well approximate the mechanical process of flyby orbits obtained by the numerical simulation in the ERTBP. Compared with the previous research established in the patched-conic method and numerical calculation, our analytical investigations based on a more elaborate derivation get more original results.

Momentum-resolved radio-frequency spectroscopy of a spin-orbit-coupled atomic Fermi gas near a Feshbach resonance in harmonic traps

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peng, Shi-Guo; Liu, Xia-Ji; Hu, Hui; Jiang, Kaijun

2012-12-01

We theoretically investigate the momentum-resolved radio-frequency spectroscopy of a harmonically trapped atomic Fermi gas near a Feshbach resonance in the presence of equal Rashba and Dresselhaus spin-orbit coupling. The system is qualitatively modeled as an ideal gas mixture of atoms and molecules, in which the properties of molecules, such as the wave function, binding energy, and effective mass, are determined from the two-particle solution of two interacting atoms. We calculate separately the radio-frequency response from atoms and molecules at finite temperatures by using the standard Fermi golden rule and take into account the effect of harmonic traps within local density approximation. The total radio-frequency spectroscopy is discussed as functions of temperature and spin-orbit coupling strength. Our results give a qualitative picture of radio-frequency spectroscopy of a resonantly interacting spin-orbit-coupled Fermi gas and can be directly tested in atomic Fermi gases of 40K atoms at Shanxi University and 6Li atoms at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

An instrument for discrimination between orbital debris and natural particles in near-Earth space

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tuzzolino, A. J.; Simpson, J. A.; McKibben, R. B.; Voss, H. D.; Gursky, H.

1993-08-01

We discuss a SPAce DUSt instrument (SPADUS) under development for flight on the USA ARGOS mission to measure the flux, mass, velocity and trajectory of near-Earth dust. Since natural (cosmic) dust and man-made dust particles (orbital debris) have different velocity and trajectory distributions, they are distinguished by means of the SPADUS velocity/trajectory information. Measurements will cover the dust mass range ~5×10-12 g (2 μm diameter) to ~ 1×10-5g (200 μm diameter), with an expected mean error in particle trajectory of ~7° (isotropic flux).

Polaronic and dressed molecular states in orbital Feshbach resonances

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Junjun; Qi, Ran

2018-04-01

We consider the impurity problem in an orbital Feshbach resonance (OFR), with a single excited clock state | e ↑⟩ atom immersed in a Fermi sea of electronic ground state | g ↓⟩. We calculate the polaron effective mass and quasi-particle residue, as well as the polaron to molecule transition. By including one particle-hole excitation in the molecular state, we find significant correction to the transition point. This transition point moves toward the BCS side for increasing particle densities, which suggests that the corresponding many-body physics is similar to a narrow resonance.

Effects of ULF waves on local and global energetic particles: Particle energy and species dependences

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Li, L. Y.; Yu, J.; Cao, J. B.

After 06:13 UT on 24 August 2005, an interplanetary shock triggers large-amplitude ultralow-frequency (ULF) waves (|δB| ≥ 15 nT) in the Pc4–Pc5 wave band (1.6–9 mHz) near the noon geosynchronous orbit (6.6 RE). The local and global effects of ULF waves on energetic particles are observed by five Los Alamos National Laboratory satellites at different magnetic local times. The large-amplitude ULF waves cause the synchronous oscillations of energetic electrons and protons (≥75 keV) at the noon geosynchronous orbit. When the energetic particles have a negative phase space density radial gradient, they undergo rapid outward radial diffusion and loss in themore » wave activity region. In the particle drift paths without strong ULF waves, only the rapidly drifting energetic electrons (≥225 keV) display energy-dispersive oscillations and flux decays, whereas the slowly drifting electrons (<225 keV) and protons (75–400 keV) have no ULF oscillation and loss feature. When the dayside magnetopause is compressed to the geosynchronous orbit, most of energetic electrons and protons are rapidly lost because of open drift trajectories. Furthermore, the global and multicomposition particle measurements demonstrate that the effect of ULF waves on nonlocal particle flux depends on the particle energy and species, whereas magnetopause shadowing effect is independent of the energetic particle species. For the rapidly drifting outer radiation belt particles (≥225 keV), nonlocal particle loss/acceleration processes could also change their fluxes in the entire drift trajectory in the absence of “ Dst effect” and substorm injection.« less

Effects of ULF waves on local and global energetic particles: Particle energy and species dependences

DOE PAGES

Li, L. Y.; Yu, J.; Cao, J. B.; ...

2016-11-05

After 06:13 UT on 24 August 2005, an interplanetary shock triggers large-amplitude ultralow-frequency (ULF) waves (|δB| ≥ 15 nT) in the Pc4–Pc5 wave band (1.6–9 mHz) near the noon geosynchronous orbit (6.6 RE). The local and global effects of ULF waves on energetic particles are observed by five Los Alamos National Laboratory satellites at different magnetic local times. The large-amplitude ULF waves cause the synchronous oscillations of energetic electrons and protons (≥75 keV) at the noon geosynchronous orbit. When the energetic particles have a negative phase space density radial gradient, they undergo rapid outward radial diffusion and loss in themore » wave activity region. In the particle drift paths without strong ULF waves, only the rapidly drifting energetic electrons (≥225 keV) display energy-dispersive oscillations and flux decays, whereas the slowly drifting electrons (<225 keV) and protons (75–400 keV) have no ULF oscillation and loss feature. When the dayside magnetopause is compressed to the geosynchronous orbit, most of energetic electrons and protons are rapidly lost because of open drift trajectories. Furthermore, the global and multicomposition particle measurements demonstrate that the effect of ULF waves on nonlocal particle flux depends on the particle energy and species, whereas magnetopause shadowing effect is independent of the energetic particle species. For the rapidly drifting outer radiation belt particles (≥225 keV), nonlocal particle loss/acceleration processes could also change their fluxes in the entire drift trajectory in the absence of “ Dst effect” and substorm injection.« less

Ballistic Performance of Porous-Ceramic, Thermal Protection Systems to 9 km/s

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Miller, Joshua E.; Bohl, William E.; Foreman, Cory D.; Christiansen, Eric C.; Davis, Bruce A.

2010-01-01

Porous-ceramic, thermal protection systems are used heavily in current reentry vehicles like the Orbiter, and they are currently being proposed for the next generation of US manned spacecraft, Orion. These materials insulate the structural components and sensitive components of a spacecraft against the intense thermal environments of atmospheric reentry. These materials are also highly exposed to solid particle space environment hazards. This paper discusses recent impact testing up to 9.65 km/s on ceramic tiles similar to those used on the Orbiter. These tiles are a porous-ceramic insulator of nominally 8 lb/ft(exp 3) alumina-fiber-enhanced-thermal-barrier (AETB8) coated with a damage-resistant, toughened-unipiece-fibrous-insulation/reaction-cured-glass layer (TUFI/RCG).

Application of the NASCAP Spacecraft Simulation Tool to Investigate Electrodynamic Tether Current Collection in LEO

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Adams, Mitzi; HabashKrause, Linda

2012-01-01

Recent interest in using electrodynamic tethers (EDTs) for orbital maneuvering in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) has prompted the development of the Marshall ElectroDynamic Tether Orbit Propagator (MEDTOP) model. The model is comprised of several modules which address various aspects of EDT propulsion, including calculation of state vectors using a standard orbit propagator (e.g., J2), an atmospheric drag model, realistic ionospheric and magnetic field models, space weather effects, and tether librations. The natural electromotive force (EMF) attained during a radially-aligned conductive tether results in electrons flowing down the tether and accumulating on the lower-altitude spacecraft. The energy that drives this EMF is sourced from the orbital energy of the system; thus, EDTs are often proposed as de-orbiting systems. However, when the current is reversed using satellite charged particle sources, then propulsion is possible. One of the most difficult challenges of the modeling effort is to ascertain the equivalent circuit between the spacecraft and the ionospheric plasma. The present study investigates the use of the NASA Charging Analyzer Program (NASCAP) to calculate currents to and from the tethered satellites and the ionospheric plasma. NASCAP is a sophisticated set of computational tools to model the surface charging of three-dimensional (3D) spacecraft surfaces in a time-varying space environment. The model's surface is tessellated into a collection of facets, and NASCAP calculates currents and potentials for each one. Additionally, NASCAP provides for the construction of one or more nested grids to calculate space potential and time-varying electric fields. This provides for the capability to track individual particles orbits, to model charged particle wakes, and to incorporate external charged particle sources. With this study, we have developed a model of calculating currents incident onto an electrodynamic tethered satellite system, and first results are shown here.

HIGH ENERGY PARTICLE ACCELERATOR

DOEpatents

Courant, E.D.; Livingston, M.S.; Snyder, H.S.

1959-04-14

An improved apparatus is presented for focusing charged particles in an accelerator. In essence, the invention includes means for establishing a magnetic field in discrete sectors along the path of moving charged particles, the magnetic field varying in each sector in accordance with the relation. B = B/ sub 0/ STAln (r-r/sub 0/)/r/sub 0/!, where B/sub 0/ is the value of the magnetic field at the equilibrium orbit of radius r/sub 0/ of the path of the particles, B equals the magnetic field at the radius r of the chamber and n equals the magnetic field gradient index, the polarity of n being abruptly reversed a plurality of times as the particles travel along their arcuate path. With this arrangement, the particles are alternately converged towards the axis of their equillbrium orbit and diverged therefrom in successive sectors with a resultant focusing effect.

The Splashback Radius of Halos from Particle Dynamics. I. The SPARTA Algorithm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Diemer, Benedikt

2017-07-01

Motivated by the recent proposal of the splashback radius as a physical boundary of dark-matter halos, we present a parallel computer code for Subhalo and PARticle Trajectory Analysis (SPARTA). The code analyzes the orbits of all simulation particles in all host halos, billions of orbits in the case of typical cosmological N-body simulations. Within this general framework, we develop an algorithm that accurately extracts the location of the first apocenter of particles after infall into a halo, or splashback. We define the splashback radius of a halo as the smoothed average of the apocenter radii of individual particles. This definition allows us to reliably measure the splashback radii of 95% of host halos above a resolution limit of 1000 particles. We show that, on average, the splashback radius and mass are converged to better than 5% accuracy with respect to mass resolution, snapshot spacing, and all free parameters of the method.

Collision broadened resonance localization in tokamaks excited with ICRF waves

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kerbel, G. D.; McCoy, M. G.

1985-08-01

Advanced wave models used to evaluate ICRH in tokamaks typically use warm plasma theory and allow inhomogeneity in one dimension. The authors have developed a bounce-averaged Fokker-Planck quasilinear computational model which evolves the population of particles on more realistic orbits. Each wave-particle resonance has its own specific interaction amplitude within any given volume element. These data need only be generated once, and appropriately stored for efficient retrieval. The wave-particle resonant interaction then serves as a mechanism by which the diffusion of particle populations can proceed among neighboring orbits. Collisions affect the absorption of RF energy by two quite distinct processes: In addition to the usual relaxation towards the Maxwellian distribution creating velocity gradients which drive quasilinear diffusion, collisions also affect the wave-particle resonance through the mechanism of gyro-phase diffusion. The local specific spectral energy absorption rate is directly calculable once the orbit geometry and populations are determined. The code is constructed in such fashion as to accommodate wave propagation models which provide the wave spectral energy density on a poloidal cross-section. Information provided by the calculation includes the local absorption properties of the medium which can then be exploited to evolve the wave field.

Resonance localization in tokamaks excited with ICRF waves

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kerbel, G. D.; McCoy, M. G.

1985-06-01

Advanced wave model used to evaluate ICRH in tokamaks typically used warm plasma theory and allow inhomogeneity in one dimension. The majority of these calculations neglect the fact that gyrocenters experience the inhomogeneity via their motion parallel to the magnetic field. In strongly driven systems, wave damping can distort the particle distribution function supporting the wave and this produces changes in the absorption. A bounce-averaged Fokker-Planck quasilinear computational model which evolves the population of particles on more realistic orbits is presented. Each wave-particle resonance has its own specific interaction amplitude within any given volume element; these data need only be generated once, and appropriately stored for efficient retrieval. The wave-particle resonant interaction then serves as a mechanism by which the diffusion of particle populations can proceed among neighboring orbits. The local specific spectral energy absorption rate is directly calculable once the orbit geometry and populations are determined. The code is constructed in such fashion as to accommodate wave propagation models which provide the wave spectral energy density on a poloidal cross-section. Information provided by the calculation includes the local absorption properties of the medium which can then be exploited to evolve the wave field.

The NASA JSC Hypervelocity Impact Test Facility (HIT-F)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Crews, Jeanne L.; Christiansen, Eric L.

1992-01-01

The NASA Johnson Space Center Hypervelocity Impact Test Facility was created in 1980 to study the hypervelocity impact characteristics of composite materials. The facility consists of the Hypervelocity Impact Laboratory (HIRL) and the Hypervelocity Analysis Laboratory (HAL). The HIRL supports three different-size light-gas gun ranges which provide the capability of launching particle sizes from 100 micron spheres to 12.7 mm cylinders. The HAL performs three functions: (1) the analysis of data collected from shots in the HIRL, (2) numerical and analytical modeling to predict impact response beyond test conditions, and (3) risk and damage assessments for spacecraft exposed to the meteoroid and orbital debris environments.

Earth orbiting Sisyphus system study

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jurkevich, I.; Krause, K. W.; Neste, S. L.; Soberman, R. K.

1971-01-01

The feasibility of employing an optical meteoroid detecting system, known as Sisyphus, to measure the near-earth particulates from an earth orbiting vehicle, is considered. A Sisyphus system can discriminate between natural and man-made particles since the system measures orbital characteristics of particles. A Sisyphus system constructed for the Pioneer F/G missions to Jupiter is used as the baseline, and is described. The amount of observing time which can be obtained by a Sisyphus instrument launched into various orbits is determined. Observation time is lost when, (1) the Sun is in or near the field of view, (2) the lighted Earth is in or near the field of view, (3) the instrument is eclipsed by the Earth, and (4) the phase angle measured at the particle between the forward scattering direction and the instrument is less than a certain critical value. The selection of the launch system and the instrument platform with a dedicated, attitude controlled payload package is discussed. Examples of such systems are SATS and SOLRAD 10(C) vehicles, and other possibilities are AVCO Corp. S4 system, the OWL system, and the Delta Payload Experiment Package.

The Distribution and Annihilation of Dark Matter Around Black Holes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schnittman, Jeremy D.

2015-01-01

We use a Monte Carlo code to calculate the geodesic orbits of test particles around Kerr black holes, generating a distribution function of both bound and unbound populations of dark matter (DM) particles. From this distribution function, we calculate annihilation rates and observable gamma-ray spectra for a few simple DM models. The features of these spectra are sensitive to the black hole spin, observer inclination, and detailed properties of the DM annihilation cross-section and density profile. Confirming earlier analytic work, we find that for rapidly spinning black holes, the collisional Penrose process can reach efficiencies exceeding 600%, leading to a high-energy tail in the annihilation spectrum. The high particle density and large proper volume of the region immediately surrounding the horizon ensures that the observed flux from these extreme events is non-negligible.

About separation and collision of Saturn rings particles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tchernyi, Vladimir

There is no yet clear picture of the origin of Saturn's rings. We follow importance of electromag-netic idea that rings could originate and form from the frozen particles of the protoplanetary cloud after the appearance of the magnetic field of Saturn due to electromagnetic interaction of icy particles with the planetary magnetic field. The Sun heats the rings weakly, temperature in the area of the rings is about 70-110 K. It makes possible the existence of the superconduct-ing substance in the space behind the belt of asteroids. Theoretical electromagnetic modeling demonstrates that superconductivity can be the physical reason of the origin of the sombrero of rings of Saturn from the frozen particles of the protoplanetary cloud. The sombrero appears during some time after magnetic field of planet appears. Finally, all the Kepler's orbits of the superconducting particles are localizing as a sombrero disk of rings in the magnetic equator plane, where the energy of particles in the magnetic field of Saturn has a minimum value. Recently space probe "Cassini" discovered collisions and separation of the Saturn's rings parti-cles. It is also important fact that from electromagnetic modeling follows possibility of collide of the rings particles on the vertical direction within the width of the sombrero. It could be a reason for the formation of the particles of the bigger size due to coalescence, until gravity and centrifugal force will destroy them to the particles of smaller size again. From the solution of the electromagnetic problem we will demonstrate how rings of Saturn could be originated from the iced particles located within the protoplanetary cloud. Before appearance of the magnetic field of Saturn all particles within the protoplanetary cloud are located on such an orbit as Kepler's, where there is a balance of the force of gravity and the centrifugal force. With the occurrence of the magnetic field of the Saturn the superconducting particles of the protoplane-tary cloud begin to demonstrate an ideal diamagnetism. Due to appearance of the third force of diamagnetic push-out particles start to interact with the magnetic field and all the orbits of the particles become to be involved in additional azimuth-orbital movement. As a result, eventually, during some time, all orbits of the particles of the protoplanetary cloud should come together to magnetic equator plane and create highly flattening disc around planet. For separa-tion and collision of the particles within the sombrero of rings from solution of electromagnetic problem follows that for two particles which are located on the same plane, both particles will be pushing each other and they will be holding separation distance in between them. Then for another situation both particles are located on the same axis but on the different planes, both particles will be attracting each other, they could even collide or stick together and form bigger pieces or lumps of ice. Both facts have an experimental conformation by Cassini mission. Reference: Tchernyi V.V. Origin of the Saturn rings: electromagnetic model of the sombrero rings formation. Chapter in book: Space Exploration Research. Editors: John H. Denis and Paul D. Aldridge. Series: Space Science, Exploration and Policies. ISBN: 978-1-60692-264-4. Hauppauge, NY, USA, Nova Science Publishers, 2009:

The atmosphere of 2060 Chiron

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Meech, Karen J.; Belton, Michael J. S.

1990-01-01

An explanation for 2060 Chiron's behavior, which focuses on the influence of Chiron's mass on the development of its dust coma, is presented. It is suggested that dust is entrained by the flow of CO or another gas of similar volatility from an active region. It remains gravitationally bound on orbits confined to a region, roughly 5000 km in extent, that lies between the surface and an exopause imposed by radiation pressure forces. The influence of radiation pressure transforms the initial particle trajectories into satellite orbits with a characteristic period of 20 days and orbital residence time of about 25 revolutions. The particle population in the coma slowly increases, explaining Chiron's photometric behavior.

Calibration of the Solar Orbiter Energetic Particle Detector Suite

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wimmer-Schweingruber, R. F.; Rodriguez-Pacheco, J.; Martin-Garcia, C.; Kulkarni, S. R.; Panitzsch, L.; Boettcher, S.; Mason, G. M.; Kohler, J.; Ho, G. C.; Boden, S.; Grunau, J.; Steinhagen, J.; Terasa, C.; Yu, J.; Prieto, M.; Gomez-Herrero, R.; Blanco, J.

2013-12-01

We present the current status and plans for the calibration of the Energetic Particle Detector (EPD) suite on ESA's Solar Orbiter mission. Solar Orbiter is scheduled to launch in January 2017, instrument delivery in January 2015. EPD consists of four sensors: the SupraThermal Electron and Proton (STEP) sensor covers electrons (protons) from 2 (3) keV up to 100 keV, the Electron Proton Telescope (EPT) from 20 to 300 (7000) keV, the Suprathermal Ion Spectrograph (SIS) determines the ionic composition from ~0.05 to ~10 MeV/nuc (species dependent), and the High Energy Telescope (HET) measures electrons and protons (ions) from 0.3 to 30 and 10 to >100 MeV/nuc (20 - 200 MeV/nuc species dependent). EPT, HET, and SIS have two approximately opposite-facing fields of view, EPT, and HET share a common electronics box, two EPT/HET sensors allow the determination of second-order anisotropies (a total of 4 FoVs). Apart from the use of radioactive sources, STEP will be calibrated at the Kiel calibration facilities, EPT both at Kiel (electrons and low-energy protons) as well as at PTB in Braunschweig. SIS will undergo calibration at the LBL 88' cyclotron, HET at HIMAC in Chiba, Japan. Tests of the electron/protons discrimination of EPT show the expected behavior, HET prototypes have already been calibrated and the results will be shown.

Application of real-time radiation dosimetry using a new silicon LET sensor

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Doke, T.; Hayashi, T.; Kikuchi, J.; Nagaoka, S.; Nakano, T.; Sakaguchi, T.; Terasawa, K.; Badhwar, G. D.

1999-01-01

A new type of real-time radiation monitoring device, RRMD-III, consisting of three double-sided silicon strip detectors (DSSDs), has been developed and tested on-board the Space Shuttle mission STS-84. The test succeeded in measuring the linear energy transfer (LET) distribution over the range of 0.2 keV/micrometer to 600 keV/micrometer for 178 h. The Shuttle cruised at an altitude of 300 to 400 km and an inclination angle of 51.6 degrees for 221.3 h, which is equivalent to the International Space Station orbit. The LET distribution obtained for particles was investigated by separating it into galactic cosmic ray (GCR) particles and trapped particles in the South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA) region. The result shows that the contribution in dose-equivalent due to GCR particles is almost equal to that from trapped particles. The total absorbed dose rate during the mission was 0.611 mGy/day; the effective quality factor, 1.64; and the dose equivalent rate, 0.998 mSv/day. The average absorbed dose rates are 0.158 mGy/min for GCR particles and 3.67 mGy/min for trapped particles. The effective quality factors are 2.48 for GCR particles and 1.19 for trapped particles. The absorbed doses obtained by the RRMD-III and a conventional method using TLD (Mg(2)SiO(4)), which was placed around the RRMD-III were compared. It was found that the TLDs showed a lower efficiency, just 58% of absorbed dose registered by the RRMD-III.

Large space system: Charged particle environment interaction technology

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stevens, N. J.; Roche, J. C.; Grier, N. T.

1979-01-01

Large, high voltage space power systems are proposed for future space missions. These systems must operate in the charged-particle environment of space and interactions between this environment and the high voltage surfaces are possible. Ground simulation testing indicated that dielectric surfaces that usually surround biased conductors can influence these interactions. For positive voltages greater than 100 volts, it has been found that the dielectrics contribute to the current collection area. For negative voltages greater than-500 volts, the data indicates that the dielectrics contribute to discharges. A large, high-voltage power system operating in geosynchronous orbit was analyzed. Results of this analysis indicate that very strong electric fields exist in these power systems.

A tale of two velocities: Threading versus slicing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gharechahi, Razieh; Nouri-Zonoz, Mohammad; Tavanfar, Alireza

One of the important quantities in cosmology and astrophysics is the 3-velocity of an object. Specifically, when the gravitational fields are strong, one should require the employment of general relativity both in its definition and measurement. Looking into the literature for GR-based definitions of 3-velocity, one usually finds different ad hoc definitions applied according to the case under consideration. Here, we introduce and analyze systematically the two principal definitions of 3-velocity assigned to a test particle following the timelike trajectories in stationary spacetimes. These definitions are based on the 1 + 3 (threading) and 3 + 1 (slicing) spacetime decomposition formalisms and defined relative to two different sets of observers. After showing that Synge’s definition of spatial distance and 3-velocity is equivalent to those defined in the 1 + 3 (threading) formalism, we exemplify the differences between these two definitions by calculating them for particles in circular orbits in axially symmetric stationary spacetimes. Illustrating its geometric nature, the relative linear velocity between the corresponding observers is obtained in terms of the spacetime metric components. Circular particle orbits in the Kerr spacetime, as the prototype and the most well known of stationary spacetimes, are examined with respect to these definitions to highlight their observer-dependent nature. We also examine the Kerr-NUT spacetime in which the NUT parameter, contributing to the off-diagonal terms in the metric, is mainly interpreted not as a rotation parameter but as a gravitomagnetic monopole charge. Finally, in a specific astrophysical setup which includes rotating black holes, it is shown how the local velocity of an orbiting star could be related to its spectral line shifts measured by distant observers.

Report on Cosmic Dust Capture Research and Development for the Exobiology Program

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nishioka, Kenji

1997-01-01

Collaboration with Ames' personnel was in: 1) grant administration, 2) intellectual science support, 3) collaboration with the University of Paris for the Mir flight experiment, and 4) arranging scanning and X-ray probe analytical support from UCB and SUNYP. LNIMS provided access to: 1) analytical research instruments, 2) chemical analyses support, 3) cleanroom facilities, and 4) design and fabrication expertise of hardware and electronics. They also supported the hypervelocity testing along with test data acquisition and its reduction for the breadboard instrument. A&M Associates provided technical expertise and support on determining the expected charges on orbital particles and a conceptual design for a breadboard particle charge detection sensor. University of California provided analytical support for the recovered Mir flight modules using their unique scanning capability to detect particle tracks in the aerogel. SUNYP, along with help from the University of Chicago, analyzed particle tracks found in the aerogel for biogenic compounds using an x-ray probe instrument. Dr. Schultz provided access to his experiments and the benefits of his considerable hyper-velocity testing expertise at the Ames hypervelocity gun facility, and this proved beneficial to our development testing, significantly reducing the test time and cost for the breadboard instrument development testing. The participants in this activity acknowledge and thank the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and its Ames Research Center for providing the necessary support and resources to conduct this investigation on instrument technology for exobiology application and being able to acquire some interesting results. Primarily, the newly identified technology problems for future research are the important results of this research.

Assessing MMOD Impacts on Seal Performance

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

deGroh, Henry C., III; Daniels, C.; Dunlap, P.; Steinetz, B.

2007-01-01

The elastomer seal needed to seal in cabin air when NASA s Crew Exploration Vehicle is docked is exposed to space prior to docking. While open to space, the seal might be hit by orbital debris or meteoroids. The likelihood of damage of this type depends on the size of the particle. Our campaign is designed to find the smallest particle that will cause seal failure resulting in loss of mission. We will then be able to estimate environmental risks to the seal. Preliminary tests indicate seals can withstand a surprising amount of damage and still function. Collaborations with internal and external partners are in place and include seal leak testing, modeling of the space environment using a computer code known as BUMPER, and hypervelocity impact (HVI) studies at Caltech. Preliminary work at White Sands Test Facility showed a 0.5 mm diameter HVI damaged areas about 7 times that diameter, boring deep (5 mm) into elastomer specimens. BUMPER simulations indicate there is a 1 in 1440 chance of getting hit by a particle of diameter 0.08 cm for current Lunar missions; and 0.27 cm for a 10 year ISS LIDS seal area exposure.

Collisionless tearing instability of a bi-Maxwellian neutral sheet - An integrodifferential treatment with exact particle orbits

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Burkhart, G. R.; Chen, J.

1989-01-01

The integrodifferential equation describing the linear tearing instability in the bi-Maxwellian neutral sheet is solved without approximating the particle orbits or the eigenfunction psi. Results of this calculation are presented. Comparison between the exact solution and the three-region approximation motivates the piecewise-straight-line approximation, a simplification that allows faster solution of the integrodifferential equation, yet retains the important features of the exact solution.

On-orbit Status and Light Attenuation Behavior of the DAMPE-PSD

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Y.; Zhang, Y. P.; Zhang, Y. J.; Sun, Z. Y.; Yu, Y. H.; Dong, T. K.; Ma, P. X.; Wang, Y. P.; Yuan, Q.

2017-11-01

The DArk Matter Particle Explorer (DAMPE) is a high-resolution multi-purpose space-borne device for detecting the high-energy cosmic-rays like e±, γ-rays, protons, and heavy-ions, which was launched on 2015 December 17th. The Plastic Scintillator Detector (PSD) is the top-most sub-detector of DAMPE. The PSD is designed to measure the charge of incident high-energy particles, and to serve as a veto detector for discriminating γ-rays from the charged particles. In this paper, the on-orbit status of the PSD after launching in terms of high voltage (HV) and temperature stabilities is presented. The temperature and the HV variations of the PSD are less than 1°C and 0.5%, respectively. By using the on-orbit data, the attenuation lengths of PSD bars are obtained according to an empirical formula. A preliminary charge spectrum reconstructed from the X-layer of the PSD is obtained.

Trapped particle and solar proton radiation prediction for ISEE (IME): Mother-daughter mission

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stassinopoulos, E. G.

1974-01-01

The charged particle fluxes incident on spacecrafts in very eccentric orbits were investigated in support of the International Sun-Earth Explorer (International Magnetospheric Explorer) For this purpose, two flightpaths were considered having identical inclinations but different perigee altitudes (240 and 1364 kilometers, respectively). Apogee altitude was approximately the same for both cases (about 22 earth radii). For each of the two perigee altitudes investigated, two nominal trajectories were generated, having identical orbital configurations but with their major axes rotated by 180 deg in the plane of orbit, which resulted in placing the initial apogee into into opposite hemispheres. This was done in order to determine the corresponding variation in the vehicle-encountered particle intensities. Estimates of average energetic solar proton fluxes are given for a one year mission duration at selected integranlenergies ranging from E 10 to E 100 MeV. Results are summarized and discussed.

STS-31 Space Shuttle mission report

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Camp, David W.; Germany, D. M.; Nicholson, Leonard S.

1990-01-01

The STS-31 Space Shuttle Program Mission Report contains a summary of the vehicle subsystem activities on this thirty-fifth flight of the Space Shuttle and the tenth flight of the Orbiter Vehicle Discovery (OV-103). In addition to the Discovery vehicle, the flight vehicle consisted of an External Tank (ET) (designated as ET-34/LWT-27), three Space Shuttle main engines (SSME's) (serial numbers 2011, 2031, and 2107), and two Solid Rocket Booster (SRB) (designated as BI-037). The primary objective of the mission was to place the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) into a 330 nmi. circular orbit having an inclination of 28.45 degrees. The secondary objectives were to perform all operations necessary to support the requirements of the Protein Crystal Growth (PCG), Investigations into Polymer Membrane Processing (IPMP), Radiation Monitoring Equipment (RME), Ascent Particle Monitor (APM), IMAX Cargo Bay Camera (ICBC), Air Force Maui Optical Site Calibration Test (AMOS), IMAX Crew Compartment Camera, and Ion Arc payloads. In addition, 12 development test objectives (DTO's) and 10 detailed supplementary objectives (DSO's) were assigned to the flight. The sequence of events for this mission is shown. The significant problems that occurred in the Space Shuttle Orbiter subsystems during the mission are summarized, and the official problem tracking list is presented. In addition, each of the Space Shuttle Orbiter problems is cited in the subsystem discussion.

Electrostatic Discharge Test of Multi-Junction Solar Array Coupons After Combined Space Environmental Exposures

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wright, Kenneth H.; Schneider, Todd; Vaughn, Jason; Hoang, Bao; Funderburk, Victor V.; Wong, Frankie; Gardiner, George

2010-01-01

A set of multi-junction GaAs/Ge solar array test coupons were subjected to a sequence of 5-year increments of combined environmental exposure tests. The test coupons capture an integrated design intended for use in a geosynchronous (GEO) space environment. A key component of this test campaign is conducting electrostatic discharge (ESD) tests in the inverted gradient mode. The protocol of the ESD tests is based on the ISO/CD 11221, the ISO standard for ESD testing on solar array panels. This standard is currently in its final review with expected approval in 2010. The test schematic in the ISO reference has been modified with Space System/Loral designed circuitry to better simulate the on-orbit operational conditions of its solar array design. Part of the modified circuitry is to simulate a solar array panel coverglass flashover discharge. All solar array coupons used in the test campaign consist of 4 cells. The ESD tests are performed at the beginning of life (BOL) and at each 5-year environment exposure point. The environmental exposure sequence consists of UV radiation, electron/proton particle radiation, thermal cycling, and ion thruster plume. This paper discusses the coverglass flashover simulation, ESD test setup, and the importance of the electrical test design in simulating the on-orbit operational conditions. Results from 5th-year testing are compared to the baseline ESD characteristics determined at the BOL condition.

Toward a comprehensive theory for the sweeping of trapped radiation by inert orbiting matter

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fillius, Walker

1988-01-01

There is a need to calculate loss rates when trapped Van Allen radiation encounters inert orbiting material such as planetary rings and satellites. An analytic expression for the probability of a hit in a bounce encounter is available for all cases where the absorber is spherical and the particles are gyrotropically distributed on a cylindrical flux tube. The hit probability is a function of the particle's pitch angle, the size of the absorber, and the distance between the flux tube and the absorber when distances are scaled to the gyroradius of a particle moving perpendicular to the magnetic field. Using this expression, hit probabilities in drift encounters were computed for all regimes of particle energies and absorber sizes.

The effects of heavy ion radiation on digital micromirror device performance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Travinsky, Anton; Vorobiev, Dmitry; Ninkov, Zoran; Raisanen, Alan D.; Pellish, Jonathan A.; Robberto, Massimo; Heap, Sara

2016-07-01

There is a pressing need in the astronomical community for space-suitable multi-object spectrometers (MOSs). Several digital micromirror device (DMD)-based prototype MOSs have been developed for ground-based observatories; however, their main use will come with deployment on a space based mission. Therefore, performance of DMDs under exoatmospheric radiation needs to be evaluated. In our previous work we demonstrated that DMDs are tolerant to heavy ion irradiation in general and calculated upset rate of 4.3 micromirrors in 24 hours in orbit for 1-megapixel device. The goal of this additional experiment was to acquire more data and therefore increase the accuracy of the predicted in-orbit micromirror upset rate. Similar to the previous experiment, for this testing 0.7 XGA DMDs were re-windowed with 2 μm thick pellicle and tested under accelerated heavy-ion radiation (with control electronics shielded from radiation) with a focus on detection of single-event upsets (SEUs). We concentrated on ions with low levels of linear energy transfer (LET) 1.8 - 13 MeV•cm2•mg-1 to cover the most critical range of the Weibull curve for those devices. As during the previous experiment, we observed and documented non-destructive heavy ion-induced micromirror state changes. All SEUs were always cleared with a soft reset (that is, sending a new pattern to the device). The DMDs we tested did not experience single-event induced permanent damage or functional changes that required a hard reset (power cycle), even at high ion fluences. Based on the data obtained in the experiments we predict micromirror in-orbit upset rate of 5.6 micromirrors in 24 hours in-orbit for the tested devices. This suggests that the heavy-ion induced SEU rate burden for a DMD-based instrument will be manageable when exposed to solar particle fluxes and cosmic rays in orbit.

The design and implementation of a high sensitivity telescope for in situ measurements of energetic particles in the Earth's radiation belts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Parker, Charles Walter

This work describes the design and implementation of a high-sensitivity telescope (HST) for in situ detection and energy analysis of energetic charged particles in the Earth's radiation belts from a near-equatorial orbit that will range over geocentric distances from ≈ 2--3.5 Earth radii as part of the US Air Force's Demonstrations and Science eXperiment (DSX) mission. The HST employs a two element silicon solid state detector telescope that has a geometrical factor of 0.1 cm2 sr with a 14° field-of-view centered on the on-orbit local magnetic field vector to detect ≈ 100 particles s-1 cm-2 sr-1 in the geomagnetic bounce loss cone. The pointing direction of the HST is guaranteed by the active attitude control subsystem of the spacecraft. A novel implementation of a knife-edged baffled collimator design restricts the field-of-view and provides a sharp cutoff (≈ 103) in the angular response to all particle species with energies from ≈ 40--800 keV. The HST detectors are shielded with 5g cm-2 of aluminum followed by 3.1 g cm-2 of tungsten in all non-look directions to reduce the background fluxes incident on the detectors through the orbit (>107 particles cm -2 s-1 for electrons and protons individually) to levels that will allow the detection of the target flux in the loss cone. The HST has been extensively characterized on the ground and is capable of analyzing the energies of particles over the range of 25--850 keV with an energy resolution of 3.7keV and a noise FWHM of 15keV. The calibration has been established using 241Am and 133Ba X-ray sources and verified using additional beta- and X-ray sources and the electron beams produced by the 2 MeV Van de Graaff accelerator at the NASA Goddard Spaceflight Center's Radiation Effects Facility. The instrument's calibration has been shown to vary by less than 2% over the operational temperature range of --20 to +35°C. Electromagnetic interference testing has proven that the HST is unaffected by strong VLF fields of peak amplitude 1.5 kV.

Critical Gradient Behavior of Alfvén Eigenmode Induced Fast-Ion Transport in Phase Space

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Collins, C. S.; Pace, D. C.; van Zeeland, M. A.; Heidbrink, W. W.; Stagner, L.; Zhu, Y. B.; Kramer, G. J.; Podesta, M.; White, R. B.

2016-10-01

Experiments on DIII-D have shown that energetic particle (EP) transport suddenly increases when multiple Alfvén eigenmodes (AEs) cause particle orbits to become stochastic. Several key features have been observed; (1) the transport threshold is phase-space dependent and occurs above the AE linear stability threshold, (2) EP losses become intermittent above threshold and appear to depend on the types of AEs present, and (3) stiff transport causes the EP density profile to remain unchanged even if the source increases. Theoretical analysis using the NOVA and ORBIT codes shows that the threshold corresponds to when particle orbits become stochastic due to wave-particle resonances with AEs in the region of phase space measured by the diagnostics. The kick model in NUBEAM (TRANSP) is used to evolve the EP distribution function to study which modes cause the most transport and further characterize intermittent bursts of EP losses, which are associated with large scale redistribution through the domino effect. Work supported by the US DOE under DE-FC02-04ER54698.

JSC technician checks STS-44 DSO 316 bioreactor and rotating wall vessel hdwr

NASA Image and Video Library

1991-06-27

S91-40049 (27 June 1991) --- JSC technician Tacey Prewitt checks the progress on a bioreactor experiment in JSC's Life Sciences Laboratory Bldg 37 biotechnology laboratory. Similar hardware is scheduled for testing aboard Atlantis, Orbiter Vehicle (OV) 104, during STS-44. Detailed Supplementary Objective (DSO) 316 Bioreactor/Flow and Particle Trajectory in Microgravity will checkout the rotating wall vessel hardware and hopefully will confirm researchers' theories and calculations about how flow fields work in space. Plastic beads of various sizes rather than cell cultures are being flown in the vessel for the STS-44 test.

Masquerading Orbital Abscess Following Attempted Hydrogel Scleral Buckle Removal: Diagnostic Value of Orbital Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy.

PubMed

Pakdel, Farzad; Hadizadeh, Homayoun; Pirmarzdashty, Niloofar; Kiavash, Victoria

2015-01-01

A 59-year-old patient developed acute proptosis, peri-orbital swelling and restriction of ocular movements 2 days after attempted scleral buckle removal. Initial clinical and orbital MRI findings were suggestive for orbital cellulitis and orbital abscess. Empiric intravenous antibiotics were not effective. Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) revealed a distinctive composition and helped rule out suppurative and neoplastic processes. The patient recovered soon after removing clear liquefied and tiny particles of the hydrogel buckle by an effective peristaltic technique.

A new method for shape and texture classification of orthopedic wear nanoparticles.

PubMed

Zhang, Dongning; Page, Janet R; Kavanaugh, Aaron E; Billi, Fabrizio

2012-09-27

Detailed morphologic analysis of particles produced during wear of orthopedic implants is important in determining a correlation among material, wear, and biological effects. However, the use of simple shape descriptors is insufficient to categorize the data and to compare the nature of wear particles generated by different implants. An approach based on Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) is presented for describing particle shape and surface texture. Four metal-on-metal bearing couples were tested in an orbital wear simulator under standard and adverse (steep-angled cups) wear simulator conditions. Digitized Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) images of the wear particles were imported into MATLAB to carry out Fourier descriptor calculations via a specifically developed algorithm. The descriptors were then used for studying particle characteristics (shape and texture) as well as for cluster classification. Analysis of the particles demonstrated the validity of the proposed model by showing that steep-angle Co-Cr wear particles were more asymmetric, compressed, extended, triangular, square, and roughened at 3 Mc than after 0.25 Mc. In contrast, particles from standard angle samples were only more compressed and extended after 3 Mc compared to 0.25 Mc. Cluster analysis revealed that the 0.25 Mc steep-angle particle distribution was a subset of the 3 Mc distribution.

A Comparison of Damaging Meteoroid and Orbital Debris Fluxes in Earth Orbit

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cooke, William; Matney, Mark; Moorhead, Althea V.; Vavrin, Andrew

2017-01-01

Low Earth orbit is populated with a substantial amount of orbital debris, and it is usually assumed that the flux from these objects contributes to most of the hypervelocity particle risk to spacecraft in this region. The meteoroid flux is known to be dominant at very low altitudes (less than 300 km), where atmospheric drag rapidly removes debris, and at very high altitudes (beyond geostationary), where debris is practically non-existent. The vagueness of these boundaries and repeated questions from spacecraft projects have prompted this work, in which we compare the fluxes of meteoroids and orbital debris capable of producing a millimeter-deep crater in aluminum for circular orbits with altitudes ranging from the top of the atmosphere to 100,000 km. The outputs from the latest NASA debris and meteoroid models, ORDEM 3.0 and MEMR2, are combined with the modified Cour-Palais ballistic limit equation to make a realistic evaluation of the damage-capable particle fluxes, thereby establishing the relative contributions of hazardous debris and meteoroids throughout near-Earth space.

ORBIT: A Code for Collective Beam Dynamics in High-Intensity Rings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Holmes, J. A.; Danilov, V.; Galambos, J.; Shishlo, A.; Cousineau, S.; Chou, W.; Michelotti, L.; Ostiguy, J.-F.; Wei, J.

2002-12-01

We are developing a computer code, ORBIT, specifically for beam dynamics calculations in high-intensity rings. Our approach allows detailed simulation of realistic accelerator problems. ORBIT is a particle-in-cell tracking code that transports bunches of interacting particles through a series of nodes representing elements, effects, or diagnostics that occur in the accelerator lattice. At present, ORBIT contains detailed models for strip-foil injection, including painting and foil scattering; rf focusing and acceleration; transport through various magnetic elements; longitudinal and transverse impedances; longitudinal, transverse, and three-dimensional space charge forces; collimation and limiting apertures; and the calculation of many useful diagnostic quantities. ORBIT is an object-oriented code, written in C++ and utilizing a scripting interface for the convenience of the user. Ongoing improvements include the addition of a library of accelerator maps, BEAMLINE/MXYZPTLK; the introduction of a treatment of magnet errors and fringe fields; the conversion of the scripting interface to the standard scripting language, Python; and the parallelization of the computations using MPI. The ORBIT code is an open source, powerful, and convenient tool for studying beam dynamics in high-intensity rings.

Precipitation regions on the Earth of high energy electrons, injected by a point source moving along a circular Earth orbit

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kolesnikov, E. K.; Klyushnikov, G. N.

2018-05-01

In the paper we continue the study of precipitation regions of high-energy charged particles, carried out by the authors since 2002. In contrast to previous papers, where a stationary source of electrons was considered, it is assumed that the source moves along a low circular near-earth orbit with a constant velocity. The orbit position is set by the inclination angle of the orbital plane to the equatorial plane and the longitude of the ascending node. The total number of injected electrons is determined by the source strength and the number of complete revolutions that the source makes along the circumference. Construction of precipitation regions is produced using the computational algorithm based on solving of the system of ordinary differential equations. The features of the precipitation regions structure for the dipole approximation of the geomagnetic field and the symmetrical arrangement of the orbit relative to the equator are noted. The dependencies of the precipitation regions on different orbital parametres such as the incline angle, the ascending node position and kinetic energy of injected particles have been considered.

How useful is the `mean stream' in discussing meteoroid stream evolution?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Williams, I. P.; Jones, D. C.

2007-02-01

The current model for meteoroid formation involves particles being ejected from parent objects, usually comets and sometimes asteroids. The orbital speed of any body in the Solar system is much larger than any potential ejection speed of small particles from the body, hence the initial orbit of any meteoroid is fairly similar to that of the parent. However, with the passage of time the effects of gravitational perturbations from the planets and solar radiation will cause the orbits of the meteoroids to evolve away from the parent's orbit. Initially this may cause a meteor shower to occur, but eventually will lead to the dissipation of the stream. When modelling meteoroid streams, it is usually more convenient to use the average orbital elements of all the meteoroids to study their evolution. In this paper, we consider the evolution of the orbits of several sets of meteoroids comparing the effectiveness of using the mean and median values for a stream when modelling the overall evolution. We conclude that although both mean and median provide a good match to the evolution of the real meteoroids for most of the time interval studied, the mean orbit remains more consistently close to the stream.

Electrically tunable lens speeds up 3D orbital tracking

PubMed Central

Annibale, Paolo; Dvornikov, Alexander; Gratton, Enrico

2015-01-01

3D orbital particle tracking is a versatile and effective microscopy technique that allows following fast moving fluorescent objects within living cells and reconstructing complex 3D shapes using laser scanning microscopes. We demonstrated notable improvements in the range, speed and accuracy of 3D orbital particle tracking by replacing commonly used piezoelectric stages with Electrically Tunable Lens (ETL) that eliminates mechanical movement of objective lenses. This allowed tracking and reconstructing shape of structures extending 500 microns in the axial direction. Using the ETL, we tracked at high speed fluorescently labeled genomic loci within the nucleus of living cells with unprecedented temporal resolution of 8ms using a 1.42NA oil-immersion objective. The presented technology is cost effective and allows easy upgrade of scanning microscopes for fast 3D orbital tracking. PMID:26114037

Test-particle simulations of SEP propagation in IMF with large-scale fluctuations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kelly, J.; Dalla, S.; Laitinen, T.

2012-11-01

The results of full-orbit test-particle simulations of SEPs propagating through an IMF which exhibits large-scale fluctuations are presented. A variety of propagation conditions are simulated - scatter-free, and scattering with mean free path, λ, of 0.3 and 2.0 AU - and the cross-field transport of SEPs is investigated. When calculating cross-field displacements the Parker spiral geometry is accounted for and the role of magnetic field expansion is taken into account. It is found that transport across the magnetic field is enhanced in the λ =0.3 AU and λ =2 AU cases, compared to the scatter-free case, with the λ =2 AU case in particular containing outlying particles that had strayed a large distance across the IMF. Outliers are catergorized by means of Chauvenet's criterion and it is found that typically between 1 and 2% of the population falls within this category. The ratio of latitudinal to longitudinal diffusion coefficient perpendicular to the magnetic field is typically 0.2, suggesting that transport in latitude is less efficient.

Debris mapping sensor technology project summary: Technology flight experiments program area of the space platforms technology program

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1991-01-01

The topics presented are covered in viewgraph form. Programmatic objectives are: (1) to improve characterization of the orbital debris environment; and (2) to provide a passive sensor test bed for debris collision detection systems. Technical objectives are: (1) to study LEO debris altitude, size and temperature distribution down to 1 mm particles; (2) to quantify ground based radar and optical data ambiguities; and (3) to optimize debris detection strategies.

Radiation drag in the field of a non-spherical source

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bini, D.; Geralico, A.; Passamonti, A.

2015-01-01

The motion of a test particle in the gravitational field of a non-spherical source endowed with both mass and mass quadrupole moment is investigated when a test radiation field is also present. The background is described by the Erez-Rosen solution, which is a static space-time belonging to the Weyl class of solutions to the vacuum Einstein's field equations, and reduces to the familiar Schwarzschild solution when the quadrupole parameter vanishes. The radiation flux has a fixed but arbitrary (non-zero) angular momentum. The interaction with the radiation field is assumed to be Thomson-like, i.e. the particles absorb and re-emit radiation, thus suffering for a friction-like drag force. Such an additional force is responsible for the Poynting-Robertson effect, which is well established in the framework of Newtonian gravity and has been recently extended to the general theory of relativity. The balance between gravitational attraction, centrifugal force and radiation drag leads to the occurrence of equilibrium circular orbits which are attractors for the surrounding matter for every fixed value of the interaction strength. The presence of the quadrupolar structure of the source introduces a further degree of freedom: there exists a whole family of equilibrium orbits parametrized by the quadrupole parameter, generalizing previous works. This scenario is expected to play a role in the context of accretion matter around compact objects.

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Navigation Strategy for the Comet Siding Spring Encounter

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Menon, Premkumar R.; Wagner, Sean V.; Martin-Mur, Tomas J.; Jefferson, David C.; Ardalan, Shadan M.; Chung, Min-Kun J.; Lee, Kyong J.; Schulze, William B.

2015-01-01

Comet Siding Spring encountered Mars on October 19, 2014 at a distance of about 140,500 km - the nearest comet flyby of a planet in recorded history. Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) was able to detect the comet, gather science data, and capture images of the comet as it approached Mars. To help protect MRO from the incoming comet particles, two propulsive maneuvers were performed to position the spacecraft behind Mars at the arrival time of the expected peak particle fluency. This paper documents the strategy that the MRO Navigation Team executed to mitigate risk from the comet particles while allowing scientific observations of the comet flyby.

The formation of Pluto's low-mass satellites

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kenyon, Scott J.; Bromley, Benjamin C., E-mail: skenyon@cfa.harvard.edu, E-mail: bromley@physics.utah.edu

Motivated by the New Horizons mission, we consider how Pluto's small satellites—currently Styx, Nix, Kerberos, and Hydra—grow in debris from the giant impact that forms the Pluto-Charon binary. After the impact, Pluto and Charon accrete some of the debris and eject the rest from the binary orbit. During the ejection, high-velocity collisions among debris particles produce a collisional cascade, leading to the ejection of some debris from the system and enabling the remaining debris particles to find stable orbits around the binary. Our numerical simulations of coagulation and migration show that collisional evolution within a ring or a disk ofmore » debris leads to a few small satellites orbiting Pluto-Charon. These simulations are the first to demonstrate migration-induced mergers within a particle disk. The final satellite masses correlate with the initial disk mass. More massive disks tend to produce fewer satellites. For the current properties of the satellites, our results strongly favor initial debris masses of 3-10 × 10{sup 19} g and current satellite albedos A ≈ 0.4-1. We also predict an ensemble of smaller satellites, R ≲ 1-3 km, and very small particles, R ≈ 1-100 cm and optical depth τ ≲ 10{sup –10}. These objects should have semimajor axes outside the current orbit of Hydra.« less

Micrometeoroids and debris on LDEF comparison with MIR data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mandeville, Jean-Claude; Berthoud, Lucinda

1995-01-01

Part of the LDEF tray allocated to French experiments (FRECOPA) has been devoted to the study of dust particles. The tray was located on the face of LDEF directly opposed to the velocity vector. Crater size distributions have made possible the evaluation of the incident microparticle flux in the near-Earth environment. Comparisons are made with measurements obtained on the other faces of LDEF (tray clamps), on the leading edge (MAP) and with results of a similar experiment flown on the MIR space station. The geometry of impact craters, depth in particular, provides useful information on the nature of impacting particles and the correlation of geometry with the chemical analysis of projectile remnants inside craters make possible a discrimination between meteoroids and orbital debris. Emphasis has been laid on the size distribution of small craters in order to assess a cut-off in the distribution of particles in LEO. Special attention has been paid to the phenomenon of secondary impacts. A comparison of flight data with current models of meteoroids and space debris shows a fair agreement for LDEF, except for the smaller particles: the possible contribution of orbital debris in GTO orbits to the LDEF trailing edge flux is discussed. For MIR, flight results show differences with current modeling: the possible enhancement of orbital debris could be due to the contaminating presence of a permanently manned space station.

Perpendicular and Parallel Ion Stochastic Heating by Kinetic Alfvén Wave Turbulence in the Solar Wind

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hoppock, I. W.; Chandran, B. D. G.

2017-12-01

The dissipation of turbulence is a prime candidate to explain the heating of collisionless plasmas like the solar wind. We consider the heating of protons and alpha particles using test particle simulations with a broad spectrum of randomly phased kinetic Alfvén waves (KAWs). Previous research extensively simulated and analytically considered stochastic heating at low plasma beta for conditions similar to coronal holes and the near-sun solar wind. We verify the analytical models of proton and alpha particle heating rates, and extend these simulations to plasmas with beta of order unity like in the solar wind at 1 au. Furthermore, we consider cases with very large beta of order 100, relevant to other astrophysical plasmas. We explore the parameter dependency of the critical KAW amplitude that breaks the gyro-center approximation and leads to stochastic gyro-orbits of the particles. Our results suggest that stochastic heating by KAW turbulence is an efficient heating mechanisms for moderate to high beta plasmas.

The Compositions, Particle Sizes, and Distributions of Ice Aerosols in the Mars Mesosphere from 2009-2016 CRISM Visible-NearIR Limb Spectra

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Clancy, R. T.; Smith, M. D.; Wolff, M. J.; Toigo, A. D.; Seelos, K. D.; Murchie, S. L.

2016-12-01

Since 2009, the CRISM visible-nearIR imaging spectrometer onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) has returned over 70 orbits of Mars limb image scans over the 0-130 km altitude range. Pole-to-pole latitudinal coverage is obtained from the near-polar, sun-synchronous (LT 3pm) MRO orbit for a limited set of surface longitudes centered on Tharsis, Valles Mariners, Meridioni, and Hellas regions. Seasonal coverage extends over the full seasonal range (Ls=0-360°), as accumulated over 2009-2016 (MY 29-33), supporting a range of aerosol and airglow studies (Smith et al., 2013; Clancy et al., 2012, 2013). The 0.4-4.0 μm wavelength range of these CRISM limb observations proves particularly suitable to characterizing aerosol composition and particle sizes, particularly for the Mars mesosphere (z=50-100 km), which has only recently been observed with any dedication by MCS (Sefton-Nash et al, 2013) and CRISM limb measurements. Dust and H2O, CO2 ice aerosols are clearly distinguished by their distinct scattering and absorption behaviors over the key 2-4 μm wavelength region, and their particle sizes are well determined by the 0.4-3 μm wavelength region. Several key attributes are determined for Mars mesospheric aerosols. Dust aerosols are largely undetected, and are apparently injected to such heights only during global dust storms (Clancy et al, 2010). Ice clouds are generally common at 55-75 km altitudes, although in separate halves of the Mars year. CO2 and H2O ice clouds are most prominent during the aphelion and perihelion portions of the Mars orbit, respectively. CO2 ice clouds, which occur at low latitudes over specific surface longitudes, present distinct particle size populations ranging from 0.5 to 1.5 μm (Reff). Mesospheric H2O ice clouds exhibit somewhat smaller particle sizes (Reff=0.3-1 μm) and extend over low to mid latitudes. This orbital dependence for mesospheric ice aerosol composition indicates extreme annual (orbital) variation in mesospheric water vapor.

Benchmark coupled-cluster g-tensor calculations with full inclusion of the two-particle spin-orbit contributions.

PubMed

Perera, Ajith; Gauss, Jürgen; Verma, Prakash; Morales, Jorge A

2017-04-28

We present a parallel implementation to compute electron spin resonance g-tensors at the coupled-cluster singles and doubles (CCSD) level which employs the ACES III domain-specific software tools for scalable parallel programming, i.e., the super instruction architecture language and processor (SIAL and SIP), respectively. A unique feature of the present implementation is the exact (not approximated) inclusion of the five one- and two-particle contributions to the g-tensor [i.e., the mass correction, one- and two-particle paramagnetic spin-orbit, and one- and two-particle diamagnetic spin-orbit terms]. Like in a previous implementation with effective one-electron operators [J. Gauss et al., J. Phys. Chem. A 113, 11541-11549 (2009)], our implementation utilizes analytic CC second derivatives and, therefore, classifies as a true CC linear-response treatment. Therefore, our implementation can unambiguously appraise the accuracy of less costly effective one-particle schemes and provide a rationale for their widespread use. We have considered a large selection of radicals used previously for benchmarking purposes including those studied in earlier work and conclude that at the CCSD level, the effective one-particle scheme satisfactorily captures the two-particle effects less costly than the rigorous two-particle scheme. With respect to the performance of density functional theory (DFT), we note that results obtained with the B3LYP functional exhibit the best agreement with our CCSD results. However, in general, the CCSD results agree better with the experimental data than the best DFT/B3LYP results, although in most cases within the rather large experimental error bars.

Quantitative Measures of Chaotic Charged Particle Dynamics in the Magnetotail

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Holland, D. L.; Martin, R. F., Jr.; Burris, C.

2017-12-01

It has long been noted that the motion of charged particles in magnetotail-like magnetic fields is chaotic, however, efforts to quantify the degree of chaos have had conflicting conclusions. In this paper we re-examine the question by focusing on quantitative measures of chaos. We first examine the percentage of orbits that enter the chaotic region of phase space and the average trapping time of those particles. We then examine the average exponential divergence rate (AEDR) of the chaotic particles between their first and last crossing of the mid-plane. We show that at resonant energies where the underlying phase space has a high degree of symmetry, only a small number of particle enter the chaotic region, but they are trapped for long periods of time and the time asymptotic value of the AEDR is very close to the average value of the AEDR. At the off-resonant energies where the phase space is highly asymmetric, the majority of the particle enter the chaotic region for fairly short periods of time and the time asymptotic value of the AEDR is much smaller than the average value. The root cause is that in the resonant case, the longest-lived orbits tend interact with the current many times and sample the entire chaotic region, whereas in the non-resonant case the longest-lived orbits only interact with the current sheet a small number of times but have very long mirrorings where the motion is nearly regular. Additionally we use an ad-hoc model where we model the current sheet as a Lorentz scattering system with each interaction with the current sheet being considered as a "collision". We find that the average kick per collision is greatest at off-resonant energies. Finally, we propose a chaos parameter as the product of the AEDR times the average chaotic particle trapping time times the percentage of orbits that are chaotic. We find that this takes on peak values at the resonant energies.

The nature of the progenitor of the M31 north-western stream: globular clusters as milestones of its orbit

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kirihara, T.; Miki, Y.; Mori, M.

2017-08-01

We examine the nature, possible orbits and physical properties of the progenitor of the north-western stellar stream (NWS) in the halo of the Andromeda galaxy (M31). The progenitor is assumed to be an accreting dwarf galaxy with globular clusters (GCs). It is, in general, difficult to determine the progenitor's orbit precisely because of many necessary parameters. Recently, Veljanoski et al. reported five GCs whose positions and radial velocities suggest an association with the stream. We use these data to constrain the orbital motions of the progenitor using test-particle simulations. Our simulations split the orbit solutions into two branches according to whether the stream ends up in the foreground or in the background of M31. Upcoming observations that will determine the distance to the NWS will be able to reject one of the two branches. In either case, the solutions require that the pericentric radius of any possible orbit be over 2 kpc. We estimate the efficiency of the tidal disruption and confirm the consistency with the assumption for the progenitor being a dwarf galaxy. The progenitor requires the mass ≳ 2 × 106 M⊙ and half-light radius ≳ 30 pc. In addition, N-body simulations successfully reproduce the basic observed features of the NWS and the GCs' line-of-sight velocities.

Amplitude-dependent orbital period in alternating gradient accelerators

DOE PAGES

Machida, S.; Kelliher, D. J.; Edmonds, C. S.; ...

2016-03-16

Orbital period in a ring accelerator and time of flight in a linear accelerator depend on the amplitude of betatron oscillations. The variation is negligible in ordinary particle accelerators with relatively small beam emittance. In an accelerator for large emittance beams like muons and unstable nuclei, however, this effect cannot be ignored. In this study, we measured orbital period in a linear non-scaling fixed-field alternating-gradient accelerator, which is a candidate for muon acceleration, and compared it with the theoretical prediction. The good agreement between them gives important ground for the design of particle accelerators for a new generation of particlemore » and nuclear physics experiments.« less

Axial interaction free-electron laser

DOEpatents

Carlsten, Bruce E.

1997-01-01

Electron orbits from a helical axial wiggler in an axial guide field are absolutely unstable as power is extracted from the particles. For off-axis beams an axial FEL mechanism exists when the axial electric field in a TM mode is wiggled to interact with the axial velocity of the electrons that form the beam. The interaction strength is comparable to that for helical FELs and is insensitive to beam orbit errors. The orbits for this mechanism are extremely stable in the absence of space charge and lead to high extraction efficiencies without particle phasing incoherence or interception. This interaction mechanism is suitable for use with intense annular electron beams for high power generation at microwave frequencies.

Axial interaction free-electron laser

DOEpatents

Carlsten, B.E.

1997-09-02

Electron orbits from a helical axial wiggler in an axial guide field are absolutely unstable as power is extracted from the particles. For off-axis beams an axial FEL mechanism exists when the axial electric field in a TM mode is wiggled to interact with the axial velocity of the electrons that form the beam. The interaction strength is comparable to that for helical FELs and is insensitive to beam orbit errors. The orbits for this mechanism are extremely stable in the absence of space charge and lead to high extraction efficiencies without particle phasing incoherence or interception. This interaction mechanism is suitable for use with intense annular electron beams for high power generation at microwave frequencies. 5 figs.

The atmosphere of 2060 Chiron

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Meech, K.J.; Belton, M.J.S.

An explanation for 2060 Chiron's behavior, which focuses on the influence of Chiron's mass on the development of its dust coma, is presented. It is suggested that dust is entrained by the flow of CO or another gas of similar volatility from an active region. It remains gravitationally bound on orbits confined to a region, roughly 5000 km in extent, that lies between the surface and an exopause imposed by radiation pressure forces. The influence of radiation pressure transforms the initial particle trajectories into satellite orbits with a characteristic period of 20 days and orbital residence time of about 25more » revolutions. The particle population in the coma slowly increases, explaining Chiron's photometric behavior. 74 refs.« less

Heavy Ion Flux Comparison of MARIE and ACE/CRIS Instruments

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lee, K. T.; Andersen, V.; Atwell, W.; Cleghorn, T.; Cucinotta, F.; Pinsky, L.; Saganti, P.; Turner, R.; Zeitlin, C.

2003-01-01

The charged particle spectrum for nuclei from protons to neon, (charge Z=10) has been observed during the cruise phase and in orbit around Mars by the MARIE charge particle spectrometer aboard the Odyssey spacecraft. The cruise data was taken between April 23, 2001 and August 11, 2001. The Mars orbit data was taken from March 5, 2002 through December 2002. Both the cruise data set and the orbital data set are compared with the simultaneous observations made by the CRIS instrument aboard the ACE space-craft, located at L1. Any detectable differences between the two spacecraft data sets could lead to the understanding of the radial dependence of solar modulation.

Capabilities of a FOXSI Small Explorer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Inglis, A. R.; Christe, S.; Glesener, L.; Krucker, S.; Dennis, B. R.; Shih, A.; Wilson-Hodge, C.; Gubarev, M.; Hudson, H. S.; Kontar, E.; Buitrago Casas, J. C.; Drake, J. F.; Caspi, A.; Holman, G.; Allred, J. C.; Ryan, D.; Alaoui, M.; White, S. M.; Saint-Hilaire, P.; Klimchuk, J. A.; Hannah, I. G.; Antiochos, S. K.; Grefenstette, B.; Ramsey, B.; Jeffrey, N. L. S.; Reep, J. W.; Schwartz, R. A.; Ireland, J.

2015-12-01

We present the FOXSI (Focusing Optics X-ray Solar Imager) small explorer (SMEX) concept, a mission dedicated to studying particle acceleration and energy release on the Sun. FOXSI is designed as a 3-axis stabilized spacecraft in low-Earth orbit making use of state-of-the-art grazing incidence focusing optics, allowing for direct imaging of solar X-rays. The current design being studied features three telescope modules deployed in a low-inclination low-earth orbit (LEO). With a 15 meter focal length enabled by a deployable boom, FOXSI will observe the Sun in the 3-50 keV energe range. The FOXSI imaging concept has already been tested on two sounding rocket flights, in 2012 and 2014 and on the HEROES balloon payload flight in 2013. FOXSI will image the Sun with an angular resolution of 5'', a spectral resolution of 0.5 keV, and sub-second temporal resolution using CdTe detectors. In this presentation we investigate the science objectives and targets which can be accessed from this mission. Because of the defining characteristic of FOXSI is true imaging spectroscopy with high dynamic range and sensitivity, a brand-new perspective on energy release on the Sun is possible. Some of the science targets discussed here include; flare particle acceleration processes, electron beams, return currents, sources of solar energetic particles (SEPs), as well as understanding X-ray emission from active region structures and the quiescent corona.

Timing Comparisons for GLEs and High-energy Proton Events using GPS Proton Measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bernstein, V.; Winter, L. M.; Carver, M.; Morley, S.

2017-12-01

The newly released LANL GPS particle sensor data offers a unique snapshot of access of relativistic particles into the geomagnetic field. Currently, 23 of the 31 operational GPS satellites host energetic particle detectors which can detect the arrival of high-energy solar protons associated with Ground Level Enhancements (GLEs). We compare the timing profiles of solar energetic proton detections from GPS satellites as well as from ground-based Neutron Monitors and GOES spacecraft at geostationary orbit in order to understand how high-energy protons from the Sun enter the geomagnetic field and investigate potential differences in arrival time of energetic protons at GPS satellites as a function of location. Previous studies could only use one or two spacecraft at a similar altitude to track the arrival of energetic particles. With GPS data, we can now test whether the particles arrive isotropically, as assumed, or whether there exist differences in the timing and energetics viewed by each of the individual satellites. Extensions of this work could lead to improvements in space weather forecasting that predict more localized risk estimates for space-based technology.

Modeling the Hydrological Cycle in the Atmosphere of Mars: Influence of a Bimodal Size Distribution of Aerosol Nucleation Particles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shaposhnikov, Dmitry S.; Rodin, Alexander V.; Medvedev, Alexander S.; Fedorova, Anna A.; Kuroda, Takeshi; Hartogh, Paul

2018-02-01

We present a new implementation of the hydrological cycle scheme into a general circulation model of the Martian atmosphere. The model includes a semi-Lagrangian transport scheme for water vapor and ice and accounts for microphysics of phase transitions between them. The hydrological scheme includes processes of saturation, nucleation, particle growth, sublimation, and sedimentation under the assumption of a variable size distribution. The scheme has been implemented into the Max Planck Institute Martian general circulation model and tested assuming monomodal and bimodal lognormal distributions of ice condensation nuclei. We present a comparison of the simulated annual variations, horizontal and vertical distributions of water vapor, and ice clouds with the available observations from instruments on board Mars orbiters. The accounting for bimodality of aerosol particle distribution improves the simulations of the annual hydrological cycle, including predicted ice clouds mass, opacity, number density, and particle radii. The increased number density and lower nucleation rates bring the simulated cloud opacities closer to observations. Simulations show a weak effect of the excess of small aerosol particles on the simulated water vapor distributions.

Proton Flares in Solar Activity Complexes: Possible Origins and Consequences

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Isaeva, E. S.; Tomozov, V. M.; Yazev, S. A.

2018-03-01

Solar flares observed during the 24th solar-activity cycle and accompanied by fluxes of particles detected at the Earth's orbit with intensities exceeding 10 particles cm-2 s-1 and energies of more than 10 MeV per particle mainly occurred in activity complexes (82% of cases), with 80% of these occurring no more than 20 heliographic degrees from the nearest coronal holes. The correlation between the X-ray classes of flares and the proton fluxes detected at the Earth's orbit is weak. The work presented here supports the hypothesis that the leakage of particles into the heliosphere is due to the existence of long-lived magnetic channels, which facilitate the transport of flare-accelerated particles into the boundary regions of open magnetic structures of coronal holes. The possible contribution of exchange reconnection in the formation of such channels and the role of exchange reconnection in the generation of flares are discussed.

Chaotic motion of a harmonically bound charged particle in a magnetic field, in the presence of a half-plane barrier

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Geurts, Bernard J.; Wiegel, Frederik W.; Creswick, Richard J.

1990-05-01

The motion in the plane of an harmonically bound charged particle interacting with a magnetic field and a half-plane barrier along the positive x-axis is studied. The magnetic field is perpendicular to the plane in which the particle moves. This motion is integrable in between collisions of the particle with the barrier. However, the overall motion of the particle is very complicated. Chaotic regions in phase space exist next to island structures associated with linearly stable periodic orbits. We study in detail periodic orbits of low period and in particular their bifurcation behavior. Independent sequences of period doubling bifurcations and resonant bifurcations are observed associated with independent fixed points in the Poincaré section. Due to the perpendicular magnetic field an orientation is induced on the plane and time-reversal symmetry is broken.

The Smaller Alignment Index (SALI) applied in a study of stellar orbits in barred galaxies potential models using the LP-VIcode

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Caritá, Lucas Antonio; Rodrigues, Irapuan; Puerari, Ivânio; Schiavo, Luiz Eduardo Camargo Aranha

2018-04-01

The Smaller Alignment Index (SALI) is a mathematical tool, not yet conventional, for chaos detection in the phase space of Hamiltonian Dynamical Systems. The SALI values has temporal behaviors very specific to ordered or chaotic motions, what makes the distinction between order and chaos easily observable in these systems. In this paper, this method will be applied to the stability study of stellar orbits immersed in gravitational potential of barred galaxies, since the motion of a test particle in a rotating barred galaxy model is given by a Hamiltonian function. Extracting four parameter sets from the Manos and Athanassoula (2011) work and elaborating a different initial conditions set for each case, we were able to introduce another point of view of their stability study for two degrees of freedom. We have also introduced two new extreme models that corroborates with the conclusions that more axisymmetric bars create an environment with less chaos and that more massive bars create an environment with more chaos. Separate studies were carried out for prograde and retrograde orbits that showed that the retrograde orbits seem more conducive to chaos. To perform all the orbits integrations we used the LP-VIcode program.

The orbital PDF: general inference of the gravitational potential from steady-state tracers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Han, Jiaxin; Wang, Wenting; Cole, Shaun; Frenk, Carlos S.

2016-02-01

We develop two general methods to infer the gravitational potential of a system using steady-state tracers, I.e. tracers with a time-independent phase-space distribution. Combined with the phase-space continuity equation, the time independence implies a universal orbital probability density function (oPDF) dP(λ|orbit) ∝ dt, where λ is the coordinate of the particle along the orbit. The oPDF is equivalent to Jeans theorem, and is the key physical ingredient behind most dynamical modelling of steady-state tracers. In the case of a spherical potential, we develop a likelihood estimator that fits analytical potentials to the system and a non-parametric method (`phase-mark') that reconstructs the potential profile, both assuming only the oPDF. The methods involve no extra assumptions about the tracer distribution function and can be applied to tracers with any arbitrary distribution of orbits, with possible extension to non-spherical potentials. The methods are tested on Monte Carlo samples of steady-state tracers in dark matter haloes to show that they are unbiased as well as efficient. A fully documented C/PYTHON code implementing our method is freely available at a GitHub repository linked from http://icc.dur.ac.uk/data/#oPDF.

A magnetic shield/dual purpose mission

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Watkins, Seth; Albertelli, Jamil; Copeland, R. Braden; Correll, Eric; Dales, Chris; Davis, Dana; Davis, Nechole; Duck, Rob; Feaster, Sandi; Grant, Patrick

1994-01-01

The objective of this work is to design, build, and fly a dual-purpose payload whose function is to produce a large volume, low intensity magnetic field and to test the concept of using such a magnetic field to protect manned spacecraft against particle radiation. An additional mission objective is to study the effect of this moving field on upper atmosphere plasmas. Both mission objectives appear to be capable of being tested using the same superconducting coil. The potential benefits of this magnetic shield concept apply directly to both earth-orbital and interplanetary missions. This payload would be a first step in assessing the true potential of large volume magnetic fields in the U.S. space program. Either converted launch systems or piggyback payload opportunities may be appropriate for this mission. The use of superconducting coils for magnetic shielding against solar flare radiation during manned interplanetary missions has long been contemplated and was considered in detail in the years preceding the Apollo mission. With the advent of new superconductors, it has now become realistic to reconsider this concept for a Mars mission. Even in near-earth orbits, large volume magnetic fields produced using conventional metallic superconductors allow novel plasma physics experiments to be contemplated. Both deployed field-coil and non-deployed field-coil shielding arrangements have been investigated, with the latter being most suitable for an initial test payload in a polar orbit.

Simulation of Hypervelocity Impact on Aluminum-Nextel-Kevlar Orbital Debris Shields

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fahrenthold, Eric P.

2000-01-01

An improved hybrid particle-finite element method has been developed for hypervelocity impact simulation. The method combines the general contact-impact capabilities of particle codes with the true Lagrangian kinematics of large strain finite element formulations. Unlike some alternative schemes which couple Lagrangian finite element models with smooth particle hydrodynamics, the present formulation makes no use of slidelines or penalty forces. The method has been implemented in a parallel, three dimensional computer code. Simulations of three dimensional orbital debris impact problems using this parallel hybrid particle-finite element code, show good agreement with experiment and good speedup in parallel computation. The simulations included single and multi-plate shields as well as aluminum and composite shielding materials. at an impact velocity of eleven kilometers per second.

Non-linear wave-particle interactions and fast ion loss induced by multiple Alfvén eigenmodes in the DIII-D tokamak

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Chen, Xi; Kramer, Gerrit J.; Heidbrink, William W.

2014-05-21

A new non-linear feature has been observed in fast-ion loss from tokamak plasmas in the form of oscillations at the sum, difference and second harmonic frequencies of two independent Alfvén eigenmodes (AEs). Full orbit calculations and analytic theory indicate this non-linearity is due to coupling of fast-ion orbital response as it passes through each AE — a change in wave-particle phase k • r by one mode alters the force exerted by the next. Furthermore, the loss measurement is of barely confined, non-resonant particles, while similar non-linear interactions can occur between well-confined particles and multiple AEs leading to enhanced fast-ionmore » transport.« less

Measurements of micron-scale meteoroids and orbital debris with the Space Dust (SPADUS) instrument on the upcoming ARGOS P91-1 mission

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

McKibben, R. B.; Simpson, J. A.; Tuzzolino, A. J.

1997-01-01

The space dust (SPADUS) experiment, to be launched into a sun-synchronous polar orbit at an altitude of 833 km onboard the USAF ARGOS P91-1 mission, will provide time-resolved measurements of the intensity, size spectrum and geocentric trajectories of dust particles encountered during the nominal three year mission. The experiment uses polyvinylidene fluoride dust sensors with a total detector area of 576 sq cm. The SPADUS will measure particle sizes between 2 and 200 microns, particle velocities between 1 and 10 km/s to better than 4 percent, and the direction of incidence with a mean error of 7 percent. These data will identify the particles as being debris or of natural origin.

Variational symplectic algorithm for guiding center dynamics in the inner magnetosphere

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Li Jinxing; Pu Zuyin; Xie Lun

Charged particle dynamics in magnetosphere has temporal and spatial multiscale; therefore, numerical accuracy over a long integration time is required. A variational symplectic integrator (VSI) [H. Qin and X. Guan, Phys. Rev. Lett. 100, 035006 (2008) and H. Qin, X. Guan, and W. M. Tang, Phys. Plasmas 16, 042510 (2009)] for the guiding-center motion of charged particles in general magnetic field is applied to study the dynamics of charged particles in magnetosphere. Instead of discretizing the differential equations of the guiding-center motion, the action of the guiding-center motion is discretized and minimized to obtain the iteration rules for advancing themore » dynamics. The VSI conserves exactly a discrete Lagrangian symplectic structure and has better numerical properties over a long integration time, compared with standard integrators, such as the standard and adaptive fourth order Runge-Kutta (RK4) methods. Applying the VSI method to guiding-center dynamics in the inner magnetosphere, we can accurately calculate the particles'orbits for an arbitrary long simulating time with good conservation property. When a time-independent convection and corotation electric field is considered, the VSI method can give the accurate single particle orbit, while the RK4 method gives an incorrect orbit due to its intrinsic error accumulation over a long integrating time.« less

Meteoroid stream of 12P/Pons-Brooks, December κ-Draconids, and Northern June Aquilids

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tomko, D.; Neslušan, L.

2016-08-01

Context. It was found that some parent bodies of meteoroid streams can be related to more than one meteor shower observable in the atmosphere of Earth. The orbits of the members of such showers must evolve to the locations, which are far from the orbit of their parent, to cross the orbit of the Earth. An extensive simulation of the stream evolution is necessary to reveal such a complex of showers of the given parent body. Aims: We continue the investigation of the evolution of the theoretical stream originating from the comet 12P/Pons-Brooks to understand its meteor-shower complex in more detail. Methods: We model a theoretical comet stream assuming an ejection of 10 000 particles, representing the meteoroids, from its nucleus in several past perihelion passages. Adding to our previous work, here we also consider the Poynting-Robertson drag in our study of the particles' dynamics. The orbits currently occurring in a vicinity of the Earth's orbit are used to predict the showers associated with comet 12P. Results: Two nighttime and two daytime showers are predicted to originate from 12P. The showers must consist of only relatively large particles, which are influenced to only a small extent by the Poynting-Robertson drag, because in this case, it deflects the particles from the collisional course with the Earth when efficient. The shower predicted to have the most particles is the nighttime shower, which can clearly be identified to the December κ-Draconids, No. 336 in the IAU MDC list. Another predicted nighttime shower has no counterpart in the considered observational data. Some characteristics of this shower are vaguely similar to those of Northern June Aquilids, No. 164. The observed counterparts of two predicted daytime showers were not found in the observational data we used or in the IAU MDC list.

Bivariate- distribution for transition matrix elements in Breit-Wigner to Gaussian domains of interacting particle systems.

PubMed

Kota, V K B; Chavda, N D; Sahu, R

2006-04-01

Interacting many-particle systems with a mean-field one-body part plus a chaos generating random two-body interaction having strength lambda exhibit Poisson to Gaussian orthogonal ensemble and Breit-Wigner (BW) to Gaussian transitions in level fluctuations and strength functions with transition points marked by lambda = lambda c and lambda = lambda F, respectively; lambda F > lambda c. For these systems a theory for the matrix elements of one-body transition operators is available, as valid in the Gaussian domain, with lambda > lambda F, in terms of orbital occupation numbers, level densities, and an integral involving a bivariate Gaussian in the initial and final energies. Here we show that, using a bivariate-t distribution, the theory extends below from the Gaussian regime to the BW regime up to lambda = lambda c. This is well tested in numerical calculations for 6 spinless fermions in 12 single-particle states.

Charged particle tracking at Titan, and further applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bebesi, Zsofia; Erdos, Geza; Szego, Karoly

2016-04-01

We use the CAPS ion data of Cassini to investigate the dynamics and origin of Titan's atmospheric ions. We developed a 4th order Runge-Kutta method to calculate particle trajectories in a time reversed scenario. The test particle magnetic field environment imitates the curved magnetic environment in the vicinity of Titan. The minimum variance directions along the S/C trajectory have been calculated for all available Titan flybys, and we assumed a homogeneous field that is perpendicular to the minimum variance direction. Using this method the magnetic field lines have been calculated along the flyby orbits so we could select those observational intervals when Cassini and the upper atmosphere of Titan were magnetically connected. We have also taken the Kronian magnetodisc into consideration, and used different upstream magnetic field approximations depending on whether Titan was located inside of the magnetodisc current sheet, or in the lobe regions. We also discuss the code's applicability to comets.

Physics and astrophysics from a lunar base; Proceedings of the 1st NASA Workshop, Stanford, CA, May 19, 20, 1989

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Potter, A. E. (Editor); Wilson, T. L. (Editor)

1990-01-01

The present conference on physics and astrophysics from a lunar base encompasses space physics, cosmic ray physics, neutrino physics, experiments in gravitation and general relativity, gravitational radiation physics, cosmic background radiation, particle astrophysics, surface physics, and the physics of gamma rays and X-rays. Specific issues addressed include space-plasma physics research at a lunar base, prospects for neutral particle imaging, the atmosphere as particle detector, medium- and high-energy neutrino physics from a lunar base, muons on the moon, a search for relic supernovae antineutrinos, and the use of clocks in satellites orbiting the moon to test general relativity. Also addressed are large X-ray-detector arrays for physics experiments on the moon, and the measurement of proton decay, arcsec-source locations, halo dark matter and elemental abundances above 10 exp 15 eV at a lunar base.

View of the Saturn V third stage from which the Apollo 8 has separated

NASA Image and Video Library

1968-12-21

AS08-16-2584 (21 Dec. 1968) --- This is a photograph taken from the Apollo 8 spacecraft looking back at the Saturn V third (S-IVB) stage from which the spacecraft had just separated following trans-lunar injection. Attached to the S-IVB is the Lunar Module Test Article (LTA) which simulated the mass of a Lunar Module (LM) on the Apollo 8 lunar orbit mission. The 29-feet panels of the Spacecraft LM Adapter which enclosed the LTA during launch have already been jettisoned and are out of view. Sunlight reflected from small particles shows the "firefly" phenomenon which was reported by astronaut John H. Glenn Jr. during the first Earth-orbital flight, Mercury-Atlas 6 (MA-6) of the Mercury Program.

View of the Saturn V third stage from which the Apollo 8 has separated

NASA Image and Video Library

1968-12-21

AS08-16-2582 (21 Dec. 1968) --- This is a photograph taken from the Apollo 8 spacecraft looking back at the Saturn V third (S-IVB) stage from which the spacecraft had just separated following trans-lunar injection. (Hold picture with S-IVB at top center). Attached to the S-IVB is the Lunar Module Test Article (LTA) which simulated the mass of a Lunar Module (LM) on the Apollo 8 lunar orbit mission. The 29-feet panels of the Spacecraft LM Adapter which enclosed the LTA during launch have already been jettisoned and are out of view. Sunlight reflected from small particles shows the "firefly" phenomenon which was reported by astronaut John H. Glenn Jr. during the first Earth-orbital flight (Mercury-Atlas 6) of the Mercury Program.

View of the Saturn V third stage from which the Apollo 8 has separated

NASA Image and Video Library

1968-12-21

AS08-16-2583 (21 Dec. 1968) --- This is a photograph taken from the Apollo 8 spacecraft looking back at the Saturn V third (S-IVB) stage from which the spacecraft had just separated following trans-lunar injection. Attached to the S-IVB is the Lunar Module Test Article (LTA) which simulated the mass of a Lunar Module (LM) on the Apollo 8 lunar orbit mission. The 29-feet panels of the Spacecraft LM Adapter which enclosed the LTA during launch have already been jettisoned and are out of view. Sunlight reflected from small particles shows the "firefly" phenomenon which was reported by astronaut John H. Glenn Jr. during the first Earth-orbital flight, Mercury-Atlas 6 (MA-6) of the Mercury Program.

Size Dependence of Dust Distribution around the Earth Orbit

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ueda, Takahiro; Kobayashi, Hiroshi; Takeuchi, Taku; Ishihara, Daisuke; Kondo, Toru; Kaneda, Hidehiro

2017-05-01

In the solar system, interplanetary dust particles (IDPs) originating mainly from asteroid collisions and cometary activities drift to Earth orbit due to Poynting-Robertson drag. We analyzed the thermal emission from IDPs that was observed by the first Japanese infrared astronomical satellite, AKARI. The observed surface brightness in the trailing direction of the Earth orbit is 3.7% greater than that in the leading direction in the 9 μm band and 3.0% in the 18 μm band. In order to reveal dust properties causing leading-trailing surface brightness asymmetry, we numerically integrated orbits of the Sun, the Earth, and a dust particle as a restricted three-body problem including radiation from the Sun. The initial orbits of particles are determined according to the orbits of main-belt asteroids or Jupiter-family comets. Orbital trapping in mean motion resonances results in a significant leading-trailing asymmetry so that intermediate sized dust (˜10-100 μm) produces a greater asymmetry than zodiacal light. The leading-trailing surface brightness difference integrated over the size distribution of the asteroidal dust is obtained to be 27.7% and 25.3% in the 9 μm and 18 μm bands, respectively. In contrast, the brightness difference for cometary dust is calculated as 3.6% and 3.1% in the 9 μm and 18 μm bands, respectively, if the maximum dust radius is set to be s max = 3000 μm. Taking into account these values and their errors, we conclude that the contribution of asteroidal dust to the zodiacal infrared emission is less than ˜10%, while cometary dust of the order of 1 mm mainly accounts for the zodiacal light in infrared.

Size Dependence of Dust Distribution around the Earth Orbit

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ueda, Takahiro; Takeuchi, Taku; Kobayashi, Hiroshi

In the solar system, interplanetary dust particles (IDPs) originating mainly from asteroid collisions and cometary activities drift to Earth orbit due to Poynting–Robertson drag. We analyzed the thermal emission from IDPs that was observed by the first Japanese infrared astronomical satellite, AKARI . The observed surface brightness in the trailing direction of the Earth orbit is 3.7% greater than that in the leading direction in the 9 μ m band and 3.0% in the 18 μ m band. In order to reveal dust properties causing leading–trailing surface brightness asymmetry, we numerically integrated orbits of the Sun, the Earth, and amore » dust particle as a restricted three-body problem including radiation from the Sun. The initial orbits of particles are determined according to the orbits of main-belt asteroids or Jupiter-family comets. Orbital trapping in mean motion resonances results in a significant leading–trailing asymmetry so that intermediate sized dust (∼10–100 μ m) produces a greater asymmetry than zodiacal light. The leading–trailing surface brightness difference integrated over the size distribution of the asteroidal dust is obtained to be 27.7% and 25.3% in the 9 μ m and 18 μ m bands, respectively. In contrast, the brightness difference for cometary dust is calculated as 3.6% and 3.1% in the 9 μ m and 18 μ m bands, respectively, if the maximum dust radius is set to be s {sub max} = 3000 μ m. Taking into account these values and their errors, we conclude that the contribution of asteroidal dust to the zodiacal infrared emission is less than ∼10%, while cometary dust of the order of 1 mm mainly accounts for the zodiacal light in infrared.« less

Static Orbits in Rotating Spacetimes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Collodel, Lucas G.; Kleihaus, Burkhard; Kunz, Jutta

2018-05-01

We show that under certain conditions an axisymmetric rotating spacetime contains a ring of points in the equatorial plane, where a particle at rest with respect to an asymptotic static observer remains at rest in a static orbit. We illustrate the emergence of such orbits for boson stars. Further examples are wormholes, hairy black holes, and Kerr-Newman solutions.

Omni-directional Particle Detector (ODPD) on Tiangong-2 Spacecraft

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guohong, S.; Zhang, S.; Yang, X.; Wang, C.

2017-12-01

Tiangong-2 spacecraft is the second space laboratory independently developed by china after Tiangong-1, which was launched on 15 September 2016. It is also the first real space laboratory in china, which will be used to further validate the space rendezvous and docking technology and to carry out a series of space tests. The spacecraft's orbit is 350km height and 42° inclination. The omni-directional particle detector (ODPD) on Tiangong-2 spacecraft is a new instrument developed by China. Its goal is the anisotropy and energy spectra of space particles on manned space flight orbit. The ODPD measures the energy spectra and pitch angle distributions of high energy electrons and protons. It consists of one electron spectrum telescope, one proton spectrum telescope and sixteen directional flux telescopes. The ODPD is designed to measure the protons spectrum from 2.5MeV to 150MeV, electrons spectrum from 0.2MeV to 1.5MeV, the flux of electrons energy >200keV and protons energy>1.5MeV on 2∏ space, also the ODPD has a small sensor to measure the LET spectrum from 1-100MeV/cm2sr. The primary advantage can give the particle's pitch angle distributions at any time because of the sixteen flux telescopes arrange form 0 to 180 degree. This is the first paper dealing with ODPD data, so we firstly spend some time describing the instrument, its theory of operation and its calibration. Then we give the preliminary detecting results.

Dynamical lifetimes of asteroids in retrograde orbits

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kankiewicz, Paweł; Włodarczyk, Ireneusz

2017-07-01

The population of known minor bodies in retrograde orbits (I > 90°) that are classified as asteroids is still growing. The aim of our study was to estimate the dynamical lifetimes of these bodies using the latest observational data, including astrometry and physical properties. We selected 25 asteroids with the best-determined orbital elements. We studied their dynamical evolution in the past and future for ±100 Myr (±1 Gyr for three particular cases). We first used orbit determination and cloning to produce swarms of test particles. These swarms were then input into long-term numerical integrations, and the orbital elements were averaged. Next, we collected the available thermal properties of our objects and we used them in an enhanced dynamical model with Yarkovsky forces. We also used a gravitational model for comparison. Finally, we estimated the median lifetimes of 25 asteroids. We found three objects whose retrograde orbits were stable with a dynamical lifetime τ ˜ 10-100 Myr. A large portion of the objects studied displayed smaller values of τ (τ ˜ 1 Myr). In addition, we studied the possible influence of the Yarkovsky effect on our results. We found that the Yarkovsky effect can have a significant influence on the lifetimes of asteroids in retrograde orbits. Because of the presence of this effect, it is possible that the median lifetimes of these objects are extended. Additionally, the changes in orbital elements, caused by Yarkovsky forces, appear to depend on the integration direction. To explain this more precisely, the same model based on new physical parameters, determined from future observations, will be required.

Flocking from a quantum analogy: spin-orbit coupling in an active fluid

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Loewe, Benjamin; Souslov, Anton; Goldbart, Paul M.

2018-01-01

Systems composed of strongly interacting self-propelled particles can form a spontaneously flowing polar active fluid. The study of the connection between the microscopic dynamics of a single such particle and the macroscopic dynamics of the fluid can yield insights into experimentally realizable active flows, but this connection is well understood in only a few select cases. We introduce a model of self-propelled particles based on an analogy with the motion of electrons that have strong spin-orbit coupling. We find that, within our model, self-propelled particles are subject to an analog of the Heisenberg uncertainty principle that relates translational and rotational noise. Furthermore, by coarse-graining this microscopic model, we establish expressions for the coefficients of the Toner-Tu equations—the hydrodynamic equations that describe an active fluid composed of these ‘active spins.’ The connection between stochastic self-propelled particles and quantum particles with spin may help realize exotic phases of matter using active fluids via analogies with systems composed of strongly correlated electrons.

Dynamics of Space Particles and Spacecrafts Passing by the Atmosphere of the Earth

PubMed Central

Prado, Antonio Fernando Bertachini de Almeida; Golebiewska, Justyna

2013-01-01

The present research studies the motion of a particle or a spacecraft that comes from an orbit around the Sun, which can be elliptic or hyperbolic, and that makes a passage close enough to the Earth such that it crosses its atmosphere. The idea is to measure the Sun-particle two-body energy before and after this passage in order to verify its variation as a function of the periapsis distance, angle of approach, and velocity at the periapsis of the particle. The full system is formed by the Sun, the Earth, and the particle or the spacecraft. The Sun and the Earth are in circular orbits around their center of mass and the motion is planar for all the bodies involved. The equations of motion consider the restricted circular planar three-body problem with the addition of the atmospheric drag. The initial conditions of the particle or spacecraft (position and velocity) are given at the periapsis of its trajectory around the Earth. PMID:24396298

Dynamics of space particles and spacecrafts passing by the atmosphere of the Earth.

PubMed

Gomes, Vivian Martins; Prado, Antonio Fernando Bertachini de Almeida; Golebiewska, Justyna

2013-01-01

The present research studies the motion of a particle or a spacecraft that comes from an orbit around the Sun, which can be elliptic or hyperbolic, and that makes a passage close enough to the Earth such that it crosses its atmosphere. The idea is to measure the Sun-particle two-body energy before and after this passage in order to verify its variation as a function of the periapsis distance, angle of approach, and velocity at the periapsis of the particle. The full system is formed by the Sun, the Earth, and the particle or the spacecraft. The Sun and the Earth are in circular orbits around their center of mass and the motion is planar for all the bodies involved. The equations of motion consider the restricted circular planar three-body problem with the addition of the atmospheric drag. The initial conditions of the particle or spacecraft (position and velocity) are given at the periapsis of its trajectory around the Earth.

Asteroidal versus cometary meteoroid impacts on the Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zook, Herbert A.

1993-01-01

Meteoroids that enter the Earth's atmosphere at low velocities will tend to impact the apex side (that surface facing the spacecraft direction of motion) of a spacecraft at a very high rate compared to the rate with which they will impact an antapex-facing surface. This ratio--apex to antapex impact rates--will become less as meteoroid entry velocities increase. The measured ration, apex to antapex, for 500 micron diameter impact craters in 6061-T6 aluminum on LDEF seems to be about 20 from the work of the meteoroid SIG group and others, that was presented at the first LDEF symposium. Such a ratio is more consistent with the meteoroid velocity distributions derived by Erickson and by Kessler, than it is with others that have been tested. These meteoroid velocity distributions have mean entry velocities into the Earth's atmosphere of 16.5 to 16.9 km/s. Others have numerically simulated the orbital evolution of small dust grains emitted from asteroids and comets. For those asteroidal grains small enough (below about 100 microns diameter) to drift from the asteroid belt to the orbit of the Earth, under P-R and solar wind drag, without suffering collisional destruction, the following results are found: as the ascending or descending nodes cross the Earth's orbit, their orbital eccentricities and inclinations are quite low (e less than 0.3, i less than 20 deg), and their mean velocity with respect to the Earth is about 5 or 6 km/s. When gravitational acceleration of the Earth is taken into account, the corresponding mean velocities relative to the top of the Earth's atmosphere are 12 to 13 km/s. This means that, at best, these small asteroidal particles cannot comprise more than 50 percent of the particles entering the Earth's atmosphere. When gravitational focusing is considered, they cannot comprise more than a few percent of those in heliocentric orbit at 1 AU. The rest are presumably of cometary origin.

Re-Analysis of Data on the Space Radiation Environment above South-East Asia

DTIC Science & Technology

1989-11-01

the cosmic ray flux with geomagnetic latitude, and also show expected increases due to the South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA) and outer belt electrons. How...TECHNIQUES USED 8 3.1 Orbital analysis 8 3.2 Analysis of cosmic ray effects 9 3.3 Analysis of trapped particle effects 11 3.4 Geomagnetic and...magnetospheric activity 12 4 UNCERTAINTIES AND SOURCES OF ERROR 13 4.1 Orbital analysis 13 4.2 Analysis of cosmic ray effects 13 4.3 Analysis of trapped particle

Origins and demonstrations of electrons with orbital angular momentum

PubMed Central

Agrawal, Amit; Ercius, Peter A.; Grillo, Vincenzo; Herzing, Andrew A.; Harvey, Tyler R.; Linck, Martin; Pierce, Jordan S.

2017-01-01

The surprising message of Allen et al. (Allen et al. 1992 Phys. Rev. A 45, 8185 (doi:10.1103/PhysRevA.45.8185)) was that photons could possess orbital angular momentum in free space, which subsequently launched advancements in optical manipulation, microscopy, quantum optics, communications, many more fields. It has recently been shown that this result also applies to quantum mechanical wave functions describing massive particles (matter waves). This article discusses how electron wave functions can be imprinted with quantized phase vortices in analogous ways to twisted light, demonstrating that charged particles with non-zero rest mass can possess orbital angular momentum in free space. With Allen et al. as a bridge, connections are made between this recent work in electron vortex wave functions and much earlier works, extending a 175 year old tradition in matter wave vortices. This article is part of the themed issue ‘Optical orbital angular momentum’. PMID:28069765

Isometry group orbit quantization of spinning strings in AdS3 × S3

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Heinze, Martin; Jorjadze, George; Megrelidze, Luka

2015-03-01

Describing the bosonic AdS3 × S3 particle and string in SU(1,1) × SU(2) group variables, we provide a Hamiltonian treatment of the isometry group orbits of solutions via analysis of the pre-symplectic form. For the particle we obtain a one-parameter family of orbits parameterized by creation-annihilation variables, which leads to the Holstein-Primakoff realization of the isometry group generators. The scheme is then applied to spinning string solutions characterized by one winding number in AdS3 and two winding numbers in S3. We find a two-parameter family of orbits, where quantization again provides the Holstein-Primakoff realization of the symmetry generators with an oscillator-type energy spectrum. Analyzing the minimal energy at strong coupling, we verify the spectrum of short strings at special values of winding numbers.

Gravitational self-force correction to the innermost stable circular equatorial orbit of a Kerr black hole.

PubMed

Isoyama, Soichiro; Barack, Leor; Dolan, Sam R; Le Tiec, Alexandre; Nakano, Hiroyuki; Shah, Abhay G; Tanaka, Takahiro; Warburton, Niels

2014-10-17

For a self-gravitating particle of mass μ in orbit around a Kerr black hole of mass M ≫ μ, we compute the O(μ/M) shift in the frequency of the innermost stable circular equatorial orbit due to the conservative piece of the gravitational self-force acting on the particle. Our treatment is based on a Hamiltonian formulation of the dynamics in terms of geodesic motion in a certain locally defined effective smooth spacetime. We recover the same result using the so-called first law of binary black-hole mechanics. We give numerical results for the innermost stable circular equatorial orbit frequency shift as a function of the black hole's spin amplitude, and compare with predictions based on the post-Newtonian approximation and the effective one-body model. Our results provide an accurate strong-field benchmark for spin effects in the general-relativistic two-body problem.

Materials SIG quantification and characterization of surface contaminants

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Crutcher, E. Russ

1992-01-01

When LDEF entered orbit its cleanliness was approximately a MIL-STD-1246B Level 2000C. Its burden of contaminants included particles from every part of its history including a relatively small contribution from the shuttle bay itself. Although this satellite was far from what is normally considered clean in the aerospace industry, contaminating events in orbit and from processing after recovery were easily detected. The molecular contaminants carried into orbit were dwarfed by the heavy deposition of UV polymerized films from outgassing urethane paints and silicone based materials. Impacts by relatively small objects in orbit could create particulate contaminants that easily dominated the particle counts within a centimeter of the impact site. During the recovery activities LDEF was 'sprayed' with a liquid high in organics and water soluble salts. With reentry turbulence, vibration, and gravitational loading particulate contaminants were redistributed about LDEF and the shuttle bay.

Derivation of the Torque Associated to Tesseral Resonances

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

El Moutamid, Maryame

2018-04-01

A so-called m+1:m Tesseral Resonance is simply equivalent to an inner m+1:m Lindblad Resonance or an outer Lindblad Resonance, where m is an integer. They are generated between a gravity anomaly that rotates with the primary and a test particle evolving around this primary, instead of being caused by a secondary, meaning that in this case the particle and the secondary do not share the same orbit. We show in this work that the torque is stronger for small values of |m|; as |m| tends to infinity, the torque tends to zero and that the Lagrange points are displaced away from the usual triangular configuration. These simple results have interesting implications on Saturn, Chariklo and Mars.

Constraints on Mass, Spin and Magnetic Field of Microquasar H 1743-322 from Observations of QPOs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tursunov, A. A.; Kološ, M.

2018-03-01

The study of quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs) of X-ray flux observed in many microquasars can provide a powerful tool for testing of the phenomena occurring in strong gravity regime. QPOs phenomena can be well related to the oscillations of charged particles in accretion disks orbiting Kerr black holes immersed in external large-scalemagnetic fields. In the present paper we study the model ofmagnetic relativistic precession and provide estimations of the mass and spin of the central object of the microquasar H 1743-322 which is a candidate for a black hole. Moreover, we discuss the possible values of external magnetic field and study its influence on the motion of charged particles around rotating black hole.

Relative Stabilities and Reactivities of Isolated Versus Conjugated Alkenes: Reconciliation Via a Molecular Orbital Approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sotiriou-Leventis, Chariklia; Hanna, Samir B.; Leventis, Nicholas

1996-04-01

The well-accepted practice of generating a pair of molecular orbitals, one of lower energy and another of higher energy than the original pair of overlapping atomic orbitals, and the concept of a particle in a one-dimensional box are implemented in a simplified, nonmathematical method that explains the relative stabilities and reactivities of alkenes with conjugated versus isolated double bonds. In this method, Huckel-type MO's of higher polyenes are constructed by energy rules of linear combination of atomic orbitals. One additional rule is obeyed: bonding molecular orbitals overlap only with bonding molecular orbitals, and antibonding molecular orbitals overlap only with antibonding molecular orbitals.

Interaction of Jovian energetic particles with moons and gas tori based on recent Juno/JEDI data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kollmann, P.; Mauk, B.; Clark, G. B.; Paranicas, C.; Haggerty, D. K.; Rymer, A. M.; Bolton, S. J.; Connerney, J. E. P.; Levin, S.

2016-12-01

Juno is the first spacecraft in a polar orbit around Jupiter. It entered orbit in July 2016, will deliver the first science data from near Jupiter at the end of August, and pass very close to Jupiter 4 more times by December. We will use data from the three JEDI instruments onboard that measure ions and electrons in the tens of keV to MeV range while discriminating among ion species. Recording of the full energy and time-of-flight information of a subset of the detected particles will allow distinguishing foreground from contaminating background in many cases. Since Juno will be mostly at high latitudes, the JEDI measurements will differ from the measurements of previous missions that were mostly in the equatorial plane. The increasingly strong radiation environment inwards of Europa's orbit caused contamination and/or dead time effects in many of the previously flown particle instruments, which made it difficult to study this region with the existing data. We expect that Juno's unique orbit and the JEDI design will largely avoid these problems. During one hour of closest approach, Juno will be on magnetic field lines that map within the orbits of the Galilean moons. We will study the data in this region and analyze the intensity dropouts that are caused by the interaction between the particles that bounce along field lines and drift around the planet with the moons and associated gas and plasma tori. Also, we will analyze the rate of intensity change towards Jupiter that is determined by radial transport, potential local source processes, and the range of pitch angles that can reach the changing latitudes.

Tracking Debris Shed by a Space-Shuttle Launch Vehicle

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stuart, Phillip C.; Rogers, Stuart E.

2009-01-01

The DEBRIS software predicts the trajectories of debris particles shed by a space-shuttle launch vehicle during ascent, to aid in assessing potential harm to the space-shuttle orbiter and crew. The user specifies the location of release and other initial conditions for a debris particle. DEBRIS tracks the particle within an overset grid system by means of a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation of the local flow field and a ballistic simulation that takes account of the mass of the particle and its aerodynamic properties in the flow field. The computed particle trajectory is stored in a file to be post-processed by other software for viewing and analyzing the trajectory. DEBRIS supplants a prior debris tracking code that took .15 minutes to calculate a single particle trajectory: DEBRIS can calculate 1,000 trajectories in .20 seconds on a desktop computer. Other improvements over the prior code include adaptive time-stepping to ensure accuracy, forcing at least one step per grid cell to ensure resolution of all CFD-resolved flow features, ability to simulate rebound of debris from surfaces, extensive error checking, a builtin suite of test cases, and dynamic allocation of memory.

Mab's orbital motion explained

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kumar, K.; de Pater, I.; Showalter, M. R.

2015-07-01

We explored the hypothesis that Mab's anomalous orbital motion, as deduced from Hubble Space Telescope (HST) data (Showalter, M.R., Lissauer, J.J. [2006]. Science (New York, NY) 311, 973-977), is the result of gravitational interactions with a putative suite of large bodies in the μ-ring. We conducted simulations to compute the gravitational effect of Mab (a recently discovered Uranian moon) on a cloud of test particles. Subsequently, by employing the data extracted from the test particle simulations, we executed random walk simulations to compute the back-reaction of nearby perturbers on Mab. By generating simulated observation metrics, we compared our results to the data retrieved from the HST. Our results indicate that the longitude residual change noted in the HST data (Δλr,Mab ≈ 1 deg) is well matched by our simulations. The eccentricity variations (ΔeMab ≈10-3) are however typically two orders of magnitude too small. We present a variety of reasons that could account for this discrepancy. The nominal scenario that we investigated assumes a perturber ring mass (mring) of 1 mMab (Mab's mass) and a perturber ring number density (ρn,ring) of 10 perturbers per 3 RHill,Mab (Mab's Hill radius). This effectively translates to a few tens of perturbers with radii of approximately 2-3 km, depending on the albedo assumed. The results obtained also include an interesting litmus test: variations of Mab's inclination on the order of the eccentricity changes should be observable. Our work provides clues for further investigation into the tantalizing prospect that the Mab/μ-ring system is undergoing re-accretion after a recent catastrophic disruption.

Angular momentum exchange in white dwarf binaries accreting through direct impact

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sepinsky, J. F.; Kalogera, V., E-mail: jeremy.sepinsky@scranton.edu, E-mail: vicky@northwestern.edu

We examine the exchange of angular momentum between the component spins and the orbit in semi-detached double white dwarf binaries undergoing mass transfer through direct impact of the transfer stream. We approximate the stream as a series of discrete massive particles ejected in the ballistic limit at the inner Lagrangian point of the donor toward the accretor. This work improves upon similar earlier studies in a number of ways. First, we self-consistently calculate the total angular momentum of the orbit at all times. This includes changes in the orbital angular momentum during the ballistic trajectory of the ejected mass, asmore » well as changes during the ejection/accretion due to the radial component of the particle's velocity. Second, we calculate the particle's ballistic trajectory for each system, which allows us to determine the precise position and velocity of the particle upon accretion. We can then include specific information about the radius of the accretor as well as the angle of impact. Finally, we ensure that the total angular momentum is conserved, which requires the donor star spin to vary self-consistently. With these improvements, we calculate the angular momentum change of the orbit and each binary component across the entire parameter space of direct impact double white dwarf binary systems. We find a significant decrease in the amount of angular momentum removed from the orbit during mass transfer, as well as cases where this process increases the angular momentum of the orbit at the expense of the spin angular momentum of the donor. We conclude that, unlike earlier claims in the literature, mass transfer through direct impact need not destabilize the binary and that the quantity and sign of the orbital angular momentum transfer depends on the binary properties, particularly the masses of the double white dwarf binary component stars. This stabilization may significantly impact the population synthesis calculations of the expected numbers of events/systems for which double white dwarfs may be a progenitor, e.g., Type Ia supernovae, Type.Ia supernovae, and AM CVn.« less

Modeling the effects of an offset of the center of symmetry in the zodiacal cloud

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Holmes, E. K.; Dermott, S. F.; Xu, Y. L.; Wyatt, M.; Jayaraman, S.

1998-04-01

There is a possible connection between structure in circumstellar dust clouds and the presence of planets, our own zodiacal cloud being the prime example. Asymmetries in such clouds could be diagnostic of planets which would be otherwise undetectable. One such feature is an offset of the center of symmetry of the disk with respect to the central star. The offset is caused by the forced eccentricities (ef) of particles in the cloud. The orbit of a particle can be described by a set of five orbital elements: the semi-major axis (a), eccentricity (e), inclination (I), longitude of ascending node (Omega) and the argument of pericenter (omega). In low order secular perturbation theory, osculating elements of small bodies are decomposed into proper and forced elements. The proper elements are dependent on initial conditions while the forced elements are imposed on the particle's orbit by the gravitational perturbations of the planets. This decomposition is still applicable in the presence of drag forces. We compare COBE observations of the variation in average polar brightness of the background cloud, (N + S)/2, with ecliptic longitude of Earth with those of a model cloud made of asteroidal particles which populate the inner solar system according to a 1/rgamma where (gamma) = 1 (Poynting Robertson light drag) distribution. The variation with ecliptic longitude of Earth in mean polar brightness is shown in for the 25 micron waveband. Sine curves are fit to both the COBE observations and the model. The variation in (N+S)/2 with ecliptic longitude of Earth can be represented as a superposition of two sine curves: one for the variation in (N + S)/2 due to the Earth's eccentric orbit and the other for the variation in (N + S)/2 due to the forced eccentricities of particles in the cloud. If the cloud were symmetric about the Sun (i.e., if there were no offset), the maximum and minimum brightnesses of the cloud would occur at perihelion and aphelion, respectively. Looking at the model, one can see that the minimum does occur at Earth's aphelion (282.9 deg). However, the minimum of the COBE curve is clearly displaced from aphelion, showing that the center of symmetry of the cloud is displaced from the Sun. If we could turn off the effect of the Earth's eccentricity, we could isolate the sine curve due to ef. When we do this for the model cloud however, we do not see a variation in (N + S)/2 for two reasons: 1) Although the particle orbits are circularized due to Poynting Robertson drag (PR drag), the wedge shape of the cloud cancels out any number density variation as a function of radial distance; and 2) Even though we would expect the orbits of the particles to be more densely spaced at perihelion than at aphelion (provided all the particles had the same ef and omegaf, due to Kepler's Second Law the particles spend less time at perihelion than at aphelion thus canceling out any noticeable effect on the number density. However, when we build a new model cloud governed by a constant distribution of particles (1/rgamma where gamma = 0) instead of a 1/r distribution, we do see a sinusoidal variation in (N + S)/2 with ecliptic longitude of Earth. These results imply that the particles contributing to the observed offset do not have a PR drag distribution (i.e., they are not simply asteroidal particles). Future work will determine whether cometary particles (having a theoretical gamma = 1.5), collisionally evolved asteroidal particles, or a combination of both types of particles are responsible for the offset of the center of symmetry of the zodiacal cloud.

System related testing and analysis of FRECOPA

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Durin, Christian

1992-01-01

Results from the French Cooperative Payload (FRECOPA) system analysis are presented. It was one of the numerous experiments which were flown on the Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF) satellite. In our flight configuration (LEO orbit, trailing edge), the environment was a better vacuum than the leading edge, with many thermal cycles (32000) and a large amount of UV radiation (11100 equivalent sun hours). Also, the satellite was mainly bombarded by micro-particles. It saw a low atomic flux and minor doses of protons and electrons.

Risks of nuclear waste disposal in space. III - Long-term orbital evolution of small particle distribution

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Friedlander, A. L.; Wells, W. C.

1980-01-01

A study of long term risks is presented that treats an additional pathway that could result in earth reentry, namely, small radioactive particles released in solar orbit due to payload fragmentation by accidental explosion or meteoroid impact. A characterization of such an event and of the initial mass size distribution of particles is given for two extremes of waste form strength. Attention is given to numerical results showing the mass-time distribution of material and the fraction of initial mass intercepted by earth. It is concluded that it appears that program planners need not be to concerned about the risks of this particular failure mechanism and return pathway.

Reflected Charged Particle Populations around Dipolar Lunar Magnetic Anomalies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Deca, Jan; Divin, Andrey

2016-10-01

In this work we analyze and compare the reflected particle populations for both a horizontal and a vertical dipole model embedded in the lunar surface, representing the solar wind interaction with two different lunar magnetic anomaly (LMA) structures. Using the 3D full-kinetic electromagnetic code iPic3D, in combination with a test-particle approach to generate particle trajectories, we focus on the ion and electron dynamics. Whereas the vertical model electrostatically reflects ions upward under both near-parallel and near-perpendicular angles with respect to the lunar surface, the horizontal model only has a significant shallow component. Characterizing the electron dynamics, we find that the interplay of the mini-magnetosphere electric and magnetic fields is capable of temporarily trapping low-energy electrons and possibly ejecting them upstream. Our results are in agreement with recent high-resolution observations. Low- to medium-altitude ion and electron observations might be excellent indicators to complement orbital magnetic field measurements and better uncover the underlying magnetic field structure. The latter is of particular importance in defining the correlation between LMAs and lunar swirls, and further testing the solar wind shielding hypothesis for albedo markings due to space weathering. Observing more reflected ions does not necessarily point to the existence of a mini-magnetosphere.

REFLECTED CHARGED PARTICLE POPULATIONS AROUND DIPOLAR LUNAR MAGNETIC ANOMALIES

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Deca, Jan; Divin, Andrey

2016-10-01

In this work we analyze and compare the reflected particle populations for both a horizontal and a vertical dipole model embedded in the lunar surface, representing the solar wind interaction with two different lunar magnetic anomaly (LMA) structures. Using the 3D full-kinetic electromagnetic code iPic3D, in combination with a test-particle approach to generate particle trajectories, we focus on the ion and electron dynamics. Whereas the vertical model electrostatically reflects ions upward under both near-parallel and near-perpendicular angles with respect to the lunar surface, the horizontal model only has a significant shallow component. Characterizing the electron dynamics, we find that themore » interplay of the mini-magnetosphere electric and magnetic fields is capable of temporarily trapping low-energy electrons and possibly ejecting them upstream. Our results are in agreement with recent high-resolution observations. Low- to medium-altitude ion and electron observations might be excellent indicators to complement orbital magnetic field measurements and better uncover the underlying magnetic field structure. The latter is of particular importance in defining the correlation between LMAs and lunar swirls, and further testing the solar wind shielding hypothesis for albedo markings due to space weathering. Observing more reflected ions does not necessarily point to the existence of a mini-magnetosphere.« less

Zero-gravity aerosol behavior

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Edwards, H. W.

1981-01-01

The feasibility and scientific benefits of a zero gravity aerosol study in an orbiting laboratory were examined. A macroscopic model was devised to deal with the simultaneous effects of diffusion and coagulation of particles in the confined aerosol. An analytical solution was found by treating the particle coagulation and diffusion constants as ensemble parameters and employing a transformation of variables. The solution was used to carry out simulated zero gravity aerosol decay experiments in a compact cylindrical chamber. The results demonstrate that the limitations of physical space and time imposed by the orbital situation are not prohibitive in terms of observing the history of an aerosol confined under zero gravity conditions. While the absence of convective effects would be a definite benefit for the experiment, the mathematical complexity of the problem is not greatly reduced when the gravitational term drops out of the equation. Since the model does not deal directly with the evolution of the particle size distribution, it may be desirable to develop more detailed models before undertaking an orbital experiment.

Chaos of energetic positron orbits in a dipole magnetic field and its potential application to a new injection scheme

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Saitoh, H.; Yoshida, Z.; Yano, Y.; Nishiura, M.; Kawazura, Y.; Horn-Stanja, J.; Pedersen, T. Sunn

2016-10-01

We study the behavior of high-energy positrons emitted from a radioactive source in a magnetospheric dipole field configuration. Because the conservation of the first and second adiabatic invariants is easily destroyed in a strongly inhomogeneous dipole field for high-energy charged particles, the positron orbits are nonintegrable, resulting in chaotic motions. In the geometry of a typical magnetospheric levitated dipole experiment, it is shown that a considerable ratio of positrons from a 22Na source, located at the edge of the confinement region, has chaotic long orbit lengths before annihilation. These particles make multiple toroidal circulations and form a hollow toroidal positron cloud. Experiments with a small 22Na source in the Ring Trap 1 (RT-1) device demonstrated the existence of such long-lived positrons in a dipole field. Such a chaotic behavior of high-energy particles is potentially applicable to the formation of a dense toroidal positron cloud in the strong-field region of the dipole field in future studies.

Heavy ion observations by MARIE in cruise phase and Mars orbit

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lee, K. T.; Cleghorn, T.; Cucinotta, F.; Pinsky, L.; Zeitlin, C.

2004-01-01

The charged particle spectrum for nuclei from protons to neon, (charge Z=10) was observed during the cruise phase and orbit around Mars by the MARIE charged particle spectrometer on the Odyssey spacecraft. The cruise data were taken between April 23, 2001 and mid-August 2001. The Mars orbit data were taken March 5, 2002 through May 2002 and are scheduled to continue until August 2004. Charge peaks are clearly separated for charges up to Z=10. Especially prominent are the carbon and oxygen peaks, with boron and nitrogen also clearly visible. Although heavy ions are much less abundant than protons in the cosmic ray environment, it is important to determine their abundances because their ionization energy losses (proportional to Z2) are far more dangerous to humans and to instruments. Thus the higher charged nuclei make a significant contribution to dose and dose equivalent received in space. Results of the charged particle spectrum measurements will be reported. c2003 COSPAR. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Tidal torques on infrequently colliding particle disks in binary systems and the truncation of the asteroid belt

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Franklin, F. A.; Lecar, M.; Lin, D. N. C.; Papaloizou, J.

1980-01-01

Conditions leading to the truncation, at the 2:1 resonance, of a disk of infrequently colliding particles surrounding the primary of a binary system are studied numerically and analytically. Attention is given to the case in which the mass ratio, q, is sufficiently small (less than about 0.1) and the radius of the disk centered on the primary allowably larger, so that first-order orbit-orbit resonances between ring material and the secondary can lie within it. Collisions are found to be less frequent than q to the -2/3 power orbital periods (the period of the forced eccentricity at the 2:1 resonance), and truncation occurs and Kirkwood gaps are produced only if the particle eccentricity is less than some critical value, estimated to be of order q to the 5/9 power, or approximately 0.02 for the sun-Jupiter case having q equal to 10 to the -3rd power.

The distribution of ion orbit loss fluxes of ions and energy from the plasma edge across the last closed flux surface into the scrape-off layer

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Stacey, Weston M.; Schumann, Matthew T.

A more detailed calculation strategy for the evaluation of ion orbit loss of thermalized plasma ions in the edge of tokamaks is presented. In both this and previous papers, the direct loss of particles from internal flux surfaces is calculated from the conservation of canonical angular momentum, energy, and magnetic moment. The previous result that almost all of the ion energy and particle fluxes crossing the last closed flux surface are in the form of ion orbit fluxes is confirmed, and the new result that the distributions of these fluxes crossing the last closed flux surface into the scrape-off layermore » are very strongly peaked about the outboard midplane is demonstrated. Previous results of a preferential loss of counter current particles leading to a co-current intrinsic rotation peaking just inside of the last closed flux surface are confirmed. Various physical details are discussed.« less

Efficient topological chaos embedded in the blinking vortex system.

PubMed

Kin, Eiko; Sakajo, Takashi

2005-06-01

We consider the particle mixing in the plane by two vortex points appearing one after the other, called the blinking vortex system. Mathematical and numerical studies of the system reveal that the chaotic particle mixing, i.e., the chaotic advection, is observed due to the homoclinic chaos, but the mixing region is restricted locally in the neighborhood of the vortex points. The present article shows that it is possible to realize a global and efficient chaotic advection in the blinking vortex system with the help of the Thurston-Nielsen theory, which classifies periodic orbits for homeomorphisms in the plane into three types: periodic, reducible, and pseudo-Anosov (pA). It is mathematically shown that periodic orbits of pA type generate a complicated dynamics, which is called topological chaos. We show that the combination of the local chaotic mixing due to the topological chaos and the dipole-like return orbits realize an efficient and global particle mixing in the blinking vortex system.

In Situ Measurement Activities at the NASA Orbital Debris Program Office

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Liou, J.-C.; Burchell, M.; Corsaro, R.; Drolshagen, G.; Giovane, F.; Pisacane, V.; Stansbery, E.

2009-01-01

The NASA Orbital Debris Program Office has been involved in the development of several particle impact instruments since 2003. The main objective of this development is to eventually conduct in situ measurements to better characterize the small (millimeter or smaller) orbital debris and micrometeoroid populations in the near-Earth environment. In addition, the Office also supports similar instrument development to define the micrometeoroid and lunar secondary ejecta environment for future lunar exploration activities. The instruments include impact acoustic sensors, resistive grid sensors, fiber optic displacement sensors, and impact ionization sensors. They rely on different mechanisms and detection principles to identify particle impacts. A system consisting of these different sensors will provide data that are complimentary to each other, and will provide a better description of the physical and dynamical properties (e.g., size, mass, and impact speed) of the particles in the environment. Details of several systems being considered by the Office and their intended mission objectives are summarized in this paper.

DYNAMICAL INSTABILITIES IN HIGH-OBLIQUITY SYSTEMS

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Tamayo, D.; Nicholson, P. D.; Burns, J. A.

2013-03-01

High-inclination circumplanetary orbits that are gravitationally perturbed by the central star can undergo Kozai oscillations-large-amplitude, coupled variations in the orbital eccentricity and inclination. We first study how this effect is modified by incorporating perturbations from the planetary oblateness. Tremaine et al. found that, for planets with obliquities >68. Degree-Sign 875, orbits in the equilibrium local Laplace plane are unstable to eccentricity perturbations over a finite radial range and execute large-amplitude chaotic oscillations in eccentricity and inclination. In the hope of making that treatment more easily understandable, we analyze the problem using orbital elements, confirming this threshold obliquity. Furthermore, we findmore » that orbits inclined to the Laplace plane will be unstable over a broader radial range, and that such orbits can go unstable for obliquities less than 68. Degree-Sign 875. Finally, we analyze the added effects of radiation pressure, which are important for dust grains and provide a natural mechanism for particle semimajor axes to sweep via Poynting-Robertson drag through any unstable range. For low-eccentricity orbits in the equilibrium Laplace plane, we find that generally the effect persists; however, the unstable radial range is shifted and small retrograde particles can avoid the instability altogether. We argue that this occurs because radiation pressure modifies the equilibrium Laplace plane.« less

Dust Transport from Enceladus to the moons of Saturn

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Juhasz, A.; Hsu, H. W.; Kempf, S.; Horanyi, M.

2016-12-01

Saturn's vast E-ring engulfs the satellites Mimas, Enceladus, Tethys, Dione, and Rea, reaching even beyond Titan, while its inner edge is adjacent with the outskirts of the A-ring. The E-ring is comprised of characteristically micron and submicron sized particles, originating mainly from the active plumes of Enceladus, and possibly the other moons as well due to their continual bombardment by interplanetary dust particles. The dynamics of the E-ring grains can be surprising as in addition to the gravity of Saturn and its moons, their motion is governed by radiation pressure, plasma drag, and electromagnetic forces as they collect charges interacting with the magnetospheric plasma environment of Saturn. Due to sputtering, their mass is diminishing and, hence, their charge-to-mass ratio is increasing in time. A "young" gravitationally dominated micron-sized particle will "mature" into a nanometer-sized grain whose motion resembles that of a heavy ion. Simultaneously with their mass loss, the dust particles are pushed outwards by plasma drag. Time to time, their evolving orbits intersect the orbits of the Saturnian moons and the E-ring particles can be deposited onto their surfaces, possibly altering their makeup and spectral properties. Using the Cassini magnetospheric observations, we have followed the orbital evolution of E-ring particles, through their entire life, starting at Enceladus, ending in: a) a collision with the A-ring or any of the satellites; or b) losing all their mass due to sputtering; or c) leave the magnetosphere of Saturn. This presentation will focus on the deposition rates and maps of E-ring particles to the surfaces of the moons.

EVOLUTION OF A RING AROUND THE PLUTO–CHARON BINARY

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bromley, Benjamin C.; Kenyon, Scott J., E-mail: bromley@physics.utah.edu, E-mail: skenyon@cfa.harvard.edu

We consider the formation of satellites around the Pluto–Charon binary. An early collision between the two partners likely produced the binary and a narrow ring of debris, out of which arose the moons Styx, Nix, Kerberos, and Hydra. How the satellites emerged from the compact ring is uncertain. Here we show that a particle ring spreads from physical collisions and collective gravitational scattering, similar to migration. Around a binary, these processes take place in the reference frames of “most circular” orbits, akin to circular ones in a Keplerian potential. Ring particles damp to these orbits and avoid destructive collisions. Dampingmore » and diffusion also help particles survive dynamical instabilities driven by resonances with the binary. In some situations, particles become trapped near resonances that sweep outward with the tidal evolution of the Pluto–Charon binary. With simple models and numerical experiments, we show how the Pluto–Charon impact ring may have expanded into a broad disk, out of which grew the circumbinary moons. In some scenarios, the ring can spread well beyond the orbit of Hydra, the most distant moon, to form a handful of smaller satellites. If these small moons exist, New Horizons will find them.« less

Measurement of particle directions in low earth orbit with a Timepix

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gohl, St.; Bergmann, B.; Granja, C.; Owens, A.; Pichotka, M.; Polansky, S.; Pospisil, S.

2016-11-01

In Low Earth Orbit (LEO) in space electronic equipment aboard satellites and space crews are exposed to high ionizing radiation levels. To reduce radiation damage and the exposure of astronauts, to improve shielding and to assess dose levels, it is valuable to know the composition of the radiation fields and particle directions. The presented measurements are carried out with the Space Application of Timepix Radiation Monitor (SATRAM). There, a Timepix detector (300 μm thick silicon sensor, pixel pitch 55 μm, 256 × 256 pixels) is attached to the Proba-V, an earth observing satellite of the European Space Agency (ESA). The Timepix detector's capability was used to determine the directions of energetic charged particles and their corresponding stopping powers. Data are continuously taken at an altitude of 820 km on a sun-synchronous orbit. The particles pitch angles with respect to the sensor layer were measured and converted to an Earth Centred Earth Fixed (ECEF) coordinate system. Deviations from an isotropic field are extracted by normalization of the observed angular distributions by a Geant4 Monte Carlo simulation —taking the systematics of the reconstruction algorithm and the pixelation into account.

Dynamics of groups around interacting double ellipticals: Measuring dark matter haloes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Quintana, H.

1990-01-01

Binary galaxies, as binary stars, are important to measure masses, as suggested by Page (1952). Because three orbit parameters are measurable for galaxies at one instant of time, severe uncertainties remain in the orbit and mass determinations. These uncertainties can partly be overcome by statistical studies of selected samples and/or n-body simulations. Close double galaxies (and isolated galaxies) could also be useful to estimate dynamical masses if we can find test particles around them. Interacting elliptical pairs or dumb-bell galaxies are found with a large range, between 0-1200 km s(exp -1), of relative radial velocities. Standard 2-body orbit calculations, highly uncertain due to projection factors, suggest for the largest velocity differences very large galaxy masses, if the systems are bound and stationary. However, recent n-body simulations model these binaries as galaxies captured from hyperbolic orbits, requiring masses of order a few times 10(exp 11) solar maximum (Borne et al. 1988), but producing systems that are short lived. A different picture appears when we study observationally the dynamical mass of interacting double ellipticals using faint satellite galaxies. These satellites contribute little luminosity and, presumably, little mass to the system. The authors present results of two such groups, basically forming systems of test particles, around the dumb-bells NGC 4782/3 and IC 5049. They also briefly discuss the satellite group around the central dumb-bell in the cluster Sersic 40/6. Apparently, they detect large quantities of dark matter in the vicinity of these dumb-bell galaxies, because the system masses of approx. 4.5 times 10(exp 13) solar mass and 8 times 10(exp 13) solar mass for NGC 4782/3 and IC 5049, respectively, are quite high. Likewise, the mass of the Sersic 40/6 inner core is 7 times 10(exp 13) solar mass. The possibility that a common massive dark matter halo increases the merging times of these types of galaxies is suggested. Here, the authors assume H sub o = 100 km s (exp -1) Mpc(exp -1).

Investigation and Prediction of RF Window Performance in APT Accelerators

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Humphries, S. Jr.

1997-05-01

The work described in this report was performed between November 1996 and May 1997 in support of the APT (Accelerator Production of Tritium) Program at Los Alamos National Laboratory. The goal was to write and to test computer programs for charged particle orbits in RF fields. The well-documented programs were written in portable form and compiled for standard personal computers for easy distribution to LANL researchers. They will be used in several APT applications including the following. Minimization of multipactor effects in the moderate {beta} superconducting linac cavities under design for the APT accelerator. Investigation of suppression techniques for electronmore » multipactoring in high-power RF feedthroughs. Modeling of the response of electron detectors for the protection of high power RF vacuum windows. In the contract period two new codes, Trak{_}RF and WaveSim, were completed and several critical benchmark etests were carried out. Trak{_}RF numerically tracks charged particle orbits in combined electrostatic, magnetostatic and electromagnetic fields. WaveSim determines frequency-domain RF field solutions and provides a key input to Trak{_}RF. The two-dimensional programs handle planar or cylindrical geometries. They have several unique characteristics.« less

KSC-08pd2042

NASA Image and Video Library

2008-07-09

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- Avionics shelf flatness and fillet gap measurements are conducted on the wing of a Pegasus rocket in Building 1555 at Vandenberg AFB. The testing was performed by workers from Advanced Digital Measuring Works using an API laser tracker. The Pegasus will launch NASA's Interstellar Boundary Explorer Mission, or IBEX, satellite from Kwajalein Island in the Marshall Islands, South Pacific. IBEX will make the first map of the boundary between the solar system and interstellar space. IBEX is the first mission designed to detect the edge of the solar system. As the solar wind from the sun flows out beyond Pluto, it collides with the material between the stars, forming a shock front. IBEX contains two neutral atom imagers designed to detect particles from the termination shock at the boundary between the solar system and interstellar space. IBEX also will study galactic cosmic rays, energetic particles from beyond the solar system that pose a health and safety hazard for humans exploring beyond Earth orbit. IBEX will make these observations from a highly elliptical orbit that takes it beyond the interference of the Earth's magnetosphere. IBEX is targeted for launch in October 2008. Photo credit: NASA/Randy Beaudoin

KSC-08pd2043

NASA Image and Video Library

2008-07-11

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- Avionics shelf flatness and fillet gap measurements are conducted on the wing of a Pegasus rocket in Building 1555 at Vandenberg AFB. The testing was performed by workers from Advanced Digital Measuring Works using an API laser tracker. The Pegasus will launch NASA's Interstellar Boundary Explorer Mission, or IBEX, satellite from Kwajalein Island in the Marshall Islands, South Pacific. IBEX will make the first map of the boundary between the solar system and interstellar space. IBEX is the first mission designed to detect the edge of the solar system. As the solar wind from the sun flows out beyond Pluto, it collides with the material between the stars, forming a shock front. IBEX contains two neutral atom imagers designed to detect particles from the termination shock at the boundary between the solar system and interstellar space. IBEX also will study galactic cosmic rays, energetic particles from beyond the solar system that pose a health and safety hazard for humans exploring beyond Earth orbit. IBEX will make these observations from a highly elliptical orbit that takes it beyond the interference of the Earth's magnetosphere. IBEX is targeted for launch in October 2008. Photo credit: NASA/Randy Beaudoin

APPARATUS FOR CONTROL OF HIGH-ENERGY ACCELERATORS

DOEpatents

Heard, H.G.

1961-10-24

A particle beam positioning control for a synchrotron or the like is described. The control includes means for selectively impressing a sinusoidal perturbation upon the rising voltage utilized to sweep the frequency of the f-m oscillator which is conventionally coupled to the accelerating electrode of a synchrotron. The perturbation produces a variation in the normal rate of change of frequency of the accelerating voltage applied to the accelerating electrode, resulting in an expansion or contraction of the particle beam orbit diameter during the perturbation. The beam may thus be controlled such that a portion strikes a target positioned close to the expanded or contracted orbit diameter and returns to the original orbit for further acceleration to the final energy. (AEC)

LARES successfully launched in orbit: Satellite and mission description

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Paolozzi, Antonio; Ciufolini, Ignazio

2013-10-01

On February 13th 2012, the LARES satellite of the Italian Space Agency (ASI) was launched into orbit with the qualification flight of the new VEGA launcher of the European Space Agency (ESA). The payload was released very accurately in the nominal orbit. The name LARES means LAser RElativity Satellite and summarises the objective of the mission and some characteristics of the satellite. It is, in fact, a mission designed to test Einstein's General Relativity Theory (specifically 'frame-dragging' and Lense-Thirring effect). The satellite is passive and covered with optical retroreflectors that send back laser pulses to the emitting ground station. This allows accurate positioning of the satellite, which is important for measuring the very small deviations from Galilei-Newton's laws. In 2008, ASI selected the prime industrial contractor for the LARES system with a heavy involvement of the universities in all phases of the programme, from the design to the construction and testing of the satellite and separation system. The data exploitation phase started immediately after the launch under a new contract between ASI and those universities. Tracking of the satellite is provided by the International Laser Ranging Service. Due to its particular design, LARES is the orbiting object with the highest known mean density in the solar system. In this paper, it is shown that this peculiarity makes it the best proof particle ever manufactured. Design aspects, mission objectives and preliminary data analysis will be also presented.

About the possibility of magnetic and gravitational capture of the technogenic nanoparticles injected in the near-Earth space in high circular orbits

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kolesnikov, E. K.; Chernov, S. V.

2018-05-01

A detailed study of the conditions for the realization of the phenomena of magnetic and gravity capture (MGC) of nanoparticles (NP) injected into the near-Earth space in circular orbits with altitudes and inclinations characteristic for orbits of satellites of navigation systems (GLONASS, GPS, etc.) is carried out. Spherical aluminum oxide particles with radii from 4 to 100 nm were considered as injected particles. It was assumed that injection of NP is performed at various points of circular orbits with a height of 19130 km, an inclination angle to the equatorial plane equal to 64.8 degrees and a longitude of the ascending node of 0, 120 and 240 degrees. Calculations of the motion of nanoparticles in near-Earth space were performed for conditions of low level solar and geomagnetic activity. The results of numerical experiments show that for all the considered spatial orientations of the orbit of the parent body (PB) of the NP motion in the magnetic and gravitational capture mode with extremely long orbital existence times (more than two years) can be realized only for nanoparticles with radii in the narrow gap from 8.6 to 10.2 nm.

Frozen-Orbital and Downfolding Calculations with Auxiliary-Field Quantum Monte Carlo.

PubMed

Purwanto, Wirawan; Zhang, Shiwei; Krakauer, Henry

2013-11-12

We describe the implementation of the frozen-orbital and downfolding approximations in the auxiliary-field quantum Monte Carlo (AFQMC) method. These approaches can provide significant computational savings, compared to fully correlating all of the electrons. While the many-body wave function is never explicit in AFQMC, its random walkers are Slater determinants, whose orbitals may be expressed in terms of any one-particle orbital basis. It is therefore straightforward to partition the full N-particle Hilbert space into active and inactive parts to implement the frozen-orbital method. In the frozen-core approximation, for example, the core electrons can be eliminated in the correlated part of the calculations, greatly increasing the computational efficiency, especially for heavy atoms. Scalar relativistic effects are easily included using the Douglas-Kroll-Hess theory. Using this method, we obtain a way to effectively eliminate the error due to single-projector, norm-conserving pseudopotentials in AFQMC. We also illustrate a generalization of the frozen-orbital approach that downfolds high-energy basis states to a physically relevant low-energy sector, which allows a systematic approach to produce realistic model Hamiltonians to further increase efficiency for extended systems.

Generation mechanism of L-value dependence of oxygen flux enhancements during substorms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nakayama, Y.; Ebihara, Y.; Tanaka, T.; Ohtani, S.; Gkioulidou, M.; Takahashi, K.; Kistler, L. M.; Kletzing, C.

2015-12-01

The Van Allen Probes Helium Oxygen Proton Electron (HOPE) instrument measures charged particles with an energy range from ~eV to ~ tens of keV. The observation shows that the energy flux of the particles increases inside the geosynchronous orbit during substorms. For some night-side events around the apogee, the energy flux of O+ ion enhances below ~10 keV at lower L shell, whereas the flux below ~8 keV sharply decreases at higher L shells. This structure of L-energy spectrogram of flux is observed only for the O+ ions. The purpose of this study is to investigate the generation mechanism of the structure by using numerical simulations. We utilized the global MHD simulation developed by Tanaka et al (2010, JGR) to simulate the electric and magnetic fields during substorms. We performed test particle simulation under the electric and magnetic fields by applying the same model introduced by Nakayama et al. (2015, JGR). In the test particle simulation each test particle carries the real number of particles in accordance with the Liouville theorem. Using the real number of particles, we reconstructed 6-dimensional phase space density and differential flux of O+ ions in the inner magnetosphere. We obtained the following results. (1) Just after the substorm onset, the dawn-to-dusk electric field is enhanced to ~ 20 mV/m in the night side tail region at L > 7. (2) The O+ ions are accelerated and transported to the inner region (L > ~5.5) by the large-amplitude electric field. (3) The reconstructed L-energy spectrogram shows a similar structure to the Van Allen Probes observation. (4) The difference in the flux enhancement between at lower L shell and higher L shells is due to two distinct acceleration processes: adiabatic and non-adiabatic. We will discuss the relationship between the particle acceleration and the structure of L-energy spectrogram of flux enhancement in detail.

A drop in the pond: the effect of rapid mass-loss on the dynamics and interaction rate of collisionless particles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Penoyre, Zephyr; Haiman, Zoltán

2018-01-01

In symmetric gravitating systems experiencing rapid mass-loss, particle orbits change almost instantaneously, which can lead to the development of a sharply contoured density profile, including singular caustics for collisionless systems. This framework can be used to model a variety of dynamical systems, such as accretion discs following a massive black hole merger and dwarf galaxies following violent early star formation feedback. Particle interactions in the high-density peaks seem a promising source of observable signatures of these mass-loss events (i.e. a possible EM counterpart for black hole mergers or strong gamma-ray emission from dark matter annihilation around young galaxies), because the interaction rate depends on the square of the density. We study post-mass-loss density profiles, both analytic and numerical, in idealized cases and present arguments and methods to extend to any general system. An analytic derivation is presented for particles on Keplerian orbits responding to a drop in the central mass. We argue that this case, with initially circular orbits, gives the most sharply contoured profile possible. We find that despite the presence of a set of singular caustics, the total particle interaction rate is reduced compared to the unperturbed system; this is a result of the overall expansion of the system dominating over the steep caustics. Finally, we argue that this result holds more generally, and the loss of central mass decreases the particle interaction rate in any physical system.

LIDT-DD: A new self-consistent debris disc model that includes radiation pressure and couples dynamical and collisional evolution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kral, Q.; Thébault, P.; Charnoz, S.

2013-10-01

Context. In most current debris disc models, the dynamical and the collisional evolutions are studied separately with N-body and statistical codes, respectively, because of stringent computational constraints. In particular, incorporating collisional effects (especially destructive collisions) into an N-body scheme has proven a very arduous task because of the exponential increase of particles it would imply. Aims: We present here LIDT-DD, the first code able to mix both approaches in a fully self-consistent way. Our aim is for it to be generic enough to be applied to any astrophysical case where we expect dynamics and collisions to be deeply interlocked with one another: planets in discs, violent massive breakups, destabilized planetesimal belts, bright exozodiacal discs, etc. Methods: The code takes its basic architecture from the LIDT3D algorithm for protoplanetary discs, but has been strongly modified and updated to handle the very constraining specificities of debris disc physics: high-velocity fragmenting collisions, radiation-pressure affected orbits, absence of gas that never relaxes initial conditions, etc. It has a 3D Lagrangian-Eulerian structure, where grains of a given size at a given location in a disc are grouped into super-particles or tracers whose orbits are evolved with an N-body code and whose mutual collisions are individually tracked and treated using a particle-in-a-box prescription designed to handle fragmenting impacts. To cope with the wide range of possible dynamics for same-sized particles at any given location in the disc, and in order not to lose important dynamical information, tracers are sorted and regrouped into dynamical families depending on their orbits. A complex reassignment routine that searches for redundant tracers in each family and reassignes them where they are needed, prevents the number of tracers from diverging. Results: The LIDT-DD code has been successfully tested on simplified cases for which robust results have been obtained in past studies: we retrieve the classical features of particle size distributions in unperturbed discs and the outer radial density profiles in ~r-1.5 outside narrow collisionally active rings as well as the depletion of small grains in dynamically cold discs. The potential of the new code is illustrated with the test case of the violent breakup of a massive planetesimal within a debris disc. Preliminary results show that we are able for the first time to quantify the timescale over which the signature of such massive break-ups can be detected. In addition to studying such violent transient events, the main potential future applications of the code are planet and disc interactions, and more generally, any configurations where dynamics and collisions are expected to be intricately connected.

Performance deficit produced by partial body exposures to space radiation

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

On exploratory class missions to other planets, astronauts will be exposed to types of radiation (particles of high energy and charge [HZE particles]) that are not experienced in low earth orbit, where the space shuttle operates. Previous research has shown that exposure to HZE particles can affect...

System analysis and test-bed for an atmosphere-breathing electric propulsion system using an inductive plasma thruster

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Romano, F.; Massuti-Ballester, B.; Binder, T.; Herdrich, G.; Fasoulas, S.; Schönherr, T.

2018-06-01

Challenging space mission scenarios include those in low altitude orbits, where the atmosphere creates significant drag to the S/C and forces their orbit to an early decay. For drag compensation, propulsion systems are needed, requiring propellant to be carried on-board. An atmosphere-breathing electric propulsion system (ABEP) ingests the residual atmosphere particles through an intake and uses them as propellant for an electric thruster. Theoretically applicable to any planet with atmosphere, the system might allow to orbit for unlimited time without carrying propellant. A new range of altitudes for continuous operation would become accessible, enabling new scientific missions while reducing costs. Preliminary studies have shown that the collectible propellant flow for an ion thruster (in LEO) might not be enough, and that electrode erosion due to aggressive gases, such as atomic oxygen, will limit the thruster lifetime. In this paper an inductive plasma thruster (IPT) is considered for the ABEP system. The starting point is a small scale inductively heated plasma generator IPG6-S. These devices are electrodeless and have already shown high electric-to-thermal coupling efficiencies using O2 and CO2 . The system analysis is integrated with IPG6-S tests to assess mean mass-specific energies of the plasma plume and estimate exhaust velocities.

Amps particle accelerator definition study

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sellen, J. M., Jr.

1975-01-01

The Particle Accelerator System of the AMPS (Atmospheric, Magnetospheric, and Plasmas in Space) payload is a series of charged particle accelerators to be flown with the Space Transportation System Shuttle on Spacelab missions. In the configuration presented, the total particle accelerator system consists of an energetic electron beam, an energetic ion accelerator, and both low voltage and high voltage plasma acceleration devices. The Orbiter is illustrated with such a particle accelerator system.

Observation of ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays and neutrinos from lunar orbit: LORD space experiment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ryabov, Vladimir; Chechin, Valery; Gusev, German

The problem of detecting highest-energy cosmic rays and neutrinos in the Universe is reviewed. Nowadays, there becomes clear that observation of these particles requires approaches based on novel principles. Projects based on orbital radio detectors for particles of energies above the CZK cut-off are discussed. We imply the registration of coherent Cherenkov radio emission produced by cascades of most energetic particles in radio-transparent lunar regolith. The Luna-Glob space mission proposed for launching in the near future involves the Lunar Orbital Radio Detector (LORD). The feasibility of LORD space instrument to detect radio signals from cascades initiated by ultrahigh-energy particles interacting with lunar regolith is examined. The comprehensive Monte Carlo calculations were carried out within the energy range of 10 (20) -10 (25) eV with the account for physical properties of the Moon such as its density, the lunar-regolith radiation length, the radio-wave absorption length, the refraction index, and the orbital altitude of a lunar satellite. We may expect that the LORD space experiment will surpass in its apertures and capabilities the majority of well-known current and proposed experiments dealing with the detection of both ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays and neutrinos. The design of the LORD space instrument and its scientific potentialities in registration of low-intense cosmic-ray particle fluxes above the GZK cut-off up to 10 (25) eV is discussed as well. The designed LORD module (including an antenna system, amplifiers, and a data acquisition system) now is under construction. The LORD space experiment will make it possible to obtain important information on the highest-energy particles in the Universe, to verify modern models for the origin and the propagation of ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays and neutrinos. Successful completion of the LORD experiment will permit to consider the next step of the program, namely, a multi-satellite lunar systems to increase the statistics and the accuracy of the experiment. Opportunities and prospects of a multi-satellite system for observation of ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays and neutrinos are also investigated. In addition, possibilities of future missions to Jovian satellites are analyzed, insofar as the largest ice planets of the Solar System (Ganymede and Europe) can be considered as convenient targets for registration of ultrahigh-energy particles by orbiting radio detectors. The expected results are compared to those for the lunar target. The conclusion is made that within the Solar System, there are no objects with better registration efficiency for ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays and neutrinos that can be utilized in space experiments of as an alternative to the future space mission Luna-Glob with the LORD orbital radio detector.

The development and testing of the fast imaging plasma spectrometer and its application in the plasma environment at Mercury

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Koehn, Patrick Leo

The plasma environment at Mercury is a rich laboratory for studying the interaction of the solar wind with a planet. Three primary populations of ions exist at Mercury: solar wind, magnetospheric particles, and pickup ions. Pickup ions are generated through the ionization of Mercury's exosphere or are sputtered particles from the Mercury surface. A comprehensive mission to Mercury should include a sensor that is able to determine the dynamical properties and composition of all three plasma components. The Fast Imaging Plasma Spectrometer (FIPS) is an instrument to measure the composition of these ion populations and their three-dimensional velocity distribution functions. It is lightweight, fast, and has a very large field of view, and these properties made possible its accommodation within the highly mass- constrained payload of MESSENGER (MErcury: Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, Ranging) mission, a Mercury orbiter. This work details the development cycle of FIPS, from concept to prototype testing. It begins with science studies of the magnetospheric and pickup ion environments of Mercury, using state-of-the-art computer simulations to produce static and quasi-dynamic magnetospheric systems. Predictions are made of the spatially variable plasma environment at Mercury, and the temporally varying magnetosphere-solar wind interaction is examined. Pickup ion studies provide insights to particle loss mechanisms and the nature of the radar-bright regions at the Hermean poles. These studies produce science requirements for successfully measuring this environment with an orbiting mass spectrometer. With these science requirements in mind, a concept for a new electrostatic analyzer is created. This concept is considered from a theoretical standpoint, and compared with other, similarly performing instruments, both of the past and currently in use. The development cycle continues with instrument simulation, which allows the design to be adjusted to fit within the science requirements of the mission. Finally, a prototype electrostatic is constructed and tested in a space- simulating vacuum chamber system. The results of these tests are compared with the simulation results, and ultimately shown to fit within the science requirements for the MESSENGER mission.

The Enceladus Ring

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2006-01-01

[figure removed for brevity, see original site] The Enceladus Ring (labeled)

This excellent view of the faint E ring -- a ring feature now known to be created by Enceladus -- also shows two of Saturn's small moons that orbit within the ring, among a field of stars in the background.

The E ring extends from three to eight Saturn radii -- about 180,000 kilometers (118,000 miles) to 482,000 kilometers (300,000 miles). Its full extent is not visible in this view.

Calypso (22 kilometers, or 14 miles across) and Helene (32 kilometers, or 20 miles across) orbit within the E ring's expanse. Helene skirts the outer parts of the E ring, but here it is projected in front of a region deeper within the ring.

Calypso and Helene are trojan satellites, or moons that orbit 60 degrees in front or behind a larger moon. Calypso is a Tethys trojan and Helene is a trojan of Dione.

An interesting feature of note in this image is the double-banded appearance of the E-ring, which is created because the ring is somewhat fainter in the ringplane than it is 500-1,000 kilometers (300-600 miles) above and below the ringplane. This appearance implies that the particles in this part of the ring have nonzero inclinations (a similar affect is seen in Jupiter's gossamer ring). An object with a nonzero inclination does not orbit exactly at Saturn's ringplane. Instead, its orbit takes it above and below the ringplane. Scientists are not entirely sure why the particles should have such inclinations, but they are fairly certain that the reason involves Enceladus.

One possible explanation is that all the E ring particles come from the plume of icy material that is shooting due south out of the moon's pole. This means all of the particles are created with a certain velocity out of the ringplane, and then they orbit above and below that plane.

Another possible explanation is that Enceladus produces particles with a range of speeds, but the moon gravitationally scatters any particles that lie very close to the ringplane, giving them nonzero inclinations.

Stray light within the camera system is responsible for the broad, faint 'Y' shape across the image.

The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft wide-angle camera on March 15, 2006, at a distance of approximately 2.4 million kilometers (1.5 million miles) from Saturn. The image scale on the sky at the distance of Saturn is 142 kilometers (88 miles) per pixel.

Secondary impact hazard assessment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1986-01-01

A series of light gas gun shots (4 to 7 km/sec) were performed with 5 mg nylon and aluminum projectiles to determine the size, mass, velocity, and spatial distribution of spall and ejecta from a number of graphite/epoxy targets. Similar determinations were also performed on a few aluminum targets. Target thickness and material were chosen to be representative of proposed Space Station structure. The data from these shots and other information were used to predict the hazard to Space Station elements from secondary particles resulting from impacts of micrometeoroids and orbital debris on the Space Station. This hazard was quantified as an additional flux over and above the primary micrometeoroid and orbital debris flux that must be considered in the design process. In order to simplify the calculations, eject and spall mass were assumed to scale directly with the energy of the projectile. Other scaling systems may be closer to reality. The secondary particles considered are only those particles that may impact other structure immediately after the primary impact. The addition to the orbital debris problem from these primary impacts was not addressed. Data from this study should be fed into the orbital debris model to see if Space Station secondaries make a significant contribution to orbital debris. The hazard to a Space Station element from secondary particles above and beyond the micrometeoroid and orbital debris hazard is categorized in terms of two factors: (1) the 'view factor' of the element to other Space Station structure or the geometry of placement of the element, and (2) the sensitivity to damage, stated in terms of energy. Several example cases were chosen, the Space Station module windows, windows of a Shuttle docked to the Space Station, the habitat module walls, and the photovoltaic solar cell arrays. For the examples chosen the secondary flux contributed no more than 10 percent to the total flux (primary and secondary) above a given calculated critical energy. A key assumption in these calculations is that above a certain critical energy, significant damage will be done. This is not true for all structures. Double-walled, bumpered structures are an example for which damage may be reduced as energy goes up. The critical energy assumption is probably conservative, however, in terms of secondary damage. To understand why the secondary impacts seem to, in general, contribute less than 10 percent of the flux above a given critical energy, consider the case of a meteoroid impact of a given energy on a fixed, large surface. This impact results in a variety of secondary particles, all of which have much less energy than the original impact. Conservation of energy prohibits any other situation. Thus if damage is linked to a critical energy of a particle, the primary flux will always deliver particles of much greater energy. Even if all the secondary particles impacted other Space Station structures, none would have a kinetic energy more than a fraction of the primary impact energy.

The gas drag in a circular binary system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ciecielä G, P.; Ida, S.; Gawryszczak, A.; Burkert, A.

2007-07-01

We investigate the motion of massless particles orbiting the primary star in a close circular binary system with particular focus on the gas drag effects. These are the first calculations with particles ranging in size from 1 m to 10 km, which account for the presence of a tidally perturbed gaseous disk. We have found numerically that the radial mass transport by the tidal waves plays a crucial role in the orbital evolution of particles. In the outer region of the gaseous disk, where its perturbation is strongest, the migration rate of a particle for all considered sizes is enhanced by a factor of 3 with respect to the axisymmetric disk in radial equilibrium. Similar enhancement is observed in the damping rate of inclinations. We present a simple analytical argument proving that the migration rate of a particle in such a disk is enhanced due to the enhanced mass flux of gas colliding with the particle. Thus the enhancement factor does not depend on the sign of the radial gas velocity, and the migration is always directed inward. Within the framework of the perturbation theory, we derive more general, approximate formulae for short-term variations of the particle semi-major axis, eccentricity, and inclination in a disk out of radial equilibrium. The basic version of the formulae applies to the axisymmetric disk, but we present how to account for departures from axial symmetry by introducing effective components of the gas velocity. Comparison with numerical results proves that our formulae are correct within several percent. We have also found in numerical simulations that the tidal waves introduce coherence in periastron longitude and eccentricity for particles on neighboring orbits. The degree of the coherence depends on the particle size and on the distance from the primary star, being most prominent for particles with 10 m radius. The results are important mainly in the context of planetesimal formation and, to a lesser degree, during the early planetesimal accretion stage.

Flux of Millimetric Space Debris

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Goldstein, R. M.; Goldstein, S. J., Jr.

1995-01-01

In 21.4 hr of zenith radar observations on 4 days at 8510 MHz, we found 831 particles with altitudes between 177 and 1662 km. From the duration of the echoes and the angular size (0.030 deg) of the antenna beam 157 particles were identified as passing through the side lobes and not through the main beam. Our analysis is based on the 674 particles that did not broaden the beam. On the assumptions that these particles went through the main beam, their radar cross sections vary between 0.02 and 260 sq mm , and their radial velocities vary between +/- 700 m/s. If they are conducting spheres, their diameters lie between 2 and 18 mm. If not, they must be larger. The flux of these particles, that is the number per sq km day, was determined in 100 km intervals. The maximum flux, 3.3 particles per sq km day, occurs at 950 km altitude. The small and large particles are not well mixed. The largest particles occur beyond 1000 km and middle-sized particles are missing below 300 km. If the earth's atmosphere caused the smallest particles to lose energy from initial orbits identical to those of the large particles, the orbits would have lower eccentricity at low altitudes. We find a larger eccentricity for the inner particles, and conclude that two or more populations are present.

BepiColombo the next step to explore Mercury - Status update and Science goals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Benkhoff, Johannes; Fujimoto, Masaki; Zender, Joe

2016-04-01

NASA's MESSENGER mission has fundamentally changed our view of the innermost planet. Mercury is in many ways a very different planet from what we were expecting. Now BepiColombo has to follow up on answering the fundamental questions that MESSENGER raised and go beyond. BepiColombo is a joint project between ESA and the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). The Mission consists of two orbiters, the Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO) and the Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter (MMO). The mission scenario foresees a launch of both spacecraft with an ARIANE V in late 2017/early 2018 and an arrival at Mercury in 2024. From their dedicated orbits the two spacecraft will be studying the planet and its environment. The MPO scientific payload comprises eleven instruments/instrument packages; the MMO scientific payload consists of five instruments/instrument packages. Together, the scientific payload of both spacecraft will perform measurements to find clues to the origin and evolution of a planet close to its parent star. The MPO on BepiColombo will focus on a global characterization of Mercury through the investigation of its interior, surface, exosphere and magnetosphere. In addition, it will be testing Einstein's theory of general relativity. The MMO provided by JAXA focuses on investigating the wave and particle environment of the planet from an eccentric orbit. Together, the scientific payload of both spacecraft will provide the detailed information necessary to understand the process of planetary formation and evolution in the hottest part of the proto-planetary nebula as well as the similarities and differences between the magnetospheres of Mercury and the Earth. All scientific instruments have been integrated into the spacecraft and both spacecraft are now under final acceptance testing.

Symplectic orbit and spin tracking code for all-electric storage rings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Talman, Richard M.; Talman, John D.

2015-07-01

Proposed methods for measuring the electric dipole moment (EDM) of the proton use an intense, polarized proton beam stored in an all-electric storage ring "trap." At the "magic" kinetic energy of 232.792 MeV, proton spins are "frozen," for example always parallel to the instantaneous particle momentum. Energy deviation from the magic value causes in-plane precession of the spin relative to the momentum. Any nonzero EDM value will cause out-of-plane precession—measuring this precession is the basis for the EDM determination. A proposed implementation of this measurement shows that a proton EDM value of 10-29e -cm or greater will produce a statistically significant, measurable precession after multiply repeated runs, assuming small beam depolarization during 1000 s runs, with high enough precision to test models of the early universe developed to account for the present day particle/antiparticle population imbalance. This paper describes an accelerator simulation code, eteapot, a new component of the Unified Accelerator Libraries (ual), to be used for long term tracking of particle orbits and spins in electric bend accelerators, in order to simulate EDM storage ring experiments. Though qualitatively much like magnetic rings, the nonconstant particle velocity in electric rings gives them significantly different properties, especially in weak focusing rings. Like the earlier code teapot (for magnetic ring simulation) this code performs exact tracking in an idealized (approximate) lattice rather than the more conventional approach, which is approximate tracking in a more nearly exact lattice. The Bargmann-Michel-Telegdi (BMT) equation describing the evolution of spin vectors through idealized bend elements is also solved exactly—original to this paper. Furthermore the idealization permits the code to be exactly symplectic (with no artificial "symplectification"). Any residual spurious damping or antidamping is sufficiently small to permit reliable tracking for the long times, such as the 1000 s assumed in estimating the achievable EDM precision. This paper documents in detail the theoretical formulation implemented in eteapot. An accompanying paper describes the practical application of the eteapot code in the Universal Accelerator Libraries (ual) environment to "resurrect," or reverse engineer, the "AGS-analog" all-electric ring built at Brookhaven National Laboratory in 1954. Of the (very few) all-electric rings ever commissioned, the AGS-analog ring is the only relativistic one and is the closest to what is needed for measuring proton (or, even more so, electron) EDM's. The companion paper also describes preliminary lattice studies for the planned proton EDM storage rings as well as testing the code for long time orbit and spin tracking.

The Hubble Space Telescope Servicing Mission 3A Contamination Control Program

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hansen, Patricia A.

2000-01-01

After nearly 10 years on-orbit, the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) external thermal control materials and paint have degraded due to exposure to the low Earth orbit environment. This presented a potentially large on-orbit contamination source (particles and/or debris). Contamination mitigation techniques were developed to augment existing on-orbit servicing contamination controls. They encompassed mission management, crew training, and crew aids and tools. These techniques were successfully employed during the HST Servicing Mission 3A, December 1999.

Chaotic dynamics of Comet 1P/Halley: Lyapunov exponent and survival time expectancy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Muñoz-Gutiérrez, M. A.; Reyes-Ruiz, M.; Pichardo, B.

2015-03-01

The orbital elements of Comet Halley are known to a very high precision, suggesting that the calculation of its future dynamical evolution is straightforward. In this paper we seek to characterize the chaotic nature of the present day orbit of Comet Halley and to quantify the time-scale over which its motion can be predicted confidently. In addition, we attempt to determine the time-scale over which its present day orbit will remain stable. Numerical simulations of the dynamics of test particles in orbits similar to that of Comet Halley are carried out with the MERCURY 6.2 code. On the basis of these we construct survival time maps to assess the absolute stability of Halley's orbit, frequency analysis maps to study the variability of the orbit, and we calculate the Lyapunov exponent for the orbit for variations in initial conditions at the level of the present day uncertainties in our knowledge of its orbital parameters. On the basis of our calculations of the Lyapunov exponent for Comet Halley, the chaotic nature of its motion is demonstrated. The e-folding time-scale for the divergence of initially very similar orbits is approximately 70 yr. The sensitivity of the dynamics on initial conditions is also evident in the self-similarity character of the survival time and frequency analysis maps in the vicinity of Halley's orbit, which indicates that, on average, it is unstable on a time-scale of hundreds of thousands of years. The chaotic nature of Halley's present day orbit implies that a precise determination of its motion, at the level of the present-day observational uncertainty, is difficult to predict on a time-scale of approximately 100 yr. Furthermore, we also find that the ejection of Halley from the Solar system or its collision with another body could occur on a time-scale as short as 10 000 yr.

Dynamical Models of the Solar System Formation and Evolution

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stewart, Glen R.

2002-01-01

Mark Lewis has extended his them is work by completing a series of N-body simulations of a narrow ring that: is in the location of Saturn's F-ring and is perturbed by a single satellite comparable to Prometheus, but on a circular orbit. We had previously shown how the satellite perturbations can cause a broadly distributed sparse population of ring particles to become concentrated into narrow rings that can be maintained outside of any resonance location. For low optical depths, the collisions between ring particles are highly localized in the peaks of the satellite wakes. The inelastic collisions therefore occur at a particular orbital phase angle so as to damp the azimuthal component of the relative velocities. Since particle positions are not changed by collisions, the semimajor axes of the particles are shifted toward the actual particle positions where the collisions occur. Thus, negative radial diffusion can occur while conserving orbital angular momentum so long as the forced eccentricity is continually re-excited by the satellite. We speculated that the separation between the final ringlets was largely determined by the magnitude of the forced eccentricities induced by the satellite at closest approach. We carried out a series of simulations with a variety of different satellite masses in order to vary the magnitude of the forced eccentricity. We found that indeed the final spacing of the ringlets does increase with the magnitude of the forced eccentricity (Lewis and Stewart 2002). This occurs because neighboring eccentric ringlets drift out of phase with one another due to Keplerian shear and eventually collide with one another, leading to a smaller number of more widely spaced ringlets, The time scale required to form narrow ringlets in these simulations is much shorter than one would expect from standard theories based upon the orbit-averaged torque produced by multiple passes by the satellite. We find that the initial ringlets form in less than two synodic periods and the final state is typically reached in 10 to 20 synodic periods. These studies move us closer to understanding the significantly more complex system of Saturn's F ring, where the perturbation magnitude varies over short temporal and spatial time scales due to the orbital eccentricities of the perturbing satellite. We are currently extending the simulation to allow for an eccentric orbit of the satellite.

Orbits of two electrons released from rest in a uniform transverse magnetic field

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mungan, Carl E.

2018-03-01

Two identical charged particles released from rest repel each other radially. A uniform perpendicular magnetic field will then cause their trajectories to curve into a flower petal pattern. The orbit of each particle is approximately circular with a long period for a strong magnetic field, whereas it becomes a figure-eight for a weak magnetic field with each lobe completed in a cyclotron period. For example, such radially bound motions arise for two-dimensional electron gases. The level of treatment is appropriate for an undergraduate calculus-based electromagnetism course.

Beam motions near separatrix

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

M. Ball et al.

1999-05-04

Experimental data on particle motion near the separatrix of the one dimensional (1-D) fourth-integer islands are an-alyzed. When the beam bunch is initially kicked to the separatrix orbit, we observed a strong decoherence in the coherent betatron motion. We find that, through intensive particle tracking simulation analysis, the decoherence has resulted from the beam being split into beamlets in the beta-tron phase space. However, we also observe an unexpected recoherence of coherence signal, which may result form a modulated closed orbit or the homoclinic structure near the separatrix.

High altitude chemically reacting gas particle mixtures. Volume 1: A theoretical analysis and development of the numerical solution. [rocket nozzle and orbital plume flow fields

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Smith, S. D.

1984-01-01

The overall contractual effort and the theory and numerical solution for the Reacting and Multi-Phase (RAMP2) computer code are described. The code can be used to model the dominant phenomena which affect the prediction of liquid and solid rocket nozzle and orbital plume flow fields. Fundamental equations for steady flow of reacting gas-particle mixtures, method of characteristics, mesh point construction, and numerical integration of the conservation equations are considered herein.

Neoclassical toroidal plasma viscosity in the vicinity of the magnetic axis in tokamaks with broken symmetry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shaing, K. C.; Lee, H.; Seol, J.; Aydemir, A. Y.

2015-08-01

Theory for neoclassical toroidal plasma viscosity in the low collisionality regime is extended to the vicinity of the magnetic axis in tokamaks with broken symmetry. The toroidal viscosity is induced by particles drifting off the perturbed magnetic surface under the influence of the symmetry breaking magnetic field. In the region away from the magnetic axis, the drift orbit dynamics is governed by the bounce averaged drift kinetic equation in the low collisionality regimes. In the vicinity of the magnetic axis, it is the drift kinetic equation, averaged over the trapped particle orbits, i.e., potato orbits, that governs the drift dynamics. The orbit averaged drift kinetic equation is derived when collision frequency is low enough for trapped particles to complete their potato trajectories. The resultant equation is solved in the 1 /ν regime to obtain transport fluxes and, thus, toroidal plasma viscosity through flux-force relation. Here, ν is the collision frequency. The viscosity does not vanish on the magnetic axis, and has the same scalings as that in the region away from magnetic axis, except that the fraction of bananas is replaced by the fraction of potatoes. It also has a weak radial dependence. Modeling of plasma flow velocity V for the case where the magnetic surfaces are broken is also discussed.

STS 8 Orbiter mission window pitting and the possible association with the El Chichon eruption of March and April 1982

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cour-Palais, B. G.; Kessler, D. J.; Zook, H. A.; Clanton, U. S.

1985-01-01

The possibility that the pitting that occurred in the STS-8 Orbiter windows was caused by dust from the El Chichon volcano eruption in March-April 1982 is considered. The pit density was more than 30/sq cm, most being 2.5-5 microns deep, and showed no evidence of impact melting. An 'alley' of higher incidence of pits in one window coincided with the line of a seam between TPS tiles. The particles causing the sandblasting were concluded to have arrived in parallel and could not be attributed to the ET, SRBs or a dust storm. The sulfuric gas-rich El Chichon plume injected sufficient material into the atmosphere so that the globe was soon encircled. Most of the resulting particulates (480-8400 tons) stayed in the Northern Hemisphere, and H2SO4 and ash concentrations were high during the STS-8 mission. The Orbiter cut through the debris layer at 19.8 km altitude at a 10 deg angle of attack, which matches the particle crater impact angle in the Orbiter windows. Since the passage was at night, larger H2SO4 droplets may have coalesced and formed larger particles on available solid nuclei, thus producing the 20-40 microns cratering observed in the windows.

Order and chaos in the one-dimensional ϕ4 model: N-dependence and the Second Law of Thermodynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hoover, William Graham; Aoki, Kenichiro

2017-08-01

We revisit the equilibrium one-dimensional ϕ4 model from the dynamical systems point of view. We find an infinite number of periodic orbits which are computationally stable. At the same time some of the orbits are found to exhibit positive Lyapunov exponents! The periodic orbits confine every particle in a periodic chain to trace out either the same or a mirror-image trajectory in its two-dimensional phase space. These ;computationally stable; sets of pairs of single-particle orbits are either symmetric or antisymmetric to the very last computational bit. In such a periodic chain the odd-numbered and even-numbered particles' coordinates and momenta are either identical or differ only in sign. ;Positive Lyapunov exponents; can and do result if an infinitesimal perturbation breaking a perfect two-dimensional antisymmetry is introduced so that the motion expands into a four-dimensional phase space. In that extended space a positive exponent results. We formulate a standard initial condition for the investigation of the microcanonical chaotic number dependence of the model. We speculate on the uniqueness of the model's chaotic sea and on the connection of such collections of deterministic and time-reversible states to the Second Law of Thermodynamics.

Charged particle dynamics in the presence of non-Gaussian Lévy electrostatic fluctuations

DOE PAGES

Del-Castillo-Negrete, Diego B.; Moradi, Sara; Anderson, Johan

2016-09-01

Full orbit dynamics of charged particles in a 3-dimensional helical magnetic field in the presence of -stable Levy electrostatic fluctuations and linear friction modeling collisional Coulomb drag is studied via Monte Carlo numerical simulations. The Levy fluctuations are introduced to model the effect of non-local transport due to fractional diffusion in velocity space resulting from intermittent electrostatic turbulence. The probability distribution functions of energy, particle displacements, and Larmor radii are computed and showed to exhibit a transition from exponential decay, in the case of Gaussian fluctuations, to power law decay in the case of Levy fluctuations. The absolute value ofmore » the power law decay exponents are linearly proportional to the Levy index. Furthermore, the observed anomalous non-Gaussian statistics of the particles' Larmor radii (resulting from outlier transport events) indicate that, when electrostatic turbulent fluctuations exhibit non-Gaussian Levy statistics, gyro-averaging and guiding centre approximations might face limitations and full particle orbit effects should be taken into account.« less

Charged particle dynamics in the presence of non-Gaussian Lévy electrostatic fluctuations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moradi, Sara; del-Castillo-Negrete, Diego; Anderson, Johan

2016-09-01

Full orbit dynamics of charged particles in a 3-dimensional helical magnetic field in the presence of α-stable Lévy electrostatic fluctuations and linear friction modeling collisional Coulomb drag is studied via Monte Carlo numerical simulations. The Lévy fluctuations are introduced to model the effect of non-local transport due to fractional diffusion in velocity space resulting from intermittent electrostatic turbulence. The probability distribution functions of energy, particle displacements, and Larmor radii are computed and showed to exhibit a transition from exponential decay, in the case of Gaussian fluctuations, to power law decay in the case of Lévy fluctuations. The absolute value of the power law decay exponents is linearly proportional to the Lévy index α. The observed anomalous non-Gaussian statistics of the particles' Larmor radii (resulting from outlier transport events) indicate that, when electrostatic turbulent fluctuations exhibit non-Gaussian Lévy statistics, gyro-averaging and guiding centre approximations might face limitations and full particle orbit effects should be taken into account.

TRAPPED PROTON FLUXES AT LOW EARTH ORBITS MEASURED BY THE PAMELA EXPERIMENT

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Adriani, O.; Bongi, M.; Barbarino, G. C.

2015-01-20

We report an accurate measurement of the geomagnetically trapped proton fluxes for kinetic energy above ∼70 MeV performed by the PAMELA mission at low Earth orbits (350 ÷ 610 km). Data were analyzed in the frame of the adiabatic theory of charged particle motion in the geomagnetic field. Flux properties were investigated in detail, providing a full characterization of the particle radiation in the South Atlantic Anomaly region, including locations, energy spectra, and pitch angle distributions. PAMELA results significantly improve the description of the Earth's radiation environment at low altitudes, placing important constraints on the trapping and interaction processes, and can be usedmore » to validate current trapped particle radiation models.« less

Fluxes of MeV particles at Earth's orbit and their relationship with the global structure of the solar corona: Observations from SOHO

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Posner, A.; Bothmer, V.; Kunow, H.; Heber, B.; Mueller-Mellin, R.; Delaboudiniere, J.-P.; Thompson, B. J.; Brueckner, G. E.; Howard, R. A.; Michels, D. J.

1997-01-01

The SOHO satellite, launched on 2 December 1995, combines a unique set of instruments which allow comparative studies of the interior of the sun, the outer corona and solar to be carried out. In its halo orbit around the L1 Lagrangian point of the sun-earth system, SOHO's comprehensive suprathermal and energetic particle analyzer (COSTEP) measures in situ energetic particles in the energy range of 44 keV/particle to greater than 53 MeV/n. The MeV proton, electron and helium nuclei measurements from the COSTEP electron proton helium instrument (EPHIN) were used to investigate the relationships of intensity increases of these particle species with the large-scale structures of the solar corona and heliosphere, including temporal variations. Coronal observatons are provided by the large angle spectroscopic coronagraph (LASCO) and the extreme ultraviolet imaging telescope (EIT). It was found that during times of minimum solar activity, intensity increases of the particles have two well defined sources: corotating interaction regions (CIRs) in the heliosphere related to coronal holes at the sun and coronal mass ejections.

Semiclassical Origin of Superdeformed Shell Structure in the Spheroidal Cavity Model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arita, K.; Sugita, A.; Matsuyanagi, K.

1998-12-01

Classical periodic orbits responsible for emergence of the superdeformed shell structures of single-particle motion in spheroidal cavities are identified and their relative contributions to the shell structures are evaluated. Both prolate and oblate superdeformations (axis ratio approximately 2:1) as well as prolate hyperdeformation (axis ratio approximately 3:1) are investigated. Fourier transforms of quantum spectra clearly show that three-dimensional periodic orbits born out of bifurcations of planar orbits in the equatorial plane become predominant at large prolate deformations, while butterfly-shaped planar orbits bifurcated from linear orbits along the minor axis are important at large oblate deformations.

THEOS-2 Orbit Design: Formation Flying in Equatorial Orbit and Damage Prevention Technique for the South Atlantic Magnetic Anomaly (SAMA)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pimnoo, Ammarin

2016-07-01

Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency (GISTDA) has initiative THEOS-2 project after the THEOS-1 has been operated for more than 7 years which is over the lifetime already. THEOS-2 project requires not only the development of earth observation satellite(s), but also the development of the area-based decision making solution platform comprising of data, application systems, data processing and production system, IT infrastructure improvement and capacity building through development of satellites, engineering model, and infrastructures capable of supporting research in related fields. The developing satellites in THEOS-2 project are THAICHOTE-2 and THAICHOTE-3. This paper focuses the orbit design of THAICHOTE-2 & 3. It discusses the satellite orbit design for the second and third EOS of Thailand. In this paper, both THAICHOTE will be simulated in an equatorial orbit as a formation flying which will be compared the productive to THAICHOTE-1 (THEOS-1). We also consider a serious issue in equatorial orbit design, namely the issue of the geomagnetic field in the area of the eastern coast of South America, called the South Atlantic Magnetic Anomaly (SAMA). The high-energy particles of SAMA comprise a radiation environment which can travel through THAICHOTE-2 & 3 material and deposit kinetic energy. This process causes atomic displacement or leaves a stream of charged atoms in the incident particles' wake. It can cause damage to the satellite including reduction of power generated by solar arrays, failure of sensitive electronics, increased background noise in sensors, and exposure of the satellite devices to radiation. This paper demonstrates the loss of ionizing radiation damage and presents a technique to prevent damage from high-energy particles in the SAMA.

Space-Based Gravitational-Wave Observations as Tools for Testing General Relativity

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Will, Clifford M.

2004-01-01

We continued a project, to analyse the ways in which detection and study of gravitational waves could provide quantitative tests of general relativity, with particular emphasis on waves that would be detectable by space-based observatories, such as LISA. This work had three foci: 1) Tests of scalar-tensor theories of gravity that, could be done by analyzing gravitational waves from neutron stars inspiralling into massive black holes, as detectable by LISA; 2) Study of alternative theories of gravity in which the graviton could be massive, and of how gravitational-wave observations by space-based detectors, solar-system tests, and cosmological observations could constrain such theories; and 3) Study of gravitational-radiation back reaction of particles orbiting black holes in general relativity, with emphasis on the effects of spin.

Photometric analysis of a space shuttle water venting

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Viereck, R. A.; Murad, E.; Pike, C. P.; Kofsky, I. L.; Trowbridge, C. A.; Rall, D. L. A.; Satayesh, A.; Berk, A.; Elgin, J. B.

1991-01-01

Presented here is a preliminary interpretation of a recent experiment conducted on Space Shuttle Discovery (Mission STS 29) in which a stream of liquid supply water was vented into space at twilight. The data consist of video images of the sunlight-scattering water/ice particle cloud that formed, taken by visible light-sensitive intensified cameras both onboard the spacecraft and at the AMOS ground station near the trajectory's nadir. This experiment was undertaken to study the phenomenology of water columns injected into the low-Earth orbital environment, and to provide information about the lifetime of ice particles that may recontact Space Shuttle orbits later. The findings about the composition of the cloud have relevance to ionospheric plasma depletion experiments and to the dynamics of the interaction of orbiting spacecraft with the environment.

Analytical model for orbital debris environmental management

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Talent, David L.

1990-01-01

A differential equation, also referred to as the PIB (particle-in-a-box) model, expressing the time rate of change of the number of objects in orbit, is developed, and its applicability is illustrated. The model can be used as a tool for the assessment of LEO environment stability, and as a starting point for the development of numerical evolutionary models. Within the context of the model, evolutionary scenarios are examined, and found to be sensitive to the growth rate. It is determined that the present environment is slightly unstable to catastrophic growth, and that the number of particles on orbit will continue to increase until approximately 2250-2350 AD, with a maximum of 2,000,000. The model is expandable to the more realistic (complex) case of multiple species in a multiple-tier system.

The mass and angular momentum of reconstructed metric perturbations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

van de Meent, Maarten

2017-06-01

We prove a key result regarding the mass and angular momentum content of linear vacuum perturbations of the Kerr metric obtained through the formalism developed by Chrzarnowski, Cohen, and Kegeles (CCK). More precisely, we prove that the Abbott-Deser mass and angular momentum integrals of any such perturbation vanish when that perturbation was obtained from a regular Fourier mode of the Hertz potential. As a corollary we obtain a generalization of previous results on the completion of the ‘no string’ radiation gauge metric perturbation generated by a point particle. We find that for any bound orbit around a Kerr black hole, the mass and angular momentum perturbations completing the CCK metric are simply the energy and angular momentum of the particle ‘outside’ the orbit and vanish ‘inside’ the orbit.

Many-body calculations with deuteron based single-particle bases and their associated natural orbits

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Puddu, G.

2018-06-01

We use the recently introduced single-particle states obtained from localized deuteron wave-functions as a basis for nuclear many-body calculations. We show that energies can be substantially lowered if the natural orbits (NOs) obtained from this basis are used. We use this modified basis for {}10{{B}}, {}16{{O}} and {}24{{Mg}} employing the bare NNLOopt nucleon–nucleon interaction. The lowering of the energies increases with the mass. Although in principle NOs require a full scale preliminary many-body calculation, we found that an approximate preliminary many-body calculation, with a marginal increase in the computational cost, is sufficient. The use of natural orbits based on an harmonic oscillator basis leads to a much smaller lowering of the energies for a comparable computational cost.

Hydrodynamic capture of microswimmers into sphere-bound orbits.

PubMed

Takagi, Daisuke; Palacci, Jérémie; Braunschweig, Adam B; Shelley, Michael J; Zhang, Jun

2014-03-21

Self-propelled particles can exhibit surprising non-equilibrium behaviors, and how they interact with obstacles or boundaries remains an important open problem. Here we show that chemically propelled micro-rods can be captured, with little change in their speed, into close orbits around solid spheres resting on or near a horizontal plane. We show that this interaction between sphere and particle is short-range, occurring even for spheres smaller than the particle length, and for a variety of sphere materials. We consider a simple model, based on lubrication theory, of a force- and torque-free swimmer driven by a surface slip (the phoretic propulsion mechanism) and moving near a solid surface. The model demonstrates capture, or movement towards the surface, and yields speeds independent of distance. This study reveals the crucial aspects of activity–driven interactions of self-propelled particles with passive objects, and brings into question the use of colloidal tracers as probes of active matter.

Compact and controlled microfluidic mixing and biological particle capture

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ballard, Matthew; Owen, Drew; Mills, Zachary Grant; Hesketh, Peter J.; Alexeev, Alexander

2016-11-01

We use three-dimensional simulations and experiments to develop a multifunctional microfluidic device that performs rapid and controllable microfluidic mixing and specific particle capture. Our device uses a compact microfluidic channel decorated with magnetic features. A rotating magnetic field precisely controls individual magnetic microbeads orbiting around the features, enabling effective continuous-flow mixing of fluid streams over a compact mixing region. We use computer simulations to elucidate the underlying physical mechanisms that lead to effective mixing and compare them with experimental mixing results. We study the effect of various system parameters on microfluidic mixing to design an efficient micromixer. We also experimentally and numerically demonstrate that orbiting microbeads can effectively capture particles transported by the fluid, which has major implications in pre-concentration and detection of biological particles including various cells and bacteria, with applications in areas such as point-of-care diagnostics, biohazard detection, and food safety. Support from NSF and USDA is gratefully acknowledged.

Toward a comprehensive theory for the sweeping of trapped radiation by inert orbiting matter

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fillius, Walker

1988-01-01

There is a need to calculate loss rates when trapped Van Allen radiation encounters inert orbiting material such as planetary rings and satellites. An analytic expression for the probability of a hit in a bounce encounter is available for all cases where the absorber is spherical and the particles are gyrotropically distributed on a cylindrical flux tube. The hit probability is a function of the particle's pitch angle, the size of the absorber, and the distance between flux tube and absorber, when distances are scaled to the gyroradius of a particle moving perpendicular to the magnetic field. Using this expression, hit probabilities have been computed in drift encounters for all regimes of particle energies and absorber sizes. This technique generalizes the approach to sweeping lifetimes, and is particularly suitable for attacking the inverse problem, where one is given a sweeping signature and wants to deduce the properties of the absorber(s).

MULPEX: A compact multi-layered polymer foil collector for micrometeoroids and orbital debris

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kearsley, A. T.; Graham, G. A.; Burchell, M. J.; Taylor, E. A.; Drolshagen, G.; Chater, R. J.; McPhail, D.

Detailed studies of preserved hypervelocity impact residues on spacecraft multi-layer insulation foils have yielded important information about the flux of small particles from different sources in low-Earth orbit (LEO). We have extended our earlier research on impacts occurring in LEO to design and testing of a compact capture device. MUlti- Layer Polymer EXperiment (MULPEX) is simple, cheap to build, lightweight, of no power demand, easy to deploy, and optimised for the efficient collection of impact residue for analysis on return to Earth. The capture medium is a stack of very thin (8 and 40 μm) polyimide foils, supported on poly-tetrafluoroethylene sheet frames, surrounded by a protective aluminium casing. The uppermost foil has a very thin metallic coating for thermal protection and resistance to atomic oxygen and ultra-violet exposure. The casing provides a simple detachable interface for deployment on the spacecraft, facing into the desired direction for particle collection. On return to the laboratory, the stacked foils are separated for examination in a variable pressure scanning electron microscope, without need for surface coating. Analysis of impact residue is performed using energy dispersive X-ray spectrometers. Our laboratory experiments, utilising buck-shot firings of analogues to micrometeoroids (35-38 μm olivine) and space debris (4 μm alumina and 1 mm stainless steel) in a light gas gun, have shown that impact residue is abundant within the foil layers, and preserves a record of the impacting particle, whether of micrometer or millimetre dimensions. Penetrations of the top foil are easily recognised, and act as a proxy for dimensions of the penetrating particle. Impact may cause disruption and melting, but some residue retains sufficient crystallographic structure to show clear Raman lines, diagnostic of the original mineral.

MULPEX: a compact multi-layered polymer foil collector for micrometeoroids and orbital debris.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kearsley, A. T.; Graham, G. A.; Burchell, M. J.; Taylor, E. A.; Drolshagen, G.; Chater, R. J.; McPhail, D.

Detailed studies of preserved hypervelocity impact residues on spacecraft multi-layer insulation foils have yielded important information about the flux of small particles from different sources in low-Earth orbit (LEO). We have extended our earlier research on impacts occurring in LEO to design and testing of a compact capture device. MULPEX (MUlti-Layer Polymer EXperiment) is simple, cheap to build, lightweight, of no power demand, easy to deploy, and optimised for the efficient collection of impact residue for analysis on return to Earth. The capture medium is a stack of very thin (8 micron and 40 micron) polyimide foils, supported on poly-tetrafluoroethylene sheet frames, surrounded by a protective aluminium casing. The uppermost foil has a very thin metallic coating for thermal protection and resistance to atomic oxygen and ultra-violet exposure. The casing provides a simple detachable interface for deployment on the spacecraft, facing into the desired direction for particle collection. On return to the laboratory, the stacked foils are separated for examination in a variable pressure scanning electron microscope, without need for surface coating. Analysis of impact residue is performed using energy dispersive X-ray spectrometers. Our laboratory experiments, utilising buck-shot firings of analogues to micrometeoroids (35-38 micron olivine) and space debris (4 micron alumina and 1mm stainless steel) in a light gas gun, have shown that impact residue is abundant within the foil layers, and preserves a record of the impacting particle, whether of micrometer or millimetre dimensions. Penetrations of the top foil are easily recognised, and act as a proxy for dimensions of the penetrating particle. Impact may cause disruption and melting, but some residue retains sufficient crystallographic structure to show clear Raman lines, diagnostic of the original mineral.

LIGKA: A linear gyrokinetic code for the description of background kinetic and fast particle effects on the MHD stability in tokamaks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lauber, Ph.; Günter, S.; Könies, A.; Pinches, S. D.

2007-09-01

In a plasma with a population of super-thermal particles generated by heating or fusion processes, kinetic effects can lead to the additional destabilisation of MHD modes or even to additional energetic particle modes. In order to describe these modes, a new linear gyrokinetic MHD code has been developed and tested, LIGKA (linear gyrokinetic shear Alfvén physics) [Ph. Lauber, Linear gyrokinetic description of fast particle effects on the MHD stability in tokamaks, Ph.D. Thesis, TU München, 2003; Ph. Lauber, S. Günter, S.D. Pinches, Phys. Plasmas 12 (2005) 122501], based on a gyrokinetic model [H. Qin, Gyrokinetic theory and computational methods for electromagnetic perturbations in tokamaks, Ph.D. Thesis, Princeton University, 1998]. A finite Larmor radius expansion together with the construction of some fluid moments and specification to the shear Alfvén regime results in a self-consistent, electromagnetic, non-perturbative model, that allows not only for growing or damped eigenvalues but also for a change in mode-structure of the magnetic perturbation due to the energetic particles and background kinetic effects. Compared to previous implementations [H. Qin, mentioned above], this model is coded in a more general and comprehensive way. LIGKA uses a Fourier decomposition in the poloidal coordinate and a finite element discretisation in the radial direction. Both analytical and numerical equilibria can be treated. Integration over the unperturbed particle orbits is performed with the drift-kinetic HAGIS code [S.D. Pinches, Ph.D. Thesis, The University of Nottingham, 1996; S.D. Pinches et al., CPC 111 (1998) 131] which accurately describes the particles' trajectories. This allows finite-banana-width effects to be implemented in a rigorous way since the linear formulation of the model allows the exchange of the unperturbed orbit integration and the discretisation of the perturbed potentials in the radial direction. Successful benchmarks for toroidal Alfvén eigenmodes (TAEs) and kinetic Alfvén waves (KAWs) with analytical results, ideal MHD codes, drift-kinetic codes and other codes based on kinetic models are reported.

Collisional dynamics of perturbed particle disks in the solar system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Roberts, W. W.; Stewart, G. R.

1987-01-01

Investigations of the collisional evolution of particulate disks subject to the gravitational perturbation of a more massive particle orbiting within the disk are underway. Both numerical N-body simulations using a novel collision algorithm and analytical kinetic theory are being employed to extend our understanding of perturbed disks in planetary rings and during the formation of the solar system. Particular problems proposed for investigation are: (1) The development and testing of general criteria for a small moonlet to clear a gap and produce observable morphological features in planetary rings; (2) The development of detailed models of collisional damping of the wavy edges observed on the Encke division of Saturn's A ring; and (3) The determination of the extent of runaway growth of the few largest planetesimals during the early stages of planetary accretion.

Particle acceleration at shocks with surface ripples

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Decker, R. B.

1990-01-01

The present treatment of superthermal-ion acceleration on the surface of a fast-mode hydromagnetic shock gives attention to (1) small-amplitude surface ripples characterized by width L and amplitude A that are large relative to the energetic-ion gyroradius, and (2) shocks which are on average quasi-perpendicular. An investigation is made of the effects of the confinement, evolving geometry, and finite shock curvature associated with the ripple, by integrating along the orbits of the proton test particles. As an upstream magnetic field line convects through the surface ripple, it intersects the shock at two points, thereby forming a temporary magnetic trap. Flux-line profiles and angular distributions in a given ripple differ substantially, depending on the path it takes through the ripple and its distance from the shock.

Collision of an innermost stable circular orbit particle around a Kerr black hole

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Harada, Tomohiro; Kimura, Masashi

2011-01-01

We derive a general formula for the center-of-mass (CM) energy for the near-horizon collision of two particles of the same rest mass on the equatorial plane around a Kerr black hole. We then apply this formula to a particle which plunges from the innermost stable circular orbit (ISCO) and collides with another particle near the horizon. It is found that the maximum value of the CM energy Ecm is given by Ecm/(2m0)≃1.40/1-a*24 for a nearly maximally rotating black hole, where m0 is the rest mass of each particle and a* is the nondimensional Kerr parameter. This coincides with the known upper bound for a particle which begins at rest at infinity within a factor of 2. Moreover, we also consider the collision of a particle orbiting the ISCO with another particle on the ISCO and find that the maximum CM energy is then given by Ecm/(2m0)≃1.77/1-a*26. In view of the astrophysical significance of the ISCO, this result implies that particles can collide around a rotating black hole with an arbitrarily high CM energy without any artificial fine-tuning in an astrophysical context if we can take the maximal limit of the black hole spin or a*→1. On the other hand, even if we take Thorne’s bound on the spin parameter into account, highly or moderately relativistic collisions are expected to occur quite naturally, for Ecm/(2m0) takes 6.95 (maximum) and 3.86 (generic) near the horizon and 4.11 (maximum) and 2.43 (generic) on the ISCO for a*=0.998. This implies that high-velocity collisions of compact objects are naturally expected around a rapidly rotating supermassive black hole. Implications to accretion flows onto a rapidly rotating black hole are also discussed.

Enhanced localized energetic ion losses resulting from first-orbit linear and non-linear interactions with Alfvén eigenmodes in DIII-D

DOE PAGES

Chen, Xi; Heidbrink, William W.; Kramer, Gerrit J.; ...

2014-08-04

Two key insights into interactions between Alfvén eigenmodes (AEs) and energetic particles in the plasma core are gained from measurements and modeling of first-orbit beam-ion loss in DIII-D. First, the neutral beam-ion first-orbit losses are enhanced by AEs and a single AE can cause large fast-ion displacement. The coherent losses are from born trapped full energy beam-ions being non-resonantly scattered by AEs onto loss orbits within their first poloidal transit. The loss amplitudes scale linearly with the mode amplitude but the slope is different for different modes. The radial displacement of fast-ions by individual AEs can be directly inferred frommore » the measurements. Second, oscillations in the beam-ion first-orbit losses are observed at the sum, difference, and harmonic frequencies of two independent AEs. These oscillations are not plasma modes and are absent in magnetic, density, and temperature fluctuations. The origin of the non-linearity as a wave-particle coupling is confirmed through bi-coherence analysis, which is clearly observed because the coherences are preserved by the first-orbit loss mechanism. Finally, an analytic model and full orbit simulations show that the non-linear features seen in the loss signal can be explained by a non-linear interaction between the fast ions and the two independent AEs.« less

Enhanced localized energetic ion losses resulting from first-orbit linear and non-linear interactions with Alfvén eigenmodes in DIII-D

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Chen, X.; General Atomics, P.O. Box 85608, San Diego, California 92186; Heidbrink, W. W.

2014-08-15

Two key insights into interactions between Alfvén eigenmodes (AEs) and energetic particles in the plasma core are gained from measurements and modeling of first-orbit beam-ion loss in DIII-D. First, the neutral beam-ion first-orbit losses are enhanced by AEs and a single AE can cause large fast-ion displacement. The coherent losses are from born trapped full energy beam-ions being non-resonantly scattered by AEs onto loss orbits within their first poloidal transit. The loss amplitudes scale linearly with the mode amplitude but the slope is different for different modes. The radial displacement of fast-ions by individual AEs can be directly inferred frommore » the measurements. Second, oscillations in the beam-ion first-orbit losses are observed at the sum, difference, and harmonic frequencies of two independent AEs. These oscillations are not plasma modes and are absent in magnetic, density, and temperature fluctuations. The origin of the non-linearity as a wave-particle coupling is confirmed through bi-coherence analysis, which is clearly observed because the coherences are preserved by the first-orbit loss mechanism. An analytic model and full orbit simulations show that the non-linear features seen in the loss signal can be explained by a non-linear interaction between the fast ions and the two independent AEs.« less

Generic effective source for scalar self-force calculations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wardell, Barry; Vega, Ian; Thornburg, Jonathan; Diener, Peter

2012-05-01

A leading approach to the modeling of extreme mass ratio inspirals involves the treatment of the smaller mass as a point particle and the computation of a regularized self-force acting on that particle. In turn, this computation requires knowledge of the regularized retarded field generated by the particle. A direct calculation of this regularized field may be achieved by replacing the point particle with an effective source and solving directly a wave equation for the regularized field. This has the advantage that all quantities are finite and require no further regularization. In this work, we present a method for computing an effective source which is finite and continuous everywhere, and which is valid for a scalar point particle in arbitrary geodesic motion in an arbitrary background spacetime. We explain in detail various technical and practical considerations that underlie its use in several numerical self-force calculations. We consider as examples the cases of a particle in a circular orbit about Schwarzschild and Kerr black holes, and also the case of a particle following a generic timelike geodesic about a highly spinning Kerr black hole. We provide numerical C code for computing an effective source for various orbital configurations about Schwarzschild and Kerr black holes.

Migration of Dust Particles from Comet 2P Encke

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ipatov, S. I.

2003-01-01

We investigated the migration of dust particles under the gravitational influence of all planets (except for Pluto), radiation pressure, Poynting-Robertson drag and solar wind drag for Beta equal to 0.002, 0.004, 0.01, 0.05, 0.1, 0.2, and 0.4. For silicate particles such values of Beta correspond to diameters equal to about 200, 100, 40, 9, 4, 2, and 1 microns, respectively. We used the Bulirsh-Stoer method of integration, and the relative error per integration step was taken to be less than lo-'. Initial orbits of the particles were close to the orbit of Comet 2P Encke. We considered initial particles near perihelion (runs denoted as Delta tsub o, = 0), near aphelion (Delta tsub o, = 0.5), and also studied their initial positions when the comet moved for Pa/4 after perihelion passage (such runs are denoted as Delta tsub o, =i 0.25), where Pa is the period of the comet. Variations in time T when perihelion was passed was varied with a step 0.1 day for series 'S' and with a step 1 day for series 'L'. For each Beta we considered N = 101 particles for "S" runs and 150 particles for "L" runs.

Energetic particle diffusion and the A ring: Revisiting noise from Cassini's orbital insertion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Crary, Frank; Kollmann, Peter

2016-04-01

Immediately following Cassini's orbital insertion on July 1, 2004 the Cassini spacecraft passed over the Saturn's main rings. In anticipation of the final phase of the Cassini mission, with orbits inside and over the main rings, we have re-examined data from the CAPS instrument taken during the orbital insertion period. One previously-neglected feature is the detector noise in the ELS sensor. This has proven to be a sensitive, relative measure of omni-directional energetic (>5 MeV) electron flux. The data are obtained at 31.25 ms time resolution, corresponding to 0.46 km spatial resolution. Over the A ring, the energetic electron flux was essentially zero (~3 counts per sample.) At the edge of the A ring, this dramatically increased to approximately 2500 counts per sample in the space of 17.5 km. We use these results to derive the energetic particle diffusion rate and the absorption (optical depth) of the ring.

Plasmapause Location: Model Compared to Van Allen Probes Observations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goldstein, J.; Baker, D. N.; Blake, J. B.; Funsten, H. O.; Jaynes, A. N.; Malaspina, D.; Reeves, G. D.; Spence, H. E.; Thaller, S. A.; Wygant, J. R.

2017-12-01

We study the evolution of the plasmapause for a multi-year period (January 2013 to January 2017) spanning much of the Van Allen Probes mission, by comparing the output of a plasmapause test particle simulation with the spacecraft potential measured by the Electric Field and Waves (EFW) suite. Consistent with previous results, we quantify the accuracy of the model by measuring the radial difference between real and virtual satellite encounters with the plasmapause boundary. We find that model performance is better on the nightside and during active periods, and worse on the duskside/dayside and during extended quiet intervals. For two case studies, we compare the plasmapause with the locations of relativistic electron flux peaks. For global context we use the test particle plasmaspheric index Fp [Goldstein et al., 2016], the fraction of a circular drift orbit inside the plasmapause, as a proxy for the globally integrated opportunity for losses in cold plasma. We find an inverse relationship between relativistic flux and the Fp index, consistent with increased likelihood of losses in cold plasma.

Dynamics of the Trans-Neptune Region: Apsidal Waves in the Kuiper Belt

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ward, William R.; Hahn, Joseph M.

1998-01-01

The role of apsidal density waves propagating in a primordial trans-Neptune disk (i.e., Kuiper belt) is investigated. It is shown that Neptune launches apsidal waves at its secular resonance near 40 AU that propagate radially outward, deeper into the particle disk. The wavelength of apsidal waves is considerably longer than waves that might be launched at Lindblad resonances, because the pattern speed, g(sub s), resulting from the apsis precession of Neptune is much slower than its mean motion, Omega(sub s). If the early Kuiper belt had a sufficient surface density, sigma, the disk's wave response to Neptune's secular perturbation would have spread the disturbing torque radially over a collective scale lambda(sub *) approx. = r(2(mu)(sub d)Omega/ absolute value of r dg/dr)(sup 1/2), where mu(sub d)equivalent pi(sigma)r(exp 2)/(1 solar mass) and Omega(r) and g(r) are respectively the mean motion and precession frequency of the disk particles. This results in considerably smaller eccentricities at resonance than had the disk particles been treated as noninteracting test particles. Consequently, particles are less apt to be excited into planet-crossing orbits, implying that the erosion timescales reported by earlier test-particle simulations of the Kuiper belt may be underestimated. It is also shown that the torque the disk exerts upon the planet (due to its gravitational attraction for the disk's spiral wave pattern) damps the planet's eccentricity and further inhibits the planet's ability to erode the disk. Key words: celestial mechanics, stellar dynamics - comets: general minor planets, asteroids

The Structure of the Distant Kuiper Belt in a Nice Model Scenario

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Pike, R. E.; Shankman, C. J.; Kavelaars, J. J.

2017-03-01

This work explores the orbital distribution of minor bodies in the outer Solar System emplaced as a result of a Nice model migration from the simulations of Brasser and Morbidelli. This planetary migration scatters a planetesimal disk from between 29 and 34 au and emplaces a population of objects into the Kuiper Belt region. From the 2:1 Neptune resonance and outward, the test particles analyzed populate the outer resonances with orbital distributions consistent with trans-Neptunian object (TNO) detections in semimajor axis, inclination, and eccentricity, while capture into the closest resonances is too efficient. The relative populations of the simulated scatteringmore » objects and resonant objects in the 3:1 and 4:1 resonances are also consistent with observed populations based on debiased TNO surveys, but the 5:1 resonance is severely underpopulated compared to population estimates from survey results. Scattering emplacement results in the expected orbital distribution for the majority of the TNO populations; however, the origin of the large observed population in the 5:1 resonance remains unexplained.« less

Environment of Space Interactions with Space Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2004-01-01

The primary product of this research project was a computer program named SAVANT. This program uses the Displacement Damage Dose (DDD) method of calculating radiation damage to solar cells. This calculation method was developed at the Naval Research Laboratory, and uses fundamental physical properties of the solar cell materials to predict radiation damage to the solar cells. This means that fewer experimental measurements are required to characterize the radiation damage to the cells, which results in a substantial cost savings to qualify solar cells for orbital missions. In addition, the DDD method makes it easier to characterize cells that are already being used, but have not been fully tested using the older technique of characterizing radiation damage. The computer program combines an orbit generator with NASA's AP-8 and AE-8 models of trapped protons and electrons. This allows the user to specify an orbit, and the program will calculate how the spacecraft moves during the mission, and the radiation environment that it encounters. With the spectrum of the particles, the program calculates how they would slow down while traversing the coverglass, and provides a slowed-down spectrum.

New schemes for internally contracted multi-reference configuration interaction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Yubin; Han, Huixian; Lei, Yibo; Suo, Bingbing; Zhu, Haiyan; Song, Qi; Wen, Zhenyi

2014-10-01

In this work we present a new internally contracted multi-reference configuration interaction (MRCI) scheme by applying the graphical unitary group approach and the hole-particle symmetry. The latter allows a Distinct Row Table (DRT) to split into a number of sub-DRTs in the active space. In the new scheme a contraction is defined as a linear combination of arcs within a sub-DRT, and connected to the head and tail of the DRT through up-steps and down-steps to generate internally contracted configuration functions. The new scheme deals with the closed-shell (hole) orbitals and external orbitals in the same manner and thus greatly simplifies calculations of coupling coefficients and CI matrix elements. As a result, the number of internal orbitals is no longer a bottleneck of MRCI calculations. The validity and efficiency of the new ic-MRCI code are tested by comparing with the corresponding WK code of the MOLPRO package. The energies obtained from the two codes are essentially identical, and the computational efficiencies of the two codes have their own advantages.

RHIC BPM system average orbit calculations

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Michnoff,R.; Cerniglia, P.; Degen, C.

2009-05-04

RHIC beam position monitor (BPM) system average orbit was originally calculated by averaging positions of 10000 consecutive turns for a single selected bunch. Known perturbations in RHIC particle trajectories, with multiple frequencies around 10 Hz, contribute to observed average orbit fluctuations. In 2006, the number of turns for average orbit calculations was made programmable; this was used to explore averaging over single periods near 10 Hz. Although this has provided an average orbit signal quality improvement, an average over many periods would further improve the accuracy of the measured closed orbit. A new continuous average orbit calculation was developed justmore » prior to the 2009 RHIC run and was made operational in March 2009. This paper discusses the new algorithm and performance with beam.« less

Micrometeoroid Impacts and Optical Scatter in Space Environment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Heaney, James B.; Wang, Liqin L.; He, Charles C.

2010-01-01

This paper discusses the results of an attempt to use laboratory test data and empirically derived models to quantify the degree of surface damage and associated light scattering that might be expected from hypervelocity particle impacts in space environment. Published descriptions of the interplanetary dust environment were used as the sources of particle mass, size, and velocity estimates. Micrometeoroid sizes are predicted to be predominantly in the mass range 10(exp -5) g or less, with most having diameters near 1 micrometer, but some larger than I20 micrometers, with velocities near 20 kilometers per second. In a laboratory test, latex ( p = 1.1. grams per cubic centimeter) and iron (7.9 grams per cubic centimeter) particles with diameters ranging from 0.75 micrometers to 1.60 micrometers and with velocities ranging from 2.0 kilometers per second to 18.5 kilometers per second, were shot at a Be substrate mirror that had a dielectric coated gold reflecting surface. Scanning electron and atomic force microscopy were used to measure crater dimensions that were then associated with particle impact energies. These data were then fitted to empirical models derived from solar cell and other spacecraft surface components returned from orbit, as well as studies of impact craters studied on glassy materials returned from the lunar surface, to establish a link between particle energy and impact crater dimension. From these data, an estimate of total expected damaged area was computed and this result produced an estimate of expected surface scatter from the modeled environment.

Exploring potential Pluto-generated neutral tori

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smith, Howard T.; Hill, Matthew; KollMann, Peter; McHutt, Ralph

2015-11-01

The NASA New Horizons mission to Pluto is providing unprecedented insight into this mysterious outer solar system body. Escaping molecular nitrogen is of particular interest and possibly analogous to similar features observed at moons of Saturn and Jupiter. Such escaping N2 has the potential of creating molecular nitrogen and N (as a result of molecular dissociation) tori or partial toroidal extended particle distributions. The presence of these features would present the first confirmation of an extended toroidal neutral feature on a planetary scale in our solar system. While escape velocities are anticipated to be lower than those at Enceladus, Io or even Europa, particle lifetimes are much longer in Pluto’s orbit because as a result of much weaker solar interaction processes along Pluto’s orbit (on the order of tens of years). Thus, with a ~248 year orbit, Pluto may in fact be generating an extended toroidal feature along it orbit.For this work, we modify and apply our 3-D Monte Carlo neutral torus model (previously used at Saturn, Jupiter and Mercury) to study/analyze the theoretical possibility and scope of potential Pluto-generated neutral tori. Our model injects weighted particles and tracks their trajectories under the influence of all gravitational fields with interactions with other particles, solar photons and Pluto collisions. We present anticipated N2 and N tori based on current estimates of source characterization and environmental conditions. We also present an analysis of sensitivity to assumed initial conditions. Such results can provide insight into the Pluto system as well as valuable interpretation of New Horizon’s observational data.

Collision Index and Stability of Elliptic Relative Equilibria in Planar {n}-body Problem

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hu, Xijun; Ou, Yuwei

2016-12-01

It is well known that a planar central configuration of the {n}-body problem gives rise to solutions where each particle moves on a specific Keplerian orbit while the totality of the particles move on a homographic motion. When the eccentricity {e} of the Keplerian orbit belongs in {[0,1)}, following Meyer and Schmidt, we call such solutions elliptic relative equilibria (shortly, ERE). In order to study the linear stability of ERE in the near-collision case, namely when {1-e} is small enough, we introduce the collision index for planar central configurations. The collision index is a Maslov-type index for heteroclinic orbits and orbits parametrised by half-lines that, according to the definition given by Hu and Portaluri (An index theory for unbounded motions of Hamiltonian systems, Hu and Portaluri (2015, preprint)), we shall refer to as half-clinic orbits and whose definition in this context, is essentially based on a blow up technique in the case {e=1}. We get the fundamental properties of collision index and approximation theorems. As applications, we give some new hyperbolic criteria and prove that, generically, the ERE of minimal central configurations are hyperbolic in the near-collision case, and we give a detailed analysis of Euler collinear orbits in the near-collision case.

Natural occupation numbers: when do they vanish?

PubMed

Giesbertz, K J H; van Leeuwen, R

2013-09-14

The non-vanishing of the natural orbital (NO) occupation numbers of the one-particle density matrix of many-body systems has important consequences for the existence of a density matrix-potential mapping for nonlocal potentials in reduced density matrix functional theory and for the validity of the extended Koopmans' theorem. On the basis of Weyl's theorem we give a connection between the differentiability properties of the ground state wavefunction and the rate at which the natural occupations approach zero when ordered as a descending series. We show, in particular, that the presence of a Coulomb cusp in the wavefunction leads, in general, to a power law decay of the natural occupations, whereas infinitely differentiable wavefunctions typically have natural occupations that decay exponentially. We analyze for a number of explicit examples of two-particle systems that in case the wavefunction is non-analytic at its spatial diagonal (for instance, due to the presence of a Coulomb cusp) the natural orbital occupations are non-vanishing. We further derive a more general criterium for the non-vanishing of NO occupations for two-particle wavefunctions with a certain separability structure. On the basis of this criterium we show that for a two-particle system of harmonically confined electrons with a Coulombic interaction (the so-called Hookium) the natural orbital occupations never vanish.

Saturn's Hot Spot

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2005-01-01

This is the sharpest image of Saturn's temperature emissions taken from the ground; it is a mosaic of 35 individual exposures made at the W.M. Keck I Observatory, Mauna Kea, Hawaii on Feb. 4, 2004.

The images to create this mosaic were taken with infrared radiation. The mosaic was taken at a wavelength near 17.65 microns and is sensitive to temperatures in Saturn's upper troposphere. The prominent hot spot at the bottom of the image is right at Saturn's south pole. The warming of the southern hemisphere was expected, as Saturn was just past southern summer solstice, but the abrupt changes in temperature with latitude were not expected. The tropospheric temperature increases toward the pole abruptly near 70 degrees latitude from 88 to 89 Kelvin (-301 to -299 degrees Fahrenheit) and then to 91 Kelvin (-296 degrees Fahrenheit) right at the pole.

Ring particles are not at a uniform temperature everywhere in their orbit around Saturn. The ring particles are orbiting clockwise in this image. Particles are coldest just after having cooled down in Saturn's shadow (lower left). As they orbit Saturn, the particles increase in temperature up to a maximum (lower right) just before passing behind Saturn again in shadow.

A small section of the ring image is missing because of incomplete mosaic coverage during the observing sequence.

Workshop on Particle Capture, Recovery and Velocity/Trajectory Measurement Technologies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zolensky, Michael E. (Editor)

1994-01-01

A workshop on particle capture, recovery, and velocity/trajectory measurement technologies was held. The primary areas covered were: (1) parent-daughter orbit divergence; (2) trajectory sensing; (3) capture medium development: laboratory experiments, and (4) future flight opportunities.

Effect of an external magnetic field on particle acceleration by a rotating black hole surrounded with quintessential energy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shaymatov, Sanjar; Ahmedov, Bobomurat; Stuchlík, Zdeněk; Abdujabbarov, Ahmadjon

We investigate particle motion and collisions in the vicinity of rotating black holes immersed in combined cosmological quintessential scalar field and external magnetic field. The quintessential dark-energy field governing the spacetime structure is characterized by the quintessential state parameter ωq ∈ (‑1; ‑1/3) characterizing its equation of state, and the quintessential field-intensity parameter c determining the static radius where the black hole attraction is just balanced by the quintessential repulsion. The magnetic field is assumed to be test field that is uniform close to the static radius, where the spacetime is nearly flat, being characterized by strength B there. Deformations of the test magnetic field in vicinity of the black hole, caused by the Ricci non-flat spacetime structure are determined. General expression of the center-of-mass energy of the colliding charged or uncharged particles near the black hole is given and discussed in several special cases. In the case of nonrotating black holes, we discuss collisions of two particles freely falling from vicinity of the static radius, or one such a particle colliding with charged particle revolving at the innermost stable circular orbit. In the case of rotating black holes, we discuss briefly particles falling in the equatorial plane and colliding in close vicinity of the black hole horizon, concentrating attention to the interplay of the effects of the quintessential field and the external magnetic field. We demonstrate that the ultra-high center-of-mass energy can be obtained for black holes placed in an external magnetic field for an infinitesimally small quintessential field-intensity parameter c; the center-of-mass energy decreases if the quintessential field-intensity parameter c increases.

A Survey of Radiation Measurements Made Aboard Russian Spacecraft in Low-Earth Orbit

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Benton, E. R.; Benton, E. V.

1999-01-01

The accurate prediction of ionizing radiation exposure in low-Earth orbit is necessary in order to minimize risks to astronauts, spacecraft and instrumentation. To this end, models of the radiation environment, the AP-8 trapped proton model and the AE-8 trapped electron model, have been developed for use by spacecraft designers and mission planners. It has been widely acknowledged for some time now by the space radiation community that these models possess some major shortcomings. Both models cover only a limited trapped particle energy region and predictions at low altitudes are extrapolated from higher altitude data. With the launch of the first components of the International Space Station with numerous constellations of low-Earth orbit communications satellites now being planned and deployed, the inadequacies of these trapped particle models need to be addressed. Efforts are now underway both in the U.S. and in Europe to refine the AP-8 and AE-8 trapped particle models. This report is an attempt to collect a significant fraction of data for use in validation of trapped radiation models at low altitudes.

A Study of Particle Acceleration Mechanisms and the Dynamics of the Outer Trapping Region by Observations at Synchronous Orbit: a Summary of Scientific Results

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Erickson, K. N.

1980-01-01

The research concerning the ATS-6 synchronous orbit satellite is reported. The completed research and results are discussed along with the research in progress. Abstracts of published papers are included.

Energetic Particles: From Sun to Heliosphere - and vice versa

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wimmer-Schweingruber, R. F.; Rodriguez-Pacheco, J.; Boden, S.; Boettcher, S. I.; Cernuda, I.; Dresing, N.; Drews, C.; Droege, W.; Elftmann, R.; Espinosa Lara, F.; Gomez-Herrero, R.; Heber, B.; Ho, G. C.; Klassen, A.; Kulkarni, S. R.; Mann, G. J.; Martin-Garcia, C.; Mason, G. M.; Panitzsch, L.; Prieto, M.; Sanchez, S.; Steinhagen, J.; Tammen, J.; Terasa, C.; Yu, J.

2016-12-01

Energetic particles in the heliosphere can be measured at their elevated energetic status after three processes: injection, acceleration, and transport. Suprathermal seed particles have speeds well above the fast magnetosonic speed in the solar wind frame of reference and can vary from location to location and within the solar activity cycle. Acceleration sites include reconnecting current sheets in solar flares or magnetspheric boundaries, shocks in the solar corona, heliosphere and a planetary obstacles, as well as planetary magnetospheres. Once accelerated, particles are transported from the acceleration site into and through the heliosphere. Thus, by investigating properties of energetic particles such as their composition, energy spectra, pitch-angle distribution, etc. one can attempt to distinguish their origin or injection and acceleration site. This in turn allows us to better understand transport effects whose underlying microphysics is also a key ingredient in the acceleration of particles. In this presentation we will present some clear examples which link energetic particles from their observing site to their source locations. These include Jupiter electrons, singly-charged He ions from CIRs, and 3He from solar flares. We will compare these examples with the measurement capabilities of the Energetic Particle Detector (EPD) on Solar Orbiter and consider implications for the key science goal of Solar Orbiter and Solar Proble Plus - How the Sun creates and controls the heliosphere.

Energetic Particles: From Sun to Heliosphere - and vice versa

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wimmer-Schweingruber, R. F.; Rodriguez-Pacheco, J.; Boden, S.; Boettcher, S. I.; Cernuda, I.; Dresing, N.; Drews, C.; Droege, W.; Espinosa Lara, F.; Gomez-Herrero, R.; Heber, B.; Ho, G. C.; Klassen, A.; Kulkarni, S. R.; Mann, G. J.; Martin-Garcia, C.; Mason, G. M.; Panitzsch, L.; Prieto, M.; Sanchez, S.; Terasa, C.; Eldrum, S.

2017-12-01

Energetic particles in the heliosphere can be measured at their elevated energetic status after three processes: injection, acceleration, and transport. Suprathermal seed particles have speeds well above the fast magnetosonic speed in the solar wind frame of reference and can vary from location to location and within the solar activity cycle. Acceleration sites include reconnecting current sheets in solar flares or magnetspheric boundaries, shocks in the solar corona, heliosphere and a planetary obstacles, as well as planetary magnetospheres. Once accelerated, particles are transported from the acceleration site into and through the heliosphere. Thus, by investigating properties of energetic particles such as their composition, energy spectra, pitch-angle distribution, etc. one can attempt to distinguish their origin or injection and acceleration site. This in turn allows us to better understand transport effects whose underlying microphysics is also a key ingredient in the acceleration of particles. In this presentation we will present some clear examples which link energetic particles from their observing site to their source locations. These include Jupiter electrons, singly-charged He ions from CIRs, and 3He from solar flares. We will compare these examples with the measurement capabilities of the Energetic Particle Detector (EPD) on Solar Orbiter and consider implications for the key science goal of Solar Orbiter and Solar Proble Plus - How the Sun creates and controls the heliosphere.

Does Newton’s gravitational constant vary sinusoidally with time? Orbital motions say no

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Iorio, Lorenzo

2016-02-01

A sinusoidally time-varying pattern of the values of Newton’s constant of gravitation G measured in Earth-based laboratories over the last few decades has been recently reported in the literature. We put to the test the hypothesis that the aforementioned harmonic variation may pertain to G itself in a direct and independent way. We numerically integrated the ad hoc modified equations of motion of the major bodies of the Solar System, finding that the orbits of the planets would be altered by an unacceptably larger amount in view of the present-day high accuracy astrometric measurements. In the case of Saturn, its geocentric right ascension α, declination δ and range ρ would be affected by up to {10}4-{10}5 milliarcseconds and 105 km, respectively; the present-day residuals of such observables are as little as about 4 milliarcseconds and 10-1 km, respectively. We analytically calculated the long-term orbital effects induced by the putative harmonic variation of G at hand, finding non-zero rates of change for the semimajor axis a, the eccentricity e and the argument of pericenter ω of a test particle. For the LAGEOS satellite, an orbital increase as large as 3.9 m yr-1 is predicted, in contrast with the observed decay of -0.203 ± 0.035 m yr-1. An anomalous perihelion precession as large as 14 arcseconds per century is implied for Saturn, while latest observations constrain it to the 10-4 arcseconds per century level. The rejection level provided by the Mercury’s perihelion rate is of the same order of magnitude.

Dynamics of optically levitated microparticles in vacuum placed in 2D and 3D optical potentials possessing orbital angular momentum

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arita, Yoshihiko; Mazilu, Michael; Chen, Mingzhou; Vettenburg, Tom; Auñón, Juan M.; Wright, Ewan M.; Dholakia, Kishan

2017-04-01

We demonstrate the transfer of orbital angular momentum to optically levitated microparticles in vacuum [1]. We prepare two-dimensional and three-dimensional optical potentials. In the former case the microparticle is placed within a Laguerre-Gaussian beam and orbits the annular beam profile with increasing angular velocity as the air drag coefficient is reduced. We explore the particle dynamics as a function of the topological charge of the levitating beam. Our results reveal that there is a fundamental limit to the orbital angular momentum that may be transferred to a trapped particle, dependent upon the beam parameters and inertial forces present. This effect was predicted theoretically [2] and can be understood considering the underlying dynamics arising from the link between the magnitude of the azimuthal index and the beam radius [3]. Whilst a Laguerre-Gaussian beam scales in size with azimuthal index `, recently we have created a "perfect" vortex beam whose radial intensity profile and radius are both independent of topological charge [4, 5]. As the Fourier transform of a perfect vortex yields a Bessel beam. Imaging a perfect vortex, with its subsequent propagation thus realises a complex three dimensional optical field. In this scenario we load individual silica microparticles into this field and observe their trajectories. The optical gradient and scattering forces interplay with the inertial and gravitational forces acting on the trapped particle, including the rotational degrees of freedom. As a result the trapped microparticle exhibits a complex three dimensional motion that includes a periodic orbital motion between the Bessel and the perfect vortex beam. We are able to determine the three dimensional optical potential in situ by tracking the particle. This first demonstration of trapping microparticles within a complex three dimensional optical potential in vacuum opens up new possibilities for fundamental studies of many-body dynamics, mesoscopic entanglement [6, 7], and optical binding [8, 9].

Science Results and Lessons Learned from CubeSat: Colorado Space Weather Experiment (CSSWE)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Xinlin

The Relativistic Electron and Proton Telescope integrated little experiment (REPTile) is a loaded-disc collimated solid-state particle telescope, designed, built, tested, and operated by a team of students at the University of Colorado. It is the only science payload onboard the Colorado Student Space Weather Experiment (CSSWE), a 3U CubeSat (10cm x 10cm x 30cm) launched into a low-Earth, 480km x 780km, and highly inclined (65 deg) orbit on 13 September 2012. REPTile measures differential fluxes of 0.58 to >3.8 MeV electrons and 9-40 MeV protons. These measurements, by themselves and in conjunction with other larger missions, are critical to understand the dynamics of these energetic particles. Miniaturizing a power- and mass-hungry particle telescope to return clean measurements from a CubeSat platform is challenging. To overcome these challenges, REPTile underwent a rigorous design and testing phase. Despite the limitations inherent with CubeSats, REPTile to date (still in operation) has returned more than 300 days of valuable science data, more than tripling its nominal mission lifetime of 90 days. The data are clean, as REPTile is able to clearly distinguish between particle species. Important science results using REPTile data, some of which have been published in peer-reviewed journals, will be presented in this presentation.

The effects of heavy ion radiation on digital micromirror device performance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Travinsky, Anton; Vorobiev, Dmitry; Raisanen, Alan D.; Pellish, Jonathan; Ninkov, Zoran; Robberto, Massimo; Heap, Sara

2016-02-01

There is a need for a space-suitable solution to the selection of targets to be observed in astronomical multiobject spectrometers (MOS). A few digital micromirror device (DMD) - based prototype MOS have been developed for use at ground observatories, However their main use will come in deploying a space based mission. The question of DMD performance under in-orbit radiation remains unanswered. DMDs were tested under accelerated heavy-ion radiation (with the control electronics shielded from radiation), with a focus on detection of single-event effects (SEEs) including latch-up events. Testing showed that DMDs are sensitive to non-destructive ion-induced state changes; however, all SEEs were cleared with a soft reset (that is, sending a new pattern to the device). The DMDs did not experience single-event induced permanent damage or functional changes that required a hard reset (power cycle), even at high ion fluences. This suggests that the SSE rate burden will be manageable for a DMD-based instrument when exposed to solar particle fluxes and cosmic rays on orbit.

Practical Applications of Cosmic Ray Science: Spacecraft, Aircraft, Ground-Based Computation and Control Systems, and Human Health and Safety

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Atwell, William; Koontz, Steve; Normand, Eugene

2012-01-01

Three twentieth century technological developments, 1) high altitude commercial and military aircraft; 2) manned and unmanned spacecraft; and 3) increasingly complex and sensitive solid state micro-electronics systems, have driven an ongoing evolution of basic cosmic ray science into a set of practical engineering tools needed to design, test, and verify the safety and reliability of modern complex technological systems. The effects of primary cosmic ray particles and secondary particle showers produced by nuclear reactions with the atmosphere, can determine the design and verification processes (as well as the total dollar cost) for manned and unmanned spacecraft avionics systems. Similar considerations apply to commercial and military aircraft operating at high latitudes and altitudes near the atmospheric Pfotzer maximum. Even ground based computational and controls systems can be negatively affected by secondary particle showers at the Earth s surface, especially if the net target area of the sensitive electronic system components is large. Finally, accumulation of both primary cosmic ray and secondary cosmic ray induced particle shower radiation dose is an important health and safety consideration for commercial or military air crews operating at high altitude/latitude and is also one of the most important factors presently limiting manned space flight operations beyond low-Earth orbit (LEO). In this paper we review the discovery of cosmic ray effects on the performance and reliability of microelectronic systems as well as human health and the development of the engineering and health science tools used to evaluate and mitigate cosmic ray effects in ground-based atmospheric flight, and space flight environments. Ground test methods applied to microelectronic components and systems are used in combinations with radiation transport and reaction codes to predict the performance of microelectronic systems in their operating environments. Similar radiation transport codes are used to evaluate possible human health effects of cosmic ray exposure, however, the health effects are based on worst-case analysis and extrapolation of a very limited human exposure data base combined with some limited experimental animal data. Finally, the limitations on human space operations beyond low-Earth orbit imposed by long term exposure to galactic cosmic rays are discussed.

Natural Hazards of the Space Environment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Evans, Steven W.; Kross, Dennis A. (Technical Monitor)

2000-01-01

Spacecraft in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) are subject to numerous environmental hazards. Here I'll briefly discuss three environment factors that pose acute threats to the survival of spacecraft systems and crew: atmospheric drag, impacts by meteoroids and orbital debris, and ionizing radiation. Atmospheric drag continuously opposes the orbital motion of a satellite, causing the orbit to decay. This decay will lead to reentry if not countered by reboost maneuvers. Orbital debris is a by-product of man's activities in space, and consists of objects ranging in size from miniscule paint chips to spent rocket stages and dead satellites. Ionizing radiation experienced in LEO has several components: geomagnetically trapped protons and electrons (Van Allen belts); energetic solar particles; galactic cosmic rays; and albedo neutrons. These particles can have several types of prompt harmful effects on equipment and crew, from single-event upsets, latchup, and burnout of electronics, to lethal doses to crew.All three types of prompt threat show some dependence on the solar activity cycle. Atmospheric drag mitigation and large debris avoidance require propulsive maneuvers. M/OD and ionizing radiation require some form of shielding for crew and sensitive equipment. Limiting exposure time is a mitigation technique for ionizing radiation and meteor streams.

Comparisons of LET distributions measured in low-earth orbit using tissue-equivalent proportional counters and the position-sensitive silicon-detector telescope (RRMD-III)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Doke, T.; Hayashi, T.; Borak, T. B.; Chatterjee, A. (Principal Investigator)

2001-01-01

Determinations of the LET distribution, phi(L), of charged particles within a spacecraft in low-Earth orbit have been made. One method used a cylindrical tissue-equivalent proportional counter (TEPC), with the assumption that for each measured event, lineal energy, y, is equal to LET and thus phi(L) = phi(y). The other was based on the direct measurement of LETs for individual particles using a charged-particle telescope consisting of position-sensitive silicon detectors called RRMD-III. There were differences of up to a factor of 10 between estimates of phi(L) using the two methods on the same mission. This caused estimates of quality factor to vary by a factor of two between the two methods.

The any particle molecular orbital grid-based Hartree-Fock (APMO-GBHF) approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Posada, Edwin; Moncada, Félix; Reyes, Andrés

2018-02-01

The any particle molecular orbital grid-based Hartree-Fock approach (APMO-GBHF) is proposed as an initial step to perform multi-component post-Hartree-Fock, explicitly correlated, and density functional theory methods without basis set errors. The method has been applied to a number of electronic and multi-species molecular systems. Results of these calculations show that the APMO-GBHF total energies are comparable with those obtained at the APMO-HF complete basis set limit. In addition, results reveal a considerable improvement in the description of the nuclear cusps of electronic and non-electronic densities.

Experimental study of the rearrangements of valence protons and neutrons amongst single-particle orbits during double- β decay in Mo 100

DOE PAGES

Freeman, S. J.; Sharp, D. K.; McAllister, S. A.; ...

2017-11-27

The rearrangements of protons and neutrons amongst the valence single-particle orbitals during double-beta decay of Mo-100 have been determined by measuring cross sections in (d, p), (p, d), (He-3, a), and (He-3, d) reactions on Mo-98,Mo-100 and Ru-100,Ru-102 targets. The deduced nucleon occupancies reveal significant discrepancies when compared with theoretical calculations; the same calculations have previously been used to determine the nuclear matrix element associated with the decay probability of double-beta decay of the Mo-100 system.

Experimental study of the rearrangements of valence protons and neutrons amongst single-particle orbits during double- β decay in Mo 100

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Freeman, S. J.; Sharp, D. K.; McAllister, S. A.

The rearrangements of protons and neutrons amongst the valence single-particle orbitals during double-beta decay of Mo-100 have been determined by measuring cross sections in (d, p), (p, d), (He-3, a), and (He-3, d) reactions on Mo-98,Mo-100 and Ru-100,Ru-102 targets. The deduced nucleon occupancies reveal significant discrepancies when compared with theoretical calculations; the same calculations have previously been used to determine the nuclear matrix element associated with the decay probability of double-beta decay of the Mo-100 system.

Apollo-Soyuz light-flash observations.

PubMed

Budinger, T F; Tobias, C A; Huesman, R H; Upham, F T; Wieskamp, T F; Hoffman, R A

1977-01-01

While dark adapted, two Apollo-Soyuz astronauts saw eighty-two light flash events during a complete 51 degrees orbit which passed near the north magnetic pole and through the South Atlantic Anomaly. The frequency of events at the polar parts of the orbit is 25 times that noted in equatorial latitudes and no increased frequency was noted in the South Atlantic Anomaly at the 225-km altitude. The expected flux of heavy particles at the northern and southern points is 1-2 min-1 per eye, and the efficiency for seeing HZE particles which were below the Cerenkov threshold is 50%.

Communication: Acceleration of coupled cluster singles and doubles via orbital-weighted least-squares tensor hypercontraction

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Parrish, Robert M.; Sherrill, C. David, E-mail: sherrill@gatech.edu; Hohenstein, Edward G.

2014-05-14

We apply orbital-weighted least-squares tensor hypercontraction decomposition of the electron repulsion integrals to accelerate the coupled cluster singles and doubles (CCSD) method. Using accurate and flexible low-rank factorizations of the electron repulsion integral tensor, we are able to reduce the scaling of the most vexing particle-particle ladder term in CCSD from O(N{sup 6}) to O(N{sup 5}), with remarkably low error. Combined with a T{sub 1}-transformed Hamiltonian, this leads to substantial practical accelerations against an optimized density-fitted CCSD implementation.

Experimental study of the rearrangements of valence protons and neutrons amongst single-particle orbits during double-β decay in 100Mo

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Freeman, S. J.; Sharp, D. K.; McAllister, S. A.; Kay, B. P.; Deibel, C. M.; Faestermann, T.; Hertenberger, R.; Mitchell, A. J.; Schiffer, J. P.; Szwec, S. V.; Thomas, J. S.; Wirth, H.-F.

2017-11-01

The rearrangements of protons and neutrons amongst the valence single-particle orbitals during double-β decay of 100Mo have been determined by measuring cross sections in (d ,p ), (p ,d ), (3He,α ), and (3He,d ) reactions on Mo,10098 and Ru,102100 targets. The deduced nucleon occupancies reveal significant discrepancies when compared with theoretical calculations; the same calculations have previously been used to determine the nuclear matrix element associated with the decay probability of double-β decay of the 100Mo system.

Space Shuttle Orbiter Approach and Landing Test: Final Evaluation Report

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1978-01-01

The Approach and Landing Test Program consisted of a series of steps leading to the demonstration of the capability of the Space Shuttle orbiter to safely approach and land under conditions similar to those planned for the final phases of an orbital flight. The tests were conducted with the orbiter mounted on top of a specially modified carrier aircraft. The first step provided airworthiness and performance verification of the carrier aircraft after modification. The second step consisted of three taxi tests and five flight tests with an inert unmanned orbiter. The third step consisted of three mated tests with an active manned orbiter. The fourth step consisted of five flights in which the orbiter was separated from the carrier aircraft. For the final two flights, the orbiter tail cone was replaced by dummy engines to simulate the actual orbital configuration. Landing gear braking and steering tests were accomplished during rollouts following the free flight landings. Ferry testing was integrated into the Approach and Landing Test Program to the extent possible. In addition, four ferry test flights were conducted with the orbiter mated to the carrier aircraft in the ferry configuration after the free-flight tests were completed.

The other side of the safety coin. [aerospace operations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Roth, Gilbert L.

1986-01-01

The development, inspection and testing requirements for successful production and launch and safe operation of spaceflight hardware are discussed. Emphasis is placed on paying acute attention to malfunctions, which could be caused by contaminants (particles in docking rings), insufficiently durable materials (Orbiter brakes), etc. Generic and specific problems which occur in propulsion, avionics, mechanical and computer systems and in configuration management, manufacturing and process control efforts are explored. Case histories of deficiencies found in LOX fuel lines, contaminated hydraulic control systems, the Solar Maximum Mission thermal insulation grommets, are summarized. Thorough inspection and testing procedures and design change recording during manufacture of spacecraft components are identified as requisites for successful space missions.

Cosmic dust and space debris; Proceedings of the Topical Meetings and Workshop 6 of the 26th COSPAR Plenary Meeting, Toulouse, France, June 30-July 11, 1986

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mcdonnell, J. A. M. (Editor); Hanner, M. S. (Editor); Kessler, D. J. (Editor)

1986-01-01

These proceedings encompass topics in the fields of extraterrestrial material samples, IRAS solar system and dust model results, and earth orbit debris. Attention is given to chemical fractionation during high velocity impact, particle deceleration and survival in multiple thin foil targets, and IRAS studies of asteroids, comets, cometary tails, the zodiacal background, and the three-dimensional modeling of interplanetary dust. Also discussed are the evolution of an earth orbit debris cloud, orbital debris due to future space activities, collision probabilities in geosynchronous orbits, and a bitelescopic survey of low altitude orbital debris.

Energetic-particle-induced geodesic acoustic mode.

PubMed

Fu, G Y

2008-10-31

A new energetic particle-induced geodesic acoustic mode (EGAM) is shown to exist. The mode frequency and mode structure are determined nonperturbatively by energetic particle kinetic effects. In particular the EGAM frequency is found to be substantially lower than the standard GAM frequency. The radial mode width is determined by the energetic particle drift orbit width and can be fairly large for high energetic particle pressure and large safety factor. These results are consistent with the recent experimental observation of the beam-driven n=0 mode in DIII-D.

The dynamical connection between Phaethon and Pallas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Todorović, Nataša

2018-03-01

Phaethon (3200) is an active Near Earth Asteroid classified as a B-type object and a suspected former member of the Pallas family. In this article, we search for sources of Phaethon-like orbits originating from the two strongest resonances in the region of the Pallas family; namely, the 5:2 and 8:3 mean motion resonances with Jupiter, located at a ˜ 2.82 au and a ˜ 2.70 au, respectively. The probability for this dynamical connection observed in De León et al. (2010) was close to 2 per cent. Using sophisticated numerical methods, we found a highly efficient dynamical flow between Pallas and Phaethon. As many as 43.6 per cent of test particles placed in the 5:2 resonance were able to reach the orbit of Phaethon; whereas, for the 8:3 resonance, this percentage was 46.9 per cent.

Gravbox - The First Augmented Reality Sandbox for Gravitational Dynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Isbell, Jacob; Deam, Sophie; Reed, Mason; Bettis, Wyatt; Lu, Jianbo; Luppen, Zachary; Maier, Erin; McCurdy, Ross; Moore, Sadie; Fu, Hai

2018-01-01

Gravitational effects are an overarching theme in astronomy education, yet existing classroom demonstrations are insufficient in elucidating complex gravitational interactions. Inspired by the augmented reality (AR) sandbox developed by geologists, we have developed Gravbox, the first AR sandbox to demonstrate gravitational dynamics. The arbitrary topography of the sand surface represents the mass distribution of a two-dimensional universe. The computer reads the topography with a Kinect camera, calculates the orbit of a test particle with user-defined position and velocity, and projects the topography contour map and orbit animation with an overhead projector, all within a duty cycle of one second. This creates an interactive and intuitive tool to help students at all levels understand gravitational effects. In this contribution, we will describe the development of the Gravbox prototype and show its current capabilities. The Gravbox software will be publicly available along with a building tutorial.

Analysis of the charging of the SCATHA (P78-2) satellite

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stannard, P. R.; Katz, I.; Mandell, M. J.; Cassidy, J. J.; Parks, D. E.; Rotenberg, M.; Steen, P. G.

1980-01-01

The charging of a large object in polar Earth orbit was investigated in order to obtain a preliminary indication of the response of the shuttle orbiter to such an environment. Two NASCAP (NASA Charging Analyzer Program) models of SCATHA (Satellite Charging at High Altitudes) were used in simulations of charging events. The properties of the satellite's constituent materials were compiled and representations of the experimentally observed plasma spectra were constructed. Actual charging events, as well as those using test environments, were simulated. Numerical models for the simulation of particle emitters and detectors were used to analyze the operation of these devices onboard SCATHA. The effect of highly charged surface regions on the charging conductivity within a photosheath was used to interpret results from the onboard electric field experiment. Shadowing calculations were carried out for the satellite and a table of effective illuminated areas was compiled.