Sample records for zodiacal dust bands

  1. Zodiacal emission. III - Dust near the asteroid belt

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Reach, William T.

    1992-01-01

    Properties of the zodiacal dust bands are derived from fits to Infrared Astronomical Satellite profiles of the ecliptic. Three observations lead to the conclusion that the dust-band material is spread over a range of heliocentric distances between the asteroid belt and the sun: parallax, color temperature, and wavelength dependence of the band latitudes. The orientations of the midplanes of the bands are found to be typical of asteroids. A model of 'migrating bands', wherein dust is produced near the asteroid belt and spirals into the sun under the influence of Poynting-Robertson drag, is used to explain the range of heliocentric distances of dust-band material.

  2. A Characterization of the Hot Infrared Background: The Infrared Cirrus, Zodiacal Dust Bands, and Solar System Dust Trails

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1991-04-01

    AD-A239 132 PL -TR-91-2065 A CHARACTERIZATION OF THE HOT INFRARED BACKGROUND: THE INFRARED CIRRUS, ZODIACAL DUST BANDS, AND SOLAR SYSTEM DUST TRAILS F...addressee is no longer employed by your organization, please notify OL-AA PL /IMA, Hanscom AFB, MA 01731. This will assist us in maintaining a current...DECLASSIFICATION /DOWNGRADING SCHEDULE Distribution unlimited 4 PERFORMING ORGANIZATION REPORT NUMBER(S) S MONITORING ORGANIZATION REPORT NUMBER(S) PL -TR-91-2065 6a

  3. 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

  4. Zodiacal light as an indicator of interplanetary dust

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Weinberg, J. L.; Sparrow, J. G.

    1978-01-01

    The most striking feature of the night sky in the tropics is the zodiacal light, which appears as a cone in the west after sunset and in the east before sunrise. It is caused by sunlight scattered or absorbed by particles in the interplanetary medium. The zodiacal light is the only source of information about the integrated properties of the whole ensemble of interplanetary dust. The brightness and polarization in different directions and at different colors can provide information on the optical properties and spatial distribution of the scattering particles. The zodiacal light arises from two independent physical processes related to the scattering of solar continuum radiation by interplanetary dust and to thermal emission which arises from solar radiation that is absorbed by interplanetary dust and reemitted mainly at infrared wavelengths. Attention is given to observational parameters of zodiacal light, the methods of observation, errors and absolute calibration, and the observed characteristics of zodiacal light.

  5. Understanding Asteroid Disruptions Using Very Young Dust Bands

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Espy Kehoe, Ashley J.; Kehoe, T. J.; Colwell, J. E.; Dermott, S. F.

    2013-10-01

    Zodiacal dust bands are structures that result from the dynamical sculpting of the dust particles released in the catastrophic disruption of an asteroid. Partial dust bands are the recently discovered younger siblings of the dust bands, ones that are still forming and due to very recent disruptions within the last few hundred thousand years. During the early stages of formation, these structures retain information on the original catastrophic disruptions that produced them (since the dust has not yet been lost or significantly altered by orbital or collisional decay). The first partial dust band, at about 17 degrees latitude, was revealed using a very precise method of co-adding the IRAS data set. We have shown that these partial dust bands exhibit structure consistent with a forming band, can be used to constrain the original size distribution of the dust produced in the catastrophic disruption of an asteroid, and these very young structures also allow a much better estimate of the total amount of dust released in the disruption. In order to interpret the observations and constrain the parameters of the dust injected into the cloud following an asteroid disruption, we have developed detailed models of the dynamical evolution of the dust that makes up the band. We model the dust velocity distribution resulting from the initial impact and then track the orbital evolution of the dust under the effects of gravitational perturbations from all the planets as well as radiative forces of Poynting-Robertson drag, solar wind drag and radiation pressure and use these results to produce maps of the thermal emission. Through the comparison of our newly completed dynamical evolution models with the coadded observations, we can put constraints on the parameters of dust producing the band. We confirm the source of the band as the very young Emilkowalski cluster ( <250,000 years; Nesvorny et al., 2003) and present our most recent estimates of the size-distribution and cross

  6. A study of extended zodiacal structures

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Sykes, Mark V.

    1990-01-01

    Observations of cometary dust trails and zodiacal dust bands, discovered by the Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS) were analyzed in a continuing effort to understand their nature and relationship to comets, asteroids, and processes effecting those bodies. A survey of all trails observed by IRAS has been completed, and analysis of this phenomenon continues. A total of 8 trails have been associated with known short-period comets (Churyumov-Gerasimenko, Encke, Gunn, Kopff, Pons-Winnecke, Schwassmann-Wachmann 1, Tempel 1, and Tempel 2), and a few faint trails have been detected which are not associated with any known comet. It is inferred that all short-period comets may have trails, and that the trails detected were seen as a consequence of observational selection effects. Were IRAS launched today, it would likely observe a largely different set of trails. The Tempel 2 trail exhibits a small but significant excess in color temperature relative to a blackbody at the same heliocentric distance. This excess may be due to the presence of a population of small, low-beta particles deriving from large particles within the trail, or a temperature gradient over the surface of large trail particles. Trails represent the very first stage in the formation and evolution of a meteor stream, and may also be the primary mechanism by which comets contribute to the interplanetary dust complex. A mathematical model of the spatial distribution of orbitally evolved collisional debris was developed which reproduces the zodiacal dust band phenomena and was used in the analysis of dust band observations made by IRAS. This has resulted in the principal zodiacal dust bands being firmly related to the principal Hirayama asteroid families. In addition, evidence for the collisional diffusion of the orbital elements of the dust particles has been found in the case of dust generated in the Eos asteroid family.

  7. Studying the Fine Structure and Temporal Variations of the Zodiacal Cloud and Asteroidal Dust Bands Using the 3-Year Near-IR COBE-DIRBE Data

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Jayaraman, Sumita

    1999-01-01

    The report presents the results of the data analyses of the DIRBE-COBE data set to study the structure of the zodiacal cloud in the near-infrared wavebands at 1.2, 2.2, and 3.4 microns. The cloud has been divided into two components which have been analyzed and studied separately. The annual variation of the flux in the smooth or low frequency component has been measured in all three bands and the presence of any asymmetries due to the Earth's resonant ring have been studied. The high frequency component which primarily consisted of the asteroidal dust bands. Extensive and careful co-addition was done to extract the central bands in all three wavebands. The ten-degree bands are present in the 1.2 and 2.2 microns but not in the 3.4 micron waveband.

  8. The exo-zodiacal disk mapper

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Petro, Larry; Bely, P.; Burg, R.; Wade, L.; Beichman, C.; Gay, J.; Baudoz, P.; Rabbia, Y.; Perrin, J. M.

    1998-01-01

    Zodiacal dust around neighboring stars could obscure the signal of terrestrial planets observed with the Terrestrial Planet Finder (TPF) if that dust is similar to that in the Solar System. Unfortunately, little is known about the presence, or frequency of occurrence of zodiacal dust around stars and so the relevance of zodiacal dust to the design of the TPF, or to the TPF mission, is unknown. It is likely that direct observation of zodiacal dust disks will be necessary to confidently determine the characteristics of individual systems. A survey of a large number of stars in the solar neighborhood that could be candidates for observation with TPF should be undertaken. We present a concept for a space mission to undertake a sensitive, large-scale survey capable of characterizing solar-system-like zodiacal dust around 400 stars within 20 pc of the Sun.

  9. Recent Asteroid Disruptions in the WISE Dataset - Constraining Asteroid Surface Properties Using Solar System Dust Bands

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kehoe, A. E.; Shaw, C.; Kehoe, T. J. J.

    2017-12-01

    Zodiacal dust bands are a fine-structure feature of the mid-IR emission profile of the zodiacal cloud. The dust bands have been studied for many years dating back to the InfraRed Astronomical Satellite (IRAS) data of the 1980's. The recent discovery and modeling (Espy et al., 2009; 2010; Espy Kehoe et al., 2015) of a very young, still-forming dust band structure has shown that, in the early stages following an asteroid disruption, much information on the dust parameters of the original disruption is retained in the band. Partial dust bands allow a never-before-seen observational look at the size distribution and cross-sectional area of dust produced in an asteroidal disruption, before it has been lost or significantly altered by orbital and collisional decay. The study of these partial band structures reveals information on the way asteroids disrupt and allow us to reconstruct the surface properties of the parent asteroid, including the depth of the surface regolith and the size distribution of particles composing the regolith. Using the greatly increased sensitivity of the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE), we can now detect much fainter (and thus younger) dust bands. The WISE data also reveals much better longitudinal resolution of the bands, allowing a better constraint on the source and age of the disruption. We will present our newest results from the WISE dataset, including detection of faint partial dust bands, improved models of more prominent bands, and our constraints on the asteroid surface properties from modeling these structures.

  10. Mid-Infrared Spectrum of the Zodiacal Emission: Detection of Crystalline Silicates in Interplanetary Dust

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Ootsubo, T.; Onaka, T.; Yamamura, I.; Ishihara, D.; Tanabe, T.; Roellig, T. L.

    2003-01-01

    Within a few astronomical units of the Sun the solar system is filled with interplanetary dust, which is believed to be dust of cometary and asteroidal origin. Spectroscopic observations of the zodiacal emission with moderate resolution provide key information on the composition and size distribution of the dust in the interplanetary space. They can be compared directly to laboratory measurements of candidate materials, meteorites, and dust particles collected in the stratosphere. Recently mid-infrared spectroscopic observations of the zodiacal emission have been made by two instruments on board the Infrared Space Observatory; the camera (ISOCAM) and the spectrophotometer (ISOPHOT-S). A broad excess emission feature in the 9-11 micron range is reported in the ISOCAM spectrum, whereas the ISOPHOT-S spectra in 6-12 microns can be well fitted by a blackbody radiation without spectral features.

  11. Clementine Observations of the Zodiacal Light and the Dust Content of the Inner Solar System

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Hahn, Joseph M.; Zook, Herbert A.; Cooper, Bonnie; Sunkara, Bhaskar

    2002-01-01

    Using the Moon to occult the Sun, the Clementine spacecraft used its navigation cameras to map the inner zodiacal light at optical wavelengths over elongations of 3 approx. less than epsilon approx. less than 30 deg from the Sun. This surface brightness map is then used to infer the spatial distribution of interplanetary dust over heliocentric distances of about 10 solar radii to the orbit of Venus. The averaged ecliptic surface brightness of the zodiacal light falls off as Z(epsilon) is a member of epsilon(sup -2.45 +/- 0.05), which suggests that the dust cross-sectional density nominally falls off as sigma(r) is a member of r(sup - 1.45 +/- 0.05). The interplanetary dust also has an albedo of alpha approx. = 0.1 that is uncertain by a factor of approx. 2. Asymmetries of approx. 10% are seen in directions east-west and north-south of the Sun, and these may be due the giant planets' secular gravitational perturbations. We apply a simple model that attributes the zodiacal light as due to three dust populations having distinct inclination distributions, namely, dust from asteroids and Jupiter-family comets (JFCs) having characteristic inclinations of i approx. 7 deg, dust from Halley-type comets having i approx. 33 deg, and an isotropic cloud of dust from Oort Cloud comets. The best-fitting scenario indicates that asteroids + JFCs are the source of about 45% of the optical dust cross section seen in the ecliptic at 1 AU but that at least 89% of the dust cross section enclosed by a 1-AU-radius sphere is of a cometary origin. Each population's radial density variations can also deviate somewhat from the nominal sigma(r) is a member of r(sup -1.45). When these results are extrapolated out to the asteroid belt, we find an upper limit on the mass of the light-reflecting asteroidal dust that is equivalent to a 12-km asteroid, and a similar extrapolation of the isotropic dust cloud out to Oort Cloud distances yields a mass equivalent to a 30-km comet, although the latter

  12. Analysis of IRAS solar system dust data

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Dermott, S. F.; Nicholson, P. D.

    1991-01-01

    Data in the Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS) Zodiacal History File were analyzed to extract dust band locations and peak brightness measurements from approximately 1,000 individual IRAS scans. The study had three goals. One was to show that the prominent solar system dust bands are associated with Hirayama asteroid families and thus that collisions between asteroids account for a significant fraction of the particles in the zodiacal cloud. Recent work suggests that while the Hirayama families are a major source of the dust in the bands, there may also be contributions from two or three smaller, more recently recognized asteroid families. A second goal was to show that there is evidence in the IRAS dust data for the transport of particles from asteroid belt to the Earth by Poynting-Robertson light drag and thus account for the fact that asteroid particles are collected in the Earth's stratosphere. Results of the study will confirm the location of the dust bands within the inner asteroid belt, and show conclusively that the material seen by IRAS is now spread over a wide range of distances from the sun. The third goal was to construct a model of the background zodiacal cloud that satisfies the proper dynamical constraints. Figures are provided to show the scans processed to remove zodiacal background and Galactic signals, and the resulting polynomial fits to the 25 micron scan. The latter provided objective estimates of band widths, peak locations, and peak fluxes. Modelling and analysis of the resulting band data has been presented at several conferences and is the subject of a number of forthcoming papers.

  13. Dynamical Zodiacal Cloud Models Constrained by High Resolution Spectroscopy of the Zodiacal Light

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Ipatov, S. I.; Kutyrev, A. S.; Madsen, G. J.; Mather, J. C.; Moseley, S. H.; Reynolds, R. J.

    2005-01-01

    We have developed a set of self-consistent dynamical models of the Zodiacal cloud, following the orbital evolution of dust particles. Three populations were considered, originating from the Kuiper belt, asteroids and comets. Using the models developed, we investigated how the solar spectrum is changed by scattering by the zodiacal cloud grains and compared the obtained spectra with the observations.

  14. Zodiac II: Debris Disk Imaging Potential

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Traub Wesley; Bryden, Geoff; Stapelfeldt, Karl; Chen, Pin; Trauger, John

    2011-01-01

    Zodiac II is a proposed coronagraph on a balloon-borne platform, for the purpose of observing debris disks around nearby stars. Zodiac II will have a 1.2-m diameter telescope mounted in a balloon-borne gondola capable of arcsecond quality pointing, and with the capability to make long-duration (several week) flights. Zodiac II will have a coronagraph able to make images of debris disks, meaning that its scattered light speckles will be at or below an average contrast level of about 10(exp -7) in three narrow (7 percent) bands centered on the V band, and one broad (20%) one at I band. We will discuss the potential science to be done with Zodiac II.

  15. The NGST and the Zodiacal Light in the Solar System

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Gorkavyi, Nick; Ozernoy, Leonid; Mather, John; Taidakova, Tanya

    1999-01-01

    We develop a physical model of the zodiacal cloud incorporating the real dust sources of asteroidal, cometary, and kuiperoidal origin. Using the inferred distribution of the zodiacal dust, we compute its thermal emission and scattering at several wavelengths (1.25, 5, and 20 micron) as a function of NGST location assumed to be at 1 AU or 3 AU. Areas on the sky with a minimum of zodiacal light are determined.

  16. Zodiac II: Debris Disk Science from a Balloon

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Bryden, Geoffrey; Traub, Wesley; Roberts, Lewis C., Jr.; Bruno, Robin; Unwin, Stephen; Backovsky, Stan; Brugarolas, Paul; Chakrabarti, Supriya; Chen, Pin; Hillenbrand, Lynne; hide

    2011-01-01

    Zodiac II is a proposed balloon-borne science investigation of debris disks around nearby stars. Debris disks are analogs of the Asteroid Belt (mainly rocky) and Kuiper Belt (mainly icy) in our Solar System. Zodiac II will measure the size, shape, brightness, and color of a statistically significant sample of disks. These measurements will enable us to probe these fundamental questions: what do debris disks tell us about the evolution of planetary systems; how are debris disks produced; how are debris disks shaped by planets; what materials are debris disks made of; how much dust do debris disks make sa they grind down; and how long do debris disks live? In addition, Zodiac II will observe hot, young exoplanets as targets of opportunity. The Zodiac II instrument is a 1.1-m diameter SiC telescope and an imaging coronagraph on a gondola carried by a stratospheric balloon. Its data product is a set of images of each targeted debris disk in four broad visible wavelength bands. Zodiac II will address its science questions by taking high-resolution, multi-wavelength images of the debris disks around tens of nearby stars. Mid-latitude flights are considered: overnight test flights within the United States followed by half-global flights in the Southern Hemisphere. These longer flights are required to fully explore the set of known debris disks accessible only to Zodiac II. On these targets, it will be 100 times more sensitive than the Hubble Space Telescope's Advanced Camera for Surveys (HST/ACS); no existing telescope can match the Zodiac II contrast and resolution performance. A second objective of Zodiac II is to use the near-space environment to raise the Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of SiC mirrors, internal coronagraphs, deformable mirrors, and wavefront sensing and control, all potentially needed for a future space-based telescope for high-contrast exoplanet imaging.

  17. Zodiac II: Debris Disk Science from a Balloon

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Bryden, Geoffrey; Traub, Wesley; Roberts, Lewis C., Jr.; Bruno, Robin; Unwin, Stephen; Backovsky, Stan; Brugarolas, Paul; Chakrabarti, Supriya; Chen, Pin; Hillenbrand, Lynne; hide

    2011-01-01

    Zodiac II is a proposed balloon-borne science investigation of debris disks around nearby stars. Debris disks are analogs of the Asteroid Belt (mainly rocky) and Kuiper Belt (mainly icy) in our Solar System. Zodiac II will measure the size, shape, brightness, and color of a statistically significant sample of disks. These measurements will enable us to probe these fundamental questions: what do debris disks tell us about the evolution of planetary systems; how are debris disks produced; how are debris disks shaped by planets; what materials are debris disks made of; how much dust do debris disks make as they grind down; and how long do debris disks live? In addition, Zodiac II will observe hot, young exoplanets as targets of opportunity. The Zodiac II instrument is a 1.1-m diameter SiC (Silicone carbide) telescope and an imaging coronagraph on a gondola carried by a stratospheric balloon. Its data product is a set of images of each targeted debris disk in four broad visible-wavelength bands. Zodiac II will address its science questions by taking high-resolution, multi-wavelength images of the debris disks around tens of nearby stars. Mid-latitude flights are considered: overnight test flights in the US followed by half-global flights in the Southern Hemisphere. These longer flights are required to fully explore the set of known debris disks accessible only to Zodiac II. On these targets, it will be 100 times more sensitive than the Hubble Space Telescope's Advanced Camera for Surveys (HST/ACS); no existing telescope can match the Zodiac II contrast and resolution performance. A second objective of Zodiac II is to use the near-space environment to raise the Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of SiC mirrors, internal coronagraphs, deformable mirrors, and wavefront sensing and control, all potentially needed for a future space-based telescope for high-contrast exoplanet imaging.

  18. 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.

  19. 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

  20. SIGNATURES OF RECENT ASTEROID DISRUPTIONS IN THE FORMATION AND EVOLUTION OF SOLAR SYSTEM DUST BANDS

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

    Kehoe, A. J. Espy; Colwell, J. E.; Kehoe, T. J. J.

    We have performed detailed dynamical modeling of the structure of a faint dust band observed in coadded InfraRed Astronomical Satellite data at an ecliptic latitude of 17° that convincingly demonstrates that it is the result of a relatively recent (significantly less than 1 Ma) disruption of an asteroid and is still in the process of forming. We show here that young dust bands retain information on the size distribution and cross-sectional area of dust released in the original asteroid disruption, before it is lost to orbital and collisional decay. We find that the Emilkowalski cluster is the source of thismore » partial band and that the dust released in the disruption would correspond to a regolith layer ∼3 m deep on the ∼10 km diameter source body's surface. The dust in this band is described by a cumulative size-distribution inverse power-law index with a lower bound of 2.1 (implying domination of cross-sectional area by small particles) for dust particles with diameters ranging from a few μm up to a few cm. The coadded observations show that the thermal emission of the dust band structure is dominated by large (mm–cm size) particles. We find that dust particle ejection velocities need to be a few times the escape velocity of the Emilkowalski cluster source body to provide a good fit to the inclination dispersion of the observations. We discuss the implications that such a significant release of material during a disruption has for the temporal evolution of the structure, composition, and magnitude of the zodiacal cloud.« less

  1. Signatures of planets: Observations and modeling of structure in the zodiacal cloud and Kuiper disk

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Holmes, Elizabeth Katherine

    2002-12-01

    There is a possible connection between structure in evolved circumstellar disks and the presence of planets, our own zodiacal cloud being a proven example. Asymmetries in such a disk could be diagnostic of planets which would be otherwise undetectable. Using COBE DIRBE observations, we link structure in the zodiacal cloud, namely the warp and offset of the cloud, to the presence of planets using secular perturbation theory. In addition, we obtain supplementary ISO observations and determine a scale factor for the data which we apply to calibrate the data to the observed COBE brightness. A Kuiper dust disk will have a resonant structure, with two concentrations in brightness along the ecliptic longitude arising because 10 15% of the Kuiper belt objects are in the 3:2 mean motion resonance with Neptune. We run numerical integrations of particles originating from source bodies trapped in the 3:2 resonance and we determine what percentage of particles remain in the resonance for a variety of particle and source body sizes. The dynamical evolution of the particles is followed from source to sink with Poynting- Robertson light drag, solar wind drag, radiation pressure, the Lorentz force, neutral interstellar gas drag, and the effects of planetary gravitational perturbations included. We then conduct an observational search in the 60 μm COBE data for the Kuiper disk, which is predicted to be, at most, a few percent of the brightness of the zodiacal cloud. By removing emission due to the background zodiacal cloud and the dust bands, we expect to see the trailing/leading signature of Earth's resonant ring. However, when subtracted from the data, we find that none of the empirical background zodiacal cloud models give the residuals predicted by theory. We conclude that a dynamical two-component (both inner and outer) zodiacal cloud model must be created to complete the search. Lastly, we extend our work outside the solar system and obtain upper limits on the flux around ten

  2. The Zodiacal Emission Spectrum as Determined by COBE and its Implications

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Fixsen, D. J.; Dwek, Eli; Oliversen, R. (Technical Monitor)

    2002-01-01

    We combine observations from the DIRBE and FIRAS instruments on the COBE satellite to derive an annually-averaged spectrum of the zodiacal cloud in the 10 to 1000 micron wavelength region. The spectrum exhibits a break at approx. 150 microns which indicates a sharp break in the dust size distribution at a radius of about 30 microns The spectrum can be fit with a single blackbody with a lambda(exp -2) emissivity law beyond 150 microns and a temperature of 240 K. We also used a more realistic characterization of the cloud to fit the spectrum, including a distribution of dust temperatures, representing different dust compositions and distances from the sun, as well as a realistic representation of the spatial distribution of the dust. We show that amorphous carbon and silicate dust with respective temperatures of 280 and 274 K at 1 AU, and size distributions with a break at grain radii of 14 and 32 microns, can provide a good fit to the average zodiacal dust spectrum. The total mass of the zodiacal cloud is 2 to 11 Eg (Eg=10(exp 18) g), depending on the grain composition. The lifetime of the cloud, against particle loss by Poynting- Robertson drag and the effects of solar wind, is about 10(exp 5) yr. The required replenishment rate is approx. 10(exp 14) g/yr. If this is provided by asteroid belt alone, the asteroids lifetime would be approx. 3 x 10(exp 10) yr. But comets and Kuiper belt objects may also contribute to the zodiacal cloud.

  3. Dust bands in the asteroid belt

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Sykes, Mark V.; Greenberg, Richard; Dermott, Stanley F.; Nicholson, Philip D.; Burns, Joseph A.

    1989-01-01

    This paper describes the original IRAS observations leading to the discovery of the three dust bands in the asteroid belt and the analysis of data. Special attention is given to an analytical model of the dust band torus and to theories concerning the origin of the dust bands, with special attention given to the collisional equilibrium (asteroid family), the nonequilibrium (random collision), and the comet hypotheses of dust-band origin. It is noted that neither the equilibrium nor nonequilibrium models, as currently formulated, present a complete picture of the IRAS dust-band observations.

  4. Galactic and zodiacal light surface brightness measurements with the Atmosphere Explorer satellites

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Abreu, V. J.; Hays, P. B.; Yee, J. H.

    1982-01-01

    Galactic and zodiacal light surface maps based on the Atmosphere Explorer-C, -D, and -E satellite data are presented at 7320, 6300, 5577, 5200, and 4278 A. A procedure used to generate these maps, which involves separation of the individual stars and diffuse starlight from the zodiacal light, is described in detail. The maps can be used in atmospheric emission studies to correct for galactic emissions which contaminate satellite as well as ground-based photometric observations. The zodiacal light maps show enhanced features which are important for understanding the nature of interplanetary dust.

  5. Pioneer 10 observations of zodiacal light brightness near the ecliptic - Changes with heliocentric distance

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Hanner, M. S.; Weinberg, J. L.; Beeson, D. E.; Sparrow, J. G.

    1976-01-01

    Sky maps made by the Pioneer 10 Imaging Photopolarimeter (IPP) at sun-spacecraft distances from 1 to 3 AU have been analyzed to derive the brightness of the zodiacal light near the ecliptic at elongations greater than 90 degrees. The change in zodiacal light brightness with heliocentric distance is compared with models of the spatial distribution of the dust. Use of background starlight brightnesses derived from IPP measurements beyond the asteroid belt, where the zodiacal light is not detected, and, especially, use of a corrected calibration lead to considerably lower values for zodiacal light than those reported by us previously.

  6. A Global, Multi-Waveband Model for the Zodiacal Cloud

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Grogan, Keith; Dermott, Stanley F.; Kehoe, Thomas J. J.

    2003-01-01

    This recently completed three-year project was undertaken by the PI at the University of Florida, NASA Goddard and JPL, and by the Co-I and Collaborator at the University of Florida. The funding was used to support a continuation of research conducted at the University of Florida over the last decade which focuses on the dynamics of dust particles in the interplanetary environment. The main objectives of this proposal were: To produce improved dynamical models of the zodiacal cloud by performing numerical simulations of the orbital evolution of asteroidal and cometary dust particles. To provide visualizations of the results using our visualization software package, SIMUL, simulating the viewing geometries of IRAS and COBE and comparing the model results with archived data. To use the results to provide a more accurate model of the brightness distribution of the zodiacal cloud than existing empirical models. In addition, our dynamical approach can provide insight into fundamental properties of the cloud, including but not limited to the total mass and surface area of dust, the size-frequency distribution of dust, and the relative contributions of asteroidal and cometary material. The model can also be used to provide constraints on trace signals from other sources, such as dust associated with the "Plutinos" , objects captured in the 2:3 resonance with Neptune.

  7. Dynamics of Solar System Dust

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Dermott, Stanley F.

    2002-01-01

    The ongoing aim of the research is to investigate the dynamical and physical evolution of interplanetary dust particles in order to produce a detailed global model of the zodiacal cloud and its constituent components that is capable of predicting thermal fluxes in mid-infrared wave bands to an accuracy of 1% or better; with the additional aim of exploiting this research as a basis for predicting structure in exozodiacal clouds that may be signatures of unseen planets.

  8. History of the dust released by comets

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Jambor, B. J.

    1976-01-01

    The Finson-Brobstein theory is used to examine production and history of dust released from periodic comets and to compare dust size distribution in relation to the Zodiacal cloud. Results eliminate all of the bright new comets from contributors to the Zodiacal cloud. Among the periodic comets, all particles of size much smaller than 10 micrometer are also lost. Only the large particles remain as possible contributors.

  9. Experiment S001: Zodiacal Light Photography

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Ney, E. P.; Huch, W. F.

    1971-01-01

    Observations made during the Gemini 5, 9, and 10 missions in the context of their relation to ground-based and balloon-based experiments on dim-light phenomena are reported. Zodiacal light is the visible manifestation of dust grains in orbit around the sun. The negatives that were exposed on the Gemini 9 mission were studied by the use of an isodensitracer to produce intensity isophotes. Data on the following factors were obtained: (1) intensity distribution of the zodiacal light, both morning and evening; (2) the height and intensity of the airglow at various geographic positions; and (3) intensity distribution of the Milky Way in the region of the sky near Cygnus. Also, a previously unreported phenomenon was discovered. This phenomenon appeared as an upward extension of the normal 90-kilometer airglow layer. The extension was in the form of wisps or plumes approximately 5 deg wide and extending upward approximately 5 deg. The results obtained from pictures exposed on the Gemini 10 mission were of qualitative or geometrical value only.

  10. COSMIC INFRARED BACKGROUND FLUCTUATIONS AND ZODIACAL LIGHT

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

    Arendt, Richard G.; Kashlinsky, A.; Moseley, S. H.

    We performed a specific observational test to measure the effect that the zodiacal light can have on measurements of the spatial fluctuations of the near-IR background. Previous estimates of possible fluctuations caused by zodiacal light have often been extrapolated from observations of the thermal emission at longer wavelengths and low angular resolution or from IRAC observations of high-latitude fields where zodiacal light is faint and not strongly varying with time. The new observations analyzed here target the COSMOS field at low ecliptic latitude where the zodiacal light intensity varies by factors of ∼2 over the range of solar elongations atmore » which the field can be observed. We find that the white-noise component of the spatial power spectrum of the background is correlated with the modeled zodiacal light intensity. Roughly half of the measured white noise is correlated with the zodiacal light, but a more detailed interpretation of the white noise is hampered by systematic uncertainties that are evident in the zodiacal light model. At large angular scales (≳100″) where excess power above the white noise is observed, we find no correlation of the power with the modeled intensity of the zodiacal light. This test clearly indicates that the large-scale power in the infrared background is not being caused by the zodiacal light.« less

  11. Cosmic Infrared Background Fluctuations and Zodiacal Light

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Arendt, Richard G.; Kashlinsky, A.; Moseley, S. H.; Mather, J.

    2016-06-01

    We performed a specific observational test to measure the effect that the zodiacal light can have on measurements of the spatial fluctuations of the near-IR background. Previous estimates of possible fluctuations caused by zodiacal light have often been extrapolated from observations of the thermal emission at longer wavelengths and low angular resolution or from IRAC observations of high-latitude fields where zodiacal light is faint and not strongly varying with time. The new observations analyzed here target the COSMOS field at low ecliptic latitude where the zodiacal light intensity varies by factors of ˜2 over the range of solar elongations at which the field can be observed. We find that the white-noise component of the spatial power spectrum of the background is correlated with the modeled zodiacal light intensity. Roughly half of the measured white noise is correlated with the zodiacal light, but a more detailed interpretation of the white noise is hampered by systematic uncertainties that are evident in the zodiacal light model. At large angular scales (≳100″) where excess power above the white noise is observed, we find no correlation of the power with the modeled intensity of the zodiacal light. This test clearly indicates that the large-scale power in the infrared background is not being caused by the zodiacal light.

  12. Cosmic Infrared Background Fluctuations and Zodiacal Light

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Arendt, Richard G.; Kashlinsky, A.; Moseley, S. H.; Mather, J.

    2017-01-01

    We performed a specific observational test to measure the effect that the zodiacal light can have on measurements of the spatial fluctuations of the near-IR (near-infrared)background. Previous estimates of possible fluctuations caused by zodiacal light have often been extrapolated from observations of the thermal emission at longer wavelengths and low angular resolution or from IRAC (Infrared Array Camera) observations of high-latitude fields where zodiacal light is faint and not strongly varying with time. The new observations analyzed here target the COSMOS (Cosmic Evolution Survey) field at low ecliptic latitude where the zodiacal light intensity varies by factors of approximately 2 over the range of solar elongations at which the field can be observed. We find that the white-noise component of the spatial power spectrum of the background is correlated with the modeled zodiacal light intensity. Roughly half of the measured white noise is correlated with the zodiacal light, but a more detailed interpretation of the white noise is hampered by systematic uncertainties that are evident in the zodiacal light model. At large angular scales (greater than or approximately equal to 100 arcseconds) where excess power above the white noise is observed, we find no correlation of the power with the modeled intensity of the zodiacal light. This test clearly indicates that the large-scale power in the infrared background is not being caused by the zodiacal light.

  13. Velocity Distributions of Interplanetary Dust Derived from Astronomical Sky Spectra

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Huestis, D. L.; Ali, S.; Cosby, P. C.; Slanger, T. G.

    2001-11-01

    Characterization of interplanetary dust is important for understanding the creation by accretion of planets and moons, the development of planetary atmospheres, and, potentially, for the initiation of prebiotic chemistry. The recent COBE mission has provided a profile in ecliptic coordinates of the distribution of interplanetary dust particles through their thermal infrared emission. Additional information about interplanetary dust can be extracted from its visible spectrum of scattered sunlight, called Zodiacal Light. Night sky spectra taken at large-aperture telescopes using high-resolution echelle spectrographs reveal Fraunhofer absorption features in the Zodiacal Light spectrum of scattered sunlight, a nuisance in subtraction from the spectrum of the extraterrestrial object under investigation. We are analyzing the intensity modulations and Doppler shifts of solar Fraunhofer absorption lines in the Zodiacal Light component of sky spectra, donated by collaborating astronomers using Keck/HIRES and other high-performance astronomical facilities. Our objectives include velocity distributions of interplanetary dust and improved separation of terrestrial and extraterrestrial sources in sky spectra. Participation of S. Ali was made possible by a grant from the NSF Physics Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program.

  14. A Chinese Zodiac Mathematical Structure.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lamb, John F., Jr.

    2000-01-01

    Helps students identify the animal that corresponds to the year of their birth according to the Chinese zodiac. Defines the structure of the Chinese zodiac so that the subsets of compatibles and opposites form closed substructures with interesting mathematical properties. (ASK)

  15. Optimization of high-inclination orbits using planetary flybys for a zodiacal light-imaging mission

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Soto, Gabriel; Lloyd, James; Savransky, Dmitry; Grogan, Keith; Sinha, Amlan

    2017-09-01

    The zodiacal light caused by interplanetary dust grains is the second-most luminous source in the solar system. The dust grains coalesce into structures reminiscent of early solar system formation; their composition has been predicted through simulations and some edge-on observations but better data is required to validate them. Scattered light from these dust grains presents challenges to exoplanet imaging missions: resolution of their stellar environment is hindered by exozodiacal emissions and therefore sets the size and scope of these imaging missions. Understanding the composition of this interplanetary dust in our solar system requires an imaging mission from a vantage point above the ecliptic plane. The high surface brightness of the zodiacal light requires only a small aperture with moderate sensitivity; therefore a 3cm camera is enough to meet the science goals of the mission at an orbital height of 0.1AU above the ecliptic. A 6U CubeSat is the target mass for this mission which will be a secondary payload detaching from an existing interplanetary mission. Planetary flybys are utilized to produce most of the plane change Δv deep space corrective maneuvers are implemented to optimize each planetary flyby. We developed an algorithm which determines the minimum Δv required to place the CubeSat on a transfer orbit to a planet's sphere of influence and maximizes the resultant orbital height with respect to the ecliptic plane. The satellite could reach an orbital height of 0.22 AU with an Earth gravity assist in late 2024 by boarding the Europa Clipper mission.

  16. Interplanetary dust. [survey of last four years' research

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Brownlee, D. E.

    1979-01-01

    Progress in the study of interplanetary dust during the past four years is reviewed. Attention is given to determinations of the relative contributions of interstellar dust grains, collisional debris from the asteroid belt and short-period comets to the interplanetary dust cloud. Effects of radiation pressure and collisions on particle dynamics are discussed, noting the discovery of the variation of the orbital parameters of dust particles at 1 AU with size and in situ measurements of dust density between 0.3 and 5 AU by the Helios and Pioneer spacecraft. The interpretation of the zodiacal light as produced by porous absorbing particles 10 to 100 microns in size is noted, and measurements of the Doppler shift, light-producing-particle density, UV spectrum, photometric axis and angular scattering function of the zodiacal light are reported. Results of analyses of lunar rock microcraters as to micrometeoroid density, flux rate, size distribution and composition are indicated and interplanetary dust particles collected from the stratosphere are discussed. Findings concerning the composition of fragile meteoroid types found as cosmic spherules in deep sea sediments are also presented.

  17. A study of zodiacal light models

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Gary, G. A.; Craven, P. D.

    1973-01-01

    A review is presented of the basic equations used in the analysis of photometric observations of zodiacal light. A survey of the methods used to model the zodiacal light in and out of the ecliptic is given. Results and comparison of various models are presented, as well as recent results by the authors.

  18. The Dynamic Community of Interest and Its Realization in ZODIAC

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2009-10-01

    the ZODIAC project. ZODIAC is a network architecture that puts security first and foremost, with security broken down into confidentiality, integrity...hosts, a unified solution for MANETs will work for hosts or routers as well. DYNAMIC COMMUNITIES OF INTEREST The basis of the ZODIAC design is a new dis...narrow scope of each DCoI limits attack propagation, and supports confidentiality ABSTRACT The ZODIAC project has been exploring a security first

  19. A Near-Infrared Spectrometer to Measure Zodiacal Light Absorption Spectrum

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Kutyrev, A. S.; Arendt, R.; Dwek, E.; Kimble, R.; Moseley, S. H.; Rapchun, D.; Silverberg, R. F.

    2010-01-01

    We have developed a high throughput infrared spectrometer for zodiacal light fraunhofer lines measurements. The instrument is based on a cryogenic dual silicon Fabry-Perot etalon which is designed to achieve high signal to noise Fraunhofer line profile measurements. Very large aperture silicon Fabry-Perot etalons and fast camera optics make these measurements possible. The results of the absorption line profile measurements will provide a model free measure of the zodiacal Light intensity in the near infrared. The knowledge of the zodiacal light brightness is crucial for accurate subtraction of zodiacal light foreground for accurate measure of the extragalactic background light after the subtraction of zodiacal light foreground. We present the final design of the instrument and the first results of its performance.

  20. Accretion of Interplanetary Dust Particles by the Earth

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kortenkamp, Stephen J.; Dermott, Stanley F.

    1998-10-01

    Analyses of hypervelocity micrometeoroid impact craters preserved in lunar material and on the panels of the Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF) indicate that each year Earth accretes about 3 × 107kg of interplanetary dust particles (IDPs) from the zodiacal cloud (E. Grünet al.1985,Astron. Astrophys.286, 915-924; S. G. Love and D. E. Brownlee, 1993,Science262, 550-553). The size distributions of these lunar and LDEF craters indicate that the mass distribution of IDPs encountering Earth peaks at about 200 μm diameter. This particle-size cutoff may be indicative of collisionally evolved asteroidal dust, where the collisional lifetime of dust particles larger than ∼100 μm is shorter than the time required for their orbits to decay under Poynting-Robertson light drag from the asteroid belt to Earth (B. Å. S. Gustafson, 1994,Annu. Rev. Earth Planet. Sci.22, 553-595). Additionally, analyses of IDPs collected from the stratosphere by high-flying aircraft reveal a diversity in chemical composition which is even narrower than that of the meteorites (G. J. Flynn, 1995,Nature376, 114). Together these findings suggest that IDPs present in the atmosphere and our collections may originate from very limited sources in the asteroid belt. The most abundant sources of dust to be unambiguously linked to the zodiacal cloud are the three asteroid families Eos, Themis, and Koronis-the progenitors of the ten-degree and low-latitude dust bands discovered by the Infrared Astronomical Satellite in 1984. We use direct numerical integration of the full equations of motion to model the orbital evolution of dust particles from these three families as well as from other nonfamily asteroids and from the population of known short period comets. Our simulations include gravitational perturbations from the planets, radiation pressure, and solar wind drag. We find that a large, and perhaps the dominant, fraction of the IDPs accreted by Earth comes from the asteroid families Eos, Themis, and

  1. Dust evolution from comets

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Sekanina, Z.

    1977-01-01

    The studies of the evolution of cometary debris are reviewed. The subject is divided into three major sections: (1) the developments in the immediate vicinity of the cometary nucleus, which is the source of the dust; (2) the formation of the dust tail; and (3) the blending of the debris with the dust component of interplanetary matter. The importance of the physical theory of comets is emphasized for the understanding of the early phase of the evolution of cometary dust. A physico-dynamical model designed to analyze the particle-emission mechanism from the distribution of light in the dust tails is described and the results are presented. Increased attention is paid to large particles because of their importance for the evolution of the zodiacal cloud. Finally, implications are discussed for the future in situ investigations of comets.

  2. Observations of the zodiacal light from the ecliptic to the poles.

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Sparrow, J. G.; Ney, E. P.

    1972-01-01

    The brightness and polarization of the zodiacal light have been measured from the satellite OSO-5, using two photometers of effective wavelengths 4180 and 6820 A. The satellite configuration restricts the observations to ecliptic longitudes close to 90 deg, but measurements have been made from the ecliptic to the poles. On the ecliptic, the intensity of the zodiacal light was found to be 117 S10 (blue) and 315 S10 (red) with polarizations of 16.5 and 15 per cent, respectively. At the ecliptic poles the zodiacal intensity was 35 S10 (blue) with 20 per cent polarization. No temporal changes in zodiacal light have been found nor any significant differences in the intensities in the two hemispheres. The direction of polarization of the zodiacal light has been shown to be H-pass radial.

  3. Origins and Dynamics of Interplanetary Dust Particles

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Dermott, Stanley F.

    2005-01-01

    This is a final report for research supported by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration issued through the Office of Space Science Planetary Geology and Geophysics Program, covering all relevant activities during its 3-year period of funding from 02/01/2002 through to 01/31/2005. The ongoing aim of the research supported through this grant, and now through a successor award, is to investigate the origin of interplanetary dust particles (IDPs) and their dynamical and collisional evolution, in order to: (1) understand the provenance of zodiacal cloud particles and their transport from their source regions to the inner solar system; (2) produce detailed models of the zodiacal cloud and its constituent components; (3) determine the origin of the dust particles accreted by the Earth; (4) ascertain the level of temporal variations in the dust environment of the inner solar system and the accretion rate of IDPs by the Earth, and evaluate potential effects on global climate; and to (5) exploit this research as a basis for interpreting the structure observed in exozodiacal clouds that may result from the collisional evolution of planetesimals and the presence of unseen planets.

  4. Dust evolution from comets

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Sekanina, Z.

    1976-01-01

    The studies of the evolution of cometary debris are reviewed. The subject is divided into three major sections: (1) the developments in the immediate vicinity of the cometary nucleus, which is the source of the dust; (2) the formation of the dust tail; and (3) the blending of the debris with the dust component of interplanetary matter. The importance of the physical theory of comets is emphasized for the understanding of the early phase of evolution. A physico-dynamical model designed to analyze the particle-emission mechanism from the distribution of light in the dust tail is described and the results are presented. Increased attention is paid to large particles because of their importance for the evolution of the zodiacal cloud. Finally, implications are discussed for the future in situ investigations of comets.

  5. [Signs of the zodiac and personality].

    PubMed

    Angst, J; Scheidegger, P

    1976-01-01

    3074 young men resident in the canton of Zurich, representing 50% of the 19 year old male population, form the fully representative sample of our large scale investigation. We investigated whether personality traits measured by means of the differentiated "Freiburger personality inventory" (FPI) could in any way be correlated to the signs of the zodiac under which the young men were born. The statistical analysis did not reveal any correlation between signs of the zodiac and personality. The claim made by astrologers that people can be characterized according to their sign of the zodiac (sagitarius, taurus, cancer, scorpion) must be refuted. Of course the astrologically founded description of human personality does not base itself on the position of the sun only, however the latter does form a very essential part of the astrological evaluation of people. This, at any rate has been shown to be without any scientific basis. The fact that astrological evaluation of human personality is so popular nowadays can be explained by the fact that even modern people are inclined towards magical thinking.

  6. Astrophysical dust grains in stars, the interstellar medium, and the solar system

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Gehrz, Robert D.

    1991-01-01

    Studies of astrophysical dust grains in circumstellar shells, the interstellar medium, and the solar system may provide information about stellar evolution and about physical conditions in the primitive solar nebula. The following subject areas are covered: (1) the cycling of dust in stellar evolution and the formation of planetary systems; (2) astrophysical dust grains in circumstellar environments; (3) circumstellar grain formation and mass loss; (4) interstellar dust grains; (5) comet dust and the zodiacal cloud; (6) the survival of dust grains during stellar evolution; and (7) establishing connections between stardust and dust in the solar system.

  7. Unraveling the Mystery of Exozodiacal Dust

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ertel, S.; Augereau, J.-C.; Thébault, P.; Absil, O.; Bonsor, A.; Defrère, D.; Kral, Q.; Le Bouquin, J.-B.; Lebreton, J.; Coudé du Foresto, V.

    2014-01-01

    Exozodiacal dust clouds are thought to be the extrasolar analogs of the Solar System's zodiacal dust. Studying these systems provides insights in the architecture of the innermost regions of planetary systems, including the Habitable Zone. Furthermore, the mere presence of the dust may result in major obstacles for direct imaging of earth-like planets. Our EXOZODI project aims to detect and study exozodiacal dust and to explain its origin. We are carrying out the first large, near-infrared interferometric survey in the northern (CHARA/FLUOR) and southern (VLTI/PIONIER) hemispheres. Preliminary results suggest a detection rate of up to 30% around A to K type stars and interesting trends with spectral type and age. We focus here on presenting the observational work carried out by our team.

  8. On the Contribution of Asteroid Disruptions to the Interplanetary Dust Flux

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kehoe, T. J. J.; Kehoe, A. E.

    2017-12-01

    Recent modeling has shown the significant contribution of micron- to millimeter-sized particles released by the disruption of main-belt asteroids (MBAs) to the interplanetary dust particle (IDP) flux (e.g., Dermott et al., 2002; Nesvorný et al., 2003; Espy Kehoe et al., 2015). In this paper, we present the results of a study that indicates that the dust injected into the zodiacal cloud due to the catastrophic disruption of an asteroid is dominated by the release of its surface regolith particles. Our research suggests that disrupting a single asteroid with diameter O(100 km) will be enough to regenerate the entire zodiacal cloud. The breakup of smaller asteroids with diameters O(10 km) will likely produce more moderate, but still significant, changes in the dust environment of the inner solar system. As collisional disruptions of asteroids in this size range occur more frequently, it is important that we develop a better understanding of the injection of asteroidal material into the zodiacal cloud as a result of these type of events in order to determine the temporal evolution of the interplanetary dust flux. The results presented in this paper will lead to a better understanding of the threat to exploration activities due to the enhanced IDP flux resulting from the disruption of asteroidal regoliths. These findings can be employed to improve engineering models, for example, the NASA Meteoroid Engineering Model (MEM) that is widely utilized to assess the impact hazard to space hardware and activities in the inner solar system due to the natural meteoroid environment (McNamara et al., 2004). This is an important area of concern for current and future mission development purposes.

  9. OAO-2 observations of the zodiacal light

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Lillie, C. F.

    1972-01-01

    Photometric measurements of the night sky brightness have been obtained at twelve wavelengths between 1000 A and 4300 A from above the earth's atmosphere. A preliminary analysis of the data reveals a component of the sky brightness with ecliptic symmetry and an intensity distribution similar to that of the zodiacal light. The ultraviolet spectrum of the zodiacal light can be closely approximated with a two component model in which one component has an albedo proportional to the wavelength lambda and the other component has a scattering efficiency proportional to lambda to lbe minus 19 power.

  10. Zodiacal light and the asteroid belt - The view from Pioneer 10

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Hanner, M. S.; Weinberg, J. L.; Deshields, L. M., II; Green, B. A.; Toller, G. N.

    1974-01-01

    Brightnesses measured by the Pioneer 10 imaging photopolarimeter in two regions of sky were compared on sky maps at sun-spacecraft distances from 2.4 to 4.8 AU to determine the spatial extent of the zodiacal light. Data in the ecliptic at elongations greater than 90 deg show negligible contribution to the zodiacal light beyond 3.3 AU, the 2:1 Jupiter resonance. The zodiacal light brightness at 2.4 AU is less than 10% of that observed at 1 AU.

  11. Voyages of the Zodiac, an Impenitent Traveller across Lands and Ages

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Belmonte, Juan Antonio

    2015-05-01

    The zodiac is one of humankind's oldest astronomical heritages. Indeed, it has a long history and had an impressive cultural influence in the past that could be traced from the steppes of Mesopotamia to the wilderness of the Roman frontiers in Great Britain. In the present essay, we will discuss the origin of the zodiacal constellations in ancient Mesopotamia from their possible prehistoric ancestors in the pre-ceramic context of the 10,000-year-old site of Göbleki Tepe. Later on, we will discuss the role that the zodiac played in the development of the new cult established by King Antiochos I of Commagene in his hierothesion at Nemrud Dag, where a planetary conjunction in Leo has played a role in the clues to understand the enigmas of such an impressive monument. This will be followed by the analysis of its southwards travel to the Valley of the Nile, where we will study the famous Zodiac of Dendera. Then we will travel westwards to discuss the astronomical aspects of a new religion where astronomical eras and the zodiac ought to play a most relevant role, Mithraism. Finally, new ideas for future research in this most interesting topic will briefly be sketched.

  12. Exozodiacal Dust Workshop

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Backman, D. E. (Editor); Caroff, L. J. (Editor); Sandford, S. A. (Editor); Wooden, D. H. (Editor)

    1998-01-01

    The purpose of the workshop was to understand what effect circumstellar dust clouds will have on NASA's proposed Terrestrial Planet Finder (TPF) mission's ability to search for terrestrial-sized planets orbiting stars in the solar neighborhood. The workshop participants reviewed the properties of TPF, summarized what is known about the local zodiacal cloud and about exozodiacal clouds, and determined what additional knowledge must be obtained to help design TPF for maximum effectiveness within its cost constraint. Recommendations were made for ways to obtain that additional knowledge, at minimum cost. The workshop brought together approximately 70 scientists, from four different countries. The active participants included astronomers involved in the study of the local zodiacal cloud, in the formation of stars and planetary systems, and in the technologies and techniques of ground- and space-based infrared interferometry. During the course of the meeting, 15 invited talks and 20 contributed poster papers were presented, and there were four working sessions. This is a collection of the invited talks, contributed poster papers, and summaries of the working sessions.

  13. The Origin of the Excess Near-Infrared Diffuse Sky Brightness: Population III Stars or Zodiacal Light?

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Dwek, Eli

    2006-01-01

    The intensity of the diffuse 1 to 5 micron sky emission from which solar system and Galactic foregrounds have been subtracted is in excess of that expected from energy released by galaxies and stars that formed during the z < 5 redshift interval. The spectral signature of this excess near-infrared background light (NIRBL) component is almost identical to that of reflected sunlight from the interplanetary dust cloud, and could therefore be the result of the incomplete subtraction of this foreground emission component from the diffuse sky maps. Alternatively, this emission component could be extragalactic. Its spectral signature is consistent with that of redshifted continuum and recombination line emission from H-II regions formed by the first generation of very massive stars. In this talk I will present the implications of this excess emission for our understanding of the zodiacal dust cloud, the formation rate of Pop III stars, and the TeV gamma-ray opacity to nearby blazars.

  14. Research studies using OSO-6 zodiacal light experiment data

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    1977-01-01

    The results of research studies on the OSO-6 zodiacal light experiment, conducted during the period from May 1976 to October 1977 are described. A discussion is included of the instrument performance and the empirical calibrations developed. Main areas of the research performed, i.e., (1) zodiacal light variation analysis; (2) integrated starlight and diffuse galactic light; and (3) earth/moon libration region counterglow, are covered. Considerable data processing was performed during these studies and it is summarized. Recommendations for future research to complete the interim results are given.

  15. Teeth and numerology from zodiac signs. A correlative study.

    PubMed

    Kudva, S; Bhat, A P

    2000-01-01

    Comparative anatomical descriptions have been time and again mentioned in the literature. Based on these aspects, an attempt is made to correlate the morphological features of the human teeth, the zodiac sun signs and numerology. This unique study (first ever of its kind) is also done with a purpose as to whether a particular 'Zodiac Sunsign' or numerology can predict about an individual dental health, the same way the future predictions are being made. It was quite interesting to note that there are few definite attributable dental morphological traits and health to the specific sun signs and numerology.

  16. Cooling the Martian atmosphere: The spectral overlap of the C02 15 micrometers band and dust

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Lindner, Bernhard Lee

    1994-01-01

    Careful consideration must be given to the simultaneous treatment of the radiative transfer of the CO2 15 micron band and dust calculations for the Martian winter polar region show that a simple sum of separately calculated CO2 cooling rates and dust cooling rates can easily result a 30 percent error in the net cooling particularly near the surface. CO2 and dust hinder each others ability to cool the atmosphere. Even during periods of low dust opacity, dust still reduces the efficacy of CO2 at cooling the atmosphere. At the other extreme, when dust storms occur, CO2 still significantly impedes the ability of dust to cool the atmosphere. Hence, both CO2 and dust must be considered in radiative transfer models.

  17. The influence of the Chinese zodiac on fertility in Hong Kong SAR.

    PubMed

    Yip, Paul S F; Lee, Joseph; Cheung, Y B

    2002-11-01

    The annual total of births in Hong Kong SAR fell substantially in the past 20 years; hence the total fertility rate (TFR) followed the downward trend and dropped to a low of 0.9 below replacement level in 2000. Despite the long-term downward trend, short-run increases in the annual total of births and the TFR were exhibited. Such temporary fertility increases are identified in the Dragon Years of 1988 and 2000. The phenomenon of fertility changes associated with zodiacal animal years is examined in this paper with a view to gaining some insight into whether Chinese cultural preferences and folklore beliefs might have influenced prospective parents' reproductive behaviour. The paper explains the underlying philosophy of the Chinese astrological tradition and discusses how zodiacal preferences affect fertility between 1976 and 2000. The paper also explores why zodiacal influences on Chinese fertility before 1976 did not exist. It is unquestionable that the Dragon Year preference exerts an influence on fertility of modern Chinese populations through zodiacal birth-timing motivations. Birth rate rise in the Dragon Year is due to changes in timing of births that will have little effect on cumulative fertility.

  18. 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

  19. Skylab experiment SO73: Gegenschein/zodiacal light. [electrophotometry of surface brightness and polarization

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Weinberg, J. L.

    1976-01-01

    A 10 color photoelectric polarimeter was used to measure the surface brightness and polarization associated with zodiacal light, background starlight, and spacecraft corona during each of the Skylab missions. Fixed position and sky scanning observations were obtained during Skylab missions SL-2 and SL-3 at 10 wavelenghts between 4000A and 8200A. Initial results from the fixed-position data are presented on the spacecraft corona and on the polarized brightness of the zodiacal light. Included among the fixed position regions that were observed are the north celestial pole, south ecliptic pole, two regions near the north galactic pole, and 90 deg from the sun in the ecliptic. The polarized brightness of the zodiacal light was found to have the color of the sun at each of these positions. Because previous observations found the total brightness to have the color of the sun from the near ultraviolet out to 2.4 micrometers, the degree of polarization of the zodiacal light is independent of wavelength from 4000A to 8200A.

  20. Radar detectability studies of slow and small Zodiacal Dust Cloud Particles: I. The case of Arecibo 430 MHz meteor head echo observations

    PubMed Central

    Janches, D.; Plane, J.M.C.; Nesvorný, D.; Feng, W.; Vokrouhlický, D.; Nicolls, M.J.

    2016-01-01

    Recent model development of the Zodiacal Dust Cloud (ZDC) model (Nesvorný et al. 2010, 2011b) argue that the incoming flux of meteoric material into the Earth’s upper atmosphere is mostly undetected by radars because they cannot detect small extraterrestrial particles entering the atmosphere at low velocities due to the relatively small production of electrons. In this paper we present a new methodology utilizing meteor head echo radar observations that aims to constrain the ZDC physical model by ground-based measurements. In particular, for this work, we focus on Arecibo 430 MHz observations since this is the most sensitive radar utilized for this type of observations to date. For this, we integrate and employ existing comprehensive models of meteoroid ablation, ionization and radar detection to enable accurate interpretation of radar observations and show that reasonable agreement in the hourly rates is found between model predictions and Arecibo observations when: 1) we invoke the lower limit of the model predicted flux (~16 t/d) and 2) we estimate the ionization probability of ablating metal atoms using laboratory measurements of the ionization cross sections of high speed metal atom beams, resulting in values up to two orders of magnitude lower than the extensively utilized figure reported by Jones (1997) for low speeds meteors. However, even at this lower limit the model over predicts the slow portion of the Arecibo radial velocity distributions by a factor of 3, suggesting the model requires some revision. PMID:27642186

  1. Radar Detectability Studies of Slow and Small Zodiacal Dust Cloud Particles: I. The Case of Arecibo 430 MHz Meteor Head Echo Observations

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Janches, D.; Plane, J. M. C.; Nesvorny, D.; Feng, W.; Vokrouhlicky, D.; Nicolls, M. J.

    2014-01-01

    Recent model development of the Zodiacal Dust Cloud (ZDC) model (Nesvorny et al. 2010, 2011b) argue that the incoming flux of meteoric material into the Earth's upper atmosphere is mostly undetected by radars because they cannot detect small extraterrestrial particles entering the atmosphere at low velocities due to the relatively small production of electrons. In this paper we present a new methodology utilizing meteor head echo radar observations that aims to constrain the ZDC physical model by ground-based measurements. In particular, for this work, we focus on Arecibo 430 MHz observations since this is the most sensitive radar utilized for this type of observations to date. For this, we integrate and employ existing comprehensive models of meteoroid ablation, ionization and radar detection to enable accurate interpretation of radar observations and show that reasonable agreement in the hourly rates is found between model predictions and Arecibo observations when: 1) we invoke the lower limit of the model predicted flux (approximately 16 t/d) and 2) we estimate the ionization probability of ablating metal atoms using laboratory measurements of the ionization cross sections of high speed metal atom beams, resulting in values up to two orders of magnitude lower than the extensively utilized figure reported by Jones (1997) for low speeds meteors. However, even at this lower limit the model over predicts the slow portion of the Arecibo radial velocity distributions by a factor of 3, suggesting the model requires some revision.

  2. Radar detectability studies of slow and small zodiacal dust cloud particles. I. The case of Arecibo 430 MHz meteor head echo observations

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

    Janches, D.; Plane, J. M. C.; Feng, W.

    2014-11-20

    Recent model development of the Zodiacal Dust Cloud (ZDC) argues that the incoming flux of meteoric material into the Earth's upper atmosphere is mostly undetected by radars because they cannot detect small extraterrestrial particles entering the atmosphere at low velocities due to the relatively small production of electrons. In this paper, we present a new methodology utilizing meteor head echo radar observations that aims to constrain the ZDC physical model by ground-based measurements. In particular, for this work, we focus on Arecibo 430 MHz observations since this is the most sensitive radar utilized for this type of observations to date.more » For this, we integrate and employ existing comprehensive models of meteoroid ablation, ionization, and radar detection to enable accurate interpretation of radar observations and show that reasonable agreement in the hourly rates is found between model predictions and Arecibo observations when (1) we invoke the lower limit of the model predicted flux (∼16 t d{sup –1}) and (2) we estimate the ionization probability of ablating metal atoms using laboratory measurements of the ionization cross sections of high-speed metal atom beams, resulting in values up to two orders of magnitude lower than the extensively utilized figure reported by Jones for low-speed meteors. However, even at this lower limit, the model overpredicts the slow portion of the Arecibo radial velocity distributions by a factor of three, suggesting that the model requires some revision.« less

  3. Results of observations of the dust distribution in the F-corona of the sun

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

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

    2016-03-01

    The results of modeling of the distribution of dust in the circumsolar zone are presented. The dust distribution was retrieved from observations of the line-of-sight velocities in the F-corona to the distances of 7-11 solar radii during the total eclipses of the Sun in different years: on July 31, 1981; August 11, 1991; March 29, 2006; and August 1, 2008. Comparison of the results has shown that the dust composition varies from year to year and the dust is dynamically nonuniform. In addition to the dust related to the zodiacal cloud and concentrating to the ecliptic plane, the dust of retrograde motion and the ejections and accretion in the polar regions are observed. From the results of observations of eclipses on July 31, 1981, August 11, 1991, and August 1, 2008, the east-west asymmetry in a sign of the line-of-sight velocities was detected: they are negative to the east of the Sun and positive to the west. Such distribution of the velocities is indicative of the nearecliptic orbital dust motion, whose direction coincides with that of the motion of the planets. In the course of the eclipse of March 29, 2006, almost no dynamical connection with the zodiacal cloud was found. At the same time, the direction, where the observed velocities are largest in value and opposite in sign on opposite sides of the Sun, was determined, which provides evidence of the orbital motion deviating from the ecliptic plane. The results of observations in 2006 reveal a clear genetic connection of the observed orbital motion of dust with the parent comets of the Kreutz family found near the Sun close to the eclipse date. The velocities observed near the symmetry line in the plane of the sky grow by absolute value with increasing the elongation, which may take place, if the line of sight croßses an empty zone that is free of dust. The modeling of the data of observations near the symmetry plane allowed the parameters of the dust distribution near the sublimation zone to be obtained. In

  4. Link between interplanetary & cometary dust: Polarimetric observations and space studies with Rosetta & Eye-Sat

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Levasseur-Regourd, Anny-Chantal; Gaboriaud, Alain; Buil, Christian; Ressouche, Antoine; Lasue, J.; Palun, Adrien; Apper, Fabien; Elmaleh, Marc

    Intensity and linear polarization observations of the solar light scattered by interplanetary dust, the so-called zodiacal light, provide information on properties of the dust particles, such as their spatial density, local changes, morphology and albedo. Earth-based polarimetric observations, with a resolution of 5° or more, have been used to derive the polarization phase curve of interplanetary dust particles and to establish that the polarization at 90° phase angle increases with increasing solar distance, at least up to 1.5 au in the ecliptic, while the albedo decreases [1, 2]. Analysis of such studies will be revisited. Numerical simulations of the polarimetric behavior of interplanetary dust particles strongly suggest that, in the inner solar system, interplanetary dust particles consist of absorbing (e.g., organic compounds) and less absorbing (e.g., silicates) materials, that radial changes originate in a decrease of organics with decreasing solar distance (probably due to alteration processes), and that a significant fraction of the interplanetary dust is of cometary origin, in agreement with dynamical studies [3, 4]. The polarimetric behaviors of interplanetary dust and cometary dust particles seem to present striking similarities. The properties of cometary dust particles, as derived from remote polarimetric observations of comets including 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, the target of the Rosetta rendezvous mission, at various wavelengths, will be summarized [5, 6]. The ground truth expected from Rosetta dust experiments, i.e., MIDAS, COSIMA, GIADA, about dust particles’ morphology, composition, and evolution (with distance to the nucleus before Philae release and with distance to the Sun before and after perihelion passage) over the year and a half of nominal mission, will be discussed. Finally, the Eye-Sat nanosatellite will be presented. This triple cubesat, developed by students from engineering schools working as interns at CNES, is to be launched

  5. The Primeval Zodiac: Its Social, Religious, and Mythological Background

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Verderame, L.

    2009-08-01

    In this brief paper we try to draw the lines of the possible development of the originary iconographic and symbolic repertoire of the Mesopotamian zodiac, which through the Greeks was adopted in the Western world.

  6. Ten-color Gegenschein-zodiacal light photometer. [onboard Skylab

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Sparrow, J. G.; Weinberg, J. L.; Hahn, R. C.

    1977-01-01

    A ten-color Fabry photometer was used during Skylab missions SL-2 and SL-3 to measure sky brightness and polarization associated with zodiacal light, background starlight, F region airglow, and spacecraft corona. A brief description is given of the design, calibration, and performance of the instrument.

  7. Extra-Zodiacal-Cloud Astronomy via Solar Electric Propulsion

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Benson, Scott W.; Falck, Robert D.; Oleson, Steven R.; Greenhouse, Matthew A.; Kruk, Jeffrey W.; Gardner, Jonathan P.; Thronson, Harley A.; Vaughn, Frank J.; Fixsen, Dale J.

    2011-01-01

    Solar electric propulsion (SEP) is often considered as primary propulsion for robotic planetary missions, providing the opportunity to deliver more payload mass to difficult, high-delta-velocity destinations. However, SEP application to astrophysics has not been well studied. This research identifies and assesses a new application of SEP as primary propulsion for low-cost high-performance robotic astrophysics missions. The performance of an optical/infrared space observatory in Earth orbit or at the Sun-Earth L2 point (SEL2) is limited by background emission from the Zodiacal dust cloud that has a disk morphology along the ecliptic plane. By delivering an observatory to a inclined heliocentric orbit, most of this background emission can be avoided, resulting in a very substantial increase in science performance. This advantage enabled by SEP allows a small-aperture telescope to rival the performance of much larger telescopes located at SEL2. In this paper, we describe a novel mission architecture in which SEP technology is used to enable unprecedented telescope sensitivity performance per unit collecting area. This extra-zodiacal mission architecture will enable a new class of high-performance, short-development time, Explorer missions whose sensitivity and survey speed can rival flagship-class SEL2 facilities, thus providing new programmatic flexibility for NASA's astronomy mission portfolio. A mission concept study was conducted to evaluate this application of SEP. Trajectory analyses determined that a 700 kg-class science payload could be delivered in just over 2 years to a 2 AU mission orbit inclined 15 to the ecliptic using a 13 kW-class NASA's Evolutionary Xenon Thruster (NEXT) SEP system. A mission architecture trade resulted in a SEP stage architecture, in which the science spacecraft separates from the stage after delivery to the mission orbit. The SEP stage and science spacecraft concepts were defined in collaborative engineering environment studies. The

  8. 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.

  9. Sources of cosmic dust in the Earth's atmosphere

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Carrillo-Sánchez, J. D.; Nesvorný, D.; Pokorný, P.; Janches, D.; Plane, J. M. C.

    2016-12-01

    There are four known sources of dust in the inner solar system: Jupiter Family comets, asteroids, Halley Type comets, and Oort Cloud comets. Here we combine the mass, velocity, and radiant distributions of these cosmic dust populations from an astronomical model with a chemical ablation model to estimate the injection rates of Na and Fe into the Earth's upper atmosphere, as well as the flux of cosmic spherules to the surface. Comparing these parameters to lidar observations of the vertical Na and Fe fluxes above 87.5 km, and the measured cosmic spherule accretion rate at South Pole, shows that Jupiter Family Comets contribute (80 ± 17)% of the total input mass (43 ± 14 t d-1), in good accord with Cosmic Background Explorer and Planck observations of the zodiacal cloud.

  10. 72. 451 MADISON AVENUE, GRAND STAIR, ZODIAC CLOCK WITH DECORATIVE ...

    Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

    72. 451 MADISON AVENUE, GRAND STAIR, ZODIAC CLOCK WITH DECORATIVE CARVING BY STANFORD WHITE AND AUGUSTUS SAINT-GAUDENS - Villard Houses, 451-457 Madison Avenue & 24 East Fifty-first Street, New York County, NY

  11. Alien Asteroid Belt Compared to our Own

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    2005-01-01

    [figure removed for brevity, see original site] Figure 1: Band of Light Comparison

    This artist's concept illustrates what the night sky might look like from a hypothetical alien planet in a star system with an asteroid belt 25 times as massive as the one in our own solar system (alien system above, ours below; see Figure 1).

    NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope found evidence for such a belt around the nearby star called HD 69830, when its infrared eyes spotted dust, presumably from asteroids banging together. The telescope did not find any evidence for a planet in the system, but astronomers speculate one or more may be present.

    The movie begins at dusk on the imaginary world, when HD 69830, like our Sun, has begun to set over the horizon. Time is sped up to show the onset of night and the appearance of a brilliant band of light. This light comes from dust in a massive asteroid belt, which scatters sunlight.

    In our solar system, anybody observing the skies on a moonless night far from city lights can see the sunlight that is scattered by dust in our asteroid belt. Called zodiacal light and sometimes the 'false dawn,' this light appears as a dim band stretching up from the horizon when the Sun is about to rise or set. The light is faint enough that the disk of our Milky Way galaxy remains the most prominent feature in the sky. (The Milky Way disk is shown perpendicular to the zodiacal light in both pictures.)

    In contrast, the zodiacal light in the HD 69830 system would be 1,000 times brighter than our own, outshining even the Milky Way.

  12. On the size and velocity distribution of cosmic dust particles entering the atmosphere

    PubMed Central

    Carrillo‐Sánchez, J. D.; Feng, W.; Nesvorný, D.; Janches, D.

    2015-01-01

    Abstract The size and velocity distribution of cosmic dust particles entering the Earth's atmosphere is uncertain. Here we show that the relative concentrations of metal atoms in the upper mesosphere, and the surface accretion rate of cosmic spherules, provide sensitive probes of this distribution. Three cosmic dust models are selected as case studies: two are astronomical models, the first constrained by infrared observations of the Zodiacal Dust Cloud and the second by radar observations of meteor head echoes; the third model is based on measurements made with a spaceborne dust detector. For each model, a Monte Carlo sampling method combined with a chemical ablation model is used to predict the ablation rates of Na, K, Fe, Mg, and Ca above 60 km and cosmic spherule production rate. It appears that a significant fraction of the cosmic dust consists of small (<5 µg) and slow (<15 km s−1) particles. PMID:27478282

  13. A CMB foreground study in WMAP data: Extragalactic point sources and zodiacal light emission

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Chen, Xi

    The Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) radiation is the remnant heat from the Big Bang. It serves as a primary tool to understand the global properties, content and evolution of the universe. Since 2001, NASA's Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) satellite has been napping the full sky anisotropy with unprecedented accuracy, precision and reliability. The CMB angular power spectrum calculated from the WMAP full sky maps not only enables accurate testing of cosmological models, but also places significant constraints on model parameters. The CMB signal in the WMAP sky maps is contaminated by microwave emission from the Milky Way and from extragalactic sources. Therefore, in order to use the maps reliably for cosmological studies, the foreground signals must be well understood and removed from the maps. This thesis focuses on the separation of two foreground contaminants from the WMAP maps: extragalactic point sources and zodiacal light emission. Extragalactic point sources constitute the most important foreground on small angular scales. Various methods have been applied to the WMAP single frequency maps to extract sources. However, due to the limited angular resolution of WMAP, it is possible to confuse positive CMB excursions with point sources or miss sources that are embedded in negative CMB fluctuations. We present a novel CMB-free source finding technique that utilizes the spectrum difference of point sources and CMB to form internal linear combinations of multifrequency maps to suppress the CMB and better reveal sources. When applied to the WMAP 41, 64 and 94 GHz maps, this technique has not only enabled detection of sources that are previously cataloged by independent methods, but also allowed disclosure of new sources. Without the noise contribution from the CMB, this method responds rapidly with the integration time. The number of detections varies as 0( t 0.72 in the two-band search and 0( t 0.70 in the three-band search from one year to five years

  14. Is the zodiacal light intensity steady. [cloud surface brightness and polarization from OSO-5 data

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Burnett, G. B.; Sparrow, J. G.; Ney, E. P.

    1974-01-01

    It is pointed out that conclusions reported by Sparrow and Ney (1972, 1973) could be confirmed in an investigation involving the refinement of OSO-5 data on zodiacal light. It had been found by Sparrow and Ney that the absolute value of both the surface brightness and polarization of the zodiacal cloud varied by less than 10% over the 4-yr period from January 1969 to January 1973.

  15. DustPedia: Multiwavelength photometry and imagery of 875 nearby galaxies in 42 ultraviolet-microwave bands

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Clark, C. J. R.; Verstocken, S.; Bianchi, S.; Fritz, J.; Viaene, S.; Smith, M. W. L.; Baes, M.; Casasola, V.; Cassara, L. P.; Davies, J. I.; De Looze, I.; De Vis, P.; Evans, R.; Galametz, M.; Jones, A. P.; Lianou, S.; Madden, S.; Mosenkov, A. V.; Xilouris, M.

    2018-01-01

    Aims: The DustPedia project is capitalising on the legacy of the Herschel Space Observatory, using cutting-edge modelling techniques to study dust in the 875 DustPedia galaxies - representing the vast majority of extended galaxies within 3000 km s-1 that were observed by Herschel. This work requires a database of multiwavelength imagery and photometry that greatly exceeds the scope (in terms of wavelength coverage and number of galaxies) of any previous local-Universe survey. Methods: We constructed a database containing our own custom Herschel reductions, along with standardised archival observations from GALEX, SDSS, DSS, 2MASS, WISE, Spitzer, and Planck. Using these data, we performed consistent aperture-matched photometry, which we combined with external supplementary photometry from IRAS and Planck. Results: We present our multiwavelength imagery and photometry across 42 UV-microwave bands for the 875 DustPedia galaxies. Our aperture-matched photometry, combined with the external supplementary photometry, represents a total of 21 857 photometric measurements. A typical DustPedia galaxy has multiwavelength photometry spanning 25 bands. We also present the Comprehensive & Adaptable Aperture Photometry Routine (CAAPR), the pipeline we developed to carry out our aperture-matched photometry. CAAPR is designed to produce consistent photometry for the enormous range of galaxy and observation types in our data. In particular, CAAPR is able to determine robust cross-compatible uncertainties, thanks to a novel method for reliably extrapolating the aperture noise for observations that cover a very limited amount of background. Our rich database of imagery and photometry is being made available to the community. Photometry data tables are only available at the CDS via anonymous ftp to http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (http://130.79.128.5) or via http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr/viz-bin/qcat?J/A+A/609/A37

  16. Sources of cosmic dust in the Earth's atmosphere.

    PubMed

    Carrillo-Sánchez, J D; Nesvorný, D; Pokorný, P; Janches, D; Plane, J M C

    2016-12-16

    There are four known sources of dust in the inner solar system: Jupiter Family comets, asteroids, Halley Type comets, and Oort Cloud comets. Here we combine the mass, velocity, and radiant distributions of these cosmic dust populations from an astronomical model with a chemical ablation model to estimate the injection rates of Na and Fe into the Earth's upper atmosphere, as well as the flux of cosmic spherules to the surface. Comparing these parameters to lidar observations of the vertical Na and Fe fluxes above 87.5 km, and the measured cosmic spherule accretion rate at South Pole, shows that Jupiter Family Comets contribute (80 ± 17)% of the total input mass (43 ± 14 t d -1 ), in good accord with Cosmic Background Explorer and Planck observations of the zodiacal cloud.

  17. Sources of cosmic dust in the Earth's atmosphere

    PubMed Central

    Carrillo‐Sánchez, J. D.; Nesvorný, D.; Pokorný, P.; Janches, D.

    2016-01-01

    Abstract There are four known sources of dust in the inner solar system: Jupiter Family comets, asteroids, Halley Type comets, and Oort Cloud comets. Here we combine the mass, velocity, and radiant distributions of these cosmic dust populations from an astronomical model with a chemical ablation model to estimate the injection rates of Na and Fe into the Earth's upper atmosphere, as well as the flux of cosmic spherules to the surface. Comparing these parameters to lidar observations of the vertical Na and Fe fluxes above 87.5 km, and the measured cosmic spherule accretion rate at South Pole, shows that Jupiter Family Comets contribute (80 ± 17)% of the total input mass (43 ± 14 t d−1), in good accord with Cosmic Background Explorer and Planck observations of the zodiacal cloud. PMID:28275286

  18. The Evolution of the Surface of Symmetry of the Interplanetary Dust from 24° to 5° Elongation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Stenborg, Guillermo; Howard, Russell A.

    2017-10-01

    The white-light STEREO/SECCHI images include light scattered by dust in orbit about the Sun (the F-corona). We analyzed the evolution of the symmetry axis of the F-corona between 2007 and 2012 in the elongation range covered by the STEREO-A/HI-1 instrument (4°-24° elongation) to characterize the plane of symmetry of the zodiacal dust cloud. The symmetry axes both above and below the ecliptic plane were derived separately without assuming any particular functional form. No noticeable time dependence was observed. However, we did find an evolution with elongation of both the inclination I and the ascending node {{{Ω }}}A of the inferred plane of symmetry. Both parameters appeared fairly constant in the outer half of the elongation range studied (I=˜ 3\\buildrel{\\circ}\\over{.} 7,{{{Ω }}}A=˜ 83^\\circ ; values close to those of Venus’s orbit). Then, they start to evolve, becoming I=˜ 6^\\circ (I.e., a trend toward the solar equatorial plane) and {{{Ω }}}A=˜ 57^\\circ at about 5° elongation. This variation indicates that the zodiacal dust cloud exhibits a warped plane of symmetry, with an estimated center of symmetry at about 0.5 {R}⊙ from the Sun’s center on the side of the heliosphere containing Jupiter. We found a marginal difference between the inclination of the axes below and above the ecliptic. This is suggestive of an increased dust density distribution at certain fixed longitudes, which could be explained by the dust deposition of Kreutz Sun-grazing comets. We conjecture that the circumsolar dust is mainly affected by gravitational forces, other forces becoming dominant only where the more rapid changes occur.

  19. A likely detection of a local interplanetary dust cloud passing near the Earth in the AKARI mid-infrared all-sky map

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ishihara, D.; Kondo, T.; Kaneda, H.; Suzuki, T.; Nakamichi, K.; Takaba, S.; Kobayashi, H.; Masuda, S.; Ootsubo, T.; Pyo, J.; Onaka, T.

    2017-07-01

    Context. We are creating the AKARI mid-infrared all-sky diffuse maps. Through a foreground removal of the zodiacal emission, we serendipitously detected a bright residual component whose angular size is about 50° × 20° at a wavelength of 9 μm. Aims: We investigate the origin and the physical properties of the residual component. Methods: We measured the surface brightness of the residual component in the AKARI mid-infrared all-sky maps. Results: The residual component was significantly detected only in 2007 January, even though the same region was observed in 2006 July and 2007 July, which shows that it is not due to the Galactic emission. We suggest that this may be a small cloud passing near the Earth. By comparing the observed intensity ratio of I9 μm/I18 μm with the expected intensity ratio assuming thermal equilibrium of dust grains at 1 AU for various dust compositions and sizes, we find that dust grains in the moving cloud are likely to be much smaller than typical grains that produce the bulk of the zodiacal light. Conclusions: Considering the observed date and position, it is likely that it originates in the solar coronal mass ejection (CME) which took place on 2007 January 25.

  20. The Chevroches zodiacal cap and its Burgundy relations

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Devevey, Frédéric; Vernou, Christian; Rousseau, Aurélie

    2011-06-01

    The excavation of an unexplored secondary agglomeration in Chevroches (France), from 2001 to 2002 has led to the discovery of a bronze dome of a type unknown in the Ancient world. It is inscribed with three lines in Greek transcribing Egyptian and Roman months, and the twelve signs of the Zodiac. This paper presents the first observations and some other finds from similar objects in Burgundy.

  1. How large is the cosmic dust flux into the Earth's atmosphere?

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Plane, John; Janches, Diego; Gomez-Martin, Juan Carlos; Bones, David; Diego Carrillo-Sanchez, Juan; James, Sandy; Nesvorny, David; Pokorny, Petr

    2016-07-01

    Cosmic dust particles are produced in the solar system from the sublimation of comets as they orbit close to the sun, and also from collisions between asteroids in the belt between Mars and Jupiter. Current estimates of the magnitude of the cosmic dust input rate into the Earth's atmosphere range from 2 to well over 100 tons per day, depending on whether the measurements are made in space, in the middle atmosphere, or at the surface in polar ice cores. This nearly 2 order-of-magnitude discrepancy indicates that there are serious flaws in the interpretation of observations that have been used to make the estimates. Dust particles enter the atmosphere at hyperthermal velocities (11 - 72 km s ^{-1}), and mostly ablate at heights between 80 and 120 km in a region of the atmosphere known as the mesosphere/lower thermosphere (MLT). The resulting metal vapours (Fe, Mg, Si and Na etc.) then oxidize and recondense to form nm-size particles, termed "meteoric smoke". These particles are too small to sediment downwards. Instead, they are transported by the general circulation of the atmosphere, taking roughly 5 years to reach the surface. There is great interest in the role smoke particles play as condensation nuclei of noctilucent ice clouds in the mesosphere, and polar stratospheric clouds in the lower stratosphere. Various new estimates of the dust input will be discussed. The first is from a zodiacal dust cloud model which predicts that more than 90% of the dust entering the atmosphere comes from Jupiter Family Comets; this model is constrained by observations of the zodiacal cloud using the IRAS, COBE and Planck satellites. The cometary dust is predicted to mostly be in a near-prograde orbit, entering the atmosphere with an average velocity around 14 km s ^{-1}. The total dust input should then be about 40 t d ^{-1}. However, relatively few of these particles are observed, even by the powerful Arecibo 430 MHz radar. Coupled models of meteoroid differential ablation

  2. Distribution of Dust from Kuiper Belt Objects

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Gorkavyi, Nick N.; Ozernoy, Leonid; Taidakova, Tanya; Mather, John C.; Fisher, Richard (Technical Monitor)

    2000-01-01

    Using an efficient computational approach, we have reconstructed the structure of the dust cloud in the Solar system between 0.5 and 100 AU produced by the Kuiper belt objects. Our simulations offer a 3-D physical model of the 'kuiperoidal' dust cloud based on the distribution of 280 dust particle trajectories produced by 100 known Kuiper belt objects; the resulting 3-D grid consists of 1.9 x 10' cells containing 1.2 x 10" particle positions. The following processes that influence the dust particle dynamics are taken into account: 1) gravitational scattering on the eight planets (neglecting Pluto); 2) planetary resonances; 3) radiation pressure; and 4) the Poynting-Robertson (P-R) and solar wind drags. We find the dust distribution highly non-uniform: there is a minimum in the kuiperoidal dust between Mars and Jupiter, after which both the column and number densities of kuiperoidal dust sharply increase with heliocentric distance between 5 and 10 AU, and then form a plateau between 10 and 50 AU. Between 25 and 45 AU, there is an appreciable concentration of kuiperoidal dust in the form of a broad belt of mostly resonant particles associated with Neptune. In fact, each giant planet possesses its own circumsolar dust belt consisting of both resonant and gravitationally scattered particles. As with the cometary belts simulated in our related papers, we reveal a rich and sophisticated resonant structure of the dust belts containing families of resonant peaks and gaps. An important result is that both the column and number dust density are more or less flat between 10 and 50 AU, which might explain the surprising data obtained by Pioneers 10 & 11 and Voyager that the dust number density remains approximately distance-independent in this region. The simulated kuiperoidal dust, in addition to asteroidal and cometary dust, might represent a third possible source of the zodiacal light in the Solar system.

  3. AKARI and Spinning Dust: A look at microwave dust emission via the Infrared

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bell, Aaron Christopher; Onaka, Takashi; Wu, Ronin; Doi, Yasuo

    2015-08-01

    Rapidly spinning dust particles having a permanent electric dipole moment have been shown to be a likely carrier of the anomalous microwave emission (AME), a continuous excess of microwave flux in the 10 to 90 GHz range. Small grains, possibly polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), are a leading suspect. Due to the overlap frequency overlap with the CMB, the AME is requiring cosmologists to consider the ISM with more care. ISM astronomers are also needing to consider the contribution of cosmological radiation to large-scale dust investigations. We present data from AKARI/Infrared Camera (IRC) due to the effective PAH band coverage of its 9 um survey to investigate PAH emission within 98 AME candidate regions identified by Planck Collaboration et al. (2014). We supplement AKARI data with the four Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS) all-sky maps and complement with the Planck High Frequency Instrument (HFI) bands at 857 and 545GHz to constrain the full dust SED. We sample analyse the SEDs of all 98 regions. We utilize all 7 AKARI photometric bands, as well as the 4 IRAS bands and 2 HFI. We carry out a modified blackbody fitting, and estimate the optical depth of thermal dust at 250 um, and compare this to AME parameters. We also show plots of each band's average intensity for all 98 regions vs. AME parameters. We find a positive trend between the optical depth and AME. In the band-by-band comparison the AKARI 9 um intensity shows a weaker trend with AME. In general, the MIR correlates less strongly with AME than the FIR. The optical depth vs. AME trend improves slightly when looking only at significant AME regions. Scaling the IR intensities by the ISRF strength G0 does not improve the correlations. We cannot offer strong support of a spinning dust model. The results highlight the need for full dust SED modelling, and for a better understanding of the role that magnetic dipole emission from dust grains could play in producing the AME.

  4. Radar Detectability Studies of Slow and Small Zodiacal Dust Cloud Particles. III. The Role of Sodium and the Head Echo Size on the Probability of Detection

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Janches, D.; Swarnalingam, N.; Carrillo-Sanchez, J. D.; Gomez-Martin, J. C.; Marshall, R.; Nesvorný, D.; Plane, J. M. C.; Feng, W.; Pokorný, P.

    2017-07-01

    We present a path forward on a long-standing issue concerning the flux of small and slow meteoroids, which are believed to be the dominant portion of the incoming meteoric mass flux into the Earth’s atmosphere. Such a flux, which is predicted by dynamical dust models of the Zodiacal Cloud, is not evident in ground-based radar observations. For decades this was attributed to the fact that the radars used for meteor observations lack the sensitivity to detect this population, due to the small amount of ionization produced by slow-velocity meteors. Such a hypothesis has been challenged by the introduction of meteor head echo (HE) observations with High Power and Large Aperture radars, in particular the Arecibo 430 MHz radar. Janches et al. developed a probabilistic approach to estimate the detectability of meteors by these radars and initially showed that, with the current knowledge of ablation and ionization, such particles should dominate the detected rates by one to two orders of magnitude compared to the actual observations. In this paper, we include results in our model from recently published laboratory measurements, which showed that (1) the ablation of Na is less intense covering a wider altitude range; and (2) the ionization probability, {β }{ip}, for Na atoms in the air is up to two orders of magnitude smaller for low speeds than originally believed. By applying these results and using a somewhat smaller size of the HE radar target we offer a solution that reconciles these observations with model predictions.

  5. Radar Detectability Studies of Slow and Small Zodiacal Dust Cloud Particles. III. The Role of Sodium and the Head Echo Size on the Probability of Detection

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Janches, D.; Swarnalingam, N.; Carrillo-Sanchez, J. D.; Gomez-Martin, J. C.; Marshall, R.; Nesvorny, D.; Plane, J. M. C.; Feng, W.; Pokorny, P.

    2017-01-01

    We present a path forward on a long-standing issue concerning the flux of small and slow meteoroids, which are believed to be the dominant portion of the incoming meteoric mass flux into the Earth's atmosphere. Such a flux, which is predicted by dynamical dust models of the Zodiacal Cloud, is not evident in ground-based radar observations. For decades this was attributed to the fact that the radars used for meteor observations lack the sensitivity to detect this population, due to the small amount of ionization produced by slow-velocity meteors. Such a hypothesis has been challenged by the introduction of meteor head echo (HE) observations with High Power and Large Aperture radars, in particular the Arecibo 430 MHz radar. Janches et al. developed a probabilistic approach to estimate the detectability of meteors by these radars and initially showed that, with the current knowledge of ablation and ionization, such particles should dominate the detected rates by one to two orders of magnitude compared to the actual observations. In this paper, we include results in our model from recently published laboratory measurements, which showed that (1) the ablation of Na is less intense covering a wider altitude range; and (2) the ionization probability, Beta ip, for Na atoms in the air is up to two orders of magnitude smaller for low speeds than originally believed. By applying these results and using a somewhat smaller size of the HE radar target we offer a solution that reconciles these observations with model predictions.

  6. Towards a Full-sky, High-resolution Dust Extinction Map with WISE and Planck

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Meisner, Aaron M.; Finkbeiner, D. P.

    2014-01-01

    We have recently completed a custom processing of the entire WISE 12 micron All-sky imaging data set. The result is a full-sky map of diffuse, mid-infrared Galactic dust emission with angular resolution of 15 arcseconds, and with contaminating artifacts such as compact sources removed. At the same time, the 2013 Planck HFI maps represent a complementary data set in the far-infrared, with zero-point relatively immune to zodiacal contamination and angular resolution superior to previous full-sky data sets at similar frequencies. Taken together, these WISE and Planck data products present an opportunity to improve upon the SFD (1998) dust extinction map, by virtue of enhanced angular resolution and potentially better-controlled systematics on large scales. We describe our continuing efforts to construct and test high-resolution dust extinction and temperature maps based on our custom WISE processing and Planck HFI data.

  7. Acid dissolution experiments - Carbonates and the 6.8-micrometer bands in interplanetary dust particles

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Sandford, S. A.

    1986-01-01

    A chemical dissolution experiment on an interplanetary dust particle (IDP) showed that carbonates, not acid-insoluble organic compounds, were responsible for virtually all the absorption at 6.8 micrometers seen in the infrared spectra of this particle. The IDP examined had an infrared spectrum characteristic of layer-lattice silicates and belongs to a class of IDP's whose spectra resemble those of protostellar objects like W33 A, which also exhibit a band at 6.8 micrometers.

  8. Exozodiacal clouds: hot and warm dust around main sequence stars

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kral, Quentin; Krivov, Alexander V.; Defrère, Denis; van Lieshout, Rik; Bonsor, Amy; Augereau, Jean-Charles; Thébault, Philippe; Ertel, Steve; Lebreton, Jérémy; Absil, Olivier

    2017-04-01

    A warm/hot dust component (at temperature $>$ 300K) has been detected around $\\sim$ 20% of stars. This component is called "exozodiacal dust" as it presents similarities with the zodiacal dust detected in our Solar System, even though its physical properties and spatial distribution can be significantly different. Understanding the origin and evolution of this dust is of crucial importance, not only because its presence could hamper future detections of Earth-like planets in their habitable zones, but also because it can provide invaluable information about the inner regions of planetary systems. In this review, we present a detailed overview of the observational techniques used in the detection and characterisation of exozodiacal dust clouds ("exozodis") and the results they have yielded so far, in particular regarding the incidence rate of exozodis as a function of crucial parameters such as stellar type and age, or the presence of an outer cold debris disc. We also present the important constraints that have been obtained, on dust size distribution and spatial location, by using state-of-the-art radiation transfer models on some of these systems. Finally, we investigate the crucial issue of how to explain the presence of exozodiacal dust around so many stars (regardless of their ages) despite the fact that such dust so close to its host star should disappear rapidly due to the coupled effect of collisions and stellar radiation pressure. Several potential mechanisms have been proposed to solve this paradox and are reviewed in detail in this paper. The review finishes by presenting the future of this growing field.

  9. Rutgers zodiacal light experiment on OSO-6

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Carroll, B.

    1975-01-01

    A detector was placed in a slowly spinning wheel on OSO-6 whose axis was perpendicular to the line drawn to the sun, to measure the surface brightness and polarization at all elongations from the immediate neighborhood of the sun to the anti-solar point. Different wavelength settings and polarizations were calculated from the known order of magnitude brightness of the zodiacal light. The measuring sequence was arranged to give longer integration times for the regions of lower surface brightness. Three types of analysis to which the data on OSO-6 were subjected are outlined; (1) photometry, (2) colorimetry and (3) polarimetry.

  10. Cosmic dust in the earth's atmosphere.

    PubMed

    Plane, John M C

    2012-10-07

    This review discusses the magnitude of the cosmic dust input into the earth's atmosphere, and the resulting impacts from around 100 km to the earth's surface. Zodiacal cloud observations and measurements made with a spaceborne dust detector indicate a daily mass input of interplanetary dust particles ranging from 100 to 300 tonnes, which is in agreement with the accumulation rates of cosmic-enriched elements (Ir, Pt, Os and super-paramagnetic Fe) in polar ice cores and deep-sea sediments. In contrast, measurements in the middle atmosphere - by radar, lidar, high-flying aircraft and satellite remote sensing - indicate that the input is between 5 and 50 tonnes per day. There are two reasons why this huge discrepancy matters. First, if the upper range of estimates is correct, then vertical transport in the middle atmosphere must be considerably faster than generally believed; whereas if the lower range is correct, then our understanding of dust evolution in the solar system, and transport from the middle atmosphere to the surface, will need substantial revision. Second, cosmic dust particles enter the atmosphere at high speeds and undergo significant ablation. The resulting metals injected into the atmosphere are involved in a diverse range of phenomena, including: the formation of layers of metal atoms and ions; the nucleation of noctilucent clouds, which are a sensitive marker of climate change; impacts on stratospheric aerosols and O(3) chemistry, which need to be considered against the background of a cooling stratosphere and geo-engineering plans to increase sulphate aerosol; and fertilization of the ocean with bio-available Fe, which has potential climate feedbacks.

  11. Polarization of the zodiacal light - First results from Skylab

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Sparrow, J. G.; Weinberg, J. L.; Hahn, R. C.

    1976-01-01

    A brief description is given of the Skylab ten color photoelectric photometer and the programs of measurements made during Skylab missions SL-2 and SL-3. Results obtained on the polarized brightness of zodiacal light at five points on the antisolar hemisphere are discussed and compared with other published data for the north celestial pole, south ecliptic pole, at elongation 90 degrees on the ecliptic, and at two places near the north galactic pole.

  12. Detecting Exoplanets with the New Worlds Observer: The Problem of Exozodiacal Dust

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Roberge, A.; Noecker, M. C.; Glassman, T. M.; Oakley, P.; Turnbull, M. C.

    2009-01-01

    Dust coming from asteroids and comets will strongly affect direct imaging and characterization of terrestrial planets in the Habitable Zones of nearby stars. Such dust in the Solar System is called the zodiacal dust (or 'zodi' for short). Higher levels of similar dust are seen around many nearby stars, confined in disks called debris disks. Future high-contrast images of an Earth-like exoplanet will very likely be background-limited by light scattered of both the local Solar System zodi and the circumstellar dust in the extrasolar system (the exozodiacal dust). Clumps in the exozodiacal dust, which are expected in planet-hosting systems, may also be a source of confusion. Here we discuss the problems associated with imaging an Earth-like planet in the presence of unknown levels of exozodiacal dust. Basic formulae for the exoplanet imaging exposure time as function of star, exoplanet, zodi, exozodi, and telescope parameters will be presented. To examine the behavior of these formulae, we apply them to the New Worlds Observer (NWO) mission. NWO is a proposed 4-meter UV/optical/near-IR telescope, with a free flying starshade to suppress the light from a nearby star and achieve the high contrast needed for detection and characterization of a terrestrial planet in the star's Habitable Zone. We find that NWO can accomplish its science goals even if exozodiacal dust levels are typically much higher than the Solar System zodi level. Finally, we highlight a few additional problems relating to exozodiacal dust that have yet to be solved.

  13. 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.

  14. Inferring Sources in the Interplanetary Dust Cloud, from Observations and Simulations of Zodiacal Light and Thermal Emission

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Levasseur-Regourd, A. C.; Lasue, J.

    2011-01-01

    Interplanetary dust particles physical properties may be approached through observations of the solar light they scatter, specially its polarization, and of their thermal emission. Results, at least near the ecliptic plane, on polarization phase curves and on the heliocentric dependence of the local spatial density, albedo, polarization and temperature are summarized. As far as interpretations through simulations are concerned, a very good fit of the polarization phase curve near 1.5 AU is obtained for a mixture of silicates and more absorbing organics material, with a significant amount of fluffy aggregates. In the 1.5-0.5 AU solar distance range, the temperature variation suggests the presence of a large amount of absorbing organic compounds, while the decrease of the polarization with decreasing solar distance is indeed compatible with a decrease of the organics towards the Sun. Such results are in favor of the predominance of dust of cometary origin in the interplanetary dust cloud, at least below 1.5 AU. The implication of these results on the delivery of complex organic molecules on Earth during the LHB epoch, when the spatial density of the interplanetary dust cloud was orders of magnitude greater than today, is discussed.

  15. 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

  16. Spectral Signature of Radiative Forcing by East Asian Dust-Soot Mixture

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhu, A.; Ramanathan, V.

    2007-12-01

    The Pacific Dust Experiment (PACDEX) provides the first detailed sampling of dust-soot mixtures from the western Pacific to the eastern Pacific Ocean. The data includes down and up spectral irradiance, mixing state of dust and soot, and other aerosol properties. This study attempts to simulate the radiative forcing by dust-soot mixtures during the experimental period. The MODTRAN band model was employed to investigate the spectral signatures of solar irradiance change induced by aerosols at moderate spectral resolutions. For the short wave band (300-1100nm) used in this study, the reduction of downward irradiance at surface by aerosols greatly enhances with increasing wavelength in the UV band (300-400nm), reaches a maximum in the blue band, then gradually decreases toward the red band. In the near-IR band (700-1100nm), irradiance reduction by aerosols shows great fluctuations in the band with center wavelength at around 940nm, 820nm, 720nm, 760nm, 690nm, where the aerosol effect is overwhelmed by the water vapor and O2 absorptions. The spectral pattern of irradiance reduction varies for different aerosol species. The maximum reduction lies at around 450nm for soot, and shifting to about 490nm for East Asian mineral dust. It's worth noting that although soot aerosols reduce more irradiance than East Asian dust in the UV and blue band, the impact of dust to the irradiance exceeds that by soot at the longer wavelength band (i.e. around 550nm). The reduction of irradiance by East Asian dust (soot) in the UV band, visible band, and near-IR accounts for about 6% (10%), 56% (64%), and 38% (26%) of total irradiance reduction. As large amount of soot aerosols are involved during the long range transport of East Asian dust, the optical properties of dust aerosols are modified with different mixing state with soot, the spectral pattern of the irradiance reduction will be changed. The study of aerosol forcing at moderate spectral resolutions has the potential application for

  17. Innovative Techniques to Model, Analyze and Monitor Space Effects on Air Force Space-Based Systems

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2010-03-20

    of Comets in the Heliosphere as Observed by SMEI 4 2.8. Zodiacal Light Observations and Modeling 5 2.9. Space Weather Forecasting Lab (SWFL...This research resulted in two publications and a presentation at the 2007 American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting. 2.8. Zodiacal Light Observations...and Modeling One of the backgrounds removed from SMEI imagery is the scattered zodiacal light from solar system dust. The zodiacal light has

  18. Full-sky, High-resolution Maps of Interstellar Dust

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Meisner, Aaron Michael

    We present full-sky, high-resolution maps of interstellar dust based on data from the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) and Planck missions. We describe our custom processing of the entire WISE 12 micron All-Sky imaging data set, and present the resulting 15 arcsecond resolution, full-sky map of diffuse Galactic dust emission, free of compact sources and other contaminating artifacts. Our derived 12 micron dust map offers angular resolution far superior to that of all other existing full-sky, infrared dust emission maps, revealing a wealth of small-scale filamentary structure. We also apply the Finkbeiner et al. (1999) two-component thermal dust emission model to the Planck HFI maps. We derive full-sky 6.1 arcminute resolution maps of dust optical depth and temperature by fitting this two-component model to Planck 217-857 GHz along with DIRBE/IRAS 100 micron data. In doing so, we obtain the first ever full-sky 100-3000 GHz Planck-based thermal dust emission model, as well as a dust temperature correction with ~10 times enhanced angular resolution relative to DIRBE-based temperature maps. Analyzing the joint Planck/DIRBE dust spectrum, we show that two-component models provide a better fit to the 100-3000 GHz emission than do single-MBB models, though by a lesser margin than found by Finkbeiner et al. (1999) based on FIRAS and DIRBE. We find that, in diffuse sky regions, our two-component 100-217 GHz predictions are on average accurate to within 2.2%, while extrapolating the Planck Collaboration (2013) single-MBB model systematically underpredicts emission by 18.8% at 100 GHz, 12.6% at 143 GHz and 7.9% at 217 GHz. We calibrate our two-component optical depth to reddening, and compare with reddening estimates based on stellar spectra. We find the dominant systematic problems in our temperature/reddening maps to be zodiacal light on large angular scales and the cosmic infrared background anisotropy on small angular scales. Future work will focus on combining

  19. Mapping the circumsolar dust ring near the orbit of Venus

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jones, M. H.; Bewsher, D.; Brown, D. S.

    2017-05-01

    Synoptic images obtained from the HI-2 instrument on STEREO-A and -B between 2007 and 2014 have been used to further investigate the circumsolar dust ring at the orbit of Venus that was reported by Jones et al. (2013). The analysis is based on high signal-to-noise ratio photometry of the zodiacal light, using data acquired over 10-day intervals, followed by a process of extracting spatial variability on scales up to about 6.5°. The resulting images provide information about the structure of the ring at the location where it is viewed tangentially. We identify 65 usable data sets that comprise about 11% of the available HI-2 data. Analysis of these images show that the orientation of the ring appears to be different to that of the orbit of Venus, with an inclination of 2.1° and longitude of ascending node of 68.5°. We map the variation of ring density parameters in a frame of reference that is co-rotating with Venus and find a pattern suggestive of dust in a 3: 2 orbital resonance. However, the location of the maxima of dust densities is not as expected from theoretical models, and there is some evidence that the dust density distribution in the ring has a pattern speed that differs from the mean motion of Venus.

  20. Modelling of mid-infrared interferometric signature of hot exozodiacal dust emission

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kirchschlager, Florian; Wolf, Sebastian; Brunngräber, Robert; Matter, Alexis; Krivov, Alexander V.; Labdon, Aaron

    2018-01-01

    Hot exozodiacal dust emission was detected in recent surveys around two dozen main-sequence stars at distances of less than 1 au using the H- and K-band interferometry. Due to the high contrast as well as the small angular distance between the circumstellar dust and the star, direct observation of this dust component is challenging. An alternative way to explore the hot exozodiacal dust is provided by mid-infrared interferometry. We analyse the L, M and N bands interferometric signature of this emission in order to find stronger constraints for the properties and the origin of the hot exozodiacal dust. Considering the parameters of nine debris disc systems derived previously, we model the discs in each of these bands. We find that the M band possesses the best conditions to detect hot dust emission, closely followed by L and N bands. The hot dust in three systems - HD 22484 (10 Tau), HD 102647 (β Leo) and HD 177724 (ζ Aql) - shows a strong signal in the visibility functions, which may even allow one to constrain the dust location. In particular, observations in the mid-infrared could help to determine whether the dust piles up at the sublimation radius or is located at radii up to 1 au. In addition, we explore observations of the hot exozodiacal dust with the upcoming mid-infrared interferometer Multi AperTure mid-Infrared SpectroScopic Experiment (MATISSE) at the Very Large Telescope Interferometer.

  1. The Zodiacal Cloud Model applied to the Martian atmosphere. Diurnal variations in meteoric ion layers

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Carrillo-Sánchez, J. D.; Plane, J. M. C.; Withers, P.; Fallows, K.; Nesvorny, D.; Pokorný, P.

    2016-12-01

    Sporadic metal layers have been detected in the Martian atmosphere by radio occultation measurements using the Mars Express Orbiter and Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft. More recently, metallic ion layers produced by the meteor storm event following the close encounter between Comet Siding Spring (C/2013 A1) and Mars were identified by the Imaging UltraViolet Spectrograph (IUVS) and the Neutral Gas and Ion Mass Spectrometer (NGIMS) on the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) spacecraft. Work is now in progress to detect the background metal layers produced by the influx of sporadic meteors. In this study we predict the likely appearance of these layers. The Zodiacal Dust Cloud (ZDC) model for particle populations released by asteroids (AST), and dust grains from Jupiter Family Comets (JFCs) and Halley-Type Comets (HTCs) has been combined with a Monte Carlo sampling method and the Chemical ABlation MODel (CABMOD) to predict the ablation rates of Na, K, Fe, Si, Mg, Ca and Al above 40 km altitude in the Martian atmosphere. CABMOD considers the standard treatment of meteor physics, including the balance of frictional heating by radiative losses and the absorption of heat energy through temperature increases, melting phase transitions and vaporization, as well as sputtering by inelastic collisions with the air molecules. The vertical injection profiles are input into the Leeds 1-D Mars atmospheric model which includes photo-ionization, and gas-phase ion-molecule and neutral chemistry, in order to explore the evolution of the resulting metallic ions and atoms. We conclude that the dominant contributor in the Martian's atmosphere is the JFCs over other sources. Finally, we explore the changes of the neutral and ionized Na, Mg and Fe layers over a diurnal cycle.

  2. Microbiological and meteorological analysis of two Australian dust storms in April 2009.

    PubMed

    Lim, Natalie; Munday, Chris I; Allison, Gwen E; O'Loingsigh, Tadhg; De Deckker, Patrick; Tapper, Nigel J

    2011-12-15

    Dust is an important source of bioaerosols including bacteria. In this study, the microbiology and meteorology of specific dust storms in Australia were investigated. The samples were collected from two dust events in April 2009 that were characterised by intense cold fronts that entrained dust from the highly erodible and drought-stricken Mallee and Riverina regions of Victoria and central NSW. In the first storm, the dust travelled eastward over Canberra and Sydney, and in the second storm, the dust travelled east/southeastward over Canberra and Melbourne. Rain fell on both cities during the second dust storm. Dust and rain samples were collected, cultured, and the composition compared using polymerase chain reaction denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (PCR-DGGE). Multiple bands were evident on DGGE indicative of a diverse microflora, and identification of several bands confirmed the presence of multiple genera and species representing three phyla. Numerous bands represented Bacillus species, and these were present in multiple dust samples collected from both Canberra and Melbourne. Interestingly, the microflora present in rain samples collected in Canberra during the second dust storm was quite different and the DGGE banding patterns from these samples clustered separately to most dust samples collected at the same time. Identification of several DGGE bands and PCR products from these rain samples indicated the presence of Pseudomonas species. These results indicate that Australian dust and rain have a diverse microflora and highlights the contribution of dust events to the distribution of microbes in the environment. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  3. Popular belief meets surgical reality: impact of lunar phases, Friday the 13th and zodiac signs on emergency operations and intraoperative blood loss.

    PubMed

    Schuld, Jochen; Slotta, Jan E; Schuld, Simone; Kollmar, Otto; Schilling, Martin K; Richter, Sven

    2011-09-01

    The influence of superstition, moon calendars, and popular belief on evidence-based medicine is stunning. More than 40% of medical staff is convinced that lunar phases can affect human behavior. The idea that Friday the 13th is associated with adverse events and bad luck is deep-rooted in the population of Western industrial countries. The aim of the present study was to test the hypothesis that these myths are transferable to real-life surgery. We analyzed the extent to which moon phases, zodiac signs, and Friday the 13th influence blood loss, emergency frequency, and intestinal perforations by evaluating the operation records of all 27,914 consecutive patients of our institution undergoing general, visceral, or vascular surgery between August 2001 and August 2010. Dates of surgery were allocated to lunar phases and to zodiac signs, as well as to Friday the 13th. A total of 111 lunar cycles and 15 Fridays the 13th occurred within the 3,281-day observation period. Patients' characteristics did not differ in lunar phases, zodiac signs, or Fridays the 13th. Full moon phases, the presence of Friday the 13th, and zodiac signs influenced neither intraoperative blood loss nor emergency frequency. No statistical peaks regarding perforated aortic aneurysms and gastrointestinal perforations were found on full moon or Friday the 13th. Scientific analysis of our data does not support the belief that moon phases, zodiac signs, or Friday 13th influence surgical blood loss and emergency frequency. Our data indicate that such beliefs are myths far beyond reality.

  4. The evolution of the zodiac in the context of ancient oriental history

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gurshtein, Alex A.

    The dates for the second (ca. 2700 B.C. to within 250 years) and the third ecliptical quartets (ca. 1200 B.C. to within 400 years) evaluated earlier are considered in the context of ancient Egyptian history. The origin of the second quartet coincides with the Great Pyramids and the initiation of the Egyptian solar, or so-called "civil" calendar, the first of such a type in the world. The third quartet is concurrent with the solar conversion of Amenhotep IV (Akhenaton) and takes place at the finale of the great Sothic period of 1461 years after the initiation of the solar calendar. It is argued that the Great Pyramids seem to be monuments to the Sun-god built in honor of the Egyptians having reached an understanding of the Sun's track upon the starry background, Akhenaton's conversion being in a direct connection with the original Pyramids' ideology. This paper is the third part of a single investigation. The first two parts "On the Origin of the Zodiacal Constellations" and "Prehistory of Zodiac Dating: Three Strata of Upper Paleolithic Constellations" were published in Vistas in Astronomy in 1993 and 1995.

  5. The influence of lunar phases and zodiac sign 'Leo' on perioperative complications and outcome in elective spine surgery.

    PubMed

    Joswig, Holger; Stienen, Martin N; Hock, Carolin; Hildebrandt, Gerhard; Surbeck, Werner

    2016-06-01

    Many people believe that the moon has an influence on daily life, and some even request elective surgery dates depending on the moon calendar. The aim of this study was to assess the influence of 'unfavorable' lunar or zodiac constellations on perioperative complications and outcome in elective surgery for degenerative disc disease. Retrospective database analysis including 924 patients. Using uni- and multivariate logistic regression, the likelihood for intraoperative complications and re-do surgeries as well as the clinical outcomes at 4 weeks was analyzed for surgeries performed during the waxing moon, full moon, and dates when the moon passed through the zodiac sign 'Leo.' In multivariate analysis, patients operated on during the waxing moon were 1.54 times as likely as patients who were operated on during the waning moon to suffer from an intraoperative complication (OR 1.54, 95 % CI 1.07-2.21, p = 0.019). In contrast, there was a trend toward fewer re-do surgeries for surgery during the waxing moon (OR 0.51, 95 % CI 0.23-1.16, p = 0.109), while the 4-week responder status was similar (OR 0.73, 95 % CI 0.47-1.14, p = 0.169). A full moon and the zodiac sign Leo did not increase the likelihood for complications, re-do surgeries or unfavorable outcomes. We found no influence of 'unfavorable' lunar or zodiac constellations on the 4-week responder status or the revision rate that would justify a moon calendar-based selection approach to elective spine surgery dates. However, the fact that patients undergoing surgery during the waxing moon were more likely to suffer from an intraoperative complication is a surprising curiosity and defies our ability to find a rational explanation.

  6. Colour dependence of zodiacal light models

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Giese, R. H.; Hanner, M. S.; Leinert, C.

    1973-01-01

    Colour models of the zodiacal light in the ecliptic have been calculated for both dielectric and metallic particles in the sub-micron and micron size range. Two colour ratios were computed, a blue ratio and a red ratio. The models with a size distribution proportional to s to the -2.5 power ds (where s is the particle radius) generally show a colour close to the solar colour and almost independent of elongation. Especially in the blue colour ratio there is generally no significant dependence on the lower cutoff size (0.1-1 micron). The main feature of absorbing particles is a reddening at small elongations. The models for size distributions proportional to s to the -4 power ds show larger departures from solar colour and more variation with model parameters. Colour measurements, including red and near infra-red, therefore are useful to distinguish between flat and steep size spectra and to verify the presence of slightly absorbing particles.

  7. Cosmic dust in the atmosphere and in the interplanetary space at 1 AU today and in the early solar system

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Fechtig, H.

    1973-01-01

    A description of techniques used in recent experiments to detect and analyze cosmic dust and micrometeorites is given and the results both from the study of lunar crater statistics and from in situ measurements are reviewed. The results from lunar crater statistics show an agreement with the results obtained from in situ measurements in interplanetary space and derived from zodiacal light measurements. The near earth results show an enhancement in the flux numbers. This can be caused either by secondary lunar debris or by disintegration of low density fireballs in the outer atmosphere.

  8. Extrasolar comets: The origin of dust in exozodiacal disks?

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Marboeuf, U.; Bonsor, A.; Augereau, J.-C.

    2016-11-01

    Comets have been invoked in numerous studies as a potentially important source of dust and gas around stars, but none has studied the thermo-physical evolution, out-gassing rate, and dust ejection of these objects in such stellar systems. In this paper we investigate the thermo-physical evolution of comets in exo-planetary systems in order to provide valuable theoretical data required to interpret observations of gas and dust. We use a quasi-3D model of cometary nucleus to study the thermo-physical evolution of comets evolving around a single star from 0.1 to 50 AU, whose homogeneous luminosity varies from 0.1 to 70L⊙. This paper provides thermal evolution, physical alteration, mass ejection, lifetimes, and the rate of dust and water gas mass productions for comets as a function of the distance to the star and stellar luminosity. Results show significant physical changes to comets at high stellar luminosities. The mass loss per revolution and the lifetime of comets depend on their initial size, orbital parameters and follow a power law with stellar luminosity. The models are presented in such a manner that they can be readily applied to any planetary system. By considering the examples of the Solar System, Vega and HD 69830, we show that dust grains released from sublimating comets have the potential to create the observed (exo)zodiacal emission. We show that observations can be reproduced by 1 to 2 massive comets or by a large number of comets whose orbits approach close to the star. Our conclusions depend on the stellar luminosity and the uncertain lifetime of the dust grains. We find, as in previous studies, that exozodiacal dust disks can only survive if replenished by a population of typically sized comets renewed from a large and cold reservoir of cometary bodies beyond the water ice line. These comets could reach the inner regions of the planetary system following scattering by a (giant) planet.

  9. CH^+ Spectrum and Diffuse Interstellar Bands Toward Herschel 36 Excited by Dust Emission

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Dahlstrom, Julie; Oka, Takeshi; Johnson, Sean; Welty, Daniel E.; Hobbs, Lew M.; York, Donald G.

    2012-06-01

    All electronic CH^+ interstellar absorption lines so far observed had been limited to the R(0) transition starting from the J = 0 ground level; this is because of the very rapid J = 1 → 0 spontaneous emission with the life time of ˜ 140 s. We have observed the R(1) and Q(1) lines of the A^1π ← X^1Σ band from the excited J = 1 level 40.08 K (27.86 cm-1) above the J = 0 level toward Herschel 36 indicating high radiative temperature of T_r = 17.5 K. The high temperature is most likely due to far infrared dust emission from the Her 36 SE. We have also observed the R_1(3/2) line of CH starting from the excited fine structure level J = 3/2 which is 25.76 - 25.57 K above the J = 1/2 level. The effect of high radiative temperature is also noticed as unique lineshapes of diffuse interstellar bands (DIBs) observed toward Her 36. We have examined seven DIBs including λ 5780.5, λ 5797.1, λ 6190.0, and λ 6613.0 that are correlated with each other with correlation coefficients > 0.93. While for ordinary sightlines the lineshapes of these DIBs are more or less symmetric, those toward Her 36 show a long tail toward the red. This is due to far infrared pumping of high J rotational levels of polar carriers of the DIBs by the dust emission. We have developed a model calculation of relaxation taking into account of both radiative and collisional processes. A linear molecule with about 6 carbon atoms can explain some of the DIBs. For the DIBs we have examined, probably the carriers are of this size since we cannot explain the large difference between the DIBs toward ordinary sightlines and toward Her 36 with larger molecules. Goto, M., Stecklum, B., Linz, H., Feldt, M., Henning, Th., Pascucci, I., and Usuda, T. 2006, ApJ, {649} 299.

  10. Calibration of GOES-VISSR, visible-band satellite data and its application to the analysis of a dust storm at Owens Lake, California

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    MacKinnon, D.J.; Chavez, P.S.; Fraser, R. S.; Niemeyer, T.C.; Gillette, Dale A.

    1996-01-01

    As part of a joint Russian/American dust-storm experiment, GOES-VISSR (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite, Visible-Infrared Spin-Scan Radiometer), data from a visible-band satellite image of a large dust storm emanating from Owens Lake, California were acquired on March 10 and 11, 1993. The satellite data were calibrated to targets of known ground reflectance factors and processed with radiative transfer techniques to yield aerosol (dust) optical depth at those stages of the dust storm when concurrent ground-based measurements of optical depth were made. Calibration of the satellite data is crucial for comparing surficial changes in remotely sensed data acquired over a period of time from the same area and for determining accurate concentrations of atmospheric aerosols using radiative transfer techniques. The calibration procedure forces the distribution of visible-band, DN (digital number) values, acquired on July 1, 1992, at 1731 GMT from the GOES-VISSR sensor over a large test area, to match the distribution of visible-band, DN values concurrently acquired from a Landsat MSS (Multispectral Scanner) sensor over the same test area; the Landsat MSS DN values were directly associated with reflectance factors measured from ground targets. The calibrated GOES-VISSR data for July 1, 1992, were then used to calibrate other GOES-VISSR data acquired on March 10 and 11, 1993, during the dust storm. Uncertainties in location of ground targets, bi-directional reflectance and atmospheric attenuation contribute an error of approximately ??0.02 in the satellite-inferred ground reflectance factors. On March 11 at 1031 PST the satellite-received radiances during the peak of the storm were 3 times larger than predicted by our radiative transfer model for a pure clay dust plume of infinite optical depth. This result supported ground-based measurements that the plume at that time was composed primarily of large salt grains, probably sodium sulfate, which could not be

  11. Prehistory of Zodiac Dating: Three Strata of Upper Paleolithic Constellations

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gurshtein, Alex A.

    A pattern of archaic proto-constellations is extracted from Aratus' "The Phaenomena" didactic poem list according to a size criterion elaborated earlier, and their symbolism is analyzed. As a result of this approach three celestial symbolical strata are discovered to be probably a reflection of the symbols for the Lower, the Middle and the Upper Worlds; the Under-World creatures have a water character, the Middle World ones are mostly anthropomorphic and flying beings are for the Upper World. The strata excerpted from Aratus' sky seems to be in agreement with the well-known Babylonian division into three god pathways for Ea (Enki), Anu and Enlil. There is a possibility of dating the pattern discovered because of precession's strong influence as far back as 16 thousand years, the result being supported by the comparison of different star group mean sizes. The archaic constellation pattern under consideration is a reasonable background of symbolical meanings for the first Zodiacal generation quartet (7.5 thousand years old) examined by the author previously. The enormous size of the Argo constellation (Ship of Argo and his Argonauts) as well as the large sizes of other southern constellations are explained as due to the existence of an accumulation zone near the South celestial pole. Some extra correlations between the reconstruction proposed and cultural data available are discussed. The paper is the second part of the investigation "On the Origin of the Zodiacal constellations" published in Vistas in Astronomy, vol.36, pp.171-190, 1993.

  12. Similarities Between Cometary, Meteoritic, and Laboratory Analog Dust: Hints from the Attribution of the 10-micrometer Band

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Colangeli, L.; Mennella, V.; Bussoletti, E.; Merluzzi, P.; Rotundi, A.; Palumbo, P.; di Marino, C.

    1993-07-01

    It is well known that the infrared emission of many comets is characterized by a broad feature at 10 micrometers, that has been attributed to a Si-O stretching resonance in amorphous and/or hydrated silicate grains. In the case of comets Halley [1,2], Bradfield [3] and Levy [4] two spectral components have been observed: the wide peak centered at 9.8 micrometers and a sharp feature at 11.3 micrometers. This last band has been interpreted with crystalline olivine silicatic grains [1,2,5]. However, recently, it has been pointed out [6] that the laboratory data frequently used in the fits refer to grains embedded in a matrix, which should produce a significant shift of the peak position, according to Mie computations. We have performed laboratory experiments on various silicatic samples with the perspective of determining their optical properties, to study experimentally the influence of matrix effects, and to use the final spectra to perform comparisons with observations. The samples are four terrestrial materials, olivine forsterite, jadeite pyroxene, andesite feldspar and impactite glass, and two meteoritic samples, chondrite (Zacatecas, Mexico) and pallasite (Atacama, Chile). Fine powders of the bulk materials were obtained by grinding calibrated mass amounts of the various samples in an agata mill. The morphological characterization of the samples was performed by means of S.E.M. (scanning electron microscopy) technique. EDX analysis was also performed to determine elemental composition. IR transmission spectra were obtained by using a double beam spectrophotometer that covers the spectral range 2.5-50 micrometers. The standard pellet technique was used by embedding dust samples in KBr or CsI matrices. For comparison, measurements were also performed by depositing small amounts of dust onto KBr windows. In this last case, dust-matrix interaction should be practically absent as grains are simply sitting onto the matrix. The data obtained from the spectroscopic

  13. 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.

  14. Lunar phases and zodiac signs do not influence quality of radical cystectomy--a statistical analysis of 452 patients with invasive bladder cancer.

    PubMed

    May, Matthias; Braun, Kay-Patrick; Helke, Christian; Richter, Willi; Vogler, Horst; Hoschke, Bernd; Siegsmund, Michael

    2007-01-01

    To determine the influence of the lunar phases and the position of the moon in the zodiac on the frequency of complications and the survival of bladder cancer patients after radical cystectomy. It has been postulated that radical cystectomy performed during the waxing moon, or particularly at full moon, or at the zodiac sign Libra is associated with a poorer outcome. We tested this hypothesis by evaluating the progression-free survival, the complication rate and the re-operation rate for 452 consecutive patients after radical cystectomy. In this retrospective review, the dates of surgery were allocated to the lunar phases and the zodiac signs. Based on these classifications, the patients were placed in groups which combined the lunar phase laws and differentiated between evidently unfavorable (full moon or waxing moon and/or the zodiac sign Libra; assigned to group 1) and favorable periods for surgery (new moon or waning moon and other signs of the zodiac apart from Libra; assigned to group 2). The mean follow-up was 49 months (range 0-158 months). A total of 244 patients (54%) were operated during an unfavorable period (group 1) and 208 (46%) patients during the auspicious period (group 2). The mean age, gender and kind of urinary derivation did not differ significantly in the two groups. Pathological tumor stages were evenly distributed according to the lunar phase groups (P = 0.713). We found no significant differences in the perioperative mortality rates, early re-operation rates, early complications, and late complications across the two groups. No significant differences in progression-free survival were observed when timing of cystectomy during the lunar cycle was considered (P = 0.231). Our analysis demonstrated no predictable influence of the lunar phase on survival or complications. Although this was not a prospective randomized trial, the statistical magnitude of the results do not support any recommendations for scheduling patients for radical

  15. A 100-3000 GHz model of thermal dust emission observed by Planck, DIRBE and IRAS

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Meisner, Aaron M.; Finkbeiner, Douglas P.

    2015-01-01

    We apply the Finkbeiner et al. (1999) two-component thermal dust emission model to the Planck HFI maps. This parametrization of the far-infrared dust spectrum as the sum of two modified blackbodies serves as an important alternative to the commonly adopted single modified blackbody (MBB) dust emission model. Analyzing the joint Planck/DIRBE dust spectrum, we show that two-component models provide a better fit to the 100-3000 GHz emission than do single-MBB models, though by a lesser margin than found by Finkbeiner et al. (1999) based on FIRAS and DIRBE. We also derive full-sky 6.1' resolution maps of dust optical depth and temperature by fitting the two-component model to Planck 217-857 GHz along with DIRBE/IRAS 100μm data. Because our two-component model matches the dust spectrum near its peak, accounts for the spectrum's flattening at millimeter wavelengths, and specifies dust temperature at 6.1' FWHM, our model provides reliable, high-resolution thermal dust emission foreground predictions from 100 to 3000 GHz. We find that, in diffuse sky regions, our two-component 100-217 GHz predictions are on average accurate to within 2.2%, while extrapolating the Planck Collaboration (2013) single-MBB model systematically underpredicts emission by 18.8% at 100 GHz, 12.6% at 143 GHz and 7.9% at 217 GHz. We calibrate our two-component optical depth to reddening, and compare with reddening estimates based on stellar spectra. We find the dominant systematic problems in our temperature/reddening maps to be zodiacal light on large angular scales and the cosmic infrared background anistropy on small angular scales. We have recently released maps and associated software utilities for obtaining thermal dust emission and reddening predictions using our Planck-based two-component model.

  16. The Tranisiting Dust of Boyajian's Star

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bodman, Eva; Ellis, Tyler G.; Boyajian, Tabetha S.; Wright, Jason

    2018-06-01

    From May to October of 2017, Boyajian's Star displayed four days-long dips in observed flux, which are referred to as “Elsie,” “Celeste,” “Skara Brae,” and “Angkor” (Boyajian et al. 2018). This Elsie family dip event was monitored with the Las Cumbres Observatory in three bands, B, r', and i'. Looking at each dip individually, we analyze the multi-band photometry for wavelength dependency in dip depth to constrain properties of the transiting material. We find that all of the dips show non-grey extinction and are consistent with optically thin dust. Interpreting the dips as transiting dust clouds, we constrain the properties of the dust grains and find that the average grain radius is <1 micron, assuming silicate composition. This wavelength dependency and grain size is inconsistent with observed properties of the long-term “secular” dimming (Meng et al. 2017), suggesting that the dust causing the dips is from a separate population.

  17. The Zodiacal Exoplanets in Time (ZEIT) Survey

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mann, Andrew; Gaidos, Eric; Newton, Elisabeth R.; Rizzuto, Aaron C.; Vanderburg, Andrew; Mace, Gregory N.; Kraus, Adam L.

    2017-01-01

    Planets and their host stars evolve with time, and the first few hundred million years are thought to be the most formative. However, the majority of known exoplanets orbit stars older than the timescales of interest (>1 Gyr). We have launched the Zodiacal Exoplanets in Time (ZEIT) survey with the goal of identifying and characterizing young (<1 Gyr) transiting planets. To this end, we have utilized high-precision photometry of nearby young clusters and stellar associations taken as part of the K2 mission. Thus far we have discovered transiting planets in the Hyades and Praesepe clusters (˜800 Myr), and the Upper Scorpius OB association (˜11 Myr), but interestingly none in the Pleiades (˜125 Myr). These discoveries can be used to set limits on the migration timescale, estimate atmosphere loss around young planets, and provide independent tests of pre-main sequence stellar models. Here I overview some key science results from our survey and briefly discuss our plans to identify more young planetary systems.

  18. Evaluation of Conidia-Dust Formulation of the Entomopathogenic Fungus, Metarhizium anisopliae to Biocontrol the Brown-Banded Cockroach, Supella longipalpa F.

    PubMed Central

    Sharififard, Mona; Mossadegh, Mohammad Saeed; Vazirianzadeh, Babak; Latifi, Seyed Mahmood

    2014-01-01

    Background: The brown-banded cockroach Supella longipalpa (F.) as a mechanical vector of pathogens and source of allergens has recently become widespread in the city of Ahvaz, southwestern Iran. Objectives: This research was done to evaluate the efficacy of a dust-formulation of Metarhizium anisopliae isolate IRAN 437C, as a common entomopathogenous fungus, against S. longipalpa. Materials and Methods: Conidia dust-formulations of M. anisopliae were prepared in proportions of 1%, 5%, 10%, 25%, 50% and 100% with bad wheat flour as the carrier. Cockroaches were exposed to surfaces treated with 1.5 mg/cm2 of the formulations under laboratory and semi-field conditions. Results: Cockroach mortality rates increased and survival times (ST50) decreased with an increased proportion of conidia from 1% to 100% but records taken for mortality and survival time from proportions of 25%, 50% and 100% were not significantly different. The mortality rates reached 100% and 90-100% in adults and nymphs, respectively on the seventh day. The lowest ST50 was related to the proportion of 100% (3 days). Probit analysis indicated LD50 and LD90 values of 1.7 × 106 and 1.7 × 107 conidia/cm2 for adults and these values changed to 4.5 × 106 and 2.9 × 107 for third and fourth instar nymphs at three days post exposure. Proportion of 25% caused mortality rates of 87%, 81% and 73% in adult, adult & nymph and nymph populations, respectively at four days after exposure under room conditions. Conclusions: Conidia dust-formulation of M. anospliae isolate IRAN 437C could present a promising alternative to control the brown-banded cockroach. PMID:25371804

  19. HIGH-ENERGY ELECTRON IRRADIATION OF INTERSTELLAR CARBONACEOUS DUST ANALOGS: COSMIC-RAY EFFECTS ON THE CARRIERS OF THE 3.4 μ m ABSORPTION BAND

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

    Maté, Belén; Molpeceres, Germán; Jiménez-Redondo, Miguel

    2016-11-01

    The effects of cosmic rays on the carriers of the interstellar 3.4 μ m absorption band have been investigated in the laboratory. This band is attributed to stretching vibrations of CH{sub 3} and CH{sub 2} in carbonaceous dust. It is widely observed in the diffuse interstellar medium, but disappears in dense clouds. Destruction of CH{sub 3} and CH{sub 2} by cosmic rays could become relevant in dense clouds, shielded from the external ultraviolet field. For the simulations, samples of hydrogenated amorphous carbon (a-C:H) have been irradiated with 5 keV electrons. The decay of the band intensity versus electron fluence reflectsmore » a-C:H dehydrogenation, which is well described by a model assuming that H{sub 2} molecules, formed by the recombination of H atoms liberated through CH bond breaking, diffuse out of the sample. The CH bond destruction rates derived from the present experiments are in good accordance with those from previous ion irradiation experiments of HAC. The experimental simplicity of electron bombardment has allowed the use of higher-energy doses than in the ion experiments. The effects of cosmic rays on the aliphatic components of cosmic dust are found to be small. The estimated cosmic-ray destruction times for the 3.4 μ m band carriers lie in the 10{sup 8} yr range and cannot account for the disappearance of this band in dense clouds, which have characteristic lifetimes of 3 × 10{sup 7} yr. The results invite a more detailed investigation of the mechanisms of CH bond formation and breaking in the intermediate region between diffuse and dense clouds.« less

  20. Evolution of the Edgeworth-Kuiper Belt and Kuiperoidal Dust

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ozernoy, L. M.; Ipatov, S. I.

    Evolution of orbits of Edgeworth-Kuiper belt objects (EKBOs) under the gravitational influence of the giant planets has been studied by a number of authors (e.g., Duncan & Levison; Budd; Ozernoy, Gorkavyi & Taidakova). Here we show that the gravitational interactions of EKBOs can also play a certain role in their orbital evolution. For instance, during the last 4 Gyr as many as several percents of EKBOs could change their semimajor axes by more than 1 AU due to close encounters with other EKBOs. Even small variations in orbital elements of EKBOs caused by their mutual collisions coupled with the mutual gravitational influence can cause large variations in the orbital elements due to the gravitational influence of planets. About 6% of Neptune-crossers can reach the orbit of the Earth, with the average time in Earth-crossing orbits of about 5× 103 yr. The portion of former EKBOs now moving in Earth-crossing orbits can exceed 20% of all Earth-crossers. Evaporation of the volatile material from the EKBOs surfaces, due to mutual EKBO collisions, along with the Solar wind and the heating by the Sun, are the sources of the dust in the outer Solar system. The evolution and structure of the interplanetary dust cloud computed, in some approximations, by Gorkavyi, Ozernoy, Mather, & Taidakova offers a preliminary 3-D physical model of the cloud, which includes three dust components (asteroidal, cometary, and kuiperoidal), which is fairly consistent with the available data of Pioneer and Voyager dust detectors and contribution of the zodiacal light into the COBE/DIRBE data. We acknowledge support of this work by NASA grant NAG5-10776, the Russian Federal Program ``Astronomy'' (section 1.9.4.1), RFBR (01-02-17540), and INTAS (00-240).

  1. ADONIS Discovers Dust Disk around a Star with a Planet

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    2000-10-01

    and a planet, that combination may indeed be comparatively common among solar-type stars. Our own Solar system also contains dust. When the dust scatters the sunlight, this can be observed as "zodiacal light" , a cone of faint light extending above the western horizon soon after sunset or the eastern just before sunrise. The same phenomenon should thus be observable from the planet orbiting iota Horologii . PR Photo 27/00 : The disk at iota Horologii . The exoplanet at iota Horologii Last year, the star iota Horologii was found to have a planetary companion, at least twice as heavy as Jupiter, the largest planet in the Solar System. It was the first exoplanet to be discovered in an almost earth-like orbit, cf. ESO PR 12/99 ). This discovery was based on long-term measurements of the radial velocity of iota Horologii by means of the 1.4-m Coudé Auxiliary Telescope (CAT) at La Silla. The extremely accurate observations were made with the Coude-Echelle-Spectrometer (CES) which is now connected to the ESO 3.6-m telescope. With the combination of spectroscopic (CES) and high-angular resolution (ADONIS) observational facilities at one telescope, the 3.6-m is uniquely suited for this type of front-line research. Dust disks and planets around stars Dust disks around stars still retain information about the formation processes of the exoplanetary systems as they are formed by collisions of planetesimals or proto-planets. However, it is still a somewhat controversial issue exactly how the presence of giant planets influences these collisions or whether the existence of a planetary system can be inferred from observed structures in dust disks. To cast more light on this fundamental issue, it is necessary to search for systems which have both a planet and a dust disk. Our own Solar System contains a significant amount of dust particles which can be seen during very clear evenings and nights by naked eye as a diffuse band of light in the sky - the "zodiacal light". Observations

  2. Observations and Modelling of the Zodiacal Light

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kelsall, T.

    1994-12-01

    The DIRBE instrument on the COBE satellite performed a full-sky survey in ten bands covering the spectral range from 1.25 to 240 microns, and made measurements of the polarization from 1.25 to 3.5 microns. These observations provide a wealth of data on the radiations from the interplanetary dust cloud (IPD). The presentation covers the observations, the model-independent findings, and the results from the extensive efforts of the DIRBE team to model the IPD. Emphasis is placed on describing the importance of correctly accounting for the IPD contribution to the observed-sky signal for the purpose of detecting the cosmic infrared background. (*) The NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) is responsible for the design, development, and operation of the COBE mission. GSFC is also responsible for the development of the analysis software and for the production of the mission data sets. Scientific guidance is provided by the COBE Science Working Group. The COBE program is supported by the Astrophysics Division of NASA's Office of Space Science.

  3. MGS TES Measurements of Dust and Ice Aerosol Behaviors

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Clancy, R. T.; Wolff, M. J.; Christensen, P. R.

    2000-10-01

    The Thermal Emission Spectrometer (TES, Christensen et al., Science, v279, 1692-1697, 1998) on board the Mars Global Surveyor obtains simultaneous solar band and thermal IR spectral emission-phase-function (EPF) observations with global spatial coverage and continuous seasonal sampling. These measurements allow the first comprehensive study of the coupled visible scattering and thermal IR absorption properties of Mars atmospheric aerosols, a fundamental requirement towards defining opacities, particle sizes, and particle shapes for separable dust and water ice aerosol components. Furthermore, TES limb sounding at solar band and IR wavelengths may be analyzed in the context of these EPF column determinations to constrain the distinctive vertical profile behaviors of dust and ice clouds. We present initial radiative transfer analyses of TES visible and IR EPFs, which indicate surprisingly complex dust and ice aerosol behaviors over all latitudes and seasons. Distinctive backscattering peaks of variable intensity are observed for several types of water ice clouds, along with evidence for ice-coated dust aerosols. We will present a broad spatial and temporal sampling of solar band and spectral IR results for Mars atmospheric ice and dust aerosols observed over the 1998-2000 period. This research is supported by the MGS Participating Scientist and MED Science Data Analysis programs.

  4. Day and Night Dust Retrievals from MODIS IR Band Measurements using Artificial Neural Network (ANN) model

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lee, S.; Sohn, B.

    2008-12-01

    Artificial Neural Network (ANN) on the East Asia domain (20°N-55°N, 90°E-145°E) during the springs of 2006 and 2007 was investigated for retrieving aerosol optical thickness (AOT) of dust aerosol at both daytime and nighttime. The input data for ANN include brightness temperature, BTD (11 μm - 12 μm), spectral emissivity, surface temperature (Land: Price [1984] Equation, Ocean: The IMAPP MODIS Algorithm), relative airmass of satellite, and topography (SRTM30). The D*-parameter is adopted as dust detection algorithm which was developed by Hansell et al [2007]. The target data of the ANN is corresponding AOT at 550nm obtained from MODIS aerosol product (MYD04). After optimization and training, ANN AOT is retrieved. Among the many dust episodes during the spring of 2006, only the 8 April 2006 case was selected for the detailed analysis. Because it is one of the strongest episodes and shows a well-developed root penetrating the Korean peninsula and reaching the Japanese area. It is shown that ANN AOT coincide well with MODIS AOT having correlation coefficient of 0.8502 when the training and applying periods are the same (spring of 2006). Even a different period with training ANN AOT has a good relationship with MODIS AOT with the correlation coefficient of 0.7766 (spring 2007). This yearly difference is resulted from vegetation change and fixed IGBP land cover map. Also notable is that ANN AOT is underestimated in most IGBP types having low slope and negative mean bias. This study showed that ANN model has a good potential to retrieve AOT. More examinations and trials are needed, however, to improve this ANN algorithm using IR bands. Also this model should be extended to specify the dust aerosol property from other aerosols and clouds to assure that it has a capability during both daytime and nighttime.

  5. A new false color composite technique for dust enhancement and point source determination in Middle East

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Karimi, Khadijeh; Taheri Shahraiyni, Hamid; Habibi Nokhandan, Majid; Hafezi Moghaddas, Naser; Sanaeifar, Melika

    2011-11-01

    The dust storm happens in the Middle East with very high frequency. According to the dust storm effects, it is vital to study on the dust storms in the Middle East. The first step toward the study on dust storm is the enhancement of dust storms and determination of the point sources. In this paper, a new false color composite (FCC) map for the dust storm enhancement and point sources determination in the Middle East has been developed. The 28 Terra-MODIS images in 2008 and 2009 were utilized in this study. We tried to replace the Red, Green and Blue bands in RGB maps with the bands or maps that enhance the dust storms. Hence, famous indices for dust storm detection (NDDI, D and BTD) were generated using the different bands of MODIS images. These indices with some bands of MODIS were utilized for FCC map generation with different combinations. Among the different combinations, four better FCC maps were selected and these four FCC are compared using visual interpretation. The results of visual interpretations showed that the best FCC map for enhancement of dust storm in the middle east is an especial combination of the three indices (Red: D, Green: BTD and Blue: NDDI). Therefore, we utilized of this new FCC method for the enhancement of dust storms and determination of point sources in Middle East.

  6. Determining the forsterite abundance of the dust around asymptotic giant branch stars

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    de Vries, B. L.; Min, M.; Waters, L. B. F. M.; Blommaert, J. A. D. L.; Kemper, F.

    2010-06-01

    Aims: We present a diagnostic tool to determine the abundance of the crystalline silicate forsterite in AGB stars surrounded by a thick shell of silicate dust. Using six infrared spectra of high mass-loss oxygen rich AGB stars we obtain the forsterite abundance of their dust shells. Methods: We use a monte carlo radiative transfer code to calculate infrared spectra of dust enshrouded AGB stars. We vary the dust composition, mass-loss rate and outer radius. We focus on the strength of the 11.3 and the 33.6 μm forsterite bands, that probe the most recent (11.3 μm) and older (33.6 μm) mass-loss history of the star. Simple diagnostic diagrams are derived, allowing direct comparison to observed band strengths. Results: Our analysis shows that the 11.3 μm forsterite band is a robust indicator for the forsterite abundance of the current mass-loss period for AGB stars with an optically thick dust shell. The 33.6 μm band of forsterite is sensitive to changes in the density and the geometry of the emitting dust shell, and so a less robust indicator. Applying our method to six high mass-loss rate AGB stars shows that AGB stars can have forsterite abundances of 12% by mass and higher, which is more than the previously found maximum abundance of 5%.

  7. Interstellar and Cometary Dust

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Mathis, John S.

    1997-01-01

    'Interstellar dust' forms a continuum of materials with differing properties which I divide into three classes on the basis of observations: (a) diffuse dust, in the low-density interstellar medium; (b) outer-cloud dust, observed in stars close enough to the outer edges of molecular clouds to be observed in the optical and ultraviolet regions of the spectrum, and (c) inner-cloud dust, deep within the cores of molecular clouds, and observed only in the infrared by means of absorption bands of C-H, C=O, 0-H, C(triple bond)N, etc. There is a surprising regularity of the extinction laws between diffuse- and outer-cloud dust. The entire mean extinction law from infrared through the observable ultraviolet spectrum can be characterized by a single parameter. There are real deviations from this mean law, larger than observational uncertainties, but they are much smaller than differences of the mean laws in diffuse- and outer-cloud dust. This fact shows that there are processes which operate over the entire distribution of grain sizes, and which change size distributions extremely efficiently. There is no evidence for mantles on grains in local diffuse and outer-cloud dust. The only published spectra of the star VI Cyg 12, the best candidate for showing mantles, does not show the 3.4 micro-m band which appreciable mantles would produce. Grains are larger in outer-cloud dust than diffuse dust because of coagulation, not accretion of extensive mantles. Core-mantle grains favored by J. M. Greenberg and collaborators, and composite grains of Mathis and Whiffen (1989), are discussed more extensively (naturally, I prefer the latter). The composite grains are fluffy and consist of silicates, amorphous carbon, and some graphite in the same grain. Grains deep within molecular clouds but before any processing within the solar system are presumably formed from the accretion of icy mantles on and within the coagulated outer-cloud grains. They should contain a mineral

  8. Radial distribution of dust, stars, gas, and star-formation rate in DustPedia⋆ face-on galaxies

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Casasola, V.; Cassarà, L. P.; Bianchi, S.; Verstocken, S.; Xilouris, E.; Magrini, L.; Smith, M. W. L.; De Looze, I.; Galametz, M.; Madden, S. C.; Baes, M.; Clark, C.; Davies, J.; De Vis, P.; Evans, R.; Fritz, J.; Galliano, F.; Jones, A. P.; Mosenkov, A. V.; Viaene, S.; Ysard, N.

    2017-09-01

    Aims: The purpose of this work is the characterization of the radial distribution of dust, stars, gas, and star-formation rate (SFR) in a sub-sample of 18 face-on spiral galaxies extracted from the DustPedia sample. Methods: This study is performed by exploiting the multi-wavelength DustPedia database, from ultraviolet (UV) to sub-millimeter bands, in addition to molecular (12CO) and atomic (Hi) gas maps and metallicity abundance information available in the literature. We fitted the surface-brightness profiles of the tracers of dust and stars, the mass surface-density profiles of dust, stars, molecular gas, and total gas, and the SFR surface-density profiles with an exponential curve and derived their scale-lengths. We also developed a method to solve for the CO-to-H2 conversion factor (αCO) per galaxy by using dust- and gas-mass profiles. Results: Although each galaxy has its own peculiar behavior, we identified a common trend of the exponential scale-lengths versus wavelength. On average, the scale-lengths normalized to the B-band 25 mag/arcsec2 radius decrease from UV to 70 μm, from 0.4 to 0.2, and then increase back up to 0.3 at 500 microns. The main result is that, on average, the dust-mass surface-density scale-length is about 1.8 times the stellar one derived from IRAC data and the 3.6 μm surface brightness, and close to that in the UV. We found a mild dependence of the scale-lengths on the Hubble stage T: the scale-lengths of the Herschel bands and the 3.6 μm scale-length tend to increase from earlier to later types, the scale-length at 70 μm tends to be smaller than that at longer sub-mm wavelength with ratios between longer sub-mm wavelengths and 70 μm that decrease with increasing T. The scale-length ratio of SFR and stars shows a weak increasing trend towards later types. Our αCO determinations are in the range (0.3-9) M⊙ pc-2 (K km s-1)-1, almost invariant by using a fixed dust-to-gas ratio mass (DGR) or a DGR depending on metallicity

  9. WFIRST: CGI Detection and Characterization of Circumstellar Disks

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Debes, John; Chen, Christine; Dawson, Bekki; Douglas, Ewan S.; Duchene, Gaspard; Jang-Condell, Hannah; hines, Dean C.; Lewis, Nikole K.; Macintosh, Bruce; Mazoyer, Johan; Meshkat, Tiffany; Nemati, Bijan; Patel, Rahul; Perrin, Marshall; Poteet, Charles; Pueyo, Laurent; Ren, Bin; Rizzo, Maxime; Roberge, Aki; Stark, Chris; Turnbull, Margaret

    2018-01-01

    The WFIRST Coronagraphic Instrument (CGI) will be capable of obtaining up to 5×10-9 contrast to an inner working angle of ~150 mas for a selection of medium band visible light filters using shaped pupil coronagraph and hybrid Lyot coronagraph designs. We present initial work at defining the scientific capabilities of the CGI with respect to different types of circumstellar disks, including warm exo-zodiacal disks, cold debris disks, and protoplanetary disks. With the above designs, CGI will be able to detect bright protoplanetary and debris disks with sizes of >100 AU beyond 500 pc. Additionally, it will be able to discover warm exozodiacal dust disks ten times more massive than that of the Solar System for over 100 nearby solar-type stars. Finally, it will be able to characterize resolved circumstellar dust disks in multiple filters of visible light, providing constraints on the size, shape, and composition of the dust.

  10. Formation of dust grains with impurities in red giant winds

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Dominik, Carsten

    1994-01-01

    Among the several proposed carriers of diffuse interstellar bands (DIB's) are impurities in small dust grains, especially in iron oxide grains (Huffman 1977) and silicate grains (Huffman 1970). Most promising are single ion impurities since they can reproduce the observed band widths (Whittet 1992). These oxygen-rich grains are believed to originate mostly in the mass flows from red giants and in supernovae ejecta (e.g. Gehrz 1989). A question of considerable impact for the origin of DIB's is therefore, whether these grains are produced as mainly clean crystals or as some dirty materials. A formalism has been developed that allows tracking of the heterogeneous growth of a dust grain and its internal structure during the dust formation process. This formalism has been applied to the dust formation in the outflow from a red giant star.

  11. Ultraviolet dust aerosol properties as observed by MARCI

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wolff, Michael J.; Todd Clancy, R.; Goguen, Jay D.; Malin, Michael C.; Cantor, Bruce A.

    2010-07-01

    Observations by the Mars Color Imager (MARCI) on board the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) in two ultraviolet (UV, Bands 6 and 7; 258 nm, and 320 nm, respectively) and one visible (Band 1, 436 nm) channels of the 2007 planet encircling dust storm are combined with those made by the two Mars Exploration Rovers (MERs) to better characterize the single scattering albedo (ω0) of martian dust aerosols. Exploiting the low contrast of the surface in the UV (and blue) as well as the reduced importance of surface reflectance under very dusty conditions, we utilize the sampling of photometric angles by the MARCI cross-track geometry to synthesize an analog of the classical Emergence Phase Function (EPF). This so-called "pseudo-EPF", used in conjunction with the "ground-truth" measurements provided by the MERs, is able to effectively isolate the effects of the dust ω0. The motivation for this approach is the elimination of a significant portion of the type of uncertainty involved in many previous radiative transfer analyses. Furthermore, we produce a self-consistent set of complex refractive indices (m=n+ik) through our use of an explicit microphysical representation of the aerosol scattering properties. Because of uncertainty in the exact size of the dust particles during the epoch of the observations, we consider two effective particle radii (reff) to cover the range anticipated from the literature: 1.6 and 1.8 μm. The resulting set of model-data comparisons, ω0, and m are presented along with an assessment of potential sources of error and uncertainty. Analysis of the Band 1 results is limited to ω0 as a "proof-of-concept" for our approach through a comparison to contemporaneous CRISM EPF results at 440 nm. The derived ω0 are: assuming reff=1.6μm-0.619-0.626,0.648, and 0.765, for Bands 6, 7, and 1, respectively; for reff=1.8μm-0.625-0.635,0.653,0.769, for the same band order. For either reff case, the total estimated error is 0.022, 0.019, and 0.010, again for

  12. Hot exozodiacal dust resolved around Vega with IOTA/IONIC

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Defrère, D.; Absil, O.; Augereau, J.-C.; di Folco, E.; Berger, J.-P.; Coudé du Foresto, V.; Kervella, P.; Le Bouquin, J.-B.; Lebreton, J.; Millan-Gabet, R.; Monnier, J. D.; Olofsson, J.; Traub, W.

    2011-10-01

    Context. Although debris discs have been detected around a significant number of main-sequence stars, only a few of them are known to harbour hot dust in their inner part where terrestrial planets may have formed. Thanks to infrared interferometric observations, it is possible to obtain a direct measurement of these regions, which are of prime importance for preparing future exo-Earth characterisation missions. Aims: We resolve the exozodiacal dust disc around Vega with the help of infrared stellar interferometry and estimate the integrated H-band flux originating from the first few AUs of the debris disc. Methods: Precise H-band interferometric measurements were obtained on Vega with the 3-telescope IOTA/IONIC interferometer (Mount Hopkins, Arizona). Thorough modelling of both interferometric data (squared visibility and closure phase) and spectral energy distribution was performed to constrain the nature of the near-infrared excess emission. Results: Resolved circumstellar emission within ~6 AU from Vega is identified at the 3-σ level. The most straightforward scenario consists in a compact dust disc producing a thermal emission that is largely dominated by small grains located between 0.1 and 0.3 AU from Vega and accounting for 1.23 ± 0.45% of the near-infrared stellar flux for our best-fit model. This flux ratio is shown to vary slightly with the geometry of the model used to fit our interferometric data (variations within ± 0.19%). Conclusions: The presence of hot exozodiacal dust in the vicinity of Vega, initially revealed by K-band CHARA/FLUOR observations, is confirmed by our H-band IOTA/IONIC measurements. Whereas the origin of the dust is still uncertain, its presence and the possible connection with the outer disc suggest that the Vega system is currently undergoing major dynamical perturbations.

  13. Cold Dust and its Heating Sources in M 33

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Komugi, Shinya; Tosaki, Tomoka; Kohno, Kotaro; Tsukagoshi, Takashi; Tamura, Yoichi; Miura, Rie; Onodera, Sachiko; Kuno, Nario; Kawabe, Ryohei; Nakanishi, Koichiro; Sawada, Tsuyoshi; Ezawa, Hajime; Wilson, Grant W.; Yun, Min S.; Scott, Kimberly S.; Hughes, David H.; Aretxaga, Itziar; Perera, Thushara A.; Austermann, Jason E.; Tanaka, Kunihiko; Muraoka, Kazuyuki; Egusa, Fumi

    2011-12-01

    We have mapped the nearby face-on spiral galaxy M 33 in the 1.1 mm dust continuum using AzTEC on Atacama Submillimeter Telescope Experiment (ASTE). The preliminary results are presented here. The observed dust has a characteristic temperature of ~ 21 K in the central kpc, radially declining down to ~ 13 K at the edge of the star forming disk. We compare the dust temperatures with KS band flux and star formation tracers. Our results imply that cold dust heating may be driven by long-lived stars even nearby star forming regions.

  14. VizieR Online Data Catalog: XZ Catalog of Zodiacal Stars (XZ80Q) (Herald, 2003)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Herald, D.

    2003-11-01

    The XZ catalog was created at the U.S. Naval Observatory in 1977 by Richard Schmidt and Tom Van Flandern, primarily for the purpose of generating predictions of lunar occultations, and for analyzing timings of these events. It was designed to include all stars within 6d 40' of the ecliptic (the "Zodiac"), which is as far as the Moon's limb can ever get as seen from anywhere on the Earth's surface, leaving some margin for stellar proper motions and change in the obliquity of the ecliptic over the course of three centuries. The original version contained 32,221 entries; since that time, many changes have been made in succeeding versions, including better positions and proper motions, and the elimination and addition of stars. Details about the history of XZ catalog can be found in the "doc.txt" file. The XZ80Q revision has been developed from XZ80P, which was created by Mitsuru Soma. It is now complete over the Zodiac for stars down to visual magnitude 12.0. The "xz80q.dat" file contains the list of stars making the catalog; additional files provide details about double and variable stars included in the XZ80Q. The catalog includes also lists of the various existing names of the stars. (11 data files).

  15. Investigating dust trapping in transition disks with millimeter-wave polarization

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Pohl, A.; Kataoka, A.; Pinilla, P.; Dullemond, C. P.; Henning, Th.; Birnstiel, T.

    2016-08-01

    Context. Spatially resolved polarized (sub-)mm emission has been observed for example in the protoplanetary disk around HL Tau. Magnetically aligned grains are commonly interpreted as the source of polarization. However, self-scattering by large dust grains with a high enough albedo is another polarization mechanism, which is becoming a compelling method independent of the spectral index to constrain the dust grain size in protoplanetary disks. Aims: We study the dust polarization at mm wavelengths in the dust trapping scenario proposed for transition disks, when a giant planet opens a gap in the disk. We investigate the characteristic polarization patterns and their dependence on disk inclination, dust size evolution, planet position, and observing wavelength. Methods: We combine two-dimensional hydrodynamical simulations of planet-disk interactions with self-consistent dust growth models. These size-dependent dust density distributions are used for follow-up three-dimensional radiative transfer calculations to predict the polarization degree at ALMA bands due to scattered thermal emission. Results: Dust self-scattering has been proven to be a viable mechanism for producing polarized mm-wave radiation. We find that the polarization pattern of a disk with a planetary gap after 1 Myr of dust evolution shows a distinctive three-ring structure. Two narrow inner rings are located at the planet gap edges. A third wider ring of polarization is situated in the outer disk beyond 100 au. For increasing observing wavelengths, all three rings change their position slightly, where the innermost and outermost rings move inward. This distance is detectable when comparing the results at ALMA bands 3, 6, and 7. Within the highest polarized intensity regions the polarization vectors are oriented in the azimuthal direction. For an inclined disk there is an interplay between polarization originating from a flux gradient and inclination-induced quadrupole polarization. For

  16. Division F Commission 22: Meteors, Meteorites, and Interplanetary Dust

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jenniskens, Peter; Borovička, Jiří; Watanabe, Jun-Ichi; Jopek, Tadeusz; Abe, Shinsuke; Consolmagno, Guy J.; Ishiguro, Masateru; Janches, Diego; Ryabova, Galina O.; Vaubaillon, Jérémie; Zhu, Jin

    2016-04-01

    Commission 22 (Meteors, Meteorites and Interplanetary Dust) was established at the first IAU General Assembly held in Rome in 1922, with William Frederick Denning as its first President. Denning was an accountant by profession, but as an amateur astronomer he contributed extensively to meteor science. Commission 22 thus established a pattern that has continued to this day that non-professional astronomers were welcomed and valued and could play a significant role in its affairs. The field of meteors, meteorites and interplanetary dust has played a disproportional role in the astronomical perception of the general public through the majestic displays of our annual meteor showers. Those in the field deployed many techniques uncommon in other fields of astronomy, studying the ``vermin of space'', the small solid bodies that pervade interplanetary space and impact Earth's atmosphere, the surface of the Moon, and that of our satellites in orbit. Over time, the field has tackled a wide array of problems, from predicting the encounter with meteoroid streams, to the origin of our meteorites and the nature of the zodiacal cloud. Commission 22 has played an important role in organizing the field through dedicated meetings, a data centre, and working groups that developed professional-amateur relationships and that organized the nomenclature of meteor showers. The contribution of Commission 22 to the field is perhaps most readily seen in the work of the presidents that followed in the footsteps of Denning.

  17. Diffuse interstellar bands in reflection nebulae

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Fischer, O.; Henning, Thomas; Pfau, Werner; Stognienko, R.

    1994-01-01

    A Monte Carlo code for radiation transport calculations is used to compare the profiles of the lambda lambda 5780 and 6613 Angstrom diffuse interstellar bands in the transmitted and the reflected light of a star embedded within an optically thin dust cloud. In addition, the behavior of polarization across the bands were calculated. The wavelength dependent complex indices of refraction across the bands were derived from the embedded cavity model. In view of the existence of different families of diffuse interstellar bands the question of other parameters of influence is addressed in short.

  18. Revealing Exo-Zody and Exo-Planets from Solar System Dust Measurements: ALADDIN-2 for the Solar Power Sail Mission

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yano, Hajime; Hirai, Takayuki

    2016-07-01

    The dust structure of our Solar System provides a benchmark information of dust disks of other exo-planetary systems in general, just like the Sun as the closest main sequence G-star that we can study with the most details. Heliocentric dust distributions and gravitational and orbital interactions with planets such as mean motion resonances (MMRs) of dust flux of our Solar System are what we can transfer the knowledge of our Solar System dust apply to infer anisotropic exo-zodiacal brightness, or spatial structures within a exo-planetary dust disks with information about potentially embedded planets inside. In the coming era of disk resolved observations by ALMA, TMT and other new telescopes, we will be able to apply what we find in the Solar System to the rest of planetary systems. In 2010-11, the IKAROS solar sail spacecraft carried the ALADDIN large area dust detector array to study large meteoroids between the Earth and Venus orbits. Yano et al. directly detected both the Earth's and Venus' MMRs dust structures, being consistent with numerical simulations that predict the existence of such local enhancements of dust distribution around these terrestrial planets, as well as Neptune. JAXA's Solar Power Sail mission plans to carry even larger dust detector inherited the technology onboard IKAROS, namely ALADDIN-2 in order to search for such MMRs in the Mars and Jupiter orbits, as predicted by Kuchner et al.(2000), in addition to make a continuous measurement of large dust flux from 1.0 to 5.2 AU crossing the main asteroid belt up to Jupiter Trojan region. It is also noted that recent reanalysis of the Pioneer 10 and 11 photo polarimeter data suggests a small enhancement of the brightness towards the anti-solar direction near Jupiter the largest planet of our Solar System, implying a possible existence of a dust belt related to the planet. The spatial density of dust particles directly measured by the ALADDIN-2 will provide a more conclusive and direct proof due to

  19. Pixel-based dust-extinction mapping in nearby galaxies: A new approach to lifting the veil of dust

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Tamura, Kazuyuki

    In the first part of this dissertation, I explore a new approach to mapping dust extinction in galaxies, using the observed and estimated dust-free flux- ratios of optical V -band and mid-IR 3.6 micro-meter emission. Inferred missing V -band flux is then converted into an estimate of dust extinction. While dust features are not clearly evident in the observed ground-based images of NGC 0959, the target of my pilot study, the dust-map created with this method clearly traces the distribution of dust seen in higher resolution Hubble images. Stellar populations are then analyzed through various pixel Color- Magnitude Diagrams and pixel Color-Color Diagrams (pCCDs), both before and after extinction correction. The ( B - 3.6 microns) versus (far-UV - U ) pCCD proves particularly powerful to distinguish pixels that are dominated by different types of or mixtures of stellar populations. Mapping these pixel- groups onto a pixel-coordinate map shows that they are not distributed randomly, but follow genuine galactic structures, such as a previously unrecognized bar. I show that selecting pixel-groups is not meaningful when using uncorrected colors, and that pixel-based extinction correction is crucial to reveal the true spatial variations in stellar populations. This method is then applied to a sample of late-type galaxies to study the distribution of dust and stellar population as a function of their morphological type and absolute magnitude. In each galaxy, I find that dust extinction is not simply decreasing radially, but that is concentrated in localized clumps throughout a galaxy. I also find some cases where star-formation regions are not associated with dust. In the second part, I describe the application of astronomical image analysis tools for medical purposes. In particular, Source Extractor is used to detect nerve fibers in the basement membrane images of human skin-biopsies of obese subjects. While more development and testing is necessary for this kind of work

  20. World cup soccer players tend to be born with sun and moon in adjacent zodiacal signs

    PubMed Central

    Verhulst, J

    2000-01-01

    The ecliptic elongation of the moon with respect to the sun does not show uniform distribution on the birth dates of the 704 soccer players selected for the 1998 World Cup. However, a uniform distribution is expected on astronomical grounds. The World Cup players show a very pronounced tendency (p = 0.00001) to be born on days when the sun and moon are in adjacent zodiacal signs. Key Words: soccer; World Cup; astrology; moon PMID:11131239

  1. Directional analysis and filtering for dust storm detection in NOAA-AVHRR imagery

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Janugani, S.; Jayaram, V.; Cabrera, S. D.; Rosiles, J. G.; Gill, T. E.; Rivera Rivera, N.

    2009-05-01

    In this paper, we propose spatio-spectral processing techniques for the detection of dust storms and automatically finding its transport direction in 5-band NOAA-AVHRR imagery. Previous methods that use simple band math analysis have produced promising results but have drawbacks in producing consistent results when low signal to noise ratio (SNR) images are used. Moreover, in seeking to automate the dust storm detection, the presence of clouds in the vicinity of the dust storm creates a challenge in being able to distinguish these two types of image texture. This paper not only addresses the detection of the dust storm in the imagery, it also attempts to find the transport direction and the location of the sources of the dust storm. We propose a spatio-spectral processing approach with two components: visualization and automation. Both approaches are based on digital image processing techniques including directional analysis and filtering. The visualization technique is intended to enhance the image in order to locate the dust sources. The automation technique is proposed to detect the transport direction of the dust storm. These techniques can be used in a system to provide timely warnings of dust storms or hazard assessments for transportation, aviation, environmental safety, and public health.

  2. Polarization of the diffuse galactic light.

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Sparrow, J. G.; Ney, E. P.

    1972-01-01

    Polarization measurements made from the satellite OSO-5 show that the polarized intensity in the direction of the Scutum arm of the Galaxy is different in intensity and direction of the polarization from that observed due to the zodiacal light. The observations are consistent with polarized diffuse galactic light superposed on the zodiacal light. The results are interpreted in terms of a model in which the galactic starlight is scattered by interstellar dust.

  3. Near-infrared scattering as a dust diagnostic

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Saajasto, Mika; Juvela, Mika; Malinen, Johanna

    2018-06-01

    Context. Regarding the evolution of dust grains from diffuse regions of space to dense molecular cloud cores, many questions remain open. Scattering at near-infrared wavelengths, or "cloudshine", can provide information on cloud structure, dust properties, and the radiation field that is complementary to mid-infrared "coreshine" and observations of dust emission at longer wavelengths. Aims: We examine the possibility of using near-infrared scattering to constrain the local radiation field and the dust properties, the scattering and absorption efficiency, the size distribution of the grains, and the maximum grain size. Methods: We use radiative transfer modelling to examine the constraints provided by the J, H, and K bands in combination with mid-infrared surface brightness at 3.6 μm. We use spherical one-dimensional and elliptical three-dimensional cloud models to study the observable effects of different grain size distributions with varying absorption and scattering properties. As an example, we analyse observations of a molecular cloud in Taurus, TMC-1N. Results: The observed surface brightness ratios of the bands change when the dust properties are changed. However, even a change of ±10% in the surface brightness of one band changes the estimated power-law exponent of the size distribution γ by up to 30% and the estimated strength of the radiation field KISRF by up to 60%. The maximum grain size Amax and γ are always strongly anti-correlated. For example, overestimating the surface brightness by 10% changes the estimated radiation field strength by 20% and the exponent of the size distribution by 15%. The analysis of our synthetic observations indicates that the relative uncertainty of the parameter distributions are on average Amax, γ 25%, and the deviation between the estimated and correct values ΔQ < 15%. For the TMC-1N observations, a maximum grain size Amax > 1.5μm and a size distribution with γ > 4.0 have high probability. The mass weighted

  4. LADEE UVS (UltraViolet Visible Spectrometer) and the Search for Lunar Exospheric Dust: A Detailed Spectral Analysis

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Wooden, Diane H.; Cook, Amanda; Colaprete, Anthony; Shirley, Mark; Vargo, Kara; Elphic, Richard C.; Hermalyn, Brendan; Stubbs, Timothy John; Glenar, David A.

    2014-01-01

    The Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) executed science observations in lunar orbit spanning 2013-Oct-16- 2014-04-18 UT. LADEE's Ultraviolet/Visible Spectrometer (UVS) studies the composition and temporal variations of the tenuous lunar exosphere and dust environment, utilizing two sets of optics: a limb-viewing telescope, and a solar-viewer. The limb-viewing telescope observes illuminated dust and emitting gas species while the Sun is just behind the lunar limb. The solar viewer, with its diffuser, allows UVS to also stare directly at the solar disk as it approaches the limb, sampling progressively lower exosphere altitudes. Solar viewer "Occultation" activities occur at the lunar sunrise limb, as the LADEE spacecraft passes into the lunar night side, facing the Sun (the spacecraft orbit is near-equatorial retrograde). A loss of transmission of sunlight occurs by the occultation of dust grains along the line-of-sight. So-called "Inertial Limb" activities have the limb-viewing telescope pointed at the lit exosphere just after the Sun has set. Inertial Limb activities follow a similar progression of diminishing sampling altitudes but hold the solar elongation angle constant so the zodiacal light contribution remains constant while seeking to observe the weak lunar horizon glow. On the dark side of the moon, "Sodium Tail" activities pointed the limb-viewing telescope in the direction of the Moon's sodium tail (similar to anti-sunward), during different lunar phases. Of the UVS data sets, these show the largest excess of scattered blue light, indicative of the presence of small (approximately 100 nm) dust grains in the tail. Correlations are sought between dust in the sodium tail and meteor streams and magnetotail crossings to investigate impact- versus electrostatic-lofting. Once lofted, nanoparticles can become charged and picked up by the solar wind. The LADEE UVS Occultation, Inertial Limb, and Sodium Tail spectral datasets provide evidence of

  5. Gathering dust: A galaxy-wide study of dust emission from cloud complexes in NGC 300

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Riener, M.; Faesi, C. M.; Forbrich, J.; Lada, C. J.

    2018-05-01

    Aims: We use multi-band observations by the Herschel Space Observatory to study the dust emission properties of the nearby spiral galaxy NGC 300. We compile a first catalogue of the population of giant dust clouds (GDCs) in NGC 300, including temperature and mass estimates, and give an estimate of the total dust mass of the galaxy. Methods: We carried out source detection with the multiwavelength source extraction algorithm getsources. We calculated physical properties, including mass and temperature, of the GDCs from five-band Herschel PACS and SPIRE observations from 100 to 500 μm; the final size and mass estimates are based on the observations at 250 μm that have an effective spatial resolution of 170 pc. We correlated our final catalogue of GDCs to pre-existing catalogues of HII regions to infer the number of GDCs associated with high-mass star formation and determined the Hα emission of the GDCs. Results: Our final catalogue of GDCs includes 146 sources, 90 of which are associated with known HII regions. We find that the dust masses of the GDCs are completely dominated by the cold dust component and range from 1.1 × 103 to 1.4 × 104 M⊙. The GDCs have effective temperatures of 13-23 K and show a distinct cold dust effective temperature gradient from the centre towards the outer parts of the stellar disk. We find that the population of GDCs in our catalogue constitutes 16% of the total dust mass of NGC 300, which we estimate to be about 5.4 × 106 M⊙. At least about 87% of our GDCs have a high enough average dust mass surface density to provide sufficient shielding to harbour molecular clouds. We compare our results to previous pointed molecular gas observations in NGC 300 and results from other nearby galaxies and also conclude that it is very likely that most of our GDCs are associated with complexes of giant molecular clouds. The catalogue is only available at the CDS via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or via http

  6. Measurement of the nighttime infrared luminosity of Spacelab 1 in the H- and K-bands

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Witteborn, F. C.; Obrien, K.; Caroff, L.

    1985-01-01

    Infrared measurements of the Spacelab 1, Space Transportation System 9, were made from the Maui Optical Station tracking facility using a sensitive photometer n two infrared bands, the H-band centered at a wavelength of 1.6 microns and the K-band centered at 2.3 micrometers. The objective was to measure radiation from the vicinity of the Shuttle arising from interaction of Shuttle surfaces with atmospheric particles. It was necessary to include the Shuttle itself in the field of view of the photometer. The integrated brightness of the entire Shuttle at a distance of 400 km was found to be equivalent to that of a star of magnitude +6.6 or 1.6 microns; it was much fainter in the visible. Most of the emission at 1.6 microns appears to be attributable to the Shuttle glow phenomenon. It is hundreds of times brighter than the zodiacal background. The radiation at 2.3 microns can be accounted for primarily by diffusely scattered thermal radiation from Earth's surface.

  7. Skylab experiment performance evaluation manual. Appendix T: Experiment T027/S073 contamination measurement, photometer and Gegenschein/zodiacal light (MSFC)

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Meyers, J. E.

    1973-01-01

    A series of analyses for Experiment T027/S073, contamination measurement, photometer and gegenschein/zodiacal light (MSFC), to be used for evaluating the performance of the Skylab corollary experiments under preflight, inflight, and post-flight conditons is presented. Experiment contingency plan workaround procedure and malfunction analyses are presented in order to assist in making the experiment operationally successful.

  8. Inner mean-motion resonances with eccentric planets: a possible origin for exozodiacal dust clouds

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Faramaz, V.; Ertel, S.; Booth, M.; Cuadra, J.; Simmonds, C.

    2017-02-01

    High levels of dust have been detected in the immediate vicinity of many stars, both young and old. A promising scenario to explain the presence of this short-lived dust is that these analogues to the zodiacal cloud (or exozodis) are refilled in situ through cometary activity and sublimation. As the reservoir of comets is not expected to be replenished, the presence of these exozodis in old systems has yet to be adequately explained. It was recently suggested that mean-motion resonances with exterior planets on moderately eccentric (ep ≳ 0.1) orbits could scatter planetesimals on to cometary orbits with delays of the order of several 100 Myr. Theoretically, this mechanism is also expected to sustain continuous production of active comets once it has started, potentially over Gyr time-scales. We aim here to investigate the ability of this mechanism to generate scattering on to cometary orbits compatible with the production of an exozodi on long time-scales. We combine analytical predictions and complementary numerical N-body simulations to study its characteristics. We show, using order of magnitude estimates, that via this mechanism, low-mass discs comparable to the Kuiper belt could sustain comet scattering at rates compatible with the presence of the exozodis which are detected around Solar-type stars, and on Gyr time-scales. We also find that the levels of dust detected around Vega could be sustained via our proposed mechanism if an eccentric Jupiter-like planet were present exterior to the system's cold debris disc.

  9. Infrared emission from isolated dust clouds in the presence of very small dust grains

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Lis, Dariusz C.; Leung, Chun M.

    1991-01-01

    Models of the effects of small grain-generated temperature fluctuations on the IR spectrum and surface brightness of externally heated interstellar dust clouds are presently constructed on the basis of a continuum radiation transport computer code which encompasses the transient heating of small dust grains. The models assume a constant fractional abundance of large and small grains throughout the given cloud. A comparison of model results with IRAS observations indicates that the observed 12-25 micron band emissions are associated with about 10-A radius grains, while the 60-100 micron emission is primarily due to large grains which are heated under the equilibrium conditions.

  10. Correlation properties of interstellar dust: Diffuse interstellar bands

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Somerville, W. B.

    1989-01-01

    Results are presented from a research program in which an attempt was made to establish the physical nature of the interstellar grains, and the carriers of the diffuse interstellar bands, by comparing relations between different observed properties; the properties used include the extinction in the optical and ultraviolet (including wavelength 2200 and the far-UV rise), cloud density, atomic depletions, and strengths of the diffuse bands. Observations and also data from literature were used, selecting particularly sight-lines where some observed property was found to have anomalous behavior.

  11. Planck intermediate results: XXIX. All-sky dust modelling with Planck, IRAS, and WISE observations

    DOE PAGES

    Ade, P. A. R.; Aghanim, N.; Alves, M. I. R.; ...

    2016-02-09

    In this paper, we present all-sky modelling of the high resolution Planck, IRAS, and WISE infrared (IR) observations using the physical dust model presented by Draine & Li in 2007 (DL, ApJ, 657, 810). We study the performance and results of this model, and discuss implications for future dust modelling. The present work extends the DL dust modelling carried out on nearby galaxies using Herschel and Spitzer data to Galactic dust emission. We employ the DL dust model to generate maps of the dust mass surface density Σ Md, the dust optical extinction A V, and the starlight intensity heatingmore » the bulk of the dust, parametrized by U min. The DL model reproduces the observed spectral energy distribution (SED) satisfactorily over most of the sky, with small deviations in the inner Galactic disk and in low ecliptic latitude areas, presumably due to zodiacal light contamination. In the Andromeda galaxy (M31), the present dust mass estimates agree remarkably well (within 10%) with DL estimates based on independent Spitzer and Herschel data. We compare the DL optical extinction A V for the diffuse interstellar medium (ISM) with optical estimates for approximately 2 × 10 5 quasi-stellar objects (QSOs) observed inthe Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). The DL A V estimates are larger than those determined towards QSOs by a factor of about 2, which depends on U min. The DL fitting parameter U min, effectively determined by the wavelength where the SED peaks, appears to trace variations in the far-IR opacity of the dust grains per unit A V, and not only in the starlight intensity. These results show that some of the physical assumptions of the DL model will need to be revised. To circumvent the model deficiency, we propose an empirical renormalization of the DL A V estimate, dependent of U min, which compensates for the systematic differences found with QSO observations. This renormalization, made to match the A V estimates towards QSOs, also brings into agreement the DL A

  12. 2016 Resembles Past Global Dust Storm Years on Mars

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2016-10-05

    This graphic indicates a similarity between 2016 (dark blue line) and five past years in which Mars has experienced a global dust storm (orange lines and band), compared to years with no global dust storm (blue-green lines and band). The arrow nearly midway across in the dark blue line indicates the Mars time of year in late September 2016. A key factor in the graph is the orbital angular momentum of Mars, which would be steady in a system of only one planet orbiting the sun, but varies due to relatively small effects of having other planets in the solar system. The horizontal scale is time of year on Mars, starting at left with the planet's farthest distance from the sun in each orbit. This point in the Mars year, called "Mars aphelion," corresponds to late autumn in the southern hemisphere. Numeric values on the horizontal axis are in Earth years; each Mars year lasts for about 1.9 Earth years. The vertical scale bar at left applies only to the black-line curve on the graph. The amount of solar energy entering Mars' atmosphere (in watts per square meter) peaks at the time of year when Mars is closest to the sun, corresponding to late spring in the southern hemisphere. The duration of Mars' dust storm season, as indicated, brackets the time of maximum solar input to the atmosphere. The scale bar at right, for orbital angular momentum, applies to the blue, brown and blue-green curves on the graph. The values are based on mass, velocity and distance from the gravitational center of the solar system. Additional information on the units is in a 2015 paper in the journal Icarus, from which this graph is derived. The band shaded in orange is superimposed on the curves of angular momentum for five Mars years that were accompanied by global dust storms in 1956, 1971, 1982, 1994 and 2007. Brown diamond symbols on the curves for these years in indicate the times when the global storms began. The band shaded blue-green lies atop angular momentum curves for six years when no

  13. Spiral Structure and Differential Dust Size Distribution in the LkH(alpha) 330 Disk

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Akiyama, Eiji; Hashimoto, Jun; Liu, Hauyu Baobabu; Li, Jennifer I-hsiu; Bonnefoy, Michael; Dong, Ruobing; Hasegawa, Yasuhiro; Henning, Thomas; Sitko, Michael L.; Janson, Markus; hide

    2016-01-01

    Dust trapping accelerates the coagulation of dust particles, and, thus, it represents an initial step toward the formation of planetesimals. We report H-band (1.6 microns) linear polarimetric observations and 0.87 mm interferometric continuum observations toward a transitional disk around LkH(alpha) 330. As a result, a pair of spiral arms were detected in the H-band emission, and an asymmetric (potentially arm-like) structure was detected in the 0.87 mm continuum emission. We discuss the origin of the spiral arm and the asymmetric structure and suggest that a massive unseen planet is the most plausible explanation. The possibility of dust trapping and grain growth causing the asymmetric structure was also investigated through the opacity index (beta) by plotting the observed spectral energy distribution slope between 0.87 mm from our Submillimeter Array observation and1.3 mm from literature. The results imply that grains are indistinguishable from interstellar medium-like dust in the east side (beta = 2.0 +/- 0.5) but are much smaller in the west side beta = 0.7+0.5 -0.4, indicating differential dust size distribution between the two sides of the disk. Combining the results of near-infrared and submillimeter observations, we conjecture that the spiral arms exist at the upper surface and an asymmetric structure resides in the disk interior. Future observations at centimeter wavelengths and differential polarization imaging in other bands (Y-K) with extreme AO imagers are required to understand how large dust grains form and to further explore the dust distribution in the disk.

  14. Detection of Subpixel Submerged Mine-Like Targets in WorldView-2 Multispectral Imagery

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2012-09-01

    and painted black, blue and green. The dot seen in the image by target three was a zodiac and it was only in the 21 March data set. 47 WorldView-2...region of interest (ROI) was created using band one of the covariance PCA image. The targets, buoy, and the zodiac were all considered targets. N...targets. Pixels that represented the zodiac were not segregated and found all over the visualization. For this reason, this process was followed by

  15. Dust in the Solar System - Properties and Origins

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Messenger, Scott; Keller, Lindsay; Nakamura-Messenger, Keiko

    2013-01-01

    Interplanetary dust pervades the inner Solar System, giving rise to a prominent glow above the horizon at sunrise and sunset known as the zodiacal light. This dust derives from the disintegration of comets as they approach the Sun and from collisions among main-belt asteroids. The Earth accretes roughly 4x10(exp 6) kg/year of 1 - 1,000 micron dust particles as they spiral into the Sun under the influence of Poynting-Robertson drag and solar wind drag. Samples of these grains have been collected from deep sea sediments, Antarctic ice and by high-altitude aircraft and balloon flights. Interplanetary dust particles (IDPs) collected in the stratosphere have been classified by their IR spectra into olivine, pyroxene, and hydrated silicate-dominated classes. Most IDPs have bulk major and minor element abundances that are similar to carbonaceous chondrite meteorites. Hydrated silicate-rich IDPs are thought to derive from asteroids based on their mineralogy and low atmospheric entry velocities estimated from peak temperatures reached during atmospheric entry. Anhydrous IDPs are typically aggregates of 0.1 - approx. 1 micron Mg-rich olivine and pyroxene, amorphous silicates (GEMS), Fe, Nisulfides and rare spinel and oxides bound together by carbonaceous material. These IDPs are often argued to derive from comets based on compositional similarities and high atmospheric entry velocities that imply high eccentricity orbits. Infrared spectra obtained from anhydrous IDPs closely match remote IR spectra obtained from comets. The most primitive (anhydrous) IDPs appear to have escaped the parent-body thermal and aqueous alteration that has affected meteorites. These samples thus consist entirely of grains that formed in the ancient solar nebula and pre-solar interstellar and circumstellar environments. Isotopic studies of IDPs have identified silicate stardust grains that formed in the outflows of red giant and asymptotic giant branch stars and supernovae]. These stardust grains

  16. Remote sensing of mesospheric dust layers using active modulation of PMWE by high-power radio-waves

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Cohen, M.; Zhang, X.; Cohen, M.; Mahmoudian, A.; Scales, W.; Kosch, M. J.; M Farahani, M.; Mohebalhojeh, A.

    2016-12-01

    So-called polar mesospheric winter echoes (PMWE) are radar echoes observed during winter at altitudes around 50-80 km and are much weaker than their PMSE (Polar Mesospheric Summer Echoes) counterpart. Unlike PMSE, PMWE are less studied and understood. Breaking of gravity waves and the associated turbulence are proposed as the major source for PMWE echoes. The action of neutral turbulence alone does not appear to give a good explanation for PMWE. PMWE is also attributed to Bragg scatter from electron irregularities which result from charging of free electrons onto sub-visible particles. The temporal behavior of PMWE response to HF pump heating can be employed to diagnose the charged dust layer. Specifically, the rise and fall time of radar echo strength as well as relaxation and recovery time after heater turn-on and off are distinct parameters that are a function of radar frequency. This work presents the first study of the modulation of PMWE by artificial radiowave heating using computational modeling and experimental observation in different radar frequency bands. Variation of dust plasma parameters associated with PMWE such as dust radius, dust density, recombination rate, electron- and dust-neutral collision frequencies, photo-detachment current and electron temperature enhancement ratio are included. Computational results derived from different sets of parameters are considered and compared with recent observations at EISCAT using 224 MHz and 56 MHz radars. The agreement between the model results and the observations show the high potential of remote sensing of dust and plasma parameters associated with PMWE. Measurement of Te/Ti using ISR and simultaneous observations in two frequency bands may lead to a more accurate estimation of dust density and radius. The enhancement of backscattered signal in the HF band during PMWE heating is predicted for the first time. The required background dust-plasma parameters as well as heater power (Te/Ti) for the observation

  17. Hydrocarbons on Saturns Satellites: Relationship to Interstellar Dust and the Solar Nebula

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Cruikshank, D. P.

    2012-01-01

    To understand the origin and evolution of our Solar System, and the basic components that led to life on Earth, we study interstellar and planetary spectroscopic signatures. The possible relationship of organic material detected in carbonaceous meteorites, interplanetary dust particles (IDPs), comets and the interstellar medium have been the source of speculation over the years as the composition and processes that governed the early solar nebula have been explored to understand the extent to which primitive material survived or became processed. The Cassini VIMS has provided new data relevant to this problem. Three of Saturn's satellites, Phoebe, Iapetus, and Hyperion, are found to have aromatic and aliphatic hydrocarbons on their surfaces. The aromatic hydrocarbon signature (C-H stretching mode at 3.28 micrometers) is proportionally significantly stronger (relative to the aliphatic bands) than that seen in other Solar System bodies (e.g., comets) and materials (Stardust samples, IDPs, meteorites) and the distinctive sub-features of the 3.4 micrometer aliphatic band (CH2 and CH3 groups) are reminiscent of those widely detected throughout the diffuse ISM. Phoebe may be a captured object that originated in the region beyond the present orbit of Neptune, where the solar nebula contained a large fraction of original interstellar ice and dust that was less processed than material closer to the Sun. Debris from Phoebe now resident on Iapetus and Hyperion, as well as o Phoebe itself, thus presents a unique blend of hydrocarbons, amenable to comparisons with interstellar hydrocarbons and other Solar System materials. The dust ring surrounding Saturn, in which Phoebe is embedded, probably originated from a collision with Phoebe. Dust ring particles are the likely source of the organic-bearing materials, and perhaps the recently identified small particles of Fe detected on Saturn's satellites. Lab measurements of the absolute band strengths of representative aliphatic and

  18. Using Aerosol Reflectance for Dust Detection

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bahramvash Shams, S.; Mohammadzade, A.

    2013-09-01

    In this study we propose an approach for dust detection by aerosol reflectance over arid and urban region in clear sky condition. In urban and arid areas surface reflectance in red and infrared spectral is bright and hence shorter wavelength is required for this detections. Main step of our approach can be mentioned as: cloud mask for excluding cloudy pixels from our calculation, calculate Rayleigh path radiance, construct a surface reflectance data base, estimate aerosol reflectance, detect dust aerosol, dust detection and evaluations of dust detection. Spectral with wavelength 0.66, 0.55, 0.47 μm has been used in our dust detection. Estimating surface reflectance is the most challenging step of obtaining aerosol reflectance from top of atmosphere (TOA) reflectance. Hence for surface estimation we had created a surface reflectance database of 0.05 degree latitude by 0.05 degree longitude resolution by using minimum reflectivity technique (MRT). In order to evaluate our dust detection algorithm MODIS aerosol product MOD04 and common dust detection method named Brightness Temperature Difference (BTD) had been used. We had implemented this method to Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) image of part of Iran (7 degree latitude and 8 degree longitude) spring 2005 dust phenomenon from April to June. This study uses MODIS LIB calibrated reflectance high spatial resolution (500 m) MOD02Hkm on TERRA spacecraft. Hence our dust detection spatial resolution will be higher spatial resolution than MODIS aerosol product MOD04 which has 10 × 10 km2 and BTD resolution is 1 km due to the band 29 (8.7 μm), 31 (11 μm), and 32 (12 μm) spatial resolutions.

  19. Effect of ground control mesh on dust sampling and explosion mitigation.

    PubMed

    Alexander, D W; Chasko, L L

    2015-07-01

    Researchers from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health's Office of Mine Safety and Health Research conducted an assessment of the effects that ground control mesh might have on rock and float coal dust distribution in a coal mine. The increased use of mesh to control roof and rib spall introduces additional elevated surfaces on which rock or coal dust can collect. It is possible to increase the potential for dust explosion propagation if any float coal dust is not adequately inerted. In addition, the mesh may interfere with the collection of representative dust samples when using the pan-and-brush sampling method developed by the U.S. Bureau of Mines and used by the Mine Safety and Health Administration for band sampling. This study estimates the additional coal or rock dust that could accumulate on mesh and develops a means to collect representative dust samples from meshed entries.

  20. Dust models post-Planck: constraining the far-infrared opacity of dust in the diffuse interstellar medium

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Fanciullo, L.; Guillet, V.; Aniano, G.; Jones, A. P.; Ysard, N.; Miville-Deschênes, M.-A.; Boulanger, F.; Köhler, M.

    2015-08-01

    Aims: We compare the performance of several dust models in reproducing the dust spectral energy distribution (SED) per unit extinction in the diffuse interstellar medium (ISM). We use our results to constrain the variability of the optical properties of big grains in the diffuse ISM, as published by the Planck collaboration. Methods: We use two different techniques to compare the predictions of dust models to data from the Planck HFI, IRAS, and SDSS surveys. First, we fit the far-infrared emission spectrum to recover the dust extinction and the intensity of the interstellar radiation field (ISRF). Second, we infer the ISRF intensity from the total power emitted by dust per unit extinction, and then predict the emission spectrum. In both cases, we test the ability of the models to reproduce dust emission and extinction at the same time. Results: We identify two issues. Not all models can reproduce the average dust emission per unit extinction: there are differences of up to a factor ~2 between models, and the best accord between model and observation is obtained with the more emissive grains derived from recent laboratory data on silicates and amorphous carbons. All models fail to reproduce the variations in the emission per unit extinction if the only variable parameter is the ISRF intensity: this confirms that the optical properties of dust are indeed variable in the diffuse ISM. Conclusions: Diffuse ISM observations are consistent with a scenario where both ISRF intensity and dust optical properties vary. The ratio of the far-infrared opacity to the V band extinction cross-section presents variations of the order of ~20% (40-50% in extreme cases), while ISRF intensity varies by ~30% (~60% in extreme cases). This must be accounted for in future modelling. Appendices are available in electronic form at http://www.aanda.org

  1. Mapping the Spatial Distribution of Dust Extinction in NGC 959 Using Broadband Visible and Mid-Infrared Filters

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Tamura, K.; Jansen, R. A.; Windhorst, R. A.

    2009-12-01

    We present a method to estimate and map the two-dimensional distribution of dust extinction in the late-type spiral galaxy NGC 959 from the theoretical and observed flux ratio of optical V and mid-IR (MIR) 3.6 μm images. Our method is applicable to both young and old stellar populations for a range of metallicities, and is not restricted to lines of sight toward star-formation (SF) regions. We explore this method using a pixel-based analysis on images of NGC 959 obtained in the V band at the Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope and at 3.6 μm (L band) with Spitzer/Infrared Array Camera. We present the original and extinction corrected Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) far-UV (FUV) and near-UV (NUV) images, as well as optical UBVR images of NGC 959. While the dust lanes are not clearly evident at GALEX resolution, our dust map clearly traces the dust that can be seen silhouetted against the galaxy's disk in the high-resolution Hubble Space Telescope (HST) images of NGC 959. The advantages of our method are (1) it only depends on two relatively common broadband images in the optical V band and in the MIR at 3.6 μm (but adding a near-UV band improves its fidelity); and (2) it is able to map the two-dimensional spatial distribution of dust within a galaxy. This powerful tool could be used to measure the detailed distribution of dust extinction within higher redshift galaxies to be observed with, e.g., the Hubble Space Telescope (HST)/WFC3 (optical near-IR) and James Webb Space Telescope (mid-IR), and to distinguish properties of dust within galaxy bulges, spiral arms, and inter-arm regions.

  2. Fluorescence detection of protein content in house dust: the possible role of keratin.

    PubMed

    Voloshina, O V; Shirshin, E A; Lademann, J; Fadeev, V V; Darvin, M E

    2017-03-01

    We propose a fluorescence method for protein content assessment in fine house dust, which can be used as an indicator of the hygienic state of occupied rooms. The results of the measurements performed with 30 house dust samples, including ultrafiltration experiments, strongly suggest that the fluorescence emission of house dust extracts excited at 350 nm is mainly due to protein fragments, which are presumably keratin hydrolysates. This suggestion is supported by several facts: (i) Spectral band shapes for all the samples under investigation are close and correspond to that of keratin; (ii) fluorescence intensity correlates with the total protein content as provided by Lowry assay; (iii) treatment of the samples with proteinase K, which induces keratin hydrolysis, results in fluorescence enhancement without changing fluorescence band shape; and (iv) Raman spectra of keratin and fine house dust samples exhibit a very similar structure. Based on the obtained results and literature data, we propose a hypothesis that keratin is a major substrate for fluorescence species in fine house dust, which are responsible for emission at 350-nm excitation. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  3. Effect of ground control mesh on dust sampling and explosion mitigation

    PubMed Central

    Alexander, D.W.; Chasko, L.L.

    2017-01-01

    Researchers from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health’s Office of Mine Safety and Health Research conducted an assessment of the effects that ground control mesh might have on rock and float coal dust distribution in a coal mine. The increased use of mesh to control roof and rib spall introduces additional elevated surfaces on which rock or coal dust can collect. It is possible to increase the potential for dust explosion propagation if any float coal dust is not adequately inerted. In addition, the mesh may interfere with the collection of representative dust samples when using the pan-and-brush sampling method developed by the U.S. Bureau of Mines and used by the Mine Safety and Health Administration for band sampling. This study estimates the additional coal or rock dust that could accumulate on mesh and develops a means to collect representative dust samples from meshed entries. PMID:28936000

  4. Guilt by Association: The 13 Micron Dust Emission Feature and Its Correlation to Other Gas and Dust Features

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sloan, G. C.; Kraemer, Kathleen E.; Goebel, J. H.; Price, Stephan D.

    2003-09-01

    A study of all full-scan spectra of optically thin oxygen-rich circumstellar dust shells in the database produced by the Short Wavelength Spectrometer on ISO reveals that the strength of several infrared spectral features correlates with the strength of the 13 μm dust feature. These correlated features include dust features at 19.8 and 28.1 μm and the bands produced by warm carbon dioxide molecules (the strongest of which are at 13.9, 15.0, and 16.2 μm). The database does not provide any evidence for a correlation of the 13 μm feature with a dust feature at 32 μm, and it is more likely that a weak emission feature at 16.8 μm arises from carbon dioxide gas rather than dust. The correlated dust features at 13, 20, and 28 μm tend to be stronger with respect to the total dust emission in semiregular and irregular variables associated with the asymptotic giant branch than in Mira variables or supergiants. This family of dust features also tends to be stronger in systems with lower infrared excesses and thus lower mass-loss rates. We hypothesize that the dust features arise from crystalline forms of alumina (13 μm) and silicates (20 and 28 μm). Based on observations with the ISO, a European Space Agency (ESA) project with instruments funded by ESA member states (especially the Principal Investigator countries: France, Germany, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom) and with the participation of the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

  5. Characterizing the Dust-Correlated Anomalous Emission in LDN 1622

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Cleary, Kieran; Casassus, Simon; Dickinson, Clive; Lawrence, Charles; Sakon, Itsuki

    2008-03-01

    The search for 'dust-correlated microwave emission' was started by the surprising excess correlation of COBE-DMR maps, at 31.5, 53 and 91GHz, with DIRBE dust emission at 140 microns. It was first thought to be Galactic free-free emission from the Warm Ionized Medium (WIM). However, Leitch et al. (1997) ruled out a link with free-free by comparing with Halpha templates and first confirmed the anomalous nature of this emission. Since then, this emission has been detected by a number of experiments in the frequency range 5-60 GHz. The most popular explanation is emission from ultra-small spinning dust grains (first postulated by Erickson, 1957), which is expected to have a spectrum that is highly peaked at about 20 GHz. Spinning dust models appear to be broadly consistent with microwave data at high latitudes, but the data have not been conclusive, mainly due to the difficulty of foreground separation in CMB data. LDN 1622 is a dark cloud that lies within the Orion East molecular cloud at a distance of 120 pc. Recent cm-wave observations, in combination with WMAP data, have verified the detection of anomalous dust-correlated emission in LDN 1622. This mid-IR-cm correlation in LDN 1622 is currently the only observational evidence that very small grains VSG emit at GHz frequencies. We propose a programme of spectroscopic observations of LDN 1622 with Spitzer IRS to address the following questions: (i) Are the IRAS 12 and 25 microns bands tracing VSG emission in LDN 1622? (ii) What Mid-IR features and continuum bands best correlate with the cm-wave emission? and (iii) How do the dust properties vary with the cm-wave emission? These questions have important implications for high-sensitivity CMB experiments.

  6. Emission from small dust particles in diffuse and molecular cloud medium

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Bernard, J. P.; Desert, X.

    1990-01-01

    Infrared Astronomy Satellite (IRAS) observations of the whole galaxy has shown that long wavelength emission (100 and 60 micron bands) can be explained by thermal emission from big grains (approx 0.1 micron) radiating at their equilibrium temperature when heated by the InterStellar Radiation Field (ISRF). This conclusion has been confirmed by continuum sub-millimeter observations of the galactic plane made by the EMILIE experiment at 870 microns (Pajot et al. 1986). Nevertheless, shorter wavelength observations like 12 and 25 micron IRAS bands, show an emission from the galactic plane in excess with the long wavelength measurements which can only be explained by a much hotter particles population. Because dust at equilibrium cannot easily reach high temperatures required to explain this excess, this component is thought to be composed of very small dust grains or big molecules encompassing thermal fluctuations. Researchers present here a numerical model that computes emission, from Near Infrared Radiation (NIR) to Sub-mm wavelengths, from a non-homogeneous spherical cloud heated by the ISRF. This model fully takes into account the heating of dust by multi-photon processes and back-heating of dust in the Visual/Infrared Radiation (VIS-IR) so that it is likely to describe correctly emission from molecular clouds up to large A sub v and emission from dust experiencing temperature fluctuations. The dust is a three component mixture of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, very small grains, and classical big grains with independent size distributions (cut-off and power law index) and abundances.

  7. Optical spectroscopy of interplanetary dust collected in the earth's stratosphere

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Fraundorf, P.; Patel, R. I.; Shirck, J.; Walker, R. M.; Freeman, J. J.

    1980-01-01

    Optical absorption spectra of interplanetary dust particles 2-30 microns in size collected in the atmosphere at an altitude of 20 km by inertial impactors mounted on NASA U-2 aircraft are reported. Fourier transform absorption spectroscopy of crushed samples of the particles reveals a broad feature in the region 1300-800 kaysers which has also been found in meteorite and cometary dust spectra, and a weak iron crystal field absorption band at approximately 9800 kaysers, as is observed in meteorites. Work is currently in progress to separate the various components of the interplanetary dust particles in order to evaluate separately their contributions to the absorption.

  8. Active Lifting During Martian Dust Storm

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2017-03-09

    This false-color scene from the panoramic camera (Pancam) on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity documents movement of dust as a regional dust storm approached the rover's location on Feb. 24, 2017, during the 4,653rd Martian day, or sol, of the rover's work on Mars. Key to detecting the movement is that Pancam color images are combinations of different images taken a short time apart through different color filters. Note that along the horizon, the left portion of the image has a bluish band (with label and arrow in Figure 1). The component image admitting blue light was taken about 150 seconds after the component image admitting red light. A layer of dust-carrying wind hadn't reached this location by the earlier exposure, but had by the later one. This Sol 4653 Opportunity view is toward the north from the rover's location on the western rim of Endeavour Crater in the Meridiani Planum region of Mars. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA21485

  9. The US Naval Observatory Zodiacal Zone Catalog (Douglas and Harrington 1990): Documentation for the machine-readable version

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Warren, Wayne H., Jr.

    1990-01-01

    The machine readable version of the catalog, as it is currently being distributed from the Astronomical Data Center, is described. The Zodiacal Zone Catalog is a catalog of positions and proper motions for stars in the magnitude range where m sub v is between 4 and 10, lying within 16 deg of the ecliptic and north of declination -30 deg. The catalog contains positions and proper motions, at epoch, for equator and equinox J2000.0, magnitudes and spectral types taken mostly from the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory Star Catalog, and reference positions and proper motions for equinox and epoch B1950.0.

  10. Near-infrared morphology of protoplanetary nebulae - The icy dust torus of Minkowski's Footprint (M1-92)

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Eiroa, C.; Hodapp, K.-W.

    1989-01-01

    High-resolution near-infrared images and ice-band spectra of the protoplanetary nebula M1-92 (Minkowski's Footprint) are presented. The direct images of the object display a typical bipolar morphology with the star located in the center of the nebula illuminating two lobes. The overall dimensions are the same in the J, H, and K infrared bands, and they are similar to those in the optical range. The near-infrared color images clearly reveal a dust torus around the central star. The orientation of the object in the plane of the sky allows the simultaneous view of the illuminating star, the nebular lobes, and the dust torus in a highly favorable perspective, only rarely found in other bipolar nebulae. The ice-band spectra make it possible to locate the H2O-ice grains within the dust torus; in addition, the narrow ice feature indicates that the ices are primarily pure crystalline water.

  11. Dust evolution, a global view: II. Top-down branching, nanoparticle fragmentation and the mystery of the diffuse interstellar band carriers

    PubMed Central

    2016-01-01

    The origin of the diffuse interstellar bands (DIBs), one of the longest-standing mysteries of the interstellar medium (ISM), is explored within the framework of The Heterogeneous dust Evolution Model for Interstellar Solids (THEMIS). The likely nature of the DIB carriers and their evolution is here explored within the framework of the structures and sub-structures inherent to doped hydrogenated amorphous carbon grains in the ISM. Based on the natural aromatic-rich moieties (asphaltenes) recovered from coal and oil, the likely structure of their interstellar analogues is investigated within the context of the diffuse band problem. It is here proposed that the top-down evolution of interstellar carbonaceous grains, and, in particular, a-C(:H) nanoparticles, is at the heart of the formation and evolution of the DIB carriers and their associations with small molecules and radicals, such as C2, C3, CH and CN. It is most probable that the DIBs are carried by dehydrogenated, ionized, hetero-cyclic, olefinic and aromatic-rich moieties that form an integral part of the contiguous structure of hetero-atom-doped hydrogenated amorphous carbon nanoparticles and their daughter fragmentation products. Within this framework, it is proposed that polyene structures in all their variants could be viable DIB carrier candidates. PMID:28083089

  12. Dust evolution, a global view: II. Top-down branching, nanoparticle fragmentation and the mystery of the diffuse interstellar band carriers

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jones, A. P.

    2016-12-01

    The origin of the diffuse interstellar bands (DIBs), one of the longest-standing mysteries of the interstellar medium (ISM), is explored within the framework of The Heterogeneous dust Evolution Model for Interstellar Solids (THEMIS). The likely nature of the DIB carriers and their evolution is here explored within the framework of the structures and sub-structures inherent to doped hydrogenated amorphous carbon grains in the ISM. Based on the natural aromatic-rich moieties (asphaltenes) recovered from coal and oil, the likely structure of their interstellar analogues is investigated within the context of the diffuse band problem. It is here proposed that the top-down evolution of interstellar carbonaceous grains, and, in particular, a-C(:H) nanoparticles, is at the heart of the formation and evolution of the DIB carriers and their associations with small molecules and radicals, such as C2, C3, CH and CN. It is most probable that the DIBs are carried by dehydrogenated, ionized, hetero-cyclic, olefinic and aromatic-rich moieties that form an integral part of the contiguous structure of hetero-atom-doped hydrogenated amorphous carbon nanoparticles and their daughter fragmentation products. Within this framework, it is proposed that polyene structures in all their variants could be viable DIB carrier candidates.

  13. Estimating dust production rate of carbon-rich stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Nanni, A.; Marigo, P.; Groenewegen, M. A. T.; Aringer, B.; Pastorelli, G.; Rubele, S.; Girardi, L.; Bressan, A.; Bladh, S.

    We compute a grid of spectra describing dusty Circumstellar Envelopes of Thermally Pulsing Asymptotic Giant Branch carbon-rich stars by employing a physically grounded description for dust growth. The optical constants for carbon dust have been selected in order to reproduce simultaneously the most important color-color diagrams in the Near and Mid Infrared bands. We fit the Spectral Energy Distribution of ≈2000 carbon-rich in the Small Magellanic Cloud and we compute their total dust production rate. We compare our results with the ones in the literature. Different choices of the dust-to-gas ratio and outflow expansion velocity adopted in different works, yield, in some cases, a total dust budget about three times lower than the one derived from our scheme, with the same optical data set for carbon dust.

  14. Star-dust geometries in galaxies: The effect of interstellar matter distributions on optical and infrared properties of late-type galaxies

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Capuano, J. M., Jr.; Thronson, H. A., Jr.; Witt, A. N.

    1993-01-01

    The presence of substantial amounts of interstellar dust in late-type galaxies affects observable parameters such as the optical surface brightness, the color, and the ratio of far-infrared to optical luminosity of these galaxies. We conducted radiative transfer calculations for late-type galaxy environments to examine two different scenarios: (1) the effects of increasing amounts of dust in two fixed geometries with different star distributions; and (2) the effects of an evolving dust-star geometry in which the total amount of dust is held constant, for three different star distributions. The calculations were done for ten photometric bands, ranging from the far-ultraviolet to the near-infrared (K), and scattered light was included in the galactic surface brightness at each wavelength. The energy absorbed throughout these ten photometric bands was assumed to re-emerge in the far-infrared as thermal dust emission. We also considered the evolutionary contraction of a constant amount of dust relative to pre-existing star distributions.

  15. The use of kerogen data in understanding the properties and evolution of interstellar carbonaceous dust

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Papoular, R.

    2001-11-01

    A number of authors have, in the past decade, pointed to the similarity of the 3.4-mu m band of kerogen with that of the Galactic Centre (GC). Kerogen is a family of solid terrestrial sedimentary materials essentially made of C, H and O interlocked in a disordered, more or less aliphatic, structure. Here, the most recent results of the astronomical literature and the rich quantitative geochemical literature are tapped with two purposes in mind: extend the analogy to the mid-IR bands and, based on these new constraints, quantitatively assess the properties of the carrier dust. It is shown that the great diversity of IR astronomical IS (interstellar) dust is paralleled by the changes in kerogen spectra as the material spontaneously and continuously evolves (aromatizes) in the earth. Since the composition and structure of kerogen are known all along its evolution, it is possible, by spectral analogy, to estimate these properties for the corresponding astronomical carriers. The Galactic Centre 3.4 mu m feature is thus found to correspond to an early stage of evolution, for which the composition in C, H and O and the structure of the corresponding kerogen are known and reported here. The role of oxygen in the subsequent evolution and its contribution to different bands are stressed. The above provides new arguments in favour of the 3.4-mu m band, as well as the observed accompanying mid-IR bands, being carried by kerogen-like dust born in CS (circumstellar) envelopes, mostly of AGB (asymptotic giant branch) objects. Subsequent dust evolution in composition and structure (aromatization) is fast enough that the unidentified infrared bands can already show up in well-developed planetary nebulae (PNe), as observed. A fraction of incompletely evolved dust can escape into the diffuse IS medium and molecular clouds. As a consequence, aliphatic and aromatic features can both be detected in the sky, in emission (Proto-PNe, PNe and PDRs (photo-dissociation regions)) as well as in

  16. Interstellar matter in Shapley-Ames elliptical galaxies. II. The distribution of dust and ionized gas

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Goudfrooij, P.; Hansen, L.; Jorgensen, H. E.; Norgaard-Nielsen, H. U.

    1994-06-01

    We present results of deep optical CCD imaging for a complete, optical magnitude-limited sample of 56 elliptical galaxies from the RSA catalog. For each galaxy we have obtained broad-band images (in B, V, and I) and narrow-band images using interference filters isolating the Hα+[NII] emission lines to derive the amount and morphology of dust and ionized gas. Detailed consideration of systematic errors due to effects of sky background subtraction and removal of stellar continuum light from the narrow-band images is described. The flux calibration of the narrow-band images is performed by deconvolving actually measured spectral energy distributions with the filter transmission curves. We also present optical long-slit spectroscopy to determine the [NII]/Hα intensity ratio of the ionized gas. Dust lanes and/or patches have been detected in 23 galaxies (41%) from this sample using both colour-index images and division by purely elliptical model images. We achieved a detection limit for dust absorption of A_B_~0.02. Accounting for selection effects, the true fraction of elliptical galaxies containing dust is estimated to be of order 80%. This detection rate is comparable to that of the IRAS satellite, and significantly larger than results of previous optical studies. Ionized gas has been detected in 32 galaxies (57%). The spectroscopic data confirm the presence and distribution of ionized gas as seen in the direct imaging. All elliptical galaxies in our sample in which a number of emission lines is detected show very similar emission-line intensity ratios, which are typical of LINER nuclei. The amounts of detectable dust and ionized gas are generally small--of order 10^4^-10^5^Msun_ of dust and 10^3^-10^4^Msun_ of ionized gas. The dust and ionized gas show a wide variety of distributions-extended along either the apparent major axis, or the minor axis, or a skewed axis, indicating that triaxiality is in general required as a galaxy figure. In some cases (NGC 1275, NGC

  17. On the dust zoning of rapidly rotating cometary nuclei

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Houpis, H. L. F.; Mendis, D. A.

    1981-12-01

    The effects of nuclear rotation on the surface of a cometary nucleus (a comet at 1 AU that is H2O dominated and has a radius of 1 km) are considered. It is shown that this dust does not accumulate uniformly on the surface, which here is considered spherical. While dust particles in the two polar cap regions and an equatorial belt remain at rest on the surface, those in two midlatitude bands migrate toward the equator, stopping at the two low latitudes to form dust ridges. As the nucleus spins up, both the polar caps and the equatorial belt shrink in size, and the dust ridges move toward the equator, eventually spinning off the dust from the nucleus when the nuclear rotation period is less than about 3.3 hr. For larger particles for which the gas buoyancy is negligible, migration takes place only if the rotation period is not significantly larger than the critical value of 3.3 hr or if the surface friction is abnormally small.

  18. MULTIBAND OPTICAL OBSERVATION OF THE P/2010 A2 DUST TAIL

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

    Kim, Junhan; Ishiguro, Masateru; Hanayama, Hidekazu

    2012-02-10

    An inner main-belt asteroid, P/2010 A2, was discovered on 2010 January 6. Based on its orbital elements, it is considered that the asteroid belongs to the Flora collisional family, where S-type asteroids are common, while showing a comet-like dust tail. Although analysis of images taken by the Hubble Space Telescope and Rosetta spacecraft suggested that the dust tail resulted from a recent head-on collision between asteroids, an alternative idea of ice sublimation was suggested based on the morphological fitting of ground-based images. Here, we report a multiband observation of P/2010 A2 made on 2010 January with a 105 cm telescopemore » at the Ishigakijima Astronomical Observatory. Three broadband filters, g', R{sub c} , and I{sub c} , were employed for the observation. The unique multiband data reveal that the reflectance spectrum of the P/2010 A2 dust tail resembles that of an Sq-type asteroid or that of ordinary chondrites rather than that of an S-type asteroid. Due to the large error of the measurement, the reflectance spectrum also resembles the spectra of C-type asteroids, even though C-type asteroids are uncommon in the Flora family. The reflectances relative to the g' band (470 nm) are 1.096 {+-} 0.046 at the R{sub c} band (650 nm) and 1.131 {+-} 0.061 at the I{sub c} band (800 nm). We hypothesize that the parent body of P/2010 A2 was originally S-type but was then shattered upon collision into scattering fresh chondritic particles from the interior, thus forming the dust tail.« less

  19. The S sub 10 /V/ unit of surface brightness. [for zodiacal light measurement

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Sparrow, J. G.; Weinberg, J. L.

    1976-01-01

    Some discrepancies in the use of the unit of zodiacal light measurements - S sub 10 (V), which is the equivalent number of tenth magnitude stars of solar spectral type per square degree - are discussed. It is suggested that: (1) the S sub 10 (V) unit be understood to represent 10th magnitude solar (G2V) stars per square degree at mean solar distance, (2) the V refers to the visual color in the UBV system defined by Johnson and Morgan (1953), (3) the apparent solar visual magnitude be taken as -26.73 and the B-V index as .63, (4) the solar spectral irradiance values of Labs and Neckel (1970) be used, and (5) when using Vega as a standard to obtain brightnesses in S sub 10 (V), +.04 be used as its magnitude at all wavelengths and the irradiance values of Hayes and Latham (1975) be used.

  20. A new method for analyzing IRAS data to determine the dust temperature distribution

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Xie, Taoling; Goldsmith, Paul F.; Zhou, Weimin

    1991-01-01

    In attempting to analyze the four-band IRAS images of interstellar dust emission, it is found that an inversion theorem recently developed by Chen (1990) enables distribution of the dust to be determined as a function of temperature and thus the total dust column density, for each line of sight. The method and its application to a hypothetical IRAS data set created by assuming a power-law dust temperature distribution, which is characteristic of the actual IRAS data for the Monoceros R2 cloud, are reported. To use the method, the wavelength dependence of the dust emissivity is assumed and a simple function is fitted to the four intensity-wavelength data points. The method is shown to be very successful at retrieving the dust temperature distribution in this case and is expected to have wide applicability to astronomical problems of this type.

  1. Dust-Corrected Star Formation Rates in Galaxies with Outer Rings

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kostiuk, I.; Silchenko, O.

    2018-03-01

    The star formation rates SFR, as well as the SFR surface densities ΣSFR and absolute stellar magnitudes MAB, are determined and corrected for interinsic dust absorption for 34 disk galaxies of early morphological types with an outer ring structure and ultraviolet emission from the ring. These characteristic are determined for the outer ring structures and for the galaxies as a whole. Data from the space telescopes GALEX (in the NUV and FUV ultraviolet ranges) and WISE (in the W4 22 μm infrared band) are used. The average relative deviation in the corrected SFR and ΣSFR derived from the NUV and FUV bands is only 19.0%, so their averaged values are used for statistical consideration. The relations between the dust-corrected SFR characteristics, UV colours, the galaxy morphological type, absolute magnitude are illustrated.

  2. A new zenith-looking narrow-band radiometer-based system (ZEN) for dust aerosol optical depth monitoring

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Almansa, A. Fernando; Cuevas, Emilio; Torres, Benjamín; Barreto, África; García, Rosa D.; Cachorro, Victoria E.; de Frutos, Ángel M.; López, César; Ramos, Ramón

    2017-02-01

    A new zenith-looking narrow-band radiometer based system (ZEN), conceived for dust aerosol optical depth (AOD) monitoring, is presented in this paper. The ZEN system comprises a new radiometer (ZEN-R41) and a methodology for AOD retrieval (ZEN-LUT). ZEN-R41 has been designed to be stand alone and without moving parts, making it a low-cost and robust instrument with low maintenance, appropriate for deployment in remote and unpopulated desert areas. The ZEN-LUT method is based on the comparison of the measured zenith sky radiance (ZSR) with a look-up table (LUT) of computed ZSRs. The LUT is generated with the LibRadtran radiative transfer code. The sensitivity study proved that the ZEN-LUT method is appropriate for inferring AOD from ZSR measurements with an AOD standard uncertainty up to 0.06 for AOD500 nm ˜ 0.5 and up to 0.15 for AOD500 nm ˜ 1.0, considering instrumental errors of 5 %. The validation of the ZEN-LUT technique was performed using data from AErosol RObotic NETwork (AERONET) Cimel Electronique 318 photometers (CE318). A comparison between AOD obtained by applying the ZEN-LUT method on ZSRs (inferred from CE318 diffuse-sky measurements) and AOD provided by AERONET (derived from CE318 direct-sun measurements) was carried out at three sites characterized by a regular presence of desert mineral dust aerosols: Izaña and Santa Cruz in the Canary Islands and Tamanrasset in Algeria. The results show a coefficient of determination (R2) ranging from 0.99 to 0.97, and root mean square errors (RMSE) ranging from 0.010 at Izaña to 0.032 at Tamanrasset. The comparison of ZSR values from ZEN-R41 and the CE318 showed absolute relative mean bias (RMB) < 10 %. ZEN-R41 AOD values inferred from ZEN-LUT methodology were compared with AOD provided by AERONET, showing a fairly good agreement in all wavelengths, with mean absolute AOD differences < 0.030 and R2 higher than 0.97.

  3. Measurement of dust optical depth using the solar irradiance sensor (SIS) onboard the ExoMars 2016 EDM

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Toledo, D.; Arruego, I.; Apéstigue, V.; Jiménez, J. J.; Gómez, L.; Yela, M.; Rannou, P.; Pommereau, J.-P.

    2017-04-01

    The solar irradiance sensor (SIS) was included in the DREAMS package onboard the ExoMars 2016 Entry Descent and Landing Demonstrator Module, and has been selected in the METEO meteorological station onboard the ExoMars 2020 Lander. This instrument is designed to measure at different time intervals the scattered flux or the sum of direct flux and scattered flux in UVA (315-400 nm) and NIR (700-1100 nm) bands. For SIS'16, these measurements are performed by a total of 3 sensors per band placed at the faces of a truncated tetrahedron with face inclination angles of 60°. The principal goal of SIS'16 design is to perform measurements of the dust opacity in UVA and NIR wavelengths ranges, crucial parameters in the understanding of the Martian dust cycle. The retrieval procedure is based on the use of radiative transfer simulations to reproduce SIS observations acquired during daytime as a function of dust opacity. Based on different sensitivity analysis, the retrieval procedure also requires to include as free parameters (1) the dust effective radius; (2) the dust effective variance; and (3) the imaginary part of the refractive index of dust particles in UVA band. We found that the imaginary part of the refractive index of dust particles does not have a big impact on NIR signal, and hence we can kept constant this parameter in the retrieval of dust opacity at this channel. In addition to dust opacity measurements, this instrument is also capable to detect and characterize clouds by looking at the time variation of the color index (CI), defined as the ratio between the observations in NIR and UVA channels, during daytime or twilight. By simulating CI signals with a radiative transfer model, the cloud opacity and cloud altitude (only during twilight) can be retrieved. Here the different retrieval procedures that are used to analyze SIS measurements, as well as the results obtained in different sensitivity analysis, are presented and discussed.

  4. The circumstellar dust envelopes of red giant stars. I - M giant stars with the 10-micron silicate emission band

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Hashimoto, O.; Nakada, Y.; Onaka, T.; Kamijo, F.; Tanabe, T.

    1990-01-01

    Spherical dust envelope models of red giant stars are constructed by solving the radiative transfer equations of the generalized two-stream Eddington approximation. The IRAS observations of M giant stars which show the 10-micron silicate emission band in IRAS LRS spectra are explained by the models with the dirty silicate grains with K proportional to lambda exp -1.5 for lambda greather than 28 microns. Under the assumption of steady mass flow in the envelope, this model analysis gives the following conclusions: (1) the strength of the silicate emission peak at 10 microns is a good indicator of the mass loss rate of the star, (2) no stars with the 10-microns silicate emission feature are observed in the range of mass loss rate smaller than 7 x 10 to the -8th solar mass/yr, and (3) the characteristic time of the mass loss process of M stars does not exceed a few 10,000 years.

  5. The Role of African Easterly Wave on Dust Transport and the Interaction Between Saharan Dust Layer and Atlantic ITCZ During Boreal Summer

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Kim, Kyu-Myong; Lau, William K-M

    2011-01-01

    Saharan dust outbreaks not only transport large amount of dust to the northern Atlantic Ocean, but also alter African easterly jet and wave activities along the jet by changing north-south temperature gradient. Recent modeling and observational studies show that during periods of enhance outbreaks, rainfall on the northern part of ITCZ increases in conjunction with a northward shift of ITCZ toward the dust layer. In this paper, we study the radiative forcing of Saharan dust and its interactions with the Atlantic Inter-tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), through African easterly waves (AEW), African easterly jet (AEJ), using the Terra/Aqua observations as well as MERRA data. Using band pass filtered EOF analysis, we find that African easterly waves propagating westward along two principal tracks, centered at 15-25N and 5-10N respectively. The easterly waves in the northern track are slower, with propagation speed of 9 ms-1, and highly correlated with major dust outbreak over North Africa. On the other hand, easterly waves along the southern track are faster with propagating speed of 10 ms-1, and are closely tied to rainfall/cloud variations along the Atlantic ITCZ. Dust transport along the southern track leads rainfall/cloud anomalies in the same region by one or two days, suggesting the southern tracks of dust outbreak are regions of strong interaction between Saharan dust layer and Atlantic ITCZ. Possible linkage between two tracks of easterly waves, as well as the long-term change of easterly wave activities and dust outbreaks, are also discussed.

  6. The thermal infrared radiance properties of dust aerosol over ocean

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hao, Zengzhou; Pan, Delu; Tu, Qianguang; Gong, Fang; Chen, Jianyu

    2015-10-01

    Asian dust storms, which can long-range transport to ocean, often occur on spring. The present of Asian dust aerosols over ocean makes some difficult for other studies, such as cloud detection, and also take some advantage for ocean, such as take nutrition into the ocean by dry or wet deposition. Therefore, it is important to study the dust aerosol and retrieve the properties of dust from satellite observations that is mainly from the thermal infrared radiance. In this paper, the thermal infrared radiance properties of dust aerosol over ocean are analyzed from MODIS and MTSAT2 observations and Streamer model simulations. By analyzing some line samples and a series of dust aerosol region, it shows that the dust aerosol brightness temperature at 12μm (BT12) is always greater than BT11 and BT8.5, and BT8.5 is general greater than BT11. The brightness temperature different between 11μm and 12μm (BTD11-12) increases with the dust intensity. And the BTD11-12 will become positive when the atmospheric relative humidity is greater than 70%. The BTD11-12 increases gradually with the surface temperature while the effect on BTD11-12 of dust layer temperature is not evident. Those are caused by the transmission of the dust aerosol is different at the two thermal infrared channels. During daytime, dust infrared brightness temperature at mid-infrared bands should reduce the visual radiance, which takes about 25K or less. In general, BT3.7 is greater than BT11 for dust aerosol. Those results are helpful to monitor or retrieve dust aerosol physical properties over ocean from satellite.

  7. The Keck Aperture Masking Experiment: Dust Enshrouded Red Giants

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Blasius, T. D.; Monnier, J. D.; Tuthill, P. G.; Danchi, W. C.; Anderson, M.

    2012-01-01

    While the importance of dusty asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars to galactic chemical enrichment is widely recognised, a sophisticated understanding of the dust formation and wind-driving mechanisms has proven elusive due in part to the difficulty in spatially-resolving the dust formation regions themselves. We have observed twenty dust-enshrouded AGB stars as part of the Keck Aperture Masking Experiment, resolving all of them in multiple near-infrared bands between 1.5 m and 3.1 m. We find 45% of the targets to show measurable elongations that, when correcting for the greater distances of the targets, would correspond to significantly asymmetric dust shells on par with the well-known cases of IRC +10216 or CIT 6. Using radiative transfer models, we find the sublimation temperature of Tsub(silicates) = 1130 90K and Tsub(amorphous carbon) = 1170 60 K, both somewhat lower than expected from laboratory measurements and vastly below temperatures inferred from the inner edge of YSO disks. The fact that O-rich and C-rich dust types showed the same sublimation temperature was surprising as well. For the most optically-thick shells ( 2.2 m > 2), the temperature profile of the inner dust shell is observed to change substantially, an effect we suggest could arise when individual dust clumps become optically-thick at the highest mass-loss rates.

  8. THEMIS VIS and IR observations of a high-altitude Martian dust devil

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Cushing, G.E.; Titus, T.N.; Christensen, P.R.

    2005-01-01

    The Mars Odyssey Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) imaged a Martian dust devil in both visible and thermal-infrared wavelengths on January 30, 2004. We believe this is the first documented infrared observation of an extraterrestrial dust devil, and the highest to be directly observed at more than 16 kilometers above the equatorial geoid of Mars. This dust devil measured over 700 meters in height and 375 meters across, and the strongest infrared signature was given by atmospheric dust absorption in the 9-micron range (THEMIS IR band 5). In addition to having formed in the extremely low-pressure environment of about 1 millibar, this dust devil is of particular interest because it was observed at 16:06 local time. This is an unusually late time of day to find dust devils on Mars, during a period when rapid surface cooling typically reduces the boundary-layer turbulence necessary to form these convective vortices. Understanding the mechanisms for dust-devil formation under such extreme circumstances will help to constrain theories of atmospheric dynamics, and of dust lifting and transport mechanisms on Mars. Copyright 2005 by the American Geophysical Union.

  9. IRAS observations of dust heating and energy balance in the Rho Ophiuchi dark cloud

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Greene, Thomas P.; Young, Erick T.

    1989-01-01

    The equilibrium process dust emission in the Rho Ophiuchi dark cloud is studied. The luminosity of the cloud is found to closely match the luminosity of the clouds's known embedded and external radiation sources. There is no evidence for a large population of undetected low-luminosity sources within the cloud and unknown external heating is also only a minor source of energy. Most of the cloud's luminosity is emitted in the mid-to-far-IR. Dust temperature maps indicate that the dust is not hot enough to heat the gas to observed temperatures. A simple cloud model with a radiation field composed of flux HD 147889, S1, and Sco OB2 associations predicts the observed IRAS 60 to 100 micron in-band flux ratios for a mean cloud density n(H2) = 1400. Flattened 12 and 25 micron observations show much extended emission in these bands, suggesting stochastic heating of very small grains or large molecules.

  10. Ultraviolet Radiative Transfer Modeling of Nearby Galaxies with Extraplanar Dusts

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Shinn, Jong-Ho; Seon, Kwang-Il

    2015-12-01

    In order to examine their relation to the host galaxy, the extraplanar dusts of six nearby galaxies are modeled, employing a three-dimensional Monte Carlo radiative transfer code. The targets are from the highly inclined galaxies that show dust-scattered ultraviolet halos, and the archival Galaxy Evolution Explorer FUV band images were fitted with the model. The observed images are generally well-reproduced by two dust layers and one light source layer, whose vertical and radial distributions have exponential profiles. We obtained several important physical parameters, such as star formation rate (SFRUV), face-on optical depth, and scale-heights. Three galaxies (NGC 891, NGC 3628, and UGC 11794) show clear evidence for the existence of an extraplanar dust layer. However, it is found that the remaining three targets (IC 5249, NGC 24, and NGC 4173) do not necessarily need a thick dust disk to model the ultraviolet (UV) halo, because its contribution is too small and the UV halo may be caused by the wing part of the GALEX point spread function. This indicates that the galaxy samples reported to have UV halos may be contaminated by galaxies with negligible extraplanar (halo) dust. The galaxies showing evidence of an extraplanar dust layer fall within a narrow range on the scatter plots between physical parameters such as SFRUV and extraplanar dust mass. Several mechanisms that could possibly produce the extraplanar dust are discussed. We also found a hint that the extraplanar dust scale-height might not be much different from the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon emission characteristic height.

  11. The distribution of interstellar dust in CALIFA edge-on galaxies via oligochromatic radiative transfer fitting

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    De Geyter, Gert; Baes, Maarten; Camps, Peter; Fritz, Jacopo; De Looze, Ilse; Hughes, Thomas M.; Viaene, Sébastien; Gentile, Gianfranco

    2014-06-01

    We investigate the amount and spatial distribution of interstellar dust in edge-on spiral galaxies, using detailed radiative transfer modelling of a homogeneous sample of 12 galaxies selected from the Calar Alto Legacy Integral Field Area survey. Our automated fitting routine, FITSKIRT, was first validated against artificial data. This is done by simultaneously reproducing the Sloan Digital Sky Survey g-, r-, i- and z-band observations of a toy model in order to combine the information present in the different bands. We show that this combined, oligochromatic fitting has clear advantages over standard monochromatic fitting especially regarding constraints on the dust properties. We model all galaxies in our sample using a three-component model, consisting of a double-exponential disc to describe the stellar and dust discs and using a Sérsic profile to describe the central bulge. The full model contains 19 free parameters, and we are able to constrain all these parameters to a satisfactory level of accuracy without human intervention or strong boundary conditions. Apart from two galaxies, the entire sample can be accurately reproduced by our model. We find that the dust disc is about 75 per cent more extended but only half as high as the stellar disc. The average face-on optical depth in the V band is 0.76 and the spread of 0.60 within our sample is quite substantial, which indicates that some spiral galaxies are relatively opaque even when seen face-on.

  12. Dust formation in Nova Oph 2017 (TCP J17394608-2457555)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Joshi, Vishal; Banerjee, D. P. K.; Srivastava, Mudit

    2017-06-01

    Ongoing NIR observations of Nova Oph 2017 indicate the possible onset of dust formation in Nova Oph 2017. Monitoring in the JHKs bands shows a steady rise in the J-K color from around 1.4 on 5 June 2017 to 2.0 on 13 June 2017.

  13. Dust and Diffuse Interstellar Bands in the za = 0.524 Absorption System toward AO 0235+164

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Junkkarinen, V. T.; Cohen, Ross D.; Beaver, E. A.; Burbidge, E. M.; Lyons, R. W.; Madejski, G.

    2004-10-01

    We present new Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) NUV-MAMA and STIS CCD observations of the BL Lac object AO 0235+164 and the intervening damped Lyα (DLA) line at za=0.524. The line profile gives N(HI)=(5+/-1)×1021 cm-2 and, combined with the H I 21 cm absorption data, leads to a spin temperature of Ts=220+/-60 K. Those spectra also show a strong, broad feature at the expected position of the 2175 Å graphitic dust feature at za=0.524. Assuming a Galactic-type dust extinction curve at za=0.524 gives a dust-to-gas ratio of 0.19 times the Galactic value, but the fit, assuming that the underlying, unreddened spectrum is a single power law, is poor in the far-UV. A dust-to-gas ratio of 0.19 times the Galactic value is similar to the LMC, but the AO 0235+164 spectrum does not fit either the LMC extinction curve or the SMC extinction curve (which has practically no 2175 Å feature). A possible interpretation includes dust similar to that in the Galaxy, but with fewer of the small particles that produce the far-UV extinction. The metallicity of the za=0.524 absorber, estimated from the observed N(HI) and excess X-ray absorption (beyond Galactic) derived from contemporaneous and archival ASCA and ROSAT X-ray data, is Z=0.72+/-0.28 Zsolar, implying in turn a dust-to-metals ratio of 0.27 times the Galactic value. If the dust mass density is the same in the za=0.524 DLA system as in our Galaxy, only 14% (+/-6%) of the metals (by mass) are in dust, compared to 51%, 36%, and 46% for the Galaxy, LMC, and SMC, respectively. Such a dusty za=0.524 AO 0235+164 absorption system is a good example of the kind of DLA system that will be missed because of selection effects, which in turn can bias the measurement of the comoving density of interstellar gas (in units of the closure density), Ωg, as a function of z. Based on observations with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, obtained at the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by

  14. Microparticle impact calibration of the Arrayed Large-Area Dust Detectors in INterplanetary space (ALADDIN) onboard the solar power sail demonstrator IKAROS

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hirai, Takayuki; Cole, Michael J.; Fujii, Masayuki; Hasegawa, Sunao; Iwai, Takeo; Kobayashi, Masanori; Srama, Ralf; Yano, Hajime

    2014-10-01

    The Arrayed Large-Area Dust Detectors in INterplanetary space (ALADDIN) is an array of polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) based dust detectors aboard the solar power sail demonstrator named IKAROS (Interplanetary Kite-craft Accelerated by Radiation Of the Sun). The total sensor area of ALADDIN (0.54 m2) is the world's largest among the past PVDF-based dust detectors. IKAROS was launched in May 2010 and then ALADDIN measured cosmic dust impacts for 16 months while orbiting around between 0.7 and 1.1 AU. The main scientific objective of ALADDIN is to reveal number density of ≥10-μm-sized dust in the zodiacal cloud with much higher time-space resolution than that achieved by any past in-situ measurements. The distribution of ≥10-μm-sized dust can be also observed mainly with the light scattering by optical instruments. This paper gives the scientific objectives, the instrumental description, and the results of microparticle impact calibration of ALADDIN conducted in ground laboratories. For the calibration tests we used Van de Graaf accelerators (VdG), two-stage light gas guns (LGG), and a nano-second pulsed Nd:YAG laser (nsPL). Through these experiments, we obtained depolarization charge signal caused by hypervelocity impacts or laser irradiation using the flight spare of 20-μm-thick PVDF sensor and the electronics box of ALADDIN. In the VdG experiment we accelerated iron, carbon, and silver microparticles at 1-30 km/s, while in the LGG experiment we performed to shoot 100's-μm-sized particles of soda-lime glass and stainless steel at 3-7 km/s as single projectile. For interpolation to ≥10-μm size, we irradiated infrared laser at the energy of 15-20 mJ directly onto the PVDF sensor. From the signal analysis, we developed a calibration law for estimation of masses of impacted dust particles. The dynamic range of ALADDIN corresponds from 9×10-14 kg to 2×10-10 kg (4-56 μm in diameter at density of 2.0 g/cm3) at the expected impact velocity of 10 km/s at 1 AU

  15. Guilt by Association: The 13 micron Dust Feature in Circumstellar Shells and Related Spectral Features

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sloan, G. C.; Kraemer, K. E.; Goebel, J. H.; Price, S. D.

    A study of spectra from the SWS on ISO of optically thin oxygen-rich dust shells shows that the strength of the 13 micron dust emission feature is correlated with the CO2 bands (13--17 microns) and dust emission features at 19.8 and 28.1 microns. SRb variables tend to show stronger 13 micron features than Mira variables, suggesting that the presence of the 13 micron and related features depends on pulsation mode and mass-loss rate. The absence of any correlation to dust emission features at 16.8 and 32 microns makes spinel an unlikely carrier. The most plausible carrier of the 13 micron feature remains crystalline alumina, and we suggest that the related dust features may be crystalline silicates. When dust forms in regions of low density, it may condense into crystalline grain structures.

  16. 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

  17. Dust temperature and mid-to-total infrared color distributions for star-forming galaxies at 0 < z < 4

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Schreiber, C.; Elbaz, D.; Pannella, M.; Ciesla, L.; Wang, T.; Franco, M.

    2018-01-01

    We present a new, publicly available library of dust spectral energy distributions (SEDs). These SEDs are characterized by only three parameters: the dust mass (Mdust), the dust temperature (Tdust), and the mid-to-total infrared color (IR8 ≡ LIR/L8). The latter measures the relative contribution of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) molecules to the total infrared luminosity. We used this library to model star-forming galaxies at 0.5 < z < 4 in the deep CANDELS fields, using both individual detections and stacks of Herschel and ALMA imaging, and extending this sample to z = 0 using the Herschel Reference Survey. At first order, the dust SED of a galaxy was observed to be independent of stellar mass, but evolving with redshift. We found trends of increasing Tdust and IR8 with redshift and distance from the SFR-M∗ main sequence, and quantified for the first time their intrinsic scatter. Half of the observed variations of these parameters was captured by the above empirical relations, and after subtracting the measurement errors we found residual scatters of ΔTdust/Tdust = 12% and Δlog IR8 = 0.18 dex. We observed second order variations with stellar mass: massive galaxies (M∗ > 1011M⊙) at z ≤ 1 have slightly lower temperatures indicative of a reduced star formation efficiency, while low mass galaxies (M∗ < 1010M⊙) at z ≥ 1 showed reduced PAH emission, possibly linked to their lower metallicities. Building on these results, we constructed high-fidelity mock galaxy catalogs to predict the accuracy of infrared luminosities and dust masses determined using a single broadband measurement. Using a single James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) MIRI band, we found that LIR is typically uncertain by 0.15 dex, with a maximum of 0.25 dex when probing the rest-frame 8 μm, and this is not significantly impacted by typical redshift uncertainties. On the other hand, we found that ALMA bands 8 to 7 and 6 to 3 measured the dust mass at better than 0.2 and 0.15 dex

  18. Mars dust and cloud opacities and scattering properties

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Clancy, R. T.; Lee, S. W.

    1992-01-01

    We have recently completed an analysis of the visible emission-phase function (EPF) sequences obtained with the solar-band channel of the Infrared Thermal Mapping (IRTM) instrument onboard the two Viking Orbiters. Roughly 100 of these EPF sequences were gathered during the 1977-1980 period, in which the total broadband (.3-3.0 microns) reflectances of the atmosphere/surface above specific locations on Mars were measured versus emission angle as the spacecraft passed overhead. A multiple scattering radiative transfer program was employed to model the EPF observations in terms of the optical depths of dust/clouds, their single scattering albedos and phase functions, and the Lambert albedos and phase coefficient of the underlying surfaces. Due to the predominance of atmospheric scattering at large atmospheric pathlengths and/or large dust opacities, we were able to obtain strong constraints on the scattering properties of dust/clouds and their opacities for a wide range of latitudes, longitudes, and seasons on Mars.

  19. Dust as the cause of spots on Jupiter

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Field, G. B.; Tozzi, G. P.; Stanga, R. M.

    1995-01-01

    The long-lived spots caused by the impact of fragments of Comet S-L 9 on Jupiter can be understood if clouds of dust are produced by the impact. These clouds reside in the stratosphere, where they absorb visible light that would ordinarily reflect from the cloud deck below, and reflect radiation at infrared wavelengths that would ordinarily be absorbed by atmospheric methane. Here we show that, provided that the nucleus of a fragment is composed substantially of silicates and has a diameter greater than about 0.4 km, dust in the required amounts will condense from the hot gas composed of cometary and Jovian material ejected from the site where the fragment entered, and the dust will be suspended in the stratosphere for long periods. Particles about 1 micron in radius can explain both the optical properties and longevities of the spots. According to our model, a silicate band should be present in the 10 - micron spectra of the spots.

  20. Young Stellar Variability of GM Cephei by Circumstellar Dust Clumps

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Huang, Po-Chieh; Chen, Wen-Ping; Hu, Chia-Ling; Burkhonov, Otabek; Ehgamberdiev, Shuhrat; Liu, Jinzhong; Naito, Hiroyuki; Pakstiene, Erika; Qvam, Jan Kare Trandem; Rätz, Stefanie; Semkov, Evgeni

    2018-04-01

    UX Orionis stars are a sub-type of Herbig Ae/be or T Tauri stars exhibiting sporadic extinction of stellar light due to circumstellar dust obscuration. GM Cep is such an UX Orionis star in the young (∼ 4 Myr) open cluster Trumpler 37 at ∼ 900 pc, showing a prominent infrared access, H-alpha emission, and flare activity. Our multi-color photometric monitoring from 2009 to 2016 showed (i) sporadic brightening on a time scale of days due to young stellar accretion, (ii) cyclic, but not strictly periodical, occultation events, each lasting for a couple months, with a probable recurrence time of about two years, (iii) normal dust reddening as the star became redder when dimmer, (iv) the unusual "blueing" phenomena near the brightness minima, during which the star appeared bluer when dimmer, and (v) a noticeable polarization, from 3 to 9 percent in g', r', and i' -bands. The occultation events may be caused by dust clumps, signifying the density inhomogeneity in a young stellar disk from grain coagulation to planetesimal formation. The level of polarization was anti-correlated with the brightness in the bright state, when the dust clump backscattered stellar light. We discussed two potential hypotheses: orbiting dust clumps versus dust clumps along a spiral arm structure.

  1. PERSPECTIVE: Dust, fertilization and sources

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Remer, Lorraine A.

    2006-11-01

    Aerosols, tiny suspended particles in the atmosphere, play an important role in modifying the Earth's energy balance and are essential for the formation of cloud droplets. Suspended dust particles lifted from the world's arid regions by strong winds contain essential minerals that can be transported great distances and deposited into the ocean or on other continents where productivity is limited by lack of usable minerals [1]. Dust can transport pathogens as well as minerals great distance, contributing to the spread of human and agricultural diseases, and a portion of dust can be attributed to human activity suggesting that dust radiative effects should be included in estimates of anthropogenic climate forcing. The greenish and brownish tints in figure 1 show the wide extent of monthly mean mineral dust transport, as viewed by the MODerate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) satellite sensor. The monthly mean global aerosol system for February 2006 from the MODIS aboard the Terra satellite Figure 1. The monthly mean global aerosol system for February 2006 from the MODIS aboard the Terra satellite. The brighter the color, the greater the aerosol loading. Red and reddish tints indicate aerosol dominated by small particles created primarily from combustion processes. Green and brownish tints indicate larger particles created from wind-driven processes, usually transported desert dust. Note the bright green band at the southern edge of the Saharan desert, the reddish band it must cross if transported to the southwest and the long brownish transport path as it crosses the Atlantic to South America. Image courtesy of the NASA Earth Observatory (http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov). Even though qualitatively we recognize the extent and importance of dust transport and the role that it plays in fertilizing nutrient-limited regions, there is much that is still unknown. We are just now beginning to quantify the amount of dust that exits one continental region and the

  2. The Role of African Easterly Wave on Dust Transport and the Interaction Between Saharan Dust Layer and Atlantic ITCZ During Boreal Summer

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Lau, William K. M.; Kim, Kyu-Myong

    2012-01-01

    In this paper, we investigate the relationships among Saharan dust outbreak and transport, African easterly waves (AEW), African easterly jet (AEJ) and associated convective activities of Atlantic Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) using Cloudsat-Calipso, MODIS and MERRA data. We find that a major Saharan dust outbreak is associated with the formation of a westward propagating strong cyclone around 15-25N over the western part northern Saharan. The strong cyclonic flow mobilizes and lifts the dust from the desert surface to a high elevation. As the cyclone propagate westward, it transports a thick elevated dust layer between 900 -500 hPa from the African continent to the eastern Atlantic. Cloudiness is reduced within the warm, dry dusty layer, but enhanced underneath it, possibly due to the presence of a shallow inversion layer over the marine boundary layer. The dust outbreak is linked to enhanced deep convection in the northern part of Atlantic ITCZ, abutting the southern flank of the dust layer, and a strengthening of the northward flank of the AEJ. As the dust layer spreads westward, it loses elevation and becomes increasing diffused as it reaches the central and western Atlantic. Using band pass filtered EOF analysis of MERRA winds, we find that AEWs propagating westward along two principal tracks, centered at 15-25N and 5-10N respectively. The easterly waves in the northern track are highly correlated with major dust outbreak over North Africa and associated with slower moving systems, with a quasi-periodicity of 6-9 day. On the other hand, easterly waves along the southern track are faster, with quasi-periodicity of 3-5 days. These faster easterly waves are closely tied to rainfall/cloud variations along the Atlantic ITCZ. Dust transport along the southern track by the faster waves generally leads rainfall/cloud anomalies in the same region by one or two days, suggesting the southern tracks of dust outbreak are regions of strong interaction between

  3. Glacial/interglacial changes of Southern Hemisphere wind circulation from the geochemistry of South American dust

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gili, Stefania; Gaiero, Diego M.; Goldstein, Steven L.; Chemale, Farid; Jweda, Jason; Kaplan, Michael R.; Becchio, Raúl A.; Koester, Edinei

    2017-07-01

    The latitudinal displacement of the southern westerlies and associated climate systems is a key parameter for understanding the variations of Southern Hemisphere atmospheric circulation during the Late Quaternary Period. To increase understanding of past atmospheric circulation and of the paleo-environmental conditions associated with continental dust sources, we dig deeper into dust provenance in paleo-archives of the Southern Hemisphere. We present here a Sr-Nd isotopic and rare earth element study of surface sediments collected along a ∼4000 km latitudinal band from arid and semi-arid terrains in southern South America. Findings from terrains that served as paleo-dust suppliers are compared with modern dust collected from monitoring stations along the same latitudinal band, which affords a test on how actual present-day aeolian compositions compare to those of the past potential source areas. Moreover, the comparison between past and present-day datasets is useful for understanding present-day atmospheric circulation. Armed with a new comprehensive dataset, we revise previous interpretations of the provenance of dust trapped in the Antarctic ice and sediments deposited in the South Atlantic sector of the Southern Ocean. These comparisons support multiple source regions in southern South America that changed with climates. The findings reveal that, although Patagonia plays an important role in contributing dust to the higher latitudes, central Western Argentina and (to a lesser extent) the southern Puna region also emerge as potentially important dust sources during glacial times. The southern Altiplano appears to be a major contributor during interglacial periods as well. We rely in part on an understanding of modern wind-dust activities to conclude that the possible presence of southern South America source regions - other than Patagonia - in East Antarctic ice is consistent with an overall equatorward displacement during glacial times of both the mid

  4. Respirable dust measured downwind during rock dust application.

    PubMed

    Harris, M L; Organiscak, J; Klima, S; Perera, I E

    2017-05-01

    The Pittsburgh Mining Research Division of the U.S. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) conducted underground evaluations in an attempt to quantify respirable rock dust generation when using untreated rock dust and rock dust treated with an anticaking additive. Using personal dust monitors, these evaluations measured respirable rock dust levels arising from a flinger-type application of rock dust on rib and roof surfaces. Rock dust with a majority of the respirable component removed was also applied in NIOSH's Bruceton Experimental Mine using a bantam duster. The respirable dust measurements obtained downwind from both of these tests are presented and discussed. This testing did not measure miners' exposure to respirable coal mine dust under acceptable mining practices, but indicates the need for effective continuous administrative controls to be exercised when rock dusting to minimize the measured amount of rock dust in the sampling device.

  5. The HOSTS Survey—Exozodiacal Dust Measurements for 30 Stars

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ertel, S.; Defrère, D.; Hinz, P.; Mennesson, B.; Kennedy, G. M.; Danchi, W. C.; Gelino, C.; Hill, J. M.; Hoffmann, W. F.; Rieke, G.; Shannon, A.; Spalding, E.; Stone, J. M.; Vaz, A.; Weinberger, A. J.; Willems, P.; Absil, O.; Arbo, P.; Bailey, V. P.; Beichman, C.; Bryden, G.; Downey, E. C.; Durney, O.; Esposito, S.; Gaspar, A.; Grenz, P.; Haniff, C. A.; Leisenring, J. M.; Marion, L.; McMahon, T. J.; Millan-Gabet, R.; Montoya, M.; Morzinski, K. M.; Pinna, E.; Power, J.; Puglisi, A.; Roberge, A.; Serabyn, E.; Skemer, A. J.; Stapelfeldt, K.; Su, K. Y. L.; Vaitheeswaran, V.; Wyatt, M. C.

    2018-05-01

    The Hunt for Observable Signatures of Terrestrial Systems survey searches for dust near the habitable zones (HZs) around nearby, bright main-sequence stars. We use nulling interferometry in the N band to suppress the bright stellar light and to probe for low levels of HZ dust around the 30 stars observed so far. Our overall detection rate is 18%, including four new detections, among which are the first three around Sun-like stars and the first two around stars without any previously known circumstellar dust. The inferred occurrence rates are comparable for early-type and Sun-like stars, but decrease from {60}-21+16% for stars with previously detected cold dust to {8}-3+10% for stars without such excess, confirming earlier results at higher sensitivity. For completed observations on individual stars, our sensitivity is five to ten times better than previous results. Assuming a lognormal excess luminosity function, we put upper limits on the median HZ dust level of 13 zodis (95% confidence) for a sample of stars without cold dust and of 26 zodis when focusing on Sun-like stars without cold dust. However, our data suggest that a more complex luminosity function may be more appropriate. For stars without detectable Large Binocular Telescope Interferometer (LBTI) excess, our upper limits are almost reduced by a factor of two, demonstrating the strength of LBTI target vetting for future exo-Earth imaging missions. Our statistics are limited so far, and extending the survey is critical to informing the design of future exo-Earth imaging surveys.

  6. Astronomy in Denver: Spatial distributions of dust properties via far-IR broadband map with HerPlaNS

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Asano, Kentaro; Ueta, Toshiya; Ladjal, Djazia; Exter, Katrina; Otsuka, Masaaki; HerPlaNS Consortium

    2018-06-01

    We present the results of our analyses on dust properties in all of Galactic planetary nebulae based on 5-band broadband images in the far-IR taken with the Herschel Space Observatory.By fitting surface brightness distributions of dust thermal emission at 70, 160, 250, 350 and 500 microns with a single-temperature modified black body function, we derive spatially resolved maps of the dust emissivity power-law index (beta) and dust temperature (Td), as well as the column density.We find that circumstellar dust grains in PNe occupy a specific region in the beta-Td space, which is distinct from that occupied by dust grains in the Interstellar Matter (ISM) and star forming regions (SFRs). Unlike those in the ISM and SFRs, dust grains in PNe exhibit little variation in beta while a large spread in Td, suggesting rather homogeneous dust properties.This work is part of the Herschel Planetary Nebula Survey Plus (HerPlaNS+) supported by the NASA Astrophysics Data Analysis Program.

  7. Sky Glow from Cities: The Army Illumination Model v2

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2011-09-01

    magnetic field and is negligible. Zodiacal light is sunlight scattered by interplanetary dust and contributes up to half the brightness of the ...Sky Glow from Cities: The Army Illumination Model v2 by Richard C. Shirkey ARL-TR-5719 September 2011...Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited. NOTICES Disclaimers The

  8. QUANTIFYING THE HEATING SOURCES FOR MID-INFRARED DUST EMISSIONS IN GALAXIES: THE CASE OF M 81

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

    Lu, N.; Zhao, Y.; Bendo, G. J.

    2014-12-20

    With the newly available photometric images at 250 and 500 μm from the Herschel Space Observatory, we study quantitative correlations over a sub-kiloparsec scale among three distinct emission components in the interstellar medium of the nearby spiral galaxy M 81 (NGC 3031): (1) I {sub 8} or I {sub 24}, the surface brightness of the mid-infrared emission observed in the Spitzer Space Telescope 8 or 24 μm band, with I {sub 8} and I {sub 24} being dominated by the emissions from polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and very small grains (VSGs) of dust, respectively; (2) I {sub 500}, that of the coldmore » dust continuum emission in the Herschel Space Observatory 500 μm band, dominated by the emission from large dust grains heated by evolved stars; and (3) I {sub Hα}, a nominal surface brightness of the Hα line emission, from gas ionized by newly formed massive stars. The results from our correlation study, free from any assumption on or modeling of dust emissivity law or dust temperatures, present solid evidence for significant heating of PAHs and VSGs by evolved stars. In the case of M 81, about 67% (48%) of the 8 μm (24 μm ) emission derives its heating from evolved stars, with the remainder attributed to radiation heating associated with ionizing stars.« less

  9. Grain Temperature and Infrared Emission from Carbon Dust of Mixed Composition

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bartlett, S.; Duley, W. W.

    1996-06-01

    The equilibrium temperature of carbonaceous dust grains whose composition is consistent with IR spectra of diffuse cloud and dense cloud dust has been calculated using random covalent network (RCN) solutions for amorphous dust having a mixed graphite, diamond, and polymeric hydrocarbon composition. An effective medium approximation has been adopted to describe optical and thermal constants for dust compositions consistent with IR absorption spectra. A small amount of sp2 hybridized carbon in the form of aromatic rings is found to have a significant effect in reducing equilibrium temperature in dust with high diamond/polymer content. This formalism has also been used to calculate nonequilibrium emission spectra of very small grains (VSGs) subjected to stochastic heating in the interstellar radiation field. Such grains are found to emit strongly in sharp IR bands associated with C-H bonds at 3.4 μm and longer wavelengths. The effect of varying graphite/diamond/hydrocarbon composition on nonequilibrium emission by VSGs can also be described using this formalism. The ratio of emission at 12 and 25 μm is found to be high for VSGs with a large fraction of diamond or polymeric hydrocarbon but decreases dramatically for dust with a large sp2 aromatic component.

  10. Interstellar Explorer Observations of the Solar System's Debris Disks

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lisse, C. M.; McNutt, R. L., Jr.; Brandt, P. C.

    2017-12-01

    Planetesimal belts and debris disks full of dust are known as the "signposts of planet formation" in exosystems. The overall brightness of a disk provides information on the amount of sourcing planetesimal material, while asymmetries in the shape of the disk can be used to search for perturbing planets. The solar system is known to house two such belts, the Asteroid belt and the Kuiper Belt; and at least one debris cloud, the Zodiacal Cloud, sourced by planetisimal collisions and Kuiper Belt comet evaporative sublimation. However these are poorly understood in toto because we live inside of them. E.g., while we know of the two planetesimal belt systems, it is not clear how much, if any, dust is produced from the Kuiper belt since the near-Sun comet contributions dominate near-Earth space. Understanding how much dust is produced in the Kuiper belt would give us a much better idea of the total number of bodies in the belt, especially the smallest ones, and their dynamical collisional state. Even for the close in Zodiacal cloud, questions remain concerning its overall shape and orientation with respect to the ecliptic and invariable planes of the solar system - they aren't explainable from the perturbations caused by the known planets alone. In this paper we explore the possibilities of using an Interstellar Explorer telescope placed at 200 AU from the sun to observe the brightness, shape, and extent of the solar system's debris disk(s). We should be able to measure the entire extent of the inner, near-earth zodiacal cloud; whether it connects smoothly into an outer cloud, or if there is a second outer cloud sourced by the Kuiper belt and isolated by the outer planets, as predicted by Stark & Kuchner (2009, 2010) and Poppe et al. (2012, 2016; Figure 1). VISNIR imagery will inform about the dust cloud's density, while MIR cameras will provide thermal imaging photometry related to the cloud's dust particle size and composition. Observing at high phase angle by looking

  11. The Cold Dust Content of the Oxygen-rich Supernova Remnant G292.0+1.8

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ghavamian, Parviz; Williams, Brian J.

    2016-11-01

    We present far-infrared images of the Galactic oxygen-rich supernova remnant (SNR) G292.0+1.8, acquired with the PACS and SPIRE instruments of the Herschel Space Observatory. We find that the SNR shell is detected in the PACS blue (100 μm) band, but not in the red (160 μm) band, broadly consistent with results from AKARI observations. There is no discernible emission from G292.0+1.8 in SPIRE imagery at 250, 350 and 500 μm. Comparing the 100 μm emission to that observed with Spitzer at 24 and 70 μm, we find a very similar appearance for G292.0+1.8 at all three wavelengths. The infrared emission is dominated by dust from non-radiative circumstellar shocks. In addition, the radiatively shocked O-rich clump known as the “Spur” on the eastern side of G292.0+1.8 is clearly detected in the PACS blue images, with marginal detection in the red. Fitting the existing 14-40 μm IRS spectra of the Spur together with photometric measurements from 70 μm MIPS and 100 μm PACS photometry, we place an upper limit of ≲ 0.04 M ⊙ of ejecta dust mass in the Spur, under the most conservative assumption that the ejecta dust has a temperature of 15 K. Modeling the dust continuum in the IRS spectra at four positions around the rim, we estimate post-shock densities ranging from {n}p=3.5 cm-3 to 11 cm-3. The integrated spectrum of the entire SNR, dominated by swept-up circumstellar dust, can be fitted with a two-component dust model with a silicate component at 62 K and graphite component at 40 K for a total dust mass of 0.023 M ⊙.

  12. Combustibility Determination for Cotton Gin Dust and Almond Huller Dust.

    PubMed

    Hughs, Sidney E; Wakelyn, Phillip J

    2017-04-26

    It has been documented that some dusts generated while processing agricultural products, such as grain and sugar, can constitute combustible dust hazards. After a catastrophic dust explosion in a sugar refinery in 2008, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) initiated action to develop a mandatory standard to comprehensively address the fire and explosion hazards of combustible dusts. Cotton fiber and related materials from cotton ginning, in loose form, can support smoldering combustion if ignited by an outside source. However, dust fires and other more hazardous events, such as dust explosions, are unknown in the cotton ginning industry. Dust material that accumulates inside cotton gins and almond huller plants during normal processing was collected for testing to determine combustibility. Cotton gin dust is composed of greater than 50% inert inorganic mineral dust (ash content), while almond huller dust is composed of at least 7% inert inorganic material. Inorganic mineral dust is not a combustible dust. The collected samples of cotton gin dust and almond huller dust were sieved to a known particle size range for testing to determine combustibility potential. Combustibility testing was conducted on the cotton gin dust and almond huller dust samples using the UN test for combustibility suggested in NFPA 652.. This testing indicated that neither the cotton gin dust nor the almond huller dust should be considered combustible dusts (i.e., not a Division 4.1 flammable hazard per 49 CFR 173.124). Copyright© by the American Society of Agricultural Engineers.

  13. Experiment requirements document for reflight of the small helium-cooled infrared telescope experiment

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    1982-01-01

    The four astronomical objectives addressed include: the measurement and mapping of extended low surface brightness infrared emission from the galaxy; the measurement of diffuse emission from intergalactic material and/or galaxies and quasi-stellar objects; the measurement of the zodiacal dust emission; and the measurement of a large number of discrete infrared sources.

  14. OUTBURST DUST PRODUCTION OF COMET 29P/SCHWASSMANN-WACHMANN 1

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

    Hosek, Matthew W. Jr.; Blaauw, Rhiannon C.; Cooke, William J.

    2013-05-15

    Multi-aperture photometry of Comet 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 1 was conducted on Johnson-Cousins R-band observations spanning 2011 May 1-9 and 2012 June 6-July 3. The comet was observed in outburst on 2011 May 3 and 2012 July 1, during which its brightness increased by 2.2 and 2.1 mag, respectively, as measured through a 10 arcsec aperture. Dust production before and after each outburst is calculated using the parameter Af {rho}, which is converted to a lower limit on the dust production rate based on dust models and derived nuclear properties from other studies. Both outbursts are accompanied by large increases in dust production,more » Af {rho} by a factor of {approx}6.5-7 and dust production rate by a factor of {approx}18-23. In addition, variations in the dust brightness profile of the coma are examined during the events. The profile is observed to steepen significantly at the beginning of each outburst and then slowly return to pre-outburst values, mirroring the behavior of Af {rho}. The start of an outbound 'ripple' of dust in the profile might be observed as the comet returns to its pre-outburst state, although this cannot be confirmed. Using a simple model of the 2011 May 3 outburst, an estimated lower limit of (2.6 {+-} 0.7) Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 8} kg of dust was released during the event. If this is representative of a typical outburst of 29P, then it is estimated that outbursts account for a lower limit of 80{sub -30}{sup +20}% of the total material ejected by the comet per year.« less

  15. Dust Evolution in Nova Cassiopeia 1993

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Eyres, S. P. S.; Evans, A.; Geballe, T. R.; Davies, J. K.; Rawlings, J. M. C.

    1997-07-01

    We present UKIRT spectroscopy of Nova Cassiopeia 1993 (= V705 Cas) in KLNQ bands, taken in 1994 and 1995. Fitting the continuum indicates a dust temperature T ˜ 740 750 K in the latter part of 1994; this is similar to earlier measurements, and consistent with the “isothermal” behaviour observed in novae with optically thick dust shells. The β-index drops from 0.8 to 0.4 over the same period. This suggests grain growth; grain diameter increases from < 0.54 µm around day 256, to > 0.57 µm by day 342. The UIR features differ from those in other Galactic sources, and are similar to those in V842 Cen. This suggests fundamental differences between the UIR carriers, or environments, in novae and other Galactic sources. The silicate feature is consistent with an amorphous structure, in contrast to previous novae. We believe that grains in V705 Cas form two populations: silicates, and hydrocarbons.

  16. AKARI observations of dust processing in merger galaxies: NGC2782 and NGC7727

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Onaka, Takashi; Nakamura, Tomohiko; Sakon, Itsuki; Ohsawa, Ryou; Mori, Tamami; Wu, Ronin; Kaneda, Hidehiro

    2015-08-01

    Dust grains are the major reservoir of heavy elements and play significant roles in the thermal balance and chemistry in the interstellar medium. Where dust grains are formed and how they evolve in the ISM are one of the key issues for the understanding of the material evolution in the Universe. Although theoretical studies have been made, very little is so far known observationally about the lifecycle of dust grains in the ISM and that associated with Galactic scale events. The lifecycle of very small carbonaceous grains that contain polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) or PAH-like atomic groups are of particular interest because they emit distinct band emission in the near- to mid-infrared region and they are thought to be most vulnerable to environmental conditions. PAHs may be formed in carbon-rich stars, while recent AKARI observations suggest that they may be formed by fragmentation of large carbonaceous grains in shocks in a supernova remnant or a galactic wind (Onaka et al. 2010, A&A, 514, 15; Seok et al. 2012, ApJ, 744, 160).Here we report results of AKARI observations of two mergers. NGC2782 (Arp 215) and NGC7727 (Arp 222). NGC2782 is a merger of 200Myr old. It shows a very long western tail of HI gas by a tidal interaction and the eastern tail that consists mainly of stellar components without an appreciable amount of gas and is thought to be a relic of the colliding low-mass galaxy whose gas component has been stripped off Smith 1994, AJ, 107, 1695. We found significant emission at the 7 μm band of the IRC onboard AKARI, which must come from PAH 6.2 and 7.7 μm bands, in the eastern tail. Based on dust model fitting, we found a low abundance of ~10nm size dust despite of the presence of PAHs, suggesting that PAHs may be formed from fragmentation of ~10nm carbonaceous dust grains. NGC7727 is a 1.2Gyr old merger and shows a SED similar to the NGC2782 tail in the northern tail of the merger event product, suggesting also the formation of PAHs from

  17. Neutral Hydrogen Structures Trace Dust Polarization Angle: Implications for Cosmic Microwave Background Foregrounds.

    PubMed

    Clark, S E; Hill, J Colin; Peek, J E G; Putman, M E; Babler, B L

    2015-12-11

    Using high-resolution data from the Galactic Arecibo L-Band Feed Array HI (GALFA-Hi) survey, we show that linear structure in Galactic neutral hydrogen (Hi) correlates with the magnetic field orientation implied by Planck 353 GHz polarized dust emission. The structure of the neutral interstellar medium is more tightly coupled to the magnetic field than previously known. At high Galactic latitudes, where the Planck data are noise dominated, the Hi data provide an independent constraint on the Galactic magnetic field orientation, and hence the local dust polarization angle. We detect strong cross-correlations between template maps constructed from estimates of dust intensity combined with either Hi-derived angles, starlight polarization angles, or Planck 353 GHz angles. The Hi data thus provide a new tool in the search for inflationary gravitational wave B-mode polarization in the cosmic microwave background, which is currently limited by dust foreground contamination.

  18. Determining inert content in coal dust/rock dust mixture

    DOEpatents

    Sapko, Michael J.; Ward, Jr., Jack A.

    1989-01-01

    A method and apparatus for determining the inert content of a coal dust and rock dust mixture uses a transparent window pressed against the mixture. An infrared light beam is directed through the window such that a portion of the infrared light beam is reflected from the mixture. The concentration of the reflected light is detected and a signal indicative of the reflected light is generated. A normalized value for the generated signal is determined according to the relationship .phi.=(log i.sub.c `log i.sub.co) / (log i.sub.c100 -log i.sub.co) where i.sub.co =measured signal at 0% rock dust i.sub.c100 =measured signal at 100% rock dust i.sub.c =measured signal of the mixture. This normalized value is then correlated to a predetermined relationship of .phi. to rock dust percentage to determine the rock dust content of the mixture. The rock dust content is displayed where the percentage is between 30 and 100%, and an indication of out-of-range is displayed where the rock dust percent is less than 30%. Preferably, the rock dust percentage (RD%) is calculated from the predetermined relationship RD%=100+30 log .phi.. where the dust mixture initially includes moisture, the dust mixture is dried before measuring by use of 8 to 12 mesh molecular-sieves which are shaken with the dust mixture and subsequently screened from the dust mixture.

  19. DustEM: Dust extinction and emission modelling

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Compiègne, M.; Verstraete, L.; Jones, A.; Bernard, J.-P.; Boulanger, F.; Flagey, N.; Le Bourlot, J.; Paradis, D.; Ysard, N.

    2013-07-01

    DustEM computes the extinction and the emission of interstellar dust grains heated by photons. It is written in Fortran 95 and is jointly developed by IAS and CESR. The dust emission is calculated in the optically thin limit (no radiative transfer) and the default spectral range is 40 to 108 nm. The code is designed so dust properties can easily be changed and mixed and to allow for the inclusion of new grain physics.

  20. Cooling Timescale of Dust Tori in Dying Active Galactic Nuclei

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

    Ichikawa, Kohei; Tazaki, Ryo, E-mail: k.ichikawa@astro.columbia.edu

    We estimate the dust torus cooling timescale once the active galactic nucleus (AGN) is quenched. In a clumpy torus system, once the incoming photons are suppressed, the cooling timescale of one clump from T {sub dust} = 1000 K to several 10 K is less than 10 years, indicating that the dust torus cooling time is mainly governed by the light crossing time of the torus from the central engine. After considering the light crossing time of the torus, the AGN torus emission at 12 μ m becomes over two orders of magnitude fainter within 100 years after the quenching.more » We also propose that those “dying” AGNs could be found using the AGN indicators with a different physical scale R such as 12 μ m band luminosity tracing AGN torus ( R ∼ 10 pc) and the optical [O iii] λ 5007 emission line tracing narrow line regions ( R = 10{sup 2–4} pc).« less

  1. DUST AND GAS IN THE MAGELLANIC CLOUDS FROM THE HERITAGE HERSCHEL KEY PROJECT. I. DUST PROPERTIES AND INSIGHTS INTO THE ORIGIN OF THE SUBMILLIMETER EXCESS EMISSION

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

    Gordon, Karl D.; Roman-Duval, Julia; Meixner, Margaret

    The dust properties in the Large and Small Magellanic clouds (LMC/SMC) are studied using the HERITAGE Herschel Key Project photometric data in five bands from 100 to 500 μm. Three simple models of dust emission were fit to the observations: a single temperature blackbody modified by a power-law emissivity (SMBB), a single temperature blackbody modified by a broken power-law emissivity (BEMBB), and two blackbodies with different temperatures, both modified by the same power-law emissivity (TTMBB). Using these models, we investigate the origin of the submillimeter excess, defined as the submillimeter emission above that expected from SMBB models fit to observations <200more » μm. We find that the BEMBB model produces the lowest fit residuals with pixel-averaged 500 μm submillimeter excesses of 27% and 43% for the LMC and SMC, respectively. Adopting gas masses from previous works, the gas-to-dust ratios calculated from our fitting results show that the TTMBB fits require significantly more dust than are available even if all the metals present in the interstellar medium (ISM) were condensed into dust. This indicates that the submillimeter excess is more likely to be due to emissivity variations than a second population of colder dust. We derive integrated dust masses of (7.3 ± 1.7) × 10{sup 5} and (8.3 ± 2.1) × 10{sup 4} M {sub ☉} for the LMC and SMC, respectively. We find significant correlations between the submillimeter excess and other dust properties; further work is needed to determine the relative contributions of fitting noise and ISM physics to the correlations.« less

  2. Heating of Dust in Gamma-Ray Burst Environments

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hackett, Brianne; Updike, A. C.; Hartmann, D. H.

    2010-01-01

    We report observations in the R-band of the afterglow of GRB 090618 with the SARA 0.9m telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory. The lightcurve can be fit with a broken power law, with a possible jet break at t j ˜ 0.74 days. The foreground extinction to this burst is A R = 0.036 while the extinction in the host galaxy is undetermined. We also carry out a study of dust destruction due to heating by the prompt and early afterglow emission from the gamma-ray bursts. Dust can be destroyed to distances of several parsecs, so that the local environment of a GRB may not contribute significantly to the possible obscuration. While multiband photometry of GRB afterglows offers a powerful probe of dust evolution to large redshifts, the effects of the intense GRB radiation on dust in its vicinity must be taken into account. This project was funded by a partnership between the National Science Foundation (NSF AST-0552798), Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU), and the Department of Defense (DoD) ASSURE (Awards to Stimulate and Support Undergraduate Research Experiences) programs. We thank S. Brittain, A. Colson, J. Lewis, and M. Kronberg for obtaining the CCD images with the SARA telescope. This project has also benefited from discussions with Renata Cumbee and Shanna Estes.

  3. The Circumstellar Disk HD 169142: Gas, Dust, and Planets Acting in Concert?

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Pohl, A.; Benisty, M.; Pinilla, P.; Ginski, C.; de Boer, J.; Avenhaus, H.; Henning, Th.; Zurlo, A.; Boccaletti, A.; Augereau, J.-C.; Birnstiel, T.; Dominik, C.; Facchini, S.; Fedele, D.; Janson, M.; Keppler, M.; Kral, Q.; Langlois, M.; Ligi, R.; Maire, A.-L.; Ménard, F.; Meyer, M.; Pinte, C.; Quanz, S. P.; Sauvage, J.-F.; Sezestre, É.; Stolker, T.; Szulágyi, J.; van Boekel, R.; van der Plas, G.; Villenave, M.; Baruffolo, A.; Baudoz, P.; Le Mignant, D.; Maurel, D.; Ramos, J.; Weber, L.

    2017-11-01

    HD 169142 is an excellent target for investigating signs of planet-disk interaction due to previous evidence of gap structures. We perform J-band (˜1.2 μm) polarized intensity imaging of HD 169142 with VLT/SPHERE. We observe polarized scattered light down to 0.″16 (˜19 au) and find an inner gap with a significantly reduced scattered-light flux. We confirm the previously detected double-ring structure peaking at 0.″18 (˜21 au) and 0.″56 (˜66 au) and marginally detect a faint third gap at 0.″70-0.″73 (˜82-85 au). We explore dust evolution models in a disk perturbed by two giant planets, as well as models with a parameterized dust size distribution. The dust evolution model is able to reproduce the ring locations and gap widths in polarized intensity but fails to reproduce their depths. However, it gives a good match with the ALMA dust continuum image at 1.3 mm. Models with a parameterized dust size distribution better reproduce the gap depth in scattered light, suggesting that dust filtration at the outer edges of the gaps is less effective. The pileup of millimeter grains in a dust trap and the continuous distribution of small grains throughout the gap likely require more efficient dust fragmentation and dust diffusion in the dust trap. Alternatively, turbulence or charging effects might lead to a reservoir of small grains at the surface layer that is not affected by the dust growth and fragmentation cycle dominating the dense disk midplane. The exploration of models shows that extracting planet properties such as mass from observed gap profiles is highly degenerate. Based on observations collected at the European Organisation for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere under ESO program 095.C-0273.

  4. Constraining dust properties in circumstellar envelopes of C-stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud: optical constants and grain size of carbon dust

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Nanni, Ambra; Marigo, Paola; Groenewegen, Martin A. T.; Aringer, Bernhard; Girardi, Léo; Pastorelli, Giada; Bressan, Alessandro; Bladh, Sara

    2016-10-01

    We present a new approach aimed at constraining the typical size and optical properties of carbon dust grains in circumstellar envelopes (CSEs) of carbon-rich stars (C-stars) in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). To achieve this goal, we apply our recent dust growth description, coupled with a radiative transfer code to the CSEs of C-stars evolving along the thermally pulsing asymptotic giant branch, for which we compute spectra and colours. Then, we compare our modelled colours in the near- and mid-infrared (NIR and MIR) bands with the observed ones, testing different assumptions in our dust scheme and employing several data sets of optical constants for carbon dust available in the literature. Different assumptions adopted in our dust scheme change the typical size of the carbon grains produced. We constrain carbon dust properties by selecting the combination of grain size and optical constants which best reproduce several colours in the NIR and MIR at the same time. The different choices of optical properties and grain size lead to differences in the NIR and MIR colours greater than 2 mag in some cases. We conclude that the complete set of observed NIR and MIR colours are best reproduced by small grains, with sizes between ˜0.035 and ˜0.12 μm, rather than by large grains between ˜0.2 and 0.7 μm. The inability of large grains to reproduce NIR and MIR colours seems independent of the adopted optical data set. We also find a possible trend of the grain size with mass-loss and/or carbon excess in the CSEs of these stars.

  5. Unbiased Large Spectroscopic Surveys of Galaxies Selected by SPICA Using Dust Bands

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kaneda, H.; Ishihara, D.; Oyabu, S.; Yamagishi, M.; Wada, T.; Armus, L.; Baes, M.; Charmandaris, V.; Czerny, B.; Efstathiou, A.; Fernández-Ontiveros, J. A.; Ferrara, A.; González-Alfonso, E.; Griffin, M.; Gruppioni, C.; Hatziminaoglou, E.; Imanishi, M.; Kohno, K.; Kwon, J.; Nakagawa, T.; Onaka, T.; Pozzi, F.; Scott, D.; Smith, J.-D. T.; Spinoglio, L.; Suzuki, T.; van der Tak, F.; Vaccari, M.; Vignali, C.; Wang, L.

    2017-11-01

    The mid-infrared range contains many spectral features associated with large molecules and dust grains such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and silicates. These are usually very strong compared to fine-structure gas lines, and thus valuable in studying the spectral properties of faint distant galaxies. In this paper, we evaluate the capability of low-resolution mid-infrared spectroscopic surveys of galaxies that could be performed by SPICA. The surveys are designed to address the question how star formation and black hole accretion activities evolved over cosmic time through spectral diagnostics of the physical conditions of the interstellar/circumnuclear media in galaxies. On the basis of results obtained with Herschel far-infrared photometric surveys of distant galaxies and Spitzer and AKARI near- to mid-infrared spectroscopic observations of nearby galaxies, we estimate the numbers of the galaxies at redshift z > 0.5, which are expected to be detected in the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon features or dust continuum by a wide (10 deg2) or deep (1 deg2) blind survey, both for a given observation time of 600 h. As by-products of the wide blind survey, we also expect to detect debris disks, through the mid-infrared excess above the photospheric emission of nearby main-sequence stars, and we estimate their number. We demonstrate that the SPICA mid-infrared surveys will efficiently provide us with unprecedentedly large spectral samples, which can be studied further in the far-infrared with SPICA.

  6. Effective mie-scattering and CO2 absorption in the dust-laden Martian atmosphere and its impact on radiative-convective temperature changes in the lower scale heights

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Pallmann, A. J.

    1976-01-01

    A time dependent computer model of radiative-convective-conductive heat transfer in the Martian ground-atmosphere system was refined by incorporating an intermediate line strength CO2 band absorption which together with the strong-and weak-line approximation closely simulated the radiative transmission through a vertically inhomogeneous stratification. About 33,000 CO2 lines were processed to cover the spectral range of solar and planetary radiation. Absorption by silicate dust particulates, was taken into consideration to study its impact on the ground-atmosphere temperature field as a function of time. This model was subsequently attuned to IRIS, IR-radiometric and S-band occultation data. Satisfactory simulations of the measured IRIS spectra were accomplished for the dust-free condition. In the case of variable dust loads, the simulations were sufficiently fair so that some inferences into the effect of dust on temperature were justified.

  7. Dust and Gas in the Magellanic Clouds from the Heritage Herschel Key Project. I. Dust Properties and Insights into the Origin of the Submm (Submillimeter) Excess Emission

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Gordon, Karl D.; Roman-Duval, Julia; Bot, Caroline; Meixner, Margaret; Babler, Brian; Bernard, Jean-Philippe; Bolatto, Alberto; Boyer, Martha L.; Clayton, Geoffrey C.; Engelbracht, Charles; hide

    2014-01-01

    The dust properties in the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds are studied using the HERITAGE Herschel Key Project photometric data in five bands from 100 to 500 micromillimeters. Three simple models of dust emission were fit to the observations: a single temperature blackbody modified by a powerlaw emissivity (SMBB), a single temperature blackbody modified by a broken power-law emissivity (BEMBB), and two blackbodies with different temperatures, both modified by the same power-law emissivity (TTMBB). Using these models we investigate the origin of the submillimeter excess; defined as the submillimeter (submm) emission above that expected from SMBB models fit to observations < 200 micromillimeters. We find that the BEMBB model produces the lowest fit residuals with pixel-averaged 500 micromillimeters submillimeter excesses of 27% and 43% for the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds, respectively. Adopting gas masses from previous works, the gas-to-dust ratios calculated from our fitting results show that the TTMBB fits require significantly more dust than are available even if all the metals present in the interstellar medium (ISM) were condensed into dust. This indicates that the submillimeter excess is more likely to be due to emissivity variations than a second population of colder dust. We derive integrated dust masses of (7.3 plus or minus 1.7) x 10 (sup 5) and (8.3 plus or minus 2.1) x 10 (sup 4) solar masses for the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds, respectively. We find significant correlations between the submillimeter excess and other dust properties; further work is needed to determine the relative contributions of fitting noise and ISM physics to the correlations.

  8. Atmospheric and surface temperatures and airborne dust amounts during late southern summer from Mariner 9 IRIS data

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Santee, M.; Crisp, D.

    1992-01-01

    The temperature structure and dust loading of the Martian atmosphere are investigated using thermal emission spectra recorded in 1972 by the Mariner 9 infrared interferometer spectrometer (IRIS). The analysis focuses on a subset of data consisting of approximately 2400 spectra obtained near the end of the southern summer season (L(sub s) equal to 343 deg to 348 deg), after the global dust storm had largely abated and airborne dust amounts were subsiding to background values. Simultaneous retrieval of the vertical distribution of both atmospheric temperature and dust optical depth is accomplished through an iterative procedure which is performed on each individual spectrum. The atmospheric transmittances are calculated using a Voigt quasi-random band model, which includes absorption by CO2 and dust, but neglects the effects of multiple scattering. Vertical profiles of temperature and dust optical depth are obtained using modified algorithms. These profiles are used to construct global maps of temperature and dust optical depth as functions of latitude (+/- 90 deg), altitude (approximately 0-50 km), and local time of day.

  9. On the source of the dust extinction in type Ia supernovae and the discovery of anomalously strong Na I absorption

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

    Phillips, M. M.; Morrell, Nidia; Hsiao, E. Y.

    High-dispersion observations of the Na I D λλ5890, 5896 and K I λλ7665, 7699 interstellar lines, and the diffuse interstellar band at 5780 Å in the spectra of 32 Type Ia supernovae are used as an independent means of probing dust extinction. We show that the dust extinction of the objects where the diffuse interstellar band at 5780 Å is detected is consistent with the visual extinction derived from the supernova colors. This strongly suggests that the dust producing the extinction is predominantly located in the interstellar medium of the host galaxies and not in circumstellar material associated with themore » progenitor system. One quarter of the supernovae display anomalously large Na I column densities in comparison to the amount of dust extinction derived from their colors. Remarkably, all of the cases of unusually strong Na I D absorption correspond to 'Blueshifted' profiles in the classification scheme of Sternberg et al. This coincidence suggests that outflowing circumstellar gas is responsible for at least some of the cases of anomalously large Na I column densities. Two supernovae with unusually strong Na I D absorption showed essentially normal K I column densities for the dust extinction implied by their colors, but this does not appear to be a universal characteristic. Overall, we find the most accurate predictor of individual supernova extinction to be the equivalent width of the diffuse interstellar band at 5780 Å, and provide an empirical relation for its use. Finally, we identify ways of producing significant enhancements of the Na abundance of circumstellar material in both the single-degenerate and double-degenerate scenarios for the progenitor system.« less

  10. Characterization of Sintering Dust, Blast Furnace Dust and Carbon Steel Electric Arc Furnace Dust

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Chang, Feng; Wu, Shengli; Zhang, Fengjie; Lu, Hua; Du, Kaiping

    In order to make a complete understanding of steel plant metallurgical dusts and to realize the goal of zero-waste, a study of their properties was undertaken. For these purposes, samples of two sintering dusts (SD), two blast furnace dusts (BFD), and one electric arc furnace dust (EAFD) taken from the regular production process were subjected to a series of tests. The tests were carried out by using granulometry analysis, chemical analysis, X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy via SEM (EDS), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The dominant elements having an advantage of reuse are Fe, K, Cl, Zn, C. The dominant mineralogical phases identified in sintering dust are KCl, Fe2O3, CaCO3, CaMg(CO3)2, NaCl, SiO2. Mineralogical phases exist in blast furnace dust are Fe2O3, Fe3O4, with small amount of KCl and kaolinite coexist. While in electric arc furnace dust, Fe3O4, ZnFe2O4, CaCO3, CaO, Ca(OH)2 are detected.

  11. Discovery of small-scale-structure in the large molecule/dust distribution in the diffuse ISM

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Cordiner, Martin A.; Fossey, Stephen J.; Sarre, Peter J.

    There is mounting evidence that far from being homogeneously distributed, interstellar matter can have a clumpy or filamentary structure on the scale of 10s to a few 1000s of AU and which is commonly described as small scale structure (SSS). Initially confined to VLBI HI observations and HI observations of high-velocity pulsars, evidence for SSS has also come indirectly from molecular radio studies of e.g. HCO+ and infrared absorption by H3+. Much of the recent data on SSS has been obtained through optical/UV detection of atomic and diatomic molecular lines. Is there small scale structure in the large molecule/dust distribution? While this question could in principle be explored by measuring differences in the interstellar extinction towards the components of binary stars, in practice this would be difficult. Rather we chose to investigate this by recording very high signal-to-noise spectra of diffuse interstellar absorption bands. Although the carriers remain unidentified, the diffuse bands are generally considered to be tracers of the large molecule/dust distribution and scale well with reddening. Using the Anglo-Australian Telescope we have made UCLES observations of pairs of stars with separations ranging between 500 and 30000 AU. The signal-to-noise achieved was up to 2000, thus allowing variations in central depth of less than a few tenths of a percent to be discernible. Striking differences in diffuse band strengths for closely spaced lines of sight are found showing clearly that there exists small-scale-structure in the large molecule/dust distribution. For example, in the Ophiuchus star-formation region the central depths for the λ6614 diffuse band towards the ρ Oph stars A, B, C and D/E all differ and range between 0.966 and 0.930. Further interesting behaviour is found when comparing the relative strengths of diffuse bands between closely parallel lines of sight. Taking again the ρ Oph group, for λ5797 the strengths follow the order DE > B > C > A

  12. Martian Dust Cycle

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Cantor, B. A.; James, P. B.

    The Mars Observer Camera (MOC), aboard Mars Global Surveyor (MGS), has completed approximately 3 consecutive Martian years of global monitoring, since entering its mapping orbit on March 9, 1999. MOC observations have shown the important role that dust devils and dust storms play in the Martian dust cycle on time scales ranging from semi-diurnally to interannually. These dust events have been observed across much of the planet from the depths of Hellas basin to the summit of Arsia Mons and range in size from10s of meters across (dust devils) to planet encircling (global dust veils). Though dust devils occur throughout most of the Martian year, each hemisphere has a "dust devil season" that generally follows the subsolar latitude and appears to be repeatable from year-to-year. An exception is NW Amazonis, which has frequent, large dust devils throughout northern spring and summer. MOC observations show no evidence that dust devils cause or lead to dust storms, however, observations do suggest that dust storms can initiate dust devil activity. Dust devils also might play a role in maintaining the low background dust opacity of the Martian atmosphere. Dust storms occur almost daily with few exceptions, with 1000s occurring each year in the present Martian environment, dispelling the notion of a "Classical Dust Storm Season". However, there does appear to be an annual dust storm cycle, with storms developing in specific locations during certain seasons and that some individual storm events are repeatable from year-to-year. The majority of storms develop near the receding seasonal polar cap edge or along the corresponding polar hood boundaries in their respective hemispheres, but they also occur in the northern plains, the windward side of the large shield volcanoes, and in low laying regions such as Hellas, Argyre, and Chryse. The rarest of dust events are the "Great Storms" or "Global Events", of which only 6 (4 "planet encircling" and 2 "global") have been observed

  13. Scattering by ensembles of small particles experiment, theory and application

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Gustafson, B. A. S.

    1980-01-01

    A hypothetical self consistent picture of evolution of prestellar intertellar dust through a comet phase leads to predictions about the composition of the circum-solar dust cloud. Scattering properties of thus resulting conglomerates with a bird's-nest type of structure are investigated using a micro-wave analogue technique. Approximate theoretical methods of general interest are developed which compared favorably with the experimental results. The principal features of scattering of visible radiation by zodiacal light particles are reasonably reproduced. A component which is suggestive of (ALPHA)-meteoroids is also predicted.

  14. NICMOS PEERS THROUGH DUST TO REVEAL YOUNG STELLAR DISKS

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    2002-01-01

    The following images were taken by NASA Hubble Space Telescope's Near-Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS). All of the objects are extremely young stars, 450 light-years away in the constellation Taurus. Most of the nebulae represent small dust particles around the stars, which are seen because they are reflecting starlight. In the color-coding, regions of greatest dust concentration appear red. All photo credits: D. Padgett (IPAC/Caltech), W. Brandner (IPAC), K. Stapelfeldt (JPL) and NASA [Top left]: CoKu Tau/1. This image shows a newborn binary star system, CoKu Tau/1, lying at the center of four 'wings' of light extending as much as 75 billion miles from the pair. The 'wings' outline the edges of a region in the stars' dusty surroundings, which have been cleared by outflowing gas. A thin, dark lane extends to the left and to right of the binary, suggesting that a disk or ring of dusty material encircles the two young stars. [Top center]: DG Tau B - An excellent example of the complementary nature of Hubble's instruments may be found by comparing the infrared NICMOS image of DG Tau B to the visible-light Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) image of the same object. WFPC2 highlights the jet emerging from the system, while NICMOS penetrates some of the dust near the star to more clearly outline the 50 billion-mile-long dust lane (the horizontal dark band, which indicates the presence of a large disk forming around the infant star). The young star itself appears as the bright red spot at the corner of the V-shaped nebula. [Top right]: Haro 6-5B - This image of the young star Haro 6-5B shows two bright regions separated by a dark lane. As seen in the WFPC2 image of the same object, the bright regions represent starlight reflecting from the upper and lower surfaces of the disk, which is thicker at its edges than its center. However, the infrared view reveals the young star just above the dust lane. [Bottom left]: I04016 - A very young star

  15. Distribution of dust during two dust storms in Iceland

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ösp Magnúsdóttir, Agnes; Dagsson-Waldhauserova, Pavla; Arnalds, Ólafur; Ólafsson, Haraldur

    2017-04-01

    Particulate matter mass concentrations and size fractions of PM1, PM2.5, PM4, PM10, and PM15 measured in transversal horizontal profile of two dust storms in southwestern Iceland are presented. Images from a camera network were used to estimate the visibility and spatial extent of measured dust events. Numerical simulations were used to calculate the total dust flux from the sources as 180,000 and 280,000 tons for each storm. The mean PM15 concentrations inside of the dust plumes varied from 10 to 1600 ?g?m?3 (PM10 = 7 to 583 ?g?m?3). The mean PM1 concentrations were 97-241 ?g?m?3 with a maximum of 261 ?g?m?3 for the first storm. The PM1/PM2.5 ratios of >0.9 and PM1/PM10 ratios of 0.34-0.63 show that suspension of volcanic materials in Iceland causes air pollution with extremely high PM1 concentrations, similar to polluted urban areas in Europe or Asia. Icelandic volcanic dust consists of a higher proportion of submicron particles compared to crustal dust. Both dust storms occurred in relatively densely inhabited areas of Iceland. First results on size partitioning of Icelandic dust presented here should challenge health authorities to enhance research in relation to dust and shows the need for public dust warning systems.

  16. Cometary Dust

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Levasseur-Regourd, Anny-Chantal; Agarwal, Jessica; Cottin, Hervé; Engrand, Cécile; Flynn, George; Fulle, Marco; Gombosi, Tamas; Langevin, Yves; Lasue, Jérémie; Mannel, Thurid; Merouane, Sihane; Poch, Olivier; Thomas, Nicolas; Westphal, Andrew

    2018-04-01

    This review presents our understanding of cometary dust at the end of 2017. For decades, insight about the dust ejected by nuclei of comets had stemmed from remote observations from Earth or Earth's orbit, and from flybys, including the samples of dust returned to Earth for laboratory studies by the Stardust return capsule. The long-duration Rosetta mission has recently provided a huge and unique amount of data, obtained using numerous instruments, including innovative dust instruments, over a wide range of distances from the Sun and from the nucleus. The diverse approaches available to study dust in comets, together with the related theoretical and experimental studies, provide evidence of the composition and physical properties of dust particles, e.g., the presence of a large fraction of carbon in macromolecules, and of aggregates on a wide range of scales. The results have opened vivid discussions on the variety of dust-release processes and on the diversity of dust properties in comets, as well as on the formation of cometary dust, and on its presence in the near-Earth interplanetary medium. These discussions stress the significance of future explorations as a way to decipher the formation and evolution of our Solar System.

  17. COMPACT DUST CONCENTRATION IN THE MWC 758 PROTOPLANETARY DISK

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

    Marino, S.; Casassus, S.; Perez, S.

    2015-11-01

    The formation of planetesimals requires that primordial dust grains grow from micron- to kilometer-sized bodies. Dust traps caused by gas pressure maxima have been proposed as regions where grains can concentrate and grow fast enough to form planetesimals, before radially migrating onto the star. We report new VLA Ka and Ku observations of the protoplanetary disk around the Herbig Ae/Be star MWC 758. The Ka image shows a compact emission region in the outer disk, indicating a strong concentration of big dust grains. Tracing smaller grains, archival ALMA data in band 7 continuum shows extended disk emission with an intensitymore » maximum to the northwest of the central star, which matches the VLA clump position. The compactness of the Ka emission is expected in the context of dust trapping, as big grains are trapped more easily than smaller grains in gas pressure maxima. We develop a nonaxisymmetric parametric model inspired by a steady-state vortex solution with parameters adequately selected to reproduce the observations, including the spectral energy distribution. Finally, we compare the radio continuum with SPHERE scattered light data. The ALMA continuum spatially coincides with a spiral-like feature seen in scattered light, while the VLA clump is offset from the scattered light maximum. Moreover, the ALMA map shows a decrement that matches a region devoid of scattered polarized emission. Continuum observations at a different wavelength are necessary to conclude whether the VLA-ALMA difference is an opacity or a real dust segregation.« less

  18. Interstellar dust spectra between 2.5 and 3.3 microns - A search for hydrated silicates

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Knacke, R. F.; Mccorkle, S.; Puetter, R. C.; Erickson, E.

    1985-01-01

    Spectra in the 2.5-3.3 micron wavelength region of VI Cyg 12, AFGL 2205, and AFGL 2885 were obtained in a search for bound water, hydroxyl groups, and hydrated minerals in interstellar dust. No new absorption bands were found. Comparison of expected strengths of bands of serpentine and chlorite-like minerals with the data suggests that less than 25 percent and 50 percent, respectively, of the silicate in the grains is composed of these materials.

  19. Monitoring Atmospheric Dust Opacity at High Latitudes on Mars by Imaging Spectroscopy

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Doute, S.; Vincendon, M.; Langevin, Y.; Spiga, A.; Bibring, J.; OMEGA Team

    2010-12-01

    Micrometer sized mineral particles drifting over Mars surface greatly influence both solar and thermal radiative fluxes in the atmosphere, thus its energy balance and its global circulation. Furthermore any kind of remotely sensed data in the optical domain includes their strong, spatially varying, often annoying contributions. Monitoring the particles as well as identifying the sources and the sinks in relation with surface activity is of paramount importance. Since 2004 and 2006 respectively, the imaging spectrometers OMEGA@MEX and CRISM@MRO perform nadir-looking and EPF observations in the VIS and the NIR for the study of the surface and atmosphere alike. We propose an original method to retrieve the optical depth τ dust of the Martian dust over the targeted scenes at a reference wavelength of one micron. Our method works even if the underlying surface is completely made of minerals (low contrast between surface and atmospheric dust) while being observed at a fixed geometry. Nevertheless it provides the maximum of information when applied to spectra acquired over the same area at different emergence angles. The method is based on a parametrization of the radiative coupling between particles and gas that determines, with local altimetry and the meteorological situation, the absorption band depth of gaseous CO2. The coupling depends on (i) the acquisition geometry (ii) the type, abundance and vertical distribution of particles (iii) the surface albedo As. For each spectro-pixel of an image, comparison of band depths estimated on the one hand from the observed spectrum and on the other hand from a calculated transmission spectrum through the atmospheric gases alone, one can build a precious new observable that directly depends on τ dust. Combining the latter with the radiance factor in the continuum, we evaluate after LUT inversion τ dust and As. After validation on test images, we have applied the present method - associated with a complementary approach

  20. Dust lanes in backlit galaxies: first results from the STARSMOG survey

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Keel, William C.; Bradford, Sarah; Holwerda, Benne; Conselice, Christopher; Baldry, Ivan; Bland-Hawthorn, Jonathan; Driver, Simon P.; Dunne, Loretta; Liske, Jochen; Robotham, Aaron; Tuffs, Richard

    2017-01-01

    STARSMOG is an HST WFC3 snapshot survey of dust attenuation in overlapping backlit galaxies, planned to span the range of morphological type and luminosity of dust-rich galaxies. The target list came from the Galaxy Zoo and GAMA catalogs, imposing a minimum redshift difference to guarantee large line-of-sight separations, virtually eliminating scattering corrections and avoiding potentially distorted interacting systems. These include the first flocculent spirals studied with the occulting-galaxy approach. We present results from the geometrically most favorable subset of 9 pairs from the 54 observed STARSMOG systems. The data quality and intensity of background light let us map dust features with attenuations of only a few per cent in the red F606W band. Organized dust lanes show sharp outer boundaries in disks, and are absent in galaxies of late Hubble type. Many Sb-Sc disks show a dusty web of criss-crossing lanes, some nearly at right angles to the overall spiral pattern. Particularly favorable cases constraint the scale height of starlight in the foreground disks, through comparison of the light loss in regions with and without background light. The covering fraction of dust at various attenuation levels is consistent between barred and nonbarred spirals, although dust features may be more concentrated in azimuth when a bar is present (and concentrated in an annulus when a stellar resonance ring is seen). Together with our previous data on much more limited samples or at lower resolution,these results add to a picture where galaxies of similar morphology may have quite different attenuation patterns with radius for both arm and interarm dust.

  1. Far-infrared and dust properties of present-day galaxies in the EAGLE simulations

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Camps, Peter; Trayford, James W.; Baes, Maarten; Theuns, Tom; Schaller, Matthieu; Schaye, Joop

    2016-10-01

    The Evolution and Assembly of GaLaxies and their Environments (EAGLE) cosmological simulations reproduce the observed galaxy stellar mass function and many galaxy properties. In this work, we study the dust-related properties of present-day EAGLE galaxies through mock observations in the far-infrared and submm wavelength ranges obtained with the 3D dust radiative transfer code SKIRT. To prepare an EAGLE galaxy for radiative transfer processing, we derive a diffuse dust distribution from the gas particles and we re-sample the star-forming gas particles and the youngest star particles into star-forming regions that are assigned dedicated emission templates. We select a set of redshift-zero EAGLE galaxies that matches the K-band luminosity distribution of the galaxies in the Herschel Reference Survey (HRS), a volume-limited sample of about 300 normal galaxies in the Local Universe. We find overall agreement of the EAGLE dust scaling relations with those observed in the HRS, such as the dust-to-stellar mass ratio versus stellar mass and versus NUV-r colour relations. A discrepancy in the f250/f350 versus f350/f500 submm colour-colour relation implies that part of the simulated dust is insufficiently heated, likely because of limitations in our sub-grid model for star-forming regions. We also investigate the effect of adjusting the metal-to-dust ratio and the covering factor of the photodissociation regions surrounding the star-forming cores. We are able to constrain the important dust-related parameters in our method, informing the calculation of dust attenuation for EAGLE galaxies in the UV and optical domain.

  2. Carbon Raman Spectroscopy of 36 Inter-Planetary Dust Particles

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Busemann, H.; Nittler, L. R.; Davidson, J.; Franchi, I. A.; Messenger, S.; Nakamura-Messenger, K.; Palma, R. L.; Pepin, R. O.

    2009-01-01

    Carbon Raman spectroscopy is a useful tool to determine the degree of order of organic material (OM) in extra-terrestrial matter. As shown for meteoritic OM [e.g., 2], peak parameters of D and G bands are a measure of thermal alteration, causing graphitization (order), and amorphization, e.g. during protoplanetary irradiation, causing disorder. Th e most pristine interplanetary dust particles (IDPs) may come from comets. However, their exact provenance is unknown. IDP collection during Earth?s passage through comet Grigg-Skjellerup?s dust stream ("GSC" collectors) may increase the probability of collecting fresh IDPs from a known, cometary source. We used Raman spectroscopy to compare 21 GSC-IDPs with 15 IDPs collected at different periods, and found that the variation among GSC-IDPs is larger than among non-GSC IDPs, with the most primitive IDPs being mostly GSC-IDPs.

  3. Dust Polarization toward Embedded Protostars in Ophiuchus with ALMA. I. VLA 1623

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sadavoy, Sarah I.; Myers, Philip C.; Stephens, Ian W.; Tobin, John; Commerçon, Benoît; Henning, Thomas; Looney, Leslie; Kwon, Woojin; Segura-Cox, Dominique; Harris, Robert

    2018-06-01

    We present high-resolution (∼30 au) ALMA Band 6 dust polarization observations of VLA 1623. The VLA 1623 data resolve compact ∼40 au inner disks around the two protobinary sources, VLA 1623-A and VLA 1623-B, and also an extended ∼180 au ring of dust around VLA 1623-A. This dust ring was previously identified as a large disk in lower-resolution observations. We detect highly structured dust polarization toward the inner disks and the extended ring with typical polarization fractions ≈1.7% and ≈2.4%, respectively. The two components also show distinct polarization morphologies. The inner disks have uniform polarization angles aligned with their minor axes. This morphology is consistent with expectations from dust scattering. By contrast, the extended dust ring has an azimuthal polarization morphology not previously seen in lower-resolution observations. We find that our observations are well-fit by a static, oblate spheroid model with a flux-frozen, poloidal magnetic field. We propose that the polarization traces magnetic grain alignment likely from flux freezing on large scales and magnetic diffusion on small scales. Alternatively, the azimuthal polarization may be attributed to grain alignment by the anisotropic radiation field. If the grains are radiatively aligned, then our observations indicate that large (∼100 μm) dust grains grow quickly at large angular extents. Finally, we identify significant proper motion of VLA 1623 using our observations and those in the literature. This result indicates that the proper motion of nearby systems must be corrected for when combining ALMA data from different epochs.

  4. The Herschel Virgo Cluster Survey. XX. Dust and gas in the foreground Galactic cirrus

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bianchi, S.; Giovanardi, C.; Smith, M. W. L.; Fritz, J.; Davies, J. I.; Haynes, M. P.; Giovanelli, R.; Baes, M.; Bocchio, M.; Boissier, S.; Boquien, M.; Boselli, A.; Casasola, V.; Clark, C. J. R.; De Looze, I.; di Serego Alighieri, S.; Grossi, M.; Jones, A. P.; Hughes, T. M.; Hunt, L. K.; Madden, S.; Magrini, L.; Pappalardo, C.; Ysard, N.; Zibetti, S.

    2017-01-01

    We study the correlation between far-infrared/submm dust emission and atomic gas column density in order to derive the properties of the high Galactic latitude, low density, Milky Way cirrus in the foreground of the Virgo cluster of galaxies. Dust emission maps from 60 to 850 μm are obtained from observations with the Spectral and Photometric Imaging Receiver (SPIRE) and carried out within the Herschel Virgo Cluster Survey (HeViCS); these are complemented by IRAS and Planck maps. Data from the Arecibo legacy Fast ALFA Survey is used to derive atomic gas column densities for two broad velocity components: low and intermediate velocity clouds. Dust emissivities are derived for each gas component and each far-infrared/submm band. For the low velocity clouds, we measure an average emissivity ɛLVCν = (0.79 ± 0.08) × 10-20 MJy sr-1 cm2 at 250 μm. After fitting a modified blackbody to the available bands, we estimated a dust absorption cross section of τLVCν/NH I = (0.49 ± 0.13) × 10-25 cm2 H-1 at 250 μm (with dust temperature T = 20.4 ± 1.5 K and spectral index β = 1.53 ± 0.17). The results are in excellent agreement with those obtained by Planck over a much larger coverage of the high Galactic latitude cirrus (50% of the sky versus 0.2% in our work). For dust associated with intermediate velocity gas, we confirm earlier Planck results and find a higher temperature and lower emissivity and cross section. After subtracting the modeled components, we find regions at scales smaller than 20' in which the residuals deviate significantly from the average scatter, which is dominated by cosmic infrared background. These large residuals are most likely due to local variations in the cirrus dust properties or to high-latitude molecular clouds with average NH2 ≲ 1020 cm-2. We find no conclusive evidence for intracluster dust emission in Virgo. Herschel is an ESA space observatory with science instruments provided by European-led Principal Investigator consortia and

  5. Migration of tungsten dust in tokamaks: role of dust-wall collisions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ratynskaia, S.; Vignitchouk, L.; Tolias, P.; Bykov, I.; Bergsåker, H.; Litnovsky, A.; den Harder, N.; Lazzaro, E.

    2013-12-01

    The modelling of a controlled tungsten dust injection experiment in TEXTOR by the dust dynamics code MIGRAINe is reported. The code, in addition to the standard dust-plasma interaction processes, also encompasses major mechanical aspects of dust-surface collisions. The use of analytical expressions for the restitution coefficients as functions of the dust radius and impact velocity allows us to account for the sticking and rebound phenomena that define which parts of the dust size distribution can migrate efficiently. The experiment provided unambiguous evidence of long-distance dust migration; artificially introduced tungsten dust particles were collected 120° toroidally away from the injection point, but also a selectivity in the permissible size of transported grains was observed. The main experimental results are reproduced by modelling.

  6. Complex refractive index of Martian dust - Mariner 9 ultraviolet observations

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Pang, K.; Ajello, J. M.; Hord, C. W.; Egan, W. G.

    1976-01-01

    Mariner 9 ultraviolet spectrometer observations of the 1971 dust clouds obscuring the surface of Mars have been analyzed by matching the observed dust phase function with Mie scattering calculations for size distributions of homogeneous and isotropic material. Preliminary results indicate an effective particle radius of not less than 0.2. The real component of the index of refraction is not less than 1.8 at both 268 and 305 nm; corresponding values for the imagery component are 0.02 and 0.01. These values are consistent with those found by Mead (1970) for the visible and near-visible wavelengths. The refractive index and the absorption coefficient increase rapidly with decreasing wavelength in going from the visible to the ultraviolet, indicating the presence of an ultraviolet absorption band which may shield organisms from ultraviolet irradiation.

  7. Cosmic dust

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Brownlee, Donald E.; Sandford, Scott A.

    1992-01-01

    Dust is a ubiquitous component of our galaxy and the solar system. The collection and analysis of extraterrestrial dust particles is important to exobiology because it provides information about the sources of biogenically significant elements and compounds that accumulated in distant regions of the solar nebula and that were later accreted on the planets. The topics discussed include the following: general properties of interplanetary dust; the carbonaceous component of interplanetary dust particles; and the presence of an interstellar component.

  8. Types, Sizes, Shapes and Distributions of Mars Ice and Dust Aerosols from the MGS TES Emission Phase Function Observations

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Clancy, R. T.; Wolff, M. J.; Christensen, P. R.

    2001-12-01

    A full Mars year (1999-2001) of emission phase function (EPF observations from Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Thermal Emission Spectrometer (TES) provide the most complete study of Mars dust and ice aerosol properties to date. TES visible (solar band average) and infrared spectral (6-30 micron, 10 invcm res) EPF sequences are analyzed self-consistently with detailed multiple scattering radiative transfer (RT) codes to obtain first-time seasonal/latitudinal distributions of aerosol visible optical depths, particle sizes, and single scattering phase functions. As a consequence of the combined angular and wavelength coverage, we are able to define two distinct ice cloud types at 45S-45N latitudes on Mars. Type 1 ice clouds exhibit small particle sizes (1-2 micron radii), as well as a broad, deep minimum in side scattering indicative of aligned ice grains (see Wolff et al., 2001). Type 1 ice aerosols are most prevalent in the southern hemisphere during Mars aphelion, but also appear more widely distributed in season and latitude as topographic and high altitude (above 20 km) ice hazes. Type 2 ice clouds exhibit larger particle sizes (2-4 microns) and a much narrower side-scattering minimum, indicative of poorer grain alignment or a change in particle shape relative to the type 1 ice clouds (see Wolff et al., 2001). Type 2 ice clouds appear most prominently in the northern subtropical aphelion cloud belt, where relatively low altitudes of water vapor saturation (10 km) coincide with strong advective transport (Clancy et al., 1996). Retrieved dust particle radii of 1.5-1.8 micron are consistent with Pathfinder (Tomasko et al., 1999) and recent Viking/Mariner 9 reanalyses (e.g., size distribution B of Clancy et al., 1995). Detailed spectral modeling of the solar passband also implies agreement of EPF-derived dust single scattering albedos (ssa) with the ssa results from Tomasko et al.(table 8 therein). Spatial and seasonal changes in the dust ssa (0.92-0.95, solar band

  9. OISTER optical and near-infrared observations of the super-Chandrasekhar supernova candidate SN 2012dn: Dust emission from the circumstellar shell

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yamanaka, Masayuki; Maeda, Keiichi; Tanaka, Masaomi; Tominaga, Nozomu; Kawabata, Koji S.; Takaki, Katsutoshi; Kawabata, Miho; Nakaoka, Tatsuya; Ueno, Issei; Akitaya, Hiroshi; Nagayama, Takahiro; Takahashi, Jun; Honda, Satoshi; Omodaka, Toshihiro; Miyanoshita, Ryo; Nagao, Takashi; Watanabe, Makoto; Isogai, Mizuki; Arai, Akira; Itoh, Ryosuke; Ui, Takahiro; Uemura, Makoto; Yoshida, Michitoshi; Hanayama, Hidekazu; Kuroda, Daisuke; Ukita, Nobuharu; Yanagisawa, Kenshi; Izumiura, Hideyuki; Saito, Yoshihiko; Masumoto, Kazunari; Ono, Rikako; Noguchi, Ryo; Matsumoto, Katsura; Nogami, Daisaku; Morokuma, Tomoki; Oasa, Yumiko; Sekiguchi, Kazuhiro

    2016-10-01

    We present extensively dense observations of the super-Chandrasekhar supernova (SC SN) candidate SN 2012dn from -11 to +140 d after the date of its B-band maximum in the optical and near-infrared (NIR) wavelengths conducted through the OISTER ToO (Optical and Infrared Synergetic Telescopes for Education and Research Target of Opportunity) program. The NIR light curves and color evolutions up to 35 days after the B-band maximum provided an excellent match with those of another SC SN 2009dc, providing further support to the nature of SN 2012dn as an SC SN. We found that SN 2012dn exhibited strong excesses in the NIR wavelengths from 30 d after the B-band maximum. The H- and Ks-band light curves exhibited much later maximum dates at 40 and 70 d after the B-band maximum, respectively, compared with those of normal SNe Ia. The H- and Ks-band light curves subtracted by those of SN 2009dc displayed plateaued evolutions, indicating an NIR echo from the surrounding dust. The distance to the inner boundary of the dust shell is limited to 4.8-6.4 × 10-2 pc. No emission lines were found in its early phase spectra, suggesting that the ejecta-circumstellar material interaction could not occur. On the other hand, we found no signature that strongly supports the scenario of dust formation. The mass-loss rate of the pre-explosion system is estimated to be 10-6-10-5 M⊙ yr-1, assuming that the wind velocity of the system is 10-100 km s-1, which suggests that the progenitor of SN 2012dn could be a recurrent nova system. We conclude that the progenitor of this SC SN could be explained by the single-degenerate scenario.

  10. The Dust Content and Opacity of Actively Star-Forming Galaxies

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Calzetti, Daniela; Armus, Lee; Bohlin, Ralph C.; Kinney, Anne L.; Koornneef, Jan; Storchi-Bergmann, Thaisa

    2000-01-01

    We present far-infrared (FIR) photometry at 150 and 205 micron(s) of eight low-redshift starburst galaxies obtained with the Infrared Space Observatory (ISO) ISOPHOT. Five of the eight galaxies are detected in both wave bands, and these data are used, in conjunction with IRAS archival photometry, to model the dust emission at lambda approximately greater than 40 microns. The FIR spectral energy distributions (SEDs) are best fitted by a combination of two modified Planck functions, with T approx. 40 - 55 K (warm dust) and T approx. 20-23 K (cool dust) and with a dust emissivity index epsilon = 2. The cool dust can be a major contributor to the FIR emission of starburst galaxies, representing up to 60% of the total flux. This component is heated not only by the general interstellar radiation field, but also by the starburst itself. The cool dust mass is up to approx. 150 times larger than the warm dust mass, bringing the gas-to-dust ratios of the starbursts in our sample close to Milky Way values, once resealed for the appropriate metallicity. The ratio between the total dust FIR emission in the range 1-1000 microns and the IRAS FIR emission in the range 40 - 120 microns is approx. 1.75, with small variations from galaxy to galaxy. This ratio is about 40% larger than previously inferred from data at millimeter wavelengths. Although the galaxies in our sample are generally classified as "UV bright," for four of them the UV energy emerging shortward of 0.2 microns is less than 15% of the FIR energy. On average, about 30% of the bolometric flux is coming out in the UV-to-near-IR wavelength range; the rest is emitted in the FIR. Energy balance calculations show that the FIR emission predicted by the dust reddening of the UV-to-near-IR stellar emission is within a factor of approx. 2 of the observed value in individual galaxies and within 20% when averaged over a large sample. If our sample of local starbursts is representative of high-redshift (z approx. greater than 1

  11. The Herschel Virgo Cluster Survey. XIII. Dust in early-type galaxies

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    di Serego Alighieri, S.; Bianchi, S.; Pappalardo, C.; Zibetti, S.; Auld, R.; Baes, M.; Bendo, G.; Corbelli, E.; Davies, J. I.; Davis, T.; De Looze, I.; Fritz, J.; Gavazzi, G.; Giovanardi, C.; Grossi, M.; Hunt, L. K.; Magrini, L.; Pierini, D.; Xilouris, E. M.

    2013-04-01

    Aims: We study the dust content of a large optical input sample of 910 early-type galaxies (ETG) in the Virgo cluster, also extending to the dwarf ETG, and examine the results in relation to those on the other cold ISM components. Methods: We have searched for far-infrared emission in all galaxies in the input sample using the 250 μm image of the Herschel Virgo Cluster Survey (HeViCS). This image covers a large fraction of the cluster with an area of ~55 square degrees. For the detected ETG we measured fluxes in five bands from 100 to 500 μm, and estimated the dust mass and temperature with modified black-body fits. Results: Dust is detected above the completeness limit of 25.4 mJy at 250 μm in 46 ETG, 43 of which are in the optically complete part of the input sample. In addition, dust is present at fainter levels in another six ETG. We detect dust in the four ETG with synchrotron emission, including M 87. Dust appears to be much more concentrated than stars and more luminous ETG have higher dust temperatures. Considering only the optically complete input sample and correcting for the contamination by background galaxies, dust detection rates down to the 25.4 mJy limit are 17% for ellipticals, about 40% for lenticulars (S0 + S0a), and around 3% for dwarf ETG. Dust mass does not correlate clearly with stellar mass and is often much greater than expected for a passive galaxy in a closed-box model. The dust-to-stars mass ratio anticorrelates with galaxy luminosity, and for some dwarf ETG reaches values as high as for dusty late-type galaxies. In the Virgo cluster slow rotators appear more likely to contain dust than fast ones. Comparing the dust results with those on Hi there are only eight ETG detected both in dust and in Hi in the HeViCS area; 39 have dust but only an upper limit on Hi, and eight have Hi but only an upper limit on dust. The locations of these galaxies in the cluster are different, with the dusty ETG concentrated in the densest regions, while the

  12. Operational Dust Prediction

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Benedetti, Angela; Baldasano, Jose M.; Basart, Sara; Benincasa, Francesco; Boucher, Olivier; Brooks, Malcolm E.; Chen, Jen-Ping; Colarco, Peter R.; Gong, Sunlin; Huneeus, Nicolas; hide

    2014-01-01

    Over the last few years, numerical prediction of dust aerosol concentration has become prominent at several research and operational weather centres due to growing interest from diverse stakeholders, such as solar energy plant managers, health professionals, aviation and military authorities and policymakers. Dust prediction in numerical weather prediction-type models faces a number of challenges owing to the complexity of the system. At the centre of the problem is the vast range of scales required to fully account for all of the physical processes related to dust. Another limiting factor is the paucity of suitable dust observations available for model, evaluation and assimilation. This chapter discusses in detail numerical prediction of dust with examples from systems that are currently providing dust forecasts in near real-time or are part of international efforts to establish daily provision of dust forecasts based on multi-model ensembles. The various models are introduced and described along with an overview on the importance of dust prediction activities and a historical perspective. Assimilation and evaluation aspects in dust prediction are also discussed.

  13. Dust-reddened Quasars In First And Ukidss

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Glikman, Eilat; Lacy, M.; Urrutia, T.

    2012-05-01

    We recently identified a large population of dust-reddened quasars by matching radio sources detected in the FIRST survey to the 2MASS near-infrared catalog (F2M) and selecting sources with red topical-to-near-infrared colors. We find that dust-reddened quasars are intrinsically the most luminous quasars in the Universe. Further analysis suggests that red quasars represent an emergent phase in merger-driven quasar/galaxy co-evolution model where the obscured quasar is shedding its dusty shroud prior to becoming a "normal" quasar. Here we use the UKIDSS Large Area Survey (LAS) First Data Release (DR1; 190 deg2) to reach fainter K-band magnitudes and expand beyond the results of the F2M survey. The deeper K-band limit provided by UKIDSS enables the discovery of more heavily reddened quasars at higher redshifts. We selected 95 candidates in the UKIDSS DR1 that had matches in the FIRST catalog with K<17.0 and obeyed color criteria similar to the F2M survey (R-K>5, J-K > 1.5). We have obtained 54 near-infrared spectra as well as 12 optical spectra from SDSS. Preliminary analysis confirm 12 new obscured quasars, including at least two with z>2 reaching lower intrinsic luminosities than were found by the F2M survey. We find that despite being a luminous quasar phenomenon, the space density of red quasars continues to rise to fainter magnitudes, representing 20% of the overall quasar population.

  14. Protoplanetary Dust

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Apai, D.´niel; Lauretta, Dante S.

    2014-02-01

    Preface; 1. Planet formation and protoplanetary dust Daniel Apai and Dante Lauretta; 2. The origins of protoplanetary dust and the formation of accretion disks Hans-Peter Gail and Peter Hope; 3. Evolution of protoplanetary disk structures Fred Ciesla and Cornelius P. Dullemond; 4. Chemical and isotopic evolution of the solar nebula and protoplanetary disks Dmitry Semenov, Subrata Chakraborty and Mark Thiemens; 5. Laboratory studies of simple dust analogs in astrophysical environments John R. Brucato and Joseph A. Nuth III; 6. Dust composition in protoplanetaty dust Michiel Min and George Flynn; 7. Dust particle size evolution Klaus M. Pontoppidan and Adrian J. Brearly; 8. Thermal processing in protoplanetary nebulae Daniel Apai, Harold C. Connolly Jr. and Dante S. Lauretta; 9. The clearing of protoplanetary disks and of the protosolar nebula Ilaira Pascucci and Shogo Tachibana; 10. Accretion of planetesimals and the formation of rocky planets John E. Chambers, David O'Brien and Andrew M. Davis; Appendixes; Glossary; Index.

  15. THE S{sup 4}G PERSPECTIVE ON CIRCUMSTELLAR DUST EXTINCTION OF ASYMPTOTIC GIANT BRANCH STARS IN M100

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

    Meidt, Sharon E.; Schinnerer, Eva; Munoz-Mateos, Juan-Carlos

    2012-04-01

    We examine the effect of circumstellar dust extinction on the near-IR (NIR) contribution of asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars in intermediate-age clusters throughout the disk of M100. For our sample of 17 AGB-dominated clusters we extract optical-to-mid-IR spectral energy distributions (SEDs) and find that NIR brightness is coupled to the mid-IR dust emission in such a way that a significant reduction of AGB light, of up to 1 mag in the K band, follows from extinction by the dust shell formed during this stage. Since the dust optical depth varies with AGB chemistry (C-rich or O-rich), our results suggest thatmore » the contribution of AGB stars to the flux from their host clusters will be closely linked to the metallicity and the progenitor mass of the AGB star, to which dust chemistry and mass-loss rate are sensitive. Our sample of clusters-each the analogue of a {approx}1 Gyr old post-starburst galaxy-has implications within the context of mass and age estimation via SED modeling at high-z: we find that the average {approx}0.5 mag extinction estimated here may be sufficient to reduce the AGB contribution in the (rest-frame) K band from {approx}70%, as predicted in the latest generation of synthesis models, to {approx}35%. Our technique for selecting AGB-dominated clusters in nearby galaxies promises to be effective for discriminating the uncertainties associated with AGB stars in intermediate-age populations that plague age and mass estimation in high-z galaxies.« less

  16. Dust devil characteristics and associated dust entrainment based on large-eddy simulations

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Klose, Martina; Kwidzinski, Nick; Shao, Yaping

    2015-04-01

    The characteristics of dust devils, such as occurrence frequency, lifetime, size, and intensity, are usually inferred from in situ field measurements and remote sensing. Numerical models, e.g. large-eddy simulation (LES) models, have also been established as a tool to investigate dust devils and their structures. However, most LES models do not contain a dust module. Here, we present results from simulations using the WRF-LES model coupled to the convective turbulent dust emission (CTDE) scheme of Klose et al. (2014). The scheme describes the stochastic process of aerodynamic dust entrainment in the absence of saltation. It therefore allows for dust emission even below the threshold friction velocity for saltation. Numerical experiments have been conducted for different atmospheric stability and background wind conditions at 10 m horizontal resolution. A dust devil tracking algorithm is used to identify dust devils in the simulation results. The detected dust devils are statistically analyzed with regard to e.g. radius, pressure drop, lifetime, and turbulent wind speeds. An additional simulation with higher horizontal resolution (2 m) is conducted for conditions, which are especially favorable for dust devil development, i.e. unstable atmospheric stratification and weak mean winds. The higher resolution enables the identification of smaller dust devils and a more detailed structure analysis. Dust emission fluxes, dust concentrations, and dust mass budgets are calculated from the simulations. The results are compared to field observations reported in literature.

  17. Interstellar Dust: Contributed Papers

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Tielens, Alexander G. G. M. (Editor); Allamandola, Louis J. (Editor)

    1989-01-01

    A coherent picture of the dust composition and its physical characteristics in the various phases of the interstellar medium was the central theme. Topics addressed included: dust in diffuse interstellar medium; overidentified infrared emission features; dust in dense clouds; dust in galaxies; optical properties of dust grains; interstellar dust models; interstellar dust and the solar system; dust formation and destruction; UV, visible, and IR observations of interstellar extinction; and quantum-statistical calculations of IR emission from highly vibrationally excited polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) molecules.

  18. Plasma generation and processing of interstellar carbonaceous dust analogs

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Peláez, R. J.; Maté, B.; Tanarro, I.; Molpeceres, G.; Jiménez-Redondo, M.; Timón, V.; Escribano, R.; Herrero, V. J.

    2018-03-01

    Interstellar (IS) dust analogs, based on amorphous hydrogenated carbon (a-C:H) were generated by plasma deposition in radio frequency discharges of CH4 + He mixtures. The a-C:H samples were characterized by means of secondary electron microscopy, infrared (IR) spectroscopy and UV-visible reflectivity. DFT calculations of structure and IR spectra were also carried out. From the experimental data, atomic compositions were estimated. Both IR and reflectivity measurements led to similar high proportions (≈50%) of H atoms, but there was a significant discrepancy in the sp2/sp3 hybridization ratios of C atoms (sp2/sp3 = 1.5 from IR and 0.25 from reflectivity). Energetic processing of the samples with 5 keV electrons led to a decay of IR aliphatic bands and to a growth of aromatic bands, which is consistent with a dehydrogenation and graphitization of the samples. The decay of the CH aliphatic stretching band at 3.4 μm upon electron irradiation is relatively slow. Estimates based on the absorbed energy and on models of cosmic ray (CR) flux indicate that CR bombardment is not enough to justify the observed disappearance of this band in dense IS clouds.

  19. The cosmic transparency measured with Type Ia supernovae: implications for intergalactic dust

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Goobar, Ariel; Dhawan, Suhail; Scolnic, Daniel

    2018-04-01

    Observations of high-redshift Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) are used to study the cosmic transparency at optical wavelengths. Assuming a flat ΛCDM cosmological model based on BAO and CMB results, redshift dependent deviations of SN Ia distances are used to constrain mechanisms that would dim light. The analysis is based on the most recent Pantheon SN compilation, for which there is a 0.03± 0.01 {(stat)} mag discrepancy in the distant supernova distance moduli relative to the ΛCDM model anchored by supernovae at z < 0.05. While there are known systematic uncertainties that combined could explain the observed offset, here we entertain the possibility that the discrepancy may instead be explained by scattering of supernova light in the intergalactic medium (IGM). We focus on two effects: Compton scattering by free electrons and extinction by dust in the IGM. We find that if the discrepancy is due entirely to dimming by dust, the measurements can be modeled with a cosmic dust density Ω _IGM^dust = 8 \\cdot 10^{-5} (1+z)^{-1}, corresponding to an average attenuation of 2 . 10-5 mag Mpc-1 in V-band. Forthcoming SN Ia studies may provide a definitive measurement of the IGM dust properties, while still providing an unbiased estimate of cosmological parameters by introducing additional parameters in the global fits to the observations.

  20. Atypical dust species in the ejecta of classical novae

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Helton, L. A.; Evans, A.; Woodward, C. E.; Gehrz, R. D.

    2011-03-01

    A classical nova outburst arises from a thermonuclear runaway in the hydrogen-rich material accreted onto the surface of a white dwarf in a binary system. These explosions can produce copious amounts of heavy element enriched material that are ejected violently into the surrounding interstellar medium. In some novae, conditions in the ejecta are suitable for the formation of dust of various compositions, including silicates, amorphous carbon, silicon carbide, and hydrocarbons. Multiple dust grain types are sometimes produced in the same system. CO formation in novae may not reach saturation, thus invalidating the usual paradigm in which the C:O ratio determines the dust species. A few novae, such as V705 Cas and DZ Cru, have exhibited emission features near 6, 8, and 11 μmthat are similar to "Unidentified Infrared" (UIR) features, but with significant differences in position and band structure. Here, we present Spitzer IRS spectra of two recent dusty novae, V2361 Cyg and V2362 Cyg, that harbor similar peculiar emission structures superimposed on features arising from carbonaceous grains. In other astronomical objects, such as star forming regions and young stellar objects, emission peaks at 6.2, 7.7, and 11.3 μmhave been associated with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) complexes. We suggest that hydrogenated amorphous carbon (HAC) may be the source of these features in novae based upon the spectral behavior of the emission features and the conditions under which the dust formed.

  1. Allergies, asthma, and dust

    MedlinePlus

    Reactive airway disease - dust; Bronchial asthma - dust; Triggers - dust ... Things that make allergies or asthma worse are called triggers. Dust is a common trigger. When your asthma or allergies become worse due to dust, you are ...

  2. ALMA Imaging of HCN, CS, and Dust in Arp 220 and NGC 6240

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Scoville, Nick; Sheth, Kartik; Walter, Fabian; Manohar, Swarnima; Zschaechner, Laura; Yun, Min; Koda, Jin; Sanders, David; Murchikova, Lena; Thompson, Todd; Robertson, Brant; Genzel, Reinhard; Hernquist, Lars; Tacconi, Linda; Brown, Robert; Narayanan, Desika; Hayward, Christopher C.; Barnes, Joshua; Kartaltepe, Jeyhan; Davies, Richard; van der Werf, Paul; Fomalont, Edward

    2015-02-01

    We report ALMA Band 7 (350 GHz) imaging at 0.''4-0.''6 resolution and Band 9 (696 GHz) at ~0.''25 resolution of the luminous IR galaxies Arp 220 and NGC 6240. The long wavelength dust continuum is used to estimate interstellar medium masses for Arp 220 east and west and NGC 6240 of 1.9, 4.2, and 1.6 × 109 M ⊙within radii of 69, 65, and 190 pc. The HCN emission was modeled to derive the emissivity distribution as a function of radius and the kinematics of each nuclear disk, yielding dynamical masses consistent with the masses and sizes derived from the dust emission. In Arp 220, the major dust and gas concentrations are at radii less than 50 pc in both counter-rotating nuclear disks. The thickness of the disks in Arp 220 estimated from the velocity dispersion and rotation velocities are 10-20 pc and the mean gas densities are nH_2 ˜ 10^5 cm-3 at R <50 pc. We develop an analytic treatment for the molecular excitation (including photon trapping), yielding volume densities for both the HCN and CS emission with n H2 ~ 2 × 105 cm-3. The agreement of the mean density from the total mass and size with that required for excitation suggests that the volume is essentially filled with dense gas, i.e., it is not cloudy or like swiss cheese.

  3. Dust evolution, a global view: III. Core/mantle grains, organic nano-globules, comets and surface chemistry

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jones, A. P.

    2016-12-01

    Within the framework of The Heterogeneous dust Evolution Model for Interstellar Solids (THEMIS), this work explores the surface processes and chemistry relating to core/mantle interstellar and cometary grain structures and their influence on the nature of these fascinating particles. It appears that a realistic consideration of the nature and chemical reactivity of interstellar grain surfaces could self-consistently and within a coherent framework explain: the anomalous oxygen depletion, the nature of the CO dark gas, the formation of `polar ice' mantles, the red wing on the 3 μm water ice band, the basis for the O-rich chemistry observed in hot cores, the origin of organic nano-globules and the 3.2 μm `carbonyl' absorption band observed in comet reflectance spectra. It is proposed that the reaction of gas phase species with carbonaceous a-C(:H) grain surfaces in the interstellar medium, in particular the incorporation of atomic oxygen into grain surfaces in epoxide functional groups, is the key to explaining these observations. Thus, the chemistry of cosmic dust is much more intimately related with that of the interstellar gas than has previously been considered. The current models for interstellar gas and dust chemistry will therefore most likely need to be fundamentally modified to include these new grain surface processes.

  4. THE JCMT GOULD BELT SURVEY: EVIDENCE FOR DUST GRAIN EVOLUTION IN PERSEUS STAR-FORMING CLUMPS

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

    Chen, Michael Chun-Yuan; Francesco, J. Di; Johnstone, D.

    2016-07-20

    The dust emissivity spectral index, β , is a critical parameter for deriving the mass and temperature of star-forming structures and, consequently, their gravitational stability. The β value is dependent on various dust grain properties, such as size, porosity, and surface composition, and is expected to vary as dust grains evolve. Here we present β , dust temperature, and optical depth maps of the star-forming clumps in the Perseus Molecular Cloud determined from fitting spectral energy distributions to combined Herschel and JCMT observations in the 160, 250, 350, 500, and 850 μ m bands. Most of the derived β andmore » dust temperature values fall within the ranges of 1.0–2.7 and 8–20 K, respectively. In Perseus, we find the β distribution differs significantly from clump to clump, indicative of grain growth. Furthermore, we also see significant localized β variations within individual clumps and find low- β regions correlate with local temperature peaks, hinting at the possible origins of low- β grains. Throughout Perseus, we also see indications of heating from B stars and embedded protostars, as well evidence of outflows shaping the local landscape.« less

  5. Dust feed mechanism

    DOEpatents

    Milliman, Edward M.

    1984-01-01

    The invention is a dust feed device for delivery of a uniform supply of dust for long periods of time to an aerosolizing means for production of a dust suspension. The device utilizes at least two tandem containers having spiral brushes within the containers which transport the dust from a supply to the aerosolizer means.

  6. Carbohydrate and protein contents of grain dusts in relation to dust morphology.

    PubMed Central

    Dashek, W V; Olenchock, S A; Mayfield, J E; Wirtz, G H; Wolz, D E; Young, C A

    1986-01-01

    Grain dusts contain a variety of materials which are potentially hazardous to the health of workers in the grain industry. Because the characterization of grain dusts is incomplete, we are defining the botanical, chemical, and microbial contents of several grain dusts collected from grain elevators in the Duluth-Superior regions of the U.S. Here, we report certain of the carbohydrate and protein contents of dusts in relation to dust morphology. Examination of the gross morphologies of the dusts revealed that, except for corn, each dust contained either husk or pericarp (seed coat in the case of flax) fragments in addition to respirable particles. When viewed with the light microscope, the fragments appeared as elongated, pointed structures. The possibility that certain of the fragments within corn, settled, and spring wheat were derived from cell walls was suggested by the detection of pentoses following colorimetric assay of neutralized 2 N trifluoroacetic acid hydrolyzates of these dusts. The presence of pentoses together with the occurrence of proteins within water washings of grain dusts suggests that glycoproteins may be present within the dusts. With scanning electron microscopy, each dust was found to consist of a distinct assortment of particles in addition to respirable particles. Small husk fragments and "trichome-like" objects were common to all but corn dust. Images FIGURE 4. FIGURE 5. PMID:3709476

  7. Constraining Dust Properties in Circumstellar Envelopes of C-Stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud: Optical Constants And Grain Size Of Carbon Dust

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Nanni, Ambra; Marigo, Paola; Groenewegen, Martin A. T.; Aringer, Berhard; Girardi, Léo; Pastorelli, Giada; Bressan, Alessandro; Bladh, Sara

    2016-07-01

    We present our recent investigation aimed at constraining the typical size and optical properties of carbon dust grains in Circumstellar envelopes (CSEs) of carbon-rich stars (C-stars) in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC).We applied our recent dust growth model, coupled with a radiative transfer code, to the dusty CSEs of C-stars along the TP-AGB phase, for which we computed spectra and colors. We then compared our modeled colors in the Near and Mid Infrared (NIR and MIR) bands with the observed ones, testing different assumptions in our dust scheme and employing different optical constants data sets for carbon dust. We constrained the optical properties of carbon dust by identifying the combinations of typical grain size and optical constants data set which simultaneously reproduce several colors in the NIR and MIR wavelengths. In particular, the different choices of optical properties and grain size lead to differences in the NIR and MIR colors greater than two magnitudes in some cases. We concluded that the complete set of selected NIR and MIR colors are best reproduced by small grains, with sizes between 0.06 and 0.1 mum, rather than by large grains of 0.2-0.4 mum. The inability of large grains to reproduce NIR and MIR colors is found to be independent of the adopted optical data set and the deviations between models and observations tend to increase for increasing grain sizes. We also find a possible trend of the typical grain size with mss-loss and/or carbon-excess in the CSEs of these stars.The work presented is preparatory to future studies aimed at calibrating the TP-AGB phase through resolved stellar populations in the framework of the STARKEY project.

  8. Sahara Dust

    Atmospheric Science Data Center

    2013-04-15

    article title:  Casting Light and Shadows on a Saharan Dust Storm     ... ocean and dust layer, which are visible in shades of blue and tan, respectively. In the lower panel, heights derived from automated ... cast by the cirrus clouds onto the dust (indicated by blue and cyan pixels) provide sufficient spatial contrast for a retrieval of ...

  9. Dust aerosols above the south polar cap of Mars as seen by OMEGA

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Vincendon, M.; Langevin, Y.; Poulet, F.; Bibring, J.-P.; Gondet, B.; Jouglet, D.; Omega Team

    2008-08-01

    The time evolution of atmospheric dust at high southern latitudes on Mars has been determined using observations of the south seasonal cap acquired in the near infrared (1-2.65 μm) by OMEGA/Mars Express in 2005. Observations at different solar zenith angles and one EPF sequence demonstrate that the reflectance in the 2.64 μm saturated absorption band of the surface CO 2 ice is mainly due to the light scattered by aerosols above most places of the seasonal cap. We have mapped the total optical depth of dust aerosols in the near-IR above the south seasonal cap of Mars from mid-spring to early summer with a time resolution ranging from one day to one week and a spatial resolution of a few kilometers. The optical depth above the south perennial cap is determined on a longer time range covering southern spring and summer. A constant set of optical properties of dust aerosols is consistent with OMEGA observations during the analyzed period. Strong variations of the optical depth are observed over small horizontal and temporal scales, corresponding in part to moving dust clouds. The late summer peak in dust opacity observed by Opportunity in 2005 propagated to the south pole contrarily to that observed in mid spring. This may be linked to evidence for dust scavenging by water ice-rich clouds circulating at high southern latitudes at this season.

  10. Physicochemical Characteristics of Dust Particles in HVOF Spraying and Occupational Hazards: Case Study in a Chinese Company

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Huang, Haihong; Li, Haijun; Li, Xinyu

    2016-06-01

    Dust particles generated in thermal spray process can cause serious health problems to the workers. Dust particles generated in high velocity oxy-fuel (HVOF) spraying WC-Co coatings were characterized in terms of mass concentrations, particle size distribution, micro morphologies, and composition. Results show that the highest instantaneous exposure concentration of dust particles in the investigated thermal spray workshop is 140 mg/m3 and the time-weighted average concentration is 34.2 mg/m3, which are approximately 8 and 4 times higher than the occupational exposure limits in China, respectively. The large dust particles above 10 μm in size present a unique morphology of polygonal or irregular block of crushed powder, and smaller dust particles mainly exist in the form of irregular or flocculent agglomerates. Some heavy metals, such as chromium, cobalt, and nickel, are also found in the air of the workshop and their concentrations are higher than the limits. Potential occupational hazards of the dust particles in the thermal spray process are further analyzed based on their characteristics and the workers' exposure to the nanoparticles is assessed using a control banding tool.

  11. African Dust Transport Captured by Rare Earth Elemental Concentrations in Coral Microatolls

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ouellette, G., Jr.; DeLong, K.; Herrmann, A.; Huang, C. Y.; Shen, C. C.

    2017-12-01

    Winds are integral components of the climate system; unfortunately, windsare also among the climate variables that are most difficult to study prior to the instrumentalrecord. Paleoclimatologists use sedimentary dust records (e.g., lake and ocean cores) tounderstand past wind circulation conditions; however, these types of records typically are notamenable to sub-annual interpretation due to their limited temporal resolution. Here wedeveloped a coral-based dust-wind proxy to overcome these temporal limitations by usingtrace (nmol/mol) rare earth elemental concentrations recorded in the skeletons of coralmicroatolls. The rare earth elements (REE; the lanthanides as well as scandium and yttrium)behave similarly in geologic and geochemical systems, and have served as useful proxies ofgeological processes in both deep and shallow time. Corals incorporate REE as they deposittheir exoskeletons that extend incrementally with time forming annual density band couplets.Coral microatolls grow at or near the sea surface, where coral REE concentrations are mostsensitive to dust deposition. Our study site off the west coast of Haiti is down stream of light-REE depleted bedrock whereas REE in African dust, transported by the easterly trade winds,reflect average crustal abundances. This unique "upstream" source signature allows forterrestrial contamination of the dust-wind signal to be ruled out. Light REE concentrations (esp.Nd and Pr) demonstrate an order of magnitude increase within coral aragonite coincident withmajor African dust plume events throughout the past decade, with Nd/Ca and Pr/Ca increasingfrom an average of 27 nmol/mol to an average 144 nmol/mol and an average of 5 nmol/mol toan average of 37 nmol/mol, respectively, during major African dust plume events. Monthly-resolved REE analysis shows these REE peaks coincide with the summer dust season rather thanHaiti's two wet seasons in spring and autumn. Regression of our coral REE dust proxy tosatellite records of

  12. Dust Devil Tracks

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    2002-01-01

    (Released 8 May 2002) The Science This image, centered near 50.0 S and 17.7 W displays dust devil tracks on the surface. Most of the lighter portions of the image likely have a thin veneer of dust settled on the surface. As a dust devil passes over the surface, it acts as a vacuum and picks up the dust, leaving the darker substrate exposed. In this image there is a general trend of many of the tracks running from east to west or west to east, indicating the general wind direction. There is often no general trend present in dust devil tracks seen in other images. The track patterns are quite ephemeral and can completely change or even disappear over the course of a few months. Dust devils are one of the mechanisms that Mars uses to constantly pump dust into the ubiquitously dusty atmosphere. This atmospheric dust is one of the main driving forces of the present Martian climate. The Story Vrrrrooooooooom. Think of a tornado, the cartoon Tasmanian devil, or any number of vacuum commercials that powerfully suck up swirls of dust and dirt. That's pretty much what it's like on the surface of Mars a lot of the time. Whirlpools of wind called

  13. Dust and molecular shells in asymptotic giant branch stars

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhao-Geisler, R.; Quirrenbach, A.; Köhler, R.; Lopez, B.

    2012-09-01

    Context. Asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars are one of the largest distributors of dust into the interstellar medium. However, the wind formation mechanism and dust condensation sequence leading to the observed high mass-loss rates have not yet been constrained well observationally, in particular for oxygen-rich AGB stars. Aims: The immediate objective in this work is to identify molecules and dust species which are present in the layers above the photosphere, and which have emission and absorption features in the mid-infrared (IR), causing the diameter to vary across the N-band, and are potentially relevant for the wind formation. Methods: Mid-IR (8-13 μm) interferometric data of four oxygen-rich AGB stars (R Aql, R Aqr, R Hya, and W Hya) and one carbon-rich AGB star (V Hya) were obtained with MIDI/VLTI between April 2007 and September 2009. The spectrally dispersed visibility data are analyzed by fitting a circular fully limb-darkened disk (FDD). Results: The FDD diameter as function of wavelength is similar for all oxygen-rich stars. The apparent size is almost constant between 8 and 10 μm and gradually increases at wavelengths longer than 10 μm. The apparent FDD diameter in the carbon-rich star V Hya essentially decreases from 8 to 12 μm. The FDD diameters are about 2.2 times larger than the photospheric diameters estimated from K-band observations found in the literature. The silicate dust shells of R Aql, R Hya and W Hya are located fairly far away from the star, while the silicate dust shell of R Aqr and the amorphous carbon (AMC) and SiC dust shell of V Hya are found to be closer to the star at around 8 photospheric radii. Phase-to-phase variations of the diameters of the oxygen-rich stars could be measured and are on the order of 15% but with large uncertainties. Conclusions: From a comparison of the diameter trend with the trends in RR Sco and S Ori it can be concluded that in oxygen-rich stars the overall larger diameter originates from a warm

  14. Re-Evaluation of Dust Radiative Forcing Using Remote Measurements of Dust Absorption

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Kaufman, Yoram J.; Tanre, Didier; Karnieli, Arnon; Remer, Lorraine A.

    1998-01-01

    Spectral remote observations of dust properties from space and from the ground creates a powerful tool for determination of dust absorption of solar radiation with an unprecedented accuracy. Absorption is a key component in understanding dust impact on climate. We use Landsat spaceborne measurements at 0.47 to 2.2 microns over Senegal with ground based sunphotometers to find that Saharan dust absorption of solar radiation is two to four times smaller than in models. Though dust absorbs in the blue, almost no absorption was found for wavelengths greater 0.6 microns. The new finding increases by 50% recent estimated solar radiative forcing by dust and decreases the estimated dust heating of the lower troposphere. Dust transported from Asia shows slightly higher absorption probably due to the presence of black carbon from populated regions. Large scale application of this method to satellite data from the Earth Observing System can reduce significantly the uncertainty in the dust radiative effects.

  15. Planck early results. XXV. Thermal dust in nearby molecular clouds

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Planck Collaboration; Abergel, A.; Ade, P. A. R.; Aghanim, N.; Arnaud, M.; Ashdown, M.; Aumont, J.; Baccigalupi, C.; Balbi, A.; Banday, A. J.; Barreiro, R. B.; Bartlett, J. G.; Battaner, E.; Benabed, K.; Benoît, A.; Bernard, J.-P.; Bersanelli, M.; Bhatia, R.; Bock, J. J.; Bonaldi, A.; Bond, J. R.; Borrill, J.; Bouchet, F. R.; Boulanger, F.; Bucher, M.; Burigana, C.; Cabella, P.; Cardoso, J.-F.; Catalano, A.; Cayón, L.; Challinor, A.; Chamballu, A.; Chiang, L.-Y.; Chiang, C.; Christensen, P. R.; Clements, D. L.; Colombi, S.; Couchot, F.; Coulais, A.; Crill, B. P.; Cuttaia, F.; Danese, L.; Davies, R. D.; Davis, R. J.; de Bernardis, P.; de Gasperis, G.; de Rosa, A.; de Zotti, G.; Delabrouille, J.; Delouis, J.-M.; Désert, F.-X.; Dickinson, C.; Dobashi, K.; Donzelli, S.; Doré, O.; Dörl, U.; Douspis, M.; Dupac, X.; Efstathiou, G.; Enßlin, T. A.; Eriksen, H. K.; Finelli, F.; Forni, O.; Frailis, M.; Franceschi, E.; Galeotta, S.; Ganga, K.; Giard, M.; Giardino, G.; Giraud-Héraud, Y.; González-Nuevo, J.; Górski, K. M.; Gratton, S.; Gregorio, A.; Gruppuso, A.; Guillet, V.; Hansen, F. K.; Harrison, D.; Henrot-Versillé, S.; Herranz, D.; Hildebrandt, S. R.; Hivon, E.; Hobson, M.; Holmes, W. A.; Hovest, W.; Hoyland, R. J.; Huffenberger, K. M.; Jaffe, A. H.; Jones, A.; Jones, W. C.; Juvela, M.; Keihänen, E.; Keskitalo, R.; Kisner, T. S.; Kneissl, R.; Knox, L.; Kurki-Suonio, H.; Lagache, G.; Lamarre, J.-M.; Lasenby, A.; Laureijs, R. J.; Lawrence, C. R.; Leach, S.; Leonardi, R.; Leroy, C.; Linden-Vørnle, M.; López-Caniego, M.; Lubin, P. M.; Macías-Pérez, J. F.; MacTavish, C. J.; Maffei, B.; Mandolesi, N.; Mann, R.; Maris, M.; Marshall, D. J.; Martin, P.; Martínez-González, E.; Masi, S.; Matarrese, S.; Matthai, F.; Mazzotta, P.; McGehee, P.; Meinhold, P. R.; Melchiorri, A.; Mendes, L.; Mennella, A.; Mitra, S.; Miville-Deschênes, M.-A.; Moneti, A.; Montier, L.; Morgante, G.; Mortlock, D.; Munshi, D.; Murphy, A.; Naselsky, P.; Natoli, P.; Netterfield, C. B.; Nørgaard-Nielsen, H. U.; Noviello, F.; Novikov, D.; Novikov, I.; Osborne, S.; Pajot, F.; Paladini, R.; Pasian, F.; Patanchon, G.; Perdereau, O.; Perotto, L.; Perrotta, F.; Piacentini, F.; Piat, M.; Plaszczynski, S.; Pointecouteau, E.; Polenta, G.; Ponthieu, N.; Poutanen, T.; Prézeau, G.; Prunet, S.; Puget, J.-L.; Reach, W. T.; Rebolo, R.; Reinecke, M.; Renault, C.; Ricciardi, S.; Riller, T.; Ristorcelli, I.; Rocha, G.; Rosset, C.; Rubiño-Martín, J. A.; Rusholme, B.; Sandri, M.; Santos, D.; Savini, G.; Scott, D.; Seiffert, M. D.; Shellard, P.; Smoot, G. F.; Starck, J.-L.; Stivoli, F.; Stolyarov, V.; Sudiwala, R.; Sygnet, J.-F.; Tauber, J. A.; Terenzi, L.; Toffolatti, L.; Tomasi, M.; Torre, J.-P.; Tristram, M.; Tuovinen, J.; Umana, G.; Valenziano, L.; Verstraete, L.; Vielva, P.; Villa, F.; Vittorio, N.; Wade, L. A.; Wandelt, B. D.; Yvon, D.; Zacchei, A.; Zonca, A.

    2011-12-01

    Planck allows unbiased mapping of Galactic sub-millimetre and millimetre emission from the most diffuse regions to the densest parts of molecular clouds. We present an early analysis of the Taurus molecular complex, on line-of-sight-averaged data and without component separation. The emission spectrum measured by Planck and IRAS can be fitted pixel by pixel using a single modified blackbody. Some systematic residuals are detected at 353 GHz and 143 GHz, with amplitudes around -7% and +13%, respectively, indicating that the measured spectra are likely more complex than a simple modified blackbody. Significant positive residuals are also detected in the molecular regions and in the 217 GHz and 100 GHz bands, mainly caused by the contribution of the J = 2 → 1 and J = 1 → 0 12CO and 13CO emission lines. We derive maps of the dust temperature T, the dust spectral emissivity index β, and the dust optical depth at 250 μm τ250. The temperature map illustrates the cooling of the dust particles in thermal equilibrium with the incident radiation field, from 16 - 17 K in the diffuse regions to 13 - 14 K in the dense parts. The distribution of spectral indices is centred at 1.78, with a standard deviation of 0.08 and a systematic error of 0.07. We detect a significant T - β anti-correlation. The dust optical depth map reveals the spatial distribution of the column density of the molecular complex from the densest molecular regions to the faint diffuse regions. We use near-infrared extinction and Hi data at 21-cm to perform a quantitative analysis of the spatial variations of the measured dust optical depth at 250 μm per hydrogen atom τ250/NH. We report an increase of τ250/NH by a factor of about 2 between the atomic phase and the molecular phase, which has a strong impact on the equilibrium temperature of the dust particles. Corresponding author: A. Abergel, e-mail: alain.abergel@ias.u-psud.fr

  16. Inactivation of dust mites, dust mite allergen, and mold from carpet.

    PubMed

    Ong, Kee-Hean; Lewis, Roger D; Dixit, Anupma; MacDonald, Maureen; Yang, Mingan; Qian, Zhengmin

    2014-01-01

    Carpet is known to be a reservoir for biological contaminants, such as dust mites, dust mite allergen, and mold, if it is not kept clean. The accumulation of these contaminants in carpet might trigger allergies or asthma symptoms in both children and adults. The purpose of this study is to compare methods for removal of dust mites, dust mite allergens, and mold from carpet. Carpets were artificially worn to simulate 1 to 2 years of wear in a four-person household. The worn carpets were inoculated together with a common indoor mold (Cladosporium species) and house dust mites and incubated for 6 weeks to allow time for dust mite growth on the carpet. The carpets were randomly assigned to one of the four treatment groups. Available treatment regimens for controlling carpet contaminants were evaluated through a literature review and experimentation. Four moderately low-hazard, nondestructive methods were selected as treatments: vacuuming, steam-vapor, Neem oil (a natural tree extract), and benzalkonium chloride (a quaternary ammonium compound). Steam vapor treatment demonstrated the greatest dust mite population reduction (p < 0.05) when compared to other methods. The two physical methods, steam vapor and vacuuming, have no statistically significant efficacy in inactivating dust mite allergens (p = 0.084), but have higher efficacy when compared to the chemical method on dust mite allergens (p = 0.002). There is no statistically significant difference in the efficacy for reducing mold in carpet (p > 0.05) for both physical and chemical methods. The steam-vapor treatment effectively killed dust mites and denatured dust mite allergen in the laboratory environment.

  17. Development of an electrostatic dust detector for tungsten dust

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Starkey, D.; Hammond, K.; Roquemore, L.; Skinner, C. H.

    2012-10-01

    Next-step fusion reactors, such as ITER, are expected to have large quantities of dust that will present hazards that have yet to be encountered in current fusion devices. To manage the amount of dust within the reactors a real-time dust detector must be implemented to ensure that dust does not reach hazardous levels. An electrostatic device that accomplishes this has already been tested on NSTX and Tore Supra [1,2]. We will present modifications of this device to improve its ruggedness to withstand the conditions that will be present in ITER. The detector consists of two tungsten wires wrapped around a macor cylinder that are biased at 100-300 V. Incident dust causes a measurable transient short circuit. Initial results have demonstrated the detection of tungsten particles. We will also present a potential method of electrostatic cleaning of residual dust from the detector.[4pt] [1] C. H. Skinner et al., Rev. Sci. Instrum., 81, 10E102 (2010)[0pt] [2] H. Roche et al., Phys. Scr., T145, (2011).

  18. Observations of silicate reststrahlen bands in lunar infrared spectra

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Potter, A. E., Jr.; Morgan, T. H.

    1982-01-01

    Thermal emission spectra of three lunar sites (Apollo 11, Descartes Formation, and Tycho central peak) are measured in the 8-14 micron spectral range. Transmission and instrument effects are accounted for by forming ratios of the Descartes and Tycho spectra to the Apollo 11 spectrum. The ratio spectra are compared with ratios of published laboratory spectra of returned lunar samples and also with ratio spectra calculated using the Aronson-Emslie (1975) model. The comparisons show pyroxene bands in the Descartes ratio spectrum and plagioclase bands in the Tycho ratio spectrum. The Tycho spectrum is found to be consistent with the existence of fine plagioclase dust (approximately 1 micron) at the rock surface and a higher-than-usual sodium content of the plagioclase.

  19. Interactive Soil Dust Aerosol Model in the GISS GCM. Part 1; Sensitivity of the Soil Dust Cycle to Radiative Properties of Soil Dust Aerosols

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Perlwitz, Jan; Tegen, Ina; Miller, Ron L.

    2000-01-01

    The sensitivity of the soil dust aerosol cycle to the radiative forcing by soil dust aerosols is studied. Four experiments with the NASA/GISS atmospheric general circulation model, which includes a soil dust aerosol model, are compared, all using a prescribed climatological sea surface temperature as lower boundary condition. In one experiment, dust is included as dynamic tracer only (without interacting with radiation), whereas dust interacts with radiation in the other simulations. Although the single scattering albedo of dust particles is prescribed to be globally uniform in the experiments with radiatively active dust, a different single scattering albedo is used in those experiments to estimate whether regional variations in dust optical properties, corresponding to variations in mineralogical composition among different source regions, are important for the soil dust cycle and the climate state. On a global scale, the radiative forcing by dust generally causes a reduction in the atmospheric dust load corresponding to a decreased dust source flux. That is, there is a negative feedback in the climate system due to the radiative effect of dust. The dust source flux and its changes were analyzed in more detail for the main dust source regions. This analysis shows that the reduction varies both with the season and with the single scattering albedo of the dust particles. By examining the correlation with the surface wind, it was found that the dust emission from the Saharan/Sahelian source region and from the Arabian peninsula, along with the sensitivity of the emission to the single scattering albedo of dust particles, are related to large scale circulation patterns, in particular to the trade winds during Northern Hemisphere winter and to the Indian monsoon circulation during summer. In the other regions, such relations to the large scale circulation were not found. There, the dependence of dust deflation to radiative forcing by dust particles is probably

  20. Kuiper Belt Dust Grains as a Source of Interplanetary Dust Particles

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Liou, Jer-Chyi; Zook, Herbert A.; Dermott, Stanley F.

    1996-01-01

    The recent discovery of the so-called Kuiper belt objects has prompted the idea that these objects produce dust grains that may contribute significantly to the interplanetary dust population. In this paper, the orbital evolution of dust grains, of diameters 1 to 9 microns, that originate in the region of the Kuiper belt is studied by means of direct numerical integration. Gravitational forces of the Sun and planets, solar radiation pressure, as well as Poynting-Robertson drag and solar wind drag are included. The interactions between charged dust grains and solar magnetic field are not considered in the model. Because of the effects of drag forces, small dust grains will spiral toward the Sun once they are released from their large parent bodies. This motion leads dust grains to pass by planets as well as encounter numerous mean motion resonances associated with planets. Our results show that about 80% of the Kuiper belt grains are ejected from the Solar System by the giant planets, while the remaining 20% of the grains evolve all the way to the Sun. Surprisingly, the latter dust grains have small orbital eccentricities and inclinations when they cross the orbit of the Earth. This makes them behave more like asteroidal than cometary-type dust particles. This also enhances their chances of being captured by the Earth and makes them a possible source of the collected interplanetary dust particles; in particular, they represent a possible source that brings primitive/organic materials from the outer Solar System to the Earth. When collisions with interstellar dust grains are considered, however, Kuiper belt dust grains around 9 microns appear likely to be collisionally shattered before they can evolve toward the inner part of the Solar System. The collision destruction can be applied to Kuiper belt grains up to about 50 microns. Therefore, Kuiper belt dust grains within this range may not be a significant part of the interplanetary dust complex in the inner Solar

  1. Satellite Reveals How Much Saharan Dust Feeds Amazon's Plants

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2015-02-24

    What connects Earth's largest, hottest desert to its largest tropical rainforest? The Sahara Desert is a near-uninterrupted brown band of sand and scrub across the northern third of Africa. The Amazon rainforest is a dense green mass of humid jungle that covers northeast South America. But after strong winds sweep across the Sahara, a tan cloud rises in the air, stretches between the continents, and ties together the desert and the jungle. It’s dust. And lots of it. For the first time, a NASA satellite has quantified in three dimensions how much dust makes this trans-Atlantic journey. Scientists have not only measured the volume of dust, they have also calculated how much phosphorus – a natural plant fertilizer present in Saharan sands from part of the desert’s past as a lake bed – gets carried across the ocean from one of the planet’s most desolate places to one of its most fertile. NASA image use policy. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. Follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook Find us on Instagram

  2. Occupational asthma and IgE sensitization to grain dust.

    PubMed Central

    Park, H. S.; Nahm, D. H.; Suh, C. H.; Kwon, O. Y.; Kim, K. S.; Lee, S. W.; Chung, H. K.

    1998-01-01

    To evaluate type I hypersensitivity to grain dust (GD), its prevalence and relationship to respiratory dysfunction, we studied clinical and immunologic features, including skin prick tests (SPT), serum specific IgE, and bronchoprovocation tests of 43 employees working in the animal feed industry. To further characterize IgE-mediated reaction, SDS-PAGE and electroblot studies were performed. Our survey revealed that 15 (34.9%) subjects had work-related skin response (> or =2+ of A/H ratio) to GD, thirteen (30.2%) had high specific IgE antibody against GD. The specific IgE antibody was detected more frequently in symptomatic workers (40%) than in asymptomatic workers (11%). Significant association was found between specific IgE antibody and atopy or smoking (p<0.05). The ELISA inhibition test of GD revealed significant inhibitions by GD extract and minimal inhibitions by the house dust mite, storage mite and corn dust. Immunoblot analysis showed 8 IgE binding components within GD ranging from 13.5 to 142.5 kDa. Two bands (13.5, 33 kDa) were bound to the IgE from more than 50% of the 14 sera tested. In conclusion, these findings suggest that GD inhalation could induce IgE-mediated bronchoconstriction in exposed workers. PMID:9681805

  3. Occupational asthma and IgE sensitization to grain dust.

    PubMed

    Park, H S; Nahm, D H; Suh, C H; Kwon, O Y; Kim, K S; Lee, S W; Chung, H K

    1998-06-01

    To evaluate type I hypersensitivity to grain dust (GD), its prevalence and relationship to respiratory dysfunction, we studied clinical and immunologic features, including skin prick tests (SPT), serum specific IgE, and bronchoprovocation tests of 43 employees working in the animal feed industry. To further characterize IgE-mediated reaction, SDS-PAGE and electroblot studies were performed. Our survey revealed that 15 (34.9%) subjects had work-related skin response (> or =2+ of A/H ratio) to GD, thirteen (30.2%) had high specific IgE antibody against GD. The specific IgE antibody was detected more frequently in symptomatic workers (40%) than in asymptomatic workers (11%). Significant association was found between specific IgE antibody and atopy or smoking (p<0.05). The ELISA inhibition test of GD revealed significant inhibitions by GD extract and minimal inhibitions by the house dust mite, storage mite and corn dust. Immunoblot analysis showed 8 IgE binding components within GD ranging from 13.5 to 142.5 kDa. Two bands (13.5, 33 kDa) were bound to the IgE from more than 50% of the 14 sera tested. In conclusion, these findings suggest that GD inhalation could induce IgE-mediated bronchoconstriction in exposed workers.

  4. Global dust cycle

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ridgwell, Andy

    Dust, micron to submicron particles and mostly comprising soil mineral fragments, affects a multitude of climatic and biogeochemical processes during its journey from its sources on land to sinks on land and in the ocean. Suspended in the atmosphere, the presence of dust can alter both shortwave and longwave radiation balances, enhance cloud nucleation, and affect photochemical reaction rates. Deposited to the land surface, dust has beneficial impacts on soil quality but detrimental implications for human health. At the interface of surface ocean and lower atmosphere, dust deposited to seawater supplies plankton with the essential micronutrient iron and hence provides an important control on marine ecosystems. This chapter reviews these various roles of dust in the Earth system; summarizes the factors controlling the production, transport, and deposition of dust; and, because the causes and consequences of dust are interlinked via climate and atmospheric CO2, discusses the potential importance of dusty feedback in past and future climate change.

  5. Dust spectral energy distributions of nearby galaxies: an insight from the Herschel Reference Survey

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ciesla, L.; Boquien, M.; Boselli, A.; Buat, V.; Cortese, L.; Bendo, G. J.; Heinis, S.; Galametz, M.; Eales, S.; Smith, M. W. L.; Baes, M.; Bianchi, S.; De Looze, I.; di Serego Alighieri, S.; Galliano, F.; Hughes, T. M.; Madden, S. C.; Pierini, D.; Rémy-Ruyer, A.; Spinoglio, L.; Vaccari, M.; Viaene, S.; Vlahakis, C.

    2014-05-01

    Although it accounts only for a small fraction of the baryonic mass, dust has a profound impact on the physical processes at play in galaxies. Thus, to understand the evolution of galaxies, it is essential not only to characterize dust properties per se, but also in relation to global galaxy properties. To do so, we derive the dust properties of galaxies in a volume limited, K-band selected sample, the Herschel Reference Survey (HRS). We gather infrared photometric data from 8 μm to 500 μm from Spitzer, WISE, IRAS, and Herschel for all of the HRS galaxies. Draine & Li (2007, ApJ, 663, 866) models are fit to the data from which the stellar contribution has been carefully removed. We find that our photometric coverage is sufficient to constrain all of the parameters of the Draine & Li models and that a strong constraint on the 20-60 μm range is mandatory to estimate the relative contribution of the photo-dissociation regions to the infrared spectral energy distribution (SED). The SED models tend to systematically underestimate the observed 500 μm flux densities, especially for low-mass systems. We provide the output parameters for all of the galaxies, i.e., the minimum intensity of the interstellar radiation field, the fraction of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH), the relative contribution of PDR and evolved stellar population to the dust heating, the dust mass, and the infrared luminosity. For a subsample of gas-rich galaxies, we analyze the relations between these parameters and the main integrated properties of galaxies, such as stellar mass, star formation rate, infraredluminosity, metallicity, Hα and H-band surface brightness, and the far-ultraviolet attenuation. A good correlation between the fraction of PAH and the metallicity is found, implying a weakening of the PAH emission in galaxies with low metallicities and, thus, low stellar masses. The intensity of the diffuse interstellar radiation field and the H-band and Hα surface brightnesses are

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

    Chen, Christine H.; Mittal, Tushar; Kuchner, Marc

    During the Spitzer Space Telescope cryogenic mission, Guaranteed Time Observers, Legacy Teams, and General Observers obtained Infrared Spectrograph (IRS) observations of hundreds of debris disk candidates. We calibrated the spectra of 571 candidates, including 64 new IRAS and Multiband Imaging Photometer for Spitzer (MIPS) debris disks candidates, modeled their stellar photospheres, and produced a catalog of excess spectra for unresolved debris disks. For 499 targets with IRS excess but without strong spectral features (and a subset of 420 targets with additional MIPS 70 μm observations), we modeled the IRS (and MIPS data) assuming that the dust thermal emission was well-describedmore » using either a one- or two-temperature blackbody model. We calculated the probability for each model and computed the average probability to select among models. We found that the spectral energy distributions for the majority of objects (∼66%) were better described using a two-temperature model with warm (T {sub gr} ∼ 100-500 K) and cold (T {sub gr} ∼ 50-150 K) dust populations analogous to zodiacal and Kuiper Belt dust, suggesting that planetary systems are common in debris disks and zodiacal dust is common around host stars with ages up to ∼1 Gyr. We found that younger stars generally have disks with larger fractional infrared luminosities and higher grain temperatures and that higher-mass stars have disks with higher grain temperatures. We show that the increasing distance of dust around debris disks is inconsistent with self-stirred disk models, expected if these systems possess planets at 30-150 AU. Finally, we illustrate how observations of debris disks may be used to constrain the radial dependence of material in the minimum mass solar nebula.« less

  7. Dust Devil Tracks

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2017-03-06

    This image captured by NASA 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows dust devil tracks in Aonia Terra. As the dust devil moves along the surface it scours the dust and fine materials away, revealing the darker rocky surface below the dust. Orbit Number: 66962 Latitude: -68.8221 Longitude: 241.346 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2017-01-17 13:13 http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA21501

  8. Combustibility determination for cotton gin dust and almond huller dust

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    It has been documented that some dusts generated while processing agricultural products, such as grain and sugar (OSHA, 2009), can constitute combustible dust hazards. After a catastrophic dust explosion in a sugar refinery in 2008, OSHA initiated action to develop a mandatory standard to comprehen...

  9. Evolution of the dust-to-metals ratio in high-redshift galaxies probed by GRB-DLAs

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wiseman, P.; Schady, P.; Bolmer, J.; Krühler, T.; Yates, R. M.; Greiner, J.; Fynbo, J. P. U.

    2017-03-01

    Context. Several issues regarding the nature of dust at high redshift remain unresolved: its composition, its production and growth mechanisms, and its effect on background sources. Aims: We provide a more accurate relation between dust depletion levels and dust-to-metals ratio (DTM), and to use the DTM to investigate the origin and evolution of dust in the high-redshift Universe via gamma-ray burst damped Lyman-alpha absorbers (GRB-DLAs). Methods: We use absorption-line measured metal column densities for a total of 19 GRB-DLAs, including five new GRB afterglow spectra from VLT/X-Shooter. We use the latest linear models to calculate the dust depletion strength factor in each DLA. Using these values we calculate total dust and metal column densities to determine a DTM. We explore the evolution of DTM with metallicity, and compare it to previous trends in DTM measured with different methods. Results: We find significant dust depletion in 16 of our 19 GRB-DLAs, yet 18 of the 19 have a DTM significantly lower than the Milky Way. We find that DTM is positively correlated with metallicity, which supports a dominant ISM grain-growth mode of dust formation. We find a substantial discrepancy between the dust content measured from depletion and that derived from the total V-band extinction, AV, measured by fitting the afterglow SED. We advise against using a measurement from one method to estimate that from the other until the discrepancy can be resolved. Based on observations collected at the European Southern Observatory, Paranal, Chile, Program IDs: 088.A-0051(B), 089.A-0067(B), 091.C-0934, 094.A-0134(A).

  10. The WIRED Survey. IV. New Dust Disks from the McCook & Sion White Dwarf Catalog

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Hoard, D.W.; Debes, John H.; Wachter, Stefanie; Leisawitz, David T.; Cohen, Martin

    2013-01-01

    We have compiled photometric data from the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer All Sky Survey and other archival sources for the more than 2200 objects in the original McCook & Sion Catalog of Spectroscopically Identified White Dwarfs. We applied color-selection criteria to identify 28 targets whose infrared spectral energy distributions depart from the expectation for the white dwarf photosphere alone. Seven of these are previously known white dwarfs with circumstellar dust disks, five are known central stars of planetary nebulae, and six were excluded for being known binaries or having possible contamination of their infrared photometry. We fit white dwarf models to the spectral energy distributions of the remaining ten targets, and find seven new candidates with infrared excess suggesting the presence of a circumstellar dust disk. We compare the model dust disk properties for these new candidates with a comprehensive compilation of previously published parameters for known white dwarfs with dust disks. It is possible that the current census of white dwarfs with dust disks that produce an excess detectable at K-band and shorter wavelengths is close to complete for the entire sample of known WDs to the detection limits of existing near-IR all-sky surveys. The white dwarf dust disk candidates now being found using longer wavelength infrared data are drawn from a previously underrepresented region of parameter space, in which the dust disks are overall cooler, narrower in radial extent, and/or contain fewer emitting grains.

  11. Imaging the asymmetric dust shell around CI Cam with long baseline optical interferometry

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Thureau, N. D.; Monnier, J. D.; Traub, W. A.; Millan-Gabet, R.; Pedretti, E.; Berger, J.-P.; Garcia, M. R.; Schloerb, F. P.; Tannirkulam, A.-K.

    2009-09-01

    We present the first high angular resolution observation of the B[e] star/X-ray transient object CI Cam, performed with the two-telescope Infrared Optical Telescope Array (IOTA), its upgraded three-telescope version (IOTA3T) and the Palomar Testbed Interferometer (PTI). Visibilities and closure phases were obtained using the IONIC-3 integrated optics beam combiner. CI Cam was observed in the near-infrared H and K spectral bands, wavelengths well suited to measure the size and study the geometry of the hot dust surrounding CI Cam. The analysis of the visibility data over an 8yr period from soon after the 1998 outburst to 2006 shows that the dust visibility has not changed over the years. The visibility data show that CI Cam is elongated which confirms the disc-shape of the circumstellar environment and totally rules out the hypothesis of a spherical dust shell. Closure phase measurements show direct evidence of asymmetries in the circumstellar environment of CI Cam and we conclude that the dust surrounding CI Cam lies in an inhomogeneous disc seen at an angle. The near-infrared dust emission appears as an elliptical skewed Gaussian ring with a major axis a = 7.58 +/- 0.24mas, an axis ratio r = 0.39 +/- 0.03 and a position angle θ = 35° +/- 2°.

  12. Constraining martian atmospheric dust particle size distributions from MER Navcam observations.

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Soderblom, J. M.; Smith, M. D.

    2017-12-01

    Atmospheric dust plays an important role in atmospheric dynamics by absorbing energy and influencing the thermal structure of the atmosphere [1]. The efficiency by which dust absorbs energy depends on its size and single-scattering albedo. Characterizing these properties and their variability is, thus, important in modeling atmospheric circulation. Near-sun observations of the martian sky from Viking Lander, Mars Pathfinder, and MER Pancam images have been used to characterize the atmospheric scattering phase function. The forward-scattering peak the atmospheric phase function is primarily controlled by the size of aerosol particles and is less sensitive to atmospheric opacity or particle shape and single-scattering albedo [2]. These observations, however, have been limited to scattering angles >5°. We use the MER Navcams, which experience little-to-no debilitating internal instrumental scattered light during near-Sun imaging, enabling measurements of the brightness of the martian sky down to very small scattering angles [3], making them more sensitive to aerosol particle size. Additionally, the Navcams band-pass wavelength is similar to the dust effective particle size, further increasing this sensitivity. These data sample a wide range of atmospheric conditions, including variations in the atmospheric dust loading across the entire martian year, as well as more rapid variations during the onset and dissipation of a global-scale dust storm. General circulation models (GCMs) predict a size-dependence for the transport of dust during dust storms that would result in both spatial (on regional-to-global scales) and temporal (days-to-months) variations in the dust size distribution [4]. The absolute calibration of these data, however, is limited. The instrument temperature measurement is limited to a single thermocouple on the Opportunity left Navcam CCD, and observations of the calibration target by Navcam are infrequent. We discuss ways to mitigate these

  13. Summertime Dust Devil

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    2003-01-01

    MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-464, 26 August 2003

    Dust devils are spinning, columnar vortices of air that move across a landscape, picking up dust as they go. They are common occurrences during summer on Mars. This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image, acquired during northern summer, shows a dust devil in the Phlegra region of Mars near 32.0oN, 182.1oW. Sunlight illuminates the scene from the lower left; the dust devil is casting a columnar shadow toward the upper right. Some dust devils on Mars make streaks as they disrupt the fine coating of dust on the surface--but others do not make streaks. This one did not make a streak. The view shown here is 3 km (1.9 mi) wide.

  14. Detecting and tracking dust outbreaks by using high temporal resolution satellite data

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sannazzaro, Filomena; Marchese, Francesco; Filizzola, Carolina; Tramutoli, Valerio; Pergola, Nicola; Mazzeo, Giuseppe; Paciello, Rossana

    2013-04-01

    A dust storm is a meteorological phenomenon generated by the action of wind, mainly in arid and semi-arid regions of the planet, particularly at subtropical latitudes. Dust outbreaks, of which frequency increases from year to year concurrently with climate change and reduction of moisture in the soil, may strongly impact on human activity as well as on environment and climate. Efficient early warning systems are then required to monitor them and to mitigate their effects. Satellite remote sensing thanks to a global coverage, to a high frequency of observation and low costs of data represents an important tool for studying and monitoring dust outbreaks. Several techniques have been then proposed to detect and monitor these phenomena from space, analyzing signal in different bands of the electromagnetic spectrum. In particular, methods based on the reverse absorption behaviour of silicate particles in comparison with ice crystals and water droplets, at 11 and 12 micron wavelengths, have been largely employed for detecting dust, although some important issues both in terms of reliability and sensitivity still remain. In this work, an optimized configuration of an innovative algorithm for dust detection, based on the largely accepted Robust Satellite Techniques (RST) multi-temporal approach, is then presented. This optimized algorithm configuration is tested here on Spinning Enhanced Visible and Infrared Imager (SEVIRI) data, analyzing some important dust events affecting Mediterranean basin in recent years. Results of this study, assessed on the basis of independent satellite-based aerosol products, generated by using the Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS), the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI), and the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data, show that when the spectral resolution of SEVIRI is properly exploited dust and meteorological clouds may be better discriminated. These results encourage further experimentations of the proposed

  15. Integrative Analysis of Desert Dust Size and Abundance Suggests Less Dust Climate Cooling

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Kok, Jasper F.; Ridley, David A.; Zhou, Qing; Miller, Ron L.; Zhao, Chun; Heald, Colette L.; Ward, Daniel S.; Albani, Samuel; Haustein, Karsten

    2017-01-01

    Desert dust aerosols affect Earths global energy balance through interactions with radiation, clouds, and ecosystems. But the magnitudes of these effects are so uncertain that it remains unclear whether atmospheric dust has a net warming or cooling effect on global climate. Consequently, it is still uncertain whether large changes in atmospheric dust loading over the past century have slowed or accelerated anthropogenic climate change, and the climate impact of possible future alterations in dust loading is similarly disputed. Here we use an integrative analysis of dust aerosol sizes and abundance to constrain the climatic impact of dust through direct interactions with radiation. Using a combination of observational, experimental, and model data, we find that atmospheric dust is substantially coarser than represented in current climate models. Since coarse dust warms global climate, the dust direct radiative effect (DRE) is likely less cooling than the 0.4 W m superscript 2 estimated by models in a current ensemble. We constrain the dust DRE to -0.20 (-0.48 to +0.20) W m superscript 2, which suggests that the dust DRE produces only about half the cooling that current models estimate, and raises the possibility that dust DRE is actually net warming the planet.

  16. A numerical study on dust devils with implications to global dust budget estimates

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    The estimates of the contribution of dust devils (DDs) to the global dust budget have large uncertainties because the dust emission mechanisms in DDs are not yet well understood. In this study, a large-eddy simulation model coupled with a dust scheme is used to investigate DD dust entrainment. DDs a...

  17. Lighthouse in the dust: infrared echoes of periodic emission from massive black hole binaries★

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    D'Orazio, Daniel J.; Haiman, Zoltán

    2017-09-01

    The optical and UV emission from sub-parsec massive black hole binaries (MBHBs) in active galactic nuclei (AGNs) is believed to vary periodically, on time-scales comparable to the binary's orbital time. If driven by accretion rate fluctuations, the variability could be isotropic. If dominated by relativistic Doppler modulation, the variability should instead be anisotropic, resembling a rotating forward-beamed lighthouse. We consider the infrared (IR) reverberation of either type of periodic emission by pc-scale circumbinary dust tori. We predict the phase and amplitude of IR variability as a function of the ratio of dust light crossing time to the source variability period, and of the torus inclination and opening angle. We enumerate several differences between the isotropic and anisotropic cases. Interestingly, for a nearly face-on binary with an inclined dust torus, the Doppler boost can produce IR variability without any observable optical/UV variability. Such orphan-IR variability would have been missed in optical searches for periodic AGNs. We apply our models to time-domain WISE IR data from the MBHB candidate PG 1302-102 and find consistency with dust reverberation by both isotropically emitting and Doppler-boosted sources in the shorter wavelength W1-W2 (2.8 → 5.3 μm) bands. We constrain the dust torus to be thin (aspect ratio ˜ 0.1), with an inner radius at 1-5 pc. More generally, our dust-echo models will aid in identifying new MBHB candidates, determining their nature and constraining the physical properties of MBHBs and their dust tori.

  18. Radial decoupling of small and large dust grains in the transitional disk RX J1615.3-3255

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kooistra, Robin; Kamp, Inga; Fukagawa, Misato; Ménard, François; Momose, Munetake; Tsukagoshi, Takashi; Kudo, Tomoyuki; Kusakabe, Nobuhiko; Hashimoto, Jun; Abe, Lyu; Brandner, Wolfgang; Brandt, Timothy D.; Carson, Joseph C.; Egner, Sebastian E.; Feldt, Markus; Goto, Miwa; Grady, Carol A.; Guyon, Olivier; Hayano, Yutaka; Hayashi, Masahiko; Hayashi, Saeko S.; Henning, Thomas; Hodapp, Klaus W.; Ishii, Miki; Iye, Masanori; Janson, Markus; Kandori, Ryo; Knapp, Gillian R.; Kuzuhara, Masayuki; Kwon, Jungmi; Matsuo, Taro; McElwain, Michael W.; Miyama, Shoken; Morino, Jun-Ichi; Moro-Martin, Amaya; Nishimura, Tetsuo; Pyo, Tae-Soo; Serabyn, Eugene; Suenaga, Takuya; Suto, Hiroshi; Suzuki, Ryuji; Takahashi, Yasuhiro H.; Takami, Michihiro; Takato, Naruhisa; Terada, Hiroshi; Thalmann, Christian; Tomono, Daigo; Turner, Edwin L.; Watanabe, Makoto; Wisniewski, John; Yamada, Toru; Takami, Hideki; Usuda, Tomonori; Tamura, Motohide; Currie, Thayne; Akiyama, Eiji; Mayama, Satoshi; Follette, Katherine B.; Nakagawa, Takao

    2017-01-01

    We present H-band (1.6 μm) scattered light observations of the transitional disk RX J1615.3-3255, located in the 1 Myr old Lupus association. From a polarized intensity image, taken with the HiCIAO instrument of the Subaru Telescope, we deduce the position angle and the inclination angle of the disk. The disk is found to extend out to 68 ± 12 AU in scattered light and no clear structure is observed. Our inner working angle of 24 AU does not allow us to detect a central decrease in intensity similar to that seen at 30 AU in the 880 μm continuum observations. We compare the observations with multiple disk models based on the spectral energy distribution (SED) and submm interferometry and find that an inner rim of the outer disk at 30 AU containing small silicate grains produces a polarized intensity signal which is an order of magnitude larger than observed. We show that a model in which the small dust grains extend smoothly into the cavity found for large grains is closer to the actual H-band observations. A comparison of models with different dust size distributions suggests that the dust in the disk might have undergone significant processing compared to the interstellar medium.

  19. Radial decoupling of small and large dust grains in the transitional disk RX J1615.3-3255

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Kooistra, Robin; Kamp, Inga; Fukagawa, Misato; Menard, Francois; Momose, Munetake; Tsukagoshi, Takashi; Kudo, Tomoyuki; Kusakabe, Nobuhiko; Hashimoto, Jun; Abe, Lyu; hide

    2017-01-01

    We present H-band (1.6 micron) scattered light observations of the transitional disk RX J1615.3-3255, located in the approx. 1 Myr old Lupus association. From a polarized intensity image, taken with the HiCIAO instrument of the Subaru Telescope, we deduce the position angle and the inclination angle of the disk. The disk is found to extend out to 68 +/- 12 AU in scattered light and no clear structure is observed. Our inner working angle of 24 AU does not allow us to detect a central decrease in intensity similar to that seen at 30 AU in the 880 m continuum observations. We compare the observations with multiple disk models based on the spectral energy distribution (SED) and submm interferometry and find that an inner rim of the outer disk at 30 AU containing small silicate grains produces a polarized intensity signal which is an order of magnitude larger than observed. We show that a model in which the small dust grains extend smoothly into the cavity found for large grains is closer to the actual H-band observations. A comparison of models with different dust size distributions suggests that the dust in the disk might have undergone significant processing compared to the interstellar medium.

  20. Dust Properties of Local Dust-obscured Galaxies with the Submillimeter Array

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hwang, Ho Seong; Andrews, Sean M.; Geller, Margaret J.

    2013-11-01

    We report Submillimeter Array observations of the 880 μm dust continuum emission for four dust-obscured galaxies (DOGs) in the local universe. Two DOGs are clearly detected with S ν(880 μm) =10-13 mJy and S/N > 5, but the other two are not detected with 3σ upper limits of S ν(880 μm) =5-9 mJy. Including an additional two local DOGs with submillimeter data from the literature, we determine the dust masses and temperatures for six local DOGs. The infrared luminosities and dust masses for these DOGs are in the ranges of 1.2-4.9 × 1011(L ⊙) and 4-14 × 107(M ⊙), respectively. The dust temperatures derived from a two-component modified blackbody function are 23-26 K and 60-124 K for the cold and warm dust components, respectively. Comparison of local DOGs with other infrared luminous galaxies with submillimeter detections shows that the dust temperatures and masses do not differ significantly among these objects. Thus, as argued previously, local DOGs are not a distinctive population among dusty galaxies, but simply represent the high-end tail of the dust obscuration distribution.

  1. Dust Destruction in the ISM: A Re-Evaluation of Dust Lifetimes

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Jones, A. P.; Nuth, J. A., III

    2011-01-01

    There is a long-standing conundrum in interstellar dust studies relating to the discrepancy between the time-scales for dust formation from evolved stars and the apparently more rapid destruction in supernova-generated shock waves. Aims. We re-examine some of the key issues relating to dust evolution and processing in the interstellar medium. Methods. We use recent and new constraints from observations, experiments, modelling and theory to re-evaluate dust formation in the interstellar medium (ISM). Results. We find that the discrepancy between the dust formation and destruction time-scales may not be as significant as has previously been assumed because of the very large uncertainties involved. Conclusions. The derived silicate dust lifetime could be compatible with its injection time-scale, given the inherent uncertainties in the dust lifetime calculation. The apparent need to re-form significant quantities of silicate dust in the tenuous interstellar medium may therefore not be a strong requirement. Carbonaceous matter, on the other hand, appears to be rapidly recycled in the ISM and, in contrast to silicates, there are viable mechanisms for its re-formation in the ISM.

  2. HERSCHEL OBSERVATIONS OF MAJOR MERGER PAIRS AT z = 0: DUST MASS AND STAR FORMATION

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

    Cao, Chen; Xu, Cong Kevin; Lu, Nanyao

    We present Herschel PACS and SPIRE far-infrared (FIR) and submillimeter imaging observations for a large K-band selected sample of 88 close major-merger pairs of galaxies (H-KPAIRs) in 6 photometric bands (70, 100, 160, 250, 350, and 500 μm). Among 132 spiral galaxies in the 44 spiral–spiral (S+S) pairs and 44 spiral–elliptical (S+E) pairs, 113 are detected in at least 1 Herschel band. The star formation rate (SFR) and dust mass (M{sub dust}) are derived from the IR SED fitting. The mass of total gas (M{sub gas}) is estimated by assuming a constant dust-to-gas mass ratio of 0.01. Star-forming spiral galaxiesmore » (SFGs) in S+S pairs show significant enhancements in both specific star formation rate (sSFR) and star formation efficiency (SFE), while having nearly the same gas mass compared to control galaxies. On the other hand, for SFGs in S+E pairs, there is no significant sSFR enhancement and the mean SFE enhancement is significantly lower than that of SFGs in S+S pairs. This suggests an important role for the disk–disk collision in the interaction-induced star formation. The M{sub gas} of SFGs in S+E pairs is marginally lower than that of their counterparts in both S+S pairs and the control sample. Paired galaxies with and without interaction signs do not differ significantly in their mean sSFR and SFE. As found in previous works, this much larger sample confirms that the primary and secondary spirals in S+S pairs follow a Holmberg effect correlation on sSFR.« less

  3. Improved Dust Forecast Products for Southwest Asia Forecasters through Dust Source Database Advancements

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Brooks, G. R.

    2011-12-01

    Dust storm forecasting is a critical part of military theater operations in Afghanistan and Iraq as well as other strategic areas of the globe. The Air Force Weather Agency (AFWA) has been using the Dust Transport Application (DTA) as a forecasting tool since 2001. Initially developed by The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHUAPL), output products include dust concentration and reduction of visibility due to dust. The performance of the products depends on several factors including the underlying dust source database, treatment of soil moisture, parameterization of dust processes, and validity of the input atmospheric model data. Over many years of analysis, seasonal dust forecast biases of the DTA have been observed and documented. As these products are unique and indispensible for U.S. and NATO forces, amendments were required to provide the best forecasts possible. One of the quickest ways to scientifically address the dust concentration biases noted over time was to analyze the weaknesses in, and adjust the dust source database. Dust source database strengths and weaknesses, the satellite analysis and adjustment process, and tests which confirmed the resulting improvements in the final dust concentration and visibility products will be shown.

  4. The cosmic transparency measured with Type Ia supernovae: implications for intergalactic dust

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Goobar, Ariel; Dhawan, Suhail; Scolnic, Daniel

    2018-06-01

    Observations of high-redshift Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) are used to study the cosmic transparency at optical wavelengths. Assuming a flat Λ cold dark matter (ΛCDM) cosmological model based on baryon acoustic oscillations and cosmic microwave background measurements, redshift dependent deviations of SN Ia distances are used to constrain mechanisms that would dim light. The analysis is based on the most recent Pantheon SN compilation, for which there is a 0.03 ± 0.01 {({stat})} mag discrepancy in the distant supernova distance moduli relative to the ΛCDM model anchored by supernovae at z < 0.05. While there are known systematic uncertainties that combined could explain the observed offset, here we entertain the possibility that the discrepancy may instead be explained by scattering of supernova light in the intergalactic medium (IGM). We focus on two effects: Compton scattering by free electrons and extinction by dust in the IGM. We find that if the discrepancy is entirely due to dimming by dust, the measurements can be modelled with a cosmic dust density Ω _IGM^dust = 8 × 10^{-5} (1+z)^{-1}, corresponding to an average attenuation of 2 × 10-5 mag Mpc-1 in V band. Forthcoming SN Ia studies may provide a definitive measurement of the IGM dust properties, while still providing an unbiased estimate of cosmological parameters by introducing additional parameters in the global fits to the observations.

  5. Determination of the size of the dust torus in H0507+164 through optical and infrared monitoring

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mandal, Amit Kumar; Rakshit, Suvendu; Kurian, Kshama S.; Stalin, C. S.; Mathew, Blesson; Hoenig, Sebastian; Gandhi, Poshak; Sagar, Ram; Pandge, M. B.

    2018-04-01

    The time delay between flux variations in different wavelength bands can be used to probe the inner regions of active galactic nuclei (AGNs). Here, we present the first measurements of the time delay between optical and near-infrared (NIR) flux variations in H0507+164, a nearby Seyfert 1.5 galaxy at z = 0.018. The observations in the optical V-band and NIR J, H, and Ks bands carried over 35 epochs during the period 2016 October to 2017 April were used to estimate the inner radius of the dusty torus. From a careful reduction and analysis of the data using cross-correlation techniques, we found delayed responses of the J, H, and Ks light curves to the V-band light curve. In the rest frame of the source, the lags between optical and NIR bands are found to be 27.1^{+13.5}_{-12.0} d (V versus J), 30.4^{+13.9}_{-12.0} d (V versus H) and 34.6^{+12.1}_{-9.6} d (V versus Ks). The lags between the optical and different NIR bands are thus consistent with each other. The measured lags indicate that the inner edge of dust torus is located at a distance of 0.029 pc from the central ultraviolet/optical AGN continuum. This is larger than the radius of the broad line region of this object determined from spectroscopic monitoring observations thereby supporting the unification model of AGN. The location of H0507+164 in the τ-MV plane indicates that our results are in excellent agreement with the now known lag-luminosity scaling relationship for dust in AGN.

  6. Properties and evolution of dust in the interstellar medium.

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Flagey, N.

    2007-10-01

    My thesis is dedicated to the properties and evolution of the dust in the Galactic interstellar medium (ISM), particularly the small sizes end of the dust size distribution. Throughout these three years, new infrared (IR) observations provided by the Spitzer Space Telescope helped me to bring my own contribution to the knowledge of the dust lifecycle. In order to get a view as global as possible, I have studied three different interstellar environments : the diffuse Galactic medium, a molecular cloud and a star forming region. I analyzed one line of sight that points towards the diffuse Galactic ISM, away from bright star forming regions. Combining spectroscopic and photometric data, I have built a mean Galactic near to mid IR spectrum of the dust, that I have afterwards used as a reference. The Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) bands are present on top of a continuum. In order to interpret the band intensity ratios in terms of PAHs size and ionization state, I have updated our dust model so that it takes into account the size dependent ionization state of the PAHs. The diffuse ISM spectrum is fit for a PAH mean size of about 60 carbon atoms and a cation fraction of about 40%. Molecular size and charged PAHs are thus present within the diffuse medium. A 3-5 μm continuum, first detected in reflection nebulae, is observed to be present in the diffuse ISM emission. This continuum accounts for 70% of the emission in the Spitzer/IRAC 3.6μm filter. Its origin is still unknown. I show that it is neither scattered light nor PAH fluorescence, as this process would require a photon conversion efficiency above 100%. I used Spitzer observations to quantify spatial variations of PAHs properties across the galaxy and on small scales within the Taurus molecular cloud. Analysis of a set of Galactic diffuse ISM sight lines show that the PAHs mean size exhibits significant dispersion, from 40 to 80 carbon atoms, while their ionization fraction stays constant within error

  7. A Herschel resolved far-infrared dust ring around HD 207129

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Marshall, J. P.; Löhne, T.; Montesinos, B.; Krivov, A. V.; Eiroa, C.; Absil, O.; Bryden, G.; Maldonado, J.; Mora, A.; Sanz-Forcada, J.; Ardila, D.; Augereau, J.-Ch.; Bayo, A.; Del Burgo, C.; Danchi, W.; Ertel, S.; Fedele, D.; Fridlund, M.; Lebreton, J.; González-García, B. M.; Liseau, R.; Meeus, G.; Müller, S.; Pilbratt, G. L.; Roberge, A.; Stapelfeldt, K.; Thébault, P.; White, G. J.; Wolf, S.

    2011-05-01

    Context. Dusty debris discs around main sequence stars are thought to be the result of continuous collisional grinding of planetesimals in the system. The majority of these systems are unresolved and analysis of the dust properties is limited by the lack of information regarding the dust location. Aims: The Herschel DUNES key program is observing 133 nearby, Sun-like stars (<20 pc, FGK spectral type) in a volume limited survey to constrain the absolute incidence of cold dust around these stars by detection of far infrared excess emission at flux levels comparable to the Edgeworth-Kuiper belt (EKB). Methods: We have observed the Sun-like star HD 207129 with Herschel PACS and SPIRE. In all three PACS bands we resolve a ring-like structure consistent with scattered light observations. Using α Boötis as a reference point spread function (PSF), we deconvolved the images, clearly resolving the inner gap in the disc at both 70 and 100 μm. Results: We have resolved the dust-producing planetesimal belt of a debris disc at 100 μm for the first time. We measure the radial profile and fractional luminosity of the disc, and compare the values to those of discs around stars of similar age and/or spectral type, placing this disc in context of other resolved discs observed by Herschel/DUNES. Herschel is an ESA space observatory with science instruments provided by European-led Principal Investigator consortia and with important participation from NASA.

  8. Middle East Dust

    Atmospheric Science Data Center

    2013-04-16

    ... only some of the dust over eastern Syria and southeastern Turkey can be discerned. The dust is much more obvious in the center panel, ... 18, 2002 - A large dust plume extends across Syria and Turkey. project:  MISR category:  gallery ...

  9. Dust measurements in tokamaks (invited).

    PubMed

    Rudakov, D L; Yu, J H; Boedo, J A; Hollmann, E M; Krasheninnikov, S I; Moyer, R A; Muller, S H; Pigarov, A Yu; Rosenberg, M; Smirnov, R D; West, W P; Boivin, R L; Bray, B D; Brooks, N H; Hyatt, A W; Wong, C P C; Roquemore, A L; Skinner, C H; Solomon, W M; Ratynskaia, S; Fenstermacher, M E; Groth, M; Lasnier, C J; McLean, A G; Stangeby, P C

    2008-10-01

    Dust production and accumulation present potential safety and operational issues for the ITER. Dust diagnostics can be divided into two groups: diagnostics of dust on surfaces and diagnostics of dust in plasma. Diagnostics from both groups are employed in contemporary tokamaks; new diagnostics suitable for ITER are also being developed and tested. Dust accumulation in ITER is likely to occur in hidden areas, e.g., between tiles and under divertor baffles. A novel electrostatic dust detector for monitoring dust in these regions has been developed and tested at PPPL. In the DIII-D tokamak dust diagnostics include Mie scattering from Nd:YAG lasers, visible imaging, and spectroscopy. Laser scattering is able to resolve particles between 0.16 and 1.6 microm in diameter; using these data the total dust content in the edge plasmas and trends in the dust production rates within this size range have been established. Individual dust particles are observed by visible imaging using fast framing cameras, detecting dust particles of a few microns in diameter and larger. Dust velocities and trajectories can be determined in two-dimension with a single camera or three-dimension using multiple cameras, but determination of particle size is challenging. In order to calibrate diagnostics and benchmark dust dynamics modeling, precharacterized carbon dust has been injected into the lower divertor of DIII-D. Injected dust is seen by cameras, and spectroscopic diagnostics observe an increase in carbon line (CI, CII, C(2) dimer) and thermal continuum emissions from the injected dust. The latter observation can be used in the design of novel dust survey diagnostics.

  10. Mechanical properties of dust collected by dust separators in iron ore sinter plants.

    PubMed

    Lanzerstorfer, Christof

    2015-01-01

    The flow-related mechanical properties of dusts from the de-dusting systems of several sinter plants were investigated. The mass median diameters of the dusts were in the range from approximately 3 to 100 µm. Also, the bulk density of the dusts varied in a wide range (approximately 400 to 2300 kg/m³). A good correlation between the bulk density and the mass median diameter for most of the dusts was found. In contrast, the angles of repose did not vary very much, only for the coarsest dust a significantly lower value was measured. The angles of internal friction as well as the wall friction angles were lower for coarse dust and higher for fine dust. The shear tests showed that both angles depend considerably on the stress level. At low stress, the angles decreased significantly with increasing values of stress, whereas at higher stress, the dependence was small or even disappeared. The only exception to this behaviour was shown by the finest dust. The flowability decreased with the particle size. The flowability categories suggested by the three flowability indicators were passable only for the coarser dusts. For the finer dusts, the flowability was overestimated by all flowability indicators.

  11. DUST PROPERTIES OF LOCAL DUST-OBSCURED GALAXIES WITH THE SUBMILLIMETER ARRAY

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

    Hwang, Ho Seong; Andrews, Sean M.; Geller, Margaret J., E-mail: hhwang@cfa.harvard.edu, E-mail: sandrews@cfa.harvard.edu, E-mail: mgeller@cfa.harvard.edu

    We report Submillimeter Array observations of the 880 μm dust continuum emission for four dust-obscured galaxies (DOGs) in the local universe. Two DOGs are clearly detected with S{sub ν}(880 μm) =10-13 mJy and S/N > 5, but the other two are not detected with 3σ upper limits of S{sub ν}(880 μm) =5-9 mJy. Including an additional two local DOGs with submillimeter data from the literature, we determine the dust masses and temperatures for six local DOGs. The infrared luminosities and dust masses for these DOGs are in the ranges of 1.2-4.9 × 10{sup 11}(L{sub ☉}) and 4-14 × 10{sup 7}(M{submore » ☉}), respectively. The dust temperatures derived from a two-component modified blackbody function are 23-26 K and 60-124 K for the cold and warm dust components, respectively. Comparison of local DOGs with other infrared luminous galaxies with submillimeter detections shows that the dust temperatures and masses do not differ significantly among these objects. Thus, as argued previously, local DOGs are not a distinctive population among dusty galaxies, but simply represent the high-end tail of the dust obscuration distribution.« less

  12. House-Dust Allergy

    PubMed Central

    Johnson, C. A.

    1982-01-01

    House-dust allergy is a common cause of perennial allergic rhinitis and extrinsic asthma. Symptoms tend to be worse when the patient is in bed. A positive skin test properly performed and interpreted confirms the diagnosis. The house-dust mite is the most important antigenic component of house-dust. Treatment consists of environmental control directed at reducing the mite content of bedroom dust, plus control of symptoms with drugs. Immunotherapy is controversial. ImagesFig. 1 PMID:21286201

  13. Dust evolution, a global view: III. Core/mantle grains, organic nano-globules, comets and surface chemistry

    PubMed Central

    2016-01-01

    Within the framework of The Heterogeneous dust Evolution Model for Interstellar Solids (THEMIS), this work explores the surface processes and chemistry relating to core/mantle interstellar and cometary grain structures and their influence on the nature of these fascinating particles. It appears that a realistic consideration of the nature and chemical reactivity of interstellar grain surfaces could self-consistently and within a coherent framework explain: the anomalous oxygen depletion, the nature of the CO dark gas, the formation of ‘polar ice’ mantles, the red wing on the 3 μm water ice band, the basis for the O-rich chemistry observed in hot cores, the origin of organic nano-globules and the 3.2 μm ‘carbonyl’ absorption band observed in comet reflectance spectra. It is proposed that the reaction of gas phase species with carbonaceous a-C(:H) grain surfaces in the interstellar medium, in particular the incorporation of atomic oxygen into grain surfaces in epoxide functional groups, is the key to explaining these observations. Thus, the chemistry of cosmic dust is much more intimately related with that of the interstellar gas than has previously been considered. The current models for interstellar gas and dust chemistry will therefore most likely need to be fundamentally modified to include these new grain surface processes. PMID:28083090

  14. Foehn-induced effects on local dust pollution, frontal clouds and solar radiation in the Dead Sea valley

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kishcha, Pavel; Starobinets, Boris; Savir, Amit; Alpert, Pinhas; Kaplan, Michael

    2018-06-01

    Despite the long history of investigation of foehn phenomena, there are few studies of the influence of foehn winds on air pollution and none in the Dead Sea valley. For the first time the foehn phenomenon and its effects on local dust pollution, frontal cloudiness and surface solar radiation were analyzed in the Dead Sea valley, as it occurred on 22 March 2013. This was carried out using both numerical simulations and observations. The foehn winds intensified local dust emissions, while the foehn-induced temperature inversion trapped dust particles beneath this inversion. These two factors caused extreme surface dust concentration in the western Dead Sea valley. The dust pollution was transported by west winds eastward, to the central Dead Sea valley, where the speed of these winds sharply decreased. The transported dust was captured by the ascending airflow contributing to the maximum aerosol optical depth (AOD) over the central Dead Sea valley. On the day under study, the maximum surface dust concentration did not coincide with the maximum AOD: this being one of the specific effects of the foehn phenomenon on dust pollution in the Dead Sea valley. Radar data showed a passage of frontal cloudiness through the area of the Dead Sea valley leading to a sharp drop in noon solar radiation. The descending airflow over the downwind side of the Judean Mountains led to the formation of a cloud-free band followed by only the partial recovery of solar radiation because of the extreme dust pollution caused by foehn winds.

  15. Urban dust in the Guanzhong basin of China, part II: A case study of urban dust pollution using the WRF-Dust model.

    PubMed

    Li, Nan; Long, Xin; Tie, Xuexi; Cao, Junji; Huang, Rujin; Zhang, Rong; Feng, Tian; Liu, Suixin; Li, Guohui

    2016-01-15

    We developed a regional dust dynamical model (WRF-Dust) to simulate surface dust concentrations in the Guanzhong (GZ) basin of China during two typical dust cases (19th Aug. and 26th Nov., 2013), and compared model results with the surface measurements at 17 urban and rural sites. The important improvement of the model is to employ multiple high-resolution (0.5-500 m) remote sensing data to construct dust sources. The new data include the geographic information of constructions, croplands, and barrens over the GZ basin in summer and winter of 2013. For the first time, detailed construction dust emissions have been introduced in a regional dust model in large cities of China. Our results show that by including the detailed dust sources, model performance at simulating dust pollutions in the GZ basin is significantly improved. For example, the simulated dust concentration average for the 17 sites increases from 28 μg m(-3) to 59 μg m(-3), closing to the measured concentration of 66 μg m(-3). In addition, the correlation coefficient (r) between the calculated and measured dust concentrations is also improved from 0.17 to 0.57, suggesting that our model better presents the spatial variation. Further analysis shows that urban construction activities are the crucial source in controlling urban dust pollutions. It should be considered by policy makers for mitigating particulate air pollution in many Chinese cities. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  16. OBSERVATIONS OF THE OPTICAL TRANSIENT IN NGC 300 WITH AKARI/IRC: POSSIBILITIES OF ASYMMETRIC DUST FORMATION

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

    Ohsawa, R.; Sakon, I.; Onaka, T.

    2010-08-01

    We present the results of near-infrared (NIR) multi-epoch observations of the optical transient in the nearby galaxy NGC 300 (NGC 300-OT) at 398 and 582 days after the discovery with the Infrared Camera (IRC) on board AKARI. NIR spectra (2-5 {mu}m) of NGC 300-OT were obtained for the first time. They show no prominent emission nor absorption features, but are dominated by continuum thermal emission from the dust around NGC 300-OT. NIR images were taken in the 2.4, 3.2, and 4.1 {mu}m bands. The spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of NGC 300-OT indicate the dust temperature of 810 {+-} 14 Kmore » at 398 days and 670 {+-} 12 K at 582 days. We attribute the observed NIR emission to the thermal emission from dust grains formed in the ejecta of NGC 300-OT. The multi-epoch observations enable us to estimate the dust optical depth as {approx}>12 at 398 days and {approx}>6 at 582 days at 2.4 {mu}m by assuming an isothermal dust cloud. The observed NIR emission must be optically thick, unless the amount of dust grains increases with time. Little extinction at visible wavelengths reported in earlier observations suggests that the dust cloud around NGC 300-OT should be distributed inhomogeneously so as to not screen the radiation from the ejecta gas and the central star. The present results suggest the dust grains are not formed in a spherically symmetric geometry, but rather in a torus, a bipolar outflow, or clumpy cloudlets.« less

  17. The Lunar Dust Environment

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Szalay, Jamey Robert

    Planetary bodies throughout the solar system are continually bombarded by dust particles, largely originating from cometary activities and asteroidal collisions. Surfaces of bodies with thick atmospheres, such as Venus, Earth, Mars and Titan are mostly protected from incoming dust impacts as these particles ablate in their atmospheres as 'shooting stars'. However, the majority of bodies in the solar system have no appreciable atmosphere and their surfaces are directly exposed to the flux of high speed dust grains. Impacts onto solid surfaces in space generate charged and neutral gas clouds, as well as solid secondary ejecta dust particles. Gravitationally bound ejecta clouds forming dust exospheres were recognized by in situ dust instruments around the icy moons of Jupiter and Saturn, and had not yet been observed near bodies with refractory regolith surfaces before NASA's Lunar Dust and Environment Explorer (LADEE) mission. In this thesis, we first present the measurements taken by the Lunar Dust Explorer (LDEX), aboard LADEE, which discovered a permanently present, asymmetric dust cloud surrounding the Moon. The global characteristics of the lunar dust cloud are discussed as a function of a variety of variables such as altitude, solar longitude, local time, and lunar phase. These results are compared with models for lunar dust cloud generation. Second, we present an analysis of the groupings of impacts measured by LDEX, which represent detections of dense ejecta plumes above the lunar surface. These measurements are put in the context of understanding the response of the lunar surface to meteoroid bombardment and how to use other airless bodies in the solar system as detectors for their local meteoroid environment. Third, we present the first in-situ dust measurements taken over the lunar sunrise terminator. Having found no excess of small grains in this region, we discuss its implications for the putative population of electrostatically lofted dust.

  18. Spatially resolving the dust properties and submillimetre excess in M 33

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Relaño, M.; De Looze, I.; Kennicutt, R. C.; Lisenfeld, U.; Dariush, A.; Verley, S.; Braine, J.; Tabatabaei, F.; Kramer, C.; Boquien, M.; Xilouris, M.; Gratier, P.

    2018-05-01

    . We have produced a map of submillimetre excess in the 500 μm SPIRE band for the disc of M 33. The excess can be as high as 50% and increases at large galactocentric distances. We further studied the relation of the excess with other physical properties of the galaxy and find that the excess is prominent in zones of diffuse ISM outside the main star-forming regions, where the molecular gas and dust surface density are low.

  19. Coupling Mars' Dust and Water Cycles: Effects on Dust Lifting Vigor, Spatial Extent and Seasonality

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Kahre, M. A.; Hollingsworth, J. L.; Haberle, R. M.; Montmessin, F.

    2012-01-01

    The dust cycle is an important component of Mars' current climate system. Airborne dust affects the radiative balance of the atmosphere, thus greatly influencing the thermal and dynamical state of the atmosphere. Dust raising events on Mars occur at spatial scales ranging from meters to planet-wide. Although the occurrence and season of large regional and global dust storms are highly variable from one year to the next, there are many features of the dust cycle that occur year after year. Generally, a low-level dust haze is maintained during northern spring and summer, while elevated levels of atmospheric dust occur during northern autumn and winter. During years without global-scale dust storms, two peaks in total dust loading were observed by MGS/TES: one peak occurred before northern winter solstice at Ls 200-240, and one peak occurred after northern winter solstice at L(sub s) 305-340. These maxima in dust loading are thought to be associated with transient eddy activity in the northern hemisphere, which has been observed to maximize pre- and post-solstice. Interactive dust cycle studies with Mars General Circulation Models (MGCMs) have included the lifting, transport, and sedimentation of radiatively active dust. Although the predicted global dust loadings from these simulations capture some aspects of the observed dust cycle, there are marked differences between the simulated and observed dust cycles. Most notably, the maximum dust loading is robustly predicted by models to occur near northern winter solstice and is due to dust lifting associated with down slope flows on the flanks of the Hellas basin. Thus far, models have had difficulty simulating the observed pre- and post- solstice peaks in dust loading. Interactive dust cycle studies typically have not included the formation of water ice clouds or their radiative effects. Water ice clouds can influence the dust cycle by scavenging dust from atmosphere and by interacting with solar and infrared radiation

  20. In situ observations of dust particles in Martian dust belts using a large-sensitive-area dust sensor

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kobayashi, Masanori; Krüger, Harald; Senshu, Hiroki; Wada, Koji; Okudaira, Osamu; Sasaki, Sho; Kimura, Hiroshi

    2018-07-01

    In order to determine whether Martian dust belts (ring or torus) actually exist and, if so, to determine the characteristics of the dust, we propose a Circum-Martian Dust Monitor (CMDM) to be deployed on the Martian Moons Exploration (MMX) project, in which JAXA plans to launch the spacecraft in 2024, investigate Phobos and Deimos, and return samples back to Earth. The CMDM is a newly developed instrument that is an impact dust detector. It weighs only 650 g and has a sensor aperture area of ∼1 m2, according to the conceptual design study. Detectable velocities (v) range from 0.5 km/s to more than 70 km/s, which will cover all possible dust particles: circummartian (low v), interplanetary (mid v), and interstellar (high v) particles. The measurable mass ranges from 1.3 × 10-9 g to 7.8 × 10-7 g at v = 0.5 km/s. Since the MMX spacecraft will take a quasi-circular, prograde orbit around Mars, the CMDM will be able to investigate particles from Phobos and Deimos with relative velocities lower than 1 km/s. Therefore, the CMDM will be able to determine whether or not a confined dust ring exists along Phobos' orbit and whether an extended dust torus exists along Deimos' orbit. It may also be able to clarify whether or not any such ring or torus are self-sustained.

  1. Dust Devil Tracks

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Reiss, Dennis; Fenton, Lori; Neakrase, Lynn; Zimmerman, Michael; Statella, Thiago; Whelley, Patrick; Rossi, Angelo Pio; Balme, Matthew

    2016-11-01

    Dust devils that leave dark- or light-toned tracks are common on Mars and they can also be found on the Earth's surface. Dust devil tracks (hereinafter DDTs) are ephemeral surface features with mostly sub-annual lifetimes. Regarding their size, DDT widths can range between ˜1 m and ˜1 km, depending on the diameter of dust devil that created the track, and DDT lengths range from a few tens of meters to several kilometers, limited by the duration and horizontal ground speed of dust devils. DDTs can be classified into three main types based on their morphology and albedo in contrast to their surroundings; all are found on both planets: (a) dark continuous DDTs, (b) dark cycloidal DDTs, and (c) bright DDTs. Dark continuous DDTs are the most common type on Mars. They are characterized by their relatively homogenous and continuous low albedo surface tracks. Based on terrestrial and martian in situ studies, these DDTs most likely form when surficial dust layers are removed to expose larger-grained substrate material (coarse sands of ≥500 μm in diameter). The exposure of larger-grained materials changes the photometric properties of the surface; hence leading to lower albedo tracks because grain size is photometrically inversely proportional to the surface reflectance. However, although not observed so far, compositional differences (i.e., color differences) might also lead to albedo contrasts when dust is removed to expose substrate materials with mineralogical differences. For dark continuous DDTs, albedo drop measurements are around 2.5 % in the wavelength range of 550-850 nm on Mars and around 0.5 % in the wavelength range from 300-1100 nm on Earth. The removal of an equivalent layer thickness around 1 μm is sufficient for the formation of visible dark continuous DDTs on Mars and Earth. The next type of DDTs, dark cycloidal DDTs, are characterized by their low albedo pattern of overlapping scallops. Terrestrial in situ studies imply that they are formed when sand

  2. Some Pharmacological Actions of Cotton Dust and Other Vegetable Dusts

    PubMed Central

    Nicholls, P. J.

    1962-01-01

    Aqueous extracts of cotton and other vegetable dusts cause contraction of the isolated ileum and tracheal muscle of the guinea-pig, and of isolated human bronchial muscle. The levels of this contractor activity place the dusts of cotton, flax, and jute in the order of the probable incidence of byssinosis occurring in the mills spinning these fibres. Extracts of cotton dust possess a histamine-liberating activity and contain a permeability-increasing component. These actions are of plant origin and are found in the pericarp and bracts of the cotton boll. Histamine and 5-hydroxytryptamine have also been found in some cotton dust samples. The formation of histamine by bacterial action in cotton dust does not take place under conditions found in cotton mills. The smooth muscle contractor substance is organic in nature, relatively heat-stable, and dialysable. The relevance of these results to the symptoms of byssinosis is discussed. PMID:14479451

  3. Dust emission in simulated dwarf galaxies using GRASIL-3D

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Santos-Santos, I. M.; Domínguez-Tenreiro, R.; Granato, G. L.; Brook, C. B.; Obreja, A.

    2017-03-01

    Recent Herschel observations of dwarf galaxies have shown a wide diversity in the shapes of their IR-submm spectral energy distributions as compared to more massive galaxies, presenting features that cannot be explained with the current models. In order to understand the physics driving these differences, we have computed the emission of a sample of simulated dwarf galaxies using the radiative transfer code GRASIL-3D. This code separately treats the radiative transfer in dust grains from molecular clouds and cirri. The simulated galaxies have masses ranging from 10^6-10^9 M_⊙ and have evolved within a Local Group environment by using CLUES initial conditions. We show that their IR band luminosities are in agreement with observations, with their SEDs reproducing naturally the particular spectral features observed. We conclude that the GRASIL-3D two-component model gives a physical interpretation to the emission of dwarf galaxies, with molecular clouds (cirri) as the warm (cold) dust components needed to recover observational data.

  4. Design and development of a dust dispersion chamber to quantify the dispersibility of rock dust.

    PubMed

    Perera, Inoka E; Sapko, Michael J; Harris, Marcia L; Zlochower, Isaac A; Weiss, Eric S

    2016-01-01

    Dispersible rock dust must be applied to the surfaces of entries in underground coal mines in order to inert the coal dust entrained or made airborne during an explosion and prevent propagating explosions. 30 CFR. 75.2 states that "… [rock dust particles] when wetted and dried will not cohere to form a cake which will not be dispersed into separate particles by a light blast of air …" However, a proper definition or quantification of "light blast of air" is not provided. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has, consequently, designed a dust dispersion chamber to conduct quantitative laboratory-scale dispersibility experiments as a screening tool for candidate rock dusts. A reproducible pulse of air is injected into the chamber and across a shallow tray of rock dust. The dust dispersed and carried downwind is monitored. The mass loss of the dust tray and the airborne dust measurements determine the relative dispersibility of the dust with respect to a Reference rock dust. This report describes the design and the methodology to evaluate the relative dispersibility of rock dusts with and without anti-caking agents. Further, the results of this study indicate that the dispersibility of rock dusts varies with particle size, type of anti-caking agent used, and with the untapped bulk density. Untreated rock dusts, when wetted and dried forming a cake that was much less dispersible than the reference rock dust used in supporting the 80% total incombustible content rule.

  5. SHARDS: constraints on the dust attenuation law of star-forming galaxies at z ˜ 2

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Tress, Mónica; Mármol-Queraltó, Esther; Ferreras, Ignacio; Pérez-González, Pablo G.; Barro, Guillermo; Pampliega, Belén Alcalde; Cava, Antonio; Domínguez-Sánchez, Helena; Eliche-Moral, Carmen; Espino-Briones, Néstor; Esquej, Pilar; Hernán-Caballero, Antonio; Rodighiero, Giulia; Rodriguez-Muñoz, Lucía

    2018-04-01

    We make use of the Survey of High-z Absorption Red and Dead Sources, an ultradeep (<26.5AB) galaxy survey that provides optical photospectra at resolution R ˜ 50, via medium-band filters (FWHM ˜ 150 Å). This data set is combined with ancillary optical and NIR fluxes to constrain the dust attenuation law in the rest-frame NUV region of star-forming galaxies within the redshift window 1.5 < z < 3. We focus on the NUV bump strength (B) and the total-to-selective extinction ratio (RV), targeting a sample of 1753 galaxies. By comparing the data with a set of population synthesis models coupled to a parametric dust attenuation law, we constrain RV and B, as well as the colour excess, E(B - V). We find a correlation between RV and B, which can be interpreted either as a result of the grain size distribution, or a variation of the dust geometry among galaxies. According to the former, small dust grains are associated with a stronger NUV bump. The latter would lead to a range of clumpiness in the distribution of dust within the interstellar medium of star-forming galaxies. The observed wide range of NUV bump strengths can lead to a systematic in the interpretation of the UV slope β typically used to characterize the dust content. In this study, we quantify these variations, concluding that the effects are Δβ ˜ 0.4.

  6. Wood Dust

    Cancer.gov

    Learn about wood dust, which can raise the risk of cancers of the paranasal sinuses and nasal cavity. High amounts of wood dust are produced in sawmills, and in the furniture-making, cabinet-making, and carpentry industries.

  7. Ice nucleation by soil dust compared to desert dust aerosols

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Moehler, O.; Steinke, I.; Ullrich, R.; Höhler, K.; Schiebel, T.; Hoose, C.; Funk, R.

    2015-12-01

    A minor fraction of atmospheric aerosol particles, so-called ice-nucleating particles (INPs), initiates the formation of the ice phase in tropospheric clouds and thereby markedly influences the Earth's weather and climate systems. Whether an aerosol particle acts as an INP depends on its size, morphology and chemical compositions. The INP fraction of certain aerosol types also strongly depends on the temperature and the relative humidity. Because both desert dust and soil dust aerosols typically comprise a variety of different particles, it is difficult to assess and predict their contribution to the atmospheric INP abundance. This requires both accurate modelling of the sources and atmospheric distribution of atmospheric dust components and detailed investigations of their ice nucleation activities. The latter can be achieved in laboratory experiments and parameterized for use in weather and climate models as a function of temperature and particle surface area, a parameter called ice-nucleation active site (INAS) density. Concerning ice nucleation activity studies, the soil dust is of particular interest because it contains a significant fraction of organics and biological components, both with the potential for contributing to the atmospheric INP abundance at relatively high temperatures compared to mineral components. First laboratory ice nucleation experiments with a few soil dust samples indicated their INP fraction to be comparable or slightly enhanced to that of desert dust. We have used the AIDA (Aerosol Interaction and Dynamics in the Atmosphere) cloud simulation chamber to study the immersion freezing ability of four different arable soil dusts, sampled in Germany, China and Argentina. For temperatures higher than about -20°C, we found the INP fraction of aerosols generated from these samples by a dry dispersion technique to be significantly higher compared to various desert dust aerosols also investigated in AIDA experiments. In this contribution, we

  8. Scuss u-Band Emission as a Star-Formation-Rate Indicator

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhou, Zhimin; Zhou, Xu; Wu, Hong; Fan, Xiao-Hui; Fan, Zhou; Jiang, Zhao-Ji; Jing, Yi-Peng; Li, Cheng; Lesser, Michael; Jiang, Lin-Hua; Ma, Jun; Nie, Jun-Dan; Shen, Shi-Yin; Wang, Jia-Li; Wu, Zhen-Yu; Zhang, Tian-Meng; Zou, Hu

    2017-01-01

    We present and analyze the possibility of using optical u-band luminosities to estimate star-formation rates (SFRs) of galaxies based on the data from the South Galactic Cap u band Sky Survey (SCUSS), which provides a deep u-band photometric survey covering about 5000 deg2 of the South Galactic Cap. Based on two samples of normal star-forming galaxies selected by the BPT diagram, we explore the correlations between u-band, Hα, and IR luminosities by combing SCUSS data with the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE). The attenuation-corrected u-band luminosities are tightly correlated with the Balmer decrement-corrected Hα luminosities with an rms scatter of ˜0.17 dex. The IR-corrected u luminosities are derived based on the correlations between the attenuation of u-band luminosities and WISE 12 (or 22) μm luminosities, and then calibrated with the Balmer-corrected Hα luminosities. The systematic residuals of these calibrations are tested against the physical properties over the ranges covered by our sample objects. We find that the best-fitting nonlinear relations are better than the linear ones and recommended to be applied in the measurement of SFRs. The systematic deviations mainly come from the pollution of old stellar population and the effect of dust extinction; therefore, a more detailed analysis is needed in future work.

  9. Efficiency of Tungsten Dust Collection of Different Types of Dust Particles by Electrostatic Probe

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Begrambekov, L. B.; Voityuk, A. N.; Zakharov, A. M.; Bidlevich, O. A.; Vechshev, E. A.; Shigin, P. A.; Vayakis, J.; Walsh, M.

    2017-12-01

    Formation of dust particles and clusters is observed in almost every modern thermonuclear facility. Accumulation of dust in the next generation thermonuclear installations can dramatically affect the plasma parameters and lead to the accumulation of unacceptably large amounts of tritium. Experiments on collection of dust particles by a model of electrostatic probe developed for collection of metallic dust at ITER are described in the article. Experiments on the generation of tungsten dust consisting of flakes formed during the destruction of tungsten layers formed on the walls of the plasma chamber sputtered from the surface of the tungsten target by plasma ions were conducted. The nature of dust degassing at elevated temperatures and the behavior of dust in an electric field were studied. The results obtained are compared with the results of the experiments with dust consisting of crystal particles of simple geometric shapes. The effectiveness of collection of both types of dust using the model of an electrostatic probe is determined.

  10. Improving dust emission characterization in dust models using dynamic high-resolution geomorphic erodibility map

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Parajuli, S. P.; Yang, Z.; Kocurek, G.

    2013-12-01

    Dust is known to affect the earth radiation budget, biogeochemical cycle, precipitation, human health and visibility. Despite the increased research effort, dust emission modeling remains challenging because dust emission is affected by complex geomorphological processes. Existing dust models overestimate dust emission and rely on tuning and a static erodibility factor in order to make simulated results comparable to remote sensing and ground-based observations. In most of current models, dust emission is expressed in terms of threshold friction speed, which ultimately depends mainly upon the percentage clay content and soil moisture. Unfortunately, due to the unavailability of accurate and high resolution input data of the clay content and soil moisture, estimated threshold friction speed commonly does not represent the variability in field condition. In this work, we attempt to improve dust emission characterization by developing a high resolution geomorphic map of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), which is responsible for more than 50% of global dust emission. We develop this geomorphic map by visually examining high resolution satellite images obtained from Google Earth Pro and ESRI base map. Albeit subjective, our technique is more reliable compared to automatic image classification technique because we incorporate knowledge of geological/geographical setting in identifying dust sources. We hypothesize that the erodibility is unique for different geomorphic landforms and that it can be quantified by the correlation between observed wind speed and satellite retrieved aerosol optical depth (AOD). We classify the study area into several key geomorphological categories with respect to their dust emission potential. Then we quantify their dust emission potential using the correlation between observed wind speed and satellite retrieved AOD. The dynamic, high-resolution geomorphic erodibility map thus prepared will help to reduce the uncertainty in current

  11. Passive remote sensing of altitude and optical depth of dust plumes using the oxygen A and B bands: First results from EPIC/DSCOVR at Lagrange-1 point

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Xu, Xiaoguang; Wang, Jun; Wang, Yi; Zeng, Jing; Torres, Omar; Yang, Yuekui; Marshak, Alexander; Reid, Jeffrey; Miller, Steve

    2017-07-01

    We presented an algorithm for inferring aerosol layer height (ALH) and optical depth (AOD) over ocean surface from radiances in oxygen A and B bands measured by the Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC) on the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) orbiting at Lagrangian-1 point. The algorithm was applied to EPIC imagery of a 2 day dust outbreak over the North Atlantic Ocean. Retrieved ALHs and AODs were evaluated against counterparts observed by Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP), Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer, and Aerosol Robotic Network. The comparisons showed 71.5% of EPIC-retrieved ALHs were within ±0.5 km of those determined from CALIOP and 74.4% of EPIC AOD retrievals fell within a ± (0.1 + 10%) envelope of MODIS retrievals. This study demonstrates the potential of EPIC measurements for retrieving global aerosol height multiple times daily, which are essential for evaluating aerosol profile simulated in climate models and for better estimating aerosol radiative effects.

  12. 76 FR 25277 - Lowering Miners' Exposure to Respirable Coal Mine Dust, Including Continuous Personal Dust Monitors

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-05-04

    ... 1219-AB64 Lowering Miners' Exposure to Respirable Coal Mine Dust, Including Continuous Personal Dust... to Respirable Coal Mine Dust, Including Continuous Personal Dust Monitors. This extension gives... Miners' Exposure to Respirable Coal Mine Dust, Including Continuous Personal Dust Monitors. In response...

  13. Mixing of Dust and NH3 Observed Globally over Anthropogenic Dust Sources

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Ginoux, P.; Clarisse, L.; Clerbaux, C.; Coheur, P.-F.; Dubovik, O.; Hsu, N. C.; Van Damme, M.

    2012-01-01

    The global distribution of dust column burden derived from MODIS Deep Blue aerosol products is compared to NH3 column burden retrieved from IASI infrared spectra. We found similarities in their spatial distributions, in particular their hot spots are often collocated over croplands and to a lesser extent pastures. Globally, we found 22% of dust burden collocated with NH3, with only 1% difference between land-use databases. This confirms the importance of anthropogenic dust from agriculture. Regionally, the Indian subcontinent has the highest amount of dust mixed with NH3 (26 %), mostly over cropland and during the pre-monsoon season. North Africa represents 50% of total dust burden but accounts for only 4% of mixed dust, which is found over croplands and pastures in Sahel and the coastal region of the Mediterranean. In order to evaluate the radiative effect of this mixing on dust optical properties, we derive the mass extinction efficiency for various mixtures of dust and NH3, using AERONET sunphotometers data. We found that for dusty days the coarse mode mass extinction efficiency decreases from 0.62 to 0.48 square meters per gram as NH3 burden increases from 0 to 40 milligrams per square meter. The fine mode extinction efficiency, ranging from 4 to 16 square mters per gram, does not appear to depend on NH3 concentration or relative humidity but rather on mineralogical composition and mixing with other aerosols. Our results imply that a significant amount of dust is already mixed with ammonium salt before its long range transport. This in turn will affect dust lifetime, and its interactions with radiation and cloud properties

  14. Sustainable synthesis of metals-doped ZnO nanoparticles from zinc-bearing dust for photodegradation of phenol.

    PubMed

    Wu, Zhao-Jin; Huang, Wei; Cui, Ke-Ke; Gao, Zhi-Fang; Wang, Ping

    2014-08-15

    A novel strategy of waste-cleaning-waste is proposed in the present work. A metals-doped ZnO (M-ZnO, M = Fe, Mg, Ca and Al) nanomaterial has been prepared from a metallurgical zinc-containing solid waste "fabric filter dust" by combining sulfolysis and co-precipitation processes, and is found to be a favorable photocatalyst for photodegradation of organic substances in wastewater under visible light irradiation. All the zinc and dopants (Fe, Mg, Ca and Al) for preparing M-ZnO are recovered from the fabric filter dust, without any addition of chemical as elemental source. The dust-derived M-ZnO samples deliver single phase indexed as the hexagonal ZnO crystal, with controllable dopants species. The photocatalytic activity of the dust-derived M-ZnO samples is characterized by photodegradation of phenol aqueous solution under visible light irradiation, giving more prominent photocatalytic behaviors than undoped ZnO. Such enhancements may be attributed to incorporation of the dust-derived metal elements (Fe, Mg, Ca and Al) into ZnO structure, which lead to the modification of band gap and refinement of grain size. The results show a feasibility to utilize the industrial waste as a resource of photodegradating organic substances in wastewater treatments. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  15. Applications of Electrified Dust and Dust Devil Electrodynamics to Martian Atmospheric Electricity

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Harrison, R. G.; Barth, E.; Esposito, F.; Merrison, J.; Montmessin, F.; Aplin, K. L.; Borlina, C.; Berthelier, J. J.; Déprez, G.; Farrell, W. M.; Houghton, I. M. P.; Renno, N. O.; Nicoll, K. A.; Tripathi, S. N.; Zimmerman, M.

    2016-11-01

    Atmospheric transport and suspension of dust frequently brings electrification, which may be substantial. Electric fields of 10 kV m-1 to 100 kV m-1 have been observed at the surface beneath suspended dust in the terrestrial atmosphere, and some electrification has been observed to persist in dust at levels to 5 km, as well as in volcanic plumes. The interaction between individual particles which causes the electrification is incompletely understood, and multiple processes are thought to be acting. A variation in particle charge with particle size, and the effect of gravitational separation explains to, some extent, the charge structures observed in terrestrial dust storms. More extensive flow-based modelling demonstrates that bulk electric fields in excess of 10 kV m-1 can be obtained rapidly (in less than 10 s) from rotating dust systems (dust devils) and that terrestrial breakdown fields can be obtained. Modelled profiles of electrical conductivity in the Martian atmosphere suggest the possibility of dust electrification, and dust devils have been suggested as a mechanism of charge separation able to maintain current flow between one region of the atmosphere and another, through a global circuit. Fundamental new understanding of Martian atmospheric electricity will result from the ExoMars mission, which carries the DREAMS (Dust characterization, Risk Assessment, and Environment Analyser on the Martian Surface)—MicroARES ( Atmospheric Radiation and Electricity Sensor) instrumentation to Mars in 2016 for the first in situ electrical measurements.

  16. Applications of Electrified Dust and Dust Devil Electrodynamics to Martian Atmospheric Electricity

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Harrison, R. G.; Barth, E.; Esposito, F.; Merrison, J.; Montmessin, F.; Aplin, K. L.; Borlina, C.; Berthelier, J J.; Deprez, G.; Farrell, William M.; hide

    2016-01-01

    Atmospheric transport and suspension of dust frequently brings electrification, which may be substantial. Electric fields of 10 kV m(exp. -1) to 100 kV m(exp. -1) have been observed at the surface beneath suspended dust in the terrestrial atmosphere, and some electrification has been observed to persist in dust at levels to 5 km, as well as in volcanic plumes. The interaction between individual particles which causes the electrification is incompletely understood, and multiple processes are thought to be acting. A variation in particle charge with particle size, and the effect of gravitational separation explains to, some extent, the charge structures observed in terrestrial dust storms. More extensive flow-based modelling demonstrates that bulk electric fields in excess of 10 kV m(exp. -1) can be obtained rapidly (in less than 10 s) from rotating dust systems (dust devils) and that terrestrial breakdown fields can be obtained. Modelled profiles of electrical conductivity in the Martian atmosphere suggest the possibility of dust electrification, and dust devils have been suggested as a mechanism of charge separation able to maintain current flow between one region of the atmosphere and another, through a global circuit. Fundamental new understanding of Martian atmospheric electricity will result from the ExoMars mission, which carries the DREAMS (Dust characterization, Risk Assessment, and Environment Analyser on the Martian Surface) MicroARES (Atmospheric Radiation and Electricity Sensor) Instrumentation to Mars in 2016 for the first in situ electrical measurements.

  17. Dust Devil Tracks

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2017-02-20

    Today's VIS image shows dust devil tracks on the plains of Aonia Terra. As the dust devil moves across the surface it scours the fine dust particles, revealing the darker rock surface below. Orbit Number: 66800 Latitude: -65.2605 Longitude: 239.338 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2017-01-04 04:52 http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA21316

  18. Niamey Dust Observations

    DOE Data Explorer

    Flynn, Connor

    2008-10-01

    Niamey aerosol are composed of two main components: dust due to the proximity of the Sahara Desert, and soot from local and regional biomass burning. The purpose of this data product is to identify when the local conditions are dominated by the dust component so that the properties of the dust events can be further studied.

  19. Planck 2013 results. IX. HFI spectral response

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Planck Collaboration; Ade, P. A. R.; Aghanim, N.; Armitage-Caplan, C.; Arnaud, M.; Ashdown, M.; Atrio-Barandela, F.; Aumont, J.; Baccigalupi, C.; Banday, A. J.; Barreiro, R. B.; Battaner, E.; Benabed, K.; Benoît, A.; Benoit-Lévy, A.; Bernard, J.-P.; Bersanelli, M.; Bielewicz, P.; Bobin, J.; Bock, J. J.; Bond, J. R.; Borrill, J.; Bouchet, F. R.; Boulanger, F.; Bridges, M.; Bucher, M.; Burigana, C.; Cardoso, J.-F.; Catalano, A.; Challinor, A.; Chamballu, A.; Chary, R.-R.; Chen, X.; Chiang, H. C.; Chiang, L.-Y.; Christensen, P. R.; Church, S.; Clements, D. L.; Colombi, S.; Colombo, L. P. L.; Combet, C.; Comis, B.; Couchot, F.; Coulais, A.; Crill, B. P.; Curto, A.; Cuttaia, F.; Danese, L.; Davies, R. D.; de Bernardis, P.; de Rosa, A.; de Zotti, G.; Delabrouille, J.; Delouis, J.-M.; Désert, F.-X.; Dickinson, C.; Diego, J. M.; Dole, H.; Donzelli, S.; Doré, O.; Douspis, M.; Dupac, X.; Efstathiou, G.; Enßlin, T. A.; Eriksen, H. K.; Falgarone, E.; Finelli, F.; Forni, O.; Frailis, M.; Franceschi, E.; Galeotta, S.; Ganga, K.; Giard, M.; Giraud-Héraud, Y.; González-Nuevo, J.; Górski, K. M.; Gratton, S.; Gregorio, A.; Gruppuso, A.; Hansen, F. K.; Hanson, D.; Harrison, D.; Henrot-Versillé, S.; Hernández-Monteagudo, C.; Herranz, D.; Hildebrandt, S. R.; Hivon, E.; Hobson, M.; Holmes, W. A.; Hornstrup, A.; Hovest, W.; Huffenberger, K. M.; Hurier, G.; Jaffe, A. H.; Jaffe, T. R.; Jones, W. C.; Juvela, M.; Keihänen, E.; Keskitalo, R.; Kisner, T. S.; Kneissl, R.; Knoche, J.; Knox, L.; Kunz, M.; Kurki-Suonio, H.; Lagache, G.; Lamarre, J.-M.; Lasenby, A.; Laureijs, R. J.; Lawrence, C. R.; Leahy, J. P.; Leonardi, R.; Leroy, C.; Lesgourgues, J.; Liguori, M.; Lilje, P. B.; Linden-Vørnle, M.; López-Caniego, M.; Lubin, P. M.; Macías-Pérez, J. F.; Maffei, B.; Mandolesi, N.; Maris, M.; Marshall, D. J.; Martin, P. G.; Martínez-González, E.; Masi, S.; Massardi, M.; Matarrese, S.; Matthai, F.; Mazzotta, P.; McGehee, P.; Melchiorri, A.; Mendes, L.; Mennella, A.; Migliaccio, M.; Mitra, S.; Miville-Deschênes, M.-A.; Moneti, A.; Montier, L.; Morgante, G.; Mortlock, D.; Munshi, D.; Murphy, J. A.; Naselsky, P.; Nati, F.; Natoli, P.; Netterfield, C. B.; Nørgaard-Nielsen, H. U.; North, C.; Noviello, F.; Novikov, D.; Novikov, I.; Osborne, S.; Oxborrow, C. A.; Paci, F.; Pagano, L.; Pajot, F.; Paoletti, D.; Pasian, F.; Patanchon, G.; Perdereau, O.; Perotto, L.; Perrotta, F.; Piacentini, F.; Piat, M.; Pierpaoli, E.; Pietrobon, D.; Plaszczynski, S.; Pointecouteau, E.; Polenta, G.; Ponthieu, N.; Popa, L.; Poutanen, T.; Pratt, G. W.; Prézeau, G.; Prunet, S.; Puget, J.-L.; Rachen, J. P.; Reinecke, M.; Remazeilles, M.; Renault, C.; Ricciardi, S.; Riller, T.; Ristorcelli, I.; Rocha, G.; Rosset, C.; Roudier, G.; Rusholme, B.; Santos, D.; Savini, G.; Scott, D.; Shellard, E. P. S.; Spencer, L. D.; Starck, J.-L.; Stolyarov, V.; Stompor, R.; Sudiwala, R.; Sureau, F.; Sutton, D.; Suur-Uski, A.-S.; Sygnet, J.-F.; Tauber, J. A.; Tavagnacco, D.; Terenzi, L.; Tomasi, M.; Tristram, M.; Tucci, M.; Umana, G.; Valenziano, L.; Valiviita, J.; Van Tent, B.; Vielva, P.; Villa, F.; Vittorio, N.; Wade, L. A.; Wandelt, B. D.; Yvon, D.; Zacchei, A.; Zonca, A.

    2014-11-01

    The Planck High Frequency Instrument (HFI) spectral response was determined through a series of ground based tests conducted with the HFI focal plane in a cryogenic environment prior to launch. The main goal of the spectral transmission tests was to measure the relative spectral response (includingthe level of out-of-band signal rejection) of all HFI detectors to a known source of electromagnetic radiation individually. This was determined by measuring the interferometric output of a continuously scanned Fourier transform spectrometer with all HFI detectors. As there is no on-board spectrometer within HFI, the ground-based spectral response experiments provide the definitive data set for the relative spectral calibration of the HFI. Knowledge of the relative variations in the spectral response between HFI detectors allows for a more thorough analysis of the HFI data. The spectral response of the HFI is used in Planck data analysis and component separation, this includes extraction of CO emission observed within Planck bands, dust emission, Sunyaev-Zeldovich sources, and intensity to polarization leakage. The HFI spectral response data have also been used to provide unit conversion and colour correction analysis tools. While previous papers describe the pre-flight experiments conducted on the Planck HFI, this paper focusses on the analysis of the pre-flight spectral response measurements and the derivation of data products, e.g. band-average spectra, unit conversion coefficients, and colour correction coefficients, all with related uncertainties. Verifications of the HFI spectral response data are provided through comparisons with photometric HFI flight data. This validation includes use of HFI zodiacal emission observations to demonstrate out-of-band spectral signal rejection better than 108. The accuracy of the HFI relative spectral response data is verified through comparison with complementary flight-data based unit conversion coefficients and colour correction

  20. Particle sizes and composition of Mars atmospheric dust based upon Viking and Mariner 9 observations

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Clancy, R. T.; Lee, S. W.; Gladstone, G. R.

    1993-01-01

    Mars atmospheric dust can play an important role in the thermal structure of the Mars atmosphere during periods of high dust loading. However, the radiative properties of Mars atmospheric dust remain uncertain due to uncertain definitions of the dust composition and size distribution. The analysis by Toon et al., of Mariner 9 IRIS spectra during the 1971-1972 global dust storm indicated a reasonable match between the modeled 9-micron absorption of montmorillinite and the observed 9-micron absorption. Toon et al. also determined that an effective (cross-section weighted) mean radius of 2.5 microns (R(sub mode) = 0.4 microns) provided a consistent fit of montmorillinite to the IRIS dust spectra at 9 microns. Pollack et al. analyzed Viking lander observations of atmospheric extinction and scattering at visible-near IR wavelengths (0.5-1.0 microns), and obtained consistency with the Toon et al. dust size distribution when the effects of nonspherical particle shapes were included. An additional, minor (1 percent) component of visible-ultraviolet absorbing material was required to model the derived visible (0.86) and ultraviolet (0.4-0.6) single-scattering albedos of the dust, since montmorillinite does not absorb sufficiently in this wavelength region. A combined analysis of the Viking IRTM and Mariner 9 observations was conducted to reassess the model of Mars atmospheric ultraviolet-to-infrared measurements of dust absorption and scattering. The optical constants for palagonite are incorporated in a doubling-adding radiative transfer model of the Mars atmosphere to simulate Mariner 9 IRIS spectra as well as the Viking IRTM IR band observations. Visible and ultraviolet single-scattering albedos based on the Hansen and Travis Mie scattering code were also derived. A tentative conclusion is that smaller dust particles (R(sub mode) = 0.15 microns, cross-section weighted mean R = 1.2 microns) composed of palagonite provide a much improved fit to the Mariner 9 IRIS spectra

  1. Dust over Japan

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2017-12-08

    March 24, 2010 - Dust over Japan This image of gray/brown dust being blown over Japan was captured on March 21, 2010 by the MODIS on the Terra satellite. On the left is the Korean peninsula. Japan stretches diagonally across the image, up to the top right corner. The dust is likely from the sandstorm that swept across the China the previous day. The sand and dust originated from the south and east of Inner Mongolia. In this image from March 20, the dust is nearly obscuring the Bohai Sea, which is just west of the Korean peninsula. Here is a handy map. For more information related to this image go to: modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/individual.php?db_date=2010-0... For more information about Goddard Space Flight Center go here: www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html

  2. Nulling interferometry: impact of exozodiacal clouds on the performance of future life-finding space missions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Defrère, D.; Absil, O.; den Hartog, R.; Hanot, C.; Stark, C.

    2010-01-01

    Context. Earth-sized planets around nearby stars are being detected for the first time by ground-based radial velocity and space-based transit surveys. This milestone is opening the path toward the definition of instruments able to directly detect the light from these planets, with the identification of bio-signatures as one of the main objectives. In that respect, both the European Space Agency (ESA) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) have identified nulling interferometry as one of the most promising techniques. The ability to study distant planets will however depend on the amount of exozodiacal dust in the habitable zone of the target stars. Aims: We assess the impact of exozodiacal clouds on the performance of an infrared nulling interferometer in the Emma X-array configuration. The first part of the study is dedicated to the effect of the disc brightness on the number of targets that can be surveyed and studied by spectroscopy during the mission lifetime. In the second part, we address the impact of asymmetric structures in the discs such as clumps and offset which can potentially mimic the planetary signal. Methods: We use the DarwinSIM software which was designed and validated to study the performance of space-based nulling interferometers. The software has been adapted to handle images of exozodiacal discs and to compute the corresponding demodulated signal. Results: For the nominal mission architecture with 2-m aperture telescopes, centrally symmetric exozodiacal dust discs about 100 times denser than the solar zodiacal cloud can be tolerated in order to survey at least 150 targets during the mission lifetime. Considering modeled resonant structures created by an Earth-like planet orbiting at 1 AU around a Sun-like star, we show that this tolerable dust density goes down to about 15 times the solar zodiacal density for face-on systems and decreases with the disc inclination. Conclusions: Whereas the disc brightness only affects

  3. Quantifying Anthropogenic Dust Emissions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Webb, Nicholas P.; Pierre, Caroline

    2018-02-01

    Anthropogenic land use and land cover change, including local environmental disturbances, moderate rates of wind-driven soil erosion and dust emission. These human-dust cycle interactions impact ecosystems and agricultural production, air quality, human health, biogeochemical cycles, and climate. While the impacts of land use activities and land management on aeolian processes can be profound, the interactions are often complex and assessments of anthropogenic dust loads at all scales remain highly uncertain. Here, we critically review the drivers of anthropogenic dust emission and current evaluation approaches. We then identify and describe opportunities to: (1) develop new conceptual frameworks and interdisciplinary approaches that draw on ecological state-and-transition models to improve the accuracy and relevance of assessments of anthropogenic dust emissions; (2) improve model fidelity and capacity for change detection to quantify anthropogenic impacts on aeolian processes; and (3) enhance field research and monitoring networks to support dust model applications to evaluate the impacts of disturbance processes on local to global-scale wind erosion and dust emissions.

  4. Carriers of the mid-IR emission bands in PNe reanalysed. Evidence of a link between circumstellar and interstellar aromatic dust

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Joblin, C.; Szczerba, R.; Berné, O.; Szyszka, C.

    2008-10-01

    Context: It has been shown that the diversity of the aromatic emission features can be rationalized into different classes of objects, in which differences between circumstellar and interstellar matter are emphasised. Aims: We probe the links between the mid-IR emitters observed in planetary nebulae (PNe) and their counterparts in the interstellar medium in order to probe a scenario in which the latter have been formed in the circumstellar environment of evolved stars. Methods: The mid-IR (6-14 μm) emission spectra of PNe and compact H II regions were analysed on the basis of previous work on photodissociation regions (PDRs). Galactic, Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), and Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) objects were considered in our sample. Results: We show that the mid-IR emission of PNe can be decomposed as the sum of six components. Some components made of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) and very small grain (VSG) populations are similar to those observed in PDRs. Others are fitted in an evolutionary scenario involving the destruction of the aliphatic component observed in the post-AGB stage, as well as strong processing of PAHs in the extreme conditions of PNe that leads to a population of very large ionized PAHs. This species called PAHx are proposed as the carriers of a characteristic band at 7.90 μm. This band can be used as part of diagnostics that identify PNe in nearby galaxies and is also observed in galactic compact H II regions. Conclusions: These results support the formation of the aromatic very small dust particles in the envelopes of evolved stars, in the Milky Way, as well as in the LMC and SMC, and their subsequent survival in the interstellar medium. This work is based on observations made with the Spitzer Space Telescope, which is operated by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology under a contract with NASA. Based on observations with ISO, an ESA project with instruments funded by ESA Member States (especially the

  5. Dust loading in Gusev crater, Mars: Results from two active dust devil seasons

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Waller, D. A.; Greeley, R.; Neakrase, L. D.; Landis, G. A.; Whelley, P.; Thompson, S. D.

    2009-12-01

    Dust devils dominate the volcanic plains at the Mars Exploration Rover (MER) landing site within the Low Albedo Zone (LAZ) in Gusev Crater. Previous studies indicate that the inferred pressure drop within the dust devil core allows the vortex to lift large amounts of unconsolidated dust high into the atmosphere which contributes to the atmospheric haze. Previous laboratory results indicate that dust devils are efficient in lifting very fine-grained (<10 μm) material, even when boundary layer winds do not exceed previously predicted threshold wind speeds (~30-35 m/s at 1.5 m above the surface for Mars conditions). Since landing in Gusev crater in January 2004, MER Spirit has obtained data for two dust devil seasons (defined as the period of time when the first and last dust devils were imaged), with a third season currently being analyzed. These seasons typically correspond to southern spring and summer, when winds capable of lifting sediment are determined to be most frequent. All observations for Season One were taken as Spirit neared the summit of Husband Hill. During Season Two Spirit imaged dust devils in the plains as it traversed within the Inner Basin, a low-lying area in the Columbia Hills complex. All results were extrapolated so that they are representative of the entire LAZ. Season One lasted 270 sols (March 2005 to December 2005 corresponding to Ls 173.2 to 339.5 degrees), whereas Season Two lasted 153 sols (January 2007 to June 2007 corresponding to Ls 171.2 to 266.7 degrees) and ended suddenly on sol 1240 just after the dust devil frequency peaked for the season. This abrupt drop in dust devil activity corresponded to atmospheric opacity levels that exceeded 1.0 and the onset of a global dust storm that originated in the southern hemisphere that engulfed Gusev within weeks. Results show a large contrast in activity between the two seasons. An 81% decrease in dust devil frequency across the plains was found in Season Two. 533 dust devils were imaged

  6. Exploring Dust around HD 142527 down to 0.″025 (4 au) Using SPHERE/ZIMPOL

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

    Avenhaus, H.; Quanz, S. P.; Schmid, H. M.

    We have observed the protoplanetary disk of the well-known young Herbig star HD 142527 using ZIMPOL polarimetric differential imaging with the very broad band (∼600–900 nm) filter. We obtained two data sets in 2015 May and 2016 March. Our data allow us to explore dust scattering around the star down to a radius of ∼0.″025 (∼4 au). The well-known outer disk is clearly detected at higher resolution than before and shows previously unknown substructures, including spirals going inward into the cavity. Close to the star, dust scattering is detected at high signal-to-noise ratio, but it is unclear whether the signal represents the innermore » disk, which has been linked to the two prominent local minima in the scattering of the outer disk that are interpreted as shadows. An interpretation of an inclined inner disk combined with a dust halo is compatible with both our and previous observations, but other arrangements of the dust cannot be ruled out. Dust scattering is also present within the large gap between ∼30 and ∼140 au. The comparison of the two data sets suggests rapid evolution of the inner regions of the disk, potentially driven by the interaction with the close-in M-dwarf companion, around which no polarimetric signal is detected.« less

  7. Dust storm events over Delhi: verification of dust AOD forecasts with satellite and surface observations

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Singh, Aditi; Iyengar, Gopal R.; George, John P.

    2016-05-01

    Thar desert located in northwest part of India is considered as one of the major dust source. Dust storms originate in Thar desert during pre-monsoon season, affects large part of Indo-Gangetic plains. High dust loading causes the deterioration of the ambient air quality and degradation in visibility. Present study focuses on the identification of dust events and verification of the forecast of dust events over Delhi and western part of IG Plains, during the pre-monsoon season of 2015. Three dust events have been identified over Delhi during the study period. For all the selected days, Terra-MODIS AOD at 550 nm are found close to 1.0, while AURA-OMI AI shows high values. Dust AOD forecasts from NCMRWF Unified Model (NCUM) for the three selected dust events are verified against satellite (MODIS) and ground based observations (AERONET). Comparison of observed AODs at 550 nm from MODIS with NCUM predicted AODs reveals that NCUM is able to predict the spatial and temporal distribution of dust AOD, in these cases. Good correlation (~0.67) is obtained between the NCUM predicted dust AODs and location specific observations available from AERONET. Model under-predicted the AODs as compared to the AERONET observations. This may be mainly because the model account for only dust and no anthropogenic activities are considered. The results of the present study emphasize the requirement of more realistic representation of local dust emission in the model both of natural and anthropogenic origin, to improve the forecast of dust from NCUM during the dust events.

  8. A Mid-Summer's Dust Devil

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    2001-01-01

    One objective for the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) in the Extended Mission is to continue looking for changes and dynamic events taking place on the red planet. The feature shown here elicited gasps of excitement among the MOC Operations Staff when it was received in early April 2001.

    The feature is a dust devil. Dust devils are spinning, columnar vortices of wind that move across the landscape, pick up dust, and look somewhat like miniature tornadoes. Dust devils are a common occurrence in dry and desert landscapes on Earth as well as Mars. When this dust devil was spied in Amazonis Planitia on April 10th, the MOC was looking straight down. Usually when the camera is looking down the dust devil will appear as a circular, fuzzy patch with a straight shadow indicating its columnar shape. In this case, however, the dust devil is somewhat curved and kinked--its shape is best seen in the shadow it casts to the right. A thin, light-toned track has been left by the dust devil as it moved eastward across the landscape. Usually, such tracks are darker than the surroundings, in this case the light tone might indicate that the dust being removed by the passing dust devil is darker than the surface underneath the thin veneer of dust.

    Dust devils most typically form when the ground heats up during the day, warming the air immediately above the surface. As the warmed air nearest the surface begins to rise, it spins. The spinning column begins to move across the surface and picks up loose dust (if any is present). The dust makes the vortex visible and gives it the 'dust devil' or tornado-like appearance. This dust devil occurred at an optimal time for dust devils whether on Earth or Mars--around 2 p.m. local time in the middle of Northern Hemisphere Summer. North is up, sunlight illuminates the scene from the left (west), and 500 meters is about 547 yards. The shadow cast by the dust devil goes off the edge of the image, but the length shown

  9. China Dust

    Atmospheric Science Data Center

    2013-04-16

    ... SpectroRadiometer (MISR) nadir-camera images of eastern China compare a somewhat hazy summer view from July 9, 2000 (left) with a ... arid and sparsely vegetated surfaces of Mongolia and western China pick up large quantities of yellow dust. Airborne dust clouds from the ...

  10. Four Interstellar Dust Candidates from the Stardust Interstellar Dust Collector

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Westphal, A. J.; Allen, C.; Bajt, S.; Bechtel, H. A.; Borg, J.; Brenker, F.; Bridges, J.; Brownlee, D. E.; Burchell, M.; Burghammer, M.; Butterworth, A. L.; Cloetens, P.; Davis, A. M.; Floss, C.; Flynn, G. J.; Fougeray, P.; Frank, D.; Gainsforth, Z.; Grün, E.; Heck, P. R.; Hillier, J. K.; Hoppe, P.; Howard, L.; Hudson, B.; Huss, G. R.; Huth, J.; Kearsley, A.; King, A. J.; Lai, B.; Leitner, J.; Lemelle, L.; Leroux, H.; Lettieri, R.; Marchant, W.; Nittler, L. R.; Ogliore, R. C.; Postberg, F.; Price, M. C.; Sandford, S. A.; Sans Tresseras, J. A.; Schmitz, S.; Schoonjans, T.; Silversmit, G.; Simionovici, A.; Srama, R.; Stadermann, F. J.; Stephan, T.; Stodolna, J.; Stroud, R. M.; Sutton, S. R.; Toucoulou, R.; Trieloff, M.; Tsou, P.; Tsuchiyama, A.; Tyliczszak, T.; Vekemans, B.; Vincze, L.; Wordsworth, N.; Zevin, D.; Zolensky, M. E.; 29,000 Stardust@Home Dusters

    2011-03-01

    We report the discovery of two new interstellar dust candidates in the aerogel collectors of the Stardust Interstellar Dust Collector, and the analyses of these and two previously identified candidates.

  11. Dust Acoustic Wave Excitation in a Plasma with Warm Dust

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Rosenberg, M.; Thomas, E., Jr.; Marcus, L.; Fisher, R.; Williams, J. D.; Merlino, R. L.

    2008-11-01

    Measurements of the dust acoustic wave dispersion relation in dusty plasmas formed in glow discharges at the University of Iowa [1] and Auburn University [2] have shown the importance of finite dust temperature effects. The effect of dust grains with large thermal speeds was taken into account using kinetic theory of the ion-dust streaming instability [3]. The results of analytic and numerical calculations of the dispersion relation based on the kinetic theory will be presented and compared with the experimental results. [1] E. Thomas, Jr., R. Fisher, and R. L. Merlino, Phys. Plasmas 14, 123701 (2007). [2] J. D. Williams, E. Thomas Jr., and L. Marcus, Phys. Plasmas 15, 043704 (2008). [3] M. Rosenberg, E. Thomas Jr., and R. L. Merlino, Phys. Plasmas 15, 073701 (2008).

  12. Gusev Dust Devil, sol 532

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    2005-01-01

    This movie clip shows a dust devil seen by NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit during the rover's 532nd martian day, or sol (July 2, 2005). The dust-carrying whirlwind is moving across a plain inside Gusev Crater and viewed from Spirit's vantage point on hills rising from the plain. The clip consists of frames taken by Spirit's navigation camera, processed to enhance contrast for anything in the images that changes from frame to frame. The total elapsed time during the taking of these frames was 8 minutes, 48 seconds.

    Spirit began seeing dust devil activity around the beginning of Mars' spring season. Activity increased as spring continued, but fell off again for about two weeks during a dust storm. As the dust storm faded away, dust devil activity came back. In the mid-afternoons as the summer solstice approached, dust devils were a very common occurrence on the floor of Gusev crater. The early-spring dust devils tended to move southwest-to-northeast, across the dust devil streaks in Gusev seen from orbit. Increasingly as the season progresses, the dust devils are seen moving northwest-to-southeast, in the same direction as the streaks. Scientists are watching for the big dust devils that leave those streaks.

  13. Parameterizing the interstellar dust temperature

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hocuk, S.; Szűcs, L.; Caselli, P.; Cazaux, S.; Spaans, M.; Esplugues, G. B.

    2017-08-01

    The temperature of interstellar dust particles is of great importance to astronomers. It plays a crucial role in the thermodynamics of interstellar clouds, because of the gas-dust collisional coupling. It is also a key parameter in astrochemical studies that governs the rate at which molecules form on dust. In 3D (magneto)hydrodynamic simulations often a simple expression for the dust temperature is adopted, because of computational constraints, while astrochemical modelers tend to keep the dust temperature constant over a large range of parameter space. Our aim is to provide an easy-to-use parametric expression for the dust temperature as a function of visual extinction (AV) and to shed light on the critical dependencies of the dust temperature on the grain composition. We obtain an expression for the dust temperature by semi-analytically solving the dust thermal balance for different types of grains and compare to a collection of recent observational measurements. We also explore the effect of ices on the dust temperature. Our results show that a mixed carbonaceous-silicate type dust with a high carbon volume fraction matches the observations best. We find that ice formation allows the dust to be warmer by up to 15% at high optical depths (AV> 20 mag) in the interstellar medium. Our parametric expression for the dust temperature is presented as Td = [ 11 + 5.7 × tanh(0.61 - log 10(AV) ]χuv1/5.9, where χuv is in units of the Draine (1978, ApJS, 36, 595) UV field.

  14. The cosmic infrared backgroung at 1.25 and 2.2 and microns using DIRBE and 2mass: a contribution not due to galaxies?

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Cambresy, L.; Reach, W.; Beichman, C.; Jarrett, T.

    2001-01-01

    Using the 2MASS second incremental data release and the zodiacal subtracted mission average maps of COBE/DIRBE, the authors estimate the cosmic background in the J (1.25 mu m) and K (2.2 mu m) bands using selected areas representing 550 deg/sup 2/ of sky.

  15. Marching Dust Devils

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2015-11-05

    On an early fall afternoon in Ganges Chasma Valles Marineris, NASA Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft managed to capture a cluster of eight dust devils, five of them in the enhanced color strip. They're together on a dark sandy surface that tilts slightly to the north, towards the Sun. Both of these factors help warm the surface and generate convection in the air above. The surface is streaked with the faint tracks of earlier dust devils. A pair of dust devils appears together at top right, spaced only 250 meters apart. These two have quite different morphologies. The bigger one (on the right) is about 100 meters in diameter and is shaped like a doughnut with a hole in the middle. Its smaller companion is more compact and plume-like, but it too has a small hole in the center, where the air pressure is lowest. It may be that the smaller dust devil is younger than the larger one. A row of four dust devils are in the middle of the color strip, separated by about 900 meters from one another. This image might answer some interesting questions about the behavior of dust devils. Dust devils are theoretically expected to migrate uphill on a sloping surface, or migrate downwind when there is a breeze. Where they are found close together in pairs, they are expected to rotate in opposite directions. HiRISE color observations can be used to determine the direction of rotation and-for fast moving dust devils-the direction of their travel. This is because the different color observations (infrared, red, and blue) are taken at slightly different times. The differences between the earliest color observation and the last tell us about the changes that took place during that time interval. All this requires careful analysis, but if these dust devils are moving fast enough, and spaced closely enough, these here might display some interesting "social dynamics," possibly marching together and rotating in alternating directions. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20045

  16. Early dust formation and a massive progenitor for SN 2011ja?

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Andrews, J. E.; Krafton, Kelsie M.; Clayton, Geoffrey C.; Montiel, E.; Wesson, R.; Sugerman, Ben E. K.; Barlow, M. J.; Matsuura, M.; Drass, H.

    2016-04-01

    SN 2011ja was a bright (I = -18.3) Type II supernova occurring in the nearby edge on spiral galaxy NGC 4945. Flat-topped and multipeaked H α and H β spectral emission lines appear between 64 and 84 d post-explosion, indicating interaction with a disc-like circumstellar medium inclined ˜45° from edge-on. After day 84, an increase in the H- and K-band flux along with heavy attenuation of the red wing of the emission lines are strong indications of early dust formation, likely located in the cool dense shell created between the forward shock of the SN ejecta and the reverse shock created as the ejecta plows into the existing circumstellar material. Radiative transfer modelling reveals both ≈1 × 10-5 M⊙ of pre-existing dust located ˜1016.7 cm away and up to ≈6 × 10-4 M⊙ of newly formed dust. Spectral observations after 1.5 yr reveal the possibility that the fading SN is located within a young (3-6 Myr) massive stellar cluster, which when combined with tentative 56Ni mass estimates of 0.2 M⊙ may indicate a massive (≥25 M⊙) progenitor for SN 2011ja.

  17. GOODS-Herschel: dust attenuation properties of UV selected high redshift galaxies

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Buat, V.; Noll, S.; Burgarella, D.; Giovannoli, E.; Charmandaris, V.; Pannella, M.; Hwang, H. S.; Elbaz, D.; Dickinson, M.; Magdis, G.; Reddy, N.; Murphy, E. J.

    2012-09-01

    Context. Dust attenuation in galaxies is poorly known, especially at high redshift. And yet the amount of dust attenuation is a key parameter to deduce accurate star formation rates from ultraviolet (UV) rest-frame measurements. The wavelength dependence of the dust attenuation is also of fundamental importance to interpret the observed spectral energy distributions (SEDs) and to derive photometric redshifts or physical properties of galaxies. Aims: We want to study dust attenuation at UV wavelengths at high redshift, where the UV is redshifted to the observed visible light wavelength range. In particular, we search for a UV bump and related implications for dust attenuation determinations. Methods: We use photometric data in the Chandra Deep Field South (CDFS), obtained in intermediate and broad band filters by the MUSYC project, to sample the UV rest-frame of 751 galaxies with 0.95 < z < 2.2. When available, infrared (IR) Herschel/PACS data from the GOODS-Herschel project, coupled with Spitzer/MIPS measurements, are used to estimate the dust emission and to constrain dust attenuation. The SED of each source is fit using the CIGALE code. The amount of dust attenuation and the characteristics of the dust attenuation curve are obtained as outputs of the SED fitting process, together with other physical parameters linked to the star formation history. Results: The global amount of dust attenuation at UV wavelengths is found to increase with stellar mass and to decrease as UV luminosity increases. A UV bump at 2175 Å is securely detected in 20% of the galaxies, and the mean amplitude of the bump for the sample is similar to that observed in the extinction curve of the LMC supershell region. This amplitude is found to be lower in galaxies with very high specific star formation rates, and 90% of the galaxies exhibiting a secure bump are at z < 1.5. The attenuation curve is confirmed to be steeper than that of local starburst galaxies for 20% of the galaxies. The large

  18. Dynamic Dust Accumulation and Dust Removal Observed on the Mars Exploration Rover Magnets

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Bertelsen, P.; Bell, J. F., III; Goetz, W.; Gunnlaugsson, H. P.; Herkenhoff, K. E.; Hviid, S. F.; Johnson, J. R.; Kinch, K. M.; Knudsen, J. M.; Madsen, M. B.

    2005-01-01

    The Mars Exploration Rovers each carry a set of Magnetic Properties Experiments designed to investigate the properties of the airborne dust in the Martian atmosphere. It is a preferred interpretation of previous experiments that the airborne dust in the Martian atmosphere is primarily composed by composite silicate particles containing one or more highly magnetic minerals as a minor constituent. The ultimate goal of the magnetic properties experiments on the Mars Exploration Rover mission is to provide some information/ constraints on whether the dust is formed by volcanic, meteoritic, aqueous, or other processes. The first problem is to identify the magnetic mineral(s) in the airborne dust on Mars. While the overall results of the magnetic properties experiments are presented in, this abstract will focus on dust deposition and dust removal on some of the magnets.

  19. Electrostatic Characterization of Lunar Dust

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    2008-01-01

    To ensure the safety and success of future lunar exploration missions, it is important to measure the toxicity of the lunar dust and its electrostatic properties. The electrostatic properties of lunar dust govern its behavior, from how the dust is deposited in an astronaut s lungs to how it contaminates equipment surfaces. NASA has identified the threat caused by lunar dust as one of the top two problems that need to be solved before returning to the Moon. To understand the electrostatic nature of lunar dust, NASA must answer the following questions: (1) how much charge can accumulate on the dust? (2) how long will the charge remain? and (3) can the dust be removed? These questions can be answered by measuring the electrostatic properties of the dust: its volume resistivity, charge decay, charge-to-mass ratio or chargeability, and dielectric properties.

  20. Dust devils on Mars

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Thomas, P. G.; Gierasch, P.

    1985-01-01

    Large columns of dust have been discovered rising above plains on Mars. The storms are probably analogous to terrestrial dust devils, but their size indicates that they are more similar to tornadoes in intensity. They occur at locations where the soil has been strongly warmed by the Sun, and there the surface is smooth and fine grained. These are the same conditions that favor dust devils on Earth. Warm gas from the lowest atmospheric layer converges and rises in a thin column, with intense swirl developing at the edge of the column. In one area a mosaic of Viking images shows 97 vortices in a three day period. This represents a density of vortices of about one in each 900 square kilometers. Thus, these dust devils may be important in moving dust or starting over dust storms.

  1. The Continuous Monitoring of Desert Dust using an Infrared-based Dust Detection and Retrieval Method

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Duda, David P.; Minnis, Patrick; Trepte, Qing; Sun-Mack, Sunny

    2006-01-01

    Airborne dust and sand are significant aerosol sources that can impact the atmospheric and surface radiation budgets. Because airborne dust affects visibility and air quality, it is desirable to monitor the location and concentrations of this aerosol for transportation and public health. Although aerosol retrievals have been derived for many years using visible and near-infrared reflectance measurements from satellites, the detection and quantification of dust from these channels is problematic over bright surfaces, or when dust concentrations are large. In addition, aerosol retrievals from polar orbiting satellites lack the ability to monitor the progression and sources of dust storms. As a complement to current aerosol dust retrieval algorithms, multi-spectral thermal infrared (8-12 micron) data from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and the Meteosat-8 Spinning Enhanced Visible and Infrared Imager (SEVIRI) are used in the development of a prototype dust detection method and dust property retrieval that can monitor the progress of Saharan dust fields continuously, both night and day. The dust detection method is incorporated into the processing of CERES (Clouds and the Earth s Radiant Energy System) aerosol retrievals to produce dust property retrievals. Both MODIS (from Terra and Aqua) and SEVERI data are used to develop the method.

  2. Galaxy properties from J-PAS narrow-band photometry

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mejía-Narváez, A.; Bruzual, G.; Magris, C. G.; Alcaniz, J. S.; Benítez, N.; Carneiro, S.; Cenarro, A. J.; Cristóbal-Hornillos, D.; Dupke, R.; Ederoclite, A.; Marín-Franch, A.; de Oliveira, C. Mendes; Moles, M.; Sodre, L.; Taylor, K.; Varela, J.; Ramió, H. Vázquez

    2017-11-01

    We study the consistency of the physical properties of galaxies retrieved from spectral energy distribution (SED) fitting as a function of spectral resolution and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). Using a selection of physically motivated star formation histories, we set up a control sample of mock galaxy spectra representing observations of the local Universe in high-resolution spectroscopy, and in 56 narrow-band and 5 broad-band photometry. We fit the SEDs at these spectral resolutions and compute their corresponding stellar mass, the mass- and luminosity-weighted age and metallicity, and the dust extinction. We study the biases, correlations and degeneracies affecting the retrieved parameters and explore the role of the spectral resolution and the SNR in regulating these degeneracies. We find that narrow-band photometry and spectroscopy yield similar trends in the physical properties derived, the former being considerably more precise. Using a galaxy sample from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), we compare more realistically the results obtained from high-resolution and narrow-band SEDs (synthesized from the same SDSS spectra) following the same spectral fitting procedures. We use results from the literature as a benchmark to our spectroscopic estimates and show that the prior probability distribution functions, commonly adopted in parametric methods, may introduce biases not accounted for in a Bayesian framework. We conclude that narrow-band photometry yields the same trend in the age-metallicity relation in the literature, provided it is affected by the same biases as spectroscopy, albeit the precision achieved with the latter is generally twice as large as with the narrow-band, at SNR values typical of the different kinds of data.

  3. On planetary nebulae as sources of carbon dust: Infrared emission from planetary nebulae of the galactic halo

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Dinerstein, Harriet L.; Lester, Daniel F.

    1990-01-01

    Planetary nebulae of the galactic disk are generally seen to emit a thermal continuum due to dust grains heated by stellar and nebular photons. This continuum typically peaks between 25 and 60 micron m, so that the total power emitted by the dust is sampled well by the broad-band measurements made by IRAS. Researchers examine here the characteristics of the infrared emission from the four planetary nebulae which are believed on the basis of their low overall metallicities to belong to the halo population. These nebulae are of particular interest because they are the most metal-poor ionized nebulae known in our Galaxy, and offer the opportunity to probe possible dependences of the dust properties on nebular composition. Researchers present fluxes extracted from co-addition of the IRAS data, as well as ground-based near infrared measurements. Each of the four halo objects, including the planetary nebula in the globular cluster M15, is detected in at least one infrared band. Researchers compare the estimated infrared excesses of these nebulae (IRE, the ratio of measured infrared power to the power available in the form of resonantly-trapped Lyman alpha photons) to those of disk planetary nebulae with similar densities but more normal abundances. Three of the halo planetaries have IRE values similar to those of the disk nebulae, despite the fact that their Fe- and Si-peak gas phase abundances are factors of 10 to 100 lower. However, these halo nebulae have normal or elevated C/H ratios, due to nuclear processing and mixing in their red giant progenitors. Unlike the other halo planetaries, DDDM1 is deficient in carbon as well as in the other light metals. This nebula has a substantially lower IRE than the other halo planetaries, and may be truly dust efficient. Researchers suggest that the deficiency is due to a lack of the raw material for producing carbon-based grains, and that the main bulk constituent of the dust in these planetary nebulae is carbon.

  4. Infrared Luminosities and Dust Properties of z ≈ 2 Dust-obscured Galaxies

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bussmann, R. S.; Dey, Arjun; Borys, C.; Desai, V.; Jannuzi, B. T.; Le Floc'h, E.; Melbourne, J.; Sheth, K.; Soifer, B. T.

    2009-11-01

    We present SHARC-II 350 μm imaging of twelve 24 μm bright (F 24 μm > 0.8 mJy) Dust-Obscured Galaxies (DOGs) and Combined Array for Research in Millimeter-wave Astronomy (CARMA) 1 mm imaging of a subset of two DOGs. These objects are selected from the Boötes field of the NOAO Deep Wide-Field Survey. Detections of four DOGs at 350 μm imply infrared (IR) luminosities which are consistent to within a factor of 2 of expectations based on a warm-dust spectral energy distribution (SED) scaled to the observed 24 μm flux density. The 350 μm upper limits for the 8 non-detected DOGs are consistent with both Mrk 231 and M82 (warm-dust SEDs), but exclude cold dust (Arp 220) SEDs. The two DOGs targeted at 1 mm were not detected in our CARMA observations, placing strong constraints on the dust temperature: T dust > 35-60 K. Assuming these dust properties apply to the entire sample, we find dust masses of ≈3 × 108 M sun. In comparison to other dusty z ~ 2 galaxy populations such as submillimeter galaxies (SMGs) and other Spitzer-selected high-redshift sources, this sample of DOGs has higher IR luminosities (2 × 1013 L sun versus 6 × 1012 L sun for the other galaxy populations) that are driven by warmer dust temperatures (>35-60 K versus ~30 K) and lower inferred dust masses (3 × 108 M sun versus 3 × 109 M sun). Wide-field Herschel and Submillimeter Common-User Bolometer Array-2 surveys should be able to detect hundreds of these power-law-dominated DOGs. We use the existing Hubble Space Telescope and Spitzer/InfraRed Array Camera data to estimate stellar masses of these sources and find that the stellar to gas mass ratio may be higher in our 24 μm bright sample of DOGs than in SMGs and other Spitzer-selected sources. Although much larger sample sizes are needed to provide a definitive conclusion, the data are consistent with an evolutionary trend in which the formation of massive galaxies at z ~ 2 involves a submillimeter bright, cold-dust, and star

  5. INFRARED LUMINOSITIES AND DUST PROPERTIES OF z approx 2 DUST-OBSCURED GALAXIES

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

    Bussmann, R. S.; Dey, Arjun; Jannuzi, B. T.

    We present SHARC-II 350 mum imaging of twelve 24 mum bright (F{sub 24m}u{sub m} > 0.8 mJy) Dust-Obscured Galaxies (DOGs) and Combined Array for Research in Millimeter-wave Astronomy (CARMA) 1 mm imaging of a subset of two DOGs. These objects are selected from the Booetes field of the NOAO Deep Wide-Field Survey. Detections of four DOGs at 350 mum imply infrared (IR) luminosities which are consistent to within a factor of 2 of expectations based on a warm-dust spectral energy distribution (SED) scaled to the observed 24 mum flux density. The 350 mum upper limits for the 8 non-detected DOGsmore » are consistent with both Mrk 231 and M82 (warm-dust SEDs), but exclude cold dust (Arp 220) SEDs. The two DOGs targeted at 1 mm were not detected in our CARMA observations, placing strong constraints on the dust temperature: T{sub dust} > 35-60 K. Assuming these dust properties apply to the entire sample, we find dust masses of approx3 x 10{sup 8} M{sub sun}. In comparison to other dusty z approx 2 galaxy populations such as submillimeter galaxies (SMGs) and other Spitzer-selected high-redshift sources, this sample of DOGs has higher IR luminosities (2 x 10{sup 13} L{sub sun} versus 6 x 10{sup 12} L{sub sun} for the other galaxy populations) that are driven by warmer dust temperatures (>35-60 K versus approx30 K) and lower inferred dust masses (3 x 10{sup 8} M{sub sun} versus 3 x 10{sup 9} M{sub sun}). Wide-field Herschel and Submillimeter Common-User Bolometer Array-2 surveys should be able to detect hundreds of these power-law-dominated DOGs. We use the existing Hubble Space Telescope and Spitzer/InfraRed Array Camera data to estimate stellar masses of these sources and find that the stellar to gas mass ratio may be higher in our 24 mum bright sample of DOGs than in SMGs and other Spitzer-selected sources. Although much larger sample sizes are needed to provide a definitive conclusion, the data are consistent with an evolutionary trend in which the formation of massive

  6. China Dust and Sand

    Atmospheric Science Data Center

    2013-04-16

    ... article title:  Dust and Sand Sweep Over Northeast China     View Larger Image ... these views of the dust and sand that swept over northeast China on March 10, 2004. Information on the height of the dust and an ...

  7. Extracting lunar dust parameters from image charge signals produced by the Lunar Dust Experiment

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Stanley, J.; Kempf, S.; Horanyi, M.; Szalay, J.

    2015-12-01

    The Lunar Dust Experiment (LDEX) onboard the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) is an impact ionization dust detector used to characterize the lunar dust exosphere generated by the impacts of large interplanetary particles and meteor streams (Horanyi et al., 2015). In addition to the mass and speed of these lofted particles, LDEX is sensitive to their charge. The resulting signatures of impact events therefore provide valuable information about not only the ambient plasma environment, but also the speed vectors of these dust grains. Here, impact events produced from LDEX's calibration at the Dust Accelerator Laboratory are analyzed using an image charge model derived from the electrostatic simulation program, Coulomb. We show that parameters such as dust grain speed, size, charge, and position of entry into LDEX can be recovered and applied to data collected during LADEE's seven-month mission.

  8. Direct Radiative Forcing from Saharan Mineral Dust Layers from In-situ Measurements and Satellite Retrievals

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sauer, D. N.; Vázquez-Navarro, M.; Gasteiger, J.; Chouza, F.; Weinzierl, B.

    2016-12-01

    Mineral dust is the major species of airborne particulate matter by mass in the atmosphere. Each year an estimated 200-3000 Tg of dust are emitted from the North African desert and arid regions alone. A large fraction of the dust is lifted into the free troposphere and gets transported in extended dust layers westward over the Atlantic Ocean into the Caribbean Sea. Especially over the dark surface of the ocean, those dust layers exert a significant effect on the atmospheric radiative balance though aerosol-radiation interactions. During the Saharan Aerosol Long-range Transport and Aerosol-Cloud-Interaction Experiment (SALTRACE) in summer 2013 airborne in-situ aerosol measurements on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, near the African coast and the Caribbean were performed. In this study we use data about aerosol microphysical properties acquired between Cabo Verde and Senegal to derive the aerosol optical properties and the resulting radiative forcing using the radiative transfer package libRadtran. We compare the results to values retrieved from MSG/SEVIRI data using the RRUMS algorithm. The RRUMS algorithm can derive shortwave and longwave top-of-atmosphere outgoing fluxes using only information issued from the narrow-band MSG/SEVIRI channels. A specific calibration based on collocated Terra/CERES measurements ensures a correct retrieval of the upwelling flux from the dust covered pixels. The comparison of radiative forcings based on in-situ data to satellite-retrieved values enables us to extend the radiative forcing estimates from small-scale in-situ measurements to large scale satellite coverage over the Atlantic Ocean.

  9. Sahara Dust Cloud

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2005-07-15

    In July of 2005, a continent-sized cloud of hot air and dust originating from the Sahara Desert crossed the Atlantic Ocean and headed towards Florida and the Caribbean, captured by the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder onboard NASA Aqua satellite. A Saharan Air Layer, or SAL, forms when dry air and dust rise from Africa's west coast and ride the trade winds above the Atlantic Ocean. These dust clouds are not uncommon, especially during the months of July and August. They start when weather patterns called tropical waves pick up dust from the desert in North Africa, carry it a couple of miles into the atmosphere and drift westward. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA00448

  10. Circumstellar dust in symbiotic novae

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jurkic, Tomislav; Kotnik-Karuza, Dubravka

    2015-08-01

    Physical properties of the circumstellar dust and associated physical mechanisms play an important role in understanding evolution of symbiotic binaries. We present a model of inner dust regions around the cool Mira component of the two symbiotic novae, RR Tel and HM Sge, based on the long-term near-IR photometry, infrared ISO spectra and mid-IR interferometry. Pulsation properties and long-term variabilities were found from the near-IR light curves. The dust properties were determined using the DUSTY code which solves the radiative transfer. No changes in pulsational parameters were found, but a long-term variations with periods of 20-25 years have been detected which cannot be attributed to orbital motion.Circumstellar silicate dust shell with inner dust shell temperatures between 900 K and 1300 K and of moderate optical depth can explain all the observations. RR Tel showed the presence of an optically thin CS dust envelope and an optically thick dust region outside the line of sight, which was further supported by the detailed modelling using the 2D LELUYA code. Obscuration events in RR Tel were explained by an increase in optical depth caused by the newly condensed dust leading to the formation of a compact dust shell. HM Sge showed permanent obscuration and a presence of a compact dust shell with a variable optical depth. Scattering of the near-IR colours can be understood by a change in sublimation temperature caused by the Mira variability. Presence of large dust grains (up to 4 µm) suggests an increased grain growth in conditions of increased mass loss. The mass loss rates of up to 17·10-6 MSun/yr were significantly higher than in intermediate-period single Miras and in agreement with longer-period O-rich AGB stars.Despite the nova outburst, HM Sge remained enshrouded in dust with no significant dust destruction. The existence of unperturbed dust shell suggests a small influence of the hot component and strong dust shielding from the UV flux. By the use

  11. NICMOS PEELS AWAY LAYERS OF DUST TO SHOW INNER REGION OF DUSTY NEBULA

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    2002-01-01

    The revived Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS) aboard NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has penetrated layers of dust in a star-forming cloud to uncover a dense, craggy edifice of dust and gas . This region is called the Cone Nebula (NGC 2264), so named because, in ground-based images, it has a conical shape. NICMOS enables the Hubble telescope to see in near-infrared wavelengths of light, so that it can penetrate the dust that obscures the nebula's inner regions. But the Cone is so dense that even the near-infared 'eyes' of NICMOS can't penetrate all the way through it. The image shows the upper 0.5 light-years of the nebula. The entire nebula is 7 light-years long. The Cone resides in a turbulent star-forming region, located 2,500 light-years away in the constellation Monoceros. Radiation from hot, young stars [located beyond the top of the image] has slowly eroded the nebula over millions of years. Ultraviolet light heats the edges of the dark cloud, releasing gas into the relatively empty region of surrounding space. NICMOS has peeled away the outer layers of dust to reveal even denser dust. The denser regions give the nebula a more three-dimensional structure than can be seen in the visible-light picture at left, taken by the Advanced Camera for Surveys aboard the Hubble telescope. In peering through the dusty facade to the nebula's inner regions, NICMOS has unmasked several stars [yellow dots at upper right]. Astronomers don't know whether these stars are behind the dusty nebula or embedded in it. The four bright stars lined up on the left are in front of the nebula. The human eye cannot see infrared light, so colors have been assigned to correspond with near-infrared wavelengths. The blue light represents shorter near-infrared wavelengths and the red light corresponds to longer wavelengths. The NICMOS color composite image was made by combining photographs taken in J-band, H-band, and Paschen-alpha filters. The NICMOS images were taken

  12. The Fourier-Kelvin Stellar Interferometer (FKSI): Infrared Detection and Characterization of Exozodiacal Dust to Super-Earths, A Progress Report

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Danchi, W.

    2010-01-01

    The Fourier-Kelvin Stellar Interferometer (FKSI) is a structurally connected infrared space interferometer with 0.5 m diameter telescopes on a 12.5 m baseline, and is passively cooled to approx.60K. The FKSI operates in the thermal infrared from 3-8 microns in a nulling (or starlight suppressing) mode for the detection and characterization of exoplanets, debris disks, extrasolar zodiacal dust levels. The FKSI will have the highest angular resolution of any infrared space instrument ever made with its nominal resolution of 40 mas at a 5 micron center wavelength. This resolution exceeds that of Spitzer by a factor of 38 and JWST by a factor of 5. The FKSI mission is conceived as a "probe class" or "mid-sized" strategic mission that utilizes technology advances from flagship projects like JWST, SIM, Spitzer, and the technology programs of TPF-I/Darwin. During the past year we began investigating an enhanced version of FKSI with 1-2 m diameter telescopes, passively cooled to 40K, on a 20-m baseline, with a sunshade giving a +/- 45 degree Field-of-Regard. This enhanced design is capable of detecting and characterizing the atmospheres of many 2 Earth-radius super-Earths and a few Earth-twins. We will report progress on the design of the enhanced mission concept and current status of the technologies needed for this mission.

  13. Numerical Prediction of Dust. Chapter 10

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Benedetti, Angela; Baldasano, J. M.; Basart, S.; Benincasa, F.; Boucher, O.; Brooks, M.; Chen, J. P.; Colarco, P. R.; Gong, S.; Huneeus, N.; hide

    2013-01-01

    Covers the whole breadth of mineral dust research, from a scientific perspective Presents interdisciplinary work including results from field campaigns, satellite observations, laboratory studies, computer modelling and theoretical studies Explores the role of dust as a player and recorder of environmental change This volume presents state-of-the-art research about mineral dust, including results from field campaigns, satellite observations, laboratory studies, computer modelling and theoretical studies. Dust research is a new, dynamic and fast-growing area of science and due to its multiple roles in the Earth system, dust has become a fascinating topic for many scientific disciplines. Aspects of dust research covered in this book reach from timescales of minutes (as with dust devils, cloud processes, and radiation) to millennia (as with loess formation and oceanic sediments), making dust both a player and recorder of environmental change. The book is structured in four main parts that explore characteristics of dust, the global dust cycle, impacts of dust on the Earth system, and dust as a climate indicator. The chapters in these parts provide a comprehensive, detailed overview of this highly interdisciplinary subject. The contributions presented here cover dust from source to sink and describe all the processes dust particles undergo while travelling through the atmosphere. Chapters explore how dust is lifted and transported, how it affects radiation, clouds, regional circulations, precipitation and chemical processes in the atmosphere, and how it deteriorates air quality. The book explores how dust is removed from the atmosphere by gravitational settling, turbulence or precipitation, how iron contained in dust fertilizes terrestrial and marine ecosystems, and about the role that dust plays in human health. We learn how dust is observed, simulated using computer models and forecast. The book also details the role of dust deposits for climate reconstructions

  14. Sahara Dust Cloud

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    2005-01-01

    [figure removed for brevity, see original site] Dust Particles Click on the image for Quicktime movie from 7/15-7/24

    A continent-sized cloud of hot air and dust originating from the Sahara Desert crossed the Atlantic Ocean and headed towards Florida and the Caribbean. A Saharan Air Layer, or SAL, forms when dry air and dust rise from Africa's west coast and ride the trade winds above the Atlantic Ocean.

    These dust clouds are not uncommon, especially during the months of July and August. They start when weather patterns called tropical waves pick up dust from the desert in North Africa, carry it a couple of miles into the atmosphere and drift westward.

    In a sequence of images created by data acquired by the Earth-orbiting Atmospheric Infrared Sounder ranging from July 15 through July 24, we see the distribution of the cloud in the atmosphere as it swirls off of Africa and heads across the ocean to the west. Using the unique silicate spectral signatures of dust in the thermal infrared, AIRS can detect the presence of dust in the atmosphere day or night. This detection works best if there are no clouds present on top of the dust; when clouds are present, they can interfere with the signal, making it much harder to detect dust as in the case of July 24, 2005.

    In the Quicktime movie, the scale at the bottom of the images shows +1 for dust definitely detected, and ranges down to -1 for no dust detected. The plots are averaged over a number of AIRS observations falling within grid boxes, and so it is possible to obtain fractional numbers. [figure removed for brevity, see original site] Total Water Vapor in the Atmosphere Around the Dust Cloud Click on the image for Quicktime movie

    The dust cloud is contained within a dry adiabatic layer which originates over the Sahara Desert. This Saharan Air Layer (SAL) advances Westward over the Atlantic Ocean, overriding the cool, moist air nearer the surface. This burst of very dry air is visible in the

  15. IR spectral properties of dust and ice at the Mars south polar cap

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Titus, T. N.; Kieffer, H. H.

    2001-11-01

    Removal of atmospheric dust effects is required to derive surface IR spectral emissivity. Commonly, the atmospheric-surface separation is based on radiative transfer (RT) spectral inversion methods using nadir-pointing observations. This methodology depends on a priori knowledge of the spectral shape of each atmospheric aerosol (e.g. dust or water ice) and a large thermal contrast between the surface and atmosphere. RT methods fail over the polar caps due to low thermal contrast between the atmosphere and the surface. We have used multi-angle Emission Phase Function (EPF) observations to estimate the opacity spectrum of dust over the springtime south polar cap and the underlying surface radiance, and thus, the surface emissivity. We include a few EPFs from Hellas Basin as a basis for comparisons between the spectral shape of polar and non-polar dust. Surface spectral emissivities over the seasonal cap are compared to CO2 models. Our results show that the spectral shape of the polar dust opacity is not constant, but is a two-parameter family that can be characterized by the 9 um and 20 um opacities. The 9 um opacity varies from 0.15 to 0.45 and characterizes the overall atmospheric conditions. The 9 um to 20 um opacity ratio varies from 2.0 to 5.1, suggesting changes in dust size distribution over the polar caps. Derived surface temperatures from the EPFs confirm that the slightly elevated temperatures (relative to CO2 frost temperature) observed in ``cryptic'' regions are a surface effect, not atmospheric. Comparison of broad-band reflectivity and surface emissivities to model spectra suggest the bright regions (e.g. perennial cap, Mountains of Mitchell) have higher albedos due to a thin surface layer of fine-grain CO2 (perhaps either frost or fractured ice) with an underlying layer of either coarse grain or slab CO2 ice.

  16. Mid-infrared interferometry towards the massive young stellar object CRL 2136: inside the dust rim

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    de Wit, W. J.; Hoare, M. G.; Oudmaijer, R. D.; Nürnberger, D. E. A.; Wheelwright, H. E.; Lumsden, S. L.

    2011-02-01

    Context. Establishing the importance of circumstellar disks and their properties is crucial to fully understand massive star formation. Aims: We aim to spatially resolve the various components that make-up the accretion environment of a massive young stellar object (⪉100 AU), and reproduce the emission from near-infrared to millimeter wavelengths using radiative transfer codes. Methods: We apply mid-infrared spectro-interferometry to the massive young stellar object CRL 2136. The observations were performed with the Very Large Telescope Interferometer and the MIDI instrument at a 42 m baseline probing angular scales of 50 milli-arcseconds. We model the observed visibilities in parallel with diffraction-limited images at both 24.5 μm and in the N-band (with resolutions of 0.6´´and 0.3´´, respectively), as well as the spectral energy distribution. Results: The arcsec-scale spatial information reveals the well-resolved emission from the dusty envelope. By simultaneously modelling the spatial and spectral data, we find that the bulk of the dust emission occurs at several dust sublimation radii (approximately 170 AU). This reproduces the high mid-infrared fluxes and at the same time the low visibilities observed in the MIDI data for wavelengths longward of 8.5 μm. However, shortward of this wavelength the visibility data show a sharp up-turn indicative of compact emission. We discuss various potential sources of this emission. We exclude a dust disk being responsible for the observed spectral imprint on the visibilities. A cool supergiant star and an accretion disk are considered and both shown to be viable origins of the compact mid-infrared emission. Conclusions: We propose that CRL 2136 is embedded in a dusty envelope, which truncates at several times the dust sublimation radius. A dust torus is manifest in the equatorial region. We find that the spectro-interferometric N-band signal can be reproduced by either a gaseous disk or a bloated central star. If the

  17. SCUSS u- BAND EMISSION AS A STAR-FORMATION-RATE INDICATOR

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

    Zhou, Zhimin; Zhou, Xu; Wu, Hong

    2017-01-20

    We present and analyze the possibility of using optical u- band luminosities to estimate star-formation rates (SFRs) of galaxies based on the data from the South Galactic Cap u band Sky Survey (SCUSS), which provides a deep u -band photometric survey covering about 5000 deg{sup 2} of the South Galactic Cap. Based on two samples of normal star-forming galaxies selected by the BPT diagram, we explore the correlations between u -band, H α , and IR luminosities by combing SCUSS data with the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer ( WISE ). The attenuation-corrected u -band luminositiesmore » are tightly correlated with the Balmer decrement-corrected H α luminosities with an rms scatter of ∼0.17 dex. The IR-corrected u luminosities are derived based on the correlations between the attenuation of u- band luminosities and WISE 12 (or 22) μ m luminosities, and then calibrated with the Balmer-corrected H α luminosities. The systematic residuals of these calibrations are tested against the physical properties over the ranges covered by our sample objects. We find that the best-fitting nonlinear relations are better than the linear ones and recommended to be applied in the measurement of SFRs. The systematic deviations mainly come from the pollution of old stellar population and the effect of dust extinction; therefore, a more detailed analysis is needed in future work.« less

  18. Out of the Dust, A Planet is Born Artist Concept

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2004-05-27

    In this artist's conception, a possible newfound planet spins through a clearing in a nearby star's dusty, planet-forming disc. This clearing was detected around the star CoKu Tau 4 by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. Astronomers believe that an orbiting massive body, like a planet, may have swept away the star's disc material, leaving a central hole. The possible planet is theorized to be at least as massive as Jupiter, and may have a similar appearance to what the giant planets in our own solar system looked like billions of years ago. A graceful ring, much like Saturn's, spins high above the planet's cloudy atmosphere. The ring is formed from countless small orbiting particles of dust and ice, leftovers from the initial gravitational collapse that formed the possible giant planet. If we were to visit a planet like this, we would have a very different view of the universe. The sky, instead of being the familiar dark expanse lit by distant stars, would be dominated by the thick disc of dust that fills this young planetary system. The view looking toward CoKu Tau 4 would be relatively clear, as the dust in the interior of the disc has fallen into the accreting star. A bright band would seem to surround the central star, caused by light scattered back by the dust in the disc. Looking away from CoKu Tau 4, the dusty disc would appear dark, blotting out light from all the stars in the sky except those which lie well above the plane of the disc. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA05988

  19. North African dust emissions and transport

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Engelstaedter, Sebastian; Tegen, Ina; Washington, Richard

    2006-11-01

    The need for a better understanding of the role of atmospheric dust in the climate system and its impact on the environment has led to research of the underlying causes of dust variability in space and time in recent decades. North Africa is one of the largest dust producing regions in the world with dust emissions being highly variable on time scales ranging from diurnal to multiannual. Changes in the dust loading are expected to have an impact on regional and global climate, the biogeochemical cycle, and human environments. The development of satellite derived products of global dust distributions has improved our understanding of dust source regions and transport pathways in the recent years. Dust models are now capable of reproducing more realistic patterns of dust distributions due to an improved parameterization of land surface conditions. A recent field campaign has improved our understanding of the natural environment and emission processes of the most intense and persistent dust sources in the world, the Bodélé Depression in Chad. In situ measurements of dust properties during air craft observations in and down wind of source regions have led to new estimates of the radiative forcing effects which are crucial in predicting future climate change. With a focus on the North African desert regions, this paper provides a review of the understanding of dust source regions, the variability of dust emissions, climatic controls of dust entrainment and transport, the role of human impact on dust emission, and recent developments of global and regional dust models.

  20. Interplanetary dust profile observed on Juno's cruise from Earth to Jupiter

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Joergensen, J. L.; Benn, M.; Jørgensen, P. S.; Denver, T.; Jørgensen, F. E.; Connerney, J. E. P.; Andersen, A. C.; Bolton, S. J.; Levin, S.

    2017-12-01

    in space by dedicated dust detectors. These impactors are those responsible for the zodiacal light. We present the distribution and orbital characteristics of such IDPs as a function of distance from the Sun, and discuss possible sources of origin of these IDPs.

  1. Dust Devils Whip by Spirit

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    2007-01-01

    On sol 1120 (February 26, 2007), the navigation camera aboard NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit captured one of the best dust devils it's seen in its three-plus year mission. The series of navigation camera images were put together to make a dust devil movie.

    The dust devil column is clearly defined and is clearly bent in the down wind direction. Near the end of the movie, the base of the dust devil becomes much wider. The atmospheric science team thinks that this is because the dust devil encountered some sand and therefore produced a 'saltation skirt,' an apron of material that is thrown out of the dust devil because it is too large to be carried up into suspension.

    Also near the end of the movie the dust devil seems to move faster across the surface. This is because Spirit began taking pictures less frequently, and not because the dust devil sped up.

  2. Planetary Dust: Cross-Functional Considerations

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Wagner, Sandra

    2006-01-01

    Apollo astronauts learned first hand how problems with dust impact lunar surface missions. After three days, lunar dust contaminating on EVA suit bearings led to such great difficulty in movement that another EVA would not have been possible. Dust clinging to EVA suits was transported into the Lunar Module. During the return trip to Earth, when microgravity was reestablished, the dust became airborne and floated through the cabin. Crews inhaled the dust and it irritated their eyes. Some mechanical systems aboard the spacecraft were damaged due to dust contamination. Study results obtained by Robotic Martian missions indicate that Martian surface soil is oxidative and reactive. Exposures to the reactive Martian dust will pose an even greater concern to the crew health and the integrity of the mechanical systems. As NASA embarks on planetary surface missions to support its Exploration Vision, the effects of these extraterrestrial dusts must be well understood and systems must be designed to operate reliably and protect the crew in the dusty environments of the Moon and Mars. The AIM Dust Assessment Team was tasked to identify systems that will be affected by the respective dust, how they will be affected, associated risks of dust exposure, requirements that will need to be developed, identified knowledge gaps, and recommended scientific measurements to obtain information needed to develop requirements, and design and manufacture the surface systems that will support crew habitation in the lunar and Martian outposts.

  3. Alanine aminotransferase and mortality in patients with type 2 diabetes (ZODIAC-38).

    PubMed

    Deetman, Petronella E; Alkhalaf, Alaa; Landman, Gijs W D; Groenier, Klaas H; Kootstra-Ros, Jenny E; Navis, Gerjan; Bilo, Henk J G; Kleefstra, Nanne; Bakker, Stephan J L

    2015-08-01

    Combined data suggest a bimodal association of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) with mortality in the general population. Little is known about the association of ALT with mortality in patients with type 2 diabetes. We therefore investigated the association of ALT with all-cause, cardiovascular and noncardiovascular mortality in patients with type 2 diabetes. A prospective study was performed in patients with type 2 diabetes, treated in primary care, participating in the Zwolle Outpatient Diabetes project Integrating Available Care (ZODIAC) study. Cox regression analyses were performed to determine the associations of log2 -transformed baseline ALT with all-cause, cardiovascular and noncardiovascular mortality. In 1187 patients with type 2 diabetes (67 ± 12 years, 45% female), ALT levels were 11 (8-16) U/L. During median follow-up for 11.1 (6.1-14.0) years, 553 (47%) patients died, with 238 (20%) attributable to cardiovascular causes. Overall, ALT was inversely associated with all-cause mortality (hazard ratio [HR] 0.81; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.72-0.92), independently of potential confounders. This was less attributable to cardiovascular mortality (HR 0.87; 95% CI 0.72-1.05), than to noncardiovascular mortality (HR 0.77; 95% CI 0.65-0.90). Despite the overall inverse association of ALT with mortality, it appeared that a bimodal association with all-cause mortality was present with increasing risk for levels of ALT above normal (P = 0.003). In patients with type 2 diabetes, low levels of ALT are associated with an increased risk of all-cause mortality, in particular noncardiovascular mortality, compared to normal levels of ALT, while risk again starts to increase when levels are above normal. © 2015 Stichting European Society for Clinical Investigation Journal Foundation.

  4. Ground and satellite-based remote sensing of mineral dust using AERI spectra and MODIS thermal infrared window brightness temperatures

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hansell, Richard Allen, Jr.

    The radiative effects of dust aerosol on our climate system have yet to be fully understood and remain a topic of contemporary research. To investigate these effects, detection/retrieval methods for dust events over major dust outbreak and transport areas have been developed using satellite and ground-based approaches. To this end, both the shortwave and longwave surface radiative forcing of dust aerosol were investigated. The ground-based remote sensing approach uses the Atmospheric Emitted Radiance Interferometer brightness temperature spectra to detect mineral dust events and to retrieve their properties. Taking advantage of the high spectral resolution of the AERI instrument, absorptive differences in prescribed thermal IR window sub-band channels were exploited to differentiate dust from cirrus clouds. AERI data collected during the UAE2 at Al-Ain UAE was employed for dust retrieval. Assuming a specified dust composition model a priori and using the light scattering programs of T-matrix and the finite difference time domain methods for oblate spheroids and hexagonal plates, respectively, dust optical depths have been retrieved and compared to those inferred from a collocated and coincident AERONET sun-photometer dataset. The retrieved optical depths were then used to determine the dust longwave surface forcing during the UAE2. Likewise, dust shortwave surface forcing is investigated employing a differential technique from previous field studies. The satellite-based approach uses MODIS thermal infrared brightness temperature window data for the simultaneous detection/separation of mineral dust and cirrus clouds. Based on the spectral variability of dust emissivity at the 3.75, 8.6, 11 and 12 mum wavelengths, the D*-parameter, BTD-slope and BTD3-11 tests are combined to identify dust and cirrus. MODIS data for the three dust-laden scenes have been analyzed to demonstrate the effectiveness of this detection/separation method. Detected daytime dust and cloud

  5. Reducing float coal dust

    PubMed Central

    Patts, J.R.; Colinet, J.F.; Janisko, S.J.; Barone, T.L.; Patts, L.D.

    2016-01-01

    Controlling float coal dust in underground coal mines before dispersal into the general airstream can reduce the risk of mine explosions while potentially achieving a more effective and efficient use of rock dust. A prototype flooded-bed scrubber was evaluated for float coal dust control in the return of a continuous miner section. The scrubber was installed inline between the face ventilation tubing and an exhausting auxiliary fan. Airborne and deposited dust mass measurements were collected over three days at set distances from the fan exhaust to assess changes in float coal dust levels in the return due to operation of the scrubber. Mass-based measurements were collected on a per-cut basis and normalized on the basis of per ton mined by the continuous miner. The results show that average float coal dust levels measured under baseline conditions were reduced by more than 90 percent when operating the scrubber. PMID:28018004

  6. Argyre Dust Devil Tracks

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    2003-01-01

    MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-363, 17 May 2003

    This summertime Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) view of the floor of Argyre Basin shows a plethora of dark streaks thought to have been created by the passage of dust devils. Dust devils are vortices of wind--just as a tornado is a vortex of wind associated with stormy weather on Earth, and the spiraling of water down a bathtub drain is a vortex in a liquid. Dust devils usually form on Mars on relatively calm, quiet, spring and summer afternoons. The passage of a dust devil picks up and disturbs the thin coatings of dust on the martian surface, forming streaks that mark the path that the moving dust devil took. This picture covers an area 3 km (1.9 mi) wide and is located near 48.5oS, 43.0oW. Sunlight illuminates the scene from the upper left.

  7. Flying Through Dust From Asteroids

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kohler, Susanna

    2016-11-01

    How can we tell what an asteroid is made of? Until now, weve relied on remote spectral observations, though NASAs recently launched OSIRIS-REx mission may soon change this by landing on an asteroid and returning with a sample.But what if we could learn more about the asteroids near Earth without needing to land on each one? It turns out that we can by flying through their dust.The aerogel dust collector of the Stardust mission. [NASA/JPL/Caltech]Ejected CluesWhen an airless body is impacted by the meteoroids prevalent throughout our solar system, ejecta from the body are flung into the space around it. In the case of small objects like asteroids, their gravitational pull is so weak that most of the ejected material escapes, forming a surrounding cloud of dust.By flying a spacecraft through this cloud, we could perform chemical analysis of the dust, thereby determining the asteroids composition. We could even capture some of the dust during a flyby (for example, by using an aerogel collector like in the Stardust mission) and bring it back home to analyze.So whats the best place to fly a dust-analyzing or -collecting spacecraft? To answer this, we need to know what the typical distribution of dust is around a near-Earth asteroid (NEA) a problem that scientists Jamey Szalay (Southwest Research Institute) and Mihly Hornyi (University of Colorado Boulder) address in a recent study.The colors show the density distribution for dust grains larger than 0.3 m around a body with a 10-km radius. The distribution is asymmetric, with higher densities on the apex side, shown here in the +y direction. [Szalay Hornyi 2016]Moon as a LaboratoryTo determine typical dust distributions around NEAs, Szalay and Hornyi first look at the distribution of dust around our own Moon, caused by the same barrage of meteorites wed expect to impact NEAs. The Moons dust cloud was measured in situ in 2013 and 2014 by the Lunar Dust Experiment (LDEX) on board the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment

  8. Band of Rubble

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    2005-01-01

    This artist's animation illustrates a massive asteroid belt in orbit around a star the same age and size as our Sun. Evidence for this possible belt was discovered by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope when it spotted warm dust around the star, presumably from asteroids smashing together.

    The view starts from outside the belt, where planets like the one shown here might possibly reside, then moves into to the dusty belt itself. A collision between two asteroids is depicted near the end of the movie. Collisions like this replenish the dust in the asteroid belt, making it detectable to Spitzer.

    The alien belt circles a faint, nearby star called HD 69830 located 41 light-years away in the constellation Puppis. Compared to our own solar system's asteroid belt, this one is larger and closer to its star - it is 25 times as massive, and lies just inside an orbit equivalent to that of Venus. Our asteroid belt circles between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.

    Because Jupiter acts as an outer wall to our asteroid belt, shepherding its debris into a series of bands, it is possible that an unseen planet is likewise marshalling this belt's rubble. Previous observations using the radial velocity technique did not locate any large gas giant planets, indicating that any planets present in this system would have to be the size of Saturn or smaller.

    Asteroids are chunks of rock from 'failed' planets, which never managed to coalesce into full-sized planets. Asteroid belts can be thought of as construction sites that accompany the building of rocky planets.

  9. Environmental impacts on dust temperature of star-forming galaxies in the local Universe

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Matsuki, Yasuhiro; Koyama, Yusei; Nakagawa, Takao; Takita, Satoshi

    2017-04-01

    We present infrared views of the environmental effects on the dust properties in star-forming (SF) galaxies at z ˜ 0, using the AKARI Far-Infrared Surveyor all-sky map and the large spectroscopic galaxy sample from Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Data Release 7 (DR7). We restrict the sample to those within the redshift range of 0.05 < z < 0.07 and the stellar mass range of 9.2 < log 10(M*/M⊙). We select SF galaxies based on their Hα equivalent width (EWHα > 4 Å) and emission line flux ratios. We perform far-infrared (FIR) stacking analyses by splitting the SDSS SF galaxy sample according to their stellar mass, specific star formation rate (SSFRSDSS), and environment. We derive total infrared luminosity (LIR) for each subsample using the average flux densities at WIDE-S (90 μm) and WIDE-L (140 μm) bands, and then compute infrared (IR)-based SFR (SFRIR) from LIR. We find a mild decrease of IR-based SSFR (SSFRIR) amongst SF galaxies with increasing local density (˜0.1-dex level at maximum), which suggests that environmental effects do not instantly shut down the SF activity in galaxies. We also derive average dust temperature (Tdust) using the flux densities at 90 and 140 μm bands. We confirm a strong positive correlation between Tdust and SSFRIR, consistent with recent studies. The most important finding of this study is that we find a marginal trend that Tdust increases with increasing environmental galaxy density. Although the environmental trend is much milder than the SSFR-Tdust correlation, our results suggest that the environmental density may affect the dust temperature in SF galaxies, and that the physical mechanism which is responsible for this phenomenon is not necessarily specific to cluster environments because the environmental dependence of Tdust holds down to relatively low-density environments.

  10. Dust, Climate, and Human Health

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Maynard, Nancy G.

    2003-01-01

    Air pollution from both natural and anthropogenic causes is considered to be one of the most serious world-wide environment-related health problems, and is expected to become worse with changes in the global climate. Dust storms from the atmospheric transport of desert soil dust that has been lifted and carried by the winds - often over significant distances - have become an increasingly important emerging air quality issue for many populations. Recent studies have shown that the dust storms can cause significant health impacts from the dust itself as well as the accompanying pollutants, pesticides, metals, salt, plant debris, and other inorganic and organic materials, including viable microorganisms (bacteria, viruses and fungi). For example, thousands of tons of Asian desert sediments, some containing pesticides and herbicides from farming regions, are commonly transported into the Arctic during dust storm events. These chemicals have been identified in animal and human tissues among Arctic indigenous populations. Millions of tons of airborne desert dust are being tracked by satellite imagery, which clearly shows the magnitude as well as the temporal and spatial variability of dust storms across the "dust belt" regions of North Africa, the Middle East, and China. Ths paper summarizes the most recent findings on the effects of airborne desert dust on human health as well as potential climate influences on dust and health.

  11. Dust, Climate, and Human Health

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Maynard, Nancy G.

    2003-01-01

    Air pollution from both natural and anthropogenic causes is considered to be one of the most serious world-wide environment-related health problems, and is expected to become worse with changes in the global climate. Dust storms from the atmospheric transport of desert soil dust that has been lifted and carried by the winds - often over significant distances - have become an increasingly important emerging air quality issue for many populations. Recent studies have shown that the dust storms can cause significant health impacts from the dust itself as well as the accompanying pollutants, pesticides, metals, salt, plant debris, and other inorganic and organic materials, including viable microorganisms (bacteria, viruses and fungi). For example, thousands of tons of Asian desert sediments, some containing pesticides and herbicides from farming regions, are commonly transported into the Arctic during dust storm events. These chemicals have been identified in animal and human tissues among Arctic indigenous populations. Millions of tons of airborne desert dust are being tracked by satellite imagery, which clearly shows the magnitude as well as the temporal and spatial variability of dust storms across the "dust belt" regions of North Africa, the Middle East, and China. This paper summarizes the most recent findings on the effects of airborne desert dust on human health as well as potential climate influences on dust and health.

  12. Dust, Climate, and Human Health

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Maynard, N. G.

    2003-12-01

    Air pollution from both natural and anthropogenic causes is considered to be one of the most serious world-wide environment-related health problems, and is expected to become worse with changes in the global climate. Dust storms from the atmospheric transport of desert soil dust that has been lifted and carried by the winds - often over significant distances - have become an increasingly important emerging air quality issue for many populations. Recent studies have shown that the dust storms can cause significant health impacts from the dust itself as well as the accompanying pollutants, pesticides, metals, salt, plant debris, and other inorganic and organic materials, including viable microorganisms (bacteria, viruses and fungi). For example, thousands of tons of Asian desert sediments, some containing pesticides and herbicides from farming regions, are commonly transported into the Arctic during dust storm events. These chemicals have been identified in animal and human tissues among Arctic indigenous populations. Millions of tons of airborne desert dust are being tracked by satellite imagery, which clearly shows the magnitude as well as the temporal and spatial variability of dust storms across the "dust belt" regions of North Africa, the Middle East, and China. This paper summarizes the most recent findings on the effects of airborne desert dust on human health as well as potential climate influences on dust and health

  13. Dust in circumstellar disks

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Rodmann, Jens

    2006-02-01

    This thesis presents observational and theoretical studies of the size and spatial distribution of dust particles in circumstellar disks. Using millimetre interferometric observations of optically thick disks around T Tauri stars, I provide conclusive evidence for the presence of millimetre- to centimetre-sized dust aggregates. These findings demonstrate that dust grain growth to pebble-sized dust particles is completed within less than 1 Myr in the outer disks around low-mass pre-main-sequence stars. The modelling of the infrared spectral energy distributions of several solar-type main-sequence stars and their associated circumstellar debris disks reveals the ubiquity of inner gaps devoid of substantial amounts of dust among Vega-type infrared excess sources. It is argued that the absence of circumstellar material in the inner disks is most likely the result of the gravitational influence of a large planet and/or a lack of dust-producing minor bodies in the dust-free region. Finally, I describe a numerical model to simulate the dynamical evolution of dust particles in debris disks, taking into account the gravitational perturbations by planets, photon radiation pressure, and dissipative drag forces due to the Poynting-Robertson effect and stellar wind. The validity of the code it established by several tests and comparison to semi-analytic approximations. The debris disk model is applied to simulate the main structural features of a ring of circumstellar material around the main-sequence star HD 181327. The best agreement between model and observation is achieved for dust grains a few tens of microns in size locked in the 1:1 resonance with a Jupiter-mass planet (or above) on a circular orbit.

  14. ELECTRIC CHARGING OF DUST AGGREGATES AND ITS EFFECT ON DUST COAGULATION IN PROTOPLANETARY DISKS

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

    Okuzumi, Satoshi

    2009-06-20

    Mutual sticking of dust aggregates is the first step toward planetesimal formation in protoplanetary disks. In spite that the electric charging of dust particles is well recognized in some contexts, it has been largely ignored in the current modeling of dust coagulation. In this study, we present a general analysis of the dust charge state in protoplanetary disks, and then demonstrate how the electric charging could dramatically change the currently accepted scenario of dust coagulation. First, we describe a new semianalytical method to calculate the dust charge state and gas ionization state self-consistently. This method is far more efficient thanmore » previous numerical methods, and provides a general and clear description of the charge state of a gas-dust mixture. Second, we apply this analysis to compute the collisional cross section of growing aggregates taking their charging into account. As an illustrative example, we focus on early evolutionary stages where the dust has been thought to grow into fractal (D {approx} 2) aggregates with a quasi-monodisperse (i.e., narrow) size distribution. We find that, for a wide range of model parameters, the fractal growth is strongly inhibited by the electric repulsion between colliding aggregates and eventually 'freezes out' on its way to the subsequent growth stage involving collisional compression. Strong disk turbulence would help the aggregates to overcome this growth barrier, but then it would cause catastrophic collisional fragmentation in later growth stages. These facts suggest that the combination of electric repulsion and collisional fragmentation would impose a serious limitation on dust growth in protoplanetary disks. We propose a possible scenario of dust evolution after the freezeout. Finally, we point out that the fractal growth of dust aggregates tends to maintain a low ionization degree and, as a result, a large magnetorotationally stable region in the disk.« less

  15. IDE spatio-temporal impact fluxes and high time-resolution studies of multi-impact events and long-lived debris clouds

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Mulholland, J. Derral; Singer, S. Fred; Oliver, John P.; Weinberg, Jerry L.; Cooke, William J.; Montague, Nancy L.; Wortman, Jim J.; Kassel, Phillip C.; Kinard, William H.

    1992-01-01

    The purpose of the Interplanetary Dust Experiment (IDE) on the Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF) was to sample the cosmic dust environment and to use the spatio-temporal aspect of the experiment to distinguish between the various components of the environment: zodiacal cloud, beta meteoroids, meteor streams, interstellar dust, and orbital debris. It was found that the introduction of precise time and even rudimentary directionality as co-lateral observables in sampling the particulate environment in near-Earth space produces an enormous qualitative improvement in the information content of the impact data. The orbital debris population is extremely clumpy, being dominated by persistent clouds in which the fluxes may rise orders of magnitude above the background. The IDE data suggest a strategy to minimize the damage to sensitive spacecraft components, using the observed characteristics of cloud encounters.

  16. Kiloparsec-scale Dust Disks in High-redshift Luminous Submillimeter Galaxies

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hodge, J. A.; Swinbank, A. M.; Simpson, J. M.; Smail, I.; Walter, F.; Alexander, D. M.; Bertoldi, F.; Biggs, A. D.; Brandt, W. N.; Chapman, S. C.; Chen, C. C.; Coppin, K. E. K.; Cox, P.; Dannerbauer, H.; Edge, A. C.; Greve, T. R.; Ivison, R. J.; Karim, A.; Knudsen, K. K.; Menten, K. M.; Rix, H.-W.; Schinnerer, E.; Wardlow, J. L.; Weiss, A.; van der Werf, P.

    2016-12-01

    We present high-resolution (0.″16) 870 μm Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) imaging of 16 luminous ({L}{IR}˜ 4× {10}12 {L}⊙ ) submillimeter galaxies (SMGs) from the ALESS survey of the Extended Chandra Deep Field South. This dust imaging traces the dust-obscured star formation in these z˜ 2.5 galaxies on ˜1.3 kpc scales. The emission has a median effective radius of R e = 0.″24 ± 0.″02, corresponding to a typical physical size of {R}e= 1.8 ± 0.2 kpc. We derive a median Sérsic index of n = 0.9 ± 0.2, implying that the dust emission is remarkably disk-like at the current resolution and sensitivity. We use different weighting schemes with the visibilities to search for clumps on 0.″12 (˜1.0 kpc) scales, but we find no significant evidence for clumping in the majority of cases. Indeed, we demonstrate using simulations that the observed morphologies are generally consistent with smooth exponential disks, suggesting that caution should be exercised when identifying candidate clumps in even moderate signal-to-noise ratio interferometric data. We compare our maps to comparable-resolution Hubble Space Telescope {H}160-band images, finding that the stellar morphologies appear significantly more extended and disturbed, and suggesting that major mergers may be responsible for driving the formation of the compact dust disks we observe. The stark contrast between the obscured and unobscured morphologies may also have implications for SED fitting routines that assume the dust is co-located with the optical/near-IR continuum emission. Finally, we discuss the potential of the current bursts of star formation to transform the observed galaxy sizes and light profiles, showing that the z˜ 0 descendants of these SMGs are expected to have stellar masses, effective radii, and gas surface densities consistent with the most compact massive ({M}* ˜ 1-2 × 1011 {M}⊙ ) early-type galaxies observed locally.

  17. Dust devils on Mars

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Thomas, P.; Gierasch, P. J.

    1985-10-01

    Viking Orbiter photographic imagery has confirmed the occurrence of dust devils on Mars. The images were of small bright clouds with long, tapered shadows viewed from a nearly-nadir angle. Spectra of the features were consistent with dust and not condensates. A maximum height of 6.8 km and width of 1 km were measured. The dust devils appeared on smooth planes, and had average dimensions of 2 km height and 200 m diam, carrying 3000 kg of dust. The data may be of use in interpreting convective processes on earth.

  18. Histamine in cereal dusts

    PubMed Central

    Nicholls, P. J.

    1970-01-01

    Nicholls, P. J. (1970).Brit. J. industr. Med.,27, 179-180. Histamine in cereal dusts. It has been found that workers exposed to cereal grain dusts may experience acute mild respiratory distress. An attempt has been made to explain this observation by examining the pharmacological activity of aqueous extracts of several cereal dusts from the holds of cargo ships. Histamine, but no other active agent, was found in the samples. It is unlikely that the concentration of histamine in these dusts is sufficient to cause respiratory distress in dockers unloading cereal grain cargoes. PMID:5428638

  19. DUST AND GAS IN THE DISK OF HL TAURI: SURFACE DENSITY, DUST SETTLING, AND DUST-TO-GAS RATIO

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

    Pinte, C.; Ménard, F.; Dent, W. R. F.

    The recent ALMA observations of the disk surrounding HL Tau reveal a very complex dust spatial distribution. We present a radiative transfer model accounting for the observed gaps and bright rings as well as radial changes of the emissivity index. We find that the dust density is depleted by at least a factor of 10 in the main gaps compared to the surrounding rings. Ring masses range from 10–100 M{sub ⊕} in dust, and we find that each of the deepest gaps is consistent with the removal of up to 40 M{sub ⊕} of dust. If this material has accumulatedmore » into rocky bodies, these would be close to the point of runaway gas accretion. Our model indicates that the outermost ring is depleted in millimeter grains compared to the central rings. This suggests faster grain growth in the central regions and/or radial migration of the larger grains. The morphology of the gaps observed by ALMA—well separated and showing a high degree of contrast with the bright rings over all azimuths—indicates that the millimeter dust disk is geometrically thin (scale height ≈1 AU at 100 AU) and that a large amount of settling of large grains has already occurred. Assuming a standard dust settling model, we find that the observations are consistent with a turbulent viscosity coefficient of a few 10{sup −4}. We estimate the gas/dust ratio in this thin layer to be of the order of 5 if the initial ratio is 100. The HCO{sup +} and CO emission is consistent with gas in Keplerian motion around a 1.7 M{sub ⊙} star at radii from ≤10–120 AU.« less

  20. The Martian Dust Cycle: Observations and Modeling

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Kahre, Melinda A.

    2013-01-01

    The dust cycle is critically important for Mars' current climate system. Suspended atmospheric dust affects the radiative balance of the atmosphere, and thus greatly influences the thermal and dynamical state of the atmosphere. Evidence for the presence of dust in the Martian atmosphere can be traced back to yellow clouds telescopically observed as early as the early 19th century. The Mariner 9 orbiter arrived at Mars in November of 1971 to find a planet completely enshrouded in airborne dust. Since that time, the exchange of dust between the planet's surface and atmosphere and the role of airborne dust on Mars' weather and climate has been studied using observations and numerical models. The goal of this talk is to give an overview of the observations and to discuss the successes and challenges associated with modeling the dust cycle. Dust raising events on Mars range in size from meters to hundreds of kilometers. During some years, regional storms merge to produce hemispheric or planet encircling dust clouds that obscure the surface and raise atmospheric temperatures by tens of kelvin. The interannual variability of planet encircling dust storms is poorly understood. Although the occurrence and season of large regional and global dust storms are highly variable from one year to the next, there are many features of the dust cycle that occur year after year. A low-level dust haze is maintained during northern spring and summer, while elevated levels of atmospheric dust occur during northern autumn and winter. During years without global-scale dust storms, two peaks in total dust loading are generally observed: one peak occurs before northern winter solstice and one peak occurs after northern winter solstice. Numerical modeling studies attempting to interactively simulate the Martian dust cycle with general circulation models (GCMs) include the lifting, transport, and sedimentation of radiatively active dust. Two dust lifting processes are commonly represented in

  1. Respiratory Toxicity of Lunar Highland Dust

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    James, John T.; Lam, Chiu-wing; Wallace, William T.

    2009-01-01

    Lunar dust exposures occurred during the Apollo missions while the crew was on the lunar surface and especially when microgravity conditions were attained during rendezvous in lunar orbit. Crews reported that the dust was irritating to the eyes and in some cases respiratory symptoms were elicited. NASA s vision for lunar exploration includes stays of 6 months on the lunar surface hence the health effects of periodic exposure to lunar dust need to be assessed. NASA has performed this assessment with a series of in vitro and in vivo tests on authentic lunar dust. Our approach is to "calibrate" the intrinsic toxicity of lunar dust by comparison to a nontoxic dust (TiO2) and a highly toxic dust (quartz) using intratrachael instillation of the dusts in mice. A battery of indices of toxicity is assessed at various time points after the instillations. Cultures of selected cells are exposed to test dusts to assess the adverse effects on the cells. Finally, chemical systems are used to assess the nature of the reactivity of various dusts and to determine the persistence of reactivity under various environmental conditions that are relevant to a space habitat. Similar systems are used to assess the dissolution of the dust. From these studies we will be able to set a defensible inhalation exposure standard for aged dust and predict whether we need a separate standard for reactive dust. Presently-available data suggest that aged lunar highland dust is slightly toxic, that it can adversely affect cultured cells, and that the surface reactivity induced by grinding the dust persists for a few hours after activation.

  2. AN APPARENT REDSHIFT DEPENDENCE OF QUASAR CONTINUUM: IMPLICATION FOR COSMIC DUST EXTINCTION?

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

    Xie, Xiaoyi; Shen, Shiyin; Shao, Zhengyi

    We investigate the luminosity and redshift dependence of the quasar continuum by means of the composite spectrum using a large non-BAL radio-quiet quasar sample drawn from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. Quasar continuum slopes in the UV-Opt band are measured at two different wavelength ranges, i.e., α{sub ν12} (1000 ∼ 2000 Å) and α{sub ν24} (2000 ∼ 4000 Å) derived from a power-law fitting. Generally, the UV spectra slope becomes harder (higher α{sub ν}) toward higher bolometric luminosity. On the other hand, when quasars are further grouped into luminosity bins, we find that both α{sub ν12} and α{sub ν24} show significant anti-correlationsmore » with redshift (i.e., the quasar continuum becomes redder toward higher redshift). We suggest that the cosmic dust extinction is very likely the cause of this observed α{sub ν} − z relation. We build a simple cosmic dust extinction model to quantify the observed reddening tendency and find an effective dust density nσ{sub v} ∼ 10{sup −5}h Mpc{sup −1} at z < 1.5. The other possibilities that could produce such a reddening effect have also been discussed.« less

  3. Dust escape from Io

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Flandes, Alberto

    2004-08-01

    The Dust ballerina skirt is a set of well defined streams composed of nanometric sized dust particles that escape from the Jovian system and may be accelerated up to >=200 km/s. The source of this dust is Jupiter's moon Io, the most volcanically active body in the Solar system. The escape of dust grains from Jupiter requires first the escape of these grains from Io. This work is basically devoted to explain this escape given that the driving of dust particles to great heights and later injection into the ionosphere of Io may give the particles an equilibrium potential that allow the magnetic field to accelerate them away from Io. The grain sizes obtained through this study match very well to the values required for the particles to escape from the Jovian system.

  4. A Climatology of dust emission in northern Africa using surface observations from 1984-2012

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Cowie, Sophie; Knippertz, Peter; Marsham, John

    2014-05-01

    The huge quantity of mineral dust emitted annually from northern Africa makes this area crucial to the global dust cycle. Once in the atmosphere, dust aerosols have a significant impact on the global radiation budget, clouds, the carbon cycle and can even act as a fertilizer to rain forests in South America. Current model estimates of dust production from northern Africa are uncertain. At the heart of this problem is insufficient understanding of key dust emitting processes such as haboobs (cold pools generated through evaporation of convective precipitation), low-level jets (LLJs) and dry convection (dust devils and dust plumes). Scarce observations in this region, in particular in the Sahara, make model evaluation difficult. This work uses long-term surface observations from 70 stations situated in the Sahara and Sahel to explore the diurnal, seasonal and geographical variations in dust emission events and thresholds. Quality flags are applied to each station to indicate a day-time bias or gaps in the time period 1984-2012. The frequency of dust emission (FDE) is calculated using the present weather codes (WW) of SYNOP reports, where WW = 07,08,09,30-35 and 98. Thresholds are investigated by estimating the wind speeds for which there is a 25%, 50% and 75% probability of dust emission. The 50% threshold is used to calculate strong wind frequency (SWF) and the diagnostic parameter dust uplift potential (DUP); a thresholded cubic function of wind-speed which quantifies the dust generating power of winds. Stations are grouped into 6 areas (North Algeria, Central Sahara, Egypt, West Sahel, Central Sahel and Sudan) for more in-depth analysis of these parameters. Spatially, thresholds are highest in northern Algeria and lowest in the Sahel around the latitude band 16N-21N. Annual mean FDE is anti-correlated with the threshold, showing the importance of spatial variations in thresholds for mean dust emission. The annual cycles of FDE and SWF for the 6 grouped areas are

  5. An Assessment of the Surface Longwave Direct Radiative Effect of Airborne Saharan Dust During the NAMMA Field Campaign

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Hansell, R. A.; Tsay, S. C.; Ji, Q.; Hsu, N. C.; Jeong, M. J.; Wang, S. H.; Reid, J. S.; Liou, K. N.; Ou, S. C.

    2010-01-01

    In September 2006, NASA Goddard s mobile ground-based laboratories were deployed to Sal Island in Cape Verde (16.73degN, 22.93degW) to support the NASA African Monsoon Multidisciplinary Analysis (NAMMA) field study. The Atmospheric Emitted Radiance Interferometer (AERI), a key instrument for spectrally characterizing the thermal IR, was used to retrieve the dust IR aerosol optical depths (AOTs) in order to examine the diurnal variability of airborne dust with emphasis on three separate dust events. AERI retrievals of dust AOT are compared with those from the coincident/collocated multifilter rotating shadow-band radiometer (MFRSR), micropulse lidar (MPL), and NASA Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation (CALIPSO) sensors. The retrieved AOTs are then inputted into the Fu-Liou 1D radiative transfer model to evaluate local instantaneous direct longwave radiative effects (DRE(sub LW)) of dust at the surface in cloud-free atmospheres and its sensitivity to dust microphysical parameters. The top-of-atmosphere DRE(sub LW) and longwave heating rate profiles are also evaluated. Instantaneous surface DRE(sub LW) ranges from 2 to 10 W/sq m and exhibits a strong linear dependence with dust AOT yielding a DRE(sub LW) of 16 W/sq m per unit dust AOT. The DRE(sub LW) is estimated to be approx.42% of the diurnally averaged direct shortwave radiative effect at the surface but of opposite sign, partly compensating for the shortwave losses. Certainly nonnegligible, the authors conclude that DRE(sub LW) can significantly impact the atmospheric energetics, representing an important component in the study of regional climate variation.

  6. Galactic cold cores. VI. Dust opacity spectral index

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Juvela, M.; Demyk, K.; Doi, Y.; Hughes, A.; Lefèvre, C.; Marshall, D. J.; Meny, C.; Montillaud, J.; Pagani, L.; Paradis, D.; Ristorcelli, I.; Malinen, J.; Montier, L. A.; Paladini, R.; Pelkonen, V.-M.; Rivera-Ingraham, A.

    2015-12-01

    Context. The Galactic Cold Cores project has carried out Herschel photometric observations of 116 fields where the Planck survey has found signs of cold dust emission. The fields contain sources in different environments and different phases of star formation. Previous studies have revealed variations in their dust submillimetre opacity. Aims: The aim is to measure the value of dust opacity spectral index and to understand its variations spatially and with respect to other parameters, such as temperature, column density, and Galactic location. Methods: The dust opacity spectral index β and the dust colour temperature T are derived using Herschel and Planck data. The relation between β and T is examined for the whole sample and inside individual fields. Results: Based on IRAS and Planck data, the fields are characterised by a median colour temperature of 16.1 K and a median opacity spectral index of β = 1.84. The values are not correlated with Galactic longitude. We observe a clear T-β anti-correlation. In Herschel observations, constrained at lower resolution by Planck data, the variations follow the column density structure and βFIR can rise to ~2.2 in individual clumps. The highest values are found in starless clumps. The Planck 217 GHz band shows a systematic excess that is not restricted to cold clumps and is thus consistent with a general flattening of the dust emission spectrum at millimetre wavelengths. When fitted separately below and above 700 μm, the median spectral index values are βFIR ~ 1.91 and β(mm) ~ 1.66. Conclusions: The spectral index changes as a function of column density and wavelength. The comparison of different data sets and the examination of possible error sources show that our results are robust. However, β variations are partly masked by temperature gradients and the changes in the intrinsic grain properties may be even greater. Planck http://www.esa.int/Planck is a project of the European Space Agency - ESA - with instruments

  7. The ATCA CABB Line Survey on Centaurus A: Properties of the Molecular Gas from the Dust Lanes to the Central Engine

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ott, Juergen; Koribalski, Baerbel; Henkel, Christian; Edwards, Philip; Norris, Ray; Meier, David; Feain, Ilana; Curran, Steve; Martin-Pintado, Jesus; Beelen, Alexandre; Aalto, Susanne; Combes, Francoise; Israel, Frank; Muller, Sebastien; Espada, Daniel; Guelin, Michel; Black, John Harry; V-Trung, Dinh; Impellizzeri, Caterina M. V.; Persson, Carina

    2011-10-01

    Centaurus A with its host NGC5128 is the most nearby radio galaxy. Its molecular spectrum exhibits three prominent features: a) gas that is located in the outer disk and dust lanes, b) absorption lines that are supposedly close to the central AGN, and c) gas in emission from the nucleus. We propose to perform an extensive line survey toward CenA using the exciting new capabilities of CABB. The broad basebands and narrow zoom bands of CABB are ideal to capture the full breath of the CenA spectral features. Our multi-band line observations will allow us to derive the exact physical conditions of each component as well as the chemistry involved. We will therefore obtain a comprehensive view of the physics imprinted on the molecular spectrum of a radio galaxy and its host, reaching from the central supermassive black hole, through the accretion region and the inner disk to the outer dust lanes.

  8. Dust-wall and dust-plasma interaction in the MIGRAINe code

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Vignitchouk, L.; Tolias, P.; Ratynskaia, S.

    2014-09-01

    The physical models implemented in the recently developed dust dynamics code MIGRAINe are described. A major update of the treatment of secondary electron emission, stemming from models adapted to typical scrape-off layer temperatures, is reported. Sputtering and plasma species backscattering are introduced from fits of available experimental data and their relative importance to dust charging and heating is assessed in fusion-relevant scenarios. Moreover, the description of collisions between dust particles and plasma-facing components, based on the approximation of elastic-perfectly plastic adhesive spheres, has been upgraded to take into account the effects of particle size and temperature.

  9. Constraining the Origin and Heating Mechanism of Dust in Type IIn Supernovae

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Fox, Ori; Skrutskie, Michael; Chevalier, Roger; Moseley, Samuel Harvey

    2011-05-01

    More than any other supernova subclass, Type IIn supernovae tend to exhibit late-time (>100 days) infrared emission from warm dust. Identifying the origin and heating mechanism of the dust provides an important probe of the supernova explosion, circumstellar environment, and progenitor system. Yet mid-infrared observations, which span the peak of the thermal emission, are rare. Two years ago, we executed a warm Spitzer survey (P60122) of sixty-eight Type IIn events from the past ten years. The survey uncovered nine supernovae with unreported late-time infrared excesses, in some cases more than 5 years post-explosion. From this single epoch of data, and ground-based optical data, we have determined the likely origin of the mid-infrared emission to be pre-existing dust that is continuously heated by optical emission generated by ongoing circumstellar interaction between the forward shock and circumstellar medium. Furthermore, we noticed an emerging trend suggests these supernovae ``turn off'' at ~1000-2000 days post-discovery once the forward shock overruns the dust shell. Now is the ideal time to build upon this work with a second epoch of observations, which will be necessary to constrain our models. If we catch even a single supernova turning off between the first and second epochs of observation, we will be able to both measure the size of the circumstellar dust shell and characterize of the supernova progenitor system. We can obtain all the necessary data in only 9.3 hours of observation. Our team has extensive experience in infrared supernovae observations. We have already published two papers on one Type IIn supernovae (SN 2005ip) and authored two successful proposal for Spitzer observations of this subclass. This is an ideal application for the Spitzer warm mission, as the 3.6 and 4.5 micron bands span the peak of the thermal emission and provide the necessary constraints on the dust temperature, mass, and luminosity.

  10. Dust Concentrations and Composition During African Dust Incursions in the Caribbean Region

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mayol-Bracero, O. L.; Santos-Figueroa, G.; Morales-Garcia, F.

    2016-12-01

    The World Health Organization (WHO) indicates that exposure to PM10 concentrations higher than 50 µg/m³ 24-hour mean in both developed and developing countries could have an adverse impact on public health. Recent studies showed that in the Caribbean region the PM10 concentrations often exceed the WHO guidelines for PM10. These exceedances are largely driven by the presence of African Dust particles that reach the Caribbean region every year during the summer months. These dust particles also influence the Earth's radiative budget directly by scattering solar radiation in the atmosphere and indirectly by affecting cloud formation and, thus, cloud albedo. In order to have a better understanding of the impacts of African Dust on public health and climate, we determine the concentration of dust particles, the carbonaceous fraction (total, elemental and organic carbon: TC, EC, and OC) and water-soluble ions (e.g., Na+, Cl-, Ca+2, NH4+, SO4-2) of aerosol samples in the presence and absence of African Dust. Samples were collected using a Hi-Vol and Stacked-Filter Units for the sampling of total suspended particles (TSP) at two stations in Puerto Rico: a marine site located at Cabezas de San Juan (CSJ) Nature Reserve, in Fajardo, and an urban site located at the University of Puerto Rico, in San Juan. The presence of African Dust was supported with Saharan Air Layer (SAL) imagery and with the results from the air mass backward trajectories calculated with the NOAA Hybrid Single Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory Model (HYSPLIT). Preliminary results showed that the total mass concentration of aerosols obtained at the urban site is about two times that at the marine site for SFU samples during African Dust incursions. The average dust concentration obtained at CSJ for Hi Vol samples was 22 µg/m³ during the summer 2015. African Dust concentrations, TC, EC, OC, and ionic speciation results for the marine and urban sites will be presented at the conference.

  11. Characterization of dust from blast furnace cast house de-dusting.

    PubMed

    Lanzerstorfer, Christof

    2017-10-01

    During casting of liquid iron and slag, a considerable amount of dust is emitted into the cast house of a blast furnace (BF). Usually, this dust is extracted via exhaust hoods and subsequently separated from the ventilation air. In most BFs the cast house dust is recycled. In this study a sample of cast house dust was split by air classification into five size fractions, which were then analysed. Micrographs showed that the dominating particle type in all size fractions is that of single spherical-shaped particles. However, some irregular-shaped particles were also found and in the finest size fraction also some agglomerates were present. Almost spherical particles consisted of Fe and O, while highly irregular-shaped particles consisted of C. The most abundant element was Fe, followed by Ca and C. These elements were distributed relatively uniformly in the size fractions. As, Cd, Cu, K, Pb, S, Sb and Zn were enriched significantly in the fine size fractions. Thus, air classification would be an effective method for improved recycling. By separating a small fraction of fines (about 10-20%), a reduction of the mass of Zn in the coarse dust recycled in the range of 40-55% would be possible.

  12. Probing the Interstellar Dust towards the Galactic Centre using X-ray Dust Scattering Halos

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jin, C.; Ponti, G.; Haberl, F.; Smith, R.

    2017-10-01

    Dust scattering creates an X-ray halo that contains abundant information about the interstellar dust along the source's line-of-sight (LOS), and is most prominent when the LOS nH is high. In this talk, I will present results from our latest study of a bright dust scattering halo around an eclipsing X-ray binary at 1.45 arcmin away from Sgr A*, namely AX J1745.6-2901. This study is based on a large set of XMM-Newton and Chandra observations, and is so-far the best dust scattering halo study of a X-ray transient in the Galactic centre (GC). I will show that the foreground dust of AX J1745.6-2901 can be decomposed into two major thick dust layers. One layer contains (66-81)% of the total LOS dust and is several kpc away from the source, and so is most likely to reside in the Galactic disc. The other layer is local to the source. I will also show that the dust scattering halo can cause the source spectrum to severely depend on the source extraction region. Such spectral bias can be corrected by our new Xspec model, which is likely to be applicable to Sgr A* and other GC sources as well.

  13. Passive Fully Polarimetric W-Band Millimeter-Wave Imaging

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

    Bernacki, Bruce E.; Kelly, James F.; Sheen, David M.

    2012-04-01

    We present the theory, design, and experimental results obtained from a scanning passive W-band fully polarimetric imager. Passive millimeter-wave imaging offers persistent day/nighttime imaging and the ability to penetrate dust, clouds and other obscurants, including clothing and dry soil. The single-pixel scanning imager includes both far-field and near-field fore-optics for investigation of polarization phenomena. Using both fore-optics, a variety of scenes including natural and man-made objects was imaged and these results are presented showing the utility of polarimetric imaging for anomaly detection. Analysis includes conventional Stokes-parameter based approaches as well as multivariate image analysis methods.

  14. A Principal Component Analysis of the Diffuse Interstellar Bands

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

    Ensor, T.; Cami, J.; Bhatt, N. H.

    2017-02-20

    We present a principal component (PC) analysis of 23 line-of-sight parameters (including the strengths of 16 diffuse interstellar bands, DIBs) for a well-chosen sample of single-cloud sightlines representing a broad range of environmental conditions. Our analysis indicates that the majority (∼93%) of the variations in the measurements can be captured by only four parameters The main driver (i.e., the first PC) is the amount of DIB-producing material in the line of sight, a quantity that is extremely well traced by the equivalent width of the λ 5797 DIB. The second PC is the amount of UV radiation, which correlates wellmore » with the λ 5797/ λ 5780 DIB strength ratio. The remaining two PCs are more difficult to interpret, but are likely related to the properties of dust in the line of sight (e.g., the gas-to-dust ratio). With our PCA results, the DIBs can then be used to estimate these line-of-sight parameters.« less

  15. Wavelength dependence of dust aerosol single scattering albedo as observed by the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wolff, M. J.; Smith, M. D.; Clancy, R. T.; Arvidson, R.; Kahre, M.; Seelos, F.; Murchie, S.; Savijärvi, H.

    2009-06-01

    Observations by the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer (CRISM) onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) over the range 440-2920 nm of the very dusty Martian atmosphere of the 2007 planet-encircling dust event are combined with those made by both Mars Exploration Rovers (MERs) to better characterize the single scattering albedo (ω 0) of Martian dust aerosols. Using the diagnostic geometry of the CRISM emission phase function (EPF) sequences and the “ground truth” connection provided at both MER locations allows one to more effectively isolate the single scattering albedo (ω 0). This approach eliminates a significant portion of the type of uncertainty involved in many of the earlier radiative transfer analyses. Furthermore, the use of a “first principles” or microphysical representation of the aerosol scattering properties offers a direct path to produce a set of complex refractive indices (m = n + ik) that are consistent with the retrieved ω 0 values. We consider a family of effective particle radii: 1.2, 1.4, 1.6, and 1.8 μm. The resulting set of model data comparisons, ω 0, and m are presented along with an assessment of potential sources of error and uncertainty. We discuss our results within the context of previous work, including the apparent dichotomy of the literature values: “dark” (solar band ω 0 = 0.89-0.90) and “bright” (solar band ω 0 = 0.92-0.94). Previous work suggests that a mean radius of 1.8 μm is representative for the conditions sampled by the CRISM observations. Using the m for this case and a smaller effective particle radius more appropriate for diffuse dust conditions (1.4 μm), we examine EPF-derived optical depths relative to the MER 880 nm optical depths. Finally, we explore the potential impact of the resulting brighter solar band ω 0 of 0.94 to atmospheric temperatures in the planetary boundary layer.

  16. Sampling and analysis method for measuring airborne coal dust mass in mixtures with limestone (rock) dust.

    PubMed

    Barone, T L; Patts, J R; Janisko, S J; Colinet, J F; Patts, L D; Beck, T W; Mischler, S E

    2016-01-01

    Airborne coal dust mass measurements in underground bituminous coal mines can be challenged by the presence of airborne limestone dust, which is an incombustible dust applied to prevent the propagation of dust explosions. To accurately measure the coal portion of this mixed airborne dust, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) developed a sampling and analysis protocol that used a stainless steel cassette adapted with an isokinetic inlet and the low temperature ashing (LTA) analytical method. The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) routinely utilizes this LTA method to quantify the incombustible content of bulk dust samples collected from the roof, floor, and ribs of mining entries. The use of the stainless steel cassette with isokinetic inlet allowed NIOSH to adopt the LTA method for the analysis of airborne dust samples. Mixtures of known coal and limestone dust masses were prepared in the laboratory, loaded into the stainless steel cassettes, and analyzed to assess the accuracy of this method. Coal dust mass measurements differed from predicted values by an average of 0.5%, 0.2%, and 0.1% for samples containing 20%, 91%, and 95% limestone dust, respectively. The ability of this method to accurately quantify the laboratory samples confirmed the validity of this method and allowed NIOSH to successfully measure the coal fraction of airborne dust samples collected in an underground coal mine.

  17. Sampling and analysis method for measuring airborne coal dust mass in mixtures with limestone (rock) dust

    PubMed Central

    Barone, T. L.; Patts, J. R.; Janisko, S. J.; Colinet, J. F.; Patts, L. D.; Beck, T. W.; Mischler, S. E.

    2016-01-01

    Airborne coal dust mass measurements in underground bituminous coal mines can be challenged by the presence of airborne limestone dust, which is an incombustible dust applied to prevent the propagation of dust explosions. To accurately measure the coal portion of this mixed airborne dust, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) developed a sampling and analysis protocol that used a stainless steel cassette adapted with an isokinetic inlet and the low temperature ashing (LTA) analytical method. The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) routinely utilizes this LTA method to quantify the incombustible content of bulk dust samples collected from the roof, floor, and ribs of mining entries. The use of the stainless steel cassette with isokinetic inlet allowed NIOSH to adopt the LTA method for the analysis of airborne dust samples. Mixtures of known coal and limestone dust masses were prepared in the laboratory, loaded into the stainless steel cassettes, and analyzed to assess the accuracy of this method. Coal dust mass measurements differed from predicted values by an average of 0.5%, 0.2%, and 0.1% for samples containing 20%, 91%, and 95% limestone dust, respectively. The ability of this method to accurately quantify the laboratory samples confirmed the validity of this method and allowed NIOSH to successfully measure the coal fraction of airborne dust samples collected in an underground coal mine. PMID:26618374

  18. The Fate of Saharan Dust Across the Atlantic and Implications for a Central American Dust Barrier

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Nowottnick, E.; Colarco, P.; da Silva, A.; Hlavka, D.; McGill, M.

    2011-01-01

    Saharan dust was observed over the Caribbean basin during the summer 2007 NASA Tropical Composition, Cloud, and Climate Coupling (TC4) field experiment. Airborne Cloud Physics Lidar (CPL) and satellite observations from MODIS suggest a barrier to dust transport across Central America into the eastern Pacific. We use the NASA GEOS-5 atmospheric transport model with online aerosol tracers to perform simulations of the TC4 time period in order to understand the nature of this barrier. Our simulations are driven by the Modem Era Retrospective-Analysis for Research and Applications (MERRA) meteorological analyses. We evaluate our baseline simulated dust distributions using MODIS and CALIOP satellite and ground-based AERONET sun photometer observations. GEOS-5 reproduces the observed location, magnitude, and timing of major dust events, but our baseline simulation does not develop as strong a barrier to dust transport across Central America as observations suggest. Analysis of the dust transport dynamics and lost processes suggest that while both mechanisms play a role in defining the dust transport barrier, loss processes by wet removal of dust are about twice as important as transport. Sensitivity analyses with our model showed that the dust barrier would not exist without convective scavenging over the Caribbean. The best agreement between our model and the observations was obtained when dust wet removal was parameterized to be more aggressive, treating the dust as we do hydrophilic aerosols.

  19. Comet C2012 S1 (ISON)s Carbon-rich and Micron-size-dominated Coma Dust

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Wooden, D.; De Buizer, J.; Kelley, M.; Sitko, M.; Woodward, C.; Harker, D.; Reach, W.; Russell, R.; Kim, D.; Yanamadra-Fisher, P.; hide

    2014-01-01

    Comet C/2012 S1 (ISON) was unique in that it was a dynamically new comet derived from the Nearly Isotropic Oort cloud reservoir of comets with a sun-grazing orbit. We present thermal models for comet ISON (rh approx.1.15 AU, 2013-Oct-25 11:30 UT) that reveal comet ISON's dust was carbon-rich and dominated by a narrow size distribution dominated by approx. micron-sized grains. We constrained the models by our SOFIA FORCAST photometry at 11.1, 19.7 and 31.5 microns and by a silicate feature strength of approx.1.1 and an 8-13microns continuum greybody color temperature of approx. 275-280 K (using Tbb ? r-0.5 h and Tbb approx. 260-265 K from Subaru COMICS, 2013-Oct-19 UT)[1,2]. N-band spectra of comet ISON with the BASS instrument on the NASA IRTF (2013-Nov-11-12 UT) show a silicate feature strength of approx. 1.1 and an 11.2microns forsterite peak.[3] Our thermal models yield constraints the dust composition as well as grain size distribution parameters: slope, peak grain size, porosity. Specifically, ISON's dust has a low silicate-to- amorphous carbon ratio (approx. 1:9), and the coma size distribution has a steep slope (N4.5) such that the coma is dominated by micron-sized, moderately porous, carbon-rich dust grains. The N-band continuum color temperature implies submicronto micron-size grains and the steep fall off of the SOFIA far-IR photometry requires the size distribution to have fewer relative numbers of larger and cooler grains compared to smaller and hotter grains. A proxy for the dust production rate is f? approx.1500 cm, akin to Af?. ISON has a moderate-to-low dust-to-gas ratio. Comet ISON's dust grain size distribution does not appear similar to the few well-studied long-period Nearly Isotropic Comets (NICs), namely C/1995 O1 (Hale-Bopp) and C/2001 Q4 (NEAT) that had smaller and/or more highly porous grains and larger sizes, or C/2007 N4 (Lulin) and C/2006 P1 (McNaught) that had large and/or compact grains. Radial transport to comet-forming disk distances

  20. Circumstellar Dust in Symbiotic Novae

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jurkic, T.; Kotnik-Karuza, D.

    2015-12-01

    We present a model of inner dust regions around the cool Mira component of the two symbiotic novae, RR Tel and HM Sge, based on the near-IR photometry, ISO spectra and mid-IR interferometry. The dust properties were determined using the DUSTY code. A compact circumstellar silicate dust shell with inner dust shell temperatures between 900 K and 1300 K and of moderate optical depth can explain all the observations. RR Tel shows the presence of an equatorially enhanced dust density during minimum obscuration. Obscuration events are explained by an increase in optical depth caused by the newly condensed dust. The mass loss rates are significantly higher than in intermediate-period single Miras but in agreement with longer-period O-rich AGB stars.

  1. Particle Lifting Processes in Dust Devils

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Neakrase, L. D. V.; Balme, M. R.; Esposito, F.; Kelling, T.; Klose, M.; Kok, J. F.; Marticorena, B.; Merrison, J.; Patel, M.; Wurm, G.

    2016-11-01

    Particle lifting in dust devils on both Earth and Mars has been studied from many different perspectives, including how dust devils could influence the dust cycles of both planets. Here we review our current understanding of particle entrainment by dust devils by examining results from field observations on Earth and Mars, laboratory experiments (at terrestrial ambient and Mars-analog conditions), and analytical modeling. By combining insights obtained from these three methodologies, we provide a detailed overview on interactions between particle lifting processes due to mechanical, thermal, electrodynamical and pressure effects, and how these processes apply to dust devils on Earth and Mars. Experiments and observations have shown dust devils to be effective lifters of dust given the proper conditions on Earth and Mars. However, dust devil studies have yet to determine the individual roles of each of the component processes acting at any given time in dust devils.

  2. Wet Dust Deposition Across Texas, USA

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Collins, J. D., Jr.; Ponette-González, A.; Gill, T. E.; Glass, G. A.; Weathers, K. C.

    2016-12-01

    Atmospheric dust deposition is of critical importance in terrestrial biogeochemical cycles, supplying essential limiting nutrients, such as calcium and phosphorus as well as pollutants, such as lead, to ecosystems. Dust particles are delivered to terrestrial ecosystems directly as dry deposition or in precipitation (wet deposition) as a result of rainout (particles incorporated into cloud droplets) and washout (particles that collide with raindrops as they fall). Compared to dry deposition, wet dust deposition (dissolved + particulate) is a poorly understood yet potentially significant pathway for dust input, especially in humid regions. We quantified wet dust deposition to two National Atmospheric Deposition Monitoring (NADP) sites across Texas-one in west (Guadalupe Mountains) and one in east (near Houston) Texas-with contrasting climate/dust regimes and land cover. We focused on 2012 during one of the most severe droughts in Texas since 1895. Dust event days (DEDs) were identified using meteorological data for stations within 150 km of the NADP sites where wet deposition was sampled weekly. DEDs were defined using the following criteria: visibility <10 km, <30% relative humidity, and wind speed >50 km, supplemented with other Saharan dust incursion and dust observations. A total of 34 DEDs (20 sample weeks) were identified for the west and 5 DEDs (4 sample weeks) for the east Texas sites. Bulk elemental composition of washout particles is analyzed using Particle Induced X-ray Emission (PIXE) spectroscopy and X-ray Fluorescence (XRF) spectroscopy. Using these data, we will examine differences in the chemical composition of rainwater and aerosol particles filtered from rain samples for dust versus non-dust event days at each study site. Deposition fluxes for dust and non-dust event weeks are also compared. Quantifying the magnitude of wet dust deposition is necessary to improve evaluation of dust impacts on biogeochemical cycles.

  3. Dust and Smoke

    Atmospheric Science Data Center

    2014-05-15

    ...     View Larger Image Desert dust particles tend to be larger in size than aerosols that originate ... for these two events. These MISR results distinguish desert dust, the most common non-spherical aerosol type, from pollution and ...

  4. Dust in Extragalactic Reflection Nebulae

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lee, Chris H.; Hodges-Kluck, Edmund J.

    2017-08-01

    Observational evidence for extragalactic dust has been recently found in the form of UV extragalactic reflection nebulae around edge-on spiral galaxies, but the nature of the dust is largely unknown. To derive dust parameters, UV fluxes from the spacecrafts GALEX and Swift have been compared with model UV halo SEDs, which have been created from galaxy template spectra and a silicate-graphite dust model. The model contains two free parameters, which are fractional composition and maximum grain size. These analyses have been done for a sample of 8 nearby edge-on spiral galaxies with bright UV halos, where the dust properties can be spatially resolved, such as inside and outside of galactic winds or as a function of height from the galactic disc. The dust properties give insight into how dust is expelled from the galactic disc, which can also be applied to understanding gaseous outflows from the galaxies as well.

  5. Dust Mitigation for Martian Exploration

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Williams, Blakeley Shay

    2011-01-01

    One of the efforts of the In-Situ Resource Utilization project is to extract oxygen, fuel, and water from the Martian air. However, the surface of Mars is covered in a layer of dust, which is uploaded into the atmosphere by dust devils and dust storms. This atmospheric dust would be collected along with the air during the conversion process. Thus, it is essential to extract the dust from the air prior to commencing the conversion. An electrostatic precipitator is a commonly used dust removal technology on earth. Using this technology, dust particles that pass through receive an electrostatic charge by means of a corona discharge. The particles are then driven to a collector in a region of high electric field at the center of the precipitator. Experiments were conducted to develop a precipitator that will function properly in the Martian atmosphere, which has a very low pressure and is made up . of primarily carbon dioxide.

  6. Segmented Mirror Image Degradation Due to Surface Dust, Alignment and Figure

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Schreur, Julian J.

    1999-01-01

    In 1996 an algorithm was developed to include the effects of surface roughness in the calculation of the point spread function of a telescope mirror. This algorithm has been extended to include the effects of alignment errors and figure errors for the individual elements, and an overall contamination by surface dust. The final algorithm builds an array for a guard-banded pupil function of a mirror that may or may not have a central hole, a central reflecting segment, or an outer ring of segments. The central hole, central reflecting segment, and outer ring may be circular or polygonal, and the outer segments may have trimmed comers. The modeled point spread functions show that x-tilt and y-tilt, or the corresponding R-tilt and theta-tilt for a segment in an outer ring, is readily apparent for maximum wavefront errors of 0.1 lambda. A similar sized piston error is also apparent, but integral wavelength piston errors are not. Severe piston error introduces a focus error of the opposite sign, so piston could be adjusted to compensate for segments with varying focal lengths. Dust affects the image principally by decreasing the Strehl ratio, or peak intensity of the image. For an eight-meter telescope a 25% coverage by dust produced a scattered light intensity of 10(exp -9) of the peak intensity, a level well below detectability.

  7. Water Ice Clouds and Dust in the Martian Atmosphere Observed by Mars Climate Sounder

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Benson, Jennifer L.; Kass, David; Heavens, Nicholas; Kleinbohl, Armin

    2011-01-01

    The water ice clouds are primarily controlled by the temperature structure and form at the water condensation level. Clouds in all regions presented show day/night differences. Cloud altitude varies between night and day in the SPH and tropics: (1) NPH water ice opacity is greater at night than day at some seasons (2) The diurnal thermal tide controls the daily variability. (3) Strong day/night changes indicate that the amount of gas in the atmosphere varies significantly. See significant mixtures of dust and ice at the same altitude planet-wide (1) Points to a complex radiative and thermal balance between dust heating (in the visible) and ice heating or cooling in the infrared. Aerosol layering: (1) Early seasons reveal a zonally banded spatial distribution (2) Some localized longitudinal structure of aerosol layers (3) Later seasons show no consistent large scale organization

  8. Forecasting Dust Storms Using the CARMA-Dust Model and MM5 Weather Data

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Barnum, B. H.; Winstead, N. S.; Wesely, J.; Hakola, A.; Colarco, P.; Toon, O. B.; Ginoux, P.; Brooks, G.; Hasselbarth, L. M.; Toth, B.; Sterner, R.

    2002-12-01

    An operational model for the forecast of dust storms in Northern Africa, the Middle East and Southwest Asia has been developed for the United States Air Force Weather Agency (AFWA). The dust forecast model uses the 5th generation Penn State Mesoscale Meteorology Model (MM5), and a modified version of the Colorado Aerosol and Radiation Model for Atmospheres (CARMA). AFWA conducted a 60 day evaluation of the dust model to look at the model's ability to forecast dust storms for short, medium and long range (72 hour) forecast periods. The study used satellite and ground observations of dust storms to verify the model's effectiveness. Each of the main mesoscale forecast theaters was broken down into smaller sub-regions for detailed analysis. The study found the forecast model was able to forecast dust storms in Saharan Africa and the Sahel region with an average Probability of Detection (POD)exceeding 68%, with a 16% False Alarm Rate (FAR). The Southwest Asian theater had average POD's of 61% with FAR's averaging 10%.

  9. 75 FR 69617 - Lowering Miners' Exposure to Respirable Coal Mine Dust, Including Continuous Personal Dust Monitors

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-11-15

    ... 1219-AB64 Lowering Miners' Exposure to Respirable Coal Mine Dust, Including Continuous Personal Dust... hearings on the proposed rule addressing Lowering Miners' Exposure to Respirable Coal Mine Dust, Including... miners' exposure to respirable coal mine dust by revising the Agency's existing standards on miners...

  10. 76 FR 2617 - Lowering Miners' Exposure to Respirable Coal Mine Dust, Including Continuous Personal Dust Monitors

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-01-14

    ... 1219-AB64 Lowering Miners' Exposure to Respirable Coal Mine Dust, Including Continuous Personal Dust... comment period on the proposed rule addressing Lowering Miners' Exposure to Respirable Coal Mine Dust...), MSHA published a proposed rule, Lowering Miners' Exposure to Respirable Coal Mine Dust, Including...

  11. Electrostatic dust detector

    DOEpatents

    Skinner, Charles H [Lawrenceville, NJ

    2006-05-02

    An apparatus for detecting dust in a variety of environments which can include radioactive and other hostile environments both in a vacuum and in a pressurized system. The apparatus consists of a grid coupled to a selected bias voltage. The signal generated when dust impacts and shorts out the grid is electrically filtered, and then analyzed by a signal analyzer which is then sent to a counter. For fine grids a correlation can be developed to relate the number of counts observed to the amount of dust which impacts the grid.

  12. Host Galaxies of Dust-Reddened QSOs

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Urrutia, T.; Lacy, M.; Becker, R.; Gregg, M.; Helfand, D.; White, R.

    2005-12-01

    We present Hubble/ACS observations of 13 dust-reddened Type 1 quasars to study the properties of their host galaxies. The quasars have a mean reddening of E(B-V) = 0.8 and lie at moderate redshifts (0.4 < z < 1.0). Images were taken in I and g' band during one or two Hubble orbits. After correcting for absorption the absolute magnitudes of the quasars lie around MV = -27. We are just probing the tip of the luminosity iceberg and there must be many more obscured quasars at these redshifts. The images show extensive merger activity such as tidal tails and various compact halos even before subtracting the quasar contribution. The red quasar phenomenon is likely to be an evolutionary effect. The young quasar is obscured while the dust of the merging galaxies is still settling in. None of the quasars fit a perfect elliptical profile after subtracting the PSF as all of them show many irregularities. The host galaxies also seem to be having bluer colors that typical galaxies, although there is a large scatter in the data. This would argue for recent star-formation most likely triggered my the merger, in concordance with models arguing the emergence of AGN from dusty Starburst galaxies. This work was partly performed under the auspices of the US Department of Energy, National Nuclear Security Administration by the University of California, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory under contract No. W-7405-Eng-48.

  13. Are All Active Galactic Nuclei Born Equal? The Silicate Dust Mineralogy Perspective

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Li, Aigen

    Dust is the cornerstone of the unification theory of active galactic nuclei (AGNs). This theory proposes that all AGNs are essentially the same object or "born equal" but viewed from different lines of sight; much of the observed diversity arises from different viewing angles toward the central engine and a dusty toroidal structure around it. When the dusty torus is viewed face-on, both the central engine and the broad-line regions can be seen directly causing objects to appear as type 1 AGNs; when the dusty torus is viewed edge- on, the anisotropic obscuration created by the torus causes objects to appear as type 2 AGNs. It is this crucial role played by dust in the unified model of AGNs that makes understanding dust properties very important in understanding AGNs. Little is known about the dust in the circumnuclear torus of AGNs. There is evidence suggesting that the size and composition of the dust in AGNs may differ substantially from that of the Galactic interstellar dust, as reflected by the flat or "gray" extinction, and the anomalous silicate emission or absorption features observed respectively in type 1 and type 2 AGNs. The silicate feature profiles of AGNs are rather diverse in peak wavelengths, widths, strengths, and band ratios of the 18 micrometer O--Si--O feature to the 9.7 micrometer Si--O feature, suggesting that the AGN silicate grains are diverse in composition and size (or probably not "born equal"). We propose a two-year project to study the size and composition of the dust in AGNs, with special attention paid to the silicate mineralogy. We will obtain constraints on the silicate composition and size by modeling the Spitzer IRS spectra of >100 AGNs of various types. We will examine whether (and how) the silicate composition and size properties vary with the properties of an AGN (e.g. type, luminosity). This research will improve our understanding of the physical properties of the dust torus and the origin of the observed silicate emission

  14. Measurements of the millimeter-wave spectrum of interstellar dust emission

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Fischer, M. L.; Clapp, A.; Devlin, M.; Gundersen, J. O.; Lange, A. E.; Lubin, P. M.; Meinhold, P. R.; Richards, P. L.; Smoot, G. F.

    1995-01-01

    We report measurements of the differential brightness of interstellar dust emission near the Galactic plane and at high Galactic latitudes. The data were obtained as part of a program to measure anisotropy in the cosmic microwave background (CMB). The measurements were made with a 0.5 deg beam size and a 1.3 deg sinusoidal chop, in broad bands (Delta nu/nu approximately 0.3) centered near frequencies of 6, 9, and 12 cm(exp -1). A measurement made toward the Galactic plane, at longitude 1 = 23.7 deg, is compared with the contrast observed in the 100 micrometers IRAS data. Assuming the dust emission has a brightness I(sub nu) proportional to nu(sup n)B(sub nu)(T(sub d)), where B(sub nu) is the Planck function, a best fit yields n = 1.6 +/- 0.4, T(sub d) = 24 +/- 5 K. In a region near the star mu Pegasi (mu PEG l = 91 deg, b = -31 deg), the comparison of our data with the 100 micrometers IRAS data yields n = 1.4 +/- 0.4, and T(sub d) = 18 +/- 3 K. In a second region near the star gamma Ursa Minoris (GUM l = 108 deg, b = 41 deg), an upper limit is placed on contrast in dust emission. This upper limit is consistent with spectrum measured at mu PEG and the IRAS 100 micrometer emission contrast at GUM, which is approximately 8 times lower than mu PEG.

  15. Dust in the Universe

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hemenway, Mary Kay; Armosky, Brad J.

    2004-01-01

    Space is seeming less and less like empty space as new discoveries and reexaminations fill in the gaps. And, ingenuity and technology, like the Spitzer Space Telescope, is allowing examination of the far reaches of the Milky Way and beyond. Even dust is getting its due, but not the dust everyone is familiar with. People seldom consider the dust in…

  16. Three Faces of Martian Dust: Dust for Cover, Dust to Breathe, and Dust Everywhere

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Spry, J. A.; Rummel, J. D.; Race, M. S.; Conley, C. A.

    2017-06-01

    While detailed approaches are mature for robotic missions, only guidelines are available for how planetary protection might be implemented on human missions. More dust-related data is needed before adequate mitigations can be identified and deployed.

  17. Characterization of atmospheric bioaerosols along the transport pathway of Asian dust during the Dust-Bioaerosol 2016 Campaign

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Tang, Kai; Huang, Zhongwei; Huang, Jianping; Maki, Teruya; Zhang, Shuang; Shimizu, Atsushi; Ma, Xiaojun; Shi, Jinsen; Bi, Jianrong; Zhou, Tian; Wang, Guoyin; Zhang, Lei

    2018-05-01

    Previous studies have shown that bioaerosols are injected into the atmosphere during dust events. These bioaerosols may affect leeward ecosystems, human health, and agricultural productivity and may even induce climate change. However, bioaerosol dynamics have rarely been investigated along the transport pathway of Asian dust, especially in China where dust events affect huge areas and massive numbers of people. Given this situation, the Dust-Bioaerosol (DuBi) Campaign was carried out over northern China, and the effects of dust events on the amount and diversity of bioaerosols were investigated. The results indicate that the number of bacteria showed remarkable increases during the dust events, and the diversity of the bacterial communities also increased significantly, as determined by means of microscopic observations with 4,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI) staining and MiSeq sequencing analysis. These results indicate that dust clouds can carry many bacteria of various types into downwind regions and may have potentially important impacts on ecological environments and climate change. The abundances of DAPI-stained bacteria in the dust samples were 1 to 2 orders of magnitude greater than those in the non-dust samples and reached 105-106 particles m-3. Moreover, the concentration ratios of DAPI-stained bacteria to yellow fluorescent particles increased from 5.1 % ± 6.3 % (non-dust samples) to 9.8 % ± 6.3 % (dust samples). A beta diversity analysis of the bacterial communities demonstrated the distinct clustering of separate prokaryotic communities in the dust and non-dust samples. Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes, and Proteobacteria remained the dominant phyla in all samples. As for Erenhot, the relative abundances of Acidobacteria and Chloroflexi had a remarkable rise in dust events. In contrast, the relative abundances of Acidobacteria and Chloroflexi in non-dust samples of R-DzToUb were greater than those in dust samples. Alphaproteobacteria made the major

  18. Mineralogy of Interplanetary Dust Particles from the Comet Giacobini-Zinner Dust Stream Collections

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Nakamura-Messenger, K.; Messenger, S.; Westphal, A. J.; Palma, R. L.

    2015-01-01

    The Draconoid meteor shower, originating from comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner, is a low-velocity Earth-crossing dust stream that had a peak anticipated flux on Oct. 8, 2012. In response to this prediction, NASA performed dedicated stratospheric dust collections to target interplanetary dust particles (IDPs) from this comet stream on Oct 15-17, 2012 [3]. Twelve dust particles from this targeted collection were allocated to our coordinated analysis team for studies of noble gas (Univ. Minnesota, Minnesota State Univ.), SXRF and Fe-XANES (SSL Berkeley) and mineralogy/isotopes (JSC). Here we report a mineralogical study of 3 IDPs from the Draconoid collection..

  19. Temporal evolution of UV opacity and dust particle size at Gale Crater from MSL/REMS measurements

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Vicente-Retortillo, Álvaro; Martinez, German; Renno, Nilton O.; Lemmon, Mark T.; Mason, Emily; De la Torre, Manuel

    2016-10-01

    A better characterization of the size, radiative properties and temporal variability of suspended dust in the Martian atmosphere is necessary to improve our understanding of the current climate of Mars. The REMS UV sensor onboard the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Curiosity rover has performed ground-based measurements of solar radiation in six different UV spectral bands for the first time on Mars.We developed a novel technique to retrieve dust opacity and particle size from REMS UV measurements. We use the electrical output current (TELRDR products) of the six photodiodes and the ancillary data (ADR products) to avoid inconsistencies found in the processed data (units of W/m2) when the solar zenith angle is above 30°. In addition, we use TELRDR and ADR data only in events during which the Sun is temporally blocked by the rover's masthead or mast to mitigate uncertainties associated to the degradation of the sensor due to the deposition of dust on it. Then we use a radiative transfer model with updated dust properties based on the Monte-Carlo method to retrieve the dust opacity and particle size.We find that the seasonal trend of UV opacity is consistent with opacity values at 880 nm derived from Mastcam images of the Sun, with annual maximum values in spring and in summer and minimum values in winter. The interannual variability is low, with two local maxima in mid-spring and mid-summer. Finally, dust particle size also varies throughout the year with typical values of the effective radius in the range between 0.5 and 2 μm. These variations in particle size occur in a similar way to those in dust opacity; the smallest sizes are found when the opacity values are the lowest.

  20. Short-term variability of mineral dust, metals and carbon emission from road dust resuspension

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Amato, Fulvio; Schaap, Martijn; Denier van der Gon, Hugo A. C.; Pandolfi, Marco; Alastuey, Andrés; Keuken, Menno; Querol, Xavier

    2013-08-01

    Particulate matter (PM) pollution in cities has severe impact on morbidity and mortality of their population. In these cities, road dust resuspension contributes largely to PM and airborne heavy metals concentrations. However, the short-term variation of emission through resuspension is not well described in the air quality models, hampering a reliable description of air pollution and related health effects. In this study we experimentally show that the emission strength of resuspension varies widely among road dust components/sources. Our results offer the first experimental evidence of different emission rates for mineral dust, heavy metals and carbon fractions due to traffic-induced resuspension. Also, the same component (or source) recovers differently in a road in Barcelona (Spain) and a road in Utrecht (The Netherlands). This finding has important implications on atmospheric pollution modelling, mostly for mineral dust, heavy metals and carbon species. After rain events, recoveries were generally faster in Barcelona rather than in Utrecht. The largest difference was found for the mineral dust (Al, Si, Ca). Tyre wear particles (organic carbon and zinc) recovered faster than other road dust particles in both cities. The source apportionment of road dust mass provides useful information for air quality management.

  1. The Martian dust cycle: A proposed model

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Greeley, Ronald

    1987-01-01

    Despite more than a decade of study of martian dust storms, many of their characteristics and associated processes remain enigmatic, including the mechanisms for dust raising, modes of settling, and the nature of dust deposits. However, observations of Mars dust, considerations of terrestrial analogs, theoretical models, and laboratory simulations permit the formulation of a Martian Dust Cycle Model, which consists of three main processes: (1) suspension threshold, (2) transportation, and (3) deposition; two associated processes are also included: (4) dust removal and (5) the addition of new dust to the cycle. Although definitions vary, dust includes particles less than 4 to approx. 60 microns in diameter, which by terrestrial usage includes silt, loess, clay, and aerosolic dust particles. The dust cycle model is explained.

  2. Study on the alternative mitigation of cement dust spread by capturing the dust with fogging method

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Purwanta, Jaka; Marnoto, Tjukup; Setyono, Prabang; Handono Ramelan, Ari

    2017-12-01

    The existence of a cement plant impact the lives of people around the factory site. For example the air quality, which is polluted by dust. Cement plant has made various efforts to mitigate the generated dust, but there are still alot of dust fly inground either from the cement factory chimneys or transportation. The purpose of this study was to conduct a review of alternative mitigation of the spread of dust around the cement plant. This study uses research methods such as collecting secondary data which includes data of rain density, the average rains duration, wind speed and direction as well as data of dust intensity quality around PT. Semen Gresik (Persero) Tbk.Tuban plant. A soft Wind rose file is used To determine the wind direction propensity models. The impact on the spread of dust into the environment is determined using secondary data monitoring air quality. Results of the study is that the mitigation of dust around the cement plant is influenced by natural factors, such as the tendency of wind direction, rain fall and rainy days, and the rate of dust emission from the chimney. The alternative means proposed is an environmental friendly fogging dust catcher.

  3. Lunar Dust-Tolerant Electrical Connector

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Herman, Jason; Sadick, Shazad; Roberts, Dustyn

    2010-01-01

    An electrical connector was developed that is tolerant of the presence of lunar dust. Novel features of the connector include the use of a permeable membrane to act both as a dust barrier and as a wiper to limit the amount of dust that makes its way into the internal chamber of the connector. The development focused on the Constellation lunar extravehicular activity (EVA) spacesuit s portable life support system (PLSS) battery recharge connector; however, continued research is applying this technology to other lunar surface systems such as lunar rover subsystems and cryogenic fluid transfer connections for in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) applications. Lunar dust has been identified as a significant and present challenge in future exploration missions. In addition to posing contamination and health risks for human explorers, the interlocking, angular nature of lunar dust and its broad grain size distribution make it particularly harmful to mechanisms with which it may come into contact. All Apollo lunar missions experienced some degree of equipment failure because of dust, and it appears that dust accumulation on exposed material is unavoidable and difficult to reverse. Both human EVA and ISRU activities are on the mission horizon and are paramount to the establishment of a permanent human base on the Moon. Reusable and dust-tolerant connection mechanisms are a critical component for mission success. The need for dust-tolerant solutions is also seen in utility work and repair, mass transit applications, construction, mining, arctic and marine environments, diving (search and rescue), and various operations in deserts, where dust or sand clogging and coating different mechanisms and connections may render them difficult to operate or entirely inoperable.

  4. House dust mites, our intimate associates.

    PubMed

    Nadchatram, M

    2005-06-01

    House dust mites have lived in human contact from time immemorial. Human dander or dead skin constitutes the major organic component of the house dust ecosystem. Because the mites feed on dander, dust mites and human association will continue to co-exist as part of our environment. Efficient house-keeping practice is the best form of control to reduce infestation. However, special precautions are important when individuals are susceptible or sensitive to dust mites. House dust mites are responsible for causing asthma, rhinitis and contact dermatitis. The respiratory allergies are caused by the inhalation of dead or live mites, their faecal matter or other byproducts. Immune factors are of paramount importance in the development of dust related or mite induced respiratory diseases. House dust mites were found in some 1,000 samples of dust taken from approximately 330 dwellings in Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore. Mattresses, carpets, corners of a bedroom, and floor beneath the bed are favourable dust mite habitats. The incriminating species based on studies here and elsewhere, as well as many other species of dust mites of unknown etiological importance are widely distributed in Malaysian homes. Density of dust mites in Malaysia and Singapore is greater than in temperate countries. Prevention and control measures with reference to subjects sensitive to dust mite allergies, including chemical control described in studies conducted in Europe and America are discussed. However, a cost free and most practical way to remove mites, their faecal matter and other products is to resort to sunning the bedding and carpets to kill the living mites, and then beaten and brushed to remove the dust and other components.

  5. Herschel-ATLAS: Dust Temperature and Redshift Distribution of SPIRE and PACS Detected Sources Using Submillimetre Colours

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Amblard, A.; Cooray, Asantha; Serra, P.; Temi, P.; Barton, E.; Negrello, M.; Auld, R.; Baes, M.; Baldry, I. K.; Bamford, S.; hide

    2010-01-01

    We present colour-colour diagrams of detected sources in the Herschel-ATLAS Science Demonstration Field from 100 to 500/microns using both PACS and SPIRE. We fit isothermal modified-blackbody spectral energy distribution (SED) models in order to extract the dust temperature of sources with counterparts in GAMA or SDSS with either a spectroscopic or a photometric redshift. For a subsample of 331 sources detected in at least three FIR bands with significance greater than 30 sigma, we find an average dust temperature of (28 plus or minus 8)K. For sources with no known redshifts, we populate the colour-colour diagram with a large number of SEDs generated with a broad range of dust temperatures and emissivity parameters and compare to colours of observed sources to establish the redshift distribution of those samples. For another subsample of 1686 sources with fluxes above 35 mJy at 350 microns and detected at 250 and 500 microns with a significance greater than 3sigma, we find an average redshift of 2.2 plus or minus 0.6.

  6. The effects of dust on Colorado mountain snow cover albedo and compositional links to dust-source areas

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Goldstein, H. L.; Reynolds, R. L.; Landry, C.; Derry, J. E.; Kokaly, R. F.; Breit, G. N.

    2016-12-01

    Dust deposited on mountain snow cover (DOS) changes snow albedo, enhances absorption of solar radiation, and effectively increases rates of snow melt, leading to earlier-than-normal runoff and overall smaller late-season water supplies for tens of millions of people and industries in the American West. Visible-spectrum reflectance of DOS samples is on the order of 0.2 (80% absorption), in stark contrast to the high reflectivity of pure snow which approaches 1.0. Samples of DOS were collected from 12 high-elevation Colorado mountain sites near the end of spring from 2013 through 2016 prior to complete snow melt, when most dust layers had merged into one layer. These samples were analyzed to measure dust properties that affect snow albedo and to link DOS to dust-source areas. Dust mass loadings to snow during water year 2014 varied from 5 to 30 g/m2. Median particle sizes centered around 20 micrometers with more than 80% of the dust <63 micrometers. Dark minerals, carbonaceous matter, and iron oxides, including nano-sized hematite and goethite, together diminished reflectance according to their variable concentrations. Documenting variations in dust-particle masses, sizes, and compositions helps determine their influences on snow-melt and may be useful for modeling snow-melt effects from future dust. Furthermore, variations in dust components and particle sizes lead to new ways to recognize sources of dust by comparison with properties of fine-grained sediments in dust-source areas. Much of the DOS in the San Juan Mountains, Colorado can be linked to southern Colorado Plateau source areas by compositional similarities and satellite imagery. Understanding dust properties that affect snow albedo and recognizing the sources of dust deposited on snow cover may guide mitigation of dust emission that affects water resources of the Colorado River basin.

  7. Gravitational Instability of a Dust Layer Composed of Porous Silicate Dust Aggregates in a Protoplanetary Disk

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Tatsuuma, Misako; Michikoshi, Shugo; Kokubo, Eiichiro

    2018-03-01

    Planetesimal formation is one of the most important unsolved problems in planet formation theory. In particular, rocky planetesimal formation is difficult because silicate dust grains are easily broken when they collide. It has recently been proposed that they can grow as porous aggregates when their monomer radius is smaller than ∼10 nm, which can also avoid the radial drift toward the central star. However, the stability of a layer composed of such porous silicate dust aggregates has not been investigated. Therefore, we investigate the gravitational instability (GI) of this dust layer. To evaluate the disk stability, we calculate Toomre’s stability parameter Q, for which we need to evaluate the equilibrium random velocity of dust aggregates. We calculate the equilibrium random velocity considering gravitational scattering and collisions between dust aggregates, drag by mean flow of gas, stirring by gas turbulence, and gravitational scattering by gas density fluctuation due to turbulence. We derive the condition of the GI using the disk mass, dust-to-gas ratio, turbulent strength, orbital radius, and dust monomer radius. We find that, for the minimum mass solar nebula model at 1 au, the dust layer becomes gravitationally unstable when the turbulent strength α ≲ 10‑5. If the dust-to-gas ratio is increased twice, the GI occurs for α ≲ 10‑4. We also find that the dust layer is more unstable in disks with larger mass, higher dust-to-gas ratio, and weaker turbulent strength, at larger orbital radius, and with a larger monomer radius.

  8. Dynamical Model for the Zodiacal Cloud and Sporadic Meteors

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Nesvorný, David; Janches, Diego; Vokrouhlický, David; Pokorný, Petr; Bottke, William F.; Jenniskens, Peter

    2011-12-01

    The solar system is dusty, and would become dustier over time as asteroids collide and comets disintegrate, except that small debris particles in interplanetary space do not last long. They can be ejected from the solar system by Jupiter, thermally destroyed near the Sun, or physically disrupted by collisions. Also, some are swept by the Earth (and other planets), producing meteors. Here we develop a dynamical model for the solar system meteoroids and use it to explain meteor radar observations. We find that the Jupiter Family Comets (JFCs) are the main source of the prominent concentrations of meteors arriving at the Earth from the helion and antihelion directions. To match the radiant and orbit distributions, as measured by the Canadian Meteor Orbit Radar (CMOR) and Advanced Meteor Orbit Radar (AMOR), our model implies that comets, and JFCs in particular, must frequently disintegrate when reaching orbits with low perihelion distance. Also, the collisional lifetimes of millimeter particles may be longer (gsim 105 yr at 1 AU) than postulated in the standard collisional models (~104 yr at 1 AU), perhaps because these chondrule-sized meteoroids are stronger than thought before. Using observations of the Infrared Astronomical Satellite to calibrate the model, we find that the total cross section and mass of small meteoroids in the inner solar system are (1.7-3.5) × 1011 km2 and ~4 × 1019 g, respectively, in a good agreement with previous studies. The mass input required to keep the zodiacal cloud in a steady state is estimated to be ~104-105 kg s-1. The input is up to ~10 times larger than found previously, mainly because particles released closer to the Sun have shorter collisional lifetimes and need to be supplied at a faster rate. The total mass accreted by the Earth in particles between diameters D = 5 μm and 1 cm is found to be ~15,000 tons yr-1 (factor of two uncertainty), which is a large share of the accretion flux measured by the Long Term Duration

  9. The Cassini Cosmic Dust Analyser CDA - A 10 year exploration of Saturn's dust environment

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Srama, Ralf

    2014-05-01

    The interplanetary space probe Cassini/Huygens reached Saturn in July 2004 after seven years of cruise phase. Since then, the German-lead Cosmic Dust Analyser (CDA) was operated continuously for 10 years in orbit around Saturn. The first discovery of CDA related to Saturn was the measurement of nanometer sized dust particles ejected by its magnetosphere to interplanetary space with speeds higher than 100 km/s. Their origin and composition was analysed and an their dynamical studies showed a strong link to the conditions of the solar wind plasma flow. A recent surprising result was, that stream particles stem from the interior of Enceladus. Since 2004 CDA measured millions of dust impacts characterizing the dust environment of Saturn. The instrument showed strong evidence for ice geysers located at the south pole of Saturn's moon Enceladus in 2005. Later, a detailed compositional analysis of the salt-rich water ice grains in Saturn's E ring system lead to the discovery of liquid water below the crust connected to an ocean at depth feeding the icy jets. CDA was even capable to derive a spatially resolved compositional profile of the plume during close Enceladus flybys. A determination of the dust-magnetosphere interaction and the discovery of the extended E ring (at least twice as large as previously known) allowed the definition of a dynamical dust model of Saturns E ring describing the observed properties. Cassini performed shadow crossings in the ring plane and dust grain charges were measured in shadow regions delivering important data for dust-plasma interaction studies. In the last years, dedicated measurement campaigns were executed by CDA to monitor the flux of interplanetary and interstellar dust particles reaching Saturn.

  10. Dust storm in Alaska

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2013-11-18

    Dust storm in Alaska captured by Aqua/MODIS on Nov. 17, 2013 at 21:45 UTC. When glaciers grind against underlying bedrock, they produce a silty powder with grains finer than sand. Geologists call it “glacial flour” or “rock flour.” This iron- and feldspar-rich substance often finds its ways into rivers and lakes, coloring the water brown, grey, or aqua. When river or lake levels are low, the flour accumulates on drying riverbanks and deltas, leaving raw material for winds to lift into the air and create plumes of dust. Scientists are monitoring Arctic dust for a number of reasons. Dust storms can reduce visibility enough to disrupt air travel, and they can pose health hazards to people on the ground. Dust is also a key source of iron for phytoplankton in regional waters. Finally, there is the possibility that dust events are becoming more frequent and severe due to ongoing recession of glaciers in coastal Alaska. To read more about dust storm in this region go to: earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=79518 Credit: NASA/GSFC/Jeff Schmaltz/MODIS Land Rapid Response Team NASA image use policy. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. Follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook Find us on Instagram

  11. Dust emission and transport associated with a Saharan depression: February 2007 case

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bou Karam, Diana; Flamant, Cyrille; Cuesta, Juan; Pelon, Jacques; Williams, Earle

    2010-01-01

    The dust activity over North Africa associated with the Saharan depression event in February 2007 is investigated by mean of spaceborne observations, ground-based measurements, and mesoscale simulation with Meso-NH. The main characteristics of the cyclone as well as the meteorological conditions during this event are described using the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF). The dust storm and cloud cover over North Africa is thoroughly described combining for the first time Spinning Enhanced Visible and Infra-Red Imager (SEVIRI) images for the spatiotemporal evolution and Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation (CALIPSO) and CloudSat observations for the vertical distribution. The Saharan depression formed over Algeria in the lee of the Atlas Mountains on the afternoon of 20 February in response to midlatitude trough intrusion. It migrated eastward with a speed of 11 m s-1 and reached Libya on 22 February before exiting the African continent toward the Mediterranean Sea on 23 February. The horizontal scale of the cyclone at the surface varied between 800 and 1000 km during its lifetime. On the vertical the cyclone extended over 8 km, and a potential vorticity of 2 potential vorticity units (PVU) was reported at its center at 3 km in altitude. The cyclone was characterized by a surface pressure anomaly of about 9 hPa with respect to the environment, a warm front typified at the surface by an increase in surface temperature of 5°C, and a sharp cold front characterized by a drop in surface temperature of 8°C and an increase in 10 m wind speed of 15 m s-1. The cyclone provided dynamical forcing that led to strong near-surface winds and produced a major dust storm over North Africa. The dust was transported all around the cyclone leaving a clear eye at its center and was accompanied by a deep cloud band along the northwestern edge of the cyclone. On the vertical, slanted dust layers were consistently observed during the

  12. Dust-Particle Transport in Tokamak Edge Plasmas

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

    Pigarov, A Y; Krasheninnikov, S I; Soboleva, T K

    2005-09-12

    Dust particulates in the size range of 10nm-100{micro}m are found in all fusion devices. Such dust can be generated during tokamak operation due to strong plasma/material-surface interactions. Some recent experiments and theoretical estimates indicate that dust particles can provide an important source of impurities in the tokamak plasma. Moreover, dust can be a serious threat to the safety of next-step fusion devices. In this paper, recent experimental observations on dust in fusion devices are reviewed. A physical model for dust transport simulation, and a newly developed code DUSTT, are discussed. The DUSTT code incorporates both dust dynamics due to comprehensivemore » dust-plasma interactions as well as the effects of dust heating, charging, and evaporation. The code tracks test dust particles in realistic plasma backgrounds as provided by edge-plasma transport codes. Results are presented for dust transport in current and next-step tokamaks. The effect of dust on divertor plasma profiles and core plasma contamination is examined.« less

  13. Communication plan for windblown dust.

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    2015-05-01

    Windblown dust events occur in Arizona, and blowing dust has been considered a contributing factor to serious crashes on the : segment of Interstate 10 (I10) between Phoenix and Tucson, as well as on other Arizona roadways. Arizonas dust events...

  14. The Evolution of a Planet-Forming Disk Artist Concept Animation

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2004-12-09

    This frame from an animation shows the evolution of a planet-forming disk around a star. Initially, the young disk is bright and thick with dust, providing raw materials for building planets. In the first 10 million years or so, gaps appear within the disk as newborn planets coalesce out of the dust, clearing out a path. In time, this planetary "debris disk" thins out as gravitational interactions with numerous planets slowly sweep away the dust. Steady pressure from the starlight and solar winds also blows out the dust. After a few billion years, only a thin ring remains in the outermost reaches of the system, a faint echo of the once-brilliant disk. Our own solar system has a similar debris disk -- a ring of comets called the Kuiper Belt. Leftover dust in the inner portion of the solar system is known as "zodiacal dust." Bright, young disks can be imaged directly by visible-light telescopes, such as NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. Older, fainter debris disks can be detected only by infrared telescopes like NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, which sense the disks' dim heat. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA07099

  15. House dust in seven Danish offices

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mølhave, L.; Schneider, T.; Kjærgaard, S. K.; Larsen, L.; Norn, S.; Jørgensen, O.

    Floor dust from Danish offices was collected and analyzed. The dust was to be used in an exposure experiment. The dust was analyzed to show the composition of the dust which can be a source of airborne dust indoors. About 11 kg of dust from vacuum cleaner bags from seven Danish office buildings with about 1047 occupants (12 751 m 2) was processed according to a standardized procedure yielding 5.5 kg of processed bulk dust. The bulk dust contained 130.000-160.000 CFU g -1 microorganisms and 71.000-90.000 CFU g -1 microfungi. The content of culturable microfungi was 65-123 CFU 30 g -1 dust. The content of endotoxins ranged from 5.06-7.24 EU g -1 (1.45 ng g -1 to 1.01 ng g -1). Allergens (ng g -1) were from 147-159 (Mite), 395-746 (dog) and 103-330 (cat). The macro molecular organic compounds (the MOD-content) varied from 7.8-9.8 mg g -1. The threshold of release of histamine from basophil leukocytes provoked by the bulk dust was between 0.3 and 1.0 mg ml -1. The water content was 2% (WGT) and the organic fraction 33%. 6.5-5.9% (dry) was water soluble. The fiber content was less than 0.2-1.5% (WGT) and the desorbable VOCs was 176-319 μg g -1. Most of the VOC were aldehydes. However, softeners for plastic (DBP and DEHP) were present. The chemical composition includes human and animal skin fragments, paper fibers, glass wool, wood and textilefibers and inorganic and metal particles. The sizes ranged from 0.001-1 mm and the average specific density was 1.0 g m -3. The bulk dust was resuspended and injected into an exposure chamber. The airborne dust was sampled and analyzed to illustrate the exposures that can result from sedimented dirt and dust. The airborne dust resulting from the bulk dust reached concentrations ranging from 0.26-0.75 mg m -3 in average contained 300-170 CFU m -3. The organic fraction was from 55-70% and the water content about 2.5% (WGT). The content of the dust was compared to the similar results reported in the literature and its toxic potency is

  16. DUST AROUND R CORONAE BOREALIS STARS. II. INFRARED EMISSION FEATURES IN AN H-POOR ENVIRONMENT

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

    Garcia-Hernandez, D. A.; Rao, N. Kameswara; Lambert, D. L., E-mail: agarcia@iac.es, E-mail: nkrao@iiap.res.in, E-mail: dll@astro.as.utexas.edu

    2013-08-20

    Residual Spitzer/Infrared Spectrograph spectra for a sample of 31 R Coronae Borealis (RCB) stars are presented and discussed in terms of narrow emission features superimposed on the quasi-blackbody continuous infrared emission. A broad {approx}6-10 {mu}m dust emission complex is seen in the RCBs showing an extreme H-deficiency. A secondary and much weaker {approx}11.5-15 {mu}m broad emission feature is detected in a few RCBs with the strongest {approx}6-10 {mu}m dust complex. The Spitzer infrared spectra reveal for the first time the structure within the {approx}6-10 {mu}m dust complex, showing the presence of strong C-C stretching modes at {approx}6.3 and 8.1 {mu}mmore » as well as of other dust features at {approx}5.9, 6.9, and 7.3 {mu}m, which are attributable to amorphous carbonaceous solids with little or no hydrogen. The few RCBs with only moderate H-deficiencies display the classical ''unidentified infrared bands (UIRs)'' and mid-infrared features from fullerene-related molecules. In general, the characteristics of the RCB infrared emission features are not correlated with the stellar and circumstellar properties, suggesting that the RCB dust features may not be dependent on the present physical conditions around RCB stars. The only exception seems to be the central wavelength of the 6.3 {mu}m feature, which is blueshifted in those RCBs showing also the UIRs, i.e., the RCBs with the smallest H deficiency.« less

  17. Variations between Dust and Gas in the Diffuse Interstellar Medium. III. Changes in Dust Properties

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Reach, William T.; Bernard, Jean-Philippe; Jarrett, Thomas H.; Heiles, Carl

    2017-12-01

    We study infrared emission of 17 isolated, diffuse clouds with masses of order {10}2 {M}ȯ to test the hypothesis that grain property variations cause the apparently low gas-to-dust ratios that have been measured in those clouds. Maps of the clouds were constructed from Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) data and directly compared with the maps of dust optical depth from Planck. The mid-infrared emission per unit dust optical depth has a significant trend toward lower values at higher optical depths. The trend can be quantitatively explained by the extinction of starlight within the clouds. The relative amounts of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon and very small grains traced by WISE, compared with large grains tracked by Planck, are consistent with being constant. The temperature of the large grains significantly decreases for clouds with larger dust optical depth; this trend is partially due to dust property variations, but is primarily due to extinction of starlight. We updated the prediction for molecular hydrogen column density, taking into account variations in dust properties, and find it can explain the observed dust optical depth per unit gas column density. Thus, the low gas-to-dust ratios in the clouds are most likely due to “dark gas” that is molecular hydrogen.

  18. Dust Streams from Tunisia

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    2002-01-01

    On October 6, 2001, the Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS) captured this true-color image of a large dust storm blowing northeastward across the Mediterranean Sea from Tunisia. According to Joseph Prospero, professor of atmospheric science at the University of Miami, there is an unusual arc-shaped 'front' to the dust cloud. The storm's shape suggests that the source of the dust is rather small and that the meteorology driving it rather unusual. The dust seems to be coming out of the wadis, dry lakebeds and riverbeds, at the base of the Tell Atlas Mountains in northern Tunisia and eastern Algeria. The dust appears to be blowing toward the island of Sicily, Italy (toward the upper righthand corner). Also notice there is a relatively thin plume of smoke emanating eastward from the top of Mount Etna on Sicily. Image courtesy the SeaWiFS Project, NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, and ORBIMAGE

  19. Performance of distributed bagged stone dust barrier in combating coal-dust explosions

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

    Plessis, J.J.L. du; Vassard, P.S.

    1999-07-01

    The Kloppersbos Research Facility of the CSIR's Division of Mining Technology has developed a new method of building stone dust barriers. The new barrier makes use of a previous concept of containing stone dust in a bag, but incorporates a new method of rupturing the bag. This was achieved by adapting the closing mechanism and by balancing the stone dust content with the void in the bag. The bagged barrier was extensively tested in the 200-m test gallery. During these tests, it became evident that these bags could be made to rupture and spread stone dust when subjected to smallermore » forces than those required for the most commonly used passive barrier, the Polish light barrier. To validate this, as well as to gain international acceptance of this new barrier, tests were conducted in the German experimental mine, DMT Tremonia, Dortmund. The barrier was evaluated against numerous methane-initiated coal-dust explosions. The paper describes the successful inhibition of coal-dust explosions at Kloppersbos and DMT tremonia. The barrier has been proven successfully for static pressures of 44 to 82 kpa, dynamic pressures of 12 to 36 kpa and for flame speeds as low as 23 m/s. This barrier is now accepted by the South African government and has been implemented in numerous South African collieries.« less

  20. Saharan Dust on the Move

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2017-12-08

    A piece of Africa—actually lots of them—began to arrive in the Americas in June 2014. On June 23, a lengthy river of dust from western Africa began to push across the Atlantic Ocean on easterly winds. A week later, the influx of dust was affecting air quality as far away as the southeastern United States. This composite image, made with data from the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on Suomi NPP, shows dust heading west toward South America and the Gulf of Mexico on June 25, 2014. The dust flowed roughly parallel to a line of clouds in the intertropical convergence zone, an area near the equator where the trade winds come together and rain and clouds are common. In imagery captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), the dust appeared to be streaming from Mauritania, Senegal, and Western Sahara, though some of it may have originated in countries farther to the east. Saharan dust has a range of impacts on ecosystems downwind. Each year, dust events like the one pictured here deliver about 40 million tons of dust from the Sahara to the Amazon River Basin. The minerals in the dust replenish nutrients in rainforest soils, which are continually depleted by drenching, tropical rains. Research focused on peat soils in the Everglades show that African dust has been arriving regularly in South Florida for thousands of years as well. In some instances, the impacts are harmful. Infusion of Saharan dust, for instance, can have a negative impact on air quality in the Americas. And scientists have linked African dust to outbreaks of certain types of toxic algal blooms in the Gulf of Mexico and southern Florida. Read more: 1.usa.gov/1snkzmS NASA images by Norman Kuring, NASA’s Ocean Color web. Caption by Adam Voiland. Credit: NASA Earth Observatory NASA image use policy. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and

  1. Dust Devils Seen by Spirit

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    2005-01-01

    [figure removed for brevity, see original site] Figure 1 Annotated

    At the Gusev site recently, skies have been very dusty, and on its 421st sol (March 10, 2005) NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit spied two dust devils in action. This pair of images is from the rover's rear hazard-avoidance camera. Views of the Gusev landing region from orbit show many dark streaks across the landscape -- tracks where dust devils have removed surface dust to show relatively darker soil below -- but this is the first time Spirit has photographed an active dust devil.

    Scientists are considering several causes of these small phenomena. Dust devils often occur when the Sun heats the surface of Mars. Warmed soil and rocks heat the layer of atmosphere closest to the surface, and the warm air rises in a whirling motion, stirring dust up from the surface like a miniature tornado. Another possibility is that a flow structure might develop over craters as wind speeds increase. As winds pick up, turbulence eddies and rotating columns of air form. As these columns grow in diameter they become taller and gain rotational speed. Eventually they become self-sustaining and the wind blows them down range.

    One sol before this image was taken, power output from Spirit's solar panels went up by about 50 percent when the amount of dust on the panels decreased. Was this a coincidence, or did a helpful dust devil pass over Spirit and lift off some of the dust?

    By comparing the separate images from the rover's different cameras, team members estimate that the dust devils moved about 500 meters (1,640 feet) in the 155 seconds between the navigation camera and hazard-avoidance camera frames; that equates to about 3 meters per second (7 miles per hour). The dust devils appear to be about 1,100 meters (almost three-quarters of a mile) from the rover.

  2. DustPedia: A Definitive Study of Cosmic Dust in the Local Universe

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Davies, J. I.; Baes, M.; Bianchi, S.; Jones, A.; Madden, S.; Xilouris, M.; Bocchio, M.; Casasola, V.; Cassara, L.; Clark, C.; De Looze, I.; Evans, R.; Fritz, J.; Galametz, M.; Galliano, F.; Lianou, S.; Mosenkov, A. V.; Smith, M.; Verstocken, S.; Viaene, S.; Vika, M.; Wagle, G.; Ysard, N.

    2017-04-01

    The European Space Agency has invested heavily in two cornerstones missions: Herschel and Planck. The legacy data from these missions provides an unprecedented opportunity to study cosmic dust in galaxies so that we can, for example, answer fundamental questions about the origin of the chemical elements, physical processes in the interstellar medium (ISM), its effect on stellar radiation, its relation to star formation and how this relates to the cosmic far-infrared background. In this paper we describe the DustPedia project, which enables us to develop tools and computer models that will help us relate observed cosmic dust emission to its physical properties (chemical composition, size distribution, and temperature), its origins (evolved stars, supernovae, and growth in the ISM), and the processes that destroy it (high-energy collisions and shock heated gas). To carry out this research, we combine the Herschel/Planck data with that from other sources of data, and provide observations at numerous wavelengths (≤slant 41) across the spectral energy distribution, thus creating the DustPedia database. To maximize our spatial resolution and sensitivity to cosmic dust, we limit our analysis to 4231 local galaxies (v< 3000 km s-1) selected via their near-infrared luminosity (stellar mass). To help us interpret this data, we developed a new physical model for dust (THEMIS), a new Bayesian method of fitting and interpreting spectral energy distributions (HerBIE) and a state-of-the-art Monte Carlo photon-tracing radiative transfer model (SKIRT). In this, the first of the DustPedia papers, we describe the project objectives, data sets used, and provide an insight into the new scientific methods we plan to implement.

  3. The dust mass in Cassiopeia A

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    De Looze, Ilse; Barlow, Mike; Marcowith, Alexandre; Tatischef, Vincent

    2016-06-01

    Theoretical models predict that core-collapse supernovae (CCSNe) can be efficient dust producers (0.1-1 Msun) and potentially responsible for most of the dust production in the early Universe. Observational evidence for this dust production efficiency has remained limited. Herschel observations from 70-500 microns of the 335-year old Cassiopeia A have indicated the presence of ˜0.1 Msun of cool (T˜35 K) dust interior to the reverse shock (Barlow et al. 2010), while Dunne et al. (2009) have claimed a detection of ˜1 Msun of cold (˜20 K) dust, based on SCUBA 850-micron polarimetric data. At sub-millimeter wavelengths, the supernova dust emission is heavily contaminated by interstellar dust emission and by the synchrotron radiation from the SNR. We present the first spatially resolved analysis of the infrared and submillimeter emission of Cas, A at better than 1 parsec resolution, based on our Herschel PACS and SPIRE 70-500um images. We used our PACS IFU and SPIRE FTS spectra to remove the contaminating emission from bright lines (e.g. [OIII]88, [CII]158). We updated the spectral index of the synchrotron emission based on recent Planck data, and extrapolated this synchrotron spectrum from a 3.7 mm VLA image to infrared/submillimeter wavelengths. We modeled the interstellar dust emission using a Galactic dust emission template from Jones et al. (2013), while the ISM dust mass is scaled to reproduce the continuum emission in the SPIRE FTS spectra at wavelengths > 650 micron (after subtraction of synchrotron emission). The UV radiation field that illuminates the ISM dust was constrained through PDR modelling of the [CI] 1-0, 2-1 and CO 4-3 lines observed in the SPIRE FTS spectra, and was found to range between 0.3 G0 and 1.0 G0 in units of the Draine IS radiation field. Within the uncertainties of the radiation field that illuminates the ISM material and the observational errors, we detect a dust mass of up to 0.8 Msun in Cas, A, with an average temperature of 30 K

  4. On Inferring Extinction Laws in Z -approximately 6 Quasars as Signatures of Supernova Dust

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Hjorth, Jens; Vreeswijk, Paul M.; Gall, Christa; Watson, Darach

    2013-01-01

    Unusual extinction curves of high-redshift QSOs have been taken as evidence that dust is primarily produced by supernovae at high redshift. In particular, the 3000 °A Todini-Ferrara-Maiolino kink in the extinction curve of the z = 6.20 SDSS J1048+4637 has been attributed to supernova dust. Here we discuss the challenges in inferring robust extinction curves of high-redshift QSOs and critically assess previous claims of detection of supernova dust. In particular, we address the sensitivity to the choice of intrinsic QSO spectrum, the need for a long wavelength baseline, and the drawbacks in fitting theoretical extinction curves. In a sample of 21 QSOs at z 6 we detect significant ultraviolet extinction using existing broad-band optical, near-infrared, and Spitzer photometry. The median extinction curve is consistent with a Small Magellanic Cloud curve with A1450 0.7 mag and does not exhibit any conspicuous (restframe) 2175 °A or 3000 °A features. For two QSOs, SDSS J1044-0125 at z = 5.78 and SDSS J1030+0524 at z = 6.31, we further present X-shooter spectra covering the wavelength range 0.9-2.5 µm. The resulting non-parametric extinction curves do not exhibit the 3000 °A kink. Finally, in a re-analysis of literature spectra of SDSS J1048+4637, we do not find evidence for a conspicuous kink. We conclude that the existing evidence for a 3000 °A feature is weak and that the overall dust properties at high and low redshift show no significant differences. This, however, does not preclude supernovae from dominating the dust budget at high redshift.

  5. In situ dust measurements by the Cassini Cosmic Dust Analyzer in 2014 and beyond

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Srama, R.

    2015-10-01

    Today, the German-lead Cosmic Dust Analyser (CDA) is operated continuously for 11 years in orbit around Saturn. Many discoveries like the Saturn nanodust streams or the large extended Ering were achieved. CDA provided unique results regarding Enceladus, his plume and the liquid water below the icy crust. In 2014 and 2015 CDA focuses on extended inclination and equatorial scans of the ring particle densities. Furthermore, scans are performed of the Pallene and Helene regions. Special attention is also given to the search of the dust cloud around Dione and to the Titan region. Long integration times are needed in order to characterize the flux and composition of exogenous dust (including interstellar dust) or possible retrograde dust particles. Finally, dedicated observation campaigns focus on the coupling of nanodust streams to Saturn's magnetosphere and the search of possible periodicities in the stream data. Saturn's rotation frequency was identified in the impact rate of nanodust particles at a Saturn distance of 40 Saturn radii. A special geometry in 2014-065 lead to an occultation of the dust stream by the moon Titan and its atmosphere when Titan crossed the line-of-sight between Saturn and Cassini. Here, CDA pointed towards Saturn for the measurement of stream particles. Around closest approach when Cassini was behind Titan, the flux of stream particles went down to zero (Fig. 1). This "dust occultation" is a new method to analyse the properties of the stream particles (speed, composition, mass) or the properties of Titans atmosphere (density). Furthermore, the particle trajectories can be constrained for a better analysis of their origin. In the final three years CDA performs exogenous and interstellar dust campaigns, studies of the composition and origin of Saturn's main rings by unique ring ejecta measurements, long-duration nano-dust stream observations, high-resolution maps of small moon orbit crossings, studies of the dust cloud around Dione and studies

  6. Stardust@home: A Massively Distributed Public Search for Interstellar Dust in the Stardust Interstellar Dust Collector

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Westphal, Andrew J.; Butterworth, Anna L.; Snead, Christopher J.; Craig, Nahide; Anderson, David; Jones, Steven M.; Brownlee, Donald E.; Farnsworth, Richard; Zolensky, Michael E.

    2005-01-01

    In January 2006, the Stardust mission will return the first samples from a solid solar system body beyond the Moon. Stardust was in the news in January 2004, when it encountered comet Wild2 and captured a sample of cometary dust. But Stardust carries an equally important payload: the first samples of contemporary interstellar dust ever collected. Although it is known that interstellar (IS) dust penetrates into the inner solar system [2, 3], to date not even a single contemporary interstellar dust particle has been captured and analyzed in the laboratory. Stardust uses aerogel collectors to capture dust samples. Identification of interstellar dust impacts in the Stardust Interstellar Dust Collector probably cannot be automated, but will require the expertise of the human eye. However, the labor required for visual scanning of the entire collector would exceed the resources of any reasonably-sized research group. We are developing a project to recruit the public in the search for interstellar dust, based in part on the wildly popular SETI@home project, which has five million subscribers. We call the project Stardust@home. Using sophisticated chemical separation techniques, certain types of refractory ancient IS particles (so-called presolar grains) have been isolated from primitive meteorites (e.g., [4] ). Recently, presolar grains have been identified in Interplanetary Dust Particles[6]. Because these grains are not isolated chemically, but are recognized only by their unusual isotopic compositions, they are probably less biased than presolar grains isolated from meteorites. However, it is entirely possible that the typical interstellar dust particle is isotopically solar in composition. The Stardust collection of interstellar dust will be the first truly unbiased one.

  7. Mars atmospheric dust properties: A synthesis of Mariner 9, Viking, and Phobos observations

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Clancy, R. T.; Lee, S. W.; Gladstone, G. R.

    1993-01-01

    We have modified a doubling-and-adding code to reanalyze the Mariner 9 IRIS spectra of Mars atmospheric dust as well as Viking IRTM EPF sequences in the 7, 9, and 20 micron channels. The code is capable of accurate emission/ absorption/scattering radiative transfer calculations over the 5-30 micron wavelength region for variable dust composition and particle size inputs, and incorporates both the Viking IRTM channel weightings and the Mariner 9 IRIS wavelength resolution for direct comparisons to these datasets. We adopt atmospheric temperature profiles according to the algorithm of Martin (1986) in the case of the Viking IRTM comparisons, and obtained Mariner 9 IRIS temperature retrievals from the 15 micron CO2 band for the case of the IRIS comparisons. We consider palagonite as the primary alternative to the montmorillonite composition of Mars atmospheric dust, based on several considerations. Palagonite absorbs in the ultraviolet and visible wavelength region due to its Fe content. Palagonite is also, in principal, consistent with the observed lack of clays on the Mars surface. Furthermore, palagonite does not display strong, structured absorption near 20 microns as does montmorillonite (in conflict with the IRIS observations). We propose that a palagonite composition with particle sizes roughly one-half that of the Toon et al. (1977) determination provide a much improved model to Mars atmospheric dust. Since palagonite is a common weathering product of terrrestrial basalts, it would not be unreasonable for palagonite to be a major surface component for Mars. The lack of even a minor component of Al-rich clays on the surface of Mars could be consistent with a palagonite composition for Mars dust if the conditions for basalt weathering on Mars were sufficiently anhydrous. Variations in palagonite composition could also lead to the inability of the modeled palagonite to fit the details of the 9 micron absorbtion indicated by the IRIS observations.

  8. Effects of grain dust on lungs prior to and following dust remediation.

    PubMed

    Pahwa, Punam; Dosman, James A; McDuffie, Helen H

    2008-12-01

    To determine longitudinal estimates of pulmonary function decline in Canadian grain elevator workers before and after dust control by analyzing data collected from five regions of Canada over 15 years. Declines in forced expired volume in one second and forced vital capacity before and after dust control were estimated by using a generalized estimating equations approach. For grain workers who were in the grain industry for 20 or more years both before and after dust control: the mean annual loss of forced expired volume in one second was greatest among current smoking grain workers followed by ex-smokers and nonsmokers, respectively. Similar results were obtained for forced vital capacity. Grain dust control was effective in reducing decline in the lung function measurements among grain workers in all smoking and exposure categories.

  9. Dust: Small-scale processes with global consequences

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Okin, G.S.; Bullard, J.E.; Reynolds, R.L.; Ballantine, J.-A.C.; Schepanski, K.; Todd, M.C.; Belnap, J.; Baddock, M.C.; Gill, T.E.; Miller, M.E.

    2011-01-01

    Desert dust, both modern and ancient, is a critical component of the Earth system. Atmospheric dust has important effects on climate by changing the atmospheric radiation budget, while deposited dust influences biogeochemical cycles in the oceans and on land. Dust deposited on snow and ice decreases its albedo, allowing more light to be trapped at the surface, thus increasing the rate of melt and influencing energy budgets and river discharge. In the human realm, dust contributes to the transport of allergens and pathogens and when inhaled can cause or aggravate respiratory diseases. Dust storms also represent a significant hazard to road and air travel. Because it affects so many Earth processes, dust is studied from a variety of perspectives and at multiple scales, with various disciplines examining emissions for different purposes using disparate strategies. Thus, the range of objectives in studying dust, as well as experimental approaches and results, has not yet been systematically integrated. Key research questions surrounding the production and sources of dust could benefit from improved collaboration among different research communities. These questions involve the origins of dust, factors that influence dust production and emission, and methods through which dust can be monitored. ?? Author(s) 2011.

  10. Cosmological simulation with dust formation and destruction

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Aoyama, Shohei; Hou, Kuan-Chou; Hirashita, Hiroyuki; Nagamine, Kentaro; Shimizu, Ikkoh

    2018-06-01

    To investigate the evolution of dust in a cosmological volume, we perform hydrodynamic simulations, in which the enrichment of metals and dust is treated self-consistently with star formation and stellar feedback. We consider dust evolution driven by dust production in stellar ejecta, dust destruction by sputtering, grain growth by accretion and coagulation, and grain disruption by shattering, and treat small and large grains separately to trace the grain size distribution. After confirming that our model nicely reproduces the observed relation between dust-to-gas ratio and metallicity for nearby galaxies, we concentrate on the dust abundance over the cosmological volume in this paper. The comoving dust mass density has a peak at redshift z ˜ 1-2, coincident with the observationally suggested dustiest epoch in the Universe. In the local Universe, roughly 10 per cent of the dust is contained in the intergalactic medium (IGM), where only 1/3-1/4 of the dust survives against dust destruction by sputtering. We also show that the dust mass function is roughly reproduced at ≲ 108 M⊙, while the massive end still has a discrepancy, which indicates the necessity of stronger feedback in massive galaxies. In addition, our model broadly reproduces the observed radial profile of dust surface density in the circum-galactic medium (CGM). While our model satisfies the observational constraints for the dust extinction on cosmological scales, it predicts that the dust in the CGM and IGM is dominated by large (>0.03 μm) grains, which is in tension with the steep reddening curves observed in the CGM.

  11. Microgravity combustion of dust suspensions

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Lee, John H. S.; Peraldi, Olivier; Knystautas, Rom

    1993-01-01

    Unlike the combustion of homogeneous gas mixtures, there are practically no reliable fundamental data (i.e., laminar burning velocity, flammability limits, quenching distance, minimum ignition energy) for the combustion of heterogeneous dust suspensions. Even the equilibrium thermodynamic data such as the constant pressure volume combustion pressure and the constant pressure adiabatic flame temperature are not accurately known for dust mixtures. This is mainly due to the problem of gravity sedimentation. In normal gravity, turbulence, convective flow, electric and acoustic fields are required to maintain a dust in suspension. These external influences have a dominating effect on the combustion processes. Microgravity offers a unique environment where a quiescent dust cloud can in principle be maintained for a sufficiently long duration for almost all combustion experiments (dust suspensions are inherently unstable due to Brownian motion and particle aggregation). Thus, the microgravity duration provided by drop towers, parabolic flights, and the space shuttle, can all be exploited for different kinds of dust combustion experiments. The present paper describes some recent studies on microgravity combustion of dust suspension carried out on the KC-135 and the Caravelle aircraft. The results reported are obtained from three parabolic flight campaigns.

  12. Experiments on Dust Grain Charging

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Abbas, M. N.; Craven, P. D.; Spann, J. F.; Tankosic, D.; LeClair, A.; West, E. A.

    2004-01-01

    Dust particles in various astrophysical environments are charged by a variety of mechanisms generally involving collisional processes with other charged particles and photoelectric emission with UV radiation from nearby sources. The sign and the magnitude of the particle charge are determined by the competition between the charging processes by UV radiation and collisions with charged particles. Knowledge of the particle charges and equilibrium potentials is important for understanding of a number of physical processes. The charge of a dust grain is thus a fundamental parameter that influences the physics of dusty plasmas, processes in the interplanetary medium and interstellar medium, interstellar dust clouds, planetary rings, cometary and outer atmospheres of planets etc. In this paper we present some results of experiments on charging of dust grains carried out on a laboratory facility capable levitating micron size dust grains in an electrodynamic balance in simulated space environments. The charging/discharging experiments were carried out by exposing the dust grains to energetic electron beams and UV radiation. Photoelectric efficiencies and yields of micron size dust grains of SiO2, and lunar simulates obtained from NASA-JSC will be presented.

  13. Nep-Akari Evolution with Redshift of Dust Attenuation in 8 ㎛ Selected Galaxies

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Buat, V.; Oi, N.; Burgarella, D.; Malek, K.; Matsuhara, H.; Murata, K.; Serjeant, S.; Takeuchi, T. T.; Malkan, M.; Pearson, C.; Wada, T.

    2017-03-01

    We built a 8um selected sample of galaxies in the NEP-AKARI field by defining 4 redshift bins with the four AKARI bands at 11, 15, 18 and 24 microns (0.15dust attenuation and the AGN contribution to the total infrared luminosity (L_{IR}). We discuss the impact of the adopted attenuation curve and that of the wavelength coverage to estimate these physical parameters. We focus on galaxies with a luminosity close the characteristic L_{IR}^* in the different redshift bins to study the evolution with redshift of the dust attenuation in these galaxies.

  14. MicroMED: a dust particle counter for the characterization of airborne dust close to the surface of Mars

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Cozzolino, Fabio; Esposito, Francesca; Molfese, Cesare; Cortecchia, Fausto; Saggin, Bortolino; D'amato, Francesco

    2015-04-01

    Monitoring of airborne dust is very important in planetary climatology. Indeed, dust absorbs and scatter solar and thermal radiation, severely affecting atmospheric thermal structure, balance and dynamics (in terms of circulations). Wind-driven blowing of sand and dust is also responsible for shaping planetary surfaces through the formation of sand dunes and ripples, the erosion of rocks, and the creation and transport of soil particles. Dust is permanently present in the atmosphere of Mars and its amount varies with seasons. During regional or global dust storms, more than 80% of the incoming sunlight is absorbed by dust causing an intense atmospheric heating. Airborne dust is therefore a crucial climate component on Mars which impacts atmospheric circulations at all scales. Main dust parameters influencing the atmosphere heating are size distribution, abundance, albedo, single scattering phase function, imaginary part of the index of refraction. Moreover, major improvements of Mars climate models require, in addition to the standard meteorological parameters, quantitative information about dust lifting, transport and removal mechanisms. In this context, two major quantities need to be measured for the dust source to be understood: surface flux and granulometry. While many observations have constrained the size distribution of the dust haze seen from the orbit, it is still not known what the primary airborne dust (e.g. the recently lifted dust) is made of, size-wise. MicroMED has been designed to fill this gap. It will measure the abundance and size distribution of dust, not in the atmospheric column, but close to the surface, where dust is lifted, so to be able to monitor dust injection into the atmosphere. This has never been performed in Mars and other planets exploration. MicroMED is an Optical Particle Counter, analyzing light scattered from single dust particles to measure their size and abundance. A proper fluid-dynamic system, including a pump and a

  15. Investigating the size, shape and surface roughness dependence of polarization lidars with light-scattering computations on real mineral dust particles: Application to dust particles' external mixtures and dust mass concentration retrievals

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mehri, Tahar; Kemppinen, Osku; David, Grégory; Lindqvist, Hannakaisa; Tyynelä, Jani; Nousiainen, Timo; Rairoux, Patrick; Miffre, Alain

    2018-05-01

    Our understanding of the contribution of mineral dust to the Earth's radiative budget is limited by the complexity of these particles, which present a wide range of sizes, are highly-irregularly shaped, and are present in the atmosphere in the form of particle mixtures. To address the spatial distribution of mineral dust and atmospheric dust mass concentrations, polarization lidars are nowadays frequently used, with partitioning algorithms allowing to discern the contribution of mineral dust in two or three-component particle external mixtures. In this paper, we investigate the dependence of the retrieved dust backscattering (βd) vertical profiles with the dust particle size and shape. For that, new light-scattering numerical simulations are performed on real atmospheric mineral dust particles, having determined mineralogy (CAL, DOL, AGG, SIL), derived from stereogrammetry (stereo-particles), with potential surface roughness, which are compared to the widely-used spheroidal mathematical shape model. For each dust shape model (smooth stereo-particles, rough stereo-particles, spheroids), the dust depolarization, backscattering Ångström exponent, lidar ratio are computed for two size distributions representative of mineral dust after long-range transport. As an output, two Saharan dust outbreaks involving mineral dust in two, then three-component particle mixtures are studied with Lyon (France) UV-VIS polarization lidar. If the dust size matters most, under certain circumstances, βd can vary by approximately 67% when real dust stereo-particles are used instead of spheroids, corresponding to variations in the dust backscattering coefficient as large as 2 Mm- 1·sr- 1. Moreover, the influence of surface roughness in polarization lidar retrievals is for the first time discussed. Finally, dust mass-extinction conversion factors (ηd) are evaluated for each assigned shape model and dust mass concentrations are retrieved from polarization lidar measurements. From

  16. 30 CFR 75.402 - Rock dusting.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Rock dusting. 75.402 Section 75.402 Mineral... SAFETY STANDARDS-UNDERGROUND COAL MINES Combustible Materials and Rock Dusting § 75.402 Rock dusting... or too high in incombustible content to propagate an explosion, shall be rock dusted to within 40...

  17. 30 CFR 75.402 - Rock dusting.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Rock dusting. 75.402 Section 75.402 Mineral... SAFETY STANDARDS-UNDERGROUND COAL MINES Combustible Materials and Rock Dusting § 75.402 Rock dusting... or too high in incombustible content to propagate an explosion, shall be rock dusted to within 40...

  18. 30 CFR 75.402 - Rock dusting.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Rock dusting. 75.402 Section 75.402 Mineral... SAFETY STANDARDS-UNDERGROUND COAL MINES Combustible Materials and Rock Dusting § 75.402 Rock dusting... or too high in incombustible content to propagate an explosion, shall be rock dusted to within 40...

  19. 30 CFR 75.402 - Rock dusting.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Rock dusting. 75.402 Section 75.402 Mineral... SAFETY STANDARDS-UNDERGROUND COAL MINES Combustible Materials and Rock Dusting § 75.402 Rock dusting... or too high in incombustible content to propagate an explosion, shall be rock dusted to within 40...

  20. 30 CFR 75.402 - Rock dusting.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Rock dusting. 75.402 Section 75.402 Mineral... SAFETY STANDARDS-UNDERGROUND COAL MINES Combustible Materials and Rock Dusting § 75.402 Rock dusting... or too high in incombustible content to propagate an explosion, shall be rock dusted to within 40...

  1. Using dust, gas and stellar mass-selected samples to probe dust sources and sinks in low-metallicity galaxies

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    De Vis, P.; Gomez, H. L.; Schofield, S. P.; Maddox, S.; Dunne, L.; Baes, M.; Cigan, P.; Clark, C. J. R.; Gomez, E. L.; Lara-López, M.; Owers, M.

    2017-10-01

    We combine samples of nearby galaxies with Herschel photometry selected on their dust, metal, H I and stellar mass content, and compare these to chemical evolution models in order to discriminate between different dust sources. In a companion paper, we used an H I-selected sample of nearby galaxies to reveal a subsample of very gas-rich (gas fraction >80 per cent) sources with dust masses significantly below predictions from simple chemical evolution models, and well below Md/M* and Md/Mgas scaling relations seen in dust and stellar-selected samples of local galaxies. We use a chemical evolution model to explain these dust-poor, but gas-rich, sources as well as the observed star formation rates (SFRs) and dust-to-gas ratios. We find that (I) a delayed star formation history is required to model the observed SFRs; (II) inflows and outflows are required to model the observed metallicities at low gas fractions; (III) a reduced contribution of dust from supernovae (SNe) is needed to explain the dust-poor sources with high gas fractions. These dust-poor, low stellar mass galaxies require a typical core-collapse SN to produce 0.01-0.16 M⊙ of dust. To match the observed dust masses at lower gas fractions, significant grain growth is required to counteract the reduced contribution from dust in SNe and dust destruction from SN shocks. These findings are statistically robust, though due to intrinsic scatter it is not always possible to find one single model that successfully describes all the data. We also show that the dust-to-metal ratio decreases towards lower metallicity.

  2. Dust Dynamics Near Planetary Surfaces

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Colwell, Joshua; Hughes, Anna; Grund, Chris

    Observations of a lunar "horizon glow" by several Surveyor spacecraft in the 1960s opened the study of the dynamics of charged dust particles near planetary surfaces. The surfaces of the Moon and other airless planetary bodies in the solar system (asteroids, and other moons) are directly exposed to the solar wind and ionizing solar ultraviolet radiation, resulting in a time-dependent electric surface potential. Because these same objects are also exposed to bombardment by micrometeoroids, the surfaces are usually characterized by a power-law size distribution of dust that extends to sub-micron-sized particles. Individual particles can acquire a charge different from their surroundings leading to electrostatic levitation. Once levitated, particles may simply return to the surface on nearly ballistic trajectories, escape entirely from the moon or asteroid if the initial velocity is large, or in some cases be stably levitated for extended periods of time. All three outcomes have observable consequences. Furthermore, the behavior of charged dust near the surface has practical implications for planned future manned and unmanned activities on the lunar surface. Charged dust particles also act as sensitive probes of the near-surface plasma environment. Recent numerical modeling of dust levitation and transport show that charged micron-sized dust is likely to accumulate in topographic lows such as craters, providing a mechanism for the creation of dust "ponds" observed on the asteroid 433 Eros. Such deposition can occur when particles are supported by the photoelectron sheath above the dayside and drift over shadowed regions of craters where the surface potential is much smaller. Earlier studies of the lunar horizon glow are consistent with those particles being on simple ballistic trajectories following electrostatic launching from the surface. Smaller particles may be accelerated from the lunar surface to high altitudes consistent with observations of high altitude

  3. Identification of dust source regions and dust emission trends across North Africa and the Middle East using MISR satellite observations

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yu, Y.; Kalashnikova, O. V.; Garay, M. J.; Notaro, M.

    2017-12-01

    Global arid and semi-arid regions supply 1100 to 5000 Tg of Aeolian dust to the atmosphere each year, primarily from North Africa and secondarily from the Middle East. Previous dust source identification methods, based on either remotely-sensed aerosol optical depth (AOD) or dust activity, yield distinct dust source maps, largely due to the limitations in each method and remote-sensing product. Here we apply a novel motion-based method for dust source identification. Dust plume thickness and motion vectors from Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) Cloud Motion Vector Product (CMVP) are examined to identify the regions with high frequency of fast moving-dust plumes, by season. According to MISR CMVP, Bodele depression is the most important dust source across North Africa, consistent with previous studies. Seasonal variability of dust emission across the North Africa is largely driven by climatology of wind and precipitation, featuring the influence of Sharav Cyclone and western African monsoon. In the Middle East, Iraq, Kuwait, and eastern Saudi Arabia are identified as dust source regions, especially during summer months, when the Middle Eastern Shamal wind is active. Furthermore, dust emission trend at each dust source are diagnosed from the motion-based dust source dataset. Increase in dust emission from the Fertile Crescent, Sahel, and eastern African dust sources are identified from MISR CMVP, implying potential contribution from these dust sources to the upward trend in AOD and dust AOD over the Middle East in the 21st century. By comparing with various dust source identification studies, we conclude that the motion-based identification of dust sources is an encouraging alternative and compliment to the AOD-only source identification method.

  4. Grain dust and the lungs.

    PubMed Central

    Chan-Yeung, M.; Ashley, M. J.; Grzybowski, S.

    1978-01-01

    Grain dust is composed of a large number of materials, including various types of grain and their disintegration products, silica, fungi, insects and mites. The clinical syndromes described in relation to exposure to grain dust are chronic bronchitis, grain dust asthma, extrinsic allergic alveolitis, grain fever and silo-filler's lung. Rhinitis and conjunctivitis are also common in grain workers. While the concentration and the quality of dust influence the frequency and the type of clinical syndrome in grain workers, host factors are also important. Of the latter, smoking is the most important factor influencing the frequency of chronic bronchitis. The role of atopy and of bronchial hyperreactivity in grain dust asthma has yet to be assessed. Several well designed studies are currently being carried out in North America not only to delineate the frequency of the respiratory abnormalities, the pathogenetic mechanisms and the host factors, but also to establish a meaningful threshold limit concentration for grain dust. Images p1272-a PMID:348288

  5. Combustible dust tests

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    The sugar dust explosion in Georgia on February 7, 2008 killed 14 workers and injured many others (OSHA, 2009). As a consequence of this explosion, OSHA revised its Combustible Dust National Emphasis (NEP) program. The NEP targets 64 industries with more than 1,000 inspections and has found more tha...

  6. Probing the interstellar dust towards the Galactic Centre: dust-scattering halo around AX J1745.6-2901

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jin, Chichuan; Ponti, Gabriele; Haberl, Frank; Smith, Randall

    2017-07-01

    AX J1745.6-2901 is an X-ray binary located at only 1.45 arcmin from Sgr A⋆, showcasing a strong X-ray dust-scattering halo. We combine Chandra and XMM-Newton observations to study the halo around this X-ray binary. Our study shows two major thick dust layers along the line of sight (LOS) towards AX J1745.6-2901. The LOS position and NH of these two layers depend on the dust grain models with different grain size distributions and abundances. But for all the 19 dust grain models considered, dust layer-1 is consistently found to be within a fractional distance of 0.11 (mean value: 0.05) to AX J1745.6-2901 and contains only (19-34) per cent (mean value: 26 per cent) of the total LOS dust. The remaining dust is contained in layer-2, which is distributed from the Earth up to a mean fractional distance of 0.64. A significant separation between the two layers is found for all the dust grain models, with a mean fractional distance of 0.31. Besides, an extended wing component is discovered in the halo, which implies a higher fraction of dust grains with typical sizes ≲590 Å than considered in current dust grain models. Assuming AX J1745.6-2901 is 8 kpc away, dust layer-2 would be located in the Galactic disc several kpc away from the Galactic Centre (GC). The dust scattering halo biases the observed spectrum of AX J1745.6-2901 severely in both spectral shape and flux, and also introduces a strong dependence on the size of the instrumental point spread function and the source extraction region. We build xspec models to account for this spectral bias, which allow us to recover the intrinsic spectrum of AX J1745.6-2901 free from dust-scattering opacity. If dust layer-2 also intervenes along the LOS to Sgr A⋆ and other nearby GC sources, a significant spectral correction for the dust-scattering opacity would be necessary for all these GC sources.

  7. Optical and microphysical properties of natural mineral dust and anthropogenic soil dust near dust source regions over northwestern China

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wang, Xin; Wen, Hui; Shi, Jinsen; Bi, Jianrong; Huang, Zhongwei; Zhang, Beidou; Zhou, Tian; Fu, Kaiqi; Chen, Quanliang; Xin, Jinyuan

    2018-02-01

    Mineral dust aerosols (MDs) not only influence the climate by scattering and absorbing solar radiation but also modify cloud properties and change the ecosystem. From 3 April to 16 May 2014, a ground-based mobile laboratory was deployed to measure the optical and microphysical properties of MDs near dust source regions in Wuwei, Zhangye, and Dunhuang (in chronological order) along the Hexi Corridor over northwestern China. Throughout this dust campaign, the hourly averaged (±standard deviation) aerosol scattering coefficients (σsp, 550 nm) of the particulates with aerodynamic diameters less than 2.5 µm (PM2.5) at these three sites were sequentially 101.5 ± 36.8, 182.2 ± 433.1, and 54.0 ± 32.0 Mm-1. Correspondingly, the absorption coefficients (σap, 637 nm) were 9.7 ± 6.1, 6.0 ± 4.6, and 2.3 ± 0.9 Mm-1; single-scattering albedos (ω, 637 nm) were 0.902 ± 0.025, 0.931 ± 0.037, and 0.949 ± 0.020; and scattering Ångström exponents (Åsp, 450-700 nm) of PM2.5 were 1.28 ± 0.27, 0.77 ± 0.51, and 0.52 ± 0.31. During a severe dust storm in Zhangye (i.e., from 23 to 25 April), the highest values of σsp2.5 ( ˜ 5074 Mm-1), backscattering coefficient (σbsp2.5, ˜ 522 Mm-1), and ω637 ( ˜ 0.993) and the lowest values of backscattering fraction (b2.5, ˜ 0.101) at 550 nm and Åsp2.5 ( ˜ -0.046) at 450-700 nm, with peak values of aerosol number size distribution (appearing at the particle diameter range of 1-3 µm), exhibited that the atmospheric aerosols were dominated by coarse-mode dust aerosols. It is hypothesized that the relatively higher values of mass scattering efficiency during floating dust episodes in Wuwei and Zhangye are attributed to the anthropogenic soil dust produced by agricultural cultivations.

  8. An edge-on translucent dust disk around the nearest AGB star, L2 Puppis. VLT/NACO spectro-imaging from 1.04 to 4.05 μm and VLTI interferometry

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kervella, P.; Montargès, M.; Ridgway, S. T.; Perrin, G.; Chesneau, O.; Lacour, S.; Chiavassa, A.; Haubois, X.; Gallenne, A.

    2014-04-01

    As the nearest known AGB star (d = 64 pc) and one of the brightest (mK ≈ -2), L2 Pup is a particularly interesting benchmark object to monitor the final stages of stellar evolution. We report new serendipitous imaging observations of this star with the VLT/NACO adaptive optics system in twelve narrow-band filters covering the 1.0-4.0 μm wavelength range. These diffraction-limited images reveal an extended circumstellar dust lane in front of the star that exhibits a high opacity in the J band and becomes translucent in the H and K bands. In the L band, extended thermal emission from the dust is detected. We reproduced these observations using Monte Carlo radiative transfer modeling of a dust disk with the RADMC-3D code. We also present new interferometric observations with the VLTI/VINCI and MIDI instruments. We measured in the K band an upper limit to the limb-darkened angular diameter of θLD = 17.9 ± 1.6 mas, converting to a maximum linear radius of R = 123 ± 14 R⊙. Considering the geometry of the extended K band emission in the NACO images, this upper limit is probably close to the actual angular diameter of the star. The position of L2 Pup in the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram indicates that this star has a mass of about 2 M⊙ and is probably experiencing an early stage of the asymptotic giant branch. We did not detect any stellar companion of L2 Pup in our adaptive optics and interferometric observations, and we attribute its apparent astrometric wobble in the Hipparcos data to variable lighting effects on its circumstellar material. However, we do not exclude the presence of a binary companion, because the large loop structure extending to more than 10 AU to the northeast of the disk in our L-band images may be the result of interaction between the stellar wind of L2 Pup and a hidden secondary object. The geometric configuration that we propose, with a large dust disk seen almost edge-on, appears particularly favorable to test and develop our

  9. Radio Interferometric Detection of TiO and TiO_2 in VY Canis Majoris: "seeds" of Inorganic Dust Formation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Brunken, S.; Muller, H. S. P.; Kaminski, T.; Menten, K. M.; Gott-Lieb, C. A.; Patel, N. A.; Young, K. H.; McCarthy, M. C.; Winters, J. M.; Decin, L.

    2013-06-01

    Circumstellar envelopes around late-type stars harbour a rich variety of molecular gas and copious amounts of dust, originating from the mass-loss of the central star during the asymptotic giant branch (AGB) or the red supergiant phase. The formation of dust in these objects, in particular the first nucleation stages out of gas phase molecules, is still poorly understood. Here we report the first detection of pure rotational transitions of the two simplest titanium oxides, TiO and TiO_2, towards the oxygen-rich red supergiant VY Canis Majoris (VY CMa). This actually represents the first secure identification of TiO_2 in space. Observations of several rotational emission lines of both species with the Submillimeter Array (SMA) in the 345 GHz-band and with the IRAM Plateau de Bure Interferometer (PdBI) around 220 GHz confirm the presence of these refractory species in the cool (<1000 K) circumstellar envelope in a region several times the size of the dust formation zone. The role of Ti oxides as "seeds" of inorganic dust formation in oxygen-rich circumstellar envelopes will be discussed in view of the present observations.

  10. Seasonal Variation and Exposure Risks of Perchlorate in Soil, Indoor Dust, and Outdoor Dust in China.

    PubMed

    Li, Yiwen; Liao, Ruoying; Gan, Zhiwei; Qu, Bing; Wang, Rong; Chen, Mengqin; Ding, Sanglan; Su, Shijun

    2018-04-25

    A total of 97 paired soil, outdoor dust, and indoor dust samples were collected in the national scale of China in summer, and the perchlorate levels were compared with those in soil and outdoor dust samples collected in winter in our previous study. The median perchlorate concentrations in the outdoor dust, indoor dust, and soil samples were 8.10, 11.4, and 0.05 mg/kg, respectively, which were significantly lower than those in the winter samples due to the natural factors and human activities. No significant differences in perchlorate concentrations were found between Northern and Southern China in the dust samples, whereas the difference was obtained in the soil samples. In the terms of possible source, the perchlorate levels in the outdoor dust exhibited strong correlation with SO 4 2- (r 2  = 0.458**) and NO 3 - (r 2  = 0.389**), indicating part of perchlorate in outdoor environment was likely from atmospheric oxidative process in summer. The perchlorate, SO 4 2- , and Cl - levels in the indoor dust were significantly related to those in the outdoor dust, suggesting that outdoor contaminants might be an important source for indoor environment. Furthermore, the human exposure to perchlorate was under relatively safe state in China except for special sites or periods with high perchlorate levels. Dust made an unexpected contribution of 41.3% to the total daily perchlorate intake for children, whereas 2.46% for adults in China based on biomonitoring, which deserves more attention.

  11. Dust Storm Covers Opportunity

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2018-06-10

    This global map of Mars shows a growing dust storm as of June 6, 2018. The map was produced by the Mars Color Imager (MARCI) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft. The blue dot shows the approximate location of Opportunity. The storm was first detected on June 1. The MARCI camera has been used to monitor the storm ever since. Full dust storms like this one are not surprising, but are infrequent. They can crop up suddenly but last weeks, even months. During southern summer, sunlight warms dust particles, lifting them higher into the atmosphere and creating more wind. That wind kicks up yet more dust, creating a feedback loop that NASA scientists still seek to understand. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA22329

  12. Lunar Dust Mitigation Technology Development

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Hyatt, Mark J.; Deluane, Paul B.

    2008-01-01

    NASA s plans for implementing the Vision for Space Exploration include returning to the moon as a stepping stone for further exploration of Mars, and beyond. Dust on the lunar surface has a ubiquitous presence which must be explicitly addressed during upcoming human lunar exploration missions. While the operational challenges attributable to dust during the Apollo missions did not prove critical, the comparatively long duration of impending missions presents a different challenge. Near term plans to revisit the moon places a primary emphasis on characterization and mitigation of lunar dust. Comprised of regolith particles ranging in size from tens of nanometers to microns, lunar dust is a manifestation of the complex interaction of the lunar soil with multiple mechanical, electrical, and gravitational effects. The environmental and anthropogenic factors effecting the perturbation, transport, and deposition of lunar dust must be studied in order to mitigate it s potentially harmful effects on exploration systems. This paper presents the current perspective and implementation of dust knowledge management and integration, and mitigation technology development activities within NASA s Exploration Technology Development Program. This work is presented within the context of the Constellation Program s Integrated Lunar Dust Management Strategy. The Lunar Dust Mitigation Technology Development project has been implemented within the ETDP. Project scope and plans will be presented, along with a a perspective on lessons learned from Apollo and forensics engineering studies of Apollo hardware. This paper further outlines the scientific basis for lunar dust behavior, it s characteristics and potential effects, and surveys several potential strategies for its control and mitigation both for lunar surface operations and within the working volumes of a lunar outpost.

  13. Four Interstellar Dust Candidates from the Stardust Interstellar Dust Collector

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Westphal, A. J.; Allen, C.; Bajt, S.; Bechtel, H. A.; Borg, J.; Brenker, F.; Bridges, J.; Brownlee, D. E.; Burchell, M.; Burghammer, M.; hide

    2011-01-01

    In January 2006, the Stardust sample return capsule returned to Earth bearing the first solid samples from a primitive solar system body, Comet 81P/Wild2, and a collector dedicated to the capture and return of contemporary interstellar dust. Both collectors were approx. 0.1 sq m in area and were composed of aerogel tiles (85% of the collecting area) and aluminum foils. The Stardust Interstellar Dust Collector (SIDC) was exposed to the interstellar dust stream for a total exposure factor of 20 sq m/day. The Stardust Interstellar Preliminary Examination (ISPE) is a consortium-based project to characterize the collection using nondestructive techniques. The goals and restrictions of the ISPE are described . A summary of analytical techniques is described.

  14. Maintaining the Background Dust Opacity During Northern Hemisphere Summer Mars Using Wind Stress Based Dust Lifting

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jha, V.; Kahre, M. A.

    2017-12-01

    The Mars atmosphere has low levels of dust during Northern Hemisphere (NH) spring and summer (the non-dusty season) and increased levels during NH autumn and winter (the dusty season). In the absence of regional or global storms, dust devils and local storms maintain a background minimum dust loading during the non-dusty season. While observational surveys and Global Climate Model (GCM) studies suggest that dust devils are likely to be major contributors to the background haze during NH spring and summer, a complete understanding of the relative contribution of dust devils and local dust storms has not yet been achieved. We present preliminary results from an investigation that focuses on the effects of radiatively active water ice clouds on dust lifting processes during these seasons. Water ice clouds are known to affect atmospheric temperatures directly by absorption and emission of thermal infrared radiation and indirectly through dynamical feedbacks. Our goal is to understand how clouds affect the contribution by local (wind stress) dust storms to the background dust haze during NH spring and summer. The primary tool for this work is the NASA Ames Mars GCM, which contains physical parameterizations for a fully interactive dust cycle. Three simulations that included wind stress dust lifting were executed for a period of 5 Martian years: a case that included no cloud formation, a case that included radiatively inert cloud formation and a case that included radiatively active cloud (RAC) formation. Results show that when radiatively active clouds are included, the clouds in the aphelion cloud belt radiatively heat the atmosphere aloft in the tropics (Figure 1). This heating produces a stronger overturning circulation, which in turn produces an enhanced low-level flow in the Hadley cell return branch. The stronger low-level flow drives higher surface stresses and increased dust lifting in those locations. We examine how realistic these simulated results are by

  15. MECA Workshop on Dust on Mars 3

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Lee, Steven (Editor)

    1989-01-01

    Articles and abstracts of articles presented at this workshop are given. It was the goal of the workshop to stimulate cooperative research on, and discussion of, dust related processes on Mars, and to provide background information and help in planning of the Mars Observer mission. These topics are considered: How is dust ejected from the Martian surface into the atmosphere; How does the global atmospheric circulation affect the redistribution of dust on Mars; Are there sources and sinks of dust on Mars, if so, where are they and how do they vary in time; and How many components of dust are there on Mars, and what are their properties. There were four primary discussion sessions: (1) Dust in the atmosphere; (2) Dust on the surface; (3) Dust properties; and (4) Dust observations from future spacecraft missions.

  16. Gusev Dust Devil Movie, Sol 459 (Enhanced)

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    2005-01-01

    This movie clip shows a dust devil scooting across a plain inside Gusev Crater on Mars as seen from the NASA rover Spirit's hillside vantage point during the rover's 459th martian day, or sol (April 18, 2005). The individual images were taken about 20 seconds apart by Spirit's navigation camera, and the contrast has been enhanced for anything in the images that changes from frame to frame, that is, for the dust devil.

    The movie results from a new way of watching for dust devils, which are whirlwinds that hoist dust from the surface into the air. Spirit began seeing dust devils in isolated images in March 2005. At first, the rover team relied on luck. It might catch a dust devil in an image or it might miss by a few minutes. Using the new detection strategy, the rover takes a series of 21 images. Spirit sends a few of them to Earth, as well as little thumbnail images of all of them. Team members use the 3 big images and all the small images to decide whether the additional big images have dust devils. For this movie, they specifically told Spirit to send back frames that they knew had dust devils.

    The images were processed in three steps. All images were calibrated to remove known camera artifacts. The images were then processed to remove stationary objects. The result is a gray scene showing only features that change with time. The final step combined the original image with the image that shows only moving features, showing the martian scene and the enhanced dust devils.

    Scientists expected dust devils since before Spirit landed. The landing area inside Gusev Crater is filled with dark streaks left behind when dust devils pick dust up from an area. It is also filled with bright 'hollows,' which are dust-filled miniature craters. Dust covers most of the terrain. Winds flow into and out of Gusev crater every day. The Sun heats the surface so that the surface is warm to the touch even though the atmosphere at 2 meters (6 feet) above the surface

  17. Gusev Dust Devil Movie, Sol 456 (Enhanced)

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    2005-01-01

    This movie clip shows a dust devil scooting across a plain inside Gusev Crater on Mars as seen from the NASA rover Spirit's hillside vantage point during the rover's 456th martian day, or sol (April 15, 2005). The individual images were taken about 20 seconds apart by Spirit's navigation camera, and the contrast has been enhanced for anything in the images that changes from frame to frame, that is, for the dust devil.

    The movie results from a new way of watching for dust devils, which are whirlwinds that hoist dust from the surface into the air. Spirit began seeing dust devils in isolated images in March 2005. At first, the rover team relied on luck. It might catch a dust devil in an image or it might miss by a few minutes. Using the new detection strategy, the rover takes a series of 21 images. Spirit sends a few of them to Earth, as well as little thumbnail images of all of them. Team members use the 3 big images and all the small images to decide whether the additional big images have dust devils. For this movie, they specifically told Spirit to send back frames that they knew had dust devils.

    The images were processed in three steps. All images were calibrated to remove known camera artifacts. The images were then processed to remove stationary objects. The result is a gray scene showing only features that change with time. The final step combined the original image with the image that shows only moving features, showing the martian scene and the enhanced dust devils.

    Scientists expected dust devils since before Spirit landed. The landing area inside Gusev Crater is filled with dark streaks left behind when dust devils pick dust up from an area. It is also filled with bright 'hollows,' which are dust-filled miniature craters. Dust covers most of the terrain. Winds flow into and out of Gusev crater every day. The Sun heats the surface so that the surface is warm to the touch even though the atmosphere at 2 meters (6 feet) above the surface

  18. Properties of dust particles near Saturn inferred from voltage pulses induced by dust impacts on Cassini spacecraft

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ye, S.-Y.; Gurnett, D. A.; Kurth, W. S.; Averkamp, T. F.; Kempf, S.; Hsu, H.-W.; Srama, R.; Grün, E.

    2014-08-01

    The Cassini Radio and Plasma Wave Science (RPWS) instrument can detect dust particles when voltage pulses induced by the dust impacts are observed in the wideband receiver. The size of the voltage pulse is proportional to the mass of the impacting dust particle. For the first time, the dust impacts signals measured by dipole and monopole electric antennas are compared, from which the effective impact area of the spacecraft is estimated to be 4 m2. In the monopole mode, the polarity of the dust impact signal is determined by the spacecraft potential and the location of the impact (on the spacecraft body or the antenna), which can be used to statistically infer the charge state of the spacecraft. It is shown that the differential number density of the dust particles near Saturn can be characterized as a power law dn/dr ∝ rμ, where μ ~ - 4 and r is the particle size. No peak is observed in the size distribution, contrary to the narrow size distribution found by previous studies. The RPWS cumulative dust density is compared with the Cosmic Dust Analyzer High Rate Detector measurement. The differences between the two instruments are within the range of uncertainty estimated for RPWS measurement. The RPWS onboard dust recorder and counter data are used to map the dust density and spacecraft charging state within Saturn's magnetosphere.

  19. A Submillimeter Survey of Dust Continuum Emission in Local Dust-Obscured Galaxies

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lee, Jong Chul; Hwang, Ho Seong; Lee, Gwang-Ho

    2015-08-01

    Dusty star-forming galaxies are responsible for the bulk of cosmic star formation at 1dust content. We therefore conduct a submillimeter survey of local dust-obscured galaxies (DOGs) with the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory and the Submillimeter Array to study their dust properties. We determine the dust masses and temperatures for 16 local DOGs from the SED fit, and compare them with other dusty galaxies to understand a possible evolutionary link among them.

  20. Simulation study of spheroidal dust gains charging: Applicable to dust grain alignment

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

    Zahed, H.; Sobhanian, S.; Mahmoodi, J.

    2006-09-15

    The charging process of nonspherical dust grains in an unmagnetized plasma as well as in the presence of a magnetic field is studied. It is shown that unlike the spherical dust grain, due to nonhomogeneity of charge distribution on the spheroidal dust surface, the resultant electric forces on electrons and ions are different. This process produces some surface charge density gradient on the nonspherical grain surface. Effects of a magnetic field and other plasma parameters on the properties of the dust particulate are studied. It has been shown that the alignment direction could be changed or even reversed with themore » magnetic field and plasma parameters. Finally, the charge distribution on the spheroidal grain surface is studied for different ambient parameters including plasma temperature, neutral collision frequency, and the magnitude of the magnetic field.« less