Ultraviolet-stimulated fluorescence and phosphorescence of aromatic hydrocarbons in water ice

A principal goal of astrobiology is to detect and inventory the population of organic compounds on extraterrestrial bodies. Targets of specific interest include the wealth of icy worlds that populate our Solar System. One potential technique for in situ detection of organics trapped in water ice matrices involves ultraviolet-stimulated emission from these compounds. Here, we report a preliminary investigation into the feasibility of this concept. Specifically, fluorescence and phosphorescence of pure benzene ice and 1% mixtures of benzene, toluene, p-xylene, m-xylene, and o-xylene in water ice, respectively, were studied at temperatures ranging from ～17 K up to 160 K. Spectra were measured from 200-500 nm (50,000-20,000 cm(-1)) while ice mixtures were excited at 248.6 nm. The temperature dependence of the fluorescence and phosphorescence intensities was found to be independent of the thermal history and phase of the ice matrix in all cases examined. All phosphorescent emissions were found to decrease in intensity with increasing temperature. Similar behavior was observed for fluorescence in pure benzene, while the observed fluorescence intensity in water ices was independent of temperature.     

Modeling and simulating aircraft stability and control—The SimSAC project

This paper overviews the SimSAC Project, Simulating Aircraft Stability And Control Characteristics for Use in Conceptual Design. It reports on the three major tasks: development of design software, validating the software on benchmark tests and applying the software to design exercises. CEASIOM, the Computerized Environment for Aircraft Synthesis and Integrated Optimization Methods, is a framework tool that integrates discipline-specific tools for conceptual design. At this early stage of the design it is very useful to be able to predict the flying and handling qualities of this design. In order to do this, the aerodynamic database needs to be computed for the configuration being studied, which then has to be coupled to the stability and control tools to carry out the analysis. The benchmarks for validation are the F12 windtunnel model of a generic long-range airliner and the TCR windtunnel model of a sonic-cruise passenger transport concept. The design, simulate and evaluate (DSE) exercise demonstrates how the software works as a design tool. The exercise begins with a design specification and uses conventional design methods to prescribe a baseline configuration. Then CEASIOM improves upon this baseline by analyzing its flying and handling qualities. Six such exercises are presented.     

Radiolytic hydrogen and microbial respiration in subsurface sediments

Radiolysis of water may provide a continuous flux of an electron donor (molecular hydrogen) to subsurface microbial communities. We assessed the significance of this process in anoxic marine sediments by comparing calculated radiolytic H(2) production rates to estimates of net (organic-fueled) respiration at several Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Leg 201 sites. Radiolytic H(2) yield calculations are based on abundances of radioactive elements (uranium, thorium, and potassium), porosity, grain density, and a model of water radiolysis. Net respiration estimates are based on fluxes of dissolved electron acceptors and their products. Comparison of radiolytic H(2) yields and respiration at multiple sites suggests that radiolysis gains importance as an electron donor source as net respiration and organic carbon content decrease. Our results suggest that radiolytic production of H(2) may fuel 10% of the metabolic respiration at the Leg 201 site where organic-fueled respiration is lowest (ODP Site 1231). In sediments with even lower rates of organic-fueled respiration, water radiolysis may be the principal source of electron donors. Marine sedimentary ecosystems may be useful models for non-photosynthetic ecosystems on early Earth and on other planets and moons, such as Mars and Europa.     

A reappraisal of the habitability of planets around M dwarf stars

Stable, hydrogen-burning, M dwarf stars make up about 75% of all stars in the Galaxy. They are extremely long-lived, and because they are much smaller in mass than the Sun (between 0.5 and 0.08 M(Sun)), their temperature and stellar luminosity are low and peaked in the red. We have re-examined what is known at present about the potential for a terrestrial planet forming within, or migrating into, the classic liquid-surface-water habitable zone close to an M dwarf star. Observations of protoplanetary disks suggest that planet-building materials are common around M dwarfs, but N-body simulations differ in their estimations of the likelihood of potentially habitable, wet planets that reside within their habitable zones, which are only about one-fifth to 1/50th of the width of that for a G star. Particularly in light of the claimed detection of the planets with masses as small as 5.5 and 7.5 M(Earth) orbiting M stars, there seems no reason to exclude the possibility of terrestrial planets. Tidally locked synchronous rotation within the narrow habitable zone does not necessarily lead to atmospheric collapse, and active stellar flaring may not be as much of an evolutionarily disadvantageous factor as has previously been supposed. We conclude that M dwarf stars may indeed be viable hosts for planets on which the origin and evolution of life can occur. A number of planetary processes such as cessation of geothermal activity or thermal and nonthermal atmospheric loss processes may limit the duration of planetary habitability to periods far shorter than the extreme lifetime of the M dwarf star. Nevertheless, it makes sense to include M dwarf stars in programs that seek to find habitable worlds and evidence of life. This paper presents the summary conclusions of an interdisciplinary workshop (http://mstars.seti.org) sponsored by the NASA Astrobiology Institute and convened at the SETI Institute.     

Laser Ranging Capability as Affected by System Pointing Error

This paper discusses the interrelationships among the ranging capability of a laser ranging system, the beamwidth of the transmitter, and the system pointing error. Since, in general, the system pointing error is statistical, the probability of successful ranging can be determined by means of these interrelationships, as is illustrated in a detailed analysis of a laser ranging system in which a gimbaled mirror is employed as an optical relay.     

Aerodynamic scaling to free flight conditions: Past and present

This report summarizes some of the problems when wind tunnel data should be scaled to free flight conditions. The main challenges in performing this extrapolation is how model support, wall interference, aeroelastic effects and a potentially lower Reynolds number in the wind tunnel should be corrected. A historical review of scale effects is presented showing wind tunnel to flight discrepancies of different types of aircraft configurations. An overview of scaling methodologies and Reynolds number effects are presented and discussed. Some modern approaches where computational fluid dynamics (CFD) are used, together with wind tunnel testing, in order to identify scaling phenomena are presented as well.     

Fast time-resolution spectroscopy of BW Vulpeculae

An experimental Fairchild CCD-211 was placed in the 2. 1-m coudé spectrograph at the Kitt Peak National Observatory and used to record an 87 Å spectral band centered on Ha. On the night of 1979 July 11 UT date, this system was used to observe continuously the extreme Cephei variable BW Vulpeculae throughout one of its 4^h 49^m cycles with an average exposure of 13 minutes per observation. A total of 18 observations was secured. The results show dramatic profile variations of H, including features not previously reported, and extreme variations of the C II 6578, 6582 lines, including variations of equivalent width. The fast time-resolution capability and the photometric linearity of the CCD have permitted the detection of subtle effects that have been missed by photographic observations and has led directly to important new interpretations of the complex atmospheric pulsations in this star, including effects of altered opacity on the formation of spectral lines and the suggestion of a helium-ionization heat engine as a mechanism for driving atmospheric pulsations.Operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under contract with the National Science Foundation.     

The light and velocity curve bumps for BW Vulpeculae

Conclusions We have attempted to model bumps in the light and radial velocity curves of the Beta Cephei star BW Vulpeculae. Two mechanisms, a resonance phenomena and non-linear pulsations, were investigated. The resonance condition was clearly not fulfilled, the calculated period ratio being approximately 0.60, where a value of 0.50 ± 0.03 is required for resonance. In the non-linear calculation, the bump appears, with the correct phase, but was found at an amplitude that is too large. Further, the light curve does not show any bump-like feature. The cause of the bump is the large spurious boost given the star's velocity field by the solution methods.The calculated periods of the stellar models are shorter than those of previous calculations, enhancing the possibility that these stars pulsate in a radial fundamental mode.