Optical bursts from X-ray irradiated accretion disk

A new burst mode of MXB 1730 - 335, the rapid burster, as discovered by Hakucho in August 1979, is characterized by a train of long X-ray bursts whose behaviour is dictated by the accretion rate. In this mode the burst luminosity reaches the Eddington limit, so that the X-ray pressure controls the accretion from a reservoir in the magnetopause and accretion columns in the polar regions explain general features of the rapid burster observed in August 1979.     

The BepiColombo/MMO model payload and operation plan

The Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS) of Japan plans to contribute the Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter (MMO) to the BepiColombo program, the ESA Cornerstone mission to the planet Mercury. The principal objective of the MMO is to study the magnetic field and magnetosphere of Mercury. The ISAS Mercury exploration working group has performed the definition study of the MMO mission in cooperation with the ESA/ESTEC BepiColombo project team. This paper briefly reviews the scientific objectives, and describes the model payload and its operation plan.     

Thermal properties of molten InSb,GaSb, and InxGa1−xSb alloy semiconductor materials in preparation for crystal growth experiments on the international space station

The thermal properties of InSb, GaSb and In_xGa_1−xSb, such as the viscosity, wetting property, and evaporation rate, were investigated in preparation for the crystal growth experiment on the International Space Station (ISS). The viscosity of InGaSb, which is an essential property for numerical modeling of crystal growth, was evaluated. In addition, the wetting properties between molten In_xGa_1−xSb and quartz, BN, graphite, and C-103 materials were investigated. The evaporation rate of molten In_xGa_1−xSb was measured to determine the affinity of different sample configurations. From the measurements, it was found that the viscosity of In_xGa_1−xSb was between that of InSb and GaSb. The degree of wetting reaction between molten In_xGa_1−xSb and the C-103 substrate was very high, whereas that between molten In_xGa_1−xSb and quartz, BN, and graphite substrates was very low. The results suggest that BN and graphite can be used as materials to cover InSb and GaSb samples inside a quartz ampoule during the microgravity experiments. In addition, the difference of the evaporation rate of molten In_xGa_1−xSb, GaSb, and InSb was small at low, and large at high temperature.     

Improvement of the ADEOS-II/GLI sun-glint algorithm using concomitant microwave scatterometer-derived wind data

The tendency of over-estimation of sun-glint reflectance was found in GLI satellite ocean color data, after applying the traditional sun-glint model of Cox and Munk together with objective analysis wind data. ADEOS-II has provided a good opportunity to improve the glint model using data measured by GLI and SeaWinds, both onboard the satellite. With the help of simultaneous wind measurements achieved by SeaWinds, the Cox and Munk model is re-evaluated using GLI measurements to obtain a new relationship between the surface mean square slope and wind. The new model was found to be very close to the Cox and Munk under moderate wind speed but is much different under calm condition, where it shows similarity to the result reported by Ebuchi and Kizu. It also improves the ocean color data availability and the precision of sun-glint reflectance, based on the evaluation result of the generated Level 3 data products.     

Infrared telescope in space — IRTS

The concept of a Spacelab borne infrared telescope proposed by the Japanese infrared astronomy group is described. The telescope is suitable for mapping extended sources of low surface brightness over a wide wavelength range. The low background is achieved by cooling the optical system with use of a cryogenic system containing superfluid helium, whose behavior under zero gravity has been tested successfully.     

Cyg X-2 — An accreting neutron star

HAKUCHO observation of Cyg X-2 over 40 days did not show a correlation between the hardness ratio and the intensity predicted for dwarf X-ray sources. The energy spectrum in the range 0.3 – 20 keV was found to deviate from the thermal bremsstrahlung spectrum below 2 keV. The X-ray spectrum can be accounted for in terms of the comptonization of blackbody radiation emitted from teh neutron star surface and the accretion disk.     

Cosmic background radiation from pregalactic objects

X-ray astronomy satellite TENMA observed that the X-ray pulsation of Vela X-1 suddenly disappeared for tens of minutes. This phenomenon may be interpreted in terms of the eclipse by a planet of HD77581, the optical companion of Vela X-1.     

Observation of the interstellar helium cone by the NOZOMI spacecraft

‘The Japanese Mars probe, NOZOMI, is staying in the interplanetary space (1–1.5 AU) until its Mars’ orbit insertion scheduled in early 2004. Every 16 months on this interplanetary orbit the spacecraft crosses around 1 AU the ‘gravitational focusing cone’ of the interstellar helium, which are penetrating into the inner heliosphere under the solar gravity. During the first crossing of the cone in the season of March–May 2000, we observed these helium particles after the solar wind pickup process with an E/q type ion detector aboard NOZOMI. We have estimated the original temperature of the interstellar helium as 11 000 K. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

In-flight Performance and Initial Results of Plasma Energy Angle and Composition Experiment (PACE) on SELENE (Kaguya)

MAP-PACE (MAgnetic field and Plasma experiment—Plasma energy Angle and Composition Experiment) on SELENE (Kaguya) has completed its ～1.5-year observation of low-energy charged particles around the Moon. MAP-PACE consists of 4 sensors: ESA (Electron Spectrum Analyzer)-S1, ESA-S2, IMA (Ion Mass Analyzer), and IEA (Ion Energy Analyzer). ESA-S1 and S2 measured the distribution function of low-energy electrons in the energy range 6 eV–9 keV and 9 eV–16 keV, respectively. IMA and IEA measured the distribution function of low-energy ions in the energy ranges 7 eV/q–28 keV/q and 7 eV/q–29 keV/q. All the sensors performed quite well as expected from the laboratory experiment carried out before launch. Since each sensor has a hemispherical field of view, two electron sensors and two ion sensors installed on the spacecraft panels opposite each other could cover the full 3-dimensional phase space of low-energy electrons and ions. One of the ion sensors IMA is an energy mass spectrometer. IMA measured mass-specific ion energy spectra that have never before been obtained at a 100 km altitude polar orbit around the Moon. The newly observed data show characteristic ion populations around the Moon. Besides the solar wind, MAP-PACE-IMA found four clearly distinguishable ion populations on the dayside of the Moon: (1) Solar wind protons backscattered at the lunar surface, (2) Solar wind protons reflected by magnetic anomalies on the lunar surface, (3) Reflected/backscattered protons picked-up by the solar wind, and (4) Ions originating from the lunar surface/lunar exosphere.     

Quantifying the relationship between the measurement precision and specifications of a UV/visible sensor on a geostationary satellite

To investigate the feasibility of new satellite observations, including air quality (AQ) observations from geostationary (GEO) orbit, it is essential to link the measurement precision (ε) with sensor specifications in advance. The present study attempts to formulate the linkage between ε and specifications of a UV/visible sensor (signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), full width at half maximum (FWHM) of the slit function, and sampling ratio (SR)) on a GEO satellite. A sophisticated radiative transfer model (JACOSPAR) is used to calculate synthetic radiance spectra that would be measured by a UV/visible sensor observing the atmosphere over Tokyo (35.7°N, 139.7°E) from GEO orbit at 120°E longitude. The spectra, modified according to given sensor specifications, are analyzed by the differential optical absorption spectroscopy technique to estimate the ε for slant column densities of O₃ and NO₂. We find clear relationships: for example, the ε of the O₃ slant column density (molecules cm⁻²) and SNR at 330 nm are linked by the equation log(ε) = −1.06 · log(SNR) + 20.71 in the UV region, and the ε of the NO₂ slant column density and SNR at 450 nm are linked by log(ε) = −0.98 · log(SNR) + 18.00, at a FWHM = 0.6 nm (for the Gaussian slit function) and SR = 4. The relationships are mostly independent of other specifications (e.g., horizontal and temporal resolutions), as they affect ε primarily through SNR, providing constraints in determining the optimal SNR (and alternatively FWHM and SR) for similar UV/visible sensors dedicated for AQ studies.