HELIO: The Heliophysics Integrated Observatory

Heliophysics is a new research field that explores the Sun–Solar System Connection; it requires the joint exploitation of solar, heliospheric, magnetospheric and ionospheric observations.     

Understanding high-density matter through analysis of surface spectral lines and burst oscillations from accreting neutron stars

We discuss millisecond period brightness oscillations and surface atomic spectral lines observed during type I X-ray bursts from a neutron star in a low mass X-ray binary system. We show that modeling of these phenomena can constrain models of the dense cold matter at the cores of neutron stars. We demonstrate that, even for a broad and asymmetric spectral line, the stellar radius-to-mass ratio can be inferred to better than 5%. We also fit our theoretical models to the burst oscillation data of the low mass X-ray binary XTE J1814-338, and find that the 90% confidence lower limit of the neutron star’s dimensionless radius-to-mass ratio is 4.2.     

X-ray spectral properties of non-magnetic cataclysmic variables using Chandra HETG

Results from a study of high resolution spectra obtained with the Chandra X-ray observatory for a sample of 6 Cataclysmic Variables (CVs) are presented. A global fit approach has been employed to obtain the spectral characteristics of the sources. The line-rich high-resolution spectra of these sources clearly indicate multi-temperature nature of the emitting plasma. Multi-temperature APEC models describe the spectra very well. Detection of significantly broad emission lines, indicates the presence of high velocity gas in SS Cyg and U Gem during the optical outbursts.     

A Direct Solution to GPS-Type Navigation Equations

One solution to the navigation equations involves iteration on the 4 by 4 augmented range-direction-cosine matrix beginning with an assumed position and so assumed direction cosines, of which there are 12 for 4 satellites. An algebraic, direct solution to this same basic equation set has recently been published. Both of these methods are reviewed. We offer a direct solution using modified functions of the range magnitude data from four satellites to yield user's clock bias correction, user's position, and true range vectors if desired. The highest order of matrix inversion used is 2 by 2. The highest order, nonlinear equation is a numeric square root. The principle of the formulation is use of differences among the range magnitudes and range magnitudes squared. An additional auxiliary difference equation is formed. A computation basis uses the ephimeride differences and an orthogonal vector. The method offers convenience, speed, simplicity, low dimensionality, and precision, with no operational constraints.     

Phase Detector Response to Noisy and Noisy Fading Signals

Transfer characteristics of sinusoidal, triangular, and sawtooth-type phase detectors in response to noisy and noisy fading signals have been studied in detail. A new analytical model of the swatooth-type phase detector has been suggested. Detailed experimental results have been supplemented in support of the theoretical findings. Both the theoretical findings and the experimental results clearly indicate that the superiority of a sawtooth-type phase detector over the other two varieties is completely lost in noisy and noisy fading environments.     

An Adaptive Antenna for Rejection of Wideband Interference

A modification to the adaptive array under the directional constraint [1] is proposed to improve its performance of rejecting wideband interference. By analogy to the pattern synthesis of an antenna array which produces a flat null in its radiation pattern, an additional quantity that corresponds to the derivative of the pattern is generated and combined with the standard feedback quantity to control the weights of the array. This composite system is tested by computer simulation experiments and the following points are demonstrated in contrast to the conventional, simple system: 1) faster adaptation against wideband interference, 2) remarkable improvement of the signal-to-noise ratio of the output, i. e., very small fluctuation.     

ETS-II Experiments Part III: Weather Radar System

The weather radar system used in conjunction with Earth-satellite propagation experiments for quantifying rainfall rate in a unit volume, determined by the beamwidth and the pulselength, is described. Firstly, methods for deriving rainfall rate per unit volume are stated in detail with special emphasis on calibration to determine unknown parameters associated with propagation losses in waveguides and the atmosphere. The calibration method is somewhat different from a conventional one but is useful for routine observation. Secondly, in addition to a simple explanation of the hardware of this radar system, the data modes, developed for measuring rainfall rate along the propagation path and radar reflectivity factor in the horizontal and vertical cross sections around the station are described. These data modes are effectively combined by the operational scanning modes for routine observation of propagation experiments, while each data mode can also be operated independently. Examples obtained by each data mode are also given.