Analysis of the hypervelocity impact process from impact flash measurements

Hypervelocity microparticle impact experiments were performed with a 2 MV Van De Graaff dust accelerator. From measurements of the light intensity I and the total light energy E, the relations I=c₁mv^4.1 and E=c₂mv^3.2 were obtained, where m is the projectile mass, ν the projectile velocity and c₁,c₂ are constants, depending on projectile and target material. Using the measured values of the spectral distribution of the light emitted during impact, the temperature of the radiating material was estimated to be between 2500 and 5000 K depending on the projectile velocity. From an analysis of these measurements the angular distribution of secondary particle velocities as well as the relative mass distribution of these particles was determined. Approximately 90% of the detected ejecta mass (ν?1 km/sec) is found between 50° and 70° ejection angle. For ejection angles smaller than 20°, ejecta velocities of up to 30 km/sec were detected when the primary particle velocity was 4.8 km/sec. Using the dependence of the light intensity on pressure in the target chamber, an estimate of the total amount of material vaporized during impact could be derived. It was concluded that at 7.4 km/sec particle impact velocity at least 1.6% of the displaced projectile and crater material was vaporized.     

Measurements of the oscillatory and slowly-varying components of the solar velocity field

Spectroheliograms with high spatial resolution are presented to illustrate the decomposition of the solar velocity field into its oscillatory and slowly-varying components. An analysis of data obtained in the lines Fei λ 5434 and Feii λ 4924 yield essentially the same principal results:

1. Spectroheliograms of the oscillatory component have a mottled appearance of rising and falling elements ranging from 2000 km to 3000 km in size. These elements oscillate vertically with a period in the range 275–300 s and an amplitude of 0.5 km/s. Although most oscillations last two cycles some have been observed for as many as four cycles.
2. Spectroheliograms of the slowly-varying component show a velocity granulation pattern whose spatial properties correspond closely to those of the photospheric granulation visible on direct photographs of the Sun. The velocity granules are approximately 1000 km in diameter and rise relative to their intergranular spaces with speeds that are typically 0.6 km/s, but which may occasionally be as large as 0.9 km/s. Most velocity granules seem to live for at least 10 min with many lasting 10–30 min, and a few of the biggest and fastest moving lasting 30 min to 1 hr.

It is concluded that Spectroheliograms of the slowly-varying component represent the velocity field of the photospheric granulation.     

The transmission to space of the light produced by lightning in the clouds of Venus

A Monte Carlo program by Thomason and Krider has been adapted to the Venus cloud geometry and optical properties. If lightning flashes occur within or just below the clouds, the fraction of photons of visible light escaping to space is 0.1–0.4, depending on the location of the flash. For flashes near the surface, only one blue photon in 10⁴ was found to escape; about 5% of the red ones are transmitted. Failure of the Pioneer Venus Orbiter to unambiguously detect optical lightning signals from space is not due to attenuation by the atmosphere and clouds. In any case, lightning is not acceptable as an explanation for ashen light.     

Long-term evolution of the aerosol debris cloud produced by the 2009 impact on Jupiter

We present a study of the long-term evolution of the cloud of aerosols produced in the atmosphere of Jupiter by the impact of an object on 19 July 2009 (Sánchez-Lavega, A. et al. [2010]. Astrophys. J. 715, L155-L159). The work is based on images obtained during 5 months from the impact to 31 December 2009 taken in visible continuum wavelengths and from 20 July 2009 to 28 May 2010 taken in near-infrared deep hydrogen-methane absorption bands at 2.1-2.3 μm. The impact cloud expanded zonally from ∼5000 km (July 19) to 225,000 km (29 October, about 180° in longitude), remaining meridionally localized within a latitude band from 53.5°S to 61.5°S planetographic latitude. During the first two months after its formation the site showed heterogeneous structure with 500-1000 km sized embedded spots. Later the reflectivity of the debris field became more homogeneous due to clump mergers. The cloud was mainly dispersed in longitude by the dominant zonal winds and their meridional shear, during the initial stages, localized motions may have been induced by thermal perturbation caused by the impact’s energy deposition. The tracking of individual spots within the impact cloud shows that the westward jet at 56.5°S latitude increases its eastward velocity with altitude above the tropopause by 5-10 m s⁻¹. The corresponding vertical wind shear is low, about 1 m s⁻¹ per scale height in agreement with previous thermal wind estimations. We found evidence for discrete localized meridional motions with speeds of 1-2 m s⁻¹. Two numerical models are used to simulate the observed cloud dispersion. One is a pure advection of the aerosols by the winds and their shears. The other uses the EPIC code, a nonlinear calculation of the evolution of the potential vorticity field generated by a heat pulse that simulates the impact. Both models reproduce the observed global structure of the cloud and the dominant zonal dispersion of the aerosols, but not the details of the cloud morphology. The reflectivity of the impact cloud decreased exponentially with a characteristic timescale of 15 days; we can explain this behavior with a radiative transfer model of the cloud optical depth coupled to an advection model of the cloud dispersion by the wind shears. The expected sedimentation time in the stratosphere (altitude levels 5-100 mbar) for the small aerosol particles forming the cloud is 45-200 days, thus aerosols were removed vertically over the long term following their zonal dispersion. No evidence of the cloud was detected 10 months after the impact.     

Polar 5—an electron accelerator experiment within an aurora. 4. Measurements of the 391.4 nm light produced by an artificial electron beam in the upper atmosphere

The POLAR 5 sounding rocket, launched from Andøya, Norway, on February 1, 1976, was of the “mother-daughter” configuration.A rocket-borne electron accelerator, mounted on the “daughter,” produced a pulsed electron beam with a maximum current of 130 mA and electron energies up to 10 kev.Using a photometer the luminescence at 391.4nm produced by electrons colliding with ambient nitrogen molecules was studied. The observed light at 391.4 nm consisted of low background, with occasional flashes due to the natural auroral excitations, and intense sparkles when the electron beam was emitted.Below 130 km the light observed during beam injection can be explained by excitations of ambient N₂ due to high energy beam electrons.In the altitude range from 150 km to apogee at 220 km, the observed light level during beam emission is fairly constant and much larger than that produced by the high energy beam electrons. A possible source of this light is the excitation of ambient N₂ by an enhanced population of low energy electrons, created by the presence of a beam plasma discharge in the vicinity of the “daughter” payload.     

On the calculation of spurious velocity signal produced by atmospheric differential extinction in whole-disk oscillation measurements

The systematic diurnal signal drift in full-disk solar oscillation measurements has been calculated taking into account differential rotation, the inclination of the rotational axis of the Sun with respect to the picture plane, the limb-darkening function and a realistic estimation of the sky transparency, slightly variable during the day. An illustration of this method on the Kumbel (U.S.S.R.) IRIS data is presented and discussed.     

Analysis of light curves produced by surface inhomogeneities on magnetic CP stars

The problem of the determination of surface brightness distribution parameters from the observed CP2-star variability, usually explained with the “oblique rotator model”, is discussed. A simple geometrical model of the surface brightness distribution is derived from the common properties of the observed light curves of these stars. This “spot model” which is supported from the known facts concerning the magnetic field structure and the surface distributions of chemical elements serves as a basis of the special inverse problem: the determination of the number of large scale inhomogeneities, their locations and extents and further parameters, from all the observed light curves of a given star. A suitable technique for solving the special inverse problem is explained. The problem of ambiguity which even arises for the proposed simple model and, in connection with that, the remaining possibilities to win the relevant information on the inhomogeneities of surface brightness are discussed. For the purpose of illustration, the result of the light curve analysis of the CP2 star HD 8441 is given.     

Primary velocity dependence of impact ejecta parameters

From the light emitted during impacts of secondary particles produced during hypervelocity primary impacts, the velocities and relative masses of these ejecta were determined as a function of the angle between the ejection direction and the target surface. The velocity of the ejecta increases with increasing impact velocity and decreasing ejection angle. The ratio of the maximum ejecta velocity to the primary impact velocity decreases with increasing impact speed. The main fraction of the secondary particles is ejected in rather small angular intervals of about 10° width in elevation. The ejection angle of the main fraction of the ejecta mass increases with increasing impact velocity.     

The cosmic microwave background may be produced by particle decay in steady-state cosmology

A theory of electron impact polarization observed in a direction normal to the direction of incident electron was developed by Percival and Seaton. Chambe and Hénoux modified the expression for Stokes parameterQ so that the polarization in a direction making an angle θ with the direction of impact electron could be calculated. A limitation to the idea of Chambe and Hénoux has been discussed.     

Air blast produced by the Meteor Crater impact event and a reconstruction of the affected environment

Abstract— Using scaling relationships determined from nuclear explosions, the radial extent of the air blast produced by the Meteor Crater impact event is estimated. The wind velocity at a distance of 5 crater radii (3 km) from the point of impact should have exceeded 2000 km/h. Hurricane force winds would have existed as far away as 20 to 40 km, depending on the exact explosive energy of the impact event. To determine how this event may have affected the environment surrounding the crater, the topography, vegetation, and animal life that existed at the time of the impact are reconstructed. For example, if the coniferous woodlands were 100 m lower than they are presently and they had moved farther out onto the plains, then the air blast would have flattened trees within a 16 to 22 km radius of the point of impact and damaged them over an area of 4100 to 8500 km². The distance over which the damage occurred may have been up to 2× larger in some directions around the crater because of additional effects produced by the ballistic shock wave. Unfortunately, since the trajectory of the projectile is not well known, the direction of the ballistic shock wave effects cannot yet be determined.     

Breakup of liquids by high velocity flow and size distribution of chondrules

As a new approach to understanding the chondrule formation process, we carried out aerodynamic experiments in which a liquid layer was attached to solid cores, and the breakup of this layer occurred by means of the interaction with a high-velocity gas flow. The size distribution of the dispersed droplets was investigated and compared with the size distributions of chondrules. Both distributions had an exponential form. Using the experimental results, the hydrodynamic pressure to produce the chondrule size distributions was estimated to be ∼ 10⁴ Pa.     

Net circular polarization in magnetic spectral lines produced by velocity gradients: Some analytical results

The net circular polarization in a spectral line due to the combined effect of magnetic fields and velocity gradients is analyzed for a few schematic situations. In some particular cases, its dependence on the magnetic field, velocity field and line parameters can be expressed analytically.On leave from Dipartimento di Astronomia e Scienza dello Spazio, Università di Firenze, Largo E. Fermi 5, I-50125 Firenze, Italia     

Formation of spherules in impact produced vapor plumes

We have constructed a numerical model of spherule formation in an impact produced vapor plume. This model tracks the expansion of the vapor plume using a one-dimensional Lagrangian hydrocode coupled with the ANEOS equation of state for silica. We then include the equations for nucleation and growth as described by homogeneous nucleation theory to describe the process of spherule formation. We use this model to determine the number and size of the spherules that an impact creates. We also explore when and where spherules are formed in the vapor plume, and how this affects the size of the spherules. In general we find that smaller spherules form in the outer, faster moving, portions of the vapor plume at earlier times. This work also explores the effect of impactor size and impact velocity on the resultant spherule size. We report a simple linear dependence on impactor size and a complex dependence on impact velocity. We find that a 10 km diameter asteroid impacting at a velocity of ～21 km/s creates spherules that are ～250 μm in diameter which is comparable to the spherules found in the K/Pg boundary layer.     

Dynamical zodiacal cloud models constrained by high resolution spectroscopy of the zodiacal light

The simulated Doppler shifts of the solar Mg I Fraunhofer line produced by scattering on the solar light by asteroidal, cometary, and trans-neptunian dust particles are compared with the shifts obtained by Wisconsin H-Alpha Mapper (WHAM) spectrometer. The simulated spectra are based on the results of integrations of the orbital evolution of particles under the gravitational influence of planets, the Poynting-Robertson drag, radiation pressure, and solar wind drag. Our results demonstrate that the differences in the line centroid position in the solar elongation and in the line width averaged over the elongations for different sizes of particles are usually less than those for different sources of dust. The deviation of the derived spectral parameters for various sources of dust used in the model reached maximum at the elongation (measured eastward from the Sun) between 90° and 120°. For the future zodiacal light Doppler shifts measurements, it is important to pay a particular attention to observing at this elongation range. At the elongations of the fields observed by WHAM, the model-predicted Doppler shifts were close to each other for several scattering functions considered. Therefore the main conclusions of our paper do not depend on a scattering function and mass distribution of particles if they are reasonable. A comparison of the dependencies of the Doppler shifts on solar elongation and the mean width of the Mg I line modeled for different sources of dust with those obtained from the WHAM observations shows that the fraction of cometary particles in zodiacal dust is significant and can be dominant. Cometary particles originating inside Jupiter's orbit and particles originating beyond Jupiter's orbit (including trans-neptunian dust particles) can contribute to zodiacal dust about 1/3 each, with a possible deviation from 1/3 up to 0.1-0.2. The fraction of asteroidal dust is estimated to be ∼0.3-0.5. The mean eccentricities of zodiacal particles located at 1-2 AU from the Sun that better fit the WHAM observations are between 0.2 and 0.5, with a more probable value of about 0.3.     

Radial velocity and light curves analysis of the eclipsing binary NN Vir

The eclipsing binary NN Vir is a short period system showing an EW‐type light curve. Photometric observations of NN Vir were done by Gomez‐Ferrellad & Garcia‐Melendo (1997) at Esteve Duran Observatory. We used photometric data of NN Vir for light curve analysis. The available spectroscopic data of NN Vir is new and we also used the first radial velocity data of this system obtained by Rusinski & Lu (1999) for analysis. The radial velocity and light curves analysis was made with the latest version ofWilson program(1998) and the geometric and physical elements of the system are derived. By searching the simultaneous solutions of the system, we have determined the masses and radii of the components : 1.89(M_⊙) and 1.65(R_⊙) for the primary component; 0.93(M_⊙) and 1.23(R_⊙) for the secondary component. We estimated effective temperatures of 7030(K) for the primary and 6977(K) for the secondary component. (© 2004 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Interplanetary disturbances in the solar wind produced by density,temperature, or velocity pulses at 0.08 AU

Time-dependent solutions of a one-fluid model of the interplanetary medium are investigated. This set of unsteady hydrodynamic equations has been written in conservation form in order to apply the Lax-Wendroff method for the solution of this problem. The initial disturbance is specified by a pulse at 0.08 AU (astronomical units). Physically, this pulse can be interpreted as having been caused by a solar flare, surge, or any other solar disturbance. The equilibrium condition is determined to be the steady solution of the governing equations and represents the quiet solar wind. The results are presented in terms of density, temperature, and velocity profiles of the interplanetary gas flow at heliocentric distances up to 6 AU at several times. Also, the trajectories of disturbances for various initial pulses are shown. Finally, we have used some June 1972 interplanetary observational data to compare with these theoretical calculations. On the basis of these results, the effects of solar disturbances on the interplanetary environment (such as the generation of large non-linear wave trains in the shocks' wakes) can be inferred.     

Measurement of the group velocity of light in sea water at the ANTARES site

The group velocity of light has been measured at eight different wavelengths between 385 nm and 532 nm in the Mediterranean Sea at a depth of about 2.2 km with the ANTARES optical beacon systems. A parametrisation of the dependence of the refractive index on wavelength based on the salinity, pressure and temperature of the sea water at the ANTARES site is in good agreement with these measurements.