ALBERT

Description: This paper presents the results of a series of total and spectral solar irradiance measurements made at ground surface (Table Mountain Facility, Calif., altitude 2.18 km). The spectral irradiance data are presented for the 0.3-3.0-micron spectral region for air mass 1.5.

Description: A proposal for a multi-institutional investigation of the processes involved in the growth and maintenance of high level extended clouds is presented. Mapping of variability of the cloud and of its radiative characteristics in terms of the meteorological environment of the cloud; performance of case studies involving observation of the cloud microphysics and radiation characteristics; and investigation of the processes responsible for the generation, maintenance, and dissipation of the cloud system are recommended. Both modeling and monitoring activities are considered. The specific research projects which the author proposes to carry out are described. Suggestions for the administrative organization of the total effort are presented.

Description: The interplay of the various physical processes involved in the formation, maintenance, and decay of middle and upper tropospheric stratiform clouds is discussed. Ice phase fair weather cloud forms are considered. Simulations of cirriform clouds which attempt to incorporate the physical processes in an interactive manner were performed. A two dimensional time dependent Eulerian numerical model, which incorporates all of the important physical processes in a simplified way, is employed to investigate the role of these processes in the evolution of a cloud in an isolated atmospheric layer. Physical parameters considered are the eddy viscosity and the thermal, water vapor, and ice water eddy diffusivities.

Description: Stratospheric limb radiance profiles versus altitude of closest approach of the line of sight to the Earth's surface have been measured before and after the Mount St. Helens eruptions by means of photographs taken from a Sun-oriented balloon gondola floating above 35 km altitude over France. Preliminary data were reported for flights in October 1979 and in May and June 1980. The radiance integrated along the line of sight as in-situ radiance (R) can be derived taking into account absorption by ozone and air. The onion peeling inversion method was used to derive the vertical radiance (R) profiles respectively. The values of R were determined in the solar azimuth. The solar elevation angles are chosen larger for the backscattering observation than for the forward scattering observation to deal with as similar illumination conditions as possible despite the Earth's sphericity.

Description: Microscopical investigation of volcanic ash collected from ground stations during Mount St. Helens eruptions reveal a distinctive bimodel size distribution with high concentrations of particle ranges at (1) 200-100 microns and (2) 20-0.1 microns. Close examination of individual particles shows that most larger ones are solidified magma particles of porous pumice with numerous gas bubbles in the interior and the smaller ones are all glassy fragments without any detectable gas bubbles. Elemental analysis demonstrates that the fine fragments all have a composition similar to that of the larger pumice particles. Laboratory experiments suggest that the formation of the fine fragments is by bursting of glassy bubbles from a partially solidified surface of a crystallizing molten magma particle. The production of gas bubbles is due to the release of absorbed gases in molten magma particles when solubility decreases during phase transition. Diffusion cloud chamber experiments strongly indicate that sub-micron volcanic fragments are highly hygroscopic and extremely active as cloud condensation nuclei. Ice crystals also are evidently formed on those fragments in a supercooled (-20 C) cloud chamber. It has been reported that charge generation from ocean volcanic eruptions is due to contact of molten lava with sea water. This seems to be insufficient to explain the observed rapid and intense lightning activities over Mount St. Helens eruptions. Therefore, a hypothesis is presented here that highly electrically charged fine solid fragments are ejected by bursting of gas bubbles from the surface of a crystallizing molten magma particles.

Description: The direct solar radiation transmission record at Mauna Loa, dating from 1958 to the present, revealed with remarkable precision the presence of stratospheric aerosol from volcanic activity. This record can be used to quantify the intensity of the stratospheric volcanic aerosol perturbation following a significant eruption in reference to the Agung event in 1963. The Mount St. Helens' stratospheric cloud was first detected by lidar at 18 km over Mauna Loa on 17 July. The atmospheric transmission was seen to decrease slightly after that time, but only a few tenths of 1 percent. Although it is still fairly early to draw a definite conclusion on the ultimate magnitude of the Mount St. Helens stratospheric aerosol from the Mauna Loa results, it can be stated that the stratospheric aerosol optical depth presently observed is comparable with that observed from Fuego which erupted in 1974. At Boulder, Colorado, the atmospheric debris from Mount St. Helens was observed by lidar on a number of occasions. Also, observations of the diffuse, total and direct transmission of solar radiation were made on June 3 and 4. The latter set of observations is useful for deriving information on the scattering properties of the volcanic cloud. The lidar and solar radiation data are presented and some of their special features are discussed.

Description: Samples of stratospheric aerosols collected with U-2 aircraft for several months following the first three major eruptions of Mount St. Helens were analyzed for ash and liquid acid content. Ash grain sizes and compositions vary depending on collection altitude, location within the drifting cloud, and days following their injection. s computers Size distributions of ash particles vary with altitude. Generally small particles are depleted more rapidly at low altitudes (12 km) than at higher altitudes (17-18 km). Although samples collected 1 day after the first eruption of May 18, 1980, were dry, flow marks on the aircraft indicated parts of the cloud contained heavy acid concentrations. Indeed, all other samples obtained within 1 to 4 days after later eruptions (May 25 and June 12, 1980) were covered with copious amounts of liquid acid. Proportions of liquid to ash varied considerably depending on sampling location and cloud age. Because the acid-coated ash globules were large, they rapidly fell from the stratosphere until, by late June 1980, only a residue of acid droplets remained. Size distributions and concentrations of these droplets varied considerably.

Description: Results associated with exact solution of the Einstein-Boltzmann and Einstein-Maxwell-Boltzmann equations are presented. The generalization of Ehler's killing vector approach for the distribution function to charged particles is considered.

Description: Nineteen stratospheric samples from the eruption plumes of Mount St. Helens were collected in five flight experiments. The plume samples were collected at various altitudes from 13.1 to 20.7 km by using the Ames cryogenic sampling system on board the NASA U-2 aircraft. The enriched, cryogenically collected samples were analyzed by chromatography. The concentrations of aerosols precursor gases (OCS, SO2, and CS2), CH3Cl, N2O, CF2Cl2, and CFCl3 were measured by gas chromatography. Large enhancement of the mixing ratio of SO2 and moderate enhancement of CS2 and OCS were found in the plume samples compared with similar measurement under pre-volcanic conditions. A fast decay rate of the SO2 mixing ratio in the plume was observed. Measurement of Cl(-), SO2(2-), and NO3(-) by ion chromatography was also carried out on water solutions prepared from the plume samples. The results obtained with this technique imply large mixing ratios of HCl, (NO + NO2 + HNO3), and SO2, in which these constituents are the respective sources of the anions. Measurement of the Rn222 concentration in the plume was made. Other stratospheric constituents in the plume samples, such as H2O, CO2, CH4, and CO, were also observed.

Description: Mount St. Helens erupted somewhat less than 0.5 cu km of magma (dense rock equivalent) on May 18, 1980. The May 18 event was usually violent. As much 35% of the volume of the airfall material fell outside of the 2.5 mm isopach, which encloses about 88,000 sq km. This extraordinary dispersive power was transmitted by an eruption column which reached heights of more than 20 km. There was a lateral blast (or surge) of unusually large dimensions associated with the onset of the eruption. The magma is dacitic in composition and had a low ( 500 ppm) sulfur content. Distal ashes contain much nonmagmatic (lithic) material, but smaller ( 50 microns m) particles are mostly finely divided magmatic dacite. The grain size distributions of the ash are multimodal, frequently with peaks at 90, 25, and 10 microns. The finer populations fell out faster than their terminal velocities as simple particles would suggest. It is inferred that large proportions of the fine ash fell out as composite particles. This condition greatly reduces the atmospheric burden of silicate particles. Some of the unusual aspects (violence, intense surges, multimodal grain size distributions, lithic content of the ashes) of the eruption may be due to its phreatomagmatic character. The hydrothermal system above the magma may have infiltrated the magma body at the onset of the eruption. An "overprint" of the geochemistry of this hydrothermal system on the geochemistry of the magmatic gas system is likely. One important feature is that reduced gas species may be much more abundant than in many eruptions. Another is that fine ash may form aggregates more readily.

Description: The goals of map/wind (winter in Northern Europe) are to better understand: (1) the interaction of planetary waves of tropospheric origin; (2) the temporal and spatial development of sudden stratospheric warmings; (3) the temporal and spatial development of mesospheric cooling events in conjunction with stratospheric warmings; (4) the vertical and horizontal transport of minor constituents; (5) the effects on the chemistry of neutral and charged species of the large temperature changes occurring during stratospheric warmings and mesospheric cooling; (6) sources of turbulent energy; (7) the temporal and spatial development of turbulent layers; and (8) the contributions of dynamical processes to the heating and cooling of the mesospheric and turbopause region.

Description: Three general areas of study were identified: stratospheric composition; mesospheric and lower ionospheric structure and composition; and middle atmospheric dynamics. The role of chemical reactions and spectroscope in the study of the middle atmosphere is discussed.

Description: Organizations in the United States which are interested in MAP participation were surveyed. Satellites, rockets, balloons, and ground support systems are listed with available experimentation.

Description: The plans for India's participation in the middle Atmosphere Program are outlined.

Description: The paper reports results of an extensive set of three-dimensional hydrodynamic calculations performed to investigate the susceptibility of rotating clouds to gravitational fragmentation; only isothermal collapse sequences were considered. It is found that rotating isothermal gas clouds are unstable to fragmentation under a wide range of conditions. The degree of instability and the mode (ring vs. blob) of fragmentation is sensitive to alpha, but insensitive to beta. The initial amplitude of a perturbation does not appear to be crucial; fragmentation should occur eventually even for low-amplitude initial NAPs.

Description: Spectroscopy and polarimetry of several very red stars, noted on Near Infrared Photographic Sky Survey photographs in the region of NGC 1333, have yielded a 'map' suggesting the extent of polarization arising from a two-cloud structure in the region. Spectral types and color indices of the stars make it possible to infer that grain radii in the clouds exceed typical interstellar medium values and, further, that they increase with optical depth into the cloud. The present observations indicate that the cloud structure is far more extensive than previously realized.

Description: A numerical hydrodynamics computer code analysis of the collapse and establishment of equilibrium of adiabatic gas clouds restricted to axial symmetry found that the clouds are originally uniform in density and rotation. The method can compare the dynamic collapse and approach to equilibrium with the data on incompressible uniformly rotating equilibrium clouds and on equilibrium structures of differentially rotating polytropes. It is concluded that the stellar formation theory indicates that the low alpha fragments produced at the termination of the dynamic isothermal collapse phase of interstellar clouds may undergo significant dynamic collapse in an adiabatic regime leading to transitory ring formation and additional fragmentation on a smaller scale.

Description: Copernicus observations of H2 toward stars in the Pleiades and 23 Orionis have been obtained because of their importance in understanding the formation of interstellar CH(+). No model of CH(+) equilibrium seems to agree very well with these observations; in particular, the suggestions that CH(+) is formed either from collisions between vibrationally excited H2 and C(+) or from radiative association of C(+) and H2 can apparently be excluded. These data do suggest that there is a correlation between the amounts of rotationally excited H2 and CH(+) which are present. Observations of the Pleiades also help interpretations of the reflection nebulae near these stars.

Description: A simple method of computing theoretical models of very massive stars endowed with fast axial rotation and tangled magnetic fields is described and used in the present paper. Both of the two perturbing (nongravitational) forces induce changes in the luminosity and radius that are studied as functions of zero-age chemical composition, opacity, and evolutionary state of the interior. The central condensation of the star is found to have a significant influence on shifts of the upper main-sequence band in the H-R diagram if the perturbing force is concentrated in the stellar envelope (but not if the perturbing force is distributed so as to be approximately proportional to gravity everywhere); the layers of the envelope that contribute most heavily to the central condensation lie approximately at a radius fraction of r/R = 0.5. It is shown that fast uniform rotation and intense envelope magnetic fields lead to probably the largest possible shifts of the main-sequence band in the H-R diagram that rotation and magnetic fields can induce. These displacements are, however, too small to account for the total width of the observed main-sequence band at luminosities brighter than log (L/solar luminosity) = 4.5.

Description: It is shown that only a small fraction of the many supernovae in the Galaxy produces observable supernova remnants; this fraction, which is found to depend weakly on the lower mass limit of the SN progenitors, and more strongly on the specific characteristics of the associated interstellar medium, decreases from about 15% near the galactic center to 10% at R(gal) of about 10 kpc and drops nearly to zero for R(gal) greater than 15 kpc. Whether an SNR is detectable is determined by the density of the ambient interstellar medium in which it is embedded; it is found that SNRs are detectable only above some critical density (about 0.1 per cu cm). The presence of large low-density superbubble cavities around stellar associations due to the combined effects of stellar winds and supernova shells strongly suggests that a large portion of the detectable SNRs must have runaway stars as their progenitors.

Description: The transient gamma-ray burst observed on March 5, 1979 by the nine spacecraft forming the interplanetary gamma-ray burst network is discussed. Measurements reveal the event to be unlike any previously observed gamma-ray burst or X-ray burster, with a maximum intensity greater than several thousandths erg/sq cm per sec, a rise time of less than 200 microsec, a narrow and featureless initial spike and a regular 8-sec oscillation with a compound pulse shape. The source of the transient has been localized to a region including the supernova remnant N 49 in the Large Magellanic Cloud, at a distance of 55 pc, and a ratio of X-ray point-source steady state to transient emission of less than 10 to the -9th was obtained. The identification of the burst source with the supernova remnant at that distance would require an enormous source output if it was radiated isotropically, and substantially less if beaming is present. Alternatively, the event could be explained by a nearby, invisible neutron star.

Description: The paper presents data on the accumulated V-band orbital phase curves of polarization in Cygnus X-1 which disagree with the analysis of Simmons, Aspin, and Brown (1980). No curves which conform to the canonical model were observed, and a noncanonical structure is indicated by F tests on third, fourth, and fifth harmonics, which have a probability of 0.85 as a group. The fifth harmonic has a probability of 0.99; in contrast, the fundamental harmonic has a probability of only 0.6, which is below the detection threshold. Therefore, major conclusions of Simmons et al based on a nonsymmetrical canonical model assuming that fundamental harmonics are present, but harmonics with n greater than 2 are absent, are unacceptable. Analysis of the author's data by Simmons et al is criticized on the grounds that he did not take into account the cumulative aspects of the data and did not recognize the need to average out the random noise generated by Cygnus X-1 over many orbital cycles.

Description: Observations of waves stimulated by artificial injection inside an auroral arc by an electron accelerator mounted on the POLAR 5 sounding rocket are presented. The accelerator produced a pulsed electron beam with currents up to 130 mA and energies up to 10 keV; emissions after the end of beam injection were generated by perturbations in the ambient plasma near the accelerator during beam injection. These emissions were independent of the electron beam direction along the geomagnetic field. The high frequency emission observed after beam injection correlated with the passage through an auroral arc; the low frequency emissions after beam injection were concentrated in two bands below the lower hybrid frequency.

Description: The X-ray observations of the galaxy clusters Abell 2319 and 576 show a reduced temperature of the microwave background due to the Suniaev-Zeldovich effect. The X-ray maps indicate smooth emission in these clusters concentrated toward the optical center; the surface brightness in the 1-3 keV band falls with the inverse square of radius outside a small core, and fits the Hubble's law of optical surface brightness of elliptical galaxies. The low temperature indicates that in A576 (1) the core radius of the gravitational potential is two to three times larger than inferred from galaxy counts, (2) the temperature rises with radius over most of the cluster and falls to zero at large radii, and (3) the gas does not obey the equation of state.

Description: Measurements of average proton, helium, carbon, and oxygen fluxes at 6.6 earth radii are reported. The data represent averages obtained on ATS 6 between June 15 and Oct. 3, 1974. The energy range covered was 0.36-1.1 MeV for protons and approximately 1-4 MeV for the heavier ions. The results indicate that above about 1 MeV the heavier ion fluxes dominate over the proton flux on the energy/ion scale. Using two different spectral dependencies to fit the data, the carbon to oxygen concentration ratio for energies above 1 MeV was found to be 0.43 for the power law spectrum and 0.44 for the exponential spectrum. Thus in either case the abundance ratio is consistent with the solar origin of the particles. Similarly, the helium to oxygen concentration ratio is found to be 0.17 for the power law spectrum and 0.28 for the exponential spectrum. This is inconsistent with the solar wind ratio, which is about 10. The results quoted above are based on a very small portion of the distribution function above 1 MeV.

Description: The nova outburst is modeled by spherically accreting H-rich material onto a 1 solar mass He white dwarf at a rate of 10 to the -8th solar mass/yr. The star accretes for 5848 years, when the nuclear reactions run away near the base of the accreted envelope. The nuclear-energy generation rate rises to 4.6(8) solar luminosities, and the envelope expands in response to it. However, nova-like mass ejection does not occur because the envelope is of insufficient mass, the base of the envelope is only mildly electron degenerate, and there is no enrichment of the CNO abundance. To overcome these limiting conditions, it is suggested that the H-rich material be accreted either more slowly than 10 to the -10th solar mass/yr or with angular momentum. Outbursts resulting in the former case should be similar to the nova models computed by Starrfield, Truran, and Sparks. Outbursts in the latter case should be strengthened, and novae might result because the H-rich material will be mixed into the surface layers of the white dwarf, as first suggested by Kippenhahn and Thomas (1978).

Description: A model is proposed in which regions of enhanced synchrotron emission are formed via radiative thermal instabilities in relativistic flows. A perturbed volume in which the magnetic field is enhanced by a few tens of a percent relative to the steady value collapses due to the increased cooling rate and consequent loss in pressure. The collapse further increases the magnetic field, leading to even shorter radiative lifetimes. The instability progresses in this way until either the external electron pressure is balanced by the perturbed magnetic pressure or the overall expansion of the flow becomes important. A fluid-dynamical treatment of the instability is performed, and the results are shown to apply to flux variations and formation of knots in the relativistic flows which are thought to occur in quasars and active galactic nuclei. The knots possess the same kinematic properties as the collimated flow and can thus be responsible for the apparent superluminal motions observed in compact radio sources.

Description: Rocket ozone soundings have been conducted in the stratosphere and lower mesosphere at high latitudes during winter. The collection of soundings show a high degree of variability when compared to ozone distributions measured during summer and at lower latitudes. The concurrently observed temperature and winds also show large variations which can be qualitatively related to the ozone profiles. Two most unusual ozone profiles were observed in January 1979 over Alaska during a stratospheric warming event. Both ozone profiles were consistent in showing the measured mixing ratios to be higher at 50 km than those measured at 40 km, a feature never reported before. This feature is related to the concurrently observed wind and temperature distributions and the NMC analyses of pressure height fields. The polar night ozone observations in the upper stratosphere and lower mesosphere suggest some temperature dependence, but transports seem to play an important role.

Description: Two years of Nimbus 4 backscattered ultraviolet data have been recalibrated and reprocessed. A Laplace transform inversion was applied to radiances at 2876 A and below for 560,000 individual scans for the period April 1970-May 1972. The behavior of ozone near 50 km as a function of time, latitude, and longitude is presented. The high-latitude 1-mbar ozone mixing ratio is maximum at the winter solstice, about 10 microgram/g and is minimum at the summer solstice, about 4 microgram/g. Below 30 deg latitude the ozone is fairly constant at 4 microgram/g. Ozone variability is large in winter and spring and small in summer and fall.

Description: Three measurements of ionospheric electric field were made during the 24-h ALADDIN rocket program at Wallops Island on June 29-30, 1974. The first of these used a double probe instrument, flown at 1500 Local Solar Time, and the second and third measurements were made by barium cloud releases at evening and morning twilight. These three electric field vectors have been compared with the predictions of a number of models of electric field due to the dynamo effects of various atmospheric tides, and also of a possible magnetospheric origin. On the assumption that the measurements were made at a location equatorward of the afternoon convergence and poleward of the morning divergence in the electric field patterns related to the Sq current system, Stening's (1973) model of the diurnal variation of the electric field induced by the (1, -2) tidal model at the time of the summer solstice correctly predicts the directions of the observed electric field. Forbes and Lindzen's (1976, 1977) model, incorporating the three major propagating tidal modes as well as the evanescent (1, -2) mode, also bears an acceptable relationship to the ALADDIN electric field directions. The ALADDIN E-field magnitudes are comparable with those obtained by ground-based observations from Millstone Hill and from Saint Santin but are about half of Stening's model values, and three times those of Forbes and Lindzen. Saint Santin E-field directions, at the same latitude but 75 deg difference in longitude, are distinctly different from ALADDIN, implying that longitudinal differences are significant.

Description: A binary star model is used to account for the 16.59-d flaring behavior of the X-ray emission from Circinus X-1. The orbital eccentricity of 0.8 + or - 0.1 is derived from the X-ray light curve by assuming that the sharp X-ray cut-off every 16.59-d is a result of bound-free absorption in the primary star's stellar wind. The shape of the light curve has changed over the last eight years, and this is interpreted as due to orbital precession of the binary system. Simultaneous radio and X-ray observations of the flare from Circinus X-1 on February 1-5, 1978 are reported. These are accounted for within the framework of the model. The radio observations at 5 GHz are used independently to derive a high value of the orbital eccentricity (e = 0.7).

Description: The first effects of a nearby (10 parsec) supernova on the earth's atmosphere will be caused by ultraviolet radiation dissociating molecular oxygen. The event will be of about one month's duration. Several months later nuclear gamma radiation may arrive, causing a decrease in atmospheric ozone. Cosmic radiation from the supernova remnant will not intercept the earth for at least 1000 years at which time ozone will be seriously depleted. Supernova ultraviolet radiation increases column ozone and atomic oxygen. Atmospheric thermal structure is modified with a large temperature increase in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere and a decrease at higher altitudes caused by enhanced heat loss due to atomic oxygen radiation and conduction.

Description: A study of a large number of temperature measurements in the middle atmosphere shows a much more complex thermal structure of this region than described in the U.S. Standard Atmosphere, 1976. The mesopause height which is generally assumed to be at 80 km varies between 70 and 100 km, often with two minima in temperature at about 70 and 100 km and a maximum between 80-85 km. By solving the energy balance equation and the equations of continuity, the physical significance of the observed thermal structure is discussed in terms of the energetics of the various regions of the middle atmosphere. It is show that the solar UV radiation plays a major role only in the energy budget of the stratosphere and the lower thermosphere. The energetics of the mesosphere is primarily influenced by the dissipation of eddy energy. The temperature in the region is a good indicator of the eddy diffusivity and can be used in deriving the eddy diffusion coefficient.

Description: IUE observations of the eclipsing binary system Zeta Aurigae made prior to and during the eclipse of the relatively small B8 V star by the cool supergiant star (spectral type K2 II) are reported. Spectral lines produced by the absorption of B star radiation in the atmosphere of the K star during eclipse can be used as a probe of the extended K star atmosphere, due to the negligible cool star continuum in the 1200-3200 A region. Spectra taken prior to eclipse are found to be similar to those of the single B8 V star 64 Ori, with the exception of very strong multi-component absorption lines of Si II, Si IV, C IV and the Mg resonance doublet with strong P Cygni profiles, indicating a double shell. Absorption lines including those corresponding to Al II, Al III, Cr II, Mn II, Fe II, Ni II and Ca II are observed to increase in strength and number as the eclipse progresses, with high-ionization-potential lines formed far from the K star, possibly in a shock wave, and low-ionization potential lines, formed in cool plasma, probably a cool wind, nearer to the K star. Finally, an emission-line spectra with lines corresponding to those previously observed in absorption is noted at the time the B-star continuum had disappeared.

Description: Current estimates of QSO luminosity, number density, evolution, and spectral index are used to study whether the diffuse cosmic ray background is (1) entirely due to thermal bremmstrahlung of the intergalactic medium (IGM), (2) completely supplied by QSO X-rays, or (3) a combination of both. The upper limits on an IGM fractional density with respect to closure are Omega = 0.26, 0.24, and 0.21 for pure collisional, photo/collisional, and pure photoionization, respectively. These calculations give emission spectra, Compton distortion of the microwave background, and optical depths to distant QSOs for comparison with relevant data.

Description: The paper presents a model for contrast reduction by atmospheric haze developed for the 'two-halves' field of the earth's surface and other geometries of the earth's surface albedo. The model is based on a simplified solution of the equation of radiative transfer in two dimensions, resulting in a method for calculation of the upward zenith intensity in the atmosphere as a function of the distance from the border between the two half planes, for an unabsorbing atmosphere. The adjacency effect between two infinitesimal areas of different albedos is calculated; the resultant simplified solution is used to develop expressions for the line-spread function of the atmosphere and the modulation transfer function. The line-spread function is used to calculate the point spread function, which can be used to compute the intensity above any surface with given spatial dependence of the reflectivity.

Description: Improvements to a computer model of coma photochemistry are described. These include an expansion of the chemical reactions network and new rate constants that have been measured only recently. Photolytic reactions of additional molecules are incorporated, and photolytic branching ratios are treated in far greater detail than previously. A total of 25 photodissociative ionization (PDI) reactions are now considered (as compared to only 3 PDI reactions previously). Solar PDI of the mother molecule CO2 is shown to compete effectively with photoionization of CO in the production of observed CO(+). The CO(+) density peak predicted by the improved model, for CO2 or CO mother molecules, is deep in the inner coma, in better agreement with observation than the old CO2 model. However, neither CO2 nor CO mother molecule calculations reproduce the CO(+)/H2O(+) ratio observed in comet Kohoutek. PDI products of CO2, CO, CH4, and NH3 mother molecules fuel a complex chemistry scheme, producing inner coma abundances of CN, C2, and C3 much greater than previously calculated.

Description: The formation of CN radicals by flash photolysis of a number of parent molecules was monitored by laser induced fluorescence in the B2Sigma(plus)-X2Sigma(plus) transition of CN. The rotational and vibrational energy of the newly formed radicals in the X state was measured directly. Formation of CN(A2Pi) in the lower vibrational levels was determined by an indirect method based on resonant energy transfer to higher vibrational levels of the ground state. These laboratory studies have shown that high initial internal excitation of CN with rotational levels of maximum N equals 50-70 is the rule. In general, the formation of simple molecules in excited states is commonly the case. There appear to be astrophysical systems where radiation from these excited levels may be detectable. Such observations would serve as a probe of molecular formation.

Description: Low-resolution spectra of IRC + 10216 have been obtained from 2 to 8.5 microns from NASA's Kuiper Airborne Observatory at an altitude of 12.5 km (41,000 feet). Observations were made during 1976 January and 1977 February. In both sets of data, the spectral flux reaches its maximum between 6.0 and 6.6 microns and the previously reported 3.1-micron feature is observed; no obvious new absorption features have been found. The new data together with other spectral data and measurements of the spatial extent of IRC + 10216 impose conditions that must be met by models of the continuum. Several simple models for 2-8.5 micron radiation are examined. The new continuum data impose a constraint on the size of the grains in the cooler, optically thin part of the object. Earlier photometry has been combined with the present data to yield an improved value of the average period: 644 + or - 17 days. It appears that the variability is irregular and that the minima have been deeper in recent years than they were in 1965-1969.

Description: A series of two-dimensional numerical experiments is performed in order to test the response of an isothermal, self-gravitating gas disk to a uniformly rotating, barlike gravitational potential. The barlike potential is an equilibrium stellar model from the n-body calculations of Miller and Smith (1979). In the bar-dominated, central regions of the disk, a gas bar whose phase depends primarily on the location of principal resonances in the disk is formed. This response can be understood in terms of orbit-crowding effects. In the gas-dominated outer regions of the disk, two-armed trailing spiral waves are formed. The local pitch angle of these waves increases with increasing fractional gas mass. These self-gravitating gas waves are not self-sustaining. They are driven from the ends of equilibrium stellar bars, and their phase does not depend on the location of resonances in the disk. The relevance of these self-gravitating waves to observations and models of barred spiral galaxies is discussed. It is concluded that these waves and their associated ringlike structures may be consistent with the morphological distribution of gas features in barred spiral galaxies.

Description: It is suggested that Freeman's (1970) result that the disk portions of spiral galaxies have a preferred central surface brightness might be the consequence of observing optically thick ensembles of a standard mix of stars and dust. Regardless of whether this hypothesis is correct, the observation that elliptical galaxies usually have central surface brightnesses considerably greater than the disk portions of spirals can be understood if there is much less dust within the elliptical systems. In particular, ellipticals probably have dust-to-total-mass ratios at least a factor of 100 smaller than in the disk portions of spirals, although there is no evidence that the dust-to-interstellar-gas ratios are different. When stars were forming within ellipticals, these galaxies were probably dustier than they are now, and their visible light output could have been substantially affected. It will probably be necessary to establish the dust content of galaxies as a function of redshift to use these objects as cosmological probes.

Description: Measurement of short-lived photochemically-produced species in the stratosphere by solar occultation is difficult because the rapid variation of such species near the terminator introduces ambiguities in interpreting the measured absorption in terms of meaningful atmospheric abundances. These variations produce tangent path concentrations that are asymmetric relative to the tangent point, as opposed to the symmetrical distribution usually assumed in most inversion algorithms. Neglect of this asymmetry may yield an inverted profile that deviates significantly from the true sunset/sunrise profile. In the present paper, the influence of this effect on solar occultation measurements of ClO and NO is examined. The results show that average inhomogeneity factors, which measure the concentration variation along the tangent path and which can be calculated from a photochemical model, can indicate which species require more careful data analysis.

Description: X-ray spectral observations of two nearby low-luminosity clusters of galaxies are presented. For the Centaurus cluster an emission feature at 7.9 keV is detected at about one-third of the strength of the 6.7 keV line. This higher energy line represents K-beta emission from highly ionized iron. In addition, it is demonstrated that for neither the Centaurus nor the A1060 cluster can an isothermal model with an Fe emission line adequately fit the data. Instead, the simplest models which provide acceptable fits include a second, harder component which may be either a second exponential or a power law. The implications of the two-component nature of the continuum on the Fe abundance and the X-ray surface-brightness distribution are discussed.

Description: Observations and limiting values for the flux of 1-20 MeV gamma rays from the Crab, the Seyfert galaxy NGC 4151, the black hole candidate Cyg X-1, Cyg X-3 and the two nearest quasars CG 135+1 and 3C 273 are reported. Measurements of the energy and scatter angle of gamma rays at zenith angles between 10 and 30 deg were obtained by a balloon-borne double-scatter gamma-ray telescope. The flux from the Crab from 1.2 to 10 MeV is found to be 0.0039 + or - 0.0020 photons/sq cm per sec, and the energy distribution of the flux from 1.2 to 20 MeV is determined. Two-standard-deviation upper limits to the gamma-ray flux in the intervals 1.2-3, 3-5, 5-10 and 10-20 MeV of 0.0003, 0.0002, 0.00006 and 0.00004 photons/sq cm/sec are found for NGC 4151, Cyg X-1 and Cyg X-3, while those of 0.0005, 0.0003, 0.0001 and 0.00004 photons/sq cm per sec are determined for both quasars. These upper limits are interpreted as restricting confirmed gamma-ray sources to the Crab and NP 0532, and as evidence against Seyfert galaxies as the source of cosmic diffuse radiation.

Description: Copernicus and SAS-3 observations of Sco X-1 during very active states show strong and rapid X-ray flickering with time scales as short as 20 sec. Simultaneous optical photometry reveals similar and remarkably well correlated flickering of lower amplitude. The level of correlation decreases when the X-ray source becomes fainter, but optical and X-ray fluxes, averaged over 1 min, are usually well correlated for B magnitudes less than 12.9. Cross-correlation analysis of the data during periods of high activity shows no really significant time delay between X-ray and optical features, although the cross-correlation function peaks systematically for positive lag values (optical following X-rays). The amplitude of the X-ray flickering exhibits a strong energy-dependence consistent with the well-known intensity versus spectral-hardness relation derived from previous observations. The highly correlated optical activity is interpreted as due to reprocessing of X-ray photons in the binary system.

Description: The present analysis is an application of the theory described by Lucy (1971) for the calculation of P Cygni resonance line profiles formed by isotropic and coherent scattering in spherically symmetric expanding circumstellar envelopes. Copernicus satellite measurements of resonance features in the FUV spectrum of the O 7 supergiant UW Canis Majoris (= HD 57060) are compared with theoretical P Cygni profiles. Grids of line profiles are computed using four free parameters which contain information about the velocity law, ionization equilibrium, temperature, and envelope density. Thus, with the assumption of a spherically symmetric steady flow, and of solar element abundances, the stellar mass loss rate and the electron temperature of the expanding shell can be derived. The mass flow is treated in a fully transonic way, i.e., the Sobolev approximation is applied.

Description: Existing two-stream approximations to radiative transfer theory for particulate media are shown to be represented by identical forms of coupled differential equations if the intensity is replaced by integrals of the intensity over hemispheres. One set of solutions thus suffices for all methods and provides convenient analytical comparisons. The equations also suggest modifications of the standard techniques so as to duplicate exact solutions for thin atmospheres and thus permit accurate determinations of the effects of typical aerosol layers. Numerical results for the plane albedos of plane-parallel atmospheres are given for conventional and modified Eddington approximations, conventional and modified two-point quadrature schemes, the hemispheric-constant method and the delta-function method, all for comparison with accurate discrete-ordinate solutions. A new two-stream approximation is introduced that reduces to the modified Eddington approximation in the limit of isotropic phase functions and to the exact solution in the limit of extreme anisotropic scattering. Comparisons of plane albedos and transmittances show the new method to be generally superior over a wide range of atmospheric conditions (including cloud and aerosol layers), especially in the case of nonconservative scattering.

Description: With a three-parameter analytical model, the ozone profile below 10 mbar to the surface is derived from the Nimbus 4 satellite backscattered ultraviolet and infrared measurements. Comparison of the derived profiles with those observed by ozonesondes shows that gross features are satisfactorily reproduced. Meridional cross section of the ozone partial pressure derived from the satellite data reveal the significant equator-to-pole features, as well as seasonal variability. An examination of the sensitivity of the method shows that an error in infrared radiance of approximately 1 erg leads to an error of about 10 mbar in the weighted mean pressure of the ozone layer in the tropics.

Description: Recent IUE observations reveal striking differences in the UV spectra of two symbiotic stars, R Aqr and RW Hya. RW Hya is found to be an unexpectedly intense source of UV radiation. The measurements reported demonstrate the presence of a hot component in each star, supporting the view that each is a binary system with a luminous red primary and a hot, subluminous companion. In one case, the hot companion manifests itself by exciting a compact nebulosity; in the other case the continuous spectrum of the hot star is directly detected, while the continuum of nebulosity excited by the hot star is detected at longer wavelengths.

Description: The dynamic collapse of rotating gas clouds is calculated for a wide range of initial conditions. Properties of cloud models are compared with observed radio and optical properties of Bok globules, to test the hypothesis that globules undergo collapse and to determine parameters which are not easily observed. Five of the six globules studied are consistent with collapse models. It is inferred that these objects have masses of about 100 solar masses and ages smaller than their free-fall times. Inferred initial densities are much larger than minimum densities for gravitational collapse, suggesting that collapse is initiated by strong external compression or that globules are fragments of larger condensed clouds. Values inferred for the (C-13)O/H2 ratio are smaller than previous estimates and depend strongly on cloud density.

Description: For the first time the Hoyle-Narlikar theory with creation of matter and a variable gravitational constant G, is subjected to the following cosmological tests: (1) the magnitude versus z relation, (2) the N(m) versus m relation for quasars, (3) the metric angular diameters versus z relation, (4) the isophotal angles versus z relation, (5) the log N-log S radio source count, and finally (6) the 3 K radiation. It is shown that the theory passes all these tests just as well as the standard cosmology, with the additional advantage that the geometry of the universe is uniquely determined, with a curvature parameter equal to zero. It is also interesting to note that the variability of G affects the log N-log S curve in a way similar to the density evolution introduced in standard cosmologies. The agreement with the data is therefore achieved without recourse to an ad hoc density evolution.

Description: The role of local particle injections and accelerations in determining energetic particle spectra used as an indication of the radial diffusion of trapped magnetospheric particles is assessed. An idealized one-dimensional steady-state model of magnetospheric radial transport in which diffusion is balanced against particle sources and sinks is used to illustrate the effects of particle injection at a point and over a band of radii in which the observation point is immersed in particle spectra. For an injection spectrum uniformly distributed in space and a step function in energy, it is shown that the energy dependence of the measured spectrum is determined not only by adiabatic energization of the input spectrum but by the spatial structure of the injection and the radial dependence of the diffusion coefficient as well. The relevance of the results for observations of particle spectra in the terrestrial and Jovian magnetospheres is also considered

Description: The identification of the 114,221-MHz line in the spectrum of the evolved carbon star IRC +10216 with a blend of the rotational transition of C4H and the first rotational transition of vibrationally excited CO is investigated. A spectrum of the source was obtained using an 11-m telescope in the range covering the N = 12 to 11 and 11 to 10 spin-doublet rotational transitions of C4H. Two peaks of equal intensity and width are found in each band, suggesting a spin rotation constant of 1.06 for the 12 to 11 doublet and 1.09 for the 11 to 10 doublet, and excluding the possibility that vibrationally excited CO made any contribution to the 12 to 11 doublet. An additional survey of the regions from 103.8 to 107.5 and 113.3 to 117.0 GHz has revealed no new lines stronger than 0.1 K in the spectrum of IRC +10216.