The blazar 1156+295 was active at ...-ray energies, exhibiting three prominent flares during the year 2010. Here, we present results using the combination of broad-band (X-ray through mm single-dish) ...monitoring data and radio-band imaging data at 43 GHz on the connection of ...-ray events to the ejections of superluminal components and other changes in the jet of 1156+295. The kinematics of the jet over the interval 2007.0-2012.5 using 43 GHz Very Long Baseline Array observations reveal the presence of four moving and one stationary component in the inner region of the blazar jet. The propagation of the third and fourth components in the jet corresponds closely in time to the active phase of the source in ...-rays. We briefly discuss the implications of the structural changes in the jet for the mechanism of ...-ray production during bright flares. To localize the ...-ray emission site in the blazar, we performed the correlation analysis between the 43. GHz radio core and the ...-ray light curve. The time lag obtained from the correlation constrains the ...-ray emitting region in the parsec-scale jet. (ProQuest: ... denotes formulae/symbols omitted.)
We present multi-wavelength studies of the radio galaxy 3C 120 and the blazar CTA 102 during unprecedented γ-ray flares for both sources. In both studies the analysis of γ-ray data has been compared ...with a series of 43 GHz VLBA images from the VLBA-BU-BLAZAR program, providing the necessary spatial resolution to probe the parsec scale jet evolution during the high energy events. To extend the radio dataset for 3C 120 we also used 15 GHz VLBA data from the MOJAVE sample. These two objects which represent very different classes of AGN, have similar properties during the γ-ray events. The γ-ray flares are associated with the passage of a new superluminal component through the mm VLBI core, but not all ejections of new components lead to γ-ray events. In both sources γ-ray events occurred only when the new components are moving in a direction closer to our line of sight. We locate the γ-ray dissipation zone a short distance from the radio core but outside of the broad line region, suggesting synchrotron self-Compton scattering as the probable mechanism for the γ-ray production.
Hydrogen/methane mixtures draw attention due to the idea of the injection of hydrogen into natural gas networks and biological production of biohythane by one- and two-step anaerobic ...fermentation/digestion methods. It is hard to extract hydrogen from dilute mixtures with methane by traditional separation processes, since hydrogen is the minor component with low partial pressure. Metal hydrides selectively absorb hydrogen and offer an opportunity to overcome the limitations of traditional separation methods. In the present paper, we present experimental results on the separation of a dilute mixture of hydrogen (10%) with methane in a flow-through metal hydride reactor with inlet mixture pressure of 0.95 MPa by the LaNi4.8Mn0.3Fe0.1 intermetallic compound. Hydrogen was separated in one step with roundtrip (absorption/desorption) recovery of 74%. An exergetic analysis of the metal hydride separation of a binary mixture containing hydrogen was implemented and equations for hydrogen recovery and exergy efficiency of separation are obtained. Thermodynamic analysis shows that the exergy efficiency of the metal hydride purification has a clear maximum at hydrogen concentrations around 5–20%. The advantage of metal hydride purification is the absorption of the minor fraction from the feed, thus it is preferable for dilute mixtures and could be feasible for practical applications. With the use of low potential or waste heat to drive the reaction, it is possible to increase the efficiency of hydrogen purification by metal hydrides. The maximum exergy efficiency is 61% for 0.8 MPa outlet pressure, taking into account the quality of involved heat flows.
•H2 (10%)/CH4 mixture was separated by LaNi4.8Mn0.3Fe0.1 with 74% H2 recovery.•Equations for the exergy efficiency of separation and the hydrogen recovery are obtained.•Exergy efficiency has maximum at H2 concentration 5–20%.•Metal hydride purification has advantage for dilute H2 mixtures.
We present results from monitoring the multi-waveband flux, linear polarization, and parsec-scale structure of the quasar PKS 1510 - 089, concentrating on eight major {gamma}-ray flares that occurred ...during the interval 2009.0-2009.5. The {gamma}-ray peaks were essentially simultaneous with maxima at optical wavelengths, although the flux ratio of the two wave bands varied by an order of magnitude. The optical polarization vector rotated by 720 deg. during a five-day period encompassing six of these flares. This culminated in a very bright, {approx}1 day, optical and {gamma}-ray flare as a bright knot of emission passed through the highest-intensity, stationary feature (the 'core') seen in 43 GHz Very Long Baseline Array images. The knot continued to propagate down the jet at an apparent speed of 22c and emit strongly at {gamma}-ray energies as a months-long X-ray/radio outburst intensified. We interpret these events as the result of the knot following a spiral path through a mainly toroidal magnetic field pattern in the acceleration and collimation zone of the jet, after which it passes through a standing shock in the 43 GHz core and then continues downstream. In this picture, the rapid {gamma}-ray flares result from scattering of infrared seed photons from a relatively slow sheath of the jet as well as from optical synchrotron radiation in the faster spine. The 2006-2009.7 radio and X-ray flux variations are correlated at very high significance; we conclude that the X-rays are mainly from inverse Compton scattering of infrared seed photons by 20-40 MeV electrons.
ABSTRACT
Fermi-Large Area Telescope (LAT) observations provide continuous and regularly sampled measurements of gamma-ray photon flux for hundreds of blazars. Many of these light curves, spanning ...almost 15 yr, have been thoroughly examined for periodicity in multiple studies. However, the possibility that blazars may exhibit irregularly repeating flaring patterns in their gamma-ray light curves has not been systematically explored. In this study, we aim to find repeating episodes of flaring activity in the 100 brightest blazars using Fermi-LAT light curves with various integration times. We use a Bayesian Blocks representation to convert the time series into strings of symbols and search for repeating sub-strings using a fuzzy search algorithm. As a result, we identify 27 repeated episodes in the gamma-ray light curves of 10 blazars. We find that the patterns are most likely produced in structured jets composed of a fast spine and a slower sheath. When individual emission features propagate in the spine, they scatter seed photons produced in the non-uniform sheath through the inverse Compton mechanism, resulting in a set of gamma-ray flares with a similar profile every such passage. Additionally, we explore the theoretically predicted possibility that the spine-sheath structure facilitates the production of high-energy neutrinos in blazar jets. Using the catalogue of track-like events detected by the IceCube neutrino telescope, we find evidence supporting this hypothesis at a 2.8σ significance level.
In the narrative of changing energy production environment, renewable sources of energy provide a fundamental basis for the growth of energy storage technologies. In particular, many settlements in ...Russia and other countries are located outside the centralized grids. With the goal of replacing diesel engines, a pilot project with solar panels produced 30 000 kWh. However, a support of energy storage systems is needed to ensure higher replacement percentage. The present paper introduces the development of a novel kW-scale power production unit that utilizes metal-hydride (MH) energy storage and 1 kW PEM fuel cell (FC). In the effort to enable the technology for autonomous applications, the novel concept of using FC exhaust air for hydrogen desorption process replacing an external heating agent was successfully proved. In the first two experiments, the limitations of the initial stage of the MH reactor were formulated. Warming up speed of the MH reactor was not sufficient to support the necessary hydrogen pressure level output. Third and fourth experiments provide possible solutions to this limitation: (i) higher load on the FC enable satisfactory warm-up speed of the MH reactor, (ii) higher initial pressure of MH reactor charge mitigates an initial pressure drop during the FC startup procedures.
•A 1 kWh hydrogen storage system was designed, developed and tested.•The system utilizes exhaust heat from FC for the desorption process of MH reactor.•The system has 13 st. L/min H2 consumption, 700 st. L storage capacity.•Higher initial pressure of MH reactor charge mitigates a pressure drop during startup.•Higher load on the FC enables satisfactory warm-up speed of the MH reactor.
The metal hydride reactor filled with 5 kg of the AB sub(5)-type (LaFe sub(0.5)Mn sub(0.3)Ni sub(4.8)) alloy was investigated with respect to the hydrogen discharge rates classified using C-rate ...value, which is discharge of the maximum hydrogen capacity 750 st L within 1 h. The reactor cannot be fully discharged with a constant flow rate, for each temperature of hot water and flow rate there exists a moment of crisis at which the hydrogen flow drops under the constant value. The nominal capacity of the reactor reaches 80% of maximum capacity if sufficient heat transfer is provided. The simple balance model of a metal hydride reactor is developed based on the assumption of uniform temperature and pressure inside a metal hydride bed. The model permits to predict behavior of the metal hydride reactor in different operation regimes, quantitative agreement is obtained for low C-rates (less than 4) and sub-critical modes.
Context. Galactic dust emission is polarized at unexpectedly high levels, as revealed by Planck. Aims. The origin of the observed ≃20% polarization fractions can be identified by characterizing the ...properties of optical starlight polarization in a region with maximally polarized dust emission. Methods. We measure the R-band linear polarization of 22 stars in a region with a submillimeter polarization fraction of ≃20%. A subset of 6 stars is also measured in the B, V, and I bands to investigate the wavelength dependence of polarization. Results. We find that starlight is polarized at correspondingly high levels. Through multiband polarimetry we find that the high polarization fractions are unlikely to arise from unusual dust properties, such as enhanced grain alignment. Instead, a favorable magnetic field geometry is the most likely explanation, and is supported by observational probes of the magnetic field morphology. The observed starlight polarization exceeds the classical upper limit of pV/E(B−V)max = 9% mag−1 and is at least as high as 13% mag−1, as inferred from a joint analysis of Planck data, starlight polarization, and reddening measurements. Thus, we confirm that the intrinsic polarizing ability of dust grains at optical wavelengths has long been underestimated.
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