scholarly journals The nature of large cosmic-ray bursts

A continuous record of the ionization current produced by cosmic rays in an ionization chamber shows, if the recording apparatus is sufficiently sensitive, occasional relatively large momentary currents superposed on the normal fluctuations. These large momentary currents are generally called “bursts”. They were first discovered by Hoffmann. It has often been assumed that the bursts are of the same nature as the showers which are observed either in the Wilson chamber or by means of three or more coincidence counters; but so far no conclusive evidence, particularly for the larger bursts, has been reported in support of this assumption.

Cosmic ray measurements on mountains are limited in general to altitudes below about 4000 meters. Above this height Regener has made successful use of small balloons carrying self-recording apparatus, and occasional flights have been made with manned balloons by Piccard, Cosyns, and by American workers. Balloon experiments are, however, hardly practicable in this country, so we decided to investigate cosmic rays, and in particular the production of showers, using an aeroplane. Facilities for flying to a height of about 10 km. Were generously provided by the Air Ministry. Apparatus Two independent sets of three tube counters were used in conjunction with the usual coincidence counting circuits. The counters could be arranged in a vertical line to record vertical penetrating particles, or in a triangle to record showers. The triple coincidences were recorded by telephone counters which were photographed at intervals together with a clock and aneroid barometer. The detailed design of the apparatus required some consideration since the aeroplane available (the Vickers Vespa machine used for high altitude experiments at the Royal Aircraft Establishment) had an open observer’s cockpit in which the counting set had to be installed.


1938 ◽  
Vol 16a (2) ◽  
pp. 29-40 ◽  
Author(s):  
Darol K. Froman ◽  
J. C. Stearns

Measurements made with a quadruple-coincidence Geiger-Müller counting system at altitudes of 120 and 14,160 ft. give the intensity, J, of cosmic ray ionizing particles at various zenith angles, ψ. The distribution, J(ψ) = J0e−0.175ψ cos2ψ, does not differ significantly from any measured values, and agrees with all observations within 0.5 and 3.0% of the vertical intensities at the lower and higher altitudes respectively. The total number of rays incident per unit area per unit time was found, and the specific ionization was determined by comparison with ionization chamber measurements. The results are given below.[Formula: see text]† Ionization chamber data from Clay and Jongen (4).* Ionization chamber data from Millikan and Cameron (18).


1968 ◽  
Vol 46 (10) ◽  
pp. S907-S910
Author(s):  
R. B. Salimzibarov ◽  
V. D. Sokolov ◽  
N. G. Skryabin ◽  
V. V. Klimenko ◽  
Yu. G. Shafer

During 1958–66 the flux and mean ionization chamber response of cosmic-ray particles were measured. On the basis of the experimental data the 11-year variations of the flux and of the charge composition of cosmic rays, and the annual variations, have been investigated.


It is recognized that the frequency of cosmic-ray showers, produced in a block of heavy matter and counted by a non-collinear system of tube- counters, increases with altitude more rapidly than the general intensity of the cosmic rays. The shower intensity measured in this way at different altitudes is more nearly proportional to the intensity of the soft, electronic, component of the rays. Experiments with counters do not give direct information on the size of the showers. Experiments made on bursts in an ionization chamber indicate that large bursts increase with altitude more rapidly than small (Montgomery and Montgomery 1935 a ; Young 1937) at least up to an altitude of about 4000 m. The present experiments were undertaken to study the bursts up to an altitude corresponding to 220 mm. Hg (about 9 km.). Facilities for high- altitude flying were generously provided by the Air Ministry, and the apparatus was taken to the required height in an aeroplane.


1970 ◽  
Vol 39 ◽  
pp. 168-183
Author(s):  
E. N. Parker

The topic of this presentation is the origin and dynamical behavior of the magnetic field and cosmic-ray gas in the disk of the Galaxy. In the space available I can do no more than mention the ideas that have been developed, with but little explanation and discussion. To make up for this inadequacy I have tried to give a complete list of references in the written text, so that the interested reader can pursue the points in depth (in particular see the review articles Parker, 1968a, 1969a, 1970). My purpose here is twofold, to outline for you the calculations and ideas that have developed thus far, and to indicate the uncertainties that remain. The basic ideas are sound, I think, but, when we come to the details, there are so many theoretical alternatives that need yet to be explored and so much that is not yet made clear by observations.


2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (9) ◽  
pp. eaax3793 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Q. An ◽  
R. Asfandiyarov ◽  
P. Azzarello ◽  
P. Bernardini ◽  
...  

The precise measurement of the spectrum of protons, the most abundant component of the cosmic radiation, is necessary to understand the source and acceleration of cosmic rays in the Milky Way. This work reports the measurement of the cosmic ray proton fluxes with kinetic energies from 40 GeV to 100 TeV, with 2 1/2 years of data recorded by the DArk Matter Particle Explorer (DAMPE). This is the first time that an experiment directly measures the cosmic ray protons up to ~100 TeV with high statistics. The measured spectrum confirms the spectral hardening at ~300 GeV found by previous experiments and reveals a softening at ~13.6 TeV, with the spectral index changing from ~2.60 to ~2.85. Our result suggests the existence of a new spectral feature of cosmic rays at energies lower than the so-called knee and sheds new light on the origin of Galactic cosmic rays.


2004 ◽  
Vol 218 ◽  
pp. 57-64
Author(s):  
Jacco Vink

The two main aspects of supernova remnant research addressed in this review are: I. What is our understanding of the progenitors of the observed remnants, and what have we learned from these remnants about supernova nucleosynthesis? II. Supernova remnants are probably the major source of cosmic rays. What are the recent advances in the observational aspects of cosmic ray acceleration in supernova remnants?


2019 ◽  
Vol 210 ◽  
pp. 02001
Author(s):  
Sergey Ostapchenko

The differences between contemporary Monte Carlo generators of high energy hadronic interactions are discussed and their impact on the interpretation of experimental data on ultra-high energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) is studied. Key directions for further model improvements are outlined. The prospect for a coherent interpretation of the data in terms of the UHECR composition is investigated.


1968 ◽  
Vol 46 (10) ◽  
pp. S823-S824
Author(s):  
S. N. Vernov ◽  
A. N. Charakhchyan ◽  
T. N. Charakhchyan ◽  
Yu. J. Stozhkov

The results of the analysis of data obtained from measurements carried out by means of regular stratospheric launchings of cosmic-ray radiosondes over the Murmansk region and the Antarctic observatory in Mirny in 1963–66 are presented. The problem of the anisotropy of the primary component of low-energy cosmic rays and of temperature effects on the cosmic-ray intensity in the atmosphere are discussed.


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