scholarly journals The Ulysses fast latitude scans: COSPIN/KET results

2003 ◽  
Vol 21 (6) ◽  
pp. 1275-1288 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Heber ◽  
G. Sarri ◽  
G. Wibberenz ◽  
C. Paizis ◽  
P. Ferrando ◽  
...  

Abstract. Ulysses, launched in October 1990, began its second out-of-ecliptic orbit in December 1997, and its second fast latitude scan in September 2000. In contrast to the first fast latitude scan in 1994/1995, during the second fast latitude scan solar activity was close to maximum. The solar magnetic field reversed its polarity around July 2000. While the first latitude scan mainly gave a snapshot of the spatial distribution of galactic cosmic rays, the second one is dominated by temporal variations. Solar particle increases are observed at all heliographic latitudes, including events that produce >250 MeV protons and 50 MeV electrons. Using observations from the University of Chicago’s instrument on board IMP8 at Earth, we find that most solar particle events are observed at both high and low latitudes, indicating either acceleration of these particles over a broad latitude range or an efficient latitudinal transport. The latter is supported by "quiet time" variations in the MeV electron background, if interpreted as Jovian electrons. No latitudinal gradient was found for >106 MeV galactic cosmic ray protons, during the solar maximum fast latitude scan. The electron to proton ratio remains constant and has practically the same value as in the previous solar maximum. Both results indicate that drift is of minor importance. It was expected that, with the reversal of the solar magnetic field and in the declining phase of the solar cycle, this ratio should increase. This was, however, not observed, probably because the transition to the new magnetic cycle was not completely terminated within the heliosphere, as indicated by the Ulysses magnetic field and solar wind measurements. We argue that the new A<0-solar magnetic modulation epoch will establish itself once both polar coronal holes have developed.Key words. Interplanetary physics (cosmic rays; energetic particles; interplanetary magnetic fields)

2003 ◽  
Vol 21 (6) ◽  
pp. 1295-1302 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. V. Belov ◽  
E. A. Eroshenko ◽  
B. Heber ◽  
V. G. Yanke ◽  
A. Raviart ◽  
...  

Abstract. Ulysses, launched in October 1990, began its second out-of-ecliptic orbit in September 1997. In 2000/2001 the spacecraft passed from the south to the north polar regions of the Sun in the inner heliosphere. In contrast to the first rapid pole to pole passage in 1994/1995 close to solar minimum, Ulysses experiences now solar maximum conditions. The Kiel Electron Telescope (KET) measures also protons and alpha-particles in the energy range from 5 MeV/n to >2 GeV/n. To derive radial and latitudinal gradients for >2 GeV/n protons and alpha-particles, data from the Chicago instrument on board IMP-8 and the neutron monitor network have been used to determine the corresponding time profiles at Earth. We obtain a spatial distribution at solar maximum which differs greatly from the solar minimum distribution. A steady-state approximation, which was characterized by a small radial and significant latitudinal gradient at solar minimum, was interchanged with a highly variable one with a large radial and a small – consistent with zero – latitudinal gradient. A significant deviation from a spherically symmetric cosmic ray distribution following the reversal of the solar magnetic field in 2000/2001 has not been observed yet. A small deviation has only been observed at northern polar regions, showing an excess of particles instead of the expected depression. This indicates that the reconfiguration of the heliospheric magnetic field, caused by the reappearance of the northern polar coronal hole, starts dominating the modulation of galactic cosmic rays already at solar maximum.Key words. Interplanetary physics (cosmic rays; energetic particles) – Space plasma physics (charged particle motion and acceleration)


2002 ◽  
Vol 20 (8) ◽  
pp. 1247-1252 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Struminsky

Abstract. Strong interplanetary disturbances may affect cosmic ray protons tremendously with energies less than 1 GeV, increasing their intensity by hundreds of percents, but they are not so effective for protons of higher energies. This energy limit is crucial to understand processes of cosmic ray propagation and acceleration in the heliosphere. The Forbush pre-increase and the effect of shock-associated particles observed on 20 October 1989 illustrate the problem. This is a rare event, when the energies of shock-associated particles measured by the GOES-7 satellite spread continuously to the neutron monitor energies. The Forbush pre-increase could be attributed to a single reflection of galactic cosmic rays from the magnetic wall observed at 12:00 UT. It had a very hard spectrum with maximum energy of modulation more than 10 GeV. The spectrum of shock-associated particles was soft and their maximum energy was less than 1 GeV. The problem of shock acceleration versus trapping is discussed for the 20 October 1989 event. It is argued that the shock-associated particles were accelerated near the flare site and then propagated to the Earth inside the trap between two magnetic walls at 12:00 UT and 17:00 UT.Key words. Interplanetary physics (cosmic rays; energetic particles; interplanetary magnetic fields)


2004 ◽  
Vol 22 (12) ◽  
pp. 4381-4395 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Rouillard ◽  
M. Lockwood

Abstract. An understanding of how the heliosphere modulates galactic cosmic ray (GCR) fluxes and spectra is important, not only for studies of their origin, acceleration and propagation in our galaxy, but also for predicting their effects (on technology and on the Earth's environment and organisms) and for interpreting abundances of cosmogenic isotopes in meteorites and terrestrial reservoirs. In contrast to the early interplanetary measurements, there is growing evidence for a dominant role in GCR shielding of the total open magnetic flux, which emerges from the solar atmosphere and enters the heliosphere. In this paper, we relate a strong 1.68-year oscillation in GCR fluxes to a corresponding oscillation in the open solar magnetic flux and infer cosmic-ray propagation paths confirming the predictions of theories in which drift is important in modulating the cosmic ray flux. Key words. Interplanetary physics (Cosmic rays, Interplanetary magnetic fields)


1994 ◽  
Vol 142 ◽  
pp. 567-576
Author(s):  
Wolfgang Dröge

AbstractNew developments in the understanding of the interplanetary transport of solar cosmic rays are reviewed. Based on carefully analyzed solar particle events observed on the Helios and ISEE 3 spacecraft, the relation of transport parameters to the structure of the interplanetary magnetic field is discussed. Special emphasis is given to a comparison of particle mean free paths determined from fits to intensity and anisotropy profiles with theoretical predictions derived from magnetic field spectra measured at the time of the solar particle event. Different aspects of the turbulence and wave models for the magnetic fluctuations are considered, including the effects resulting from the finite temperature of the plasma and of resonance broadening. It is found that a modified quasi-linear theory of particle scattering taking into account the effects of plasma waves propagating with respect to the average solar wind flow and the proper treatment of the dispersion relation at high wavenumber gives results which are in several cases in good agreement with particle observations in the interplanetary medium between 0.3 and 1 AU, indicating that quasi-linear theory is probably a good approximation to a full theory of solar particle transport. This has important implications for other astrophysical problems where quasi-linear theory is often used, such as the propagation and acceleration of Galactic cosmic rays and particle acceleration at shock waves.Subject headings: acceleration of particles — cosmic rays — interplanetary medium — MHD — solar wind — Sun: particle emission


Galaxies ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 48 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter L. Biermann ◽  
Philipp P. Kronberg ◽  
Michael L. Allen ◽  
Athina Meli ◽  
Eun-Suk Seo

We propose that the high energy Cosmic Ray particles up to the upturn commonly called the ankle, from around the spectral turn-down commonly called the knee, mostly come from Blue Supergiant star explosions. At the upturn, i.e., the ankle, Cosmic Rays probably switch to another source class, most likely extragalactic sources. To show this we recently compiled a set of Radio Supernova data where we compute the magnetic field, shock speed and shock radius. This list included both Blue and Red Supergiant star explosions; both data show the same magnetic field strength for these two classes of stars despite very different wind densities and velocities. Using particle acceleration theory at shocks, those numbers can be transformed into characteristic ankle and knee energies. Without adjusting any free parameters both of these observed energies are directly indicated by the supernova data. In the next step in the argument, we use the Supernova Remnant data of the starburst galaxy M82. We apply this analysis to Blue Supergiant star explosions: The shock will race to their outer edge with a magnetic field that is observed to follow over several orders of magnitude B ( r ) × r ∼ c o n s t . , with in fact the same magnetic field strength for such stellar explosions in our Galaxy, and other galaxies including M82. The speed is observed to be ∼0.1 c out to about 10 16 cm radius in the plasma wind. The Supernova shock can run through the entire magnetic plasma wind region at full speed all the way out to the wind-shell, which is of order parsec scale in M82. We compare and identify the Cosmic Ray spectrum in other galaxies, in the starburst galaxy M82 and in our Galaxy with each other; we suggest how Blue Supergiant star explosions can provide the Cosmic Ray particles across the knee and up to the ankle energy range. The data from the ISS-CREAM (Cosmic Ray Energetics and Mass Experiment at the International Space Station) mission will test this cosmic ray concept which is reasonably well grounded in two independent radio supernova data sets. The next step in developing our understanding will be to obtain future more accurate Cosmic Ray data near to the knee, and to use unstable isotopes of Cosmic Ray nuclei at high energy to probe the “piston” driving the explosion. We plan to incorporate these data with the physics of the budding black hole which is probably forming in each of these stars.


2003 ◽  
Vol 21 (6) ◽  
pp. 1347-1357 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Riley ◽  
Z. Mikić ◽  
J. A. Linker

Abstract. In this study we describe a series of MHD simulations covering the time period from 12 January 1999 to 19 September 2001 (Carrington Rotation 1945 to 1980). This interval coincided with: (1) the Sun’s approach toward solar maximum; and (2) Ulysses’ second descent to the southern polar regions, rapid latitude scan, and arrival into the northern polar regions. We focus on the evolution of several key parameters during this time, including the photospheric magnetic field, the computed coronal hole boundaries, the computed velocity profile near the Sun, and the plasma and magnetic field parameters at the location of Ulysses. The model results provide a global context for interpreting the often complex in situ measurements. We also present a heuristic explanation of stream dynamics to describe the morphology of interaction regions at solar maximum and contrast it with the picture that resulted from Ulysses’ first orbit, which occurred during more quiescent solar conditions. The simulation results described here are available at: http://sun.saic.com.Key words. Interplanetary physics (Interplanetary magnetic fields; solar wind plasma; sources of the solar wind)


2020 ◽  
Vol 633 ◽  
pp. A83
Author(s):  
J. Becker Tjus ◽  
P. Desiati ◽  
N. Döpper ◽  
H. Fichtner ◽  
J. Kleimann ◽  
...  

The cosmic-ray Sun shadow, which is caused by high-energy charged cosmic rays being blocked and deflected by the Sun and its magnetic field, has been observed by various experiments, such as Argo-YBJ, Tibet, HAWC, and IceCube. Most notably, the shadow’s size and depth was recently shown to correlate with the 11-year solar cycle. The interpretation of such measurements, which help to bridge the gap between solar physics and high-energy particle astrophysics, requires a solid theoretical understanding of cosmic-ray propagation in the coronal magnetic field. It is the aim of this paper to establish theoretical predictions for the cosmic-ray Sun shadow in order to identify observables that can be used to study this link in more detail. To determine the cosmic-ray Sun shadow, we numerically compute trajectories of charged cosmic rays in the energy range of 5−316 TeV for five different mass numbers. We present and analyze the resulting shadow images for protons and iron, as well as for typically measured cosmic-ray compositions. We confirm the observationally established correlation between the magnitude of the shadowing effect and both the mean sunspot number and the polarity of the magnetic field during the solar cycle. We also show that during low solar activity, the Sun’s shadow behaves similarly to that of a dipole, for which we find a non-monotonous dependence on energy. In particular, the shadow can become significantly more pronounced than the geometrical disk expected for a totally unmagnetized Sun. For times of high solar activity, we instead predict the shadow to depend monotonously on energy and to be generally weaker than the geometrical shadow for all tested energies. These effects should become visible in energy-resolved measurements of the Sun shadow, and may in the future become an independent measure for the level of disorder in the solar magnetic field.


2007 ◽  
Vol 124 (4) ◽  
pp. 289-318 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Takada ◽  
B. J. Lewis ◽  
M. Boudreau ◽  
H. Al Anid ◽  
L. G. I. Bennett

2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (S335) ◽  
pp. 69-74
Author(s):  
A. Dal Lago ◽  
C. R. Braga ◽  
R. R. S. de Mendonca ◽  
M. Rockenbach ◽  
E. Echer ◽  
...  

AbstractThe Global Muon Detector Network (GMDN) is composed by four ground cosmic ray detectors distributed around the Earth: Nagoya (Japan), Hobart (Australia), Sao Martinho da Serra (Brazil) and Kuwait city (Kuwait). The network has operated since March 2006. It has been upgraded a few times, increasing its detection area. Each detector is sensitive to muons produced by the interactions of ~50 GeV Galactic Cosmic Rays (GCR) with the Earth′s atmosphere. At these energies, GCR are known to be affected by interplanetary disturbances in the vicinity of the earth. Of special interest are the interplanetary counterparts of coronal mass ejections (ICMEs) and their driven shocks because they are known to be the main origins of geomagnetic storms. It has been observed that these ICMEs produce changes in the cosmic ray gradient, which can be measured by GMDN observations. In terms of applications for space weather, some attempts have been made to use GMDN for forecasting ICME arrival at the earth with lead times of the order of few hours. Scientific space weather studies benefit the most from the GMDN network. As an example, studies have been able to determine ICME orientation at the earth using cosmic ray gradient. Such determinations are of crucial importance for southward interplanetary magnetic field estimates, as well as ICME rotation.


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