In this paper, we present the measurement of the energy spectra of carbon and oxygen in cosmic rays based on observations with the Calorimetric Electron Telescope on the International Space Station ...from October 2015 to October 2019. Analysis, including the detailed assessment of systematic uncertainties, and results are reported. The energy spectra are measured in kinetic energy per nucleon from 10 GeV/n to 2.2 TeV/n with an all-calorimetric instrument with a total thickness corresponding to 1.3 nuclear interaction length. The observed carbon and oxygen fluxes show a spectral index change of ∼0.15 around 200 GeV/n established with a significance > 3σ. They have the same energy dependence with a constant C/O flux ratio 0.911 ± 0.006 above 25 GeV/n. The spectral hardening is consistent with that measured by AMS-02, but the absolute normalization of the flux is about 27% lower, though in agreement with observations from previous experiments including the PAMELA spectrometer and the calorimetric balloon-borne experiment CREAM.
Energetic electrons of Jovian origin have been observed for decades throughout the heliosphere, as far as 11 astronomical units (au), and as close as 0.5 au, from the Sun. The treatment of Jupiter as ...a continuously emitting point source of energetic electrons has made Jovian electrons a valuable tool in the study of energetic electron transport within the heliosphere. We present observations of Jovian electrons measured by the EPI-Hi instrument in the Integrated Science Investigation of the Sun (IS ʘ IS) instrument suite on Parker Solar Probe at distances within 0.5 au of the Sun. These are the closest measurements of Jovian electrons to the Sun, providing a new opportunity to study the propagation and transport of energetic electrons to the inner heliosphere. We also find periods of nominal connection between the spacecraft and Jupiter in which expected Jovian electron enhancements are absent. Several explanations for these absent events are explored, including stream interaction regions (SIRs) between Jupiter and Parker Solar Probe and the spacecraft lying on the opposite side of the heliospheric current sheet from Jupiter, both of which could impede the flow of the electrons. These observations provide an opportunity to gain a greater insight into electron transport through a previously unexplored region of the inner heliosphere.
Context.
A complex and long-lasting solar eruption on 17 April 2021 produced a widespread solar energetic particle (SEP) event that was observed by five longitudinally well-separated observers in the ...inner heliosphere that covered distances to the Sun from 0.42 to 1 au: BepiColombo, Parker Solar Probe, Solar Orbiter, STEREO A, and near-Earth spacecraft. The event was the second widespread SEP event detected in solar cycle 25, and it produced relativistic electrons and protons. It was associated with a long-lasting solar hard X-ray flare that showed multiple hard X-ray peaks over a duration of one hour. The event was further accompanied by a medium-fast coronal mass ejection (CME) with a speed of 880 km s
−1
that drove a shock, an extreme ultraviolet wave, and long-lasting and complex radio burst activity that showed four distinct type III burst groups over a period of 40 min.
Aims.
We aim to understand the reason for the wide spread of elevated SEP intensities in the inner heliosphere as well as identify the underlying source regions of the observed energetic electrons and protons.
Methods.
We applied a comprehensive multi-spacecraft analysis of remote-sensing observations and in situ measurements of the energetic particles and interplanetary context to attribute the SEP observations at the different locations to the various potential source regions at the Sun. We used an ENLIL simulation to characterize the complex interplanetary state and its role in the energetic particle transport. The magnetic connection between each spacecraft and the Sun was determined using ballistic backmapping in combination with potential field source surface extrapolations in the lower corona. Using also a reconstruction of the coronal shock front, we then determined the times when the shock establishes magnetic connections with the different observers. Radio observations were used to characterize the directivity of the four main injection episodes, which were then employed in a 2D SEP transport simulation to test the importance of these different injection episodes.
Results.
A comprehensive timing analysis of the inferred solar injection times of the SEPs observed at each spacecraft suggests different source processes being important for the electron and proton events. Comparison among the characteristics and timing of the potential particle sources, such as the CME-driven shock or the flare, suggests a stronger shock contribution for the proton event and a more likely flare-related source for the electron event.
Conclusions.
In contrast to earlier studies on widespread SEP events, we find that in this event an important ingredient for the wide SEP spread was the wide longitudinal range of about 110° covered by distinct SEP injections, which is also supported by our SEP transport modeling.
The abundance of Li, Be, and B isotopes in galactic cosmic rays (GCRs) between
E
=
50 and 200
MeV/nucleon has been observed by the Cosmic Ray Isotope Spectrometer (CRIS) on NASA’s ACE mission since ...1997 with high statistical accuracy. Precise observations of Li, Be, and B can be used to constrain GCR propagation models. We find that a diffusive reacceleration model with parameters that best match CRIS results (e.g., B/C, Li/C, etc.) are also consistent with other GCR observations. A ∼15–20% overproduction of Li and Be in the model predictions is attributed to uncertainties in the production cross-section data. The latter becomes a significant limitation to the study of rare GCR species that are generated predominantly via spallation.
We present the measurement of the energy dependence of the boron flux in cosmic rays and its ratio to the carbon flux in an energy interval from 8.4 GeV/n to 3.8 TeV/n based on the data collected ...by the Calorimetric Electron Telescope (CALET) during ∼6.4 yr of operation on the International Space Station. An update of the energy spectrum of carbon is also presented with an increase in statistics over our previous measurement. The observed boron flux shows a spectral hardening at the same transition energy E_{0}∼200 GeV/n of the C spectrum, though B and C fluxes have different energy dependences. The spectral index of the B spectrum is found to be γ=-3.047±0.024 in the interval 25<E<200 GeV/n. The B spectrum hardens by Δγ_{B}=0.25±0.12, while the best fit value for the spectral variation of C is Δγ_{C}=0.19±0.03. The B/C flux ratio is compatible with a hardening of 0.09±0.05, though a single power-law energy dependence cannot be ruled out given the current statistical uncertainties. A break in the B/C ratio energy dependence would support the recent AMS-02 observations that secondary cosmic rays exhibit a stronger hardening than primary ones. We also perform a fit to the B/C ratio with a leaky-box model of the cosmic-ray propagation in the Galaxy in order to probe a possible residual value λ_{0} of the mean escape path length λ at high energy. We find that our B/C data are compatible with a nonzero value of λ_{0}, which can be interpreted as the column density of matter that cosmic rays cross within the acceleration region.
The satellite-borne PAMELA experiment has been continuously collecting data since 2006. This apparatus is designed to study charged particles in the cosmic radiation. The combination of a permanent ...magnet, a silicon strip tracker and a silicon-tungsten imaging calorimeter, and the redundancy of instrumentation allow very precise studies on the physics of cosmic rays in a wide energy range and with high statistics. This makes PAMELA a very suitable instrument for Solar Energetic Particle (SEP) observations. Not only does it span the energy range between the ground-based neutron monitor data and the observations of SEPs from space, but PAMELA also carries out the first direct measurements of the composition for the highest energy SEP events, including those causing Ground Level Enhancements (GLEs). In particular, PAMELA has registered many SEP events during solar cycle 24, offering unique opportunities to address the question of high-energy SEP origin. A preliminary analysis on proton spectra behaviour during this event is presented in this work.
We present the results of a direct measurement of the cosmic-ray helium spectrum with the CALET instrument in operation on the International Space Station since 2015. The observation period covered ...by this analysis spans from October 13, 2015, to April 30, 2022 (2392 days). The very wide dynamic range of CALET allowed for the collection of helium data over a large energy interval, from ∼40 GeV to ∼250 TeV, for the first time with a single instrument in low Earth orbit. The measured spectrum shows evidence of a deviation of the flux from a single power law by more than 8σ with a progressive spectral hardening from a few hundred GeV to a few tens of TeV. This result is consistent with the data reported by space instruments including PAMELA, AMS-02, and DAMPE and balloon instruments including CREAM. At higher energy we report the onset of a softening of the helium spectrum around 30 TeV (total kinetic energy). Though affected by large uncertainties in the highest energy bins, the observation of a flux reduction turns out to be consistent with the most recent results of DAMPE. A double broken power law is found to fit simultaneously both spectral features: the hardening (at lower energy) and the softening (at higher energy). A measurement of the proton to helium flux ratio in the energy range from 60 GeV/n to about 60 TeV/n is also presented, using the CALET proton flux recently updated with higher statistics.
Iron-60 (⁶⁰Fe) is a radioactive isotope in cosmic rays that serves as a clock to infer an upper limit on the time between nucleosynthesis and acceleration. We have used the ACE-CRIS instrument to ...collect 3.55 × 10⁵ iron nuclei, with energies ~195 to ~500 mega–electron volts per nucleon, of which we identify 15 ⁶⁰Fe nuclei. The ⁶⁰Fe/⁵⁶Fe source ratio is (7.5 ± 2.9) × 10⁻⁵. The detection of supernova-produced ⁶⁰Fe in cosmic rays implies that the time required for acceleration and transport to Earth does not greatly exceed the ⁶⁰Fe half-life of 2.6 million years and that the ⁶⁰Fe source distance does not greatly exceed the distance cosmic rays can diffuse over this time, ⪍1 kiloparsec. A natural place for ⁶⁰Fe origin is in nearby clusters of massive stars.
The PAMELA satellite experiment is providing comprehensive observations of the interplanetary and magnetospheric radiation in the near-Earth environment. Thanks to its identification capabilities and ...the semi-polar orbit, PAMELA is able to precisely measure the energetic spectra and the angular distributions of the different cosmic-ray populations over a wide latitude region, including geomagnetically trapped and albedo particles. Its observations comprise the solar energetic particle events between solar cycles 23 and 24, and the geomagnetic cutoff variations during magnetospheric storms. PAMELA’s measurements are supported by an accurate analysis of particle trajectories in the Earth’s magnetosphere based on a realistic geomagnetic field modeling, which allows the classification of particle populations of different origin and the investigation of the asymptotic directions of arrival.
PDF
