ECCO: The extremely heavy cosmic ray composition observer

Other

Scientific paper

Rate now

  [ 0.00 ] – not rated yet Voters 0   Comments 0

Details

Spaceborne And Space Research Instruments, Apparatus, And Components, Neutrino, Muon, Pion, And Other Elementary Particles, Cosmic Rays, Cosmic Ray Nucleosynthesis, Cosmic Rays

Scientific paper

Interstellar space is filled with a gas of highly energetic ions and electrons, the galactic cosmic rays. These mysterious particles move at nearly the speed of light; despite decades of research, their origin remains unknown. Measurements of the abundances of the heaviest elements in the galactic cosmic rays, made using the Trek detector onboard Mir, are in dramatic disagreement with the most widely-held ideas about the origin of the galactic cosmic rays. Building on the successful design of Trek, we plan to design and construct ECCO, a large array of BP-1 glass track-etch detectors which would be deployed on the International Space Station. ECCO, the Extremely Heavy Cosmic Ray Composition Observer, would have sufficient charge resolution and collecting power to accurately measure the abundances of the very rare actinides (Th, U, Pu, Cm) with respect to each other and with respect to the platinum-group elements. These abundance measurements will strongly distinguish between remaining models of GCR origin. Further, if, as many expect, the GCR nuclei are younger than ~10 My, ECCO will measure for the first time the primary actinide nucleosynthetic yields, which are important but unknown parameters in calculations of the age of our galaxy using the actinides as clocks. ECCO would also carry out the most sensitive search to date in the GCRs for the long-sought superheavy elements. Elsewhere, we have described the scientific goals of ECCO; here we describe the mechanical design of ECCO and present options for EVA and EVR deployment on ISS. .

No associations

LandOfFree

Say what you really think

Search LandOfFree.com for scientists and scientific papers. Rate them and share your experience with other people.

Rating

ECCO: The extremely heavy cosmic ray composition observer does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with ECCO: The extremely heavy cosmic ray composition observer, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and ECCO: The extremely heavy cosmic ray composition observer will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

     

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1252414

  Search
All data on this website is collected from public sources. Our data reflects the most accurate information available at the time of publication.