On purported observations of partially ionized galactic cosmic rays

Details On purported observations of partially ionized galactic cosmic rays On purported observations of partially ionized galactic cosmic rays

Jan 1995

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1995apj...438l..83t&link_type=abstract

Astrophysical Journal, Part 2 - Letters (ISSN 0004-637X), vol. 438, no. 2, p. L83-L86

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

5

Astrophysics, Cosmic Rays, Earth (Planet), Interstellar Matter, Iron, Magnetospheres, Particle Acceleration, Atmospheric Effects, Long Duration Exposure Facility, Magnetic Fields, Solar Cycles, Space Shuttle Missions

Scientific paper

Galactic cosmic rays are generally believed to be bare nuclei, fully stripped of all orbital electrons during passage through several g/sq cm of interstellar matter. Over the years there have been numerous reports of so-called 'below-cutoff' Fe-group cosmic rays, with momentum below the minimum required for a fully ionized particle to reach Earth's inner magnetosphere. These reports comprised just a few tens of ions, but stimulated much speculation about partially ionized Galactic cosmic rays, suggesting a nearby source of Galactic cosmic rays. In this Letter we compare these previous reports to new observations of below-cutoff Fe-group ions from passive track detectors exposed for nearly 6 years in low-Earth orbit aboard NASA's Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF) satellite. The LDEF fluxes are only a few percent of the previously reported fluxes. This comparison suggests that the flux of below-cutoff ions must be out of phase with the observed solar-cycle variation of other (nonsolar) cosmic-ray sources and/or must strongly increase with decreasing altitude in low-Earth orbit. Both of these features are inconsistent with the notion of partially ionized Galactic cosmic rays as the source of the observed below-cutoff ions.

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