Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
Jan 1998
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1998fsam.conf..123j&link_type=abstract
From the Sun: Auroras Magnetic Storms, Solar Flares, Cosmic Rays, p. 123
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
3
Cosmic Rays, Atmospheric Ionization, Earth Atmosphere, Electromagnetic Radiation, Energetic Particles, Shock Waves, Space Plasmas, Thermal Energy, Spectra, Abundance, Astrophysics, Cloud Chambers, Diffusivity, Galaxies, Halos, Ionization, Isotopes, Meteorites
Scientific paper
For many years cosmic rays provided the most important source of energetic particles for studies of subatomic physics. Today, cosmic rays are being studied as a natural phenomenon that can tell us much about both the Earth's environment in space and distant astrophysical processes. Cosmic rays are naturally occurring energetic particles-mainly ions- with kinetic energies extending from just above thermal energies to more than 1020 electron volts (eV). They constantly bombarded the Earth from all directions, with more than 10's particles having energies greater than 1 MeV striking the top of the Earth's atmosphere each second. The broad maximum in the spectrum at 108 - 109 eV defines the typical cosmic rays proton having approximately 109 eV. The abundances of certain unstable isotopes in meteorites show that cosmic rays have been present at nearly their current level for hundreds of millions of years. Studies of electromagnetic waves produced by cosmic rays in distant astrophysical sources reveal that they are present throughout the disk and halo of our galaxy and in other galaxies as well. Cosmic rays are now believed to be produced naturally in astrophysical plasmas, nearly all by a process called diffusive shock acceleration, which occurs naturally at collisionless shock waves. Observations of cosmic rays began in the early part of this century when C.TR. Wilson, using his cloud chamber, studied the puzzlingly high level of atmospheric ionization. In 1912, with balloon-borne ionization detectors, Victor Hess showed that this ionization increased with increasing altitude and concluded that radiation was coming from above the atmosphere, a discovery which earned him the Nobel Prize in 1936.
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