Solar Influence on Nuclear Decay Rates: Constraints from the MESSENGER Mission

Details Solar Influence on Nuclear Decay Rates: Constraints from the MESSENGER Mission Solar Influence on Nuclear Decay Rates: Constraints from the MESSENGER Mission

2011-07-20

arxiv.org/abs/1107.4074v2

Astrophysics and Space Science, 2012. 337(1): p. 39-45

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

Solar and Stellar Astrophysics

Accepted for publication in Astrophysics and Space Science, 2011. 7 pages, 5 figures. Version 2 has corrected Figure 1, since

Scientific paper

10.1007/s10509-011-0808-5

We have analyzed Cs-137 decay data, obtained from a small sample onboard the MESSENGER spacecraft en route to Mercury, with the aim of setting limits on a possible correlation between nuclear decay rates and solar activity. Such a correlation has been suggested recently on the basis of data from Mn-54 decay during the solar flare of 13 December 2006, and by indications of an annual and other periodic variations in the decay rates of Si-32, Cl-36, and Ra-226. Data from five measurements of the Cs-137 count rate over a period of approximately 5.4 years have been fit to a formula which accounts for the usual exponential decrease in count rate over time, along with the addition of a theoretical solar contribution varying with MESSENGER-Sun separation. The indication of solar influence is then characterized by a non-zero value of the calculated parameter \xi, and we find \xi=(2.8+/-8.1)x10^{-3} for Cs-137. A simulation of the increased data that can hypothetically be expected following Mercury orbit insertion on 18 March 2011 suggests that the anticipated improvement in the determination of \xi could reveal a non-zero value of \xi if present at a level consistent with other data.

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