Thunderstorms Producing Sferic-Geolocated Gamma-Ray Flashes Detected by TETRA-II

The terrestrial gamma-ray flash (TGF) and Energetic Thunderstorm Rooftop Array (TETRA-II) detected 22 X-ray/gamma-ray flash events associated with lightning between October 2015 and March 2019 across three ground-based detector locations in subtropical and tropical climates in Louisiana, Puerto Rico, and Panama. Each detector array consists of a set of bismuth germanate scintillators that record X-ray and gamma-ray bursts over the energy range 50 keV–6 MeV (million electron volts). TETRA-II events have characteristics similar to both X-ray bursts associated with lightning leaders and TGFs: sub-millisecond duration, photons up to MeV energies, and association with nearby lightning (typically within 3 km). About 20 of the 22 events are geolocated to individual lightning strokes via spatiotemporally coincident sferics. An examination of radar reflectivity and derived products related to events located within the Next Generation Weather Radar (NEXRAD) monitoring region indicates that events occur within mature cells of severe and non-severe multicellular and squall line thunderstorms, with core echo tops which are at or nearing peak altitude. Events occur in both high lightning frequency thunderstorm cells and low lightning frequency cells. Events associated with high frequency cells occur within 5 min of significant lightning jumps. Among NEXRAD-monitored events, hail is present within 8 km and 5 min of all except a single low-altitude cold weather thunderstorm. An association is seen with maximum thunderstorm development, lightning jumps, and hail cells, indicating that the TETRA-II X-ray/gamma-ray events are associated with the peak storm electrification and development of electric fields necessary for the acceleration of electrons to high energies

Extending the Lorentz factor range and sensitivity of transition radiation with compound radiators

Transition radiation detectors (TRDs) have been used to identify high-energy particles (in particular, to separate electrons from heavier particles) in accelerator experiments. In space, they have been used to identify cosmic-ray electrons and measure the energies of cosmic-ray nuclei. To date, radiators have consisted of regular configurations of foils with fixed values of foil thickness and spacing (or foam or fiber radiators with comparable average dimensions) that have operated over a relatively restricted range of Lorentz factors. In order to extend the applicability of future TRDs (for example, to identify 0.5 - 3 TeV pions, kaons, and protons in the far forward region in a future accelerator experiment or to measure the energy spectrum of cosmic-ray nuclei up to 20 TeV/nucleon or higher), there is a need to increase the signal strength and extend the range of Lorentz factors that can be measured in a single detector. A possible approach is to utilize compound radiators consisting of varying radiator parameters. We discuss the case of a compound radiator and derive the yield produced in a TRD with an arbitrary configuration of foil thicknesses and spacings.Comment: To be published, Nucl. Instrum. Meth. in Phys. Research A (2022

Multipoint Detection of GRB221009A’s Propagation through the Heliosphere

We present the results of processing the effects of the powerful gamma-ray burst GRB221009A captured by the charged particle detectors (electrostatic analyzers and solid-state detectors) on board spacecraft at different points in the heliosphere on 2022 October 9. To follow the GRB221009A propagation through the heliosphere, we used the electron and proton flux measurements from solar missions Solar Orbiter and STEREO-A; Earth’s magnetosphere and solar wind missions THEMIS and Wind; meteorological satellites POES15, POES19, and MetOp3; and MAVEN—a NASA mission orbiting Mars. GRB221009A had a structure of four bursts: the less intense Pulse 1—the triggering impulse—was detected by gamma-ray observatories at T _0 = 13:16:59 UT (near the Earth); the most intense Pulses 2 and 3 were detected on board all the spacecraft from the list; and Pulse 4 was detected in more than 500 s after Pulse 1. Due to their different scientific objectives, the spacecraft, whose data were used in this study, were separated by more than 1 au (Solar Orbiter and MAVEN). This enabled the tracking of GRB221009A as it was propagating across the heliosphere. STEREO-A was the first to register Pulse 2 and 3 of the GRB, almost 100 s before their detection by spacecraft in the vicinity of Earth. MAVEN detected GRB221009A Pulses 2, 3, and 4 at the orbit of Mars about 237 s after their detection near Earth. By processing the observed time delays, we show that the source location of the GRB221009A was at R.A. 288.°5, decl. 18.°5 ± 2° (J2000)