Testing of models of VVH particle sources and propagation

For comparisons between theoretical and observed charge spectra of the VVH particles to be meaningful, at least two conditions must be met. First, charge resolution must be adequate to separate important groups of nuclei, and there should be no significant systematic errors in the charge scale developed. Second, there must be adequate rejection of slower particles of smaller Z, which have been observed in several flights. Within these conditions, it has been shown that observed features of the charge spectrum are not accidents of the analysis but reflect real variations in the relative abundances that must be explained by any successful model

The origin and propagation of VVH primary cosmic ray particles

Several source spectra were constructed from combinations of 4- and s-process nuclei to match the observed charge spectrum of VVH particles. Their propagation was then followed, allowing for interactions and decay, and comparisons were made between the calculated near-earth spectra and those observed during high altitude balloon flights. None of the models gave good agreement with observations

Primary cosmic ray particles with z 35 (VVH particles)

Large areas of nuclear emulsions and plastic detectors were exposed to the primary cosmic radiation during high altitude balloon flights. From the analysis of 141 particle tracks recorded during a total exposure of 1.3 x 10 to the 7th power sq m ster.sec., a charge spectrum of the VVH particles has been derived