The isotopic composition of cosmic ray chlorine

The isotopic composition of galactic cosmic ray chlorine (approx. = 225 MeV/amu) has been studied using the high energy cosmic ray experiment on the International Sun Earth Explorer 3 (ISEE-3) spacecraft. The abundances of 35C1 and 37C1 are found to be consistent with the secondary production expected from a propagation model developed to account for both light and subiron secondaries. An upper limit on the abundance of the radioactive isotope 36C1 (halflife approx. = 0.3 Myr) is used to set a lower limit on the confinement time of cosmic rays of approximately 1 Myr

Multiple Scattering Effects in de/dx-E Instruments for Isotopic Composition Studies

The development of cosmic ray telescopes to separate individual isotopes of heavy elements using the dE/dx-vs.-E technique depends on the incorporation of precise trajectory sensing elements into these systems. In typical implementations the particle trajectory is derived from a set of position measurements made prior to a particle's entering the first energy loss detector. The use of the trajectory obtained in this way to correct energy loss signals for the actual pathlengths through the detectors depends on the assumption that the particle trajectory is a straight line. In order to resolve iron isotopes the angles of incidence, theta the particle track must be known rather accurately

Energy spectra of 3He-rich solar energetic particles associated with coronal waves

In addition to their anomalous abundances, 3He-rich solar energetic particles (SEPs) show puzzling energy spectral shapes varying from rounded forms to power laws where the later are characteristics of shock acceleration. Solar sources of these particles have been often associated with jets and narrow CMEs, which are the signatures of magnetic reconnection involving open field. Recent reports on new associations with large-scale EUV waves bring new insights on acceleration and transport of 3He-rich SEPs in the corona. We examined energy spectra for 32 3He-rich SEP events observed by ACE at L1 near solar minimum in 2007-2010 and compared the spectral shapes with solar flare signatures obtained from STEREO EUV images. We found the events with jets or brightenings tend to be associated with rounded spectra and the events with coronal waves with power laws. This suggests that coronal waves may be related to the unknown second stage mechanism commonly used to interpret spectral forms of 3He-rich SEPs.Comment: Presented at 15th Annual International Astrophysics Conference "The Science of Ed Stone". Accepted for publication in Journal of Physics: Conference Serie

Elemental and isotopic composition measurements of galactic cosmic rays

Measurements of the relative abundances of elements and their isotopes in galactic cosmic rays, which include both stable and long lived radioactive species, have led to a variety of insights into the nature of the cosmic ray source, the mechanisms involved in accelerating particles to high energies, and characteristics of their transport in the Galaxy. Some key developments that have contributed to the present understanding of cosmic rays are summarized

Association of 3He-Rich Solar Energetic Particles with Large-Scale Coronal Waves

Small 3He-rich solar energetic particle (SEP) events have been commonly associated with extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) jets and narrow coronal mass ejections (CMEs) which are believed to be the signatures of magnetic reconnection involving field lines open to interplanetary space. The elemental and isotopic fractionation in these events are thought to be caused by processes confined to the flare sites. In this study we identify 32 3He-rich SEP events observed by the Advanced Composition Explorer near the Earth during the solar minimum period 2007-2010 and examine their solar sources with the high resolution Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) EUV images. Leading the Earth, STEREO-A provided for the first time a direct view on 3He-rich flares, which are generally located on the Sun's western hemisphere. Surprisingly, we find that about half of the 3He-rich SEP events in this survey are associated with large-scale EUV coronal waves. An examination of the wave front propagation, the source-flare distribution and the coronal magnetic field connections suggests that the EUV waves may affect the injection of 3He-rich SEPs into interplanetary space.Comment: accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journa

Fe- and C-self-diffusion in liquid Fe(3)c to 15 GPa

Iron- and C-self diffusion have been measured in Fe3C composition liquids at 8 and 15 GPa. Diffusivities fall within the range of values for molten metals and scale inversely to the atomic radius of each species. This supports models such as the Stokes-Einstein relation and the free volume model which relate transport properties to the atomic radius. Along the melting curve, diffusivity is predicted to be constant and we tentatively predict outer core diffusivities at the inner core boundary of 5x10(-9) m(2) s(-1) and 7x10(-9) m(2) s(-1) for iron and carbon, respectively. This would correspond to a viscosity of around 15 mPas

Composition Measurements from ISEE-3: Fluorine through Calcium

Spacecraft measurements are reported of the elemental composition of galactic cosmic rays with 9 ≤ Z ≤ 5 ~20 at energies ~220 MeV /nucleon. In addition, for the elements with 16 ≤ Z ≤ 20 isotopic composition results are reported. The measured composition is found to be in generally good agreement with that expected from a propagated solar-like source