259 research outputs found
Two years of flight of the Pamela experiment: results and perspectives
PAMELA is a satellite borne experiment designed to study with great accuracy
cosmic rays of galactic, solar, and trapped nature in a wide energy range
(protons: 80 MeV-700 GeV, electrons 50 MeV-400 GeV). Main objective is the
study of the antimatter component: antiprotons (80 MeV-190 GeV), positrons (50
MeV-270 GeV) and search for antinuclei with a precision of the order of
). The experiment, housed on board the Russian Resurs-DK1 satellite,
was launched on June, 2006 in a orbit with an
inclination of 70 degrees. In this work we describe the scientific objectives
and the performance of PAMELA in its first two years of operation. Data on
protons of trapped, secondary and galactic nature - as well as measurements of
the December 2006 Solar Particle Event - are also provided.Comment: To appear on J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. as part of the proceedings of the
International Workshop on Advances in Cosmic Ray Science March, 17-19, 2008
Waseda University, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japa
A new measurement of the antiproton-to-proton flux ratio up to 100 GeV in the cosmic radiation
A new measurement of the cosmic ray antiproton-to-proton flux ratio between 1
and 100 GeV is presented. The results were obtained with the PAMELA experiment,
which was launched into low-earth orbit on-board the Resurs-DK1 satellite on
June 15th 2006. During 500 days of data collection a total of about 1000
antiprotons have been identified, including 100 above an energy of 20 GeV. The
high-energy results are a ten-fold improvement in statistics with respect to
all previously published data. The data follow the trend expected from
secondary production calculations and significantly constrain contributions
from exotic sources, e.g. dark matter particle annihilations.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures, 1 tabl
Time dependence of the electron and positron components of the cosmic radiation measured by the PAMELA experiment between July 2006 and December 2015
Cosmic-ray electrons and positrons are a unique probe of the propagation of
cosmic rays as well as of the nature and distribution of particle sources in
our Galaxy. Recent measurements of these particles are challenging our basic
understanding of the mechanisms of production, acceleration and propagation of
cosmic rays. Particularly striking are the differences between the low energy
results collected by the space-borne PAMELA and AMS-02 experiments and older
measurements pointing to sign-charge dependence of the solar modulation of
cosmic-ray spectra. The PAMELA experiment has been measuring the time variation
of the positron and electron intensity at Earth from July 2006 to December 2015
covering the period for the minimum of solar cycle 23 (2006-2009) till the
middle of the maximum of solar cycle 24, through the polarity reversal of the
heliospheric magnetic field which took place between 2013 and 2014. The
positron to electron ratio measured in this time period clearly shows a
sign-charge dependence of the solar modulation introduced by particle drifts.
These results provide the first clear and continuous observation of how drift
effects on solar modulation have unfolded with time from solar minimum to solar
maximum and their dependence on the particle rigidity and the cyclic polarity
of the solar magnetic field.Comment: 11 pages, 2 figure
Time dependence of the e^- flux measured by PAMELA during the July 2006 - December 2009 solar minimum
Precision measurements of the electron component in the cosmic radiation
provide important information about the origin and propagation of cosmic rays
in the Galaxy not accessible from the study of the cosmic-ray nuclear
components due to their differing diffusion and energy-loss processes. However,
when measured near Earth, the effects of propagation and modulation of galactic
cosmic rays in the heliosphere, particularly significant for energies up to at
least 30 GeV, must be properly taken into account. In this paper the electron
(e^-) spectra measured by PAMELA down to 70 MeV from July 2006 to December 2009
over six-months time intervals are presented. Fluxes are compared with a
state-of-the-art three-dimensional model of solar modulation that reproduces
the observations remarkably well.Comment: 40 pages, 18 figures, 1 tabl
Geomagnetically trapped, albedo and solar energetic particles: trajectory analysis and flux reconstruction with PAMELA
The PAMELA satellite experiment is providing comprehensive observations of
the interplanetary and magnetospheric radiation in the near-Earth environment.
Thanks to its identification capabilities and the semi-polar orbit, PAMELA is
able to precisely measure the energetic spectra and the angular distributions
of the different cosmic-ray populations over a wide latitude region, including
geomagnetically trapped and albedo particles. Its observations comprise the
solar energetic particle events between solar cycles 23 and 24, and the
geomagnetic cutoff variations during magnetospheric storms. PAMELA's
measurements are supported by an accurate analysis of particle trajectories in
the Earth's magnetosphere based on a realistic geomagnetic field modeling,
which allows the classification of particle populations of different origin and
the investigation of the asymptotic directions of arrival.Comment: Accepted for publication in Advances in Space Research, 2016. 21
pages, 7 figure
Time dependence of the proton flux measured by PAMELA during the July 2006 - December 2009 solar minimum
The energy spectra of galactic cosmic rays carry fundamental information
regarding their origin and propagation. These spectra, when measured near
Earth, are significantly affected by the solar magnetic field. A comprehensive
description of the cosmic radiation must therefore include the transport and
modulation of cosmic rays inside the heliosphere. During the end of the last
decade the Sun underwent a peculiarly long quiet phase well suited to study
modulation processes. In this paper we present proton spectra measured from
July 2006 to December 2009 by PAMELA. The large collected statistics of protons
allowed the time variation to be followed on a nearly monthly basis down to 400
MV. Data are compared with a state-of-the-art three-dimensional model of solar
modulation.Comment: 17 pages, 5 figures, 1 table, to appear in Astrophysical Journal.
Corrected two elements of Table
PAMELA's measurements of geomagnetic cutoff variations during solar energetic particle events
Data from the PAMELA satellite experiment were used to measure the
geomagnetic cutoff for high-energy ( 80 MeV) protons during the solar
particle events on 2006 December 13 and 14. The variations of the cutoff
latitude as a function of rigidity were studied on relatively short timescales,
corresponding to single spacecraft orbits (about 94 minutes). Estimated cutoff
values were cross-checked with those obtained by means of a trajectory tracing
approach based on dynamical empirical modeling of the Earth's magnetosphere. We
find significant variations in the cutoff latitude, with a maximum suppression
of about 6 deg for 80 MeV protons during the main phase of the storm. The
observed reduction in the geomagnetic shielding and its temporal evolution were
compared with the changes in the magnetosphere configuration, investigating the
role of IMF, solar wind and geomagnetic (Kp, Dst and Sym-H indexes) variables
and their correlation with PAMELA cutoff results.Comment: Conference: The 34th International Cosmic Ray Conference (ICRC2015),
30 July - 6 August, 2015, The Hague, The Netherlands, Volume:
PoS(ICRC2015)28
Measurement of the isotopic composition of hydrogen and helium nuclei in cosmic rays with the PAMELA experiment
The satellite-borne experiment PAMELA has been used to make new measurements
of cosmic ray H and He isotopes. The isotopic composition was measured between
100 and 600 MeV/n for hydrogen and between 100 and 900 MeV/n for helium
isotopes over the 23rd solar minimum from July 2006 to December 2007. The
energy spectrum of these components carries fundamental information regarding
the propagation of cosmic rays in the galaxy which are competitive with those
obtained from other secondary to primary measurements such as B/C.Comment: 11 pages, 11 figures, 5 tables. To appear in Astrophysical Journa
Measurement of boron and carbon fluxes in cosmic rays with the PAMELA experiment
The propagation of cosmic rays inside our galaxy plays a fundamental role in
shaping their injection spectra into those observed at Earth. One of the best
tools to investigate this issue is the ratio of fluxes for secondary and
primary species. The boron-to-carbon (B/C) ratio, in particular, is a sensitive
probe to investigate propagation mechanisms. This paper presents new
measurements of the absolute fluxes of boron and carbon nuclei, as well as the
B/C ratio, from the PAMELA space experiment. The results span the range 0.44 -
129 GeV/n in kinetic energy for data taken in the period July 2006 - March
2008
PAMELA Measurements of Cosmic-ray Proton and Helium Spectra
Protons and helium nuclei are the most abundant components of the cosmic
radiation. Precise measurements of their fluxes are needed to understand the
acceleration and subsequent propagation of cosmic rays in the Galaxy. We report
precision measurements of the proton and helium spectra in the rigidity range 1
GV-1.2 TV performed by the satellite-borne experiment PAMELA. We find that the
spectral shapes of these two species are different and cannot be well described
by a single power law. These data challenge the current paradigm of cosmic-ray
acceleration in supernova remnants followed by diffusive propagation in the
Galaxy. More complex processes of acceleration and propagation of cosmic rays
are required to explain the spectral structures observed in our data.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figures, link to SOM (with tables) in the references.
This manuscript has been accepted for publication in Science. This version
has not undergone final editing. Please refer to the complete version of
record at http://www.sciencemag.org/ [www.sciencemag.org
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