The analysis of data from the high energy cosmic experiment on ISEE-3 and associated modeling and interpretation activities are discussed. The ISEE-3 payload included two instruments capable of measuring the composition of heavy cosmic rays. The designs of these two instruments incorporated innovations which made it possible, for the first time, to measure isotopic as well as the chemical composition for a wide range of elements. As the result of the demonstrations by these two instruments of the capability to resolve individual cosmic ray isotopes, a new generation of detectors was developed using very similar designs, but having improved reliability and increased sensitive area. The composition measurements which were obtained from the ISEE-3 experiment are summarized

Wiedenbeck, Mark E.

English

NASA Technical Reports Server

NASA-CR-I92808
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Final Technical Report for NASA Grant NAG5-308
"Cosmic Ray Composition Investigations using ICE/ISEE-3"
Mark E. Wiedenbeck
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The subject grant has, over the period 1983-1992, supported the analysis of data from
the high energy cosmic experiment on ISEE-3 and associated modeling and interpretation
activities.
The instrument used for these studies was developed at the University of California
Berkeley and the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory under the direction of Dr. Douglas Greiner
and Dr. Harry Heckman. During the period from the launch of ISEE-3 (August 1978)
to 1982 data analysis activities were carried out at Berkeley by Dr. Greiner, Dr. Mark
Wiedenbeck, and associates. In 1983 Dr. Wiedenbeck joined the faculty of the University
of Chicago and responsibility for the ongoing analysis of data from the Berkeley experiment
was transferred to Chicago,under his direction. NASA grant NAG 5-308 was established
_at Chicago to support this work.
The ISEE-3 payload included two instruments (the Berkeley instrument and a similar
instrument developed independently by the California Institute of Technology) capable of
measuring the composition of heavy cosmic rays. The designs of these two instruments
incorporated innovations which made it possible, for the first time, to measure isotopic as:_
well as the chemical composition for a wide range of elements. These innovations included:--
1) the use of a trajectory measuring sensor to allow corrections for particle incidence angles,
2) the development of silicon solid state detectors having a very high degree of thickness
uniformity and very thin dead layers, and 3) the development of very stable pulse height
analysis circuitry capable of maintaining its calibration to ,.o 0.1% over periods of years.
As the result of the demonstration by these two instruments of the capability to resolve
individual cosmic ray isotopes, a new generation of detectors has been developed using with
very similar designs, but having improved reliability and increased sensitive area. Such
instruments have recently been launched on CRRES, Ulysses, SAMPEX, and Geotail, and
another is scheduled for launch on Wind. Still larger instruments of this same kind are a
key element of the Advanced Composition Explorer mission which is now in its definition
phase, with launch scheduled for 1997.
In the Berkeley instrument the mass resolution was found to be limited by the accuracy
of the trajectory measurement for all but the lightest elements. In this instrument the
trajectory measurements were made using a set of six drift chambers housed in a single
gas-filled pressure vessel. In April 1991 these drift chambers suffered a catastrophic loss of
gas, eliminating trajectory measurements and with it the possibility of resolving isotopes of
elements heavier than helium. Analysis efforts have focused almost exclusively on the data
set accumulated during the time the drift chambers were functioning, from August 1978
to April 1991.
The mass resolution of this type of detector system varies greatly with the mass of
the nuclei being studied, primarily because the mass difference between adjacent isotopes
becomes a smaller fraction of the mass as one zoe_ to he a_vier nuclei. Because of the
(NASA-CR-192808 ) COSMIC RAY
COMPOSITION INVESTIGATIONS USING
ICE/ISEE-3 (Chicago Univ.) 9 p
N93-25241
Unclas
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=19930016052 2020-03-17T06:50:54+00:00Z
resolution limitations of the trajectory system it was found that for elements heavier than
boron (Z = 5) it was not possible to resolve all isotopes if the entire data set was used.
Therefore techniques were developed for selecting subsets of the data having improved
resolution at the expense of poorer statistics. Thus it was possible to tailor the trade off
between resolution and statistics to the needs of each particular study. The most useful
cut was based on the particle's angle of incidence 0 (measured from the detector normal):
the contribution of the trajectory measurement to the mass resolution scales as sin20
so significant improvements in resolution can be achieved by restricting consideration to
particles with small values of 0.
Another important requirement for studies involving measurement of the abundances
of rarer nuclides is efficient rejection of background events. It was found that a major source
of background was due to particles which entered or exited from the side of the instrument,
depositing less than their full energy in the solid state detectors but not penetrating the
surrounding plastic scintillator anticoincidence detector. Another background source is duCe
to particles which undergo _ nuclear reaction in the detector stack changing the identity of
the particle and affecting subsequent energy losses. It was found that backgrounds of these
kinds could be rejected with very high efficiency by demanding consistency among all of
the measured signals. In principle it only requires measurements of a single energy loss
rate, the total energy, and two coordinate pairs (for trajectory) to determine a particle's
charge, mass, and energy. However, in the ISEE-3 instrument individual pulse heights
are measured from each of the silicon detectors the particle enters (up to 10), and three
coordinate pairs are obtained from the trajectory system. These were used to demand
that the trajectory coordinates be consistent with a straight line (to within the accuracy
of the measurements) and that all energy losses be consistent with those expected from
the slowing of a single particle with no change in charge or mass in the instrument.
Table 1 through 3 summarize the composition measurements which were obtained
from the ISEE-3 experiment. Table 1 lists elemental abundance measurements, Table 2 lists
isotope fractions, and Table 3 lists selected isotope ratios. In each case these measurements
refer to abundances in interplanetary space in the vicinity of the Earth during the period
August 1978 to April 1981. The approximate energies of the measurements are shown in
Figure 1. The abundance ratios shown in the tables are the most up-to-date values from
the ISEE-3 experiment. In some cases earlier preliminary results were published based on
poorer statistics or less refined analysis techniques. Differences between those preliminary
values and those listed here are typically within the quoted uncertainties.
These data have been used to investigate a variety of astrophysical problems. Chief
among these are: 1) the composition of cosmic ray source material, and its relationship
to the nature of the sources and the information they may provide on chemical evolution
effects in the Galaxy; 2) the confinement time of cosmic rays in the Galaxy as determined
from the surviving fractions of radioactive nuclides produced by nuclear fragmentation
reactions during propagation; 3) the time between nucleosynthesis and acceleration of the
cosmic ray source material as determined from abundances of primary nuclei which can
only decay by electron capture and become stable upon acceleration; 4) matter traversal
in the Galaxy by cosmic rays over a wide range of atomic numbers and a wide range of
energies, and its bearing on questions of cosmic ray transport; and 5) fractionation of the
cosmicray source material prior to acceleration, as studied using individual isotopes with
significant primary content rather than sums over all the isotopes of an element.
The attached bibliography lists the publications which have resulted from the work
supported by this grant. It also shows those ISEE-3 paper which were published under
the sponsorship of the predecessor to this grant, contract NAS5-20995 at the University of
California, Berkeley.
Table 1
Elemental Abundance Ratios Measured with the
High Energy Cosmic Ray Experiment on ISEE-3
References
Ratio Measured Value Ref.
B/C 0.261 +0.009 a
C/O 0.976 ±0.034 a
N/O 0.251 4-0.006 a
F/Si 0.118 i0.010 b
Ne/Si 0.982 +0.051 b
Na/Si 0.189 ±0.011 b
Mg/Si 1.330 ±0.040 b
A1/Si 0.211 4-0.009 b
P/Si 0.037 4-0.003 b
sfsi 0.176 4-0.008 b
C1/Si 0.036:1:0.003 b
Ar/Si 0.073 -t-0.005 b
K/Si 0.064 4-0.005 b
Ca/Si 0.154 -I-0.009 b
Fe/Si 0.719 4-0.054 b
Sc/Fe 0.0487
Ti/Fe 0.1630
V/Fe 0.0787
Cr/Fe 0.1527
Mn/Fe 0.0938
Co/Fe 0.0085
Co/Fe 0.0085
Ni/Fe 0.0482
Cu/Fe < 0.00083
Zn/Fe 0.00074
(+0.0044 -0.0037)
(+0.0084 -0.0077)
(+0.0053 -0.0047)
(+0.0074 -0.0067)
(+0.0056 -0.0050)
(+0.0018 -0.0013)
(+0.0018 -0.0013)
(+0.0039-0.0033)
(+0.00072, -0.00022)
C
C
C
C
C
C
C
C
C
C
a "The Isotopic Composition of Cosmic Ray Boron and Nitrogen", K. E. Krombel and M. E. Wieden-
beck, Ap. J., 328, 940 (1988).
b "Composition Measurements from ISEE-3: Fluorine through Calcium", R. A. Leske and M. E.
Wiedenbeck, Pro(:. 23rd Internat. Cosmic Ray Conf. (Calgary), submitted 1993.
c "The Elemental and Isotopic Composition of Galactic Cosmic-Ray Nuclei from Scandium through
Nickel", R. A. Leske, Ap. J., 405,567 (1993).
Table 2
IsotopicFractionsMeasuredwith the
tligh EnergyCosmicRayExperimenton ISEE-3
Ratio Measured Value Ref.
rBe/Be 0.546 4-0.029 a
9Be/Be 0.390 4-0.029 a
1°Be/Be 0.064 4-0.015 a
lOB/B 0.283(+0.011,-0.008) b
nB/B 0.717(+0.008,-0.011) b
_4N/N 0.447(+0.011,-0.010) b
_SN/N 0.553 (+0.010, -0.011) b
32S/S 0.65 -t-0.04 c
338/S 0.13 4.0.03 c
348/8 0.21 4.0.03 c
38S/S < 0.02 , c
asC1/C1 0.60 4-0.07 c
38C1/C1 0.13 4-0.07 c
aTC1/C1 0.27 4-0.07 c
36Ar/Ar 0.36 +0.06 c
aTAr/Ar 0.23 4-0.06 c
aSAr/Ar 0.37 4-0.06 c
4°Ar/Ar 0.034 (+0.024, -0.017) c
39K/K 0.48 4-0.06 c
4°K/K 0.25 4-0.07 c
41K/K 0.27 4-0.06 c
a°ca/Ca 0.27 4-0.04 c
41Ca/Ca 0.12 4-0.03 c
42Ca/Ca 0.14 4-0.03 c
43Ca/Ca 0.23 4-0.04 c
44Ca/Ca 0.24 4-0.04 c
46Ca/Ca < 0.012 c
Ratio Measured Value Ref.
44Ti/Ti
46Ti/Ti
4rTi/Ti
48Ti/Ti
49Ti/Ti
S°Ti/Ti
49V/V
5°V/V
51V/V
0.015(+0.013,-0.008) d
0.240 (+0.040, -0.039) d
0.273 (+0.054, -0.057) d
0.376 (+0.061, -0.054) d
0.066 d
0.063 (+0.026, -0.021) d
0.391 (+0.074,-0.073) d
0.359 (+0.092,-0.088) d
0.250 (+0.073, -0.066) d
S°Cr/Cr 0.206 (+0.053, -0.042) d
81Cr/Cr 0.218 (+0.057, -0.056) d
S2Cr/Cr 0.458 4-0.055 d
53Cr/Cr 0.089 (+0.040, -0.036) d
S4Cr/Cr < 0.052 d
53Mn/Mn 0.421 4-0.057 d
54Mn/Mn < 0.095 d
SSMn/Mn 0.538 (+0.058, -0.059) d
84Fe/Fe 0.069 (+0.013, -0.012) d
SSFe/Fe < 0.063 d
56Fe/Fe 0.815 (+0.024, -0.025) d
57Fe/Fe < 0.071 d
SSFe/Fe < 0.029 d
57Co/Co 0.32 (+0.25, -0.14) d
59Co/Co 0.68 (+0.14, -0.26) d
58Ni/Ni 0.408 (+0.095, -0.092) d
5°Ni/Ni < 0.20 d
6° Ni/Ni 0.447 (+0.118, -0.115) d
61Ni/Ni < 0.073 d
62Ni/Ni < 0.10 d
References
a "A Cosmic-Ray Age Based on the Abundance of 1°Be", M. E. Wiedenbeck and D. E. Greiner, Ap.
J. (Letters), 239, L139 (1980).
b "The Isotopic Composition of Cosmic Ray Boron and Nitrogen", K. E. Krombel and M. E. Wieden-
beck, Ap. J., 328, 940 (1988).
c "Composition Measurements from ISEE-3: Fluorine through Calcium", R. A. Leske and M. E.
Wiedenbeck, Proc. 23rd Internat. Cosmic Ray Conf. (Calgary), submitted 1993.
d "The Elemental and Isotopic Composition of Galactic Cosmic-Ray Nuclei from Scandium through
Nickel", R. A. Leske, Ap. J., 405,567 (1993).
Table 3
IsotopicAbundanceRatiosMeasuredwith the
ltigh EnergyCosmicRay Experiment on ISEE-3
Ratio Measured Value Ref.
laC/t2C 0.070+0.006 a
tr 0/'60 0.019 (+0.004, -0.003) b
180/160 0.0194-0.002 b
21Ne/2°Ne 0.25 (+0.05, -0.04) b
22Ne/2°Ne 0.67 (+0.10, -0.07) b
2SMg/24Mg 0.28 (+0.04, -0.03) b
2_Mg/24Mg 0.30 (+0.04, -0.03) b
26AI/2rAI 0.036 (+0.037, -0.022) c
298i/28Si 0.109 (+0.024, -0.014) a
3°Si/2ssi 0.084 (+0.020, -0.014) a
44Ti/4STi 0.041 (+0.036, -0.023) d
46Ti/4STi 0.64 (+0.17,-0.16) d
4rTi/4STi 0.73 (+0.26, -0.23) d
49Ti/4STi < 0.19 d
S°Ti/4STi 0.168 (+0.076, -0.059) d
49V/S°V 1.09 (+0.48, -0.34) d
saV/5°V 0.70 (+0.42,-0.27) d
5°Cr/S2Cr 0.45 (+0.14,-0.11) d
SlCr/S2Cr 0.48 (+0.18,-0.15) d
SaCr/S2 Cr 0.194 (+0.108, -0.084) d
S4Cr/S2Cr < 0.12 d
54Mn/SaMn < 0.25 d
SSMn/S3Mn 1.28 (+0.32, -0.25) d
s4Fe/SeFe 0.084(+0.017,-0.015) d
5s Fe/56Fe < 0.078 d
57Fe/56Fe < 0.089 d
SSFe/56Fe < 0.036 d
S9Co/57Co 2.2 (+2.1, -1.4) d
SgNi/SSNi < 0.58 d
6°Ni/SSNi 1.10 (+0.50, -0.35) d
81Ni/SSNi < 0.19 d
e2Ni/SaNi < 0.28 d
References
a "High ResolutionObservationsof the IsotopicComposition of Carbon and Siliconin the Galactic
Cosmic Rays", M. E. Wiedenbeck and D. E. Greiner, Ap. J. (Letters), 247, Ll19 (1981).
b "Isotopic Anomalies in the Galactic Cosmic-Ray Source", M. E. Wiedenbeck and D. E. Greiner,
Phys. Rev. Letters, 46, 682 (1981).
c "The Abundance of the Radioactive Isotope 26A1 in Galactic osmic Rays", M. E. Wiedenbeck,
Proc. 18th Internat. Cosmic Ray Conf. (Bangalore), 9, 147 (1983).
d "The Elemental and Isotopic Composition of Galactic Cosmic-Ray Nuclei from Scandium through
Nickel", R. A. Leske, Ap. J., 405, 567 (1993).
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Atomic Number, Z
Figure 1
Shaded area shows the approximate energy intervals used for composition measurements
as a function of the atomic number of the measured element.
Bibliography: Science Publications from
the High Energy Cosmic Ray Experiment on ISEE-3
. "A Measurement of the Isotopic Composition of Galactic Cosmic Ray Carbon, Nitro-
gen and Oxygen", M. E. Wiedenbeck, D. E. Greiner, F. S. Bieser, H. J. Crawford,
H. H. Heckman, and P. J. Lindstrom, Proc. 16th lnternat. Cosmic Ray Conf. (Ky-
oto), 1, 412 (1979).
. "The Isotopic Composition of Neon in the Galactic Cosmic Rays--A High Resolution
Measurement", D. E. Grelner, M. E. Wiedenbeck, F. S. Bieser, H. J. Crawford, H. H.
Heckman, and P. J. Lindstrom, Proc. 16th Internat. Cosmic Ray Conf. (Kyoto), 1,
418 (1979).
,
,
"A Cosmic-Ray Age Based on the Abundance of 1°Be", M. E. Wiedenbeck and D. E.
Greiner, Ap. J. (Letters), 239, L139 (1980).
"Isotopic Anomalies in the Galactic Cosmic-l:_y Source", M. E. Wiedenbeck and D. E.
Greiner, Phys. Rev. Letters, 46, 682 (1981).
° "A Study of Galactic Cosmic Ray Propagation Models Based on the Isotopic Compo-
sition of the Elements Lithium, Beryllium and Boron", G. F. Hinshaw, M. E. Wieden-
beck, and D. E. Greiner, Proc. 17th Internat. Cosmic Ray Conf. (Paris), 9, 191
(1981).
6. "The Isotopic Composition of the Elements Carbon, Oxygen, Neon, Magnesium and
Silicon in the Galactic Cosmic Rays", M. E. Wiedenbeck and D.E. Greiner, Proc. 17th
Internat. Cosmic Ray Conf. (Paris), 2, 76 (1981).
. "High Resolution Observations of the Isotopic Composition of Carbon and Silicon in
the Galactic Cosmic Rays", M. E. Wiedenbeck and D. E. Greiner, Ap. J. (Letters),
247, Lll9 (1981).
8. "Samples of the Milky Way", R. A. Mewaldt, E. C. Stone, and M. E. Wiedenbeck,
Scientific American, 247, 100 (1982).
9. "Cosmic Ray Isotopic Composition", M. E. Wiedenbeck, in Composition and Origin of
Cosmic Rays, (M. M. Shapiro, ed.), D. Reidel Publ. Co., Dordrecht, Holland (1983),
p. 65.
10. "The Effect of Cross-Section Uncertainties on the Derivation of Source Abundances
from Cosmic-Ray Composition Observations", M. E.Wiedenbeck, in Composition and
Origin of Cosmic Ray_, (M. M. Shapiro, ed.), D. Reidel Publ. Co., Dordrecht, Holland
(1983), p. 343.
11. "The Abundance of the Radioactive Isotope 26A1 in Galactic Cosmic Rays", M. E.
Wiedenbeck, Proc. 18th Internat. Cosmic Ray Conf. (Bangalore), 9, 147 (1983).
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
"Quantitative Estimatesof the Effectsof CrossSectionUncertainties on the Derivation
of GCR Source Composition", G. F. Hinshaw, and M. E. Wiedenbeck, Proc. 18th
Internal Cosmic Ray Conf. (Bangalore), 9, 263 (1983).
"The Isotopic Composition of Cosmic Rays", Adv. Space Res., M. E. Wiedenbeck, 4,
15 (1984).
"Cosmic Rays as a Possible Probe of the Composition of Interstellar Matter", M. E.
Wiedenbeck, in Nueleosynthesis: Challenges and New Developments, (W. D. Arnett
and 3. W. Truran, eds.), University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL (1985), p. 89.
"The Isotopic Composition of Cosmic Ray Chlorine", M. E. Wiedenbeck, Proc. 19th
Internat. Cosmic Ray Conf. (San Diego), 2, 84 (1985).
"The Isotopic Composition of Cosmic Ray Calcium", K. E. Krombel and M. E.
Wiedenbeck, Proc. i9t b Internat. Cosmic Ray Conf. (San Diego), 2, 92 (1985).
"Nitrogen Isotopes in Cosmic Ray Source Material", K. E. Krombel and M. E Wieden-
beck, Proc. 20th Internat. Cosmic Ray Conf. (Moscow), 1, 360 (1987).
"The Isotopic Composition of Cosmic Ray Boron and Nitrogen", K. E. Krombel and
M. E. Wiedenbeck, Ap. J., 328, 940 (1988).
"Observations of Light Isotopes in Galactic Cosmic Rays", M. E. Wiedenbeck, Proc.
_lst Internat. Cosmic Ray Conf. (Adelaide), 3, 31 (1990).
"The Composition of Iron Group Galactic Cosmic Rays", R. A. Leske and M. E.
Wiedenbeck, Proc. 2lst Internat. Cosmic Ray Conf. (Adelaide), 3, 57 (1990).
"Cosmic Ray Composition Below 1 TeV" (Rapporteur Paper), M. E. Wiedenbeck,
Proc. 21st Internat. Cosmic Ray Conf.(Adelaide), 11, 57 (1990).
"The Isotopic Composition of Iron-Group Cosmic Rays", R. A. Leske, B. MiUiken,
and M. E. Wiedenbeck, Ap. J. (Letters), 390, L99 (1992).
"The Elemental and Isotopic Composition of Galactic Cosmic-Ray Nuclei from Scan-
dium through Nickel", R. A. Leske, Ap. J., 405, 567 (1993).
"Composition Measurements from ISEE-3: Fluorine through Calcium", R. A. Leske
and M. E. Wiedenbeck, Proc. $3rd Internal Cosmic Ray Conf. (Calgary), submitted
1993.


Cosmic ray composition investigations using ICE/ISEE-3

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