Measurement of the cosmic-ray iron spectrum above 60 GeV/n and design and calibration of a large isotopic composition experiment

Miscellaneous · Fri Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1988

OSTI ID:5151683

Esposito, J A

This work is comprised of two parts. Part I is concerned with the analysis of data from the 1983 balloon flight of the High Energy Gas Cherenkov Spectrometer (HEGCS). The value of the spectral index of the Galactic Cosmic Ray (GCR) spectrum contains information regarding the source, propagation and galactic confinement of these particles. Observations of the flux of GCR iron in the energy range 1 GeV/n to {approximately} tens of GeV/n suggest that the GCR iron spectrum may be harder than for the other abundant GCR elements: H, He, C, O, Ne, Mg and Si. This is not expected under the current models of GCR propagation. A statistically significant, direct measurement of the high energy iron flux can be used to clarify the situation. This measurement has been performed by the High Energy Particle Astrophysics group at Goddard Space Flight Center through the use of the HEGCS experiment. Part II of this work is chiefly concerned with the Design and Calibration of A Large Isotopic Composition Experiment (ALICE). The 1.2 m{sup 2}-sr instrument utilizes the {beta} vs Range technique for isotopic measurement. A Cherenkov radiation detector with index of refraction, n = 1.49, and two scintillation counters measure the velocity and charge respectively and provide a fast event trigger for the instrument. Two stacks of gas drift chambers, 3-x and 3-y layers per stack, provide trajectory information. The range of the particles is measured by a passive cellulose nitrate stack. The constructed instrument has been calibrated in the laboratory using cosmic ray muons and then flown from the remote launch facility in Canada during August, 1987. A computer simulation of the experiment has been developed to estimate the instrument resolution. The simulation indicates that for 10 {le} Z {le} 18 the isotopic resolution will be less .03 amu.

• Research Organization: Maryland Univ., College Park, MD (USA)
• OSTI ID: 5151683
• Resource Relation: Other Information: Thesis (Ph. D.)
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
ALICE
DESIGN
COSMIC RAY SPECTROMETERS
DATA ANALYSIS
COMPUTER CALCULATIONS
COSMIC RAY FLUX
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
IRON
MEASURING INSTRUMENTS
MEASURING METHODS
DATA
ELEMENTS
INFORMATION
MAGNETIC MIRRORS
METALS
NUMERICAL DATA
OPEN PLASMA DEVICES
RADIATION FLUX
SPECTROMETERS
THERMONUCLEAR DEVICES
TRANSITION ELEMENTS
640100* - Astrophysics & Cosmology
640201 - Atmospheric Physics- Auroral
Ionospheric
& Magetospheric Phenomena