OBSERVATIONS OF HIGH-ENERGY COSMIC-RAY ELECTRONS FROM 30 GeV TO 3 TeV WITH EMULSION CHAMBERS

Journal Article · Sat Dec 01 04:00:00 EST 2012 · Astrophysical Journal

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/760/2/146· OSTI ID:22086226

Kobayashi, T ^[1]; Komori, Y ^[2]; Yoshida, K; Yanagisawa, K ^[3]; Nishimura, J; Yamagami, T; Saito, Y ^[4]; Tateyama, N ^[5]; Yuda, T ^[6]

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1. Department of Physics and Mathematics, Aoyama Gakuin University, Sagamihara 252-5258 (Japan)
2. Faculty of Health and Social Services, Kanagawa University of Human Services, Yokosuka 238-0013 (Japan)
3. College of Systems Engineering and Science, Shibaura Institute of Technology, Saitama 337-8570 (Japan)
4. Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, Sagamihara 229-8510 (Japan)
5. Faculty of Engineering, Kanagawa University, Yokohama 221-8686 (Japan)
6. Institute for Cosmic Ray Research, University of Tokyo, Kashiwa 277-8582 (Japan)

We have performed a series of cosmic-ray electron observations using balloon-borne emulsion chambers since 1968. While we previously reported the results from subsets of the exposures, the final results of the total exposures up to 2001 are presented here. Our successive experiments have yielded a total exposure of 8.19 m{sup 2} sr day at altitudes of 4.0-9.4 g cm{sup -2}. The performance of the emulsion chambers was examined by accelerator beam tests and Monte Carlo simulations, and the on-board calibrations were carried out by using the flight data. In this work, we present the cosmic-ray electron spectrum in the energy range from 30 GeV to 3 TeV at the top of the atmosphere, which is well represented by a power-law function with an index of -3.28 {+-} 0.10. The observed data can also be interpreted in terms of diffusive propagation models. The evidence of cosmic-ray electrons up to 3 TeV suggests the existence of cosmic-ray electron sources at distances within {approx}1 kpc and times within {approx}1 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 5} yr ago.

• OSTI ID: 22086226
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal, Journal Name: Astrophysical Journal Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 760; ISSN ASJOAB; ISSN 0004-637X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
ASTROPHYSICS
BALLOONS
CALIBRATION
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
COSMIC ELECTRONS
COSMIC RAY DETECTION
ELECTRON DETECTION
ELECTRON SPECTRA
GALAXIES
GEV RANGE
MONTE CARLO METHOD
NUCLEAR EMULSIONS
PERFORMANCE TESTING
SUPERNOVA REMNANTS
TEV RANGE