Nuclide production by primary cosmic-ray protons
The production rates of cosmogenic nuclides in the solar system and in interstellar space were calculated for the primary protons in the galactic and solar cosmic rays. At 1 AU, the long-term average fluxes of solar protons usually produce many more atoms of a cosmogenic nuclide than the primary protons in the galactic cosmic rays (GCR), the exceptions being nuclides made only by high-energy reactions (like /sup 10/Be). Because the particle fluxes inside meteorites and other large objects in space include many secondary neutrons, the production rates are much higher and ratios inside large objects are often very different from those by just the primary GCR protons in small objects. The production rates of cosmogenic nuclides are calculated to vary by about factors of 2.5 during at typical 11-year solar cycle, in agreement with measurements of short-lived radionuclides in recently fallen meteorites. The production of cosmogenic nuclides by the GCR particles outside the heliosphere is higher than that by the modulated GCR primaries normally in the solar system. However, there is considerable uncertainty in the fluxes of interstellar protons and, therefore, in the production rates of cosmogenic nuclides in interstellar space. Production rates and ratios for cosmogenic nuclides would be able to identify particles that were small in space or that were exposed to an unmodulated spectrum of GCR particles. 25 refs., 2 figs., 2 tabs.
- Research Organization:
- Los Alamos National Lab., NM (USA)
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-36
- OSTI ID:
- 5631144
- Report Number(s):
- LA-UR-86-1524; CONF-860375-2; ON: DE86011268
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Cosmogenic-nuclide production by primary cosmic-ray protons
Model for GCR-particle fluxes in stony meteorites and production rates of cosmogenic nuclides
Related Subjects
640106 -- Astrophysics & Cosmology-- Cosmology
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
BARYONS
COSMIC NUCLEI
COSMIC RADIATION
COSMIC RAY FLUX
COSMOLOGICAL MODELS
ELEMENTARY PARTICLES
FERMIONS
HADRONS
INTERSTELLAR SPACE
IONIZING RADIATIONS
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
NUCLEI
NUCLEONS
PROTONS
RADIATION FLUX
RADIATIONS
SOLAR PARTICLES
SOLAR PROTONS
SOLAR RADIATION
SOLAR SYSTEM
SPACE
STELLAR RADIATION