A cocoon of freshly accelerated cosmic rays detected by Fermi in the Cygnus superbubble

The origin of Galactic cosmic rays is a century-long puzzle. Indirect evidence points to their acceleration by supernova shockwaves, but we know little of their escape from the shock and their evolution through the turbulent medium surrounding massive stars. Gamma rays can probe their spreading through the ambient gas and radiation fields. The Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) has observed the star-forming region of Cygnus X. The 1- to 100-gigaelectronvolt images reveal a 50-parsec-wide cocoon of freshly accelerated cosmic rays that flood the cavities carved by the stellar winds and ionization fronts from young stellar clusters. It provides an example to study the youth of cosmic rays in a superbubble environment before they merge into the older Galactic population.     

Cosmic ray and solar particle investigations over the South polar regions of the sun

Observations of galactic cosmic radiation and anomalous component nuclei with charged particle sensors on the Ulysses spacecraft showed that heliospheric magnetic field structure over the south solar pole does not permit substantially more direct access to the local interstellar cosmic ray spectrum than is possible in the equatorial zone. Fluxes of galactic cosmic rays and the anomalous component increased as a result of latitude gradients by less than 50% from the equator to -80 degrees . Thus, the modulated cosmic ray nucleon, electron, and anomalous component fluxes are nearly spherically symmetric in the inner solar system. The cosmic rays and the anomalous nuclear component underwent a continuous, -26 day recurrent modulation to -80.2 degrees , whereas all recurring magnetic field compressions and recurring streams in the solar wind disappeared above approximately 55 degrees S latitude.     

Particle acceleration on megaparsec scales in a merging galaxy cluster

Galaxy clusters form through a sequence of mergers of smaller galaxy clusters and groups. Models of diffusive shock acceleration suggest that in shocks that occur during cluster mergers, particles are accelerated to relativistic energies, similar to conditions within supernova remnants. In the presence of magnetic fields, these particles emit synchrotron radiation and may form so-called radio relics. We detected a radio relic that displays highly aligned magnetic fields, a strong spectral index gradient, and a narrow relic width, giving a measure of the magnetic field in an unexplored site of the universe. Our observations show that diffusive shock acceleration also operates on scales much larger than in supernova remnants and that shocks in galaxy clusters are capable of producing extremely energetic cosmic rays.     

Cosmic rays: the highest-energy messengers

The origin of the most energetic particles ever observed, cosmic rays, will begin to be revealed in the next few years. Newly constructed ultrahigh-energy cosmic ray observatories together with high-energy gamma-ray and neutrino observatories are well positioned to unveil this mystery before the centenary of their discovery in 2012. Cosmic ray sources are likely to involve the most energetic phenomena ever witnessed in the universe.     

Large magnetic anisotropy of a single atomic spin embedded in a surface molecular network

Magnetic anisotropy allows magnets to maintain their direction of magnetization over time. Using a scanning tunneling microscope to observe spin excitations, we determined the orientation and strength of the anisotropies of individual iron and manganese atoms on a thin layer of copper nitride. The relative intensities of the inelastic tunneling processes are consistent with dipolar interactions, as seen for inelastic neutron scattering. First-principles calculations indicate that the magnetic atoms become incorporated into a polar covalent surface molecular network in the copper nitride. These structures, which provide atom-by-atom accessibility via local probes, have the potential for engineering anisotropies large enough to produce stable magnetization at low temperatures for a single atomic spin.     

Magnesium-28 in rain: produced by cosmic rays

Existence of magnesium-28 (half-life, 21.3 hours) produced by cosmic rays in rain at concentrations of 1.7 and 6.1 x 10(-1) atoms per milliliter was established radiochemically by isolating this nuclide from several hundred liters of rain samples collected at Fayetteville, Arkansas.     

Polar coronal holes and cosmic-ray modulation

A comparison of the size of polar coronal holes with the cosmic-ray intensity observed during the most recent sunspot cycle shows close correspondence. This lends support to recent suggestions that the well-known sunspot-cycle modulation of cosmic rays is a three-dimensional effect, probably related to the global character of the interplanetary magnetic field.     

Acoustic detection of cosmic-ray air showers

The signal strength, bandwidth, and detection range of acoustic pulses generated by cosmic-ray air showers striking a water surface are calculated. These signals are strong enough to be audible to a submerged swimmer. The phenomena may be useful for studying very-high-energy cosmic rays and may help answer the important question of whether the origin of cosmic rays is extragalactic or galactic.     

Galactic X-rays: Variable Sources in Hydromagnetic Waves

Galactic sources of x-rays fluctuating in intensity are explained as being small regions, of enhanced gas density and temperature, emitting thermal Coulomb bremsstrahlung of kiloelectron-volt energies. Hydromagnetic wave motions, of the magnetic fields in the galactic spiral arms, produce the enhanced regions by compressing the clouds of ionized gas to which they are tied by their high electrical conductivity. From the observed periods of fluctuation of a few months, together with the hydromagnetic velocity, it is estimated that the average size of sources does not exceed 10(16) centimeters. By using the formula for Coulomb bremsstrahlung and requiring that the sources shall produce the observed x-ray fluxes, one finds a second estimate of size of sources in agreement at about 1016 centimeters. Such regions are too small to be observable radio sources with current radio telescopes.     

空间诱变及其地面模拟诱变方法综述

介绍了空间环境和宇宙辐射;空间诱变条件、空间诱变因素及其诱变原理;地面模拟空间环境一粒子生物学诱变原理、弱地磁生物学诱变原理、微重力诱变原理;模拟空间资源与空间资源的比较;空间资源与模拟空间资源对植物育种的作用及长远影响.     

Cosmic ray sources: evidence for two acceleration mechanisms

The dilference between the energy spectra of iron and other cosmic rays is interpreted in terms of two source mechanisms. One mechanism, possibly acceleration at neutron star surfaces, produces the iron, and another is responsible for the rest of the primary nuclei. Within this model, observations of high-energy cosmic rays could determine whether secondary nuclei are produced in the sources or in the interstellar medium.     

The anomalous Hall effect and magnetic monopoles in momentum space

Efforts to find the magnetic monopole in real space have been made in cosmic rays and in particle accelerators, but there has not yet been any firm evidence for its existence because of its very heavy mass, approximately 10(16) giga-electron volts. We show that the magnetic monopole can appear in the crystal momentum space of solids in the accessible low-energy region (approximately 0.1 to 1 electron volts) in the context of the anomalous Hall effect. We report experimental results together with first-principles calculations on the ferromagnetic crystal SrRuO3 that provide evidence for the magnetic monopole in the crystal momentum space.     

Interstellar shock waves

An understanding of interstellar shock waves is crucial in determining the structure of the interstellar medium. By causing the gas to radiate, interstellar shocks provide astronomers with valuable diagnostics on both the physical conditions in the interstellar medium and the energy source that produced the shock. The complexity of the interstellar plasma-its degree of ionization, its molecular content, the presence of small dust grains and cosmic rays, and the magnetic field-leads to a rich variety of structures for interstellar shocks, which are being actively investigated both observationally and theoretically.     

The cosmic web in our own backyard

On the largest scales, matter is strung out on an intricate pattern known as the cosmic web. The tendrils of this web should reach right into our own cosmic backyard, lacing the Galactic halo with lumps of dark matter. The search for these lumps, lit up by stars that formed within them, is a major astronomical endeavor, although it has failed to find the huge expected population. Is this a dark matter crisis, or does it provide clues to the complexities of gas physics in the early universe? New technologies in the coming decade will reveal the answer.     

Iron meteorites with low cosmic ray exposure ages

Analysis of argon-38 and argon-39 produced by cosmic rays in four iron meteorites gives normal amounts of the radioactive product argon-39 and abnormally low amounts of stable argon-38. This indicates that these meteorites were exposed to cosmic rays for unusually short periods of time. These exposure times are one or two orders of magnitude shorter than those for the average iron meteorite, and they overlap the periods found for chondrites. It is suggested that perhaps 20 percent of the iron meteorites have similarly short exposure periods.     

An inverse compton process for the excess diffuse EUV emission from the virgo and coma galaxy clusters

The excess extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) emission detected in the Virgo and Coma clusters is explained by inverse Compton scattering of cosmic microwave background photons, which are scattered by the relativistic electrons that account for the extended radio synchrotron emission of these clusters. The lower limits of the average magnetic fields of these clusters estimated from the EUV excess are close to the equipartition magnetic fields derived from radio observations, indicating that the electron energies and magnetic field energies might be close to equipartition. The excess emission suggests energy reservoirs of approximately 10(61) and approximately 10(60) ergs for the Coma and Virgo clusters, respectively.     

Correlation of the highest-energy cosmic rays with nearby extragalactic objects

Using data collected at the Pierre Auger Observatory during the past 3.7 years, we demonstrated a correlation between the arrival directions of cosmic rays with energy above 6 x 10(19) electron volts and the positions of active galactic nuclei (AGN) lying within approximately 75 megaparsecs. We rejected the hypothesis of an isotropic distribution of these cosmic rays with at least a 99% confidence level from a prescribed a priori test. The correlation we observed is compatible with the hypothesis that the highest-energy particles originate from nearby extragalactic sources whose flux has not been substantially reduced by interaction with the cosmic background radiation. AGN or objects having a similar spatial distribution are possible sources.     

Cosmic rays,clouds, and climate

It has been proposed that Earth's climate could be affected by changes in cloudiness caused by variations in the intensity of galactic cosmic rays in the atmosphere. This proposal stems from an observed correlation between cosmic ray intensity and Earth's average cloud cover over the course of one solar cycle. Some scientists question the reliability of the observations, whereas others, who accept them as reliable, suggest that the correlation may be caused by other physical phenomena with decadal periods or by a response to volcanic activity or El Ni?o. Nevertheless, the observation has raised the intriguing possibility that a cosmic ray-cloud interaction may help explain how a relatively small change in solar output can produce much larger changes in Earth's climate. Physical mechanisms have been proposed to explain how cosmic rays could affect clouds, but they need to be investigated further if the observation is to become more than just another correlation among geophysical variables.     

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 our Galaxy. We report precision measurements of the proton and helium spectra in the rigidity range 1 gigavolt to 1.2 teravolts performed by the satellite-borne experiment PAMELA (payload for antimatter matter exploration and light-nuclei astrophysics). We find that the spectral shapes of these two species are different and cannot be described well 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.     

Effect of cosmic rays on computer memories

A method is developed for evaluating the effects of cosmic rays on computer memories and is applied to some typical memory devices. The sea-level flux of cosmic-ray particles is reviewed and the interaction of each type of particle with silicon is estimated, with emphasis on processes that produce bursts of charge. These charge pulses are then related to typical computer large-scale integrated circuit components and cosmic-ray-induced errors are estimated. The effects of shielding (such as building ceilings and walls), altitude, and solar cycle are estimated. Cosmic-ray nucleons and muons can cause errors in current memories at a level of marginal significance, and there may be a very significant effect in the next generation of computer memory circuitry. Error rates increase rapidly with altitude, which may be used for testing to make electronic devices less sensitive to cosmic rays.