We analyze the Suns shadow observed with the Tibet-III air shower array and find that the shadows center deviates northward (southward) from the optical solar disc center in the Away (Toward) IMF sector. By comparing with numerical simulations based on the solar magnetic field model, we find that the average IMF strength in the Away (Toward) sector is $1.54 pm 0.21_{rm stat} pm 0.20_{rm syst}$ ($1.62 pm 0.15_{rm stat} pm 0.22_{rm syst}$) times larger than the model prediction. These demonstrate that the observed Suns shadow is a useful tool for the quantitative evaluation of the average solar magnetic field.
We report on a clear solar-cycle variation of the Suns shadow in the 10 TeV cosmic-ray flux observed by the Tibet air shower array during a full solar cycle from 1996 to 2009. In order to clarify the physical implications of the observed solar cycle variation, we develop numerical simulations of the Suns shadow, using the Potential Field Source Surface (PFSS) model and the Current Sheet Source Surface (CSSS) model for the coronal magnetic field. We find that the intensity deficit in the simulated Suns shadow is very sensitive to the coronal magnetic field structure, and the observed variation of the Suns shadow is better reproduced by the CSSS model. This is the first successful attempt to evaluate the coronal magnetic field models by using the Suns shadow observed in the TeV cosmic-ray flux.
The shadowing effect of the Moon and Sun in TeV cosmic rays has been measured with high statistical significance by several experiments. Unlike particles from directions close to the Moon, however, charged particles passing by the neighborhood of the Sun are affected not only by the geomagnetic but also by the solar near- and interplanetary-magnetic field. Since the latter undergoes a well-known 11-year cycle -- during which it can become highly disordered -- the cosmic-ray shadow cast by the Sun as observed on Earth is expected to change over time. We present an update of the analysis of the cosmic-ray Moon and Sun shadows using data taken with the IceCube Neutrino Observatory. With a median energy after quality cuts of approximately $50-60,$TeV, depending on the cosmic-ray flux model used, primary cosmic rays inducing events which pass IceCubes Sun shadow filter have a comparatively high energy. While the results for the Moon shadow confirm the stability of the IceCube observatory, the results for the Sun shadow exhibit a clear variation correlating with solar activity and theoretical models of the solar magnetic field.
How the solar electromagnetic energy entering the Earths atmosphere varied since pre-industrial times is an important consideration in the climate change debate. Detrimental to this debate, estimates of the change in total solar irradiance (TSI) since the Maunder minimum, an extended period of weak solar activity preceding the industrial revolution, differ markedly, ranging from a drop of 0.75 Wm-2 to a rise of 6.3 Wm-2. Consequently, the exact contribution by solar forcing to the rise in global temperatures over the past centuries remains inconclusive. Adopting a novel approach based on state-of-the-art solar imagery and numerical simulations, we establish the TSI level of the Sun when it is in its least-active state to be 2.0 +/- 0.7 Wm-2 below the 2019 level. This means TSI could not have risen since the Maunder minimum by more than this amount, thus restricting the possible role of solar forcing in global warming.
We calculate the interplanetary magnetic field path lengths traveled by electrons in solar electron events detected by the WIND 3DP instrument from $1994$ to $2016$. The velocity dispersion analysis method is applied for electrons at energies of $sim$ $27$ keV to $310$ keV. Previous velocity dispersion analyses employ the onset times, which are often affected by instrumental effects and the pre-existing background flux, leading to large uncertainties. We propose a new method here. Instead of using the peak or onset time, we apply the velocity dispersion analysis to the times that correspond to the rising phase of the fluxes that are a fraction, $eta$, of the peak flux. We perform statistical analysis on selected events whose calculated path lengths have uncertainties smaller than $0.1$ AU. The mean and standard deviation, ($mu$, $sigma$), of the calculated path lengths corresponding to $eta=$ $3/4$, $1/2$, and $1/3$ of the peak flux is ($1.17$ AU, $0.17$ AU), ($1.11$ AU, $0.14$ AU), and ($1.06$ AU, $0.15$ AU). The distribution of the calculated path lengths is also well fitted by a Gaussian distribution for the $eta=3/4$ and $1/3$ cases. These results suggest that in these electron events the interplanetary magnetic field topology is close to the nominal Parker spiral with little field line meandering. Our results have important implications for particles perpendicular diffusion.
ANTARES is the largest undersea neutrino telescope and it has been taking data in its final configuration for more than ten years. On their journey to the Earth, cosmic rays can be absorbed by celestial objects, like the Sun, leading to a deficit in the atmospheric muon flux measured by the ANTARES detector, the so-called Sun shadow effect. This phenomenon can be used to evaluate fundamental telescope characteristics: the detector angular resolution and pointing accuracy. This work describes the study of the Sun shadow effect using the ANTARES data collected between 2008 and 2017. The statistical significance of the Sun shadow observation is $3.7sigma$ and the estimated angular resolution value of the ANTARES telescope for downward-going muons is $0.59^{circ} pm 0.10^{circ}$, which is consistent with the expectations obtained from the Monte Carlo simulations and also with the estimation from the Moon shadow analysis of 2007-2016 years. No evidence of systematic pointing shift is found and the resulting pointing accuracy is consistent with the expectations.
M. Amenomori
,X. J. Bi
,D. Chen
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(2018)
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"Evaluation of the Interplanetary Magnetic Field Strength Using the Cosmic-Ray Shadow of the Sun"
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Yoshiaki Nakamura
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