Elemental energy spectra of cosmic rays measured by CREAM-II

We present new measurements of the energy spectra of cosmic-ray (CR) nuclei from the second flight of the balloon-borne experiment CREAM (Cosmic Ray Energetics And Mass). The instrument (CREAM-II) was comprised of detectors based on different techniques (Cherenkov light, specific ionization in scintillators and silicon sensors) to provide a redundant charge identification and a thin ionization calorimeter capable of measuring the energy of cosmic rays up to several hundreds of TeV. The data analysis is described and the individual energy spectra of C, O, Ne, Mg, Si and Fe are reported up to ~ 10^14 eV. The spectral shape looks nearly the same for all the primary elements and can be expressed as a power law in energy E^{-2.66+/-0.04}. The nitrogen absolute intensity in the energy range 100-800 GeV/n is also measured.

Energy cross-calibration from the first CREAM flight: transition radiation detector versus calorimeter

The Cosmic Ray Energetics And Mass (CREAM) balloon experiment had two successful flights in 2004/05 and 2005/06. It was designed to perform energy measurements from a few GeV up to 1000 TeV, taking advantage of different detection techniques. The first instrument, CREAM-1, combined a transition radiation detector with a calorimeter to provide independent energy measurements of cosmicraynuclei. Each detector was calibrated with particle beams in a limited range of energies. In order to assess the absolute energy scale of the instrument and to investigate the systematic effects of each technique, a cross-calibration was performed by comparing the two independent energy estimates on selected samples of oxygen and carbon nuclei.

Energy spectra of cosmic-ray nuclei at high energies

We present new measurements of the energy spectra of cosmic-ray (CR) nuclei from the second flight of the balloon-borne experiment Cosmic Ray Energetics And Mass (CREAM). The instrument included different particle detectors to provide redundant charge identification and measure the energy of CRs up to several hundred TeV. The measured individual energy spectra of C, O, Ne, Mg, Si, and Fe are presented up to $sim 10^{14}$ eV. The spectral shape looks nearly the same for these primary elements and it can be fitted to an $E^{-2.66 pm 0.04}$ power law in energy. Moreover, a new measurement of the absolute intensity of nitrogen in the 100-800 GeV/$n$ energy range with smaller errors than previous observations, clearly indicates a hardening of the spectrum at high energy. The relative abundance of N/O at the top of the atmosphere is measured to be $0.080 pm 0.025 $(stat.)$ pm 0.025 $(sys.) at $sim $800 GeV/$n$, in good agreement with a recent result from the first CREAM flight.