Anomalous Cosmic Rays outside of the Termination Shock

A. Czechowski (1) , S. Grzedzielski (1, 2) , H. Fichtner (3) , M. Hilchenbach (4) , K.C. Hsieh (5)

1 CBK - Space Research Centre of Polish Academy of Sciences
2 SA - Service d'aéronomie
3 ITP4 - Institut für Theoretische Physik IV [Bochum]
4 MPI Aeronomie - Max-Planck-Institut für Aeronomie
5 University of Arizona

Anomalous Cosmic Rays (ACR) are most probably generated at the solar wind termi- nation shock. When observed in the region inside the shock, the ACR energy spectrum is significantly modulated. The region outside the shock is so far inaccessible to obser- vations. However, the low energy (~ 100 keV) part of the spectrum beyond the shock could be sampled by means of energetic neutral atoms (ENA), into which the ACR ions convert by charge-exchange with the neutral atoms. As the distribution of ACR reflects the large-scale structure of the heliosphere, this offers a possibility of imaging the outer heliosphere by ENA from this source.

Domains: Astrophysics [astro-ph]

A. Czechowski, S. Grzedzielski, H. Fichtner, M. Hilchenbach, K.C. Hsieh. Anomalous Cosmic Rays outside of the Termination Shock. The Outer Heliosphere: The Next Frontiers, Proceedings of the COSPAR Colloquium Volume 11, 2000, Potsdam, Germany. pp.199-202, ⟨10.1016/S0964-2749(01)80039-1⟩. ⟨insu-03581526⟩