• Title/Summary/Keyword: Cosmic rays

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ENHANCED GAMMA RAY FLUX FROM THE GENERAL DIRECTION OF THE VIRGO GALAXY CLUSTER

  • FATEMI S. J.
    • Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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    • v.29 no.spc1
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    • pp.57-58
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    • 1996
  • There is an excess gamma flux from the general direction of the Galactic North Pole compared with that from the south when allowance is made for the contribution from CR interactions with the HI gas (Osborne et al., 1994). The extent to which it is in accord with the predictions of Wdowczyk and Wolfendale (1990 a,b) for gamma rays secondary to very high energy CR escaping from the VIRGO cluster is examined and it is claimed that the observations may well be of the order of those expected.

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Development of Cloud Chamber by Using Peltier Device (펠티에 소자를 이용한 안개상자 개발)

  • Woo, Jong-Kwan;Kwon, Jin-Young;Park, Sang-Tae
    • Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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    • v.36 no.3
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    • pp.134-139
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    • 2011
  • In this research, we developed the newly cloud chamber apparatus by using Peltier device to apply nuclear physics experiment in high school or university. We observed the cosmic rays track by using the developed apparatus and a camcorder. And we compared and analyzed the acquired data. From the results, we acquired the following conclusions and suggestions : First, it is very difficult to observe the cosmic rays track in the typical cloud chamber because of the low frequency of it. But in the newly developed cloud chamber we can observe easily the cosmic rays track owing to the high frequency of it. Second, when we do the experiment with the newly developed apparatus, we found that the cosmic rays track happens well under the condition that the temperature of the upper place of cooling plate must be below 5$^{\circ}C$ with more than isopropanol $1.04{\times}10^{-5}$ $ml{\cdot}mm^{-3}$. Third, the newly developed apparatus will be improved to have better precision by controling the temperature of cooling plate in the cloud chamber by current intensity. Therefore we think that it is very useful to use the newly developed apparatus in the nuclear physics experiment in highschool or university.

ACCELERATION OF COSMIC RAYS AT COSMIC SHOCKS

  • KANG HYESUNG
    • Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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    • v.36 no.1
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    • pp.1-12
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    • 2003
  • Nonthermal particles can be produced due to incomplete thermalization at collisionless shocks and further accelerated to very high energies via diffusive shock acceleration. In a previous study we explored the cosmic ray (CR) acceleration at cosmic shocks through numerical simulations of CR modified, quasi-parallel shocks in 1D plane-parallel geometry with the physical parameters relevant for the shocks emerging in the large scale structure formation of the universe (Kang & Jones 2002). Specifically we considered pancake shocks driven by accretion flows with $U_o = 1500 km\;s^{-l}$ and the preshock gas temperature of $T_o = 10^4 - 10^8K$. In order to consider the CR acceleration at shocks with a broader range of physical properties, in this contribution we present additional simulations with accretion flows with $U_o = 75 - 1500 km\;s^{-l}$ and $T_o = 10^4K$. We also compare the new simulation results with those reported in the previous study. For a given Mach number, shocks with higher speeds accelerate CRs faster with a greater number of particles, since the acceleration time scale is $t_{acc}\;{\propto}\;U_o^{-2}$. However, two shocks with a same Mach number but with different shock speeds evolve qualitatively similarly when the results are presented in terms of diffusion length and time scales. Therefore, the time asymptotic value for the fraction of shock kinetic energy transferred to CRs is mainly controlled by shock Mach number rather than shock speed. Although the CR acceleration efficiency depends weakly on a well-constrained injection parameter, $\epsilon$, and on shock speed for low shock Mach numbers, the dependence disappears for high shock Mach numbers. We present the 'CR energy ratio', ${\phi}(M_s)$, for a wide range of shock parameters and for $\epsilon$ = 0.2 - 0.3 at terminal time of our simulations. We suggest that these values can be considered as time-asymptotic values for the CR acceleration efficiency, since the time-dependent evolution of CR modified shocks has become approximately self-similar before the terminal time.

EUV AND SOFT X-RAY EMISSION IN CLUSTERS OF GALAXIES

  • BOWYER STUART
    • Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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    • v.37 no.5
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    • pp.295-297
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    • 2004
  • Observations with EUVE, ROSAT, and BeepoSAX have shown that some clusters of galaxies produce intense EUV emission. These findings have produced considerable interest; over 100 papers have been published on this topic in the refereed literature. A notable suggestion as to the source of this radiation is that it is a 'warm' (106 K) intracluster medium which, if present, would constitute the major baryonic component of the universe. A more recent variation of this theme is that this material is 'warm-hot' intergalactic material condensing onto clusters. Alternatively, inverse Compton scattering of low energy cosmic rays against cosmic microwave background photons has been proposed as the source of this emission. Various origins of these particles have been posited, including an old (${\~}$Giga year) population of cluster cosmic rays; particles associated with relativistic jets in the cluster; and cascading particles produced by shocks from sub-cluster merging. The observational situation has been quite uncertain with many reports of detections which have been subsequently contradicted by analyses carried out by other groups. Evidence supporting a thermal and a non-thermal origin has been reported. The existing EUV, FUV, and optical data will be briefly reviewed and clarified. Direct observational evidence from a number of different satellites now rules out a thermal origin for this radiation. A new examination of subtle details of the EUV data suggests a new source mechanism: inverse Compton scattered emission from secondary electrons in the cluster. This suggestion will be discussed in the context of the data.

COSMIC RAY ACCELERATION AT COSMOLOGICAL SHOCKS

  • KANG HYESUNG;JONES T. W.
    • Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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    • v.37 no.5
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    • pp.405-412
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    • 2004
  • Cosmological shocks form as an inevitable consequence of gravitational collapse during the large scale structure formation and cosmic-rays (CRs) are known to be accelerated at collisionless shocks via diffusive shock acceleration (DSA). We have calculated the evolution of CR modified shocks for a wide range of shock Mach numbers and shock speeds through numerical simulations of DSA in 1D quasi-parallel plane shocks. The simulations include thermal leakage injection of seed CRs, as well as pre-existing, upstream CR populations. Bohm-like diffusion is assumed. We show that CR modified shocks evolve to time-asymptotic states by the time injected particles are accelerated to moderately relativistic energies (p/mc $\ge$ 1), and that two shocks with the same Mach number, but with different shock speeds, evolve qualitatively similarly when the results are presented in terms of a characteristic diffusion length and diffusion time. We find that $10^{-4} - 10^{-3}$ of the particles passed through the shock are accelerated to form the CR population, and the injection rate is higher for shocks with higher Mach number. The CR acceleration efficiency increases with shock Mach number, but it asymptotes to ${\~}50\%$ in high Mach number shocks, regardless of the injection rate and upstream CR pressure. On the other hand, in moderate strength shocks ($M_s {\le} 5$), the pre-existing CRs increase the overall CR energy. We conclude that the CR acceleration at cosmological shocks is efficient enough to lead to significant nonlinear modifications to the shock structures.

THE CONTRIBUTION OF STELLAR WINDS TO COSMIC RAY PRODUCTION

  • Seo, Jeongbhin;Kang, Hyesung;Ryu, Dongsu
    • Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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    • v.51 no.2
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    • pp.37-48
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    • 2018
  • Massive stars blow powerful stellar winds throughout their evolutionary stages from the main sequence to Wolf-Rayet phases. The amount of mechanical energy deposited in the interstellar medium by the wind from a massive star can be comparable to the explosion energy of a core-collapse supernova that detonates at the end of its life. In this study, we estimate the kinetic energy deposition by massive stars in our Galaxy by considering the integrated Galactic initial mass function and modeling the stellar wind luminosity. The mass loss rate and terminal velocity of stellar winds during the main sequence, red supergiant, and Wolf-Rayet stages are estimated by adopting theoretical calculations and observational data published in the literature. We find that the total stellar wind luminosity due to all massive stars in the Galaxy is about ${\mathcal{L}}_w{\approx}1.1{\times}10^{41}erg\;s^{-1}$, which is about 1/4 of the power of supernova explosions, ${\mathcal{L}}_{SN}{\approx}4.8{\times}10^{41}erg\;s^{-1}$. If we assume that ~ 1 - 10 % of the wind luminosity could be converted to Galactic cosmic rays (GCRs) through collisonless shocks such as termination shocks in stellar bubbles and superbubbles, colliding-wind shocks in binaries, and bow-shocks of massive runaway stars, stellar winds might be expected to make a significant contribution to GCR production, though lower than that of supernova remnants.

MERGERS, COSMIC RAYS, AND NONTHERMAL PROCESSES IN CLUSTERS OF GALAXIES

  • SARAZIN CRAIG L.
    • Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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    • v.37 no.5
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    • pp.433-438
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    • 2004
  • Clusters of galaxies generally form by the gravitational merger of smaller clusters and groups. Major cluster mergers are the most energetic events in the Universe since the Big Bang. The basic properties of cluster mergers and their effects are discussed. Mergers drive shocks into the intracluster gas, and these shocks heat the intracluster gas. As a result of the impulsive heating and compression associated with mergers, there is a large transient increase in the X-ray luminosities and temperatures of merging clusters. These merger boost can affect X-ray surveys of clusters and their cosmological interpretation. Similar boosts occur in the strong lensing cross-sections and Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect in merging clusters. Merger shock and turbulence associated with mergers should also (re)accelerate nonthermal relativistic particles. As a result of particle acceleration in shocks and turbulent acceleration following mergers, clusters of galaxies should contain very large populations of relativistic electrons and ions. Observations and models for the radio, extreme ultraviolet, hard X-ray, and gamma-ray emission from nonthermal particles accelerated in these shocks will also be described. Gamma-ray observations with GLAST seem particularly promising.

Ultra-high-energy cosmic rays and filaments of galaxies in the northern sky

  • Kim, Jihyun;Ryu, Dongsu;Kim, Suk;Rey, Soo-Chang;Kang, Hyesung
    • The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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    • v.42 no.1
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    • pp.36.3-36.3
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    • 2017
  • The Telescope Array (TA) experiment reported the arrival direction distribution of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) with energies above $5.7{\times}10^{19}eV$ in the northern sky. A clustering of TA events, the so-called hotspot, was found; however, its nature has not yet been understood. To understand the origin of the TA hotspot, we examine the sky distributions of the TA UHECR arrival direction and filamentary structures of galaxies in the local universe. By statistical tests for anisotropy, we find a close correlation of the TA events with the filaments of galaxies connected to the Virgo cluster. We discuss our finding and its implications.

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