CALET data of the cosmic-ray helium spectrum is open to public: unprecedented precision measurements
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Helium flux measured by CALET, compared with other experimental results. In order to investigate the spectral structure which decreases rapidly as the energy increases, y-axis shows the proton flux multiplied by E^2.6.
CALET, launched to the International Space Station in August 2015, is a calorimeter to measure cosmic rays and has been accumulating scientific data for over seven years. CALET measured the spectrum of the cosmic-ray proton from 40 GeV to 250 TeV. The tables of the spectrum measured by CALET are open to the public via DARTS in May 2023.
This helium data shows not only spectrum hardening which has been observed in light nuclei such as proton, carbon, oxygen, but also spectrum softening starting around 30 TeV is observed as observed in proton. It provides significant information for verifying the model of acceleration and propagation mechanism of cosmic ray in the galaxy. Because it is useful to discuss the data with past observations by other detectors, this result was published in Physical Review Letters on April 27, 2023.
Links
- Direct Measurement of the Cosmic-Ray Helium Spectrum from 40 GeV to 250 TeV with the Calorimetric Electron Telescope on the International Space Station
https://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.130.171002
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.130.211001 - CALET
https://humans-in-space.jaxa.jp/en/biz-lab/experiment/theme/detail/000932.html - DARTS/CALET
https://darts.isas.jaxa.jp/astro/calet/
- Direct Measurement of the Cosmic-Ray Helium Spectrum from 40 GeV to 250 TeV with the Calorimetric Electron Telescope on the International Space Station