Observation and implications of sub-iron and iron abundance ratios in low energy galactic cosmic rays

Abstract

The Spacelab-3 cosmic ray experiment Anuradha was used to measure the sub-iron (Sc---Cr) to iron abundance ratios in the low energy galactic cosmic rays. Measurements made in four different depth of the detector yielded the (Sc-Cr)/Fe ratios of 0.8 to 1.2 in 30 to 300 MeV/N. These are in agreement with results from Skylab and Soyuz-6 experiments and establishes that this abundance ratio is about 1.0 inside the magnetosphere. It is seen that this abundance ratio is about a factor of two higher than values of about 0.5 measured in space crafts in interplanetary space. It is shown that the enhancement of the ratio is probably due to geomagnetic transmission effect and the degree of ionization of the low energy Sc to Cr and Fe ions in galactic cosmic rays. Further studies are needed to fully understand the phenomena and their implications.