Composition of Anomalous Cosmic Rays and Other Heliospheric Ions

Abstract

Interstellar pickup ions accelerated by the termination shock of the solar wind dominate the anomalous cosmic-ray (ACR) intensities observed by the Voyager spacecraft in the outer heliosphere. Using a two-dimensional acceleration and propagation model, we derive the relative abundances of these interstellar ACRs and determine the mass dependence of the injection/acceleration efficiency for the diffusive acceleration of H⁺, He⁺, N⁺, O⁺, and Ne⁺. The energy spectra of C, Na, Mg, Si, S, and Ar also exhibit ACR increases at low energies. To interpret these observations, we have developed a new set of ionization rates for 11 neutral atoms, H, He, C, N, O, Ne, Na, Mg, Si, S, and Ar at 1 AU, and a new set of filtration factors relating neutral densities in the local interstellar medium to those at the location of the solar wind termination shock. Using the injection/acceleration efficiencies and the Ar filtration factor, we estimate the density of neutral Ar to be (3.5+/-1.6)×10^-7 cm^-3 in the local interstellar medium. ACR C may have a significant contribution from interstellar neutral C, but the observed intensities of ACR Na, Mg, Si, and S significantly exceed that expected from interstellar neutrals, providing evidence of another source of pickup ions. One possibility discussed is the recently discovered ``inner source'' of singly charged ions that is thought to be solar wind atoms desorbed from interplanetary dust grains.