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Discovery of a Transient Magnetar: XTE J1810-197
Safi-Harb, Samar; Hurley, Kevin; Kouveliotou, Chryssa +10 more
We report the discovery of a new X-ray pulsar, XTE J1810-197, that was serendipitously discovered on 2003 July 15 by the Rossi X- Ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) while observing the soft gamma repeater SGR 1806-20. The pulsar has a 5.54 s spin period, a soft X-ray spectrum (with a photon index of ~4), and is detectable in earlier RXTE observations back…
Long-Term Cosmic-Ray Modulation in the Heliosphere
Ferreira, S. E. S.; Potgieter, M. S.
A time-dependent model based on a numerical solution of Parker's transport equation is used to model the modulation of cosmic-ray protons, electrons, and helium for full 11 year and 22 year modulation cycles using a compound approach. This approach incorporates the concept of propagating diffusion barriers, increases in the heliospheric magnetic f…
High Energy Transient Explorer 2 Observations of the Extremely Soft X-Ray Flash XRF 020903
Sakamoto, T.; Yamauchi, M.; Cline, T. +36 more
We report High Energy Transient Explorer 2 (HETE-2) Wide Field X-Ray Monitor/French Gamma Telescope observations of the X-ray flash XRF 020903. This event was extremely soft: the ratio log(SX/Sγ)=0.7, where SX and Sγ are the fluences in the 2-30 and 30-400 keV energy bands, is the most extreme value obse…
Testing Lorentz Invariance with GRB 021206
Hurley, K.; Wunderer, C. B.; Boggs, Steven E. +1 more
Since the discovery of the cosmological origin of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), there has been growing interest in using these transient events to probe the quantum gravity energy scale in the range 1016-1019 GeV, up to the Planck mass scale. This energy scale can manifest itself through a measurable modification in the electromag…
HETE Observations of the Gamma-Ray Burst GRB 030329: Evidence for an Underlying Soft X-Ray Component
Sakamoto, T.; Hurley, K.; Boer, M. +30 more
An exceptionally intense gamma-ray burst, GRB 030329, was detected and localized by the instruments on board the High Energy Transient Explorer satellite (HETE) at 11:37:14 UT on 2003 March 29. The burst consisted of two ~10 s pulses of roughly equal brightness and an X-ray tail lasting more than 100 s. The energy fluence in the 30-400 keV energy …
Revisiting the Origin of Impulsive Electron Events: Coronal Magnetic Restructuring
Maia, Dalmiro Jorge Filipe; Pick, Monique
We revisit the impulsive beamlike particle events detected in situ from 1997 to 2000 by the Electron, Proton, and Alpha Monitor (EPAM) experiment on the Advanced Composition Explorer spacecraft. We study in detail a subset of events for which there are radio coronal observations from the Nançay Radioheliograph. EPAM measures electrons in the energ…
Magnetic Footpoint Diffusion at the Sun and Its Relation to the Heliospheric Magnetic Field
Giacalone, J.; Jokipii, J. R.
We discuss the physics associated with the motion of the radial magnetic field footpoints at the Sun and its relation to the heliospheric magnetic field. Using the observed photospheric convection spectrum, we construct a model for the heliospheric magnetic field and relate it to observations made by Ulysses in the outer heliosphere in the fast so…
The Magnetic Structure of Hα Macrospicules in Solar Coronal Holes
Wang, H.; Moore, R. L.; Suess, S. T. +2 more
Measurements by Ulysses in the high-speed polar solar wind have shown the wind to carry some fine-scale structures in which the magnetic field reverses direction by having a switchback fold in it. The lateral span of these magnetic switchbacks, translated back to the Sun, is of the scale of the lanes and cells of the magnetic network in which the …
Cometary Ions Trapped in a Coronal Mass Ejection
Geiss, J.; Jones, G. H.; McComas, D. J. +5 more
Ion tails of comets are known to extend radially away from the Sun over very large distances. Crossing these tails by spacecraft not specifically targeted to intercept them was believed to be extremely improbable, since that requires precise angular alignment of the spacecraft with a comet. We report here the fortuitous detection of cometary ions …
Interplanetary Transport Mechanisms of Solar Energetic Particles
Zhang, M.; Qin, G.; Dwyer, J. R. +1 more
Numerical simulations of charged particle trajectories in a Parker field with model turbulence are used to study the transport mechanisms of solar energetic particles (SEPs): magnetic focusing, pitch-angle diffusive transport due to magnetic fluctuations, and adiabatic cooling. The results of the simulations are compared with analytical formulae f…