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.

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