Acceleration of solar cosmic rays in a flare current sheet and their propagation in interplanetary space

• Published in: Astronomy reports 2015-09, Vol.59 (9), p.888-897
• Main Authors: Podgorny, A. I., Podgorny, I. M.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acceleration; Astronomy; Cosmic rays; Current sheets; Delay; Disks; Earth; Flares; Interplanetary magnetic fields; Magnetic fields; Observations and Techniques; Physics; Physics and Astronomy; Spacecraft; Spirals
• ISSN: 1063-7729; 1562-6881
• DOI: 10.1134/S1063772915090061

Analyses of GOES spacecraft data show that the prompt component of high-energy protons arrive at the Earth after a time corresponding to their generation in flares in the western part of the solar disk, while the delayed component is detected several hours later. All protons in flares are accelerated by a single mechanism. The particles of the prompt component propagate along magnetic lines of the Archimedean spiral connectng the flare with the Earth. The prompt component generated by flares in the eastern part of the solar disk is not observed at the Earth, since particles accelerated by these flares do not intersect magnetic-field lines connecting the flare with the Earth. These particles arrive at the Earth via their motion across the interplanetary magnetic field. These particles are trapped by the magnetic field and transported by the solar wind, since the interplanetary magnetic field is frozen in the wind plasma, and these particles also diffuse across the field. The duration of the delay reaches several days.