Year: 2014
Type: article
Abstract: We explore the feasibility of using the atmosphere of Jupiter to detect ultra-high-energy cosmic rays (UHECRs). The large surface area of Jupiter allows us to probe cosmic rays of higher energies than previously accessible. Cosmic ray extensive air showers in Jupiter's atmosphere could in principle be detected by the Large Area Telescope (LAT) on the Fermi observatory. In order to be observed, these air showers would need to be oriented toward the Earth, and would need to occur sufficiently high in the atmosphere that the gamma rays can penetrate. We demonstrate that, under these assumptions, Jupiter provides an effective cosmic ray "detector" area of 3.3 × 10 7 km 2 . We predict that Fermi -LAT should be able to detect events of energy >10 21 eV with fluence 10 −7 erg cm −2 at a rate of about one per month. The observed number of air showers may provide an indirect measure of the flux of cosmic rays ≳ 10 20 eV. Extensive air showers also produce a synchrotron signature that may be measurable by Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). Simultaneous observations of Jupiter with ALMA and Fermi -LAT could be used to provide broad constraints on the energies of the initiating cosmic rays.
Authors: P. B. Rimmer, C. R. Stark, Ch. Helling
Institution: University of St Andrews
Language: English
Subfield: Nuclear and High Energy Physics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W2170642987