A Long-Lived Relativistic Electron Storage Ring Embedded in Earth’s Outer Van Allen Belt
Abstract
Since their discovery more than 50 years ago, Earth’s Van Allen radiation belts have been considered to consist of two distinct zones of trapped, highly energetic charged particles. The outer zone is composed predominantly of megaelectron volt (MeV) electrons that wax and wane in intensity on time scales ranging from hours to days, depending primarily on external forcing by the solar wind. The spatially separated inner zone is composed of commingled high-energy electrons and very energetic positive ions (mostly protons), the latter being stable in intensity levels over years to decades. In situ energy-specific and temporally resolved spacecraft observations reveal an isolated third ring, or torus, of high-energy (>2 MeV) electrons that formed on 2 September 2012 and persisted largely unchanged in the geocentric radial range of 3.0 to ~3.5 Earth radii for more than 4 weeks before being disrupted (and virtually annihilated) by a powerful interplanetary shock wave passage.
Department
Physics
Publication Date
4-12-2013
Journal Title
Science
Publisher
American Association for the Advancement of Science
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
10.1126/science.1233518
Document Type
Article
Recommended Citation
Baker, D. N.; Kanekal, S. G.; Hoxie, V. C.; Henderson, M. G.; Li, X.; Spence, Harlan E.; Elkington, S. R.; Friedel, R. H. W.; Goldstein, J.; Hudson, M. K.; Reeves, G. D.; Thorne, R. M.; Kletzing, C. A.; and Claudepierre, S. G., "A Long-Lived Relativistic Electron Storage Ring Embedded in Earth’s Outer Van Allen Belt" (2013). Science. 159.
https://scholars.unh.edu/physics_facpub/159
Rights
©2013. American Association for the Advancement of Science