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Balloon-Borne Investigation of Zenith Angle Dependence of Cosmic Ray Showers

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Abstract

Galactic Cosmic Rays are high-energy particles from stars or remnants of a supernova. These particles impinge upon the Earth's atmosphere in the form ofpositively-charged particles – protons. Protons interact with atmospheric nuclei to produce a cascade of high-energy secondary particles known as a Galactic Cosmic Ray Shower. Post-collision secondary shower details depend on altitude, latitude, solar activity, and air pressure. The Regener-Pfotzer (R-P)maximum, which occurs between 15,000 m and 25,000 m, is the altitude where the maximum number of detections is measured with a Geiger-Müller detector (often called a Geiger counter). In order to quantify cosmic ray events, a payload was flown on stratospheric balloon flights containing four Geiger counters in a vertical cross configuration measuring omnidirectional cosmic ray levels from a single Geiger counter as well as vertical and horizontal coincidences between pairs of Geiger counters. Analyzed data showed the R-P maximum occurring at different altitudes omnidirectional measurements, vertical coincidences, and horizontal coincidences, consistent with previous research.

Keywords: Regener-Pfotzer, Cosmic Rays, Geiger counters

How to Cite:

Walter, A., Wiedmeier, A., Graham, M., Panmany, J., Weinzierl, C., Agrimson, E. P., McIntosh, G. & Flaten, J., (2019) “Balloon-Borne Investigation of Zenith Angle Dependence of Cosmic Ray Showers”, Academic High Altitude Conference 2019(1). doi: https://doi.org/10.31274/ahac.15681