Issue |
A&A
Volume 440, Number 2, September III 2005
|
|
---|---|---|
Page(s) | 759 - 766 | |
Section | Planets and planetary systems | |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361:20040229 | |
Published online | 01 September 2005 |
Proton and electron acceleration by quasi-perpendicular fast magnetosonic shocks in interplanetary space
1
School of Physics & Astronomy, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK e-mail: gms@star.sr.bham.ac.uk
2
Laboratory for Plasma Astrophysics, Toyama University, Toyama 930-8555, Japan
3
Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, London SW7 2BZ, UK
Received:
9
February
2004
Accepted:
30
May
2005
Recent observations from the spacecraft
(Simnett 2003, Sol. Phys., 213, 387) have measured the energy spectrum of the ambient
ions associated with the passage of a fast magnetosonic
quasi-perpendicular shock driven by a coronal mass ejection (CME).
Near the shock front the energy spectrum of the accelerated ions,
which are predominantly protons, exhibits features (maxima) at
about 250 keV-1.5 MeV. We show that these are the right order of
magnitude for protons which have been accelerated by the surfatron
mechanism at a fast magnetosonic shock wave propagating
perpendicular to the ambient magnetic field. The in situ
measurements therefore illustrate directly that this mechanism
could possibly be responsible for interplanetary particle
acceleration. The shock is also accompanied by an increase in the
near-relativistic electron intensity of almost two orders of
magnitude. We present a similar event observed by the ACE spacecraft.
Key words: miscellaneous
© ESO, 2005
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