Scientific article
English

Leptons in near earth orbit

ContributorsAMS Collab.
Published inPhysics letters. B, vol. 484, no. 1-2, p. 10-22
Publication date2000
Abstract

The lepton spectra in the kinetic energy ranges 0.2 to 40 GeV for e − and 0.2 to 3 GeV for e + were measured by the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) during space shuttle flight STS–91 at altitudes near 380 km. From the origin of the leptons two distinct spectra were observed: a higher energy spectrum and a substantial second spectrum with positrons much more abundant than electrons. Tracing leptons from the second spectra shows that most of these leptons travel for an extended period of time in the geomagnetic field and that the e + and e − originate from two complementary geographic regions.

Keywords
  • Electron: cosmic radiation
  • Positron: cosmic radiation
  • Cosmic radiation: flux
  • Cosmic radiation: primary
  • Cosmic radiation: secondary
  • Energy spectrum: angular dependence
  • Absorption
  • Geophysics: magnetic field
  • Magnetic spectrometer: satellite
  • Experimental results
Citation (ISO format)
AMS Collab. Leptons in near earth orbit. In: Physics letters. B, 2000, vol. 484, n° 1-2, p. 10–22. doi: 10.1016/s0370-2693(00)00588-8
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Identifiers
Journal ISSN0370-2693
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Technical informations

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