Recent Observations of Galactic Cosmic Rays from Voyagers 1 and 2
COFFEE_KLATCH · Invited
Abstract
The twin Voyager spacecraft were launched in 1977 and are still returning data after 40 years in space. Voyager 1 has crossed into the local interstellar medium (LISM) and is returning measurements of the low-energy parts of the galactic cosmic ray (GCR) spectra that are free of solar modulation effects for the first time. Voyager 2 is still in the inner heliosheath but appears to be rapidly approaching the heliopause. We will report on recent observations from the two spacecraft, including: the gradient of GCRs in the LISM; the GCR energy spectra in the LISM of elements from H through Ni, as well as some isotopes and electrons; and GCR electron observations from Voyager 2 that yield rough estimates of when it might cross the heliopause.
*This research was supported by NASA Grant NNN12AA01C
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