MAST: a mass spectrometer telescope for studies of the isotopic composition of solar, anomalous, and galactic cosmic ray nuclei

Author

Cook, W.R. ; Cummings, A.C. ; Cummings, J.R. ; Garrard, T.L. ; Kecman, B. ; Mewaldt, R.A. ; Selesnick, R.S. ; Stone, E.C. ; von Rosenvinge, T.T.

Author_Institution

Downs Lab., California Inst. of Technol., Pasadenda, CA, USA

Volume

31

Issue

3

fYear

1993

fDate

5/1/1993 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

557

Lastpage

564

Abstract

The mass spectrometer telescope (MAST) on SAMPEX (Solar, Anomalous, and Magnetospheric Particle Explorer) is designed to provide high-resolution measurements of the isotopic composition of energetic nuclei from He to Ni (Z=2 to 28) over the energy range from ~10 to several hundred MeV/nucleon. During large solar flares MAST will measure the isotopic abundances of solar energetic particles to determine directly the composition of the solar corona, while during solar quiet times MAST will study the isotopic composition of galactic cosmic rays. In addition, MAST will measure the isotopic composition of both interplanetary and trapped fluxes of anomalous cosmic rays, believed to be a sample of the nearby interstellar medium

Keywords

cosmic ray apparatus; cosmic ray nuclei; galactic cosmic rays; mass spectrometers; solar corona; solar cosmic ray particles; solar flares; 10 to 200 MeV; MAST; SAMPEX; Solar, Anomalous, and Magnetospheric Particle Explorer; Sun; anomalous cosmic rays; composition; energetic nuclei; galactic cosmic ray nuclei; high-resolution measurements; interplanetary fluxes; interstellar medium; isotopic abundances; isotopic composition; mass spectrometer telescope; solar corona; solar flares; trapped fluxes; Corona; Cosmic rays; Energy measurement; Helium; Magnetosphere; Mass spectroscopy; Nuclear measurements; Optical design; Particle measurements; Telescopes;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Geoscience and Remote Sensing, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0196-2892

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/36.225522

Filename

225522