arXiv subjects

C. E. Navia

Publications and source records attributed to C. E. Navia.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2020

On the short term modulation of cosmic rays by high-speed streams at the Pierre Auger surface array detectors

We present an analysis of the short-term modulation (one rotation of Bartels-27 days) of the galactic cosmic rays (GCR) by the solar wind, based on the cosmic ray rates observed by the Pierre Auger Observatory (PAO) on their surface detectors in scaler mode. The incidence of GCR with energies below $\sim$ 50 TeV, at the top of the atmosphere, produces more than 90\% of the secondary particles registered at ground level, i.e., they are subject to solar modulation. The modulation is consistent with at least two components: The first is the modulation of the amplitude of the cosmic rays diurnal variation, anti-correlated with the solar-wind speed. The second one occurs during the high-speed stream (HSS), the baseline of the cosmic rays diurnal variation train falls, following the time profile of the solar-wind speed inversely. Based on the radial gradient of the cosmic ray diffusion theory and under some other premises, such as the latitude dependence on diurnal variation and the inclusion of drift processes in the propagation of GCR, a semi-empirical description of the modulation is possible to do, and it hereafter is called as Toy-model. Although the Toy-model does not include fluctuations due to propagation in the atmosphere, it provides satisfactory results when compared with the PAO scaler mode data. We present details of these observations as well as the Toy-model validation.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2018

Relativistic proton levels from region AR 12673 (GLE \#72) and the heliospheric current sheet as a Sun$-$Earth magnetic connection

On 2017 September 10 Neutron Monitors (NMs) apparatus located at ground level and high latitudes detected an increase in the counting rate associated to solar energetic particles (SEPs) emission from X8.2-class solar flare and its associated CME. This was the second-highest flare of the current solar cycle. The origin was the active region AR 12673 when it was located at the edge of the west solar disk, magnetically poorly connected with Earth. However, there was a peculiar condition: the solar protons accelerated by the CME shocks were injected within a heliospheric current sheet (HCS) region when Earth was crossing this region. We show that often HCS and SEPs propagation are closely related. If the source locations of SEPs are within or close to HCS, the HCS play the role of a Sun$-$Earth magnetic connection. SEPs drift around HCS paths, and SEPs are also drift in a wide range of longitudes by the HCSs. In some cases, and especially when Earth crosses the HCS sector, a fraction of these particles can reach Earth with a harder energetic particle flux, triggering a ground-level enhancement (GLE). The blast on 2017 September 10, which triggered the GLE \#72, was the second in the current solar cycle. We show that the two GLEs, including all sub-GLEs observed in the current solar cycle, comes from solar explosions that happened within an HCS structure; this behavior is also observed in the GLEs of the previous solar cycle. In general, solar explosions from active regions poorly connected with Earth can trigger GLEs, through the mechanism described above. In all cases, the SEPs drift processes by HCS structures provides an efficient particle transport, allowing the observation of these solar transient events.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2018

Possible GeV counterpart at the ground level associated with Fermi LAT gamma-ray bursts

From June 2014 to February 2017, the Fermi LAT detected 46 gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) with photon energies above 20 MeV, and the trigger coordinates of seven of them were within the FoV of New-Tupi detector located in the central region of the South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA). We show in this paper that two of these seven GRBs have a probable GeV counterpart observed at ground level by New-Tupi detector. The first is GRB 160609A, a short duration GRB with a bright emission of photons over a broad energy range extending up to GeV energies. The second is GRB 160625B, a very long duration GRB, for which the Fermi LAT detected more than 300 photons with energies above 100 MeV in the $\sim$ 1 ks interval after the GBM trigger. In the first case, the signal at New-Tupi has a nominal significance of $3.5σ$ in the counting rate time profiles, within the T90($=5.6$ s) duration on Fermi GBM. However, the effective significance is only $3.0σ$. In the second case, New-Tupi detector registered at least two excess (peaks) with a nominal statistical significance of $4.8σ$ and $5.0σ$ at 438 s and 558 s after the trigger. The first is within the $T90(=460$ s) on Fermi GBM. Even so, the effective significance is only $\sim 2.0σ$. In addition, from a Monte Carlo analysis, we show that the expected signal-to-noise ratio is compatible with the observation of GRB 160709A, only if the differential index of the GRB energy spectrum be equal or higher than -2.2 (a non-steep spectrum).

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2018

The 2015 Summer Solstice Storm: one of the major geomagnetic storms of solar cycle 24 observed at ground level

We report on the 22-23 June 2015 geomagnetic storm. There has been a shortage of intense geomagnetic storms during the current solar cycle 24 in relation to the previous cycle. This situation changed after mid-June 2015 when one of the biggest solar active regions (AR 2371) of current solar cycle 24, close to the central meridian produced several coronal mass ejections (CMEs) associated with M-class flares. The CMEs impact on the Earth's magnetosphere resulted in a moderately-severe G4-class geomagnetic storm on 22-23 June 2015 and a G2 (moderate) geomagnetic storms on 24 June. The G4 solstice storm was the second biggest (so far) geomagnetic storms of cycle 24. We highlight the ground level observations made by New-Tupi, Muonca and the CARPET El Leoncito cosmic ray detectors that are located within the South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA) region. These observations are studied in correlation with data obtained by space-borne detectors and other ground-based experiments. The CME designations are from the Computer Aided CME Tracking (CACTus) automated catalog. As expected, Forbush Decreases (FD) associated with the passing CMEs were recorded by these detectors. We noticed a peculiar feature linked to a severe geomagnetic storm event. The 21 June 2015 CME 0091 was likely associated with the 22 June summer solstice FD event. The angular width of CME 0091 was very narrow and measured 56 degrees seen from Earth. In most cases, only CME halos and partial halos, lead to severe geomagnetic storms. We performed a cross-check analysis of the FD events detected during the rise phase of the current solar cycle 24, the geomagnetic parameters, and the CACTus CME catalog. Our study suggests that narrow angular-width CMEs that erupt in the western region of the ecliptic plane can lead to moderate and severe geomagnetic storms.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2017

Muon Excess at Sea Level during the Progress of a Geomagnetic Storm and High Speed Stream Impact Near the Time of Eath's Heliospheric Sheet Crossing

In this article we present results of the study on the association between the muon flux variation at ground level, registered by the \textit{\textit{New-Tupi}} muon telescopes ($22^0 53'00''S,\; 43^0 06'13'W$; 3 m above sea level) and a geomagnetic storm of 25\,--\,29 August 2015 that has raged for several days as a result of a coronal mass ejection (CME) impact on Earth's magnetosphere. A sequence of events started with an M3.5 X-ray class flare on 22 August 2015 at 21:19 UTC. The \textit{\textit{New-Tupi}} muon telescopes observed a Forbush decrease (FD) triggered by this geomagnetic storm, with onset on 26 August 2015. After the Earth crossed a heliospheric current sheet (HCS), an increase in the particle flux was observed on 28 August 2015 by spacecrafts and ground level detectors. The observed peak was in temporal coincidence with the impact of a high speed stream (HSS). We study this increase, that has been observed with a significance above 1.5\% by ground level detectors in different rigidity regimes. We also estimate the lower limit of the energy fluence injected on Earth. In addition, we consider the origin of this increase, such as acceleration of particles by shock waves on the front of the HSS and the focusing effect of the HCS crossing. Our results show possible evidence of a prolonged energetic (up to GeV energies) particle injection within the Earth atmosphere system, driven by the HSS. In most cases these injected particles are directed to polar regions. However, the particles from the high energy tail of the spectrum can reach middle latitudes, and that could have consequences for the atmospheric chemistry, for instance, the creation of NOx species may be enhanced and can lead to increased ozone depletion. This topic requires further study.

physics.space-ph↗

arXiv2016

Prompt emission from GRB 150915A in the GeV energy range detected at ground by the New-Tupi detector: A review

Since 2014, a new detector (New-Tupi) consisting of four plastic scintillators ($150 \times 75 \times 5 cm^3$) placed in pairs and located in Niteroi, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, has been used for the search of transient solar events and photomuons from gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). On September 15, 2015, at 21:18:24 UT, the Swift Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) triggered and located GRB 150915A (trigger 655721). The GRB light curve shows a weak complex structure of long duration $T_{90}=164.7 \pm 49.7 $ s, and a fluence in the 15-150 keV band of $8.0 \pm 1.8 \times 10^{-7}erg/cm^2$. GRB 150915A was fortuitously located in the field of view of the New-Tupi detector, and a search for prompt emission in the GeV energy range is presented here. The analysis was made using the "scaler" or "single-particle" technique. The New-Tupi detector registered a counting rate excess peak of duration $T_{90}=(6.1\pm 0.6)$ s with a signal significance $(4.4\pm 0.5)σ$, (and not $6.9σ$ as reported in the previous version). The signal is within the T90 duration of the Swift BAT GRB, with an estimated "excess" fluence of $F_S(E>0.1 GeV)=1.3 \pm 0.3 \times 10^{-6} erg/cm^2$. This value can be considered the lower limit of the gamma ray fluence in the GeV energy region. However, the Poisson probability of the event to be a background fluctuation is $5.0 \times 10^{-6}$ and it appears in the counting rate of the New-Tupi detector with an annual rate $\sim 76$. In addition, the signal has a significance of only $2σ$ in the time profiles with a bin above 2 seconds. Thus we conclude that the event has a high probability to be background fluctuation.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2016

Ground level observations of relativistic solar particles on Oct 29th, 2015: Is it a new GLE on the current solar cycle?

On Oct. 29th, 2015, the Earth crossed through a fold in the heliospheric current sheet. This is called a "solar sector boundary crossing". Under this circumstances, a large coronal mass ejection (CME) occurred at 2:24 UT, behind the west limb on the sun. Therefore, the boundary crossing occurred when in the blast's nearby environment was filled with energetic particles accelerated by the CME shock waves, spacecraft measurements (ACE and GOES) have shown that in such a case, protons with energies at least up to 30 MeV were stored within the range of the sector boundary. Thus, a fraction of the solar energetic particles (SEP) from CME, reached Earth around 03:00 UT in the aftermath of the solar blast, reaching the condition of an S1 (minor) radiation storm level. The effect at ground level was a small increase in the counting rate in some ground based detectors, such as the South Pole Neutron Monitor (NM) and a sharp peak observed in the counting rate in the New-Tupi detector in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and Thule NM. The event is being classified as a new GLE (Ground Level Enhancement) in the current solar cycle, as the GLE 73. However, in all cases, the counting rate increase is smaller or near than 2\%. The Earth crossed through a fold in the heliospheric current sheet also caused a geomagnetic disturbance, below the minor geomagnetic storm threshold, observed in the ACE spacecraft and a small decrease in the counting rates of some ground level detectors, such as the New-Tupi detector and Thuly NM. Details of these observations are reported.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2015

Signals at ground level of relativistic solar particles associated to the "All Saints" filament eruption on 2014

Far away from any sunspot, a bright flare erupted on November 1st, 2014, with onset at 4:44 UT and a duration of around three hours, causing a C2.7-class flare. The blast was associated with the sudden disappearance of a large dark solar filament. The rest of the filament flew out into space, forming the core of a massive CME. Despite the location of the explosion over the sun's southeastern region (near the eastern edge of the sun) not be geoeffective, a radiation storm, that is, solar energetic particles (SEP) started to reach the Earth around 14:00 UT, reaching the condition of an S1 (minor) radiation storm level on Nov. 2th. In coincidence with onset of the S1 radiation storm (SEP above 5 MeV), the Tupi telescopes located at $22^090'$S; $43^020'$W, within the South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA) detected a muon enhancement caused by relativistic protons from this solar blast. In addition an increase in the particle intensity was found also at South Pole neutron monitor. This means that there was a transverse propagation to the interplanetary magnetic field of energetic solar particles. However, we show that perpendicular diffusion alone cannot explain these observations, it is necessary a combination with further processes as a very high speed, at least of a fraction the CME shocks, close to the ecliptic plane.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2013

Was the GLE on May 17, 2012 linked with the M5.1-class flare the first in the 24th solar cycle?

On May 17, 2012 an M5.1-class flare exploded from the sun. An O-type coronal mass ejection (CME) was also associated with this flare. There was an instant increase in proton flux with peak at $\geq 100$ MeV, leading to S2 solar radiation storm level. In about 20 minutes after the X-ray emission, the solar particles reached the Earth.It was the source of the first (since December 2006) ground level enhancement (GLE) of the current solar cycle 24. The GLE was detected by neutron monitors (NM) and other ground based detectors. Here we present an observation by the Tupi muon telescopes (Niteroi, Brazil, $22^{0}.9 S$, $43^{0}.2 W$, 3 m above sea level) of the enhancement of muons at ground level associated with this M5.1-class solar flare. The Tupi telescopes registered a muon excess over background $\sim 20\%$ in the 5-min binning time profile. The Tupi signal is studied in correlation with data obtained by space-borne detectors (GOES, ACE), ground based neutron monitors (Oulu) and air shower detectors (the IceTop surface component of the IceCube neutrino observatory). We also report the observation of the muon signal possibly associated with the CME/sheath striking the Earth magnetosphere on May 20, 2012. We show that the observed temporal correlation of the muon excess observed by the Tupi muon telescopes with solar transient events suggests a real physical connection between them. Our observation indicates that combination of two factors, the low energy threshold of the Tupi muon telescopes and the location of the Tupi experiment in the South Atlantic Anomaly region, can be favorable in the study and detection of the solar transient events. Our experiment provides new data complementary to other techniques (space and ground based) in the study of solar physics.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2012

Plasma Pressure Driven Asymmetric Supernovae and Highly Collimated Gamma-Ray Bursts

During the process of collapse of a massive star, a cavity is generated between the central iron core and an outer stellar envelope. The dynamics of this cavity, filled with plasma and magnetic field of the rapidly rotating proto-magnetar's magnetosphere, is believed to be very relevant in understanding supernovae and gamma-ray bursts. The interactions of the pressurized conducting plasma and the magnetic fields are described by a set of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) equations with poloidal and toroidal plasma flows not aligned with magnetic fields. A sequence of MHD equilibria in response to the increasing plasma pressure in the cavity, by continuous filling from the rotating magnetosphere, is solved to account for asymmetric supernovae, highly collimated gamma-ray burst jets, and also active galactic nucleus plasma torus. It is shown that the magnetosphere of the central compact star is likely the central engine of supernova and gamma-ray burst by feeding them plasma, magnetic energy, and rotational energy.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2011

Search for a simultaneous signal from small transient events in the Pierre Auger Observatory and the Tupi muon telescopes

We present results of a search for a possible signal from small scale solar transient events (such as flares and interplanetary shocks) as well as possible counterparts to Gamma-Ray Burst (GRB) observed simultaneously by the Tupi muon telescope Niteroi-Brazil, 22.90S, 43.20W, 3 m above sea level) and the Pierre Auger Observatory surface detectors (Malargue-Argentina, 69.30S, 35.30W, altitude 1400 m). Both cosmic ray experiments are located inside the South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA) region. Our analysis of several examples shows similarities in the behavior of the counting rate of low energy (above 100 MeV) particles in association with the solar activity (solar flares and interplanetary shocks). We also report an observation by the Tupi experiment of the enhancement of muons at ground level with a significance higher than 8 sigma in the 1-sec binning counting rate (raw data) in close time coincidence (T-184 sec) with the Swift-BAT GRB110928B (trigger=504307). The GRB 110928B coordinates are in the field of view of the vertical Tupi telescope, and the burst was close to the MAXI source J1836-194. The 5-min muon counting rate in the vertical Tupi telescope as well as publicly available data from Auger (15 minutes averages of the scaler rates) show small peaks above the background fluctuations at the time following the Swift-BAT GRB 110928B trigger. In accordance with the long duration trigger, this signal can possibly suggest a long GRB, with a precursor narrow peak at T-184 sec.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2011

Search for GeV gamma ray burst signal in the field of view of muon telescopes

We present a search for the muon excess associated in time (preceding or following) with the trigger of gamma ray burst (GRB) detected by the satellite borne instruments. The 1 Hz rate data was collected at the sea level in the area located at 22S and 43W, inside the South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA) region and close to its center. Using 1 sec amd 10 sec time binning, we found the muon excess with significance $>5σ$ associated with the gamma ray burst GRB091112 observed by Swift BAT, Fermi GBM and Suzaku-WAM satellites. The detected muon time profile shows a rough peak at $\sim T+223$ sec ($5.2σ$), and with a duration of 7 sec. The FLUKA Monte Carlo simulation of the photon-to-muon conversion in the atmosphere shows that the observed muon excess can be explained by progenitor photons with energies above 10 GeV. This energy value is above the limits expected from the maximum synchrotron emission combined with the shock wave evolution. It shows constrains on the external shock synchrotron model for GRB emission in the GeV energy band and favors scenarios with overall afterglow spectrum, ranging from the optical-to-GeV photons. On the basis of the observed associations with the satellite data, we report confidence analysis of the background fluctuations and fluencies in the GeV energy region, that is important for better understanding of the GRB physics.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2010

Muon excess at sea level from solar flares in association with the Fermi GBM spacecraft detector

This paper presents results of an ongoing survey on the associations between muon excesses at ground level registered by the Tupi telescopes and transient solar events, two solar flares whose gamma-ray and X-ray emissions were reported by, respectively, the Fermi GBM and the GOES 14. We show that solar flares of small scale, those with prompt X-ray emission classified by GOES as C-Class (power $10^{-6}$ to $10^{-5}$ W m$^2$ at 1 AU) may give rise to muon excess probably associated with solar protons and ions emitted by the flare and arriving at the Earth as a coherent particle pulse. The Tupi telescopes are within the central region of the South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA), which allows particle detectors to achieve a low rigidity of response to primary and secondary charged particles ($\geq 0.1$ GV). Here we argue for the possibility of a "scale-free" energy distribution of particles accelerated by solar flares. Large and small scale flares have the same energy spectrum up to energies exceeding the pion production, the difference between them is only the intensity. If this hypothesis is correct, the Tupi telescope is registering muons produced by protons (ions) whose energy corresponds to the tail of the spectrum. Consequently the energy distribution of the emitted protons has to be a power law spectrum, since power law distributions are characterized as scale free distributions. The Tupi events give support to this conjecture.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2009

Gamma ray burst triggers at daytime and night-time interface

There is a difference between the solar ionization concentration in the ionosphere in the daytime and at night-time. At night the E-region ion concentration peak is dramatically reduced due to chemical losses and the rapid change in the vertical polarization electric field at the time around sunset, which is due to the accelerating neutral wind dynamo and which produces a corresponding change in the zonal electric field through curl-free requirements. The result is the formation of a layer of high conductivity, at the daytime-night-time interface. This phenomenon in the South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA) area, provokes an increase in the precipitation of charge particles which is well known and is commonly termed "sunset enhancement". In the following we show five gamma ray burst (GRB) triggers observed by spacecraft GRB detectors in temporal coincidence with muon enhancement observed at ground level by the Tupi telescopes with two different orientations at $\sim 21$ UT (local sunset), and located inside the SAA region. Of these GRB triggers analyzed here, one from Swift, and two from Fermi are probably noise triggers, produced by omni-directional particle precipitation, during the sunset enhancements.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2008

Is there a GeV counterpart in the Fermi GBM events?

In this paper we report a possible GeV counterpart observed at ground level as muons (or "photo-muons") of two Fermi gamma burst monitor (GBM) events, trigger bn081120618 and trigger bn081124060. In both cases, the trigger coordinates are within the field of view of the vertical Tupi telescope located at sea level and inside the South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA) region. We show that despite the first trigger being classified as GRB (due to a gamma ray burst), with an 100% probability assigned by GBM Flight Software, the trigger time 14:49:31 UT happened during particle precipitations in the SAA, which in most cases is $\sim 12h$ UT to $\sim 22h$ UT, and the probability of the trigger being attributed to particle precipitation, according to our analysis is 25%. The second Fermi trigger is also classified as GRB, with a 100% probability assigned by GBM Flight Software. The trigger time is 01:26:07 UT, which is outside the schedule of precipitation of particles. Another important observed characteristic is the existence of a ground level enhancement (GLE) with a sharp peak ($5.1σ$) coinciding with the Fermi trigger within the 10-second counting interval (raw data) of the vertical Tupi telescope. In addition it is possible to identify other GLEs before and after the trigger occurrence. In both cases, the scenario is similar to the long-duration GeV GRBs observed by EGRET within the BATSE field of view.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2008

The Hubble diagram of high redshift objects, QSOs and AGNs

According to the Hubble law, high redshift objects such as Quasar (QSOs), X-ray Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) together with the Gamma Ray Burst (GRBs) are the fastest and farthest objects. These characteristics provides strong motivations for they to be used to constrain the cosmological parameters, without the limitations found in the Ia supernovae study and which is restricted to redshift of up to 1.7. However, the variability and behavior in the QSOs and AGNs spectra tell us that they have very complex structures and the standard candle framework can not be applied. So far the available data of QSOs and AGNs have shown some anomalies observed in their brightness and metallicities, difficult to understand, under an orthodox point of view. Here, we show that their Hubble diagram flattens for $z\geq 3 $. The result need further confirmation, because the statistics of high redshift extragalactic objects is still poor. Details and some implications of these results are reported in this work.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2008

Effects of the South Atlantic Anomaly on the muon flux at sea level

The goal of this study is to examine the response and changes of the muon intensity at ground, due to magnetic anomaly over south Atlantic. Based on the data of two directional muon telescopes and located at 22S and 43W. These coordinates are inside of the South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA) region, a dip in the magnetosphere. This characteristic offers to the muon telescopes the lowest rigidity of response to cosmic protons and ions ($\geq 0.4$ GV). The magnetosphere's dip is responsible for several processes, such as the high conductivity of the atmospheric layers due to the precipitation of energetic particles in this region and an zonal electric field known as the pre-reversal electric field (PRE) with an enhancement at evening hours. In addition the open magnetosphere, propitiate the magnetic reconnections of the IMF lines that will take place in this site in the day side. These factors are responsible for an unusually large particle flux present in the SAA region, including particles with energies above the pion production threshold. The main effect is an increase of the muon intensity ($E_μ>0.2GeV$) at ground, in the day side, in up to ten times. We show that it is correlated with the pre-reversal electric field, and propitiate the observation of muon enhancements due to small solar transient events, such as corotating interaction region (CIR) and micro-flares. Details of these results are reported in this paper.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2008

Muons enhancements at sea level in association with Swift-BAT and MILAGRO triggers

Recently, triggers occurring during high background rate intervals have been reporter by Swift-BAT Gamma Ray Burst (GRB) detector. Among them, there were two on January 24, two on January 25, and two on February 13, and 18, all in 2008. These Swift-BAT triggers in most cases are probably noise triggers that occurred while Swift was entering the South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA). In fact, we show that they happen during a plentiful precipitation of high energy particles in the SAA, producing muons in the atmosphere detected by two directional telescopes at sea level, inside the SAA region (Tupi experiment). They look like sharp peaks in the muon counting rate. In the same category are two triggers from MILAGRO ground based detector, on January 25 and 31, 2008 respectively. In addition, the trigger coordinates are close to (and, in two cases, inside) the field of view of the telescopes. From an additional analysis in the behavior of the muon counting rate, it is possible to conclude that the events are produced by precipitation of high energy charged particles in the SAA region. Thus, due to its localization, the Tupi experiment constitutes a new sensor of high energy particle precipitation in the SAA, and it can be useful in the identification of some triggers of Gamma Ray Burst detectors.

astro-ph↗