Speaker
Description
SuperTIGER (Super Trans-Iron Galactic Element Recorder) is a long-duration balloon-borne instrument designed to directly measure Galactic Cosmic Rays (GCR), resolving individual element peaks from $^{10}$Ne to $^{40}$Zr. SuperTIGER had two successful Antarctic flights: one in 2012 for 55 days and one in 2019 for 32 days. We present the current state of the SuperTIGER analyses, overviewing GCR measurements and source abundances from the 2012 flight, which made exploratory measurements up to $^{56}$Ba. GCR measurements up to $^{40}$Zr support a source model where GCR are accelerated from their source of 80% interstellar medium and 20% massive star material by supernovae in OB associations and refractory elements, which condense onto interstellar dust grains, are preferentially accelerated over volatiles. GCR measurements above $^{40}$Zr show a break in this model, indicating an alternative Galactic cosmic-ray source (GCRS) and/or acceleration model for Z > 40. SuperTIGER GCRS abundances are obtained from the leaky-box interstellar transport model. We also report simulation results on corrections needed for energy loss and charge-changing interactions from the atmospheric overburden and instrument material.
| Collaboration(s) | SuperTIGER |
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