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Observations of the remnants of the ultrarelativistic electrons injected by the strong SSC of 24 March 1991
Author(s) -
Looper M. D.,
Blake J. B.,
Mewaldt R. A.,
Cummings J. R.,
Baker D. N.
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/94gl01586
Subject(s) - electron , physics , extrapolation , magnetosphere , van allen radiation belt , range (aeronautics) , atomic physics , nuclear physics , astrophysics , plasma , mathematical analysis , mathematics , materials science , composite material
Data from the SAMPEX spacecraft has shown the presence near L = 1.9 of the remnants of the ultrarelativistic electrons (above 15 MeV) injected into the magnetosphere on 24 March 1991. The decay of the electrons has been tracked since July 1992. The electron e ‐folding lifetime is in the range of six to twelve months, and the location in L of the peak intensity moved inward by ∼0.05 units in one year. The inferred electron lifetime is similar to that of ∼0.5 MeV electrons, which is in agreement with extrapolation to higher energies of the theoretical estimates of Lyons and Thorne (1972).