Related papers: Energy Deposition by Galactic Cosmic Rays and Impl…
An extensive program for the calculation of galactic cosmic-ray propagation has been developed. Primary and secondary nucleons, primary and secondary electrons, secondary positrons and antiprotons are included. Fragmentation and energy…
Comets are small bodies thought to contain the most pristine material in the solar system. However, since their formation 4.5 Gy ago, they have been altered by different processes. While not exposed to much electromagnetic radiation, they…
We present the temporal changes of the diffusion coefficient K of galactic cosmic rays (GCRs) at the Earth orbit calculated based on the experimental data using two different methods. The first approach is based on the Parker…
Cosmic rays (CR), both solar and Galactic, have an ionising effect on the Earth's atmosphere and are thought to be important for prebiotic molecule production. In particular, the $\rm{H_2}$-dominated atmosphere following an ocean-vaporising…
Galactic cosmic rays are a ubiquitous source of ionisation of the interstellar gas, competing with UV and X-ray photons as well as natural radioactivity in determining the fractional abundance of electrons, ions and charged dust grains in…
We analyze the results of recent measurements of Galactic cosmic ray (GCRs) energy spectra and the spectra of nonthermal emission from supernova remnants (SNRs) in order to determine their consistency with GCR origin in SNRs. It is shown…
The Antarctic region in which severe ozone depletion has taken place is known as the ozone hole. This region has two basic indicators: the area, where the ozone abundance is low (size), and the quantity of ozone mass deficit (depth). The…
Context: Molecular data of extreme environments, such as Arp 220, but also NGC 253, show evidence for extremely high cosmic ray (CR) rates (10^3-10^4 * Milky Way) and mechanical heating from supernova driven turbulence. Aims: The…
The influence of extraterrestrial particles like cosmic radiation (CR) on the chemistry and ozone density in the Earth stratosphere is not well investigated and normally neglected in stratospheric chemistry models. Here we present the…
We explore the effects of the expected higher cosmic ray (CR) ionization rates $\zeta_{\rm CR}$ on the abundances of carbon monoxide (CO), atomic carbon (C), and ionized carbon (C$^+$) in the H$_2$ clouds of star-forming galaxies. The study…
Numerical modeling of galactic cosmic rays (GCRs) penetration through the heliosphere to the vicinity of the Sun is considered. Galactic cosmic rays are charged particles with energies exceeding 10 MeV/nucl., originating from far beyond the…
(abridged abstract) Theoretical arguments indicate that close-in terrestial exoplanets may have weak magnetic fields. As described in the companion article (Paper I), a weak magnetic field results in a high flux of galactic cosmic rays to…
A fundamental problem of cosmic ray (CR) physics is the determination of the average properties of Galactic CRs outside the Solar system. Starting from COS-B data in the 1980's, gamma-ray observations of molecular clouds in the Gould Belt…
We examine the question of the origin of the Galactic cosmic-rays (GCRs) in the light of the data available at the highest energy end of the spectrum. We argue that the data of the Pierre Auger Observatory and of the KASCADE-Grande…
Observations and quantitative understanding of spatio-temporary variations in lower-stratospheric ozone and temperature can provide fingerprints for the mechanisms of ozone depletion and play an important role in testing the impact of…
It is likely that one or more gamma-ray bursts within our galaxy have strongly irradiated the Earth in the last Gy. This produces significant atmospheric ionization and dissociation, resulting in ozone depletion and DNA-damaging ultraviolet…
Under current conditions, the cosmic ray spectrum incident on the Earth is dominated by particles with energies < 1 GeV. Astrophysical sources including high energy solar flares, supernovae and gamma ray bursts produce high energy cosmic…
In this paper we briefly discuss the problem of the origin of Ultra High Energy Cosmic Rays in the framework of Top-Down models. We show that, for high energy of decays and in a wide range of spectra of injected protons, their extragalactic…
We consider the rate of ionization of diffuse and molecular clouds in the interstellar medium by Galactic cosmic rays (GCR) in order to constrain its low energy spectrum. We extrapolate the GCR spectrum obtained from PAMELA at high energies…
Cosmic rays (CRs) can significantly impact dense molecular clouds in galaxies, heating the interstellar medium (ISM) and altering its chemistry, ionization, and thermal properties. Their influence is particularly relevant in environments…