Observation in the MINOS far detector of the shadowing of cosmic rays by the sun and moon

P. Adamson, C. Andreopoulos, D. S. Ayres, C. Backhouse, G. Barr, W. L. Barrett, M. Bishai, A. Blake, B. Bock, G. J. Bock, D. J. Boehnlein, D. Bogert, C. Bower, S. Budd, S. Cavanaugh, D. Cherdack, S. Childress, B. C. Choudhary, J. H. Cobb, J. A.B. CoelhoS. J. Coleman, L. Corwin, D. Cronin-Hennessy, I. Z. Danko, J. K. De Jong, N. E. Devenish, M. V. Diwan, M. Dorman, C. O. Escobar, J. J. Evans, E. Falk, G. J. Feldman, M. V. Frohne, H. R. Gallagher, A. Godley, R. A. Gomes, M. C. Goodman, P. Gouffon, R. Gran, N. Grant, E. W. Grashorn, K. Grzelak, A. Habig, D. Harris, P. G. Harris, J. Hartnell, R. Hatcher, A. Himmel, A. Holin, X. Huang, J. Hylen, J. Ilic, G. M. Irwin, Z. Isvan, D. E. Jaffe, C. James, D. Jensen, T. Kafka, S. M.S. Kasahara, G. Koizumi, S. Kopp, M. Kordosky, Z. Krahn, A. Kreymer, K. Lang, G. Lefeuvre, J. Ling, P. J. Litchfield, R. P. Litchfield, L. Loiacono, P. Lucas, W. A. Mann, M. L. Marshak, J. S. Marshall, N. Mayer, A. M. McGowan, R. Mehdiyev, J. R. Meier, M. D. Messier, D. G. Michael, W. H. Miller, S. R. Mishra, J. Mitchell, C. D. Moore, L. Mualem, S. Mufson, J. Musser, D. Naples, J. K. Nelson, H. B. Newman, R. J. Nichol, T. C. Nicholls, W. P. Oliver, M. Orchanian, J. Paley, R. B. Patterson, G. Pawloski, G. F. Pearce, E. A. Peterson, R. Pittam, R. K. Plunkett, J. Ratchford, T. M. Raufer, B. Rebel, J. Reichenbacher, P. A. Rodrigues, C. Rosenfeld, H. A. Rubin, V. A. Ryabov, M. C. Sanchez, J. Schneps, P. Schreiner, V. K. Semenov, P. Shanahan, A. Sousa, M. Strait, N. Tagg, R. L. Talaga, J. Thomas, M. A. Thomson, J. L. Thron, G. Tinti, R. Toner, G. Tzanakos, J. Urheim, P. Vahle, B. Viren, A. Weber, R. C. Webb, C. White, L. Whitehead, S. G. Wojcicki, D. M. Wright, T. Yang, R. Zwaska

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

14 Scopus citations

Abstract

The shadowing of cosmic ray primaries by the moon and sun was observed by the MINOS far detector at a depth of 2070 mwe using 83.54 million cosmic ray muons accumulated over 1857.91 live-days. The shadow of the moon was detected at the 5.6 σ level and the shadow of the sun at the 3.8 σ level using a log-likelihood search in celestial coordinates. The moon shadow was used to quantify the absolute astrophysical pointing of the detector to be 0.17 ± 0.12°. Hints of interplanetary magnetic field effects were observed in both the sun and moon shadow.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)457-466
Number of pages10
JournalAstroparticle Physics
Volume34
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 2011
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Cosmic rays
  • Interplanetary magnetic field
  • Moon shadow
  • Muons
  • Sun shadow

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Astronomy and Astrophysics

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