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Review Article

The Regener-Pfotzer Maximum During a Total Solar Eclipse

Authors
  • Gordon McIntosh (University of Minnesota, Morris)
  • Alaina Swanson (University of Minnesota, Morris)
  • Liam Taylor (University of Minnesota, Morris)
  • Erick Paul Agrimson (St. Catherine University)
  • Kaye Smith (University of Minnesota, Twin Cities)
  • Alynie Xiong (St. Catherine University)

Abstract

The Regener-Pfotzer (RP) maximum is the altitude at which cosmic radiation intensity is the greatest. A decrease of the altitude of the interaction layer, assumed to be measured by the RP maximum, has been suggested to account for a reduction in the secondary cosmic ray flux measured at the surface of the Earth during a total solar eclipse. To investigate this suggestion, high altitude cosmic radiation was measured using Geiger Mueller (GM) counters carried beneath weather balloons both before and during the total solar eclipse on 21 August 2017. The 19 and 20 August 2017 omnidirectional RP maxima occurred at an average altitude of 20.2 km ± 0.9 km. During the eclipse of 21 August 2017 the omnidirectional RP maxima occurred at an altitude of 20.4 km ± 0.8 km. The 19 and 20 August 2017 vertical coincidence RP maxima occurred at an altitude of 18.3 km ± 1.0 km. During the eclipse the vertical coincidence RP maxima occurred at 18.0 km ± 1.0 km. Our results do not show any decrease in the altitude of either the omnidirectional or the vertical coincidence RP maximum outside the range of our measurements before the eclipse.

Keywords: Cosmic Ray, Eclipse, Regener-Pfotzer

How to Cite:

McIntosh, G., Swanson, A., Taylor, L., Agrimson, E. P., Smith, K. & Xiong, A., (2021) “The Regener-Pfotzer Maximum During a Total Solar Eclipse”, Journal of High Altitude Ballooning 1(1). doi: https://doi.org/10.31274/jhab.13031

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Published on
08 Aug 2021
Peer Reviewed
License
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0