Aachen 2019 – scientific programme

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T: Fachverband Teilchenphysik

T 62: Neutrino-Astronomie II

T 62.4: Talk

Wednesday, March 27, 2019, 16:50–17:05, S14

Studying the temporal variation of the cosmic-ray Sun shadow -- comparison of IceCube data with theoretical models of the solar magnetic field — •Frederik Tenholt and Julia Becker Tjus for the IceCube collaboration — Ruhr-Universität Bochum

The shadowing effect of the Moon and Sun in TeV cosmic rays has been measured with high statistical significance by several experiments. Unlike particles from directions close to the Moon, however, charged particles passing the Sun are deflected not only by the geomagnetic but also by the solar magnetic field. Since the latter undergoes a well-known 11-year cycle -- during which it can become highly disordered -- changes in the cosmic-ray Sun shadow measured at Earth are expected over time. We present a comparison of simulations that were developed in order to predict the cosmic-ray shadows of Moon and Sun and seven years of data taken with the IceCube Neutrino Observatory. While the results for the Moon shadow verify a stable detector, the results for the Sun shadow exhibit a clear variation. The observed variation in the data is used to compare two potential field models of the coronal magnetic field.