APEC Seminar (Astronomy - Particle Physics - Experimental Physics - Cosmology)

Speaker: Susana Deustua (Space Telescope Science Institute)
Title: Geophysics with the Hubble Space Telescope
Date (JST): Mon, Nov 11, 2019, 12:00 - 13:00
Place: Seminar Room B
Related File: 2452.pdf
Abstract: Hubble Space Telescope has been in orbit around Earth since 1990. We exploit the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) as a cosmic ray detector to probe Earth's external magnetic field through analysis of the cosmic ray flux on HST instruments. Over 100 000 dark images obtained during 26 years of HST operation are used to calculate the flux of cosmic rays at an altitude of ~500 km above the terrestrial surface and estimate variations in the external magnetic field, thereby complementing geophysical observatory measurements. The goal is to combine HST results with measurements of solar activity, cosmic ray flux on Earth's surface, and geomagnetic data to tease out external field variations. In this talk I report on our measurements of the cosmic ray rate and energy distribution from active and legacy HST instruments.