PHYSICAL PICTURE OF THE FORMATION OF AN ARTIFICIAL RADIATION BELT BY THE AMERICAN HIGH-ALTITUDE THERMONUCLEAR BURST OF 9 JULY 1962
Abstract
Direct observations by Kosmos-5 and other satellite sources indicate that the final radius of the plasma cloud accompanying the American high- altitude burst of 9 July 1962 did not exceed 600 km. This is less than the final radius for a plasma cloud expanding in a vacuum, which indicates considerable dissipation of energy. Particle ejection beyond the plasma cloud is assumed to be the reason for this discrepancy and three mechanisms are proposed to explain the ejection: (1) diamagnetic ejection of plasma blobs due to instability at the interface between plasma and field; (2) free separation in the magnetosphere of fission fragments neutralized in the beginning stages of cloud expansion, i.e., before the stage of 'inertial separation'; (3) free separation in the magnetosphere of fragments neutralized by charge exchange between ions in the plasma cloud and neutral particles in the atmosphere.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 11, 1966
- Accession Number
- AD0631025
Entities
People
- Yu. I. Galperin
Organizations
- Johns Hopkins University