Direction of the Nearby Galactic Magnetic Field Inferred from a Cosmic Ray Diurnal Anisotropy

摘要

A twenty-year wave in the diurnal anisotropy component of galactic cosmic rays arriving at the earth from the asymptotic direction 128 deg E of the sun has been found by Forbush. This wave is interpreted in terms of enhanced magnetic reconnection between the nearby galactic field and the field lines in the polar regions of the heliosphere during one half of the twenty-year solar magnetic cycle. This interpretation leads to the result that the component parallel to the solar rotation axis of the nearby galactic field is directed northward. (Author)