Cosmic rays in the Milky Way
Abstract
One hundred years after Hess' discovery of the radiation coming from space, the main question about the origin of cosmic rays [CRs] is about to be answered. There have been many advances in recent years in both measurements of CRs and in the models describing their acceleration and propagation through the Galaxy. The Milky Way is the best-studied star-forming galaxy, and the only galaxy that direct measurements of CR intensities and spectra are available. Recent observations of diffuse γ-ray emission from other normal galaxies by Fermi opens a possibility to study CR dynamics from the outside, without line-of-sight confusion that hampers interpretation of the diffuse emissions of the Milky Way. I will overview what recently was learned from direct CR experiments and from observations of diffuse emissions arising from various kinds of interactions between CRs and the interstellar medium in our Galaxy.
- Publication:
-
Centenary Symposium 2012: Discovery of Cosmic Rays
- Pub Date:
- February 2013
- DOI:
- 10.1063/1.4792560
- Bibcode:
- 2013AIPC.1516..156M
- Keywords:
-
- cosmic ray energy spectra;
- cosmic ray origin;
- cosmic ray propagation;
- galactic cosmic rays;
- Galaxy