Detection of the Temporal Variation of the Sun's Cosmic Ray Shadow with the IceCube Detector

Abstract

We report on the observation of a deficit in the cosmic ray flux from the directions of the Moon and Sun with five years of data taken by the IceCube Neutrino Observatory. Between May 2010 and May 2011 the IceCube detector operated with 79 strings deployed in the glacial ice at the South Pole, and with 86 strings between May 2011 and May 2015. A binned analysis is used to measure the relative deficit and significance of the cosmic ray shadows. Both the cosmic ray Moon and Sun shadows are detected with high statistical significance ($>10\sigma$) for each year. The results for the Moon shadow are consistent with previous analyses and verify the stability of the IceCube detector over time. This work represents the first observation of the Sun shadow with the IceCube detector. We show that the cosmic ray shadow of the Sun varies with time. These results open the possibility to study cosmic ray transport near the Sun with future data from IceCube.

arXiv comment14 pages, 23 figures; published in the Astrophysical Journal

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Cited by in corpus (7)

• The Sun at GeV--TeV Energies: A New Laboratory for Astroparticle Physics
• Cosmic-ray propagation around the Sun: investigating the influence of the solar magnetic field on the cosmic-ray Sun shadow
• Measurements of the Time-Dependent Cosmic-Ray Sun Shadow with Seven Years of IceCube Data -- Comparison with the Solar Cycle and Magnetic Field Models
• Observation of the cosmic ray shadow of the Sun with the ANTARES neutrino telescope
• Searches for neutrinos from cosmic-ray interactions in the Sun using seven years of IceCube data
• Simulating gamma-ray production from cosmic rays interacting with the solar atmosphere in the presence of coronal magnetic fields
• Observation of the cosmic ray shadow of the Sun with the ANTARES neutrino telescope