We review the evidence for cosmic ray acceleration in the superbubble/hot phase of the interstellar medium, and discuss the implications for the composition of cosmic rays and the structure and evolution of the interstellar medium (ISM). We show that the bulk of the galactic supernovae, their expanding remnants, together with their metal-rich grain and gas ejecta, and their cosmic ray accelerat...

Several unexpected astrophysical observations can be explained by gravitationally captured massive axions or axion-like particles, which are produced inside the Sun or other stars and are accumulated over cosmic times. Their radiative decay in solar outer space would give rise to a 'self-irradiation' of the whole star, providing the time-independent component of the corona heating source (we do...

New observations of the abundances and energy spectra of the isotopes of Mg, Al, and Si from ACE/CRIS are used to extend our previous results on the composition of refractory nuclides in cosmic-ray source material. For the 18 nuclides considered for elements between Mg and Ni, relative source abundances are generally consistent with solar-system values to within 20%. The Fe abundance, taken rel...

Laboratory data and corrected estimates of cosmic ray dose are used to predict the thickness and survivability of the cosmic rayproduced, primordial comet mantle ("crust"). These results support the hypothesis that the refractory mantle produced by cosmic ray irradiation of a new comet may be able to survive a comet's entry into the inner solar system for many revolutions. Because this mantle m...

A new, unique mechanism accounting for the knee and the ankle in the energy spectrum of the cosmic radiation is presented. The interplay of the form and strength of the galactic magnetic field, the rising trend of the nuclear cross sections with energy, the position of the solar cavity within the Galaxy and disc size generates knees and ankles of individual ions. The influence of these observat...

Neon was measured in 39 individual olivine (or olivine-rich) grains separated from individual chondrules from Dhajala, Bjurböle, Chainpur, Murchison, and Parsa chondrites with spallation-produced Ne the result of interaction of energetic particle irradiation. The apparent Ne cosmic ray exposure (CRE) ages of most grains are similar to those of the matrix with the exception of three grains from ...

Long-duration observations of Neptune's brightness at two visible wavelengths provide a disk-averaged estimate of its atmospheric aerosol. Brightness variations were previously associated with the 11-year solar cycle, through solar-modulated mechanisms linked with either ultraviolet or galactic cosmic ray (GCR) effects on atmospheric particles. Here, we use a recently extended brightness data s...

It is generally believed that the low-frequency variability of climatic parameters seems to be connected to solar cycles. The principal periodicities are: 11-year (Schwabe), 22-year (Hale), 33-year (Bruckner) and 80–100year (Gleissberg) cycles. The main heliophysical factors acting on climate, the biosphere and the atmosphere are solar irradiance, the intensity of solar and galactic cosmic rays...

For a given galactic cosmic ray (GCR) environment, information on the particle flux of protons, alpha particles, and heavy ions, that varies with respect to the topographical altitude on the Martian surface, are needed for planning exploration missions to Mars. The Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) mission with its Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA) instrument has been providing precise topographical...

Evidences of non-thermal X-ray emission and TeV gamma-rays from the su-pernova remnants (SNRs) has strengthened the hypothesis that primary Galactic cosmic-ray electrons are accelerated in SNRs. High energy electrons lose energy via synchrotron and inverse Compton processes during propagation in the Galaxy. Due to these radiative losses, TeV electrons liberated from SNRs at distances larger tha...