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I think you have this backwards; GCR flux increases with distance from the sun.
by idlewords 4y ago
I think you have this backwards; GCR flux increases with distance from the sun.
- Retric 4y agoFor GCR, but not total radiation exposure. Cosmic rays are a combination of solar energetic particles and GCR. Though this is dependent on how active the sun is: “If the instrument had been taking measurements on Mars during the comparable period of the solar-activity cycle about 11 years ago, it would probably have seen eight events in 300 sols, contributing an unknown but certainly significantly higher amount to the overall dose.” And of course if Mars was closer to the sun these numbers would be significantly higher. https://www.nasa.gov/jpl/msl/mars-rover-curiosity-pia17600.html https://www.nasa.gov/jpl/msl/mars-rover-curiosity-pia17600.h...
- idlewords 4y agoI've been talking since the top of the thread about the heavy ion component of galactic cosmic radiation, not space radiation in general.
- Retric 4y agoI realize. That line was simply pointing out that while being further from the sun is a net negative in terms of GCR it’s a net positive in terms of total radiation exposure.