Transient Weakening of Earth’s Magnetic Shield Probed by a Cosmic Ray Burst

Abstract

The GRAPES-3 tracking muon telescope in Ooty, India measures muon intensity at high cutoff rigidities (15–24 GV) along nine independent directions covering 2.3 sr. The arrival of a coronal mass ejection on 22 June 2015 18:40 UT had triggered a severe G4-class geomagnetic storm (storm). Starting 19:00 UT, the GRAPES-3 muon telescope recorded a 2 h high-energy ( ∼ 20 GeV ) burst of galactic cosmic rays (GCRs) that was strongly correlated with a 40 nT surge in the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF). Simulations have shown that a large ( 17 × ) compression of the IMF to 680 nT, followed by reconnection with the geomagnetic field (GMF) leading to lower cutoff rigidities could generate this burst. Here, 680 nT represents a short-term change in GMF around Earth, averaged over 7 times its volume. The GCRs, due to lowering of cutoff rigidities, were deflected from Earth’s day side by ∼ 210 ° in longitude, offering a natural explanation of its night-time detection by the GRAPES-3. The simultaneous occurrence of the burst in all nine directions suggests its origin close to Earth. It also indicates a transient weakening of Earth’s magnetic shield, and may hold clues for a better understanding of future superstorms that could cripple modern technological infrastructure on Earth, and endanger the lives of the astronauts in space.