Document Type

Article

Publication Title

The Astrophysical Journal

Abstract

Using the Solar Isotope Spectrometer on the Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE), we have measured the 11.0-21.8 MeV nucleon-1 heavy (Z ≥ 6) element abundances of 39 small solar energetic particle (SEP) events that occurred between 1998 April 3 and 2002 February 26. Using He isotope data from the UltraLow-Energy Isotope Spectrometer on ACE, we have classified the events according to their 0.5-2.0 MeV nucleonˉ¹ ³He/⁴He ratios. We find that their average heavy-element composition is similar to that of either large gradual events or ³He-rich events, depending on their ³He/⁴He ratio. As seen in recent studies of small SEP events, we find that the heavy-element intensities relative to C increase with the ³He/⁴He ratios. The dependence of the heavy-element abundances on first ionization potential (FIP) has been derived, using a model consisting of a power law in Q/M (and Z) times a step function in FIP. We report the magnitude of the FIP factor in each event and find that it varies from ∼2 to 7 with no clear dependence on the ³He/⁴He ratio.

DOI

10.1086/376755

Publication Date

9-1-2003

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