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In association with the X28 solar flare on November 4, 2003, the muon telescope installed in Mexico City observed an enhancement in its counting rate between 19:55 and 20:00 UT. Based on a numerical simulation, we found that the entry of a high-energy solar neutron, with energy range from 0.2 to 2 GeV, is capable of producing muon flux that reach the atmospheric depth of Mexico City. Furthermore, we also found that this muon flux is of the order of 3% with respect to the average muon flux recorded by the telescope. Therefore it is very likely that the excess signals observed in the muon telescope are due to muons generated by solar neutrons in the Earth's atmosphere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Solar flares are broadly classified as impulsive or gradual. Ions accelerated in a gradual flare are thought to be accelerated through a shock acceleration mechanism, but the particle acceleration process in an impulsive flare is still largely unexplored. To understand the acceleration process, it is necessary to measure the high-energy gamma rays and neutrons produced by the impulsive flare. Under such circumstances, on 7 November 2004, a huge X2.0 flare occurred on the solar surface, where ions were accelerated to energies greater than 10 GeV. The accelerated primary protons collided with the solar atmosphere and produced line gamma rays and neutrons. These particles were received as neutrons and line gamma rays, respectively. Neutrons of a few GeV, on the other hand, decay to produce secondary protons while traveling 0.06 au in the solar–terrestrial space. These secondary protons arrive at the magnetopause. Although the flux of secondary protons is very low, the effect of collecting secondary protons arriving in a wide region of the magnetosphere (the Funnel or Horn effect) has resulted in significant signals being received by the solar neutron telescope at Mt. Sierra Negra (4600 m). This information suggests that ions on the solar surface are accelerated to over 10 GeV with an impulsive flare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The SciBar Cosmic Ray Telescope (SciCRT) is a massive scintillator tracker to observe cosmic rays at a very high-altitude environment in Mexico. The fully active tracker is based on the Scintillator Bar (SciBar) detector developed as a near detector for the KEK-to-Kamioka long-baseline neutrino oscillation experiment (K2K) in Japan. Since the data acquisition (DAQ) system was developed for the accelerator experiment, we determined to develop a new robust DAQ system to optimize it to our cosmic-ray experiment needs at the top of Mt. Sierra Negra (4600 m). One of our special requirements is to achieve a 10 times faster readout rate. We started to develop a new fast readout back-end board (BEB) based on 100 Mbps SiTCP, a hardware network processor developed for DAQ systems for high energy physics experiments. Then we developed the new BEB which has a potential of 20 times faster than the current one in the case of observing neutrons. Finally we installed the new DAQ system including the new BEBs to a part of the SciCRT in July 2015. The system has been operating since then. In this paper, we describe the development, the basic performance of the new BEB, the status after the installation in the SciCRT, and the future performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Solar neutron flux. • Simulations. • Olar neutron telescope. We performed simulations of the solar neutron (n s) flux in the Earth's atmosphere associated with three significant flares (X17 of September 07, 2005, X1.3 of September 07, 2017 and M2.9 of September 08, 2017). The input of the simulations was calculated on the basis of n s signals detected at ground level by the Solar Neutron Telescope of Sierra Negra (SNT-SN), in Mexico, and by the FIB scintillator of the Space Environment Data Acquisition-Attached Payload on board of the International Space Station. Since n s can produce Extensive Air Showers (EAS) in the Earth's atmosphere, we used the CORSIKA code and FLUKA subroutines to simulate the particle fluxes associated with the X17, X1.3 and M2.9 flares. We studied the average longitudinal variations of particle flux and energy loss through the atmosphere to estimate the n s flux impinging on the SNT-SN. The results of the simulated interactions and multiplicities of the particles, as a function of their energy, showed that 11–13% of the n s , released by the X17 flare, could overcome the atmospheric attenuation and propagate from the top of the atmosphere to the SNT-SN (4580 m a.s.l.) without producing EAS. On the other hand, n s associated with the X1.3 and M2.9 flares were lost due to atmospheric attenuation and the production of new particles; therefore, they were not detected at ground level by the SNT- SN. The characterization of these events allowed to develop an automatic tool for the analysis of n s emissions associated with solar flares. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study is devoted to the development of the technique for searching for neutrons of solar origin during solar flares using the neutron detector of the PAMELA magnetic spectrometer onboard the RESURS-DK1 satellite. The study of the neutron detector counting rates showed that it operates properly and background conditions are stable in the geomagnetic equator region. 27 solar events from December 2006 to September 2014 were analyzed. Some events contain indications of solar neutron detection. The final conclusion on the nature of these neutrons requires an increase in statistics; to this end, background conditions in polar regions should be analyzed to increase the observation interval. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We searched for solar neutrons using the data collected by six detectors from the International Network of Solar Neutron Telescopes and one Neutron Monitor between January 2010 and December 2014. We considered the peak time of the X-ray intensity of thirty five ≥ X1.0 class flares detected by GOES satellite as the most probable production time of solar neutrons. We prepared a light-curve of the solar neutron telescopes and the neutron monitor for each flare, spanning ± 3 h from the peak time of GOES. Based on these light curves, we performed a statistical analysis for each flare. Setting a significance level at greater than 3 σ , we report that no statistically significant signals due to solar neutrons were found. Therefore, upper limits are determined by the background level and solar angle of these thirty five solar flares. Our calculation assumed a power-law neutron energy spectrum and an impulsive emission profile at the Sun. The estimated upper limits of the neutron emission are consistent within the order of magnitude of the successful detections of solar neutrons made in solar cycle 23. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

GRIS (Gamma and Roentgen Irradiation of the Sun) is a scientific instrument for detection of hard X-rays and gamma-rays of solar flares with the energies from 50 keV to 200 MeV and for registration of solar neutrons with energies above 30 MeV. The experiment will be performed since 2019 onboard the International Space Station. The instrument includes two spectrometers: the low energy spectrometer based on a fast scintillator with high energy resolution 3.5–4.5% at 662 keV (LaBr 3 (Ce) or CeBr 3 ) and dimensions ø7.62 × 7.62 cm, and the high energy spectrometer based on CsI(Tl) scintillator ø12 × 15 cm (which is also intended for neutron registration). The apparatus will be mounted on the oriented platform outside the Zvezda service module in 2019. Simulated response of the detectors to background radiation and to solar flares of different magnitudes and compositions obtained with GEANT4 toolkit confirms the instrument’s possibility to measure different components of the solar flares spectra: narrow gamma lines, pion decay component, etc. with a sufficient confidence due to the usage of two types of detectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The solar neutron telescope (SNT) at Sierra Negra (19.0°N, 97.3°W and 4580m.a.s.l) is part of a worldwide network of similar detectors (Valdés-Galicia et al., (2004) ). This SNT has an area of 4m2; it is composed by four 1m×1m×30cm plastic scintillators (Sci). The Telescope is completely surrounded by anti-coincidence proportional counters (PRCs) to separate charged particles from the neutron flux. In order to discard photon background it is shielded on its sides by 10mm thick iron plates and on its top by 5mm lead plates. It is capable of registering four different channels corresponding to four energy deposition thresholds: E>30, >60, >90 and >120MeV. The arrival direction of neutrons is determined by gondolas of PRCs in electronic coincidence, four layers of these gondolas orthogonally located underneath the SNT, two in the NS direction and two in the EW direction. We present here simulations of the detector response to neutrons, protons, electrons and gammas in range of energies from 100 to 1000MeV. We report on the detector efficiency and on its angular resolution for particles impinging the device with different zenith angles. The simulation code was written using the Geant4 package (Agostinelli et al., (2003) ), taking into account all relevant physical processes. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: A new solar neutron telescope has been constructed at Yangbajing, Tibet (600g/cm2) and has been successfully operated for 8 years. During this time several interesting events were observed in coincidence with large solar flares. In this paper the authors discuss a directional count rate enhancement 1998 November 28 as to whether it is related to solar phenomena or not. We use this event to evaluate the sensitivity of the solar neutron telescope and discuss the detection limit for solar neutrons and high energy solar protons of this detector. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The Sun was intensely active from late October to the beginning of November 2003. A series of 11 X class solar flares occurred in NOAA regions 484, 486 and 488. Unique among this series of flares were those occurring on November 2 and 4 in which solar neutrons were observed by the ground based neutron monitors located at Mt. Chacaltaya, Bolivia and Haleakala, Hawaii, respectively. In these flares, intense emission of hard X-rays and γ-rays have been observed by the satellites. It seems that production of solar neutrons coincided with the production of the hard electromagnetic radiations of these two flares. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

We present a Fast Neutron Imaging Telescope (FNIT) that is sensitive to neutrons in the energy range 3 – 100 MeV, optimized to study solar neutrons in the innermost heliosphere. The detection principle is based on multiple elastic neutron–proton scatterings in parallel plastic scintillator layers. Reaction kinematics allows then to determine direction and energy spectrum of the primary neutron flux. A performance evaluation prototype has been built, and we report on first laboratory measurements and Monte Carlo simulation results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: We describe a phoswich-based detector concept for studies of low energy (∼1–10MeV) solar neutrons in the innermost heliosphere (R <∼0.5AU). The detector has applications both as a very low mass (<∼1kg), low power (∼1–2W) stand-alone instrument, and as a component to enhance the capabilities of more sophisticated instruments, for example, the fast neutron imaging telescope instrument described by Moser et al. [Moser, M.R., Flückiger, E.O., Ryan, J.M., et al. A fast neutron imaging telescope for inner heliosphere missions. Adv. Space Res., in press, this issue, doi:10.1016/j.asr.2005.03.037]. In its most basic form, the detector consists of a small volume (∼1 cm3) of fast organic scintillator completely surrounded by a slow inorganic scintillator. The dimensions of the organic scintillator are chosen to minimize multiple n–p scatterings while retaining adequate sensitivity. The inorganic scintillator provides anti-coincidence protection against energetic charged particles. A single PM tube views light from both scintillators. Pulse shape analysis identifies as potential neutrons those events where only the organic scintillator contributes to the signal. The signal size corresponds to the energy of the recoil proton from an n–p elastic scatter, on average half the energy of the incident neutron. An instrument based on this concept would provide measurements of the neutron flux and, through statistical analysis of recoil proton energies, basic information about the neutron spectrum. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: A concept for a highly integrated High Energy Telescope with neutron detection capabilities (HETn) is under development. In the current design for implementation on a spinning platform, the instrument consists of one solid-state detector telescope with coincidence electronics. The instrument further includes a CsI scintillator that is read out by photo-diodes. A 30g plastic scintillator will offer measurement capabilities for low-energy (∼2–100MeV) solar flare neutrons that are only accessible from an inner heliospheric mission. The scintillators are wrapped in active anti-coincidence shielding. With a total weight of <900g, the instrument will provide measurements of the time profile, kinetic energy and anisotropy of 4–400MeV/n protons and heavy ions, and 0.3–15MeV electrons. This paper will introduce the objectives, the measurement concept, and the critical issues to be addressed by laboratory tests and simulations. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: We describe a Fast Neutron Imaging Telescope (FNIT) that is sensitive to neutrons in the energy range 3–100MeV, optimized to study solar neutrons in the innermost heliosphere. The detection principle is based on multiple elastic neutron–proton scatterings in stacked organic scintillator layers. Plastic scintillator provides the proton target and is an efficient detector of charged particles. At the upper and lower face of each scintillator plate orthogonally oriented wavelength shifting fibers (∅∼1mm) collect and guide the scintillation light to a multi-anode photomultiplier tube (MAPMT). The relative anode signals of the MAPMT register the interaction location while the total intensity of the signal is a measure of the recoil proton energy. Elastic scattering kinematics allows one to determine direction and energy spectrum of the primary neutron flux. A performance evaluation prototype has been built, and we show results from first laboratory measurements. We then present Monte Carlo simulation results to outline the performance of an optimized design. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

We have succeeded in operating the 64 m2 solar neutron detector based on 24 W power consumption. The detector has been operated at the Mount Norikura Cosmic Ray Observatory (2770 m) with the small amount of power delivered by solar cell arrays and windmills, without generator service, throughout severe winter of 2003–2004. The results of our experiences are described. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper presents a simulation/experimental technique used in the design of optimum performance read-out electronics for a new cosmic ray telescope composed of scintillator bars. This new detector, called SciBar Cosmic Ray Telescope (SciCRT), is installed on top of Sierra Negra volcano in Mexico, operating at an atmospheric depth of 575 g cm−2. The severe atmospheric conditions and high background rate of the place currently limit the performance of the detector, therefore the requirements of our design are low power consumption and high throughput rate. The simulation developed considers the interaction of high energy cosmic ray muons with the scintillator bar, generation and propagation of photons inside a wavelength shifting fiber (WLS) fiber and the detection by a multi-anode photomultiplier (MAPMT). To produce realistic signals coming from the interaction of particles, our method relies on the extraction of different parameters throughout experiment to include them in the simulation. In addition, the paper presents a muon cosmic ray experiment designed to validate the results of the simulation and test the performance of the new electronics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]