Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
1029/2006JA011827, 2006
[1] Recently analyzed beta particle and magnetic field measurements obtained from
five instrumented rocket payloads located around the 1962 Starfish nuclear burst are used
to describe the diamagnetic cavity produced in the geomagnetic field. Three of the
payloads were located in the cavity during its expansion and collapse, one payload was
below, and the fifth was above the fully expanded cavity. This multipoint data set
shows that the cavity expanded into an elongated shape 1840 km along the magnetic field
lines and 680 km vertically across in 1.2 s and required an unexpectedly long time of
about 16 s to collapse. The beta flux contained inside the cavity was measured to be
relatively uniform throughout and remained at 3 1011 beta/cm2 s for at least 7 s. The
plasma continued to expand upward beyond the fully expanded cavity boundary and
injected a flux measuring 2.5 1010 beta/cm2 s at H + 34 s into the most intense region of
the artificial belt. Measured 10 hours later by the Injun I spacecraft, this flux was
determined to be 1 109 beta/cm2 s.
Citation: Dyal, P. (2006), Particle and field measurements of the Starfish diamagnetic cavity, J. Geophys. Res., 111, A12211,
doi:10.1029/2006JA011827.
1. Introduction
[2] A diamagnetic cavity was formed by the Starfish
1.4 MT nuclear explosion on 9 July 1962, 09 hours 00 min
09.029 s UT in the ion-loaded geomagnetic field 400.1 km
above Johnston Island. This paper presents new, heretofore
unpublished particle and field measurements obtained
during the first critical minutes after production of plasma
with known energy and mass (1.5 1022 ergs and
1500 kg) in the magnetosphere. These measurements
fill a gap in the understanding of the formation and
evolution of the Starfish diamagnetic cavity and beta
particle injection into the inner radiation belt noted earlier
by several authors [Van Allen, 1966; Hess, 1968; Walt,
1980]. Initial quick-look results were published in a
symposium on trapped radiation at the Goddard Space
Flight Center [Dyal, 1963]. Availability of new optical
scanning and digital data reduction techniques has
resulted in this more complete analysis of the first in
situ 1 MeV beta flux and magnetic field measurements
of plasma expanding into the geomagnetic field. The 0.1 ms
time response and the 30-s recorded time and 16-min real
time measurements in this experiment allowed three
processes to be studied: (1) in the first second, plasma
expansion produced a diamagnetic cavity in the geomagnetic field; (2) collapse of the cavity in approximately 16 s;
and (3) injection of beta particles into the Van Allen
radiation belts, which occurred during the first few
minutes. The earliest particles and fields measurements
previously published on the Starfish event [Van Allen,
1
A12211
1 of 23
A12211
A12211
Figure 1. Payload trajectories were located in the plane of the magnetic meridian through Johnston
Island. At the Starfish burst time the payloads were positioned near the beginning of the short thick 5 mm
enhanced portion of the trajectory which depicts the 30 s time period that high-frequency data were
recorded for 3 s before, through 27 s after detonation. The expanding plasma boundary is shown at three
time steps as it was measured by P-6 beta detectors at H + 0.66 s, then P-7 at H + 0.63 s, and P-4 field at
H + 0.993 s. P-2 and P-3 were outside the bubble boundary during the rapid expansion and collapse
phase. The contour at H + 1.20 s was determined from P-2 and P-4 magnetic field measurements and P-3
and P-7 beta particle measurements as the spacecraft traveled through remnants of the stopped debris.
Therefore a brief description of the experiment design and
payload properties is given in Appendix A and B.
Vn Vc
Dt
Vc Vn
2 of 23
A12211
mVc
cm
eB
A12211
Table 1. Payload Parameters for Starfish Located at (16.468N, 169.630W, 400.1 km) and Burst Time (H-0 = 9 July 1962, 09 hours
00 min 09.029 s UT)
Parameter
P-2
P-3
P-4
P-6
P-7
Latitude, deg
Longitude, deg
Altitude, km
Trajectory measurements to burst point, km
Gamma-neutron time of flight, km
IGRF 1962 magnetic field, gauss
Measured magnetic field, gauss
20.096
191.187
1057.2
802
no data
0.22515
0.23000
15.645
190.319
216.6
207
209
0.30960
0.31306
9.458
188.986
932.6
1025
1021
0.22234
0.22279
15.594
190.271
348.18
116
117
0.29205
0.29302
18.387
190.968
696.98
383
391
0.25661
no data
3 of 23
A12211
A12211
Figure 3. The P-6 beta flux and magnetic field at 117 km from the burst point. The maximum flux
occurred at H + 0.066 s which indicated a velocity of 1773 km/s. The bubble reached maximum size at H +
1.2 s and the flux remained relatively constant as the bubble started to collapse. The magnetic field abruptly
increased at H + 10.5 s due to the lower boundary collapsing upward and at H + 12.8 s due to the upper
boundary collapsing downward. At H + 16.4 s the collapse was complete and betas changed from an
omnidirectional to a trapped distribution.
undetected under P-4 if the streamer radius was less than
170 km.
[9] The plasma cavity expanded outward to payload P-6
which was located 117 km from the burst point and at an
angle of 57 degrees to the field line through the burst.
Measurements from one of the three beta detectors orthogonal to the payload spin axis are shown in Figure 3. The
first detection of beta particles from the debris occurred at
H + 0.010 s and the maximum beta flux arrived in 0.066 s,
which indicated a velocity of 1773 km/s for the peak flux of
beta particles. The Larmor radius of curvature would be
64 km if the average fission fragment ion had mass 100
and traveled with this velocity in the 0.287 gauss field.
4 of 23
A12211
B
4pnm1=2
292 km=s
i
5:73 1021 YF h
0:2
beta=cm2 s for t tm
1
V03 t 3
4
and
J t
5:73 1021 YF h
3
i
1 1 t 0:2 beta=cm2 s
V0 tmax
for tmax t 5tmax
A12211
5 of 23
A12211
A12211
Figure 4. The P-7 beta detector at 391 km above the burst point measured the prompt gammas at H-0
and then the maximum flux of the expanding bubble boundary at H + 0.63 s. This indicated that the
average velocity was 620 km/s for the debris in the upward direction. The average magnetic field inside
the diamagnetic bubble was 0.06 gauss and it increased to near ambient as the bubble collapsed past P-7
at H + 4.13 s. The beta flux then changed from an omnidirectional to a trapped distribution. Note the
raised 0.00 gauss level for clarity.
measured by P-7, to intersect the field line that passed
through P-4. This mechanism was not very likely, however,
since the arrival time would have been less than H + 0.3 s
rather than the measured H + 0.544 s.
[15] The plasma cavity continued upward and stopped
before it reached P-2 at 802 km above the burst point. P-2
first detected the cavity by a step increase in the magnetic
field at H + 0.297 s, as shown in the lower part of Figure 6.
The local Alfven speed at P-7 after the X-ray flash was
2900 km/s and at P-2 it was 11,000 km/s. Assuming that
the step increase in field traveled at the Alfven speed from
P-6 and using post X-ray flash ion densities provided by R.
W. Kilb (unpublished data, 1997), this time was calculated
to be H + 0.342 s. This calculated time was in reasonable
agreement with the measured time. Subsequently, the sharp
6 of 23
#1
3
1 R 6
2
R
1 3 cos2 q
1 3 cos2 q : 6
r
4 r
A12211
A12211
Figure 5. The P-4 beta flux at 1021 km south of the burst point was unidirectional toward the south and
attained a broad maximum at H + 1.085 s which corresponded to a velocity of 941 km/s. The magnetic
field started to decrease at H + 0.993 s as the cavity boundary reached the payload and this indicated a
velocity of 1098 km/s. The field was restored in the beta tube at H + 2.25 s and the betas changed to a
trapped distribution.
where q is the angle of r with respect to the uniform
magnetic field lines. The measured ambient field before H-0
was 0.230 gauss, the field at H + 1.20 s was 0.268 gauss at
maximum cavity size, the distance to the estimated center of
the sphere was 620 km, and the angle to the field line was
72 degrees. Substituting these values into equation (6) and
allowing the choice of the sphere center to determine the
error amount, the cavity boundary in the direction of P-2
P-2
P-3
P-4
P-6
P-7
Latitude, deg
Longitude, deg
Altitude, km
Trajectory measured distance to burst, km
Spin rate, Hz
Spin axis angle to IGRF 1962 field lines, deg
20.321
191.220
1090.78
846
2.710
72.7
15.109
190.221
309.48
184
2.449
86.0
8.996
188.974
947.98
1083
2.583
72.8
15.259
190.777
439.88
150
2.921
83.4
18.623
191.022
776.57
465
2.632
75.4
7 of 23
A12211
A12211
Figure 6. The P-2 beta detector at 802 km above the burst measured prompt gammas at H-0 and a broad
beta peak at H + 25 s that varied with an 8 s period. This indicated that the bubble stopped expanding
before it reached P-2 and instabilities were initiated that sent flutes or jets of debris upward. A
compression wave traveled at the Alfven speed from the expanding bubble caused the sharp rise in the
magnetic field at H + 0.297 s. Subsequently, the bubble collapsed and the field started to decrease at H +
1.76 s.
was calculated to be 450 km from the sphere center and
between 500 and 550 km from the burst point. This value is
about the same (500 km) as that reported by Zinn et al.
[1966] for the stopped distance of the vertical moving debris
from their photographic data and calculations.
[16] If the plasma cavity had been spherically symmetric,
it would have reached payload P-3, which was at 209 km
below and across the field lines in less than 1 s. P-3 did not
detect the high velocity expanding plasma, as the beta flux
measurements show in the lower part of Figure 7. The beta
flux starting at H + 2.15 s exhibited trapped characteristics
since the intensity varied at twice the frequency of the
payload spin rate (listed in Table 2). These betas were
8 of 23
A12211
A12211
Figure 7. The P-3 data at 209 km below the burst showed that the bubble stopped above the spacecraft.
The beta flux at H + 3 s occurred simultaneously with the compressed field on Johnston Is. P-3 traveled
into the debris at H + 14.5 s and 187.5 km below the burst.
pressing the ion-loaded field as shown in Figure 8. The field
geometry could have changed in a way that guided the beta
particles into the P-3 position. The Johnston Island measurements were 400.9 km below the burst point and the field
changes were attenuated by the intervening ionosphere. The
large pulse from H-0 to H + 0.013 s in Figure 8 could be
either the electromagnetic pulse from the burst or the
magnetic part of the electromagnetic signal launched by
the expansion [Gisler and Lemons, 1989]. The characteristics of the magnetic field measured on Johnston Island
were very similar to those of a geomagnetic storm. The first
field increase of 138 gammas at H + 3.9 s was caused by the
cavity expanding downward and producing a compression
wave. This wave was delayed by the ionosphere and was
9 of 23
A12211
A12211
Figure 8. The expanding diamagnetic bubble compressed the magnetic field in the downward direction
and this was measured on the surface of Johnston Island with the spare payload at H + 3.75 s. The first
large pulse at H + 0.01 s was caused by the electromagnetic pulse from gamma ray interaction with the
ionosphere and the large excursions starting at H + 20 s resulted from ring currents that were measured
worldwide. The 60 Hz oscillations were caused by the power stations on the Island. The measurements
before the burst were within a few gamma of the International Geomagnetic Reference Field (IGRF) for
the year 1962.
high velocity cavity expansion was stopped above P-3 but
near enough for some beta particles to be guided to the
payload by the magnetic field. Subsequently, as shown in
the top part of Figure 7, the beta flux increased sharply at
H + 14.5 s and 187.5 km below the burst as P-3 traveled
into the debris deposited in the ionosphere. This distance
agrees with the photographic data by Zinn et al. [1966]
that set a limit of slightly more than 180 km for the
downward debris expansion.
[17] The above measurements, incremented at 1/4 s
intervals during the plasma cavity expansion, are summarized in Table 3. The last three columns show that the flux
of beta particles was almost uniform for the last third of the
expansion period, indicating that the internal cavity pressure
extended into the beta tube. Cavity boundaries as shown in
Figure 1 were drawn from data obtained by all five payloads
at three times during expansion. The shape of the twodimensional boundaries beyond the spacecraft point measurements was determined by (1) assuming a simple shape
that would be consistent with the P-2 magnetic field
measurements; (2) examining the boundary calculated by
a collisionless magnetohydrodynamics (CMHD) code for
the Starfish expansion at 0.8 and 1.0 s [Fajen and Kilb,
1982]; (3) examining the particle plot of the debris location
at 0.24 s from the hybrid particle code SHYPS [Brecht,
2001]; and (4) examining the computed shape of the debris
surface at 0.5 s from a MHD code in the work of Zinn et al.
[1966]. The first boundary was determined by the P-6
detection of betas at 0.066 s in the horizontal direction
and by the calculated velocity of the first peak beta flux
measured by P-7 in the vertical direction. The second
boundary was determined by the P-7 peak beta flux detec-
10 of 23
A12211
A12211
Table 3. Beta Flux and Magnetic Field Measurements During Plasma Cavity Expansion
P-2 Outside
Cavity
Parameter
Maximum beta
Flux arrival time, s
Cavity boundary
velocity, km/s
Beta flux at H + 0.25
beta/cm2 s
Beta flux at H + 0.50
beta/cm2 s
Beta flux at H + 0.75
beta/cm2 s
Beta flux at H + 1.00
beta/cm2 s
Beta flux at H + 1.20
beta/cm2 s
s,
s,
s,
s,
s,
P-3 Outside
Cavity
P-6 Inside
Cavity
P-7 Inside
Cavity
24.3
2.5
0.07
N/A
1670
4.8 10
6.5 109
2.0 1012
below threshold
<3.25 109
1.87 1010
2.8 1011
4.0 1011
3.9 1011
3.8 1011
3.8 1011
3.8 1011
3.5 1011
3.5 1011
3.2 1011
below threshold
<3.24 109
below threshold
<3.24 109
below threshold
<3.24 109
below threshold
<3.24 109
below threshold
<3.24 109
below threshold
<3.04 109
below threshold
<3.04 109
below threshold
<3.04 109
below threshold
<3.04 109
below threshold
<3.04 109
0.63
620
12
11 of 23
no data
s,
s,
below threshold
<3.04 109
0.277
0.146
no data
2.4 1011
2.9 1011
2.54 1011
beta tube collapse
increase 0.054 to 0.192,
distinct 11.2 Hz wave
5.06 1011 trapped
3.5 1011
2.0 1011
below threshold
<3.04 109
5.2 109 trapped
below threshold
<3.24 109
below threshold
<3.24 109
0.254 decreasing to
ambient
below threshold
<3.24 109
0.232 near ambient
s,
Parameter
Table 4. Beta Flux and Magnetic Field Measurements During Plasma Cavity Collapse
3.0 1011
A12211
A12211
tion was that the first step increase was produced by the
lower boundary at 100 km distance, collapsing upward to P-6,
and the second step was produced by the upper boundary
collapsing downward past P-7 to P-6 at 540 km distance from
the upper boundary. The average velocity for the downward
moving boundary was 46 km/s which agreed with the velocity
measured at the P-7 site and with photographic measurements
by Zinn et al. [1966], who described it as a downward moving
shock. If it was a shock, then the 11 Hz oscillations measured
at the P-4, P-6, and P-7 positions as the magnetic field was
restored may have been associated with the air ion gyrofrequency [Kennel and Petschek, 1968]. An O+ ion had a
gyrofrequency of 11 Hz in the 0.11 G field at the P-6
location. The average velocity for the upward moving plasma
was calculated to be 11 km/s. However, the characteristics of
the beta flux at P-6 did not significantly change during either
of the magnetic field step increases as it did during the
boundary collapse past P-4 and P-7. These measurements
may indicate that during the final stages of the collapse, when
the cavity approached the size of the instabilities, the field and
particles measurements would require many closely spaced,
instrumented sites with higher time resolution than the one
site at P-6 to describe its motion adequately.
[23] The above measurements of the collapsing Starfish
plasma cavity are summarized in Table 4. The outer
boundary averages at three selected times as it traversed
the payloads are shown in Figure 9. The end of the collapse
period was chosen at a time when the Earths magnetic field
approached preburst values and all spacecraft detected
trapped beta particles. This occurred at H + 16.4 s when
P-6 measured the angular distribution of trapped betas.
[24] The magnetic field measurements obtained during
the expansion and collapse of the diamagnetic cavity
represented larger-scale phenomena than the particle measurements and provides a useful guideline for comparison
with theoretical modeling calculations. Comparison of the
magnetic field and beta particle flux measurements with
published model calculations for Starfish exhibited similar
time amplitude characteristics. This comparison verified
that the most important physical processes in the models
were appropriate. However, for time periods after the
expansion was completed, the amplitude and time comparisons between the experiment and models differed by a
factor of 10. Future studies of plasma instabilities occurring
at the time of maximum cavity size may significantly
improve these comparisons and our understanding of the
collapse phase.
A12211
A12211
Figure 9. The outer boundary of the Starfish plasma bubble measured by payloads P-4, P-7, and P-6 at
four time steps as it collapses and disappears. Boundaries are averages of the instability driven structures
as the geomagnetic field was restored to its original configuration.
injected beta particles would be on the order of months to
years. This section is organized by discussing the beta
particle and magnetic field measurements in sequence, from
the beta tube at P-4 to the lowest altitude spacecraft P-3 in
the ionosphere, up through P-6 and P-7, and finally to P-2.
This section also covers the beta particle measurements
obtained in real time from H-0 to H + 16 min where P-7
attained the highest altitude at coordinates B = 0.212 gauss
and L = 1.307 which was near the most intense region of the
artificial radiation belt.
[26] One mechanism that could have produced this artificial belt was the restructuring of the diamagnetic cavity by
Rayleigh-Taylor instabilities into jets or flutes that propagate outward after the cavity stops expanding and starts to
collapse [Colgate, 1965; Huba et al., 1990; Ripin et al.,
1993; Winske, 1988]. Another mechanism, proposed by
Cladis [1968], contends that betas were trapped at high
L values because the debris tube becomes elongated and
distorted, mainly because an eastward electric field appears
across the tube that causes the tube to E B drift outward.
Both Zinn et al. [1966] and Cladis [1968] ascribe the thick
Starfish belt to such an eastward electric field, but they differ
on the source of this field. Zinn et al. [1966] ascribe it to the
motional electric field (E = V B), produced by the
outward motion of the debris across the magnetic field at
the upper boundary of the cavity, and propagated along the
debris tube as an Alfven wave. Also, as described by Cladis
[1968] and modeled by Cladis et al. [1979] and Cladis et al.
[2006], this eastward electric field was produced by the
differential azimuthal drift of the energetic ions (toward the
west) and electrons (toward the east) as these ions (debris,
etc.) expanded along the tube from the cavity.
13 of 23
A12211
A12211
Figure 10. Beta flux measured along the payload spin axis until reentry. These data show where the
fission debris was located after the bubble collapsed and instabilities had diminished.
angles would be lost by interaction with the atmosphere.
During the time period H + 2.4 s to H + 5.5 s the beta flux
was at the highest level measured at the P-4 location. At
approximately H + 5.7 s the beta flux decreased by a factor
of 4 and the angular distribution changed to one broadened
by losses to the atmosphere. This distribution persisted to
the end of the data recording period as shown in upper part
of Figure 5. In addition, the real time P-4 beta flux
measurements detected the boundary between the P-3 and
P-6 bands shown in Figure 11 as P-4 traveled downward
through the boundary at H + 359 s at an altitude of 701 km.
P-4 also exited the lowest boundary of band P-3 at H + 470 s
at 446 km altitude. During this later time the field intensity
14 of 23
A12211
A12211
Figure 11. Starfish omnidirectional beta flux at H + 23 s when all five payloads first measured trapped
beta angular distributions. The bands following the geomagnetic field lines were determined from both
recorded data shown in the previous figures and the real time measurements shown in Figure 10.
coincident with the delayed magnetic pulse passing through
the ionosphere from the expanding debris as shown in
Figure 8. The low-intensity pulse of beta particles was then
followed by a steady increase of beta flux as P-3 traveled up
into the ionosphere. This very turbulent period was followed by a field decrease at H + 14.5 s at 187.5 km below
the burst point where the cavity had stopped, deposited
debris and then receded during the collapse phase. At the
P-3 location the betas again had the angular characteristics of being trapped. There followed by a 4.7 s period
of more intense beta flux which then decreased to a
steady trapped flux at H + 22.7 s, as shown in the upper
right of Figure 12 by the angular distribution (calculated
by averaging flux from three payload spins). P-3 detected
the boundary between the P-3 and the P-6 band (shown
in Figure 11) as it traveled up through it at H + 85 s at
463 km. P-3 also detected the lowest boundary of band
P-3 as it traveled downward through it at H + 829 s and
an altitude of 452 km.
[30] Of the five payloads, P-6 was located nearest to the
burst point and measured the most intense beta flux and the
most turbulent magnetic field changes for the longest time
Table 5. Beta Flux and Magnetic Field Measurements During Particle Injection Into the Earths Magnetic Field
Parameters
P-2
P-3
P-4
P-6
P-7
4.66 1010
0.22601
0.22322
1.266
275
2.92 1010
0.24981
0.29927
1.081
<0.1
1.24 1011
0.20205
0.22104
1.136
<0.1
1.45 1011
0.19590
0.28278
1.102
<0.1
2.26 1010
0.25450
0.25057
1.191
168
15 of 23
A12211
A12211
Figure 12. The angular distribution of trapped beta particles measured by all five payloads. P-6 at H +
23.5 s in the upper left graph shows the early time characteristics before significant scattering and
absorption by the atmosphere. P-7 in the middle left graph shows that atmospheric effects produced a
distribution that was wider and more uniform. P-4 in the lower left graph shows the characteristics that
immediately followed the restoration of the field in the beta tube at H + 3.67 s and then at H + 23 s when
atmospheric effects had commenced. P-3 in the upper right graph shows the distribution at H + 22.7 s and
183 km below the burst point where the debris was stopped by the ionosphere. P-2 in the middle right
graph shows the distribution at H + 34 s and H + 69 s when the distance from the burst point was 851 km
and 895 km. Variations in the distribution indicated that the instability structures were maintained during
the injection of betas into the most intense region of the Starfish artificial radiation belt. P-2 in the lower
right graph shows the angular distribution measured at H + 34 s transformed to an equatorial distribution.
Studies by Walt [1966] indicated that beta particles at these coordinates (B = 0.220 gauss and L = 1.277)
would have a lifetime greater than 275 days.
when the real time beta flux decreased to a minimum as it
left the boundary at H + 475 s at an altitude of 1037 km.
[31] The P-7 payload located 391 km above the burst
point and across the magnetic field lines measured magnetic
fields and beta particle fluxes from the Starfish burst that
best fit the model of an ideal diamagnetic cavity expanding
into the geomagnetic field. Measurements shown in Figure 4
indicated that the field was quickly restored from 0.06 to
0.227 gauss at H + 4.13 s as the boundary of the plasma
cavity collapsed past P-7. Simultaneously, the beta flux
changed from 1.3 1011 beta/cm2 s omnidirectional to
1.2 1011 beta/cm2 s trapped angular distribution as
shown in Figure 4. The trapped angular distribution was
calculated by averaging four spacecraft spins, and the
results are shown in the middle left of Figure 12. The
16 of 23
A12211
A12211
Figure 13. The P-2 trapped betas measured by a detector orthogonal to the payload spin axis from 817
to 895 km above the burst point. The 8 s periodicity in the beta flux is similar to that observed by P-2
detectors oriented along the spin axis shown in Figure 6. Beta flux measured during 11 spins at H + 34 s
and 7 spins at H + 69 s were averaged to calculate the two angular distributions shown for P-2 in
Figure 12.
angular distribution (calculated by averaging 10 payload
spins) broadened by atmospheric scattering and did not
exhibit the high-frequency time variations that were measured at earlier times. Spacecraft P-7 then traveled upward
through three regions of trapped betas. At H + 28 s the
spacecraft entered the first region at 766 km altitude; the flux
started to increase and reached a maximum at H + 51 s at an
altitude of 829 km, then decreased to a minimum at H + 96 s at
an altitude of 930 km. This maximum real-time flux measurement occurred at the location of the fully expanded
plasma cavity boundary as shown in Figure 1, which probably
indicated that some of the debris remained after the cavity
collapsed downward. The minimum at 930 km was used to
define the boundary between the P-7 and P-2 bands. P-7
reached a slightly lower maximum flux inside the second
region of the P-2 band at H + 144 s and altitude 1022 km and
then ended at H + 200 s at an altitude of 1109 km. The third
region also had a slightly lower maximum flux of 3.7
109 beta/cm2 s at H + 300 s and altitude 1210 km with
coordinates (B,L = 0.213 G, 1.292). Then P-7 reentered
the upper boundary of band P-2 at H + 650 s at an
altitude of 1015 km as shown in Figure 11.
[32] As previously stated, the Starfish upper cavity
boundary stopped at H + 1.20 s approximately 260 km
below P-2. The most intense beta flux arrived at P-2 at H +
25 s, as shown in the upper graph of Figure 6. This
indicated an upward velocity of 10.4 km/s. There was one
flute or flux tube that preceded the most intense one and
there were six more that followed in approximately 8 s
intervals and all exhibited trapped beta characteristics. The
beta flux measurements shown in Figure 6 are from one of
the three detectors with aperture viewing along the spin axis
of the payload. The rubidium vapor magnetometer was
mounted on a telescoping mount that shielded 23% of the
solid angle of this detector. This spinning shield produced
17 of 23
A12211
6. Summary
[35] In summary, this experiment measured the formation
and evolution of the Starfish diamagnetic cavity produced in
the Earths magnetosphere.
[36] Five instrumented rocket payloads located in the
magnetic meridian around the Starfish burst point first
detected the prompt fission gammas and then the 14.5 Mev
fusion neutrons. These measurements were used to calculate
the distance from the payloads to the burst point and also
provided a time mark for the detonation event.
[37] The expansion velocity of the ionized fission fragments and beta particles into the ion loaded geomagnetic
field was measured to be super-Alfvenic at H + 0.066 s and
117 km distance from the burst and then transitioned to subAlfvenic speed before H + 0.630 s and 391 km distant. The
diamagnetic cavity boundary expanded past P-6, P-7 across
the field lines at 117 and 391 km distant, respectively, and
also past P-4 which was 1021 km along the field lines
toward the southern conjugate region. The expanding cavity
boundary stopped at H + 1.2 s before it reached P-2 and P-3
which were 802 km above and 209 km below the burst
point, respectively. Both payloads were across the field
lines. P-4, P-6, and P-7 measurements showed that the
contained beta flux was uniform and relatively constant at
2 1011 beta/cm2 s during the last phase of the expansion
and for at least 6 s of the collapse. The magnetic shock and
compression wave were measured 802 km above the burst.
When P-2 was at 804 km above the burst this compressed
field started to decrease at H + 1.76 s, which indicated that
the diamagnetic cavity had started to collapse. Simultaneously, ions and electrons escaped along field lines to the
north and south conjugate regions as measured by P-4
which also detected the magnetic field restored at H +
2.25 s as the beta tube collapsed. The uppermost cavity
boundary collapsed downward past P-7 at 46 km/s and the
magnetic field was restored to near ambient values at H +
4.13 s. P-6 located near the center of the cavity measured
the upper boundary continuing to collapse downward with
velocity 46 km/s and the lower boundary collapsed upward
at 11 km/s. All instrumented payloads detected trapped beta
particles at H + 16.4 s, indicating that the geomagnetic field
A12211
18 of 23
mb vb hmair mb i
v
4p
4p
4p
A1
A12211
and
v vb
mb
mb mair
A2
2
1 1
1 4 3
B
2
mair mb v
pR
8p
4p 2
4p 3
A3
3v2b m2b
mair
B2 mb
A4
A5
A12211
B1. Instruments
B1.1. Beta Detectors
[51] Six beta detectors were located around the payload at
120-degree increments as shown in the lower right side of
Figure B1. Three detectors had view angles orthogonal to
the spin axis and three along the spin axis. The flight
attitude of this system was maintained after second stage
burnout until reentry and splash. A schematic drawing of an
outward and upward looking beta detector is shown in the
lower left side of Figure B1. Each detector consisted of a
0.5 0.5 cm2 lithium-drifted solid state detector with a
1mm thick depletion layer. A photograph of this detector
manufactured by Solid State Radiation, Inc. is also shown in
Figure B1. The detectors were covered with a 0.002-cm
thick aluminum foil and were recessed 1.83 cm into the
center of a 2.24 cm diameter hole in the 3.81 cm. thick
nylon cylinder. The geometrical view angle was calculated
to be 66 degrees. The angular response of both the outward
and upward looking detectors was measured with 1.047 MeV
internal conversion electrons from 207Bi, and a typical result
is shown in Figure B2. Those data show that approximately
85% of 1 MeV betas will be counted within the geometrical
19 of 23
A12211
Figure B1. A scale drawing of the payload is shown in the lower right section of the figure. The longest
dimension was 5.2 m and the maximum diameter was 0.79 m. It was constructed of fiberglass, aluminum,
and nylon. The lower left side is a drawing of the beta detector in the nylon bremsstrahlung shield. Each
sensor was 0.5 0.5 cm square lithium-drifted solid state detector with a 1 mm thick depletion region
and covered with a 0.002 cm thick aluminum foil. A photo of the detector is shown in the middle left
side. The top photo shows the rubidium magnetometer which is a quantum electronic instrument that
measures the Larmor frequency of the Rb nucleus as it precessed in the Earths magnetic field.
20 of 23
A12211
A12211
A12211
B2
This was the conversion factor used in the last stage of beta
detector data reduction.
[54] Preflight estimates of the beta flux levels at each of
the five payload positions required a detector system that
had a dynamic range of 5 decades. The high-frequency beta
flux measurements recorded for the first 30 s in this paper
were selected from the detectors looking orthogonal to the
spacecraft spin axis that had the highest telemetry frequency
response and the best overall characteristics of these three
detectors. The average error for these measurements was
approximately 4% for the variation between detectors
when the spacecraft was inside the plasma cavity and the
flux was omnidirectional. The total error depended upon the
beta particle angular distribution since the six detectors
covered only 6.072 steradians out of the total 4p steradians.
B1.2. Magnetometers
[55] Each payload contained a magnetometer that measured the total magnetic field intensity as a function of time.
The magnetometer sensor was located at the top end of a
fiberglass telescope which used a gas generating device to
move the sensor 1.5 m above the electronics housed in the
nylon cylinder after second stage burnout and nose cone
ejection. This kept the spacecraft-generated magnetic field
levels below 5 105 gauss at the sensor position. The
magnetometer measured the Larmor frequency of the 85Rb
spinning nucleus magnetic moment as it precessed in the
Earths magnetic field. This frequency depended upon the
magnitude of the ambient magnetic field, the magnetic
moment of the nucleus, and known physical constants
[Forbes, 1987]. The gyromagnetic ratio of 85Rb was
4.667 Hertz/105 gauss. The ambient magnetic field at the
Starfish burst point was 0.287 gauss which produced a
Larmor frequency of 4.667 28,700 = 133,942.9 Hertz and
this signal was transmitted to the ground. The frequency
response of these magnetometers was measured to be less
than one Larmor period [Dyal et al., 1969]. The magnetometer responded to a step increase in field from 0 to
0.19 gauss in less than 3 ms and the average error for
these measurements was 0.5%. A photograph of the
rubidium vapor magnetometer sensor is shown in the top
of Figure B1.
B1.3. Gamma-Neutron Detectors
[56] The gamma-neutron detector consisted of a surface
barrier silicon solid state device with a polyethylene foil
21 of 23
A12211
A12211
22 of 23
A12211
References
Able, B., and R. M. Thorne (1998), Electron scattering loss in Earths inner
magnetosphere: 1. Dominant physical processes, J. Geophys. Res., 103,
2385 2396.
Bechtel Nevada (2000), Historical Nuclear Weapons Test Film Number
0800062-Starfish Prime Test Interim Report by Commander JTF-8; Fishbowl Auroral Sequences, 1962.
Bernhardt, P. A., R. A. Roussel-Dupre, M. B. Pongratz, G. Haerendel,
A. Valenzuela, D. A. Gurnett, and R. R. Anderson (1987), Observations
and theory of the AMPTE magnetotail barium releases, J. Geophys. Res.,
92, 5777 5794.
Brecht, S. H., and N. T. Gladd (1992), Structuring of a plasma shell
expanding into a magnetized plasma at sub-Alfvenic speed, IEEE Trans.
Plasma Sci., 20, 6.
Brecht, S. H. (2001), Hybrid particle simulations of high altitude nuclear
explosions in 3-D using HPC, paper presented at Users Group Conference, Dept. of Def. High Performance Comput. Mod. Progr., Albuquerque, N. M.
Brown, W. L., W. N. Hess, and J. A. Van Allen (1963), Collected papers on
the artificial radiation belt from the July 9, 1962 nuclear detonation,
J. Geophys. Res., 68, 605 758.
Cladis, J. B. (1968), Dynamical motion of geomagnetic flux tube resulting
from injection of high energy particles, in Earths Particles and Fields,
edited by B. M. McCormac, p. 307, Reinhold, New York.
Cladis, J. B., G. T. Davidson, W. E. Francis, L. L. Newkirk, and M. Walt
(1979), Improvement of Specter II code: Injection and evolution of an
artificial radiation belt, Rep. AFWL-TR-78-236, Air Force Weapons Lab.,
Kirtland Air Force Base, N. M.
Cladis, J. B., D. W. Datlowe, M. A. Rinaldi, and M. Schulz (2006), Transmission line model of nuclear debris motion, Rep. AFRL-VS-PS-TR2006-1080, Air Force Res. Lab., Kirtland Air Force Base, N. M.
Colgate, S. A. (1965), The phenomenology of the mass motion of a high
altitude nuclear explosion, J. Geophys. Res., 70, 3161 3173.
Croff, A. G. (1980), ORIGEN2A revised and updated version of the Oak
Ridge isotope generation and depletion code, Rep. ORNL-5621, Oak
Ridge Natl. Lab., Oak Ridge, Tenn.
DArcy, R. G., and S. A. Colgate (1965), Measurements at the southern
magnetic conjugate region of the fission debris from the Starfish nuclear
detonation, J. Geophys. Res., 70, 3147 3159.
Davidson, G. T., and R. W. Hendrick Jr. (1980), Particle injection by nuclear
detonations, in The Trapped Radiation Handbook, D.N.A. 2524H, 2nd ed.,
edited by J. B. Cladis, G. T. Davidson, and L. L. Newkirk, pp. 7.1 7.30,
Def. Nucl. Agency, Washington, D. C.
de Pater, I., F. van der Tak, R. G. Strom, and S. H. Brecht (1997), The
evolution of Jupiters radiation belts after the impact of Comet D/Shoemaker-Levy 9, Icarus, 129, 21 47.
Dyal, P. (1963), Debris expansion experiment, in Symposium Proceedings:
Trapped Radiation, Def. At. Support Agency 1394, DASA Data Cent.
Spec. Rep. 16, pp. 173 181, NASA Goddard Space Flight Cent., Greenbelt, Md.
Dyal, P., R. T. Johnson Jr., and J. C. Giles (1969), Response of self-oscillating
rubidium vapor magnetometers to rapid field changes, Rev. Sci. Instr., 40,
601 602.
Fajen, F. E., and R. W. Kilb (1982), Early time Starfish calculations,
Rep. DNA 5991F, Gov. Ascension AD A131179, Def. Nucl. Agency,
Washington, D. C.
Forbes, A. J. (1987), General instrumentation, in Geomagnetism, vol. 1,
edited by J. A. Jacobs, pp. 90 96, Elsevier, New York.
Gekelman, W., M. Van Zeeland, S. Vincena, and P. Pribyl (2003), Laboratory experiments on Alfven waves caused by rapidly expanding plasmas
A12211
23 of 23