Rocket altitude atmospheric X-rays from magnetospheric electrons at low and middle latitudes

Abstract

Like auroral electrons, quasitrapped magnetospheric electrons mirroring in the upper atmosphere at low and middle latitudes will generate X-rays by the bremsstrahlung and K α line excitation processes. These atmospheric X-rays may contribute a diffuse background to rocket-borne astronomy experiments launched from White Sands, New Mexico and Kauai, Hawaii. Calculations of the atmospheric X-ray spectrum at these launch sites based on observations of quasitrapped electrons indicate that this locally generated flux is comparable to the reported soft X-ray flux below a few keV.