Laboratory experiments are essential to support the interpretation of astronomical observations and space mission data. Here we present a new experimental setup to characterize in the Vis-MIR range in both reflection and transmission modes astrophysically-relevant frozen volatiles deposited at low temperature and exposed to ion bombardment.

The Cosmic Ray (CR) physics has entered a new era driven by high precision measurements coming from direct detection (especially AMS-02 and PAMELA) and also from gamma-ray observations (Fermi-LAT). In this review we focus our attention on how such data impact the understanding of the supernova remnant paradigm for the origin of CRs. In particular we discuss advancement in the field concerning the three main stages of the CR life: the acceleration process, the escape from the sources and the propagation throughout the Galaxy. We show how the new data reveal a phenomenology richest than previously thought that could even challenge the current understanding of CR origin.

The origin of water and other volatiles in protoplanetary disks can be either interstellar or due to chemical processing during the protoplanetary disk phase. Depending on the strength of the ionization field present during this stage, an active chemical evolution in the protoplanetary disk midplane can lead to formation of complex volatiles on timescales shorter than the disk dissipation timescale. For this reason, we investigate the effects of cosmic rays and the usually neglected cosmic ray induced UV ionization field in time dependent chemical models of protoplanetary disks. These results are benchmarked against our current knowledge of the chemical composition of cometary ices. We conclude that water and other, more complex volatiles can be preserved in the ice mantles of dust grains. This ice mantle growth can also have a significant impact on the dust opacity and hence on the temperature profile of the disk midplane. This effect will be observable in the near future with ALMA.

Supernova remnants have long been considered to be the dominant sources of Galactic cosmic rays. For a long time the prime evidence consisted of radio synchrotron radiation from supernova remnants, indicating the presence of electrons with energies of several GeV. However, in order to explain the cosmic ray energy density and spectrum in the Galaxy supernova remnant should use 10% of the explosion energy to accelerate particles, and about 99% of the accelerated particles should be protons and other atomic nuclei.

Over the last decade a lot of progress has been made in providing evidence that supernova remnant can accelerate protons to very high energies. The evidence consists of, among others, X-ray synchrotron radiation from narrow regions close to supernova remnant shock fronts, indicating the presence of 10-100 TeV electrons, and providing evidence for amplified magnetic fields, gamma-ray emission from both young and mature supernova remnants. The high magnetic fields indicate that the condition for accelerating protons to >1015 eV are there, whereas the gamma-ray emission from some mature remnants indicate that protons have been accelerated.

We investigate the role played by initial clumping of ejecta and by efficient acceleration of cosmic rays (CRs) in determining the density structure of the post-shock region of a Type Ia supernova remnant (SNR) through detailed 3D MHD modeling. Our model describes the expansion of a SNR through a magnetized interstellar medium (ISM), including the initial clumping of ejecta and the effects on shock dynamics due to back-reaction of accelerated CRs. The model predictions are compared to the observations of SN 1006. We found that the back-reaction of accelerated CRs alone cannot reproduce the observed separation between the forward shock (FS) and the contact discontinuity (CD) unless the energy losses through CR acceleration and escape are very large and independent of the obliquity angle. On the contrary, the clumping of ejecta can naturally reproduce the observed small separation and the occurrence of protrusions observed in SN 1006, even without the need of accelerated CRs. We conclude that FS-CD separation is a probe of the ejecta structure at the time of explosion rather than a probe of the efficiency of CR acceleration in young SNRs.

Cosmic rays fill up the entire volume of galaxies, providing an important source of heating and ionisation of the interstellar medium, and may play a significant role in the regulation of star formation and galactic evolution. Diffuse emissions from radio to high-energy γ-rays (>100 MeV) arising from various interactions between cosmic rays and the interstellar medium, interstellar radiation field, and magnetic field, are currently the best way to trace the intensities and spectra of cosmic rays in the Milky Way and other galaxies. In this contribution, I describe our recent work to model the full spectral energy distribution of galaxies like the Milky Way from radio to γ-ray energies. The application to other galaxies, in particular the Magellanic Clouds and M31 that are now resolved in high-energy γ-rays by the Fermi-LAT, is also discussed.

The impact of non-thermal processes on the spectral energy distributions of galaxies can be dramatic, but such processes are often neglected in considerations of their structure and evolution. Particle acceleration associated with high mass star formation and AGN activity not only leads to very broad band (radio-γ-ray) emission, but may also produce very significant feedback effects on galaxies and their environment. The recent detections of starburst galaxies at GeV and TeV energies suggest that γ-ray instruments have now reached the critical level of sensitivity to probe the connection between particle acceleration and star-formation in galaxies. In this paper we will try to summarise this recent progress, put it into a multi-wavelength context and also discuss the prospects for more precise and sensitive γ-ray measurements with the upcoming CTA observatory.

Using radio and X-ray data of two powerful radio galaxies, we attempt to find out the role that radio jets (in terms of composition and power), as well as intracluster magnetic fields, play in the formation, propagation, and acceleration of cosmic rays. For this study we have selected the powerful radio galaxies Hercules A and 3C 310 because of the presence of ring-like features in their kpc-scale radio emission instead of the usual hotspots. These two FR1.5 lie at the center of galaxy cooling flow clusters in a dense environment. We observed the unique jets of Hercules both in kpc-scales (multifrequency VLA data) and pc-scales (EVN observations at 18 cm). We have also observed the core and inner jets of 3C310 at 18 cm using global VLBI. We report on the work in progress.

We search for extended regions of radio emission not associated with Active Galactic Nuclei, known as ‘relics’, ‘halos’ and ‘mini halos’, in a sample of 70 Abell clusters for which we have radio, optical and X-ray data. AGN can produce particle bubbles of non-thermal emission, which can restrict cosmic rays. Hence, radio relics and (mini) halos could be forming as a result of the confinement of cosmic rays by these bubbles. We are probing the role that intracluster magnetic fields (using Faraday rotation measure and inverse compton arguments), mergers (through radio/X-ray interactions), cooling flows (X-ray data), radio jets/shocks, as well as radio (mini) halos/relics, play in the formation, acceleration, and propagation of cosmic rays. For the current study, we have selected two powerful nearby radio galaxies from our sample: Hercules A and 3C 388. We report on the work in progress and future plans.

We analyzed the relationship between the ground-based modulation of cosmic rays (CR) and corotating interaction regions (CIRs). Daily averaged data from 8 different neutron monitor (NM) stations were used, covering rigidities from Rc = 0 − 12.91 GeV. The in situ solar wind data were taken from the Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) database, whereas the coronal hole (CH) areas were derived from the Solar X-Ray Imager onboard GOES-12. For the analysis we have chosen a period in the declining phase of solar cycle 23, covering the period 25 January–5 May 2005. During the CIR periods CR decreased typically from 0.5% to 2%. A cross-correlation analysis showed a distinct anti-correlation between the magnetic field and CR, with the correlation coefficient (r) ranging from −0.31 to −0.38 (mean: −0.36) and with the CR time delay of 2 to 3 days. Similar anti-correlations were found for the solar wind density and velocity characterized by the CR time lag of 4 and 1 day, respectively. The relationship was also established between the CR modulation and the area of the CIR-related CH with the CR time lag of 5 days after the central-meridian passage of CH.

This work aims to give a brief overview on the topic of cosmic ray modulation in the heliosphere. The heliosphere, heliospheric magnetic field, transport parameters and the transport equation together with modulation models, which solve this equation in various degree of complexity, are briefly discussed. Results from these models are then presented where first it is shown how cosmic rays are globally distributed in an asymmetrical heliosphere which results from the relative motion between the local interstellar medium and the Sun. Next the focus shifts to low-energy Jovian electrons. The intensities of these electrons, which originate from a point source in the inner heliosphere, exhibit a unique three-dimensional spiral structure where most of the particles are transported along the magnetic field lines. Time-dependent modulation is also discussed where it is shown how drift effects together with propagating diffusion barriers are responsible for modulation over a solar cycle.

This paper discusses several aspects of current research on high energy emission from supernova remnants, covering the following main topics: 1) The recent evidence for magnetic field amplification near supernova remnant shocks, which makes that cosmic rays are more efficiently accelerated than previously thought. 2) The evidence that ions and electrons in some remnants have very different temperatures, and only equilibrate through Coulomb interactions. 3) The evidence that the explosion that created Cas A was asymmetric, and seems to have involved a jet/counter jet structure. And finally, 4), I will argue that the unremarkable properties of supernova remnants associated with magnetar candidates, suggest that magnetars are not formed from rapidly ($P\approx 1$ ms) rotating proto-neutron stars. It is therefore more likely that they are formed from massive progenitor stars with high magnetic fields.