From known to unknown: cosmic rays transition from the Sun, the Galaxy, and the Extra-Galaxy

Abstract

The Sun stands out as the closest and clearest astrophysical accelerator of cosmic rays, while other objects within and beyond the galaxy remain enigmatic. It is probable that the cosmic ray spectrum and mass components from these celestial sources share similarities, offering a novel approach to study their origin. In this study, we analyze of spectra and mass in the energy range from MeV to 10~EeV. We find: (1) the mean-logarithmic mass $\rm\left\langle lnA \right\rangle$ distribution with energy exhibits much clearer feature structures than the spectra; (2) a 100~TeV bump is presented in the $\rm\left\langle lnA \right\rangle$ distribution; (3) for protons, the knee is located at $\sim2$ PeV, the boundary between the galaxy and extra-galaxy occurs at $\sim30$ PeV, marked by a sharp dip; (4) the all-particle spectrum exhibits hardening at $\sim30$~PeV due to the contribution of nearby galaxies, and the extra-galactic dominate $\sim0.7$~EeV. We hope the LHAASO experiment can perform spectral measurements of individual species to validate our results.