• NoteOnCosmicRays

Cosmic Ray Evaluation

• If you look hard enough you can find a cosmic ray hit in almost any magnetogram.
• Some cosmic rays are obvious, some look very much like small magnetic regions.
• It's not too useful to flag every image, so a subjective judgment is made to flag images with more obvious flaws.
• Each evaluator makes their own judgment and this may evolve in time.
• Fortunately the synoptic chart program eliminates most cosmic rays.
• Greater consideration is given to cosmic rays larger in size, stronger in value, and near the central meridian
  • Any image with a large streak across it is flagged
  • Any image with a visible cosmic ray near the center of the disk is flagged
  • Any image with a cosmic ray near the limb is flagged if the cosmic ray is strong or obvious