Simulation of the Cosmic Ray Moon Shadow in the Geomagnetic field

TL;DR

This paper presents a detailed Monte Carlo simulation of the cosmic ray Moon shadow effect, accounting for geomagnetic deflections and detector resolution, to interpret TeV energy observations.

Contribution

It introduces an accurate simulation algorithm that models primary cosmic ray propagation through the Earth's geomagnetic field, separating detector and geomagnetic effects.

Findings

Simulation matches observed Moon shadow deficits

Disentangles geomagnetic and detector effects

Provides insights for TeV cosmic ray measurements

Abstract

An accurate MonteCarlo simulation of the deficit of primary cosmic rays in the direction of the Moon has been developed to interpret the observations reported in the TeV energy region until now. Primary particles are propagated trough the geomagnetic field in the Earth-Moon system. The algorithm is described and the contributions of the detector resolution and of the geomagnetic field are disentangled.