Cold clouds as cosmic-ray detectors

Abstract

Low energy cosmic-rays (CRs) are responsible for gas heating and ionization of interstellar clouds, which in turn introduces coupling to Galactic magnetic fields. So far the CR ionization rate (CRIR) has been estimated using indirect methods, such as its effect on the abundances of various rare molecular species. Here we show that the CRIR may be constrained from line emission of H2 rovibrational transitions, excited by CRs. We derive the required conditions for CRs to dominate line excitation, and show that CR-excited lines may be detected with the Very Large Telescope (VLT) over 8 hours integration. Our method, if successfully applied to a variety of clouds at different Galactic locations, will provide improved constraints on the spectrum of low energy CRs and their origins.