Scientists are searching for answers to a new mystery in outer space after a telescope in Utah detected the most powerful cosmic ray seen in more than three decades, according to the book’s authors. New search It was published Thursday in the journal Science.
A puzzling, extremely rare, super-energy particle is thought to have traveled to Earth from outside the Milky Way Galaxy, although the exact origin of this turbocharged particle from outer space remains a mystery. Some experts have suggested that the cosmic ray, nicknamed the Amaterasu particle after the sun goddess in Japanese mythology, could have been generated by unknown physics.
according to Article published in NatureClancy James, an astronomer at Curtin University in Perth, Australia, said the “astonishing” discovery left some scientists wondering “what could produce such high energy.” Cosmic rays, invisible to the naked eye, are charged particles – often a proton – traveling through space from other galaxies and extragalactic sources at close to the speed of light.
Cosmic rays with energies above 100 exaelectronvolts (EeV) are rarely detected. according to NASACosmic rays constantly enter the Earth’s atmosphere and “provide one of our few direct samples of cosmic rays.” Theme From outside the solar system.”
Cosmic rays discovered decades ago had ‘more energy than was theoretically possible’
The most powerful cosmic ray, called the Oh-My-God particle, was discovered more than 30 years ago and measured about 320 exaelectronvolts (EeV) when it was discovered. According to the journal Nature, a single EeV is about a million times larger than that reached by the most powerful human-made particle accelerators.
“Nothing in our galaxy has the capacity to produce that, and the particle had more energy than was theoretically possible for cosmic rays traveling to Earth from other galaxies.” A statement from the University of Utah said. “The ‘oh my’ particle simply shouldn’t exist.”
The newly discovered cosmic rays – first detected on May 27, 2021 at the Telescope Array in Millard County, Utah – had an energy of 240 MeV. Toshihiro Fujii, an astronomer at Osaka Metropolitan University in Japan, discovered the “surprise” signals — which had measurements consistent with those produced by supermassive cosmic rays — while performing a routine data check at the telescope.
A skeptical Fuji initially wondered if there had been a mistake, like some sort of bug in the software, or if the facility’s detectors had been damaged by something super-powered. High-energy cosmic rays typically have a relatively smooth journey through space (which means they should not be affected by galactic and extragalactic magnetic fields), making it easier for scientists to pinpoint the starburst, black hole, or galaxy in which the energy is occurring. Spike came from.
Where do high-energy cosmic rays originate?
The exact origins of these high-energy particles remain unclear, even after years of research. John Matthews, spokesman for the center’s telescope array, said that when scientists tried to track the Oh-My-God particle and this new particle, its path to its source did not lead to something with high enough energy to produce it. University of Utah And co-author of the study.
“That’s the mystery, what the hell is going on?” Matthews said.
according to John Balesprofessor at University of Utah “These events appear to come from completely different places in the sky,” study co-author Dr. The largest yet discovered appear to have originated from voids or empty space.
“It’s not like there’s one mysterious source.” Bills He said. “It could be imperfections in the structure of space-time, colliding cosmic strings. I mean, I’m just talking about the crazy ideas that people put forward because there’s no conventional explanation.”
Fujii and his team are in the process of upgrading the telescope’s array to be four times more sensitive than it was before, which will allow researchers to capture more of these rare, high-energy cosmic rays and trace their origins with greater precision.