What flings mysteriously powerful particles called ‘cosmic rays’ at Earth?
AI-summarised brief · reviewed before publication
Researchers have made a breakthrough in understanding ultra-high energy cosmic rays, which are particles that reach Earth with energies over 10 million times more powerful than those produced by the Large Hadron Collider. A new study suggests that these cosmic rays may be atomic nuclei of elements heavier than iron, which could be accelerated by extreme astrophysical sources such as neutron star collisions. The Amaterasu particle, detected in 2021, is one such cosmic ray that originated from a void-like region with no obvious source. The study's findings are based on simulations that tracked how cosmic rays of different masses lost energy as they traveled through space. The research team, led by Kohta Murase, believes that ultraheavy nuclei can survive cosmic distances and reach Earth at extreme energies. This discovery may finally unlock a 60-year-old space puzzle. The origins of cosmic rays have been a mystery, with many proposed sources, including neutron star collisions and massive star collapses.
💡 Why It Matters
- · The discovery of ultraheavy cosmic rays could confirm the role of neutron star collisions in accelerating these particles, providing a long-sought explanation for their origins.
- · This finding would also demonstrate the power of extreme astrophysical events to accelerate particles to incredibly high energies.
