Scientists are searching for answers to new cosmic mysteries after a telescope in Utah detected the most powerful cosmic rays in more than 30 years, the authors say. new research It was published Thursday in the journal Science.
A mysterious, extremely rare, ultra-high-energy particle is thought to have come to Earth from beyond the Milky Way, but the exact origin of this turbocharged particle from space remains a mystery. Some experts suggest that the cosmic rays, called Amaterasu particles after the sun goddess in Japanese mythology, may be produced by unknown physics.
according to Paper published in NatureAstronomer Clancy James from Curtin University in Perth, Australia, said the “surprising” discovery has left some scientists wondering “what could produce such high energies?” He said there was. Cosmic rays are invisible to the naked eye, but they are charged particles (often protons) that travel through space from other galaxies or extragalactic sources at speeds close to the speed of light.
Cosmic rays with energies above 100 exaelectronvolts (EeV) are rarely detected.according to NASACosmic rays constantly penetrate Earth’s atmosphere, “providing one of the few direct samples of Earth.” Case It came from outside the solar system. ”
Cosmic rays discovered decades ago had ‘more energy than theoretically possible’
The most powerful cosmic ray, known as the oh my god particle, was detected more than 30 years ago and measured around 320 exaelectronvolts (EeV) at the time of its discovery. According to Nature, 1 EeV is about a million times the EeV reached by the most powerful artificial particle accelerators.
“There was nothing in our galaxy that had the power to produce it, and its particles had more energy than cosmic rays traveling to Earth from other galaxies are theoretically possible. .” According to a statement from the University of Utah:. “Simply put, (oh my god) particles shouldn’t exist.”
The energy of the recently discovered cosmic rays (first detected on May 27, 2021 at the Millard County, Utah telescope array) was estimated to be 240 EeV. Astronomer Toshihiro Fujii from Japan’s Osaka Metropolitan University discovered a “surprising” signal during a routine data check with his telescope that had measurements consistent with signals produced by hypercosmic rays. did.
Skeptical at first, Fujii thought there might be some kind of bug in the software, or that the facility’s detectors had been damaged by something extremely high-energy. Ultra-high-energy cosmic rays typically travel through space relatively smoothly (that is, they should be unaffected by galactic and extragalactic magnetic fields). This makes it easier for scientists to pinpoint the exploding star, black hole, or galaxy where the high-energy cosmic rays originated. I’m from Spike.
Where do high-energy cosmic rays come from?
The exact origin of these high-energy particles remains unclear even after years of research. When scientists tried to track the Oh My God particle and this new particle, their trajectory to the source did not lead to one with enough energy to create it, according to Telescope. said John Matthews, co-spokesman for Array. University of Utah and co-author of the study.
“That’s the mystery — what the hell is going on?” Matthews said.
according to John Beltzprofessor of University of Utah “These events appear to be coming from completely different parts of the sky,” said the study’s co-authors. The largest ones discovered so far seem to originate from voids or empty spaces.
“There’s not just one mysterious source.” belts Said. “It could be that there’s a flaw in the fabric of space-time and the cosmic strings are colliding. So I’m just spewing out crazy ideas that people come up with because there’s no conventional explanation.” ”
Fujii and his team are in the process of upgrading the telescope array to be four times more sensitive than before, allowing researchers to capture more of these rare, ultra-high-energy cosmic rays and pinpoint their origins. You will be able to track it.