Scientists have just lately made an intriguing discovery by detecting the second-most highly effective cosmic ray originating from past our galaxy. This “ultra-high-energy” particle, named the ‘Amaterasu’ particle after the solar goddess in Japanese mythology, has left researchers astounded by its sheer energy.
Cosmic rays are charged particles, like protons or electrons, that journey by means of house at almost the pace of sunshine. These cosmic rays could also be remnants of celestial occasions which have disintegrated matter into its subatomic parts. As a consequence of their charged nature, cosmic rays comply with a zigzagging flight path as they navigate by means of electromagnetic fields within the cosmic microwave background.
The analysis was carried out on the Telescope Array positioned on the College of Utah, the identical facility the place the highest-energy cosmic ray ever recorded, referred to as the ‘Oh-My-God’ particle, was found in 1991. This particle was a supply of nice perplexity for physicists because it was believed that nothing inside our galaxy might generate such high-energy cosmic rays. Furthermore, it was beforehand regarded as unattainable for cosmic rays to succeed in Earth from different galaxies.
Revealed within the journal Science, the research describes how the worldwide group of physicists measured the particle’s power at a outstanding 2.4 x 10^20 electron Volts (eV).
The invention of the ‘Amaterasu’ particle has offered scientists with extra questions than solutions.
Scientists are nonetheless trying to find a standard clarification for these phenomena and speculate that they might contain particle physics but to be found. The trajectory of the ‘Amaterasu’ particle, can’t be traced again to any identified high-energy supply, including to the thriller surrounding these cosmic rays.
The composition of the ‘Amaterasu’ particle suggests it’s probably a proton, as its comparatively straight trajectory signifies a lighter particle. Heavier particles, similar to iron nuclei, would expertise extra bending resulting from magnetic fields. Physicists additionally argue that cosmic rays with power exceeding the Greisen-Zatsepin-Kuzmin (GZK) cutoff, just like the ‘Amaterasu’ particle, shouldn’t be considerably affected by the microwave background radiation. The GZK cutoff represents the utmost power a proton can retain earlier than its interactions with microwave background radiation deplete its power.
Nonetheless, the trajectory of the ‘Amaterasu’ particle leads researchers to empty house, deepening the thriller. The presence of stronger magnetic fields than beforehand thought might clarify this, but it surely contradicts different observations that point out these magnetic fields aren’t highly effective sufficient to trigger important curvature at such excessive energies.
