The Telescope Array, a cosmic ray observatory in the United States, has detected the second highest energy cosmic ray, dubbed by scientists as the ‘Amaterasu’ particle after the Japanese goddess of the sun, the University of Utah announced. announced today.
The discovery, described in a paper to be published in Friday’s edition of the scientific journal Science, follows the detection, on October 15, 1991, of the highest energy cosmic ray, called the ‘Oh, My God’ particle . the impression created among astrophysicists.
The second most energetic cosmic ray was detected on May 27, 2021, but the results of the experiment have only now been released.
According to the North American University of Utah, which co-leads the Telescope Array with Japan’s University of Tokyo, the energy of this subatomic particle is equivalent to dropping a rock from hip height onto your foot.
Although rare and detected with various observation techniques, extremely high-energy events such as the ‘Oh, My God’ and ‘Amaterasu’ particles are real according to scientists, but they deepen the mystery about their origin and propagation.
Located in the desert of Millard County, Utah, the Telescope Array has detected more than 30 cosmic rays of extreme energy since it began collecting data in 2007, but none come close to the energy of the ‘Oh My God ‘ particle and no observation has done that. revealed their origin or how these energetic particles manage to travel to Earth.
The Telescope Array is the result of collaboration between universities and institutions in the United States, Japan, South Korea, Russia and Belgium and consists of 507 surface detection stations arranged in a square grid covering an area of 700 square kilometers (the equivalent of seven cities of Lisbon).
The infrastructure is designed to observe extensive cascades of subatomic particles induced in Earth’s atmosphere by cosmic rays (which are themselves subatomic particles) of extremely high energy.
The ‘Amaterasu’ particle activated 23 detectors at the observatory and spread over 48 square kilometers (slightly more than the area of the city of Porto, which is 41 square kilometers).
According to astrophysicists, who do not specifically know the origin of the second cosmic ray with greater energy, the direction of arrival of this subatomic particle on the Earth’s surface appears to come from the Local Void, an empty region of space adjacent to the Earth’s surface. Milky Way, the galaxy that is part of the solar system, which also includes Earth.
Cosmic rays are charged particles with a wide energy range and consisting of positive protons, negative electrons or entire atomic nuclei that travel through space and almost constantly reach the Earth’s upper atmosphere.
Source: DN
