2023-11-27 05:00:09
In the annals of astronomy, an intriguing and mysterious news is regarding to be written. Researchers recently detected an ultra-energetic cosmic ray, named “Amaterasu”, in reference to a Japanese goddess. This exceptionally powerful cosmic ray raises considerable questions regarding its origin and formation. This cosmic ray was observed on May 21, 2021 by the Telescope Array project, a vast network made up of 507 detectors spread over an area of ​​700 km² in Utah (United States), but its study was only published this Friday November 24 in the journal Science. With an impressive energy of 244 exa-electron-volts (EeV), “Amaterasu” stands out as one of the most energetic cosmic rays ever observed since the famous “Oh My God” (OMG) in 1991, with an energy reaching 320 EeV.
When powerful cosmic rays strike gas molecules in Earth’s atmosphere, they create a cascade of energetic particles detected on the ground. By tracing these particles to their source, researchers can estimate the power of the original cosmic ray.
Image: Osaka Metropolitan University/L-INSIGHT, Kyoto University/Ryuunosuke Takeshige
To put it in perspective, the energy detected is equivalent to almost 50% of the kinetic force of a tennis ball thrown at 20 km/h. However, this energy level is carried by a single particle, probably a proton, which makes its singularity even more striking. What greatly disturbs researchers is the improbable place of origin of this particle. Indeed, “Amaterasu” seems to come from an area of ​​the Universe devoid of galaxies (Galaxies is a French quarterly magazine devoted to science fiction. With…), thus defying current knowledge on the formation of cosmic particles .
Ultra-energetic cosmic rays, like “Amaterasu”, are rare and usually originate from intense cosmic phenomena. These particles have an energy approximately a million times greater than that generated by terrestrial particle accelerators. Their exact origin often remains a mystery, and “Amaterasu” is no exception. Coming from an empty region of the Universe, with no known galaxies or cosmic structures, its origin defies current explanations.
Scientists have hit a dead end in their attempt to decipher the origin of this cosmic particle. The advanced theories argue between the discrete emission in our close galactic environment, the deviation by an extragalactic magnetic field much more powerful than anticipated, or even the possibility of an origin resulting from an unknown physics beyond the standard model of particles. Despite this complexity (Complexity is a notion used in philosophy, epistemology (by…), researchers are not giving up. To try to clarify this mystery, the Telescope Array experiment will be reinforced by the addition of 500 new detectors, considerably increasing the surface area of capture (A capture, in the field of astronautics, is a process by which a celestial object, which…) to 2900 km². This expansion aims to increase the sensitivity of the experiment, thus providing new opportunities to elucidate these intriguing cosmic phenomena.
Cosmic rays create atmospheric luminescence (airglow) when they strike the Earth’s atmosphere.
Image: NASA/JSC
The detection of “Amaterasu” opens the way for future research, with the hope that next-generation observatories will be able to trace the origin of these ultra-energetic particles, thus shedding light on the causes of these extraordinary phenomena.
This discovery, named following a deity of the Shinto religion, continues to fuel questions and debates within the scientific community. Its enigma remains unsolved, but researchers’ commitment to it is stronger than ever. As more data is collected, the hope of unlocking the secret of “Amaterasu” remains an ambitious goal for contemporary astronomers and physicists.
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