A team of scientists has discovered sources of ultra-powerful cosmic rays near the Earth with a speed close to the speed of light and with the highest energy level, in the range of 0.3-40 TeV, through HESS cosmic ray detector.
According to the press service of the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), the discovery of these particles indicates that there are several sources of cosmic rays near the Earth.
According to Katrin Egberts, a researcher at the University of Potsdam: “This very important discovery allows us to say that the particles we found were released by a small number of sites near us no more than a thousand years ago light away from us. solar system, and this is extremely important because the distance is small compared to the size of The Milky Way Galaxy,” according to Lucia Today.
Scientists made this discovery while analyzing data recorded using the ground-based gamma-ray observatory (HESS), which aims to monitor the gamma-ray bursts. -brightest cosmic ray created by supernova remnants, massive black holes, and various sources of cosmic rays, the nature of which scientists have been trying to find since… Many decades.
According to astronomers, cosmic rays, which consist of electrons and positrons whose speed is close to the speed of light, are of interest, unlike other types of particles that travel at intergalactic distances. , electron and positron rays lose energy rapidly due to the interaction with photons, which allows these particles to be used to determine the distance to sources of cosmic rays, as well as to study the ways to create.
Based on this idea, and using the HESS system to monitor flashes of light and electromagnetic waves, which generate cosmic electrons and positrons that enter the Earth’s atmosphere over a period of 12 years ( within 2.7 thousand times) of measurements, scientists were able to “catch” about 20 similar cosmic rays.
Scientists say that the number of particles that have an energy higher than one teraelectronvolt is very low compared to the number of cosmic rays that are less powerful than the electron and positron. This casts doubt on the common assumption that their source is the decay of dark matter particles, and indicates that their sources are a group of several complex objects located in regions of the t -The Milky Way relatively close to Earth.
1. Can you tell us about the significance of your discovery regarding the origin of ultra-powerful cosmic rays near Earth?
2. How did you use the HESS cosmic ray detector to detect these particles and what information did it reveal about their source?
3. What kind of energy levels are we talking about with these ultra-powerful cosmic rays, and what does this mean for our understanding of their origin?
4. Can you explain the process by which these rays are formed and how they can lose energy as they travel through space?
5. How does the fact that these rays have a short lifetime in comparison to other cosmic particles affect our understanding of their origins?
6. What implications do your findings have for the role of dark matter in the creation of cosmic rays?
7. Are there any other possible explanations for the origin of these ultra-powerful cosmic rays that you have considered?
8. What are the next steps in your research, and how will they build upon this discovery?
9. As scientists, what excites you most about this field of study?
10. Lastly, can you share with us your thoughts on the importance of funding for scientific research and how it impacts discoveries like this one?
