Scientists have been left stunned after a rare and extremely high-energy particle was spotted falling towards Earth.
The cosmic ray has been named after the Japanese sun goddess, Amaterasu, and is one of the highest-energy cosmic rays ever detected, according to astrologists.
The Amaterasu particle has an energy exceeding 240 exa-electron volts (EeV), making it the second-highest-energy cosmic ray after the Oh-My-God particle, which was detected in 1991, possessing 320 EeV of energy.
The origins of the Amaterasu particle remain unknown but experts say only the biggest celestial events, even more powerful than a star exploding, could have created it.
Associate professor at Osaka Metropolitan University, Toshihiro Fujii, was convinced there “must have been a mistake” when he first spotted the particle. He said: “It showed an energy level unprecedented in the last three decades.”
The mystery doesn’t end there, because the particle also seemingly appeared out of nowhere. It emerged from an area that borders the Milky Way, known as the Local Void, but scientists are sure there was nothing in that area with energy strong enough to have produced the cosmic ray.
John Matthews, a research professor at the University of Utah’s department of physics and astronomy, said: “You should be able to point to where they come from in the sky.
“But in the case of the Oh-My-God particle and this new particle, you trace its trajectory to its source and there’s nothing high energy enough to have produced it. That’s the mystery of this – what the heck is going on?”
When an ultra-high-energy cosmic ray, such as the Amaterasu particle, hits Earth’s atmosphere, it causes lots of secondary particles and electromagnetic radiation in what is called an extensive air shower.
When charged particles in this air shower travel faster than the spped of light, they produce a type of electromagnetic radiation that can be detected by specialed instruments, such as the Telescope Array observatory in Utah, which found the Amaterasu particle.
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The particle is epxected to pave the way for more investigations that could shed light on ultra-high-energy cosmic rays and their origins.
Scientists are saying it could be a much larger magnetic deflection than predicted, an unidentified source in the Local Void, or there’s an incomplete understanding of high-energy particle physics.
John Beltz, a Utah professor, said:”[I am] spit-balling crazy ideas. These events seem like they’re coming from completely different places in the sky. It’s not like there’s one mysterious source. It could be defects in the structure of spacetime, colliding cosmic strings. There’s not a conventional explanation.”
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