After 100 Years, Scientists Uncover Hidden Rule Governing Cosmic Rays

Arthur T Knackerbracket writes:

https://scitechdaily.com/after-100-years-scientists-uncover-hidden-rule-governing-cosmic-rays/

More than 100 years after their discovery, cosmic rays continue to puzzle scientists. These extremely energetic particles travel across the universe from distant and powerful sources. The DAMPE (Dark Matter Particle Explorer) space telescope is working to better understand them, including whether dark matter plays a role in how they form.

This international project, which includes the University of Geneva (UNIGE), has now uncovered an important new clue. Researchers have identified a shared feature among these particles, and the findings were published in Nature.

Cosmic rays are the highest-energy particles ever detected, far exceeding anything produced by human-made accelerators on Earth. Their origins remain uncertain, though scientists suspect they are created in extreme environments such as supernova explosions, jets from black holes, or pulsars.

Launched in December 2015, the DAMPE space telescope was designed to investigate these questions. The mission includes major contributions from the astrophysics group at UNIGE's Department of Nuclear and Particle Physics (DPNC). By analyzing highly precise data, researchers discovered a consistent pattern in the energy distribution of primary cosmic ray nuclei, from protons to iron.

Cosmic rays are primarily composed of protons, but also of helium, carbon, oxygen, and iron nuclei," explains Andrii Tykhonov, associate professor at the DPNC in the Faculty of Science at UNIGE, and co-author of the study. These particles are also categorized according to their energy: low, up to a few billion electron-volts; intermediate, from a few billion to several hundred billion electron-volts; and high, from 1,000 billion electron-volts and beyond."

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