Cosmic ray
hideCosmic rays are energetic particles originating from outer space that impinge on Earth's atmosphere. Almost 90% of all the incoming cosmic ray particles are protons, almost 10% are helium nuclei (alpha particles), and slightly under 1% are heavier elements and electrons (beta minus particles). The term ray is a misnomer, as cosmic particles arrive individually, not in the form of a ray or beam of particles.
The variety of particle energies reflects the wide variety of sources. The origins of these particles range from energetic processes on the Sun all the way to as yet unknown events in the farthest reaches of the visible universe. Cosmic rays can have energies of over 1020 eV, far higher than the 1012 to 1013 eV that man-made particle accelerators can produce. (See Ultra-high-energy cosmic rays for a description of the detection of a single particle with an energy of about 50 J, the same as a well-hit tennis ball at 42 m/s [about 94 mph].) There has been interest in investigating cosmic rays of even greater energies.
For more information about Cosmic ray, read the full article at
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News tagged with cosmic rays
Starburst galaxy sheds light on longstanding cosmic mystery
Nov 02, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- An international collaboration that includes scientists from the University of Delaware's Bartol Research Institute in the Department of Physics and Astronomy has discovered very-high-energy ...
Jupiter's Moon Europa Has Enough Oxygen For Life
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Oct 16, 2009 |
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New research suggests that there is plenty of oxygen available in the subsurface ocean of Europa to support oxygen-based metabolic processes for life similar to that on Earth. In fact, there may be enough ...
European astroparticle physicists to celebrate 100 years of cosmic ray experiments
Oct 02, 2009 |
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From 10 to 17 October 2009, in France, Italy, Spain and many other countries, astroparticle physicists will meet the public to reveal some of the most exciting mysteries of the Universe. Within the first European Week of ...
Cosmic Rays Hit Space Age High
Sep 29, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Planning a trip to Mars? Take plenty of shielding. According to sensors on NASA's ACE (Advanced Composition Explorer) spacecraft, galactic cosmic rays have just hit a Space Age high.
Has PAMELA Already Seen Dark Matter?
Aug 25, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Back in 2006, PAMELA (a Payload for Antimatter Matter Exploration and Light-nuclei Astrophysics) was launched with the purpose of detecting cosmic radiation and looking for clues pointing ...
In Search of Antimatter Galaxies
Aug 17, 2009 |
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NASA's space shuttle program is winding down. With only about half a dozen more flights, shuttle crews will put the finishing touches on the International Space Station (ISS), bringing to an end twelve years ...
Cosmic meddling with the clouds by seven-day magic
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Aug 01, 2009 |
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Billions of tonnes of water droplets vanish from the atmosphere, as if by magic, in events that reveal in detail how the Sun and the stars control our everyday clouds. Researchers of the National Space Institute in the Technical ...
Large Area Telescope explores high-energy particles
Jul 28, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope is making some exciting discoveries about cosmic rays and the Large Area Telescope aboard Fermi is the tool in this investigation. Scientists in the ...
A Super-Efficient Particle Accelerator
Jul 01, 2009 |
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This image of data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope shows a part of the roughly circular supernova remnant known as RCW 86.
Milky Way's super-efficient particle accelerators caught in the act
Jun 25, 2009 |
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Thanks to a unique "ballistic study" that combines data from ESO's Very Large Telescope and NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, astronomers have now solved a long-standing mystery of the Milky Way's particle ...
Work begins on world's deepest underground lab
Jun 22, 2009 |
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(AP) -- Far below the Black Hills of South Dakota, crews are building the world's deepest underground science lab at a depth equivalent to more than six Empire State buildings - a place uniquely suited to ...
The Phantom Torso Returns
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
May 28, 2009 |
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The Phantom Torso is back, and he has quite a story to tell. He's an armless, legless, human-shaped torso, a mannequin that looks like he's wrapped in a mummy's bandages. Scientists at the European Space Agency ...
Giant balloon flying high over Atlantic to catch cosmic rays
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
May 21, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- University of Delaware researchers in Sweden have launched a giant balloon taller than a football field that is now flying at the edge of space to collect data on cosmic rays -- the most super-charged ...
Scientists: No link cloud coverage and global warming
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
May 11, 2009 |
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With the U.S. Congress beginning to consider regulations on greenhouse gases, a troubling hypothesis about how the sun may impact global warming is finally laid to rest.
Fermi telescope explores high-energy 'space invaders'
May 04, 2009 |
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(Physorg.com) -- Since its launch last June, NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope has discovered a new class of pulsars, probed gamma-ray bursts and watched flaring jets in galaxies billions of light-years ...
