Related topics: dark matter
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
Cosmic rays hunted down: Physicists are closing in on the origin of cosmic rays
Dec 07, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A thin rain of charged particles continually bombards our atmosphere from outer space. The mysterious particles were first detected 100 years ago but until 10 years ago when a new type of ...
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 ...
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 ...
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.
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 ...
Dark matter: Physicists may have found piece of the puzzle
Apr 01, 2009 |
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European astronomers said on Wednesday that an anomalous energy signal detected by an orbiting satellite could be a telltale of the enigmatic substance known as dark matter.
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 ...
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 ...
Cosmic rays detected deep underground reveal secrets of the upper atmosphere (Video)
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Jan 21, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Cosmic-rays detected half a mile underground in a disused U.S. iron-mine can be used to detect major weather events occurring 20 miles up in the Earth's upper atmosphere, a new study has revealed.
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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.
Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter to Help Astronauts Survive in Infinity
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Apr 17, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Space seems exotic, forbidding, and remote, but imagine trying to survive winter without a heated shelter or warm clothing. Our ancestors developed these technologies because they needed room ...
The Surprising Shape of Solar Storms (w/Video)
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Apr 14, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Twin NASA spacecraft have provided scientists with their first view of the speed, trajectory, and three-dimensional shape of powerful explosions from the sun known as coronal mass ejections, ...
