Some ancient texts record what were likely dying stars, faintly visible from Earth. If close enough, these events can disturb telescopes and even damage the ozone layer.
To detect dark matter, you need to build an ultra-sensitive detector and put it somewhere ultra-quiet. For one physics collaboration, that place is almost a mile under Lead, S.D.
IceCube Collaboration/Science Communication Lab for CRC 1491
Half a dozen times in the past 10,000 years, enigmatic ‘Miyake events’ have showered Earth with cosmic rays.
Typical amounts of solar particles hitting the Earth’s magnetosphere can be beautiful, but too much could be catastrophic.
Svein-Magne Tunli - tunliweb.no/Wikimedia
Every few centuries the Sun blasts the Earth with a huge amount of high-energy particles. If it were to happen today, it would wreak havoc on technology.
An illustration of two neutron stars spinning around each other while merging.
NASA/CXC/Trinity University/D. Pooley et al.
Astronomers are now able to detect a host of signals streaming through the universe. This newfound ability is like gaining new senses and it’s opening the door to understanding the cosmos.
Detecting cosmic ray particles: a water-Cherenkov detector seen against the night sky at the Pierre Auger Observatory in western Argentina.
Steven Saffi, University of Adelaide
Scientists say they now know that high energy cosmic ray particles that bombard Earth are coming from outside our galaxy. But the actual source still remains a mystery.
Captain, we’re being pummeled by cosmic rays!
muratart via Shutterstock.com
The true radiation risk from commercial flying has nothing to do with security scans. A radiation expert explains how much cancer risk the most frequent of flyers take on when they take to the skies.
The High Energy Stereoscopic System (HESS) was instrumental in determining the origin of cosmic rays.
HESS
A cubic kilometer of clear, stable ice could help physicists answer big questions about cosmic rays and neutrinos. Hardy scientists collect data via a unique telescope at the frozen bottom of the world.
Hurricane Arthur photographed by ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst.
ESA/NASA
It’s been the defining question of high-energy astrophysics for the past century: where do cosmic rays come from? New findings from the IceCube Neutrino Observatory at the South Pole have brought us closer…