While examining a nearby supernova with NASA’s Fermi gamma-ray space telescope, an effort to discover how these stellar explosions ignite charged particles called cosmic rays, scientists have uncovered a bigger mystery. The team found that the supernova, named SN 2023ixf, completely lacks the gamma-ray emissions that should be present when cosmic ray particles are accelerated … Read more
Getty Images Claim: Dangerous cosmic rays will pass by Earth tonight, causing harm to those who leave nearby personal devices turned on. Judgement: Rating: false As the total solar eclipse of April 8, 2024 approached, Snopes’ inbox began to fill with the familiar claim that “tonight” cosmic rays would pass close to Earth, endangering those … Read more
The Earth is constantly bombarded by cosmic raysrains of high-energy particles destroying our planet at almost the speed of light from all directions. While this may sound like the precursor to a sci-fi alien invasion, it is a real phenomenon that scientists have been aware of for more than a century. Despite their dramatic description, … Read more
Scientists may have found evidence that black vampire holes that feed on their victim stars – so-called microquasars – are the cosmic particle accelerators responsible for mysterious high-energy cosmic rays we see bombarding Earth. These stellar-mass black holes exist in binary systems with a supergiant star from which they greedily strip material. Some of that … Read more