The Sun Has Been Emitting High-Energy Gamma Rays In Huge Quantities, But Nobody Noticed — Until Now

 

International Conference on Nuclear Physics and Particle Physics Research Excellence


You’d think that for something as huge and overt as the Sun, hiding things about itself might not be possible, especially when there’s multiple probes and telescopes measuring its every activity. And yet, researchers recently found something very surprising about the star.

For years now, the Sun has reportedly been emitting highly bright light in the form of an extraordinary amount of gamma rays — which carry the most energy out of any other wavelength in the electromagnetic spectrum. The emissions equate to approximately 1 trillion electron volts, making it the highest-energy radiation to ever be documented from our solar system’s star!








While these gamma rays cannot harm us and do not quite reach Earth, their telltale signatures are discernable, provided one is using the right tools, such as the High-Altitude Water Cherenkov Observatory, or HAWC.

Considering how it operates 24/7, the HAWC has an edge over other ground-based telescopes that cannot look at the Sun because they only function at night. Further, it doesn’t look like a regular telescope either.

Seated between two volcanoes in Southern Mexico, at an altitude of 13,500 feet, the HAWC can detect the gamma rays using its elaborate network of 300 massive water tanks, each filled with 200 metric tons of water.


When high-energy particles from space collide with the purified water in the tanks, it results in a phenomenon known as Cherenkov radiation — a bluish glow resulting from electrically charged particles moving at certain speeds through a medium, in this case water.

“This shows that HAWC is adding to our knowledge of our galaxy at the highest energies, and it’s opening up questions about our very own Sun. It’s making us see things in a different light. Literally,” said Nisa, one of almost 100 scientists who contributed to the paper.

Meanwhile, the data collected by HAWC over a six-year period (between 2015-2021) also shows that the gamma rays have a tendency to occur when the Sun is witnessing a relatively dormant phase of its 11-year solar cycle.

In the future, scientists will be working on solving how the Sun's magnetic field plays a role in giving rise to the high energy gamma rays.


#SolarGammaBurst #UnnoticedGammaEmissions #SolarSurprise #GammaRaySun #AstrophysicalMystery


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Shape-shifting experiment challenges interpretation of how cadmium nuclei move

Image
Atomic nuclei take a range of shapes, from spherical (like a basketball) to deformed (like an American football). Spherical nuclei are often described by the motion of a small fraction of the protons and neutrons, while deformed nuclei tend to rotate as a collective whole. A third kind of motion has been proposed since the 1950s. In this motion, known as nuclear vibration, atomic nuclei fluctuate about an average shape. Scientists recently investigated cadmium-106 using a technique called Coulomb excitation to probe its nuclear shape . They found clear experimental evidence that the vibrational description fails for this isotope's nucleus. This finding is counter to the expected results. Research published in Physics Letters B builds on a long quest to understand the transition between spherical and deformed nuclei . This transition often includes vibrational motion as an intermediate step. The new result suggests that nuclear physicists may need to revise the long-standing para...
Read more

HOMESPACE NEWS Mysterious Physics Revealed: “One of the Most Violent Events You Can Imagine in the Universe”

Image
Recent simulations of two black holes colliding at close to the speed of light have shed light on the enigmatic physics behind what has been called by one astrophysicist as “one of the most violent events you can imagine in the universe.” The findings, published in Physical Review Letters, is the first detailed look at the aftermath of such a cataclysmic clash, and shows how a remnant black hole would form and send gravitational waves through the cosmos. Black hole mergers are one of the few events in the universe energetic enough to produce detectable gravitational waves, which carry energy produced by massive cosmic collisions. Like ripples in a pond, these waves flow through the universe distorting space and time. But unlike waves traveling through water, they are extremely tiny, and propagate through “spacetime,” the mind-bending concept that combines the three dimensions of space with the idea of time. This simulation shows two black holes colliding near the speed of light, revea...
Read more

Nuclear power: The safer and cheaper alternative to fossil fuels

Image
As countries across the globe struggle to balance their desire for a reliable energy supply with their contribution to climate change, nuclear power presents a solution. The global reliance on fossil fuels is a function of our energy needs, and although there have been numerous initiatives implemented in order to reduce demand, such as levying large taxes on air transport, appropriate sources of supply still need to be defined. Fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas have the benefit of being capable of servicing our energy needs. However, they are a chief contributor to climate change, and as countries attempt to meet the Paris Agreement of keeping global temperature below 2o above pre-industrial levels, non-carbon energy sources are essential. Positives and negatives So, what are the pros and cons of nuclear power as a safer, cheaper alternative to fossil fuels? Well, where renewable sources such as wind or solar are clean, they are also intermittent, require an uneven geographical ...
Read more