SCIENTISTS DISCOVER BEAUTIFUL SOURCE OF COSMIC RAYS
Gamma rays, made primarily of protons, zing through the universe continuously. When they collide with air molecules in our atmosphere, they create charged particles which rain down upon us. Until recently, no one has been able to verify where they come from.
Stefan Funk, an astrophysicist with the Kavli Institute and Stanford University, and his team examined four years of data collected from recordings of emissions from remnants of two supernovae, thousands of lightyears away in our own Milky Way Galaxy, by the Fermi Gamma Ray Telescope. It showed evidence that the decay of a neural pion, a specific type of subatomic particle, as the source for the super-powerful gamma ray.
We love looking at supernova pictures. They show the ultimate mix of power and beauty.
