http://www.sciencedaily.com/news/space_time/cosmic_rays/ Cosmic Rays, gamma rays, muons, ultra-energetic particles. Read all the current news and research on cosmic rays. Full-text astronomy articles with images, free. en-us Thu, 24 Jul 2008 08:05:01 EDT Thu, 24 Jul 2008 08:05:01 EDT 60 http://www.sciencedaily.com/images/logosmall.gif http://www.sciencedaily.com/news/space_time/cosmic_rays/ For more science articles, visit ScienceDaily. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080710094031.htm The researchers have stopped holding their breath. The $690 million observatory they sent into orbit June 11 has awoken to begin its observation of the gamma-ray light from celestial mystery object such as black holes, spinning neutron stars and dark matter. Mon, 14 Jul 2008 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080710094031.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080710113019.htm About six times each minute for at least five years, a soon-to-be launched NASA satellite will measure the sun's quirky, occasionally violent, output of extreme ultraviolet light. To ensure that this solar stake-out yields data useful for understanding the weather in space and its earthly consequences, researchers are helping a NASA team prepare for annual rocket-borne check-ups of key instruments aboard the Solar Dynamics Observatory. Fri, 11 Jul 2008 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080710113019.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080709212745.htm New measurements have shown that the universe is more transparent to high-energy radiation than previously assumed. These measurements of high-energy gamma radiation from 5.3 billion light years away are yielding new knowledge about the nature of the universe. Thu, 10 Jul 2008 23:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080709212745.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080703113646.htm Space physicists report that the Voyager 2 spacecraft, which has been traveling outward from the sun for 31 years, has made the first direct observations of the solar wind termination shock, according to an article in the journal Nature. Thu, 03 Jul 2008 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080703113646.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080627175348.htm Particle colliders creating black holes that could devour the Earth. Sounds like a great Hollywood script. But, according to UC Santa Barbara Physics Professor Steve Giddings, it's pure fiction. Giddings has co-authored a paper documenting his study of the safety of microscopic black holes that might possibly be produced by the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), which is nearing completion in Europe. Mon, 30 Jun 2008 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080627175348.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080618114558.htm Fast-moving protons are much more likely to pair up with fast-moving neutrons than with other protons in the nuclei of atoms, according to a recent experiment. The research confirms a previous theoretical prediction by a Penn State physicist. The theory and its experimental confirmation show that the high-energy interactions can be used to make future discoveries in order to understand the structure of nuclear systems, from light nuclei to massive neutron stars. Mon, 23 Jun 2008 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080618114558.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080618133708.htm The biggest black holes may feed just like the smallest ones, according to data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and ground-based telescopes. This discovery supports the implication of Einstein's relativity theory that black holes of all sizes have similar properties, and will be useful for predicting the properties of a conjectured new class of black holes. Wed, 18 Jun 2008 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080618133708.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080611142452.htm For more than 400 years, astronomers have studied the sun from afar. Now NASA has decided to go there. The name of the mission is Solar Probe+. It's a heat-resistant spacecraft designed to plunge deep into the sun's atmosphere where it can sample solar wind and magnetism first hand. Mon, 16 Jun 2008 23:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080611142452.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080611143818.htm NASA's Gamma-ray Large Area Telescope successfully launched aboard a Delta II rocket June 11. The spacecraft will study the highest-energy form of light, helping scientists to answer questions about supermassive black hole systems, pulsars and the origin of cosmic rays. Wed, 11 Jun 2008 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080611143818.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080529140048.htm GLAST will explore the universe's most extreme environments, searching for answers to long-standing questions about dark matter, black holes, and gamma-ray bursts. Scientists expect the orbiting telescope to detect thousands of hitherto unknown gamma-ray sources. With its extraordinary sensitivity and wide field-of-view, it is the first imaging gamma-ray observatory capable of scanning the entire sky every three hours on a daily basis. Wed, 04 Jun 2008 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080529140048.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080529120710.htm Scientists at NASA reveal a new understanding of the mysterious mechanism responsible for heating the outer part of the solar atmosphere, the corona, to million degree temperatures. The corona is made up of loops of hot gas that arch high above the sun's surface. These loops can have a wide range of temperatures, many reaching several million degrees Kelvin, but those of intermediate temperature have proven the most difficult to explain. Impulsive energy bursts called nanoflares seem to be the key. Mon, 02 Jun 2008 23:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080529120710.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080530154103.htm NASA scientists have uncovered new details about how plasma from superstorms interact with Earth's magnetosphere. Sat, 31 May 2008 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080530154103.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080522084419.htm Astronomers have discovered mysterious pulses that are being emitted by an extremely magnetic star. The magnetic star, a magnetar, emits the pulses as very high energy X-rays. Sometimes observations confirm a scientific theory perfectly, yet at other times telescopes bring completely new phenomena to light. Thu, 22 May 2008 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080522084419.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080520152013.htm Although the universe contains billions of galaxies, only a small amount of its matter is locked up in these behemoths. Most of the universe's matter that was cooked up during and just after the Big Bang must be found elsewhere. Now, in an extensive search of the relatively recent, local universe, astronomers said they have definitively found about half of the missing normal matter, called baryons, in the spaces between the galaxies. Tue, 20 May 2008 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080520152013.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080513125853.htm NASA's Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope, or GLAST, is receiving finishing touches at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, near the beaches of eastern central Florida for its launch. The spacecraft is set for launch aboard a Delta II rocket no earlier than June 3. The launch window runs from 11:45 a.m. to 1:40 p.m. EDT. Thu, 15 May 2008 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080513125853.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080514131118.htm The most recent supernova in our Galaxy has been discovered by tracking the rapid expansion of its remains. This result, using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and NRAO's Very Large Array, has implications for understanding how often supernovas explode in the Milky Way galaxy. Wed, 14 May 2008 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080514131118.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080512191135.htm For the first time, astronomers have detected in the ultraviolet the carbon monoxide molecule in a galaxy located almost 11 billion light-years away, a feat that had remained elusive for 25 years. This detection allows them to obtain the most precise measurement of the cosmic temperature at such a remote epoch. Tue, 13 May 2008 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080512191135.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080506194033.htm ESA's orbiting X-ray observatory XMM-Newton has been used by a team of international astronomers to uncover part of the missing matter in the universe. Ten years ago, scientists predicted that about half of the missing 'ordinary' or normal matter made of atoms exists in the form of low-density gas, filling vast spaces between galaxies. But the low density of the gas hampered many attempts to detect it in the past. With XMM-Newton's high sensitivity, astronomers have discovered its hottest parts. Wed, 07 May 2008 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080506194033.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080502094224.htm NASA has a new plan to send a spacecraft closer to the sun than any probe has ever gone. The ambitious Solar Probe mission will study the streams of charged particles the sun hurls into space from a vantage point within the sun's corona -- its outer atmosphere -- where the processes that heat the corona and produce solar wind occur. At closest approach Solar Probe would zip past the sun at 125 miles per second, protected by a carbon-composite heat shield that must withstand up to 2,600 degrees Fahrenheit and survive blasts of radiation and energized dust at levels not experienced by any previous spacecraft. Sun, 04 May 2008 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080502094224.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080501091356.htm A new space mission, due to launch this month, is going to shed light on some of the most extreme astrophysical processes in nature -- including pulsars, remnants of supernovae, and supermassive black holes. It could even help us comprehend the origin and distribution of dark matter. Sun, 04 May 2008 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080501091356.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080502112754.htm Astrophysicists now say the fate of stars that venture too close to massive black holes could be even more violent than previously believed. Not only are they crushed by the black hole's huge gravity, but the process can also trigger a nuclear explosion that tears the star apart from within. In addition, shock waves in the pancake star carry a brief and very high peak of temperature outwards, that could give rise to a new type of X-ray or gamma-ray bursts. Fri, 02 May 2008 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080502112754.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080423131621.htm At the cores of many galaxies, supermassive black holes expel powerful jets of particles at nearly the speed of light. Just how they perform this feat has long been one of the mysteries of astrophysics. Now, astronomers have watched material winding a corkscrew outward path and behaving exactly as predicted by a leading theory. Thu, 24 Apr 2008 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080423131621.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080415143816.htm Gravitational radiation -- widely expected to provide "smoking gun" proof for a theory of the early universe known as "inflation" -- can be produced by another mechanism, according to physics researchers. Thu, 17 Apr 2008 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080415143816.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080415111724.htm Astronomers have discovered that our galaxy's central black hole let loose a powerful flare three centuries ago. The finding helps resolve a long-standing mystery: why is the Milky Way's black hole so quiescent? The black hole, known as Sagittarius A* (pronounced "A-star"), is a certified monster, containing about 4 million times the mass of our Sun. Yet the energy radiated from its surroundings is billions of times weaker than the radiation emitted from central black holes in other galaxies. Wed, 16 Apr 2008 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080415111724.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080415164332.htm With major implications for long-duration space travel, a new study demonstrates that the high-energy radiation found in space may lead to premature aging and prolonged oxidative stress in cells. The findings suggest that astronauts may be at increased risk of colon cancer due to exposure to the high linear energy transfer radiation found in space. Wed, 16 Apr 2008 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080415164332.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080410200302.htm NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has photographed the fading optical counterpart of a powerful gamma ray burst that holds the record for being the intrinsically brightest naked-eye object ever seen from Earth. For nearly a minute on March 19, this single "star" was as bright as 10 million galaxies. Hubble Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) images of GRB 080319B, taken on Monday, April 7, show the fading optical counterpart of the titanic blast. Tue, 15 Apr 2008 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080410200302.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080414094156.htm The European Space Agency has chosen the GSI accelerator facility to assess radiation risks that astronauts will be exposed to on a Mars mission. GSI was selected because its accelerator is the only one in Europe able to create ion beams similar to those found in space. To determine possible health risks of manned space flights, scientists from all over Europe have been asked to investigate the effects of ion beams in human cells and organs. Mon, 14 Apr 2008 23:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080414094156.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080414145656.htm The Delta II 7920-H, or "Heavy," rocket that will launch NASA's Gamma-ray Large Area Telescope satellite is in the process of being assembled on Launch Pad 17-B at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. Mon, 14 Apr 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080414145656.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080407091757.htm XMM-Newton has been surprised by a rare type of galaxy, from which it has detected a higher number of X-rays than thought possible. The observation gives new insight into the powerful processes shaping galaxies during their formation and evolution. Scientists working with XMM-Newton were looking into the furthest reaches of the universe, at celestial objects called quasars. These are vast cosmic engines that pump energy into their surroundings. It is thought an enormous black hole drives each quasar. Tue, 08 Apr 2008 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080407091757.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080402200155.htm Astronomers have discovered that solar flares - explosions in the atmosphere of the sun - get much hotter when they stay "focused". Solar flares are caused by the sudden release of magnetic energy. The largest can release as much energy as a billion one-megaton nuclear bombs. Mon, 07 Apr 2008 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080402200155.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080401112356.htm Preparations for launching NASA's Gamma-ray Large Area Telescope satellite are underway at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Florida. The twin solar panels have been attached. The panels will provide electrical power for GLAST after its launch into earth orbit. Tue, 01 Apr 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080401112356.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080326223837.htm The date March 19, 2008 marked the brightest ever cosmic explosion observed from the Earth. The outburst known as GRB 080319B was probably the death of a massive star leading to the creation of a black hole. For the first time the birth of a black hole has been filmed. Cameras of the "Pi of the Sky" project recorded this remarkable event. In almost 20 seconds the object became so bright that it could be visible with the naked eye. Then it began fading, and in 4 minutes it became 100 times fainter. Thu, 27 Mar 2008 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080326223837.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080321084612.htm Final results from the University of Utah's High Resolution Fly's Eye cosmic ray observatory show that the most energetic particles in the universe rarely reach Earth at full strength because they come from great distances, so most of them collide with radiation left over from the birth of the universe. The findings confirm a 42-year-old prediction -- known as the Greisen-Zatsepin-Kuzmin "cutoff," "limit" or "suppression" -- about ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays. Tue, 25 Mar 2008 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080321084612.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080321093110.htm A powerful stellar explosion detected March 19 by NASA's Swift satellite has shattered the record for the most distant object that could be seen with the naked eye. "This burst was a whopper," said the Swift principal investigator "It blows away every gamma ray burst we've seen so far." Fri, 21 Mar 2008 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080321093110.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080313213204.htm NASA's Cassini spacecraft performed a daring flyby of Saturn's moon Enceladus on March 12, flying about 15 kilometers per second (32,000 mph) through icy water geyser-like jets. The spacecraft snatched up precious samples that might point to a water ocean or organics inside the little moon. Fri, 14 Mar 2008 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080313213204.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080309151238.htm Radio waves accelerate electrons within Jupiter's magnetic field in the same way as they do on Earth, according to new research. The discovery overturns a theory that has held sway for more than a generation and has important implications for protecting Earth-orbiting satellites. Wed, 12 Mar 2008 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080309151238.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080307182745.htm There is new evidence that a sea of cosmic neutrinos permeates the universe, clear evidence the first stars took more than a half-billion years to create a cosmic fog, and tight new constraints on the burst of expansion in the universe's first trillionth of a second, all from five years of data collected by the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP). Fri, 07 Mar 2008 20:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080307182745.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080307133706.htm NASA's Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope, or GLAST, arrived Tuesday at the Astrotech payload processing facility near the Kennedy Space Center to begin final preparations for launch. Liftoff of GLAST aboard a Delta II rocket is currently targeted for 11:45 a.m. EDT on May 16. Fri, 07 Mar 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080307133706.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080216114853.htm Space scientists report on new discoveries about gamma ray bursts obtained from the Swift satellite and coordinated observations from a global network of ground based telescopes. Gamma-ray bursts are short-lived events, lasting between a few milliseconds to a few minutes. The brightest of them emit more energy in a few seconds than our Sun will emit in its whole 10 billion year lifetime. Gamma ray bursts are occurring several times daily somewhere in the universe, fortunately at huge distances from our solar system. These fleeting explosions are precursors to the births of black holes. Fri, 22 Feb 2008 23:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080216114853.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080221085019.htm ESA's Integral has made the first unambiguous discovery of high-energy X-rays coming from a rare massive star at our cosmic doorstep, Eta Carinae. It is one of the most violent places in the galaxy, producing vast winds of electrically-charged particles colliding at speeds of thousands of kilometers per second. The only astronomical object that emits gamma-rays and is observable by the naked eye, Eta Carinae is monstrously large, so large that astronomers call it a hypergiant. It contains between 100--150 times the mass of the Sun and glows more brightly than four million Suns put together. Astronomers know that it is not a single star, but a binary, with a second massive star orbiting the first. Fri, 22 Feb 2008 17:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080221085019.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080221140724.htm The youngest known pulsing neutron star has thrown a temper tantrum. The collapsed star occasionally unleashes powerful bursts of X-rays, which are forcing astronomers to rethink the life cycle of neutron stars. What is the evolutionary relationship between pulsars and magnetars? Astronomers would like to know if magnetars represent a rare class of pulsars, or if some or all pulsars go through a magnetar phase during their life cycles. Fri, 22 Feb 2008 02:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080221140724.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080214144535.htm Scientists working on the COUPP experiment at DOE's Fermilab have announced a new development in the quest to observe dark matter. The experiment tightened constraints on "spin-dependent" properties of WIMPS, particles that are candidates for dark matter. Their results, combined with the findings of other dark matter searches, contradict the claims for the observation of such particles by the DAMA experiment and further restrict the hunting ground for physicists to track their dark matter quarry. Tue, 19 Feb 2008 14:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080214144535.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080213111050.htm European scientists have developed the most accurate method yet for predicting the doses of radiation that astronauts will receive aboard the orbiting European laboratory module, Columbus, recently attached to the ISS. Mon, 18 Feb 2008 05:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080213111050.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080213133320.htm Using data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, scientists have reported the possible detection of a binary star system that was later destroyed in a supernova explosion. The new method they used provides great future promise for finding the detailed origin of these important cosmic events. The supernova, known as SN 2007on, was identified as a Type Ia supernova. Astronomers generally agree that Type Ia supernovas are produced by the explosion of a white dwarf star in a binary star system. However, the exact configuration and trigger for the explosion is unclear. Is the explosion caused by a collision between two white dwarfs, or because a white dwarf became unstable by pulling too much material off a companion star? Mon, 18 Feb 2008 02:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080213133320.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080205115813.htm The galaxy NGC 1132 is most likely a cosmic fossil -- the aftermath of an enormous multi-galactic pile-up, where the carnage of collision after collision has built up a brilliant but fuzzy giant elliptical galaxy far outshining typical galaxies. In visible light NGC 1132 appears as a single, isolated, giant elliptical galaxy, but this is only the tip of the iceberg. Thu, 07 Feb 2008 20:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080205115813.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080206101401.htm Imagine trying to catch up to something moving close to the speed of light - the fastest anything can move -- and sending ahead information in time to make mid-path flight corrections. Impossible? Not quite. Physicists at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider, a particle accelerator, have achieved this tricky task -- and the results may aid in the quest to understand the inner workings of the early universe. Already, RHIC scientists have learned that mere microseconds after the Big Bang, the universe was more interesting than imagined - a nearly "perfect" liquid with virtually no viscosity and strong interactions among its constituents. Thu, 07 Feb 2008 11:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080206101401.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080201102237.htm Astronomers will be studying icy cosmic dust millions of light years away -- using the biggest space telescope ever built. As well as being able to see star-forming regions very nearby in our own galaxy, it will be able to see galaxies forming when the universe was in its infancy, more than ten billion years ago. Wed, 06 Feb 2008 20:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080201102237.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080131161812.htm When the world's most powerful particle accelerator starts up later this year, exotic new particles may offer a glimpse of the existence and shapes of extra dimensions. String theory, which describes the fundamental particles of the universe as tiny vibrating strings of energy, suggests the existence of six or seven unseen spatial dimensions in addition to the time and three space dimensions that we normally see. Mon, 04 Feb 2008 17:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080131161812.htm