A cosmic ray observatory in China has found the highest energy photons that fall under the observable range for humans. The new findings could help the scientists unravel the “mystery of the century” surrounding the origin of cosmic rays, scientists said.
An energy photon of 1.4 Peta electron volts (PeV) was recorded by the observatory, which is the highest ever recorded. This has changed astronomers’ traditional understanding of our galaxy.
Beginning of a new era
The observatory has also discovered a lot of ultra0high energy cosmic accelerators in the Milky Way. As per a joint press conference held by the IHEP under the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Springer Nature, a new era of “ultra-high-energy gamma astronomy.”
Back in 2019, the first celestial body with ultra-high energy gamma-ray radiation. Surprisingly, the number of sources for the “ultra-high-energy” gamma-ray has surged to 12, based on LHAASO’s observation data, Cao Zhen, chief scientist at LHAASO noted.
These discoveries have indicated that non-thermal radiating objects by the Cygnus star-forming region and the Crab Nebula are the ideal candidates for the study and could help scientists solve the biggest mystery regarding the origin of cosmic rays.
Highest radiation observed so far
In ultra-high-energy gamma astronomy, the energy shoots past 1014 electronic volts. It is the highest electromagnetic radiation window in the universe that has ever been observed so far.
Detecting ultra-high-energy gamma rays has always been a tough task, as the amount of rays is very small and they are a part of big cosmic ray background. The observatory that made the study is situated in the mountains of the eastern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and continuously observes cosmic rays.
Recently, an international team of scientists found methanol-ijs inside the warm part of a planet-forming disk. It’s impossible that the methanol was produced there, so it could be coming from the cold gas clouds that form stars and disks. It could be a breakthrough discovery if this process is a common phenomenon. The findings will be published in Nature Astronomy.
