Record-Breaking Discovery: Highest Energy Light Detected from the Sun | Research Team Observes 10 Trillion Electron Volt Gamma Rays

The research team recorded the highest energy light ever detected from the sun, reaching 10 trillion electron volts. Photo/NASA/SDO/Live Science

FLORIDA – The research team recorded the highest energy light ever detected from sun , reaching 10 trillion electron volts. This intense light is in the form of gamma rays, which have the most energy of any wave on the electromagnetic spectrum.

To measure sunlight, the researchers used the High-Altitude Water Cherenkov Observatory (HAWC), a collection of 300 tanks containing 220 tons (200 metric tons) of water each. Situated between the two active peaks of the Sierra Negra volcano in Mexico, this observatory measures energy signals from gamma rays and cosmic rays .

“The sun is more surprising than we know. This new observation is very interesting because it shows that the Sun shines brightly in high-energy gamma rays,” said Mehr Un Nisa, a postdoctoral research fellow at Michigan State University quoted SINDOnews from the Live Science page, Monday (7/8/2023).

When gamma rays collide with air in the upper atmosphere, they explode into a fountain of subatomic particles in the air shower, leaving behind signatures that are detected by HAWC. From 2015 to 2021, the study’s authors collected data from this aerial shower and were able to capture the first recordings of solar gamma radiation breaking out at an energy of 1 trillion electron volts.

“After looking at data for six years, it turns out that there is an excess of gamma rays,” said Nisa. The research is published Aug. 3 in the journal Physical Review Letters.

Scientists found that there are much more gamma rays emanating from the sun than previously thought, meaning that this light is very bright. HAWC has helped scientists identify solar gamma radiation at distances up to 10 times more energetic than previous measurements.

However, scientists are not yet sure how these solar gamma rays reach such high energy levels or why their abundance is so high. “The bottom line is that these gamma-ray solar observations are a new data set that provides clues about solar and particle physics,” said Ofer Cohen, solar physicist at the University of Massachusetts Lowell.

(wib)

2023-08-07 12:34:04
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