Over the years, scientists have managed to uncover the existence of many intriguing particles, pushing the entire field of physics forward with each discovery. For example, there is the “God Particle”, also known as the Higgs Boson, which gives mass to all other particles. And the so-called “Oh my God!” particle, an unimaginably energetic cosmic ray.
But now there’s a new particle in town. It’s called the “sun goddess” particle, and it’s appropriately spectacular.
This particle has an energy level a million times higher than what even humanity’s most powerful particle accelerators can produce; It appears to have fallen to Earth under a shower of other particles with less energy. “My god!” like. particle, these bits come from distant regions of space and are known as. cosmic rays. The particle is named “Amaterasu”, inspired by Amaterasu Ōmikami, the goddess of the sun and the universe in Japanese mythology, whose name means “shining in heaven”.
And just like its mythological namesake, the Amaterasu particle is shrouded in mystery. The discoverers, including Osaka Metropolitan University researcher Toshihiro Fujii, do not know where the particle came from or what it actually is. They’re also still unsure of what kind of violent and powerful process could lead to something as energetic as Amaterasu.
“This is the most energetic charged particle ever detected by the Telescope Array experiment,” Fujii told Space.com.
Just as Amaterasu is credited with the creation of Japan according to Shinto tradition, the hope is that the Amaterasu particle could help create an entirely new branch of high-energy astrophysics.
Relating to: High-energy cosmic rays may originate from Milky Way galaxy
“Oh my Goddess!” particle
High-energy cosmic rays are extremely rare to begin with, but Fujii said the Amaterasu particle has an energy level not seen in 30 years of cosmic ray detection.
In fact, when researchers detected Amaterasu with the Telescope Array experiment, which includes 507 detectors spread over 270 square miles (699 square kilometers) in the high desert of Millard County, Utah, they initially thought the detection must be some kind of error.
“I thought it might be my mistake or mistake, and after checking the details of the incident, I was excited to see that it was not a mistake,” Fujii said.
The Amaterasu particle, first detected by the Telescope Array experiment on May 27, 2021, exhibits an energy of 224 exa-electron volts (EeV). For competition, one EeV is equivalent to 10¹⁸ electron volts. This puts Amaterasu on a similar energy level to the most energetic cosmic ray ever discovered – yes, that “Oh My God!” The particle was detected by the Fly’s Eye camera at Dugway Proving Ground, Utah, in October 1991. The energy of the second was 320 EeV.
“The Amaterasu particle should be an important messenger from the universe about highly energetic events, but we need to unravel the origin of this mysterious particle,” Fujii said. he explained.
Related Stories:
— Record-breaking ‘BOAT’ gamma ray burst managed to disrupt Earth’s atmosphere
— Famous Higgs boson behaves exactly as expected, ‘most comprehensive studies’ confirm
— These supermassive black hole jets could shower Earth with ‘ghost particles’
There is no astrophysical object or any cosmic event in the direction from which the sun goddess particle comes. That’s why scientists are quite unclear about what led to its creation. But while the origins of the Amaterasu particle are currently unknown, Fujii has some research avenues to pursue. More importantly, some of these ideas could go beyond the Standard Model of particle physics, which is the best sketch we have of the universe’s particle zoo and how each of these particles interact with each other.
“One possibility is that the particle was accelerated by extremely energetic events, such as a gamma-ray burst or a jet from a feeding supermassive black hole at the center of active galactic nuclei,” Fujii said. “Another possibility is that it was created in an exotic scenario such as the decay of superheavy dark matter (a new particle from unknown physics beyond the Standard Model).”
The team has been hunting for cosmic rays with the Telescope Array experiment in Utah since 2008, and will now continue to do so with the fourfold increased sensitivity of the newly developed project. They also expect other next-generation observatories to join the cosmic ray action to help scientists begin a more detailed study of the Amaterasu particle.
“I am personally excited to have found a new mystery to solve in science,” Fujii concluded.
The team’s research will be published in the journal Science on November 24.