Cosmic Rays News

June 3, 2025

Top Headlines

Particles Energized by Magnetic Reconnection in the Nascent Solar Wind

June 3, 2025 — Scientists have identified a new source of energetic particles near the Sun. These definitive observations were made by instruments aboard NASA's Parker Solar Probe, which detected the powerful phenomena as the spacecraft dipped in and out of the ...

When Lightning Strikes: Gamma-Ray Burst Unleashed by Lightning Collision

May 21, 2025 — A multi-sensor detection of an intense gamma-ray flash, which occurs when two lightning leaders collided, has been observed. Observations across a wide radiation spectrum enabled precise measurement of the electric current produced during this ...

Cosmic Mystery Deepens as Astronomers Find Object Flashing in Both Radio Waves and X-Rays

May 28, 2025 — A team of international astronomers have discovered a new cosmic object emitting both radio waves and ...

'Cosmic Joust': Astronomers Observe Pair of Galaxies in Deep-Space Battle

May 21, 2025 — Astronomers have witnessed for the first time a violent cosmic collision in which one galaxy pierces another with intense radiation. Their results show that this radiation dampens the wounded galaxy's ability to form new ...

Latest Headlines

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Scientist Discovers How Solar Events Affect the Velocity of Helium Pickup Ions

May 21, 2025 — Scientists have discovered how solar activity affects the velocity distribution and evolution of helium pickup ...

Astronomers Observe Largest Ever Sample of Galaxies Up to Over 12 Billion Light Years Away

May 19, 2025 — The largest sample of galaxy groups ever detected has been presented by a team of international astronomers using data from the James Webb Space ...

Dark Matter Formed When Fast Particles Slowed Down and Got Heavy, New Theory Says

May 14, 2025 — Researchers propose a new theory for the origin of dark matter, the invisible substance thought to give the universe its shape and structure. Their ...

Universe Decays Faster Than Thought, but Still Takes a Long Time

May 12, 2025 — The universe is decaying much faster than thought. This is shown by calculations of scientists on the so-called Hawking radiation. They calculate that the last stellar remnants take about 10^78 years ...

The Squid Galaxy's Neutrino Game Just Leveled Up

May 8, 2025 — In space, energetic neutrinos are usually paired with energetic gamma rays. Galaxy NGC 1068, however, emits strong neutrinos and weak gamma rays, which presents a puzzle for scientists to solve. A ...

Stellar Collapse and Explosions Distribute Gold Throughout the Universe

May 7, 2025 — Magnetar flares, colossal cosmic explosions, may be directly responsible for the creation and distribution of heavy elements across the universe, suggests a new ...

Scientists Discover How Stellar-Mass Black Holes Emit Powerful Plasma Jets

Apr. 9, 2025 — Scientists have discovered key conditions needed for a stellar black hole to create plasma jets. Their findings show that when superheated gas material experiences a rapid shrinkage towards the black ...

'Cosmic Radio' Could Find Dark Matter in 15 Years

Apr. 16, 2025 — Scientists have designed a 'cosmic radio' detector which could discover dark matter in 15 ...

From Boring to Bursting: Giant Black Hole Awakens

Apr. 11, 2025 — Astronomers are investigating the longest and most energetic bursts of X-rays seen from a newly awakened black hole. Watching this strange behavior unfold in real time offers a unique opportunity to ...

Scientists Source Solar Emissions With Largest-Ever Concentration of Rare Helium Isotope

Apr. 9, 2025 — The NASA/ESA Solar Orbiter recently recorded the highest-ever concentration of a rare helium isotope (3He) emitted from the Sun. A Southwest Research ...

Nanomaterials Used to Measure Nuclear Reaction on Radioactive Nuclei Produced in Neutron Star Collisions

Mar. 18, 2025 — Physicists have measured a nuclear reaction that can occur in neutron star collisions, providing direct experimental data for a process that had previously only been theorised. The study provides new ...

Meteorites: A Geologic Map of the Asteroid Belt

Mar. 18, 2025 — Where do meteorites of different type come from? In a review paper, astronomers trace the impact orbit of observed meteorite falls to several previously unidentified source regions in the asteroid ...

Detailed Map of Dust in the Milky Way

Mar. 13, 2025 — Astronomers have constructed the first detailed 3D map of the properties of cosmic dust in our home galaxy. For their map, the astronomers used 130 million spectra from ESA's Gaia mission, ...

Mysterious Phenomenon at Center of Galaxy Could Reveal New Kind of Dark Matter

Mar. 10, 2025 — A mysterious phenomenon at the center of our galaxy could be the result of a different type of dark ...

Breakthrough Study Challenges Long-Held Beliefs About the Shape of Atomic Nuclei

Feb. 20, 2025 — An international research collaboration has overturned the long-standing belief that the atomic nucleus of lead-208 is perfectly spherical. The discovery challenges fundamental assumptions about ...

First Detection of an Ultra-High-Energy Neutrino

Feb. 12, 2025 — Scientists have just detected a neutrino that is thirty times more energetic than any previously detected anywhere in the world. This exceptional discovery opens up new perspectives for understanding ...

A Less 'Clumpy,' More Complex Universe?

Jan. 29, 2025 — New research has combined cosmological data from two major surveys of the universe's evolutionary history and found hints that it may be less clumpy at certain points than previously thought. ...

The Hidden Power of the Smallest Microquasars

Jan. 29, 2025 — Researchers found for the first time evidence that even microquasars containing a low-mass star are efficient particle accelerators, which leads to a significant impact on the interpretation of the ...

Fresh, Direct Evidence for Tiny Drops of Quark-Gluon Plasma

Jan. 15, 2025 — A new analysis of data from the PHENIX experiment at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) reveals fresh evidence that collisions of even very small nuclei with large ones might create tiny ...

This Quasar May Have Helped Turn the Lights on for the Universe

Jan. 15, 2025 — Astronomers have detected an intensely brightening and dimming quasar that may help explain how some objects in the early universe grew at a highly accelerated rate. The discovery is the most distant ...

New Study Unveils Breakthrough in Understanding Cosmic Particle Accelerators

Jan. 13, 2025 — Scientists have come a step closer to understanding how collisionless shock waves -- found throughout the universe -- are able to accelerate particles to extreme ...

X-Ray Flashes from a Nearby Supermassive Black Hole Accelerate Mysteriously

Jan. 13, 2025 — Astronomers observed flashes of X-rays coming from a supermassive black hole at a steadily increasing clip. The source could be the core of a dead star that's teetering at the black hole's ...

Light, Flexible and Radiation-Resistant: Organic Solar Cells for Space

Jan. 10, 2025 — Radiation testing suggests that solar cells made from carbon-based, or organic, materials could outperform conventional silicon and gallium arsenide for generating electricity in the final frontier, ...

Astrophysicists Capture Astonishing Images of Gamma-Ray Flare from Supermassive Black Hole M87

Dec. 13, 2024 — The galaxy M87, located in the Virgo constellation, provided the first-ever photo of a black hole in 2019, when the Event Horizon Telescope captured an image of the supermassive black hole at the ...

Superflares Once Per Century

Dec. 12, 2024 — Stars similar to the Sun produce a gigantic outburst of radiation on average about once every hundred years per star. Such superflares release more energy than a trillion hydrogen bombs and make all ...

A New Discovery About the Source of the Vast Energy in Cosmic Rays

Dec. 10, 2024 — New research suggests that these ultra-high energy rays derive their energy from magnetic ...

Particle Research Gets Closer to Answering Why We're Here

Dec. 5, 2024 — Physicists have outlined the next 10 years of global research into the behavior of neutrinos, particles so tiny that they pass through virtually everything by the trillions every second at nearly the ...

Most Energetic Cosmic-Ray Electrons and Positrons Ever Observed

Nov. 25, 2024 — Scientists have recently identified electrons and positrons with the highest energies ever recorded on Earth. They provide evidence of cosmic processes emitting colossal amounts of energy, the ...

A Nearby Supernova Could End the Search for Dark Matter

Nov. 21, 2024 — Axions are the most likely candidate for enigmatic dark matter that dominates the universe. Astrophysicists are searching for evidence of high-mass axions produced during supernovae. Scientists ...

Possible Origins of Dark Matter in 'Dark Big Bang' Scenario

Nov. 18, 2024 — Recent research unlocks new clues that could radically change the world's understanding of the origin of dark ...