Biggest Cosmic
Explosions May Also Propel Fastest Objects in the Universe
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Image
from animation of the jet (white plume) breaking through the
outer shell of the star, about nine seconds after its creation.
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The most powerful
explosions in the universe, gamma-ray bursts, may generate the most
energetic particles in the universe, known as the ultrahigh-energy
cosmic rays (UHECRs), according to a new analysis of observations
from NASA's Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory.
Researchers
report in the August 14 edition of Nature of a newly identified
pattern in the light from these enigmatic bursts that could be explained
by protons moving within a hair's breadth of light speed.
These protons,
like shrapnel from an explosion, could be UHECRs. Such cosmic rays
are rare and constitute an enduring mystery in astrophysics, seemingly
defying physical explanation, for they are simply far too energetic
to have been generated by well-known mechanisms such as supernova
explosions.
"Cosmic
rays 'forget' where they come from because, unlike light, they are
whipped about in space by magnetic fields," said lead author
Maria Magdalena Gonzalez of the Los Alamos National Laboratory in
New Mexico and graduate student at the University of Wisconsin.
"This result is an exciting chance to possibly see evidence
of them being produced at their source."
For the complete
article on energetic particles produced from gamma-ray bursts, go
to: http://www.gsfc.nasa.gov /topstory/2003/0814cgro_ray.html
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