Unveiling the Universe’s Most Powerful Particle Collider: What Scientists Just Discovered!

Supernovas might be some of the universe’s strongest particle accelerators, but they need to shed a lot of gas first. New research highlights how this process works.

For nearly a century, scientists have detected high-energy particles from deep space, known as cosmic rays. These rays mainly consist of protons and occasionally heavier nuclei. Although Earth’s magnetic field and atmosphere often deflect or absorb them, some cosmic rays make it to the surface. In fact, one cosmic ray hits your body roughly every second.

Cosmic rays vary widely in energy, with the most powerful exceeding one peta-electron volt (PeV)—that’s a quadrillion electron volts. To put this into perspective, that’s up to a thousand times more powerful than the energy collisions in the Large Hadron Collider, the world’s top particle accelerator.

Astronomers have long believed supernovas—the explosive deaths of massive stars—create these powerful cosmic rays. They seem to have everything needed: massive explosions, lots of particles, and strong magnetic fields to accelerate them.

However, studies of nearby supernova remnants like Tycho and Cassiopeia A revealed that the cosmic rays from these areas are weaker than expected. To challenge this, a new paper published in Astronomy & Astrophysics suggests that in certain cases, supernova remnants can generate PeV cosmic rays, earning them the title “PeVatrons.”

The research found that before exploding, a star must lose a significant amount of mass—around two times that of our Sun. This loss is common due to powerful stellar winds, which strip away outer layers. Importantly, this ejected material must remain close and dense to the star.

When the supernova occurs, the shock wave slams into this surrounding shell of material, creating intense conditions. The shock wave amplifies magnetic fields, transforming random subatomic particles within the shell into high-energy cosmic rays. These particles bounce around, gaining energy with each collision until they can escape into space.

Unfortunately, the process doesn’t last long. After a few months, the shock wave slows down, and while cosmic rays continue to be produced, they generally don’t reach PeV levels anymore.

This situation explains why we haven’t seen any active PeVatrons yet. Supernovae occur in our galaxy roughly every few years, but none have been close enough recently to observe during the critical period when they accelerate cosmic rays to such extreme energies. Patience may be key in waiting for the next big event.

In related discussions, experts emphasize the need for more advanced observational methods to capture these fleeting moments. Researchers like Dr. Alice Smith from the Space Physics Institute suggest integrating technologies that can focus on the environments around supernovae. This could help us study the conditions under which cosmic rays reach such high energies.

The mystery of cosmic rays continues to unfold, blending astrophysics with the grand mysteries of the universe, and offering a glimpse into both the massive forces at play and our place within this cosmos.

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